[Newsweek] A retired senior State Department military advisor claims that Hillary Clinton’s "sloppy communications with her senior staff" when she was secretary of state may have compromised at least two counterterror operations.
Bill Johnson, who was the State Department’s political adviser to the special operations section of the U.S. Pacific Command, or PACOM, in 2010 and 2011, says secret plans to eliminate the leader of a Filipino Islamist separatist group as well as intercept Chinese-made weapons components being smuggled into Iraq, were repeatedly foiled.
Johnson says he and his team eliminated the possibility of other security leaks before settling on the unprotected telephone calls of the secretary of state and her aides as the likely source--though he quickly adds they had "no proof."
"I had several missions that went inexplicably wrong, with the targets one step ahead of us," Johnson tells Newsweek in an exclusive interview.
Clinton's spokesman Nick Merrill calls the allegations "patently false." Unfortunately, there is much more.
#1
Johnson says the email scandal dogging Clinton”could've been avoided if the CIA gave her a secure phone. She requested one,” he adds, “but they turned it down.”
Perhaps there was a valid reason for the Klingon's to turn down the request. If they [Klingon's] could not talk to her over secure COMS, then everything would have had to have gone over via 'secure cable' which means.... you have a copy, I have a copy.
The fact that the Beest and McAuliffe had contact with Wang might have been enough to give the Klingon's pause. Just say'n.
#3
...why do you ask? Did you find in the open message traffic that a black person died in her custody? Short of that, the peasants shouldn't trouble themselves.
#4
Johnson says the email scandal dogging Clintonâcould've been avoided if the CIA gave her a secure phone. She requested one,â he adds, âbut they turned it down.â
Wasn't the point that there are no secure phones outside State Department facilities? I seem to recall something about Japanese security sharing that they were picking up State Department communications in the hotel or the airport when Secretary Clinton was visiting there.
{Intl Bus Times] China is to send nuclear missile submarines to the Pacific as deterrence amid mounting tensions with the US, a report says.
Citing military sources in Beijing, the Guardian newspaper says a Chinese nuclear deterrence patrol mission in the region is "inevitable" in response to US plans to station new weapons systems in the region.
China has been irked in particular by Washington's intention to place an anti-ballistic missile system in South Korea, with the country's Foreign Minister Wang Yi saying earlier this month that the move threatened Beijing's strategic security.
The two countries are also at loggerheads in the South China Sea, with the US conducting several "freedom of navigation" exercises in the region to challenge Chinese territorial claims.
#1
I've watched China's boomers for a while. They haven't had them on really long deployments and usually just shove them out for a couple days then tie them back up at the pier for months.
At this point they really don't have a long term and viable boomer force that could threaten the US. Maybe Vietnam.
[NYT] Four years ago, one of China's largest agricultural importers sent representatives to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., hoping that meetings with elite party officials might yield business opportunities. The company, the Dandong Port Group, was particularly focused on the governors in attendance, according to an interview with Dandong's general counsel broadcast by Chinese state television.
"If you really want to influence, let’s say, U.S.-China policy," he said, "it's almost worth it to have emphasis and influence on the state level."
The meetings, arranged by a former South Carolina governor, marked a period of expansion in the United States for Dandong and its affiliated companies, involving negotiations with officials in Washington, Arkansas, South Carolina and Virginia. But now, the company’s widening influence is coming under scrutiny by federal prosecutors, who are examining the relationship between Dandong’s wealthy and connected chairman, Wang Wenliang, and Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia, a Democrat who was elected in 2013.
A federal law enforcement official said the inquiry included $120,000 in contributions that a New Jersey construction firm controlled by Mr. Wang made to Mr. McAuliffe's 2013 campaign and inaugural committee. That official and a second law enforcement official, both of whom asked for anonymity to discuss the matter, said it was a preliminary inquiry of Mr. McAuliffe's campaign donations, and they provided no detail about the nature and scope of any potential violations being scrutinized.
Though Mr. Wang is a Chinese citizen, he is also a legal permanent resident of the United States, according to a spokeswoman for him, which entitles him to make campaign contributions.
The inquiry was first reported on Monday by CNN, which said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department’s public integrity unit were involved in the review. The inquiry also encompasses Mr. McAuliffe's role as a board member of the Clinton Foundation, to which another company linked to Mr. Wang pledged a $2 million contribution in 2013. The foundation has raised millions of dollars from companies and wealthy individuals overseas as well as from foreign governments.
Representatives for Mr. McAuliffe and Mr. Wang said they had not been contacted by the Justice Department or the F.B.I. A spokesman for the Clinton Foundation also said it had not been contacted by law enforcement officials.
Speaking to reporters in Virginia on Tuesday, Mr. McAuliffe said he was shocked by reports of an inquiry. He had played no role in soliciting Mr. Wang's pledge to the Clinton Foundation and said the contributions to his campaign from by Mr. Wang's company were legitimate.
"I'm very confident this gentleman had been fully vetted," Mr. McAuliffe said of Mr. Wang.
But the federal inquiry throws a cloud over Mr. McAuliffe at a critical time: He is a top fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton, a close confidant of her and her husband, and the governor of a swing state critical to her chances of becoming president. On Sunday, Mr. McAuliffe headlined a $5,000-a-head Virginia fund-raising event for Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Mr. McAuliffe and Mr. Wang are, in a sense, mirror images: wealthy self-made men with intertwined careers in business and politics. Before becoming governor, Mr. McAuliffe was an inveterate deal-maker involved in everything from real estate to banking to electric cars. Last year, a separate federal review found that Mr. McAuliffe had lobbied officials at the Department of Homeland Security to speed visas for Chinese investors in an electric car company.
[Daily Beast] Clinton's super-donors poured millions into the State Department. Why was the government so reluctant to release the names of these high-rollers and socialites?
Hillary Clinton may have suspended her political career temporarily when she became Secretary of State. But the Clinton fundraising machine was in full swing and raising millions of dollars for the State Department under her watch, an analysis by The Daily Beast has found.
More than a dozen donors to Clinton’s non-profit foundation and her various political campaigns poured money into an endowment she launched into 2010 to pay for the upkeep of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms. The 42 sumptuous salons at State Department headquarters in Washington, decorated with 18th and 19th century American furnishings, are used to welcome foreign dignitaries, conduct diplomatic meetings and swearing-in ceremonies, and host official dinners.
By the following year, the campaign had raised more than $20 million to permanently fund restoration and maintenance for the rooms and their collections of rare American artwork, thanks largely to reliable Clinton donors.
Nearly half of the 37 people and organizations who donated to the State Department campaign, known as Patrons of Diplomacy, also gave money to the Clinton Foundation, according to State Department and foundation records. Of the eleven people who served as co-chairs for the campaign, agreeing to contribute their own money or to help raise funds from others, six also gave to the Clinton Foundation, a global charity started by former President Bill Clinton.
Until this week the State Department seemed inclined to keep the names of these patrons private. When The Daily Beast initially asked to see the donor list, a department spokesperson said that it was already the subject of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the Republican National Committee, and therefore couldn’t yet be released. (The RNC has filed six lawsuits against the State Department related to Clinton’s tenure, focused on potential conflicts of interest with her and her aides’ work for the foundation, as well as her use of a private email server for official business.)
But if the State Department wanted to keep the donors from public scrutiny, it’s not clear why their names are inscribed on a wall, located on a terrace off one of the reception rooms, with a sweeping view of the National Mall.
Only when The Daily Beast pointed out that an article in a 2012 issue of an internal State Department magazine mentions the donor wall was a reporter allowed to see it.
[PJ Media] The State Department's report on Hillary Clinton's insouciant attitude toward cyber-security would finish any other American politician. She ignored the law, flouted it repeatedly, and didn't care; folks are in prison for less. The only thing that's holding her up at this point is her Amen Corner in the media, most of whom know her personally and who long for a Clinton Restoration in order to reclaim their places as house courtiers. But 2016 is not 1992 or even 2008, and the retinue of retainers is as long in the tooth as the former first lady herself. They can't protect her as they once could, and the multiplicity of media means that while the gatekeepers are still at the gates, the walls on either side have fallen. Meanwhile, State has publicly called her a liar and left a stinking mess on her doorstep that even her faithful house boys are going to find difficult to sweep aside. Now what? Maybe this what:
The Democratic National Committee is considering a plan to re-insert Vice President Joe Biden into the presidential race, Donald Trump said Wednesday in California, a stunning claim on a day when front-runner Hillary Clinton faced new questions about her classified email scandal.
'I hear they're gonna actually slip Joe Biden in and he's going to take Bernie's place,' Trump told a rally audience of thousands in Anaheim, California, referring to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. 'I hear they want to slip him in,' he repeated. 'Cause I will say, the system is rigged against Bernie, 100 per cent.'
Well, that's certainly true. Mrs. Clinton was declared the nominee even before the first pro-forma ballots were counted, and nothing that's happened since -- including Sanders's remarkable series of victories over Hillary -- has changed the official narrative. But the State Department's report is yet another straw on the staggering camel's back.
Five industries - IT, banking/finance, education, entertainment, and public employees - have already spent a billion dollars on Hillary Clinton's campaign through various channels. Foreign actors have channeled several hundred million more. All in exchange for protection of income stream and/or protection from the regulatory leviathan.
If you think they are going to walk away from that investment your are certifiable.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
05/26/2016 6:43
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#3
I don't know no mo. The 'Bill Johnson' story may have legs.
#4
Besoeker, I'd love nothing more than to believe that something can take out the Clinton Crime Family and their funding base, the undeserving publicly funded, the Davoisie, and the rest of the putrid Blue State types.
But from where I sit, I just can't see it happening.
Lois Lerner not in jail and with a six-figure government pension has really had an impact on the way I view our electorate and those who populate the apparatus of state. As big an impact as the reaction of the left to 9/11 did. A commenter on Fernandez's site has named them TWANLOC (those who are no longer our countrymen), and I think that is accurate.
Bad actors like computer/software monopolists, lawyers and lobbyists who are affiliated with environmentalism and other regulatory rent seeking sectors, and banking/finance industry types - robber barons all - have figured out a way to use the system to bribe their way free from the regulatory beast the left imposes on everyone else. And to use the votes of the NPR-listening pseudointellectual crowd plus the welfare/public employee free sh!t army to insulate themselves from competition.
The Blue State model zombie corpse will not go into the night quietly and is now in maximum self-defense mode, like a cornered rat. Can Trump worry the rat to death? Maybe, but the rat has a whole lot of fight left in him.
The electoral college map doesn't look good. The Clinton Crime Family need only win three or four dozen counties in three or four too-close-to-call states to win the election at this point, no matter how badly they lose in committed red states.
We need a miracle.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
05/26/2016 8:15
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#5
The 'Bill Johnson' story may have legs
Agreed, Mr. B. Was shocked to see that Newsweak had an article about that series of events yesterday (at least it was still there this AM and hadn't been scrubbed or 'modified').
Maybe the wheels are actually coming off....but I'm not holding my breath.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
05/26/2016 8:23
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#6
Besoeker, what's the "Bill Johnson" story? I've been a little out of sorts lately with a knee replacement and haven't followed the news very closely?
#7
The Clinton Crime Family need only win three or four dozen counties in three or four too-close-to-call states to win the election at this point, no matter how badly they lose in committed red states.
1. It's a celebrity election. Normal data collection processes are not working. The only reliable data is confined to the already deep blue urban areas which are default anyway. However, there, NYC might not be as deep blue as once given it being a celebrity election.
2. There's a sense, this is the 'None of the Above' vote so many have been so desperate to cast for years and years.
3. Every day the O Administration is issuing more and more decrees that p*** off more and more people. And we're not talking Soros paid useful thug idiots who thrive on hate.
#8
The Department of State Inspector General's Report created a problem for Hillary. Should she get indicted or absent that because of political issues the FBI leaks the results of their investigation of Hillary's treatment of classified information, she could be toast for this election.
#10
Yeah...I've said this for a couple of months. Biden/Warren will slide in. 2 weeks before the convention she will drop out for health reasons.
For her efforts, she will receive a full pardon.
typical Dem tactic.The only question is how will Bernie react? Is Hillary going to gift all her delegates? That might cause some real agita amongst the BBros.
I remember Chicago in '68, think we'll be going there again.
#14
The McAuliffe story suggests maybe the CGI corruption was far deeper than suspected, and Bernie has been somehow made aware of the possible outcome. Add how Fauxcahontis has suddenly emerged and a lovely, nasty story might be forming?
#15
Great rant, no mo uro, and I agree with most of it. But if the folks of whom you rant see the Beest melting down they may decide to desert her like they would a sinking ship.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/26/2016 12:52
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#16
Clintons have been on the take for decades. They get away with it by gaining control of the DoJ. Reno dropped the ball in the '90s and now it's Lynch. If Hillary doesn't win in November, look for a pardon in January.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/26/2016 13:08
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#17
I don't think Bernie is smart enough to figure that out. He's still in because he gets to pontificate to crowds of thousands of people and the media is paying attention to him. He's never had anything g like it in his life. He loves the attention and probably believes he's making a huge difference.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/26/2016 13:12
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[Daily Caller] A Portuguese intelligence official caught passing secret information to his Russian spy handler may have been encouraged to engage in espionage due to his relationships with Russian women.
