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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Final 3 Minnesota men sentenced in Islamic State case
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Good evening
Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Minnesota officer charged with manslaughter
[WASHINGTONPOST] The complaint states that Yanoz pulled over Castile, 32, after seeing him driving on the night of July 6 and saying that he looked like a suspect in a convenience store robbery days earlier. Choi said Wednesday that Castile is not a suspect in the robbery.

Yanez pulled Castile over at 9:04 p.m., and less than a minute later, began firing the first of seven fatal shots into the car. One bullet hit the armrest between Castile and Reynolds, the complaint said, while another went through the driver’s seat and hit the backseat behind Castile. Reynolds’s 4-year-old daughter was in a car seat on the passenger side of the backseat.

Authorities said that they reviewed audio recordings from Yanez’s squad car as well as video footage of the stop in determining the timeline. In the complaint, prosecutors say that Yanez approached Castile’s car and told him about a problem with his brake light.

[’He knew the kids and they loved him’: Minn. shooting victim was an adored school cafeteria manager]

After Castile handed Yanez his insurance card, Castile then said: "Sir, I have to tell you that I do have a firearm on me." Yanez, before Castile finished the sentence, put his hand on his holstered gun and calmly replied "Okay," according to the complaint.

Seconds later, Yanez told Castile not to pull out his gun, to which Castile said, "I’m not pulling it out," and Reynolds echoed the same message, the complaint said. Yanez then screamed, "Don’t pull it out" before pulling his own gun out and firing seven shots at Castile.
Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Sir, I have to tell you that I do have a firearm on me."

No he didn't. Minnesota does not have "duty to inform law". In any case, if one is carrying a gun there is a certain protocol that should be followed when interacting with LE. First, as trivial as it may sound don't say "I've got a gun". Statements like that tend to raise the anxiety level exponentially. Either say you have a permit to carry or,better yet, simply hand your permit along with your ID. Now here's the important step. Because the official still hasn't identified you nor secured the weapon keep your mitts in plain sight. Finally, calmly and politely follow their commands - to the letter. It would seem Castille's failure to follow these simple steps tragically contributed to his own demise.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 11/17/2016 12:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Ref #1. Very good guidance.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/17/2016 12:48 Comments || Top||

#3  Maybe that's good advice but it shouldn't be up to the citizen to talk the cop down off that ledge.

This is the kind of thing that gives cops a bad name.
Posted by: AlanC || 11/17/2016 13:28 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Afghan police seize car bomb prepared for an attack by militants
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Afghan National Police (ANP) forces seized a Vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) prepared for an attack.

The Ministry of Interior (MoI) said the boom-mobile was seized during an operation in central Maidan Wardak province.

"Yesterday morning, Afghan National Police (Crisis Response Unit) launched a special operation in Chaghato district of Maidan Wardak province," MoI said in a statement.

The statement further added "As a result, Afghan National Police (CRU) has seized a vehicle packed with explosive."

"Discoveries like this demonstrate the ever-increasing capability of Afghan National Security Forces to protect the civilians from indiscriminate IED attacks," MoI added.

The anti-government armed murderous Moslem groups including the Taliban faceless myrmidons have not commented regarding the report so far.

This comes as the Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant during the recent months across the country, including capital Kabul
...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either....
The Taliban faceless myrmidons frequently use Improvised Explosive Device (IED) as the weapon of their choice to target the security forces and Afghan government officials.

Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


3 women shot dead by gunmen in Herat city of Afghanistan
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least three women were rubbed out by unknown gunnies in 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...
city located in West of Afghanistan, local officials said Wednesday.

The incident took place late on Tuesday after the gunnies riding cycle of violence opened fire on the women.

Officials in provincial hospital confirmed that the dead bodies of the slain women were taken to the hospital.

Provincial governor’s front man Jilani Farhad confirmed the incident and said the main motive behind murder of the women has not been ascertained so far.

Farhad further added the gunnies managed to flee the area and a search operation is underway for their arrest.

This comes as numerous incidents involving murder of women have been reported during the recent months across the country.

At least four women were rubbed out by a relative in northern Balkh province of Afghanistan earlier this month while a young woman was set on fire by her husband in western Herat province of Afghanistan earlier last month.

Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


Afghan Special Forces rescue 36 from Taliban prison in Helmand
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Special Forces Unit of the Afghan National Police (ANP) rescued at least 36 civilians from a prison run by the Taliban bully boyz in southern Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
province of Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Interior (MoI) said the operation was conducted late on Tuesday night in Greshk district of Helmand.

MoI further added that the Taliban bully boyz were torturing the civilians in the cell, including the children who were kept as captives.

According to MoI, the Taliban bully boyz managed to flee the area with the deployment of the Special Forces and no casualties were incurred to security personnel or civilians.

The Taliban bully boyz have not commented regarding the report so far.

Helmand is among the volatile provinces in southern Afghanistan where the Taliban bully boyz are openly operating in a number of its districts and frequently carry out insurgency activities.

The group has conducted numerous attacks including large scale attacks to take control of the key areas of Helmand, including the placid provincial capital of Lashkargah city.

However,
a hangover is the wrath of grapes...
the Afghan forces managed to repel the Taliban attacks, according to the security officials.

Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
Bomb in Kismayo Café Leaves Five Injured
[All Africa] At least five people are confirmed to have been maimed in a kaboom at a small and busy restaurant in the southern port city of Kismayo on Wednesday, a witness said.

The kaboom which caused by remote-controlled landmine tore through the restaurant and sent a thick plume of smoke into the sky, said the witness who spoke to Radio Shabelle over the phone.

The restaurant which is located near the local administrative building in Kismayo was filled with Jubbaland security force members and civilians at the time of the kaboom, reports said.

In the aftermath of the blast, Jubbaland state forces cordoned off the scene near the bomb site, and launched an investigation into the attack. No suspect was incarcerated
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
for the café bombing.
Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


At Least 20 People Killed in Tiyeglow Battle
[All Africa] The corpse count of Somali government soldiers killed in Tuesday's attack in Tiyeglow town has jumped to 20, while scores have been maimed, sources said. Reports said Al-Shabaab
... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
forces of Evil have completely regained control of Tiyeglow, which lies west of Bakool region, after pushing Somali National Army and South West state forces out of the town.

A bomber rammed his explosives-laden car at military barracks at the entrance of Tiyeglow, before heavily armed fighters fought their way inside the town and engaged deadly gunfire with the army.

The allied troops were forced to withdraw from the city after they were overpowered in the battle, according to military sources. There have been sporadic festivities outside the town throughout the night.

Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Africa North
Bomb detonates in Benghazi military funeral
Benghazi, 15 November 2016:

A military funeral was car-bombed today in Benghazi killing a soldier and injuring at least 14 other mourners.

