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United States
A Senate report harshly criticized the State Department for its “grievous mistake” of failing to close the US Consulate in Benghazi before the Sept. 11 attack in the face of known security risks. The report also faulted US intelligence agencies for neglecting to “broaden and deepen their focus in Libya and beyond, on nascent violent Islamist extremist groups.”
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Afghanistan
Afghan Army Deaths on the Rise
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Al Qaeda
In Nigeria, trapped between Islamist radicals and security forces
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Pakistan
The government released eight more Afghan Taliban detainees, including former Taliban justice minister Mullah Nooruddin Turabi. The bodies of nine Pakistani Taliban, all shot in the head and chest, were found dumped in North Waziristan. Government technicians briefly unblocked YouTube after work on a system designed to filter out allegedly blasphemous material.
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Al Qaeda
AP IMPACT: Al-Qaida carves out own country in Mali
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Iran
Iran’s navy claims it has tested the Iranian-manufactured air defense system Raad (“Thunder”) during an exercise near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran also conducted a “cyberwarfare drill” during the same exercise taking place in the Strait of Hormuz as well as in the Gulf of Oman.
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Iraq
Multiple explosions across Iraq targeted government officials, police patrols and members of both the Sunni and Shiite sects. The bombings killed at least 10 people and injured 46 others. Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq survived a purported assassination attempt in Ramadi.
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ISAF kills ‘several’ al Qaeda-linked fighters in Kunar raid
The northeastern Afghan province remains a stronghold for al Qaeda despite the surge in US forces. The US conducted 67 raids against al Qaeda and allied groups in Afghanistan in 2012.
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Syria
Unconfirmed reports claim heavy clashes between Syrian and Jordanian military forces occurred overnight near the Ramtha border crossing. The mutilated bodies of 30 people who had been tortured were found dumped in the Barzeh neighborhood of Damascus. Syrian forces are now conducting counterstrikes following their seizure of a contested neighborhood in Homs.
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Nigeria
A senior church pastor of the Nigerian Church of the Brethren announced that around 50 of their churches had been burnt and at least 109 members had been killed in northern Nigeria since the insurrection by Boko Haram began. A former president of Nigeria predicted that the existence of Boko Haram will soon come to an end.
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Philippines
Six people were wounded in the bombing of two buses on a road near Isulan in Mindanao; there are currently no suspects. Moro Island Liberation Front insurgents have been observing a ceasefire since the signing of a preliminary peace deal in October.
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United States
Senate Votes to Extend Electronic Surveillance Authority
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Al Qaeda
Mali: The ‘gentle’ face of al-Qaeda
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Libya
Libya – Former revolutionaries joining state institutions
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Pakistan
The Taliban executed 21 policemen after capturing them in an operation several days ago in Peshawar. Nineteen people were killed in a bombing in Mastung; the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is suspected of carrying out the IED attack.
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Afghanistan
The body of a Georgian soldier who has been missing since Dec. 18 has been found; he appears to have been tortured. The Taliban killed an ISAF soldier in an IED attack in the south, and killed one person and destroyed 11 NATO oil tankers in Nangarhar.
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Iraq
Security forces arrested 19 wanted terrorists south of Baghdad, and five al Qaeda fighters in Diwaniyah and Baghdad. The Awakening offered reward money for information leading to those who attack members of the group.
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Syria
President Assad said he has no intention of stepping down from power. Government troops pushed rebel forces out of the Deir Baalbeh district of Homs. Afterward, 220 civilians were rounded up and executed.
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Palestinian Territories
Israel eased restrictions on shipping building materials into Gaza. In the West Bank, Arab League officials met with Palestinian Authority leaders to discuss the group’s financial crisis and find ways to restart the peace process.
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China
Along the Chinese border, defectors say North Korean province is quietly liberalizing
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Yemen
US drones killed three al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in a strike in Rada’a. AQAP offered a reward for the assassination of the US ambassador and US soldiers.
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Syria
Iran may be reconsidering position on Syria
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Afghanistan
A fight for Afghanistan’s most famous artifact
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Nigeria
Four Boko Haram fighters and a policeman were killed in clashes in Damaturu, the provincial capital of Yobe. Security forces detained 59 people during the operation.
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France
French paper to publish comic book life of Mohammed
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Syria
Battle for Aleppo Shows Weaknesses of Both Sides
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Syria
Assad said to be afraid and isolated as rule fades
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Body of missing Georgian soldier found in southern Afghanistan
The body of Sergeant Giorgi Kikadze, a Georgian soldier who was serving in Helmand province for ISAF, was found dumped in a vacant compound in Musa Qala in Helmand province on Saturday. Afghan security officials noted that the body bore signs of torture.
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Daily Times op-ed hits the mark on Pakistani Taliban
“Now having been offered this incontrovertible proof of the Taliban on both sides of the western border and al Qaeda being one and the same thing, one hopes the foolishness about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Taliban can be relegated where it belongs: in the dustbin,” Daily Times writes.
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Taliban execute 21 Pakistani policemen in Peshawar
Since June 2011, the Taliban have conducted three mass executions of Pakistani security personnel.
