Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Thursday announced that Helmand's former police chief Abdul Rahman Sarjang will be introduced to the attorney general for legal investigations within two days.
The ministry said he is being investigated on charges of exploiting his official powers, establishing ghost police and underestimating his responsibilities in the war with insurgents.
Meanwhile, Kintoz, the new police chief of Helmand said that statistics show almost 50 percent of police personnel reported in the structure of the police in Helmand are ghost officers, calling it an act of treason.
Helmand has been embroiled in heavy fighting for months.
"There are around 10,000 police personnel in the structure of police force in Helmand plus 16,000 army soldiers along with public protection forces and border security forces. According to my information, 40 to 50 percent of the force did not exist physically when we asked for help during operations. Salaries of ghost soldiers had been received during the past eight months and the money has gone to personal accounts," said Kintoz.
"Main issues related to the problems facing Helmand including institutional problems facing Helmand police. However it is a bit early to comment about the rest of the cases. The case is in the final stage in line with the orders of the president, and the former commander of Helmand police will be investigated," said Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman to ministry of interior.
"Huge numbers of ghost police are reported in Helmand province. Their equipment and weaponries were distributed to mafia and local lawbreakers while our people in Helmand and military forces are burning in war flames," senator Akhundzada Alokozai said.
"There are 40,000 people on the list, but the reports which have been received show that seven to eight thousand insurgents exist in Helmand. With forty thousand people who are backed by tanks, artilleries and aircrafts, we should have eliminated each one of the enemy, it is clear that we have not everyone there," Kintoz added.
This comes at a time that the Taliban currently control several districts in Helmand and are plotting to expand their existence in several regions.
The existence of ghost police is thought to be one of the reasons that has expanded the war in the province.
#2
Imagine a world in which wars were fought exclusively by ghost soldiers. Imagine the money that could be made if none of it had to be diverted to real expenses.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A television debate on potential peace deal between the Afghan government and Hezb-e-Islami led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ... who used to be known in intelligence circles as The Most Evil Man in the World but who now seems merely run-of-the-mill evil... led into a brawl between the debate participants.
The trailer of the television debate immediately gone viral earlier tonight as the social media users were surprised with the reactions of the two debate participants.
According to the trailer of debate which is due to published later tonight on 1TV channel, the brawl erupts as one of the debate participants calls a peace deal with Hezb-e-Islami as ineffective, calling Hekmatyar a terrorist who is still internationally blacklisted.
The remarks by the debate participant angers the other participant who speaks in favor of Hekmatyar, calling Hezb-e-Islami a key party which has a major influence in the country.
The brawl among the two participants leads to exchange of punches as the host and another analyst rushes to end the fight.
The delegation of Hezb-e-Islami arrived for peace talks to capital Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... in mid March and shortly after the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) called on myrmidon groups to participate in direct peace talks with the Afghan government.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/10/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Maybe MSNBC should try this. Imagine the ratings boost.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The conflict in 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... looks set to be ending after all sides unconditionally agreed to a roadmap drafted by Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... that will see a ceasefire in the wartorn country, sources in Kuwait have been reported as saying.
Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper has seen the plans which are made up of four proposals: finding an administrative body to organize the works of ceasefire committees, form field parties across battlefronts of each governorate, link the committees to the field parties on different levels, and establish safe and secure areas across these battlefields.
The roadmap comes after 50 days of talks and a series of previous ceasefire violations that were continuing to increase in their intensity Saudi ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Saeed Al- Jaber told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
Jaber added that the proposed deal had been discussed in detail by government officials Abdul Aziz Jabbari, Col. Saleh al-Zindani, Col. Lashkar-e-Zaer ‐ and Hamza al-Houthi, Salim al-Maghles and Col.Ahmed al-Maane’ 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 ... militias.
Jaber said all parties had conceded to the Saudi roadmap and that the implementation and supervision of the roadmap would be the responsibility of the UN, as well as representatives from both sides of the conflict.
