[BBC] A suicide attack on a convoy belonging to the Nato mission in Afghanistan has killed at least eight people in Kabul, officials say.
The victims were all civilians, a government spokesman said. About 25 other people were injured, including three US service members.
The attack on the group of military vehicles happened next to the US embassy during the morning rush hour.
So-called Islamic State (IS) said it was behind the attack.
The group has been in Afghanistan since 2015 and has claimed several attacks in the country recently.
Two of the vehicles were badly damaged, along with several other passing cars, AFP reports. Windows were shattered up to several hundred metres away from the scene.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A jacket wallah was killed after attacking a convoy of the foreign forces in eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province of Afghanistan.
According to the local government officials, the incident took place around 3 pm local time in Bati Kot district.
The officials further added that the convoy of the foreign forces was travelling in Barikab area when they were targeted by the suicide bomber.
According to the local officials, the foreign forces did not suffer any casualties in the attack.
The foreign forces were on their way from Bati Kot district to Jalalabad city, the thriving provincial capital of Nangarhar when their convoy was attacked, the officials added.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/03/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Talibs have killed at least twenty seven Death Eaters affiliated 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.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group in eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province of Afghanistan.
The provincial government in a statement said the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... Lions of Islam killed twenty ISIS fighters during a clash in Chaparhar district.
The statement further added 15 ISIS Lions of Islam were killed during the Arclight airstrikes conducted by the US forces in the same district.
The Death Eaters were targeted during the separate Arclight airstrikes conducted in Aghaz, Spin Jumat, and Kandi areas of Chaparhar.
The anti-government armed bully boy groups including the Taliban Lions of Islam and ISIS Death Eaters have not commented regarding the report so far.
Nangarhar has been witnessing persistent counter-terrorism operations since last year and currently the Afghan forces are conducting the operations under the name of Hamza operations to eliminate the presence of ISIS-K Death Eaters from its restive districts.
Clashes between ISIS and Taliban bully boy broke out earlier this week in Chaparhar district.
The local officials said Monday that 21 Taliban Lions of Islam and 7 ISIS fighters were killed during the first day of the festivities.
The officials further added that two civilians including a child were also killed and five others including children were maimed.
The Taliban Lions of Islam and ISIS loyalists also clashed in northern Jawzjan province of Afghanistan that lasted for several days and at least 91 Death Eaters from both the sides were killed.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/03/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[SHABELLENEWS] The African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... forces in Somalia (AMISOM) were reported to have engaged in a fierce shootout with Al shabaab murderous Moslems in Lower Shabelle region.
The skirmish happened in the vicinity of No. 50 area, when armed fighters belonging to Al shabaab tried to storm an army outpost manned by Burundian soldiers serving with AMISOM.
There were unconfirmed reports of casualties on both sides.
The murderous Moslems encountered a fierce resistance from AU troops during the battle, according to local authorities who also confirmed that several non-combatants were killed in the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/03/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)
[SHABELLENEWS] At least One person died and four others were maimed after Somali government soldiers have opened fire on a passenger bus near Afgoye district, some 30Km southwest of Mogadishu.
The passenger bus came under attack as it left Afgoye, and en route to Wanlaweyn town.
The bus attack comes as more 16 illegal roadblocks were set up on the main road linking Afgoye to Wanwalweyn, both located in Somalia’s Southern Lower Shabelle region.
The commanders of Somali military in the region did not release any statement regarding to deadly shooting on the civilian vehicle, that left one dead, and four severely maimed.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/03/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)
CAIRO: A powerful local tribe in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula says it killed eight suspected Daesh fighters in battle and captured three more.
The Tarabeen tribe has clashed repeatedly with a local Daesh affiliate in recent weeks, opening a new front against the insurgency raging in the northern Sinai, which borders Gaza and Israel.
Moussa Al-Delh, a senior member of the tribe, said the clashes broke out Tuesday in the town of Rafah along the Gaza border, and that no tribesmen were killed.
