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Unconfirmed reports that key Abu Sayyaf leader killed in Philippines
Today's Headlines
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Page 6: Politix
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
US and Australian authorities intercept 1.7 tons of methamphetamine bound for Australia from Los Angeles/Long Beach Seaport
[ICE Newsroom] LOS ANGELES ‐ A joint collaborative effort between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and members of HSI’s Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations, and Australian federal authorities resulted in the seizure of a mixed narcotic load of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin weighing in a more than 1.7 tons and artfully concealed within a shipment of loud speakers and destined for Australia.

As a result of the investigation, Australian Federal Police (AFP) yesterday arrested two U.S. citizens and four Australian citizens allegedly involved with the U.S.-based transnational crime syndicate suspected of conducting the record-making shipment.

The drugs, which consisted of three containers targeted for inspection, were seized at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport by officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on January 11 ‐ intercepting the shipment before it could reach Australian shores.

There’s no question that the criminal organization behind this scheme has been dealt a significant blow, said Joseph Macias, Special Agent-In-Charge for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles. "Along with our law enforcement partners here and around the world, we continue in a day-to-day battle against the blight of methamphetamine that continues to devastate our communities. Through a collaborative effort ‐ pooling our information, resources and expertise ‐ we are keeping this dangerous contraband from reaching our streets and potentially saving lives."

"This is an extraordinary example of the superb and effective collaboration between CBP, HSI, DHS and Australian law enforcement partners in targeting an international high-scale narcotics operation, and the unity of effort in protecting our communities from the irreversible harm of harsh drugs like methamphetamine," said Carlos C. Martel, CBP Director of Field Operations in Los Angeles.

The investigation began when the Australian agents assigned to the Joint Organized Crime Task Force (JOCTF) alerted Homeland Security Investigations special agents about a planned large-scale drug importation by a suspected drug smuggling group operating out of California.
An Nahar adds:
The bust revealed new ties between Mexican cartels and Aussie biker gangs.

The investigation appeared to reveal cooperation between Mexican cartels and Australian biker gangs, developing what authorities say is a worrying new vector for drugs to arrive to Australia.

"This is a serious warning, we now believe the Mexican cartels are actively targeting Australia," said Assistant Commissioner Bruce Hill of the Australian Federal Police.

"They have been sending smaller amounts over the years, this is now flagging their intent. Australia is now being targeted," he said.

"The cartel is one of the most powerful and violent drug trafficking syndicates in the world," he said, without naming the cartel involved.

Hill pointed to high Australian street prices and prevalent drug use as a "drawcard" for organised crime.

Colombian and Mexican cartels have long looked to local partners to open new markets for their produce and shift legal risk.

Australian police indicated that the country's biker gangs, with deep involvement in organised crime, were willing interlocutors.
The Ozzie slang term is bikie gangs. A search of the term in the Rantburg archives yields the information that almost all the motorcycle gangs in Australia are now Middle Eastern, primarily Lebanese: there are Sunni bikie gangs, Shiite bikie gangs, and even one called Soldiers of Islam, which is certainly suggestive. Along with the usual, they’re fond of stolen rocket launchers and molesting women on Australian beaches.

This article starring:
bikie
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Narcos

#1  Thank you TW for finding this. This shows how the Mexican drug cartels are the symptom of the failed state that Mexico has become. And the Dems do not care.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 02/09/2019 11:48 Comments || Top||

#2  As long as the recreational drugs keep flowing north, the details enabling it don’t matter to a certain mindset, Alaska Paul. To be honest, it wasn’t until I searched our archives that I realized the significance that explained why Besoeker had found and posted this article. The Mexican drug gangs have been connected to Hizb’allah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard — along with the drug gangs and Shiite emigre communities all through South America — since shortly after the Ayatollahs took power, and more recently Al Qaeda joined the party. So it is significant that Australia’s bikie gangs are hooked into that drug and terrir group web, where before it appeared only that certain social clusters and individuals were self-radicalizing before attacking at home or heading abroad to join the jihad.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/09/2019 12:36 Comments || Top||

#3  Isn't Long Beach port run by a Chinese company? Any gets on their involvement?
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 02/09/2019 12:43 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Taliban Intelligence Chief Killed In Helmand Airstrike
[ToloNews] A Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
intelligence chief along two other Taliban fighters were killed in western Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
province in an Arclight airstrike carried out by the Afghan Air Force (AAF.)