Mohammed Saeed Al Jaber added: "Saudi Arabia is playing a pivotal role in advancing the political process in Yemen, as it has gathered, since an early stage, all Yemeni parties in Dhahran in the south, and worked hard to convince them to sign several major agreements.
"The two sides signed seven agreements that included a cessation of hostilities in seven provinces. They also agreed on the formation of two committees, a military one involving four persons representing the government and the Houthis. These committees will be responsible for the truce and cease-fire process."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/10/2016 00:00 ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] Jane Alam, driver of the black microbus which was allegedly used by standby assailants during police officer Babul Akter’s wife murder, witnessed the killing that took place in Chittagong city’s GEC area on Sunday morning, a police brass hat has claimed.
Alam, 50, was tossed in the slammer Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! from outside the city on Wednesday night, hours after the police seized the microbus (Chatta Metro Cha-116119). He hails from Jungle Salimpur area of Sitakunda.
The microbus was seen in CCTV footage leaving the scene of the crime following the three assailants on a cycle of violence. The bike was found in an abandoned condition from the city on Sunday night.
At the CMP Headquarters, Additional Commissioner Debdas Bhattachariya told news hounds that Alam was the owner and driver of the microbus.
"We are confirmed that it is the same black microbus which was seen in CCTV footage collected from near the murder spot," he said, adding that the law enforcers were trying to know about the persons staying inside the vehicle during the killing operation.
"After primary interrogation, Jane Alam confessed that he was in the spot during the killing mission ... he witnessed the whole incident of murder. We are interrogating the person to glean more information from him. If his involvement is found, he will be arrested in the case," the officer said.
About Mitu’s coming out of the house 30 minutes earlier on that day, Debdas said that Mitu used to come out of her house at 7am or 7:05am along with her son to catch the school bus. Other residents of the building too came out at the same time. The bus usually wait at GEC intersection around 7:15am to pick students.
"We need to know why Mitu started for the bus stop half an hour ago on that day. The school authorities did not send any SMS on Mitu’s phone regarding early school on Sunday."
However, alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... Mitu’s mobile phone has remained missing since the murder, he added.
Police’s Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Police Bureau of Investigation are jointly investigating the case.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Alamo, Davy was wondering if Buck was okay. He suspected he wasn't... a court in Chittagong yesterday sent a former activist of Islami Chhatra Shibir ... the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh... to jail, a day after he was arrested in connection with the gruesome murder.
The court of Metropolitan Magistrate Abdul Kader sent Gunnu to jail after the investigation officer of the murder case produced him before the court with a 10-day remand prayer, CMP Additional Deputy Commissioner (prosecution) Nirmalendu Bikash Chakrabarty told the Dhaka Tribune.
The court directly questioned the IO, Detective Branch Inspector Kazi Rakibuddin, regarding the case. Later the court fixed Sunday for the hearing asking the IO to present all relevant documents of the case.
Gunnu, who was arrested on Wednesday from Hathazari, is an attendant of a local shrine. Police said that he is a charge-sheeted accused in an abduction and murder case filed with Satkania police.
"He had been arrested in Mitu murder case based on concrete information," Debdas told news hounds.
Gunnu’s family and locals refuted his connection with Shibir, and claimed that he had not left the shrine in the last seven days.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/10/2016 00:00 ||
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Xinjiang residents must give DNA, voice-print for passports
Authorities in northwestern China’s troubled Xinjiang region are now requiring residents of one northern prefecture to provide DNA samples and other biometric data before they can be issued with travel documents, sparking concerns over the possible ethnic profiling of the country’s mostly Muslim Uyghur group.
The announcement was made by police in Xinjiang’s Ili (in Chinese, Yili) prefecture, who ordered residents to hand in their passports last year, with officials saying no new ones would be issued.
"The requirements for travel document applications have changed, with effect from June 1," the Ili Daily, the regional mouthpiece of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, reported.
Applicants for passports, police-issued exit permits, and travel passes to Taiwan and Hong Kong will now have to supply a DNA sample, fingerprints, a voice-print sample, and a 3D body scan image to receive their documents, the paper said.
Nobody will be issued with a travel document in Ili without the new biometrics, it said.
