[AnNahar] Masked gunnies have kidnapped 30 Shiite Moslem men who were traveling by bus through southern Afghanistan after returning from Iran, officials and a witness said on Tuesday.
The men, members of the minority Hazara ethnic group, were seized on Monday evening in Zabul province, on the road between the western city of Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... and the capital Kabul.
Continued on Page 49
[AnNahar] Two blasts rocked bus stations in embattled northern Nigeria on Tuesday, killing at least 27 people, as relentless attacks persist less than five weeks from general elections.
The first, which killed 17 people was caused by a bomb that destroyed a station on the outskirts of Potiskum, in northeast Yobe state, which has been targeted repeatedly by 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.
Roughly four hours later, two men blew themselves up after getting off a bus at a busy terminus in Kano, the north's largest city and another frequent Boko Haram target. Ten people were killed.
The Nigerian murderous Moslem group has been blamed for more than 13,000 deaths since 2009 and has in recent weeks expanded its uprising into neighboring countries, raising fears of a regional crisis.
In Niger on Tuesday, a mine planted by the Death Eaters killed two soldiers and injured four others in the Diffa region bordering Yobe, a security source said.
Niger this month joined Cameroon ...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there... , Chad and Nigeria in a joint operation aimed at crushing Boko Haram's uprising, and many expected the Salafist tough guys to launch cross-border reprisals.
Nigeria had hoped the four-nation offensive could contain the violence before elections initially scheduled for February 14 but which were postponed by six weeks because of the insurgency.
But with the bloodshed continuing on a nearly daily basis, security fears remain high ahead of the March 28 vote.
- 'Huge kaboom' -
The Potiskum kaboom occurred at the Tashar Dan-Borno motor park on the outskirts of the city immediately after a man put a bag in the boot of the bus and then tried to board.
"The bus had just loaded with passengers on its way to Kano when a huge kaboom happened inside the bus at exactly 11:40 am (1040 GMT)," said a driver's union official at the bus station.
Potiskum was also attacked on Sunday, when a young girl detonated explosives strapped to her body at a crowded market.
Thirteen dead and 31 injured were initially brought to Potiskum General Hospital after Tuesday's blast, according to a nurse at the facility, but she added: "Four more died here.
"So, we have 17 dead and 27 people with injuries."
The drivers' union official said it was not immediately clear whether the man who placed the bag in the boot was a jacket wallah, or whether the explosives were hidden inside it.
Rescue workers at the scene said that all 12 people on board the bus were killed.
The girl in Sunday's attack which left seven people dead in Potiskum was thought to be as young as seven, according to multiple witnesses.
Boko Haram Islamists have increasingly used maidens of tender years and women as human bombs at so-called "soft targets" such as markets and bus stations, which are hit regularly.
- Flesh and blood 'splattered' -
The kaboom at the Kano Line Station occurred at about 3:40 pm (1540 GMT) and sent people rushing from the site of the blast, many of them covered in blood.
"I was attending to customers when I heard a loud kaboom that shook the building," said one local shopkeeper, who works opposite the terminus.
An orange seller inside the bus station confirmed his account.
"We rushed outside and we saw plumes of black smoke coming from the Kano Line Station," the shopkeeper said.
"People and buses were rushing out of the bus station. One bus was splattered with blood and human flesh."
Kano state police front man Musa Magaji Majia described the attack as "suicide kabooms" by two men after they got off a bus from Wudil, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) away.
"Ten people were killed in the blast and several others were maimed.
"The area was cordoned off and then bomb experts swept the place for more explosives but nothing was found," he told news hounds.
Both bombings again underlined the severe security challenges confronting Nigeria in the run-up to the March elections.
Nigeria and neighboring armies have claimed major successes in the campaign against the Islamists, but Boko Haram has proved resilient.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/25/2015 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] The United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... says some 50,000 people have fled their homes in the Central African Republic over the past three months as violence keeps surging across the country.