Army officials in southern Helmand province said the Taliban Überstürmbannführer was responsible for planning and carrying out attacks in the province.

According to the army officials, the Taliban chief, Mullah Ahmad, along with two fighters were killed on February 6 in Nawzad district in Helmand.

The chief and the fighters were killed when their vehicle targeted by an AAF strike.

Army officials said Mullah Ahmad’s killing will weaken Taliban’s movements in Helmand.

According to the officials, since February, at least 19 Taliban fighters have been killed in Helmand province by the Afghan cops.

Taliban has not commented on the issue.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Explosion local ISIS-K commander dead in Kunar province
[KhaamaPress] A local commander 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) was killed in an kaboom triggered by an improvised bomb in eastern Kunar province
... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country.....
of Afghanistan.

The 201st Silab Corps in the East in a statement said a local ISIS-K commander identified as Najeeb alias Isa Khan was killed an kaboom on Thursday.

The statement further added that Najeeb was killed an kaboom triggered by an improvised explosive which was planted by unknown individuals.

The incident took place in the vicinity of Deewa Gul Valley of Suki district, the statement by 201st Silab Corps added.

No individual or group has so far grabbed credit behind the incident.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Afghan Special Forces storm Taliban prison in Kunduz province
[KhaamaPress] The Afghan Special Forces have stormed a Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
prison in northern Kunduz province of Afghanistan, arresting 4 murderous Moslems and rescuing 5 people who were kept as prisoners by the group.

According to the informed military sources, the raid was conducted in the vicinity of Chahar Dara district of the province.

In the meantime, the sources said Afghan Special Forces conducted a raid in Khugyani district of Nngarhar province killing 11 Taliban fighters, wounding 4 others and destroying narcotics and heroin labs.

The Afghan Special Forces also conducted a raid in Sabari district of Khost province
... across the border from Miranshah, within commuting distance of Haqqani hangouts such as Datta Khel and probably within sight of Mordor. Khost is populated by six different tribes of Pashtuns, the largest probably being the Khostwal, from which it takes its name...
killing 2 Taliban fighters.

The 205th Corps have conducted a multi-day operation in Arghistan district of Kandahar province killing 5 Taliban fighters and wounding 5 others, the sources added.

The anti-government armed murderous Moslems including Taliban have not commented regarding the operations so far.
Tolo News adds:
The Ministry of Defense statement said that the individuals were imprisoned in Taliban jail in Chahardara district for the past few months.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Afghan Special Forces kill 2 senior Taliban leaders in Nangarhar province
[KhaamaPress] The Afghan Special Forces have killed two senior Taliban
...Arabic for students...
leaders during a raid in eastern 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 of Afghanistan earlier today.

According to the informed military sources "Afghan Special Forces conducted a raid in Khugyani district, Nangarhar province and killed two Taliban leaders. The lead weapons controller and recruiter for Nangarhar province were killed when they fired upon Afghan soldiers during an operation in the early-morning hours of Feb. 7, 2019."

The sources further added these Taliban leaders planned and carried out attacks on Afghan military personnel and innocent civilians.

The dead are just two among multiple Taliban leaders who have been killed recently. In December, friendly forces killed Haji Manan ‐ a Taliban Überstürmbannführer the krazed killer group said significantly contributed to their violent operations.

By the krazed killer group’s own admission through a blurb, Manan’s death was a "major loss."
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa North
Tunisian court sentences seven terrorists to life for deadly 2015 attacks: prosecutors
[Arab News] TUNIS: A Tunisian court has sentenced seven terrorists to life in prison over attacks at a museum and on a beach in 2015 that left dozens of tourists dead, prosecutors said Saturday.

Two separate trials were held over the closely linked attacks which occurred just months apart in Tunis and Sousse.

The court also handed down jail terms of between six and 16 years to some of the defendants, said prosecution spokeswoman Sofiene Sliti.
An Nahar has all the details in an article published while awaiting the sentencing announcement:
A Tunisian court was holding final hearings Friday in two trials over jihadist attacks in 2015 on a museum and a tourist resort that left dozens dead, lawyers told AFP.

