U.S., allies marshaling African proxies for fight against terrorism – latimes.com

“U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and diplomatic counterparts from France have been shopping around a plan to train and equip West African troops to drive out the Al Qaeda-aligned militants who hold sway over a swath of northern Mali the size of Texas. Ultraorthodox Muslims this year hijacked a long-simmering rebellion by ethnic Tuaregs and began imposing an extreme version of Islamic law once in power. In July, they took axes to ‘idolatrous’ cultural treasures in Timbuktu, provoking worldwide horror at the destruction.”

Source:U.S., allies marshaling African proxies for fight against terrorism – latimes.com

Kansas City downtown evacuated after possible terrorist threat

“The Kansas City Police Department’s bomb squad is investigating a suspicious device. Bomb dogs have confirmed that explosives are inside the vehicle. “

Source: Kansas City downtown evacuated after possible terrorist threat – CBS 5 – KPHO

Taliban threat: Nuclear site in DG Khan cordoned off

“It could be the first-ever security threat to a nuclear facility in Pakistan, and the Army and security forces are taking no risks.
Following ‘serious’ security threats from the homegrown Taliban, the Army and Punjab police have deployed heavy forces at one of Pakistan’s largest nuclear facilities in Dera Ghazi Khan (DG Khan), credible sources told The Express Tribune.”

Source: Taliban threat: Nuclear site in DG Khan cordoned off – The Express Tribune

Jordan’s Uncertain Future

“Public protests erupted throughout Jordan in February of this year. While security officials in Amman are well accustomed to demonstrations within the city limits, the February protests also reached further out into the tribal regions, leading some to think that these small tremors of unrest are signs of a larger movement to come. Like the liberal Islamists and social progressives in Iran and other middle-eastern countries, forward thinking Jordanian urbanites criticized the government along with their tribal compatriots and demanded change in the political system. The February protests were not large, but they were symbolic.”

Source: OODA Loop – Jordan’s Uncertain Future

Secret reports warn of a slew of TTP attacks

“A secret report has issued specific warnings of terror attacks that around 16 Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) recruits are allegedly planning to carry out in Rawalpindi and Islamabad over the next two weeks.
The report — circulated by the National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) at the interior ministry and shared with all provincial home departments, provincial and federal police departments and the federal capital’s commissioner office – said that Adiala Jail is likely to be the main target of the assailants who  intend to free their accomplices in a prison break.”

Source: Secret reports warn of a slew of TTP attacks – The Express Tribune

14 dead, 50 wounded in shooting at Colorado theater, police chief says

“A heavily armed gunman killed at least 14 people and wounded 50 more during an early Friday morning screening of the new Batman movie at an Aurora, Colorado, theater, police Chief Dan Oates told reporters.
Police arrested a man believed to be the shooter in a rear parking lot of the theater, Frank Fania, a police spokesman, told CNN. The suspect was not immediately identified, though Fania said he was believed to be in his early 20s.”

Source: 14 dead, 50 wounded in shooting at Colorado theater, police chief says – CNN.com

bin Laden letters released

“This report is a study of 17 declassified documents captured during the Abbottabad raid and released to the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC). They consist of electronic letters or draft letters, totaling 175 pages in the original Arabic and 197 pages in the English translation. The earliest is dated September 2006 and the latest April 2011. Some of the letters are incomplete and/or are missing their dates, and not all of the letters explicitly attribute their author(s) and/or indicate the addressee. In addition to Bin Ladin, the recognizable individuals who appear in the letters either as authors or as recipients are `Atiyyatullah and Abu Yahya al-Libi, both of whom are al-Qa`ida leaders; Adam Yahya Gadahn, the American al-Qa`ida spokesman and media advisor; Mukhtar Abu al-Zubayr, the leader of the Somali militant group Harakat al-Shabab al-Mujahidin; Abu Basir (Nasir al-Wuhayshi), the leader of the Yemen-based al-Qa`ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP); and Hakimullah Mahsud, the leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Given the small collection of documents released to the CTC, it is impossible to construct a coherent evolution of al-Qa`ida or its current state. “Letters from Abbottabad” is an initial exploration and contextualization of 17 documents that will be the grist for future academic debate and discussion.”

CTC Report | English Translations | Original Arabic Letters

Somali woman blows herself up, kills 2

“A young woman strapped with explosives blew herself up on Wednesday at a ceremony in the Somali national theatre attended by the prime minister and other officials, killing at least two.”

Source: Somali woman blows herself up, kills 2 | News24

Wanted by US for $10 million: Hafiz Saeed, mastermind of Mumbai attack

“The United States has offered a $10 million bounty for the founder of the Pakistani militant group blamed for the 2008 attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai that killed 166 people, a move that could complicate U.S.-Pakistan relations at a tense time.”

(Source: World News – Wanted by US for $10 million: Hafiz Saeed, mastermind of Mumbai attack.)

Al-Qaeda’s online forums go dark for extended period

“Al-Qaeda’s main Web forums have been offline for the past 11 days in what experts say is the longest sustained outage of the sites since they began operating eight years ago.

No one has publicly claimed responsibility for disabling the sites, but the breadth and the duration of the outages have prompted some experts to conclude the forums have been taken down in a cyberattack — launched perhaps by a government, government-backed organization or hacking group.”

Source: Al-Qaeda’s online forums go dark for extended period – The Washington Post