At least seven civilians including women and children were killed in an explosion in southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan.
Local officials in Kandahar said the incident took place late on Wednesday in Shawali Kot district.
Provincial governor’s spokesman Samim Khpolwak said the civilians were killed after their vehicle struck an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).
Khpolwak further added that three children, two women, and two men were among those killed.
No group including the Taliban insurgents has so far claimed responsibility behind the incident but the local officials said the IED was planted by the Taliban insurgents, the main anti-government armed militant group in the country.
Taliban insurgents and militants belonging to the insurgent groups frequently use Improvised Explosive Device (IED) as the weapon of their choice to target the Afghan security forces and the government officials.
However, in majority of such attacks the ordinary civilians are targeted as the militant groups are accused of causing the majority of the civilian casualties.
The German consulate in Afghanistan’s third-largest city has been attacked, leading to the death of at least two and injuring dozens of others, a police spokesman said, Sputnik International reported.
The suicide car bomb attack took place on Thursday and was followed by a separate explosion inside the Mazar Hotel in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif that has been used as a consulate, regional police spokesman Sayid Sarwar Hussaini said as cited by The New York Times.
The two blasts killed at least two people and injured at least 84, Afghan officials said as cited by the newspaper.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/11/2016 00:00 ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 11 loyalists of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group were killed in an Arclight airstrike in eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province of Afghanistan.
The provincial police commandment in a statement said the Arclight airstrike was carried out by the US forces based in Afghanistan, using an unmanned aerial vehicle to target the loyalists of the terror group.
The statement further added that a Dshk heavy machine belonging to the loyalist of the terror group was also destroyed when they were targeted in Achin district.
The local residents did not suffer any casualties in the Arclight airstrike, the provincial police commandment added.
The loyalists of the terrorist group have not commented regarding the report so far.
ISIS loyalists and Death Eaters belonging to the other bully boy groups are actively operating in a number of the remote districts of Nangarhar province including the restive Achin.
The Afghan forces and US forces based in Afghanistan are regularly targeting the ISIS loyalists and other bad boy groups.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/11/2016 00:00 ||
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A resident says the naval forces of the semi-autonomous state of Puntland in northeastern Somalia raided ISIL militants in Qandala coastal town of Bari region.
Puntland marine troops attacked remote areas outside the town of Qandala, where pro-ISIS militants are believed to have hideout bases. A local resident said there were casualties from the Puntland naval forces shelling, but could not give the exact figure.
There has been no comment from Puntland officials on the seaborne attack.
Last month, heavily armed ISIL militants captured the coastal town of Qandala, which lies around 75km east of Bosaso port town in Bari region following Puntland army withdrawal.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/11/2016 00:00 ||
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At least seven unarmed civilians, including 85-year-old prominent traditional elder and a pregnant mother were shot dead by Ethiopian troops serving with the AU mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
The AU soldiers carried out a mass shooting in Dac area, after they were ambushed by armed Al shabaab fighters near Elbur town in Galgaduud region. Al shabaab fighters attacked a military escorting convoy transporting Ethiopian troops at Dac vacinity, as it was travelling from Elbur and en route to a nearby bases.
So the AU troops were provoked and then responded with indiscriminate fire. Not a whole lot of discipline there...
Or not a lot of concern for their very considerate hosts.
A local official, who did not want to be named, has confirmed the murder of the four civilians by the Ethiopian troops of AMISOM contingent near Elbur district.
On Wednesday, Ethiopian troops vehicle overrun and killed a pregnant Somali woman and her two babies outside Wahbo district, according to the official.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/11/2016 00:00 ||
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Unidentified fighter jets have launched an airstrike on a training camp belonging to the Al Qaeda-linked militant group Al shabaab in middle Jubba region in southern Somalia on Wednesday night
The air raid took place at Waraha-Dhoobley area, about 45Km west of Bu’alle district, a main stronghold for Al shabaab in southern Somalia, where Al shabaab runs a training camp to prepare its new recruits.
After the air strike, heavily armed militants reached the area, and kicked off an operation in which they rounded up several people, in connection with the aerial bombing, according to the sources. Reports said top Al shabaab leaders were at the militant camp during the air strike, and there were no immediate reports of casualties on the militants.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/11/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Luft!
Cast off, prepare the bow needle, set the watch and mizzen the main mast!
Srsly, a blimp fleet action would have been cool. Instead of a dawg-fight it would have been a Sloth-fight.
[AlAhram] Egypt's armed forces and police force raided 11 major "armed terrorist hotspots" in North Sinai governorate killing six bad boys, the army spokesperson announced in an official statement on Thursday.
The spokesperson stated that security forces managed to destroy 40 bombs that were being prepared to be used to target the forces during operations in the raid that covered the areas of al-Arish, Sheikh Zowaid and Rafah.
Also, four cycle of violences were destroyed that had been used to monitor and attack security forces.
Weapons and ammunitions as well as wireless communication devices were found in the bad boys' hotspots during the raid.
[LibyaHerald]. Zawia's council of elders was again making major efforts this evening to convince the warring militias of both the Ahneish and Khadrawi families to agree to a moratorium on their fighting and allow mediators to find a compromise.
