Hi there, !
Today Sat 06/01/2019 Fri 05/31/2019 Thu 05/30/2019 Wed 05/29/2019 Tue 05/28/2019 Mon 05/27/2019 Sun 05/26/2019 Archives
Rantburg
531688 articles and 1855967 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 61 articles and 183 comments as of 10:54.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
22 Released from 'Islamic State Kidnapping' in DR Congo
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
15 21:06 Zhang Fei [1] 
0 [] 
0 [1] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [1] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [2] 
2 09:48 Woodrow [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
6 17:12 Woodrow [] 
0 [1] 
1 16:15 Skidmark [] 
1 12:08 SteveS [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
Page 2: WoT Background
1 18:22 M. Murcek []
2 16:27 Dron66046 []
5 17:55 JohnQC [1]
2 17:14 Woodrow [1]
0 []
0 [1]
0 [1]
3 20:02 Alaska Paul [1]
0 []
0 []
0 []
Page 3: Non-WoT
2 17:54 M. Murcek [1]
11 19:45 Rob Crawford []
5 16:10 Varmint Splat1454 []
0 [1]
9 17:16 Woodrow []
2 16:56 SteveS []
4 09:35 Skidmark [2]
2 15:55 Skidmark [2]
3 11:13 Dron66046 []
1 15:57 Skidmark [1]
4 07:55 Procopius2k []
2 09:37 Skidmark []
7 15:59 Skidmark [2]
0 [1]
2 11:27 Dron66046 [1]
4 16:25 Dron66046 []
4 11:34 Dron66046 []
9 20:20 Dopey Sheque3974 []
1 16:03 Skidmark []
11 22:36 Phaick Uneretle6310 []
Page 4: Opinion
5 23:35 Richard Aubrey [1]
8 19:26 Frank G []
5 21:06 Tyranysaurus Clavith3514 []
Page 6: Politix
13 18:21 NoMoreBS [1]
9 18:20 M. Murcek []
9 17:39 Besoeker []
13 18:58 charger []
Afghanistan
Taliban militants suffer heavy casualties in Special Forces raid, airstrikes in Paktiya
[KhaamaPress] The Afghan Special Forces and Air Force carried out separate operations in south-eastern Paktiya province killing dozens of Talibs.

The military officials said Tuesday the Afghan special forces conducted a raid in Tsamkani district of killed 14 Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
fighters and detained 7.

The officials further added that the Air Forces also carried out Arclight airstrikes in Tsamkani district killed 12 Taliban fighters.

The Air Forces also carried out two airstrikes in Bermal district killed 10 Taliban fighters and destroyed 2 vehicles.

The security forces conducted another airstrike in Zurmat district and killed 3 Taliban fighters, the officials added.

The anti-government armed bandidos holy warriors including Taliban have not commented regarding the operations so far.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/29/2019 09:27 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  I hope no women, children, civilians or fluffy bunnies were hurt. And yes, I do mean it. About the bunnies, anyway.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/29/2019 11:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Hell, a couple dozen innocents either way don't matter. They were asking for it! They were being used as human shields! This makes it OK for us to murder them.

Certainly this operation will lead us to victory. 17 years of war and it's all led up to this. We're going to win, and soon.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 05/29/2019 13:47 Comments || Top||

#3  What do you mean 'us', kemosabe? It's right there in the fucking first line who carried this operation out, and it wasn't 'us'. You seem to have this obsession about blaming 'us' for a lot of negative things that happened around the world.
Posted by: Raj || 05/29/2019 14:24 Comments || Top||

#4  Relax, Herb. No American hands dirtied. Afghan on Afghan this time. You'll pull out soon, leaving the Afghans to the mercy of the Khorasan and the Talibs. Not to mention ol' friend Pakistain.

You cannot save the muslim from violent death. It's the nature of the thing he/she is born in. All one can do is protect ones allies and endeavour to keep the worst ones from gaining power.

