Iraq
An Army brigadier was killed in an IED attack in Mosul. Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed credit for a series of bombings in June that targeted and killed scores of Shia worshippers.
Monthly Archives: July 2012
United States
Ibrahim al-Qosi, a Guantanamo detainee and former cook for Osama bin Laden, was released to his native Sudan. Qosi, who also served al Qaeda as a logistician and bookkeeper, admitted to terror charges in a plea deal in 2010.
Yemen
A suicide bomber killed more than 20 people in an attack that targeted police cadets outside of a training center in Sana’a. The Yemeni military killed a senior Southern Movement leader in Aden.
About that NATO supply line deal …
While the Obama administration has hailed the reopening of NATO’s supply lines into Afghanistan as a major success, the prevailing dynamic of the deal is Pakistan’s continuing duality in supporting the US’s enemies while taking its money to fight them.
Kenya
Sheikh Aboud Rogo, Abubakar Sharif, and Omar Awadh, three Kenyans designated by the US as Shabaab supporters, have hired a lawyer to refute the claims. The lawyer said the three men fear being the target of US drones.
Somalia
African Union and Somali troops took control of Lanta‐Buro, a village west of Mogadishu that hosted a Shabaab training camp. Shabaab claimed it killed eight Kenyan troops in an ambush in Jower Jubba and three Burundi soldiers in a sniper attack in Lafoole. Somali troops looted food aid in Afgoye.
Suicide bomber kills 20 police cadets in Yemeni capital
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has carried out two major suicide attacks in the Yemeni capital since mid-May; both targeted security forces.
Sweden
Prosecutors said circumstantial evidence links Glasgow resident Nasserdine Menni to Stockholm suicide bomber Taimour Abdulwahab, including the fact they shared an email account with password “9/11.” Menni is being tried in a Glasgow court on charges of conspiracy and providing financial support for terrorism.
United Kingdom
The UK military, which is already providing 13,500 troops for security services during the Olympic Games, has been asked to provide an additional 3,500 troops. Ministers fear that the private security company contracted for the event will not have sufficient staff. Organizers have realized that initial security estimates were inadequate.
Afghanistan
New Great Game Being Played In Afghanistan, Without The US
United States
Pentagon to Set Up Database on Military Awards
Al Qaeda
Would Al Qaeda’s Wildfire ‘Ember Bomb’ Really Work?
Al Qaeda
Destroying Timbuktu: The Jihadist who Inspires the Demolition of the Shrines
Boko Haram
After attacks, Kenyan Muslims guard Christian churches
Afghanistan
Torkham border still bare of NATO supplies
United States
Rezwan Ferdaus, a Muslim American with a degree in physics, will plead guilty to terror charges in exchange for a reduced sentence. Ferdaus was arrested last fall by federal agents posing as al Qaeda operatives as he plotted to use model airplanes packed with explosives to bomb the US Capitol and the Pentagon.
Egypt
Egyptian parliament meets amid power struggle
Afghanistan
Security forces captured two IMU leaders in Kunduz and killed 28 Taliban fighters. The Taliban killed three policemen in Nimroz and denied President Karzai’s claim that the group joined a commission to discuss peace talks.
Syria
After discussing a new peace initiative with President Assad, UN envoy Kofi Annan continued to Iran where he said Iran “must be part of the solution.” He also met with Prime Minister Maliki in Iraq. Russia proposed hosting new talks and said it would sell no new weapons to Syria until the situation in the […]
Yemen
Two al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters who escaped from a prison in Hudiayah were recaptured in Dhale. Soldiers freed a brigade commander who failed to pay his troops.
Kenya
Police said that two Iranian Qods Force members arrested June 19 were planning attacks in Kenya. They face terror charges for shipping over 200 pounds of RDX to Kenya; 33 pounds have been found. The suspects are said to have “a vast network in the country meant to execute explosive attacks….”
Senior al Qaeda ideologue freed in Mauritania
Abu Hafs al Mauritani, a senior al Qaeda ideologue, has been set free in Mauritania. Until earlier this year, Abu Hafs was held under a loose form of house arrest in Iran. His sudden extradition to Mauritania and subsequent freedom worries some US intelligence officials.
Al Qaeda
Northern Mali: A dying land
Hezbollah
In Lebanon, a hard-line Sunni cleric gives voice to deep sectarian tensions
Nigeria
The al Qaeda-linked Boko Haram claimed the recent attacks on Christian villages near Jos that killed at least 58 people, saying that Christians “will not know peace again” until they accept Islam. Blame had initially fallen on Muslim herdsmen, and there is speculation that Boko Haram may have “acted with local communities.”
Special operations forces capture 2 IMU leaders in Afghan north
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan leaders are Afghan nationals who were involved in suicide operations in Kunduz.
Mali
UNICEF accused Islamist groups in Mali of recruiting and training young boys and sexually abusing young girls. Ansar Dine Islamists lashed two men 80 times each for being drunk, and destroyed two ancient tombs in Timbuktu.
Al Qaeda
US urged to recruit master hackers to wage cyber war on al-Qaida
United Kingdom
Some east Londoners lost their bid to block the siting of missile defenses nearby during the Olympics. Authorities have accused three terror suspects of planning to attack an English Defense League march; three more suspects in the investigation were arrested today.
Moro Islamic Liberation Front
Filipino rebels say talks at ‘make or break’ stage