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Afghan forces launch operation in areas bordering Pakistan
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 6: Politix
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--Tech & Moderator Notes
First Rantburg Photoshop Contest


While we at the Burg are not anything like Worth1000.com, we do enjoy a good image. To that end, see the image in this post? We think Pudgy Fat Boy Suet Face Kim Jong Un doesn't look quite "right".

We think you can help.

We propose a contest: modify Pudgy's image in this pic so as to make it more 'truthy' to the world and more entertaining to us. Given what happened to the movie "The Interview" and the spittle that comes from KCNA any time the Norks perceive that their dearest midget leader has been insulted, we think this is a great time to show them what we think of the corpulent, pestilent dwarf.

You may recall that someone photoshopped a similar pic of Pudgy's evil daddy to wear a bunny suit. That works here as well but be creative.

The winning entry is one that makes Fat Boy the object of greatest ridicule. We hope the winning entry will be circulated widely around the internet. The winner receives accolades, our gratitude, and a year subscription to the Burg.

Please observe these rules:

1) JPG files only
2) no larger than 110K
3) no larger than 500 pixels wide at 72 pixels per inch
4) nothing obscene or salacious by Rantburg standards
5) you can combine elements from other images but the final entry must be recognized as having started from the contest image above
6) enter as may times as you like, but each image should be different

You can forward your entries in a reply to this post. Alternately you can email your entry to: fred-at-rantburg-dot-com (if you can't figure that out you shouldn't be using email, or a computer, or oxygen).

Good luck and happy photoshopping!
Posted by: Steve White || 12/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336086 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That is one heck of a lot of bell-hops. What hotel is that? How much luggage did he bring?
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/21/2014 0:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Cookie grab.
Posted by: Ackoopmed || 12/21/2014 9:09 Comments || Top||

#3  "...ONE! Singular sensation, every little step she takes, ONE! Thrilling combination, every move that she makes..."

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 12/21/2014 9:30 Comments || Top||

#4  What's the, pardon the expression, deadline?
Posted by: Shipman || 12/21/2014 9:55 Comments || Top||

#5  He's probably pissed that someone didn't pay attention to the memo regarding color-coordination.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 12/21/2014 11:39 Comments || Top||

#6  The fourth General from the left is out of step. Time for reeducation camp.
Posted by: Titus Chesh8843 || 12/21/2014 12:38 Comments || Top||

#7  That fourth general from the left who is out of step has, it appears, wintered very well.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/21/2014 13:03 Comments || Top||

#8  Boys. Too many boys.
Posted by: Joluter Chosh7817 || 12/21/2014 13:49 Comments || Top||

#9  They photoshopped pudgy to be taller than any of the generals...that and they took about 40 pounds off of him in the process
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 12/21/2014 13:55 Comments || Top||

#10  Naw that's just foreshortening. Something I didn't learn about till I was 20. The lack of knowledge and poor depth perception played hell with my self-image.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/21/2014 14:16 Comments || Top||

#11  "We're too wide to meet the 'Burg standards, you guys tighten up behind. We don't get a chance like this every day."
Posted by: KBK || 12/21/2014 14:23 Comments || Top||

#12  All I got is 26 Joanie's.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/21/2014 14:25 Comments || Top||

#13  Does this entourage make my ass look big?
Posted by: Silentbrick || 12/21/2014 15:58 Comments || Top||

#14  Target pic needs more pixels. It's hard to photoshop a thumbnail.
Posted by: jpal || 12/21/2014 16:39 Comments || Top||

#15  Tonight! The Rockets.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/21/2014 16:44 Comments || Top||

#16  In what is left of my mind, I see Suet-face co-starring with either Wile E (involving missiles). or the Scarecrow from Wizard of Oz (something about asking scarecrow about where does one go to get a brain).
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 12/21/2014 19:12 Comments || Top||

#17  Where's his wife? Looks like he ate her (and not in a good way either...).
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/22/2014 1:44 Comments || Top||

#18  Well, he's not that tall and he's not that slender.

He's a fat little dwarf that if you look at other pictures in no where near as tall at those "all hat no ranch" generals.

How come the NORKs like those really big sombrero uni hats?
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 12/22/2014 11:52 Comments || Top||

#19  "How come the NORKs like those really big sombrero uni hats?"

They think the hats make them look taller, Bill.

