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Today: 41 articles and 89 comments as of 10:38.
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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Morsi Loyalists Rally in Cairo as Crackdown Looms
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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3 11:39 Ebbang Uluque6305 []
Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Edna Goodrich (born Bessie Edna Stevens; December 22, 1883 – May 26, 1972) was an American Broadway actress, Florodora girl, author, and media sensation during the early 1900s. At one point, she was known as one of America's wealthiest and best dressed performers.

Edna and her mother moved to New York City, where both found work as chorus girls. Edna Goodrich joined the cast of the Florodora musical, as one of the famed sextets, all of whom were extremely beautiful, 5'4", and 130 lbs. Out of more than 70 women who became a Florodora girl, Edna was one of a handful who achieved lasting fame.
Posted by: Au Auric || 08/12/2013 9:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Birthday Gam Shot 08/10

Devon Aoki[Filmography](age 31)



NSFZ Design (An Eden Moment)


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 08/12/2013 11:19 Comments || Top||

#3  Birthday Gam Shot 08/11

Carolyn Murphy [Modelography](age 39)



Sporty Design


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 08/12/2013 11:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Birthday Gam Shot

Marian Rivera [Pinoy][Filmography](age 29)



Portruding Design


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 08/12/2013 12:09 Comments || Top||

#5  Maid Marian has some nice, er, assets, but I'd feel better about her if she would change her last name to "Rivers"....
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 08/12/2013 13:01 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
3 US soldiers killed in eastern Afghanistan
[Ynet] Three US soldiers were killed in Afghanistan's eastern borderlands on Sunday, US and 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...
officials said, the first NATO combat deaths this month.

The soldiers, from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), were killed by faceless myrmidons in Paktia province, a US official told Rooters.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/12/2013 00:25 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This guy should be near the top of the "To Do" list.
Posted by: RJ45ACP || 08/12/2013 22:36 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Morsi Loyalists Rally in Cairo as Crackdown Looms
[An Nahar] Supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi rallied on Sunday to demand his reinstatement, amid last ditch efforts for reconciliation ahead of a threatened crackdown on protests.

A large convoy of cars carrying pictures of the deposed president beeped their horns as they drove through a neighborhood in east Cairo.

Hundreds at a women's march in central Cairo chanted against army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi who was behind Morsi's overthrow, shouting: "Sisi is a traitor, Sisi is a killer."

Morsi loyalists, led by the Moslem Brüderbund, have kept up two huge camps in Cairo to protest against the Islamist president's ouster by the military on July 3, with regular demonstrations around the country.

They say nothing short of his reinstatement will persuade them to disperse, despite several warnings by the interim leaders that the camps will be dismantled after the Eid al-Fitr holiday which was to end on Sunday.

In a sign of the mounting tensions, a brief overnight power cut at the main sit-in outside the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque struck panic among the pro-Morsi demonstrators, with some taking to social media to announce the assault had begun.

Protest organizers told Agence La Belle France Presse that as the electricity went out, they reinforced their barricades, added sandbags to the entrances of the protest site, and sent volunteers to find out what was happening, only to be told it was a false alarm.

The main coalition of Morsi supporters, the Anti-Coup Alliance, said 10 marches would take off from various parts of the capital on Sunday "to defend the electoral legitimacy" of Egypt's first freely elected president.

The fresh rallies came as Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning, called for reconciliation talks in the latest of a string of attempts to find a peaceful solution to the political deadlock.

Al-Azhar's Grand Imam, Ahmed al-Tayyeb, is to begin contacts with political factions on Monday aimed at convincing them to sit down to talks later this week, state media reported.

"Al-Azhar has been studying all the proposals for reconciliation put forward by political and intellectual figures... to come up with a compromise formula for all Egyptians," Tayyeb's adviser, Mahmoud Azab, told the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper.

But the Moslem Brüderbund is unlikely to accept such an invitation after Al-Azhar sided with the military over Morsi's ouster.

