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July 3, 2010 Taliban commander linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba detained in eastern Afghanistan Banner of the Jamaat-ud Dawa, the front group for the Lashkar-e-Taiba. A combined Coalition and Afghan force detained a Taliban commander who is linked to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, or Army of the Pure, during a raid in eastern Afghanistan. The Taliban commander, who was not named, was detained along with a Taliban facilitator and two fighters during a raid in the eastern province of Nangarhar, the International Security Assistance Force reported in a press release. "The commander is directly linked to the Taliban emir of Khogyani district and assisted with the recent influx of Lashkar-e Taiba (LeT) insurgents into the province," ISAF stated. Lashkar-e-Taiba has been linked to numerous complex attacks in eastern Afghanistan and in Kabul. Its fighters are believed to have worked with the Haqqani Network, run by Siraj Haqqani, to carry out attack attacks on Indian targets in Kabul, including two this year. Lashkar-e-Taiba fighters fought alongside al Qaeda and Taliban in multiple engagements against US and Afghan forces in the east, including the assault on the US combat outpost in Wanat in Nuristan province, Afghanistan in July 2008. Nine US troops were killed, and 15 US soldiers and four Afghan troops were wounded in the heavy fight that nearly ended in the outpost being overrun. US forces ultimately defeated the attack, but withdrew from the outpost days later. Lashkar-e-Taiba is thought to have a presence in several of Afghanistan's eastern provinces, including, Kunar, Nuristan, Nangarhar, Laghman, Paktia, Paktika, Khost. and Kabul. The terror group is known to have run training camps in Kunar and Paktia provinces up until the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Lashkar-e-Taiban also currently operates camps in Pakistan in Mansehre, Sindh, and Punjab, and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Pakistan's military and the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate supportes Lashkar-e-Taiba as part of its so-called strategic depth against rival India. The terror group essential runs a state within a state of Pakistan. The sprawling Muridke complex in Punjab houses "a Madrassa (seminary), a hospital, a market, a large residential area for 'scholars' and faculty members, a fish farm and agricultural tracts. The LeT also reportedly operates 16 Islamic institutions, 135 secondary schools, an ambulance service, mobile clinics, blood banks and several seminaries across Pakistan." The Lashkar-e-Taiba has established an organization that rivals Lebanese Hezbollah. The group succeeded in providing aid to earthquake-ravaged regions in Kashmir in 2005 while the Pakistani government was slow to act. Lashkar-e-Taiba is active in fundraising across the Middle East and South Asia, and has recruited scores of Westerners to train in its camps. The most well-known western recruit is David Coleman Headley, an American citizen who helped scout the deadly November 2008 Mumbai terror assault and also plotted attacks in Europe. Like al Qaeda, the Lashkar-e-Taiba seeks to establish a Muslim caliphate in southern and central Asia. Lashkar-e-Taiba "consistently advocated the use of force and vowed that it would plant the 'flag of Islam' in Washington, Tel Aviv and New Delhi," the Southeast Asia Terrorism Portal reported. Also, like al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba practices Wahabism, the radical Islamist school of thought born in Saudi Arabia. Lashkar-e-Taiba has an extensive network in southern and Southeast Asia. A senior US military intelligence official described the group as "al Qaeda junior," as it has vast resources and is able to carry out complex attacks throughout its area of operations. "If by some stroke of luck al Qaeda collapsed, LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) could step in and essentially take its place," the official told The Long War Journal in November 2008. The relationship between al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba is complex, the official noted. "While Lashkar-e-Taiba is definitely subordinate to al Qaeda in many ways, it runs its own network and has its own command structure. The groups often train in each others' camps, and fight side by side in Afghanistan." The US government designated Lashkar-e-Taiba as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in December 2001. The Pakistani government banned the group in January 2002, but this did little to shut down its operations. The group renamed itself the Jamaat-ud-Dawa and conducted business as usual. July 2, 2010 FDD Applauds President Obama and Congress for Enacting Tough Iran Sanctions Press Release July 1, 2010 CONTACT: Judy Mayka 202-621-3948 judy@defenddemocracy.org FDD Applauds President Obama and Congress... July 2, 2010 Suicide assault team targets development office in Kunduz A Taliban suicide assault team attacked a compound run by a development contractor for USAID in the northern province of Kunduz early this morning. The attack began at about 3:30 a.m., when a suicide bomber rammed a truck packed with explosives into the outer wall of a compound used by Development Alternatives Inc., a US-based contractor for USAID. The suicide bomber breached the outer wall of the compound, and five heavily armed Taliban fighters wearing suicide vests moved into the compound and began to open fire. Afghan security forces responded to the attack and fought a pitched battle with the terrorists which lasted several hours. The five Taliban suicide bombers, an Afghan policeman, an Afghan security guard protecting the compound, and two foreigners were killed during the fighting. One German national was among those killed. The Taliban quickly took credit for the suicide assault and claimed that 55 foreign nationals were killed during the attack on a "training center," The Associated Press reported. The Taliban wildly exaggerate the effects of their attacks and resultant Coalition and Afghan casualties. In propaganda statements released on their website, Voice of Jihad, the Taliban make daily claims that scores of soldiers are killed and dozens of vehicles are destroyed. Today's suicide assault is the second in three days in the war-torn country. On June 30, a Taliban suicide assault team attempted to storm Jalalabad Airfield in the eastern province of Nangarhar. The assault was repelled and eight Taliban fighters were killed. Background on the Taliban strongholds in the north Over the past two years, the security situation in the northern provinces of Kunduz and Baghlan has deteriorated. The Taliban, Hezb-i-Islami Gulbuddin (HIG), the Haqqani Network, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan all have a presence in the two provinces and have been attacking Coalition and Afghan forces as well as NATO supply lines from Tajikistan. The Taliban and allied terror groups maintain safe havens in Baghlan and Kunduz, and control large portions of the provinces. Of the seven districts in Kunduz province, only two are considered under government control; the rest of the districts - Chahara Dara, Dashti Archi, Ali Abab, Khan Abad, and Iman Sahib - are considered contested or under Taliban control, according to a map produced by Afghanistan's Interior Ministry in the spring of 2009. Two districts in neighboring Baghlan province - Baghlan-i-Jadid and Burka - are under the control of the Taliban [see LWJ report, "Afghan forces and Taliban clash in Kunduz," and Threat Matrix report, "Afghanistan' s wild-wild North"]. Kunduz and Baghlan fall under ISAF's Regional Command North, which is led by