The cortege of one of the ten troops killed yesterday in the Ganfouda assault was on its way to the Kuwaifiyah cemetery in north-east Benghazi when a vehicle parked outside a park at Budezirah blew up. The solider killed in this blast, who has not been named, was a colonel from the same unit as yesterday’s victim. Two of those injured today are reportedly in a serious condition in Jalaa hospital.

It is unclear if the explosives in the car were detonated remotely or if a suicide bomber was inside it. Either way, this was a demonstration of the terrorists’ ability to strike outside of the Ganfouda, Sabri and Suq Al-Hud areas where they are now supposedly confined.

The attack is reminiscent of others when Benghazi was sinking into a chaos of killings in 2013. The very first funeral bombing that year was of mourners leaving the Hawari cemetery after the burial of Kamal Bazaza, an intelligence officer who had been blown up in his car earlier in the day. That attack left one man dead and six injured.

It has not been possible to confirm a report that a second car bomb was discovered today elsewhere in Benghazi and made safe.
Posted by: badanov || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:


Casualties continue to rise in battle for Sirte
Can't quite close the deal in Sirte
Despite repeated claims by the Bunyan Marsous Operations Room spearheading the fight against the so-called Islamic state (IS) in Sirte that the militants’ last bastion in the town is about to fall, the fight to destroy them once and for all continues to rage and be bloody.

According to Misrata Central Hospital, one BM soldier from Kikla was killed in clashes today and 16, all but one from Misrata, wounded. Yesterday, three soldiers were reported killed and eight wounded.

With more than 650 of its troops now killed since the battle for Sirte began, the operations room has largely ceased publishing casualty reports. However, a spokesman was quoted today saying that in fact two of its soldiers died, although he put the number of injured at ten. He also said that the BM forces were advancing on more than one front against IS in the Giza district and that yet a new massive military operation to finally destroy it was about to be launched.

Earlier in the day, an operations room official also claimed that IS had set fire to a number of houses in the town’s Giza district, said to be its last holdout, and were holding a number of families as human shields.

Part of the BM’s problem is the warren of underground tunnels which permit BM snipers to move from one location to another with deadly effect.
Posted by: badanov || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Part of the BM’s problem is the warren of underground tunnels which permit BM snipers to move from one location to another with deadly effect.

I think they meant 'IS snipers'. Then again, the lines between all of them are a bit blurred.
Posted by: Pappy || 11/17/2016 8:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Hope Ghali Noir is safe in his bar.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/17/2016 15:41 Comments || Top||


Tunisia detains 4 in terror plot
[al-Manar] Tunisian police have arrested four suspected terrorists accused of plotting to carry out attacks in the capital and to assassinate prominent politicians and journalists, an interior ministry spokesman said Wednesday.

The group, composed of three men and a girl, “was planning attacks against a commercial center and a post of the National Guard (police) in Tunis”, ministry spokesman Yasser Mesbah told AFP.

The police arrested the four in the capital’s southern suburb of Ben Arous, Mesbah said, adding they had been communicating on Facebook.

Security sources said on Monday they had found five arms caches in the south of the country near the border with war-ravaged Libya and seized large quantities of weapons.

Tunisia has been under a state of emergency for almost a year following a string of deadly attacks in 2015, claimed by groups affiliated with the ISIL group and Al-Qaeda in the “Islamic” Maghreb.
Posted by: badanov || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


20 troops die in Benghazi fighting
BENGHAZI: At least 20 members of the Libyan National Army (LNA) have been killed and 40 injured in two days of fighting in the eastern city of Benghazi, a hospital official said on Wednesday.

The clashes come as the LNA, a force loyal to the country’s eastern government, tries to extend its grip on the port city and dislodge the Islamist-dominated forces it has been battling for more than two years.

Led by Khalifa Haftar, the LNA has made major gains in Benghazi this year but still faces pockets of resistance. On Monday, it launched a fresh offensive in the Guwarsha and Ganfouda districts, carrying out air strikes and saying it had made some progress in ground fighting.

War planes could still be heard over Benghazi on Wednesday morning, and ambulances ferrying casualties raced through the streets. Roads were shut leading to western parts of the city where clashes were continuing.

At least seven militants were killed in Guwarsha on Wednesday, military spokesman Fadel Al-Hassi said. Earlier casualty figures for the LNA’s opponents were not available.

On Tuesday, a car bombing near a vegetable market at the eastern entrance to the city left 14 wounded, a second hospital official said.
Libya slid into political turmoil and conflict after long-time ruler Muammar Qaddafi was toppled in an uprising five years ago. In 2014, rival parliaments and governments were set up in Tripoli and eastern Libya, both backed by loose alliances of armed groups.

Haftar has become the dominant figure for factions based in eastern Libya. So far, they have opposed a government backed by the United Nations that arrived in Tripoli in March.

Posted by: badanov || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Senior Libyan al-Qaeda leader reported slain in drone strike
[NEWS24] A senior al-Qaeda leader was reportedly killed in a late-night drone strike that hit his home in Libya's remote south, a Libyan news agency said on Tuesday.
Yesterday the Libya Observer said he was still alive and suffering from minor wounds.
The strike was suspected to be the work of a Western military but a Pentagon spokesperson denied it was carried out by the United States.

The LANA news agency said that Abu Talha al-Hassnawi, a key figure in al-Qaeda's North African affiliate, was killed in his house in Sabha late on Monday.

According to the agency, al-Hassnawi was previously a leading member of al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, and was a leading recruiter of fighters heading to fight in Syria's vicious and complex conflict that has seen rival al-Qaeda and 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....
snuffies battle each other.

Al-Hassnawi was also purportedly close to a top holy warrior once considered the most dangerous man in the Sahara - the one-eyed terror leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a former member of al-Qaeda's North Africa branch - and has been seen in his company in the past.

LANA also said that al-Hassnawi had fled to Sabha from the northern coastal city of Sirte, where Libyan militias and forces loyal to the UN-brokered government in the capital, Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
, are battling the Islamic State affiliate with the help of US Arclight airstrikes.

The LANA news agency that reported al-Hassnawi's death is affiliated with the east-based government.

A resident who lives near Sabha said the strike took place at 23:15 on Monday and that it targeted a house the Gurtha Shati village on Sabha's outskirts.

The attack left seven bodies completely charred so it was impossible to identify al-Hassnawi, he added.

The locals knew that the al-Qaeda leader had been in the house but "no one can tell who is who" among the bodies, the witness said, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
fearing for his safety.

The witness also said he had seen al-Hassnawi together with Belmokhtar, whom a US drone strike failed to kill last year in the eastern Libyan town of Adjabiya, and that the two "came back from the fighting in Sirte."