Like that'll happen.
Posted by: Barbara || 12/22/2014 13:22 Comments || Top||

#20  You misspelled pustulent, Fred.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 12/22/2014 13:55 Comments || Top||

#21  If I knew how to run Photoshop, I'd have a red dot on his forehead, or his head would be exploding.
Posted by: gorb || 12/22/2014 16:03 Comments || Top||

#22  Sent in a couple, best I could do with the kids and all.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/22/2014 19:13 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Afghan forces launch operation in areas bordering Pakistan
[DAWN] Afghan cops have launched an operation against bully boyz in an eastern province seen as a rear base for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) which carried out the 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.
school massacre last week, officials said Monday.

COAS Gen Raheel Sharif met Afghanistan's Caped President Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..
in Kabul in the aftermath of the school attack in Peshawar which killed 149 people, mainly children.

The army chief sought Ghani's support in defeating the TTP.

TTP leader Mullah Fazlullah
...son-in-law of holy man Sufi Mohammad. Known as Mullah FM, Fazlullah had the habit of grabbing his FM mike when the mood struck him and bellowing forth sermons. Sufi suckered the Pak govt into imposing Shariah on the Swat Valley and then stepped aside whilst Fazlullah and his Talibs imposed a reign of terror on the populace like they hadn't seen before, at least not for a thousand years or so. For some reason the Pak intel services were never able to locate his transmitter, much less bomb it. After ruling the place like a conquered province for a year or so, Fazlullah's Talibs began gobbling up more territory as they pushed toward Islamabad, at which point as a matter of self-preservation the Mighty Pak Army threw them out and chased them into Afghanistan...
is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan's Kunar province
... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country.....
, which borders Pakistain's restive tribal areas.

Kunar has been the scene of fierce fighting between local forces and the Afghan Taliban for the past 10 days.

"Afghan cops have launched a joint anti-militant operations in several parts of Dangam district of Kunar province," Dawlat Waziri, deputy defence ministry front man, told AFP.

"So far in the operation, 21 armed snuffies have been killed and 33 others maimed," Waziri said, adding that seven security personnel were maimed.

Kunar governor Shujaul Mulk Jalala said more than 1,500 Afghan Taliban fighters attacked remote villages in Dangam.

Jalala said TTP and Lashkar-e-Taiba
...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI...
bully boyz were also battling Afghan cops in Dangam.

Pakistain has repeatedly asked Afghanistan to capture and hand over Fazlullah.

Each nation has long accused the other of allowing bully boyz to shelter in the border region and launch bloody attacks that threaten regional stability.
Posted by: Fred || 12/22/2014 15:47 || Comments || Link || [336090 views] Top|| File under:


Roadside Bomb and Taliban Attack Kill 14 in Afghanistan
[AnNahar] A roadside kaboom and a Taliban attack on a police post have killed 14 people including children in Afghanistan, officials said Sunday.

Seven civilians died when a bomb hit a pickup truck traveling from Asadabad, the capital of the eastern province of Kunar, to Nari district near the border with Pakistain on Saturday.

"Last evening a pickup truck, with women and kiddies onboard, was blown up by a roadside kaboom, that killed seven people including two little girls," Nari police chief Mohammad Yousuf told AFP.

He blamed the Taliban for the blast, which also left three women maimed.

Mohammad Rahman Danish, the district chief of Nari, confirmed the incident, part of worsening violence as U.S.-led foreign combat troops leave Afghanistan after 13 years of fighting.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but roadside kabooms are the Taliban's weapon of choice in their battle against Afghan and foreign forces. The bombs also increasingly kill and wound civilians.

A U.N. report released on Friday said 3,188 civilians had been killed and 6,429 injured as of the end of November.

The United Nations
...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
Assistance Mission in Afghanistan report warned that civilian casualties were expected to exceed 10,000 by the end of the year, making it the deadliest year for non-combatants since the organization began issuing its reports in 2009.

Compared to 2013, this year saw a 33 percent rise in casualties among children and a 12 percent increase among women.

The Taliban were accountable for 75 percent of all civilian casualties, the report said.

Casualties among Afghan troops and police have also soared as they rather than foreign troops bear the brunt of the fighting. More than 4,600 were killed in the first 10 months of this year.

In northern Afghanistan Saturday seven police were killed and about a dozen maimed when some 200 Taliban fighters attacked their post in the Qushtapa area of Jawzjan province, provincial police front man Ahmad Farid Azizi told AFP.