Egyptian security forces have been battling the extremists in the northern Sinai for years. The insurgency grew far more deadly following the military overthrow of an elected Islamist president in 2013. Daesh has claimed three recent church bombings on the mainland that killed dozens of worshippers.
Posted by: badanov ||
05/03/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[Dhaka Tribune] Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit has tossed in the calaboose Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! suspected chief of the IT section of banned bad boy outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team from Bhatara area in Dhaka.
The arrestee is Md Ashfaq-Ur-Rahman Ayon alias Arif alias Anik.
DMP Deputy Commissioner (media) Masudur Rahman confirmed the matter to the Dhaka Tribune Tuesday morning.
He said the bad boy outfit’s IT chief Ashfaq was detained Monday night.
Details regarding the matter will be disclosed in a press briefing later in the day.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/03/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Ansarullah Bangla Team (AQIS)
[EURASIANET.ORG] Reports that the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... have captured the Zebak district Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province, under 40 kilometers from the Tajik town of Ishkashim, is eliciting no evident alarm in Dushanbe.
By some accounts, government troops have been forced to retreat back to the Afghan town of Ishkashim, which lies just across the Panj River from its Tajik namesake. Recent Taliban conquests have also taken other Badakhshani districts Yamgan and Warduj.
Residents in the Tajik Ishkashim have told EurasiaNet.org that sound of combat can even be heard from their town.
The head of the Ishkashim district, Zikruhudo Samadov, told EurasiaNet.org that he is receiving daily updates about events in neighboring Afghanistan.
"Today we received a report about how fresh Afghan troops have been dispatched to Zebak to try and win back the territory. Fresh troops have also been dispatched to our border and so it is under control. We have no reports of incursions into our territory," Samadov said.
Samadov said that a regional medical clinic in the Tajik Ishkashim is currently treating five Afghan officers maimed in combat in Zebak. The clinic is expecting to receive another 10 soldiers in need of treatment, he said.
Afghan troops are conveyed to Tajikistan for hospitalization in such instances under the terms of an intergovernmental agreement signed in 2012.
The word coming from Afghanistan is that the loss of Zebak may have been down to a simple shortfall in armaments. RFE/RL has cited one maimed soldier in Ishkhashim as saying that he was involved in a battle that raged for four hours.
"For three hours, we had no ammunition, and we got no backup. The enemy came to our outpost and captured the territory. Most [of our men] were killed. I was luckier. First they sent me to Ishkashim in Afghanistan, and then on to Tajikistan," the soldier said.
The fall of the Zebak district might be expected some level anxiety since it is roughly equidistant from Tajikistan and Pakistain. That said, although the Taliban is creeping ever closer to Tajikistan, there is likely no immediate cause for alarm, since the group has displayed little interest in crossing over Afghanistan’s northern borders.
Late last month, the Taliban circulated a statement declaring the start of a spring offensive they have dubbed Operation Mansouri, in tribute to the late Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, a Taliban leader killed in a US dronezap in Pakistain’s Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... Province last May. The Taliban have said they intend in large part to aim their attacks at "occupation" forces in a bid to force them out of Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/03/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
[DW] French authorities have detained five men and seized weapons in anti-terrorist operations across the country. Security is tight after recent Islamist attacks and the upcoming presidential runoff.
Anti-terrorism squads jugged Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! five people across La Belle France on Tuesday, just days before the second round of the presidential election.
The raids took place in towns near the cities of Rouen and Lille in northern La Belle France, and in Roanne in the central part of the country.
The suspects are between 18 and 24 years old. Weapons were also seized during the raids, including pistols and machine guns, a source told the Agence La Belle France-Presse. The guns belonged to a man close to one of the suspects, who legally owned the weapons.
The raids come just two weeks after a deadly attack on a French policeman on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Gay Paree. The so-called "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.... " (IS) grabbed credit for the attack.
It is not certain if Tuesday's raids were in relation to the election on Sunday or the April 20 attack.
