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US targets leader of Al Qaeda in Yemen with CIA drone strike
Today's Headlines
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Page 4: Opinion
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Afghanistan
41 Insurgents Killed in ANSF Military Operations
[Tolo News] At least 41 Lions of Islam have been killed in a series of coordinated operations over the past 24 hours by the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), the Ministry of Interior (MoI) said in a statement on Tuesday.

In addition, 10 other Lions of Islam were maimed and five locked away
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
.

The operations were conducted in Kapisa, Badakhshan, Sar-e-Pul, Kandahar, Zabul, Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
and Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
provinces, the statement said.

"During the same 24 hour period, Afghan National Police discovered and defused 47 different types of IEDs placed by enemies of Afghanistan for destructive activities in Laghman and Uruzgan provinces," it said.

The MoI, however, did not comment on whether any security force members were maimed during the operations.
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Another Taliban Shadow Governor Killed in Badakhshan Airstrike
[Tolo News] A Taliban shadow governor for north-eastern Badakhshan province was killed in an Afghan military Arclight airstrike on Monday night in the province, local officials said on Tuesday.

The shadow governor, Mawlawi Imamuddin, was killed with ten other bandidos hard boys in an Arclight airstrike in Jurm district of the province, local military officials said.

The officials said that about 40 Taliban have been killed in the past ten days in Jurm.

However,
there's more than one way to stuff a chicken...
the Taliban have not yet commented on the incident.

This is the second Taliban shadow governor to be killed in less than a week during military Arclight airstrikes. Omar Zadran was killed along with two commanders and 12 bandidos hard boys in Kunar province
... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country.....
on Sunday.

Meanwhile,
...back at the precinct house, Don Calamari's lawyer was getting even redder in the face...
bandidos hard boys have increased their activities in Badakhshan in recent months. As a result, hundreds of families have been displaced in the past few weeks due to ongoing festivities in the Yamgan district, local officials said on Tuesday.

The festivities have reportedly led to Yamgan district falling into the hands of the Taliban. However,
there's more than one way to stuff a chicken...
military forces have launched an operation to re-take control of the district, provincial acting governor Shah Wali Adeeb said.
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
Roadside bomb kills 5 soldiers outside Mogadishu
Mogadishu -- At least 5 people were killed and dozens were also injured after roadside bomb targeted a military vehicle carrying Somalia troops passing through Hawo-Abdi neighborhoods just outside Mogadishu, officials said.

Military officer told Shabelle Media in Mogadishu that military pick-ups was targeted an IED that planted on the roadside, adding that it had killed at least 5 government soldiers. Somalia military forces cordoned off at the exploded area and launched an operation in the area but no one was arrested over the incident, according to local residents who spoke to Shabelle Media.

Meanwhile, Somalia’s Al Shabab militants claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had killed dozens of government soldiers including key officials in Tuesday’s bombing.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Africa North
Egyptian militants pledge allegiance to IS during Cairo trial
[AlAhram] Defendants in the so-called Zawahri case pledged allegiance to 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....
during their trial in Cairo on Tuesday.

"I announce my allegiance, along with Adel Habara, to Abu-Bakr El-Baghdadi, the Islamic State leader," cried Ammar Ali Ramadan, a defendant in the case. "Soon we will see him ruling this country," he added.

The defendants are accused of managing a terrorist organization aimed at declaring the state "infidel," forcefully a change of regime, opposing the government using weapons, and targeting officers and institutions of the army and police.

They are also accused of targeting Coptic Christians and their holy places, of committing terrorist acts in order to spread chaos in the country, and exposing society to danger.

Adel Habara is a Lion of Islam who is being retried after his death sentence was revoked on Saturday in the separate 'Rafah second massacre case'.

Habara's name hit the headlines when he was accused of carrying out an execution-style killing of 25 coppers in an ambush in August 2013.

He was enjugged
Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!
in August 2013 in the North Sinai town of Al-Arish.

Jihadist groups Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis and Jund Al-Khilafa in Egypt announced their allegiance to the IS group on 30 June and 23 September 2014 respectively.

Militants have killed hundreds of police and army personnel in the past year and a half in North Sinai, while the authorities have announced that hundreds of Death Eaters have been killed in military campaigns in the governorate.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/17/2015 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  "I announce my allegiance, along with Adel Habara, to Abu-Bakr El-Baghdadi, the Islamic State leader," cried Ammar Ali Ramadan, a defendant in the case. "Soon we will see him ruling this country in hell," he added.

