[AnNahar] Afghan cops were killed at a "shockingly high" rate during what historically has been a winter lull in fighting against the Taliban ...Arabic for students... , a US watchdog said in a report Monday.
According to the US government's Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), 807 troops from the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces died between January 1 and February 24.
"Afghanistan remains in the grip of a deadly war. Casualties suffered by (ANDSF) in the fight against the Taliban and other murderous Moslems continue to be shockingly high," the report noted.
Levels of violence have traditionally dipped over Afghanistan's cold winter months, but this year the Taliban continued to battle government forces, most successfully in a horrific April 19 attack on a military base outside the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
The massacre saw murderous Moslems armed with guns and suicide bombs slaughter at least 144 recruits, a US official told AFP, though multiple sources have claimed the toll was higher still.
The Afghan Taliban launched their "spring offensive" Friday, heralding fresh fighting the group said would include "conventional attacks, guerrilla warfare, complex martyrdom attacks (and) insider attacks."
Afghan police and army units in 2015 took over from NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... the task of providing security for the country.
According to SIGAR, 6,785 Afghan soldiers and coppers were killed between January 1 and November 12, 2016, with another 11,777 maimed.
The Afghan government has not provided US Forces-Afghanistan with data for the last seven weeks of that year, but even the partial numbers showed an increase of about 35 percent from all of 2015, when some 5,000 security forces were killed.
The SIGAR report also found that both Afghan government and Death Eater groups slightly increased the amount of territory they held, as the number of areas previously considered "contested" dropped.
Afghan forces now control 59.7 percent of the country, up from 57.2 percent the previous quarter.
The Taliban and other Death Eater groups meanwhile saw their areas of control or influence increase slightly from about 10 percent to 11.1 percent.
The US Congress created SIGAR to provide oversight into how the more than $100 billion appropriated for Afghan reconstruction has been spent since 2002.
Part of its remit is to compile quarterly reports providing snapshots of the country's progress -- or lack thereof -- and highlight ongoing challenges to the security situation.
The SIGAR report also points to a UN tally showing that civilian casualties in 2016 were the highest since the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... Assistance Mission in Afghanistan began recording them in 2009.
That count found conflict-related civilian casualties in Afghanistan rose to 11,418 in 2016, including 3,498 killed and 7,920 maimed.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A prominent Afghan religious figure, former Jahid leader and ex-member of the Afghan parliament Abdul Rab Rasool Sayyaf ...Afghan Salafist warlord, owned by Saudi Arabia. He was the guy who invited al-Qaeda to come into Afghanistan and make themselves at home... once again slammed the Taliban ...Arabic for students... group for their so-called holy war ’Jihad’ and emphasized that it is only the Afghan forces who are waging a true Jihad against slaves and foreigners interfering in Afghanistan.
Speaking during a gathering organized on the eve of the Soviet forces defeat in Afghanistan, Sayyaf said the Afghan forces losing their lives in action are true deaders.
Questioning Taliban’s stance in the ongoing violence in the country under the shadow of Jihad, Sayyaf said Taliban are only killing innocent civilians, women, and children.
Sayyaf further added that the murder of the women and kiddies has been banned by Prophet and therefore their insurgency has no legitimacy.
The former Jihadi leader also slammed the Muftis endorsing Taliban’s insurgency and suicide kabooms, saying the Muftis should first carry out suicide attacks if such attacks are legitimate in Islam.
Sayyaf is one of the most influential jihadi leaders and has been harshly criticizing the Taliban group for their insurgency activities.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. has signed a decree for the release of the first batch of Hezb-e-Islam prisoners. If Hek remains true to form, he'll find some grounds to break his agreement.
The first batch of the prisoners to be released from the jails will include over 70 inmates.
The officials in ARG Palace said last month that the release of Hezb-e-Islami prisoners will kick off as the per the peace agreement and with the return of the party’s leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ... who used to be known in intelligence circles as The Most Evil Man in the World but who now seems merely run-of-the-mill evil... President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani also chaired the National Security Council meeting late in February and instructed the relevant authorities to take immediate steps in implementation of the peace deal with Hezb-e-Islami.
The peace agreement between Hezb-e-Islami and the Afghan government was signed in September last year, months after negotiations between the Afghan High Peace Council and the Hezb-e-Islami delegation.
The release of the prisoners of Hezb-e-Islami from the jails was one of the main conditions of the peace agreement between the two sides.
The conclusion of peace agreement resulted into the exclusion of Hekmatyar’s name from the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... Security Council sanctions list and his return to Afghanistan.
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05/02/2017 00:00 ||
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[Libya Herald] Field Marshal Khalifa Hafter flew from Benghazi’s Benina Airport today to Abu Dhabi amid speculation that he will meet with Presidency Council head Faiez Serraj there.
According to a statement from the Libyan National Army General Command media office, the visit is at the invitation of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy commander of the UAE armed forces. However, ars longa, vita brevis... there have been constant rumours over the past three or four days of an encounter between him and Serraj having been organised by the Emiratis.
