Abu Yahya al Libi and other al Qaeda leaders “were actually a moderating force” and killing them leads to the promotion of leaders “less likely to be amenable to restraining their actions,” a CT analyst would have you believe.
Meanwhile the Pakistani government dropped support for an anti-Taliban militia in Peshawar, and confiscated their weapons.
The suicide attack targeted a police station in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri, which has been at the center of Boko Haram’s violent terrorist insurgency.
UK, Mauritius strike deal on Somali pirates
Libyan official: US drones seeking jihadists in Libya
UN Envoys Ask Malaysia to Protect Activists
Islamic militants threaten war on Pakistan over Kashmir
Worsening Syria war drives civilians from homes
Al Qaeda leader’s wife praises women for Arab Spring
Afghan intelligence officials announced the arrest of 15 suspects in connection to the series of suspected poison attacks against girls’ schools in northern Afghanistan. Among those arrested were a Taliban deputy shadow governor and three women.
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Pak-US ties: London to broker deal between estranged allies
UN backs probe into US drone civilian casualties in Pakistan
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that the US is “reaching the limits of our patience” with terrorists sheltering in Pakistan and attacking in Afghanistan. Twelve people were killed in a bombing outside of a seminary in Quetta.
Twenty-six Taliban fighters, four policemen, and a soldier were killed in fighting nationwide. ISAF killed three al Qaeda operatives in an airstrike in Wardak. The Taliban killed an ISAF soldier in the south. President Karzai said an ISAF airstrike that reportedly killed 18 civilians and eight Taliban fighters was “unacceptable.”
For the second time in less than two weeks, pro-government forces shelled and then attacked a Syrian village, brutally killing scores of civilians.
The government executed Abed Hamoud, Saddam Hussein’s private secretary, for ordering assassinations and detentions of political rivals. “Gunmen” killed two Awakening members in northern Baghdad.
Twenty al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters and five tribesmen were killed during fighting outside of Jaar. Yemeni helicopter gunships opened fire on AQAP positions in Jaar.
The US State Department offered rewards ranging from $3 million to $7 million for seven senior Shabaab leaders. Shabaab emir Sheikh Mukhtar Abu Zubayr’s reward of $7 million puts him at number six on the Rewards for Justice list of wanted terrorists.
Boko Haram claimed credit for murdering a former deputy chief of police in Kano. The US continues to consider placing Boko Haram on its list of designated terrorist entires.
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US troops do the “vampire” shift to avoid Afghan sniper
Clinton backs drones after al Qaeda figure killed
Drones and Cyberattacks Renew Debate Over Secrecy
Syria: Bashar al-Assad has ‘doubled down on brutality’, says Hillary Clinton
The airstrike took place in the same district in Wardak province where 38 US and Afghan troops, including Navy SEALs, were killed when their helicopter was shot down in August 2011.
Panetta: US losing patience with Pakistan on militancy
Central Asia group seeks bigger Afghanistan role
Panetta visits Afghanistan as violence spikes
Shabaab emir Sheikh Mukhtar Abu Zubayr’s reward of $7 million puts him at number six on the Rewards for Justice list of wanted terrorists.