Congress named the constitutional election law committee. The UN Support Mission in Libya warned of a fraudulent Facebook page. A Tripoli prosecutor said alcohol and drug smugglers should be executed and those who or use drugs should be whipped. A conservative women’s group aiming to help build Libya as an Islamic state held its first […]
U.S. leads in humanitarian funding to Syria
A Question of Morality: Germany’s Afghan Staff Fear Reprisals
Belgian authorities investigating Syrian jihadist recruitment networks raided 48 homes, mainly in Antwerp and Vilvorde, and arrested six people, including Fouad Belkacem, the spokesman for the Islamist group Sharia4Belgium. Prosecutors said that 33 people linked to the group were either already in Syria or on their way to fight.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Haroon Aswat, a lieutenant of extremist cleric Abu Hamza, cannot be deported to the US because he suffers from schizophrenia and might deteriorate in a US prison. Aswat is accused of conspiring with Hamza to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon.
Authorities warned police to be on the lookout for a “darker-skinned or black male” with a foreign accent, while a Saudi student being questioned is said to be a person of interest.
Twin explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon have killed three people and injured over 140 more. The bomb blasts took place nearly three hours into the event; authorities are investigating. Two more explosive devices were found near the site and dismantled. Security is being stepped up in New York City and Washington, […]
Some Hopeful Signs out of the Afghan Army
The kidnapped chief of a university in Balkh was found dead; his son blamed former jihadist leaders in the area for the crime. Afghan commandos killed 22 insurgents in Nangarhar. Seven civilians died in a roadside bombing in Zabul.
Islamist agitation fuels unrest in Bangladesh
Rebels clash with residents in CAR capital Bangui
Pentagon cancels divisive Distinguished Warfare Medal for cyber ops, drone strikes
A mysterious Iranian-run factory in Germany
Former president Mubarak was ordered released on murder charges, but will remain in custody over corruption charges. A weapons cache, including mines and antiaircraft weaponry, which was destined for the Gaza Strip, was seized by authorities in the Sinai. A second cache of weaponry also in the Sinai was found later. A former leader of […]
Three people, allegedly members of Hamas’ al Qassam Brigades, escaped from a prison in the Gaza Strip. Turkey became the first country to have an ambassador recognized by Palestine. President Abbas traveled to Kuwait to inaugurate Palestine’s embassy in the Arab state.
Raphael Gendron, a Frenchman active in Islamist circles in Belgium, was killed while fighting with the Islamist ‘Falcons of Sham’ militia headed by Abdelrahman Ayachi. Syria’s deputy foreign minister accused France and the UK of “directly or indirectly” backing al Qaeda by supporting the Syrian opposition.
An Istanbul court gave celebrated Turkish pianist Fazil Say a suspended sentence of 10 months in prison for insulting Muslim values based on several Tweets he made last year. Turkey’s ambassador to Jerusalem has become the first ambassador recognized by Palestine. Turkey warned Israel not to engage in “dirty bargaining” over the Mavi Marmara raid.
Iraqi interpreter picks exile over certain death after ‘working for enemy’
Afghan farmers return to opium as other markets fail
With Al Qaeda shattered, US counter-terrorism’s future unclear
How North Korea Tipped Its Hand
US feeds Syrians, but secretly
France proposed the creation of a UN force of 11,200 military personnel and 1,440 international police to take over security in northern Mali on July 1. The draft resolution would allow French forces to intervene in Mali at the UN’s request if there was a serious and imminent threat to the UN force. The Malian […]
Also, an “insurgent leader” who financed foreign fighters and coordinated attacks throughout Afghanistan was killed in Kunar province.
Sufyan bin Qumu, a former driver for Osama bin Laden and ex-Guantanamo detainee, is said to have been shot in the Islamist stronghold of Darna. He has been linked to the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi last fall that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens. Libyan media said a colleague of Qumu’s was shot in […]
European security officials are looking into the possibility that an Iranian-run factory in Dinslaken may have been supplying equipment and materials for Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Germany sent a plane to Syria to bring back over 30 Syrians wounded in the Syrian conflict to Germany for treatment.
The Foreign and Commonwealth office expressed concern over reports that chemical weapons have been used by the Assad regime in urban locations in tactical military engagements in Syria. Four al Qaeda-inspired British jihadists plotted in 2011 to attack a Luton military base, according to trial testimony.
Deadly prelude: Taliban step up attacks on politicians
The strike is the first by the US in Pakistan in 23 days. The attack took place in the al Qaeda and Taliban haven of Datta Khel in North Waziristan.
Insurgents killed 10 people, including a politician, in attacks in Mosul, Fallujah, and Muqadiyah. Security forces captured 18 al Qaeda commanders and operatives as they were crossing the border into Syria.