A look at the players and organizations manipulating the Waziristan Accord Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban, backed the Waziristan Accord. Details continue to emerge on the Waziristan Accord and the Taliban and al Qaeda involvement. And confirmation via the Pakistani press is received that the Taliban is seeking negotiations in Bajaur agency. First, […]
A French intelligence report that Osama bin Laden died of Typhoid in Pakistan on September 4 is unconfirmed. The information came from Saudi intelligence.
Pakistan attempts to deflect attention away from the real impact of the Waziristan Accord President – General Pervez Musharraf. President Pervez Musharraf is making a great effort to portray the Waziristan Accord as a positive step in reigning in the Taliban and al Qaeda during his visit to the United States and his meetings with […]
Divisions in al Qaeda, moderataion and a potential merger al Qaeda in Iraq’s Mujahideen Shura. The Iraqi government has released a letter that highlights the differences inside al Qaeda. The letter was seized at the site of the death of former al Qaeda in Iraq commander, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and was written by Attyia al-Jaza’ri. […]
“We must destroy terrorist sanctuaries beyond Afghanistan, dismantle the elaborate networks in the region that recruit, train, finance, arm and deploy terrorists,” President Karzai said during his speech at the UN. On CNN, he said Taliban leaders are hiding in Pakistan. NATO has agreed to increase the deployment of troops and air assets.
Musharraf: “We believe [Osama bin Laden] is somewhere between Bajaur, Pakistan, and the province of Kunar in Afghanistan”
“Unfortunately, al Qaeda supports the Taliban, which gets help from Pakistan,” says a Dutch Colonel
I had the honor and privilege of co-hosting this week’s edition of Global Crisis Watch’s Podcast: Crisis in Southeast and Southwest Asia. Global Crisis Watch calls to Singapore and Chennai, tackling al Qaeda’s connection with Algeria’s GSPC, the hunt for JI terrorists in the Philippines, the rise of radicalism in Indonesia, the resurgence of the […]
Taliban military commander Mullah Dadullah, U.S. State Department endorse the Waziristan Accord Mullah Dadullah on a tape aired by Al Jazeera. Taliban military commander Mullah Dadullah has spoken out about the “Waziristan Accord.” Dadullah, who was thought to have been captured this summer, explains that the Taliban in Waziristan should be focusing their energy outwards […]
Afghan and Coalition forces launch a multi-brigade operation in Paktika, Khost, Ghazni, Paktia and Logar provinces. Map of ISAF Mission in Afghanistan. Click to Enlarge. Afghan and Coalition forces have gone on the offensive in the southeastern provinces of Paktika, Khost, Ghazni, Paktya and Logar provinces. Over seven thousand troops are involved in Operation Mountain […]
Al Qaeda, opium fuel Afghan fighting: Nato commander
Initial report of Hekmatyar’s capture was a case of mistaken identity On 9-11, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported “the commander of the Hizb-i-Islami militia in Hafezan in the eastern province of Nangarhar, Gulbuddin Hikmatyar, was arrested after credible intelligence led Afghan and coalition forces to his compound.” An independent intelligence source confirmed the initial report, which led […]
Coalition and Afghan Forces continue to decimate Taliban elements in southern and eastern Afghanistan Map of ISAF Mission in Afghanistan. Click to Enlarge. There is a hidden war being fought in Afghanistan, a war where NATO forces are playing a large role in combating Taliban forces outside of the view of the Western press. A […]
al Qaeda’s praetorian guards and al Qaeda high command the target of the March 2006 strike at Danda Saidgai Osama bin Laden escorted by the Black Guard. Click image to view. Task Force 145, the special operations group responsible for the hunt for al Qaeda in Iraq leadership and the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, […]
The initial report was incorrect, Hekmatyar has not been captured, see the correction for details. On the day of the fifth anniversary of the 9-11 attack, Coalition forces score a high value target in Afghanistan. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the commander of Hezb-i-Islami and ally of al Qaeda and the Taliban, has been captured during a joint […]
Sunday’s Taliban death toll has been revised upwards to 186 (see related post, which has been updated). Canada is sending an additional 15 tanks and 120 troops to Afghanistan. The Afghan Ambassador to the U.S. says Osama “is spending most of his time in Pakistan.” A suicide bomber strikes at the funeral of Hakim Taniwal, […]
The Taliban take retribution against pro-American “spies” and “collaborators” The federally Administered Tribal Areas and North West Frontier Province. Click to enlrage. The purge of anti-Taliban tribal elements has begun in the Islamic Emirate of Waziristan, formerly as the Pakistani tribal agency of North Waziristan. The “Waziristan accord” specifically prohibits the extra judicial killings of […]
Indian Police may have discovered explosives used in the Malegaon terror attack. Digital timers are said to have been used. Members of India’s Muslim community protested the attacks and blame Pakistan’s ISI. “The blasts are aimed at creating a rift between Muslims and Hindus.”
