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Israel Loses the Initiative in Lebanon
Southern Lebanon. Green indicates Israeli occupied town; red IDF warned towns of operations. Click map to view. After the airstrike in the Lebanese town of Qana, which killed 57 civilians, Israel has enforced a unilateral 48 hour cessation of air strikes against targets in Lebanon. A new report indicates 28 more civilians were killed during Israeli air strikes against Hezbollah positions in villages in southern Lebanon. The fact that Hezbollah is firing from civilian centers to provoke an Israeli response is generally ignored by the media and international community, and subsequently the tide of international pubic opinion has turned against…
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Hezbollah’s Army Revisited
The skill and training of Hezbollah’s Army in southern Lebanon becomes clearer after details emerge about Wednesday’s fighting in Bint Jubayl, where the Israeli Defense Force’s elite Golani Brigade and Hezbollah fighters have been slugging it out since last week. The most recent combat in Bint Jubayl claimed the lives of 9 Israeli soldiers and wounded 27. The Jerusalem Post provides further information about the fighting in the town the IDF recently claimed was under their control.
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The Battle of Bint Jubayl and Hezbollah’s Army
As the smoke clears from the fighting in the Lebanese border town of Bint Jubayl, Hezbollah’s military capabilities become clearer. Today, 8 Israeli soldiers from the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion were killed and 22 wounded during a “well-planned Hezbollah ambush on the outskirts” outside of Bint Jubayl. This follows the 4 killed and 18 wounded during Sunday’s engagement in the town.
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IDF Operations; Buffer Zones; Operational Possibilities
Southern Lebanon. Green indicates Israeli occupied town; red IDF warned towns of operations, orange recent clashes. Click map to view. The Israeli Defense Force’s Golani Brigade has taken the town of Bint Jubayl, Hezbollah’s southern command center, and is moving towards the town of Aytarun, another of the towns the IDF has warned the Lebanese citizens to evacuate due to upcoming operations in the area. The Golani Brigade states it has killed up to 50 Hezbollah fighters, and indicates over 100 may still be holed up in Bint Jubayl. Also, the IDF reports Abu Jaafar, Hezbollah’s “commander of the ‘central…
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IDF, Hezbollah battle over the “Hezbollah Capital”
Southern Lebanon. Green indicates Israeli occupied town; red IDF warned towns of operations. Click map to view. The Golani Brigade continues to slug it out with Hezbollah between the towns of Maroun al-Ras and the Bint Jubayl on the Israeli-Lebanon border. Reports indicate 15 Hezbollah have been killed, and 4 IDF killed and 18 wounded during the fight. Two Israelis helicopter pilots were killed in an unknown incident (Hezbollah claims to have shot down the helo) and two tankers were killed. Two tanks were destroyed during today’s fight, one by a mine, another by an anti-tank missile. The “Golani Brigade…
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Telegraphing the punch – IDF moving into southern Lebanon
Southern Lebanon. Green indicates Israeli occupied; red IDF warned of operations. Click map to view. The Israeli Defense Force is probing along the Lebanese frontier. Earlier today the IDF took control of Maroun al-Ras. Israeli army units have also occupied the towns of Yarum and Marwahin (Marwahin further west, and is currently occupied by the Herev battalion). The town of Bint Jubayl, described as the “‘Hezbollah capital’ in southern Lebanon”, is a strategic target in the south-central front. “Currently, the IDF is moving [towards Bint Jubayl] with fire and surveillance,” reports Ynet News.
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More fighting near Avivim; prelude to invasion?
Fighting in the Maroun al-Ras / Avivim region. Click map to view. An unknown sized force of Israeli mechanized infantry units are pushing into the Lebanese town of Maroun al-Ras. This town is the scene of the Hezbollah ambush on the Golani Brigade just two days ago, where the Israelis retreated after taking casualties. Today’s fighting does not appear to be a raid or reconnaissance in force. Israeli forces have now established control in Maroun al-Ras and are occupying the town.
