Somalia National security and police forces have on Thursday morning closed key roads of the Somalia capital, Mogadishu, in a bid to thwart the Shaboobs, officials and witnesses said.
A witness told Shabelle Media that hundreds of Somali troops were visible on the main streets of Maka Al-Mukarama, refusing private cars, donkey carts and public transportations to use on that road for security reason. He added that all people, students and pedestrians were allowed to pass on roads on their foot while Somali pickup trucks with soldiers, encircling on the closed roads.
The motive behind the closure of the key Mogadishu roads are yet to be established but reports indicated that ministers from IGAD are expected to arrive in Mogadishu.
So maybe that's the reason...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/10/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
Ethiopian forces under AU Mission in Somalia known as AMISOM, have on Wednesday night withdrawn El-Garas town of Galgadud region in central Somalia, witnesses said.
The forces from Ethiopia are reportedly vacated from the town of El-Garas and moved towards Dhusomareb town, the capital of Somalia's Galgadud region, according to local residents, who spoke with Shabelle Media in Mogadishu. Ethiopian forces under AU forces have also recently pulled out key towns in central Somalia after recapturing them from the Islamists of Al Shabaab, months before.
African Union peacekeeping and Ethiopian Officials have not given any details on the vocation made by Ethiopian force on Wednesday night
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/10/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
Mogadishu -– Somalia’s Shabaab militants, al-Qaeda’s main affiliate in Africa, on Friday praised the massacre at the Charlie Hebdo satirical weekly in Paris as a “heroic” act.
It would be perfectly okay with me if the French, after taking care of business at home and certain other locations, came to Mogadishu and extirpated the Shaboobs...
“They made millions of Muslims happy by taking action. Some misguided people claim that freedom of expression was attacked, but that is not the case, and the two heroic people acted accordingly,” Radio Andalus, the official mouthpiece of the militants, said in a commentary.
“They cut the head of non-believers who insulted our beloved prophet,” the radio said, adding that Osama Bin Laden had “told the West that if freedom of expression has no limit, then you have to expect your blood to be shed.”
It said the satirical magazine had “insulted our prophet and annoyed millions of Muslims”, and described the attackers as “our two brothers [who] were the first to take revenge”.
Alluding to early eyewitness accounts, the radio also noted that the two brothers suspected of carrying out the killings had “declared that they are part of al-Qaeda”, the Islamist network to which the Shabaab are also affiliated.
The Shabaab were also linked to Mohamed Geele, a Somali man who was convicted of a 2010 axe attack against Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, who had faced numerous death threats since his caricature of the Muslim prophet Mohammed appeared in the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten in 2005. Geele is serving a 10-year sentence for the attack.
Not nearly long enough...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/10/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under:
[IsraelTimes]. At rally lauding Charlie Hebdo ...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe... massacre, holy warriors call for further assaults on La Belle France, Jews
Islamists in Algeria shouted anti-Semitic slogans at a rally celebrating the slaying of 12 people in Gay Paree.
Several dozen men participated in the rally that took place Wednesday outside a mosque in the Belouizidad district of Algiers, the news site tamurt.info reported Thursday.
They shouted “strike La Belle France and the Jews,” “Allah is the greatest” and “Charlie is dead.” French authorities suspect the January 7 attack on the offices of the Charlie Hebdo weekly was carried out by Islamists who targeted the publication for its satirical cartoons lampooning Islam.
Elsewhere in Algiers, Islamists celebrated the deadly attack with a dance party on the street near the Djamaa Lihoud mosque, tamurt.info reported.
In La Belle France, Jewish groups called on their members to attend a vigil in Gay Paree on January 11 in memory of the people killed in the attack.
“All French citizens must stand united with Charlie Hebdo,” the Union of Jewish Students of La Belle France, or UEJF, wrote in its statement about the rally.
CRIF, the umbrella group of French Jewish communities, also called on its members to attend.
The two gunnies, caught on video outside the magazine’s offices, are the subject of a massive manhunt.
Following the killing, two co-founders of the Free Gazoo Movement suggested the attack was carried out by the Israeli Mossad spy agency to malign Moslems.
Greta Berlin, quoting an unknown source, wrote on Facebook: “Mossad just hit the Gay Paree offices of Charlie Hebdo in a clumsy false flag designed to damage the accord between Paleostine and La Belle France,” the website honestreporting.com reported.
