Pakistan’s military spokesman said the government maintains contact with Mullah Omar, Jalaluddin Haqqani, Mullah Nazir, and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, and is willing to broker negotiations with Omar if the US addresses Pakistan’s concerns with India. “By maintaining the contacts with the organizations like [Mullah Omar’s Taliban and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar] doesn’t mean that that state policy is […]
President Hu Jintao said the government will deal harshly with those responsible for the Uighur unrest. A senior communist party leader claimed that the government is working to “win the tough war of maintaining Xinjiang’s stability.” Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan compared violence in Xinjiang to genocide.
Ayatollah Kashani urged Iranians to remain vigilant against “enemy manipulations” and plots against the Islamic Republic. Protesters returned to the streets despite warning of a government crackdown. French President Sarkozy warned that an Israeli attack on Iran would be disastrous.
Three Taliban fighters are reported killed during the latest airstrike in Baitullah Mehsud’s tribal areas.
Islamabad police captured Qari Ilyas Zain, who is described as a senior al Qaeda operative who was released from Guantanamo Bay. Zain is said to have been behind the 2008 bombing of the Luna Caprice restaurant in Islamabad in 2008. There is no record of a Qari Ilyas Zain being detained at Guantanamo.
US and Afghan forces killed “several” Haqqani network fighters and detained two leaders and four associates during raids in Khost and Ghazni provinces. The Taliban killed three British soldiers during separate attacks over the past 24 hours and also killed two policemen in Samangan province.
Italy: Al Qaeda threat against MP sparks Muslim support
Assessing stability in Pakistan’s heartland Punjab
Pakistan – Jihad and the state
A roadside bomb detonated in the town of Yarang in Pattani province, killing a soldier and wounding five others as a military patrol escorted schoolteachers to work. Also in Pattani province, police discovered the body of a Muslim man shot by insurgents and dumped in a pickup truck.
Roadside bomb attacks in Afghanistan shatter record
Security forces detained 25 members of an al Qaeda cell led by a Palestinian and manned by Egyptians. The cell was planning to conduct attacks against shipping in the Suez Canal and oil pipelines, and received funding from overseas contributions and robberies.
A large force of 300 fighters attacked a police station near the eastern town of Tavil-Dara in Tajikistan. The group is thought to have been led by Mullah Abdullah from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, who reportedly crossed the border from Afghanistan several weeks ago.
More mine-resistant vehicles flow to Afghanistan
Fighting has again broken out in the capital of Mogadishu. Young Somali men are fleeing Mogadishu to avoid being pressed into militias. The US is shipping arms to the Somali government through Uganda. Egypt will mediate between President Sharif and Hizbul Islam leader Hassan Dahir Aweys.
New Al Qaeda book on ‘Muslim Spies’ paints picture of weakened group, experts say
Security forces killed 12 Taliban fighters during airstrikes in South Waziristan and seven more in Arakzai, and detained 23 Taliban fighters in Swat, 20 in Mohmand, and four Afghans and Uzbeks in Dera Ghazni Khan. The body of a Taliban commander was also found in Swat. The Taliban killed five security personnel in Jaccobabab in […]
The release of the Irbil Five follows the release of Laith Qazali. “You’d better get used to it,” US officials said.
Terrorists conducted a bombing campaign in Iraq. Thirty six Iraqis, including 12 security personnel, were killed in a dual suicide attack in Tal Afar; 14 Iraqis were killed in dual car bombings in Mosul; six Iraqis were killed in two car bombings in Sadr City and another was killed in a bombing in southern Baghdad; […]
A massive Taliban truck bomb killed 25 Afghans in the Mohammmad Agha district in Logar province. Most of those killed were children and policemen. An ISAF soldier was killed in an IED attack in southern Afghanistan. President Karzai pardoned five heroin traffickers.
Iranian exile speaks out against militia he once supported
The OIC asked China to address the “root cause” of the communal unrest in Xinjiang province. CPC leader Zhou Yongkang vowed that the government will severely punish the outlaws in the Xinjiang riot. Turkey called for a boycott of Chinese goods; a dissident Uighur leader might visit Turkey.
Government authorities said that any additional protests are illegal and will be met with a “crushing response.” Ali Akbar Velayati said that government will not back down, “even one step” from its nuclear ambitions. Five Iranian detainees held by the US were released to Iraq. Jundullah leader Abdulmalik Rigi claimed to have received $100,000 from […]
Pir Samiullah was one of the few tribal leaders to put up significant resistance to Mullah Fazlullah and Ibn Amin. He and his lieutenants were brutally murdered and mutilated while the Pakistani Army stood by.
Afghanistan – Car bomb kills a dozen school children in Logar
Briefing with Brig. Gen. Nicholson from Afghanistan
Class rifts help jihadis grow in Pakistan
United Nations cancels aid missions to southern Philippines
Saudi courts tried 330 terrorists for involvement in al Qaeda attacks from 2003 to 2006. An unknown number were convicted; one was sentenced to death. A senior Saudi cleric condemned al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Pakistan – Waziristan residents asked to shift