Just one minor little fix, there. No charge.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 06/17/2015 12:50 Comments || Top||


Islamic State claims Tunisian checkpoint attack that killed 3
[HINDUSTANTIMES] 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....
has grabbed credit for an attack on a checkpoint in central Tunisia that killed three coppers, according to a statement carried on a jihadi social media account used by the group.
"We dunnit and we're glad! Glad, y'unnerstand? Glad! [BARK!] [BARK!] Awooooo!"
The coppers were killed in festivities in Sidi Bouzid during an attack on Monday in which gunnies tried to kidnap eight people and opened fire on a military helicopter before one was shot and the other maimed and captured.

"The attack was carried out by two soldiers of the caliphate who attacked two military sites with small arms," the statement said.

The ultra-hardline Islamic State has declared a caliphate in large parts of Iraq and Syria that are controlled by its Death Eaters. The IS is also active in Tunisia's chaotic neighbour Libya.

Islamic State made some claims to the Bardo Museum attack in Tunis in March where gunnies killed a group of foreign tourists.

But Tunisian security sources have said dissident members of Okba Ibn Nafaa, a group of al Qaeda-affiliated fighters operating in the Chaambi mountains along the Algerian border, may have carried out the Bardo operation.
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Three kidnapped Tunisian diplomats freed in Libya
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Three of 10 Tunisian consular staff kidnapped in Libya last week have been freed and negotiations over the other hostages are continuing, a Libyan official and a Tunisian source said on Tuesday.

Gunmen stormed the Tunisian consulate on Friday in Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
, where armed factions have in the past seized diplomats and foreigners to exert pressure on their governments to free Libyan hard boyz held in jails abroad.

Tunisia is one of the few countries to keep a diplomatic presence in Tripoli since an armed faction called Libya Dawn
...aka Fajr Libya, the Islamist operation launched to counter that of General Khalifa Haftar (Operation Dignity). It is made up of the Libya Shield militia (Misrata and Moslem Brotherhood), Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (Moslem Brotherhood), and Tripoli Brigade (close to Abdul Hakim Belhaj, head of Al-Watan party). Financing and moral support come from Turkey and Qatar...
took over the capital last year and forced the internationally recognized government to flee to the east of the country.

No group has grabbed credit for the kidnapping, but Tunisian authorities last month incarcerated
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
Walid Kalib, a member of Libya Dawn. A Tunisian court refused to release Kalib, who faces kidnapping charges in Tunisia.

"Three diplomats have been freed yesterday after they were kidnapped in the capital Tripoli," a Libyan diplomatic police official, Faraj Swhili, told Rooters. "The other seven diplomats will be released when the Libyan detainee in Tunis, Walid Kalib, is released by Tunisian authorities."
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Africa Subsaharan
Suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers kill 27 in Chad capital
[HINDUSTANTIMES] Suspected Islamist jacket wallahs killed at least 27 people in the Chadian capital N'Djamena on Monday in what appeared to be retaliation by Nigerian bully boy group 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...
for Chad's leading role in a regional offensive against it.

At least 100 people were maimed in two simultaneous attacks at around 9am (0800 GMT) on a police headquarters and training school.

It was the first strike of its kind in the central African nation, which has emerged as a firm Western ally against Islamist groups in the Sahel.

The government, which said that four Boko Haram fighters were among the 27 dead, announced a raft of measures to tighten security in the capital which serves as the headquarters for a 3,000-strong French mission - known as Barkhane - fighting militancy in the region.

Chad, whose oil revenues
New thing learnt today: Chad has oil revenues. Enough, as the rest of the sentence states, to allow it to become a military heavyweight. And I thought it was because France has been sending military trainers.
have helped it emerge as a military heavyweight in the region, has been a driving force behind a campaign that has inflicted a series of defeats on Boko Haram since January.

"Boko Haram is making a mistake by targeting Chad," communications minister Hassan Sylla Bakari said on state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
, noting that two bombers were involved in each attack. "These lawless bully boyz will be chased out and neutralised wherever they are."

Most of the dead and maimed were found in the police training school where a suicide bomber entered the compound and detonated his charge among a group of cadets, authorities said.

A second suicide bomber went kaboom! outside the gates of the school, killing several people.

