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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
UK police arrest 5 in terror probe
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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Afghanistan
ISIS losing territory in Afghanistan
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) said Friday that the Afghan, U.S and NATO forces in Afghanistan will deliver a lasting defeat to Daesh amid the recent victories made by the Afghan and foreign forces against the group in several fronts across the country.

The alliance meanwhile has hailed the recent victories made by the Afghan troops and their foreign counterparts against Daesh in Afghanistan, stressing that Daesh is losing ground in the country.

U.S, NATO and Afghan troops are winning against Daesh in the battlefield and the insurgent group has lost large parts of its territories in the country particularly in the eastern province of Nangarhar, said Brigadier General Charles Cleveland, spokesman for NATO and U.S forces in Afghanistan.

He said that a 100 air strikes were carried out against Daesh over the past three months.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron has said that a stable Afghanistan is in the interests of world peace and security.

According to Cleveland, Daesh had seized six to eight districts across Afghanistan, but now the group controls only two or three districts and Daesh fighters are now on the run toward Kunar and Nuristan provinces bordering Pakistan.
He said that Afghan forces are now on the offensive.

"Hence what I want to try to do is a kind of comprehensive overview of how we see the threat as well as what we are doing from a mission standpoint and the purpose of all that really established a kind of starting point and kind of baseline.

U.S forces in Afghanistan continue to have a mission to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda and so do we have the authority to target any al-Qaeda member. In January, of course that authority or the authority for the U.S forces Afghanistan to begin targeting ISIS (Daesh) was also provided," he said.

Cleveland said that the Afghan forces are trying to take the fight to the enemy and that already there are indicators of that.

"They are trying to take the fight to the enemy. So we have already seen indicators of that and evidence of that. We have seen them engaging up in northeastern Kunduz and engaging the Taliban there. We have seen them begin to reestablish their presence in Helmand and we have seen them on the offense particularly trying to clear some areas on the eastern part of Helmand," he added.

In addition to this, Cameron in a meeting with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said the NATO mission in Afghanistan needed to ensure international peace and stability.

US statistics reveal that 1,000 to 3,000 Daesh fighters operate in Afghanistan.
Posted by: badanov || 04/16/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: ISIL-K

#1  I'm so old I can remember when ISIS didn't have any territory in Afghanistan

it was 2008, I believe


Snark of the day, low-hanging fruit division.
Posted by: Frank G || 04/16/2016 8:08 Comments || Top||

#2  ^
Golf clap
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/16/2016 8:30 Comments || Top||

#3  ^^

Loud golf clap.
Posted by: AlanC || 04/16/2016 9:04 Comments || Top||

#4  I call MOD Pet!
Posted by: Shipman || 04/16/2016 12:24 Comments || Top||

#5  *snicker*
Posted by: Frank G || 04/16/2016 12:52 Comments || Top||

#6  I thought his comment about Sheldon Silver was funnier.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 04/16/2016 14:00 Comments || Top||


ISIS potentially an ‘enormous’ threat in Afghanistan: Gen. Cleveland
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A front man for the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan has said the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group has the potential to be an ’enormous’ threat in Afghanistan.

The chief of communications for the coalition, Brigadier General Charles Cleveland, kept in touch with the world by Obamaphone,
...was ruled by a Democrat machine from 1942 through 1971. After the river caught fire during the administration of Carl Stokes they tried a Republican, then went back to being Democrats when the party hacked up Dennis Kucinich ...
, has said the threat exists despite the group has received major setbacks during the recent months, pointing towards the growing US forces Arclight airstrikes against the loyalists of the terror group.

"Obviously, we’ve all seen them, how rapidly they are able to spread, in other parts of the world," Gen. Cleveland said during a briefing at Pentagon.

He said between January and March, the United States has carried out 70 to 80 Arclight airstrikes against ISIS in Afghanistan, according to The Hill newspaper.

The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) carry out operations against ISIS, and the Taliban fights against ISIS, he added.

According to Gen. Cleveland "Here in Afghanistan, one of the things that appear[s] to be common to just about everybody is that nobody really wants ISIS in the neighborhood."

The General further added "And so, whether it’s the Taliban attacking ISIS, whether it’s locals trying to rise up against them or the ANDSF operations and now some of our unilateral strikes, we do think they are being contained more than they probably were last fall."

The General did not have a specific number of how many ISIS fighters remain in the country.

