Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/08/2016 10:39 Comments ||
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#2
Better to die in Texas than live in NYC. 16 is old for a Golden. Probably didn't help being exposed to the fall-out from 911. Glad to see the dog being revered/honored.
#3
"If you lock your wife and your dog in the trunk of your car and return an hour later to let them out, who do you think will be happier to see you?"
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] 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... has said the newly-appointed chief of the Taliban group Mawlavi Haibatullah Akhundzada ...Deputy to Taliban supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour... is a symbolic leader together with 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... ’s son.
Gen. Dostum has said the other deputy of Haibatullah, the son of Sirajuddin Haqqani ...son of Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, still titular head of the Haqqani Network.... is the key player who involved in the ongoing violence with the support of neighboring intelligence, apparently pointing towards Pakistain’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).
He vowed Dire Revenge for the anti-Islamic movements of the group which are aimed at killing the innocent civilians.
According to a statement by the Office of The First Vice President, the Taliban group suffered heavy casualties during the operations led by General Abdul Rashid Dostum as dozens of them were killed over 100 others have surrendered in Sar-e-Pul, Jawzjan and Faryab provinces.
Gen. Dostum warned the Taliban fighters would be killed if they did not surrender to the Afghan cops.
The remarks by Gen. Dostum comes as the Afghan officials have long been criticizing Pak, specifically the country’s military intelligence for supporting the anti-government armed turban groups who are using the Pak soil to plan and coordinate attacks in Afghanistan.
The former Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansoor was killed in an Arclight airstrike 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 last month which followed by the death of Mullah Mohammad Omar in Pakistain.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2016 00:00 ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] 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... has asked the acting provincial governor Ata Mohammad Noor not to spark tensions among 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... and Junbish-e-Milli parties.
Ata Mohammad Noor is a prominent political figure and Chief Executive of Jamaat-e-Islami who has reportedly blamed Gen. Dostum among several other prominent political figures for the recent upheavals in Balkh province.
However, Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... Gen. Dostum dismissed the allegations by Noor as baseless and inappropriate, saying he is involved in some of other major national issues related to northern parts of the country, apparently pointing towards his efforts to suppress the growing threats posed by the Taliban group.
The Vice President also added that he is thinking about resolving the issues of Afghanistan and asked Noor not to further spark tensions among the two political parties.
He also advised Noor not to be deceived by certain individuals who are attempting to brainwash him and further spark tensions among Jamaat and Junbish parties.
This comes as tensions have heightened among the two prominent political parties during the past recent months.
Tensions among Junbish and Jamaat supporters ensued earlier in March after the portrait of Gen. Dostum was removed from Mazar-e-Sharif city which led to widespread demonstrations by his supporters.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wine tasting, Vince was about to start on his third quart... a deadly clash erupted among the supporters of the two parties in northern Faryab province last month which left several people dead and numerous others maimed.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2016 00:00 ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Taliban supreme leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor visited Iran to discuss with the country’s authorities regarding the growing issue of 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 in Afghanistan.
According to the local media reports in Iran, Mansoor spent around 2 months in Iran and reached to an agreement on a number of issues of bilateral interest with the Iranian authorities.
One of the agreements Mansoor reached with Iran was to help counter the issue of dissident Taliban groups joining ISIS ranks in Afghanistan.
Mansoor had also agreed with the Iranian authorities to prevent the expansion of ISIS loyalists in northern bordering regions of the country and Afghanistan-Tajikistan border.
The report also adds that Mansoor had reached to an agreement regarding the smuggling of opium and illicit drugs.
According to the report, accurate information regarding the movement of Mullah Mansoor was provided to the US forces as he was targeted while he was on his way 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.
Mullah Mansoor was killed in an Arclight airstrike on 21st May as he was travelling in a vehicle with a Pak passport.
The report by the Iranian local newspaper meanwhile adds that Pakistain’s Inter Service Intelligence could have disclosed information regarding Mansoor to US forces, noting his deteriorating relations with Pakistain.