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Worst Case Scenario II: Hezbollah’s Ambush of the Golani Brigade
In Worst Case Scenario: Hezbollah’s Conventional Forces: Hezbollah’s Conventional Forces, we discussed Hezbollah’s surprising conventional military prowess and weaponry, and reported of an ambush on a unit operating in Lebanon near Avivim. Haaretz reports that four soldiers from the Golani Brigade were killed and five wounded during the ambush, and the unit withdrew from the batlefield after the encounter, under heavy fire. Excerpted from the Haaretz article, the emphasis is mine:
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Worst Case Scenario: Hezbollah’s Conventional Forces
The Israeli Defense Forces and Hezbollah have fought pitched battles over the past two days in the region around Avivim. Ynet News reports nine Israeli soldiers were wounded during the fighting, and two were killed in the nearby town of Maroun al-Ras. “Attempts to rescue some of the injured were carried out under relentless fire,” according to the Ynet News report. Six Hezbollah cells were engaged during the attack. Israeli forces have withdrawn from the area.
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Basayev video commemorates his death
Banner announcing Basayev’s commemoration video. Basayev’s commemoration video. Click image to view video, file size is ~5M, in Windows Media Viewer format [.mwv] Two Islamist websites have posted a video commemorating the life and death of Chechen al Qaeda commander Shamil Basayev (AKA Abdallah Shamil Abu-Idris), who was killed by Russian security forces on July 10, 2006. Counterrorism Blog expert Daveed Gartenstein-Ross examines The Death of Shamil Basayev and How Jihadists Are Made and Lorenzo Vidino looks at How Chechnya Became a Breeding Ground for Terror.
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Another limited IDF incursion into Lebanon; Evacuating Lebanon
Israeli troops have entered southern Lebanon for the second time in two days. Like the last raid, this one had the limited objective of destroying Hezbollah strong points on the Lebanese border, as well as “searching for tunnels and mines” in the region.
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IDF enters Lebanon, a new buffer zone?
Range of Iranian built missiles possibily in Hezbollah’s arsenal. Map & graphics courtesy of Kathryn Cramer. Click map to view. After a weekend of repeated Hezbollah missile strikes into Israel, including hits in Afula and the surrounding communities, and Haifa, the Israeli Defense Force has launched a ground incursion into Lebanon. The IDF “briefly entered southern Lebanon to target Hizbullah bases along the border in order to push the terrorist group out of rocket-firing range,” according to the Jerusalem Post.
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Counterterrorism Roundtable at Global Crisis Watch
This afternoon Richard Lafayette of Global Crisis Watch hosted a counterterrorism roundtable, attended by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Douglas Farah, Nir Boms of the Center for Freedom in the Middle East, and myself. The main topic was the crisis in the Middle East, including the mood in Israel, Israel’s response to Hezbollah’s attack, and Iran, Syria, and Imad Mugniyah’s roles in the conflict. Nir Boms joined us live from Haifa, Israel, which just today was struck by a Hezbollah rocket attack that killed 8 and wounded dozens. Mr. Bom describes Haifa as a “ghost town” after the rocket attacks. The podcast also…
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Hezbollah missile sea strikes: UAV or ground based?
The Iranian C802 / Chinese Jing YJ-82. Click photo to view. In last evening’s post, “The War Widens, Hezbollah Strikes Egyptian, Israeli Ships with UAVs,” we reported the Israeli warship and an Egyptian civilian vessel were likely hit with missiles launched from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and not a UAV packed with explosives. The Egyptian vessel was sunk. The latest reporting indicates missiles did indeed strike both ships. “We can confirm that it was hit by an Iranian-made missile launched by Hezbollah. We see this as very profound fingerprint of Iranian involvement in Hezbollah,” Brigadier General Ido Nehushtan of the Israeli…
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The War Widens, Hezbollah Strikes Egyptian, Israeli Ships
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has escalated, as Hezbollah has conducted two sea strikes against an Israeli warship and an Egyptian civilian ship, possibly a cruise liner. While initial reports are stating an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was used to ram the ships, an anonymous intelligence official indicates the Egyptian ship was struck by a UAV launched antitank missile. According to the intelligence official, the Egyptian ship was hit with a Raad anti-tank missile (this is a different weapon than the Raad rockets fired against the city of Haifa.)
