[ALMANAR.LB] Men wearing Afghan military uniforms rubbed out two NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... soldiers in the country's south Wednesday, the coalition said.
So-called "green-on-blue" attacks -- when Afghan soldiers or police turn their guns on international troops -- have been a major problem during NATO's long years fighting alongside Afghan forces.
No group has so far grabbed credit for Wednesday's attack in the volatile province of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... .
"Two Resolute Support (NATO) service members died early this morning when two individuals wearing Afghan (military) uniforms opened fire on their vehicle at an (Afghan cops) compound in Helmand province," a NATO statement said.
"Resolute Support service members returned fire and killed the shooters," it added, without revealing the nationalities of the foreign soldiers.
The statement did not give the precise location of the attack, which highlights long-simmering tensions between Afghan and foreign forces.
It was the first such incident since Mullah Akhtar Mansour was named the new Taliban chief following the announcement of the death of longtime leader Mullah Omar ... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality... .
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08/27/2015 00:00 ||
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[REUTERS] Taliban fighters seized a district headquarters in Afghanistan's Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province on Monday despite repeated U.S. air strikes to repel them, adding to the Death Eaters' recent advances in a heavily fought over region of opium farms and trade routes.
Elsewhere in Helmand, a man in Afghan uniform opened fire in the former British base of Camp Bastion, killing two U.S. service personnel, before being shot and maimed. Another man in Afghan uniform was maimed in the return fire.
It was the second incident this year involving Afghan troops, or people wearing Afghan uniforms, shooting at foreign soldiers. No group has claimed the attack.
Pentagon front man Captain Jeff Davis said the attacker opened fire on the vehicle in which the Americans were traveling. He gave no more details.
An Afghan regional official said the incident involved Afghan special forces firing on allies at the former Camp Bastion, which was handed over to Afghan forces last year.
Helmand's Musa Qala district fell after the Taliban overran police and army posts to retake a district straddling smuggling routes that was wrenched from them by British and Afghan troops eight years ago.
U.S. warplanes have been bombarding Musa Qala since the weekend, killing up to 40 holy warriors, with two new air strikes on Tuesday. But they regrouped, chasing the district government out of town and confiscating weapons in what a front man for Afghanistan's 215th Maiwand Corps called a "tactical retreat" to protect civilians.
Coalition military advisors have recently been working with the 215th Corps, which based in Helmand capital Lashkar Gah.
"Afghan special forces, police and commandos have been deployed to Helmand in order to retake Musa Qala district. Foreign air strikes are backing our forces," said Dawlat Waziri, a front man for the defense ministry.
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08/27/2015 00:00 ||
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Deadly battle between government troops and heavily armed Al Shabaab militants has erupted in Kabis area sandwiched between Baladhawo and Garbaharey towns in south of Somalia’s Gedo region.
The fighting started after government troops launched an attack on bases controlling by Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab rebels, according local residents who spoke to Shabelle Media in Mogadishu.
Somalia’s military officer, Nor Sayah Hared told Shabelle Media that head of police in Dolow, Col. Abdi Olosoow and Mohamad Farah, deputy District Commissioer of Balad-hawo were among those killed in the attack by Al Shabab. Mr. Nor said that several Al Shabaab members have killed and wounded in the ambush offensive, adding that the area is under control of government troops.
Meanwhile, deadly clashes reported after unknown gunmen, thought to be Al Shabaab militants launched an assault on military bases located Libaaxloow area in south of Somalia’s Gedo region.
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08/27/2015 00:00 ||
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[ALMANAR.LB] Gunmen killed two Egyptian coppers Wednesday in the Sinai Peninsula, the interior ministry said, in an attack claimed by ISIL terrorists.
Egypt's security forces have come under regular attack since the military ousted MB president Mohammed Mursi two years ago.
In Wednesday's attack in El-Arish, the capital of North Sinai province, "person or persons unknown on a cycle of violence opened fire on two police, who died of their wounds," the interior ministry said in a statement.
The attackers managed to escape, according to security officials.
The Egyptian affiliate of ISIL, which calls itself Sinai Province, said it was responsible and posted photographs of the purported attack and its aftermath online.
Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis also announced that it took the guns off the murdered coppers in Al-Arish city, after they shot them in the back while they were riding bicycles.
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08/27/2015 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Two jacket wallahs killed a soldier at a checkpoint in 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... 's heartland in northeastern Nigeria, vigilantes helping troops in the fight against the jihadists told AFP on Wednesday.
The myrmidons, a man and a woman, were in a motorized rickshaw stopped by a soldier on the outskirts of Borno state capital Maiduguri around 10:30 pm (2130 GMT) on Tuesday, an hour into the area's night-time curfew.
"When they realized their cover was about to be blown they detonated the explosives they were carrying in the rickshaw, killing the soldier and themselves," vigilante Babakura Kolo told AFP.
"It was evident they were on their way to launch suicide kaboom somewhere in the city but fortunately ran into a checkpoint," he said.
Another vigilante, Umar Bulunkutu, said the soldiers' suspicion was raised by the woman in the back seat, because "women are the ones Boko Haram uses for suicide attacks".
"The soldiers wanted to know where they were going and why they were outside at that hour when all residents of the city were indoors in compliance with the curfew," he said.
The vigilantes, who share information with the military, were clear when questioned by AFP that the occupants of the rickshaw were together and were both bombers.
Maiduguri has been under night curfew for some two years as part of security measures to curb deadly attacks in the city.
Hours earlier a girl believed to be as young as 12 killed six people and injured 47 when she detonated explosives outside a bus station in Damaturu, the capital of neighboring Yobe state.
Boko Haram has stepped up its attacks since Nigeria's new President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in on May 29, vowing to crush the insurgency.
The wave of violence since the inauguration has claimed more than 1,000 lives, dealing a setback to a four-country offensive launched in February that had chalked up a number of victories against the hardline Islamists.
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08/27/2015 01:48 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Saudi military reinforcements mobilized towards the al-Horth region, bordering Yemen, sources told Al Arabiya News Channel on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia has led an Arab air campaign against Houthi militias in Yemen since March, in support of legitimate President Abdrbbu Mansour Hadi.
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08/27/2015 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Al-Qaeda turbans on Wednesday blew up an army headquarters and set up checkpoints in the network's southeastern stronghold of Mukalla, officials in Hadramawt province said.
Wednesday's kaboom flattened the three-storey army building - the command center for a zone covering Hadramawt and parts of neighbouring Shabwa province.
It came a day after al-Qaeda bombed a headquarters of the secret police in Mukalla, the officials said.
The coalition of Arab states has been carrying out air strikes against Iran-backed rebels 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... since March, but has so far not intervened against al-Qaeda.
In Aden a 100-strong Saudi force arrived on Tuesday and was deployed at the main southern city's international airport, military sources said.
"This force's mission is to help secure the city, where al-Qaeda turbans surfaced last weekend," one of the sources said, referring to Aden.
Backed by arms and troops from 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 the United Arab Emirates, government loyalists recaptured Aden from 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 ... rebels and their allies in mid-July before retaking four other southern provinces.
On Tuesday, the International Committee of the Red Thingy said it had suspended its operations in Aden after unidentified gunnies stormed its office there.
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08/27/2015 00:00 ||
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[ARABNEWS] The Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces have intercepted and destroyed a Scud ballistic missile fired from Jazan over the southwestern province of Jazan, the Saudi military command said on Wednesday.
In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the Armed Forces said the scud missile was shot down at about 6:30 a.m. before it could hit any target.
"The Air Forces have also responded immediately by destroying the rocket launcher after defining its location inside Yemeni territory," said the SPA report.
In Sanaa, Brig. Gen. Sharaf Luqman, a front man for the Yemeni forces fighting alongside the Iran-backed Houthis, said the missile was aimed at an electricity station in Jazan.
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 ... snuffies allied with rogue troops loyal to ousted Yemeni president Abdullah Saleh have been firing rockets into Saudi border towns in retaliation against a Saudi-led Arab Coalition air campaign in support of the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
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08/27/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
So was it the evil Jooos with an Iron Dome nobody's supposed to know is in SA? Or Americans with a Patriot battery?
