February 1, 2011 (UNITED STATES): The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that it recently warned Wall Street that al-Qa`ida may be plotting an attack against financial institutions. The threat information, however, was “not imminent and not specific.” – UPI, February 1; Bloomberg, February 2
February 1, 2011 (IRAQ): Gunmen armed with silencers killed an Iraqi National Intelligence official in his car near Taji, Salah al-Din Province. – Reuters, February 2
February 2, 2011 (PAKISTAN): A timed explosive device ripped through a crowded market in Peshawar, killing at least nine people. The target may have been a nearby police station, but the bomb was instead left in a busy commercial area. – BBC, February 2
February 2, 2011 (ALGERIA): An Italian woman was reportedly kidnapped in Algeria by militants belonging to al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb. – Voice of America, February 18
February 2, 2011 (MAURITANIA): A vehicle carrying al-Qa`ida militants exploded during a gunfight with Mauritanian soldiers, leaving at least three militants dead. – Reuters, February 2
February 3, 2011 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber detonated explosives amid a crowd of security personnel and civilians in Ramadi, Anbar Province, killing nine people. – CNN, February 3
February 4, 2011 (RUSSIA): Terrorist leader Doku Umarov released a video statement threatening that 2011 will be “a year of blood and tears” for Russia. Umarov, Russia’s leading Islamist rebel, said that attacks against Russia would stop only if Moscow withdrew from the North Caucasus region. – AFP, February 5
February 5, 2011 (MAURITANIA): A suspected al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb militant blew himself up in southern Mauritania after being chased by security forces. A second suspect was captured. – Reuters, February 5
February 7, 2011 (AFGHANISTAN): A suicide bomber detonated explosives at the customs compound in Kandahar, killing two people. A U.S. soldier was among the dead. – New York Times, February 7
February 7, 2011 (AFGHANISTAN): The acting district governor of Khost Province, Sayed Mohammed Hamidi, was assassinated by four Taliban gunmen on motorcycles. – New York Times, February 7
February 8, 2011 (PAKISTAN): A bomb destroyed four NATO supply tankers on the outskirts of Peshawar. – AFP, February 8
February 10, 2011 (AFGHANISTAN): Afghan officials announced that a cell of suicide bombers active in Kabul was directed for three years by an imprisoned Taliban commander. The commander, Talib Jan, managed to run the cell from Kabul’s main prison, Pul-e-Charkhi. – New York Times, February 10
February 10, 2011 (AFGHANISTAN): A suicide bomber killed the district governor for Chardara in Kunduz Province. Six other people were also killed in the blast. – Los Angeles Times, February 11
February 10, 2011 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber drove a vehicle into a tent for Shi`a pilgrims in Dujail, Salah al-Din Province, killing eight people. – CNN, February 10
February 10, 2011 (PAKISTAN): A boy in a school uniform detonated a suicide bomb at a Pakistani army recruitment center in Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, killing 31 cadets. According to Reuters, a Pakistani “intelligence official said he [the bomber] was 12 years-old but government officials later said he was around 19 or 20 years old.” – Reuters, February 10
February 11, 2011 (EGYPT): President Hosni Mubarak resigned as leader of Egypt and transferred authority to the Egyptian military. – Voice of America, February 12
February 12, 2011 (AFGHANISTAN): Taliban fighters used car bombs and rocket-propelled grenades to attack the police headquarters in Kandahar. During the assault, at least 17 Afghan security personnel were killed, as well as two civilians. – New York Times, February 12
February 12, 2011 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber detonated explosives on a bus carrying Shi`a pilgrims, killing at least 50 people. The incident occurred between Baghdad and Samarra. – CNN, February 13
February 12, 2011 (PAKISTAN): A suicide bomber detonated explosives near a bus station in the town of Bhat Khela in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. Three Pakistani soldiers were wounded. – AP, February 12
February 13, 2011 (YEMEN): Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-`Awlaqi released a new audio statement criticizing the Yemeni government for cooperating with the United States in airstrikes targeting militants in Yemen. – CBS News, February 13
February 14, 2011 (AFGHANISTAN): U.S. military commander Richard Mills told reporters that “the heart of the insurgency” in Helmand Province has “been beaten.” According to USA Today, “Mills said coalition forces have succeeded in disrupting the Taliban’s ability to control and resupply its insurgents in Helmand province, and that militants have had to take refuge away from populated areas.” – USA Today, February 15
February 14, 2011 (AFGHANISTAN): A suicide bomber targeted the Western-style City Center shopping mall in Kabul, killing at least two security guards. – Wall Street Journal, February 14
February 14, 2011 (RUSSIA): A suicide bomber killed one Interior Ministry soldier outside a police station in Dagestan Province. Shortly after the attack, a suicide bomber in a vehicle detonated explosives after being stopped for inspection by security guards not far from the scene of the first explosion. One police officer was killed in the second bombing. – Reuters, February 14; RIA Novosti, February 15
February 15, 2011 (UNITED STATES): Guantanamo Bay inmate Noor Uthman Mohammed pleaded guilty to providing “material support to terrorism” before a U.S. military tribunal. Mohammed, a Sudanese national, was reportedly the deputy commander of al-Qa`ida’s Khaldan training camp in Afghanistan. – AFP, February 15
February 16, 2011 (UNITED STATES): CIA Director Leon Panetta told Congress that if Usama bin Ladin or Ayman al-Zawahiri were captured, they would probably be moved to the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. – Washington Post, February 17
