The Taliban controls at least 200 schools in insecure districts in Herat, local officials said on Tuesday.
Chairman of the Herat education department Ahmad Razaq Ahmadi has confirmed the report and said he is satisfied with the monitoring of these schools by the Taliban in their strongholds.
Responding to Ahmadi’s remarks about the Taliban, a number of civil society activists and members of the Herat provincial council have spoken out about his stance and said the issue is indicative of government’s failures.
According to Ahmadi, the department of education is unable to monitor schools in Shindand, Geran, Kashak Kohna, Adraskan and Oba districts of Herat due to the high level of security threats.
“In areas where there are security threats, the Taliban undertakes the monitoring, our employees can not undertake monitoring of these schools, therefore the Taliban are monitoring the schools in areas under their control,” said Ahmadi.
Ahmadi said he is satisfied with the monitoring of these schools by the Taliban.
“We are happy with the monitoring by the Taliban, because at least they monitor the schools, for instance, the information which we have from the people in Kashak Kohna district, the Taliban monitor the schools and they control tensions at schools; we are very happy with this work of the Taliban,” added Ahmadi.
But, his comments sparked a major backlash by civil society activists and members of the Herat provincial council.
“The issue that the education department says they are happy about the monitoring by the Taliban, that he (Ahmadi) talks about it in such detail is not acceptable; because the monitoring process needs to be conducted on the basis of principles and regulations (by the education department), because if armed opponents undertake the job of the government, this is totally unlawful,” said Sayed Azim Kibrzani, a member of Herat’s provincial council.
“Monitoring of the Taliban at schools indicates that government and local officials in Herat are very weak and the Taliban is strong, therefore government needs to tackle the issue very seriously,” said civil society activist Jawad Ameed.
Statistics from Herat department of education shows that of the total number of schools - 969 - 750 of them are controlled by the education department, but another 219 schools are controlled by the Taliban.
[AlAhram] The tribes of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula have asked to be allowed to fight against terrorism alongside the Egyptian army after the Friday terrorist attack on al-Rawda Mosque in North Sinai that killed 305 worshippers and injured 128 during Friday prayers.
Eyewitnesses said the attack, the deadliest in Egypt’s recent memory, was carried out by 25 to 30 button men brandishing the flag of the terrorist group ISIS, according to the prosecutor-general.
The call by Sinai tribes to fight alongside the army against turbans has been met with controversy, with some praising the move and others voicing concerns about its possible ramifications.
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[AlAhram] An Egyptian military court issued a preliminary death sentence on Tuesday against 11 members of the Ansar Beit al-Maqdis terrorist group who were convicted of involvement in a series of attacks committed in 2014 and 2015, including the 2015 bombing of the Italian consulate in Cairo, their lawyer said.
The court is set to issue its final verdict on 20 December, after the preliminary death sentence is referred to the Grand Mufti, whose opinion is legally required but not binding. The December verdict can be appealed.
Defence lawyer Khaled al-Masry told Ahram Online that the case involves 155 defendants ‐ around half of whom are runaways ‐ being tried for involvement in 12 different terrorist attacks, including bombings in Egypt's North Sinai.
The court is set to issue sentences for the remaining defendants at the 20 December court session.
Only three of those sentenced on Tuesday are in jug, with the rest sentenced in absentia. The runaways include Hisham Ali Ashmawy, a former Egyptian special forces officer-turned-militant.
The North Sinai-based Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which is affiliated with the terrorist group ISIS, has grabbed credit for some of the most deadly attacks targeting police and military personnel since 2013.
[IsraelTimes] After three bloody years battling an Islamist insurgency in the peninsula, Egypt's army still faces deadly mass attacks by 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.... terrorists.
Egypt’s years-long military campaign against a jihadist insurgency in the north of the Sinai Peninsula is under increasing scrutiny following a devastating mosque attack last week. More than 300 people were killed in Friday’s bomb and gun assault ‐ the deadliest in the country’s recent history ‐ highlighting the myrmidons’ ability to carry out spectacular attacks despite the deployment of tens of thousands of troops.
