March 1, 2010 (INDONESIA): Doubts have been raised over the identities of suspected terrorists arrested at an alleged training camp in remote Aceh Province. Indonesian authorities charge that the terrorist camp was used by men belonging to Jemaah Islamiya. At least one well-known Western analyst, however, has since questioned whether those arrested are actually part of the group. – Jakarta Post, March 1; AFP, February 23
March 2, 2010 (UNITED KINGDOM): Dr. Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri, a Pakistani Islamic scholar, issued a 600-page fatwa condemning suicide bombing as contrary to Islamic beliefs. According to ul-Qadri, “No person in the whole world can provide a single evidence from Koran who would create any exceptional permissibility to committing suicide bombing.” Although ul-Qadri runs a Sufi movement in Lahore, he issued his ruling in the United Kingdom “so that the whole world may know that whatever the terrorists are doing, they no link with Islam, and I wanted to give this message to the youth in Western world also, that these kind of activities [suicide bombings] will lead them to hellfire, and they’re not involved in any kind of martyrdom operation.” – BBC, March 2; Australian Broadcasting Corporation, March 3
March 2, 2010 (PHILIPPINES): The Philippine military announced that the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) has been weakened as a result of the death of its leader, Albader Parad, in February 2010. According to Philippine Major-General Juancho Sabban, “There is no coordination among all the [ASG] groups. The Basilan group has no contact with the Sulu group or with the Tawi-tawi group. In effect, we have isolated each group and eventually, piece by piece, we will be able to neutralize these groups.” – ABS-CBN, March 2
March 3, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): A new report in the Associated Press suggested that Abdul Qayyum (also known as Qayyum Zakir), who was freed from Guantanamo Bay in December 2007, is now a senior commander in the Afghan Taliban. The AP report, citing two senior Afghan intelligence officials, said that Qayyum “is also seen as a leading candidate to be the next No. 2 in the Afghan Taliban hierarchy.” Qayyum’s key aide, Abdul Rauf, is also a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay. – AP, March 3
March 3, 2010 (IRAQ): Two suicide car bombers detonated explosives outside a local government housing office and near the provincial government headquarters in Ba`quba, Diyala Province. A third suicide bomber, disguised as an injured army lieutenant, detonated his explosives after he was brought by ambulance to the hospital where those wounded in the initial two blasts were being treated. The triple suicide bombings killed approximately 33 people. – Telegraph, March 3
March 3, 2010 (SINGAPORE): Singapore’s government issued a threat advisory warning that it has “received indication” that a terrorist group is planning to attack oil tankers in the Malacca Strait. – Bloomberg, March 4; UPI, March 4
March 4, 2010 (UNITED STATES): Ahmad Wais Afzali, a New York City imam, pleaded guilty to charges that he lied to FBI agents investigating a bomb plot against New York. – Investor’s Business Daily, March 4
March 4, 2010 (GERMANY): A German court convicted four Muslim men of planning attacks on U.S. soldiers and military facilities in Germany in 2007. The judge in the case said that the men plotted a “monstrous bloodbath, designed to kill at least 150 people, mostly Americans,” and that the men wanted to commit a “second September 11.” Two German converts to Islam, Fritz Gelowicz and Daniel Schneider, received 12-year jail sentences. Adem Yilmaz, a Turkish citizen, received an 11-year sentence. Attila Selek, a German of Turkish origin, was sentenced to five years in jail. – Voice of America, March 4
March 4, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Pakistan’s authorities announced that Afghan Taliban leader Agha Jan Mo’tassem was taken into custody in Karachi. It is not clear when he was arrested, but he has reportedly been missing for two weeks. Mo’tassem is a member of the Afghan Taliban’s Quetta shura. – CNN, March 5; AKI, March 4
March 5, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Pakistani forces attacked a militant facility in Mohmand Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, killing at least 16 Taliban fighters. Pakistan’s interior minister, Rehman Malik, said that senior Pakistani Taliban leaders Faqir Muhammad and Qari Ziaur Rehman may have been killed in the raid. – Reuters, March 6
March 5, 2010 (PAKISTAN): A suicide bomber attacked a convoy of Shi`a civilians in the Hangu area in Pakistan’s northwest, killing at least 12 people. – Reuters, March 5
