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Today: 73 articles and 139 comments as of 15:23.
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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Peshmerga launch massive offensive on ISIS sites in Zammar, Mosul
Today's Headlines
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Afghanistan
13-year-old suicide bomber arrested in Kabul city
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A teenager suicide bomber was arrested by the Afghan national security forces before he manage to carry out an attack in Kabul.

The Afghan Intelligence – National Directorate of Security (NDS), said the 13-year-old suicide bomber was arrested from the 5th police district of Kabul city.

A statement by NDS said the detained bomber was identified as Bilal and he was looking to carry out an attack in a crowded in area in Kabul city.

The statement further added that the teenager bomber has confessed to his crime and has admitted that he was trained outside the country for a period of 45 days on how to carry out insurgency activities.

The detetion of the teenager suicide bomber comes as the Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant across the country, including capital Kabul.

A suicide bomber who was looking to carry out an attack in Kabul city was killed after he was recognized and detonated his explosives in the outskirts of Kabul city this morning, leaving one policeman martyred and three others injured.
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2014 13:36 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan Drone Strike Kills 11, Including 4 Pakistani Taliban
[Ynet] A district governor in Afghanistan said a drone strike killed 11 people, including four Pak Talibs. The strike came a day after the Pak Taliban grabbed credit for an attack on a school in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
that killed at least 140.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/18/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Helmand Attack Ends with 7 Killed
[ToloNews] Fighting inside the Lashkargah, Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
New Kabul Bank branch ended with all five Lions of Islam bumped off, at least seven people including security personnel killed and nine others maimed on Wednesday.

The festivities between the security forces and Lion of Islams, which lasted for three hours, began around 11:30 a.m. after a jacket wallah detonated his explosives at the entrance of the bank making way for other myrmidons, governor's front man Omar Zwak said.

Six civilians and one security guard were killed and five other civilians and four security personnel were maimed in the attack, Zwak added.

He expressed the attack occurred when a number of security personnel were present at the bank receiving their salaries.

Three hours later to the attack, another blast also happened close to the scene, injuring two people. The security officials said the explosives were placed inside a rickshaw.

The Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah
... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun...
in a presser in Kabul condemned the attack.

The Taliban, however, have not commented so far in this regard.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/18/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [22 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Hundreds Of Egyptians Returning From Syria Arrested In Last Year
[Ynet] Hundreds of Egyptians who returned from Syria were incarcerated
I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece!
by state security forces, according to a report in the Al-Hayat newspaper. Around 600 Egyptians were arrested within a year, an official source told the paper.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/18/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
Boko Haram again kidnapped girls and women in Nigeria
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Suspected Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
rebels in an attack at a village in Nigeria's northeastern Borno state have killed 32 men and kidnapped more than 100 girls and women including children.

Villagers of Gumsuri after escaping to Maiduguri, picturesque provincial capital of Borno state, have told media that gunnies attacked their village, killed men and kidnapped girls and women including children on Sunday.

Because of the poor or no electronic communication and poor roads the report is getting late to the media.

Boko Haram in an attack at another village in the same state had kidnapped more than 200 school girls and later announced that the girls were married off to their fighters.

Boko Haram has established an insurgency in Nigeria since five years.
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2014 13:38 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I see Michelle O's hashtag campaign is working swimmingly...
Posted by: Raj || 12/18/2014 15:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Which one? The #bringbackourgirls or the #iwantanother$millionvacation ?
Posted by: Pappy || 12/18/2014 18:39 Comments || Top||

#3  #(domestic)blacklivesmatter.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 12/18/2014 20:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Mars needs women (Part 123)
Posted by: P2Kontheroad || 12/18/2014 21:16 Comments || Top||

#5  I am shocked, SHOCKED, that these girls and women didn't have at least knives with them to stab the raping bastards in the face. Even a sharp stick will do.
Posted by: Charles || 12/18/2014 21:36 Comments || Top||

#6  Even a sharp stick will do

It's possible that not a few of them did just that and were summarily murdered.

Need to replenish the 'stocks'.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 12/18/2014 22:34 Comments || Top||

#7  Appears to be revenge by Boko Haram agz a major local Muslim Leader ...

