Jordan
Worried about terror attacks at home, Jordan steps up arrests of suspected Syria jihadists
Author Archives: Lisa Lundquist
Jordan
Jordanian authorities reportedly released convicted terrorist Mohamed al Dersi in exchange for Jordanian diplomat Fawaz Al Aytan, who was kidnapped in Libya, presumably by Ansar al Sharia. Al Dersi is said to be already in Libya, but al Aytan has not yet been freed. Authorities are trying to stem the flow of Jordanian jihadists to […]
Al Nusrah Front
Lebanon – Tripoli militia leaders abound despite crackdown
Lebanon
Three rockets hit outside Hermel, slightly wounding a woman; the Brigade of Free Sunnis in Baalbek claimed the attack. A worker lost his leg after stepping on a landmine near Baalbek. A Jordanian fighter was arrested in Arsal. A string of 11 car bomb cases from late 2013 and early 2014 was referred to the […]
Egypt
Authorities arrested Yasser Mehrez, the spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood’s political wing, who has been on the run for the past 10 months. Two people were killed in clashes between security forces and supporters of former president Morsi in Fayoum. Police clashed with Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Beni Suef.
Central African Republic
Central African Republic’s Seleka rebels call for secession amid sectarian war
Russia
A woman who shot at security forces during a counterterrorism raid in Khasavyurt in Dagestan was killed; the operation is said to be ongoing. Said Amirov, the former mayor of the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala, is being tried on murder and terrorism charges. A court in Bashkortostan convicted five members of the banned group Hizb […]
Libya
A bomb under a policeman’s car in Benghazi damaged several cars and buildings, but there were no casualties. The committee charged with drafting Libya’s constitution held its first meeting today, in Beida, a coastal city in eastern Libya between Benghazi and Derna.
Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham
So the Turkish army is in Syria…
Syria
Syria launches reconciliation drive to disarm rebels
Norway
A Norwegian Air Shuttle flight from Denmark to Oslo was forced to land in Sweden while authorities searched for a bomb allegedly placed in the plane’s luggage compartment. A suspect, who tried to escape, was arrested for “aircraft sabotage” and the 94 passengers remaining were evacuated along with the six-member crew.
Pakistan
Pakistan, Ending Its Observance of Cease-Fire, Launches Airstrikes Against Taliban
Al Qaeda
Film at 9/11 Museum Sets Off Clash Over Reference to Islam
Syria
A senior electricity official was killed by a car bomb in Damascus. The regime and the rebels blamed each other for damage to Aleppo’s Umayyad mosque. Regime airstrikes killed at least 30 people, mainly men, at a market in the rebel-held town of Atareb in Aleppo. Abu Bara al Libi, an emir of the Islamic […]
Saudi Arabia
Saudi authorities arrested two Saudi women who were attempting to cross into Yemen to join al Qaeda. Earlier this month, another Saudi woman, Arwa Baghdadi, also fled to Yemen to join her husband, imprisoned al Qaeda member Yassin Al Barakati. Last week the Special Court acquitted seven suspects accused of terrorism-related crimes including raising funds […]
Free Syrian Army
Syria’s Thousand Miles of Red Tape
Fatah al Islam
The Panopticon: A peek into Lebanese prisons
Dagestan
Syria’s Dagestan ruled by the sword of ISIS
Lebanon
Warrants were issued for the arrest of Qossay Moussa, a Lebanese national from Wadi Khaled, and Hussein Berri, a stateless resident, who are accused of membership in the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham and plotting to kill Lebanese soldiers. Security forces arrested 10 Syrians with fake IDs trying to enter Lebanon in Arsal. […]
Somalia
Security forces reportedly killed and wounded two senior Shabaab leaders, Abdullahi Abukar Ali and Ahmed Mohamed Qeyr, during a raid in Mooro Gaabey; Ali was also the police chief for Mooro Gaabey. One Shabaab militant was killed in a clash in Beledweyne with Somali troops, who repelled an attempt to take over a police station. […]
Kenya
A car being escorted to a Nairobi police station blew up last night, killing two of the car’s occupants along with two policemen. Security forces said the car could have been targeting a Cabinet Secretary and the Police Inspector General. One of the car’s occupants had explosives on his body. Explosives were also found in […]
United Kingdom
Senior counterterrorism officer Helen Ball warned that anyone who travels to Syria to train or fight, even for the Free Syrian Army, faces arrest on return. Syria-related terrorism arrests are rising quickly this year; already there have been at least 16, compared to 24 in all of 2013. As many as 700 Britons are thought […]
United States
Authorities unsealed an indictment charging Harold Rinko, of Hallstead, Penn.; and brothers Ahmad Feras Diri, of London, and Moawea Deri, a Syrian citizen who is at large; with illegally shipping chemical warfare equipment to Syria over a nine-year period from 2003 until November 2012. A federal court found again that Sudan as a state sponsor […]
Syria
State media claimed that 115 rebels who were defected soldiers and policemen turned in their weapons in Quneitra. Rebels alleged that regime grenades and barrel bombs filled with chlorine were used recently to attack rebel-held areas; the OPCW said no state has asked it to investigate. The Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front battled […]
Lebanon
Wanted Islamist Mohammad Abdullah Jumaa, a member of the al Qaeda-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades, escaped an assassination attempt in the Ain al Hilweh refugee camp. Rockets fired from Syria, some by the Assad regime and some by militants, hit Bekaa valley towns. Two grenades were thrown in Tripoli but no casualties resulted. Security forces raided […]
Tunisia
Tunisian premier vows terror crackdown
Turkey
Prime Minister Erdogan confirmed that Turkey sent a convoy to protect the tomb of Suleyman Shah, a tiny piece of Turkish territory inside Syria’s province of Aleppo. Turkey reportedly deployed six tanks and 12 armored vehicles within 200 meters of positions held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham. In late March, Turkish […]
Libya
The US Embassy denied reports that it was attacked last night; US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns is visiting Tripoli. Jordan’s ambassador to Libya is still being held hostage; he was kidnapped last week reportedly by a Libyan al Qaeda affiliate that is demanding the release of Mohamed Dersi, a Libyan serving a life […]
United Kingdom
Tackling Radical Islam Needs Religious Focus: Tony Blair
Afghanistan
Hole in Afghan budget stirs unease as West starts packing bags