Anyone searching for a sliver of light in the darkness of the Syrian catastrophe has no better place to go than the country's northeast. There some 2.2 million Kurds have created a quasi state that is astonishingly safe--and strangely unknown abroad. No barrel bombs are dropped by Bashar al-Assad's warplanes. No ISIS executioners enforce the wearing of the niqab. No Turkish air strikes send civilians running, as Turkish attacks on Kurdish militia bases do across the border in Iraq.
Safety is of course a relative concept. Car bombs and suicide attacks by ISIS assassins regularly take lives in this predominantly Kurdish 250-mile-wide stretch of Syria between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, but by the standards of the rest of the country it is quiet.
The 2.2 million Kurds make up a tenth of the Syrian population. During the protests of 2011--the Arab Spring--they, like their Arab counterparts in other Syrian cities, publicly demonstrated for reform in Qamishli, the region's largest city. But Assad was milder toward them than he was to other protesters elsewhere. He gave citizenship to 300,000 stateless Kurds and in July 2012 even withdrew most of his combat troops from the area on the grounds that they were needed more urgently in the Syrian heartland of Aleppo, Damascus, and the cities in between.
Kurdish militias known as the People's Protection Units (YPG) quickly organized the support of much of the Kurdish adult population under thirty and took control of the region, which they divide into three "cantons" and which they call Rojava (i.e., West, meaning western Kurdistan, from roj, the Kurdish word for sun). The other Kurdish regions are in Turkey, Iran, and Iraq.
visit the link for the nice background.
[Fox] More than 100 days after he invoked his Fifth Amendment right to avoid testifying before the House committee investigating the Benghazi terrorist attack, a key Hillary Clinton aide is at the center of the separate and ongoing investigation by the FBI into Clinton's use of a private unsecured server while she was secretary of state.
That former staffer, Bryan Pagliano, set up the controversial private email server in Clinton's home in Chappaqua, N.Y.
Pagliano is believed to be the only witness publicly identified during the politically charged hearings on Benghazi to invoke the Fifth Amendment.
He has not been charged with any crime, but the investigation continues into how Clinton used a private homebrew server which contained highly classified information while she was secretary of state.
As Fox News was first to report on Dec. 15, a review by the intelligence community reaffirmed that at least two emails were "top secret" when they hit Clinton's private server. The State Department had challenged the classification.
At the core of the separate FBI investigation is whether highly classified information was "grossly mishandled" by Clinton and her aides.
Pagliano worked for the Clinton campaign team and was their trusted IT specialist before he joined the State Department in May 2009.
#1
Um, yes the classified material was illegally and deliberately moved from TS and Secret servers to a civilian Unclassified machine...not "grossly mishandled.". It was a directed, calculated, deliberate, disciplined act over time that stupidly put our national intel assets at risk because Hillary Clinton was too lazy to go to a Scif. Laziness on Clinton's part and gutless ness on her staff's part. Laws exist to deter such stupid acts, and to punish those not deterred...now we will see if Lady Justice is truly blind or if that whole law and order thing is only meant to keep the peasants in line or if it meant for everyone...
#2
*shrug*. But everyone does it. Recently it was reported that Secretary of Defense Carter used private emails for work in the first few months of his tenure. But he copied everything to his work account so that it would be captured by the archives. link
This is an email that was forwarded to me from a former colleague and came from a retired Marine Master Sergeant who works for Boeing flying drones in Afghanistan.
More evidence of the need to clean house in DC November 2016!
Hope all is well. Just thought I would send an email regarding a recent visit by Secretary of Defense Ash Carrter. Three days ago Ash Carter visited OB Fenty, here in JBad to speak with another General regarding the threat of ISIS, that is at our doors. Security measures were put in place.......no local civilian support allowed on base for the day. No problem. The problem starts when the all personnel were told the chow hall would be closed and no alternate meals served for lunch; not even an MRE. Mind you, all we have here is a Green Beans Coffee House. Sure, everyone could skip a meal, but, to shut it down so Ash Carter and his wife could enjoy a meal? The flight line was secured, no landing or recoveries during his time on ground. Most walkways secured to foot traffic, the gym closed. Pretty much all activity halted for his visit.
I spoke with two Apache pilots who were providing base overwatch during his visit, and they told me they were not to be closer than 5 miles to the base. The pilots said, they could not provide proper visual to the surroundings of the base at that distance, but, were told that there was to be no aircraft noise during his visit. Really? A combat zone and a military airfield, with no noise or activity? Ha... To top it off, the thing that really disappoints me and pisses me off the most, is the fact that the active duty military personnel and contractors were told to remove their mags from their weapons. According to the Army Officers I spoke with, they said they were supposed to leave them in their quarters. If the Secretary of Defense can be in charge of the countries defense, come and speak of the impending threat of ISIS that is in our Province of Nargahar, yet not allow service men and women carry their weapons for protection, maybe he shouldn't be in the position he is in. A true leader of men, would let them carry the tools of their trade without fear that one of them would harm him. (by the way....he did have his own protection detail). It is a slap in the face to disrespect the professionalism of the military and contractors, who, daily, risk their lives being forward deployed in a combat zone, supporting U.S. policies. If they don't trust them here, it's no wonder they don't trust alot of Veterans with weapons in the States.
Stars and Stripes Newspaper had two articles regarding his visit in which, both articles state how many personnel are on this base.....a violation of OpSec! Thanks Ash Carter and Stars and Stripes!! You have just made us more vulnerable to attack.
#5
It's cause they really don't trust you. By their actions, even after seven years of political purges and dictates, they believe they haven't made the 'dog' reliable enough. They fear you. In their own world of Freudian projection, they know what they would have already done if they were you. They also somewhat grasp, that outside their own little group of 'haters of those who serve', the majority of Americans still love their sons and daughters in uniform far more than they just like those pulling the strings in the Beltway. They suspect who the bulk of the populous would back if push came to shove.
[DAILYEXCELSIOR] Police today announced reward for the informants of seven wanted gunnies of Hizbul Muja-hideen belonging to Tral area of South Kashmire's Pulwama district by circulating posters while security forces had established check points on Srinagar Bypass after intelligence inputs of movement of top Laskhar-e-Toiba commander from North Kashmire to South Kashmire.
Police today pasted posters in Tral town of South Kashmire in which they sought information about seven most wanted gunnies from Tral area of South Kashmire. Police through posters sought information about these 7 gunnies from general public and announced reward for such information.
These gunnies for whose information police announced rewards are Sabzar Ahmad Bhat alias Sabh Don son of Ghulam Hassan Bhat resident of Ruthsana in Tral, Aqib Ahmad Bhat alias Molvi alias Zeeshan son of Abdul Khaliq Bhat resident of Hyna Tral, Mohammad Ishaq Bhat son of Abdul Salam Bhat resident of Batgund Tral, Mohammad Asif Mir son of Mohammad Yusuf Mir resident of Dadsara Tral, Zakir Rashid Bhat son of Abdul Rashid Bhat resident of Noorpora Awantipora, Mohammad Ishaq Parray alias Newton son of Mohammad Ismail Parray resident of Laribal Tral and Shakir Ahmad Dar son of Ghulam Hassan Dar resident of Rathsuna Tral.
As per police sources, these gunnies are wanted for various militancy related incidents in South Kashmire including threatening the Panchs and Sarpanchs of the area and attacking them. They are also wanted for attacks on security forces.
Security forces are already searching these gunnies who are active in South Kashmire for last several years. They belonged to the Hizbul Mujahideen and have appeared in several photographs and videos with HM commander Burhan Wani of Tral.
In the meantime, police today established nakas at several places in Srinagar Bypass at Parimpora and Athwajan after inputs about the movement of a top Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... commander from North Kashmire to South Kashmire.
Police frisked several vehicles at Parimpora that were coming from North Kashmire towards Srinagar in the afternoon.
Later in the evening, naka was established at Athwajan Bypass for several hours. The vehicles from North Kashmire that were on way to South Kashmire were mostly being frisked. The frisking of the vehicles led to massive traffic jam at this portion of the highway. However, death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... no one was placed in durance vile Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! .
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12/24/2015
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[ASBAREZ] (Fars News Agency)--A commander of the Iraqi volunteer forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) revealed that a mobile phone found with one of the killed ISIL ringleaders proved the Turkish spy agency's support for the terrorist group. Asbarez is an Armenian (i.e., anti-Turk until proven otherwise) and they're running a Fars article. Probably deserves more credence than something by Seymour Hersch, less than by Reuters.
"The mobile phone was found with one of the killed ISIL leaders in the Northern parts of Salahuddin province two days ago," Jabbar al-Ma'mouri told Soumeriya news on Monday.
He said that the mobile set and history files contain messages from the Turkish intelligence agency which show that Ankara supports the ISIL terrorist group through providing security at the points of entry used by ISIL gunnies from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... to Iraq. This is the way intel analysis works: We'e got a single bald statement that IS is working with Turkish govt agents. My feeling is that facts to date support that--they're not bombing IS that we've seen, they're killing PKK guys, and very possibly on recon information supplied by IS.
"The mobile phone also contains other important information which cannot be disclosed now, and it has been delivered to the specialized security groups for further scrutiny," Ma'mouri said. That would likely be to Iranian intel, which the last time I looked wasn't very good, though that was a long time ago (but not in a galaxy far away!)
In relevant remarks on November, Russian Ambassador to La Belle France Alexander Orlov said that Turkey has played an "ambiguous" role in the campaign against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) while acting as an accomplice to the terrorist group's activities. And he's probably got Russian intel to back that up. They won't disclose details because of sources and methods, but they've got their facts established and the telephone only confirms them. I'm guessing this wasn't the first cell phone ever collected, too.
Also last month, former US Department of State senior advisor David Phillips said Turkey has blatantly provided material support to the ISIL because they share an ideological connection along with a common foe in Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad. Leveler of Latakia... It being the State Department, you can't really be sure he's speaking based on intel. Since he's actually a "senior advisor" who actually belongs to Columbia University's peace-mongering group, the temptation is to discount anything he says. People like him should be kept away from classified information.