* TOPIX > [Washington Times] BOKO HARAM KIDNAPS 191, MURDERS DOZENS AS THE GROUP THREATENS MUSLIM LEADER FOR TELLING NIGERIANS TO FIGHT BACK.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/18/2014 22:43 Comments || Top||


Confused Boko Haram hearing "Allahu Akbar!"
“Allahu Akbar!” local Nigerian militiamen known as vigilantes shout as they go into battle against the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram.

They chant partly to bewilder the insurgents and partly because they too believe in the Islamic faith and that they have God on their side in a war in northern Nigeria that is pitting Muslim civilians against militants trying to set up an Islamic State-style caliphate.

“They become confused about who is saying the slogan, we lie down and hide, and as they approach we then open fire on them,” Tasiu Musa, a 40-year-old father of four in Maiduguri, the capital of the northeastern state of Borno, said in an interview last month.

Musa and thousands of other Muslim volunteers like him have taken up arms to defend their towns and cities from Boko Haram, the group whose name roughly translates as “Western education is a sin.” Armed with flintlock muskets and bows and arrows, the militiamen are winning back territory that the army has failed to recapture in Africa’s biggest oil producer.
Flintlocks and bows, forsooth! Click on the headline to go read the whole thing.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 12/18/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Arabia
Huthi Militiamen Seize Yemen State Offices
[AnNahar] Shiite Huthi turbans have stormed government installations in the Yemeni capital, tightening their grip on power in the city they overran in September, witnesses said Wednesday.

Gunmen from the Ansarullah movement occupied the headquarters of the state-owned Safer oil and gas company and barred employees from entering the premises, company sources said.

The movement appointed a new chief for Safer, the country's largest producer of natural gas and second-largest oil producer, the sources told Agence La Belle France-Presse.

In another show of force, turbans stormed the headquarters of state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
and radio, according to sources at both media.

They have said the move is part of their fight against alleged corruption.

The Huthis, who fought authorities for a decade in their northern stronghold, overran Sanaa on September 21 and have since expanded to coastal areas and southern regions, where they faced Sunni tribes backed by al-Qaeda hard boys.

Huthi gunnies have also blocked the entrance to Hudaida port on the Red Sea, and prevented its chief Mohammed Ishaq from reaching his office, witnesses said.

On Tuesday, a group of Shiite turbans broke into the offices of Ath-Thawra newspaper demanding the dismissal of its board chairman, Faisal Makram, a source at the official daily told AFP.

They said they were following orders from their leader, Abdelmalik al-Huthi, "to end corruption in all state institutions."

Armed Huthis also surrounded the defense ministry in Sanaa after having been denied access, a military source said.

In another sign of its weakness, the government of Khaled Bahah lost a parliamentary vote of confidence on Tuesday.

Loyalists of ousted former president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
derailed the vote by leaving the assembly.

Saleh remains influential in Yemen nearly three years after he was forced to step aside following a bloody year-long crackdown on Arab Spring-inspired protests against his iron-fisted rule.

He has been accused of backing the Huthis.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/18/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis

#1  They have said the move is part of their fight against alleged corruption

"Yar! Out with the Old Sunni Corruption™! In with the New Shiite Corruption™!
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2014 8:55 Comments || Top||


Britain
Syria-Bound Girl Removed From Plane On UK Runway
[IsraelTimes] British police stopped a plane on the runway at Heathrow Airport to remove a 15-year-old girl intent on joining Islamist Lion of Islam fighters in Syria, a report said Wednesday.

Counter-terror officers rushed to Europe’s busiest airport and stopped the plane, which was bound for Istanbul, the London Evening Standard newspaper reported.

They ordered the plane to turn around as it taxied down the runway.

The girl, from Tower Hamlets in east London, had secretly saved up to buy a ticket.

The incident occurred earlier this month. The girl has returned to her family, the Standard reported.

“On December 6, police received reports of a 15-year-old girl from Tower Hamlets missing from home,” a Scotland Yard front man said. “Police were able to locate her and she has since returned home safely.”

Heathrow Airport declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

The Standard said the incident would heighten concern about the number of girls and young women traveling to Syria and Iraq.

An estimated 500 Britons have traveled abroad to become jihadists, many with the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
jihadist group.

In August, Britannia’s terror threat level was raised to severe, the second-highest of five levels, meaning that a terror attack is considered highly likely. It came against a backdrop of increasing concerns over aspiring British jihadists travelling to Iraq and Syria to learn terror “tradecraft.”