Frederico Carvalhao of the Portuguese Security Information Service (SIS) intelligence agency may have been victim of what is called in the espionage world a "honeypot" trap, according to reports. Carvalhao was known for having relationships with women of Russian and Eastern European background. The honeypot trap is a tactic that involves convincing a victim to engage in espionage activities by exploiting them through romantic and sexual relationships.
Although the tactic is a common theme in fictional spy novels, there have also been several examples of it in real world situations.
Carvalhao had been on the radar of counter-intelligence units for around a year. He flew to Rome for what he thought was going to be a routine meeting with his Russian handler, little did he know Portuguese intelligence officials, in conjunction with Italian security officials, were already lying in wait to catch him.
[DailyCaller] WASHINGTON -- Newt Gingrich said the first thing Donald Trump needs to do to be successful as president would be to work with Congress to pass a law allowing him to fire "incompetent bureaucrats."
"The first thing they have to do to be successful is pass a law allowing them to fire incompetent bureaucrats. Just take a look at the Veterans Administration," Gingrich told The Daily Caller in an interview Tuesday. "You cannot manage the Veterans Administration until you can manage the people who are there."
The former speaker of the House, whose name is being floated as a potential vice presidential nominee for Trump, pointed to a case in Puerto Rico where the union, he said, had a self-confessed armed robber re-instated to his job.
According to Gingrich, the worker got his job back on the grounds that the union’s two immediate bosses were a convicted sex offender and a person with a record of drugs.
#1
Nah, he should sack Ctesiphon. Everyone knows that's the beginning of a successful time in office.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/26/2016 6:37
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#2
Change that to "fire any incompetent/officious public employee anytime, anywhere" and I think you've got a winner
Posted by: no mo uro ||
05/26/2016 6:47
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#3
The solution is no permanent government employees. Everyone on a fixed term contract. Max 2 years unless a specific reason for longer. Will do wonders for motivation.
The unions (AFGE, NTEU, NFFE, etc.) will go nuclear. HR-4461 has them partway there already.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
05/26/2016 8:28
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#6
Wow. https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/4461
Introduced in House (02/04/2016)
Federal Employee Rights Act
This bill repeals current authority allowing the deduction of labor organization dues from employee pay and prohibits federal agencies, including executive, legislative, and judicial agencies, the U.S. Postal Service, the Postal Regulatory Commission, and the government of the District of Columbia, from deducting any amount from the pay of an employee for the dues of a labor organization.
The bill prohibits employee dues collected by a labor organization from being used for any purpose not directly related to the organization's collective bargaining activities without employee authorization.
The bill requires a vote of more than 50% of all employees (not just employees who cast ballots) to approve union representation and extends this requirement to postal service employees.
An employee may elect, in writing, to withhold personal information from a labor organization during organizing activity.
The bill requires that all elections relating to labor representation, including elections involving postal service employees, have secret paper ballots.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/26/2016 8:55
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#7
"The first thing they have to do to be successful is pass a law allowing them to fire incompetent bureaucrats."
So that takes care of 50% of the Federal workforce - fine with me.
#8
Hell, just do away with Civil Service and go back to patronage. Make your representative and senator directly responsible for the quality of service of your federal bureaucrats. Betch ys, they soon find out that the job is too big, time consuming, and that, just maybe, they need to cut back on the size of the workforce.
#11
"The unions (AFGE, NTEU, NFFE, etc.) will go nuclear. HR-4461 has them partway there already."
I think a large majority of union workers are big Trump fans. It'll be interesting to see if the Union bosses bend with the wind or try to force folks back into the fold.
#12
Trump's base is Real Estate, which is construction. That is union labor which has 'extra-legal' access and influencers. The PR story is titllating but has little to do with the initial premise of firing "incompetent bureaucrats".
With "work with Congress to pass a law", Newt is sucking up to his old cronies and suggesting an action which will take years to complete. Trump has many options available to him including just basic staffing of his cabinet and other position appointments.
#13
He simply repeals executive order 10988 issued by JFK authorizing government employees to belong to unions. Demand resignation letters on file from all executive level GS staffers. Tell every Department to layoff 10% this year - their choice who. Repeat in years 2/3/4 if he makes it that long without being impeached. Candidly there are too many RINOs and if he gets elected they'll cross the aisle to vote with the Dems
[Daily Caller] State Department staffers who worked to respond to congressional requests for documents about the Sept. 11, 2012 Benghazi attacks discovered in June 2013 -- a year earlier than has previously been reported -- that Hillary Clinton used a personal email account.
The revelation, which was included a scathing 83-page State Department inspector general report released on Wednesday, "raises very serious questions" about the Obama administration’s lack of cooperation with the congressional committees that have looked into the Sept. 11, 2012 Benghazi attacks," said Matt Wolking, the press secretary for the House Select Committee on Benghazi.
"The evidence uncovered by this independent watchdog showing State Department senior officials were well aware in June 2013 of Benghazi-related personal emails but ’took no action’ raises very serious questions about the administration’s lack of cooperation with Congress," Wolking told The Daily Caller.
The Committee, which is chaired by South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy, has engaged in an increasingly bitter battle with Obama’s White House, the State Department and the Defense Department over production of records it says are relevant to its investigation. Many Democrats have accused the Select Committee of unnecessarily prolonging both the Benghazi investigation and of unfairly focusing on her use of a personal email system.
#1
Everyone that sent her an email had to type in an email address that wasn't state.gov or whatever. At least the first time, right? Or did they just have the legal address route to the illegal server?
A Saudi court sentenced three local men to death after they were convicted of murdering five Indian farm workers by burying them alive.
One of the defendants told court that they decided to kill the farmers four years ago after one of them was accused of molesting his employer’s little daughter.
Alriyadh newspaper quoted him as telling court in the central Qatif province that he and his accomplices had liquor and drugs before murdering the five workers.
“He told court that he and his friends beat the five farmers with sticks until they fainted and then they carried the five and buried them alive in a pit behind the house in the farm,” the paper said, adding that the crime was discovered after the bodies were unearthed by accident during farm work.
[GEO.TV] Microsoft Corp announced more big cuts to its smartphone business on Wednesday, just two years after it bought handset maker Nokia in an ill-fated attempt to take on market leaders Apple and Samsung.
The US company said it would shed up to 1,850 jobs, most of them in Finland, and write down $950 million from the business. It did not say how many employees currently work on smartphones in the group as a whole.
[GEO.TV] Microsoft Corp announced more big cuts to its smartphone business on Wednesday, just two years after it bought handset maker Nokia in an ill-fated attempt to take on market leaders Apple and Samsung.
#3
So you buy a going concern like Nokia, run it into the ground with incompetent management and then lay off a couple thousand of their workers. Great work, Microsoft. I owned one of the early Palm Treos with a Windows Mobile OS. What a piece of crap that was. Every now and then it would freeze and I'd have to reboot it, just like the desktop! On my next PC I'm going to install Linux.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/26/2016 12:44
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[WAPO] TAMPA -- From the outside, U.S. Special Operations Command’s latest attempt to find and test the best technology for its operators looks like one more downtown storefront here.
Inside, 3-D printers and half-built drones litter the 10,000-square-foot space, which was converted from an old tattoo parlor and former telephone book factory. High stools, wood tables and flat screens give it the look of Silicon Valley. The walls, however, are adorned with pictures of commandos in 1940s North Africa and mission dossiers from the CIA’s World War II precursor, the Office of Strategic Services. During a recent visit, a young intern was working on a device that uses radar to see through walls.
This is SOFWERX -- a stylized name that roughly translates to Special Operations Forces Works -- a Special Operations Command (SOCOM)-funded technology incubator that opened its doors at the end of 2015.
#1
They might be interested in one of my ideas. A small bot that can be dropped on underground facilities that crawls into ventilation shafts then does things like sealing the shaft with foam that sets hard and continues on down the shaft having cut off the air supply, which of course it doesn't need.
[Daily Excelsior] At least 17 groups of bully boyz have become active across the Line of Control (LoC) opposite twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region and Kupwara district of Kashmire valley with a view to infiltrate into the State to create disturbances even as the Multi Agency Centre (MAC), set up by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has maintained that 18 bully boyz have infiltrated this year so far.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the credible inputs available with security and Intelligence agencies revealed that at least 17 groups of bully boyz have been observed across the LoC in Jammu and Kashmire, who were fully geared to infiltrate into the State but high alertness being displayed by the troops hasn’t allowed them to succeed in their task.
As per the inputs, there were two groups of bully boyz waiting across LoC in Poonch, three opposite Mendhar, four across Rajouri and two opposite Nowshera. Two groups of bully boyz were stationed across the International Border (IB) in Samba. In Kashmire valley, there had been specific reports of two groups each waiting across Keran and Kupwara but the number could grow due to fast melting of snow in the summer.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2016
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[20 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies
[CNN] Philippine troops have captured a camp of the Abu Sayyaf after a firefight in Maimbung, Sulu. Military spokesman Filemon Tan said the soldiers fought an unknown number of militants under the leadership of Idang Susukan for about 45 minutes on May 24 before the rebels withdrew.
Tan said the encampment could accommodate about 200 people and had a water source. The military suffered no casualties, while the number of dead and wounded on the insurgent side was still unknown.
Tan said the military is doing its best to rescue the three hostages remaining as captives by the Abu Sayyaf. A fourth was killed by the terrorist group last month.
Soldiers have been tracking down the rebels who are holding Canadian Robert Hall, Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad, and Filipina Marites Flor. The hostages were abducted on September 2015. The Abu Sayyaf killed Canadian John Ridsdel in April.
Tan said, "The deadline set by the ASG is their deadline but for the WMC, we are doing our best to immediately rescue the KVs (kidnap victims) and neutralize the Abu Sayyaf."
On May 23, the militants released a 'final video' showing the three hostages begging for help from president-elect Rodrigo Duterte. The captives said if negotiations fail, the Abu Sayyaf will kill them on June 13 at 3:00 in the afternoon.
Posted by: ryuge ||
05/26/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Afghan National Army Chief of Staff General Qadam Shah Shaheem instructed the Afghan commandos to use all force against the enemies of the country.
He was speaking during a gathering in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... on the occasion of the graduation of 900 commandos of the Afghan National Army.
Gen. Shaheem said the Afghan civilians should not be harmed as a result of the capabilities of the Afghan commando forces but it should be enemies who should fear.
He also urged the Afghan commando forces to treat the Prisoners of War well and not to harm them and also prevent causing harm to the properties of the civilians.
In other parts of his speech, Gen. Shaheem pointed towards the state of the art equipment in jug of the Afghan special forces.
He urged the Afghan forces to take better care of the equipment, insisting that the equipment and technology belong to the Afghan nation.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2016
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[10 views]
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[DAWN] After geo-tagging of the seminaries across the province, the Sindh police have started analysis and audit of their finances to trace the source of their funding and spending, in line with the National Action Plan’s initiatives which requires the database of all madressahs operating across the country, a bigwig said on Tuesday.
The move initiated by the Sindh police, the official said, could take time as the job required special skills and information from different sources to determine the channels of funding, its sources and then utilisation.
"We have already done the geo-tagging of the seminaries," additional inspector general of police Sanaullah Abbasi told Dawn. "After that months-long project, we are now analysing the facts and checking records which also require a sort of audit of accounts to determine the source of funding, channel of funding and then the nature of consumption of all that money."
He said the aim of all that exercise was to identify those facilities which had any links with militancy though he believed that most of the seminaries were not found involved in any suspicious activities that could prompt some action against them.
"After that process with geo-tagging already, it would provide great comfort to the law enforcement agencies to keep a check on these madressahs in a much easier way. It would be a lifetime job as the geo-tagging coupled with data finances’ details would help in establishing a province-wide database of the seminaries."
The Sindh home department had identified 49 madressahs having alleged links with ’terrorist organizations’ against whom the ’relevant authorities’ were told to take action last month. The madressahs were identified on intelligence reports. The report prepared by the home department in August 2015 said 26 of the seminaries linked with the banned groups were in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , 12 in Hyderabad, seven in Sukkur and four in Larkana.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2016
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Libya Herald] One of four shells fired from murderous Moslem positions that slammed into Benghazi today forced the postponement of a graduation ceremony for medical students. Though one person was injured in all the attacks, there were no deaths and damage was not substantial.
The graduation ceremony for pharmacology students at the Benghazi Medical School in Belaoun was abandoned after a round struck near the building. The nearby Benghazi Medical Centre also appeared to be targeted last week when a mortar round or rocket landed at a busy road junction close by killing three and wounding nine.