Another co-founder of the movement, Mary Hughes-Thompson, wrote on Twitter: “#Hebdo killings indefensible. Can’t help thinking #JSIL Mossad false flag though.”
CRIF and other Jewish organizations have criticized Charlie Hebdo in the past for publishing material deemed offensive to Moslems and Jews, including a front-page cartoon in 2012 that showed a haredi Orthodox Jew and a Moslem saying, “No mocking.”
In 2009, a French court acquitted a Charlie Hebdo cartoonist of incitement to hatred charges over a cartoon that suggested that the French former president Nicolas Sarkozy ...23rd President of the French Republic. Sarkozy is married to singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, who has a really nice birthday suit... was converting to Judaism for financial reasons.
Citing the Sarkozy case, Wikileaks on Thursday said on its Twitter account that “the Jewish pro-censorship lobby legitimized attacks on Charlie Hebdo for ‘offensive’ speech.”
[AnNahar]. Three assailants killed during an attack on Saudi border guards on the frontier with Iraq this week were Saudi citizens, the interior ministry said on Friday.
An investigation is still under way to determine the nationality of a fourth assailant, a jacket wallah, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
Monday's rare attack in Suwayf in the northern Arar region killed three Saudi border guards, including a top commander.
Police later tossed in the clink Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! seven suspects in Arar -- three Saudis and four Syrian citizens -- the interior ministry said, adding that boom belts, hand grenades, automatic rifles and revolvers were seized.
[ARABNEWS] The Ministry of Higher Education called on Saudis who are preparing to study abroad to avoid illegal dawa (proselytization) activities outside the Kingdom, which are a clear violation of Saudi law.
This warning is part of an awareness program for Saudi students launched in Riyadh, with the participation of a number of government agencies. The program includes several lectures about the laws of countries which will host the Saudi students.
Dr. Ibrahim Al-Maiman, one of the lecturers, warned students about the dangers of being lured into illegal activities while abroad.
Students must avoid involving in unlicensed dawa activities when they study abroad. It is necessary to adhere and to local laws, while focusing on their academic programs. Involvement in illegal activities can destroy their future and thwart their academic pursuits, he said.
Hazal Al-Otaibi, director of Student Affairs at the Ministry of Higher Education, stressed the importance of these meetings to prepare students for their life abroad.
Saudi cultural attaches reports have shown that a large number of legal issues for Saudi students learning outside of the Kingdom, are significantly reduced when they attend the awareness lectures and events, especially since these programs were adopted by the Ministry of Higher Education, which covers all necessary and social aspects of Saudi students life abroad, Al-Otaibi pointed out.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia
[ARABNEWS] The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance has urged the nation to stand together in fighting the menace of terrorism.
It said that 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... is one of the most targeted countries in the world because murderous Moslems are seeking to thwart its progress in the economic, scientific and social fields.
The four jacket wallahs, who attacked a border post close to Iraq on Monday, were motivated by a deviant ideology and wanted to destroy the Kingdoms peace and security, Salman Al-Omri, the ministrys front man, said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency.
The Kingdom is the most targeted country in the world by terrorists, said the front man.
He said, The murderous Moslems do not want to see security, safety and stability prevailing in this country under the leadership of a strong government based on the book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet ( peace be upon him).
These murderous Moslems are trying to hold back the advancement of the Kingdom as it strives to join the ranks of the most advanced countries on the economic, education, social and medical fronts, said Al-Omri.
These enemies of Islam are trying to destabilize the Kingdoms prominent position in the Arab and Islamic world.
If those murderous Moslems were, as they claimed, sincere adherents of Islam, and Moslems, they should have striven to protect the blood of Moslems, said the front man.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
Progressive? From page 3: "publicly flogged a blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam"
It is to be exactly like the old BNP in every particular, no doubt, though of course completely new.
[Dhaka Tribune] A person named Kamrul Hasan yesterday announced that a new BNP will be formed soon.
Kamrul, who is a completely unknown face in the countrys politics, yesterday made the announcement at presser at the Lakeshore Hotel in the capital. Interestingly, only a selected few journalists from a handful of media houses were invited to the conference.