"Turkey's role has not been ambiguous -- it has overtly supported the ISIL," Phillips, currently Director of Columbia University's Peace-building and Rights Program, said. "It has provided logistical support, money, weapons, transport and healthcare to maimed warriors." Phillips explained that Turkey has been supporting the ISIL to remove Syrian President Bashir al-Assad from power and because of a "spiritual bond" that exists between Turkey's governing party and the jihadists. That's the part that confuses me. I guess the Turks started out to dump Assad, and the "spiritual bond" was the Moslem Brotherhood militias. Then ISIS showed up, so I guess they're putting their money on the stronger horse and the cheaper oil. I doubt Erdogan's thought through to what he'd have on his hands with an ISIS-cotrolled Syria on his border.
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12/24/2015
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#1
Neither the Muslim Brotherhood nor Erdogan, an Ikhwan himself, will ever forget nor forgive the Assad family for its destruction of the MB nexus at Homs and the outlawing of the Syrian Brotherhood. ISIL is in fact but another one of a dozen terrorist offshoots that have sprouted from the MB tree. A tree that over the last fifteen years has become more Salafist and more bloodthirsty than ever envisioned by Banna, the MB founder.
[INDIANEXPRESS] Sources in Delhi Police have claimed that the interrogation of Mohd Asif Abdul Rehman, Abdul Rehman and Zafar Masood, who were incarcerated Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! for alleged links with Al-Qaeda of Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), has helped them identify more modules of AQIS, an affiliate body of al-Qaeda.
Rehman, who was arrested from Cuttack Wednesday, had reportedly visited Karnataka and Jharkhand to deliver hate speeches in recent years, said police sources. The trio were in touch with at least 100 youths who they were indoctrinating, they added.
Abdul Rehman had allegedly sent Umar Hyderabadi, a youth from Hyderabad, for training at north Wazoo in Pakistain, said the sources.
Cleric Rehman had sheltered two suspected Pakistain-based turbans who were later killed in an encounter in Lucknow. Sources said the turbans belonged to terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad ...literally Army of Mohammad, a Pak-based Deobandi terror group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in 2000, after he split with the Harkat-ul-Mujaheddin. In 2002 the government of Pervez Musharraf banned the group, which changed its name to Khaddam ul-Islam and continued doing what it had been doing before without missing a beat... . They stayed at Rehman's residence in Jagatpur in Cuttack. He met them when he was in Deoband between 1994 and 2001, said sources.
In 2001, these Pak nationals were killed in an encounter, following which Rehman went underground.
Rehman was arrested after police nabbed Mohd Asif, who is allegedly the Indian chief of AQIS, from Delhi's Seelamur Sunday. On Thursday, Zafar Masood, suspected to be an active member of AQIS from UP's Sambhal, was arrested.
Rahman had known Asif for the past few years and they exchanged messages in different media. Sources said the probe has also revealed that Rehman's brother Tahir Ali took shelter at his residence before his arrest.
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent
[ALMANAR.LB] Leader of Ansarullah Movement, Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, asserted that the Yemenis will continue their fight steadfastly and constantly against the Saudi-led aggression, noting that KSA's coalition aims at inaugurating ISIL to move Aden and all the southern provinces into anarchy.
Addressing a massive rally in Sanaa on the occasion of Prophet Mohammad's (PTUI!) Birthday, Sayyed Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... added that ISIL plots to strike the existing entities, weaken the Umma and deform Islam's image in order to serve the US-Zionist interests.
Sayyed Houthi pointed at that the US wants the war in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... to be prolonged, noting that the Yemenis will fight under all the circumstances till achieving victory.
The inevitable outcome that Holy God has pledged to enable his loyal worshippers to reach is victory, Sayyed Houthi asserted.
Yemen has been since March 26 under brutal aggression by Saudi-led coalition. Hundreds of Thousands have been martyred and injured in the attack, with the vast majority of them are civilians.
Riyadh launched the attack on Yemen in a bid to restore power to runaway president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi who is a close ally to Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... .
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Top|| File under: Houthis
#1
This war will not cease until Saudi Arabia ensures that bombing has totally destroyed Houthi villages and urban sites in Sa'ada, Hajjah, and Amran provinces and reduced the Houthi homeland to something akin to a seventh century satrapy.
Two young men were executed on a roundabout in Sirte by a terrorist wearing the blue uniform of the new IS police force, who shot them in the back of the head with a pistol.
The victims, named locally as Amjad Mohamed Ben Sassi and Ismail Saad Toumi, were picked up during the August uprising against IS, which followed the murder of a popular imam. Scores of locals were killed by the terrorists immediately after the revolt. It is unclear why these two men were spared until today.
[ECONOMICTIMES.INDIATIMES] A presumed US drone strike has killed four suspected members of Al-Qaeda in central Yemen, a security official said Wednesday.
The raid targeted their vehicle on Tuesday evening near the border of Baida and Shabwa provinces, the official said.
The United States is the only country known to operate armed drones over Yemen.
It has kept up strikes on gunnies during months of fighting between pro-government forces and Shiite Houthis who control the capital.
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DERA GHAZI KHAN: Five alleged terrorists belonging to an outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were killed in an encounter with police on Wednesday.
It was a joint operation conducted by Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Multan and its DG Khan wing at Wador which is a suburban area of the city.
CTD received information that some members of the outlawed organisation were riding a double cabin pick-up on Wador Road and planning to carry out some terrorists attack, a police official informed on condition of anonymity.
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – On Wednesday, a source in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced, that 11 people had been either killed or wounded in bomb blast south of Baghdad.
The source said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “This morning, a bomb exploded in Nahrawan area south of Baghdad, killing two people and wounding nine others,” adding that, “A security force rushed to the area and transferred the wounded to a nearby hospital for treatment and the dead bodies to the forensic medicine department, while an operation was carried out to search for the perpetrators of the bombing.”
[Bangkok Post] Seven Thai soldiers were slightly wounded by a bomb blast in Narathiwat province on Wednesday. Rueso district police chief Ruangsak Buadaeng said the attack occurred shortly after midnight when 16 soldiers from an infantry company were returning to their base.
The soldiers had been dispatched to a local village after receiving information militants were hiding there after hurling a hand grenade at a traffic police checkpoint in Rueso district on Monday. They found no sign of insurgents in the village. Shortly after leaving the village on two pickup trucks the bomb explosion hit the first vehicle and wounded the troops.
[DAILYEXCELSIOR] At least 60 turbans have managed to infiltrate into Kashmire valley this year ahead of snowfall, sources said. However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... the Multi Agency figures of the infiltration for this year's are at 25 till October. So far security forces have killed 91 turbans in counter-infiltration and counter-militancy operations this year.
A top security officer said that they have confirmed infiltration figures of at least 60 turbans for this year. "Majority of these turbans are still in the forest areas of North Kashmire along the LoC, however, over a dozen have managed to shift to South Kashmire", he said.
According to figures of last few years, 65 turbans infiltrated in 2014, 97 infiltrated in 2013, 121 infiltrated in 2012, 52 infiltrated in 2011, 82 infiltrated in 2010, 99 infiltrated in 2009 and 27 infiltrated in 2008.
The security officer said that majority of these turbans are from Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... (LeT) while majority of the Jaish-e-Mohammad ...literally Army of Mohammad, a Pak-based Deobandi terror group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in 2000, after he split with the Harkat-ul-Mujaheddin. In 2002 the government of Pervez Musharraf banned the group, which changed its name to Khaddam ul-Islam and continued doing what it had been doing before without missing a beat... (JeM) turbans were killed during the infiltration. He said that these turbans are highly trained and possess sophisticated weapons and communication technology.
The officer said that there are around 12 Launch Pads of turbans active in Pakistain Indian Kashmiree along 400 kilometer LoC that Kashmire valley shares with PoK. He said that around 40-50 turbans are waiting on each of these launch pads for infiltrating into Kashmire.
According to figures, around 91 turbans were killed in Kashmire valley including LoC while infiltrating. Out of these, 32 were killed in South Kashmire in various counter-infiltration operations and 59 were killed along LoC and North Kashmire, majority of them in the forest areas.
Security forces launched massive operations in North Kashmire's forest area along the LoC for last several months against these infiltrated murderous Moslems. However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... in majority of these operations the turbans slipped out of the cordon.
Commanding Officer of 41 Rashtriya Rifles of Army, Colonel Santosh Mahadik, was killed in a fierce shootout in North Kashmire's Kupwara on November 17 and on November 22 Colonel SK Natt was critically injured in two of these operations in Manigah forest area.
Army and Police launched massive operations in Manigah forests for over 15 days last month against these turbans in which two turbans were killed. However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... the other members of the group managed to give slip to the security forces.
Similar operations were launched in Bandipora forests of North Kashmire for over one month against a group of around 17 murderous Moslems. However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... no one was either placed in durance vile Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! or killed.
Now with the heavy snowfall along the 400 kilometer LoC from Gulmarg to Gurez, the infiltration has become difficult. However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... General Officer Commanding (GOC) 15 Corps, Lt General Satish Dua said last week that there are still some areas where snowfall is less and from where the turbans can try to infiltrate.
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12/24/2015
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – On Wednesday, a security source in Diyala Province stated, that four people were wounded in two car bombings that took place in al-Khalis District.
The source said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “Today, two car bombs, one of which was emplaced near a religious shrine and the other at the entrance of a popular gathering in the district, exploded simultaneously, injuring four people in addition to inflicting material damage to a number of nearby shops and houses.”
He added, “The two explosions took place near the international road linking Kirkuk and Baghdad,” pointing out that, “A security force blockaded the area of the explosions and transferred the wounded to a nearby hospital to receive treatment.”
[ALMANAR.LB] The army has repelled an ISIL assault on military posts in Deir Ezzor city and its units in other provinces continued operations against terrorists, killing many of them and destroying their hideouts and vehicles.
Damascus countryside
Army units advanced in the surroundings of Marj al-Sultan Military Airport and Harasta farms in operations carried out against al-Nusra
Continued on Page 49
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
Two civilians have been killed in a roadside bomb explosion in Chahar Burjak District of southwestern Nimroz province.