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
08/27/2015 7:49 Comments ||
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#2
Col. Mustard, in the gazebo, with a Hawk? I'm more than a little curious too.
[ALMANAR.LB] Yemeni army backed by Popular Committees fired a ballistic missile toward southern 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... on Wednesday, a day after four Saudi soldiers were killed on the border with the Arab impoverished country.
"The Yemeni army fired a Scud ballistic missile toward Jizan," Al Maseera TV reported on its twitter page.
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... has been since March 26 under brutal aggression by Saudi-led coalition. Thousands have been martyred and injured in the attack, with the vast majority of them are civilians.
Riyadh launched the attack on Yemen in a bid to restore power to runaway president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi who is a close ally to Saudi Arabia.
However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... Yemeni army, backed by popular committees and tribal fighter has been responding to the aggression by targeting several Saudi border military posts and cleansing several areas across the country, especially the country's south, from Hadi and al-Qaeda-linked militias.
Earlier on Tuesday, Riyadh said that three of its soldiers were killed by artillery fire from Yemen, and another died when his patrol vehicle crashed along the border.
A Saudi border post in the kingdom's southern region of Jazan came under shell and rocket fire from Yemeni territory on Monday.
Another soldier operating along the border with Yemen was killed in another incident, the official SPA news agency said.
Earlier on Sunday, Saudi Arabia said that rocket fire had killed a general, the highest-ranking officer to die in cross-border attacks since a Saudi-led coalition began the brutal offensive on Yemen.
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08/27/2015 00:00 ||
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Life gets ever more exciting in Turkey, as its chickens come home to roost.
[AlAhram] A commander of a Syrian rebel group fighting the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... was killed Wednesday in a car kaboom in southern The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , local officials said.
Jamil Raadoun died of his wounds in hospital after the boom-mobile detonated outside his home in the city of Antakya in the southern Hatay region, the region's governor Ercan Topaca told the state-run Anatolia news agency.
Raadoun, who had defected from the Syrian army, was leading a medium-sized non-Islamist rebel unit called the Suqur al-Ghab brigades that has been fighting in the Al-Ghab plain in northwestern Syria.
Topaca was quoted as saying by Anatolia that the attack could have been the result of a dispute between rival rebel groups.
[DAWN] The 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.... Counter Terrorism Department, in association with the intelligence agencies, placed in durance vile Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! as many as 182 members of various banned outfits, including 39 from Lahore, during search operations in the past two days.
A CTD front man said a list of more than 500 members of banned outfits, including Lashkar-e-Jhangvi ... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... (LeJ) and Sipah-e-Mohammad (SM), was prepared jointly by intelligence agencies and CTD spy wing.
He said it was decided in the regional coppers (RPOs) conference that the members of banned outfits operating in different areas of the province would be arrested. Following the meeting, a campaign was launched against such elements, he added.
He said during the drive, 182 banned outfits members had been taken into custody from different regions and efforts were being made to track down others.
"As many as 39 members of LeJ and SM residing in different areas of the quiet provincial capital have been arrested and shifted to undisclosed locations for interrogation", he said.
He said in the light of intelligence reports search operations were being carried out with the collaboration of intelligence agencies in different areas, including Mustafa Town, Cantonment, Green Town, Badami Bagh, Johar Town and Masson Road.
He said there were reports that these suspects had been in contact with hardcore terrorists.
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08/27/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] KARACHI: A policeman was killed and another maimed in an armed attack in the Saddar area on Tuesday, officials said.
They said the two coppers signalled four men on two cycle of violences to stop on main Daudpota Road near Jehangir Park, but they fired at them and rode away.
"The firing left both coppersmaimed. They were moved to the Civil Hospital 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... where Muhammad Ibrahim, 40, died," said Preedy SHO Inspector Amjad Kaliar.
"Muhibullah, 33, is out of danger and being treated at the health facility."
He said the victim coppers were posted at the Garden headquarters and were deputed in the Saddar area a few days ago on security duty that included assistance to the traffic police and Karachi Metropolitan Corporation staff in their anti-encroachment operation in parts of Saddar.