March 6, 2010 (RUSSIA): Russian authorities confirmed that they killed militant leader Aleksandr Tikhomirov (also known as Said Buryatsky), who they said was a trainer of suicide bombers in the North Caucasus. Authorities said that Tikhomirov had a role in the November 2009 bombing of the Nevsky Express luxury train that killed 28 people. – New York Times, March 6
March 7, 2010 (YEMEN): Alleged al-Qa`ida operative Sharif Mobley tried to escape custody in Yemen, killing one of his guards before being subdued. Details have emerged suggesting that Mobley, who reportedly holds both U.S. and Yemeni citizenship, worked as a laborer for a U.S. nuclear power plant in New Jersey between 2002-2008. – AFP, March 12
March 7, 2010 (PAKISTAN): A U.S. drone strike killed at least three suspected militants in Miran Shah, North Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. – BBC, March 9
March 8, 2010 (PAKISTAN): A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the gate of an interrogation center used by Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency in Lahore, the capital of Punjab Province. The explosion, which collapsed the building, killed at least 14 people. A spokesman for Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan took credit for the attack. – New York Times, March 8; Bloomberg, March 8; Wall Street Journal, March 8
March 8, 2010 (NIGER): At least one suicide bomber attacked a military outpost in western Niger, killing five soldiers. Al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb later claimed credit for the attack. – AFP, March 12
March 9, 2010 (IRELAND): Irish authorities arrested seven people as part of an international investigation into a plot to assassinate Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks for his role in drawing a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad in 2007. The arrested consist of four men and three women, of both Moroccan and Yemeni descent. – Independent, March 10
March 9, 2010 (INDONESIA): Indonesian authorities killed Dulmatin, a Jemaah Islamiya bomb expert, during a raid near Jakarta. Dulmatin, who also had ties to the Abu Sayyaf Group in the Philippines, was wanted for his role in the 2002 Bali nightclub blasts that killed 202 people. – Philippine Star, March 9; Christian Science Monitor, March 10
March 10, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): A suicide bomber detonated explosives inside an Afghan police base in Paktika Province, wounding nine officers. – Reuters, March 10
March 10, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Armed gunmen stormed the offices of U.S.-based Christian charity World Vision in the North-West Frontier Province, killing six aid workers. – AFP, March 9
March 10, 2010 (NORTH AFRICA): Spain’s deputy prime minister announced that al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) released a Spanish aid worker kidnapped on November 29, 2009 in Mauritania. – CNN, March 10
March 11, 2010 (UNITED KINGDOM): A British Airways computer expert appeared in court and is charged with planning suicide bombings. The man, Bangladesh-born Rajib Karim, volunteered to join the airline’s cabin crew as part of the plot. – AFP, March 11
March 12, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Two suicide bombers targeted an army convoy in Lahore, the capital of Punjab Province, killing at least 43 people. The bombs ripped through a crowded neighborhood bazaar. – Washington Post, March 12
March 13, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): Multiple suicide bombers attacked Kandahar, killing at least 30 people. The bombers targeted a newly fortified prison, a police headquarters, and two other locations. It appears that the bombers tried to free insurgents from the city’s prison, but failed. – Fox News, March 14; AP, April 16
March 13, 2010 (PAKISTAN): A suicide bomber attacked a security checkpoint in Swat, killing approximately 14 people. – The News International, March 14
March 14, 2010 (YEMEN): An airstrike in southern Yemen killed “two leading al Qaeda elements who were planning terrorist operations against vital installations in Yemen,” according to Yemeni security officials. – Reuters, March 14
March 15, 2010 (IRAQ): A suicide bomber targeted a military checkpoint and laborers in Falluja, Anbar Province, killing eight people. Authorities said that the bomber parked a car bomb near a military checkpoint, exited the vehicle and detonated his explosives vest among a group of laborers. Shortly afterward, the car bomb exploded. – AFP, March 15
March 16, 2010 (INDIA): Indian authorities said that the Indian Mujahidin was responsible for the February 13 bombing in Pune. – AFP, March 16
March 16, 2010 (INDIA): Indian media reported that Mumbai police arrested two men for plotting attacks against the Bhabha Atomic Research Center, a fuel storage depot and a shopping center. The men are residents of Mumbai. According to UPI, “The target at the Bhabha Atomic Research Center, India’s primary nuclear research center, is believed to have been the administrative building and not laboratories or reactors.” – UPI, March 16
