A powerful car bomb blast was heard at the gate of Mogadishu seaport on Sunday morning. According to the reports, the car bomb went off at a parking lot outside the seaport, killing several people, mostly civilians in nearby areas.
Heavy gunfire was heard following the blast and witnesses said security forces cordoned off the scene as ambulances take the wounded to the nearby hospitals.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the deadly car bomb attack at Mogadishu seaport.
Could it be anyone other than Al Shabaab?
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/12/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Six people died and a total of 1,164 people were rescued during operations to save stricken migrant boats in the Mediterranean on Sunday, Italy's coastguard said.
Vessels operated by the coastguard, the EU's naval operation EU NAVFOR MED and the Italian navy were deployed along with the Aquarius, operated by the Doctors without Borders (MSF) charity, to help migrants on six rubber dinghies and one larger wooden boat that had got into trouble off Libya.
This year has already set a new record for the number of migrants arriving at Italy's southern ports with more than 173,000 registered by the interior ministry up until the start of last week.
According to the UN, at least 4,700 people have died attempting the often perilous crossing on boats chartered by people smugglers.
#1
Global analytics agency GEFIRA made a video showing how NGOs are shuttling African migrants - muslim colonists for the most part - to Europe via Libya
Two girl suicide bombers killed at least three people and wounded 17 at a market in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Sunday, a spokesman for state emergency agency NEMA, Sani Datti, said.
Residents said about nine people had been killed.
Boko Haram Islamists have been waging an insurgency for seven years in the region to try to establish an Islamic state. I guess Frank G called it yesterday
Posted by: g(r)omgoru ||
12/12/2016 00:17 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Boko Haram
#1
A third version of the story immediately below. To the fog of war must be added the fog of journalism.
[IsraelTimes] Male and female attackers detonate charges minutes apart at venue previously closed over security concerns.
Two jacket wallahs died when they went kaboom! Sunday in a crowded area near a market in Nigeria’s northeastern city of Maiduguri, injuring 17 people, rescue officials said.
Survivor Abubakar Musa said he also saw among the victims the bodies of soldiers who were guarding a nearby electric power installation.
A male andexploding trollop female suicide bomber detonated themselves minutes apart, front man Sani Datti of the National Emergency Management Agency said of the attack blamed on the Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... Islamic bully boy group. It birthplace is Maiduguri.
The blasts occurred near Maiduguri’s Monday Market, just weeks after the state government ordered the reopening of all roads leading to the market. They have been closed for nearly two years over security concerns following previous bombings at the market that killed dozens of people.
On Friday, two women suicide bombers went kaboom! in a market at Madagali, 150 kilometers (95 miles) southeast of Maiduguri, killing 57 people and wounding 177 including 120 children.
Two little girls approximately seven or eight years old blew themselves up in a northeastern Nigerian market on Sunday, killing themselves and wounding at least 17 others, witnesses said.
The girls "must have been seven or eight", a local militia member in Maiduguri told AFP.
Emergency services on-site in the town, the epicentre of the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency, said 17 people sustained "relatively serious" injuries..
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/12/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Boko Haram
Indian Border Security Force (BSF) yesterday shot dead a Bangladeshi cattle trader near the bordering area of Aditmari upazila in the district.
The incident took place around 5:00am inside Indian territory near border pillar 924/8 at Chawratari village in Durgapur union as the victim -- Asadul Islam, 32, son of Abul Hossain from the same village -- was entering into Bangladesh with Indian cattle, said sources at the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
The BSF took possession of the corpse and moved it away inside India. They did not return the corpse till yesterday afternoon.
The victim died on the spot when he and three other cattle traders from Bangladesh were chased and shot by a patrol team of 100 BSF Battalion from Singimari camp, said sources at the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
The three other traders accompanying the victim managed to flee unhurt and were able cross into Bangladesh along with all 20 cattle they had with them, the sources added.
Lt Col Ahmed Bazlur Rahman Hayati, commanding officer of 15 BGB Battalion in Lalmonirhat, said they sent a letter to BSF, formally protesting the killing and demanding the body of the Bangladeshi be returned.
In a reply message, the BSF said they would conduct an autopsy of the corpse and hand it over to the BGB during a bilateral flag meeting, he added.
