[al-Manar] The United Nations is investigating accusations that up to 32 civilians were killed in a US airstrike in the volatile Afghan province of Kunduz last week, calling any loss of civilian life “unacceptable”.
The strike early last Thursday triggered angry protests in Kunduz, with local officials saying at least 30 people had been killed, many of them children whose mutilated bodies were paraded through the streets by grieving relatives.
Civilian casualties caused by NATO forces have been one of the most contentious issues in the 15-year campaign, prompting strong public and government criticism.
US forces have conceded that the strike “very likely” resulted in civilian casualties and pledged a full investigation into the incident. A State Department spokesman called it a “terrible event”.
The killings came just days before the US presidential election, in which Afghanistan has received scarcely a passing mention — even though the situation there will be an urgent matter for the new president.
It was also the second time in just over a year that a US airstrike ‘has gone wrong’ in Kunduz.
Last year, a US air strike during fighting hit a hospital operated by Medecins Sans Frontieres on October 3, killing 42 people and sparking international outrage.
[REUTERS] Somalia looks more likely to strike oil than gas in its long pursuit of offshore riches, making it easier for the African state to exploit any windfall but also potentially upsetting the fragile recovery led by its Western-backed government.
The waters off Somalia, best known for years of piracy, may harbor hydrocarbons at a depth where crude is usually found, seismic services company Spectrum said last week its research showed. This is unlike the seas further south along the African coastline where gas is abundant.
That would be good news for Somalia, which would likely find pumping out oil onto tankers easier than securing the multi-billion dollar investment needed to liquefy gas for export.
Oil revenues could transform Somalia's economy, where many people rely on subsistence livestock farming. However, there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... it could prove a challenge for a government trying to rebuild a nation battered by clan rivalries and Islamist holy warriors after it descended into war in 1991.
"Disagreements between the member states and the federal government could fuel violence and corruption in a country that is still very much trying to build and extend governance," said Ahmed Soliman, an expert at British think-tank Chatham House.
Some fear oil rigs could also become a new target for pirates, who were the scourge of commercial shipping on nearby trade routes until naval protection and costly security on ships drove them away. The last major hijacking was reported in 2012.
"Somalia is still extremely fragile and hence the risk of the piracy resurfacing is a concern," said Cyrus Mody, assistant director in the ICC International Maritime Bureau.
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11/08/2016 00:00 ||
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[Libya Herald] The Benghazi branch of the General Administration for Criminal Investigation (also known as the Counter Crime Agency) says that it has tossed in the clink Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! a local man who converted to Christianity. He is accused of proselytising on social media and denigrating Islam.
The arrest, announced made on the administration’s Facebook page, has been confirmed by its front man, Walid Arafi.
The agency says that the unnamed man, who apparently converted some time ago, was using social media to urge others to change their faith. It also says that he was in contact with a fellow convert in Morocco, named simply as Rashid, who was helping him.
It adds that it managed to track him down using the IP address of his computer.
Arafi would not name the person either or give futher details.
There is no mention about conversion in the 2011 Constitutional Declaration which acts as Libya’s interim constitution. It declares simply that Islam is the religion of Libya, the principal source of legislation is Islamic Jurisprudence (Shari’a) and that non-Moslems are free to practice their faith.
However, there's more than one way to skin a cat... conversion away from Islam is wholly unacceptable to most Libyans.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
As sparks that stand out with a starkness
In inky Mohammedan darkness
Rise -- othered, Big Brothered,
Islamically smothered --
Our newshounds are artfully barkless.
[FOXNEWS] An obscure private firm hired by the State Department over internal objections to protect U.S. diplomats in Benghazi just months before the American ambassador and three others were killed was staffed with hastily recruited locals with terror ties who helped carry out the attack, multiple sources told Fox News.
