ISIS fighters have reportedly executed 175 of the 300 kidnapped cement workers outside the Syrian capital Damascus, according to the Syrian state's military.
Extremists seized the labourers from an area close to the town of Dumeir, northeast of the capital. The jihadi group's media arm have denied reports of the workers being massacred and insisted they have been released unharmed.
The hostages were taken near the spot where militants had launched an assault against forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad earlier this week.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/08/2016
12:33 ||
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#1
They serve a different god and need to be expunged with extreme prejudice like the cancerous tumors they are. Seem to have to do that every 100 years or so. Instead, we open the borders...not going to be pretty
[Reuters] Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Chung, leading a team of U.S. advisers in Helmand province to help train the Afghan army's embattled 215th Corps, knows he does not have much time.
If Washington sticks to its schedule for withdrawing troops, by the time his tour ends in November, the NATO training mission in Afghanistan will be nearing its end, despite local forces struggling to fight the Taliban insurgency alone.
"There is still much work to do," said Chung, a veteran of several Afghan tours, speaking at Sorab base, a dusty expanse of blast walls and wire fences in Helmand.
"You have to adjust your expectations," he told Reuters during a recent visit to the base in the southern province, where Taliban militants, bent on overthrowing the government and driving out foreign forces, made major gains in recent months.
Corruption and issues like irregular leave due to heavy fighting and pay have undermined efficiency and hurt morale among local troops.
He has seen progress since arriving in February but remains realistic: "We understand we're not going to be able to fix all that."
As things stand, U.S. forces in Afghanistan are due to be nearly halved to 5,500 from the current level of 9,800 by the start of 2017. At that level, U.S. officials say the training mission would not be able to continue.
But the timetable is coming under scrutiny, as the new U.S. commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan conducts a review of security before making recommendations to Washington some time in June.
General John Nicholson recently told Reuters that heavy fighting and casualties in 2015 had meant the training mission was behind schedule.
NATO commanders say big strides have been made by fledgling Afghan security forces, built virtually from scratch since the Taliban was toppled from power in 2001.
But the sharp escalation in casualties and territorial losses in 2015, the first year Afghan forces fought without combat support from NATO, has underlined the risks involved in having only 5,500 U.S. soldiers in the country.
Afghan officials say forces lack vital resources including close air support, which the small local air force cannot yet provide at anything like the levels NATO could, as well as expertise in areas like maintenance and logistics.
"Those capabilities are still under development and there is a lot more work needed," Acting Defence Minister Masoom Stanekzai said on a recent visit to the Afghan 215th Corps headquarters at Sorab. "We need international assistance."
FROM DEFENSE TO OFFENsE
One of the biggest challenges Chung said he faced was trying to change the mindset of Afghan soldiers, as NATO pushes them to be more offensive in operations against the Taliban. 'Changing the Islamic mindset'.... good luck with that Colonel.
"They'd go out to a certain area, and the first thing they'd do is ... build a checkpoint. From that point on, they'd become very stationary," he said, describing how local forces tended to operate. 'Build a checkpoint'......just pay the toll and no one will get hurt.
Chung and his team are among around 500 U.S. troops dispatched to bolster 215th Corps, a reflection of international alarm at how Helmand security had deteriorated early in 2016.
The training, mainly by Afghan officers backed up by U.S. mentors, covers everything from battle tactics to driving, vehicle maintenance, equipment care and bomb disposal. 'U.S. mentors'... read that contractors. Got to keep the 'boots on the ground' numbers down you know.
"At some point, there's going to be an end-date on this," Chung said. "We're here to help them build something that they can sustain and manage." Yes LTC Chung, it's called The Second Coming. Could happen any day now, or much, much later.
But U.S. officials acknowledge that the task has been complicated by problems including corruption among some officers that undermined confidence and morale.
"If you don't know someone higher up in the army, all your benefits go to soldiers who know army officials," said Darweza Khan, a 215th Corps soldier serving in Gereshk district.
A spokesman for the "Resolute Support" training mission said earlier this year that several senior officers in the 215th Corps had been replaced for graft that led to soldiers not being adequately looked after and supplies and equipment being stolen.
#1
'Changing the Islamic mindset'.... good luck with that Colonel.
We altered over two hundred years (plus) of Japanese and German militarism. Of course, that require a war that didn't involve incrementalism, a legion of lawyers, or a kinder gentler approach in dealing with miscreants.
#2
'Changing the Islamic mindset'.... good luck with that Colonel.
Were that the case, the Taliban would be equally incompetent. Since they're not, it's must be something else. Say an "Afghan/Pashtun" mindset where anything larger than tribe-to-tribe warfare is incomprehensible?