I agree the adventurist policies of the US backed by the military-industrial complex have brought mostly misery to this part of the world, but a wimp-out at this stage causes more problems than decades of arming fundamentalist militia against 'the commies' ever did.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 05/29/2019 14:36 Comments || Top||

#5  the adventurist policies of the US backed by the military-industrial complex have brought mostly misery to this part of the world

Sorry, the US and World's exploitation of the region's natural resources (oil) for the last century has contributed TRILLION$ of dollars to the local revenues along with astounding hydroelectric, manufacturing, construction and shipping industries.

Blame the wealth hegemony for the misery.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/29/2019 15:44 Comments || Top||

#6  Erb, hegemony.
This "H" is not silent.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/29/2019 15:51 Comments || Top||

#7  Twas a soft-spoken girl of Alberta:
Sure, birds fell asleep when they heard her.
As she stepped in the dance
All the youths pissed their pants
At the bloodcurdling way she yelled, "Murder!"
Posted by: Titus Theater1789 || 05/29/2019 17:17 Comments || Top||

#8  Believe me, if I had any say in what "we" do in the ME, Abdul and Amina's great great great great grandkids would not be around to talk about how fast, furious and throughgoing it was.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/29/2019 18:15 Comments || Top||

#9  Afghanistan isn't in the Middle East, genius. But your Hitlerian genocidal rantings have been noted.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 05/29/2019 18:40 Comments || Top||

#10  In M. Murcek's defense, Hitler was really bad at geography too. But he could laugh about it. He used to tell this overly long, unfunny story where the punchline was "And when I woke up, I was in Poland!" Everyone always laughed.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/29/2019 18:50 Comments || Top||

#11  Everyone always laughed.

Or they'd get shot!
Posted by: Raj || 05/29/2019 19:25 Comments || Top||

#12  Geography's just what you make it!
The china shop rule is, "don't break it,"
But some folks just take it
Or (oops!) shake and bake it:
The Reich's tag sez, "Adolf me fecit."
Posted by: Unolung Noodleman5405 || 05/29/2019 19:50 Comments || Top||

#13  Bless you, SteveS.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/29/2019 20:28 Comments || Top||

#14  "Hitlerian" and NeoCon". OK, I'm done (mostly) responding to 'Erb. We used to have a better class of trolls than handwringing blame-Amerikka firsters who were so ultra-patriotic™ *Pffffft*
Posted by: Frank G || 05/29/2019 20:42 Comments || Top||

#15  I'm pretty impressed at the recent record of the Afghan security services, if these numbers aren't exaggerated. They are really taking it to the enemy.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 05/29/2019 21:06 Comments || Top||


NDS Special Forces seize 2500 kilograms of explosives in Kabul
[KhaamaPress] The Special Forces of the National Directorate of Security
...the Afghan national intel agency...
(NDS) have seized 2500 kilograms of explosives in Kabul.

The Afghan Intelligence in a statement said Tuesday that the NDS Special Forces have seized the explosives from Bagrami district of Kabul.

The statement further added that the NDS Special Forces discovered the explosives from a Hino type truck.

According to NDS, the Talibs were looking to use the explosives to manufacture Improvised Explosive Devices and boom-mobiles.

The NDS Special Forces also tossed in the calaboose
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
three suspects in connection with the transportation of explosives, NDS added.

The Talibs group has not commented regarding the confiscation of explosives so far.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/29/2019 09:27 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Taliban attacks kill 10 Afghan troops, four policemen
[DAWN] A roadside kabooming claimed by the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
killed 10 Afghan soldiers in the country’s west while holy warrior attacks on security checkpoints in northern Afghanistan killed four coppers, local officials said on Monday.

The soldiers were driving back to base after picking up their salaries in the country’s western Farah provin­ce. They were travelling in a Humvee when the kaboom took place on Sunday afternoon in the Bala Buluk district, said Shah Mahmmod Nahimi, a provincial councilman.

"The blast was so intense that no one in the Humvee survived," he added.

Elsewhere, the Taliban targeted several checkpoints in northern Sari Pul province on Sunday night, killing four members of the security forces and wounding 22, said Zabiullah Amani, the provincial governor’s front man.