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said Tuesday that some 30,000 people have been displaced inside the country as the violence has experienced a surge since the beginning of the year.
UNHCR spokeswoman, Karin de Gruijl, who was addressing journalists in the Swiss city of Geneva, also said that 20,000 more have sought refuge in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo ...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... since December.
"There is just total lawlessness, and the civilian population is being caught in the middle," de Gruijl said.
A 2013 coup against the then president, Francois Bozize, pushed the Central African Republic into a sectarian conflict that still claims lives in the impoverished country. The Christian "anti-balaka" militias continue attacking members of the mostly MoslemSeleka ...a 'mainly' Moslem rebel force in the Central African Republic that overthrew the govt, imposed a regime of rapine and looting on the country's non-Moslem population, and was then tossed by France. They still exist, getting funding and weapons from somewhere or other, licking their wounds, complaining about the oppression of Moslems, and occasionally raping and looting someone... group for what they see as the group's alleged role in the coup.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Well why don't you guys over on Oyster Bay hitch up your big boy pants and DO SOMETHING.
And I don't mean a conference or try a negotiated settlement. Get some folks together and go in there and kick some ass.
Spain said Tuesday it had broken up an online network accused of recruiting young women to join Islamic State militants fighting in Iraq and Syria and arrested four suspects.
The early morning arrests came as European nations scramble to halt a surge in young people wanting to traveling to Iraq and Syria to fight with the jihadists.
Two of the suspects were arrested in Melilla, the Spanish enclave neighboring Morocco, in the latest operation by Spain's authorities targeting such recruiting networks.
The others were detained in Girona and Barcelona in Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia.
The two detained in Melilla were said to be behind the creation and operation of several Internet platforms spreading propaganda, particularly for the Islamic State group, the interior ministry said in a statement.
"In line with the strategy of the Daesh terrorist group, they focused on the recruitment of women who, after a process of indoctrination, would end up joining the terrorist group in conflict zones," it said, using the Arabic name for IS.
The ministry said private home visits were also organized for recruiting purposes and a number of young people had begun preparations to travel to war zones.
One of those arrested ran a "virtual community" with Islamic State propaganda and more than 1,000 subscribers, it said.
He had a "multitude of subscribers" outside Spain on Facebook, including Latin America and countries such as Belgium, France, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey and the United States, the statement said.
One of the suspects arrested in Spain's northeast was described as an Islamic State sympathizer-turned-propagandist with the profile of a "lone wolf" who acted alone.
The other was said to have edited and distributed videos to recruit potential jihadists.
The authorities were working to establish links between the two in Melilla and those in Spain's northeast.
Police searched the homes of all four suspects.
Officers removed several boxes from the home of one of the men detained in Sant Vicenc dels Horts about 20 kilometers (14 miles) from Barcelona.
Relatives of the man, a 36-year-old Moroccan who has lived in Spain since he was eight, said the boxes contained computers.
"It's a lie that he is a terrorist. It's all lies. For him, Islam is peace," the man's brother, Hicham Belkadar, 33, told journalists at the scene.
"They accuse him because he posted videos and shared photos. he published photos about Islam but it has nothing to do with terrorism. These people who cut heads don't represent Islam, and my brother is not one of them."
Spain has dismantled several similar networks, particularly in Melilla and its other north African enclave, Ceuta.
The two enclaves, with the only land borders between Africa and Europe, attract thousands of mostly sub-Saharan Africans trying to reach European countries.
An estimated 550 Western women are believed to have gone to Syria to join the jihadist cause, according to the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue.
Spanish authorities estimate that around 100 nationals have joined jihadist fighters in Iraq and Syria, a lower number than those from Britain, France and Germany.
In August two young Spanish women, one of them under 18, were arrested in Melilla on suspicion of trying to join an Islamic State cell in the Middle East.
Britain says some 500 people have traveled from the country to join jihadist groups, while France says about 1,400 residents have either joined the jihadist cause in Syria and Iraq or were planning to do so.
