United States
Federal Plan Calls for Overhauling Secrecy Policies
Monthly Archives: December 2012
Al Qaeda
US-Approved Weapons Transfer Ended Up With Libyan Jihadis
Africa
Google cash buys drones to watch endangered species
Kenya
Three people were killed in an explosion near a shopping center in the Eastleigh neighborhood of Nairobi. Eastleigh is a Somali neighborhood and has a strong Shabaab presence.
Movement for Tawhid and Jihad in West Africa
The US and UN have added the Movement for Tawhid and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) to the list of terrorist entities. Additionally, Hamad el Khairy, a senior leader, and Ahmed el Tilemsi, the military emir, were designated as global terrorists.
United Kingdom
The Foreign Office said it would seek to offer practical support to the Syrian rebels in the form of training and non-lethal equipment. The Syrian National Coalition’s appointment of a UK envoy was hailed as “a sign of progress.” The Home Secretary got permission to appeal an immigration court ruling prohibiting the deportation of radical […]
United States
The US Navy deployed two guided missile destroyers to monitor the anticipated launch of a long-range missile by North Korea later this month. Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif (a.k.a. Joseph Anthony Davis) pled guilty to plotting to attack a south Seattle military recruitment center and faces a 17 to 19-year prison sentence; a co-defendant pled guilty to […]
Romania
Pakistani citizens Ramzan Muhammad and Adeel Muhammad were declared personae non gratae after their arrest on suspicion of plotting a terrorist attack in Romania over the winter holidays. The two al Qaeda-linked men are being held in custody until they can be extradited.
Afghanistan
Arms depot robbed in Ghazni province of Afghanistan
NATO
NATO moves toward deployment on Syria border
United States
Military Drones Prowl US Skies
Afghanistan
A Taliban suicide bomber wounded the Afghan intelligence chief and two others in an assassination attempt in Kabul. A Taliban leader named Akhbar and several other insurgents were killed in an operation in Dara-e Pech district in Kunar province. The government ordered an investigation into the shooting of a schoolgirl in Kapisa.
Afghanistan
ANSF Responsible for 70% of Security: Afghan Ministry of Defense
Syria
US officials reported that Syrian government forces were preparing to use chemical weapons. Top US, Russian, and UN diplomats held an emergency meeting to discuss the situation. The US and European nations rushed to fund the newly-formed Syrian opposition coalition. Fighting intensified around Damascus.
Syria
Is Assad seeking asylum?
Lebanon
Fighting continued in Tripoli between groups loyal to the opposing sides in the Syrian civil war. At least 10 people have been killed in the last three days.
Egypt
A night of widespread street fighting between supporters and opponents of President Morsi left six dead and hundreds wounded. The Army was brought in to separate the groups. Morsi said he would stand by his decree.
Libya
Judiciary police facilitated the escape of some 200 detainees at Sebha prison on Tuesday in Libya’s volatile south. The region suffers from gangs, armed criminal outfits, smuggling rings, and most recently, a large influx of non-Libyan illegal immigrants as well as the presence of al Qaeda-linked fighters.
Mali
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa threatened to kill Algerian and French hostages. Former AQIM emir Mokhtar Belmokhtar (a.k.a. Laaouar) created a suicide bomber brigade that includes foreign jihadists, and threatened attacks against any country that intervenes in Mali.
Bosnia-Herzegovina
A Bosnian court convicted Mevlid Jasarevic, a Wahhabist Muslim, of terrorism charges relating to a shooting at the US Embassy in October 2011. Jasarevic was sentenced to 18 years in prison; two accomplices, Emrah Fojnica and Munib Ahmetspahic, were acquitted. The government plans to appeal the acquittals.
Afghanistan
Afghan Leader Sharply Criticizes US, NATO For Insecurity
United Kingdom
Jubayer Chowdhury and British trainee doctor Shajul Islam, who were arrested at Heathrow Airport by counterterrorism police, will be tried for their roles in the kidnapping and imprisonment of two Western journalists in Syria by Islamic extremists. Ruksana Begum, the sister of two men jailed this summer for a plot to blow up the London […]
Taliban assassination attempt injures Afghan spy chief
Asadullah Khalid, the chief of Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security, was wounded in an attack at an NDS guesthouse today by a Taliban suicide bomber posing as a peace envoy.
US drones kill 3 ‘militants’ in North Waziristan strikes
The drones hit a compound near Mir Ali, an area known to shelter al Qaeda’s military and external operations councils, as well as a host of regional terror groups.
Egypt
Hitmen on hold, Israelis might talk to Meshaal
Lebanon
Minorities in Lebanon Are Wary of Syrian War
Pakistani officials promoting false split in Taliban leadership cadres, again
Pakistani officials persist in claiming that Hakeemullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman Mehsud are “at each other’s throats,” and tell an obvious lie in the process.
Syria
Syria loads chemical weapons into bombs; military awaits Assad’s order
United States
DHS grant spending questioned amid budget woes
Pakistan
Terror attempt: Bomb planted near JUI-F leader’s house defused