One witness at the central cop shoppe, where a third suicide bomber on a cycle of violence struck, told Rooters by telephone that he had seen three bodies on the ground.
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram

#1  Yes, tw, Chad does have oil revenue. Not huge, but significant. We used to operate a big field there with Exxon, but sold out our interest. Sudan is another trouble spot with surprising oil revenues (also from a field we sold out of). As is so often the case, the oil seems to be a big part of the problem, rather than of the solution....
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/17/2015 1:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Chad has an army, composed in the main of Toubou and Zaghawa tribals from the north and northeast, who will not only fight, but love to fight.
Posted by: Gomez Uneager8139 || 06/17/2015 9:28 Comments || Top||

#3  More things learnt, and it's not even noon! Such a lovely world, full of people who know things I don't and share them freely. :-D
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/17/2015 10:59 Comments || Top||

#4  Too bad Nigeria's significant oil revenue hasn't helped its military the same way.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 06/17/2015 12:53 Comments || Top||


Arabia
US targets leader of Al Qaeda in Yemen with CIA drone strike
[FOXNEWS] U.S. officials were working late Monday to confirm whether the leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
...the latest incarnation of various Qaeda and Qaeda-allied groups, including the now-defunct Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that boomed the USS Cole in 2000...
(AQAP) had been killed in a recent CIA drone strike, even as social media accounts associated with Death Eater groups announced the man's death.

A counter-terrorism source who tracks social media accounts tied to Al Qaeda and ISIS told Fox News late Monday that a credible account based in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
was reporting that Nasir al-Wuhayshi had been killed in the strike. The account also said that a new leader of the terror group, identified as Qasim al-Raymi, had already been appointed.

There was no immediate comment from the CIA, who referred questions about the drone strike to the National Security Council. There was no official statement from AQAP, which is typical in these operations where the dead Death Eater is mourned as a "martyr" and a replacement named.

Al-Wuhayshi, a former top lieutenant to the late Osama bin Laden
... who is no longer with us, and won't be again...
, is described as Al Qaeda's second-in-command, behind leader Ayman al-Zawahiri
... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is...
. Intelligence sources told Fox News that he was or around the port city of Mukalla in Yemen when the strike took place this past Friday.

Arab media outlets reported that three suspected Al Qaeda members were killed June 9 in an apparent U.S. drone strike in Mukalla. It is not clear if this was the same strike that targeted al-Wuhayshi.

"If confirmed, the death of AQAP's leader is a major blow to Islamist turbans who are plotting daily to attack America," said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the chairman of the homeland security committee.

Al-Qaida in Yemen Confirms Leader Killed in U.S. Drone Strike

[AnNahar] Al-Qaeda confirmed that its second-in-command, head of its powerful Yemeni branch, was killed in a U.S. drone strike, in the heaviest blow to the jihadist network since the death of the late Osama bin Laden
... who doesn't live anywhere anymore...
Already struggling with the rise of rival jihadists from 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, al-Qaeda has suffered a series of setbacks in recent months with several commanders reported killed.

In a video statement, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) confirmed that Nasir al-Wuhayshi was dead.

Wuhayshi "was killed in a U.S. drone attack that targeted him along with two other mujahedeen," who were also killed, said the statement read by prominent al-Qaeda Death Eater Khaled Omar Batarfi and dated June 15.

AQAP -- which was behind several plots against Western targets including the deadly attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo
...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
in Gay Paree earlier this year -- said it had named its military chief Qassem al-Rimi as its new leader.

Rimi, aged 41, was an instructor at a training camp in Afghanistan during the 1990s and his younger brother is in U.S. custody at Guantanamo Bay.
What, still? Are they sure?
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia

#1  Hand the younger brother a cell phone and tell him to congratulate his brother on his promotion.
Posted by: Airandee || 06/17/2015 8:09 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Bangladesh upholds death sentence of top Islamist
[HINDUSTANTIMES] Bangladesh's highest court Tuesday upheld the death sentence against a top Islamist leader for war crimes during the country's battle for independence, prompting his opposition party to call a general strike in protest.

Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid could now be hanged within months after the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal against the sentence for the murder of scores of intellectuals during the 1971 conflict.

The 67-year-old is one of about a dozen leaders of Bangladesh's largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
, a key opposition group, convicted by a controversial war crimes tribunal set up by the secular government in 2010.