Colonel Mohammad Ghaws Sistani, Deputy Police Chief of Nimroz province said the incident took place in Rodbar village.
He said two civilians were riding a motorbike that struck a landmine on its way leaving both of them killed.
According to the Deputy Police Chief, the landmine was planted by Taliban for security forces.
Rodbar village is the most restive area in Charburjak District.
In September, a landmine blast in this village left a mother and her son killed. Four other people from the same family sustained injuries.
In May, six would-be suicide bombers were killed in the blast of their own explosives in the same village while planning to carry out a massive attack on the government compounds in Chahar Burjak District.
[TODAYSZAMAN] Selahattin Demirtas, the co-chair of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), on Wednesday met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, discussing Syria and a diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Russia that erupted when a Russian jet was downed by Turkish warplanes on Nov. 24 near the Syrian border.
Russia has promised retaliation after the downing of the Su-24 and demanded Turkey offer an apology and compensation. Diplomatic contacts between the two countries have also come to a near halt amid Russian accusations that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... and his family benefit from an oil trade with the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a claim categorically denied by Erdogan and the government.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2015
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Top|| File under:
#1
Could it be that when Russians talk about "Friendship for People of Turkey" they mean People living in Turkey---not necessarily Turks?
[Daily Excelsior] 79 youths in Kashmire Valley have joined various terror outfits during this year, a figure which is 30 per cent higher than that of the previous year, Rajya Sabha was informed today.
Replying to a written question by BJP member Lal Singh Vadodia, Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary said as per reports, 79 youths have joined krazed killer ranks during 2015 (as on November 30) whereas 60 youths joined krazed killer ranks during the corresponding period of 2014.
There has been a growing concern within the security establishment about the sudden increase in disappearance of youths in Kashmire valley this year and reports coming in suggest that they have joined various krazed killer organizations, especially pro-Pakistain Hizbul Mujahideen led by Burhan Wani.
The Minister informed the Upper House that the terrorist activities in the Jammu and Kashmire were regularly being monitored and reviewed at various levels.
He said that the Government has adopted various counter measures to neutralise these efforts and capabilities of snuffies to disturb peace in the state.
Chaudhary said the Government has also encouraged policies to mainstream the youth, including providing employment opportunities to wean them away from militancy.
He said various steps have been initiated, including proactively taking suitable measures to safeguard the borders from cross-border terrorism and containing militancy.
The other focus areas are that the democratic process is sustained, ensuring sustained grinding of the peace processor and providing adequate opportunities to all sections of the people who eschew violence to effectively represent their view points and redress their genuine grievances. (PTI)
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12/24/2015
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[ALMANAR.LB] A Frenchie who killed his boss and pinned his severed head to a fence at an industrial gas factory has did away with himself in his jail cell, prison authorities said Wednesday.
Yassin Salhi, 35, hanged himself from the bars of his cell using electrical cable on Tuesday night, according to authorities at Fleury-Merogis prison, in the southern suburbs of Gay Paree.jail in La Belle France
The deliveryman carried out the grisly attack on employer Herve Cornara in Isere, southeastern La Belle France in June, displaying his boss's head outside the plant surrounded by bad boy flags.
After sending pictures of the scene to a friend who had left to join the Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... groups in Syria, he tried to blow up the facility by driving his van into gas canisters, but was incarcerated Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! and remanded in jug.
Salhi had been placed in solitary confinement but was not considered a suicide risk.
Prison authorities had previously said he hanged himself using bed sheets.
He had always disavowed any religious motive for his crime, saying it was a personal dispute with his boss, but prosecutors were pressing charges of bad boy-related terrorism.
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12/24/2015
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Top|| File under:
KOBANE – The western-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched a new military campaign against the radical group of Islamic State (ISIS) in the southern countryside of Kobane, after months of combating ISIS militants in Hasakah province, northeastern Syria.
The Kurdish-Arab alliance of the SDF clashed with ISIS jihadists in southern Kobane on Wednesday midnight, and recaptured the village of Saharij after expelling the radical group.
At least seven militants of ISIS were killed and several others injured in the clashes, according to military sources.
“The clashes coincided with airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition on Daesh positions in the vicinity of Sarrin town south of Kobane,” Kurdish fighter in the SDF ranks Sarhad Abbas told ARA News, using another acronym for ISIS.
“This was the first SDF operation in southern Kobane,” Abbas said. “We promise our people that we will soon liberate the entire region from Daesh terrorists.”
In February, the Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) regained the city of Kobane and large areas in its countryside after fierce battles with ISIS. Since the establishment of the SDF, the Kurdish forces started launching joint operations alongside allied Arab and Christian armed forces in northern Syria, in a bid to expel the ISIS radical group from the region.
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Wednesday, a security source in al-Anbar Province stated, that dozens of ISIS elements escaped from Ramadi to al-Sjarih and al-Sofya areas east of the city.
The source said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “Dozens of ISIS elements escaped from the government complex and the center of Ramadi areas to al-Sjarih and al-Sofya east of the city,” adding that, “The escape is a result of the progress of the security forces in retaking Ramadi areas and the violent strikes of the Iraqi army artillery and Air Force on ISIS headquarters in the center of the city.”
Earlier today (Wednesday, December 23, 2015), another security source in al-Anbar province stated, that Anti-Terrorism forces are prepared to storm al-Haouz area in the center of Ramadi.
[TODAYSZAMAN] All three of the opposition parties in Parliament have accepted Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's request for a meeting to discuss a new constitution and internal parliamentary regulations and reforms.
Davutoğlu had requested meetings with the three parties and proposed a date of Dec. 30 if accepted. On Tuesday, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu accepted the request for a meeting on Dec. 30.
Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) parliamentary group deputy chairman İdris Baluken said on Wednesday his party would accept Davutoğlu's request for the meeting.
Baluken said he had not talked with his party's co-chairs yet but that he will come to a decision after discussing it with them. “We want the channels for dialogue to always remain open. We are ready to meet with everyone. We will give a positive answer to this meeting request. I hope the meeting will be helpful to solve the current problems,” Baluken said.
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli also accepted the request on Wednesday and agreed to meet with Davutoğlu on Jan. 4.
The leaders of the opposition parties and Davutoğlu are expected to discuss a new constitution, delayed reforms, parliamentary bylaws and the country's budget.
Davutoğlu is expected to listen to advice put forth by the leaders of the opposition parties during the meetings in order to determine a roadmap for further gatherings.
Furthermore, the dispute centering on the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), which was subordinated to the government after a major change in the judicial body in 2014 and became a source of conflict between the government and opposition parties, is expected to be handled during the upcoming talks.
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A legislative council for the Kherson region has issued a denouncement of violent attacks on individuals caused either by organized crime or by members of the Aydar private military unit, according to Russian language news accounts.
According to a new release by the Kherson regional council, the solons have requested Ukrainian president Piotr Poroshenko, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) and General Prosecutor's Office to investigate and have "influence" on growing criminal violence in the region.
Kherson region is at the border between Ukraine and Russia- annexed Crimea, where, according to the report, a number of criminal acts were perpetrated, specifically in the villages of Kalanchak, Oleksandrivka, Oleksiivka and Kayirka.
Criminal acts include carjackings, armed robbery, muggings, assaults and extortion. The report says that bandits in the region are responsible for these acts, including organized crime groups, and even names the private military Aydar Battalion as involved, but stops short of accusing the group directly.
The report stresses that individual committing criminal acts are dressed as members of the Aydar Battalion which are operating under the "guise" of being a part of the unit.
The report also says that a charge has been leveled that the national government administration has advised local officials and legislators not to "touch" those involved in criminal acts.
Ukraine and rebel held areas have a severe organized crime problem, some criminal groups operating in the open and with the protection of volunteer battalions such as the Aydar Battalion.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com and on Twitter. You can read past articles about the 2014 war in southeastern Ukraina by clicking here.
F*ckers have no sense of humor
ERBIL – Extremists of the Islamic State (ISIS) executed two teenage girls in Mosul city in the northwestern Iraqi province of Nineveh for “mocking the Caliphate” through social media, local sources reported on Wednesday.
According to a statement by the Sharia Court in Mosul, the two girls have mocked the ISIS self-declared Caliphate through their accounts on Twitter and Facebook.
After two days of arrest, both teenage girls were hanged to death.
“The execution took place in front of dozens of people in the Toub square in Mosul,” local media activist Abdullah al-Mallah told ARA News.
“The shocking incident has angered the residents of the city. But once a decision is issued by the Sharia Court, nobody dares to protest against it because of the severe punishment in such cases,” al-Mallah said.
The dead bodies of the two victims remained hanged in the square until Wednesday midnight. ISIS militants have reportedly prevented the families of the victims from taking the bodies, saying that those will be buried in a confidential location.
The Sharia Court described the two teenage girls as ‘infidels’, stressing they cannot be buried in the Muslim graveyard of Mosul.
[ALMANAR.LB] The Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Abadi called Wednesday on the Arab countries to take a unified stance against the Turkish military incursion in Iraq.
In a statement, Abadi highlighted after meeting the Arab ambassadors in Beijing the victories of the Iraqi army against ISIL terrorist group.
He informed the Arab ambassadors about the measures the his country took against the Turkish violation for the national illusory sovereignty by sending troops to the Iraqi territories without the approval of Baghdad.
Abadi finally stressed that ISIL's scheme aims at stirring the seditions in the Islamic world.
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#1
Turkish, Putinist = Russian, Iranian, + Saudi "Sphere of Influence" all converge or come together in Iraq, wid Other(s) possibly still to come.
WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG WID THIS MIGHTY, FINE, ANTI-US OWG GLOBALIST PLAN AS SSSHHH...CCCCC
SUPPORTED BY THE BAMMER + ALIGNED???
An official says at least seven civilians were killed on Wednesday when a fighter jet belonging to Kenyan Defense forces (KDF) bombed an Al shabaab base near the southern port city of Kismayo.
There's going to be a lot of seething and eye-rolling in Kismayo tonight...
A resident who declined to be named said the KDF airstrike hit a grassland in Behani area”where nomads often take their animals for grazing.” “A jet fired two missiles on Bahani village, and hit a residential area, killing seven innocent civilians.”
