Afghanistan Conflict Monitor

Al-Qaeda Fighters Take Limited Role in Insurgency

Facing Afghan Mistrust, Al-Qaeda Fighters Take Limited Role in Insurgency, The Washington Post, 23 August 2010

EXCERPT: "On Aug. 14, a U.S. airstrike in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz killed a Taliban commander known as Abu Baqir. In a country where insurgents are killed daily, this attack was notable for one unusual detail: Abu Baqir, the military said afterward, was also a member of al-Qaeda. Although U.S. officials have often said that al-Qaeda is a marginal player on the Afghan battlefield, an analysis of 76,000 classified U.S. military reports posted by the Web site WikiLeaks underscores the extent to which Osama bin Laden and his network have become an afterthought in the war. The reports, which cover the escalation of the insurgency between 2004 and the end of 2009, mention al-Qaeda only a few dozen times and even then just in passing. Most are vague references to people with unspecified al-Qaeda contacts or sympathies, or as shorthand for an amorphous ideological enemy."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
US looks to Iraq strategy for Afghanistan, AFP, 22 August 2010
Taliban commander linked to Iran, al Qaeda targeted in western Afghanistan, The Long War Journal, 21 August 2010
The incredible shrinking al Qaeda, Strategy Page, 20 August 2010

Related posts:
Al Qaeda maintains an extensive network in Afghanistan, 29 July 2010
The Al-Qaeda-Taliban relationship after 2001: Report, 30 April 2010
Report: Islamic terror rising as al-Qaeda fades, 15 December 2009
Al-Qaeda faces funding crisis, Taliban grows, 13 October 2009

Al Qaeda Maintains an Extensive Network in Afghanistan

Analysis: Al Qaeda Maintains an Extensive Network in Afghanistan, The Long War Journal, 29 July 2010

EXCERPT: "On May 21 there was a suicide attack in Paktia province in Afghanistan that was initially claimed by the Taliban, but was later traced back to al Qaeda. The facts surrounding that strike and others, as well as information gleaned from US military press releases, paint a picture of al Qaeda that contradicts recent statements by top US intelligence officials who estimated al Qaeda's strength in Afghanistan as being limited to between 50 and 100 operatives. 'I think at most, we're looking at maybe 50 to 100 [al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan], maybe less,' Panetta said on ABC News This Week on June 27. 'It's in that vicinity. There's no question that the main location of al-Qaeda is in tribal areas of Pakistan.' Explicit confirmation of al Qaeda's recent activity in Afghanistan came in a propaganda video released by As Sahab, al Qaeda's media arm, stating that the May 21 suicide assault against an Afghan border police outpost in Urgun in Paktia province was carried out by four al Qaeda operatives. The video, titled 'The Raid of the Two Sheikhs; Abu Hamza al Muhajir and Abu Omar al Baghdadi, may Allah have mercy on them,' shows the four al Qaeda operatives giving their martyrdom statements before carrying out the assault."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Al-Qaida "planned 9/11 style attack on Kabul", The Guardian, 29 July 2010
Biden: US doing "significant damage" to al-Qaida, The Associated Press, 29 July 2010
"Regional repercussions if Qaeda 'returns' to Afghan", Indian Express, 29 July 2010

Related posts:
Drone strike kills Afghan Al-Qaida leader, 1 June 2010
The Al-Qaeda-Taliban relationship after 2001: Report, 30 April 2010
Taliban cooperation with Al Qaeda "is at the highest limits": Siraj Haqqani, 16 April 2010
Report: Islamic terror rising as al-Qaeda fades, 15 December 2009
Al-Qaeda faces funding crisis, Taliban grows, 13 October 2009

Al-Qaida Ties Obstacle to Afghan Peace

Analysis: Al-Qaida Ties Obstacle to Afghan Peace, The Associated Press, 3 July 2010

EXCERPT: "Afghan President Hamid Karzai is using old friends and new allies to try to bring some of the fiercest Taliban to the negotiating table, although their links to al-Qaida might scuttle any deal. Pakistan is trying to broker a deal between the Afghan government and the Haqqani group, one of the most violent Taliban factions led by veteran rebel leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, according to Afghan parliamentarians and Pakistani analysts. Haqqani was a legendary commander in the war against the Soviets who had close ties to the Reagan administration. Now, he and his son Sirajuddin command hundreds — perhaps thousands — of fighters blamed for some of the most audacious attacks in Kabul and eastern Afghanistan. Their network is based in the North Waziristan tribal area along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. Yet Haqqani's ties to al-Qaida run deep. His friendship with Osama bin Laden dates back to the war against the Soviets in the 1980s. Haqqani allowed bin Laden to set up a base on his territory in Khost province of eastern Afghanistan. The United States fired cruise missiles at the base in 1998 in a bid to kill bin Laden."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
India alerts Afghanistan about the Haqqani network, Sify, 2 July 2010
Pakistan army chief denies secret Karzai-Haqqani meets, AFP, 1 July 2010
Panetta says Afghan insurgents show no real interest in reconciliation talks, The Washington Post, 28 June 2010
Karzai "holds talks" with Haqqani, Al Jazeera, 28 June 2010
Pakistan, Afghan effort to reach out to Haqqani network irk US, Hindustan Times, 19 June 2010

