A Taliban group commander affiliated with Mullah Mohammad Rasool has declared Jihad against Taliban’s self-declared supreme leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor in northwestern Badghis province of Afghanistan.
The Taliban commander, Mullah Ghafoor Tufan, has accused Mansoor of working for Pakistan’s Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) and murdering several Taliban leaders.
He has also accused Mullah Mansoor of killing the Taliban group founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, a claim which the Taliban dissident leaders were making following his death.
Another Taliban splinter group, Fidai Mahaz, said last year that Mullah Omar was poisoned to death by Mullah Mansoor following the opening of the Taliban liaison office in Qatar which resulted to serious rift among the two leaders.
The announcement to fight the militants loyal to Mansoor was made recently in Qads district which comes days after a deadly infighting among the fighters of the two top Taliban leaders.
The infighting in Shindand district of Herat province left nearly 200 militants dead and scores of others wounded, while the Taliban insurgents were accused of war crimes, including killing of civilians and torching their houses.
Meanwhile, the local residents in Qads district have expressed deep concerns regarding the gathering of the Taliban militants declaring war against each other, with local provincial council officials calling on the government to prevent the group to organize such gatherings.
The US is set to supply the Kenyan Air Force with five special military helicopters to boost efforts against terrorism.
The helicopters militarily known as Huey II Standard are improved versions of the decades-old Bell UH-1H combat operation helicopters. The Bell UH- 1H Huey is a daily workhorse with an expansive cabin providing multi-mission flexibility and a standard seating of 12 people.
Our Marines finally upgraded?
The supply to Kenya also includes aircraft spare parts, special tools, operator and maintainer training, read a March 16 notice on the US Federal Business Opportunities website.
Kenya Army has a limited number of helicopters; most of the country’s rotary-winged-lift capabilities are fielded by the Kenya Air Force based in Eastleigh. Sources in the military said the helicopters are destined for Somalia, where KDF soldiers are fighting al Shabaab militants under the African Union peacekeeping mission. The troops need aerial firepower to combat the militants who continue to wage several attacks in Somalia and Kenya.
Jane’s World Air Forces (JWAF) said the Kenya Air Force has two Mil Mi-171 ‘Hip’ helicopters, procured in 2010, and 11 Eurocopter SA330 Super Pumas dating back to 1977.
Kenya Air Force is the largest and arguably most professional air arm in East Africa, with several dozen MD500 helicopters, mainly in the combat role. It also has several SA 330 Pumas, half a dozen IAR 330 helicopters, eight Z-9s and several armed Mi-171E helicopters. The Z-9s were delivered from China in 2010 and are the armed versions.
The leader of Somali regional federal state of Æthiopia Abdi Mohamud Omar (Iley) said they have deliberately stopped the water flow into Shabelle rivers, the main resources of Somalis.
“We are storing Shabelle river water flow behind the walls for a dam purpose and irrigation of our own farming fields in Somali region of Ethiopia,” said Iley.
He said the move is more important for his people rather than the dying Somalis who are 80% dependent on the Shabelle river water, in terms of their cultivation of the farms.
The comments by the leader of Somali regional administration of Ethiopia come as Shabelle river water which come from Ethiopia and goes through southern Somalia has dried up, causing sever drought.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/25/2016 00:00 ||
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Riyadh- After the U.N. special envoy to Yemen announced the Houthis acceptance of implementing resolution 2216 – which stipulates ceasefire, abandoning arms and application of the Gulf initiative and national negotiated agreements- Yemenis across the Sadaa governorate were overwhelmingly relieved.
Implementing the 2216 U.N. resolution represents the first step towards the end of the years-ongoing war that ravaged the country.
U.N. special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed spoke to reporters in New York on March 23rd, and said that conflicting Yemeni parties have agreed to ceasefire. End of hostilities will be put into effect as of 9th of April, midnight. Negotiations will resume between both conflict parties for a third round of peace talks, which will take place on the eighth day after the truce in Kuwait.
The truce offers force withdrawal from cities, confiscation of heavy arms by the government, the launch of final security preparations for Yemen, restoration of government, appeal of political negotiations in Sana’a and the establishment of committees for captives on both conflict ends.