However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by...
earlier estimated indicated there are about 1,000 to 3,000 fighters, and that the number is probably on the lower end of that range, he added.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Africa North
EU to deploy security mission in Libya if requested
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
is signaling that it will consider moving security personnel into Libya to help stabilize the chaotic country if requested by a new UN-backed Libyan government, according to a draft statement seen by Rooters.

Impetus for the move comes in part from fears of an uncontrolled new tide of migrants colonists into Italia from Libya unless law and order can be rebuilt soon in the North African state.

EU foreign and defence ministers will hold a special dinner on Monday in Luxembourg where they are expected to agree to look into police and border training missions for Libya, initially in Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
, where the new government is trying to establish itself.

"The EU stands ready to offer security sector support in response to possible (UN) Government of National Accord requests," ministers are expected to say, according to a draft statement prepared by diplomats that is still under discussion.

"A possible civilian ... mission could support Libyan efforts ... through advice and capacity building in the fields of police and criminal justice," said the draft, referring to counter-terrorism, border management and tackling the smuggling of migrants colonists across the Mediterranean to Europe.

An EU security presence in Libya, which would not involve soldiers, would be Europe’s biggest step in the oil-producing nation since a NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
-backed mission led to the fall of Libya’s long-time leader Muammar Qadaffy
...The late megalomaniac dictator of Libya, admired everywhere for his garish costumes, funny hats, harem of cutie bodyguards, and incoherent ravings. As far as is known, he is the only person who's ever declared jihad on Switzerland...
in 2011.

Diplomats said there had yet to be a detailed discussion with the new UN-brokered Libyan government in defining what kind of assistance they wanted from the EU, and that it keen to avoid the impression of moving into the country uninvited.

"It is a delicate balance," said one senior EU official involved in the plans. "We need to prepare to help Libya, but we cannot jump the gun."

Libyan officials with the new unity government were not immediately available for comment on the specific document. But they have said any international security cooperation must be Libyan-led and so far have made no detailed request for aid.

But inviting in foreign military trainers remains a sensitive subject for the new government, who opponents accuse of being a foreign-imposed body with no legitimacy.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  Give the locals a common enemy?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/16/2016 5:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Recolonize it before they can finish colonizing Europe.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 04/16/2016 14:03 Comments || Top||


Egyptians Denounce President Sisi in Defiant Public Protest
[NYTIMES] More than a thousand people gathered in downtown Cairo on Friday, chanting slogans denouncing President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and protesting his decision to transfer illusory sovereignty of two islands in the Red Sea to Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
The demonstration was the largest in at least two years in Egypt. And it was the most significant public challenge to Mr. Sisi by antigovernment activists who have been all but forced into the shadows by a state crackdown on dissent.

By venturing into the streets in defiance of a strictly enforced ban on political protest -- testing the authorities’ often reflexive use of force -- the activists appeared emboldened by recent criticism of Mr. Sisi, including from once resolute government loyalists.

The downtown protest and a handful of other demonstrations were in response to Mr. Sisi’s decision last week to transfer illusory sovereignty of Tiran and Sanafir, two uninhabited islands at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea, to Saudi Arabia. The government said it was simply returning to Saudi Arabia territory that had been transferred to Egyptian control in 1950, amid concerns that Israel might seize the islands.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Arabia
$681M Donation To Prime Minister Najib Razak Was ‘Genuine,’ Saudi Foreign Minister Says
[IBTIMES] 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...
’s $681 million donation to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was "genuine," according to Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir, Malaysian state news agency reported Friday. Najib has been embroiled in a corruption scandal at state-run fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Al-Jubeir said that Saudi officials were aware of the donation and it was made without accepting anything in return, news agency Bernama reported. Malaysia’s Attorney General Mohammed Apandi Ali thoroughly investigated the case and did not find the donation to be unlawful, the Saudi minister added.

"So, as far as we are concerned, the matter is closed," Al-Jubeir said.

Najib, who set up 1MDB in 2009 to boost economic growth in Malaysia, has consistently denied the corruption allegations, first made in a July 2015 report by the Wall Street Journal, which said that Sherlocks tracked money from an account at Falcon Private Bank in Singapore to accounts in Malaysia.

In January, Apandi did not prosecute Najib for corruption allegations, saying the money was a "personal donation" from the Saudi royal family. However,
the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits...
he did not elaborate on why the royal family donated the money or what it was used for.