It was not immediately possible to verify his account and local officials could not be reached for comment.
Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa

#1  "It's just a flesh wound"

*thud*
Posted by: Frank G || 11/17/2016 10:35 Comments || Top||


Benghazi constables apprehend three Libyans over murder of Pakistani man
[Libya Observer] Benghazi Public Prosecution said Wednesday that they busted the three persons who murdered a Pak national in Gamninis province in western Benghazi last week.

Al-Thanni Libyan News Agency reported the head of the media office of the criminal investigation bureau in Benghazi, Walid al-Arfi, as saying that the murder was prompted by theft ends.

"The three Libyan nationals killed the Pak a week before they had been tossed in the slammer
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
." He added, saying that they had been sent to Benghazi for more profound investigation before they get tried.

Al-Arfi explained that the murderers wanted to rob the victim after breaking into his house in Gaminins, pointing out that nothing else was their motive.
Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Think they will haul the people in who put the hit out on MuMi?
Posted by: Goober Wittlesbach5685 || 11/17/2016 7:07 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Houthi commander, officials die in Taiz fighting
Taiz- Fierce clashes renewed between Yemen’s national army backed by the popular resistance and coup militias across Taiz. Iran-aligned Houthi militiamen and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh loyalists, forming coup forces fueling the nation’s civil war, have recorded grave losses as army forces advanced.

Houthi field commander known as Abu Bassam was reportedly killed in the clashes.

The onslaught has cost coup forces loss in artillery and personnel.

Army troops backed by allied tribesmen launched a major push to dislodge militias from strategic locations on the eastern side of the city, so as to lessen their siege that suffocates the it.

Battles escalated across the eastern axis of Taiz, by the time army forces –the 22nd brigade – made a swift and steady advance. Backed by the popular resistance, army forces were able to clear several strategic locations.

Field sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that a number of areas have been liberated– in addition to the extensive combing through Mukalla and the Saleh district that overlooks the presidential palace and other important locations on the eastern edges of the city.

Military sources revealed that battles extended across vast fields, as army forces retook militia-held locations.

Tuesday’s offensive is part of a larger military operation aimed at pushing the rebel forces out of the country’s third largest city and putting an end to the miserable humanitarian crisis caused by the Houthi-laid siege and shelling.

The large operation was launched in August when the latest round of peace talks ended without reaching an agreement.

The government forces liberated the western side of the city and announced partially breaking the Houthi imposed siege.

Colonel Mansour Al Hassani, a spokesperson for the Supreme Military Council in Taiz, said that his forces dislodged Houthi gunmen from some regions in the early hours of the offensive and are pushing to completely liberate other remaining areas in the coming days. “We have taken control of Saleh district that overlooks the presidential palace and other important locations on the eastern edges of the city,” he said.

Al Hassani said the second phase of the operation began on Tuesday and will focus on expelling Houthis from the eastern side of the city where key government institutions like the presidential palace, college of medicine and Imam palace are based.

“Our target is controlling the east side and cutting off Al Houthis’ supply lines from Sana’a that come through Al Houban district,” he said.
Posted by: badanov || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


2 Soddies die in Jazan artillery attack
[Al Arabiya] A Saudi man and his wife were killed on Wednesday after a projectile launched from Yemen landed in Jazan, southwest of Saudi Arabia.

The attack also left other family members injured, according to a report from Al Arabiya's correspondent.
Posted by: badanov || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Europe
Europe migrant colonist briefs
Germany unveils its new anti-terror cops in the wake of spreading Islamism and Merkel’s open-door migrant policy
14/11/16
[DailyMail] Hamburg has spent £3.9 million equipping its anti-terror officers with new equipment over fears of jihadi-style attacks including a new Survivor One armoured personnel carrier.

Ultra-conservative strand of Islam supporting sharia law in the West is now part of German youth culture, say experts - after raids on Salafist groups 'linked to ISIS'
Goody.
16/11/16
[DailyMail] Strict rules promoted by Salafism are an 'answer to uncertainty' felt by increasing numbers of young Muslims, according to Susanne Schroeter from Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany.

Aid convoy that took Jihadi John hostage Alan Henning to Syria was infiltrated by fanatics who helped set up terrorist sniper team, court hears
16/11/16
[DailyMail] Mr Henning, of Salford, Greater Manchester, was beheaded by ISIS executioner Jihadi John in 2014 after travelling to the Middle East with men now on trial for terror offences.

From Breitbart:
NGO: Just 13 Per Cent of Migrants in Europe Actually Fleeing War
16 Nov 2016
Just 13.7 per cent of migrants in Europe say they are fleeing war, with most admitting they are economic migrants, a new study by Doctors of the World (MDM) has revealed. The NGO found that the majority of nearly 10,000

Italian Coastguard Brings 500 African Migrants Ashore in a One Day
16 Nov 2016
(REUTERS) – Almost 500 migrants arrived at the port of Catania on Wednesday after being rescued earlier this week near the coast of Libya, with the influx of refugees heading to Europe showing no signs of slowing.

Shock As Asylum Seeker Stabs Wife to Death After Throwing Her From Window
16 Nov 2016
A town in Germany is in shock after an asylum seeker threw his wife out of a window and then proceeded to stab her to death over a reported argument between the pair. The brutal attack occurred in an asylum

Hungarian Opposition to Reintroduce Migrant Ban Amendment
16 Nov 2016
Hungary’s right-wing Jobbik party is to resubmit a proposed constitutional amendment to parliament which would ban the resettlement of migrants in the country, after it fell thanks to its own members voting against it.

Open Borders Merkel is Obama’s New ‘Closest’ Ally on Final European Trip
Everyone else politely thinks he is crazy?
15 Nov 2016
President Obama has delivered a final insult in the UK, writing off the ‘special relationship’ and declaring the pro-open borders German Chancellor Angela Merkel as his “closest” international partner of the last eight years.

Europhile Martin Schulz On Track To Become Next German Foreign Minister
15 Nov 2016
Europhile and pro-migrant European Parliament President Martin Schulz could be on track to become Germany’s foreign minister.

Germany May Cut Federal Funding To Cities That Refuse To Deport Illegals
15 Nov 2016
A member of parliament from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has proposed cutting off federal funding for regions who refuse to deport migrants.

Austria: 40 Per Cent of Islamic Radicals Recently Arrived as ‘Refugees’
15 Nov 2016
VIENNA (AP) — Austria’s interior ministry says that of the 287 Islamic radicals identified in the country in the past few years, 40 percent arrived as migrants looking for asylum.

