The legal basis for indefinite detention at Guantánamo is to prevent combatants from returning to the battlefield. But what if their old battlefield is no more?
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Tag Archives: Al Qaeda
General Warns of Challenges to Tracking Terrorist Threats in Afghanistan After U.S. Exits
The military is examining where it can reposition troops to prevent Afghanistan from once again becoming a terrorist base.
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Debating Exit From Afghanistan, Biden Rejected Generals’ Views
Over two decades of war, the Pentagon had fended off the political instincts of elected leaders frustrated with the grind of Afghanistan. But President Biden refused to be persuaded.
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Biden’s Afghan Pullout Is a Victory for Pakistan. But at What Cost?
Pakistan’s military stayed allied to both the Americans and Taliban. But now the country may face intensified extremism at home as a result of a perceived Taliban victory.
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Biden, Setting Afghanistan Withdrawal, Says ‘It Is Time to End the Forever War’
The president said the main objective of ensuring that Afghanistan would not be a launching pad for terrorism had been achieved and that it was time for American troops to come home.
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Here Are The Crucial Questions for Afghanistan as the US Withdraws Troops
What will happen to women and minorities? Can the Afghan president hold on to power? These and other pressing questions face a fearful country as the United States military withdraws.
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Biden to Withdraw All Combat Troops From Afghanistan by Sept. 11
After years of arguing against an extended military presence in Afghanistan, President Biden is doing things his way, with the deadline for withdrawal set for the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
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Will Afghanistan Become a Terrorism Safe Haven Once Again?
Not likely, at least in the short term, intelligence officials assess. But stopping terrorism groups over the long term could be more difficult.
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Pentagon Chief Orders New Review of Attack in Kenya That Killed 3 Americans
The unusual review of the conclusions of the initial inquiry comes more than a year after the attack by the Shabab revealed security lapses at the base.
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In Bid to Boost Its Profile, ISIS Turns to Africa’s Militants
Violence by Islamist extremists in Africa reached a record high last year. Now, the Islamic State is using those attacks to project an image of strength.
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Military Closes Failing Facility at Guantánamo Bay to Consolidate Prisoners
The move, which took place in a secret operation over the weekend, was conceived during the Trump administration to save on costs and troops at the remote base in Cuba.
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Here’s Where The First Guantánamo Detainees Are Now
The Pentagon called the first 20 prisoners sent to Guantánamo in 2002 “the worst of the worst.” Just two remain there. Others are spread around the world — including four senior Taliban figures.
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Who Are The Original 20 Guantánamo Bay Detainees?
Starting with the Bush administration, the United States has gradually transferred all but two of the first 20 prisoners at the wartime detention facility to other nations. Here’s who, and where, they are.
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Officials Try to Sway Biden Using Intelligence on Potential for Taliban Takeover of Afghanistan
If U.S. troops leave before any deal between the Taliban and the Afghan government, the militant group will take over much of the country, an intelligence assessment predicted.
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137 People Killed in Niger in Series of Attacks on Villages Along Mali Border
Gunmen on motorcycles struck in coordinated raids on villages on Sunday in southwestern Niger, a country being ravaged by Islamist violence.
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Does Biden Really Want to End the Forever Wars?
If he does, he must work with Congress and go well beyond narrowing old permission slips for conflict.
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U.S. Has 1,000 More Troops in Afghanistan Than It Disclosed
The undercount complicates President Biden’s decision on carrying out a complete withdrawal by May 1, as his administration tries to jump-start peace talks.
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Remote C.I.A. Base in the Sahara Steadily Grows
The agency has been conducting surveillance flights from the base, which has grown since 2018. Any drone strikes would be limited while the Biden administration carries out a review.
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Biden Seeks Update for a Much-Stretched Law That Authorizes the War on Terrorism
The legal basis for the war against Al Qaeda and its successors is aging and frayed, but how to replace it has long bedeviled lawmakers.
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Biden Secretly Limits Counterterrorism Drone Strikes Away From War Zones
Requiring higher-level approval is a stopgap measure as officials review whether to tighten Trump-era targeting rules and civilian safeguards.
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Afghan Government Backs Repatriation of Guantánamo Detainee
Afghanistan has intervened in U.S. federal court seeking the return of an Afghan prisoner who has been held since 2007, but never charged.
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Afghan Government Backs Repatriation of Guantánamo Detainee
Afghanistan has intervened in U.S. federal court seeking the return of an Afghan prisoner who has been held since 2007, but never charged.
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Biden Faces Deadline on Withdrawal From Afghanistan
The question is whether the small contingent of American troops can accomplish anything after 20 years — and whether full withdrawal would clear the way for Taliban advances.
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Held Hostage in Syria, a Reporter Tells What It Took to Survive
“Blindfold” is the American journalist Theo Padnos’s memoir of his nearly two years in captivity and a meditation on resilience.
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Militants Storm Hotel in Somali Capital and Blasts Rock Area
The authorities said an evacuation operation was still underway at the Afrik Hotel, with reports of at least two dead and 11 injured. A militant group, the Shabab, was believed to be behind the attack.