Hafter is said to be under heavy pressure by the Emiratis as well as by the Egyptians, Russians and the Americans to meet the PC head who, it is said, will arrive in the UAE in the next couple of days.
In February, Hafter refused to meet him in Cairo despite major efforts by the Egyptian government to broker an encounter. Serraj later claimed that Hafter had baulked at meeting him on the grounds that House of Representatives (HoR) President Ageela Saleh, who was also in the Egyptian capital at the time, should also have taken part but had refused to do so.
Hafter’s refusal resulted in a distinct cooling of relations between him and Cairo, and they are not yet seen as being fully mended.
Hafter was last in Abu Dhabi three weeks ago, again at the invitation of Sheikh Mohammed, during which time he is reported to have met secretly with a senior US military official.
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05/02/2017 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] The Arabic-language news network releases an investigative documentary on the liquidation of Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,' chief drone engineer who was bumped off in Tunisia by unknown parties.
Al Jazeera has broadcast a new documentary Sunday detailing new revelations about the liquidation of Hamas' drone engineer, Mohammad al-Zawahri, last December in Tunisia.
The documentary featured interviews with officials from the drone unit of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, where al-Zawahri had been a key member since his recruitment to the organization in 2006.
Continued on Page 49
[DailyMail] ISIS defector Stefan Aristidou, originally of Enfield, north London, revealed there are between 250-to-300 British jihadis within the terror organisation, with many in 'higher roles'.
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#1
Never let them back in.
Hunt down their cohort in UK and never let them back in.
[Dhaka Tribune] Violence erupted between protesters and police near Place de la Bastille in the French capital during a march for the annual May Day workers' rally led by three unions, six days before the presidential election run-off.
Three officers were hurt in festivities between riot police and masked youths during a May 1 march in Gay Paree on Monday that carried extra significance six days before the presidential election run-off.
"Masked individuals threw objects and Molotov cocktails at police" who responded by firing teargas, authorities said.
The violence erupted near Place de la Bastille in the French capital as the march led by three unions including La Belle France’s biggest, the CGT, headed for another square nearby.
At one point, a blazing shopping trolley packed with flammable material was pushed towards police lines, an AFP photographer saw.
The rivals for the presidency, centrist frontrunner Emmanuel Macron and far-right rival Marine Le Pen, faced shows of opposition to their programmes during the fractious May 1 workers’ marches.
The election runoff takes place next Sunday.
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#1
who responded by firing teargas,
Grapeshot works better start with double aught and work up as necessary.
[ALMASDARNEWS] Turkish President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... on Sunday said that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... could again bomb positions of the Syrian Kurdish forces of People’s Protection Units (YPG) any time it wanted, ARA News reported on Monday.
"We can come unexpectedly in the night... We are not going to tip off the terror groups and the Turkish Armed Forces could come at any moment," Erdogan said.
"Better they [YPG] live in fear than we have worries," the Turkish President said.
On April 25 at 02:00 hours, the YPG General Command’s headquarters based in Syria’s northeastern Hasakah province was bombed by warplanes belonging to the Turkish government. The YPG Press Center, the command affiliated institutions, the Radio building and other points belonging to the Syrian Kurds were targeted as well.
"In this attack by the Turkish army, 20 of our comrades were killed and 18 of our comrades were maimed," the YPG front man said.
As a response to these actions by Turkish Armed Forces, the U.S. and Russia deployed their military units to the YPG-controlled areas near the Turkish border in order to prevent further attacks.
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05/02/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
As a response to these actions by Turkish Armed Forces, the U.S. and Russia deployed their military units to the YPG-controlled areas near the Turkish border in order to prevent further attacks.
[ALMASDARNEWS] Pakistain has extended by three months the house arrest of Hafiz Saeed ...founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its false-mustache offshoot Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The United Nations declared the JuD a terrorist organization in 2008 and Hafiz Saeed a terrorist as its leader. Hafiz, JuD and LeT are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Pak intel apparatus, so that amounted to squat... , accused by the United States of criminal masterminding the 2008 attacks on the Indian financial capital Mumbai that killed 166 people, a Pak official said on Monday.
Saeed was sent to his room in January after years of living free in Pakistain, a sore point in the relationship between the United States and Pakistain. His freedom had also infuriated Islamabad’s arch-foe India.
The U.S. had offered $10 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Saeed, who heads the Moslem charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa ...the front organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba... (JuD). Washington says JuD is a front for the Pakistain-based myrmidon group Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... (LeT).
Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan, a front man for the provincial Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... government, said the regional administration decided on Sunday to extent the restrictions on Saeed, but did not specify the reasons why.
"Hafiz Saeed’s house arrest, which ended Sunday night, has been extended for another three months," Khan said.
Saeed could not be reached for comment.
The Mumbai attacks in 2008, when 10 gunnies swarmed across targets including two luxury hotels, a Jewish center and a train station in a rampage that lasted several days, brought Pakistain and India to the brink of war.
India accused Pakistain of sponsoring the attacks through LeT, which Saeed founded in the 1990s. Pakistain has denied any state involvement and Saeed ‐ who has distanced himself from LeT ‐ has said repeatedly he was not responsible.
