Friday, October 31, 2014

The Long War Journal (Site-Wide)


The Long War Journal (Site-Wide)



Posted: 31 Oct 2014 12:53 PM PDT
At least 23 people were killed this morning when explosions ripped through a bus station in Gombe in northeastern Nigeria. Many more were injured in the blast.
Gombe's police chief, Abdullahi Kudu, announced that three suspects were arrested shortly after the incident. Multiple witnesses saw them drive into the station and drop three bags filled with explosives before exiting. The bags were placed between buses as they were filling up with travelers around 9:00 a.m. today.
Although no one has yet claimed responsibility for the bombing, Boko Haram is suspected of orchestrating the attack. The group has targeted transportation centers before. In April, Boko Haram detonated a car bomb at the Nyanya Motor Park bus station in Abuja that killed at least 70 people and injured many more.
Gombe has been targeted by Boko Haram in the past. The terrorist group claimed responsibility for a shooting at the town's Deeper Life Church in January in which six people were killed. In June, a suicide bomber detonated a device near the governor's house, killing himself and four others.
The attack at the bus station comes on the heels of the Nigerian government's announcement two weeks ago that it was negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Boko Haram. The terrorist group also reportedly issued a ceasefire around the same time. At the time, reports indicated that the release of the 219 school girls kidnapped from Chibok in April was part of the negotiations. Another report came out today in the Nigerian press that the girls release may be imminent.
But the ceasefire, if there even was one, seems to have been short-lived. This past week, Boko Haram has launched attacks in numerous towns across northeastern Nigeria. On Oct. 26, gunmen attacked a market in Miringa, part of Borno state's Biu Local Government Area, killing five people. The next day, the group reportedly hit Kukawa in Borno, setting fire to a police station and government buildings, and razing 300 vehicles.
On Oct. 29, reports emerged that Mubi in Adamawa state had fallen to Boko Haram and the group had taken over the headquarters of the Nigerian army's 234 battalion located there. The Nigerian Defence Headquarters confirmed that the entire battalion stationed in Mubi had fled the scene. The timing of the attack was favorable for Boko Haram, as the army had recently decided to launch operations against the terrorist group from Mubi and had stocked the base with five artillery tanks. The army has since launched an investigation into the battalion's actions.
Posted: 31 Oct 2014 01:37 PM PDT
Map of significant al Qaeda-linked attacks in Mali this year. Map made by Caleb Weiss for The Long War Journal.
Jihadist groups operating in northern Mali have stepped up attacks over the past several months against French troops and UN peacekeepers operating in the region.
On Oct. 29, one French commando was killed after a fierce firefight in the Adrar Tigharghar mountain range in the northern Mali province of Kidal. The soldier, Thomas Dupuy, an Afghanistan war veteran, was killed when his unit came into contact with "30 Islamists," about 20 of whom were killed in the firefight, according to the French government. Dupuy is the 10th French soldier to die since January 2013.
It is unclear which group the French Army came into contact with in Kidal. However, the mountains of northern Mali have been a traditional stronghold of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). In early 2013, al Qaeda leader Abdel Mejid Abou Zeid was killed in the region after retreating there in the face of the French-led intervention. [For more, see LWJ's report, France confirms death of senior AQIM commander Abou Zeid.]
The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) is also known to operate in the Kidal region of Mali. MUJAO has been behind several attacks and kidnappings in Kidal since its inception in late 2011.
On Oct. 30, near the border with Mali, nine Nigerien troops were killed after also clashing with al Qaeda-linked militants. The militants attacked a Nigerien prison, a Malian refugee camp, and a patrol of Nigerien troops in three simultaneous attacks in Niger. During the attack on the prison, several inmates were freed from their cells.
It is unclear which group was responsible for these attacks, but al Qaeda commander Mokhtar Belmokhtar has undertaken operations inside Niger before. In late May 2013, Belmokhtar's group, the al Mua'qi'oon Biddam (Those Who Sign in Blood Brigade) launched suicide attacks inside Niger, killing 18 Nigerien troops. Mokhtar Belmokhtar's group has since joined forces with another Malian al Qaeda group, MUJAO, to form the al Mourabitoun Brigade, and has reaffirmed his allegiance to al Qaeda emir, Ayman al Zawahiri. [For more on Mokhtar Belmokhtar's groups, see LWJ reports, Belmokhtar's unit participated in Niger suicide attacks, 9 UN troops killed in Mali ambush, African al Qaeda leader sides with Zawahiri in Syrian dispute, and US adds Belmokhtar's brigades to terrorist lists.]
