[Bus Insider] To say that Gurkhas are simply soldiers from Nepal would be a massive, massive understatement. If there’s a single reason no one goes to war with Nepal, it is because of the Gurkhas’ reputation.
They are elite, fearless warriors who serve in not only the Nepalese Army but also in the British and Indian armies as well, a tradition since the end of the Anglo-Nepalese War in 1816.
They are known for their exceptional bravery, ability, and heroism in the face of insurmountable odds. Faithful to their traditions, one Gurkha in Afghanistan, Dipprasad Pun, single handedly held his post against more than 30 Taliban fighters.
It was a September evening in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province. It was 2010, and Sergeant Dipprasad Pun of the Royal Gurkha Rifles was on duty at a two-story outpost. He heard some noises and found two insurgents attempting to lay an IED in a nearby road. He realized he was surrounded. The night sky filled up with bullets and RPG fire. Taliban fighters sprang into a well-planned assault on Pun’s outpost.
Pun responded by pulling his machine gun off its tripod and handholding it as he returned fire toward the oncoming fighters. He went through every round he had available before tossing 17 grenades at the attackers. When he was out of grenades, he picked up his SA80 service rifle and started using that. He even threw a land mine at the enemy.
As Pun defended his position, one Taliban fighter climbed the side of the tower adjacent to the guard house, hopped on to the roof and rushed him. Pun turned to take the fighter out, but his weapon misfired. Pun grabbed the tripod of his machine gun and tossed it at the Taliban’s face, which knocked the enemy fighter off of the roof of the building.
Pun continued to fight off the assault until reinforcements arrived. When it was all said and done, 30 Taliban lay dead.
He was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.
"At that time I wasn’t worried, there wasn’t any choice but to fight. The Taliban were all around the checkpoint, I was alone," he told the crowd gathered at the ceremony. "I had so many of them around me that I thought I was definitely going to die so I thought I’d kill as many of them as I could before they killed me."
In all, he fired off 250 machine gun rounds, 180 SA80 rounds, threw six phosphorous grenades and six normal grenades, and one claymore mine.
Pun comes from a long line of Gurkhas. His father served in the Gurkha Rifles, as did his grandfather, who received the Victoria Cross for an action in the World War II Burma theater.
In Burma on 23 June 1944, a Battalion of the 6th Gurkha Rifles was ordered to attack the Railway Bridge at Mogaung. Immediately the attack developed the enemy opened concentrated and sustained cross fire at close range from a position known as the Red House and from a strong bunker position two hundred yards to the left of it.
The cross fire was so intense that both the leading platoons of 'B' Company, one of which was Rifleman Tulbahadur Pun's, were pinned to the ground and the whole of his Section was wiped out with the exception of himself, the Section commander and one other man. The Section commander immediately led the remaining two men in a charge on the Red House but was at once badly wounded. Rifleman Tulbahadur (sic) Pun and his remaining companion continued the charge, but the latter too was immediately wounded.
Rifleman Tulbahadur Pun then seized the Bren Gun, and firing from the hip as he went, continued the charge on this heavily bunkered position alone, in the face of the most shattering concentration of automatic fire, directed straight at him. With the dawn coming up behind him, he presented a perfect target to the Japanese. He had to move for thirty yards over open ground, ankle deep in mud, through shell holes and over fallen trees.
Despite these overwhelming odds, he reached the Red House and closed with the Japanese occupants. He killed three and put five more to flight and captured two light machine guns and much ammunition. He then gave accurate supporting fire from the bunker to the remainder of his platoon which enabled them to reach their objective.
His outstanding courage and superb gallantry in the face of odds which meant almost certain death were most inspiring to all ranks and beyond praise.
— Supplement to the London Gazette, 7 November 1944 (dated 9 November 1944)[3]
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05/21/2016 16:16 Comments ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The provincial governor of northern Faryab province Sayed Anwar Sadat has slammed the acting provincial governor of northern Balkh province for his provocative statement over a deadly clash between the supporters of Junbish Millie and Jamaat-e-Islami parties.
