Image captures the smoldering wreckage of St. Theresa Catholic Church at Madalla, Suleja, just outside Nigeria's capital of Abuja on Dec. 25, 2011. Militants launched a series of arson attacks and massacres against churches in northern Nigeria on Dec. 24, 2012. (Photo: Afolabi Sotunde/Courtesy Reuters)

Suspected Boko Haram militants killed at least six Christians and burned down a church in the northern Nigerian state of Yobe late on Christmas Eve, according to Nigerian army and local officials. The attack against the Church of Christ in Nations occurred in Peri village near the economic hub of Potiskum. The attackers killed a pastor and at least five worshipers during Christmas Eve services.

"A group of gunmen came into the village at midnight and went straight to the church... they opened fire on them, killing the pastor and five worshipers. They then set fire to the church," Usman Mansir, a resident of the village, told Nigeria's PM News. Residents also claimed that the gunmen set fire to several homes surrounding the church, adding that many residents who lived near the church had fled during the attack and were still in hiding.

A separate attack against worshipers at the First Baptist Church in Maiduguri, Borno state, killed a deacon and five church members, according to CNN. Borno state has a predominantly Muslim population, and Boko Haram considers Borno its de facto headquarters, according to the BBC.

Boko Haram has yet to claim responsibility for the Christmas Eve attacks, but the militant organization carried out a wave of similar attacks against churches and Christians in 2011 and 2010. Earlier this year, the al Qaeda-linked Boko Haram stated that it seeks "to eradicate Christians" from areas in Nigeria.

Attacks attributed to Boko Haram on Christmas last year, including on a Catholic church near the Nigerian capital, killed at least 44 people. More recently, on Nov. 25, Boko Haram suicide bombers killed 11 people in an attack on a church at a military base in Kaduna state. Boko Haram has repeatedly attacked churches on Sundays during services and on holidays such as Christmas and Easter, in order to kill as many Christians as possible.

Prior to the Christmas Eve massacre in Potiskum, Nigerian state security forces clashed with Boko Haram militants throughout Potiskum City. Militants bombed a local police station and attacked a bank branch before being engaged by Nigerian security forces. A local police chief and 14 militants were killed in the clashes, which reportedly lasted for hours.

According to an account by the Associated Press, more than 770 people have been killed in Boko Haram attacks so far in 2012, making it the worst year yet for violence attributed to the group.

The Taliban claimed credit for a suicide attack outside of a US base in eastern Afghanistan that is known to house CIA operatives who are hunting al Qaeda and other terrorist leaders across the border in Pakistan.

The Taliban suicide bomber detonated a van packed with explosives outside the main gate of Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost province as Afghan workers were entering the base. Two Afghan civilians and an Afghan soldier were killed and several more were wounded in the blast, the provincial police chief told Pajhwok Afghan News. The slain Afghan policeman stopped the vehicle before it could enter the base, and then the suicide bomber detonated the explosives, TOLONews reported.

The International Security Assistance Force confirmed that an attack took place outside of FOB Chapman, but did not indicate that any ISAF personnel were killed in the attack.

The Taliban claimed credit for the attack in a statement released on their website, Voice of Jihad. In the statement, the Taliban claimed that the suicide bomber, who was identified as "Mujahid Omar," killed "as many as 100 foreign invaders and local puppets of the occupation forces" in the attack. The Taliban routinely exaggerate the casualties caused by suicide and other attacks against ISAF and Afghan forces.

Forward Operating Base Chapman is located in the heart of Haqqani Network territory. The Haqqani Network is a Taliban subgroup that administers Khost, Paktia, and Paktika provinces, and is closely allied to al Qaeda. The Taliban routinely publish Haqqani network propaganda on Voice of Jihad.

The base hosts members of the Central Intelligence Agency who are hunting al Qaeda and other allied terror groups operating in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Agencies. The base is used to gather intelligence and direct drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas.

The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and al Qaeda targeted the CIA at the base on Dec. 30, 2009, when Abu Dujanah al Khurasani, a longtime Internet jihadi whose real name is Humam Khalil Muhammed Abu Mulal al Balawi, detonated a suicide vest on the base. The blast killed seven CIA officials and contractors, and a Jordanian intelligence officer. Khurasani had been recruited by Jordanian intelligence to provide targeting information for the US's covert air campaign against al Qaeda's leaders and operations in the tribal areas of Pakistan. Khurasani enticed the CIA with promises of being able to produce Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaeda's second in command, and then detonated a suicide vest once he was granted access to the base.

Taliban continue to attack major Coalition bases

As the US prepares to withdraw the bulk of its forces from Afghanistan, the Taliban have launched three major suicide assaults and several other smaller suicide attacks against large US bases in Afghanistan. On June 1, a Haqqani Network suicide team, which was backed by al Qaeda, attacked Forward Operating Base Salerno in Khost province and penetrated security at the base. The attack on FOB Salerno resulted in the deaths of seven civilian contractors and one US soldier inside the base; scores more soldiers were said to have been wounded in the attack. The base PX and a dining facility were leveled in the attack. Salerno is one of the largest Coalition bases in the east, and is also used to launch US drone strikes in Pakistan.

The Taliban later released the Haqqani Network video of the planning and execution of the attack on FOB Salerno. Ayman bin Saeed, a jihadist from Oman who was also known as Abu Abdul Rahman al Oman, was seen in the video and was among those killed during the suicide assault.

The most successful attack against a major base took place on Sept. 14, when the Taliban launched a suicide assault on Camp Bastion in Helmand province. A 15-man Taliban team penetrated the perimeter at the airbase, destroyed six USMC Harriers and damaged two more, and killed the squadron commander and a sergeant. Fourteen of the 15 members of the assault team were killed, while the last was wounded and captured. Camp Bastion is a sprawling military base shared by US Marines and British troops that is located in the middle of the Dashti Margo desert in Helmand province.

The Taliban later released a video clip that showed their fighters preparing for the suicide assault on Camp Bastion. The video included footage of a planning session in front of a whiteboard that has a map of the base; the video also showed two of the fighters delivering their wills. The Mullah Dadullah Front, a Taliban subgroup that is closely tied to al Qaeda and led by a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who serves as the Taliban's military emir, is thought to have executed the attack.

And on Dec. 2, a suicide assault team attacked Forward Operating Base Fenty, a large airbase in Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan. Nine Taliban fighters, three Afghan security guards, and four civilians were killed in the attack.

Attacks on major Coalition facilities are expected to escalate as the US and its allies continue to draw down forces and hand over security to Afghan personnel by 2014. While no final decision has been made on the size of the remaining forces, the Obama administration is expected to approve a residual force estimated at around 10,000 troops. Such a small deployment would allow the US to operate only one or two smaller bases in Afghanistan; Bagram Airbase, Kandahar Airfield, and Camp Bastion, the three largest bases, currently each have tens of thousands of troops operating inside the wire.

The consolidation of troops into a few locations will allow the Taliban to focus their efforts on the small number of bases and increase the frequency of their attacks. This will occur as the US has reduced its combat power and its intelligence-gathering capabilities. US forces will also be required to depend more on Afghan forces for their security, even as attacks on Coalition forces by their Afghan allies have spiked.

Nabil al Kaldi and Abdullah Bawazir. Image from the SITE Intelligence Group.

A Yemeni jihadist has identified two of the five al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula members who were killed in a US drone strike in eastern Yemen on Dec. 24. The two AQAP fighters escaped from a Yemeni prison 18 months ago.

The jihadist announced "the martyrdom of the two mujahideen brothers Abdullah Bawazir and Nabil al Kaldi" in a statement that was released today on the al Qaeda-linked Ansar al-Mujahideen forum, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which obtained and translated the statement. Images of the two fighters, including photographs taken after their deaths, accompanied the announcement.

"They were martyred after an American drone strike with three rockets at a group of mujahideen near al-Watan stadium in the city of al Shehr, al Mukallah, today," the jihadist continued, according to SITE. The identities of the other three fighters are not yet known.

According to the jihadist, Bawazir and al Kaldi appeared in an al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula video titled "Story of Salvation," which documented the June 2011 escape of the two fighters and other AQAP operatives from the Mukallah prison. In that incident, 46 inmates, including many al Qaeda operatives, escaped from the Mukallah prison after tunneling under it. The prisoners were said to have been aided by a "renegade military commander."

On Dec. 24, the US launched two drone strikes in Yemen; the first strike killed a Yemeni and a Jordanian AQAP operative in Rada'a in the central province of Baydah. The second strike, which killed Bawazir and al Kaldi, took place in Shehr near Mukallah in Hadramout province. The drones targeted a group of AQAP fighters as they drove on motorcycles in Shehr.

The roles of Bawazir and al Kaldi in AQAP are unknown, but both men were most likely low-level fighters in the organization. So far, US drone strikes in Yemen have targeted both senior AQAP operatives who pose a direct threat to the US, and low-level fighters and local commanders who are battling the government. This trend was first identified by The Long War Journal in the spring of 2012 [see LWJ report, US drone strike kills 8 AQAP fighters, from May 10]. Obama administration officials have claimed that the drones are targeting only those AQAP leaders and operatives who pose a direct threat to the US homeland.

The US has launched 40 drone strikes against AQAP in Yemen this year; the attacks have killed five senior AQAP operatives and leaders, along with numerous low-level fighters and local commanders. [For details on the drone strikes in Yemen, see LWJ reports, Charting the data for US air strikes in Yemen, 2002 - 2012, and US drone strikes kill Jordanian, Yemeni AQAP operatives.]

The US launched another drone strike in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan today. Five "militants" are said to have been killed in the latest strike in an area known to serve as a launchpad for attacks against US forces in Afghanistan.

The remotely piloted Predators or the more advanced Reapers fired two missiles at a compound in the village of Gurbaz in the Shawal Valley in North Waziristan, according to Dawn. Pakistani officials said that five "militants" were killed after the missiles slammed into the compound. No civilians are reported to have been killed.

The exact target of the strike has not been disclosed. No senior al Qaeda or allied jihadist commanders from foreign terrorist groups are reported to have been killed in the strike.

Today's strike is the first by the US in Pakistan in seven days. The last such attack took place on Dec. 21 in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan. Several "foreigners" were reportedly killed, but their identities have not been disclosed.

Drones have focused on the Shawal Valley

So far this year, 10 of the 45 drone strikes in Pakistan, or 22%, have hit targets in the Shawal Valley. Targeting in the area was heavy this summer; at one point in time, seven of 10 strikes took place in the Shawal Valley.

The last strike in the Shawal Valley took place on Aug. 24, when the drones hit three compounds in the area. The airstrike reportedly killed 18 militants.