The convictions have triggered the country's deadliest violence since independence with some 500 people killed, mainly in festivities between Jamaat activists and police.

Security was tight ahead of Tuesday's ruling, with heavily armed police and border guards surrounding the court in Dhaka and patrolling nearby streets. But widespread violence was unlikely following a recent crackdown against the opposition by Prime Minister the loathesome Sheikh Hasina
...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums..
's government.
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Islamist outfit threatens info minister Inu, 24 others with death
[Bangla Daily Star] Banned Islamist krazed killer outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team has issued death threats to Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu, Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique and 23 other eminent personalities, cultural activists and student leaders.

This is the third such threat issued on the lives of eminent personalities and freethinkers by the krazed killer outfit.

The outfit sent a letter, written on the "official letterhead" of Ansarullah Bangla Team-13, to the office of the DU VC by registered post around 12:30pm yesterday, Prof MA Ali, acting proctor of the university, told The Daily Star.

Prof Ali lodged a general diary with Shahbagh Police Station yesterday in this connection.

"A primary list of those who would be eliminated in the first strike is given below," read the letter.

Referring to a meeting of the outfit leaders, the letter stated that the "honourable jurists" of the outfit, after a lot of discussion, declared death sentences to "anti-religious" persons and ordered to execute the sentences.
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Ansarullah Bangla Team


Europe
Austrian court sentences 10 for trying to join Islamists in Syria
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] An Austrian court sentenced 10 people to up to three years in jail on Tuesday for trying to link up with radical Islamists in Syria.

A Turkish man accused of organizing transport for the group of native Chechens got a three-year jail term, while others got prison terms of up to 34 months. One who was a juvenile at the time of the arrests last August got a one-year suspended sentence, a court spokeswoman said.

The sentences are not final until the defendants -- some of whom said they were simply going on a holiday or wanted to live in an Islamic country, according to media reports -- decide whether to appeal.

Prosecutors had demanded sentences of one to 10 years in jail for participating in a terrorist organization, broadcaster ORF reported.

With the far-right Freedom Party attracting more than 25 percent support and beating the ruling centrist parties in opinion polls, Austria has taken a tough line on suspected jihadist sympathizers.

A 14-year-old boy who downloaded bomb-making plans onto his PlayStation games console got a two-year jail term last month after pleading guilty to terrorism charges.
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


The Grand Turk
ISIL militant bombed election rally in Turkey despite warnings, reports
[Hurriyet Daily News] The chronology of how a youngster in southeastern The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
was recruited by 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....
of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to bomb a Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) rally in Diyarbakir earlier this month either exposes a huge security vulnerability within Turkish law enforcement or "malice," Radikal news website warned on June 16.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Turkish soldiers detain ISIL men at border crossing
[Hurriyet Daily News] Turkish soldiers have detained five men from Syria, supposedly 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....
of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters, near the Akcakale crossing gate between The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
and Syria.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Unshaven. Shoes not shined. Uniform isn't proper. Rust!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/17/2015 2:11 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
U.S. Naval Engineer Pleads Guilty to Spying Bid
[AnNahar] A U.S. Navy engineer pleaded guilty Monday to attempted espionage for Egypt after offering details on the layout of the nuclear-powered submarine USS Gerald Ford while under construction.

Mostafa Ahmed Awwad, 36, a civilian who worked at the Norfolk, Virginia shipyard where the highly sophisticated sub is being built, offered the information to an undercover FBI agent posing as Egyptian intelligence in September.
Good lord, what would the Egyptians do with such information? They couldn't possibly build the thing, and even if they could, they haven't the kind of trained manpower to be able to run it. Mr. Awwad is an idiot.
Awwad, who entered his plea before US District Judge Raymond Jackson, had offered a USB drive with some of the details on the cutting-edge supercarrier's layout.

He also offered to supply the rest of the information on the ship, which can carry some 4,000 sailors, to Cairo.

"The National Security Division will continue to pursue and bring to justice those who abuse their access to sensitive defense information," Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said in a statement.

Assistant FBI Director Randall Coleman stressed that "we prevented the loss of billions of dollars in research costs and the exposure of potential vulnerabilities to our newest generation of nuclear aircraft carrier."

Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of eight to 11 years.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Norfolk, Virginia shipyard where the highly sophisticated sub is being built
Not to quibble with AnNahar, but the shipyard is across the James River, in Newport News. And the Gerald Ford is an aircraft carrier, not a submarine. If Awwad's 'facts' weren't any better than that he wasn't much of a spy.
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/17/2015 1:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Not to quibble with AnNahar, but the shipyard is across the James River, in Newport News. And the Gerald Ford is an aircraft carrier, not a submarine.

And Awwad was a custodial engineer?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/17/2015 2:06 Comments || Top||

#3  what would the Egyptians do with such information?
They would broker or propagandize it of course, but this was a FBI poser.

A U.S. Navy engineer pleaded guilty
Mostafa Ahmed Awwad, 36, a civilian who worked at the Norfolk, Virginia shipyard
a prison sentence of eight to 11 years
Isn't that more akin to 'armed robbery' than TREASON?

Posted by: Skidmark || 06/17/2015 4:16 Comments || Top||

#4  Good lord, what would the Egyptians do with such information?

The question is how much would the Russians/Chinese/et al pay/trade for it? In money or kind.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/17/2015 8:50 Comments || Top||

#5  No really it is a submersible aircraft carrier.

Then what are the sails for?

Dammit man, can't get to the moon without sails.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/17/2015 11:44 Comments || Top||

#6  If they'd been building that ship in California the Chinese might have gotten to Mostafa before the FBI.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 06/17/2015 12:59 Comments || Top||

#7  "No really it is a submersible aircraft carrier."
I'm sure the Egyptian version would be.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 06/17/2015 14:25 Comments || Top||

#8  Waiting for Cair to cry foul, that he was targeted because of his name.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 06/17/2015 14:25 Comments || Top||

#9  Put him in the cell next to Jonathan Pollard. I'm sure the resulting banter will be interesting.
Posted by: Pappy || 06/17/2015 16:42 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Pakistani troops cross border into Afghanistan, rescue wounded Afghan soldier
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] An Afghan soldier who was severely injured during shootout with the turbans, was rescued by the Pak troops who crossed the border to evacuate him to a medical facility.

Pakistain's Inter Services Public Relation (ISPR) said the soldier was evacuated after receiving requests from the Afghan authorities.

A statement by ISPR said the Pak troops entered 600 meters inside the Afghan soil near the Bajaur Agency, aka Turban Central
...Smallest of the agencies in FATA. The Agency administration is located in Khar. Bajaur is inhabited almost exclusively by Tarkani Pashtuns, which are divided into multiple bickering subtribes. Its 52 km border border with Afghanistan's Kunar Province makes it of strategic importance to Pakistain's strategic depth...
to rescue the maimed soldier.

The statement further added that the injured soldier was shifted to Hospital in Khar area of Bajaur.

The Afghan security institutions have not commented regarding the so far. The evacuation of the maimed Afghan soldier is believed to be a demonstration of increased security cooperation between the two countries.
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Sopore: 6 mysterious murders force ex-militants, separatists to flee
[HINDUSTANTIMES] Former gunnies in Sopore town of Kashmire's Baramulla district are going into hiding as the mystery about who killed six men in less than a month continues.

Sopore, around 50km north of Srinagar, has been tense after the May 25 attack on a BSNL office left one person dead. The town shut down on Tuesday and protesters threw stones. On Wednesday, the town will shut down again. That would be fifth consecutive day of unrest, to be followed by a separatist-supported protest march on Friday.

The mystery surrounding the killings is fuelled by police claims and counter claims by the krazed killer conglomerate United Jehad Council (UJC) and both sides accusing each other.
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hizbul Mujaheddin


Iraq
Ramadi military operations halted
[Rudaw] The Iraqi army's military campaign to liberate Ramadi from 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....
has been halted, an official from the Anbar provincial council told Rudaw on Tuesday.

"Over the past three days there have been no advances or attacks against ISIS bases and position on the outskirts of Ramadi," said Farhan Mohammed, a member of the Anbar provincial council.

Criticizing the mechanics of military operations against ISIS in Ramadi, Mohammed said, "Hashd al-Shaabi forces of Evil are not committed to the orders being issued by the leadership of the Anbar operation."

"There has been no cooperation between the joint forces," he added. "The USA has once again sent military advisers for Iraq to train tribal forces of Evil and Iraqi forces, and this has meant a delay for the operations until further notice."
*sigh* Whatevs, doods.
According to Mohammed, Iraq has sent many military advisers to the Al-Assad military base to train tribal bad boys. "We need no more military advisers," he said.

