Afghanistan
Military analysis: In 3 tacks for Afghan war, a game of trade-offs
Monthly Archives: November 2009
Afghanistan
Marines in Afghanistan hear a plea: Don’t leave too soon
More on Luqman Abdullah’s shooting
On Wednesday, I posted about the death of Luqman Abdullah, the imam of Detroit’s Masjid al-Haqq and a Detroit representative to al-Ummah, who was killed in Dearborn, Mich., in a shootout with FBI agents and police from the Joint Terrorism Task Force. The new issue of CTR Vantage is themed around this incident, and provides […]
Afghanistan
The Taliban killed four US soldiers and three Afghan troops in separate clashes in southern and eastern Afghanistan, and kidnapped a government official and destroyed a girls’ school in Logar. Afghan and Coalition forces detained eight Taliban fighters in Logar.
Mauritania
Three men accused of joining Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb have been arrested by Mauritanian security forces. Their arrests come as President Abdel Aziz has pledged to crack down on the group’s presence in his country as part of a regional effort to rid the Sahel of AQIM.
Algeria
Two suspected members of an extremist group held for seven years in Guantanamo Bay have been acquitted by an Algerian court. The men allege that they were “brutally tortured” in Guantanamo. They were arrested in Pakistan after 9/11 and sent home to Algeria last year; on Sunday, an Algerian court acquitted them of charges of […]
Iran
A senior cleric said ballistic missiles will land in Tel Aviv and the commander of the Revolutionary Guards Corps Air Force said “Israeli warplanes will be completely destroyed,” if Iran’s nuclear facilities are attacked. Iran’s Central Bank removed the US dollar from its currency basket and replaced it with the euro.
Al Qaeda
Lawyer: 9/11 defendants want platform for views
Yemen
Yemen weighs rehabilitation issue
Pakistani Army opens new front in the northwest
The military is conducting a limited operation in the Arakzai tribal agency, where fighting has intensified over the past week.
Pakistan
Security forces killed 18 Taliban fighters in Bajaur, 13 in Hangu, and five more in South Waziristan, and detained a suicide bomber in Swat. The Air Force targeted 17 Taliban installations in Arakzai. An ammendment to the Anti-Terrorism Law prevents the issuance of bail to terror suspects.
Somalia
Shabaab seized control of the southern town of Afmadow from rival Hizbul Islam after clashes that killed 14 people. The top leader of Hizbul Islam, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, has secretly held talks with some top Shabaab officials to discuss the brewing row between the two groups. African Union peacekeepers have made a new base […]
Iraq
Security forces killed a suicide bomber in Al Qaim. They also detained 27 wanted men in Basrah, 26 in Dhi Qhar, 14 in Diyala, and two more in Karbala; and two Special Groups cell members in Amarah. Insurgents killed one civilian and wounded 14 in attacks in in Mosul, Baghdad, and Fallujah. A Special Groups […]
Bangladesh
Security forces arrested a Bangladeshi leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba in the capital of Dhaka. Mohammad Motalem, who is also know as Majnu, is said to be the mastermind of the foiled plot to attack the Indian High Commission and the US embassy and recruited operatives for the failed attack.
Pakistan
‘75% in Pak say they’re Muslims first’
Afghanistan
China pumping millions into Afghanistan
Iran
Gulf arms race triggered by Iranian aggression
Afghanistan
Hamid Karzai ministers face Afghanistan corruption charges
Iraq
Iraqi parliament fails to reach election deal
Afghanistan
President Karzai said some Taliban leaders may be invited to attend a grand council meeting. Two of Karzai’s ministers are facing corruption charges. The Taliban killed five policemen in an IED attack in Spin Boldak in Kandahar and assassinated an intelligence officer in Kandahar City. Afghan and Coalition forces killed four Taliban fighters and detained […]
Afghanistan
Setting Afghan exit date defeatist: defense panel
Iran
The military has launched an expansive military war game designed to show it can protect the country’s nuclear facilities. Iran temporarily freed a reformer after he posted $700,000 in bail. Opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi said anti-government protesters were willing to “pay any price.”
Mullah Omar and al Qaeda: a long term relationship
George Washington University’s National Security Archive has released a series of documents and cables from the US State Department and the CIA on the Taliban. Titled “The Taliban Biography, The Structure and Leadership of the Taliban 1996-2002,” the documents provide interesting background information on the Taliban leadership, and most importantly, show that back in 1998, […]
Jalaluddin Haqqani on suicide bombings in Afghanistan
Jalaluddin Haqqani with his son Nasrudin. Jihadica points to an interview with Jalaluddin Haqqani, the patriarch of the Haqqani family network, which is based in eastern Afghanistan and across the border in North Waziristan in Pakistan. Jalaluddin has a clever answer to a question on suicide attacks being plotted and launched from Pakistan, as Jihadica […]
Afghanistan
New interview with Jalaluddin Haqqani
Afghanistan
As Afghans resist Taliban, US spurs rise of militias
Pakistani forces strike again in Arakzai
The military said 25 Taliban fighters were killed and eight, including a commander, were captured, during fighting in Arakzai, Hangu, Khyber, and Bajaur. Another 14 Taliban fighters and six soldiers were killed in South Waziristan.
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Just say no to sharia law
Pakistan
Fourteen Taliban fighters and six soldiers were killed in clashes in South Waziristan. Eleven Taliban fighters were killed in airstrikes in Arakzai, and seven Taliban fighters and a commander were captured in Hangu after ambushing a military convoy. In Dera Ghazi Khan, police detained two weapons smugglers linked to HuJI and the Taliban. And in […]
Iraq
Iraqi forces detained nine insurgents in Baghdad, six terrorists in Baqubah, four al Qaeda operatives in Anbar, three members of an IED cell in Karmah, a Special Groups operative in Baghdad, a “dangerous man” in Karbala, and an Islamic Army in Iraq fighter near Kirkuk. Insurgents wounded 12 Iraqis in bombings in Baghdad and two […]