Obama pulls back in fight against al Qaeda
As al Qaeda’s network has expanded the US is returning to a pre-9/11 mentality.
Author Archives: LWJ Staff
Pakistani Taliban claim credit for deadly attack in Quetta
Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan “proudly” claimed responsibility for today’s deadly bombing in Quetta, Pakistan that killed at least 11 members of an elite police unit.
Prominent anti-Taliban police chief killed in western Afghanistan
Taliban assassins killed the Khak-i-Safid district police chief in Farah province on Friday night. Khak-i-Safed police forces have been conducting an effective counterinsurgency campaign in the area since last year.
Pakistani Taliban overrun rival faction’s headquarters, dozens killed
Hundreds of Tehrik-e-Taliban-e Pakistan (TTP) militants overran the headquarters of a rival militant faction, Ansar-ul-Islam, in Khyber Agency. Clashes between the two factions have raged since January.
Afghan forces thwart unprecedented terror plot in Kabul
NDS forces raided a Haqqani Network safe house in eastern Kabul, killing five militants, capturing two others, and seizing a 7,800-kg truck bomb wired for detonation. The bomb’s destructive capacity had a radius of nearly one mile, according to Afghan officials.
US – Iran tensions escalate in latest drone incident
Iranian jets scrambled to interdict a US surveillance MQ-1 drone flying over international waters on March 12. US fighter jets escorting the drone prevented the Iranian craft from encroaching closer than 16 miles, marking the latest escalation of force between US and Iranian military units operating in the Persian Gulf.
Prominent Afghan political leader escapes another assassination attempt
A bomb intended for the convoy of Afghan political leader Ustad Mohammad Mohaqiq exploded prematurely; a second bomb detonated by the stadium where Mohaqiq was expected to attend a political event, injuring three civilians. This was the third assassination attempt against Mohaqiq since June 2012.
Confusion reigns in confirming deaths of senior AQIM leaders in Mali
Photos have surfaced from Chadian soldiers depicting what they claim is the corpse of Mokhtar Belmokhtar. French news services have said the images depict recently reported killed al Qaeda commander Abou Zeid. Jihadist sources deny the images depict either man.
Conflicting accounts emerge over AQIM leader’s reported death
Evidence is mounting that AQIM leader Abdel Mejid Abou Zeid was recently killed in clashes with French and African security forces, but conflicting reports have emerged as to the events leading to his alleged death. Algerian authorities are conducting DNA analysis on the supposed remains of Abou Zeid.
Report: airstrike killed Taliban shadow governor Sheikh Dost Mohammed
One of the most wanted Taliban commanders in eastern Afghanistan, Sheikh Dost Mohammed, was reportedly killed along with two other Taliban leaders in a US airstrike in the Ghaziabad district of Kunar province. The death of Dost Mohammed has been erroneously reported in the past.
Chadian forces claim raid killed top Algerian jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar
Chadian military forces operating in Mali claimed to have launched a successful counterterrorism raid against a jihadist base camp that killed top Algerian jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar. The death of Belmokhtar has not yet been confirmed by other sources.
Pakistani Taliban threaten mobile phone sellers in Peshawar
Pakistani authorities display apparent ignorance over the rash of attacks targeting mobile phone shops in northwestern Pakistan, even as Pakistani militants state their intention to rid Pakistan of “un-Islamic” ring tones and other mobile phone accessories.
Pakistan
Pakistani officials claimed that at least 25 mortar shells fired from Afghanistan struck the border area of Ghulam Khan in North Waziristan. Seven unidentified bullet-riddled bodies were found dumped near Sarobi in North Waziristan. Tribesmen held a massive rally in South Waziristan demonstrating against the US drone campaign.
Yemen
Saudi Arabia denied that its Air Force has targeted al Qaeda militants in Yemen. Efforts are reportedly underway to convince former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to leave the country and go possibly to an Arab Gulf state, in hopes his exit will aid in the political transition process.
Nigeria
Suspected Boko Haram militants staged a brazen attack against the Nigerian Prison Service Farm Center in Maiduguri, freeing several jailed inmates. The previous day, Boko Haram militants and Nigerian state security forces clashed near Maiduguri and Marte, leaving at least seven killed.
Somalia
A UN report shows that increasing cooperation between Somalia’s Shabaab and the Ugandan rebel group Allied Democratic Forces is spreading instability across the region. African Union forces launched a major offensive against Shabaab militants along the Ballidoogle-Leego road, approximately 120 kilometers northwest of Mogadishu.
Libya
Gaddafi-era security official Lieutenant Colonel Nasser al Magrabi was found shot to death at his farm near Benghazi. The day before, the head of Benghazi’s criminal investigations department, Abdelsalam al Mahdawi, was kidnapped at gunpoint. Libyan officials said the trial for Saif al Islam, Libya’s former Intelligence Chief and a son of Gaddafi, will begin […]
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 […]
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.
Sudanese jihadist media front releases video detailing prison escape of convicted militants
A jihadist media group calling itself “al-Hijratain Foundation,” a possibly al Qaeda-affiliated group tied to the Sudanese terrorist front known as Ansar al-Tawhid (Partisans of Monotheism), released a video detailing the June 2010 prison escape of four men convicted of the January 2008 assassination of an American diplomat and his driver.
Syrian regime reportedly using wide range of tactical ballistic missiles
US officials have accused the Assad regime of using Iranian-made, short-range ballistic missiles against a rebel offensive this week. The regime has deployed a wide array of tactical ballistic missiles against suspected al Qaeda-affiliated rebels this month.
Afghanistan
Renewed fighting between Afghan army forces and Taliban fighters in the Kamdesh district in Nuristan left five militants dead and three wounded. Local residents in Logar condemned the Taliban for the recent murders of two day laborers. Family members of those killed in a 2009 airstrike in Kunduz have filed a multimillion-dollar class action lawsuit […]
Syria
Syrian military forces seized the Deir Baalbeh area of the central city of Homs after launching a fierce assault against the area several days ago. Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi declared his support for the Syrian revolution. Austria has announced its support for Iran’s six-point plan on the crisis in Syria.
Yemen
A Yemeni intelligence officer was assassinated in the capital of Hadramout province by suspected al Qaeda militants. The commander of Yemen’s central military region deployed an infantry brigade to Marib province to stop armed tribesmen who maintain ties with al Qaeda from attacking oil pipelines. Yemen’s Navy claimed its forces have intercepted an Iranian ship […]
Mauritania
A British citizen was reportedly detained near the Malian border as he attempted to join up with terrorists linked to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. A tacit truce between between AQIM and the Mauritanian Army might be ending as the Army moves to secure the strategic town of Fassala Nere and other border areas […]
Nigeria
Suspected Boko Haram militants attacked a village last night in northeastern Nigeria and executed a group of 15 men, women, and children by tying them up and slitting their throats. A separate Boko Haram attack in Maiha near the border with Cameroon left at least two dead. The attackers burnt down the police divisional headquarters, […]