Afghanistan
A suicide bomber killed the deputy governor of Ghazni and five others. Security forces killed and captured several Taliban and Haqqani Network members in Kandahar, Helmand, and Khost, Paktika.
Monthly Archives: September 2010
Iran
Iran struggling to contain ‘foreign-made’ ‘Stuxnet’ computer virus
Al Qaeda
Reports from Pakistan indicate that Sheikh Fateh al Masri, al Qaeda’s leader for Pakistan and Afghanistan, was killed in a Sept. 25 Predator strike in Datta Khel in North Waziristan. The report is unconfirmed.
Caucasus
Chechnya coerces women on dress, activists say
Iraq
Insurgent group in Iraq, declared tamed, roars
US kills al Qaeda’s leader for Afghanistan and Pakistan in Predator strike: Report
Sheikh Fateh al Masri, the leader of Qaedat al Jihad fi Khorasan, is thought to have been killed in the Sept. 25 strike in Datta Khel in North Waziristan. The reports of his death are unconfirmed.
US Predators kill 4 ‘militants’ in South Waziristan
The strike is the third in South Waziristan this month, and took place in territory controlled by Mullah Nazir.
Iran
Iranian authorities announced that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani will be hanged instead of stoned. Iranian infrastructure has been hit hard by the Stuxnet computer worm. The IRGC received the first shipment of military seaplanes.
Afghanistan
Suicide bomb kills Afghan vice-governor, five others
Russia
Security forces captured Issa Lokhanovich Khashagulgov, a leader of the Caucasus Emirate in Ingushetia. Kavkaz Center, the propaganda arm of the Caucasus Emirate, angrily responded to a fatwa issued by Sheikh Qaradawi that supported Chechen President Kadyrov.
Tajikistan
Security forces killed Rakhmiddin Azizov, one of 25 terrorists who escaped from prison in Dushande in August, during a clash in Faizabad. Azizov reportedly stabbed two prison guards during the escape.
The Taliban
The Afghan Taliban offered to free a British woman aid worker in exchange for the release of al Qaeda operative Aafia Siddiqui, who was sentenced to 86 years in prison by a US court. General Petraeus said senior Taliban leaders are interested in reconciliation with the Afghan government.
Recent Predator strikes aimed at al Qaeda’s external operations network
For a long time, we here at The Long War Journal have noted that the US Predator air campaign in Pakistan has aimed not only at eliminating al Qaeda and Taliban senior leadership based in Pakistan, but has also focused, as a primary goal, on suppressing al Qaeda’s external operations. This LWJ report, from Sept. […]
Pakistan
Pakistan protested hot pursuit raids by NATO forces into the tribal areas. The US killed four Taliban fighters in a Predator strike in North Waziristan. The Pakistani military killed six Taliban fighters in Arakzai.
Caucasus
Russia: The "slaughterhouse" of Dagestan is not Chechnya
Pakistan
CIA steps up missile strikes in Pakistan
Pakistan
CIA steps up drone attacks in Pakistan to thwart Taliban
Iraq
Iraq – Mysterious killings continue to shake Baghdad
Taliban
Taliban warns Bangladesh against Afghanistan deployment
Iraq
Insurgents killed a policeman in Baghdad and a physician in Kirkuk. Security forces detained eight wanted men in Basrah. Iraq’s foreign minister wants the US to play an active role in settling the deadlock over choosing the next prime minister.
Afghanistan
US forces killed 10 Haqqani Network fighters in Khost along the Pakistani border. Security forces killed and captured several Taliban and Haqqani Network members in Khost, Pakitka, Zabul, Ghazni, and Helmand. The Taliban killed a Polish soldier and denied kidnapping a British woman in Kunar.
Iraq
Iraq Shi’ites miss deadline on government leader
Somalia
Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca said some top Somali officials are members of Shabaab. The US military denied its helicopters carried out a strike on a Shabaab safehouse in the town of Merca yesterday. The US has announced it would improve ties with the semi-autonomous regions of Puntland and Somaliland.
Critical questions regarding the role of foreign fighters in Shabaab
Earlier today I served as a panelist at the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s annual conference on foreign fighters, discussing the phenomenon in Somalia. The panel discussion was based around Ambassador (ret.) David Shinn’s forthcoming paper on foreign fighters in Somalia; since it is still a work in progress, the paper is not yet available online. […]
Afghanistan
Petraeus says Taliban have reached out to Karzai
ISAF helos engage Haqqani Network fighters on the Pakistani border
ISAF would not confirm its attack helicopters pursued the Haqqani Network into Pakistani territory today, as happened twice over the weekend. More than 10 Haqqani Network fighters were reported killed in today’s clash.
United States
Obama’s Wars, part 1: Military thwarted president seeking choice in Afghanistan
United Kingdom
Barack Obama’s Afghanistan withdrawal deadline ‘overstated’ says top British general
Saudi Arabia
The interior minister claimed that Saudi authorities have stopped 230 terror attacks in the country since 2003. “Saudi Arabia is tackling terrorism with all its might and authorities have so far been successful in foiling 230 of the 240 terrorist attempts,” Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz said.
Hezbollah
A Hezbollah member of parliament said the terror group would defend itself against the UN tribunal investigating the death of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. “There will be no concessions when it comes to defending ourselves or facing false accusations and we have the absolute right to use what we see appropriate in that regard,” […]