The growing threats posed by the loyalists of ISIS terror group in Afghanistan have not been a source of tension to the Afghan authorities but Afghanistan’s neighboring countries, including Iran and Central Asian countries are worried that the terror group further expand foothold in the region.
Attempts by ISIS terrorist group to expand foothold in Afghanistan and in the region has also sparked concerns among the Taliban leadership as the two groups have entered into bloody festivities for several times in some parts of the country.
The supporters of the two groups also declared Jihad against each other earlier last year.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
The report by the Iranian local newspaper meanwhile adds that Pakistain’s Inter Service Intelligence could have disclosed information regarding Mansoor to US forces, noting his deteriorating relations with Pakistain.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. has instructed the relevant security institutions to eliminate the income sources of the Taliban group, 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 and other terror networks in the country.
The Office of the President said the issue of income sources of the terror groups was discussed during the National Security Council (NSC) meeting chaired by President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani today.
The NSC presented their report regarding the income sources of the Taliban group, ISIS loyalists and other terror networks to President Ghani.
The meeting also focused on the security situation of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... , Uruzgan, Laghman, Kunduz, Sar-e-Pul, Baghlan, Faryab, Paktia, Paktiak, and Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... The Afghan cops were hailed for their bravey in fighting the turbans and instructed the security organs to take necessary steps in a bid to prevent security threats in the mentioned provinces.
Instructions by President Ghani to eliminate the financial sources of the terror groups comes as reports emerged on Monday regarding the illegal mining by Lion of Islam groups and warlords which fuels insurgency and war in the country.
The report by Global Witness released on Monday stated that the illegal mining of the minerals funnels millions of dollars into the hands of corrupt warlords and the bully boy groups besides fuelling the conflict in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2016 00:00 ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Taliban group in Afghanistan has beaten the world’s most dangerous terror group, 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), to secure first place in the list of the world’s top terrorist group.
According to the annual terrorism survey by the State Department, the Taliban group conducted 1093 attacks in 2015 while the ISIS terrorist group conducted 931 attacks.
The number is relatively more higher as compared to ISIS terrorist group as the Taliban group conducts operations in Afghanistan only while the ISIS terror group is actively conducting operations in Syria, Iraq and some other countries, including Afghanistan.
The Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... group has secured 3rd place in the list by conducting 491 attacks, while Maoists/Communist Party fo India-Maoist has secured 4th place by conducting 342 attacks.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) mainly conducting attacks in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... has secured the 5th place by carrying out 238 attacks, according to the survey report.
The number of terrorist attacks across the world dropped last year, the first dip since 2012, the report said, adding that the drop, which translated to 14 percent fewer terrorism-related deaths, was attributed to fewer attacks and deaths in Iraq, Pakistain and Nigeria.
Underlying the positive news, though, were some still-disturbing trends. ISIS continues to be a significant threat. Iran remains the "foremost state sponsor" of terrorism. And several countries saw increases in attacks and deaths, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, the Philippines, Syria and Turkey.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
ISIS will just have to try harder
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/08/2016 12:18 Comments ||
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#2
Or they could refocus their traditional approach for a while by killing a bunch of Taliban and win that way.
An air defense system from Italy, part of a NATO mission to defend Turkey’s southern border with Syria, has arrived in the southern Turkish province of Kahramanmaraş.
The Italian air defense system was brought by sea to the port of İskenderun in Turkey’s south, from where its parts were transported under tight security measures in 36 lorries to the Gazi Barracks in Kahramanmaraş, where German Patriot air and missile defense units have been positioned for three years. The lorries were reported to carry missile batteries and military, technical and health equipment. The delivery was expected to continue in the following days.