Related resource:
Jeffrey Dressler, The Irreconcilables: The Haqqani Network [pdf], Institute for the Study of War, 28 June 2010

Related posts:
Overture to Taliban jolts Afghan minorities, 28 June 2010
Karzai's plan to negotiate with the Taliban, 18 May 2010
Taliban cooperation with Al Qaeda "is at the highest limits": Siraj Haqqani, 16 April 2010
Taliban reject "deal" with Afghanistan, West, 5 February 2010
New wave of warlords bedevils US, 20 January 2010

Drone Strike Kills Afghan Al-Qaida Leader

Afghanistan Head of Al-Qaida "Killed in Pakistan Drone Strike", The Guardian, 1 June 2010

EXCERPT: "Pakistani and US security officials say they believe the head of al-Qaida in Afghanistan has been killed in a drone strike in Pakistan's tribal area. Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, a veteran Egyptian militant close to Osama bin Laden, was hit in a drone strike last month, an official with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) said. 'He was killed on the 21st or 22nd, I believe,' he said. In Washington US security officials told reporters they had 'strong reason' to believe Yazid was dead. 'In terms of counterterrorism, this would be a big victory,' a source told Reuters. A website linked to al-Qaida also acknowledged his death. Yazid, whose nom de guerre was Sheikh Saeed al-Masri, had a hand in al-Qaida training, logistics and finance for the resurgent Taliban insurgency. US reports described him as al-Qaida's 'number three', a title frequently bestowed on assassinated Bin Laden associates, although some analysts said it may not be accurate in this case."

Read the full story.

Related articles: 
Abd al-Yazid: At Qaida core, yet oppose to 9/11, The Times of India, 1 June 2010
Death of Yazid "major blow to Al-Qaeda": US rep, AFP, 1 June 2010 
Death of Al-Qaeda no. 3 has little impact on militancy in Pakistan: Interview, China View, 1 June 2010
Afghanistan welcomes news of Qaeda leader's death, Sify News, 1 June 2010   

Related posts: 
The Al-Qaeda-Taliban relationship after 2001: Report, 30 April 2010
Taliban cooperation with Al Qaeda "is at the highest limits": Siraj Haqqani, 16 April 2010 
Al-Qaeda turns to extortion as funds cut: US, 7 April 2010 
Report: Islamic terror rising as Al-Qaeda fades, 15 December 2009 
Deadly vanguards: A study of Al-Qaeda's violence against Muslims, 3 December 2009 

The Al-Qaeda-Taliban Relationship After 2001: Report

Al-Qaeda's Allies: Explaining the Relationship Between Al-Qaeda and Various Factions of the Taliban After 2001 [pdf], New America Foundation, 19 April 2010

EXCERPT: "While al-Qaeda fighters continue to cooperate with the Taliban on a tactical level, al-Qaeda and the Quetta Shura have diverged strategically since 2001. This development can be ascribed to al-Qaeda’s relocation to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in 2001–2002—hundreds of miles from the Quetta Shura’s base in Baluchistan—and its alignment with Pakistani tribal militants. This paper examines the nature of the relationship between al-Qaeda and the Taliban after 2001, which is complex because neither the Taliban nor al-Qaeda is a homogenous actor. Rather, each is a network of like-minded groups and individuals that answer, to some degree or other, to a centralized leadership. Al-Qaeda’s contribution to the Afghan insurgency since 2001 has been highly localized, taking place mostly in the southeastern and eastern provinces of the country. This concentration is due to both geographic factors and al-Qaeda’s long-standing ties to local militants in these regions. Initially, the alliance between al-Qaeda and its tribal hosts was based on a shared desire to fight U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. However, 2004 saw the rise of a violent campaign against the Pakistani state, which was intensified after the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) siege in Islamabad in July 2007. Militants in the FATA, such as the network of Baitullah Mehsud, participated in the campaign, while the Afghan Taliban opposed it. Al-Qaeda decided to lend vocal support to the campaign, although it essentially contradicted the Quetta Shura’s policy of fighting inside Afghanistan only."

