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Schoolgirl suicide bombers kill 30/injure 57
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Good evening
Posted by: Fred || 12/09/2016 18:50 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Big Shirl is in for a surprise.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/09/2016 20:11 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
ISIS recruiter dies in Nangarhar province
A foreigner militant recruiting for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group was killed during an operation of the Afghan security forces in eastern Nangarhar province.

According to the local security officials, the ISIS commander, identified as Aziz, was killed during an operation of the counter-terrorism forces in Khogyani district.

The officials further added that Aziz was in charge of a group of at least 10 ISIS loyalist and was actively recruiting for the terror group in Afghanistan.

The Afghan security forces seized some weapons, ammunition and other military kits during the operation, the officials added.

The anti-government armed militant groups including the loyalists of the terror group have not commented regarding the report so far.

This comes as the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said Tuesday that a commander of the terror group was killed during an operation in the restive Achin district.

Earlier, another commander of the terror group was killed in a US drone strike in the same district, the officials added.

Both the Afghan and US forces conducted regular strikes against the loyalists of the terror group in this province.

The increased raids, usually involving drone strikes, by the US forces followed a broader role granted by the Obama administration earlier this year.

The broader role was granted amid concerns that the loyalists of the terror group are attempting to expand foothold in the country and turn the eastern Nangarhar province into a regional operational hub for its fighters.
Posted by: badanov || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Africa Horn
AMISOM convoy targeted in deadly blast in Lower Shabelle
A roadside bomb explosion has ripped through a military convoy carrying African Union soldiers serving with AMISOM near Bulo-Mareer district in Somalia’s southern Lower Shabelle province.

Al shabaab has claimed responsibility for the blast which has resulted from a remote-controlled land mine planted on a semi-forest road linking the coastal city of Marko to Bulo-Mareer locality. According to Al shabaab said in a statement posted on its affiliated websites four AMISOM soldiers were killed in the attack. African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) did not comment on the group’s claim.

Al shabaab has intensified ambush attacks against the AMISOM troops and Somali soldiers in the region over the past few months, as the allied forces losing grounds to the Al Qaeda-linked militants.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Ruritanian Air Force Strikes Again in Middle Jubba
Foreign warplanes, thought to be belonging Ruritanian U.S. military are reported to have bombed a rural area near an Al-Shabaab camp in middle Jubba region of southern Somalia on Wednesday , sources revealed.

Reliable Sources say the suspected Ruritanian American fighter jets have raided a small village identified as Kumbarera, which lies about 20KM west of Jilib district, the biggest Al shabaab stronghold in the region. Reports suggest that the warplanes have fired at least 10 missiles in the residential area, which is home for hundreds of nomadic cattle herders. Al shabaab, however said it has no bases in the bombed village.

There were no immediate reports of the casualties as a result of the airstrike by the foreign military jets.
The Ruritanian Air Force rarely misses...
In recent months, Ruritanian, U.S. and Kenyan air force warplanes have been launching aerial attacks targeting Al-Shabaab camps which have left many casualties, including innocent Somali civilians.
Will President Trump allow the Ruritanian Air Force to continue targeting the Shaboobs?
Posted by: Steve White || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab

#1  If you're a "nomadic cattle herder", don't you, by definition, NOT live in a village?
Posted by: Frank G || 12/09/2016 12:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Think of it like an RV park.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/09/2016 14:39 Comments || Top||

#3  "'E's spending a year as a nomad, for tax purposes..."
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 12/09/2016 15:12 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Egyptian pyramids bombing - six dead in attack near major tourist attraction
AT LEAST six people have been killed in a bomb attack on a road leading to the Great Pyramid of Giza - a tourist attraction popular with British holidaymakers.

The explosion appeared to have come from a rubbish bin in Cairo along a route used to access the entrance to the world heritage site, which lies in a western suburb of the capital.

Giza, one of the the seven wonders of the world and the only one to remain largely intact, welcomes thousands of British tourists every year.

However the dead are said to all be policemen and adminstrative officers working close to the landmark. There have been no confirmed foreign casualties although four civilians were also injured.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in Al Haram street - a main thoroughfare between central Cairo and the pyramids.
Update from Al Ahram at 1:10 p.m. ET:
An Egyptian militant group called "Hasm" ("determination") claimed responsibility on Friday afternoon for the bombing in a statement issued on their website.

The interior ministry's statement said that the blast killed two police officers, a low-ranking policeman and two conscripts.

Three other policemen were injured and were transferred to hospital.

According to security sources who spoke with Ahram Arabic website, the explosive device was planted in a car parked next to a security checkpoint near Al-Salam mosque in Haram Street. The device was detonated remotely, the sources added.

The "Hasm" group—believed to be linked to the Muslim Brotherhood—has claimed a number of attacks on police checkpoints in the past couple of months.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/09/2016 09:02 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood

#1  Time to get great deals on Egypt flights and hotels.
Posted by: Iblis || 12/09/2016 12:35 Comments || Top||

#2  For Pyramid lovers, stay at the Mena House. (I say that with the expectation that its hospitality and services are still world class.
Posted by: Heriberto Greper9897 || 12/09/2016 14:01 Comments || Top||

#3  Mr. Wife loved the Mena House, too. He frequented it during the latter part of the '80s.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/09/2016 14:08 Comments || Top||

#4  Humm... Trash bin? Sounds like the Provos are up to their nefarious ways.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/09/2016 14:10 Comments || Top||

#5  Well, some of the Provos did train in North Africa...
Posted by: Pappy || 12/09/2016 14:40 Comments || Top||

#6  Have heard great things about the Mena House. Bucket list for sure.
Posted by: Iblis || 12/09/2016 17:16 Comments || Top||

#7  Stanley House for me.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/09/2016 17:28 Comments || Top||

#8  See the Pyramids and die.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 12/09/2016 21:58 Comments || Top||


Militant killed in shootout during security raid in Cairo: Police
[AlAhram] Security forces killed on Thursday a bad boy during a security raid in the metropolitan Cairo area, according to a statement from the Interior Ministry.

The bad boy was killed after opening fire at police forces, according to the statement.

Police raided an apartment building in Abu-Zaabal in northern Cairo, where state intelligence sources indicated the bad boy was residing.

The statement said the man was wanted for his involvement in a range of violent incidents, including attacks on security checkpoints and police personnel.

On Wednesday, police forces killed three Death Eaters during a security raid in Upper Egypt's Assiut governorate.

The three were wanted for attacks on security forces and belonging to the "Sawaaed Masr" and "Hasm" groups, which the state designates as terrorist organizations. According to the interior ministry the three had sought haven in a village in Assiut to plan further attacks against security forces.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood


Morsi's son arrested as part of Rabaa dispersal case: Lawyers
[AlAhram] Osama Morsi, the son of ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, was placed in durance vile
Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!
Thursday at his home in Sharqiya over charges related to what has been dubbed in the media as the Rabaa dispersal trial, according to Morsi's defense team.

The younger Morsi has been named as one of 739 defendants in the case, which dates back to August 2013 and includes the Brotherhood's Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie and leading Brotherhood figure Mohammed El-Beltagy, as well as other senior Brotherhood members.

The prosecution charged the defendants with "unauthorised assembly, the use of force, premeditated murder, and the possession of weapons and explosives" during the violent dispersal of a major 2013 Cairo sit-in protesting Morsi's ouster.

Morsi's other son, Abdullah, served a one-year pirson sentence in 2015 for possession of hashish.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood


Airline exec freed in Tripoli
Tripoli, 8 December 2016:

The top Libyan Airlines’ executive kidnapped in October was released yesterday in Tripoli but details of his seizure and freedom have not yet been given, with a planned press conference today not taking place.

Captain Fathi Al-Shatti, a long-standing chairman of the airline, was abducted 48 days ago. Shatti, who had also once been in charge of Tripoli’s now destroyed international airport, is reported to have escaped an earlier kidnap attempt in January when one of his attackers was shot dead.

There has been no indication of why Shatti was grabbed nor whether a ransom or some other commitment was made to bring about his release. It is not thought that the security forces were involved in an operation to secure his freedom.

