[ToloNews] Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... in a statement said on Tuesday that they have released 58 soldiers who were captured in Bala Murghab district in northwestern Badghis province.
Taliban said in the statement that the decision was made by their leaders.
According to the Ministry of Defense, 58 other forces who crossed the border into Turkmenistan returned home on Monday.
The forces came under attack by Talibs in Bala Murghab, which shares border with Turkmenistan, in the northwest of Afghanistan, almost two weeks ago.
[KhaamaPress] At least 15 Talibs were killed during the operations of the Afghan Special Forces and Arclight airstrikes in the past 24 hours.
According to informed military sources, Afghan special forces conducted a raid targeting Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... leadership in Tarang Wa Jaldak district of Zabul province, leaving 1 Taliban fighter dead.
The sources further added that Afghan Special Forces conducted a raid in Azrah district of Pashtun-infested Logar province killing 3 Taliban fighters and destroying 750kg of hashish.
"In Andar district of Ghazni province, two strikes killed 11 Taliban fighters and destroyed one staging area," the sources added.
The anti-government armed turbans including Taliban have not commented regarding the operations so far.
[KhaamaPress] The Afghan and coalition forces conducted separate operations and airstrikes against ISIS Khurasan militants in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.
The 201st Silab Corps of the Afghan Military in the East in a statement said at least two ISIS-K militants were killed in coalition drone strikes in Achin district on Monday.
The statement further added that the National Directorate of Security personnel also conducted a separate operation in Achin district, arresting a local commander of ISIS-K.
According to 201st Silab Corps, the ISIS-K commander who was detained during the operation has been identified as Mawlavi Aziz.
The anti-government armed militants including ISIS-K loyalists have not commented regarding the operations so far.
Nangarhar is among the relatively calm provinces in East of Afghanistan but the anti-government armed elements are active in some of its remote districts and often attempt to carry out attacks against the government and security personnel.
[KhaamaPress] The Afghan border forces have seized 40 rockets which were imported to eastern Nangarhar province with an aim to use them in terrorist attacks, the military officials said Wednesday.
The Commander of the 1st Brigade of Border Forces in the East Gen. Mohammad Ayoub Hussain Khel said the rockets were discovered from a pickup type vehicle in Momandara district.
Gen. Hussain Khel further added that the anti-government armed elements had recently imported the rockets from the other side of Durand Line in a bid to use them in terrorist attacks.
He also added that three people have been arrested in connection to transportation of rockets and are in custody of border forces.
The anti-government armed militants including Taliban have not commented regarding the report so far.
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03/21/2019 00:00 ||
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[KhaamaPress] At least four Talibs were killed during an operation of the Afghan armed forces against the high-profile attack controllers of the group in Kabul.
Informed military sources said Wednesday "In an operation targeting Taliban ...Arabic for students... high-profile attack controllers in Kabul, Afghan forces killed 4 Taliban fighters and destroyed one vehicle."
The sources did not provide further information in this regard and it is yet not clear where and when the operation was conducted.
This comes as the U.S. Embassy in Kabul had earlier warned of possible attacks by Lions of Islam during the Afghan New Year which will be observed on 21st of March.
"As of mid-March 2019, the U.S. Embassy has received increased reports regarding possible attacks coinciding with the Afghan New Year holiday that will be observed on March 21," the U.S. Embassy in Kabul said in a statement.
The statement further added that Lions of Islam continue to plan attacks against a variety of targets in Kabul, including Afghan, U.S., and other foreign government offices and facilities.
Ignoring all the America-hating Amnesty International handwavium, this sounds pretty good to me.
[AlAhram] US forces have "dramatically increased" the number of air strikes in Somalia with several civilians killed by the powerful missiles, Amnesia Amnesty International said Wednesday, reports denied by the military.
Amnesty calculates that there have been more than 100 strikes by US drones and manned aircraft in the past two years, more than the number of US Arclight airstrikes in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... and Libya combined during the same period.
Researchers who investigated five airstrikes in detail reported at least 14 civilians had been killed -- raising fears the total dead in the scores of attacks may be far higher -- even though the US military insists there have been no civilian deaths.
"The attacks appear to have violated international humanitarian law, and some may amount to war crimes," Amnesty said in the report, titled "The Hidden US War in Somalia".
The study is based on 150 interviews including witnesses, family members of those killed and security experts.
Their reports were corroborated by satellite imagery, photographs of the deep craters of the kabooms, as well as munition fragments collected from the sites.
US strikes, which included missiles fired by manned aircraft as well as drones, targeted Somalia's al-Qaeda linked bully boys, al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... The US military said it had carried out 110 airstrikes in Somalia since June 2017, killing 800 people. But it insisted they had all been legitimate targets as members of al-Shabaab, and that the Amnesty report was incorrect.