Tayyeb appeared with army chief Sisi when he announced on July 3 that Morsi had been deposed and laid out a political roadmap for Egypt's transition which provides for new elections in 2014.

Morsi's turbulent single year in power polarized Egyptians and his ouster by the military only deepened divisions.

The Islamist leader was widely criticized for concentrating power in Brotherhood hands and under his tenure Egypt saw political divisions spill out onto the streets in deadly festivities while the economy tumbled.

On June 30, millions erupted into the streets to demand Morsi's ouster, openly calling on the army to remove him.

The interim leadership is now under immense pressure at home to crack down on the pro-Morsi protests, and immense pressure from the international community to avoid bloodshed.

Senior U.S., EU and Arab envoys flew into Cairo in recent weeks to try to persuade the two sides to find a peaceful way out of the crisis.

But the government vowed on Wednesday to clear the Islamist protest camps, saying foreign mediation had failed.
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Twelve militants killed in north Sinai
Egyptian helicopters fired on a meeting of suspected terrorists militants in the country's Sinai Peninsula, officials said on Sunday, killing at least 12 terrorists people, as authorities stepped up their attacks following an Israeli drone strike in the region.

The helicopter attack came as Egyptian and Israeli officials tried to downplay the drone strike on Friday in the largely lawless Sinai, fearing popular criticism in a country already roiled by last month's military coup that ousted President Mohammed Mursi.

Egyptian officials said that three helicopters targeted terrorists militants in the desert town of Sheik Zuweyid late Saturday. The officials said another dozen terrorists were wounded in the attack.

Military spokesman Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali later confirmed the attack in a post on his official Facebook page. He said 25 terrorists militants were targeted, but did not offer a breakdown of casualties.

The suspected terrorists militants targeted in the air assault were wanted for an attack on Egyptian soldiers last year that killed 16, Ali said. They also were wanted in connection to the abduction of seven security forces earlier this year, he said.

A resident of Sheik Zuweyid said that he saw the helicopter attack start on Saturday night. On Sunday, he said neighbours saw two funerals for slain terrorists fighters, one with four bodies and one with two. Mobile phone service also had been disrupted as the operation took place, he said. The resident spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.

Egypt's military and security forces have been engaged in a long battle against militants in the northern half of the peninsula. Terrorists Militants and tribesmen have used the area for smuggling and other criminal activity for years. Terrorists Militants have fired rockets into Israel and staged other cross-border attacks there on previous occasions.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Salafists


Arabia
Gunmen kill 5 Yemeni troops guarding LNG plant
Suspected Al Qaeda terrorists militants killed four Yemeni soldiers in their sleep early on Sunday in an attack on forces guarding the country’s only liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal, a local official said.

The assault follows an escalating campaign of drone strikes by the United States over the past two weeks and warnings of terrorist militant attacks that prompted Washington to close embassies across the Middle East and evacuate some staff from Yemen.

The official said the terrorists gunmen infiltrated a checkpoint guarding the Balhaf LNG terminal in the southern Shabwa province, killed one soldier and then entered a cargo container where four more troops were sleeping and shot them dead. The terrorists attackers fled in a vehicle, he said.

A Yemeni government spokesman said last week that the $4.5 billion gas facility, jointly managed by Yemen LNG and France’s Total, was one of two energy targets that suspected Al Qaeda terrorists militants had been plotting to attack.

The Balhaf facility, the largest industrial project ever undertaken in Yemen, opened in 2009. It is heavily guarded by Yemeni troops. It supplies gas cooled to liquid for export by ship, under long-term contracts to GDF Suez, Total and Korea Gas Corp.

A private security source working for oil and gas firms in Yemen said Sunday’s killing appeared to be in retaliation for recent drone strikes that killed scores of terrorists insurgents in the south.

“The checkpoint they attacked is one of many leading up to the gas facilities,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The terrorists militants know that it’s impossible to penetrate all of the checkpoints and that’s why they didn’t attempt to go further. They just wanted vengeance.”