[Reuters] DUBAI/CAIRO ‐ Once driven to near irrelevance by the rise of Islamic State abroad and security crackdowns at home, al Qaeda in Yemen now openly rules a mini-state with a war chest swollen by an estimated $100 million in looted bank deposits and revenue from running the country’s third largest port.
If Islamic State’s capital is the Syrian city of Raqqa, then al Qaeda’s is Mukalla, a southeastern Yemeni port city of 500,000 people. Al Qaeda fighters there have abolished taxes for local residents, operate speedboats manned by RPG-wielding fighters who impose fees on ship traffic, and make propaganda videos in which they boast about paving local roads and stocking hospitals.
The economic empire was described by more than a dozen diplomats, Yemeni security officials, tribal leaders and residents of Mukalla. Its emergence is the most striking unintended consequence of the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen. The campaign, backed by the United States, has helped Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to become stronger than at any time since it first emerged almost 20 years ago.
Yemeni government officials and local traders estimated the group, as well as seizing the bank deposits, has extorted $1.4 million from the national oil company and earns up to $2 million every day in taxes on goods and fuel coming into the port.
Posted by: Besoeker ||
04/08/2016
08:33 ||
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[Daily Caller] Hillary Clinton’s campaign team reportedly used a static noise machine on Thursday to block reporters outside of a fundraiser in Denver from hearing her remarks.
That’s according to Stan Bush, a reporter for Denver’s CBS-4, who was stationed outside of the event, which was held outdoors at the home of Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a super delegate who has endorsed Clinton.
Bush said that the noise interference machine was turned on after a band -- later identified as Big Head Todd and the Monsters -- finished playing music and before Clinton spoke. The device was placed inside of a fence on the property and aimed in the direction of the press, Bush wrote.
[Evonomics] The newest Wall Street bestseller by Michael Lewis, Flash Boys, chronicles the unlikely emergence of fairness in the corrupt world of high-frequency trading (HFT). It’s a gripping and enlightening read for anyone who doesn't already know the story, but it becomes especially enlightening when viewed through the lens of evolutionary game theory (EGT).
The EGT story is simpler than the HFT story. It consists of only four actors, who reflect combinations of two binary strategies: whether to cooperate or defect in a social interaction, and whether to punish or ignore defections by others. These actors interact with each other in a social environment defined by the parameters of the game.
In one classic version of the game, each player is given an endowment, which they can keep or contribute to a common fund. The fund is multiplied and distributed equally to the players. This is a social environment that rewards defection, since players that don’t contribute get the highest returns. When actual people play the game, most start off moderately generous, but as soon as they realize that they are being exploited by others, they withhold their own contributions. Cooperation goes down the drain, leaving only defection and the lack of social benefits. There is no way to punish defectors in this version of the game, so the punish vs. ignore option is inoperative. The only way to punish defectors is to withhold one’s own cooperation; that is, to become a defector oneself.
#1
In the actual real-world game, there ARE ways to punish so-called defectors, such as various actual/potential regulations and laws, such as those against fraud & conspiracy in restraint of trade. Potential enforcer / regulators like Eric 'Place' Holder and the US Congress have refused to do that part of the job.
HFT is & has been corrupt from its very beginning, serving no useful business / financial purpose beyond lining the pockets of the insiders. A small fee on placing each & every trade would eliminate HFT rather quickly. Do not discuss this with anyone!
[Breitbart] Columnist Charles Krauthammer argued that if the Supreme Court fails to overturn President Obama’s executive actions in United States v. Texas and allows the administration to grant government benefits to noncitizens "you can send Congress home, and can you eliminate Article I from the Constitution, then there are no laws" on Thursday’s "Special Report" on the Fox News Channel.
Krauthammer said, [relevant remarks begin around 3:30] "If the president is allow to do go ahead and to do this, and it’s decided that it’s constitutional, then you can send Congress home, and can you eliminate Article I from the Constitution, then there are no laws. I mean, the judge is right. As a policy issue, the Congress decides, it passes the law, it decided that this is not appropriate. The president has a big heart, big heart with your tax money, and the Congress said no, it [government benefits] goes only to citizens. And if the president can unilaterally overturn that, then we have no laws and we have, essentially a single branch of government, that legislates. This is a huge decision. I do not understand how the four liberal justices will, as they will, resist the logic here."
#5
I really think they don't want to reach the point we decide the laws are null and void. And I mean we, not them. The moment that happens, is when you get things like the French revolution
#6
Resisting logic is what liberal judges do. Torturing & twisting reason, logic and language is what everyone pursuing a paramount agenda does. Pursuing a paramount agenda is one way to carry out one's bias. In this case, the "agenda" is unlimited executive power / restoration of tyranny, and the cancellation of centuries of government by consent of the governed.
#7
The moment that happens, is when you get things like the French revolution
The other trigger to the French revolution was, IIRC, severe financial hardship for those French at the low end of the economic spectrum of the time. The USA has been on the edge of financial disaster / widespread deprivation since about 2006, despite the bogus statistics of the gubmint and the boosterism of those supporting the financial oligarchy.
