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Man shot dead at Paris Orly airport this morning after taking soldier's gun: official
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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1 15:08 Seeking cure for ignorance [1]
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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15 18:17 Procopius2k []
1 10:37 Bright Pebbles []
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6 17:10 Glenmore []
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Page 4: Opinion
5 19:38 Sock Puppet of Doom [1]
13 18:35 JohnQC [1]
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3 19:45 Sock Puppet of Doom [1]
Page 6: Politix
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Afghanistan
1 dead in car bombing attack in Khost
The Afghan national army soldiers suffered casualties in an explosion triggered by a car bomb in southeastern Khost province of Afghanistan.
As Everett Dirksen once said, "a deader here, a deader there, pretty soon you're talking some real deaders."
According to the local security officials, the incident took place earlier today in the vicinity of Yaqoobi and Sabari district.

A spokesman for the 203rd Thunder Corps of the Afghan National Army (ANA) Fazal Khuda confirmed the incident. He said a suicide bomber was looking to target a military base in the area but was identified and shot by the security forces of a check post located in the area.

Fazal Khuda further added that one Afghan soldier lost his life and seven others were wounded in the attack. According to Fazal Khuda, at least three militants were also killed in the attack.

Khost has been among the relatively calm provinces during the recent years but the anti-government armed militant groups have been attempting to expand their insurgency in this province.

This comes as a group of insurgents attempted to carry out an attack on a military air base in Khost province but the attack was repulsed by the security forces. Local officials said a number of insurgents armed with light weapons and grenades attempted to break into the base but were identified and at least one of them was shot dead.
Posted by: badanov || 03/18/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


1 dead in Kabul shootout
At least one civilian was killed and one police officer from PD11 wounded during a clash between police and unknown armed men in Kabul on Friday.

The incident happened on Friday at about 12 noon local time after gunmen, fleeing from police, opened fire on a police ranger.

The police had been chasing the suspected criminals through Khairkhana at the time.

Kabul police said there had been three suspects involved, all with criminal backgrounds.

A gunfight between police and the suspects broke out – resulting in damage to civilian cars in the area.

One eye witness, Ghulam Safdar, said he had been driving in his car with his children when the gunmen’s vehicle collided with his car.

“I heard gun fire and then stopped my car at the side of the road. When the car (driven by the armed men) got to me they could not go anywhere and crashed their vehicle into my vehicle to try to get past,” Safdar said.

He said the gunmen then started shooting at civiliams.

One person was killed.

“When the vehicle arrived here (armed men vehicle), they opened fire on people,” said Aidi Mohammad, a shopkeeper in the area.

“We hid in the shops until the firing stopped. When we came out of the shop, we saw that a man was lying on the ground,” said Mohammad Zia, another shopkeeper.

The three suspects fled the scene.

Kabul residents have meanwhile called on the new Kabul police chief to put an end to such incidents.
Posted by: badanov || 03/18/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


1 dead in suicide attack in Nangarhar province
A suicide bomber targeted the home of Zahir Haqqani, Director of Haj and Religious Affairs for eastern Nangarhar province, on Friday afternoon, killing Haqqani's brother, eye witnesses reported.

The attack took place in Hajarat village of Surkh Rod district. Two other suicide bombers were also reportedly arrested.

Reports also indicate that a number of people have been wounded but details have not yet been released.
Posted by: badanov || 03/18/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Morocco says arrests 15 for Islamic State links
[Ynet] Moroccan authorities said on Friday they had locked away
Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw!
15 people suspected of ties with 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....
in the latest raid officials say targetted Death Eater networks.

The suspects had been active in Casablanca, Marrakech, Tangiers, and Agadir, among other cities, and were involved in inciting or threatening to carry out attacks, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by MAP state news agency.

"Certain individuals arrested acquired knowledge in making explosives and were in the process of acquiring material to make explosive charges to carry out terrorist operations targeting sensitive locations," the statement said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/18/2017 06:37 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Africa Subsaharan
Nigeria Police provide details of police officers killed in daring Boko Haram raid
[PREMIUMTIMESNG] The police in Borno have confirmed that two officers were killed by Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
, but said the victims were not officials of the Borno Police Command.

The Borno command said none of its personnel were killed during the Wednesday night attack on military formations in Magumeri village of Borno.

The spokesperson of the Borno State Police Command, Victor Isuku, explained his command’s stance in a statement on Friday.

"The attention of Borno state police command has been drawn to a news report over the attack by boko haram murderous Moslems at Magumeri town, in Magumeri LGA of Borno state on 15th March, 2017", said Mr. Isuku, a Deputy Superintendent of Police.

