September 16, 2008 (UNITED STATES): Central Intelligence Agency Director Michael Hayden said that “there is no greater national security threat facing the United States than al-Qaida and its associates,” warning that al-Qa`ida is the CIA’s top nuclear concern because it has the intent to use a nuclear weapon should it be able to acquire one. Hayden also said that his agency does not believe that Usama bin Ladin is still the head of al-Qa`ida’s day-to-day operations as the jihadist leader “is spending a great deal of his energy merely surviving.” Hayden does believe, however, that killing or capturing Bin Ladin would have a powerful impact on al-Qa`ida. – AP, September 16
September 16, 2008 (PAKISTAN): Three Pakistani soldiers were killed after Taliban fighters attacked their checkpoint in the Swat Valley of the North-West Frontier Province. The attack began when a suicide car bomber detonated his explosives as security personnel approached his vehicle at the checkpoint. After the explosion, a group of militants engaged the rest of the soldiers. – AFP, September 16
September 16, 2008 (THAILAND): Muslim separatist insurgents in southern Thailand shot dead two Muslim rubber tappers who worked as village defense volunteers in Yala Province. When police and villagers arrived at the scene after the killings, the insurgents detonated a 20 kilogram bomb, wounding five policemen and three villagers. – Reuters, September 16
September 17, 2008 (IRAQ): Twin car bombs ripped through the al-Khark district in western Baghdad, killing eight people. – AFP, September 17
September 17, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): A roadside bomb exploded in eastern Afghanistan, killing four international soldiers and one Afghan national. Authorities did not identify the exact location of the incident. – AP, September 16
September 17, 2008 (YEMEN): A group calling itself Islamic Jihad in Yemen launched a multipronged attack on the U.S. Embassy in Sana`a, leaving 11 people dead, in addition to six of the attackers. “The attack involved multiple vehicle-borne devices and armed personnel on foot, seemingly in an attempt to try to breach the embassy’s perimeter, enter the compound and inflict further damage and loss of life,” stated an Associated Press report. Analysts suspect that the attackers were linked to al-Qa`ida. None of those killed or wounded were U.S. diplomats or embassy employees. – AP, September 18
September 17, 2008 (PAKISTAN): According to security officials, Pakistani fighter jets bombed a series of militant hideouts in Bajaur Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, killing at least 19 fighters. – AFP, September 18
September 18, 2008 (GLOBAL): A new survey released by the Pew Research Center found that the number of Muslims around the world who think suicide attacks are acceptable has fallen significantly in the past six years. – AFP, September 19
September 18, 2008 (PAKISTAN): Taliban militants in Swat District of the North-West Frontier Province released eight policemen who had been held captive since July 29. –Dawn, September 19
September 19, 2008 (GLOBAL): An al-Qa`ida video marking the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks appeared on the internet. The video’s release was apparently delayed due to technical problems, as a number of al-Qa`ida’s main websites went offline. In the video, al-Qa`ida’s commander for Afghanistan, Shaykh Sa`id Mustafa Abu’l-Yazid, promised “more large-scale attacks” in Afghanistan and called on militants in Pakistan to “strike the interests of Crusader [Western] allies in Pakistan.” The video is titled, “The Results of Seven Years of Crusades.” – Reuters, September 20; AP, September 20
September 19, 2008 (UNITED KINGDOM): Hammad Munshi was sentenced to two years in jail after being convicted of making a record of information likely to provide practical assistance to a person committing an act of terrorism. Munshi, who committed the crime when he was 16-years-old, downloaded jihadist military manuals from the internet, and then passed the information to two other individuals who were planning attacks on non-Muslims. Munshi is now 18-years-old. – dailyrecord.co.uk, September 20
September 19, 2008 (GERMANY): German authorities arrested two men on terrorism charges, alleging that they were involved in a cell that was planning mass bombing attacks on U.S. targets in Germany in 2007. The suspects, a Turkish national and a German citizen, allegedly traveled to Pakistan in 2007 with the goal of receiving military training at camps run by the al-Qa`ida-affiliated Islamic Jihad Union. –Washington Post, September 20
September 19, 2008 (SOMALIA): Islamist militants exchanged intense gunfire with Somali Transitional Federal Government forces and Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu, causing the deaths of an estimated 15 civilians. The fighting came after an African Union military aircraft defied an al-Shabab ban on planes using Mogadishu’s airport. The plane landed successfully, yet under fire. – Reuters, September 19