While the new rules are ostensibly universal, restrictions on passports have targeted ethnic minority groups in the past, making it harder for Uyghurs to book overseas vacations or go on the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, travel agents in the region have told RFA.
Sense of threat
Ilshat Hassan, Washington-based president of the Uyghur American Association, said the new move appears to be aimed at making it harder for Uyghurs to obtain passports or other travel documents.
"One of the aims of these measures is to put obstacles in the way of Uyghurs applying for passports, and another is to give Uyghurs a sense that they are under threat," Ilshat Hassan said.
Citing the requirement for a voice-print, he said Uyghurs would be less likely to speak anonymously to overseas media once they had left China, because their unique voice pattern was on Beijing’s files.
"They would still be able to identify you by your voice-print, and they would be able to deal with you in the same way," he said.
Breach of privacy
New York-based rights activist Liu Qing said the rules are a breach of citizens’ right to privacy, regardless of who they are aimed at.
"So an administrative department has decreed that they can collect DNA samples from their citizens. What happened to a citizen’s right to privacy?" Liu said.
"If they want to collect citizens’ DNA, then they should at least ask people for their opinions, and then pass legislation," he said.
"This isn’t something that can just be ordered as part of administrative regulations."
He rejected the idea that the move is part of a bid by Beijing to stave off possible terrorist attacks.
"Collecting people’s DNA has nothing to do with fighting terror," Liu said. "The government is doing this to step up the sense of fear among the general public."
Uyghurs make up 25.6 percent of Ili’s three-million-strong population, while 36 percent of local residents are Han Chinese.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A quarrel over meal times during the Moslem holy month of Ramadan likely sparked an arson attack that destroyed a German refugee shelter, said a report Thursday quoting prosecutors.
The huge blaze in the western city of Duesseldorf on Tuesday completely razed a hall that housed 282 male asylum seekers, mostly from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and North African countries, with 28 people suffering from smoke inhalation.
Police said Thursday they had detained five men, several of whom had stayed in the shelter using false identity details.
Two were suspected of the arson attack -- a Moroccan and an Algerian, both aged 26 -- and were remanded in jug by a judge.
One of the men had allegedly poured a flammable liquid onto a mattress and set it alight.
Witnesses reported that there had been recurring tensions between followers of different religions in the Red Thingy-run facility.
"During this time of Ramadan, there was one group that wanted to strictly observe the fast, and another that insisted on the usual timetables and usual servings," said Ralf Herrenbrueck, front man for the prosecutors service.
"This had led on several occasions to disputes and altercations with officials of the German Red Thingy," he said in an interview with public broadcaster WDR.
"It got to the point where threats were made over what would happen if things didn't change, and one threat was obviously implemented."
Since the start of the year, police had been called 89 times to the 6,000-square-metre (65,000 square feet) hall, which was formerly part of the city's congress center, reports said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/10/2016 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] Denmark's Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling to revoke the Danish citizenship of a Moroccan-born dual national who was convicted of instigating and promoting terrorism.
Said Mansour is the first person to be stripped of his Danish citizenship under a law introduced in 2004.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected his appeal of a lower court decision to revoke his citizenship and expel him after a four-year prison sentence
Mansour, who is 56 and has lived in Denmark for 32 years, was convicted of instigating and promoting terrorism for posting social media messages in support of al-Qaeda and associated groups. Mansour denied the charges, citing the freedom of speech.
His lawyer told Denmark's TV2 that Mansour would appeal the case to the European Court of Human Rights..
#2
Last night, whle driving home from a date with Mr. Wife, my phone went off with an entirely new sound -- very attention-getting. It signalled an advisory from the police for those in Deerfield Township to shelter in place while the police dealt with a problem. It turns out that a domestic violence call had gone sideways -- a deputy and civilian were shot -- and a massive manhunt for the escaped shooter was underway. They caught him at 4:30 this morning.
I had no idea my phone did that. I'd long since downloaded an app to give me weather warnings from one of the local news stations, but this was something else, and I'm very glad I got it.
