MARKO, Somalia -- a heavy fighting between Government troops and Alshabab members erupted on Saturday at the outskirts of Marka town. Official figures of the death toll has been increasing since yesterday as at least 10 bodies both from the fighting sides has been established.
Government officials of the lower Shabelle region have claimed to have regained control of some new divisions in the region referring to the heavy fighting which erupted between Danane and Gandershe locations.
Mr. Omar Mohamud Elmi who is the vice chairman of civil society in the lower Shabelle region told Shabelle radio station in Mogadishu that Government troops reclaimed the full control of some extra divisions in the region and will continue to fight the Alshabab troops until they gain full control of the entire region.
The vice chairman finally stated that the troops are preparing to conquer the port town of Barawe and Qoryole which are currently fully controlled by the Alshabab figters.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/17/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Official figures of the death toll has been increasing since yesterday as at least 10 bodies both from the fighting sides has been established.
GALKAYO, Somalia -- Residents of Mudug regional district of Harar-Dheere confirmed that senior Al Shabaab official came in under tight security ahead of anticipated assault on the militant groups bases in central Somalia, Garowe Online reports. According to independent sources, Al Shabaab fighters were accompanying Fuad Mohamed Khalaf (Fuad Shangolle) who reportedly escaped from Galgaduud region town of El Bur on Saturday.
Eyewitnesses also tell that hundreds of Al Qaeda inspired fighters from Hiraan regional district of Bulo Barde poured into Harar-Dheere as Ethiopian-AMISOM troops prepare for major assaults on Al Shabaab-held areas.
The groups representative to Galgaduud region, Hassan Yacqub Sunday urged the locals to resist Ethiopia incursion and take the weapons.
We are required to prepare for an attack on our long-time enemy of Ethiopia, from the source to the sink of Galguduud, you must show your support, he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/17/2014 00:00 ||
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HUDUR, Somalia -- Somalia's Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab fighters began to flee Bakool regional capital of Hudur of southwestern Somalia as battalions from Ethiopian Defence Forces have crossed the border into Somalia, Garowe online reports.
Witnesses in El-Barde town confirmed to Garowe Online News Agency that Ethiopian soldiers in battle tanks and artillery trucks are advancing towards Hudur where they vacated in March 2013.
"I saw nearly 50 armoured fighting vehicles which were moving into vicinities close to Hudur district," said El-Barde resident via telephone.
Armor? That'll get the Shaboobs to run away...
None of this is going to do any good until they start killing jihadis in large numbers. May I suggest armour in the front and sharpshooters to pick them off as they leave?
Napalm works wonders if you're not among the squeamish about such things...
But such a risk of burning the surrounding qat or khat bushes, which would never do. There are Somali expats around the world eagerly awaiting the next shipment.
Meanwhile in Hudur, Al Shabaab fighters have been preparing for pullout over the past two days according to independent sources with eyewitnesses reporting that Al Qaeda inspired fighters left with most of their vehicles.
On 22nd of January, over 4000 Ethiopian peacekeepers were officially integrated into African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
Ethiopian troops moved into Beled Hawo town of Gedo region in October 2013 to resolve grudges that degenerated into deadly battles between Somali Government troops and Ahlu Sunah Wal Jamea militia.
Ethiopian troops intervened in southern Somalia in Dec. 2006 and withdrew by Jan. 2009, but returned to Gedo, Bay, Bakool, Hiran and Galgadud border regions in early 2012 in support of Somali government's stabilization operations.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/17/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Jihadists rubbed out two people in a car they stopped at a roadblock near Roman ruins in Tunisia and two coppers who later sped to the scene, the interior ministry said Sunday.
The killings occurred on Saturday night in the Jendouba area of western Tunisia near Bulla Regia, the site of historic Roman ruins, it said in a statement.
Tunisia has been wracked by violence blamed on jihadist groups since the January 2011 Arab Spring revolution that ousted long-time dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
The statement said a National Guard patrol was sent to investigate reports that a civilian and a prison warden had been rubbed out by an gang at a roadblock set up by gunnies in Jendouba.
"On their arrival at the scene, four forces of Evil opened fire," killing two coppers and wounding another two, it said.
Security operations were under way to track down the gang, the ministry said.
