And by reignite, they don't mean windy walks and candlelit dinners.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has said that al-Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan are plotting to reunite with the Taliban for a comeback.
The al-Qaeda affiliates by seeking partnership with the Taliban are trying to remain safe from U.S air strikes and to share rare terror tactics with the Taliban fighters, said a NATO official. However, the official said that al-Qaeda fighters and their backers will not be safe from Afghan security forces and their NATO counterparts.
In the wake of NATO's concerns about the security situation in Afghanistan, the alliance however has called for continued international support to local forces to thwart threats.
NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg has said that the alliance is committed to overcoming the ongoing challenges in Afghanistan that threatens the nation's stability.
"What we do in Afghanistan ...what we are aiming at doing more often and that is to project stability not by deploying NATO forces into combat operations, but by projecting stability by training local forces," said NATO chief Stoltenberg.
Apparently the US and NATO forces are concerned about a resurgence of al-Qaeda operatives and the Taliban.
"We think that they have tried to become closer to the Taliban, primarily because they recognize that if the Taliban can carve out some space, then al-Qaeda can move in under the Taliban and they have got some freedom from U.S strikes, they have got the freedom and the ability to plan that type of thing," said Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland, deputy chief of staff for communications for Operation Resolute Support, the NATO mission in Afghanistan.
"We don't think that the Taliban would have cut their ties with other terrorist groups, they are already in touch with al-Qaeda, Haqqani network and other groups," MoI spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said.
Meanwhile, a number of political analysts have said that sidelining the security threats in Afghanistan by the world community would have repercussions in future and Afghanistan must reassess its partnership with the world.
NATO statistics reveal that a number of al-Qaeda affiliates are present in Kunar, Paktika, Paktia and Kandahar provinces, but they are not able to launch major attacks on the west.
This comes at a time that the Afghan security forces are struggling against the Taliban and other terrorist groups on multiple fronts with the Afghan officials persistently asking international partners to leverage the process of mobilizing a strong and capable air power and deliver more weapons to the army of Afghanistan to battle the insurgents effectively on the battlefields.
#2
They've lost pride of place to ISIS. They need a merger to stay in business.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2016 10:47 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Reminds me of the coop-later-alliance back in the early 1970's between Commie Hamas + Arafat's AL-Fatah + other Paleo orgs agz their common enemy Israel [ISIS].
"Sheik, Sales are off from the last quarter, and we need money!"
Sheik: "How are sales in the kidnapping department?"
"Way down. Planning is not getting enough prospects to us, so we can't do our jobs!"
Sheik: "I'll talk to planning. You talk to finance, and we'll meet tomorrow."
Afghan security institutions said on Friday that the sharp increase in kidnappings in Afghanistan after the appointment of the Taliban's new leader was in response to the killing of terrorists in Pakistan.
They also said the Taliban is taking orders from regional countries' intelligence services.
In response to the late arrival of security forces in Kunduz to track down kidnapped bus passengers, security officials said the matter would be investigated.
However, many analysts feel that Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban's new leader, who might not have a military background, is issuing more Fatwas against government forces and calling for kidnappings on highways. They say this is his new approach.
This week two mass kidnapping occurred in the country. On Tuesday insurgents stopped a number of busses and took about 200 passengers hostage. They executed 10 on the spot and later beheaded two others. The majority were released but the fate of at least eight is still not clear.
The second incident took place in Sar-e-Pul on Wednesday when again, insurgents kidnapped at least 17 passengers.
"All the people know that their aim by taking hostages and killing people is only to get the world's attention and to show the people their existence in Afghanistan. While I saw that all terrorists' leaders including Osama Bin Ladin, Mullah Omar and Mullah Mansour were killed in Pakistan," said Dawlat Waziri, the defense ministry's spokesman.
Kunduz victims who have been freed have criticized security institutions and some said that government forces were aware of Taliban activity in the province.
"The issue of kidnapping in Kunduz was discussed even in the National Security Council (NSC) but soon it will be clear where the problem lay," said Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman for the ministry of interior.
Afghanistan human rights commission meanwhile called the killing of the hostages a war crime and called for more coordination among security forces.
"Killing of civilians and passengers is a war crime and it is increasing day to day which is a source of concern," said Lal Gul Lal, head of Afghanistan Human Rights Organization.
"With the coming of the Taliban's new leader such activities of hostages has increased and we want the government to put more effort into securing the country highways," said Ghulam Rabani, a Kunduz provincial council member.