Al Qaeda, the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, and Taliban fighters under the command of Hafiz Gul Bahadar, the leader of the Taliban in North Waziristan, are all known to operate in the Shawal Valley, which is near the Afghan border. The area is used to launch attacks across the border in Afghanistan. Additionally, Central Asia terror groups are known to operate in the area. On July 1, a US drone strike killed several members of the Turkistan Islamic Party, an al Qaeda-affiliated group that operates in Pakistan, China, and Central Asia.

Bahadar administers the Shawal Valley. In 2009, after the Pakistani military launched an offensive in the Mehsud areas of South Waziristan, Bahadar sheltered the families of Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, and Waliur Rehman Mehsud, the group's leader in South Waziristan [see LWJ report, Taliban escape South Waziristan operation].

Bahadar, Hakeemullah, South Waziristan Taliban commander Mullah Nazir, and Sirajuddin Haqqani of the Haqqani Network are all members of the Shura-e-Murakeba, an alliance formed in late 2011. The four commanders agreed to cease attacks against Pakistani security forces, refocus efforts against the US and NATO in Afghanistan, and end kidnappings and other criminal activities in the tribal areas.

The deal was brokered by senior al Qaeda leader Abu Yahya al Libi, who was killed in a drone strike this year, as well as by Sirajuddin Haqqani, the operational leader of the Haqqani Network, and Mullah Mansour, a senior Taliban leader who operates in eastern Afghanistan. An al Qaeda leader known as Abdur Rehman Al Saudi was also involved in the negotiations. Mullah Omar, the overall leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, is said to have dispatched Siraj and Mansour to help negotiate the agreement [see LWJ report, Al Qaeda brokers new anti-US Taliban alliance in Pakistan and Afghanistan].

Despite the known presence of al Qaeda and other foreign groups in North Waziristan, and requests by the US that action be taken against these groups, the Pakistani military has indicated that it has no plans to take on Hafiz Gul Bahadar or the Haqqani Network. Bahadar and the Haqqanis are considered "good Taliban" by the Pakistani military establishment as they do not carry out attacks inside Pakistan. In June, Bahadar banned polio vaccinations in North Waziristan, in protest against US drone strikes.

Background on the US strikes in Pakistan

Today's strike is the 25th in Pakistan since June 4, when the US killed Abu Yahya al Libi, one of al Qaeda's top leaders, propagandists, and religious figures. Abu Yahya was killed in a strike on a compound in Mir Ali in North Waziristan. Uzbek, Tajik, and Turkmen fighters belonging to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan were reportedly among the 14 terrorists killed along with Abu Yahya.

US officials said in November 2011 that only two senior al Qaeda leaders, Ayman al Zawahiri and Abu Yahya al Libi, were left in the organization, and that the terror group would collapse once the two leaders were killed.

The US has carried out 46 strikes in Pakistan so far this year. Twenty-seven of the strikes have taken place since the beginning of June; 22 occurred in North Waziristan, four were in South Waziristan, and one has taken place in Arakzai. [For data on the strikes, see LWJ reports, Charting the data for US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2012; and Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2012.]

The drone program was scaled back dramatically from the end of March to the beginning of the fourth week in May. Between March 30 and May 22, the US conducted only three drones strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas as US officials attempted to renegotiate the reopening of NATO's supply lines, which were closed from the end of November 2011 until July 3. Pakistan closed the supply lines following the Mohmand incident in November 2011.

In addition to Abu Yahya, four other high-value targets have been confirmed killed in the strikes in Pakistan this year. A Jan. 11 strike in Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan, killed Aslam Awan, a deputy to the leader of al Qaeda's external operations network.

On Feb. 8, the US killed Badr Mansoor, a senior Taliban and al Qaeda leader, in a strike in Miramshah's bazaar. Mansoor ran training camps in the area and sent fighters to battle NATO and Afghan forces across the border, and linked up members of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen with al Qaeda to fight in Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden described Mansoor as one of several commanders of al Qaeda's "companies" operating in the tribal areas. He was later promoted to lead al Qaeda's forces in the tribal areas.

On Dec. 6, US drones killed Khalid bin Abdul Rahman al Husainan, a top al Qaeda religious leader who is also known as a Abu Zeid al Kuwaiti. Al Husainan is thought to have replaced Abu Yahya al Libi as the head of al Qaeda's religious shura. While al Qaeda hasn't confirmed his death, two of his associates said he died in Afghanistan, and US intelligence officials said they are confident he is indeed dead.

And sometime earlier this year, a US drone strike killed Abu Usman Adil, the emir of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. Adil succeeded Tahir Yuldashev, the co-founder of the IMU, who was killed in a drone strike in September 2009. Adil is credited with increasing the IMU's profile in Pakistan and Afghanistan after the death of Yuldashev, US intelligence officials have told The Long War Journal. Whereas Yuldashev had been content with confining the group's operations largely to Pakistan's tribal areas, Adil pushed to expand operations in northern and eastern Afghanistan, as well as in the Central Asian republics.

Four other senior jihadist leaders, including al Qaeda commanders Abu Kasha al Iraqi and Fateh al Turki, are reported to have been killed in drone strikes in North Waziristan since the beginning of August, although their deaths have not been confirmed. Badruddin Haqqani, a top leader in the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network, is thought to have been killed in a drone strike in North Waziristan. Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid and a Haqqani Network spokesman denied reports that claimed Badruddin was killed, and said he "is in the country and he is occupied with his operational responsibilities." Afghan, Pakistani, and US intelligence officials have said that Badruddin is dead.

And Emeti Yakuf, who is also known as Abdul Shakoor Turkistani, may have been killed in the Aug. 24 drone strike in North Waziristan's Shawal Valley that hit a training camp. Yakuf directs al Qaeda operations in Pakistan's tribal areas.

The drone campaign has been scaled down from its peak in 2010, when the US conducted 117 strikes, according to data collected by The Long War Journal. In 2011, the US carried out just 64 strikes in Pakistan's border regions.

So far this year, the US has launched 46 strikes in Pakistan against al Qaeda and allied terror groups, just six more than the 40 strikes this year in Yemen against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. In 2011, the US launched 64 strikes in Pakistan, versus only 10 in Yemen.

Banner for the Al Nusrah Front, a jihadist group in Syria. Image from the SITE Intelligence Group.

The Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, al Qaeda's branch in Syria, has released a statement from its leader denouncing the US government's recent designation of the terror group. Al Nusrah emir Abu Muhammad al Julani also commended foreign fighters in Syria and called for the terror group to work with other Syrian rebels.

Al Nusrah's media arm, the al Manara al Baydha' Foundation, released an audiotape attributed to al Julani on jihadist forums yesterday. The statement, titled "People of the Levant, We Sacrifice Our Lives for You," was obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

While al Julani's statement is undated, it offers further proof that he was not killed, despite some media reports of his death [see LWJ report, Al Qaeda's Al Nusrah Front denies reports of death of its emir]. The US added the Al Nusrah Front and two of its senior leaders to the US list of terrorist individuals and entities on Dec. 11, and said the terror group is an arm of al Qaeda in Iraq.

In his statement, al Julani claimed that the US added Al Nusrah to the list of foreign terrorist groups because "America is venting its anger and expressing its failed role in the region." Al Jalani also accused the US of propping up President Bashir al Assad's regime. and said the designation was issued "as a punishment for helping these wounded people [Syrians]."

Al Julani then praised Syrian political opposition groups for condemning the US terrorism designation.

"Statements of denouncement and condemnation poured on them from more than 100 organizations, foundations and groups, to give the name for Friday's [protests], 'There is No Terror but that of al-Assad,'" he said. "I express my gratitude and my special thanks to the commands of the factions, groups and fighting brigades that assumed an honorable stand, showing the unity of Islam and the brotherhood of faith against the attack of the Americans."

Despite Al Nusrah's known affiliation with al Qaeda and its radical ideology, Syrian opposition groups, including the supposedly secular Syrian National Coalition, have rallied to support Al Nusrah. Within a day of the US's designation of Al Nusrah, 29 Syrian opposition groups signed a petition that not only condemned the US's designation, but said "we are all Al Nusrah," and urged their supporters to raise Al Nusrah's flag (the same flag used by al Qaeda) [see LWJ report, Syrian National Coalition urges US to drop Al Nusrah terrorism designation].

Al Julani's statement also called on Al Nusrah fighters to provide services for Syrians after the Assad regime collapses.

"Continue helping the people in what they need of basic services and needs, such as the running of bakeries, distributing the necessary fuel, providing the basic clinics and medical centers, and reconstructing, as much as you can," he said. "You also should provide security for the people, centers of reconciliation and decisions in disputes, because the phase of the central authority collapse leaves a vacuum that you will be the best to fill."

He finished by praising the "emigrant brothers," or foreign al Qaeda fighters who are filling out the ranks of the Al Nusrah Front.

"Before the end, [I send] a greeting of love and loyalty to our pure and pious emigrant brothers. May Allah accept your jihad and bless your sacrifices, and may Allah reward you the best on behalf of the Islamic Ummah," al Julani said. "I also advise my native brothers to take care of the emigrants."

Non-Syrians play a key role in the Al Nusrah Front. According to the US designation of the terror group, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the emir of al Qaeda in Iraq, is al Julani's boss. In addition, one of the two Al Nusrah leaders designated as terrorists by the US is an Iraqi. And foreigners are known to lead battalions and smaller fighting units in Syria.

Foreign jihadists are also pouring into Syria to wage jihad against Assad's regime. Fighters from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinian Territories are known to have been killed in Syria.

The Al Nusrah Front has been at the vanguard in conducting suicide attacks in Syria. Since the Al Nusrah Front announced its formation in late January 2012, it has claimed credit for 43 of the 52 suicide attacks that have taken place in Syria in the past 12 months.

US drones struck for the third time in Yemen in five days, killing two al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in an attack in eastern Yemen today.

The remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers fired missiles at a group of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters as they were traveling on motorcycles in the town of Shehr in Hadramout province, according to Reuters. Two AQAP fighters are thought to have been killed; their identities were not disclosed, however.

Today's strike is the second in Shehr in five days. On Dec. 24, US drones killed five AQAP fighters as they also were traveling on motorcycles in the town. A Yemeni jihadist later identified two of the five fighters killed as Abdullah Bawazir and Nabil al Kaldi. Both men had escaped from a prison in Mukallah in Hadramout in June 2011.

Also on Dec. 24, US drones killed a Jordanian and a Yemeni AQAP fighter in a strike in Rada'a in Baydah province. The Yemeni was identified as Abdullah Hussein al Waeli; he also escaped from a prison two years ago.

Hadramout is the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden's family, and the province has become an AQAP bastion over the past several years.