550 African Migrants Arrive in Italy in Single Day
15 Nov 2016
(REUTERS) – About 550 migrants, most of them from West Africa, were pulled to safety from boats in the Mediterranean on Monday in five operations during which rescuers also recovered five dead bodies, Italy’s coast guard said.

Hundreds of Islamic State Fighters Smuggled into Europe as ‘Refugees’
15 Nov 2016
The German intelligence service and the Austrian government have confirmed that hundreds of Islamic state fighters have come into Europe disguised as refugees.

Hundreds of Migrants Stopped at Serbia’s Border With Croatia
14 Nov 2016
(REUTERS) – A group of migrants who had marched for two days from the Serbian capital Belgrade were stopped on Sunday at the border with Croatia, a European Union member which said would not allow illegal crossings.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists


Kosovo arrests 19 in Islamic State plot to attack Israel soccer match
[IsraelTimes] Suspects planned ’synchronized’ attacks in Kosovo, Albania, police say, adding that weapons, ammunition and a drone seized in sweep.

Kosovo Police on Wednesday said they had incarcerated
You have the right to remain silent...
19 people they suspected of being involved in an 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....
plot to carry out terror attacks in Kosovo and neighboring Albania, including an assault during a football match between Albania and Israel this past weekend.

Police said the arrests were made over the past 10 days and that the suspects had planned "synchronized terror attacks," without going into further detail.

"They were planning to commit terrorist attacks in Kosovo and also [an attack] against [the] Israeli football team and their fans during the Albania-Israel match," Kosovo police said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that weapons, explosives, ammunition and a drone were seized during the sweep.

The police said the suspects were communicating and receiving orders from an Islamic State member, Lavdrim Muhaxheri, the self-declared "commander of Albanians in Syria and Iraq."

Last week, a Kosovo court ordered seven of the suspects detained for a month while the investigation continued. The seven belonged to one network that notably planned to attack a stadium in the northern Albanian town of Shkodra during the country’s 2018 World Cup qualifier against Israel last Saturday, according to media reports.

Police said at the time that they were plotting "terrorist attacks" with their counterparts from Albania and Macedonia against the same targets in the two countries.

According to local media reports, the network in Kosovo consists of around 30 members and is a branch of a wider group in Albania and Macedonia, of which some remained on the lam.

The Israel-Albania match was held in the central town of Elbasan for amid tight security on Saturday. Israel won 3-0 and moved into third place with nine points in its soccer World Cup qualifying Group G.

Earlier last week, Israel said the Islamic State group had been planning attacks in the Balkans and specifically warned its citizens not to attend the match.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Home Front: Politix
Trump Adviser Flynn Recently Met With Operatives Linked To Turk Gov't Agents
[Daily Caller] Last month, Donald Trump’s top military adviser, retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, met with two Turkish community leaders in New York City who have close ties to Turkish government agents, The Daily Caller has found.

Flynn, who served as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency between 2012 and 2014, met on Oct. 10 with Ibrahim Kurtulus and Hilal Mutlu, two operatives who are prominent players in a shadowy network of Turkish organizations that support the agenda of Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Kurtulus and Mutlu, who is a cousin of Erdogan’s, are tied to groups that either receive funding from the Turkish government or have close connections to Erdogan and officials in his regime, a Daily Caller investigation reveals.

The revelation of the meeting comes on the heels of a report published by TheDC last week which found that a businessman who is the director of an economic board controlled by Turkey’s government recently used a Dutch shell company to hire Flynn’s consulting firm, Flynn Intel Group, to lobby Congress.

(RELATED: Trump’s Top Military Adviser Is Lobbying For Obscure Company With Ties To Turkish Government)
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/17/2016 07:39 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Needs to be thoroughly investigated.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/17/2016 7:44 Comments || Top||

#2  I've got a hunch that it will be investigated thoroughly during any confirmation hearings.
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/17/2016 8:27 Comments || Top||

#3  National Security Advisor is not a position requiring Congressional approval - See: "Susan Rice, Queen of the Benghazi Lie Parade"
Posted by: Frank G || 11/17/2016 8:51 Comments || Top||

#4  Correct Frank G. Has anyone tired of the popcorn yet? ..didn't think so!
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 11/17/2016 10:13 Comments || Top||

#5  Ref #3: Perhaps that is the motivation behind the potential 'National Security Adviser' selection....or once again, am I just stating the obvious ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/17/2016 10:17 Comments || Top||

#6  What's General Mattis doing in his spare time these days?
Posted by: Shipman || 11/17/2016 12:55 Comments || Top||

#7  Serious error by Trump if he is siding with Erdogan. Sheer dumbassery. If true.
Posted by: Snert Black6805 || 11/17/2016 18:12 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Final 3 Minnesota men sentenced in Islamic State case
[Chicago Tribune] A Minnesota man described as a leader of a group of nine who plotted to travel to Syria to fight for 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 was sentenced to 35 years in prison Wednesday by a federal judge who said he didn't believe the man's tearful apologies and words of contrition.

Two other members of what U.S. District Judge Michael Davis repeatedly called a "terrorist cell" -- Mohammed Farah and Abdirahman Daud, both 22 -- were sentenced earlier Wednesday to 30 years in prison apiece. But Guled Omar, 22, drew the longest sentence of the nine defendants who appeared before Davis this week.

"I understand the seriousness of what I've been convicted of, and I understand that I will not be able to go home anytime soon," Omar told the judge as he awaited his sentence, which ended up being less than the 40 years prosecutors sought. "I always had energy for justice as a young man but I lost my way."

Omar's statement sent his mother in the gallery into sobbing uncontrollably while other family members left the courtroom to collect their emotions. Davis didn't buy it.

"Everything you have said here, I don't believe," Davis said.

Prosecutor Andrew Winter said Omar's tears could not be trusted.

"Only when backed into a corner, does he attempt to offer false contrition. You can't fix manipulative. You can't fix deceitful. And you can't fix Guled Omar. He has blood on his hands," Winter said.

A jury convicted Omar, Farah and Daud in June of conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and conspiracy to commit murder outside the U.S. Prosecutors said the plot involved of a group of friends in the state's large Somali community who inspired each other to join the bad boy group. Some of their friends made it to Syria, but the nine who were caught did not.
Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  there were 9 Jihadist who were sentenced

the first 3 were cooperating and provided the prosecution with evidence -- they got light sentences plus supervision

the next 3 didn't cooperate but pleaded guilty - they got up to 10 years in one case

the final 3 pleaded innocent and their supporters threatened the families of witnesses, disrupted the courtroom, etc. those were the ones discussed in the Chic Trib article
Posted by: lord garth || 11/17/2016 5:01 Comments || Top||

#2  There is a much better report on this issue here.
Posted by: lord garth || 11/17/2016 5:55 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
11 Indian soldiers die in artillery attack
Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif on Wednesday said 11 Indian soldiers were killed on November 14 after Pakistan Army ‘responded to unprovoked firing’.

