December 1-2, 2007: Twelve members of al-Qa`ida in Iraq were apprehended by police in the al-Tash area in southern Ramadi, Anbar Province. During the arrests, two car bombs and multiple explosive belts were discovered and confiscated. – al-Iraqiyah Television, December 2
December 3, 2007: A suicide bomber targeted an Indian road construction company in Khash Rod district of the western Afghan province of Nimroz. Four Afghans were killed in the attack, including two police officers. – Reuters, December 4
December 3, 2007: Six people were killed in Pakistan’s Balochistan Province as a bomb ripped through the Imdadul Uloom madrasa, which is located 15 kilometers away from the Qilla Saifullah bazaar. According to authorities, the bomb was concealed in a bundle of clothing and left in the school by an Afghan student. The motive for the attack was unknown. – AFP, December 3
December 3, 2007: According to an article by the London-based al-Quds Press, an intelligence official in Iraq’s Anbar Province police force told the news agency that more than 150 Arab volunteers arrived in the country two weeks ago to join al-Qa`ida in Iraq. The fighters, who were mostly from Yemen, allegedly entered the country from the Syrian border, using false passports under the cover of returning refugees. – al-Quds Press, December 3
December 4, 2007: A female suicide bomber detonated herself at an army checkpoint in Peshawar, marking Pakistan’s first recorded suicide attack by a woman. Other than the life of the bomber, there were no casualties from the incident. – AP, December 4
December 4, 2007: Islamist fighters kidnapped six tribal policemen and destroyed a security checkpoint near the Bajaur Agency city of Khar. The policemen belonged to Pakistan’s tribesmen Levies force. – AP, December 4
December 4, 2007: A suicide car bomber attacked a NATO convoy near the Kabul airport. There were no NATO casualties in the attack, although at least 10 Afghan civilians were wounded. The Taliban claimed credit for the operation and said that it was a “welcome” message for U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who arrived in Kabul on December 3. – Reuters, December 4
December 4, 2007: The U.S. military announced that a key leader of al-Qa`ida in Iraq, Abu Maysara, was killed in Iraq last month. The Syrian leader was identified through DNA evidence after he was killed during a raid near Samarra. Abu Maysara was allegedly a senior adviser to Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the head of al-Qa`ida in Iraq, and was believed to have had an important role in the terrorist group’s media campaign. – BBC, December 4
December 4, 2007: Abu `Umar al-Baghdadi released a statement on an Islamist website calling for a renewed bombing campaign against security forces. “The campaign should be based on explosives and its target should be the apostates…wearing uniforms and all those who fight alongside the occupiers,” the report read. “Every soldier is to detonate at least three bombs by the end of the campaign,” which is supposed to continue through January.
December 4, 2007: A group calling itself the Islamic Shiite Resistance in Iraq posted a videotape of a British national held captive. It demanded that British forces pull their troops out of Iraq, yet did not specify what would happen to the hostage if the demands were not met. Hostage videos posted by Shi`a groups are less common than those posted by al-Qa`ida and other Sunni militant groups.