The U.S. and Germany pulled back their Patriot air and missile defense units positioned in Turkey’s southern provinces in late 2015 and early 2016. Germany, the United States and the Netherlands all deployed Patriots in early 2013 after Turkey asked its fellow NATO partners for help in protecting its territory amid the escalating civil war in Syria. The Dutch ended their mission in early 2015 and were replaced by the Spanish.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on March 10 that the alliance had agreed with Turkey on Feb. 11 to intensify and increase surveillance of the border between Turkey and Syria in order to protect its member Turkey from possible threats from neighboring Syria.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/08/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
to protect its member Turkey from possible threats from neighboring Syria
That was before Russia got involved. Nato shooting at Russian planes would be a dangerous escalation.
And if they aren't going to shoot, why are they there?
#3
If it's an Italian missile defense system, just attack after 2 pm...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/08/2016 10:18 Comments ||
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#4
I never heard of what the Italians had for air defense. Did a little skimming and they are the SAMP/T (Surface-to-Air Missile Platform/Terrain type used by several European nations. It fires the Aster missile which definitely isn't one to laugh at.
#5
See also BIGNEWSNETWORK > US MISSLE DEFENSE SYSTEM AIMED ONLY AT NORTH KOREA, IRAN, NOT CHINA + RUSSIA: WHITE HOUSE.
As Iran is the OWG-NWO Co-Supepower BFF/Best Frenemy Forevar! of Amerika, like AL-Qaeda + Talibunnies vee ISIS, clearly this can only refer to Pudgy = NOKOR???
#6
OOOOPPPS, forgot to add WORLD NEWS >[Independent.UK] ISIS NUCLEAR ATTACK ON EUROPE IS VERY REAL THREAT, EXPERTS SAY.
versus
* SAME, BIGNEWSNETWORK > OBAMA ADMINISTRATION STILL HAS NO TERROR OR IRAN STRATEGY.
POTUS Obama = POTUS Clinton = wants no serious FP disaster(s) during his last months in office, or in alternate one that can't be blamed on the GOP -Right + Trump???
A former CIA agent said Wednesday she will be extradited to Italy to serve a prison sentence for her part in the U.S. extraordinary renditions program after Portugal's Constitutional Court rejected her final appeal.
Sabrina de Sousa told the Associated Press she is waiting to be told when she will be taken to Italy, where she was convicted in absentia and has a four-year sentence to serve.
Since her October arrest in Lisbon on a European arrest warrant, De Sousa has lost her extradition fight at a lower Lisbon court and her appeal of that decision to the Portuguese Supreme Court.
De Sousa was among 26 Americans convicted in the kidnapping of terror suspect Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, from a Milan street on Feb. 17, 2003. She insists that she wasn't involved in the abduction.
The Constitutional Court said in a ruling posted on its website late Tuesday that De Sousa's appeal was rejected.
Under Portuguese legal procedure, the Constitutional Court now sends its decision back to the lower court. That court then informs the police, who set in motion the extradition process in conjunction with Italian authorities.
De Sousa said in an email to the AP that she had "no idea" when she might be sent to Italy.
Her Italian lawyer has previously said he is hopeful of obtaining clemency from Italy's head of state in the case, which has also implicated Italy's secret services and proved embarrassing to successive Italian governments. President Sergio Mattarella has granted clemency to other defendants convicted in the case.
De Sousa said she sent a letter to Pope Francis on Wednesday, through the Vatican's embassy in Lisbon, urging him to speak out against the extraordinary renditions used by the CIA after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The pontiff has already condemned the practice, in a 2014 speech.
De Sousa, who has U.S. and Portuguese citizenship and was working in Italy under diplomatic cover, argues that she was never officially informed of the Italian court conviction and couldn't use confidential U.S. government information to defend herself.
"I was never notified nor was I allowed to defend myself because of secrecy obligations," she wrote in the letter to the pope. "The absence of due process and the imposition of various versions of state secrets are obstacles that prevent the many unanswered questions about the premise and justification for Abu Omar's rendition."
The rendition program, under which terror suspects were kidnapped and transferred to centers where they were interrogated and tortured, was part of the anti-terrorism strategy of the U.S. administration following the attacks. President Obama ended the program years later.
