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Today: 56 articles and 82 comments as of 19:49.
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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Iraqi forces, militias retake al-Karma from ISIS
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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10 16:55 Regular joe [5]
4 12:13 trailing wife [4]
Afghanistan
Afghan intelligence arrest political analyst for calling Mansoor a ‘martyr’
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Afghan intelligence operatives have jugged
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
a political analysts Hassan Haqyar for supporting the Taliban group.

According to a statement by the National Security Council (NSC), the National Directorate of Security
...the Afghan national intel agency...
(NDS) operatives arrested Haqyar for supporting the Taliban group and calling its leader a ’martyr’.

NSC said Haqyar was speaking during a television debate and called a famous killer of the Afghan people martyred.

The Taliban group supreme leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor was killed in a drone strike carried out by teh US forces in 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...
province of Pakistain on Saturday.

His death was confirmed by the Taliban group early on Saturday and his successor Mawlavi Haibatullah Akhundzada
...Deputy to Taliban supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour...
was declared the new Chief of the Taliban group.

The Afghan government said Mullah Mansoor sought refuge in the stranger’s soil and was repeatedly committing deception, concealing facts, killing innocent people and terrorizing people as well as smuggling drugs and preventing Afghanistan to gain development by emphasizing on continued war in the country.

It also added that the supporters of Mullah Mansoor were sparing no efforts in committing atrocities against the noble and Muslim people of Afghanistan.

Posted by: Fred || 05/27/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  That's more like secret police than intelligence.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/27/2016 3:08 Comments || Top||


New Taliban leader rejects peace talks
[DAWN] The Afghan Taliban on Wednesday acknowledged the death of their emir Mullah Akhtar Man­sour and announced the appointment of a holy man with no fighting experience as his successor.

Haibatullah Akhundzada
...Deputy to Taliban supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour...
, the new Taliban leader, in an audio message attributed to him, vowed to continue the policy of his predecessors Mullah Omar
... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality...
and Mullah Mansour.

In a two-page Pushto-language communiqué released to the media, Tali­ban front man Zabihullah Mujahid conceded that Mansour had been killed in a drone strike by the "American tyrant" somewhere "between the border region of deserts of Kandahar and 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...
’s Nushki" district on Saturday.

The bad boys’ confirmation came four days after it emerged that Mansour had been killed in a drone strike in Nushki while returning from a visit to Iran. A Pak passport and national identity card found at the scene of the attack identified the dear departed as Wali Muhammad, a resident of Qila Abdullah.
Posted by: Fred || 05/27/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Arabia
Al Qaeda still Reaping Oil Profits in Yemen
[Asharq Al-Awsat] Continuous battles in Yemen have managed to clear out Al Qaeda militants from the enclave it carved out in the country as it descended into ferocious civil war; however, the militants are still entrenched in other parts of the country’s south, reaping profits from smuggled fuel.

The offensive backed by Gulf Arab states on Al Qaeda’s de facto capital of Mukalla, Yemen’s third largest seaport, left scores of militants killed, but hundreds fled to neighboring Shabwa province and beyond.

A month later, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is thriving by joining diverse armed groups in taxing fuel delivered illicitly to remote beaches along the Arabian Sea coast, security, tribal and shipping sources say.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: badanov || 05/27/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [13 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Saudi Arabia installs new security cameras in Makkah
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Security authorities have installed new 14 surveillance cameras in Makkah and around the Grand Mosque to ensure the safety of pilgrims, residents and visitors, Makkah newspaper reported.

Head of Security Affairs and Supervisor of Crises and the Disaster Management Center in Makkah Saud Bin Jelwi said the center is fully equipped with technological and human resources.

"People can contact us via 911 to report a crisis. The center will be fully functional by Ramadan. Our employees are highly trained and our equipment use state-of-the-art technologies. The quality of our security facilities rival international standards," said Bin Jelwi.

He also said the Commission for the Development of Makkah and the Holy Sites has reequipped 150 surveillance towers to monitor the flow of crowds in Makkah.

"The commission is working on several projects to be finished before the upcoming Haj season. The commission is installing parasols to protect pedestrians from sunlight and providing chairs to allow them to sit and rest. The commission has also set a limit of 300,00 pilgrims at a time to take Al-Mashaer Train to ensure that the compartments are not overcrowded," said Bin Jelwi.

He also said the commission has set new regulations for crowd management and for the movement of pilgrims.

"There are more roads open to reaching the Jamarat area. There will be a new pedestrian bridge on Sidqi Street connecting the Jamarat area to Al-Aziziyah. The commission has also installed 1,000 cameras in Mina," said Bin Jelwi.
Posted by: Fred || 05/27/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia

#1  They'll still have a stampede. Maybe they should use Fast Pass instead.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/27/2016 8:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Well, at least they don't have to worry about terrorists blowing up stuf ...