The attacks took place on the outskirts of the lovely provincial capital of Sari Pul and triggered gunbattles that lasted for hours, he said, adding that 15 Taliban fighters were also killed.

The Taliban grabbed credit for the Farah attack in a statement on their website but did not make any announcements about the Sari Pul attack.

Meanwhile,
...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck reached for the green sauce...
a sticky bomb atta­ched to a minibus carrying government workers in Kabul detonated on Monday morning, wounding 10 people, said police front man Ferdus Faramarz. One of the maimed was at death's door.
Posted by: Fred || 05/29/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
U.S. Military Says Kills 3 Militants In Northern Somalia
[RADIOSHABELLE] The United States military said Monday it conducted an Arclight airstrike on al-Shabaab
... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
in northern Somalia on Sunday, killing three bully boys.

The U.S. Africa Command (Africom), which oversees American troops on the African continent, said the latest strike, conducted in cooperation with Somali government forces, targeted Lions of Islam in the Golis Mountains.

"Currently, we assess no civilians were maimed or killed as a result of this airstrike," Africom said in a statement. "Our process and procedures allow for additional information to inform the post-strike analysis."

Sunday’s strike was the sixth the U.S. army has executed this month in the Golis Mountains, an area known for terrorist camps.

Posted by: Fred || 05/29/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)

#1  We need more drones and Hellfires. What is the Military Industrial Complex supposed to do, anyway? More drones, more Hellfires, more dead--than three--terrorists.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey || 05/29/2019 0:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Just how many brothers husbands does congresswomen Omar have?
Posted by: Woodrow || 05/29/2019 9:48 Comments || Top||


147 dead as Islamist gunmen target Christian students
Snip. From 2 April 2015, as noted by lord garth. We had the story then.

— trailing wife at 12:35 EDT
Posted by: Fred || 05/29/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)

#1  Nothing to see here. Move along. Besides, the Crusaders deserved it.
Sarc, if I have to....
Posted by: Richard Aubrey || 05/29/2019 0:31 Comments || Top||

#2  this was from several years ago
Posted by: lord garth || 05/29/2019 5:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Good catch, lord garth. Datelined 02 Apr 2015. Nice to know that Fred is not completely perfect. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/29/2019 12:32 Comments || Top||

#4  I think perhaps this is a good reminder of history.
The Christian deaths are greatly reduced.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/29/2019 15:47 Comments || Top||

#5  [Blush] Read the date in the upper right hand corner, not after who wrote it.
Posted by: Fred || 05/29/2019 16:25 Comments || Top||

#6  Old story but for shit sake, target them back.
Posted by: Woodrow || 05/29/2019 17:12 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Libyan National Army hands wanted terrorist Hesham El-Ashmawy to Egypt
[AlAhram] Egypt's most wanted terrorist was captured in Libya in 2018; he was successfully extradited to Egypt on Tuesday night after a high level meeting between head of Egypt's general intelligence and LNA commander Khalifa Haftar.

Egypt has successfully secured the transfer of Hesham El-Ashmawy,
...also in our archives under the spelling Hisham al-Ashmawy, the former Egyptian special forces officer is most recently emir of Ansar al-Islam and al-Mourabitoun, both connected to Al Qaeda in North and West Africa. ...
one of the most wanted bully boyz in Egypt, from his place of detention in Libya to Egypt on Tuesday night, according to a statement issued by the Media Office of the Egyptian Armed Forces

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/29/2019 00:10 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Africa Subsaharan
22 Released from 'Islamic State Kidnapping' in DR Congo
[AnNahar] Twenty-two people who were kidnapped in eastern DR Congo last week in a raid claimed 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....
have been released by their abductors, local sources said Tuesday.

"There are 22 (released) people in all -- 16 men, five women and a little girl," the government's administrator for Beni in North Kivu province, Donat Kibwana, told AFP.

"They were kidnapped in Samboko-Tchani Tchani in last week's attack."

One of those released AFP that the kidnappers freed the 22 after a three-day march following last Thursday's raid.

