August 16, 2008 (PHILIPPINES): Abu Sayyaf Group gunmen ambushed and killed two Philippine Marines on Jolo Island in the southern Philippines. – AP, August 16
August 17, 2008 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber on a motorcycle targeted a checkpoint manned by the U.S.-supported “Sons of Iraq” in Azamiya district of Baghdad, killing 15 people. The Islamic State of Iraq later claimed credit for the operation. – Reuters, August 17; AP, August 21
August 17, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): The Taliban sent a letter to Canadian media organizations warning that Canadians need to “convince your government to put an end to the occupation of Afghanistan so that the Afghans are not killed with your hands and so that you are not killed with the hands of the Afghans.” The letter threatened more attacks on Canadian nationals similar to the one that occurred on August 13, in which two Canadian aid workers were killed in Logar Province. – CTV.ca, August 17
August 18, 2008 (UNITED KINGDOM): A British court found Hammaad Munshi guilty of distributing information online about how to make explosives, napalm, detonators and grenades. Munshi, who was arrested when he was 16-year-old, was convicted along with two other men, Aabid Khan and Sultan Muhammad, both in their early 20s. – AFP, August 19
August 18, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): Taliban fighters killed 10 French soldiers during a major battle that erupted after Taliban fighters ambushed a French reconnaissance patrol in Sarobi district, Paktika Province. Approximately 100 Taliban fighters engaged the French patrol from three sides. The Afghan Defense Ministry announced that 27 Taliban insurgents were killed in the ensuing confrontation. – Reuters, August 19; Bloomberg, August 20
August 18, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A suicide car bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into the gate of Camp Salerno, a major U.S. military base in Khost Province, killing at least 10 civilians. After the attack, two more suicide bombers in another vehicle approached the scene, but were shot to death by police before they were able to detonate their explosives. The Taliban claimed responsibility. – Reuters, August 18
August 18, 2008 (YEMEN): Security forces arrested five suspected al-Qa`ida operatives in the al-Qattan district of Hadramawt Province. Two Yemeni troops may have been killed during the operation. – NewsYemen, August 19; AP, August 24
August 18, 2008 (SOMALIA): A spokesman for Somalia’s Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) pledged that differences among the Islamist opposition “will end soon” and that “we will continue fighting against the Ethiopian forces who invaded our homeland aggressively until they withdraw from our country.” Since June, Somalia’s opposition groups, including the ARS and other Islamist factions, have disagreed over a political deal signed in Djibouti. – Bloomberg, August 19
August 19, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): Taliban fighters launched a significant attack on Camp Salerno, a major U.S. military base in Khost Province. During the attack, approximately 30 fighters tried to storm the base, yet were turned back by small-arms fire and helicopter gunships. Seven Taliban fighters were killed, six of whom were suicide bombers. Authorities believe that the Taliban hoped a wave of suicide bombers would soften the base’s defenses, allowing Taliban gunmen to storm the base immediately after. The base was hit by a similar attack on August 18. – AFP, August 19
August 19, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A suicide bomber attacked a group of Shi`a Muslims who were gathered at a hospital in Dera Ismail Khan in the North-West Frontier Province, killing at least 25 people. – BBC News, August 19
August 19, 2008 (TURKEY): A suspected suicide bomber blew himself up after being stopped by police near the capital of Mersin Province. As a result of the explosion, nine policemen were wounded. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. One press report claimed that “the vehicle was being tailed by the police who had intelligence that a suicide bomber was preparing for an attack in the city [Mersin].” – AP, August 19
August 19, 2008 (ALGERIA): A suicide car bomber drove his explosives-laden vehicle into a line of applicants at an Algerian police academy in Les Issers, Boumerdes Province, killing at least 43 people and making it one of the deadliest attacks to hit the country in recent years. Al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb later claimed credit for the attack. – AP, August 19; BBC News, August 22