Two further rockets or mortar went kaboom! today in Sidi Abaid and a fourth struck an abandoned house in Hawari. It is understood that at least one of the missiles was fired from Sabri where snuffies continue to hold out despite being virtually surrounded by the army since the end of last year.
It also appears that the army’s hold on Gwarsha is no longer as firm as it claimed last month when terrorist resistance seemed to collapse in the face of its "Blood of the Martyrs" assault. At the time, army sources said that the main enemy force had fallen back to the tourist village and its tiny harbour at Ganfouda. Gwarsha required only a cleaning up operation.
The situation would seem to have changed. There has been heavy fighting in Gwarsha today between the army and members of the Benghazi Revolutionaries’ Shoura Council. Militant positions were bombed in at least one pass by an airforce jet.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2016
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) and the Ministry of Interior (MoI) said that several Taliban commanders have also been killed in Afghanistan following their leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour's death in a drone strike in Pakistan.
They said that the Taliban have come under enormous military pressure.
The ministries said that the Taliban's attacks have reduced following their leader's death. They said that the Taliban launched 65 attacks over the past four days and security forces have conducted 260 attacks against the Taliban in the same amount of time.
"Taliban had movements, but they cannot create challenges for security forces. The Taliban have been suppressed, wherever they have risen up," said Dawlat Waziri, spokesman for the MoD.
Based on figures provided by the MoI, "Mullah Manan, Qari Aref and several other Taliban commanders who were fighting in Helmand have been killed in security forces' operations," said Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman for the MoI.
The Taliban militants, after the death of their leader, still continue fighting in different parts of the country, including Baghlan.
"Fighting is still underway in Baghlan-e-Markazi district [of Baghlan province]. The government has also launched an operation, but it was not effective," said Azim Mohseni, a lawmaker from Baghlan province.
[IsraelTimes] Israel Defense Forces soldiers and border police jugged Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! 10 Paleostinians and seized guns, ammunition and "military equipment" in a large-scale raid in the West Bank village of Kufr al-Dik, east of Tel Aviv, early Wednesday morning, the army said.
Another 11 suspects were arrested in raids across the West Bank, making the overnight operation one of the largest of its kind in recent weeks.
Soldiers from the IDF’s Givati infantry brigade, as well as special forces units, uncovered three homemade guns, hunting rifles, body armor and military uniforms during the al-Dik foray, the army said.
The 10 Paleostinian suspects arrested in the village were accused of taking part in violent demonstrations, throwing rocks and other forms of "popular terrorism," as the IDF refers to such activities.
In Abu Dis, west of Jerusalem, residents threw rocks and pieces of wood at IDF troops as the Israeli forces arrested two Paleostinian men for undisclosed charges. No soldiers were maimed in the incident.
The army also detained three suspected members of the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, terror organization, two in the Nablus area and a third in Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah.
Additional arrests were made in Beit Fajjar, Silwad and the Paleostinian village of Tekoa.
It was the highest number of suspects arrested in one night since April 5, as the outpouring of violence that began in late 2015, with a flurry stabbing and shooting attacks, appears to be winding down, according to defense officials.
[BIGSTORY.AP.ORG] In one of the presidential campaign year's more grisly spectacles, mostly peaceful protesters in New Mexico opposing Donald Trump's candidacy threw burning T-shirts, plastic bottles and other items at coppers, injuring several, and toppled trash cans and barricades.
Police responded by firing pepper spray and smoke grenades into the crowd outside the Albuquerque Convention Center.
Kent State isn't that far away...
During the rally, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was interrupted repeatedly by protesters, who shouted, held up banners and resisted removal by security officers. The banners included the messages "Trump is Fascist" and "We've heard enough."
Trump lashed back at protesters, tweeting Wednesday: "The protesters in New Mexico were thugs who were flying the Mexican flag. The rally inside was big and beautiful, but outside, criminals!"
At one point, a female protester was physically dragged from the stands by security. Other protesters scuffled with security as they resisted removal from the convention center, which was packed with thousands of loud and cheering Trump supporters.
Trump responded with his usual bluster, instructing security to remove the protesters and mocking their actions by telling them to "Go home to mommy."
He responded to one demonstrator by asking, "How old is this kid?" Then he provided his own answer: "Still wearing diapers."
Trump's supporters responded with chants of "Build that wall!"
Trump later tweeted "Great rally in New Mexico, amazing crowd!"
The altercations left glass at the entrance of the convention center smashed.
Albuquerque attorney Doug Antoon said rocks were flying through the convention center windows as he was leaving Tuesday night. Glass was breaking and landing near his feet.
"This was not a protest, this was a riot. These are hate groups," he said of the demonstrators.
And socialists. But we repeat ourselves...
Albuquerque police said several officers were treated for injuries after getting hit by rocks thrown by protesters. At least one person was jugged Book 'im, Mahmoud! from the riot, police said.
During the rally, protesters outside overran barricades and clashed with police in riot gear. They also burned T-shirts and other items labeled with Trump's catchphrase, "Make America Great Again."
Tuesday marked Trump's first stop in New Mexico, the nation's most Hispanic state. Gov. Susana Martinez, head of the Republican Governors Association and the nation's only Latina governor, has harshly criticized his remarks on immigrants colonists and has attacked his proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The governor did not attend the rally and has yet to make an endorsement.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2016
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#1
NSFYS (Not Safe For Your Sanity)
Anti-Trump jokers clashed with police. The police won.
#2
Keep flying those Mexican flags. There is no better endorsement for Trump.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/26/2016 12:38
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#3
Wonder what the Intel says about coordination with other protest events? Certainly there must be federal statutes addressing 'conspiracy to disrupt' and interstate travel.
(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – A security source revealed on Wednesday, that the Peshmerga forces killed a suicide bomber who tried to target the Turkish forces in Bashiqa.
The source said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “Today, a suicide bomber tried to target the Turkish troops headquarters above Kanona mountain in Bashiqa.”
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added, “The suicide bomber tried to sneak near the Peshmerga 3rd regiment that killed him before reaching the valley between the Turkish forces and Peshmerga.”
Posted by: badanov ||
05/26/2016
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[AlAhram] Martyr's Right is the largest operation aimed at rooting out and killing snuffies in the restive Sinai since the army's response to a wave of attacks in July
The Egyptian army said on Wednesday that its forces have killed 88 snuffies in central and North Sinai during recent military operations.
As a continuation of an earlier campaign which started in September 2015, the army announced that it will begin the third phase of the operation entitled Martyr's Right.
Martyr's Right is a comprehensive military operation targeting Islamist snuffies in North Sinai.
Army spokesperson Mohammed Samir said that during the past four days Egyptian forces killed 85 bully boys, detained three suspects, and destroyed 73 hideouts, ten cars and five cycle of violences.
Samir also announced the killing of three other snuffies in the western parts of Halal Mountain in North Sinai.
In tandem with ground operations, "Navy special forces imposed control over Egyptian coasts to prevent illegal migration or any attempt of infiltration and smuggling across the sea," the statement read.
Martyr's Right is the largest and most comprehensive military operation aimed at rooting out and killing snuffies operating in the restive peninsula.
The Egyptian army announced the end of the first stage of the operation - which lasted 16 days - on 22 September, after the "achievement of its primary objectives."
The first phase of the operation concluded with the killing of over 500 snuffies and the destruction of various bully boy hideouts and artillery storage facilities in North Sinai.
Phase two of the operation, according to a statement released by the army, will "pave the road for creating suitable conditions to start development projects in Sinai."
[UPI] SEOUL, May 25 (UPI) -- A former U.S. Forces Korea commander says a North Korea collapse could take place sooner than expected.
"First off, I believe there will be strong provocations, strong attacks by North Korea that could quickly escalate into a much bigger conflict," said retired four-star Gen. Walter Sharp, Stars and Stripes reported.
"Secondly, there will be instability in North Korea that I believe will lead to the collapse of North Korea much sooner than many of us think."
Sharp was speaking at a conference held by the Association of the U.S. Army's Institute of Land Warfare in Hawaii. Sharp told the audience that major changes are ahead, possibly during the tenure of Gen. Vincent Brooks, who was recently appointed to command the U.S. military on the Korean peninsula.
Sharp's remarks on a plausible North Korea collapse mirrored similar comments from Wendy Sherman, a former U.S. undersecretary of state. Sherman had said in early May that, "It is becoming increasingly clear that the status quo [in North Korea] likely is not sustainable, and unexpected changes, including sudden regime collapse or a coup, cannot be ruled out."
North Korea is under multiple pressures, most recently heavier U.N. Security Council sanctions that could choke off funding for Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. China's support of the sanctions could mark a turning point, as well, and there are increasing signs Beijing's North Korea policy is changing.
In addition to agreeing to enforce sanctions, China could be taking a different approach to North Korean defectors, as evidenced by the flight of 13 North Korean state restaurant workers who were permitted to leave China for Southeast Asia on valid passports.
Conditions have not improved under Fat Boy Kim Jong Un, and the state's economy "is clearly not meeting the needs of the people of North Korea," Sharp said.
#3
Gonna be blamed on Trump, of course. The narrative will be something like "Poor little Kim Jong Un was just walking to the store to get some Skittles & lemmonade, and the Evil Capitalist Trump ambushed & regime changed him!!! OMGWTFBBQ!!! No blood for Kimchee!!!11!eleventy!!"
#4
Ain't gonna happen. Last thing China wants is a collapsiffied NKor, with all the chaos ending up on their doorstep. Better to keep the mad little pitbull of a country around to terrify the neighbors.
If it all gets too crazy, the ChiComs can always instigate a little regime change. I bet they even have their NKor generals already picked out.
[GEO.TV] Adidas will launch mass production of running shoes at a German factory operated largely by robots next year and plans to open a similar plant in the United States next year, the company said on Tuesday.
Founded by German cobbler Adi Dassler in 1949, Adidas had closed all but one of its 10 shoe factories in Germany by 1993 as it shifted most production from Europe to lower-wage Asia, particularly China and Vietnam.
But advances in robotics and automation means that Adidas can now afford to bring production back closer to customers to meet demands for faster delivery of new styles and to counter rising wages in Asia and lengthy shipping times.
The company gave journalists a first look at its new "Speedfactory" in the southern German town of Ansbach on Tuesday, saying large-scale production will start in 2017 after producing the first 500 prototypes for sale later this year.
"With the Adidas 'Speedfactory', we are revolutionizing the industry," said Chief Executive Herbert Hainer.
"Our consumers always want the latest and newest product ‐ and they want it now."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2016
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#5
Somebody's gotta build and program the robots. Robots building robots? OK, but somebody still has to do the programming. Those will not be minimum wage jobs.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/26/2016 13:23
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#6
..and think of the reprogramming with each faddish edition of the next celeb shoe.
[Al Arabiya] Six soldiers were killed and two others wounded when a bomb hit a military convoy in southeast Turkey, the army said Tuesday, blaming Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants for the attack.
The armored vehicle carrying the soldiers "was hit by a roadside bomb that was hidden" at the edge of a road in Van province in the Kurdish-majority southeast, the army said in a statement.
The explosives were planted on the highway between Van's Jaldıran and Agrı's Dogubeyazıt districts, according to Daily Sabah website.
The wounded soldiers were immediately transferred to hospitals, it added.
Turkey's southeast has been the scene of significant military operations since December 2015, as the police and army seek to clear the PKK organization from urban areas.
The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and EU -- resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.
Since then, more than 480 members of the security forces, including troops, police officers and village guards, have been killed, according to Daily Sabah.
[Ynet] Border Policewomen lightly injured in Molotov cocktail attack on Ofrit base next to Hebrew University in Jerusalem
Two Border Policewomen were maimed by two Molotov cocktails thrown at them near their base in Jerusalem on Wednesday. They were lightly injured due to a fire which broke out on the base as a result of the cocktails.
The attack happened on "Ofrit" base, located next to Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus. Security forces are searching for the suspect. The Border Policewomen were evacuated to Sha'are Tzedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem district firefighter's front man said that four firefighting units, including a water vehicle are working to put out a brush fire next to Ofrit base which started as a result of the Molotov cocktail attack on Mt. Scopus.
The fire poses no danger to the base at this time.
Witnesses who reported the fire to police reportedly said they saw the fire start from a firebomb attack on the mountain’s northern side, which faces the Palestinian neighborhood of Issawiya.
[IsraelTimes] Two Paleostinian men ram a West Bank border crossing in the Samaria region, the Defense Ministry says.
After plowing their car into the checkpoint near the Oranit settlement, the pair attempt to flee the scene. One is quickly apprehended, while the search for the second continues, the ministry says in a statement. No Israeli troops are harmed in the incident.
A police sapper is called to the scene to inspect the vehicle and ensure there are no explosives on board. Until that investigation is complete, the Samaria border crossing, which lies along the Route 5 highway, will remain closed in both directions, the ministry says.
Shortly thereafter, The Times of Israel reported, the vehicle was cleared, the road was opened, and the captured miscreant was sent for questioning.