“We are aware of that Al shabaab has military camps in the area. The jet hovered over the area and dropped two bombs on the whole area and killed 7 civilians,” he added.
Neither the Kenyan Government nor the Somali Federal Government have so far issued an official statements regarding the incident. KDF has in the past carried out such attacks in Al shabaab strongholds in southern Somalia.
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[BBC] Latest reports from southern Afghanistan suggest that Sangin district in Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province is now almost entirely under Taliban control after days of fierce fighting.
The police headquarters and the main government building fell to the Taliban on Wednesday, a local senator said.
The Taliban say their fighters have seized the entire district.
However, it's easy to be generous with someone else's money... the Afghan defence ministry said fighting was continuing and that reinforcements had been sent.
Sangin saw almost a quarter of British military fatalities during the UK's combat mission in Afghanistan.
District governor Haji Suliman Shah told the BBC he had been airlifted from the district HQ to Shorabak base - formerly Camp Bastion - in the quiet provincial capital Lashkar Gah early on Wednesday, along with 15 maimed security force members.
A few hundred police and soldiers have taken refuge at an army barracks about 7km (four miles) from Sangin, and are besieged there.
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[ALMANAR.LB] Iranian and Omani Navy forces started a joint rescue and relief operations in the southern Iranian waters on Wednesday.
Commander of Iran's First Naval Zone Admiral Amir Hussein Azad said that the two-day maritime drill kicked off in east of the Strait of Hormuz and will continue in the Persian Gulf waters.
The joint drill aims to guarantee security of all ships which pass through the region, he added.
He said all Iran's maneuvers are aimed at conveying a message of peace and friendship to regional countries and helping the development of security in the region.
He noted that Iran adopts measures to strongly restore security to the region, particularly to the neighboring countries.
Iran and Oman have so far held several naval relief and rescue drills aimed at enhancing readiness for providing relief services, conducting rescue operations, improving the level of regional cooperation and exchanging experience.
Iran's Navy has increased its presence in high seas to protect naval routes and provide security for merchant vessels and tankers.
In line with international efforts against piracy, the Iranian Navy has also been conducting patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008 in order to safeguard merchant containers and oil tankers owned or leased by Iran or other countries.
Iran's Navy has managed to foil several attacks on both Iranian and foreign tankers during its missions in international waters.
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#1
See also BIGNEWSNETWORK > [Algemeiner] IRAN NAVAL CHIEF DEEMSMUS NAVAL PRESENCE IN PERSIAN GULF A "SOURCE OF CONFLICT",
Calls for US Pullout ASAP to be replaced wid a new Regional Force.
OWG Co-Superpower IRAN doing a OWG Co-Superpower CHINA?
* FYI WORLD NEWS > [Independent.UK] CHINA BLASTS US OVER "SERIOUS MILITARY PROVOCATIONS" ON TAIWAN, CHINESE DIPLOMAT CALLS [Taiwan] ARMS SALES, [B-52] BOMBER FLIGHTS A [direct] ATTACK ON CHINESE SOVEREIGNTY, by the US.
The probability of a sudden or surprise, de facto US-China mil confrontation + shooting war in SCS + East Asia has gone up exponentially. THE USDOD-NAVY MUST BE CAREFUL THIS COMING 2016 DURING ANTI-US US POTUS OBAMA'S FINAL YEAR IN OFFICE.
As said times before, the best time or opportunity for Iran, China, + Russia to assert their Anti-US geopol agenda or ambitions is while the Pert, MSM-Net-alleged "weakest/worse" US POTUS since Carter or in US Histoire' occupies the WH.
* LUCIANNE > [IBD] PRESIDENT OBAMA PROMISES NOT TO DEFEAT ISIS BEFORE HE LEAVES OFFICE.
[ALMANAR.LB] Tunisia extended on Tuesday for another two months a state of emergency imposed after a deadly November bus bombing claimed by the Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... group, the presidency said.
President Beji Caid Essebsi has "decided on an extension of the state of emergency over all the territory" of the country "until February 21, 2016", a statement said.
It had been due to expire on Wednesday. It was imposed on November 24 following a suicide kaboom in the capital that killed 12 presidential guards.
The measure gives authorities the power to prohibit strikes by workers and meetings that might stoke unrest, as well as to close entertainment venues and bars and to censor the press.
In addition to the state of emergency, the authorities also imposed a curfew on Tunis and closed the border with Libya, where Sherlocks believe the attack was planned.
Both of those measures were lifted earlier this month.
Tunisia, the cradle of the Arab Spring uprisings, has been plagued by krazed killer violence since the 2011 overthrow of longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, with three ISIL-claimed attacks this year.
The earlier attacks -- at the capital's National Bardo Museum and on a hotel near the Mediterranean resort of Sousse -- killed a total of 60 people, all but one of them foreign tourists.
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Retired military tries out his new act at the Puffington Host.
There is no shortage of bad news from Afghanistan over the past several months. The brief occupation of Kunduz, a small city in northern Afghanistan, started a cycle of negative events: the accidental bombing by allied forces of the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz; a series of car bombs in the capital, Kabul; a revived Taliban campaign to retake portions of southern Afghanistan; a deputy district governor of Sangin district in Helmand province taking to Facebook to alert President Ashraf Ghani of the danger in the south. As I understand it, the Taliban now control Helmand and are advancing in other provinces as well.
As Oprah would say, how do you feel about Afghanistan today? Most would say pretty discouraged. But let's take a deep breath and put a couple of things in perspective. If your central strategy is to impose Peace and Love in Afghanistan, I'd say we are witnesses to folly, rather than being discouraged. Continued on Page 49
[Jpost] Kurdish security experts and commanders describe how bandidossnuffies have changed tactics over the last year.
ERBIL, Kurdistan region, Iraq -- On December 16, 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.... launched coordinated attacks on peshmerga, the Kurdish forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq. Using fog for cover they launched suicide kabooms on various positions along the hundreds of kilometers of front lines that extend from southwest of Kirkuk all the way to the Syrian border in the northeast.
Continued on Page 49
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[TODAYSZAMAN] In addition to 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.... in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and al-Qaeda coming together, as I argued in my last column, making things worse for Western interests is the convergence taking place between the Moslem Brüderbund (MB) in Egypt and al-Qaeda. Since the July 2013 military coup, the dynamics in Egypt have been characterized by the return of the old autocratic regime with a vengeance. Egypt is now becoming even more autocratic than under former strongman Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... . By declaring the Moslem Brüderbund a terrorist organization, the regime of new strongman Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has put an end to what could have been a healthy process of the demystification of political Islam.
Continued on Page 49
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#4
First, the West is losing the moderate Islamists as they are converging with the forces of Evil in their resentment and anger towards America and Europe.
One cannot 'lose' what one never had in the first place.
#5
Moderate Islamist? Sounds like "white Hispanic"
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#6
Egypt under the military and Nasser was faced with the same 'crisis' in 1956. Then they crushed the Muslim Brotherhood, and it was not allowed to breathe until Sadat, a lapsed brother, came to power. Under Mubarak the Brotherhood was allowed to regain strength as a political qua social movement. Sisi (and the military) will not make that mistake again. And Egypt will get along with a rais as head of state, just as it has for 4,000 years.
#7
When the Muslim Brotherhood was crushed in Egypt in the 50s and 60s Sayyid Qtub sought martyrdom, was imprisoned and wrote the book "Milestones" which is thought to be a foundation of the modern Salafist movement that birthed AQ and ISIS. The MB is the father of its AQ and ISIS children.
#8
Instead of staging a coup, the Egyptian army should have forced the government to call early elections. This would have been a much better alternative because the people would have ousted the Moslem Brüderbund in a democratic way, and Islamists would have had only themselves to blame.
If the MB would have agreed to elections and if the elections were clean and if the MB would have agreed to abide by the vote and if an Islamic party more extreme than the MB didn't win the vote...
Methinks Mr. Taspinir has also conveniently forgotten Erdogan's remark about democracy being like a bus.
Russia has stepped up rearming the armed forces of Kyrgyzstan amid concerns that the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan could affect the Central Asian countries.
According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu the step by Moscow has been taken in a bid to counter the threats posed by the emergent Islamic State terror group in Afghanistan.
“From our side, we are doing everything possible in order to complete the plan for rearming the Kyrgyz Armed Forces so that they can counter threats that are coming [out of Afghanistan],” Shoigu quoted by the State-run RIA news agency said.
Russia is also having a military airbase in Kant near the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek.
The remarks by Shoigu comes as the security situation in Afghanistan has rapidly deteriorated during the recent months as the Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant.
There are also concerns that the loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group has stepped up efforts to further expand the group’s foothold in country.
In latest efforts to recruit more loyalists, the terror group launched an FM radio which can be heard in parts of eastern Nangarhar province, including the provincial capital city of Jalalabad.
Meanwhile, the commander of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, Gen. John Campbell, said earlier that the loyalists of the terror group are attempting to establish a regional base in Jalalabad city.
Gen. Campbell further added that foreign militants from Syria and Iraq had joined the loyalists of the terror group in Nangarhar province as they try to consolidate links with the leadership of the terror group based in Syria and Iraq.
PESHAWAR: A roadside bomb attack on Wednesday killed at least three people including two children in the Mohmand tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said.
It was the third attack in as many days in the Mohmand Agency, one of seven such semi-autonomous districts where the military has been battling Al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked militants for over a decade.
Two separate bomb attacks had on Monday killed at least three people and wounded two others including a senior Pakistan army official.
“An improvised explosive (IED) device planted along the roadside exploded as a vehicle carrying five people including a driver passed by, killing two children aged eight and 10 and the driver on the spot,” a senior local administration official, Naveed Akbar, told AFP.
He said two passengers were injured in the attack.
“The security agencies are investigating the incident as the target of the attack is unclear,” Akbar said, adding dozens of IEDs have been planted along roads in Mohmand.
The army has intensified its offensive since the Taliban's massacre of 153 people, 134 of them children, at a school in Peshawar last December.
