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Today: 58 articles and 136 comments as of 12:10.
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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Taliban kill 30 Afghan soldiers and take base in first major attack since ceasefire
Today's Headlines
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Page 6: Politix
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Former NYPD Commish Kerik Encourages Trump to Hold Mexico 'Accountable' on Immigration
[PJ] Responding on Twitter to a post written Monday by PJ Media Washington Editor Bridget Johnson, former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik had this to say:
Bernard B. Kerik

@BernardKerik
.@POTUS @realDonaldTrump - #Mexico should be held accountable in the strongest of terms because if they wanted this surge of illegal immigration to stop, they would have stopped it. Mexico is endangering their own country's children, and our @ICEgov @DHSgov enforcement personnel.

Johnson's post quoted Attorney General Jeff Sessions' remark during a speech when he said there was "an important conversation occurring in this country about whether we want to be a country of laws or whether we want to be a country without borders."

Kerik brings up something that has long been a sore spot for border state dwellers no matter who is in the White House at the time: no one in the immigration "debate" ever brings up Mexico's culpability in the problem.

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox is now a fierce, loudmouthed critic of President Trump when it comes to people crossing illegally from his country into the United States. When he was in office and asked about Mexico doing its part to stem the flow of illegal immigration, Fox weakly replied, "What can Mexico do to prevent undocumented workers from entering the United States?"

There has been almost no pressure on any Mexican president by any American president of either party to get involved in what almost all would agree is an untenable border situation. Maybe Mexico can't stop the problem completely, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be participating in the solution, as well as being held accountable for being part of the problem.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/20/2018 03:41 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Start pulling people out of the US EMBASSY Mexico City, and reducing their (Mexican Embassy) staffing in D.C. Start with the ECON sections. They'll soon get the message.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/20/2018 3:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Say a 72 hour closing of the border, to include flights between the two countries (didn't we shut flights on 9/11?). Just as a message.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/20/2018 7:04 Comments || Top||

#3  The only thing one can conclude is the Congress of the United States does NOT WANT to do anything about illegal immigration, the financial drain on the taxpayer, MS-13 outlaws, and related criminal activity.

What am I missing ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/20/2018 7:08 Comments || Top||

#4  #1 and #3, You are not missing anything. There is a great need to fix things at the border and on this side of the border while at the same time pressuring Mexico.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/20/2018 8:30 Comments || Top||

#5  Personnaly, I'm getting fed up with this football getting down and all around the field while nothing ever gets done to solve the problem. The immigration problem got created in Washington not out here.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/20/2018 8:35 Comments || Top||

#6  Her blood and the blood of many others is on the hands of these onerous Washington bureaucrats. I will never forget that.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/20/2018 8:42 Comments || Top||

#7  Soon to be seen at a border near you:

Bomb thrown at border police at Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/20/2018 9:44 Comments || Top||

#8  Fox weakly replied, "What can Mexico do to prevent undocumented workers from entering the United States?"

My understanding is a goodly portion of the 'immigrant's are not Mexican but from Central American countries like Guatemala. This means they have illegally crossed the southern border of Mexico and traveled across Mexico in order to show up at the margins of the United States.

Since smuggling people is a profitable enterprise, it will continue until the Mexican government feels enough pain to take an interest in stopping it. Trump might be just the man to do it.
Posted by: SteveS || 06/20/2018 10:53 Comments || Top||

#9  The border line from Tapachula to Chetumal is a lot shorter than San Diego to Brownsville. Maybe he CAN talk Mex into building a wall.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/20/2018 11:35 Comments || Top||

#10  Start pulling people out of the US EMBASSY Mexico City, and reducing their (Mexican Embassy) staffing in D.C. Start with the ECON sections. They'll soon get the message.

Say a 72 hour closing of the border, to include flights between the two countries (didn't we shut flights on 9/11?). Just as a message.

Well, it is a war and it's about damn time people on both sides of the border got wise to the fact. The fact that Mexico sends women and children to fight this war is a demonstration of how chickenshit they are.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 06/20/2018 12:28 Comments || Top||

#11  Anything attempting to cross the border should be brought under fire and destroyed. Close the open border crossings. Tell Mexico to fix themselves or the next step will be a air/naval interdiction of ANYTHING trying to enter or leave Mexico.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 06/20/2018 16:35 Comments || Top||

#12  Let their viceroy be Dostum.
They deserve him.

