Pakistani officials: N.Va. men had contacted radical groups

Afghan national border police transforming to modern force

Four al Qaeda operatives and two Taliban fighters were killed in a US airstrike in South Waziristan. Five Taliban fighters and one soldier were killed in fighting in South Waziristan. Security forces detained 11 Taliban fighters in Kurram.

US intelligence officials said today’s Predator strike in Pakistan killed “a top al Qaeda official.” The leader was not named, and Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri were not killed in the attack. Four al Qaeda operatives were among the six terrorists killed in today’s strike.

Hizbul Islam and Shabaab claimed to have killed four soldiers during fighting with government forces in northern Mogadishu. Three people were wounded in an IED attack that targeted foreign workers in Galkayo.

US Air Force confirms ‘Beast of Kandahar’ drone

Iraqi PM condemns sectarianism

Iran™s investigations into abuses are a sham, says Amnesty International

The is plenty of interesting information available on the five Americans detained in Pakistan who were trying to link up with al Qaeda and allied terror groups within Pakistan. The radicalization process and recruitment via the Internet by “Saifullah,” a known jihadist, will certainly raise some eyebrows. Ultimately, it seems all roads to jihad pass through Pakistan, and more specifically, Waziristan. As The New York Times reported, the five were planning to head to Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan: The men appeared to have come to the attention of “Saifullah” – an Islamic militant with links to Al…

Mumbai police ignored security alerts, says report

Battle against piracy can only be won in Somalia itself, not at sea

US spy drones are latest weapon in fight against Somali piracy

Royal Navy Sea King crew battle with Taliban

The Islamic State of Iraq, al Qaeda’s front group, took credit for the Dec. 8 suicide attacks in Baghdad that resulted in 127 Iraqis killed and more than 500 wounded. “Bastions of evil and dens of apostates” were the targets of the attacks, the terror group said in a statement released on he Internet.

The Taliban accused South Korea of breaking a secret agreement and threatened the country after leaders said 350 troops would be deployed as part of the “surge.” South Korea’s leaders “should be prepared for the consequence of their action, which they will certainly face,” a Taliban statement read. “They had promised to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan and committed never to send soldiers to the country in future.”

Fifty Taliban fighters surrendered to the government in Baghlan. The Taliban killed a former mujahedeen commander and former mayor of Kunduz City. The US is investigating claims of civilian deaths in Laghman province; the governor said four Taliban fighters and 11 civilians were killed in the Dec. 7 operation.

Mumbai terrorist suspect led double life in US

Today’s strike is the first in South Waziristan since late September. The strike took place in an area where Baitullah Mehsud and Khalid Habib were killed in prior attacks.

Embattled Iraq insurgency shifts tactics, eyes poll

Al Andalus, the media arm of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, has demanded from the Spanish government “the freedom of our tortured detainees from your prisons” in exchange for the three Spanish hostages. Three Spaniards and one French national are being held in northern Mali at AQIM™s “security bases” and are reportedly in “good health.” Mauritania has vowed to improve its security situation after the abductions.

Amnesty International released a study on Iranian human rights abuses. Parliament Speaker Larijani claimed the US abducted a missing nuclear scientist in Saudi Arabia. The Russian firm Rosatom announced that the Bushehr nuclear power plant will be finished by next year.

CNN reports on a story that has broken over the past couple of days: Five people arrested in Pakistan had been reported missing in the United States, and police are confident they were planning terrorist acts, a Pakistani police official told CNN. It is too soon to link the men with any terrorist organizations, said Tahir Gujjrar, deputy superintendent of police in Sargodha, Pakistan, but preliminary investigations suggest they had sought to link up with the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Jamaat ud Dawa militant organizations. Neither group showed interest, however, Gujjrar said. The five were from Virginia and their families had contacted…

Kenyan courts on legal front line in battle to stop Somali pirates

The military claimed 589 Taliban fighters and 79 Pakistani soldiers were killed during the South Waziristan operation. Three Taliban fighters were killed in Bajaur. The Taliban bombed two schools in Khyber.

Five American Muslims were detained in Pakistan and are under investigation in the US for links to terrorist groups. The men left a video that indicated they sought to wage jihad, which prompted their families to contact authorities. The men sought to join Jaish-e-Mohammed and Jamaat ud Dawa.

Bombings prompt calls for Iraqi government purge

The Shabaab suicide bomber that struck at a graduation for medical students was a Danish citizen. Ten Somalis were killed in shelling in Mogadishu. Hizbul Islam killed two students during a demonstration in Elasha Biyaha. Pirates hijacked a Pakistani-flagged ship.

Somalia suicide bomber from Denmark

Image of a Shabaab fighter from the terror group’s website. Shabaab, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Somalia, continues to use outsiders to conduct suicide attacks. The Dec. 3 suicide attack during the graduation ceremony for medical students was carried out by a Dane. The attack killed three Somali ministers as well as a doctor and a number of medical students. From The Kopenhagen Post: Close friends have confirmed Somali police’s identification of the 24-year-old man from pictures taken after the blast, which devastated a hotel ceremony for newly educated doctors. The suspect lived 20 years in Denmark, growing up in the…

Pakistan arrests 5 men reported missing in United States
