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HVT #6 – al Qaeda’s Emir of Anbar Province Killed
Khalid Mahal, the Emir of Anbar Province, and his aide Nasif Al-Mawla have been killed in operations The Muthanna Complex and the Thar Thar region, an al Qaeda and insurgent staging area. Click to Enlarge. Task Force 145, the global hunter-killers of high value al-Qeda targets, is conducting a full court press in Iraq. The Kuwaiti News Agency reports al Qaeda’s Emir in Anbar province, Khalid Mahal, and Nasif Al-Mawla, his aide, were killed during an operation in the Thar Thar region. An American intelligence source will not comment on Mahal’s death but did state “operations are ongoing.” Regional emirs…
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Pakistan
In Pakistan, the delicate dance of a key US ally
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Lebanon
Hariri Probe Uncovers Links to Other Lebanese Assassinations
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Thailand
Jihad and Thailand’s New Leadership
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Podcast with Global Crisis Watch
Yet again I had the honor and privilege of co-hosting this week’s edition of Global Crisis Watch’s Podcast: Prison Radicalization and Blogging the Coup. We tackle U.S.-Pakistan post-9/11 relations, prison radicalization inside America, the ties between Caracas and Tehran, and the role bloggers played during the Thai coup with Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, author of “My Year Inside Radical Islam: A Memoir,” Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi of IranPressNews.com, and the Bangkok Pundit. Click the image to listen.
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Al Qaeda
Another Osama rumor. The Frontier Times reports Osama bin Laden has transferred command to Ayman al-Zawahiri due to a “severe spinal-chord ailment.” The prior typhood fever rumor was the product of chatter at a diplomatic party.
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Somalia
About 300 to 400 Ethiopian troops moved into Baidoa after the Islamic Courts seized Kismayo. Defense minister Bare Hirale is said to be awaiting reinforcements from Ethiopia to counterstrike at Kismayo. The transitional government pleads for the arms embargo to be lifted. Twenty women were arrested by the ICU for protesting in Kismayo, while Hassan Turki admits foreign fighters are helping the militants..
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India
India’s Defense Minister says Islamabad has done “precious little” to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. State police in Maharashtra have made it mandatory for recruits in the intelligence wing to learn Urdu or Arabic during training. An Indian state minister claims there are 26 terror camps operating across the border in Bangladesh, and are supported by Pakistan’s ISI.
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Pakistan
Karzai restores monthly stipend to FATA elders
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Outsourcing Combat Reporting to the Enemy
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Al Qaeda
The Story Behind the OBL Death Story
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Afghanistan
The Taliban murdered Kandahar’s director of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. Coalition forces kill 10 Taliban in Paktika Province during Operation Mountain Fury. Twenty three Taliban in Helmand were killed during ISAF operations.
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United States
US attacks used ‘common anthrax’
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The Fall of Kismayo
The strategic southern port city of Kismayo is taken by the Islamic Courts, Baidoa is now in the crosshairs Somalia. Cities in red indicate ICU controlled territory. Click map to view. The Islamic Courts have further consolidated their grip on power in souther Somalia. Just one day after Barre Adan Shire, (or Bare Hirale) the Minister of Defense for the weak Transitional National Government and head of the Juba Valley Coalition, announced his forces would defend Kismayo from an attack, he withdrew his forces and the army of the Islamic Courts entered the city. The BBC reports that “On Sunday…
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Iraq
US: Sadr City again a militants’ haven
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Iraq
Iraq’s New Political Alignment
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Iraq
Iraqi police battle Anbar insurgency
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Syria
US to blame for attack on its embassy: Syria
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Iraq
Iraqi president asks for long-term US military presence in Iraq
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How Many Embedded Reporters Cover the Iraq War?
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Iraq
Militia standoff at Iraqi police station
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Egypt
Egypt is openly discussing starting a civilian nuclear energy program. As Iran continues to proceed in developing its nuclear program, expect other Arab states to do the same.
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International al Qaeda Operative Omar Farouq Killed in Iraq
Farouq was a lieutenant of bin Laden and al Qaeda’s operations chief in Southeast Asia Omar Farouq in 2002. Coalition forces have scored another senior jihadi in Iraq. This time, the British forces in Basra have killed Omar Farouq, a senior al Qaeda operative. The BBC reports Farouq was ‘tracked across Iraq to Basra,’ then killed after 200 British troops surrounded a home where he took shelter. Farouq was killed in an ensuing gunfight. This operation has the stamp of Task Force 145, the unit designated to target senior al Qaeda members world wide, all over it. Omar Farouq is…
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Algeria
The Algerian who helped Tunisians join the GSPC, in prison
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Philippines
US troops in charm offensive on Philippine rebel isle
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Caucasus
Aide to late warlord Khattab surrenders in Chechnya
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Afghanistan
Taliban `part of global jihad`
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Afghanistan
The Rise of Jihadistan
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Afghanistan
Afghan women’s affairs chief murdered
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Iraq
Talabani Says PKK Ceasefire Imminent
