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Nigeria
Officials in the east-central state of Benue confirmed that Boko Haram has infiltrated the state and appealed to the federal government to deploy antiterrorism forces to Benue. In Kano state, police said they had recovered 1,123 improved explosive devices in the state in 2012 and had defused 68 such devices that year.
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ISAF kills and captures IMU operatives in Afghan north
Mazlum, an Afghan national, facilitated suicide and IED attacks in Baghlan and Takhar provinces. He is the first al Qaeda-linked operative known to have been killed or captured in Afghanistan so far this year.
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Spain
Police intercepted a truck carrying nuclear components destined for Iran, and arrested two men who worked for the company that sent the prohibited materials. The company, which used false companies in the United Arab Emirates for deliveries, has ties to firms involved in Iran’s nuclear program.
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United States
Defense Secretary Panetta met with Afghan president Karzai to discuss “the last chapter” of establishing Afghan sovereignty and security. US drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas have recently escalated. The government argued on national security grounds against the release of photos of Osama bin Laden’s corpse and sea burial.
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Pakistan
The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi killed 92 people in suicide and IED attacks in Quetta. Twenty-two more Pakistanis were killed in a blast in Swat; it is unclear if the blast was caused by a bomb. US drones killed six “militants” in North Waziristan.
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Al Qaeda
US drone strikes in Pakistan on rise for 2013
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How many US troops will remain in Afghanistan after 2014?
US Commander General Allen has made his recommendations. President Obama is considering his decision.
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Afghanistan
Afghan Amnesty Program Falls Short, Leaving Ex-Insurgents Regretful and Angry
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Afghanistan
The Taliban killed a US soldier in an attack in the east. Special operations forces killed an Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan facilitator and captured several Taliban commanders.
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Iran
The foreign minister invited Egypt’s president to visit Tehran, as Iran worked to improve relations with Egypt. Iran’s sole nuclear power plant is back at full capacity; another one is to be completed by March.
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Iraq
Insurgents killed 12 Iraqis in a series of attacks throughout Iraq. Among those killed were three policemen in Taji, a soldier in Baqubah, two members of the Awakening north of Baqubah, and two security guards for the president of Diyala University.
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Syria
Rebels, including jihadist groups Al Nusrah and Ahrar al-Sham, raided the strategic Taftanaz military airport in Idlib. Talks between the Assad regime and the UN broke down, as envoy Brahimi said he did not see President Assad being part of a transitional government. The foreign minister denounced Brahimi as “flagrantly biased.”
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Palestinian Territories
Rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas have agreed to renew efforts to implement a unity deal. Hamas ousted Fatah from Gaza during clashes in 2007; the two groups signed an accord in 2011 but it was not implemented.
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Syria
Syria’s Battle for the Airports
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Yemen
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is accused of killing a tribal leader in Abyan who brokered the release of hostages. Militants again bombed an oil pipeline in Marib province.
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Syria
Syria’s rebels form their own secret police
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Syria
A defector’s tale: Assad’s reluctant army
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Algeria
A court sentenced Moqatel Abou Jebel to life in prison for kidnapping 15 foreign tourists in 2003. Youcef Ben Mohamed, a Malian national, was acquitted, but sentenced to seven years for belonging to a terror group. Jebel carried out the kidnappings on the order of Abderrazak El Para, a GSPC commander.
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‘Key al Qaeda paramilitary commander’ killed in recent drone strike in Pakistan
Sheikh Yasin Al Kuwaiti, who was killed in a US drone strike on Jan. 8, was a “key al Qaeda paramilitary commander” who was “very high up the food chain,” a US intelligence official who tracks the terror group in Pakistan’s tribal areas told The Long War Journal.
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Mali
The Malian army attacked Islamist rebel positions in Douentza in an attempt to retake the town. Ansar Dine claimed that it was still in the town and that it was also battling the army in Konna, about 75 miles to the west. Malian troops in Mopti were reinforced as AQIM, MUJAO, and Ansar Dine fighters advanced on Konna.
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US drones strike again in Mir Ali
Four senior and midlevel al Qaeda and Taliban leaders are reported to have been killed in the seven strikes since the beginning of the New Year.
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France
Three Kurdish women, including a cofounder of the PKK, were killed in Paris. Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, a former head of the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions, will be freed from prison provided he is expelled from France. Abdallah received a life sentence in 1984 for the Paris murders of a US military attaché and an Israeli diplomat and an assassination attempt on an American consul in Strasbourg.
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United Kingdom
Authorities arrested four men in a terrorism investigation linked to the kidnapping of two journalists in Syria by extremists last year. Three of the men were arrested at east London addresses; the fourth, a Portuguese, was detained at Gatwick airport.
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Osama bin Laden’s documents cited by Canadian intelligence
A recently declassified threat assessment authored by Canadian intelligence in April 2012 concludes that the al Qaeda network still leads the global jihad movement and remains the “primary threat.”
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Afghanistan
Concerns over Iran’s influence in Afghan media agencies
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Afghanistan
Pak-Afghan border: Tribesmen flay travel document stipulation
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Afghanistan
Pakistanis trucking NATO supplies to Afghanistan go on strike
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Afghanistan
Afghans say total US pullout would trigger disaster
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Afghanistan
The Taliban killed three policemen in Nangarhar. More than 250 policemen were “poisoned” in Balkh.
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Malian jihadists advance southward
Ansar Dine, the Movement for Tawhid and Jihad in West Africa, and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb took control of towns in central Mali.