Experts and residents believe that with the increase of kidnappings by insurgents, the level of hate will increase toward the terrorists groups. As such they have called on security forces to suppress the terrorist groups. Serious video report at the link
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A Turkish cleaner at a camp for Syrians fleeing the war was incarcerated Please don't kill me! for 108 years on Friday for sexually abusing boys, in a case that has highlighted the vulnerability of child refugees.
The 29-year-old man did not deny the charges, but said many employees and managers in the camps were involved, Dogan News Agency reported. He said he paid the children 2-5 lira ($0.70-$1.70) before assaulting them in the toilets.
The man, who worked as a cleaner at the Nizip Camp in Gaziantep in southeast The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , assaulted boys aged between 8 and 12 for at least three months until the start of this year, Dogan and other media reported.
He was convicted of abusing eight Syrian boys whose families had filed complaints, the local bar association said. Local media said the families of other victims had kept quiet out of fear of deportation.
The case has caused widespread outrage in Turkey, which prides itself on its humanitarian response to the Syrian civil war, sheltering 2.7 million refugees. The camp, home to about 14,000 people, was visited by German Chancellor Angela Merkel ...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as Mom... in April.
Around a tenth of the Syrian refugees in Turkey live in camps run by the government’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority which said last month it was taking all necessary measures in light of the case.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Was this rapey rape or just the new expanded DoJ definition of sexual abuse?
#2
"Imam," inquired Omar one autumn,
"Does Allah not tire of my bottom?"
"Observing our booties
Performing their dutïes,
He sometimes is tempted to swat 'em!"
#3
A pious old Muslim of Sutton
Who never had much use for mutton:
"Not nannies nor biddies
But lambkins and kiddies,
By Allah, have made me a glutton!"
[IsraelTimes] Over two dozen participants warn time is running out on two-state solution, blame violence and settlement activity, but don’t set timeline for progress. Neither Israel nor Palestinians invited.
#1
"What can't be cured, must be endured.". Mind you, occasionally, I find myself inventing (fairy imaginative, if I say so myself) plans for curing the Western Elites belief that they have not just a right, but an obligation, to promote Arab jihad against the Jewish state.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] More than 1,000 members of the Iraqi forces have been maimed since the start of the operation to retake Fallujah from ISIS, a health official said Friday.
"We have received 1,119 maimed since the start of the operation," a senior Baghdad health official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"The maimed fighters were treated at Kadhimiya, Abu Ghraib, Al Karama, Al Karkh and Yarmuk hospitals," he said.
The official said the casualty toll included members of the army, police, counter-terrorism service and Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary organization.
Iraqi forces on May 22-23 launched a vast offensive aimed at retaking the ISIS bastion of 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... a city only 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad that was the first to fall out of government control in 2014.
Iraqi military commanders are not divulging casualty figures.
The health official could not provide a figure for the number of fighters killed.
The bodies of the dead are usually taken to a morgue near Baghdad airport or other locations and then collected directly by the families.
The number of funerals held across the country however suggests the Fallujah battle is taking a high toll.
The coffins of at least 70 fighters killed in the Fallujah fighting had by Wednesday been brought to Najaf’s Valley of Peace cemetery, where many from Iraq’s Shiite majority bury their dead, according to a security source there.
Officials in Basra said the southern province had lost 26 fighters from the Hashed al-Shaabi force alone.
Commanders say that since elite forces backed by police and army moved to the fringes of the city centre, ISIS has put up fierce resistance.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Friday that the basis for any future peace plan between Israelis and Palestinians remained a 2002 Arab offer, and urged Israel to accept it.
"The Arab peace initiative has all the elements for a final settlement," Adel al-Jubeir told reporters after a conference in Paris.
"It is on the table and a solid basis for resolving this long-standing dispute ... we hope that wisdom will prevail in Israel and that they accept this initiative."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia
[An Nahar] A Lebanese man who hails from Arsal was killed Friday in the outskirts of the restive northeastern border town as festivities erupted between Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... and the Qaeda-linked al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... Front in the area, media reports said.
"Lebanese citizen Hassan Mohammed al-Fliti, 64, was killed and his son Mohammed, 39, was seriously maimed as they were heading to a cherry grove they own in the Jwar al-Sheikh area in Arsal's outskirts," state-run National News Agency reported.
It quoted the son as saying that "a rocket or a grenade" had went kaboom! near them.
The agency did not say where the shelling came from but noted that the region in which the two were hit lies in the middle of areas controlled by al-Nusra and Hizbullah.
Voice of Leb radio (100.5) had earlier reported Hizbullah-Nusra festivities in Arsal's outskirts, adding that the Lebanese army intelligence directorate was "making contacts for a ceasefire."
