Mohammad Radmanesh, deputy spokesman of the Ministry of Defense (MoD) on Tuesday said Operation Shafaq 2 is moving forward as planned – albeit slowly.
This comes as security forces battle insurgents in 18 provinces.
According to Radmanesh, clashes are ongoing between security forces and Taliban in parts of Helmand, Faryab, Baghlan, Kunduz, Badakhshan and many other provinces and that protecting civilians has slowed down the pace of operations.
“We launched operations to protect Afghan people and their homes,” he said.
The Ministry of Interior (MoI) said insurgents using civilians as human shields has dramatically slowed down operations.
“Changes happened in the insurgents movements as they leave the country to find more money. But our operations are ongoing and we have good achievements,” said Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman for the MoI.
Although MoD says everything is under control, the Helmand-Kandahar highway has been closed for three days as heavy clashes continue in Nad Ali and Sangin districts – an issue that has raised concerns over the management of the operation.
“Our operations are progressing and we have achieved good results,” said Wali Mohammad Ahmadzai, commander of 215 Maiwand Military Corps.
In addition, more than 13 villages and two military bases are under serious threat in Baghlan-e-Markazi and security forces have been criticized for not launching a massive offensive against Taliban.
“We will launch an operation in the near future in Baghlan province,” said Ziauddin, commander of the First Battalion, Second Brigade of 209th Shaheen Military Corps.
[AnNahar] Morocco has become the latest Moslem-majority country to authorize Islamic banks, amid growing market demand for Sharia-compliant banking.
The Moroccan central bank announced this week it has approved five Islamic banks, fulfilling a long-standing promise of the Islamist party leading a coalition government since 2011.
Among them are leading national banks Attijariwafa, linked to the royal family, state-owned Banque Centrale Populaire and private BMCE Bank of Africa. All three hold increasing assets around French-speaking Africa.
The others are CIH Bank and Credit Agricole du Maroc.
Four of the five will be partnerships between Moroccan banks and Islamic financial institutions in the Gulf.
Morocco had long been reticent about Islamic finance, but now sees it as a growth prospect.
Sharia forbids interest, which is central to many banks' operations.
[AnNahar] Swiss prosecutors said Wednesday they had opened a probe into connections and contacts the suspect in the Berlin Christmas market attack may have had in Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... "On the basis of information received from foreign authorities about the attack in Berlin on December 19,... (Switzerland's) Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has opened criminal proceedings against persons unknown," it said in a statement.
The OAG said it was probing suspected violations of laws prohibiting organizations such as 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 and al-Qaeda, and banning the support of or participation in criminal organizations.
It said it was working closely on the case with Swiss federal police as well as with "foreign authorities," but provided no further details.
The Islamic State group has claimed the Berlin rampage, in which a hijacked truck was driven into a crowded Christmas market. The attack claimed 12 lives. Tunisian suspect Anis Amri was rubbed out four days later in Italia after firing at police there.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/05/2017 00:00 ||
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Turkey has begun to question the use of the İncirlik air base by the anti-Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) coalition forces, as the U.S. has failed to support Ankara’s offensive in the al-Bab region against the jihadist group, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Jan. 4.
“Our people ask, ‘why are they [coalition forces] using the İncirlik Airbase [if the coalition does not provide aerial support to the Euphrates Shield operation]. We allowed not only the U.S. but also other countries’ jets to use İncirlik to jointly fight [ISIL],” Çavuşoğlu told state-run Anadolu Agency.
“What purpose are you serving if you do not provide aerial support against DEASH in the most sensitive operation for us?” he added.
“The U.S. is a very important ally for us. We have cooperation in every field. But there is the reality of a confidence crisis in the relationship at the moment,” Çavuşoğlu said.
So we're to start carrying the Turks' water in Syria. Or else we lose the use of the air base. Someone is going to have to explain to me why that air base is so important to us that we don't tell the Turks to go pound sand.
He added that this crisis of trust had emerged for a number of reasons, particularly noting that the U.S. has not kept its promise regarding the retreat of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) from Manbij to the east of the Euphrates River and had provided arms support to the Syrian Kurdish group.
“Giving arms to the YPG, the U.S. chose a terrorist organization over its ally,” he said, adding that those arms had later found their way into the hands of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey.
Always with the YPG...
Çavuşoğlu said a joint delegation with the U.S. was sent to Manbij to address the issue but the visit did not satisfy Ankara.
