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Nine Al Qaeda, LJ militants held in North Karachi
Today's Headlines
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Africa Horn
AMISOM denies civilian killings in southern Somalia
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has denied reports that a bombardment by its troops killed five civilians in the southern Somali town of Janale during fighting with Al-Shabaab militants on Tuesday.

The AMISOM said in a statement Thursday that the fighting, in which 7 militants were killed, was away from populated areas.

“AMISOM takes the safety of the Somali people seriously and takes utmost care in all its operations to protect civilians,” the statement.

Local media reports claimed five civilians were killed and several others wounded in an overnight mortar bombardment by AMISOM force on a residential area near Janale town in Lower Shabelle region.

AMISOM force is helping the Somali army fight the Islamist group Al-Shabaab, which carries out frequent attacks in the country.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/08/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Africa North
Netherlands Extends U.N. Mission in Mali into 2017
[AnNahar] The Netherlands on Friday announced it was extending its contribution to the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali for another year, but will pull out its helicopters and crews.

"We have decided to continue the Mali mission, but with a reduced capacity," Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told news hounds at his weekly presser, adding the "Dutch helicopters will be withdrawn."

The Netherlands has been contributing to the U.N. stabilization mission in the west African nation since April 2014, and has reportedly deployed up to 400 troops, as well as four Apache helicopters and three Chinooks.
Going forward without the helicopters. That's ... some contribution...
Earlier this year two Dutch U.N. peacekeepers were accidentally killed and one maimed in an kaboom during a training exercise at their camp in northwest Mali.

A total of 290 Dutch troops will be left behind in Mali once the helicopters are withdrawn in early 2017, Rutte and officials said.

The Dutch mission remains "important to contribute to peace, was well as for stability in the Sahel region
... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas...
and thus the security of Europe," Rutte added.

The Dutch troops have already been transferring some tasks in and those remaining will focus on collecting and analyzing information, as well as long range reconnaissance, the defense ministry said in a statement.

The U.N. mission MINUSMA was deployed in Mali in July 2013 as part of an international effort against jihadist groups which overran the country's northern territory. More than 11,000 U.N. police and military are currently serving there, attempting to guarantee security in lawless swathes of the vast Sahel nation.

Although they were largely ousted by a French-led military operation in January 2013, Death Eater groups still pose a threat.

And the north continues to be beset by violence having fallen under the control of Tuareg-led rebels and jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda in 2012.

Although peace has been restored in parts of Mali "it remains fragile and the work is not yet done," the ministry said.

Mali also faces threats from "terrorism and transnational crime" while the exodus of migrants colonists is a source of "instability on Europe's southern flank," it added.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/08/2016 02:18 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Houthis Have Turned Yemeni Schools into Iranian schools
Houthi rebels are involved in the bombing and demolition of many regular schools in the Al-Ghayl district of the Al-Jawf governorate, Yemen. Religious Shi’i seminaries that teach the Iranian curriculum are being constructed on the ruins of the schools.

The governor of Al-Jawf Amin Al-Ukaymi told Asharq Al-Awsat yesterday that an Iranian teacher has been arrested. The teacher had been sent by Tehran with other teachers to Yemen in order to teach children according to the Iranian curriculum which spreads hatred and resentment of Arabs.

He explained that the Iranian teacher, who was teaching Yemeni children and indoctrinating them according to the curricula of the Velayat-e Faqih that are taught in religious seminaries in Qom and Mashhad, was arrested during battles to liberate districts in Al-Jawf. Al-Ukaymi emphasised the fact that the Yemeni national army has vowed to liberate all districts in the Al-Jawf governorate, including Al-Ghayl, which is one of the most important Houthi strongholds.

According to the governor of Al-Jawf, the strategic importance of the Al-Ghayl district lies in the fact that it is adjacent to five districts and provinces, the most important of which are Sana’a which is under Houthi rule, and the province of Ma’rib. Its nature which is characterised by mountains and rugged areas gives the Houthis access to the Majzar district of Ma’rib, the centre of the city of Al-Hizam and four districts in western Al-Jawf.
Posted by: badanov || 10/08/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Success of New Ceasefire in Yemen Hinges on Rebels
Aden, Jeddah-Informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Houthi rebels have accepted a 72-hour ceasefire truce. But, based on previous experiences, several observers informed about the situation in the country have expressed doubt about Houthis’ respect of the truce.

