Analysis & Commentary
2 Uighur Gitmo Detainees Transferred to El Salvador
The Department of Defense announced the transfer of two Uighur detainees from Guantanamo to El Salvador yesterday. The two detainees were not named in the DoD's press release.
21 Killed in Mumbai Bombings
Three bombings today in India's financial capital of Mumbai have killed 21 people and wounded scores more in the first major attack in the country since the terror assault on the city in November 2008.
3 Egyptians Killed in Recent Predator Strike in North Waziristan
Friday's Predator airstrike in North Waziristan killed three Egyptians closely linked to the Haqqani Network. The son of the "Blind Sheikh," the leader of the Egyptian Islamic Group who is serving a life prison sentence in the US for the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, may have been one of those killed.
9/11 plotter spotted in Mir Ali
The trial of Ahmed Siddiqui, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan operative who allied with al Qaeda and was part of a plot to conduct Mumbai-style attacks in Europe before he was captured in Afghanistan in the summer of 2010, has yielded some interesting information.
9/11: 10 Years After
Terrorism analyst Bill Roggio says, "Al-Qaida hasn't so much as become a diffused entity as it has embedded itself into local groups, for instance with the Pakistani Taliban and the Haqqani network in the Afghan-Pakistan border area, and has expanded its reach by establishing regional affiliates such as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and Shabaab (in Somalia).
A Good General Is Not Enough
As General David Petraeus takes over the war in Afghanistan from General Stanley McChrystal, he faces a daunting set of challenges. Thirty years of fighting have taken their toll on the country. Afghanistan is a backwards place with little infrastructure. The heroin capital of the world, its opium fields are a rich source of income for the Taliban and its allies. The country is rife with corruption and tribalism.
A Lion in Winter?
Last week, foreign press outlets ran a story that deserves to receive a lot more attention in America. Documents captured in Osama bin Laden’s Abbottabad, Pakistan compound reportedly show that the terror master helped plan the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India.
A Pattern of Appeasement and Retreat
Take two headlines, one about Iraq, the other about Afghanistan. The Iraqis told us to honor our signed agreement, and pull out all our troops by year’s end. Over in Kabul, Karzai said he’d go to war against us if we attacked his neighbor, Pakistan.
Admiral Mullen: Pakistani ISI Sponsoring Haqqani Attacks
During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing today, Admiral Michael Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, highlighted the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence Agency's role in sponsoring the Haqqani Network - including attacks on American forces in Afghanistan.
Afghans Say Taliban’s Top Pakistan-Based Leaders Sent Peace Envoy’s Killer
About 30 of the Taliban’s most prominent leaders have served on the shura in recent years, and many of the group’s members may have dispersed to Karachi or other cities to escape possible U.S. attack, according to the Long War Journal, a U.S.- based monitoring group on the Afghan war.
Al Qaeda ‘Operates in Afghanistan Under the Flag of the Islamic Emirate’: Taliban Spokesman
A Taliban spokesman who identified himself as an "Authorized Correspondent by the Media Committee of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" said that the Taliban will not renounce al Qaeda
Al Qaeda Brokers New Anti-US Taliban Alliance in Pakistan and Afghanistan
One of al Qaeda's top leaders has reached out to the most powerful Taliban commanders along the Afghan-Pakistani border to create a new alliance to battle the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Al Qaeda Honcho Probably Not in Egyptian Custody
This morning, there was a curious report originating with the Egyptian state press and then repeated throughout the Western media that Saif al Adel, a longtime al Qaeda bigwig, had flown from Pakistan to Egypt to turn himself in.
Al Qaeda Leader Ilyas Kashmiri Spotted at Taliban Meeting
A senior al Qaeda leader who is one of the terror group's most dangerous military commanders and strategists, and who was reportedly killed in a drone strike last June, has been spotted at a meeting with the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan.
Al Qaeda Leader Ilyas Kashmiri Spotted at Taliban Meeting
A senior al Qaeda leader who is one of the terror group's most dangerous military commanders and strategists, and who was reportedly killed in a drone strike last June, has been spotted at a meeting with the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan.
Al Qaeda Only has Two HVTs Left. Really.
What passes for a deep understanding of the nature of al Qaeda's leadership within US government intelligence circles continues to amaze. According to "US counterterrorism and intelligence officials," there are only two al Qaeda leaders left in Pakistan.
Al Qaeda Operative Killed During Clashes in Kurram Identified
Pakistani officials identified an al Qaeda operative from Azerbaijan as one of the six "foreigners" killed during recent clashes in the Kurram tribal agency that have resulted in the deaths of 23 Pakistani troops and 60 terrorists.
Al Qaeda Releases Vdeo of American Captured in Pakistan
Al Qaeda has released its first video of Warren Weinstein, an American citizen who was kidnapped in Lahore, Pakistan in August 2011. In the videotape, Weinstein pleaded with US President Barack Obama to submit to al Qaeda's demands to ensure his release before he is killed.
Al Qaeda’s Operations Chief for Pakistan Reported Killed in Predator Strike
A terrorist who US officials claimed is al Qaeda's operations chief for Pakistan is thought to have been killed in a recent Predator airstrike in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal areas.