The BNP led by the loathesome Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... and Tarique Rahman ...the elder son of former President of Bangladesh Ziaur Rahman Bir Uttam, and Khaleda Zia, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh. He is the Senior Vice Chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). His nickname is Pino. There are allegations that Pino took a rakeoff from every foreign investment into the country while Mom was in office... is illegal. To revive Ziaur Rahmans BNP, here is an initative to form a new BNP, he said. He also said their formal announcement will come on January 16; on that day, they will also disclose who are with the new BNP.
Assuring that there is no government agency behind them, Hasan claimed that most big shots of the current BNP will join his New BNP. He also said the government's target to turning Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2041 was funny.
A circulated [sic] was signed by Javed Omar Rabbi, who claimed himself as someone from the crisis moment [also sic] of the party. Around a hundred young men -- wearing lungi and sleepers -- were present at the programme.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under:
China has punished 17 officials for lapses in connection with explosions and riots in Xinjiang in September.
Scores of people were killed in the violence which began when explosions killed six people. Riots followed the blasts and police gunned down 40 people, some of whom were trying to blow themselves up, state media said at the time.
After an investigation, Xinjiang's Communist Party committee gave 17 officials "party and government disciplinary" punishment for security and other lapses. Zhang Chunxian, the province's party secretary, said the security situation was "extremely grim".
He said, "Xinjiang's anti-terrorism fight has entered a phase that is more complicated and more intense. We must take the initiative to brandish the sword, take the offensive and comprehensively attack."
It is difficult for foreign journalists to report in Xinjiang, making it almost impossible to reach an independent assessment of the security situation.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has said Chinese officials have detained two brothers of a Uighur reporter living in the United States. A fourth brother was sentenced to five years in prison in 2014 for violating state security laws, according to the group.
US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Thursday, "We're deeply concerned by reports that family members of the Radio Free Asia journalist Shohret Hoshur continue to be harassed, including reports that his brothers have been imprisoned, apparently in retribution for his reporting."
[MEDIAITE] Now that the two remaining Charlie Hebdo ...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe... massacre suspects are dead, along with the gunman behind the Kosher market standoff, La Belle Frances most-wanted person is a 26-year-old woman named Hayat Boumediene.
Boumediene is the (non-state-sanctioned) wife of hostage-taker Amedy Coulibaly, who died Friday evening during the police raid. She is a one-time cashier who reportedly married him in a religious ceremony four years after he was convicted of armed robbery. Because their marriage was not a civil ceremony, the government of La Belle France does not recognize their matrimony.
According to law enforcement officials, Boumediene was with her husband when the pair shot and killed a policewoman and proceeded to take hostages (killing four of them) at a Kosher bakery in Gay Paree. She somehow managed to escape either before or during the final police assault, officials claim.
As part of a 2010 investigation into Coulibalys possible ties to Islamic extremism, Boumediene told police examiners that she had become radicalized by her lover, and that she viewed America as the ultimate evil. When I saw the massacre of the innocents in Paleostine, in Iraq, in Chetchna, in Afghanistan or anywhere the Americans sent their bombers, all that, she reportedly said, well, who are the terrorists?
And as the Daily Mail reports: The couple lived in nearby Bagneux, where they were known as devoutly religious couple, despite Coulibays regular run-ins with the law. They had reportedly gone on a trip to Malaysia together, and then recently disappeared from the neighborhood only to re-emerge when their names were all over the news.
So how did Boumediene, who is described as armed and dangerous, escape the same fate as her husband? Police union front man Pascal Disant suggested she may have slipped out during the confusion of the raid. 10 hostages were among those who escaped the premises during or after the firefight.
The manhunt is currently ongoing and will likely soon provide further answers as to how she eluded capture. Well update as more details become available.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia
[Ynet]. 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.... hard boy group praised the gunnies behind this week's killings at the Gay Paree headquarters of the Charlie Hebdo ...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe... weekly newspaper as "heroic jihadists", a monitoring group said Friday.
The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors radical Islamist organizations in the media, said Islamic State praised the gunnies in a brief note in its daily audio bulletin, which was distributed on Twitter and jihadi forums Thursday.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/10/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[ARABNEWS] One of two brothers suspected of carrying out the deadly shooting at a French satirical weekly met leading Al-Qaeda preacher Anwar Al-Awlaki during a stay in Yemen in 2011, a senior Yemeni intelligence source told Rooters on Friday.