They were still holding six people, including five members of the same family, he said.

He said the kidnappers were physically different from local people and "speak good Swahili, like in East Africa (Tanzania)... and another language that I couldn't identify."

According to the SITE Intelligence group, the Islamic State group grabbed credit for the attack on "Chianchiani" and on another village, Kumbwa in Kamango.

They said they had attacked Congolese military bases.

Kibwana, in his initial account of the incident last Thursday, said 10 people had been kidnapped.

AFP could not immediately verify the claim by the so-called Islamic State jihadist group.

Last month, the group for the first time claimed to be behind an attack on a Congolese army position in North Kivu province.

Another Islamist-rooted organization, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) -- forced out of Uganda in the mid 1990s -- is regularly accused by the authorities of attacking army positions in North Kivu.

The ADF has also been implicated in attacks on civilians, notably a 2014 massacre in Beni that killed hundreds of people, as well as kidnappings.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/29/2019 02:15 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Europe
Lyon Bomb Suspect Mohamed Hichem M. Alleged Illegal Immigrant
[Breitbart] French media reports that the suspect in the Lyon, La Belle France, package bombing is an undocumented Democrat from Algeria.

Police incarcerated
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
Mohammed Hickem M., 24, on Monday on suspicion of being the perpetrator behind the suspected parcel kaboom in Lyon, La Belle France’s third most populous city, on Friday which resulted in 13 people being injured.

Sources speaking to franceinfo have said that even after a day in jug, the suspect believed to be "the man on a bike" who left in a paper bag filled with explosives outside of a bakery in downtown Lyon is not cooperating with police. Authorities confirmed that his parents, brother, and sister were also brought in for questioning.

The insiders added that DNA evidence from the scene has been linked to the suspect, while sources speaking to Le Gay Pareeien said that a search of the family home of Oullins, in Rhône, south-west of Lyon, uncovered the chemical elements used in the composition of TATP, the explosive substance identified in analysis of the bomb.

Interior minister Christophe Castaner told CNEWS that he was in "no doubt" that the person arrested was the author of the attack and that he "certainly" intended to kill.

Reportedly unknown to police, authorities have said that on initial investigation, Mohammed Hickem M. does not fit the Islamist terrorist profile, and authorities say they are still unclear of his motive, with a source telling media that "no element related to radical Islam has been discovered at this stage".

Le Gay Pareeien reports that the suspect was born in Oran, Algeria, in 1995, and he had described himself as a computer programmer on LinkedIn. Mohammed Hickem M. had travelled to La Belle France to live with his family two years ago, with Mr Castaner confirming: "He had short-stay visas and then applied for a student visa to enter a school."

A local Lyon technical college confirmed that he was not a student, stating that his application had been rejected in 2017 after the French consolate in Oran rejected his student visa application. According to information obtained by franceinfo, his temporary visas had expired and he had been living illegally in the country since 2018.

The suspect had also been working at the Ampère de Lyon high school, where pupils describe him as "a very kind supervisor, close to students, who laughed easily".

The device, according to Sherlocks, was sophisticated in its wiring but "the charge was too small to kill" and it had been a "relatively weak explosive charge". Crime scene Sherlocks were able to recover a number of items from the kaboom, including pieces of wiring, batteries, and a remote-controlled trigger device ‐ as well as the ball bearings and screws the bomb had to been packed with to cause injury and death to French bystanders.

Due to the lack of force of the bomb, no one was killed; the youngest casualty was an eight-year-old girl, who suffered superficial injuries.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/29/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists


India-Pakistan
Police find ‘suicide vest’ along route of procession
[DAWN] KARACHI: Police on Monday claimed to have recovered a suicide jacket and said that it might be made for carrying out an kaboom in the main Yaum-e-Ali procession in the city.

DIG-East Amir Farooqi told Dawn that police got reports that forces of Evil might target the Yaum-e-Ali procession and for the past three-four days the law enforcers had been carrying out combing operations in different areas from where the procession would pass.