the Germans. The Germans have been criticized by the Afghan government and Coalition partners for failing to aid in securing the north. German troops are restricted from actively engaging in major combat operations and have largely confined their forces to base. US forces have recently deployed to Kunduz and have been battling the Taliban. Kunduz has been the scene of heavy fighting over the past year. On May 13, combined Afghan and Coalition forces killed 41 Taliban fighters during operations. On April 24, combined forces killed 23 Taliban fighters in Kunduz province. The largest Taliban loss took place during an operation in Kunduz in early November 2009; the Afghan military claimed 133 Taliban fighters were killed. The most high-profile event in Kunduz took place on Sept. 4, 2009, when Coalition fighters bombed fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban; more than 60 Taliban fighters and 40 civilians were killed. The top Taliban leaders for the two northern provinces have also been detained or killed this year. The Pakistanis reportedly detained the Taliban's shadow governors for Kunduz and Baghlan in February. In April, the Afghan military claimed that the newly-named, replacement shadow governor for Kunduz was killed along with three aides. Earlier this year, Baghlan was the scene of a local internecine battle between the Taliban and allied HIG. Seventy HIG fighters and 50 Taliban fighters were killed in fighting in the Baghlan-e-Markazi district after disagreements arose over collecting taxes. Scores of HIG fighters defected to the government after being defeated. There is no indication, however, that the taxation dispute between the two groups that spiraled into fighting has spread beyond the Baghlan-e-Markazi district. But despite the Taliban's losses in the north, the group remains in firm control of several districts. The Taliban have launched an assassination campaign and have also been accused of releasing poisonous gases in girls' schools in Kunduz. Scores of Afghan schoolgirls have been hospitalized over the past several months due to the gas attacks. July 2, 2010 They’re Stoning Another Woman to Death in Iran Even though her "confession" (adultery) came only after 99 lashes and she doesn't speak Farsi. She has retracted the confession. But you know, the rules are the rules.... July 2, 2010 Here Comes the UN’ s New ‘Gender Entity’ If there’s one thing you can count on the United Nations to do, it is to endlessly expand. Thus has the UN after the thrill of “intense eleventh hour negotiations,” cleared the last remaining “political hurdles” for the creation of what the Inter Press Service descibes as a “New Gender Entity.” Officially this new outfit will [...] July 2, 2010 Happy Birthday, Modern World That’s what the 4th is, the modern world’s birthday. Those who signed the Declaration knew it was a revolutionary event–rulers must henceforth be accountable to the people... July 2, 2010 Being American This weekend, on July 4, Americans celebrate the 234th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Over the burgers and sweet corn, that’s always a good day to think about what, exactly... July 1, 2010 Coalition, Afghan forces capture Taliban commander in Helmand A combined Coalition and Afghan force killed 31 Taliban fighters and captured a senior commander during a raid last night in Helmand. The combined force clashed with the Taliban for four... July 1, 2010 41 killed in triple suicide attack at Sufi shrine in Lahore Suicide bombers have again struck a religious site in the capital of Pakistan's eastern province of Punjab. Today three suicide bombers detonated vests at the Data Ganj Bakhsh shrine in Lahore, killing 41 people and wounding more than 170. Of those wounded, 24 are said to be in critical condition. The three bombers entered the compound undetected and detonated their vests at the Sufi shrine just minutes apart. The suicide vests were packed with ball bearings to maximize casualties. One of the suicide bombers threw hand grenades at worshipers before detonating his vest. The attack took place on a Thursday, when the number of visitors at the shrine is highest. Today's attack is the first major terrorist strike outside of Pakistani's tribal areas since the May 28 armed assaults on two Ahmadi mosques in Lahore. On that day, two squads of heavily armed Taliban fighters from the so-called Punjabi Taliban entered the two mosques in the provincial capital of Punjab during Friday prayers and opened fire and hurled grenades at worshipers of the Ahmadi sect of Islam. The Ahmadis are banned from calling themselves Muslims by the Pakistani government, and the group is widely discriminated against in the country. The Punjabi Taliban also carried out several attacks in Lahore in mid-March. On March 8, a suicide bomber rammed his car packed with explosives into a Federal Investigation Agency building, killing 11 people. Four days later, on March 12, a pair of suicide bombers attacked Pakistani Army vehicles at a bazaar in a military cantonment in the city, killing more than 50 people. The Punjabi Taliban includes members and factions of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in particular is well known for carrying out sectarian terror attacks against minority Shia, Ahmadis, Sufis, and Christians in Pakistan. Over the past few years, the Taliban have shown no reservations about striking inside mosques and other religious sites [see list below]. There have been 22 major attacks on mosques and other Islamic institutions in Pakistan since December 2007, according to information compiled by The Long War Journal. One of the most brazen attacks took place on Dec. 4, 2009, when a suicide assault team stormed a mosque frequented by military officers in Rawalpindi. Two senior generals were among the 40 people killed. Major attacks at mosques, religious events, and Islamic institutions in Pakistan since December 2007: July 1, 2010: Suicide bombers detonated at the Data Ganj Bakhsh shrine in Lahore, killing 41 people and wounding more than 170. May 28, 2010: The Punjabi Taliban assaulted two Ahamadi mosques in Lahore, killing more than 70 people. Dec. 18, 2009: A suicide bomber detonated inside a mosque frequented by policemen in Lower Dir, killing 12. Dec. 4, 2009: A suicide assault team stormed a mosque in Rawalpindi that is frequented by Army officers, killing 40. Oct. 20, 2009: A pair of suicide bombers detonated their vests at Islamabad's International Islamic University, killing five. June 12, 2009: A suicide bomber killed five Pakistanis, including anti-Taliban cleric Dr. Sarfraz Naeemi, in an attack on a mosque in Lahore during Friday prayers. June 12, 2009: A suicide bomber killed six worshipers and wounded more than 90 in an attack inside a mosque in Nowshera. The attack collapsed the dome of the mosque. June 5, 2009: A suicide bomber killed 49 worshipers in an attack on a mosque in a remote village in Dir. April 5, 2009: A suicide bomber killed 24 worshipers and wounded more than 100 in an attack outside a Shia religious center in the Chakwal district in Punjab province. March 27, 2009: A Taliban suicide bomber killed more than 70 worshipers and wounded more than 125 in an attack at a mosque in the Khyber tribal agency. March 5, 2009: An attacker threw a hand grenade into the middle of a mosque in Dera Ismail Khan, wounding 25 worshipers. March 2, 2009: A suicide bomber killed six people during an attack at a gathering in a mosque in the Pishin district in Baluchistan. Feb. 20, 2008: A suicide bomber killed 32 Pakistanis and wounded more than 85 in an attack on a funeral procession for a Shia elder who was murdered in Dera Ismail Khan. Feb. 5, 2009: A suicide attack outside a mosque killed more than 