ISIS continues to launch suicide assaults in Iraq
Al Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham has had no difficulty in deploying suicide bombers individually or in teams against Iraqi military and government targets.
Yearly Archives: 2013
Iraq
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham killed six people in a suicide assault against a police headquarters in Kirkuk, and three soldiers in an IED attack in Ramadi. Security forces killed the ISIS’s governor for Fallujah and his aide; the governor escaped from Abu Ghraib in July.
Yemen
British intelligence officials believe al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula bomb makers continue to develop bombs that can evade airport security measures. Three soldiers and a protester were killed as tribesmen blocked oil trucks in Shabwa province.
Analysis: Resilient Boko Haram an increasing threat
Boko Haram’s recent brazen assault on a military base in northern Nigeria has shown that the insurgency has not been quelled and the group is capable of shifting its tactics. Given the group’s history of attacks during the Christmas holiday, authorities have reason to be apprehensive.
Al Qaeda
US Aims to Blunt Terrorist Recruiting of English Speakers
NSA
NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show
CIA
Obama war chiefs widen drone kill box
France
French jail probes prisoners’ ‘Harlem Shake’ video
European Union
EU warns about threat Syria foreign fighters
Lebanon
Hassan al-Laqqis, a Hezbollah commander who fought in Syria and had a key role in the group’s drone program, was shot dead in Beirut. The Ahrar al-Sunna Baalbek brigade claimed the attack, but Hezbollah blamed Israel and claimed it had targeted him in the past. Hezbollah leader Nasrallah defended the group’s role in Syria and […]
Israel
Authorities completed the construction of the Israel-Egypt border fence. Officials denied involvement in the killing of a Hezbollah commander near Beirut. Authorities will soon hold a simulation of a chemical weapons attack by a suicide bomber.
Egypt
The brother of the leader of Ansar Jerusalem said “it is possible” the group is tied to al Qaeda. US officials said AQAP is in regular contact with jihadist groups in the Sinai. Authorities claimed to have foiled two terror plots in Rafah and el Arish. A Salafi jihadist leader, Tawfid al Afny, was reportedly […]
Mexico
Truck with ‘dangerous’ radioactive material stolen in Mexico
Denmark
Syria’s chemical weapons to be shipped in delicate US-Danish operation
Hamas
Armed Salafist movement emerges in West Bank
Al Qaeda
Pakistani CIA Informant: ‘Drone Attacks Are the Right Thing to Do’
Israel
US, Stepping Up Role, Will Present West Bank Security Proposal to Israel
Kenya
Bail has been denied to four Somali men accused of aiding the Westgate attackers, providing support and shelter to the gunmen, and using false documents. In Moyale the Gabra-Borana conflict has intensified along the border with Ethiopia. In Mombasa, Muslim leaders are meeting to discuss the growing threat of youth radicalization.
Somalia
UN investigators in Kismayu say that Kenyan forces, Ras Kamboni militiamen, and Shabaab split charcoal profits with each other despite being at war. Somalia’s central regions have banned a widely used schoolbook called “Islamic Education” that promotes the idea of apostasy and justifies suicide bombing.
Nigeria
A Defense Headquarters Joint Investigation Team has recommended that Nigeria immediately try 500 of the 1,400 Boko Haram suspects detained in and around Maiduguri. It also recommended releasing another 167, while 614 whose cases were inconclusive have been recommended for review.
Libya
A General National Congress vote made sharia law the basis for all legislation and all state institutions. Protesters calling for the withdrawal of armed militias from Derna drove Ansar al Sharia militants from their headquarters in the city and set a jihadist radio station on fire. Ansar al Sharia denied firing on protesters. Car bombs […]
Syria
Jihadist Groups Gain in Turmoil Across Middle East
‘It is possible’ Ansar Jerusalem is tied to al Qaeda, brother of group’s leader says
Haitham el Menai further praised his brother Shadi and said anyone “who defends our children” should be treasured. Shadi el Menai, who was last seen in September, is believed to still be in North Sinai.
Iran
US reportedly frees Iranian amid secret talks, but American trio still held
Al Qaeda
Jihadist Groups Gain in Turmoil Across Middle East
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Yemen bomb makers ‘working on new devices’
United Kingdom
Prime Minister Cameron said the government plans to classify “Islamist extremism” as a distinct ideology that distorts and betrays the principles of Islam. In the wake of the savage murder of an unarmed British soldier by Islamists in Woolwich this summer, Home Secretary May will set out measures to deal with extremism, which may include […]
Kurdistan
Syrian Kurds celebrate war-torn country’s first civil marriage
Afghanistan
The Taliban killed three policemen in Zabul, two civilians in Helmand, and a deputy police chief in Nangarhar. ISAF killed a Taliban commander and four fighters in an airstrike in Kunar.
Iraq
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham killed 24 people in a series of bombings and attacks. In one attack, a suicide assault team killed 10 people, including six policemen, while targeting the mayor’s compound in Tarmiyah. In Tikrit, two suicide bombers killed five people, including two policemen. Security forces captured the ISIS’s governor […]