August 19, 2008 (YEMEN): The al-Qa`ida-linked Jund al-Yaman Brigades issued a statement on an Islamist web forum warning that it would “operate a reprisal operation very soon.” The statement came in response to an August 11 security operation that left five suspected al-Qa`ida-linked militants dead, including Hamza al-Q`uyati, a senior operative who escaped from a Political Security Organization prison in 2006. – NewsYemen, August 20
August 19, 2008 (PHILIPPINES): Suspected Abu Sayyaf Group militants shot and killed a Philippine Marine officer as he rode his motorcycle through Lian village in Patikul town of Sulu Province in the southern Philippines. The officer, Captain Abduhari Sulani, was in civilian clothes at the time of the attack, and despite his eventual death due to gunshot wounds, he managed to kill one of the attackers. – GMANews.tv, August 20
August 20, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): U.S.-led coalition forces launched an attack on Taliban militants in Laghman Province, killing more than 30 insurgents with small-arms fire and airstrikes. There were no fatal coalition casualties. – AP, August 21
August 20, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): Three NATO soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Ghazni Province. – AP, August 21
August 20, 2008 (PAKISTAN): Missiles slammed into a suspected militant compound near Wana in South Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Initial reports indicate that five to 10 people were killed in the attack. Although it is not certain who fired the missiles, press reports suggested that they were launched by U.S. military aircraft. – AP, August 21
August 20, 2008 (ALGERIA): A series of synchronized bombings ripped through Algeria, killing a total of 12 people. A car bomb exploded outside a military command post in the city of Bouira just 15 minutes before another car bomb ripped through a bus—filled with employees of SNC-Lavalin, a Canadian engineering and construction firm—in the same city; the latter attack accounted for all of the fatalities. It was not immediately clear whether suicide bombers were in the vehicles. Al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb later claimed credit for the attacks. – Washington Post, August 21; BBC News, August 22
August 21, 2008 (PAKISTAN): Two suicide bombers attacked Pakistan’s main weapons building complex in Wah, Punjab Province. Although they were unable to penetrate the main gates of the high security compound, the bombers detonated their explosives as workers were changing shifts, killing 67 of them. Pakistan’s Taliban movement claimed credit for the attack. – National Post, August 21; AP, August 23
August 21, 2008 (TURKEY): A car bomb exploded as a police bus passed by in the Turkish coastal city of Izmir, injuring at least 16 people, including at least eight police officers. Authorities suspect that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party was behind the blast. –AFP, August 21
August 21, 2008 (THAILAND): A car bomb exploded in Sungai Kolok district of southern Thailand’s Narathiwat Province, killing two people. – CNN, August 21; The Nation, August 25
August 22, 2008 (GLOBAL): Al-Qa`ida second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri appeared in a new video posted on an Islamist website. During the message, al-Zawahiri paid tribute to the deaths of several al-Qa`ida commanders—most notably Abu Khabab al-Masri—who were recently killed by U.S. airstrikes. “All these men went to their Lord to complain to him about the injustices of the Americans and the betrayal of the Pakistani government,” al-Zawahiri said. – AP, August 22
August 22, 2008 (ISRAEL): Khaled Abu Rakaiek, a 23-year-old Bedouin and resident of Tel Sheva, was indicted in Beersheba District Court for attempting to contact al-Qa`ida with the motive of beginning a terrorist cell to execute suicide bombings in Israel. Rakaiek was arrested on July 29 by the Southern District Police and Shin Bet. –ynetnews.com, August 22; Jerusalem Post, August 22
August 22, 2008 (SOMALIA): According to a report in Somalia’s Garowe Online news source, gunmen loyal to the Islamic Courts movement have taken control of the key southern port town of Kismayo. One resident, speaking to a Bloomberg journalist, claimed that “Kismayo is totally under the control of al-Shabaab [of the Islamic Courts] and they are walking inside the town with their machine guns.” Heavy fighting gripped the city beginning on August 22, causing the deaths of at least 50 people. –GaroweOnline, August 22; Bloomberg, August 22
August 23, 2008 (IRAQ): A prominent Shi`a cleric, Haider al-Saymari, was gunned down in Basra. According to an Associated Press report, “Al-Saymari, 38, was a follower of Iraq’s top Shiite leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a moderate. Al-Saymari was known as a critic of extremists and armed groups in Basra, particularly the Mahdi Army militia of al-Sistani’s rival, radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr.” It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the assassination. – AP, August 24