Police carried out three separate raids on Tuesday morning, arresting five people and seizing heavy weapons.
Police made the arrests on Tuesday morning in Roanne in central La Belle France, and also in Rouen and Villeneuve-d'Ascq in the north (marked on the map below as 2, 1 and 3 respectively).
It's understood that officers seized heavy firearms at the raid in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, reported Le Gay Pareeien newspaper.
French anti-terror police on Tuesday jugged Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! four men and one woman and seized weapons in raids just days before the presidential election run-off, sources say.
Two pistols and two machine guns found during one of the raids, a source close to the case says.
Some of the suspects were in touch on social media or the internet and some of their messages made authorities fear they were planning violent acts, the source adds.
[SHABELLENEWS] Dutch prosecutors say police have enjugged Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! a Dutch man with a Somali background on suspicion of "involvement with a terror organization" in Somalia.
The National Prosecution Office said in a statement Tuesday that the 22-year-old suspect was detained last Wednesday in the southern town of Sint-Oedenrode based on information from the Netherlands’ General Intelligence and Security Service.
Prosecutors say the man, whose identity was not released, is suspected of playing an active role since last year with Death Eater group al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... in southern Somalia.
Prosecution front man Wim de Bruin says the suspect is scheduled to appear before an investigating judge Wednesday in Rotterdam.
Prosecutors want the judge to extend the suspect’s detention while investigations into his activities continue.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/03/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)
#1
Hans?
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/03/2017 8:43 Comments ||
Top||
[DAWN] TAXILA: Two suspected bad boyz were potted in an exchange of fire with law enforcement agencies in Wah Cantt early on Monday.
Subdivisional Police Officer Taxila circle Sajid Gondal told newsmen that Rangers were conducting a search operation in connection with the ongoing operation Raddul Fasaad in Pind Mallhi Road area when the suspected Death Eaters opened fire on them from an under-construction house.
In retaliation, the law enforcement agencies killed two suspected terrorists.
In retaliation, the law enforcement agencies killed two suspected terrorists.
The suspects were identified as Sifatullah, a resident of Charsadda, and Mohammad Abbas of 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. .
They were living in the under-construction house owned by Mohammad Sohail in the guise of traders. A trader union card was also recovered from their hideout.
The law enforcement agencies also claimed to have recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition, including a boom jacket, four grenades, one Kalashnikov with 25 rounds and a 30-bore pistol with seven rounds from the hideout.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/03/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
[DAWN] PARACHINAR: One soldier laid down his life during a shootout with suspected forces of Evil in central division of Kurram Agency ...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora... on Monday. A captain and another soldier suffered injuries in the clash.
Officials said that helicopter gunships were engaged to assist the troops on the ground and several forces of Evil were killed in shelling.
However, facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable... the claim could not be verified from independent sources.
Clashes erupted in the Gundau Zawa area, adjacent to the Tirah Valley in the Khyber tribal region. The incident coincided with Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa’s visit to the Tirah Valley.
The dear departed soldier was identified as Ismail while the injured were Captain Ghafar and Naik Khizar.
Later, the troops launched an operation in the area to trace the bad boys.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/03/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
[AA.TR] A "senior" al-Qaeda member was killed in last week’s U.S. dronezap in the restive North Wazoo tribal region, a Pak intelligence official said on Tuesday.
Iraqi Abdul Raheem -- in his mid 30s -- was an "important" commander of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and Afghanistan, the official told Anadolu Agency wishing not to be named as he was not allowed to speak to media.
At least eight suspected Death Eaters loyal to Tehrik-e-Taliban ...Arabic for students... Pakistain (TTP) were killed in the dronezap -- the first since President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... took office -- on April 26 on the outskirts of the town of Datta Khel, which borders neighboring Afghanistan.
The U.S. carried out the last dronezap in May 2016, when former Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansur was killed in southwestern province of Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... More than 3,450 people have been killed in 416 dronezaps in Pakistain since 2004, local media reports said.