"According to the report, a police Sergeant. Aliru Aliyu was killed, while Sergeant Ayeni Lawrence was injured when the murderous Moslems attacked Magumeri cop shoppe.

"For avoidance of doubt, and to put records straight, the command wishes to state that the fallen police Sergeant Aliru Aliyu, the injured Sergeant Ayeni Lawrence, and one Corporal Zachariah Mohammed who was initially reported missing in action, but later found dead, are all personnel of 16 PMF Squadron Abeokuta on Counter Insurgency Special Duty in the state.

"They are also among the over 500 police personnel deployed to Operation Lafiya Dole. They were briefed and deployed by the military to Nigerian Army Base at Magumeri town

He explained that the casualty recorded by the police was as a result of the attack on the military base in Magumeri and not on Magumeri cop shoppe as wrongly reported.

Boko Haram gunnies had on Wednesday night staged their very first attack on Magumeri targeting security locations in the dusty agrarian community.

The military said the attack was repelled but blamed it on the villagers’ connivance with Boko Haram.

Details on casualty remained sketchy, even as the Borno State Deputy Governor, Usman Durkwa, who visited the attacked village of Thursday said the casualty on the side of the security operatives was under reported.

Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram (ISIS)


Boko Haram leader, Shekau, appears in new video; threatens world leaders
[PREMIUMTIMESNG] Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
leader, Abubakar Shekau
... the lunatic leader of Boko Haram who has been reported dead at least eleven times, pledged his body and soul to ISIS, told his fighters to hang it up once or twice, and been fire by the Caliph and refused to step down ...
, has appeared in a new video, refuting recent claims of attacks by Cameroon
...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there...
ian President Paul Biya, while threatening world leaders.

The 27-minute footage, sent to PREMIUM TIMES by a journalist with known contact to Boko Haram, also showed Mr. Shekau thanking his followers.

Mr. Shekau displayed identity cards, arms, ammunition and other equipment purportedly seized from the Cameroonian Army.

Mr. Shekau also ordered his fighters to remain steadfast, adding that the sect will not back down until Sharia is established in Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Mali.

The video comes three days after the sect released a video claiming to have killed some three men allegedly working for government.

Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram (ISIS)

#1  Abubakar Shekau. I knew his grandfather Studa. Fine chap.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/18/2017 0:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Besoeker, I hope you are properly ashamed of that -- it was egregious.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/18/2017 10:22 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Soddy warbirds target boat near al-Hudaydah
The Saudi-led coalition committed a new massacre in Yemen overnight on Thursday, killing and injuring dozens of Somali immigrants near al-Hudaydah.

Al-Massirah Yemeni television reported that the Saudi-led warplanes targeted a boat carrying dozens of Somali immigrants off al-Hudaydah in Yemen.

44 people were martyred, while 29 others were injured, al-Massirah said.

Yemen has been under an aggression by Saudi-led coalition since March 2015. The brutal aggression has killed and injured tens of thousands of Yemenis, the vast majority of them were civilians.

Yemen ports and airports have been also under a blockade imposed by the Saudi-led coalition, which also includes UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.

Source: Al-Massirah TV
Posted by: badanov || 03/18/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Yemeni missile hits Jizan
al-Manar

The rocketry force in Yemeni army and popular committees launched a ballistic missile onto the Saudi oil firm of Aramco in Jizan, according to local military sources, which added that the rocket hit its target accurately.

The Yemeni army and popular committees strike the Saudi-led forces in Maarib with Zelzal 1 rockets, killing or injuring 60 mercenaries.

Source: Websites
Posted by: badanov || 03/18/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


26 Yemeni soldiers die in Houthi missile attack on Sanaa
ADEN: A Houthi missile attack Friday killed 26 members of pro-government forces in a camp east of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, hospital officials in the town of Al-Maarib said.

The news agency of the internationally recognized government said the attack took place during Friday prayers in Al-Maarib province, eastern Yemen.

The death toll is expected to rise, it said. A loyalist military source said the attack targeted the mosque at Kofel camp.
Lt. Gen. Ali Mohsen Saleh Al-Ahmar, Yemeni vice president, condemned the “heinous terrorist crime” targeting the mosque.
“It reveals the true face of the coup who violated the sanctity of mosques,” the official said in a statement to the Yemen News Agency.

“The militia’s coup perpetrated in this incident a double crime. They bombed the mosque and then re-targeted the medics who were trying to provide aid to the victims.”

