Ustad Ahmad Farooq, al Qaeda’s spokesman for Pakistan, mentions Ilyas Kashmiri with Baitullah Mehsud, Ibn Amin, and Badr Mansour, who were all killed in drone strikes. “May Allah have mercy on all of them,” Farooq said.
The strike took place in the southern province of Al Baydah, and is the fourth drone strike in Yemen since March 9.
The Taliban have formally suspended dialogue with the US, and President Karzai said NATO forces in Afghanistan should be restricted to large bases.
Shabaab continues to be able to penetrate high-security areas in the Somali capital. At least four Somalis were killed in the attack.
Two commanders and six fighters loyal to Mullah Nazir, a favorite of the Pakistani establishment who has pledged his support for al Qaeda, were killed in the first strike. Seven other fighters were killed in the second strike.
The US has carried out three airstrikes in Yemen from March 9 to March 11. Two took place in Jaar, a city controlled by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
The target of the attack appears to have been the deputy speaker of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s provincial assembly, who has also raised an anti-Taliban militia.
US drones are suspected of conducting the strikes in Al Baydah and Jaar, but the reports are unconfirmed.
Ustad Ahmad Farooq, al Qaeda’s spokesman for Pakistan, confirmed that Badr Mansoor was killed in a drone strike on Feb. 2012. Farooq accused the Pakistani military and government of supporting the US’s drone campaign.
“We will carry out suicide bombings against security forces and the government across the country,” a Taliban spokesman said. The Taliban also threatened two female Pakistani activists who have worked for the well-being of women and children in Pakistan.
Today’s strike is the first in Pakistan’s tribal areas in 14 days, and just the eighth this year.
The two Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan leaders are responsible for suicide attacks in northern Afghanistan.
General Gholamreza Baghbani, the senior Qods Force officer in Zahedan, facilitates heroin and opium smuggling to arm the Taliban in Afghanistan, according to the US Treasury.
Kashmiri is reported to have met with Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, in North Waziristan.
Faqir claims he was not notified of his dismissal and said the Taliban have supported negotiations with the government.
According to the latest estimate released by the US intelligence community, 167 ex-Gitmo detainees are “confirmed” or “suspected” of reengaging in “terrorist or insurgent activities.”
The Taliban claimed they carried out the attack to take “revenge” for the burning of Korans at the base more than two weeks ago. Another suicide bomber killed an Afghan intelligence official in Jalalabad.
A base in Al Koud was overrun. AQAP seized heavy weapons and turned them against the Yemeni troops, and claimed to have captured another 70 soldiers.
A suicide bomber killed 22 people outside a mosque, while 10 Pakistani soldiers and 23 Lashkar-e-Islam fighters were killed in a clash at a military checkpoint.
Abdul Samad Achekzai has been linked to at least 11 suicide attacks against Afghan and Coalition forces in 2010 and 2011.
Afghan security personnel have killed seven ISAF soldiers in the past 10 days, while the Taliban have killed six during the same time period. Already this year, 15 ISAF troops have been killed by Afghan security personnel.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan issued a formal denial of a letter calling for a ceasefire that was purportedly signed by Mullah Omar. Instead, the Taliban vowed to “intensify its operations against the Americans, their allies and their despicable internal supporters and [to] continue unabatedly with its sacred Jihad.”
The Pakistani terror group is closely tied to al Qaeda and the Taliban, and has attacked Shia worshipers in Pakistani mosques in the past.
The Taliban claimed credit for the suicide attack that killed six Afghan civilians, two security guards, and a soldier.
The Al Nusrah Front to Protect the Levant claimed it carried out a “martyrdom-seeking operation” against Syrian security forces in Damascus.
Sheikh Mohammed Said Atom’s forces in Puntland, which have operated under the aegis of Shabaab for years, have officially declared allegiance to the terror group.
The Gama’a al-Islamiyya was responsible for a wave of terror attacks in Egypt and abroad in the 1980s and 1990s, and was an original member of the al Qaeda alliance.
Abu Ibrahim was one of three foreign jihadists killed in today’s strike south of Mogadishu. The attack was likely carried out by the US.
The Abdullah Azzam Brigade claimed the attack and said it was carried out to avenge the death of Badr Mansoor, an al Qaeda and Taliban leader who was killed in a US drone strike on Feb. 9.
Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid and three of its leaders, including the acting emir, who is linked to Jemaah Islamiyah’s notorious al Ghuraba cell in Pakistan, have been listed as global terrorists.