Earlier this month, the bipartisan Public Accounts Committee said the fund’s board -- headed by Najib -- did not carry out its responsibilities and that its former CEO Shahrol Halmi should be probed. The PAC report stated that the fund’s advisory board -- headed by Prime Minister Najib Razak -- should be abolished and any reference to the prime minister must be changed to finance minister in 1MDB’s memo and related documents.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia

#1  A little walking around money from a supporter. How much from his other ardent admirers is squirreled away in Najib's freezer?
Posted by: Betty Hitler2611 || 04/16/2016 8:38 Comments || Top||

#2  1MDB/IMDB. Nope, not confusing at all. They gotten no internet in Mal-Asia?
Posted by: JHH || 04/16/2016 15:57 Comments || Top||


Europe
Brussels Terrorist Was Star Of Documentary About Successful Integration Of Immigrants
h/t Instapundit
The Syrian-origin Swedish passport holder arrested in Belgium last week for his involvement in the Brussels bomb attacks is a former poster boy for Sweden’s efforts at integrating migrants into their society.

Now accused of murder, and captured on CCTV cameras carrying bags which contained the explosive devices which killed 32 civilians, Islamist Osama Krayem had once been hailed as a model of integration. A former employee of the city of Malmo, at the age of 11 Osama starred in a documentary about migrants in Sweden.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/16/2016 09:50 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So... another leftist plan that doesn't work?
Posted by: Raj || 04/16/2016 10:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Empowering the mentally ill.
Posted by: Shineper and Company4518 || 04/16/2016 10:35 Comments || Top||


Ask not from whom the AK-47s flow
BLUF: [The Economist] Some of these guns leak into local bazaars, or are seized when militias capture government arsenals. A study by Armament Research Services (ARES) of ammunition used by IS in an area of Iraq in 2015 found that 17% of it came from the Balkans. Videos on social media show Syrian militias using Croatian rifles--almost certainly among 10,000 supplied to Iraqi forces as part of a €100m ($120m) deal in 2014-15. In 2012 Croatian arms bought by Saudi Arabia were flown to Jordan for distribution to Syrian rebels in a deal backed by the CIA.
Emphasis added. With suspicions confirmed, you may wish to stop reading at this point.

Damn those ARES convicts, always sticking their bloody noses into things. Yes, that does appear to be a Millett LRS-1.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/16/2016 02:48 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How about "through whom"?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/16/2016 5:18 Comments || Top||


Belgian transport minister to quit over airport security
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Belgian transport minister resigned on Friday after accusations she lied about an EU report that criticized security at Brussels Airport a year before last month's ISIS suicide kabooms.

In a formal confirmation, the Royal Palace said King Philippe had accepted the resignation of Jacqueline Galant, who was expected to give a news conference shortly.

A day earlier, Prime Minister Charles Michel had defended Galant, who is from his own centrist party in the coalition government, insisting that her office had not been aware of a critical report sent in March 2015 by EU officials.

Government officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Public broadcaster RTBF quoted a front man for Michel's centrist MR party saying documents presented late on Thursday showed that Galant's office had indeed been told of the report.

On March 22, two ISIS jacket wallahs detonated suitcase bombs in the airport departure hall before a third struck a metro train in the city. In all, they killed 32 people.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
ISIS suspect says he's victim of FBI 'seduction'
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 04/16/2016 03:10 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


India-Pakistan
JI demands ‘Panama politicians’ resign
[NATION.PK] Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
chief Sirajul Haq
...current head of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. Siraj was born in 1962 and entered politics shortly after that...
has demanded of the politicians including 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...
having offshore accounts and assets confirmed by the Panama leaks to quit their party and public offices.

"Mr Nawaz Sharif should take lead in resignation after his family’s involvement in offshore companies was proved in Panama leaks," Sirjul Haq said while addressing the religious parties’ moot at Mansoora yesterday.

He held that the foreign assets of the rulers were much beyond the expectations of the people. "If these assets had been made through lawful means, there was no reason for hiding them in off-shore accounts," he added.

The JI chief said that the issue of Panama leaks would not die naturally. The parties who had been in power in the past had tried to conceal one another corruption but this could not continue now, he further said.

"Time has come that everybody have to account for his wealth and there won’t be any discrimination."

Sirajul Haq remarked that 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...
, a ’Dry Cleaning Plant’ had been installed and those coming out of it were issuing certificates of innocence to the extortionists, land mafia and hit mans.