Several teenagers are among those who have gone abroad to join fighters with Islamic State and other Lion of Islam groups.
Ynet adds:
She was removed from the flight and has since returned home but another girl, also aged 15, who was taken off the plane with her, managed to leave before police could intervene.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/18/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The girl, from Tower Hamlets, East London...

Think of it as Detroit, or south Chicago, with an amazingly similar political bent.

Posted by: Besoeker || 12/18/2014 4:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Why???
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/18/2014 7:15 Comments || Top||

#3  It's the high proportion of Amish?
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/18/2014 7:46 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm leaving on a jet plane,
Don't know when I'll be back again,
Wait, why have we stopped?


Apologies to Peter, Paul & Mary
Posted by: SteveS || 12/18/2014 15:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Let them go just don't let them come back. Whether they live or die in Syria the UK gains.
Posted by: irishrageboy || 12/18/2014 16:46 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Terror leader slain in Dagestan last week identified
Security forces that liquidated a terrorist group in Dagestan last Friday have established the identity of its ringleader responsible for training suicide bombers.

One of the slain militants was identified as Murad Zalitinov, also known as Abu Takhir. A source at the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said, "He was the ringleader of the “Kadar” terrorist group. Since 2013, he was heading the Kadar sector of the Vilayat (Province) of Dagestan, a structural chain of the Imarat Kavkaz international terrorist organization."

Zalitinov has been wanted since 2011. According to police information, Zalitinov was directly involved in arson at a mosque and in shooting hunters in the Karabudakhkentsky district of Dagestan in 2011. He is believed to have murdered an imam in Karamakhi village in June 2012. Abu Takhir was also responsible for training suicide bombers. He was behind the death of Madina Alieva, his Sharia wife, who blew herself up in Makhachkala, Dagestan's capital, in May 2013. In October-December 2013, Zalitinov sent three militants to stage bomb blasts in Volgograd.
Posted by: ryuge || 12/18/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Bulgaria Detains Foreign Suspects Bound For Syria Conflict
[Ynet] Bulgaria has detained three foreigners, wanted in Spain on terrorism charges, who had been on their way to take part in the conflict in Syria, Bulgaria's state security agency (SANS) said late on Tuesday.

The three suspects - two Morrocans and a Brazilian - were held on Monday at a border crossing with Turkey, the agency said in a statement.

Interpol has issued arrest warrants for the three suspects, and extradition procedures would be initiated, the agency added.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/18/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Salafists


Home Front: WoT
American jailed for 15 years for helping Al-Qaeda
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A naturalized American was placed in durance vile
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
for 15 years in Miami on Wednesday for conspiring to provide thousands of dollars to Al-Qaeda and its affiliates in Syria and Somalia, U.S. justice officials said.

Gufran Ahmed Kauser Mohammed, 31, admitted to the court in July that he conspired to provide money and recruits to Al-Qaeda, the Al-Nusra
...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant...
Front in Syria and the Shabaab in Somalia, a Justice Department statement said.

Mohammed, who lived in Dammam, 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...
, and co-conspirator Mohammed Hussein Said were nabbed
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
last year in Saudi Arabia after an undercover sting and brought to Miami by FBI agents.

Mohammed wired Said funds on several occasions for Shabaab rebels. He also agreed to support Al-Qaeda and the Al-Nusra Front by recruiting individuals to fight in the conflict in Syria.

He also gave funds to someone he believed was a fundraiser for jihadist groups but was in fact an undercover FBI agent, leading to his and Said's arrest.

Some of the cash was specifically earmarked for funding attacks on US citizens or the United Nations
...boodling on the grand scale...
.
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2014 13:24 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fundraising to mass kill Americans is 15 years. Seems like it should be a life sentence, but we'll probably capitulate in 15 so maybe 15 is right.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/18/2014 21:45 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
ATC approves bail of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi in Mumbai attacks case
[DAWN] Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, one of the main accused in the Mumbai attacks case, was granted bail on Thursday by an anti-terrrorism court.

The Federal Investigation Agency's prosecutor disagreed with the bail plea. However,
there's more than one way to skin a cat...
Advocate Rizwan Abbasi, the lawyer representing Lakhvi, stood before the court as the bail was approved.

The court has directed Lakhvi to pay surety bonds worth Rs500,000 before he can be released on bail.