The attack, it said, took place near the archaeological site of Bulla Regia, a former Roman city some 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Algerian border and 150 kilometers west of the capital Tunis.
The site is notable for its characteristic villas which are constructed partly underground, as well as for its mosaics.
Much of the violence in Tunisia is blamed on Ansar Al-Sharia, a jihadist outfit accused of having links to al-Qaeda.
The government insists Ansar Al-Sharia was behind the separate liquidations last year of two secular politicians but the group never grabbed credit for those or any other attacks.
The liquidations came as Tunisia was grappling with the political transition after the 2011 uprising that toppled the autocratic regime of Ben Ali, and a surge in Islamist violence.
The killings plunged Tunisia into a crisis from which it is only now emerging, with the adoption in January of a new constitution after a government of independents took the oath to steer the country towards fresh elections.
Also last year, around 20 members of the security forces were killed during operations targeting a group of Islamist gunnies in the Chaambi mountains on the border with Algeria.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2014 00:00 ||
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Armed terrorists militants operating a fake checkpoint in northwest Tunisia killed four people and wounded four others early on Sunday, the Interior Ministry said.
Authorities said four terrorists men blocked the road near Jendouba, just 50 kilometres from the Algerian border. They stopped a vehicle and killed two of its occupants, including a prison guard, and wounded two others.
When a patrol of National Guard approached the road block around 1am, the group of four terrorists militants opened fire, killing two and wounding another two before escaping, the ministry statement said.
Tunisias Shems FM radio said the terrorists militants were disguised as members of the security forces.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/17/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Gunmen suspected of being 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... Islamists have reportedly killed dozens of people, mostly Christians, in a village in northeast Nigeria ... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border... , an official and local residents said Sunday.
"They killed many, many people in the attack late Saturday. From the latest information I have gathered, more than 60 people have been killed," the local government chairman, Maina Ularamu, told Agence La Belle France Presse.
Ularamu, who spoke to AFP from the Nigerian capital Abuja, said the toll which he had gathered from residents of Izghe village in the troubled Borno state still had to be verified.
The residents of the village -- populated by mostly Christians -- had expeditiously departed at a goodly pace of the carnage.
"We suspect that the gunnies were members of Boko Haram. They have taken over the village," Ularamu said.
"They looted businesses and food stores and loaded all their spoils into vehicles owned by residents and fled into the bush."
The attack made hundreds of villagers homeless, he said, adding that he was about to return to the state capital Maiduguri to face the security and humanitarian challenges created by the raid.
A survivor of the attack, Barnabas Idi, a farmer, who said he scaled the fence of his house and crawled for about 40 minutes to safety, narrated to AFP his account of the raid.
"The attackers came around 9:30 pm (2030 GMT) in six trucks and some cycle of violences. They were dressed in military uniform. They asked men to assemble at a place, hacking and slaughtering them," he said.
Some of them went door-to-door looking for those in hiding in their houses.
He said that he scaled over the fence of his house and "crawled on my belly for 40 minutes until I was able to run to safety."
Izghe is about 140 kilometers (87 miles) from Maiduguri and Idi said that security agents were not present during the attack.
Another resident who also survived the attack gave a similar account of the raid.
A military front man in the area, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Dole, told AFP he had not been briefed on the attack.
Boko Haram Death Eaters early last week killed 43 people in the villages of Konduga and Wajirko, also in Borno state, in attacks that triggered the exodus of hundreds of villagers to Maiduguri.
Borno and the neighboring states of Adamawa and Yobe have been under emergency rule since May last year in a bid to stop the Islamist rebellion, which has claimed thousands of lives since 2009.
Attacks have continued in remote areas as well as in cities despite a military operation launched in the northeast when emergency rule was declared.
President Goodluck Jonathan ... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau... , who has voiced frustration with the progress of the operation, replaced his top military brass on January 16.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] A Bahrain court Sunday handed down 15-year jail terms to two people convicted of trying to kill coppers in the Gulf state rocked by violence for three years.
The official BNA news agency cited acting chief prosecutor Mohammed Salah as saying the two were found guilty of premeditated attempted murder and possessing a Kalashnikov assault rifle and ammunition.
BNA said the prosecution found that the "defendants had intended to kill a number of coppers" and "waited for the victims and shot at their vehicle."
