The Long War Journal (Site-Wide)

Musicians threatened in Peshawar

2012-06-01T20:56:09Z

Al Jazeera English reports on the Pakistani Taliban's persecution of musicians in Peshawar.

US troops repel suicide assault on base in eastern Afghanistan

2012-06-01T17:16:10Z

Forward Operating Base Salerno, situated north of Khost City, is a main Coalition hub for operations in southeastern Afghanistan. Photo courtesy of the Market Garden Commemorative Committee.

The Taliban launched a coordinated suicide assault on a base in eastern Afghanistan and breached the outer perimeter before being beaten back by US and Afghan forces.

Fourteen Taliban fighters from the assault team were killed while attacking Forward Operating Base Salerno earlier today, Major Efrem Gibson, the Deputy Public Affairs Officer for Regional Command - East and Combined Joint Task Force 1 told The Long War Journal. FOB Salerno is the largest Coalition base in southeastern Afghanistan, and is highly fortified and possesses extensive air and surveillance assets.

"There was a failed insurgent attack against a Coalition base in eastern Afghanistan today," Gibson said, confirming that FOB Salerno came under attack. "100 percent of all ISAF forces have been accounted for, and there were no ISAF members killed." Several soldiers "suffered minor wounds from the attack."

Gibson said that "14 insurgents were killed" and "some insurgents were able to get inside the perimeter, but they were neutralized."

According to Pajhwok Afghan News, the attack began as a suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into the base's outer wall at 1 p.m. local time. Taliban fighters then entered the perimeter and fought with US and Afghan forces for one hour before they were defeated.

The Taliban claimed credit for today's attack on FOB Salerno, in a statement released on Voice of Jihad, the group's propaganda website. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the forces attacked the airbase from three sides and killed "scores of US invaders" and "shot down two of the enemy's helicopters."

The attack was likely carried out by the Haqqani Network, the Taliban subgroup that operates in Khost as well as in neighboring Paktia and Paktika provinces. The Haqqani Network has launched two other major attacks against Salerno and numerous assaults on other bases in the region since 2008.

On Aug. 28, 2010, Haqqani Network fighters launched coordinated attacks against FOB Salerno and FOB Chapman, which is also in Khost province. US and Afghan troops routed the Haqqani Network fighters, killing more than 35, including a commander, during and after the attacks. Several of the fighters were wearing US Army uniforms, and 13 were armed with suicide vests. During raids in the aftermath of the attacks, US forces killed and captured several commanders and fighters.

In August 2008, the Haqqani Network launched suicide assaults against FOB Salerno over the course of two days. The Haqqani Network attempted to breach the perimeter and overrun the airstrip in one of the attacks, but failed.

The Haqqani Network operates primarily in the Afghan provinces of Khost, Paktia, and Paktika, but also has an extensive presence in Kabul, Logar, Wardak, Ghazni, Zabul, Kandahar, and Kunduz. In addition, the network has expanded its operations into the distant Afghan provinces of Badakhshan and Faryab.

The terror group has close links with al Qaeda and the Taliban, and its relationship with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI) has allowed the network to survive and thrive in its fortress stronghold of North Waziristan, a tribal agency in Pakistan. The Haqqani Network has also extended its presence into the Pakistani tribal agency of Kurram. The Haqqani Network uses its bases in Pakistan to launch attacks in eastern and central Afghanistan.

For more information on the Haqqani Network, its links to al Qaeda, and ISAF operations targeting its leadership, see LWJ report, US adds Taliban financier, Haqqani Network operative to terror list.

Security in Dizhak

2012-06-01T16:17:02Z

US Army Staff Sergeant Matthew Lewis, a security forces member of the Farah Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), provides security during an Afghan Local Police graduation ceremony in Dizhak village, Farah province, Afghanistan, May 29, 2012. US Navy photo by Lt. Benjamin Addison

Jihad in Seattle

2012-06-01T09:16:32Z

Michael D. McCright, a.k.a. Mikhial Jihad.

Last week, Michael D. McCright, a.k.a. Mikhial Jihad, a previously convicted felon from the north Seattle suburb of Lynnwood, pled guilty to lesser charges in a case involving his attempt to force a government vehicle carrying two Marines off the road and cause a collision on an interstate highway in Seattle. The incident occurred on July 12, 2011 and resulted in McCright's arrest in Seattle on Sept. 8. McCright is linked to another American jihadist who plotted a suicide attack against Marines.

According to the Seattle PI, the Marine staff sergeant in the car targeted by McCright told police that the suspect's "eyes widened and he appeared to become angry" when he saw the uniformed men, and that shortly thereafter McCright deliberately swerved his car into the path of their vehicle, forcing it off the road, then stopped right in front of it.

Court documents filed following McCright's arrest indicate he has links with at least one of two men accused of plotting a suicide attack on a south Seattle Marine processing and intake center. The deputy prosecutor in McCright's case said that McCright's cell phone was used three times to call Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif, a Des Moines, Wa., resident who is being held along with Walli Mujahidh, of Los Angeles; the calls from McCright's phone were made prior to the July 22, 2011 arrests of Abdul-Latif and Mujahidh. The FBI decided to continue to investigate McCright's possible links to domestic terrorism. And according to KING5 news, "[a] federal criminal justice source said the FBI had McCright on their radar even before the July 12 road rage incident."

Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif, a.k.a. Joseph Anthony Davis, and Walli Mujahidh, a.k.a. Frederick Domingue Jr., are accused of conspiring to murder federal agents and officers and conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, for their roles in plotting a suicide attack on the Federal Way MEPS center in south Seattle. Initial charges were filed in late June 2011 shortly after their arrest in an FBI sting operation; further charges were added in July, including weapons violations and solicitation of a crime of violence. In August, the trial was postponed due to the complexity of the case and the quantity of evidence gathered by the FBI and police, The Associated Press reported. Both Abdul-Latif and Mujahidh pled not guilty at the time.

In December, Mujahidh's attorney said her client suffered from mental illness and "a fundamental misunderstanding of Islam," and said he would plead guilty in the case, according to AP.

It is unclear how Mujahidh and Abdul-Latif had initially become acquainted, although Mujahidh had lived in Seattle before moving to California. Both men have criminal records; Mujahidh for domestic violence and theft, Abdul-Latif for theft, assault, and robbery, for which he served 31 months in prison, AP reported. Nor has it been explained just how McCright came to know Abdul-Latif.

All three men appear to be converts to Islam. According to AP, Abdul-Latif admired Osama bin Laden and had apparently posted videos on YouTube calling for jihad and extolling al Qaeda's leadership in Yemen and endorsing radical Islam. "We need to establish jihad with the tongue, with the heart and with the hand," he said in a video posted in May 2011.

The federal complaint in the case describes the detailed preparations Abdul-Latif and Mujahidh made for the suicide attack plot over a period of months leading up to their arrests. Abul-Latif, who had spent some time in the Navy in the mid-1990s, was designated as the "emir" or leader of the cell. The men originally intended to cause a devastating attack at Joint Base Lewis-McChord Army base near Tacoma, but changed their focus to the MEPS center in south Seattle, which was located next to a daycare center. They conducted reconnaissance of the site, and sought to purchase fragmentation grenades, machine guns, bulletproof vests, and ammunition for the attack, in which they planned to kill as many soldiers as possible.

The secrecy of the suicide assault plan was ultimately compromised when another person was recruited by Abdul-Latif to help procure weapons for the plot; the person chosen was someone both suspects had known while in prison, investigators said, according to MSNBC. This person alerted the FBI in early June and began cooperating with the agency. On numerous occasions the FBI source asked Abdul-Latif and Mujahidh if they wanted to back out of the plan, and they did not. Mujahidh and Abdul-Latif both stated that they wanted to die as martyrs.

Mujahidh said that before he left Los Angeles to participate in the attack, he "told a couple of the 'brothers' that he was going to Seattle on a 'jihad.'" The government's complaint also stated that Abdul-Latif and Mujahidh told the FBI source that they had talked about terror attacks in Seattle even before the source became involved in their planning.

Taped conversations by the FBI source indicate that Mujahidh and Abdul-Latif sought to replicate the actions of Nidal Hasan, the US Army major who killed 13 soldiers in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Tex., in November 2009. They speculated that if a single shooter such as Hassan could kill that many people, three attackers would be able to kill many more. The plotters expressed anger over the actions of the US military in Afghanistan, and hoped their attack would generate much media attention. "We're not only trying to kill people, we're gonna send a message," Abdul-Latif is recorded as saying.

The plot was disrupted and the two men were arrested at the point they believed they were receiving weapons they had requested for the planned attack. Abdul-Latif and Mujahidh now face possible charges of life in prison.

It remains to be seen whether McCright's phone calls to Abdul-Latif last summer indicate any involvement in the planned attack on the MEPS center in south Seattle. But by pleading guilty to lesser charges in the near-collision incident, McCright avoids facing a life sentence under Washington's 'three strikes' law for repeat violent offenders.

IMU eulogizes military commander, media operative

2012-05-31T19:58:54Z

Abbos Mansoor, the military commander for the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan who was killed in 2011. Image from Furqoon, the IMU's website.

The al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan recently issued a video that eulogized a media operative and their top military commander, who was killed "by an unmanned plane of the enemy."

The IMU video, titled "What's Happening in Tribal Areas? Part-9," praises the deaths of "Commander Abbos Mansoor" and "Brother Abdul Aziz." The videotape was released yesterday by Jundullah Studio, the IMU's media arm, on al Qaeda-linked jihadist web forums, and has been translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

The IMU first announced the deaths of Mansoor, Aziz, and 85 other operatives in a statement released on their website, Furqoon, on Nov. 30, 2011. The statement provided short biographies of those killed. [See LWJ report, IMU names 87 'martyrs' killed during past year.] Mansoor was the first IMU commander listed in the Nov. 2011 announcement, indicating his importance.

The video begins with a eulogy of Mansoor and Aziz by Abu Usman Adil, the emir or leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. Adil praised the two men, who "always obeyed my orders as well, without any slowness," according to the SITE translation.

The video focuses primarily on Mansoor, who "was martyred by an unmanned plane of the enemy." It is unclear if Mansoor was killed in Afghanistan or Pakistan; the martyrdom statement indicated that he fought on both sides of the porous Afghan-Pakistani border, and the unmanned US drones also operate in both countries. But the title of the videotape, "What's Happening in Tribal Areas?", indicates he may have been killed in Pakistan's tribal areas.