He added that the rulers had forsaken morality which was the basis of all laws, constitution and democracy.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Pakistan denies 'preposterous' claims of involvement in attack on CIA base
[NATION.PK] Pakistain on Friday dismissed as preposterous reports that its intelligence agency helped fund a 2009 suicide kaboom on a CIA outpost in Afghanistan that was one of the deadliest attacks in the U.S. spy agency's history.

A heavily redacted U.S. government document, released under the Freedom of Information Act, said that an unidentified officer of Pakistain's Inter-Services Intelligence
...the Pak military intelligence agency that controls the military -- heads of ISI typically get promoted into the Chief of Army Staff position. It serves as a general command center for favored turban groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, tries to influence the politix of neighboring countries, and carries out a (usually) low-level war against India in Kashmir...
directorate paid $200,000 to the Haqqani network to facilitate the bombing.

The attack, at a site known as Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost, Afghanistan, killed seven and maimed six.

"Allegations in the media on Pakistain’s involvement with HQN are preposterous," a Pak Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement, using an acronym for the Haqqani network, which the United States has designated as a terrorist organization.

"In fact, we were shocked and deeply saddened when precious American lives were lost at the Chapman facility in 2009 in an unfortunate attack that was later claimed by TTP in a publicly available video, featuring the jacket wallah with the leader of the TTP," the statement said.

The TTP, or Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain, is the main Pak Taliban faction.

"Pakistain is determined to eradicate the scourge of terrorism and has taken action against all terrorist elements, without discrimination," the statement said.

The declassified U.S. government document, obtained by the National Security Archive, a non-governmental research institute at George Washington University, can be found here.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  A heavily redacted U.S. government document, released under the Freedom of Information Act,

Do the acquisitions require any further proof? Thank you IB. The PK release last year of Mumbai terrorist planner 'Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi' prompt your actions by chance? Once again, thank you Indian Bureau of Intelligence.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/16/2016 2:27 Comments || Top||


RAW ‘plans’ kidnapping Pak mily officers for Yadav bargain
[NATION.PK] RAW is planning to kidnap officers of Pak secret services from Pak territory for a possible swap with Commander Kulbhusan Yadav, a high-profile Indian spy caught last month from Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
Security agencies officials told The Nation yesterday that Indian intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) with the connivance of Afghan National Directorate of Security
...the Afghan national intel agency...
(NDS) has planned kidnapping Pak intelligence officers from Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


International-UN-NGOs
Islamic summit slams Hezbollah for ‘terrorism’
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Most states in an Islamic summit on Friday denounced Leb’s Shiite group Hezbollah for spreading "terrorism" and for destabilizing the national security of its member countries.

This week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him...
hosted the summit of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), comprised of 57 member states. Over 30 leaders attended the summit, including the Saudi king and Iranian president.

The final declaration expressed hope that negotiations that started in Geneva on April 13 would contribute to resolving "the Syrian crisis as soon as possible" and "deplored Iran’s interference" and "continued support for terrorism" not only in Syria but also Bahrain, Yemen, and Somalia.

OIC, however, did not officially blacklist Hezbollah nor circulate its final communique when it condemned the Lebanese group.

Hezbollah has long been a key ally to Iran, who are key backers of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
The statement comes after Saudi King Salman
...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Cutodian of the Two Holy Mosquesand Lord of Most of the Arabians....
made important trips to both Egypt and later The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
to improve and consolidate the kingdom’s ties with the two.

King Salman visits to Ankara showed a visible improvement ties between Turkey and 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...
since his inauguration as king in 2015.

Salman Dosri, an analyst, told Al Arabiya News Channel that it is "first time" that the summit denounces an Iranian proxy of such sort. He said Turkey is further consolidating its ties with Saudi since both "share the same outlook on Syria."

The host Turkey saw the summit as a chance to shore up its prestige in the Islamic world where Erdogan has made it his mission at the meeting to bring the world’s 1.7 billion Muslims closer together.

Erdogan, who chaired OIC’s final session, lamented the fact that Muslim countries who are "the heirs of a civilization that was built on columns of peace and justice are being remembered more for wars, armed conflict, sectarianism and terrorism."

"As Muslims, we cannot overcome our difficulties without achieving unity in spite of our differences," said the Turkish leader during the closing ceremony after delegates took a break to perform Friday prayers.