30 Shia worshipers and wounded more than 50. Nov. 22, 2008: A bombing at a mosque in Hangu killed five civilians and wounded seven. Nov. 21, 2008: A suicide attack on a funeral procession in Dera Ismail Khan killed 10 mourners and wounded more than 25. Sept. 10, 2008: The Taliban attacked a mosque filled with Ramadan worshipers in the district of Dir in northwestern Pakistan. More than 25 worshipers were killed and more than 50 were wounded. Aug. 19, 2008: A suicide bomber killed 29 Shia mourners and wounded 35 after detonating in the emergency ward of a hospital. June 17, 2008: Four Pakistanis were killed and three wounded in a bombing at a Shia mosque in Dera Ismail Khan. May 19, 2008: Four Pakistanis were killed in a bombing outside a mosque in Bajaur. Jan. 17, 2008: A suicide bomber killed 10 and wounded 25 in an attack on a Shia mosque in Peshawar. Dec. 28, 2007: A suicide bomber detonated in the middle of a mosque in Charsadda in an attempt to kill former Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao as he conducted Eid prayers. More than 50 were killed and more than 200 were wounded. July 1, 2010 FDD Applauds President Obama and Congress for Enacting Tough Iran Sanctions "In signing this bill, President Obama gains more power than any previous president has had to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, supporting terrorism, and abusing its own people. The Obama administration and Congress deserve credit for establishing this authority," said Mark Dubowitz, director of FDD's Iran Energy Project. "With time running out, and the centrifuges spinning, the White House must enforce these sanctions." July 1, 2010 A Bipartisan Moment In the film version of “Charlie Wilson’s War,” the rich and sexy political activist Joanne Herring asks the eponymous representative from Texas: “Why is Congress saying on... July 1, 2010 Don’t Let Hezbollah Off The Hook The Israelis have vowed to intercept the latest "peace flotilla" now en route to Gaza from Lebanon, as they have other would-be blockade-busters -- and they have every right to, since new evidenc... 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A small team of Taliban fighters, estimated at six to eight fighters, launched a complex attack against the main gate of Jalalabad Airfield. The Taliban "attacked Jalalabad airfield this morning using a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, rocket-propelled grenades, and small arms fire," the International Security Assistance Force stated in a press release. The attack began when a suicide bomber detonated at the main gate in an attempt to create a breach in the security perimeter. The Taliban assault team attempted to enter the base after the suicide bombing, but were repelled during a firefight with US and Afghan security forces manning the perimeter. The Taliban claimed to have entered the airfield and claimed to have killed "dozens" of US and Afghan troops, but ISAF dismissed the reports and said only two troops were wounded during the attack. "The airfield's perimeter was not breached, and several insurgents were killed during the attack," ISAF stated in a press release. "Two combined security force members received minor injuries; there are no reports of civilian injuries." The Taliban wildly exaggerate the effects of their attacks and resultant Coalition and Afghan casualties. The Taliban, in propaganda statements released on their website, Voice of Jihad, claim that scores of soldiers are killed and dozens of vehicles are destroyed daily. The Taliban also stated that the attack was designed to "send a message to David Petraeus," the newly appointed commander of ISAF who replaced outgoing commander General Stanley McChrystal, who resigned week, Al Jazeera reported. General Petraeus, who led US forces during the "surge" in Iraq in 2007-2008, said he would review the existing restrictive rules of engagement during testimony to Congress yesterday. Today's assault on Jalalabad Airfield is the latest failed Taliban attempt to penetrate the security of a major air base. The first such attack took place on May 19, when a Taliban assault team attempted to storm the US airbase in Bagram in Parwan province, but was beaten back by US forces defending the base. An estimated 30 to 40 Taliban fighters carried out the assault. During the attack, 16 Taliban fighters, including four suicide bombers, as well as a US military contractor were killed. The second attack took place on May 22, when a Taliban assault team launched a coordinated attack against Kandahar Airfield, the largest base in southern Afghanistan and a major hub for operations in the south. The attack was repelled by Coalition forces, but no estimate of the size of the Taliban force was released. The Taliban attacks are designed to break the will of the Coalition and demonstrate that Taliban forces can strike in the heart of Afghanistan as well as along the periphery. Earlier this month, the Taliban announced that it would begin operation Al Faath, or Victory, on May 10. The Taliban said it would target Coalition and Afghan forces, their bases, the Afghan government, security and logistics companies, and anyone supporting the "foreign forces." June 30, 2010 Beyond Gasoline: Congress Targets Iran’s Access to Critical Energy Know-How This past week, 507 members of the United States Congress passed the toughest Iran sanctions legislation in history, with only eight members opposing. The bill, which President Obama is expected... June 30, 2010 Europe Will Never Forgive Israel For The Holocaust As an Israeli psychoanalyst once noted with bitter irony, the Germans will never forgive the Jews for Auschwitz. The corollary to this observation is that Europeans will never forgive the Israeli... June 29, 2010 That Russian Spy Ring The New York Times story about it contains several highly amusing lines. For example, Jessie Gugig, 15, said she c... June 29, 2010 US strikes al Qaeda safehouse in South Waziristan The US killed seven terrorists in an airstrike on a known al Qaeda compound in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of South Waziristan. The Predator strike is the seven this month. An unmanned Predator or the more deadly Reaper fired two missiles at a compound in the village of Karikot near Wana, the main town in South Waziristan. The compound is known to be used by al Qaeda operatives in the area. Seven people were reported killed in the strike, according to Geo News. Dawn put the number of killed at six. No senior al Qaeda or Taliban commanders or operatives were reported killed. Wana is under the control of Mullah Nazir, the leader of the Taliban in the Waziri tribal areas in South Waziristan. Pakistan's military and intelligence services consider Nazir and his followers "good Taliban" as they do not openly seek the overthrow of the Pakistani state. However, Nazir openly supports Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden, and wages jihad in Afghanistan; more senior al Qaeda leaders have been killed in Nazir's tribal areas during the US air campaign than in those of any other Taliban leader in Pakistan. In the summer of 2009, just prior to launching a military operation against the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan in the Mehsud tribal areas in South Waziristan, the military agreed to a peace deal with Nazir as well as with North Waziristan Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadar. Nazir and Bahadar are not members of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. Bahadar and the Haqqani Network, which is also based in North Waziristan, are also considered "good" Taliban by the Pakistani government and military. The peace agreement allows for the Pakistani military to move through Nazir