February 18, 2011 (GLOBAL): A new audio statement from al-Qa`ida second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri appeared on Islamist web forums. In the statement, which was recorded before the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on February 11, al-Zawahiri called for Mubarak’s ouster and tells Egyptians to establish an Islamic state. “Secularism entered our countries through military occupation, oppression and massacres,” he said. “Western secularism is animus to Islam and supportive to Zionism.” – Bloomberg, February 20; New York Times, February 18
February 18, 2011 (AFGHANISTAN): A suicide bomber in a vehicle detonated explosives near a police checkpoint in a crowded shopping area in Khost Province, killing one police officer and 10 civilians. – New York Times, February 18
February 18, 2011 (AFGHANISTAN): A gunman dressed in an Afghan National Army uniform opened fire on German soldiers at an outpost in Pul-i-Kumri, Baghlan Province. Three German soldiers were killed. – New York Times, February 18
February 19, 2011 (AFGHANISTAN): Multiple Taliban suicide bombers stormed into a branch of Kabul Bank in Jalalabad and detonated their explosives, killing at least 40 people. At the time of the attack, policemen were in the bank collecting salaries. Among the dead was Alishah Paktyamwal, the police chief of Nangarhar Province. – AFP, February 19; Voice of America, February 20
February 21, 2011 (AFGHANISTAN): A suicide bomber killed at least 28 people at a government office in Kunduz Province. – AP, February 21
February 21, 2011 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber in an explosives-laden vehicle attacked a police station in Samarra, Salah al-Din Province, killing at least 12 police officers. – AP, February 22
February 21, 2011 (SOMALIA): Suicide bombers in an explosives-laden truck attacked a police station in Mogadishu, killing an estimated 18 people. At least 14 policemen were among the dead. – Bloomberg, February 21; New York Times, February 21
February 24, 2011 (UNITED STATES): Zachary Adam Chesser, who was convicted of encouraging terrorist attacks against the writers of the television show South Park, was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He also tried to travel to Somalia to join the terrorist group al-Shabab. – BBC, February 24
February 24, 2011 (UNITED STATES): According to newly unsealed federal documents, the U.S. government is charging Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari with trying to acquire bombmaking materials and plotting to attack targets such as the Dallas home of former President George W. Bush. Aldawsari, a 20-year-old Saudi Arabian student in Texas, is charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. According to USA Today, “A North Carolina chemical company alerted federal agents about Aldawsari on Feb. 1, after he attempted an online purchase of 10 bottles of the toxic chemical phenol. The chemical can be used to make the explosive trinitrophenol, also known as TNP, court documents say.” – USA Today, February 24
February 24, 2011 (AFGHANISTAN): A suicide bomber detonated explosives in Spin Boldak, Kandahar Province, killing an Afghan intelligence official. Authorities believe that the intelligence official, who approached the bomber, managed to prevent a more deadly strike. – Los Angeles Times, February 25
February 24, 2011 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber killed at least 12 people in Ramadi, Anbar Province. Authorities believe that the bomber tried to assassinate the deputy head of the provincial council in Anbar, but the official was not hurt. – AP, February 24; CNN, February 24
February 24, 2011 (IRAQ): The Iraqi government said it killed the Islamic State of Iraq’s military leader, Al-Nasser Lideen Allah Abu Suleiman, in the town of Hit, Anbar Province. Suleiman replaced Egyptian Abu Ayyub al-Masri after he was killed in a joint Iraqi-U.S. raid in April 2010. – BBC, February 25; AP, February 25
February 24, 2011 (PAKISTAN): A U.S. aerial drone killed at least four militants in North Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. – Voice of America, February 24
February 26, 2011 (AFGHANISTAN): A suicide bomber detonated explosives amid a crowd of people in Faryab Province, killing at least three civilians. According to the New York Times, “The crowd had gathered for a game of buzkashi, which involves men on horseback trying to grab a dead goat from each other.” – New York Times, February 26
February 26, 2011 (AFGHANISTAN): A roadside bomb killed nine civilians, including women and children, in Khost Province. – AFP, February 25
February 27, 2011 (AFGHANISTAN): Two bombs exploded at a dog fight in Kandahar, killing at least 14 people. The attack occurred in Arghandab district. – BBC, February 28
February 27, 2011 (AFGHANISTAN): The Afghan Taliban announced that they recently captured Canadian national Colin Rutherford, claiming that he is a spy. The Canadian government, however, identified Rutherford as a tourist. – National Post, March 1; Reuters, February 28
February 27, 2011 (SOMALIA): The terrorist group al-Shabab warned that Kenya “would pay” for allegedly helping Somali government soldiers attack al-Shabab fighters in Somalia. In response to the threat, police in Kenya increased security in public areas. – AP, February 28
February 28, 2011 (UNITED KINGDOM): A British jury convicted Rajib Karim of plotting to blow up a plane. During the trial, prosecutors charged that Karim was in contact with Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-`Awlaqi who helped plan the attack. Al-`Awlaqi allegedly wrote to Karim, “Our highest priority is the US. Anything there, even on a smaller scale compared to what we may do in the UK would be our choice. So the question is with the people you have is it possible to get a package or a person with a package on board a flight heading to the US?” Karim worked for British Airways. – ABC News, February 2; Guardian, February 28; NPR, March 1
February 28, 2011 (YEMEN): Suspected al-Qa`ida gunmen shot to death two Yemeni soldiers in separate shootings in Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan Province. – AFP, February 28
