Al Qaeda
Abu Ghraib, restive again
Monthly Archives: December 2009
Iran
In death, Grand Ayatollah could unify Iran’s opposition
Afghanistan
Two Afghan soldiers and four Haqqani Network fighters were killed in a clash in Khost. Coalition and Afghan forces killed and detained an undisclosed number of Taliban and Haqqani Network fighters in Khost, Kandahar, Wardak, and Ghazni. Coalition troops accidentally wounded two civilians in Herat. NATO’s Secretary-General said there is no time line to withdraw […]
Afghan forces capture dangerous Taliban commander in Nimroz
Mullah Sher Malang is known to organize suicide attacks and roadside bombings in western Afghanistan. He is a deputy of Mullah Abdullah Zakir, the Taliban’s chief of military operations in southern Afghanistan.
Mauritania
The leader responsible for the kidnapping of an Italian national and his Burkinabe wife has been arrested when attempting to return to Mali. The man, identified as Abderrahmane Ben Meddou, says he hails from a northern tribe in Mali and was offered payment of $22,000 USD for “surveillance and positioning of victims” for Al Qaeda […]
Iran
President Ahmadinejad claimed that nuclear initiator documents are a US forgery. The US Joint Chiefs said that force must remain an option with dealing with Iran. The US will increase funding for Israel’s missile defense program.
Afghanistan
Stryker soldiers say commanders failed them
Strykers use LWJ for intel
US soldiers from the the 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, on patrol in Shurta in Baghdad, September 2007. Photo by Bill Roggio. The Long War Journal received a very flattering compliment from US soldiers deployed in Afghanistan. Sean Naylor from The Army Times reported that the intelligence shop from the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry […]
Al Qaeda
Somalia™s chaos spreading far beyond its frontier and coastline
Russia
After expelling Uighurs, Cambodia approves Chinese investments
Iran
Attacks halt Iran dissident cleric’s memorial service
Iran
‘Tehran jamming BBC signal’
Afghanistan
Mullen updates, changes joint guidance
Shabaab, not the US, responsible for the rise of Islamic terror in Somalia
Shabaab commander Sheikh Abu Mukhtar Robow (left) and former al Qaeda leader Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan (faced covered) in a propaganda video acquired by The Long War Journal. US Special Operations Forces killed Nabhan in a raid in September 2009. Nabhan was one of the top leaders in Shabaab and worked to integrate the group […]
Pakistan
Security forces killed two Taliban fighters in South Waziristan and four more in Swat, and detained 19 more in Swat, South Waziristan, and Hangu. The Taliban bombed a police checkpoint in Peshawar. A top politician said sharia law would be implemented in Swat “at all costs.”
Al Qaeda
Unmasked al Qaeda fighters addressed a crowd in Yemen and said the military is not the enemy. “Soldiers, you should know that there is no problem between us and you. The problem is between us and America and its lackeys,” a fighter said.
Afghanistan
California National Guard troops help Afghan farmers
Somalia
At least 22 people were killed in an exchange of mortars between insurgents and government forces in Mogadishu. Heavy mortars also were fired while the parliament was in session. At least five people were killed by a roadside bomb that targeted government soldiers in Mogadishu. The Shabaab group in the capital led by Amir Abu […]
Mali
Radical Islam meets a buffer in West Africa
Iraq
Iraqi Qaeda group shifts to remain a threat
Mauritania
An Italian national and his wife from Burkina Faso that were kidnapped Friday have been identified by Mauritanian authorities as Sergio Seguella and Data Bazeri Silma. They, along with the driver, were abducted by armed men when attempting to cross the Mali border at Mneicira, near Kobonni in eastern Mauritania. Reports indicate their vehicle was […]
Iranians mourn the death of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazari
One of Shia Islam’s most revered jurists and theologians died over the weekend in Iran’s holy city of Qom. Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazari, aged 87, is said to have died of heart failure in his sleep on the evening of Dec. 19. From the Guardian: He was born into a poor peasant family in […]
Iran
Iranians mourn the death of opposition cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazari. Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, called for a global atomic weapons ban in Tokyo.
Afghanistan
Afghan and Coalition forces killed eight Taliban fighters in Helmand, seven in Kunduz, and six more in Ghazni. Four Taliban fighters were killed after they stormed a police building in the city of Gardez in Paktia province. The Taliban destroyed an Afghan Army base near the Pakistani border in Paktia.
India
Chicagoan said to have helped terrorists target Indian nuclear plant
Pakistan
Pakistan: Bajaur clerics say ongoing militancy is not jihad
Yemen
An anonymous Yemeni official claimed the Dec. 17 airstrike against an al Qaeda camp killed 49 civilians, including 23 children and 17 women. “Al Qaeda has chosen to build its training centre on land where bedouin nomads pitch their tents,” a tribal leader said. Yemeni officials claimed two Saudi al Qaeda fighters were killed and […]
Pakistan
How NATO hopes to undercut the Afghan Taliban
Pakistan
US faces hard reality with Pakistan – Pakistan
Pakistan
Why Pakistan may be more willing to help US target Taliban than it appears