An anonymous Yemeni official claimed the Dec. 17 airstrike against an al Qaeda camp killed 49 civilians, including 23 children and 17 women. “Al Qaeda has chosen to build its training centre on land where bedouin nomads pitch their tents,” a tribal leader said. Yemeni officials claimed two Saudi al Qaeda fighters were killed and […]
Reality bites as US pushes Pakistan to finish off terrorists
Pakistani Taliban forces under the command of Mullah Nazir blew up a military base across the border in Afghanistan.
Insurgents forced out of Pakistan’s tribal havens form smaller cells in heart of nation
Three al Qaeda commanders were among 34 terrorists reported killed in the attack.
The attack is the third two days in the Datta Khel region in Pakistan’s Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan.
I previously analyzed the rumors, centered around the Indian press, that David Headley had penetrated Lashkar-e-Taiba as a CIA asset. These rumors generally hold that Headley then “went rogue” and become committed to LeT’s mission before his involvement in the Mumbai attacks. Although I argued that these rumors should not be regarded as credible, the […]
This morning, The Wall Street Journal broke the deeply disturbing news that insurgent groups in Iraq and Afghanistan have the capability to monitor the video feeds from unmanned US observation and strike aircraft – the Predators and Reapers – using software that costs just $26. U.S. military personnel in Iraq discovered the problem late last […]
Zuhaib al Zahibi, “a well-known commander” in the Lashkar al Zil, was among the seven Arabs reportedly killed in the strike.
Two insurgents were killed in Datta Khel and 16 more were killed in Degan and Ambor Shaga.
Western nations condemned Iran’s latest ballistic missile test. President Ahmadinejad arrived in Denmark for the Copenhagen climate talks. An Iranian official called on Pakistan to detain the leader of Jundallah and extradite him to Iran.
Qaeda, Taliban leaders in Pakistan: Mullen
] Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl, from the July 2009 propaganda tape. The Taliban will release a new video of captive US soldier Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl, according to a trusted source. The video is reportedly titled “One of Their People Testified.” Bergdahl was captured by the Haqqani Network on June 30 after leaving […]
Pakistan’s Zardari resists US pressure to expand counterinsurgency operations
Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, a 23 year old Georgia man, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for terror related crimes. Sadequee was found guilty on 4 terror related charges, including providing material support to the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Hardline Pakistani schools a draw for foreigners
Drone attacks may be expanded in Pakistan
Members of al Qaeda in Yemen announce the merger with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Center-left is Abu Hareth Muhammad al Awfi; far right is Said Ali al Shihri. Image courtesy of Nick Grace. If you just read the headline to this CBS News article, titled “Al Qaeda’s Yemen Connection May Be Dead,” on […]
Recently, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) helped to alert US authorities that Ramy Zamzam and four of his friends from Northern Virginia had gone missing by encouraging the families to bring their information to the FBI after the families told CAIR about the disappearances. (For my initial post on this case, click here.) This […]
Image courtesy of Rantburg. It is always interesting to watch the press coverage when the rumors begin to fly after a senior al Qaeda leader is thought to have been killed in a US airstrike inside Pakistan. Invariably, after it is determined that Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri were not killed in the […]
Virginia mosque grapples with young members’ arrest in Pakistan
David Headley was convicted on heroin smuggling charges in 1998, and the available evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the following year he did undercover surveillance work in Pakistan for the DEA in exchange for a reduced sentence. During his time in Pakistan in 1999, his surveillance target was reportedly a drug gang based in Afghanistan/Pakistan. This […]
The Bagram Four: Abu Abdallah al Shami (upper left); Abu Nasir al Qahtani (upper right); Abu Yahya al Libi (lower left); Omar al Farouq (lower right). Jihadi forums have been speculating that Abu Yahya al Libi, a chief al Qaeda ideologue and a popular leader in jihadi circles, may have been killed in yesterday’s airstrike […]
Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Amir al Mumineen (“the commander of the faithful”) of the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban. Dawn reported that Pakistan’s defense minister admitted Mullah Omar’s Quetta Shura is in Pakistan, but said it is no longer a threat: The government has admitted the existence of the Afghan Taliban’s Quetta shura for the first […]
US intelligence officials said today’s Predator strike in Pakistan killed “a top al Qaeda official.” The leader was not named, and Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri were not killed in the attack. Four al Qaeda operatives were among the six terrorists killed in today’s strike.
Today’s strike is the first in South Waziristan since late September. The strike took place in an area where Baitullah Mehsud and Khalid Habib were killed in prior attacks.
Five American Muslims were detained in Pakistan and are under investigation in the US for links to terrorist groups. The men left a video that indicated they sought to wage jihad, which prompted their families to contact authorities. The men sought to join Jaish-e-Mohammed and Jamaat ud Dawa.
The Shabaab suicide bomber that struck at a graduation for medical students was a Danish citizen. Ten Somalis were killed in shelling in Mogadishu. Hizbul Islam killed two students during a demonstration in Elasha Biyaha. Pirates hijacked a Pakistani-flagged ship.
The identity of the Saudi al Qaeda operatives is not known.
David Coleman Headley, and a snapshot from his passport. Images from The Hindu. In October, 49-year-old Chicago man David Headley (born Daood Gilani) was arrested for his role in planning terrorist attacks against the Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten and two individuals associated with the notorious Muhammad cartoons incident. Subsequent to Headley’s arrest, news broke that […]