The Taliban killed 14 people in a suicide attack in Swat, while further south, gunmen killed an anti-Taliban tribal leader in the provincial capital of Peshawar.

The suicide bomber detonated his explosives at a police checkpoint in the town of Saidu Sharif outside Mingora, the main town in Swat. The bomber attempted to enter a building used by police and the military, but failed.

"The suicide bomber was on foot," a senior police official told AFP. "He was trying to enter the building and blew himself up after being stopped by police."

In the attack, 14 Pakistanis, including two policemen, a soldier, and a child, were killed, and more than 50 were wounded. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

Further south, in Peshawar, the capital of the Northwest Frontier Province, the Taliban assassinated a pro-government tribal leader who has battled the Taliban in the Mohmand tribal agency.

Taliban fighters gunned down Haji Lal Badshah and two of his bodyguards as they traveled to his home in the city. Badshah had led a local lashkar, or tribal militia, in the Mohmand tribal agency, a Taliban stronghold.

Today's attacks cap a week of renewed Taliban violence in the Northwest and in Pakistan's major cities. Today's suicide attack in Swat is the fourth this week. Yesterday two suicide bombers killed more than 50 people in an attack in a military cantonment in the eastern city of Lahore. On March 11, a suicide bomber detonated his vest prematurely in Peshawar, killing five people. The bomber was targeting a Frontier Corps convoy as it passed through a checkpoint. On March 8, a suicide bomber targeted the headquarters of the Federal Investigation Agency in Lahore and killed 11 people. The headquarters building later collapsed.

The military has claimed that the Taliban's leadership has been dismantled and that the movement is disjointed and unable to conduct operations after the military's offensives in Swat, Bajaur, South Waziristan, Peshawar, and Khyber. But the Taliban have regrouped in North Waziristan, Arakzai, Mohmand, Khyber, Kurram, and regions in South Waziristan still under Taliban control, and the top Taliban leaders remain free. The Taliban retain their capacity to strike at military, government, and local targets. Tribal leaders who oppose the Taliban have been ruthlessly targeted.

A top Taliban and al Qaeda commander who operated on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border was not killed during recent airstrikes in Mohmand, a senior Taliban leader announced yesterday.

Qari Zia Rahman survived the March 5 airstrikes in the Mohmand tribal agency that reportedly killed 30 Taliban fighters, according to Faqir Mohammed, the leader of the Taliban in Bajaur and the deputy commander of the Pakistani Taliban. Faqir also claimed that Taliban commander Mohammed Fateh was still alive.

"Qari Zia and Fateh are alive, Faqir told Dawn. "We were not there. We are still in Bajaur."

Rahman is a top Taliban and al Qaeda leader who operates in Pakistan’s Bajaur tribal agency as well as in Afghanistan’s Nuristan and Kunar provinces. Fateh is a Swat Taliban commander who is on the list of the government's most wanted leaders in the northern district.

Rehman Malik, Pakistan's Interior Minister, had maintained that Faqir, Qari Zia, and Fateh were killed in the March 5 helicopter strike. Malik even said that Fateh's body was seen being pulled from the rubble after the strike, but he could not provide any evidence that the three commanders were dead.

Just three days after the attack, Faqir confirmed he was alive, and stated that he had not been present during the strike. "I'm fine. It's just propaganda," Faqir told a reporter on March 8.

Faqir's statement that Qari Zia and Fateh are also alive caps a week of false reports by Pakistani officials on the death or capture of top Taliban and al Qaeda leaders. On March 7, Pakistani intelligence officials insisted that Adam Gadahn, al Qaeda's top American-born spokesman who is wanted in the US for treason, was captured in Karachi. One day later, Pakistani officials backtracked and declared that an American named Abu Yahya Mujahdeen al Adam had been captured instead.

In today's statement, Faqir also claimed that the Taliban did not resist a Pakistani Army advance into Bajaur as there was a deal in place, and he said the Bajaur Taliban will reignite the insurgency there.

"We abdicated our positions and chose not to fight with security forces following an understanding that our people will not be harmed," he said. "But the government appears to be continuing with its repressive policies. We will have no other option but to resume our attacks if such policies are not reversed."

Faqir's claim tracks with reports that the Taliban were upset with him for failing to oppose a military advance in Bajaur. On Jan. 30, Dawn reported that Faqir had been asked to step down by the Bajaur Taliban shura and had been replaced by Maulana Mohammad Jamal [see LWJ report, "Suicide bomber kills 17 Pakistanis in Bajaur"].

Since taking over the Taliban stronghold of Damadola on March 2, the Pakistani military has asserted that it is now in full control of the Bajaur tribal agency. The military made an identical claim a year ago, on March 1, 2009.

Two suicide bombers struck in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore, killing 39 people in a simultaneous attack in a neighborhood where the military has a strong presence.

The suicide bombers walked up to Pakistani Army vehicles parked in the R A Bazaar in the South Cantt and detonated their vests.

"There were two suicide bombers who attacked two military vehicles within the space of 15 seconds," a senior police official told Geo News. Five security personnel were among those killed; 95 people have been wounded.

The South Cantt is "home to army officials and military installations, as well as hospitals and schools run by the military," according to Dawn.

While no group has claimed credit for the attack, the Taliban is the prime suspect. The Punjabi branch of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan said it carried out the March 8 suicide attack in Lahore that targeted the headquarters of the Federal Investigation Agency, a law enforcement agency that targets terror groups. The Punjabi Taliban said the March 8 attack strike was carried out to avenge the death of Qari Mohammed Zafar, the leader of the al Qaeda- and Taliban-linked Fedayeen-i-Islam, who was killed in a US airstrike in North Waziristan on Feb. 24.

In the recent past the Taliban have targeted military personnel and family members in cantonment in Pakistan's cities. One of the most high-profile attacks took place in a mosque in the military garrison city of Rawalpindi on December 4, 2009. More than 40 officers, soldiers, and family members were killed in the blast.

