[AnNahar] The United States blacklisted two top leaders of Somalia's Shabaab on Tuesday, a day after the Islamist group killed seven people, including four U.N. workers, in a huge bus bombing.
Ahmed Diriye, who took over as the Lion of Islam group's leader in September 2014, and intelligence chief Mahad Karate, were both designated as faceless myrmidons by the State Department.
U.S. officials said the group was behind several atrocities, including the 2013 Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi and the April 2 massacre at Garissa University in Kenya in which 148 people were killed.
Monday's attack on a U.N. staff bus in the northeastern Somali town of Garowe killed seven people including four staff working for the children's agency UNICEF. Four other UNICEF workers were in a serious condition.
Somalia's al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab turbans grabbed credit for the attack, branding the United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... a "colonization force in Somalia."
Dirye, also known as Amhad Umar and Abu Ubaidah, took over from Ahmed Abdi Godane, who was killed in a U.S. air strike in September.
"He shares Godane's vision for Shabaab's terrorist attacks in Somalia as an element of al-Qaeda's greater global aspirations," the State Department said in a statement.
Karate, also known as Abdirahim Mohammed Warsame, "played a key role in the Amniyat, the wing of Shabaab responsible for the recent attack on Garissa University College in Kenya," it added.
The Shabaab was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States in 2008.
[AnNahar] A senior Al-Qaeda leader accused of planning attacks on the United States, Europe and Australia has been nabbed ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... for 20 years in Mauritania for "terrorist activities", a judicial source said on Tuesday.
Younis al-Mauritani was enjugged Book 'im, Mahmoud! in southwestern Pak city of Quetta in 2011 along with two other high-ranking jihadists in a joint operation by U.S. and Pak spy agencies.
He was nabbed ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... on Monday in a closed hearing in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, a judicial source who requested anonymity told AFP.
Mauritani's arrest was seen as huge blow to the global terror network, four months after Al-Qaeda chief the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now among the dear departed, though not among the dearest... was killed in Pakistain by covert U.S. forces.
The Mighty Pak Army said Mauritani was instructed by bin Laden to focus on economic targets in the United States, Europe and Australia.
"He was planning to target United States economic interests including gas/oil pipelines, power generating dams and strike ships/oil tankers through explosive-laden speed boats in international waters," the army said after his arrest.
Western intelligence officials from two separate countries confirmed Mauritani was part of Al-Qaeda's top team and linked to threats against Europe, and he was extradited to Mauritania in May 2013.
Mauritanian authorities had issued an international warrant for his arrest, accusing him of participating in a deadly 2005 attack on an army barracks and a shootout with police in Nouakchott in 2008.
Kidnappings and attacks by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) were frequent when Mauritania's President Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz came to power in 2008.
But he boasts that he has turned his nation into a regional haven of peace thanks to his reorganization of the military and security forces.
The mainly Moslem republic, sandwiched between the west coast of Africa and the Sahara desert, is seen by Western leaders as a bulwark against Al-Qaeda-linked groups.
In 2010 and 2011, Mauritanian troops carried out successful "preventative" raids on AQIM bases in neighboring Mali, before the armed fundamentalists could carry out planned attacks on Mauritania.
[Ynet] A big shot in Yemen's Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... militia said a political agreement had almost been reached to end almost a month of conflict involving Saudi-led air strikes against the group.
Abdel Malek al-Ijri, a member of the Iran-allied movement's politburo, expressed "surprise" at an announcement by a mostly Gulf Arab coalition to end its operation on Tuesday, but said the announcement coincided with progress toward an overall deal.
"We were expecting there to be an agreement on a ceasefire after the signing of a political accord, on which an agreement is almost ready," al-Ijri told Rooters by telephone from Yemen.
[AnNahar] A Saudi-led coalition declared an end Tuesday to its military campaign four weeks after launching air strikes against rebels in Yemen, saying their threat to 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 its neighbors had been removed.
