A colleague of Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a.k.a. Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, the emir of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, denied that the commander was killed during an Algerian military operation on June 28. AQIM released a videotape of Belmokhtar, who condemned the Algerian government for its treatment of Syrian refugees.
Sheikh Aboud Rogo Mohammed was shot and killed as he was driving in Mombasa. The US added Rogo to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists on July 5 for his direct support for Shabaab.
A female suicide bomber dressed as a pilgrim killed Said Atsayev, a leading Sufi cleric, and at least five followers at the cleric’s home in the village of Chirkey in Dagestan. President Vladimir Putin was in Tartarstan, seeking to prevent the spread of militant Islam.
Taliban team in Qatar for negotiations with US
Military officials disciplined four US Army officers and two enlisted soldiers for the burning of at least four Korans in Afghanistan, although the investigation found the burning had occurred without “malicious intent” or disrespect. Also disciplined were three of four Marines who had been videotaped urinating on the corpse of a Taliban fighter.
The atrocity is the latest in a series of incidents that show the volatility of the security situation in northern Helmand province.
Umarov Names New Commander Of Insurgency In Daghestan
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ISAF Will Not Reduce Interaction with Afghan Counterparts
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The Taliban beheaded 17 civilians and killed 10 Afghan soldiers in Helmand. An Afghan soldier killed two ISAF troops in Laghman. Afghan senators claimed the Hizb-i-Islami is behind the anti-Taliban uprisings.
Britain and US plan a Syrian revolution from an innocuous office block in Istanbul
Authorities discovered a cell of the banned Hizb-ut-Tahrir in the Jalal-Abad region and arrested the group’s leader. Extremist books and CDs were found during the arrest.
Indonesian security forces turn to Islamic clerics to uproot terrorism
Gaza not liveable by 2020 barring urgent action: UN
Caucasus Emirate leader Doku Umarov named Rustam Asildarov a.k.a. Amir Abu Mukhammad to head the Dagestan branch of the insurgency. Asildarov replaces Ibragimkhalil Daudov a.k.a. Amir Salikh, who was killed six months ago. Between April and July, insurgents in Dagestan killed 43 members of security forces and wounded 106.
Gunmen assassinated an Army brigadier general with a silenced pistol in Taji; two civilians were killed in bombings in Haditha and Mosul. Seven al Qaeda operatives were detained in Wasit; the bodies of four al Qaeda leaders were discovered in Mosul.
Rebels shot down a military helicopter over Damascus. Fighting in Aleppo has turned into a battle of attrition. France’s president urged the Syrian rebels to create a provisional government and said France would extend official recognition once it was formed.
The Interior Ministry said it had broken up al Qaeda cells in Riyadh and Jeddah and arrested several cell members, including six Yemenis. Two Saudi nationals were also arrested and two more are being sought.
Egypt reached a ceasefire agreement with radical Salafist organizations in the Sinai peninsula. President Morsi proposed a new peace initiative for Syria. Egypt’s attorney general referred an anti-Islamist lawmaker for investigation.
Somali and African Union troops seized control of towns outside of the port city of Merca, which is under Shabaab control. Somali soldiers killed three civilians at a food distribution point in Mogadishu. Shabaab claimed it killed 14 Kenyan soldiers in Gedo.
Police clashed with Shabaab supporters in Mombasa after a Shabaab suspect, Sheikh Aboud Rogo, was gunned down. Streets were blockaded and a government vehicle was torched.
Forty-two ISAF soldiers have been killed in attacks by Afghan security personnel this year. Thirteen percent of ISAF’s casualties in 2012 have occurred in these “green-on-blue” attacks, more than double last year’s total.
Nasserdine Menni was sentenced by a Glasgow court to seven years in prison for financing the December 2010 Stockholm suicide bombing. In Sweden’s own investigation into the attack, so far only Menni has been charged.
Sharp increase in refugee flows from Syria
US Foreign Arms Sales Are Most of Global Market
Pakistan – Terrorism threat: Security tightened at airport
Waziristan operation: Tribesmen threaten influx into Afghanistan