September 20, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A suicide bomber detonated a truck loaded with approximately 590 kilograms of explosives outside the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad. The huge bomb blast caused significant damage to the hotel and led to the deaths of at least 53 people; hundreds more were wounded. The bombing killed the Czech ambassador to Pakistan, in addition to two American officials with the U.S. Department of Defense. A group calling itself the “Islam Commandos” took credit for the operation; little is known about the group, and authorities suspect that the attack was actually conducted by either al-Qa`ida- or Taliban-affiliated militants. – AP, September 21; AP, September 25; AFP, September 21
September 20, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A suicide bomber attacked a security force convoy near Mir Ali in North Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, killing six people, three of whom were soldiers. – Reuters, September 20
September 20, 2008 (YEMEN): Yemen’s foreign minister said that the September 17 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Sana`a “has the markings of al-Qa`ida.” – AP, September 20
September 21, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): More than 140 workers involved in the construction of a military base were kidnapped by suspected Taliban gunmen in Farah Province. The workers were abducted while traveling in three buses in the province. –Reuters, September 22
September 21, 2008 (PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN): Pakistani security forces claimed that they opened fire on two U.S. helicopter gunships after they “violated Pakistan’s airspace.” The alleged incident occurred near North Waziristan Agency on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area. The U.S. Department of Defense denied the Pakistani account. – AFP, September 22; AP, September 23
September 21, 2008 (NORTH AFRICA): The leader of al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb appeared in a new videotape blasting a “new colonial offensive” by the West in North Africa. The leader, Abu Mus`ab `Abd al-Wadud (also known as Abdelmalek Droukdel), railed against the Algerian government and warned Muslims not to support the local “regimes of apostasy and treason.” He also made a veiled reference to France’s territorial security. – AP, September 22
September 21, 2008 (PHILIPPINES): Two Abu Sayyaf Group members who claimed to have met with wanted Jemaah Islamiyah members Dulmatin and Umar Patek surrendered to authorities. – Philippine Daily Inquirer, September 23
September 22, 2008 (FRANCE): The French parliament voted to maintain its military role in Afghanistan and announced that it would be reinforced with helicopters, intelligence drones and 100 more soldiers. – AFP, September 25
September 22, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): A roadside bomb killed the governor of Registan district in Kandahar Province. The district governor’s police chief was also killed in the blast. The Taliban claimed responsibility. – AFP, September 22
September 22, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A senior Afghan diplomat was abducted in Peshawar in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province. The diplomat, Abdul Khaliq Farahi, was a candidate to become Afghanistan’s next ambassador to Pakistan. His driver was killed during the ambush. – AP, September 22; New York Times, September 22
September 23, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): A suicide car bomber targeted a convoy of German and Afghan troops in Kunduz Province. There were no casualties other than the life of the bomber. – Deutsche Welle, September 23
September 23, 2008 (PAKISTAN): Pakistani security forces claimed they killed 10 suspected insurgents during an offensive in Bajaur Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. – AP, September 23
September 24, 2008 (GERMANY): A German court convicted a 25-year-old Moroccan man, Abdelali Miftah, of supporting a foreign terrorist organization and helping to found a terrorist cell. Miftah, who was sentenced to four years in jail, was accused of helping to recruit supporters for al-Qa`ida to fight in Iraq. Prosecutors claim that he was a “communications facilitator” for a Europe-based group that assisted al-Qa`ida. –AP, September 24
September 24, 2008 (IRAQ): Gunmen ambushed and killed 12 policemen and eight anti-al-Qa`ida fighters in the village of al-Dulaimat in Diyala Province. Some reports state that an additional 15 policemen were killed, bringing the total number of dead to 35. – AFP, September 24; AFP, September 25
September 24, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A suicide bomber attacked a Frontier Corps convoy in Quetta in Balochistan Province, resulting in the death of a teenage female student. Twenty-two others were injured in the blast. – Daily Times, September 25
September 24, 2008 (SOMALIA): Islamist militants and African Union peacekeepers engaged in intense fighting in Mogadishu. According to reports, at least 17 civilians were killed during the violence. – CNN, September 24
