A Turkish military helicopter crashed in Siirt province, killing all 17 special forces soldiers on board. PKK militants kidnapped three teachers in Mardin province. Six politicians joined some 700 Kurdish inmates in a hunger strike calling for PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to be allowed to see his lawyers.
For Afghan troops, donkeys are the new helicopters
No breakthrough in Taliban talks expected before 2014: Afghanistan
CIA chief and retired four-star general David Petraeus resigned as head of the intelligence agency after the FBI discovered he was having an extramarital affair with an officer in the military reserve who was also his biographer. The current deputy director, Michael Morell, will serve as acting director of the CIA.
Al-Qaeda resurgent?
The Taliban killed a soldier and wounded another during an attack on an outpost in South Waziristan. The “Mujahideen-e-Waziristan” warned tribals in Wana not to join the Levies. Five people were killed in violence in Karachi.
Pakistan terror toll fails to stir offensive
The Taliban killed an ISAF solider in the east. Security forces killed and captured several Taliban fighters and commanders. Sweden will reduce the number of troops in country from 500 to 200 by the end of 2013.
Iran confirmed that its jets shot at a US reconnaissance drone. Iranian and UN officials plan to meet in Tehran next month to restart talks over Iran’s nuclear program.
Rebel forces captured a town on the Turkish border. The number of Syrian refugees escalated as 11,000 fled in single day.
More than 10,000 radical Islamists demonstrated in Cairo demanding that Egypt’s new constitution be based on sharia law. Egypt’s main Salafist party and the Muslim Brotherhood party said they were not taking part in the protest. Many of the protesters were members of Gamaa Islamiya.
“Gunmen” killed two people in Mogadishu. The United Nations Security Council rejected the African Union’s request to fund Kenyan naval operations off the coast of Somalia.
Security forces arrested Bilel Chaouachi, a Salafist imam for Ansar al Sharia who has openly praised Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri. Chaouachi is suspected of being involved in the Sept. 14 assault on the US Embassy in Tunisia.
Militants have infiltrated police ranks: Afghan Ministry of Interior
In Syria, Missteps by Rebels Erode Their Support
President Bashir threatened retaliation against Israel for an Oct. 24 airstrike on a Sudanese arms warehouse, and said Israel remains “the number one enemy.” Israel accuses Sudan of serving as a conduit for Iranian arms flowing into Gaza. Two Iranian warships recently arrived in Sudan.
. Bin Laden unit Seal Team Six punished over video game
In a recent interview with AFP, Sheikh Anas Abdul Rahman, a leader in the Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem, slammed Hamas for targeting Salafi-Jihadists in the Gaza Strip.
An Oslo court extended remand custody for Arslan Ubaydullah Maroof Hussein, a radical Islamist, for an additional two weeks. Hussein was arrested on Oct. 26 for threatening two journalists as well as the Jewish community in Norway.
Egyptian authorities continue to investigate the Nasr City terrorist cell, which they say has ties to al Qaeda and the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.
The Tunisian government arrested Bilel Chaouachi in connection with the Sept. 14 storming of the US Embassy in Tunis. Chaouachi has been identified as a member of Ansar al Sharia Tunisia, which orchestrated the embassy assault, and has openly praised al Qaeda’s leaders.
North Waziristan operation is Pakistan’s internal matter: Olson
A Taliban suicide bomber killed three people in an attack on the Rangers headquarters in Karachi. Nine more people were killed in violence in Karachi.
The Taliban killed 12 civilians and eight security personnel in four bombings; three policemen were killed in a suicide attack in Kandahar; five soldiers were killed in an IED attack in Laghman; and 12 civilians were killed in IED attacks in Helmand and Zabul.
Iranian air force jets fired at an unarmed US drone. The drone was flying off the coast of Kuwait in international waters. Iran’s news agency said the military would hold a “massive” air defense exercise, starting this weekend. Iran banned the importation of luxury goods.
Insurgents killed two people, including a female journalist, in bombings in Mosul. A court sentenced al Qaeda’s former shadow governor of Anbar to death. Security forces detained two insurgents in Kirkuk.
US drones killed a local al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula commander and two fighters in an airstrike near the capital of Sana’a. Adnan al Qadhi, the al Qaeda commander who was killed, was involved in the attack on the US Embassy in Sana’a in 2008.
Americans tour base to recruit for Libya army
Call to lift Syria arms embargo to aid rebels
Syria rebels appear to be shifting strategy in Damascus