Libyan Airlines has been at odds with its staff who have mounted several albeit brief strikes. The management has also been involved in a bitter two-year power struggle over who should chief executive.
Posted by: badanov || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
Schoolgirl suicide bombers kill 30/injure 57
YOLA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Two schoolgirl suicide bombers killed 30 people and wounded dozens more in a coordinated attack on a crowded market in the northeastern Nigerian town of Madagali on Friday, an army spokesman said.

The bombings bore the hallmark of Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which has been waging an insurgency to set up a state adhering to a strict interpretation of Muslim laws in the northeast. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Posted by: BA || 12/09/2016 13:07 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Arabia
Yemen loyalist army regain control of areas in Shabwah
A Yemeni military official said that in the past two days, the army and popular resistance forces have regained control of posts which Houthis and forces loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh were in control of in the governorate of Shabwah.

Ahmad al-Qili, the commander of Al-Hazm brigade, said the army is advancing in the areas of al-Saq and al-Safha adding that it also blocked the Bayhan path which linked between Shabwah and Marib and which the Houthi militias used to smuggle weapons and drugs.

Meanwhile, the army's engineering teams said they removed 600 mines which rebels had planted around the city of Bayhan in the Shabwah governorate.
Posted by: badanov || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Houthi rocket artillery hits Soddy bases in Jazan, Asir
[al-Manar] The Rocketry Forces of the Yemeni army and popular committees shelled on Thursday al-Hajir Saudi military bases in Asir, according to media reports.

The shelling sparked huge explosions and fire at the base.

The forces also shelled other enemy Saudi military bases in Misyal, Thuwaylah headquarters, inflicting direct losses in their lives and equipment.

The Yemeni army and popular committees also bombarded the Saudi military posts in Jizan, inflicting heavy losses upon them.

Yemen has been since March 26, 2015 under brutal aggression by Saudi-led coalition.

Thousands have been martyred and injured in the attack, with the vast majority of them are civilians.

Riyadh launched the attack on Yemen in a bid to restore power to fugitive ex-president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi who is a close ally to Saudi Arabia.
Posted by: badanov || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Britain
Islamic State Terrorists Planning Attacks on Britain, MI6 Chief Warns
[Breitbart] LONDON (Reuters) ‐ Islamic State militants are using turmoil sown by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bombing in Syria to plot attacks against the United Kingdom and her allies, Britain’s foreign intelligence chief said on Thursday.

In his first major public speech since winning the top job at the Secret Intelligence Service in 2014, MI6 chief Alex Younger said Russia and Bashar al-Assad were hindering the defeat of militants by attempting to make a "desert" out of Syria.

"As I speak, the highly organised external attack planning structures within Daesh (IS), even as they face military threat, are plotting ways to project violence against the UK and our allies without ever having to leave Syria," Younger said at MI6’s Vauxhall Cross headquarters in central London.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/09/2016 00:09 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  No sh*t, Sherlock?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/09/2016 2:53 Comments || Top||

#2  BFO
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/09/2016 7:49 Comments || Top||

#3  A Blinding Sense of the Obvious is a requirement, y'know.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/09/2016 9:11 Comments || Top||

#4  While I concur with the gentlemen preceding, the important bit here is that he said it, out loud and in public. AND Rooters reported it. Mind the anti-Russian spin!
Posted by: SteveS || 12/09/2016 17:36 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Turkey sending 300 troops to reinforce Syria operation
Turkey is sending 300 more troops to northern Syria to reinforce an operation aimed at pushing Islamic State fighters away from its southern border, Reuters reported.

Some 300 commandos are being sent to reinforce the "Euphrates Shield" operation, Anadolu Agency reported. It was not clear where in northern Syria they would be deployed and Reuters was not immediately able to reach the military for comment.

Turkey launched the operation in August, sending tanks, airplanes and troops to back Syrian Arab and Turkmen rebels.

After pushing Islamic State fighters back from Turkey's Syrian border, the Ankara-backed rebels have moved towards al-Bab, the last urban stronghold of Islamic State in the northern Aleppo countryside. Their advance potentially pits them against both Kurdish fighters and Syrian government forces.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Home Front: WoT
Prison for Michigan Man Sought to Join Hizbullah, Fight in Syria
[AnNahar] A bankrupt, increasingly impoverished, reliably Democrat, Detroit
... ruled by Democrats since 1962. A city whose Golden Age included the Purple Gang...
-area man accused of trying to travel to the Middle East to fight in Syria's civil war has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Mohammad Hamdan
...the Dearborn denizen who told the authorities he was travelling to Syria for a dental appointment...
has been in jug for nearly three years and will get credit for that time. He was sentenced Wednesday, about four months after pleading guilty to making false statements to agents.

The government says the 24-year-old Hamdan wanted to join Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
that is classified by the U.S. as a terrorist organization.

He was tossed in the calaboose
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
in 2014 prior to boarding a flight at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Hamdan is a native of Leb. He says he won't oppose an effort to deport him there after his prison sentence.
Once he gets there he's free to join Hezbollah.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


India-Pakistan
Former TTP commander killed in FATA
A former commander of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, Fazal Saeed Haqqani, was killed by his own bodyguard on Thursday in the Sara-i-Gorgha area of Lower Kurram Agency, said security sources.

Security sources claimed that Idrees, a personal security guard of Haqqani, killed the commander and another guard.

They added that Idrees was associated with Haqqani for the past three years.

Haqqani, once considered a highly active commander of the TTP, had formed his own faction after a split emerged in the TTP.

The former head of TTP in the Kurram tribal region had accused TTP's top leadership of killing his commanders and innocent people, and also accused them of being involved in kidnapping for ransom

He was said to be involved in various terrorists attacks in Upper and Lower Kurram agencies.
Posted by: badanov || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


1 dead in attack in Quetta
Suspected militants on Thursday shot dead a Hazara man in Quetta's Satellite town area, said police officials.

"Gunmen opened fire at a wielding shop, killing one Hazara man," said a police official.

The deceased was later identified as Ali Khan Hazara.

The assailants escaped from the scene of the incident.

Police and personnel of other law enforcement agencies (LEAs) reached the spot and started initial investigation into the incident.

Officials have termed the incident as an act of targeted killing.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the killing. The dead body was shifted to hospital for postmortem.

Balochistan has been experiencing incident violence and targeted killings since more than a decade. More than 1,400 incidents targeting the minority Shia and Hazara community have taken place in the province during the past 15 years.

While sectarian terrorism in Balochistan has disproportionately targeted the Hazara community, easily identifiable because of their distinctive physical appearance, other Shias — especially pilgrims travelling to and from Iran — have not been spared either.
Posted by: badanov || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Abu Dujana, chief of Lashkar-e-Taiba in Kashmir, trapped in Kulgam
[INDIA] Abu Dujana, chief of Lashkar-e-Taiba in Kashmir, is believed to be trapped by security forces in Kulgam. An operation is underway in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam where security forces are trying to capture dreaded militant Abu Dujana. There are unconfirmed reports that Abu Dujana has been killed. It was also reported that locals clashed with security forces when they were trying to capture Abu Dujana.

According to a dossier of intelligence bureau, Abu Dujana joined Lashkar-e-Taiba when he was 17. Abu Dunaja was reportedly seen in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwana district in August this year. Abu Dujana attended the protest rally held by separatists in Kareemabad. Dujana is accused in several terror attack on security forces. His name also cropped in Pampore and Udhampur. Mohammed Naved, the Pakistani terrorist who was caught alive, confessed that Abu Dujana masterminded the Udhampur attack in which two BSF jawans were killed.

Security forces had cornered Abu Dujana in March this year, but he managed to escape from the encounter site along with four other militants. Dujana has been heading Lashkar’s unit in the valley after the death of LeT commander Qasim.
Posted by: Fred || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi


Iraq
3 ISIS Mad Bombers die in Salahuddin
Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) Commander of Samarra Operations, Major General Emad al-Zuhairi announced on Thursday killing three suicide bombers in an ambush set by security forces, in southern the province of Salahuddin.

Zuhairi said in a press statement, “Security forces set, at afternoon today, an ambush on the road linking between al-Daur district and Samarra, in southern Salahuddin, and managed through it to kill three suicide bombers, as well as burning their vehicle.”

