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Today: 60 articles and 81 comments as of 23:37.
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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Kunar Drone Strike Kills Four Taliban
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
Kunar Drone Strike Kills Four Taliban
[Tolo News] On Thursday evening four Taliban bandidos Death Eaters including their commander were killed in a drone strike in Kunar province
... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country.....
, said the Kunar Police Chief Abdul Habib Sayedkhaili.

Sayedkhaili confirmed the incident adding that these bandidos Death Eaters were killed in Katar village of Watapor district and they were active in the province.

The Taliban have not yet commented on the attack.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336111 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Armed Insurgents Take Control of 10 Army Posts in Uruzgan
[Tolo News] At least ten Afghan Army posts have been overrun by armed murderous Moslems in southern Uruzgan province, local officials said Friday.

According to officials, heavy festivities have been ongoing for the past week in Khas Urozgan district and as a result ten outposts have been seized by hard boys.

"Around ten outposts collapsed into the hands of murderous Moslems and 40 police, with all their equipment, have joined the Taliban," a police officer in Uruzgan said.

There is no report yet on casualties.

The central government has yet to comment about the clash and the collapse of the outposts.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
Shaboobs attack village in northeast Kenya
NAIROBI -- Militants from Somalia-based al Shabaab attacked a village in northeast Kenya but were beaten back by security forces, the Interior Ministry said on Friday.
Go home team!
It said the boobs militants entered the village of Yumbis, 70 km (45 miles) north of the town of Garissa, late on Thursday.

"Security forces swiftly mobilized and engaged the boobs militants in a gunbattle. No casualties were reported," a ministry statement said.

A police source in the area who did not wish to be named said the militants roamed Yumbis for an hour in two trucks bearing Kenyan registration plates. They hoisted their black flag on a mosque where they held prayers, before heading towards the nearby village of Damajale. A combined force of police and the army drove them off, the source said.

Al Shabaab said on Friday its fighters were still in the village and had repulsed Kenyan security personnel.

"We fully control Yumbis village. Kenyan forces tried to attack the village but we drove them back," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab's military operations spokesman, told Reuters.

A senior government official reiterated that al Shabaab fighters had left the village.

"We have dispatched a team of security officers on the ground tracking down the attackers ... The area is calm and peaceful " a senior Garrissa county government official, who did not wish to be named, told Reuters by phone.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336107 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Africa North
Assailants kill conscript after kidnapping him in Egypt's North Sinai
[AlAhram] The conscript was killed after the snuffies stopped an ambulance in North Sinai, leaving three others, including a driver and a medic badly injured

Alleged Islamist snuffies killed one conscript in Egypt's North Sinai on Friday after kidnapping him from inside an ambulance, head of Egypt's ambulance authority Ahmed El-Ansary told Ahram Online.

Gunmen stopped the ambulance that was carrying two injured conscripts, a medic and the driver, El-Ansary explained to Ahram Online.

"The incident resulted in the death of one conscript, while the rest of the other three people who were inside the ambulance are badly injured, especially the medic who was immediately transferred to Cairo," El-Ansary said.

Islamist snuffies have targeted security forces, mainly in North Sinai, and at times civilians have died as a result of the violence.

The Egyptian army has poured troops into the peninsula as part of an extensive campaign to crush the insurgency.

In its latest report on its operations against myrmidons, the army said it has killed over 700 "terrorists" over the past six months.

Posted by: trailing wife || 05/23/2015 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [336074 views] Top|| File under: Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis


GNC member kidnapped in Tripoli
[Libya Herald] The member for Tarhouna of the continuing General National Congress (GNC), Salem Ali Al-Hamali, has been kidnapped in Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
He was seized yesterday evening by unidentified gunnies.

Condemning the abduction, the GNC has demanded he be released immediately. It said that those who had taken him would be held responsible for his safety.

The public prosecutor has been ordered to open an investigation into the case ensure the kidnappers were caught, while the Tripoli "government" has been told to do everything to find and free him.

The capital has seen a wave of kidnappings recently.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  from the title I'm thinkrn: "who knew selling dietary supplements in a mall could be so dangerous?"
Posted by: Frank G || 05/23/2015 8:36 Comments || Top||


University in Guba postpones exams in aftermath of Islamic State attacks
[Libya Herald] Exams at Omar Mukhtar University's Guba branch have been postponed due to the security situation.