Today's suicide attack is the third this week. Yesterday a suicide bomber detonated his vest prematurely in Peshawar, killing five people. The bomber was targeting a Frontier Corps convoy as it passed through a checkpoint, but he tripped and accidentally detonated his vest.

The military has claimed that the Taliban's leadership has been dismantled and that the movement is disjointed and unable to conduct operations after the military's offensives in Swat, Bajaur, and South Waziristan. But the Taliban have regrouped in North Waziristan, Arakzai, Khyber, Kurram, and regions in South Waziristan still under Taliban control, and its top leaders remain free.

Background on jihadist groups in South Punjab

South Punjab is a hotbed of Pakistani terror groups. Banned terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, and its radical offshoot Lashkar-e-Jhangvi are all active in South Punjab. These groups have taken up common cause with the Taliban and al Qaeda, and are often referred to as the Punjabi Taliban. The terror groups have been supported by Pakistan's military and the ISI.

South Punjab teems with radical mosques and madrassas, which are used to indoctrinate Pakistani youths to join the jihad. Tens of thousands of members of these terror groups who have gone through training camps are said to be active in South Punjab.

The Pakistani government has denied that terror groups are based in South Punjab. In December 2009, the Punjabi provincial government barred foreign reporters from South Punjab, insisting that all reporters must obtain permits before reporting from the area.

"All foreign journalists are required to get permission from foreign affairs as well as from interior ministries for visiting any specific place especially in South Punjab," a senior officer of the Punjab government told the Press Trust of India. The official claimed that journalists published "twisted and unfounded" facts about terror groups operating there.

Unconfirmed reports from Pakistan indicate that the top Taliban commander in North Waziristan may have been among those killed in yesterday's swarm attack by unmanned US aircraft in the lawless tribal agency.

US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal said that Hafiz Gul Bahadar, the powerful Taliban chieftain in North Waziristan, was the target of yesterday's airstrike in the Datta Khel region.

Bahadar is rumored to be among those killed in the strike, according to reports in The New York Times and ANI, but his death has not been confirmed. US intelligence officials are "investigating the possibility that he was killed" but could not confirm the reports.

The strike was carried out by five unmanned US aircraft, likely the Predators or their deadly older brothers, the Reapers. The aircraft launched the attack in two waves. First a volley of four missiles hit a compound in the village of Mizar Madakhel. After Taliban fighters cordoned the area and began to recover bodies, a second volley was fired. Initial reports indicated that 12 Taliban fighters were killed; the The New York Times later claimed a total of 21 killed.

Bahadar is the senior Taliban leader in North Waziristan and one of the most prominent commanders in Pakistan. He is a direct descendant of Mirza Ali Khan, the tribal leader who fought the British and the Indians in the early 20th century. Bahadar chairs the North Waziristan Shura, or executive council. His forces defeated the Pakistani Army in 2006 and 2007; nonetheless, Bahadar is considered by the Pakistani establishment a "pro-government Taliban" leader.

Al Qaeda and allied Pakistani and Central Asian jihadi groups shelter in Bahadar's tribal areas, and run training camps and safe houses in the region.

In early 2009, Bahadar united with former Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan leader Baitullah Mehsud and South Waziristan Taliban leader Mullah Nazir to form the United Mujahideen Council. The group was formed at the behest of Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar, and the Haqqanis. The three leaders of the newly formed Council vowed to oppose the Pakistani military and government, repel any government incursion into the tribal areas, and continue to support Taliban operations in Afghanistan. The commanders demanded that Pakistan end military operations in the tribal areas and halt the US Predator strikes.

Both Nazir and Bahadar ended their participation in the United Mujahideen Council after Baitullah was killed in a US airstrike in South Waziristan in August 2009. The two Taliban leaders cut a deal with the government as the military moved into Mehsud tribal areas in South Waziristan, but they have still sheltered Taliban leaders and fighters fleeing South Waziristan. The military has indicated it has no plans to take on either Bahadar or Nazir, or the Haqqani Network.

A swarm of five US unmanned strike aircraft killed 15 Taliban fighters in Pakistan's lawless tribal agency of North Waziristan.

The strike aircraft, likely the Predators or the newer, more deadly Reapers, conducted two strikes against Taliban fighters in the village of Mizar Madakhel near the Afghan border.

A volley of four missiles were fired at a Taliban compound in the first strike, killing eight terrorists, AFP reported. Three missiles were fired at Taliban vehicles used during the recovery of those killed in the first strike, killing four more. The Kuwaiti News Agency reported that 15 Taliban fighters were killed in both strikes, and that more than a dozen fighters were wounded, some seriously.

The compound is owned by Hafiz Gul Bahadar, the Taliban commander for North Waziristan. The Pakistani military signed a peace agreement with Bahadar even though he continues to shelter al Qaeda leaders and fighters, and sends his forces to battle the US and NATO in Afghanistan.

No senior Taliban or al Qaeda fighters have been reported killed in the attack. US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal would not disclose the target of the attack.

Today's airstrike is the second recorded attack in three days, and also is the second this month. The last attack, on March 8, killed five terrorists operating in a compound at a bazaar in Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan.

So far this year, the US has carried out 19 strikes in Pakistan; all of them have taken place in North Waziristan. In 2009, the US carried out 53 strikes in Pakistan; and in 2008, the US carried out 36 strikes in the country. [For up-to-date charts on the US air campaign in Pakistan, see: Charting the data for US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2010.]

Background on the recent strikes in Pakistan

US intelligence believes that al Qaeda has reconstituted its external operations network in Pakistan's lawless, Taliban-controlled tribal areas. This network is tasked with hitting targets in the West, India, and elsewhere. The US has struck at these external cells using unmanned Predator aircraft and other means in an effort to disrupt al Qaeda's external network and decapitate the leadership. The US also has targeted al Qaeda-linked Taliban fighters operating in Afghanistan, particularly the notorious Haqqani Network.

