Suspected Boko Haram fighters killed 20 Christians at a town hall in Mubi, and “gunmen” opened fire in a church in Gombe, killing six Christian worshippers. Thousands of people attacked and wounded more than 50 Muslims in Sapale in protest of Boko Haram attacks in the north.
The Taliban killed three ISAF soldiers in an IED attack in the south. President Karzai said that the US must transfer the Parwan detention facility to Afghan control as soon as possible.
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Today’s attack is similar to a series of suicide and car bombings in Baghdad that took place on Dec. 22, 2011.
The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan executed 15 Frontier Corps soldiers who were captured late last month in Tank, and freed 17 hostages who crossed the border from Afghanistan. Security forces arrested a Taliban commander and three fighters who are accused of conducting attacks in Karachi.
Attacks against Shia pilgrims before the Arbaeen holiday have killed over 60 civilians, the deadliest being a suicide attack against a security checkpoint that killed 44 and wounded dozens more in Nasiriya. Qais Qazali, the notorious leader of the Shia death squad Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, is prepared to disarm and join the political process.
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Turkey’s prime minister vowed to continue the fight against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party but acknowledged the need to “learn lessons” from the airstrike in northern Iraq that killed 35 villagers. The National Intelligence Organization denied it shared intelligence with the Turkish General Staff that led to the errant airstrike.
Yemeni forces attacked the northeastern outskirts of Zinjibar with ground troops and warplanes, killing six al Qaeda-linked Partisans of Sharia fighters. Four Yemeni soldiers were killed and 10 others were wounded in the battle. Mohammed Miftah has formed a political party to represent Yemen’s Shia rebels.
The terror group was formed in 2007 and operates under the aegis of al Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq.
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Ansar al Islam, an al Qaeda-linked terror group based in northern Iraq, named Abu Hashim Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman al Ibrahim as its new emir.
Boko Haram claimed responsibility for two bombings in Maiduguri and Damaturu; no casualties were reported. Archbishop John Olurunfemi Onaiyekan denounced Boko Haram as “terrorists who cause problems for anyone in Nigeria who stands in their way,” and criticized media reports that depict the ongoing violence as a civil war between Muslims and Christians.
The 15 troops were captured on Dec. 22 after the Taliban overran a fort in Tank. The execution was carried out to avenge the death of a senior Taliban leader who was killed in Khyber last weekend.
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Five al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters and two Yemeni solders were killed during fighting near Zinjibar. Five people were killed during fighting among forces loyal to Major General Ali Mohsen al Ahmar.
Kenyan forces killed a Shabaab commander known as Sheikh Hassan Hussein and two fighters during an assault on Fafadun. One Kenyan soldier was killed during the fighting.
Boko Haram fighters killed a girl and overran a police station in Jigawa. Boko Haram killed three civilians during attacks in Damaturu and Maiduguri.