The sources said rebels accepted the ceasefire after U.N. Special Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed arrived to the Omani capital, Muscat, where he met with a Houthi delegation to discuss the peace process in Yemen.

Houthi member Naser Baqzaqouz told Asharq Al-Awsat: “The delegation accepted the ceasefire and was informed by the U.N. envoy that the Yemeni presidency and the alliance forces had accepted it too.”

Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbuh Mansour Hadi’s internationally recognized government, which is supported by an alliance of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia, is fighting the Houthis and Saleh militias who took over the capital Sana’a in 2014.

Sources from the office of Ould Cheikh told Asharq Al-Awsat that the U.N. envoy carries with him an agenda for a political solution and a comprehensive understanding to end the crisis in Yemen.

According to the sources, the diplomat’s plan is based on the latest peace talks held in Kuwait, in addition to the points discussed in this regard, both is Jeddah and New York.

Separately, Governor of Al Jawf Amin al-Okaimi told Asharq Al-Awsat on Thursday that Houthis were involved in the bombing and destruction of several schools in Al Ghayl district. The rebels built on their ruins religious seminaries for Iranian indoctrination.

Okaimi said that the authorities had arrested an Iranian national sent by Tehran along with other teachers to teach Yemenis the Iranian doctrine, which is based on preaching hatred against Arabs. The man was arrested during battles to liberate several directorates in Al Jawf province.

The governor added that Houthis had previously received delegations from the Iranian revolutionary Guards in Al Ghayl district.

More from Al-Arabiya
A 72-hour truce for conflict-riddled Yemen is expected to be announced soon, the UN envoy to the Arabian Peninsula country said Friday after talks with rebel representatives.

Three months of negotiations in Kuwait earlier this year ended without a breakthrough, dashing hopes for an end to the war between Shiite Houthi rebels and government forces that has gripped Yemen for more than 18 months.

Fighting flared anew when the talks collapsed in August, prompting UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed to warn that restoring a ceasefire for Yemen was critical.

Speaking in the Omani capital on Friday after talks with representatives of the Houthis, the Mauritanian diplomat said a new truce deal was in the works as part of a wider peace plan.

"An agreement for a 72-hour renewable truce will be announced in the coming days," he said in remarks carried by the official Oman news agency.

The Houthis and their allies, supporters of ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, "are convinced of the need for a ceasefire," the diplomat said.

He said he would head to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, to meet with Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

The UN envoy said he was hoping to draft a new peace plan for Yemen "in the next two weeks" but that he first needed to carry out more consultations.

The United Nations says the conflict has killed more than 6,700 people and displaced at least three million since a Saudi-led Arab coalition backing Hadi's government launched operations in March 2015.

Since then, the rebels have been pushed out of much of Yemen's south, but they still control nearly all of its Red Sea coast as well as swathes of territory around the capital Sanaa.

The Saudi-led coalition has stepped up its air raids following the breakdown of talks and cross-border attacks from Yemen have also intensified.
Posted by: badanov || 10/08/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


The Grand Turk
Turkish lawyer files complaint for top US soldiers for ‘supporting coup attempt’
A Turkish lawyer has filed a complaint against three senior U.S. soldiers, accusing them of making terror propaganda over the failed July 15 coup while claiming that some of the bombs used in the attempt did not belong to the Turkish military.
We really, really need a graphic for "go pound sand"...
Lawyer Mert Eryılmaz filed a complaint at the Bakırköy Public Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul regarding U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Central Command Gen. Joseph Votel on the grounds that they supported the attempted takeover of July 15, which has been blamed on the Fethullah Gülen movement.

Eryılmaz stated in his complaint that the coup attempt was directed from the İncirlik Air Base in the southern province of Adana and that military officers with links to the Gülen movement cooperated with U.S. military personnel at the base. He said bombs which do not belong to the Turkish military were found inside eight cargo planes which took off from the base and landed in the eastern province of Malatya on the night of July 15.

