Image courtesy of Rantburg. It is always interesting to watch the press coverage when the rumors begin to fly after a senior al Qaeda leader is thought to have been killed in a US airstrike inside Pakistan. Invariably, after it is determined that Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri were not killed in the […]
Amnesty International recently released a comprehensive report reviewing the numerous human rights abuses by the Iranian regime during the post-election violence last June. The most prominent case of abuse-the death Neda Aghda Soltan-was captured on a camera phone and broadcast worldwide in a matter of minutes, making it a graphic symbol of resistance for the […]
Two civilians were killed during clashes between government forces and Shabaab and Hizbul Islam in Mogadishu. A gunman wounded three people during an attack on the leadership of the pro-government Ahlu Sunna Waljama in Galkayo. Somali lawmakers want the parliament moved from Mogadishu to Puntland.
Insurgents killed three policemen and wounded three more policemen and a soldier in attacks in Kirkuk and Mosul. Iraqi security forces detained 10 wanted men in Basrah and 10 more in Dhiloaiya, and four al Qaeda fighters in Wasit. Iraq will purchase $550 million worth of weapons from the Ukraine.
Ten Taliban fighters were killed in an airstrike in Kunar. Afghan and Coalition forces killed a Haqqani Network fighter in Paktia and five Taliban fighters in Helmand, and detained a Taliban commander and a major drug trafficker and his bodyguards in Helmand. Three Taliban fighters were killed in a premature detonation in Helmand.
Pakistan eyes Taliban front after S. Waziristan
A US court secretly froze $2 billion in Iranian assets held in Citibank accounts. The foreign minister said Iran is prepared to swap nuclear fuel on Kish Island. Yemen claimed it has proof Iran is backing the Houthi rebels.
For terror suspect, a life of contradictions
Virginia mosque grapples with young members’ arrest in Pakistan
Iraq oil capacity ‘to reach 12m barrels per day’
Pak must help US more against Al-Qaeda: Obama
The defense minister admitted the Quetta Shura operates in Pakistan, but said it is no longer a threat. The military said 23 Taliban fighters were killed and 90 more were detained in Kyber, Arakzai, and Hangu, and 54 Taliban fighters were detained in Swat and South Waziristan. Five civilians were wounded in a grenade attack […]
The US believes it killed Saleh al Somali, al Qaeda’s external operations chief, during the Dec. 8 airstrike near Miramshah in North Waziristan. Al Somali planned terror attacks against the West and had close ties to Shabaab, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Somalia.
President Sharif called on the police and military to crack down on Shabaab and Hizbul Islam. The pro-government Islamist Ahlu Sunna Waljama signed an agreement with the government to support it against Shabaab and Hizbul Islam. Somali pirates released a Greek-flagged ship and its crew of 24 Ukrainians.
Saleh al Somali, a longtime operative of the terror group, is thought to have been killed in the Dec. 8 strike in Miramshah in North Waziristan. He directed al Qaeda’s operations against targets in the West.
David Headley was convicted on heroin smuggling charges in 1998, and the available evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the following year he did undercover surveillance work in Pakistan for the DEA in exchange for a reduced sentence. During his time in Pakistan in 1999, his surveillance target was reportedly a drug gang based in Afghanistan/Pakistan. This […]
Marine offense gives Afghan city second chance
This week, not one but two Taliban statements hit the Voice of Jihad English-language site on the same day referring to ISAF’s latest push in Helmand: an unsigned weekly comment “Cobra’s Anger Will Lead to Great Regrets,” (PDF version at non-terrorist site here); and a signed op-ed attributed to spokesperson Qari Muhammad Yousuf Ahmadi, “Enemy […]
Experts: Somali Islamists improving tactics, bombs
An Abu Sayyaf fighter was killed after a clash with Marines who chanced upon an enemy force in Indanan town in Sulu province. Abu Sayyaf also abducted a college professor at his house in Isabela City near Basilan State College. Also in Isabela City, the severed head of a factory worker kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf […]
Three Iraqis were killed in a pair of bombings south of Baghdad. Iraqi security forces detained 12 suspects in the assassination of a senior police official in Salahadin; 13 al Qaeda operatives in Baghdad
Thousands flee Iran as noose tightens
Mali – Beasts of burden fading into the dust
Iraq: Global giants to develop major oilfield
Qari Dawat kidnapped a Norwegian journalist in November who reportedly converted to Islam, and was targeted by the US later that month.
The Taliban killed three people in a suicide attack in Paktika and a child in a grenade attack in Nangarhar. US and Afghan forces detained a Haqqani Network facilitator in Khost and eight Taliban fighters in Ghazni.
The Bagram Four: Abu Abdallah al Shami (upper left); Abu Nasir al Qahtani (upper right); Abu Yahya al Libi (lower left); Omar al Farouq (lower right). Jihadi forums have been speculating that Abu Yahya al Libi, a chief al Qaeda ideologue and a popular leader in jihadi circles, may have been killed in yesterday’s airstrike […]
Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Amir al Mumineen (“the commander of the faithful”) of the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban. Dawn reported that Pakistan’s defense minister admitted Mullah Omar’s Quetta Shura is in Pakistan, but said it is no longer a threat: The government has admitted the existence of the Afghan Taliban’s Quetta shura for the first […]
US Defense Secretary Gates announced from Iraq that he expects more sanctions due to Iran’s rejection of IAEA offer. EU leaders called for a “clear response” from Iran on its nuclear proliferation. Iran warned against foreign nations meddling in Yemen’s internal affairs.
Official: US will not ignore Iran protests