and Bahadar's tribal areas without being attacked. Another condition of the agreement prohibits Bahadar and Nazir from providing shelter to fleeing members of the Mehsud branch of the Taliban. But Taliban fighters from the Mehsud tribal areas have sought shelter with Mullah Nazir in the Wazir tribal areas, and the rearguard fighters still opposing the Army's advance are receiving support from Nazir's forces, US military and intelligence officials have told The Long War Journal, despite a promise to eject the Mehsud Taliban and al Qaeda fighters. Background on US strikes in Pakistan Today's strike is the seventh reported inside Pakistan this month. Three of the six prior strikes took place over the course of 24 hours on June 10-11. So far this year, the US has carried out 45 strikes in Pakistan; all but three, including the strike today, have taken place in North Waziristan. The other two strikes took place in South Waziristan and the tribal agency of Khyber. The US is well on its way to exceeding last year' s strike total in Pakistan. In 2009, the US carried out 53 strikes in Pakistan; and in 2008, the US carried out 36 strikes in the country. [For up-to-date charts on the US air campaign in Pakistan, see LWJ Special Report, "Charting the data for US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2010."] Three al Qaeda military commanders and a Taliban commander were killed in airstrikes this month. The first strike, on June 10, killed two low-level Arab al Qaeda military commanders and a Turkish foreign fighter. A US attack on June 19 in Mir Ali killed an al Qaeda commander named Abu Ahmed, 11 members of the Islamic Jihad Group, and four Taliban fighters. On June 27, a Taliban commander known as Hamza Mehsud was killed. Over the past several months, unmanned US Predator and Reaper strike aircraft have been pounding Taliban and al Qaeda hideouts in North Waziristan, and have also struck at targets in South Waziristan and Khyber, in an effort to kill senior terror leaders and disrupt the networks that threaten Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the West. [For more information, see LWJ report, "Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2010."] In early April, a top terrorist leader claimed that the US program had been crippled. Siraj Haqqani, the leader of the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network, said that the effectiveness of US airstrikes in killing senior Taliban and al Qaeda leaders had 'decreased 90 percent" since the Dec. 30, 2009, suicide attack on Combat Outpost Chapman in Khost, Afghanistan, that killed seven CIA employees and a Jordanian intelligence officer. While other factors may be involved in the decreased effectiveness in killing the top-tier leaders, an analysis of the data shows that only three top-tier commanders have been killed since Jan 1, 2010, but seven top-tier leaders were killed between Aug. 1, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2009. [See LWJ report, "Effectiveness of US strikes in Pakistan 'decreased 90 percent' since suicide strike on CIA - Siraj Haqqani," for more information.] But the US scored its biggest success in the air campaign in Pakistan last month. On May 21, a US strike in North Waziristan killed Mustafa Abu Yazid, one of al Qaeda's top leaders, and the most senior al Qaeda leader to have been killed in the US air campaign in Pakistan to date. Yazid served as the leader of al Qaeda in Afghanistan and the wider Khorasan, and more importantly, as al Qaeda's top financier, which put him in charge of the terror group's purse strings. He served on al Qaeda's Shura Majlis, or top decision-making council. Yazid also was closely allied with the Taliban and advocated the program of embedding small al Qaeda teams with Taliban forces in Afghanistan. Pakistani and US officials believed that one of the top Taliban leaders in Pakistan was killed in a strike this year. Up until May 2, most US and Pakistani officials believed that Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, had been killed in a Jan. 14 strike in Pasalkot in North Waziristan. The CIA had been furiously hunting Hakeemullah after he appeared on a videotape with the suicide bomber who carried out the attack on Combat Outpost Chapman. But after four months of silence on the subject, the Taliban released two tapes to prove that Hakeemullah is alive. On both of the tapes, Hakeemullah said the Taliban will carry out attacks inside the US. The tapes were released within 24 hours of an attempted car bombing in New York City by Faisal Shahzad, who was trained by the Taliban in North Waziristan. Hakeemullah's tapes were released along with another by his deputy, Qari Hussain Mehsud, who claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing in New York City. US strikes in Pakistan in 2010: ' US strikes al Qaeda safehouse in South Waziristan June 29, 2010 ' Taliban commander reported killed in US strike in North Waziristan June 27, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 2 in North Waziristan June 26, 2010 ' US strike kills 16 in North Waziristan June 19, 2010 ' US kills 14 in 2 strikes in North Waziristan June 11, 2010 ' US Predator strike kills 3 in North Waziristan June 10, 2010 ' US kills 11 in Predator strike in South Waziristan May 28, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 6 in North Waziristan May 21, 2010 ' US Predators carry out first strike in Khyber May 15, 2010 ' US pounds Taliban in pair of strikes in North Waziristan May 11, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 10 'rebels' in North Waziristan May 9, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 4 'militants' in North Waziristan May 3, 2010 ' US strike kills 8 Taliban in North Waziristan April 26, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 7 Taliban in North Waziristan April 24, 2010 ' US strikes kill 6 in North Waziristan April 16, 2010 ' US strike kills 4 in Taliban stronghold of North Waziristan April 14, 2010 ' US strike kills 5 Taliban in North Waziristan April 12, 2010 ' US strikes kill 6 in North Waziristan March 30, 2010 ' US strike kills 4 in North Waziristan March 27, 2010 ' US kills 6 in strike against Haqqani Network March 23, 2010 ' US strike kills 4 in North Waziristan March 21, 2010 ' US kills 8 terrorists in 2 new airstrikes in North Waziristan March 17, 2010 ' US Predator strike in North Waziristan kills 11 Taliban, al Qaeda March 16, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 12 in North Waziristan March 10, 2010 ' US airstrike in North Waziristan kills 5 Taliban fighters March 8, 2010 ' US hits Haqqani Network in North Waziristan, kills 8 Feb. 24, 2010 ' US airstrikes target Haqqani Network in North Waziristan Feb. 18, 2010 ' Latest US airstrike kills 3 in North Waziristan Feb. 17, 2010 ' US strike kills 4 in North Waziristan Feb. 15, 2010 ' US strikes training camp in North Waziristan Feb. 14, 2010 ' Predators pound terrorist camp in North Waziristan Feb. 2, 2010 ' US airstrike targets Haqqani Network in North Waziristan Jan. 29, 2010 ' US airstrike in North Waziristan kills 6 Jan. 19, 2010 ' Latest US airstrike in Pakistan kills 20 Jan. 17, 2010 ' US strikes kill 11 in North Waziristan Jan. 15, 2010 ' US airstrike hits Taliban camp in North Waziristan Jan. 14, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 4 Taliban fighters in North Waziristan Jan. 9, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 5 in North Waziristan Jan. 8, 2010 ' US kills 17 in latest North Waziristan strike Jan. 6, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 2 Taliban fighters in Mir Ali in Pakistan Jan. 3, 2010 ' US kills 3 Taliban in second strike in North Waziristan Jan. 1, 2010 June 29, 2010 U.S. & Afghan Forces Launch Offensive in Northeast Afghanistan Last fall, the U.S. military decided to withdraw forces from remote districts in eastern Afghanistan, particularly in the provinces of Kunar and Nuristan, where isolated outposts were routinely a... 