Monthly Archives: January 2010

Iraq: The raveling (II)

| January 5, 2010

A graphic from The New York Times pithily compares statistical progress on the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Iraq’s numbers are heartening, with dramatic year-over-year reductions in civilian deaths, Iraqi Security Force deaths, and US troop deaths in November 2009. An update on one statistic is even more positive: In December, there were only […]

Al Qaeda

| January 4, 2010

US feared attack on Obama inauguration by Somali extremists from Canada

Pakistan

| January 4, 2010

The Taliban set a village on fire in Arakzai to punish villagers for not backing them against the military. The military killed seven Taliban fighters in Bajaur and five more in South Waziristan. The five US jihadis detained last month claimed they intended to fight in Afghanistan, not Pakistan.

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| January 4, 2010

MILF denies involvement in grenade attack on mansions

ISAF on the state of the Afghan insurgency

| January 4, 2010

Al Sahwa (one of my favorite blogs on issues related to the war and counterinsurgency) points us to a presentation by Colonel Andrea Thompson on the state of the Afghan insurgency as viewed by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Al Sahwa has a good rundown on the important points, so head over there to […]

Somalia

| January 4, 2010

Six civilians were killed by artillery and a hand grenade in Mogadishu. Gunmen opened fire on a civilian bus, killing a civilian in Mogadishu. A roadside bomb targeted an administration official in Galkayo. Shabaab has vowed to replace the Somali flag by a black flag with an Islamic emblem.

Iraq

| January 4, 2010

Iraqi security forces killed an insurgent in Mosul and detained two Promised Day Brigade members and an al Qaeda explosives expert in Baghdad. Insurgents killed three civilians and wounded 16 more during attacks in Kirkuk and Mosul.

Iran

| January 4, 2010

The US rejected Iran’s counter-proposal for its nuclear program and the exchange of nuclear fuel on Iranian soil. Chinese companies evaded US sanctions on Iran. Tehran will conduct defensive military exercises.

Afghanistan

| January 4, 2010

Afghan and Coalition forces killed 12 Taliban fighters in Helmand and Kandahar, and detained a Taliban commander in Paktika. The Taliban killed four US soldiers and one British soldier in southern Afghanistan, and two Afghan border guards in Zabul.

Yemen

| January 4, 2010

Security forces claimed to have killed two members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula who were plotting to attack the US and British embassies in Sana’a. The plot forced the US and Britain to close their embassies. Tribesmen from Marib warned al Qaeda not to operate in their territory.

Pakistan negotiated the Malakand Accord with suicide bombers

| January 3, 2010

Scores of children train to become suicide bombers at a camp run by Qair Hussain in Spinkai, South Waziristan. Image courtesy of AfPax Insider. Do you remember back in April 2009, when Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, tried to assure the world that the Malakand Accord (the agreement that ceded the Swat […]

Pakistan

| January 3, 2010

The Taliban killed a former provincial minister in Hangu and two tribal elders in Bajaur. The US killed two Taliban fighters in North Waziristan. The Pakistani military killed eight Taliban fighters and detained 25 more in South Waziristan, and captured a suicide bomber in Buner.

Iraq

| January 3, 2010

Insurgents killed three civilian security guards in Mosul. Iraqi security forces detained 14 wanted men in Basrah, four al Qaeda operatives in Mosul, and a wanted terrorist in Diyala. The body of the fifth British hostage kidnapped and murdered by the League of the Righteous is expected to be returned to the UK.