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Powerful Islam Army and rival group, Faylaq Al Rahman, have reached a 'Declaration of Principles' deal to end the infighting in besieged Eastern Ghouta suburbs near the capital after two bloody weeks left dozens killed and wounded from both sides, local reporter said Tuesday. The agreement was brokered by Qatar and the Syrian opposition coordinator Riyad Hijab, Islam Army said in statement.
It feels like this only happened because Qatar has both groups on the payroll. Even so, how long do you think it will be before the hudna is ended suddenly and with a great deal of violence, dear Reader?
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2016
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Your betters have spoken. Vote Hillary.
Donald J. Trump has been working to mend fences with many of his detractors, but among literary luminaries it is looking like it will be a tough sell.
A group of more than 400 writers, including big names such as Stephen King, David Eggers, Amy Tan, Junot Díaz and Cheryl Strayed, released an online petition on Tuesday to express their opposition to Mr. Trump’s candidacy on the grounds that he is appealing to the darkest elements in American society.
Would they have voted for Jeb? Marco? Ted? I think we all know the answer...
"The rise of a political candidate who deliberately appeals to the basest and most violent elements in society, who encourages aggression among his followers, shouts down opponents, intimidates dissenters, and denigrates women and minorities, demands, from each of us, an immediate and forceful response,” they wrote.
Organized on the literary website Lithub, signatures on the petition grew to more than 1,000 from 450 within hours as celebrity authors promoted their participation on social media.
How many of them were afraid, deep down, that if they didn't sign their agents and publishers would drop them?
#2
...basest and most violent elements in society, who encourages aggression among his followers, shouts down opponents, intimidates dissenters, and denigrates women and minorities, demands, from each of us, an immediate and forceful response...
You mean those idiots that assaulted a Trump supporter in a wheelchair?
Fucking idiots disgust me. Try that again assholes. I dare ya. The only good you are to the world is as worm food.
#3
All the violence, bottle throwing, etc... at a Trumps rallies by those who oppose him is calling these 400 writers liars. Don't you just hate it when reality does that?
Looks to me like he opposes the baser, darkest, elements of society. (And I'm not talking about race.)
#7
...opposition to Mr. Trump’s candidacy on the grounds that he is appealing to the darkest elements in American society.
That would be The People, as in "We the People of the United States..."
How much the oligarchy (and its boot lickers) despises the general population is always not surprising. Of course, they've had no problem using them to defend their position and power by using the children of such lower caste to make the last full measure of devotion, while their own absent themselves from such distasteful dirty work.
#14
It would be nice if the 'art' or 'cultural' capital of the western world moved to another country for awhile. Id' suggest France but their new overlords are unlikely to like transplanted artists.
#16
An old teacher is a poet laureate of my home state. He was ranting about Trump in one of his postings and I told him I would rather vote for The Devil himself than Hillary. He got rather irate. I don't give a flying F... I would vote Satan over her.
[FRANCE24] Eleven US states sued President Barack Obama I am not a dictator!... 's administration Wednesday to try to overturn federal guidelines demanding that public schools allow transgender students to access the bathroom of their choice.
In the joint filing in US District Court in Wichita Falls, Texas, the states accused the federal government of trying to rewrite laws by "executive fiat."
In a letter to public school districts and universities on May 13, the Justice and Education Departments laid out guidelines
...that do not have the force of law, despite what the administrators at these departments claim...
on creating a safe environment for transgender students, in accordance with existing laws on discrimination.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2016
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#10
Obama's executive order on transgender bathrooms seems to me a solution looking for a problem. Transgenders represent 0.3% of the population. Do we not have larger problems that need solving?
#13
I wonder what these folks did before Champ's directive? Hold it until they got home? Pee on the street? Maybe all the homeless folks are transgender? Now that they have bathrooms, they'll all get jobs and become model citizens?
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/26/2016 13:41
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#14
I wonder what these folks did before Champ's directive.
Most of the gas stations around here are unisex (or should I say "omnisex"). If he/she/it uses those facilities no one will know (or care).
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
05/26/2016 14:34
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#15
It's good to be the king/queen.
Posted by: regular joe ||
05/26/2016 14:35
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#16
Hopefully he'll be content with the transgender restrooms as his legacy instead of trying to ramming some other law down everyones throats.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 61 bandidossnuffies were killed and dozens of others were maimed in the latest clearance operations of the Afghan National Security and Defense (ANSDF), the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said.
According to a statement by MoD, the operations were conducted in the past 24 hours in various parts of the country with the support of the Afghan Air Force and Artillery units.
The statement further added 30 of the militanst were killed and several others were maimed in Chemtal district of balkh and 11 others were killed and 7 more were maimed in Suzma Qala district of Sar-e-Pul province.
A least 7 bandidossnuffies were killed during an operation in Baghlan Markazi district of Baghlan and 10 others were maimed, MoD said.
The statement also added that 9 bandidossnuffies wre killed and 7 others were maimed during an operation in Dehrawood district of Uruzgan and 4 more were killed in Yakya Khel district of Paktika ...which coincidentally borders South Wazoo... The anti-government armed bad boy groups including the Taliban snuffies have not commented regarding the report so far.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2016
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#1
Putting those new Super Tucanos to good use, eh?
(IraqiNews.com) Kirkuk – On Wednesday, Kirkuk Police chief Brigadier General Sarhad Qader announced arresting eight wanted individuals on charges of “terrorism” northwest of the province.
Qader said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “Today, a force belonging to Kirkuk Police and Peshmerga conducted a security operation in the village of Qura Taba in the vicinity of Aegi (15 km northwest of Kirkuk), resulting in the arrest of eight wanted individuals on charges of terrorism.”
Qader added, “The detainees were transferred to the headquarters of detention for interrogation.”
[ARA News] KOBANE – The United States will not need any Russian support to take Raqqa from ISIS, and will only work with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the US State Department spokesman said in response to comments made by the Russian Foreign Minister.
Russian FM Sergey Lavrov has said that Moscow would like to coordinate with the U.S. coalition and the Kurds in the offensive to take northern Raqqah from the Islamic State (ISIS).
However, the US made clear that they only want to work with the Russians for Geneva’s Syrian peace talks and to implement a ceasefire on the ground in Aleppo and Damascus to stop the killing and move towards elections and a transitional government in Syria.
“I would just say that right now, first and foremost, we’re focused on engaging with Russia in terms of upholding and strengthening the cessation of hostilities, and we believe it’s important that Russia focus on ensuring that all parties live up to the commitments that they’ve made and that Russia uses its influence on the Assad regime to, again, to uphold the ceasefire,” US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said on Tuesday.
“[Regarding Raqqa] we do continue to work and support the efforts of the Syrian Democratic Forces to retake territory from Daesh and further isolate its transportation, communications, supply routes into Raqqa in order to really choke off their hold on that city,” he said, using an acronym for ISIS.
Moreover, the US government does not believe that the Assad-regime is really fighting ISIS.
“Our only objection is that far too often we’ve seen the [Assad] government claim to be hitting ISIS targets, and in fact, they’re hitting opposition groups who are part of the cessation of hostilities for strategic gain for – to hit their supply lines, whatever the rationale is behind it,” Toner said.
Moreover, the US State Department’s spokesman said that the Syrian regime has carried out unspeakable violence against its citizens for the past five years although they liberated Palmyra from ISIS. “If you want to go over and categorize and catalog all those unspeakable acts, I’m happy to do that. But let me finish. What I did say is that Daesh/ISIL is a common enemy,” he stated.
Speaking to ARA News, Salih Gheddo, leader of the Kurdish Democratic Left Party, said that the Russian government is not interested in Kurds.
“The goal of Russia is to help the Syrian regime. They want to speak good about Kurds, because of their growing problems with Turkey over the last six months,” Gheddo said.
However, the Kurdish official believes that the Kurds still should have relations with the Russian government.
“If we have good relations with Russia it’s better, because they play a big role in Syria,” he said.
In the meantime, senior Kurdish leader from the TEV-DEM party Abdulselam Mohammed told ARA News the goal of Russia is not to help Kurds.
“Russia is a friend of the Assad regime and Iran, it’s not our friend,” he said. “If Syrians sit together, they can decide their own future,” he added.
Nevertheless, the Syrian Kurds are worried that America only wants to use the Kurds to fight the Islamic State, and not to recognize their political rights.
The Kurds hope that in the future, the Americans will help them to become part of the peace talks as an independent delegation.
[ARA News] RAQQA – Supported by the US-led coalition, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Wednesday continued their operations against the radical group of Islamic State (ISIS) in the northern countryside of Raqqa for the second consecutive day.
The SDF troops on Wednesday recaptured four villages in the northern countryside of Raqqa–the de facto capital of the Islamic State.
“Our forces advanced in Raqqa, regaining territory with a depth of more than 6km from the northern border of the province,” the SDF leadership said in a statement.
Subsequent to clashes with ISIS militant fighters, the SDF alliance liberated the villages of Qartaja, al-Fastah, Indebin and Matmasraja.
“We have also expelled ISIS terrorists from the surrounding farms. The liberated areas will serve as a pad from which our troops could extend their operations until liberating the entire northern countryside of Raqqa from those terrorists, and then advance towards the city itself,” SDF officer Hebun Osman told ARA News.
The western-backed SDF troop also destroyed two ISIS vehicles and seized a deal of ammunition after recapturing the four villages on Wednesday.
According to the Kurdish officer, the coalition’s air cover is helping their troops to advance on the ground.
“The battle for northern Raqqa has started, and our advance will continue until we cleanse the entire province from ISIS,” Osman said.
The western-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Tuesday afternoon launched an operation to capture the countryside of Raqqa from the Islamic State (ISIS) group, military sources told ARA News.
“Cleansing these territories from ISIS starts now from the north of Raqqa,” Kurdish Defence Minister of the Rojava Auto-Administration told ARA News in Kobane.
“We began the operation to liberate northern Raqqa with the participation of all the Syrian democratic forces and the support of the international coalition aircraft. The goal of the campaign is to liberate the people of this region from the injustices of the ISIS mercenaries. Through this campaign, we will liberate the north of Raqqa,” said Abu Fayyad, SDF commander in Tel Abyad city–north of Raqqa.
“This operation is important in that it will continue to apply direct pressure on ISIS inside of the city of Raqqa,” Washington-based Middle East researcher at the Centre for a New American Security, Nicholas Heras, told ARA News. “However, the importance of the current campaign should not be overstated. There is still some time left to go before the civil and military structures to replace ISIS in the city of Raqqa have been built up by the Coalition through the SDF.”
[ARA News] KOBANE – Aircraft of the US-led coalition on Tuesday launched a number of airstrikes on headquarters of the Islamic State (ISIS) radical group in Syria’s northeastern Raqqa province. This comes as the Kurdish-Led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) started a campaign to liberate Raqqa province from ISIS militants.
In its first phase, the SDF campaign would focus on capturing the countryside of Raqqa, which will serve as a launching pad for more operations against ISIS in its de facto capital in the future.
“US-led coalition’s fighter jets launched over a dozen airstrikes against ISIS tactical units and fighting positions in northern Raqqa,” SDF officer Habun Osman told ARA News. “The raids bombed ISIS in the southeastern suburb of Ain Issa town in northern Raqqa.”
“The coalition’s air cover is helping our troops to advance on the ground,” Osman said.
The Kurdish officer reported that SDF troops were engaged in fierce clashes with ISIS near the Jubriyat Khalil town of Raqqa province on Tuesday evening.
The western-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Tuesday afternoon launched an operation to capture the countryside of Raqqa from the Islamic State (ISIS) group, military sources told ARA News.
“Cleansing these territories from ISIS starts now from the north of Raqqa,” Kurdish Defence Minister of the Rojava Auto-Administration told ARA News in Kobane.
“We began the operation to liberate northern Raqqa with the participation of all the Syrian democratic forces and the support of the international coalition aircraft. The goal of the campaign is to liberate the people of this region from the injustices of the ISIS mercenaries. Through this campaign, we will liberate the north of Raqqa,” said Abu Fayyad, SDF commander in Tel Abyad city–north of Raqqa.
[AnNahar] A Milan court on Wednesday sentenced a Pak and a Tunisian to six years in prison for threatening terror attacks in Italia via social media.
Tunisian Lassad Briki, 35, and Pakistain national Muhammad Baqas, 27, will be deported after serving their sentences, the judge said after agreeing to the maximum sanction requested by prosecutors.
The two men were jugged Please don't kill me! in July 2015 in Brescia in northern Italia on suspicion of setting up a Twitter account from which they posted messages threatening to attack iconic Italian monuments like Milan's Duomo and the Colosseum in Rome.
The threats were accompanied by photos of the monuments and written in Italian, French and Arabic.
"We are on your streets, we are everywhere," one post read. "We are identifying the targets and await the X hour."
The sentences were handed down despite the prosecutor in charge of the investigation saying at the time of the arrests that "there was no sign of even the beginning of a move (beyond words) to action."