In an online statement, Sadat criticized Noor for the emotional release by issuing the statement, adding that the remarks by Noor is more than a statement which is aimed at criticizing the leadership of Faryab province.
Sadat further added that he has learnt to remain unbiased as a provincial governor and react equally to all tribes and political parties under his leadership.
Admitting that he is one of the prominent members of Junbish Millie party, Sadat said they have been taught to consider the national interest and respect all political parties and movements.
Sadat further added that the clash between the supporters of the two parties is not acceptable to Faryab leadership as they have close relations and big shots of Jamaat-e-Islami are involved in major decision makings.
He questioned Noor for providing opportunities to Junbish Millie members and said the leadership of Faryab province has always helped the security forces fighting the Taliban murderous Moslems in remote areas of the province.
According to Sadat, the clash between Jamaat and Junbish supporters broke out after the internally displaced people in Chagahatak area of Almar district were returning to their homes and faced a resistance from the Jamaat.
Sadat further added that the displaced people were members of Junbish Millie and were forced to leave their homes due to internal issues they had with the Jamaat-e-Islami.
He said festivities started after Jamaat fighters and Wakil Fatehullah Qaisari and police chief of Almar Nasimullah who is also brother of Farooq Qateh went to the area to support the Jamaat fighters and as a result and the police chief of Qaisar Nezam Bai Qaisari went to support the displaced people.
Sadat insisted that the provincial governor intervened to end the conflict and as a result a delegation consisting of security officials and local elders were deployed in the area at 7 am on Wednesday to investigate the incident.
He said the Afghan National Army forces were also deployed to the area based on Vice President General Dostum ...ethnic Uzbek warlord who distinguished himself fighting the Soviets and the Taliban. The story that he had a bad guy run over with a tank is an exaggeration. It was an armored personnel carrier... ’s instructions which resulted to the end of clash between the two sides.
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05/21/2016 00:00 ||
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[AlAhram] Egyptian search teams have recovered "more body parts" and other debris from a site in the Mediterranean where the missing EgyptAir flight is assumed to have crashed on Thursday.
EgyptAir said on its official Twitter account that the Egyptian army and navy had found body parts, luggage, passengers' personal belongings, and plane seats.
The military had said earlier on Friday that it had located "personal belongings of the passengers and parts of the plane debris," in the sea 290km north of Alexandria.
The Egyptian authorities, assisted by forces from La Belle France, Greece, Britannia, Cyprus and Italia, continue to scour the search area for futher debris from the plane that disappeared from radar while flying over the Mediterranean on Thursday. All 66 on board are presumed to have perished.
The Airbus 320 jet, which was flying from Gay Paree to Cairo, disappeared from radar screens shortly after entering Egyptian airspace early on Thursday morning.
Later on Friday, the European Space Agency said that one of its satellites had detected a possible oil slick in the Mediterranea Sea in same area where the Airbus vanished.
The image, taken by satellite Sentinel-1A at 1600 GMT on Thursday, shows a slick about 2 km (1.2 miles) long, roughly 40 km southeast of the aircraft's last known location.
A second image taken at 0400 GMT on Friday showed that the slick had drifted by about 5 km.
The ESA said it had passed on information related to the image to relevant authorities but said there was no guarantee that the slick was from the EgyptAir plane. It said another satellite, Sentinel-2A, would pass over the same area on 22 May.
Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said earlier that flight MS804 had swerved sharply and plummeted from 37,000 feet to 15,000 before plunging into the sea.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi offered condolences on Friday to the families of victims of the tragedy, declaring his country's official confirmation of the deaths.
The head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Tawadros II, said a mass service would be held for the dear departed at Cairo's Abbasiya Cathedral on Sunday.
Thirty Egyptians, including seven crew member and three security personnel, were on board the doomed plane. Frenchies made up the second-largest number of passengers, at 15. The other passengers included two Iraqis, two Canadians, and one each from the UK, Belgium, Chad, Sudan, Kuwait, Algeria, and Portugal.