Twenty-one defendants, including two women, appeared in the Tunis courtroom for a closed hearing on the March 18, 2015 shooting at the Bardo museum in Tunis, which killed 21 foreign tourists and a Tunisian security guard.

"Only three defendants still have to give their pleas, and the verdict will be announced this evening," lawyer Monia Bousalmi told AFP.

Victims' family members in La Belle France and Belgium watched the hearing via a live video feed.

Bousalmi said a verdict was also expected Friday evening on 44 suspects in a separate trial on the June 26, 2015 shooting rampage in the Sousse tourist resort, which killed 38 people, most of them British tourists.

The court has heard that the two attacks, both claimed by 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, were closely linked.

Several defendants pointed to the runaway Chamseddine Sandi as criminal mastermind of both.

According to Tunisian media, Sandi was killed in a U.S. air strike in neighboring Libya in February 2016, although there has been no confirmation.

Defendants in the two trials could be sentenced to death if found guilty, although Tunisia has had a freeze on capital punishment since 1991.

Four Frenchies, four Italians, three Japanese and two Spaniards were among those killed in the Bardo attack, before the two button men themselves, armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles, were rubbed out.

One suspect questioned in court, Tunis laborer Mahmoud Kechouri, said he had helped plan the attack, including preparing mobile phones for Sandi, a neighbor and longtime friend.

Other defendants accused of helping prepare the attack said they had only discussed ideas with friends. Several alleged they were tortured in detention.

Since a 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, jihadist attacks in Tunisia have killed dozens of members of the security forces.

The Bardo and Sousse attacks dealt a heavy blow to the vital tourism sector in Tunisia, already suffering high unemployment.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/09/2019 01:07 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Pro-Haftar forces seize largest Libyan oil field -- map
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Libyan National Army (LNA), led by their commander General 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...
, seized the largest and most important oil field in Libya this week.

Backed by heavy artillery, the Libyan National Army managed to expel the forces loyal to the Government of National Accord in several areas this week, including the largest city in southern Libya.

According to reports, the Libyan National Army seized Sabha (largest city in southern Libya, the al-Sharara Oil Field, Ghudawwah and Um Al Aranib areas, and then the Al Wigh Airbase.

Sabha is the largest city in southern Libya, with over 100,000 people consisting mostly of different tribal entities.

With the loss of the al-Sharara Oil Field, 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...
-based Government of National Accord has lost their most important source of petrol in the country.
Posted by: Fred || 02/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Egypt hangs 3 ‘political detainees’ convicted of murdering the son of a judge
[IsraelTimes] Human Rights Watch condemns executions of the students, says they were tortured to confess.

Human Rights Watch has condemned the hangings in Egypt of three young "political detainees" convicted of murdering the son of a judge, charging they had been tortured to confess.

The three men were executed in the northern city of Alexandria on Thursday, a security source told AFP, following a trial in which they stood accused of the 2014 murder and of having formed a "terrorist group."

The confessions of university students Ahmed Maher Hindawi, Almotaz Ghanem and Abdel Hamid Metwalli, a computer shop owner, all members of the outlawed Moslem Brüderbund, were "extracted under torture, one of the defendants alleged in a leaked letter" to human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty...
lawyers and activists, HRW said.
"Extracted" or "Encouraged". Po-tay-to, po-tah-to
"The letter indicates that the men were tortured by electric shock and beatings in detention," it added.

HRW’s deputy Middle East and North Africa director, Michael Page, accused Egyptian authorities of having committed "a glaring injustice by executing three men who apparently gave ’confessions’ extracted through electric shock and other torture."

He urged the government in Cairo to "immediately impose a moratorium on executions, which magnify the cruelty of unfair trials."

Human rights groups have repeatedly criticized President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s government for cracking down on secular and left-wing activists, as well as Islamists close to the Moslem Brüderbund.

The crackdown was launched in 2013 after Sissi, then army chief, overthrew Egypt’s first freely elected president, Mohammed Morsi, following street protests against the Islamist’s turbulent one-year rule.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood


Arabia
Houthi forces unleash several missiles on southern Saudi Arabia
[ALMASDARNEWS] The 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 ...
forces unleashed several ballistic missiles towards a key Yemeni-Saudi crossing this evening in response to the Saudi Coalition launching a number of Arclight airstrikes over northern Yemen.