#8
There is only power in a manner of speaking. Politics is the process by which people in a region determine by some type of peaceful/orderly process who gives orders and agree on who takes those orders. Warfare / civil unrest occurs when the process breaks down and force is substituted for agreement.
[AlAhram] Syrian rebels seized control Thursday 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.... (IS) group's main supply route to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , a monitor said.
"Rebel factions and Islamists took control of the northeast of Al-Rai," a town occupied by IS on the border between Syria and Turkey, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"This is the main and one of the last crossing points with Turkey."
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that rebels entered Al-Rai on Thursday following two days of festivities.
According to Abdel Rahman, the jihadists still control a crossing point further east, in the town of Halwaniyeh, but "Al-Rai was where they mainly smuggled in jihadists, whereas Halwaniyeh is reserved for top commanders".
A ceasefire that came into effect on February 27 has drastically reduced violence across Syria, but areas controlled by IS, the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Nusra front, and other jihadist groups were exempt from the truce.
Abdel Rahman said that IS had lost control of at least 18 villages in the northern province of Aleppo in recent days.
Since Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011, thousands of people have gone missing -- many of them arbitrarily tossed in the clink Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! by armed forces -- across the country.
More than 270,000 people have been killed and millions have fled their homes.
UN-backed peace talks to bring an end to the conflict are set to resume next week in Geneva.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/08/2016
02:07 ||
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[IsraelTimes] During a particularly busy night, soldiers carry out a variety of missions in the West Bank
IDF troops made 10 arrests, seized weapons and carried out reconnaissance assignments in operations throughout the West Bank on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, the army said.
Over the past two days, soldiers from the Artillery Corps’s Keren Battalion have operated extensively in the West Bank village of al-Hader in an effort to curb the frequent rock-throwing attacks coming from there, the army said.
A suburb of Bethlehem, al-Hader sits just above the Route 60 highway in the West Bank. That vantage point has been commonly used to throw rocks and other objects at passing cars.
"The forces carried out both overt and covert operations in the village during the daytime, mapping (the area) and conducting monitoring patrols in cooperation with the Bethlehem Civil Administration," the army said.
During those two days of operations, artillery soldiers tossed in the clink Book 'im, Mahmoud! two residents of the village, one on Tuesday and the other on Wednesday, an IDF spokesperson said.
Four Paleostinians were also arrested in Hebron for rock throwing and other forms of so-called popular terrorism. Three more were picked up in Jenin, another in Dura, outside of Hebron, and another in Jamal, north of Qalqilya, the IDF said.
In the Jenin refugee camp, members of the IDF’s elite Maglan unit and the Menashe regional brigade discovered one improvised submachine gun during a mission to uncover illegal weapons on Wednesday night.
Combat Engineering Corps troops also began preparations to demolish the home of Sahban Wael Mahmoud Tete, who hit Avraham Hasano, an Israeli father of seven, with his truck on October 20, killing him.
It was not immediately clear why Tete’s home was measured for demolition, as there remains some doubt over whether he deliberately hit Hasano with his vehicle or if it was an accident.
Images from the scene showed Hasano emerging from his car brandishing a large wooden club after his vehicle was pelted with rocks by Paleostinians near Hebron. He then approached Tete’s truck, waving the club menacingly, and was run over. He died at the scene.
Tete initially expeditiously departed at a goodly pace, but later turned himself in to Paleostinian security forces, claiming he had not intended to hit Hasano.
He was eventually released by the Paleostinian Authority in early March and was then scooped by Israeli forces on March 9, "following extensive intelligence activity," the Shin Bet said at the time.
As protocol, Israeli forces always measure the homes of suspected attackers as a first step in the demolition process, even in cases where it’s not clear if demolition orders will actually be given. Houses are often demolished before a conviction is handed down, or in cases where attackers died in the course of carrying out their attacks.
IDF and Border Police officers also facilitated the visit of Jewish tourists to the Joseph’s Tomb site in Nablus on Wednesday night.
Some 20 buses carrying Israelis entered the holy site, where they came under attack from Paleostinians throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails. No one was injured and no damage was caused in the incident, the army said.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/08/2016 9:17
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#3
I wonder what would happen if they had a bunch of soldiers start throwing rocks back. It would be hilarious to watch the resulting cognitive dissonance in the press and world leaders.
[Telegraph] Saddam Hussein's former deputy has resurfaced making a call for an anti-Iranian crusade a year after he was supposedly killed in Iraq.
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the most prominent member of Saddam's Baathist regime to escape death or captivity following the invasion of 2003, featured in a video sent to the Saudi Arabia-owned Al-Arabiya television channel.