September 25, 2008 (GERMANY): Federal prosecutors issued a public alert seeking information on the locations of two suspected terrorists who had recently returned to Germany after attending terrorist training camps in Pakistan. The men, who are allegedly involved with the Islamic Jihad Union group, were identified as Eric Breininger, 21-years-old, a German citizen and convert to Islam, and Houssain al-Malla, 23-years-old and a native of Lebanon. – Washington Post, September 27
September 25, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN): NATO officials said that Pakistani troops fired on ISAF helicopters in Afghanistan’s Khost Province. Pakistani officials claim that the coalition helicopters crossed into Pakistani territory; NATO, however, responded that “at no time did ISAF helicopters cross into Pakistani airspace.” – Voice of America, September 25
September 26, 2008 (GERMANY): Authorities pulled two suspected terrorists from a plane in Cologne. The Somali-born men had left notes in their apartments near Cologne that suggested they intended to carry out a suicide mission. Their travel agenda showed that they planned to fly to Uganda via Amsterdam, and then from Uganda to Pakistan. One of the men was a Somali national, while the other was a German citizen born in Mogadishu. – Washington Post, September 27
September 26, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): Most of the 140 civilian laborers who were abducted by Taliban fighters on September 21 were freed. After mediation between tribal elders and the Taliban, a Taliban spokesman said, “We have released 118 of these workers and the rest will be freed soon.” – BBC, September 26
September 26, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): A suicide bomber targeted a militia commander working for U.S. forces in Khost Province. The commander was wounded, and five other people were killed in the blast. – AP, September 26
September 26, 2008 (ISRAEL): Pro-al-Qa`ida Palestinian group Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam) vowed to avenge the deaths of nine of its members who were killed in clashes with Hamas policemen on September 16. In the group’s statement, it claimed that “revenge is a right that must be fulfilled,” and that the only reason it would forgive Hamas would be if the latter group declared an Islamic state in the Gaza Strip. A Hamas spokesman was unconcerned about the threats, and said, “The Army of Islam is allowed to act against the Israeli occupation but it must stay away from internal affairs which is the job of the (Hamas) security services.” – Reuters, September 26
September 27, 2008 (SYRIA): A car bomb exploded outside Syrian security offices in Damascus, killing 17 people. No group claimed responsibility, although Syrian authorities believe that Sunni jihadists were responsible. – AP, September 27; Jerusalem Post, October 1
September 28, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): Taliban gunmen shot dead Malalai Kakar, the head of the city of Kandahar’s department of crimes against women and the country’s most high-profile policewoman. Her teenage son was wounded. – AFP, September 28
September 28, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): A suicide bomber on a motorbike blew himself up near two police vehicles in Spin Boldak of Kandahar Province. Six people were killed. – The Age, September 29
September 28, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): Gunmen attempted to assassinate Mohammad Hashim, the provincial council chief for Zabul Province. Although the attack, which occurred in Kandahar Province, failed to kill Hashim, four of his bodyguards died after exchanging gunfire with the assailants. – AP, September 29
September 28, 2008 (ALGERIA): A suicide car bomber attacked a military checkpoint in Boumerdes Province, killing three people. One of the two militants involved in the attack jumped out of the explosives-laden vehicle before it reached its target and was apprehended by authorities. Al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb later claimed credit for the operation. – AP, September 29; Reuters, October 1
September 28, 2008 (THAILAND): Suspected separatist militants killed two Muslim village chiefs in southern Thailand. One of the chiefs was killed in Narathiwat Province, while the other in Pattani Province. – AFP, September 29
September 29, 2008 (GLOBAL): A new purported al-Qa`ida video appeared on Islamist web forums in which an unidentified narrator speaking Urdu criticizes Pakistan’s current and previous leaders. The video tells Pakistani Muslims to prepare for a holy war against corrupt governments. – AP, September 29
September 29, 2008 (PAKISTAN): Military statistics released today found that suicide attacks have killed almost 1,200 Pakistanis since July 2007. The majority of those killed were civilians. – AP, September 29
September 29, 2008 (LEBANON): A remotely-detonated car bomb ripped through a military bus near Tripoli, killing seven people, four of whom were soldiers. –news.com.au, September 30
