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US Military removes commander of nuclear weapons unit
Monthly Archives: August 2013
United States
The Obama administration is said to be preparing military options and legal justification for a possible intervention in Syria with or without UN backing, having assessed that “there is very little doubt at this point that a chemical weapon was used by the Syrian regime against civilians” in Damascus on Aug. 21. The US dismissed […]
Al Nusrah Front
Drums of war in Middle East
Lebanon
Lebanon – Army, security close in on terrorists as country becomes center of regional struggle
NSA
Report: Snowden Reached Out To Russian Authorities While Still In Hong Kong
Burma
Order restored after fresh Myanmar religious unrest
Afghanistan
The Taliban killed five soldiers in attacks in Kandahar, Helmand, and Uruzgan, and two children in a bombing in Helmand. Security forces killed four Taliban fighters and retook a checkpoint lost earlier last week, and killed 11 more Taliban fighters in Ghazni.
Iran
Iran warned that the US would face “harsh consequences” if it intervened in Syria, in the wake of allegations that the Assad regime used chemical weapons in a recent attack. Foreign Minister Zarif said Syria’s foreign minister assured him that Syria will cooperate with the UN chemical weapons inspection team. The Sultan of Oman is […]
Iraq
Al Qaeda in Iraq killed 31 people in bombings and attacks in Baghdad, Balad, and Baqubah. In Qaiyara, al Qaeda killed five soldiers and their bodies were then burned.
Israel
Arab-Israeli’s 72-hours with al-Qaeda linked Syrian rebels
Egypt
Egypt Widens Crackdown and Meaning of ‘Islamist’
United Nations
US spy agency bugged US headquarters: Germany’s Spiegel
AQAP official comments on Egypt events, says America retreating
In two new messages, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula official Harith bin Ghazi al Nadhari denounced the recent crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and praised the actions of jihadists throughout the region and beyond.
Egypt
The trial against a number of senior Muslim Brotherhood officials began. Authorities arrested an Islamist militant close to Mohammed al Zawahiri on suspicion of providing weapons to supporters of former president Mohammed Morsi. Hamas denied reports that it was operating training camps with the MB in Gaza. The army announced the arrest of five militants […]
Syria
The Assad regime reached an agreement “effective immediately” to allow UN inspectors to investigate the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack in Damascus. The information minister warned that US military intervention in Syria would “create … a ball of fire that will inflame the Middle East.” Some 400 tons of arms sent by Gulf […]
United States
The State Department’s Aug. 23 travel warning on Afghanistan said that the threat to US citizens in the country remains critical, no province is immune to violence, and “remnants” of the Taliban regime and the al Qaeda network, as well as other hostile groups, remain active. Patrick Campbell, of Freetown, Sierra Leone, was charged for […]
Iran
Syria to give UN inspectors access to alleged chemical attack site — Iranian media
Pakistan
The Taliban killed four people, including two policemen, and torched two NATO fuel tankers in Baluchistan. Eleven people were killed in sectarian fighting in Islamabad. The Taliban “expelled” Asmatullah Muawiya for welcoming negotiations with the government; Muawiya said they did not have the authority to do so.
Afghanistan
Security forces killed two Taliban fighters and captured a commander in Nangarhar. The Taliban killed a Polish soldier during fighting in Ghazni.
Iraq
Security forces captured al Qaeda in Iraq’s finance minister and six fighters at the al Walid border crossing in Anbar, and eight more al Qaeda fighters in Albu Aitha. A prominent cleric cal led al Qaeda a “disease infecting Iraqi and Arab society in general” and said the terror group needed to be rooted out […]
Egypt
Clashes between Islamist militants and Egyptian security personnel continued in the Sinai. The leader of al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya said the group does not intend to return to its violent past. Authorities relaxed the curfew recently instituted as part of the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.
Did the TTP ‘expel’ Asmatullah Muawiya?
The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan said it ejected Muawiya for responding positively to the government’s offer of peace, but Muawiya said he operates independently. He is likely correct.
Syria
Fighters from the Al Nusrah Front, Ahrar al-Sham, and Suqoor al-Shab took control of the Ariha area in Idlib, including a National Defense Fort. State TV claimed that a number of soldiers had suffocated after finding chemical weapon materials in “terrorist” tunnels in Jobar; some of the items allegedly found bore Qatari and Saudi labels. […]
Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s Karzai says no rush to sign US security pact
Syria
Syrian troops find chemical agents in tunnels used by rebels: state TV
ISAF confirms airstrike in Kunar
The Coalition told The Long War Journal that a strike on Aug. 21 did indeed take place in Marawana but could not confirm if al Qaeda commander Qari Zia Rahman was killed.
Tunisia
Thousands of protesters from the opposition coalition demonstrated in Tunis, calling for the resignation of the Islamist Ennahda government. The Ennahda ruling shura said it would accept negotiations with the opposition, but the protesters are rejecting the offer of dialogue.
Algeria
Security forces disabled three bombs in operations in Dellys and Bouira. Islamist groups affiliated with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb are suspected of planting the bombs to break a siege along the Tunisian border. Terrorists also attacked a police post in Lakhdaria, north of Bouira. Prime Minister Sellal said Algeria is now living in […]
Afghanistan
Feature: Taliban recruiting Afghan children as suicide bombers
Syria
FBI director worried Americans fighting in Syria could bring tactics home