Or do they?
Posted by: Bobby || 05/27/2016 12:51 Comments || Top||

#3  they don't have to worry about terrorists blowing up stuf ...

Bobby, have you forgotten when the Al Qaeda in Yemen bomb maker sent his brother to call on the Saudi prince a few years ago with a bomb in his bottom, only it went off while he was waiting to be received?
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/27/2016 20:48 Comments || Top||

#4  See here and here for the interesting tale.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/27/2016 21:00 Comments || Top||


Yemen parties: Prisoner swap before Ramadan
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Yemen’s warring parties have agreed to a prisoner exchange before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in early June, sources from both delegations told Rooters on Thursday.

The decision was a show of goodwill between the Iran-allied Houthis and Yemen’s Saudi-backed exile government as peace talks in Kuwait aimed at ending a year-long war dragged into a second month. However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk...
the two sides appeared to differ on the number of prisoners to be released.

Sources from the Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ...
militia’s delegation said 1,000 prisoners would be swapped, while a government source said the agreement entailed the release of "all detainees," who number more than 4,000.

The sides will submit a list of prisoner requests to UN mediators within two days, after which "local committees" would be created to facilitate the exchanges, the Houthi sources said.

At a news conference earlier in the day, UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed told news hounds officials from the International Committee of the Red Thingy had met with the delegations to explain its possible role in a release process.

A prisoner swap has been a long-sought sign of progress for the talks.
Posted by: Fred || 05/27/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Europe
Billions for Tribute, But Not One Cent for Defense
h/t Instapundit
The EU is proposing to spend up to ten percent of its budget on the immigration crisis. The Guardian reports:

The German development minister, Gerd Muller, said the EU’s current mechanisms for responding to the refugee crisis were not fit for purpose, and suggested appointing a special commissioner to lead a combined European refugee strategy, as well as other global humanitarian challenges.
I used to think that Libertarian SF writers like Tom Kratman were around the bend
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/27/2016 12:49 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  An attempt to force balking EU countries to accept their fair share of migrants?
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/27/2016 16:02 Comments || Top||


Muslims demand right to make University of Berlin into a mosque
A short video from Vlad Tepes blog. Those smug faces do not all belong to students...
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 05/27/2016 02:27 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How do you say, "Fuck off you disgusting parasites!" in German?
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/27/2016 11:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Arbeit macht frei
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/27/2016 12:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Danke!
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/27/2016 13:22 Comments || Top||

#4  Forgot the

/sarc
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/27/2016 13:23 Comments || Top||

#5  I count on my readers to make the distinctions.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/27/2016 14:30 Comments || Top||

#6  If you make demands of a nation you should be a citizen or you should be deported.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 05/27/2016 15:07 Comments || Top||

#7  As long as they can use eminent domain development plans to make Mosques into hog butcher shops?
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 05/27/2016 15:27 Comments || Top||

#8  Muzzies "demand"? 1400 years of 'tradition'.
Posted by: Mugsy Glink || 05/27/2016 18:26 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
67 PKK militants surrender in Turkey's southeast
A total of 67 militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) surrendered to Turkish security forces on May 26 as clashes intensified in two neighborhoods of the southeastern district of Nusaybin despite a statement from the group announcing a redeployment outside the district.

Some 42 PKK militants, including 10 women and 32 men, reportedly surrendered to the authorities on May 26 as operations intensified in Nusaybin’s Fırat and Yenişehir neighborhoods.

The militants surrendered following repeated calls from security forces, reports said, adding that a total 10 were injured. The wounded militants were brought to Nusaybin State Hospital for treatment.

The surrender on May 26 was the highest number of PKK militants to yield to security forces in the district, just a day after 25 militants surrendered on May 24.

Among those to surrender was a young woman, Zehra K., whose diary was found by security forces just a few days ago. The diary included notes allegedly admitting it was a mistake to join the PKK. The woman’s remarks were made public in a video released by the Turkish Armed Forces on May 25, whereby she claimed the PKK forced her to fight against the Turkish state.

“My biggest mistake was to be fooled by the PKK because the PKK is burning both the Republic of Turkey and the Kurdish nation. So what I want to say to young people is that the organization [PKK] forced me into this but what I understand [now] is that they should take refuge in the state,” she is heard saying in another video, which shows her meeting her parents.