"We asked for air support from NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants...
, but they didn't come. After hours of fighting the police were finally overpowered and bit the dust," he said.

NATO's combat mission will end on December 31. A follow-up mission of about 12,500 U.S.-led NATO troops will stay on to train and support Afghan cops.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336072 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
Mudug Deputy Governor targeted in landmine attack
GALKAYO, Somalia -- The Deputy Governor of Mudug region in central Somalia has been targeted in landmine attack according to security officials on Sunday morning, Garowe Online reports. Farhan Ali Hirsi is being treated at Galkayo General Hospital after he sustained minor injuries to lower part of his body, medics say.

Puntland security officials say, remote control has detonated the landmine as Hirsi was driving near a police compound in vast north. Search operations are underway following the thunderous explosion, with sources disclosing that a bodyguard was also wounded along with Mudug Deputy Governor.

Nobody claimed credit for the attack but as has been the case, Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab group targets government officials in terror operations.

Galkayo straddles the border between Somalia’s stable Puntland and south-central regions where security situation is extremely volatile.

Mudug Governor Mohamed Yusuf Jama Tigey and the wounded Hirsi survived suicide bombings in 2011.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336067 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Egyptian Jailed for 10 Years for Spying for Israel
[AnNahar] An Egyptian court has incarcerated
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
a Suez Canal shipping services manager for 10 years on charges of spying for Israel about naval movements through the strategic waterway, state media reported.

The court in the canal city of Port Said also handed down life sentences in absentia to two Israelis it found guilty of being the Egyptian's handlers, the official MENA news agency reported late Saturday.

The court found that Mohammed Ali Abdel Baki had passed on information damaging to national security about the movements of Egyptian and foreign warships, particularly Iranian ones.

Abdel Baki had also divulged detailed information to his handlers about Port Said and its management, the court heard.

He had first made contact with the Israeli security services over the Internet in 2011 and met the two Israelis convicted of being his handlers at the embassy in Bangkok the following year.

Prosecutors charged that in addition to spying for Israel, Abdel Baki had also offered to provide similar information about naval movements and deployments to its regional foes Iran, Syria and Lebanese Shiite bully boy group Hezbollah.

In February 2011, two Iranian warships entered the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal for the first time since the Islamic revolution of 1979, prompting Israel to put its navy on high alert.

Iranian warships made a similar deployment through the canal in February 2012, sailing past the coast of Israel and making a port call in Latakia in allied Syria before returning to Iran.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Saudi Teen Killed during Raid on 'Terrorists'
[AnNahar] A teenager was accidentally killed during a Saudi raid against "terrorists" in a town populated by minority Shiites, residents of the area said on Sunday.

The interior ministry said it killed four murderous Moslems during Saturday's operation in Awamiya town to arrest the suspects who rubbed out a soldier a week earlier.

But residents gave the toll as five and said they included a youth aged 16 or 17.

"One of them I'm sure is not involved," an activist in the area said. "He was killed in his car."

A resident of Awamiya said the youth appeared to have been killed "by mistake. One of the bullets got in his neck, while he was driving."

Both sources declined to be named.

Asked about the claims, the interior ministry said that police in the Eastern Province, which includes Awamiya, were to issue a statement.

On Saturday, the ministry said the four murderous Moslems died during a shootout. They included the prime suspect in the killing of soldier Abdelaziz bin Ahmed al-Assiri, who died on December 14 when security personnel came under fire from farms near Awamiya.

Photographs circulating on the Internet purported to show a building riddled with bullet holes from Saturday's operation, armored cars in the streets, and burned civilian vehicles.

"It's actually a big operation" which left townsfolk cowering inside their homes, the first resident said, adding that some of those killed were well-known as "criminals" in the area.

The town, just west of Dammam city on the Gulf coast, has witnessed festivities between security forces of the Sunni dominated kingdom and protesters from the minority Shiite community.

Earlier this month, a court sentenced to death a man who opened fire numerous times on police in Awamiya.

Most Saudi Shiites live in the oil-rich east, and many complain of marginalization.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336073 views] Top|| File under:


Deadly Attack on Yemen Tribal Chief Sparks Ambush
[AnNahar] Four bodyguards of a Sunni tribal chief were killed on Sunday near Yemen's capital by Shiite bandidos bandidos krazed killers of the Ansarullah group, a tribal source said, sparking an ambush in reprisal.

