Afghanistan
Security forces killed a Taliban district governor and seven fighters in Herat, and killed four more fighters and captured five more in Wardak. The Pakistani military fired 38 missiles into Kunar.
Author Archives: Bill Roggio
Afghanistan
The Taliban executed three suicide attacks: in Kabul, a member of parliament and his bodyguard were seriously wounded; in Helmand, three intelligence officers were killed; and in Kandahar, a child was killed in an attack on a US convoy. ISAF is investigating an airstrike in Helmand that killed a Taliban commander and a child.
Iraq
“Gunmen” dressed in Iraqi military uniforms abducted 18 Sunni men from their homes in Meshahda, just north of Baghdad, and then executed them. Security officials blamed the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant for the operation.
US drones strike in Pakistan, kill 3 ‘militants’
An unnamed Punjabi jihadist is reported to have been killed in a strike in the Miramshah area, which is administered by the Haqqani Network.
Afghanistan
The Afghan military claimed 15 Taliban fighters were killed in infighting in Paktika, and said that four more were killed during operations in Ghazni. The Taliban killed five civilians in bombings in Nangarhar.
Iraq
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham killed 29 people in a series of bombings and attacks in Baghdad, Samarra, Najaf, Hilla, Suwayrah, and Tarmiyah. In an attack in Samarra, a suicide bomber killed three policemen at a checkpoint.
Afghanistan
Twenty Taliban fighters and 10 policemen were killed during fighting in Nuristan. The Taliban killed six teachers in Faryab and six soldiers in IED attacks in Zabul, Logar, and Helmand.
Iraq
Thirty-six Iraqis were killed in a series of bombings and attacks throughout Iraq. In one attack, a suicide bomber killed 11 people at a funeral in Abu Ghraib. Thirteen Iraqis who were executed were also found. Security forces repelled an attack on a border outpost in Anbar; one insurgent was killed and two more were […]
ISIS praises slain commander who fought in Iraq, Libya, and Syria
Abu Abdullah al Libi fought against US forces in Iraq, the Ghaddafi regime in Libya, and against Bashir al Assad’s regime before being killed in Syria in September.
Iraq
The government executed 11 Iraqi men who were convicted of carrying out terrorist attacks. Security forces destroyed two al Qaeda camps and captured 12 fighters during raids near Rubaia close to the Syrian border.
Yemen
Suspected al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters gunned down two Belarussian military instructors who advised the president’s security personnel in Sana’a. The widow of AQAP’s slain deputy emir and a Saudi AQAP operative known as Arwa al Baghdadi were reportedly detained in Hadramout.
Afghanistan
The US threatened to withdraw all forces after 2014 if President Karzai doesn’t sign the Bilateral Security Agreement. The government may reintroduce public stoning for adulterers.
Iraq
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham killed 34 people, including four policemen and three soldiers, in a series of attacks in Baghdad and Mosul. Security forces captured an ISIS financier in Ninewa during a raid in Mosul.
Recent Shabaab suicide assaults spur Somali and AMISOM operations
After two recent suicide assaults in Beledweyne, AMISOM and Somali troops have begun new concerted operations against Shabaab in central Somalia.
Afghanistan
Afghan elders want President Karzai to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement; Karzai insisted it wouldn’t be signed until after elections in April 2014. Police killed five Taliban fighters. Two people were killed in a bombing in Nangarhar. A border policemen killed two of his colleagues in Kandahar.
Afghanistan
America forgetting lessons of Iraq, Afghanistan, general says
Iraq
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham killed five people, including a local TV cameraman, in bombings and attacks in Baghdad and Mosul. The government said it would assist the tribes in Ninewa in their fight against al Qaeda.
Yemen
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters killed three policemen during an attack on a checkpoint in Seyoun. President Hadi said al Qaeda has been degraded militarily over the past year.
Afghanistan
Seven Taliban fighters were killed in a premature detonation inside a mosque in Nangarhar. The Afghan government accused ISAF of killing two civilians in a night raid; ISAF said the two people killed were Taliban fighters. The Taliban killed an Afghan soldier in an IED attack in Khost.
Iraq
The Islamic State of Iraqi and the Sham killed 23 people in a series of bombings and attacks. In one attack in Tuz Khurmatu, a suicide bomber killed 12 people. Security forces in Mosul captured a senior ISIS commander who operates in Baghdad.
Afghanistan
President Karzai rejected a US ultimatum to approve the Bilateral Security Agreement by the end of the year. Security forces killed 12 Taliban fighters during operations in Kabul, Balkh, Wardak, Logar, Nimroz, Kandahar, and Helmand. “Gunmen” kidnapped and then executed two health workers in Helmand.
Iraq
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant killed 23 Iraqis in a series of bombings and attacks in Baghdad and Tarmiya. Security forces captured six ISIS fighters in Kirkuk.
Yemen
“Gunmen” in Sana’a assassinated a member of parliament who represented Shia Houthi rebels in the north. The United Nations’ representative was targeted for assassination in the capital. Two soldiers were killed in an IED attack in Saada.
Analysis: Targeted killing of Haqqani leaders a successful tactic that falls short of an effective strategy
The recent deaths of top Haqqani Network leaders Nasiruddin Haqqani and Ahmad Jan will hurt the organization, but without a comprehensive strategy to fight jihadist groups beyond the tactic of targeted killings, will not lead to its collapse.
Nigerian authorities dismantle Boko Haram cell in Kogi state
The State Security Services captured members of a cell, including a Saudi-educated preacher, that was allegedly planning an attack in Kogi state in central Nigeria.
Pakistan
The US killed three Haqqani Network leaders, including Maulvi Ahmed Jan, a senior financier and aide to Sirajuddin Haqqani, in a drone strike in Hangu. The strike is the first outside of the tribal areas in four years. Pakistan “strongly condemned” the US attack.
Afghanistan
President Karzai wants to delay signing the Bilateral Security Agreement with the US until after elections in April 2014. Seven Taliban fighters were killed in an airstrike in Nuristan. The Taliban killed four people in a possible suicide attack in Kandahar. Police captured a teenaged suicide bomber in Khost.
Iraq
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, al Qaeda’s branch in Iraq, killed 25 people in a truck bombing in a Shia area in Saadiya in Diyala province. On Nov. 18, security forces killed eight fighters from the Al Nusrah Front, an al Qaeda branch in Syria, as they attacked a border outpost in […]
Pakistan ‘strongly condemns’ drone strike that killed Haqqani Network leaders
Pakistani denouncements of drone strikes that kill top Taliban, Haqqani Network, and al Qaeda leaders are now routine.
US drone strike kills 3 Haqqani commanders in Pakistan’s Hangu district
Three Haqqani Network commanders are reported to have been killed in a drone strike at a seminary in a settled area of Pakistan’s northwest that appears to have targeted Sirajuddin Haqqani, the operational commander of the Haqqani Network. The strike is the first outside of the tribal areas in four years.