Monthly Archives: April 2013

Egypt

Egypt suspended commercial flights from Iran after protests by Salafists. Egyptian authorities seized a variety of arms and ammunition from a weapons cache approximately three miles from the border with Israel. A second cache of weapons was discovered in central Sinai. A shipment of tear gas from the United States arrived at the Abadeya Port […]


Palestinian Territories

A Palestinian rights group denounced Hamas for cutting the hair of youths with “unbecoming” hairstyles. Hamas said PA security forces arrested three of its members near Hebron. A Hamas leader called on Gaza-based militants to kidnap Israeli soldiers. A senior Palestinian official said US opposition to a Fatah-Hamas unity deal has faded.


Syria

Eric Harroun, Who Fought With Syrian Rebels, Loses a Court Fight



Syria

A suicide car bomber killed 16 people in central Damascus. Syrian rebels and the Kurdish YPG militia are said to be fighting together against the regime in Aleppo. A UN team is waiting for the go-ahead to examine allegations of chemical weapons use. A Syrian rights group said nearly 9,000 government-allied troops have died in […]



Turkey

Police clashed with thousands of demonstrators in Istanbul who protested the proceedings against 275 military officials, politicians, and academics accused of plotting a coup against the Erdogan goverment. Three people were killed at a university in Diyarbakır province in a fight over the distribution of PKK and Hezbollah propaganda.




Mali

A force of 1,000 French troops has begun sweeping a valley north of Gao to rid the area of remaining Islamist militants. On the first day of the operation, no militants were found but 340 artillery shells and high-caliber rockets were discovered and neutralized. Malians in Timbuktu remain anxious that the militants will return, and […]


Nigeria

President Jonathan set up a committee to explore the idea of granting amnesty to members of the al Qaeda-linked Boko Haram. The Acting US Ambassador to Nigeria stated his government’s preference for dialogue over force in dealing with Boko Haram. Suspected Boko Haram gunmen stormed the home of the deputy governor of Adamwa state, killing […]





United States

General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Afghan forces would be in the lead throughout Afghanistan by May or June, and that it will be up to them to determine whether areas currently contested by the Taliban revert to Afghan control. He also said he had grave concerns that the Syrian […]


Egypt

Clashes broke out in Cairo at Egypt’s main Coptic Christian cathedral after assailants attacked the funeral of four Copts killed in earlier sectarian violence. One person has been killed and at least 80 wounded in the latest violence. Copts blamed the Morsi government for failing to provide adequate security, and some claimed the police were […]


Israel

Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel cannot rely on anyone, not even its closest ally, to deal with the Iranian nuclear program. Authorities arrested three Islamic Jihad terrorists near Hebron. The arrest of five members of a Hamas terror cell in March was released for publication.


Palestinian Territories

President Abbas met with Secretary of State Kerry a day after meeting a senior Israeli official in Ramallah. Kerry reportedly offered Abbas incentives to return to negotiations with Israel. A Palestinian teenager was detained in the possession of firebombs and IEDs. A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed in southern Israel.


Yemen

A court sentenced seven al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters to jail terms of between two to five years. One of the AQAP fighers was a Dagestanian, another was a Tunisian. Separatists killed a Yemeni soldier during fighting in Lahj.


Libya

Some 23 armed militants from Ansar al Sharia stormed into the lab at the Benghazi hospital on the pretext that out of date materials were on the premises; the lab was closed for three hours as a result. Gunmen also stormed into a Tripoli hospital and killed two patients. The air force targeted a six-truck […]


Russia

The Foreign Ministry criticized a recent UN letter telling Damascus that the UN inquiry into the use of chemical weapons in Syria would extend beyond their alleged use by Syrian rebels in March near Aleppo. Russia believes the inquiry should focus only on that incident.




France

The French military peacekeeping force in the Ivory Coast has begun training a battalion of 235 Ivorian soldiers for deployment to Mali with a West African force. France is reportedly considering the purchase of unarmed Reaper surveillance drones from the US.


Somalia

The commander of AMISOM forces claimed that Shabaab has been “wiped out” along the highway that connects the capital of Mogadishu and Baidoa. Three people were wounded in a bombing in Afgoye.



Jordan

Security concerns rise at Syrian refugee camp despite police presence