As of the summer of 2008, al Qaeda and the Taliban operated 157 known training camps in the tribal areas and the Northwest Frontier Province. Al Qaeda has been training terrorists holding Western passports to conduct attacks, US intelligence officials have told The Long War Journal. Some of the camps are devoted to training the Taliban's military arm; some train suicide bombers for attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan; some focus on training the various Kashmiri terror groups; some train al Qaeda operatives for attacks in the West; some train the Lashkar al Zil, al Qaeda's Shadow Army; and one serves as a training ground for the Black Guard, the elite bodyguard unit for Osama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahiri, and other senior al Qaeda leaders.

Unmanned US Predator and Reaper strike aircraft have been pounding Taliban and al Qaeda hideouts in North Waziristan over the past several months in an effort to kill senior terror leaders and disrupt the networks that threaten Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the West. Since Dec. 8, 2009, the air campaign in Pakistan has killed four senior al Qaeda leaders, a senior Taliban commander, two senior al Qaeda operatives, and a wanted Palestinian terrorist who was allied with al Qaeda. The status of several others - a top Pakistani Taliban leader, a member of al Qaeda’s top council, and a wanted Philippine terrorist - is still unknown.

In December 2009, the US killed Abdullah Said al Libi, the top commander of the Shadow Army; Zuhaib al Zahib, a senior commander in the Shadow Army; and Saleh al Somali, the leader of al Qaeda's external network [see LWJ report, “Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 – 2010” for the full list of leaders and operatives thought to have been killed in US strikes].

Already this year, the US has killed Mansur al Shami, an al Qaeda ideologue and aide to al Qaeda’s leader in Afghanistan Mustafa Abu Yazid; Haji Omar Khan, a senior Taliban leader in North Waziristan; Mohammed Haqqani, a military commander in the Haqqani Network; Sheikh Mansoor, an al Qaeda Shadow Army commander; and Qari Mohammad Zafar, a leader of the al Qaeda and Taliban-linked Fedayeen-i-Islam. Jamal Saeed Abdul Rahim, the Abu Nidal Organization operative who participated in killing 22 hostages during the 1986 hijacking of Pan Am flight 73, is thought to have been killed in the Jan. 9 airstrike.

The status of Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, is still unknown; the Taliban released a videotape of him on March 1 but it did not confirm he was alive. On March 1, a rumor surfaced that Abdul Haq al Turkistani, the leader of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Party and a member of al Qaeda’s Shura Majlis, was killed in a strike on Feb. 15. And Abdul Basit Usman, an Abu Sayyaf operative with a $1 million US bounty for information leading to his capture, is rumored to have been killed in a strike on Jan. 14, although a Philippine military spokesman said Usman is likely still alive and in the Philippines.

US strikes in Pakistan in 2010:

• US airstrike kills 12 in North Waziristan
March 10, 2010
• US airstrike in North Waziristan kills 5 Taliban fighters
March 8, 2010
• US hits Haqqani Network in North Waziristan, kills 8
Feb. 24, 2010
• US airstrikes target Haqqani Network in North Waziristan
Feb. 18, 2010
• Latest US airstrike kills 3 in North Waziristan
Feb. 17, 2010
• US strike kills 4 in North Waziristan
Feb. 15, 2010
• US strikes training camp in North Waziristan
Feb. 14, 2010
• Predators pound terrorist camp in North Waziristan
Feb. 2, 2010
• US airstrike targets Haqqani Network in North Waziristan
Jan. 29, 2010
• US airstrike in North Waziristan kills 6
Jan. 19, 2010
• Latest US airstrike in Pakistan kills 20
Jan. 17, 2010
• US strikes kill 11 in North Waziristan
Jan. 15, 2010
• US airstrike hits Taliban camp in North Waziristan
Jan. 14, 2010
• US airstrike kills 4 Taliban fighters in North Waziristan
Jan. 9, 2010
• US airstrike kills 5 in North Waziristan
Jan. 8, 2010
• US kills 17 in latest North Waziristan strike
Jan. 6, 2010
• US airstrike kills 2 Taliban fighters in Mir Ali in Pakistan
Jan. 3, 2010
• US kills 3 Taliban in second strike in North Waziristan
Jan. 1, 2010

The Taliban stormed the office of a US aid group operating in northwestern Pakistan, killing six Pakistani employees.

Earlier today, armed fighters attacked an office operated by World Vision International, a Christian charity that has been aiding victims of the devastating earthquake in 2005. The aid group has sought to provide schooling, jobs, food, and other basic needs for Pakistanis impacted by the earthquake and other natural disasters.

Police fought a major battle with the heavily armed Taliban fighters, who entered the World Vision office in the town of Oghi in Mansehra district.

"Some armed people stormed the building of World Vision NGO," Sajid Khan, a police official, told AFP. There was firing and also an explosion inside." The Taliban fighters hurled hand grenades in the office, according to police.

Police said that five Pakistani employees were killed, including two women. But an unnamed aid worker present at the attack told AFP that six people were killed and six more were seriously wounded.

The Taliban have targeted aid groups in the region, claiming the groups are un-Islamic and are seeking to spread Christianity. In February 2008, in an attack that mirrored today's strike against World Vision, the Taliban killed four members of Plan International, a British charity that seeks to promote the rights of children. Four members of the charity were killed when a dozen Taliban fighters stormed their office and opened fire.

Until recently, Mansehra has been spared the heavy violence that has plagued much of the Northwest Frontier Province and the tribal areas. The Taliban carried out a suicide attack in Mansehra just 20 days ago, when suicide bombers targeted two police stations in the district. A police chief was killed in the attack.

The Mansehra Taliban are said to be led by Moman Khan, who previously claimed to have been commander of the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi but has since said he no longer works with the group. Khan is said to have been behind recent threats and attacks against nongovernmental organizations in neighboring Abbottabad. The Lashkar-i-Jhangvi is an anti-Shia terror group that has been co-opted by al Qaeda and has conducted numerous attacks inside Pakistan.