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More than 700 US and Afghan troops were inserted by US Black Hawk helicopters into the Marawara district in Kunar province on Sunday and immediately came under fire from a large force of Taliban fighters, estimated at more than 200 men. Soon more Taliban fighters poured into the area to battle the battalion-sized assault force. "Once the battle began, others from the area tried to maneuver into the area," Colonel Andrew Poppas, the US Army commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, told The Washington Post. "This was a tough fight." The US military claimed that more than 150 Taliban fighters were killed in the attack during heavy fighting. Two US soldiers and one Afghan soldier were reported to have been killed during the assault. The intense fighting ended earlier today, and US and Afghan forces are establishing security outposts in the remote district. The US military announced the operation on Sunday but would not disclose details of the offensive to The Long War Journal, citing "operational security" concerns. Details of the operation in Kunar were later provided to The Washington Post by military officers in eastern Afghanistan. On Sunday, the US military said that the operation targeted "al Qaeda and Taliban leadership in the area." The names of the al Qaeda and Taliban leaders were not disclosed, and no senior leaders have been reported killed or captured at this time. Taliban commander Qari Zia Rahman is the group's top regional commander. Rahman operates in Kunar and neighboring Nuristan provinces, and also operates across the border in Pakistan's tribal agency of Bajaur. The Pakistani government claimed they killed Rahman in an airstrike earlier this year, but he spoke to the media and mocked Pakistan's interior minister for wrongly reporting his death. It is unclear if the assault in Marawara marks a shift from the US' strategy of retreating from the remote outposts in eastern Afghanistan. Last fall, ISAF began withdrawing forces from remote districts in Nuristan and neighboring Kunar province as part of its new counterinsurgency plan that emphasizes securing major population centers over rural areas. According to ISAF commanders, the remote provinces of Nuristan and Kunar will be dealt with after more strategic regions in the south, east, and north have been addressed. While US officials have viewed northeastern Afghanistan as less strategically significant than the south and east, the Taliban have seized on the opportunity to carve out safe havens in the region, which has facilitated the flow of insurgents into the region from Pakistan. Last fall, a US military official told The Long War Journal that the abandonment of these provinces would force the US and the Afghan military to retake the ground. "Kunar and Nuristan have become magnets [for the Taliban and al Qaeda] in the northeast and we're eventually going to have to deal with that problem," the official said. The withdrawal of US forces from the outposts in Kunar and neighboring Nuristan province over the past year has provided the Taliban with major propaganda victories. The Taliban released propaganda tapes showing large-scale assaults on the US outposts followed by scenes of the Taliban occupying the abandoned bases. Weapons and ammunition that had been hastily abandoned by US and Afghan forces were displayed by the Taliban in the tapes. The outposts in Nuristan and Kunar were initially created in 2006 as part of a plan to establish a string of bases to interdict Taliban fighters and supplies moving across the border from Pakistan. But the plan was not completed, because US forces were diverted to the south in Kandahar after the Taliban began launching increasingly sophisticated attacks. June 28, 2010 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.... June 27, 2010 US strike kills 5 in North Waziristan The US has carried out its second airstrike in 24 hours in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan. Today's strike took place in the village of Tabbi Tolkhel near Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan. An unmanned Predator or the more deadly Reaper fired two missiles at a known "militant compound" in the village, Pakistani intelligence officials told Geo News. Five people were reported to have been killed, but their identities are not yet known, according to Dawn News. Geo News put the number of people killed at three, and claimed they were all "rebels," a term used to describe the Taliban, al Qaeda, and the vast number of Central and South Asian terror groups operating in North Waziristan. The Miramshah region is a stronghold of the Haqqani Network, the al Qaeda-linked terror group that operates in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Haqqani Network is supported by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence directorate and operates under the aegis of the Quetta Shura, the top Afghan Taliban council led by Mullah Mohammed Omar. Siraj Haqqani leads the Miramshah shura, one of the four regional councils for the Afghan Taliban. He also sits on al Qaeda's Shura Majlis, or top decision-making body. Siraj is reported to have met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai earlier this week at the behest of General General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Pakistan's top military leader, and Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the head of Pakistan's terrorist-linked Inter-Services Intelligence directorate. The meeting was designed to negotiate an end to the Afghan insurgency and bring the Haqqani Network into the government. Background on US strikes in Pakistan Today's strike was preceded by another on Saturday, when a US Predator fired a missile at a compound in the Mir Ali region in North Waziristan. Two "militants" were reported to have been killed, but their identities have not been disclosed. Today's strike is the sixth reported inside Pakistan this month. Three of the five prior strikes took place over the course of 24 hours on June 10-11. The first strike, on June 10, killed two low-level Arab al Qaeda military commanders and a Turkish foreign fighter. A US attack on June 19 in Mir Ali killed an al Qaeda commander named Abu Ahmed, 11 members of the Islamic Jihad Group, and four Taliban fighters. So far this year, the US has carried out 44 strikes in Pakistan; all but two of them have taken place in North Waziristan. The US is well on its way to exceeding last year' s strike total in Pakistan. In 2009, the US carried out 53 strikes in Pakistan; and in 2008, the US carried out 36 strikes in the country. [For up-to-date charts on the US air campaign in Pakistan, see LWJ Special Report, "Charting the data for US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2010."] Over the past several months, unmanned US Predator and Reaper strike aircraft have been pounding Taliban and al Qaeda hideouts in North Waziristan, and have also struck at targets in South Waziristan and Khyber, in an effort to kill senior terror leaders and disrupt the networks that threaten Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the West. [For more information, see LWJ report, "Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2010."] In early April, a top terrorist leader claimed that the US program had been crippled. Siraj Haqqani, the leader of the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network, said that the effectiveness of US airstrikes in killing senior Taliban and al Qaeda