The base’s commander, Brig. Bekir Ercan Van, had sought asylum in the U.S. when the coup attempt failed but was rejected.

The lawyer also noted the testimony of Specialized Sgt. Muhammet Emrah Kuzu, who said Van called him to duty on July 15, after which he entered a building at the base belonging to U.S. soldiers, staying there around 20 minutes.

The soldiers at the base supported the movement and violated international conventions, the lawyer said, demanding the precautionary closure of the base.

The Bakırköy Public Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation but said the matter was out of its jurisdiction, sending the file to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office where coup attempt probes are being conducted.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office could either file a lawsuit or drop the complaint.

Following the coup attempt, a report by pro-government daily Yeni Şafak claimed that retired Gen. John Campbell planned the failed coup attempt. It stated that Campbell provided a huge amount of cash flow from the UBA Bank in Nigeria via the CIA in order to support the coup.

Dunford dismissed the allegations, describing them as “absurd.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also lashed out at Votel for appearing to lament the fact that some Turkish officers with whom the U.S. had relations were detained for their role in the attempted overthrow, saying the situation could impair relations between the two militaries.

The Pentagon stated that the general was misunderstood, saying any report suggesting Votel’s support in favor of coup-plotting soldiers was factually inaccurate.

Turkey PM Says over 70,000 Appeals Filed over Coup Probe

[AnNahar] Tens of thousands of people have filed appeals after being implicated in an investigation into the abortive July coup, the Turkish prime minister said on Friday.

"There are over 70,000 appeals. This will take time, the mechanism has been set up at the ministries," Binali Yildirim told news hounds in televised comments.

He said each request would be handled carefully, though he did not clarify whether they had come from the tens of thousands of people who have been detained, suspended from their jobs in the public sector or remanded in jug.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/08/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Police capture PKK bad boy suspected of Istanbul bomb attack
Police in the Central Anatolian province of Aksaray early on Oct. 7 detained an outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant who was the suspected perpetrator a bomb attack in Istanbul near a police station, which wounded 10, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

Istanbul counter-terrorism police identified the suspected bomber on the run via security footage, determining that he had left the city in a civil car to join PKK camps in Syria and Iraq. Police informed security units across the country to apprehend the perpetrator.

Police units in Aksaray stopped a suspicious car and captured three militants - identified as Ekrem G., Felek G. and Serdar G. - including the perpetrator who was carrying a fake identity card. A Glock-model gun was also seized inside the car.

The three suspects, who narrowly escaped a lynching from angry locals in Aksaray, were later taken to the Aksaray State Hospital for health checks before being brought to the Istanbul police headquarters.

In addition, another three suspects were detained in Istanbul in connection to the attack, bringing the total number of detainees to six.

The owner of the motorcycle used in the attack has said he lent it to one of his friends. Police, meanwhile, stated that a plastic explosive had been used in the attack.

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said late on Oct. 6 that the bomb attack was bypassed with the slightest damage possible due to security measures, describing it as a “big attack.”

Ten civilians were wounded in the motorcycle bomb attack near a police station in the Yenibosna neighborhood of Istanbul on the afternoon of Oct. 6.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/08/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Ankara says Turkish troops to stay in Iraq despite Baghdad objections
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
said Thursday that its troops will remain in Iraq despite Baghdad’s growing anger ahead of a planned operation to retake the Iraqi city of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
from 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...
ISIS group.

Baghdad has accused Ankara of risking a regional war by keeping its forces inside Iraq and called for an emergency session of the UN Security Council to discuss the dispute, which has complicated plans for the ambitious Mosul operation.

"No matter what the Iraqi government in Baghdad says, a Turkish presence will remain there to fight against ISIS (ISIS), and to avoid any forceful change of the demographic composition in the region," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said in televised comments.

Turkey has an estimated 2,000 troops in Iraq -- around 500 of them in the Bashiqa camp in northern Iraq training Iraqi fighters who hope to participate in the battle to recapture Mosul, according to Turkish media.

The Turkish parliament on Saturday extended a government mandate by one year, allowing its troops to remain on both Iraqi and Syrian soil.