March 17, 2010 (GLOBAL): U.S.-born radical cleric Anwar al-`Awlaqi released a new audiotape, asking American Muslims, “how can your conscience allow you to live in peaceful coexistence with the nation that is responsible for the tyranny and crimes committed against your own brothers and sisters?” Al-`Awlaqi is believed to be hiding in Yemen. – Voice of America, March 18
March 17, 2010 (PAKISTAN): A Pakistani court charged five American men from Virginia with attempting to join al-Qa`ida-linked groups to carry out attacks in Pakistan. If convicted, the men—who deny the charges—could face life in prison. – New York Daily News, March 17
March 17, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Two suspected U.S. unmanned aerial drones killed at least seven militants in North Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The drones appeared to target two separate vehicles, and the strikes were separated by approximately 50 minutes. – AP, March 17
March 18, 2010 (UNITED STATES): David Coleman Headley pleaded guilty in a Chicago court to scouting targets in Mumbai, India, ahead of the November 2008 terrorist attacks in the city. Headley, a U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent, also surveyed targets in a plot to attack a Danish newspaper for printing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. – Washington Post, March 19
March 21, 2010 (PAKISTAN): A U.S. drone strike killed eight militants in North Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. – Reuters, March 21
March 21, 2010 (PAKISTAN): A remotely-detonated bomb exploded in Quetta, Baluchistan Province, killing three people. Two policemen were among the dead. – al-Jazira, March 21
March 22, 2010 (UNITED STATES): A U.S. district judge ordered the release of Mohamedou Ould Salahi, a detainee at Guantanamo Bay. According to the Associated Press, “the Obama administration could appeal [the judge’s] order. Even if the administration were to decide against appealing, Salahi would remain at Guantanamo until U.S. diplomats found a nation willing to accept him.” – AP, March 22
March 22, 2010 (PAKISTAN): Pakistani police foiled a terrorist plot targeting Westerners in Islamabad. Noor Jahan and Rashid Bakhtar—both former members of Pakistan’s paramilitary force—were arrested after plotting to attack the five-star Serena Hotel, the French Club restaurant, a police station and a girls’ school. Another report said that the men wanted to kidnap Jordan’s ambassador to Pakistan. The men reportedly worked for Pakistani Taliban operative Qari Hussain. – CNN, March 22; AP, March 23
March 22, 2010 (YEMEN): The U.S. government warned ships transiting near Yemen’s coast that “information suggests that al Qaeda remains interested in maritime attacks in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden along the coast of Yemen.” – Reuters, March 22
March 23, 2010 (AFGHANISTAN): Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar reportedly appointed Abdul Qayyum Zakir and Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor as deputies to succeed Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was detained by Pakistani authorities in February. Zakir is a former inmate at Guantanamo Bay. – BBC, March 23
March 23, 2010 (LIBYA): The Libyan government released 214 Islamic militants from prison after they renounced violence. Among those released were 34 members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group. – AP, March 24
March 24, 2010 (SAUDI ARABIA): Saudi authorities said they arrested 113 suspected al-Qa`ida militants during a months-long security sweep. The arrests foiled several attacks on oil facilities. – AP, March 24
March 25, 2010 (GLOBAL): A new audio statement purportedly by Usama bin Ladin was broadcast by al-Jazira. During the speech, Bin Ladin warned that if the United States executes Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, then al-Qa`ida would “execute any of your people that we take prisoner.” – CBS, March 25
March 26, 2010 (UNITED STATES): Chicago taxi driver Raja Lahrasib Khan was arrested on charges of two counts of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization. He allegedly attempted to send money overseas to al-Qa`ida. Khan was born in Pakistan, but became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1988. Authorities also say that Khan allegedly discussed attacking a stadium in the United States. – Chicago Sun-Times, March 26
March 29, 2010 (RUSSIA): Two female suicide bombers attacked Moscow’s Lubyanka and Park Kultury metro stations, killing 40 people. Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov took credit for the attacks. – Guardian, March 29; National Post, April 1
March 31, 2010 (RUSSIA): Two suicide bombs ripped through the Dagestani town of Kizlyar, killing 12 people. Nine of the dead were police officers. – Interfax, March 31
