A look at the data on the US air campaign against Taliban and al Qaeda networks in Pakistan. Civilian casualties are surprisingly low while the most al Qaeda leaders have been killed in territories belonging to ‘pro-government Taliban leader’ Mullah Nazir.
While Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence agency refuses to admit it backs the radical, al Qaeda-linked Lashkar-e-Taiba, US intelligence officials and even Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives beg to differ. From a report in The New York Times on Lashkar-e-Taiba and its attack on Mumbai, India: But a senior American intelligence official said the ISI was believed to maintain ties […]
A US strike in North Waziristan killed nine Haqqani Network and al Qaeda operatives. Twelve Taliban fighters surrendered and four more were detained in Swat. The Taliban murdered a man who sheltered a Chinese engineer. The Mahmood tribe in Bajaur was ordered to turn over Taliban fighters or face an offensive. A Taliban commander denied […]
Taliban film shows leader is dead
Hakeemullah’s brother killed in US drone attack in Pakistan
Pakistan – Network of militants is robust after Mumbai siege
The US conducted its third airstrike inside Pakistan’s Taliban-controlled tribal areas in the past 24 hours. Hakeemullah Mehsud’s brother was reported killed an assault on a military base in Ramzak, while the Taliban released a video of Baitullah’s corpse.
Officials fear new Mumbai-style attack by group
US says Taliban has a new haven in Pakistan
General Ashfaq Kiyani, Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, has weighed in on the debate over the potential for the US air campaign against the Taliban and al Qaeda to expand into Baluchistan province, according to the Daily Times. During a meeting of the Tripartite Commission, Kiyani reportedly warned the US against conducting strikes in the […]
US aircraft killed eight Taliban fighters in attacks in North and South Waziristan. General Kiyani said the US would not be permitted to conduct Predator strikes in Baluchistan, while Ambassador Patterson identified the region as a primary threat. Security forces detained more than 200 Taliban fighters in Dir and 43 more in Swat.
Musharraf: Afghan debate shows US weak
The Haqqani Network was targeted in North Waziristan while a compound operated by local Taliban commander Ifran Mehsud was hit in South Waziristan.
On Dashami, Jammu housewife kills jihadi with axe
A suicide bomber killed a tribal leader and three bodyguards in Bannu. The Taliban and the military clashed in North Waziristan. A lashkar killed 10 Taliban fighters in Swat. The military killed six more in Arakzai; four Levies personnel were captured and one was killed. The government transferred two al Qaeda operatives to Saudi authorities.
The Taliban launched a rocket and ground assault on a military base in Ramzak as the government ponders an operation in Waziristan.
Harpoon missiles not modified: Pakistan
Musharraf admits Taliban two-timed him
Pakistan – Quetta shura does not exist: Rehman Malik
Over at the Institute for the Study of War, Jeffrey Dressler published a good overview of the situation in Helmand province. The report is well worth the read. This section highlights the foreign fighter [al Qaeda] involvement in Helmand. For those thinking that al Qaeda wouldn’t be welcome in Afghanistan if the Taliban took control […]
Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaeda’s second in command, has sung the praises of former Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud on a videotape produced by As Sahab and distributed on jihadi forums. Zawahiri used Baitullah’s death to praise the Taliban’s fight against NATO and the US in Afghanistan. But Zawahiri especially focused on Baitullah’s role in […]
Mullah Omar in Kandahar: Rehman Malik
The Taliban’s oral history of the Afghanistan war
The suicide bomber targeted and killed a tribal leader who has spoken out against the Taliban. The attack is the third major Taliban strike in Bannu in five days.
Members of the pro-Taliban Jamiat ulema-i-Islam party protest in Quetta on Thursday, May 28, 2009, against the military offensive against Taliban in Swat. AP Photo. According to the Telegraph, the US has threatened to expand the airstrike campaign to include the Quetta Shura, the Afghan Taliban’s governing council led by Mullah Omar: State department and […]
Dead or alive: Pakistan bounty on top 5 jihadis
Security forces detained 20 Taliban fighters in Swat and 10 more in Malakand. Hundreds of men joined a tribal lashkar in Swat. The death toll in yesterday’s dual suicide attacks in Peshawar and Bannu has risen to 27.
Farhat Taj says Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence agency and the Army are backing the Taliban against the Salarzai tribe in the Bajaur tribal agency. From The News: The tribe have collectively decided that there won’t be any Taliban on their soil. The Taliban have been driven out of the Salarzai area. The Salarzai lashkar, mostly made […]
NATO’s trouble in Afghanistan gives courage to Al Qaeda, Taliban
With the rollout of the boogeyman himself, Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda made its final campaign push Friday to impact Sunday’s elections in Germany. His reappearance capped a busy day for the terror network’s marketing team which saw the release of three videos in rapid succession on the militant forums. All of the products either […]