Morocco
Police busted an international drug trafficking ring with links to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The ring had a base in Mali and was connected to Latin American cartels. Six people, including two Spaniards, were arrested.
Author Archives: Bill Roggio
Somalia
Shabaab took control of the town of Dhusamareb from Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama™a after the Sufi group battled a rival clan for control of Adado. Shabaab forces attacked the town of Elgal in Hiran province, sparking heavy fighting.
Yemen
Australia warned its citizens against traveling to Yemen, and said its embassy and hotels are likely targets of terror attacks. Intelligence officials in Abyan said they seized al Qaeda documents that detailed plots that are to be carried out in the province.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Yemeni Security forces captured Saleh al Raymi, a suspected senior al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula financier, at Sana’a International Airport. Raymi, a Saudi citizen, was traveling from Saudi Arabia. The Yemeni interior ministry offered a $100,000 reward for eight AQAP operatives.
Iran
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said talks over Iran’s nuclear program are likely to begin in November. Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi said two US hikers should be tried for spying. A top IRGC official said the West is attempting to sow divisions between Sunni and Shia Muslims.
Conflicting reports mean the death of senior Pakistani Taliban leader unlikely
The Taliban denied that Qari Hussain Mehsud was killed, while US intelligence officials refused to confirm the reports. Qari Hussain is known as the “teacher of suicide bombers.”
Saudi Arabia
Jaber Jabran al Faifi, a former detainee at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, surrendered to Saudi authorities. Faifi left Saudi Arabia after his release in 2006 and joined al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Pakistan
The US killed nine “militants’ in a pair of airstrikes in Mir Ali in North Waziristan. The Taliban killed five Pakistani soldiers and captured one other during an attack on a checkpoint in South Waziristan, and also killed three truck drivers in attacks on NATO supply trucks in Khyber and Kalat. Four tribal militia members […]
The Taliban
The Pakistani government reportedly released Mullah Baradar, Mullah Omar’s former deputy, from custody. Qari Hussain Mehsud is rumored to have been killed in a Predator strike in North Waziristan earlier this month.
Pakistan releases Mullah Baradar?
An old photograph of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the former leader of the Quetta Shura who was detained in Karachi. Image from The New York Times. Reports from Pakistan indicate that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Mullah Omar’s deputy and the former leader of the Quetta Shuara, has been “freed” from Pakistani custody (it is somewhat […]
Iraq
Two insurgents and two policemen were killed during a clash in Haditha. Insurgents killed a policeman in Baghdad. Security forces detained seven al Qaeda operatives near Fallujah and two wanted men in Kirkuk.
Qari Hussain Mehsud killed in Predator strike?
Image from an audiotape from Qari Hussain Mehsud, who takes credit for the failed car bombing in New York City. Qari Hussain is a senior leader and master bomb maker in the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. YouTube has removed the audiotape. I have been hearing rumors that Qari Hussain Mehsud, the deputy to […]
Afghanistan
General Petraeus admitted that NATO facilitated the movement of Taliban leaders to Kabul for peace talks. Coalition and Afghan forces killed and captured several Taliban commanders and fighters in Kandahar, Helmand, Khost, Zabul, Wardak, and Sar-i-Pul. The Taliban killed three ISAF troops, a policeman, and several civilians.
Russia
Caucasus Emirate fighters killed three policemen in an attack near the village of Agvali in Dagestan. Police killed one “militant” in a shootout near the city of Derbent in Dagestan.
Somalia
One person was killed during clashes between Shabaab and Somali forces in Mogadishu. Two aid workers from Save the Children were kidnapped by “Armed gunmen” in Adodo. An Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama™a leader took control of the Adodo district.
Sweden
Prosecutors have charged two Swedish men of Somali origins with plotting to return to Somalia to carry out suicide attacks. The two men have been linked to Shabab leader Yassin Ismail Ahmed.
Hezbollah
Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, presented Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad with a rifle captured from an Israeli soldier during the 2006 war. The two leaders met at the Iranian embassy in Beirut. Ahmedinejad vowed to continue to support Hezbollah.
US Predators launch pair of strikes in Mir Ali
Up to five “militants” were reported killed. Five of the last 11 strikes have hit targets in Mir Ali.
Pakistan
The prime minister said no promise has been made to tackle the Taliban in North Waziristan. Security forces detained seven Lashkar-e-Jhangvi members for plotting to attack the prime minister of Pakistan. The Taliban bombed a shrine in Landikotal and released a video of a professor kidnapped in September.
Afghanistan
The Taliban killed eight ISAF soldiers in five separate attacks in the south, west, and east. Coalition and Afghan forces captured the Taliban’s deputy shadow governor of Nimroz, and killed 17 fighters in Helmand and two commanders and several more fighters in Ghazni.
Iraq
Insurgents killed eight civilians and a policeman in separate attacks in Baghdad, Jisr Diyala, and Mosul. Security forces detained 28 wanted men in Baqubah and 12 more in Kirkuk, and an al Qaeda operative who escaped from Badush prison in Tal Afar.
Somalia
President Sharif appointed a new prime minister. Shabaab arrested the director of Radio Mandeeq. Hawiye clan elders urged businessmen to leave the Bakara market, the scene of constant fighting between Shabaab and government forces.
Yemen
“Militants” killed the security chief of the town of Mudiyah in Abyan province, an al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula stronghold. The provincial governor of Yemen escaped an assassination attempt while traveling to the funeral of the slain police chief.
Hezbollah
Iranian President Ahmedinejad denounced the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and said it was trying to “frame” and defame Hezbollah. The US said Hezbollah has shown it is more loyal to Iran than the people of Lebanon.
Bahrain
A court charged 23 Shia political activists with counts of terrorism, forming a terrorist group, and conspiring against the government. The men are thought to be members of the political opposition.
Coalition, Afghan troops capture deputy shadow governor in Nimroz
A senior IED facilitator was also captured during a recent raid in the southwestern province.
The Netherlands
A Dutch court freed Wesam al Delaema from prison after he had served less than six years of a 25-year sentence. Delaema was convicted in a US court for joining an insurgent group and planting IEDs that were intended to kill US troops in Fallujah. The US had transferred Delaema to the Netherlands to serve […]
Afghanistan
Russia, Britain pledge to enhance cooperation on Afghanistan
Somalia
More than 20 people were killed during clashes between Shabaab and Somali troops in Mogadishu. Shabaab warned Somalis not to use African Union-run hospitals. The chairman of a human rights group escaped Shabaab’s custody.
Pakistan
US Predators pounded a compound and two vehicles several times in the town of Lataka in the Datta Khel area in North Waziristan, killing 11 “militants” including two foreigners. The Taliban killed three pro-government tribal leaders in attacks in Mohmand.