“The suicide bombers were coming from al-Daur toward the district,” Zuhairi added.

Salahuddin Province witnessed significant security development, where security forces managed to liberate its key cities.
Posted by: badanov || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Kirkuk Kombat Chronicle
5 ISIS Turbans die in explosion

Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Five members of the Islamic State were killed Thursday in an explosion inside a tunnel southwest of the province, according to security sources.

The tunnel links the district of Riyadh with the ISIS-held town of Hawija, the source told Alsumaria News, suggesting that the explosion occurred due to the cramming of a huge amount of equipment inside the tunnel.

The deaths included a senior group leader with an Arab nationality, the source said, on condition of anonymity, adding that ISIS members are now hiding in tunnels having abandoned their quarters in Hawija, thanks to airstrikes by Iraqi ad US-led air forces.

Kirkuk has witnessed ongoing violent attacks on civilians and security personnel by ISIS militants who remain in control of several areas of western Kirkuk since 2014.

Sniper drops Kurd fighter in Darkuk district

Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter was killed by a sniper fire, in southern Kirkuk, Alsumaria News reported on Thursday.

A security source told Alsumaria News, “Last night, a sniper shot a member of Kurdish Peshmerga in the area separating Peshmerga forces and members of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Samaka Village, located in Dakuk district.”

“The Peshmerga fighter was severely wounded and transferred to a nearby hospital,” the source added.

“Later, the wounded fighter died due to his severe injury,” the source explained.

Noteworthy, the Islamic state group imposed its control over the areas south and west of Kirkuk since June 2014.
Posted by: badanov || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Mosul Offensive News
Iraqi forces fighting in al-Aalam district in Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Forces from the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service partially recaptured on Tuesday another district in the eastern section of Mosul from Islamic State militants, security sources said.

The forces managed Tuesday morning to storm al-Aalam district in eastern Mosul, the sources said as battles continue to liberate Iraq’s second largest city from the extremist group.

Iraqi government forces, backed by popular militias and a US-led air cover, have been liberating villages in Mosul on an almost daily basis as part of a major operation to free the city that launched in mid October.

Military and police commanders said recently that government forces became in control of nearly 50 percent of the eastern section of Mosul. ISIS remains in control of most of the western region adjacent to the group’s strongholds in Syria, but Iraqi security commanders and militia leaders reportedly managed to cut ISIS’s supply and escape routes to and from Syria.

On Monday, Iraqi forces bombarded regions on the western side, denoting the opening of a new battle front.

Fighting against ISIS continues in eastern Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi army forces are engaging in ferocious battles with Islamic State (ISIS) fighters in Mosul since early Tuesday as operations continue to clear the eastern section of the city.

UK-based The New Arab website quoted military sources as saying that the forces are backed by US artillery forces and Apache helicopters which bombed areas inside the city. ISIS militants are, meanwhile, carrying out a series of suicide bombings in several areas east of Mosul to impede the advancing troops, according to the website.

Intense battles are ongoing at the districts of al-Shaimaa, al-Salam, Doumiz, Qadisiya and al-Barid, according to the army sources.

“For hours, we have been in violent battles, backed by an air and artillery cover from the international and US forces. US Apaches have intervened shortly before to handle some difficult targets,” an army officer told the website, pointing to what he described as “ a significant progress” achieved by the forces.

Also on Tuesday, the army’s Counter Terrorism Service invaded al-Aalam district in eastern Mosul.

Iraqi government forces, backed by popular militias and a US-led air cover, have been liberating villages in Mosul on an almost daily basis as part of a major operation to free the city that launched in mid October.

Military and police commanders said recently that government forces became in control of nearly 50 percent of the eastern section of Mosul. ISIS remains in control of most of the western region adjacent to the group’s strongholds in Syria, but Iraqi security commanders and militia leaders reportedly managed to cut ISIS’s supply and escape routes to and from Syria.

On Monday, Iraqi forces bombarded regions on the western side, denoting the opening of a new battle front.

ISIS shifting forces to the east in Mosul
More Islamic whack-a-mole
(Reuters) Islamic State has brought its forward defenses from western Mosul towards the east as it fights against Iraqi forces in the battle to liberate the city, a coalition commanding general said.

Iraqi special forces are slowly edging through districts in eastern Mosul, Islamic State’s last stronghold in Iraq, where they face suicide attacks, snipers and mortars from militants dug in among the civilian population.

Commanders expected the western half of the city, divided by the Tigris River, to be the tougher battle, but Islamic State – which has controlled the city for two years – appears to be committing its defenses to the east against the Iraqi forces, which are backed by Western-led coalition air strikes.

“What we thought was going to be the strongest defense, now they have already hedged their bets and bought it forward,” U.S. Brigadier General Scott Efflandt, a coalition deputy commanding general told Reuters.

“The quality of the enemy we are facing now is markedly declined from a month ago… what they were saving for the west side of the river they are now committing to the east.”

Mosul was the largest city under Islamic State control and defeating the militants there would be a major blow to the self-styled caliphate which it declared in Iraq and Syria in 2014 after over-running large parts of both countries.

Fighting has slowed as U.S.-trained Iraqi special forces push into east of the city. The militants still hold three-quarters of Mosul, where around 1 million residents struggle not only with the fighting, but also food and water shortages.

Around 100,000 Iraqi soldiers, security forces, Kurdish fighters and mainly Shi’ite paramilitary forces are participating in the assault that began on Oct. 17.

Efflandt said militants prepared well, using Mosul’s machine shops to manufacture their own munitions and armored car bombs. But in one sign of progress, commanders have seen the complexity and deployment of those suicide bombs declining, he said.

Initial estimates of Islamic State numbers in the city ranged from 3,000 to 5,000 militants, but Efflandt said that number was now likely to be closer to 3,000 after six weeks of fighting for Mosul had killed some or forced others to flee.

“They are well rehearsed, well trained, well resourced and they have had ample time to prepare, and that has made it a formidable fight,” he said.

Along with the fighting, the presence of civilians throughout the city has hampered the Iraqi progress, they say, reducing options for air strikes and heavy weapons in the densely populated streets.

But French artillery and Iraqi forces on Monday began shelling southern Mosul in preparation for a push from the south to relieve pressure on Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service troops spearheaded the fighting in east Mosul.

“It’s a complex urban, Old World city that has two years of deliberate defense. We as the coalition knew that it was going to take a long time,” Efflandt said.

Iraqi militia capture Tal Abta

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Al-Hashd sl-Shaabi militia said Tuesday its combatants recaptured the southern section of the town of Tal Abta, another step towards besieging the Islamic State holdouts in western Mosul.

The militia’s media service said the victory came after intense fights with the extremist group.

Last week, al-Hashd al-Shaabi said the troops were preparing to invade the flashpoint village of Tal Abta, the only remaining area to consummate a siege on the town of Tal Afar, a major ISIS stronghold and a vital spot on the group’s supply lines from Syria.

Al-Hashd al-Shaabi, which turned via a parliament vote last month from a mere popular militia to an Iraqi national force, has been actively fighting against ISIS by the side of the Iraqi government forces. The militia has been mostly active in the southwestern areas of Mosul since operations to retake the city launched in mid October. Government forces, meanwhile, are still struggling to liberate the eastern section of the city and have said they had become in control over at least 50 percent of that region.

More: al-Baghdadi subscribes to LBJ's winning formula in warfighting

Iraqi forces attack towards Mosul bridge

(Reuters) Iraqi army units advanced from southeast Mosul towards a bridge across the Tigris in the city center on Tuesday, in an attack that could give fresh impetus to the hard fought, seven-week battle for Islamic State’s northern Iraq stronghold.

Campaign commander Lieutenant General Abdul Ameer Rasheed Yarallah was quoted by Iraqi television as saying troops had entered Salam Hospital, less than a mile (1.5 km) from the Tigris river running through the center of Mosul.

If confirmed, that would mark a significant advance by the army’s Ninth Armoured Division, which had been tied up for more than a month in deadly, close-quarter combat with Islamic State fighters on the southeast edges of the city.

