Afghanistan
Rightsize military, World Bank asks Kabul
Monthly Archives: March 2012
Afghanistan
US Permanent Bases Not Part of US-Afghan Pact: Faizi
Hezbollah
New Hezbollah arms, training jeopardize Israel’s aerial supremacy: report
Al Qaeda
What War and Militancy Left Behind: Swat Valley Struggles Back To Its Feet
Egypt
A court freed Ayman al Zawahiri’s brother, Mohammed, and five others from prison. Mohammed, a member of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, has been convicted of involvement in the assassination of President Sadat and plotting against the state.
United States
US accelerating cyberweapon research
Pakistan
Drones at Issue as Pakistan Tries to Mend US Ties
Yemen
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has moved a female Swiss hostage from Hudiyah to their stronghold in Abyan province. AQAP is demanding a $1.2 million ransom to secure her release.
Somalia
Shabaab killed six people in a mortar attack on the presidential palace in Mogadishu. Shabaab also claimed it killed several Kenyan troops in an ambush in the south. Shabaab is rumored to have arrested Omar Hammami.
Nigeria
Talks between the government and Boko Haram have stalled after details of the negotiations were leaked to the press. The head of the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria, who served as the mediator between the two, has resigned and blamed the government for talking to the press.
Indonesia
Detachment 88 killed five “Islamic extremist terrorists” who were plotting to bomb a bar, a bank, and a jeweler’s shop in Bali. The five terrorists were gunned down at a hotel; police found weapons but did not discover explosives.
Germany
The trial began of Ahmad Wali Siddiqui, a German-Afghan citizen charged with membership in both al Qaeda and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. Statements by Siddiqui after his capture in Afghanistan in July 2010 led to the disruption of an al Qaeda plot to conduct Mumbai-type attacks in Britain, France, and Germany.
France
A gunman on a scooter shot “at least” four people outside a Jewish school in Toulouse, killing three children and an adult. Authorities believe the shootings are linked to the recent killings of three French soldiers nearby. President Sarkozy suspended his election campaign in reaction to the attacks.
Syria
A car bomb exploded near a security building in the northern city of Aleppo. The supply of black market weapons to rebels has been depleted. Iraq said it would not allow Iran to transit weapons to Syria.
‘Missiles from the sea’ kill 16 AQAP fighters in Zinjibar
The Yemeni Navy does not have the capacity to launch such a strike.
Pakistan
Pakistan – HRCP alarmed over deteriorating state of human rights
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Sixteen al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in Zinjibar were killed in a possible US airstrike. AQAP killed an American teacher in Taiz.
US withdrawal from Afghanistan: the plan for 2012, 2013, and 2014
In June 2011, President Obama announced the withdrawal of US military forces from Afghanistan, with the goal of being substantially out of the country by the end 2014. The plan for getting there is becoming clearer.
Afghanistan
US-Afghan divide seen in perceptions of village massacre
United States
How to spot a terrorist
Afghanistan
Afghanistan – Exclusive Interview with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergi Lavrov
Iran
Iran Intelligence Crisis Showed Difficulty of Assessing Nuclear Data
Afghanistan
Russia Demands NATO Not Leave Afghanistan Unstable
Afghanistan
Taliban not keen on peace parleys: Abdullah
Iran
In Israel, prospect of war with Iran raises questions about home-front defense
Iraq
Sadrists in Iraq Free American Who Says He Was Kidnapped
Egypt
Bedouin in Egypt’s Sinai ‘end siege of monitor camp’
Iran
UK says Iran blocking website in censorship battle
Russia
Russia’s foreign minister said that NATO’s forces should remain in Afghanistan until they have fulfilled their mandate. He also said Russia was concerned about the spread of the insurgency from the Afghan north into Central Asia.
Iran
Oman warns on military confrontation with Iran