"Since June 2017, AFRICOM conducted 110 airstrikes in Somalia, eliminating more than 800 terrorists," US Africa Command said in a statement, adding that "our assessments found that no AFRICOM airstrike resulted in any civilian casualty or injury."
"Since June 2017, AFRICOM conducted 110 airstrikes in Somalia, eliminating more than 800 terrorists," US Africa Command said in a statement, adding that "our assessments found that no AFRICOM airstrike resulted in any civilian casualty or injury."
AFRICOM added that it was "in the interest of the terrorist group al-Shabaab to untruthfully claim civilian casualties."
Amnesty said it had carried out detailed investigations into five attacks, where they found that at least 14 non-combatants were killed.
"The civilian corpse count we've uncovered in just a handful of strikes suggests the shroud of secrecy surrounding the US role in Somalia's war is actually a smokescreen for impunity," said Brian Castner, Amnesty's military expert.
"Our findings directly contradict the US military's mantra of zero civilian casualties in Somalia."
The findings were shown to AFRICOM but the US military denied civilians had been killed, Amnesty said.
US strikes in Somalia surged in April 2017, after 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... declared southern Somalia an "area of active hostilities", Amnesty said.
According to Amnesty, US forces carried out 34 strikes in 2017 following Trump's declaration, more than in all the previous five years since 2012 combined.
Good. The best way to convert the remaining jihadis is to firet kill most of them. Losing badly is the necessary proof that Allah disapproves.
In 2018, the number of strikes rose to 47 while there have been 24 already in the first two months of 2019 alone.
[DW] Dutch police have tossed in the clink ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... another suspect in a shooting that killed three people in Utrecht. The attack, allegedly carried out by a Ottoman Turkish-born man, could play a major role in provincial elections.
Dutch police on Wednesday said they had arrested a new suspect in a shooting that killed three people and injured seven others on a tram in the city of Utrecht, as they investigated whether there was a terrorist motive behind the attack.
Officers from a specialized arrest team detained the 40-year-old man in Utrecht on Tuesday and released two other men that were tossed into the calaboose earlier, said police front man Joost Lanshage.
A front man for public prosecutors, Ties Kortmann, said that the investigation is probing hte motive of the suspects and into the possible involvement of the man arrested on Tuesday. "We are looking at the role of the new suspect," he added. The suspect's identity has not been released.
The alleged shooter, 37-year-old Gokmen Tanis, remains in jug and prosecutors have until Friday to question the The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the most dubious NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... ally.... -born suspect. Tanis will then appear before an investigating judge who could extend his detention.
POPULIST PARTIES GAIN
Dutch citizens on Wednesday took to provincial polls. Observers said the arrest of the Ottoman Turkish-born suspect would likely boost Dutch populist parties.
Pre-election polls showed Prime Minister Mark Rutte's center-right coalition would likely lose its majority in the Senate. The attack is expected to also lead to the strongest-ever showing by two populist parties.
"It's 100 percent clear that the coalition will book major losses," pollster Maurice de Hond said in an election preview.
A snap poll conducted after the shooting showed that determination to turn out and vote had grown among populists, while support for traditional parties remained lackluster.
'CLOSE CALL'
Hond, drawing on the events of 2002, when populist Pim Fortuyn was assassinated just before national elections, forecast a combined result of up to 25 percent for populists.
"It will be a close call as to whether the coalition plus even just one other opposition party" will be able to command a majority after the new Senate is seated in May.
The Dutch right-wing scene has been dominated by the Freedom party of Geert Wilders for a decade and has been transformed in the past two years by the rapid growth of a second populist party, The Forum for Democracy.
The Forum for Democracy has followed the lead of 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... and emphasized "Netherlands First" cultural and economic policies.
The party's leader, 36-year-old Thierry Baudet, shocked other political parties this week by blaming the government for the Utrecht attack on the same day as the shooting, while others had suspended campaigning.
[Jpost] A Jewish father and son were stabbed at an iconic street marketplace in Amsterdam by an Egypt-born seller whom they and others said was a radicalized Moslem.
Martin Colmans, the father, and son Sharon sustained light to moderate injuries in the attack Saturday at the Albert Cuyp market, where the Colmans family has been selling furniture for decades. Sharon Colmans, whose mother is from Israel, was injured in his back, chest and arm, and suffered serious blood loss. Both have been released from the hospital.
A police spokesperson told De Telegraaf that they have no comment about the assailant’s alleged motives.
Known locally as Tarik, the alleged stabber has been selling hookahs and other smoking paraphernalia adjacent to the Colmans’ furniture shop since 2004. The stabber, who has not been named in the Dutch media, is under arrest awaiting an indictment.