#4
I'd bet that the alert was an Integrated Public Alert & Warning System. I don't think you can disable those.
There are several types including Amber alerts.
Posted by: Black John Smith ||
06/10/2016 11:37 Comments ||
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#5
Heh. Through various associations, but I think especially the school district, anytime the weather does something my phone turns into a high frequency vibrating flour sifter.
Makes me want to go for the batteries or framing hammer.
[IsraelTimes] A Virginia man who authorities say joined 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 before surrendering to Kurdish authorities has been flown back to the US to face terror-related charges.
A judge on Thursday unsealed charges against Mohamad Khweis, 26, of Alexandria alleging he provided material support to murderous Moslems and agreed to be a jacket wallah.
Khweis was captured by Kurdish forces in northern Iraq in March. He told his captors he was a Paleostinian-American who had gone to join the Islamic State. But he told Kurdish television he became disenchanted with life in the Islamic State and made his way to the front lines to surrender.
At the time of his capture, US authorities and even Khweis’s own family appeared to be caught off guard that he had left the US to join the murderous Moslem group.
An FBI affidavit states that an Islamic State group member asked Khweis whether he was willing to serve as a suicide bomber. Khweis said he agreed, but he told US authorities that he believed the question was a test of his loyalty.
According to the affidavit, Khweis received training in Islamic law during his time there, but the affidavit makes no mention of military training. Khweis told Sherlocks that the only time he touched a gun in his time there was to move it off a couch so he could sit down.
Khweis told the FBI he developed an interest in joining the Islamic State in mid-2015, and that he left in December from Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... in December 2015, according to the affidavit. He sold his car before departing.
"The defendant was inspired to join ISIS because he saw that they had established an Islamic caliphate and were in the process of expanding it," FBI agent Victoria Martinez wrote in her affidavit. "The defendant stated that he knew ISIS used violence in its expansion of the caliphate, but he also stated that ISIS engaged in peaceful and humanitarian efforts."
From Turkey, he made contact with Islamic State controllers who smuggled him and others into Syria, and stayed in Islamic State safe houses in the Syrian city of Raqqa during the month of January, according to the affidavit.
At one of the safe houses, Islamic State officials said the recruits would be trained to return to their home countries and conduct attacks on behalf of the Islamic State, according to the affidavit. Khweis told Sherlocks he never agreed to participate is such an operation.
According to the affidavit, Khweis admitted burning his laptop and destroying two mobile phones before surrendering to the Kurds.
Khweis is scheduled for an initial appearance at US District Court in Alexandria Thursday afternoon. Court records do not yet list an attorney for him.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/10/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Pakistain has expressed its concern over growing strategic ties between India and the United States (US), a day after the two countries signed a number of agreements for security cooperation during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US.
Addressing a presser at the Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday, the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj PrunefaceAziz ...Adviser to Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on National Security and Foreign Affairs, who believes in good jihadis and bad jihadis as a matter of national policy... said that the US approaches Pakistain whenever it needs it, and abandons it when it doesn't need Pakistain.
"Pakistain will convey its concerns to US over the latest issues in the bilateral ties," Aziz said, adding that a high-level meeting is planned between Pakistain and US officials on June 10 in Islamabad.
"We firmly conveyed it to the US that maintaining effective nuclear deterrence is critical for Pakistain's security and only Pakistain itself can determine how it should respond to growing strategic imbalance in South Asia," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/10/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Quick way to help this continue: keep acting like Islamic nutcases
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/10/2016 14:43 Comments ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] South African archbishop Desmond Tutu nominated imprisoned Paleostinian political figure Marwan Barghouthi for the Nobel Peace Prize on Monday. Red Arch supports convicted murderer? What more could one expect ?
In a letter sent to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Tutu wrote of Barghouthi being a symbol of the Paleostinian people and their "struggle for freedom, [which] constitutes a clear signal of support for the realization of the Paleostinian people’s inalienable rights, including to self-determination."
