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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Ahrar Al-Sham’s top commander in northern Idlib has been assassinated
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Afghanistan
ISIS militants suffer casualties during a clash with the Afghan forces in Kunar
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Death Eaters affiliated with the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group suffered casualties during a clash with the Afghan forces in Kunar province
... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country.....
.

The 201st Silab Corps of the Afghan military in the East said the clash took place late on Thursday night in the vicinity of Wata Pur district.

The Silab Corps officials said at least one bad boy of the terror group was killed and two other were maimed during the clash.
Posted by: Fred || 02/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336081 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Commanders authorized to deal with terror sanctuaries in Afghanistan, Pakistan: US
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The new strategy for South Asia authorizes the US military commanders to act against the terror sanctuaries both in Afghanistan and Pakistain, the White House has said.

According to a statement by White House "President Trump’s conditions-based South Asia Strategy provides commanders with the authority and resources needed to deny bandidos Death Eaters the safe haven they seek in Afghanistan and Pakistain."

The statement further adds that "The President has suspended security assistance to Pakistain, sending a long overdue message to aid recipients that we expect them to fully join us in combatting terrorism."

This comes as President Trump announced the new US strategy for South Asia late in August last year as he insisted on relentless fight to eliminate the menace of terrorism.

President Trump also harshly criticized Pakistain for harboring the terrorist groups in its soil and said ""For its part, Pakistain often gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence, and terror."

Since the announcement of the new strategy for South Asia, the US military has reportedly carried out a series of Arclight airstrikes in the tribal regions of Pakistain close to the Durand Line with Afghanistan.

Earlier, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Mike Pampeo had warned that the US would take necessary steps if Pakistain fails to take actions against the safe havens of the terror groups.

"We are doing our best to inform the Paks that this is no longer going to be acceptable. So this conditioned aid, we have given them a chance. If they fix this problem, we are happy to continue to engage with them and be their partner. But if they don’t, we’re going to protect America," Pampeo told CBS in an interview earlier last month.

Posted by: Fred || 02/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336081 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies

#1  I assume the first target will be ISI headquarters?
Posted by: Neville Cliger7005 || 02/03/2018 7:40 Comments || Top||

#2  .....Afghanistan and Pakistain

We may finally be getting somewhere.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/03/2018 7:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Neville Cliger7005 - The ISI folks all go to the Rawalpindi Red Mosque along with lots of jihadi types on Friday. Just saying..
Posted by: 3dc || 02/03/2018 11:42 Comments || Top||


Key Taliban commander killed in Afghan forces ambush in Faryab
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A key commander of the Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
group was killed in an ambush of the Afghan national defense and security forces in northern Faryab province.

The 209th Shaheen Corps said the Taliban Überstürmbannführer identified as Mullah Yar Mohammad was killed along with one of his lover companions in Khwajah Sabz Posh district.

The Shaheen Corps officials said the ambush againt Mullah Yar Mohammad was laid late on Wednesday in Kusa Qala area of the district.

The officials further added that four Taliban snuffies were also critically maimed and two Ak-47 rifles and a cycle of violence belonging to the snuffies were confiscated.
Posted by: Fred || 02/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336083 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  The Taliban seem to have a pot load of key leaders. Beginning to seem as if that's what you call an E4 in Urdu.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey || 02/03/2018 7:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Mullah Yar Mohammad, AKA "The Pirate"
Posted by: Frank G || 02/03/2018 7:51 Comments || Top||


50 Tailiban troops smoked in offensive operations in Kandahar
At least 50 Taliban militants were killed in a military operation carried out by the Special Force Unit of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) in Kandahar province, in the south of Afghanistan, the NDS said in a statement on Thursday.

The military operation was carried out in Osmankhail, Mohammadkhail, Chawlawk and Akhtarkhail villages in Maiwand district, the NDS said.

The offensive was conducted from air and ground where 50 Taliban including some of their key commanders were killed and 32 suspects were arrested, the statement added.

According to the NDS statement, a bombmaking center with 30 bombs, 20 kilograms each, and 10 houses were destroyed in the operation.

The NDS statement said that at least 50 motorbikes, 10 vehicles and different weapons were either destroyed or seized during the operation.

Taliban has not commented on the military operation so far.
Posted by: badanov || 02/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336077 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa North
11 Pakistanis feared dead as boat capsizes off Libyan coast: FO Cannot load M3U8: Crossdomain access denied
[GEO.TV] The Foreign Office (FO) on Friday said that the Pakistani embassy in Tripoli was actively following up on the boat sinking incident of the Libyan coast in which 11 Pakistani are feared dead.