The coalition has "ended Operation Decisive Storm based on a request by the Yemeni government and President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi," its front man, Brigadier General Ahmed al-Assiri, told a press briefing in the Saudi capital.
However, the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits... he said the coalition would continue to impose a naval blockade on Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... and target any movements by the Huthi Shiite rebel forces.
A coalition statement said that the next phase of operations was aimed at resuming the political process in Yemen, delivering aid, and "fighting terrorism" in the country, home to a deadly al-Qaeda franchise.
The Saudi defense ministry said in a statement that the air strikes had managed "to successfully remove threats to Saudi Arabia's security and that of neighboring countries."
This, it added, was achieved "by destroying heavy weaponry and ballistic missiles which were seized by the Huthi militia and forces allied to (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... from army bases and camps."
Operation Decisive Storm began on March 26 and will continue until midnight.
Very odd that they changed state so suddenly. Perhaps this had something to do with it:
[LATimes] Top Obama administration officials have failed for several days to persuade Soddy Arabia’s government to limit the scope of its Arclight airstrikes on cities and towns in Yemen, a campaign that authorities said killed nearly 50 people Monday in Sana, the capital.
But senior US. officials, who were not enthusiastic about the Saudi war plan, are increasingly dismayed by heavy civilian casualties and now believe it highly unlikely that Hadi can be reinstated without a ground invasion. They also worry that the turmoil has allowed Yemen's Al Qaeda affiliate to expand its territory.
The White House would like Soddy Arabia and its Sunni Arab allies to curtail the Arclight airstrikes and narrow the objective to focus on protecting the Saudi border, according to a senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in discussing internal deliberations..
#1
OTOH see WORLD NEWS > [Press TV] MOVE BY SAUDI ARABIA TO END YEMEN [Air] WAR MEANS DEFEAT: LARIJANI.
* JAPAN TIMES, CNN AM > SAUDIS SAY AIRSTRIKES OVER, BUT BOMB YEMEN [Houthi = Rebel] POSITIONS AGAIN.
* YAHOO NEWS > SAUDI ARABIA WILL CONTINUE TO [use any + all means necessary or as pertinent to] STOP HOUTHI ADVANCES IN YEMEN: AMBASSADOR [KSA Amb. to US].
VERSUS
* DAILY STAR.LB > [Former LB PM] HARIRI WANTS "DECISIVE STORM" MOVED TO SYRIA, in order to finally get rid of Baby Assad + Regime.
A SECOND SAUDI-IRAN MILPOL CONFRONTATION SCENARIO LOOMS???
[AnNahar] 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... 's King Salman ...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Cutodian of the Two Holy Mosquesand Lord of Most of the Arabians.... has ordered the National Guard, a ground force that exists apart from the army, to mobilize for operations against rebels in Yemen, the official SPA news agency said Tuesday.
It did not clarify how the National Guard would take part in the operation, which has seen a Saudi-led coalition launch air strikes against the rebels.
SPA quoted National Guard Minister Prince Miteb bin Abdullah as saying he was "honored" by Salman's "decision that National Guard forces take part" in the operation.
He signaled the "complete readiness of all National Guard forces to carry out this role alongside other military bodies" in Saudi Arabia.
The force is to "take part in defending the security" of the kingdom, SPA reported, without elaborating.
Saudi Arabia launched the air war against Iran-backed rebel forces in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... on March 26. It has so far rejected mounting a ground offensive but Saudi troops have clashed with the rebels in border areas.
The National Guard is a parallel army in Saudi Arabia separate from the armed forces run by the defense ministry.
Recruited from tribes that have traditionally backed Saud dynasty rule, it is a pillar of support for the royal family.
It is led by Miteb, the son of the late King Abdullah and educated at the elite Sandhurst military academy.
The guard is a trained army of 100,000 men, divided into infantry units, mechanized brigades, special units and military police.