Martin Colmans told De Telegraaf that the suspect had been away for several months, and that when he returned his behavior had changed. He said Tarik was "reading the Koran a lot, stopped talking to us. Shaved his head. Prayed all the time. He also began giving us nasty looks."
He had threatened a fellow seller, a Moroccan man who is not Jewish, with a knife recently, sellers told De Telegraaf of Tarik.
Asked whether he believes the assault was an anti-Semitic incident, Colmans told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, "I don’t know, but he behaved very strangely to us in recent weeks." Colmans also said he was "happy that we are alive" because Tarik seemed determined to kill them.
Tarik used a large knife in a stabbing that was filmed by passers-by. Fellow sellers, two men from Morocco, prevented him from inflicting further injuries.
Bless them for being a pack, not a herd.
Tarik went back into his store, where police took him into custody, according to De Telegraaf.
He had had several disputes with fellow sellers, including the Colmans, before the incident, according to De Telegraaf. Tarik and the Colmans made up with help from market bosses and were back on speaking terms when the attack happened, Colmans said.
So either he is committing jihad because he is mean Joo-hater or because he just needed to kill someone in the vicinity. Either way, it would not have happened if he had just stayed in Egypt where he belonged.
Sure, bustards are readily flustered,
But diamonds, though rough and unlustered?
Try dueling with dolmens!
No holing those Colmans:
Mohammedans don't cut the mustard.
[BBC] A bus carrying 51 schoolchildren has allegedly been hijacked by its driver and set alight near Milan in Italy.
The children, some of them tied up, were rescued through smashed windows at the back of the bus and no-one was badly hurt. Fourteen people suffered smoke inhalation.
The driver, a 47-year-old Italian citizen originally from Senegal, was arrested.
"No-one will survive," the driver was alleged to have said.
"It was a miracle, it could have been a massacre," Milan chief prosecutor Francesco Greco was quoted as saying.
A teacher who had been on board the bus said the suspect was known to be angry about Italy's migrant policy. Some reports said the man had shouted "stop the deaths in the Mediterranean".
HOW THE DRAMA STARTED
Two classes of teenagers and their adult escort were being driven from a school in Vailati di Crema to a gym but took a different route on a provincial highway apparently heading for Milan's Linate airport, local reports said.
The ordeal then unfolded over the next 40 minutes.
When the suspect allegedly began addressing the passengers with a knife, a boy phoned a parent, who alerted the police.
It took some time before police tried to intercept the bus. The vehicle rammed into police cars before slowing down.
Italian reports said petrol had been sprinkled around the bus but police were able to smash the rear windows and let the passengers off before it burst into flames.
Milan prosecutors said they were investigating all possible motives including terrorism.
Italy's right-wing Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini, reacted with outrage, alleging that the man had a criminal record.
Ministry officials are investigating the possibility of annulling the driver's Italian citizenship, the AFP news agency reports.
ITALY'S TOUGH STANCE ON MIGRANTS
Since coming into power in June, Italy's ruling right-wing League party and populist Five Star Movement have established a strong anti-immigration stance.
Located at the frontline of migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea into Europe, Italy has tried to close its ports to boats.
On Tuesday, around 50 people were rescued by a charity ship from a rubber boat off the coast of Libya and taken to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa. Italian authorities ordered that the ship was seized and launched an investigation into the alleged aiding of clandestine immigration.
A decree issued in September makes it easier to deport migrants and take away their citizenship if they commit serious crimes.
Earlier this month, around 200,000 people attended an anti-racism march in Milan.
The Italian interior minister revealed the driver, an Italian citizen of Senegalese origin had previously been in contact with police over drunk driving and sexual assault.
The man, later identified as Ousseynou Sy, was also taken to a local hospital following his arrest where he told officers, “I wanted to avenge the deaths at sea. I’ll commit a massacre in Linate.”
Since Salvini closed the borders to pro-migrant transport NGOs last year, the number of drownings in the Mediterranean sea has dropped, according to reports from January of this year.
And from Dawn, the non-dhimmi behaviour of the passengers:
ANSA quoted one of the students as saying the driver took all their phones and ordered the chaperones to bind the students' hands with cable ties, threatening to spill gas and set the bus ablaze. ANSA said the chaperones only loosely bound several students' hands, not everyone's.
One of the middle school students described his terror in an interview with La Repubblica TV, his face obscured due to his age. His name was not given.
"We were all very afraid because the driver had emptied the gas canister onto the floor (of the bus.) He tied us up and took all the telephones so we could not call the police," the student said.
"One of the telephones, belonging to a classmate, fell to the ground, so I pulled off the handcuffs, hurting myself a bit, and went and picked it up. We called the Carabinieri and the police."