Mansoor was from Kyrgyzstan, and "made hijrah [emigration] to Tajikistan and became a member of Islamic Movement at the age of 19," in 1998, according to the videotape. "After finishing his military education, he became a bodyguard to commander Jumabai," the statement continued, in reference to Juma Namangami, one of the co-founders of the IMU. Namangami was killed was killed by anti-Taliban fighters from the Northern Alliance during the US invasion of Afghanistan in November 2001.

He traveled to Afghanistan sometime afterward and became "a bodyguard for Muhammad Tahir 'Farooq,'" or Tahir Yuldashev, the prior emir of the IMU who was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan's tribal agency of South Waziristan in August 2009. Yuldashev co-founded the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan with Namangani.

The IMU said that Mansoor "participated in the famous Shah-i-Kot battle and later participated actively in the jihad of Pakistan," likely a reference to fighting against the Pakistani military in the tribal areas from 2004 to the present day. Mansoor's presence at the Battle of Shah-i-Kot (Operation Anaconda) in Afghanistan's eastern province of Paktia in March 2002 is logical, as Yuldashev is known to have fought alongside al Qaeda against US forces there.

Adil, the IMU emir, named Mansoor the "Chief Military Commander of Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan" just days before he was killed in the drone strike.

The video also features several posthumous videoclips of Mansoor. In one clip, Mansoor said that "Pakistan cannot make us distressed with these battles. We should be
proud of our shuhada [martyrs]." In another, Mansoor claimed that "only 30-40 brothers with limited ability" fought for several days "against 300-400 troops of NATO Crusaders and Afghan National Army."

Abdul Aziz. Image from Furqoon.

Adbul Aziz was described as "a sharp young man from Tashkent," Uzbekistan, who was "blessed to have participated in jihad of Afghanistan and Pakistan against NATO and its slaves and munafiqeen [hypocrites] for six years." He "actively participated in the promotion department of Jundullah Studios," where he essentially served as a combat cameraman, editor, and producer. The IMU and another terror groups in the region often record their operations against NATO, Afghan, and Pakistani forces.

Aziz's role in the filming and production of the What's Happening in Tribal Areas "video series" had "earned a place in the hearts of Arab," or al Qaeda, "and Ajam [non-Arab]" fighters, the statement concluded. Given his job, he may have been killed while filming IMU military operations in Afghanistan or Pakistan.

Background on the IMU

The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan is an al Qaeda-affiliated group whose leadership cadre is based primarily in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan. The terror group operates primarily along the Afghan-Pakistani border and in northern Afghanistan. According to one estimate, more than 3,000 Uzbek, Central Asian, and other foreign fighters belonging to the IMU are sheltering in North Waziristan.

The IMU continues to maintain a close working relationship with al Qaeda, the Taliban, and the Haqqani Network. The Pakistan-based terror group has integrated into the Taliban's shadow government in the Afghan north, and conducts operations with the Haqqani Network in the east. In addition, the IMU has been involved in several high-profile suicide attacks and assassinations in Kabul and in the north.

For more information on the IMU, see LWJ reports, IMU cleric urges Pakistanis to continue sheltering jihadis in Waziristan, and ISAF captures IMU facilitator in Wardak province.

Iraqi police to take over security responsibility in Baghdad

2012-05-30T18:16:56Z

Reaching a major milestone, the Iraqi interior ministry announced yesterday that the Iraqi Army would turn over responsibility for security in the capital of Baghdad to the Iraqi police in July. Iraqi Army units within Baghdad will then redeploy to positions outside of Baghdad.

Traditionally, a police force is tasked with providing for a country's internal security, and its army is tasked with providing security against external threats. In Iraq, however, the Iraqi Army has had responsibility for internal security throughout the country alongside the Iraqi police. This was necessary because the police were insufficiently trained and equipped to handle the level of insurgent violence. But after the surge of US forces in 2007, the violence level diminished significantly. And it has remained low despite the departure of US forces at the end of 2011.

The transfer of security responsibility to the police is particularly notable given that Baghdad is home to a large portion of Iraq's population. The capital city has also seen some of the worst violence of the insurgency.

The transfer in Baghdad constitutes the first step in the transition process. The Iraqi interior ministry expects to turn over additional cities to the police during the summer. Eventually the police will have to take responsibility for internal security for the entire country in order to allow the Army to transition to the normal role of providing for the country's external security.

Emir tells of Taliban's rise to power in remote Pakistani tribal agency

2012-05-30T15:40:52Z

Hafiz Saeed Khan, the Taliban's emir in Arakzai. Image from the SITE Intelligence Group.

The leader for the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan in Arakzai said the Taliban were instrumental in imposing sharia, or Islamic law, in the tribal agency, and vowed to "continue to fight the army."

Umar Studio, a propaganda outlet for the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, released a videotape interview with Hafiz Saeed Khan, who was described as the leader of the group in Arakzai. The interview was released on jihadist web forums in mid-April, but was dated September 2011, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which translated the video.

In the interview, Khan said that until the arrival of a significant number of mujahideen, the Taliban had a strong core of supporters in the Mamuzai area in Arakzai that was prepared to impose sharia in the tribal agency, but "the only problem was the absence of a unifying and implementing force." The establishment of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan in late 2007 and its growth in Arakzai, which at the time was led by Hakeemullah Mehsud, now the terror group's top emir, allowed for the imposition of sharia throughout the tribal agency in December 2008 [see LWJ report, Taliban consolidate control in Arakzai tribal agency].

