June 1, 2010 (PAKISTAN): The Pakistan Army said it successfully concluded military operations against Pakistani Taliban militants in Orakzai Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The operation began in March 2010. In recent years, Orakzai Agency became a safe haven for many Taliban militants, especially for fighters fleeing the government’s recent offensive in South Waziristan Agency in 2009. – Voice of America, June 1
June 2, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): Insurgents attacked Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s peace jirga in Kabul, but failed to significantly disrupt the proceedings. At least two suicide bombers disguised in women’s clothing attempted to attack the gathering. The bombers were killed by security forces. Rockets were also fired at the jirga tent. – New York Times, June 2; Los Angeles Times, June 3
June 2, 2010 (YEMEN): Agence France-Presse reported that an Australian woman was detained in Yemen on suspicion of having ties to al-Qa`ida. The Australian, a convert to Islam, was arrested on May 15, 2010 along with two Bangladeshi women. She has been identified as Shyloh Jayne Giddens and was teaching English in Sana`a at the time of her arrest. On June 12, however, Yemeni authorities said that she had been released and was returning to Australia. – Bloomberg, June 2; Guardian, June 3; Telegraph, June 4
June 3, 2010 (UNITED STATES): Barry Walter Bujol Jr. was indicted in Houston on allegations of trying to provide money and equipment to al-Qa`ida. The indictment states that Bujol exchanged e-mails with Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-`Awlaqi starting in 2008, asking for the cleric’s advice on how to help al-Qa`ida. According to the New York Times, “The Federal Bureau of Investigation, after learning of the e-mail messages, sent an informer posing as a member of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to contact Mr. Bujol, an American. From the informer, Mr. Bujol obtained equipment for the group, including global positioning system devices, telephone calling cards and a military compass. He was arrested May 30 after he boarded a ship bound for the Middle East with the equipment.”– New York Times, June 3
June 3, 2010 (SAUDI ARABIA): Al-Qa`ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which is based in Yemen, threatened to kidnap Saudi princes and ministers to secure the release of a female al-Qa`ida operative arrested by Saudi security forces. The operative, Hayla al-Qusayir, is thought to be a fundraiser for al-Qa`ida. – Reuters, June 3
June 4, 2010 (IRAQ): General Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told a news conference that approximately 80% of al-Qa`ida’s leaders in Iraq have been captured or killed during the past three months. He said that only eight of al-Qa`ida’s 42 chiefs in Iraq remain at large. – BBC, June 4
June 4, 2010 (RUSSIA): A policeman was killed after a bomb exploded in a shop near the town of Malgobek in Ingushetia, located in Russia’s North Caucasus region. Twenty-five people were injured by the blast. The same shop had been bombed earlier in the day. – Reuters, June 4
June 4, 2010 (SOMALIA): According to CNN, as many as 200 foreign fighters affiliated with al-Qa`ida are estimated to be hiding in southern Somalia. CNN said the estimates were based on interviews with two unidentified U.S. military officials. – CNN, June 4
June 5, 2010 (UNITED STATES): Two New Jersey men were arrested at JFK International Airport in New York as they attempted to board separate flights to Egypt, with their ultimate destination reportedly being Somalia. U.S. federal authorities charge that the men planned to join the al-Qa`ida-linked al-Shabab insurgent group in Somalia. They have been identified as Mohamed Mahmood Alessa and Carlos Eduardo Almonte. The FBI had been monitoring the men since 2006. – Fox News, June 6; New York Times, June 7
June 5, 2010 (YEMEN): Suspected al-Qa`ida gunmen killed a senior Yemeni army officer and a soldier after ambushing their convoy in Marib Province. – Reuters, June 5
June 5, 2010 (INDIA): U.S. National Security Adviser James Jones reportedly told Indian reporters that Indian government investigators had been given access to David Coleman Headley, a Pakistani-American operative for Lashkar-i-Tayyiba. Headley, who is detained in Chicago, was reportedly involved in the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008. – PTI, June 5
June 6, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): A roadside bomb killed three policemen in Kunduz Province. – AFP, June 5