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05/21/2016 00:00 ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] Hefajat-e-Islam ...a madrassa-based false nose and mustache of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, formed in 2010 to protest against secular education. In 2011 demonstrated violentyly against women's rights and in 2013 held large rallies demanding capital punishment of Shahbag Square protesters and banning women working outside the home... , a fundamentalist Islamic outfit in Bangladesh, has issued a 72-hour ultimatum demanding punishment for Shyamal Kanti Bhakta, a Hindu school teacher accused of disrespecting Islam.
At a rally in Narayanganj after the Jumma prayers yesterday, Hefazat’s local branch, alongside several other religious organizations, also demanded resignation of Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid within the given time for reappointing Shyamal as headmaster of Piyar Sattar Latif High School.
Rifat Hasan, the student who first raised the allegations against Shyamal, was brought to speak before a crowd of around a thousand people in front of the DIT Mosque in the city.
Although Rifat denied making the allegations in an interview with a private TV channel, he reiterated them when speaking to BBC Bangla.
At yesterday’s rally, Rifat accused his teacher of name-calling Allah as an angry crowd roared in response.
DIT Mosque’s Khatib Abdul Awal, who is also the head of the local Hefazat chapter, claimed his organization had carried out an investigation into the incident and found Shyamal to be guilty.
On May 8, Shyamal Kanti Bhakta was beaten up by a mob and publicly humiliated by local politician Salim Osman after allegations of defaming Islam were brought against him. The politician’s actions triggered countrywide protests, resulting in the Education Ministry dissolving the school committee. Shyamal has consistently denied the charges.
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05/21/2016 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's parliament on Friday approved stripping its members of immunity from prosecution, a move likely to see the pro-Kurdish opposition sidelined, ease President Tayyip Erdogan's path to stronger powers, and raise concern among Western allies.
Erdogan has accused the pro-Kurdish HDP, parliament's third-biggest party, of being the political wing of Lions of Islam who have waged a three-decade insurgency in the country's largely Kurdish southeast and wants to see them prosecuted.
The HDP denies such links and says its parliamentary presence could be all but wiped out if prosecutions go ahead.
In the third and final vote of a secret ballot, 376 MPs in the 550-seat parliament backed the plan to lift MPs' immunity, a high enough level of support to change the constitution directly without needing to hold a referendum.
Erdogan on Friday stressed his support for the bill, which will become law once approved by him and published, paving the way for the launch of judicial proceedings.
"My nation does not want to see guilty politicians in this country's parliament. Above all it does not want to see those supported by the separatist terror group in parliament," he told a crowd in the Black Sea town of Rize, referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) bad boy group.
Erdogan's opponents say the lifting of immunity is part of a strategy to push the HDP out of parliament, strengthen the ruling AK Party, and consolidate support in the assembly for the executive presidential system he has long desired.
The legislation has caused concern in Europe, which is trying to hold together a controversial deal with Turkey meant to stop illegal migration despite what many European politicians see as the country's deteriorating record on human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2016 00:00 ||
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[NYPOST] A New Yorker who joined ISIS said he’s sorry he hooked up with the terror group and wants to do all he can to dissuade other Americans from doing the same.
"It’s obviously the worst decision I’ve ever made in my life," the 27-year-old man named "Mo" told NBC News, which planned to air his interview Thursday and Sunday.
Mo, who once attended an elite college, is now in US custody after joining ISIS in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... and Syria.
He’s cooperating with the feds, who OK’d the TV interview.
He told NBC he saw ISIS commit unspeakable horrors: "I did see severed heads placed on spiked poles. Like a lot of things, I just blocked it out."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj PrunefaceAziz ...Adviser to Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on National Security and Foreign Affairs, who believes in good jihadis and bad jihadis as a matter of national policy... on Friday said that the Afghan Taliban have not yet responded positively to the efforts made by the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) to revive talks between them and the Afghan government.
Addressing the fifth round of Pakistain-Afghanistan dialogue organized by Regional Peace Institute, Aziz said that QCG comprising Afghanistan, Pakistain, US and China, has been making joint efforts for reviving direct talks between the Afghan Government and Taliban but Taliban have not yet responded positively to these efforts.
He, however, expressed hope that that QCG countries in line with their shared responsibility would continue efforts for such talks to bring peace and stability to Pakistain.