Clashes in Zawia clashes between the two erupted again early this early morning in Jamal Abdel Nasser and Omar Mukhtar streets, in the middle of the town.
Sources from Zawia said that elders are trying to convince Aheish followers to leave the main streets as their presence there has prevented residents going to work.
The clashes started after the Khadrawis accused Ibrahim Ahneish, one of the leaders of his clan, of selling to the Wirshefana three men who were then killed, a local journalist told this newspaper earlier. Another story tells that the Khadrwai family and followers simply used the incident as an excuse because of their enmity towards and jealousy of Ahneish over his control of smuggling petrol from the Zawia refinery. Reports claim he has been earning millions from the business.
[al-Manar] The Yemeni army and popular committees launched a large scale campaign against the Saudi military positions in KSA’s Jizan, inflicting heavy losses upon the targeted positions.
Yemeni sources reported that the Yemeni army and popular committees controlled four Saudi villages and military positions in Jizan.
The sources added that the Saudi army soldiers escaped from the villages which had been just controlled by the Yemeni army and popular committees.
It is worth noting that the Saudi warplanes failed to stop the Yemeni attack which claimed scores of the Saudi soldiers.
The Saudi war aggression war jets had dropped cluster bombs on Saada and Hajja governorates overnight, security officials told Saba on Thursday.
The cluster bombs were dropped on al-Ataifain area of Kutaf district in Saada.
In Hajja, the Saudi aggression warplanes targeted Muthalath Medi three times with the cluster bombs.
Yemen has been since March 26, 2015 under brutal aggression by Saudi-led coalition.
Thousands have been martyred and injured in the attack, with the vast majority of them are civilians.
Riyadh launched the attack on Yemen in a bid to restore power to fugitive ex-president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi who is a close ally to Saudi Arabia.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Projectiles fired by Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... militias in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... left at least 14 people injured in the Saudi city of Dhahran, South of the Kingdom, Saudi Civil Defense reported.
The Civil Defense Directorate announced on its Twitter account, that 13 Saudi citizens and one expat were maimed in the attack that simultaneously damaged three houses.
Last week, Saudi artillery responded by directly hitting Houthi targets following similar rockets attacks in the border towns of Jazan and Najran.
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11/11/2016 00:00 ||
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[al-Manar]. An explosion shook the residence of a district governor in the southeastern Turkish province of Mardin on Thursday and wounded several people including the governor, security sources said.
They said several ambulances had been sent to the scene of the blast in Mardin’s Derik district.
There was no immediate confirmation on the cause of the blast. However, Ihlas news agency said the explosion had been caused by a rocket attack by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants.
Thousands of militants, security force members and civilians have been killed in a renewed conflict since a two-year-old ceasefire between the PKK and Turkish state collapsed in July last year.
More from Asharq Al-Awsat English
A bomb exploded on Thursday outside the district governor’s office in the southeastern Turkish province of Mardin, wounding three people including the governor, the provincial governor’s office said in a statement.
The state-run Anadolu Agency first reported said the office of the district governor was attacked with rocket launchers. But a subsequent statement by the regional governor’s office said an improvised explosive device was used. It didn’t elaborate.
The security forces launched an operation to catch the assailants, the agency said, without providing details.
District governor Muhammed Fatih Safiturk, who suffered second-degree burns, was appointed additionally in July to run the local municipality as part of a series of moves to replace officials from the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), a sister party of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
The government accuses the HDP, parliament’s second biggest opposition party, of links to the outlawed rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is fighting for autonomy in largely Kurdish southeast Turkey. The HDP denies any direct links and says it is working for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
There was no claim of responsibility for Thursday’s attack but Anadolu said the attack was carried out by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a three-decade-long insurgency against the Turkish state and is considered a terror organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
Last week, a car bomb in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir killed 11 people and wounded at least 100, hours after authorities detained the HDP’s leaders and some of its members of parliament.
Three Turkish guards and one civilian were killed on Wednesday when Kurdish militants attacked a guard vehicle in the southeastern province of Van with long-range rifles as it was heading to the Baskale district, bordering Iran.
More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict since the PKK took up arms in 1984. It is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
The Interior Ministry said on Thursday that 201 PKK militants had been killed and almost 300 others injured or captured in some 8,000 ground and air operations since September. Around 1,800 people have also been detained for aiding the PKK, the statement said.
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11/11/2016 00:00 ||
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Turkish Air Force destroyed 92 positions of the “Islamic State” (aka IS, ISIL, ISIS or Daesh) terrorist group as part of the Shield of Euphrates operation in Syria, the General Staff of Turkey said in a message Nov. 10.
Meanwhile, several military facilities of units of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) were also destroyed.
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11/11/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] KARACHI: The banned Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat ...which is the false nose and plastic mustache of the murderous banned extremist group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain, whatcha might call the political wing of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi... (ASWJ) on Wednesday staged a protest demonstration outside the 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... Press Club against alleged extrajudicial killing of a local leader of the party, who was killed in an ’encounter’ in Manghopir on Tuesday.