He read out a statement to the camera while wearing military uniform and his characteristic red, bushy moustache, making identification instant.
He made no reference to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), despite widespread and credible reports that his own militia, known as the Naqshabandi Army, helped the group as it swept through western Iraq in 2014. You heard me, sell ISIS and buy KSA !
Instead he returned to a theme of previous broadcasts - attacking the rise of Iran and demanding an alliance against Iraq's neighbour and frequent rival. He obviously received Saddam's email. Oh wait !
He said America would be "held responsible" if Iraq were not rescued from Iran's "hegemony". Remarkably, he specifically called for Arab states to join a Saudi Arabia-led coalition against it.
His video may signal a new positioning. With his support for Saudi Arabia, which is also technically part of the US-led anti-Isil coalition, he may be indicating that he no longer supports the jihadists.
Instead, he expresses support for the battle against Iranian-backed Shia rebels in Yemen - a battle also currently being led by Saudi Arabia. Don't expect any support from the Obama regime on this one.
[IsraelTimes] 22-year-old from East Jerusalem arrested as he scouted Malha Mall in preparation for attack on IDF soldiers
A 22-year-old resident of a Palestinian village in East Jerusalem was charged Thursday with conspiracy to commit a crime for his role in a plan to attack the popular Malha Mall in the capital.
Abed Elmo’ati Abu Snina of Kafr Aqab was arrested close to the mall, where he had planned to make a reconnaissance film ahead of the intended attack, Channel 10 reported.
According to the charge sheet presented at Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court, Abu Snina met co-conspirator Ihab Shikh Sobeh last July when both were serving terms at Ketziot Jail in the Negev Desert. The two agreed to make contact following Abu Snina’s release, to plan a terror attack.
After their release, Sobeh revealed that he was planning a shooting attack on security forces near the Malha Mall on a Thursday afternoon, when many soldiers travel for weekend furlough. He said he had weapons and ammunition, and that he intended to wear an IDF uniform to enable him to blend in with the soldiers and cause maximum casualties.
Sobeh asked Abu Snina to go to the mall on a Thursday afternoon to film bus stops, the road, and entrances to the mall. Abu Snina agreed but was stopped by police before he managed to start filming.
Israel Radio said Thursday that the prosecutor asked that Abu Snina be detained until the end of proceedings.
Malls in Israel have been a focal point for terror attacks over the years.
Charges were also brought Thursday against three Palestinians from the Dir Abu Mishal village for allegedly using laser beams to try to blind drivers on Route 465 near the West Bank settlement of Halamish, north of Ramallah. They are to be detained until the end of proceedings against them.
Thursday also saw the publication of details about a months-long security services sting that netted residents of the village of Beit Ur al-Tahta in the Binyamin region who are accused of throwing Molotov cocktails and rocks at Israeli vehicles traveling on Route 443 from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, as well as at IDF forces operating in the village.
Some 12 individuals, including minors, were allegedly involved in six attacks, hoping to harm Israelis and draw security forces into the village so that they could engage with them too.
The group was reportedly set up to avenge the death of Ibrahim Al’an, a terrorist from their village, who died along with another during an attack at Beit Horon on January 25 2016. Shlomit Krigman was murdered and another person injured in that attack.
[AnNahar] The Czech government on Thursday abandoned a program to resettle Iraqi Christians after some refugees left for Germany and others decided to return home.
"Based on my proposal, the government has dropped its project to resettle 153 Iraqis to the Czech Republic," Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said on Twitter.
"It's impossible to support a project which doesn't meet its goals," he said, adding that the Czech Republic could not be "mistaken for a travel agency".
Under the program, the government was planning to accept 130 refugees from Iraq's Kurdistan region and 23 Iraqi refugees from Leb.
But only 89 have made it to the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... member state, among them a 25-member family that refused Czech asylum and moved to Germany last week.
Czech media quoted German officials as saying Germany wants them to go back.
Another eight Iraqi Christians accepted under the program are due to return to Iraq on Thursday.
"The reason is a 63-year-old man who told us he was 'withering and dying' and wanted to die in Iraq," said the Generace 21 charity fund that cooperated with the government on the project.
The fund added that it would continue to take care of the refugees still in the country.
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Belgian prosecutors on Thursday launched a fresh appeal for help to find the suspected surviving attacker in last month's Brussels airport bombings, the so-called "man in the hat," releasing a video of his escape route.
Police have been desperately searching for the man seen on CCTV next to the two jacket wallahs who blew themselves up at the airport on March 22 in coordinated attacks that also struck a Brussels metro station. A total of 32 people died.
The newly released police video shows the suspect, wearing a hat and a light-colored jacket, fleeing the airport's departure hall after the bombs went off at 07:58 am on March 22.
CCTV footage shows him continuing his route on foot towards central Brussels where surveillance cameras lose track of him at 09:50 am.