The military campaign to push ISIS out of Sunni-majority Anbar province was launched in early June.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/17/2015 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq

#1  Is it just me who thinks (lots of) B-52s would be more useful than military advisers in dealing with the problems that are Ramadi.
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/17/2015 1:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Quelle suprise.
Posted by: OldSpook || 06/17/2015 15:58 Comments || Top||


Iraqi army claims to capture hundreds of IEDs north of Baghdad
[Rudaw] The Baghdad Operations command announced on Tuesday its soldiers had killed three ISIS snuffies and captured 151 improvised bombs (IEDs) north of Baghdad.

"The Iraqi army's 54th Brigade captured a boom-mobile and munitions factory as well as 151 improvised bombs," said the command in a statement.

"In the area of Albu Sauda, Iraqi security forces fought off an ISIS assault killing two snuffies and wounding another," the statement added.

Also claimed in the statement, the Iraqi army successfully carried out a military campaign to hunt down three wanted snuffies and destroy their vehicles.

An Iraqi army quick reaction force (QRF) destroyed an ISIS bomb-rigged bulldozer in the area of Maarz in western Baghdad and defused 17 landmines in the area, also according to the statement.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/17/2015 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq

#1  The fact that ISIS had a bomb rigged bulldozer in western Baghdad is much more worrying than the fact that they killed 3 snuffies.
Posted by: frozen al || 06/17/2015 11:17 Comments || Top||


Official: ISIS convoy destroyed on way to Baghdad
[Rudaw] Iraqi warplanes conducted Arclight airstrikes Monday night on a convoy of armored ISIS vehicles on the way from Fallujah to Baghdad, an Iraqi military official announced.

Saad Maan, front man for Iraqi forces, told local media Tuesday that the Iraqi air force was able to neutralize the explosive-laden vehicles before they could be used in suicide kabooms in the capital.

According to the source, ISIS was expected attack Baghdad using its usual tactic of waves of suicide boom-mobiles.

The number of ISIS causalities was not mentioned, but Maan said ISIS suffered a heavy defeat.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Jordan Arrests Islamist Preacher for 'Incitement'
[AnNahar] Jordanian authorities have tossed in the calaboose
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
an Islamist preacher for inciting hatred against the regime on Facebook, and ordered him held in preventive detention for 15 days, a court official said Tuesday.

Eyad Qunaibi was detained Monday night after posting a piece entitled "Jordan heading for the abyss", which criticized Amman's ties with neighboring Israel, as well as the westernization of Jordanian society.

He also spoke out against Jordan's participation in a march in Gay Paree in sympathy with January's massacre at French magazine Charlie Hebdo
...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority of the active testicles left in Europe...
by Islamic Death Eaters, and against fashion shows being held in the kingdom.

Qunaibi, who was born in Kuwait in 1975, holds a doctorate in pharmacology from the University of Houston in the United States.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Salafists


Southeast Asia
Philippines: MILF decommissioning begins
[AA.TR] The Philippines' one-time largest Moro rebel group turned over dozens of weapons Tuesday as part of a grinding of the peace processor that has been threatened by a botched raid and delays in passing an autonomy law.

President Benigno Aquino III and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman Ebrahim Murad attended the ceremonial turnover in southern Maguindanao province where 75 high-powered and crew-served weapons were deactivated and 145 rebels left the group's armed wing to return to civilian life.

Gradual decommissioning among the wing's 10,000 estimated armed members is part of the Annex on Normalization of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), which was signed by the MILF and the government in early 2014.

The CAB serves as the final peace agreement after 17 years of on-and-off and often intractable negotiations.

Aquino called the handover "historic" during a speech at Tuesday's ceremony.

"Years ago, an gang that had long been fighting with government laying down its arms was a pipe dream," he said. "Our Moro brothers and sisters made a commitment, and before us is the concrete proof of their sincerity. Our brothers are voluntarily laying down their arms."

The first phase of the decommissioning in Sultan Kudarat town saw the weapons handed over to an independent decommissioning body led by Ambassador Haydar Berk from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
.
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Moro Islamic Liberation Front

#1  See also GMA NEWS > MURAD: DECOMMISSIONING MARKS MILF TRANSFORMATION, NOT SURRENDER.

