Britain will withdraw 3,800 troops by the end of 2013. An Afghan policeman killed four of his fellow officers in an insider attack in Kandahar. A US Defense Department report says since the adoption of measures to prevent insider attacks, 90 percent of operations in Afghanistan have returned to normal.
Security forces detained 20 “terrorists” in Ninewa and 10 al Qaeda fighters in Basrah. Insurgents killed a soldier in Baghdad. The government has offered rewards for al Qaeda in Iraq and Al Nusrah Front leaders.
On Wednesday, an indictment was issued against one of the terrorists involved in the Nov. 21 bus bombing in Tel Aviv that injured over 20 people.
Government forces conducted a broad offensive against rebels in the suburbs of Damascus. The UN estimated there would be 1 million Syrian refugees by mid-2013, and appealed for $1.5 billion in aid.
Sahel insecurity poses global threat, study finds
Al-Qaeda-affiliated cell dismantled in Tunisia
US treads warily as political turmoil in Egypt drags on
A top elections official overseeing the referendum on a draft constitution resigned. Islamist groups planned a mass protest ahead of the second round of the referendum this weekend.
Come plague, storm or bomb, most US states unprepared: report
Two people were wounded in a pair of blasts at the Al Amin mosque in the Eastleigh neighborhood in Nairobi, a Shabaab stronghold. No group has claimed credit for the blasts.
Shabaab gunned down a Somali judge in Baidoa and killed an aid worker in Mogadishu. Piracy off the coast of Somalia has dropped significantly; no ships have been hijacked in the past six months.
The Taliban suicide car bomb attack on Dec. 17 against a compound in Kabul owned by Contrack International has devastated local businesses. Afghan traders reportedly lost $10 million in damages from the attack.
Eight medical workers have been killed in the past three days. The UN has suspended the vaccination program.
The group said that Abu Muhammad al Julani is alive and well, and also confirmed that two Zarqawi associates, Abu Anas al Sahhaba and Abu Julaybib, are senior commanders.
Six senior Islamists, including former Guantanamo inmate Sufyan Ben Qumu, have denied involvement in the assassinations of security officials in Benghazi. The inquiry into the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi has stalled due to the influence of militant groups. Without explanation, a court in Benghazi dropped the case of Abdul Fatah Younis, who […]
The League for the Protection of the Revolution, an Islamist group linked to the ruling Ennahda party, organized a “flash mob” demonstration in Sousse to protest the influence of Tunisia’s media. On Monday protesters in Sidi Bouzid, the cradle of Tunisia’s Arab Spring, threw rocks at Tunisia’s president and parliamentary speaker.
Benghazi review finds systematic security faults
Pakistan will be reimbursed $688 million for maintaining troops for six months along the Afghan border. The Pentagon said Pakistan’s failure to crack down on militant safe havens and inderdict the flow of IED materials undermines the security of US, Coalition, and Afghan forces. AFRICOM created a quick reaction force.
“Gunmen” killed four medical personnel who were dispensing polio vaccinces in Karachi, and another in Peshawar. Ten people were wounded in a grenade attack outside an army recruiting center in Risalpur.
Security forces killed a Taliban commander in Herat. Nuristan’s chief of police accused the Pakistani military of attacking police centers in conjunction with the Taliban.
Kurdish troops fired on an Iraqi Army helicopter as it traveled north of Kirkuk; no casualties were reported. President Talibani has been hospitalized for a stroke.
A new Ansar al Sharia group has been established in Mali. According to press reports, the group’s leaders are “close to” the official spokesman for Ansar Dine.
Iran’s president said Western sanctions would not slow down its nuclear program. Iran’s nuclear chief said Iran would not stop enriching uranium to 20 percent. The US resumed efforts to curb Iran’s nuclear program.
Syrian rebels cut off Bashar al-Assad’s escape route
After days of heavy fighting, rebel forces took control of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp south of Damascus. The government massed forces to retake the camp. Large numbers of Palestinian residents fled. Rebels made further gains in central Syria.
Opponents resumed protests over a draft constitution. Egypt’s public prosecutor, appointed by President Morsi, resigned.
Racism spurs Mali terrorist defections
Human RIghts Watch criticises Hamas’s legal system
‘Somali revenge attacks’ hit suburbs of Kenyan capital
Shabaab dismissed Omar Hammami, the American jihadist who claimed his life was in danger earlier this year, as a narcissist. Somali and African Union troops seized control of Kudha and Madhawa from Shabaab forces. “Gunmen” killed a military officer in Mogadishu.