Barghouthi’s plight has been known worldwide. The first of several Paleostinian parliamentarians to be kidnapped and imprisoned in 2002 by Israel, for many, he stands as a symbol of injustice against the Israeli occupation.
In the letter, Tutu spoke of Barghouthi's continuous advocacy for lasting peace, despite years of imprisonment and isolation. Sorry Bishop Des, no Boden's Mate for you. King Obama just endorsed the Hildebeest.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/10/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
It's that Blair's Law thing about all the world's multiple idiocies becoming one giant, useless force.
Here's an ugly footnote to Wednesday's terror attack in Tel Aviv: The two gunmen now automatically qualify for monthly salaries from the Palestinian Authority.
That right is enshrined in Article 22.2 of the PA constitution, the Basic Law of Palestine.
The terrorists opened fire at a popular open-air market, killing four innocents and wounding five others. It was the latest of some 300 attacks these last nine months, which include stabbings, bombings, motor-vehicle assaults and other mayhem. The slaughter's claimed 30 Israeli lives (including some Arab ones), and two Americans.
And all the surviving attackers collect PA checks, as do the families of what the PA calls the "martyrs" who die during their assaults. One UN-funded PA charity even did a tree-planting ceremony to honor some of the terrorists.
As the nonprofit Palestinian Media Watch points out, the PA's official news outlets are terming the latest atrocity "the Tel Aviv Operation," while the Facebook page of the ruling Fatah party blames Israel for inspiring the attacks.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/10/2016 14:35 ||
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#1
Call in an artillery strike on the tree. And monthly mortar attacks on their houses should take up most or all of their new pension.
#4
Easy solution: Israel can just fine the perps (if they're caught) the total of the monthly payment times their life expectancy. The perp will be allowed to pay it monthly. For the families of martyrs, do the same thing.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
06/10/2016 17:22 Comments ||
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#5
3DC, The enthusiast forums are asking the same static burn question.
The State Department underscored its condemnation of an attack on civilians at a Tel Aviv market on Thursday, but cautioned the Israeli government to "exercise restraint" as it vows to increase security control over the West Bank and its residents. Every time I think they've hit the bottom...
#3
I wouldn't nuke the hamas yet, but otherwise I would level all their restaurants and markets and let the Muzzies truly fast all rumadan long. Then extend rumadan another month of more muzzie fasting.
Posted by: Unelet Protector of the Sith2424 ||
06/10/2016 14:28 Comments ||
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#4
"Just lay back and enjoy it"
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/10/2016 14:38 Comments ||
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[IsraelTimes] The Israel Police says it will choose the site of funerals for Paleostinian hard boyz hailing from East Jerusalem.
The decision, announced Wednesday, follows the publication of videos showing funerals for young Paleostinians who were killed as they stabbed Israelis, which turned into mass rallies celebrating their actions and calling for new attacks.
In future, funerals will not take place in the dear departed attackers’ villages and neighborhoods, police say, but in Moslem cemeteries elsewhere. Police officials will limit participation to close family members.
Last month, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan froze the return of assailants’ bodies to their families after the funeral of one attacker in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber turned into a demonstration in support of his actions.
Two Paleostinian families from East Jerusalem are already appealing to the High Court of Justice against the decision.
[IsraelTimes] Israeli security forces are cracking down on metal workshops in the West Bank suspected of manufacturing a crude homemade gun, which has emerged as the weapon of choice for Paleostinian attackers in months of deadly assaults on civilians and soldiers-- including in this week’s Tel Aviv shooting that killed four Israelis.
Welded together from spare parts of various weapons and pipes, it looks like a short-barreled sub-machine gun, with a long magazine.
The weapon, known by its street name "Carlo," was used by the two Paleostinian gunnies who killed four people and maimed five others in a popular Tel Aviv area filled with crowded shops and restaurants on Wednesday night, as well as in several other attacks since the current round of violence erupted in September.
"There has been an increase in security operations in and around the West Bank area to try and find factories where the weapons are made," police front man Micky Rosenfeld told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named.
He said the quality of the workmanship varies from gun to gun, depending on the materials and the manufacturer.