#1
Which makes me think this isn't over by a long chalk.
The role of the National Guard is to stop the army staging a coup.
I think the likliest reason they have been sent to the border, is to stop the army retreating right back to Riyad, either before or after a ground operation in Yemen.
[Ynet] The White House said on Tuesday that the presence of a US aircraft carrier near Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... is intended to ensure freedom of navigation and commerce in the area.
White House front man Josh Earnest cited energy, among other important commodities, as important shipments near the coast of Yemen that need protecting.
#10
Another virtual red line that will be crossed by the Iranians with no consequence, and any remaining vestige of Champs' willingness to use force except through drone strikes will be gone. Any takers on the odds that the ROE will prohibit any kind of use of force for an interdiction action that meets even verbal resistance?
#12
OOOPPPSSS, my bad, forgot to add TOPIX, WORLD NEWS > UNITED STATES: RUSSIA IS MOVING AIR DEFENSE SYSTEMS INTO EASTERN UKRAINE [separatist regions]INCLUDING NEAR THE FRONT LINES.
Gotta wonder what "commerce" both the Bammer = USA, + Darth Vlad = Russia + Ukraine Separatists, are "protecting" from???
CHINA = has said on the MSM-Net that it will proceed full-steam ahead wid its reclamations or improvements to its "un-challengeable",
"sovereign", Chinese-n-only-Chinese island territories in the SCS.
It's good to know a bit about key players, even if delivered in Squee!! mode.
[AnNahar] He wields enormous power and leads a war against rebels in neighboring Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... for his father King Salman ...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Cutodian of the Two Holy Mosquesand Lord of Most of the Arabians.... , but 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... 's defense minister is still in his early 30s.
Just weeks after he was appointed to the key post in January, Prince Mohammed bin Salman assumed huge responsibility when the kingdom sent its armed forces into conflict.
The young prince has overseen nearly a month of air strikes by a Saudi-led regional coalition against the Yemeni rebels. Eight Saudi troops have also died in skirmishes along the border.
Prince Mohammed, part of a new generation of Saudi rulers, also heads the royal court, is special adviser to his 79-year-old father and sits on two key political and economic councils.
"He is the strong man in Saudi Arabia," a Western diplomatic source said. "Look what this man is controlling," including access to the king.
"He oversees everything important which is going on in this country."
The exact age of Mohammed, who sports a full dark beard, is uncertain.
A biography from the Saudi embassy in Washington does not give his birthdate. Analysts and local media have reported various ages but none higher than 35.
As chief of the royal court he holds "a position of immense power in an absolute monarchy," wrote Bruce Riedel, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer who directs the Brookings Intelligence Project in Washington.
He said Prince Mohammed oversees the kingdom's security in conjunction with Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who headed a crackdown on Al-Qaeda a decade ago, and Prince Miteb bin Abdullah -- minister of the National Guard, a parallel army.
According to a biography from the MiSK Foundation, which Prince Mohammed established for youth development, he had "a professional career of 10 years" and was active in business and philanthropy before entering public service.
In 2009 he became special adviser to his father who was then the governor of Riyadh, before heading his court from 2013 after Salman was named crown prince.
In April last year Prince Mohammed became a state minister and cabinet member, before his appointment as defense minister and chief of the royal court on January 23, the day Salman became king upon the death of his predecessor Abdullah at the age of about 90.
"He has a reputation for being aggressive and ambitious, as might be expected," Riedel said of the prince, whose father also served as defense minister.
The war in Yemen, which the U.N. says has left hundreds dead and thousands maimed, has raised Prince Mohammed's profile even higher.
Newspaper photographs have shown the defense minister receiving his foreign counterparts and, in one case, leaning over and clasping the hand of a maimed Saudi soldier.
On Twitter, which is widely used in the tightly controlled Islamic kingdom, Prince Mohammed has won praise.
"All are impressed by him, he is irreplaceable", one user wrote.