Carrying the coffin of Maulana Yusuf Qudoosi, the ASWJ workers ended the protest after getting ’assurances’ from authorities that justice would be done, said their spokesperson.
He said local leader of the party in Orangi Town Maulana Yusuf was taken away from his home around nine months ago by men in plain clothes.
The family had also filed a petition before the Sindh High Court. However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... on Tuesday the Manghopir police claimed to have killed him in an ’encounter’ on the outskirts of the city.
The ASWJ spokesperson said that following their protest, a meeting was held with the commissioner of Karachi. Later on, the police authorities suspended Manghopir SHO Ghulam Husain Korai and ordered an inquiry, which was supposed to be completed within three days.
The ASWJ head, Allama Aurangzeb Farooqi, warned that if justice was not provided to the family of the victim, they would be compelled to hold protest outside Chief Minister House.
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11/11/2016 00:00 ||
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[al-Manar] The counter-terrorist units of the Iraqi army liberated on Thursday the Zahra neighborhood in eastern Mosul from the militants of the so-called ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL) terrorist group, local media reported citing security sources.
“Anti-terrorist units have freed Zahra neighborhood in eastern Mosul,” a source in the security forces of the Nineveh province told Al Sumaria TV channel.
During the last weeks, seven other quarters in Mosul were reported to be freed from the ISIL militants.
On October 17, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi announced the start of the operation to retake Mosul, which has been occupied by ISIL terrorists since 2014.
The offensive has resulted in liberation of large territories and forced many terrorists of the takfiri group outlawed to flee Iraqi army campaign.
Posted by: badanov ||
11/11/2016 00:00 ||
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(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – Islamic State leaderships and preachers in Mosul are telling militants to skip prayers and reschedule their times to be able to fight the advancing Iraqi joint forces, Alsumaria News reported.
“ISIS fighters are either diminishing or combining prayers due to the war,” a source on Nineveh said Wednesday. “The group is telling men in the city to carry weapons and fight besides its militants in order to be rewarded with paradise,” as the source put it, on condition of anonymity.
ISIS are struggling to defend Mosul, their last bastion in Iraq, as Iraqi government forces, aided by popular militias and US aircrafts, successfully continue advancing to the city as part of an operation launched mid October. ISIS has been dealt serious losses that reportedly prompted its fighters to run their families outside the city.
There are five prayers a day in Islam set at strict timings across the day, but religious rules permit combining some prayers together to gain time space in certain cases.
(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – Enraged by his brother’s death in battles with Iraqi security forces, an Islamic State fighter killed a whole family inside its Mosul home, Alsumaria News reported.
A local source said that upon receiving the news of his brother’s death in battles in Aden, west of Mosul, the militant stormed into the family’s house in al-Jazaer neighborhood, also west of Mosul, killing all of the six family members who included a woman and a kid.
ISIS put its fighters in the area on alert fearing a backlash from the residents, said the source.
“ISIS has become more brutal. Massacres are committed in daylight for the most trivial reasons. The group leaves dead bodies for days on the street before they are thrown into mass graves,” the source said, on condition of anonymity.
ISIS is becoming under mounting pressure as Iraqi joint forces, aided by a US air cover, continue to advance to Mosul, the group’s last foothold in Iraq, in a largely successful operation that set on in mid October.
Mysterious masked men spring 3 from ISIS prison in Hawja
(IraqiNews.com) Kirkuk – Leader at al-Hashd al-Shaabi, Jabbar al-Mamouri declared on Thursday, that masked men stormed into a prison belonging to the Islamic state, and rescued three youths from execution in the district of Hawija, Kirkuk.
Mamouri said in a press statement, “Today, masked men stormed into a prison belonging to the Islamic State in the outskirts of Hawija district, southwest of Kirkuk, and killed two guards and rescued three youths who were sentenced to death by the extremist group for collaborating with security forces and al-Hashd al-Shaabi militia.”
“15 ISIS members and leaders were assassinated in Hawija during the last two months, after the emergence of popular uprising against them in the district,” Mamouri added.
Posted by: badanov ||
11/11/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
ISIS troops ordered to skip prayers before battle
Uh Uh guys!! Allah sez 5 times a day headbanging to get yer holy lump - you gonna argue with HIM?? You being all perfectly Islamic and such?? (I am sure there's a loophole in Holly Crayon somewhere)
Posted by: Bov Flimbers ||
11/11/2016 2:54 Comments ||
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#3
[U]pon receiving the news of his brother’s death in battles in Aden, west of Mosul, the militant stormed into the family’s house in al-Jazaer neighborhood, also west of Mosul, killing all of the six family members who included a woman and a kid.
(IraqiNews.com) Kirkuk – Leader at al-Hashd al-Turkmani, Abu reda al-Najjar announced digging a 6-km trench in southern Kirkuk, to prevent the sneaking of members of the Islamic State to the city, while pointed out to the participation of the Peshmerga forces in the digging of the security trench.