Erdogan also said the establishment of an international arbitration body in Istanbul is part of the OIC 2025 action plan and welcomed a decision reached a day earlier to create a Turkey-based police coordination center aimed at increasing cooperation against terrorism.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Turkey urges anti-terror OIC body
[NATION.PK] Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him...
on Thursday proposed the formation of a body within the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to solidify and institutionalise cooperation against terrorism.

This came in Erdogan’s opening speech to the opening session of the 13th OIC Summit held in Istanbul, under the theme "Unity and Solidarity for Justice and Peace".
The two-day summit is attended by heads of states and governments from over 30 countries.

It is necessary to conduct operations against terrorist groups on the ground, while there should be efforts to target those organizations’ financial and human resources, Erdogan said.

International cooperation is vital in this regard and establishing a body that would "solidify and institutionalise cooperation against terror within the OIC is the right step to take," he added.

Erdogan, whose country was handed over presidency of the OIC Summit, noted that terrorism is among the gravest problems facing the Islamic world.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  note that OIC also stands for Opioid Induced Constipation
Posted by: Frank G || 04/16/2016 9:11 Comments || Top||

#2  So dats what it wuz. They put a tube thru my nose to get out the evil green stuff, OIC, live and learn.
Posted by: Shipman || 04/16/2016 12:28 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Iraqi town freed from ISIS militants, but now isolated by war
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Outside the cop shoppe, Iraqi men in robes and headscarves wait for permits to leave the dusty border town of Rabia, which was wrested from ISIS 18 months ago but remains isolated and impoverished by the battle lines drawn around it.

To the east is the city of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, still held by ISIS krazed killers. To the west is the crossing into Syria, but that has been closed by Iraqi Kurdish authorities. The only way out is north to Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdish region, where authorities are suspicious of Rabia's mostly Arab residents and require them to apply to enter.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraqi PM: political crisis could hinder war on ISIS
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has warned that a political crisis engulfing his country over anti-graft reforms could hamper the war against ISIS myrmidons.

The crisis escalated this week with the cancellation of two voting sessions in parliament over a planned cabinet reshuffle sought by Abadi as part of his anti-corruption drive.

Tussles between politicians broke out on Wednesday, a day after the first attempted vote. After a second cancellation of the vote on Thursday dozens of politicians held a mock session where they removed the speaker.

"The conflict has crippled parliament ... and could obstruct the work of the government, impacting the heroic operations to free our cities and villages (from ISIS)," Abadi said in a statement issued late on Thursday.

Iraq, a major OPEC exporter which sits on one of the world's largest oil reserves, ranks 161th out of 168 countries on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index.

Corruption became a major issue after global oil prices collapsed two years ago, shrinking the state budget at a time when it needed additional income to wage war against 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....
, the ultra-hardline Sunni group that controls swathes of northern and western Iraq, including the city of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
Abadi announced a government overhaul in February under pressure from the clergy of Iraq’s Shiite majority.

He initially proposed independent technocrats as candidates to try to free the ministries from the grip of a political class that built its wealth and influence on a patronage system put in place after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Abadi then modified his list to include candidates nominated by the dominant political groups, prompting protests inside parliament by politicians who say it will again result in corruption.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas leader pledges to stick by ‘the rifle and the tunnel'
[IsraelTimes] Ismail Haniyeh says the issue of incarcerated Paleostinians is ’at the top of our priority list’; dozens riot near Israeli border

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank...
said Friday the group remained committed to armed struggle against Israel, in a speech he made ahead of Prisoners’ Day, observed by the terror organization next week.

Speaking at a rally in the Gazoo Strip, Haniyeh said, "Our message to the prisoners is a message inked in blood. The rifle and the tunnel are our commitment.

"The issue of prisoners is at the top of our priority list. As time passes, we stick to our principles, and the people who walk in the path of deaders and prisoners also stick with us."

Later Friday several dozen people rioted near the security fence on the Gazoo border, and hurled rocks at Israeli soldiers. Soldiers responded with non-lethal means. They also shot at the lower body of one demonstrator.
Later Friday several dozen people rioted near the security fence on the Gazoo border, and hurled rocks at Israeli soldiers. Soldiers responded with non-lethal means. They also shot at the lower body of one demonstrator.

On Thursday, an IDF officer said both sides were preparing for a future conflict, and while neither side was interested in renewing violence, a miscalculation on either side could bring about another round of fighting.

