FDD's Long War Journal

Afghanistan

Pakistan – New terms likely for NATO supplies

Afghanistan

Pakistan seeks Afghan talks over Taliban: official

Afghanistan

Difa-i-Pakistan: Hafiz Saeed hoping for a ‘historic’ event in Karachi

UN adds 2 Haqqani Network leaders to terrorist list

Ahmed Jan Wazir and Fazl Rabi serve as key commanders in the Haqqani Network and have ties to the Taliban. Wazir was appointed by Taliban and al Qaeda fighters to command operations in Ghazni province.

United States

Three men who plotted to attack the US Marine base in Quantico, Va., were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 15 to 45 years. Ziyad Yaghi had recruited jihadists for ringleader Daniel Patrick Boyd; Hysen Sherifi had helped plan the attack; and Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan had disseminated jihadist propaganda. An accomplice is said to […]

Al Qaeda

Pakistan’s intelligence agencies ‘should have parliamentary scrutiny’

Al Qaeda

Pakistan – Mansoor Ijaz blamed Kayani over Osama bin Laden after Abbottabad raid

President Obama’s national defense guidance: forward to the past

The Obama administration’s new national defense guidance charts a return to the pre-9/11 era.

US Predators kill 6, including ‘foreigners,’ in North Waziristan strike

The strike is the second in North Waziristan in two days, and signals that the moratorium on the drone program has been lifted.

Saudi ‘fighter’ reported killed in last drone strike

The Saudi was “a common Arab fighter” who stayed at a guesthouse with his wife, according to the report.

Afghanistan

Pakistan – ‘No proposal to link civil nuke technology with NATO supply’

US drones strike in North Waziristan, end 2-month pause

The attack killed four “militants” in the Haqqani Network bastion of Miramshah. Three “Arabs” are said to be among those killed. The strike ends a 55-day-long pause in the drone campaign.

Taliban appoint al Qaeda-linked commander to lead Peshawar shura

Sheikh Mohammed Aminullah, who in 2009 was placed on the United Nations Sanctions Committee’s list of “individuals and entities associated with al Qaeda,” is among three of four top Taliban leaders closely tied to al Qaeda.

Al Qaeda

Musharraf denies he knew Osama bin Laden was living in Pakistan

Saudi Arabia

The government has begun the trial of 16 al Qaeda operatives, including 14 Saudis, a Pakistani, and an Afghan, accused of killing a policeman and plotting attacks against military and government sites. The operatives are also accused of supporting and financing terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Afghanistan

Pakistan – Security agencies want TTP to abandon Orakzai, Khyber

Afghanistan

Lull in US Drone Strikes Aids Pakistan Militants

India

Pakistan – Hatred material spoiling schoolchildren

United States

Nadeem Akhtar was sentenced to 37 months in prison for conspiring to illegally transfer nuclear materials. From 2005 to 2010, he worked with co-conspirators in Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, and New York to obtain “nuclear-related devices and equipment” for Pakistan.

Haqqanis part of Taliban: Mullah Sangeen

Sangeen is on the US’s list of designated terrorists for his close ties to al Qaeda.

Afghanistan

Despite Possible ‘Reset,’ Pakistan Keeps Afghan Border Closed To NATO

United States

Irfan Ul Haq, a Pakistani arrested in Miami with two others in March 2011, was sentenced to 50 months in prison for conspiring to support a terror organization. The three men were residing in Ecuador when they engaged in a plot to smuggle a Pakistani Taliban member into the US. Haq and his co-conspirators have […]

Finland

Finland to close embassy in Pakistan

Afghanistan: US strategy changes to match drawdown of forces

In June 2011, President Obama announced a drawdown of US forces in Afghanistan. But no new strategy to accommodate a smaller force was announced. Finally, there might be one.

Afghanistan

Face to Face with Afghanistan’s Opium Brides

Afghan Taliban announces new ‘political office’ in Qatar

The Taliban is planning to open a new “political office” in Qatar as part of nascent peace talks with the US. The Taliban continues to demand the release of “high risk” detainees from Guantanamo as a prerequisite to the talks. The Taliban detainees all have extensive ties to al Qaeda.

Iran

Iran test fired “long-range” shore-to-sea and surface-to-surface missiles, called Qader (Capable) and Nour (Light). The value of Iran’s currency fell 10 percent following new US sanctions against Iran’s central bank. Iran closed a border point with Pakistan after a Pakistani border force detained three Iranian guards for crossing the border and killing a man.