Afghanistan
As US draws down, Afghan opium production thrives
As US draws down, Afghan opium production thrives
Email Suggests White House Strategy on Benghazi
A suspected Boko Haram suicide car bombing killed 30 people and injured scores more in Abuja. A negotiator for the Boko Haram militants who have kidnapped over 200 schoolgirls said the kidnappers are demanding a ransom and that the military knows their location; some reports said the girls had been taken to Chad or Cameroon. […]
In Iraq and Syria, a resurgence of foreign suicide bombers
The Southern Front, a new coalition of “moderate” fighting groups in the Syrian south, is seeking to present itself as untainted by links to extremist groups in Syria, including the al Qaeda-affiliated Al Nusrah Front. But evidence, including a recent claim by Al Nusrah itself, points to the contrary.
Abu Hamza trial: American follower tells terror trial about US jihad training camp
South Sudan sides ‘recruit 9,000 children to fight’
Authorities blamed religious extremists for yesterday’s suicide bomb and knife attack at a busy train station in Xinjiang. One of the two bombers was identified as Sedierding Shawuti, a Uighur. A spokesperson for the World Uyghur Congress said 100 Uighurs had been arrested following the attack. President Xi, who had been visiting the region at […]
Mokhtar Belmokhtar said that Ayman al Zawahiri is his “emir” and jihadists must “confirm our confidence and our commitment to the method and guidance” to him.
Two bombs detonated in two coaches of the Bangalore-Guwhati Express as it was stopped at the Central station in Chennai, killing a passenger and injuring 14 others. No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts, but security officials have been monitoring the Islamist terror group Indian Mujahideen more closely in recent weeks.
The group reaffirmed its allegiance to Ayman al Zawahiri and the Taliban’s Mullah Omar, and said it is willing to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham.
CIA’s resolve to track weapons complicates push to arm Syria rebels
The State Department’s latest annual Country Reports on Terrorism said a growing number of terrorist groups are threatening the US, and noted a 43% increase in the number of terrorist attacks worldwide in 2013 from 2012. A Pentagon report said the number of high-profile insurgent attacks in Afghanistan rose by 43% between October 2013 and […]
The Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front battled regime forces in Idlib; Hama; Latakia, where they were joined by Ahrar al Sham, Sham al Islam, Ansar al Sham, and rebels; Reef Dimashq; and Aleppo. Al Nusrah claimed two car bombings in Homs that killed 51 people and injured 71, and threatened more attacks on […]
A group of gunmen ambushed a Lebanese army patrol on the outskirts of Arsal, sparking a clash in which five soldiers were injured. Security forces mounted a search for the gunmen, who escaped. A Lebanese group called Liwaa Ahrar Al-Sunna claimed the attack.
Jordan opens new Syrian refugee camp
The Sultan of Brunei announced that the first phase of the implementation of sharia law in Brunei will begin tomorrow. The new penal code, which will be adopted in three phases by the end of next year, will provide for punishments including stoning, flogging, and amputation of limbs.
Military sources said French special forces killed Haroun Said, a deputy of Ansar Dine head Iyad Ag Ghaly, during operations in north Mali last week in which a number of insurgents, including two child soldiers, were arrested. One report said he and two of his children were killed by an airstrike on his vehicle. Armed […]
A Benghazi security officer was severely injured by a car bomb. Security forces in Tobruk clashed with armed smugglers near the Egyptian border, who fled into Egypt. The Abu Saleem Brigade, an Islamist militia, is building a wall at a Derna university to segregate the sexes, and has agreed to provide security so long as […]
Afghan officials claimed that scores of Haqqani Network fighters and five Afghan soldiers were killed in Paktika province.
Editorial: Support for radical Islamism on the rise in Turkey
Authorities released Sidi Ould Sidi High, a Malian suspected of belonging to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. He was arrested last year on charges of selling explosives to armed groups.
The Yemeni military has expanded its offensive against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to include Abyan, Shabwa, Baydha, and Sana’a provinces, and announced today that 72 militants have been killed.
Pro-Assad Areas Are Attacked in Syria, Pointing to Election Trouble
The day after reports emerged that Prime Minister Erdogan was seeking to extradite influential Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen from the US, sources in the Ankara Prosecutor’s office said no investigation has yet been launched against Gulen; his activities may be investigated, however, in relation to the leak of a conversation of top Turkish officials discussing […]
State media said three people were killed and 79 injured by an explosion at a train station in Urumqi in the restive Xinjiang region. Police cordoned off the station, but it has since reopened. Railway stations in China were busy due to the start of a four-day holiday. President Xi had been concluding a four-day […]
Why ISI spy posters are all over Islamabad
How to build a memorial for a ‘never-ending war’?
Prior to 9/11, Abu Qatada inspired numerous al Qaeda operatives. Now imprisoned in Jordan, he is providing ideological guidance to jihadists in Syria and North Africa.
Ansar al Sharia Tunisia regularly promotes Abu Qatada’s advice and guidance on its Twitter feed.