September 30, 2008 (UNITED STATES): Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Michael Hayden told reporters that “all of the [terrorist] threats about which we are aware have threads that take them back into that Afghan/Pakistan border region, either in terms of command and control, or training, and direction.” – Fox News, September 30
September 30, 2008 (UNITED STATES): A U.S. district court sentenced Derrick Shareef to 35-years in jail for plotting a grenade attack at a mall filled with Christmas shoppers in Rockford, Illinois in 2006. Although at the time Shareef was an admirer of Usama bin Ladin, authorities found that he acted alone in the plot except for a paid government informant. – Chicago Tribune, October 1; AP, September 30
September 30, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): Afghan President Hamid Karzai revealed that he has asked the Saudi Arabian government to help broker peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban leadership, led by Mullah Omar. An article in the Financial Timesasserted that “according to a person familiar with the talks, the Saudis have been involved since July, when they were first approached by Pakistan-based Taliban clerics. The Saudis sent an envoy to Kabul and started shuttling between the two sides.” Karzai also made a direct appeal to Mullah Omar, stating that he would protect the Taliban chief from U.S.-led coalition forces if he returned to Afghanistan to “work for the peace and good of your people.” – Financial Times, October 1
September 30, 2008 (RUSSIA): A suicide car bomber attempted to assassinate Ingushetia’s interior minister, Mussa Medov, in the region’s main city of Nazran. Although the explosion damaged Medov’s vehicle, he was not injured. – Reuters, September 30
October 1, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): The Australian Special Operations Task Group apprehended Mullah Saqi Dad, a Taliban commander responsible for attacks in Uruzgan Province and believed tied to senior Taliban leaders such as Mullah Omar. –The Age, October 6
October 1, 2008 (PAKISTAN): Various Pakistani media agencies have reported that Tehrik-i-Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud has died of kidney failure. Taliban spokesmen, however, have denied the claim, and they state that Mehsud is “fine and healthy.” – Reuters, October 1
October 1, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A suspected U.S. aerial drone strike killed at least six people in North Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Pakistani media sources said that foreign militants were among the dead. – Guardian, October 1
October 2, 2008 (UNITED STATES): A federal appeals court overturned the convictions of Yemeni cleric Shaykh Mohammed Ali al-Moayad and his deputy, Mohammed Mohsen Zayed. The two men were convicted of supporting terrorists in early 2005. The court found that the men’s case was prejudiced by inflammatory testimony about unrelated terrorism links. The court ruled that the men can have new trials. – AP, October 2
October 2, 2008 (IRAQ): A suicide car bomber detonated his explosives outside a Shi`a mosque in Zafaraniyya in southern Baghdad, killing 14 people. – AP, October 2
October 2, 2008 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber detonated his explosives belt outside the Shi`a Rasul mosque in Baghdad, killing 10 people. – AP, October 2
October 2, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A suicide bomber attempted to assassinate Asfandyar Wali Khan, the head of the Awami National Party, which controls Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province. The attack occurred in Charsadda at the political leader’s home. Four people were killed in the blast, but Asfandyar Wali escaped injury. – Daily Telegraph, October 2
October 2, 2008 (SUDAN): The U.S. Embassy in Khartoum released a warden message warning that an al-Qa`ida-affiliated group had threatened the U.S. government in addition to Americans in Sudan. The group that issued the threat identified itself as al-Qa`ida in the Land of the Two Niles. – AFP, October 11
October 2, 2008 (INDIA): Bombs ripped through shopping markets and a bus station in Agartala, the capital of Tripura state. At least five people were killed. Indian authorities believe that the Indian Mujahidin group was behind the attacks. – The Australian, October 3
October 3, 2008 (IRAQ): U.S. forces killed a senior leader of al-Qa`ida in Iraq, Mahir Ahmad Mahmud Zubaydi, in Baghdad. The U.S. military believes that Zubaydi, also known as Abu Rami, was responsible for “all terrorist operations” in east Baghdad. –Los Angeles Times, October 5
October 3, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A suspected U.S. aerial drone fired missiles at a home in North Waziristan Agency of Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Pakistani authorities said at least nine people were killed in the explosion, including foreigners. –Reuters, October 3