August 23, 2008 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber detonated his explosives at a car dealership in Kirkuk, killing at least five people. The attack targeted the leader of a group fighting al-Qa`ida in Khalis of Diyala Province; the leader, identified as Abdel Karim Ahmed Mindil, was killed in the explosion. – AFP, August 23
August 23, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A suicide car bomber attacked a police station in Swat District of the North-West Frontier Province, killing at least six policemen. The Taliban claimed credit for the operation. – AP, August 22
August 23, 2008 (PAKISTAN): Pakistani troops, assisted by helicopter gunships, claimed to have killed 37 Taliban-linked militants in Swat District of the North-West Frontier Province. Two soldiers were killed during the operation. – AP, August 23
August 24, 2008 (IRAQ): The U.S. military announced that it arrested an al-Qa`ida operative responsible for the 2006 kidnapping of The Christian Science Monitorjournalist Jill Carroll. According to the statement, the operative, Salim Abdullah Ashur al-Shujayri (also known as Abu Uthman), was arrested on August 11. Carroll, abducted in January 2006, was released three months after her abduction. Another news report further stated that “Shujayri’s associates are said to have included Al Qaeda in Iraq members involved in the 2004 abduction of Margaret Hassan, the head of Care International in Iraq. She was found slain in November 2004.” – AP, August 24; Los Angeles Times, August 25
August 24, 2008 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber attacked a large group of people who were celebrating a man’s release from detention, killing at least 25 of them. The attack, which occurred in Abu Ghurayb in Baghdad Province, appeared to target Iraqis who had been cooperating with the U.S. government, as many of the guests at the party included police and military officials, along with men affiliated with the “Sons of Iraq” movement. – Los Angeles Times, August 25
August 24, 2008 (IRAQ): A 13-year-old girl wearing an explosives vest turned herself into the Iraqi police in Ba`quba, Diyala Province, because she did not want to become a suicide bomber. – TimesOnline, August 25
August 24, 2008 (YEMEN): Authorities announced the arrests of six alleged al-Qa`ida operatives in Ebin Province. – AP, August 24
August 25, 2008 (PAKISTAN): The Pakistani government banned the militant group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, freezing its assets and bank accounts. – AFP, August 25
August 25, 2008 (MAURITANIA): The suspected head of al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb’s operations in Mauritania, El Khadim Ould Esseman, released a letter from his prison cell to Agence-France Presse, in which he demanded Muslims not to recognize the new ruling military junta, saying that “the Muslim faith disqualifies him [the head of the junta] from leading the Muslim nation because he is comparable to an infidel.” – AFP, August 25
August 26, 2008 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber detonated his explosives amid a group of Iraqis attempting to join the police force in Jalula, Diyala Province, killing at least 25 people. – AP, August 26
August 26, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said that drought and anti-drug campaigns have cut opium poppy cultivation 19% this year compared to 2007. He warned, however, that the Taliban could still earn $70 million from the harvest in 2008. – AP, August 26
August 26, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A U.S. Consulate vehicle came under gunfire when traveling through Peshawar, the capital of the North-West Frontier Province. There were no casualties, and the vehicle managed to flee the scene. According to a press report, the consulate official “left her house and was headed to her office when gunmen in a blue Land Cruiser blocked the car’s path and opened fire.” – CNN, August 26
August 26, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A blast ripped through a roadside café on the outskirts of Islamabad, killing seven people. It was not immediately clear whether the blast was from a bomb, or if it was accidental. Authorities do believe, however, that explosives were involved. – Reuters, August 27
August 27, 2008 (ALGERIA): Security forces confronted al-Qa`ida-linked militants in the Batna region, sparking a gun battle that left five soldiers and two policemen dead. – AP, August 30