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Iranian manufactured Raad 1 missiles launched at Haifa (Updated)
The Raad. Click image to view. The rocket attack on the northern Israeli city of Haifa has raised the stakes in the very hot war between Israel and Hezbollah, and increases the possibility of widening the conflict with Syria and Iran. Haifa, the country’s third largest city, is home to over 250,000 Israelis, and Hezbollah has proven it can now strike the city with its rockets. Israel can no longer countenance Hezbollah’s presence on its border.
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Hezbollah escalates the war in Lebanon, launches rocket attacks in Haifa
Map of Hezbollah rocket strikes in northern Israel. Click map to view. Since the Hezbollah raid on an Israeli outpost on the Lebanese border and kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers, and the follow on Israeli raids into Lebanon attacking Hezbollah targets and road, bridge and air infrastructure, several events increased the prospect for a wider war in the Middle East.
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Imad Mugniyah likely behind the capture of Israeli soldiers
Imad Fayez Mugniyah Hezbollah has conducted a highly successful raid into Israeli territory, attacking a Israeli Defense Force outpost along the Israel-Lebanese border, killing three soldiers and capturing two after they were wounded. Four Israeli soldiers were killed when their tank ran over a land mine in Lebanon during follow-up operations to free the captured soldiers. An additional soldier was killed when attempting to recover the bodies of the four tankers.
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Multiple Bombs Detonated on Bombay Rail System
Map of the Bombay rail system. Orange dots indicate bombing sites. click image to view. Last Update at 4:20 pm ET. The railway system and rush hour commuters were the targets of a series of bombings in the Indian city of Bombay (Mumbai), the country’s financial capital. According to an updated Associated Press story, “Tuesday evening’s first explosion hit a train at a railway station in the northwestern suburb of Khar, said a police officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. Other blasts followed down the line of the…
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Fighting resumes in Mogadishu; Shariah Law enforced
The Islamic Courts Union, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Somalia, is consolidating power in the capital city of Mogadishu. The ICU is conducting military operations against rival warlords who sat out of last month’s fighting. Over 140 Somalis have been killed in the past two days of fighting, with over a hundred estimated wounded. The ICU is attacking warlords Abdi Hassan Awale Qeydiid and Hussein Aidid. Hussein Aidid is the son of Mohamed Farrah Aidid, the target of the United Nations and U.S. operations in October of 1993 during the Battle of Mogadishu. Qeydiid’s militia has surrendered to the Islamic Courts,…
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Chechen Terrorist Shamil Basayev Killed by Russian FSB
Shamil Basayev in Dagestan, in 1999. Click image to view. Chechen terrorist leader and al Qaeda commander Shamil Basayev (AKA Abdallah Shamil Abu-Idris) has been killed by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), according to the chief of the security. Basayev was killed in an explosion during a raid in the Federal Republic of Ingushetia, which neighbors Chechnya. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated Basayev “deserved retribution” for his multitude of terror attacks in the Russian Federation. “Basayev’s body has been identified through some of the fragments, including his head,” Ingush Deputy Prime Minister Bashir Aushev told the Interfax news service. Up…
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Iraqi Police take another shot at Sadr’s militia
Map of Baghdad, click to view. Image courtesy of Global Security The Shiite militia of Moqtada al-Sadr appear in the cross hairs of the Iraqi government for the second time in three days. Following up on Friday’s raid on Sadr’s allies in the Sadr City section of Baghdad, Iraqi Security Forces conducted an operation against the Sadrain mosque in Zafaraniya district in southeastern Baghdad. Twenty suspects were arrested and six AK-47 assault rifles were seized.