Authorities said that an adult called an emergency operator, while one of the students called a parent, and they alerted authorities, who set up roadblocks. The bus was intercepted on the outskirts of Milan by three Carabinieri vehicles, which were able to force it into the guardrail, De Marchis said.
#1
...Sounds like a really bad one was just narrowly avoided. If I were the Carabinieri (and I would rock the uniform) I'd be wondering why they were headed for that airport....
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/21/2019 6:29 Comments ||
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Ah... The rich tapestry of diversity.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
03/21/2019 7:27 Comments ||
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A boy from the bus said that "[the bus driver] wanted revenge for his daughters" who died at sea while trying to reach Italy, according to a video posted by Agenzia Vista. "He wanted revenge for his three daughters and to kill us," he said.
[IsraelTimes] US federal authorities say a Paleostinian man lied about his possible ties to terrorist organizations and acts of violence against Israeli military forces in order to travel to the US.
The US attorney for Massachusetts says 19-year-old Waad Alzerei is charged with visa fraud and making materially false statements.
Prosecutors say he flew to Boston on Feb. 27. Alzerei, whose leg is amputated, told customs officers he was seeking medical treatment and lost the leg when he was shot by a sniper while picking olives.
Prosecutors say officers searched Alzerei’s cellphone and found images that seemed to show his possible affiliation with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine and Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",, and showed him throwing rocks at Israeli Defense Forces the day he was shot.
[DAWN] Six Levies personnel were martyred in an attack in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... 's Ziarat district on Wednesday.
Deputy Commissioner Ziarat Qadir Bakhsh Pirkani said that armed gunnies attacked a Levies checkpost in Ziarat's Sanjavi area in the morning.
All Levies personnel deployed at the checkpost were martyred, he added, while the gunnies managed to escape. The bodies of the martyred personnel, identified as Daffadar Mehtabuddin, Sepoy Abdul Hakeem, Sepoy Faqir Muhammad, Sepoy Muhammad Usman, Sepoy Abdul Shakoor, Sepoy Daad Muhammad, were taken to Sanjavi Hospital.
After the incident, Levies personnel and other law enforcement agencies reached the spot to launch an investigation into the attack.
"It was a sudden attack. The attackers came on cycle of violences and killed all six personnel on duty," Qadir Bakhsh, a senior government official in Ziarat, told AFP.
Bakhsh said the attackers were armed with automatic weapons and fled after the assault early Wednesday, adding that a search operation has been launched in the area.
The Pak Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... later grabbed credit for the attack in an email sent to media.
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[DAWN] Four kidnapped Iranian soldiers were recovered from a "transitioning hideout" during an operation in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... 's Chagai district, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement on Wednesday.
According to the statement, security forces conducted a successful intelligence-based operation (IBO) at Amori in Chagai district, about 3-4 kilometres away from the Pakistain-Afghanistan border.
"Terrorists of proscribed organization were reported to have entered Pakistain from Afghanistan side along with kidnapped Iranian soldiers," the military's media wing said.
"After [an] exchange of fire, 4 Iranian soldiers [were] recovered from a transitioning hideout," it said, adding that the soldiers are being handed over to Iranian authorities.
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Wait — I thought they missed the place completely.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Indian Air Force (IAF) used the Israeli Spice 2000 bombs, each of them weighing 900 kg with 95 kg of explosives, to destroy the terror infrastructure that housed most of the cadres, including jacket wallahs in training, during the aerial operation in Balakot, Pakistain on 26 February, according to a report published by news portal The Print.
Citing high-resolution images reportedly procured by the Indian military from its own satellites, as well as those of friendly nations, the report further claims that out of six structures, the IAF targeted only three, including the main training centre of the JeM, which were conclusively hit during the strike.
The Indian military also claimed that it had multiple satellite pictures in its possession that are enough to establish the damage caused during the air strike, as well as those of repairs being carried out on the roof of one of the destroyed structures after the attack.
"The Spice 2000 is meant to take out underground command and control centres of the enemy. These centres are built with heavy concrete structures on top to prevent any damage from traditional bombs", a top source in the government told The Print.
As per the government official, the IAF went in for the Spice 2000 missiles with the intent of causing maximum damage to those inside the three structures.
"Only ground pictures will show the extent of damage, but, sadly, the satellite pictures will not be able to capture that... What it shows is that the bombs did hit the targets. And when a bomb hits the target, it causes the damage that it is meant to cause", the source was quoted as saying by The Print.
Earlier, Rooters reported, referring to another set of high-resolution satellite images, that JeM’s religious school at the site remained intact and that no evidence of damaged infrastructure or casualties had been found there.