US-born Awlaki was prominent in spreading Al-Qaedas bully boy message to European and English-speaking audiences and was an influential leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ...the latest incarnation of various Qaeda and Qaeda-allied groups, including the now-defunct Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that boomed the USS Cole in 2000... (AQAP), the groups most active affiliate. He was killed in September 2011 in a drone strike widely attributed to the CIA.
US and European sources close to the investigation said on Thursday that one of the suspects in the French attack, Said Kouachi, was in Yemen for several months training with AQAP.
The Yemeni source said Kouachi, 34, was among a number of foreigners who entered the country for religious studies.
Said and his brother Cherif, 32, are at the center of a huge manhunt in La Belle France following the killing of 12 people by gunnies at the offices of the satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo ...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe... in Gay Paree.
The two suspects are French-born sons of Algerian-born parents. Both men had been under police surveillance. Cherif was incarcerated Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! for 18 months for trying to travel to Iraq a decade ago to fight as part of an Islamist cell.
There was no claim of responsibility for Wednesdays attack. However, facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable... a witness quoted by 20 Minutes daily newspaper said one of the assailants cried out before getting into his car: Tell the media that it is Al-Qaeda in Yemen!
The Western intelligence sources said that after Said Kouachi returned to La Belle France from Yemen, both brothers appeared to have refrained from any activities that might have drawn the attention of French law enforcement or spy agencies.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wine tasting, Vince was about to start on his third quart... Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Turkeys top Moslem scholar denounced terrorism and violence committed in the name of Islam.
In remarks carried by Iranian media on Friday, Rouhani said violence and terrorism is reprehensible whether in this region, in Europe or in the United States.
Those who kill and carry out violent and murderous Moslem acts unjustly in the name of jihad, religion or Islam provoke Islamophobia ...the irrational fear that Moslems will act the way they usually do... whether they wish it or not, said Rouhani.
Turkeys top Moslem scholar Mehmet Gormez denounced the attack on the French satirical weekly as an unacceptable action targeting all faiths including Islam, saying he was pained to see Islamic values used as a pretext for slaughter.
Mehmet Gormez, the head of Turkeys Religious Affairs Directorate known as Diyanet in Turkish told AFP in an interview that the massacre was an attack on all faiths, including Islam.
I see this attack not only (as an attack) against a magazines employers, La Belle France, the West or Europe but against all faiths, all esteemed values and Gods messages of mercy and grace conveyed by the Prophet (peace be upon him) to humanity, he said.
Gormez expressed fury that the attackers had used sacred Islamic words like Allahu Akbar read out to every Moslem when they are born and repeated in each prayer time.
The brutal massacre of people is unacceptable. It is similarly unacceptable that they are carried out in the name of religion.
While unequivocally condemning the attack without any buts, Gormez said he deemed freedom of expression significant but said it has a limit. I believe that denigrating or insulting the values that make a person human in the name of freedom of expression is not correct.
When it is looked at by a different faith or culture, defamation especially on the subject of faith could become cultural torture, he said.
Gormez said violent attacks were not linked to Islamic traditions and they were carried out by individuals with maimed conscious and fatal identities who were raised in the shadow of wars and the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Neither Damascus nor Baghdad were cities in history where turbans speaking fluent Oxford English beheaded other people, he said, referring to the murders committed 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.... (IS) EU-born jihadists in Iraq and Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
[MEDIAITE] MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell and Professor Alan Dershowitz came to verbal blows Thursday evening during a conversation about what societal factors are to blame for the terrorist killing of 12 people Wednesday morning at the Charlie Hebdo ...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe... offices in Gay Paree.
Towards the end of their discussion, O'Donnell pivoted to the Gay Paree shootings, mentioning that his guest had earlier appeared on NewsmaxTV for a segment that has been billed online as Alan Dershowitz: La Belle France reaped what they sowed in the Gay Paree attack.
Dershowitz denied that is what he said, but O'Donnell confronted him with an actual quotation about La Belle France: They reward every terrorist. From there, the pair got into a heated argument.