Cologne Police Ignored New Year’s Eve Migrant Rape Emergency Calls
11 Dec 2016
A new book dealing with the migrant rape crisis in Cologne on New Year’s Eve reveals police were ignoring emergency calls from the public following attacks for hours longer than previously thought. Released in time for the first anniversary of
Berlin’s New Secretary of State is Pro-Sharia Law Conservative Muslim
11 Dec 2016
The daughter of Palestinian immigrants is to be the Berlin senate’s secretary of state for coordinating federal and state affairs, but attention has focused on her recent remarks in support of Sharia law.
Migrant Opened Fire on Police During Routine Check Before Shooting Self
11 Dec 2016
A migrant stopped for a routine check by police in Athens opened fire on officers, wounding one before apparently turning the gun on himself. The man was questioned by a motorcycle patrol, who asked to see his papers. Instead he
Albanian Migrant On The Run After Double-Stabbing Murder
11 Dec 2016
An Albanian migrant wielding a knife attacked two men of Polish extraction leading to one fatality and severe injuries to the other man in Vienna’s heavily migrant-populated district.
Migrant Terror Suspect Used Amazon Gift Cards To Purchase Bomb Components
11 Dec 2016
The captured asylum seeker terrorist who later killed himself in a German prison, Jaber al-Bakr, purchased components for his bomb using Amazon gift cards.
UK team to help Greeks send back migrants: Officials deployed to holiday islands after fewer than 750 were returned under £5bn deal with Turkey
09/12/16
A British immigration hit squad will be sent to the Greek islands to deport migrants after fewer than 750 were returned under a £5billion deal with Turkey.
'Many people would renounce their religion if they had the freedom we have here': Large numbers of migrants ditching Islam after arriving in Europe
08/12/16
A growing number of Muslim migrants are abandoning their religion after arriving in Europe, according to reports from Sweden.
THREE QUARTERS of 'child' asylum seekers made to undergo medical tests to prove their age are found to be adults in Denmark
07/12/16
The Danish Immigration Service suspected 800 migrants were lying about their age and asked the University of Copenhagen to run checks on them - and 600 turned out to be adults.
Continuing a trend that goes back for years: Sweden (up to 86%), UK (2/3rds), Austria (half)
Migrants who break the law in Germany MUST be deported... says Syrian REFUGEE: Teenager writes open letter following spate of sex attacks
07/12/16
Syrian Aros Bacho, 18, said there was no place in his adopted homeland, Germany, for lawbreaking asylum seekers.
MUZAFFARABAD: Indian forces today shelled Neelam Valley’s Mirpura village with mortar bombs.
According to sources, the mortar bombs landed 150 meters away from the residential area. No loss of life or property damage has been reported so far.
The attack took place a day after Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi held a meeting with US National Security Advisor Susan Rice in Washington and informed her that Indian forces have been continuously violating ceasefire at Line of Control and Working Boundary.
Relations between Pakistan and India have been strained for several months, while cross-frontier shelling has intensified in recent weeks leading to deaths of civilians and soldiers stationed along the disputed frontier.
Last month, at least nine civilians were killed, and nine injured, when an Indian artillery shell hit a passenger bus. The bus was heading towards Muzaffarabad from Kel when it came under attack.
On November 14, Seven Pakistani soldiers were killed by Indian shelling across the frontier in the Bhimber sector.
[Daily Caller] Former Marine, and researcher for Blaze Media, Jason Buttrill was reportedly recalled to the U.S. after tweeting a photo of himself Thursday allegedly firing a rifle at ISIS.
Buttrill’s tweet featured a photo of himself behind a rifle somewhere in Iraq. He followed up the photo with another tweet saying he managed to get six shots fired at ISIS. The Blaze network wrote a story about the incident, before releasing a statement announcing Buttrill’s recall.
"Jason Buttrill is a valued researcher for Mercury Radio Arts for a television show that airs on TheBlaze network. Given his military and security background, Mr. Buttrill was offered the opportunity for an important research assignment in Iraq. Due to his conduct, Mercury Radio Arts has recalled him back to the U.S. He has been suspended from further field research assignments," the statement declared.