“Personally I did not have any hope. We surrendered ourselves; if it was me I would fire bullets, but the state opened its arms to us even in a process like this, even in an environment like this. The state gave me every chance and never forced me to do anything. They treated me as best as they can. They treated me in a way they should not,” she said.
Nice propaganda. Almost as good as the Rooshuns...
Reports of surrendering militants were followed by a statement from the PKK, saying it had withdrawn and only unarmed civilians were left in the district.

The statement reportedly said the militants had to reposition themselves in the face of the security operations and decided to withdraw from Nusaybin. However, security sources said the announcement would not lead to a cessation of operations as improvised explosive devices previously placed by the PKK were still in place across the district.

“Operations need to continue to clear the district of these [explosives] and to ensure an environment where civilians can safely live,” the security forces said.

Some 125 to 130 militants are still believed to be in the area, according to reports by Cihan News Agency.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/27/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
US says it has been clear-eyed in talks with Pakistan on militants
For a given value of clear that will be left to the cynical to define...
[DAWN] The United States has been "very clear-eyed" in its interactions with Pakistain on the activities of myrmidon groups based inside the country, says the US State Department.

At a briefing here on Tuesday, Spokesman Mark Toner refused to acknowledge that the United States no longer trusted Pakistain as an ally, but minced no words in conveying US concerns on the alleged presence of certain ’terrorist’ groups in the country.

"We have been very clear-eyed and very clear in our interaction with Pakistain where we’ve believed that they need to do more to root out terrorists, who find safe haven on some of their territory, and we’re going to continue to do that," he said. "I’ll leave it there," he added.

A journalist pointed out that the United States did not warn Pakistain before targeting Taliban leader Mullah Mansour in the Pak territory, which indicated an obvious lack of trust.

"I think what I said just now holds, which is that operational security trumps a need to inform other governments," said Mr Toner.

"In any of these instances, it’s absolutely vital to keep operational security," he added.

The front man said the United States had also "consistently expressed our concern to the highest levels of the government of Pakistain" about their continued tolerance for Afghan Taliban groups, including the Haqqani network.

"We’re going to continue to work with the Pak authorities and a full-faith effort both to give them the tools they need and the capabilities they need to confront this threat," he said.

"And we’re going to also continue to, as we share intelligence and other information with them, to point out we believe that Death Eaters are finding safe haven."
Posted by: Fred || 05/27/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  With friends like Pakistan who needs enemies...
Posted by: Tennessee || 05/27/2016 1:27 Comments || Top||

#2  You may be 'clear eyed' during negotiations, but sometimes you need your glasses to read the fine print.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 05/27/2016 9:26 Comments || Top||

#3  Clear as glass?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/27/2016 12:39 Comments || Top||


Pakistan is a partner for terrorists, not United States: Senator Rohrabacher
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] US Senator Dana Rohrabacher
...Representative for Caliphornia's 48th congressional district, and previously the 46th, 45th and 42nd, serving since 1989. He is a member of the Republican Party and a former speech writer for President Reagan...
has said Pakistain is a reliable partner fir Lions of Islam and not the United States, warning that the provision of millions in aid to Pak government in fight against terrorism would have a reverse outcome.

The US Senator was speaking to Voice of America’s Afghanistan during an exclusive interview.

Senator Rohrabacher further added that Islamabad considers the US Arclight airstrike against the Taliban leader a violation of its illusory sovereignty as it has provided safe havens for the Lions of Islam who are taking lives of thousands of people and innocent Afghans.

He said the United States will not be concerned regarding the feelings of Pakistain for the US Arclight airstrikes targeting the terrorists.

Calling the Taliban group a terrorist organization, Senator Rohrabacher said the leaders of the group and all other Lions of Islam organizations should be targeted by United States wherever they are based.

Senator Rohrabacher also added that the Afghans should fully lead the war in their soil and the United States must provide Afghanistan with all needed support.

He also added that Pakistain, Saud Arabia and Taliban have are attempting to have influence and power in Afghanistan and this issue has taken Afghanistan into a crisis.

According to Senator Rohrabacher, the United States should support a courageous military individual to fight the menace of terror and sustain a non-radical Islamic government in Afghanistan.

Senator Rohrabacher said the First Vice President General Abdul Rashid 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...
is a competent person for this work.

Posted by: Fred || 05/27/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  U.S. Representative for California's 48th congressional district, not Senator. Caliphornia still has Babs and DiFi for those positions, I believe.
Posted by: Bobby || 05/27/2016 13:08 Comments || Top||


Law enforcers identify group behind attack on traffic policemen
[GEO.TV] The suspects involved in the killing of two traffic coppers 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...
's Ayesha Manzil area belonged to a banned
...the word banned seems to have a different meaning in Pakistain than it does in most other places. Or maybe it simply lacks any meaning at all...
organization
, police said on Thursday.