The US has stepped up drone strikes against AQAP in Hadramout this year. Prior to May, there were zero US drone strikes in the province. Since mid-May, the US launched seven attacks in Hadramout. Seven of the 41 drone strikes in Yemen this year, or 17%, have taken place in the province.

The Yemeni military claimed that Said al Shihri, AQAP's deputy emir and a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, was killed in a drone strike in Hadramout on Sept. 5. But al Shihri later denied the reports of his death.

US strikes in Yemen

The US is known to have carried out 41 airstrikes against AQAP in Yemen so far this year: one in January, six in March, six more in April, nine in May, two in June, one in July, five in August, two in September, four in October, one in November, and three so far this month. Other recent airstrikes are believed to have been carried out by the US also, but little evidence has emerged to directly link the attacks to the US.

Since December 2009, the CIA and the US military's Joint Special Operations Command are known to have conducted at least 54 air and missile strikes inside Yemen, including the strike that took place today. [For more information on the US airstrikes in Yemen, see LWJ report, Charting the data for US air strikes in Yemen, 2002 - 2012.]

The pace of the US airstrikes increased as AQAP and its political front, Ansar al Sharia, took over vast areas of southern Yemen starting at the end of May 2011. AQAP seized control of the cities and towns of Zinjibar, Al Koud, Jaar, and Shaqra in Abyan province, and Azzan in Shabwa province.

In May of this year, the Yemeni military launched an offensive to retake the cities and towns held by AQAP. Hundreds of AQAP fighters, Yemeni soldiers, and civilians have been reported killed during fighting that liberated Zinjibar, Jaar, Shaqra, and Azzan.

Since the beginning of May 2011, the US is known to have carried out 50 airstrikes in Yemen. This year, the US has been targeting both AQAP leaders and foot soldiers in an effort to support Yemeni military operations against the terror group. AQAP had taken control of vast areas in southern Yemen and had been expanding operations against the government, with raids on military bases in locations previously thought to be outside the terror group's control.

Five senior AQAP operatives, including Sheikh Abu Zubeir 'Adil al'Abab, have been killed in the 40 strikes so far this year. On Aug. 31, Khaled Batis, a wanted AQAP operative who is said to have been the mastermind of the 2002 bombing of the French oil tanker Limburg, was killed in that attack.

On May 6, the US killed Fahd al Quso in a drone attack in Shabwa province. Quso, who has been described as AQAP's external operations chief, was involved in numerous terrorist attacks, including the 2000 suicide attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 US sailors. The information leading to Quso was obtained by the US from a Saudi operative who had penetrated AQAP.

The US killed Mohammed Saeed al Umda (a.k.a. Ghareeb al Taizi) in an April 22 drone strike on a convoy in the Al Samadah area of Marib province. Prior to the downfall of the Taliban regime in 2001, he had attended the Al Farouq military training camp in Afghanistan. Umda served as a member of Osama bin Laden's bodyguard in Afghanistan before returning to Yemen, and was involved in the October 2002 suicide attack on the French oil tanker Limburg. He escaped from a Yemeni jail in 2006.

And on Jan. 31, US drones killed Abdul Mun'im Salim al Fatahani near the city of Lawdar in Abyan province. Fatahani was also involved in the suicide attack on the USS Cole, as well as the bombing that damaged the Limburg oil tanker in 2002. AQAP said that Fatahani had fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.

US intelligence officials believe that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula poses a direct threat to the homeland. The latest AQAP plot against the West, involving an underwear bomb that is nearly undetectable and was to be detonated on an airliner, was foiled earlier this year. The terror group has planned multiple attacks against targets in the US. A strike in Yemen last year killed both Anwar al Awlaki, the radical US-born cleric who plotted attacks against the US, and Samir Khan, another American who served as a senior AQAP propagandist.

Waliur Rehman Mehsud (left) and Hakeemullah Mehsud (right), from their latest propaganda tape. Image from Dawn.

The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan released a videotape today that refutes the longstanding rumors of a split among the highest leadership of the organization. The group's emir, Hakeemullah Mehsud, also said that the Pakistani Taliban are allied with both the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda.

The Pakistani Taliban released the videotape to both Reuters and Dawn. In the video, Hakeemullah is seen seated alongside his deputy and the group's leader in South Waziristan, Waliur Rehman Mehsud.

"There is no divide in the Tehrik-e-Taliban [Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan]," Hakeemullah said. "I and Maulvi Waliur Rehman are one, and look, we are sitting together. The propaganda of a rift in Taliban ranks is totally untrue."

Hakeemullah also denied that he and Waliur Rehman are at odds over negotiations with the Pakistani government. Hakeemullah said that the Taliban have negotiated with the government in the past, and pointed to the Sararogha agreement that was signed by his predecessor, Baitullah Mehsud. But Hakeemullah said that the Taliban would not lay down their arms as the government is being directed by the US; instead he said he would agree only to a ceasefire.

The Pakistani government has signed numerous peace agreements with the Taliban in the past, but has denied doing so. The peace agreements allowed the Taliban to take over large areas of Pakistan's northwest.

Hakeemullah's appearance with Waliur Rehman confirms multiple reports by The Long War Journal that the Pakistani government has conducted an information operation to portray the Pakistani Taliban as divided. The Pakistani government has wrongly claimed that the two leaders killed each other in a fight over the succession of Baitullah, and in the past year has said multiple times that Hakeemullah has been sidelined by Waliur Rehman [for details, see Threat Matrix report, Pakistani officials promoting false split in Taliban leadership cadres, again].

Pakistani Taliban "with" Afghan Taliban, al Qaeda

Hakeemullah said that the Pakistani Taliban would take direction from the Afghan Taliban and its emir, Mullah Mohammed Omar, on how to react to the US drawdown in Afghanistan. Additionally, he said the groups are closely allied.

"We are Afghan Taliban and Afghan Taliban are us," he said. "We are with them and al Qaeda. We are even willing to get our heads cut off for al Qaeda."

US drones struck for the fourth time in Yemen in less than a week, killing three al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in an attack in central Yemen today.

The remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers fired missiles at a group of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters as they were traveling in Land Cruisers in the village of Manaseeh outside the town of Rada'a in central Baydah province, according to the Associated Press. Three AQAP fighters are thought to have been killed. One was identified as
Today's strike is the second in Manaseeh this week. On Dec. 24, US drones killed as Saleh Mohammed al-Ameri, who the BCC described as a senior AQAP leader.

Jordanian and a Yemeni AQAP fighter in a strike in the village. The Yemeni was identified as Abdullah Hussein al Waeli; he also escaped from a prison two years ago. The US also launched two other strikes in the eastern province of Hadramout this week. Prior to the strikes that have taken place this past week, the last recorded attack by the US in Yemen took place on Nov. 7.

US drones have targeted AQAP fighters in Manaseeh in the recent past. On Sept. 2, the US accidentally killed 13 civilians while targeting AQAP fighters in the area.

AQAP has increased its presence in Baydah province this year, and the US has pursued the terror group with drone strikes. On May 28, the US targeted Kaid al Dhahab, AQAP's emir in the province of Baydah, and his brother Nabil, who is also a senior leader in the terror group, in a strike in the town of Rada'a.

Kaid took control of AQAP in Baydah after his brother, Tariq, was killed in February by another brother, Hazam, a senior tribal leader in the town who was concerned that Tariq's affiliation with AQAP would incur the wrath of the Yemeni government. Before he was killed, Tariq had seized control of Baydah, raised al Qaeda's banner, sworn allegiance to Ayman al Zawahiri, and warned that "the Islamic Caliphate is coming."

Kaid and Nabil were tasked with regrouping AQAP's forces in Baydah after Tariq's death. The two leaders are also the brothers-in-law of slain AQAP leader and ideologue Anwar al Awlaki.

US strikes in Yemen

The US is known to have carried out 42 airstrikes against AQAP in Yemen so far this year: one in January, six in March, six more in April, nine in May, two in June, one in July, five in August, two in September, four in October, one in November, and four so far this month. Other recent airstrikes are believed to have been carried out by the US also, but little evidence has emerged to directly link the attacks to the US.

Since December 2009, the CIA and the US military's Joint Special Operations Command are known to have conducted at least 55 air and missile strikes inside Yemen, including the strike that took place today. [For more information on the US airstrikes in Yemen, see LWJ report, Charting the data for US air strikes in Yemen, 2002 - 2012.]

The pace of the US airstrikes increased as AQAP and its political front, Ansar al Sharia, took over vast areas of southern Yemen starting at the end of May 2011. AQAP seized control of the cities and towns of Zinjibar, Al Koud, Jaar, and Shaqra in Abyan province, and Azzan in Shabwa province.

In May of this year, the Yemeni military launched an offensive to retake the cities and towns held by AQAP. Hundreds of AQAP fighters, Yemeni soldiers, and civilians have been reported killed during fighting that liberated Zinjibar, Jaar, Shaqra, and Azzan.

Since the beginning of May 2011, the US is known to have carried out 51 airstrikes in Yemen. This year, the US has been targeting both AQAP leaders and foot soldiers in an effort to support Yemeni military operations against the terror group. AQAP had taken control of vast areas in southern Yemen and had been expanding operations against the government, with raids on military bases in locations previously thought to be outside the terror group's control.

Five senior AQAP operatives, including Sheikh Abu Zubeir 'Adil al'Abab, have been killed in the 42 strikes so far this year. On Aug. 31, Khaled Batis, a wanted AQAP operative who is said to have been the mastermind of the 2002 bombing of the French oil tanker Limburg, was killed in that attack.

On May 6, the US killed Fahd al Quso in a drone attack in Shabwa province. Quso, who has been described as AQAP's external operations chief, was involved in numerous terrorist attacks, including the 2000 suicide attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 US sailors. The information leading to Quso was obtained by the US from a Saudi operative who had penetrated AQAP.

The US killed Mohammed Saeed al Umda (a.k.a. Ghareeb al Taizi) in an April 22 drone strike on a convoy in the Al Samadah area of Marib province. Prior to the downfall of the Taliban regime in 2001, he had attended the Al Farouq military training camp in Afghanistan. Umda served as a member of Osama bin Laden's bodyguard in Afghanistan before returning to Yemen, and was involved in the October 2002 suicide attack on the French oil tanker Limburg. He escaped from a Yemeni jail in 2006.

And on Jan. 31, US drones killed Abdul Mun'im Salim al Fatahani near the city of Lawdar in Abyan province. Fatahani was also involved in the suicide attack on the USS Cole, as well as the bombing that damaged the Limburg oil tanker in 2002. AQAP said that Fatahani had fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.