The Iraqi parliament labeled the Turkish troops an occupying force, while Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi raised fears that Turkey’s move could lead to "regional war".

Iraq has also requested an emergency session of the Security Council "to discuss the Turkish encroachment into Iraqi territory and intervention in its internal affairs," the foreign ministry announced.

Posted by: Fred || 10/08/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Home Front: WoT
FBI: Minnesota mall attacker newly interested in Islam
So it really was Sudden Jihad Syndrome.
[IsraelTimes] Investigators say Dahir Ahmed Adan, 20, planned ahead for attack in which he stabbed 10, urged relatives to become more religious

The man who stabbed 10 people at a Minnesota mall had become interested in Islam in the last several months, withdrew from his friends and encouraged female relatives to be more religious, the FBI said Thursday.

"We were told (he) had not previously shown an interest in religion," but after 20-year-old Dahir Ahmed Adan did, he went from being a high academic performer to failing out of college "almost overnight," Minneapolis FBI Special Agent in Charge Rick Thornton said at a news conference in which authorities gave the public its first look at surveillance video of some of the Sept. 17 attacks.

"The totality of Dahir Adan’s behavior and the actions suggest he may have been radicalized either with the influence of others or on his own," Thornton said.

The attorney for Adan’s family, Abdulwahid Osman, said his parents and close family members did not see the behavioral changes that Sherlocks described. "They believed he was doing as good as he used to do," Osman said. "That is not the son they knew."
The local Somali-American community condemned their lad's activities here.
Thornton also said Sherlocks are looking at Adan’s digital footprint, including social media accounts, and are assessing "legal and technical options" to unlock his iPhone. He didn’t elaborate, and agency front man Kyle Loven said he couldn’t comment further because of the ongoing investigation.

In arguing that it appeared the attack was premeditated, Thornton said compelling evidence included Adan not changing out of his security guard uniform between shifts as he usually did, telling his family he had "work to do tonight." He then texted his boss to say he was not coming to work.

Less than a half-hour before the attack, he went to a convenience store. When the clerk said he would see Adan later, Adan replied: "You won’t be seeing me again," Thornton said.

Minnesota has the nation’s largest Somali community, with census numbers placing the population at about 57,000. Young Somalis have been a target for terror recruiters. Since 2007, more than 20 young men from the community have joined the Lion of Islam group al-Shabaab
... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
in Somalia. In addition, roughly a dozen people have left to join Lions of Islam in Syria, and nine Minnesota men face sentencing on terror charges for plotting to join 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.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/08/2016 02:18 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


India-Pakistan
Foreign secretary’s presentation
[DAWN] On Monday, on the day of the All Parties’ Conference, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry gave a separate, exclusive presentation in the Prime Minister’s Office to a small group of civil and military officials.

The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Sharif and included senior cabinet and provincial officials. On the military side, ISI DG Rizwan Akhtar led the representatives.

While Chinese authorities have conveyed their willingness to keep putting on technical hold a UN ban on Jaish-e-Mohammad leader Masood Azhar, they have questioned the logic of doing so repeatedly.
The presentation by the foreign secretary summarised the results of the recent diplomatic outreach by Pakistain, the crux being that Pakistain faces diplomatic isolation and that the government’s talking points have been met with indifference in major world capitals.

Examine: What should determine Pakistain’s foreign policy?

On the US, Mr Chaudhry said that relations have deteriorated and will likely further deteriorate because of the American demand that action be taken against the Haqqani network. On India, Mr Chaudhry stated that the completion of the Pathankot investigation and some visible action against Jaish-e-Mohammad
...literally Army of Mohammad, a Pak-based Deobandi terror group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in 2000, after he split with the Harkat-ul-Mujaheddin. In 2002 the government of Pervez Musharraf banned the group, which changed its name to Khaddam ul-Islam and continued doing what it had been doing before without missing a beat...
were the principal demands.