Scores of Shiite Mohammedans have been tried over unrest in the Sunni-ruled kingdom that followed Arab Spring-inspired protests in mid-February 2011.
The International Federation for Human Rights says at least 89 people have been killed since the uprising began three years ago.
Last year the authorities increased the penalties for those convicted of violence, introducing the death sentence or life terms in the case of people being killed or maimed.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Five suspected forces of Evil were killed in two separate encounters with Rangers in different areas of the city on Sunday, said a paramilitary force front man in a statement.
He said that in the early hours of the day, a vehicle of Rangers personnel came under an armed attack on the Superhighway near Afghan Basti which triggered firing from both sides.
"Two turbans attacked a Rangers vehicle at the Superhighway near Afghan Basti and after an exchange of fire, both the turbans got killed," said the front man in a brief statement without giving details about the identity of the 'terrorists'.
It also mentioned 'targeted-raids' in Usmanabad, Bakra Piri, Natha Khan Goth, Kausar Town, Qayyumabad, Hindu Para, Kalri, Baghdadi, Chakiwara and Noor Muhammad Goth in the early hours of the day.
The other encounter took place in Ittehad Colony and this time the paramilitary force also sustained loss.
"A search operation was conducted in Mohammad Khan Colony, Ittehad Town, this morning," said the statement. "When Rangers troops started establishing cordon in the area, a few turbans fired at Rangers troops and fled to a nearby location where an exchange of fire between turbans and Rangers took place."
During the exchange of gunfire, it said, the suspected turbans threw a grenade at Rangers that left a Rangers personnel maimed with minor wounds, but the 'brief shootout' killed all the three suspected terrorists.
"During the mentioned actions, 21 criminals including members of banned outfits have been nabbed Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! while 54 types of weapons were also recovered from their possession," added the statement.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shouting match, the spittle had reached unprecedented levels... a young man was rubbed out in Lyari. An official at the Storied Baghdadi cop shoppe said the gunnies targeted 22-year-old Muhamamd Anees when he was riding to home.
"He was attacked near Kamaila bus stop. He was hit by three bullets in the upper torso and was struck down in his prime. The body was handed over to the family after medico-legal formalities at 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... ," added the official.
Two unidentified bodies were also found in different areas of the city. In Pak Colony, the body of a young man with a bullet wound was found in the Mewashah graveyard. An official of the Pak Colony cop shoppe said the victim had not been identified. "The body has been moved to the Edhi morgue," he added.
Another body was found in Landhi where the victim also remained unidentified.
"The body was found in an abandoned area in Gulshan-e-Buner. It has been moved to the Jinnah hospital for his appointment with Doctor Quincy," said an official.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] A bomb targeting a passenger train near Unnar Wah railway station in Jacobabad killed at least seven people and maimed more than 30 others on Sunday, officials said.
"The Khushhal Khan Khattak express train was on its way to 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. from 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... when it was hit by the blast, killing seven passengers including three children and wounding over 30 others," a senior local administration official, Sardar Jamali told AFP.
"The corpse count in the kaboom rose to seven after two injured persons died of their wounds in a hospital in Jacobabad town," Jamali said.
He added that three passenger wagons were derailed and two of them were severely damaged by the impact of the kaboom.
Jamali said that Sunday's bomb was likely an improvised bomb, while the general manager of Pakistain Railways, Anjum Parvaiz, suggested it was a remote controlled kaboom planted on the track.
Parvaiz, who confirmed the incident and casualties, said 800 metres of railway track had been damaged.
A kaboom in one of the compartments of a train on the same Karachi-bound route last month in the central town of Rajanpur in Punjab province killed three people and maimed 20 others.
Nobody immediately claimed the responsibility for the latest bombing.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] A local tribal elder and a minor girl were killed and six others injured in an exchange of fire at Zehri Ghat village in Khuzdar on Sunday.
Levies sources said that firing erupted when security personnel raided the house of Sardar Inayatullah Zehri in the village, resulting in the death of Bashir Ahmed Zarakzai, a tribal elder, and a minor girl, Robina.
Three men and as many women were maimed and taken to the Khuzdar district hospital. According to the FC sources, the raid was carried out to capture some criminals.