Posted by: 3dc || 06/20/2018 16:39 Comments || Top||

#13  If all the emotionally scarred, separated children are being held in US internment camps, who will be left to sell Chicklets to drunken tourists in Tijuana at 3 AM?
Posted by: Capsu78 || 06/20/2018 18:19 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
L.A. sheriff's detectives seize more than 500 firearms from felon's home
[LA Times] A search of a felon’s home in Agua Dulce led Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators to a stash of more than 500 firearms, marking one of the largest seizures from a person forbidden by law from possessing guns.

Investigators raided the home of Manuel Fernandez after getting a tip that he had an arsenal of firearms. After entering the property early Thursday, they found a staggering number of weapons, including rifles, shotguns and handguns, some decades old.

Fernandez, 60, was arrested after the raid, during which investigators found 432 guns. A search the next day uncovered 91 firearms concealed in the house. Investigators also seized electronics used to purchase the weapons.

The investigation led detectives to a woman linked to the firearms purchases. While she was not home, detectives recovered 30 guns from her home, officials said.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fellow met bail.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/20/2018 1:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Think of all the background check paperwork he had to fill out. Whew! Makes my fingers hurt just thinking about it.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 06/20/2018 6:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Wow, actually enforcing legitimate existing gun control laws.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/20/2018 7:01 Comments || Top||

#4  The Sheriff’s Department and the California Department of Justice found so many guns that they asked the Bureau Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives for assistance.

I hope important people at the ATF remembered to give Eric Holder a courtesy call, just on the off chance....
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/20/2018 8:17 Comments || Top||

#5  ...I'm sorry, but this is a fake news story - there is simply no way this man broke all the laws that were in place to prevent this. We have been told repeatedly that more laws = more safety. This event, therefore, is unpossible.

(sarc/OFF)

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 06/20/2018 8:30 Comments || Top||

#6  Perhaps he's not a bad guy, so it's ok?
Posted by: gorb || 06/20/2018 9:04 Comments || Top||

#7  What's more important, did he have any high capacity magazines?! Or (gasp) Bump Stocks?!
Posted by: ed in texas || 06/20/2018 9:54 Comments || Top||

#8  Maybe he’s an illegal immigrant so the rules don’t really apply since he’s fleeing oppression or poverty or just a shitty place ?
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 06/20/2018 11:26 Comments || Top||

#9  Maybe its one of those "quaint other culture customs"...? So we should ignore it because -- Multiculturalism.
Strange how selective the outrage is... isn't it?
Posted by: magpie || 06/20/2018 11:51 Comments || Top||

#10  Strange how selective the outrage is... isn't it?

Seize the children, leave the guns!
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/20/2018 14:08 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Taliban kill 30 Afghan soldiers and take base in first major attack since ceasefire
KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban militants killed 30 Afghan soldiers and captured a military base in the western province of Badghis on Wednesday, the provincial governor said, their first major attack since a ceasefire for the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

The three-day Taliban ceasefire ended on Sunday.

Provincial governor Abdul Qafoor Malikzai said the Taliban attacked two security posts in the early hours. Abdul Aziz Bek, head of the Badghis provincial council, said one military base was targeted, in the district of Balamerghab.

"Large numbers of Taliban came from several directions," Bek said. "After hours of heavy fighting 30 Afghan security forces were killed and the Taliban captured the base."

Fifteen Taliban were killed in other areas of the province overnight, he said, adding that the militants prepared their attacks and did reconnaissance of the area during their ceasefire.

The Taliban did not immediately comment on the attacks.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/20/2018 03:39 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Afghan forces and Taliban suffer casualties in Kunduz clashes
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Afghan cops and the Talibs suffered casualties during the festivities in northern Kunduz province of Afghanistan.

The provincial government media office in a statement said the festivities erupted after a group of armed Lions of Islam launched a coordinated attack on security posts in Dasht Archi district.

The statement further added the bully boyz attacked the security posts belonging to Afghan National Army and the Afghan Local Police forces in Bazaar area late on Monday night.

According to the provincial government, at least seven Talibs were killed and at least five others were maimed during the festivities.

At least two Afghan army soldiers and two Afghan Local Police personnel also bit the dust during the festivities, the statement said, adding that two army soldiers and two coppers also sustained injuries.

Posted by: Fred || 06/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Afghan forces eliminate ISIS hideouts used as launch pads during Eid attacks
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Special Forces of the Afghan Intelligence, National Directorat of Security (NDS), have eliminated the hideouts of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
of Iraq and Syria Khurasan (ISIS-K) whic were used as launch pads during the deadly attacks during Eid al-Fitr in Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
province.