According to the official media wing of the Houthi forces, their rocket battalion fired five Zilzal-1 missiles towards the Sudays Crossing at the southern border of 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...
The Houthi forces said that their ballistic missiles targeted the Saudi Coalition’s military posts around this key border-crossing.
Posted by: Fred || 02/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Houthi forces retake several areas along Saudi border
[ALMASDARNEWS] The 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 ...
forces launched a big counter-offensive inside the Harad District of the Hajjah Governorate on Friday.

Backed by heavy artillery, the Houthi forces managed to retake several sites inside of the Harad District that they lost to the Saudi Coalition over the last week.

Among the recaptured areas by the Houthi forces on Friday were the town of Shalilah and the Khazzan and al-Hamra hills .

The Houthi forces are now attempting to retake the entire district after a string of losses that occurred throughout much of this week.
Posted by: Fred || 02/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Bangladesh
Myanmar villagers flee fresh Rakhine State fighting, enter Bangladesh
[AlAhram] Scores of ethnic minority villagers have crossed from western Myanmar into Bangladesh in recent days amid fighting between the Myanmar military and ethnic Rakhine rebels, Bangladesh border guards and an activist said on Thursday.

Members of 38 families said they fled their homes fearing attack from military helicopters, said Colonel Zahirul Haque Khan, the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) commander in Bandarban district where the group of 136 people are now living in shelters.

Clashes between Myanmar’s military and the krazed killer Arakan Army, which mainly recruits from the Rakhine ethnic group, have displaced more than 5,000 people in parts of Rakhine and Chin states since early December.

Myanmar’s leaders have vowed to crush the rebels, who are fighting for autonomy for Rakhine State, and blocked most aid agencies from reaching the area, raising fears of more civilian suffering in an area long scarred by complex ethnic divisions.

While Rakhine State is majority Buddhist, in 2017 attacks on security posts by turbans from the Moslem Rohingya minority provoked a military crackdown that forced 730,000 people from their homes and into camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district, according to U.N. agencies.

Win Thein, a member of the nongovernmental Bangladesh Human Rights Commission, said he had visited the refugees, who are members of the Khumi, Cho and Rakhine ethnic groups, in their remote jungle camp.

They had crossed into Bangladesh on Sunday and Monday after fleeing from two villages in Chin state’s rugged Paletwa township after they heard gunfire and saw helicopters nearby, he said.

Some villagers said they later witnessed Myanmar soldiers looting and setting fire to homes, he said.

Win Thein said some of the refugee children were seriously ill and had no access to medical care.

"There are no blankets at all and it is very cold," he said.

State media in Myanmar said on Friday the Arakan Army had "taken about 200 Rakhine and other ethnic nationals including 38 schoolchildren to Bangladesh territory".

An announcement carried in official newspapers said the government was providing humanitarian assistance to displaced people, and said the turbans may have taken the people into Bangladesh to "create misunderstanding between the two neighbors".

Khine Thu Kha, an Arakan Army front man based outside Myanmar, said the gang had helped the displaced villagers to reach the border, but did so because the villagers feared being detained by the military.

The government was using "fake news" to cover up military abuses, he said.

Bangladesh summoned Myanmar’s ambassador on Tuesday to protest over the new arrivals, according to a senior Bangladesh foreign ministry official.

Bangladesh had beefed up security near the border to prevent more refugee arrivals, Minister of Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan told news hounds on Thursday.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army


Great White North
Canadian who killed 6 at Quebec mosque gets life, no parole for 40 years
[IsraelTimes] Judge says Alexandre Bissonnette was driven by visceral anti-Moslem hatred when he carried out massacre in 2017.
The initial report can be read here.
A 29-year-old who rubbed out six worshipers at a Quebec City mosque in the worst anti-Moslem attack in the West got life in prison Friday.

Alexandre Bissonnette will have to wait 40 years ‐ longer than usual ‐ before he can apply for parole.

In his decision, Judge Francois Huot rejected a prosecution request for a 150-year sentence, which would have been the longest ever in Canada, saying "subjecting a murder to a sentence that exceeds his life expectancy" would be a cruel and unusual punishment under Canadian law.