Meanwhile, ...back at the barn, Bossy had come up with a new idea, one that didn't involve kerosene... a tribal elder of Zehri, Mir Batay Khan Zarakzai, alleged that security forces, supported by some tribal elders, had attacked the house of Sardar Inayatullah Zehri, adding that innocent people were killed and injured in the firing.
"Several houses were set on fire by the armed rustics," Batay Khan said.
He said security forces detained four people, including his brothers Mir Adnan Khan and Mir Farhad.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2014 00:00 ||
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PESHAWAR -- A faction of the Pakistani Taliban said Sunday that it executed 23 paramilitary soldiers who have been held captive since 2010, even as other elements of the militant group continue preliminary peace talks with the country's government.
Typical style of 'negotiation' -- one arm offers talks, the other arm murders. We've seen this before. No doubt the authorities will write it off to the acts of a 'splinter' group and keep talking...
In a written statement and subsequent video message, the Pakistani Taliban's Mohmand wing said the Pakistani soldiers were killed in retaliation for continued security operations against Islamist extremists. Omar Khalid Khurassani, a commander of the group, also accused Pakistan's military of extrajudicial killings.
The reported killings could hurt preliminary peace talks the government is holding with the group.
Depends on whether the government cares about its soldiers...
"We have warned the government time and again through the media to stop the killing of our friends, who were in the custody of security forces, but the government continued killing our people," Khurassani said in the written statement. "So we executed 23 members of the parliamentary" Frontier Corps.
There was no immediate comment Sunday from Pakistan's government or military, and Khurassani's statement could be not be independently verified. But the Taliban, which is waging a bloody insurgency aimed at instilling Islamic law in Pakistan, has killed dozens of captured or kidnapped Pakistani soldiers over the years.
Khurassani said Sunday that the 23 executed soldiers also had been captured in 2010, as they manned a checkpoint in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border. They were killed, he claimed, because 16 militants thought to have been in prison had been found dead in various Pakistani cities in recent weeks.
If confirmed, the most recent killings could be a serious blow to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's ongoing effort to reach a negotiated settlement with Taliban militants. After months of effort, Sharif's government entered into preliminary talks with Pakistani Taliban representatives three weeks ago. Since then, however, the country's struggle against terrorism and violence has only deepened.
The statement Sunday from the Taliban's Mohmand faction, which operates out of the Mohmand district of Pakistan's tribal areas, seems all but certain to put new pressure on Sharif and Pakistan's new army chief, Raheel Sharif, to undertake a military operation against Taliban strongholds in northwestern Pakistan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/17/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Response: walk 46 Talib prisoners into the prison courtyard and execute them on live Pak TV.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/17/2014 9:33 Comments ||
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#2
See DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > IRAN SAYS IT MAY END FORCES INTO PAKISTAN TO FREE BORDER GUARDS TERRITORY - TIMES OF INDIA.
Iran Interior Minister Addreza Fazli.
Again, AS PER OWG GLOBALISM, + CONTAINING POST-2014, POTEN TALIBAN/MILITANT-DOMINATED ISLAMABAD = PAKISTAN GOVT-ARMY may be a Bammer-desired covert condition for no US, Israeli attack on Iran's Nucprogs.
Thats already Nuke-armed Pakistan - any post-2014 "Talibanized" Pak Govt-Army will have THREE FORMER OVERLORD/PARENT STATES TO CONTEND WITH - INDIA, IRAN, + [ex-Mongol] CHINA.
Not counting any sovereign Free Balochistan.
[1970's SONG "TORN BETWEEN TWO [Three? Four?] LOVERS" here].
[Jewish Press] It's official: Al-Qaeda has begun operating in the Gaza Strip.
A video posted on YouTube this week showed terrorists belonging to the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known colloquially by its Arabic acronym, DAESH, announcing plans to wage jihad [holy war] against the "infidels, traitors and Crusaders."
This is the first time that a group linked to Al-Qaeda announces its presence in the Gaza Strip. Note fearsome new black ensembles, matching ski masks, tactical gloves, new M4's and AK's, expensive desert tan kit with break-away ammo chest packs. Not just a PR and recruiting video, these lads mean binness!
And with such pretty outfits, someone is forking over the cash to support them in style.