Paleostinians have used them "in a number of terrorist attacks over the past few months," Rosenfeld said.
According to an Israeli intelligence official, the homemade gun has become the weapon of choice for Paleostinian gunnies, ousting the Kalashnikov that has traditionally been in use.
Carlo’s popularity stems from availability, he added.
"Real weapons" are now hard to find and expensive in the West Bank due to raids carried out by Israel as well as those undertaken by forces of the Paleostinian government, which rules about a third of the territory.
Carlo is somewhat based on the Swedish "Carl Gustav" sub-machine gun because it’s easy to copy with the materials at hand, the intelligence official said. Hundreds are believed to be in circulation, he added, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... because he wasn’t authorized to talk to news hounds.
[ARA News] MANBIJ – French special forces arrived in northern Syria to assist the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) in order to retake the 98-km pocket of Manbij from the radical group near the border with Turkey, French officials confirmed on Thursday.
The French commandos are not participating in combat at the Manbij battlefront. They are restricted to advisory and training roles, according to a French defence ministry official.
“The offensive at Manbij is clearly being backed by a certain number of states including France. It’s the usual support – it’s advisory,” the official told AFP on Thursday.
Also, about 300 American special forces are in northern Syria to support the Kurdish-led SDF troops in the fight against ISIS with advisory and training.
France has earlier acknowledged a ground deployment of around 150 members of its special forces in Iraq’s Kurdish region.
SDF storm ISIS positions in Manbij, jihadis evacuate headquarters
Under heavy shelling by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), hundreds of militants from the Islamic State (ISIS) have evacuated their headquarters in the city of Manbij in the northern countryside of Aleppo province, military sources reported on Wednesday.
The Western-backed SDF troops closed most of the roads leading to Manbij after taking over dozens of villages to the north, east and south of Manbij city.
The only route that ISIS militants could use to escape was the western exit towards Aleppo.
The ISIS evacuation movement started on Tuesday, when dozens of ISIS vehicles were seen exiting the city through the western suburb of Manbij towards Aleppo.
“Those were most likely defectors who escaped the fighting fronts in the south and east of the city. Also, a number of Sharia officials are believed to have escaped Manbij under the ongoing offensive by the SDF against ISIS there,” media activist Alwan Halabi told ARA News.
The SDF-led Manbij Military Council reportedly broke into several ISIS security centres in Manbij city on Wednesday, and engaged in clashes with ISIS militants.
“The clashes have eventually reached the city itself after more than a week of fighting ISIS in the countryside of Manbij,” SDF officer Habun Osman told ARA News. “A large number of ISIS terrorists have already escaped the city, using the western exit. This means that the collapse of the group in Manbij is very near.”
“We, the SDF, will soon announce the full liberation of Manbij from ISIS,” the Kurdish official said, adding that the US-led coalition’s air forces have played a key role in enabling the SDF fighters to advance on the ground.
Also, the Syrian Democratic Forces have facilitated the evacuation of nearly 200,000 civilians from Manbij and its surroundings.
“After retaking key areas near Manbij, such as Al-Qaraa, Muhtaraq and Buzkej, the SDF troops were able to help more than 200,000 civilians evacuate the area and head to more stable towns. This was to prevent the terror group from using the people as human shields in the ongoing clashes,” a spokesman for the SDF told ARA News.
Manbij constitutes a key pocket of 98-kilometers for ISIS militants. “As to why the Manbij pocket is important, it represents a major border crossing point where foreign fighters can cross into Syria from Turkey,” US-led coalition spokesman Colonel Christopher Garver told ARA News.
Posted by: badanov ||
06/10/2016 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] The UN says the Syrian government has given approval for humanitarian convoys to reach all besieged areas in the country by the end of this month.
"We were informed by our team in Damascus that basically there has been permission, an approval... by the government of Syria for all 19 besieged areas," Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy for Syria, told news hounds in the Swiss city of Geneva on Thursday.
The UN envoy made the remarks after the weekly meeting of the Syria humanitarian task force, which has for months been attempting to boost aid supplies to millions of Syrians trapped in hard-to-reach areas across the country.