Pakistain, on its part, insisted that Indian fighter jets had missed the target and dropped the payload on an uninhabited hilltop. Pakistain even approached the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... accusing the IAF of bombing a forest, causing considerable damage to the environment.
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03/21/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
Where's John Frum when we need his input?
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/21/2019 13:27 Comments ||
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Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) ‐ Iraqi security forces tossed in the slammer Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! on Wednesday six members of 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.... holy warrior group in the oil-rich province of Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... the security media center said.
"Iraqi troops carried out a successful security operation based on accurate intelligence reports to target IS hard boyz in Kirkuk province," Baghdad Today news website quoted the center as saying in a statement.
According to the statement, the Lions of Islam were plotting to "carry out terrorist attacks with the aim of undermining the security situation in Kirkuk," adding that the arrests were made after more than 20 days of close surveillance of the terrorists.
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[Rudaw] Clashes between Iraqi troops and the Shingal Protection Units (YBS) are now "under control", Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi said late Tuesday.
Tensions are high between the Iraqi Army and the YBS, a Yezidi militia with ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).The two sides clashed on Sunday night and again on Tuesday after a failed attempt Curses! Foiled again! at mediation.
At least one Iraqi soldier was injured and there are unconfirmed reports a second was killed.
"The government will take measures in a balanced way," Adil-Abdul-Mahdi told news hounds during his weekly presser in Baghdad.
"Some unfortunate things occurred with groups close to the PKK in Shingal but it was brought under control rapidly. I think even the PKK takes into consideration the situation of Iraq," he added.
Abdul-Mahdi’s conciliatory tone comes in stark contrast to his predecessor Haider al-Abadi, who last year called the YBS an illegal force and ordered it to withdraw from Shingal.
The situation is "totally under control," Abdul-Mahdi said, but insisted Iraq must not be treated as "an axis" for regional conflicts between The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... and the PKK.
"We will also not be anyone’s enemy except for terror, corruption, poverty, oppression, invasion and dependency," he said.
"We do not want to be part of the conflict. There are issues which shall be addressed," he added.
Shingal is today host to a rainbow of different armies and gangs vying for influence.
The YBS, established to protect the Yezidi people from genocide, used to be on good terms with the Iraqi government, which paid the salaries of its fighters at the height of the war 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.... (ISIS). Abadi halted the payments last year.
The Yezidi militia had similar festivities with the Rojava Peshmerga two years ago when Shingal was under the control of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
OPENING TO THE WORLD
Abdul-Mahdi also used his weekly presser to tout Iraq’s opening up to the world. He told news hounds his cabinet enjoys good relations with regional and neighboring countries.
"The coming of ministers and heads of governments and states to Iraq in this way and with such frequency means there is a positive reading of Iraq ‐ a reading which wants to be present now and in the future, contrary to some pessimistic expectations," the prime minister said.
Falling in the middle of the region’s rival powers Iran and Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , Iraq is well placed to mediate and benefit from a balanced relationship. Abdul-Mahdi’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia was soon followed by a state visit by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Baghdad earlier this month.
"Our deals with Jordan helped us in making deals with Iran and now help in our future deals with Egypt and Jordan and our visit to Saudi [Arabia] ... If we open toward Jordan, we can open well toward Iran, if we open toward Iran we can open toward Saudi, if we open toward Saudi we can open toward Turkey," Abdul-Mahdi said.
Iraq is seeking friends in the region to support the gargantuan task of reconstruction following its devastating war with ISIS.
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[Ynet] Inmates at Ramon Prison set mattresses alight in culmination of month-long protest over new jamming signal that stops them making calls from mobiles smuggled in by visitors
The poor, suffering darlings.
Paleostinian security prisoners at the Ramon Prison in southern Israel set fire to their cells on Tuesday, after Israel introduced a jamming signal that blocks illicit mobile phones.
The prisoners, all from the Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, terrorist organization, set alight the mattresses in 14 cells, lightly wounding a staff member and an inmate.
For more than a month, the Israel Prison Service has been on high alert due to the threat of arson or violence against guards over the new method of blocking calls from smuggled cell phones. Security prisoners viewed the step as a serious blow to their quality of life, as the phones were used to communicate with their families.
The prisoners, however, also used these same cell phones to communicate with members of terrorist organizations in the West Bank and Gazoo.
The leaders of the prisoners at Ramon resigned about a month ago, which the IPS saw as a very serious protest measure. Following the resignations, the IPS became concerned that the prisoners will make good on their threats to harm prison guards, cause damage to prison installations or cause riots.
The protests reached their peak Tuesday, after several hunger strikes and small demonstrations. At around 6pm, prison staff noticed smoke coming out of the cells in the wing where security prisoners affiliated with Hamas are being held. The guards who saw the fire immediately entered the wing and extinguished it. At the same time, they evacuated the 88 prisoners in the wing who were in danger from the fire.