US intelligence officials believe that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula poses a direct threat to the homeland. The latest AQAP plot against the West, involving an underwear bomb that is nearly undetectable and was to be detonated on an airliner, was foiled earlier this year. The terror group has planned multiple attacks against targets in the US. A strike in Yemen last year killed both Anwar al Awlaki, the radical US-born cleric who plotted attacks against the US, and Samir Khan, another American who served as a senior AQAP propagandist.

Four suspects sentenced to death for the January 2008 assassination of a US diplomat and his driver in the Sudan are depicted escaping from a maximum security prison during the summer of 2010. The newly produced video was disseminated by a jihadist media group calling itself "al-Hijratain Foundation." Image courtesy of the SITE Intelligence Group.

A jihadist media group calling itself the "al-Hijratain Foundation," a possibly al Qaeda-affiliated group tied to the murky Sudanese terrorist front known as Ansar al-Tawhid (Partisans of Monotheism), has released a video detailing the June 2010 prison escape of the four men sentenced to death for the 2008 assassination of an American diplomat and his driver. On Jan. 1, 2008, John Michael Granville, an American USAID worker and his Sudanese driver, Abdel Rahman Abbas, were shot at least 17 times after leaving a New Year's Eve party held at the British Embassy in Khartoum, according to the New York Times.

Not long after, Sudanese authorities detained five men believed to have committed the assassination: Mohamed Makkawi, Abdel-Basit Haj al-Hassan, Mohannad Osman Youssef, Abdul Raouf Abu Zeid Muhammad Hamza, and Murad Abdel-Rahman Abdullah. Two of the men were arrested in February 2008 by Sudanese authorities after a brief shootout in a suburb of Khartoum's twin city, Omdurman. In 2009, a Sudanese court sentenced all of the suspects to death except Abdullah, who was sentenced to two years in prison. In June 2010, however, the four men who had been sentenced to death managed to escape from the heavily fortified maximum-security Kober federal prison. Sudanese officials reported in September 2010 that the fugitives were likely hiding in Darfur.

The 41-minute, 29-second video, titled "Breaking the Shackles, Part One," was distributed by the al-Hijratain Foundation on jihadist forums on Dec. 27, 2012, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which obtained and translated the video. All four members of the formerly imprisoned Ansar al Tawhid cadre appear in the video, although it has been widely acknowledged that Mohannad Osman Youssef was later killed fighting in Somalia, and that Abdul Raouf Abu Zeid Muhammad Hamza was recaptured within three weeks of his escape from prison.

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The video meticulously depicts how the four prisoners dug what they claimed was a 125-foot tunnel under the Kober prison grounds. It also shows that the group had stolen a set of keys from an inattentive prison guard, which they used to unlock their leg irons so as to be able to work on the tunnel unimpeded, according to the Sudan Tribune's analysis of a copy of the video shown on YouTube. The video apparently contains footage of the inmates working on the tunnel while they were incarcerated, which raises serious questions about how closely the prisoners were being monitored in what many have described as Sudan's most advanced maximum security prison.

Several Salafist insurgent organizations are known to operate in the Sudan, including al Qaeda in the Land with Two Niles, and Ansar al Tawhid (Partisans of Monotheism). There is also a large and vocal Salafist organization in Sudan, Ansar al Sunnah, although the fundamentalist group has repeatedly denied accusations that it facilitated sectarian attacks against Sudan's traditionally moderate Sufi Muslims. One of the escaped convicts shown in the video, Abdul Raouf Abu Zeid Muhammad Hamza (who has since been recaptured), is the son of a prominent leader of Ansar al Sunnah, Abu Zaid Mohamed Hamzah.

Sudanese authorities have clashed recently with a network of suspected Salafist insurgents, although officials were not inclined to name the organization with which the militants were affiliated. Fierce battles in early December between Sudanese authorities and militants holed up in the Al-Dinndir Wild Life Park in Sennar state reportedly killed three suspected Salafist insurgents and led to the capture of 25 others, according to the Sudan Tribune. Sudanese security officials believed the group was planning to assassinate local officials and target Western diplomatic missions in the country.

The Taliban executed 21 Pakistani policemen last night after capturing them during a series of raids at checkpoints outside the northwestern provincial capital of Peshawar last week. The Taliban have now conducted three mass executions of Pakistani security personnel since June 2011.

The policemen were bound, blindfolded, lined up, and shot after being tried and convicted by a Taliban court, provincial officials told Reuters. Of the 23 policemen who were captured during the raids last week, 21 were executed, one was shot but survived and is in a hospital with serious injuries, and one escaped, Dawn reported.

The Taliban's top spokesman and the spokesman for a local group operating in Peshawar both claimed credit for the execution.

"We killed all the kidnapped men after a council of senior clerics gave a verdict for their execution. We didn't make any demand for their release because we don't spare any prisoners who are caught during fighting," said Ihsanullah Ihsan, the senior spokesman for the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan.

Mohammad Afridi, the spokesman for the The Commander Tariq Afridi Group, said that his faction carried out the execution of the police. The Commander Tariq Afridi Group is one of the most dangerous Taliban factions. It is based in Darra Adam Khel and operates in Arakzai, Khyber, Peshawar, Kohat, and Hangu. Although Tariq Afridi, the group's emir, is rumored to have been killed, his death has not been confirmed by the Taliban.

The Commander Tariq Afridi Group has also conducted two other major attacks in Peshawar this month. On Dec. 15, the group launched a suicide assault on the Peshawar airport. And on Dec. 22, the group assassinated Bashir Ahmed Bilour, the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and killed eight other people in a suicide attack in the city.

The Taliban have conducted mass executions of Pakistani security personnel two other times since the summer of 2011. In June 2011, Taliban fighters loyal to Mullah Fazlullah, the group's emir in Swat and Dir, executed 16 Pakistani policemen who were captured during heavy fighting in Dir. The Taliban released a videotape that showed the execution.

And in June 2012, Fazlullah's fighters videotaped the execution of 17 captured Pakistani soldiers taken during fighting in Dir.

The latest mass execution takes place just two days after Hakeemullah Mehsud and his deputy, Waliur Rehman Mehsud, appeared in a videotape to deny reports that the top leadership of the Pakistani Taliban is fractured. The Pakistani military and government have been running a disinformation campaign promoting a split between the top leaders, and have claimed the group has been defeated in military operations in the tribal areas.

The International Security Assistance Force announced today that "several" insurgents were killed during an Afghan and Coalition force raid in Taliban-infested Kunar province. Following an inquiry by The Long War Journal, ISAF confirmed that the insurgents killed in the raid are "believed to be associated with the Taliban, but also have links to al Qaeda."

According to the ISAF report, security forces "observed the armed individuals engaged in hostile activity and engaged them" while conducting a joint security operation in Ghazibad district. The nationality of the insurgents has not been disclosed.

This marks the first operation against al Qaeda-linked insurgents in Afghanistan in almost a month. The last reported operations occurred on Dec. 4, when three separate raids targeted insurgent leaders with ties to al Qaeda and its affiliates in the country [see LWJ reports: ISAF launches 2 raids targeting al Qaeda-linked commanders, and ISAF kills another al Qaeda commander in Kunar raid].

When asked if any raids against al Qaeda-linked insurgents or foreign fighters were conducted after the Dec. 4 raids and not reported, ISAF told The Long War Journal that they "found no operational reporting" of "any known fighters or members of al Qaeda targeted since the last reported operation."

Al Qaeda remains resilient in Afghanistan

Despite large gaps in reported raids targeting the group in the latter half of 2012, it is clear that al Qaeda and its affiliates remain resilient in the country. Based on a study by The Long War Journal, today's raid marks the 67th operation this year targeting al Qaeda-linked fighters in Afghanistan. The year did show a decrease in raids targeting the group compared to previous two years; 92 operations were conducted in 2011, and 79 in 2010. But this year's operational tempo against al Qaeda-linked fighters in Afghanistan represents an increase compared to the years prior to the Obama administration's Afghan surge; between 2007 and 2009, only 77 such raids were conducted, according to ISAF press releases compiled by The Long War Journal.

While operations targeting al Qaeda and its affiliates occurred across the country in 2012, two provinces stand out as major strongholds.

Kunar province, on Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan, has long functioned as a safe haven for al Qaeda and allied terror groups, despite the continued presence of Afghan and Coalition troops. In 2012, there were 16 operations in the province, including an airstrike in June that killed two Pakistani leaders of the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Another operation in May killed al Qaeda's second in command in Afghanistan. By comparison, in 2011 only three operations were conducted in the province against al Qaeda-linked insurgents.

And in Afghanistan's north, Kunduz province has remained a hotbed of activity for the al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. This year, 16 raids were conducted against IMU fighters in the province; in 2011, there were 18 such raids.

Kunar is a known al Qaeda haven

For years, the rugged, remote Afghan province of Kunar has served as a sanctuary for al Qaeda, the Lashkar-e-Taiba, and allied terror groups. The presence of al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba cells has been detected in the districts of Asmar, Asadabad, Dangam, Ghazibad, Marawana, Nari, Pech, Shaikal Shate, Sarkani, Shigal, and Watahpur; or 11 of Kunar's 15 districts, according to press releases issued by the International Security Assistance Force that have been compiled by The Long War Journal.

Al Qaeda is known to run training camps and maintain bases in Kunar, and uses the province to direct operations in the Afghan east. ISAF has targeted several bases and camps in Kunar over the years [see LWJ report, ISAF captures al Qaeda's top Kunar commander, for more details].

Al Qaeda remains entrenched in Afghanistan and Pakistan despite the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011. A document seized at bin Laden's compound suggested that the actual number of al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan and Afghanistan is much higher than the numbers mentioned in official estimates provided by the Obama administration over the past three years, which have remained static at 300-400 members in Pakistan and 50-100 in Afghanistan. [See LWJ reports, Bin Laden advised relocation of some leaders to Afghanistan due to drone strikes in Waziristan, and Bin Laden docs hint at large al Qaeda presence in Pakistan.]

A classified US military assessment based on prisoner interrogations that was leaked to The New York Times in February said that al Qaeda maintains "a small haven" in Kunar and neighboring Nuristan.

"Northeastern Afghanistan has become a small haven for al Qaeda. Several al Qaeda commanders, including the Al Qaeda emir for Kunar and Nuristan, Farouq al Qahtani, now live and operate in Afghanistan, with permission from the Taliban, but with the direct support of TTP [Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan] elements," the assessment stated.

US intelligence officials have told The Long War Journal that Qahtani is a Saudi citizen. Several Saudi al Qaeda members have held top leadership positions in the province [see LWJ report, Senior al Qaeda leader, facilitator killed in airstrike in Kunar].