Posted by: Besoeker ||
02/17/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
"Al Qaeda has begun operating in the Gaza Strip" > FYI the Bangla Govt. is investigating + asking US + INTERPOL, etc. to verify or authenticate an alleged new audio tape from AYMAN-THE-Z-MAN [post-OBL "Core" Al-Qaeda El Supremo Zawahiri] calling for resistance + uprising in the country.
When one is talking about Bangla nowadays, one must also keep in mind MYANMAR AKA BURMA as per defense of [upper East, NE] INDIA'S STRATEGIC FLANKS.
Also read, CHINA + SE ASIA.
* FYI WORLD NEWS, DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > HAMID KARZAI HOPES PAKISTAN WIL GIVE TRANSIT ROUTE [trade] INTO INDIA.
As opposed to achieving maritime access by separating Balochistan from Pakistan andor Iran???
#2
if the local aq group begins bumping off hamas, Islamic Jihad and other competitors, it will be at least a temporary positive (and in syria, it worked pretty much like that)
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/17/2014 12:11 Comments ||
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#3
Enough of this terrorist talk let us focus the state department on the true enemy -- climate change.
NOT-DANIEL-BOONE Noted Egyptian Journalist says Al-SISI has a Plan, yes a Big Plan, ... ...
To paraph KRAUTHAMMER, OWG NUCLEAR CALIPHATE = OWG NUCLEAR ISLAMIST-JIHADIST STATE = NUCLEAR MILITANTISM-TERRORISM = NUCLEAR SHARIA = JUST GOOD GLOBALISM + GOOD OBAMAISM + GOOD FOR AMERIKA.
[Al Arabiya News] Syria's main opposition group says it has found proof that al-Qaeda's affiliate -- the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, commonly known as ISIS -- is jointly working with the government in Damascus to undermine rebel groups fighting to overthrow president Bashar 'Pencil Neck' al-Assad.
According to documents revealed by the Syrian National Coalition, several field commanders of the al-Qaeda affiliate were former military or intelligence officers of the Syrian army. These commanders are coordinating military operations with the Assad's forces, providing them with information about rebel fighters and facilitating the recapture of areas previously controlled by the rebel Free Syrian Army.
The opposition notes that Assad's air force never targeted the usually conspicuous and large camps operated by ISIS in several parts of the country. We're working the 'A thru H' camps as we speak. You're next up, or not.
On the opposite side, the smaller and less visible outposts of the Syrian Free Army were frequently targeted by the Syrian air force. Since reports surfaced last month that ISIS is linked to the Syrian regime, the FSA has waged a war against the extremist group. Extremist group? Can you be more specific ?
Rebel raids on ISIS camps turned out further corroborations on the alleged ties. Similar weapons and ammunition used by the Syrian regime forces were also found at the al-Qaeda camp in Raqqa province. Syrian security identification cards and passports with entry and exit stamps to Iran were also seized during the raids on ISIS camps.
The latest reports came days after U.S. Treasury Department suggested last week that Assad's ally Iran has allowed al-Qaeda militants to enter Syria. U.S. Treasury? Yet another intelligence agency? Is this "suggestion" derived from social media networks or Target shoppers ?
The Syrian opposition National Coalition has said that it will use the latest report to back its stance during a second round of peace talks with the Assad's regime in Geneva this week. Excellent! More three-ways and circular firing squads are most definitely needed. Do not tire in your efforts, put them all to the sword.
Posted by: Besoeker ||
02/17/2014 06:49 ||
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#1
The Treasury, as one of the many arms of the Administration.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/17/2014 14:58 Comments ||
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#2
Extremist group? Can you be more specific ?
Considering the filter of public-school English, one would assume the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria."
Is this "suggestion" derived from social media networks or Target shoppers ?
More likely side information gleaned from monitoring currency transactions and human egress from Iran.
It also wouldn't be the first time Iran has provided provided support to al-Qaeda. Being that I'm on hard-won leave, I've not the assets available to back up my claim. Suffice it to say that if you look up 'bin ladin and Iran', some interesting things may pop up.
Excellent! More three-ways and circular firing squads are most definitely needed. Do not tire in your efforts, put them all to the sword.