Posted by: Besoeker ||
12/12/2016 15:26 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
Necessary and appropriate. Can't imagine it's legal for a civilian to shoot somebody, even in a war zone, unless in self-defense. Damages status of non-combatants in general. Potential legal liability for employer and sanctioning governments.
At least eight people have been killed and several others injured in two car bomb attacks at security checkpoints in Iraq’s western city of Fallujah in western Anbar province.
Iraq's Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network reported that the first attack was carried out by an assailant, who detonated his explosives-laden car at a security checkpoint in western Fallujah on Sunday evening.
The second attack was carried out shortly after the first when some explosive devices were detonated in a parked car in the central areas of Fallujah near another security checkpoint and a busy restaurant.
The report added that most of the victims were security officers.
Amaq news agency, which is affiliated to the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, said in a statement that both attacks were carried out by the terror group.
Fallujah fell to Daesh in January 2014 and suffered major population loss but it was fully liberated by Iraq's army in June this year.
Meanwhile, another car bomb attack killed one person and injured at least five others east of the capital Baghdad.
Al-Sumaria also reported that security forces had discovered three explosives labs belonging to Daesh in the cities of Hit and Kabisa, both in Hit district, west of Anbar’s provincial capital, Ramadi.
"These laboratories were found by the citizens of Hit and Kabisa, who informed the security forces. Army’s engineering teams defused the explosive materials in these laboratories," a local source told al-Sumaria.
Iraqi army soldiers and their allied forces launched joint operations on October 17 to liberate Mosul, which is the last bastion of Daesh in the Arab country.
Iraqi forces advance has been slowed down due to the presence of hundreds of thousands of civilians, many of whom are prevented from leaving Mosul by Daesh.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/12/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[Asharq Al-Awsat] Mosul – Seven thousand Iraqis left Mosul’s southern and eastern neighborhood in the last 48 hours, according to an Iraqi relief official.
Iyad Rafed, an Iraqi Red Crescent official, told Anadolu Agency that the Army troops and the Ministry of Immigration evacuated seven thousand civilians in the last 48 hours as the clashes between governmental forces and ISIS militants intensified.
He added that about six thousand civilians were transferred to al-Jadaa camp, while a thousand were moved to Hasan Sham and al-Khazer camps.
Rafed reported that this is the highest number of displacement since the Mosul offensive began in October.
In a related matter, an Iraqi civilian killed his mother and sister before committing suicide. According to a military official, the refugee is Yizidi from Bashiqa, who killed his mother, sister, and then himself using a Kalashnikov.
Last week, Minister of Immigration and Migrants Jasem Mohammed announced that since the Mosul liberation began, 90 thousand civilians had been displaced. While the UN expects a 1.5 million civilians to be displaced from Mosul.
Lt. Dureid Said told German News Agency that the Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) liberated neighborhoods of al-Murour and al-Qadisiya al-Oula. He added that they were able to kill 26 ISIS militants and explode two booby-trapped cars.
The Iraqi army said it took full control of two more districts of east Mosul on Saturday, pushing back ISIS militants in a slow and hard-fought advance into the city whose 1 million residents face growing shortages of fuel, water and food.
A military statement said CTS troops took over the neighborhoods of al-Murour and al-Qadisiya al-Oula, expanding their area of control in the east of the city.
Despite the reported advance, the army’s progress in Mosul remains slow, facing brutal counter attacks from the well prepared and heavily armed militants despite their few numbers.
In an attempt to change the dynamics of the campaign now entering its seventh week, an armored division troops punched their way deeper into the city on Tuesday in an attack on a hospital believed to be used as a military base by ISIS.
They were forced to withdraw from the complex after an attack from ISIS, who deployed at least six suicide car bombs, although residents said the army was able to hold some territory nearby.
Although ISIS has already been forced to retreat from Tikrit, Ramadi and Falluja, its militants still hold large parts of Sunni regions near the Syrian border, and an area of land southeast of Mosul.
But the slow progress in Mosul has raised fears among residents and aid groups that the city will forced to endure siege-like conditions for several months.
With winter setting in and the city effectively sealed off by the army and its allies from all directions, humanitarian problems are escalating.
United Nations agencies who distributed aid inside recaptured eastern areas for the first time on Thursday were almost overrun by residents suffering acute shortages of food, fuel and water, and often trapped for days at home by fighting.