On Monday morning, the law enforcers searched the narrow streets in Lines Area and found a suicide jacket behind the Shahabudin Market around 300 meters away from the route of the procession.

"There was a ring attached to a string," the DIG said, adding that the jacket might have went kaboom! like a hand-grenade if someone pulled the string or the pin.

"It [suicide jacket] was ready to use," he said and added that it was left abandoned outside a house in an isolated corner of a street due to the daily combing operations in the area by law enforcers.

"Had it not been recovered, they (terrorists) would have used it today," the DIG said.

Quoting a Bomb Disposal Squad’s report, the senior officer said that the suicide jacket weighed around six kilograms and packed with explosives and steel nuts/bolts to create maximum impact.

He said that the police detained 20 persons from the area for questioning.

Posted by: Fred || 05/29/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi


Two arrested as CTD foils terror plan on Youm-i-Ali
[DAWN] The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) has tossed in the slammer
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
two suspected gunnies who were planning to hit Shia community on Youm-e-Ali and seized explosives from them.

The suspects were arrested from a graveyard of Sialkot city’s Imam Sahib locality.

According to the CTD officials, it was an intelligence-based operation as the CTD team arrested two suspected terrorists, identified as Muhammad Abu Bakar and Muhammad Yousaf.

They said the suspects belonged to the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain
...a Sunni Deobandi organization, a formerly registered Pak political party, established in the early 1980s in Jhang by Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi. Its stated goal is to oppose Shia influence in Pakistain. They're not too big on Brelvis, either. Or Christians. Or anybody else who's not them. The organization was banned in 2002 as a terrorist organization, but somehow it keeps ticking along, piling up the corpse counts...
(SSP).

The officials added the gunnies were planning to target the local Shia people in Sialkot on the eve of Youm-e-Ali.

The CTD also recovered kaboom with safety fuse and detonator from them. The suspects made important disclosures regarding their subversive activities and plans of their organization in Sialkot region, the officials added.

The CTD has sent the suspects behind the bars after registering a case.

Posted by: Fred || 05/29/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi


Iraq
Iraq sentences 2 more French IS members to death, 6 so far
[Ynet] An Iraqi court on Tuesday sentenced two high-profile French members 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....
group to death, bringing the total number of French former jihadis condemned to death this week to six.

The men sentenced to death Tuesday were identified as Karam Salam Mohammed El-Harchaoui and Brahim Ali Mansour Nejara. They are among a group of 12 French citizens who were detained by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in neighboring Syria and handed over to Iraq in January. The Kurdish-led group spearheaded the fight against IS in Syria and has handed over to Iraq hundreds of suspected IS members in recent months.
An Nahar adds:
Brahim Nejara and Karam El Harchaoui, both in their 30s, were among 12 French citizens transferred to Iraqi authorities in January by a US-backed force fighting the jihadist group in Syria.

Nejara, 33, was involved in IS's foreign fighter operations, according to the French Terrorism Analysis Center.

He allegedly helped imported muscle join IS in Syria, persuaded one of his brothers to commit an attack in La Belle France, and was associated with Foued Mohammed-Aggad, one of the jacket wallahs at the Bataclan theatre during the 2015 Gay Paree attacks.

Harchaoui, 32, left for Syria in 2014 from Belgium. According to Belgian daily HLN, his younger brother and their Belgian wives were also IS members.

They have 30 days to appeal.

The remaining six face trial in the coming days under a law that allows capital punishment for anyone joining a "terrorist group" -- even those who did not take up arms.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/29/2019 02:15 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraqi airstrike kills 10 Islamic State militants in Salahuddin
Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) ‐ Iraqi warplanes killed on Tuesday 10 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....
hard boyz and destroyed two armored vehicles during an air raid in Salahuddin province.

"The Iraqi Air Force, in coordination with Salahuddin Operations Command, carried out an Arclight airstrike targeting Islamic State Death Eaters in Allas district in Salahuddin," Alsumaria News quoted the Security Media Cell as saying in a press statement.

The air raids left 10 Islamic State hard boyz killed and two armored vehicles destroyed, including a booby-trapped one, the statement read.