Meanwhile, ...back at the comedy club, Boogie was cracking himself up, but nobody else seemed to be getting the non-stop jokes... Sindh Home Minister Suhail Anwar Siyal took notice of the incident and sought a report from the DIG-South.
"The minister also announced Rs2 million compensation to be paid to the heirs of the dear departed policeman. One of his children would be given a job in the police department," said a front man for the home minister.
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08/27/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Three soldiers were killed in an early morning attack on a security post in South Wazoo, while a training camp of Death Eaters was destroyed in North Waziristan.
A front man for Mehsud Taliban, a splinter group of banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), claimed the responsibility for the attack. The group is headed by Khan Said, a close associate of TTP's slain Commander Baitullah Mehsud.
An official of the political administration confirmed the death of three soldiers and identified them as Jafar Hussain, Muhammad Ali and Arsalan. Azam Tariq of the Mehsud Taliban also claimed the responsibility for Monday's clash in Shawal which claimed the lives of Lt Col Faisal Malik and a soldier.
The army had reported the death of six Death Eaters.
According to Dawn's 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. Bureau, the Army Aviation helicopter gunships pounded the training facility of Death Eaters in Gurbuz area of Shawal in North Waziristan on Tuesday.
There were reports that some bad boyz were potted in the attack but their number could not be ascertained.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Eight militants, including a commander of a proscribed organisation were killed in Balochistan’s Dera Bugti district on Wednesday according to a statement issued by the Frontier Corps (FC).
Security forces had launched an operation against the suspected militants in Dera Bugti’s Sui area on Wednesday afternoon.
“Eight militants belonging to a proscribed organisation were killed in a search operation launched by FC,” said Khan Wasey, spokesperson for the FC.
“Among the dead was a commander for the militant group, Chella Resh,” added the FC spokesperson.
The statement also added that 15 kgs of explosives, two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other arms and ammunition were seized from the militants.
“The militant group was involved in terrorist activities in Sui and other areas of Dera Bugti district,” said Wasey.
In a separate raid, FC personnel arrested three suspected militants from Quetta’s Sariab road area and recovered weapons from their possession.
Yesterday, four alleged militants were killed in an exchange of fire which lasted for hours with security forces in Quetta.
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08/27/2015 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The United States has named the brother of the head of the murderous Moslem Haqqani Network a "specially designated global terrorist," the State Department said Tuesday.
Based in Pakistain, the Haqqani Network has close ties to al-Qaeda and has been blamed for many of the most deadly attacks against U.S. and government targets in Afghanistan.
The group's leader Sirajuddin Haqqani has long been one of Washington's most important targets, and is now joined by his brother Abdul Aziz Haqqani on the blacklist.
The Haqqanis are seen as close to hardline elements in Pak military intelligence and Sirajuddin was last month named as one of two deputy leaders of the Afghan Taliban.
"For several years, Aziz Haqqani has been involved in planning and carrying out improvised bomb attacks against Afghan government targets," the State Department said.
Subject to seizure
According to the statement, Aziz Haqqani also "assumed responsibility for all major Haqqani Network attacks after the death of his brother, Badruddin Haqqani."
Aziz already had a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head and the Haqqani faction has long been designated a "terrorist organization."
He now joins his brother as subject to the seizure of any assets he may have in areas under U.S. control, while Americans are banned from doing business with him.
With Abdul Aziz, the family network is led by Sirajuddin's uncle and brother-in-law along with Abdul Rauf Zakir, the alleged head of the group's suicide operations.
The Haqqani Network was set up in the 1970s as an Islamist force to oppose the Marxist regime in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... and its Soviet backers, and fought in the Afghan civil war.
Today it has rear bases in Pakistain's lawless tribal territories while carrying out deadly attacks deep inside Afghanistan as far as the capital Kabul.
U.S. intelligence holds it responsible for some of the most audacious strikes of the insurgency, including the 2009 Camp Chapman bombing, which killed seven CIA agents.
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08/27/2015 00:00 ||
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[Rudaw] Three people were killed and at least 13 injured in twin kabooms in Baghdad on Thursday, an Iraqi security source said.
"A bomb went off in the town of Taji in northern Baghdad, killing one and wounding eight others," a security official in the interior ministry told Rudaw.