Then, to a hushed but surprised room, Mr Chaudhry suggested that while China has reiterated its support for Pakistain, it too has indicated a preference for a change in course by Pakistain. Specifically, while Chinese authorities have conveyed their willingness to keep putting on technical hold a UN ban on Jaish-e-Mohammad leader Masood Azhar, they have questioned the logic of doing so repeatedly.
Posted by: Fred || 10/08/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


International community should condemn Indian fabrications about Pakistan: Gen Raheel
[DAWN] The international community should condemn the distortion of facts by India regarding held Kashmire and the LoC, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif
..Pak chief of army staff, meaning he pulls the strings on the Nawaz Sharif puppet to make it dance and sing and not do much at all....
said on Thursday.

"We have recently witnessed an unfortunate display of utter desperation playing out inside Indian Kashmiree and along the Line of Control through a litany of falsehood and distortion of facts by India," he said while addressing a passing out parade of PAF cadets.

"We expect the international communtiy to condemn Indian insinuations and fabrications about a nation that has made unparalleled contributions to the global fight against terrorism."

He said the Pak armed forces are fully prepared to give the "most befitting response" to any internal or external threats directed at the country.

"Pakistain is a responsible country and remains committed to the policy of friendship with all other countries based on equality and mutual respect."

"Any aggression born out of deliberate intent or even a strategic miscalculation will not be allowed to go unpunished and will be met with a befitting response."

Talking about the internal front, he said Operation Zarb-e-Azb
..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)...
with "full support from Pakistain Air Force" has successfully turned the tide against terrorism.

He said the enemies of Pakistain will make efforts to reverse the gains in the fight against terror. But "their nefarious designs will not be allowed to succeed at any cost".

Posted by: Fred || 10/08/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1 
a nation that has made unparalleled contributions to the global fight against terrorism


To be fair, he's right -- it wouldn't be much of a fight without an opponent.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 10/08/2016 19:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Unparalleled is right

Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/08/2016 19:23 Comments || Top||

#3  "Litany of falsehood and distortion of facts"; "nefarious designs"; "insinuations and fabrications"

Is there a special school where these clowns go to learn to write this crap, or is it a natural talent?
Posted by: Barbara || 10/08/2016 19:27 Comments || Top||


Why aren't we taking action against Hafiz Saeed, PML-N lawmaker asks
[DAWN] A politician from the ruling Pakistain Moslem League-Nawaz (PML-N) has demanded action against non-state actors, especially Jamaat-ud-Dawa
...the front organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba...
(JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed
...founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its false-mustache offshoot Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The United Nations declared the JuD a terrorist organization in 2008 and Hafiz Saeed a terrorist as its leader. Hafiz, JuD and LeT are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Pak intel apparatus, so that amounted to squat...
, BBC Urdu reported.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 10/08/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Iraq
Iraq ready to battle occupying Ottoman Turkish forces near ISIS-held Mosul
[ALMASDARNEWS] Iraqi security officials have warned the army may attack occupying Turkish forces if they intervene in the coming offensive to liberate ISIS-held djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, the second largest city in Iraq, as reported by the Middle East Eye.

Baghdad "seeks to make clear that there is absolutely no role for Turkish forces in the Iraqi sphere," a senior security source was quoted as saying on Thursday.

"Any movement or intervention by Turkish during the military operations (to retake Mosul), would be faced with a very strong response," the official warned, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
Meanwhile,
...back at the mall, Clarissa suddenly spied Mr. Bartlett at the checkout counter. He was buying Grecian Formula!...
Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units have said they would target Turkish forces if they "insist on staying in Bashiqa or extend their presence in Mosul."

"The presence of these troops (on Iraqi territory) is illegal and against the will of the Iraqi government, parliament and people," Ahmad al-Assadi, the front man for the Popular Mobilization Units, told Middle East Eye.

"We consider them an occupation force and we will deal with them on this basis," he said." As long as they are seen as occupiers, we have a right to adopt all available means to deal with the occupiers."

Posted by: Fred || 10/08/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Kurdish controlled areas near Mosul gain strategic importance for looming offensive
[RUDAW.NET] Villages near djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
are likely to become strategic bases for the anticipated operation to drive out 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) gunnies from Nineveh province, which is expected to start in mid-October, Iraqi and Kurdish officials say.

