Spiegel has an interesting report on how the Taliban are sheltering in areas of Pakistan far removed from the tribal areas that have become the focus of discussion. Kohistan is one such area, as Spiegel notes, and the Pakistani Army isn’t viewed as a threat. In fact they are often “quite nice”: Rafiullah, 25, is […]
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters gunned down a colonel in the intelligence branch near his home in Mukalla in Hadramawt province. AQAP has put out a hit list of more than 50 intelligence and security officials targeted for assassination.
Security forces detained five members of an al Qaeda cell in Izmir in western Turkey. The cell was supporting al Qaeda operations in Afghanistan, and included fundraisers and a computer programmer who was attempting to jam NATO UAV signals.
The Taliban killed six soldiers in an IED attack Arakzai and five civilians in a bombing in a mosque in Peshawar. The US approved a $2 billion military aid package to Pakistan, but cut of certain units from funding due to human rights violations.
A US military map of Iran’s operations inside southern Iraq, from 2007. This map formed the basis of the LWJ report, The Ramazan Corps and the ratlines into Iraq. Click to view full size. In case you are curious why the release of the Wikileaks documents pertaining to Afghanistan, and now Iraq, have sparked little […]
Twenty people were killed during a failed Shabaab offensive that sought to retake control of Balad-hawa district on the Kenyan border. Puntland claimed it took control of Shabaab’s last safe haven in the Galgala mountains. The African Union is seeking an air and naval blockade of Somalia.
The Taliban killed a district governor and his bodyguard in Nangarhar, and killed three truck drivers and torched 13 NATO supply vehicles in Zabul. Security forces killed and captured several Taliban and Haqqani Network commanders and fighters in Kandahar, Helmand, Khost, and Paktika.
The Indian Army claimed that Pakistan is operating 42 terror training camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Women are being trained at some of the camps, and more than 600 terrorists are prepared to enter Indian Kashmir, the Army chief said.
The attack is the Taliban’s latest in a long string of attacks at religious institutions in Pakistan. The Taliban have also stepped up attacks against security forces, killing 17 soldiers and paramilitary troops over the past week.
Five Pakistanis were among 10 people arrested in Sana’a by Yemeni security forces. The five Pakistanis are accused of spreading “extremist jihadi ideas.”
The military killed four Taliban fighters in Arakzai and four more in Kurram. Six Taliban fighters, including their commander, were killed in an IED blast in Kurram. Two of Jalaluddin Haqqani’s sons are mediating negotiations in Kurram.
Security forces killed and captured several Taliban and Haqqani Network commanders and fighters in Kandahar, Helmand, Paktika, and Baghlan. The Taliban killed four policemen in Herat and an ISAF soldier in the south, and bombed a girls’ school in Logar.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operative Ahmed Abdel Aziz al Jasser and four other operatives plotted to carry out attacks in Saudi Arabia as its military was battling Houthi rebels from Yemen along the border in 2009. Yemen has offered a $50,000 reward for Yasser.
Five people were killed during a mortar exchange between African Union and Shabaab forces in Mogadishu. Zachary Adam Chesser pled guilty in a US court to providing material support for Shabaab and encouraging others to attack the producers of South Park. The US backs an increase of African Union forces in Somalia.
The Pentagon invited Anwar al Awlaki, the radical al Qaeda cleric now in hiding in Yemen, to a lunch just weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the US. A few days prior to the Pentagon luncheon, Awlaki was interviewed by the FBI for his associations to three of the 9/11 hijackers.
The Yemeni government is waging “what amounts to a guerrilla war with al Qaeda” in Abyan province, a senior security official said. The military claimed several al Qaeda operatives were killed in an airstrike that targeted a vehicle in Abyan.
The Yemeni government offered a $50,000 reward for Ahmed Abdel Aziz Jasser al Jasser and Turki Mohammad Quleiss al-Shahrani, two al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operatives. The interior ministry described Jasser and Shahrani as being “among the most dangerous al Qaeda operatives to have committed acts of terrorism and sabotage.”
The Federal Crime Office estimates “there are more than 1,000 Islamists ready to commit violence” residing in Germany. Police have classified 131 Islamists as “instigators” of terrorism and has opened files on 274 people.
The Taliban killed three paramilitary soldiers in Khyber and wounded a policeman in a grenade attack in Peshawar. Police found four stolen NATO containers in Peshawar. The prime minister said the military will not be deployed in Karachi.
The Taliban killed 10 civilians in an IED attack in Nimroz, three civilians in Ghazni, and a British soldier in Helmand. Security forces killed and captured several Taliban and Haqqani Network commanders and fighters in Helmand, Paktika, and Baghlan. More than 1/4 of the votes in the parliamentary election have been annulled. An Afghan lawmaker […]
The UN will establish a political office in Somalia. Shabaab and Hizbul Islam fighters tortured and then murdered the former police chief in Afgoi. Shabaab banned the use of mobile phone money transfer services. A British aid worker kidnapped in the Galgudud was released.
Insurgents killed a policeman in an IED attack that targeted the top UN representative to Iraq in Najaf; he was leaving a meeting with Gran Ayatollah Sistani. Insurgents also killed an Awakening fighter in Baghdad. Security forces detained 21 wanted men in Basrah.
Saudi officials said they were not informed by the Yemeni government that Saleh al Raymi was a member of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Yemeni officials arrested Raymi, a Saudi citizen, after he landed in Sana’a, and accused him of being a financier.
The Yemeni Air Force targeted al Qaeda compounds in Abyan province. The prime minister assured international oil investors that al Qaeda will be defeated as the government announced that Yemen™s total oil reserves is estimated at 11.9 billion barrels. A former intelligence chief was wounded in an al Qaeda attack in Zinjbar.
Eight Pakistani soldiers have been killed in attacks since Oct. 15, and another was captured.
Twenty-nine people died in targeted killings in Karachi. The Taliban killed three Pakistani soldiers in South Waziristan and destroyed two NATO supply trucks in Kalat. The US is finalizing a $2 billion military aid package to Pakistan.
Bader Mohammed Nasser al Shihri, a wanted al Qaeda operative, contacted the Pakistani government and is seeking to turn himself in to Saudi authorities. Al Shihri is a Saudi citizen and is on the Kingdom’s list of 85 most wanted terrorists.
Security forces killed and captured several Taliban and Haqqani Network commanders and fighters in Kandahar, Baghlan, Ghazni, and Paktika. The Taliban killed three ISAF soldiers, two policemen, and two civilians in attacks in Kandahar, Logar, and the south. In Kunduz, 60 Taliban fighters laid down their weapons.
Insurgents killed nine members of a mukhtar’s family after detonating four IEDs planted in the home in Tikrit, and killed a civilian in an IED attack in Baqubah. An insurgent died in a premature detonation in Mosul. Security forces detained 10 wanted men in Kirkuk. Prime Minister Maliki met with Muqtada al Sadr in Iran.
Twelve people were killed during clashes in Beledweyne between pro-government forces and Shabaab fighters. “Gunmen” ambushed and killed 20 Shabaab fighters in Hiran province. Puntland security forces captured four Shabaab fighters in the Galgala mountains.