Previous Pak announcements of action against anti-India myrmidon groups have rarely led to serious punishments for them.
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#1
"And NO henna. For at least a week"
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[Iraq News] An official from the paramilitary troops of al-Hashd al-Shaabi has revealed Prime Minister and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces Haidar al-Abadi’s refusal of the troops participation in liberating Tal Afar town, 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.... ’s major stronghold near the borders with Syria.
In remarks, Jawad al-Tulaibawi, from the Public Mobilization Units (PMUs) said the forces will head toward al-Baaj, after liberating Hatra region, in addition to securing the Iraqi-Syrian borders in order to prevent any supply to IS in Iraq.
He added that Abadi’s orders including liberating Hatra then Baaj and securing the borders, refusing the troops participation in storming of Tal Afar.
Nahla al-Hababi, MP representing the Shiite alliance, said in statements on Saturday that "the Turkish President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... delivered a message to Abadi that the Iraqi troops advance toward Tal Afar would mean a similar advance by Turkish troops toward the town too."
In an TV interview aired in April, Erdogan criticized the PMUs and described them as terrorist entity.
"Who are al-Hashd al-Shaabi? Who is backing them? The Iraqi parliament supports al-Hashd al-Shaabi, but, honestly, they are a terrorist organization, and should be known who stands behind it," he said during the interview.
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I'm not sure who this highly touted bit of flimflam is intended to convince.
[IsraelTimes] Policy document, rejected by Israel as a bid to ’fool the world,’ calls for the ’complete liberation of Paleostine, from the river to the sea’.
In a bid to improve its flagging international standing, the Paleostinian terror group Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", unveiled Monday a new policy document that presents softened language on Israel while still implicitly calling for its destruction.
The document accepts the idea of a Paleostinian state in territories occupied by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967 but dismisses the establishment of the State of Israel as "illegal," asserting a Paleostinian claim to the entire land of Israel, and a right of return for all descendants of refugees.
Continued on Page 49
[AnNahar] The number of bully boyz spread out in some of Leb's outskirts have remarkably dwindled due to the army's measures, which makes any military operation to entirely liberate the outskirts much easier than before, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Monday.
Security and intelligence reports said the number of bad boy groups has decreased significantly because of the Lebanese army's siege, in addition to members who get killed as the result of army shelling. Reports have shown that no more than 500 bad boy fighters still exist on the outskirts which makes a military action against them much easier than before, said the daily.
A senior military source told the newspaper: "The army is studying its plans well and is ready for any confrontation, including the liberation of the outskirts. The political decision is available, but accurate calculations are made for any battle.
"The US permanent military aid for the army and the arrival of planes to the Riyaq airport give several indications. The Americans are ready to help us in any war to clean up 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 and al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... Front."
The source stressed that "Leb is part of the international coalition against the IS. The international community is helping us fight terrorism and it will backs us in any future battle."
The sources affirmed that the Lebanese army is fighting alone on Leb's soil and is ready to make more sacrifices to liberate any area on its land.
Militants from the IS and al-Nusra Front, which rebranded itself as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham ...formerly al-Nusra, the current false nose and mustache of al-Qaeda in the Levant... when it split from the al-Qaeda movement, are entrenched in rugged areas along the undemarcated Lebanese-Syrian border and the army regularly shells their posts while Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... and the Syrian army have engaged in festivities with them on the Syrian side of the border.
The two groups briefly overran the town of Arsal in August 2014 before being ousted by the army after days of deadly battles.
The retreating bully boyz kidnapped more than 30 troops and coppers of whom four have been executed and nine remain in the captivity of the IS group.
Lebanese Army = Hezbollah = Iran. Well, I guess when we (Israel) have enough and exterminate Hezbollah, Americans will complain that we're disrupting their plans to fight ISIS.
[ALMASDARNEWS] Russia proposed the creation of four zones in Syria as part of a wider plan to de-escalate the tension in the war-torn country.
The proposed zones will have safety lines along them and monitoring centers in order to avoid direct fire among the warring parties, as well as granting safe access to unarmed civilians and aid convoys.
The Russian proposal also involves the possibility of the three guarantor states (Russia, Iran and Turley) to form a working group and send troops in order to enhance the application of the proposal.
But not the U.S., etc? An interesting proposal.
The three states have brokered a ceasefire in the northern city of Aleppo last year which led to conclude a deal whereby rebels surrendered their districts to the Syrian Army and left to Idlib.
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05/02/2017 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Afghan Salafist warlord, owned by Saudi Arabia. He was the guy who invited al-Qaeda to come into Afghanistan and make themselves at home...
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
[Libya Herald] Field Marshal Khalifa Hafter flew from Benghazi’s Benina Airport today to Abu Dhabi amid speculation that he will meet with Presidency Council head Faiez Serraj there.
[Ynet] The Arabic-language news network releases an investigative documentary on the 
[Dhaka Tribune] Violence erupted between protesters and police near Place de la Bastille in the French capital during a march for the annual May Day workers' rally led by three unions, six days before the presidential election run-off.
[ALMASDARNEWS] Turkish President 