August 28, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A bomb ripped through a prison bus in Bannu District of the North-West Frontier Province, killing at least nine people. – AP, August 28
August 28, 2008 (YEMEN): Yemeni authorities announced that they had apprehended 30 suspected al-Qa`ida militants who were planning to launch attacks in Saudi Arabia. The men, all Yemenis, were arrested in Hadramawt Province. Police claimed that the arrests came as a result of information found on a computer confiscated during an August 11 gun battle in Tarim, Hadramawt Province. – Indo-Asian News Service, August 28
August 28, 2008 (SOMALIA): According to the Financial Times, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has signaled that he may withdraw Ethiopian troops from Somalia before the country’s transitional government achieves stability. Ethiopia invaded Somalia in December 2006 to oust the Islamic Courts Union, which were consolidating control over much of the country. Somalia’s Islamists welcomed Zenawi’s suggestion, with its spokesman stating, “We are very happy to hear the screaming of Meles to pull out his unjust soldiers in Somalia. We are also happy the arrogance of Meles splits and breaks.” – Bloomberg, August 29
August 29, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A suicide car bomber targeted a security checkpoint in Dara Adam Khel in the North-West Frontier Province, killing two civilians and wounding 29 Frontier Corps soldiers. – AFP, August 28
August 29, 2008 (PAKISTAN): Government airstrikes killed at least 22 militants in the Swat valley of the North-West Frontier Province. – AFP, August 29
August 29, 2008 (MOROCCO): Morocco’s state news agency reported that security services recently apprehended 15 members of an Islamist militant network that had access to chemicals and electronic components and were planning attacks in Morocco. The group, identified as Conquest of Andalusia, is accused of having links to al-Qa`ida. – Reuters, August 29
August 30, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A missile fired from Afghanistan hit a suspected Taliban or al-Qa`ida compound near Wana in South Waziristan Agency, killing at least five people. Unconfirmed reports state that four of those killed were foreigners. – AFP, August 30
August 30, 2008 (PHILIPPINES): One of the founders of the Rajah Solaiman Movement, an Islamic militant group accused of conducting several bombings in the Philippines in 2004 and 2005, was deported to Manila from Bahrain. Ruben Lavilla, also known as Shaykh Omar Lavilla, was arrested in Bahrain on July 24, an arrest that was not reported publicly at the time. In Bahrain, Lavilla was working as an editor of a local magazine and was also working as an interpreter at the Philippine Embassy. His identity was discovered after his request for a loan at a local bank in Bahrain aroused suspicions. A conflicting report, however, states that Lavilla was arrested after applying for a job at the Philippine Embassy. – Reuters, August 30; AP, August 30
August 30, 2008 (PHILIPPINES): Suspected Abu Sayyaf Group militants killed four soldiers on Jolo Island in the southern Philippines. An unknown number of militants were also killed. – AFP, August 29
August 31, 2008 (IRAQ): The Sunday Telegraph reported that an elite group of British commandos have killed or captured 3,500 suspected Iraqi terrorists in Baghdad during the last two years. – UPI, August 31
September 1, 2008 (IRAQ): The U.S. military handed security control of Anbar Province to Iraqi government forces. U.S. President George W. Bush marked the handover by stating, “Today, Anbar is no longer lost to al-Qa`ida, it is al-Qa`ida that lost Anbar.” – Independent, September 2
September 2, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): Nine Australian soldiers were wounded during an overnight battle with Taliban fighters in Uruzgan Province. – AP, September 2; Bloomberg, September 3
September 2, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): An Afghan official said that 22 Taliban fighters were killed during a clash in Zabul Province. – AP, September 3
September 2, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): An Afghan official said that 10 Taliban fighters were killed during a clash in Helmand Province. – AP, September 3
September 2, 2008 (PAKISTAN): The chief of Pakistan’s Interior Ministry told reporters that Pakistani troops almost captured Ayman al-Zawahiri recently, but “missed the chance.” Rahman Malik explained that security forces “traced” al-Zawahiri to Mohmand Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, but were unable to pinpoint his exact location. – BBC News, September 2