But he also noted the killer’s "visceral hatred of Moslem immigrants colonists."

"You killed six of your compatriots whose only crime was to be different than yourself," Huot said in court.

"With your hatred and racism, you’ve ruined their lives, yours and your parents’, and the crime you’ve done deserves the greatest denunciation," he said.

A university student at the time of the shooting, Bissonnette appeared to have been seduced by nationalist and supremacist ideologies into committing this "unjustified and deadly" massacre that sought to "undermine our fundamental societal values," the judge said.

The attack at the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre in the quiet Sainte-Foy neighborhood of Canada’s oldest city, he concluded, will go down in Canadian history "written in blood" as one of this country’s worst tragedies.

As the 246-page verdict was read over a six-hour period, Bissonnette sat quietly in the packed courtroom, gazing at his feet while his parents and several friends and family of the victims wiped tears from their eyes.

NO JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS
Outside the courtroom, Aymen Derbali, who was left quadriplegic in the shooting, said he was "very upset and astonished" that Bissonnette did not get more time.

"I had hoped for justice for the victims, for the people who died, and that the sentence reflected the seriousness of the crime," he said.

"This was a very serious attack in a place of worship."

Surrounded by members who lamented having to face Bissonnette at a parole hearing in the future and relive the tragedy, mosque president Boufeldja Benabdallah said: "We are completely stunned."

On January 29, 2017, Bissonnette burst into the Quebec City mosque and unleashed a hail of bullets on the 40 men and four children who were chatting among themselves after evening prayers.

Security video footage showed a cold-blooded killer strategically and methodically firing dozens of shots, retreating to a safe area to reload his nine-millimeter pistol at least four times, "like he was playing a video game," recounted one witness.

Six men were killed and five were seriously injured.

The victims were all dual nationals who emigrated to Canada over recent decades: two Algerians, two Guineans, a Moroccan and a Tunisian.

They were a scholar, a butcher, a daycare operator, a food industry worker, a public servant and a computer programmer ‐ all connected by faith.

Introverted and educated, Bissonnette had been described after his arrest as a white supremacist opposed to Moslem immigration but not affiliated with any group.

At the start of his trial in 2017, he said he had been suicidal, "swept away by fear and by horrible despair," and deeply regretted his "unforgivable" actions.

He also told the court he hoped for a "ray of hope at the end of the long, dark tunnel in which I lost myself on January 29."
Deutsche Welle adds:
While Huot said the attack was motivated by prejudice, he said it did not constitute a terror attack. The judge cited Bissonette's mental health issues, including an obsession with suicide.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists


Iraq
ISIS executes three young Iraqi men in Saladin
[Rudaw] ISIS kidnapped and executed three Iraqis in Saladin province.

Three young men ‐ two brothers and another relative named Saad, Omer, and Mohammed Jassim ‐ went out searching for prized desert truffles in the Makhoul mountains area on Thursday, Jammal Aakab, media officer of the Saladin provincial council, told Rudaw.

"When they reached areas inaccessible to cars, ISIS gunnies kidnapped them," Aakab said.

The next morning, "their corpses were found thrown in an area close to the road," he said.

Another government source confirmed that the three, from al-Mashhak village, were kidnapped and killed by ISIS.

This is the season for desert truffles and people often go out hunting them in the deserts and flatlands. They can be sold for a good price.

Provincial council member Farhan Mohammed al-Dulaimi had previously warned people about looking for the truffles in desert areas, saying there was a risk from explosives planted by ISIS or left over from the war.

The mountain ranges of Makhoul, Hamrin, and Qarachogh are known to be hideouts for ISIS remnants who frequently carry out attacks on the local populations and security forces.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Hashd raid commander’s HQ for vowing to avenge novelist Mushthoub’s death
Interesting infighting among Iraq’s Iranian catspaws, as some proud Arabs decide to no longer dance to the hated Persians’ tune.
[Rudaw] Hashd al-Shaabi jugged
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
one of its own commanders who had called for retribution following the recent slaying of his cousin, author Alaa Mushthoub.

People in black cars without license plates raided the headquarters of the Abo al-Fadhl al-Abbas Brigade on Thursday night, a source told Rudaw, rounding up its general secretary and all the individuals present.