The four were killed when the militiamen, also known as Huthis, blew up the house of Sheikh Yahia Taqi of the Islamist al-Islah party at al-Makarib in the Arhab area, the source said.

Local tribes then ambushed an Ansarullah convoy of four vehicles carrying reinforcements, "killing or wounding around 30," a local official said.

Arhab, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Sanaa, fell to the Shiite bandidos bandidos krazed killers in mid-December as they sought to extend their influence after taking the capital in September.

Ansarullah's rise in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country has undermined the authority of U.S. ally President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, and Yemen remains wracked by violence despite U.N. efforts to broker a political solution.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Caucasus Emirate militants pledge allegiance to IS
Militants behind the devastating attack on Grozny earlier this month claimed direct affiliation with the Islamic State in a video released Friday. Two militants from the Caucasus Emirate, the group accused of orchestrating the December 3 attack in Chechnya's capital that killed 14 policemen and injured 36 people, are shown vowing allegiance to the IS in a video on YouTube.
Posted by: ryuge || 12/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336070 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Two car bomb blasts in Iraqi-inhabited area in Malmo, Swedan
A little more on yesterday's story.
[IraqiNews.com] On Saturday, Swedish police announced that two boom-mobiles went kaboom! in the city of Malmo, Sweden?s third largest city, which is inhabited by Iraqi community.

The spokeswoman for the Malmo police, Linda Plame said in comments quoted by ?BBC,? and followed by IraqiNews.com, ?The two kabooms, which occurred on Saturday, did not lead to any injuries,? adding that, ?One of the cars went kaboom! near a building, while the second went kaboom! in a nearby parking lot.?
We still don't know who or why, but at least we know some details that may prove useful.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2014 04:08 || Comments || Link || [336096 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Islamophobes in action?/sarkoff
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/22/2014 13:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Could be anything from inter-tribal or inter-family dispute, Sunni-Shiite disagreement, motorcycle gang activity, etc. I wouldn't rule out a fake Islamophobia attack either.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/22/2014 16:07 Comments || Top||


France Dijon: [Muslim] Driver targets city pedestrians
[BBC] A driver shouting the Islamic phrase "Holy Shit! God is great" in Arabic has run down pedestrians in Dijon, France, injuring 11, two seriously, French media say.

He was arrested after targeting pedestrians in five different parts of the city in the space of half an hour.

He is said to be "apparently imbalanced" and to have spent time in a psychiatric hospital.

The lives of the two people seriously injured in Dijon are not said to be in danger.

Witnesses told police the driver, aged around 40, had also said he was "acting for the children of Palestine", an unnamed source close to the investigation told AFP news agency.

'Solidarity'
A spokesman for the interior ministry told French TV he believed the attacker had been acting alone.

The driver has been known to police for minor incidents dating back 20 years, he added.
Ah yes, another Known Wolf.
The French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, tweeted (in French) to express his "solidarity" with the victims.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336088 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Would have ended his jolly ride with a case of lead poisoning if he lived in Oklahoma.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/22/2014 1:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Learning from Palestinians.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/22/2014 4:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Too much mustard.
Posted by: bman || 12/22/2014 14:39 Comments || Top||

#4  As per REUTERS, looks like France has experienced a second incident "terror/jihad by car" in as many days, this time in NANTES.

* FYI TOPIX > [Jawa Report = CNN] ISIS [Radical Islam] VOWS TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD EVEN IFF IT MEANS KIILING 500.0MILYUHN PERSONS, i.e. killing everyone + anyone that needs to be killed to acomplish their goals.

ARTIC = Interview denotes that as far as Radical Islam = ISIS is concerned,
> THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SOVEREIGN BORDERS, ONLY BATTLEFRONTS. No such things as Countries, only areas or regions which have NOT yet been conquered or suborned to Islam.
> ISLAMIC EXPANSION IS PERMANENT OR PERPETUAL.
> DON'T CARE HOW MANY CASUALTIES MUSLIMS OR ISLAMIC MILTERRS PER SE SUFFER, I.E. NO SUCH THING AS "MINIMUM/MAXIMUM" CASUALTIES, ONLY FINAL/TOTAL VICTORY. "KILL YOU ALL" IFF NEED BE.
> NOT A QUESTION OF "IFF" ISLAM OR THE JIHAD ATTACKS-N-CONQUERS EUROPE, BUT WHEN.