The attack was carried out with Katyusha-type rockets, said an army official in Al-Maarib.

A rebel-controlled news agency said the Houthis had carried out the attack. It said the main weapon used was the Zelzal-1 Iranian-made missile and it was followed by artillery fire.

“Dozens of bodies of burned soldiers were evacuated from the site,” it said, without mentioning that a mosque had been hit.

Pro-government forces have retaken large parts of Al-Maarib province from Iran-backed Houthi rebels since the March 2015 launch of a Saudi-led intervention in favor of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
Posted by: badanov || 03/18/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Bangladesh
Suicide bomber attacks Bangladesh police special forces base
[Ynet] A jacket wallah injured two Bangladeshi coppers on Friday when he attacked a base being built for the police anti-terrorist unit, officials said.

Local media quoting the BBC Bangla service said 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....
had grabbed credit for the rare attack on Bangladesh's security services.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/18/2017 06:37 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Europe
Man Known wolf shot dead at Paris Orly airport this morning after taking soldier's gun: official
[France24]. Security forces at Gay Paree' Orly airport on Saturday rubbed out a man who took a weapon from a soldier, the interior ministry said, adding that nobody else was hurt in the incident.

Witnesses said the airport was evacuated following the shooting at around 8:30am (0730GMT).

"A man took a weapon from a soldier then hid in a shop in the airport before being rubbed out by security forces," an interior ministry front man told AFP.

He said no one was maimed in the incident.

Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux is due to visit the facility, which is in Gay Paree' southern outskirts, the front man added.

"We had queued up to check in for the Tel Aviv flight when we heard three or four shots nearby," witness Franck Lecam said.

"The whole airport has been evacuated," the 54-year-old said, confirming what an airport worker, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
, had said earlier.

"We are all outside the airport, about 200 metres from the entrance," Lecam said.

"There are coppers, emergency workers and soldiers everywhere in all directions. A security official told us that it happened near gates 37-38 where Turkish Airlines flights were scheduled."
Update from Ynet at 9:25 a.m. EDT:
The man shot and killed Saturday at Gay Paree's Orly Airport was reportedly a radicalized Moslem known to intelligence services.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/18/2017 07:48 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Radicalized Muslim and former Convict
Posted by: Frank G || 03/18/2017 9:30 Comments || Top||

#2  You beat me to the post, Frank -- I was just checking in before working up the information. Our miscreant has had a busy morning before he got himself killed. From your article:

o Convicted criminal Zied B., 39, was shot dead at the airport's south terminal

o Less than two hours earlier he had shot at three police officers after being stopped for speeding

o Authorities believe he was radicalised in prison, and his father and brother have been arrested

o Witnesses recounted hearing 'four or five' shots, and the airport was evacuated

And not included in the highlights but in the text of the article, the Tunisian-Frenchman abandoned the car in which he was stopped, leaving his identification papers in it, to highjack another which he abandoned at the airport -- though possibly he would have returned to it had he not been summarily executed by French soldiers.

So much for the idea of easing the elevated national security status, releasing all those patrolling soldiers to their normal duties. No doubt updates will show he was being guided from Raqqa via Telegram, and that someone supplied him with weapons and training in their use.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/18/2017 10:11 Comments || Top||

#3  London Standard article here
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/18/2017 10:34 Comments || Top||

#4  radicalised in prison

Curious to me as to how radical preacher/teachers can be drone zapped in sovereign nations but uncontrolled hate mongers in prisons are allowed to motivate clustered threshold personalities unabated.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/18/2017 10:49 Comments || Top||

#5  It's arse to cold wall if you're Tommy,
But if you're Islamic, not pommy,
Your mums'll raise pranksters
On dole, as your gangsters
And you all jihad someplace balmy.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 03/18/2017 22:10 Comments || Top||


Man held after father and brother found with throats slit in Paris
[TheLocal.fr] Police in Paris have launched an investigation after two men, a father and his son, were found with their throats slit in the French capital. Another son has been arrested in connection with the murders and has since been transferred to a secure psychiatric unit, reports say.

A man was arrested in Paris on Friday suspected of slitting the throats of his father and brother at the entrance to a building in the capital's trendy 11th district, police sources told AFP.

The sources, who asked not to be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly, said the reason for the attack was being investigated.

The two men died at the scene despite efforts by paramedics to save them.

Some witnesses said the suspect made remarks "linked to radical Islam" but the police urged caution, saying the killer's motives were unknown.