The Taliban entered Mansehra in force during the spring of 2009. In April 2009, Taliban fighters moved into the Mansehra region and established a base and a training camp. The move took place as the Pakistani military launched an offensive to depose the Taliban, led by Mullah Fazlullah, in the nearby Swat Valley. The military and police did not attempt to stop the Taliban's move into Mansehra.

Since the spring of 2009, the Taliban have established bases in the districts of Shangla, Haripur, Battagram, Mardan, and Swabi. Taliban units ranging from 50 to 150 fighters fanned out through the districts, encountering no resistance from the military, which claimed it had established blocking positions to prevent the Taliban from retreating from the battlefield and bleeding into bordering districts.

There has been little effort to root out the Taliban in these districts. The military launched a limited operation in Swabi in the beginning of February; during that operation, the military killed three Taliban fighters.

Dulmatin, one of the most wanted al Qaeda-linked terrorists in Southeast Asia, has been confirmed killed, Indonesia's president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said during a meeting in Australia.

"I can announce to you that after a successful police raid against the terrorists hiding out in Jakarta yesterday, we can confirm one of those killed was Mr. Dulmatin, one of the top Southeast Asian terrorists that we have been looking for," President Yudhoyono said, according to ABC News.

"For the safety of our people, for the safety of Australians and Indonesians and the rest of the world, let us continue our cooperation to fight terrorism," he continued.

Police killed Dulmatin as he attempted to resist arrest during a raid on a doctor's home in the Jakarta suburb of Pamulang on March 9. Dulmatin pulled a handgun and fired a round at counterterrorism police from Detachment 88. Police also killed two other terror suspects during a raid at a nearby Internet cafe [See LWJ report, "Wanted Indonesian terrorist Dulmatin thought killed in raid"].

Dulmatin was a top leader and military commander in Jemaah Islamiyah, al Qaeda's affiliate in Southeast Asia. He attended al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan in the 1990s and was notorious for his bomb making skills and deadly attacks. Dulmatin was one of the masterminds of the 2002 terror attack at the Bali resort in Indonesia. A suicide bomber killed scores of people inside a nightclub in Bali, and a car bomb was detonated moments after the first blast, killing and maiming people as they fled the club or attempted to help survivors.

The attack in Bali killed 202 people, including seven Americans and 88 Australians. Detachment 88, which was founded with the help of Australia, is named in honor of the Australian victims. The US has posted a $10 million reward for information leading to Dulmatin's capture.

Dulmatin is the second major kill for Detachment 88 in the past seven months. In September 2009, police killed Mohammed Noordin Top, the leader of the Tandzim al-Qaedat Indonesia, a splinter group that formed from Jemaah Islamiyah after the organization came under pressure by Indonesian police. Top was killed during a shootout with Detachment 88 in September 2009, leaving the group leaderless.

Indonesia has had success in dismantling Jemaah Islamiyah's military arm. Detachment 88 has killed or captured several other top Jemaah Islamiyah leaders and operatives over the past several years, including Abu Rusdan and Zarkasih, both who served as JI's emir (both are in custody); Abu Dujana, JI's former military commander (in custody), and Azahari Husin, a top bomb maker (killed).

Top Jemaah Islamiyah leaders still on the loose include Abu Bakir Bashir, the founder and spiritual leader of JI; Zulkarnaen, a leading military strategist; Ustad Yasir Syawal, a top military trainer; and Umar Patek, a bomb maker and military commander.

Presentation on Jemaah Islamiyah's leadership and history, by The Long War Journal:

Click image to view presentation of Jemaah Islamiyah's leadership.

The body of the man believed to be Dulmatin. Image from Metro TV.

Indonesia's counterterrorism police believe they have killed a top al Qaeda-linked terrorist during a raid outside the capital of Jakarta today.

Police believe that wanted terrorist and master bomb maker Dulmatin was killed during a shootout today at a home in the Jakarta suburb of Pamulang, Detik News reported. The home is said to be owned by a pediatrician named Dr. Fauzi, who is now wanted and on the run.

The suspect, thought to be Dulmatin, shot at officers from Indonesia's elite counterterrorism police unit, Detachment 88, before being killed. Two other terror suspects were also killed in a shootout during a separate raid at the Multiplus Internet cafe in Pamulang.

Police are working to confirm that the person killed during the raid on the home was indeed Dulmatin; the confirmation may take up to two days, however. Dulmatin's family has denied that he was killed during the raid.

According to Detik News, Dulmatin hides out in Jakarta and uses the alias Joko Pitono. He is said to have worked as a clothing vendor and reportedly gained a lot of weight.

Wanted posters released by the Philippine government of Dulmatin and Jemaah Islamiyah commander Umar Patek. Both are thought to shelter with the Abu Sayyaf Group in the Philippines.

Dulmatin is wanted by the US for his role in masterminding the 2002 coordinated suicide and car bomb terror attacks at a nightclub in Bali, Indonesia, that killed 202 people, including seven Americans. The US has posted a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture.

Dulmatin is regarded as one of the most dangerous commanders in Jemaah Islamiyah, al Qaeda's affiliate in Indonesia. He attended al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan in the 1990s and is considered an electronics specialist and a master bomb maker. Dulmatin is also thought to be an expert in insurgency tactics.

Dulmatin has been considered the prime contender to replace Noordin Mohammed Top as the leader of the Tandzim al-Qaedat Indonesia, a splinter group that formed from Jemaah Islamiyah after the organization came under pressure by Indonesian police. Top was killed during a shootout with Detachment 88 in September 2009, leaving the group leaderless.

In recent times, Dulmatin is thought to have been sheltering in the Philippines with the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group. In February 2008, the Philippine military thought they found Dulmatin's body in in a shallow grave on the island of Tawi-tawi. But Dulmatin later reappeared.