MILF Chief + Central Committee Chairman AL HAJ MURAD EBRAHIM.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/17/2015 3:11 Comments || Top||

#2  got my hopes up there for a minute - thought the headline said "decomposing"....
Posted by: Grineling Lumplump8620 || 06/17/2015 14:22 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hizbullah Reports New Progress against IS along Lebanon Border
...such as it is. But they keep on slugging away, all of them.
[AnNahar] Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
's mouthpiece al-Manar TV station reported on Tuesday new achievements by the Syrian army and the party's fighters along the rugged Syrian-Lebanese border.

Al-Manar said that Syrian troops and Hizbullah fighters controlled Ras al-Kosh and Qornet Ras al-Saabeh on the outskirts of al-Jarajeer in the Syrian area of Qalamoun.

Several 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 hard boyz were killed in the fighting, the TV station claimed.

Last week, Hizbullah chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...
announced that his group had begun to fight the IS.

The fighting in Qalamoun had been previously between Hizbullah and al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra
...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ...
Front.

Hizbullah has intervened militarily in Syria on behalf of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now...
, saying it is protecting Leb from the threat of jihadists in the neighboring country.

The joint Hizbullah-Syrian army offensive to clear the border area of rebel militias began more than a month ago, and Nasrallah has included updates on the assault in numerous televised speeches since then.

Meanwhile,
...back at the comedy club, Boogie sadly admitted that he was a better peeping Tom than he was a comedian...
media reports said Tuesday that an IS leader identified as Abou al-Walid al-Maqdesi was killed overnight in fighting between his group and al-Nusra Front snuffies in the area of Wadi Hmeid on the outskirts of the Lebanese border town of Arsal.

Al-Maqdesi was in his car along with his wife when he died, they said.

The woman was taken to hospital for being injured in the attack, they added.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


34 Dead in Rebel Rocket Fire on Syria's Aleppo
[AnNahar] Rebel rocket fire killed at least 34 civilians in Aleppo in one of the bloodiest days of the conflict for government-held areas of Syria's second city, a monitoring group said Tuesday.

The barrage drew condemnation from U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura, who arrived in Damascus on Monday to meet government officials for a fresh round of peace talks.

Twelve children were among the dead as Islamist rebel factions pounded western neighborhoods of the city with more than 300 rockets on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Right said.

Control of the city is divided between rebels in the east, and forces loyal to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Scourge of Qusayr...
in the west.

Both sides frequently bombard each other but Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that Monday's deaths marked "one of the highest tolls in opposition attacks in Aleppo city".

"The number of deaths is likely to rise, as there are roughly 190 people maimed, including dozens at death's door with serious wounds," he said.

"With dead and maimed combined, it adds up to the most violent day for government-controlled parts of Aleppo city in the whole war."

In a statement released on Tuesday, the U.N. envoy "strongly condemned the... indiscriminate attack on civilians in the city of Aleppo" but urged the government to refrain from any reprisals against rebel-held areas.

"While strongly condemning this very grave attack on civilians by armed opposition forces, the special envoy reaffirms that this should not justify in any case a retaliation on populated areas through barrel bombs by the Syrian government", a statement said.

Barrel bombs are crude weapons, made of containers packed with explosives and scrap metal, that are typically dropped from helicopters and are one of the regime's weapons of choice.

Their use has been criticized by human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
groups because of the indiscriminate corpse count they cause among civilians when dropped on residential areas.

Last year, de Mistura proposed a "freeze" on fighting in Aleppo as a first step towards local ceasefires across Syria.

But the rebels rejected the proposal and the government has continued to pound rebel-held areas of the city with deadly air strikes.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But, at least, they didn't use barrel bombs.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/17/2015 2:07 Comments || Top||


Islam Army launches new missile attack on government-held Damascus
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Islam Army, key rebel group active east of Damascus, has waged a new missile attack on government-held neighborhoods of Syria's capital, activists said Tuesday.

The Katyusha rockets have stormed Mezzeh 86 , a predominantly Alawite neighborhood.

The shelling also reached al-Maliki district, few block from bashar al-Assad's residence.

No casualties yet reported.