October 4, 2008 (GLOBAL): American al-Qa`ida member Adam Gadahn appeared in a new video posted on Islamist web forums. The video, which references the recent U.S. economic downturn and fighting in Kashmir, proved that Gadahn was still alive, nixing speculation that he may have been killed in February. Gadahn attempted to link the financial turmoil in the United States to proof that “the enemies of Islam” face defeat. “The enemies of Islam are facing a crushing defeat, which is beginning to manifest itself in the expanding crisis their economy is experiencing,” Gadahn asserted. “A crisis whose primary cause, in addition to the abortive and unsustainable crusades they are waging in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq, is their turning their backs on Allah’s revealed laws, which forbid interest-bearing transactions, exploitation, greed and injustice in all its forms.” – CNN, October 4; AP, October 4
October 4, 2008 (IRAQ): Gunmen attacked a police station near Ramadi, Anbar Province, and killed two policemen. – Reuters, October 5
October 4, 2008 (SOMALIA): The Islamist faction that retains control of Somalia’s southern port city of Kismayo renamed the airport after Imam Ahmed Gurey, a 16thcentury Somali holy warrior. They also called on commercial airlines to use the airport. Somalia’s Islamists retook control of Kismayo in August. – AFP, October 4
October 4, 2008 (THAILAND): Suspected Muslim separatists killed two government soldiers who were traveling on a motorcycle in Pattani Province. – AP, October 4
October 5, 2008 (IRAQ): U.S. forces killed the second-in-command of al-Qa`ida in Iraq, identified as Abu Qaswarah, a Moroccan native also known as Abu Sara. He was killed in Mosul, Ninawa Province. Later investigation revealed that Abu Qaswarah had Swedish citizenship. – Reuters, October 15; TimesOnline, October 16
October 5, 2008 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber detonated his explosives after U.S. forces stormed the building in which he was in. Ten people were killed in the resultant blast, at least six of whom were civilians. – Los Angeles Times, October 6
October 5, 2008 (PAKISTAN): Suspected Taliban militants fired rockets at the home of Amir Haider Khan Hoti, the North-West Frontier Province’s chief minister. There were no casualties from the attacks. – AP, October 6
October 6, 2008 (IRAQ): Gunmen killed an off-duty member of Iraq’s special forces in Babil Province. – Reuters, October 6
October 6, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): Afghanistan began registering voters for the fall 2009 presidential polls. A Taliban spokesman responded to the drive, stating, “It is clear that it will be fraudulent and this is all the work of the United States.” – AP, October 6
October 6, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A suicide bomber detonated his explosives at the home of a lawmaker, killing at least 20 people. The Shi`a lawmaker, Rashid Akbar Khan Nawani, was injured in the blast. The attack took place in Punjab Province. – Los Angeles Times, October 7
October 7, 2008 (IRAQ): Iraqi forces arrested a woman suspected of leading efforts to recruit female suicide bombers for al-Qa`ida in Iraq. The suspect, identified as Ibitisma Odwan or “Mother Fatima,” was arrested in Ba`quba, Diyala Province. – AFP, October 7
October 7, 2008 (IRAQ): Gunmen killed two Christian men in Mosul, Ninawa Province.– Reuters, October 7
October 7, 2008 (IRAQ): Gunmen stormed into a pharmacy in Mosul, Ninawa Province, and killed the pharmacist, who was a Christian. – Reuters, October 7
October 7, 2008 (IRAQ): During a gunfight between coalition forces and insurgents in Mosul, Ninawa Province, one U.S. soldier, one Iraqi policeman and one insurgent gunman were killed. Four insurgents were arrested. – Reuters, October 7
October 8, 2008 (IRAQ): A female suicide bomber detonated her explosives outside a courthouse in Ba`quba, Diyala Province, killing 11 people. A male suicide bomber was apprehended at the scene, as he failed to detonate his explosives vest. – AP, October 9
October 8, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): Afghan and international troops killed at least six Taliban fighters during a sweep of Bakwa district in Farah Province. – Reuters, October 9
October 9, 2008 (IRAQ): A member of the al-Sadr bloc in the Iraqi parliament, Salih al-Ugaili, was killed by a bomb in eastern Baghdad. Two of his bodyguards were also killed in the blast. – Reuters, October 9
October 9, 2008 (IRAQ): A “sticky bomb” attached to a vehicle carrying employees of the Karbala governing council exploded, killing one of the employees and wounding two others. – Reuters, October 9
October 9, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): Taliban fighters ambushed a convoy belonging to USPI, a U.S. security firm, in Farah Province. Two of the company’s guards were killed, and 11 trucks part of the convoy were set on fire by Taliban troops. – Reuters, October 10
October 9, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): U.S.-led and Afghan forces killed 12 Taliban militants in Uruzgan Province. – Reuters, October 9
October 9, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A suicide bomber penetrated one of the most heavily secured police facilities in Islamabad. Once inside the building—which housed Pakistan’s anti-terrorism police—the bomber detonated his explosives. At least six officers were injured, and the building was largely destroyed. The attack occurred in Islamabad’s heavily guarded Red Zone. There were conflicting reports on the incident, as the International Herald Tribune claimed that the attack may have involved a car bomb. – International Herald Tribune, October 9; The Australian, October 10
