Monthly Archives: December 2009

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 […]



Iraq

Judge tosses Blackwater case in Baghdad shooting




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.


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.


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.


Iran

Iranians planned kidnapping and held British captives taken In Iraq


Iran

As part of Iraqi reconciliation, US forces release head of Shiite extremist group


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 […]


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 […]


Iran

Regime wages a quiet war on ‘star students’ of Iran


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 […]








Iran

Revealed: hand of Iran behind Britons’ Baghdad kidnapping


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.


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.





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 […]



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 […]


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 […]