Reminding the participants about Pakistain's efforts in this regard, Aziz said that apart from facilitating direct talks between the Afghan government and Taliban last year, Pakistain hosted the fifth Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process which reaffirmed the commitment of the participating and supporting countries for regional peace.
He stressed upon need for wide ranging discussions between Pakistain and Afghanistan at all levels and said that Pakistain is ready to engage with its neighbour at all levels to restore trust and strengthen bilateral relations.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
“Analogically, the guerrilla fights the war of the flea, and his military enemy suffers the dog's disadvantages. Too much to defend, too small, ubiquitous, and agile an enemy to come to grips with. If the war continues long enough--this is the theory--the dog succumbs to exhaustion and anemia without ever having found anything on which to close its jaws or to rake with its claws.”
~ Robert Taber, War of the Flea; The classic study of guerrilla warfare, pg 20.
[DAWN] The United States (US) House of Representatives on Thursday voted 277 to 147 in favour of a defence policy bill seeking to increase restrictions on military aid for Pakistain unless certain conditions are met.
The House, expressing frustration over what they term Islamabad's failure to crack down on the Haqqani network, passed the $602 billion National Defense Authorization Act 2017, or NDAA late on Wednesday.
The NDAA will block $450 million in aid to Islamabad unless it does more to fight the holy warrior group, which politicians see as a major threat to US forces in Afghanistan.
The bill requires the Pentagon to certify that Pakistain is conducting military operations to disrupt the Haqqani network, not letting the network use North Wazoo as a safe haven and actively coordinating with Afghanistan's government to fight the network along their border.
As they finalised the 2017 version of the annual bill, House members added three amendments related to Pakistain. All passed by unanimous voice vote.
One added a fourth requirement to the release of the aid, that the administration certify Pakistain has shown progress in arresting and prosecuting Haqqani network big shots and mid-level operatives.
Another required that the Secretary of Defence certify Pakistain is not using its military or any funds or equipment provided by the US to persecute minority groups.
And a third added a "sense of Congress" that Shakil Afridi is an international hero and calls for his immediate release from prison.
Pakistain sentenced Afridi in 2012 to 33 years in jail on charges of belonging to a holy warrior group, which he denies. That sentence was overturned and Afridi is now awaiting trial on another charge.
The government says its courts will decide Afridi's fate, and has angrily criticised US politicians, including Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, over calls to release him.
The House version of the NDAA is not the final version of the legislation. It must be combined with a Senate bill before being sent to the White House for President Barack Obama teachable moment... to sign, or veto.
However, Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... there is also strong criticism of Pakistain in the US Senate. This month, Senator Bob Corker used his authority as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee to bar the use of any US funds for Pakistain to buy American F-16 fighter jets.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2016 00:00 ||
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[NATION.PK] SHAWAL: Pakistain Army said on Friday it had cleared the last krazed killer stronghold in the country’s northwestern tribal area after a three-month long operation.
In February troops began the final phase of Operation Zarb-e-Arb in North Wazoo.
"We have cleared the Shawal valley completely of krazed killers," Brigadier Shabbir Narejo told news hounds at a briefing.
Troops, helicopter gunships, tanks and jets were deployed in the operation, during which Talibs put up "stiff resistance", Narejo said.
"There were up to 2,000 trained murderous Moslems in the valley, but we surprised them by launching the operation in the peak of winter in minus 12 degrees Celsius," he said.
He said that six soldiers and up to 120 murderous Moslems died in the fighting.
Reporters were shown weapons and missile launchers that were seized and also huge tunnels where murderous Moslems had been hiding in the thick, forested valley.
Narejo said some murderous Moslems had fled to Afghanistan, but that troops had set up around 15 posts on the border to intercept any movement.
"We have eliminated the threat and it would pave the way of the return of some 150,000 people of North Waziristan to their homes soon," he added.
The army launched the operation under US pressure in mid-2014 in a bid to wipe out krazed killer bases in the area and end the near decade-long Islamist insurgency that has cost Pakistain thousands of lives.
The operation was intensified after the Taliban massacred more than 150 people, the majority of them children, at a school in 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. in December 2014.