Over the past month, Detachment 88 has been conducting a series of raids against Jemaah Islamiyah in Java and in the western province of Aceh. The Pamulang cell, which was raided yesterday and today, provided finances and support to the large Jehmaah Islamiyah cell discovered last month in Aceh. A total of 22 suspected terrorists have been captured in Aceh since Feb. 22. On Feb. 25, Police detained four suspected terrorists during a raid on a training camp in the province of Aceh. More than 50 terrorists were thought to be training at the camp, which has been linked to al Qaeda affiliate Jemaah Islamiyah. Police found weapons, uniforms, and terrorist propaganda at the camp.

On March 6, a group calling itself "al Qaeda in Aceh" released a statement on the Internet saying it has eluded Detachment 88's efforts to dismantle it and would continue waging jihad. This is the first time Al Qaeda in Aceh has made a public statement.

"As of the 10th day of the pursuit against us, we survive to continue jihad although some of our brothers were captured and martyred," the statement said, according to The Associated Press. "We hereby assure Muslims that we will uphold our pledge to jihad against the Zionist Jews and Christians and apostates until God awards us victory, or we become martyrs in the way of Allah."

The group also released a videotape via the Internet, which was described by Nick Grace as "quite pitiful" and "a desperate plea for money."

"The 'media division' of the Jemaah Islamiyah cell posted a statement and video over the weekend which paints a sad and sorry picture of the group," said Grace, who contributes to The Long War Journal and tracks developments in Indonesia closely. "They look malnourished and unsure of themselves. The hour-long video, which I watched, is a desperate plea for money. At one point one of the speakers cries into the camera, 'You give ikan asin (dried and salty fish) to cats and dogs. Why not give it to us instead! We will accept any help!'"

More than 120 fighters from the anti-government Gulbuddin faction of Hezb-i-Islami have surrendered to local authorities in Baghlan after a weekend of fighting with the Taliban that left 60 insurgents and 20 civilians dead.

"Since Sunday 120 fighters including 70 armed men from Hizb-e-Islami have joined [the] government," a police spokesman in Baghlan told Xinhua. Mamor Malang, a local commander of the Hezb-i-Islami Gulbuddin, or HIG, was among those who surrendered to the government. More HIG fighters are expected to join the government in the coming days.

The fighting began on Saturday as a dispute between the local HIG units and Taliban forces in several villages in the Baghlan-e-Markazi district came to a head. The two forces, which are normally allied against Afghan and Coalition forces, battled over control of the region and the ability to collect taxes there. Twenty-five fighters were reported killed in the first day of the fighting, which ultimately ended on Sunday.

It is not clear if this split is localized to the district or portends a wider problem in the North; Taliban and HIG leaders have not commented on the fighting.

HIG has allied with the Taliban in the northern Afghan provinces of Baghlan and Kunduz. The allied terror groups maintain safe havens in Baghlan and in neighboring Kunduz province. Of the seven districts in Kunduz province, only two are considered under government control; the rest of the districts - Chahara Dara, Dashti Archi, Ali Abab, Khan Abad, and Iman Sahib - are considered contested or under Taliban control, according to a map produced by Afghanistan's Interior Ministry in the spring of 2009. Two districts in neighboring Baghlan province - Baghlan-i-Jadid and Burka - are under the control of the Taliban [see LWJ report, "Afghan forces and Taliban clash in Kunduz," and Threat Matrix report, "Afghanistan’s wild-wild North"].

HIG commanders claim to have thousands of fighters and supporters under arms in northern Afghanistan, and say the group is flush with foreign support and fighters.

"We have around 3,000 to 4,000 Hezb-i-Islami men in the north," a HIG commander named Kalakub told a PBS Frontline reporter who spent a week with fighters in Baghlan. "People come to us from all over Afghanistan. … They come from Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan. We get special mujahids from abroad, but we're not allowed to talk about them." Quraishi believes that these special mujahids are mainly Arabs from Yemen and Saudi Arabia who have been trained by Al Qaeda.

The northern HIG is led by Commander Mirwais, "a former millionaire businessman who turned to jihad after the US invasion of Afghanistan."

"Jihad has become a duty for all the Afghan nation because the foreign and non-believer countries have attacked us," Mirwais told PBS Frontline. "They're getting rid of our religious and cultural values in Afghanistan. They've increased obscenity and want to force Western democracy on our country."

HIG is a breakaway faction of the Hezb-i-Islami, which has joined the Afghan government. HIG is a radical Islamist group that is loosely aligned with al Qaeda and the Taliban. It is led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who is closely tied to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency.

Hekmatyar was a key player in the Soviet-Afghan war and led one of the biggest insurgent factions against Soviet and Afghan communist forces. His brutal battlefield tactics and wanton destruction of Kabul following the collapse of the Afghan Communist regime in the early 1990s led to the demise of Hekmatyar’s popularity. The Taliban overran his last stronghold south of Kabul in 1995 and forced him into exile in Iran from 1996-2002.

In May 2006, Hekmatyar swore alliance to Osama bin Laden. "We thank all Arab mujahideen, particularly Sheikh Osama Bin Laden, Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri, and other leaders who helped us in our jihad against the Russians," he said in a recording broadcast by Al Jazeera.

"They fought our enemies and made dear sacrifices," Hekmatyar continued. "Neither we nor the future generations will forget this great favor. We beseech Almighty God to grant us success and help us fulfill our duty toward them and enable us to return their favor and reciprocate their support and sacrifices. We hope to take part with them in a battle which they will lead and raise its banner. We stand beside and support them."

Hekmatyar has since reached out to the Afghan government to conduct negotiations to end the fighting. His son is reported to have attended negotiations in the Maldives earlier this year. Also, last month Hekmatyar released terms for an end to the fighting. The 15-point plan calls for Coalition forces to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2010.

The US carried out its first airstrike in 12 days in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan. Five terrorists were killed in a strike that targeted the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network at a bazaar in the main town of Miramshah.