Newspaper Le Figaro cited a police source who said the knifeman shouted "Allahu Akbar" ('God is greatest', in Arabic).

The attacked happened outside a building on Rue de Montreuil in the east of the French capital near Place de la Nation (see map below).

A resident of the high-rise building in the city's 11th district said he heard a man "crying for help" at around 11am.

"I looked out the window and saw a man lying on the ground. There was a lot of blood.

"There was another man standing beside him, dressed in a white djellaba (loose-fitting tunic worn by some Muslims). He fell to his knees and prayed until the police came to take him away," 21-year-old Thomas told AFP.
Unfortunately, jihad is a ready made guide for the mad to latch onto, and most of the time it is the immediate household that suffers.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/18/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  most of the time it is the immediate household that suffers

Better constrained to the causative roots of the disease than released freely among the unsuspecting public.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/18/2017 11:12 Comments || Top||


Europe migrant colonist briefs

Germany jails neo-Nazis planning attacks on asylum seekers

[IsraelTimes] A German court on Wednesday sentences members of a neo-Nazi group to up to five years in prison for forming a “terror organization” that planned to attack a home for asylum seekers. The four — three men and a 24-year-old woman identified as Denise Vanessa G. — were arrested in May 2015, two days before they planned to strike at the migrant shelter in the eastern state of Saxony.

Known as the “Old School Society,” their choice of weapon was modified “pyrotechnic explosives, particularly in the form of fire and nail bombs,” which they were planning to hurl into a refugee home, the prosecutor had said.

The ringleader Andreas H., 58, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison while his second-in-command Marcus W., 41, got five years. The group’s “spokesman” Olaf G., 31, was given three years while the only woman obtained three years and 10 months.

The four met on the internet in 2014.

German prosecutors charge man with ISIS membership

[Ynet] Federal prosecutors say they have charged a 23-year-old German man with membership in a terrorist organization for joining the Islamic State group in Syria. In a statement Thursday, prosecutors said Anil O. traveled to Syria in August 2015 with the intention of working as a medic for the group.

Prosecutors said O., whose last name wasn't published due to German privacy law, soon became disillusioned with IS after seeing how it treated fellow Muslims. They said he tried several times to flee IS-held territory, succeeding in January. He returned to Germany in September last year and was arrested at Duesseldorf airport.

From the Daily Mail:
Germany to test software that can tell if asylum seekers are genuine by analysing their VOICE to find out if they are really from the country they claim to be from
17/03/17
Authorities have expressed concern that some asylum-seekers from Arab countries are claiming to be from Syria in hopes of increasing their chances of staying in Germany.

From Breitbart:
EU Border Control Accuses NGOs of Providing Shuttle Service for African Migrants
18 March
In a remarkably blunt analysis of the massive migration from North Africa to Italy in 2016, the European Frontex agency has denounced human traffickers’ exploitation of NGOs to efficiently transport African migrants from Libya to Italy.

Turkish Minister: ‘Send 15,000 Migrants a Month to Europe to Shock Them’
17 March
Turkey’s Foreign Minister has suggested directing tens of thousands of migrants to the European Union (EU) as a form of retaliation for European leaders blocking his government holding Islamism rallies in their countries.
That sure sounds like an act of war to me...
Turkey’s Erdogan Tells EU to ‘Forget About’ Migrant Deal After Dutch Row
16 March
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened on Thursday to scrap a deal with the European Union to readmit migrants who have crossed illegally into Europe, amid a standoff with European nations over their reluctance to allow Turkish ministers to hold campaign rallies in their countries.

EU Says 1.2 Million Sought Asylum in Bloc Last Year
16 March
The European Union’s statistical agency says more than 1.2 million people applied for asylum in the bloc last year, mostly Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis.

EU Says 1.2 Million Sought Asylum in Bloc Last Year
16 March
The European Union’s statistical agency says more than 1.2 million people applied for asylum in the bloc last year, mostly Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis.

Migrant Crime and Violence Soars in German States
14 March
Authorities in two German states have expressed concern over official figures showing a huge rise in migrant crime, with the number of violent attacks having almost doubled in 2016.

Merkel Warned Support Being ‘Destroyed’ by Failure to Deport 500,000 Asylum Seekers
14 March
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been warned public support is being “destroyed” by the fact her government has so far failed to deport half a million rejected asylum seekers.

Claim: Merkel Let Migrants in Only to Avoid Televised Border Clashes
13 March
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was on the brink of closing the border at the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, but changed her mind because she feared clashes with border police would look bad on television, a book has claimed.