He said there are usually up to 1,800 Yemeni soldiers guarding oil and gas facilities in Shabwa and the number has been increased in recent weeks.

The Yemeni government said last week that it had foiled a plot by Al Qaeda to seize the Al Dabbah oil export terminal in Hadramout and the Balhaf gas export facility. The security source said tight security arrangements are already in place in Yemen to protect oil and gas facilities and foreign experts working there from potential attacks by the terrorists militants.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Caribbean-Latin America
9 die in Sinaloa state

For a map, click here.

A total of nine individuals were found shot to death in Sinaloa state Saturday, according to Mexican news accounts.

A news report which appeared in the online edition of El Diario de Coahuila said that the victims were found near the village of Jahuara Dos in El Fuerte municipality in the Mexican sierras Saturday morning.

Three of the victims were stripped of clothing. All of the victims had been bound hand and foot, tortured and shot once in the head.

According to a wire dispatch which appeared in El Imparcial news daily, six of the dead were identified as Patricio Castro, Cervantes Efren Espinoza, Joshue Eleazar Cervantes Medina, Ruben Angulo Flores, Joel Vega Gaxiola and Juan Carlos Milan Bojorquez. All the victims were listed as residents of Guasave municipality.

According to official sources, the victims had been kidnapped over the course of two weeks in northern Sinaloa state.

Two weeks ago three other victims of executions were found in the same municipality. El Fuerte and its northern neighbor Choix municipality are considered to be Beltran-Leyva territory.

More than a year ago Choix municipality was the location of gang warfare between groups aligned with the Sinaloa Cartel against other drug gangs, including elements from the Juarez Drug Cartel and Los Zetas. Over that two week period a total of 57 individuals were killed in intergang fighting and in confrontations with security forces.

Two other individuals were killed in Culican municipality in Sinaloa state Saturday, according to the report in El Imparcial.
  • Cristian Vizcarra was shot to death in Benito Juarez colony Saturday afternoon while on his way home.

  • An unidentified man was found shot to death in Centenario neighborhood in the Barrancos sector.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com
Posted by: badanov || 08/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
France: Soldier Arrested For Allegedly Planning To Attack Mosque
[Ynet] A 23-year-old soldier was placed in durance vile
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
near Lyon in central La Belle France for allegedly intending to attack a mosque, the French Interior Ministry stated.

It was also reported that the soldier lobbed a Molotov cocktail at another mosque in the Bordeaux area about a year ago. None were hurt.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
Suspect Parcel Leaves Two Ill at NY's JFK Airport
[An Nahar] Two customs inspectors at New York's John F. Kennedy airport fell ill Sunday after handling a parcel in a mail center that apparently contained a toxic chemical, local media reported.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed that it dispatched a hazardous response team to screen the two workers and the package for what a front man called "possible contaminants."

On its website, the New York Post claimed the parcel had tested positive for a nerve gas known as VX, but police sources told Agence La Belle France Presse it could be several days before the exact nature of the substance is established.

Local news channel WNBC said the two customs inspectors had recovered from their nausea and declined further medical help. Citing a law enforcement official, the station added that the package may have originated in China.

The incident - which had no impact on any JFK passenger terminal or flight operations - came after a week of heightened concerns in the United States over a potential terrorist attack overseas.
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Mail blames Merle Norman.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/12/2013 6:58 Comments || Top||

#2  So 2 of TSA's finest wanted some downtime AND the nerve gas test kit instructions were printed in English?

sorry Pappy, couldn't resist!
Posted by: Skidmark || 08/12/2013 7:37 Comments || Top||

#3  The first test was 'chemical-grade weapons and nerve gas.' The second test was " VX nerve gas". They finally figured out it was "nail polish remover".

So 2 of TSA's finest wanted some downtime AND the nerve gas test kit instructions were printed in English?