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[BBC] Saudi Prince Miteb bin Abdullah has been released more than three weeks after he was detained on allegations of corruption, officials say.
Prince Miteb, once seen as a contender to the throne, was freed after agreeing an "acceptable settlement" with authorities of more than $1bn (£750m).
He is one of more than 200 political and business figures detained in anti-corruption raids on 4 November.
Three other people have also reached settlements with the Saudi government.
"Yes, Prince Miteb was released this morning [Tuesday]," a source close to the government told the Agence La Belle France-Presse news agency.
Prince Miteb, who is the cousin of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and headed 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... 's elite National Guard, was the most politically influential royal detained in the corruption crackdown.
The 64-year-old son of the late King Abdullah was sacked shortly before his detention.
Princes, ministers and top businessmen were incarcerated Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! at the beginning of the month and detained in a luxury hotel, accused of corruption.
Authorities grounded their private aircraft and their assets were seized.
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[PRESSTV] Djibouti’s Defense Minister Ali Bahdon has welcomed the establishment of a Saudi military base on the soil of the African country, saying Djibouti-Riyadh relations are not confined to military cooperation.
In an interview with the Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, the transcript of which was published in the UK-based daily on Tuesday, Bahdon said that Saudi experts had already arrived in Djibouti to assess military cooperation.
"The sides have signed a military agreement [in April]... If the base is constructed, it will become a part of the military cooperation between the two nations, and we welcome its creation," he said, adding that trainees and students from Djibouti were studying in military colleges in 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... Bahdon further said the facility would contribute to the military cooperation between the two countries, noting that the bilateral relations exceeded military cooperation to reach historical, ideological and cultural ties.
"There are historical, ideological and cultural relations with the kingdom, and we are one people who share the same values, and we have the same issues and problems; relations are much greater now, as we are in a new phase of geopolitical changes in the region," Bahdon went on to say.
According to the minister, the base would not be a solution to the problem of smuggling across the sea, as "it has limits in which it operates and powers that serve specific goals."
Late last year, Djibouti’s Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf announced that his country would welcome the Saudi proposal of setting up a military base in the African country, saying Saudi military authorities had made several investigative trips to his country for the establishment of a facility there.
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[Al Jazeera] A federal jury in the United States has cleared a Libyan man of the most serious charges in connection with a deadly attack on a US diplomatic compound in Libya's Benghazi five years ago.
Ahmed Abu Khatallah was accused of orchestrating the September 11, 2012 attack that killed Christopher Stevens, the US ambassador to Libya, and three other Americans.
On Tuesday, he was acquitted of murder but convicted on lesser terrorism-related charges.
Al Jazeera's Shihab Rattansi, reporting from Washington, DC, said Khatallah had overall been charged with 18 counts but was cleared of all but four of those, including "providing material support for terrorism".
Yet, he still faces 45 years in prison if he is given the maximum sentence for each of those four convictions, Rattansi noted.
"The prosecution had presented him as a ringleader for the attack, the defence though had said he was simply a bystander who appeared on the scene ... after the attack had taken place," said Rattansi, adding that this was a point that the prosecution "did have to concede".
"The defence also tried to poke holes in the prosecution's argument by saying that its star witness was paid $7m for his testimony," he added.
"In addition, they raised questions about the manner which Khatallah was interrogated - he was seized and then kept on a boat at sea for two weeks and interrogated without a lawyer, according to the defence."
Political storm
Khatallah has been awaiting trial since 2014 when he was captured by a team of US military and FBI officials in Libya and transported on a 13-day journey to the US aboard a navy vessel.
Before his capture, he was part of a revolutionary gang aimed at overthrowing Muammar Qadaffy ...a proud Arab institution for 42 years, now among the dear departed, though not the dearest... 's government.