The provincial government media office in a statement said the NDS Special Forces carried out raids on ISIS hideouts in Ganji area of Haska Mina district late on Monday night.

The statement further added that two hideouts of the terror group were eliminated and at least seven ISIS turbans were killed during the operation.

According to the provincial government, the NDS Special Forces also destroyed some heavy and light weapons belonging to the terror group during the same operation.

In the meantime, a clash broke out between the border police forces and the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
gunnies in Kaligho area of Khogyani district on Monday night.

At least five Taliban gunnies were killed and three others were maimed during the same operation, the statement said, adding that two border police forces also bit the dust during the festivities and two others sustained injuries.

The anti-government armed murderous Moslem and terrorist groups including Taliban and ISIS turbans have not commented regarding the report so far.

Posted by: Fred || 06/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Africa North
Mali says troops implicated in killings after mass graves found
[Al Jazeera] Mali's defence minister has admitted soldiers were involved in killings in the country's troubled central region which has been plagued by violence between security forces and fighters.

The comments by Tiena Coulibaly on Tuesday came after local media reports said that 25 bodies had been found in three mass graves after a military crackdown on suspected fighters and allied ethnic militia.

The discovery of the graves added to accusations of summary executions by government troops.

"The inspection mission sent to the area confirms the existence of mass graves implicating some armed forces personnel in serious violations causing the deaths of men in Nantaka and Kobaka [Mopti region]," Tiena Coulibaly, the minister, said on Tuesday.

Coulibaly instructed military prosecutors to open an inquiry.

He said the authorities were "firmly resolved to fight impunity and get soldiers to strictly observe international rights and humanitarian conventions", a statement said.

Posted by: Fred || 06/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Mali/Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen


Africa Subsaharan
Mozambique: Armed Groups Burn Villages
[All Africa] Attacks by gangs in Mozambique’s northern province of Cabo Delgado have killed at least 39 people and displaced more than 1,000 since May 2018. Hundreds of families fled their villages after suspected members of an armed Islamist group burned down their houses during nighttime attacks.

The group implicated in the attacks is known locally as both al-Sunna wa Jama’a and al-Shabaab
... an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia...
, though it has no publicly known connection with the Somali group of the same name. Local activists told Human Rights Watch that more than 400 homes have been burned down in the past two weeks, displacing people in three districts. Mozambican authorities should investigate and provide assistance to those in need.

"Armed groups should immediately cease attacking villages and executing people," said Dewa Mavhinga, Southern Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Mozambican authorities should assist those displaced and establish conditions that will allow them to return home voluntarily, in safety and with dignity."

Human Rights Watch researchers visited the village of Naunde, in Mucojo town, Macomia district after an attack on June 5, and saw 164 houses, five cars, and scores of cattle burned. The residents said the attackers had burned a local mosque, including copies of the Koran and prayer mats, and beheaded a local Islamic leader inside the mosque. Human Rights Watch witnessed dozens of families carrying their belongings and fleeing the village.

Human Rights Watch also spoke by phone with residents of villages that were attacked on June 6 and June 12, the most recent attack. Various sources in Macomia and Quissanga districts confirmed that hundreds of people were still fleeing their villages for fear of more attacks.

One villager in Naunde said that the attackers caught a community leader: "When he realized they were looking for him, he tried to run away but one of the men chased him, grabbed him by the arm, held the machete, and cut his head off... there in front of everybody."

The wave of violence in Cabo Delgado province began in October 2017, when suspected armed Islamists attacked a string of cop shoppes in the Mocimboa da Praia district, causing two days of lockdown in the area and a massive military response that led to the evacuation of villages. Following the attack, authorities closed seven mosques and detained more than 300 people without charge, including religious leaders and foreigners suspected of having links to the armed attacks in Palma and Mocimboa da Praia districts, which are about 95 kilometers apart. But attacks on villages continued sporadically.

Army soldiers deployed to the town of Mucojo following the attack on the nearby village of Naunde told Human Rights Watch that since April, they had apprehended and handed over to the police more than 200 men suspected of having links to the armed Islamist group implicated in the attacks. The soldiers said some of those detained were local young men who were found in makeshift camps in the bush with machetes and Islamic teaching books. The men would not reveal their intentions or the names of their leaders, the soldiers said.