Another senior al Qaeda leader known to operate in Kunar is Azzam Abdullah Zureik Al Maulid Al Subhi, a Saudi who is better known as Mansur al Harbi. He was added by the State Department to the Specially Designated Global Terrorist list on Aug. 7. The Saudi Interior Ministry has said that al Harbi works "at a training camp in Afghanistan and is tied to numerous senior al Qaeda leaders including Abdel Aziz Migrin and Saif al Adel." Migrin headed al Qaeda's branch in Saudi Arabia and led attacks in the kingdom before he was killed in a firefight with Saudi security forces in June 2004. Saif al Adel is al Qaeda's second in command and top military strategist, and served as the interim leader after Osama bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan in May 2011.

Additionally, Qari Zia Rahman, a dual-hatted al Qaeda and Taliban leader, operates in Kunar province as well as across the border in Pakistan's tribal agencies of Mohmand and Bajaur. ISAF forces have been hunting Qari Zia for years but have failed to capture or kill him.

Two Afghan soldiers opened fire on Spanish and Afghan troops patrolling in the western Afghan province of Herat last night. The insider (or 'green-on-blue') attack, in which Afghan security forces strike at Coalition allies, is the last such incident recorded in 2012.

The two Afghan soldiers attacked the Spanish troops last night as they patrolled in the Karkh district in Herat, according to Khaama Press. No Spanish or Afghan soldiers were hurt.

The International Security Assistance Force confirmed that the attack took place, and said an investigation had been launched to determine whether the attack was carried out by Afghan troops. An Afghan security official told Khaama Press that the two soldiers were members of the Afghan National Army.

A top Taliban spokesman claimed that the Afghan soldiers, who were from Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, were operating under Taliban orders, the Afghanistan Times reported. The two Afghan soldiers escaped to the Taliban after the attack. The Taliban, who routinely exaggerate casualties caused by their operations, also claimed that four Spanish soldiers were killed in the attack.

Yesterday's attack is the second recorded in Herat province in 2012. On July 22, 2012, a member of the Afghan National Police killed three civilian trainers who worked for ISAF. The attacker was killed.

A total of 44 green-on-blue attacks are reported to have taken place in 2012; these attacks resulted in the deaths of 61 ISAF military and civilian personnel. (Note: ISAF does not disclose data on all such attacks; ISAF has told The Long War Journal that the overall number of attacks is "classified".) In 2011, there were 15 such attacks reported, and in 2010 there were 5.

In 2012, the green-on-blue attacks accounted for 15 percent of ISAF's casualties. For 2011, the attacks accounted for 6 percent of ISAF's casualties; and for 2010, the number was only 2 percent. See LWJ report, Green-on-blue attacks in Afghanistan: the data, for more information.

Insider attacks a key part of Taliban strategy

In October 2012, Taliban emir Mullah Omar released an Eid al-Adha message that urged followers to "[i]increase Increase your efforts to expand the area of infiltration in the ranks of the enemy and to bring about better order and array in the work." The statement continued: "We call on the Afghans who still stand with the stooge regime to turn to full-fledged cooperation with their Mujahid people like courageous persons in order to protect national interests and to complete independence of the country. Jihadic activities inside the circle of the State militias are the most effective stratagem. Its dimension will see further expansion, organization and efficiency if God willing."

Omar had previously addressed the issue of green-on-blue attacks at length in a statement released on Aug. 16, 2012. Omar claimed that the Taliban "cleverly infiltrated in the ranks of the enemy according to the plan given to them last year," and urged government officials and security personnel to defect and join the Taliban as a matter of religious duty. He also noted that the Taliban have created the "Call and Guidance, Luring and Integration" department, "with branches ... now operational all over the country," to encourage defections. [See Threat Matrix report, Mullah Omar addresses green-on-blue attacks.]

As insider attacks continued to spike through the summer and early fall of 2012, Coalition officials began to acknowledge that the Taliban are behind a larger proportion of the attacks, and ISAF started to intensify its efforts against the perpetrators. Many of the attackers appear to come from the eastern Afghan provinces, a BBC reporter wrote in September, where Taliban influence is prevalent. And in early October 2012, ISAF commanders admitted that attackers from Pakistan with links to the Taliban and its subgroup, the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network, were significantly involved in the attacks, the Associated Press reported.

The US conducted its first strike in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal areas this year, killing five "militants," according to reports.

The remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers, which are operated by the CIA, attacked "a house suspected of being a militant hideout," according to Xinhua. Four of the unmanned strike aircraft are thought to have been circling the compound before firing four missiles just after midnight.

Five "militants" are thought to have been killed, but their identities have not been disclosed. No senior al Qaeda or Taliban leaders are known to have been killed.

Today's strike is the first in Pakistan this year. Last year, the US launched 46 strikes in Pakistan, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal. In 2011, the US launched 64 strikes; in 2010, when the program was at its peak, there were 117 strikes.

The program was ramped up by President George W. Bush in the summer of 2008 (35 strikes were launched that year) and continued under President Barack Obama after he took office in 2009 (53 strikes that year). From 2004-2007, only 10 strikes were recorded. Although some of al Qaeda's top leaders have been killed in drone strikes since the program began in 2004, al Qaeda has been able to replace those lost in the attacks. [For data on the strikes, see LWJ reports, Charting the data for US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2013; and Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2013.]

Strike takes place in territory controlled by "good Taliban" leader

Today's strike took place in an area under the control of Mullah Nazir, the leader of the Taliban in the Wazir areas of South Waziristan. Nazir has openly supported Taliban emir Mullah Omar and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and wages jihad in Afghanistan. In an interview with the Asia Times, Nazir rejected claims that he opposed al Qaeda, and affirmed that he considered himself to be a member of the global terror organization. Pakistan's military and intelligence services consider Nazir and his followers "good Taliban" as they do not openly seek the overthrow of the Pakistani state.

Several top al Qaeda leaders, including Ilyas Kashmiri, Abu Khabab al Masri, Osama al Kini, Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, and Abu Zaid al Iraqi, have been killed while being sheltered by Nazir. [For more information on Nazir and al Qaeda leaders killed while under his protection, see LWJ reports, 'Good' Pakistani Taliban leader Nazir affirms membership in al Qaeda, and US drones kill 'good' Taliban commander in South Wazirstan.]

Mullah Nazir's Taliban faction is one of four major Taliban groups that joined the Shura-e-Murakeba, an alliance brokered by al Qaeda in late 2011. The Shura-e-Murakeba also includes Hafiz Gul Bahadar's group; the Haqqani Network; and the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, which is led by Hakeemullah Mehsud and his deputy, Waliur Rehman Mehsud. The members of the Shura-e-Murakeba agreed to cease attacks against Pakistani security forces, refocus efforts against the US in Afghanistan, and end kidnappings and other criminal activities in the tribal areas.

In June 2012, Nazir banned polio vaccinations in his areas, and claimed that the program is being used by the US to gather intelligence and conduct drone strikes in the tribal areas. His action followed that of Hafiz Gul Bahadar, who shut down the program in North Waziristan earlier that month.

South Waziristan Taliban leader Mullah Nazir [bottom-center].

The US killed a senior Taliban leader in one of three drone strikes that took place in the Pakistani tribal areas over the past 24 hours; he had identified himself as an al Qaeda leader and also was favored by the Pakistani state. A separate strike killed a commander in the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan along with two Uzbeks.

Mullah Nazir, the leader of the Taliban in the Wazir area of South Waziristan, was killed by the CIA-operated Predators or Reapers in a strike in the Birmal area of South Waziristan, tribal leaders and Pakistani intelligence officials told Dawn. The remotely piloted drones fired a pair of missiles at a vehicle, killing Nazir; two of his deputies, Atta Ullah and Rafey Khan; a commander known as Rata Khan; and two other fighters.

Pakistani officials in South Waziristan said that the Taliban buried Nazir at a graveyard in the Azam Warzak area of South Waziristan.

Nazir and his followers have been the targets of numerous US drone strikes in the past several years. Of the 328 strikes since 2004, 81 have hit targets in South Waziristan. Several of Nazir's deputies and commanders have been killed in those strikes.

In a separate strike, US drones killed Faisal Khan, a Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan commander, and two Uzbeks as they traveled in a vehicle in the village of Mubarak Shahi in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan, Dawn reported. The drones circled back and fired a second salvo of missiles as rescue workers attempted to recover the bodies, but it is unclear if anyone else was killed in the follow-on strike.

Additionally, the US killed five "militants" in a strike that targeted a compound in the Angoor Agga area of South Waziristan late last night. The identities of those killed have not been disclosed.

The US has now launched three drone strikes in Pakistan this year. Last year, the US launched 46 strikes in Pakistan, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal. In 2011, the US launched 64 strikes; in 2010, when the program was at its peak, there were 117 strikes.

The program was ramped up by President George W. Bush in the summer of 2008 (35 strikes were launched that year) and continued under President Barack Obama after he took office in 2009 (53 strikes that year). From 2004-2007, only 10 strikes were recorded. Although some of al Qaeda's top leaders have been killed in drone strikes since the program began in 2004, al Qaeda has been able to replace those lost in the attacks. [For data on the strikes, see LWJ reports, Charting the data for US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2013; and Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2013.]

Background on Mullah Nazir

Nazir has been an influential Taliban commander and had ties to numerous terrorist groups operating in the region, including al Qaeda, the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban, and the plethora of Pakistani and Central Asia jihadist groups operating in the region. He has openly supported Taliban emir Mullah Omar and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and wages jihad in Afghanistan. In an interview with the Asia Times, Nazir rejected claims that he opposed al Qaeda, and affirmed that he considered himself to be a member of the global terror organization.

Pakistan's military and intelligence services consider Nazir and his followers "good Taliban" as they do not openly seek the overthrow of the Pakistani state and only wage jihad in Afghanistan. The government has negotiated several peace deals with Nazir. Yet Nazir continued to provide safe have to top al Qaeda leaders and the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, despite agreeing not to do so.

Several top al Qaeda leaders, including Ilyas Kashmiri, Abu Khabab al Masri, Osama al Kini, Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, and Abu Zaid al Iraqi, have been killed while being sheltered by Nazir. [For more information on Nazir and al Qaeda leaders killed while under his protection, see LWJ reports, 'Good' Pakistani Taliban leader Nazir affirms membership in al Qaeda, and US drones kill 'good' Taliban commander in South Wazirstan.]

Mullah Nazir's Taliban faction is one of four major Taliban groups that joined the Shura-e-Murakeba, an alliance brokered by al Qaeda in late 2011. The Shura-e-Murakeba also includes Hafiz Gul Bahadar's group; the Haqqani Network; and the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, which is led by Hakeemullah Mehsud and his deputy, Waliur Rehman Mehsud. The members of the Shura-e-Murakeba agreed to cease attacks against Pakistani security forces, refocus efforts against the US in Afghanistan, and end kidnappings and other criminal activities in the tribal areas.