June 6, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): The Afghan Interior Ministry said that a suicide bomber on a motorcycle targeted a NATO convoy in Jalalabad, injuring 13 Afghan civilians. – AFP, June 5
June 6, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): Afghan Interior Minister Hanif Atmar and National Directorate of Security Chief Amrullah Saleh resigned in the wake of a June 2 attack on a major peace conference in the capital. According to the Los Angeles Times, “The attack was thwarted and none of the assembly participants was hurt. However, it proved embarrassing for Karzai, who had to interrupt his opening speech to urge calm as a rocket-propelled grenade landed within 100 yards of the jirga’s tent.” – Voice of America, June 6; Los Angeles Times, June 7
June 6, 2010 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber in an explosives-laden vehicle attacked a crowd of officers outside a police station in Baghdad, killing four of them. The attack occurred in the predominately Shi`a Amil district of the capital. – Reuters, June 6
June 6, 2010 (YEMEN): Yemeni security officials said that they arrested French national Jeremy Johnny Witter in late May in Sana`a on suspicion of having ties to al-Qa`ida. Authorities said that Witter was studying at the Sana`a Institute for Arabic Language. – Voice of America, June 6
June 6, 2010 (YEMEN): Hamza Ali Salah al-Dayan, the al-Qa`ida operative accused of planning the July 2007 suicide attack that killed seven Spanish tourists and two Yemenis in Marib Province, surrendered to Yemeni authorities. Al-Dayan was among the 23 al-Qa`ida operatives who escaped from a Yemeni jail in February 2006. – RTTNews, June 7
June 7, 2010 (IRAQ): A car bomb ripped through Baghdad’s Mansur district, killing three people. – Reuters, June 7
June 8, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Pakistani officials said that the Taliban publicly executed a man in Miran Shah in North Waziristan Agency. The man, who was accused of killing his two brothers, was shot to death in front of hundreds of people at a football ground. – BBC, June 8
June 8, 2010 (YEMEN): Yemeni authorities announced that they detained dozens of foreign nationals, including Americans, suspected of having ties to al-Qa`ida. – UPI, June 8
June 8-9, 2010 (TURKEY): Turkish police arrested 17 suspected al-Qa`ida members in an operation spanning several regions in the country. – Ennahar Online, June 9
June 9, 2010 (UNITED STATES): Syed Hashmi, who pleaded guilty in a U.S. court on April 27, 2010 to a charge of conspiracy to provide material support or resources to al-Qa`ida, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Hashmi, a Pakistani-American, was arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport shortly before boarding a flight to Pakistan on June 6, 2006. – AFP, June 9
June 9, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): Taliban militants shot down a NATO helicopter in southern Afghanistan, killing four soldiers. – AFP, June 9
June 9, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): Taliban militants in Helmand Province accused a seven-year-old boy of spying and hanged him in a public execution. A witness said three militants executed the boy in front of 150 people in Sangin district. – CBS News, June 10; ABC News, June 10
June 9, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): A suicide bomber ripped through the wedding celebration of a man who had joined an anti-Taliban militia in Kandahar Province, killing 40 people. The Taliban publicly denied involvement in the attack. – New York Times, June 9; CNN, June 10
June 9, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): The New York Times reported that Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan have stepped up an assassination campaign aimed at officials and individuals tied to local governments in the south. According to the article, “Government assassinations are nothing new as a Taliban tactic, but now the Taliban are taking aim at officials who are much more low-level, who often do not have the sort of bodyguards or other protection that top leaders do. Some of the victims have only the slimmest connections to the authorities. The most egregious example came Wednesday in Helmand Province, where according to Afghan officials the insurgents executed a 7-year-old boy as an informant.” – New York Times, June 9
June 9, 2010 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber on a motorcycle targeted a U.S. Army patrol near the town of Muqdadiyya, 50 miles northeast of Baghdad. Two civilians were killed in the blast. – Reuters, June 9
June 9, 2010 (IRAQ): A 16-year-old al-Qa`ida member was arrested just moments before he planned to detonate a suicide vest to kill a Shi`a cleric in Tal Afar, Ninawa Province. – Reuters, June 9
June 9, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Suspected Pakistani Taliban militants torched 50 NATO supply trucks on the outskirts of Islamabad, killing at least seven people. The incident marked the first attack on NATO supply trucks this close to the Pakistani capital. – Guardian, June 9; AP, July 1
June 9, 2010 (SOMALIA): A French security adviser who was kidnapped in Somalia in July 2009 appeared in a video posted on jihadist websites. “I ask the French people to do everything for my release,” said the hostage, identified as Denis Allex. Allex, who is being held by al-Shabab militants, said his captors demanded the end of French political and military support to the Somali government and the withdrawal of all foreign military advisers and private security firms from Somalia. – AFP, June 9
June 10, 2010 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber killed three members of an anti-al-Qa`ida militia and two Iraqi soldiers in Baghdad. – AFP, June 10
June 10, 2010 (PAKISTAN): A U.S. drone strike killed three suspected militants near Mir Ali in North Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. – BBC, June 11
June 10, 2010 (INDIA): An Indian newspaper reported that David Coleman Headley, who is currently in U.S. custody, told Indian investigators that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) guided the Lashkar-i-Tayyiba operatives who carried out the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. – Times of India, June 10
June 11, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): A suicide bomber wearing a burqa detonated his explosives in a bazaar in Zabul Province, killing two NATO soldiers who were walking through the same area. Two Afghans were also killed. – New York Times, June 11
June 11, 2010 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber in a vehicle killed two U.S. soldiers and at least three Iraqis in Jalawla, Diyala Province. – Reuters, June 11
June 11, 2010 (PAKISTAN): A U.S. drone strike killed at least 10 suspected militants in North Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The militants reportedly belonged to the Pakistani Taliban faction led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur. – BBC, June 11
June 11, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Pakistani police arrested two Pakistani Taliban militants who were planning “terror attacks” in Karachi. The men, accused of being members of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, were allegedly planning to bring a suicide bomber to Karachi from North Waziristan Agency, but their plot was foiled. – AFP, June 11
June 11, 2010 (ALGERIA): A suicide bomber drove a truck into the barracks of an elite police unit in Timizar, 60 miles east of Algiers. The blast killed at least nine people, including four police officers. Al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb is suspected of being responsible for the blast. – AP, June 11
June 12, 2010 (YEMEN): Militants blew up an oil pipeline in Yemen’s Marib Province. Authorities accused the militants of belonging to al-Qa`ida, although other officials said they were tribesmen. – Saba, June 12; Voice of America, June 12
June 12, 2010 (PHILIPPINES): Authorities discovered the bodies of three Filipino loggers, who were recently beheaded by Abu Sayyaf Group militants in the southern Philippines. – New York Times, June 13
June 13, 2010 (IRAQ): Fighters wearing Iraqi military uniforms raided Baghdad’s Central Bank, killing at least 15 people. The militants used a suicide bomber and at least four other bombs to break into one of Baghdad’s most heavily guarded facilities. The Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility. – Guardian, June 13; Bloomberg, June 13
June 14, 2010 (PAKISTAN): The Afghan Taliban captured dozens of Pakistani soldiers after attacking their checkpoint in Mohmand Agency in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The Afghan Taliban said it captured 40 Pakistani troops during the cross-border raid. – BBC, June 16
June 14, 2010 (YEMEN): Yemen’s Defense Ministry said that it foiled an al-Qa`ida plot to attack vital facilities in Marib Province. – Reuters, June 14
June 15, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): Taliban militants overpowered a seven-man police post in Ghazni Province, killing five policemen. – AFP, June 14
June 16, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Pakistani helicopters and heavy artillery killed 38 militants in Bajaur Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Ten paramilitary soldiers were also killed. – AFP, June 16
June 16, 2010 (PHILIPPINES): Abu Sayyaf Group militants freed Carl Rieth, a Swiss-Filipino man held hostage by the group since April 2010. – AFP, June 16
June 17, 2010 (UNITED STATES): A new federal indictment against Faisal Shahzad, the suspect in the attempted bombing of New York City’s Times Square on May 1, 2010, claims that he received $12,000 from the Pakistani Taliban to carry out the attack. – Washington Post, June 18
June 17, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): A suicide bomber in a vehicle targeted the police headquarters in Andar district of Ghazni Province. Three police officers and three civilians were injured. – CNN, June 17
June 19, 2010 (YEMEN): Militants attacked the main police intelligence headquarters in the southern Yemeni capital of Aden, killing at least 11 people. The insurgents, wearing military uniforms, used assault rifles, mortars and grenades against the facility. They reportedly freed a number of prisoners. Authorities believe that al-Qa`ida in the Arabian Peninsula may be responsible. – Voice of America, June 19; Telegraph, June 19; Reuters, June 26
June 19, 2010 (SAUDI ARABIA): A Saudi security official said that approximately 25 former detainees at Guantanamo Bay returned to militancy after participating in Saudi Arabia’s rehabilitation program for former al-Qa`ida militants. – Reuters, June 19
June 19, 2010 (PAKISTAN): A U.S. aerial drone killed 12 militants in North Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. – Reuters, June 19
June 20, 2010 (IRAQ): Two suicide bombers detonated explosives-laden vehicles outside the Trade Bank of Iraq in Baghdad, killing 26 people. The Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility. – Reuters, June 20
June 20, 2010 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber targeted a police patrol in Shirqat, Salah al-Din Province, killing at least six police officers and two civilians. – CNN, June 20; BBC, June 21
June 21, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): A female suicide bomber killed two U.S. soldiers in Kunar Province. – CNN, June 21; Wall Street Journal, June 22
June 22, 2010 (SWEDEN): Authorities arrested a Swedish man in Stockholm who is suspected of planning an attack in Somalia. The arrest came one month after another Swedish man was detained on the same charges. – AFP, June 22
June 22, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): A bomb targeted Azizullah Safari, the head of the public health department in Kunduz Province, killing him and injuring two people. – Voice of America, June 22
June 22, 2010 (INDONESIA): An Indonesian court sentenced two Islamic militants to jail for their role in the suicide bombings at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta in July 2009. Supono (also known as Kedu) received a six-year sentence, while Rohmat Puji Prabowo (known as Bejo) was given seven-and-a-half years. – AFP, June 22
June 23, 2010 (UNITED STATES): U.S. General Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, resigned his post in the wake of controversial comments he made in an article published by Rolling Stone magazine. McChrystal will be replaced by General David Petraeus, the head of U.S. Central Command and the former commanding officer in Iraq. – Fox News, June 23
June 23, 2010 (IRAQ): Gunmen killed three police officers in Mosul, Ninawa Province. – AFP, June 24
June 23, 2010 (INDONESIA): Indonesian police arrested Abdulah Sunata and charged him with planning a Mumbai-style attack in Jakarta. Sunata was once a “poster child” for Indonesia’s deradicalization program. – AP, June 25
June 24, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): Police found the bodies of 11 Afghan civilians in Uruzgan Province. The civilians were allegedly killed by Taliban fighters, and all of the bodies had been beheaded. – AFP, June 25
June 24, 2010 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint in the Shifa neighborhood of Mosul, Ninawa Province, killing four policemen. – AFP, June 24
June 24, 2010 (IRAQ): Two suicide bombers wearing military uniforms killed one Iraqi soldier and wounded five more at an army base in Mosul, Ninawa Province. – AFP, June 24
June 24, 2010 (IRAQ): A roadside bomb exploded in Baghdad as an Iraqi police patrol passed, killing two officers. – New York Times, June 24
June 24, 2010 (PAKISTAN): A Pakistani judge sentenced five Muslim American men from the Washington, D.C. area to 10 years in prison for terrorism offenses. The men, all friends from northern Virginia, were arrested by Pakistani police in Sargodha in December 2009. – Bloomberg, June 24
June 26, 2010 (IRAQ): Gunmen shot to death four jewelry store owners and robbed more than a dozen shops in Falluja, Anbar Province, possibly in an effort to finance insurgent operations. – New York Times, June 26
June 26, 2010 (PAKISTAN): A U.S. drone strike killed two militants in North Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. – AFP, June 27; The News International, June 26
June 27, 2010 (UNITED STATES): Leon Panetta, the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, told reporters that there are probably only 50-100 al-Qa`ida fighters in Afghanistan, and that there is “no question” that most of the terrorist network operates out of Pakistan’s northwest region. He also said that the United States has “put pressure on the al-Qaida leadership in the tribal areas in Pakistan—and I would say that as a result of our operations that the Taliban leadership is probably at its weakest point since (Sept. 11) and their escape from Afghanistan into Pakistan.” Nevertheless, Panetta warned that al-Qa`ida is still plotting attacks, and attempting to recruit people who do not “have a record in terrorism,” which makes them harder to track. – AP, June 27; UPI, June 28
June 27, 2010 (PAKISTAN): A U.S. drone strike killed six militants in North Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. – AFP, June 27
June 28, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Taliban militants ambushed an army patrol in Pakistan’s Bajaur Agency, killing four Pakistani soldiers. – AFP, June 28
June 28, 2010 (ISRAEL): Israeli officials announced the arrests of seven Arab citizens on suspicions of planning attacks against Jews and Christians. The men were allegedly inspired by speeches from Usama bin Ladin. The suspects were all arrested two months ago. – AFP, June 28
June 29, 2010 (GLOBAL): Al-Qa`ida in the Arabian Peninsula allegedly launched a new English-language online magazine, called Inspire. According to the Associated Press, “The table of contents included articles such as ‘Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom,’ which promised to be ‘a detailed yet short, easy-to-read manual on how to make a bomb using ingredients found in a kitchen.’” – AP, June 30
June 29, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): Militants opened fire on a UN vehicle in Kabul, killing an Afghan employee of the international body. – AP, June 29
June 29, 2010 (IRAQ): An Iraqi general was blown up by a magnetic bomb in Baghdad’s Aden Square. – AFP, June 29
June 29, 2010 (PAKISTAN): A U.S. drone strike killed at least six suspected militants in South Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. – BBC, June 29; Voice of America, June 29
June 30, 2010 (UNITED STATES): Michael E. Leiter, director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, told a public conference that U.S. intelligence officials now estimate that there are somewhat “more than 300” al-Qa`ida leaders and fighters hiding in Pakistan’s northwest tribal areas. As stated by the New York Times, “Taken together with the recent estimate by the CIA director, Leon E. Panetta, that there are about 50 to 100 Qaeda operatives now in Afghanistan, American intelligence agencies believe that there are most likely fewer than 500 members of the group” in the region. The numbers, however, do not take into account militant groups and factions allied with al-Qa`ida. – New York Times, June 30
June 30, 2010 (UNITED STATES): Authorities linked al-Qa`ida operative Adnan Shukrijumah to the New York City subway terrorist plot in 2009. Shukrijumah allegedly met with one of the plotters. – AP, June 30
June 30, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): Taliban fighters launched a coordinated attack on the airport in Jalalabad, Nangarhar Province. At least one attacker detonated a car bomb at the gate of the facility. Several Taliban fighters were killed. – Voice of America, June 30
June 30, 2010 (IRAQ): Two gunmen shot to death a police commander, his wife, and a friend in Hit, Anbar Province. One of the gunmen escaped, but the other was taken into police custody. As police were transferring the gunman to a hospital, he detonated an explosives vest, killing three police. – AFP, June 30
June 30, 2010 (RUSSIA): A suicide bomber detonated explosives near a music hall where the Chechen president was attending a concert. President Ramzan Kadyrov was unharmed, but five servicemen were injured. – Reuters, June 30
June 30, 2010 (ALGERIA): Militants killed up to 11 Algerian paramilitary police officers who were on a routine patrol in Tinzaouatine, close to the Malian border. Authorities suspect that the fighters belonged to al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb. – National Turk, July 1
