Somalia
Ugandan troops killed several Shabaab fighters during clashes near Marka. Security forces captured 15 Shabaab fighters in Mogadishu. Nigeria will send 140 police officers to support AMISOM.
Author Archives: Bill Roggio
US drones kill 2 AQAP fighters in eastern Yemen
The US has stepped up drone strikes in the eastern province of Hadramout this year.
Al Nusrah Front emir denounces US terrorism designation, praises foreign fighters
Abu Muhammad al Julani sends “a greeting of love and loyalty to our pure and pious emigrant brothers” who are waging jihad in Syria.
US drones strike in Pakistan’s Shawal Valley
More than one-fifth of the drone strikes in Pakistan this year have taken place in the remote valley in North Waziristan.
Taliban capture more than 20 Pakistani policemen
Coordinated raids by the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan on checkpoints outside of the provincial capital of Peshawar also resulted in the deaths of at least two soldiers.
Afghanistan
The Taliban killed three policemen in an assault on a checkpoint in Uruzgan and another in an attack on the governor’s convoy in Faryab. The NDS found a car bomb in Parwan.
Iraq
Insurgents killed three Iraqi soldiers in an IED attack in Hamdaniya, north of Mosul. Security forces arrested five al Qaeda operatives, including a wanted “slaughterer,” in a raid in Fallujah.
Yemen
A jihadist identified two of the five al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters who were killed in a Dec. 24 drone strike in Hadramout as Abdullah Bawazir and Nabil al Kaldi. Both men escaped from a prison in Mukallah in June 2011.
New jihadist group emerges in Syria
Syrian Jund al Sham says it will support “everyone who raised the banner of monotheism and jihad.”
Jihadist identifies 2 AQAP fighters killed in recent drone strike
“Two mujahideen brothers Abdullah Bawazir and Nabil al Kaldi” were killed in the Dec. 24 drone strike in Hadramout province.
United Arab Emirates
Security forces arrested several UAE and Saudi nationals who are members of a “deviant group,” a term commonly used to describe al Qaeda. The cell was plotting to conduct attacks in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Somalia
Somali security forces retreated from Bulo-Gudud after Shabaab fighters returned in force. Nine Shabaab suspects were detained in Jowhar. The interior minister gave Shabaab fighters 100 days to surrender.
Egypt
Egypt opposition faces reality of rising Islamist power
Taliban suicide bomber attacks US base in Khost
An Afghan policeman and two civilians were killed in a blast outside of Forward Operating Base Chapman, which is known to host CIA operations.
Afghanistan
An Afghan policeman killed five of his fellow officers in Jawzjan before joining the Taliban. A female police officer killed a US civilian adviser inside the Interior Ministry. The Taliban killed three civilians in Farah.
Yemen
US drones killed six al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters, including a Jordanian, in a pair of strikes in Baydah and Hadramout provinces. One of the Yemenis escaped from prison two years ago.
US drone strikes kill Jordanian, Yemeni AQAP operatives
A Yemeni al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighter who escaped from prison two years ago was killed in the airstrike. The attack is the first reported US drone strike in Yemen in seven weeks.
Afghan policewoman kills US military adviser inside Interior Ministry
An Afghan policewoman assigned to the “gender and equality department” at the Interior Ministry is said to have shot an American civilian adviser in the head at close range.
Yemen
A court sentenced three al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operatives to terms of two to six years in prison. The military launched an offensive against “tribesmen” who continue to attack an LNG pipeline in Marib.
Taliban suicide bomber kills Pakistani provincial minister
Bashir Ahmed Bilour, the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, was killed along with eight other people in today’s attack in Peshawar.
Boko Haram suicide bombers attack mobile phone companies in Nigeria
The offices of South Africa’s MTN and India’s Airtel were the targets of today’s suicide attacks in Kano.
Pakistani Taliban commander killed in bombing in Wana
Maulvi Abbas Wazir, a commander in the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan in the Wana area, was killed in a blast at his office yesterday. The attack is thought to be linked to an assassination attempt against Mullah Nazir late last month.
Iraq
The government confirmed that 10 members of the finance minister’s bodyguard have been arrested for terrorism-related charges. Security forces detained eight al Qaeda fighters in Ramadi and five more in Baghdad.
Yemen
“Gunmen” kidnapped a Finnish couple and an Austrian in Tahrir Square in the capital of Sana’a. The foreigners were in Sana’a to study Arabic. No group has claimed credit for the kidnapping.
Somalia
Somali troops and members of the pro-government elements of the Ras Kamboni Brigade clashed in Kismayo. Eight people, including two Ras Kamboni fighters, were killed during the fighting.
Libya
Two more policemen were killed in a shootout with an “armed group” outside of the Benghazi Security Directorate. The director of the Benghazi Security Directorate was killed last month.
‘Foreigners’ reported killed in US drone strike in Pakistan
The unmanned Predators or Reapers destroyed a compound in the Mir Ali area, which is known to host top al Qaeda and other jihadist leaders and operatives.
Afghanistan
The Taliban killed two Afghan security personnel and five civilians in a bombing in Nimroz. A Georgian soldier has gone missing in Helmand province. Foreign Minister Zalmai Rasool said the ANSF is not prepared to take over security in 2014.
Iraq
The finance minister said that a “militia force” kidnapped several members of his staff. President Talibani has been moved to a hospital in Germany after his stroke earlier this week.
Somalia
The Ethiopian military indicated that the African Union will expand its operations beyond Jowhar and Beledweyne. The towns of Bulo Burto and Jalalaqsi, which are between the two cities, are still under Shabaab control.