Al Qaeda in Iraq suicide bomber attacks Awakening in Taji
Nineteen anti-al Qaeda Awakening fighters and three Iraqi soldiers were killed in the suicide attack, which is the second of its kind in Iraq in two days.
Nineteen anti-al Qaeda Awakening fighters and three Iraqi soldiers were killed in the suicide attack, which is the second of its kind in Iraq in two days.
Four Somalis and two Saudi al Qaeda fighters are reported to have been killed during clashes in Maneseeh in Baydah province. The government will prosecute more than 200 AQAP fighters. Iran denied that it chartered a ship that was carrying weapons for rebels. A Hezbollah delegation reportedly met with Yemeni officials and tribal leaders.
Over 40 attackers, some dressed in military uniforms, stormed a detention center in Benghazi near the Ansar al Sharia headquarters and freed a number of inmates; an office was torched as well. The chief of the National Numbers Department, which issues identity cards, was kidnapped from his office in Tripoli.
Shabaab claimed that it killed 24 Ethiopian soldiers during attacks on outposts in and around Baidoa. The commander of the African Union forces said that Shabaab has been weakened militarily. The UN’s secretary-general said that the 21-year-old arms embargo should be reviewed.
Tunisian Salafists set fire to the mausoleums of Sidi Abdeljabbar in Jammal and Sidi Amor Bouzid in Awlad Chamakh. There have been more than 30 such attacks on Sufi shrines in the country; the attacks have been met with mixed reactions from Tunisians.
Tuareg rebels reportedly captured Mohamed Moussa Ag Mouhamed, Ansar Dine’s former emir in Timbuktu, and Oumeini Ould Baba Akhmed, said to be behind the kidnapping of a French hostage by the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa. French warplanes struck Islamist rear areas in and around Tessalit in northern Mali.
Foreign Minister Medelci claimed that the Algerian diplomats held hostage in Mali by the Movement for Tawhid and Jihad in West Africa are “in a safe place.” The army has beefed up security along its border with Mali in an attempt to prevent fleeing militants from entering Algeria.
The Moro National Liberation Front attempted to free a Jordanian hostage being held by Abu Sayyaf in Jolo. Eight MNLF and 13 Abu Sayyaf fighters were killed in the clash; the fate of the Jordanian is not known.
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Israel’s defense minister suggested Israel was responsible for an airstrike in Syria that he said demonstrated Israel’s commitment to preventing Hezbollah from obtaining weapons from Syria. Syria’s President Assad accused Israel of attempting to destabilize Syria.
President Marzouki’s party, one of two secular parties that formed a coalition government with the Islamist Ennahda party, threatened to quit the government if the Islamist foreign and justice ministers are not dropped. The Unified Democratic Patriots Party said Salafists and Ennahda members attacked its meeting in El Kef on Feb. 2. In Tunis, 40 […]
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The tactic of the suicide assault is being employed with increasing frequency by al Qaeda and its affiliates and allies in all of the major theaters of the Long War.
French warplanes bombed Islamist camps in north Mali near Tessalit, close to the Algerian border and the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains, where the militants are said to have fled. Foreign Minister Coulibaly asked France to continue its mission in Mali so that the militants’ arsenals are destroyed. He also said armed groups in north Mali […]
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Defense Secretary Panetta said that as the US is still in a war on terrorism, drone strikes must continue to be used against al Qaeda “where necessary.” He also affirmed the need for covert US action in some cases.
Two Filipino members of a Jordanian journalist’s crew held hostage by Abu Sayyaf militants since June 2012 have been freed; the journalist is still in captivity. The militants had demanded a $3.1 million ransom for the three men. MNLF rebels claimed to have assisted with negotiations in order to “help the government clean up the […]