This Week in War. A Friday round-up of what happened and what’s been written in the world of war and military/security affairs this week. It’s a mix of news reports, policy briefs, blog posts and longform journalism. Subscribe here to receive this round-up by email.
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Photographers covering the crisis in the Central African Republic rescue the archive of one Africa’s best contemporary photographers, Samuel Fosso, after his studio was looted.
AP journalists witnessed a horrific killing in CAR by soldiers just moments after being spoken to by the country’s new interim president who called for peace and order.
Former Rwandan intel chief Pascal Simbikangwa’s trial began in Paris.
An online campaign by journalists and activists for the freedom of Al Jazeera journalists imprisoned in Egypt went viral.
Egypt’s army chief, Al-Sisi, will run for president.
The Syrian government will participate in the second round of Geneva peace talks.
Syria missed a February 5 handover deadline for chemical weapons, putting the process way behind schedule.
Syrian rebels freed hundreds in a prison break in Aleppo.
Iraqi Kurds join Syrian rebels in their fight.
David Luban writes that the US has a moral debt - and Syria offers a chance to start paying it.
The central leadership of Al Qaeda has officially broken ties with the Syrian jihad group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
ISIS signed a truce with Islamist rebel brigade Suqour al-Sham.
Human Rights Watch reports that Iraqi security forces are abusing women in detention.
A series of bombings in Baghdad on Monday killed 23; four bombings on Tuesday killed 7; another series of explosions on Wednesday killed 34.
Iran stated a willingness to reduce the military capability of the Arak reactor.
On January 27, Iran executed poet Hashem Shaabani, charged with “waging war against God,” among other things, after three years of harsh detention.
The eleven candidates for the Afghan presidency and their bios.
Election coverage shows the growth of new media in Afghanistan.
The New York Times reports that Karzai engaged in secret contact with the Taliban over a potential peace agreement without the involvement of the US or other Western countries.
The US froze the assets of three suspected members of the Haqqani network.
Peace talks began Thursday between the Pakistani government and the Taliban.
Per the Pakistani government’s request, the US is said to have sharply curtailed drone strikes while peace talks are pursued.
Eight were killed in a suicide bombing targeting Shi’ites in Peshawar Tuesday.
The killings of journalists in Pakistan have given the Taliban significant control over a terrified media.
Huma Yusuf on the Pakistani Taliban PR campaign.
Inside Pakistan’s anti-bomb school.
The Pakistani military is constructing a permanent base in Swat Valley.
Official investigation has shown that Britain had an advisory role in a 1984 massacre in India, a government attack against Sikh separatists at the Golden Temple in Amritsar which left hundreds or thousands (depending on who’s counting) dead.
Photojournalist James Nachtwey was shot while covering election violence in Thailand.
A who’s who among the battle lines being drawn in Ukraine.
An infographic of attacks on journalists during violence in Ukraine.
Ice hockey in post-war Bosnia.
An Olympics in the shadow of a war zone.
Vancouver-based industrial rock band Skinny Puppy sent a $666,000 invoice to the US government after learning that their songs were played to prisoners at Guantánamo by a prison guard who was a fan.
Former Navy undersecretary and Center for New American Security CEO Robert Work to be nominated to the position of deputy secretary of defense.
Women Under Siege wants your photography of women in conflict.
Jonathan Alter challenges both former Defense Secretary Gates’ new memoir, Duty, and his overall foreign policy record in the New Yorker.
Photo: Aleppo, Syria. Vehicles are engulfed in flame in the aftermath of a barrel bombing. AP.