The names and details of the deceased will follow as soon as the Foreign Office gets them from Tripoli, capital of Libya, FO Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal stated in a tweet posted on Friday.
Posted by: Fred || 02/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336075 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists


Tribal retribution killings in Sebha raise tensions
Tunis, 1 February 2018:

Sebha remains tense after fighting between the Awlad Sulieman and Tebu intensified last night following tit-for-tat killings.

The town is now largely quiet, though occasional shots can still be heard locals told the Libya Herald. Last night saw heavy artillery strikes and extensive gun battles between the two sides, though exact casualty figures are unclear at this stage.

Fighting near the historic Fort, seriously damaged in early 2014, is particularly fierce and has often been a focal point for conflict in the past.

Violence broke out on Sunday when a figure inside a blacked out car belonging to a member of the Awlad Sulieman opened fire on three Tebu at a café. Ahmed Adel was killed and his two friends injured.

The attack took place in Nassirya district in the north of Sebha, an ethnically mixed neighbourhood in comparison to other parts of the town.

Retribution was swift with Tebu brigades killing an army officer and policeman, both understood to be Awlad Suieman.

Events over the recent days underline how the Rome peace deal agreed between the two sides and the Tuareg remains very fragile. Observers have not been optimistic the accord would hold and their cynicism appears well founded.

Presidency Council Deputy Abdulsalam Kajman has often had to step in and mediate when tensions rises between the various groups.

Meanwhile, four members of ISIS were killed and a civilian injured yesterday in Brak Al-Shatti. The ISIS fighters were looking for food on the outskirts of the town but came under attack from locals supportive of the Libyan National Army.

Posted by: badanov || 02/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336074 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Saudi Army suffers heavy casualties in failed offensive near Yemeni border
[ALMASDARNEWS] For the second time this week, the Saudi Army launched a big offensive in the southern part of the Najran region, targeting the Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ...
positions near the Yemeni border.

The Saudi Army stormed the al-Boaa Desert of the Najran region on Friday, striking the Houthi defenses along the Yemen-Saudi border in an attempt to reclaim this large area.

However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well...
the attack would not go as planned, despite the fact that the Saudi Armed Forces had the superior weaponry and manpower.

According to the official media wing of the Houthi forces, their fighters foiled the big offensive in the al-Boaa Desert, killing and wounding a large number of Saudi soldiers in the process.

The Houthi media wing added that their forces launched a swift counter-attack after the offensive in order to claim more ground from the Saudi Coalition.

This latest attack by the Saudi Army marks the fourth time in two weeks that they have attempted to capture the al-Boaa Desert.

Posted by: Fred || 02/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336070 views] Top|| File under: Houthis

#1  What happened? Did the US sell the Saudis tanks with one forward gear and three in reverse?
Posted by: DooDahMan || 02/03/2018 2:04 Comments || Top||

#2  According to the official media wing of the Houthi forces, their fighters foiled the big offensive in the al-Boaa Desert, killing and wounding a large number of Saudi soldiers in the process.

"We moiderized em!"
Posted by: Frank G || 02/03/2018 8:14 Comments || Top||


Yemeni rocket artillery hits Soddy targets in Marib
The Yemeni rocketry force launched on Thursday a ballistic missile (Qaher M2) onto the Saudi-led military camp of abu Al-Rish in Marib province, according to Yemeni sources which added that the rocket hit its target.

On Wednesday night, Yemeni rocketry force also had launched a ballistic missile (Qaher M2) onto a gathering of the Saudi-led aggression’s commanders in Al-Jawf province.

Yemen has been since March 2015 under a brutal aggression by Saudi-led coalition, in a bid to restore power to fugitive former president Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.

Tens of thousands of Yemenis have been injured and martyred in Saudi-led strikes, with the vast majority of them are civilians.

However, the allied forces of the Yemeni Army and popular committees established by Ansarullah revolutionaries have been heroically confronting the aggression with all means, inflicting huge losses upon Saudi-led forces.

The Saudi-led coalition – which also includes UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan and Kuwait – has been also imposing a blockade on the impoverished country’s ports and airports as a part of the aggression.

Source: Al-Manar Website
Posted by: badanov || 02/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336077 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Gunman opens fire on foreigners in Italian town
[ABC] A lone gunman opened fire on foreigners in drive-by shootings in a central Italian city, wounding an undisclosed number of people Saturday morning before being arrested, police said.

The suspect's motive wasn't immediately clear, but the city of Macerata is still reeling from the gruesome killing of a young Italian woman this week, allegedly at the hands of a Nigerian immigrant.

