Pakistan
The military claimed it defeated the Taliban in an area along the border between the tribal agencies of Bajaur and Mohmand. Two people were killed in a Taliban ambush in Khyber. A court sentenced a failed suicide bomber to death.
Author Archives: Bill Roggio
United States
Said Jaziri, a radical cleric from Tunisia who was deported from Canada in 2007, was arrested as he was being smuggled across the Mexican border in the trunk of a car. Jaziri had called for the death of a cartoonist for drawing the Prophet Mohammed.
Russia
Police believe that a 20-year-old male from the North Caucasus carried out the suicide attack at an airport in Moscow that killed 35 people. The Nogai Jamaat is still thought to be linked to the Moscow suicide attack.
Afghanistan
The Taliban killed the deputy governor of Kandahar in a suicide attack, four security guards in an IED attack in Helmand, and two ISAF soldiers in an IED attack in the south.
Egypt
Sixty-two people, including protesters and security forces, have been killed and 2,000 more have been wounded during the past two days. A nationwide curfew has been declared, while police defeated an assault on the Interior Ministry building.
Iraq
Insurgents assassinated a mayor in northern Diyala. Security forces detained an al Qaeda in Iraq leader in Wasit and five wanted men in Al Kut.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Said al Shihri, the second in command of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, declared war on Shia Houthis based in the Yemeni north. “…We announced jihad against Iranian-backed Houthi Shiite advocates,” he said in an audiotape.
Egypt
Oil prices: Oil futures surge on unrest in Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon and Yemen
Yemen
A small anti-government protest turned violent as police clashed with an estimated 100 people in Sana’a. Security forces have been deployed throughout the capital to prevent further protests.
Iran
Ayatolah Khatami said the political unrest in Egypt and the Middle East is “inspired by Iran’s Islamic revolution.” Iran hanged a Dutch-Iranian woman after accusing her of smuggling.
Taliban suicide bomber kills deputy governor of Kandahar
A Taliban suicide bomber driving a motorcycle picked out Deputy Governor Abdul Latif’s car in a convoy traveling in Kandahar city.
Spain
Police arrested a Pakistani man linked to an al Qaeda support cell. The Pakistani forged documents for al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba. He is linked to a cell of seven Pakistanis arrested in Spain and three more arrested in Thailand.
Pakistan
Security forces killed 28 Taliban fighters in Mohmand. The Taliban killed four people in two bombings in Kohat, and torched two NATO fuel tankers in Dhaddar.
Afghanistan
The Taliban killed eight civilians, including three foreigners, in a suicide attack in Kabul; three civilians in Khost; and a policeman in Helmand. Coalition and Afghan forces killed and captured several Taliban commanders and fighters in Kandahar, Nimroz, Zabul, Helmand, Kunar, and Khost.
Iraq
Security forces detained five wanted men in Al Kut and four more in Mosul. Two policemen and a civilian were wounded in a hand grenade attack in Mosul.
Somalia
Sheikh Mukhtar Abdurrahman Abu Zubeyr, Shabaab’s spiritual leader, called for fighters in the south to obey Shariah law and not oppress those living under their control. The African Union arrested soldiers who opened fire on civilians in Mogadishu.
Yemen
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is accused of carrying out an ambush that wounded two children of a government official in Abyan. Security forces detained six AQAP suspects in Hadramout province. President Saleh criticized Al Jazeera as a tool of both Israel and terror groups.
Hezbollah
Moshe Yaalon, Israel’s minister of strategic affairs, said Hezbollah agents are infiltrating into Gaza via Egypt to aid Palestinian terror groups in attacking Israel. Yaalon said Hezbollah created a special unit, called 1800, to work with Palestinian groups.
Jordan
Thousands of Jordanians protested in Amman and called for the prime minister to step down. The Islamic Action Front, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, is backing the protests.
Egypt
Tens of thousands of Egyptians have taken to the streets in 11 of the country’s 28 provinces to advocate the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak. Protesters attacked two government buildings while the government deployed the army and shut down communications in Cairo. The Muslim Brotherhood is backing the protests.
Suicide bomber kills 8 in Kabul
The Taliban claimed the deadly attack, and said they were targeting “foreigners.”
Moscow airport suicide attack linked to Caucasus terror group: report
Russian police appear to have identified one of the men involved in this week’s deadly suicide attack in Moscow. According to this report (which has yet to be officially confirmed) police have linked one of the suspects to the Nogai Jamaat, a little known Islamist group associated with the Caucasus Emirate that operates in northern […]
Pakistan
A US consular official shot and killed two Pakistani men on a motorcycle who are said to have been attempting to rob him in Lahore. One civilian was killed as Americans in a separate car raced to help. Security forces killed 12 Taliban fighters, including two suicide bombers, in Mohmand.
Russia
The president of Ingushetia said the Islamic Caucasus Emirate, led by Doku Umarov, was responsible for the suicide attack at a Moscow airport that killed 35 people. Fighting between security forces and “militants” was reported in the city of Khasavyurt in Dagestan.
Russia
Police said a man named Razdobudko, a member of the Nogai Jamaat, a Caucasus terror group formerly led by slain terrrosit Shamil Baseyev, is involved in the Moscow airport suicide attack. Police are investigating 10 suspect involved in the attack.
Afghanistan
Coalition and Afghan forces killed and captured several Taliban and IMU commanders and fighters in Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Zabul, Ghazni, Khost, Nangarhar, Wardak, Kunduz, and Takhar. The Taliban killed three policemen in an IED attack in Helmand.
Somalia
Shabaab claimed victory over government and African Union forces in Mogadishu. A militia in Beledweyne claimed it killed five Shabaab fighters in an ambush. The UN said the Transitional Federal Government’s mandate ends in August.
Iraq
Insurgents killed 48 civilians and wounded 121 more in a car bombing at a funeral in a Shia neighborhood in Baghdad. Two civilians were killed in a ‘sticky bomb’ attack in Baghdad.
Saudi Arabia
A CNN investigation “found that hundreds of millions of dollars of Saudi money had been funneled to leading Islamist politicians and political activists overseas.” The Muslim Brotherhood is then filtering the funds to al Qaeda, while Taliban supporters based in Saudi Arabia send money to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Sadr’s return short-lived after threats from Asaib al Haq
Remember all of the fawning coverage of Muqtada al Sadr as the new kingmaker and the most powerful man in Iraq after his return to the country on Jan. 5? So much for a triumphant return by Sadr; he’s fled Iraq yet again (he has already spent three-plus years in Iran, between 2007-2011). This time […]