He said that another bomb in the Huriya neighborhood in the northwestern part of Baghdad killed two people and maimed five others.
No group has immediately grabbed credit for Thursday attacks.
[NYTIMES] 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.... jacket wallah killed two Iraqi army generals on Thursday as they led forces against IS positions in the turbulent Anbar province west of Baghdad, military officials said.
They said the bomber drove his explosives-laden vehicle into the advancing troops north of Anbar's lovely provincial capital, Ramadi, killing the two generals and three soldiers. A military front man said on state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
that 10 other soldiers were maimed. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The IS group captured Ramadi earlier this year and also controls the nearby city of Fallujah.
In Syria, IS snuffies seized five villages from rebel groups in the north as part of an advance toward the strategic town of Marea near the Turkish border. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and other activist groups said the IS carried out a suicide kaboom on the outskirts of Marea amid fierce fighting in the area.
The Turkish Dogan news agency also reported renewed fighting between IS and rebels across the border from Kilis and said the U.S.-led coalition bombed IS targets in the region. Dogan video footage showed a large plume of smoke rising from across the border.
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08/27/2015 11:42 ||
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[Rudaw] Airstrikes launched by the US-led coalition to defeat the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... , or ISIS, hammered jihadist positions in Diyala province on Tuesday, killing nearly two dozen bandidosholy warriors and destroying several encampments, a source with the Iraqi joint forces told Rudaw.
"On Tuesday, coalition air raids on ISIS positions and military bases in Hamrin village near the city of Baquba, in Diyala province, killing 23 ISIS forces of Evil and destroying some of the group's military bases," Ali Khalil, an officer with the Iraqi Federal Police, told the press on Wednesday.
Before the coalition warplanes arrived, Khalil said, Iraqi forces were engaged fierce fighting with ISIS and managed to drive the gunnies from several areas.
In early May, Iraqi forces managed to capture an ISIS base believed to be the jihadists' biggest in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad.
The eastern province of Diyala has a majority Sunni population but is also home to Shiites, Kurds and other ethnic and religious groups.
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08/27/2015 00:00 ||
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[Rudaw] A massive and ongoing Peshmerga offensive against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... in territory south of Kirkuk has so far resulted in heavy casualties and the liberation of five villages.
The total corpse count has yet to be assessed, but in one village alone, Peshmerga forces found 18 dead ISIS murderous Moslems Wednesday, officials said.
The offensive was launched on the Daquq and Khurmatu frontlines with heavy artillery, including several tanks.
"Our plan has been successfully completed and we have control of most of the villages we were planning to take," Mustafa Sayid Qadir, minister of Peshmerga, told Rudaw Wednesday.
United States-led coalition Arclight airstrikes bombed jihadist bases in the villages late last night, and the Kurdish fighters began sweeping them around 5 am Wednesday morning with further support from coalition warplanes.
The road connecting the villages was laced with hundreds of landmines, according to officials, which complicated the recapture of the villages.
Peshmerga fighter Ahmed Aziz Mustafa was killed as the result of a landmine kaboom, confirmed Amin Karim, a Peshmerga captain, to Rudaw. Mustafa was an only son and a father of three.
In addition, five Hashd al-Shaabi fighters were killed in today's fighting, said Kirkuk police Chief Sarhad Qader.
The road connecting the villages was still gridlocked with tanks and other military vehicles late into the afternoon. Fires continued to smolder throughout the villages, sending smoke into the air.
Around 3 pm, gunshots and mortar fire could be heard to the south.
"ISIS is attacking us now," said a Peshmerga captain who asked to remain anonymous. "When the Peshmerga came to clean out villages, they didn't use deadly force because of the civilians present."
At a village called Semaqa, nearby the ISIS base in Albu Najm, more than 50 women, children and young boys crowded an area patrolled by Peshmerga.
Peshmerga fighters said they were all villagers affiliated with ISIS and would not allow media to speak with them. A 50-year-old woman named Amal Mahmud Saif who was part of the group said that she was in a nearby village merely for a visit.
Despite the casualties and complications, the Peshmerga said they largely considered the offensive successful.