The Dean of the Faculty of Education, the University's branch in Guba, announced a decision to postpone examinations this week after a suicide kaboom killed one and injured seven in the town. There have also been a number of attacks on the Lamluda checkpoint that lies just 10 kilometres outside of the town.

Exams that were to be held on 20 May will be held instead on 31 May. Likewise, exams scheduled for 21 May have been rescheduled for 2 June.

Guba lies 28 kilometres east of Labrak airport. Omar Mukhtar University's main campus is in Beida, but the school has branches in Guba, Derna and Tobruk.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336087 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Arabia
Yemeni Army & Popular Committees Control Saudi Bordering Site
[ALMANAR.LB] The Yemeni army and the popular committees
The popular committees being Iran-guided Houthis?
continued advancing the Saudi military sites near the borders, controlling al-Meizab post and destroying a number of vehicles.

The Yemeni army and the popular committees controlled a number of Saudi military posts in the bordering town of Jizan.

Al-Masira TV channel reported that the Saudi soldiers fled the bordering posts and left their destroyed vehicles.

This achievement followed that of controlling the Saudi military tower of al-Radif.

In Shabwa, the Yemeni army and the Popular committees the strategic area of al-Khemri and advanced towards al-Said.

In Taez, the Yemeni army, backed by the popular committees, controlled Sabr mountain and expelled Qaeda forces of Evil from that of al-Aros in the province.

The Saudi aggression, in turn, launched intensive Arclight airstrikes against the various Yemeni provinces, claiming more civilians.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336086 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Islamic State asserts responsibility for Shiite mosque blast in Saudi Arabia
[WASHINGTONPOST] 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....
said Friday that it was behind a blast that killed or maimed scores of worshipers at a Shiite mosque in 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...
, marking the first time the holy warrior group has claimed an attack in the oil-rich kingdom and raising fears of an expanding sectarian conflict in the region.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336076 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Bangladesh
10 citizens get 'Ansarullah death threats'
[Dhaka Tribune] A radical Islamist group, believed to be Ansarullah Bangla Team, has threatened to kill 10 eminent citizens of the country including ruling party leaders, academicians and secular activists terming them atheists and anti-Islam.

Copies of the same computer-composed letter, that had the names of the recipients and a warning message from "Alkaida A-Bangla Team:13," were sent to the persons' home addresses on Wednesday. The registered letters were sent by post.

The warning reads: "Must you will prepare for dead."

The names include Prime Minister's Adviser HT Imam, Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique, Awami League politician Tarana Halim, DU Jagannath Hall Provost Ashim Sarker, Gonojagoron Moncho Spokesperson Imran H Sarker, DU teacher Kaberi Gayen, writers Bikash Saha, Paltan Sutradhar and Md Iqbalur Rahim, and Shahjalal University teacher Prof Muhammed Zafar Iqbal.

In the letter, the names were mentioned chronologically as "H.T Imam (Anti Islam.Advisor), Dr.Arifin Siddik (I.Dusmon. VC, or enemy of Islam), Tarana halim (Nastic or atheist), Ashim sarkar (Hindu moulobad or radical), Imran H sarkar (bloger), Kaberi gain (I, enemyDU), Bikash saha (I.Dusmon), slam Enemy), Md.Iqbalur Rahim (I.enemy), Paltan Sutar (Anti Bang.Raw.Adv) and Md.Zafor Iqbal (se.lar)."

State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said the government would ensure security for the listed persons. Detectives observe that through the letter, the bandidos bandidos krazed killers are trying to publicise their organization.

Police recently requested the Home Ministry to impose ban on radical Islamist group Ansarullah, believed to be involved in the killing of at least seven secular activists and bloggers since 2013. It grabbed credit for the murders in Twitter.

Detectives think Ansarullah might have link with international terrorist group Al-Qaeda. In recent video posts, the Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent grabbed credit for the murder of several secular activists including Avijit Roy.

Ansarullah chief Jasim Uddin Rahmani (now in jail) in his sermons, available on the Internet, admitted to his link to Al-Qaeda and Taliban. He also supported Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
and Hefajat-e-Islam
...a madrassa-based false nose and mustache of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, formed in 2010 to protest against secular education. In 2011 demonstrated violentyly against women's rights and in 2013 held large rallies demanding capital punishment of Shahbag Square protesters and banning women working outside the home...
saying that the two organizations are working to establish Islam in Bangladesh. He also professed to kill atheists.