Iraqi police had to fire in the air and threaten to whip crowds with a hose to maintain order.
An aid worker who has recently returned from the Mosul area told Reuters: “Certainly inside Mosul there is a big need for medical and humanitarian assistance.”
“What we have no idea of today is the state of medical structures in Mosul and the precise needs of the population,” he added.
Authorities have tried to ease shortages by sending dozens of water trucks a day to neighborhoods under army control.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/12/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
Turkish warplanes destroyed some 12 outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets in an air strike conducted late on Dec. 11 in northern Iraq, the Turkish Armed Forces has announced.
During a 50-minute air operation in the Zap region, some 12 PKK targets, including a command center and gun emplacements nearby, were destroyed with 24 shots, the military said.
The air strike comes just hours after the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), an offshoot linked to the PKK, claimed responsibility for the Dec. 10 twin bombings in Istanbul, which killed 38 people and wounded another 155.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/12/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
[Ynet] Following information concerning a suspect intending to carry out a stabbing attack in the Cave of Patriarchs in Hebron,
...Hamas Central in the West Bank...
Border Police forces managed to locate the suspect. A body search found no weapons. The suspect, a 22-year-old Paleostinian resident of Hebron was tossed in the clink Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! and taken for questioning by security officials.
The Philippine military lost three soldiers and 17 others were wounded after almost two hours of intense fighting against Abu Sayyaf militants in Patikul on the island province of Sulu. Military spokesman Filemon Tan said they are certain that the Abu Sayyaf also suffered casualties.
The 35th Infantry Battalion were engaged in a gun battle for an hour and 45 minutes against approximately 150 Abu Sayyaf rebels, led by one of its top leaders, Radullan Sahiron and sub-leaders Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, Yasser Igasan, and Mujer Yadah.
Tan said there were no civilian casualties in the clashes but residents in affected communities have been displaced.
Posted by: ryuge ||
12/12/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf
#1
Oh, my!
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/12/2016 7:57 Comments ||
Top||
[Mindanao Examiner] An Abu Sayyaf leader believed behind the kidnappings of 2 Canadians and a Norwegian man in the southern Philippines was among those killed by Malaysian authorities in a sea battle off Sabah's Semporna district. Military spokesman Filemon Tan have identified the dead militant leader as Abraham Hamid, who led about a dozen gunmen in the kidnappings on Samal Island in Davao del Norte province in September last year.
Hamid was killed on December 8 along with two others after they attacked several trawlers off Semporna. Two other Abu Sayyaf gunmen captured by Malaysian forces have been identified as Samsung Aljan and Awal Hajal.
Malaysian authorities rescued an abducted skipper of a trawler, but said two Abu Sayyaf militants escaped and brought with them a fishing boat captain they seized in Semporna. Tan said, "Per validation made by this Command, the shootout resulted in the killing of Abraham Hamid, leader of the Samal kidnapping incident and two of his cohorts. Two Abu Sayyaf members Samsung Aljan and Awal Hajal were also apprehended."
"The death of Hamid is a big blow to the Abu Sayyaf group. It will degrade their capability for spotting and kidnapping victims in the future," Tan added.
Malaysian media said the fighting injured a policeman. At least seven gunmen on speedboat entered Sabah from Tawi-Tawi and seized the two skippers. Unknown to the gunmen, a boat operated by General Operations Force Tiger Platoon was in the area and engaged the raiders in a sea battle.
Posted by: ryuge ||
12/12/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf
Of course it did. This is ISIS' favourite way to get supplies.
Russkaya Vesna is reporting that dozens of tanks and armored vehicles were captured by ISIS troops after Syrian forces abandoned the city of Palmyra, according to a website post.
Among the vehicles abandoned to ISIS are 30 T-55 tanks, six BMP infantry fighting vehicles, six D-30 towed artillery pieces, one BPM-97 scout car and one BM-21 multiple rocket launcher vehicles.
According to the report, Syrian troops are regrouping west of the city in preparation for a counterattack. An ISIS attack on a nearby Russian helicopter base was driven back by Syrian troops.
Russian airstrikes continue to hit targets in Palmyra.