"They don’t talk," one soldier said. "Whatever they are drinking in these camps seems to make them forget everything. Even if we threaten to kill them, they don’t talk."

A soldier who appeared to command a small unit said that they had been advised by a local state prosecutor to detain suspects and hand them over to authorities with evidence of their crime. However,
ars longa, vita brevis...
he expressed reluctance to accept this directive. "Let the judges come to the bush and catch them," he said. "We will not waste our time. If we find them in the bush, we will kill them there."

Posted by: Fred || 06/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)


Arabia
Yemeni army retakes Hodeidah Airport after battle against Houthi militia
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Yemen's army on Tuesday regained control of Hodeidah Airport after a major battle supported by an Arab Coalition against Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ...
militias in the main port city.

"With the participation and support of the Emirati armed forces, the joint Yemeni resistance (army) entered Hodeida airport," the UAE state news agency WAM tweeted on Tuesday.

It was earlier reported that the Arab coalition entered the main compound of the airport, Yemeni military sources in the alliance and a resident told Rooters news agency.

"They have stormed the airport," said one Yemeni military source. A resident said the forces stormed the airport after fierce battles broke out early in the morning between coalition forces and Iran-aligned Houthi fighters.

False propaganda
Spokesman for the Arab Coalition, Col. Turki al-Malki, said on Monday that the Houthi militias are trying to cover their losses through false propaganda, especially in connection with the battle to liberate Hodeidah city, stressing that the militias received heavy blows on the fronts of Saada and Hodeidah.

During a presser on Monday that the UN envoy to Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
Martin Griffiths has been trying to persuade the Houthis to hand over the port of Hodeidah but that the Death Eaters have ignored the request.

The front man stressed that the "the liberation of the city of Hodeidah and its harbor is an inherent right of the Yemeni government based on international laws and in accordance with resolution 2216," adding that the liberation of Hodeidah will lead to the "cutting off Iranian hands", which will stop the smuggling of Iranian weapons to the Houthis.

Malki revealed that the Yemeni armed forces were "on the verge of regaining full control over Hodeidah airport.

The coalition also confirmed that humanitarian aid continues to enter Hodeidah and all areas despite the hostilities while adding that they continues to give maritime, land and air permits for aid to enter Yemen.
Posted by: Fred || 06/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Houthis continue to loot merchant goods in Hodeidah Port
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A Yemeni import and export company has accused the Houthis of looting its merchandise and containers at the Hodeidah Port, west of Yemen.

Ammar al-Adrahi, head of the Andalusia Import and Export Company, said on Monday that a Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ...
supervisor in Hodeidah named Abu Ali looted the company’s remaining containers in the Hodeidah Port, adding that this is the second time this has happened.

Adrahi held the management of the ports and customs that is affiliated with the Houthis responsible for what happened and said he will pursue the matter at court.

"We will not let our rights and the rights of hundreds of people go with the wind," he said.

Houthi militias have looted the merchandise of Yemeni traders as the battle to liberate Hodeidah began, and they continue to loot public and private property as the army and resistance forces, aided by the coalition, complete liberating the Hodeidah Airport and controlling the city and its strategic port.

Houthis have exploited the Hodeidah Port to loot merchants and relief supplies, to smuggle weapons and threaten international navigation.

According to Yemeni politicians, liberating the port "will be a fatal blow to the coup and to Iran’s project in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
and the region."

Posted by: Fred || 06/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Saudi Arabia intercepts Houthi ballistic missile fired toward Khamis Mushait
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Saudi Arabia confirmed on Tuesday that a ballistic missile fired by the Houthi militias from within Yemeni territories toward Khamis Mushait.
Posted by: Fred || 06/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Great White North
Somali Kidnapper Gets 15-Year Sentence
[RADIOSHABELLE] A Somali man has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for his role in the kidnapping of a Canadian journalist in Somalia, according to Canadian media.

Ali Omar Ader, 40, was found guilty in December on a charge of hostage-taking charge for his involvement as a negotiator in the kidnapping.

Ader was incarcerated
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
in Ottawa in 2015 by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Amanda Lindhout and Australian photojournalist Nigel Brennan were taken hostage near Mogadishu in 2008.

The sentence was handed down on Monday in an Ontario Superior Court.

During his trial, prosecutors claimed that Ader was the primary negotiator for the forces of Evil who captured the pair.

Ader repeatedly pressed Ms Lindhout and Mr Brennan’s families for ransom money, the court heard.

Lindhout and Mr Brennan were taken hostage at gunpoint while working on a story about displaced persons camps near the Somali capital.

