This Week in Irregular Warfare
March 1 – March 7
Welcome to the second installment of The Irregular Warrior’s news digest. No summary can capture all the news related to irregular warfare around the world, but we hope you’ll find this collection to be interestingly broad in its scope in addition to bringing you the stories most relevant to U.S. readers. To that end, we’ll be updating the format as we go in order to make this product as useful and informative as possible. Now on to the roundup:
Counterterrorism drone strikes temporarily limited by Biden Administration
Just one week after authorizing his first military action, President Biden has temporarily limited counterterrorism drone strikes away from war zones. The military and intelligence agencies must now seek permission before conducting any drone strikes away from conventional battle fields like Afghanistan and Syria. The Biden administration hopes this will allow them time to formulate a new counterterrorism strategy and to understand pervious government’s strategy and analyze how it operated in theory and in practice. The Biden admiration has not yet formally announced the new limits for drone strikes. New York Times, March 3. [Biden Secretly Limits Counterterrorism Drone Strikes Away From War Zones – The New York Times (nytimes.com)]
German AfD party under watch for extremism
German domestic intelligence agency, BfV, has placed far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party under observation for extremism, to monitor its activities in this election year. The party has been accused of extremist links as some of the members were linked to Neo Nazi groups previously. The party members have accused the government of deliberately using the intelligence agency to damage party’s election chances, which have been improving dramatically in recent years. Washington Post, March 3. [German intelligence places far-right AfD on extremist watchlist – The Washington Post]
Three women journalists killed by Islamic State (IS) in Afghanistan
Three more women journalists were killed on Tuesday in the Afghan province of Nangarhar—further evidence that Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous places in the world for media workers. Police arrested a man named Qari Baser for the three killing. Police initially claimed that he was Taliban, which was denied by the Taliban. However, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks later on Tuesday. The journalists worked for local TV and radio stations. The Islamic State claimed that the reason behind the killing of the journalists was their work for stations that support the “apostate Afghan government.” Dawn, March 4. [IS claims killing of three women media workers in Afghanistan – Newspaper – DAWN.COM]
Attack Saudi oil facility — claimed by Houthis
Spokesperson of Houti rebels, Brig. Gen Yahya Sarea tweeted on Thursday that Saudi Aramco oil facility has been attacked by a Quds 2 cruise missile. The attack was said to be conducted in response to Saudi-led atrocities and its blockade in Yemen. Along with this, two more sites were attacked on the same day, including an attack on King Khalid Air Base and an attack on Jazan. There have been no reported casualties for any of the three attacks. Washington Post, March 4. [Yemen’s Houthis claim attack on Aramco – The Washington Post]
A car bomb blast in Somalia killed 20 people
A suicide car bomb blast occurred in the capital of Somalia, Mogadishu, on Friday. The blast killed at least 20 people and injured at least 30. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but the police believe that it was conducted by Al Shabab. Al Shebab, a terrorist organization affiliated with Al Qaeda and operating in Somalia, Yemen and Kenya, frequently carries out similar attacks as part of its campaign to establish its harsh interpretation of Islamic law. Al Jazeera, March 5. [At least 20 killed by suicide car bomb blast in Somalia | Al-Shabab News | Al Jazeera]