Its a crazy thing to say, the MSNBC host declared in a clip first flagged by BreitbartTV. They do not reward every terrorist; do you want to say they've rewarded a few terrorists? Are you really going to sit here and say they rewarded every terrorist?
Virtually every terrorist who has been convicted and sent to prison in Gay Paree has either gotten out, the law professor pushed back. [La Belle France] voted for Paleostinian statehood for a country that was built on terrorism. They have done everything to avoid joining the fight on terrorism. I feel terrible for these people.
That set ODonnell off further, as he noted that many countries have supported such statehood. So most countries in the world are Alan Dershowitz' bad countries? he asked.
Dershowitz replied: Terrorism is rewarded. Europe is part of the problem. La Belle France is part of the problem. I feel terribly sorry for the victims, but La Belle France is part of the problem. Maybe this will give them a wake-up call and have them join the war against terrorism rather than becoming part of the problem of facilitating and rewarding terrorism.
O'Donnell warned his guest in return: I will advise you, just for the credibility of your own judgment on anything else you ever say publicly, don't ever say that La Belle France rewards every terrorist.
Through the crosstalk and shouting, Dershowitz said, Sir, I dont need your advice on this issue, just before the segment ended due to time constraints. O'Donnell expressed his regret that the law professor had failed to apologize for his statements.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia
[DAWN] A day after an intimate marriage ceremony which garnered hysterical media coverage, Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree... and his better half, journalist Reham Khan on Friday drove to Mufti Saeed's madrassa to distribute food to children.
With Imran in the driving seat, the couple pulled up at the madrassa, to meet and share a meal with Mufti Saeed and the students.
Due to the recent Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. tragedy, Imran had decided against having a grand Valima ceremony and chose to distribute food to less privileged children.
Shireen Mazari earlier told Dawn, Imran is in no mood to celebrate after the Peshawar tragedy, Mazari added. This is not a time to celebrate.
While speaking to the media from the madrassa, Imran Khan mentioned that the wedding was planned for later, but due to ill-informed news going viral, he decided to go ahead with the wedding.
"Getting married was not my plan right now, I thought I would do it after the 20th," said Khan. "But because of the kind of stories that were spreading and ill-informed news about Reham Khan, I decided to get married sooner. So, I spoke to my children and got married," he added.
The PTI chairman also said that Pakistain should start a new tradition. Instead of spending huge amounts of money on weddings, people should make efforts to donate to the underprivileged.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] Senior leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... (MQM) Haider Abbas Rizvi on Friday claimed that proscribed religious outfits are involved in assassinations of more than 100 party activists in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , DawnNews reported.
Speaking at a presser, he said that MQM workers are being targeted for raising voice against religious extremism and terrorists.
Know more: Taliban control 25pc of Karachi, claims MQM leader
Hinting towards Karachi, Rizvi urged Army chief General Raheel Sharif to extend the scope of ongoing military operation Zarb-e-Azb ..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)... in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
Commenting on murder of MQM worker Nadeem Ahmad, he said Ahmad was a witness in Ayesha Manzil kaboom and had identified the Lions of Islam involved in the deadly bombing.
Ahmad was killed after being identified by Lions of Islam while he was sitting outside a shop near Rehmat Chowk, Sector 11 of Orangi Town neighbourhood of the port city on Thursday.
The MQM leader said that Manzar Imam and CID police chief Chaudhry Aslam other witnesses of the terrorist attack have already been killed by the krazed killers.
Rizvi claimed that Nadeem Ahmad was receiving death threats from the Lions of Islam belonging to banned outfits, adding that Ahmad had also identified Lions of Islam in a court. He said killers of Nadeem Ahmad were murderers of the whole country.
The MQM leader was of the view that the party was being punished for its strong stance against Talibanisation in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
[AnNahar]. A team of camouflage-clad Iraqi soldiers lines up near the door of a one-storey house north of Baghdad with rifles ready, preparing to enter and search it.
For now, there are no murderous Moslems inside, and American and Iraqi instructors are on hand to tell them how to position themselves, where to look when they enter and how to hold their Kalashnikov assault rifles.
But these are skills the soldiers, who are some two weeks into a six-week training programme at the massive Taji base complex, may soon need to employ against foes who shoot back.
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.... (IS) jihadist group led a sweeping bully boy offensive last June that overran large areas north and west of Baghdad, and multiple Iraqi divisions collapsed during the assault.
