Pakistan may restrict media coverage

November 7, 2009 2:21 AM ET
By Bill Roggio


The Pakistani government is considering passing laws that would restrict media coverage of sensitive issues. The move risks rolling back improvements in media coverage and freedoms that gained ground under the administration of President Pervez Musharraf.


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'Leaving your enemy intact is not a smart idea in any war'

November 5, 2009 2:12 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


Bing West provides footage from combat engagements with the Taliban in Helmand province. "Video shows why coalition and Afghan battalions inflict few Taliban casualties. Causes include terrain, Taliban maneuver, heavy coalition armor and risk aversion to minimize casualties, while doing a professional job and returning in one piece," West writes. The inability to fix and kill the Taliban allows them to continue to threaten the Afghan people and Coalition forces.


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Indian Deobandi Muslims denounce violence

November 3, 2009 6:44 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


Influential Muslim scholars from the Deobandi school in India have passed a resolution condemning all forms of violence in the name of Islam. Also, an analyst defends the Pakistani government's claims that India backs the Taliban.


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Karzai named President of Afghansitan

November 2, 2009 7:53 AM ET
By Bill Roggio


Hamid Karzai has been declared president of Afghanistan after Abdullah Abdullah dropped out of the runoff election that was scheduled for Nov. 7.


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Touring an al Qaeda camp in South Waziristan

October 30, 2009 12:47 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


Journalists take a tour of an al Qaeda camp in Sherwangi, where the passport of a known al Qaeda plotter was found.


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FBI kills radical Muslim cleric in Detroit

October 29, 2009 5:53 AM ET
By Bill Roggio


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The FBI killed Luqman Ameen Abdullah, a radical Muslim preacher and the leader of the Detroit area's Masjid Al-Haqq mosque, during an attempted arrest. Federal agents rounded up members of the radical Islamist group “Ummah,” which advocates the establishment of an Islamic state in the US.


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Pakistan's offensive in Kotkai

October 27, 2009 5:42 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


Al Jazeera provides footage from Kotkai, where the Pakistani Army recently took control after a week-long battle that saw the town change hands.


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Islamists protest over alleged Koran burning

October 26, 2009 10:36 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


Hundreds of Afghans protested in Kabul over the alleged burning of a Koran by US soldiers based in Wardak province. The US military denied the incident occurred. Clashes with police later left 10 policemen injured.


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Suicide bombers strike in Baghdad

October 25, 2009 8:10 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


Suicide bombers driving trucks packed with explosives detonated outside the Ministry of Justice and the Baghdad provincial administration, killing 132 Iraqis and wounding more than 500.


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Pakistani Army retakes Kotkai

October 25, 2009 1:14 AM ET
By Bill Roggio


The Pakistani Army has retaken control of the town Kotkai in South Waziristan four days after losing it in a Taliban attack. The town is the home of Hakeemullah Mehsud and Qari Hussain Mehsud.
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A look at the Taliban offensive in Pakistan

October 22, 2009 10:34 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


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France 24 provides an overview of the Taliban threat in Pakistan. Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa, a Pakistani security specialist, provides an excellent commentary on the jihadi catch and release program, and notes that Dr. Usman, the commander of the recent attack on the Army GHQ in Rawalpindi, had previously been in custody but was later released.


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Footage from South Waziristan

October 20, 2009 7:16 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


Al Jazeera provides footage from Sararogha and Jandola in the battle zone in South Waziristan. Civilians have been hit hard by the fighting in Sararogha. Pakistani troops are embarking into the fight on lightly up-armored open bed pickup trucks.


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Afghanistan's election impasse

October 20, 2009 5:13 AM ET
By Bill Roggio


The UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission and the Afghan-led Independent Election Commission are at odds over the results of the elections. President Karzai said the ruling of the Independent Election Commission, which is said to favor his administration, will be obeyed. The standoff may need to be resolved by Afghanistan's Supreme Court.


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Jundallah suicide bomber kills Iranian Revolutionary Guards commanders

October 19, 2009 4:42 AM ET
By Bill Roggio


Jundallah attacked a meeting between Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps leaders and tribal leaders in Sistan-Baluchistan province, and an IRGC convoy, killing 28 officers and civilians. Brigadier General Nour Ali Shoushtari, the deputy commander for the IRGC's ground forces, and Brigadier Rajab Ali Mohammadzadeh, the IRGC's provincial commander for Sistan-Baluchistan, were killed in the attack. In a press release on its website, Jundallah claimed the commanders of Iranshahr Corps, Sarbaz Corps, and the Amir al Mo'menin Brigade were also killed in the attack.


