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Today: 67 articles and 176 comments as of 14:21.
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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Syria war: Israeli jets target Iranian positions around Damascus
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Afghanistan
The Latest: 12 killed in Taliban attack in east Afghanistan
[Republic] KABUL, Afghanistan ‐ The Latest on developments in Afghanistan (all times local):

10:20 a.m.

An Afghan official says the Taliban attack on a military base and police training center in the country’s east has killed at least 12 people, mostly military personnel, and wounded over 30.

Salem Asgherkhail, head of the area’s public health department, says some of the wounded have been taken to the provincial hospitals while the more serious cases have been sent to the capital, Kabul, for treatment.

He was not able to provide a casualty breakdown or say how many of the wounded were transferred to Kabul following the coordinated Taliban attack on Monday morning on a military base and a training center in eastern Maidan Wardak province.

9 a.m.

Afghan officials say the Taliban have launched a coordinated assault on a military base that also serves as a police training center in eastern Maidan Wardak province and that there are casualties.

Nasrat Rahimi, deputy spokesman for the interior minister, says that a suicide car bomber struck the military base on Monday morning, followed by insurgents who opened fire at the Afghan forces.

He says at least two Taliban fighters were killed by Afghan troops.

Rahimi could not provide casualty figures.

Salem Asgherkhail, head of the area’s public health department, says ambulances were dispatched to the site and that there are fears of high casualty numbers.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement to the media.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/21/2019 02:58 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Taliban says it pulls out of peace talks after refusing to release U.S. professor
[NBC] PESHAWAR, Pakistan ‐ The Afghan Taliban last week stalled peace talks with the U.S. after the American delegation demanded the militant group announce a ceasefire and release a U.S. academic it is holding, four senior Taliban officials told NBC News.

A Taliban commander in Afghanistan's Helmand province said U.S. negotiators had "asked us to first release the American professor whom we kidnapped after an attack on American University in Kabul."

Like other militants NBC News interviewed, he spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to comment on negotiations.

The Taliban leader called the alleged demand "unrealistic" and said the militant group was putting peace talks aimed at ending America's longest war on ice.

Kevin King was kidnapped at gunpoint from the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul alongside Australian colleague Timothy Weeks in August 2016.

The Taliban have said King is seriously ill and previously commented that he requires hospital treatment for his heart disease. The Taliban leader said U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad had threatened the group if anything were to happen to King despite knowing that he was sick
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/21/2019 02:32 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  See what I AM dealing with?
Posted by: newc || 01/21/2019 2:50 Comments || Top||


Afghan and Coalition Forces kill 15 militants in during separate operations
KhaamaPress] The Afghan Special Forces and Coalition Forces have conducted separate operations in northern Baghlan and southern Uruzgan and Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
provinces over the past 24 hours, killing at least 15 bad boys.

According to the informed military sources, Afghan Special Forces conducted a clearance operation in Pul-e Khumri district of Baghal province, killing 12 Taliban
...Arabic for students...
fighters and wounding 8 others.

A coalition air strike in Tarin Kot of Uruzgan left 2 Taliban fighters dead, the sources said, adding that in a separate coalition air strike in Sangin district of Helmand province 1 Taliban fighter was killed.

Both the Afghan and Coalition Forces have stepped counter-terrorism operations to suppress the anti-government armed elements.

The Afghan forces are conducting the majority of the ground operations with the support of Coalition air power.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/21/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Vehicles convoy of Logar targeted in a suicide attack
[KhaamaPress] A suicide kaboom has taken place in the vicinity of central Pashtun-infested Logar province of Afghanistan amid reports a convoy of vehicles carrying the provincial governor and other bigwigs was targeted.

The local officials confirmed that the incident has taken place in Kabul-Pashtun-infested Logar highway in Mohammad Agha district.

A local security official confirmed that the governor has escaped unhurt from the attack but eight security personnel have bit the dust and ten others have sustained injuries.

A member of the provincial council said the provincial director of the intelligence was also travelling in the convoy but he has also escaped the attack unhurt.

The Talibs group has claimed that an attack has been carried out against a convoy of the Special Forces in Pashtun-infested Logar province.