U.N. envoy Ahmed confirmed that the upcoming round of peace talks will be a last chance for terminating war in Yemen.
He emphasized on all sides to the conflict to abstain from any tension prodding action, so that the road to ceasefire is best paved. This is a chance to urge everyone to have faith in good, and the possibility of accomplishing political solution for the war-torn country, U.N. envoy Ahmed added.
In a phone call with Yemeni Vice President Khaled Bahah, U.N. envoy Ahmed confirmed the importance of the devoted efforts spent by the legitimate government for peace-making. Among the considerable efforts are the recent meetings joining Bahah and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Kimoon , in each of Paris and Abu Dhabi, to deliberate on the peace-making process in Yemen.
The Yemeni official news agency announced that Ahmed and Bahah, in the phone call, have discussed on all efforts for a truce and reinstating peace in Yemen, which are based on the Gulf initiative and its executive mechanism, the outcome of national comprehensive negotiations and the U.N. resolution 2216.
Vice President Bahah praised the constant efforts of U.N. special envoy Ahmed, and highlighted the essential need to halt the ongoing conflict and the establishment of permanent peace for a secure future.
On his behalf Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi pointed out that despite all field measures, his administration is concerned with the lives of Yemeni people and homeland interests, which urged them to use wisdom when dealing with their humanitarian and ethical responsibilities for the Yemeni people.
In the ballpark, a Yemeni MP revealed that Russia and Oman have directly mediated for ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh to safely exit Sana’a with his family. The legitimate government received the mediating proposal, which set Saleh’s escape in exchange for handing in the Republic Guard’s arms and delivering Sana’a with no military confrontations; Saleh is also to be free from legal prosecution.
[DAWN] The Foreign Office has stated that 84 Pak nationals, who are being held at Moscow airport since early Thursday morning, are likely to be deported by evening.
"The Foreign Office is in touch with the Russian embassy in Islamabad on the matter," said FO spokesperson Nafees Zakaria.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... has taken notice of the reports of Paks stranded in Moscow and has directed Pakistain's Ambassador in Russia to help them, a statement issued by the PM Office said.
It said the premier had directed the Pakistain Ambassador in Russia to take up the matter with Russian authorities at the earliest.
Later, the FO front man in a statement said Russian authorities had "granted consular access" to the Pakistain embassy in Moscow to meet the stranded individuals.
"A Russian-speaking embassy official is meeting the stranded passengers. The issue is also being taken up with the Russian embassy in Islamabad," Zakaria said.
He said the Russian foreign ministry had "confirmed that the stranded passengers were served with food and are being looked after appropriately."
"They will be repatriated by evening today and those who were earlier repatriated are in transit in Istanbul," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[Mail] The uncle, who asked not to be named, said they had been bright school pupils before going off the rails. He said: ‘They were really nice guys. They were very serious and they studied a lot.’
It was around this time they worked for a cleaning company at the airport, he said.
But they dropped out of school, turning to crime, and in 2011 Ibrahim was jailed for nine years for shooting at police with a Kalashnikov rifle following a bungled robbery. The next year, Khalid was sentenced to five years for car jackings. He too had been armed with a Kalashnikov.
The brothers had been radicalised in prison, the uncle said. Speaking at his home in Laeken, the working-class neighbourhood where the brothers grew up, he said: ‘Ibrahim didn’t have any money. That is why he did the robbery, because he wanted to get some money.
Posted by: Besoeker ||
03/25/2016 08:22 ||
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#1
The downside of incubator prisons, cheap labor and poor employment vetting.
[IsraelTimes] Belgian TV says Salah Abdeslam intended to execute coordinated bombing, shooting attack in Belgium prior to his March 18 arrest
Salah Abdeslam, an alleged planner of November’s Gay Paree terror attacks who was caught in Brussels last week, was planning to carry out attacks of a similar style in the Belgian capital prior to his arrest, a Belgian broadcaster reported Thursday.
According to the report on the VRT network relayed by Rooters, Sherlocks believe Abdeslam and two other men -- one of which was tossed in the calaboose Book 'im, Mahmoud! with him -- were planning a large-scale attack involving both jacket wallahs and gunnies with assault rifles, in order to inflict massive civilian casualties.