They were held captive by an unidentified myrmidon group for 460 days before being released in November 2009.

They have described having been brutally assaulted, tortured, and nearly starved during their captivity.

Almost seven years after the pair’s release, RCMP Sherlocks managed to lure Ader to Canada under the pretence of signing a publishing contract for a book on Somalia’s history.

It was the culmination of a lengthy international undercover operation.

As Mr Brennan is not a Canadian citizen, Ader did not face any charges in Canada related to his kidnapping.

But the photographer did give his victim impact statement in court ‐ later posted online ‐ where he asked the judge to show Ader clemency.

"I believe that forgiveness is the one thing that will keep humanity moving forward," he said.

Posted by: Fred || 06/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "I believe that forgiveness is the one thing that will keep humanity moving forward," he said.

That, and killing the bad guys.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/20/2018 9:46 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Ex-CIA engineer charged with massive leak to WikiLeaks
[POLITICO] A former CIA computer engineer has been indicted on charges he criminal masterminded what appears to be the largest leak of classified information in the spy agency’s history.

Joshua Schulte, 29, was charged in a new grand jury indictment with providing WikiLeaks with a massive trove of U.S. government hacking tools that the online publisher posted in March 2017, the Justice Department announced on Monday.

Schulte was previously facing child pornography charges in federal court in New York, but the indictment broadens the case to accuse him of illegally gathering classified information, damaging CIA computers, lying to Sherlocks and numerous other offenses.

In January, attorneys involved in the child porn case revealed in court that Schulte was the target of a major investigation into WikiLeaks’ release of a CIA collection known as "Vault 7."

The Justice Department’s news release announcing Schulte’s indictment does not mention WikiLeaks by name, signaling that it has not been charged in the case. There was no mention of any other individuals being charged.

Attorneys for Schulte declined to comment.

The new charges make Schulte the fourth individual to face charges related to classified leaks since President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
took office and vowed a crackdown on leaks.

Posted by: Fred || 06/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Someone should leave a bungee cord in his cell.
Posted by: gorb || 06/20/2018 1:17 Comments || Top||

#2  I wonder if these leakers are viewed by the public as saints or sinners (in this case the child pron part notwithstanding). Are they viewed as whistleblowers on a mission to correct a wrong or traitors?
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/20/2018 8:23 Comments || Top||

#3  One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. I heard that somewhere...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 06/20/2018 8:52 Comments || Top||

#4  Terrorists and revolutionaries are inversely "romantic" to the distance they are from the observer. More succinctly: they are heroic if they blow up other people and don't rain on My parade.
Posted by: magpie || 06/20/2018 9:08 Comments || Top||

#5  Mr. Clown, meet the Clowns in Action....
Posted by: DooDahMan || 06/20/2018 17:36 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Islamic State kidnap 3 Iraqi civilians in western Anbar
Rutba (IraqiNews.com) 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....
bully boyz have kidnapped three Iraqi civilians west of Anbar province, a security source was quoted saying on Tuesday.

Dijlah TV quoted the source saying that armed Islamic State members kidnapped three building materials business owners while touring their plants west of the city of Rutba.

According to the source, security forces launched a search for the abductees.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraq foils scheme to form terrorist cell in Baghdad, arrests all its members
Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) ‐ Iraqi authorities thwarted on Tuesday a plot to form a terrorist cell in the capital Baghdad and jugged
Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw!
all its members.

"Federal police forces foiled today a scheme to form a terrorist cell to carry out terrorist attacks in Baghdad," the Iraqi Security Media Council said in a statement.

"Acting upon accurate intelligence reports, all members of the terrorist cell were arrested in different parts in Baghdad," the statement read.

"They were referred to the bodies concerned for interrogation," it added.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraqi woman killed in car bomb explosion in Salahuddin
Salahuddin (Iraqinews.com) ‐ An Iraqi woman was killed and one of her relatives was injured Tuesday in a kaboom in Salahuddin governorate, a security source was quoted as saying.

Speaking to Alghad Press, the source said, "An explosive charge went off while a private car was crossing a road in Albu Issa village in Salahuddin near borders with Diyala."

According to initial reports, the bomb kaboom left a woman dead and at least one of her relatives maimed.

"The victims were moved to hospital," the source added.