Khan said that the tribal elders posed the "biggest hurdle" to the rise of the Taliban and the imposition of sharia. The Taliban's solution was to liquidate the tribal leaders who opposed them.

"In the struggle for sharia, the tribal elders of this area were the biggest hurdle for us," Khan said. "Some of the tribal elders fled the area and some of them were killed."

The Arakzai Taliban followed the same strategy that the Taliban perfected in North and South Waziristan [see LWJ report, Anti-Taliban tribal leaders assassinated in Pakistan's northwest]. This strategy was exported to other tribal agencies and even in settled districts in the Northwest, such as Swat and Dir, and is still in use. Tribal leaders who oppose the Taliban are brutally liquidated. The Taliban execute the leaders and dump their bodies on the roadside with notes pinned to their chests branding them as "US spies" and traitors. The bodies are often mutilated and beheaded.

The Taliban have made very public examples of local leaders who have dared to resist. In December 2008, the Swat Taliban executed a local tribal leader named Pir Samiullah, then returned to the village to dig up his body and hang it in the town square. The villagers were warned not to remove his body or they would face the same fate [see LWJ report, Video: Taliban execute Swat tribal leader].

With the tribal opposition out of the way in Arakzai, the Taliban's main enemy became the Pakistani military and government, according to Khan.

"As soon as the internal problems faded away, we faced external problems from the government and the Pakistani army," Khan said. "The army wants us to follow the un-Islamic laws of Pakistan, but we will not give in. We continue to fight the army."

The Pakistani military has battled the Movement of the Taliban Pakistan in Arakzai since 2009. The military has conducted numerous airstrikes and operations in Mamuzai and other regions in Arakzai, but has been unable to eject the Taliban from power.

The Taliban in Arakzai was previously led by Akhunzada Aslam Farooqui, who took control of the Taliban after Hakeemullah was promoted to lead the entire Taliban movement in Pakistan's tribal areas and in the northwest in the summer of 2009. Farooqui was described as the "patron-in-chief" of the Taliban in Arakzai and a "close friend of Mullah Mohammad Omar" back in 2001. At the opening of Operation Enduring Freedom, Farooqui promised to have 12,000 tribesmen to battle US forces in Afghanistan and offered support such as sanctuary and weapons and ammunition. He has claimed to personally lead 7,000 Taliban fighters.

Another senior Taliban commander in Arakzai is Mufti Ilyas, who leads Taliban forces in Darra Adam Khel and is a deputy to Hakeemullah Mehsud. He commands a group that is assigned to assassinate Shia leaders.

'Inside an al Qaeda stronghold in Yemen'

2012-05-29T19:02:14Z

** Click the above image to watch **

A portion of correspondent Ghaith Abdul-Ahad's report on al Qaeda in Yemen for PBS FRONTLINE:

In the above video, Ghaith visits Jaar, which al Qaeda captured a year ago without resistance from the Yemeni Army--which receives arms, training and intelligence from the United States. An al Qaeda spokesman, Fouad, took Ghaith on a tour of the large town and explained the way they are implementing Sharia, Islamic law. On the desolate streets, Ghaith encountered fighters he believed to be from Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

Ghazni firefight II

2012-05-29T14:15:16Z

An Afghan soldier and policeman fire on insurgent positions during a firefight May 17, 2012, near Combat Outpost Giro, Ghazni province, Afghanistan. The Afghans are part of a presence patrol with the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team. US Army photo by Sergeant Michael J. MacLeod.

ISAF kills al Qaeda's 2nd in command for Afghanistan

2012-05-29T11:33:35Z

Al Qaeda's second in command for Afghanistan was killed in Sunday's airstrike in the northeastern Afghan province of Kunar, the Coalition reported.

Sakhr al Taifi, a Saudi al Qaeda leader who was also known as Musthaq and Nasim, and another unnamed al Qaeda fighter were killed in the May 28 airstrike in the Watahpur district Kunar, the International Security Assistance Force stated in a press release. ISAF had initially said yesterday that it targeted an al Qaeda leader and killed two "insurgents" in the strike. Another al Qaeda leader was also targeted the same day in the Dangam district, but it is not known if he was killed in the airstrike.

Al Taifi was the terror group's "second highest leader in Afghanistan, responsible for commanding foreign insurgents, in addition to directing attacks against Coalition and Afghan forces," ISAF said.

He "traveled between Afghanistan and Pakistan, carrying out commands from senior al-Qaeda leadership," ISAF continued. Additionally, al Taifi provided weapons and equipment to "insurgents" based in eastern Afghanistan, and moved "insurgent fighters into Afghanistan."

Al Qaeda operatives and leaders often serve as embedded military trainers for Taliban field units and impart tactics and bomb-making skills to these forces. In addition, al Qaeda frequently supports the Taliban by funding operations and providing weapons and other aid. [See LWJ report, Al Qaeda's paramilitary 'Shadow Army' for more information on al Qaeda's role in Afghanistan.]

For years, the rugged, remote Afghan province of Kunar has served as a sanctuary for al Qaeda and allied terror groups. The presence of al Qaeda cells has been detected in the districts of Asmar, Asadabad, Dangam, Marawana, Pech, Shaikal Shate, Sarkani, Shigal, and Watahpur; or nine of Kunar's 15 districts, according to press releases issued by the International Security Assistance Force that have been compiled by The Long War Journal.