In June 2012, Nazir banned polio vaccinations in his areas, and claimed that the program is being used by the US to gather intelligence and conduct drone strikes in the tribal areas. His action followed that of Hafiz Gul Bahadar, who shut down the program in North Waziristan earlier that month.

Nazir's death in a drone strike took place just five weeks after he was the target of a suicide attack in Wana in South Waziristan. Nazir survived the suicide bombing, but six other people were killed.

The US killed a local al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula commander and two fighters in the first recorded drone strike in Yemen so far this year. The US stepped up the Predator and Reapers strikes in Yemen at the end of December after a seven-week-long pause.

The CIA-operated, remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers killed Mukbel Abbad and two fighters in an attack today as their vehicle traveled in the town of Rada'a in the central Yemen province of Baydah, according to AFP.

Yemeni officials said that Abbad, a senior AQAP leader in the province, was the brother-in-law of Tariq al Dahab, who was the top AQAP leader in Baydah before his death early last year in a feud with his brother Hazam, a senior tribal leader in the town. Hazam was concerned that Tariq's affiliation with AQAP would incur the wrath of the Yemeni government.

AQAP has increased its presence in Baydah province over the past year, and the US has pursued the terror group with drone strikes. On May 28, 2012, the US targeted Kaid al Dhahab, AQAP's emir in the province, and his brother Nabil, who is also a senior leader in the terror group, in a strike in the town of Rada'a.

Kaid took control of AQAP in Baydah after the death of his brother Tariq. Before he was killed, Tariq had seized control of Baydah, raised al Qaeda's banner, sworn allegiance to Ayman al Zawahiri, and warned that "the Islamic Caliphate is coming."

Kaid and Nabil were tasked with regrouping AQAP's forces in Baydah after Tariq's death. The two leaders are also the brothers-in-law of slain AQAP leader and ideologue Anwar al Awlaki, who was killed in a drone strike in the fall of 2011.

Increase in strikes in Yemen since the end of December 2012

The US has now conducted five drone strikes in Yemen since Dec. 24, 2012. Prior to the Dec. 24 attack, the last recorded attack by the US in Yemen took place on Nov. 7, 2012. Three of the strikes since Dec. 24 have taken place in and around Rada'a, and two more occurred in the eastern province of Hadramout, another AQAP redoubt.

On Dec. 24, US drones killed Abdullah Hussein al Waeli, a Yemeni operative who escaped from prison two years ago, and a Jordanian in a strike in the village of Maneseeh outside of Rada'a. And on Dec. 29, the drones again struck in Maneseeh, killing AQAP commander Saleh Mohammed al Ameri and two fighters.

US strikes in Yemen

The US is known to have carried out 42 airstrikes against AQAP in Yemen in 2012. Other recent airstrikes are believed to have been carried out by the US also, but little evidence has emerged to directly link the attacks to the US.

Last year's total of 42 strikes was a marked increase from 2011, when just 10 strikes were recorded in Yemen.

Five senior AQAP operatives were killed in strikes in Yemen in 2012. The US has targeted both senior AQAP operatives who pose a direct threat to the US, and low-level fighters and local commanders who are battling the government. This trend was first identified by The Long War Journal in the spring of 2012 [see LWJ report, US drone strike kills 8 AQAP fighters, from May 10]. Obama administration officials have claimed that the drones are targeting only those AQAP leaders and operatives who pose a direct threat to the US homeland.

Since December 2009, the CIA and the US military's Joint Special Operations Command are known to have conducted at least 56 air and missile strikes inside Yemen, including the strike that took place today. [For more information on the US airstrikes in Yemen, see LWJ report, Charting the data for US air strikes in Yemen, 2002 - 2013.]

The pace of the US airstrikes increased as AQAP and its political front, Ansar al Sharia, took over vast areas of southern Yemen starting at the end of May 2011. AQAP seized control of the cities and towns of Zinjibar, Al Koud, Jaar, and Shaqra in Abyan province, and Azzan in Shabwa province.

In May 2012, the Yemeni military launched an offensive to retake the cities and towns held by AQAP. Hundreds of AQAP fighters, Yemeni soldiers, and civilians have been reported killed during fighting that liberated Zinjibar, Jaar, Shaqra, and Azzan.

Since the beginning of May 2011, the US is known to have carried out 52 airstrikes in Yemen. Over the past year, the US has been targeting both AQAP leaders and foot soldiers in an effort to support Yemeni military operations against the terror group. AQAP had taken control of vast areas in southern Yemen and had been expanding operations against the government, with raids on military bases in locations previously thought to be outside the terror group's control.

US intelligence officials believe that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula poses a direct threat to the homeland. The latest AQAP plot against the West, involving an underwear bomb that is nearly undetectable and was to be detonated on an airliner, was foiled earlier this year. The terror group has planned multiple attacks against targets in the US. A strike in Yemen on 2011 killed both Anwar al Awlaki, the radical US-born cleric who plotted attacks against the US, and Samir Khan, another American who served as a senior AQAP propagandist.

The Mullah Nazir Group, a Taliban faction in South Waziristan, has named a successor after its leader was killed in a US drone strike yesterday. The new emir of the group maintains close ties to al Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban, and a host of terrorist groups operating in the Afghan-Pakistan region, US intelligence officials have told The Long War Journal. Additionally, US intelligence officials denied that the Pakistani government or military aided in the killing of Nazir.

The Taliban in South Waziristan have named Bahwal Khan, who is also known as Salahuddin Ayubi, to lead the Mullah Nazir Group after its emir, Mullah Nazir, was killed in a US drone strike. Nazir was killed along with two deputies, a military commander, and two associates in one of three drone strikes that took place in North and South Waziristan on Jan. 2 and Jan. 3.

Taliban commanders from the Mullah Nazir Group as well as Pakistani intelligence officials have confirmed that Khan has replaced Nazir, according to The Express Tribune and AFP.

"The Shura of Mullah Nazir Taliban Group has agreed to, and appointed Bahwal Khan - known in the area as Ayubi - as the successor of Mullah Nazir," a Taliban commander known as Eynollah Khan told The Express Tribune.

"Bahwal Khan will be the commander of the Mujahideen of Wana," he continued, adding that Khan's appointment to lead the Taliban in the Wazir areas of South Waziristan was supported by both tribal and religious leaders.

Another Taliban commander known as Ain Ullah told AFP that Khan was appointed to succeed Nazir, and that Taj Wazir was also named as Khan's deputy. Wazir replaces Nazir's deputy, Rafey Khan, who was also killed in the drone strike.

Khan allied with al Qaeda

Khan, who has served under Nazir for 16 years and who has waged jihad in Afghanistan, is closely allied with al Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban, and a plethora of terrorist groups in the area, US intelligence officials who track groups in the region told The Long War Journal.

"Little will change with Khan's appointment to lead Nazir's faction of the Taliban," one official said. "It will be business as usual, and we'll continue to have to take shots at al Qaeda leaders and others in the Wazir areas" of South Waziristan, the official continued, referring to the drone strikes.

Of the 328 drone strikes in Pakistan since 2004 that have been recorded by the Long War Journal, 52 have taken place in areas under Nazir's control. Several top al Qaeda leaders have been killed in those areas.

Before he was killed, Nazir openly supported Taliban emir Mullah Omar and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and waged jihad in Afghanistan. In an interview with the Asia Times in 2011, Nazir rejected claims that he opposed al Qaeda, and affirmed that he considered himself to be a member of the global terror organization.

Additionally, Nazir's Taliban faction is one of four major Taliban groups that joined the Shura-e-Murakeba, an alliance brokered by al Qaeda in late 2011. The Shura-e-Murakeba also includes Hafiz Gul Bahadar's group; the Haqqani Network, a close al Qaeda ally; and the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, another al Qaeda ally, which is led by Hakeemullah Mehsud and his deputy, Waliur Rehman Mehsud. The members of the Shura-e-Murakeba agreed to cease attacks against Pakistani security forces, refocus efforts against the US in Afghanistan, and end kidnappings and other criminal activities in the tribal areas.

No cooperation from the Pakistanis

US intelligence officials also denied reports that the Pakistani military and government aided in the assassination of Nazir, and said the Pakistanis are upset over the killing.

"These reports [that Pakistan aided in Nazir's death] are preposterous," one US intelligence official involved in the targeting of al Qaeda and other terrorist leaders in Pakistan told The Long War Journal.

"Nazir was an asset to and a tool of the Pakistani state," the official continued, noting that Nazir did not countenance attacks in Pakistan but advocated that the Taliban fight the US in Afghanistan.

"If the Pakistanis wanted to remove Nazir from the playing field, they could have easily done so," another intelligence official observed. "There is a garrison in Wana, where Nazir operates. He conducts business in the open and often meets with tribal leaders."

Nazir has long been described by Pakistani officials as a "good Taliban leader" for just those reasons. The government and military signed several peace agreements with Nazir that allowed him to rule over the Wazir areas of South Waziristan.

"The Pakistanis are piqued that we've killed Nazir," another official stated. "We just knocked off a good Taliban, or to them, perhaps the best Taliban."

The Taliban have vowed to continue their "sacred jihad" if the Afghan government agrees to allow the United States to keep forces in Afghanistan past 2014. The Taliban made the statement as the Afghan government is freeing hundreds of Taliban prisoners and the US government is debating the size of a residual force for post-2014.

The statement, which was released today on Voice of Jihad, the official website of the Afghan Taliban, is signed by "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan."

"If America wants peace in Afghanistan and the region as well as a way out for its people from this ongoing quagmire then it should immediately remove all its troops from Afghanistan and practically put an end to this futile war," the Taliban said.

The Taliban said "the American presence in Afghanistan" is the cause of "all this turmoil and anarchy in the region."

"Therefore if America wants to leave a small or large number of its troops for whatever length of time then it means war and destruction will continue in the region for that same length and it shall only be America that shall suffer the most," the statement continued.

The Taliban rejected any security agreement between the US and the Afghan government as "a personal deal between Karzai and America," and said "it shall hold no legal credibility."

"The Islamic Emirate shall continue its sacred Jihad against it just as it has for the past eleven years," if a "even a single American soldier" remains in country, the Taliban stated.

Over the years, the Taliban have consistently stated that a key condition for any peace negotiations with the Afghan government must include the full withdrawal of US and NATO forces. The Taliban have also insisted that the Taliban's Islamic Emirate be restored; that sharia, or Islamic law, be enforced; and that any prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Bagram, and other US facilities be released. In addition, the Taliban have refused to denounce al Qaeda, but despite this, the Obama administration has been eager to conduct negotiations.