Hungary: 94 Migrants in Detention Launch Hunger
13 March
Hungary’s immigration and asylum office says 94 of 102 asylum-seekers detained in a closed reception center have launched a hunger strike, demanding to be set free.
Posted by: || 03/18/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists


Home Front: WoT
Admitted Al Qaeda fighter convicted in NY terror case
[FoxNews] An admitted Al Qaeda fighter was convicted on Thursday of federal terrorism charges for participating in a fierce firefight in Afghanistan that left two U.S. servicemen dead.

A jury in federal court in Brooklyn deliberated for about two hours Thursday before convicting Ibrahim Suleiman Adnan Harun.

"As demonstrated by this case, the United States will be tireless in its efforts to hold Al Qaeda members accountable when they target American citizens serving their country abroad," Acting U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Rohde said in a statement.

Harun, 46, was extradited from Italy to the United State in 2012. Prosecutors told jurors that while in Italian custody, he confessed that he threw a grenade and shot at an American military unit in a 2003 ambush that killed Army Pvt. Jerod Dennis, of Antlers, Oklahoma, and Air Force Airman Ray Losano, of Del Rio, Texas.

While on the run, Harun later masterminded a failed plot to bomb a U.S. embassy in Nigeria, the government said. He was under the direct supervision of Al Qaeda higher-ups, including some still held at Guantanamo Bay, it said.

"The defendant is a man who made terrorism his life story," Assistant U.S. Attorney Melody Wells said in closing arguments on Thursday. "He made a career out of violent jihad."

The Saudi-born defendant who claims Niger citizenship had insisted he was a "warrior" who should face a military tribunal rather than a civilian court prosecution. He refused to attend his trial, and his lawyers took the usual step of not giving a closing argument and focusing on post-trial motions challenging a conviction.

Harun faces a possible life term at sentencing on June 22.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/18/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


India-Pakistan
6 Bad Guys die in Khyber
At least six terrorists were killed during a search operation in the Michini area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday, said the spokesperson for the Frontier Corps.

“FC personnel carried out a search operation in the Mosal Kor area of Michini,” said the paramilitary force spokesperson.

The spokesperson claimed that terrorists opened fire on security forces and during an exchange of fire six terrorists were killed.

The paramilitary force also said a large cache of arms and explosive were recovered.

Earlier today, the Inter-Services Public Relations said that two personnel of the Frontier Constabulary (FC) laid down their lives as militants from across the Pakistan-Afghan border attempted to attack a checkpost in Khyber Agency.
Posted by: badanov || 03/18/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Mosul Offensive News


Iraqi forces capture parts of Mosul's Old Town

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi Federal Police command said Friday its forces recaptured some areas near central Mosul’s Old City, hours after operations were reported to have slowed down due to bad weather.

The Federal Police said forces took over Pasha Mosque, Bab al-Sarai market and al-Adalah street, all inside the Old City and near Grand Nuri Mosque, where IS supreme leader Abu Bakr al-baghdadi declared the establishment of the group’s rule in Iraq in 2014.

Lt. Gen. Shaker Jawdat said in a statement that forces continued to advance against the strategic district from several directions. “Federal Police and Rapid Response forces, stationed near the Old Bridge along the (Tigris) river and on the outskirts of Bab al-Bid, resumed their military operations today,” said Jawdat.

He said the advances were backed by drones, rocket launchers and aerial bombardment on the extremist group’s locations in Ras al-Khour, Bab al-Bid and al-Hadbaa regions in the Old City.

Iraqi generals view the recapture of the densely-populated and -structured Old City as essential for victory over IS in western Mosul, where operations launched in February to achieve an eventual collapse of the group’s self-styled “Islamic Caliphate”.

Government forces recaptured eastern Mosul in January after three months of fighting.

Progress has slowed down over the past two days in central Mosul due to bad weather and the area’s narrow alleyways which made it difficult for military vehicles to go through.
Google map at the link

Iraqis announce gains in Mosul

A commander said Friday that Iraqi forces have gained ground from ISIL terrorists inside the Old City of Mosul, an area that could see some of the toughest fighting of the battle for the northern metropolis.

Iraqi forces launched an operation on February 19 to retake the west side of Mosul — the most populous area still held by the ISIL group — and have retaken several neighborhoods.

But the pace of their advance has periodically slowed because of bad weather that has hampered air support.

The Old City, where hundreds of thousands of civilians are believed to have stayed on under ISIL rule, is a warren of narrow streets that restricts the use of large armored vehicles.