Kurdish Peshmerga forces have virtually besieged Mosul along the city's northern and eastern borders while the Iraqi army has surrounded the city from the south, leaving only one route for the gunnies to flee Mosul towards the Syrian border in the east.

The vicinity of both Kurdish controlled Kirkuk and Dohuk provinces to Mosul has given Peshmerga troops a key role in the anticipated offensive with both the Iraqi army and international coalition now calling for Kurdish participation in the battle despite earlier concerns.

"We have completed all the preparations ahead of the operation since it is vital for us to succeed in Mosul with collaboration with both the Peshmerga and (Shiite) Hashd al-Shaabi," said Colonel Joma Shookor, commander of Iraqi army's 73rd brigade.

Kurdish officials have in the past said their condition for participation in Mosul offensive is that local Sunni forces also take part along with the Iraqi army.

It is however unclear how the Shiite and Kurdish forces will participate in the battle in a predominately Sunni city while avoiding escalation of ethnic and religious tensions.

Some 20,000 Sunni fighters known as Hashd al-Watani will also support the operation, many of who have been recruited from Mosul itself.

The possible participation of Shiite militia has stirred debate in the country with many Sunni leaders fearing it would boost the support for ISIS gunnies in Mosul and elsewhere in the country.

"The decision to have the Shiite Hashd al Shaabi in the offensive has been made. I think all parties will participate since it will become our last battle against the ISIS," said Shiite militia commander Yazan Mashaan Jabouri.

"We need the support of the Hashd, the army, the anti-tenor forces, the Peshmerga and the international coalition to defeat ISIS," Jabouri told Rudaw.
Posted by: Fred || 10/08/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Bout how long has this looming offensive been looming now?
Posted by: Knuckles Flutch2169 || 10/08/2016 3:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Call me when it becomes a blooming offensive.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/08/2016 6:00 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Singaporean Daesh supporter apprehended in August
[AsiaOne] A 33-year-old Singaporean Daesh supporter was arrested in August, the Ministry of Home Affairs said yesterday. Asrul Alias, a technician, has been placed under a two-year Restriction Order which curtails his movements and activities. The ministry said in a statement that he will undergo religious counseling while under restriction.

The ministry also said Asrul began reading online material about the conflict in Syria in 2014 and started viewing online sermons by radical clerics and videos of Daesh fighters in combat. He shared pro-Daesh propaganda on social media and also spoke up against criticisms of Daesh that he encountered online.

Asrul stopped posting pro-Daesh materialafter being warned by a family member and a friend last year and early this year. But he remained supportive of Daesh and continued to view its propaganda online.

In its statement, the ministry also announced that Singaporean Mohammad Razif Yahya, 28, was released conditionally from detention after it was assessed that he no longer posed a security threat that required him to be detained. He had been apprehended in August last year for voluntarily fighting Houthis in Yemen in January 2010.
Posted by: ryuge || 10/08/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Security in Thai south increasingly handled by militias
[Benar News] Troop levels in Thailand's far South are at their lowest level since peak deployment nine years ago. The gradual draw-down has been accompanied by the shifting of security responsibility to local armed militias. Current troop strength in the southern border area is just over 20,000, a bit more than half the number of military personnel posted there in 2007, according to a military spokesman.

According to Colonel Pramote Prom-in virtually all troops from the nations north, northeast and central regional commands have already left the far South. He said only three battalions of non-local troops remain in the Muslim-majority region.

Pramote said the downsizing is balanced by the use of local armed units such as the Volunteer Defense Corps (Ar Sar - VDC) and the village defense volunteers (Chor Ror Bor - VDV.

The total security presence, including those groups and police, is around 50,000, in an area of 1.7 million residents, 80 percent of whom are Malay-speaking Muslims. Pramote said that about 40% of the remaining 20,000-plus soldiers are Rangers, a significant number of whom are local Malay Muslims. These paramilitary forces are not part of the regular armed forces but are locally recruited and trained by the Thai Army.
Posted by: ryuge || 10/08/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Moscow approves indefinite deployment of Russian Air Force at airbase in Syria
[ALMASDARNEWS] Russia's lower house of parliament ratified on Friday an agreement with Syria that authorizes the deployment of a Russian air group at the Hmeimim airbase for an indefinite period of time.