This comes as the task force has recently come under pressure by some Western countries, including La Belle France and Britannia, to start air-dropping aid into besieged areas.
However, alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... De Mistura voiced hope that a surge of road convoys in the coming weeks would make dangerous and costly air deliveries unnecessary.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/10/2016 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] The Iranian defense minister has called for a "comprehensive" ceasefire deal aimed at containing the violence in Syria, stressing, however, that any such agreement should not pave the way for terror groups to grow stronger.
Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan made the comments in a trilateral meeting with his Russian and Syrian counterparts, Lieutenant General Sergei Shoigu and Major General Fahad Jassim Freij, in Tehran on Thursday.
"Iran gives its approval to a ceasefire which has the necessary guarantees and will not lead to the strengthening of the snuffies operating in this country," said the Iranian defense chief.
Dehqan further called for "a firm fight" against all terrorist groups without making exceptions as well as a halt in the flow of foreign aid to the Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... outfits operating in the country.
However, a hangover is the wrath of grapes... he added that such anti-terror battles must go hand in hand with efforts on the diplomatic front with the aim of setting the stage for the Syrian nation to decide its own political future in peace.
The Iranian minister further slammed the United States, Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... and some other regional states for supporting the snuffies under the guise of so-called "moderate opposition," saying such "fake and empty" attempts merely exposes the lies of imperialist powers that claim to be advocating anti-terror battles.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/10/2016 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] The US military says a second carrier group is nearing the Mediterranean Sea to bolster operations, the first time two American carriers will be in those waters at the same time since the 2003 Iraq invasion.
US European Command spokesman Lt. Col. David Westover says Thursday the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and its strike group of guided missile cruisers and destroyers is now in EUCOM’s area of responsibility in the Atlantic en route to the Mediterranean. It joins the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group already in the Mediterranean.
US 6th Fleet spokesman Lt. Shawn Eklund says US warships are there to carry out anti-Islamic State actions and to reassure European allies. He says: “When we put carriers in place, it sends a signal.”
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/10/2016 02:03 ||
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#1
He says: “When we put carriers in place, it sends a signal.”
And that's about all our military is capable of these days given the desires of our current regime.
#2
0bean has a problem. If Trump wins, ISIS better be on its way out or Trump will show the world how it's done, thereby pantsing 0bean, underwear and all.
[Iran Press TV] The ISISTakfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... terrorist group has published a new kill list, urging its sympathizers around the world to kill thousands of people including British nationals.
The terror group’s alleged cyber warfare wing published the full names and home addresses of nearly 8,000 "targets" on Wednesday.
The list includes the names of 39 Britons, as well as 7,848 Americans, 312 Canadians and 69 Australians whom the group wants murdered.
It was not clear why the terror group wanted the people on the list killed. Whether the information is entirely new or already available online also remains a question.
The terror group’s cyber outfit claimed in early May that it is using a mole it claims it has in the UK Ministry of Defense to infiltrate into Britannia and the US.
"In our next leak we may even disclose secret intelligence the ISIS has just received from a source the brothers in the UK have spent some time acquiring from the Ministry of Defense in London as we slowly and secretly infiltrate England and the USA online and off," the hacker group wrote.
The ministry declined to enlarge on what personnel security measures it is taking for its staff.
"While we don’t comment on cyber threats, Britannia is a world leader in cyber security and we are investing more than ever before in the UK’s capabilities to protect our national interest," said a ministry front man. "Our increasing defense budget means that we can stay ahead of our adversaries in cyberspace while also investing in conventional capabilities."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/10/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Damn Canucks have have done gone Linda Ronstadt on the mother country, odd and intriguing.
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.
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The conflict in 
...Adviser to Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on National Security and Foreign Affairs, who believes in 
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] South African archbishop Desmond Tutu nominated imprisoned Paleostinian political figure 
Here's an ugly footnote to Wednesday's terror attack in Tel Aviv: The two gunmen now automatically qualify for monthly salaries from the Palestinian Authority.
