The US Treasury designated Muthanna Harith al Dari as a terrorist for his support of al Qaeda in Iraq. Al Dari “provides financial, material, or technological support and financial or other services to or in support of AQI including operational guidance for attacks against Iraqi Forces and Coalition Forces in Iraq.”
The Pakistani military claimed 82 Taliban fighters have been killed in air and artillery strikes in Arakzai over the past two days. A seminary run by the Tablighi Jamaat was hit in one of the strikes. Security forces detained a former Afghan Taliban governor of Uruzgan province and an Egyptian al Qaeda member in Karachi.
Pakistani fighter-bombers struck at hideouts in the Taliban-controlled trial agency. One of the targets was a seminary run by the Tablighi Jamaat.
Osama bin Laden threatened to murder Americans if Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is convicted in a US court and executed. “The day America will take such decision it would have taken a decision to execute whoever we capture,” bin Laden said in an audiotape broadcast by Al Jazeera.
Pakistan says it is ‘satisfied’ with US pledges on aid delivery
The top UN representative met with members of HIG. Six Taliban fighters were killed in an airstrike in Paktika. Coalition and Afghan forces detained a Taliban commander, two sub-commanders, a facilitator, and an undisclosed number of fighters in Kandahar, Helmand, and Khost.
Pakistan faces tough task rejuvenating battered Swat
UN envoy meets Afghan insurgents in Kabul
US – General works to salvage Iraq legacy
Security forces killed Anzor Astemirov, the leader of the Islamist Yarmuk-Jamaat and mastermind of the 2005 attack on Kabardino-Balkaria’s capital. Astermirov claimed to be the strategist who proposed a unified Islamic insurgency across all of the north Caucasus that abolished recognition of republic borders.
Russian foreign minister said his country may support additional sanctions against Iran. The Russian oil company Lukoil will stop work in Iran due to US sanctions. Iran urged Western governments to punish Israel over the construction of additional settlements in Jerusalem.
Italy – Diplomat summoned over attacks on Christians in Pakistan
Meeting of Shiite rivals in Iraq may signal shift
Insurgents killed five soldiers, a policeman, and four civilians in Baghdad, Mosul, Ramadi, and Diyala. Security forces detained 12 wanted men in Basrah, two Mahdi Army fighters in Baghdad, two Special Groups fighters in Al Kut, and an al Qaeda fighter in Taji.
Afghanistan troop level to eclipse Iraq by midyear
Resistance against N. Korean regime taking root, survey suggests
Gen Stanley McChrystal pays tribute to courage of British special forces
Saudi Arabia announced arrests of 113 alleged al Qaeda-affiliated terrorists whom it claims were planning attacks against oil facilities. Over the past six years, al Qaeda and other jihadi groups have come to see attacks against oil targets as one of the keys to their economic strategy.
The Taliban killed two ISAF soldiers in IED attacks in southern Afghanistan. A civilian helicopter transporting ISAF troops made an emergency landing in Kunduz after taking small-arms fire from the Taliban. Coalition and Afghan forces killed a Taliban fighter and detained a sub-commander and an undisclosed number of fighters in Kandahar and Helmand.
Burying the Powell doctrine in Afghanistan
Security forces arrested 113 members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula who were plotting to attack oil facilities and security installations in the country. The detainees consisted of Saudis Yemenis, Bangladeshis, Eritreans, Somalis, and Yemenis. The group was organized into three cells.
The government freed 214 Islamists, including three leaders and 34 members of the al Qaeda-linked Libyan Islamic Fighting Group. The release is part of a reconciliation program, run by the son of Muammar Gaddafi, that has freed more than 700 Islamists.
Interview: General Stanley McChrystal
Veiled Saudi poet Hissa Hilal on course to win £864,000 TV poetry prize
Afghanistan – Taleban seize Shah Karez, home of the British-backed Mullah Abdul Salaam
UN: Afghans top list of asylum seekers
Insurgent faction presents Afghan peace plan
Syed Salahuddin, the chairman of the United Jihad Council and the leader of Hizbul Mujahideen, said jihad was needed to break Kashmir off from India. “The only way to liberate Kashmir is jihad,” he said at a rally that was also attended by leaders of Jamaat-ud-Dawa and other terror groups.
Abdul Hafiz, a former Gitmo detainee, has reportedly rejoined the Taliban and is leading efforts to terrorize charities operating in Afghanistan. Hafiz was transferred to Afghanistan in December 2009 and is the first reported recidivist released by the Obama administration.
Russia and China pressed Iran to accept a UN nuclear fuel swap deal. Tehran freed former President Rasfanjani’s grandson from imprisonment. Osama bin Laden’s daughter was released from house arrest in Iran and relocated to Syria.