According to international think tanks and human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... groups -- including Amnesia Amnesty International and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism -- 70 percent of drone victims were unarmed civilians.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/03/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
Basra (IraqiNews.com) A child was killed, another was injured due to a blast that occurred north of Basra city, an informed security source said on Tuesday.
Speaking to Shafaq News, the source said that the child was killed, while another one was wounded as mortar missile fell on al-Karma region, north of Basra.
Violence and armed conflicts claimed the lives of 317 Iraqis, and caused injuries to 403 others during the month of April, according to a monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI).
The total figure of victims signalled a drop from March’s 1115.
Nineveh, where U.S.-backed Iraqi government troops are caught up in battles against Islamic State militants in Mosul since October, came on top of the most affected governorate, with 276 casualties (153 killed, 123 injured). Baghdad Governorate came next with 55 killed and 179 injured. Salahuddin came third, with 15 killed and 43 injured.
Violence in the country surged further with the emergence of Islamic State Sunni extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria.
Islamic State is believed to have begun escalation of attacks outside Mosul, where the group has been losing ground and personnel since October.
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militant in charge of one of the group’s defense lines was killed by a sniper in the vicinity of Tal Afar town, west of Mosul, a local source in Nineveh province said.
Speaking to AlSumaria News on Tuesday, the source said, “IS official, called Abu Yusuf, in charge of one of the group’s important defense lines in the vicinity of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, was killed by a sniper shot coming from the side of a checkpoint of the paramilitary troops.”
“Abu Yusuf is one of the main leaders of IS in Tal Afar. He was nominated for the position of the military emir,” the source, who preferred anonymity, added.
Tal Afar is one of the important strongholds still held by IS in Nineveh.
The group has sustained severe losses in personnel and ground since an offensive was launched in mid October to retake Mosul, the second-largest Iraqi city and the militants’ last urban stronghold in the country.
The number of Islamic State fighters remaining in Mosul are estimated by Iraqi troops at 200 to 300, mostly foreigners, down from nearly 6,000 when the offensive started.
Eastern Mosul was recaptured from IS in January, after a US-backed offensive was launched in October. A new offensive started in February to retake the west.
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State members were killed as Iraqi troops targeted regions held by the militants in the west of Mosul, according to the army’s elite Counter Terrorism Service (CTS).
“CTS and Rapid Response troops arrived at Halila village and began targeting IS militants in districts of 17 Tamuz, Mesherfa, al-Najjar and al-Refaie, in western Mosul,” Ali Mohsen, of the army, told BasNews on Tuesday.
“More than 30 militants were killed, arms and stores of weapons were destroyed,” he added.
Security forces were able to gain control on wide parts in al-Zanjili district, Mohsen said in previous statements on Monday.
Islamic State is claimed to be in control of nearly 30 percent of territory in western Mosul, according to Iraqi generals.
The number of IS fighters remaining in Mosul are estimated by Iraqi troops at 200 to 300, mostly foreigners, down from nearly 6,000 when the offensive started.
Over four million persons were displaced inside the country since emergence of IS in 2014.
Iraqi troops, backed by U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary troops, took over eastern Mosul from Islamic State in January, after three months of battles. A new offensive was launched in February to retake the western side.
Posted by: badanov ||
05/03/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
Samarra (IraqiNews.com) Two Iraqi policemen were killed and three paramilitary fighters were wounded Tuesday when two Islamic State suicide bombers attacked their checkpoint in Samarra, south of Salahuddin.
The Salahuddin Operations Command said police imposed a brief curfew at the area following the attack. It said an earlier attack by five bombers targeted another checkpoint north of Samarra, but left no casualties.
Islamic State militants have intensified attacks targeting government and paramilitary forces at Salahuddin and neighboring Diyala over the past few months.
On Monday, Iraqi army commanders said army forces killed 30 Islamic State members and took over a command center on the borders between Anbar and Salahuddin provinces.