The Pakistan Army suffered the loss of seven soldiers on the day, all casualties were sustained in the Bhimber sector of the Line of Control (LoC).

“The Indian army should man up and accept their losses,” said the chief of army staff.

He also said that unlike the Indian army, the Pakistan Army accepts and owns its casualties.

General Raheel added that the army should be credited with exemplary teamwork.

“The army has given outstanding results while defending the homeland,” added General Raheel Sharif.

He also said a message has been conveyed to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that aggressive actions will not bear any results.

Cross-border firing a new normal
Cross-border firing appears to have become a routine as tensions simmer between Pakistan and India following an alleged 'surgical strike', unrest in Kashmir and the Uri army base attack.

The Indian deputy high commissioner has been summoned to the Foreign Office several times in protest against 'unprovoked' Indian fire and loss of lives due to incidents of cross-border firing.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped up a drive to isolate Pakistan diplomatically after the Uri army base attack last month. Hours after the attack occurred, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh termed Pakistan a 'terrorist state' and accused Pakistan of involvement.

The Uri attack occurred days before Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was set to address the United Nations General Assembly regarding Indian human rights violations in held Kashmir.

Following the attack, India claimed it had conducted a cross-border 'surgical strike' against 'launch pads of terror' in Azad Jammu and Kashmir — a claim Pakistan has strongly rejected.

Pakistan maintains that India is attempting to divert the world's attention away from atrocities committed by government forces in India-held Kashmir.

Pakistan and India have, most recently, locked horns over Kashmir since Indian forces stepped up a crackdown against protesters after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed by government forces in July.

Posted by: badanov || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  wonder how many Pak "infiltrators" got across?
Posted by: Frank G || 11/17/2016 8:54 Comments || Top||


Iraq
The Beatings Will Continue: Iraqi Edition


ISIS executes 25 in Mosul

(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – Islamic State militants have executed 25 civilians over accusations of spying for Iraqi security services, the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights said Wednesday.

The victims were brought from different regions of Nineveh, according to the commission’s media director, Jawad al-Shamari.

“The group maintains the dead bodies of those executed at the forensic medicine facility, and refuses to hand them over to their relatives, arguing that they were infidels and should not be buried,” Shamari said, quoting sources inside the city.

“Those sources have also confirmed that ISIS had captured 2000 citizens and drove them to Tal Afar to use them as human shields, also accusing them of treason and several other accusations,” he added.

“The group arrests citizens who are found to possess cellphones, computers and other communication tools and executes them,” said al-Shamari.

Iraqi government forces and its allied paramilitaries have entered a month of operations to retake Mosul, ISIS’s last bastion in the country.

On Tuesday, Brig.Gen. Nibras al-Makkoki, a spokesperson for the defense ministry’s Joint Forces Command, said ISIS had been amassing families from several neighborhoods in western Mosul inside schools, vowing to kill violators. “The group is trying to use civilians as human shields…and booby-trapped several houses and civilian vehicles.”

As for the humanitarian situation, Makkoki said, quoting his sources in Mosul, that electricity had been cut from most of the city for two days, with water and medical supplies short of demand.

5K civilians caught between ISIS and Iraqi militia forces

(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – Mayor of al-Hadr district (located to the west of Mosul), Ali al-Ahmadi, declared that more than five thousand civilians are besieged in the district and areas of Tel Abta, by members of the Islamic State and al-Hashd al-Shaabi militia.

The Mayor said in a press statement that the district is suffering from lack of food, water and health care for more than a month.

Ahmadi also appealed to officials to rescue the people of al-Hadr district and Tel Abta, after the emergence of epidemic diseases among children such as skin rush and poisoning, due to the usage of polluted water of artesian wells, which is the only water source in the area.

Meanwhile, al-Hashd al-Shaabi shia militia announced isolating the district of al-Hadr and Tel Abta area from Mosul without storming into it, within a phase they call the third phase that aims to reach and liberate Tel Afar district, west of Mosul.

ISIS executes dozens in Mosul for spying

[ARA News] Zakho – The radical group of Islamic State (ISIS) has executed dozens of civilians in Mosul City of Iraq’s northwestern Nineveh Governorate on charges of spying for “enemy forces”, activists and eyewitnesses reported on Thursday.

ISIS extremists on Thursday executed at least 32 civilians, mostly young men, in the city of Mosul, after accusing them of spying for the Iraqi Army and the Kurdish Peshmerga forces.

This comes amid intensifying military operations by the Peshmerga and the Iraqi forces against the ISIS main Iraqi bastion of Mosul, where the group has lost key areas to the US-backed Kurdish and Iraqi troops in the past three weeks.

Local sources told ARA News that the ISIS-led Islamic Police, also known as Diwan al-Hisba, arrested more than 40 people earlier on Wednesday.

“At least 32 arrestees were executed on Thursday by fighting squad after ISIS accused them of leaking information about the group’s deployments in Mosul city,” head of Nineveh Media Centre Raafat al-Zarari told ARA News.

The pro-ISIS Sharia Court of Mosul said in a statement that the suspects had communicated with ‘enemy forces’, in reference to the Kurdish Peshmerga and the Iraqi government forces. The court determined that those communications represented the men’s conscious abandonment of Islam.

“The arrested men were charged with treason,” local media activist Abdullah al-Malla told ARA News. “They were publicly executed in central Mosul on Thursday.”

Muhammad Abd-Rabouh, a member of the Iraqi Parliament, said that the recent executions indicate a state of panic among ISIS ranks.

“As the Iraqi forces continue their progress towards the heart of Mosul city, ISIS tries to show the people that it’s still in control,” the Iraqi MP said. “Publicly executing innocent civilians in such a brutal way on charges of spying and treason is a clear indication to the group’s collapse inside Mosul.”

“Soon Mosul will be liberated, and the world won’t see such barbaric acts in this city anymore,” he said.
Posted by: badanov || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraqi militia threatens Islamic State's supply route to Syria
[REUTERS] Iraqi Shi'ite militias said on Wednesday they had driven 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....
fighters from an air base west of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, a victory which would threaten the Sunni group's supply route from Syria to its last major stronghold in Iraq.

"The airport of Tal Afar has been liberated," Yusif al-Kallabi, a front man for Popular Mobilisation, a coalition of mainly Iranian-backed militias, told Iraqi state TV.