The Obama administration is currently debating the size of the stay-behind force after US and NATO combat troops withdraw at the end of 2014. The administration is expected to settle on a rump advisory force of between 6,000 to 9,000 troops, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The bombastic Taliban statement occurs as the US, NATO, and the Afghan government have been upbeat about the prospects for a negotiated settlement with the Taliban. The Afghan government has freed more than 250 Taliban prisoners and plans on releasing an additional 150 this week. Additionally, Pakistan has been allowing Taliban leaders who have been detained to return to Afghanistan. The Afghan government has not been able to track the freed prisoners, and some are thought to be returning to the battlefield.

Over the past week, a jihadist who calls himself "@abuamerican" and "Abu M" on Twitter launched into a tirade against Shabaab, al Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia. Abu M, who describes himself as a "Mujaahid in Somaalia," is purportedly linked to American jihadist Omar Hammami, the Alabaman traitor and al Qaeda operative who calls himself Abu Mansour al Amriki. Hammami has claimed he is being persecuted by Shabaab for publicizing a purported split between foreign jihadists and local Shabaab forces. But Hammami's dispute with Shabaab is more likely due to personal issues with Shabaab's leadership, as there have been no other credible reports of foreign fighters being at odds with the al Qaeda affiliate.

Hammami has been feuding with Shabaab since March 2012, when he released a short video claiming his life was in danger. In October, Hammami released another video, in which he claimed that "friction" exists between Shabaab and foreign fighters. The October video was clearly recorded at the same time as the March video.

After Hammami's release of the first video in March, Shabaab quickly denied his claim that the group threatened to kill him. Shabaab did not speak publicly about the supposed feud until last month, however, when the group accused the American of being a narcissist who has been manufacturing the supposed split for personal fame.

In the Dec. 18 statement by Shabaab that addressed the Hammami kerfuffle, the group said that it "hereby declares that Abu Mansour al Amriki [Hammami] does not, in any way, shape or form, represent the views of the Muhajireen [emigrants or foreign fighters] in Somali."

"The opinions expressed by Abu Mansour, the alleged frictions and the video releases are merely the results of personal grievances that stem purely from a narcissistic pursuit of fame and are far removed from the reality on the ground," Shabaab continued.

Abu M launched into the latest attack on Shabaab with a single tweet on Dec. 31, 2012 [Abu M's full list of tweets from Dec. 31, 2012 to Jan. 4 are listed below]. In that tweet, Abu M said that "Shabab aren't the khilaafah [the Caliphate] and muslims aren't their slaves. Being shabab isn't oblig [obligatory] and spreading jihad is."

Then, on Jan. 4, Abu M said that Shabaab issued an ultimatum to surrender in 15 days or face execution.

"Shabab make off annoucement in front of amriki: drop ur weapon b4 15 days or be killed. Its on," Abu M tweeted.

The next day, Abu M spoke as Hammami and said that he asks "Allah to make my death like sa'iid bin jubayr...the end of somalia's hajjaaj" [emphasis ours]. Sa'id ibn Jubayr was a religious scholar and companion of the fourth Imam and was beheaded by an Arab politician known as Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf. Abu M may in fact be Hammami (the style of writing at the Abu M Twitter page is similar to Hammami's), or one of his associates, such as Cabdulaahi Ahmed Faarax (a.k.a. Abdullah al Amriki), another American jihadist, who was pictured with Hammami in December 2011.

Abu M then fired off 26 tweets, which accused Shabaab of persecuting, imprisoning, and killing foreign fighters; executing civilians; hoarding the spoils of war; unfairly taxing civilians; allowing prostitution and drugs in some areas under Shabaab control; and other crimes.

Abu M even likened Shabaab to the Nazis in their use of bureaucracy.

"Like hitler they intentionally inject bureaucracy into the hierarchy out of psycho fear of a coup," he tweeted.

Hammami the only foreign jihadist known to have quarreled with Shabaab

While some analysts have portrayed the feud between Hammami and Shabaab as evidence of a divide between foreign al Qaeda fighters and the Somali leaders, the likelihood is that Hammami allowed his personal grievances with the terror group to spill out into the open.

Other than Hammami's statements, there is no credible evidence of other foreign fighters having had problems with Shabaab's leaders. Despite the deaths of top al Qaeda leaders Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan and Fazul Mohammed, both of whom were senior leaders in Shabaab, foreigners continue to play a significant role in Shabaab's command structure [see LWJ report, Al Qaeda leaders play significant role in Shabaab].

Less than two months before Hammami released his first tape claiming he was in danger of being killed by Shabaab, the terror group announced its official merger with al Qaeda. The merger was endorsed by al Qaeda's emir, Ayman al Zawahiri. Immediately after the merger, the Muslim Youth Center (MYC), an Islamist terror group based in Kenya, announced that MYC is part of al Qaeda in East Africa, and has since issued numerous statements endorsing Shabaab and jihad in Somalia. Tanzanian jihadists, including some associated with MYC, have also praised the Somali terror group. Neither group has indicated that there is a problem with their fighters being sent into Somalia to fight alongside Shabaab. Additionally, Shabaab receives significant support and fighters from Somali populations in the US and Europe.

And despite Hammami's claim that Shabaab was preventing foreign fighters from leaving the country, it is well known that hundreds of Shabaab fighters have traveled to Yemen to support al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Additionally, small numbers of Shabaab commanders and fighters have been spotted in Mali and Nigeria.

In addition, the report of a dispute last year between senior Shabaab leader Sheikh Abu Mansur Robow and Shabaab emir Sheikh Muktar Abu Zubayr Godane over the merger with al Qaeda turned out to be false. Shabaab denied the authenticity of an interview by a Somali newspaper with Robow on the alleged dispute and other matters, calling the report "manufactured."

Hammami may have overplayed his hand

Hammami's dispute with Shabaab appears to be related to two key disagreements: his apparent demotion in late 2011, and his open criticism of Shabaab over military strategy.

Al Qaeda "representative" Abu Abdullah al Muhajir [left]; and Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, Shabaab's top spokesman. Image from Reuters.

In October 2011, Hammami's influence as the premier foreign Western jihadist was jeopardized when Abu Abdullah al Muhajir, an American, arrived in Somalia to dispense food, clothing, and Korans to Somali civilians at the behest of al Qaeda's emir, Ayman al Zawahiri. Al Muhajir also appeared on video with Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, a top Shabaab spokesman [see LWJ report, American al Qaeda operative distributes aid at Somali relief camp].

Prior to al Muhajir's arrival in Somalia, Hammami occupied a prominent place in Shabaab's propaganda arm. He also served as a recruiter, financier, and military commander. He was even seen with Shabaab's top leaders at a public eulogy for slain al Qaeda emir and founder Osama bin Laden in May 2010. But just months after al Muhajir's appearance in Somalia, Hammami was on the outs with Shabaab. Al Muhajir's appointment by Zawahiri as his personal emissary may have been perceived as a slight by Hammami, who, if his writings and propaganda videos are any indication, has an inflated opinion of himself.

Additionally, Hammami is known to have carried on a very public dispute with Shabaab over its military strategy. Hammami was critical of Shabaab's and its predecessors, the Islamic Court, strategy during the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia late 2006. Hammami argued that Shabaab wasted fighters and resources by waging open warfare against a militarily superior enemy, and that the group instead should have carefully withdrawn its forces and waged a guerrilla campaign. Hammami's contempt for the 2006-2007 campaign was on public display when he released his narcissistic autobiography in May 2012 [see LWJ report, Omar Hammami releases part 1 of autobiography].

Considering Hammami's open dispute with Shabaab's leadership, the terror group has been remarkably tolerant of his antics. While Hammami has supposedly only been under house arrest, he still appears to have access to the Internet as well as his sympathetic associates.

Although Hammami has repeatedly claimed that his life is in danger, he remains alive to this day. Other al Qaeda affiliates and allied groups have executed dissenters for far more benign statements. Shabaab waited eight months before publicly weighing in on Hammami's statements and his autobiography, and even then sought to bring him back into the fold, at least according to Shabaab.

"The Mujahideen have been offering advice to Abu Mansour [Hammami] in private, without publicly rebuking him, employing every possible avenue to veil his faults, overlook his shortcomings and conceal the egregious errors he'd committed ...." Shabaab said in its mid-December statement.

Tweets by Abu M, or @abuamerican, from Dec. 31, 2012 to Jan. 4, 2013:

The following tweets are listed in reverse order; the most recent tweets, from Jan. 4, are at the top.

4h abu m ‏@abumamerican
Prior to that by a week or so a brother in the same house was imp for disobedience. One of those killed was warned

4h abu m ‏@abumamerican
Two brothers close to amriki were myst killed by ghost commandos on inv boats in barawe on dark rainy night

4h abu m ‏@abumamerican
One brother's wife came to the border and was refused entry by shabab, jailed on return. Expl verse against that

4h abu m ‏@abumamerican
One brother was given permission to leave. Once he reached the border he was ordered to return, shot in the leg

4h abu m ‏@abumamerican
One brother was forced to the border twice. He almost died of thirst. Upon return they imprisoned him for being a new group!

4h abu m ‏@abumamerican
One brother was locked in a room for 3 months with no charge or questioning. He ran away and got caught

4h abu m ‏@abumamerican
Two brothers were imprisoned in guantanamo cond b4 being forced out, captured immed and labeled huge aq

5h abu m ‏@abumamerican
Berger.. The godwins were amriki's nextdoor neighbors.

5h abu m ‏@abumamerican
Embezzeling and shar'i infractions are overlooked, but God help u if caught with a plastic bag or tinted windows. Really

5h abu m ‏@abumamerican
We've passed the era of apostates claiming to be muj. Now nationalists are taking the cloak of hardcore globalists

5h abu m ‏@abumamerican
Anyone who performs a legit kidnapping even outside somalia is jailed. Financial indep is highly shunned

5h abu m ‏@abumamerican
Covenants are given, often to ngos, only to be spontaneously revoked or violated at will. Khiyaanah in general is applauded

5h abu m ‏@abumamerican
Like hitler they intentionally inject bureaucracy into the hierarchy out of psycho fear of a coup

5h abu m ‏@abumamerican
They use terms like nidaam/maslahah and fawda to subsitute for halal/waajib and haram

5h abu m ‏@abumamerican
They make new terms like sha'b to prohibit anyone from repelling the invader who doesn't sub to the shabab cult

5h abu m ‏@abumamerican
Due 2 strategic incomp and lack of concern 4 muslim blood muj are led into impl human waves against sup enemy

5h abu m ‏@abumamerican
Diaspora somali can come open a shop. Somali who leaves shabab can 2. Muhajir is under house arrest immed 24/7

7h abu m ‏@abumamerican
The oromo, kenyans, and sudanis are prohibited from working toward freeing their lands while in somalia

7h abu m ‏@abumamerican
Demographics show the majority of muj are from raxanweyn while they have the least share in leadership roles

8h abu m ‏@abumamerican
The vast majority of qaadhis arent qualified or take bribes. Huduud are brushed under the rug for maslahah

8h abu m ‏@abumamerican
The Prophet beat kafirs 4 things certain. The shabab torture muslims 2 find uncertain proofs 2 sub why they jailed

8h abu m ‏@abumamerican
Shabab actively send people to act like apostates. Infil. But well known fighters are jailed at the mere notion of poss. apos.