No group has so far grabbed credit for the attack.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Mosul clearance continues: turbans murder 40 good guys, turban mouthpiece tied up
Around 40 civilians, security personnel killed by Islamic State in three days, south of Mosul

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) At least 40 civilians and security personnel were killed and injured by Islamic State militants in three days, south of Mosul, the London-based Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper reported.

The group increased its attacks over the past three days. It focused on the open areas and roads that surround Mosul, in order to be easy for them to withdraw after carrying out the ambushes, the newspaper quoted security sources as saying on Tuesday. These ambushes left at least 40 civilians and security personnel killed and injured by the militants.

According to the sources, the group depended on carrying out the ambushes swiftly and taking advantage from the desert and agricultural nature of these areas to enable them move quickly.

Some of the ambushes were carried out without vehicles, so the militants withdrew while the vehicles were near to transfer the kidnapped people, the sources added.

Islamic State’s media official apprehended in Mosul

Nineveh (Iraqinews.com) – Iraqi security forces arrested on Tuesday a senior Islamic State (IS) leader in Mosul city, the Security Media Center announced.

“Nineveh police arrested today the so-called media affairs official of the terrorist Islamic State group in the Tel Roman district on the western side of Mosul,” Iraqi website Alghad Press quoted the center as saying in a statement.

The center gave no further details about the identity of the terrorist.

Islamic State militants have run several media outlets propagating their operations and even publicizing executions of civilians and security members since they took over a third of Iraq in 2014 to proclaim a self-styled “caliphate” in Iraq and neighboring Syria.

But many of the group’s mouthpieces seemed to fade out gradually as Iraqi forces took over territories held by the militants.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Policeman killed, Islamic State attack foiled, northeast of Baquba
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) A policeman was killed by a sniper, while 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....
attack against a security checkpoint was foiled, northeast of Baquba, a local source from Diyala said on Tuesday.

Speaking to Alghad Press, Awwad al-Rubaie, head of the security committee of Abu Sayda town, said "a policeman was injured in the evening by a sniper while being near a mosque at the outskirts of abu Karma village, northeast of Diyala, which caused his immediate death."

Moreover, Rubaie said, "Islamic State members attempted attacking a checkpoint for police at the outskirts of the same village, however, security troops foiled the attack."
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Gaza tensions flare: IDF strikes 8 more Hamas targets as rockets barrage south
[IsraelTimes] 18 rockets fired from strip in a number of separate incidents; four intercepted by the Iron Dome while an unspecified number fall in Israeli territory

Tensions flared on Israel’s border with Gazoo early Wednesday morning as the IDF carried out a second round of overnight Arclight airstrikes on Hamas, one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbung millipede, targets in response to a barrage of rockets fired from the Strip towards Israeli territory.

The IDF said fighter jets struck eight further "terror targets" on three separate Hamas military bases in the south of the Gazoo Strip, in addition to several other sites that were targeted earlier in the night.

In total, 18 rockets were fired towards Israeli territory in a number of separate incidents, the army said. Of those, four rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system while an unspecified number fell in Israeli territory.

There were no immediate reports of injuries on either side of the border.

Earlier, Paleostinians fired five rockets at southern Israel after Israeli aircraft hit Hamas targets in the south of the coastal enclave in response to numerous arson attacks launched across the border by Paleostinians, the military said.

The overnight incidents mirror several rounds of rocket fire and IDF strikes on Monday in which Israeli aircraft bombed Hamas positions in the southern Gazoo Strip after a group of Paleostinians launched incendiary balloons at southern Israel.

Report: IDF fires at Palestinians who approached border fence

[Ynet] Paleostinian media reports the IDF attacked a group of young men who approached the border fence with Israel in southern Gazoo Strip. No injuries reported.

Incendiary kites from Gaza causes 16 fires in border region

[Ynet] Sixteen fires caused by incendiary kites sent from the Gazoo strip have broken out in the Sdot Negev and Eshkol Regional Council regions bordering Gazoo Tuesday. All are under control.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/20/2018 00:11 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Gaza resident indicted with aiding Hamas breach naval blockade
[Ynet] The Southern District Attorney's Office filed an indictment Tuesday against Gazoo resident Souhil Amoudi Gazoo for aiding and abetting a terror organization.

According to the indictment, the defendant received money from Hamas, one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbung millipede, in order to rent boats to breach Gazoo's naval blockade.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/20/2018 00:11 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


IED thrown at border police guarding Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron
[IsraelTimes] Police searching area, open investigation after attacker flees scene in second such incident this month

An improvised bomb was thrown at IDF troops guarding the entrance of the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron Tuesday night, police said.