“Federal police and Rapid Response units imposed their complete control over the Al-Basha Mosque… and the Bab al-Saray market in the Old City,” federal police Lieutenant General Raed Shakir Jawdat, the commander of the federal police, said in a statement.

Iraqi forces launched the operation to recapture Mosul — the ISIL’s last major urban bastion in the country — in October, retaking its east side before setting their sites on the smaller but more densely populated west.

Source: AFP
Posted by: badanov || 03/18/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


23 ISIS Bad Guys die in Salahuddin
Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) Pro-Iraqi government paramilitary forces killed 23 Islamic State members on Friday during an offensive in Samarra, Salahuddin, as the troops continue securing areas recaptured from the extremist group in the province.

Al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) said they killed seven IS fighters and wounded 16 others on the dawn of Friday in an offensive at Jalam Samarra region.

Areas between Salahuddin and neighboring provinces have seen an increase in attacks by IS on security and PMU deployments since the government launched a major campaign in October to retake Mosul, Islamic State’s biggest fastness in Iraq. Al-Hashd has actively engaged with government forces in securing recaptured areas and searching for dormant IS cells in Salahuddin and other provinces.

Observers believe attacks by Islamic State fighters on provinces outside Mosul aim at distracting security focus on the city and to offset losses the group has been sustaining there.

Generals from the Iraqi forces and from the allied U.S.-led international alliance have stressed that Islamic State began to weaken, with many several senior leaders killed or escaped, the group isolated inside Mosul and deprived of its supply routes from Syria.

It is expected that the Iraqi government, once done with the campaign in Mosul, will move on towards smaller IS pockets in Kirkuk, Anbar and Salahuddin.
Google Map at the link
Posted by: badanov || 03/18/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Baghdad Bomb and Bullet Bulletin: 1 dead


One dead on bombing attack on Suwaib

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) One civilian was killed and two others were injured on Friday when a bomb blast hit a district south of Baghdad, police sources were quoted saying.

The device was placed near a cattle market in Suwaib, south of the Iraqi capital, the sources said.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the bombing, but Islamic State militants have said
they had been responsible for several bloody explosions and attacks that hit the capital in the past months, leaving casualties among civilians and security troops and stoking criticisms against the province’s local officials.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) says violence in the country left nearly 392 dead and 613 injured, excluding security members, during February. Baghdad was the second most affected province with 120 deaths and 300 injuries, according to the organization’s monthly casualty count.

Some observers believe Islamic State have begun to escalate attacks outside the city of Mosul, where the group has been losing ground and personnel since October, so as to relieve pressure by government forces on that front and to divert attention from group losses. They are concerned that the group could, however, shift to a guerilla-style war and lone wolf attacks after the recapture of Mosul.
Google Map at the link
Posted by: badanov || 03/18/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Palestinian teen said killed by IDF when hurling firebombs at cars
[IsraelTimes] Another Paleostinian reported to be seriously maimed in incident north of Hebron, while attempting to attack Israeli drivers.

A 16-year-old teen was killed by IDF fire near the refugee camp of Al Aroub, north of Hebron,
...Hebron is Hamas Central in the West Bank, so a Hamas connection can reasonably be assumed...
Paleostinian sources said Friday. The Israeli military said it fired at assailants throwing petrol bombs at Israeli drivers.

According to the sources, the Paleostinian was hit in his chest and evacuated to hospital at death's door, where he died. Another Paleostinian was seriously hurt in the incident but his condition was defined as stable.

The army said soldiers shot up assailants throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli drivers near the Al Aroub refugee camp and that one of them was hit, but a spokeswoman could not confirm he had died.

"In response to that immediate threat forces fired toward the suspects and a hit was identified," she told AFP.

The Paleostinian health ministry named the dead youth as Murad Yussef Abu Ghazi, 16, and said he was shot in the chest.

Paleostinian security officials said Abu Ghazi was rubbed out during festivities with soldiers in which another youth was seriously maimed by army fire.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/18/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Do we file this one under "Lack of Parental Supervision" or "Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes" ?
Posted by: SteveS || 03/18/2017 0:57 Comments || Top||

#2  File it under "genetics is destiny".
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/18/2017 2:54 Comments || Top||

#3  gotta pull weeds in springtime
Posted by: Frank G || 03/18/2017 11:00 Comments || Top||

#4  They have the kids do these things, keeps the western press/liberals on their side when 'children are killed'.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 03/18/2017 12:32 Comments || Top||


Israel intercepts missile fired at IAF jets by Syria in response to Israeli strikes
[Ynet] After Israeli jets strike targets in Syria, anti-aircraft missiles are sent from Syria to hit the Israeli jets; Israel manages to strike down Syrian missiles without casualties or damage.