2 al Qaeda CDs recovered from LeT members showing training camps on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border
Operation Medusa update, Taliban IEDs and safe havens The Royal Canadian Regiment presses the fight against the Taliban holed up in the Panjwai district of Kandahar in southeastern Afghanistan. In the latest round of fighting, 21 Taliban have been killed and the Taliban is concentrating its forces in the Pashmul section of Panjwai. “The insurgents […]
U.S. forces conduct a major operation in the Konrangal River Valley in Kunar, along the border with Pakistan. Musharraf visits Afghanistan, calls al Qaeda and the Taliban a “common enemy” but refuses to rout them out of North Waziristan. Three British soldiers were killed in separate engagements in the volatile Helmand province.
North Waziristan is not al Qaeda’s endgame, the entire border region is the target References: Dawn provides an overview of the North Waziristan Truce. Compare this to my report from Tuesday night. Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas With the Pakistani government ceding authority (but not autonomy) to the Taliban and al […]
Pakistan’s “truce with the Taliban is an abject surrender, and al Qaeda has an untouchable base of operations in Western Pakistan which will only expand if not checked The news of the Pakistani government signing a truce agreement with the Taliban in North Waziristan is far worse than being reported. We raised the alarm early […]
ISAF continues offensive operations in southeastern Afghanistan, as Operation Medusa follows on the heals of Operation Mountain Thrust Canadian and Afghan forces have kicked off a new operation in Kandahar Province. Operation Medusa began on Saturday, and is aimed at rooting out Taliban forces Kandahar Province’s Panjwai and Zhari districts, the scene of much fighting […]
Banner announcing “Invitation to Islam, al Qaeda’s latest videotape. Links to video below. As Sabah, al Qaeda’s media production company, has released the anticipated videotape of Ayman al-Zawahiri and Adam Gahadn (a.k.a. Azzam the American). This video is the latest in an al Qaeda media campaign designed to influence westerners, supporters and sympathizers. In the […]
North Waziristan and Quetta: Pakistani Tribal regions continue to slide into the hands of the Taliban and al Qaeda The Afghan-Pakistan border regions. News from Pakistan’s western tribal belt is less than encouraging these days. The Taliban and their al Qaeda backers continue to operate from safe havens within Pakistan, particularly in North Waziristan and […]
The “Taliban Offensive” continues to produce Taliban bodies but the Taliban and al Qaeda continue to grow in Northwestern Pakistan The Taliban’s summer of 2006 “offensive” continues to produce inordinately large numbers of Taliban casualties with little to show for the slaughter. But the Taliban still possess its bases of operation in northwestern Pakistan, and […]
Twenty-four Britons have been arrested in the London Airline plot, and the Bank of England has suspended the bank accounts of 19 suspects. Nineteen of the suspects are Muslim men between the ages of 17 to 35, and have been identified as “Abdula Ali, Cossor Ali, Shahzad Ali, Nabeel Hussain, Tanvir Hussain, Umair Hussain, Umar […]
This afternoon Richard Lafayette of Global Crisis Watch hosted a counterterrorism roundtable, attended by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Douglas Farah, Nir Boms of the Center for Freedom in the Middle East, and myself. The main topic was the crisis in the Middle East, including the mood in Israel, Israel’s response to Hezbollah’s attack, and Iran, Syria, and […]
Map of the Bombay rail system. Orange dots indicate bombing sites. click image to view. Last Update at 4:20 pm ET. The railway system and rush hour commuters were the targets of a series of bombings in the Indian city of Bombay (Mumbai), the country’s financial capital. According to an updated Associated Press story, “Tuesday […]