Police said all those wounded were foreigners and they later confirmed the arrest of the unidentified suspect about two hours after the shooting erupted in the city of Macerata.

Video posted by the newspaper il Resto di Carlino showed what appeared to be a body on the ground on a shopping street.

The shooting spree came days after the murder of 18-year-old Pamela Mastropietro and amid a heated electoral campaign in Italy where anti-foreigner sentiment has become a key theme. The head of the anti-migrant Northern League, Matteo Salvini, has capitalized on the killing in campaign appearances, and is pledging to deport 150,000 migrants in his first year in office if his party wins control of parliament and he is named premier.

The teen's dismembered remains were found Wednesday in two suitcases, two days after she walked away from a drug rehab community.

Police haven't said how many people have been wounded in Saturday's shootings. The news agency ANSA said two of the injured were black, and that witnesses reported that the car was seen in the area where the woman's body was found and also near where the suspect lived.

Police had warned people to stay inside while the shootings were ongoing. Authorities ordered public transport halted and that students be kept inside schools, which are open on Saturdays.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/03/2018 08:34 || Comments || Link || [336084 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Chickens coming home to roost.
Posted by: charger || 02/03/2018 13:10 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Syrian Kurds outraged over mutilation of female fighter
[BBC]Turkish-backed rebels accused of filming mistreatment of Women’s Protection Units member

Syrian Kurds have accused Turkish-backed rebels of mutilating then filming the body of one of their female fighters after a video emerged of her corpse.

Turkey and allied Syrian rebels have pressed an offensive since 20 January against the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in northern Syria, whose Kurdish fighters Ankara views as terrorists.

A Kurdish official identified the woman as Barin Kobani, who took part in a US-backed campaign to drive the Islamic State jihadist group from the northern town of Kobani.
The Kurds blamed the “terrorist allies of the enemy Turkish state” for mutilating the body of Kobani, who was a member of the all-female Kurdish Women’s Protection Units.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in Britain, said it received the video from a Syrian rebel fighting with Turkish forces in the Afrin offensive.

The rebel told the group the footage was filmed on Tuesday after rebels found the young woman’s corpse in the village of Qurna near the Turkish border in the north of the enclave. In the footage, a dozen men, some armed, gather around the badly mutilated body of a woman lying on the ground.

The Kurdish community reacted with outrage, and social media users shared a portrait of Kobani smiling next to another shot of her brutalised body.

“Barin did not surrender. She fought to the death,” said Amad Kandal, an official with the Women’s Protection Units, vowing to avenge her comrade’s brutal murder. “This kind of behaviour will only serve to reinforce our determination to resist until victory.”


Male and female YPG fighters have taken part in the battle by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to expel Isis from large parts of Syria.

An SDF spokesman, Mustefa Bali, said the video was reason to continue fighting back against Turkey and its allies. “Imagine the savagery of these invaders with the bodies of our daughters. How would they behave if they took control of our neighbourhoods?” he wrote on Facebook. “All this hatred and barbarity leaves us with a single option: to continue the resistance.”

An Afrin resident Hussein Cheikho, 65, said he was “deeply pained” when he saw pictures of Kobani’s mutilated body but said her death would not be in vain. “The death of a young man or a young woman will not weaken us. Out strength will be bolstered every day,” he said.

The Syrian National Council, the main opposition body in exile, condemned the “criminal acts” and called for “an immediate investigation to punish those responsible.
Posted by: 3dc || 02/03/2018 12:00 || Comments || Link || [336089 views] Top|| File under:

#1  wouldn't wanna be a captured Turkish rebel
Posted by: Frank G || 02/03/2018 13:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Turks have been hated for many many years as far away as Greece. Brutality of the weak is well known.
Posted by: Dale || 02/03/2018 13:56 Comments || Top||

#3  And our guys can't even take a leak on an ISIS terrorist.
Posted by: gorb || 02/03/2018 17:50 Comments || Top||


Turkish authorities classify Ankara tax office blast as terrorist attack
[ALMASDARNEWS] An kaboom in an empty building of a local tax office in the Ottoman Turkish capital of Ankara on Thursday was a terrorist attack carried out by suspects linked to the Kurdish leftist Democratic Union party, Ankara governor’s office said Friday.

"As a result of the on-site investigation of the kaboom on February 1... evidence was found that an bomb was used. The video footage from outdoor surveillance cameras was studied and it turned out that a suspicious man entered the building and left a bag, which presumably contained an bomb, at the entrance," the governor’s office said in a statement.

According to the statement, police on Friday launched the pursuit of the perpetrator of the attack identified during the investigation, as well as two of his accomplices.