The capture of the base, if confirmed, could be a significant development in the campaign to recapture Mosul, Islamic State's de facto capital since its forces swept through Iraq in 2014 and set up a self-declared caliphate in a swathe of Syria and northern Iraq.

Tal Afar lies about 60 km (38 miles) west of Mosul on the main road to Syria. Its seizure could also alarm The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
, which is wary of Iraqi Shi'ite involvement in the civil war in Syria.

"Tal Afar will be the starting block for the liberation of all the area...to the Syrian border and beyond the Syria border," said Hadi al-Amiri, head of Badr Organization, Popular Mobilisation's largest component, in a video clip.

While the Shi'ite coalition is fighting Islamic State west of Mosul, regular army and police units are trying to advance from the other sides, backed by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters deployed in the north and the east.

Iraqi counter-terrorism forces breached Islamic State defenses in east Mosul two weeks ago but have faced resistance from the myrmidons, who have fought back with suicide boom-mobiles, snipers and waves of counter-attacks.

Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  It's all about the LOG, all the time.
Death by a thousand losses of supply for the Satanic Daish.
Posted by: newc || 11/17/2016 2:47 Comments || Top||

#2  There's a non-satanic Daish?
Posted by: Pappy || 11/17/2016 8:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Well Mrs. Daish seems the decent sort, tho a bit high in potassium for renal patients.
Posted by: Shipman || 11/17/2016 12:57 Comments || Top||


Kurds claim Bashiqa victory
[ARA News] Bashiqa – The Kurdish President Masoud Barzani on Wednesday announced the defeat of ISIS in a ceremony in the town of Bashiqa, which was recaptured by Kurdish Peshmerga forces last week. He also rebuked comments by US officials that the Peshmergas will withdraw to pre-ISIS borders.

“There will be no negotiations about territories liberated by Peshmerga before the Mosul offensive,” he said. “ISIS will continue to threaten the Kurdistan Region as long as they remain in Mosul. This is a new chapter. ISIS is on the path to defeat. Peshmerga shed blood to free Kurdistan’s land and end suffering of our people.”

“I know the heroes we’ve lost. I know their sacrifices. They protected a nation and our dignity. We have sacrificed more than 11,500 martyrs and wounded heroes in this fight. ISIS is on route to lasting defeat,” Barzani said. “We have lost brave heroes. We will never recover from the deep wounds. The world is proud of the Peshmerga – they embody heroism.”
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: badanov || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Mosul Offensive News
Militia leader sez Mosul siege to take a while

(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – The ongoing battle seeking to liberate the city of Mosul from Islamic State militants could last for several months, speaker of al-Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary forces said Tuesday as operations to recapture the city complete one month.

Ahmed al-Asadi told non14.net news website that “the closer the troops become to their strategic targets, the slower the operations will be.” He reiterated that operations will take “months rather than weeks”, attributing his speculation to the fact that “Mosul is home for more than 1.25 million civilians,” explaining that al-Hashed al-Shaabi’s top concern is to ensure the safety for civilians during battles.

“The closer we get to our strategic targets, the enemies change their resistance tactics by resorting to street battles, making use of buildings. We expect operations to maintain the current pace which has lasted for more than ten days.”

Also on Tuesday, al-Hashed al-Shaabi media body said the forces had liberated four villages on the western axis of Mosul, becoming 18 kilometers away from the airport of the strategic town of Tal Afar.

“Should al-Hashed forces take control of Tal Afar airport, that would be a prelude to the liberation of the whole town and the obstruction of a main ISIS supply line to Mosul,” read the statement.

The imminent advance to Tal Afar has been contentious over the past weeks, with Turkey voicing fears of possible human rights violations by the mostly-Shia al-Hashed al-Shaabi against the Sunni Turkmen residents of the town.

Asadi, however, said the militia would handle the town “accurately and sensitively” due to it’s complicated status. He accused Turkey of seeking “a pretext to intervene in Iraqi affairs,” accusing Turkey and Saudi Arabia of providing logistic and weaponry support for the extremist group.

“At every battle, we see new weapons for ISIS entering Iraq through the Turkish borders with Saudi finance. They have killed us with their money for years,” Asadi stated.

Iraqi forces capture Tal Akoub

(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – Iraqi joint forces recaptured on Wednesday the village of Tal Akoub, north of al-Zab, Mosul, from Islamic State militants, commander of the operations said, while ISIS shelled an already liberated village.

Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah, commander of operation “We Are Coming, Nineveh,” said the 9th armoured division liberated the village and raised the Iraqi flag above its buildings.

Meanwhile, Rudaw news network said several casualties fell Wednesday as ISIS shelled al-Zahraa village with mortar bombs. Al-Zahraa was recaptured by Iraqi forces last week.

Its reporter quoted a young man as saying that a lady and her four kids were killed in the bombardment. The did not set a definite count of deaths, but said that casualties were taken to hospitals by military vehicles.

Iraqi forces, assisted by US-led air forces and popular militias, have entered a month of battles to liberate Mosul from ISIS militants who had proclaimed the city as the capital of their “Islamic Caliphate” before surrendering to consecutive victories by the Iraqi forces and losing much ground.

Last week, the US-led coalition said 1363 ISIS militants were killed since the start of battles for Mosul. On Tuesday, the joint forces said in a press conference Iraqi and international forces had killed more than 1300 militants on the southern axis of Mosul operations.

Iraqi forces capture Tal Afar airport

(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – Al-Hashed al-Shaabi militias said Wednesday they have militarily recaptured the Tal Afar airport, a major operational step towards the center of Mosul.

The militia said in a statement that it liberated the village of Tal al-Romh, 2 kilometers from the airport, from Islamic State militants, putting the airport within their “firing range”. It also captured the village of Tal al-Souban, east of the airport.

“al-Hashed al-Shaabi’s intelligence had detected calls by ISIS to their fighters to withdraw from Tal al-Romh to Tal Khedr Elias,” the militia’s media body said.

On Tuesday, al-Hashed al-Shaabi media body said the forces had liberated four villages on the western axis of Mosul, becoming 18 kilometers away from the airport of the strategic town of Tal Afar.

“Should al-Hashed forces take control of Tal Afar airport, that would be a prelude to the liberation of the whole town and the obstruction of a main ISIS supply line to Mosul,” read the statement.

The imminent advance to Tal Afar has been contentious over the past weeks, with Turkey voicing fears of human rights violations by the mostly-Shia al-Hashed al-Shaabi against the Sunni Turkmen residents of the town.

ISIS artillery attack in Tel al-Tawba kills 14

(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – A shelling conducted by the Islamic State group east of Mosul, either killed or wounded 21 civilians, including women and children, Bas New reported on Wednesday.