Another called him "a strong and brave personality", although a detractor spoke of "the reckless Saudi who has no experience in war".
The air raids are aimed at reversing the advances of Iran-backed Shiite Houthis and their allies and restoring the authority of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who has fled to Riyadh.
Prince Mohammed is reputed to enjoy good relations with his armed forces, which comprise about 300,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen.
"There is a remarkable fluidity between the politicianship and the senior officer corps who are in charge of the day-to-day operations," said Nawaf Obaid, a visiting fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs who last year authored a proposal for a Saudi defense doctrine.
Prince Mohammed's star could rise even further, according to the diplomatic source, "as long as the war runs well".
[AnNahar] Australian police Tuesday charged a second man with terrorism-related offences, as Prime Minister Tony Abbott urged the public not to be deterred by fears of an alleged plot inspired by 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.... It follows police in Britannia arresting a 14-year-old boy in connection with the purported plan to attack Anzac Day commemorations on April 25 -- when Australia honours its war dead.
Of five men seized in Melbourne on Saturday, Sevdet Besim, 18, remains in jug charged with conspiring to commit a terrorist act.
Another 18-year-old, Harun Causevic, was Tuesday charged with the same offence and remanded in jug, reportedly smiling from the dock at his weeping father.
Two other men, aged 18 and 19, have been released pending further inquiries while another 18-year-old was released but is facing weapons offences.
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04/22/2015 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Turkish police locked away Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! a British family in the capital Ankara after being tipped off that they would try to cross the Syrian border to join 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.... bad boys, a Turkish official said Tuesday.
"We received the intelligence from British police on April 19 that a British couple with four children may cross into Syria to join ISIS," the official told Agence La Belle France Presse on condition of anonymity, using an alternative name for the terrorist group.
Turkish police found out that the couple had crossed from Greece into Kirklareli in eastern Thrace in the European part of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... on April 16.
The man, 33, and the woman, 29, have four children including a baby.
"Turkish police tracked the couple and arrested them in a hotel in the Ostim district of Ankara 24 hours after Britannia's notification," according to the official.
"The family, which is now being held by Ankara police, is expected to be deported by the end of this week."
Turkey has long been criticised by its Western allies for not doing enough to halt the flow across its territory of European nationals seeking to join IS bandidos Death Eaters in Syria.
It was sharply criticised over the failure to stop three British teenage girls who crossed the Turkey-Syria border to join IS in February.
In recent months, Turkish police have arrested a number of mostly British suspects bound for the war-torn country. Turkey has called for increased cooperation with European countries on intelligence-sharing to stem the flow of would-be European jihadist.
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04/22/2015 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] LAHORE: Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... IG Mushtaq Sukhera has said all the suspects involved in lynching two people in Youhanabad were identified with the cooperation of Christian community.
Their challan ... list of charges ... of the case has been submitted in the court, the IG told news hounds during an informal meeting at his office on Tuesday.
He said measures had been taken to improve the police-public relations.
As a pilot project, computerised complaint handling centres had started functioning at 10 cop shoppes of the city. In the presence of civilian staff, people could now easily get redress with regard to their complaints at these centres.
"Steps have also been taken to ensure lodging of FIR in time. Expediting the investigation process, computerised record management and elimination of corruption at cop shoppe level would help improve the image of the force," he said, adding that the administrative matters of these centers would be supervised by the SPs concerned.
LONDON – It will take more than the ongoing bombing campaign to end the atrocities of the Islamic State (ISIS), said former UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, adding that a genuine commitment by neighboring countries is needed.
“A comprehensive resolution of the conflict is urgently needed,” Brahimi wrote in an opinion article published on Project Syndicate last Friday. “But this will be possible only if the main regional players – Iran, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey – work with the international community to generate the political will to act.”
“Unfortunately, there are few signs that such cooperation will happen anytime soon,” he said.