The operation also resulted in destroying two oil tankers at the site.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/29/2019 01:53 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Bomb attack kills two paramilitary fighters in Iraq’s Anbar
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) ‐ Two personnel of the paramilitary Popular Mobilization Forces were killed Tuesday in a kaboom in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, a local source said.

Speaking to Alsumaria News, the source said that a booby-trapped vehicle went kaboom! Tuesday morning in Barwanah town in Anbar province, leaving two Popular Mobilization Forces personnel dead.

The kaboom also maimed another fighter, the source said on condition of anonymity.

He added that a security force rushed to the blast site and started a search operation for other explosives.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/29/2019 01:53 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Turkish military launches operation against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq
[AlAhram] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
's military launched an operation with commandos, backed by artillery and air strikes, against Kurdish murderous Moslems in northern Iraq, the defence ministry said on Tuesday.

The military action began with artillery and air strikes on Monday afternoon and the operation by commando brigades began at 8 pm (1700 GMT) to "neutralise bandidos murderous Moslems and destroy their shelters" in an area across the border from Turkey's most southeastern region, the ministry said in a statement.

Massive Turkish op against PKK draws attention of President Erdogan Tuesday

[Rudaw] In widely publicized operations on Tuesday, the Turkish military targeted Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) positions in the northern reaches of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, spreading fear among locals.

"Intense bombings started at 8 a.m. and lasted until 1 p.m. sparking fear among locals," Ihsan Chalabi, the mayor of Sidakan, told Rudaw on Tuesday.

The operation, dubbed 'Operation Claw' by the Turkish military, utilized fixed wing aircraft, helicopters, artillery, and ground forces. It centered on Mount Khakurk in the northern parts of Erbil province. Sidakan is 90 kilometers northeast of Erbil in Soran district.

Turkish forces gained control of high points above Khalifan village, Shakiw mountain, and Gulasew peak on Tuesday. Previously, the PKK and Turkish forces have clashed for control of the areas.

"The sound of the bombardments were felt and heard by people inside Soran and Rawanduz towns, as well," he said, referring to areas to the east in Erbil province.

He added in addition to Khakurk, other areas like Lolan and Sinan also came under intense artillery fire.

Khakurk is about 30-40 kilometers south of the border with Turkey near Derecik district in Hakkari province, where the PKK and Turkey have been actively clashing.

The armed wing of the PKK, the Kurdistan Defense Forces (HPG), confirmed the Turkish incursion into "the Martyr Darwesh and Shakif areas of Khakurk in Southern Kurdistan with warplanes and helicopters at 23:00 on Monday..."

The HPG claimed Turkish media is trying to spread "lies and fake news to show that the operation is great."

Additionally, the HPG announced on Tuesday they targeted Turkish military vehicles in Basan, an area in Turkey's Igdir province. The Kurdish guerillas claimed they killed five Turkish soldiers and injured "a great number" more.

No side immediately reported its own casualties from the operations which began on Monday, and the Sidakan mayor told Rudaw English later on Tuesday that he was not aware of any casualties.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who rarely mentions specific operations against the PKK, "wished victory" for his "brave soldiers" involved in the attack.

He described the operation in a tweet as "a challenging operation against PKK fighters on Iraq-Turkey borders."

The Turkish Ministry of Defense confirmed in a statement on Tuesday that within the framework of Operation Claw their land and aerial forces launched an operation in the Kurdistan Region against PKK forces using Turkish commandos.

"The operation continues with the support of ATK helicopters as planned," it stated.

Separately, the ministry claimed it "neutralized" nine "PKK terrorists" during the operation. Ankara uses the word to refer to those killed, wounded, or otherwise removed from the battlefield.

It tweeted the operation "continues successfully despite bad weather and rugged areas."

In another rare display, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and other top generals personally commanded the operation from a war room, according to the ministry.

Turkey regularly carries out airstrikes and military offensives against alleged PKK positions in the Kurdistan Region.

The PKK, a banned political party in Turkey, is headquartered in the mountains of Qandil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq near the borders of Turkey and Iran.