September 2, 2008 (PAKISTAN): The head of Pakistan’s Interior Ministry said that “there are similarities between al-Qa`ida and TTP” and that there is a “close connection” between the two organizations. He also said that Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is “a host to al-Qa`ida and is their mouthpiece.” – UPI, September 2
September 3, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): Taliban fighters attacked a Canadian security patrol in southern Afghanistan, killing three Canadian soldiers. – Reuters, September 3
September 3, 2008 (PAKISTAN): Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani may have escaped an assassination attempt, as two bullets “hit the window glass” of Gilani’s bulletproof vehicle as it drove through Rawalpindi. An official said after the attack that “the prime minister had not yet landed from Lahore when the incident took place. The motorcade was on its way to the airport to receive him.” – The Australian, September 4
September 3, 2008 (PAKISTAN): According to an Associated Press report, “American forces conducted a raid inside Pakistan Wednesday, a senior U.S. military official said, in the first known foreign ground assault against a suspected Taliban haven.” The operation took place in Pakistan’s South Waziristan Agency. – Reuters, September 3; AP, September 3
September 4, 2008 (GLOBAL): The head of al-Qa`ida’s Afghanistan operations, Shaykh Sa`id Mustafa Abu’l-Yazid, appeared in a new videotape threatening more attacks against Denmark. Referring to the June 2 attack on the Danish Embassy in Islamabad, al-Yazid warned that “the Danish Embassy [attack] and prior operations is but the beginning…if you don’t end your errant ways and aggression.” Al-Yazid was presumed killed by Pakistani airstrikes in Bajaur Agency in early August, but his death was never confirmed. – Gulf News, September 5; Reuters, September 5
September 4, 2008 (UNITED STATES): Aafia Siddiqui, a U.S.-educated Pakistani woman accused of supporting al-Qa`ida, refused to appear in federal court. Another hearing has been set for September 22. Siddiqui was allegedly arrested in Afghanistan’s Ghazni Province on July 17, after planning to conduct a martyrdom operation against Ghazni’s provincial governor. According to an affidavit, when FBI agents and U.S. military personnel attempted to take custody of her from Afghan officials, Siddiqui managed to arm herself and fire at the U.S. personnel; she was wounded during the altercation. – Boston Globe, August 6; MailOnline, August 6; Guardian, August 8; AP, September 4
September 4, 2008 (IRAQ): A U.S. military spokesman announced that control of Sunni Awakening groups will be handed over to the Iraqi government starting October 1. – CNN, September 4
September 4, 2008 (GERMANY): Authorities announced that on August 19 they charged a German man of Pakistani heritage with membership in al-Qa`ida. The man, who was arrested in February, was identified only as “Aleem N.,” and he allegedly traveled “regularly” between Germany and Pakistan, agreeing to “take part in al-Qa`ida activities.” According to prosecutors, “His duty is suspected to have been to acquire money and equipment in Germany for military use and recruit further members as well as fighters for the organization.” – AP, September 4
September 4, 2008 (ISRAEL): Hamas detained the leader of a pro-al-Qa`ida group in the Gaza Strip. Abu Hafss, the leader of Jaysh al-Umma, allegedly supports al-Qa`ida’s ideology but does not claim to be linked to the international terrorist group. – Reuters, September 4
September 5, 2008 (IRAQ): A suicide car bomber targeted the convoy of Shi`a politician Ahmad Chalabi in Baghdad. Although Chalabi escaped unharmed, six of his guards were killed in the explosion. – Los Angeles Times, September 6
September 6, 2008 (IRAQ): A suicide car bomber detonated his explosives at a market in Tal Afar, Ninawa Province, killing six people. – AP, September 6
September 6, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): A Taliban suicide bomber disguised as a beggar attacked a government building in Nimroz Province, killing six people. – AFP, September 6
September 6, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): More than 100 Taliban fighters attacked a police post in Nimroz Province, killing two policemen. Approximately eight Taliban fighters died during the attack. – AFP, September 6
September 6, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A suicide car bomber attacked a security checkpoint on the outskirts of Peshawar, killing approximately 30 people. – AP, September 6; Voice of America, September 6
September 7, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): A suicide bomber was shot to death near an intelligence department in Zabul Province. The bomber failed to detonate his explosives. – AFP, September 8