The director of the FBI said Tuesday that the Islamic State group is currently the main threat facing the United States, both in its efforts to recruit fighters to join its members overseas and to have others carry out violence in America.
Director James Comey said the IS group poses a third potential threat: a "terrorist diaspora" that he said will eventually flow out of Syria and Iraq and end up in Western Europe, where members will have easy access to the U.S. Don't forget option number four, where we pay to fly them in style from Syria directly to our own back yard.
"There's three prongs to this ISIL threat," Comey said. "The recruitment to travel, the recruitment to violence in place, and then what you saw a preview of in Brussels and in Paris -- hardened fighters coming out, looking to kill people."
He said officials are "laser-focused on that."
Comey took questions from reporters Tuesday in the FBI's Minneapolis office as part of a two-day visit to the region that included meetings with community leaders and local law enforcement. Comey responded to questions about the heroin epidemic, shootings involving officers and surveillance issues, but the bulk of his comments were about the Islamic State group.
Last week, three Minnesota men who were accused of plotting to join the IS group were convicted of conspiring to commit murder overseas -- which carries a potential life sentence -- as well as conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and other charges.
The defendants -- Guled Ali Omar, 21; Abdirahman Yasin Daud, 22; and Mohamed Abdihamid Farah, 22 -- were among a group of friends who prosecutors say recruited and inspired each other to travel to Syria. A total of 10 men were charged in the conspiracy; six pleaded guilty and a seventh is at large, believed to be fighting in Syria.
Comey said the FBI is continuing to focus on the Islamic State group, and there are close to 1,000 open cases nationwide involving people at various stages of recruitment. He said the group's slick videos and propaganda can resonate with people of all ages, but seem to draw in people under 30 who are "unmoored" in some way.
He said he hopes the FBI's work, including the convictions in Minneapolis, will send a message that "there will be severe consequences for people who go down that path."
Comey added that the number of active IS-related cases hasn't decreased, but the number of people seeking to travel to Syria has dropped since the end of last summer -- going from about six to 10 attempted travelers each month to about one or two.
He said he can't pinpoint the reasons for the trend, but it's possible people are traveling to other Islamic State outposts, have been deterred by the outcomes of other criminal cases, or have been stopped by families and community members.
Another -- and more disturbing -- possibility is that some are staying in the U.S. and looking to carry out violence here, Comey said.
"It's good news the traveler numbers have come down," he said. "I don't know exactly what to make of it yet."
Comey was in Williston, North Dakota, on Monday to open a new FBI office that will focus on crime in the Bakken region, which has spiked with the oil boom. The FBI's Minneapolis division covers Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.
[An Nahar] The commander of Iraq's operation 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.... group said Tuesday victory was days away, but progress was slowed by huge numbers of bombs and traps.
"The security forces are advancing towards central Fallujah from the southern side but doing so cautiously, to preserve civilian lives," Lieutenant-General Abdelwahab al-Saadi told AFP.
"In the coming days, we will declare the liberation 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... " said Saadi, overall commander of the operation launched on May 22-23 to retake the jihadist bastion west of Baghdad.
The Joint Operations Command admitted that progress was being slowed by the astounding number of improvised bombs laid by IS in the city.
"There are tunnels and between 150 and 200 bombs are defused every 100 meters (yards)," it said in a statement.
"Our information is that IS has prepared boom-mobiles which they are hiding in homes, with the intention of attacking us when we enter," the operations command said.
The Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force, which is dominated by Shiite militias that have so far operated on the periphery of the city, warned they would move in if the operation dragged on.
Elite forces have struggled to push deep into Fallujah over the past week, citing both tough resistance from IS and concern for the plight of an estimated 50,000 trapped civilians.
Close to 20,000 people have fled outlying areas but very few have been able to slip out of the center, where IS is using them as human shields.
Residents trying to reach the safety of displacement camps set up south of Fallujah were taking massive risks to cross the Euphrates River.
"I saw three children being put in an open refrigerator so they could cross the river, but it sank and one of the children, a little girl, couldn't be saved so she died," a 45-year-old survivor told the Norwegian Refugee Council.
