Summary: Alleged links between Faisal Shahzad’s Times Square bombing attempt and the Taliban are adding to perceptions of Pakistan as a global exporter of terror and increasing pressure on its military to crack down on extremists along the Afghanistan border. The Pakistani Taliban — Tehrik-e-Taliban — was hellbent on revenge inside America after a U.S. Predator drone attack killed its leader, Baitullah Mehsud, in August 2009 and the more recent strikes that nearly killed Baitullah’s successor, Hakimullah Mehsud, in January 2010. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on May 7, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that a spate of bombings in Iraq raised concern that militants were regrouping after suffering sharp setbacks in fighting during the previous two years, 2007-2008.

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Summary: A group of prominent Muslim clerics, led by Sheik Abdul-Majid al-Zindani, warned they will call for jihad, or holy war, if the U.S. sends troops to fight al-Qaida in Yemen. … Taliban suicide bombings and other attacks caused Afghan civilian deaths to soar in 2009 to the highest annual level of the war, a U.N. report has found, while deaths attributed to allied troops dropped nearly 30 percent — advancing a key U.S. public diplomacy goal for winning over the Afghan people. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on January 14, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that Iranian demonstrators, waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Death to Obama,” burned photographs of Barack Obama in Tehran a week before his inauguration as president as they protested against America’s inaction over Gaza.

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Summary: On the 22nd day after losing his 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman, in line with his focus on national security, reported on the growing Taliban influence in Pakistan.

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Summary: On the 12th day after losing his 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman, in line with his focus on national security, reported on a truck-bombing of the Marriott hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, which killed more than 50, and violence in Iraq, including an assassination and bombings.

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