The network did not cite any sources for the report.
Abdeslam’s lawyer said Thursday his client "didn’t know" about this week’s suicide kabooms at the Brussels airport and on a metro train. Asked if Abdeslam had prior knowledge of Tuesday’s attacks in the Belgian capital, lawyer Sven Mary said in English: "He didn’t know it."
"Salah Abdeslam told me that he wishes to leave for La Belle France as soon as possible," Mary added. "I will ask the investigating magistrate not to oppose his departure."
Abdeslam has not cooperated with Sherlocks since the attacks in the Belgian capital, his lawyer told Europe 1 radio in an interview broadcast on Thursday.
If the police have his laptop and his cell phone they don't really need him...
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/25/2016 01:21 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Brothers Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui reportedly filmed hours of footage of home of the director of Belgium's nuclear program.
The terror cell that bombed Brussels airport and the city’s subway may have planned to target one of Belgium’s nuclear sites and had gathered surveillance footage of the home of a senior nuclear director which was filmed by the El Bakraoui brothers -- identified as two of the jacket wallahs behind the deadly attacks earlier this week.
An earlier February raid on the Brussels home of jugged Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! terror suspect Mohammed Bakkali’s wife turned up over 10 hours of video showing the Flanders home of the Research and Development director of the Belgian Nuclear Program, the daily Derniere Heure reported Thursday.
The footage was filmed on a camera hidden in bushes opposite the home, and was recovered by two men who drove off in a car without the lights on.
Those men have been identified as Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui who took part in the Tuesday attacks on the airport and the Maalbeek metro station, which killed 31 people and injured over 150 others, the report said.
Their names were not published at the time due to the ongoing investigation.
After Sherlocks examining the footage last month made the connection between the subject of the video and the nuclear program, security was beefed up at French and Belgian nuclear sites with army units being drafted in to provide additional protection.
Ibrahim El Bakraoui was identified as one of at least two suicide bombers who targeted the Brussels airport. Authorities Thursday stepped up the manhunt for a third airport attacker, seen wearing a hat and white jacket on CCTV footage from Zaventem departure hall, whose explosive-packed suitcase failed to go off with the two other suicide bombers.
Khalid El Bakraoui went kaboom! at the Maalbeek subway station killing 20 people. Local media, citing unnamed sources, said a second suspect was filmed by surveillance cameras in the metro station carrying a large bag alongside Bakraoui.
Bakkali, who had rented the Brussels apartment where the video footage was found, is being held on suspicion of terrorist activity and involvement in the November 13 2015 Gay Paree terror attacks that killed 130 people.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] The US State Department warned American citizens of an imminent terror threat in Sofia, Bulgaria and advised citizens to avoid specific locations in the city.
In case you know anyone going there in the near future, dear Reader.
[USA Today] Two days after the worst terror attack on Belgian soil, signs are growing that the Belgium government failed to address security lapses that might have contributed to Tuesday's bombings.
The European Union told Belgian authorities to remedy gaps in their border security just weeks before suicide bombers attacked Brussels Airport and a metro station, killing 31 people and wounding 270, according to a report published Thursday.
The revelation that a list of recommendations was sent to Brussels in February urging it to repair its "deficient" security checks came after Belgium apparently failed to monitor one of the suicide bombers despite warnings from Turkey.
It also followed Belgian and French media reports that a second attacker, possibly at large, is suspected in Tuesday's metro bombing along with Khalid El Bakraoui.
El Bakraoui’s brother Ibrahim, and Najim Laachraoui, were identified as two suicide bombers who targeted Brussels Airport the same day.
[IsraelTimes] Belgian federal prosecutors said Thursday that an international arrest warrant for terrorism-related offenses was issued in December for the suicide bomber who blew himself up at a Brussels metro station two days ago.
Persecutors also said in a statement that Khalid El Bakraoui had rented a flat in the southern city of Charleroi, “which served as a base for the terrorist group implicated in the Paris attacks.”
The announcement from prosecutors came amid widespread criticism of Belgium’s approach to immigration and security, as well as reports that Brussels officials had specific information about the terror plot, and the attackers were known to police.
