Syria
State Dept. and Pentagon Planning for Post-Assad Syria
Monthly Archives: August 2012
Syria
Victory closer, divisions deepen in Syria opposition
Iran
Iran tested a new longer-range version of its Fateh-110 ballistic missile. Iran plans to take its government offices offline in order to defend against cyberattacks.
Iraq
Insurgents killed three policemen in Mosul and another in Baghdad, and a police commander in Rutbah. Three gunmen and two security personnel were killed in a clash Bayji.
Syria
Fighting intensified in Aleppo and Damascus. Government forces numbering 20,000 massed around Aleppo and warned of a full-scale assault within days. Rebels abducted 47 Iranians visiting a Shiite shrine; the rebels said the men were members of the Iranian Republican Guard.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan – Seminary torched in Taliban-controlled town
Afghanistan
Taliban Launch Co-ordinated Attacks in Eastern Afghanistan
Turkey
The military’s recent offensive against PKK rebels in Hakkari province near the Iraqi border has killed 115 PKK fighters. Government forces are trying to block PKK escape routes into northern Iraq. The PKK also has a presence in Syria.
Iran
Eye on Iran and Syria, Israel hardens missile shield
Afghanistan
Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of backing Taliban enemy
Yemen
The death toll of yesterday’s suicide attack at a funeral in Jaar has been revised upward to 45. The suicide bomber targeted Abdul Latif Al Sayed, the leader of an anti-al Qaeda tribal militia. Two of Sayed’s brothers were among those killed in the attack.
Nigeria
A suicide bomber killed five soldiers in an attack in Damaturu. Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau labeled US President Obama a “global terrorist” and called on Nigerian President Goodluck to “repent.”
Infighting kills 3 Taliban commanders in northern Afghanistan
Infighting between two Taliban factions left eight militants dead, including three local commanders, and injured 10 others. Some Taliban survivors of the clash later defected to the Afghan government.
Spain
Two Russian men of Chechen origin have been jailed for alleged links to an al Qaeda plot against European targets, and are described as “extremely dangerous.” A Turkish man said to be a key al Qaeda facilitator in the plot was identified as Cengiz Yalcin.
Al Qaeda emir for Kunar, deputy, and facilitator killed in airstrikes
Mufti Assad, the emir for Kunar, and his deputy, Yusuf, were killed in the Aug. 3 airstrike in the Watahpur district. Both al Qaeda leaders were Pakistani citizens. Fatah Gul, an al Qaeda facilitator who ran training camps, was killed in a separate strike.
Egypt
Egypt issues fatwa on Muslims who publicly ignore Ramadan fast
Syria
Turkish Alawites Fear Spillover of Violence From Syria
Haqqani Network
US thinktank reveals Haqqani, Pakistan nexus
Pakistan
Pakistan – ‘Islamic banking growth is impressive’
Pakistan
Security forces detained five Taliban fighters who were planning sectarian attacks in Multan and three “terrorists” in Lakki Marwat. Pakistan has reopened the Khyber crossing to NATO supplies.
Afghanistan
Eight Taliban fighters and six civilians were killed in clashes throughout the country. The Taliban killed two New Zealand soldiers and two Afghan security personnel in Bamyan. Two officers at the Mazar-i-Sharif training center were detained for links to “armed opposition groups.”
Al Nusrah Front conducts joint operation with Free Syrian Army
Al Qaeda has penetrated the Free Syrian Army and provides the expertise to effectively strike at the Syrian military.
US drone strike kills 5 AQAP fighters in eastern Yemen
The strike is the first recorded in Yemen in more than a month, and took place as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula killed more than 20 people at a funeral in southern Yemen.
Yemen
US drones killed five Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in a strike in Hadramout. A suicide homer killed 20 people and wounded 20 more in an attack at a funeral in Jaar in Abyan province.
Al Qaeda
Egypt demands release of Guantanamo detainee
Afghanistan
Acid attacks, poison: What Afghan girls risk by going to school
Afghanistan
Pentagon launches board to examine legal ‘flash points’ in deployed areas
Somalia
Eighteen people were killed as Somali troops and Shabaab forces clashed in the Qansah-dhere district in Bay. Somalis in Mogadishu protested against robberies by government forces.
Nigeria
Security forces arrested a Boko Haram fighter during a raid on an IED factory in Kaduna. Explosions were heard in Maiduguri as the Joint Task Force conducted raids against Boko Haram.
Algeria
Algerian Government Investigates Movement of Jihadists Into Syria