October 9, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A U.S. missile strike targeted an area in North Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Pakistani intelligence officials claim that at least nine people were killed. Some of those killed were believed to be foreigners. According to a security official speaking with Agence France-Presse, “There was a meeting of around 30 foreign Al-Qaeda and local Taliban commanders in the house of Hafiz Sahar Gul but the majority of them left the building ten minutes before the missile struck. The six Arabs who were killed are all believed to be lower level operatives.” – AP, October 10; AFP, October 10
October 9, 2008 (SOMALIA): Witnesses told reporters that an unidentified aircraft bombed an Islamist rebel stronghold 18 miles southeast of Baidoa. According to one witness, “We heard a big crash after something like a plane had roared over us. I think they targeted al-Shabaab because we knew many of their battle-wagons were passing.” It was not clear whether there were any casualties, or to which country the aircraft belonged. – Reuters, October 9
October 10, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): A suicide bomber killed a provincial intelligence officer for Khost Province. Three policemen were wounded. – Reuters, October 10
October 10, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A suicide car bomber attacked a meeting of pro-government tribesmen in Orakzai Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, killing at least 30 people. The bomber apparently drove his explosives-laden vehicle directly into a crowd of 500 tribesmen, and then detonated it. – Voice of America, October 10; AP, October 11
October 10, 2008 (PHILIPPINES): Authorities on Jolo Island in the southern Philippines killed an Abu Sayyaf Group member and captured three of his comrades. – AFP, October 11
October 11, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A suspected U.S. missile strike killed at least three people in Miran Shah, North Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. – AP, October 12
October 11, 2008 (TURKEY): Authorities apprehended a suspected Kurdish female militant who was possibly planning to launch a suicide bomb attack in Istanbul. According to authorities, “The suspect—a woman in her 30s posing as pregnant—carried 8.8 kilograms (19 pounds) of explosives, 15 detonators and a manual button in her bag when she was arrested in the downtown district of Sisli after a police pursuit.” – AFP, October 11
October 11, 2008 (PHILIPPINES): Authorities arrested a member of the Abu Sayyaf Group who was believed to be involved in the June kidnapping of journalist Ces Drilon. The operative, identified as Marcial Totoh Jabarot (also known as Abu Cesar), was arrested on Jolo Island in the southern Philippines. – Philippine Daily Inquirer, October 12
October 12, 2008 (IRAQ): A suicide car bomber targeted an Iraqi patrol in Mosul, Ninawa Province, killing five civilians and injuring 35. A second suicide car bomber struck the same area approximately 20 minutes after the first blast. The second blast injured at least 25 more people. – Bloomberg, October 13
October 12, 2008 (IRAQ): A sniper killed two Iraqi soldiers in Mansur district of Baghdad. – Reuters, October 12
October 12, 2008 (IRAQ): Gunmen burst into a shop in Mosul, Ninawa Province, and killed the shop’s owner, a Christian male. – Reuters, October 13
October 12, 2008 (IRAQ): Gunmen stormed the house of a policeman and killed him in Mosul, Ninawa Province. – Reuters, October 13
October 12, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): Approximately 60 Taliban fighters were killed when they attempted to launch a surprise attack on Afghan forces in Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province. Hundreds of Taliban fighters attacked Lashkar Gah from three sides, but they were repelled by NATO airstrikes. – Guardian, October 12
October 12, 2008 (PAKISTAN): The Frontier Corps claimed to have killed 27 Taliban fighters in an airstrike in Orakzai Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. –Daily Times, October 13
October 12, 2008 (LEBANON): Security officials arrested a group of alleged extremists—some of whom tied to Fatah al-Islam—involved in recent attacks against the Lebanese Army. Officials claimed the cell was involved in the September 29 attack on a military bus in Tripoli. The group was also blamed for an August 13 bus bombing, along with another attack in May. – BBC, October 13
October 13, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): Coalition forces killed five militants during an operation targeting a foreign fighter network in Ghazni Province. – Reuters, October 14