September 7, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): Two suicide bombers detonated their explosives at the police headquarters in Kandahar, killing six policemen. – AP, September 7
September 7, 2008 (PHILIPPINES): An alleged breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front along with the Abu Sayyaf Group engaged in a firefight with government forces on Basilan Island in the southern Philippines. Authorities claim that there were no casualties on the government side. The insurgents withdrew in different directions during the firefight. – Sun Star, September 9
September 8, 2008 (GLOBAL): Al-Qa`ida released a videotape to mark the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. During the video, al-Qa`ida second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri accused Iran of “cooperating with the Americans in occupying Iraq and Afghanistan.” Among other topics, the video celebrated the resignation of former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, and criticized the Lebanese militant group Hizb Allah. In addition to al-Zawahiri, prominent al-Qa`ida operative Abu Yahya al-Libi also appeared in the video. – AP, September 8
September 8, 2008 (UNITED KINGDOM): In the trial of eight men accused of attempting to blow up aircraft heading from London to North America using liquid explosives, the jury was unable to agree to convict the men on the most serious of charges filed against them. After deliberating for 56 hours, the jury found three men guilty of a lesser charge of conspiring to kill using liquid explosives; according to a Reuters report, however, the jury “was not convinced by the prosecution’s case that they intended to blow up aircraft from London’s Heathrow airport to Canada and the United States.” Of the other five suspects, the jury failed to reach a verdict on four of them, while the fifth was acquitted on all charges. Prosecutors plan to seek a retrial for seven of the men. – Reuters, September 10
September 8, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): A NATO airstrike killed 12 Taliban militants who had attacked a district center in Paktia Province. A spokesman for the provincial government claimed that “nine of them [the dead] are Chechens and three are Afghans and Pakistanis.” – Thomson Financial, September 9
September 8, 2008 (PAKISTAN): Missiles pummeled a house and seminary run by Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, or his son, in Miran Shah of North Waziristan Agency. The missiles, presumed fired by U.S. unmanned aircraft, killed approximately 25 people. Pakistani intelligence officials identified four foreign fighters killed in the attack, one of whom has been identified as Abu Haris, al-Qa`ida’s newly appointed chief for Pakistan. Pakistani intelligence officials claim that a number of Haqqani’s family members were killed in the attack. – International Herald Tribune, September 9; The Australian, September 11
September 8, 2008 (ALGERIA): According to press reports, authorities broke up an al-Qa`ida-linked terrorist cell that was planning to deploy a female suicide bomber to attack a military barracks. – AKI, September 8
September 9, 2008 (IRAQ): The head of the al-Qa`ida-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq, Abu `Umar al-Baghdadi, released an audio message on Islamist websites calling for the assassination of all members of the Iraqi Islamic Party, the country’s main Sunni Arab political party. According to al-Baghdadi, “We hereby declare the Islamic Party, with all its tendencies, its leadership and its members, to be an enemy of God and his prophet. It is a sect of apostasy which should be killed wherever its members are found.” An Iraqi government spokesman responded to the tape, saying, “The call of Abu `Umar al-Baghdadi to assassinate Iraqi officials, mainly Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, is a clear sign of its failure and its defeat in front of Iraqis and their national unity.” – AP, September 10; UPI, September 11
September 9, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): A Taliban spokesman announced that the reason they have increased attacks on Canadian troops is because an upcoming “election is being held in Canada.” The spokesman said that his suggestion “for the next prime minister is to withdraw Canadians from Afghanistan.” – The Canadian Press, September 10
September 9, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): Three international soldiers and one Afghan contractor were killed by an Improvised Explosive Device in eastern Afghanistan. – Thomson Financial, September 9
September 9, 2008 (SOMALIA): A member of Somalia’s parliament was assassinated as he left a mosque in Baidoa. The Islamist militant group al-Shabab later took credit for the operation. – Voice of America, September 10