Update from Fake News site southfront.org
ISIS has 4,000 troops in the area which are preparing the advance further west.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/12/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
The heavy equipment was abandoned post haste. My impression by what the Russians were not saying was that the city was taken from the march in a move so surprising to the Syrian garrison, there was little time to even jump on the old horse and flee west.
#2
capturing tanks didn't do ISIS much good after they captured a few dozen during the fall of Mosul in 2014
they could only use them a short time before the refueling and other problems began
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/12/2016 11:21 Comments ||
Top||
#3
they could only use them a short time before the refueling and other problems began
Even still - that is a combined arms BN (+) worth of gear. A good tank battalion w/arty n rocket support could cause a bunch of hate n discontent. Or they just make huge VBIEDs out of the T-55s.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
12/12/2016 22:29 Comments ||
Top||
More than 10,000 people flee areas held by militants in the Syrian city of Aleppo since midnight, a monitoring group said on Sunday.
“They fled towards government-held areas in west Aleppo and districts newly controlled by regime forces in the north and centre of the city,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
A resident in the city’s southeast told AFP that he saw large crowds of people fleeing during the night towards government-held districts in west Aleppo.
According to the London-based Observatory, fighting raged on several fronts between militants and regime forces in southeast Aleppo.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/12/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[ARA News] Raqqa – After launching the second phase of the Euphrates Wrath Operation against ISIS, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Sunday reported new gains in the fight for Raqqa–de facto capital of the Islamic State (ISIS).
The SDF seized control of several villages in western Raqqa in an area measuring approximately 8 square kilometers.
The Kurdish-Arab alliance of the SDF on Sunday captured six villages after clashes with ISIS militants.
“The liberated villages include Merwaniya, Krajah, Hamer Saghir, Hamer Kabir, Qerefdan and Draniya,” a spokesman for the SDF told ARA News at the battlefront of western Raqqa.
According to SDF’s leaders the second phase of the operation is aimed to liberate the western countryside of Raqqa and tighten the siege on the ISIS-held city. Additional to the previous SDF factions, some 1500 new Arab fighters have joined the campaign.
“The time has come to liberate Raqqa and its people from ISIS terrorism. We will enter Raqqa city with help from our Kurdish brothers and the Arab factions of the SDF,” Hussein al-Awak, chief of the SDF Relation’s Office, told ARA News.
Al-Awak confirmed to ARA News that the US-led coalition has provided them with some advanced weapons in support of the Raqqa campaign.
“We have received advanced weapons from the US-led coalition, beside preparing strategic operations against ISIS headquarters,” the SDF official said. “After completing the second phase of the Euphrates Wrath, we’ll move to the final stage of this operation to eliminate ISIS in Raqqa completely.”
During the first phase of Euphrates Wrath, SDF soldiers captured an area measuring approximately 560 km2, containing dozens of towns, villages and farms. Military sources told ARA News that more than 185 ISIS jihadists have been killed since November 6. The operation’s long-term objective is the isolation and elimination of the Islamic State in Raqqa.
According to local sources, the Arab tribes started forming a local council to run the city and its countryside following ISIS expulsion. Raqqa’s tribal leaders have also called on the people to support the Syrian Democratic Forces in the liberation campaign.
Sheikh Oubaid Khalil al-Khalaf, leader of the Abu al-Assaf Tribes, told ARA News: “As local Arab tribes we have a duty towards our brothers inside Raqqa. We have joined the Syrian Democratic Forces in this major operation. We will liberate the city from ISIS.”
“Raqqa will be run by its own people after the liberation from ISIS terrorism,” al-Khalaf said. “The work on establishing a local civilian council has started with the launch of this phase of the battle for Raqqa.”
The Syrian Democratic Forces on Saturday announced the begin of the second phase of Euphrates Wrath Operation to combat Islamic State’s (ISIS) militants in their de facto capital Raqqa.
Cihan Shekh Ehmed, spokesperson of the SDF-led Euphrates Wrath Operation, told a press conference: “The Syrian Democratic Forces decided to launch the second phase of the Euphrates Wrath Operation. This stage is aimed at liberating the western countryside of Raqqa from ISIS, beside completing the isolation of Raqqa City.”
“The operation will continue until all goals are accomplished,” she said.