"Hamas suspects that we will initiate offensive action against it by surprise, and so the fear of miscalculation exists," the officer was quoted by the Hebrew website Ynet as saying. "Their level of sensitivity to our public proclamations is high. Hamas saw [the months of violent attacks] in the West Bank as a strategic opportunity, even at the cost of deterioration in Gazoo, and the movement is disappointed with the drop in the number of terror attacks. Since October, 17 Paleostinians were killed in border fence riots and some 800 were maimed," the officer said.

The terror group has been investing considerable resources in the Nukhba force, an elite unit of fighters. According to Ynet the number of Hamas fighters in the unit has grown to 5,000 people ‐ a quarter of the group’s fighting manpower.

On the other hand, the group’s development and construction of rockets has been severely damaged by Egypt’s closing of smuggling tunnels. Hamas has been finding it difficult to restore its array of short and medium-range projectiles since the end of Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014.

Speaking earlier this week at a forum dedicated to the situation in Gazoo at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, director of the Defense Ministry’s Political-Military Affairs Bureau Amos Gilad said that the Hamas armed wing, led by Muhammed Deif, ultimately paid no heed to the political wing, headed by Haniyeh.

Gilad opined, however, that conflict would not erupt this year between Israel and Hamas.

"The good news is that our deterrence is still working. They say that there will be a ’hot’ summer. That’ll only be because of the high temperatures," Gilad said, alluding to the tendency for regional conflicts to take place in warmer summer months.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/16/2016 00:05 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  ".." he said while hiding amongst his civilian shields
Posted by: Frank G || 04/16/2016 7:31 Comments || Top||

#2  "....and the goats."

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 04/16/2016 8:46 Comments || Top||

#3  So, stick a rifle up your tunnel, already.
Posted by: JHH || 04/16/2016 16:07 Comments || Top||

#4  "Let's you and him fight!"
Posted by: Raj || 04/16/2016 17:56 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
ISIS vows to assassinate 21 Muslim clerics (!)
[ARA News] ISTANBUL – Under the banner of “Disbelief Leaders“, radical group of the Islamic State (ISIS) has revealed a list includes dozens of Muslim clerics who are active in Europe, US and Australia, threatening to assassinate them.

The list, which was published by the group’s Dabiq magazine in its latest edition, includes 21 people with diverse orientations, some of them are linked to the Muslim Brotherhood group, while others are linked to the Salafis and Sufis of the various Islamist doctrines.

The ISIS radical group stated in its official English-speaking online magazine Dabiq that the list includes the following names: Abu Basir Tartusi, Hamza Yusuf, Pierre Vogel (Abu Hamza), Suhaib Webb, Mohammed al-Yacoubi, and Hisham Qabbani, Yasser al-Qadi, Bilal Philips, Tawfiq Chawdari, Walid Bassiouni, Hakim Queik, Muhammad Abyari, Arif Ali Khan, Rashad Hussain, Keith Ellison, Hima Abidin, Muhammad Abdul Bari, Saeeda Wirasi, Waqar Azami, Sajid Jawid, and Ajmal Masrour.

Speaking to ARA News, Syrian journalist Kamal Ayyoub said: “The barbaric group has went bankrupt politically and militarily, especially after the US-led coalition forces intensified airstrikes on its command centers and financial resources, paralyzing its movements in both Syria and Iraq.”

“Daesh has been pushed back in many areas of its control across Syria and Iraq,” Ayyoub said, using an acronym for ISIS.

“Everything indicates that ISIS is ‘on the verge of collapse’,” he argued. “That’s why it keeps posing threats everywhere.”

The hardline group had carried out a series of assassination operations since its emergence, targeting rival clerics, media activists, civilians, rival military commanders and even its own militant leaders, according to observers.

On April 4, ISIS published a footage showing pictures from the Paris and Brussels attacks along with 9/11, threatening European capitals with deadly attacks. In a propaganda film called ‘Fight them, Allah will punish them by your hands’,” ISIS threated Western leaders. “If it was Paris yesterday, and today in Brussels, Allah knows where it will be tomorrow,’ an ISIS member said in English. ‘Maybe it will be in London or Berlin or Rome,’ the militant concluded.
Posted by: badanov || 04/16/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  See, nobody is all bad!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/16/2016 4:01 Comments || Top||


Kerry demands Russia rein in Syrian forces
[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...
called his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday to demand that Moscow press its Syrian allies to respect a crumbling ceasefire.