A colonel in the armored division said Tuesday’s assault, launched at 6 a.m., aimed to push towards the river and ultimately reach Mosul’s Fourth Bridge, the southernmost of the five bridges spanning the Tigris which splits the city in two.

The bridge, like three others, has been hit by U.S.-led air strikes to prevent Islamic State sending reinforcements and suicide car bombs across the city to the eastern front, where counter-terrorism troops have spearheaded the army campaign.

The last and oldest bridge, built of iron in the 1930s, was targeted on Monday night, two residents said. The structure was not destroyed, but the air strikes made two large craters in the approach roads on both sides.

Militants immediately began to fill the craters, the residents told Reuters by telephone.

“I saw Daesh using bulldozers to fill the craters with sand and by midday vehicles managed to cross the bridge normally. I drove my car to the other side of the bridge and saw also Daesh vehicles crossing,” said a taxi driver.

Mosul is by far the largest city under Islamic State control and defeating its fighters there would roll back the self-styled caliphate it declared in Iraq and Syria 2014 after seizing large parts of both countries.

Some 100,000 Iraqi soldiers, security forces, Kurdish peshmerga fighters and mainly Shi’ite paramilitary forces are participating in the overall Mosul campaign that began on Oct. 17, with air and ground support from a U.S.-led coalition.

Although it has made advances inside eastern Mosul, the army says it is battling the toughest urban warfare imaginable – facing hundreds of suicide car bomb attacks, mortar barrages, sniper fire and ambushes launched from a network of tunnels.

Its advance has also been slowed by the presence of more than 1 million residents in the city.

NEW TACTICS
The army colonel said Tuesday’s offensive aimed to overwhelm the militants, who have put up stiff resistance but are hugely outnumbered by the attacking forces.

“We are using a new tactic – increasing the numbers of advancing forces and also attacking from multiple fronts to take the initiative and prevent Daesh fighters from organising any counter-attacks,” the colonel said by telephone.

He said the four armored division regiments, whose tanks and heavy armour have struggled to adapt to street-by-street fighting, had been reinforced by an infantry regiment.

They were aiming for the Wahda neighborhood, a sprawling southeastern district that extends some distance into the city. Wahda could serve as a launchpad for an attack on the Fourth Bridge, he said.

It was not immediately possible to confirm whether troops had reached Salam hospital, deep inside Wahda neighborhood, but one person in Mosul contacted by telephone said he had heard from other residents that the army had advanced close to it.

The army push in the southeast comes as federal police units stationed west of the Tigris prepare a separate advance towards the airport on the southwestern edge of the city.

Residents have reported mortar fire and increased air strikes in the western half of the city, possibly in advance of a land offensive that would open up another front in the city and further stretch Islamic State defences.

The Sunni Muslim jihadists, who seized Mosul in mid-2014, are believed to be dug in across the city, but a U.S. general in the coalition supporting Iraqi forces told Reuters they appeared to have committed additional defences to the fight in the east.

Brigadier General Scott Efflandt said the coalition had expected the main defences to be in the west of the city, which is more densely populated and has a greater concentration of Sunni Muslims than the eastern section.

“What we thought was going to be the strongest defence, now they have already hedged their bets and brought it forward,” said Efflandt, a coalition deputy commanding general.

“The quality of the enemy we are facing now is markedly declined from a month ago … what they were saving for the west side of the river they are now committing to the east.”

Echoing comments from Iraqi officers, he said the rate of suicide car bombings – which stand at a total of over 650 so far, according to the army – had dropped off recently.

He also said that the number of militants in the city had probably fallen to around 3,000, from around 3,000 to 5,000 at the start of the campaign.

Iraq officials have not given any casualty figures for their own forces. Last week the United Nations said nearly 2,000 members of Iraq’s security forces had been killed in November – a figure Baghdad says was based on unverified reports – and that more than 900 police and civilians had also been killed.

Iraqi forces capture Hayy al-Salam

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) We Are Coming, Nineveh Operations Command announced on Tuesday, that Iraqi army troops entered Hayy al-Salam area in the city of Mosul.

Commander of We Are Coming, Nineveh Operations, Lieutenant General Abdel Amir Yarallah, said in a press statement, “Today, troops of the army’s 9th armored brigade entered Hayy al-Salam area and its main hospital, in the city of Mosul.”

Joint security forces, backed by Army Aviation and international coalition air force continue liberating the remaining areas of Mosul from the ISIS grip. The battle to liberate Nineveh was launched in 17 October 2016 by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

Iraqi forces retreat in face of ISIS counterattack in Wehda and Sumer districts

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi army troops withdrew Wednesday from the districts of Wehda and Sumer due to deadly counter-attacks by Islamic State militants, hours after the forces stormed the two eastern Mosul districts, Anadolu Agency reported.

Three soldiers were killed after ISIS suicide bombers, boarding booby-trapped trucks and armored vehicles, attacked al-Salam Hospital, southwest of Mosul, where an Iraqi government force stationed after storming several neighborhoods in eastern Mosul on Tuesday, according to Anadolu Agency which quoted Mahdi Kazem, a captain at the 9th armored division.

Kazem said the attack left 43 others wounded, including civilians.

ISIS-run Amaq news agency had claimed more than 62 deaths among Iraqi troops as the extremist group launched counter, suicide attacks on the troops during fights around al-Salam hospital since late Tuesday. It added that more than 20 various army vehicles were destroyed during the attacks.

Iraqi government forces, backed by popular militias and a US-led air cover, have been liberating villages in Mosul on an almost daily basis as part of a major operation to free the city that launched in mid October.

Military and police commanders said recently that government forces became in control of nearly 50 percent of the eastern section of Mosul. ISIS remains in control of most of the western region adjacent to the group’s strongholds in Syria, but Iraqi security commanders and militia leaders reportedly managed to cut ISIS’s supply and escape routes to and from Syria.

ISIS troops hit Iraqi flanks at hospital
Iraqi commander flunked flank, gets the flunk out.
(Reuters) Islamic State militants attacked Iraqi soldiers near a hospital in southeast Mosul on Wednesday, an army officer and the jihadist group’s new agency said, trying to repel the army’s deepest advances of the seven-week Mosul campaign.

The fighting came a day after the army’s operations commander for Mosul said soldiers surged into the city and took over the Salam hospital, less than a mile (1.5 km) from the Tigris river which divides eastern and western Mosul.

Tuesday’s rapid advance marked a change in military tactics after more than a month of grueling fighting in the east of the city, in which the army has sought to capture and clear neighborhoods block by block.

But it left the attacking forces exposed, and the Islamic State news agency Amaq said on Wednesday some of them were surrounded. It said a suicide bomber blew himself up near the hospital, killing 20 soldiers. Eight armored personnel carriers were also destroyed in the fighting, Amaq said.

There was no official Iraqi military comment on the fighting but the army officer, whose forces were involved in the clashes, said they had come under multiple attacks by suicide car bombers in the Wahda district where the hospital is located.

“We managed to make a swift advance on Tuesday in al-Wahda but it seems that Daesh fighters were dragging us to an ambush and they managed later to surround some of our soldiers inside the hospital, he told Reuters by telephone, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.

He said an armored regiment and counter terrorism units, backed by U.S.-led air strikes, were sent to support the stranded troops early on Wednesday and had opened up a route out of the neighborhood.

“They have secured the position, evacuated the wounded and pulled out the destroyed military vehicles from around the hospital,” he said, adding that they were coming under fire from snipers and rocket-propelled grenades.

Amaq said it attacked the relief convoy in Sumer district, south of Wahda near the outer edge of the city.

Iraqi forces have been battling for seven weeks to crush Islamic State in Mosul. The city was seized by the militants in 2014 and is the largest in Iraq or Syria under their control.

Defeating Islamic State in Iraq’s biggest northern city would help roll back the group’s self-styled caliphate over large parts of both countries.

Iraqi forces recover arms cache in Hayy al-Zohour area

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Anti-Terrorism Directorate in Nineveh province announced on Wednesday discovering a large cache of weapons and equipment belonging to the Islamic State (ISIS), east of Mosul.