QUETTA: Security forces claimed to have killed four suspected militants, including a key militant commander of a banned organisation during two different search operations in Balochistan's Turbat and Kalat areas on Wednesday morning.
At least two Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were also killed during exchange of fire with militants in Turbat's Bal-nagore area.
An FC spokesman told DawnNews that security forces launched a search operation against militants involved in attacks on security officials and civilians in various parts of Kech district's Turbat area.
He said there was an exchange of fire between security forces and miscreants in Bal-nagore.
"Six miscreants belonging to a banned militant organisation have been killed since yesterday," he said.
Two FC men were also killed in the clash.
Security forces also seized weapons from the possession of the miscreants, the spokesman added.
Intelligence agencies and FC personnel launched another operation against militants in Balochistan's Kalat district on Wednesday.
The FC spokesman said a key militant commander was killed during the operation. The commander belonged to a banned militant organisation operating in the area.
Earlier on Tuesday, three suspected militants were killed in a clash with security forces during a search operation in Turbat, bringing the total number of militants killed in the area since yesterday to six.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but least developed province, has remained under the grip of violence for over a decade which has claimed thousands of lives.
Yemeni national resistance fighters captured 45 Iranian-backed rebels and killed at least 30 others in an attack on their positions in North Yemen.
Yemen Press news website said the attack targeted the Houthis and their allies in Shaaf area in the Northern Al Jawf governorate on Tuesday.
It quoted military sources as saying the fighters seized rebel positions and a large quantity of weapons and ammunitions.
“The resistance men also captured 46 Houthis and killed more than 30 other rebels,” a resistance source told the network.
In another development, a Saudi newspaper reported that deposed President Ali Abdullah Saleh sent troops to the edge of the capital Sanaa to stop government forces and the resistance from invading the city.
“He sent units from the loyal Republican Guards…apparently he wants to push the battle for Sanaa outside the city as government forces move closer,” the Arabic language daily Asharqalawsat said, quoting military sources.
It said the coup insurgents in Sanaa have gone on high alert following the advance of government forces close to the capital in the past few days.
“They are massing troops and deploying checkpoints in the areas and mountains surrounding the capital…they are also stacking large quantities of weapons…it seems they are preparing for an offensive by the army and resistance,” a source said.
[ABCNEWS.GO] A man who acknowledges killing three people in an attack on a Colorado Planned Parenthood ...has received federal funding since 1970, when President Richard Nixon signed into law the Family Planning Services and Population Research Act. It is sometimes described as the gynecololgical wing of the Democratic party. clinic defiantly told a judge Wednesday that he would not submit to a mental competency evaluation and wanted to fire his public defender and represent himself.
Robert Dear, 57, interrupted Judge Gilbert A. Martinez during a hearing where Martinez went ahead and ordered the evaluation to determine whether Dear is capable of deciding to represent himself.
Martinez told Dear it was his right to refuse to answer an evaluator's questions. Dear replied that if he did not cooperate, a doctor would declare him incompetent and "administer the drug treatment and make me a zombie."
"Do I sound like a zombie? Do I sound like I have no intelligence?" he asked the judge.
Dear, unkempt and wearing blue jail scrubs, repeatedly interrupted the status hearing held to discuss a range of issues related to the Nov. 27 shooting at the Colorado Springs clinic.
Martinez at one point warned Dear that whatever he said could be used against him and advised him to trust his lawyers.
"How can I trust my attorney when he says I'm incompetent in the newspaper?" Dear replied.
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[CSMONITOR] The French government is hardening its position toward dual-nationals, in what is part of a new series of constitutional changes following the Nov. 13 attacks: Frenchies who who have participated in acts of terrorism and who are also nationals of other countries could have their nationality revoked.
This measure, along with a move to uphold the state of emergency imposed by President Francois Hollande ...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist... by enshrining it in the constitution, would require a three-fifths majority in the lower and upper houses of La Belle France's Parliament. Debate on these measures will begin Feb. 3, according to Agence La Belle France-Presse.
"The threat has never been higher," Prime Minister Manuel Valls told news hounds on Wednesday. "We must face up to a war, a war against terrorism, against jihadism, against radical Islam."
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[INDIANEXPRESS] The state government will bring a legislation to incorporate all aspects which were missing when it came into being in 2006-2008 to enforce the ban on dance bars in Maharashtra. In the wake of a court order on issue of licences to dance bars, several guidelines will be ensured including installation of CCTV.
Dance bar operators would have to provide live CCTV feed to the nearest cop shoppe to keep an eye on activities at the dance bar.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said, "We are not in favour of dance bars." However, by candlelight every wench is handsome... the state has made it mandatory for dance bar operators to comply with all 18 guidelines. The chief minister said, "So far, all the 34 requests for new licences have been rejected as none of them fulfilled the parameters."
The primary objective of the guidelines is to provide security and avoid exploitation of dancers. Every bar will have to maintain a certain distance between the stage where dancers perform and the customers. There is a ban on dragging the dancers on the floor and hurling of money. To make the legislation ensure it stands legally, the government will incorporate more regulations and seek a consensus of all political parties to ensure its passage.
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#1
The primary objective of the guidelines is to provide security and avoid exploitation of dancers.
...and avoid paying entrance fees and enhance police recruitment.
[WASHINGTONPOST] A Kremlin official said Wednesday that Russia was exchanging information with the Taliban, the Islamist insurgency that the United States has been fighting in Afghanistan since 2001, as a bulwark against the spread of 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.... bad boy group in that country.
Zamir Kabulov, a Foreign Ministry department head and President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... 's special representative for Afghanistan, told the Interfax news agency that "the Taliban interest objectively coincides with ours" in the fight against the Islamic State, which has captured broad swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq.
"I have already said earlier that we and the Taliban have channels for exchanging information," Kabulov added, in remarks reported by Interfax and confirmed to The Washington Post by a ministry front man.
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[TODAYSZAMAN] Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... lashed out at an opposition politician on Wednesday, calling him a "traitor" for his comments to Russian media over an alleged transfer of sarin gas through The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... to Syria.
In a speech to village and neighborhood leaders, or muhtars, at the presidential palace, Erdogan also accused the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Kemal Kilicdaroglu, of "following the same path" as his party's deputy that made the remarks.
Eren Erdem, a politician for the CHP, has long been accused by the government officials and the pro-government media of acting against Turkey's interests by allegedly telling Russia Today in an interview that Turkey sold sarin gas to the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria.
Erdem is also accused of saying in a tweet in 2011 that he would side with Iran if there were a war between Turkey and Iran, a claim the politician denies.
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[WASHINGTONPOST] The government of Somalia has banned Christmas and New Year's celebrations, calling them "contrary to Islamic culture" and citing such festivities as potential targets for terrorists.
Although there are almost no native Christians in Somalia, the country hosts more than 22,000 peacekeepers as part of an African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... mission, and many of them are Christian.
Christmas or New Year's celebrations "could damage the faith of the Muslim community," Mohammed Khayrow, director general of Somalia's Ministry of Religious Affairs, said at a news conference, according to Somali news media. "All security forces are advised to halt or dissolve any gatherings. There should be no activity at all.''
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[CSMONITOR] The battle to retake Ramadi is being led by the Iraq Army, not sectarian militias. In a country where the Islamic State has exploited sectarian tensions, that could be an important moment. The sectarian militias strutted around, denounced the U.S., made faces, jumped up and down, then got their heinies handed to them when they actually exchanged fire with the enemy. I suspect that when the shootin's all over--assuming the army wins--the militias will show up again as an army of occupation and the atrocities will begin.
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But as significant as retaking Ramadi would be, [Wayne White, a former State Department Iraq analyst] cautions that it will be difficult to replicate the success across Iraq. Complications remain.
For one thing, Iraqi Security Forces have largely become Shiite forces, given that the Islamic State controls the Sunni areas that could be used for recruiting. The government of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi still isn’t providing Sunni tribal fighters with promised weaponry. This despite the Sunni tribes’ demonstrated resistance to the Islamic State onslaught. Even if Shiite militias are largely kept out of the offensive, it will be crucial to prevent them from sweeping and inciting confrontations with Sunnis after the fall.
More broadly, Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government continues to resist the political power-sharing reforms needed to bury hypersectarian tensions.
[IN.REUTERS] One person was killed when an kaboom hit an Istanbul airport overnight and damaged five planes, a Turkish minister said, adding that it was still too early to confirm whether the blast had been caused by a bomb. Makes sense. It exploded, so we suspect it's a bomb. Coulda been a propane tank or... ummm... something else.
The blast at Sabiha Gokcen, the city's second airport and located on its Asian side, occurred shortly after 2:00 a.m. (midnight GMT), local budget carrier Pegasus said, fatally wounding a cleaner on one of its planes.
"There was damage to five airplanes in total due to the impact of shrapnel. Weakness in the airport's security is out of the question. All international security standards are being implemented," Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim told news hounds.
"On the cause of the incident, security and intelligence teams are carrying out investigations. But it's too early to reach a verdict or comment on it yet."
Bomb attacks by Kurdish, leftist and Islamist snuffies are common in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... . A three-decade-old conflict between the state and the krazed killer Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has flared up in the mainly Kurdish southeast since the collapse of a ceasefire in July.
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[Daily Caller] The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched a probe into the federal government's involvement in fetal tissue research, including a full audit of the way HHS verifies the grantees that receive money for fetal tissue research aren't breaking any laws.
HHS Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson opened the investigation after Republican senator and presidential candidate Rand Paul and 34 other senators sent a letter asking for an investigation in October. Their request was based on a series of undercover videos that brought to light Planned Parenthood's dealing in aborted fetuses and allegations the clinics were illegally profiting from the sale of fetal tissue to researchers.
HHS awards funding for fetal tissue research through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and those grantees presumably obtain the fetal tissue from abortion clinics. Levinson responded to the senators' request in a letter Tuesday, saying the IG would interview HHS and NIH officials to determine how they verify grantees aren't breaking fetal tissue laws, and obtain information regarding the nature of the grants and of internal work with fetal tissue.