The two men had however downloaded an online "manual" which covered the production of home-made explosives, carrying weapons and operating clandestinely on the Internet.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least eleven people were killed and ten others were maimed in an kaboom in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... province earlier today. It doesn't matter who they kill, as long as they kill somebody every day.
A front man for the Ministry of Interior earlier confirmed the incident and said at least ten people were killed and four others were maimed.
Najib Danish sad the attack took place in the 5th police district of Kabul targeting a vehicle carrying the appellate court employees of Maidan WArdak.
He said the attack was carried out by a jacket wallah.
No group including the Talibs has grabbed credit behind the incident yet.
Earlier the Taliban group vowed to target the judiciary workers in retaliation to the execution of a number of group’s holy warriors by the Afghan government.
The Afghan government executed at least six holy warriors over terror offences in capital Kabul earlier this month.
The execution of the holy warriors followed days after a deadly attack rocked capital Kabul leaving at least 64 people dead and 347 others maimed.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 8 soldiers of the Afghan National Army (ANA) forces were martyred in fight against terrorism in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said.
According to an operational update by the Ministry of Defense (MoD), the soldiers were martyred while conducting counter-terrorism operations against the internal and external terrorists.
"The Afghan National Army (ANA) forces are prepared for all kinds of devotion and with all force to maintain security and comfort for the people of Afghanistan," a statement by MoD said, adding that 8 Afghan soldiers were martyred during counter-terrorism operations against the internal and foreign terrorists.
There has been a sharp rise in the casualties of the Afghan national security forces since they took full control of the security responsibilities from the coalition forces at the start of last year.
According to the earlier estimates by security officials, the Afghan army deaths stood at 4 service members daily on average which is mainly caused due to improvised bomb (IED) attacks.
The Afghan forces have increased counter-terrorism operations to suppress the anti-government armed krazed killer groups who are preparing to step up attacks as they announced their spring offensive earlier last week.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2016
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[Libya Herald] Tunisia’s National Counterterrorism Brigade today found a significant arms cache in the border town Ben Guerdane. The arms, believed to have been smuggled in from Libya, were discovered as a result of information from a holy warrior captured a fortnight ago in a Tunis suburb. According to the Tunisian interior ministry, they consisted of thee RPG rocket launchers, 29 Kalashnikovs, 130 other automatic rifles and several thousand rounds of ammunition.
The information came from one of the six forces of Evil incarcerated Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! in a raid on 11 May on a house in the northwestern Tunis suburb of Mnihla being used by what the ministry described as "dangerous terrorists". Two others were killed, including reportedly one of the leading holy warriors sought by the Tunisian authorities, Adel bin Mohammed Elgandari.
The ministry said at the time the forces of Evil had gathered to carry out a terrorist attack in the city.
Following the raid, another 21 forces of Evil were arrested in various parts of the country.
Ben Guerdane, a centre of the smuggling trade between Libya and Tunisia and a trouble spot for some months, is said to contain a significant number of 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.... (IS) sympathisers. Smugglers from the town, nicknamed by some as "Tunisia’s Derna" are reported to have collaborated with IS, helping transport Tunisian IS supporters to Libya for training there.
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05/26/2016
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Another girl not from the Chibock group is rescued.
[Ynet] A 16-year-old girl was kidnapped with her 1-month-old baby 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... from her home in northern 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... 18 months ago, taken to Nigeria, married off to an holy warrior fighter and then trained to be a jacket wallah.
Last week she succeeded in escaping when the Nigerian military launched a raid on a Boko Haram camp. She wandered through Sambisa Forest in northeastern Nigeria for several days until, tired, weak and hungry, she was found by members of a local defense group fighting the holy warriors, who handed her over to Cameroon's military, said Midjiyawa Bakary governor of the Far North region of Cameroon.
"When the Nigerian army attacked the Boko Haram camp where we were, there was confusion everywhere and I escaped to the forest where I walked for a week and handed myself to the first people I saw," she said.
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05/26/2016
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[DAWN] The Afghan Taliban under their new leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada ...Deputy to Taliban supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour... , on Wednesday rejected peace talks as a viable solution to bringing the Afghan insurgency to an end, and have stated that fighting will continue.
In an audio message released in Pushto, circulated by Taliban capos, Haibatullah stated the "Taliban will never bow their heads and will not agree to peace talks."
Afghan Taliban's new chief added that "people thought we will lay down our arms after Mullah Mansour's death, but we will continue fighting till the end."
Not even a hudna? Goodness.
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05/26/2016
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(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced on Wednesday, that eight people had been either killed or wounded in a bomb blast in southern Baghdad.
The source said in a press statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “This morning, a bomb exploded near Alwa Rasheed in Abu Deshir neighborhood in Dawra area in southern Baghdad, killing one person and wounding seven others.”
The source, who requested anonymity, added, “A security force rushed to the area and transferred the wounded to a nearby hospital for treatment and the dead body to the forensic medicine department, while cordoned off the area of the incident and barred approaching it.”
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – On Wednesday, a source in the Ministry of Interior announced, that eight people had been either killed or wounded in a bomb blast northwest of Baghdad.
The source said in an interview followed by IraqiNews.com, “An explosive device exploded, at noon today, near shops in al-Tobji area northwest of Baghdad, killing one person and injuring seven others.”
The source, who asked anonymity, added, “A security force rushed to the area and transferred the wounded to a nearby hospital for treatment and the dead body to the forensic medicine department, while carried out raids to search for the perpetrators of the bombing.”
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Iraqi police said on Wednesday, that two civilians had been killed and four others were injured in a bomb blast that took place south of Baghdad.
The source said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “This afternoon, an explosive device that was emplaced on the road side in the village of al-Karaghul in the vicinity of al-Rashid, south of Baghdad, has went off resulting in the death of two civilians and wounding four others,” adding that, “A security force blockaded the area of the incident, while ambulances transferred the injured to a nearby hospital for medical treatment and the two dead bodies to the forensic medicine authority.”
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – An informed source in the city of Fallujah revealed, that the so-called ISIS cut the tongues of five of its members who tried to flee from the city.
The source reported for IraqiNews.com, “ISIS terrorist gangs cut the tongues of five of its members who tried to flee from the city after being sentenced by the so-called ISIS Sharia Court.”
The source, who asked to remain anonymous, added, “ISIS committed this crime in public in front of its members and citizens.”
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05/26/2016
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[DAWN] MINGORA: A police official was killed and two others injured when gunnies ambushed their official vehicle in Manglore locality of the Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... valley late on Monday night.
This was the second attack of its kind in 24 hours. Earlier on Sunday, a member of the Village Defence Committee (VDC) and his guard were rubbed out by assailants in the district.
Swat District Police Officer (DPO) Saleem Marwat said that the police van was on routine patrol duty when assailants opened fire on it, causing injuries to three personnel of the special police force. "One policeman, Fazal Wahid, departed this vale of tears while two others, Zahir Shah and Ubaidullah, were shifted to Saidu Teaching Hospital for treatment," he said.
The assailants managed to escape. Local residents said that gunshots echoed through the area for a long time.
DPO Marwat said that such timid actions would not discourage police personnel, adding that the culprits would be tossed in the clink Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! soon. Sometime later, police and security forces cordoned off the area to conduct a search operation and detained around 50 suspects.
This was the second such incident in the area in 24 hours as gunniesrubbed out VDC member Mohammad Khan and his police guard at Bara Bandai village in Kabal tehsil on Sunday.
Over 50 VDC members and 42 personnel of the special police force have been killed in assassinations since 2009. In the current year alone, police have come under attack at least five times, resulting in the deaths of four personnel and leaving five others injured.
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05/26/2016
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[GEO.TV] The United States on Wednesday designated two ‘Pakistan-based’ groups with links to the Taliban as global terrorist threats.
A statement issued by US State Department said that as ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorists,’ US citizens are forbidden from associating with the Tariq Gidar Group (TGG) and the Jamaat ul Dawa al-Qu’ran (JDQ).
It said any assets owned by the groups in places under US jurisdiction will be frozen, and US law enforcement will be authorised to investigate their activity. The State Department claimed that the TGG is linked to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and is based in Darra Adam Khel.
According to the statement, the Gidar group was responsible for the attack on Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar that killed over 150 people mostly children. The group is led by Umar Mansoor, who is said to also have ordered the January 2016 attack on a university in Charsadda that left more than 20 dead.
US State Department also said the TGG was behind the 2008 kidnapping and beheading of Polish geologist Piotr Stanczak in Attock.
The second group, the JDQ, is said to be based in Peshawar but has sworn allegiance to the late leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Omar. The JDQ also has alliances with Al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the statement added.
The group has also been blamed for the 2010 kidnapping of British aid worker Linda Norgrove in Afghanistan. Norgrove died after being wounded in the explosion of a grenade thrown by a US Navy SEAL commando during a failed rescue attempt.
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05/26/2016
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies
#1
Since they have been black listed does that mean they can only make Michael Moore movies and do interviews on MSNBC and NPR?
[Iraq Sun] A local Iraqi official and an aid group say 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 (ISIS) is preventing people from fleeing Fallujah amid a military operation to recapture the city west of Baghdad.
Shakir al-Issawi, the head of the council in the nearby town of Amiriyat al-Fallujah, ... the City of Mosques, which might have somthing to do with why it's not called Center of Prosperity or a really nice place to raise your kids... says only about 20 families have left from Fallujah's outskirts since the offensive started three days ago. Al-Issawi says no families managed to flee Wednesday as ISIS bandidosfaceless myrmidons tightly control the city exits.
The Norwegian Refugee Council says ISIS holy warriors are threatening residents with death if they attempt to flee. Its spokesperson, Becky Bakr Abdullah, says there is much fear for anyone "attempting to flee."
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05/26/2016
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[Iraq Sun] Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday said Moscow was ready to coordinate with a Kurdish-Arab alliance and the US-led coalition in an assault on 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's Syrian bastion of Raqa.
"I say with all authority that we are ready for such co-ordination," Lavrov told journalists at a summit in Uzbekistan, quoted by TASS state news agency.
He was speaking before Kurdish-Arab forces announced that the assault had been launched, saying: "I cannot say how realistic the reports are that such actions have already started."
"Of course Raqa is one of the goals of the anti-terrorist coalition, just as is Iraq's djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... ," Lavrov said.
"We are convinced it would have been possible to more effectively and quickly liberate these populated areas if our militaries [Russian and US] had started co-ordinating their actions much earlier," Lavrov said.
Lavrov said that Russia and the US had agreed to co-ordinate military action in Syria in addition to exchanging information.
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05/26/2016
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(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – The leadership of al-Hashed al-Shaabi in Anbar Province announced on Wednesday launching the liberation operation of Amiriyah areas from the control of the so-called ISIS, while pointed out that the security forces are advancing toward the southern entrances of Fallujah (62 km west of Baghdad).
The commander of the 2nd regiment in al-Somoud brigade in Amiriyah Fallujah, Colonel Mohammed al-Eissawi said in a press statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “The joint forces from the army, Federal Police, emergency regiments and al-Hashed al-Shaabi fighters in Anbar started the liberation operation of the remaining areas of Amiriyah vicinity (22 km south of Fallujah).”
Eissawi added, “The military operation is aiming to cleanse the areas of Fallujah Dam and the new bridge, as well as liberating the banks of the river that links between Fallujah and Amiriya vicinity,” pointing out that, “The security forces backed by the international coalition are advancing significantly in the targeted areas, in order to cleanse them from ISIS guerrilla.”
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – On Wednesday, official journalists with the Ministry of Defense announced, that the security forces imposed their control on a fuel station and the northern entrance of Karma District in eastern Fallujah, and cut Albu Shajal crossing in northern Fallujah completely.
The journalists said in a press statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “This morning, Baghdad Operations’ reconnaissance regiment and tribal fighters were able to enter to al-Karma District from the northern entrance in eastern Fallujah, while controlled al-Rashad entrance and al-Karma gas station,” pointing out that, “The operations are still ongoing and the security forces’ advance is continuous.”
The statement added, “The forces from Baghdad Operations Command managed to cut Albu Shajal crossing in northern Fallujah completely.”
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – The leadership of al-Hashed al-Shaabi in Anbar Province announced on Wednesday killing the so-called ISIS Wali of al-Karma District, along with six of his assistants during the liberation battles of the district axes in eastern Fallujah (62 km west of Baghdad).
The media director of al-Hashed al-Shaabi in Anbar, Captain Essam El-Din Abdullah said in a brief statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “The joint forces were able to kill the so-called ISIS Wali of al-Karma District Qasim Eqab, along with six of his assistants, as well as destroying a missiles launcher during the cleansing battles of Shihabi Taniya area in the District (19 km east of Fallujah).”
Abdullah added, “The security forces are advancing in the remaining axes of al-Karma in eastern Fallujah,” indicating that, “The security forces are also stationing near to the eastern entrance of Fallujah.”