Heh, Skid. That would rather explain the line: "It was unclear why tests were positive for the deadly agent or why retesting remained positive," wouldn't it?
Posted by: Pappy || 08/12/2013 10:32 Comments || Top||

#4  OOOOOOO, you just know some Babe + lawyer + Max Factor is preparing to a bill.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 08/12/2013 23:03 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Four policemen arrested for negligence in DI Khan jailbreak
[Dawn] Four coppers were locked away
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
on Sunday for their negligent behaviour during an attack by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) on the central jail in Dera Ismail Khan
... the Pearl of Pashtunistan ...
, DawnNews reported.

According to police sources, investigations revealed that the arrested officials namely Qaisar Khan, Sufaid Khan, Ateequr Rehman and Khan Bahadur were found guilty of negligence during the jailbreak.

Earlier on July 30, Pak Taliban bully boyz had freed nearly 250 inmates, including 35 'high-profile krazed killers', during a brazen overnight attack on the central jail in Dera Ismail Khan.

Meanwhile,
...back at the saw mill, Scarface Al had tied Little Nell to the log and was about to turn on the buzz saw...
amid threats of possible terrorist attacks, security has been beefed up at the Central Jail 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...
Police have been deployed on the streets and the bridge leading from Central Jail to Rashid Minhas road in Karachi has also been closed to traffic.
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Five, including one policeman, killed in Karachi violence
[Dawn] At least five people, including one policeman, were killed in different incidents of violence in 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...
Unknown gunnies opened fire near Chawla Market in Nazimabad, killing police official Nazim Abbas.

Meanwhile,
...back at the palazzo, Count Guido had been cornered by the banditti...
four people died in separate firing incidents in Karachi's Baldia Town, Garden and Orangi Town areas. A woman killed in Garden Town was attacked at a traffic signal while she was on her way home.

In a separate incident, police launched investigations in Musharraf Colony and tossed in the slammer
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
five persons involved in extortion activities. According to the police, the arrested persons namely Wasif, Nazeer, Waqas, Wasim and Riaz were wanted in extortion and other crimes. Four TT pistols and other weapons were recovered from the suspects during the raid.
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Pakistan Accuses India of Attack on Border Posts
[An Nahar] Pakistain Sunday accused Indian forces of firing on its border posts in disputed Kashmire and in neighboring Punjab province, where it sparked an "intermittent exchange of fire" between the two sides.

The fighting is the latest in a spate of recent cross-border skirmishes between the two nuclear-armed neighbors who have fought three wars since independence from the British rule in 1947, two over the Mohammedan-majority region of Kashmire.

Tensions have recently flared up in the heavily militarized Kashmire valley with both sides accusing each other of cross-border firings.

But the first of Sunday's incident's took place near the border close to the eastern city of Sialkot in neighboring Punjab province.

"Indian Border Security Forces resorted to unprovoked firing on Pak Rangers posts near Pukhlian, Head Marala area, in Sialkot sector," a senior military official, told Agence La Belle France Presse.

"Intermittent exchange of fire continues. No loss reported so far," added the official on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to the media.

The official said that after the exchange of fire in Punjab, the Indian troops also fired at the Line of Control (LOC) in the disputed Kashmire region.

"Indian troops also resorted to unprovoked firing at LOC in Nakial sector near Kotli," he said.

Indian Defense Minister A. K. Antony on Thursday hinted at stronger military action along the LoC after Delhi accused The Mighty Pak Army of involvement in a deadly overnight ambush on Monday that killed five Indian soldiers.

Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
tried to ease tensions with India by urging both sides to work swiftly to shore up a 10-year ceasefire threatened by the recent attacks.

But Pak military officials Thursday made fresh allegations of their own, accusing Indian troops of opening fire and seriously wounding a male civilian in the Tatta Pani sector along the LoC.
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Pakistan doing a "North Korea" agz India = "Japan", for CHINA???

