Robert Fowler, a Canadian diplomat who was kidnapped by Mokhtar Belmokhtar in 2008, considers Belmokhtar’s group to be ideologues. Fowler has also reportedly said that Belmokhtar was the “principal intermediary between AQIM and al Qaeda in Pakistan” at some point.
A pamphlet released by the Mullah Nazir group announced that it would continue to follow in the footsteps of its slain emir, and named the top leaders of the group. Nazir has supported al Qaeda and waged jihad in Afghanistan.
Several months before his death in May 2011, Osama bin Laden ordered al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb to stand down with respect to hostage negotiations. The terror master said he would negotiate with France concerning AQIM’s hostages. Mokhtar Belmokhtar’s spokesman recently confirmed that he still answers to al Qaeda central.
Pakistan – Tribesmen pile bodies outside Governor’s House in protest
A car bomb killed a member of the National Security Directorate in Benghazi. The day before, one policeman was killed and two were injured in a car bombing in Benghazi’s Kish district. Five Pakistani Ahmedis and a Libyan convert were arrested on suspicion of trying to convert Libyans to the Ahmedi sect.
The latest Taliban statement on a forthcoming Islamic conference in Kabul warns clerics not to participate, and makes clear once again that the Taliban have no intention of reconciling with the Afghan government.
Afghan Containers Still Stranded in Pakistan, Iran
Formidable power of Pakistan’s anti-Shia militants
Mazlum, an Afghan national, facilitated suicide and IED attacks in Baghlan and Takhar provinces. He is the first al Qaeda-linked operative known to have been killed or captured in Afghanistan so far this year.
Defense Secretary Panetta met with Afghan president Karzai to discuss “the last chapter” of establishing Afghan sovereignty and security. US drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas have recently escalated. The government argued on national security grounds against the release of photos of Osama bin Laden’s corpse and sea burial.
US drone strikes in Pakistan on rise for 2013
Four senior and midlevel al Qaeda and Taliban leaders are reported to have been killed in the seven strikes since the beginning of the New Year.
A recently declassified threat assessment authored by Canadian intelligence in April 2012 concludes that the al Qaeda network still leads the global jihad movement and remains the “primary threat.”
Pakistanis trucking NATO supplies to Afghanistan go on strike
Pakistan must arrest Hafiz Saeed to improve ties with India: Editorial
The al Qaeda-linked Movement for Tawhid [Unity] and Jihad in West Africa created the Abdullah Azzam, Al Zarqawi, and the Abu al Laith al Libi battalions, as well as the Martyrdom-Seekers Battalion. These join the previously established Osama bin Laden Battalion.
A Brooklyn court sentenced Agron Hasbajrami, 28, an Albanian resident of the US, to 15 years in prison for seeking to provide support to terrorists. He had sent money to a jihadist group claiming to have murdered US soldiers, and was arrested at JFK airport with a one-way ticket to Pakistan.
Stanley McChrystal criticises reliance on drones as strikes hit Pakistan
Two compounds were hit in the Mir Ali area. The US has now launched six strikes in Pakistan so far this year.
The Taliban claimed credit for an attack on tribal leaders at the district center in Kandahar’s Spin Boldak. The Mullah Dadullah Front likely carried out the suicide bombings.
A Taliban commander loyal to Hafiz Gul Bahadar was the target of the strike; 17 people, including a Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan commander who directed suicide operations, are reported to have been killed.
Pakistan Closes Torkham Border Again
The Afghan Taliban said they reject any security agreement that allows “even a single American soldier” to remain in country. “War and destruction will continue in the region” if US forces stay in Afghanistan after 2014.
Pakistan condemns drone attacks in Waziristan
Bahwal Khan, the new emir of the Mullah Nazir group, maintains close ties to al Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban, and a host of terrorist groups, US intelligence officials told The Long War Journal. Additionally, the US intelligence officials denied that the Pakistani government or military aided in the killing of Nazir.
American missiles kill senior Taliban militant in Pakistan who fought US troops in Afghanistan
High level Afghan intelligence officials visits Pakistan
Nazir, who has professed his alligiance to al Qaeda, was killed along with several deputies in one of three strikes in North and South Waziristan over the past 24 hours. A separate strike killed Faisal Khan, a Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan commander, and two Uzbeks.
Abid Naseer, 26, who is wanted by the US on terror charges relating to an al Qaeda plot to bomb New York subways, was extradited to the US. Naseer, a Pakistani, was arrested in 2009 along with 11 other mostly Pakistani members of an al Qaeda cell that also planned attacks in Manchester and Norway. […]
The remotely piloted Predators or Reapers fired four missiles at a compound in Mullah Nazir’s territory. The strike is the first in 2013.