"During the pursuit, one of the suspects, who carried false ID papers, was killed. He was identified as Ersen Ertogan born in 1991 in the province of Mardin, who was trained in a camp in a YPG-held area in Syria and entered The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund....
illegally," the statement said.

"In total, eight people, who maintained contacts with the perpetrator of the attack, were placed in durance vile
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
in the provinces of Adana, Sirnak and Mardin," according to the document.

On February 1, a powerful kaboom was heard in Ankara. Local media reported citing authorities, it was a gas kaboom in a local tax office. As a result, at least three people were maimed in the blast.

Posted by: Fred || 02/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336102 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  obviously an Erdogan crackdown is "justified"
Posted by: Frank G || 02/03/2018 8:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Ah, tax time.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/03/2018 21:10 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
US sanctions six people, seven firms under rules targeting Hezbollah
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The US Treasury Department on Friday sanctioned six individuals and seven entities with alleged links to Hezbollah financier Adham Tabaja, under financial regulations targeting the Leb-based Hezbollah bad boy group.

The Lebanese businessman is believed by US authorities to be one of the group's top five money men, with ties spanning the Middle East and Africa.

It will be a "very bad day for" Tabaja, said a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
.

The six sanctioned individuals included five Lebanese and one Iraqi, most of them linked to al-Inmaa Engineering and Contracting, the Treasury Department said in a statement. The seven entities were firms based in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Leb and Ghana, the statement said.

The sanctions include trade bans and assets freezes.

First in a "wave" of sanctions
They are said to be the first in a "wave" of sanctions targeting Hezbollah after a policy review by President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
's administration.

The Trump White House is keen to signal a tougher stance on Hezbollah and its Iranian backers.

They argue that president Barack Obama
If you like your coverage you can keep it...
was not aggressive enough in cracking down on Hezbollah financing for fear of derailing a major deal aimed at stopping Iran for getting nuclear weapons.

According to second senior administration official, Hezbollah receives most of its operating budget -- about $700 million a year -- from the Iranian government and takes orders from the country’s elite Revolutionary Guards.


This article starring:
Adham Tabaja
Posted by: Fred || 02/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336073 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


India-Pakistan
Two shot dead in DI Khan targeted killings
[GEO.TV] Two people were rubbed out by unknown gunnies in separate incidents in Dera Ismail Khan
... the Pearl of Pashtunistan ...
on Friday, according to police.

In the first incident, four assailants riding on two cycle of violences bumped off trustee of an imambargah in Mohalla Shaheen in the city, police said. A passer-by was also injured during the episode.

Geo News has also obtained CCTV footage of the incident, in which the attackers' faces can clearly be seen.

In the second incident, a former union council (UC) naib nazim
...small time big shot, the chief elected official of a local government in Pakistan, such as a district, tehsil, union council, or village council...
, Taimoor Baloch, was bumped off in Tank Adda area, according to police.

The attackers managed to get away from the scene in both the incidents.

Posted by: Fred || 02/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336074 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Palestinians clash with Israeli forces during protests across West Bank
[ALMASDARNEWS] Israeli forces attempted to disperse protests in Ramallah on the ninth Friday of Rage against US President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Two Paleostinians were maimed by rubber-coated metal bullets, while a number of Paleostinian civilians were suffocated by tear gas during festivities with the Israeli occupation forces at the northern entrance of al-Bireh city.

Similar festivities erupted in other locations across the West Bank and Gazoo Strip, where Israeli soldiers used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators.
Posted by: Fred || 02/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336079 views] Top|| File under: PLO


IDF warbirds hit targets in Gazoo
Israeli occupation forces carried out airstrikes targeting several sites in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday before dawn.

Locals told Ma’an that the strikes hit targets near the al-Nada Towers in northeastern Beit Lahiya. No injuries were reported.
Posted by: badanov || 02/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336078 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Years Of U.S. Government Lies Could Soon Result In A Kurdish Massacre
[Huffpoo] WASHINGTON ― The Trump administration is doubling down on a lie the U.S. government has promoted since it first began cooperating with the Syrian Kurds against the Islamic State group in 2014: that the Kurds it is working with in Syria differ from those that are anathema to NATO ally Turkey.

American officials designed that fiction to enable the anti-ISIS strategy adopted under President Barack Obama and continued under President Donald Trump. Now it’s taking its most serious toll yet: Turkey is bombarding Afrin, a Kurdish enclave in northwest Syria, with airstrikes and artillery fire and the U.S. is refusing responsibility. Extending the Obama-era logic, team Trump maintains that Afrin is totally distinct from the Kurdish regions in Syria’s northeast that are home to American bases and thousands of U.S. troops.