The attackers belonged to a banned organization and was being operated from abroad, investigative sources said, adding that the group's bandidos holy warriors carry out attacks and flee the country later on.

Deputy Inspector General of Police-West Feroz Shah confirmed that the suspect involved in the attack on traffic coppers came to Karachi a few days ago.

It has been reported that the same group was also involved in previous attacks on coppers.

The traffic coppers identified as Shakil Ahmed and Mohammed Akram were performing their duties near Ayesha Manzil on May 21 when they were targeted.

Following protocol, both were wearing their bullet-proof jackets and one was armed with an SMG. According to eyewitness accounts, two men dressed in all black and wearing helmets came riding cycle of violence and attacked the coppers.

This was the year's first shooting that targeted traffic coppers. In 2015, six traffic coppers were killed in as many attacks by unknown assailants.
Posted by: Fred || 05/27/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Pakistan confirms Mullah Mansour's death, denies handing over body
[GEO.TV] Pakistain's Foreign Office on Thursday confirmed the killing of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a US drone strike near the Pak-Afghan border last week, but rejected reports that the Taliban leader’s body had been handed over for burial.

Reports had circulated in the media earlier this week that the Taliban leader's body was taken to Afghanistan and that and he was laid to rest in Spin Boldak district of Afghanistan's Kandahar province.

But, addressing a presser at the Foreign Office here today, the PM's Adviser 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...
dismissed those reports, saying Mansour's body was yet to be handed over to anyone.

"According to the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Mansour was traveling under a fake identity," said Sartaj Aziz. "It has been confirmed that it was Mullah Mansour who was killed in the drone strike. We are still waiting for DNA test results of the body, and the body will not be given to anyone until the DNA results are received."

Aziz further said that Mansour's killing had proven to be a setback for talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government, and for peace in the region as a whole.

"Drone strikes have added to the complexity of the Afghan conflict," he said.

Regarding the drone strike, Sartaj Aziz said that Pakistain had protested over the attack to the US, and that it was also raising the issue in the United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
.
Posted by: Fred || 05/27/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies

#1  "We gave them a hand, and the head, but nothing else"
Posted by: Frank G || 05/27/2016 8:56 Comments || Top||

#2  I ws thinking more along the lines of 'ziplock bag'.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/27/2016 9:00 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Erbil expects 200k to 900k IDPs to flee Fallujah and Mosul, seek shelter in KRG
[RUDAW.NET] Erbil provincial authorities suggested that an estimated 200,000 to 900,000 refugees are expected to flee war zone areas in Iraq, including recently embattled Fallujah and djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
. But so far there has been no preparation to host newly Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) due to lack of cooperation between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government.

"We suggest that 200,000 to 900,000 IDPs will flee to Erbil, and two places have been designated to take in refugees once the battle for Mosul has resumed," Tahir Abdullah deputy governor of Erbil told Rudaw on the TV program Niwroj.

Iraqi troops backed by Shiite militia and coalition air support launched a major offensive on Sunday to wrest control of Fallujah from 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....
(ISIS) two years after the group captured the Sunni city.

The Kurdish-majority Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) coalition group announced on Tuesday that it was launching an offensive against ISIS in Raqqa.

Abdullah also talked about preparation for a possible influx of refugees to southern Kurdistan, or Kurdistan Region, with the beginning of massive military operations against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Raqqa in Syria and Fallujah in Iraq and he criticized the Iraqi government because they have not launched serious negotiations with the KRG.

"The Iraqi government has not begun serious cooperation with the KRG, and even a budget of $32 million Baghdad itself allocated to help refugee camps in Erbil in 2014, only a sum of $15 million was spent to build a camp, and the rest has not been spent yet," Abdulla explained.

The Iraqi Immigration Ministry had allocated $32 million to Erbil province for refugee camps but transferred just $15 million, while Sulaimani province received the full $20 million of the budget it was allocated for refugee camps. "I hope there were no political factors behind this," said Abdullah.

The Kurdistan Regional Government claims that internally displaced persons (IDPs) now make up 35 percent of the current population of the Kurdistan Region.
Posted by: Fred || 05/27/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Abadi asks protesters to stay home so security forces can focus on Fallujah
[RUDAW.NET] The Iraqi prime minister has asked protesters to postpone their weekly Friday demonstration so that security forces can focus on the ongoing battle to retake Fallujah from 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....
(ISIS).

"All our security forces are preoccupied with liberating Fallujah and nearby areas, and imposing pressure on them in Baghdad and other provinces to protect the demonstrations will affect this issue," Haider al-Abadi said when visiting Fallujah Operation Command on Thursday.