Lakhvi is among the seven persons charged with planning and helping carry out the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The six other men facing trial in Adiala Jail for their alleged involvement in Mumbai attacks are Hammad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Younas Anjum, Jamil Ahmed, Mazhar Iqbal and Abdul Majid.

At the time of the attacks, Lakhvi was believed to be the operational head of the banned Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) that has been accused by India of carrying out the attacks in India's financial capital.

Lakhvi along with Zarar Shah was allegedly the key planner of the attack that killed 166 people.

The acceptance of his bail plea came as Pakistain is mourning the deaths of school children and other victims of Tuesday's Taliban massacre and New Delhi has made a visible effort to show solidarity with Islamabad.

The proceedings of the case began in 2009 at the ATC in Rawalpindi and the case was transferred to the ATC in Islamabad the next year.

In April this year however, proceedings came to a virtual standstill as special judge of the ATC expressed his inability to conduct the trial of the seven suspects due to security reasons. This came following a terrorist attack on the district courts in Islamabad in the month of March.
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2014 12:57 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Army chief signs death warrant of six terrorists
[DAWN] Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif has signed the death warrant of six hardcore terrorists, pending execution, by a Field General Court Martial (FGCM), DawnNews reported.

The six bandidos gunnies were convicted by a Field General Court Martial (FGCM) in accordance with the law.

DG ISPR Asim Bajwa announced the decision on Twitter.

The announcement comes one day, after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
had approved the removal of moratorium on the death penalty after Tuesday's terrorist attack in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
.

The army chief described the Peshawar school attack as a "ghastly act of cowardice" and said the perpetrators of the attack were "not only enemies of Pakistain but enemies of humanity".
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2014 12:18 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "not only enemies of Pakistain but enemies of humanity"

AKA Muslims
Posted by: AlanC || 12/18/2014 12:39 Comments || Top||


Fresh air strikes kill 57 terrorists in Tirah
[DAWN] In the aftermath of deadly Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar, Pakistan’s military launched 20 air strikes including “dynamic targeting” killing 57 terrorists in Khyber Agency’s Tirah Valley, Army spokesman said on Wednesday.

Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Maj-Gen Asim Bajwa said in a tweet that the fresh operation was launched after yesterday’s tragic incident, in which at least 145 people mostly school children died.

He said Army Chief General Raheel Sharif, who is back from a swift visit to Kabul, is reviewing the military operation in the militancy-hit tribal area of Pakistan.

Maj-Gen Bajwa added that the operation was ongoing.
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  These Taliban need more fresh air strikes.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/18/2014 8:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Fabreze bombs?
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 12/18/2014 20:19 Comments || Top||


Five TTP militants killed in Karachi clash
[DAWN] Five Pak Taliban were killed Wednesday in a clash with Rangers in the southern port city of Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, a front man for the paramilitary force said.

The Death Eaters opened fire when Rangers raided their hideout in the Mangopir area of Karachi, Rangers front man Sibtain Rizvi told AFP.

"The Rangers retaliated, as a result five bad boyz were potted. The Rangers also recovered automatic weapons and kabooms from the hideout," Rizvi said.

The clash came a day after the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) carried out the deadliest ever attack in the country on a military-run school in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
killing 148 people, mostly children.

The attack bought international condemnation as well as promises of a decisive crackdown on Death Eaters from political and military leaders.

Police have also jugged
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
five suspected members of Al Qaeda's newly formed South Asian chapter suspected of carrying out an attack on a naval dockyard in Karachi in September.

Karachi, a teeming metropolis of around 18 million people, is rife with political, ethnic, sectarian and criminal violence.
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  If they wanted to get really serious, they'd pull out all enjugged TTP inmates and execute them publicly. Set a couple on fire as well
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2014 9:05 Comments || Top||


Iraq
US led coalition foils ISIL attempt to invade Haditha
[IraqiNews.com] Security source assured that the air fighting jets of the international coalition destroyed a huge convoy for the terrorist ISIL organization in Anbar province. On Wednesday.

The source told IraqiNews.com ?Bombardment of the international fighting jets destroyed a convoy of 36 vehicles for the ISIL which were heading towards Haditha district coming from the Syrian borders.?

