Pakistan
Target killings show Swat Taliban are back in action
Monthly Archives: April 2010
United States
US – Official details results of missile review
Iraq
Iraqi forces killed al Qaeda in Iraq’s top military commander in the north and another operative, and detained two more. Security forces also detained 17 insurgents in Kirkuk, seven wanted men in Basrah, and another in Fallujah. Insurgents killed Hit’s deputy police chief and a bodyguard, and two soldiers in Babil.
United States
A court sentenced Abdul Alishtari to 10 years in prison for attempting to finance Taliban camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The US Senate subpoenaed the Defense and Justice departments for information relating to the Fort Hood terror attack. Secretary Gates said Defense will not share information that might jeopardize the prosecution of Major Hassan Nidal.
Al Qaeda in Iraq
Iraqi and US forces killed al Qaeda in Iraq’s top military commander during a raid on the outskirts of Mosul. Hazim Ilyas Abdallah al Khafaji “was the guy in charge of operations from Tikrit all the way up to Mosul out to the Syrian border,” General Ray Odierno said.
Iraqi forces kill al Qaeda’s top military commander in the north
The death of the northern emir takes place two days after the two al Qaeda leaders in Iraq were killed in a raid near Tikrit.
Indonesia
A court sentenced Saefudin Zuhri, a Jemaah Islamiyah operative, to eight years in prison for harboring slain terror leader Noordin Mohammed Top in 2009. Zuhri is Top’s brother-in-law. Zuhri claimed he did not know Top’s identity when he sheltered him.
Afghanistan
ISAF said it killed four Taliban fighters in Khost; Afghan officials claimed four young students were killed. The Taliban assassinated the deputy mayor of Kandahar and kidnapped eight Afghans in Kunduz.
United States
Gates proposes revamp of export system
US withdrawal from Korengal Valley a ‘Taliban propaganda coup’
The US military’s withdrawal from the Valley of Death sends the wrong signals to the Afghan people as preparations for further operations begin in the south, US military officers said. Al Qaeda has also been given a new sanctuary.
United States
Are pirate ransoms legal? Confusion over US order
→
Journalist in war ponders troubling questions
Afghanistan
Karzai to visit Washington in May: US
Iran
It may be too late to stop Iran getting nuclear bomb, says former US defence official
Afghanistan
Afghanistan – A firsthand look at firefights in Marja
Iran
Iran mutes a chorus of voices for reform
Iran
A US Defense Department report said Iran may be able to hit the United States with an ICBM by 2015. Iran began work on a new nuclear enrichment site. Iran’s foreign minister said that the proposed nuclear fuel swap is a chance to build trust with the West.
Iran
Popular Iranian support wanes for nuclear programme
Indonesia
Indonesia upholds controversial blasphemy law
United States
Cyberattack on Google said to hit password system
Pakistan
A suicide bomber killed 23 Pakistanis at a bazaar in Peshawar; a child was killed in a bombing at a school in Peshawar. The Taliban bombed two NATO fuel tankers in Khyber. Security forces detained 20 suspected terrorists in Quetta.
Iraq
Iraqi and US forces killed Abu Ayyub al Masri and Abu Omar al Baghdadi, the top two leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq, and two aides, and detained 16 others. Iraqi forces detained two al Qaeda operatives in a separate raid. Insurgents killed two Iraqis in a bombing in Baqubah.
Suicide bomber kills 23 in Peshawar
The blast took place in a bazaar as an Islamist political party carried out a protest. The suicide attack is the fourth in four days.
Yemen
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula denied media reports that it is relocating its leaders and fighters to Somalia. The government reportedly released Arif Mujali, an al Qaeda operative involved in the Limburg oil tanker bombing. Nasser al Bahri, Osama bin Laden’s former bodyguard, was denied a visa to visit France.
Iraq
Iraqi security forces keep US drawdown on track
Al Qaeda in Iraq
Iraqi and US troops killed Abu Ayyub al Masri and Abu Omar al Baghdadi, al Qaeda in Iraq’s top two leaders, during raids in the Thar Thar region. Also killed were a top aide to al Masri and Baghdadi’s son. Sixteen associates were detained.
Afghanistan
The Taliban killed three children during a bombing that targeted the home of an ally of Hamid Karzai. Afghan forces killed 13 Taliban fighters in Ghazni and detained nine suspected suicide bombers in Kabul. An ISAF soldier was killed in an explosion at a base in Kabul.
US and Iraqi forces kill Al Masri and Baghdadi, al Qaeda in Iraq’s top two leaders
Abu Ayyub al Masri and Abu Omar al Baghdadi were killed during raids in the Thar Thar region. Also killed were a top aide to al Masri and Baghdadi’s son.
Taliban demand prisoner exchange for two ex-ISI officers
The Taiban want Mullah Kabir and Mansour Dadullah released in exchange for Colonel Imam and Khalid Khawaja. A US official described the situation as a “farce.”
United States
White House quietly courts Muslims in US