Jasim and seven of his followers are now facing trial for the killing of war crimes trial campaigner and blogger Ahmed Rajeeb Haider on February 15, 2013.

When contacted, Arefin Siddique said: "I received the letter on Wednesday morning. The letter contains a list of several noted personalities, targeted by the members of an bad boy group. We are not afraid after the threat. The senders must be identified and brought under trial."

Jagannath Hall Provost Ashim said: "I got the letter around noon on Wednesday. I am passing my days in fear as my name is mentioned in number four of the list circled with red ink."

He filed a general diary with Shahbagh police yesterday, OC Abu Bakkar Siddique confirmed to the Dhaka Tribune.

DU Proctor Amzad Ali said: "The GD was filed on behalf of the university authorities as some of our teachers received death threats through identical letters."

According to media reports, Ansarullah and other radical Islamist groups targeted secular activists based on a list of "84 atheist bloggers" -- given to a government committee, probing anti-Islamic activities, on March 31, 2013. Of them, nine persons have been killed.

The junior home minister yesterday said there was something mysterious behind the killing of bloggers and the letters.

After attending a programme in the city, Asaduzzaman said these incidents might not be linked. "The people who killed bloggers may have different kind of thoughts. All these 10 persons are not bloggers..." He hoped that the mystery would be unearthed through investigation. "We will take steps to ensure their security."

Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of the Detective Branch of police, said they were evaluating security measures of the listed persons.

Also the spokesperson of the DMP, Monirul said: "It can be a publicity move for such a new organization [Ansarullah]."

He doubts Ansarullah has the capacity to carry out such attacks. "But we are not taking the issue lightly."
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336075 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh


Caribbean-Latin America
Colombia's FARC rebels suspend unilateral cease-fire with government
[AMERICA.ALJAZEERA] Colombia's Marxist FARC rebels suspended a unilateral cease-fire after government troops killed 26 of its fighters, the guerrilla group said Friday.

"We deplore the attack by the air force, army and police executed in the early hours of Thursday morning," the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
FARC or FARC-EP, is either a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization or a drug cartel based in Colombia. It claims to represent the rural poor in a struggle against Colombia's wealthier classes, and opposes United States influence in Colombia, neo-imperialism, monopolization of natural resources by multinational corporations, and the usual raft of complaints. It funds itself principally through ransom kidnappings, taxation of the drug trade, extortion, shakedowns, and donations. It has lately begun calling itself Bolivarian and is greatly admired by Venezuela's President-for-Life Chavez, who seemingly fantasizes about living in the woods and kidnapping people himself. He provides FARC with safe areas along the border.
, or FARC, said in a statement. "We feel the same pain for the death of guerrillas and soldiers alike, sons of the same country and originating from poor families. We have to stop the bloodshed."

Late last year, FARC declared a one-sided cease-fire, but President Juan Manuel Santos ordered a resumption of military strikes after a rebel attack last month that killed 10 government troops.

"It is the first major blow against FARC since President Santos ordered the resumption of Arclight airstrikes against the guerrillas on April 15," a Defense Ministry official said about the strike, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
Thursday's Arclight airstrike raises doubts about peace talks that resumed that day between FARC and the Santos government. The president campaigned for his second term on the promise of securing peace with the rebels. The stop-start negotiations, which have been hosted by Cuba for over two years, are aimed at ending the country's five-decade-long civil conflict, which has killed more than 200,000 people.

Santos has declined to end fighting until there is a final peace agreement, though he had suspended air raids after rebel attacks ceased.

The attack Thursday involved military and police and took place in Guapi in the Cauca region of western Colombia, a FARC stronghold and an area popular with narco gangs. FARC was founded in 1964 and has about 8,000 fighters.

The army targeted a unit of the rebels that it blames for an attack in November on Gorgona Island that killed one of its lieutenants, the source said.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336120 views] Top|| File under: Narcos


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
40 dead in Mexican ranch shootout
[BLOG.CHRON] A shootout in Mexico that left 40 people dead occurred Friday in Michoacan state, in an area believed to be controlled by the Jalisco New Generation narco mob.

Cartels in Latin America have become more violent in the last few years with groups responsible for mass slaughters of rivals and vicious attacks on entire cities.