Dozens of civilians have died in the campaign’s initial assault on smaller villages around the main city. Over a million more are at risk, as are Turkish civilians facing rockets in response. And Trump’s choice has boosted bitterness toward the U.S. among Washington’s most effective partners in Syria. In the weeks ahead, it could torpedo U.S.-brokered cooperation between Kurds and the country’s majority Arab community, tempting more Arabs to join radical groups like the powerful local al Qaeda affiliate or what’s left of ISIS; escalate an already dire humanitarian crisis; and cede more space in Syria to actors Trump is ostensibly committed to challenging ― Russia, Iran and the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. There’s little clear benefit to the U.S. in return.

Squaring U.S. policy in Syria with the country’s increasingly assertive neighbor Turkey is a goal that’s eluded Washington for years. Since the Obama era, the U.S. campaign against ISIS has relied on a Kurdish militia in northern Syria called the People’s Protection Units, or YPG. Turkey views that group as inseparable from an internationally blacklisted Kurdish separatist movement called the PKK that it has fought for years. The Obama administration’s solution was to speak of a difference between the two forces as often as it could.

That position fails to account for the two groups’ mutual history, leftist ideology and recruiting pools, but it’s one the Kurds can live with. Their respective officials say they sympathize for fellow Kurds across the countries they live in (Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran) but have distinct command-and-control structures. And to further assuage Turkey and Syria’s Arabs, the YPG subsumed its fighters under a larger anti-ISIS battalion without an explicit Kurdish flavor ― a two-year-old construct called the Syrian Democratic Forces, which includes thousands of Arabs and Assyrians.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/03/2018 16:57 || Comments || Link || [336107 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The YPG has been referred to as Communists. There are two definitions of Communism and the YPG fits the rare definition. They are not of the tyrannical authoritarian definition, but that as a community under the rule of other governments they use a non property ownership, every thing is shared if necessary style of society in order to survive.
Posted by: Unart Glusong4283 || 02/03/2018 18:30 Comments || Top||

#2  There were no lies. The Kurds thought there was an implicit understanding. No such understanding existed. We kept them alive with copious equipment, training and on-call air strikes. They fought ISIS, which they would have had to do anyway to avoid ending up dead or in exile.

Who got the better end of the bargain? Who knows? But the reality is that it was a war of choice for us and a war of survival for them. We helped them survive. We owe the Kurds nothing. The way they're posturing these days, they certainly seem to think they owe us nothing. And that's OK. As long as we're clear that this is an alliance only for as long as we have mutual interests.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 02/03/2018 18:33 Comments || Top||

#3  We owe the Kurds nothing. The way they're posturing these days, they certainly seem to think they owe us nothing.

Always up for a good stomping of individuals in the State Interest™, Robert?
Posted by: Frank G || 02/03/2018 19:59 Comments || Top||

#4  Not our stomping. I'm no fan of the Donald's personally, although I find no moral issues* with his stand vis-a-vis the Kurds. It would be nice if Trump threw the Kurds a bone, but he's not required to, except perhaps for sentimental reasons. The very fact that they needed bailing out points to their economic, military and political incompetence. Note that Israel needed zero military help to turf the Arabs. They bought everything they needed on a cash-and-carry basis. Whereas the Kurds are a shambolic mess who need our help just to feed themselves.

Trump wants to keep the Turks on the inside pissing out rather than the other way around. Now, if he quietly warned the Turks to stay out of Syria, they would undoubtedly comply. Because we can crush the Turkish economy without touching their military. And I expect we could destroy enough of the Turkish military's hardware that its famously-insubordinate generals would garrote Erdogan in the traditional Ottoman way, but on live TV, just to get a reprieve. After all, they prostrated themselves before Putin after the loss of a single antique warplane.

* Is Trump's affability vis-a-vis Erdogan related to his licensing agreement for Trump Towers Istanbul? Nobody knows. But I expect him to avoid any direct military entanglements requiring significant manpower and financial commitment for the same reason that Obama did - it's a major expenditure of political capital that results in reduced poll ratings, and doesn't help with many of the purely-domestic policy initiatives that need to be kick-started. Trump doesn't need his numbers to go any lower.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 02/03/2018 20:59 Comments || Top||

#5  I DO enjoy your versions of history, but I also like Netflix Stranger Things.
Posted by: Frank G || 02/03/2018 21:08 Comments || Top||


