FDD's Long War Journal

Taliban attack paramilitary camp in South Waziristan

Between 25 to 50 Taliban fighters and seven soldiers have been reported killed in clashes after the Taliban targeted a Frontier Corps camp and a convoy in the lawless tribal agency.

Iran

Iran calls in Pakistan envoy over mosque bomb

Afghanistan

Fighting for the Afghan/Pakistani frontier

According to a report, the Pakistani government has presented evidence to the Lahore High Court of Lashkar-e-Taiba leader Hafiz Saeed’s connections to al Qaeda. The evidence has been presented in a closed session and the court is considering extending Saeed’s house arrest.

Afghan Army and Taliban battle in Badghis

Thirty Taliban fighters and nine Afghan soldiers have been killed during several days of fighting in a Taliban stronghold in the northwestern province.

Afghan and Coalition forces kill 35 Taliban fighters in Zabul

The combined forces counterattacked after being ambushed in the Day Chopan district in the southeastern province.

Al Qaeda

Pakistani security forces detained Sheikh Issa al Masri during a raid earlier this year. Sheikh Issa is the spiritual adviser for Egyptian Islamic Jihad and the leader of al Jihad fi Waziristan, an al Qaeda branch in North Waziristan. Issa has indoctrinated thousands of Taliban fighters with the Wahabbi version of Islam practiced by al […]

Taliban strike in Peshawar

Eight Pakistanis were killed in three bombings and an ambush in the provincial capital of Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province. The Taliban take credit for the Lahore strike and threaten to attack in Pakistan’s major cities.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan praises Pakistan military action

Coalition targets Haqqani Network commander, kills 29 fighters

A large firefight broke out in the Wor Marnay district of Paktika province after US and Afghan forces attempted to detain a senior Haqqani commander known as Sangeen.

Terror assault team targets police and intelligence officials in Lahore

Twenty-three people were killed after gunmen attacked a police headquarters and a building used by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency. The attackers set off a car bomb during the street battle.

Al Qaeda Shadow Army camps located in northern Helmand

The district of Baghran hosts several camps used to train Taliban and al Qaeda fighters to conduct attacks in Helmand, Kandahar, and Uruzgan. The Marines are moving into Helmand in force.

United States

US appeals to China to help stabilize Pakistan

Afghanistan

Afghan and Coalition forces detained four suspected al Qaeda-linked operatives from Pakistan during raids in Khost province. Taliban fighters attacked police in the Baharak district in the northern province of Takhar; police repelled the attack. The Taliban killed one soldier and wounded four more during an ambush in the Panjwai district in Kandahar, and wounded […]

Al Qaeda

Pakistan detained two senior al Qaeda leaders earlier this year. Abu Sufyan al Yemeni was a Shadow Army commander who served as a conduit for communications between Qaeda leaders in Pakistan and cells in East Africa, Iran, Yemen, and elsewhere. The other man, Zabi al Taifi, is a Saudi national. Three low-level Saudi al Qaeda […]

Waziristan operation not on the horizon: Zardari

Pakistan’s president said he was misquoted during his visit to the US. Previous reports, which he discredited, have sparked an exodus in South Waziristan.

Swat offensive stalls as Taliban strike outside the war zone

Bombings in Peshawar, Tank, and Dera Ismail Khan take place as the Pakistani military struggles to clear Swat.

Afghan and US forces battle Taliban in northern Helmand stronghold

The district of Nad Ali hosts Taliban command and control centers and a narcotics hub as well as al Qaeda camps used to train the Shadow Army.

Report: Shabaab leader wounded in Mogadishu explosion

Ahmed Abdi Aw Mohamed was wounded in an explosion during a meeting on the outskirts of the Somali capital. An unconfirmed report speculated he was killed.

Taliban move forces eastward into Battagram

More than 150 Taliban fighters attacked and overran a police checkpoint that was set up to block an advance into the district.

Afghanistan

Three policemen and two Taliban fighters were killed during fighting in Farah province. The Taliban killed three civilians praying at a mosque during a rocket attack launched from Pakistan. Afghan and US forces detained eight Taliban fighters in Paktika province, killed one Taliban fighter and detained one more in Khost province, and detained a Taliban […]

US strikes Taliban, al Qaeda in North Waziristan

Nine operatives were killed and dozens more were wounded in a Predator airstrike on a madrassa and a vehicle in Mir Ali. The strike is the third this week.

Afghanistan

Afghan peace mediators in contact with Mullah Omar

Al Qaeda

A “highly placed Pakistani intelligence source” claimed that Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaeda’s second in command, is hiding out in the suburbs of the city of Quetta in Pakistan. Zawahiri reportedly operates in the open and moves around between Afghanistan, Quetta, and Waziristan, guarded by his Egyptian bodyguard.

Taliban launches complex assault in Haqqani country

Suicide assault teams target military and government buildings in Khost, the home of the Haqqani Network.

US strikes again in South Waziristan

Eight Taliban and al Qaeda fighters are reported to have been killed in the latest airstrike against al Qaeda and Taliban compounds in the Taliban-controlled tribal agency. Of the 18 strikes in Pakistan this year, 10 have occurred in South Waziristan.

Al Qaeda

Ali Mohammed al Fakheri, who is also known as Ibn al Sheikh al Libi, committed suicide in a Libyan jail after being transferred from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Fakheri ran the Khalden training camp in Afghanistan prior to the fall of the Taliban in late 2001. He was captured while attempting to flee to […]