Two unmanned US strike aircraft, the Predators or Reapers operating from secret bases in Pakistan and Afghanistan, fired three missiles at two compounds in a bazaar in Miramshah, according to reports at Geo News and Dawn.

"Two drones fired three missiles in Miramshah bazaar," a local Pakistani told AFP. "Two buildings in the centre of the bazaar were hit and destroyed in the attack."

The Miramshah region is controlled by the Haqqani Network, the Taliban group that is based in North Waziristan and operates in eastern Afghanistan. Anti-Soviet mujahedeen commander Jalaluddin Haqqani is the patriarch of the Haqqani Network, while his son Siraj is the military commander who runs the day-to-day operations.

The Haqqanis are closely allied with al Qaeda and the Taliban, led by Mullah Omar. The Haqqani family runs the Manba Ulom madrassa in the village of Danda Darpa Khel just outside of Miramshah. The madrassa is a hub of activity for the terror group. The US has struck at targets in Danda Darpa Khel five times since Aug. 20, 2009, and seven times since September 2008.

Recently, the US targeted Siraj in a strike in Danda Darpa Khel, in a strike on Feb. 18, 2010. Intelligence indicated that Siraj was attending the funeral of Sheikh Mansour, an al Qaeda military commander who was killed in a US strike the day prior. Siraj escaped the attack, but his brother Mohammed, a military commander in the Haqqani Network, was killed.

Siraj is one of the most wanted Taliban and al Qaeda leaders in the Afghan-Pakistan region. The US military has described Siraj as the primary threat to security in eastern Afghanistan. He is the mastermind of the most deadly attacks inside Afghanistan, including suicide assaults in Kabul, and he is the senior military commander in eastern Afghanistan. Siraj serves as the leader of the Taliban's Miramshah Regional Military Shura, one of the Afghan Taliban's four regional commands [see LWJ report, "The Afghan Taliban's top leaders"].

Siraj is considered dangerous not only for his ties with the Afghan Taliban, but also because of his connections with al Qaeda's central leadership, which extend all the way to Osama bin Laden. On March 25, 2009, the US Department of State put out a $5 million bounty for information leading to the capture of Siraj.

Today's strike is the first carried out by the US in Pakistan this month, and is also the first in 12 days. The last attack, on Feb. 24, killed Qari Mohammad Zafar, a leader of the al Qaeda and Taliban-linked Fedayeen-i-Islam, in the town of Dargi Mandi near Miramshah. Zafar was wanted by the US for murdering a consular official in a suicide attack outside the US Consulate in Karachi in 2006.

So far this year, the US has carried out 18 strikes in Pakistan; all of them have taken place in North Waziristan. In 2009, the US carried out 53 strikes in Pakistan; and in 2008, the US carried out 36 strikes in the country. [For up-to-date charts on the US air campaign in Pakistan, see: Charting the data for US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2010.]

Background on the recent strikes in Pakistan

US intelligence believes that al Qaeda has reconstituted its external operations network in Pakistan's lawless, Taliban-controlled tribal areas. This network is tasked with hitting targets in the West, India, and elsewhere. The US has struck at these external cells using unmanned Predator aircraft and other means in an effort to disrupt al Qaeda's external network and decapitate the leadership. The US also has targeted al Qaeda-linked Taliban fighters operating in Afghanistan, particularly the notorious Haqqani Network.

As of the summer of 2008, al Qaeda and the Taliban operated 157 known training camps in the tribal areas and the Northwest Frontier Province. Al Qaeda has been training terrorists holding Western passports to conduct attacks, US intelligence officials have told The Long War Journal. Some of the camps are devoted to training the Taliban's military arm; some train suicide bombers for attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan; some focus on training the various Kashmiri terror groups; some train al Qaeda operatives for attacks in the West; some train the Lashkar al Zil, al Qaeda's Shadow Army; and one serves as a training ground for the Black Guard, the elite bodyguard unit for Osama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahiri, and other senior al Qaeda leaders.

Unmanned US Predator and Reaper strike aircraft have been pounding Taliban and al Qaeda hideouts in North Waziristan over the past several months in an effort to kill senior terror leaders and disrupt the networks that threaten Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the West. Since Dec. 8, 2009, the air campaign in Pakistan has killed four senior al Qaeda leaders, a senior Taliban commander, two senior al Qaeda operatives, and a wanted Palestinian terrorist who was allied with al Qaeda. The status of several others - a top Pakistani Taliban leader, a member of al Qaeda’s top council, and a wanted Philippine terrorist - is still unknown.

In December 2009, the US killed Abdullah Said al Libi, the top commander of the Shadow Army; Zuhaib al Zahib, a senior commander in the Shadow Army; and Saleh al Somali, the leader of al Qaeda's external network [see LWJ report, “Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 – 2010” for the full list of leaders and operatives thought to have been killed in US strikes].

Already this year, the US has killed Mansur al Shami, an al Qaeda ideologue and aide to al Qaeda’s leader in Afghanistan Mustafa Abu Yazid; Haji Omar Khan, a senior Taliban leader in North Waziristan; Mohammed Haqqani, a military commander in the Haqqani Network; Sheikh Mansoor, an al Qaeda Shadow Army commander; and Qari Mohammad Zafar, a leader of the al Qaeda and Taliban-linked Fedayeen-i-Islam. Jamal Saeed Abdul Rahim, the Abu Nidal Organization operative who participated in killing 22 hostages during the 1986 hijacking of Pan Am flight 73, is thought to have been killed in the Jan. 9 airstrike.

The status of Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, is still unknown; the Taliban released a videotape of him on March 1 but it did not confirm he was alive. On March 1, a rumor surfaced that Abdul Haq al Turkistani, the leader of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Party and a member of al Qaeda’s Shura Majlis, was killed in a strike on Feb. 15. And Abdul Basit Usman, an Abu Sayyaf operative with a $1 million US bounty for information leading to his capture, is rumored to have been killed in a strike on Jan. 14, although a Philippine military spokesman said Usman is likely still alive and in the Philippines.