This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available.
Tolo News adds:
Nasir Ghairat, member of Pashtun-infested Logar Provincial Council said the incident occurred in Safid Sang area in Mohammad Agha district of the province.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/21/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
Kenyan police say attack on Chinese facilities is repelled
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Kenyan police say button men opened fire on Chinese construction facilities in an eastern area, days after Lions of Islam grabbed credit for a deadly attack in Nairobi.

National police chief Joseph Boinnet says security forces fought off the attackers at Shimbirey near Garissa town on Sunday.

There are no reports of casualties
Posted by: Fred || 01/21/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Sudan unrest enters second month with protests in Omdurman
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Sudanese security forces fired tear gas on Sunday at several hundred protesters and chased them down side streets, a Rooters witness said, as anti-government protests entered their second month.

The protesters had blocked Al Arbaeen street, one of the main arteries in Omdurman, across the Nile from the centre of the capital, Khartoum. Some raised two fingers in victory signs as tear gas was fired at them.

About 30 trucks carrying security personnel, some in uniform and some in plain clothes, were deployed to the area.

Near daily demonstrations triggered by a worsening economic crisis have shaken Sudan since Dec. 19. Protesters have called for an end to President Omar al-Bashir
Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it.
’s three-decade rule, blaming him for the country’s problems.
Posted by: Fred || 01/21/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Nearly 80 Militants Killed In Lower Jubba Region
[RADIOSHABELLE] Somali National Army (SNA) backed by the international partners on Saturday killed 73 al-Shabaab
...Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
faceless myrmidons and destroyed armored vehicles in southern Somalia.

Jubbaland said the joint forces foiled an attack from al-Shabaab at a military base at Bar-Sanguni neighborhood near Kismayo
...a port city in the southern Lower Juba province of Somalia, at the extreme southern end of the country (assuming Somalia can be called a country). It is the commercial capital of the autonomous Jubaland region...
town.

The news agency said international partners conducted Arclight airstrikes in the area that targeted al-Shabaab holy warriors.

Independent sources said that there were heavy casualties on both the army and the holy warriors.

Residents reported hearing airstrikes targeting the holy warrior group early Saturday. They said several strikes hit the faceless myrmidons and their battlewagons in an area between Araare and Muse Haji.

The attack came hours after the group said on Friday that their fighters killed 57 Æthiopian troops under the framework of African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in an ambush near Burhakaba town in southern Somalia.

Posted by: Fred || 01/21/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)


Libya: Violent clashes spill from Tripoli into Tarhouna
[Libya Observer] The Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
Protection Force (TPF) said it had controlled different southern Tripoli areas, adding that the attacking forces had retreated to their previous locations.

TPF said on Facebook Saturday that the 7th Brigade had suffered great losses in all frontlines in southern Tripoli after they had foiled their attacks, depriving them a foothold in Tripoli.

"We're continuing our military operations in all fighting zones until we end the presence of the attacking brigades. Afterwards, we will hand control of all areas to the security apparatuses after being secured." TPF explained.

According to sources, the 7th Brigade has lost all locations and retreated to Tarhouna city and it built sand barriers at the entrance of Fam Mulgha checkpoint in west of the city.

Eyewitnesses in Qasir Benghashir said calm has descended on the district and other southern parts of Tripoli as fighting headed toward Tarhouna, where the 7th Brigade is positioned.

11 people - mostly fighters - have been killed and 43 others have been injured due to the festivities, the front man of the Health Ministry, Ameen al-Hashmi said.

Al-Hashmi said conflicting reports about casualties on media were intentional, adding that he can confirm that no more than 11 had been killed and 43 maimed.

Posted by: Fred || 01/21/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Africa North
Egypt says security forces killed 14 militants in Sinai
[IsraelTimes] Egyptian security forces say they’ve killed 14 gunnies and seized a ton of explosives in an operation in the restive northern part of the Sinai Peninsula.

They say that their offensive involved festivities with Islamic gunnies in desert areas outside the city of el-Arish, adding that the murderous Moslems had intended to plant roadside kabooms in areas between there and the cities of Rafah and Sheikh Zuweyid.

Other weapons caches including explosives were found in the more central Sinai Jabal al-Halal mountain area.

The officials speak anonymously as they weren’t authorized to brief news hounds.