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Violence May Delay U.S. Troop Withdrawal From Afghanistan
The new Biden administration is reviewing a deal between its predecessor and the Taliban for a May 1 deadline to pull all American troops out of the country.
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Pompeo Says Iran Is New Base for Al Qaeda, but Offers Little Proof
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s statements were tempered by some U.S. officials, who said there was little new intelligence to suggest that Iran was an active headquarters for the terrorist group.
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Kenyan Planned 9/11-Style Attack After Training as Pilot, U.S. Says
An operative for the Qaeda branch in East Africa, known as Shabab, is accused of training as a pilot in the Philippines and researching how to hijack planes.
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Somalia Severs Diplomatic Ties With Kenya
Somalia accused its East African neighbor of meddling in its internal affairs, weeks before a crucial general election.
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U.S. Drops Sudan From Terrorism List
The Trump administration formally removed the country from a list of state sponsors of terrorism on Monday, ending nearly three decades of international isolation.
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On Iran, Biden Can Bide His Time
The new administration should not be stampeded into returning to the nuclear deal.
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Sudan-Israel Peace Accord Is Already at Risk of Unraveling, Officials Say
Representatives for Sudan say the East African country will exit the accords brokered by the Trump administration if Congress refuses to give it immunity from future terrorism claims in court.
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A Responsible Withdrawal From Afghanistan
The Biden administration should support a regional effort to stabilize the country.
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Brazen Killings Expose Iran’s Vulnerabilities as It Struggles to Respond
After suffering a string of audacious attacks, Tehran faces an agonizing choice: embracing hard-liner demands for swift retaliation, or trying to make a fresh start with the Biden administration.
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As Qaeda Terrorist Leaves Prison, Victims’ Families Relive the Pain
The release of Adel Abdel Bary, 60, after 21 years of incarceration has left relatives of some bombing victims uneasy.
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Military Judge in U.S. Held Court by Video Link to Guantánamo Bay
The Pentagon staged its first “Zoom Court” linking the courtroom at Guantánamo Bay to a secret location in the United States for a classified hearing in a military commissions case.
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Somalia Worries That a U.S. Withdrawal Will Be Disastrous
An elite commando unit supported by U.S. forces could fall apart, officials say, leaving the country more vulnerable to the Shabab and other terrorist groups.
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Trump Is Said to Be Preparing to Withdraw Troops From Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia
Facing the end of his time in power, the president is pushing to accelerate withdrawals from counterterrorism conflicts. He campaigned on ending the longstanding wars.
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Iran Denies That Al Qaeda Leader Was Killed in Tehran
The denial came in the wake of a New York Times report that quoted intelligence officials as saying the terror group’s No. 2 leader was killed on the street in Tehran in August.
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Al Qaeda’s Abu Muhammad al-Masri Secretly Killed in Iran
Israeli agents shot Abu Muhammad al-Masri on the streets of Tehran at the behest of the U.S., officials said, but no one — Iran, Al Qaeda, the U.S. or Israel — has publicly acknowledged the killing.
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Gunmen Storm Kabul University, Killing at Least 19
The siege dragged on for hours as Afghan forces and American commandos moved to root out the attackers, who had quickly spread across the campus.
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Court Rejects Appeal of Guantánamo Convict Who Rejoined Al Qaeda
Lawyers paid by the Pentagon pursued the appeal on behalf of the released prisoner even as the State Department had a $4 million bounty out for him.
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Al Qaeda Feels Losses in Syria and Afghanistan but Stays Resilient
American drones and U.S. allies killed several Qaeda leaders and operatives in the past week. But the organization has “ingrained itself in local communities and conflicts,” according to the U.N.
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‘It’s a New Day’: Sudan Exults to Be Taken Off List of Terror States
President Trump said on Monday that the U.S. plans to lift Sudan’s 27-year designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, enabling Sudan to access international financial networks.
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U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Qaeda Financier Who Trades in Gems
The action shows that the U.S. government remains concerned about how extremist groups like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State continue to creatively raise and distribute money around the world.
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State Dept. to Remove Sudan From List of Terrorist States
The move clears the way for the African nation to seek international assistance and potentially to normalize relations with Israel, which officials said could happen within days.
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Trump’s Tweets on Troop Withdrawals Unnerve Pentagon
The president’s demands to draw down forces in Afghanistan, Somalia and Syria seek to fulfill a campaign promise. But officials warn rapid troop reductions could bolster adversaries.
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How One of the Most Stable Nations in West Africa Descended Into Mayhem
Burkina Faso once looked like a success story for U.S. military aid. But now it’s contending with a growing insurgency, an unfolding humanitarian crisis — and a security force targeting civilians.
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An Arrest in Canada Casts a Shadow on a New York Times Star, and The Times
A top editor is now reviewing Rukmini Callimachi’s reporting on terrorism, which turned distant conflicts into accessible stories but drew criticism from colleagues.
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Trump’s Campaign Talk of Troop Withdrawals Doesn’t Match Military Reality
President Trump has brought home few American combat troops over all even as his pressure campaign against Iran risks a new Middle East conflict.
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