Deputy Commander of the 2nd Special Operations of the Anti-Terrorism Directorate, Brigadier General Haider Fadel al-Obeidi, said in a press statement, “Troops of the Anti-Terrorism Directorate managed, today, to discover a large cache of weapons and equipment, including mortar shells and rockets, belonging to the ISIS in Hayy al-Zohour area, east of the city of Mosul.”

“The Anti-Terrorism forces are now waiting on al-Shalalat road in Mosul for the arrival of the troops of the army’s 16th brigade, in order to besiege ISIS,” Obeidi added.

The extremist group imposed its control on the city of Mosul, Nineveh, in 10 June 2014, before extending its terrorist activities to other areas in Iraq.

Joint security forces, backed by Army Aviation and international coalition air force continue liberating the remaining areas of Mosul from the ISIS grip. The battle to liberate Nineveh was launched in 17 October 2016 by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

Iraqis capture Hayy al-A’lam

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) We Are Coming, Nineveh Operations Command announced on Wednesday, that the Anti-Terrorism Directorate completely liberated Hayy al-A’lam in the city of Mosul.

Commander of Operations, Lieutenant General Abdel Amir Yarallah, said in a press statement, “Anti-Terrorism forces fully liberated Hayy al-A’lam, as well as raising Iraqi flag over its buildings.”

“The [Anti-Terrorism] forces liberated the area after inflicting heavy human and material losses on the enemy,” Yarallah added.

Joint security forces and Kurdish Peshmerga, backed by the international coalition and Iraqi Aviation, continue their military operations to retake Nineveh from the ISIS control.
Posted by: badanov || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Anbar Antics


Civilian casualties in al-Qaim airstrikes reaches 230

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) The casualty toll from a Wednesday airstrike on Anbar’s town of al-Qaem has reached 230, according to a local official.

The catastrophic strike, which reportedly caused the death of whole families at a market area, presumably by mistake, has drawn condemnation by Iraqi politicians who called for an investigation to identify the military party to which the jets belonged.

US-led international air forces and Iraqi air forces have been launching airstrikes targeting locations held by Islamic State militants across Iraq since last October, including Anbar.

Iraqi military officials remain mum on the identity of the fighter jets, and a spokesperson of the US-led coalition denied links to the strike.

But on Thursday, Anbar council member, Farhan al-Ebeidi, said bluntly that “Iraqi army fighter jets” were behind the strike, putting the toll at 130 deaths and 100 injuries.

“It is impossible to accurately figure out what is going on in the precinct since Daesh (ISIS) have cut all means of communication in the western regions of the province,” Ebeidi was quoted as saying by AlMada Press. He added that what he described as the “dangerous humanitarian conditions” at those regions requires to “clear them from ISIS militants more rapidly and to stop haphazard strikes.”

Also on Wednesday, parliament speaker Salim al-Jabbouri, and Anbar council spokesperson Eid Ammas, held the Iraqi government fully responsible for the calamity.

Combined arms actions leave 7 ISIS Bad Guys dead


Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Seven Islamic State (ISIS) members were killed Thursday by international coalition airstrikes and gunmen in two separate incidents in the town of al-Qaem, Anbar.

The army’s Anbar Operations commander, Maj. Gen. Ismail al-Mahalawi, said three ISIS militants were killed south of Qaem in an airstrike by US-led international coalition jets, which also destroyed two heavy gun-supplied vehicles.

Mahlawi said his forces remain in waiting for orders to commence operations targeting to clear ISIS’s last strongholds in western Anbar: Qaem, Annah and Rawa.

The airstrike in Qaem comes hours after Iraqi fighter jets mistakenly killed 130 civilians in a marketplace in the town on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a security source told AlMada Press that unknown gunmen killed four ISIS militants in central Qaem. The attackers, using light weapons, assaulted a gathering of ISIS members near the taxation department, killing four, seizing their equipment, raising the Iraqi flag and fleeing to an unknown destination.

“Group members prevented civilians from approaching the attack’s scene and went on to search for the perpetrators,” the source said, on condition of anonymity. “The past few days have seen armed attacks by unknown elements against ISIS in the western regions, including Qem, Annah and Rawa, leaving tens of group deaths”.
Posted by: badanov || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Baghdad Bomb and Bullet Bulletin: 4 die


2 wounded in bomb attack near New Baghdad district

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Two civilians were wounded on Tuesday when an IED blast rocked an area east of Baghdad, according to the Interior Ministry.

The blast occurred at New Baghdad district, east of the capital, injuring two passers-by, said the ministry’s Baghdad Operations.

On Friday, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) said violence during November claimed the lives of 926 civilians and wounded 930 people.

Observers believe ISIS have begun to target several areas across Iraq to divert security focus on Mosul, where the group fights to defend its last bastion in Iraq under the brunt of continuous advancements by Iraqi government and popular troops.

2 die in 2 separate bombings


Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The toll from a series of bombings that hit different areas in Baghdad on Wednesday has so far stood at two deaths and 13 wounded, according to the Interior Ministry.

The latest explosion rocked the Kasra and Atash area east of Baghdad when an IED planted on the side of a road went off, leaving four civilians wounded, according to a statement by the ministry’s Baghdad Operations Command.

Another explosive device exploded in Saba Qosour, also in eastern Baghdad, but left no casualties, said the command.

Two civilians were killed earlier and four others were wounded when a sticky bombs exploded beneath two passenger buses at the Army Canal road east of the capital. Another bomb also wounded two others at Jisr al-Bonouk in al-Qahera in the north.

Three civilians were also injured in another explosion in Hayy Ur, east of the capital.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) said recently that violence during November claimed the lives of 926 civilians and wounded 930 people.

Violence surged across Iraq as Islamic State militants captured several Iraqi cities in 2014, and continues even as the group is sustaining defeats during a current wide-scale campaign by Iraqi forces and tribal militias.

Observers believe ISIS have begun to target several areas across Iraq to divert security focus on Mosul, where the group fights to defend its last bastion in Iraq under the brunt of continuous advancements by Iraqi government and popular troops.

1 dead in bombing attack in eastern Baghdad


Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) One civilian was killed and five others were wounded in two IED blasts that ripped passenger buses east and north of Baghdad, the Interior Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

“A sticky bomb fitted underneath a KIA passenger bus exploded this morning as it passed through the Army Canal road east of the city, killing a civilian passenger and wounding three others,” read the statement by the ministry’s Baghdad Operations.

Another bomb exploded in a passenger bus while it moved through Jisr al-Bonouk street in al-Qahera, north of Baghdad, said the ministry.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) said recently that violence during November claimed the lives of 926 civilians and wounded 930 people.

Violence surged across Iraq as Islamic State militants captured several Iraqi cities in 2014, and continues even as the group is sustaining defeats during a current wide-scale campaign by Iraqi forces and tribal militias.

Observers believe ISIS have begun to target several areas across Iraq to divert security focus on Mosul, where the group fights to defend its last bastion in Iraq under the brunt of continuous advancements by Iraqi government and popular troops.

1 dead in bomb attack in Rashidiya

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) One civilian was killed and six others were wounded when a bomb exploded north of Baghdad on Thursday.

Police sources said the IED exploded near a popular marketplace in Rashidiya.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) said recently that violence during November claimed the lives of 926 civilians and wounded 930 people.

Violence surged across Iraq as Islamic State militants captured several Iraqi cities in 2014, and continues even as the group is sustaining defeats during a current wide-scale campaign by Iraqi forces and tribal militias.

Observers believe ISIS have begun to target several areas across Iraq to divert security focus on Mosul, where the group fights to defend its last bastion in Iraq under the brunt of continuous advancements by Iraqi government and popular troops.
Posted by: badanov || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Palestinian pulls knife on troops in West Bank, is shot and killed
[IsraelTimes] No Israelis hurt during attempted assault at Tapuah Junction bus stop; attacker identified as Qalqilya teen.

A Paleostinian assailant attempted to stab Israeli guards at a West Bank junction Thursday morning and was shot and killed by coppers, police said.

No Israelis were hurt in the attempted stabbing attack at a bus stop at the Tapuah Junction in the northern West Bank.

Police spokesperson Luba Samri said the assailant, identified by Paleostinian media as 19-year-old Muhammad Jihad Hussein Harb, from the Niqar neighborhood in the West Bank city of Qalqilya,
...Qalqilya has provided a lot of the dead bodies and arrestees for the current round of excitements. Its mayor is a Fatah man, which may have something to do with it....
alighted from a bus at the junction and began moving toward Border Police guards there.