Najjar said in a press statement, “Peshmerga and al-Hashd al-Turkmani militia in the areas between Qasbet Bashir and Daquq district, dug a 6-km long trench to prevent the sneaking of members of the Islamic State to the area.”
“There is a security coordination between Peshmerga and the forces from al-Hashd al-Turkmani militia against their common enemy,” Najjar added.
ISIS attacked Kirkuk on the 21st of October 2016, and managed to capture several areas, before security forces foil the attack and retake the captured areas.
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11/11/2016 00:00 ||
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(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – Kurdish Peshmerga militants killed 16 Islamic State fighters in Bashiqa, Nineveh, Alsumaria News reported Thursday.
A source within the militia told Alsumaria News that the ISIS elements were hiding inside the town and attempted to flee it after Peshmerga forces took over last Monday, adding that the forces continue to search the town.
Peshmerga forces are fighting on the side of Iraqi joint forces to liberate Nineveh, ISIS’s last centrepiece in Iraq. ISIS has sustained serious defeats since the launch of operations mid October.
The US-led military coalition said Thursday that 1636 ISIS militants have been killed since the start of military operations in Nineveh’s Mosul.
[al-Manar] Peshmerga forces have no short-term plans to withdraw from the town of Bashiqa, which they captured earlier this week from the so-called ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL) terrorist group, a high-ranking Peshmerga officer said Thursday.
Peshmerga Chief-of-Staff Jamal Eminki said Bashiqa’s “liberation” from ISIL had been achieved in two phases.
“First we established control over the town as a whole,” he said. “Then we purged it of ISIL elements and cleared it of bombs and booby-traps planted by the militants.”
Peshmerga forces had managed to kill 30 militants in mopping-up operations, he said, asserting that the extremist group “no longer poses any threat to the town”.
Eminki went on to stress that Peshmerga forces would remain — for the time being at least — in areas they had recently taken from ISIL.
“We are not withdrawing right now from the towns we have liberated,” he said.
“When local residents — including civil servants and Asayish officers [i.e., Kurdish security forces] — return to Bashiqa, Peshmerga fighters will leave,” he said.
On Tuesday, Kurdish Peshmerga forces announced the “total liberation” of the majority-Ezidi town of Bashiqa, which lies some 12 kilometers (roughly 8 miles) northeast of Mosul in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province.
On Oct. 18, the Iraqi army launched a wide-ranging operation aimed at retaking Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city.
ISIL overran Mosul in mid-2014, along with vast swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq.
Recent months have seen the army retake much territory, especially on the outskirts of Mosul and in Iraq’s western Anbar province.
(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – Iraqi media outlets reported on Thursday, that joint security forces managed to kill two snipers belonging to the Islamic State extremist group, as well as destroying five booby-trapped vehicles and two motorcycles, east and north the city of Mosul.
Alsumaria News stated, “Troops of the army’s 16th brigade managed, this morning, to kill two snipers of the Islamic State while hiding between trees in Shalalat area, north of Mosul,” pointing out that, “The troops also managed to destroy two booby-trapped vehicles that tried to attack security forces in the same area.”
“Also, Anti-Terrorism forces destructed three booby-trapped vehicles and two motorcycles belonging to the ISIS,” Alsumaria added. “These vehicles were attempting to attack security forces stationed in Hayy al-Karama, east of Mosul,” Alsumaria explained.
Security forces continue battles to liberate the province of Nineveh that was launched in 17th October 2016.
(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – Abdel Amir Yarallah, Commander of operation “We Are Coming, Nineveh” announced on Thursday liberating the village of Abbas Rajab, north of al-Zab area in Nineveh, and raised the Iraqi flag over its buildings.
Media officials with the Ministry of Defense quoted Yarallah as saying, “Troops of the army’s 35th and 37th brigades liberated the village of Abbas Rajab and raised the Iraqi flag over its buildings,” pointing out that, “The progress of the forces is ongoing.”
Joint security forces, backed by Iraqi Army Aviation and international coalition are continuing the battle to liberate the city of Mosul from the Islamic State’s grip.
Newly minted ISIS official dies in Mosul Some days you get the bear; some days the bear gets you
(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – Media officials with the Ministry of Defense announced on Thursday the killing of the new War Official of the Islamic State extremist group in a military operation, in eastern Mosul.
The officials said in a press statement, “The terrorist, known as Khaled al-Mitwiti, the new War Official of the Islamic State was killed, after the killing of the former official Mohanad, who was also known as Abi Aisha al-Beblawi.”
“Mitwiti was killed by the army’s 9th Armored Brigade in al-Eintsar area, in the western coast of the city of Mosul,” Alsumaria added.
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – Militias partaking in the fight to liberate the province of Nineveh from Islamic State militants are preparing for storming the Tal Afar precinct, Nineveh, but bearing in mind the sensitivity of the mostly-Turkmen region.
As the Sunni, Turkish-trained Nineveh Guards warn of sectarian twists following the liberation of Tal Afar, the Shia Hezbollah al-Nujabaa said it has no intention to change the area’s demographics.