As I've times said or inferred long ago, 9-11 + GWOT > WAR FOR [Pro-US-vs-Anti-US] OWG-NWO > WAR FOR CONTROL OF THE WORLD. Where does, can one run or escape to, etc. when war is a war for world domination???

Kill-or-be-Killed, Fight-or-Die.

Iff the Politicos = "Powers that Be" do not keep their promises, they will be pushed or forced out of the way - PEACEFULLY, VIOLENTLY, PERHAPS EVEN MORTALLY OR BLOODILY, ETC. AS NEEDED.

But I digress ...
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/22/2014 21:58 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Valerie Plame Just Retweeted An Article Outing A CIA Agent
Sorry 'bout the .gif. Could not (in a timely manner) locate the "Not This $hit Again."

Posted by: Hupineger Glomomp7489 || 12/22/2014 14:54 || Comments || Link || [336094 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Crying. Just for ole Val. Spin it Del.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/22/2014 16:28 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Eight Bullet-Riddled Bodies Found in SW Pakistan
[AnNahar] Authorities on Sunday found eight bullet riddled bodies in Pakistain's restive southwestern 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, which is facing a tribal insurgency, sectarian violence and Taliban attacks, officials said.

Five bodies were recovered from the district of Pashin and three from that of Ziarat, provincial home secretary Akbar Durrani told Agence La Belle France-Presse.

"We have found eight bodies today which are being brought to Quetta for identification and further investigation," Durrani said.

Local police confirmed the discovery of bodies but had no immediate details.

Balochistan, Pakistain's largest but least developed and most sparsely populated province, is racked by Islamist myrmidons, banditry and sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites.

In October the Human Rights Commission of Pakistain said that more than 300,000 people, including minority Shiites and Hindus, had left Balochistan over the past 10 years due to rising unrest.

Pak rights group Defense for Human Rights says as many as 2,000 people have disappeared from across the country, many from Balochistan.

Rights groups accuse the government of gross violations including holding people in secret and failing to charge them or put them on trial.

Pakistain's Supreme Court and high courts have also been investigating cases of missing people and issuing warnings to the government to recover these people.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336076 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ah! Another on the job injury.
Posted by: ed in texas || 12/22/2014 7:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Sounds like a busy weekend in Chicago.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/22/2014 13:45 Comments || Top||

#3  Busy for a winter weekend, you mean.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/22/2014 16:09 Comments || Top||


Four more terrorists hanged in Faisalabad
FAISALABAD/ISLAMABAD: Another four terrorists – Ghulam Sarwar Bhatti, Zubair Ahmed, Rasheed Qureshi and a Russian citizen Akhlaq Ahmed alias Roosi – who were awarded death penalty for carrying out attack on former military ruler Pervez Musharraf were hanged to death at District Jail on Sunday.

All four terrorists were shifted to the death cell of District Jail Faisalabad late on Saturday from Central Jail Faisalabad under tight security arrangements made by police, Rangers and army, the jail authorities said. Family members of all the four death-row convicts were allowed to have final meetings with them. Earlier, one convict of this case, Arshad Mehrban, was also hanged to death in the District Jail Faisalabad on Friday night along with another terrorist of GHQ attack, Aqeel Ahmad alias Dr Usman. After execution, the bodies of Zubair Ahmad, Ghulam Sarwar Bhatti, Rasheed Qureshi and Akhlaq Ahmad were handed over to their heirs.

The convicts were said to be frightened and seeking mercy from the jail staff. While recording their will, they said that they were feeling guilty and were repenting their crimes, and advised their companions not to kill any Muslim. They were frightened and shivering when while approaching the gallows. The advised the Taliban not to target children and women. The prisoners had to be shifted to the district jail under strict security measures because the lever which is used to open the trapdoor to carryout hangings was not present in the Central Jail.

Family members of the death-row prisoners were allowed to meet them for the last time prior to the hanging. Security was tightened in the city to avoid any untoward incident. Additional contingents of security personnel were deployed while containers and barricades were placed on the routes leading to the district jail. Meanwhile, preparations were underway in Lahore for the execution of four death row prisoners in Kot Lakhpat Central Jail. The executions are expected to be carried out within the next 24-36 hours. All routes leading to the jail were sealed with the deployment of military personnel and installation of cell phone jammers around the jail premises. Another 17 prisoners are likely to be hanged throughout country during this week.