After ignoring orders to stop, the man "continued to move toward them and at a certain point even pulled a knife out and attacked them," Samri said in a statement.

He was shot and killed.
Darwin wins again.
Security forces are regularly stationed at and near the junction, which has been a flashpoint of violence over the past year.

Israel arrests Palestinian yoots over shooting attacks

[IsraelTimes] Israeli security forces arrested three Palestinian teenagers suspected of carrying out four shooting attacks on an army outpost in the central West Bank last month, the Shin Bet domestic security service revealed Wednesday. The families of the suspects were also brought in for allegedly helping the trio hide the makeshift weapons used in the attacks.

The three suspects are minors, so their identities were not revealed.

The four attacks took place at an army post outside the Ofra settlement, north of Ramallah. According to the IDF, the group was based in Silwad, a Palestinian town located just north of Ofra.
The village of Silwad has a bit of a history here at Rantburg. It is the hometown of Hamas head honcho Khaled Mashaal, though some of the residents have been members of Fatah's Tanzim. This no doubt has something to do with its disproportionate representation here.
No soldiers were injured in the attacks, though the Shin Bet found the attacks to be an example of the risk posed to Israeli security from locally produced weapons.

“The work of this cell, which was exposed by the investigation, shows the high level of threat by terror cells, which operate based of local initiative, with access to weapons and the manufacturing of guns,” the Shin Bet said in a statement.

The homemade guns were found in a joint operation by IDF soldiers and Israel Police officers in the front yard of one home and in a storage room of another.

The security service handed over its findings to a military prosecutor, who is expected to file an indictment in the coming days.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Fatah

#1  More please.
Posted by: Crusader || 12/09/2016 1:26 Comments || Top||

#2  If the lyin' of Islam doesn't kill and infidels, does he still get his 72 Virginians?
Posted by: Bobby || 12/09/2016 13:32 Comments || Top||


Israel busts Hamas cell for plotting to kidnap soldiers
[IsraelTimes] Suspected ringleader behind the group already serving life sentence for murder, planning similar attacks.

Israeli security forces broke up a Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", terror cell that was plotting to kidnap IDF soldiers in the Hebron
...a.k.a. Hamas central in the West Bank...
area in October, officials said Thursday.

Seven members of the cell were tossed in the calaboose
Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!
throughout the month of October, and a number of assault rifles and pistols were also found and confiscated, the Shin Bet security service said.

The alleged criminal mastermind of the cell, Ibrahaim Abdallah Ghnimat, is accused of planning the kidnapping operations from a prison cell, as he is currently serving a life sentence for his role in a slew of terror attacks in the 1990s, including the kidnapping and murder of an IDF soldier, Sharon Edri.

According to the Shin Bet, the cell had planned to carry out shooting attacks along with the kidnappings, whose purpose was "to bargain for the release of prisoners."
How selfless.
In preparation for those attacks, the members of the cell scoped out the movement of IDF soldiers near Surif, north of Hebron, with the intent of eventually kidnapping one them, the Shin Bet said.

Officers located two Kalashnikov rifles, two M-16 assault rifles and three pistols, along with matching ammunition and magazines, the security service said. Knives, swords and billy clubs were also seized based on information gleaned from the suspects’ testimonies.
Not like that last lot, who had to share a pistol and a dozen bullets between them.
"The discovery of this cell points to the high motivation of Hamas operatives, both in the field and in prison, to carry out serious attacks, including shootings and kidnappings," the Shin Bet said in a statement.

Ghnimat was first arrested in 2005, nearly 10 years after the kidnapping and murder of Edri. He received a life sentence, but in 2014, while still in prison, was found guilty of planning to kidnap another IDF soldier, in an attack that was thwarted by security forces, and sentenced to an additional four years.
One wonders how much will be tacked on this time, if four years did not deter him...
The other cell members, many of them relatives of Ghnimat, come from the Hebron area.
The family that terrorizes together...
Ghnimat’s sons Fadi and Shadi were arrested in Surif, along with his son-in-law Mahmad Mahmoud Ghnimat.

Rami Rajoub, a resident of Dura, was arrested for having helped Ghnimat plan a kidnapping attack when the two of them were in prison together, the Shin Bet said.

Hitham Na’im Hamidan, from nearby Jaba, was arrested for helping the cell hide its weapons, and Jad Sultan, from Hebron, was arrested for selling some of the guns to the terror cell, the agency said.

During their interrogations, they told Sherlocks they had prepared for their terror attacks by monitoring IDF troops in the Surif area, the Shin Bet said.

The suspects were arrested throughout the course of October, but details of the case were initially suppressed by a gag order.

The Shin Bet has concluded its interrogations of the suspects, the agency said, and indictments are expected to be filed in the coming days.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Rising Star in Russian Military Killed in Syria
A high-ranking Russian officer, Col. Ruslan Galitsky, who was accused of commanding pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, has been killed in Aleppo, Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin personally confirmed the colonel’s death.

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday that Galitsky had been killed, and Putin subsequently said that Galitsky had suffered fatal wounds when a Russian military field hospital in Aleppo’s al-Furqan neighborhood was shelled on Monday. A Russian military doctor and a nurse reportedly were killed in the same attack.

According to the state-owned RIA Novosti news agency, Galitsky was acting as a military adviser to the Syrian regime, which has made a rapid three-week advance—with the help of Russian air power and Iranian-sponsored Shia proxy forces—through about 75 percent of East Aleppo.

Vladimir Kuzmin, head of the Saint Petersburg branch of the Officers of Russia veterans’ organization, told the independent Fontanka newspaper that Galitsky had been due to be promoted to the rank of Major-General as soon as December 12.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iran might have hit Turkish soldiers, Pentagon says
A drone that killed four Turkish soldiers last week in Syria might belong to Iran, the Pentagon has said. The drone killed four Turkish soldiers on Nov. 24.

There are four actors who might have conducted the deadly attack, a senior U.S. official told Hürriyet following a report in which a senior Turkish official said an Iranian-made drone was used in the attack in northern Syria.

“These are the coalition, Russia, the Assad regime and Iran-backed Shia militias,” said the U.S. official.

“It is not the coalition. ‘We didn’t,’ Russia said. There is no reason for them to conduct such an attack, and also there is no indication contradicting what they say. So the only two left are the regime and the militias. Iran has the capability. We know that they have armed UAVs. And there are Shia militias around Rasm al-Abboud where this UAV took off from. So it might be Iran,” the official said.

Turkey identified the drone as Iranian-made, but it has still not identified whether Hezbollah, the Quds Force or another Shiite militia group in Syria had used it, Hürriyet Daily Newsreporter Sevil Erkuş quoted the Turkish official as saying on Dec. 7.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, accompanied by National Intelligence Agency (MİT) Chief Hakan Fidan, paid a surprise visit to Tehran early on Nov. 26, where the Turkish delegation discussed “issues regarding ISIL and counter-terrorism” with Iran and also raised the issue that their findings on the attack on Turkish soldiers in Syria indicated that an Iranian-made unmanned drone was used, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Hürriyet Daily News.

The Turkey-backed rebels’ operation near al-Bab is not part of the NATO coalition against the jihadist group, the U.S. official also said.

“Turkey started the Jarablus operation unilaterally,” the official said, referring to the Euphrates Shield operation that began on Aug. 24.

“Then after an agreement we reached to clear the border area from ISIS [ISIL] and to create a buffer zone, we supported the operation. Dabiq was out of this buffer zone. Yet, the coalition gave support when Turkey-backed opposition groups liberated Dabiq. But when Turkey advanced south from Dabiq, it was different than what we agreed, and the coalition didn’t support these efforts,” the official said.

When asked why the coalition had not supported the Turkish advance on al-Bab, the official said: “Our concern about al-Bab is that the area is too close to the location where Syrian regime forces are. It is dangerous when the Turkish military and the regime forces are that close. We don’t want to see it.”