December 4, 2007: Kyodo News agency released a report revealing that in late 2001 Usama bin Ladin considered damaging Japan’s economy by attacking tankers en route to the island. The report quoted a former guard of Bin Ladin, who said that the al-Qa`ida leader was frustrated over Japan’s support of the war on terrorism. – Bloomberg, December 6
December 4, 2007: British police arrested two men on suspicion of the “commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism,” part of the UK’s Terrorism Act. The men were arrested at their homes in northwest and west London. – BBC, December 5
December 4, 2007: The U.S. Treasury Department imposed financial sanctions on Abdelmalek Droukdel, the leader of al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb, which was formerly known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). Any of Droukdel’s assets under U.S. jurisdiction will be frozen. – Reuters, December 4
December 5, 2007: The Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide car bomb attack on a minibus filled with Afghan soldiers, which resulted in 13 fatalities, including civilians. The attack occurred in the Chihulsutoon area, south of Kabul. – AP, December 5
December 5, 2007: A state court in Germany sentenced three Middle Eastern men to prison for providing assistance to al-Qa`ida. Evidence presented in the trial showed that the men did not plan on conducting attacks in Germany, but instead wanted to use the country as a safe haven to plan attacks and raise funds for al-Qa`ida operations. The leader of the cell, Ibrahim Mohamed Khalil, had received training in an al-Qa`ida camp in Afghanistan. – AP, December 5
December 6, 2007: The U.S. Treasury Department placed seven “former (Iraqi) regime elements and others supporting the Iraqi insurgency out of Syria” on a list that prohibits U.S. citizens from having any business dealings with them. The individuals were identified as Fawzi Mutlaq al-Rawi, Hasan Hashim Khalaf al-Dulaymi, Ahmed Watban Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti, Ahmad Muhammad Yunis al-Ahmad, Sa’ad Muhammad Yunis al-Ahmad, Thabet al-Duri and Hatem Hamdan al-Azawi. – Reuters, December 6
December 6, 2007: The Iraqi army announced the capture of Hatim Sultan al-Hadidi, who they identified as a key member of al-Qa`ida in Iraq and the operative who was responsible for the killings of 23 Yazidi workers in April. Al-Hadidi was captured in Mosul. – Xinhua, December 6
December 6, 2007: A Philippine court convicted 14 members of the Abu Sayyaf Group to life in prison for their involvement in the 2001 kidnapping of 20 people on the western resort island of Palawan. Two Americans were killed during the ordeal, one of which was beheaded by his captors. – Voice of America, December 6
December 7, 2007: A female suicide bomber killed at least 16 people in Muqdadiya, 60 miles north of Baghdad, in an attack that targeted an “awakening council” office. The local police force identified the bomber as Suhaila Ali, a local woman who was formerly a member of the Ba’ath Party. The woman’s three sons were all members of al-Qa`ida who had been killed by U.S. forces. – CNN, December 7; Guardian Unlimited, December 8
December 8, 2007: According to the U.S. military, 12 suspected al-Qa`ida in Iraq militants were killed, and 13 more detained, in central and northern Iraq.
December 8, 2007: Al-Quds al-Arabi reported that Palestinian sources revealed to the newspaper that al-Qa`ida militants were now operating extensively in certain areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The unidentified sources claimed that some members of Hamas’ military wing were working with al-Qa`ida. – al-Quds al-Arabi, December 8; Jerusalem Post, December 8
December 9, 2007: An important U.S. ally in Iraq, Babil Province Police Chief Qais al-Mamouri, was assassinated when five successive roadside bombs exploded near his vehicle at the entrance of Hilla. Investigators are unclear as to whether the attack was executed by al-Qa`ida or by Shi`a militias.
– The Christian Science Monitor, December 10
December 9, 2007: A roadside bomb detonated on an Algerian highway, with the intended target a bus filled with employees of the Russian energy company Stroitransgaz. There were no reported injuries. The attack took place west of Algiers, near the town of Bavaiche. – Itar-Tass, December 10
December 10, 2007: NATO and Afghan government forces retook Musa Qala in Afghanistan, which had been controlled by the Taliban since February. – The Times [London], December 10
December 11, 2007: Two car bombs ripped through downtown Algiers, killing approximately 60 people. The attacks targeted the constitutional court in the Algiers neighborhood of Ben Aknoun, in addition to the city’s UN headquarters—at least 11 UN workers were killed. Al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility. – CNN, December 11; Bloomberg, December 12
December 11, 2007: Four Islamic militants were sentenced to prison in Indonesia for committing terrorist acts. The attacks include bombing a market and beheading three Christian schoolgirls. – AP, December 12
December 11, 2007: At least five people were killed, including three Ethiopian soldiers, during an attack in Mogadishu. The casualties occurred during a 30-minute gunbattle that erupted after a roadside bomb targeted an Ethiopian convoy. – AP, December 11
December 12, 2007: Three car bombs exploded in the southern Iraqi city of Amara, killing at least 27 people. – CNN, December 12
December 13, 2007: Pakistani authorities announced that they had foiled an al-Qa`ida plot to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf. Reports state that the assassination was planned for Musharraf’s next visit to Karachi, where a bridge connecting the airport to the city was to be destroyed while Musharraf’s convoy traveled over. – Bloomberg, December 13