Mahmoud al-Sorgy, a spokesperson for Guards of Nineveh, urged Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to deal with the battle of Tal Afar with “accuracy and sensitivity”.een no genuine intention to resolve it.” Commenting on preparations by the mostly-Shia al-Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary forces to partake in the liberation the city.
“The problem with Tal Afar is nothing new, and there hadn’t been a genuine intention to resolve it,” al-Sorgy told Alsumaria TV on Wednsday. He added that the battle for Tal Afar is now halted for “political reasons.”
Turkey had warned of the sensitivity of Tal Afar, warning of retaliatory measures by the advancing paramilitary forces, most notably al-Hashed al-Shaabi, against its Turkmen population. Prime minister Abadi had also assured that it gives more attention to the region than any other.
“Liberation is the duty of every Iraqi, and if it requires the participation of al-Hashed al-Shaabi or any other group, there will be no problem, but let’s work on ensuring there are no problems following the liberation.”
On its behalf, Hezbollah al-Nujabaa, a component of al-Hashed al-Shaabi, has said it is going to engage in “a ferocious fight” against ISIS in Tal Afar , but denied plans for a demographic change in the precinct.
Speaking to Alsumaria TV, the group’s spokesman, Hashem al-Mosawi, said the first two phases of the battle for Tal Afar had been finished. “Only remains is the storming of the precinct as phase three. He pointed that while the fight is “intense” on the military level, there is also a “political dispute” on the area, with Turkey intervening on the issue with “lame excuses,” as he put it.
“We do not intend to induce a demographic change, or occupy or settle in Tal Afar. We are rather seeking to purge it and return the refugees,” he added.
Hamadaniya and London – Peshmerga Forces liberated on Wednesday the Bashiqa strategic town from ISIS control, but warned civilians of a hasty return to the town given that houses and roads might be booby-trapped.
Earlier in October, Iraqi army and counter terrorism forces liberated Hamadaniya district, 27 Km southeast of Mosul, after ISIS had occupied it for over two years.
Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper toured the now-almost completely destroyed city. ISIS demolished most of the infrastructure of Hamadaniya and booby-trapped the rest.
Nineveh police forces took control of the city after liberation, while the military engineering troops are in control of clearing it out of any explosives or bombs.
Nineveh police officer Mohammed accompanied Asharq Al-Awsat in its visit. He asked us to be careful while touring because of ISIS’ bombs. He told us to follow his steps as he explained how the city was occupied and destroyed by ISIS.
I wasn’t able to find a single house in Hamadaniya that wasn’t damaged, burnt, or destroyed by ISIS militants who fled the town to al-Entisar neighborhood, which was also liberated a few days ago.
Hamadaniya, which was highly populated by Iraqi Christians, is now empty and civilians find it hard to return to the city due to lack of services (water and electricity), and the absence of public institutions.
We noticed graffiti on the walls with ISIS’ slogans and names of officials. According to an Iraqi security officer, a local ISIS leader would pay a large sum of money to own a neighborhood, and writes his name on the wall. The militant would then loot the neighborhood and rob all its houses and stores.
ISIS is highly dependent on explosives in its battles against Iraqi forces. It also resorts to booby-trapped cars and snipers while its members hide in tunnels wide enough for vehicles to pass through.
Hamadaniya district president Nisan Rzouki, who was with us during our tour, said that certain areas in the town are still unsafe. He explained that the forces are still demining the area and clearing it of any ISIS fighters that might be hiding in the tunnels.
During his interview with Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Rzouki stressed that the return of civilians to Hamadaniya requires a certain timeframe if the federal government and international organizations are not ready to support such a move.
According to the district president, 80% of Hamadaniya has been destroyed. He also called on authorities to consider the city a disaster area.
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11/11/2016 00:00 ||
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(IraqiNews.com) Al-Anbar – The self-proclaimed Islamic State has arrested two of its senior members in Al-Anbar for facilitating the escape of its Iraqi members to the Syrian city of Raqqa.
An intelligence official at al-Hashed al-Shaabi forces in the town of Hadithah, Nazem al-Jugheifi, said ISIS sent a force from the Syrian city of Raqqa to Al-Anbar’s towns of Annah and Rawa to arrest two of its security officers: Mohamed Halim al-Ani, aka Abu Ossama, and Bilal Ziyad, aka Abu Yazid.
“The reason behind the two leaders’ arrest was that they had issued licenses for Iraqi fighters escaping Annah and Rawa to Syria,” Jugheifi said.
ISIS reportedly closed Iraqi borders with Syria a few days ago to prevent members escaping battles, and had also executed a number of militants for slackness at the battleground.
Also In Anbar, four ISIS militants were killed in an Iraqi airstrike that targeted their haven west of Anbar, according to Qatari al-Ebeidi, another leader at al-Hashed al-Shaabi in Al-Anbar.
The airstrike, which was carried out upon an intelligence tip, destroyed a vehicle with the fighters on board, according to Ebeidi.
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11/11/2016 00:00 ||
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Iraqi security forces are preparing to advance toward Mosul airport on the city's southern edge to increase pressure on Islamic State militants fighting troops who breached their eastern defenses, officers said, Reuters reported.