In Sukkur, authorities called in the relatives of two terrorists, belonging to the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi who had been sentenced to death 10 years ago in a sectarian killing case, to hold a final meeting on Monday. An anti terrorism court on Friday had issued black warrants for Attaullah alias Qasim and Mohammad Azam alias Sharif who had been given death sentence by an antiterrorism court in July 2004.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336067 views] Top|| File under:


Pakistan Says Arrests Made In Taliban School Carnage
[Ynet] Pakistain's interior minister said Sunday authorities have made arrests in the case of the Taliban school attack that killed 148 in the northwestern city 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.
.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan
...Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz Uncle Fester Sharif. He is noted for his vocal anti-American railing in the National Assembly. However (comma) Khan told the U.S. ambassador that he was in fact pro-American but he and the PML-N would have to be critical of US actions in order to remain publicly credible. Khan cited his wife and children's US citizenship as proof, which means he's lying to one side or the other and probably both. He wears a wig, but you probably guessed that. since hair doesn't grow naturally in that shape or texture...
said the authorities have picked up several people suspected of involvement in the attack, although he did not disclose their identities or say how many they were.

Seven Taliban gunnies wearing explosives belts stunned the world on Tuesday by storming into the military run school and slaughtering 148 people, including 132 students.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Iraq
Sinjar battle: Kurds take control of large area of Sinjar
[BBC] Kurdish authorities say their Peshmerga forces have taken control of a "large area" of the Iraqi town of Sinjar from 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.

Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani
... hereditary head of the Kurdish Democratic Party, maybe a little too close to the Medes and the Persians for most people's tastes...
claimed large Peshmerga advances during a visit to nearby Mount Sinjar.

The town, near the Syrian border has been controlled by Islamic State (IS) snuffies since August.

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters backed by US-led air strikes launched a counter-offensive in the area last week.

IS controls a swathe of Iraq and Syria, where it has declared a caliphate.

The US said it launched 13 air strikes in Iraq on Sunday, four of which were on IS targets near Sinjar.

The US, Iraq and other Western and Arab countries have formed a coalition against the bad boy group and began air strikes in August.

'Siege broken'
Massoud Barzani praised the progress Peshmerga troops had made when he visited Mount Sinjar on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred || 12/22/2014 15:31 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under:


Iraqi tribal fighters liberate al-Wafaa area in Ramadi
[IraqiNews.com] On Sunday, Anbar Provincial Council announced, that the tribal fighters liberated al-Wafaa area in Ramadi after violent festivities which resulted in killing more than 27 ISIS gunnies and desertion of many others.

Khaled al-Tarmouz, member of the provincial council stated, ?Iraqi tribal fighters today managed to liberate the area of al-Wafaa, located 35 km south of Ramadi,? adding that, ?The ISIS group has suffered big losses in lives and equipment, with over 27 ISIS gunnies killed and dozens of fleeing fighters after heavily lost the battle.?
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2014 04:08 || Comments || Link || [336072 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


ISIS attacks military base containing American elements
[IraqiNews.com] Iraqi and coalition forces managed to repel an attack by the ISIS elements and the organization of Khorasan on al-Baghdadi Base in al-Anbar province. The town of Haditha, located in the west of Ramadi, the largest city in Anbar, was also under attack.
The base contains a number of American advisers who take consulting assignments and train the Iraqi Army.

A number of ISIS elements were killed in the attack, including foreigners.

Airline alliance launched strikes against ISIS forces that tried to seize the base, and succeeded to inflict losses.

In addition, there were unconfirmed reports about the movement of US military forces towards the Baghdadi base to defend it if necessary
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2014 04:08 || Comments || Link || [336070 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Breakfast in Baghdad
Firefight in Ramadi
Reinforcements in North Carolina

/Airline Alliance
Sometime Delta interested in you!
Posted by: Shipman || 12/22/2014 5:12 Comments || Top||


ISIS security official killed in Mosul
[IraqiNews.com] Security Council of the Kurdistan Region confirmed the death of one of the Vice of ISIS 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...
, pointing to his involvement in the killing of large numbers of the population of the city of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
The Security Council of the Kurdistan region said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, ?The terrorist Shehab Ahmed Hassan Lahibi, known as Abu Saad, was a deputy of al-Baghdadi, for military affairs in Nineveh.?

