A HIG media emir involved with suicide attacks in Kabul and linked to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan was captured in Parwan. And in Khost, the commander of a 50-man HIG cell was captured.
An al Qaeda trainer agreed to a plea deal at Gitmo on Tuesday. The terms of the deal remain undisclosed. The trainer, Noor Uthman Mohammed, was captured alongside top al Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah in March 2002 and was allegedly involved in Zubaydah’s plot against Israel.
Abu Ibrahim al Almani and his brother Abu Adam fought in Yemen for a year before moving to Pakistan on the advice of Anwar al Awlaki. Their move to Pakistan was “very professionally organized.”
A Taliban suicide assault team killed 16 police officers and three civilians in an attack on a police headquarters in Kandahar. The Taliban kidnapped two policemen in Kunar. Security forces killed two Taliban fighters in Badghis, and detained 20 Taliban fighters in Kandahar and five more in Farah. Helmand’s governor accused Iran and Pakistan of […]
The IJG facilitator “is responsible for coordinating the movement of foreign fighters from Iran and Pakistan into Afghanistan,” ISAF stated.
New protests in Iraq offer more context around Maliki’s recent statements advocating a constitutional amendment that would limit the prime minister to two terms: Hundreds of lawyers took to the streets across Iraq on Thursday to protest against widespread corruption and unemployment in demonstrations inspired by anti-government uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. The demonstrations in […]
A former Gitmo detainee convicted of terrorism-related charges was freed from an Italian jail on Monday. Adel Ben Mabrouk, a Tunisian who lived in Italy for much of the 1990s, was a member of a known al Qaeda network in Italy prior to his detention at Guantanamo. Mabrouk was captured after fleeing the Tora Bora Mountains in late 2001.
Said Jan ‘Abd al Salam, an Afghan, ran an al Qaeda training camp in Pakistan. Khalil al Rahman Haqqani is a key fundraiser who has traveled to the UAE and aided al Qaeda military operations.
Anwar ul Haq Mujahid, who had formerly been detained and released by Pakistan, spoke at Awar Gul’s funeral in Nangarhar province. An official Taliban statement was read, praising Gul as “the renowned commander.” In addition, Afghan President Hamid Karzai called for the release of a top Taliban official from Guantanamo.
The Afghan High Peace Council has requested the release of Khairullah Khairkhwa, a top Taliban official, from Guantanamo. Khairkhwa, who was detained in early 2002, was the governor of Herat province during the Taliban’s reign. He was also allegedly involved in drug trafficking, had ties to senior al Qaeda leaders, and admittedly set up security for meetings between the Taliban and Iran.
Thirwat Salah Shehata, a top al Qaeda operative who has long served Ayman al Zawahiri, has released a statement in support of the Egyptian protesters. According to a Saudi publication, Shehata issued the statement from Iran.
Execution rate in Iran alarms UN human rights chief
Iran sees ‘Islamic awakening’ in Arab world uprisings
Egypt tells Iran: mind your own business
Egypt revolt has Iran in a spin
ISAF and Afghan forces continue to target the al Qaeda and Qods Force-linked cells in Farah and Nimroz provinces. Special operations forces captured another Taliban commander in the Afghan west associated with “foreign fighters,” or al Qaeda. From the ISAF press release: Afghan and coalition forces detained a Taliban leader along with two suspected insurgents […]
Said al Shihri, the second in command of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, declared war on Shia Houthis based in the Yemeni north. “…We announced jihad against Iranian-backed Houthi Shiite advocates,” he said in an audiotape.
Iran sees rise of Islamic hard-liners
Remember all of the fawning coverage of Muqtada al Sadr as the new kingmaker and the most powerful man in Iraq after his return to the country on Jan. 5? So much for a triumphant return by Sadr; he’s fled Iraq yet again (he has already spent three-plus years in Iran, between 2007-2011). This time […]
Russian intelligence believes members of the suicide team that attacked an airport in Moscow spent time in Pakistan and Iran. Female “Black Widows” are thought to be involved in the attack. Prime Minister Putin said it is unlikely the attack is linked to Chechnya.
Shooting to kill on the Iran-Afghan border
Coalition and Afghan forces killed and captured dozens of Taliban and Haqqani Network fighters in Zabul, Helmand, Kandahar, Khost, Nangarhar, Logar, and Wardak. A man arrested for throwing acid on an Afghan journalist said he was ordered to do so by Iran.
Thirteen “militants” were reported killed in today’s strike in North Waziristan. Also, a former senior Pakistani intelligence officer was found dead in the tribal agency.
Muqtada al Sadr has again left Iraq and has returned to Qom, Iran, where he spent three years in exile. Security forces detained 28 wanted men in Diyala, and an Awakening leader and a fighter in Karbala.
Today’s strike in North Waziristan is the first in six days, and the sixth since the new year.
Afghan traders halt deals with Iran over fuel ban
The political posturing about the status of American forces in Iraq continues. On Dec. 28, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declared to the Wall Street Journal, “The last American soldier will leave” in 2011. He added: “This agreement is not subject to extension, not subject to alteration. It is sealed.” Two days ago, Vice President Joe […]
A Saudi named Muhammed Saleem Saeed Braikan (or Buraikan), who is on the updated list of the Kingdom’s 47 most wanted terrorists, married a daughter (she was just 12 years old at the time) of Osama bin Laden, and is well tuned into al Qaeda’s operational plans and may be aware of bin Laden’s location […]
The Taliban commander, who was captured in Farah province, “is definitely associated with Qods Force,” an ISAF official told The Long War Journal.
Afghans vent fury with Iran over fuel blockade