The army has been battling Lion of Islam murderous Moslems led by 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....
gunnies in north Sinai for years. The area is off limits for journalists, diplomats and other observers so information from there cannot be independently verified.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/21/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Algerian ex-prime minister Benflis to run for presidency
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Algerian ex-Prime Minister Ali Benflis became the second official candidate after Ret. Gen. Ali Ghediri said Saturday he would run for president.
Posted by: Fred || 01/21/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Commies


Armed groups in Sabha, Murziq reject joining Haftar's forces
[Libya Observer] Armed groups in southern Libyan cities of Murziq and Sabha have rejected joining the operation forces of the self-styled army of Khalifa Haftar
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all...
after arriving in Taminhint to control the southern region.

"Such a rejection will be a hindrance to the military operation in southern Libya to end the presence of terrorist, criminals and Chadian mercenaries." Sources close to Haftar said.

The sources added that Ahrar Fezzan, Shuhadaa Sabha, and Shuhadaa Waw brigades, as well as Shuhadaa Murziq and Um al-Aranib brigades, are funded and supported by the Defense Ministry of the Presidential Council, hence reject joining Haftar's forces or giving them control of their cities.

"This could lead to festivities between forces of the National Army and the rejecting brigades." The sources added.

The self-styled army in eastern Libya, led by Haftar, has launched a military operation to advance on the southwestern districts in Libya to "secure and protect the residents from forces of Evil and criminal groups."

The operation is aimed, according to Haftar's forces, to protect the people from the forces of Evil and criminals who work for foreign parties to change the topography of Libyan and its identity.

Posted by: Fred || 01/21/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Peacekeepers killed in attack on UN northern Mali base
[France24] Gunmen killed at least ten Chadian UN peacekeepers and injured 25 others in an attack Sunday on one of their bases in northern Mali, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres confirmed an information previously announced by a source close to the MINUSMA force. Guterres strongly condemned what he described as a "complex attack" on the UN peace mission's camp in Aguelhok, 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of Kidal and towards the border with Algeria.

"Ten peacekeepers from Chad were killed and at least 25 injured," said a statement from UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

"MINUSMA forces responded robustly and a number of assailants were killed," Dujarric said, without specifying the toll.

An al Qaeda-linked Islamist group grabbed credit for the attack.

The Nusrat al-Islam wal Moslemeen group said the attack was a response to Chadian President Idriss Deby's revival of diplomatic relations with Israel in a statement posted on Telegram.

Mahamat Saleh Annadif, the UN envoy for Mali, condemned what he called a "vile and criminal" attack."Peacekeepers of the MINUSMA force at Aguelhok fought off a sophisticated attack by assailants who arrived on several armed vehicles," he said in a statement.

The attack "illustrates the determination of the terrorists to sow chaos."
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/21/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Arabia
Two killed as Saudi-led coalition intensifies air raids against Yemen’s Sana’a Province
[PRESSTV] The Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
-led coalition has carried out deadly air raids against 15 targets, including a food factory, in Yemen’s west-central Sana’a Province, prompting condemnations from officials in the capital.

At least two people bit the dust after the coalition struck a sponge factory in the province overnight, Yemen’s al-Masirah television news reported. Leb’s al-Mayadeen television channel said the attack had targeted the province’s Jadar Village, and that five people had also been injured as a result.

Al-Masirah said Sunday's bombings destroyed a food production facility as well as a plastic factory in Sana'a, also damaging neighboring houses.

"The aggression (the Saudi-led coalition) also launched four raids on September-21st Park" in the capital, according to the news network.
Posted by: Fred || 01/21/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Bangladesh
Jailbreak plot for Holey attack militants unearthed
[Dhaka Tribune] Banned holy warrior outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
The JMB is said to be the youth front of Al Mujahideen, the parent organization that began working toward establishing Bangladesh as an Islamic state in the mid 1990s, which remains obscure and probably defunct today. Other organizations, such as Jama'atul Jihad, JMB, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI), Hizbut Tawhid, Tawhidi Janata, Islami Jubo Shangha, Islami Shangha, Al Falah A'am Unnayan Shanstha and Shahadat-e al Hiqma are believed to be part of the Al Mujahideen network. The JMB at its peak was reported to contain at least 100,000 members, and an alleged 2,000-man suicide brigade, few of whom actually exploded. JMB allegedly received financial assistance from individual donors in Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Libya. Reports have claimed that funding of JMB by international NGOs like Kuwait based Society of the Revival of Islamic Heritage (RIHS) and Doulatul Kuwait, Saudi Arabia based Al Haramaine Islamic Institute and Rabita Al Alam Al Islami, Qatar Charitable Society and UAE-based Al Fuzaira and Khairul Ansar Al Khairia. The top leadership of JMB was captured in 2005 and hung in 2007, which pretty much shot their bolt.
(JMB) was planning to jailbreak the plotters of the Holey Artisan attack, said the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) yesterday after they nabbed
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
the arms supplier of the onslaught.