"With recapturing this village, there will be no ISIS thread to Kirkuk anymore," said Kosrat Rasul Ali, the deputy commander of Peshmerga.
Some hours earlier, the beginning of Wednesday's push:
[Rudaw] Kurdish forces scored another victory against the Islamic State group (ISIS) on Wednesday, capturing a village that had been in ISIS hands for a year and the base for its mortar attacks on Kurdish areas.
Peshmerga officials said that 10 bully boyz were killed and three maimed in the assault to recapture the village of Albu Najim in the Daquq district, which is about 40 kilometers south of Kikuk city.
It was liberated after a massive military campaign launched in rural areas held by ISIS in Daquq
The Peshmerga and counter-terrorism forces, together with fighters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), launched a three-pronged assault to re-take the village, overcoming litters of landmines on the roads and outskirts.
The village had been the base for ISIS mortar attacks on Kurdish areas around Kobain and Zankr, mainly populated by Kakai Kurds.
The Peshmerga have vowed to recapture 10 other nearby villages.
Rudaw has photos here, and a video of a Peshmerga officer talking to a wounded ISIS fighter while giving him water here. Al Ahram adds:
Kurdish forces backed by U.S.-led coalition Arclight airstrikes drove Islamic State faceless myrmidons out of 10 villages in Iraq's Kirkuk province on Wednesday in an offensive to secure their territory to the north, Kurdish military sources said.
The assault began at dawn in the Daquq area, around 175 kilometres (110 miles) north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. By evening, Kurdish forces had taken an area of around 250 square kilometres, the sources said.
An aide to a top Kurdish commander taking part in the offensive said five peshmerga had been killed, most of them by improvised bombs.
The frontline between Kurdish peshmerga forces and Islamic State in northern Iraq has hardly budged for months.
The Kurds already control most of the territory they claim as their own, and have little incentive to push further into predominantly Sunni Moslem Arab towns and villages, except where they pose a direct threat to their region.
"This area (near Daquq) posed a danger to the main road from Kirkuk to Baghdad and the Kurdish and other villages adjacent to the areas occupied by Daesh," Brigadier General Aras Abdel Rahman said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
The peshmerga have emerged as an important ally for the United States in its aerial campaign against Islamic State. Together they have pushed back the Sunni turbans in northern Iraq, and the peshmerga has thus expanded the territory of its autonomous region.
Last summer, the Kurds took full control of the disputed city of Kirkuk after the Iraqi army abandoned its bases there, but western parts of the province such as Hawija remain under Islamic State control.
The Kurds have since carried out several offensives aimed at creating a buffer around the oil-rich city, which they say they will never relinquish.
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08/27/2015 00:00 ||
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Jerusalem is under a full-blown massive terror onslaught – or “intifada,” as Arabs call it – official statistics prove. The statistics were compiled by the Ministry of Construction and Housing, which operates a security service in the area known as the “Old City Basin.” The area includes the Old City quarters inside the city's ancient walls, as well as the Mount of Olives, the Silwan (Shiloah) neigborhood and the City of David.
The numbers for June and July indicate an average of close to ten terror attacks per day in this part of the city.
The statistics, which were published in Yediot Aharonot Wednesday, do not include terror attacks in the city's eastern villages and neighborhoods, and this means that the full numbers for Jerusalem are much worse.
In June and July, a total of 580 terror attacks were documented, against both civilians and security forces. These included 477 rock attacks, as well as 28 firebomb attacks against vehicles and homes in which Jews reside. Additional incidents involved throwing empty glass bottles, firing fireworks and damaging property.
The terror attacks in June peaked at 359, of which 213 were in the City of David sector, 125 at the Mount of Olives and the mountain ridge, and 21 in the Old City. They include 307 rock attacks, 12 firebombs, four cases of grave vandalization at the Mount of Olives, and six attacks against Jews in the Old City, five of them against civilians and one aimed at a Border Police warrior.
The total of recorded terror events was down slightly in July, at 221. They included 170 rock attacks, 16 firebombs, one grave desecration, four incidents in which Arabs threw glass bottles at Jews, and several fireworks attacks.