Borders conjoining Anbar, Salahuddin and Diyala have witnessed occasional attacks by Islamic State against government and paramilitary troops deployments since Iraqi forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and PMus, launched a major offensive to retake areas occupied by IS since 2014, most notably the city of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city and the group’s most important stronghold in the country.
Observers have said Islamic State’s occasional attacks against security and civilians outside Mosul aimed at distracting security attention from the Mosul front. IS still holds a few areas in Salahuddin, Diyala, Anbar and Kirkuk, but the Iraqi government, employing most of its military power in the Mosul campaign, is expected to aim at those strongholds once the battle in Mosul realizes victory.
Iraqi generals say IS militants currently control less than seven percent of Iraqi territory.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq says violence in Iraq left 720 people dead and wounded in April. Google Map at the link
Posted by: badanov ||
05/03/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
Kirkuk (Reuters/IraqiNews.com) Gunmen shot dead a senior official of Iraq’s state-run North Gas Company (NGC) on Tuesday as he was heading to his office in the northern oil city of Kirkuk, police and company sources said.
Deputy NGC manager Mohammed Younis, an Iraqi Kurd, and his driver were killed instantly when assailants in a speeding car fired on their vehicle, police sources said.
No claim of responsibility for the killings has been made.
Kirkuk has a mixed population of Kurds, Turkmens and Arabs. It has been under Kurdish control since June 2014, when Islamic State overran the northwest of the country and Iraqi security forces collapsed.
The Iraqi government have been repeatedly urged to expedite security efforts to liberate regions held by Islamic State in Kirkuk, but the government is currently employing its full military power to retake Mosul, IS’s biggest stronghold in Iraq.
The Iraqi government is expected to launch an offensive to retake IS-held areas in Kirkuk once it is done with eradicating IS from Mosul, the group’s biggest bastion in Iraq.
Posted by: badanov ||
05/03/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
Deputy NGC manager Mohammed Younis, an Iraqi Kurd, and his driver were killed instantly when assailants in a speeding car fired on their vehicle
Apparently having longer arms is not a sufficient defense.
Rutba (IraqiNews.com) Ten Iraqi army soldiers were killed and six were wounded Tuesday when Islamic State militants attacked an army command facility in western Anbar, according to news reports.
Sky News Arabia said the attack on al-Sakkar region in al-Rutba left four soldiers killed and five others wounded in an initial toll.
Islamic State militants, who have held a handful of towns in western Anbar since 2014, have recently escalated attacks against government and paramilitary troops in Rutba. An earlier attack on Sunday left two soldiers dead and eight wounded.
fighter jets have regularly pounded locations held by the Islamic State at the stronghold towns of Annah, Qaim and Rawa, killing dozens of militants. Thousands of civilians are thought to be held in Islamic State captivity at those locations.
It is widely expected that the Iraqi government will launch a major security offensive in Anbar once it is done with its U.S.-backed campaign to drive out IS from Mosul, the group’s principal stronghold in Iraq, which has been running since October 2016. Military officials have been quoted over the past few weeks telling of preparations to invade IS havens in the province with the backing of the international coalition and tribal militias. Google Map at the link
Posted by: badanov ||
05/03/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[ARA News] The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Tuesday liberated the town of Tabqa, one of the key strongholds for the Islamic State’s (ISIS) jihadist fighters in Raqqa province, officials reported.
Dr. Nasr Haji Mansour, a senior SDF advisor, said in an exclusive interview with ARA News that the SDF took over the final ISIS positions in Tabqa, but that clashes continue.
“The SDF recaptured the remaining three neighbourhoods of Tabqa after heavy clashes with ISIS terrorists. Both the new and old city of Tabqa were liberated on Tuesday,” Mansour confirmed.
The official also reported ongoing clashes between the US-backed SDF troops and ISIS militants in the district of Misherfeh.
“However, there are still some parts of the body of Tabqa Dam [near the town of Tabqa] under ISIS control,” Mansour told ARA News.
Furthermore, SDF fighters managed to trap ISIS militants near the dam and clashes continued, the SDF general command said in statement on Tuesday evening.