The attacker expeditiously departed at a goodly pace after throwing the IED at border police manning a station just outside the tomb. The device did not explode and there were no injuries.

Police said they were searching the area for the perpetrator and had opened an investigation in the incident.

Earlier this month, sappers detonated a similar improvised bomb found near the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron. That device contained two small gas canisters. It was blown up in a controlled kaboom by the police bomb squad.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
BIFF, NPA roadside bomb attempts foiled in Mindanao
[PhilStar] Authorities on Friday foiled attempts by communist insurgents and Islamic State-inspired rebels to set off roadside bombs in Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato provinces.

Military spokesman Arvin Encinas said bomb experts were able to promptly deactivate the improvised explosive device found by motorists along a road in the town of Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat. The bomb was packed with metal fragments with jagged edges and rigged with a detonator that could be activated from a distance.

It was the second roadside bomb found and defused by Army ordnance troops in the same town in a span of three weeks.

Police and army intelligence units in Sultan Kudarat said the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters was behind the foiled bombing plots.

About two hours later, passersby found a powerful roadside bomb along a road in Barangay Tomanding in Arakan, North Cotabato, where there is strong New People’s Army presence. Police and military bomb disposal teams safely dismantled the IED.

Police spokesman Aldrin Gonzalez said personnel of the Arakan municipal police are certain the bomb was planted by the NPA to retaliate for losses in recent clashes with military units in North Cotabato. He said, "No doubt the NPA was behind that thwarted bombing because the IED found there was identical with those recovered in NPA camps in North Cotabato that were overran by government forces recently."
Posted by: ryuge || 06/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters


Abu Sayyaf rebel killed in Sulu clash
A suspected Abu Sayyaf militant was killed in a clash with Philippine security forces in Patikul, Sulu on Saturday evening. The suspect, whose name was not available, was killed in a pursuit operation in Barangay Pang-layahan.

The encounter began after 3pm between troops and some 40 rebels led by Hajaan Sawadjaan, according to Brig. Gen. Divino Rey Pabayo, chief of the Joint Task Force Sulu.

The initial clash lasted 35 minutes after the rebels retreated into the hinterlands. No casualties were reported among the soldiers.
Posted by: ryuge || 06/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf (ISIS)


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
IDF reconnaissance drone crashes in southern Syria
[IsraelTimes] Army says no danger of sensitive information being compromised after Skylark UAV hits ground near Hader.

The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday evening that one of its drones crashed in Syrian territory. It was not immediately clear why the Skylark reconnaissance drone landed near Hader in southern Syria.

Syrian sources in the area of Quneitra initially claimed the UAV was shot down. Syrian social media users shared images claiming to show the crashed drone.

The "sky rider," as it is known in Hebrew, is a tactical surveillance drone created by Israel’s Elbit Systems and operated by the Artillery corps. The miniature UAV can be launched by one or two people, depending on the model, and once airborne provides a live video feed to soldiers on the ground.

Since January 2017, Skylarks have crashed at least seven times, including Tuesday’s incident, and another one was shot down while in operational service.

That apparently poor record follows a longer history of drone failures, including an August 2016 crash of an experimental Israel Aerospace Industries drone that destroyed part of a family home in the northern village of Zalafa, lightly injuring 25 people.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/20/2018 00:17 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Shells hit south Syria city for first time in three years
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Rebel shellfire slammed into the southern Syrian city of Sweida on Tuesday for the first time in three years, a monitor said, as fresh regime reinforcements arrived in the area.

The government holds most of Sweida province but rebels still control much of the nearby Daraa and Quneitra governorates.

On Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said opposition forces fired shells into Sweida city, "which led to loud blasts but no casualties."

"It is the first time since 2015 that the city has been subjected to shellfire," said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman.

Syrian state news agency SANA also blamed rebels "spread out in the towns and villages in eastern parts of Daraa province" for firing shells on Sweida.

Sweida, whose residents are mostly from the Druze minority, has remained relatively insulated from seven years of war that ravaged the rest of the country.

But rebels hold a sliver of territory in western Sweida that borders their main bastion in the province of Daraa, and festivities and exchanges of fire have erupted in that area in recent days.

Syria’s government has set its sights on ousting rebels from the south and has been dispatching troops and equipment there for weeks.

On Tuesday, they dropped new flyers on the rebel-held half of Daraa city, calling on residents to expel rebels, "like your brothers did in Eastern Ghouta and Qalamun," referring to two areas near Damascus recently recaptured from the opposition.