France on Monday announced that it had confiscated the passports of six suspected would-be jihadists and would ban another 40 from traveling.
Spain suffered one of Europe's worst ever peacetime attacks on March 11, 2004, when Al-Qaida-inspired bombings killed 191 people in an attack on Madrid commuter trains.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/25/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
"It's a lie that he is a terrorist. It's all lies. For him, Islam is peace," the man's brother, Hicham Belkadar, 33, told journalists at the scene.
I think his brother also needs a beatdown with a Hickory Cluebat™
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/25/2015 8:52 Comments ||
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#2
For him Islam is peace, he drives a FIAT the auto of dependability.
[AnNahar] Spies working for Britain's MI5 intelligence agency donned wigs and makeup Tuesday to testify against a Pakistani al-Qaida suspect on trial in New York for allegedly plotting to blow up a British shopping center.
Why is he on trial in the U.S. if the plot was hatched and promulgated in Britain?
Four surveillance officers, identified by four-digit numbers, detailed how they followed the defendant, Abid Naseer, in March and April 2009 in the cities of Manchester and Liverpool in northern England.
District judge Raymond Dearie prohibited court artists from drawing the faces of a total of five members of MI5 who are expected to testify, allowing only blank faces and generic haircuts to be depicted.
The witnesses entered the federal court in Brooklyn from a side entrance, precluding any possibility of mingling with members of the press and public who use the main public entrance into the courtroom.
Two of the men, as well as the one woman agent, wore heavy black and dark-brown wigs and partially shielded their eyes behind spectacles. Two of the men were bearded; the other male agent appeared clean-shaven, with short graying hair.
From behind their disguises, the four agents said they watched the defendant visit a Manchester shopping center, allegedly the intended target. They also monitor him as he visited a mosque, an Internet cafe and traveled to Liverpool.
The agents all identified the defendant, who is representing himself in court, as the man they knew by the codename "small panel" as part of Operation Pathway that led up to his initial arrest in Britain in 2009.
U.S. government prosecutors say Naseer helped al-Qaida planned an assault on the shopping center as part of coordinated attacks that also targeted the New York subway and a Danish newspaper. Prosecutors called it one of the most serious terror plots since the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.
- Denies the charges -
Naseer, who denies the charges, faces life in prison if convicted.
He is charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiring to provide material support to al-Qaida and with conspiring to use a destructive device. The surveillance officers said they followed the defendant in the company of two other men, code-named Happy Skater and Glass Pendant.
Naseer, acting as his own defense attorney, cross-examined two of the spies who once tailed him.
One wore a John Lennon-style dark brown wig and thin-rimmed spectacles. The second pointedly stayed silent when Naseer opened his cross-examination with a two-times greeting of "good morning."
Crucially to the government's case, the officers said they had never seen the defendant -- who was in Britain as a student -- go to college, carry any books or in the company of a woman.
The defense argues that Naseer was embarked on a quest to get married and not carry out the attack.
He was first arrested in 2009 in Britain with 11 other men suspected of preparing an attack against the Manchester mall, and was extradited to the United States from Britain in 2013. The other men were released without charge, but Naseer was arrested for a second time in July 2010 at the request of Brooklyn prosecutors, who accused him of participating in the plot to attack the New York subway in 2009.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/25/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Another fundamental going in the dust pans in the WOT, the right to face one's accusers. We're burning the village in order to save it. How'd you like an unidentifiable individual who the state submits as 'credentialed' testifying against you? Hard choices.
#4
Naseer, acting as his own defense attorney, cross-examined two of the spies who once tailed him.
It's not as if he didn't get to confront those agents bearing witness against him, they just wore fake noses, glasses and wigs. I would suspect Naseer would demand that any of his female acquantainces testifying on his behalf to be able to wear full hijabs
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/25/2015 8:57 Comments ||
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#5
Four surveillance officers, identified by four-digit numbers,
#6
Are they US citizens? If not I don't see where their right to facetheir accusers. Also mob Iinformants get to conceal their identities sometimes so they don't get a bullet in the head so why shouldn't a spy get the same? Not like the constitution doesn't get shit on everyday by law enforcement doing illegal searches an such.