Separately, an officer within the Iraqi Army/ 10th Division positioned in Sijariya district of eastern Ramadi city confirmed ?The IA forces detonated a weapons cache filled with weapons and ammunition belongs to ISIL in Sijariya district.?
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/18/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  What coalition? Rooters reports today 97% of airstrikes in December have been by US aircraft.
Posted by: Grunter || 12/18/2014 8:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Wrong political party in the Oval office, Grunter.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/18/2014 10:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Isn't the 10th.Division the one that actually fights.
Posted by: bman || 12/18/2014 11:25 Comments || Top||


Iraqi artillery kills, injures dozens of ISIS militants near Fallujah
[IraqiNews.com] On Wednesday, Anbar Operations Command announced, that dozens of ISIS Death Eaters have been killed, while others were maimed in artillery fired by the security forces in Fallujah.

The source informed IraqiNews, ?Iraqi security forces have fired artillery rounds into ISIS sites in east of Fallujah,
... the City of Mosques, which might have somthing to do with why it's not called Center of Prosperity or a really nice place to raise your kids...
? adding that, ?The artillery bombing resulted in killing and injuring dozens of ISIS elements and destroying their sites.?

Earlier today, Iraqi Defense Ministry said in a statement, that the Iraqi security forces managed to kill 15 ISIS elements and destroy an armored vehicle that belonged to them in festivities occurred in southern Fallujah.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/18/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq

#1  Just looking at the various postings today, it looks like ISIS/DASH/ISIL is paying a high price these days.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/18/2014 16:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Not nearly high enuf John, not nearly high enuf.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/18/2014 16:33 Comments || Top||


Kurdish Peshmerga kill 60 ISIS militants in violent clashes, regain control of 7 villages in Zamar
[IraqiNews.com] On Wednesday the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) announced, that the Kurdish Peshmerga forces have liberated seven villages in Zamar district after killing roughly 60 ISIS bandidos Lions of Islam in fierce festivities.

An official source from the KDP said in an interview with IraqiNews, ?Peshmerga forces have regained control over al-Karkmish, Kobanki, Qassij, Faqirouk, Hamu-Kulo and Hanka villages as a result of fierce festivities in the district of Zamar, located in west of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
,? adding that, ?The festivities resulted in killing around 60 ISIS Death Eaters,? and pointing out that, ?the ISIS group leaders have reportedly executed 20 of their own elements for fleeing from the battlefield.

Earlier today, Kurdish officials announced, that the Peshmerga forces began an offensive on ISIS sites in Zammar district, asserting the continual progress of the Peshmerga in the surrounding areas of Mosul.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/18/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  So now that they've taken these areas or towns, can the Kurds hold agz any ISIS counterattacks???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/18/2014 20:39 Comments || Top||


ISIS militants sneak from Iraq, destroy six checkpoints in Jordan
[IraqiNews.com] On Wednesday, the ISIS group gained a foothold on the Iraqi-Jordanian border by destroying six border control posts on the Jordanian side, according to reports by Jordanian activists.

The reports confirmed, that the ISIS group fighters sneaked from Iraq into Jordan and destroyed at least six Jordanian border control posts. Jordan?s army, however, has not yet confirmed the attacks, but if the news is certain, it will add more anxiety to which the Kingdom already has because of the holy warrior group.

Noteworthy, the group had recently recaptured several village from Iraqi forces in west of Anbar province, located in western Iraq, and through which the country shares borders with both Jordan and Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/18/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  ISRAEL had said it may militarily intervene iff JORDAN evar! becomes threatened by the ISIS - looks like it may get its chance.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/18/2014 1:14 Comments || Top||


Peshmerga launch massive offensive on ISIS sites in Zammar, Mosul
[IraqiNews.com] On Wednesday, according to an official source in the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, that the Peshmerga forces launched a massive offensive on ISIS sites in the 3 fronts in Zammar district, west of Mosul, asserting the continual progress of the Peshmerga forces toward their goals.

The source said in an interview for IraqiNews.com, ?This morning, Peshmerga forces launched a massive ground offensive targeting ISIS sites in the vicinity of Zammar, west of Mosul,? adding, ?Hakna, Karez and Kopanki in Zammar area were included in the attack.?

The source, who asked not to be named, said, ?Peshmerga forces are in continual progress in this area.?

Noteworthy, the Peshmerga forces, in October 25-2014, fully regained control over Zammar center, 40 northwest of Mosul.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/18/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraq Kurds in Push to Retake Sinjar Area from Jihadists
[AnNahar] Iraqi Kurdish forces launched a broad offensive on Wednesday aimed at recapturing areas near the Syrian border that have been held by 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....
group for months, officials said.