“We also announce that the Euphrates Wrath Operation has been expanding with new factions joining the SDF ranks to eliminate ISIS in Raqqa,” Cihan said. “More than 1500 Arab fighters have joined the Syrian Democratic Forces in battle for Raqqa, and they’ve been equipped by the US-led coalition.”
“We want to stress that the coordination between the SDF and the Western Coalition has reached a high level,” she said, adding: “This coordination and cooperation will ensure a successful second phase of the Euphrates Wrath Operation.”
The Kurdish official also stressed that after expelling ISIS from Raqqa, the city will be run by a local civilian council. “Once liberated, the city of Raqqa will be run by its own people, by a civilian council established locally and representatives elected by the people of Raqqa,” she said.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/12/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[Hurriyet] Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants and Syria’s Russian-backed army fought over the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra on Dec. 11, with both sides claiming the upper hand. Russia said its jets had helped force the militants out of the city center overnight, and its allies in the Syrian army were now fighting off another assault by the hardline Islamists.
But a news agency linked to ISIL said it had only briefly retreated and was now back in control of Palmyra, an account backed by the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict, Reuters reported.
Palmyra, the site of a Roman-era city and spectacular ruins in the center of Syria, has become an emblematic battleground in a civil war now in its sixth year.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its jets had launched 64 strikes and killed more than 300 militants overnight, helping the Syrian army push the main force back.
The Syrian army acknowledged there was a large offensive by the militants from several fronts near a major grain silo 10 kilometers (6 miles) east of the city.
An ISIL recapture of Palmyra would be a major reversal for Syria’s government and its Russian backer which hailed the city’s capture in March, sent troops to protect it and even staged a concert there. The fight could also have implications for other battlegrounds in Syria.
The Syrian army said on Dec. 10 it had sent reinforcements to Palmyra to help defend it. Some of those were diverted from Aleppo, a rebel from the countryside outside that northern city said, a development that could ease pressure on rebels there.
Conflicting Narratives: ISIS captures Palmyra Russian language press claims Syrian troops are preparing a counterattack
[ARA News] Homs – Militant fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) on Sunday recaptured the Syrian ancient city of Palmyra after heavy clashes with army forces, activists and military sources reported.
The Syrian army forces were forced to withdraw form the ancient city under heavy bombardment by ISIS.
“The group continued shelling the army positions inside Palmyra with mortars and heavy artillery for hours, causing large losses in the army ranks,” local media activist Abas al-Omar told ARA News.
Syrian regime’s forces were obliged to evacuate their headquarters in Palmyra, heading towards the Doua District and the T4 Military Airport in the eastern countryside of Homs.
“The army withdrew after the clashes reached the city centre and it became impossible for them to push ISIS back,” al-Omar reported, citing a military source within the Syrian army.
Dozens of Syrian soldiers were killed during the clashes on Sunday. ISIS has also taken a number of soldiers as prisoners.
The fall of Palmyra in ISIS’ hands comes despite the Russian airstrikes in support of the Syrian regime’s forces.
In May 2015, ISIS took over Palmyra for the first time after fierce battles with Syrian regime army forces.
In March 2016, the pro-regime troops supported by Russian air force were able to impose full control over Palmyra downtown after ISIS extremists retreated towards the northern villages of Palmyra and its eastern outskirts. The group’s leadership has later ordered its militants to withdraw towards its main bastion of Raqqa, northeastern Syria.
In August 2015, satellite images confirmed the destruction of the Baal Shamin temple in Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra, according to the United Nations, which condemned ISIS claims of destroying the temple. The U.N. has slammed the destruction of the temple as a “war crime,” and the act has raised concerns for the rest of the UNESCO World Heritage site.
Also, ISIS published images last year, showing militants placing destroying ancient monuments in Palmyra arguing they were worshipped by people and must be smashed, according to ISIS ideology.
Syrian Army Losing Ground To ISIS in Homs
Subsequent to fierce clashes with Syrian Army forces, militant fighters of the Islamic State seized control of several areas in Syria’s central Homs Governorate on Saturday.
ISIS militants launched a major offensive on military bases of the Syrian regime’s armed forces in the vicinity of al-Mahr oilfield, in Homs’ eastern countryside.
