Al Qaeda isn’t dead yet, FBI director says
When asked if the terror group is dead, FBI Director Robert Mueller answered, “No.”
Author Archives: Bill Roggio
Ansar al Sharia in Libya criticizes Muslim Brotherhood
Additionally, the jihadist group praises Syria as “the land of jihad and epics, in particular, whose jihad is still continuing against all the forces of falsehood.”
Pakistan
Ghulam Jan Wazi, a Taliban commander who sheltered al Qaeda and other foreign terrorists, was killed along with four fighters in a bombing in South Waziristan. The Taliban killed a soldier and a civilian in a bombing in Karachi. Asmatullah Muawiya, a Taliban and al Qaeda commander, said he welcomes negotiations with the government.
Afghanistan
Security forces claimed to have killed 40 Taliban fighters in Kandahar and 15 more in Helmand. The Taliban took control of the Azra district in Logar just one week after the military ended an operation there. A Taliban suicide bomber killed one person in an attack that targeted Farah’s intelligence chief.
Iraq
Al Qaeda in Iraq killed the leader of the Awakening in Madeen in a bombing at his home. Iraqi border guards fought with “armed groups” that attempted to cross from Syria into Anbar and Ninewa province.
Yemen
President Hadi defended the US’s use of drones in Yemen, and requested the US transfer technology to the country to pursue al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The United Kingdom and Germany have reopened their embassies after being shuttered for two weeks due to a threat from al Qaeda.
Afghan military claims dual-hatted Taliban and al Qaeda leader killed in ISAF airstrike
The Afghan military claimed Qari Zia Rahman was killed in an airstrike in Kunar, but the report is not confirmed. The wanted al Qaeda and Taliban commander has been reported killed in the past.
Al Qaeda group led by Belmokhtar, MUJAO unite to form al-Murabitoon
Mokhtar Belmokhtar united his group, the al-Mulathameen Brigade, with Ahmed el Tilemsi’s Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa to form the al-Murabitoon. The new group has praised the emirs of al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Iraq
Al Qaeda in Iraq killed seven people, including an Awakening leader, an Army officer, and two Kurdish soldiers in attacks throughout the country. Insurgnets also bombed an oil pipeline. Security forces detained two prisoners who escaped from Abu Ghraib during a raid in Rashidiya.
Yemen
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula killed Aden’s intelligence chief and his son in an ambush. The government apologized to Yemenis for military actions that in the past targeted southern separatists.
US adds MUJAO operative to terrorism list
Mohamed Lahbous, a member of the al Qaeda-linked Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa, was listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist for his involvement in kidnapping, weapons smuggling, and armed attacks in Algeria.
Afghanistan
A suicide bomber killed three civilians and two members of the Afghan Local Police in Logar. The Taliban killed an ISAF soldier in a direct fire attack in the east and the director of the passport office in a bombing in Uruzgan, and executed a prosecutor who was held hostage in Zabul.
Iraq
Al Qaeda killed three Iraqi soldiers in a bombing in Fallujah. Security forces killed three al Qaeda fighters and detained 13 more in Tikrit, and captured al Qaeda’s governor for Kirkuk and three of his aides.
Afghanistan
Officials in Farah claimed that 72 Taliban fighters and 11 members of the Public Protection Forces were killed in a major clash on the Ring Road. Four policemen were killed in an IED attack in Kapisa. The president’s office denied it sacked the attorney general for conducting talks with the Taliban.
Iraq
The government executed 15 Iraqis, including two women, and an Egyptian, for terrorism-related charges. Security forces killed a senior al Qaeda leader in Babil and captured another in Diyala. Al Qaeda killed an Awakening leader and his three-year-old niece in an attack in Kirruk.
Somalia
“Gunmen” killed a Somali soldier in Baidoa. Security forces detained several Shabaab fighters in Marka. It is rumored that the government will free Hassan Dahir Aweys.
Afghanistan
The Taliban killed seven Afghan soldiers and four policemen in attacks across the country. Security forces killed 16 Taliban fighters in an airstrike in Helmand and five more fighters in Ghazni.
Iraq
Four civilians were killed in a pair of bombings in Sunni neighborhoods in Baghdad. Security forces captured 29 suspected terrorists and seized 12 IEDs during raids in Mosul.
Afghanistan
The Taliban killed 10 construction workers and a policeman in an attack on a camp in Herat, and five civilians in an IED attack in Helmand. Seven Taliban fighters and two policemen were killed in clashes in Badakhshan. A suicide bomber killed three Afghans in Farah.
Iraq
Al Qaeda in Iraq killed nine Iraqi soldiers in attacks in and around Baghdad. A truck bomb was detonated at the Umm Qasr port; no one was killed and port operations were not affected. Iraq’s foreign minister said his country would accept intelligence and counterterrorism assistance, to include the deployment of drones.
Somalia
Shabaab fighters looted the offices of Medecins Sans Frontieres in Dinsoor in Bay. The government has requested that MSF reconsider its withdrawal from the country. AMISOM is investigating claims that its soldiers raped women at a camp in Mogadishu. At least 105 cases of polio have been reported in Somalia.
Kenya
Shabaab claimed it killed five policemen during a raid on a police post in Galmagala. More than 40 Shabaab fighters attacked the police outpost. Officials said that four policemen were killed.
Afghanistan
Security forces killed 17 Taliban fighters in Baghlan, six fighters in Kunduz, and five more in Herat, and detained 49 suspects in Wardak. The Taliban wounded 15 people in a suicide attack in Kandahar.
Iraq
Al Qaeda in Iraq killed seven people, including the chief of police in Muqdadiyah, in attacks in the north and in Baghdad. Security forces captured eight al Qaeda fighters during a raid in a camp in Samarra. More than 580 tribesmen joined Awakening forces in Kirkuk.
Afghanistan
The Taliban offerred to free a female member of parliament and two other civilians who have recently been kidnapped in Ghazni in exchange for eight Taliban fighters currently in prison. Security forces killed a Taliban commander in Badakhshan province.
Iraq
Al Qaeda in Iraq killed 34 people in a series of nine bombings throughout the capital of Baghdad. One bombing took place near the Foreign Ministry. Security forces killed two terrorists and captured six more in a raid on an al Qaeda “hideout” in Ninewa.
Iraq
Al Qaeda in Iraq killed 14 people in a pair of bombings at a cafe and a ice cream shop in Baqubah and a prominent cleric at a mosque in Mosul. The Iraqi Iftaa Authority denounced al Qaeda and said the group and its activities do not represent Sunnis.
Al Qaeda
Yemen drone strikes may revive war-powers battle between administration, Congress
Pakistani al Qaeda commander threatens government over execution of jihadists
Asmatullah Muawiya said the PML-N “will have to pay a price” if it carries out the executions of jihadists. Pakistan’s interior minister said the government will carry out death penalties starting next week.
Afghanistan
The Taliban kidnapped and then executed eight civilians in the Muqur district in Ghazni, and killed two civilians in Uruzgan, a government official in Kandahar, and a tribal leader in Jawzjan. The Interior Ministry said that 14 Taliban fighters were killed in operations across the country.