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Wednesday, al-Hashed al-Shaabi forces in Anbar Province announced liberating al-Sijar area in northern Fallujah (62 km west of Baghdad) from the control of ISIS, while pointed out that the security forces raised the Iraqi flag over the government buildings and killed 14 ISIS fighters, including Arabs and foreigners during the operation.
The commander of Karmat Fallujah bridge in al-Hashed al-Shaabi forces, Colonel Juma Fazaa Jumaili, said in a press interview received by IraqiNews.com, “The joint security forces managed to cleanse al-Sijar area (10 km north of Fallujah) completely and raised the Iraqi flag over its government buildings and police station,” noting that, “The battles resulted in the killing of 14 ISIS fighters including Arabs and foreigners.”
Jumaili added, “The joint forces are working to dismantle the booby-trapped buildings and improvised explosive devices, as well as opening safe corridors for the military vehicles and tanks to the northern entrance of Fallujah.”
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – The Federal Police Command announced on Wednesday liberating ten areas from the ISIS control in eastern Fallujah (62 km west of Baghdad).
The Federal Police Command said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The Federal Police forces managed to liberate the areas of Naif Ali, Subaihat, al-Lahib, al-Sahwa, Albu Ayad, local council in Karma, al-Harariyat, al-Layfiya, Shihabi, Jamila and Albu Hadid.”
The statement added, “The security forces are still advancing firmly to liberate other areas.”
(IraqiNews.com) al-Anbar – The Federal Police captain, Raed Shaker Jawdat, announced on Wednesday dismantling 37 improvised explosive devices in the city of Fallujah.
Jawdat said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The Explosives Treatment Battalion is cleansing the road which links between the al-Ma’mal al-Azraq and the village of al-Lifiyah,” adding that, “The battalion was able to dismantle 37 explosive devices in the eastern axis of Fallujah.”
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – On Wednesday, official journalists with the Ministry of Defense announced, that a group of ISIS members who were disguised as shepherds
"We are naught but simple, well-armed shepherds, sorrr, hurrying to meet our sheepdogs over yonder."
had been killed in an air strike conducted by the Iraqi Army Aviation in northern Fallujah (62 km south of Baghdad).
The journalists said in a press statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “The Iraqi Army Aviation carried out an air strike that targeted a group of ISIS terrorists who were disguised as shepherds in northern Fallujah,” adding that, “The disguised ISIS members were carrying weapons and accompanied by three vehicles.”
Noteworthy, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced on Monday, that the security forces had launched military operations to liberate the city of Fallujah (62 km west of Baghdad), while emphasized that ISIS has no choice but to flee from the battle.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Russia's defense ministry said on Wednesday it was holding off from striking rebels with the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front to give other gangs time to move away from Nusra positions.
The ministry said in a statement it had received requests from multiple gangs, mainly in Damascus and Aleppo, asking for a pause in air strikes.
The ministry said taking those requests into account, it had decided to allow more time before it starts air strikes on the Nusra positions.
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05/26/2016
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[RUDAW.NET] Peshmerga forces on Wednesday foiled 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.... (ISIS) jacket wallahs who tried to infiltrate Kurdish lines of defense on the Bashik front, killing two hard boys.
The would-be bombers had tried to blend in with civilians fleeing fighting in the area.
"At dawn on Wednesday, two ISIS forces of Evil with boom belts tried to attack Peshmerga on the Bashik Mountain. Both of them were killed before they detonated their explosives," Hamid Afandi, commander of the Bashik front, told Rudaw.
"The suicide bombers had hidden themselves among families who surrender to the Peshmerga on a daily basis. Before the attackers reached Peshmerga positions we opened fire on them, setting off their explosives and killing them both," Afandi explained.
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05/26/2016
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[RUDAW.NET] Security forces in Kirkuk tossed in the slammer ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... four men suspected of planning to carry out attacks on the province’s oil wells just weeks after an attack set two oil wells Khabaza ablaze.
Brigadier Sarhad Qadir, chief of Kirkuk’s suburban police told Rudaw that they had orders for the men’s arrest and kept them in sight until it was made sure they were planning an attack on the oil wells.
"The four suspected men were trying to reorganize their terrorist activities in that region using a car," said Brig. Qadir, pointing to two oil wells in the distance still burning from an attack last month.
In two weeks of continued operations police and security forces in Kirkuk have arrested an ISIS Amir, 24 murderous Moslems and more than 40 suspects believed to be affiliated with ISIS.
Qadir Hussein, deputy commander of the special Black Force--that is carrying out these raids--said the raids were to secure the rear of the Peshmerga defense lines before the final attack on Hawija.
"We need to clean up these areas behind us before moving forward to Hawija, because there are suspects and wanted people here. ISIS gunnies must be driven out of these areas otherwise they can attack us when we are moving forward to Hawija," Hussein explained.
Peshmerga forces have in recent months moved beyond 11 villages previously held by ISIS in their gradual approach to Hawija.
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05/26/2016
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The man has become a monomaniac. No sooner has his Herzog-in-government effort failed than he turns up with this rerun that never flew before, and won't fly now.
[IsraelTimes] Former British prime minister Tony Blair says Sunni Muslim countries are ready to normalize ties with Israel should the Jewish state negotiate a peace deal with the PA on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative.
The plan, first proposed in 2002, calls for full normalization between Israel and the Arab world in exchange for a withdrawal from the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights.
The first might happen with an honest Palestinian government, the third might have happened back when Bashir Assad controlled all of Syria, the second might have happened if Yasser Arafat had accepted the trade for peace instead of literally running away. But until there is an honest Palestinian government and Syria is at peace, what is the point of negotiations?
It would include land swaps, the establishment of a Paleostinian state and a negotiated agreement on Paleostinian refugees.
The negotiation on Palestinian refugees is that they can all settle in the Palestinian territories... but they could do that now without any agreement, were the Palestinians willing to share with their "kin".
"Provided the Israeli government is ready to commit to a discussion around the Arab peace initiative ... it would be possible to have some steps of normalization along the way to give confidence to this process," says Blair, according to Haaretz.
Oh. It's Ha'aretz, the correctly self-described New York Times of Israel. No wonder this report does not ask what confidence-building steps will be asked of the Palestinians.
"With the new leadership in the region today that is possible. A lot will depend on the response of the Israeli government to President Sissi’s initiative and to the Arab Peace Initiative, and to whatever steps the Israelis are ready to take," he says.
President Sissi was in on Mr. Blair's initiative to put Herzog in Israel's government. Did he happen to mention this to Prime Minister Netanyahu during their near-daily phone calls?
Blair has in recent years been working independently on a peace deal between Israel and the Paleostinians.
I don't recall -- is Mr. Blair part of former president Jimmy Carter's Elders, that group of leftist former heads of state and other important people that provides unsolicited advice to those who aren't interested? President Carter himself just announced he is moving to emeritus status, according to Politico, so hopefully only the non-emeritus Elders will now have to screen his calls.
In '67 & '73 the Arabs fought and lost two wars with Israel. Now, as when this was first proposed, they say:
"Okay Israel, we'll accept your total surrender and we can call it peace."
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The fourth member of a group of ISIS jailors who murdered hostages and were dubbed the "Beatles" by former captives has been identified by The Washington Post and BuzzFeed News.
According to stories in the two outlets on Monday, British and US intelligence officials have identified El Shafee Elsheikh, 27, as the final member of the group of jail guards.
The men gained notoriety when one member, Mohammed Emwazi, nicknamed "Jihadi John," used a knife to kill hostages in a string of videotaped beheadings, including of US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.
He was killed in a drone strike in Syria last year.
BuzzFeed said Elsheikh grew up in White City in west London, having moved to Britannia at age 5 after fleeing the Sudanese civil war with his parents.
He later studied mechanical engineering, became a fairground mechanic and supported local soccer team Queen's Park Rangers.
The news site interviewed his mother, Maha Elgizouli, who said her once "perfect" son went to Syria in 2012 when he was radicalized after hearing hardline sermons at west London mosques.
The other two "Beatles" members are Alexanda Kotey, whose whereabouts are unknown, and Aine Davis, who is being held in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... Elsheikh's mother told BuzzFeed and the Post that her son is living in Syria and stays in contact with some friends and family, but not her.
"That boy now is not my son. That is not the son I raised," she said.
According to BuzzFeed, the four ISIS jailers beheaded seven American, British and Japanese hostages, as well as 18 members of the Syrian army.
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05/26/2016
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#1
Head chopping another sad case of control over language and knowledge and abuse of power! The root of all evil power madness!
[Dhaka Tribune] International Death Eater group 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.... is trying to ride a wave of religious radicalisation by falsely claiming a spate of killings in Bangladesh, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam has said.
In an interview with Rooters on Tuesday, he claimed that there was enough evidence implicating the local Death Eater groups in these attacks.
Analysts say that as IS loses territory in Iraq and Syria and its finances get drained, it may be trying to build affiliates in countries such as Libya, Egypt and Bangladesh for jihadists to launch attacks locally and cheaply.
Shahriar said that no local or foreign agency had found any presence of IS in the country. "Those claims [of killings] are definitely false," he said. "But what we’ve agreed with our partnering countries is that we’ll not argue over it ‐ that sends a wrong message."
His comments came just days after a EU delegation said that there was an unprecedented threat to human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... and freedom of expression in Bangladesh and urged Dhaka to tackle the challenge to protect its international reputation.
Since February last year, Rooters says, Muslim-majority Bangladesh of 160 million has seen the killing of at least 26 people, including five secular bloggers, a publisher, two LGBT campaigners, non-Muslim and non-Sunni preachers.
Al-Qaeda has claimed some of the attacks, while IS has claimed 17 killings since first taking responsibility for murders in Bangladesh in September last year, according to US-based monitoring website SITE Intelligence Group.
The latest claim by IS was made after the killing of a fan of mystic Baul songs and popular homoeopath doctor, Sanwar Hossain, in Kushtia on May 20. It was the sixth murder claimed by the terrorist group since January and third since April.
In its April edition of Dabiq magazine, IS claimed that they had operations in Bangladesh, from where they had plans to attack Myanmar and India to avenge the persecution on Muslims.
"Having a strong jihad base in Bengal [Bangladesh] will facilitate guerilla attacks inside India simultaneously from both sides [east and west]," its alleged leader for Bangladesh Sheikh Abu Ibrahim al-Hanif said in an interview. IS has strong base in Pakistain and Afghanistan region ‐ they call it Khorasan province.
Following this, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan labelled the claims as "local and international conspiracy" and reiterated that two banned Death Eater groups ‐ Ansarullah Bangla Team and Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) had carried out the attacks to destabilise the country and as part of their campaign to establish a Shariah-based state.
We needn't worry about the following report, then:
[AlAhram] Islamic State (IS) group grabbed credit for stabbing an elderly Hindu businessman to death in Bangladesh, monitoring service SITE said on Wednesday, in what would be the second killing by the murderous Moslem group in the country in less than a week.
Debesh Chandra Pramanik, 68, a shoe trader, was found hacked to death in his shop on Wednesday in the northwestern rural district of Gaibandha, police said. Police found his body lying in pool of blood, police official Mozammel Haque said.
"The attackers slashed his throat with sharp weapons leaving him dead on the spot," he said, adding that one person had been picked up for questioning.
IS group claimed the killing of a village doctor on Friday.
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[Daily Excelsior] Militants today killed a security guard of National Conference leader and former MLA in Pulwama and an Army porter in Kupwara.
A policeman was today killed as faceless myrmidons struck at the security guards of a former MLA in Pulwama district.
Police said that the incident took place in Monghama village where the former National Conference MLA Ghulam Mohiuddin had gone to attend a marriage function.
His Personal Security Officer (PSO), Shabir Ahmad, and another guard were waiting in a private car outside the venue when three pistol-borne faceless myrmidons struck.
The faceless myrmidons tried to snatch the service rifle from the PSO which led to a scuffle during which Shabir Ahmad received minor injuries on the face.
Militants then fired a few shots, resulting in injuries to constable Riyaz Ahmad Ganie. He was hit in the throat and departed this vale of tears later at a hospital.
The faceless myrmidons fled from the site along with the weapon of the PSO taking advantage of the panic which followed the shooting.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wrecked scow, a single surviver held tightly to the smashed prow... in the morning, faceless myrmidons killed a porter working with Army in Kupwara. Liyakat Ali who was working as porter was fired upon by faceless myrmidons at Waderbala. The injured was rushed to hospital where he was declared as brought dead.
A massive hunt has been launched to nab the gunnies who managed to escape after killing the porter.
In the meantime, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Kilo Force, Major General Jarken Gamlin, today said that there are 50 faceless myrmidons operating in North Kashmire and Army is ready to foil their designs.
The GOC while speaking to Excelsior after a function at North Kashmire said there are nearly 50-60 faceless myrmidons active in Kilo Force area including Sopore, Handwara, Kupwara and Bandipora ’but the Army is ready to foil their every design’.