The official replied affirmatively when asked if the U.S. was concerned about a clash between the People’s Protection Unit (YPG) forces, which are also advancing toward al-Bab, and the Turkish military. Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing, the YPG, as terrorist groups linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

“We are also concerned about a clash between YPG and Turkish forces. We are concerned about all efforts that would distract from the efforts focusing on ISIS,” the official said.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Gonna need another addendum and another reprint of Know Your Players, thank dawg for PageMaker.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/09/2016 7:35 Comments || Top||


Syrians to halt combat operations in Aleppo
GENEVA/BEIRUT: Syria’s Army on Thursday halted its attacks in Aleppo to allow trapped civilians to be evacuated, Russia’s foreign minister announced, after advancing regime forces cornered opposition fighters in the city.

“I can tell you that today combat operations by the Syrian Army have been halted in eastern Aleppo because there is a large operation underway to evacuate civilians,” said Sergei Lavrov, who held talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry in the German city of Hamburg.

“There is going to be a column of 8,000 evacuees” traveling five km, added Lavrov, attending a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that Lavrov’s announcement was “an indication that something positive could happen.”

There was no immediate reaction from Damascus, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, confirmed that the fighting had eased.

Airstrikes halted and artillery fire was far less intense, according to the AFP correspondent in east Aleppo.

More than 800 people have been killed and 3,000-3,500 wounded in besieged eastern Aleppo in the past 26 days, while the remaining trapped civilians await an effective death sentence, the president of the Aleppo local council said on Thursday.

“Today 150,000 people are threatened with extermination. We are calling for a halt to the bombing and guarantees of safe passage of all,” Brita Haji Hassan said during a trip to Geneva, where he will meet UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura on Monday.

Tawfik Chamaa, a representative of the Union of Syrian Medical Relief Organisations (UOSSM), said 1,500 people needed medical evacuation, but any evacuation should have international observers to prevent them being “executed or diverted on the way to hospital.”

Separately, Britain’s head of foreign intelligence service MI6 said on Thursday his country faces an “unprecedented” terror threat that will not subside until the Syrian civil war ends.

In a rare speech for an intelligence chief, Alex Younger said British authorities had foiled 12 terrorist plots since June 2013 and warned that the “murderously efficient” Daesh was still plotting attacks from Syria, despite recent military reverses.

“The plight of the Syrians continues to worsen. I cannot say with any certainty what the next year will bring,” Younger told journalists in his first public comments since taking up the post of “C” in 2014.

“But what I do know is this — we cannot be safe from the threats that emanate from that land unless the civil war is brought to an end.

“We need to take the fight to the enemy, penetrating terrorist organizations upstream,” he added. “By that I mean as close to the source as possible.”

Younger criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for propping up Syrian tyrant Bashar Assad and warned that “hybrid warfare,” incorporating cyber-attacks and propaganda, was an “increasingly dangerous phenomenon” that posed a “fundamental threat” to Western democracies
Posted by: badanov || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Terror Networks
The Beatings Will Continue: Iraqi and Syrian Editions


ISIS trying to destroy antiquities in Anbar

Anbar (Iraqinews.com) Islamic State militants are planting explosives at historic sites in the province of Anbar preparing to demolish them, al-Hashd al-Shaabi leaderships there said.

ISIS militants have planted explosives on the Old Minaret in the town of Annah and other historic sites dating back to the 11th century, deeming them as promoting paganism, according to Nazem al-Jugheifi, intelligence official at the militia.

“The group ordered civilians to keep away from the historic minaret and other ancient sites in Annah until they are blown up,” said Jugheifi.

ISIS emerged to the light in 2014, occupying large areas of Iraq and proclaiming an “Islamic Caliphate”. Besides its extremist style of applying Islamic law to the daily lives of citizens at areas within its hold, the group considers sculptures as paganism. Its members had posted globally-circulated videos showing themselves axing down priceless monuments in the city of Mosul, but was later reported to sell out other antiquities in online auctions.

News reports last month depicted severe damage caused by the extremist group to Mosul’s ancient town of Nimrud after it was liberated by Iraqi forces.

ISIS executes 3 soldiers in Tel Afar

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) In a new photo report released by the self-proclaimed Islamic State group and published by ‘Heavy’ website, ISIS militants desecrate the corpses of 3 members of al-Hashd al-Shaabi.

The photo report was released on the extremist group’s Amaq terrorist channel from the so-called Wilayat al-Jazirah.

The accompanying summary of the photo report reads: “3 militants of al-Hashd al-Shaabi are brought down in Sharai Village West of Tal Afar.

In October, US-led coalition, Iraqi Army, Kurdish Peshmerga, Shia militias, Christian militias, and Turkish Nineveh Guard, started the battle to liberate the city of Mosul from the Islamic States’s control. The offensive was launched in October 17 by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

In late November, al-Hashd al-Shaabi began an offensive to push ISIS out of Tel Afar.

ISIS destroying Christian graves in Ninevah

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) A significant damage was inflicted on the graves of Christian people in the liberated areas, including the cities of Bashiqa, Hamdaniyah, Karemlash, as well as Bartella and Tel Skaf in Nineveh Plain by the self-proclaimed Islamic State group (ISIS), after capturing these cities in 2014.

Iraqi channel “ISHTAR” published photos revealing the destruction caused to these graves. The destroyed places included the grave of the Archbishop of the Chaldean Church in Mosul, Martyr Bishop Boules Faraj Rahu. The ISIS members exhumed the Bishop’s grave, located in “Saint Addai the Apostle Church” in Karemlash city, in Hamdaniyah district.

The extremist group imposed its control on the city of Mosul, Nineveh, in 10 June 2014, as well as extending its terrorist activities to other areas in Iraq. The group also committed dangerous violations against civilians, especially minorities, including crimes against humanity and genocides.

35 percent of refugees yet to return to Anbar

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Anbar Provincial Council announced on Wednesday, that 35% of displaced familes didn’t return back to their areas that were liberated from the ISIS grip in the province, due to lack of services and projects.

Member of Anbar Provincial Council Fahed al-Rashed, said in a press statement, “The percentage of displaced families that didn’t return to their liberated areas in Anbar reached 35%, due to lack of services.

“Civilians’ houses were destroyed due to ISIS terrorist attacks, also many displaced children are occupied with studying in the schools of Kurdistan region and other Iraqi provinces,” Rashed added.

“The lack of services and rehabilitation of destructed projects in the cities of Anbar, as well as destruction of national electricity network and civilians houses delayed the return of displaced people,” Rashed explained.

Rashed also emphasized that the council is working to solve all problems to facilitate the return of displaced people.

Kurds receive 300 refugees from Hawija

Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Kurdish Peshmerga troops received on Wednesday 300 refugees fleeing Islamic state-held Hawija to central Kirkuk, a security source has said.

The refugees were admitted to the Leilan camp after they reached a Peshmerga outpost, the source was quoted by AlMada Press as saying. They were mostly women and children.

The southern ad western areas of Kirkuk have been under ISIS militants’ control since 2014. There are more than 600.000 internally displaced people inside Kirkuk, including more than 26.000 from the town of Hawija.

The United Nation’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says there have been more than 3 million internally displaced people in Iraq since violence surged with the Islamic State taking over several Iraqi towns and proclaiming an Islamic Caliphate in 2014.

It said recently that that more than 82.000 fled the city of Mosul as Iraqi troops continue battles to clear the city from ISIS militants.

Hundreds of thousands fled homes to refugee camps, but other remain stranded in suffering under the extremist group’s hold, with many reportedly kept as potential human shields against Iraqi government and tribal troops currently in battles to drive the group out of Iraq.

ISIS executes 10 in Anbar

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Al-Hashd al-Shaabi Command in Anbar province announced on Thursday, that the Islamic State extremist group (ISIS) executed 10 persons, including police officers, by firing squad in central Anah district, west of Anbar.

Commander of al-Hashd al-Shaabi in Baghdadi district, Sheikh Qatari al-Samarmad, said in a press statement, “Members of the Islamic State executed 10 persons, including four police officers, by firing squad, in central the district of Anah, as well as preventing the families from approaching the bodies of their relatives.”

“The heavy losses that were inflicted on the ISIS members in Anbar and Mosul, made them execute civilians and security members, who were abducted by the group during the last three years,” Samarmad added.

