Monthly Archives: May 2012

Algeria

| May 24, 2012

Security forces intercepted a Jeep near the Libyan border that was carrying five suspected members of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, along with weapons including antitank missiles and submachine guns. In the ensuing gunbattle, three militants were killed, two were captured, and documents belonging to AQIM leadership were confiscated.

United States

| May 24, 2012

The Obama administration is working on a plan to monitor the flow of weapons to Syrian rebels from Arab states. A senior US intelligence official said that al Qaeda has an operational capability in Syria. The US, which is providing nonlethal aid to the Syrian opposition, is concerned that military assistance could fall into the […]

US drones kill 10 in Mir Ali strike

| May 24, 2012

The strike is the second in two days and targeted a compound in an area of North Waziristan known to serve as a nexus for al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other jihadist groups.

Pakistan

| May 23, 2012

A Pakistani court sentenced the doctor who helped the CIA find and kill Osama bin Laden to 33 years in prison. US drones killed four “militants” in North Waziristan. The Pakistani Air Force killed 12 Taliban fighters in strikes in Arakzai.

Only in Pakistan…

| May 23, 2012

…can the man who helped the US kill Osama bin Laden get 33 years in prison, while terrorists like Hafiz Saeed walk free.

Afghanistan

| May 23, 2012

Security forces killed the Taliban’s deputy shadow governor for Nuristan. The Taliban killed an ISAF soldier in the south. Two foreign aid workers and three Afghans were kidnapped in Badakhshan. More than 120 schoolgirls were poisoned in Takhar.

Iran

| May 23, 2012

A conference in Baghdad began between Iran and the six powers over Iran’s nuclear program. Both sides put forward proposals addressing allegations that Iran was trying to manufacture nuclear weapons. Israel’s defense minister warned against giving concessions.

Iraq

| May 23, 2012

Insurgents killed three Lebanese Shia pilgrims in Ramadi, three civilians in Baqubah, and two policemen in Kirkuk. The central government informed Turkey that it required permission to build a pipeline to move oil from Kurdistan.

Egypt

| May 23, 2012

Egypt presidential face-off: Islamists vs. ‘regime remnants’

Yemen

| May 23, 2012

Twenty-two al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters and seven Yemeni soldiers were killed in fighting in Zinjibar, Jaar, and Bajidar in Abyan province. A Yemeni newspaper claimed that the AQAP suicide bomber who struck in Sana’a was freed from a prison.

Somalia

| May 23, 2012

Somali and African Union troops are advancing on Afgoye, and are currently fighting Shabaab forces in Elasha-Biyaha. Shabaab claimed it assassinated the African Union’s “head of operations” for the Daynille district in Mogadishu.

Egypt

| May 23, 2012

Egyptians voted in their first free presidential elections. Candidates include Islamists, secularists, revolutionaries, and Mubarak-era ministers.

Mali

| May 23, 2012

Mali’s interim president, 70-year-old Dioncounda Traore, has gone to France for medical treatment following his beating by a crowd of protesters in collusion with the military two days ago. His departure leaves a power vacuum in the country, which suffered a military coup in March.

Al Qaeda

| May 23, 2012

Air Al Qaeda: Are Latin America’s drug cartels giving Al Qaeda a lift?

Norway

| May 23, 2012

An Oslo court extended the detention of radical cleric Mullah Krekar for another eight weeks. His appeal against a five-year prison sentence for making death threats will be heard this fall.