The Jerusalem Police said in response that its “resolute” actions against terrorism led to a decline in terror attacks in the last few months, noting that most of the attacks are carried out against security forces, because of the ongoing friction between them and lawbreakers in eastern Jerusalem.
[ABCNEWS.GO] A Thai court on Thursday issued an arrest warrant for an unnamed suspect in a riverside blast that occurred a day after the bombing of a shrine in central Bangkok which killed 20 people.
Police front man Prawut Thawornsiri said the suspect appeared in a security video that shows a blurry image of an unidentified man in a blue shirt kicking a bag into the water near a busy pier on the night of Aug. 17, soon after the kaboom at the Erawan Shrine.
An kaboom took place near the spot about 18 hours later on Aug. 18, but caused no casualties.
The blast at the Erawan Shrine was unprecedented in the Thai capital, where smaller bombs have been employed in domestic political violence over the past decade, but not in an effort to cause large-scale casualties.
Police have not determined a clear motive for the shrine bombing, which injured more than 120 people in addition to the 20 fatalities. Possible suspects include Moslem separatists from southern Thailand, parties seeking to avenge the forced repatriation of ethnic Uighurs to China by the Thai government, opponents of Thailand's military government and feuding factions within the security services.
The warrant issued Thursday by the South Bangkok Criminal Court says the suspect in the river blast faces charges of attempted premeditated murder, exploding a bomb that could cause harm and unauthorized possession of explosives, Prawut said. It does not specify the suspect's name or nationality, but describes him as having white skin, a pointed nose and short hair, and being about 170 centimeters (5 foot, 7 inches) tall and weighing about 65 kilograms (143 pounds).
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2015 11:42 ||
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[ALMANAR.LB] Increasing numbers of bully boyz and several of their vehicles were killed in continued operations carried out by the Syrian army against their positions in various areas involving Arclight airstrikes, state-run SANA news agency reported.
In Aleppo, sources told Al-Manar TV that a state of calm prevails at the frontsof Paschkoa and Hndarat in the northern countryside of the province, after the Syrian army repelled a major assault by gangs on Tuesday.
The national military was also able to thwart the attack completely and seize a BMB vehicle and some ammunition.
A large number of bad boyz were potted during the operation, and some of the bodies were left in the battlefield.
In Lattakia, 70 bad boyz were potted during army operations that targeted their hideouts in the northern countryside of the coastal Lattakia province, according to a military source.
In Idleb, the army's air force targeted gatherings of bully boyz in Abu al-Duhour town, about 50 km southeast of Idleb city in northwestern Syria, killing a number of bully boyz linked to the so-called "Jaish al-Fateh", according to a military source.
A number of the terrorists' vehicles were destroyed, the source told SANA.
Many bad boyz were potted in army Arclight airstrikes in Ihsem and to the north of Maatram in the southwestern countryside of the province.
The source added that the army inflicted heavy losses upon bully boyz of "Jaish al-Fateh" 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 as its air force targeted their hideouts and positions in Qarqour in southern Jisr al-Shughour.
In Quneitra, the army units destroyed a bulldozer and hideouts for bully boyz in the villages of Bir Ajam, al-Hamidiyeh and Jabata al-Khashab in the countryside of the southern Quneitra province.
In Homs, vehicles for the bully boyz of 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.... of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... group were destroyed in army air strikes to the east of Jazal oil field and to the north of al-Qaryatain village in the countryside of the central Homs province.
Syria has been grappling with a deadly crisis since March 2011. The violence fuelled by Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... groups has so far claimed the lives of over 230,000 people, according to reports. New figures show that over 76,000 people, including thousands of children, bit the dust in Syria last year.
Over 3.8 million Syrians have left their country since the beginning of the crisis. According to reports, more than seven million Syrians have become internally displaced.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2015 00:00 ||
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[ALMANAR.LB] The alleged main suspect in the 1996 bombing of a housing complex in Saudi Arabia’s eastern city of Khobar has reportedly been arrested in Lebanon.
Ahmad Ibrahim al-Mughassil, 48, was detained in the Lebanese capital city of Beirut and sent to Saudi Arabia for interrogation, the Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat daily reported on Wednesday, quoting unnamed Saudi officials.