The IPS said that the situation was under full control and that the prisoners who were responsible for the arson would be tried and severely punished.
"The prison was ready for the fire and it was therefore quickly extinguished," the prison said. "The innmates were informed that such actions would not be tolerated. We will continue to maintain our control over our prisons and disrupt any threat to Israel's security."
Key information exerpted from a much longer article. Examples of Hamas, a regional Iranian catspaw,’s current brutality can be read at the link.
[Ynet] This is not the first time people have taken to the streets against Hamas. Two years ago, protesters demonstrated against the chronic power cuts on a cold January day before Hamas violently dispersed them. This time around, the sporadic rallies have continued for five days, despite a similarly violent response.
"These protests were the largest, the longest and the most violent in terms of Hamas’ suppression," said Mkhaimar Abusada, political science professor at Gazoo’s al-Azhar University.
The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists reported Monday that 42 Paleostinian journalists "were targeted" by Hamas forces in the past five days. The abuses included physical assaults, summons, threats, home arrests and seizure of equipment.
The official Paleostinian Authority news agency Wafa reported Monday that the front man of Abbas’ Fatah movement in Gazoo, Atef Abu Saif, was badly beaten by Hamas.
It showed pictures of Abu Said with a bandaged leg, bruises and blood-stained clothes lying on a hospital bed.
Ammar Dwaik, director of the Independent Commission for Human Rights in Gazoo, said Hamas forces have dispersed 25 protests with excessive force and placed in durance vile ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... about 1,000 people. He said some 300 people remain in jug.
"This is worst crackdown in Gazoo since the Hamas takeover in 2007 in terms of its scope and cruelty," Dwaik said.
On Tuesday, Hamas issued a brief statement "rejecting the use of violence and repression against any Paleostinian for practicing his legitimate right of expression."
But Sami Abu Zuhri ...a senior spokesman for Hamas. Zuhri gained notoriety in 2006 when he dropped his money belt containing somewhere between 640,000 and 900,000 euros, which was confiscated by Paleostinian security and customs officials at a routine border crossing from Egypt to Gaza. The news brought competing Hamas and Fatah forces to the crossing checkpoint for an epic face-making and hollering contest... , a Hamas official, used tougher language in a Twitter post, accusing Israel and the Paleostinian Authority of conspiring to organize protests. "The attempts of the Paleostinian Authority and the occupation to drive a wedge between the people and the resistance have failed," he said.
The demonstrations appeared to subside on Monday, but organizers say the protests will continue until Hamas cancels taxes on dozens of goods, creates a national employment program and releases everyone who has been arrested in the crackdown.
Abed, the protest leader, said Hamas has stormed his family’s house and delivered an arrest warrant for him to his father.
"Hamas doesn’t want us to scream. It wants us to die in silence," he said.
[IsraelTimes] Israeli drones carry out strikes in the central Gazoo Strip, according to reports in Paleostinian media. The strikes were reportedly targeting a group of Gazooks attempting to launch arson balloons across the border into Israeli territory. No injures are reported.
[Ynet] Israeli military jugged Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! Wednesday a Paleostinian man who breached a security fence on the Israel-Gazoo border. The suspect was unarmed and had been taken for further questioning.
[Ynet] A cluster of balloons with an bomb attached to it was located Wednesday near the Sdot Negev Regional Council in southern Israel. Police sappers were called to the scene.
#BREAKING: IDF opens fire on Palestinian car near Bethlehem, 1 dead and 1-2 critically wounded, comes after 3 Palestinians were killed yesterday after conducting terror attacks on IDF
[IsraelTimes] Paleostinian report says Ahmed Manasara, 26, was in car when soldier opened fire, killing him and injuring one more; army says incident being investigated.
A Paleostinian man throwing stones at Israeli cars was reportedly rubbed out Wednesday evening by Israeli troops near the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
The Paleostinian health ministry said Ahmed Manasara, 26, was rubbed out near a checkpoint close to Bethlehem, without providing further details. At least one more Paleostinian was maimed by the gunfire.
Manasara would be the fourth Paleostinian killed by Israeli troops since Tuesday night, with tensions in the West Bank ratcheting up following a deadly terror attack on Sunday.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement after midnight that a soldier posted near Bethlehem "opened fire after identifying stones being thrown at Israeli vehicles."
The army said it was aware of the reports of Paleostinians maimed and was investigating.
Official Paleostinian news agency Wafa said Manasara was in a car when he was rubbed out, with another Paleostinian in the car seriously maimed.
The reports came amid heightened tensions following a deadly terror attack on Sunday in which a Paleostinian rubbed out a rabbi and an Israeli soldier in the northern West Bank. The assailant, 18-year-old Omar Abu Laila, was killed in a shootout with Israeli forces Tuesday.
