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Does the Islamic Front ‘battle al Qaeda’?
The answer is no, as the Islamic Front has far more in common with al Qaeda than many want to admit.
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Mali
French military forces have killed 19 Islamist militants during an ongoing operation north of Timbuktu. The French operation, said to involve a large number of troops and about 100 military vehicles and helicopters, was launched last week against al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb fighters in the area between the communes of Bouje-Baya and Arouane. A local security source said “there are a lot of jihadi movements” in the area.
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Bangladesh
Bangladesh executed Abdul Kader Mullah, a senior Jamaat-e-Islami leader who was convicted of war crimes committed during the 1971 war for independence from Pakistan. Four other leading figures in the party have also been convicted, but Mullah is the first to have been executed. Jamaat-e-Islami has warned it will avenge his death, and called for a general strike on Dec. 15; at least three JI activists were killed in clashes with police.
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Inter-Services Intelligence Agency
ISPR, religious parties stoke anti-drone sentiment in Pakistan: US ambassador
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Al Qaeda
Samiullah Afridi flees to Dubai after receiving threats
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Afghanistan
65,000 clerics hired under pressure from MPs: Afghan education minister
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Syria
Islamist fighters attacked regime forces in Reef Dimashq. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham has kidnapped at least 62 Syrian Kurds, including women and children, in the cities of Menbej and Jarablus in Aleppo province; ISIS killed five men for taking food to besieged areas, and forcibly evicted 15 Kurdish families from their homes so they had to sleep out in the open. ISIS, the Al Nusrah Front, and allies continue to clash with Kurdish YPG forces in the area. Al Nusrah executed six rebels, including a defected officer, in Anadan in Reef Aleppo yesterday. Members of the…
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Egypt
The army’s spokesperson claimed security forces arrested a senior member of Ansar Jerusalem. Senior Muslim Brotherhood officials denounced the interim government during their latest court appearance. Authorities have reportedly destroyed Hamas arms caches in North Sinai in recent months. Eleven Qatari citizens were reportedly arrested at an al Jazeera office in Cairo.
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Palestinian Territories
Palestinians expressed concern that honor killings are on the rise. An EU audit found that the European body is paying thousands of civil servants in Gaza who are not actually working. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh spoke with Russia’s foreign minister. Secretary of State Kerry will present to Palestinian and Israeli officials a framework agreement in the coming days.
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Nigeria
At least nine people were killed in a suspected Boko Haram attack along the Maiduguri-Damboa-Biu highway. The military has claimed that Boko Haram is forcefully conscripting in Borno to replenish its numbers.
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Islamic Front brigade launches joint raid with al Qaeda’s Syrian branches
In addition to conducting operations with the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, Ahrar al Sham was involved in the recent takeover of a large cache of weapons and munitions owned by the Free Syrian Army.
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United Kingdom
The UK joined the US in suspending aid to rebels in northern Syria after the Islamic Front took over Free Syrian Army warehouses, arms depots, and the Bab al-Hawa border crossing into Turkey. In September, Foreign Minister Hague said the UK was providing £20 million in nonlethal support to the rebels, including 4×4 vehicles, body armor, generators, and communications equipment.
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Al Qaeda
Al Qaeda tightens grip on western Iraq in bid for Islamic state
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Jordan rearrests millennium bombings plotter
Jordanian authorities reportedly arrested Raed Hijazi in November. According to the 9/11 Commission report, Hijazi was a key member of a terrorist cell that was broken up in late 1999. The cell was planning multiple attacks in Jordan at the time.
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United States
Defense Secretary Hagel responded to France’s request for “limited” US military assistance in the Central African Republic by offering to help transport Burundian soldiers to the CAR to participate in the UN peacekeeping force. Hagel told Pakistani officials that keeping supply lines open may be key to the continuance of military aid to Pakistan. Two extradited Londoners, Babar Ahmad and Syed Talha Ahsan, pled guilty to running websites that helped send funding and fighters to terrorists abroad, including the Chechen mujahideen and the Afghan Taliban. A US official said the shipment of nonlethal aid to rebels in northern Syria has…
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Syria
US Halts Aid Delivery To Syria’s North Following Islamist Gains
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Al Qaeda
CIA papers show Panetta spoke on bin Laden raid
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Afghanistan
Security forces killed 15 Taliban fighters during operations throughout the country. The NDS detained 22 jihadists involved in a plot to attack the Ministry of Defense and the Presidential Palace. The Taliban killed six civilians in a rocket attack in Badghis.
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Syria
The Islamic Front seized the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the Turkish border from Free Syrian Army forces after having taken over their nearby warehouse and arms depots last week. The US suspended all shipments of nonlethal aid to the Free Syrian Army in the north as a result of Islamist gains. Suspected Islamist gunmen abducted a leading Syrian human rights lawyer, her husband, and two associates from her office in the Damascus suburb of Douma. A number of activists have disappeared in recent months in areas controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham. The families of two…
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Iraq
A suicide bomber killed 11 people in an attack at a funeral in Baqubah. Seventeen more Iraqis were killed in bombings and attacks in Abara and at a Shia shrine near Baqubah.
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Egypt
Security forces thwarted an attack on a checkpoint near el Arish, and arrested two Muslim Brotherhood members suspected of inciting violence and financing terrorist operations. The Interior Ministry denied reports that Interior Minister Ibrahim had received a two-year prison sentence. Security forces clashed with Muslim Brotherhood supporters at al Azhar University.
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Yemen
A Dutch journalist and her partner who were kidnapped in June have been freed. It is unclear if a ransom has been paid to secure their release. The group holding them had threatened to kill the hostages if its demands were not met.
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Jordan
Extremist cleric Abu Qatada pled not guilty to terrorism charges, and challenged the authority of the court. He was previously tried and sentenced in absentia by Jordan in 1999 and 2000, but has a right to retrial while present. After a brief hearing, the judge adjourned the trial until Dec. 24. Yesterday a court sentenced a Jordanian man to five years’ hard labor for illegally entering Syria and fighting there.
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Somalia
A French warship has joined EU Naval Forces for counter-piracy operations. Witnesses say that numerous military aircraft were seen over Barawe, forcing Shabaab to flee.
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Uganda
Police issued a terror alert for Kampala regarding an imminent attack. This is the third such alert since September.
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Kenya
Shabaab militants attacked a police patrol near the Somali border. Five policemen and three civilians were killed in the attack, along with two Shabaab fighters.
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Nigeria
President Jonathan has given his support to the creation of an African rapid response force that could help fight Boko Haram. A Human Rights Commission is investigating rights abuses and illegal detention centers used to imprison suspected Boko Haram fighters.
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Switzerland
Analysis finds confusion over ‘armed conflicts’
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Tunisia
A news outlet has claimed that Ansar al Sharia may use female suicide bombers in forthcoming attacks. Security forces have recently arrested “many young people” in possession of pictures and leaflets of Osama bin Laden and Ansar al Sharia leader Abou Iyadh. Authorities refused to pardon Jabeur Mejri, who was imprisoned last year for posting Prophet Mohammed cartoons on his Facebook page; the Minister of Human Rights and Transitional Justice said that “[i]nsulting the Prophet could not be considered as an act of free speech” in Tunisia.
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Al Qaeda official says force needed to establish sharia law in Egypt
Muhammad bin Mahmoud Rabie al Bahtiyti denounced both the current regime in Egypt and the previous Muslim Brotherhood-led government. He said he hoped the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood would give its supporters the chance to “review themselves and correct their path.”
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