The SDF leadership added that clashes broke out again in the three liberated neighbourhoods where a number of ISIS militants appeared to have hidden themselves among civilians.
“Right now heavy clashes are taking place by heavy and light weapons in these neighbourhoods,” the SDF said in a statement. “After clean up operations, ISIS militants surprisingly appeared again dressed up as civilians.”
Until now nearly 95 per cent of Tabqahas been liberated by the US-backed SDF forces, amidst continuing clashes.
Meanwhile, Rojda Felat, the commander of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) and a leading commander in the offensive to retake the de facto ISIS capital Raqqa, has denied reports that Tabqa has been fully taken.
Jesper Söder, a Swedish SDF member, told ARA News: “We are advancing in to Tabqa area everyday. But there is really hard resistance from Daesh [ISIS].”
“So, we thought that the operation for the city would start in April, but Daesh have put up a hard fight. I think we should have beaten them in Tabqa already, but they have good positions to defend themselves and even from aircrafts,” Söder said, adding: “A lot of human shields are being used by Daesh [ISIS].”
“Several suicide cars and bombers are daily used by Daesh [ISIS] from Tabqa and surrounding fronts to Raqqa,” he told ARA News.
Posted by: badanov ||
05/03/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[ARA News] Heavy clashes took place over the past two days between Kurdish fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Turkey-backed Islamist rebels in Syria’s northern Aleppo province, military sources reported on Wednesday.
The clashes centred in the Kurdish-populated Afrin District, in northwestern Aleppo.
“At least four pro-Turkey militants were killed by YPG fire in Afrin during renewed clashes on Tuesday,” a YPG officer told ARA News.
Supported by the Turkish Army forces, Syrian rebel groups attacked the YPG-held villages of Hamam, Meranaz and Ain Daqna in the Jinderis sub-district of Afrin. Activists reported scores of civilian casualties during the bombardment.
“In response to this aggression by Turkey and its mercenaries [Islamist rebels], the YPG bombed two positions for the Turkish Army outside Afrin [near the Turkish border], causing the destruction of several vehicles,” the YPG official told ARA New.
This comes amidst growing tensions between US-backed Syrian Kurds and Turkey.
On April 25, the YPG General Command based in Qereçox in Syria’s northeastern Hasakah province was bombed by warplanes belonging to the Turkish government. Turkey also hit the YPG Press Center, the command affiliated institutions, the Denge Rojava Radio building and other points belonging to the Syrian Kurds. “The Turkish attacks caused the death of 20 of our comrades and the injury of 18 more,” the YPG said.
After the attacks, US troops visited the bombed area. The American forces also patrolled the border between Rojava and Turkey on 28 April to prevent more attacks.
Furthermore, on 30 April, Russian troops were deployed near Afrin to inspect the border with Turkey to deter more Turkish attacks.
Posted by: badanov ||
05/03/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[13 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
Homs (SyrianNews.media) Syrian army troops managed, on Monday, to retake several villages, strategic locations and oil wells in the eastern countryside of Homs, as well as driving out the Islamic State militants, SANA News Agency quoted a military source on Monday.
The military source said that the army managed to recapture the villages of Rajm al-Kasr, al-Rajm al-Aali and Rajm Dergham, and imposed its control over al-Medraja hills, al-A’lam al-Gharbeya, al-Treks, Sha’er communications station, Sha’er Lab, Qarat al-Bak and Thanyat al-Ruz Mountain.
The army forces also recaptured the oil wells number 103, 108, 110, 112, and approached the main oil well number 105 in al-Sha’er oil field, the source added.
Furthermore, the offensive resulted in eliminating large number of the Islamic State’s militants, in addition to destroying their vehicles and equipment, the source explained.
Meanwhile, social media websites revealed that the Syrian army advances into the eastern countryside of al-Makhram, and recaptured al-A’lam hill near Umm al-Sehreej city.