A US-led coalition is carrying out air strikes against IS, and is also providing training aimed at rebuilding the Iraqi forces and readying them to fight.
The aim is to eventually train 5,000 federal soldiers and Kurdish fighters at five sites every six to eight weeks -- a tight timeline, especially for newly recruited troops.
There are four Iraqi battalions, of roughly 400 soldiers each, being instructed in infantry skills at Taji by a combination of US and Iraqi trainers.
Around 80 more are receiving tank training.
Most are recent recruits who volunteered after the IS-led offensive began, knowing that they would likely see combat.
Before this course, they received just a few months of basic training.
Now they are being trained for the house-to-house fighting that will be necessary to recapture the cities, towns and villages that IS holds.
The recruits will have to make split-second distinctions between murderous Moslems and civilians if they are to avoid casualties among residents whose support will be vital in the long run if IS is to be defeated.
Knowing how to approach, enter and clear a building are key skills that they will need.
The exercise begins with small teams of Iraqis rushing across open ground, going prone to avoid simulated enemy fire, then moving to take cover behind makeshift obstacles, including wooden doors.
- Shortage of experienced leaders -
The training programme is still in its infancy and some improvisation is necessary.
To mimic the sound of gunfire as the exercise unfolds, one American soldier has the unenviable task of repeatedly hitting a piece of metal with a hammer.
When they reach cover, the Iraqi soldiers are supposed to ready their assault rifles to fire -- saying "bang" to simulate shooting, as they are not using blank ammunition -- and then put the safeties back on before advancing again.
The second step is periodically forgotten, and U.S. instructors yell "put your safety on" at the errant trainees, sometimes accompanied by profanity.
The Iraqi soldiers then reach the building they will clear and "stack," lining up one behind the other along the wall with rifles ready, before moving inside.
The exercise also includes simulated casualties, with some soldiers being declared "maimed" so others can practise battlefield first aid.
"It's really taking a lot of the training from throughout the last couple weeks and kinda combining them into an event that... brings it all together," says Captain David Neveau.
The units training at Taji have a shortage of experienced officers and non-commissioned officers, so they are being selected from the ranks during the course.
"From a newly formed unit, they don't really have a bunch of NCOs and a bunch of officers, so we're trying to pick leaders from the group," Neveau says.
There is training for officers focusing on leadership, but another aim is to spread responsibility down the ranks.
We "actually have some of the commanders off to the side... letting some of the soldiers take their squads and teams through," says Command Sergeant Major Tony Grinston, who is overseeing the training programme.
"We're just trying to take small steps so that when... a leader goes down, the mission continues," he says.
But the key question is whether the Iraqi army will continue the training after the course is over -- something that U.S. soldiers say was not done after American forces departed in 2011.
"If you... teach them and then stopped doing it for a year or six months, you can't expect them to be good at it," Grinston says.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/10/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
[Business World] More than half of the firearms of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are scheduled to be decommissioned this year as the rebel group lays down its arms during a four-phase process expected to be completed next year.
Professor Miriam C. Ferrer, the chief negotiator for the Philippine government peace panel, said that 65% of guns belonging to the MILF will be decommissioned this year. The decommissioning process is set to be completed by 2016, the same year of planned Bangsamoro elections.
MILF troop strength has been estimated to be around 10,000 to 15,000 men.
Posted by: ryuge ||
01/10/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Moro Islamic Liberation Front
[DerSpiegel]. For years, it was thought that Israel had destroyed Syria's nuclear weapons capability with its 2007 raid on the Kibar complex. Not so. New intelligence suggests that Bashar al-Assad is still trying to built the bomb. And he may be getting help from North Korea and Iran.
Der Spiegel somehow goes where professional spies apparently have not thought to tread. Long article with a map and labelled overhead photo at the link.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/10/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
oops - I posted this also - you can delete it from the hopper
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2015 10:53 Comments ||
Top||
#2
That first sentence is ridiculous. Israel tried and probably succeeded in destroying the Syrian attempt at building a bomb AT THAT TIME.
No one in their right mind thought that they had destroyed the Syrian desire or commitment to or actions towards building a bomb.