Anti-government protesters, mainly supporters of Shiite holy man Moqtada Tater al-Sadr
... the Iranian catspaw holy man who was 22 years old in 2003 and was nearing 40 in 2010. He spends most of his time in Iran, safely out of the line of fire, where he's learning to be an ayatollah...
, have staged weekly protests on Friday calling for political reform and an end to corruption.

Last Friday, protests turned deadly with three protesters and one journalist killed after security forces opened fire with live rounds and tear gas.

Extra security forces are deployed in Baghdad, usually around the Green Zone and other central areas where protesters gather.

Some 22,000 Iraqi joint forces are participating in the battle to retake Fallujah,
... the City of Mosques, which might have somthing to do with why it's not called Center of Prosperity or a really nice place to raise your kids...
which has been in ISIS hands since January 2014.
Posted by: Fred || 05/27/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US recruits more Arabs for operations in northern Syria
[ARA News] KOBANE – The US State Department spokesman Mark Toner on Friday said that the US has been working on diversifying the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) by recruiting more Arabs.

“I can say that the force that successfully took Shaddadi [from ISIS] I think a few weeks ago was 60 percent Kurd and 40 percent Arab and other elements. And this reflects some of the training that we’ve been doing, DOD – the Department of Defense, has been conducting that has seen greater influx of Arab fighters. I think they just graduated a class of 200 additional Arabs who are joining this fight. There’s another class poised to be – graduate that’s another additional 200,” Toner said.

“We’re cognizant of the need to have diversified forces conducting these kinds of operations, given the sensitivities of the communities that they’re liberating. And then specifically on Raqqa, we have seen – I think the Kurds themselves have said publicly that they understand the political dimensions of this fight and that it would need to be an Arab – a predominantly Arab force liberating Arab areas in Syria,” the spokesperson said.

The US government is also trying to make them more diversified. “But we’re certainly sensitive to the viewpoints and the sensitivities of these populations,” Toner said.

The spokesman has indirectly denied that they supplied the SDF with TOW missiles and American-made vehicles.

“I think what we’ve said before holds, which is that there’s fortunately – or unfortunately, rather, there’s a lot of liberated, shall we say, equipment that’s being used on the battlefield. It’s impossible for us to say where that equipment has come from or where it’s sourced from. We just don’t have the clarity on that,” he said

Speaking to ARA News, Abdullah Qattab al-Saif, leader of FSA Shield Brigade, said that for the Raqqa operation “50% of gathers are Arabs, and 50% are Kurds”.
Posted by: badanov || 05/27/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "I think they just graduated a class of 200 additional Arabs who are joining this fight"

So, twenty relatively effective fighters?
Posted by: Pappy || 05/27/2016 9:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Nope. At least, 100 effective fighters for ISIS.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/27/2016 12:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Don't you know that having 'More Arabs' is like having 'More Cowbell'?

Adds nothing positive to the outcome and creates considerably more pain and noise.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 05/27/2016 14:27 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Report: Over 2,700 Yezidi children lost parents to ISIS
[RUDAW.NET] Some 2,700 Yezidi children have lost one or both parents to 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....
(ISIS) since 2014 after the murderous Moslems overran their communities, according to a recent report compiled by the Kurdish Region.

The report says that nearly all of the children currently reside in camps across the region with no or limited professional treatment.

"We have called on the Kurdish government as well as international donors to take the issue of the orphan children seriously and come to their aid," said Hadi Dobani at the office of the Yezidi Affairs, which was set up by the Kurdish government in the aftermath of ISIS offensive to assist the Yezidi victims.

The majority of the children, some 1,750 of them, have lost their fathers while nearly 470 have lost their mothers and another 350 children lost both their parents.

Dobani says that there are also over 220 children whose parents are still in ISIS captivity and therefore registered as having lost at least one of their parents.

According to the office, of the 6,255 Yezidis who were kidnapped in August 2014, 3,878 are still in ISIS captivity with nearly 1,800 of them being women and kiddies.

The number of the Yezidis killed by the murderous Moslems could be as high as 3,000 but no accurate data is available since many of the victim families have left Iraq and Kurdistan for Europe and it has been increasingly difficult to verify the number of fatalities.
Posted by: Fred || 05/27/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  A very sad story. Maybe these kids should be resettled in the US, instead of the Syrian men currently scheduled to arrive by the 'boatload' as 0bama is planning to bring here before he leaves office.
Posted by: Mikey Hunt || 05/27/2016 1:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Never happen. There's no Democrat-aligned special interest group 'interested'.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/27/2016 9:04 Comments || Top||



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