“We know that PYD/YPG forces are in Manbij, as our president stated yesterday [to U.S. President Barack Obama]. Obama said he agrees with us on the subject that these forces should return to the east of the Euphrates,” he said, adding that Washington has been in agreement with Turkey from the beginning but “had not kept its promises.”
Çavuşoğlu also alleged that the U.S. is dragging its heels on the extradition of Fetullah Gülen, thought to have masterminded Turkey’s failed July 15, 2016 military coup attempt. He said Gülen was still able to give orders to his followers in the “Fethullah Terror Organization (FETÖ)” through encrypted messages.
Recalling that FETÖ was added to the list of terrorist organizations to be fought against at the recent meetings of the Islamic Cooperation Organization and the Gulf Cooperation Council, Çavuşoğlu vowed that the Ankara would continue to pursue the issue domestically and abroad.
“The terrorist leader freely threatens Turkey, gives instructions, and sends messages from there. Unfortunately, we have not seen any support from the [Obama] administration about this. They tell us to give positive messages about anti-Americanism in Turkey, but I do not know what to say,” he said.
Addressing the incoming Donald Trump administration in the U.S., Çavuşoğlu voiced optimism that it would be more proactive on the FETÖ issue and said Turkey believed relations would be maintained “clearly and openly” with the new administration.
“We are always in contact with the U.S., regardless of who comes to power [as U.S. president]. We are allies, and we cooperate and have joint targets in many fields. We are NATO allies but both sides must do what is necessary for the alliance. We think and believe the new administration also has this understanding,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Fikri Işık also said on Jan. 4 that the lack of the U.S.-led anti-ISIL coalition’s air support in Turkey’s Euphrates Shield operation in Syria’s al-Bab “raises questions” about the mission of the İncirlik Air Base in the southern province of Adana.
“We hope that all coalition forces, primarily the U.S., give air and other support that Turkey needs in the Euphrates Shield operation and the necessary step will be taken soon,” Işık told journalists in Ankara.
“But it is thought-provoking that despite the fact we have been NATO allies for years, and that a coalition has been established to fight against ISIL, the coalition does not support the Euphrates Shield operation launched by the Free Syrian Army and supported by the Turkish Armed Forces. Al-Bab is a very critical location in the anti-ISIL fight,” he said.
The anti-ISIL coalition has used the strategic İncirlik base in its operations against ISIL in Syria since July 2015.
Currently manned and unmanned U.S. warplanes carry out strikes on ISIL from Turkey using the İncirlik base.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/05/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
Leave Turkey yesterday and transfer lots of weapons to the Kurds.
#2
"The U.S. is a very important ally for us. We have cooperation in every field. But there is the reality of a confidence crisis in the relationship at the moment,"
Irritating, isn't it? {Remembering back to the invasion of Iraq}
#5
Someone is going to have to explain to me why that air base is so important to us that we don't tell the Turks to go pound sand.
Cause the Admirals and Generals said if we closed Subic Bay and Clark Airfield the world would end. Sometimes the experts aren't. Change is hard on some people. Particularly those who refuse to understand that change is natural and the attempts to maintain the status quo are unnatural, and can be very expensive in the long run, far beyond their own immediate agendas.
#6
I seem to recall something about Donald Trump having experience with construction... so he'd know how to quickly and properly construct a landing field in Kurdistan, right?
#7
Someone is going to have to explain to me why that air base is so important to us...
Well, it's just a 5hr flight to Moscow, @1500 land miles. Ready naval resupply and egress to the Med and also a pretty good Cold War era ground station location for down links of low orbit surveillance nicely sandwiched longitudinally between Madrid and Diego Garcia. All in all, a pretty important historic strategic location for fighting the last war, as so many are.
#11
The Turkish govt is getting to the level of Pakistan, where we cannot function there without a buttload of baksheesh. Even that does not work, re: 4ID bruhaha. We are beyond the time that we should be safely out of there. President-elect Trump needs to get us out of there quietly as soon as he takes office.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/05/2017 15:02 Comments ||
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#12
Leaving one nuke underground, to be removed with the last flight out, for insurance.
#13
They are not allies. They are a third world country with trappings of second world. I had to walk through that shithole in Oct 1973. So-called maneuvers after we weren't allowed into Israel, and had no funds (just hearsay, that) to fly us back home for about ten days. Got a really close look at Turkey, found it well named. NOT my fave country in the world. We would be wise to get out now before hostage taking starts.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
01/05/2017 15:33 Comments ||
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#14
It was a shithole years earlier. Amen to the nuke! Maybe leave a timer on it and fuggetaboutit!