Stevens was killed in the attack along with Sean Patrick Smith, a state department information management officer.
Nearly eight hours later, at a CIA complex nearby, two more Americans, contract security officers, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, died in a mortar attack.
The Benghazi attack stirred up a political storm in the US, where Republicans repeatedly accused Perennial Presidential Campaigner Hillary Crooked Hillary Clinton ... former first lady, former secretary of state, former presidential candidate, Conqueror of Benghazi, Heroine of Tuzla, formerly described by her supporters as the smartest woman in the world, usually described by the rest of us as The Thing That Wouldn't Go Away... , the then-secretary of state, of failing to adequately protect the diplomatic compound.
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[PRESSTV] The former governor of Iraq’s northern oil-rich province of Kirkuk and a staunch supporter of the Kurdish independence referendum has reportedly fled to the United States with millions of petrodollars.
Ali al-Husseini, a front man for the Popular Mobilization Units ‐ commonly known by the Arabic word Hashd al-Sha’abi, said on Tuesday that Najmiddin Karim was receiving 10 million dollars from the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Massoud Barzani ... hereditary head of the Kurdish Democratic Party, maybe a little too close to the Medes and the Persians for most people's tastes. After the defeat of Daesh he pushed through the Kurdish independence referendum, which caused the Iraqs to turn on him. Resigned in November, 2017... , over petroleum smuggling, Arabic-language Babil24 news website reported.
He added that there is substantial evidence that Karim has left Iraq through Erbil, which is the capital city of Kurdistan region and located approximately 350 kilometers (220 miles) north of Baghdad.
Husseini noted that all Kurdish leader well knew about Karim’s misconduct, and the fact that he was being paid by Barzani over oil smuggling from Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... but kept mum.
The Hashd al-Sha’abi front man added that Kurdish officials must file a lawsuit against the former Kirkuk governor and Barzani so that they would stand trial for stolen funds.
On September 14, the Iraqi parliament voted to dismiss Karim after the provincial council voted to take part in the Kurdish independence referendum irrespective of the central government’s strong opposition to the secession bid.
Earlier in the day, the office of Iraqi parliament speaker Salim al-Jabouri announced in a statement that it had received a request from the office of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi demanding a voting session to discharge 68-year-old Karim.
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[Al Jazeera] Aung San Suu Kyi has been stripped of the "Freedom of Oxford" award by the city's council, over her failure to speak out on abuses against Myanmar's Rohingya.
In a unanimous decision on Monday evening, Oxford City Council voted to strip the Burmese State Counsellor of the award she received in 1997 and collected personally in 2012, after 15 years under house arrest.
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#1
I'm so old I can remember when she was the darling of the international peace and love crowd instead of an icon of far-right hatred and Islamophobia. Which would make be about five.
[ALMASDARNEWS] Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei, the Iranian Supreme Fearless Leader of the Islamic Revolution ...Iran's doddering head theocrat... , has praised Iran’s continued achievements in the field of naval defence, and called for a continued expansion of the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s naval power and capacities.
Khamenei made the comments during a meeting with Navy commanders and personnel on Tuesday, in celebration of National Navy Day.
The Ayatollah stated that the Navy is on the frontline of defending the Islamic Theocratic Republic, and as such its combat readiness and military equipment must continually be updated and improved. In his words, Iran’s maritime capabilities were "today far more advanced and capable than 20 years ago, but this level of progress is not satisfactory." He continued by urging for further improvement in all sectors "with high determination and morale."
The statements by the Supreme Leader come after Monday’s announcement by Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi, the Navy’s commander, that the Iranian naval force is self-sufficient in manufacturing surface vessels and submarines. Khanzadi also announced that a new missile warship named Separ is due to be unveiled the coming days, adding that this ship would be faster and more advanced than its predecessors.
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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.
Perennial Presidential Campaigner Hillary 
Massoud Barzani
