September 1, 2012 (AFGHANISTAN): Twin Taliban suicide attacks killed 10 civilians and two police officers near a U.S.-run military base in Wardak Province. – AFP, August 31
September 1, 2012 (MALI): Islamist militants who control northern Mali overran Douentza, a strategic town close to government-held territory. Fighters belonging to the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) entered Douentza in 4x4s and disarmed the Gando Iso local militia. MUJAO is affiliated with al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). – AFP, September 1
September 1, 2012 (MALI): The Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) reportedly executed an Algerian diplomat who they took hostage after overrunning the Algerian Embassy in Gao, Mali, in April 2012. – al-Bawaba, September 2
September 2, 2012 (YEMEN): A suspected U.S. drone killed 10 alleged members of al-Qa`ida in the Arabian Peninsula, as well as three female companions, in the Rada area of Bayda Province. Later reports in CNN quoted Yemeni security officials as saying that all 13 people killed were civilians, and not members of AQAP, in what amounted to “a mistake.” – AFP, September 2; CNN, September 3
September 3, 2012 (PAKISTAN): A suicide bomber in an explosives-laden vehicle rammed into a U.S. Consulate sport utility vehicle in Peshawar, wounding two Americans and two Pakistani employees. The attack occurred in a residential area of Peshawar called University Town. – Reuters, September 3; New York Times, September 3
September 5, 2012 (YEMEN): A suspected U.S. drone killed five alleged al-Qa`ida in the Arabian Peninsula militants in Hadramawt Province. – CNN, September 5
September 7, 2012 (GLOBAL): The U.S. government designated the Haqqani network as a terrorist organization on the State Department’s Foreign Terrorist Organizations list. – Washington Post, September 7
September 8, 2012 (AFGHANISTAN): A suicide bomber detonated explosives outside NATO headquarters in Kabul, killing six people. – Australian Broadcasting Corporation, September 8
September 9, 2012 (IRAQ): A series of car bombs exploded in mainly Shi`a districts in Baghdad after a court sentenced Iraq’s fugitive Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi to death. Al-Hashimi is a senior Sunni politician. – Reuters, September 9
September 9, 2012 (MALI): A car accident killed a senior commander for al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb in Gao, located in northern Mali. He was identified as Nabil Makhloufi, an Algerian national. Makhloufi was known as the “amir of the Sahara.” – Reuters, September 9; BBC, September 10
September 10, 2012 (AFGHANISTAN): Militants fired into Bagram Air Base in Kabul, destroying a coalition Chinook CH-47 heavy-transport helicopter and killing three Afghan service members who were on board. An ISAF spokesman said, “We can confirm that an ISAF helicopter was destroyed by indirect fire. The helicopter caught fire after it was hit.” – New York Times, September 11
September 10, 2012 (PAKISTAN): A car bomb exploded at a market in Parachinar, Kurram Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The explosion killed at least 12 people. – BBC, September 10
September 10, 2012 (INDONESIA): A would-be suicide bomber decided to turn himself in to authorities rather than carry through with his planned attack. He told police that he was supposed to attack any of the following four targets in Jakarta: the tactical police headquarters, a police station, the counterterrorism force Detachment 88, or a Buddhist community headquarters. – Australian Broadcasting Corporation, September 11
September 10, 2012 (SOMALIA): Somalia’s parliament elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the country’s new president. – Voice of America, September 10
September 11, 2012 (GLOBAL): Al-Qa`ida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri confirmed that senior leader Abu Yahya al-Libi was killed earlier in the year. In June, the U.S. government announced that it had killed Abu Yahya in an airstrike in Pakistan, but al-Zawahiri’s statement was the first official al-Qa`ida confirmation of his death. – Reuters, September 11; Voice of America, September 11
September 11, 2012 (LIBYA): Militants attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, killing four U.S. Foreign Service members, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens. – AP, September 13
September 11, 2012 (TURKEY): A suicide bomber killed at least one police officer at the Sultangazi district police station in Istanbul. A Turkish leftist group, the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (Dev Sol), claimed responsibility. – CNN, September 11; BBC, September 11
September 12, 2012 (PAKISTAN): Al-Qa`ida released a new video of American hostage Warren Weinstein, who was kidnapped from his home in Lahore in August 2011. Weinstein is 71-years-old, and is likely being held in the tribal regions along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. – ABC News, September 12
September 12, 2012 (SOMALIA): Two al-Shabab suicide bombers attempted to assassinate the new president of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, at a hotel in one of the most secure areas of Mogadishu. Mohamud was meeting with Kenya’s foreign minister at the time of the blasts, and both men escaped injury. Eight people were killed. – Reuters, September 12
September 13, 2012 (GLOBAL): Al-Qa`ida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri released a new message calling on Muslims to support Syrian rebels. – Reuters, September 13
September 14, 2012 (UNITED STATES): Authorities arrested Adel Daoud, an 18-year-old suburban Chicago man, who is accused of attempting to detonate what he thought was a car bomb outside a Chicago bar. “Mr. Daoud, a United States citizen who lives in Hillside, Ill., on the outskirts of Chicago, has been under surveillance for months, and in multiple conversations with [FBI] agents expressed a desire to kill on a mass scale as revenge for what he believed was the persecution of Muslims by the United States,” wrote the New York Times. Officials said that Daoud considered 29 possible targets, “including military recruiting centers, bars, malls and other tourist attractions in the Chicago area.” – New York Times, September 15