8h abu m ‏@abumamerican
War booty is eaten by the top dogs, but the guys who won it are jailed for touching it. A gun, bullets, some beans is their lot

8h abu m ‏@abumamerican
Each shabab city has a redlight district where qaat is halal. Other parts its haram/jail. But they take taxes on it.

8h abu m ‏@abumamerican
Shabab fought yusuf indacade for taking taxes and killing innocents despite being muslim at the time. 4 legs good

13h abu m ‏@abumamerican
To the somali twitter haters: ure somali. U have an interest in making urself look good. Amriki doesnt. He says it like it is.

13h abu m ‏@abumamerican
I ask Allah to make my death like sa'iid bin jubayr...the end of somalia's hajjaaj.

4 Jan abu m ‏@abumamerican
Shabab make off annoucement in front of amriki: drop ur weapon b4 15 days or be killed. Its on.

31 Dec abu m ‏@abumamerican
BLUF Shabab aren't the khilaafah and muslims aren't their slaves. Being shabab isn't oblig and spreading jihad is.

The US again launched airstrikes in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of South Waziristan today, killing 17 people. The drone attack is the fourth this year, and the first since the US killed influential Taliban leader Mullah Nazir.

The remotely piloted, CIA-operated Predators or the more deadly Reapers struck three separate compounds in the Babargarh area in South Waziristan. The area is close to the neighboring tribal agency of North Waziristan. According to Dawn, 17 people, whose identities have not been disclosed, are reported to have been killed.

At least 10 suspected Taliban fighters, including a commander known as Wali Mohammed, or Toofan, were killed in the attack, Reuters stated. The Taliban commander is said to have directed suicide operations for the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan.

The three compounds "belonged to Qari Imran, a militant commander believed to be affiliated" with North Waziristan Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadur, Dawn reported. Bahadar operates separately from the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. Imran was the target of the attack, but his status is unclear. Reuters reported that the compounds were used by the so-called Punjabi Taliban, a group of Pakistani jihadists from Punjab province who are closely allied with Bahadar, as well as al Qaeda and the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan.

The US has now launched four drone strikes in Pakistan this year. In one of those strikes, the US killed Mullah Nazir, the leader of a Taliban group in South Waziristan who was closely allied with Bahadar, al Qaeda, and the Afghan Taliban.

Last year, the US launched 46 strikes in Pakistan, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal. In 2011, the US launched 64 strikes; in 2010, when the program was at its peak, there were 117 strikes.

The program was ramped up by President George W. Bush in the summer of 2008 (35 strikes were launched that year) and continued under President Barack Obama after he took office in 2009 (53 strikes that year). From 2004-2007, only 10 strikes were recorded. Although some of al Qaeda's top leaders have been killed in drone strikes since the program began in 2004, al Qaeda has been able to replace those lost in the attacks. [For data on the strikes, see LWJ reports, Charting the data for US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2013; and Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2013.]

The US has targeted al Qaeda's top leaders and its external operations network, and the assortment of Taliban and Pakistani jihadist groups operating in the region. The strikes have largely been confined to a small kill box consisting of North and South Waziristan. Of the 329 strikes recorded since 2004, 312, or 95%, have taken place in the two tribal agencies.

Background on Bahadar and his ties to terrorist groups

Hafiz Gul Bahadar, the senior Taliban leader in North Waziristan who is known to shelter top al Qaeda leaders, is one of the most powerful Taliban commanders in Pakistan's tribal areas. His forces also fight US and Afghan forces in Afghanistan. Bahadar is also allied with and shelters the Punjabi Taliban and other terrorist groups.

Bahadar has long been described by Pakistani officials as a "good Taliban leader" as he does not openly attack the Pakistani state and wages jihad against the US and NATO in Afghanistan. The Pakistnai government and military have long rebuffed US pleas to conduct an operation against Bahadar and the allied Haqqani Network.

Bahadar and the Taliban maintain a "peace agreement" with the Pakistani military that allows him to run a state within a state in the remote tribal agency. Bahadar and his commanders have set up a parallel administration, complete with courts, recruiting centers, prisons, training camps, and the ability to levy taxes.

The peace agreement allows North Waziristan to serve as a base for the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and non-aligned Taliban groups, as well as the Haqqani Network, al Qaeda, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Islamic Jihad Group, and a host of Pakistani terror groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and the Punjabi Taliban.

Bahadar wields considerable power in North Waziristan. in july 2011, a spokesman for Bahadar claimed that there were no "militants" in North Waziristan, and that Bahadar's Taliban faction has lived up to its terms of a peace agreement with the Pakistani military. But, as documented here at The Long War Journal numerous times, Bahadar provides support and shelter for top al Qaeda leaders as well as terrorists from a number of Pakistani and Central Asian terror groups, including the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan.

Bahadar's Taliban subgroup is a member of the Shura-e-Murakeba, an al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban-brokered alliance that includes the Haqqani Network, the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, and the Mullah Nazir Group in South Waziristan.

In June 2012, Bahadar suspended polio vaccination programs in North Waziristan in protest against the US drone strikes in North Waziristan. Bahadar has objected to the US drone strikes in the past. On Nov. 12, 2011, Bahadar suspended meetings with the government and threatened to attack the Pakistani state if it continued to allow the US to conduct attacks in areas under his control.

The US has conducted numerous airstrikes against terrorist targets in areas under Bahadar's control. Of the 329 drone strikes that have taken place in Pakistan's tribal areas, 91 of the strikes, or nearly 28 percent, have occurred in areas directly under the control of Bahadar. [See LWJ report, Charting the data for US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2013, for information on US airstrikes.]

The US conducted two more airstrikes in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan today, killing eight "militants" in an area known to host al Qaeda and other foreign terrorist groups.

Just after midnight, the CIA-operated, remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers first struck a compound in the village of Haider Khel near the town of Mir Ali. Eight missiles were fired at the compound, which was thought to be owned by an "important Taliban leader," The Nation reported; however, it is unclear if he was killed in the strike. Five people are reported to have been killed.

A Pakistani security official told AFP that four "militants" were killed in the strike. Reuters reported that one of those killed was a "foreign tactical trainer" from either Somalia or the United Arab Emirates.

The US drones then fired several more missiles at a compound in the nearby village of Eissu Khel. Three people were reported killed in the strike, but it is unclear if they were militants or civilians.

The US has now launched six drone strikes in Pakistan this year. Three of the strikes have taken place in North Waziristan, and the other three in South Waziristan, another safe haven for al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other terror groups.

In a strike on Jan. 3, the US killed Mullah Nazir, the leader of a Taliban group in South Waziristan who was closely allied with Bahadar, al Qaeda, and the Afghan Taliban. In one of two strikes on Jan. 6, the US also killed Wali Mohammed, a Taliban commander who is said to have directed suicide operations for the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan.

Last year, the US launched 46 strikes in Pakistan, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal. In 2011, the US launched 64 strikes; in 2010, when the program was at its peak, there were 117 strikes.

The program was ramped up by President George W. Bush in the summer of 2008 (35 strikes were launched that year) and continued under President Barack Obama after he took office in 2009 (53 strikes that year). From 2004-2007, only 10 strikes were recorded. Although some of al Qaeda's top leaders have been killed in drone strikes since the program began in 2004, al Qaeda has been able to replace those lost in the attacks. [For data on the strikes, see LWJ reports, Charting the data for US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2013; and Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2013.]

The US has targeted al Qaeda's top leaders and its external operations network, and the assortment of Taliban and Pakistani jihadist groups operating in the region. The strikes have largely been confined to a small kill box consisting of North and South Waziristan. Of the 331 strikes recorded since 2004, 314, or 95%, have taken place in the two tribal agencies.

Mir Ali is a terrorist haven

The Mir Ali area is in the sphere of influence of Abu Kasha al Iraqi, an al Qaeda leader who serves as a key link to the Taliban and supports al Qaeda's external operations network. He is rumored to have been killed in a US drone strike last year, but the report was never confirmed.

Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadar and the Haqqani Network also operate in the Mir Ali area. Moreover, Mir Ali is a known hub for al Qaeda's military and external operations councils.

Since Sept. 8, 2010, several Germans and Britons have been reported killed in Predator strikes in the Mir Ali area. The Europeans were members of the Islamic Jihad Group (IJG), an al Qaeda affiliate based in the vicinity of Mir Ali. The IJG members are believed to have been involved in an al Qaeda plot that targeted several major European cities and was modeled after the terror assault on the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008. The European plot was orchestrated by Ilyas Kashmiri, the al Qaeda leader who was killed in a US drone strike in June 2011.

Mir Ali also hosts at least three suicide training camps for the the Fedayeen-i-Islam, an alliance between the Pakistani Taliban, the anti-Shia Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and Jaish-e-Mohammed. In early 2011, a Fedayeen-i-Islam spokesman claimed that more than 1,000 suicide bombers have trained at three camps. One failed suicide bomber corroborated the Fedayeen spokesman's statement, claiming that more than 350 suicide bombers trained at his camp.

Prior to this year, the US has been pounding targets in the Datta Khel, Miramshah, and Mir Ali areas of North Waziristan in an effort to kill members involved in the European plot. Al Qaeda and allied terror groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Islamic Jihad Group, the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Party, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and a number of Pakistani and Central and South Asian terror groups host or share camps in the region. These groups are given aid and shelter by Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadar and the Haqqani Network, a Taliban subgroup run by Siraj and Jalaluddin Haqqani.

Despite the known presence of al Qaeda and other foreign groups in North Waziristan, and requests by the US that action be taken against these groups, the Pakistani military has indicated that it has no plans to take on Hafiz Gul Bahadar or the Haqqani Network. Bahadar and the Haqqanis are considered "good Taliban" by the Pakistani military establishment as they do not carry out attacks inside Pakistan.