Iraq
Iraq: sectarian war escalating fast
Sectarian violence has killed at least 200 in Iraq since the start of Ramadan, and Hezbollah has launched an Iraqi wing to fight al-Qaeda’s networks in the country.
Tag: al-Qaeda
Greater Middle East
Syria: sectarian, ethnic fighting spreads
A rocket strike near an important Shi’ite shrine in Damascus sparked protests throughout the Shia world, while Kurdish militias fight jihadist forces in northern Syria.
Greater Middle East
Egypt: escalating violence in Sinai Peninsula
Troops fired on protesters in the Sinai, and militants retaliated with armed attacks on police. A new Salafist network, Ansar al-Sharia in Egypt, pledges to resist the new regime.
Greater Middle East
US arms reach Syrian rebels?
The Free Syrian Army boasts of receiving new weapons shipments that could “change” the course of the war—amid revelations that the US has been arming them secretly for a year.
Watching the Shadows
Judge urges new approach in Gitmo detainee cases
A federal judge called on Congress and the president to give serious consideration to formulating a different approach for the handling of Guantánamo Bay detainee cases.
Greater Middle East
Egypt’s Sinai on high alert over jihadist infiltration
Egypt has declared a state of alert in the Sinai after extremist Islamist fighters set up a military base in the peninsula ahead of planned anti-government protests.
Iraq
Nusra Front nixes merger with Iraq Qaeda franchise
Syria’s Nusra Front appealed to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri to mediate in a dispute with the Islamic State of Iraq, rejecting the latter’s attempted hostile take-over.
East Asia
Edward Snowden a hit on Sina Weibo
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has been a big hit among freedom-hungry Chinese cyber-cognoscenti, placing Beijing in a bind on whether to support or betray him.
Watching the Shadows
US charges Gitmo detainee with war crimes
The Pentagon announced that military commission charges have been filed against Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, who has been held at Guantánamo Bay since 2007.
North Africa
Niger mine attack launched from Libya: France
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in Niger that the attackers who carried out double suicide bombings on a military camp and uranium mine likely came from Libya.
Watching the Shadows
Obama addresses drone strikes, steps to close Gitmo
President Obama’s speech outlining plans to restrict drone strikes and renew efforts to close Guantánamo Bay did little more than reiterate existing policy.
Watching the Shadows
Harrowing Gitmo memoir published
Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a Mauritanian detained at Guantánamo since August 2002, has had portions of his handwritten prison-camp memoir published in Slate magazine.