Daraa (SyriaNews.media) The Syrian army troops killed several members of al-Nusra Front and the affiliated Takfiri groups in the city of Daraa.
A military source told SANA that the Syrian army troops conducted intensified strikes on the terrorist groups in the neighborhoods of Tareeq al-Sad, al-Abbasiyah, al-Forn, al-Jumrok and Beer al-Shayah, southeast of Daraa.
The air strikes also resulted in the killing of a number of terrorists, in addition to destroying strongholds and armed vehicles, the source added.
Takfiri groups, mostly mercenaries who sneaked through the Syrian-Jordanian borders, are deployed in several areas of Daraa. Google Map at the link
Posted by: badanov ||
05/03/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[AlAhram] At least 32 people were killed on Tuesday in an 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 attack near a refugee camp on the Syrian side of the border with Iraq, a monitor said.
"At least five suicide kaboomers blew themselves up outside and inside a camp for Iraqi refugees and displaced Syrians in Hasakeh province," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Heavy festivities then erupted between the IS fighters and members of the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, some of whose combatants were among the dead, Abdel Rahman told AFP.
The camp lies in the Rajm al-Salibeh area just inside Syrian territory, and at least 21 of the dead were displaced Syrians or Iraqi refugees, the Observatory said.
"At least 30 people were maimed, and the corpse count may rise because some people are at death's door and others are still unaccounted for," the Britannia-based monitor said.
The US-backed SDF has captured swathes of northern Syria from IS, and in recent days overran most of the strategic Euphrates Valley town of Tabqa.
The battle for Tabqa is an important part of a broader offensive for IS's main Syrian stronghold, Raqa, downstream.
A Kurdish activist says the victims are mostly women and kiddies displaced from the conflict. He spoke on condition of anonymity fearing for his safety.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/03/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[ARA News] The Islamic State group (ISIS) on Tuesday killed over 37 refugees in a massacre at the Rajam Sleiby border crossing in Syria’s northeastern Hasakah province, attacking it from the Iraqi side of the border, senior officials told ARA News.
Abdulkarim Omer, the head of foreign relations at the Cezire [Hasakah] Canton in Syria’s Kurdish region-Rojava, told ARA News that at least 37 civilians were killed in the ISIS-led attack.
“The Rajam Sleiby area is being used by Iraqi refugees and Deir ez-Zor IDPs to enter the Rojava territory. This morning the area was attacked by ISIS and until now 37 have been killed and dozens injured,” he said.
The IDPs and refugees were waiting to go to the refugee camp of al-Hawl, in the southeast of the Hasakah province.
The management of the camp in an interview with ARA News said that ISIS attacked the fleeing civilians from the Iraqi border and that the injured civilians were transported to the National Hospital and the Hekme Hospital Hasakah.
Medical staff at the National Hospital told ARA News that one Iraqi refugee died from his injury, and that others need several types of blood, calling on civilians to donate blood.
“We are appalled and saddened to hear of the attacks today in Hasakeh province. Rajam Sleiby is a border crossing frequently used by Iraqi and Syrian civilians seeking safety,” said Thomas Garofalo, Regional Advocacy Adviser at the International Rescue Committee.
“According to our staff several children were among the dead and the wounded are still being transported from the border directly to the hospital in al Hasakeh city,” he said.
According to Garofalo, attacks like this only serve to show just how vulnerable civilians are in this fighting.
Since October, thousands of people from Mosul have traveled west to this border crossing and to al-Hawl camp close by, often via smugglers. Syrians from Deir ez-Zor are also using this route.
Al-Hawl camp is currently host to almost 17,000 people, the majority are Iraqi refugees but more than 1,000 are Syrians displaced by the ongoing conflict.
“The international community must work to ensure all sides of the conflict are held to account for these types of attacks that stand in breach of international law,” the IRC official said.
Posted by: badanov ||
05/03/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A 
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Talibs have killed at least twenty seven 
the personification of Somali state failure...
Kurram Agency.png)
Wazoo
