Yearly Archives: 2012








Libya

Analysis: New Arab Spring triumph eluding Islamists in Libya



Al Qaeda

Northern Mali risks starvation thanks to al-Qaeda, drought and no aid


Iraq

An Army brigadier was killed in an IED attack in Mosul. Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed credit for a series of bombings in June that targeted and killed scores of Shia worshippers.


United States

Ibrahim al-Qosi, a Guantanamo detainee and former cook for Osama bin Laden, was released to his native Sudan. Qosi, who also served al Qaeda as a logistician and bookkeeper, admitted to terror charges in a plea deal in 2010.


Yemen

A suicide bomber killed more than 20 people in an attack that targeted police cadets outside of a training center in Sana’a. The Yemeni military killed a senior Southern Movement leader in Aden.


About that NATO supply line deal …

While the Obama administration has hailed the reopening of NATO’s supply lines into Afghanistan as a major success, the prevailing dynamic of the deal is Pakistan’s continuing duality in supporting the US’s enemies while taking its money to fight them.


Kenya

Sheikh Aboud Rogo, Abubakar Sharif, and Omar Awadh, three Kenyans designated by the US as Shabaab supporters, have hired a lawyer to refute the claims. The lawyer said the three men fear being the target of US drones.


Somalia

African Union and Somali troops took control of Lanta‐Buro, a village west of Mogadishu that hosted a Shabaab training camp. Shabaab claimed it killed eight Kenyan troops in an ambush in Jower Jubba and three Burundi soldiers in a sniper attack in Lafoole. Somali troops looted food aid in Afgoye.



Sweden

Prosecutors said circumstantial evidence links Glasgow resident Nasserdine Menni to Stockholm suicide bomber Taimour Abdulwahab, including the fact they shared an email account with password “9/11.” Menni is being tried in a Glasgow court on charges of conspiracy and providing financial support for terrorism.


United Kingdom

The UK military, which is already providing 13,500 troops for security services during the Olympic Games, has been asked to provide an additional 3,500 troops. Ministers fear that the private security company contracted for the event will not have sufficient staff. Organizers have realized that initial security estimates were inadequate.





Al Qaeda

Destroying Timbuktu: The Jihadist who Inspires the Demolition of the Shrines




United States

Rezwan Ferdaus, a Muslim American with a degree in physics, will plead guilty to terror charges in exchange for a reduced sentence. Ferdaus was arrested last fall by federal agents posing as al Qaeda operatives as he plotted to use model airplanes packed with explosives to bomb the US Capitol and the Pentagon.


Egypt

Egyptian parliament meets amid power struggle


Afghanistan

Security forces captured two IMU leaders in Kunduz and killed 28 Taliban fighters. The Taliban killed three policemen in Nimroz and denied President Karzai’s claim that the group joined a commission to discuss peace talks.


Syria

After discussing a new peace initiative with President Assad, UN envoy Kofi Annan continued to Iran where he said Iran “must be part of the solution.” He also met with Prime Minister Maliki in Iraq. Russia proposed hosting new talks and said it would sell no new weapons to Syria until the situation in the […]


Yemen

Two al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters who escaped from a prison in Hudiayah were recaptured in Dhale. Soldiers freed a brigade commander who failed to pay his troops.