Turkey's Minister for EU Affairs Omer Celik said Wednesday there was no possibility of changing the country's anti-terrorism laws –as requested by the EU– as it would "endanger both Turkey’s and Europe’s security", Anadolu reported.
Changing counter-terrorism legislation is a key condition of a visa-free travel agreement between the European Union and Turkey.
"We reiterated [during the last Brussels visit] that we cannot meet EU’s demand for an amendment to the anti-terror laws. However, there is not any problem in fulfilling the other criteria", he told a joint news conference with U.K. Minister for Europe Alan Duncan in Ankara.
"To ask a country, which has been faced with many terrorist attacks to change its anti-terror law, is to put both the security of Turkey and Europe in jeopardy," Celik said, recalling last Sunday’s deadly attack on a night club in Istanbul which claimed the lives of 39 people on New Year’s Eve.
The minister said that due to Turkey’s geopolitical position, it was also a provider of Europe’s security.
"If the parties desire an agreement, the solution could be found. But if it [solution] is not desired, the process will be blocked."
Celik said that a meeting was planned soon in Turkey with EU officials including European Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans.
He also said the EU accepted Turkey’s previous proposal to hold a bilateral summit and the EU officials were working on setting a date.
"A summit between the TR-EU is needed. Let's not talk about behind each other back, let’s talk to each other," he said.
Celik also criticized the “mixed” response given across the EU over the terrorist attacks in Turkey.
"Why is it that when Turkey is attacked by Daesh, the Turkish flag is put up on public buildings, but the same solidarity is not displayed when it is an attack by the PKK?," he asked.
Turkey and the EU signed a deal in March 2016 aiming to discourage irregular migration through the Aegean Sea by taking stricter measures against human traffickers and improving conditions for nearly 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey. The deal also allows for the acceleration of Turkey’s EU membership bid and visa-free travel for Turkish nationals within the Schengen area, on the condition that Ankara meets 72 requirements set by the EU.
While Turkey has fulfilled most of the criteria, differences between Brussels and Ankara on anti-terror legislation have forestalled the visa liberalization deal.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/05/2017 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] The U.S.-led coalition said Wednesday it has doubled to about 450 the number of military advisors assisting Iraqi troops engaged in the fight to retake djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... from 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.... fighters.
Are they fighting barefoot or in sneakers? Because President Obama solemnly promised there would be no American boots on the ground in Iraq or Syria.
"We have increased the number of advise and assist forces that are there with the ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) command elements to help advise them as they move forward and to synchronize operations," coalition front man Colonel John Dorrian said in a video conference from Baghdad.
Dorrian said the reinforcements were part of a series of measures taken to "accelerate the advance of the Iraqi security forces."
While military advisors are behind the frontlines, they have already entered the city several times, he added.
American military forces are carrying out air and artillery strikes against IS in Iraq as part of a U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State group, and have provided training, advice and other assistance to Baghdad's forces.
There are about 5,000 American military personnel in Iraq, according to the coalition, and U.S. special forces personnel have also fought IS on the ground.
That is to say, exactly that many deaths were recorded. How many more -- or less -- actually died may never be known, though we'll have a better idea once the ISIS archives are added.
[Ynet] The United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... says violence claimed the lives of at least 6,878 civilian Iraqis last year.
The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, known as UNAMI, said in a statement late Monday that 12,388 other civilians were maimed in 2016. UNAMI added that the figurers didn't include casualties among civilians in Iraq's western Anbar province for the months of May, July, August and December.
The UN says its numbers "have to be considered as the absolute minimum" as it has not been able to verify casualties among civilians in conflict areas, and of those who bit the dust due to "secondary effects of violence ... due to exposure to the elements, lack of water, food, medicines and health care."
According to UNAMI figures, at least 7,515 non-combatants were killed in 2015.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/05/2017 00:00 ||
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#2
Well, that's a lot better than the 600,000 killed every year/month/week while Boosh was in office and invading the peaceful Democratic Iraqi Republic. [moonbat off]
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/05/2017 13:57 Comments ||
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An Israeli soldier who shot dead a wounded Palestinian assailant as he lay on the ground posing no apparent threat was convicted of manslaughter on Wednesday after a trial that deeply divided the country.