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Pakistan launches South Waziristan offensive

October 18, 2009 3:43 AM ET
By Bill Roggio


The Pakistani military has launched the much-awaited offensive in South Waziristan. The operation has caused more than 100,000 Mehsud clansmen to flee the area.


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Terrorists assault 3 police facilities in Lahore

October 15, 2009 11:39 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


Pakistani Taliban assault teams attacked the Federal Investigation Agency building, the Manawan police training center, and the Elite Force Headquarters. Twenty-six are killed during the fighting.


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Interviews with COP Keating soldiers

October 14, 2009 4:28 AM ET
By Bill Roggio


Several US officers involved with the battle at Combat Outpost Keating in Kamdish, Nuristan province, Afghanistan, discuss the incident during an interview with the media. Part 1 of 5.


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Joint forces kill Herat Taliban commander who sheltered al Qaeda

October 12, 2009 5:36 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


Coalition forces and the Afghan army teamed up to kill Ghulam Yahya Akbari, a Taliban commander, in the western province of Herat. Akbari has been behind the rising violence in Herat and is known to have sheltered al Qaeda fighters, according to Al Jazeera. See LWJ report, Senior insurgent leader reported killed in Western Afghanistan, for more information on Akbari.


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Pakistani commandos assault Army headquarters, free hostages

October 11, 2009 7:05 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


Pakistani commandos from the Special Services Group assaulted a building inside the Army General Headquarters building and freed 25 hostages. Four terrorists and three hostages were killed during the assault.


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Taliban assault Army GHQ

October 10, 2009 3:35 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


Six Pakistani soldiers, including a brigadier general and a lieutenant colonel, and four terrorists were killed after a Taliban assault team attacked the main gate of the Army General Headquarters in the military garrison city in Rawalpindi.


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Father of al Qaeda suspect indicted for lying to FBI

October 10, 2009 4:34 AM ET
By Bill Roggio


The US Attorney's office in Denver announced that a grand jury returned the indictment against Mohammed Zazi, the father of suspected al Qaeda operative Najibullah Zazi, for allegedly making a false statement in a matter involving terrorism. Najibullah attended an al Qaeda camp in Pakistan and was attempting to conduct an attack in the US.


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Al Qaeda in Afghanistan: stronger or weaker eight years later?

October 7, 2009 10:42 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


Al Qaeda is behind the Taliban's growing strength and is an integral part of operations in the region, according to this report by Al Jazeera.


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Hakeemullah and Waliur Rehman's press conference

October 6, 2009 4:59 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


Video of Hakeemullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman Mehsud's press conference in Sararogha on Oct. 4, 2009.


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Pakistanis say no Taliban in Quetta

October 4, 2009 3:16 AM ET
By Bill Roggio


Pakistanis deny that Mullah Omar, the Quetta Shura, and the Taliban are based in Pakistan's Baluchistan province and its capital, Quetta.


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Pakistani soldiers beat Swat suspects

October 2, 2009 7:06 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


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Pakistani soldiers from the Punjab Regiment beat several Pashtun men during questioning in Swat. The video appears to have been taken on a cell phone by a Pakistani soldier. A Pakistani officer questions the men, then steps back as several soldiers advance to beat the men with whips, their fists, and feet. Several of the men are slammed to the ground. The beatings take place in what appears to be a courtyard or on a street. The beatings are administered as many young men watch.


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Yazid eulogizes Baitullah Mehsud

October 1, 2009 7:02 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


Al Qaeda's leader in Afghanistan, Mustafa Abu Yazid, eulogizes former Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed in a US airstrike on Aug. 5, 2009.


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Video of Baitullah Mehsud

October 1, 2009 12:36 AM ET
By Bill Roggio


A video of slain Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in his burial shroud, from BBC Urdu. Baitullah was the emir of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan before he was killed in a US airstrike in early August 2009.


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US Navy personnel killed in IED attack in the Philippines

September 30, 2009 2:44 AM ET
By Bill Roggio


Two US Navy SEABEES and one Filipino marine were killed in a landmine attack on Jolo Island in the southern Philippines. Abu Sayyaf is thought to be behind the attack.