A Russian Sukhoi 25 fighter jet has been shot down in a rebel-held area near Idlib
The pilot was said to have ejected before the crash and been captured, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.
Video posted on social media appeared to show the plane being hit, while other video showed burning wreckage on the ground, with a red star on a wing.
Russia has acted alongside its Syrian allies targeting rebels in the area.
The fate of the pilot has not yet been confirmed, nor which group shot his plane down or captured him.
Hardline rebel groups including the jihadist, al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham are active in the north-western province.
Posted by: 3dc || 02/03/2018 10:56 || Comments || Link || [336119 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  ...May be working for the Other Side, but I hope like hell the poor SOB can evade. The Russians don't do SAR.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 02/03/2018 11:12 Comments || Top||

#2 
and the pilot was found on the ground dead.
Posted by: 3dc || 02/03/2018 12:14 Comments || Top||

#3  ...with two bullet holes in the back of his head?
Posted by: Raj || 02/03/2018 12:22 Comments || Top||

#4  Better than the treatment of the woman YPG fighter (war crime in tomorrow's hopper)
Posted by: 3dc || 02/03/2018 12:41 Comments || Top||

#5  He was killed resisting capture using his service issued weapon.
Posted by: Unart Glusong4283 || 02/03/2018 20:37 Comments || Top||


Mattis: The Syrian Regime ‘Would Be Ill-Advised' to Use Chemical Weapons Again
[Free Beacon] Defense Secretary James Mattis on Friday warned the Syrian regime to think carefully before using chemical weapons again.

Mattis' threat appeared to be in reference to the U.S. military strikes on a Syrian airfield last April, which were in retaliation for a chemical attack carried out by the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad days earlier, Politico reported.

"You've all seen how we reacted to that," Mattis said, adding that the Syrian regime "would be ill-advised" to launch more chemical attacks, as some recent reports from inside the country suggest.

Mattis acknowledged those reports and said the Pentagon was looking for evidence to confirm them. "Groups on the ground, NGOs, fighters have said" that the regime has used sarin gas in recent attacks, he said, but "we do not have evidence."

The regime appears to have weaponized chlorine again, Mattis said, but "we are even more concerned about the possibility of sarin use."
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/03/2018 02:57 || Comments || Link || [336075 views] Top|| File under:


Three Turkish soldiers killed in PKK attack
[ALMASDARNEWS] Three Ottoman Turkish soldiers were killed on Thursday in two separate attacks by Kurdish murderous Moslems in northern Iraq and in southeastern The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund....
, the military said.

Two other soldiers were maimed after the attack by the "separatist terrorist organization" ‐ Turkey’s official term for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, the army said in a statement.

The PKK is blacklisted as a terror organization by Ankara and its Western allies.

Meanwhile,
...back at the cheese factory, there was only one thought in the mouse's mind: I can do this! I can do this! Then the trap sprung...
in an earlier attack, one soldier was killed and five were maimed after an attack near a military base in the Cukurca district of Hakkari province.

Earlier Ottoman Turkish media reported two Ottoman Turkish soldiers were killed in an attack in Hakkari’s Semdinli district ‐ which appeared to be a separate incident ‐ blamed on the PKK launching a missile from northern Iraq. But the army did not refer to this attack in its statements.

Posted by: Fred || 02/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336073 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Syrian Army scores major advance in east Damascus
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has finally broken through the jihadist rebel front-lines in east Damascus after an intense battle tonight.

Led by their elite 4th Division, the Syrian Arab Army was able to enter the Harasta Orchards for the first time in several days, seizing several points from the jihadist rebels of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham
and Harakat Ahrar al-Sham
...a Syria jihadi group made up of Islamists and salafists, not that there's that much difference, formed into a brigade. They make up the main element of the Islamic Front but they don't profess adoration of al-Qaeda and they've been fighting (mainly for survival) against the Islamic State. Their leadership was wiped out at a single blow by a suicide kaboom at a crowded basement meeting in September, 2014...
.

According to a military source in Damascus, the Syrian Army captured the Qasr al-Kamal area, giving them fire control over the
Yogurt Factory and several other points in Harasta.

SAA led by 4th division finally managed to break-thru HTS and Ahrar al-sham defense lines in Harasta orchards area and make important advance today after 2 days of non stop missile and artillery shelling targeting the area

This latest advance comes after more than two weeks of intense fighting inside the Harasta suburb of east Damascus.