Posted by: chris ||
02/25/2015 10:11 Comments ||
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#1
I find it very strange that he only got two years, as the Infantry - Army or Marines - don't take too kindly to deserters in times of crisis, espec the USMC.
[DAWN] Bodies of three men recovered earlier last week were identified as the perpetrators involved in the deadly attack on 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. 's Bacha Khan International Airport on December 15, 2012, a government official said.
According to sources, all three men belonged to a proscribed banned ...the word banned seems to have a different meaning in Pakistain than it does in most other places. Or maybe it simply lacks any meaning at all...
organization of Khyber Agency and were among the Lions of Islam who fired rockets at the Pakistain Air Force base inside Bacha Khan Airport.
The bodies, which were found at a nullah in Peshawar's Mattani area, were recognised as Commander Noor Mohammad, Commander Kemya Gul and Commander Sher Muhammad -- all of whom were wanted for being the criminal masterminds of the fatal attack.
According to sources, the three men were also suspected to be involved in the rocket attacks on the Sheikh Muhammadi grid station near Peshawar which left seven people dead on April 2, 2013.
A front man for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain had claimed the credit for the attack on Bacha Khan Airport, saying their target was the air force base.
The seven killed in the attack included five Lions of Islam while 40 people suffered injuries, according to government officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Law-enforcement agencies claimed on Monday to have tossed in the calaboose Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! one of the ring leaders allegedly involved in the Dec 16 gruesome attack on 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. Army Public School.
The suspect had been living in Pawakki village of Peshawar as an internally displaced person. He was arrested during an intelligence-based operation, according to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
The suspect has been identified as 27-year-old Taj Mohammad alias Rizwan, a resident of Sipah, Koi Chow, Bara, Khyber tribal region. The statement described Taj Mohammad as the main executor in the Dec 16 attack.
He was one of the leaders of a second group which attacked the school. The group was led by Atiqueur Rehman alias Usman who had already been arrested.
During interrogation, the statement said, Taj Mohammad had confessed to have been involved in a number of terrorist attacks in North Wazoo Agency and in the outskirts of Peshawar and that he had been affiliated with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) since 2008.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2015 00:00 ||
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[IraqiNews.com] On Monday, Iraqi Ministry of Defense announced, that the Army forces have managed to liberate most of the areas in al-Baghdadi district from the ISIS group bad boys.
The ministry said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews, "Iraqi Army forces, consisting of al-Jazira and al-Badiyah Operations forces, along with the Seventh Division led by Col. Gen. Riyad Jalal Tawfik and elements of al-Hashed al-Shab'i backed by tribal fighters, have managed to liberate most of the areas of al-Baghdadi district," pointing out that, "The security operations resulted in killing a number of terrorists, in addition to destroying their equipment."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/25/2015 00:00 ||
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[IraqiNews.com] On Monday, a source within the police force in al-Baghdadi district announced, that seven jacket wallahs have been killed by the security forces during festivities in west of Ramadi.
Police Caption Mohamd Zuhair Turki stated to IraqiNews in an interview, "The Iraqi security forces have managed to repel an attempt by seven suicide bombers to sneak into the district of al-Baghdadi, located 90 km west of Ramadi," pointing out that, "The seven elements were planning to blow themselves up and attack sites in the district."
"The force has also managed to destroy boom belts without causing any noticeable casualties," the source added.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/25/2015 00:00 ||
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[IraqiNews.com] A source within the Iraqi police announced Tuesday, that 3 non-combatants were killed and 13 others were maimed, including women and kiddies when Katyusha rockets fell on two areas north of Baghdad.
The source said in an interview for IraqiNews, "Two Katyusha rockets fell on al-Mochahada area north of Baghdad, which resulted in killing two children and injuring five civilians, including women."