Officer at the Anti-Terrorism Directorate, Major Ali Mohsen, said in a press statement, “14 civilians, including women and children, were killed and 7 others were wounded, in a rocket attack launched by the ISIS from Tel al-Tawba village targeting al-Zohour Street and nearby houses.”

“The bodies were transferred to the hospitals of Mosul, while the majority of families in the area migrated toward the liberated areas,” Mohsen added.

Iraqi commander claims to be 4 Km from Mosul

(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – Commander of the Iraqi Anti-Terrorism forces, Major General Abdel Wahab al-Saadi announced on Wednesday, that his forces is controlling Hayy al-Bakr area, one of the most important ISIS strongholds east of Mosul, and emphasized that these forces are only 4 kilometers away from the center of the city.

Saadi also pointed out to the killing of tens of ISIS militants in the outskirt of the neighborhood, and revealed that the international coalition air force conducted four extensive airstrikes to destroy heavy weapons and booby-trapped vehicles belonging to the extremist group in the area.

Meanwhile, forces from the army’s 9th Armored Brigade advanced toward the southeast of Mosul, and reached Hayy al-Salam, and will continue advancing toward the 4th bridge on the west coast.

Also, Federal Police forces, backed by Nineveh Operations forces are advancing in the battles against the ISIS militants, south of Mosul, who withdrew from the areas of Hayy Albu Saif and al-Ghazlani near the southern entrance of the city.
Posted by: badanov || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  the continuing and increasing tension between Iraq and Turkey is an under reported story in the US

Posted by: lord garth || 11/17/2016 5:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Iraqis appear stalled just inside the city. Only units advancing now are the PMU Shia militias outside the city toward Tel Afar...it is a battle of wills now - a battle that the Iraqi Army in which has never really excelled.
Posted by: Tennessee || 11/17/2016 9:49 Comments || Top||

#3  The ongoing battle seeking to liberate the city of Mosul from Islamic State militants could last for several months, speaker of al-Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary forces said Tuesday as operations to recapture the city complete one month.

Siege of Richmond-Petersburg comes to mind.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/17/2016 11:06 Comments || Top||

#4  The self-propelled armoured souks are ready to be unleashed.

Posted by: Shipman || 11/17/2016 12:59 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Police arrest Abu Sayyaf bandit in Zambo Norte
[SUNSTAR.PH] THE police have jugged
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
an alleged Abu Sayyaf
...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder...
bandit in a remote village of Zamboanga del Norte, an official said Wednesday, November 16.

Zamboanga del Norte Police Director Edwin Wagan identified the arrested bandit as Abdul Nasser Julpai, 32, a resident of Nonoyan village in the town of Baliguian.

Wagan said Julpai was arrested around 8:45 p.m., Tuesday at his residence in the village of Nonoyan.

The police official said Julpai was caught in possession of a hand grenade when arrested on complaint of alarm and scandal filed by his neighbors.

Wagan said they discovered that Julpai is a member of the Abu Sayyaf Group during the tactical interrogation at cop shoppe.

He said the suspect was detained while appropriate charges are set to be filed against him.

Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
U.S. halts military support for Turkey’s fight in al-Bab
[MILITARYTIMES] The U.S. military has halted support for Turkish ground troops pushing deeper into 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....
-held territory in Syria, highlighting the mounting tension between NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
allies over how to defeat the bully boy group.

A front man for U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria said on Wednesday that no Arclight airstrikes or American special operations advisers are assisting the Turkish military’s operation targeting ISIS fighters in al Bab. Located 20 miles south of the The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
-Syria border, the town serves as an important transfer point for fighters and supplies bound for Raqqa, the Islamic State's self-proclaimed capital some 125 miles to the east.

"We've not supported the advance to al Bab thus far ," Air Force Col. John Dorrian said. "This is a decision they've made to go into al Bab, but it's not one that the coalition has provided strikes in support of."

Despite that, Dorrian said the Turkish advance appears to be going well. "They've not yet moved into al Bab and taken the city, but they are very, very close, encountering some pretty tough resistance," he noted. "They do expect to be able to power through that."
Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  I have a feeling turkey is gonna lose alot of US support when trump takes office
Posted by: chris || 11/17/2016 7:03 Comments || Top||

#2  chris, that sounds contradictory to the implications in the Mike Flynn stories.
Posted by: AlanC || 11/17/2016 8:39 Comments || Top||


95 ISIS Baddies now pining for the Fjords
[al-Manar] Clashes in north and western-north countryside of the Syrian province of Raqqah are still ongoing since operations by Democratic Syria forces were launched to isolate the city and expel the so-called ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL) terrorist group from the area, a monitor group said.

The UK-based opposition Syrian Observatory reported that ninty-five ISIL gunmen were killed or injured during the operations up till Tuesday evening, including 20 militants who were buried in a mass grave near Devision-17.

Recently, Kurdish websites have been talking about the full control of the DSF over the village of “Al-Towaila’ah” in Southeast of Ein-Issa town.

Kurkish media circulated that People’s Protection Units have been advancing to a distance of 6 km, starting from the Al-Hayesh village in Slook town in the north countryside of Raqqah after clashes with ISIL group.

This progress signifies that YPG forces are surrounding ISIL in the villages of Khnez and Theleth Khnez.
Posted by: badanov || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Tensions rise between civilians and local fighters in Aleppo
[al-Manar] Media reports have indicated that the tensions between the terrorists and the civilians in eastern Aleppo rose as scores of locals demonstrated against the militant groups to demand that they distribute the foodstuffs distributed by the government and confiscated by the takfiri gunmen.

The reports added that the terrorist groups deploy their members in the eastern neighborhood of the city in order to prevent the civilians from escaping towards the west of Aleppo.
Posted by: badanov || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:


Syrian warbirds hit Aleppo hospital
[ARA News] Aleppo – Syrian regime’s warplanes launched on Wednesday several airstrikes in Aleppo, targeting the rebel-held eastern part of the city.

Pro-regime forces hit the neighbourhoods of Shaar, Karam al-Bek and Sakhour in eastern Aleppo with barrel bombs and missiles.

A children’s hospital, blood bank and ambulances were main targets in Wednesday’s air raids.

“Pro-Assad air force bombed al-Bayan Children’s Hospital in Aleppo, causing dozens of casualties,” local media activist Ahmed Halwani told ARA News.

At least 26 civilians, including children, were killed in the airstrikes.

“Many others remained trapped under the rubble,” Halwani reported.

In the meantime, local rescue teams continued the search for survivors under the ruins of the destroyed buildings.

Airstrikes have resumed in Aleppo since Tuesday, after a Russian-sponsored three-week moratorium ended.