The group shelled the army headquarters with mortar and artillery fire, forcing Syrian soldiers to evacuate main positions near al-Mahr.
“At least 19 pro-regime soldiers were killed in Saturday’s offensive,” media activist Amro al-Hussein told ARA News in Homs, citing a military source. “The army was forced to retreat from the Ertiwaziyah District and al-Burj Hill, east of Homs. ISIS is now in control of both locations.”
ISIS has repeatedly tried to storm the fortified hilltops which abut the al-Mahr oilfield, employing VBIEDs and suicide squads.
Islamic State militants also seized control of three military checkpoints in eastern Homs after clashes with Syrian army forces on Saturday evening.
ISIS has recently brought reinforcements to the eastern countryside of Homs in a bid to protect its positions and push into Homs City. However, the group’s movement has been considerably restricted in central Syria due to intensified Russian airstrikes, that often hit the ISIS’s tactical units and fighting positions in support of the Syrian regime’s forces.
[AlManar] The Syrian army has been engaged in fierce battle in Palmyra, repelling attacks by the ISIL Takfiri terrorists launching attacks on the famed ancient city, Syrian news agency, SANA, reported on Sunday.
Terrorists launched their previous attack on the city on Saturday. Their offensive was thwarted by the actions of the government forces supported by Russian warplanes.
Despite the defeat, the terrorists are again trying to attack the city from the northern, eastern and southern sides. Their perceived goal is to capture al-Amiriyah town northeast of Palmyra and a nearby industrial area, the agency said.
SANA meanwhile, noted that the Syrian Air Force has pounded the insurgents who “incurred significant losses”.
For its part, Russia’s center for Syrian reconciliation said that ISIL managed to move considerable forces from Raqqa to Palmyra after the US-backed offensive of Arab and Kurdish militants was stalled.
More forces and equipment were relocated from the vicinity of Deir ez-Zor. The Syrian Army backed by Russian aircraft is currently maintaining defense in the city. Terrorists launched their previous attack on the city on Saturday. Their offensive was thwarted by the actions of the government forces supported by Russian warplanes.
The Syrian Arab Army, backed by the Russian Aerospace Forces, liberated Palmyra in March, 2016, nearly a year after it was captured by ISIL. During the invasion, the militants destroyed a number of ancient objects, including necropolis, the Arch of Triumph, as well as the temples of Baal Shamin and Bel.
[AlManar] Russian war planes carried out over 60 strikes overnight on Syria’s Palmyra after ISIL Takfiri terrorists re-entered the famed ancient city, halting the offensive, Russia’s defense ministry said Sunday.
“Russian air force planes carried out 64 air strikes against the positions, convoys and advancing reserves of militants,” a defense ministry statement said.
“Over the past night, Syrian government troops with active support of the Russian air force thwarted all terrorist attacks on Palmyra,” it said.
“The attacking militants actively used car bombs with suicide bombers, armored vehicles and rocket artillery,” it said, adding that the strikes killed more than 300 militants and destroyed 11 tanks and 31 vehicles.
On Saturday the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human rights monitor said ISIL militants, who were forced out of Palmyra in March, took most of the city back under their control and surrounded the airport.
Russia has carried out a bombing campaign in Syria under the request of the Syrian government since September 2015.
The liberation of Palmyra was hailed as a major victory, with Russian celebrities travelling there since March staging concerts and making public appearances.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/12/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
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.
A powerful car bomb blast was heard at the gate of Mogadishu seaport on Sunday morning. According to the reports, the car bomb went off at a parking lot outside the seaport, killing several people, mostly civilians in nearby areas.
Six people died and a total of 1,164 people were rescued during operations to save stricken migrant boats in the Mediterranean on Sunday, Italy's coastguard said.
Turkish warplanes destroyed some 12 outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets in an air strike conducted late on Dec. 11 in northern Iraq, the Turkish Armed Forces has announced. 
[Mindanao Examiner] An Abu Sayyaf leader believed behind the kidnappings of 2 Canadians and a Norwegian man in the southern Philippines was among those killed by Malaysian authorities in a sea battle off Sabah's Semporna district. Military spokesman Filemon Tan have identified the dead militant leader as 