"Secretary Kerry said the United States expected Russia to urge the regime to comply with the cessation and that we would work with the opposition to do the same," US front man John Kirby said.

Kerry’s call came as a new round of fierce fighting around the northern city of Aleppo overshadowed peace talks aimed at ending Syria's five-year-old civil war.

According to Kirby, Kerry told Lavrov of Washington’s "serious concerns over the ongoing threats to the cessation of hostilities in Syria and the urgent need for the Assad regime to stop its violations of the cessation."

US officials have complained that Russian jets appear to be flying in support of Syrian forces attacking rebel positions in Aleppo, despite having signed on to efforts to promote a political settlement.

A monitoring group said on Friday that at least 210 combatants in Syria’s civil war have died in a surge in violence around the second city of Aleppo this week, a monitoring group.

Among those killed were 82 army troops and pro-regime militiamen, 94 members of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front and allied rebel groups, and 34 ISIS holy warriors, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

On Friday, Syrian regime forces battled ISIS group forces of Evil near Aleppo city as they clashed with a local Al-Qaeda affiliate and allied rebels nearby, a monitoring group said.

The upsurge in fighting, which the United States says is straining a fragile truce, came as a new round of peace talks got under way in Geneva.

"Fierce fighting raged between regime troops and loyalist militia against ISIS... to the east of Khanasser" southeast of Aleppo city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The army is trying to recapture several areas seized by ISIS on Thursday near Khanasser, the Britannia-based monitor said.

Meanwhile,
...back at the shouting match, a new, even louder, voice was to be heard...
troops and militia loyal to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Light of the Alawites...
’s regime battled Al-Nusra Front and allied rebels on a northern front in the battered province, the group said.

At least 14 troops and pro-regime forces of Evil as well as 20 rebels and Al-Nusra forces of Evil have been killed in the past 24 hours around the flashpoint area of Handarat north of Aleppo city, it said.

The latest violence came a day after a bigwig in Washington told AFP that the United States was "very concerned" about reports of a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive near Aleppo.

Even though the fight against ISIS and Al-Nusra is excluded from the truce, violence around Aleppo has sparked concerns that the ceasefire may not last, partly because rebels are involved in the battles there too.

"Aleppo is the key to war and peace in Syria," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

"Every side in the war has a stake in Aleppo."

Syria’s conflict began in 2011 as a peaceful revolt, with protests across the country that spread in 2012 to Aleppo province, which borders The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
Meanwhile,
...back at the shouting match, a new, even louder, voice was to be heard...
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the Syria crisis settlement in a phone talk on Friday, Russia’s ministry said in a statement.

Lavrov and Kerry also discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh and Ukraine conflicts, it added.

On Friday, a Syrian government delegation arrived in Geneva to join a new round of UN-mediated peace talks underway with an umbrella opposition group that seeks to find a resolution to the country’s five-year civil war.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Demands?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/16/2016 4:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Does "stamping his bespoke footwear" sound better?
Posted by: Pappy || 04/16/2016 14:08 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
32[untagged]
8Islamic State
4Govt of Pakistan
3Taliban
2Govt of Saudi Arabia
2Arab Spring
2Govt of Syria
1ISIL-K
1Jamaat-e-Islami
1Narcos
1Sublime Porte
1Govt of Iraq
1al-Qaeda in Arabia
1Hamas
1Hezbollah

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Sat 2016-04-16
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Fri 2016-04-15
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Thu 2016-04-14
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Wed 2016-04-13
  Belgian police arrest 3 in Paris terror attacks investigations
Tue 2016-04-12
  Saudi FM: Red Sea islands have returned to the kingdom
Mon 2016-04-11
  Ahrar al-Sham commander slain in Aleppo clashes
Sun 2016-04-10
  Four Brussels suspects charged with terror offenses
Sat 2016-04-09
  Lebanon sentences ex-minister Samaha to 13 years in prison
Fri 2016-04-08
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Thu 2016-04-07
  Secular Bangladeshi writer murdered in the street
Wed 2016-04-06
  Tripoli authorities cede power to Libyan unity government
Tue 2016-04-05
  al-Nusra Top Dawg dies in Idlib airstrike
Mon 2016-04-04
  Strikes kill Qaeda spokesman, militants in Syria
Sun 2016-04-03
  Salah Abdeslam 'refused to blow himself up', says brother
Sat 2016-04-02
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