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05/21/2016 00:00 ||
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(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – On Friday, hundreds of followers of the Sadrist Movement stormed the Council of Ministers building in the Green Zone in central Baghdad.
An local source reported for IraqiNews.com “Today, hundreds of followers of the Sadrist Movement broke into the Council of Ministers building inside the Green Zone in central Baghdad,” adding that, “The security forces tried to prevent the protestors from storming the building by firing live bullets at them, resulting in a number of casualties.”
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – The number of wounded protestors as a result of storming the Council of Ministers building in the Green Zone amounted to 81 people, a source in the Ministry of Interior said on Friday.
The source said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The number of wounded protesters who stormed the presidential green region rose to 81 wounded,” noting that, “Most of the cases are caused by suffocation with tear gas.”
The source, who asked anonymity, added, “The injured are receiving treatment in a number of hospitals in the capital, Baghdad.”
[Ynet] The US has rejected a Russian proposal to carry out coordinated air strikes against Sunni rebels in Syria; US aim remains for Russia to persuade Assad to abide by the cessation of hostilities
The United States made clear
...very, very pellucidly clear, which is perhaps less wise than it appeared to the clarifiers...
on Friday it had little interest in the idea, noting Russia has floated similar proposals in the past and stressing that it expected Moscow to pressure its ally the Syrian government and to avoid unilateral strikes.
Western officials suggested that the proposal, which the Pentagon said had not been formally presented to the U.S. Defense Department, was an attempt by 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... to raise Russia's profile on the international stage.
"There is no agreement to conduct joint air strikes with the Russians in Syria," said U.S. State Department front man John Kirby, He added that the United States believed that the Syrian government of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Trampler of Homs... was responsible for most of the violations of the fitful ceasefire that began on Feb. 27.
"We look to Russia to end such (government) violations, which includes strikes that have hit civilians and civilian facilities," he said.
White House front man Eric Schultz said the US aim remains for Russia to persuade Assad to abide by the cessation of hostilities in Syria, saying it was not the first time Russia had made such a proposal.
"You've seen Russia show an eagerness to cooperate with us militarily. This is not something that's new," Schultz said.
In private, US officials said the idea was a non-starter.
"Don't see it happening," a US official said, adding the US military "will ensure safety of flight but nothing else."
A Western official from a coalition country also played down the proposal.
"Putin has long had a strategy regarding Syria of trying to share the geopolitical stage with the United States and its allies, and his latest proposal appears to reflect that goal," the official said.
Washington has consistently refused to join any operation that is coordinated with the Syrian government, as has been the case with Russia's campaign of air strikes that began in September last year.
Beirut-Recent military attacks carried out by Syrian regime militants in Damascus’s Western and Eastern Ghouta suburbs revealed that the local agreements reached out with opposition factions in a partially independent way, aimed at neutralizing surrounding areas temporarily until it finds time to attack them; unlike Northern Ghouta suburbs that disclosed the regime’s military weakness despite its aerial strikes.
Moreover, challenges facing the opposition these days are considered greater than the chances of the regime breaking into areas that fall under local agreements between the two parties and destroying them.
Member of the Syrian National Coalition, Ahmed Ramadan, told Asharq Al-Awsat the risk in the coming period “is not limited to areas falling under local agreements since Syria as a whole is threatened.”
He revealed information about the Syrian regime and the Iranian National Guards’ intentions to escalate in the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan at Damascus’s Western and Eastern Ghouta suburbs, and Aleppo as well.
Ramadan further explained the Iranian and Syrian regime’s military scheme, which was found out by the Syrian opposition, aims at launching attacks under the supervision of Iranian generals, who follow the directives of the Iranian National Guard and Supreme Leader of Iran and a Muslim cleric Ali Khamenei, not the Iranian government.
He pointed out that these generals are amassing in Damascus, Western Ghouta, and in Aleppo and are planning military escalation in June, coinciding with the beginning of Ramadan.
He also noted great possibility of Russia’s aircraft involvement in the planned military attacks, as the file that tackles peaceful solution for the Syrian crisis is not achieving any progress.