Its jailed leader and co-founder, Abdullah Ocalan, has released two rare and somewhat cryptic statements this month through his lawyers.

Ocalan hadn't had legal counsel visitations since 2011, leading some to believe he is pursuing a softer struggle against the Turkish state for the party.

At least 4,356 people have been killed in clashes or attacks on both sides since July 20, 2015, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG).
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/29/2019 00:28 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Fire breaks out in forest near Gaza due to incendiary balloon
[IsraelTimes] The Israel Fire and Rescue Services say they are battling a blaze in the Be’eri Forest in southern Israel that was caused by an incendiary balloon. There have been at least two other such fires reported today.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/29/2019 00:42 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


IDF Arrests 17 Palestinians In The West Bank, Weapons And Money Seized
[Jpost] The IDF jugged
You have the right to remain silent...
17 Paleostinians in the West Bank overnight on Tuesday who are suspected of being involved in terrorist activities, popular terrorism and violent disturbances against civilians and security forces.

The suspects were transferred for questioning.

Meanwhile during IDF and Border Police searches in Hebron, a pistol and an M-16 were found. Tens of thousands of shekels worth of terrorist-related money was also seized, Mako reported.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/29/2019 00:42 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Court remands former Palestinian terror leader charged in recent attacks
[IsraelTimes] Second Intifada-era Fatah commander Zakaria Zubeidi also facing charges for shootings, bombings dating back more than a decade.

An Israeli military court on Tuesday extended the remand of a former Paleostinian terrorist leader charged with carrying out attacks against Israelis dating back over a decade, including some that had previously been excused under an amnesty deal.

The Samaria Military Court ordered Zakaria Zubeidi be held behind bars until the legal proceeding against him were completed, the army said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/29/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Fatah


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Saudi jihadist rebel commander killed by Syrian military in Hama
[ALMASDARNEWS] An important figure in the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham
jihadist group was killed over the weekend after the Syrian Air Force targeted a site he was present at.

According to a military report, the Sharia Chief of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, al-Mutassem Billah al-Madani, was killed on Sunday when the Syrian Air Force bombed a holy warrior site near the Idlib provincial border.

Al-Madani is a Saudi national that was considered a close confidant of the jihadist chief, Abdullah al-Muhaysni, who is also a Saudi national.

The death of al-Madani came on the same day that the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) took control of the key town of Kafr Naboudeh in the northwestern countryside of Hama.

Posted by: Fred || 05/29/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


Syrian Air Force bombs strategic base in southwest Aleppo
[ALMASDARNEWS] Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) carried out several Arclight airstrikes over the southwestern countryside of the Aleppo Governorate.

According to a military source in Aleppo city, the Syrian Air Force specifically targeted the Regiment 46 Base that is located just north of the Idlib Governorate’s border.

The base, which was captured by the bully boyz during the first years of the war, has served as an imperative installation for the jihadist rebels inside the Aleppo Governorate.

This heavy bombardment by the Syrian Air Force comes just days after the Syrian Arab Army sent a large number of reinforcements to the southern Aleppo town of al-Hadher.

The Syrian Army’s high command is mulling a new operation to clear all of the bully boy forces from the southern part of Aleppo.

Posted by: Fred || 05/29/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Syrian Air Force lets loose massive assault across southern Idlib
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) has unleashed a large number of Arclight airstrikes over the southern countryside of the Idlib Governorate this morning.

According to a military source in the Hama Governorate, the Syrian Air Force has specifically targeted several towns inside the demilitarized zone.

Among the Syrian Air Force targets in the southern countryside of Idlib were the towns of Kafr Sajnah, Kafr Auwayd, Tramla, Kafr Nabl, and al-Naqeer, the source added.

This attack comes as the Syrian Arab Army prepares to launch a new assault to advance deeper into the demilitarized zone region between the Hama and Idlib governorates.

Since capturing Kafr Naboudeh over the weekend, the Syrian Arab Army has redeployed several units to the northwestern countryside of the Hama Governorate.