The rapid response forces, part of a coalition seeking to crush them in the largest city under their control in Iraq or Syria, took the town of Hammam al-Alil, just over 15 km (10 miles) south of Mosul, on Monday.
Officers say they plan to resume their advance north, up the western bank of the Tigris River towards the city of 1.5 million people who have lived under the ultra-hardline Sunni Islamists for more than two years.
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11/11/2016 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] On the banks of the Tigris river, men sit and watch, smiling with relief as Iraqi coppers, soldiers and local youths bathe in muddy spring water in a town that was recaptured from ISIS just a few days ago. Across town, there is a grimmer scene: two stinking corpses, their feet tied together, rot in the sun in a large dirt quadrant walled by four man-made earth berms.
One body is intact. The other has parts missing. A severed head lies next to them, its skull mostly visible. What appear to be several other corpses protrude from the dirt and detritus. A policeman cautions not to approach or touch the bodies, in case they are booby-trapped. Narrow, shallow trenches up to 20 yards long have been dug in some parts of the quadrant.
Residents of the town, Hammam al-Alil, say this is the site of a mass grave which Iraqi forces reported to have uncovered on Monday after driving out ISIS bad boys. Iraq has launched an investigation into what would be further evidence of the ultra-hardline group’s brutality against people living in areas under its control since it established its self-styled "caliphate" across much of northern Iraq and Syria more than two years ago.
Continued on Page 49
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The battle for Iraq's second city djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... neared the remains of ancient Nimrud on Thursday, the military said, raising fears for the famed heritage site already ravaged by hard boy bombs and sledgehammers.
Troops and allied militia were advancing on two villages held by the ISIS group near the ancient site some 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of Mosul, the Joint Operations Command said.
"Units of the 9th Armored Division and the Hashed al-Ashaeri (tribal militia) are beginning to advance to liberate the villages of Abbas Rajab and al-Nomaniyah, toward Nimrud," it said.
Nimrud was the one of the great centers of the ancient Middle East. Founded in the 13th Century BC, it became the capital of the Assyrian empire, whose rulers built vast palaces and monuments that have drawn archaeologists from around the world for more than 150 years.
Many of its monumental stone sculptures and reliefs were taken way for display in museums around the world but some of the more massive structures remained in place when the snuffies swept through in mid-2014.
In April last year, ISIS posted video on the internet of its fighters sledgehammering monuments before planting explosives around the site and blowing it up.
It was part of a campaign of destruction by the snuffies against heritage sites under their control that also took in ancient Nineveh on the outskirts of Mosul, Hatra in the desert to the south and Palmyra in neighboring Syria,
ISIS says the ancient monuments are idols that violate the teachings of its extreme form of Sunni Islam.
But that has not stopped the group from trafficking artefacts it purports to revile on the black market to fund its operations.
It is unclear what still remains of Nimrud's ancient ruins as Iraqi forces move closer.
But it is just one of a number of treasured heritage sites that are threatened with further damage by the offensive that the government launched on October 17 to retake Mosul, the hard boys' last major stronghold in Iraq.
The area where ancient Hatra is located may see fighting between ISIS and pro-government militias who aim to retake the town of Tal Afar, which commands Mosul's western approaches.
More from Iraqi News
(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – Command of operation “We Are Coming, Nineveh” announced on Thursday, that the joint security forces are advancing toward the area of Namrud, southwest of Mosul, to liberate two villages from the Islamic State’s grip.
Commander of operation ‘We Are Coming, Nineveh’ Major General Rasheed Yarallah said in a press statement, “Troops of the army’s 9th Armored Brigade continue advancing to liberate the villages of Abbas Rajab and Numaniyah in Namrud area, southwest of Mosul, from the ISIS control.”
Security forces continue battles to liberate the province of Nineveh that was launched in 17th October 2016.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/11/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
c' mon guys, the Nimrod may be an old aircraft , but ancient?
[IsraelTines] Indictments to be filed against eight suspects from northern West Bank and co-conspirator from East Jerusalem.
Paleostinians were incarcerated Book 'im, Mahmoud! over several months on suspicion of participating in a cell that targeted Israeli security forces with bombs, as well as for plotting future attacks against Israeli forces, the Shin Bet security agency said in a statement on Thursday.
According to the Shin Bet, it arrested the nine Paleostinians in a joint operation with the Israel Police and IDF.
Eight of the Paleostinians are from the northern West Bank, while one is an East Jerusalem resident. All were arrested between August and October.
The Shin Bet said that the Paleostinians from the northern West Bank were arrested for targeting IDF soldiers on numerous occasions with bombs, while Ahmed Azala, the Paleostinian from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Bab al-Huta in the Moslem Quarter of the Old City, was arrested for working with the cell to try and smuggle two kilograms (four pounds) of kaboom from the West Bank to Jerusalem to use in the preparation of pipe bombs.
Security forces confiscated laboratory equipment used for making kabooms and devices, as well as various types of raw materials used in the explosive-making process.
Indictments are expected to be filed in the coming days against the suspects in the Jerusalem District Court.