Read the full report [pdf].

Related article:
Pakistan, in shift, weighs attack on militant lair, The New York Times, 29 April 2010

Related resources:
The almanac of Al Qaeda, Foreign Policy, May/June 2010
Are we winning? Mid-year update: New indications of progress and lingering concerns in the fight against al Qaeda [pdf], American Security Project, 26 April 2010

Related posts:
Taliban cooperation with Al Qaeda "is at the highest limits": Siraj Haqqani, 16 April 2010
Taliban network of 156 caves discovered in Pakistan, 3 March 2010
The Quetta Shura Taliban in southern Afghanistan, 14 January 2010
Report: Islamic terror rising as al-Qaeda fades, 15 December 2009
Deadly vanguards: A study of al-Qaeda's violence against Muslims, 3 December 2009

Taliban Cooperation with Al Qaeda "is at the Highest Limits": Siraj Haqqani

Taliban Cooperation with Al Qaeda "is at the Highest Limits": Siraj Haqqani, The Long War Journal, 15 April 2010

EXCERPT: "The top leader of the dangerous Haqqani Network operating in eastern Afghanistan said that al Qaeda fighters are welcome to fight alongside the Taliban, and that his forces control 90 percent of the areas under his command. Siraj Haqqani, the military commander of the deadly Haqqani Network, a Taliban group that operates in eastern Afghanistan, made the statements during an interview conducted by Abu Dujanah al Sanaani for the newly established Al Balagh Media Center. A translation of Siraj's interview was provided by Flashpoint Partners. Siraj stated he was 30 years old and confirmed he is a 'member in the Shura Council in the Islamic Emirate' of Afghanistan. Better known as the Quetta Shura, the Taliban's top council is headquartered in the Pakistani city of Quetta in the southwestern province of Baluchistan. During the interview, Haqqani admitted that foreign members of al Qaeda are welcome to fight with his men and the rest of the Taliban, and that relations between the Taliban and al Qaeda are excellent."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
US sanctions "high-profile" Al-Qaeda, Taliban financiers, AFP, 15 April 2010
US efforts to snap Taliban-Qaeda alignment, Pakistan Observer, 15 April 2010
Haqqani network hardened foe for NATO in Afghanistan, The News, 15 April 2010
Afghanistan: Taliban "controls 90% of country", Europe News, 13 April 2010
Drones batter Al Qaeda and its allies within Pakistan, The New York Times, 4 April 2010

Related resource:
The Edge of Violence, Demos, 16 April 2010

Related posts:
Tribal elders claim to hold key to truce with Taliban, 19 February 2010
New wave of warlords bedevils US, 20 January 2010
Al-Qaeda faces funding crisis, Taliban grows, 13 October 2009
Al-Qaeda adds muscle to the Taliban's fight, 18 April 2009
Deadlier Taliban network surfaces, 9 February 2009

Al-Qaeda Turns to Extortion as Funds Cut: US

 Al-Qaeda Turns to Extortion as Funds Cut, US Says, Business Week, 7 April 2010

EXCERPT: "Al-Qaeda has been so weakened financially that the terrorist group’s affiliates have turned to drug trafficking, extortion and kidnapping to raise money, a U.S. Treasury Department official said today. Al-Qaeda 'is now in the worst financial shape it has been in for years,' Assistant Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen said. Al-Qaeda branches in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula 'have taken up independent fund-raising activities to sustain themselves.' U.S. success in keeping donors from funding al-Qaeda became apparent last year when the group’s leaders began making public appeals for money, he said. 'We have seen financial networks that were the source of Al-Qaeda’s financing, particularly out of Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Gulf, increasingly disrupted,' Cohen said."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
US Treasury beefing up staff in Afghanistan, The Associated Press, 7 April 2010
US sanctions two Europe-based al Qaeda operatives, The Long War Journal, 1 April 2010
Tehran aiding al Qaeda links, Petraeus says, The Washington Times, 17 March 2010
To fight terrorism, follow the money, Politico, 17 March 2010

Related posts:
Report: Islamic terror rising as Al-Qaeda fades, 15 December 2009
Al-Qaeda faces funding crisis, Taliban grows, 13 October 2009
Al-Qaeda adds muscle to the Taliban's fight, 18 April 2009
CIA chief says Qaeda is extending its reach, 14 November 2008

Taliban Network of 156 Caves Discovered in Pakistan

Taliban Network of 156 Caves Discovered in Pakistan Mountains, The Telegraph, 3 March 2010

