Free Republic

Gunmen killed two guards and wounded around 10 other people in an attack on a prison in Niger’s capital Niamey on Saturday, a week after al Qaeda-linked groups raided a uranium mine and an army barracks. Local residents said the assault began at around 3 p.m. (1500 GMT) when a group of attackers opened fire on guards at the entrance to the prison. They said they also heard a loud explosion. Ila Yaye, who lives near the prison, told Reuters she saw several of the guards fall and not get back up. It was not immediately clear who had carried...

Chad’s military said Mokhtar Belmokhtar, one of the world's most wanted men, died on Saturday in an assault on an Islamist rebel base in northern Mali. Belmokhtar was at the centre of an international manhunt after at least 37 foreign hostages, including six Britons, were killed after militants seized the gas complex in eastern Algeria.

Chad's military on Saturday said that its soldiers in Mali killed the al Qaeda commander who was behind the mass hostage crisis which occurred just a few months ago at an Algerian gas plant and which left dozens dead. "On Saturday, March 2, at noon, Chadian armed forces operating in northern Mali completely destroyed a terrorist base (...) The toll included several dead terrorists, including their leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar," Chadian armed forces spokesman General Zacharia Gobongue said...

A banner showing al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri and former emir Osama bin Laden is placed outside the French Embassy in Cairo, Egypt during a protest organized by Mohammed al Zawahiri. Image from Euronews. Within the past few days, Mohammed al Zawahiri, the younger brother of al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri, has threatened France and the West while condemning the intervention in Mali. The younger Zawahiri promised that if France and its allies continue to fight in Mali, then Westerners will be the "first to burn." During an interview broadcast by Euronews on Jan. 22, Mohammed al...

The Obama administration is condemning an Islamist attack on a natural gas field in southern Algeria and confirming that Americans are among those being held hostage. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters in Italy that Americans were among the hostages and called the incident a "terrorist attack."

.."surrendered after disagreements with other leaders in the organization."