leaders had 'decreased 90 percent" since the Dec. 30, 2009, suicide attack on Combat Outpost Chapman in Khost, Afghanistan, that killed seven CIA employees and a Jordanian intelligence officer. While other factors may be involved in the decreased effectiveness in killing the top-tier leaders, an analysis of the data shows that only three top-tier commanders have been killed since Jan 1, 2010, but seven top-tier leaders were killed between Aug. 1, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2009. [See LWJ report, "Effectiveness of US strikes in Pakistan 'decreased 90 percent' since suicide strike on CIA - Siraj Haqqani," for more information.] But the US scored its biggest success in the air campaign in Pakistan last month. On May 21, a US strike in North Waziristan killed Mustafa Abu Yazid, one of al Qaeda's top leaders, and the most senior al Qaeda leader to have been killed in the US air campaign in Pakistan to date. Yazid served as the leader of al Qaeda in Afghanistan and the wider Khorasan, and more importantly, as al Qaeda's top financier, which put him in charge of the terror group's purse strings. He served on al Qaeda's Shura Majlis, or top decision-making council. Yazid also was closely allied with the Taliban and advocated the program of embedding small al Qaeda teams with Taliban forces in Afghanistan. Pakistani and US officials believed that one of the top Taliban leaders in Pakistan was killed in a strike this year. Up until May 2, most US and Pakistani officials believed that Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, had been killed in a Jan. 14 strike in Pasalkot in North Waziristan. The CIA had been furiously hunting Hakeemullah after he appeared on a videotape with the suicide bomber who carried out the attack on Combat Outpost Chapman. But after four months of silence on the subject, the Taliban released two tapes to prove that Hakeemullah is alive. On both of the tapes, Hakeemullah said the Taliban will carry out attacks inside the US. The tapes were released within 24 hours of an attempted car bombing in New York City by Faisal Shahzad, who was trained by the Taliban in North Waziristan. Hakeemullah's tapes were released along with another by his deputy, Qari Hussain Mehsud, who claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing in New York City. US strikes in Pakistan in 2010: ' US strike kills 5 in North Waziristan June 27, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 2 in North Waziristan June 26, 2010 ' US strike kills 16 in North Waziristan June 19, 2010 ' US kills 14 in 2 strikes in North Waziristan June 11, 2010 ' US Predator strike kills 3 in North Waziristan June 10, 2010 ' US kills 11 in Predator strike in South Waziristan May 28, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 6 in North Waziristan May 21, 2010 ' US Predators carry out first strike in Khyber May 15, 2010 ' US pounds Taliban in pair of strikes in North Waziristan May 11, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 10 'rebels' in North Waziristan May 9, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 4 'militants' in North Waziristan May 3, 2010 ' US strike kills 8 Taliban in North Waziristan April 26, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 7 Taliban in North Waziristan April 24, 2010 ' US strikes kill 6 in North Waziristan April 16, 2010 ' US strike kills 4 in Taliban stronghold of North Waziristan April 14, 2010 ' US strike kills 5 Taliban in North Waziristan April 12, 2010 ' US strikes kill 6 in North Waziristan March 30, 2010 ' US strike kills 4 in North Waziristan March 27, 2010 ' US kills 6 in strike against Haqqani Network March 23, 2010 ' US strike kills 4 in North Waziristan March 21, 2010 ' US kills 8 terrorists in 2 new airstrikes in North Waziristan March 17, 2010 ' US Predator strike in North Waziristan kills 11 Taliban, al Qaeda March 16, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 12 in North Waziristan March 10, 2010 ' US airstrike in North Waziristan kills 5 Taliban fighters March 8, 2010 ' US hits Haqqani Network in North Waziristan, kills 8 Feb. 24, 2010 ' US airstrikes target Haqqani Network in North Waziristan Feb. 18, 2010 ' Latest US airstrike kills 3 in North Waziristan Feb. 17, 2010 ' US strike kills 4 in North Waziristan Feb. 15, 2010 ' US strikes training camp in North Waziristan Feb. 14, 2010 ' Predators pound terrorist camp in North Waziristan Feb. 2, 2010 ' US airstrike targets Haqqani Network in North Waziristan Jan. 29, 2010 ' US airstrike in North Waziristan kills 6 Jan. 19, 2010 ' Latest US airstrike in Pakistan kills 20 Jan. 17, 2010 ' US strikes kill 11 in North Waziristan Jan. 15, 2010 ' US airstrike hits Taliban camp in North Waziristan Jan. 14, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 4 Taliban fighters in North Waziristan Jan. 9, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 5 in North Waziristan Jan. 8, 2010 ' US kills 17 in latest North Waziristan strike Jan. 6, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 2 Taliban fighters in Mir Ali in Pakistan Jan. 3, 2010 ' US kills 3 Taliban in second strike in North Waziristan Jan. 1, 2010 June 26, 2010 Another Milestone for UN Human Rights Engagement In case you missed it this week – While America has been poring over the Rolling Stone article, and Iran has been bragging about 20% enriched uranium, the United Nations, in its own s... June 26, 2010 US airstrike kills 2 in North Waziristan Unmanned US strike aircraft killed two "militants" in an attack on a compound in the Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan in Pakistan. A Predator or the more deadly Reaper fired a missile at a Taliban safe house in the Mir Ali area, killing 2 terrorists and wounding three more. "It was a US drone strike," a local intelligence official in nearby Miramshah told Geo News. "The drone fired one missile on a house and the house was completely destroyed." The town of Mir Ali is a known stronghold of al Qaeda leader Abu Kasha al Iraqi, an Iraqi national who is also known as Abu Akash. He has close links to the Taliban and the Haqqani Network. The Haqqani Network and Hafiz Gul Bahadar also have influence in the Mir Ali region. Abu Kasha serves as the key link between al Qaeda's Shura Majlis, or executive council, and the Taliban. His responsibilities have expanded to assisting in facilitating al Qaeda's external operations against the West. Background on US strikes in Pakistan Today's strike is the fifth reported inside Pakistan this month. Three of the four prior strikes took place over the course of 24 hours on June 10-11. The first strike, on June 10, killed two low-level Arab al Qaeda military commanders and a Turkish foreign fighter. A US attack on June 19 in Mir Ali killed an al Qaeda commander named Abu Ahmed, 11 members of the Islamic Jihad Group, and four Taliban fighters. So far this year, the US has carried out 43 strikes in Pakistan; all but two of them have taken place in North Waziristan. The US is well on its way to exceeding last year' s strike total in Pakistan. In 2009, the US carried out 53 strikes in Pakistan; and in 2008, the US carried out 36 strikes in the country. [For up-to-date charts on the US air campaign in Pakistan, see LWJ Special Report, "Charting the data for US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2010."] Over the past several months, unmanned US Predator and Reaper strike aircraft have been pounding Taliban and al Qaeda hideouts in North Waziristan, and have also struck at targets in South Waziristan and Khyber, in an effort to kill senior terror leaders and disrupt the networks that threaten Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the West. [For more information, see LWJ report, "Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2010."] In