September 14, 2012 (UNITED STATES): A U.S. federal court in Virginia sentenced Amine Mohammed El Khalifi to 30 years in prison for plotting to execute a suicide bombing at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. As stated by the Washington Post, Khalifi, an illegal immigrant from Morocco, “was arrested in February [2012] heading to the Capitol with what he thought was an explosives-laden vest and a loaded gun. Undercover FBI agents had provided both weapons, which were rendered inoperable.” – Washington Post, September 14
September 14, 2012 (AFGHANISTAN): Taliban militants dressed in U.S. Army uniforms attacked Camp Bastion in southern Helmand Province, killing two U.S. Marines. Britain’s Prince Harry was at the camp at the time of the attack, but he was reportedly “never in any danger.” The large-scale attack destroyed or severely damaged eight fighter jets. According to the New York Times, “The complex attack, which NATO officials said was conducted by three tightly choreographed teams of militants wearing American Army uniforms, was a reminder that the Taliban remain capable of serious assaults…” The militants managed to enter the base perimeter and penetrate the facility. – Reuters, September 15; New York Times, September 16
September 14, 2012 (KENYA): Police in Nairobi foiled a terrorist attack after raiding a house in Eastleigh district. During the operation, which uncovered suicide bombs and assault rifles, police arrested two suspects of Somali origin. – CapitalFM News, September 14; Reuters, September 14
September 16, 2012 (PAKISTAN): A roadside bomb killed 14 civilians in Lower Dir District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. The Pakistani Taliban released a statement and said that the attack was revenge after villagers in the area formed a pro-government militia. – Reuters, September 15
September 17, 2012 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a Green Zone checkpoint, killing seven Iraqis. – Telegraph, September 17; Reuters, September 17
September 17, 2012 (NIGERIA): Nigerian soldiers reportedly killed Abu Qaqa, the spokesman for the militant group Boko Haram. On October 1, however, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau claimed that Abu Qaqa was still alive, but in the custody of Nigerian security forces. – Voice of America, September 17; Reuters, October 1
September 17, 2012 (NIGERIA): Suspected members of Boko Haram assassinated the attorney general of Borno State at his home. – Reuters, September 18
September 18, 2012 (AFGHANISTAN): A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a minibus carrying foreign aviation workers in Kabul, killing at least 12 people including eight South Africans. Hizb-i-Islami claimed responsibility, and claimed that the suicide bomber was a woman who was angry over an anti-Islam film that ridiculed the Prophet Muhammad. – AP, September 18
September 20, 2012 (GLOBAL): U.S.-born al-Qa`ida member Adam Gadahn released a new video in support of rebel uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. – CNN, September 25
September 20, 2012 (SOMALIA): At least one suicide bomber killed approximately eight people at the popular Village Café restaurant in Mogadishu. Three journalists from the state-run broadcasting services were among the dead. – Sky News Australia, September 21; CNN, September 21
September 22, 2012 (SOMALIA): Gunmen assassinated a member of Somalia’s newly formed parliament outside his home in Waberi district of Mogadishu. – CNN, September 23
September 23, 2012 (INDONESIA): Indonesian police announced that they arrested nine men accused of planning suicide attacks against the security forces and other government targets in Jakarta. It was not immediately clear if the group had connections to established terrorist organizations. – al-Jazira, September 23
September 23, 2012 (NIGER): State Security Police arrested five suspected Boko Haram members who entered Niger from Nigeria through the Zinder region. – Reuters, September 25
September 24, 2012 (PAKISTAN): A U.S. drone killed six suspected militants near Mir Ali, North Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. One of those killed has been identified as Abu Kasha al-Iraqi, a high-ranking al-Qa`ida planner and facilitator. – Deutsche Press Agency, September 26, 2012
September 26, 2012 (SYRIA): A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle outside the perimeter fence of Syria’s military headquarters in Damascus. Seconds after the explosion, another suicide bomber detonated explosives within the grounds of the facility. Four guards were killed by the blasts. – Washington Post, September 26
September 27, 2012 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber reportedly detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the gate of Tikrit prison, freeing dozens of convicted Islamic State of Iraq militants. The prison uprising left 16 security force members dead. – AFP, September 28
September 28, 2012 (SOMALIA): Kenyan troops launched a predawn beach landing at Kismayo port in southern Somalia, hoping to push al-Shabab out of its last major stronghold. Reports suggested that during the early morning hours of September 29, most al-Shabab militants withdrew from Kismayo rather than face the better-equipped Kenyan troops. – AP, September 28; New York Times, September 29
September 28, 2012 (NIGERIA): Nigeria’s military said that it arrested a number of security personnel due to their connections with Boko Haram. One of those arrested was an immigration officer. According to a Nigerian military official, the immigration officer “confessed to having been trained alongside 15 other members of the sect on weapon handling, assassination and special operations in Niger republic.” – AFP, September 28
September 30, 2012 (IRAQ): Coordinated bombs exploded in Shi`a neighborhoods across Iraq, killing at least 26 people. – AP, September 30
September 30, 2012 (SYRIA): A suicide bomber in an explosives-laden vehicle targeted a government security compound in Qamishli, located in the country’s mainly Kurdish northeast near the Turkish border. Several people were killed. – Voice of America, September 30
