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Afghanistan
Justice for Abused Afghan Women Still Elusive, UN Report Says
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CIA
CIA’s anti-terrorism effort called ‘colossal flop’
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Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
An AP reporter’s quest to find bodies of victims killed by Malian military ends in the desert
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Central African Republic
Why France is sending more troops to Central African Republic
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United States
President Obama said Iran was not likely to give up its nuclear program, and put the odds for successful international negotiations on the program at 50/50 at best. James Dobbins, the special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, warned the Afghan government that failing to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement could lead to civil war in Afghanistan, and that in the absence of such an agreement, US troops had no reason to stay.
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Iraq
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham killed 18 people in attacks throughout the country. In Baghdad, nine people were killed in coordinated attacks on several liquor stores. Security forces captured six ISIS fighters in Baghdad. The Interior Ministry released the identity and photographs of 120 ISIS fighters who escaped from Abu Ghraib prison in July.
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Syria
Regime forces continued to battle the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, the Al Nusrah Front, and allied rebels on the Damascus-Homs highway in Reef Dimashq near Nabek. The Syrian National Coalition said the bodies of 40 men, women, and children were found near the city. In Idlib, the Islamic Front took over the bases and arms depots of the Free Syrian Army’s Supreme Military Council at the Baba el-Hawa crossing between Syria and Turkey. The FSA said two of its commanders were seized and secretly executed by ISIS as they were leading an aid convoy from Turkey to…
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Al Qaeda
Britain trains Libya’s army in its fight against warlords and al Qaeda
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Nigeria
Investigations have begun into suspected Boko Haram collaborators within the military after the Maiduguri attack. An interim report regarding a probe has been written, and President Jonathan will soon be briefed.
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Kenya
Police and intelligence services have been criticized by a parliamentary committee for failings in the lead-up to the Westgate attack. Gunmen killed a Muslim preacher traveling from Mombasa to Ukunda.
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Somalia
Ethiopian heavy armor and infantry have moved into the town of El Barde in Bakool. In Baidoa, security forces have boosted their operations over the past week, and have arrested over 250 suspects with ties to Shabaab. In Mogadishu, at least two people were injured when mortar shells were fired towards the Presidential Palace.
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Islamic Front fighters take over Free Syrian Army bases near Turkish border
The Islamic Front took control of Free Syrian Army warehouses that are stocked with Western supplies and that were raided by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham late last month.
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Morocco
Family jihad: father takes five sons to join Syrian rebels
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United States
The top American commander in the Middle East said the US is willing to help Yemen apply needed pressure on al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to deny the group ungoverned territory and thereby reduce its capability to export terror elsewhere. Intelligence officials and lawmakers expressed frustration that US efforts to bring about a dozen suspects to trial for the 2012 attack on the US Mission in Benghazi and the murder of Ambassador Chris Stevens have stalled. Some national security analysts asserted that stricter rules of engagement over the past few years are partly responsible for a spike in US…
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Afghanistan
Four policemen and two Taliban fighters were killed during fighting in Helmand. The Taliban gunned down a female police officer in Nimroz. A Taliban suicide bomber wounded 25 civilians and four US soldiers in an attack in Kandahar.
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Syria
The previously unknown Ahrar Al-Qalamoun Brigade reportedly conveyed the Al Nusrah Front’s demands to the Assad regime via the Vatican that 12 nuns kidnapped from Maaloula will be released only if conditions are met, including that the regime release 1,000 female prisoners and suspend its siege on a number of strategic areas, such as Ghouta in eastern Damascus. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham is said to be gaining ground from rebel groups in Syria, and to have about 5,500 foreign fighters, including 250 Chechens in Aleppo, and 17,000 Syrian fighters. A suicide attack in Hasakah killed five…
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Al Nusrah Front
Beheadings and spies help al Qaeda gain ground in Syria
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US Military
Hagel reassures Gulf allies US committed to regional security
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Yemen
The Yemeni military said that 12 al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters, including Saudis, who were involved in yesterday’s suicide assault on the Ministry of Defense were killed. AQAP said it targeted a US drone operations center during the attack.
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Israel
An IDF patrol vehicle was damaged as a result of an explosion near the Syria border. A resident of Majdal Shams was indicted for providing Syrian intelligence with details on IDF patrols. An IDF official said the situation in the city of Hebron was getting quieter. Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians are expected to go longer than the originally scheduled nine-month period.
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Egypt
Security sources alleged that some Sinai jihadists have recently fled to Gaza. Police used tear gas to disperse protests between supporters and opponents of former president Mohammad Morsi. A number of Sinai tribes announced an initiative to hand over weapons to the army without conditions.
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Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham
A jihadist spark that could ignite the Israeli-Syrian border
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Niger
President Issoufou said he would attempt “to lock” his country’s borders to combat free access by Islamists and traffickers. He also warned that Libya may become like Somalia.
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Kenya
A suspect has been accused of planning the Westgate mall attack in Nairobi. Police have arrested a number of radical Muslim youth who attempted to forcefully take over a mosque in Mombasa. Those arrested are believed to be sympathizers of the slain Sheikh Aboud Rogo.
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Somalia
In Mogadishu, a Ugandan university lecturer was gunned down by unknown attackers, and a Somali MP was killed near the Presidential Palace when an IED planted in his vehicle detonated.
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Eritrea
Thousands of Eritreans ‘abducted to Sinai for ransom’
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Libya
Niger’s president says Libya risks becoming like Somalia
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Mali
Authorities have discovered a mass grave in Diago, just north of Bamako, containing the bodies of 21 people. An investigation is proceeding to determine whether they are the remains of 21 soldiers who disappeared during a failed counter-coup in April 2012.
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France
President Hollande said the French contingent of 650 troops in Central African Republic will be doubled within days, but that the intervention would differ from the Malian one, as in CAR, France will serve as a “gendarme.” Foreign Minister Fabius said the CAR operation was to help stem mounting sectarian violence, and Defense Minister Le Drian said it could wind down in six months.
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AQAP says assault on Yemen’s Defense Ministry targeted US drone operations
On its newly established Twitter account, AQAP also criticized Yemeni soldiers for fighting alongside US forces and said the military is ignoring the fight against Shia Houthi rebels in the north.