The Hmeymim airbase agreement was signed in Damascus on August 26, 2015, and was submitted to the State Duma for ratification in the beginning of August, 2016. The document was approved by 446 State Duma politicians.

A Russian airforce group has been deployed to the Syrian Arab Republic following a request from Damascus. The airforce group is located on the Hmeymim airfield in Latakia. Moscow will use the base 'free-of-charge' and will carry out supplies of necessary equipment and ammunition to the base without customs or any other duties, the memorandum says.

Russia began its air campaign against 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....
terrorist group in Syria on September 30, 2015, at the request of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Light of the Alawites...
.
Posted by: Fred || 10/08/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Smart diplomacy, eh?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/08/2016 6:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Assad is going to be in office longer than O'bean or Kerry.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/08/2016 9:23 Comments || Top||


Russia ready to formalize UN’s evacuation plan for al-Qaeda fighters in Aleppo
[ALMASDARNEWS] Russia will be prepared to support the proposal made by the UN secretary-general’s special envoy, Staffan de Mistura, for the withdrawal of Jabhat al-Nusra
...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-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 .. ...
(terrorist organization outlawed in Russia - TASS) from Aleppo for the sake of saving the city, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Chanel One’s weekly Sunday news roundup Voskresnoye Vremya in an interview.
Killed enough so the rest can fit into a single truck...
"According to UN estimates, there are some 6,000-8,000 turbans there. About half of them - de Mistura said so himself at the UN Security Council meeting - are Jabhat al-Nusra members. I’ve heard only his statement concerning al-Nusra. For God’s sake, if al-Nusra with all of its armaments leaves for Idlib, where its main forces are based, for the sake of saving Aleppo we would be prepared to support this approach and will be ready to ask the Syrian government to agree to this."

However,
the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits...
Lavrov said, "the question arises about the other half of the turbans who merged with al-Nusa over the past weeks and days. What will happen to it? If it wishes to leave and take its weapons, it is welcome to do so. No questions. But if it wishes to stay in the city, then a separate agreement is to be negotiated how to handle this problem."

"Those who will not leave with al-Nusra, must clearly distance themselves from it, to sign such an official obligation on paper," Lavrov said. "Possibly, the government agencies, the police and this part of the armed opposition might agree to form some joint law enforcement bodies to maintain normal life there to let civilians feel secure."

Militants who have separated from Jabhat al-Nusra will be able to form law enforcement forces in Aleppo along with the police, according to Lavrov.

"Those who are not leaving with al-Nusra must clearly dissociate themselves from it, to commit this liability to paper, officially," Lavrov said. "Maybe then, government structures, police and these armed oppositionists will be able to form some joint law enforcement bodies to maintain normal life to make people feel secure."

Posted by: Fred || 10/08/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


Hezbollah’s ploy for more power in Lebanon
[JPOST] Currently, the most prominent presidential contender is Michel Aoun
...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah...
, founder of the Free Patriotic Movement
Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic...
. In 2006, Aoun and Hezbollah created an alliance to diminish the power of Sunni Moslems in the country. Since then, analysts say, Hezbollah has remained aligned with Aoun so as not to be seen as an turban party.

According to Khashan, Hezbollah wants to be on good terms with Aoun but it does not want him becoming president because it wants to push through electoral change that would give Hezbollah more power.

Politically, there are currently two "package deals" in the country. The first is an agreement between Presidential candidate Michel Aoun and ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri
Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too.
to support each other.

"Aoun has made it obvious that if he is nominated by Hariri (to be president), he would help enable Hariri to become prime minister. Essentially, you help me become president and I help you become Prime Minister again," Khashan said. "(They are) two men who are desperate for political office."