The explosive charge against Wales-based Blue Mountain Group comes from several sources, including an independent security specialist who has implemented training programs at U.S. Consulates around the world, including in Benghazi, where he trained a local militia that preceded Blue Mountain. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Blue Mountain used local newspaper ads to assemble a team of 20 guards, many of whom had terror ties, after securing a $9.2 million annual contract.
"The guards who were hired were locals who were part of the Ansar al-Sharia ...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libyaand Yemen, with the Libyan versions currently most active. Tunisia's Shabaab al-Tawhid started out an Ansar al-Sharia and changed its name in early 2014. It still uses the old name now and then, probably because the stationery's not all used up and the web site hasn't expired yet... and Al Qaeda groups operating in Benghazi," said the source, whose assignment in Benghazi had ended in November 2011. "Whoever approved contracts at the State Department hired Blue Mountain Group and then allowed Blue Mountain Group to hire local Libyans who were not vetted."
Many were members of the Libyan government-financed February 17th Martyrs Brigade, an Islamist militia that had previously guarded Americans before being replaced by Blue Mountain.
John "Tig" Tiegen, one of the CIA contractors that responded to the Sept. 11, 2012 attack and co-author of "13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi," confirmed to Fox News that the local Libyans who attacked the consulate that night included guards working for Blue Mountain.
"Many of the local Libyans who attacked the consulate on the night of Sept. 11, 2012, were the actual guards that the State Department under Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as America's Blond Eminence and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another William Jennings Bryan ... hired to protect the Consulate in Benghazi," Tiegen told Fox News. "The guards were unvetted and were locals with basically no background at all in providing security. Most of them never had held a job in security in the past.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Bullocks! What could Blue Mountain Security's ties to Aegis LLC, State Department 'no bid contracts' and former Aegis U.S. CEO Kristi Rogers, wife of former Congressman and HPSCI Chair Mike Rogers (who have both mysteriously retired from public life) possibly have to do with anything ?
In America, we call them dhows
[Asharq Al-Awsat] Yemen’s Chairman of the Higher Humanitarian Relief Commission Board Abdulrraqib Fateh held the Houthi-led putsch responsible for a dire famine striking Yemenis today.
Mr. Fateh revealed that both Houthi militiamen and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh loyalists have unjustly seized 34 aid shipments that were scheduled to deliver sustenance and medical relief to the people of Yemen.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-sent cargoes were arranged to make port and unload at the port of Hodeidah, the Fourth-largest city in Yemen.
Iran-aligned militants had seized all ships and withheld the delivery of humanitarian relief to Yemen’s war-victims and impoverished.
Over 496,000 tons of food, 146,000 tons of oil byproducts and at least 275,000 tons of construction items for infrastructure (cement, gravel, steel, etc..) are in cargoes withheld by insurgency gunmen, Mr.Fateh told Yemen’s state news agency, Saba.
The aid kept from the people of Yemen is eventually leading to untold damage to the social fabric added to suffering and famine. Diseases have also been spreading increasingly due to local deficiency in medical care, especially in Houthi-held areas.
U.N. humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien had made comments on the current situation of Yemen’s port labeling it as ‘worrisome’—especially in areas concerning work performance and the way of tracking the commercial ships which reach the port.
Mr.Fateh urged that the aid be released from the port’s warehouses, as over 21 million Yemenis are in dire need of relief.
More so, Spokesman of the Arab coalition supporting the legitimacy in Yemen Maj. Gen. Ahmed Asseri has confirmed that Houthi militias are seizing 34 ships carrying humanitarian aid since more than 186 days.
“There are no UN humanitarian personnel today at the Al Hodeidah port – which is the largest remaining port under Houthi militia control – who can inspect and supervise distributing the much needed aid and medical supplies,” Asseri said.
Asseri also added that humanitarian aid has been stacking in at Hodeidah port for nearly seven months because Houthi militias and forces loyal to the ousted Ali Abdullah Saleh are blocking the distribution of aid which resulted in depriving the residents from taking benefits from it.