The International Rescue Committee said at least four people, three of them children, have drowned in the Euphrates trying to flee the conflict in recent days.
Families desperate to flee IS-controlled areas have used everything from wardrobes to plastic containers to try to cross the river.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2016 00:00 ||
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[RUDAW.NET] Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi issued an order on Tuesday removing several officials as part of his governmental reforms.
Abadi removed the general director of Iraqi intelligence, director of the trade bank of Iraq, and head of the Iraqi media network, according to Adil Nuri, spokesperson of the integrity commission in Iraqi parliament.
Also removed from their posts were the directors of Rasheed, Rafidain, Real Estate, Industrial, and Agricultural banks.
These changes comes a day after Abadi issued a statement confirming the government is moving forward to fight corruption, and making comprehensive reforms and building institutions in Iraq.
In the last few months, Abadi reshuffled his cabinet and removed many officials as part of his reform policies and agenda.
Abadi has recently been challenged by protesters in Baghdad who stormed the fortified Green Zone and entered both the Iraqi parliament and council of ministers buildings demanding reform. The protesters were backed by Shia holy man Moqtada Al-Sadr.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
This is just eyewash, but one has to wonder where we would be today if GW Bush had just totally cleaned house at State, CIA and NSA on inauguration day...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/08/2016 10:24 Comments ||
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#2
1. Yes, it's eyewash.
2. Probably would have had the same mess, compounded by "new guy" syndrome.
3. The same chuckle-heads complaining about not "Bush cleaning house" would have still complained about how screwed-up State, CIA, FBI, etc. were.
[RUDAW.NET] For the residents of Fallujah who manage to avoid being used as human shields by 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.... and escape the widespread starvation in the city, their suffering continues when they reach government-held territory where they face lack of resources and possible abuse at the hands of Shiite militias.
An estimated 50,000 civilians remaining in Fallujah face starvation in a city cut off from external aid and controlled by Islamic State (ISIS) bandidosDeath Eaters who use dwindling food supplies as a means to control the residents.
ISIS bandidosDeath Eaters have offered food to starving locals if they agree to fight with the terrorist organization.
"They told our neighbor they would give him a sack of flour if his son joined them," Hanaa Mahdi Fayadh from northeast Fallujah told Rooters. "He refused and when they had gone, he fled with his family."
Escaped residents of the city tell stories of no fuel to make fires and no food to cook on those fires. Some had only stale dates to eat. "The only thing remaining in the few shops open was dates; old, stale dates and even those were expensive," said Fayadh.
A 50kg bag of flour cost 500,000 dinars, about $450 US, according to Rooters.
ISIS controls the food supplies in the city but many residents had no money to buy food after the Iraqi government stopped paying the salaries of its employees in the city a year ago. The government made the move in an effort to stop any funds from reaching the terrorist group.
"There is widespread food deprivation," Lise Grande, deputy special representative of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, told Al Jazeera. "Medicines haven’t made it into Fallujah for months. We know that people no longer have access to clean drinking water and they’re forced to drink out of the irrigation canals. We’re worried that there might even be a cholera outbreak because of this."
ISIS also used the starving civilians as human shields. Azhar Nazar Hadi, from the Sijir neighbourhood in northern 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... said her family was asked by bandidosDeath Eaters to move into the city centre.
The bandidosDeath Eaters took hundreds of people into the city, Hadi reported, though her family was able to hide. "There was shooting, mortars and festivities. We stayed hidden until the [Iraqi] forces came in," she said.
For those who manage to escape the city, however, their problems are not over.
Those housed in a camp in nearby government-held territory are receiving assistance from a government that has no resources. There are shortages of clean water, food, and medicine in the camp.
"So we are suffering here under difficult conditions," Umm Bariq, recently arrived from south of Fallujah, told the New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... . "We need help here."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2016 00:00 ||
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[RUDAW.NET] Peshmerga forces are helping about 2,000 Arab and Kurdish families return to their homes in the liberated city of Zumar if they have no security concerns, a Kurdish official said on Tuesday.