The source, who requested anonymity, added, "Three other rockets fell on Sabaa al-Bour area north of Baghdad, leaving one civilian dead and eight others injured."
The source continued, "Security forces were deployed in the two regions to track those who launched the rockets, while the bodies of the dead were transported to the Forensic Medicine Authority and the injured to the nearest hospital for treatment."
[IraqiNews.com] On Tuesday, a source within the police force said, that 3 people including a policeman have been killed and 6 others were maimed in two kabooms in southern Baghdad.
The source informed IraqiNews, "A bomb that was emplaced under a civil vehicle has went off killing a policeman in the area of al-Yusifiyah, located in southern Baghdad," pointing out that, "After the kaboom, people crowded around the area, and a second bomb went off killing two civilians and injuring six others."
At least 32 people were killed in attacks in Baghdad on February 8 but the frequency of bombings in the capital has slowed this year following gains 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.... jihadist group.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/25/2015 00:00 ||
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[IraqiNews.com] On Tuesday, a security source in Salahuddin province said, that 9 elements of the ISIS group have been killed in an artillery strike by the security forces on ISIS sites in southeast of Tikrit.
The source informed IraqiNews, "This afternoon, army forces conducted an artillery strike on gathering sites for the ISIS group snuffies in the districts of Tikrit and al-Door, located 25 km southeast of Tikrit," pointing out that, "The operation resulted in killing nine elements of the terrorist organization."
"Security forces backed by tribal fighters from the local clans are still advancing on gathering sites and hideouts for the ISIS group snuffies in Salahuddin province," the source added.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/25/2015 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Israel's internal security service said Monday it had caught 11 alleged Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, fighters in the occupied West Bank who planned attacks against Israelis.
The group, from the city of Hebron, was incarcerated Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! in January by Shin Bet agents and troops, a statement said.
"Its activists were engaged in planning various attacks, including a suicide kaboom," it said
The suspects confessed to a failed attempt Curses! Foiled again! in December at the Jewish settlement enclave of Tel Rumeida in the center of Hebron during interrogation, Shin Bet said.
It named the group's leaders as Suhaib Mamun Sultan, 20 and Salem Abbas Sultan, 28.
"According to the plan, the two were to throw an bomb to draw soldiers to the site, then detonate a powerful bomb already concealed there," the Shin Bet said.
It said that following interrogation a stash of weapons and explosives were discovered.
#1
The Arabs of Hebron are the most Anti-Semitics of their bunch.
Many years ago when a visited the city of Hebron I saw murder in the eyes of the Arabs children.
In 1929 all the Jews of Hebron that lived peacefully with the Arabs until this point were massacred by the masses of Arabs that followed their 'religious' authorities the order to kill the Jews.
Posted by: Ana ||
02/25/2015 15:17 Comments ||
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[Gulf Today] At least 20 members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters were killed in a combined ground and artillery attack in an attempt to dislodge them from several villages they had occupied in North Cotabato province.
Captain Calvin Macatangay said that the 20 slain BIFF militants were based on an actual body count culled from intelligence reports as well as on reports from residents and the MILF. He said the campaign succeeded in retaking five villages in the town of Pikit, which were occupied by the BIFF for more than one week.
Macatangay said, "It was a law enforcement operation done with the help of the police and patriotic public officials," adding that the BIFF set fire to about 20 houses in one of the villages they had occupied.
[AnNahar] 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 has seized at least 90 Assyrian Christians in Syria, in the jihadists' first mass kidnapping of Christians in the war-torn country, a monitor said Tuesday.
The abductions appeared to be in retaliation for a major Kurdish offensive aimed at recapturing nearby villages, and which has killed 132 jihadists in four days, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Britannia-based monitor said IS kidnapped the Assyrians on Monday after seizing two villages, Tal Shamiram and Tal Hermuz, in Hassakeh province from the control of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).
The group had no immediate details on those kidnapped, including whether women and kiddies were among them, or where they were being held.