More from Arab News
BEIRUT/UNITED NATIONS: Air strikes hit near a children’s hospital and a school in rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Wednesday in the second day of renewed bombing that has killed at least 20 people, a war monitor, medics, and emergency workers said.

The fresh attacks came just hours after a United Nation human rights committee approved a resolution strongly condemning the recent escalation of attacks in Aleppo and continuing violence by the Syrian government against its own people.

The committee voted 116-15 with 49 abstentions in favor of the draft resolution on Tuesday. It is virtually certain to be adopted when the assembly votes next month.

The draft resolution demands that Syrian authorities “immediately put an end to all indiscriminate attacks, including those involving the use of terror tactics, air strikes, barrel and vacuum bombs, incendiary weapons, chemical weapons and heavy artillery.”

It “deplores and condemns in the strongest terms” widespread human rights violations by the Syrian government.

The draft calls for a cease-fire by all parties, saying this “is essential to achieve a political solution.”

Wednesday's air strikes are part of a wider escalation by the Syrian government and its allies including Russia, which launched coordinated missile strikes against rebels in Syria on Tuesday and for the first time used its only aircraft carrier.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the air strikes on eastern Aleppo had killed at least five children and an emergency worker. They were carried out by either Russian or Syrian jets, it said.

Russian denial
Moscow has denied reports that its jets hit the city in the renewed wave of bombardment. It says it is sticking to a moratorium on strikes in Aleppo.

The Observatory said districts struck included Shaar, Sukkari and Karam Al-Beik.

Tuesday’s bombing on eastern Aleppo appeared to mark the end of a pause inside the city declared by Russia on Oct. 18.

The Observatory and residents said the city’s east was hit by rocket strikes by jets, barrel bombs dropped from helicopters and artillery fired by government forces.

“The helicopters won’t stop for a single moment,” Bebars Mishal, a Civil Defense worker in rebel-held Aleppo, told Reuters. “Right now, the bombing won’t let up.”

The Civil Defense is a volunteer rescue service that operates in rebel-held areas.

The bombing hit the surroundings of a children’s hospital in the Shaar neighborhood and of a school in the Salah Al-Din neighborhood, the Observatory said.

“We woke up to the bombing and until now, the warplanes and helicopters are running,” said Modar Shekho, a nurse in eastern Aleppo. “The Shaar neighborhood was burned down between yesterday and today.”

Ibrahim Abu Al-Laith, a Civil Defense official, said more than 40 air strikes had hit the Shaar area. “Today the bombardment is very, very fierce,” he said.

Just bombing terrorists

Syrian state television said on Tuesday the Damascus government’s air force took part in strikes against what it called terrorist strongholds in Aleppo’s Old City.

Russia said it had struck Daesh and former Nusra Front sites elsewhere in Syria, without mentioning Aleppo.

State-owned Ikhabariyah television reported large troop deployments along several main fronts in the Aleppo theater in preparation for a major ground offensive that it said was imminent and awaiting “zero hour” to begin.

Aleppo has become the major front in Syria’s 5-1/2-year war pitting President Bashar Assad, supported by Russia, Iran and Shiite militias, against mostly Sunni rebels including groups backed by Turkey, the United States and Gulf monarchies.

Aleppo has for years been divided between the government-held western sector and rebel-held east, which the Syrian army and its allies besieged during the summer. Its allied forces include Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iraqi Shiite militias.

More from Asharq Al-Awsat
The Syrian regime and Russia resumed military and air operations in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo yesterday, a month after they were suspended. While Moscow insisted that the large scale operation carried out by its forces “does not include Aleppo”, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that it is likely that Russia is participating in the strikes on the city and that its denial is an attempt to shirk responsibility in the event that many civilians are injured.

The director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdul Rahman told Asharq Al-Awsat that 8 airstrikes were carried out all at once in the eastern neighbourhoods of Aleppo and said that “We know that the Syrian regime does not have the ability to do so”. He also pointed out that “the expansion of Moscow’s strikes to include the countrysides of Homs and Idlib aims to disperse fighters. Abdul Rahman added that “It cannot be said that the major battle for Aleppo that the regime and its allies promised has been launched, especially as question marks remain about their real ability to fight this battle due to the large number of civilians in the targeted neighbourhoods”.

Meanwhile, the military spokesman for the Fastaqim Kama Umirt group Ammar Saqqaar said that initial information indicates that the Syrian regime is mainly responsible for launching strikes on the eastern neighbourhoods of Aleppo which led to many people being wounded and killed. He also indicated in a statement that he made to Asharq Al-Awsat that they are using “missiles that do not aim at specific targets” and therefore the bombing is random. He continued by saying that the raids are not limited to the city but also extend to the countryside where three hospitals were targeted in 24 hours.
Posted by: badanov || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  There must be hospitals on every street corner in Aleppo
Posted by: John Frum || 11/17/2016 13:20 Comments || Top||


Syrian, Russian jets pound rebel areas
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Air strikes pounded neighbourhoods around a children's hospital and a blood bank in rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Wednesday in a second day of renewed bombing that has killed at least 32 people, a war monitor, medics and emergency workers said.

"Russian military planes were seen all night until morning in several regions of Idlib" in northwestern Syria, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"The regime air force bombed eastern sectors of Aleppo," Syria’s divided second city, Abdel Rahman told AFP.

The air raids formed part of a wider military escalation by the Syrian government and allies including Russia, which fired coordinated volleys of missiles at rebels on Tuesday and for the first time used its only aircraft carrier.

The Syrian Observatory said the air strikes on eastern Aleppo on Wednesday alone killed at least 21 people, including five children and an emergency worker. They were carried out by either Russian or Syrian warplanes, it said.

The Observatory said districts struck included al-Shaar, al-Sukkari, al-Sakhour and Karam al-Beik.

Air raids also continued in the countryside west of Aleppo from which rebels have launched assaults on government-held areas. An attack on the village of Batbo killed at least 19 people including three children, the Observatory said.

Moscow has denied reports that its jets have hit Aleppo in the renewed wave of bombardment, and said it was sticking to a moratorium on air strikes in the city.

Tuesday's bombing run on eastern Aleppo appeared to mark the end of a pause inside the city declared by Russia on Oct. 18 which Syria's military had also largely observed.

The Observatory and residents said the city's east was hit by rocket fired from jets, barrel bombs dropped from helicopters and artillery from government forces.

"The helicopters won't stop for a single moment," Bebars Mishal, a civil defence worker in rebel-held Aleppo, told Rooters. "Right now, the bombing won't let up."

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke of a "major operation" which saw the first missions carried out by warplanes taking off from the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier that arrived off Syria last week.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that a moratorium on Russian air strikes against targets in Aleppo remained in place for the time being.

Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria



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