[AlManar] 20-month-old Saudi-led war on Yemen has left more than 7,000 people dead and nearly 37,000 wounded, the World Health Organisation announced in its latest toll update.
As of October 25, “more than 7,070 people have been killed and over 36,818 injured, according to health facility-based data,” the WHO said in a statement late Sunday.
Another 21 million people are in need of urgent health services, said the UN health agency.
In addition to the fighting, international organisations have warned in recent weeks of a spread of disease and growing rates of malnutrition in the country, which was already the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest even before the war erupted.
The WHO said in its statement released from the capital Sanaa that 2.1 million people have been internally displaced because of the Saudi-US war.
More than half of all health facilities across the country have been shut or are partially functioning, it said.
“There are critical shortages in medical doctors in more than 40 percent of all districts,” it added.
Attempts by the United Nations to convince the Saudi-US-led coalition to commit to a ceasefire and resume peace talks have so far failed due to the violations repeatedly committed by the coalition forces.
[AA.TR] key and the U.S. agreed to work on a plan to seize and hold the Syrian city of Raqqah, the so-called capital of the ISIS terrorist group, the Pentagon reported Monday.
The Pentagon has yet to release details but the Defense Department News quoted Gen. Joseph Dunford as saying, "The coalition and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... will work together on the long-term plan for seizing, holding and governing Raqqah". The Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman made the comment Sunday following a meeting in Ankara with Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar.
The generals met to coordinate operational planning in different areas, including Raqqah, djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , Iraq, and others, according to the Pentagon.
"Obviously as a close ally, we really just want to make sure that we’re completely tight as we work through some challenging issues," Dunford said.
Over the weekend, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched an operation to isolate the city, but the group has been a concern for Turkey because the terrorist PKK/PYD and its military wing, the YPG, lead it, although the U.S. claims that it is multiethnic.
U.S. military leadership has said the SDF would play a role in isolating the city rather than hold it.
"We always knew the SDF wasn’t the solution for holding and governing Raqqah," Dunford said. "What we are working on right now is to find the right mix of forces for the operation."
Turkey has proposed having local Arabs enter and hold the city.
Dunford also acknowledged that "a predominantly Arab and Sunni Arab force" is needed for the operation.
"And there are forces like that. There is the moderate Syrian opposition, the vetted Syrian forces and the Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... forces, and there is some initial outreach to forces in Raqqah proper," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
I wish they would agree on the proper way to spell its name.
[AA.TR] Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Nihat Akdogan has been remanded in jug after appearing before court in the southeastern Hakkari province on Monday evening.
Akdogan, an MP from Hakkari province, was charged with "committing a crime for a terror organization" and "making terror organization propaganda", among other accusations.
He is among the deputies who failed to answer a summons linked to a counter-terrorism investigation.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus had told journalists that the number of deputies who had failed respond to the summons was down to two following Akdogan's capture Monday afternoon at the entrance of Hakkari.
The HDP’s co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag as well as seven other politicians, were remanded in jug on Friday while three other politicians were released.
The locked away Book 'im, Mahmoud! politicians face prosecution under anti-terrorism laws after their parliamentary immunity was lifted earlier this year.
Apart from Demirtas and Yuksekdag, the party's parliamentary group leader, Idris Baluken, Diyarbakir deputy Nursel Aydogan, Sirnak deputies Leyla Birlik and Ferhat Encu, Mardin deputy Gulser Yildirim, and Hakkari deputies Abdullah Zeydan and Selma Irmak were remanded in jug.
Diyarbakir deputies Ziya Pir and Imam Tascier, and Ankara deputy Sirri Sureyya Onder were released under judicial control, while Sirnak deputy Faysal Sariyildiz and Van Deputy Tugba Hezer Ozturk were said to be abroad.
The politicians face prosecution under anti-terrorism laws after their parliamentary immunity was lifted earlier this year.