I have said before that any mil conflict in the East China Sea + South China Sea can likely also extend to the mainland, as in IMO China will use the same to settle outstanding strategic or geopol issues around its periphery.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 08/12/2013 22:46 Comments || Top||


KP govt ends peace deal with tribes
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has ended a peace deal with local tribes in Kulachi district near Dera Ismail Khan in the wake of recent jailbreak that saw escape of 250 militants.
Good idea. When one side is shooting off their guns it's not much of a peace deal...
The security forces began conducting targeted operations in Kulachi and other surrounding areas after the deal was called off. Several suspects were also apprehended during the operations.

Kulachi shares its boundaries with areas including Waziristan and Frontier Region (FR) Peshawar where militancy is on the rise. The provincial government, on suspecting that the militants were entering D.I. Khan and other areas through Kulachi, had struck a deal with the local tribes who vowed to prevent militants from entering Kulachi.

The deal was struck off on Sunday in the wake of the recent D.I. Khan jailbreak in which Taleban fighters managed to free nearly 250 prisoners, including 49 high-profile militants.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Al-Qaeda front group claims deadly Eid attacks in Iraq
[GOOGLE] Al-Qaeda front group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on Sunday claimed a wave of attacks that killed 74 people and injured hundreds during the Eid al-Fitr holiday a day earlier.

"The Islamic State mobilised... in Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
and the southern states and others to convey a quick message of deterrence on the third day of Eid al-Fitr" in response to security forces' operations, a statement posted on jihadist forums said.

Iraqis have angrily blamed the authorities for failing to prevent a series of deadly bombings and other attacks on Saturday, which came as the country marked the end of the Musselmen holy month of Ramadan, its deadliest in years.

The attacks came just weeks after assaults on prisons near Storied Baghdad, also claimed by the Al-Qaeda front group, freed hundreds of prisoners including leading myrmidons, prompting warnings of a surge in violence.

Nine people were killed in fresh violence around the country on Sunday
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State of Iraq


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Paleo hard boy whacked on Gaza border
Israeli soldiers have shot dead a Palestinian man who climbed over the border fence separating Israel and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military says, BBC reported.

The man, who has not been identified, was earlier seen digging into the ground on the Gazan side of the fence, a military spokesperson told the BBC. He then clambered over the fence, allegedly carrying a suspicious object.
Gun? Bomb? Lollipop?
The incident took place in an area where Palestinian militants have in the past mounted attacks on Israeli forces.

The Israeli military spokesperson said its soldiers fired warning shots into the air after the man crossed the fence, but that he did not turn back. "Once all means were exhausted, the soldiers fired towards the suspect."
So a dumb hard boy...
Some of 'em are ambitious, some went into it because the sheltered workshop was too hard.
The spokesperson did not give further details on what the Palestinian was carrying, but a military source told the Reuters news agency that no weapons were found on him.
Next time don't climb the fence carrying a lollipop...
Posted by: Steve White || 08/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Rebels: 42 Hezbollah, Iranian Combatants Killed In Damascus
[Ynet] Syrian rebels claimed Sunday that they attacked an area where Hezbollah members and Iranian combatants were gathered. According to Al-Arabiya, the rebels killed 42 combatants in what they referred to as a "quality operation."
So possibly the rebels killed people, possibly the people they killed were Iranian and/or Hizb'allah fighters, and possibly 42 died. Did I mss anything?
"What kind of operation?"
"A quality operation!"
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/12/2013 00:25 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  Keep it up boys. There's a whole lot more of 'em.
Posted by: Woodrow Guelph8541 || 08/12/2013 1:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Did I m[i]ss anything?

Possibly.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/12/2013 2:48 Comments || Top||

#3  Possibly.

If only I'd done it on purpose, how clever I would be! ;-) As Woodrow Guelph8541 posted, "Keep it up boys. There's a whole lot more of 'em."
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/12/2013 10:52 Comments || Top||

#4  Have they been rated by J. D. Powers?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 08/12/2013 15:38 Comments || Top||


Syria Rebels Pass on 13 Kidnapped Kurds to Jihadists
[An Nahar] Syrian rebel fighters kidnapped 13 Kurds in the northern province of Aleppo on Sunday, turning them over to jihadist fighters already holding 250 kidnapped Kurds, an NGO said.
It might be time for the Saladin Boys Club to stage a little raidipoo.
Collecting heads or collecting hostages?
Yes.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the 13 were snatched at a roadblock in the Sfeira region of Aleppo and passed them on to al-Nusra Front, a jihadist group affiliated with al-Qaeda.