These reinforcements will take part in the next Syrian Army operation to capture the town of al-Hobeit and the nearby hilltop of Tal Sakher.

Posted by: Fred || 05/29/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


At least 12 casualties in Khan Sibel, half children
[TWITTER]

Posted by: Fred || 05/29/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Could have been worse. Could have been 147.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/29/2019 16:15 Comments || Top||


Another hospital bombed in Syria and more clinic staff killed
[TWITTER]

Posted by: Fred || 05/29/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra

#1  Médecins Sans Defense Aerial
Posted by: SteveS || 05/29/2019 12:08 Comments || Top||


France has 'indication' of chemical attack in Syria
[DAWN] La Belle France's top diplomat said on Tuesday that the country had an "indication" that a chemical attack had been carried out in Syria's Idlib province this month, an attack alleged by Washington last week.

"We have an indication that chemical weapons were used in the Idlib region, but for now it has not been verified," Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told a parliamentary commission.

"We're being cautious because we consider that chemical weapons use has to be proven and be lethal, in which case we can react," he said.
"It could just be bad hummus"
President Emmanuel Macron has made use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government a "red line" that would trigger a military reprisal against the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
The United States has also threatened reprisals if the suspected Idlib attack is proven.

Russia and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...Qatar's colony in Asia Minor....
reached an agreement last September that nominally protects Idlib amid fears for the safety of some three million people in the northwestern area of Syria.

But Syria's former Al Qaeda affiliate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham
, has seized a large part of the province and adjoining areas, triggering a regime offensive that includes strikes by Syrian and Russian airplanes.

International inspectors say that Assad's forces have carried out a series of chemical attacks in the course of the brutal civil war, which has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since 2011.

A sarin gas attack in April 2017 in the town of Khan Sheikhun killed 83 people, according to the United Nations
...an idea whose time has gone...
, leading US 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...
to order a strike by 59 cruise missiles on a Syrian air base.

Posted by: Fred || 05/29/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria



Who's in the News
23[untagged]
6Govt of Syria
4Govt of Pakistan
4Taliban
4Islamic State
3Govt of Iran
2Hamas
2al-Shabaab (AQ)
2Commies
2al-Nusra
2Lashkar e-Jhangvi
2Moslem Colonists
1Sublime Porte
1Fatah
1Narcos
1Hezbollah
1al-Qaeda in North Africa

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2019-05-29
  22 Released from 'Islamic State Kidnapping' in DR Congo
Tue 2019-05-28
  IS claims responsibility for a Bangladesh explosion
Mon 2019-05-27
  Gunmen raid Burkina Faso church, kill four
Sun 2019-05-26
  Sri Lanka Troops Launch Major Hunt for Islamists Linked to Suicide Attacks
Sat 2019-05-25
  3 killed, 19 wounded in blast inside Quetta mosque ahead of Friday prayers
Fri 2019-05-24
  Emir of Al-Qaeda allied Ansar Ghazwatul Hind, Zakir Musa, has been officially killed
Thu 2019-05-23
  Algeria Army Chief Says Has ‘No Political’ Ambition
Wed 2019-05-22
   'American Taliban' released
Tue 2019-05-21
  8-10 Somali Teens Armed With Hammers Attack Bystanders at East Bank Rail Station in MN
Mon 2019-05-20
  Houthi's launch IRBM at Mecca!
Sun 2019-05-19
  Islamic State in West Africa Forming ‘Jihadist Proto-State’ in Nigeria
Sat 2019-05-18
  Drone strike kills notorious ISIS leader and his fighters in East of Afghanistan
Fri 2019-05-17
  Fighting grips Hodeidah port, complicates peace moves
Thu 2019-05-16
  F-16 with live ordinance crashes in Riverside CA.
Wed 2019-05-15
  Iranian ballistic missile platforms in Basra city directed towards the Gulf, Exxon evacuating, German mil. trainers evacuating

Better than the average link...



Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
54.225.24.249
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Background (11)    Non-WoT (20)    Opinion (3)    (0)    Politix (4)