Brahimi said he believes that the international community looked far too long as the Syrian civil war spiraled out of control and claimed the lives of more than 200,000 people and displaced more than 3 million, while admitting that his own efforts as the UN special envoy to Syria to bring all the warring parties to the negotiation also failed.
#1
Maybe they can all get together and have a neighborhood party. At Assad's place. He has a pool. At least, he buys a lot of chlorine. Snark of the Day
Posted by: ed in texas ||
04/22/2015 7:19 Comments ||
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#2
Let's see, that's: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, KSA, Iran and Kuwait.........oh yeah and Israel.
There's a fearsome group for you. They all love each other and are just dying to help, right?
Follow-up on this story from yesterday. Herewith the original Spiegel report, with diagrams and details.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/22/2015 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Well, if it's run by Saddam's officers, they should've kept better control of korananimals they've recruited. At least, kept the later's passion for YouTube posting under control. Now ISIS has the whole World against it.
[AnNahar] U.S. forces have no reason to think 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.... leader His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ...formerly merely the head of ISIL and a veteran of the Bagram jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us... was maimed in an air strike against an Iraqi target last month, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
British daily The Guardian had earlier reported that the bully boy, who styles himself caliph of the jihadists' territory in Iraq and Syria, had been "seriously maimed" in an allied raid.
But Pentagon front man Colonel Steve Warren told news hounds the report appears to have been "recycled" from a March story and that Baghdadi had not been a target of the raid in question.
"We said that there was nothing to indicate that Baghdadi had been maimed or killed," Warren said. "There's nothing to indicate that there's been a change."
U.S. and allied Western and Arab forces are engaged in an air campaign against Baghdadi's so-called Islamic State, a jihadist group that has seized cities in Syria and northern Iraq.
U.S. and Iranian-backed Iraqi forces and Shiite militias have made some progress in recent weeks against the Sunni bully boys, but the group has itself launched an offensive in western Iraq.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/22/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Not that I would believe it but lets say for the sake of argument that Mullah Omar got Al-Baghdadi ....
On Sunday, the Eastern Orthodox Church appealed to the international community to help discover the fate of two senior clerics kidnapped in Syria’s northern Aleppo province two years ago.
On April 22, 2013, gunmen abducted Archbishop Gregorius Yohanna Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church and Bishop Boulos Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church in the Kfar Dael area.
Nothing has been heard of them since then.
“We hope the bishops are alive, but unfortunately the whole world remains silent, and nobody has provided us with material proof,” said the patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Antioch, Yohanna Yazigi (John X of Antioch), the brother of one of the kidnapped prelates.
Speaking in Lebanon, he called on “the entire international community and international organisations to mobilise” and discover the fate of the missing men, Lebanon’s ANI news agency reported.
“We have tried to negotiate with everyone who can help in this affair, but unfortunately there is total silence,” Yazigi said.
Tens of thousands of people have been kidnapped or reported missing in Syria since the conflict there began four years ago, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor says.
Beirut, Lebanon – The Syrian conflict has overshadowed the situation of the diverse minority groups, amid the regime’s attempts to present itself as minorities-protector against terrorism and the mounting concerns about the fate of these communities under the growing power of extremist groups across the country.
A Syrian minority groups that has survived the four-year war is the Druze community, which has tried to stay impartial regarding the conflicting parties in an attempt to avoid possible attacks by certain groups.
Mount Simaq, a Druze-inhabited area in the northwestern countryside of Syria’s Idlib, is surrounded by 17 small villages of no more than 30,000 residents, but the population currently exceeds 50,000 after sheltering many displaced people from the embattled areas of Idlib province.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
LONDON – It will take more than the ongoing bombing campaign to end the atrocities of the Islamic State (ISIS), said former UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, adding that a genuine commitment by neighboring countries is needed.
On Sunday, the Eastern Orthodox Church appealed to the international community to help discover the fate of two senior clerics kidnapped in Syria’s northern Aleppo province two years ago.