[IsraelTimes] Younis Ayash Musa Zayn allegedly armed, trained Lions of Islam who killed 4 in Tel Aviv; army arrests.
Israeli troops on Thursday filled with cement the bedroom of an accused accomplice involved in June’s Sarona Market terror attack, sealing it off, for his alleged role in the shooting, in which four people died, the army said.
Early Thursday morning, the Israeli forces arrived at Younis Ayash Musa Zayn’s home in the village of Yatta, outside Hebron, with cement trucks.
While several soldiers provided security for the operation, others prepped the bedroom to be sealed off, "in accordance with the orders of the politicianship," the army said.
On June 8, cousins Khalid and Muhammad Muhamra took a seat at a Max Brenner’s restaurant in Tel Aviv’s posh Sarona Market, ordered dessert and then opened fire with locally produced submachine guns. Four people -- Michael Feige, Ilana Naveh, Ido Ben Ari and Mila Mishayev -- were killed in the attack, and many more were maimed.
The cousins, who fled, were tossed in the calaboose Book 'im, Mahmoud! near the scene; and Zayn, also known as Younis Awad, was picked up a short while later for assisting them.
He was charged with "planning the attack, providing the weapons and ammunition used for training for it and carrying it out, and hiding [the guns] in his house," the army said.
In August, the army fully demolished Khalid Muhamra’s home and partially destroyed his cousin Muhammad Muhamra’s, following a court decision.
Elsewhere in the West Bank early Thursday morning, Israeli troops arrested 20 Paleostinian suspects, the army said.
One of them was picked up in the village of Mirka, southwest of Jenin, for allegedly running an illegal gunsmithing workshop, the army said. Inside the workshop, soldiers found a homemade gun, a pistol and some bullets, which were all handed over to the Shin Bet security service, the army added.
Five of the detainees were arrested for alleged membership to the Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, terrorist organization, while the remaining 14 were picked up for throwing rocks or taking part in violent riots against security forces, the army said.
[IsraelTimes] No Israeli soldiers injured in Molotov cocktailing outside Ramallah; in Jerusalem, police arrest Arab man with a knife.
Israeli soldiers shot and maimed a Paleostinian man as he threw a Molotov cocktail at their position outside Ramallah on Thursday, the army said.
The troops had been guarding in Birzeit, north of Ramallah, when the assailant hurled the Molotov cocktail at them, an Israel Defense Spokesperson said.
"Responding to the threat, forces fired toward the attacker," the army said.
No Israeli troops were maimed in the incident.
The Paleostinian man was shot in the leg, according to Paleostinian media. He received medical treatment and was taken into custody, the army said.
According to the Ma’an news outlet, he had been part of a group of Paleostinian students demonstrating to mark the 12th anniversary of Paleostinian Authority president Yasser Arafat’s death.
Around the same time, in Jerusalem, security guards apprehended an Arab man who was carrying a knife at a light rail station, the police said.
The guards at the French Hill rail station noticed the man, who "aroused their suspicion." They, along with coppers who were at the scene, searched the suspect and found a large, wood-handled knife in his coat, police said.
The suspect is 28 years old and is a resident of East Jerusalem’s Shuafat refugee camp. He was taken to a cop shoppe in the center of Jerusalem for interrogation, the police said.
"The motive is being investigated," a police spokesperson added.
[al-Manar] Shelling by armed groups on the Aleppo University campus Wednesday claimed the lives of at least six civilians and injured many others.
A number of mortar shells and other self-propelled rounds fired by militants landed near the campus, which houses both students and refugees.
According to Aleppo Police Command, all of the victims were either students or members of displaced families and locals.
Many of the wounded are children with grave facial injuries.
Earlier on Wednesday, three women and one man were injured by reactive munitions shelling from armed groups in the neighborhoods of al-Hamadaniyeh and New Aleppo.
The attacks, apart from inflicting heavy civilian casualties, have reportedly inflicted significant damage to buildings and other properties.
Armed groups have been shelling residential areas of Western Aleppo almost on a daily basis since the Syrian Army with the support of allies surrounded Al-Nusra Front terrorists and allied militants in Eastern Aleppo.
The surrounded gunmen are preventing civilians from exiting the war zone through humanitarian corridors provided by the Russian and Syrian military.
[al-Manar] The Syrian army and allies managed on Thursday to advance in Khan Sheeh in southern rural Damascus, controlling a number of buildings.
In western Aleppo, the terrorist groups collapsed and got confused when the Syrian army and allies achieved a remarkable progress in Dahiyat al-Assad.
The Syrian army also thwarted an infiltration attempt carried out by the terrorists near Mount Thorda in Deir Ezzor and targeted the militant groups positions in different areas across the country, killing scores of their members and seizing their ammunition and weapons.
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BEIRUT: A Syrian Kurdish-led force fighting the Daesh group north of the country is on the verge of surrounding a wide area north of the IS stronghold of Raqqa, a spokeswoman for the group said Thursday.
Cihan Ehmed of the US-backed Syria Democratic Forces told The Associated Press that its fighters are advancing on two fronts north of Raqqa, the de facto capital of Daesh’s self-declared caliphate. The push from Ein Issa and Suluk north of Raqqa has been ongoing for days under the cover of airstrikes by the US-led coalition.