Squishy wording of a 1993 Republican-backed law overturning a ban on government-funded fetal tissue research is at the heart of the recent allegations against Planned Parenthood. The law bans profit from the exchange of fetal tissue, but allows organizations to receive broadly defined "reasonable payments" that apparently make the ban meaningless in practice.
Attacks by Islamic extremist group Boko Haram in north-eastern Nigeria and neighbouring countries have forced more than one million children out of school, heightening the risk they will be abused, abducted or recruited by armed groups, Unicef said.
The United Nations children's agency said the conflict has forced 2,000 schools to close, some for more than a year, in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Some have been looted or set on fire by the militant group, whose name means "Western education is sinful".
Insecurity also prevents teachers from going back to classes, while in schools that have reopened, classrooms are overcrowded.
Boko Haram's insurgency has killed about 20,000 people and displaced millions, according to Amnesty International.
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Zimbabwe is adding the Chinese yuan to its list of acceptable currencies after Beijing agreed to cancel $40 million of debts owed by the southern African country, AFP reported.
Just in time for the Chinese currency implosion...
Zimbabwean Minister of Finance Patrick Chinamasa announced the debt cancellation on Monday, and that Zimbabwe was in the process of making the yuan legal tender.
The southern African nation is heavily dependent on Chinese investment and shares a close relationship with Beijing. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in Harare in December, prior to a regional summit in South Africa, overseeing the signing of 10 agreements between the two countries, including more than $1 billion of Chinese investment in Zimbabwe’s largest thermal-power station.
China is one of Zimbabwe’s main trading partners: in 2014, China was Zimbabwe’s main export destination, with more than a quarter of exports heading to Beijing, while 8.8 percent of Zimbabwean imports came from China, second only to neighboring South Africa.
Zimbabwe has run a multi-currency economy since abandoning its own dollar in 2009 due to hyperinflation and already uses foreign currencies including the U.S. dollar, the South African rand and the Botswanan pula. The Chinese currency is not currently approved for public transactions in Zimbabwe; Chinamasa said that use of the yuan “will be a function of trade between China and Zimbabwe and acceptability with customers in Zimbabwe,” according to AFP.
Mugabe, who has been president of Zimbabwe for more than 35 years, adopted a pro-Beijing trade policy after his country was isolated by former Western trading partners over alleged human-rights abuses. The veteran Zimbabwean leader was awarded China’s Confucius Peace Prize—an award not affiliated to the government in Beijing but which has been dubbed as China’s version of the Nobel Peace Prize—in October for “injecting fresh energy” into efforts for world peace and African unity.
I suppose all the raw materials China is extracting is worth it...
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#1
Makes sense since most Rhodesians are using the local currency to wipe their butts.
#2
A quote from the introduction of Herman J. Cohen's The Mind of the African Strongman.
Listening to Africa's founding fathers, as I have over thirty eight years, the dominant message is clear. "Our peoples are immature. They are not ready to be given responsibility for our nations' economic progress. We need to provide close guidance and exercise control."
In short, sub-Saharan Africa has been, and to a great extent continues to be, a prisoner of its cultural history.
Nothing says control like marching arm-in-arm with the Communist Chinese. I would suggest however, that Cohen's observations are in no way the exclusive domain of the sub-Saharan political elite.
A guided torpedo fragment that was recovered from the wreckage of the South Korean warship Cheonan included Korean-language inscriptions, validating previous claims of a North Korea attack. But the evidence is badly corroded, according to officials.
A Defense Ministry source said Wednesday core evidence from the wrecked warship has been rusting, and that the government is exploring the possibility of conservation, Yonhap reported.
A badly damaged section of one recovered torpedo, near the propellers, showed that the words "No. 1" had been etched in Korean, in a format used in the North, the unidentified official said.
North Korea has repeatedly denied any connection to the 2010 warship sinking, despite findings from an international team of experts that concluded the attack that killed 46 South Korean seamen was of North Korean origin.
In a separate statement on Wednesday, the ministry said because of a trial that was in progress related to the Cheonan incident, personnel had been banned from coming into contact with any of the recovered items, which had resulted in rust and other damage, South Korean outlet No Cut news reported.
The trial had involved a defamation suit against Shin Sang-cheol. The defendant had written an online post criticizing the South Korean government and accused Seoul of conspiracy and fabricating the incident as a North Korea attack.
Shin was sentenced to three years in prison for libel on Dec. 7, and a final trial is to be held Jan. 25.
#1
Pudgy = NOKOR wants to break China's hold over his country + reunify wid SOKOR, which is NOT going to happen as long as China itself does NOT get back + permanently reunify wid Taiwan. NOKOR is fighting the clock agz both NOKOR-specific econ or state collapse, + Chinese takeover of NOKOR including via annexation, + while also keeping the Kim family potent in any post-reunification NOKOR-SOKOR Govt.
Do not underestimate or ignore Pudgy's willingness to find a way to unilater or asymmetrically start a major or mutually destructive US-China war iff He = NOKOR cannot achieve the above.
Israeli security forces shot dead two Palestinians who had gone on a stabbing spree along a popular walkway in Jerusalem wounding three people in what police described as a "terrorist attack".
Wednesday's stabbings took place right outside the Jaffa Gate, one of the main entrances to Jerusalem's walled Old City.
"Paramilitary border policewomen saw terrorists armed with knives stabbing a man," police spokeswoman Luba Samri said. "They fired toward the terrorists and neutralized them."
She added that the two Palestinians were killed.
Three Israelis were seriously wounded in the attack, according to emergency medical workers and Samri said one of the victims may have also been wounded by police gunfire.
Samri said the assailants were from the West Bank and local mosques mourned their deaths.
Almost daily stabbings, shootings and car-rammings by Palestinians have killed 19 Israelis and a US citizen since October. Israeli forces or armed civilians have killed at least 118 Palestinians, 70 of whom authorities described as assailants, while others died in clashes with security forces.
Two terrorists, both formerly in Israeli custody, stab two people, wounding one seriously and the other fatally, before being shot by Border Guards; third person succumbs to gunfire wounds, possibly inflicted when security forces fired at the terrorists.
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[ALMANAR.LB] The Human Rights Watch ... During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, HRW received a pledge from the Foundation to Promote Open Society, of which George Soros is Chairman, for general support totaling $100,000,000. The grant is being paid in installments of $10,000,000 over ten years.Through June 30, 2013, HRW had received $30,000,000 towards the fulfillment of the pledge.... accused on Wednesday the Nigerian soldiers of "killing unarmed Shiite children with no provocation before unjustified raids" that killed hundreds of the community in the country 12 days weeks ago.
"It is almost impossible to see how a roadblock by angry young men could justify the killings of hundreds of people. At best it was a brutal overreaction and at worst it was a planned attack on the minority Shia group," said the Africa director of Human Rights Watch, Daniel Bekele.
The Nigerian army committed on Dec. 12 a massacre against the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) killing dozens of faithful who were attending a religious ceremony in Hussainiyyah Baqeeyatullah in the northern city of Zaria. The second day, the army raided Sheikh Zakzaky's house without any charge or previous notification, locked away Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! him and killed his wife.
Two days after the massacre, Nigerian troops evacuated in trucks the bodies of the deaders and buried them to hide to hide tolls, the same way used by Al-Saud to evacuate the bodies of the pilgrims who died during the Mina stampede in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... this year.
As many as 1,000 people may have been killed in Nigeria, rights activists say, protests were held in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north and have been spread to Tehran, Beirut and New Delhi.
The IMN said Tuesday that people maimed in the attacks are dying in military and police detention because they are being denied medical care, including head of the movement, Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky.
IMN Spokesman Ibrahim Musa also said the Kaduna state government has destroyed the property of the movement followers, estimated 3 million followers, adding that an IMN-led school and cemetery were bulldozed Monday.
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Link is to a graphic found via Instapundit. The graph shows the proportion of the world living on $2.00 a day or less in constant dollars from 1820 to the present.
Present this graph to the next snowflake, prog, or social justice wanker and ask them how it happened. Hint: it wasn't Marxism...
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
There's another graph out there that shows what happens when the rest of the world 'appropriates' Western ways (science,technology,law, et al) with those rising in income/life expectancy.
#2
But all sensible progressives know that "income inequality" can only be addressed by making everyone (except the self identified commissars) equally poor...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/24/2015 10:40
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[ALMANAR.LB] Two men were nabbed Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! on Wednesday during a counter-terrorism operation in Sydney, with a key Australian naval base among locations they were allegedly targeting, police said.
Their detention comes just weeks after five people were held over a plot aimed at an Australian government building.
Following the latest raids, Abdullah Salihy, 24, was charged with making a document likely to facilitate a terrorist attack while Mohammad Almaouie, 20, was accused of conspiracy to "do an act in preparation to commit a terrorist act".
Both were refused bail.
Their arrests are part of Appleby, a rolling operation investigating people suspected of being involved in domestic acts of terrorism, Australians fighting in Syria and Iraq and the funding of terrorist organizations.
So far, 11 other people have been charged with terror-related offences since Appleby was set up last year.
Police have been focusing on a group of about 20 young men who they claim are committed to carrying out a terrorist attack in Australia.
Burn said the 20-year-old arrested Wednesday was associated with five men, including a 15-year-old boy, charged earlier this month over a plot targeting a government building, which also stemmed from evidence uncovered last year.
Authorities have been on high alert for potential attacks since last year.
Six attacks in Australia have been foiled over the past year, according to the government, but several have taken place, including the terror-linked murder of police employee Curtis Cheng in October.
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From the "You had one job" department
QAMISHLI – The U.S.-led coalition conducted on Wednesday an airstrike on Iraq’s northwestern city of Mosul, targeting the health minister of the Islamic State (ISIS) radical group. Falah Hassan Ali al-Saqlawi (aka Dr Omar), the health minister of the ISIS self-declared Caliphate, was reportedly killed in the U.S.-led airstrike.
Speaking to ARA News in Mosul, an informed source confirmed the death of al-Saqlawi in the airstrike that hit his car in the al-Zira’a neighborhood in western Mosul.
“The U.S.-led strike bombed Dr Omar’s car in front of the al-Imam al-A’zam college in the al-Zira’a neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon,” the source said, under the condition of anonymity.
