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Pakistan
The US killed four people in an airstrike in North Waziristan. The Pakistani military killed four al Qaeda operatives and four Taliban fighters in South Waziristan, and four more Taliban fighters in Arakzai. The Taliban kidnapped a tribal elder in Arakzai and blew up two schools in Bajaur. Hakeemulah Mehsud’s spokesman denied the Taliban carried out the Dec. 28 suicide attack in Karachi.
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US kills 4 in North Waziristan airstrike
The attack in the Mir Ali region is the 52nd recorded cross-border strike by the US in 2009.
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Iraq
Judge tosses Blackwater case in Baghdad shooting
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Afghanistan
AP sources: Suicide bomber invited on base
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Pakistan
Waziristan: The last frontier
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Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb released photographs of Sergio Cicala and his wife Philomene Kabouree, the two Italians kidnapped in Mauritania. The photographs and a statement were released by the terror group on jihadist websites.
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Indonesia
The US Embassy in Jakarta issued a warning about the threat of a possible terror attack in the resort town of Bali. “Extremists may target both official and private interests, including hotels, clubs and shopping centres,” the warning stated.
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Iraq
The US military freed Asaib al Haq leader Qais Qazali. Security forces detained 23 wanted men in Basrah and two Special Groups operatives east of Diwaniyah. A member of Anbar’s provincial council was killed in yesterday’s suicide attack in Ramadi; the governor lost his left hand in the attack.
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Iran
Iranians planned kidnapping and held British captives taken In Iraq
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Iran
As part of Iraqi reconciliation, US forces release head of Shiite extremist group
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Taliban year-end statement: Statistical lies and word of a re-org
The Taliban have issued a ‘year that’s been’ statement for 2009 (Arabic version here, official English version here, PDF of Arabic and English versions here and here). More of the usual ‘we’re winning, the US is losing, so they may as well leave’ messaging, with a few interesting points: Holy re-org, Batman! Moreover, since the spring of 2009, there have been changes in the framework of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. As per instructions of the Leadership Council of the Islamic Emirate, there have been, provincially, new civil and military changes and new recruitments (sic.) that may ensure the success…
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Did the release of Qais Qazali violate an executive order?
Did the Obama administration, by releasing Qais and Laith Qazali and more than 100 members of the Iranian-backed Asaib al Haq, violate an executive order put in place by President Ronald Reagan to prevent negotiations with hostage takers? Senators Jeff Sessions and Jon Kyl asked that very question to the Obama administration in a letter sent to the president in July. The full text of the letter is below, or you can read the signed letter here in PDF form. According to a congressional staffer contacted by The Long War Journal, the Obama administration has yet to answer the letter.
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Iran
Regime wages a quiet war on ‘star students’ of Iran
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Afghanistan
On Dec. 30, the Taliban killed seven CIA operatives and another American in suicide attack in Khost, and four Canadian soldiers and a journalist in an IED attack in Kandahar. The Taliban beheaded six former members in Uruzgan and wounded a police chief in an IED attack in Khost. Afghan forces detained an Azerbaijani al Qaeda operative in Khost and three Taliban fighters in Ghazni.
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Pakistan kills Arab, Bangladeshi al Qaeda operatives in South Waziristan
Four al Qaeda fighters were killed during a raid in a hospital in Wana, a region under the control of ‘good’ Taliban leader Mullah Nazir.
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Al Qaeda
Dubai – Students caught in terrorism net
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Pakistan
UN to move some staff out of Pakistan for safety
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Afghanistan
Afghan suicide bomber killed C.I.A. operatives
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Al Qaeda
Upper crust is often drawn to terrorism
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US releases ‘dangerous’ Iranian proxy behind the murder of US troops
Qais Qazali, the leader of the League of the Righteous, an Iranian-backed terror group that operates in Iraq, was set free in exchange for a British hostage.
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Iran
Revealed: hand of Iran behind Britons’ Baghdad kidnapping
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Pakistan
The Taliban took credit for the Dec. 28 suicide attack in Karachi. Security forces detained the leader of the Punjab Taliban and a suicide bomber in Manawan and 19 Taliban fighters in Swat. The Taliban killed a tribal leader in Bajuar and two drivers returning from transporting NATO supplies in Baluchistan.
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Yemen
Yemeni security forces claimed to have captured an al Qaeda operative during a raid in the western province of Hudaydah. The US government is actively investigating Anwar al Awlaki’s ties to the Christmas Day airliner bombing plot. Awlaki is a US citizen.
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United States
Despite intelligence overhaul, shadow of 9/11 is cast again
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United States
Spy agencies failed to collate clues on terror
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Afghanistan
NATO: 5 Canadians killed in blast in Afghanistan
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Khost suicide bomber hit CIA base
According to The Washington Post, the suicide attack at Combat Outpost Chapman hit a base used by the CIA to target Taliban and al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan and Afghanistan: The attack represented an audacious blow to intelligence operatives at the vanguard of U.S. counterterrorism operations in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, killing officials whose job involves plotting strikes against the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other extremist groups that are active on the frontier between the two nations. The facility that was targeted — Forward Operating Base Chapman — is in the eastern Afghan province of Khost, which borders North Waziristan, the…
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Pakistani Taliban take credit for Karachi suicide attack
The Dec. 28 Karachi suicide attack killed 43 people. Taliban commander Asmatullah Bhittani said such attacks would continue.
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US released Qais Qazali?
Qais and Laith Qazali. British hostage Peter Moore, who was kidnapped more than two years ago by the Asaib al Haq [League of the Reighteous], the dangerous Iranian-backed offshoot from the Mahdi Army, was released in Baghdad. According to the BBC, the US has in turn released Qais Qazali, the dangerous commander of the Asaib al Haq: BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said it appeared “some kind of deal” had been done, though not necessarily involving the British government. “The main person the abductors wanted back, I’m told, is out of US custody… and handed over to the Iraqis,” he…
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Iraq
Two suicide bombers killed 23 Iraqis, including a deputy police chief and 12 policemen, in an attack in Ramadi; the governor of Anbar was wounded in the attack. Six Iraqis were killed in an IED attack north of Baqubah. Insurgents killed a policeman in Mosul. The Asaib al Haq released a British hostage; Qaiz Qazali was reportedly released by US forces. Iraqi troops detained four al Qaeda operatives in Baghdad and Bayji.