According to a report, the Jalisco New Generation narco mob "has launched bushwhackes against police this year in Jalisco state, but the identity or criminal affiliation of the armed civilians in Friday's clash was not immediately known."
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336110 views] Top|| File under: Narcos

#1  An argument over a 'parking space' or an 'evil eye' no doubt.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/23/2015 6:30 Comments || Top||

#2  ...yep, and Mexican gun laws are even far more restrictive. Betcha they're glad they don't have a 2nd Amendment. (do I need to put a /sarc on that?)
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/23/2015 8:26 Comments || Top||

#3  Chicago hasn't quite achieved this distinction.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/23/2015 10:30 Comments || Top||

#4  Mexico always trying to one up the USA - just trying to beat the WACO shooting.
Posted by: Ebbatle Slinesing1040 || 05/23/2015 10:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Just doing the jobs that Americans are unwilling to do.
Posted by: Sgt. D.T. || 05/23/2015 12:00 Comments || Top||

#6  Any Fast & Furious guns involved? I don't recall reading that they'd got them all.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/23/2015 14:28 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Two California men arrested, accused of trying to support Islamic State
[AlAhram] Two Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, men accused of attempting to provide material support to 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....
myrmidon group have been tossed in the slammer
You have the right to remain silent...
, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday.

Federal prosecutors allege that both men intended to travel overseas to join the group. Muhanad Budawi, 24, and Nader Elhuzayel, 24, both of Anaheim, were arrested on Thursday, prosecutors said.

Elhuzayel was detained at Los Angeles International Airport and Budawi in Orange County.

Several other people have been arrested in recent months for planning to join Islamic State, including six Somali-American men from Minnesota last month.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/23/2015 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [336100 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Two less 0bama supporters to worry about….
Posted by: Harry Sproing6080 || 05/23/2015 10:58 Comments || Top||

#2  NBC has more on our wannabe miscreants, including that the lad at the airport had a one way ticket to Israel with a layover in Istanbul, and used the other lad's credit card to pay for it.

There's also a dreadful picture of one of them at the link. He looks just like the type Israel would put on the next plane home instead of letting through customs.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/23/2015 14:14 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Police arrest suspect involved in attack on Quaid's residency
[DAWN] 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...
police tossed in the calaboose
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
the main accused involved in the disastrous attack on Quaid-e-Azam residency after carrying out a successful raid in Hazar Ganji area of Quetta on Friday.

Addressing a presser, Senior Superintendent Police (Operations) Aitzaz Ahmed Goraya said police arrested the proclaimed offender Pukar alias Pako -- resident of Shah Rag Harnai district -- who was nominated as suspect in carrying out the attack on Quaid's residency in Ziarat on June 15, 2013.

Goraya stated that up till now 10 suspects involved in the attack on Quaid's residency have been arrested. He said that police acted on a tip off and apprehended the accused.

Earlier in April, the spokesperson for Frontier Corps had claimed that the alleged criminal mastermind behind the attack on Quaid-e-Azam's Ziarat residency was killed in a targeted raid carried out by the FC personnel in the Mach area of Balochistan's Bolan district.

Militants had carried out a symbolic and audacious attack on Pakistain, its history and the federal structure when they blew up the Ziarat residency, the building in which the Quaid-e-Azam spent the last days of his life in 1948. The Balochistan Liberation Army had grabbed credit for the strike.

The residency was later rebuild and brought back to its original glory by the government and was then inaugurated on August 14, 2014.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Iraq
Airstrikes torch huge ISIS arms cache near Mosul
[RUDAW.NET] A wave of well-placed Arclight airstrikes from the US-led coalition has devastated ISIS positions in three strategic villages and a key weapons warehouse, a Peshmerga official told Rudaw.

"Airstrikes by coalition forces on Thursday have destroyed [ISIS] bases in the villages of Khorsabad, Qaim, and Baryma," Peshmerga officer Delshad Mawloud said on Thursday.

Mawloud said there were at least 10 Arclight airstrikes and added that one of the annihilated targets was the biggest ISIS arsenal in the area, a site on Nawaran frontline close to the bully boy group's stronghold city of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
.According to Mawloud, coalition forces were informed of the ISIS targets by Peshmerga intelligence, notably on the weapons cache.

The Nawaran Front is located on the Nineveh plains, some 10km northeast of Mosul.

