FDD's Long War Journal

Pakistan opens new terror camps after Mumbai assault

Less than a year after the Lashkar-e-Taiba launched the deadly terror assault on Mumbai, jihadi groups are opening more training camps in Pakistan.

Pakistani General dined with Hafiz Saeed

Just days before Lashkar-e-Taiba / Jamaat-ud-Dawa leader Hafiz Saeed was charged by Faisalbad police with preaching jihad and raising money for terrorist activities, he was the guest of a senior Pakistani military commander in Rawalpindi. The Times of India reports: Two FIRs [first information requests] against Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed and “restrictions” on his movements […]

Counterterrorism at the expense of counterinsurgency will doom Afghanistan and Pakistan: US officials

Shifting to a counterterrorism-heavy strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan will have disastrous consequences, according to US military and intelligence officials familiar with the region.

US airstrikes alone cannot defeat al Qaeda

US military and intelligence officials warn that al Qaeda maintains a robust network in northwestern Pakistan despite two years of targeted strikes.

Kashmir

Terrorists in the southern district of Doda kidnapped three policemen and executed two of them; the other was able to escape. Security forces killed a top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander during a raid in the in Khandidar area of Desa.

Pakistan

Two Pakistanis were killed in a bombing at a security checkpoint in Darra Adam Khel. Abdullah Mehsud Group commander Turkistan Bhittani has gone into protective custody. A Pakistani intelligence report claims India and Afghanistan are supporting the Taliban. The interior minister said seven Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives will be tried for their involvement in the Mumbai assault.

Two al Qaeda leaders reported killed in North Waziristan strike

Ilyas Kashmiri and Najmuddin Jalolov are said to have been killed during the Sept. 14 airstrike in the village of Turikhel near the town of Mir Ali in Taliban-controlled North Waziristan. The report is unconfirmed.

Kashmir

Three policemen and a women were killed in a bombing that targeted a police bus outside of the central jail in Srinagar. Police believe that an operative named Rehman, a member of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, was behind the attack.

Senior al Qaeda leaders reported killed in North Waziristan strike

An unconfirmed report indicates that Ilyas Kashmiri and Mustafa al Jaziri were among seven killed in the latest Predator attack inside Pakistan.

Pakistan’s most-wanted: look at who isn’t listed

Pakistan’s interior ministry has a top ten most-wanted list, according to Amir Mir, the journalist for The News. According to Mir, the top ten list is as follows: 1. Mullah Fazlullah – the chief of the Taliban in Swat. 2. Hakeemullah Mehsud – the new leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and […]

15 policemen killed in Swat suicide attack

The suicide bomber entered the training grounds at the Special Police Training Center in Mingora and detonated his vest. The attack is the latest in a string of attacks targeting Pakistan’s security forces.

Waziristan op out, peace deals in

This should not come as a surprise to readers of The Long War Journal. From TIME: But after initial promises to launch a ground offensive in South Waziristan, the Pakistanis have backed off. A top Pakistani general, Nadeem Ahmed, recently said preparation for such an operation could take up to two months. Now, there will […]

Saga of the sons of Sufi

Yesterday the Peshawar High Court released on bail the three sons of Sufi Mohammed, the leader of the pro-Taliban Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammed [TNSM, or the Movement for the Enforcement of Mohammed’s Law] in Swat and Dir. Sufi engineered the Malakand Accord, which turned large tracts of Pakistan’s northwest over the the Taliban. The release of Sufi’s sons […]

Senior al Qaeda leader leaves Pakistan, directs Iraq operations from Syria

Longtime jihadi religious and military leader Sheikh Issa al Masri left North Waziristan in Pakistan to aid in the revival of al Qaeda in Iraq’s network inside Syria.

Pakistan

Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed biding time to launch fresh attacks?

Pakistani high court suspends case against Hafiz Saeed

The government’s petition to keep the Lashkar-e-Taiba leader under house arrest has been suspended “indefinitely.”

Pakistan

Prosecute Lashkar-e-Taiba’s Hafiz Saeed : Indian home minister to Pakistan

Bangladesh

Police detained Mufty Obaidullah, a senior operative in the India-based Asif Reza Commando Force. The group is a criminal-terrorist organization with close ties to Harkat-ul-Jihadi-e-Islami, the Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence agency. Obaidullah was attempting to expand the network in Bangladesh.

Tribal force kills 23 Pakistani Taliban

A local lashkar attacked a large Taliban force in the Mohmand tribal agency. Tribal militias have had little success against the Taliban in the past.

Explosion in Pakistan’s Punjab province kills 11

The blast took place at the home of a local cleric who is known to train young boys. The blast is the most recent event far from the fighting in the northwest.

Pakistan releases Sufi Mohammed

The pro-Taliban cleric behind the failed Malakand accord was released after a two-month detention. The move comes as military operations are still underway in Swat.

Taliban suicide team strikes Peshawar hotel in latest complex assault

Eleven people were killed and more than 70 were wounded in a suicide assault at the luxury Pearl Continental Hotel. The attack is the latest in a series of complex assaults in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India.

Report: Tora Bora Front leader captured in Peshawar

Anwarul Haq Mujahid, the son of famed mujahedeen commander Yunis Khalis, is reportedly in Pakistani police custody and is being interrogated. The report has not been confirmed.

Al Qaeda operatives targeting Pakistani leaders

After a meeting held recently in Afghanistan’s Paktia province, Al Qaeda has transferred seven operatives from the Iraq theater to target senior Pakistani leaders.

Jaish-e-Mohammed

The United Kingdom and China are blocking India’s efforts to place Jaish-e-Mohammad founder Maulana Masood Azhar on the terrorist list. The two countries are also blocking India’s attempt to place Lashkar-e-Taiba operational commander Azam Cheema and ideologue Abdul Rehman Makki on the terrorist list.