Al Qaeda remains entrenched in Afghanistan and Pakistan despite the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011. A document seized at bin Laden's compound suggested that the actual number of al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan and Afghanistan is much higher than the official estimates provided by the Obama administration over the past three years, which have remained static at 300-400 members in Pakistan and 50-100 in Afghanistan. [See LWJ reports, Bin Laden advised relocation of some leaders to Afghanistan due to drone strikes in Waziristan, and Bin Laden docs hint at large al Qaeda presence in Pakistan.]

Al Qaeda is known to run training camps and have established bases in Kunar, and uses the province to direct operations in the Afghan east. ISAF has targeted several bases and camps in Kunar over the years [see LWJ report, ISAF captures al Qaeda's top Kunar commander, for more details].

Saudis are known to have held senior al Qaeda leadership positions in Kunar province. ISAF has killed three other Saudi leaders in Kunar since the summer of 2010. In April 2011, ISAF killed Abu Hafs al Najdi, al Qaeda's operations chief for Kunar who was wanted by the Saudi government. And in September 2010, ISAF killed Abdallah Umar al Qurayshi and Sa'ad Mohammad al Shahri. Al Qurayshi was a senior al Qaeda commander who coordinated the attacks of a group of Arab fighters in Kunar and Nuristan provinces and also maintained extensive contacts with al Qaeda facilitators throughout the Middle East. Al Shahri was a longtime jihadist and the son of a retired Saudi colonel.

Al Qaeda affiliate and Turaeg rebels merge, create breakaway state in Mali

2012-05-29T00:33:26Z

The secular rebel group of Saharan Tuareg tribesmen known as the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) has agreed to merge with the al Qaeda-supported Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith) Islamist rebel group. The new entity has declared the creation of an autonomous state in northern Mali, the Islamic Republic of Azawad.

After the signing of the accord on May 26, "Colonel" Bouna Ag Attayoub, an MNLA commander in Timbuktu, told the BBC that "[t]he Islamic Republic of Azawad is now an independent sovereign state." The declaration of the breakaway state and the merger of the secular Tuareg rebel movement with the al Qaeda-linked Ansar Dine have deepened the ongoing political and security crisis facing Mali since a coup shook the central government on March 22.

"The Koran will be a source of the laws of the state," said Moussa Ag Acharatoumane, an MNLA spokesman, according to The Telegraph. "But we will apply the things we want and leave aside those we don't. It will not be a strict application of the law." The signing of the accord, which took place in the northern area of Gao and was accompanied by celebratory gunfire, followed last week's brazen seizure of a key Malian military armory by suspected Ansar Dine gunmen in the same area of Gao.

Regional security sources confirmed the attack and seizure of the arms depot, adding that Islamists linked with al Qaeda in Mali are now "more armed than the combined armies of Mali and Burkina Faso," AFP reported. Burkina Faso borders Mali to the east. Islamist rebels are now in the process of implementing sharia law in various urban areas of northern Mali, including Timbuktu.

Mali's northern regions of Kidal, Gao, and Timbuktu have been under the de facto jurisdiction of Tuareg rebels and Ansar Dine since April 1. The Islamist group Ansar Dine had first opposed the MNLA's previous declaration of an independent state in April, preferring to maintain its stance to enforce sharia throughout all of Mali. Similarly, the MNLA had for some time resisted the Islamist views of Ansar Dine and preferred to remain secular. The recently announced merger of MNLA with Ansar Dine and the creation of the Islamic Republic of Azawad have apparently laid to rest the mutual distrust between the groups, at least for now.

Meanwhile, officials in Mali's transitional administration have strongly rejected the merger and partition of the north, and Mali's Communications Minister Hamadoun Toure demanded that "other countries should help Mali tackle al Qaeda in the region," according to the BBC.

The MNLA has fought to make Mali's northern Azawad region, roughly the size of France, into a separate state since Mali's independence from colonial rule in 1960. The Ansar Dine movement is affiliated with al Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb (AQIM), and is determined to implement sharia law across all of Mali.

In mid-April, three senior Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb leaders were spotted in northern Mali after the government lost control of the region. Abu Zeid, Mukhtar Belmukhtar, and Yahya Abu al Hammam reportedly met with Tuareg leader Iyad Ag Ghaly in Timbuktu. Hammam is said to have been named the leader of Islamist forces in Timbuktu.

US drones target local AQAP leaders in Yemen

2012-05-28T15:41:03Z

Kaid al Dhahab, the new AQAP emir for Baydah province. Photo from The Yemen Post.

The US targeted two local leaders of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in the central province of Baydah today. The AQAP leaders survived the strike, but five fighters are reported to have been killed.

Today's drone strike, the ninth by the US in Yemen this month, targeted Kaid al Dhahab, AQAP's emir in the province of Baydah, and his brother Nabil, who is also a senior leader in the terror group, according to The Yemen Post.

The remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers targeted Kaid and Nabil as they were traveling in a convoy in Rada'a, a city in Baydah that was under AQAP control earlier this year. The drones killed five AQAP fighters and wounded four more, according to The Associated Press. US intelligence officials told The Long War Journal that Kaid was the target of the strike.

