Syria
Syria authorities target children, says UN rights chief
Monthly Archives: March 2012
Muslim Brotherhood
Analysis: Arab revolts bring Islamist regional vision closer
Afghanistan
NATO: Afghans to take lead in majority of country
9/11 plotter spotted in Mir Ali
Ahmed Siddiqui said he met Said Bahaji, a fellow German who was a member of the 9/11 Hamburg Cell, in the terrorist haven in Pakistan’s Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan.
Pakistan
Pakistan – In post-insurgency Swat, women forced to wear the pants in the family
Afghanistan
UN refugee agency reports big rise in asylum claims
Germany
Ahmad Wali Siddiqui, the German-Afghan al Qaeda operative whose capture in Kabul disrupted planned terror attacks in Europe, told a court that in 2010 he met with Younis al Mauretani and Said Bahaji in Mir Ali, Pakistan; Bahaji is an al Qaeda propagandist who helped facilitate the 9/11 attacks. Siddiqui also said he met the […]
Norway
The day after being sentenced to prison for making death threats, Ansar al Islam founder Mullah Krekar was arrested for issuing more threats. His latest targets reportedly include Norwegian interests abroad, police officers, and a former prime minister.
Spain
Police arrested “M.H.A.”, a key al Qaeda operative, in Valencia. “He was known in the heart of the terrorist organization as ‘al Qaeda’s librarian’,” the interior minister said. The suspect worked with al Qaeda affiliates AQAP and AQIM and also recruited and sent extremists to Afghanistan.
Italy
Authorities in northeastern Italy arrested 13 Kurds with links to a Kurdistan Workers’ Party cell suspected of extorting funds from other Kurds for insurgent activities. Investigators from Venice, Rome, Padua, Udine, Modena, and Pesaro had been tracking the cell.
Iraq
Obama’s Over-Hasty Withdrawal: Iraq Is Neither Sovereign, Stable nor Self-Reliant
Afghanistan
Security forces killed the top IMU commander in Afghanistan and several Taliban fighters and commanders. The Taliban killed an ISAF soldier in the south and are ejecting Afghans from their homes in Nuristan. HIG suspended peace talks with the government.
Egypt
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood faces sharp internal divisions over presidential race
Iraq
Security forces arrested seven al Qaeda in Iraq fighters in Suwaira in Wasit province. The government approved the payment of $560 million from oil companies to the Kurdish Regional Government.
Syria
The Syrian government accepted a peace plan sponsored by the UN and the Arab League. Unlike previous attempts, this plan has the backing of Russia and China. Nevertheless, heavy fighting continued. The UN said 9,000 have died so far.
Yemen
Security forces arrested six Somalis who are thought to be members of Shabaab during a raid in Zinjibar. Unknown “gunmen” attacked a prison in Aden as riots inside the jail were underway.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Behind militia lines in Jaar, Yemen
Somalia
The Central Investigations Department said it arrested a British passport holder at Mogadishu airport. The Brit was attempting to join Shabaab in Kismayo. The European Union extended its counter-piracy mission up until December 2014.
Nigeria
Security forces detained five men, including a Mauritanian, who are suspected of having ties to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb; the men are linked to the kidnapping of a German. Boko Haram fighters killed two retired prison officers in Maiduguri; one of the men is reportedly the father of Abul Qaqa, the group’s spokesman.
Pakistan
Forced Religious Conversions Hike Pakistan Minorities’ Fears
Afghanistan
Obama concedes strains between US, Pakistan
Al Qaeda
Al-Jazeera opts not to air Merah shootings video
Egypt
Liberals, Islamists tussle over Egypt constitution
ISAF, Afghan forces kill top IMU commander in north
Makhdum Nusrat, “the senior Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan leader in Afghanistan,” was killed along with several IMU fighters during a raid in Faryab.
Afghanistan
Pakistan – Afghan Taliban say US must rebuild trust for talks
Al Qaeda
France launches hunt for Islamic extremists after attacks
United States
Khalifa Ali Al-Akili, a.k.a. James Marvin Thomas Jr., was arrested on a weapons charge on March 15. According to an affidavit, the Pittsburgh resident told an FBI informant he planned to move to Pakistan and “wanted to strap on a bomb” and die a martyr. Al-Akili claimed the FBI had been trying to “set him […]
Afghanistan
US and Pakistan bargain over CIA drones
Afghanistan
An Afghan soldier killed two British troops in Helmand, and an Afghan Local Policeman killed an ISAF solider in the east. The Taliban killed two senior security officials in Takhar and an Italian soldier in Farah. A suicide bomber killed only himself in Uruzgan.
Al Qaeda
Pakistan: Court due to charge bin Laden family