Rebels appeared to fear the regime would use Sweida’s civilian population as justification for the assault, and issued a message addressed to them on Tuesday.

"We call on our people in Sweida province not to serve as bait for the goals of the regime, sectarian militias from Iran, and Hezbollah, which are trying to occupy this land and divide its people," they said in a statement.

But the government has also hinted that a political settlement over the south’s fate could be reached.
"We have moved towards the south and we are giving the political process a chance," Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Leveler of Latakia...
said last week.

Posted by: Fred || 06/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Terror Networks
Urgent need to prepare for manmade virus attacks, says US government report
[Guardian] The rapid rise of synthetic biology, a futuristic field of science that seeks to master the machinery of life, has raised the risk of a new generation of bioweapons, according a major US report into the state of the art.

Advances in the area mean that scientists now have the capability to recreate dangerous viruses from scratch; make harmful bacteria more deadly; and modify common microbes so that they churn out lethal toxins once they enter the body.

The three scenarios are picked out as threats of highest concern in a review of the field published on Tuesday by the US National Academy of Sciences at the request of the Department of Defense. The report was commissioned to flag up ways in which the powerful technology might be abused, and to focus minds on how best to prepare.

Michael Imperiale, chair of the report committee, and professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Michigan, said the review used only unclassified information and so has no assessment of which groups, if any, might be pursuing novel biological weapons. "We can’t say how likely any of these scenarios are," he said. "But we can talk about how feasible they are."
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/20/2018 03:59 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Virus hell, a plague. And yes, its far more 21st century than nukes.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/20/2018 7:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Tom Clancy wrote one about this. Didn't turn out well.
Posted by: AlanC || 06/20/2018 7:13 Comments || Top||

#3  ...The difficulty of weaponizing viruses like this is that you also have to produce a pretty-much-100%-effective vaccine for it, because bio can't be relied on not to blow back on you.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 06/20/2018 8:06 Comments || Top||

#4  "But we can talk about how feasible they are."

...or examine exiting infected control groups such as all democrats.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/20/2018 8:10 Comments || Top||


#6  Soft targets...

Imagine if the 5 divisions(50,000) a month coming across the border were exposed before capture.

Clustered at central locations for processing then distributed to holding areas across the states.

Seems like the distribution/infection model has already been engaged.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/20/2018 9:56 Comments || Top||

#7 
...or examine exiting infected control groups such as all democrats.


...too late.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/20/2018 10:02 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
30[untagged]
5Hamas
5Islamic State
4Houthis
3Taliban
1Commies
1Govt of Pakistan
1Govt of Syria
1Abu Sayyaf (ISIS)
1Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
1Moslem Colonists
1Sublime Porte
1Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life,
1al-Shabaab (AQ)
1al-Qaeda in Mali/Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen
1Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters

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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2018-06-20
  Taliban kill 30 Afghan soldiers and take base in first major attack since ceasefire
Tue 2018-06-19
  Philippine airstrikes target ISIS-linked militants near Marawi
Mon 2018-06-18
  Houthis say Saudi-led forces bogged down outside Hudaydah
Sun 2018-06-17
  Israeli Air Force Attacks 'Leader of Gaza Cell Behind Burning Kites'
Sat 2018-06-16
  Kurdish-led forces claim 15 Turkish soldiers, rebels killed in Afrin
Fri 2018-06-15
  US claim drone strike kills Mullah Fazlullah
Thu 2018-06-14
  Taliban supreme leader offers direct negotiations with the United States
Wed 2018-06-13
  ISIS corpses litter Euphrates after Syrian Army wipes out terrorists trying to cross
Tue 2018-06-12
  34 militants killed in NDS Special Forces operation in Nangarhar
Mon 2018-06-11
  Austria Is Shutting Down Mosques And Ejecting Imams
Sun 2018-06-10
  Wasserman Schultz Refuses To Respond To Accusations She Attempted To Shut Down Awan Probe
Sat 2018-06-09
  Iran Facilitated Passage Of 9/11 Attackers, Iranian Politician Says
Fri 2018-06-08
  German-Jewish teen found raped, murdered; Turkish refugee suspect arrested, Iraqi refugee suspect fled to Iraq
Thu 2018-06-07
  Syria opens Homs-Hama highway after near 7-year closure due to war
Wed 2018-06-06
  Shin Bet says it thwarted plot to assassinate prime minister, Jerusalem mayor

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