Al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), another al-Qaeda-linked group operating in Syria, have kidnapped more than 250 Syrian Kurds since the end of July.

The majority were taken hostage as the two groups overran two Kurdish villages, Tall Aren and Tall Hassel, at the end of July.

Syria's Kurds have been battling jihadist fighters for months in northern and northeastern Syria, where the minority hopes to establish an autonomous zone.

The festivities have intensified since mid-July, when Kurdish fighters pushed jihadists out of the village of Ras al-Ain and its adjacent border crossing with Turkey.
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


Army Thwarts Suicide Attack at Arsal Checkpoint
[An Nahar] The army succeeded on Friday night in thwarting a suicide kaboom against a checkpoint in the Bekaa region of Arsal, reported An Nahar daily on Sunday.

It revealed that soldiers had halted the attack shortly after it stopped a Syrian, a Paleostinian, and Danish citizen of Paleostinian origins at the Hmeid checkpoint on the outskirts of Arsal.

They were traveling from Syria in a Mitsubishi vehicle without license plates or identification cards.

Upon halting the vehicle, one of the Paleostinians, wearing an boom belt, stepped out of the car and attempted to blow himself up.

The soldiers however shot and killed him before he would carry out his attack.

His two companions have since been enjugged
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
A Kalashnikov rifle and another boom belt attacked to a hand grenade was found in their possession.

The Army Command had initially revealed the attack in a statement on Friday night, saying that it had arrested three gunnies as they attempted to infiltrate Leb from Syria earlier that day.

On July 14, the army arrested a number of individuals for transporting weapons in Arsal.

The Beirut-based, pan-Arab television al-Mayadeen said those arrested were two Syrians, a Lebanese and two Paleostinians who were carrying "boom jackets."
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra

#1  so, a Syrian, a Paleostinian, and a Dane walk into a bar checkpoint....
Posted by: Frank G || 08/12/2013 8:17 Comments || Top||

#2  *choke* Outstanding catch, FrankG.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/12/2013 10:54 Comments || Top||


Arsal Mayor Hurt, Companion Killed as Convoy Attacked after Hostage Swap
[An Nahar] Arsal municipal chief Ali al-Hujairi was maimed and his lover companion Mohammed Hasan al-Hujairi was killed when their convoy came under fire in the Bekaa town of al-Labweh on Sunday, shortly after a hostage swap that took place in Ras Baalbek, state-run National News Agency reported.

Two other companions of the municipal chief were also injured in the attack, NNA said, noting that Mohammed's body was transported to Dar al-Amal Hospital in Douris.

Ali al-Hujairi "was on his way back from a hostage swap that saw the exchange of Youssef al-Meqdad for several abductees who hail from Arsal when he fell into an armed ambush on the road between al-Labweh and al-Nabi Othman," the agency reported.

The ambush was staged by "gunnies who were in four cars: a Cherokee and a Yukon SUVs and two Mercedes cars," NNA said, adding that Hujairi was lightly maimed in the head while Ahmed Khaled al-Hujairi, aka al-Qatsheh, was critically injured.

"Ali al-Fliti, aka Ali Zahwi, received light injuries to his hand and he left hospital together with the municipal chief after they received the necessary treatment," the agency added.

As soon as the news of the ambush broke out, tensions soared in Arsal and a number of men fired their weapons in the air to condemn the attack, NNA said.

In the Bekaa town of Saadnayel, protesters blocked roads in condemnation of the attack as gunnies deployed on the streets, according to al-Mayadeen television.

Earlier, OTV said "al-Nusra Front bad boy" Abou Khaled al-Qatshi, who hails from Arsal, was killed in the ambush. But NNA said it received phone calls from a number of Arsal residents who denied that one of the maimed is a Nusra member.