EXCERPT: "A complex network of 156 caves used by the Taliban and al-Qaeda has been discovered by the Pakistan army dug into rocky mountains close to the Afghan border. The tunnels, which are thought to have been created over five to seven years, were carved into sheer rock within view of the snow-capped peaks of eastern Afghanistan. The network was found during an offensive against Islamist militants in the country's semi-autonomous tribal areas in which 75 militants were killed. Maj Gen Tariq Khan said the caves served as a key militant headquarters until troops overran the complex in the offensive."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Pakistan secures last Taliban redoubt in Bajaur region, The Globe and Mail, 3 March 2010
Fighting militancy, DAWN, 3 March 2010

Related report:
Paul Rogers, Three Connected Conflicts - Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Oxford Research Group, 28 February 2010

Related posts:
Top Taliban commander captured in Pakistan, 16 February 2010
Pakistan worried US buildup will send militants across, 5 January 2010
Pakistani Taliban build new links with Al-Qaeda, 11 September 2009
Pakistan in the "AfPak" strategy, 9 April 2009

Afghan Govt in Tentative Talks with Insurgent Leader

Afghan Govt in Tentative Talks with Insurgent Leader, Miami Herald, 11 February 2010

EXCERPT: "Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, one of Afghanistan's most brutal Islamist warlords, is holding tentative peace talks with the government of Afghanistan that could cause a split in the Taliban-led insurgency, Afghan politicians in Kabul said Wednesday. The terms Hekmatyar has outlined are softer than those proposed by the Taliban, who have demanded that U.S. and other foreign troops must leave Afghanistan before peace talks can begin. Hekmatyar would allow international forces to remain in the country for 18 months. The government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, with the tacit backing of the international community, is feeling its way toward some dialogue with insurgent groups in an attempt to end the violence in Afghanistan. Hekmatyar, 59, a veteran jihadist who fought the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s with U.S. and Pakistani support, now heads the smallest of the three main insurgent groups. The other two, the Taliban and the Haqqani network, are associated with al-Qaida. A deal with Hekmatyar would be controversial, especially with women's groups and human rights activists, who fear it would jeopardize the hard-won freedoms enshrined in Afghanistan's 2004 constitution."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Afghan warlord talks peace, The Age, 11 February 2010
In Afghanistan: fighting over the terms of a settlement, Reuters, 31 January 2010
Few see progress in flurry of Taliban talks, Miami Herald, 30 January 2010

Related posts:
Key Afghan insurgents open door to talks, 18 March 2009
Preliminary discussions with Taliban already under way, 11 March 2009
Hekmatyar denies peace-talk rumours, 16 June 2008

New Wave of Warlords Bedevils US

 New Wave of Warlords Bedevils US, The Wall Street Journal, 20 January 2010

EXCERPT: "In his teen years, Sirajuddin Haqqani was known among friends as a dandy. He cared more about the look of his thick black hair than the battles his father, a mujahideen warlord in the 1980s, was waging with Russia for control of Afghanistan. The younger Mr. Haqqani is still a stylish sort, say those who know him. But now, approaching middle age and ensconced as the battlefield leader of his father's militant army, he has become ruthless in his own pursuit of an Afghanistan free from foreign influence. This time the enemy is the U.S. and its allies. From outposts along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, his Haqqani network is waging a campaign that has made the Afghan insurgency deadlier. He has widened the use of suicide attacks, which became a Taliban mainstay only in the past few years. U.S. officials believe his forces carried out the dramatic Monday gun, grenade and suicide-bomb attack in Kabul on Afghan government ministries and a luxury hotel. The assault claimed five victims plus seven attackers. Mr. Haqqani also aided the Dec. 30 attack by an al Qaeda operative that killed seven Central Intelligence Agency agents and contractors at a U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan, say militant commanders."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Kabul attack, DAWN, 20 January 2010
Sirajuddin Haqqani speaks out, Al Jazeera, 19 January 2010
The Taliban: Two heads, same body, The Economist, 14 January 2010
US hunt for Haqqani nightmare for Pakistan, Reuters, 7 January 2010
Al-Qaeda-linked network challenges US-Pakistan relations, The Dallas Morning News, 30 December 2009

Related posts:
US, Afghan forces strike Haqqani network bases, 31 August 2009
The Haqqani Network conducted high-profile assaults, 1 June 2009
Deadlier Taliban network surfaces, 9 February 2009
CIA chief says Qaeda is extending its reach, 14 November 2008
Coalition forces target Haqqani network, 9 September 2008