September 9, 2008 (THAILAND): Separatist Muslim-Malay insurgents in southern Thailand’s Pattani Province shot dead and then beheaded a Buddhist state official. –Reuters, September 9
September 10, 2008 (GLOBAL): The U.S. military released a series of letters authored by al-Qa`ida second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri directed to al-Qa`ida’s affiliates in Iraq. In one letter, al-Zawahiri criticizes the Islamic State of Iraq’s media operations, writing, “The media policy for the Islamic State is using exaggeration, to the extent of lying.” The letters also lamented about the poor communication between al-Qa`ida’s core leadership and its operatives in Iraq, in addition to outlining the difficulty of infiltrating foreign fighters into Iraq. – CNN, September 11
September 10, 2008 (PAKISTAN): Taliban fighters threw grenades into a Sunni mosque in Dir District of the North-West Frontier Province, killing approximately 25 people. As worshippers fled the grenade blasts, the militants opened fire on them. It appears that the Sunni on Sunni violence occurred because local tribal elders had recently condemned the Taliban. – The Australian, September 12
September 11, 2008 (PAKISTAN): Taliban militants beheaded two police recruits one week after abducting them in Orakzai Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. – AFP, September 11
September 12, 2008 (IRAQ): A suicide truck bomber detonated his explosives in the Shi`a town of Dujail, Salah al-Din Province, killing at least 31 people. – AFP, September 12
September 12, 2008 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Shi`a mosque in Sinjar, Ninawa Province, killing two people. – AFP, September 12
September 12, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A suspected U.S. unmanned aircraft killed at least 12 people in North Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. –Washington Post, September 12
September 12, 2008 (GERMANY): German authorities arrested a Turkish man, identified as “Omer O.,” for raising money and recruiting supporters for al-Qa`ida. The arrest is tied to the case of “Aleem N.,” a German man of Pakistani heritage who was charged with membership in al-Qa`ida on August 19. – AP, September 13; Reuters, September 13
September 12, 2008 (LEBANON): Jordanian security officials announced that al-Qa`ida operatives have infiltrated southern Lebanon’s `Ayn al-Hilwa refugee camp. The officials believe that al-Qa`ida is attempting to recruit Palestinians in the camp. – UPI, September 12
September 13, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): A suicide bomber attacked Afghanistan’s governor for Logar Province, Abdullah Wardak, killing him along with three of his men. The attack occurred 12 miles west of Kabul. According to Reuters, “He is the second provincial governor to be assassinated by suicide bombers in recent years.” – Reuters, September 13; AFP, September 13
September 13, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): Taliban fighters ambushed a police patrol in Ghazni Province, killing seven officers. – AP, September 14
September 13, 2008 (PAKISTAN): Approximately 100 Taliban militants raided a government office in Nasir Bagh on the outskirts of Peshawar, in the country’s North-West Frontier Province. – CNN, September 14
September 13, 2008 (INDIA): A series of explosions ripped through civilian areas of New Delhi, killing 21 people. The terrorist group Indian Mujahidin claimed credit for the bombing operation. – Bloomberg, September 15; AP, September 14
September 14, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): A suicide car bomber attacked a convoy of Afghan doctors working for the United Nations in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar Province, killing two doctors and their driver. – AP, September 14; Reuters, September 14
September 14, 2008 (PAKISTAN): Security forces attacked suspected militant safe houses in Bajaur Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, killing approximately 32 people. – AP, September 15
September 15, 2008 (IRAQ): A female suicide bomber detonated her explosives in Balad Ruz, Diyala Province, killing at least 20 people. The blast targeted police officers. – CNN, September 15
September 15, 2008 (IRAQ): Two car bombs detonated in Baghdad’s Karrada district, killing five civilians. – AP, September 15
September 15, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): A bomb hidden in a motorcycle exploded in Shindand district of Herat Province. The dead included the son and three bodyguards of a district chief. – AFP, September 15
September 15, 2008 (MAURITANIA): Al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb militants ambushed a patrol of soldiers, killing 12 of them. The attack ocurred 45 miles east of the town of Zouerat. – AFP, September 15