At a press briefing, RAB's Legal and Media Wing Director Mufti Mahmud Khan said: "They were planning an operation similar to the one in Trishal to free the attackers of Holey Artisan Bakery."

"The bandidos murderous Moslems intended to snatch the prisoners [arrested in the Gulshan attack case], when they were being transported to court from different jails for trial," he added.

The elite force said they came upon the information after interrogating Md Mamunur Rashid alias Ripon alias Rezaul Karim alias Reza, a member of the banned holy warrior outfit JMB, who was arrested from Gazipur on January 19.

RAB alleged that Ripon is the suspected arms and explosive supplier, and financier for the attack on the upscale cafe in Dhaka on July 1 2016; recovered Tk1.5 lakh in cash during his arrest.

In 2014, in a cinematic operation, JMB members killed a policeman and snatched away three of their top detained operatives from a prison van in Trishal of Mymensingh.

RIPON REMANDED FOR FIVE DAYS
A Dhaka court has placed the suspected arms supplier Ripon on remand for five days.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Kanak Barua ordered the remand after RAB 3 Superintendent of Police Md Kafil Uddin produced accused Md Mamunur Rashid alias Ripon before court with a 10-day remand petition.

He has been placed on remand for a case filed with the Sabujbagh cop shoppe under the Anti-Terrorism Act last April.

'RIPON SENT TK39 LAKH, FIREARMS FOR THE GULSHAN ATTACK
The suspected arms supplier, Ripon, allegedly sent Tk 39 lakh, firearms and explosives to Bangladesh for the 2016 attack, the elite force said at the presser.

RAB official Mufti Mahmud Khan said as per the decision of top JMB leaders, Ripon went to a neighbouring country to collect money, arms and explosives in April 2016.

"Ripon confessed that he sent around Tk39 lakh to Sarwar Jahan [chief of New JMB], from that country right before the attack in Holey Artisan bakery," said Mufti Mahmud Khan.

Posted by: Fred || 01/21/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (IS)

#1  Md Mamunur Rashid alias Ripon alias Rezaul Karim alias Reza, a member of the banned holy warrior outfit JMB,

3 aliases? He must be Mr. Big
Posted by: Frank G || 01/21/2019 11:10 Comments || Top||

#2  "They call me... (ominous music)... Mr. Alias."

We have not heard much from the RAB lately. I suspect their methods are having the desired effect in tamping down miscreant behavior in the upazillas.
Posted by: SteveS || 01/21/2019 11:38 Comments || Top||


Britain
Update: Londonderry bomb: Four arrests over 'reckless' attack
[BBC] Police in Londonderry have arrested a further two men in connection with a bomb in the city on Saturday.

The men, aged 34 and 42, were arrested in the city on Sunday evening. It followed the arrest of two men in their 20s earlier in the day.

The PSNI said the attack may have been carried out by dissident republican group the New IRA.

A pizza delivery van was hijacked by two armed men in Derry at about 18:00 GMT.

The bomb, which went off at 20:09 GMT, was described as a "crude device". The PSNI said the attack outside the courthouse was "unbelievably reckless".
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/21/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Leave to the dhimmi brits to call islamic terrorism "reckless".
Posted by: Woodrow || 01/21/2019 19:46 Comments || Top||

#2  The New IRA split off from the IRA when they agreed to make peace with the English government, Woodrow. Nothing Muslim about them. But agreed about reckless as a descriptor.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/21/2019 19:49 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Interior ministry: Two Islamic State terrorists apprehended in Mosul
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) ‐ The Iraqi Interior Ministry announced on Sunday the capture of two 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....
Lions of Islam in djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
city.

"SWAT forces of the Nineveh Operations Command incarcerated
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
two Islamic State Lions of Islam while driving a car in al-Yarmouk district in the western side of Mosul," Iraqi TV channel Dijlah quoted the ministry’s security media center as saying in a statement.