On Oct. 3, French special forces arrested members of the al Mourabitoun Brigade in two operations in Mali and Niger. The Malian region of Gao, which borders the Tillaberi region of Niger, is known as a hub for al Mourabitoun.
Militant activity increasing in Mali
On Oct. 3, nine UN troops were killed in an ambush in the Gao region of Mali. A few days later, a MUJAO spokesman, Sultan Ould Bady, claimed responsibility for the attack. The ambush came just two weeks after five Chadian troops were killed when they drove over a mine in the Kidal region of northern Mali.
On Sept. 2, four UN peacekeepers were killed in a roadside bomb attack near the city of Kidal. The attack came just days after AQIM had taken responsibility for several attacks in Mali, including an Aug. 16 suicide bombing that killed two UN troops in Ber, a town close to Timbuktu, and three other attacks near Timbuktu in June and July.
Earlier, on July 15, a French soldier was killed in an IED attack in northern Mali. Several other attacks in Mali have also been attributed to al Qaeda-linked forces this year. The Long War Journal has compiled a map of significant al Qaeda-linked attacks this year. Based on the data gathered from local Malian news sites or wire services such as Reuters, most attacks have happened in northern Mali, with at least five occurring near the city of Timbuktu. Ten of the compiled 18 attacks have occurred since August, with half of those occurring in the month of October. Furthermore, three attacks have occurred in the last week alone.
In light of increased activity, the French have launched a "large-scale operation" in northern Mali, according to French Army spokesman Gilles Jaron. The operation is intended to clear out jihadists in northern Mali. The French intervention mission in Mali was recently replaced by a counterterrorism operation, Operation Barkhan, in which French special forces will work in conjunction with several Saharan and Sahelian states to tackle terrorism in Mali.
Posted: 31 Oct 2014 01:05 PM PDT
Yesterday, after the US launched a drone strike in South Waziristan that reportedly killed a Haqqani Network commander known as Abdullah Haqqani and an al Qaeda leader, the spokeswoman for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry condemned the attack. From a transcript provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
First about the drone strike this morning, the Government of Pakistan condemns the US drone strike that took place on 0200 hours at Azam Warsak, South Waziristan on 30 October 2014. Pakistan has consistently maintained that such strikes are a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Government of Pakistan is itself taking decisive action against terrorist elements and therefore believes that such strikes are unnecessary and need to be stopped.
Yesterday's condemnation of the US campaign to kill members al Qaeda and other jihadist groups that pose a threat not just to the West, but to the Pakistani state, isn't the first. Pakistan routinely denounces US airstrikes as "a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity."
The Pakistani government even denounced a US strike that killed Hakeemullah Mehsud, the previous leader of the al Qaeda-linked Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan who was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Pakistanis. [See Threat Matrix report, Pakistan condemns drone strike that killed Hakeemullah Mehsud.]
But more often, the Pakistani government gets upset about the strikes that killed members of the so-called "good Taliban," or the Taliban that don't openly advocate jihad against the Pakistani state. For instance, when a US drone strike killed three Haqqani Network leaders, including a top commander who is said to be a senior financier and aide to the group's operational leader, Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Foreign Affairs Ministry was quick to respond. [See Threat Matrix report, Pakistan 'strongly condemns' drone strike that killed Haqqani Network leaders.]
It doesn't seem to matter much to the Pakistani government and military that the good Taliban, such as the Haqqani Network or those loyal to Hafiz Gul Bahadar, aid, shelter, and support al Qaeda, the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, and a host of other jihadist groups. What does appear to matter to the Pakistani decision makers is that the good Taliban wage jihad in Afghanistan and serve as strategic depth against India.

Posted by solsticewitch13 at 7:27 PM

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)