“Iran, Russia, and the Syrian regime are benefiting from the political stumbling and the U.S. hesitation regarding implementation of agreements and U.N. resolutions,” Ramadan added.
However, the likelihood of the plan’s success is not guaranteed according to the opposition, which confirms that the military power in the North is capable of halting such attacks.
Leader in Ahrar ash-Sham, Mohammed al-Shami, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the entrance of Army of Conquest (Jaish al-Fatah) to Aleppo has changed the whole formula as the opposition forces was able to achieve progresses and repel attacks.
“1174 raids were carried out over Khan Tuman two weeks ago, yet the regime militants were not able to gain ground,” al-Shami noted; adding that the opposition forces in the North prevented the regime from attempting to impose any truce or local and partial deals in their areas.
Notably, local agreements granted the regime chances to restore power through neutralizing areas surrounding the Syrian capital from the fights and later disregarding these agreements since the regime, according to Ramadan, is well known for its coup against the truces and international and local deals.
The regime has earlier neutralized these areas located in south Damascus and Eastern and Western Ghouta suburbs from the fight under the virtue of local agreements that were sponsored by elites from these areas.
However, the regime has breached these agreements after the opposition handed over its heavy arms.
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05/21/2016 00:00 ||
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[ARA News] QAMISHLO – Russia expressed serious concern about attempts by Turkey to create a vast ‘security zone’, to keep out both the Syrian government and Kurdish forces. Also Kurdish officials have expressed concern over Turkish attempts to prevent the Kurds from expanding their territory northern Syria.
“We are seriously concerned by the attempts, which are being made not without the involvement of external forces, to “rebrand” certain radical groups operating on Syrian soil,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
“It became known, among other things, that an “umbrella” formation, called the Northern Front or Northern Army, is being created in northern Syria, which is supposed to unite all anti-government forces active in the Aleppo province,” she added. “In reality, the idea may be to create a vast “security zone” along the Turkish border that external forces hope to control with assistance from the aforementioned Syrian illegal armed formations, keeping both the government army and Kurdish militias out of the zone.”
Last week, Jamil Karmo, a member of the Turkey-backed Northern Army claimed responsibility for the killing of two alleged members of the Kurdish forces of People’s People’s Protection Units (YPG). However, the YPG denied any link to the two persons killed, and suggested they were civilians.
On Thursday, Abdo Ibrahim, defence chief in the Kurdish city of Afrin northern Aleppo said they have proof that Turkey is supporting the Northern Army with arms and ammunition to prevent the unification of the Kurdish cantons of Kobane and Afrin.
However, Abdo said the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) remain committed to liberate the Shahba regions to unify the two enclaves.
On 12 May, the SDF official spokesman Talal Silo said their forces would not accept the Turkish attempts.
“Turkey wants to create a safe zone between Azaz and Kobane, we will not accept that,” he said.
Reports have previously emerged, that there have been significant talks between the United States and Turkey to take control of the 98 kilometers Manbij pocket, and Turkish special forces have conducted operations against the Islamic State (ISIS) with US air support in northern Syria on 8 May.
The Turkish government wants Syrian opposition rebels to take control of this pocket, fearing that otherwise Kurds could unite their administrations by connecting Kobane to Afrin.
Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook in the beginning of May confirmed there were talks between Turkey and the US. “These are ongoing conversations we’re having at a significant level with the Turkish government, both the Department of Defense and other members of the U.S. government,” he said.
“And anything that can be done to remove ISIL (ISIS) from that part of Syria, we think would be significant, certainly would shore up the effort to prevent foreign fighters from being able to cross that border,” he added.
[Al Ahram] The US-led coalition fighting 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 has dropped flyers on Syria's Raqa urging residents for the first time to leave the jihadist stronghold, an activist and a monitor said Friday.
"It's not the first time that coalition airplanes have dropped flyers on Raqa but it's the first time that they've addressed residents and asked them to leave," a founding member of the citizen journalist group Raqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS) said.
Flyers usually address IS fighters in the city, telling them "Your time is coming, your end is coming", Abu Mohammad said.