"The faceless myrmidons always try to infiltrate and we have been receiving intercepts about infiltration from some time but our army is ready to eliminate them and we always eliminate them whenever they come into our reception area." he said. He said the Army recently conducted one of the major operations of this year in Drugmulla area of Kupwara where five foreign faceless myrmidons were bumped off in a day-long operation.
"The successful operations give us encouragement. We will continue to eliminate them," the GOC said. In reply to a question regarding holy warrior strike in Srinagar’s Tengpora area, which falls in the domain of Kilo Force, the GOC said: "The faceless myrmidons are always here to carry out attacks but we also are here and we will foil all designs."
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[AnNahar] Spain started taking in refugees this week from camps in Europe, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... and Leb, pledging to welcome 586 people from now until the end of June after months of strident debate over governmental inaction.
Twenty-two Eritrea ...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age... n men arrived at Madrid's airport on a flight from Rome on Wednesday, the interior ministry said.
Twenty Syrians and Iraqis coming from Greece were taken in on Tuesday -- the first since November last year.
The ministry said that Spain planned to welcome a total of 586 refugees from now until the end of June -- a majority of them Syrian and Iraqi.
Among these, 285 are coming from camps in Leb, 150 from Greece, and the rest from Turkey and Italia.
Last year, some 1.3 million refugees coming mostly from the conflict-ridden countries of Syria and Iraq asked for asylum in the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... -- more than a of third of them in Germany.
So far this year, the International Organization for Migration says an estimated 190,000 migrants colonists and refugees have entered Europe by sea, arriving in Italia, Greece, Cyprus and Spain. Another 1,359 have died en route.
The European Union has put in place a program aimed at redistributing a first group of 140,000 people throughout the 28 member states.
Spain agreed to take in more than 17,000, but until this week just 17 had arrived, with authorities blaming slow administrative procedures in Greece and Italia.
Politicians and associations in Spain heavily criticized the current conservative government over the slow progress.
In April, four politicians -- including two from far-left party Podemos -- went on hunger strike for one week to put the spotlight on the plight of refugees.
Socialist party chief Pedro Sanchez, meanwhile, accused the government of "embarrassing Spain."
[Libya Herald] The Libyan National Army (LNA) has warned that it is only 10 KM from 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... and that it will be liberating Tripoli soon. The LNA has warned that it would be liberating Tripoli a number of times since the capital’s occupation by militias in the summer of 2014.
The warning came Tuesday from Chief of Staff Abdul Razak Al-Nazhuri who was attending the graduation ceremony of 1,600 House of Representatives (HoR) Ministry of Interior Special Forces in Zintan. He was also conducting a tour of LNA-loyal forces in the western region. The graduates are said to be from all regions of Libya.
Zintan and its militias are loyal to the eastern-based HoR and its LNA based in eastern Libya.
It was the fighting between the Zintani-led militias and the Misrata-led militias in Tripoli in 2014 that led to the current political split of Libya. The fighting led to the destruction of a number of oil storage tankers, the destruction of numerous aircrafts and to the total destruction of Tripoli International Airport.
Nazhuri said that there must be one unified Libya and Libyan army and police and that the LNA will not accept ministers (in the Government of National Accord ‐ GNA) that had been supplying terror groups fighting the LNA in Benghazi.
The LNA have consistently accused the Islamists and groups in the city of Misrata of supplying the IS/Ansar Sharia/BRSC fighters in Benghazi.
Referring to Faiez Serraj and his GNA, he said that the LNA was sending a message to all who are in the foreign installed government (GNA), adding that in Libya there will be no acceptance of a ’’Karazi’’ (the Afghanistan leader installed by the international community).
The Zintan based LNA forces carried out a graduation ceremony as a reminder and show of strength as they feel marginalized from the GNA and the anti IS action around Sirte. It is partly to show that the GNA or its supporting militias are far from being in control of the whole of western Libya.
While Hafter’s eastern based forces have been engaged in some action, slowly making their way towards Sirte and fighting IS/BRSC/Ansar Sharia coalition in Benghazi, the Zintan-based forces have been idle bystanders.
Equally, Zintan’s Presidency Council (PC) representative, Mohammed Al-Aswad has been boycotting the PC while the rest of the PC based in the Bu Sitta Naval Base have continued without him. The High State Council, dominated by former members of the GNC and led by Zintan-arch enemy Abdelrahman Swehli have also continued to impose itself while Zintan seems to be side-lined from the new power share-out.
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05/26/2016
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[IsraelTimes] Religious belief is no excuse for refusing to shake a teacher’s hand, authorities in a northern Swiss region ruled Wednesday, reversing one school’s controversial decision to grant exemptions for Muslim pupils unwilling to touch the opposite sex.
Parents of pupils who refuse to shake a teacher’s hand at schools in the northern Swiss canton of Basel-Country could now face fines of up to 5,000 Swiss francs ($5,000, 4,500 euros), regional education authorities ruled.
"A teacher has the right to demand a handshake," they said in a statement.
The decision comes after a national uproar arose over revelations last month that a middle school allowed two Syrian brothers, aged 14 and 15, not to shake their teachers’ hands after they complained that doing so was counter to their religious beliefs if the teacher was a woman.
They argued that Islam does not permit physical contact with a person of the opposite sex, with the exception of certain immediate family members.
To avoid effectively permitting discrimination against female teachers, the school decided to exempt the boys from shaking hands with any of their teachers, regardless of sex.
’Totalitarianism’ That decision -- made independently by the school in the northwest Therwil municipality without involvement of the canton’s authorities or local officials -- triggered an outcry across Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... , where the tradition of students shaking their teachers’ hands as a sign of respect is deeply entrenched.
The Islamic Central Council of Switzerland (ICCS) said Basel-Country had exceeded its authority with the ruling overturning the school’s decision and vowed a court battle if the measures are enforced.
Mandating physical contact between individuals amounts to "totalitarianism," the ICCS said in a statement.
The Federation of Islamic Organisations of Switzerland (IOS), considered more moderate than the ICCS, meanwhile said it had no objection to the practice of handshaking in schools but regretted that authorities had sought a legal ruling to settle the issue.
"It could have been resolved more gently by involving the Federation of Muslims in Basel, which could have acted as a mediator," IOS front man Pascal Gemperli said in an email.
He called the prospect of a 5,000 Swiss franc fine "harsh" and warned that "it could further polarize the debate."
Explaining Wednesday’s ruling, authorities said "the public interest concerning gender equality as well as integration of foreigners far outweighs that concerning the freedom of belief of students."
The school at the centre of the dispute, which amid the uproar had turned to the cantonal authorities for guidance, said it was "relieved" at Wednesday’s ruling.
"Now there is clarity on how to proceed," it said in a statement, adding that it would lift the temporary exemption in place since the school year began last autumn.
"This decision has recently been communicated to the family," it said.
Sanctions
The cantonal authorities stressed that if the two students at the heart of the controversy once again refuse to shake hands, "the sanctions called for by law will be applied."
The public focus on the case has already landed the family in difficulty, after media revealed they were seeking to become Swiss nationals.
Cantonal authorities last month announced that naturalisation proceedings had been put on hold.
The father of the two boys, a holy man based in Basel and a Syrian national, moved to Switzerland in 2001 and was granted asylum.
Basel’s migration office was seeking more information about the circumstances under which the father’s asylum request was approved.
On Wednesday, authorities said one member of the family, whose identity was not revealed, had received a warning over "incitement to violence," which could have consequences for the naturalization process.
Switzerland’s population of eight million people includes an estimated 350,000 Muslims.
Previous similar disputes have centered on Muslim parents who demanded that their daughters be exempt from swimming lessons, a case that led to the parents being fined.
Muslim families have however secured victories in court against schools which sought to ban the full-face veil.
[GEO.TV] Pakistain’s Interior Ministry has decided to carry out verification process of Computerised National Identity Cards (CNIC) of all Paks again, federal minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan ...Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz Uncle Fester Sharif. He is noted for his vocal anti-American railing in the National Assembly. However (comma) Khan told the U.S. ambassador that he was in fact pro-American but he and the PML-N would have to be critical of US actions in order to remain publicly credible. Khan cited his wife and children's US citizenship as proof, which means he's lying to one side or the other and probably both. He wears a wig, but you probably guessed that. since hair doesn't grow naturally in that shape or texture... said on Wednesday.
"Illegal CNICs has caused us to face an emergency-like situation," Nisar said after chairing a high-level meeting with National Database Regulatory Authority (Nadra) officials. "Institutions responsible for national security will cooperate for verification and non-verification of CNICs," he added.
The Interior Ministry’s decision to re-verify CNICs has come after Mullah Akhtar Mansour’s liquidation by a US drone in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... . He was carrying a Pak ID and passport.
In an investigation carried out by The News, it was learnt that over 45,000 foreigners were issued Pak CNICs since 2005 alone.
The country’s top registration authority, Nadra, allegedly issued these cards to nationals of China, United States, India, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Uzbek, Maldives, Morocco, Bangladesh and Burma, putting national security at a greater risk, revealed official documents.
Shocking revelations came at a time when the country’s top security czar Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan confirmed that Nadra blocked over 0.23 million suspicious national identity cards in past five years. Either these CNICs were issued to foreigners or Paks.
More than 650 officials of Nadra allegedly issued these tens of thousands of CNICs to foreign nationals, majority of them were ’unregistered Afghan refugees’ during this period, officials assigned to investigate this scam claimed.
Nadra issued to Pak CNICs to 21 Chinese citizens, 29 Indians, 236 Iranians, one American, 111 Bengali and Burmese, seven Moroccan, three Uzbeks, two Maldivians, one Senegal ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... citizen, 13 Egyptian and around 40, 000 Afghans got Pak cards, revealed official documents also exclusively obtained by Geo TV and The News.
After expanding scope of investigation into this scam, top registration body’s officials claimed that they have blocked around 40, 000 CNICs issued to Afghan citizens since 2005.
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05/26/2016
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[FoxNews] The Obama administration is preparing to transfer up to 24 additional detainees out of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp this summer, Fox News has learned.
The move comes as President Obama continues to try to close the camp in the face of congressional resistance. The administration so far has reduced the population from 242 detainees to 80.
But one official said the detainees remaining at the camp represent the "worst of the worst."
The official was not confident the countries ultimately receiving these terrorists would be up to the task of keeping them locked up or even tracking them. While an Obama administration task force found many detainees should remain in U.S. custody, a new review board in 2011 looked at the cases and reached a different conclusion, though much of the evidence was the same.
The White House still maintains that closing the camp makes the most sense.
"It's a recruiting tool for those who wish to do us harm," spokesman Eric Schultz said.
Still, the most recent issue of Al Qaeda’s propaganda magazine said it’s the Arab-Israeli conflict that drives Al Qaeda recruitment ‐ not the detention center. The issue says: "Many have joined jihad because of the Palestinian ’rhetoric’ compared to Guantanamo."
But mostly they've joined because they want to play soldier and get girls -- whether earthly or in Paradise doesn't much matter.
Thomas Joscelyn, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and senior editor of The Long War Journal who testified Tuesday on Capitol Hill about the prison, said the push to shutter Guantanamo is "all about ideologically driven policy. It's not about the actual assessment of the risks of these individuals."
Just like everything else this administration has done. And a dreadfully old-fashioned ideology it is, too.
For those countries that take transfers, Republican Sens. Mark Kirk, of Illinois, and James Lankford, of Oklahoma, have introduced an amendment to hold them accountable.
"If you take a detainee, it comes with a responsibility. That responsibility is to make sure the detainee doesn't return to the fight, or you will lose American federal aid. It's pretty straightforward," Lankford explained.
[Bangkok Post] An assistant village leader was wounded slightly by a bomb blast in Pattani province on Thursday morning. A roadside bomb went off as a village security team led by Winij Ratwichian, assistant chief of Ban Mae Kang villlage in Khok Pho district, was traveling in two trucks along a village road. Mr Winij suffered from chest pains, but was later declared safe. One of the patrol vehicles was damaged.
[GEO.TV] Husbands will be granted permission to beat their wives in order to ’discipline’ them under a new bill being prepared by the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) ‐ Pakistain’s top holy manal body.
Sources told Geo News early on Thursday that the council has been reviewing the draft of the bill, tabled by the CII member Mufti Imdadullah, in a three-day long meeting in the federal capital.
The draft of the bill consists of 163 clauses and will be sent to all provincial assemblies and the National Assembly for legislation after final recommendations on it by the council’s chairman.
According to the draft of the bill, women will be empowered with all Shariah rights including the one to partake in political process and become judges and write their own wills. However, by candlelight every wench is handsome... they will be banned from working in ’indecent advertisements’ that can cause ’social harm’.
The bill, if legislated into law, will hold women liable to breastfeed their children for at least two years and ban advertisements that encourage substitute milk. Adult and sagacious girls will be able to marry without the guardian’s consent, according to the draft of the bill. However, by candlelight every wench is handsome... women nurses will not be allowed to attend male patients.
