Analysis & Commentary
US Drones Strike in Remote Area of North Waziristan
The US launched an airstrike in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan today, killing five "militants" in an area known to host al Qaeda and other foreign terror groups.
Prominent al Qaeda Leader Killed in Drone Strike in 2012
Al Qaeda announced the death of Abd el Kader Mahmoud Mohamed el Sayed, a longtime senior jihadist leader and military commander who was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan sometime in the spring of 2012.
Taliban, IMU Form Ansar al Aseer to Free Jihadist Prisoners
The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan announced the formation of the Ansar al Aseer, a unit tasked to free jihadist prisoners and support their families.
Taliban Suicide Assault Team Hits Pakistani Military Camp
The Taliban claimed credit for today's deadly suicide assault on a Pakistani military checkpoint in the northwestern district of Lakki Markat. The Taliban claimed the attack was carried out to avenge the deaths...
Sidelined Pakistani Taliban Commander Back in Good Graces
Faqir Mohammed, the former emir in Bajaur of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, has returned to the fold after his dismissal a year ago for conducting negotiations with the Pakistani...
Debacle in Benghazi
On September 21, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke to reporters before a meeting with the Pakistani foreign minister. She addressed the September 11 assault on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya.
ISAF Launches Another Raid Targeting al Qaeda in Kunar
On Jan. 25, the International Security Assistance Force reported another operation in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province targeting a Taliban leader associated with al Qaeda. This follows a report three...
Al Qaeda-Linked Taliban Commander Targeted in Kunar Raid
The International Security Assistance Force reported yesterday that an operation targeting an "al Qaeda associated Taliban leader" was conducted in Kunar province, Afghanistan on Jan. 23. Two insurgents...
US Adds Wanted Saudi al Qaeda Leader to Terrorism List
The US State Department has added a wanted Saudi citizen who serves as a senior al Qaeda leader and ideologue in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region to the list of Specially Designated Global terrorists.
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Al Qaeda’s Senior Leadership
With recent events in Mali and Algeria, there is a notable uptick in interest in Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). One question commentators are asking is what the relationship is between AQIM...
Osama and the Two Nazirs
Nazir is dead. Actually, both Nazirs are dead. Earlier this month, Mullah Nazir, a Taliban and al-Qaeda commander, was killed by an American drone strike in South Waziristan, a tribal area of Pakistan.
Al-Qaeda and the Arab Spring
Sitting in his Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound just days before his demise in May 2011, Osama bin Laden surveyed the political turmoil in the Middle East. In a memo dated April 26, 2011, the terror...
All Things Considered
President Obama met last week with Afghan President Hamid Karzai about plans to remove all U.S. combat troops from Afghanistan by 2014. Counterterrorism expert Daveed Gartenstein-Ross discusses...
Uzbek Terror Group Kills 14 Pakistani Soldiers in North Waziristan
An Uzbek group that calls itself the "Mujahideen Ansar" claimed credit for today's roadside bomb attack on a Pakistani military convoy in North Waziristan that killed 14 soldiers. The attack took place...
Hakeemullah Mehsud Orders Taliban to End Attacks on Pakistani Military in North Waziristan: Report
Hakeemullah Mehsud, the emir of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, has ordered his fighters to end attacks against government forces in North Waziristan, according to a report from Reuters:
US Drone Strikes in Pakistan on Rise for 2013
The CIA has opened the year with a flurry of drone strikes in Pakistan, pounding Taliban targets along the country’s tribal belt at a time when the Obama administration is preparing to disclose its plans for...
‘Key al Qaeda Paramilitary Commander’ Killed in Recent Drone Strike in Pakistan
The US killed a senior al Qaeda military commander during a recent drone strike in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan. Sheikh Yasin Al Kuwaiti, who was killed in a US drone strike...
Learning From the Soviets: How to Withdraw From Afghanistan
One unique feature of Afghanistan's history, in addition to the ubiquity of foreign invasions that stretch back for 2600 years, is the manner in which one would-be conqueror after another found its position...
US Drones Launch 2 Strikes in North Waziristan
The US conducted two more airstrikes in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan today, killing eight "militants" in an area known to host al Qaeda and other foreign terrorist groups.
New Pak Taliban Faction Chief Fought Against India in J&K
Bahawal Khan, the new chief of a Taliban faction in Pakistan's South Waziristan region after the killing of Mullah Nazir in a US drone strike, is a militant who fought Indian troops in Jammu & Kashmir.