US strikes in Pakistan in 2010:

• US airstrike in North Waziristan kills 5 Taliban fighters
March 8, 2010
• US hits Haqqani Network in North Waziristan, kills 8
Feb. 24, 2010
• US airstrikes target Haqqani Network in North Waziristan
Feb. 18, 2010
• Latest US airstrike kills 3 in North Waziristan
Feb. 17, 2010
• US strike kills 4 in North Waziristan
Feb. 15, 2010
• US strikes training camp in North Waziristan
Feb. 14, 2010
• Predators pound terrorist camp in North Waziristan
Feb. 2, 2010
• US airstrike targets Haqqani Network in North Waziristan
Jan. 29, 2010
• US airstrike in North Waziristan kills 6
Jan. 19, 2010
• Latest US airstrike in Pakistan kills 20
Jan. 17, 2010
• US strikes kill 11 in North Waziristan
Jan. 15, 2010
• US airstrike hits Taliban camp in North Waziristan
Jan. 14, 2010
• US airstrike kills 4 Taliban fighters in North Waziristan
Jan. 9, 2010
• US airstrike kills 5 in North Waziristan
Jan. 8, 2010
• US kills 17 in latest North Waziristan strike
Jan. 6, 2010
• US airstrike kills 2 Taliban fighters in Mir Ali in Pakistan
Jan. 3, 2010
• US kills 3 Taliban in second strike in North Waziristan
Jan. 1, 2010

Pakistani officials have begun to retract claims that a wanted American-born al Qaeda propagandist was captured yesterday during a raid in Karachi.

Reports that Adam Gadahn was in Pakistani custody were the result of a case of mistaken identity, Pakistani officials are now saying.

"Our initial impression was that the guy was Adam Gadahn but that information now looks incorrect," an unnamed Pakistani intelligence official told Reuters.

Gadahn's capture was first reported in the Pakistani press; he was not directly named, however. Geo News identified the captive al Qaeda leader as Commander Abu Yahya Azam, while Dawn identified him as Abu Yahya Mujahdeen al Adam and described him as a close confidant of Osama bin Laden.

"Probably the name and his origin caused the confusion," another official told Reuters.

Gahdan's nom de guerre is Abu Azzam al Amriki (the American), and he is also referred to as Abu Yahya. The captive al Qaeda leader, Abu Yahya Mujahdeen al Adam, is said to be from Pennsylvania and is believed to serve as a military commander who operates in eastern Afghanistan.

Doubts about Gadahn's arrest emerged late yesterday as US intelligence officials became increasingly skeptical of the reports [see Threat Matrix report, "Is Adam Gadahn in Pakistani custody? Depends who you ask"]. But Pakistani officials were telling several major wire services up until late Sunday night that Gadahn was in custody.

Gadahn is wanted by the US for treason and for providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization. He was officially charged with treason in a US federal court in October 2006.

Faqir Mohammed, the leader of the Taliban in Bajaur and the deputy leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. Image courtesy of AfPax Insider.

A top Taliban leader has refuted reports from Pakistan's Interior Minister that he was killed during airstrikes in the Mohmand tribal agency in the northwest.

Faqir Mohammed, the leader of the Taliban in the Bajaur tribal agency, contacted a reporter to deny reports of his death.

"I'm fine. It's just propaganda," Faqir said in a telephone conversation to a Reuters reporter who has spoken to him before and recognized his voice.

"I was in Bajaur, not Mohmand that day," Faqir said. "None of our commanders were killed in the attack. We lost some fighters and women."

Rehman Malik, Pakistan's Interior Minister, insisted that Faqir was killed in a helicopter strike in Mohmand on March 5 that killed that also killed Qari Zia Rahman, Mohammed Fateh, and more than 30 Taliban fighters.

Rahman is an al Qaeda leader who operates in Pakistan’s Bajaur tribal agency as well as in Afghanistan’s Nuristan and Kunar provinces. Fateh is a wanted Swat Taliban commander. The fates of Rahman and Fateh are not known, but Faqir did deny that any senior commanders were killed.

Malik did not have evidence of the deaths of Faqir or Rahman , and quickly backtracked on his definitive claims that they had been killed. Malik did insist that Fateh was killed, however, and that witnesses saw his body pulled from the rubble after an attack.

A week ago, the Pakistani military claimed that it defeated the Taliban in Bajaur after it took over a series of bunkers and command centers in the town of Damadola in the tribal agency.

A suicide bomber killed 11 people and wounded 37 more in an attack on a headquarters of a Pakistani law enforcement agency in Lahore.

The suicide bomber rammed his car packed with more than 1,300 pounds of explosives into a Federal Investigation Agency building in Model Town in Lahore, Dawn reported. According to the New York Times, the suicide bomber crashed “into the main gate of a safe house used for interrogation by the Pakistani military.” A building housing the Special Interrogation Unit is also nearby.

The blast is said to have leveled the Federal Investigation Agency building. The Federal Investigation Agency building is thought to have had more than 70 people working there at the time of the attack. The casualties may mount as people are believed to be trapped in the rubble.

The Taliban have targeted the Federal Investigation Agency in Lahore in 2008 and 2009. An attack in March 2008 killed 28 people and is thought to have targeted US intelligence officials working with the FIA, which is analogous to the US’ FBI. An FIA building was one of three police centers targeted in a suicide assault in Lahore in October 2009.

In recent years, the Taliban have conducted numerous attacks against heavily secured military, police, and intelligence compounds in Pakistan’s major cities. The most brazen was the assault on the Pakistani Army General Headquarters complex in the garrison city of Rawalpindi in October 2009. During the fall of 2009, the Taliban also hit secured facilities in Islamabad, Peshawar, and Multan. In January 2010, a suicide bomber even targeted the Pakistani Army in the Tararrkhal region in Pakistan-held Kashmir.