Israel’s Channel 2 television reported Wednesday that Israeli officials had warned Belgian counterparts of the numerous security failings at Brussels airport weeks before the deadly bomb blasts ripped through the site.
#1
We tried being nice to them and they still try to kill us - it must be the fault of the police.
On the other hand, no one criticizes the US security system, except for the long lines, pat-downs of grannies, the occasional firearm slipping through airport security, and then - of course - Boston and San Bernardino.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/25/2016 7:32 Comments ||
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#2
How soon we forget the FBI's monstruous lapses in the weeks leading up to 9/11.
The Belgian police have also been hampered by bizarre rules. According to Belgian Justice Minister Koen Geens, just two days after the Paris attacks Abdeslam was “likely in a flat in Molenbeek.” But because of the country’s penal code, which prohibits raids between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. unless a crime is in progress or in case of fire, police were ordered to wait until dawn to pursue him. By then, Abdeslam was nowhere to be seen.
Words fail. I'm just gonna go sit in the SinkTrap.
#5
But because of the countryâs penal code, which prohibits raids between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. unless a crime is in progress or in case of fire
When we lived there, I was told by the American Women's Club (an international organization with branches in most countries where there are American expats) not to let the police in after normal business hours because they were so corrupt that bad things would be done with impunity. You may not recall, SteveS, but there was a big child sex trafficking scandal in Belgium early in the new millennium -- it turned out the kidnap ring was being run out of the office of the Minister of the Interior. Note that it was not the ministry, but the Interior Minister's own office. Their top (cumulative) customer, as I recall, were the Dutch; the majority of the taken children had come to Belgium as refugees.
[USATODAY] Cities across the USA are preparing for the next phase that inevitably follows a terror attack: anti-Muslim backlash.
I've not yet seen the many predictions of an anti-Muslim backlash pan out. But Muslims and Progressives remain convinced of its inevitability.
Across social media, in public forums on college campuses, and even in mainstream political rhetoric from presidential candidates, anger over the deadly terror attacks in Brussels has spawned discontent and suspicion directed at Muslim groups. After 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.... grabbed credit for the attacks, leaders in Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and spoke out quickly to dissuade anti-Muslim sentiment.
The aftermath of an attack "is always a difficult time for Muslims in the United States," said Nabil Sheikh, a leader of the Muslim Students Association at Princeton University.
"On Princeton’s campus, students took to anonymous forums like Yik Yak to comment that there are Muslims at Princeton who are radical and would therefore condone yesterday’s attacks," Sheikh said. "These comments not only are appalling and inaccurate but also threaten the well-being of Muslim students."
The Muslim Student Association is the youth branch of the the Muslim Brotherhood in America, ie radicals. Q.E.D.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Any coverage of vehicle blockades trying to prevent members of the mosque from attending services?
#2
The aftermath of an attack "is always a difficult time for Muslims in the United States," said Nabil Sheikh, a leader of the Muslim Students Association at Princeton University.
"On Princeton’s campus, students took to anonymous forums like Yik Yak to comment that there are Muslims at Princeton who are radical and would therefore condone yesterday’s attacks," Sheikh said. "These comments not only are appalling and inaccurate but also threaten the well-being of Muslim students."
I'll just note that Nabil's first instinct was not to condemn the Brussels attack. As far as I'm concerned, that means he supports it.
#4
The aftermath of an attack "is always a difficult time for Muslims in the United States," said Nabil Sheikh, a leader of the Muslim Students Association at Princeton University.
It's probably more difficult for the victims themselves, as well as the friends and family of the victims. Not that the average Muslim would have any empathy for the victims of Muslim terrorists.
Posted by: regular joe ||
03/25/2016 9:50 Comments ||
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#7
I've not yet seen the many predictions of an anti-Muslim backlash pan out. But Muslims and Progressives remain convinced of its inevitability.
The Muslims and the Left always predict (wrongly, in most cases) that someone will do something because of the ethnocentric "That's what I would do" belief of imposing their own group's typical reactions on to what humanity as a whole would do.
Most people (and religions) I find are peaceful, welcoming and forgiving.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/25/2016 10:13 Comments ||
Top||
#8
IslamoPHOBIA? Phobia a strong, irrational fear of something that poses little or no real danger. This is not phobia. This is anger, and a justified rational response to a belief system that fosters terrorists. Fancy fake medical term. What the dancy fake medical term for Islamo-PissedOffWithAssholes?