Islam Army's commander, Zahran Alloush, warned Damascus officials of the 'hell of his rockets' four months ago when his rebel group fired more than 100 missiles on Damascus, killing more than 15 people.
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jaish al-Islam


Rebels seize strategic hill near Hermon Mount, form alliance
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Ten rebel groups active in the western countryside of Damascus have merged in new alliance, seeking to capture a territory links between Daraa, Quneitra and the capital, according to statement issued Tuesday.

Hermon Army, the newly rebel group, said it has taken control of Telal al-Homr area (the Red Hills) and a strategic supply route links between Hermon Mont and liberated countryside of Daraa.

The statement called on Druze villagers live near the Occupied Golan Heights to not involved in fighting against rebels, assuring the historic brotherhood ties.
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Southern Front launches new battle in Quneitra
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] The First Army, key unit in Southern Front, announced on Tuesday a new battle against regime forces to take control of last army posts in Quneitra province.

'Al-Jaish al-Awal' said in statement four rebel groups joined its operations room to end Army presence in Quneitra near the Occupied Golan Heights.

The southern region near the border with Jordan and Israel is one of the areas where hard boyz have inflicted significant defeats on Bashir al-Assad in the last three months, notably by capturing the Nasib border crossing with Jordan on April 1.

In relevant development, ten rebel groups active in the western countryside of Damascus have merged in new alliance, seeking to capture a territory links between Daraa, Quneitra and the capital, activists said.

Hermon Army also announced in statement issued Tuesday that the newly rebel group has taken control of Telal al-Homr area (the Red Hills) and a strategic supply route links between Hermon Mont and liberated countryside of Daraa.

The statement called on Druze villagers live in Hermon Mount to not involved in fighting against rebels, assuring the historic brotherhood ties.
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Terror Networks
US, allies conduct 9 air strikes in Syria, 16 in Iraq
[Ynet] The United States and its allies in the Middle East conducted nine air strikes in Syria on Tuesday and 16 across Iraq according to the Combined Joint Task Force responsible for fighting 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....
Lions of Islam in the area.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/17/2015 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Does it still count as an air strike even if they bring all their bombs back with them, as is so often the case?
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/17/2015 1:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Does it still count as an air strike even in they drop their bombs in the middle of the night upon empty buildings rather than dropping them in the middle of the day when those very same buildings might be full of actual targets?
Posted by: Crusader || 06/17/2015 11:41 Comments || Top||

#3  It does for pay purposes.
Posted by: Pappy || 06/17/2015 12:39 Comments || Top||

#4  If you can count them, there's not enough of them.
Posted by: tu3031 || 06/17/2015 12:49 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
22[untagged]
11Islamic State
4Govt of Iraq
3Taliban
3Govt of Pakistan
2Govt of Syria
2al-Qaeda in Arabia
2al-Shabaab
2Arab Spring
1Hamas
1Hezbollah
1Boko Haram
1Jaish al-Islam
1Jamaat-e-Islami
1Moro Islamic Liberation Front
1Mourabitounes
1Muslim Brotherhood
1Salafists
1Hizbul Mujaheddin
1Commies
1Ansarullah Bangla Team
1Govt of Sudan

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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.
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In no particular order...
Steve White
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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2015-06-17
  US targets leader of Al Qaeda in Yemen with CIA drone strike
Tue 2015-06-16
  Kurdish forces seize most of Islamic State-controlled border town
Mon 2015-06-15
  US Airstrike "likely" killed Mokhtar in Libya
Sun 2015-06-14
  US Moves Six Yemeni Guantanamo Detainees To Oman
Sat 2015-06-13
  American Teenager Pleads Guilty to Helping ISIS
Fri 2015-06-12
  Al-Nusra kills 20 Druze
Thu 2015-06-11
  Al Qaeda militants in Libya attack Daesh after leader killed
Wed 2015-06-10
  IS Claims Capture of Libya's Sirte
Tue 2015-06-09
  Saudi-led air strikes kill 44 in attack on Yemeni army compound
Mon 2015-06-08
  Coalition bombing kills ISIS governor in Tal Afar
Sun 2015-06-07
  Turkey ruling AKP 'loses majority'
Sat 2015-06-06
  Pakistan refuses to share nukes with Saudi Arabia
Fri 2015-06-05
  Texas-born al Qaeda suspect pleads not guilty in New York
Thu 2015-06-04
  Boston TV: 2 Men In Boston Terror Probe Allegedly Planned To Kill "Boys In Blue"
Wed 2015-06-03
  ASWJ member shot dead

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