The targeting of the FIA and the Special Interrogation Unit makes for an interesting objective, as Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency is believed to have six top Afghan Taliban commanders in custody. In February, Pakistani security forces detained five top leaders of the Quetta Shura, including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the second in command of the Taliban and the director of the council; Maulvi Abdul Kabir, the leader of the Peshawar Regional Military Shura; Mullah Abdul Salam, the shadow governor of Kunduz; Mullah Mir Mohammed, the shadow governor of Baghlan province; Mohammed Younis, the former shadow governor of Zabul province; and Agha Jan Mohtasim, the former Finance Minister during the Taliban regime and the son-in-law of Mullah Mohammed Omar, during raids throughout the country.

Pakistani intelligence is said to be interrogating these six top Taliban leaders. US officials have complained that Pakistani intelligence has not provided access to the Taliban leaders for interrogations.

Adam Gadahn, al Qaeda's American spokesman, from "A Call to Arms," a videotape released in March 2010.

Reports from Pakistan indicate that the American-born al Qaeda spokesman who has been charged with treason in the US was captured today in Pakistan's port city of Karachi.

Adam Gadahn and an associate are reported to have been captured during a raid by Pakistani special forces on a home at the Super Highway in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city.

US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal said they believed Gadahn has been detained but would not confirm the report.

Gadahn's capture was first reported in the Pakistani press; he was not directly named, however. Geo News identified the captive al Qaeda leader as Commander Abu Yahya Azam while Dawn identified him as Abu Yahya Mujahdeen al Adam. Adam Gahdan's nom de guerre is Abu Azzam al Amriki.

"The Pakistani press often incorrectly reports the names of foreign fighters arrested in the country, especially Arabic noms de guerre," Arif Rafiq, the editor of The Pakistan Policy Blog, told The Long War Journal.

Gadahn was likely detained in the Sohrab Goth neighborhood in Karachi, Rafiq said. "Sohrab Goth is a major Pashtun area in northern Karachi," he said. "Many Mehsud tribesmen live there."

The reported capture of Gadahn comes the same day as As Sahab, al Qaeda's propaganda arm, released a video of him praising Major Nidal Hasan, the Muslim US Army officer who murdered 13 soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, on Nov. 5, 2009.

"Brother Nidal is the ideal role model for every repentant Muslim in the armies of the unbelievers and apostate regimes," Gadahn said, according to a partial translation provided by CTV.

"Nidal Hasan is a pioneer, a trailblazer and a role-model who has opened a door, lit a path and shown the way forward for every Muslim who finds himself among the unbelievers," Gadahn continued.

Gadahn also called for additional attacks in the US, mirroring the tactics used by Hassan, but said the attacks should not be limited to US military targets.

"You shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that military bases are the only high-value targets in America and the West," Gadahn said. "On the contrary, there are countless other strategic places, institutions and installations which, by striking, the Muslim can do major damage."

The current reports of Gadahn's capture come as six top leaders of the Afghan Taliban's Quetta Shura, or executive leadership council, have been detained in Pakistan. The Pakistani military and government have previously denied that the Quetta Shura existed and said no senior Afghan Taliban leaders were present in Pakistan.

Gadahn, who is better known as Azzam the American or Azzam al Amriki, was born Adam Pearlman and converted to Islam in 1997. It is believed that he joined al Qaeda in 2003 and was recruited by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks on America. In October 2004, Gadahn appeared in his first al Qaeda video, and he has been featured in several videos since. In a video released in 2008 and titled "An Invitation to Reflection and Repentance," Gadahn tore up his US passport and called for Americans to join al Qaeda.

In October 2006, he was indicted in a US federal court under charges of treason and providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization for making al Qaeda propaganda videos. "By aligning himself with al Qaeda, by moving overseas to be closer to al Qaeda’s base and leadership, and by joining in advocating al Qaeda’s terrorist agenda, an agenda that includes the overthrow of the United States government and the murder of American citizens, Adam Gadahn has committed treason against the United States of America," said US Attorney Debra Wong Yang. He is the first American to be indicted for treason since 1952.

Gahdan was rumored to have been killed in a US airstrike in North Waziristan in January 2008, but he later resurfaced and released several videotapes.

More than 25 Taliban and Hezb-i-Islam Gulbuddin fighters have been killed during ongoing clashes today in the northern province of Baghlan.

Fighters from the two groups squared off in the district of Baghlan-e-Markazi after the two groups disagreed over control of the region.

"The clash between the Taliban and Hezb-e Islami fighters is on-going in Qaisar Khail, a village 9km north of the district centre," a police spokesman told Quqnoos. Afghan police have steered clear of the fighting and instead set up a cordon around the area.

The two groups, which are normally allies, came to blows due to a "rivalry on extending power and collecting taxes from agricultural products in the area," Xinhua reported.

Today's fighting between the Taliban and the Hezb-i-Islam Gulbuddin is the first reported instance between the two groups. The Taliban, Hezb-i-Islam Gulbuddin, and fighters from allied central Asian terror groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Islamic Jihad Union, and the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Party often operate jointly against Afghan and Coalition forces in the region.

The allied terror groups maintain safe havens in Baghlan and in neighboring Kunduz province. Of the seven districts in Kunduz province, only two are considered under government control; the rest of the districts - Chahara Dara, Dashti Archi, Ali Abab, Khan Abad, and Iman Sahib - are considered contested or under Taliban control, according to a map produced by Afghanistan's Interior Ministry in the spring of 2009. Two districts in neighboring Baghlan province - Baghlan-i-Jadid and Burka - are under the control of the Taliban [see LWJ report, "Afghan forces and Taliban clash in Kunduz," and Threat Matrix report, "Afghanistan’s wild-wild North"].

In early February, the Taliban suffered a blow to their leadership in the two northern provinces when Pakistani security forces detained Mullah Mir Mohammed and Mullah Abdul Salam, the shadow governors for Baghlan and Kunduz, during a raid in Faisalabad. The two shadow governors are members of the Taliban's Quetta Shura, its top leadership council.