“Security forces and tribal fighters are approaching the ISIS-held areas, and preparing to liberate it,” Samarmad said.

Security forces liberated the majority of areas and cities of Anbar from the ISIS control in early 2016, in addition to preparing and securing those area for the return of displaced people.

Yazidi leader seeks protection for community after genocide

(Reuters) The spiritual leader of Iraq’s Yazidis said his people need international help to recover from the worst atrocities they have suffered in more than a century and to reintegrate thousands of women who were enslaved by Islamic State.

Khurto Hajji Ismail, the Yazidi Baba Sheikh, or religious leader, said an edict he issued to reintegrate former captives has helped overcome traditional resistance to accepting back women who were raped or members who converted to another faith, even if it was under force.

Hundreds of women freed from captivity, either by escaping or in return for ransoms, have been baptized as Yazidis again in the spring that runs under temple of Lalesh, a ceremony that symbolized admission into the community.

“Baptism means that you are welcome,” Ismail said in an interview at his residence in Shikhan, in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

Islamic State enslaved thousands of Yazidi women and children when it overran parts of Iraq in 2014.

Thousands of captured men were killed in what a U.N. commission termed a genocide against the Yazidis, a religious community of 400,000 people who live mostly in the Sinjar mountain of northwestern Iraq, near the Syrian border. They speak Kurmanji, a Kurdish language.

Yazidis, whose beliefs combine elements of ancient Middle Eastern religions, are considered infidels by the hardline Sunni Islamists who declared a caliphate over parts of Syria and Iraq.

The militants have been retreating in both countries since last year and are now fighting off a U.S-backed offensive on their major city stronghold, Mosul, where some Yazidi captives are believed to be held. Many were also taken to Raqqa in Syria.

“We spoke with the French, with the Germans, with Washington, we went to Moscow,” said the Baba Sheikh, adding that it was up to the international community to find “the best way” to protect the Yazidis after Islamic State is defeated.

The Baba Sheikh published an edict in February 2015 that those rescued “remain pure Yazidis”, and calling on “everyone to cooperate so that the victims can return to their normal lives and integrate into society.”

However, more than 3,500 remain in captivity, said Hussein Alqaidi, the director of the Kidnapped Affairs department at the Kurdistan Regional Government, the Kurdish self-rule administration in northern Iraq.

A “network of good people”, active in the Islamic State-held region, is helping secure the release of the captives, he told Reuters. He declined to give details of how they operate, but some released captives say ransoms were paid for their freedom.

“The financial aspect is very important, but there are also operations to bring them back by telling them to go to a certain location, and we rescue them from there,” Alqaidi said.

Nearly 2,800 were freed, of which more than 1,030 are women, 1,450 children and 300 men, Alqaidi said.

A former captive, Warida Haji Hameed, said she was freed with her four children after $35,000, or $7,000 for each person, was paid to her captor in Raqqa.

The 27-year-old woman is among those who went to the temple of Lalesh to be baptized again after her forced conversion to Islam. She was released about a year ago and now lives in a camp near the Kurdish city of Duhok.

“We were so happy at the baptism,” she said. “We prayed for those still missing and for my husband,” who was kidnapped at the same time as the rest of the family.

But Heloua Hussein, another ex-captive, said she cannot afford to make the trip to Lalesh. “We have nothing, no heating fuel, no food,” said the 44-year-old, who lives in a construction site in Dohuk with two other Yazidi families.

“The community has in general welcomed them back with love and consideration, and many got married with Yazidi expatriates in Europe,” said Saib Khidir, a Yazidi lawyer and human rights activist in Baghdad.

“But still, the level of violence inflicted on them is such that they need special care and special therapy that unfortunately the local governments are not providing.”

ISIS executes 1 in Aleppo

[ARA News] Aleppo – Radical group of the Islamic State (ISIS) on Thursday executed a young Syrian man by throwing him from the top of a building on charges of being gay.

The victim was arrested by the ISIS-led Islamic Police, also known as Diwan al-Hisba, in the Maskana district east of Aleppo under the pretext that he was “a homosexual”.

“The young man was brutally thrown from the top of a building in front of hundreds of people in central Maskana,” local media activist Issa Battal told ARA News.

ISIS has also released a videotape showing the man’s execution by a masked militant.

“Those who dare to oppose and violate Allah’s Sharia and the Caliphate’s rules deserve merciless punishment,” an ISIS jihadist said in a statement to the crowd that gathered to witness the execution.

The ISIS-linked Sharia Court had issued a decision to execute every gay man by throwing him from the top of a building, according to local sources.

Over the past three years, the extremist group has executed dozens of allegedly gay men in its areas of control in Syria and Iraq.

“Islamic State militants have been carrying out brutal atrocities against civilians, punishing people on baseless charges only to show off their power over unarmed, peaceful civilians,” human rights activist Muzaffar al-Berro told ARA News. “Apparently the group won’t stop such atrocities as long as it controls towns and villages across Syria and governs the people of those areas.”

UN trying to find land for refugee camps outside of Mosul

UNITED NATIONS: The UN is scrambling to find enough land to shelter those displaced by the fighting to retake Mosul from the Daesh group as humanitarians brace for the exodus of as many as 700,000 people from the city, an official said Wednesday.

Bruno Geddo, the UN’s top humanitarian official in Iraq, told The Associated Press that there is currently enough space in camps for 180,000 people.

“That is the thing that makes us somehow sleepless at night. You cannot be complacent when you still one million people inside the city. It is bound sooner or later that you may have tens of thousands of people who come out in flash outflow,” he exlained.

Geddo said he and his colleagues were haunted by the memory of Fallujah where some 65,000 people fled the city over three days during an operation to retake the city from IS in June, quickly overwhelming humanitarian efforts.

He says the UN has learned from that experience and that so far he was pleased that Iraqi forces appeared to be doing their utmost to avoid civilian casualties. The downside of protecting civilians, however, is that slows down operation just as winter is approaching and the prices of water of and fuel are skyrocketing.

“In the end, the choice is theirs. It is a very stark choice.

They may be hit by a land mine or a sniper, ISIS has a policy of killing anybody trying to flee. They may be caught in the crossfire, but if they stay they may also be reached by rockets and otherwise they may be facing penury over the full winter,” Geddo said, using an acronym to refer to the Daesh group.

As of Tuesday, some 82,000 people have fled the city since the military offensive began on Oct. 17, Geddo said, adding that 81 percent of them are currently in camps some 40-80 miles outside the city.

In order to solve the problem, he said, the UN is now considering building camps closer to the city which has the advantage of allowing displaced people to simply walk in.

“Because the camp capacity has now more or less reached its limit, we are now planning to use the fact that the front lines have gotten closer to the city to try and build camps much closer to the city so in the event of a mass outflow, these camps would act as buffers,” Geddo said.

Much of the land around Mosul is contaminated with unexploded ordinance and other detritus of war. In other areas, local communities are likely to violently reject the displaced for being Sunni Muslims. And then other potential areas hold mass graves, which make them unsuitable out of respect for the dead, Geddo said.

Another problem is a lack of funding as the UN has so far received only about half of the $284 million it estimates it needs to deal with the people displaced by the operation.

ISIS robs refugees fleeing Mosul

[al-Manar] Iraqi civilians who escaped ISIL control in Mosul said that the group’s terrorists obliged them to pay money in return for offering them a safe exit from the city where the national army and the mobilization force have been battling the takfiri gunmen since mid October.

The recent method to obtain funds followed by ISIL indicates that the terrorist group has almost reached bankruptcy as the Iraqi forces tightened the noose around its militants in the northern city.

Foreign Policy magazine mentioned that the smuggler who moved the civilians to the city’s outskirts forced them to pay $200 thousand for every person whose age is above 12 years despite the miserable economic situations that the Iraqis suffer from.

The Iraqi army and the Mobilization forces have been striking ISIL terrorist group for several weeks, achieving remarkable field progress by regaining scores of towns and inflicting heavy losses upon the militants.
Posted by: badanov || 12/09/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Baptism? Who knew?
Posted by: Shipman || 12/09/2016 7:37 Comments || Top||



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