Earlier Wednesday, Israeli troops killed two Paleostinians who the army said threw bombs at soldiers securing the entry of Jewish worshipers to Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus.
Hours later, the Israeli military issued a statement saying a soldier stationed at a post near Bethlehem had "identified rocks being thrown at Israeli vehicles [and] in response, he fired his weapon".
The statement did not identify the soldier's intended target and some Israeli media reports said warning shots were fired in the air, suggesting the two Palestinians may have been hit unintentionally.
"A report was received regarding injured Palestinians," the military said. "Details regarding the incident are being reviewed and the incident will be examined."
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Border unit state the return of all units at the March of Return. If this statement is to be taken seriously, the security fence will see quite an up-tick in activity Friday including units like Koshuk who cut through the fence. We'll see if they make good with their word. #Gazapic.twitter.com/WMjDAxBbHt
[IsraelTimes] 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... says the last of 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.... ’s territory in Syria will be freed by US-backed forces "by tonight."
Speaking as he leaves the White House, Trump displays maps of IS-held territory in Iraq and Syria on the day he was elected and as of this morning.
The most recent map shows what Trump says is a "tiny spot which will be gone by tonight." He says when he was elected, Syria was "a mess" and awash in IS fighters.
US-backed fighters battling to retake the last IS outpost in eastern Syria seized most of the last pocket of land yesterday.
Trump has previously announced the defeat of the group, but sleeper cells of fighters remain in Syria.
Trump says the US will keep 400 troops in Syria indefinitely, including 200 near the Israeli borer.
[IsraelTimes] Fighting in Baghouz appears to halt, signalling fall of city, but sleeper cells may continue to threaten resurgence of jihadist group.
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... said Wednesday the last pocket of 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.... ’s land in Syria will be liberated by US-backed forces "by tonight."
Trump has previously announced the defeat of the group, but sleeper cells of fighters have re-emerged. With no signs of fighting Wednesday, however, the long-running battle to retake the group’s last outpost in eastern Syria appeared to have reached its conclusion.
"The caliphate is gone as of tonight," Trump said in a speech at a factory in Lima, Ohio, where military tanks are assembled.
The complete fall of Baghouz would mark the end of the Islamic State group’s self-declared caliphate, which at its height stretched across large parts of Syria and Iraq. Controlling territory gave it room to launch attacks around the world.
During his speech, Trump held up two maps of Syria ‐ one covered in red representing territory held by the terror group when he was elected president in November 2016 and the other that had only a speck of red.
"When I took over, it was a mess. They were all over the place ‐ all over Syria and Iraq," said Trump, who has said the US will keep 400 troops in Syria indefinitely.
For the past four years, US-led forces have waged a destructive campaign against the group. But even after Baghouz’s fall, IS maintains a scattered presence and sleeper cells that threaten a continuing insurgency.
The jihadists have been putting up a desperate fight, their notorious propaganda machine working even on the brink of collapse. The battle for Baghouz has dragged on for weeks and the encampment had proven a major battleground, with tents covering foxholes and underground tunnels.
The siege has also been slowed by the unexpectedly large number of civilians in Baghouz, most of them families of IS members. Over past weeks they have been flowing out, exhausted, hungry and often maimed. The sheer number who emerged ‐ nearly 30,000 since early January, according to Kurdish officials ‐ took the Syrian Democratic Forces by surprise.
Ciyager Amed, an official with the Kurdish-led SDF, said they were searching for any IS bandidosLions of Islam hiding in tunnels in a riverside pocket in the village of Baghouz. The SDF has not yet announced a victory over IS.
News Agency that Dare Not be Named journalists saw SDF soldiers loading women and kiddies into trailer trucks on the hilltop over Baghouz ‐ a sign that evacuations were still underway Wednesday. Black smoke was rising from the village.
On Tuesday, the SDF seized control of the encampment held by IS after hundreds of bandidosLions of Islam surrendered overnight, signaling the group’s collapse after months of stiff resistance.
Photo symbolising end of #ISIS firm territorial control in E. #Syria. Capture of Baghouz by #SDF-#YPG backed by US-led Coalition puts end to 6-month battle for #Hajin pocket, one of longest & bloodiest Offensives vs IS. pic.twitter.com/teX8YfZPtQ
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Ottoman Turkish-backed rebels unleashed a heavy assault across the northern countryside of the Hama Governorate this afternoon.