Hariri, who had campaigned to nominate Marada Movement
the personal militia of Suleiman Franjieh, president of Lebanon at the outbreak of the civil war, currently Syrian toadies, but you never know when that could change...
Chief Suleiman Franjieh as president in 2015, recently returned from a two month jaunt to Europe and 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...
.
Posted by: Fred || 10/08/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  Hezbollah gained control of the legislature and the country by assassinating opposing legislators.
It expects Aoun and Hariri to be cowed by this fact into submission.
What is their alternative?
Posted by: Grins Snese4215 || 10/08/2016 2:53 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Pentagon still unsure of whether to link Islam with violent jihad
"Staffers in various departments in the Pentagon (the U.S. Defense Department) are busy preparing a document known as the National Military Strategy ‐ but have not yet come to an agreement on at least one critical point regarding the worldwide terror threat.

The biennial document, intended for senior U.S. military commanders around the world, sets out big picture strategy guidance in light of the myriad threats they may face in the line of duty. This is the first one prepared under the guidance of Gen. Joseph Dunford, who took office as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff exactly a year ago.

The debate taking place at present concerns whether or not to clearly specify the strong connection between extremist Islam and terrorism."
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 10/08/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Honesty or integrity are of course irrelevant to the decision during this administration. However the American people will judge General Dunford by the honesty of this document.
Posted by: Grins Snese4215 || 10/08/2016 2:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Tell me again what the Barbary wars were about?
Posted by: gorb || 10/08/2016 4:23 Comments || Top||

#3  In August 1988 some forty radicals met in Khost, Afghanistan, to declare war on the West. Al Qaeda was born, Osama bin Laden was its leader, and the organization had its own Imam to lead it in prayers. Bin Laden, his friend Zawahiri and others chose an Iraqi mujahideen to serve as their Imam. All were influenced by the atavistic Salafist philosophy of Ibn Tammaya. Yes, a radical preacher dead for centuries was alive and well, and he is the same radical who influences ISIL, Abu Sayyaf and the myriad crazies who inhabit Pakistan and Afghanistan. He is the same radical who influences the radical wing of the international Muslim Brotherhood. I wonder what the Pentagon does to inform its fighting force of the history of Islamic radicalism? I'll bet not much.
Posted by: Shick de Medici6262 || 10/08/2016 6:08 Comments || Top||

#4  Progress is very slow at the Five-Sided-Nut. I can remember a time in the not too distant past when the 'Haqanni Network' was not considered a terrorist threat.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/08/2016 8:56 Comments || Top||

#5  Slow? compared to the pentagon, glacial flow is a top fuel dragster.
maybe in January the brakes will be released and chocks pulled.....
any more Stupid Donald Speaks tho' and iits all over
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 10/08/2016 11:46 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
27[untagged]
7Islamic State
3Govt of Syria
3Govt of Pakistan
3Houthis
3Sublime Porte
3Taliban
2al-Shabaab
2Abu Sayyaf
1Hezbollah
1Thai Insurgency
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent
1Moslem Colonists
1Govt of Iraq
1al-Nusra

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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2016-10-08
  Nine Al Qaeda, LJ militants held in North Karachi
Fri 2016-10-07
  Planned Hezbollah terror attacks in Haifa thwarted, six arrested
Thu 2016-10-06
  Russians say hospitals are legitimate targets
Wed 2016-10-05
  34 die in bomb attack on wedding in Hasakah
Tue 2016-10-04
  US kills veteran al-Qaeda leader in Syria drone strike
Mon 2016-10-03
  Syrian army calls on rebels to leave Aleppo, offers safe passage
Sun 2016-10-02
  Five police conscripts killed in militant attack in Egypt's North Sinai
Sat 2016-10-01
  President Ghani and Hekmatyar Sign Peace Deal
Fri 2016-09-30
  US invests $50m in Niger drone base for counterterrorism
Thu 2016-09-29
  India carries out surgical strikes targeting terror 'launch pads' across LoC
Wed 2016-09-28
  Ruritanian warplanes hit Al Shaboobs outside Kismayo town
Tue 2016-09-27
  Pak Taliban commander Azam Tariq killed in Afghanistan
Mon 2016-09-26
  Two teen girls held in Nice over alleged terror plot
Sun 2016-09-25
  Washington mall shooting: Bad Guy in custody
Sat 2016-09-24
  3 Al-Qaeda suspects killed in drone strike in Yemen

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