18 May 2011

Furious anti-American protesters poured into the streets of a city in northern Afghanistan on Wednesday, shouting out objections to an overnight U.S.-led military raid that killed four people, including two women. Subsequent clashes with security forces trying to quell the demonstration killed 12 people, provincial officials said. Afghan President Hamid Karzai issued a strongly worded statement condemning the raid on the outskirts of Taloqan, the...

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18 May 2011

The number of security incidents continued to be significant, as it has over the past several years, with 1,664 incidents in January 2011, compared to a monthly average of 1,620 in 2010, and 960 in 2009. Armed clashes and the use of improvised explosive devices constitute the majority of incidents. At the end of 2010, suicide attacks remained at an average of 2.8 per week compared to the weekly average of 2.6 through 2009. Abductions and assassinations...

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18 May 2011

An Egyptian who was once a Special Forces officer has been chosen "caretaker" leader of al Qaeda in the wake of Osama bin Laden's death, according to a source with detailed knowledge of the group's inner workings. Al Qaeda's interim leader is Saif al-Adel, who has long played a prominent role in the group, according to Noman Benotman. Benotman has known the al Qaeda leadership for more than two decades. He was once a leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting...

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18 May 2011

Pakistan's intelligence service is pressing the Haqqani network of insurgents to join nascent Afghan peace talks, even as U.S. officials demand an offensive against the group, highlighting tensions between the two nations two weeks after the U.S. infuriated officials here with the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. U.S. officials have threatened more raids could be launched unless Pakistan moves swiftly against militants such as the Haqqani network,...

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