Iran
Iran’s atomic project getting harder to foresee: Barak
Monthly Archives: August 2012
Iraq
Insurgents killed 13 Iraqis in a bombing in Tanmiyah, and a lawyer, his wife, and five sons in a shooting in Baghdad. Oil production has risen to three million barrels a day, the highest rate since 2002.
Syria
A day after government forces launched a major assault in Aleppo, rebel forces were forced back from the district of Salaheddine. Rebel commanders said they were preparing to counterattack.
Yemen
Security forces arrested four al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters as they were traveling to Aden. The military identified the foreign AQAP fighters killed in a drone strike in Baydah two days ago. The US has increased aid to Yemen to $337 million.
Egypt
Gunmen attacked a police station in North Sinai. Egypt sent a large convoy of military reinforcements to the area to drive out Islamist militants blamed for killing 16 border guards. Egypt’s parliament named 50 new editors for state-owned newspapers, including a number with Islamist leanings.
Somalia
Kenyan aircraft struck a Shabaab base in the village of Birta-Dheer north of Kismayo. Uganda has deployed elements of its Air Force to Somalia for an upcoming offensive to retake Kismayo. Somali troops killed two people after opening fire at a rally of the former prime minister.
Morocco
Sahel security threats worry Moroccans
Mali
Islamists from the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa cut off the hand of a suspected thief in Asongo, despite local protests. “Sharia demands it,” the militant leader said. Mali’s weak central government condemned the amputation as “a vile act” and said military intervention was inevitable.
Turkey
Suspected PKK militants ambushed a military bus in Izmir province on the Aegean coast, killing one soldier and wounding at least 11 other people. Turkish officials accuse the Assad government in Syria of arming the PKK.
Germany
Germany’s intelligence agency estimates that 38,000 of the country’s four million Muslims are potential extremists, including about 50 Salafist preachers who are under surveillance. Authorities are debating what to do about Sami A., an al Qaeda-linked preacher in Germany with a large following.
India
Pakistan swelling nuclear arsenal to counter India, says US Congressional report
Pakistan
TTP threaten Imran Khan over Waziristan march
Afghanistan
Pakistan – 20 NATO containers cross Chaman border
No need for joint North Waziristan operation, says Pakistani military, as it is underway
A Pakistani military official claimed that operation “Tight Screw” is putting the “squeeze” on the Haqqani Network and other terror groups in North Waziristan.
Afghanistan
The Taliban killed three ISAF soldiers and a civilian in a suicide attack in Kunar, and five civilians in an IED attack in Farah. Ten Taliban fighters and a French soldier were killed in a clash in Kapisa. The UN said that targeted killings of government officials have risen by 53 percent.
Syria
Government troops are pushing against rebel strongholds in Aleppo. The US has not ruled out the idea of a no-fly zone over rebel-held areas. Some rebel leaders signed a “battlefield code of conduct”; others refused to sign or said it was not binding.
Yemen
The leader of a pro-government militia in Abyan escaped an assassination attempt. Security forces detained seven al Qaeda operatives, including a Somali, in Jaar, and seized more than 20 suicide vests in a shop in Sana’a.
Egypt
After years of neglect and post-Mubarak security void, Islamic extremism grows in Sinai
Muslim Brotherhood
Islamist-led upper house names new chief editors for Egypt’s state-owned newspapers
Afghanistan
5,000 Afghan ‘militants’ have surrendered – but are they real?
Germany
The Shadowy World of the Islamic Gülen Movement
Afghanistan
Afghanistan – Taliban forcing residents into staging protests
Afghanistan
Afghanistan – Upheaval at Defense, Interior Ministries May Give Boost to Insurgents
The Long View: The Taliban Express
A monthly cartoon that tackles the issues of the war. This month’s topic: NATO’s supply lines from Pakistan to Afghanistan.
Taliban suicide bombers kill 3 ISAF troops in Kunar
The pair of suicide bombers hit Western soldiers as they were going to a meeting of the provincial council.
Egypt
Egypt launches Sinai offensive against Islamic militants
Egypt
The military conducted air raids in the al Arish area of the Sinai peninsula against Islamic militants; missiles killed 20 people in the village of Touma. “Terrorists” in the area allegedly fired back at the Egyptian aircraft. President Mursi sacked several top security officials, including Egypt’s intelligence chief, the governor of North Sinai province, and […]
Libya
The Transitional National Council formally relinquished power to Libya’s first elected assembly. The new assembly, comprised of Islamists, liberal/moderates, and independents, will form a government within 30 days.
Nigeria
Suspected Boko Haram militants fired at a police patrol van near a mosque in Okene, killing two policemen. One gunman was killed in the clash. Gunmen killed 19 worshipers at a church in Okene yesterday.
Afghanistan
‘Sticky bombs,’ like those used in Iraq, now appearing in Afghanistan