Families who have supported 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.... forces of Evil and joined the radical group may not be allowed to go back to their homes after liberation, added Dindar Zebari, Deputy Head of Kurdistan’s Department of Foreign Relations.
"According to the information we received, some families have helped ISIS and left the city from the very beginning to voluntarily join them, so their return is not guaranteed," Zebari explained, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State.
"For the rest of the people, including about 2,000 families in Zumar who had no security problems, Peshmerga are helping them to return home," he added. "Some people had members of their family who escaped to Syria or djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... at the time of the [ISIS] attack but proved they themselves have no security problems, so they have been helped by Peshmerga to return."
The remarks come as a response to multiple international reports including publications by Human Rights Watch ... During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, HRW received a pledge from the Foundation to Promote Open Society, of which George Soros is Chairman, for general support totaling $100,000,000. The grant is being paid in installments of $10,000,000 over ten years.Through June 30, 2013, HRW had received $30,000,000 towards the fulfillment of the pledge.... and the United States Department for Human Rights at the end of 2015 and the beginning of this year accusing the Kurdistan Region of closing doors and preventing Arabs from going home to the liberated areas where a mixed population of Kurds and Arabs were living before attacks by the Islamic State.
Almost all Kurdish families fled the city of Zumar at the time of the ISIS attack but many Arab families stayed. Some showed sympathy to the group while others decided to stay simply because they had no other place to go or did not think of the radical group as a real threat at that time.
Kurdish forces recaptured Zumar, located in Nineveh province, in October 2015 and drove ISIS forces of Evil out of the surrounding areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2016 00:00 ||
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The makeshift mortar looked like something from an old pirate ship, and it took the Kurdish fighters several days to figure out how to use the improvised weapon seized in a skirmish with ISIS. Once they all started yelling "allahu Akbar" everything just kind of fell into place.
When they finally did, they crouched behind sandbags and launched a series of homemade shells found with the device at a village held by the terrorist group a mile away. As each projectile blasted off from the 8-foot tube mounted on a pair of tires, culminating in a puff of smoke on the horizon, members of Kurdistan’s army, known as the Peshmerga, laughed and slapped each other on the back.
"I hope they felt it like I felt the pain I felt in my arm," said a soldier named Ali, still nursing a wound from the recent fight near Sinjar where the curious armament had been found.
The incident, which occurred last week in Kurdish-held territory on the plains just north of Mosul, typified the resourcefulness of both sides. A makeshift rocket launcher crafted from spare parts and ingenuity found in the aftermath of a battle and then turned on its builders.
It was also a snapshot of the clashes occurring in the villages that lie between ISIS’ Iraqi stronghold of Mosul and the Kurdish capital of Erbil. To the south, Iraqi government forces backed by U.S. air power are fighting to retake Fallujah. In neighboring Syria, the de facto capital of ISIS’ caliphate, Raqqa, is under siege from Syrian, Russian, U.S. and Kurdish forces. But in northern Iraq, the battle for Mosul looms, with near-daily skirmishes serving as deadly dress rehearsals.
Iraqis caught in the crossfire ‐ Christians, Kurds, Sunni and Shia Muslims as well as Yazidi and other minorities ‐ do their best to survive as they wait for the coming all-out assault on the black-clad jihadist army.
"Our soldiers believe in the people here and they see the need to protect the people," Brig. Gen. Omer Khalid told FoxNews.com. "We see what ISIS has done with Mosul and [Sinjar] and the people there and we don’t want that to happen here."
Khalid spoke in Hogna, a tiny village on the outskirts of Zummar City and the largest Kurdish-held base near Mosul. On wind-swept, rolling hills dotted with sparse vegetation, the Peshmerga keep watch on ISIS soldiers inhabiting the village in the distance.