It's not changed much since the days of T.E. Lawrence, meneer. It's also not a hashish fantasy (with some small amount of non-rebel intel, particularly with regards to control of some oilfilelds)to suggest there may be more than a grain of truth to the allegation.
[An Nahar] The evacuation of civilians from Syria's Homs city has halted, with no new efforts to extend a truce and the governor saying Sunday "gangs" prevented operations a day earlier.
In a statement, Talal Barazi said "the evacuation of civilians was not carried out yesterday (Saturday) because some of the gangs prevented the citizens inside from moving to the transit point to leave."
"The province will continue its efforts with the United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... to evacuate all those who wish to leave," he added.
The United Nations and Syria's Red Islamic Thingy began operations to evacuate trapped civilians and deliver aid inside besieged parts of Homs on February 7.
The work was made possible by a deal that included a ceasefire that was extended twice, but expired on Saturday night with no word of attempts to extend it further.
The U.N. and Red Islamic Thingy were able to evacuate some 1,400 of the 3,000 people estimated to be trapped in Homs for more than 18 months by a government siege.
But around 400 men and boys aged 15-55 were detained by authorities for investigation upon leaving.
Barazi said on Saturday that 390 male evacuees had left Homs, with 211 released so far.
On Thursday, the U.N. said 430 men and boys were tossed into the calaboose with just 181 released.
The fate of the male evacuees has prompted concern at the U.N. and the International Committee of the Red Thingy, whose chief warned Saturday that they "must be treated humanely at all times and be allowed to contact their families."
Peter Maurer also lamented the chaotic evacuation process, which saw aid convoys come under fire and shelling kill more than a dozen people despite the nominal truce.
On Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said several besieged neighborhoods of Homs came under regime shelling, and government forces battled rebels in the outskirts of the districts.
Regime forces also shelled the Waer neighborhood, a Homs district under opposition control but not subject to the army siege, where most of the evacuees fled.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2014 00:00 ||
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The Lebanese army intercepted a car packed with explosives near the border with Syria on Sunday, four days after two car bombs were defused elsewhere in the country, l'Agence France Presse reported.
State news agency NNA said the car had entered Lebanon from the embattled Qalamun region across the border and was stopped at an army checkpoint when soldiers became suspicious. A security source told AFP soldiers opened fire towards the vehicle, prompting the passengers to run away flee.
The car was rigged with 200 kilos (440 pounds) of explosives which were to be triggered by mobile phones, the source said.
In a statement, the army confirmed the incident, saying the vehicle contained 240 kilos of Semtex explosives as well as artillery shells. It said the Semtex and other explosives in the car were connected to a detonation cord of 200 metres (yards) and a timing system involving two cell phones and a battery. It added that drugs were also found in the car, without providing details.
The NNA said the car had come from the Qalamun region "and was heading towards Beirut".
It identified the vehicle as a four-wheel drive and said it was seized along the Shoaybe-Ham highway in eastern Lebanon.
On Wednesday, the army said it defused two car bombs, one in Beirut and a second in eastern Lebanon which it said had come from Yabrud, a bastion of Syrian rebels in the Qalamun mountains.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/17/2014 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.
MARKO, Somalia -- a heavy fighting between Government troops and Alshabab members erupted on Saturday at the outskirts of Marka town. Official figures of the death toll has been increasing since yesterday as at least 10 bodies both from the fighting sides has been established.
[JerusalemPost] Bus was ferrying South Korean tourists planning to enter Israel; Despite huge MDA preparations, no wounded evacuated to Eilat.
Goodluck Jonathan
PESHAWAR -- A faction of the Pakistani Taliban said Sunday that it executed 23 paramilitary soldiers who have been held captive since 2010, even as other elements of the militant group continue preliminary peace talks with the country's government.
[Jewish Press] It's official: Al-Qaeda has begun operating in the Gaza Strip.
Enemy? What enemy? 
[Al Arabiya News] Syria's main opposition group says it has found proof that al-Qaeda's affiliate -- the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, commonly known as ISIS -- is jointly working with the government in Damascus to undermine rebel groups fighting to overthrow president Bashar 'Pencil Neck' al-Assad.
The Lebanese army intercepted a car packed with explosives near the border with Syria on Sunday, four days after two car bombs were defused elsewhere in the country, l'Agence France Presse reported.