There was no immediate information on the number of casualties or the amount of IISIS weaponry destroyed by the Thursday Arclight airstrikes.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Hmmm... Up close and personal intelligence wins again!
Posted by: Bobby || 05/23/2015 8:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Unstated: what was destroyed was plenty of US weaponry that was dropped and abandoned by cowardly Shia Iraqi troops.
Posted by: OldSpook || 05/23/2015 11:56 Comments || Top||


ISIS seizes another town in Anbar province
[RUDAW.NET] A tribal leader says 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 warriors have seized another town in Iraq's western Anbar province, less than a week after capturing the historic provincial capital, Ramadi.

Sheikh Rafie al-Fahdawi said Friday that the small town of Husseiba fell overnight. He says police and tribal fighters withdrew after running out of ammunition.

Husseiba is about seven kilometers (four miles) east of Ramadi, where ISIS holy warriors routed Iraqi forces in their most significant advance in nearly a year.

The Iraqi government plans to launch a counteroffensive in Anbar involving Iranian-backed Shiite militias, which have played a key role in rolling back the ISIS group elsewhere in the country. The presence of the militias could however fuel sectarian tensions in the Sunni province, where anger at the Shiite-led government runs deep.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336072 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraqi troops 'enter refinery' as Baiji battle rages on
[RUDAW.NET] Iraqi joint forces have captured a strategic area in Baiji and entered the city's key oil refinery where fighting has raged for most of the last two months, the Baghdad government has announced.

"Iraqi security forces have been able to severely attack Daesh gunnies [ISIS] in Baiji. They have also liberated the main road between the city and the Baiji oil refinery and now they are deployed inside the refinery," the Iraqi Interior Ministry said in statement released Friday.

According to the ministry, the intense fight for Baiji in still underway against 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....
, or ISIS, and the Iraqi forces' new advances could change the momentum in favor of the Baghdad.

Baiji is a city of about 200,000 inhabitants in northern Iraq. ts oil refinery, the biggest in Iraq, is located some 40km north of the city of Tikrit in Salahaddin province.

The progress reported in Baiji comes days after ISIS gunnies seized Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336085 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraqi Forces Clear Path to Key Baiji Refinery
[ALMANAR.LB] Iraqi troops fighting ISIL faceless myrmidons have cleared a ground route into the country's largest oil refinery.

"Iraqi Security Forces and Federal Police have successfully cleared and established a ground route into the Baiji refinery, the US military said in a statement.

"Reinforcement and resupply of the ISF within the refinery is on-going," it added.

The refinery is located near Baiji, around 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of Baghdad. It has been a target of ISIL faceless myrmidons for months.

Control of the Baiji area is seen as a key step toward the reconquest of the main ISIL hub of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
The vast complex, which once produced 300,000 barrels per day of refined products meeting half of the country's needs, remained besieged by ISIL faceless myrmidons for months following the group's massive onslaught across Iraq in June 2014.

The siege was broken last year but ISIL faceless myrmidons attacked anew and in April some of its fighters managed to establish a foothold inside the refinery compound.

"In the past 72 hours, we have seen the ISF make steady, measured progress" in regaining some of the areas leading to the refinery, said Brigadier General Thomas Weidley, Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve chief of staff.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336073 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Southeast Asia
Rookie cop killed in NPA attack on police outpost
[Inquirer] A rookie policeman, Andrio Jose Linao, was killed when communist militants stormed a police outpost in a mining village in Tarragona, Davao Oriental, early Friday.

Police spokesperson Antonio Rivera said an undetermined number of New People's Army militants attacked a detachment of the provincial public safety company. By text message, Rivera said, "The attack killed (Linao)."

Meanwhile, three alleged NPA militants surrendered to troops in Monkayo, Compostela Valley province.

Jessie, Jefred and Jonathan, all surnamed Conseng, voluntarily turned themselves to soldiers in Poblacion village around 8 a.m. Thursday. Capt. Alberto Caber said, "According to the three former rebels, they wanted to embrace peace, live a normal live with their loved ones and avail of the programs of the government (intended for former rebels)."
Posted by: ryuge || 05/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336087 views] Top|| File under: Commies


Thai villager killed in drive-by shooting
[Bangkok Post] A civilian was killed in a drive-by shooting in Narathiwat province late Thursday night. The victim was found lying in a pool of blood on a local road in Muang district.

Police said he was walking home at about 10 p.m. when two terrorists men traveling on motorcycle passed and the pillion rider shot him in the back twice. Sukree died at the scene.

Police are still investigating, but said terrorists insurgents may be to blame.
Posted by: ryuge || 05/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Islamist rebels seize Jisr al-Shughour hospital from army
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Salafist tough guys Friday overran a hospital in northwest Syria where at least 150 regime forces and dozens of civilians were trapped for nearly a month, activists said.

