The ninth attempted chlorine attack, 7 have been successful; Karma Iraq. Click map to view. Al Qaeda in Iraq continues its dirty chemical war in Anbar province. Another truck packed with explosives and chlorine cannisters was found and disarmed in Ramadi. U.S. troops from Multinational Forces West responded to the suicide bombing attack north of […]
The Baghdad Order Of Battle as of March 26, 2007. Click map to view. By DJ Elliott, CJ Radin and Bill Roggio With the passing of the four year anniversary of the commencement of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Iraqi and Coalition security forces continue to press with reestablishing security inside the capital and the outer Baghdad […]
The Baghdad Order Of Battle as of March 5, 2007. Click map to view. By DJ Elliott, CJ Radin and Bill Roggio The Baghdad Security Plan is now well into its third week of operation since the official announcement on February 14. Over the course of the last week, Baghdad has seen a significant reduction […]
Bill Ardolino from INDC Journal is currently embedded as a reporter with U.S. forces in Fallujah. Public Multimedia, Inc., my non-profit media corporation, assisted Bill with the embed process by providing advice, guidance and equipment lists. We are pleased to reproduce Bill’s latest update from Fallujah, On Patrol with the Gators, and thank him for […]
A look at the state of the major theaters, and some under the radar, in the Long War Pro-Taliban fighters in Waziristan. The year of 2006 has seen some interesting developments in the fight against al Qaeda and its allies across the globe. While the war against al Qaeda is largely seen as a fight […]
Sunnis continue to turn on al Qaeda in the heart of the Sunni Triangle Iraq. Click map to view. The Anbar tribes’ turn against al Qaeda has developed significantly since the end of the Anbar Campaign late last year, which swept al Qaeda and the insurgency from the major towns and cities west of Ramadi. […]
Al-Masri declares victory in Iraq, Iraqi Army strikes at al Qaeda leader in Rawah Abu Ayyub al-Masri. Al-Qaeda in Iraq has weighed in on the U.S. midterm elections. Abu Ayyub al-Masri (a.k.a. Abu Hamza al-Muhajir), the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, has released an audiotape. In the tape, al-Masri praised the results of the […]
Sadr’s attacks coincide with al Qaeda bombing, media campaigns and ‘marches’ in western Iraq. Shades of the Fall of 2004… The Iraqi Army in Amara. One day after the Mahdi Army attacked police stations in Amara and were beaten back by Iraqi Army and police units, Sadr’s militia struck again in the town of Suwayra, […]
In the October 30th issue of The Weekly Standard, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross of the Counterterrorsim Blog and I have an article on the rise of the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia. The article is reprinted in full below. A New Terrorist Haven The frightening advance of Islamists in Somalia. by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross & Bill Roggio 10/30/2006, […]
Documenting the Taliban’s rise to power in Waziristan and beyond over the course of 2006 and 2007
The latest round of fighting in southeastern Afghanistan has claimed over 82 Taliban fighters in two separate engagements in Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces. Security Watchtower provides a breakdown of the estimated casualties of Taliban and Coalition forces in southeastern Afghanistan since the beginning of April. An estimated 600 Taliban have been killed and 22 captured, […]
Kabul, Afghanistan: The city of Kabul remains quiet as evidence emerges that U.S. Army troops fired on demonstrators while leaving the scene of Monday’s accident. According to General Amanullah Gozar, Kabul’s chief of highway police who was present at the accident, the U.S. convoy started to leave the accident site after the Afghan mob turned […]
The establishment of the Iraqi government, after five long months of contentious negotiations, has dealt Zarqawi and al Qaeda in Iraq’s efforts to derail the political process. As Zarqawi stated in his 2004 letter to Osama bin Laden, once the Iraqi people begin to take control of the political and and security responsibilities, al Qaeda’s […]
Mullah Dadullah may have been captured during recent fighting in Afghanistan. The news reports of a major Taliban offensive in southeastern Afghanistan are inaccurate, as Coalition offensives and Taliban attacks have been lumped together to give the impression of a coordinated Taliban assault in multiple provinces. A reading of the various reports indicates that while […]
Map of ISAF Mission in Afghanistan. Click to Enlarge. Almost five years after the liberation of Afghanistan from the Taliban, the American public is largely unaware of the scope of NATO’s commitment to providing stability for the Afghan people and combating al Qaeda and the Taliban. Through the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), NATO plans […]
Suspected locations of raids on al Qaeda cells. Click to Enlarge. Over the past month, Task Force 145, the special operations unit designated to hunt Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and other high value al Qaeda targets, has dismantled al Qaeda cells in the cities of Yusifiyah and Balad. It appears Task Force 145 has struck at […]
Suspected locations of raids on al Qaeda cells. Click to Enlarge. Two weeks ago, Task Force 145 struck at what was believed to be the hideout of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the city of Yusifiyah. Five terrorists were killed in the raid, and Coalition forces discovered suicide vests and suicide notes along with various weapons. […]
The Army Times’ Sean Naylor has a fascinating article on Task Force 145, which has replaced Task Force 626 and 121, and the hunt for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, which I have summarized below: – Zarqawi was nearly captured in Yusufiyah by Special Operations Forces nine days prior to the release of his videotape. Segments of […]
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s 34 minute long video tape not only includes numerous political messages, as Dr. Walid Phares explains; but also contains information on al Qaeda in Iraq’s propaganda and military capabilities. Several of the military and propaganda aspects are covered below:
The scene of recent fighting in Helmand and Kandahar Provinces, Click to Enlarge. The fighting continues in the troubled southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar. Today, CENTCOM reports two separate engagements in Helmand and Kandahar. The CENTCOM press release for the Helmand incident states U.S. air assets were used to strike at a team of […]
Yesterday’s helicopter attack in North Waziristan is directed at Mohsin Matawalli Atwa, one of the architechs of the 1998 attacks on the U.S. Embassies in Eastern Africa
al Qaeda steps up its campaign to destroy the political process and incite a civil war by attacking Shiite mosques; the wider situation in Iraq is virtually being ignored
The Taliban’s Spring Offensive has been sprung; in Pakistan, the Taliban squashes a local festival, “miscreants” abound and an ally of Osama is kidnapped and beaten
The Iraqi Army conducts an independent another independent operation in Zarqawi’s former “Islamic Republic of Qaim”; AQIZ conducts multiple suicide operations
More fighting in Talibanistan, and Helmand province, Afghanistan
A cordon & search operation in Abu Ghraib includes an air assault by elements of the 10th Mountain Division; sweeps around Baghdad likely part of Scales of Justice
In Babil province, another strike on a police station & Operation Iron Strike
Drawing the battle lines on the Afghan-Pakistani border
Is the Taliban in control in Waziristan? Pakistan’s influence in the tribal belt is tenuous at best.
al Qaeda in Iraq has issued a statement claiming to “have set up an umbrella body to coordinate their fight against U.S.-led forces and the Iraqi government.” Notably excluded from this body of insurgent groups are Ansar al-Sunnah and the Iraq Islamic Army. A look at the reported security incidents in Iraq from the past […]