The SDF, which includes Kurdish, Arab, Syriac and Turkmen fighters, say they have committed 30,000 fighters to the offensive aiming to eventual recapture the city of Raqqa, which was announced on Sunday. Iraq is meanwhile waging a major offensive to drive Daesh from the northern city of Mosul.
Ehmed said once the forces coming from the two directions meet north of Raqqa, they will surround 550 square kilometers (212 square miles) of territory controlled by the extremists.
“The operations are ongoing according to the plan,” she said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said many people are fleeing areas of fighting north of Raqqa. It added that SDF fighters have advanced north of Raqqa, capturing new areas and raising to 17 the number of villages and farms taken from Daesh since the offensive began.
Later on Thursday, the SDF said on social media that its fighters have captured three farms, a village, and have approached the village of Hayes where intense clashes are ongoing.
The operation to recapture Raqqa has been dubbed “Euphrates Rage” and a joint operations command has been set up to coordinate various factions taking part in the battles.
Elsewhere in Syria, a rocket fired by rebels struck a school in the capital Damascus’ central Al-Mohajireen neighborhood wounding three children, state media said without providing further details. In the rebel-held Damascus suburbs of Douma and Saqba, government airstrikes killed at least 11 civilians, including four children and three women, according to the Syrian Civil Defense in Damascus suburbs. The Observatory also said 11 were killed, but said they included four women.
In the northern city of Aleppo, seven people were wounded, some critically, when rebels shelled two government-held neighborhoods, state news agency SANA said. Later on Thursday, pro-government media also said allied troops moved in on new rebel advances in the western part of the city, regaining control of parts of the strategic Assad district amid intense clashes.
The rebels had seized a couple of strategic areas in western Aleppo since they launched an offensive on government-held parts of Aleppo on Oct. 28 in an attempt to break the siege imposed on areas they have controlled since July. The siege on eastern Aleppo was coupled with a punishing bombing campaign by Syrian aircraft and supported by Russia, which has been backing the government of President Bashar Assad. Since late October, Russia said it would halt the airstrikes, amid rising civilian casualties, urging rebels to leave the territory.
A statement by Russian Defense Ministry Thursday said such halts would continue. Russia had earlier bristled at extending the breaks in the fighting in Aleppo, saying it would play into the hands of the insurgents.
“The humanitarian pauses are undoubtedly needed,” said Spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov. “But we believe that simply extending their duration without offering real assistance to civilians, and allow the terrorists to restore their capabilities, would be unproductive and defy common sense.” Russia and Syria’s government refer to all armed opposition as “terrorists.”
Insurgents have refused to leave, saying the halts are not supervised by the UN and lack safety guarantees for evacuation. The UN has failed to secure humanitarian aid to the besieged Aleppo districts during the halts. During the last Russian-declared “pause” on Friday, rebels fired at one of the corridors, wounding two Russian servicemen and a Syrian journalist.
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[ARA News] HASAKAH – Clashes broke out on Thursday between the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Islamic State’s (ISIS) militants in Syria’s northeastern Hasakah province.
The clashes erupted near Shaddadi city south of Hasakah after an attempt by ISIS militants to storm YPG headquarters in the area.
“ISIS terrorists tried to infiltrate into YPG headquarters in the al-Malha village in southern Shaddadi,” a YPG spokesman told ARA News.
“However, the Kurdish YPG fighters repelled the attack after clashes with ISIS militants,” the spokesman said.
At least 21 ISIS militants were killed in the clashes, while four YPG fighters were reportedly wounded.
Similar clashes took place in early October after ISIS carried our two suicide attacks on Kurdish positions and tried to infiltrate into Shaddadi city. The Kurdish YPG units and allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were eventually able to repel the attack.
In mid-February 2016, the YPG and allied SDF fighters concluded a protracted campaign by liberating Shaddadi city. In recent months ISIS has been trying to return to the area, launching mortar and car bomb attacks from bases in Deir ez-Zor Governorate.
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The last remaining stocks of food rations are currently being distributed in Syria's rebel-held eastern Aleppo and there will be nothing left to hand out next week without a resupply, the UN said Thursday.
"The reports we have now from within East Aleppo is that the last food rations are being distributed as we speak," the head of a UN-backed humanitarian taskforce for Syria, Jan Egeland, told journalists.
Posted by: Fred ||
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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.
Unidentified fighter jets have launched an airstrike on a training camp belonging to the Al Qaeda-linked militant group Al shabaab in middle Jubba region in southern Somalia on Wednesday night
[LibyaHerald]. Zawia's council of elders was again making major efforts this evening to convince the warring militias of both the Ahneish and Khadrawi families to agree to a moratorium on their fighting and allow mediators to find a compromise.
Turkish Air Force destroyed 92 positions of the “Islamic State” (aka IS, ISIL, ISIS or Daesh) terrorist group as part of the Shield of Euphrates operation in Syria, the General Staff of Turkey said in a message Nov. 10.