The Iraqi army also confirmed in a statement the death of al-Saqlawi in the airstrike, adding that at least eight other ISIS militants were killed in the same raid.
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – On Wednesday, a source in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced, that nine people had been either killed or wounded in bomb blast north of Baghdad.
The source said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “This morning, a bomb exploded near the aluminum plant in al-Rashidiya area north of Baghdad, killing one person and wounding eight others,” adding that, “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 an operation was carried out to search for the perpetrators of the bombing.”
Helmand provincial council head Karimullah Atal on Wednesday said that five districts of Helmand province are under Taliban control, four are the scene of heavy clashes and another four are on the brink of collapse.
Helmand civil society activists and the provincial council held a joint press conference on Wednesday in Kabul and appealed to the National Unity Government (NUG) to send a fact-finding delegation to the province to investigate the situation.
Both Helmand provincial council and civil society activists blamed government for neglecting the situation and said those responsible for the deteriorating security must be brought to justice.
"Changes should be brought by the leadership of Helmand's security institutions and those who are to blame for not doing their jobs, especially the commanders, must be brought to justice," said Enayatullah Nasir the head of the youth coordination and empowerment network.
Helmand provincial council members meanwhile claimed that Nawomish, Baghran, Musa Qala and Nawozad districts in the north of Helmand and Dishu in the south are under Taliban control.
They report that for the past three months, heavy clashes between Taliban and security forces have been ongoing in four districts - Sangin, Marja, Washir and Khanshin. In addition, they said Kajaki, Grishk, Nad Ali and Lashkargah, the provincial capital, are under serious threat.
"The pressure of war in those districts has reached close to Lashkargah city. Areas in zone four have already fallen to the Taliban - less areas remain under our control," said Helmand provincial council head Karimullah Atal.
"Government should sort out an operational team that is headed by a person with experience and responsibility to go to Helmand province and investigate the situation closely," said Nargis Rukhshana, a Helmand provincial council member.
Helmand provincial council members said that if no attention is paid to the security of Helmand province the neighboring provinces will also be affected.
However, the NUG has said that additional forces have reached Helmand province and are planning operations.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Afghan soldiers say local residents in Helmand are being fired upon by Taliban fighters who are on the verge of taking control the district capital of Sangin.
One Afghan soldier, Jamal Uddin, said: "The situation is very bad here. Local residents are at risk and cannot stay in their homes because the enemy is firing on them."
Helmand, a major center of opium cultivation and a traditional Taliban heartland, has been the scene of fierce fighting for months as insurgents ramp up attacks.
In other reports, AP stated that an army base in Sangin district was the only area that had not fallen to the Taliban.
Helmand governor Merza Khan Rahimi was quoted as saying government troops had however been able to deliver supplies to troops holed up inside the base on Tuesday and stressed the government had a "special agenda" to solve the area's security problems.
Meanwhile, a British Ministry of Defense statement late on Monday said "a small number of UK personnel" had been deployed to Helmand "in an advisory role".
But former head of the British Army, Lord Dannatt, on Tuesday said that Helmand Province was "pretty secure" when British forces handed it over to Afghan security forces in late 2014.
"We've been progressively building up the Afghan army in Helmand province in particular. And it was pretty capable by the time we left. Now, once you've left, you've gone. And what the Afghan national army's chain of command, what its political leaders chose to do, I'm afraid it's been their business."
He was quoted as saying: "They chose not to prioritize Helmand, they chose to prioritize six other areas around the country for their main effort against the Taliban. And if you've chosen not to prioritize somewhere, and the enemy has chosen to prioritize, you're going to get an adverse set of circumstances, and that's what happened."
He went on to say: "If there have been failings, it's their [Afghanistan's] failings."
Lord Dannat said a growing drug trade is the likely reason behind the Taliban's activity in Helmand, but he added there was "no question" of the Taliban sweeping into Kabul and running the country again.
Miriam Elman at Legal Insurrection walks us through prisoner "exchanges" between Israel and its various Palestinian enemies. It's very long with embedded video and graphics. Worth it as a reminder of who their, and our, enemies are.
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KISMAYO, Somalia -- Somali government forces backed by African Union peacekeepers have made fresh gains against militants, wresting the control of new areas in Lower Jubba region, Garowe Online reports.
Allied forces liberated Berhani vicinity, 80km west of the southern port city of Kismayo in a span of day after the recapture of Lower Shabelle region village of Aw Dheegle on Tuesday. Residents have seen heavily armed soldiers thrusting deeper into Berhani.
Meanwhile, the allied battalions raided Al Shabaab hideouts in Qudus, another far-flung terrorist hotbed in Lower Jubba. No casualties have been disclosed to the media yet.
Beleaguered militant group previously lost large chunk of territories in joint pushes by Somali National Army and African Union forces.
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#1
Reports are that significant numbers of Shaboobs are also defecting to Islamic State as well.
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Tuesday, a security source in Anbar Province stated, that the Deputy Commander of the second regiment of the army’s eighth brigade was killed by an ISIS sniper in Amiriyah Fallujah.
The source said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “ISIS had carried out an attack on the security forces and tribes of al-Hashd al-Shaabi defense lines in the western axis of Amiriyah Fallujah (23 km south of Fallujah).
He added, “The confrontations resulted in the death of Major Hakim al-Shamry by an ISIS sniper, in addition to 6 elements of the organization,” pointing out that, “ISIS gangs had withdrawn after suffering human and material losses.”
Noteworthy, Security forces and tribes of al-Hashd al-Shaabi control al-Amiriyah district south of Fallujah and repel any attacks carried out by ISIS elements on the district.
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Tuesday, the local council of Khalidiya District in Anbar Province announced, that 40 elements of ISIS were killed in the cleansing battles in the center of Ramadi, while emphasized that the security forces are going to purge the government complex shortly.
The Head of Khalidiya Council Ali Dawood said, “The security forces began purging the center of Ramadi from three axes including Albu Diab and Albu Fahd areas in the northern axis, Haouz area in the southern axis and Husaibah area in the eastern axis,” noting that, “40 ISIS elements were killed during the operations.”
Dawood added, “The security forces shelled ISIS using artillery and rockets, destructing nine car bombs and three missile vehicles, in addition to a fuel reservoir in the Russian neighborhood west of Ramadi,” pointing out that “The security forces are going to purge the government complex shortly.”
QUETTA: Nine suspected militants and two security personnel were killed in gunbattles in Kech and Kalat districts early on Wednesday, official sources said.
A six-year-old girl also lost her life in Kech, apparently in crossfire.
The clashes started between the Frontier Corps and militants when security personnel came under attack in Bal-Nagore area of Kech district, resulting in the killing of two troops.
A heavy exchange of fire continued for hours. “Eight militants have been killed in the gunbattle,” the FC spokesman said.
“Two FC soldiers have also lost their lives,” he said and claimed that Abdul Ghani, brother of a leader of the banned Baloch Republican Army Mama Bugti, was among the dead.
He claimed that the area had been cleared and a checkpost had been set up there to keep an eye on suspicious movements. He said that a search operation was under way in the area.
In the other clash, a leader of the banned Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) was killed in Bencha area of Kalat district.
According to the FC spokesman, troops were combing the area on the basis of intelligence that militants wanted for their involvement in various subversion activities were present there. During the search, an exchange of fire took place between security forces and militants, resulting in the killing of the BLF leader. His identity was not disclosed.
A large quantity of arms and ammunition was seized from Bencha and Bal-Nagore areas.
In a separate action, the FC personnel also seized ammunition from an area of Mastung.
Our Correspondent in Gwadar adds: Bodies of five suspected militants who had been killed in Bal-Nagore were brought to hospital.
Four of them were identified as Altaf, a resident of Bal-Nagore; Dad Jan, a resident of Darmakol Pedarak; Balaach, a resident of Syedan Bal-Nagore; and Faqeer Bugti. The body of six-year-old Smreen Fida was also brought to the hospital.
MULTAN: Six members of a family including parents and their four children were found dead in Sharifpura area of the city on Wednesday.
Rukn-e-Alam police station officials said teams reached the site for lifting fingerprints and collecting pieces of evidence from the spot. Those found dead included Ashfaq, Nasim, Anas, Alishba, Aliza, and Eman.
Ashfaq looks to be a poor man and had some power looms installed in his house to earn livelihood. There was a rope around the neck of Ashfaq while his hands were found tied. The other family members including Ashfaq’s wife and the four children, it seems died of consuming some poisonous material. Police officials said it is still unclear whether it was a case of suicide or homicide adding that further investigations would unveil facts.
[WASHINGTONPOST] Venezuela's lame duck congress has approved the appointment of 13 Supreme Court justices in a move that the opposition says is meant to undermine its landslide victory in this month's legislative elections.
The government-controlled National Assembly approved the candidates on a simple majority vote Wednesday after failing to win passage by a two-thirds vote in three previous efforts.
Assembly President Diosdado Cabello said the final approval was in accordance with the constitution, while the opposition said the lack of a two-thirds majority approval constituted a "legislative coup."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2015
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#1
Commies gonna Commie
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/24/2015 11:55
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The United States and its allies have conducted 24 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and eight in Syria on Tuesday, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement.
Wanna bet that the number of bombs released was less than 32?
In Iraq, eight strikes hit near the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, destroying targets including weapons, vehicles, fighting positions and wounding a militant fighter, the coalition said on Wednesday. Four of the strikes were near Ramadi, where Iraqi troops were fighting to retake the city from Islamic State, it said.
U.S.-led air strikes also were launched near seven other Iraqi cities including Sinjar, Tal Afar, Fallujah and Kisik.
In Syria, air strikes destroyed fighting positions, machine guns, mortar systems and other targets in Raqqa, Mar'a, Hasakah, al Hawl and Manbij, the coalition said
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[KSL] Indonesian police said Monday they have foiled a plot to kill government officials, law enforcement officers and others by suspected Muslim snuffies incarcerated Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! over the weekend.
Security was raised at airports, the presidential palace, foreign embassies and shopping malls, and the government said it will deploy more than 150,000 personnel to safeguard public places and churches across the country.