Kaid took control of AQAP in Baydah after his brother, Tariq, was killed in February by another brother, Hazam, a senior tribal leader in the town who was concerned that Tariq's affiliation with AQAP would incur the wrath of the Yemeni government. Before he was killed, Tariq had seized control of Baydah, raised al Qaeda's banner, sworn allegiance to Ayman al Zawahiri, and warned that "the Islamic Caliphate is coming."

Kaid and Nabil were tasked with regrouping AQAP's forces in Baydah after Tariq's death. The two leaders are also the brothers-in-law of slain AQAP leader and ideologue Anwar al Awlaki.

US strikes in Yemen

The US has now carried at least nine drone strikes in Yemen this month. The last confirmed strike took place on May 19. Other recent airstrikes are believed to have been carried out by the US also, but little evidence has emerged to directly link the attacks to the US.

US is known to have carried out 22 airstrikes against AQAP in Yemen so far this year; one in January, six in March, and at least six more in April, in addition to the nine already in May.

Since December 2009, the CIA and the US military's Joint Special Operations Command are known to have conducted at least 37 air and missile strikes inside Yemen, including today's strike in Baydah province. [For more information on the US airstrikes in Yemen, see LWJ report, Charting the data for US air strikes in Yemen, 2002 - 2012.]

The pace of the US airstrikes has increased as AQAP and its political front, Ansar al Sharia, have taken control of vast areas of southern Yemen. AQAP controls the cities of Zinjibar, Al Koud, Jaar, and Shaqra in Abyan province. The terror group also holds Azzan in Shabwa province.

The Yemeni military has launched an offensive to retake the cities and towns held by AQAP. Heavy fighting has been reported in Zinjibar, Jaar, and Lawdar. Hundreds of AQAP fighters, Yemeni soldiers, and civilians have been reported killed during fighting in recent weeks.

Since the beginning of May 2011, the US is known to have carried out 32 airstrikes in Yemen. This year, the US appears to be targeting both AQAP leaders and foot soldiers in an effort to support Yemeni military operations against the terror group. AQAP has taken control of vast areas in southern Yemen and has been expanding operations against the government, with raids on military bases in locations previously thought to be outside the terror group's control.

Three senior AQAP operatives have been killed in the 22 strikes so far this year. The most recent strike that killed a senior AQAP leader took place on May 6, when the US killed Fahd al Quso in a drone attack in Shabwa province. Quso, who has been described as AQAP's external operations chief, was involved in numerous terrorist attacks, including the 2000 suicide attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 US sailors. The US obtained the information leading to Quso from a Saudi operative who had penetrated AQAP.

On Jan. 31, US drones killed Abdul Mun'im Salim al Fatahani near the city of Lawdar in Abyan province. Fatahani was also involved in the suicide attack on the USS Cole, as well as the bombing that damaged the Limburg oil tanker in 2002. AQAP said that Fatahani had fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The US also killed Mohammed Saeed al Umda (a.k.a. Ghareeb al Taizi) in an April 22 drone strike on a convoy in the Al Samadah area of Marib province. Prior to the downfall of the Taliban regime in 2001, he had attended the Al Farouq military training camp in Afghanistan. Umda served as a member of Osama bin Laden's bodyguard in Afghanistan before returning to Yemen, and was involved in the October 2002 suicide attack on the French oil tanker Limburg. He escaped from a Yemeni jail in 2006.

US intelligence officials believe that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula poses a direct threat to the homeland. The latest AQAP plot against the West, involving an underwear bomb that is nearly undetectable and was to be detonated on an airliner, was foiled earlier this month. The terror group has planned multiple attacks against targets in the US. A strike in Yemen last year killed both Anwar al Awlaki, the radical, US-born cleric who plotted attacks against the US, and Samir Khan, another American who served as a senior AQAP propagandist.

Afghan NDS thwarts terror plot near Kabul airport, arrests Taliban commander

2012-05-28T14:15:28Z

A day after Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) officials broke up a Taliban plot to attack the United States Agency for International Aid (USAID) office in eastern Nangarhar province, NDS operatives captured five suspected Taliban insurgents and 560 kilograms of explosives packed into a minivan near the outskirts of Kabul International Airport. The raid took place around May 23; it remains unclear if the insurgents had intended to attack the airport.

The successful raid marks the second time NDS officials have prevented a terror assault in the vicinity of the sprawling international airport grounds in Kabul. Last summer, NDS broke up a series of Taliban and Haqqani Network terror plots that sought to wreak havoc in Kabul, including a complex assault against the airport grounds. [See Threat Matrix, NDS smashes Haqqani Network plots in Kabul.]

In addition, NDS officials in Helmand province announced on May 27 that Afghan authorities arrested a "senior Taliban leader Nematullah" during a recent operation. Nematullah was allegedly responsible for conducting attacks in the greater Lashkar Gah area. NDS officials also confiscated a variety of weapons and communications equipment during the operation that nabbed Nematullah.

NDS has been aggressively pursuing Taliban leaders and suspected Taliban and Haqqani Network cells throughout Afghanistan, in an effort to further erode the military capabilities of the insurgent infrastructure and prevent major terrorist attacks both within the greater Kabul city area and in other urban centers across the country. In early May, the Taliban announced the launch of their spring offensive, dubbed Al-Farooq, and threatened to target foreign and Afghan security forces, Afghan political and government officials, the Afghan High Peace Council, and anti-Taliban militias.