The Hashd's Security Directorate soon responded, announcing it had detained Aws al-Khafaji, the secretary-general of the Abo al-Fadhl al-Abbas Brigade, and closed four "fake" Hashd bases in Baghdad’s Karrada.

Khafaji was also detained.

"This measure was instated following a meeting between the security [directorate] of Hashd with the al-Karrada municipality and the security forces so as to close bases pretending to be affiliated with Hashd al-Shaabi," added the Hashd statement.

When the brigade's office was closed, people inside protested.

"Thus, disciplinary measures were taken against them," added Hashd.

Khafaji is a prominent Shiite holy man and politician. He claimed some Shiite militias had killed his cousin, the prominent Iraqi novelist Alaa Mushthoub who was slain in Karbala on Saturday.

Khafaji was a Sadrist but in 2012, he established his brigade, a unit within the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi that has fought also in Syria to prop up Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...

Good to know.
Mushthoub was known for his criticism of Iran and its interference in Iraqi affairs, even writing that Iraq would do better and be stronger if Iran is weaker.

"Our defense of Iraq can't be used to justify our defense of Iran. This controversy has made people lost their trust in us," said Khafaji in an interview with Iraqi media.

Within the Hashd al-Shaabi there are some commanders who reject Iranian influence and are publicly nationalist. Others have loyalty and are propped up by the Islamic Theocratic Republic.

Khafaji called for retribution for the blood of his slain kin, saying no one could silence the "voice of truth."

"Those who spilled forbidden blood on the forbidden soil [of Karbala] to silence the voice of the truth won’t be left or unattended to," said Khafaji in a video.

Justice in Iraq is often exacted by tribal blood feuds. The tribal leader of the Khafaji demanded on Friday for Aws to be released within 24 hours.

By the fatwa of Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the highest Shiite religious authority in Iraq, the Hashd al-Shaabi was formed to fight against ISIS.

The group was eventually incorporated into the Iraqi defense apparatus by parliament. The national security advisor heads the Hashd, but officially follows the orders of the Iraqi prime minister.

However,
women are made to be loved, not understood...
the forces in reality operate independently and many are controlled by figures close to Iran.
Update from Al Ahram at 9:30 p.m. ET:
A statement from the Popular Mobilization Forces says four Baghdad offices of al-Khafaji's group were closed because they were located in residential neighborhoods. It said members were arrested after rejecting the closure.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Palestinians say two teenagers shot and killed in Gaza border protest
[IsraelTimes] 8,000 gather for weekly border riots, throwing rocks, fire bombs and explosives at soldiers, who respond with tear gas and live fire.

Two Paleostinian teens, including a 14-year-old boy, were shot and killed during mass protests along the Gazoo border, where 17 others were maimed by live fire, according to the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,-run health ministry in the Strip.

Some 8,000 Paleostinians gathered along the border for the weekly demonstrations and riots, throwing rocks, fire bombs and explosives at soldiers, who responded with tear gas and occasional live fire.

The health ministry said that the 14-year-old boy, identified as Hassan Shalabi, was shot in the chest in a protest near Khan Younis in southern Gazoo. Media reports said Shalabi was a relative of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank...
Shortly after, the ministry announced the death of 18-year-old Hamza Ishtawi, saying he was shot in the neck during similar festivities east of Gazoo City.

The Israeli army declined to comment on the deaths, but said 8,200 "rioters and demonstrators" had been protesting along the border.

"They are hurling rocks at troops and towards the security fence, as well as a number of bombs that did not cross the fence," a front man said.

Israeli troops "responded with riot dispersal means and fired according to standard operating procedures," he added.

Friday’s protests were held at various locations along the border under the banner of Hamas’s ongoing "March of Return" demonstrations.

For the past several months, Egypt, UN special coordinator to the Middle East grinding of the peace processor Nikolay Mladenov and Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
have worked to try to restore calm in Gazoo and prevent flare-ups between Israel and terror groups in the Strip.

Also this week, Israel announced that it had begun the final phase of construction of a 20-foot high galvanized steel fence that will completely surround the Strip.

