Coalition and Afghan forces killed and captured several Taliban and Haqqani Network commanders and fighters during raids in Helmand, Nangarhar, Paktia, Khost, and Badghis. The Taliban killed a French officer in the east and an ISAF soldier in the south. A suicide bomber died in a premature detonation in Kandahar.
The Stockholm suicide bomber has been linked to radical jihadist preacher Abu Hamza. SAPO is now searching the Facebook page of the Stockholm suicide bomber to look for possible links to other jihadists.
Interpol received information that al Qaeda is planning attacks in the United States and Europe. “We received information yesterday from the Interpol office in Baghdad about possible threats, especially in the US and Europe, due to orders given to Al Qaeda cells by Al Qaeda commanders,” a spokesman said.
Security forces arrested a female suicide bomber in Baqubah, and 11 wanted men in Miqdadiyah. Insurgents wounded four civilians in Baghdad, two soldiers in Mosul, and a policeman and a civilian in Ninewa.
I haven’t had time to write about the Afghanistan assessment as I have spent a lot of time on the subject discussing it on the radio or with reporters. Honestly, there is little that is new or surprising in the assessment [see Tom’s assessment and discussion on the problem with Pakistan here, with which I […]
Twenty people were killed and 35 more were wounded in fighting between Shabaab and Somali forces in Mogadishu. African Union forces denied shelling the Bakara market in Mogadishu.
The last four strikes have taken place in Khyber, signaling a possible shift in targeting from North Waziristan, where attacks have been focused.
US Predators killed seven Taliban fighters in an airstrike in Khyber. Security forces detained two Lashkar-e-Jhangvi operatives in Karachi. The Taliban killed a young child in a grenade attack targeting a Shia procession in Peshawar.
The Taliban killed 14 civilians in an IED attack in Herat. ISAF accidentally killed four Afghan soldiers in an airstrike in Helmand. ISAF and Afghan troops killed several Taliban fighters in Helmand.
Security forces detained 39 “armed groups’ leaders” in Najaf and two wanted men in Kirkuk. Insurgents killed a former electricity ministry official in Baghdad. The UN Security Council lifted the remaining sanctions on Iraq.
Ten people were killed in fighting between Shabaab and Somali and African Union forces in Mogadishu. President Sharif called for Shabaab and Hizbul Islam to join the government. Shabaab chopped off a boy’s hand after accusing him of theft.
Police arrested a Jordanian man suspected of attempting to kill four US embassy employees in Sana’a. The Jordanian is thought to belong to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula; the interior ministry denied, however, that he had any links to the terror group.
Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al Quso, a top operational commander of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, dispelled reports of his death by a Predator strike in North Waziristan by granting an interview with Al Sharq al Awsat. Quso has been indicted by the US for his role in the suicide attack on the USS Cole […]
The strike in Khyber is just the second in the vital tribal agency this year.
Quso granted an interview with a Saudi newspaper from his mountain stronghold in Yemen’s Shabwa province.
Mustafa Abu Yazid, al Qaeda’s chief ideologue, called on Pakistanis to attack US interests in their country to avenge the imprisonment of Aafia Siddiqui. Yazid said Pakistanis should attack US airplanes, buildings, and convoys moving supplies and fuel into Afghanistan.
From The Telegraph, via Channel Four News, comes this report that two “white” Britons were killed in the Dec. 10 Predator strike in the village of Khadar Khel in the Datta Khel area of South Waziristan: A pair of white British Muslim converts who joined al-Qaeda have been killed in a drone attack in a […]
Security forces killed and captured dozens of Taliban fighters and commanders in Kandahar, Zabul, Ghazni, Khost, and Paktia. The Taliban killed three civilians in Kandahar and an ISAF soldier in the east.
Hizbul Islam leader Hassan Dahir Aweys vowed to defend Afgoi, its last remaining bastion, from Shabaab. A member of parliament seized control of the port in Mogadishu. The government suspended UNICEF and Red Cross operations.
Mahmud Abu Rideh was detained in the United Kingdom for four years, and his control order was lifted last summer. His death has not been confirmed.
Senior Iraqi security officials said that al Qaeda in Iraq is involved in a plot to carry out attacks in Europe and the US during the Christmas season. The cell, which included a Tunisian, was receiving direct orders from al Qaeda’s central leadership in Pakistan.
SAPO, Sweden’s security service, claimed that more than 200 Islamic extremists reside in the country, while “Islamic extremism … encompasses relatively limited phenomena which can primarily be dealt with through preventative measures.” A jihadist forum threatened further attacks against Volvo and IKEA.
A court was told that Abid Naseer, a Pakistani citizen, planned to carry out a bombing in Manchester in April 2009 as part of al Qaeda’s plot to carry out attacks in Europe and the US. The US is seeking the extradition of Naseer for his involvement with al Qaeda.
Jundallah claimed two of its suicide bombers targeted the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in an attack at a mosque in Chabahar in Sistan and Balouchestan province. Forty-one people were killed and more than 100 were wounded. Iran said it captured one of the bombers.
The suicide attack today killed 41 people. Jundallah claimed that the suicide bombers targeted Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Special operations forces captured the shadow governor of Sherzad, a Taliban and al Qaeda haven in the Afghan east.
Security forces killed and captured scores of Taliban fighters and commanders in Kandahar, Khost, Nangarhar, and Baghlan. The Taliban killed an ISAF soldier in the south.
Insurgents killed three civilian civilians in attacks in Baghdad and Kirkuk. Security forces arrested three terrorists involved in the killing of soldiers and civilians in Fallujah. The Army arrested the chairman of the security council in Amiriyat al Fallujah.
The Stockholm suicide bomber may have traveled to Yemen in 2007 and 2008. Houthis killed eight people during a clash in Sana’a. The deputy commander of intelligence in Abyan province escaped an assassination attempt.
Shabaab seized large areas of the Lower Shabelle region from Hizbul Islam. Hizbul Islam arrested several of its leaders in Afgoi suspected of being associated with Shabaab. Hizbul Islam is now confined to a small region south of Mogadishu.