October 13, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A government official announced that an estimated 15 people were killed in clashes between Taliban fighters and pro-government tribesmen and government security forces. Two of the dead were tribesmen. The clashes occurred on October 12 and 13 in Bajaur Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. – AP, October 13
October 13, 2008 (PAKISTAN): A remote-controlled bomb exploded near the vehicle of Shamin Khan, a secular Pakistani political leader. Khan, a member of the Awami National Party, was injured in the blast, which occurred in the North-West Frontier Province. – CNN, October 13
October 14, 2008 (IRAQ): Gunmen opened fire on a U.S. military patrol in western Baghdad, killing one U.S. soldier. According to the Associated Press, “It was the first combat death suffered by American forces in the capital since September 30, when the military said a soldier was killed by small arms fire in northern Baghdad.” – AP, October 15
October 14, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): Kai Eide, the top UN representative for Afghanistan, warned that insurgents were likely to increase the number of attacks in the coming weeks before the onset of winter. Eide also said that despite some recent setbacks, he would “caution against the kind of gloom-and-doom statements we’ve seen recently” about Afghanistan. – Washington Post, October 15
October 14, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): The head of Kandahar Province’s Social Affairs Department was shot to death by two unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle. According to one report, the attack, which occurred in Kandahar city, was “conducted in the same manner as the September 28 assassination of Lt.-Col. Malalai Kakar, Kandahar’s first female police detective and the highest-ranking policewoman in southern Afghanistan.” – Canadian Press, October 14
October 14, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): A roadside bomb destroyed a vehicle carrying NATO soldiers in eastern Afghanistan, killing three of them. – AFP, October 14
October 14, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): Nine civilians were killed after a bomb ripped through a bus in Uruzgan Province. It is believed that the bomb was intended for Afghan or international security forces. The Taliban denied involvement. – AFP, October 14
October 14, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): An Afghan official claimed that international forces killed approximately 70 Taliban fighters in airstrikes in Helmand Province. Afghan officials allege that most of the killed were foreign fighters, including Arabs and Pakistanis. – Reuters, October 15; AFP, October 15
October 14, 2008 (SOMALIA): Burundi’s spokesman for the army told reporters that the country had completed an additional deployment of 850 soldiers to Somalia. The soldiers, part of an African Union peacekeeping mission, will join another group of 850 soldiers previously deployed to the country, raising Burundi’s total contribution to 1,700 troops. There are now approximately 3,400 AU peacekeepers in Somalia, still short of the 8,000 planned commitment. – AFP, October 14
October 14, 2008 (THAILAND): Thailand extended the emergency decree imposed on its three southern-most provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat for an additional three months. The extended decree is now set to expire on January 19, 2009. – TNA, October 14
October 14, 2008 (RUSSIA): Russia’s Federal Security Service claimed that it foiled an al-Qa`ida-related attack on Sochi, the site for the 2014 Winter Olympics, during the summer. The attack was allegedly planned by Doku Umarov, a Chechen separatist warlord. – Bloomberg, October 14
October 15, 2008 (UNITED KINGDOM): Nicky Reilly, a 22-year-old male Muslim convert from Plymouth, pleaded guilty to a failed suicide bomb attack on a busy restaurant in Devon on May 22. According to a press report about the May 22 incident, Reilly “used the internet to research how to make bombs using caustic soda, kerosene, drain cleaner and nails…He had received support from two unidentified people who contacted him on an extremist website. Police said Reilly had been ‘preyed upon, radicalised and taken advantage of.’” Reilly will be sentenced on November 21. – Reuters, October 15
October 15, 2008 (IRAQ): Major-General Ali al-Hamdani, the intelligence chief for three of Iraq’s southern provinces, was injured in a roadside bomb blast in Karbala Province. – Reuters, October 15
October 15, 2008 (IRAQ): Mortar rounds landed near the Sunni Abu Hanifa shrine in Adhamiyya district of Baghdad. Two people were killed. – Reuters, October 15
October 15, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): An estimated 18 Taliban fighters were killed after a four hour battle in Lashkar Gah in Helmand Province. – Reuters, October 15
October 15, 2008 (AFGHANISTAN): A roadside bomb killed three policemen in Logar Province. – Reuters, October 15
October 15, 2008 (THAILAND): Authorities surrounded five members of the Runda Kumpulan Kecil insurgent group in southern Thailand’s Yala Province. A gunfight ensued, and three of the five escaped, while the other two were apprehended. –Bangkok Post, October 15