The statement added, ?Abu Saad was killed along with another terrorist, Basem Fathi, known as Abu Abdullah, in an air strike in Kafaet neighborhood.?

Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2014 04:08 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


IPs search Ramadi hospital for ISIL casualties
[IraqiNews.com] Security official reported on Sunday ?A force from Ramadi police department stormed in Ramadi hospital to search for casualties of the ISIL.?

The official stated to IraqiNews.com ?Ramadi IPs stormed in Ramadi hospital based on information over presence of injuries of the Lions of Islam ISIL in the hospital after liberating Wafa? district of western Anbar.?
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2014 04:08 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Security forces foil attack on police headquarters, kill 17 ISIS elements in Biji
[IraqiNews.com] The Iraqi Ministry of Defense announced Sunday, that the Iraqi forces, with aerial support from the international coalition, have foiled an attack by ISIS Lions of Islam on the headquarters of the police in Biji.

The ministry said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews, ?Iraqi security forces have foiled an attack by ISIS Lions of Islam on the headquarters of the police in Biji,? adding that, ?The security forces, with support from the international coalition warplanes, killed 17 elements of the group and removed 4 explosives planted in a main road in the district.?
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2014 04:08 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


31 Terrorists of ISIL killed in Anbar
[IraqiNews.com] About (31) forces of Evil affiliated to what is so called 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 Levant were killed in Baghdadi area within Anbar province.

Security source declared to Alforat News Agency ?The security forces within Jazera and Badiya Operations Command carried out a security operation that resulted in killing (30) terrorists, two of them are terrorist leaders, in Jazera Baghdadi area in Anbar province.?
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2014 04:08 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


MoD: ISF liberate 5 villages in Salah-il-Din
[IraqiNews.com] The Ministry of Defense confirmed liberating five villages in Yathrib district within Salah-il-Din province.

Statement by the Ministry of Defense received by IraqiNews.com cited ?Elements of the 17th Infantry Brigade supported by the volunteers and helicopters managed to liberate five villages in Yathrib district.?

The statement added ?Clashes continue in the district and ISF continue causing huge casualties for the enemy.?
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2014 04:08 || Comments || Link || [336093 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Kurdish Peshmerga forces sieze large areas of Sinjar without ISIS resistance
[(IraqiNews.com) On Friday, the leadership of the Peshmerga forces announced that it was able to seize large areas of Sinjar district, west of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, without resistance from the faceless myrmidons 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....
in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), indicating that Peshmerga plans to restore the district center.

Mount Sinjar forces commander Brigadier Ashti Kocher said in an interview for IraqiNews.com, ?Peshmerga forces seized the areas of Kohpl, Zorava, Dhola and the of center Sanoni, which are located in Sinjar district,? adding that, ?Peshmerga also now control Trepca area, located on the border with Syria.?

Kocher confirmed that, ?This region is controlled without resistance from ISIS Death Eaters; they are in complete moral collapse,? pointing out that, ?Peshmerga plan to regain control of the center Sinjar district.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2014 04:08 || Comments || Link || [336065 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  While the US was surprised at the ISIS blitz, one year ago the Kurdish people of Kobane, Syria expected the blitz, warned the US, and then were showing off the state of prepardness at the 2 minute mark of this one year old video of the YPG, YPJ in Kobane, Syria.

Posted by: Ebbomosh Hupemp2664 || 12/22/2014 12:11 Comments || Top||


Kurds Push Into Sinjar; Iraqis Battle For Airport
[Ynet] Iraqi Kurdish fighters, backed by US-led coalition Arclight airstrikes 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....
group, pushed their way Sunday into the town of Sinjar, captured by the Sunni murderous Moslems last summer.

Further to the east, near the border with Syria, Iraqi security forces battled the IS murderous Moslems as they tried to retake the strategic military airport of Tal Afar.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Southeast Asia
Four Abu Sayyaf militants arrested in Sulu
Soldiers arrested 4 Abu Sayyaf militants transporting explosives and grenades in the southern Philippine province of Sulu. Officials said the four – Jumli Pulah, Hassan Jubakal, Ingki Abdulah and Bashir Ali – were stopped in the village of Danag in Patikul town, a known stronghold of the group.

