Yemen
US drones killed Mukbel Abbad, a local al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula commander, and two fighters in a strike in Rada’a in Al Baydah province. Two soldiers were wounded in a grenade attack in Shabwa province.
Author Archives: Bill Roggio
Ethiopia
The National Security and Intelligence Agency claimed it arrested 15 al Qaeda operatives who were trained by Shabaab to carry out attacks in Ethiopia. Security forces also found weapons, jihadist propaganda, and training manuals during the raid.
Algeria
Algerian security forces killed seven more al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb fighters during a raid in the Oued Bahara area of Boumerdes. The AQIM fighters were members of the El-Feth brigade.
US drone strike kills local AQAP commander, 2 fighters in central Yemen
A local al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leader and two fighters were killed in the third strike in Rada’a in Al Baydah province since Dec. 24, 2012.
‘Good Taliban’ leader Mullah Nazir killed in US drone strike
Nazir, who has professed his alligiance to al Qaeda, was killed along with several deputies in one of three strikes in North and South Waziristan over the past 24 hours. A separate strike killed Faisal Khan, a Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan commander, and two Uzbeks.
Pakistan
US drones killed five “militants” in South Waziristan. “Gunmen” kidnapped seven soldiers in Jand as they were returning from leave in Rawalpindi. Security forces killed two “terrorists” during an operation in Miramshah in North Waziristan.
Afghanistan
Taliban and al Qaeda ally Gulbuddin Hekmatyar said that Britain’s Prince Harry is in Afghanistan “to kill innocent Afghans while he is drunk,” and said he hid when the Taliban assaulted Camp Bastion last summer. ISAF captured several Taliban commanders and fighters.
US drone strike kills 5 ‘militants’ in South Waziristan
The remotely piloted Predators or Reapers fired four missiles at a compound in Mullah Nazir’s territory. The strike is the first in 2013.
Nigeria
President Goodluck Jonathan claimed that most of the Boko Haram members involved in major attacks throughout the country in 2011 “have been arrested.” The attacks he mentioned included the suicide attack in the UN building and police headquarters in Abuja.
Pakistan
The Taliban claimed credit for a bombing in Karachi that killed four people at an MQM rally in Karachi. Seven aid workers were gunned down in Swabi; no group has claimed the attack.
Afghanistan
The military claimed that 22 Taliban fighters, including 10 Pakistanis, were killed in a 10-day-long operation in Ghazni. Four Afghans were killed after missiles fired from Pakistan struck in Kunar. Two Afghan soldiers attacked Spanish soldiers in Herat; no one was hurt.
Afghanistan
ISAF Congratulates Afghan Government on Transition of Security
Afghan troops attack Spanish soldiers on New Year’s Eve
Two Afghan soldiers opened fire on Spanish troops; no one was hurt in the attack. There were 44 reported insider, or green-on-blue, attacks in 2012.
Yemen
Security forces detained 11 al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters during operations in Dhala. Two escapees from a prison in Hodeidah were also detained.
Ethiopia
A court convicted 10 people, including a Kenyan, for being members of al Qaeda. The men were sentenced to life in prison.
Algeria
Security forces killed six al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb fighters during a raid in Bouzegza. The military is preparing for guerrilla warfare to combat Islamist fighters along the border with Mali.
Pakistan
The Taliban executed 21 policemen after capturing them in an operation several days ago in Peshawar. Nineteen people were killed in a bombing in Mastung; the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is suspected of carrying out the IED attack.
Afghanistan
The body of a Georgian soldier who has been missing since Dec. 18 has been found; he appears to have been tortured. The Taliban killed an ISAF soldier in an IED attack in the south, and killed one person and destroyed 11 NATO oil tankers in Nangarhar.
Iraq
Security forces arrested 19 wanted terrorists south of Baghdad, and five al Qaeda fighters in Diwaniyah and Baghdad. The Awakening offered reward money for information leading to those who attack members of the group.
Yemen
US drones killed three al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in a strike in Rada’a. AQAP offered a reward for the assassination of the US ambassador and US soldiers.
Nigeria
Four Boko Haram fighters and a policeman were killed in clashes in Damaturu, the provincial capital of Yobe. Security forces detained 59 people during the operation.
Daily Times op-ed hits the mark on Pakistani Taliban
“Now having been offered this incontrovertible proof of the Taliban on both sides of the western border and al Qaeda being one and the same thing, one hopes the foolishness about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Taliban can be relegated where it belongs: in the dustbin,” Daily Times writes.
Taliban execute 21 Pakistani policemen in Peshawar
Since June 2011, the Taliban have conducted three mass executions of Pakistani security personnel.
US drones kill 3 AQAP fighters in central Yemen
The US has launched four drone strikes in Yemen since Dec. 24. The uptick in attacks takes place after a nearly seven-week-long pause.
Al Nusrah Front on the offensive in Aleppo
The al Qaeda affiliate is capable of sustaining multiple offensives across Syria against the forces of the Assad regime, and has overrun several military bases this year.
Pakistan
Pakistan: Troubled north-west comes to town (Karachi)
Afghanistan
Security forces killed five Taliban fighters in Nangarhar. The Taliban released a video of the execution of an Afghan soldier, and killed a policeman in an IED attack in Uruzgan.
Iraq
Insurgents killed four Iraqi soldiers in an attack on a checkpoint in Madain, and the wife of an Awakening member in Al Shatt. Security forces arrested six al Qaeda fighters in Samarra.
Yemen
US drones killed two al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in a drone strike in Hadramout. “Gunmen” blew up an LNG pipeline in Marib just hours after it was repaired from a previous attack.
Pakistani Taliban release video refuting rumors of leadership rift
The Pakistani Taliban leaders are seen sitting side by side. Hakeemullah Mehsud also said the Taliban are “willing to get our heads cut off for al Qaeda.”