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11/08/2016 00:00 ||
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[INDIA] Since security has been increased along the India-Pakistain border in the wake of several terror attacks, infiltration bids and ceasefire violations, Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... , headed by 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... , is now planning to infiltrate into India through water routes. According to sources, Hafiz Saeed is planning to carry out spree of terror attacks in India with the help of Lashkar-e-Taiba Lions of Islam who would try to enter the country through water routes.
Hafiz Saeed has made Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Abu Ifran Tandewala the in-charge of terror operations against India. Lashkar-e-Taiba Lions of Islam are planning to use the rivers, Nikki Tavi and Badi Tavi, to enter India and carry out major terror strike, reported India Today. Eight to nine members of Lashkar-e-Taiba would be a part of the terror operation and Pakistain army is allegedly helping them infiltrate the border.
Following the security threat, security has been beefed up along all the rivers and streams in and around the border areas. Special team of the Border Security Forces (BSF) has been deployed along several suspected infiltration routes. Militants have stepped in infiltration attempts post surgical strike. The BSF has foiled at least 15 infiltration bids since the surgical strikes of September 29.
In October, Multi-Agency Centre had issued warning to states sharing border with Pakistain that two suspicious boats have left Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... port and are on their way either to Gujarat ...where rioting seems to be a traditional passtime... or Maharashtra coast. Two Pak boats were also seized last month with 18 crew members. Earlier sources in Ministry of Home Affairs said nearly 250 Lions of Islam affiliated to Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen have infiltrated into the Kashmire Valley to avenge ’surgical strikes’.
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11/08/2016 00:00 ||
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[The Hindu] The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is basing its investigation on a "blue diary" recovered from one of the three Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... (LeT) bully boyz who were killed when they tried to storm an Army camp in Kupwara on October 6.
The diary could prove to be a vital piece of evidence as Sherlocks suspect the September 18 attack on the Army camp in Uri too was carried out by LeT operatives, though the Army was quick to name the 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... barely hours after the attack.
The diary contains the name of a publication house near the residence of LeT founder 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... at Muridke in Pakistain.
Muridke camp
A senior NIA official said, "The name of the publication house is not the only clue. The diary has other details as well linking the bully boyz to LeT and Hafiz Saeed. Several notes in Urdu suggest that the terrorist, who has identified himself as Faidullah in the diary, was living in the Muridke camp and had received training there."
The diary was recovered by an NIA team that took over the investigation on October 9.
A Home Ministry source said the local police and the Army did not properly search the bodies and vital evidence would have been lost had the bodies been disposed of. However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... Baramulla SSP Imtiyaz Hussain denied the allegation.
The three bully boyz were part of a suicide squad and had booby-trapped their bodies with grenades, to inflict casualties on security forces.
During the Pathankot operation, one of the Jaish-e-Mohammad bully boyz had hidden a live grenade in one of the pouches of his jacket before he was killed. This led to the death of NSG commando E.K. Niranjan when he was retrieving the body.
Tell-tale signs
Three AK rifles, three under barrel grenade launchers, magazines, several rounds of bullets, four Icom radio sets, three GPS devices, three cellphones, dry fruits, medicines, a map and a matrix sheet found on the bully boyz had tell-tale imprints of the LeT, said an NIA official.
A vial containing some medicinal liquid was also found on the attackers with an Urdu sticker saying: "khoon rokne ke liye" (to stop bleeding). The official said the bully boyz had come for a long haul.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2016 00:00 ||
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That's rich
[AlManar] Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova blasted the US-led coalition over civilian casualties in Iraqi Mosul, calling the military operation a “medieval slaughter.”
The actions of the US-led coalition in Mosul have led to the deaths of civilians, Zakharova stated, adding that the West hasn’t developed any plans on how to avoid civilian casualties.
“The counter-terrorism operation carried out by the major powers of the 21st century has become a medieval slaughter, which primarily affects the civilian population. The population of Mosul is being massively killed both by the terrorists and the coalition forces opposing them,” the diplomat wrote on her Facebook account.