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Oktoberfest security increases after al Qaeda arrests

September 29, 2009 4:07 AM ET
By Bill Roggio


Security is increased at the Munich Oktoberfest beer festival as Germany arrests two Islamist suspects in connection with recent al Qaeda videos.


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US troops capture senior Taliban logistics and financial chief

September 27, 2009 6:22 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


US soldiers captured Saif Rahman Saif Sadr, an Afghan Taliban commander and logistical and financial chief, and five associates, as he attempted to take refuge in a safe house in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan.


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The 'German Taliban Mujahideen' in Pakistan

September 26, 2009 7:47 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


This video, released by a group calling itself the "German Taliban Mujahideen," shows foreign fighters in weapons training and training in the snow. The video shows Abu Ibrahim Amriki, an American terrorist operating in Pakistan, and a spokesman named Ayyub Almani. The video appears to be produced by the Islamic Jihad Union, an offshoot of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

The video is related to this story in the Telegraph, which described a German "village" in Pakistan's tribal areas.


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Osama bin Laden offers Europe an out

September 25, 2009 6:23 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


Osama bin Laden issued another audiotape, this time a short clip (4:48) titled "A Message from Sheikh Osama bin Laden to the People of Europe." The tape is captioned in English and German (the English version is displayed). In the tape, bin Laden urges European nations to withdraw their forces from Afghanistan and end their support of the US. Bin Laden says the US will withdraw from Afghanistan and leave Europe to the predations of al Qaeda:

Would that you reflect on the matter and ask wise and reasonable people, because it won’t be long until the dust of war clears in Afghanistan, at which point you won’t find a trace of any American, because they will have gone away far beyond the Atlantic, Allah permitting, and just us and you will remain, for the oppressed to retaliate from his oppressor.

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General Petraeus: Al Qaeda is "diminished"

September 24, 2009 5:50 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


CENTCOM Commander General David Petraeus said al Qaeda is "diminished" from where it was several years ago, particularly in Iraq.


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Hafiz Saeed was the guest of a Pakistani Army Corps commander

September 23, 2009 9:26 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


Hafiz Saeed, the head of the al Qaeda-linked Lashkar-e-Taiba / Jamaat-ud-Dawa, was the guest of the Pakistani Army's X Corps commander just five days before police charged him with preaching jihad and raising money for terrorist activities.


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Shabaab training camps and military movements

September 22, 2009 3:32 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


A segment of Shabaab's latest video that is dedicated to Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar. The tape appears to be Shabaab's signal that it has joined al Qaeda.

This clip shows Shabaab fighters at the Abu Suleim training camp. The fighters are practicing marksmanship, assaults in urban environments, and dismounted operations from the "technicals" - the modified gun trucks. Abu Mansour al Amriki, an American citizen in charge of military training for Shabaab, is seen during the urban training.

A company of Shabaab forces in heavy and light technicals is also shown, followed by what appears to be real fighting between Shabaab and either Somali or African Union forces in what appears to be Mogadishu.


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Preaching jihad in New York City

September 21, 2009 2:05 PM ET
By Bill Roggio


From Jarret Brachman:

Here is a video from 4 September 09 of Yousef ‘preaching’ a ‘Ramadan’ message in NYC. This is radicalization in its rawest form. You’ll see people sitting down on the stairs across listening, then one will get up and grab a CD that has recorded lectures from Abdullah Faisal (RM.com’s spiritual advisor – and a firebreathing cleric in the UK who was a main inspiration of Jermaine Lindsay, one of the 7/7 bombers).

Yousef is Yousef al-Khattab, the founder of RevolutionMuslim.com.


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Iranian protesters tear down a Hezbollah banner

September 20, 2009 12:00 AM ET
By Bill Roggio


Iranians tore down a Hezbollah banner during protests on Friday.


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The Pakistani Taliban

September 19, 2009 1:42 AM ET
By Bill Roggio


Sky News reports on the Pakistani Taliban and provides footage of Hakeemullah Mehsud and other Taliban leaders.


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Indonesian police confirm Top is dead

September 18, 2009 2:05 AM ET
By Bill Roggio


Police have confirmed that the elusive Noordin Mohammed Top has been killed along with three other terrorists during an assault on a safe house in Indonesia.


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FBI raid against al Qaeda cell lead to Denver

September 17, 2009 5:55 AM ET
By Bill Roggio


Federal agents searched the home of a man identified by law enforcement as having a possible link to al Qaeda. Najibullah Zazi denies that he's a central figure in a terrorism investigation that led to several police raids in N.Y


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