Along the way, the man discards his jacket and at one point appears to be on the phone.
"We especially appeal to anyone who might have filmed or think they have photographed the suspect," front man Eric Van der Sypt told a presser to present the video.
Investigators are urgently looking for the jacket, described in a statement as "bright with a hood which is dark inside".
"Especially the jacket interests us," the prosecutor office's front man told news hounds.
Potential witnesses are asked to contact the police using a specially provided phone number and email address.
Last week police asked all residents and business owners in the Brussels region who have external surveillance cameras not to delete any footage from March 15 onwards.
Belgian authorities have come under fire for their handling of the case, especially after close links emerged between the Brussels attackers and those behind the Gay Paree terror assaults last November which left 130 dead.
Both attacks were claimed by the ISIS group.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2016
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[DAWN] A man accused of murdering an Ahmadi shopkeeper of Pak origin in Scotland's largest city Glasgow issued a statement Wednesday saying he attacked Asad Shah because he disrespected the Prophet Muhammad (PTUI!).
Shah, 40, was found with serious injuries outside his store last month and was pronounced dead at hospital. Police described the killing as "religiously prejudiced".
Shah, who moved to Glasgow from Pakistain in 1998, had recently posted a message on Facebook wishing people a happy Easter, "especially to my beloved Christian nation".
Tanveer Ahmed, 32, from Bradford in northern England, appeared at a preliminary court hearing in Glasgow Wednesday and afterwards issued a statement through his lawyer admitting his guilt.
"Asad Shah disrespected the messenger of Islam the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. Mr Shah claimed to be a Prophet," the statement said.
"If I had not done this others would and there would have been more killing and violence in the world.
"I wish to make it clear that the incident was nothing at all to do with Christianity or any other religious beliefs -- even although I am a follower of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him I also love and respect Jesus Christ."
The legal process against Ahmed, who is being held in jug, will continue. The date for his next court hearing has not yet been set.
Ahmadis are a persecuted minority and are considered by many to be non-Muslims, often forcing them to flee to western countries.
The issue is most serious in Pakistain, where Ahmadis have been targeted for reading the Holy Koran, holding religious celebrations and having Koranic verses on rings or wedding cards.
Several Ahmadi families have moved out of Pakistain since 1974 which was when the country declared the community non-Muslim. But the group has become particularly vulnerable since 1984, when Pakistain passed laws forbidding them from saying or doing anything associated with Islam.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2016
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#1
I guess "religiously prejudiced" is euphemistically a "hate crime".
None of the 27 North Korean ships that are on a UN Security Council blacklist have been able to dock at foreign ports, the Voice of America reported Wednesday. They are either stuck in North Korean ports or marooned on the high seas.
A diplomatic source said, "The UNSC sanctions are now biting, and North Korean ships are port-bound or stuck at sea."
As of March 3, when the UNSC adopted the fresh sanctions, 15 of the North Korean ships on the blacklist were moored at foreign ports or traveling the open seas, according to VOA's analysis of data from the private website Marine Traffic showing the real-time vessel positions. Four days later seven were still in foreign ports, and last month they had dwindled to two.
The others returned to North Korea this month after they were denied entry to ports in China, Hong Kong, and Russia.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2016
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[MYSANANTONIO] Lawyers in the abuse-of-power case against Rick Perry continued to take shots at each other Wednesday as a judge signed an order formally dismissing the indictment against the former governor.
Perry's lead lawyer, Anthony Buzbee, suggested he might take action to hold the appointed prosecutor, Michael McCrum, accountable for what he called an improper pursuit of the case. As he told the Express-News previously, Buzbee said Wednesday he would seek a transcript of grand jury proceedings.
"We feel like Mr. McCrum must have said some things that are probably actionable to that grand jury based on the people that we know testified and the facts as we know them and we're going to explore that," Buzbee told news hounds after the hearing at which Judge Bert Richardson signed the dismissal order.
Continued on Page 49
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[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] A video circulated on social media showed Bahraini regime forces throwing gas bomb on a house in the island’s west.
The footage showed the regime forces throwing the bomb on one of the houses in the area and closing its door in a bid to prevent its residents, who were screaming, from fleeing.Bahrain's Shahrakan
The attack took place on Tuesday, Bahraini media reported.
The security forces appeared in the same video as detaining several youths in the area.
For its part, prominent opposition group, al-Wefaq denounced the attack as a dangerous violation as it targets civilians.
In a statement on Wednesday, al-Wefaq called on the Bahraini authorities to halt such attacks which blatantly breach the law, and to open an independent investigation into the incident in a bid to hold the perpetrators accountable.