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Iraqi, U.S. Forces strike at Sadr’s Militia
Map of Baghdad, click to view. Image courtesy of Global Security The new Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has taken a step to fulfill the pledge to dismantle the militias, including Shiite run militias within his own governing coalition United Iraqi Alliance. An “Iraqi-planned, Iraqi-led and Iraqi-executed operation,” supported by U.S. forces in an “overwatch role” made a foray in Sadr City in northeastern Baghdad (Tharwa on the map.) Nine of Moqtada al-Sadr’s militiamen in his Madhi Army were killed, and thirty-one were wounded, according to the Iraqi Interior Ministry.
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The Kabul Bombings: Taliban or AGE?
Aftermath of a bombing in Kabul on July 5, 2006. Images courtesy of Walt Gaffney. Click photo to view gallery. The string of four bombings over two days in Kabul, Afghanistan, have raised the tension level in the city and stoked media speculation of a Taliban resurgence in the capital. On July 4, two roadside bombs were detonated; one in front of the Ministry of Justice, another several hundred meters from President Hamid Karzai’s palace. Eleven were wounded in the attacks. On July 5, two more bombs were detonated, one near the “Pigeon Mosque,” about 500 meters west of the…
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al Qaeda releases tape commemorating the 7/7 London bombings
As-Sahab banner announcing upcoming al Qaeda tape commemorating the 7/7 London bombings. Banner courtesy of Rita Katz of the SITE Institute. Last evening, ABC News’ Brian Ross reported, via the Blotter, that al Qaeda would soon be releasing a tape commemorating the one year anniversary of the 7/7 London bombings. Al Jazeera is currently airing the tape.
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al Qaeda in Somalia
Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Sheik Yusuf Indohaadde during a news briefing, Saturday, June 17, 2006. AP photograph, click to view. Just days after Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the chairman of Somalia’s Islamic Courts Union attempted to distance his movement from Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, a senior member of the ICU has appearaed on a video with foreign Arab fighters engaging in combat with Somali clans of the
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ICU attempts to distance itself from bin Laden; Ethiopia Army pushes into central Somalia
Osama bin Laden’s endorsement of the Somali al Qaeda affiliate Islamic Courts Union has caused some consternation within the organization. Osama bin Laden referred to the Islamic Courts as “our kinfolk and brother mujahidin,” and implored them to “Seek God’s help and prepare the necessary means, especially tank mines and anti-armor RPG’s. Be patient like your brothers in Iraq and Afghanistan in this world crusade against our Islamic nation. You have seen several years ago the defeat of the United States and its allies on your land.”
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Somalia’s Terror Camps
16 of 17 known locations of terror training camps. Map is from 2002. Click map to view. As the situation in Somalia deteriorates and the al Qaeda backed Islamic Courts Union (or al-Ittihad Mahakem al-Islamiya) consolidates power in the capital city of Mogadishu, the Ethiopian military has crossed the border into Somalia. Approximately 200-300 Ethiopian troops, about two companies including two armored platoons, have pushed upwards to 100 miles into Somali territory. It is unclear if their goal is to secure the lawless border, make a land grab or engage the militias of the Islamic Courts. The Ethiopian government denies…
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Excerpts from the Osama bin Laden Tape
The latest Osama bin Laden tape has focused almost exclusively on the death and lionization of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, with very little deviation on this theme. As Evan Kohlmann indicated last evening, the “intended audience are those primarily supportive of Al Qaeda.” Excerpted below are items of interest in the tape (post will be updated when a full transcript is available):
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Insurgent Counterproposal to Reconciliation; offer to lay down arms
Evan Kohlmann’s chart of the major Sunni insurgent/terrorist groups. Click to view. Eleven insurgent groups, eight of which are being led by the 1920 Revolution Brigades, have issued a counter proposal to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s plan for national reconciliation. The insurgent groups have offered to quit the battlefield if the following conditions are met:
