October 1, 2010 (GLOBAL): Usama bin Ladin purportedly released a new audio message, titled “Pauses with the Method of Relief Work.” In the message, Bin Ladin criticized flood relief efforts in Pakistan, saying, “Millions of children are out in the open air, lacking basic elements of living, including drinking water, resulting in their bodies shedding liquids and subsequently their death.” He said there was a need for action against climate change, saying that global warming was causing “great catastrophes throughout the Islamic world.” – Reuters, October 1
October 1, 2010 (IRAQ): Ali al-Maliki, the chief of security for southern Iraq, warned that the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) plans to attack “a number of oil facilities” in the country. – UPI, October 1
October 1, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Approximately 20 militants destroyed at least 27 NATO supply trucks in Shikarpur in Sindh Province. – The News International, October 2
October 2, 2010 (GLOBAL): Usama bin Ladin purportedly released a second audio statement in two days, again warning of the dangers of climate change. Bin Ladin discussed the cost and equipment necessary to build embankments to control flooding. He also criticized affluent Muslim countries for not providing more assistance to Pakistanis in the wake of catastrophic flooding. – New York Times, October 2
October 2, 2010 (PAKISTAN): A U.S. drone strike killed nine militants from the Badar Mansur group in Datta Khel of North Waziristan Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. – New York Times, October 2
October 2, 2010 (PAKISTAN): A U.S. drone strike killed eight militants in Datta Khel of North Waziristan Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. It was the second drone strike of the day. – New York Times, October 2
October 3, 2010 (UNITED STATES): The U.S. State Department issued a travel alert for U.S. citizens in Europe due to increased concern about the possibility of a large-scale al-Qa`ida attack on the continent. According to the Los Angeles Times, “Intelligence officials in the U.S. and Europe have said an increase in activity in recent weeks suggests that a small cell of potential terrorists hiding in North Waziristan, a Pakistani tribal region, is preparing an attack [in Europe] that could be as spectacular as the 2008 raids in Mumbai, India, that killed 166 people.” – Los Angeles Times, October 4
October 3, 2010 (ITALY): Officials in France announced that Italian police arrested a French national in early September suspected of having links to a network recruiting fighters for Afghanistan. The man, identified as Riahd Hennouni, was arrested in Naples in southern Italy. Italian newspapers reported that Hennouni is 28-years-old, of Algerian origin, and a possible member of al-Qa`ida. – AP, October 3; CNN, October 4
October 3, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Assailants on motorcycles sprayed bullets at 28 NATO oil tankers near Islamabad, causing the tankers to catch fire. Six people were killed in the attack. – The News International, October 4
October 4, 2010 (JORDAN): A Jordanian military court sentenced Nabil Mohammed Amer to life in prison for leading a cell that plotted attacks against the country’s army and intelligence services. Nine others were jailed for 15 years in prison as part of the plot, which involved plans to kidnap the children of intelligence officers. – BBC, October 4; Bloomberg, October 4
October 4, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Approximately 20 tanker trucks carrying fuel for NATO troops in Afghanistan were attacked at a depot in Islamabad. At least three people were killed during the pre-dawn incident. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility. – Voice of America, October 4
October 4, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Two gunmen on motorcycles torched two NATO supply trucks in Baluchistan Province. – Voice of America, October 4
October 4, 2010 (PAKISTAN): A U.S. drone strike killed at least eight militants in Mir Ali in North Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. A number of German nationals were reportedly among the dead. – Voice of America, October 4
October 4, 2010 (PHILIPPINES): The United States assured the Philippines that it will maintain its military presence in the country until the al-Qa`ida-linked Abu Sayyaf Group is defeated. – AFP, October 4
October 5, 2010 (FRANCE): French authorities arrested 12 men suspected of having ties to al-Qa`ida and terrorism. – Jerusalem Post, October 5
October 5, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): NATO forces announced the capture of a Taliban leader “directly involved” in the kidnapping of New York Times journalist Stephen Farrell in September 2009. The militant was identified as the Taliban’s district leader for Chahar Darah district in Kunduz Province. He was captured in Takhar Province. – CNN, October 5
October 5, 2010 (SAUDI ARABIA): Al-Qa`ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) threatened to launch new attacks against Saudi royal family members. AQAP warned, “We say to the tyrants that we can get you in your offices, we can get you in your bedrooms. I advise you to check before going to bed that there’s no suicide bomber or bomb in the room.” – AFP, October 5
October 6, 2010 (YEMEN): A rocket-propelled grenade struck a British diplomatic vehicle in Sana`a, wounding three people. The vehicle was carrying Britain’s deputy ambassador to Yemen, Fionna Gibb. She escaped unhurt. The attack occurred on Khawlan Street in the capital. Authorities suspect that al-Qa`ida in the Arabian Peninsula was responsible. – AFP, October 5; Daily Telegraph, October 7
October 6, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): Afghan and NATO forces killed 20 Taliban fighters in Takhar Province. – UPI, October 7
October 6, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Approximately 77 NATO supply tankers were attacked by militants in Nowshera District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province. Some 54 tankers were completely destroyed in the incident. – The News International, October 8
October 6, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Militants attacked a NATO truck terminal in Quetta, Baluchistan Province, destroying 20 oil tankers. – The News International, October 7
October 7, 2010 (UNITED STATES): U.S. Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the U.S. military will “continue to raise the pressure and certainly seek to kill or capture the top two [leaders] in Al-Qaeda.” He also said that al-Qa`ida “has been significantly diminished over the course of the last two or three years but by no means are they no longer lethal.” – AFP, October 7
October 7, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): A suicide bomber killed one German soldier in Baghlan Province. – BBC, October 7
October 7, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Two suspected suicide bombers killed at least nine people at a crowded Sufi shrine in Karachi, Pakistan’s most populated city. – Reuters, October 7; CNN, October 8
October 8, 2010 (UNITED STATES): The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that Mohammed Warsame, who pled guilty in the United States in May 2009 to providing material support to al-Qa`ida, has been deported to Canada. Warsame, who was born in Somalia, trained at an al-Qa`ida military camp and attended lectures delivered by Usama bin Ladin. He is a naturalized Canadian citizen. – Fox News, October 8
October 8, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): A suspected suicide bomb ripped through a mosque in Takhar Province, killing 20 people including the governor of Kunduz Province. – AP, October 8
October 8, 2010 (PAKISTAN): A U.S. drone strike killed six militants in the Miran Shah area of North Waziristan Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. – CNN, October 8
October 9, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Approximately 30 militants attacked NATO supply tankers in Bolan district of Baluchistan Province, destroying 29 tankers. – The News International, October 10
October 10, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): Afghan President Hamid Karzai told reporters that his government is in talks with the Taliban in hopes of finding a political settlement to the country’s conflict. He said, “The Taliban, those of whom who are Afghans and the sons of Afghan soil who have been driven to violence by various factors beyond their control…we want them to come back to their country. They are like kids who have run away…from the family. But those who are a part of Al Qaeda and the other terrorist networks who are ideologically against us or who are working against Afghanistan knowingly and out of the purpose of hatred and enmity, those of course we have to work against.” – Christian Science Monitor, October 11
October 10, 2010 (PAKISTAN): A U.S. drone strike killed seven militants at a compound in Shewa district of North Waziristan Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. – Dawn, October 10
October 12, 2010 (GLOBAL): Al-Qa`ida in the Arabian Peninsula released the second issue of its English-language magazine, Inspire. The issue includes two articles from Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-`Awlaqi. The issue offers a number of tips on how to kill Americans in the United States, including opening fire on lunch-hour crowds in Washington, D.C. to “knock out a few government employees.” – AP, October 12; NPR, October 12
October 12, 2010 (UNITED STATES): The trial of accused terrorist Ahmed Ghailani opened in New York City. Ghailani is accused of involvement in the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania. – Voice of America, October 12
October 12, 2010 (YEMEN): Qasim al-Raymi, a leader of al-Qa`ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), said in an audio recording that the group has created a new army to free Yemen of “crusaders and their apostate agents.” The new army has been named the Aden-Abyan Army, and al-Raymi vowed to overthrow the government of President Ali Abdullah Salih. – Wall Street Journal, October 13
October 12, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): Taliban militants fired a rocket at a U.S. helicopter in Kunar Province, wounding eight soldiers and killing an Afghan interpreter. – AFP, October 12
October 12, 2010 (IRAQ): The Islamic State of Iraq threatened to kidnap “wives, daughters and sons” of Iraqi politicians and ministers unless the government freed the family of Abu Ayyab al-Masri, who was killed in April 2010. – AP, October 12
October 12, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said that peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban cannot succeed without the assistance of Pakistan. Gilani told reporters that peace talks cannot happen “without us because we are part of the solution. We are not part of the problem.” – AP, October 12
October 12, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Militants killed three anti-Taliban tribal elders in Mohmand Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. – AP, October 13
October 13, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Pakistani police arrested seven militants who were allegedly planning to assassinate the country’s prime minister in a gun and suicide attack at his house. The suspects are accused of being members of Lashkar-i-Jhangvi. – AP, October 14
October 14, 2010 (SOMALIA): Somali President Shaykh Sharif Shaykh Ahmad named Somali-American Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed as prime minister. The country’s previous prime minister, Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, resigned on September 21, 2010. – New York Times, October 14
October 15, 2010 (NORWAY): Norwegian authorities released David Jakobsen from custody after the Supreme Court rejected an attempt by the police to keep him in detention. Jakobsen, who is an Uzbek national, was one of three suspects arrested in July 2010 for involvement in a terrorist plot connected to the same al-Qa`ida operatives behind plots to target the New York subway system and a mall in the United Kingdom. According to the Associated Press, “Prosecutors later revealed that Jakobsen had been a police informant in the case, but he still faces terrorism charges because the allegations against the group rely partly on events that took place before he approached police last year.” The Norwegian court ruled that Jakobsen is not a flight risk. – AP, October 15
October 15, 2010 (SWEDEN): Authorities charged two men of Somali descent with plotting terrorist attacks in Somalia. Prosecutors allege that the men are linked to al-Shabab. – Voice of America, October 15
October 15, 2010 (YEMEN): Yemeni authorities arrested a man accused of financing al-Qa`ida in the Arabian Peninsula. The man, identified as a Yemeni expatriate living in Saudi Arabia, was apprehended at Sana`a International Airport. – CNN, October 16
October 15, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Approximately three separate U.S. drone strikes killed 13 militants in North Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. – CNN, October 16
October 17, 2010 (WESTERN EUROPE): French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux told reporters that Saudi Arabia’s intelligence services are warning of a new terrorist plot targeting Europe. Saudi officials said that the threat comes from al-Qa`ida in the Arabian Peninsula. – CNN, October 17
October 17, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): Taliban fighters attacked a construction company in Farah Province, kidnapping 20 workers. – al-Jazira, October 18
October 17, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): NATO airstrikes killed Abdul Jamil, who was identified as a Taliban leader for two districts in Baghlan Province. – CNN, October 19
October 17, 2010 (MAURITANIA): A Mauritanian court jailed two militants linked to al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb. – AFP, October 17
October 17, 2010 (TAJIKISTAN): Tajik security forces reportedly killed three Islamist militants. An Interior Ministry official said that the three militants had trained at a terrorist camp in Afghanistan and were operating in Tajikistan’s Rasht region. – UPI, October 17
October 18, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): Taliban fighters attacked a checkpoint in Helmand Province, killing nine private security guards. All of the guards were Afghan citizens. – al-Jazira, October 18
October 18, 2010 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden vehicle into a U.S. military convoy in northern Iraq, killing an Iraqi soldier. – AFP, October 18
October 18, 2010 (IRAQ): A bomb ripped through an Iraqi government convoy in Baghdad, killing an official. – AFP, October 18
October 18, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Multiple U.S. drones killed at least six militants in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. – Dawn, October 18
October 18, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Police killed a suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden vehicle in Lakki Marwat District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province. – The News International, October 18
October 18, 2010 (YEMEN): Yemen sentenced Saleh al-Shawish to death for being an al-Qa`ida bomb-maker and for preparing suicide bombers. – Reuters, October 18
October 19, 2010 (UNITED STATES): Leon Panetta, the director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, told the media that the CIA’s heightened operations in Pakistan have taken a “serious toll” on al-Qa`ida. – AFP, October 20
October 19, 2010 (RUSSIA): Militants attacked the parliament building in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, killing four people. – RIA Novosti, October 19
October 20, 2010 (UNITED STATES): Zachary Chesser, who is 20-years-old, pled guilty in the United States to trying to help Somalia’s al-Shabab terrorist group and for threatening the writers of the “South Park” television show for their depiction of the Prophet Muhammad. Chesser, who is from Virginia, faces up to 30 years in prison. – ABC News, October 20; Christian Science Monitor, October 20
October 20, 2010 (MAURITANIA): A Mauritanian court sentenced Khadim Ould Semane to death for his role in a militant group linked to al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb. According to Reuters, “Two other members of the group, Sidi Ould Sidna and Marouf Ould Haiba, also were sentenced to death, though both previously had been sentenced to death in May for their roles in the killing of four French tourists in 2007.” – Reuters, October 20
October 21, 2010 (PHILIPPINES): A bomb exploded aboard a passenger bus in the southern Philippines, killing nine civilians. – AFP, October 21
October 22, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): A bomb ripped through the vehicle of a district governor for Nangarhar Province. The governor, identified as Khorsheed, was killed. – AFP, October 21
October 22, 2010 (PAKISTAN): The United States announced that it will release a $2 billion military aid package to Pakistan over a five-year period. Marking the announcement, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “The United States has no stronger partner when it comes to counterterrorism efforts against the extremists who threaten us both than Pakistan.” – al-Jazira, October 22
October 22, 2010 (TURKEY): Prosecutors in a Turkish court accused a man, only identified by his initials A.K., of having ties to al-Qa`ida and of trying to help militants shoot down Heron military drones in Afghanistan. The 23-year-old mathematics student allegedly had software designed to calculate angles of fire and coordinates of the drones. Authorities also found hydrogen peroxide, gunpowder and other bomb-making materials in the suspect’s house. – Wall Street Journal, October 23
October 23, 2010 (GLOBAL): Al-Qa`ida spokesman Adam Gadahn released a new video message, calling for Muslims living “in the miserable suburbs of Paris, London and Detroit” to carry out attacks there. “It is the duty of everyone who is sincere in his desire to defend Islam and Muslims today, to take the initiative to perform the individual obligation of jihad…by striking the Zio-Crusader interests,” he said. – CBS News, October 23; Fox News, October 25
October 23, 2010 (GLOBAL): Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-`Awlaqi released a new video message, saying that Islam is in “severe need for guidance in these dark situations.” Only excerpts of the video were released. – CNN, October 23
October 23, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): Four Taliban militants disguised as policemen and women launched a suicide attack against a United Nations compound in Herat city. According to Voice of America, “Witnesses said the four militants arrived at the U.N. compound in a car packed with explosives. Accounts from Afghan officials and U.N. workers indicated that two of the attackers blew themselves up in the car, and a third man wearing a suicide vest killed himself as he entered the compound. Afghan police shot and killed the fourth attacker.” No one inside the compound was injured, although at least two Afghan police guarding the facility were wounded. – Voice of America, October 23
October 23, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Authorities announced the capture of Rehmatullah, identified as a former bodyguard to Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud. He was apprehended in Orakzai Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. – CNN, October 23
October 23, 2010 (RUSSIA): A suicide bomber in an explosives-laden vehicle killed one policeman in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan. – RIA Novosti, October 23; NTD Television, October 25
October 24, 2010 (YEMEN): Yemen’s foreign minister estimates that there are some 400 al-Qa`ida fighters active in the country. – AP, October 24
October 25, 2010 (UNITED STATES): Omar Khadr pled guilty in a U.S. military court to killing a U.S. Army sergeant during a battle in Afghanistan. Khadr, who has been detained at Guantanamo Bay for eight years, will be sent to Canada in a year to serve out his sentence as part of his plea agreement. – AP, October 25
October 26, 2010 (TURKEY): Turkish authorities announced that they detained 12 people in Istanbul suspected of providing support to al-Qa`ida militants fighting in Afghanistan. – Reuters, October 26