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04/08/2016
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Jen Rubin at the Right Turn at WaPo. Rubin can be pretty galling at times but on this one she has a solid point: Champ really is trying to give Iran direct access to US and world banks.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2016
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Russia is blocking the release of a confidential UN report showing that pro-government militias in Sudan’s Darfur region rake in $54 million per year in gold mining, it emerged on Tuesday.
The annual report by the panel of experts was presented in December to a UN sanctions committee, but it has not been made public due to objections from Russia, which has friendly ties with the Khartoum regime.
“We don’t want it to be released because we have been saying since the beginning that the experts are not behaving like they are told required to,” Russian Deputy Ambassador Petr Iliichev told reporters.
Iliichev argued that the panel’s mandate does not include monitoring “natural resources.”
"The experts are ignoring us! We're the ones with the expertise!"
The UN Security Council will on Wednesday discuss the crisis in Darfur, where a joint UN-African Union mission is struggling to help civilians caught up in fighting between rebels on one side and the Sudanese army and its affiliated militias on the other.
The conflict remains a divisive issue at the council, with the United States, Britain and France accusing the Sudanese regime of rights abuses while Russia and China defend Khartoum in the face of an insurgency.
In other words, more of the usual: lunch but no sternly worded letter...
In the report, the UN panel said it was certain the Jebel Amir artisanal gold mines
Artisanal? Do they mine the ore organically?
were controlled by the pro-government militia, Abbala Armed Group (AAG), led by Sheikh Musa Hilal, who has been on a UN sanctions blacklist since 2006 over allegations of widespread atrocities.
A “substantial portion of the gold mined at Jebel Amir Mines” is first sent to El Geneina, Darfur and then taken to Khartoum by air, before being illegally exported to the United Arab Emirates, said the report obtained by AFP on Tuesday.
“The panel is thus almost certain that the AAG has an income of $54 million per annum, based on lower case estimates,” the report said.
The experts quoted a letter from the Sudanese government dated from November 2015 saying that there were no armed groups in the Jebel Amir area, but the panel said it was unable to verify that claim.
The panel recommended that the Security Council ask Khartoum to take steps to ensure that gold and other minerals from Darfur are “conflict-free”, but no action will be taken until the report is accepted by the committee.
Darfur descended into conflict in 2003 when ethnic minority insurgents rebelled, complaining the region was being economically and politically marginalised by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum. Some 300,000 people have been killed in the conflict and there are 2.5 million people in the region who have been forced to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2016
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#1
Do they mine the ore organically?
Yup, they use the freshest slaves.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
04/08/2016 13:53
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[DAILYCALLER] Student government leaders at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga have demanded one of its members to resign over chalking a message on campus supporting Donald Trump.
In a message posted to Twitter early Wednesday morning, the incoming government slate called "Empower UTC" said they asked one of the participants in their coalition, Hailey Puckett, to leave student government over her pro-Trump artwork.
According to the message, Puckett’s values "do not line up with the pillars we’ve established ourselves on."
"We do not support bigotry or hatred or the messages spread by Donald Trump’s ignorance," the message from the student leaders said. "We do not support the mission of those who wish to spread that ignorance."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2016
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#1
According to the message, Puckett’s values "do not line up with the pillars we’ve established ourselves on."
Little doubt there. Perhaps 'Empower UTC' should follow Hollywood's lead and simply leave the country.
#4
Wow - you can't make this stuff up if you tried.
The 'Student Leaders' oppose Trump's alledged message of 'bigotry. hatred, and ignorance' by demonstrating their own. Well I guess if you can't debate the issues.
This is the equivalence of placing their fingers in their ears and singing NA_NA_NA_NA_NA!
Next up! You shouldn't be allowed to vote unless you vote Democrat!
#7
I remember the student government at schools I attended. They used to collect student government "fees" at the beginning of each semester. They had no power, of course, but they sure did run their mouths.
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Anonymous group launched a cyber attack against scores of Zionist websites, hacking and controlling 55 of them for several hours.
The attacks shocked the Zionist networkers who failed to protect their websites, including that of the Defense Ministry, despite their intensive preparations.
Zionist experts considered that the cyber attacks utilized very sophisticated techniques and was in the context of confronting the torturing Israeli measures against the Palestinians.
The Israeli internet companies also warned the Zionist settlers against clicking all the links that they receive via their devices in order to be controlled by the attackers.
Oddly enough, though I posted an article from my usual sources warning about the possibility, I saw nothing about any actual hack attacks yesterday.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2016
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It's Almanar. Facts are irrelevant
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/08/2016 13:27
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There's lots of islamist Anonymous posers, like Kalachnikov E Sec Team. Mostly pro Paleostinian and anti Israel, they've only recently signed on to the ISIS side of things.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
04/08/2016 17:00
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(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – A local source in Nineveh Province announced on Wednesday, that one of ISIS most prominent media officials died of his wounds, while pointed out that the media official was wounded during the air strike that was carried out last week on ISIS headquarters in central Mosul.