According to the statement, the two Lions of Islam were arrested with a pistol and two explosive charges in their possession.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/21/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraqi troops destroy three Islamic State tunnels in Salahuddin
Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) ‐ The Iraqi military announced on Wednesday the destruction of three 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....
tunnels in Makhoul Mountains in the northern province of Salahuddin.

"Security forces of Salahuddin Operations Command carried out a military campaign in Makhoul Mountains, managing to destroy three tunnels that were used by IS myrmidons," Alghad Press quoted front man for the Security Media Center Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool as saying in a statement.

"The troops found foodstuffs, blankets and bedding inside the tunnels," the statement added.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/21/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Two Iraqi policemen killed in armed attack by Islamic State on Diyala security checkpoint
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) ‐ Two Iraqi coppers were killed Sunday in an armed attack by 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....
on a security checkpoint in Diyala province, a well-informed source was quoted as saying.

Speaking to Mawazin News, the source said that "Islamic State holy warriors attacked a security checkpoint on the outskirts of Khanaqin district in northeastern Diyala."

According to the source, two coppers were killed as a result of the attack.

Ambulances carried the bodies into the forensic medicine department, the source added.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/21/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Turkish jets bomb within kilometres of Sidakan town
[Rudaw] Ottoman Turkish jets on Sunday bombed a village in the Sidakan area, very close to town, the mayor said. This is the first time in 15 years The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
has struck so close to the populated town.

"At 5:20 pm today, Ottoman Turkish military jets intensely bombarded Shikan village in the Sidakan area," Ihsan Chalabi, mayor of Sidakan, told Rudaw.

There were no casualties or significant damage in three rounds of bombardments, he said.

"In the past 15 years of military jet strikes, it the first time that this area, close to the centre of Sidakan town, was bombarded," added the mayor.

Shikan is just three kilometers from the centre of Sidakan.

Turkey regularly carried out Arclight airstrikes against alleged PKK positions in the Kurdistan Region mountains.

They usually target sparsely populated areas, but years of bombing have pushed hundreds of villagers out of their homes, made pastures off limits, and destroyed forests.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/21/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria war: Israeli jets target Iranian positions around Damascus
[BBC] Israel says it has hit Iranian targets around the Syrian capital, Damascus.

The Israel Defense Forces say the overnight operation targeted the elite Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, as well as Syrian air defences.

The Syrian military says it shot down most of the Israeli missiles. But a monitoring group reported that at least 11 pro-government fighters were killed.

The IDF says it acted after the Quds Force fired a rocket from Syria towards the occupied Golan Heights on Sunday.

Iran, Israel's arch-enemy, has sent thousands of military personnel to support Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the country's civil war.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/21/2019 09:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good hunting boys.
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/21/2019 12:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Because we care!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/21/2019 14:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Treat Iran like Japan and Germany were treated in WW11.
Posted by: Beldar Spawn of the Munchkins7370 || 01/21/2019 17:32 Comments || Top||


Triple Attack on ISIS Last Pocket East of Euphrates
[AL AWSAT] A “triple bombardment” of the final ISIS enclave in eastern Syria was launched with the participation of the Iraqi air force and Syrian regime forces, in conjunction with the attack of US-backed Kurdish-Arab Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on an ISIS pocket in Deir Ezzor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.

Since September, SDF, a coalition of Kurdish and Arab factions, have been waging a military operation against the last enclave of the terrorist organization near the Iraqi border and managed to control much of the region.

The Observatory indicated that the International Coalition launched airstrikes on al-Baghuz village killing 6 civilians, including 4 children, as well as 10 terrorists. It added that the bombardment continued and increased since the attack of Manbij days ago.

On Wednesday, a suicide bomb attack killed seven people, including four US nationals, two soldiers and two civilians working for the US Department of Defense.

The attack was the bloodiest on US forces in the international coalition since the beginning of its military intervention in Syria against ISIS in 2014.

After taking control of Hajin and al-Susah villages, the Democratic Forces are currently seeking to expel the organization from its last outpost, near the village of Baghuz and its surroundings.

Since the beginning of last month, some 21,000 people have left the last enclave towards areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, including 5,300 people who left as part of the evacuation agreements. Over 1,000 ISIS terrorist, who handed over their weapons to the Forces, were also among the people leaving the area.

Over the last two years, SDF have driven the extremist organization from large areas in the north and northeast of the country, most notably Raqqa, ISIS main stronghold in Syria.