For soldiers earning the equivalent of $200 per month to face off against the world’s most dangerous terrorist army, morale-boosting moments such as the firing of the strange mortar break the tense monotony.
Last weekend, ISIS mounted a rare midday raid on the Kurds dug in at Hogna, peppering the base with mortar fire. When the smoke cleared, no Kurds were injured. But the nearly reflexive donning of surgical masks was an unmistakable sign that the threat of a chemical attack is always on their minds.
The attack left the Kurds itching to return fire, but equipment and ammunition is short. International aid is channeled through Baghdad, which maintains often strained relations with the northern, semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
"We need bazookas, rocket-propelled grenades, small arms," said Khalid.
For now, a homemade mortar, stolen from the enemy and turned on him, would have to do.
The United States has provided guarantees that forces from the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) will not retain a presence west of the Euphrates River after U.S.-backed operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are completed in the region, Turkey has claimed.
“If the YPG [People’s Protection Unit, the military wing of the PYD] wants to give logistical support on the east of the Euphrates then that is different. But we do not want even a single YPG militant to the west [of Euphrates] especially after the operations. The U.S. has given a guarantee about this,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said June 7 during a televised interview with state-owned broadcaster TRTHaber.
“If they keep their word, they have guaranteed us because the YPG/PYD conduct ethnic cleansing wherever they go,” Çavuşoğlu said.
Çavuşoğlu said the YPG and PYD were conducting ethnic cleansing against people and groups who were “not Marxists, Leninists and atheists,” adding that this was a major threat to the territorial integrity of Syria.
Turkey and the U.S. have been at loggerheads due to the different designation of the PYD and the YPG. While Turkey regards the two groups to be offshoots of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), with which it has been locked in deadly clashes since the mid-1980s, the U.S. – though designating the PKK as a terror organization – sees the PYD and YPG as reliable partners in its fight against ISIL in Syria.
Turkey previously declared that its “red line” would be violated if the PYD and YPG crossed to the west of the Euphrates River, although Ankara has so far been forced to look on as YPG has pursued the fight against jihadists in the area.
Çavuşoğlu said it was “unacceptable” that the U.S. was cooperating with the PYD and YPG, claiming that the groups were sending fighters to “conduct attacks on Turkey,” “perpetrated bombing attacks on Ankara” and “trained terrorists in its camps.”
He said Turkey and the U.S. had had opposing views on the issue from the beginning and that they had expressed themselves “very clearly” to their interlocutors, starting with U.S. President Barack Obama.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/08/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Wonder what the Russians will have to say about that.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... is still waiting for Syrian government agreement for an aid convoy to enter the besieged town of Daraya, UN officials said on Tuesday.
"The blockage of aid is a political issue," UN front man Ahmad Fawzi told a regular UN briefing in Geneva. "Daraya is 12 km (7.5 miles) from Damascus, so it can be done but we need the political go-ahead from the government."
Last week Syria's government, under pressure from its ally Russia and other countries belonging to the International Syria Support Group overseeing the grinding of the peace processor, allowed the first UN aid convoy into Daraya since late 2012.
It brought baby milk and medical supplies to support an estimated 4,000 civilians, just in time for Syria to meet a Thursday deadline to improve aid access or face having aid deliveries imposed by air drops.
But the convoy took no food to Daraya, where the UN has said malnourished children will die without outside help. UN officials had hoped food would arrive in a second convoy on Friday, but that was delayed with no government approval.
Jens Laerke, front man for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the government had later given partial approval for the food convoy.
"That is not good enough," he said. "We are reverting to the government."
Syria's opposition says the government approved the first convoy in a cynical ploy to alleviate international pressure.
Bouthaina Shaaban, a top adviser to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... , said last week that "nobody is starving in Daraya", which was "producing peas and beans and food and wild berries that is enough for the entire Syria".
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2016 00:00 ||
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[RUDAW.NET] Hundreds of families, many of them women have escaped 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)-held Manbij in the last few days and sought shelter in areas under Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), reporting hardship and punishment by the krazed killer group against civilians.