October 27, 2010 (GLOBAL): Usama bin Ladin purportedly released a new audio message, threatening to kill French citizens for their country’s support of the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan and for banning face-covering Muslim veils. “How can it be right that you [the French] participate in the occupation of our lands, support the Americans in the killing of our women and children and yet want to live in peace and security?” he said. “It is a simple and clear equation: As you kill, you will be killed. As you capture, you will be captured. And as you threaten our security, your security will be threatened. The way to safeguard your security is to cease your oppression and its impact on our nation, most importantly your withdrawal from the ill-fated Bush war in Afghanistan.” – AP, October 27
October 27, 2010 (UNITED STATES): U.S. authorities arrested a Pakistan-born, naturalized U.S. citizen in a sting operation where the suspect believed he was part of an al-Qa`ida plot to bomb the Washington, D.C. subway system. The suspect, Farooque Ahmed, also told authorities that he had trained himself in firearms and hand-to-hand combat and was planning to travel to the Pakistan-Afghanistan region to kill Americans. Ahmed moved to the United States in 1993 and lived in Ashburn, Virginia. According to a Reuters report describing the indictment, “From April to October 25, Ahmed allegedly conducted surveillance, videotaped, photographed, and drew diagrams of the Arlington Cemetery, Courthouse, Crystal City and Pentagon City Metrorail stations and offered suggestions about where to place explosives to kill people in simultaneous attacks planned for 2011…He allegedly told an agent posing as an al Qaeda operative that an attack executed between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. on the Washington Metro would cause the most casualties.” – Reuters, October 28
October 27, 2010 (PAKISTAN): U.S. drone strikes killed at least six militants in North Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. – AFP, October 27
October 27, 2010 (SOMALIA): An al-Shabab firing squad publicly executed two teenage girls in Beledweyne on charges that they had spied for the government. The girls were reportedly 15 and 14-years-old. – Voice of America, October 28
October 28, 2010 (FRANCE): France announced that it could begin withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan as early as 2011. French officials insisted that there was “absolutely no link” between the announcement and an October 27 threat delivered against the country by Usama bin Ladin. France has approximately 3,500 troops deployed in Afghanistan, mostly east of Kabul. – Christian Science Monitor, October 28; Radio France International, October 28
October 29, 2010 (GLOBAL): Authorities disrupted a major international terrorist plot involving explosives in packages mailed to the United States from Yemen. They were able to disrupt the plot due to intelligence provided by the Saudi Arabian government, which gathered the tip from an al-Qa`ida militant who had surrendered to Saudi authorities. On November 5, al-Qa`ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed responsibility for the plot. The AQAP statement said, “We will continue to strike blows against American interests and the interest of America’s allies.” – CNN, October 29; CNN, November 5; Voice of America, November 1
October 29, 2010 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber attacked a café in Balad Ruz in Diyala Province, killing at least 25 people. The café is known to be popular among Shi`a Kurds. – Reuters, October 30; AFP, October 29
October 29, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Militants set fire to a NATO supply truck 12 miles south of Quetta in Baluchistan Province. – AFP, October 29
October 29, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Militants opened fire on a NATO supply truck 174 miles south of Quetta in Baluchistan Province. – AFP, October 29
October 29, 2010 (MOROCCO): Moroccan security officials announced that they recently disrupted two radical Islamist cells linked to al-Qa`ida in the country. The cells were reportedly plotting attacks in Morocco and recruiting fighters to send to Iraq. One of the cell members is a Yemeni national who allegedly has close ties to al-Qa`ida. – Reuters, October 29
October 30, 2010 (INDONESIA): Indonesian authorities announced that they detained Taufik Marzuki, a suspected terrorist behind a number of attacks in Sumatra. Taufik, the head of the Islam Defenders Front of Aceh, was captured last month. – Jakarta Post, October 30
October 31, 2010 (IRAQ): Nine militants wearing suicide vests stormed the Church of Our Lady of Salvation in Baghdad’s Karrada district. Police entered the church and killed eight of the militants, while the ninth detonated his suicide vest. At least 52 people, including civilians and members of the security forces, were killed. – Telegraph, November 1; al-Jazira, November 2
October 31, 2010 (TURKEY): A suicide bomber detonated explosives at the popular tourist spot Taksim Square in Istanbul, injuring at least 30 people. The bomber targeted a bus full of police officers. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party denied involvement in the attack. – Guardian, October 31; Voice of America, November 1