The Syrian Observatory published that the SDF and the International Coalition Forces continue their military operations in Deir Ezzor countryside, against the remaining members of ISIS at the east bank of Euphrates River.

The Observatory also monitored the attack of Iraqi warplanes on the east of Euphrates, coinciding with the bombardment of Iranian forces and affiliated non-Syrian militias on the western bank of the Euphrates. At least 20 ISIS militants were killed.

The attack comes in conjunction with the ongoing violent clashes between ISIS remnants from one side, and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces supported by ground forces of the International Coalition from the other, in the vicinity of al-Baghuz Foqani area and nearby villages from the east of the Euphrates, amid exchanged targeting on the fronts.
Posted by: 3dc || 01/21/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Three killed in bombing in Afrin
[Rudaw] Three civilians were reported killed in an kaboom in Afrin city on Sunday ‐ the one year anniversary of the launch of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
’s offensive on the Kurdish enclave in northwestern Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported "the death of at least 3 people in the bombing and more than 9 others were maimed."

The three who died are civilians, and holy warriors were among the maimed, the head of the Observatory told AFP.

The UK-based conflict monitor expects the corpse count to rise as some of the injured are at death's door.

The bombing was an kaboom that "targeted an internal transport bus" in the city centre, according to the White Helmets, volunteer first responders working in opposition-held areas of Syria.

Their teams in Afrin were at the scene helping with rescue operations.

No group has immediately grabbed credit.

Ottoman Turkish President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
said the "terror attack" in Afrin will not deter Turkey from its missions in Afrin, and areas around Jarabulus, Anadolu Agency reported.

Afrin was taken over by Ottoman Turkish forces and their allied Syrian militias after a two-month offensive that was launched on January 20, 2018. The offensive ended when the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) chose to withdraw from the largest city, also named Afrin, in order to prevent civilian casualties.

But the region has subsequently seen rising violence and insecurity.

Ottoman Turkish-backed Syrian militias have looted Kurdish shops and homes, settled Arab families displaced from other parts of the country in villages and cities, stolen from lucrative olive oil businesses, and kidnapped and killed Kurdish residents deemed to have ties with the YPG.

The YPG has continued a guerilla-style resistance in the enclave ‐ targeting militias and Ottoman Turkish troops in hit-and-run raids.

In a statement marking the anniversary on Sunday, the YPG said the human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
situation in Afrin is "dire" and vowed to increase its struggle against the invading forces.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/21/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


IDF: We have started targeting....
[Twitter - IDF]
Syrian air defences shoot down 'hostile targets': state media

[Al Jazeera] The Israeli military says it is carrying out overnight strikes on Iranian targets in Syria, while Syrian state media is reporting that the country's air defences have shot down "hostile targets".

"We have started striking Iranian Quds targets in Syrian territory. We warn the Syrian Armed Forces against attempting to harm Israeli forces or territory," Israel's military said in a statement in the early hours of Monday.

News agency reports quoted witnesses in the Syrian capital, Damascus, as saying that loud kabooms rang out in the night sky.

The strikes followed cross-border attacks on Sunday in which Syria said it repelled an Israeli air attack.

Israel said it intercepted a rocket fired at the occupied Golan Heights.

Israeli strikes said to destroy Iranian, Hezbollah sites near Damascus early Monday

[IsraelTimes] Bombings inflict heavy damage on weapons warehouses and military positions near airport and other areas, with casualties reported; Syria calls attack ’heavy’.

Massive Israeli Arclight airstrikes on Syria destroyed weapons stores and military positions belonging to Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah terror group, a war monitor said Monday.

The Israeli military said early Monday it was carrying out strikes against Iran’s Qud’s Forces, in a rare statement on its military activities in Syria.

"The Israeli missiles managed to destroy weapons depots and military posts of the Iranians and the Lebanese Hezbollah in the vicinity of Damascus International Airport and the area of al-Kiswah and Jamraya," the Britannia-based Observatory for Human Rights said.

The monitor said there had been casualties and extensive damage, without providing details. A news site in the southern Syrian city of Suweida reported that eight soldiers had been brought to a local hospital with injuries sustained during the Israeli strikes, including two who died.