Military sources told LBCI television that the gang that staged the attack also kidnapped Syrian national Mohammed Abbas.

Later on Sunday, the army heavily deployed in al-Labweh's square and on the road leading to Arsal, according to OTV.

A group calling itself "The Brigades of the Four Martyrs" has claimed the attack, Voice of Leb radio (93.3) said.

Later on Sunday, the army issued a statement confirming the casualties and saying the gunnies also kidnapped two Syrians who were in the convoy.

"Army units deployed in all Bekaa regions, especially in northern Bekaa, have taken extraordinary measures to prevent any escalation," it said.

Troops are also conducting "a major search and investigation operation to identify and arrest the perpetrators and refer them to the relevant judicial authorities," the statement added.

A military source told Agence La Belle France Presse that the incident comes in retaliation to a deadly attack on four young men near Arsal in June.

He said the attack was carried out by members of the Jaafar and Amhaz families as the car passed the town of al-Labweh.

The four men were killed on June 15 as they smuggled fuel in the region, a security source said at the time.

Members of the Jaafar family, to which two of the slain men belonged, responded furiously and the Lebanese army called for calm in the area, which is home to both Shiite and Sunni towns.

While the deaths were believed to be linked to control of the lucrative smuggling trade in the region, they came amid tensions between Leb's Sunni and Shiites communities sparked by the conflict in neighboring Syria.
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Gunmen shoot Lebanese mayor
Gunmen shot the mayor of a town in Lebanon and killed two of his companions only hours after he oversaw a hostage swap with a rival clan in an area increasingly driven by sectarian divisions, security sources said on Sunday. The attack near the border with Syria highlights how the civil war there has worsened enmity between Lebanese Shia and Sunni militias that support opposing sides of the two-year-old conflict.

Mayor Ali Hujeiri was shot in the majority Shia town of Labweh as he returned from the hostage exchange with a rival Shia clan. The sources said the attack was carried out by residents of the area, but did not elaborate.

The hostages were being held in relation to an incident in June in which four of Labweh’s residents were killed by rebel fighters, the sources said.

The Bekaa Valley region, where the attack happened, is religiously mixed. Some areas are controlled by the Shia militant Hezbollah group which is helping President Bashar Al Assad crush the revolt. Other parts, like Arsal, are Sunni, and residents provide a safe haven for majority-Sunni Syrian rebels. The recapture of the Syrian border town of Qusair in June by Assad’s forces, spearheaded by Hezbollah guerrillas, led to an influx of Syrian rebel fighters and civilians into Lebanon and more violence spilling over into the Bekaa region.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:



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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.
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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2013-08-12
  Morsi Loyalists Rally in Cairo as Crackdown Looms
Sun 2013-08-11
  Two militants killed in Yemen 'drone strike'
Sat 2013-08-10
  Pro-Morsi forces take to streets in 'Eid of Victory' rallies
Fri 2013-08-09
  Zanzibar: Acid attack on two British women volunteer teachers
Thu 2013-08-08
  Rebels attack Assad motorcade
Wed 2013-08-07
  Kashmir: Five Indian soldiers killed in shooting
Tue 2013-08-06
  Clashes between Military, Insurgents Kill 35 in North Nigeria
Mon 2013-08-05
  Thirty killed in heavy fighting in Syrian mountains
Sun 2013-08-04
  9 Afghans killed in attack on Indian consulate
Sat 2013-08-03
  22 Police, 76 Taliban Killed in Afghan Battle
Fri 2013-08-02
  At least 40 killed in Syrian weapons depot blast
Thu 2013-08-01
  Qaida Chief Says Syria Exposed Hizbullah as Iran 'Tool'
Wed 2013-07-31
  Pakistan Elects Mamnoon Hussain President
Tue 2013-07-30
  Manning Acquitted of Aiding the Enemy
Mon 2013-07-29
  US drone kills 6 suspected militants in Yemen

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