The soldier, Elor Azaria, had been on trial in a military court since May, with right-wing politicians defending him despite top army brass harshly condemning his actions. Sentencing is expected at a later date. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
Judge Colonel Maya Heller spent more than two and a half hours reading out the decision, sharply criticising the arguments of Azaria's lawyers. On behalf of the three-judge panel, Heller said there was no reason for Azaria to open fire since the Palestinian was posing no threat. She called Azaria's testimony "evolving and evasive".
Azaria's demeanour drastically changed as the judge read the verdict. Dressed in a green army uniform, he had entered the courtroom smiling, with family members and supporters applauding him. But he and his family later looked shaken as the judge spoke, with his mother and father huddling together. After the verdict, his mother yelled: "You should be ashamed of yourselves".
Azaria was 19 at the time of the killing in March 2016 in the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank. In a sign of the tensions surrounding the case, dozens of protesters scuffled with police on Wednesday as they gathered outside Israel's military headquarters in Tel Aviv, where the verdict was announced. They held a sign that read: "People of Israel do not abandon a soldier in the battlefield".
The shooting set off intense political debate, with radical prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu having earlier called Azaria's father to express his sympathy.
Others on the right have called for him to be pardoned in an extraordinary public rift between politicians and the country's military.
Before he became Israeli defence minister in May, Avigdor Lieberman was among those showing strong support for Azaria, including attending one of his court appearances.
An important difference between soldiers and terrorists is that the former are professionals who do not shoot helpless, wounded men who truly pose no immediate threat. We need to be certain as to the facts, but if the mook was truly not a threat, then Azaria should not have pulled the trigger.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/05/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
The brass learned nothing since Intifada I. Still sacrificing us to "International Opinion". Fucking bastards, this is not the end of this.
[IsraelTimes] Waheed Borsh convicted of diverting materials to build jetty, aiding Gazoo terror group; likely to be released next week under plea deal.
A Paleostinian UN worker accused by Israel of aiding the Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", terrorist group was sentenced to seven months’ jail on Wednesday, his lawyer said, in a plea deal that will see him released soon.
Waheed Borsh was convicted of "rendering services to an illegal organization without intention," his lawyer Lea Tsemel told AFP. With time already served, he is expected to be released on January 12.
Continued on Page 49
[IsraelTimes] Rival Paleostinian factions will meet in Moscow on January 15, same day as planned Gay Paree peace confab, TASS news agency says.
Russia will host reconciliation talks in Moscow on January 15 between Fatah and Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, in an attempt to patch up the nearly decade-long rift between the rival Paleostinian factions, according to Russia’s semi-official TASS news agency.
Not that it will work, since Hamas will settle for nothing less than replacing Fatah as ruler of the both Palestinian territories, to which Fatah understandably objects. On the other hand, Fatah's ultimate goal is to return to the pre-2006 status, where it ruled both territories with an iron fist... But neither is likely to turn down the invitation, even if it means they must divert resources from the Paris thingy President Obama is so looking forward to.
The timing of the talks would be conspicuous, as they would be taking place on the same day as a planned Mideast peace conference in Gay Paree.
The fissure between Fatah and Hamas began after Hamas surprisingly won a plurality in the 2006 Paleostinian legislative elections. The two parties fell out when they were unable to reach a power-sharing agreement due in large part to Hamas’s refusal to renounce violence against Israel, with which Fatah was engaged in peace talks. The split came to a head with Hamas’s violent takeover of the Gazoo Strip from the Paleostinian Authority in 2007.
There have been numerous attempts to broker a truce between the two sides since their fallout, including an announcement of a unity government in 2014.
And a proper hudna it was, too, until Hamas's multi-pronged attack against Israel and the PA they had set for the next autumn was sprung early by a couple of bored operatives who couldn't pass up the opportunity for a juicy triple kidnap-murder.
However, it's easy to be generous with someone else's money... subsequent discussions on the establishment of such a government did not bear fruit and the two sides remain divided between their separate fiefdoms.
Russia has previously expressed its desire for intra-Paleostinian reconciliation. Speaking in June 2016 at a Gay Paree meeting on how to revive Israel-Paleostinian peace talks, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov described "the split among Paleostinians" as "another negative factor hampering the grinding of the peace processor," according to TASS.
"This issue should be resolved as the priority task so that the Paleostinians present a single and united delegation at the talks on the final [peace] status," he said at the time.
Bogdanov has also previously said that Russia does not consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization, in contrast to the Israeli and US position on the terror group.
It is not clear what if any impact the reported reconciliation talks will have on the planned Gay Paree peace summit.