Military spokesman Chester Ian Ramos said soldiers recovered from the truck 152 liters of ammonium nitrate and three pieces of MK2 fragmentation grenades, including two bottles of TNT and two pieces of blasting caps, and batteries and electrical wire.

Military sources say that an Abu Sayyaf informer tipped off authorities about the transport of the explosives.
Posted by: ryuge || 12/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336070 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf


Sayyaf man nabbed in Zamboanga
Philippine security forces arrested an Abu Sayyaf member wanted for a series of kidnappings in Mindanao.

Police said Bon Sarapbil was nabbed in the town of Imelda after tracking him down on a village. Sarapbil is facing several criminal charges and was involved in many kidnappings since 2009 in Basilan and other nearby provinces.

Sarapbil has worked for various Abu Sayyaf leaders and Moro Islamic Liberation Front commanders and others in the past, mostly in ransom kidnappings.

It was not known whether Sarapbil was planning new kidnappings in the area or just on the lam.
Posted by: ryuge || 12/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336066 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Coalition Strikes Hit IS North of Aleppo for First Time
[AnNahar] U.S.-led coalition air strikes hit the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group Sunday in areas north of Syria's second city Aleppo where it has been fighting rival jihadists, a monitoring group said.

It was the first time that coalition aircraft had targeted IS in the Madajen area, where it has been fighting al-Qaeda loyalists of al-Nusra
...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant...
Front and their allies, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The area lies between the IS stronghold of Dabiq and the town of Marea to the southwest, which is held by its rivals.

"At least 12 coalition strikes hit IS positions and weapons depots in areas that had never been targeted before," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

"The strikes might help the rebels 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 in their fight against IS," he added.

Al-Nusra and its allies have been battling IS in Aleppo province and some others parts of Syria since January.

The drive by IS to assert its dominance in rebel-held areas which culminated in its declaration of a "caliphate" straddling Iraq and Syria in June prompted armed resistance from the rival rebel groups.

Washington launched an air campaign against IS in Iraq in August, extending it to Syria the following month with the support of Arab allies.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Terror Networks
US-led Forces Launch 13 Air Strikes In Iraq, Three In Syria
[Ynet] US-led forces attacked 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....
targets on Sunday with 13 air strikes in Iraq and three in Syria, using fighter, bomber and other aircraft, the US military said.

Four of the Iraq strikes were near Sinjar in northern Iraq, which destroyed Islamic State buildings, tactical units and vehicles. Other Iraqi cities targeted included Tal Afar, Ramadi, djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
and Baiji, according to the Combined Joint Task Force.

The strikes in Syria focused around the contested city of Kobani near the Turkish border, it said in a statement.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336067 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State



Who's in the News
41[untagged]
9Islamic State
5Govt of Iraq
2Hamas
2Abu Sayyaf
2Govt of Syria
1Houthis
1Govt of Iran
1Taliban
1TTP

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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2014-12-22
  Afghan forces launch operation in areas bordering Pakistan
Sun 2014-12-21
  Seven Dead as Pakistan Hits Militant Hideouts
Sat 2014-12-20
  Abu Muslim al-Turkmani: From Iraqi officer to slain ISIS deputy
Fri 2014-12-19
  Dr Usman, Arshad Mehmood executed in Faisalabad
Thu 2014-12-18
  Peshmerga launch massive offensive on ISIS sites in Zammar, Mosul
Wed 2014-12-17
  Nawaz removes moratorium on death penalty
Tue 2014-12-16
  Taliban slaughter dozens of children at school in Peshawar
Mon 2014-12-15
  Hostages held up by armed gunman in Sydney cafe
Sun 2014-12-14
  Life in Post-Truth America
Sat 2014-12-13
  Haqqani network used child bomber in French school attack: NDS
Fri 2014-12-12
  Nigerian girl, 13, arrested wearing explosives vest
Thu 2014-12-11
  NATO airstrike leaves 17 suspected militants dead in Parwan
Wed 2014-12-10
  PA minister dies after clashes with IDF troops
Tue 2014-12-09
  ISIS Dismantles Oil Refinery In Salahuddin, Plans To Transfer It To Raqqa In Syria
Mon 2014-12-08
  Key commanders of Gul Bahadur group killed in Datakhe strikes: reports

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