Zakharova also spoke about the “total information blockade” on the part of the coalition. According to her, there is no data on the “advance or retreat of coalition forces” as well as on the efficiency of its tactics.
“One thing is clear: the coalition’s attitude to peaceful residents of Mosul is worse than that of the militants in Aleppo,” the spokeswoman concluded.
The operation to liberate Mosul, which involves the Iraqi military, volunteer and Kurdish forces and is backed by the aircraft from the US-led coalition, started on October 17.
The Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly said that US-led coalition’s airstrikes in Mosul have led to civilian casualties. On October 28, a US Air Force jet attacked a school near the Iraqi city of Mosul, according to the Russian General Staff.
On October 25, the Russian military said than 60 civilians had been killed and 200 wounded in coalition airstrikes on Mosul residential districts during three days.
Moreover, the US-led coalition launched strikes on a funeral procession in the Iraqi town of Daquq near the city of Kirkuk, killing dozens of civilians.
[DailyMail] Five elite ISIS leaders have gone rogue and stolen millions of dollars from the terror group's treasury.The traitors are making a desperate dash for Syria with their booty, with furious ISIS forces hot on their trail. The phrase the UK Daily Mail used was "hit squad".
The plotters, including Treasury official Abu al-Bara al-Qahtani, are senior terrorists who hold Arab and foreign nationalities.
If caught, they will be arrested and executed, Al Sumaria News reported.
The robbery in Mosul comes as Iraqi government forces continue their offensive to push Islamic State out of the city, their last major stronghold in the country.
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11/08/2016 00:00 ||
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[Jerusalem Post] International Criminal Police Organization on Tuesday rejected a Palestinian attempt to join Interpol.
Israel. in response, lauded the move and touted its lobbying efforts as leading to the decision.
"The General Assembly of the Interpol has rejected the Palestinians request to discuss and vote on their request to be accepted as a member state," read a joint statement by the Foreign Ministry and Israel Police.
The vote against the Palestinian Authority's membership bid was made at Interpol's 85th General Assembly convened in Bali, Indonesia.
Russia on Monday said its air force was continuing to hold off on strikes in eastern Aleppo, after terrorists snubbed Moscow’s offer to quit Syria’s second city.
“The ceasefire in the operation of the Russian air force is continuing,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
Peskov said that the decision by Putin to keep holding fire remained dependent on terrorists in the city refraining from any concerted attacks on government-held territory.
“If the terrorists don’t resort to offensive actions, to a campaign of aggression, then the president considered it expedient for now to continue the regime, under which the Russian air force does not strike eastern Aleppo,” he said.
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Deputy chief of Hezbollah’s Executive Council Sheikh Nabil Qawook said Monday that the election of General Michel Aoun ...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... to be the President of the Lebanese Republic spread a positive atmosphere of optimism and hope for a new future.
"This national achievement constitutes a real opportunity for the Lebanese people to revive their country. We look forward to a more positive and optimistic cooperation regarding the formation of a national unity government that is committed to the effective and fair partnership and strengthens the security of Leb in face of 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... and Israeli threats," Sheikh Qawwok said.
Speaking on an honoring ceremony of Martyr Ali Hussein al-Tawil in south Leb, Hezbollah official added that the new government should address the people’s living and economic affairs, as well as holding of the parliamentary elections on time in accordance with new electoral law in order to save the country from the crisis and divisions.
Sheikh Qawook stated that Hezbollah and Amal Movement have single position regarding the cabinet formation, "which reaffirms the durability and hardness of the strategic alliance between them."
"Hezbollah is looking forward to a more positive cooperation with the new President, the new government and the prime minister," he stressed.
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11/08/2016 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.
Hillary Clinton
[DailyMail] Five elite ISIS leaders have gone rogue and stolen millions of dollars from the terror group's treasury.The traitors are making a desperate dash for Syria with their booty, with furious ISIS forces hot on their trail.
Michel Aoun