"British Muslims Fear Repercussions Over Tomorrow's Train Bombing"
-- Classic line from Jim Treacher back in 2005
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/25/2016 11:27 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Japanese-Americans and German-Americans joined the US military to prove their loyalty and some were tremendous assets. Muslims complain about the never occurring backlash or join the enemy in droves.
#12
..that was the America of the 'melting pot' meme. The last three decades of 'multiculturalism' wants you to join your kin and blood against America.
#15
g(r)omgoru, you haven't seen a lot of articles of wanna-be Jihadists returning to the west disenfranchised by their experiences with ISIS? Or busted by FBI on their way to join? I'm not sure how many constitute a 'drove' but I don't think the term is out of line.
#19
Join, attempt to join, I don't think that changes the point at all. They are not siding with the West the way the Japanese and Germans living in America did during WW2.
#21
#14 Guys: you're listening to a college student.
Sure, but he's only the first of -- ummm -- eight or nine Muslim spokesmen channeled by several "journalists" in a bigtime news outlet with no analysis, let alone rebuttal. CAIR's a "civil-liberties organization," for Pete's sake? If they'd thrown in the SPLC, I think I might've cried.
[Daily Excelsior] Pak-American terrorist David Headley today told a court here that LeT wanted to eliminate Bal Thackeray Head of Shiv Sena, which is pushing "Hinduvta" in India......
but the person who was assigned the job to kill the late Shiv Sena A Hindoo nationalist political movement that presents a resistance using the same nasty tactics to aggressive Islamists and that's a pain in the underwear to other Indian political parties... chief was "nabbed
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... said Thursday that Washington and Moscow had agreed to aim at having a new draft constitution for Syria drawn up by August, after over four hours of talks with President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... .
"We agreed on a target schedule for establishing a framework for a political transition and also a draft constitution, both of which we targeted by August," Kerry said at a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Kerry also said Thursday he and Putin had agreed to push the Syrian regime and rebels to accelerate talks on a political transition to end their civil war.
Kerry would not say whether Putin had agreed that Syria’s Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... should step down as part of the transitions but insisted that Russia and the United States agreed the strongman "should do the right thing" and engage in the peace talks.
Kerry said earlier on Thursday a fragile partial truce in Syria had reduced levels of violence there, but that he wanted to see a further reduction as well as greater flows of humanitarian aid.
"It’s fair to say three weeks ago there were very very few people who believed a cessation of hostilities was possible in Syria," Kerry told Lavrov, his Russian counterpart, at the start of talks in Moscow.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2016 00:00 ||
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DAMASCUS – Military forces from North Korea are fighting in Syria to support the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, an opposition official said.
“Two North Korean units are there [in Syria], which are Chalma-1 and Chalma-7,” said Asaad al-Zoubi, head of a delegation for the Syrian opposition’s High Negations Committee (HNC) to the Geneva talks.
Speaking to the Russian state agency TASS, Zoubi stressed that the North Korean troops are “fatally dangerous”.
“Those two North Korean units are there to support the Assad regime,” he said.
The Syrian opposition has earlier claimed that the North Korean regime is providing military support to Assad in Syria.
In early 2013, former president of the Syrian National Council, Burhan Ghalioun, had said that North Korean pilots were flying in the Syrian Air Force.
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 Taliban group commander affiliated with Mullah Mohammad Rasool has declared Jihad against Taliban’s self-declared supreme leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor in northwestern Badghis province of Afghanistan.
The US is set to supply the Kenyan Air Force with five special military helicopters to boost efforts against terrorism.
[DAWN] The Foreign Office has stated that 84 Pak nationals, who are being held at Moscow airport since early Thursday morning, are likely to be deported by evening.
[IsraelTimes] Brothers Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui reportedly filmed hours of footage of home of the director of Belgium's nuclear program.
[USATODAY] Cities across the USA are preparing for the next phase that inevitably follows a terror attack: anti-Muslim backlash.
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
DAMASCUS – Military forces from North Korea are fighting in Syria to support the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, an opposition official said.
