FDD's Long War Journal

US Predators kill 5 ‘militants’ in al Qaeda haven of Datta Khel

The strike is the fourth this year. Datta Khel is a known hub for al Qaeda’s leadership.

Armenia

Iran – ‘American’ detained as alleged spy amid crackdown on Christians

Muqtada al Sadr. Muqtada al Sadr, the Iranian-backed, pseudo-cleric derisively known as Mullah Atari and hailed in US media circles as “the most powerful man in Iraq,” has returned from his self-imposed three-year-plus-long exile in Iran. Sadr left Iraq after the US and Iraqi security forces stepped up operations against his now-disbanded Mahdi Army in […]

Iraq

Muqtada al Sadr has returned to Iraq after sheltering three years in Iran. Security forces detained 35 wanted men in Falluah and Kirkuk, Ninewa, and Babil, and the imam of Saddam’s mosque in Tikrit. Insurgents killed a civilian in a bombing in Baghdad.

Hezbollah Brigades

The Hezbollah Brigades threatened to continue attacks on US forces in Iraq unless the US fully withdraws from the country by the end of 2011, and called for the release of all captive fighters. The Hezbollah Brigades is supported by Iran’s Qods Force.

Why 2011 is too early for drawdown in Afghanistan

This article from The New York Times on the Andar district in the southeastern Afghan province of Ghazni highlights some of the challenges that Coalition and Afghan forces face in tackling areas of the country that have been ungoverned for years. “And how long has it been since you’ve seen the governor?” the commander, Capt. […]

Afghan forces have captured Qods Force operatives in the past

ISAF has retracted its statement that a Taliban commander who smuggled weapons from Iran was also a Qods Force operative. My sources maintain that the Taliban commander is indeed linked to Qods Force. This BBC article, which notes that Qods Force members have been detained by Afghan security forces in the past, may provide some […]

Afghanistan

British forces face secret new threat from Iran

ISAF captures Qods Force-linked operative in Kandahar

The Taliban commander is linked to the Qods Force, which aided in the shipment of weapons from Iran to Kandahar province.

AQAP operative Fahd al Quso denies reports of his death

Quso granted an interview with a Saudi newspaper from his mountain stronghold in Yemen’s Shabwa province.

Palestinian al Qaeda operative reported killed in Afghanistan

Mahmud Abu Rideh was detained in the United Kingdom for four years, and his control order was lifted last summer. His death has not been confirmed.

Yemeni al Qaeda operative killed along Afghan-Pakistani border

Abu Abdulrahman al Qahtani was a veteran jihadist and propagandist who was close to the suicide bomber who killed seven CIA officials in a suicide attack in Khost, Afghanistan, late last year.

Special operations forces deal blows to Taliban ranks

Over the past six months, more than 600 Taliban and allied terrorist groups’ leaders have been killed or captured, 2,000 fighters have been killed, and another 4,100 have been captured.

Bolivia

Iranian cash building bonds with Bolivia

Iraq

Al Qaeda in Iraq killed 13 people, including six Shia pilgrims, in bombings in Baghdad; Iran denied its citizens were killed in the bombings. Al Qaeda in Iraq denied Iraqi security forces captured the cell behind the attack on a Christian church in Baghdad.

Bahrain

Iran rules out halting nuclear enrichment

Afghanistan

WikiLeaks: Afghan MPs and religious scholars ‘on Iran payroll’

Bahrain

WikiLeaks silver lining: Unanimity on Iran

Suicide bombers begin to target central Afghan province

Map of Afghanistan’s provinces. Click map to view larger image. This report from Xinhua on a suicide attack in Afghanistan is pretty mundane except for one detail: the location, in the central province of Ghor. From Xinhua: A suicide bomber who attempting to target security forces in western Ghor province was killed in his blast […]

Afghanistan

US Military – Chairman discusses Afghanistan, threats from Iran, Yemen

Gambia

Iranian man charged in Nigeria over arms shipment

Somalia

African Union troops reportedly killed two civilians in mortar attacks in Mogadishu; several others are in critical condition. Shabaab fighters in Hiran flogged a young man and woman for eloping.

Afghanistan

In western Afghan city, Iran makes itself felt

Afghanistan

TV channel, part owned by Murdoch, gets threats in Iran

France

Missile threat today comes from Iran: Sarkozy

United Arab Emirates

Bahrain, UAE seek to beef up missile capabilities as Iran tensions arise

Afghanistan

Controversial madrasah builds Iran’s influence in Kabul

Yemen

Security officials denied reports that al Qaeda operatives who recently left Iran have settled in Yemen. Germany lifted the ban of passenger flights originating from Yemen.

Yemen

Top al Qaeda leaders, including Suleiman Abu Ghaith, a top spokesman who recently left Iran, may have relocated to Yemen. “Some of these leaders however have moved to Yemen and have taken the charges of command and coordination of al Qaeda operations,” an intelligence report stated.