The source reported for IraqiNews.com, “Today, one of ISIS most prominent media officials in Mosul, known as Abu Osama al-Lubnani, died of his wounds in Mosul Hospital,” pointing out that, “The dead media official was wounded during the air strike that was conducted on ISIS headquarters in central Mosul last week.”
The source, who asked anonymity, added: “A number of ISIS Facebook pages were stopped since the injury of Abu Osama al-Lubnani.”
(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – A source in Nineveh Liberation Operations Command announced on Thursday, that the US-led coalition aircraft bombed a laboratory of chlorine-filled rockets and other toxic substances south of Mosul, while pointed out that 30 ISIS militants were killed during the aerial bombing.
The source said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “The international coalition aircraft carried out, before noon today, an air strike targeted a laboratory of chlorine-filled rockets, chlorine gas and other toxic materials belonging to ISIS in al-Saawiya village in Qayyara District, killing 30 ISIS fighters who were inside the laboratory.”
The source, who asked to remain anonymous, added, “The bombing also destructed the laboratory completely.”
(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – A source in the leadership of Nineveh Liberation Operations announced on Thursday, that the security forces destructed a tunnel connecting between two villages south of Mosul, and killed 40 ISIS fighters.
The source said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The international coalition aircraft bombed, before noon today, a tunnel used by ISIS militants to move between the villages of Mawazin and al-Nasser south of Mosul, killing 40 ISIS fighters and completely destructing the tunnel.”
The source, who asked anonymity, added: “The tunnel was used by ISIS to transport car bombs and chlorine gas.”
In the heart of Russia's Buddhist region of Kalmykia, Russian wrestler Said Osmanov kicked a statue of Buddha in the face and urinated on it while broadcasting live on the Periscope app. The incident happened inside a Buddhist temple in the capital Elista where the wrestler was staying for a tournament.
Word quickly spread causing outraged locals to descend on Osmanov’s hotel and forcing him out into the street. The wrestler was forced to his knees by the angry crowd who made him apologize. Once police arrived at the scene they took him into custody.
The wrestling tournament was suspended following his arrest.
Dagestan's leader, Abdusamadov Gamidov, flew to Kalmykia to personally apologize for the behavior of his countryman. In a joint statement with Kalmykia's governor Alexey Orlov, the two condemned the act and said that the wrestler will be criminally prosecuted.
Orlov said Osamnov committed "an unprecedented, blatant act of vandalism against our national, religious shrines," and added that people "who commit such actions do not have a nationality." They do have a religion, though.
outraged locals to descend on Osmanov’s hotel and forcing him out into the street. The wrestler was forced to his knees by the angry crowd who made him apologize.
Instead of killing him---because they are not Muz.
Khalifa Ghweil, chief of Tripoli’s so-called National Salvation Government dealt serious blow to the Libyan political process and the unity government Wednesday as he nullified a decision by his ministers to step down and hand over the Libyan capital to Prime Minister-designate Faiez Serraj.
Khalifa Ghweil issued a statement demanding members of his cabinet to stay in place while he also threatened to prosecute anyone who deals with the unity government and the State Council constituted by some dissidents of Tripoli-based General National Congress (GNC) on Tuesday.
“Given the requirements of public interest… you are requested to continue your mission in accordance with the law,” Ghweil said.
The announcement is a major setback to the UN-backed Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Presidency Council led by Prime Minister-designate Serraj. The announcement followed a Tuesday decision by some members of the self-imposed government to step down in the high interest of the country and to avoid bloodshed.
Ghweil, previously believed to have left Tripoli for his hometown Misrata, is reportedly still in Tripoli but no longer rules from his officer, now in the hands of a brigade favorable to the GNA.
Meanwhile, GNC President Nuri Abu Sahmain also issued a statement condemning GNC splitters who announced the dissolution of GNC which they transformed into State Council as part of the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) signed in December under the UN auspice in Morocco. He explained that the move was illegal and promised to sue the initiators. Sahmain reportedly indicated that the GNC had held a valid, quorate session on Wednesday at its formal headquarters in Tripoli.
Western diplomats have welcomed the creation of the State Council saying that it could fast-track the political process.
Furthermore, UNSMIL Head Martin Kobler who was in Tripoli on Tuesday called on the House of Representatives to quickly conduct an approval vote on the GNA so that it establishes solid structures that will address Libya’s declining economy, deteriorating security, humanitarian crisis and revive oil production necessary to Libya’s economic recovery. Kobler added that HoR risked to be sidelined if it fails again to deliver.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 55 murderous Moslems including the affiliates of the al-Qaeda and 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 Syria (ISIS) terrorist group were killed during the latest counter-terrorism raids of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the operations were conducted by the ground and air forces in the past 24 hours in Paktika ...which coincidentally borders South Wazoo... , Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. , Uruzgan, Kandahar, and Ghazni provinces.