[AnNahar]. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ...the latest incarnation of various Qaeda and Qaeda-allied groups, including the now-defunct Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that boomed the USS Cole in 2000... , which is reported to have trained one of the two suspects in the deadly attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo ...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe... , is seen by Washington as the jihadist network's most dangerous branch.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/10/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia
[RFE/RL] In the immediate aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, English-speaking militants claiming to be with the IS took to Twitter to praise the attackers.
As news broke of the attack, British female militant Umm Jafar Britaniyah, based in the Syrian town of Manbij, expressed her elation in a series of tweets. Her first post was "ALLAHU AKBAR!!!!!! OUR brothers in France!!! May Allah reward them abundantly and grant them VICTORY AMEEN!!" Then she called on Allah to "help [the gunmen] kill as many kafirs as they can."
Another female militant, who tweets in English as Umm Handhla posted her initial reaction to the attack: "ALLAHU.AKBAR buzzzzzzzzzzzzzn May allah protect the mujahideen in Franceeee!!! Shooting was maad!!"
On January 7 she tweeted, "The france [sic] drones hit my husband including 19 other brothers, i make dua [pray] that the mujahideens kill the pilot of that drone tooo!"
The next day, a second British female militant, Al-Britaniya who claims to be based in Raqqa, reacted to condemnation of the attack. She tweeted, "I don't see no one condemning the death of my husband although he was droned."
Other English-speaking IS militants said that France was an enemy of Muslims. A female militant, who goes by the name Bird Of Jannah (Paradise) tweeted that "France is an obvious enemy. Their hatred is strong."
Bird of Jannah added that Muslims should not feel sorry for victims of the attack, tweeting, "If you love them and feel sad for what happened to them, verily you carry no Al Walaa wal Baraa (loyalty and disavowal). Your aqeedah (belief) has distorted! Fear Allah!"
On January 9, as news broke that the suspects in the attack may have been surrounded by French security forces northeast of Paris, a male militant, who calls himself Abu Junaid As-Somali, tweeted his wish that Allah grant the two men access to Paradise, because they had "muted & killed that filthy najis (a person regarded as ritually unclean) Charlie."
As-Somali had previously claimed that the IS had been responsible for the attack, tweeting about the "Islamic State wilayat (province) of Paris" and telling "Muslims of France" that they were lucky not to have to travel thousands of kilometers "to seek martyrdom."
Posted by: ryuge ||
01/10/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
[Ynet]. Al-Qaeda murderous Moslems in Syria are plotting attacks to inflict mass casualties in the West, possibly against transport systems or "iconic targets", the head of MI5 Security Service said on Thursday.
"A group of core al Qaeda murderous Moslems in Syria is planning mass casualty attacks against the West," Director General Parker said in a rare public speech at MI5 headquarters in London. His last public speech was in October 2013.
Parker said around 600 British forces of Evil had travelled to Syria, many joining the Death Eater group which calls itself "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.... " and has taken control of swathes of Iraq and Syria.
[AnNahar]. President Barack Obama Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though.... appointed the U.S. Treasury's anti-terrorism and financial intelligence chief David Cohen to the number-two position in the Central Intelligence Agency, the spy agency said Friday.
Cohen, 51, has served as the Treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence since June 2011, fighting terrorism, weapons and drug trafficking, money laundering and other financial crimes.
"I look forward to his insights, expertise, and energy as we address the growing number and diversity of national security challenges facing America today," CIA Director John Brennan said.
The U.S. Treasury Department is rare among financial agencies in having its own intelligence operation.
Under Cohen, this has sought to snuff out the sources of financing for the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group and target sanctions against Iran and Russia.
He will become CIA deputy director in February, replacing Avril Haines who is departing CIA to be Obama's deputy national security adviser.
A lawyer by training, Cohen first joined the Treasury in 1999. He helped craft the legislation that formed the USA Patriot Act, passed after the 9/11 2001 terror attacks to battle terrorism and terrorism financing.
He returned to the Treasury in 2009 after practicing law in private practice for seven years.
#3
"I look forward to his insights, expertise, and energy as we address the growing number and diversity of national security challenges facing America today," CIA Director John Brennan said.
All of which points to John Brennan as the man calling the shots within the regime. Klingon musical chairs and tentacles deeply embedded in key nodes at State, Treasury and IRS. Little wonder Lois Lerner and her misdeeds have been so shrouded.