Among the goals is the Sinjar area, which was home to many members of the Yazidi minority before IS jihadists attacked in early August and forced most of them to flee.

The risk of a genocide against the Yazidis was one of the reasons U.S. President Barack Obama
Republicans can come along for the ride, but they've got to sit in the back...
put forward for launching a campaign of air strikes against the IS group.

The two-pronged push was launched from Rabia, on the border with Syria, and Zumar, on the shores of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
dam lake, said senior officers in the Kurdish army known as the peshmerga.

"Peshmerga forces launched an operation to liberate some important areas in Sinjar and Zumar at 7:00 am (0400 GMT)," a peshmerga brigadier general said.

"The attack is ongoing and has the support of coalition jets which have been targeting IS positions in Zumar and Sinjar (regions) since last night," he told AFP.

The peshmerga had already recaptured three small villages, the officer added.

The chief of staff of Massud Barzani, the president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, said the aim was to reclaim the entire Sinjar area.

"The plan to liberate Sinjar was reviewed by the Kurdish leader and the peshmerga field commanders. God willing, we will liberate it soon," Fuad Hussein said.

The Kurdish security council said in a statement that one of the objectives of the fresh offensive was to "break the siege on Mount Sinjar".

The 60-kilometer-long (40 miles) range was the scene in August of one of the most dramatic episodes of the assault on Iraq the jihadists launched in early June.

IS fighters killed hundreds of residents, kidnapped and enslaved hundreds of Yazidi women and girls and forced tens of thousands of people to seek refuge on Mount Sinjar.

Civilians remained besieged for days in the searing summer heat with little to eat and drink.

The majority of those trapped on the mountain fled when Kurdish forces opened a corridor but, four months on, little has improved for those who are still on the mountain.

Yazidi fighting units that were formed in the wake of the August attack have struggled to control land in the Sinjar area and retreated to the mountain once again in September.

Their only lifeline has been army helicopters flying in daily with supplies and out with civilians who continue to seek refuge on the mountain as a result of IS attacks on surrounding villages.

A few thousand people are still atop Mount Sinjar. Some are residents of the mountain but most are fighters, from various regional Kurdish groups or recently-formed Yazidi militias.

"We are ready, we are waiting for the advancing forces from Rabia and Zumar," said Dawood Jundi, a field commander with the peshmerga.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/18/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


U.S.-Led Aircraft Carry Out 61 Raids in Iraq since Monday
[AnNahar] U.S. and allied warplanes have carried out 61 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....
jihadists in Iraq since Monday, including dozens in support of Kurdish forces, the military said Wednesday.

The strikes backing the Kurdish peshmerga "destroyed approximately 50 targets," the U.S. military command overseeing the air war said.

The air assault represented a spike in the pace of U.S.-led strikes compared to recent days.

The U.S. military did not specify where the 45 strikes took place, but the announcement came as Kurdish forces launched a major offensive around the Sinjar area near the Syrian border.

The Kurdish operation is being staged from two locations: Rabia on the border with Syria and at Zumar along the djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
dam, senior officers in the peshmerga said.

The peshmerga chief of staff, Massud Barzani, who is president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, said the aim was to recapture the entire Sinjar area.

The U.S. military said the air raids in support of the Kurds involved 15 coalition aircraft and the targets hit included "bulldozers, vehicles, checkpoints, enemy fighting positions, enemy fighters, and equipment."

In addition, U.S.-led aircraft carried out 16 other strikes in Iraq, bombing IS Death Eaters near Mosul, Arbil, Tal-Afar, Heet and Ramadi.

In Syria, the coalition conducted six strikes, including five raids around Kobane near the Turkish border, it said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/18/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraq Kurds Launch Sinjar Offensive After Coalition Air Strikes
[Ynet] Kurdish forces launched an operation to retake the town of Sinjar in northwestern Iraq early on Wednesday after heavy coalition air strikes on 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....
positions in the area overnight, Kurdish security officials said.

If the peshmerga succeed in recapturing the town, it would open up a corridor to Sinjar mountain, where hundreds of minority Yazidis have been besieged by IS holy warriors since August.

