Afghanistan
Afghanistan to Probe Alleged Abuses By Afghan Troops in Helmand
Monthly Archives: February 2013
Syria
Moderate rebel groups in southern Syria received an influx of heavy weapons. In northern Syria, rebels with captured tanks launched an attack on a strategic government complex near Aleppo. The government responded with airstrikes.
Afghan president orders US Special Forces to leave Wardak province
Karzai’s directive comes during sensitive negotiations and draft proposals for a residual international force to remain in Afghanistan after 2014.
Egypt
Armed men shut down the Nasr salt factory in the city of el Arish in the Sinai. Islamists are believed to be responsible for the recent defacement of cultural icons in the country. Egyptian authorities seized 20,000 liters of fuel intended to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip. Sinai groups announced plans for protests against […]
Israel
Israel called on the Palestinian Authority to curb ongoing protests and said it was prepared to transfer $100 million in tax revenues. A Palestinian official suggested that it is too late and said the third Intifada is already here.
Somalia
Eleven people were killed during tribal clashes in the former Shabaab-held city of Kismayo. African Union and Somali troops took control of two towns in Bay. Tens of thousands of Somalis protested against Shabaab in Garowe.
Syria
In Syria, new influx of weapons to rebels tilts the battle against Assad
Lebanon
Swollen With Syrian Refugees, Lebanon Feels Its Stitching Fray
Libya
Prime Minister Zeidan said a number of government officials have been sacked and replaced. A new police chief was appointed for Benghazi after protesting policemen demanded that the former chief be dismissed and the penal code be made compliant with sharia law. A prosecutor was beaten up and detained for five days in Benghazi. A […]
Algeria
Algerian troops killed four terrorists in Boukaal Medajadji in Chlef, and eight more in Timezrit in Boumerdès; three of the dead were wanted criminals. Bombs were defused and weapons were confiscated during the two operations.
Mali
Ten more Chadian troops and 28 more Islamist militants were killed in continued fighting near the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains. The Arab Movement of Azawad (MAA) claimed it had attacked the MNLA in Khalil and taken over the area; the MNLA said it had fought off “jihadist fighters” from MUJAO, the MAA, and Ansar al […]
Syria
Syria citizen journalists wonder if guns trump cameras
France
France’s military operation in Mali in ‘final phase’
Nigeria
Gunmen kidnapped a professor in Maiduguri a day after suspected terrorists and security forces had clashed in the same area. One person died and homes were destroyed in a clash between Muslims and Christians at a football pitch in Talaba state. Armed men shot and hacked to death 10 people in Plateau state on Feb. […]
Al Qaeda
French Intervention in Mali Raises Threat of Domestic Terrorism, Judge Says
Multiple insurgents captured in raid targeting IMU leader
Six Afghan members of the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan were captured in Kunduz two days ago. The IMU in Afghanistan continues to take orders from its Pakistan-based leaders.
Afghanistan
Police killed 17 Taliban fighters in operations throughout the country. The Taliban killed a policeman in Laghman. An Afghan intelligence officer claimed that former Pakistani Taliban commander Faqir Mohammed planned to kill senior officials.
Iran
Iran announced it had found new deposits of uranium ore and had identified the sites for 16 more nuclear power plants. The Revolutionary Guard began a three-day ground and air military exercise, and claimed it captured a foreign “enemy drone” near the city of Sirjan.
Britain
US and British plans to seize Syria’s chemical weapons
Palestinian Territories
Hamas said PA security forces detained eight of its members in the West Bank. The head of Hamas in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, told a delegation of Egyptian clerics that Egypt is “no longer a strategic ally of the Israeli enemy, but rather an ally to the Arab nation’s resistance and steadfastness.” Palestinians and Israeli security […]
Israel
Israeli officials said they are closely watching the weapons being obtained by Syrian rebels. “The fear is that the same gun used to shoot a Syrian soldier will one day be used to shoot an Israeli soldier,” one official said. In the past four months, Palestinian terror groups have attempted 18 kidnapping plots against Israelis. […]
Egypt
Opposition figure Mohamed El Baradei called on Egyptians to boycott upcoming elections due to begin in April. The interior minister denied reports that had suggested a “Brotherhoodization” of the country’s police force. Salafist groups in the Sinai called on the government to implement sharia law.
Mauritania
Mauritanian Civil-Society Groups Combat Islamist Threat
Iran
Iran maneuvers for upper hand ahead of nuclear talks
Syria
The opposition Syrian National Coalition said it would boycott the Friends of Syria conference in Rome next month because of the world’s failure to stop the violence. It also turned down talks in Washington and Moscow. A statement singled out Russia for supporting the Assad regime. The battle for Aleppo airport intensified.
Tunisia
Armed Salafists shot at National Guard troopers at a checkpoint in Sidi Bouzid, then fled to a mosque and continued shooting; one Salafist was killed in the gunbattle and two policemen were injured. Security forces clashed with armed groups in Hasi El Frid in Kasserine province, and arrested 13 suspects after finding a weapons cache […]
Mali
The Chadian military said 13 Chadian soldiers and 65 al Qaeda-linked militants were killed in fighting yesterday near a militant base in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains. The militants are said to be “not fleeing” the base. MUJAO claimed yesterday’s two car bombings in Tessalit, and warned of future suicide attacks in Bamako and in […]
Benin
French residents and tourists were warned by the French Foreign Ministry to be on “high alert” for possible attacks or kidnappings, especially in the northeast near Nigeria. The advisory said the French-led intervention in Mali could trigger retaliation against citizens of France as well as nations supporting the ECOWAS intervention force.
Al Nusrah Front
Jihad mafia kills Tunisian youths
Canada
Militants Crossed Africa for Siege, Algeria Probe Says