early April, a top terrorist leader claimed that the US program had been crippled. Siraj Haqqani, the leader of the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network, said that the effectiveness of US airstrikes in killing senior Taliban and al Qaeda leaders had 'decreased 90 percent" since the Dec. 30, 2009, suicide attack on Combat Outpost Chapman in Khost, Afghanistan, that killed seven CIA employees and a Jordanian intelligence officer. While other factors may be involved in the decreased effectiveness in killing the top-tier leaders, an analysis of the data shows that only three top-tier commanders have been killed since Jan 1, 2010, but seven top-tier leaders were killed between Aug. 1, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2009. [See LWJ report, "Effectiveness of US strikes in Pakistan 'decreased 90 percent' since suicide strike on CIA - Siraj Haqqani," for more information.] But the US scored its biggest success in the air campaign in Pakistan last month. On May 21, a US strike in North Waziristan killed Mustafa Abu Yazid, one of al Qaeda's top leaders, and the most senior al Qaeda leader to have been killed in the US air campaign in Pakistan to date. Yazid served as the leader of al Qaeda in Afghanistan and the wider Khorasan, and more importantly, as al Qaeda's top financier, which put him in charge of the terror group's purse strings. He served on al Qaeda's Shura Majlis, or top decision-making council. Yazid also was closely allied with the Taliban and advocated the program of embedding small al Qaeda teams with Taliban forces in Afghanistan. Pakistani and US officials believed that one of the top Taliban leaders in Pakistan was killed in a strike this year. Up until May 2, most US and Pakistani officials believed that Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, had been killed in a Jan. 14 strike in Pasalkot in North Waziristan. The CIA was furiously hunting Hakeemullah after he appeared on a videotape with the suicide bomber who carried out the attack on Combat Outpost Chapman. But after four months of silence on the subject, the Taliban released two tapes to prove that Hakeemullah is alive. On both of the tapes, Hakeemullah said the Taliban will carry out attacks inside the US. The tapes were released within 24 hours of an attempted car bombing in New York City by Faisal Shahzad, who was trained by the Taliban in North Waziristan. Hakeemullah's tapes were released along with another by his deputy, Qari Hussain Mehsud, who claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing in New York City. US strikes in Pakistan in 2010: ' US airstrike kills 2 in North Waziristan June 24, 2010 ' US strike kills 16 in North Waziristan June 19, 2010 ' US kills 14 in 2 strikes in North Waziristan June 11, 2010 ' US Predator strike kills 3 in North Waziristan June 10, 2010 ' US kills 11 in Predator strike in South Waziristan May 28, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 6 in North Waziristan May 21, 2010 ' US Predators carry out first strike in Khyber May 15, 2010 ' US pounds Taliban in pair of strikes in North Waziristan May 11, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 10 'rebels' in North Waziristan May 9, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 4 'militants' in North Waziristan May 3, 2010 ' US strike kills 8 Taliban in North Waziristan April 26, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 7 Taliban in North Waziristan April 24, 2010 ' US strikes kill 6 in North Waziristan April 16, 2010 ' US strike kills 4 in Taliban stronghold of North Waziristan April 14, 2010 ' US strike kills 5 Taliban in North Waziristan April 12, 2010 ' US strikes kill 6 in North Waziristan March 30, 2010 ' US strike kills 4 in North Waziristan March 27, 2010 ' US kills 6 in strike against Haqqani Network March 23, 2010 ' US strike kills 4 in North Waziristan March 21, 2010 ' US kills 8 terrorists in 2 new airstrikes in North Waziristan March 17, 2010 ' US Predator strike in North Waziristan kills 11 Taliban, al Qaeda March 16, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 12 in North Waziristan March 10, 2010 ' US airstrike in North Waziristan kills 5 Taliban fighters March 8, 2010 ' US hits Haqqani Network in North Waziristan, kills 8 Feb. 24, 2010 ' US airstrikes target Haqqani Network in North Waziristan Feb. 18, 2010 ' Latest US airstrike kills 3 in North Waziristan Feb. 17, 2010 ' US strike kills 4 in North Waziristan Feb. 15, 2010 ' US strikes training camp in North Waziristan Feb. 14, 2010 ' Predators pound terrorist camp in North Waziristan Feb. 2, 2010 ' US airstrike targets Haqqani Network in North Waziristan Jan. 29, 2010 ' US airstrike in North Waziristan kills 6 Jan. 19, 2010 ' Latest US airstrike in Pakistan kills 20 Jan. 17, 2010 ' US strikes kill 11 in North Waziristan Jan. 15, 2010 ' US airstrike hits Taliban camp in North Waziristan Jan. 14, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 4 Taliban fighters in North Waziristan Jan. 9, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 5 in North Waziristan Jan. 8, 2010 ' US kills 17 in latest North Waziristan strike Jan. 6, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 2 Taliban fighters in Mir Ali in Pakistan Jan. 3, 2010 ' US kills 3 Taliban in second strike in North Waziristan Jan. 1, 2010 June 26, 2010 Let Turkey Pay for UNRWA More money! is the cry from Filippo Grandi, the commissioner-general of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA. Speaking in Beirut on Saturday, Grandi was lamenting what he describe... June 25, 2010 US designates Caucasus Emirate leader Doku Umarov a global terrorist Doku Umarov, the leader of the Islamic Caucasus Emirate, al Qaeda's affiliate in the Caucasus, from a videotape in which he took credit for the March 29 suicide attacks on the... June 25, 2010 Iran Wimps Out As I told you a while back, they’re not going to take on Israel by sending ships — with or without the Revolutionary Guards — to challenge the Gaza blockade. The details a... June 25, 2010 The Truth About U.N.’s Iran Sanctions When the United Nations Security Council passed its latest sanctions resolution on Iran, on June 9, President Barack Obama hailed it as "the toughest sanctions ever faced by the Iranian governmen... June 24, 2010 Coalition and Afghan forces kill Taliban commander in Kandahar Afghan and Coalition forces killed the top Taliban commander in a vital district in Kandahar province after destroying an IED factory in an airstrike. The clashes took place after Coalition aircraft bombed the Taliban IED factory in Panjwai. A Coalition and Afghan force raided the attack site and battled with a Taliban force in the area. The combined force "quickly overwhelmed insurgent forces defending the area near the destroyed IED factory," the International Security Assistance Force stated in a press release on its website. Izzatullah, the Taliban's military commander for Panjwai, was among those killed. A police chief put the Taliban casualties at 15, according to Xinhau. Izzatullah "planned and conducted attacks against coalition forces and was involved in the attack on Sarpoza prison outside of Kandahar City in June 2008," ISAF stated. Several top Taliban leaders were killed during the complex suicide and military assault on Sarpoza prison in the heart of Kandahar City. Panjwai, along with the district of Arghandab, Zhari, Maywand, Ghorak, Khakrez, and Shah Wali Kot are major strongholds for the Taliban in Kandahar. Coalition and Afghan forces claimed to have ejected the Taliban from Shah Wali Kot during a five-day long operation in the northern district which included "heavy fighting." A "significant number of insurgents" were killed, according to an