The report also said that Mughassil was captured based on information received by Saudi security forces.
“The discovery of Mughassil and his arrest in Lebanon and his subsequent transfer to Saudi Arabia is a qualitative achievement, for the man had been in disguise in a way that made it hard to identify him,” the report added.
Back in 2001, the Saudi man was indicted by a US court for the June 25, 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers residence at a US military base, which killed 19 US servicemen and injured approximately 500 people.
Ahmad Ibrahim al-Mughassil, who is wanted by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, is said to be the head of the Saudi Hezbollah's military wing, an outlawed organization whose members are drawn from the kingdom's Shiite Moslem community.
U.S. prosecutors have said that Mughassil drove the explosives-laden truck and parked it outside the military compound.
The FBI has offered a reward of up to $5 million (4.4 million euros) for information leading directly to his apprehension or conviction.
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08/27/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Salafists
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A commander from the rebel Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... (FSA) has died in a kaboom on his car in the southern Turkish province of Hatay on Wednesday, a news agency and two Death Eater sources said.
The rebel leader was named by all sources as Jamil Raadoun, the commander of Sukour al-Ghab, one of several groups fighting under the FSA banner. Raadoun had survived a similar attack in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... in April.
The privately-run Dogan news agency said he died after explosives were detonated on his vehicle.
Two Syrian rebel sources confirmed the death. Residents said the blast outside Raadoun's home in the southeastern town of Antakya, near the Syrian border, shook nearby apartment blocks.
Hatay province Governor Ercan Topaca said the attack might be linked to "a dispute between Syrian opposition groups", state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Raadoun, who defected from the Syrian army early on in the four-year-old civil war, had been in Turkey for about a year, Topaca said.
Osama Abu Zayd, a front man for the FSA, said Raadoun's brigade has fought against both 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) snuffies in the northern province of Aleppo, and against Syrian government forces in central Idlib and Hama provinces.
"It is one of the brigades which the West classifies as moderate, but did not get training," Abu Zayd said, although he added that it had received military support from countries which oppose Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... , including anti-tank missiles.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2015 00:00 ||
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[ALMANAR.LB] Military commissioner, Judge Dany al-Zaani, on Wednesday filed new charges against terrorist Ahmad al-Assir for forming terrorist cells in many regions, planning for assassinating political and spiritual figures, and inciting for attacking the military institution.
Assir, Khaled Ozor and Hussam al-Rifahi were charged with the formation of an armed gang with the purpose of undermining the state authority, the attempted murder of soldiers and funding a group operated by krazed killerholy man Sheikh Khaled Hoblos, reports said.
Hoblos was locked away I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! in April during a police operation in the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... . Notorious Death Eater Osama Mansour, who was wanted on terrorism charges, and one of his partners was killed in the operation.
Investigations with Hoblos uncovered dormant Death Eater cells in north Leb that were set to be armed by the radical preacher before his arrest.
The three defendants were charged under articles in the Criminal Code for crimes of terrorism.
The case was referred to Military Investigative Judge Riad Abu Ghaida. Abu Ghaida is expected to start questioning the suspects on Thursday.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2015 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Five people were killed and 20 others maimed on Wednesday when rebel rocket fire hit a petrol station in a government-held part of Syria's central Homs city, state news agency SANA said.
The missile fire set fire to a tanker as it was unloading in the Inshaat neighborhood of Homs, which is the thriving provincial capital and largely under government control, SANA said.
"The rocket fire came from Talbisseh in northern Homs province where krazed killer groups led by (al-Qaeda affiliate) Al-Nusra Front are located," the agency added.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based monitor, also reported five dead in a blast at the petrol station, with 40 people injured.
But it said there was conflicting information on whether the blast was caused by a tanker exploding or rocket fire hitting the station.
The monitor said the toll was likely to rise because a number of the maimed were at death's door.
Most of the central Homs province is under regime control, though rebels are present in Homs city's Waer district and a few other areas in the province.
ISIS also controls parts of eastern Homs province, including the ancient town of Palmyra.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/27/2015 00:00 ||
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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.
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Wazoo
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The United States has named the brother of the head of the
[ALMANAR.LB] Increasing numbers of 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
