Monthly Archives: September 2011
Yemen Crisis Situation Reports: Update 78 | Critical Threats
Yemen Crisis Situation Reports: Update 78
September 28, 2011
Continued fighting by anti-government tribes in north Yemen may help to escalate the Yemeni conflict toward war. Al Qaeda-linked militants hold territory in south Yemen despite a Yemeni military offensive.
Anti-government tribesmen claim to have shot down a fighter jet north of the capital. The tribesmen used anti-aircraft guns to bring down the Sukhoi-22, which crashed in Beit Azar village in Arhab district. They have also captured the pilot. Yemeni defense officials confirmed that the plane was conducting a routine mission and the defense ministry has reported that a plane crashed.
Al Qaeda-linked militants ambushed a Yemeni military patrol east of Zinjibar in Abyan governorate. Xinhua reported that dozens of militants attacked an army patrol with automatic weapons, killing four soldiers. Units of the 25th mechanized brigade shelled militant strongholds and killed 14 militants.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh is seeking support from Yemen’s religious community. He told clerics, “You have to state the ruling of God and His prophet on those who reject the extended hand for peace and dialogue and insist on revolting against constitutional legitimacy” at a religious conference. Additionally, Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al Qirbi, speaking at the UN General Assembly, accused the Yemeni opposition of co-opting the youth movement and of turning to “maneuvers, including violence, that threaten (to lead to) the outbreak of civil war and devastating conflicts in Yemen.”
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula released the seventh issue of its English-language magazine, Inspire. The issue notes the forthcoming publications of interviews with Americans Anwar al Awlaki and Adam Gadahn. Awlaki is with al Qaeda in Yemen and Gadahn is with al Qaeda in Pakistan.
The ongoing political crisis in the capital has placed the Yemeni state at risk of a broader armed conflict. Further, the Yemeni state has been undergoing fragmentation. Al Qaeda has seized control of territory in south Yemen and the current situation has increased the organization’s operating space in the country.
Yemen Crisis Situation Reports: Update 77 | Critical Threats
Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, has been relatively peaceful as political parties resume negotiations. Al Qaeda-linked militants in south Yemen, however, still maintain control of territory from where they are able to plan and execute attacks.
A suicide bomber targeted the Yemeni defense minister’s convoy in Aden. The attacker detonated the bomb in a tunnel as Defense Minister Major General Mohammed Nasser Ahmed’s convoy passed. At least three soldiers were killed and nine other people injured; the defense minister survived. Al Qaeda militants likely executed the attack.
Fighting is ongoing between the Yemeni military and al Qaeda-linked militants in south Yemen. Local sources report that a soldier from the 119 Infantry Brigade was killed and two others were injured in clashes in Kod. Three militants were reportedly killed in the fighting. The 25th mechanized brigade shelled militant positions near Zinjibar.
The Yemeni military continues to fracture. The 131st Infantry Brigade, which is part of the defected First Armored Division, issued a statement pledging loyalty to the state. Separately, there are reports that a Republican Guard company defected from the regime.
Tens of thousands of people protest in the streets of Sana’a. Protests occurred in at least eight governorates. The UN Security Council issued a statement Monday expressing concern over the worsening humanitarian and security situation in Yemen.
The ongoing political crisis in the capital has placed the Yemeni state at risk of a broader armed conflict. Further, the Yemeni state has been undergoing fragmentation. Al Qaeda has seized control of territory in south Yemen and the current situation has increased the organization’s operating space in the country.
Nigeria’s Battle with Boko Haram (Audio)
| Speaker: | John Campbell, Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy, Council on Foreign Relations |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Irina A. Faskianos, Vice President, National Program & Outreach, Council on Foreign Relations |
September 26, 2011
John Campbell, CFR’s Ralph Bunche senior fellow for Africa policy studies, discusses the recent escalation of violence by Nigeria’s radical Islamic movement, Boko Haram, and analyzes strategies to undermine the threat. This call was part CFR’s Religion and Foreign Policy Conference Call series.
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Fact Sheet: Combating the Financing of Terrorism, Disrupting Terrorism at its Core
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Monday, September 26, 2011 at 19:40
Terrorist organizations rely on financing and support networks to sustain operations and launch attacks. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI) has developed a sophisticated and comprehensive approach – including intelligence analysis, sanctions administration and enforcement, financial regulatory action, policy expertise, and outreach to the international community and financial sector – to aggressively identify, disrupt and deter the funding networks of terrorist organizations. The U.S. Treasury Department is the only finance ministry in the world to develop such an office, and TFI continues to play a leading role within the United States Government and the international community in combating terrorist Continue reading
Can a Supercomputer Predict a Revolution?
Not quite yet. But a new study suggests how it may one day be possible.
BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | SEPTEMBER 16, 2011
On Dec. 6, 1941, the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS), a radio monitoring operation set up by the U.S. intelligence community and one of the earliest experiments in what it now called open-source intelligence, delivered its very first report, an analysis of Japanese media sentiment. The report noted that Japanese radio stations had sharply increased their level of criticism of the United States and dropped their calls for peace. The next day, Pearl Harbor was attacked.
India -Beat constable key to busting terror modules: PM
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Calcutta News.Net, Friday 16th September, 2011 (IANS)
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday highlighted the key role played by beat constables in busting terror modules and networks and said traditional means of collecting intelligence inputs had gone into disuse.
‘The role of a vigilant and effective beat constable can be proactive in checking the activities of networks that otherwise operate under the radar,’ Manmohan Singh said while addressing directors general and inspectors general of police here.
Suspected assassin arrested: report
September 16 2011 at 09:21am
sxc.hu
Ampule and syringe on abstract coloured background.
Seoul – South Korea’s intelligence agency has arrested a man allegedly sent by North Korea to assassinate an outspoken anti-Pyongyang activist with a poison-tipped needle, a news report said on Friday.
The man, identified only as An, was in possession of the needle and other weapons at the time of his arrest, Yonhap news agency said.
Russian-Led Security Body To Monitor Social Media In Wake Of Arab Spring
On the lookout for social media
September 15, 2011
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russian-led military cooperation body consisting of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, has announced that it will start controlling social networks to avoid the unrest seen in the Arab world.
From The Moscow News:
Sources in the organization, which includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, say that “there is no talk about censorship or about fighting dissidence,” Izvestia reported on Tuesday.
“Experts of the highest level” are already working on this, the source added.
Be careful what you Tweet
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Sep 14th 2011, 19:25 by T.W. | MEXICO CITY
SAYING what you think in print has always carried a
risk for journalists. Between 2006 and 2010, at least 37 media workers were killed or went missing in Mexico. In some places the risks have become so great that the print and television media have stopped reporting on the drug war. Last year in Ciudad Juárez, El Diario ran a front-page editorial asking the drug traffickers: “What do you want from us?”
In the face of a news vacuum in the traditional media, citizens have turned to the safety and anonymity of the internet. Last year we reported from Reynosa that the city government had started using its Twitter account as a means of warning citizens when gunfights were going on. Anonymous blogs print details that newspapers fear to reveal. Twitter, Facebook and the like provide a forum to swap information and gossip.