ISAF press release. "Through this operation, the combined force dealt a major blow to more than 100 insurgents and their commanders." Targeting the Taliban in Kandahar The Coalition has been targeting top Taliban leaders and facilitators in Kandahar in the run-up to the long awaited operation to dislodge the Taliban from the province. The much-touted Kandahar operation, which was supposed to be launched this month, has been delayed until the fall as local tribal leaders and other influential Kandaharis have expressed reservations about the offensive. Kandahar is the birthplace of the Taliban and a major power center for the group. Over the past four months, more than 70 mid-level Taliban commanders have been killed during a series of special operations raids in and around Kandahar City, The National Post reported. Izzatullah is the third top Taliban leader to have been killed in Kandahar since late May. On May 30, Afghan and Coalition special operations forces killed Mullah Zergay, who led the Taliban in Kandahar City and in the vital districts of Zhari and Arghandab. On May 29, Afghan and Coalition forces killed Haji Amir, who was described as one of the top two Taliban leaders in all of Kandahar province. The Taliban have launched their own offensive in Kandahar province. The Taliban have targeted tribal leaders, politicians, and other elites for assassination. More than 20 people, including the district chief for Arghandab and the deputy mayor of Kandahar City have been killed over the past several months. The International Security Assistance Force has placed great emphasis on Kandahar and is deploying the bulk of its forces en route to Afghanistan to the province. President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have said that progress must be made by December in Kandahar, and in other key areas in the south, east, and north, in order for Western nations to continue their support for the war. But a Department of Defense survey of the situation in key districts in Afghanistan paints a grim picture of Afghan public support for the government in the south. In Kandahar and Helmand, the two provinces considered to be the key to the Taliban's power in the south, the majority of the population is considered to be ambivalent toward the Afghan government and the Coalition, or sympathetic to or supportive of the Taliban. Of the 11 of Kandahar's 13 districts assessed earlier this year, one district (Kandahar City) supported the government, three districts were considered neutral, six were sympathetic to the Taliban, and one supported the Taliban. Of the 11 of Helmand's 13 districts assessed, eight of the districts were considered neutral, one was sympathetic to the Taliban, and two supported the Taliban. The situation appears equally grim in neighboring Helmand province. Of the 11 of Helmand's 13 districts assessed, eight of the districts were considered neutral, one was sympathetic to the Taliban, and two supported the Taliban. The US has indicated that it will begin turning over security to the Afghan Army and police by July 2011 and that it will also start to withdraw its forces from the country at that time. June 24, 2010 Senior Jemaah Islamiyah commander captured in Indonesia Click the photo to view a presentation on Jemaah Islamiyah, al Qaeda's affiliate in Southeast Asia. The presentation was created by Nick Grace and Bill Roggio in January 2008.... June 24, 2010 Congress Sends Comprehensive Iran Sanctions Bill to President Obama Press Release June 24, 2010 CONTACT: Judy Mayka 202-621-3948judy@defenddemocracy.org Congress Sends Comprehensive Iran Sanctions Bill to President Obama Bill targets regime through sanctions on oil and natural gas sectors, refined petroleum June 24, 2010 Victims of The Ayatollah Iran’s rulers have long embraced Stalin’s impeccable logic: “The people who cast the votes don't decide an election; the people who count the votes do.”... June 23, 2010 Congress Sends Comprehensive Iran Sanctions Bill to President Obama Press Release June 24, 2010 CONTACT: Judy Mayka 202-621-3948 judy@defenddemocracy.org Congress Sends Comprehensive... June 23, 2010 Obama’ s Teachable Moment: Getting to Know the General Rolling Stone’s piece on The Runaway General hit the web, and presto! before the print edition was even on the newsstands, Gen. Stanley McChrystal was ordered back to Washington for a sitdo... June 23, 2010 US, Afghan forces hammer the Haqqani Network in Paktia Map of Afghanistan's provinces. Click map to view larger image. US and Afghan forces again battled with the deadly Haqqani Network in eastern Afghanistan, near the border... June 23, 2010 Congress Pushes Tough Iran Sanctions The Conference Report on the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010, released yesterday, gives the president sweeping new authority to sanction energy companies... June 23, 2010 Times Square Bomber Discusses Taliban Ties at Plea Hearing During a plea hearing in New York on Monday, Faisal Shahzad, who attempted to detonate a car bomb in Times Square on May 1, pled guilty to all of the charges levied against him and discussed his... June 22, 2010 Taliban commander detained in Karachi Pakistani police detained a Taliban commander who has links to terrorists in North Waziristan and Afghanistan. Police detained Asmatullah Mehsud during a recent raid in the southern port city of Karachi. Asmatullah is described as a "key commander" who was plotting to attack police officials in the Criminal Investigation Department. The CID is responsible for investigating terrorism cases. Asmatullah "was involved in providing financial support to the TTP campaign and was providing safe hideouts and medical treatment to injured militants in the city," Dawn reported. Asmatullah played a major role in the Oct. 17, 2007 assassination attempt against former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The massive suicide bombing, the largest in Pakistan to date, killed 132 people and wounded hundreds more. Bhutto survived the assassination attempt but was killed two months later in a complex suicide and shooting attack in Rawalpindi. Asmatullah has links that extend to the Taliban havens of North and South Waziristan and in Afghanistan. His brother is Abdul Wahab Mehsud, a wanted commander of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan who operates in North Waziristan. Abdul Wahab is also said to run a Taliban training camp in Badar in Ghazni province, Afghanistan. Both Asmatullah and Abdul Wahab were among the original group of Taliban commanders who linked up with the radical, anti-Shia Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and expanded the network in Karachi. The two brothers were identified as having allied with Baitullah Mehsud, the previous leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, back in September 2008. The Taliban and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi nexus in Karachi was led by a commander named Rahimullah, who is also known as Ali Hassan or Naeem, according to a report in Daily Times. Rahimullah also led al Qaeda's network in the southern Pakistani city. Police captured Raheemullah in September 2008. June 22, 2010 This Just In: Your Mother Wears Army Boots Politico reports: The top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has been summoned to the White House to explai... June 22, 2010 Two Items on Hezbollah Here are my two latest pieces on Hezbollah. The first, from last week, analyzes aspects of Nasrallah's speech on the anniversary of Khomeini's death. The second, out today, looks into Hezbollah's financial networks worldwide, in light of two recent arrests of Hezbollah operatives in Ohio and Paraguay.

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