"The jihadists attacked the two villages in retaliation against the Kurds, who four days ago launched a bid backed by the U.S.-led coalition to reclaim villages around Tal Hamis, also in Hassakeh province," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.
"The fighting around Tal Hamis has killed at least 132 jihadists in four days, and four YPG fighters on Tuesday alone," he added.
"A fifth man, a Westerner who had traveled into Syria to fight alongside the YPG, was also killed."
There were just 30,000 Assyrians in Syria before the country's conflict erupted in March 2011, with most of them living throughout Hassakeh province.
They represent a tiny percentage of the country's overall pre-war Christian population, which numbered around 1.2 million people.
- Churches destroyed -
After IS attacked the two villages as well as the nearby town of Tal Tamr, which remains under Kurdish control, the jihadists set fire to a church there and then installed fighters in the remains of the building, an activist network reported.
The U.S.-led coalition fighting IS, which has backed Kurdish forces battling the group, then bombed the building on Monday, destroying it and killing IS murderous Moslems inside, said the Syrian Revolution General Commission.
Control of Hassakeh province is largely divided between Kurdish forces, who in some places patrol with regime troops, and IS fighters.
Since recapturing the strategic border town of Kobane in Aleppo from IS fighters on January 26, YPG forces have taken dozens of nearby villages.
They have also seized 19 villages from IS in Raqa, where the jihadist group has its de facto capital, and another 30 villages and hamlets in Hassakeh.
The Kurdish advances have been aided by the U.S.-led air strikes, including a series in Hassakeh on Monday that killed at least 14 IS fighters, the Observatory said.
The mass IS abduction of Assyrians appeared to be the first of its kind in Syria, but the group has become infamous for its abuses, including the mass kidnapping of minority Kurdish Yazidis in Iraq.
It also kidnapped dozens of Kurdish students in Syria last year, freeing them only after months in captivity.
The group has destroyed Christian shrines and churches in the territory it controls in Syria and Iraq, and demanded a tax known as jizya from Christians who remain in its self-declared Islamic "caliphate".
It regularly refers to Christians as "crusaders," and has carried out brutal executions of foreigners held hostage in Syria.
Last week, the group's Libyan branch released a video showing the gruesome beheading of 21 mostly Egyptian Coptic Christians.
Pope Francis expressed "extreme sadness" over those killings.
The pontiff has frequently warned of the plight of the dwindling number of Christians in the Middle East.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/25/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
At last check, CNN + NET > number is now up to 150 kidnapped Syrian Christians + possibly more.
FYI the ISIS/ISL has repor also kidnapped up to 100 Sunni Tribesmen in Iraq just before the Battle for Tikrit.
[AnNahar] A dozen French fighter jets are catapulted into the sky from an aircraft carrier in the Gulf, roaring off towards Iraq as part of the campaign 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.... jihadist group.
Five hours later, by midnight, the last batch of warplanes swoops down to land on the runway of the Charles de Gaulle in waters north of Bahrain.
The carrier, with 12 Rafale and nine Super Etendard fighters, is spending eight weeks in the Gulf alongside the USS Carl Vinson, significantly increasing La Belle France's regional air capabilities.
On the first day of missions from the vessel, a total of 12 fighter jets on Monday flew over territory controlled by the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq.
A crew of around 2,000 sailors were aboard to welcome them home safely.
On the carrier deck, high above the seas between Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... and Iran, runway staff sprint to each of the aircraft that have just landed "blind", helped by radar systems to find their way in the darkness.
"On board," shouts a member of the support crew after each successful landing.
The missions are a far cry from the basic training runs pilots have conducted in recent weeks. Their planes now carry bombs, making each takeoff and landing especially delicate.
"Landing should never be taken for granted, especially after a long flight," says Jules, who guides the pilots in their final approach to the carrier.
"It is not easy to sit for hours with bent legs in the cockpit. It's also an extremely cerebral job."