This article starring:
Islamic State
Yogurt Factory
Posted by: Fred || 02/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336072 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


Ahrar Al-Sham’s top commander in northern Idlib has been assassinated
[ALMASDARNEWS] The top commander of Harakat Ahrar al-Sham
...a Syria jihadi group made up of Islamists and salafists, not that there's that much difference, formed into a brigade. They make up the main element of the Islamic Front but they don't profess adoration of al-Qaeda and they've been fighting (mainly for survival) against the Islamic State. Their leadership was wiped out at a single blow by a suicide kaboom at a crowded basement meeting in September, 2014...
in the northern countryside of Idlib has been assassinated, tonight, after unknown assailants opened fire on his vehicle.

According to pro-opposition pages, Abu Za’id al-Askri of Harakat Ahrar al-Sham was assassinated earlier tonight while he was traveling with his cousin near the town of Ma’arat Masreen.

The Ahrar al-Sham commander’s cousin was also killed tonight.

Opposition activists have accused Syrian Arab Army (SAA) spies of carrying out the liquidation; however, no group has grabbed credit yet.


This article starring:
Abu Za’id al-Askri
Posted by: Fred || 02/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336109 views] Top|| File under: Ahrar al-Sham (Salafists)

#1  Ok, I admit it I did it. End of story.
Posted by: Steven || 02/03/2018 1:01 Comments || Top||


Rockets kill 2 in Turkey
[Al Manar] Two people were killed and 16 were wounded in a Turkish border town Friday by rockets fired from Syria, local authorities said, as Turkey continues its offensive against a Syrian Kurdish militia.

Three rockets hit neighborhoods of Reyhanli in southern Turkey and 68-year-old Rifat Sinirli died in hospital, the state-run news agency Anadolu reported.

Reyhanli mayor Huseyin Sanverdi said on Twitter that a man was killed by a rocket fired from Syria’s Afrin region, a Kurdish enclave where the Turkish army has launched its offensive against the YPG militia deemed “terrorists” by Ankara.

Later in the afternoon, he announced a second man was killed in another attack by “treacherous terrorists.”

The Hatay governor’s office said 16 people were injured.

Source: AFP
Posted by: badanov || 02/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336084 views] Top|| File under:


Russian Air Force destroys entire jihadist convoy in Idlib
[ALMASDARNEWS] Russian Aerospace Forces carried out a powerful Arclight airstrike over the eastern countryside of the Idlib Governorate, targeting a massive convoy of jihadist rebels heading to the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) front-lines.

According to a military source in Damascus, the Russian Air Force was given exact coordinates of the jihadist convoy from the intelligence wing of the Tiger Forces.

Once the coordinates were given from the Tiger Forces’ spy, the Russian Air Force destroyed the entire jihadist convoy near the strategic town of Saraqib, which is located along an important highway.

The source in Damascus reported that at least two tanks, three pick-up trucks, and one cycle of violence was destroyed by the Russian airstrikes.

In addition to the destruction, a large number of jihadist rebels that were heading to the east Idlib front were eliminated by the Russian attack.

Posted by: Fred || 02/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336086 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Seems these Tiger operatives are quite effective. Putin has a strong grip on the controls. Seems to me he has a finesse about him. Something like a pet project for himself. Results being what is best for Russia not himself. A Chess match.
Posted by: Dale || 02/03/2018 6:47 Comments || Top||

#2  being what is best for Russia not himself

Puhleeez. Putin IS Russia - in his mind
Posted by: Frank G || 02/03/2018 7:44 Comments || Top||

#3  Mistook it for a UN relief convoy?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/03/2018 8:30 Comments || Top||

#4  Russian Air Force destroys entire jihadist convoy in Idlib

Go team!
Posted by: gorb || 02/03/2018 17:53 Comments || Top||


Syrian Army Combat Summary
The Syrian Army and allies expanded their control over Aleppo southern countryside, eliminating the last gatherings of Nusra Front terrorist organization in Tal Alloush village near the administrative boarders of Idlib province.

SANA’s reporter said that units of the army on Friday carried out intensive military operations in Tal Alloush village using precise and appropriate tactics to protect the civilians in the village, which resulted in tightening grip on Tal Alloush in the southern countryside of Aleppo.

The reporter added that the army units immediately combed the village, strengthened their positions in it and began to chase the fleeing remnants of terrorists, killing and injuring many of them and destroying their equipment and ammunition.

The new advance achieved by the army units make them close to Aleppo-Damascus highway by about 13 km.

The reporter, quoting field sources, clarified that the army units’ control over al-Msherfeh, al-Tweheneh, al-Husseineh, Tal al-Sultan, Masaada, Tal Kharta, Jabl al-Taweel, and Tal Kalbeh villages in Idlib southern countryside put them 9 km away from Saraqib city which is an important point on the international highway of Damascus-Aleppo and is 50 km away from Aleppo.