"They would not allow us work," said Aisha al-Shindi, claiming that the group had detained many women and causing family breakups.
"If we wanted to go to the Bazaar, we would have to cover our faces. We were living in miserable conditions and nobody would dare go against their orders,"
Fatima Ali, another escapee, said that endless ISIS rules had made it impossible for families to function normally including a mother’s relationship with her children.
"We were not able to go to the Bazaar and buy necessities for our homes," she recalled. "They had imprisoned women at home. If our children went outdoors we were not able to bring them back. If we did not cover our face while going outside, we would be lashed."
The SDF is in the midst of an ongoing offensive against ISIS for capture of Manbij, aiming to cut off the group from Syria’s northwestern border with The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... The United Nation has warned that Manbij refugees are expected to increase from 20,000 to more than 200,000 due to battles and bombardment by US led coalition and SDF forces.
According to Yassamin Darwish , economic hardship and high prices of daily needs was commonplace under ISIS control and "We had to buy everything we need in dollar, it was very difficult to make it,"
"It was prohibited for women to get out. We had to decide either to stay home or go out and get lashed. They were taking our men and chopping off their hands." Darwish said.
Since the Manbij operation has begun last week, everyday new villages are liberated from ISIS, and its people recall bitter stories they have witnessed under ISIS
SDF leaders claim that they have captured at least 23 villages from ISIS around Manbij since the start of their operations last week.
With a population of 80,000, Manbij is regarded as a strategic town in the northwest corner of Syria located between Aleppo in the south and Jarablus in the north.
The city is some 50 kilometers from the Kurdish town of Kobani and if retaken from ISIS, it would bring the two cantons of Kobani and Afrin closer.
The Manbij offensive goes parallel to another SDF operation against ISIS in its capital of Raqqa.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2016 00:00 ||
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[RUDAW.NET] A group of US military advisers have taken part in the ongoing operation to retake the strategic town of Manbij in northeast of Syria, which started last week, says the spokesperson of the Manbij military council, Sharvan Darwesh.
Darwesh, who is also a member of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), told Rudaw that the US team led the intensive aerial attacks on ISIS positions in and around the besieged city.
An additional 250 US troops were deployed to Syria last month to coordinate with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a military umbrella group which also includes the YPG.
There are currently some 5,000 US troops in Iraq and around 500 in neighboring Syria.
"ISIS defense lines were effectively weakened after repeated coalition Arclight airstrikes and the ground offensive that targeted the town from two directions," Darwesh said and added that the SDF troops were currently located less than 10 kilometers from Manbij.
"If we continue as planned, our troops should be in the city in two weeks," he added.
Manbij, with a population of 80,000, is regarded as a strategic town due to its location in the northwestern corner of the country located between ISIS held Aleppo in the south and Jarablus in the north. The city is some 50 kilometers from the Kurdish controlled Kobani and if retaken from ISIS, it could facilitate an integration of the two cantons of Kobani and Afrin in the northwest, currently separated by ISIS held territories.
The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... has been a vocal opponent to YPG control of the region fearing it could strengthen the Kurdish guerrillas grip on the bordering areas. It has occasionally shelled the advancing YPG forces in northwest of Syria near its own borders.
Ankara has shown more restraint in the ongoing operations in Manbij after US officials reportedly gave assurances that the YPG forces would retreat from the area after the operation.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2016 00:00 ||
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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.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The First Vice President General Abdul Rashid 
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Vice President General Abdul Rashid 
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Taliban supreme leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor visited Iran to discuss with the country’s authorities regarding the growing issue of the 
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Taliban group in Afghanistan has beaten the world’s most dangerous terror group, the 
An air defense system from Italy, part of a NATO mission to defend Turkey’s southern border with Syria, has arrived in the southern Turkish province of Kahramanmaraş.
The makeshift mortar looked like something from an old pirate ship, and it took the Kurdish fighters several days to figure out how to use the improvised weapon seized in a skirmish with ISIS.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