While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is open to resuming peace talks, he has previously refused to negotiate with the Paleostinians if Hamas is included in the discussions.
Israel blamed the 2014 Fatah-Hamas unity pact as having led to the collapse of the last round of peace talks, saying at the time that it would not negotiate with a terror group committed to its destruction.
The Paleostinians view the Gay Paree peace conference as an opportunity to set a framework for future negotiations with Israel and build on the recent United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... Security Council resolution and US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, unsuccessful presidential candidate, and utterly failed Secretary of State... ’s speech condemning Israeli settlement construction as a major obstacle to peace.
Israel has refused to attend the January 15 gathering, with officials insisting that only bilateral negotiations will lead to a peace arrangement. The Paleostinians support the French initiative, which will see representatives of some two dozen countries convening in a bid to jump-start peace efforts.
#3
Why bother brokering such a reconciliation? You probably end up melding two Israel-hating groups into a larger united single focused group hating Israel.
#4
It won't last, JohnQC. The only thing they have in common is being called Palestinians. Different tribes, one set with relatives in Jordan and Syria, the other set with relatives in Egypt; one secular fascist, the other religious fascist; and of course, both want to rule over all of it.
DUBAI: An Arab opposition group has claimed two pipeline bombings in Iran’s oil-rich south and threatened to launch more attacks in the coming year as the country tries to boost production following the nuclear deal with world powers.
Iranian Interior Ministry spokesman Salman Samani later denied the claim by the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz, which said it bombed the pipelines early Tuesday morning in Khuzestan province.
The militants released an online video they said showed one of the pipelines exploding.
The Associated Press could not immediately verify the footage, though previous attacks have been attributed to the group.
The statement from the opposition said the bombings came in response to Iran’s Oil Ministry publishing a list of 29 international companies qualified to bid for projects following the atomic accord.
The group said 2017 will be “very different to previous years since the movement has prepared detailed and precise plans to carry out a number of high-quality important operations against the Iranian enemy state.”
Coordinated pipeline attacks could hinder Iran’s efforts to recoup cash lost under international sanctions. The country has boosted production to around 3.8 million barrels of oil a day since the deal.
Iran has faced low-level unrest from Kurds in its northwest, the Baluch in its east and Arabs in its south since the 1979 revolution. In recent months, however, such attacks have grown in scale. Iran in June announced breaking up what it called one of the “biggest terrorist plots” ever on Iranian soil by extremists.
Separately, the chief prosecutor of Tehran has revealed that there are as many as 70 spies serving sentences in the Iranian capital’s prisons, far more than what had been estimated.
The 70 convicts had “offered intelligence to enemies in various fields including atomic, military, political, social and cultural,” Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said, quoted by the Mizan Online news website.
Dolatabadi did not name the countries alleged to have recruited the spies.
Only a handful of cases of people charged with espionage had been made public in the country prior to his comments, which were published late Tuesday.
Among them are two Iranian-American dual nationals.
In October, business consultant Siamak Namazi and his 80-year-old father Baquer were sentenced to 10 years in prison for “espionage and collaboration with the American government.” The father, a former employee of the UN children’s fund UNICEF, was arrested when he returned to Iran to seek Siamak’s release, a few months after his arrest.
The United States has demanded the release of the Namazis and has also expressed concerns about reports of the “declining health” of Baquer Namazi.
Nezar Zaka, a Lebanese national, was found guilty of “numerous deep links to the US military intelligence community” and handed a 10-year sentence on the same day as the Namazis, along with three Iranians. They have been identified as Farhad Abd-Saleh, Kamran Ghaderi and Alireza Omidvar.
Posted by: badanov ||
01/05/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
Oh, goody. Stout fellows, I wish them every success.
The Americans are being held for ransom, but the rest suggest a certain level of dissatisfaction with the rule of the Mullahs.
[AnNahar] The chief prosecutor of Tehran has revealed that there are as many as 70 spies serving sentences in the Iranian capital's prisons, far more than what had been estimated.
The 70 convicts had "offered intelligence to enemies in various fields including atomic, military, political, social and cultural," Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said, quoted by the Mizan Online news website.
Dolatabadi did not name the countries alleged to have recruited the spies.
Only a handful of cases of people charged with espionage had been made public in the Islamic republic prior to his comments, which were published late Tuesday.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/05/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
Clock abuse be it physical or sexual will be reported to the proper aency clock phucking is illegal and aganist all moral and ethical standards plus you can get glass shards in your peepee!
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.
