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United States
Plan to move Guantanamo detainees faces new delay
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Iran
Police and Basij militiamen assaulted protestors in Isfahan. Basij fighters also surrounded the office and home of two influential clerics and vandalized the property. The US will likely push for sanctions on Iran in January. Osama bin Laden’s daughter is hiding in the Saudi embassy in Tehran.
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Eritrea
The United Nations Security Council sanctioned Eritrea for providing aid and support to Shabaab and other Islamist groups in Somalia. The resolution called for Eritrea to “cease arming, training, and equipping armed groups and their members including al Shabaab, that aim to destabilize the region.”
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Pakistan
Fear and loathing In Pakistan
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If we had just left the Islamic Courts alone…
The photo above, taken by a Reuters stringer, serves as a gruesome reminder of the nature of radical Islamist groups and the failure to oppose them. Here is the Reuters caption: Militants from Hizbul Islam haul the bloodied body of Mohamed Ibrahim, 48, from a chest-deep pit after stoning him to death for illicit sexual intercourse with a woman in the Afgoye district, Somalia on December 13, 2009. Ibrahim was sentenced to death by a local Islamic court after he was found guilty of infidelity. Keep this photo in mind when Martin Fletcher, Matthew Yglesias, the Los Angeles Times, and…
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Afghanistan
Four policemen were killed and 10 Taliban fighters were killed and wounded in a clash in Baghlan. A senator and his driver were killed in a shootout between his bodyguard and police after the operation. The Taliban killed five civilians in bombings in Helmand and Kandahar. Afghan and Coalition forces killed and detained an undisclosed number of Taliban fighters in Paktia, Zabul, Wardak, and Nangarhar provinces.
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Gitmo detainee implicated in Red Cross murder transferred to Afghanistan
The US has released Abdul Hafiz, who was implicated in the kidnapping and murder of Ricardo Munguía in 2003. Hafiz reportedly “practiced and preached a very extreme interpretation of Islam on the blocks” at Gitmo.
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Pakistan
Watching Pakistan teeter
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Iraq
Iraq chases many for corruption, catches few
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Pakistan
Pakistan orders security for media after attack
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India
Expat confusion as India stiffens visa rules
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Iran
Iranian police threaten fierce crackdown on protesters
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Waliur Rehman Mehsud: South Waziristan Taliban are in Afghanistan
Hakeemullah Mehsud (left), the new leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, is photographed with Waliur Rehman, the new leader of the Taliban in South Waziristan (right), during their meeting with the media in Sararogha in South Waziristan. AP photo.APP Photo. Waliur Rehman Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in South Waziristan and Hakeemullah Mehsud’s deputy, claimed that he has shifted thousands of his fighters to Afghanistan. A US military spokesman denied the report. From The Associated Press: ‘Since (President Barack) Obama is also sending additional forces to Afghanistan, we sent thousands of our men…
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Al Qaeda
Tora Bora Hindsight?
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Pakistani officials: Take action to stop US airstrikes
A Pakistani parliamentary committee urged the government to go beyond mere diplomatic protests and take action to halt the US airstrikes against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Pakistan’s northwest, according to Daily Times: Parliament’s Special Committee on National Security on Tuesday urged the government to go beyond verbal protests and play its role in stopping US drone attacks on Pakistani soil. The in-camera committee meeting, which was chaired by Senator Raza Rabbani, was briefed by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the new US policy on Afghanistan. Sources privy to the meeting told Daily Times that there was a…
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Algeria
The Algerian military is sending 3,000 additional troops to its borders with Mali, Niger, and Mauritania in an effort to thwart Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb™s movement across the border. The lockdown will restrict border crossings into Algeria to just eight, and will be supplemented with additional military patrols, new surveillance spots, and permission protocols. Authorities note that “anyone who violates the order might be shot.”
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NATO
NATO chief promises to stand by Afghanistan
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Iraq
Abbreviating Christmas in Iraq
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Somalia
Wretched, jobless, invisible: are Britain™s Somalis the enemy within?
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Al Qaeda
Osama bin Laden™s missing family found in secret compound in Iran
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Pakistan
A suicide bomber killed three people, including a journalist, in an attack at the Peshawar Press Club. Security forces killed 18 Taliban fighters in Arakzai and four more in South Waziristan, and detained eight in Swat. The foreign minister said US airstrikes in Baluchistan would not be permitted.
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Al Qaeda
Osama bin Laden came within minutes of killing Bill Clinton in 1996
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China
Hong Kong firm leased plane carrying weapons
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Somalia
At least four people were killed in heavy clashes between government forces and rebel fighters in Mogadishu. Gunmen killed the head of security of the World Food Program(WFP) in Beledweyne. State Minister for Defense Sheikh Yusuf Mohammad Siad “Indha’adde” denounced Shabelle Radio and Television and said that it works with Shabaab.
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Pakistan
Pakistan – The path to redemption
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The best defense against cyber insurgents is a good offense
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Pakistan
Pakistan bombings by Taliban hit lower classes hardest
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Iraq
An al Qaeda suicide bomber killed the municipal council chief of Tal Afar. Insurgents killed a civilian, a policeman, and a soldier in attacks in Babil, Mosul and Kirkuk. The head of the Fallujah Municipal Council was wounded in an attack. Iraqi security forces detained 27 al Qaeda fighters in Bayji, Mosul, Karbala, and northern Iraq; 22 wanted men in Basrah; four Hezbollah Brigade fighters in Baghdad; and two Naqshabandiya fighters in Diyala.
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Less than an Afghan Army
This video, from the Guardian, comes courtesy of our friend Noah Shachtman at Danger Room. The video shows the challenge in relying on the Afghan Army to stand up quickly against the Taliban as US forces stand down. Noah’s comment must be restated: “Obviously, there are plenty of units that are more professional. But this isn’t the first time red-eyed Afghan troops have been caught on tape.” Of course this is all anecdotal, but still pertinent. During my time with US Military and Police Training Teams in Iraq, I never saw such behavior. Occasionally I saw troops that were green…
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Afghanistan
A short-term approach to Afghanistan