Along with other crew members, Jules requests anonymity when talking to the media. The fear of being identified by jihadists on social media is on everyone's mind since January's deadly Islamist attacks in Gay Paree.
The dreadful images of a captured Jordanian fighter pilot burned alive by IS murderous Moslems adds to their unease, even if most give the same response when asked if they fear for their safety: risk is part of the job.
The warplanes reach their mission zone around 90 minutes after takeoff.
They overfly the country for three hours at a time, scouring for potential strike targets to support Iraqi forces fighting IS.
"Pilots have to refuel regularly. A whole refueling network operates over Iraq, allowing an extension of flight duration," says Vice-Admiral Eric Chaperon, commander of the warship's battle group.
Once a target is identified, pilots must get authorization from the U.S.-led coalition's central command before engaging, Chaperon adds.
On return, "there is no stress relief, because you have to land at the end," says Marc, an experienced helicopter pilot.
A missed landing would at best delay the safe return of other expensive warplanes. At worst, the jets could plunge into the sea.
As a Super Etendard prepares to touch down, a sailor scans the horizon with binoculars, relaying instructions for the ground crew.
Each pilot must ensure that his plane's tail hook catches the metal wire strung across the deck, which stops the jets instantly upon landing.
As well as the air traffic aboard the Charles de Gaulle, the warship has to contend with oil tankers and container ships sailing up and down the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's busiest maritime routes.
"There is also Iran, which is very careful that its territory is protected," said Captain Pierre Vandier. "They regularly come with boats and planes and tell us in a very professional manner: 'We see you'."
The Charles de Gaulle must also jostle for space with the USS Carl Vinson, which like the French vessel is engaged in Iraq.
"In such a narrow space, having two aircraft carriers close to each other is certainly complicated," Chaperon said.
"It requires close coordination."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/25/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
This just in from Captain LeObvious:
"Landing should never be taken for granted, especially after a long flight..."
Posted by: USN, Ret ||
02/25/2015 9:17 Comments ||
Top||
#2
"In such a narrow space, having two aircraft carriers close to each other is certainly complicated," Chaperon said.
#8
IRAN just repor held a Anti-US/USN, Anti-CVN, MOCK NAVAL DRILL where it successfully blew to smithereenies a barge made to look like a USN NIMITZ-class CVN.
I could be wrong, but I suspect the above is covertly meant to show Iran's desire for an Aircraft Carrier + Other of its own.
Lest we fergit, IRAN = aka Soon-to-Be-Nuclear, "US-Style" OWG Globalist Co-Superpower Rising Iran has in times past made known its intentions to eventually build a de facto Blue-Water-capable Navy.
AS OBAMA'S = USoAMERIKA'S NEW BFF OR BEST FRENEMY FOREVAR! IN THE ME + PERSIAN GULF, IRAN WILL NEED ALL-POWERFUL "OFFENSIVE" + "DEFENSIVE" CONVENTIONAL FORCES, NOT JUST NUCLEAR FORCES, TO CARRY OUT THE GLOBALIST AGENDA AS PRINCIPAL, OR ONE OF THEM, IN ANY FUTURE ME UNION, PERSIAN GULF UNION, MUSLIM UNION, MEDITERRANEAN UNION, ...
@ETC., + EXCLUSIVE OF ITS "BLUE-WATER" NAVAL AMBITIONS.
"US-Style" OWG Co-Superpower Iran will need Super-Techy MODERN AIRCRAFT CARRIERS, + EVERYTHING ELSE.
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.
[Iran Press TV] The 
[AnNahar] Spies working for Britain's MI5 intelligence agency donned wigs and makeup Tuesday to testify against a Pakistani al-Qaida suspect on trial in New York for allegedly plotting to blow up a British shopping center.
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[DAWN] Law-enforcement agencies claimed on Monday to have 
[Gulf Today] At least 20 members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters were killed in a combined ground and artillery attack in an attempt to dislodge them from several villages they had occupied in North Cotabato province.