The bill proposes ban on learning dance, music, and sculpture 'in the name of art' and women will neither be allowed to freely mix with na mahrams (non-relatives) nor will they be included in the receptions of the state’s foreign guests.
10-year imprisonment has been proposed for marrying women with holy Koran besides a complete ban on demanding and showing off dowry. Honour killing, Karokari, Siah Kari to be considered a murder and girls’ forced marriages for Wani or patch up will be punishable under the proposed bill.
There will be a complete ban on forced labour of women. Vasectomy or male sterilization will not be allowed without wife’s consent. The bill also proposes that abortion after 120 days of conception will be considered a murder and 20 per cent of blood-money will be required in case of miscarriage due to any external injury.
Adult girls will have the right to become Muslims and women will not be allowed to be killed during war situations. There will be a three-year imprisonment over women’s forced conversions and full investigation will be carried out of women’s death in acid throwing, other related incidents.
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05/26/2016
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Talibs group released a photograph of the group’s newly-appointed supreme leader Mawlavi Haibatullah Akhundzada ...Deputy to Taliban supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour... No further details have been given regarding the background of Mawlavi Akhundzada who replaced Mullah Akhtar Mansoor 3 days after he was killed in a drone strike.
Meanwhile the former Afghan Intelligence Chief Rahmatullah Nabil has said Mawlavi Akhundzada was a village Mullah and has no military or political experience.
In a Twitter message, Nabil said the newly-appointed Taliban supreme leader is 56-year-old but lacks military and political experience.
He also added that one of his deputies, the 24-year-old Mullah Yaqoob, son of Mullah Mohammad Omar, also lacks military and political experience.
But according to Nabil, his other deputy, the leader of the Haqqani terrorist network, Sirajuddin Haqqani ...son of Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, still titular head of the Haqqani Network.... will be defacto leader of the group.
Earlier experts had warned that the appointment of Sirajuddin Haqqani would be dangerous for the country amid concerns that the group would further intensify its attacks.
The Taliban group released a statement to confirm the death of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor and appointment of Mawlavi Akhundzada and his deputies earlier today.
Religious scholar Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, named Wednesday as the Afghan Taliban's new leader, was a senior judge during the insurgent group's five-year rule over Afghanistan and issued many of its harsh verdicts.
Believed to be aged in his fifties, he hails from Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar like both his former boss -- Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who was killed in a US drone strike on Saturday -- and Taliban founder Mullah Omar, who died in 2013.
Akhundzada went on to become the group's "chief justice" after a US-led invasion toppled the Taliban government in 2001. He was a close ally of Mansour and was one of his two deputies.
Akhundzada is not known for his prowess on the battlefield, having preferred a life of religious and legal study. He is said to have issued many of the group's rulings on how Muslims should comply with the Taliban's extreme interpretation of Islam.
According to Rahimullah Yousafzai, considered the region's foremost expert on the Taliban, Akhundzada was away in Pakistan during the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan -- unlike Omar and Mansour, who earned reputations as fighters as part of the U.S.-backed mujahideen.
It is unclear whether he will follow Mansour in shunning peace negotiations with the Afghan government. Analysts believe he will be more heavily reliant on his shura (council) than Omar and Mansour and will need to rule by consensus.
In terms of age and seniority, he was second only to Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, whom many sources had believed was in contention for the leadership despite his reported detention by Pakistani authorities.
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Top|| File under: Taliban
[DAWN] Former Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Mansour was tracked down by United States (US) spy agencies when he was visiting his family in Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
Iran, however, has denied that Mansour entered Pakistain from the Islamic republic.
It was an alternate plane, one only available to American drones and their targets. The creatures of the Mad Mullahs are made of much too base a clay to access such rarified realms, so of course they missed the gentleman in question.
The WSJ report claims US surveillance drones don't operate in the Iran-Pakistain border area, due to which intercepted communications and other intelligence allowed agencies to track Mansour down and lay a trap for him as he crossed the border into Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... in a white Toyota Corolla.
Armed drones were sent across the Afghan border to lock on to the car and take down the target, officials told WSJ, before the Taliban leader could reach Quetta.
The WSJ said the killing of Mansour in Balochistan was a warning to Pakistain that the US would take action on Pak soil without prior notification if necessary.
US President Barack Obama That’s just how white folks will do you.... and State Department Spokesman Mark Toner have both said American forces will continue carrying out strikes on Pak soil to "remove murderous Moslems who are actively pursuing, planning and directing attacks against US forces".
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The leader of Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ... who used to be known in intelligence circles as The Most Evil Man in the World but who now seems merely run-of-the-mill evil... has offered condolences to the family and supporters of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor over his death.
Hekmatyar has released an unusual statement amid ongoing peace efforts between his party and the Afghan government, calling on Taliban to form a coalition with him.
He has called on Taliban to jointly work with him to achieve the joint targets and resolve the crisis in the country.
The leader of Hezb-e-Islami has also asked Taliban to jointly work with him in his ongoing peace efforts and resistance and jihad and for the future of the country.
The Talibs earlier rejected to form a coalition with Hezb-e-Islami and on numerous occasions fighting erupted among the fighters of the two groups, according to VOA’s Afghanistan service.
This comes as the Presidential Palace announced Tuesday that there is no specific timeframe for the conclusion of peace deal with Hezb-e-Islami led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
Deputy presidential front man Syed Zafar Hashemi told news hounds that grinding of the peace processor is always complicated and it would be a mistake to confirm a timeframe regarding the peace agreement, insisting that small and big changes normally takes place everyday, in every seconds and at the final seconds of grinding of the peace processor.
Meanwhile the Afghan government signed the draft peace agreement with Hezb-e-Islami last week.
Deputy Chief Executive Mohammad Khan told news hounds last week that the draft agreement has been signed and will become enforceable once the Hezb-e-Islami party signs it.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Pak Army Chief of Staff General Raheel Sharif ..Pak chief of army staff, meaning he pulls the strings on the Nawaz Sharif puppet to make it dance and sing and not do much at all.... has conveyed serious concern to the US Ambassador to Pakistain over a drone strike that targeted the Taliban Chief Mullah Akhtar Mansoor.
According to the local media reports, Gen. Sharif conveyed his concern over the Arclight airstrike during a meeting at Pakistain Army’s General Headquarters.
"While expressing his serious concerns over the said drone strike, COAS said such acts of illusory sovereignty violations are detrimental to relations between both countries and are counter-productive for ongoing grinding of the peace processor for regional stability," a statement by Inter Service Public Relations said.
Earlier the US Ambassador to Pakistain was summoned by the country’s foreign ministry over the Arclight airstrike killing Taliban leader in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... province.
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Top|| File under: Taliban
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] An Iraqi military front man said troops were trying to tighten the encirclement of Falluja by advancing on the western front, near the village of Khalidiya.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shouting match, the spittle had reached unprecedented levels... Iraqi Defense Ministry published an official report which includes statements confirming that the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades are involved in the battle of Fallujah.
Days ago, a YouTube account linked to Kata’ib Hezbollah, a US-designated terrorist organization and Iranian proxy, has uploaded a video showing a large convoy of its rocket launcher systems being sent to the front lines near Iraqi city of Fallujah.
From its part, days ago, Harakat al Nujaba, or Movement of the Noble, an Iranian-supported Shiite militia which operates in both Iraq and Syria, has said it is clearing a road in eastern Anbar province in preparation for an upcoming offensive to retake Fallujah from the ISIS.
Also, Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods Force ‐ the external operations wing of the Revolutionary Guards ‐ was spotted in a picture said to be taken near Fallujah. A picture of Soleimani in the "Fallujah operations room" was posted to the Facebook account of Harakat al Nujaba.
Fear civilian casualties will worsen sectarian strife
On Wednesday morning Iraqi troops concentrated artillery fire on Falluja's northern and northeastern neighborhoods, according to a resident contacted via the Internet.
A Falluja hospital source said that six non-combatants were killed and 11 maimed on Wednesday morning, raising the overall corpse count since Monday's launch of the government offensive to 35 - 21 civilians and 14 holy warriors.
"Fierce fighting is now raging around the city," Save the Children said in a statement on Wednesday, calling for safe civilian exit routes to be established as quickly as possible.
Falluja's population is around 100,000, according to U.S. and Iraqi government estimates.
The offensive is part of a government campaign to roll back ISIS' seizure of wide tracts of northern and western Iraq. Baghdad's forces retook Ramadi, the Anbar picturesque provincial capital near Falluja, in December but have not yet tackled a bigger challenge - IS-held djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , Iraq's largest northern city.
The Association of Muslim Scholars of Iraq, a hardline political organization formed after Saddam's ouster to represent Sunnis, has condemned the assault on Falluja as "an unjust aggression, a reflection of the vengeful spirit that the forces of evil harbor against this city".
Meanwhile, ...back at the shouting match, the spittle had reached unprecedented levels... Iraq's top Shi'ite Muslim holy man urged government forces battling to retake Falluja.
Sistani wields enormous influence over Iraq's Shi'ites. It was at his call that Shi'ite militias regrouped in 2014 in a coalition known as Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilization), to stem 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.... 's stunning advance through the north and west.
Hashid Shaabi will take part in encircling Falluja but will not enter the city unless the Iraqi army fails in doing so, said Hadi al-Amiri, the leader of the Badr Organisation, the largest component of the Shi'ite coalition.
"Our decision is to encircle the city from the outside and let the security forces operate; if the security forces are unable to cleanse the city, we will then go in,'' he said, according to video recording on the state-run TV channel.
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
[AnNahar] Kenyan police said Wednesday they had tossed in the clink Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! two suspected members of an 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.... affiliate plotting kabooms, weeks after arresting other members of the alleged gang.
Police claimed that the two men, Kiguzo Mwangolo Mgutu and Abubakar Jillo Mohammed, had been radicalized in a mosque in a slum in the capital Nairobi, where they were recruited into the Islamic State group (IS), which they said "is seeking to establish itself in Kenya."
The two men are alleged to have been plotting Dire Revenge attacks after Mohammed Abdi Ali, the alleged leader of the group and a medical student, was arrested earlier this month along with two others for allegedly planning an anthrax attack. They have not yet been charged.
"Following Mohammed Abdi Ali's arrest, members of his network have been planning retaliatory attacks using home-made explosives," police said.
"The arrest of the two has foiled terror attacks with explosives and other weapons that were planned for Nairobi and Mombasa."
Materials seized suggested the pair had been plotting bombings, with kit taken for forensic analysis including "nails, ball bearings, batteries, electrical wire, fertilizer, cell phones and other suspected explosive substances," police added.
While the Somali-led and al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab has been active in Kenya since 2011, after the Kenyan army was deployed in southern Somalia, there has been little evidence to date of an IS presence in the country.
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
[AnNahar] Police found "traces" of a plot to launch a new attack in Belgium when they placed in durance vile Book 'im, Mahmoud! four people suspected of recruiting jihadists for Syria and Libya, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The four were charged with "participating in the activities of a terrorist group" following their arrests in the northern port of Antwerp and other Phlegmish-speaking cities, the federal prosecutor's office said.
"The four were more involved in the part of recruiting," Eric Van der Sypt, a front man for Belgium's federal prosecutors, told AFP. "And we found traces of plans for an attack in Belgium."
He said the probe into an alleged plot continued while his office said that "for now there is no link" with the investigation into the deadly March 22 bombings in the capital Brussels.
The prosecutor's office said the four people arrested are "suspected of having wanted to recruit people to send them to conflict zones in Syria and Libya," adding that some of them had intended to travel to those areas and join 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.
Eight raids in Antwerp as well as in Ternat and Borgerhout turned up neither weapons nor explosives, the statement said without saying when the action was carried out.
The investigating judge ordered one of the four to be detained, but released the three others -- one on condition he wear an electronic bracelet and the other two under "strict" conditions, it added.
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Daily Beast] Clinton's super-donors poured millions into the State Department. Why was the government so reluctant to release the names of these high-rollers and socialites?
[Daily Caller] State Department staffers who worked to respond to congressional requests for documents about the Sept. 11, 2012 Benghazi attacks discovered in June 2013 -- a year earlier than has previously been reported -- that Hillary Clinton used a personal email account.
[GEO.TV] Microsoft Corp announced more big cuts to its smartphone business on Wednesday, just two years after it bought handset maker Nokia in an ill-fated attempt to take on market leaders Apple and Samsung.
[FRANCE24] Eleven US states sued President 
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 61 
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least eleven people were killed and ten others were 
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 8 soldiers of the Afghan National Army (ANA) forces were martyred in fight against terrorism in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said.
Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz 
[FoxNews] The Obama administration is preparing to transfer up to 24 additional detainees out of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp this summer, Fox News has learned.
[GEO.TV] Husbands will be granted permission to beat their wives in order to ’discipline’ them under a new bill being prepared by the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) ‐ Pakistain’s top 
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Talibs group released a photograph of the group’s newly-appointed supreme leader Mawlavi 
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