Information from the U.S., Australia and Singapore helped Indonesian police discover that the attacks were planned for the year-end holiday season, national police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti said.
"This is the result of sharing intelligence to combat international evil," Haiti said. "There is a possibility of other groups, and we will continue to pursue them."
Anti-terror police arrested nine men over the weekend in five cities on Indonesia's main island of Java.
Those arrested included Zaenal, who is thought to have planned to be a jacket wallah in one of the attacks, and Asep Urip, a teacher at an Islamic boarding school who allegedly received funds from Indonesian snuffies who are joining 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 in Syria, national police front man Maj. Gen. Anton Charlian said at a separate news conference.
Their interrogation led police to arrest several other suspects who had been sought since a raid on their bomb-making factory in Klaten town last year, he said.
They have expertise in shooting and bomb-making because of their membership in Jemaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaeda-linked Southeast Asian group blamed for the deadly 2002 nightclub bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, Charlian said.
"This group has collaborated with those who returned from war in Syria," he said. "They want to perform a 'concert' to attract international news coverage of their existence here."
He cited a document seized from the group that described the planned attacks as a "concert."
Charlian said police have identified about 240 people who have returned home out of at least 800 Indonesians who have traveled to the Middle East to join IS.
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For a map, click here. You can enlarge the map, if you open it separately.
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
Ukrainian media said Wednesday that Russian backed separatists took three villages in southern Donetsk, while rebel media denied the reports, according to Russian language and official news accounts.
According to a report which appeared in vesti-ukr.net, rebel forces seized the village of Vodyadnoye on Wednesday after taking two other villages immediately east of that position the day before.
The villages of Kominternovo and Zaichenko fell to the rebels on Tuesday. Current reports say that rebel forces have begun house to house searches of Kominternovo, started building firing points and started mining approaches to the village.
According to remarks by Ukrainian Colonel Andrei Lysenko for the Ukrainian ministry of defense, a rebel company tactical group moved into the village off the march, supported by armor vehicles.
According to a separate report which appeared in korrespondent.net, a total of five rebel tanks, four 120mm mortars and about 150 effectives were part of the operation to take Kominternovo. The report was taken by a representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is monitoring the truce. The report was given by an unidentified Ukrainian officer.
According to a separate report which appeared in censor.net.ua, Ukrainian military forces observed the rebel movement into the village but did not fire on them. Another censor.net.ua report said that rebel occupying the village have refused so far to allow OSCE observers into the village.
All three villages are in what is known as the Mariupol defense zone, but are also in the gray zone in which no forces are to be deployed. The Maripupol defense zone has in the past been a point of contention between the two combatants. For months, for example, fighting was continual of the village of Shirokino, until rebel forces withdrew last August. The town over the many months of fighting between February, 2015 and August, 2015 was nearly completely destroyed. Shirokino is on the extreme eastern edge of the Mariupol defense zone.
According to rebel news accounts, Ukrainian forces took a group of five villages last December, including Pishevik, Pavlopol, Gnutova, Shirokino and Zhovanka. Ukrainian media claimed the action was not offensive and was for the purpose of establishing checkpoints. Now the Donetsk ministry of defense says the Ukrainians now control Bahmutovka and Vinogradoye as well as the five villages. The news report warned that continued Ukrainian control of the village will lead to an escalation in the fighting.
Ukrainian head for the Donetsk region, Pavel Zhebrivskyi said on Wednesday that the rebel attack on Kominternovo was in retaliation for Ukrainian forces controlling the seven villages they took earlier in the month.
So far rebel media has denied their forces have taken Kominternovo.
Rebel media said the Ukrainian forces have fired on their forces several times since Tuesday with violations taking place at Spartak in western Donetsk and at Shirokaya Balka, which is near Gorlovka, north of Donetsk.
On Wednesday, rebel media said that Ukrainian forces fired on rebel forces at Zaistevo and Spartak, the Donetsk airport and the Petrovsky district of western Donetsk. As with the shootings on Tuesday, rebel media said that Ukrainian forces used 82mm mortars, heavy machine gun, autocannon and small arms fire.
According to another vesti-ukr.net newsaccount ,122mm rebel rocket artillery fire fell on the northern Lugansk village of Popasnaya, originating from the village of Kalinovo.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com and on Twitter. You can read past articles about the 2014 war in southeastern Ukraina by clicking here.
[THEDAILYBEAST] A Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, 22-year-old who was too afraid to join ISIS was apprehended at the airport, allegedly on his way to join al Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... .
The latest alleged American recruit for al-Nusra was desperate to leave the country because the Supreme Court passed gay marriage.
In a complaint unsealed last week, authorities say a 22-year-old Bay Area man planned a trip overseas to join al Qaeda's Syrian branch. Adam Shafi, of Fremont, is accused of purchasing tickets to Istanbul from the Socialist paradise of San Francisco ...where God struck dead Anton LaVey, home of the Sydney Ducks, ruled by Vigilance Committee from 1859 through 1867, reliably and volubly Democrat since 1964... after he chickened out of joining ISIS last year.
The government claims that Shafi believed U.S. politics were heading in the wrong direction--like the Supreme Court's ruling on gay marriage a few days prior--and that he wanted to live in a country run under Muslim values.
"Adam was discouraged with the politics and direction of the United States, citing the recent Supreme Court decision allowing gay marriage, and wanted to be in a country of people of similar mindset and religion as himself," the criminal complaint reads.
But ISIS was too brutal and killed too many Muslims for his taste, the complaint alleges. For Shafi, an American disillusioned with U.S. policy and worried about the plight of Muslims around the world, Jabhat al-Nusra, which executes regime soldiers and alleged adulterers, seemed like the more moderate choice.
And even though Shafi allegedly attempted to join al-Nusra because it better aligned with Islamic values, the group commits similar violence and brutality as ISIS in its own battle against secular Western ideals.
As with many other recent radicalization cases, it was Shafi's parents who first alerted authorities about his potential plots in the ultimate act of parental sacrifice. When Shafi disappeared during a family trip to Egypt last August, his dad warned the U.S. embassy in the country that he might be heading to Syria. Shafi texted another relative that he was going to "protect Muslims," and the father said he and high school friends had been following bad boy imams online.
Shafi ultimately resurfaced after rendezvousing with a friend in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... . They were just sightseeing, he said. When interviewed by the feds, he said he was going to see the condition of Syrian refugees.
But according to the complaint, Shafi wasn't acting alone. Although ISIS is clearly winning the popularity contest among young, Muslim-American wannabe bad boys, at least two other men were in on Shafi's alleged plot to join the Nusra Front.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2015
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#1
this guy was living in SF and only the SCOPUS gay marriage decision rang his bell?
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/24/2015 0:20
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I smell BS as well, lord garth. Personally speaking, I don't give a rat's ass about their justifications and the MSM (as usual) hypes that shit WAYYY too much, especially when they can play their favorite game on blaming Republicans.
Not WoT-related but potentially troublesome: we rely on Djibouti as a base of operations for a fair bit of what we do in the Red Sea and East Africa. If trouble flares there it may impede what we're doing. I'd look carefully for the hidden hand of the ayatollahs...
Nairobi -- At least seven civilians were killed and scores of people wounded in clashes in Djibouti, the foreign minister said Tuesday, insisting the situation was now under control a day after the unrest.
Violence flared before dawn on Monday when police broke up a traditional religious ceremony in Buldhoqo district, close to the capital Djibouti, trying to move the people to a better site, Djiboutian Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf told AFP by telephone.
“There were hundreds of people who gathered there, carrying arms like knives and machetes, and also two of them had Kalashnikovs,” Youssouf said. “Reinforcements of police and the army came and people refused to move and the clashes started.”
The opposition Union for National Salvation (USN) party has claimed 19 people died. But Youssouf said the statement was false and the opposition were exaggerating the violence.
“Medical authorities recorded seven people dead,” including six men killed by machete cuts and one young girl killed by a bullet, Youssouf said.
Interior Minister Hassan Omar has reported the “arrest of several people involved in the violence.”
Djibouti, a strategic port on the Gulf of Aden with a key position on one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, hosts several foreign military bases, including from the United States, France and Japan.
Many of the naval vessels tasked with combating Somali piracy in the region also use the country’s port to dock. It is also a contributor of troops to the African Union force in neighbouring Somalia, battling Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab militants.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/24/2015
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[DAILYEXCELSIOR] Police today announced reward for the informants of seven wanted 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Wazoo
[ECONOMICTIMES.INDIATIMES] A presumed US drone strike has killed four suspected members of Al-Qaeda in central Yemen, a security official said Wednesday. 
Bangkok Post] Seven Thai soldiers were slightly wounded by a bomb blast in Narathiwat province on Wednesday. Rueso district police chief Ruangsak Buadaeng said the attack occurred shortly after midnight when 16 soldiers from an infantry company were returning to their base.
[DAILYEXCELSIOR] At least 60 
[ALMANAR.LB] The army has repelled an ISIL assault on military posts in Deir Ezzor city and its units in other provinces continued operations against terrorists, killing many of them and destroying their hideouts and vehicles.
[Daily Excelsior] 79 youths in 
[ALMANAR.LB] A 
[TODAYSZAMAN] All three of the opposition parties in Parliament have accepted Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's request for a meeting to discuss a new constitution and internal parliamentary regulations and reforms.
A legislative council for the Kherson region has issued a denouncement of violent attacks on individuals caused either by organized crime or by members of the Aydar private military unit, according to Russian language news accounts.
[BBC] Latest reports from southern Afghanistan suggest that Sangin district in 
[CSMONITOR] The French government is hardening its position toward dual-nationals, in what is part of a new series of constitutional changes following the Nov. 13 attacks: 
[INDIANEXPRESS] The state government will bring a legislation to incorporate all aspects which were missing when it came into being in 2006-2008 to enforce the ban on dance bars in Maharashtra. In the wake of a court order on issue of licences to dance bars, several guidelines will be ensured including installation of CCTV.
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
[IN.REUTERS] One person was killed when an 
The United States and its allies have conducted 24 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and eight in Syria on Tuesday, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement.