Al-Nusra Front, which is Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, and other factions "have taken complete control of Jisr al-Shughour hospital," said Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The monitoring group's head said "dozens" had managed to flee but others were killed, maimed or taken hostage, without giving exact figures.

Earlier this month, Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Lord of the Baath...
had pledged to free the besieged forces, saying his "army will arrive soon to these heroes trapped in the Jisr al-Shughour hospital."

The hospital complex is in the southwest of the town in Idlib province that rebels seized on April 25.

At least 150 regime forces and dozens of civilians, including families and government babus bureaucrats, had since remained trapped in the hospital.

Rebel groups have made a series of major gains in Idlib province, including its capital city of the same name that they seized on March 28.

And on Tuesday, rebels took control of Al-Mastumah, the regime's largest military base in the province.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336088 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


3 children, 9 women killed in army airstrikes on Anadan near Aleppo
WARNING: Images at the click-thru show a small child with severe facial wound.
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] At least 12 people, 3 children and 9 women, were killed in Syrian army Arclight airstrikes on Anadan town near the northern city of Aleppo ,activists and monitoring groups said Friday.

The Syrian government extended its intense aerial campaign against rebel-held areas in the northern province, conducting a series of Arclight airstrikes that killed 12 people, including 3 children and 9 women, aactivists said.

On Thursday, more than 40 rebels were killed as an army Arclight airstrike on their base in Aleppo triggered a huge kaboom.

The Salafist tough guys had shells stored at the base, which magnified the blast, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP.

About 150 victims died in government's shelling on Aleppo from May 1, 2015 to May 20, according to records by Syrian Network for Human Rights.

For months, the regime has waged an unrelenting aerial campaign against the opposition-held areas making particular use of crude so-called barrel bombs.

Rights groups criticize the weapons as indiscriminate and say they are more likely to cause civilian casualties.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336074 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Terror Networks
U.S., allies conduct 20 air strikes against Islamic State militants: military
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] U.S.-led forces conducted 15 air strikes against 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....
forces of Evil in Iraq since Thursday, concentrating on targets near Ramadi, the city that recently fell to the murderous Moslems, the U.S. military said on Friday.

In the same period, the forces conducted five air strikes in Syria, hitting targets near Al Hasakah, Dayr Az Zawr and Kobani, according to a statement.

The five air strikes near Ramadi destroyed Islamic State armored vehicles, tanks, personnel carriers and improvised bombs and also hit a tactical unit, the statement said.

The coalition conducted strikes near the Iraqi cities Al Asad, Haditha, djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
and Sinjar, as well.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State



Who's in the News
18[untagged]
12Islamic State
4Taliban
3Govt of Pakistan
3Hezbollah
2Govt of Syria
2Arab Spring
2Govt of Iran
2Govt of Saudi Arabia
2Narcos
1Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis
1al-Shabaab
1Houthis
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1Jamaat-e-Islami
1Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
1Thai Insurgency
1Pirates
1Commies
1al-Nusra

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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2015-05-23
  Kunar Drone Strike Kills Four Taliban
Fri 2015-05-22
  Air strikes kill 15 militants in North Waziristan
Thu 2015-05-21
  Kurds advance against Islamic State in northeastern Syria
Wed 2015-05-20
  IS Attacks Syria Druze Village, Battles for Palmyra
Tue 2015-05-19
  US drone strike in North Waziristan leaves six 'militants' dead
Mon 2015-05-18
  ISIS confirms Ramadi capture
Sun 2015-05-17
  US special forces kill senior IS leader in Syria: Pentagon
Sat 2015-05-16
  Jury sentences Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for marathon attack
Fri 2015-05-15
  Belmokhtar's Jihadist Group in N. Africa Pledges Allegiance to IS
Thu 2015-05-14
  ISIS acting leader al-Afri killed by US-led airstrike
Wed 2015-05-13
  Iraq Blast Kills Four including Peshmerga General
Tue 2015-05-12
  Drone Strike Kills 4 Qaida Suspects in Yemen's Mukalla
Mon 2015-05-11
  Terror recruiter with roots in Minn. linked to Texas shooting
Sun 2015-05-10
  Houthis agree to five-day cease-fire in Yemen
Sat 2015-05-09
  Pakistani Chopper Crashes into School, 2 Ambassadors Killed

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