Future TV for its part said "al-Fliti died of his wounds after Hizbullah members shot up him in Arsal's outskirts."
Earlier in the day, media reports said Hizbullah attacked a group of Nusra forces of Evil in the al-Rahweh area southeast of Arsal.
The developments prompted al-Mustaqbal ... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri... Movement's Arsal-Hermel Department to hold an emergency meeting in which it called on "the government, the interior minister and all influential political forces to clear Arsal's outskirts from all holy warriors, specifically Hizbullah's gunnies who murder and terrorize civilians."
It also called on the Army Command to "preserve security and the safety of Arsal's sons" and to "secure their access to their land and groves."
Militants from al-Nusra and 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 are entrenched in rugged mountains along the Lebanese-Syrian border and the Lebanese army regularly shells their positions while Hizbullah has engaged in festivities with them on the Syrian side of the border.
The two groups overran the town of Arsal in 2014 and engaged in deadly battles with the Lebanese army for several days.
The retreating forces of Evil kidnapped around 35 troops and coppers of whom four have been executed and nine remain in captivity.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Syria has agreed to allow access for ground convoys to deliver aid to 12 besieged areas during the month of June, the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... said Friday.
Damascus has also agreed to restricted aid deliveries to three more areas but rejected requests for two others, the UN office of humanitarian affairs said.
The approvals came as the Security Council discussed UN plans to carry out airdrops of food and medicine to civilians trapped in areas under siege.
Some diplomats dismissed the move, saying such approvals had been granted in the past and failed to materialize on the ground.
According to the United Nations, a total of 592,000 people live under siege in Syria -- the majority surrounded by regime forces -- and another four million live in hard-to-reach areas.
Out of the total requests for access to 34 locations, 23 were approved in full, six were approved for some deliveries of medicine but not food, and five were rejected.
Damascus refused access to the besieged areas of Al Wa’er of Homs in western Syria and to the rebel-held city of Zabadani in the southwest.
It agreed to partial deliveries to Moadamiyeh, Daraya and Douma, which are besieged by regime forces.
UN aid chief Stephen O’Brien said Syria must grant full access to all areas in need of aid.
"We need to see full approval of the June plan for humanitarian access," O’Brien said in a statement after addressing the closed meeting of the council.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Leb’s Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk has warned Iran-backed militia group Hezbollah against threatening Lebanese banks and said the country will not stand against any US sanction placed on the group.
The warning comes as ministers and members of parliament belonging to Leb's Hezbollah could be sanctioned under a new US law targeting the group's finances, a US Treasury official said last week.
The US Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act (HIFPA) passed in December threatens sanctions against anyone who finances Hezbollah in a significant way.
It has ignited an unprecedented dispute between Leb's most powerful group - the heavily armed Hezbollah - and a central bank widely seen as a pillar in a country plagued by political fatigue.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
Looks like we hit a nerve.
The only thing more holy than Jihad in Leb is profit in Anerican Dollahs
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday Tehran had no intention of cooperating on regional issues with its main enemies, the United States and "evil" Britannia.
Khamenei also accused Washington of not being committed to a nuclear deal reached between Tehran and six major powers, including the United States, in 2015 that aims to curb the country’s disputed nuclear program.
Under the agreement, economic sanctions were lifted in January after Iran suspended sensitive nuclear work that the West suspects was aimed at creating a nuclear bomb. Iran denies seeking a nuclear bomb.
Inflation, unemployment and other economic hardships persuaded Khamenei to support President Hassan Rouhani on the nuclear question aimed at improving the parlous state of Iran’s economy.
"America has continued its enmity toward Iran since (the 1979 Islamic) revolution ... It is a huge mistake to trust evil Britannia and the Great Satan™ (the United States)," Khamenei said in a speech broadcast live on state TV.
"We will not cooperate with America over the regional crisis," he said, adding that: "Their aims in the region are 180 degrees opposed to Iran’s."
Relations with Washington were severed after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution and enmity to the United States has always been a rallying point for hardliner supporters of Khamenei in Iran.
Tehran and Washington have common interests and threats across the Middle East. They have cooperated tactically in the past, including when Tehran helped Washington counter al Qaeda in Afghanistan and 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.... murderous Moslems (IS) in Iraq.
The United States and its allies in the Middle East accuse Iran of supporting terrorism and interfering in the affairs of regional states, including Syria, Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... and Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Funny thing, a lot of Israelis agree with that point of view.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday Tehran had no intention of cooperating on regional issues with its main enemies, the United States and "evil" 