On its Facebook and Twitter accounts, RBSS shared an image of what they said was the flyer dropped on the jihadists' de facto capital in Syria.
"The time you have been waiting for has come, the time has come to leave Raqa," reads the top of the comic book style water-coloured sketch.
It shows residents -- three men wearing backpacks, a veiled woman and a child -- fleeing a grey battered city into an idyllic green countryside, running past dead soldiers and IS fighters and a sign marked: "IS, Raqa province, checkpoint".
Abu Mohammad said that IS fighters in Raqa were increasingly using residents as human shields against coalition air strikes.
"Their positions used to be clear but since the beginning of the air campaign against them, they've started to resort to hiding among civilians," he said.
At least 408 civilians have died in coalition air strikes in Syria since they began in 2014, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
"It's the first time residents have been advised to leave the city," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
But "these flyers are just a part of the propaganda campaign against IS," he added.
Kurdish forces, which control a swathe of territory north of Raqa, are regarded by Washington as the most effective fighting force against IS in Syria and have received US military support.
"There has been information circulating about the Kurds preparing a campaign against IS in Raqa with the support of the international coalition," Abdel Rahman said.
But "that's not likely now because (retaking) Raqa will require planning a massive battle, and huge preparation of fighters and popular support," he said.
"If the krazed killer group had feared a battle against it in Raqa, it wouldn't have sent its best fighters to take part in fighting in the north of Aleppo province."
IS and its jihadist rival Al-Qaeda are not party to a February ceasefire between government forces and other rebel groups.
Air strikes against them have continued, not only by the coalition but also by the Syrian government and its ally Russia.
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05/21/2016 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah on Friday vowed to strengthen its presence in wartorn Syria and send more leaders to the conflict, a week after its top military commander there was killed.
The death of Mustafa Badreddine, who Hezbollah said was killed near Damascus by shellfire from Sunni Salafist tough guys, was one of the biggest blows yet to the Iranian-backed group's leadership.
Hezbollah, Leb's most powerful political and military group, has provided crucial support to the Syrian army, along with Iranian forces and the Russian air force. The group is estimated to have lost around 1,200 fighters in Syria's five-year-old conflict.
"No death of any of our leaders has driven us from the battle. This precious blood will push us to a larger, stronger and more sophisticated presence," leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... said in a speech broadcast live on the group's Al Manar television.
"We are staying in Syria. More leaders will go to Syria than the number that were there before. We will be present in different forms as well," he said without elaborating.
"We will complete this battle."
Nasrallah spoke on a big screen, projected live in a hall in southern Beirut as part of a ceremony honouring Badreddine a week after his death.
A military band dressed in white marched past the screen shortly before Nasrallah spoke, and men in fatigues paraded with yellow Hezbollah flags.
IRANIAN COMMANDERS KILLED
Nasrallah said Badreddine had been involved in recent weeks in the planning of an offensive to capture territory from rebels southeast of Damascus. Syrian government forces and Hezbollah fighters seized that area on Thursday, taking a substantial amount of territory from Death Eaters.
Badreddine directed Hezbollah's military operations in Syria, insisting on basing himself in the country, and had been a top commander since the 1990s, responsible for breaking up Israeli spy networks and helping develop the group's media apparatus, Nasrallah said.
He reiterated a Hezbollah statement that Badreddine was killed by Death Eater shellfire, and not by an Israeli attack, following speculation after one Hezbollah figure initially blamed Israel. But he warned that Hezbollah would retaliate if Israel targeted "any of our fighters".
At least four prominent figures in Hezbollah have been killed in Syria since January 2015. A number of high-ranking Iranian officers have also been killed, either fighting Syrian bandidos Death Eaters or in Israeli attacks.
Hezbollah has said it sees the Syrian war as an existential battle against Sunni myrmidons.
Nasrallah said the loss of commanders was not weakening the group.
Badreddine "is not the first martyr to die in this way nor will he be the last," he said.
"We have a generation of leaders" ready to fill the void left by those killed, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2016 00:00 ||
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The death of Mustafa Badreddine, who Hezbollah said was killed near Damascus by shellfire from Sunni 
