Somalia
Hassan Dahir Aweys reportedly said al Qaeda does not have a role in Somalia’s future. Government officials said the military will begin operations to eject Shabaab from the Bay and Bakol regions.
Monthly Archives: March 2009
Afghanistan
Forty Taliban fighters and 15 Afghan security officials were killed during clashes in Helmand, Farah, Jozjan, and Logar provinces over the past two days. Four Canadian soldiers were killed and four more were wounded in two separate IED attacks in the districts of Shah Wali Kot and Zari in Kandahar provinces.
Coalition and Taliban forces battle throughout Afghanistan
More that 40 Taliban fighters and 15 Afghan security personnel have been killed during the past two days of fighting. Pakistan’s Mullah Nazir threatens suicide attacks against US forces.
Somalia
Somali clerics reject Bin Laden call
Iraq
A US airstrike killed 11 al Qaeda fighters and an Iraqi raid killed 12 more in Balad Ruz. Security forces detained 48 wanted men south of Tikrit, 30 more in Basrah, and eight al Qaeda fighters in Diyala. A suicide bomber killed one policeman in an attack outside the home of a tribal leader in […]
The Taliban
Pakistan Taliban chieftain Mullah Nazir said his new jihadi alliance will target US forces in Afghanistan with suicide bombers. “We have readied suicide bombers for them, they cannot escape us,” said Nazir, who is based in South Waziristan.
United States
Several Somali-Americans recruited to fight alongside the al Qaeda-linked Somali group Shabaab are reported to have returned to the US. The FBI may have expanded its investigation of the Shabaab recruiting network beyond Minneapolis to Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio; Boston; Seattle; and San Diego.
Afghanistan
Iraq SAS units switch to hunting the Taliban
Pakistan
Pakistan: A profile of militant groups in Bajaur tribal agency
Pakistan
Pakistan Taliban commander says US troops are being targeted
Pakistan
Taliban chief Omar not in Pakistan’s Baluchistan
Pakistan
Pakistan may mull demands if Taliban lay down arms
Afghanistan
US courts former warlords in its bid for Afghan stability
Pakistan
The Taliban killed 15 people in a rocket attack on a base in Khyber, attacked a police checkpoint in Bannu, and bombed an electrical pylon in Peshawar. Security forces captured then released 14 Taliban fighters in Swat and detained five Taliban fighters in Karachi.
Bin Laden urges jihad against new Somali government
Al Qaeda’s leader praised Shabaab and called for the downfall of the government led by former Islamic Courts leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed. This is the third tape on Somalia released by senior al Qaeda leaders since Feb. 13.
Afghanistan
Afghan intelligence said last month’s assault on government buildings in Kabul was planned in and directed from Pakistan. An anti-Taliban minister of parliament and four of his bodyguards were killed in an IED attack in Helmand province. An Australian soldier was killed while attempting to defuse an IED. Two Taliban fighters were killed and 22 […]
Iraq
The US military will shut down the Camp Bucca prison by the summer of 2009. Security forces detained 30 wanted men in Basrah and four more in Maysan. Insurgents murdered the mayor of a village east of Mosul.
Iraq
Iraq combat deaths at 6-year low
Al Qaeda
In his latest audiotape, Osama bin Laden urged Somalis to fight against the newly formed government, which is led by former Islamic Courts leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed. “These sorts of presidents are the surrogates of our enemies and their authority is null and void in the first place, and as Sheikh Sharif is one of […]
Philippines
The head of the Philippine Red Cross announced that he expects Abu Sayaff kidnappers will honor an agreement to free one of three employees held hostage. The Philippine Army will loosen its encirclement of the kidnappers on Jolo island to allow for negotiation.
Pakistan
The Frontier Corps Inspector General denied reports that the Taliban shura is operating from Quetta in Baluchistan. The Taliban attacked a NATO supply truck at the Chaman border crossing. The Taliban are continuing an anti-polio vaccination drive in Swat in violation of the peace agreement.
Iraq
Iraq: Exit strategy is still forming
Yemen
A suicide bomber killed himself in a failed attempt to attack a team of South Koreans sent to investigate the March 16 suicide attack that killed four of their countrymen. The bomber detonated as he was waiting for the convoy on a road outside Sanaa.
United States
The US attorney general said some of the Chinese Muslim detainees currently held at Guantanamo Bay may be released in the United States. We’re trying to come up with places for them,” AG Eric Holder said. “The possibility exists.”
Iraq
Iraqi security forces detained 25 wanted men in Baghdad, six al Qaeda fighters in Diyala and four more in Ninewa, three Naqshabandiya group members near Kirkuk, a Special Groups leader in Al Kut, and an IED maker in Mosul. A car bmb killed one policeman and wounded two others in Mosul.
Airstrike kills Taliban commanders in southern Afghanistan
Two wanted leaders in Helmand province were killed during a March 16 airstrike. Afghan and Coalition forces launch an offensive in central Afghanistan.
Thailand
A government policy review under Prime Minister Vejjajiva is considering giving the largely Muslim southern provinces local autonomy, including the introduction of Islamic courts and sharia law, in order to quell the bloody, five-year long insurgency.
Afghanistan
NATO and Afghan forces have killed 29 Taliban fighters and wounded 12 more during an ongoing operation to secure the Alasai valley in Kapisa province. Two senior Taliban commanders were killed in an airstrike in Helmand province. Three civilians were wounded in an IED attack in Kabul. NATO said an additional 4,000 soldiers are needed […]
Iran
Iran’s cheap goods stifle Iraq economy
Iraq
In Mosul, Iraq’s insurgency refuses to be tamed