#6
I loved my .45 when I had one as an issue sidearm. When I went to Iraq, the first thing I did was to buy one to keep with me. In Libya, I found one and kept it under my pillow.
Why do I love the .45? Because you do not have to be a good shot to be effective.
You don't have to center punch a bad guy three times or hit him between the eyes to take him out. A hit, anywhere, will take an assailant down. Hit them in the foot, shoulder, hand, arm, leg, ANYWHERE and the fight is over.
That fact is essential in both self defense and combat because stress, fear, and groping around in the dark does not make for excellent marksmanship.
Note to Ordinance folks, a .45 will shoot through a wall, will a 9 mm?
Can a 9mm hit a guy in body armor so hard that it breaks ribs and induces shock? Can a 9mm hit a guy in body armor and knock them about 5 feet through the air?
Give me a .45 any day. A woman can use one, she only has to shoot once in the direction of the sound to cause a retreat.
A .45 is also very loud in close quarters something a 9mm is not and that is also a tactical advantage.
Only thing better than a .45 ACP is the .45 Long Colt used in the old Peacemaker.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
01/10/2015 11:52 Comments ||
Top||
#7
we're fighting horses now?
That was one of the 'requirements' when they picked up the M1911. We still had cavalry. They wanted to take out anyone else riding the beast. Seemed to work well for a long time as a base line. Now think drug crazed [insert your favorite adjective here] fanatic. Got to be PC these days, so, yes, drop a 'horse'.
#9
Now think drug crazed [insert your favorite adjective here] fanatic.
Actually, think AQI guys (predecessors to the Islamic State) injecting adrenaline directly into their heart like they did during the battle of Fallujah.
Posted by: frozen al ||
01/10/2015 13:29 Comments ||
Top||
#10
I like my 1911A1. Use low temp synthetic lubricant in winter sparingly. Have Wilson Combat 8 cartridge 47D mags. Don't have malfunctions.
Alaska State Troopers use Glocks which seem to be reliable in cold soaks and neglect for them.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/10/2015 13:47 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Glock 23 for me. Absolutely reliable wet dry dusty frozen or neglected. Dead easy to maintain. Compact enough to carry comfortably in a drop holster or a chest harness or even tucked into an ACU pocket, plus easy to handle in close quarters. The 40 S&W round is a one shot stopper - Austin texas 1 shot at 100 yards. And It carries 13 rounds per standard mag not 7 (most frequently ops use the 15 round standard-sized mag).
[Stars & Stripes] STUTTGART, Germany — A major U.S. Air Force base in the United Kingdom and 14 other installations scattered across Europe will close as part of a sweeping reorganization of U.S. forces on the Continent, the Pentagon announced Thursday.
Operations at RAF Mildenhall — home to Air Force special operations forces, air refueling tankers and 3,200 military personnel — will end, and missions carried out there will be moved to other locations, including Germany. RAF Alconbury and Molesworth, two other facilities in the U.K., also will close as part of a consolidation effort. Most of the missions there will be moved to RAF Croughton.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon plans to station two squadrons of F-35s at RAF Lakenheath by 2020, which ensures the continuous presence of U.S. air power in the country.
“In the end, this transformation of our infrastructure will help maximize our military capabilities in Europe and help strengthen our important European partnerships, so that we can best support our NATO allies and partners in the region,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement. The closure of the Joint Analysis Center (JAC) at Molesworth will be a major disruption of intelligence capability.
#3
The closure of the Joint Analysis Center (JAC) at Molesworth will be a major disruption of intelligence capability.
Yup and this administration is cutting the military to start funding their Illegal Alien Free for All. Sometimes I am reminded of an Austin Powers scene, you know the one, with the twins. And we are the ones who will be getting twinned ... Just like with the Clinton era "Peace Dividend" which paid off for a 9-11.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
Shireen Mazari earlier told Dawn, Imran is in no mood to celebrate after the Peshawar tragedy, Mazari added. This is not a time to celebrate.
[RFE/RL] In the immediate aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, English-speaking militants claiming to be with the IS took to Twitter to praise the attackers.
Innovative new concept pistol in diagram at right: 
RAF Molesworth, home of the highly decorated 