Led by the National Liberation Front ...the Turkic paramilitaries intended to replace with their native jihadi ferocity all the highly trained Turkish soldiers Sultan Erdogan I the much beloved has jailed in the last few years for not worshipping the ground he walks upon. The Uighurs and so forth who did not join Al Nusra or ISIS seem to have ended up here... , the Ottoman Turkish-backed rebels hammered the towns of Salhab, Suqaylabiyeh, Mhardeh, Aziziyeh, and Karee with a plethora of artillery shells and missiles.
As a result of the NLF’s attack on northern Hama this afternoon, at least two children were badly maimed and transported to a nearby hospital for treatment.
In response to the NLF’s attack, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) fired a large number of missiles and artillery shells towards the opposition-held areas in the al-Ghaab Plain.
A source in the town of Mhardeh said the Russian Air Force may launch Arclight airstrikes in response to these attacks by the National Liberation Front.
According to the source, the Russian Air Force is now flying over the NLF’s positions in northwestern Hama and southwestern Idlib.
Despite the presence of a demilitarized zone, northwestern Syria has experienced an increase in hostilities between the Syrian Army and bully boys.
Both sides have repeately accused one another of violating the September 17th Sochi Agreement, which established the demilitarized zone and called on all parties to exit the designated area.
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[ALMASDARNEWS] Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham announced on Wednesday that their security forces had tossed in the calaboose Please don't kill me! one of the highest-ranking 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.... (ISIS/ISIS/IS/ISIS) commanders inside the Idlib Governorate.
According to HTS, their security forces arrested the infamous Islamic State commander Rashid Tako after raiding his headquarters in the town of Masebeen.
During the operation to capture Tako, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and the Islamic State were involved in a fierce battle that would result in more than ten casualties for both sides.
Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham has recently stepped up their security operations inside the Idlib Governorate in a bid to eliminate all of the Islamic State’s sleeper cells.
The Islamic State’s sleeper cells have wreaked havoc on the Idlib Governorate this year, as they often carry out suicide kabooms and liquidations inside the areas controlled by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.
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[ALMASDARNEWS] The Russian Air Force has unleashed a major assault across the Idlib Governorate tonight, targeting several areas under the control of the jihadist rebels.
Led by six Sukhoi jets, the Russian Air Force conducted strikes on several points inside the Idlib Governorate in the last 20 minutes.
According to a military source in the Hama Governorate, the Russian Air Force primarily targeted Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham ’s positions in the Jisr al-Shughour District and nearby al-Ghaab Plain.
Among the sites hit by the Russian Air Force were Jisr al-Shughour, Farika, Tal ’Aas, Sheikh Mustafa, Basida, and the Sugar Factory.
The source said the Russian Air Force is now sending more jets to the Idlib Governorate in order to strike more targets belonging to Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and the Turkestan Islamic Party.
He would add that these Russian Arclight airstrikes are being conducted in response to the heavy attack that was launched by the jihadist rebels on the towns of al-Suqaylabiyeh, Mhardeh, and Salhab.
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#1
They just really don't want those boys going home.
[World Tribune] In the wake of the horrific shootings at two New Zealand mosques, Christian media outlets and a UN-recognized human rights group have pointed to the lack of interest from the corporate media in the tragedy faced by black Christians in Nigeria at the hands of Fulani and Boko Haram Islamic jihadists.
At least 120 people have been killed in reported Fulani terrorist attacks since February in the Kaduna state of Nigeria. The latest attack occurred on March 11, resulting in the deaths of 52 people and the destruction of more than 140 homes.
In late January, Boko Haram jihadists killed at least 60 people in an attack on the northeast Nigerian town of Rann, Amnesty International said. Satellite images showed hundreds of structures were burned in the attack.
Also going mainly unreported, in January two bombs tore through a Roman Catholic cathedral on the southern Philippines island of Jolo where Muslim militants are active, killing at least 20 people and wounding 111 others during a Sunday Mass.
In 2018, thousands of Christians were killed by Fulani herdsmen, leaving some to say that genocide is occurring in the Middle Belt of Nigeria, The Christian Post reported.
CSW, a United Nations-recognized NGO that advocates for persecuted Christians worldwide, reported that victims in the attack on March 11 included women and children.
Survivors told CSW that the attackers were separated into three groups. One group shot and killed people, the second set fire to buildings, and a third ran after people fleeing the scene.
According to CSW, one victim of the attack who suffered a deep cut delivered a stillborn baby shortly after.
#1
This screams of alternative news media. Not Fox, not Disney a new clearly defined not bought media. Very hard to do these days. Liberals and progressives have hijacked these words and subvert even the most conservative of established endeavors.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
the personification of Somali state failure...
[World Tribune] In the wake of the horrific shootings at two New Zealand mosques, Christian media outlets and a UN-recognized human rights group have pointed to the lack of interest from the corporate media in the tragedy faced by black Christians in Nigeria at the hands of Fulani and Boko Haram Islamic jihadists.
