The Pakistani Taliban emir is seen directing the execution of Colonel Imam on videotape released to the Pakistani press. The tape confirms that Hakeemullah was not killed in an early October 2010 Predator strike.
Gunmen killed four tourists from Moscow in an attack in the village of Zayukovo in Kabardino-Balkaria. Gunmen also killed a village official in the village of Hasanya, also in Kabardino-Balkaria.
A Taliban suicide assault team killed 18 Afghans during an attack on a bank in Jalalabad. The Taliban killed two ISAF soldiers in attacks in the south and the east. Security forces killed and captured several Taliban fighters in Helmand and Kandahar.
A seven-man Taliban suicide team hit the Jalalabad branch of the Kabul Bank as police were queued to collect their pay. The attack is the latest in Afghanistan’s major cities.
US-Taliban talks
UK – Tablighi Jamaat mosque accused of encouraging Muslim isolationism
Government supporters killed one protester at Sana’a University. President Saleh accused the Socialist Party of carrying out “foreign agendas.” The chief of staff of Brigade 111 survived an al Qaeda assassination attempt in Abyan.
UK – Students on frontline in fight against hate preachers
New party shows deep political change in new Egypt
Palestinians seek global recognition through South America
Tunisian fundamentalists burn down brothels
UN nuclear body may highlight Iran military concerns
Egypt will allow two Iranian warships to use the Suez Canal. Protests against the government are planned for Sunday. Iran hanged six men accused of smuggling drugs.
FATA’s interior secretary said that military operations in Kurram, Bajaur, and Mohmand have ended in success. The Taliban killed a civilian in Bannu, bombed a school and a stadium in Khyber, and confirmed they executed Colonel Imam.
Human Rights Watch claimed that security forces and government-supported militias killed 84 people in Benghazi over the past three days; 35 people are said to have been killed on Friday. The government is blocking Internet and news channels.
Shabaab held a ceremony for hundreds of fighters who completed their military training. Pirates kidnapped four Americans. A US court sentenced a pirate to 33 years in jail.
Australia has limited ability to deploy its defense forces overseas
Afghanistan – Radio Azadi’s SMS service hits 100,000 subscribers
Clinton sees Pak-US ties in limbo; urges reforms
Pak mulls ‘blood money’ deal to let off Davis, buy peace with US
Russia opposes long-term US bases in Afghanistan
WikiLeaks: Bahrain opposition ‘received training from Hizbollah’
Ayman al Zawahiri released a tape on jihadi forums that condemned former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The tape was produced more than one week prior to Mubarak’s resignation.
Security forces killed more than 30 Taliban fighters in Kunar and detained several Taliban and Haqqani Network commanders and fighters in Ghazni, Zabul, and Khost. A suicide bomber killed nine Afghans in Khost. The Taliban killed three police in Nangarhar. A man dressed in an Afghan Army uniform killed three German soldiers in Baghlan.
Insurgents killed three people in a bombing in Mosul. Security forces detained 16 wanted men in Diyala and a Naqshabandiya leader behind yesterday’s deadly bombing in Miqdadiyah.
Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti said that a fatwa attributed to the Permanent Committee for Religious Research and Ifta and distributed on ihadist forums is a forgery. The fatwa praised Osama bin Laden and and al Qaeda and supported their goal to establish a caliphate.
Goverment forces cracked down on anti-government protesters throughout the country. Two protesters were killed in Aden, and two more were killed in Taiz.
According to the IAEA, Iran continues to upgrade its ability to enrich uranium ore into weapons-grade material. A senior ayatollah called for Iranian opposition leaders to be jailed.
Security forces again opened fire on protesters in the eastern city of Benghazi. Unconfirmed reports indicate that 15 people were killed during the clashes.
Troops opened fire on protesters in Manama; 66 people were wounded. The crown prince went on national TV to say it is “time for dialogue, not fighting.”