The barrier will extend 65 kilometers (40 miles) miles around the enclave and sit atop the subterranean concrete wall Israel is constructing around Gazoo to block terrorist groups’ attack tunnels.
Deutsche Welle points out:
Paleostinian protests along the fence separating Israel and Gazoo are in their 46th week in a row. More than 250 Paleostinians have been killed and some 6,000 injured by live Israeli fire during this period.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Southeast Asia
Unconfirmed reports that key Abu Sayyaf leader killed in Philippines
[Arab News] MANILA: A key leader of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), believed to have been involved in the Jan. 27 twin bombings of a Roman Catholic Cathedral in the Philippines, was killed in a military offensive in southern Sulu island, authorities said on Thursday.

Maj. Gen. Divino Rey Pabayo, commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ‐ Joint Task Force Sulu, said information had been received about Indang Susukan’s death.

However, the Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG), the police force that tracks the ASG, could not confirm the reports of Susukan’s death. "We’re still validating the information," an AKG official told Arab News.

Susukan belonged to one of the main ASG factions on the Sulu islands, commanded by Hatib Hajjan Sawadjaan.

Authorities said Sawadjaan deployed the two alleged suicide bombers from Indonesia to carry out the attack on Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral, which killed 23 people and wounded more than 100.

Following the bombings, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered government troops to crush the ASG and other militant groups on the island of Mindanao.

On Feb. 2, the military engaged approximately 100 ASG members in a fierce gunbattle in the jungles of Patikul town in Sulu.

Five soldiers and three ASG gunmen were killed, while 18 were wounded from the government side and 15 from the group, including Susukan. According to intelligence reports, he succumbed to his wounds on Feb. 4.

Pabayo said an announcement will be made when the information is confirmed, adding that Susukan was linked to high-profile kidnapping cases.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/09/2019 01:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf (ISIS)

#1  Dead is good. If not now, try harder
Posted by: Frank G || 02/09/2019 6:26 Comments || Top||

#2  How dead?
Posted by: gorb || 02/09/2019 12:07 Comments || Top||

#3  No need to stop trying to eliminate the vermin.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/09/2019 16:04 Comments || Top||


Sawakjaan thought to be new IS leader in Philippines
[BenarNews] A senior Abu Sayyaf commander accused by local authorities of planning twin bombings that killed 22 people at a Catholic church last month has likely emerged as the new leader of Islamic State in the country, according to a top U.S. defense official.

Glenn Fine, inspector general for the Department of Defense, said Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Hatib Sawadjaan was believed to be the new acting IS leader in his quarterly report to Congress. The report covered October 1 to December 31 last year, but was made available to journalists in Manila only on Thursday.

Sawadjaan is the target of a massive military operation in Jolo, where the military and police accused him of masterminding the twin blasts that hit the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on January 27.

The report identifying the IS emir in the Philippines was significant because no “unified leader” for the terrorist group has clearly emerged in the Philippines after the death of Isnilon Hapilon in October 2017.

Hapilon, the acknowledged chief of IS in the Philippines, was killed at the end of the takeover of the southern city of Marawi. While the IS did not confirm a new emir after Hapilon’s death, Sawadjaan was known to be in command of a pro-IS faction.

Abu Dar, who also fought in Marawi but escaped as Filipino troops closed in on the ruined city, was initially thought to be next IS leader in terms of seniority. Two days before the Jolo cathedral bombings, the military overran what it said was a jungle encampment of Dar, also known as Humam Abdul Najb, near Marawi, although officials said the rebel had escaped.

Dar, is believed to be a cousin of the Maute brothers, who plotted the siege in Marawi with Hapilon. He is believed to be the highest-ranking Filipino leader of Marawi militants, and is said to be the next in line to inherit the IS leadership.
Posted by: ryuge || 02/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf (ISIS)


Five suspects in Philippine cathedral attack surrender
[Latin American Herald Tribune] Five Abu Sayyaf rebels accused of involvement in a cathedral attack in the southern Philippines have surrendered before the authorities, police said Monday. The January 27 attack killed at least 23 people and left some hundred injured.

Police said the attackers were led by a local insurgent identified as Kammah Pae, who has also surrendered but has denied any involvement in the bombing at a Sunday mass gathering. Philippine National Police Chief Oscar Albayalde said, "I am pleased to announce the surrender over the weekend of Kammah Pae and four other persons, who performed individual roles in that incident."

