Officials in the east-central state of Benue confirmed that Boko Haram has infiltrated the state and appealed to the federal government to deploy antiterrorism forces to Benue. In Kano state, police said they had recovered 1,123 improved explosive devices in the state in 2012 and had defused 68 such devices that year.
Mazlum, an Afghan national, facilitated suicide and IED attacks in Baghlan and Takhar provinces. He is the first al Qaeda-linked operative known to have been killed or captured in Afghanistan so far this year.
Police intercepted a truck carrying nuclear components destined for Iran, and arrested two men who worked for the company that sent the prohibited materials. The company, which used false companies in the United Arab Emirates for deliveries, has ties to firms involved in Iran’s nuclear program.
Defense Secretary Panetta met with Afghan president Karzai to discuss “the last chapter” of establishing Afghan sovereignty and security. US drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas have recently escalated. The government argued on national security grounds against the release of photos of Osama bin Laden’s corpse and sea burial.
The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi killed 92 people in suicide and IED attacks in Quetta. Twenty-two more Pakistanis were killed in a blast in Swat; it is unclear if the blast was caused by a bomb. US drones killed six “militants” in North Waziristan.
US drone strikes in Pakistan on rise for 2013
US Commander General Allen has made his recommendations. President Obama is considering his decision.
Afghan Amnesty Program Falls Short, Leaving Ex-Insurgents Regretful and Angry
The Taliban killed a US soldier in an attack in the east. Special operations forces killed an Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan facilitator and captured several Taliban commanders.
The foreign minister invited Egypt’s president to visit Tehran, as Iran worked to improve relations with Egypt. Iran’s sole nuclear power plant is back at full capacity; another one is to be completed by March.
Insurgents killed 12 Iraqis in a series of attacks throughout Iraq. Among those killed were three policemen in Taji, a soldier in Baqubah, two members of the Awakening north of Baqubah, and two security guards for the president of Diyala University.
Rebels, including jihadist groups Al Nusrah and Ahrar al-Sham, raided the strategic Taftanaz military airport in Idlib. Talks between the Assad regime and the UN broke down, as envoy Brahimi said he did not see President Assad being part of a transitional government. The foreign minister denounced Brahimi as “flagrantly biased.”
Rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas have agreed to renew efforts to implement a unity deal. Hamas ousted Fatah from Gaza during clashes in 2007; the two groups signed an accord in 2011 but it was not implemented.
Syria’s Battle for the Airports
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is accused of killing a tribal leader in Abyan who brokered the release of hostages. Militants again bombed an oil pipeline in Marib province.
Syria’s rebels form their own secret police
A defector’s tale: Assad’s reluctant army
A court sentenced Moqatel Abou Jebel to life in prison for kidnapping 15 foreign tourists in 2003. Youcef Ben Mohamed, a Malian national, was acquitted, but sentenced to seven years for belonging to a terror group. Jebel carried out the kidnappings on the order of Abderrazak El Para, a GSPC commander.
Sheikh Yasin Al Kuwaiti, who was killed in a US drone strike on Jan. 8, was a “key al Qaeda paramilitary commander” who was “very high up the food chain,” a US intelligence official who tracks the terror group in Pakistan’s tribal areas told The Long War Journal.
The Malian army attacked Islamist rebel positions in Douentza in an attempt to retake the town. Ansar Dine claimed that it was still in the town and that it was also battling the army in Konna, about 75 miles to the west. Malian troops in Mopti were reinforced as AQIM, MUJAO, and Ansar Dine fighters […]
Four senior and midlevel al Qaeda and Taliban leaders are reported to have been killed in the seven strikes since the beginning of the New Year.
Three Kurdish women, including a cofounder of the PKK, were killed in Paris. Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, a former head of the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions, will be freed from prison provided he is expelled from France. Abdallah received a life sentence in 1984 for the Paris murders of a US military attaché and an Israeli […]
Authorities arrested four men in a terrorism investigation linked to the kidnapping of two journalists in Syria by extremists last year. Three of the men were arrested at east London addresses; the fourth, a Portuguese, was detained at Gatwick airport.
A recently declassified threat assessment authored by Canadian intelligence in April 2012 concludes that the al Qaeda network still leads the global jihad movement and remains the “primary threat.”
Concerns over Iran’s influence in Afghan media agencies
Pak-Afghan border: Tribesmen flay travel document stipulation
Pakistanis trucking NATO supplies to Afghanistan go on strike
Afghans say total US pullout would trigger disaster
The Taliban killed three policemen in Nangarhar. More than 250 policemen were “poisoned” in Balkh.
Ansar Dine, the Movement for Tawhid and Jihad in West Africa, and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb took control of towns in central Mali.