For previous coverage of NDS operations, see the following Long War Journal and Threat Matrix reports:

NDS smashes Haqqani Network plots in Kabul, July 31, 2011

Elite Afghan force destroys insurgent explosives cache, Aug. 22, 2011

NDS dismantles Kabul Attack Network cell, Aug. 28, 2011

Haqqani Network directed Kabul hotel assault by phone from Pakistan, Sept. 3, 2011

Afghan NDS continues crackdown on counterfeit uniforms, Sept. 5, 2011

Afghan intelligence operations take on significant role, Sept. 21, 2011

Afghan intelligence captures 3 members of northern assassination cell, Feb. 7 2012

Afghan intelligence seizes 11 tons of explosives, thwarts additional terror plots, April 21, 2012

Afghan intelligence thwarts 3rd major terror plot in Kabul, May 3, 2012

Afghan NDS breaks up multiple terror plots across Afghanistan, May 22, 2012

ISAF targets al Qaeda leaders in Kunar

2012-05-28T05:12:54Z

Coalition and Afghan special operations forces targeted two al Qaeda leaders in separate airstrikes today in the northeastern Afghan province on Kunar. The raids are the first reported against al Qaeda by the Coalition since the end of January.

In one raid, the combined special operations team targeted an unnamed "al Qaeda leader" and called in an airstrike in the Dangam district, according to an International Security Assistance Force press release. The al Qaeda leader "facilitates the movement of weapons, equipment and insurgents," and "procures and transports supplies for insurgents throughout the province," ISAF stated. One "insurgent" was reported killed in the airstrike.

In the other operation, the combined Coalition and Afghan force targeted "a senior al Qaeda leader" and launched another airstrike in the Watahpur district, according to ISAF. The al Qaeda leader "coordinates and directs insurgent attacks against Afghan security forces and Coalition troops throughout eastern Afghanistan." He also "supplies weapons and equipment to insurgents." Two "insurgents" were killed in the strike.

Today's announcement of the targeting of the two leaders is the first ISAF press release noting the capture, death, or targeting of an al Qaeda operative since Jan. 30, when an al Qaeda facilitator was captured during a raid in the eastern province of Paktia.

ISAF Joint Command's press desk has previously told The Long War Journal that the lack of reporting on raids against al Qaeda "should not be misinterpreted as lack of operational rigor against those entities."

"ISAF continues to conduct combat operations against the spectrum of insurgent forces through-out Afghanistan year-round," IJC press desk stated on Jan. 30.

Background on al Qaeda's stronghold in Kunar

Kunar is a known haven for al Qaeda and allied terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Six months prior to his death, Osama bin Laden issued instructions to his chief of staff, Atiyah Abd al Rahman, to relocate "hundreds" of commanders and fighters from North Waziristan to Kunar, Nuristan, Ghazni, and Zabul provinces in Afghanistan to avoid targeting by US drone strikes. Bin Laden's letter to Atiyah was dated Oct. 21, 2010. [See LWJ report, Bin Laden advised relocation of some leaders to Afghanistan due to drone strikes in Waziristan.]

It is unclear if bin Laden's instructions were followed, but several al Qaeda leaders and operatives were killed, captured, and targeted in those four provinces after the letter was written. Bin Laden said that "Kunar is more fortified due to its rougher terrain and the many mountains, rivers, and trees and it can accommodate hundreds of the brothers without being spotted by the enemy."

Despite the known presence of al Qaeda camps in Kunar, US troops abandoned several combat outposts in Kunar in late 2009 after major attacks on remote bases. US Army commanders said that the outposts were closed or turned over to Afghan forces as part of a new counterinsurgency strategy to secure population centers. The Taliban have gained control of several districts in Kunar since US forces withdrew from those bases.

But as the US military began drawing down its forces in Kunar in late 2009, it acknowledged that al Qaeda camps were in operation in the province. ISAF noted these camps and bases when it announced the death of an al Qaeda leader during a raid on a base in late 2009, as well as in a press release announcing the deaths of two senior al Qaeda operatives in 2010. On Dec. 1, 2009, ISAF announced that Qari Masiullah, the al Qaeda chief of security for Kunar province, was killed during an operation in Kunar. Masiullah ran a training camp that taught insurgents how to use and emplace IEDs that were used in attacks on Afghan civilians and Afghan and Coalition forces throughout the provinces of Nangarhar, Nuristan, Kunar, and Laghman.

On Oct. 11, 2009, US forces targeted an al Qaeda base in the mountains in Pech. The raid targeted an unnamed al Qaeda commander known to use a mountainside base near the village of Tantil to conduct attacks in the Pech Valley. The al Qaeda leader, who was not named, and his cadre are also known to facilitate the movement of "foreign fighters" from Pakistan into Afghanistan. ISAF uses the term 'foreign fighters' to describe operatives of al Qaeda and allied terror groups from outside Afghanistan.

In September 2010, ISAF identified another al Qaeda camp in Kunar, when US aircraft bombed a compound in the Korengal Valley. Among those killed in the strike were a senior al Qaeda commander and two operatives. Abdallah Umar al Qurayshi, a Saudi, was a senior al Qaeda commander who coordinated the attacks of a group of Arab fighters in Kunar and Nuristan provinces and also maintained extensive contacts with al Qaeda facilitators throughout the Middle East. The other two operatives also killed in the strike were Abu Atta al Kuwaiti, an explosives expert; and Sa'ad Mohammad al Shahri, a longtime jihadist and the son of a retired Saudi colonel.