In the past few days, the Abu al-Dahhur airport and about 300 villages and towns have been liberated as a siege has been imposed on the dens of terrorists in dozens of villages in the countryside of Hama, Aleppo and Idlib.

Source: SANA
Posted by: badanov || 02/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336078 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


Jaysh Al-Islam foils large Syrian Army offensive in East Ghouta
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) launched a big attack inside the East Ghouta region of Damascus this week, targeting the Hawsh Dawahra area that is controlled by Jaish al-Islam
...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful...
.

According to a military report earlier this week, the Syrian Arab Army was able to briefly infiltrate Jaish al-Islam’s front-lines, but were forced to after a swift counterattack by the latter.

The report added that Jaish al-Islam had heavily fortified the area with many trenches, which were used to surprise the Syrian Army troops attempting to advance on the Hawsh Dawhra area in the East Ghouta.

Posted by: Fred || 02/03/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336075 views] Top|| File under: Jaish al-Islam (MB)


Terror Networks
Interpol Report: 50 Suspected ISIS Fighters Infiltrated Italy, May Aim To Strike Across Europe?
[PJ] A recent report circulated by Interpol names 50 Tunisians who, it is suspected, have become fighters for the Islamic State (ISIS). These men have infiltrated Italy from Tunisia, and Interpol warned authorities that they may target cities across Europe. Italian police have denied the report's validity.

The United Nations has estimated that roughly 5,500 Tunisians have travelled to ISIS territory in Syria and Iraq to join the Islamist terror state. As ISIS has largely collapsed in the Middle East, terrorists may spread into other areas to wreak havoc.

Interpol's general secretariat drafted the list of 50 suspected ISIS fighters in Italy, and sent it to the Italian interior ministry on November 29. They later distributed the list to anti-terrorism agencies across the continent, The Guardian reported.

Four of the suspects on the list were already known to European intelligence agencies. One "may have already crossed the Italian-French border, to reach Gard, a department in southern France, in the Occitanie region," the agency told The Guardian. "According to the information obtained in the field of international cooperation, the Tunisian citizens are linked to Isis/Daesh and would have reached Europe aboard unidentified boats."

If you found this article of interest, you may also enjoy reading Gunman opens fire on foreigners in Italian town.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/03/2018 02:25 || Comments || Link || [336074 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Why don't you clowns just invite in another few batches of colonists until you've got 100. Or maybe you already have 1000 and should shoot for 2000? After all, not doing so would suggest you were wrong in the first place to let in a bunch of Muslim military-age males without families. What could possibly go wrong? Oh, and don't forget to rant about Trump's advice to keep you and your children safe. Ta ta for now. See you at the next bombing or semi-truck crowd rundown.
Posted by: gorb || 02/03/2018 3:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Only 50?
Posted by: Raj || 02/03/2018 8:39 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
45[untagged]
3Sublime Porte
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1Govt of Saudi Arabia
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1Hezbollah
1Houthis
1Ahrar al-Sham (Salafists)
1Jaish al-Islam (MB)
1Moslem Colonists
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1Commies
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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2018-02-03
  Ahrar Al-Sham’s top commander in northern Idlib has been assassinated
Fri 2018-02-02
  Four Migrants Critical after Being Shot in Calais Brawl
Thu 2018-02-01
  Robert Mueller Requests Postponement of General Mike Flynn Sentencing… It was a set up
Wed 2018-01-31
  Southwest State Confirms The Death Of Burhakabo Military Commander
Tue 2018-01-30
  Iraqi court sentences Al-Qaeda member to death over executing eight civilians in 2007
Mon 2018-01-29
  McCabe Resigns
Sun 2018-01-28
  Top Houthi leader killed in Sanaa by unknown individuals
Sat 2018-01-27
  Taliban kill 40 63 90 95 with ambulance bomb in Afghan capital Kabul
Fri 2018-01-26
  Mosul clean up continues: 21 turbans permanently unwound, 9 more jugged
Thu 2018-01-25
  Double car bombing kills 33 in Benghazi
Wed 2018-01-24
  Two suicide attackers, Islamic State member killed as troops repel attack in Baghdad
Tue 2018-01-23
  1.5K al-Nusra troops surrounded in Idlib
Mon 2018-01-22
  Tunisian forces kill top aide of Al Qaeda leader in Maghreb
Sun 2018-01-21
  Seven Niger troops killed in Boko Haram attack
Sun 2018-01-21
  Seven Niger troops killed in Boko Haram attack
Sat 2018-01-20
  Lebanon foils ISIS plans to attack places of worship, government buildings

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