Kammah Pae, alias “Kamah,” is the leader of Ajang Ajang
...reportedly a faction of Abu Sayyaf made up of several dozen relatives of Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom group members killed in clashes with the government ...
which operates in Jolo under the Abu Sayyaf.

Kamah has not yet admitted his role in the attack. He is thought to be the brother of Surakah Ingog, an Abu Sayyaf leader who died in combat in 2018. However, his associates have indicated that he was the person accompanying the suicide attackers who blew themselves up at the cathedral.

The other four suspects have been identified as Albaji Kisae Gadjali, Rajan Bakil Gadjali, Kaisar Bakil Gadjali and Salir Alih.

Albayalde said the five men were compelled to surrender as the result of a large scale operation launched by the security forces in the area. The Philippine military launched its offensive against Abu Sayyaf two days after the bombing with attacks from land, sea and air in the remote city of Patikul, in Sulu province.
"Please don't kill me"
On Friday, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año confirmed that the attack on the cathedral at Jolo, the capital of Sulu province, involved two Indonesian suicide attackers aided by Abu Sayyaf members.
Posted by: ryuge || 02/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf (ISIS)


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
High ranking jihadist commander assassinated in southern Idlib
[ALMASDARNEWS] A high ranking jihadist commander was assassinated in the Idlib Governorate this evening after a group of unknown assailants targeted his home.

According to opposition activists, the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham
commander Alaa al-Deen Abu Mu’awiya was killed on Friday when three unknown assailants opened fire on him while he was returning to his in the village of al-Bara.

The town of al-Bara is located in the Jabal al-Zawiya region of Idlib; it is considered a stronghold for the jihadist rebels of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.
Posted by: Fred || 02/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


Russian soldier killed by Turkish-backed rebels in Hama
[ALMASDARNEWS] A member of the Russian Armed Forces has been killed in Syria in the line of duty, authorities from the Tikhoretsky District of southern Russia’s Krasnodar Territory, where the serviceman lived, said in a statement.

According to the statement, the dear departed service member has been identified as Maxim Pletnev.

"Since 2012, he served in the airborne forces of the Russian Armed Forces... On January 31, 2019, [Pletnev], aged 25, was killed in the line of duty", the authorities said in a statement.

The details about Pletnev’s death in Syria have also been published on a website that posts information about soldiers who served in the military of Russia, the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire.
Posted by: Fred || 02/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte



Who's in the News
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3Moslem Colonists
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3Abu Sayyaf (ISIS)
2Hamas
2Sublime Porte
2Govt of Iran
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2Govt of Iran Proxies
1Hezbollah
1Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army
1Govt of Iraq
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1Arab Spring
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2019-02-09
  Unconfirmed reports that key Abu Sayyaf leader killed in Philippines
Fri 2019-02-08
  Islamic State leader survives coup attempt
Thu 2019-02-07
  Sanaa University launches weekly lectures to ‘analyze’ Houthi leader speeches
Wed 2019-02-06
  Turkish-backed rebel groups use heavy weapons to attack one another in Afrin
Tue 2019-02-05
  German ISIS terrorist that starred in mass execution video of Syrian soldiers wants to go home (video)
Mon 2019-02-04
  C. Africa reaches peace deal with rebels: government
Sun 2019-02-03
  Report: Fire in Iranian space center kills 3 scientists
Sat 2019-02-02
  60 people reportedly killed from a fresh attack by Boko Haram
Fri 2019-02-01
  Syrian Army unleashes large-scale attack across northern Hama
Thu 2019-01-31
  Haftar's son-led brigade arrests al-Wakwak
Wed 2019-01-30
  Egypt police arrest 54 Muslim Brotherhood members, foil terrorist plot: Ministry
Tue 2019-01-29
  Deir Ezzor: Hundreds of civilians, fighters flee IS stronghold in Syria
Mon 2019-01-28
  Interior ministry: Six Islamic State militants apprehended in Mosul
Sun 2019-01-27
  Bombs kill at least 19 outside cathedral in southern Philippines
Sat 2019-01-26
  ‘SOS’ call from Chinese embassy in Islamabad keeps law enforcers on their toes

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