Special operations teams have been hunting top al Qaeda leaders and its network in Kunar and Nuristan for years. In the summer of 2010, ISAF announced it was hunting Qari Zia Rahman, who serves as the Taliban's top regional commander in the northeast and as a senior military leader in al Qaeda. He operates in Kunar and Nuristan, as well as across the border in Pakistan's tribal agencies of Bajaur and Mohmand. In 2010, Rahman and his network were the targets of three large conventional operations and multiple special operations raids.

US drones kill 8 in pair of strikes in North Waziristan

2012-05-28T04:04:25Z

The US again targeted terrorists operating in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan, killing eight "militants" in two airstrikes.

In the first strike, the unmanned Predators or Reapers fired four missiles at a compound in the village of Hassokhel, near Miramshah, according to AFP. The remotely piloted strike aircraft circled back and fired four more missiles at the compound, Pakistani officials told the news service. One Pakistani official told AFP that Hassokhel "was known for harbouring Uzbek, Arab and other foreign militants." The AFP report said "at least five" militants were killed in the strike.

In the second strike, three more "militants" were killed when the drones fired a pair of missiles at a vehicle in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan, AFP reported.

No senior leaders from al Qaeda, the Taliban, or other allied terror groups have been reported killed in either strike.

A US intelligence official involved in the drone program in the country told The Long War Journal that the strikes would continue now that Pakistan has refused to reopen NATO's supply lines for the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

"There certainly hasn't been a shortage of targets in Pakistan's tribal areas," the official said. "Unfortunately the politics of getting the GLOC into Afghanistan has trumped the targeting of bad guys in Pakistan's tribal areas," the official said, referring to the Ground Lines of Communication.

The drone program was scaled back dramatically from the end of March to the beginning of the fourth week in May. Between March 30 and May 22, the US conducted only three drones strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas as US officials attempted to renegotiate the reopening of NATO's supply lines.

Miramshah serves as the headquarters of the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network, a powerful Taliban subgroup that operates in both Afghanistan and Pakistan and is supported by Pakistan's military and its Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate. The town serves as one of the "ground zeros" of terror groups based in North Waziristan, the US intelligence official told The Long War Journal. Other main centers of terror activity in North Waziristan include Datta Khel, Mir Ali, and the Shawal Valley.

The Haqqani Network is one of four major Taliban groups that have joined the Shura-e-Murakeba, an alliance brokered by al Qaeda late last year. The Shura-e-Murakeba also includes Hafiz Gul Bahadar's group; Mullah Nazir's group; and the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, which is led by Hakeemullah Mehsud and his deputy, Waliur Rehman Mehsud. The members of the Shura-e-Murakeba agreed to cease attacks against Pakistani security forces, refocus efforts against the US, and end kidnappings and other criminal activities in the tribal areas.

The Datta Khel area is administered by Hafiz Gul Bahadar, the Taliban commander for North Waziristan. Bahadar provides shelter to top al Qaeda leaders as well as terrorists from numerous Pakistani and Central Asian terror groups.

Datta Khel is a known hub of Taliban, Haqqani Network, and al Qaeda activity. While Bahadar administers the region, the Haqqani Network, al Qaeda, and allied Central Asian jihadi groups are also based in the area. The Lashkar al Zil, al Qaeda's Shadow Army, is known to have a command center in Datta Khel. Some of al Qaeda's top leaders, including Mustafa Abu Yazid, a longtime al Qaeda leader and close confidant of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri, Abdullah Said al Libi, the commander of the Shadow Army, and Zuhaib al Zahibi, a general in the Shadow Army, have been killed in drone strikes in Datta Khel.

Background on the US strikes in Pakistan

The US has now launched five strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas in the past six days, and six strikes total this month. The US launched the first of the last five strikes just one day after failing to convince Pakistan at a NATO summit in Chicago to reopen the supply lines to Afghanistan. Pakistan closed the supply lines following the Mohmand incident in November 2011, in which US troops killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. The Pakistani soldiers were killed after they opened fire on US troops operating across the border in Kunar province, Afghanistan.

The US has carried out 18 strikes so far this year. Three took place in South Waziristan, and 15 in North Waziristan. Ten of the 15 strikes in North Waziristan have been executed in or around Miramshah.

Two high-value targets have been killed in the strikes this year. A Jan. 11 strike killed Aslam Awan, a deputy to the leader of al Qaeda's external operations network. The US also killed Badr Mansoor, a senior Taliban and al Qaeda leader, in a Feb. 8 strike in Miramshah's bazaar.

The program has been scaled down from its peak in 2010, when the US conducted 117 strikes, according to data collected by The Long War Journal. In 2011, the US carried out just 64 strikes in Pakistan's border regions. With only 17 strikes in the first five months of 2012, the US is on a pace to carry out just 36 strikes in Pakistan this year.

So far this year, the US has launched more strikes in Yemen (21) against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula than it has launched against al Qaeda and allied terror groups in Pakistan. In 2011, however, the US launched only 10 airstrikes in Yemen, versus 64 in Pakistan.