Saudi Arabia is leading the Gulf states in brokering a deal for President Saleh to step down; Saleh has rejected the efforts as unconstitutional. The US embassy warned its citizens to keep away from the Presidential Palace, the Saleh Mosque, Sana’a University, and Tahrir Square in Sana’a, in anticipation of violence during Friday protests.
Shabaab forces killed two Somali troops in an ambush in Dharkenlay. Twenty Shabaab fighters in Beledweyne surrendered to the government. The prime minister said Somali and African Union forces would eject Shabaab from Mogadishu within a year.
Libyan rebels said that 13 of their fighters were killed in a NATO airstrike in the town of Ajdabiyah. Rebel forces are retreating from the town after forces loyal to President Gaddafi attacked. AFRICOM’s commanding general said the war in Libya has reached a stalemate.
The Mullah Dadullah Front, a radical Taliban subgroup closely linked to al Qaeda, is likely behind today’s complex attack.
The US intelligence community as a whole still has major problems with its analysis of al Qaeda and Afghanistan.
One of the suicide bombers who attacked a Sufi mosque last week was from Bajaur. Seven troops were wounded in an ambush on a convoy in Khyber. The Taliban torched two NATO fuel trucks in Dhaddar.
The governor of Kunar said 132 Taliban fighters have been killed, 20 have been wounded, and 47 more have been captured during an ongoing operation. US troops killed seven Taliban fighters who assaulted a base in Nangarhar. Several Taliban commanders and fighters were killed or captured in Nangarhar, Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul, and Khost. Two ISAF […]
An al Qaeda in Iraq suicide bomber killed three people in an April 5 attack in Baaj west of Mosul. Three Iraqis were killed in two IED attacks near a Shia shrine in Baghdad. Five terrorists were detained in Baghdad.
Turkish intelligence agencies believe that al Qaeda is planning on attacking Incirlik Air Base and Jewish synagogues. The attacks are thought to have been planned by Abu Muhammed Al Kurdi and Salih Battal, two Syrian al Qaeda operatives.
Police issued a terror alert after receiving a threat from Shabaab operatives. Police have been instructed to “be on the lookout for any suspicious material and explosive accessories” and to step up patrols at crowded areas and sensitive sites.
Aircraft were spotted during an offensive against Shabaab in Dhobley in southern Somalia.
More than 35 Shabaab fighters, including a commander, Hassan Abdurrahman Gumarey, were killed in recent fighting in Dhobley. Twenty people were wounded in a bombing at a market in Hargeysa in Somaliland.
The International Criminal Court claimed President Gaddafi planned to kill civilians before the rebellion broke out, and may indict Gaddafi. NATO said the protection of civilians in Misruta is its top priority after rebel leaders criticized the coalition for failing to hit Gaddafi’s forces.
Abu Ikhlas al Masri served as al Qaeda’s Kunar operations commander before he was captured in a special operations raid in Kunar in December 2010. Kunar remains an al Qaeda haven.
A Taliban force of 25 fighters attacked Forward Operating Base Fenty in Nangarhar province, but was routed by US troops guarding the base.
Security forces killed and captured several Taliban, HIG, and Haqqani Network commanders and fighters in Helmand, Kandahar, Ghazni, Khost, Paktia, Logar, Nangarhar, Baghlan, and Sar-i-Pul. The Taliban killed four policemen in Farah and allowed cell phone companies to turn on the service in Helmand.
Insurgents killed six members of a family in Baghdad and an Iraqi soldier in Kirkuk. Security forces captured a senior al Qaeda in Iraq judge in Diyala province.
Soldiers loyal to General Ali Mohsen killed three soldiers in Sana’a loyal to President Saleh. Tribesmen in Abyan killed two soldiers for participating in a raid against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The spokesman for the anti-Saleh Joint Meeting Parties said a new government would oppose AQAP.
In a TV interview, Walid Makled, a drug lord captured by Colombian forces, intimated that Venezuela has provided support to both Hezbollah and FARC. Makled said he would only provide details to US prosecutors.
Twelve people were killed in fighting between Somali forces and Shabaab in Mogadishu. Shabaab leader Hassan Dahir Aweys denounced UN talks on Somalia that will take place in Kenya in mid-April.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said that it would not permit an Iranian-styled theocracy such as the one in Iran. “The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces will not allow extremist factions to control Egypt,” the deputy defense minister said.
The rebel leadership rejected peace overtures from President Gaddafi’s sons. “Gaddafi has been waging a war on our people with the help of his sons’ militias and mercenaries, so we see no difference between them,” a rebel spokesman said. “There is no way to negotiate with this regime.”
Unrepentant: Teen suicide bomber vows attacks in Pakistan
The Obama administration will now try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Waleed bin Attash, Ramzi Bin Alshibh, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, and Mustafa Ahmad al Hawsawi at a military court at Guantanamo Bay. The five al Qaeda operatives masterminded the Sept. 11 attacks.
A suicide bomber killed eight people in an attack at a bus terminal in Lower Dir. Two of the failed suicide bombers from yesterday’s attack on a shrine in Dera Ghazi Khan are from North Waziristan.
A border policeman killed two US soldiers in Faryab. The Taliban killed a civilian in a sucide attack in Helmand and an ISAF soldier in the east. Security forces killed and captured dozens of Taliban and Haqqani Network commanders and fighters in Helmand, Kandahar, Zabul, Khost, Paktika, Logar, and Kunar.
Karzai’s role in Koran burning protests again reveals divide with US
Pakistan – Tribal lashkar makes advances: copters continue to pound LI hideouts
The Pakistani military and intel services still don’t want to go into the tribal agency.
Shamsullah directed multiple suicide attacks in the Afghan north, including three large attacks since the end of February.