US strike aircraft killed eight Taliban fighters in North Waziristan. Security forces killed four Taliban fighters and detained nine more in Swat, and detained a senior Taliban commander from Swat in Karachi. The military launched a new operation in Khyber; 12 extremists were captured.

Shabaab is advancing on the pirate coastal stronghold of Harardhere. Clerics from Ahlu Sunna Waljama™a criticized the military for shelling in Mogadishu that killed 10 people. Shabaab executed a ‘murderer’ and mutilated another in Mogadishu.

Elite US units step up effort in Afghan city before attack

ISAF killed the shadow governor of Kunduz and two aides in an airstrike in a remote region of the province. The UN has suspended relief operations in Kandahar after a series of three bombings killed two Afghan civilians. The Taliban denied poisoning schoolgirls in Kunduz.

Afghan officials said Mullah Yar Mohammad and two of his aides were killed in a Coalition airstrike in Kunduz province.

Odierno notes progress of Iraqi forces

Taliban gone, Pakistan area still wants Islamic justice

UN pulls some foreign staff from Kandahar

Bad news from Afghanistan

US – Not even in South Park?

Iraq political crisis worsens as court bars candidates

Moroccan authorities have dismantled an al Qaeda-linked cell tasked with carrying out assassinations and sabotage acts against security forces and foreign interests. Additionally, the 24-member group planned to recruit Moroccans to send to Islamist hotspots across the globe, including Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia. Four members of the group have previously served prison sentences for terrorist offenses.

A suicide bomber attempted to assassinate the British ambassador. The suicide bomber attacked the ambassador’s convoy as it traveled to the embassy in the capital of Sana’a. The bomber killed only himself and wounded three people, including two security personnel.

‘Suicide bomber’ targets British Ambassador to Yemen

Predators hit a compound operated by a known Taliban commander. The strike is the second in North Waziristan in three days.

Opposition leader Mousavi called ruling clerics “corrupt, despotic rulers.” President Mugabe denied that Zimbabwe signed a uranium mining agreement with Iran. The government eased investment restrictions in an attempt to counter sanctions.

Nato snubs Gordon Brown over Helmand withdrawal plans

In Pakistan, mystery deepens over missing former spies

On tipping points and Taliban talks

Amid outrage over civilian deaths in Pakistan, CIA turns to smaller missiles

Pakistan – Legal experts oppose bail for terror suspects

Security forces killed eight Taliban fighters in Arakzai. Baluch fighters killed three policemen in an attack on a checkpoint in Nasirabad. The Mehsud tribes said they would return to South Waziristan and promised not to aid or shelter the Taliban.

A suicide bomber killed four civilians in Zabul. Coalition and Afghan forces killed “several” Taliban fighters and detained a sub-commander and a fighter in Logar; protesters in Logar torched NATO supply vehicles, claiming those killed were civilians. Suspected poison gas attacks have sickened 80 Afghan schoolgirls in Kunduz.

Shabaab has taken control of the towns of Masagaway and Galad. Two Somali soldiers were killed in an IED attack in Afgoi. Fighting between Shabaab and Somali forces continued in Mogadishu; one civilian was killed. The Spanish navy detained eight Somali pirates.

North Korea appears to tap leader™s son as enigmatic heir

The latest video by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s media arm, Al-Andalus, looks to reinforce statements in a previous video by Mabarek Yazid, aka Abu Obeida Youcef, the leader of AQIM’s Council of Worthies, to win sympathy with Muslims throughout the Maghreb nations and inspire potential Islamist sympathizers to join their cause. The recruitment video seeks to inspire followers with a consistent theme of perceived injustices to Muslims, while highlighting one of AQIM’s successful offensive operations. It begins by focusing on the beatings and extrajudicial killings of suspected Boko Haram members by Nigerian police in July 2009. The video…

The top Revolution Guards commander said the US “must leave, because we consider them as the enemy.” A senior Revolution Guard commander said Iran will begin mass producing UAVs. The foreign minister said Iran is still interested in conducting a swap for medical grade uranium.

Yemen says opposition allied with armed foes of state

Iranian technocrats, disillusioned with government, offer wealth of intelligence to US