There was no immediate confirmation of casualties from Damascus. Syria’s state-run media described the attack as "heavy" and said Israel had launched "consecutive waves of guided missiles." However,
some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go...
it claimed the majority of the missiles were shot down.

"Our air defenses responded effectively to an Israeli air attack targeting the southern region and prevented it from achieving any of its objectives,"SANA quoted a military source saying.

The airstrike was the second attack on the airport and al-Kiswah in as many days, after a rare daytime attack attributed to Israel on Sunday morning. Both locations have been attacked by Israel in the past and are thought to house Iranian or Hezbollah assets.

"Warehouses containing weapons for Syrian regime ally Hezbollah and Iranian fighters are located in that area," Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, said Sunday.

Israel has accused Iran of seeking to establish a military presence in Syria that could threaten Israeli security and attempting to transfer advanced weaponry to the Hezbollah terror group in Leb.

Last year, the Israeli military said bases near al-Kiswah were used by pro-Iranian militias. An Iranian weapons depot at the airport was targeted in an airstrike a week and a half ago, Israel said.

Jamraya, which has also allegedly been attacked by Israel in the past, is thought to house a military facility and scientific research center.

The Israeli attack Monday morning was widely seen as a response to a surface to surface missile fired at Israel Sunday, apparently in retaliation for the earlier airstrikes.

Israel intercepted the missile near the Mount Hermon ski resort, but on Monday said it would shut the site, apparently signaling fears violence could continue to escalate.

For years, Israel has conducted airstrikes against Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria, which it considers threats to national security. However,
some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go...
those attacks typically take place under the cover of darkness.

The strike appeared to be the first major attacks carried out by the Israel Defense Forces since Aviv Kohavi took over as chief of staff last week.

The alleged strike Sunday came hours after a Syrian cargo plane touched down in the Damascus International Airport from Tehran, according to publicly available flight data. Israel and American defense officials have said these types of ostensibly civilian cargo planes are often used to transport advanced weaponry from Tehran to pro-Iranian militias, fighting in Syria, including the Hezbollah terror group.

Another flight from Iran, flown by Tehran’s Mahan Air carrier, was en route to Syria on Sunday afternoon, but turned back following the reported Israeli strikes, according to flight data. Mahan Air has been identified by defense officials as one of the cargo carriers suspected of ferrying war materiel from Iran to Syria. As a result, it is subject to sanctions by the US Treasury Department.
Posted by: 3dc || 01/21/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1 

Posted by: 3dc || 01/21/2019 1:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Either the Juice are just blowing up random sites in Syria (not a bad strategy actually!) or they have a surprisingly good intelligence network.
Posted by: SteveS || 01/21/2019 12:15 Comments || Top||

#3  "How's the kids?" In a basement, alone,
He's cheerfully working the phone
("Want anyone whacked...
besides us?") with such tact
That he's known as "the deadliest drone."
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 01/21/2019 15:58 Comments || Top||

#4  actually the IDF have been striking Quds for years

they have been begun striking them regularly now
Posted by: lord garth || 01/21/2019 19:02 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2019-01-21
  Syria war: Israeli jets target Iranian positions around Damascus
Sun 2019-01-20
  Syrian air defence repels Israeli attack in south: State media
Sat 2019-01-19
  Libyan forces say Al-Qaeda commander killed in southern op
Fri 2019-01-18
  Militants stalked Xulhaz through LGBTQ platforms
Thu 2019-01-17
  Pakistan Releases Senior Taliban Jihadi Days After Arrest
Wed 2019-01-16
  Iran launches satellite into space
Tue 2019-01-15
  Explosions, gunfire erupt at Kenyan hotel in possible terror attack
Mon 2019-01-14
  Sudan Opposition Call for More Protests 'To Shake the Tyrant's Throne'
Sun 2019-01-13
  Report: Nasrallah suffers heart attack
Sat 2019-01-12
  12 civilians killed in jihadist attack in Burkina Faso
Fri 2019-01-11
  Jihadists take control of Idlib province after collapse of Turkish-backed rebels
Thu 2019-01-10
  Turkish-backed rebels surrender last positions in southwest Idlib
Wed 2019-01-09
  Turkish-backed rebels issue urgent plea for help from available forces in Idlib
Tue 2019-01-08
  Israel said to block latest Qatari cash transfer to Gaza
Mon 2019-01-07
  SDF troops capture ISIS stronghold east of Euphrates

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