Iraq
Sectarian Strains Pit Some Iraqis Against Their Own Leaders
Monthly Archives: March 2013
Afghanistan
President Karzai’s spokesman said NATO’s involvement in Afghanistan is “unwise” and “aimless.” Denmark will withdraw its combat troops five months earlier than planned. A policeman killed three of his colleagues in Zabul. The Taliban killed two policemen in an IED attack in Herat.
Al Nusrah Front
Islamic law comes to rebel-held Syria
Iraq
At least 59 Iraqis were killed in a series of more than 20 attacks in Baghdad, Anbar, Babil, and Ninewa provinces. Attacks included suicide bombers, car bombs, IEDs, and armed assaults. The attacks were likely carried out by al Qaeda.
Israel
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon officially assumed his office. Molotov cocktails were thrown at an Israeli bus on a road that President Obama will travel on during his upcoming visit scheduled to begin on March 20. Israeli security sources said chemical weapons were used in Syria.
Egypt
Ahmed Qaddaf al-Dam, a cousin of Moammar Qadaffi who is wanted in Libya, was arrested in Cairo. Authorities seized 3,000 liters of fuel that was headed to the Gaza Strip. Gunmen hijacked four government vehicles in different parts of the Northern Sinai. Authorities launched investigations to determine whether Hamas is tied to a number of […]
Palestinian Territories
Palestinian Islamic Jihad released its documentary on the November war with Israel. The EU signed a $9 million aid deal with the Palestinian Authority. Palestinians in the West Bank protesting the upcoming visit of President Obama clashed with PA security forces. A Hamas delegation, which included Politburo Chief Khaled Meshal, concluded its visit to Egypt.
Argentina
Hezbollah’s 1992 Attack in Argentina Is a Warning for Modern-Day Europe
Syria
The government and rebels accused each other of firing chemical weapons; so far 26 people have been killed in the attack in northern Aleppo. Russia supported the government’s position that rebels had attacked with chemicals. The US said it could not verify chemical weapons were used. The rebels’ newly elected prime minister rejected dialogue with […]
Somalia
President Hassan claimed Shabaab has been defeated and the group has morphed into a terrorist movement that attacks civilians. Shabaab claimed it retook control of Hudur after defeating Ethiopian forces.
Iran
Analysis: Khamenei mobilizes loyalists to swing Iran’s election
North Korea
Experts fear North Korea advertising weapon sales with nuclear tests
Algeria
High-level Islamist officials linked to the Muslim Brotherhood are meeting this weekend to discuss plans, including possible unification of factions as an educational organization or a political party. The government has permitted a group of moderate imams to form their own union to promote moderate Islam and combat the rise of the Salafist movement; the […]
Egypt
How the Muslim Brotherhood Hijacked Syria’s Revolution
Iran
Iran’s influence ‘waning’ in Latin America: US general
Mauritania
The foreign minister announced the arrest of five armed jihadists who were attempting to enter Mauritania from northern Mali. He also said that other members of “armed Islamist groups active in northern Mali” had also been arrested “while posing as refugees.” Mauritania has declared most of the regions along its shared border with Mali to […]
Mali
Although jihadist fighters were largely driven out of Gao six weeks ago, civil administrators have not returned to resume governance in the city. Small groups of jihadist fighters are thought to remain in hideouts nearby. An Algerian-born French Salafist captured in Mali this month who went to Mali last year will be extradited to France.
Suicide bombers kill 22 people in Nigeria
A pair of suicide bombers from either Boko Haram or Ansar al-Muslimeen in the Land of Black Africans targeted Christians at a bus terminal in Kano.
Nigeria
A pair of suicide bombers killed 22 people in an attack at a bus station in Kano. Six members of the Joint Task Force were killed in an IED attack in Maiduguri.
Egypt investigating Hamas ties to Sinai events
Egyptian authorities are looking into Hamas’ ties to a 2012 terror attack that killed 16 Egyptian soldiers as well as the recent discovery of fabrics for military uniforms in a smuggling tunnel between Egypt and Gaza.
Syrian government accuses rebels of launching chemical attack
The use of chemical weapons has yet to be confirmed. Sixteen Syrian soldiers are said to be among the 26 people killed in the purported chemical attack.
Syria
Damascus, rebels trade charges on “chemical attack”
Hamas
Where have all the Gaza rockets gone?
Free Syrian Army
US Citizen Is Picked as Syria Opposition’s Prime Minister
Egypt
Pakistan, Egypt to strengthen relations
Afghanistan
US – Afghanistan Partnership website launched in Kabul
Afghanistan
Afghan police casualties increased by 15 percent: Sediqi
Afghanistan
Afghanistan – Ulema Council Needs to be Independent: Abdullah
Jordan
Monarch in the Middle
North Korea
North Korea threatened an attack on Japan, and accused the US of cyberattacks on its Internet servers. China criticized the US missile defense plan, saying it would antagonize North Korea.