Saudi Arabia
In a first, Saudi king swears in women members of Shura council
Monthly Archives: February 2013
United States
General John Allen, until recently the top commander in Afghanistan, declined the offer to head NATO and said he will retire to spend more time with his family. A US computer security firm alleged that hackers affiliated with the Chinese military have made over 140 significant intrusions into US corporate and government websites since 2006.
Iran
Is Iran Creating a Health Crisis to Evade Sanctions?
United States
Beyond Radiation: Pentagon Seeks Better Ways to Detect Nuclear Weapons
Bulgaria
EU blacklisting of Hezbollah would disrupt financing
Iraq
Insurgents killed an Iraqi Army officer and three family members in Mosul and an Awakening leader in Madin. Security forces five al Qaeda fighters in Anbar and seven more in Ninewa.
Ennahda
Arab Spring at Risk: Belaïd Assassination Exposes Deep Rifts in Tunisia
Malaysia
‘Land Grabbing’: Foreign Investors Buy Up Third World Farmland
Syria
Russia’s double dealing on arms to Assad regime leaves UK isolated over Syria
Former Taliban emir Faqir Mohammed reported captured by Afghan intel
Faqir, who led the Taliban in Bajaur, is said to have been captured in Nangarhar province.
Syria
Syria: Aleppo’s Civil Front Seeks To Prevent Islamic Rule
Syria
Government reinforcements arrived in Aleppo following rebel advances. “The army will not let Aleppo airport go without a big fight,” an observer said. Fighting erupted in southern Damascus as government forces attempted to drive rebels out of the capital. A SCUD missile attack killed 20 people. The EU approved sending UK civilian and military trainers […]
Taliban insider attack facilitator killed in Kunar
A Taliban operative who was responsible for the death of an American soldier in May 2012 died along with an associate in a precision airstrike in Kunar’s Ghaziabad district. ISAF had claimed it killed the operative last September.
Mali
Exclusive report: The last Malian city to be freed from jihadists
Egypt
A 17-member US military delegation arrived in Cairo for discussions with Egyptian officials. The visit comes amidst Egyptian moves to destroy tunnels under its border with the Gaza Strip. Egypt continues to mediate indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel.
Iran
Iranian-backed militant group in Iraq is recasting itself as a political player
Palestinian Territories
Former members of Fatah’s Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades asked the Palestinian Authority to raise their monthly pay of NIS 1,500. The number of Salafi jihadists from Gaza travellng to fight the Assad regime is on the rise. A Gaza court reduced the sentence of two Salafi jihadists convicted of kidnapping and murdering an Italian national.
Israel
Israel plans to open a field hospital near the Syrian border to treat those wounded in the Syrian conflict. The IDF announced plans to build an urban warfare training facility in the north of the country that will include some 500 structures. President Obama will receive Israel’s Presidential Medal of Distinction during his upcoming visit […]
Somalia
African Union troops secured the Johwar airport after Shabaab forces fled. Shabaab claimed it killed five members of a militia in Bardale and sentenced to death another militia fighter captured in Jilib.
Tunisia
Prime Minister Jebali resigned after his proposal for a nonpartisan government was rejected by his Islamist Ennahda party. Salafist security patrols mobilized by Ansar al Sharia are operating in Tunis and other cities. A statue of slain opposition leader Chokri Belaid was destroyed hours after it was installed. Tunisian Salafists destroyed a Sufi shrine in […]
Nigeria
Ansar al-Muslimeen in the Land of Black Africans (Bilad al-Sudan), a Nigerian jihadist group that announced its formation in June 2012, claimed the recent kidnapping of seven foreigners at a construction site in Bauchi. The group said the kidnappings were a response to alleged transgressions against Islam by European countries in “many places such as […]
Mali
A member of the French Foreign Legion was killed in an ongoing operation against Islamists holed up in the Ifoghas mountains; some 20 Islamist fighters are also said to have been killed. President Hollande said France is now “in the last phase of the operation in Mali.”
Cameroon
Armed men on motorbikes kidnapped seven French tourists, including three children, from a village close to Waza national park near the Nigerian border. The kidnappers, suspected of links with the Nigerian Islamist terrorist groups Boko Haram or Ansaru, were seen heading toward Nigeria with the captives.
United Kingdom
Islamist hate preacher Anjem Choudhary, who lives in a London suburb and receives over £25,000 a year in government benefits, was filmed urging his followers to “take money from the kuffar [nonbelievers]” while embracing jihad. He claimed Muslims were taking over England, and called Prime Minister Cameron, US President Obama, and the leaders of Egypt […]
North Korea
North Korea threatened South Korea with “final destruction.” The comment, made by a North Korean diplomat at the UN, drew criticism from South Korea, France, Germany, Britain, Spain, and the US.
China
Chinese Army Unit Is Seen as Tied to Hacking Against U.S.
Jabhat al-Nusra
As Assad Holds Firm, Obama Could Revisit Arms Policy
Iran
Stung by ‘Argo,’ Iran Backs Conference Decrying ‘Hollywoodism’
Syria
Activists detail abuse inside Assad’s prisons
Afghanistan
Afghan Security Council Orders Armed Forces Consolidation