It would also be a symbolic victory for the Kurds, whose reputation as fearsome warriors was bruised after Islamic State overpowered the peshmerga in Sinjar and killed or captured hundreds of Yazidis.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/18/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Two RKK militants captured in southern Thailand
[The Nation] Two militants from Runda Kumpalan Kecil (RKK) - one of whom is wanted for the 2006 abduction and killing of teacher Juling Pongkunmul - were captured yesterday during a battle between Thai security forces and insurgents in Narathiwat's Rangae district.

The security officers surrounded a house on Monday night looking for RKK leader Amran Ming, who faces more than a dozen national security warrants, when four men inside the house opened fire at them triggering a gun battle. The men then fled into a rubber plantation behind the house.

Early yesterday morning, officers found armed suspect Maruwan Baka hiding and also apprehended the homeowner Iman Kaje. The duo was sent to the 45th Army Ranger base for interrogation.

Maruwan - who is wanted for many cases including Juling's murder and a bombing in Tanyongmas Municipality on July 20 - reportedly admitted that the two men who escaped were Amran Ming and Asri. He allegedly said they had come to Iman's house to prepare for a local attack.

In related news, suspected insurgents hurled three grenades at two policemen's homes at the Bacho police headquarters in Narathiwat on Monday night. Since all the residents were in the front hall, nobody was wounded.
Posted by: ryuge || 12/18/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Security Forces Arrest Several Suspected Terrorists
[AnNahar] State security locked away
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
on Wednesday a Syrian member of the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra
...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant...
Front on suspicion of participating in the battles against the Lebanese army, the state-run National News Agency reported.

NNA said Salah al-Dik was apprehended by state security members in the Bekaa Valley's north.

He is suspected of participating in the festivities with Lebanese troops in the northeastern border town of Arsal in August, it added.

LBCI TV said the army also arrested Syrian Ayad Mohammed Stouf on suspicion of having ties with the gangs entrenched on the Lebanese-Syrian border in Arsal's outskirts.

Another man, which LBCI identified as Khalil Braidi, was apprehended for taking part in the attacks on the army during the Arsal gunbattles.

During the August festivities, fighters from 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....
group and al-Nusra
...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ...
Front held Lebanese servicemen hostage in a cross-border raid on Arsal.

The Death Eaters have already killed four of their captives.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/18/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


IS Jihadists Kidnap Two Kurdish Reporters in Syria
[AnNahar] Militants from 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....
group have kidnapped two news hounds working for the Iraq-based Kurdish TV channel Rudaw in northeastern Syria, the network announced Wednesday.

Rudaw said Farhad Hamo and Massoud Aqeel were kidnapped Monday on the road between the city of Qamishli and the Iraqi border.

"Rudaw Media Network demands the release of both journalists and urges local tribes to play their role in securing their freedom," the company said in an online statement.

It said the pair are freelance journalists on assignment for Rudaw.

The Gay Paree-based press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) also demanded their immediate release.

In its annual report released on Tuesday, RSF said 27 journalists had been kidnapped in Syria in 2014.

It said Syria was the world's deadliest country for media personnel and the territory controlled by Islamic State jihadists in Iraq and Syria one of the world's five most dangerous areas for journalists.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/18/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State



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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2014-12-18
  Peshmerga launch massive offensive on ISIS sites in Zammar, Mosul
Wed 2014-12-17
  Nawaz removes moratorium on death penalty
Tue 2014-12-16
  Taliban slaughter dozens of children at school in Peshawar
Mon 2014-12-15
  Hostages held up by armed gunman in Sydney cafe
Sun 2014-12-14
  Life in Post-Truth America
Sat 2014-12-13
  Haqqani network used child bomber in French school attack: NDS
Fri 2014-12-12
  Nigerian girl, 13, arrested wearing explosives vest
Thu 2014-12-11
  NATO airstrike leaves 17 suspected militants dead in Parwan
Wed 2014-12-10
  PA minister dies after clashes with IDF troops
Tue 2014-12-09
  ISIS Dismantles Oil Refinery In Salahuddin, Plans To Transfer It To Raqqa In Syria
Mon 2014-12-08
  Key commanders of Gul Bahadur group killed in Datakhe strikes: reports
Sun 2014-12-07
  Nine Qaida Militants Killed in Yemen Drone Strike
Sat 2014-12-06
  Shukrijumah dead in Pak shootout
Fri 2014-12-05
  UAE Arrests Suspect in U.S. Teacher Death, Foiled Bombing
Thu 2014-12-04
  80 ISIS Casualties In Air Strikes By US-Led Coalition In Kirkuk

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