IDF reported on Friday that it has shot down one of numerous anti-aircraft missiles launched Thursday night by Syria at Israeli F-15 fighter jets that had hit designated targets within Syria. Israeli Arrow anti-aircraft missiles were used to intercept a Syrian S-200 missile and protect its jets. Syria, in the meantime, described the Israeli strike in Syria as a "blatant Israeli act of aggression."

The Israeli Military reported that its planes struck several targets in Syria, and were back in Israeli-controlled airspace when the Syrian missiles were launched at its jets.

Missile sirens had sounded in Israeli settlements in the Jordan Valley in the West Bank at 02:43am, with two witnesses hearing an kaboom a few minutes later. The IAF's interception of the Syrian anti-aircrafts missiles, in addition to the resulting sirens, prompted the IDF to issue a response acknowledging the its strikes in Syria. Normally, Israel does not divulge information about such operations. This is the forst time the IDF confirmed the operational use of its Arrow ground-to-air missiles.

The Syrian Army responded to the strike by saying, "This blatant Israeli act of aggression came as part of the Zionist enemy’s persistence with supporting ISIS terrorist gangs and in a desperate attempt to raise their deteriorating morale and divert attention away from the victories which Syrian Arab Army is making in the face of the terrorist organizations."

The Israeli Military said in its own statement that one of the anti-aircraft missiles launched against its planes had been intercepted, adding that all IDF jets had returned to Israel unharmed. The blast from the interception was heard as far away as Jerusalem, dozens of miles from the site. No casualties or damage were reported.

"Overnight IAF (Israeli Air Force) aircraft targeted several targets in Syria. Several anti-aircraft missiles were launched from Syria following the mission and IDF (Israel Defence Force) Aerial Defence Systems intercepted one of the missiles," the military said in its statement.

Arab media reported that Israel had targeted a delivery of advanced weaponry to Hezbollah in its Arclight airstrike. Syria responded to the Israeli strikes with its its own missile attack, with the Syrian Army stating that it used S-200 anti-aircraft missiles against the Israeli jets.

Israel has carried out dozens of strikes to prevent weapons smuggling to the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, which is fighting rebels alongside the Syrian army.

Prior to the release of the IDF's statement, sources in Jordan were reported that an S-200 anti-aircraft missile fell Thursday night in the northern area of Irbid, following which security forces surrounded the area of descent. It is still unclear whether the object was the remnants of the missile intercepted by Israel, part of the IAF missile, or another object.

Iran has been Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs...
's staunchest backer and has provided militia fighters to help him. Israel is concerned Hezbollah, with which it fought a war in 2006, is trying to obtain sophisticated weapons it could use against Israel.

Following the night's events, the air space above the Golan Heights was closed to flights.

Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
to discuss what he charged were Iran's attempts to establish a permanent military foothold in Syria.

Russia summons Israeli envoy, demands clarifications on Syria strike

[IsraelTimes] Netanyahu says Israel will continue to target weapons convoys to Hezbollah: ’Our policy is very consistent ...and everyone needs to take this into account. Everyone.'


Syrians claim Israeli aircraft shot down

[ArabNews] SYRIA: The Syrian army said Friday it shot down an Israeli plane and hit a second one as they were carrying out pre-dawn strikes near the famed desert city of Palmyra.

“Our air defense engaged them and shot down one warplane over occupied territory, hit another one, and forced the rest to flee,” the army said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA.
Syrians say they fired on Israeli warbirds
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/18/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  They demand clarification? What about "Pretty cool, huh?"
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 03/18/2017 0:06 Comments || Top||

#2  Syria, in the meantime, described the Israeli strike in Syria as a "blatant Israeli act of aggression."

Nope. That's just weeding our back yard.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/18/2017 2:59 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian forces atop ISIS attack near Deir Ezzor
A Syrian army unit targeted fortifications and infiltration points of ISIL terrorists in the surroundings of Liwa al-Ta’min in Deir Ezzor.

SANA reporter in the province said two car bombs for the terrorists were destroyed as a result of the operations.

The reporter added that the army’s artillery destroyed fortifications and gatherings of terrorists and a vehicle equipped with a 23 mm machine gun in the neighborhoods of al-Matar al-Qadim, al-Hamidiyeh and the central park.

