United Kingdom
UK – Counter-terrorism projects worth 1.2m pounds face axe as part of end to multiculturalism
Monthly Archives: February 2011
Afghanistan
The Taliban killed two policemen and three civilians in attacks in Uruzgan and Zabul. Security forces captured several Haqqani Network fighters in Khost. For three years, a Taliban leader was directing attacks in Kabul from Pul-e-Charkhi prison.
Al Qaeda
Commander says rule of law needed to stop Taliban
Iraq
Security forces arrested five al Qaeda in Iraq operatives in Diyala and Baghdad, and two wanted men in Kirkuk. Four Awakening fighters were killed during clashes between Arabs and Turcomans in Kirkuk.
Afghanistan
Afghan government says prisoner directed attacks
Yemen
The US State Department said budget cuts will hurt Yemen’s fight against al Qaeda. More than 3,000 Yemenis held protests against the Saleh regime in Sana’a. Two soldiers were kidnapped by southern separatists in Lahj.
Mauritania
Two al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb fighters who were detained while trying to carry out a bombing in the capital denounced the terror group on national TV. The AQIM fighters claimed they were targeting the French embassy and military headquarters.
Pakistan
The failure of Pakistan’s ‘clear and hold’ strategy
Afghanistan
NATO Afghan civilian representative to be replaced
Somalia
Eleven people were killed in fighting between Shabaab and Somali forces in Mogadishu. The prime minister said the military should prepare for an offensive to wipe out Shabaab. More than 15 Somaliland troops defected to Puntland after a “clan massacre” that killed 87 people.
Pakistan
Pakistan – President swears in first batch of new cabinet
Algeria
Hosni Mubarak resigns: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hails ‘a new Middle East’
Egypt
Mubarak resigns, delegates affairs to Army
Egypt
Hosni Mubarak has resigned his presidency and has passed power to the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces. Vice President Omar Suleiman announced Mubarak’s resignation on national TV.
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan tape highlights foreign fighters, operations against Pakistani military
A recently released videotape glorifies IMU fighters from Europe, North Africa, and Central Asia; lauds a Pakistani Taliban commander; and shows footage of IMU operations in South Waziristan.
Islamic Jihad Group operative captured in Afghan north
The IJG facilitator “is responsible for coordinating the movement of foreign fighters from Iran and Pakistan into Afghanistan,” ISAF stated.
Caucasus
Defection reveals foreigners’ role in Somali war
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Finance: The value of Islamic finance is expected to surge
Afghanistan
Afghan proposal would clamp down on women’s shelters
Al Qaeda
Longtime spy chief now atop Egyptian pyramid
United Nations
UN agency disavows video venerating terrorist
Sweden
Swedish intelligence confirmed that the suicide bomber who detonated his vest in downtown Stockholm on Dec. 11 was Taimour Abdulwahab, a Swedish citizen who lived in the UK. Authorities said the bomber appears to have acted alone, but did not rule out the possibility he had accomplices.
Pakistan
A teenage suicide bomber killed 31 Pakistani Army recruits at a military base in Mardan; the Taliban claimed the attack. The military successfully test-fired a cruise missile capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
Afghanistan
A suicide bomber killed seven people, including the district governor of Chardara, in Kunduz. Security forces killed 15 Taliban fighters in Kunar and a weapons facilitator in Wardak, and detained several Haqqani Network, Islamic Jihad Union, and Taliban fighters in Balkh, Ghazni, Khost, Nangarhar, and Kabul.
Yemen
A Yemeni security official denied reports that a US Predator crashed outside of Lauder in Abyan province. US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen poses one of the greatest threats to the US.
Iraq
Insurgents killed six Iraqis in a car bombing in Dujail in Salahadin province. Security forces detained 28 wanted men in Basrah and seven members of an al Qaeda cell in Karbala.
Somalia
Eighty-seven people were killed during fighting between Somaliland forces and local clans in Kalshale village in Puntland. Three people were killed in Mogadishu during fighting between Shabaab fighters and Somali and African Union forces.
Egypt
President Hosni Mubarak addressed the nation and said he has no intentions of stepping down until elections are held in September. His statements contradicted multiple leaks that claimed he would leave office and had fled the country.
Bad linguists shape outcomes, raise blood pressure
Click the image to watch. Earlier today I linked a video shot by a Guardian reporter covering soldiers with the 173rd Airborne as they attempt counterinsurgency in a difficult area of Afghanistan. The reporter’s narration is a bit overwrought, as are the snippets of Hopalong Cassidy background music littering the edit. But the video ably […]
Unrest a virus?
New protests in Iraq offer more context around Maliki’s recent statements advocating a constitutional amendment that would limit the prime minister to two terms: Hundreds of lawyers took to the streets across Iraq on Thursday to protest against widespread corruption and unemployment in demonstrations inspired by anti-government uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. The demonstrations in […]