Meanwhile, Deir Ezzor Airport garrison foils infiltration attempts by ISIL terrorists in the surroundings of the airport and managed, backed by the Air Force and the Artillery, to destroy 8 vehicles equipped with machineguns and two car bombs at the fence of Liwa al-Ta’min and two other car bombs in the direction of al-Maamel area. Scores of terrorists were killed.

An army unit foiled infiltration attempts by ISIL terrorist groups in the surroundings of Regiment 137 on the southwestern outskirts of Deir Ezzor city, killing 10 terrorists, destroying a vehicle equipped with a 23 mm machine gun.

A boat that was transporting terrorists who were trying to infiltrate from the direction of the river in al-Bugeiliyeh/Open Heart Hospital area was targeted by the army. The boat was directly hit and all terrorists on board it were killed.

Source: SANA
Posted by: badanov || 03/18/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


5 Syrian rebels detained for torturing ISIS operator
Shouldn't have captured him

ARA News

The Manbij Military Council (MMC) on Friday confirmed that they have arrested five members of the Northern Sun Battalion who were accused of torturing an ISIS member in a video, which was shared on social media.

Both MMC and Northern Sun Battalion operate as part of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The five fighters were referred to the Manbij military court.

“In a video recording shared on the social media, a group from the Northern Sun Battalion is seen torturing a Daesh (ISIS) member who has previously tried to plant mines,” the Manbij Military Council said.

“Gangs previously planted mines near areas like El-Heja, Til Codan and nearby villages in the region [northern Syria] and 9 members of the Manbij Military Council had lost their lives in mine explosions. It seems that the Northern Sun Battalion members have acted against the ISIS prisoner upon these incidents,” the council added.

“As the General Command of the Manbij Military Council, we are committed to laws of war. We condemn this incident which is contrary to our military morals. We are announcing that the group in question has been referred to the Manbij Military Court for trial,” the council concluded.

This is not the first time the Kurdish-led SDF forces put fighters on trial for violating international law.

In January 2016, the People’s Protection Units (YPG) –a leading SDF member– stripped four YPG fighters from its membership for damaging civilian property in al-Hawl town in Syria’s northeastern Hasakah Governorate.

“Following interrogations and an investigation, they have been stripped of YPG membership and sent to court to be tried in accordance with the law,” the YPG said in a statement at the time.

Furthermore, the Manbij Military Council on Friday released several civilians who were suspected of supporting ISIS after intervention of tribal leaders, and who promised not to make mistakes again or deal with ISIS.

Reporting by: Wladimir van Wilgenburg | Source: ARA News
Posted by: badanov || 03/18/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  probation is warranted
Posted by: Frank G || 03/18/2017 11:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Were they detained for torturing him or detained for not doing it correctly, i.e., not painful enough...OR did he survive the interrogation?

I need more specificity to make a moral judgment.

If it is ISIS, because of what they do to people, torture should be as painful and disfiguring as possible.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 03/18/2017 19:29 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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2Houthis
2Boko Haram (ISIS)
1Hamas
1Hezbollah
1Moslem Colonists
1Sublime Porte
1al-Nusra
1al-Qaeda
1Fulani Herdsmen (Boko Haram)

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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2017-03-18
  Man shot dead at Paris Orly airport this morning after taking soldier's gun: official
Fri 2017-03-17
  Four Killed as Bangladesh Police Storm Islamist Hideout
Thu 2017-03-16
  Kommander Abdullah, 10 others die in airstrike in Paktika
Wed 2017-03-15
  Dozens killed in suicide bombing at Damascus "Palace of Justice" courthouse
Tue 2017-03-14
  Suspected ISIS gas attack hits Iraqi forces in west Mosul
Mon 2017-03-13
  Kenyan police nab 6 terror suspects in coastal town
Sun 2017-03-12
  Double suicide attack kills 40 in Damascus
Sat 2017-03-11
  Syrian force a ‘few weeks’ from Raqqa, U.S. Marines deployed
Fri 2017-03-10
   Ax attacker at Düsseldorf main train station arrested
Thu 2017-03-09
  Baghdadi abandons Mosul fight to field commanders
Wed 2017-03-08
  IS gunmen dressed as medics kill 30 at Kabul military hospital
Tue 2017-03-07
  Mufti Hannan jailbreak attempt fails
Mon 2017-03-06
  New wave of US air raids on Qaeda in Yemen
Sun 2017-03-05
  Jordan hangs 15 death row prisoners at dawn in further break from moratorium on executions
Sat 2017-03-04
  Kurdish YPG fighters repel treacherous Turkish attack near Syria’s Afrin

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