According to an operational update by MoD, at least 14 murderous Moslems affiliated with the al-Qaeda terrorist network were killed in Gomal district of Paktika province.
MoD further added that 19 murderous Moslems affiliated with the ISIS terrorist group were killed in Kot district of eastern Nangarhar province.
At least 10 murderous Moslems were killed and 6 others were maimed during a separate operation in Uruzgan province, MoD said, adding that 9 murderous Moslems were killed and 33 others were maimed during an operation in Maiwand district of Kandahar.
The Afghan forces also killed 2 murderous Moslems during the operations in Ghazni and Farah provinces where 5 others were also maimed, MoD added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A coordinated suicide kaboom plot by anti-government armed Lions of Islam was thwarted by the Afghan intelligence operatives in eastern Laghman province of Afghanistan.
The Afghan Intelligence, National Directorate of Security ...the Afghan national intel agency... (NDS), said the intelligence operatives seized 4 suicide attack vests before the Lions of Islam use them for the attack in Mehtarlam city.
A statement by NDS said the Afghan intelligence also confiscated some explosives which the Lions of Islam wanted to use for the attack.
According to NDS, the Lions of Islam were looking to use the explosives to carry out attacks in crowded parts of Mehtarlam city.
No further details were given regarding the potential targets of the jacket wallahs and it is not clear if any suspect was enjugged Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! in connection to the attack plot.
Laghman is among the relatively volatile provinces in eastern Afghanistan where anti-government armed Lions of Islam are active in a number of its remote districts.
This comes as the anti-government armed Lions of Islam have been attempting to stage terror attacks across the country.
A suicide bomber was rubbed out by the Afghan intelligence operatives before he manage to carry out an attack on Kandahar police headquarters on Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2016
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[CBSNEWS] -A South Texas man was executed Wednesday forthe 1998 slaying of a 12-year-old boy whose blood the convicted killer said he drank after beating the seventh-grader with a pipe and slitting his throat.
Pablo Lucio Vasquez told police he was drunk and high when voices convinced him to kill David Cardenas in Donna, a Texas border town about 225 miles south of San Antonio. He also told detectives in a videotaped statement that he drank some of the boy's blood.
Asked by the warden if he had a final statement, Vasquez, 38, turned to look through a window where four of his victim's relatives watched and told them he was sorry.
"This is the only way that I can be forgiven," he said. "You got your justice right here."
Then as the lethal dose of pentobarbital began taking effect, he said he was a little dizzy. "See you on the other side," he said, raising his head off the gurney pillow and looking toward a window where two of his sisters, a brother-in-law and a cousin watched.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Yemen’s, Ansarullah, said it had received draft on ceasefire agreement, adding that the revolutionary movement had handed its noted on the draft.
On his account on Facebook, Ansarullah front man, Mohammad Abdulsalam, said that discussions regarding the ceasefire agreement was still underway, noting that it has not been agreed by Ansarullah yet.
Abdulsalam’s remarks come a day after Saudi-backed runaway president, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s Prime Minister Abdulmalek al-Mekhlafi announced he will take part in Kuwait talks aimed at finding solution for the current crisis in Yemen.
Al-Mekhlafi claimed that Ansarullah has agreed on the ceasefire draft set by UN 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... envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] The Pentagon said the United States has carried out another raid against Al-Qaeda bandidosforces of Evil in Syria, on the heels of a strike that killed the front man of the group's Syrian branch.
"I can confirm that the US struck a vehicle killing several Al-Qaeda Death Eaters," said front man Matthew Allen. "The results of this strike are still being assessed."US Strike
The latest strike was carried out in northwestern Syria, according to a Defense department official who asked not to be named.
The Washington Post reported the latest raid was late Tuesday.
News of the strikes came as talks in Geneva aimed at ending the conflict loomed on April 11.
The UN has said the upcoming round of talks will focus on plans for a political transition to lead Syria out of five years of brutal civil war.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2016
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[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Three people were maimed on Thursday when two Katyusha-type rockets fired from an area in Syria controlled by ISISTakfiri ...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 slammed into the center of a Turkish town close to the Syrian border, a report said.
The rockets hit the center of the town of Kilis at around 0545 GMT, the Dogan news agency reported. Ambulances were sent to the scene as police threw a security cordon around the area.
Dogan said one of the rockets hit a building used by Syrian refugees and two of those maimed were Syrian citizens.
Another person was maimed by the second rocket and police also evacuated a school nearby.
Pictures broadcast by Turkish television showed the rockets had badly damaged masonry and windows on one building.
Kilis, where according to Turkish officials Syrian refugees now outnumber the native Turkish population, has been hit several times by ISIS fire.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2016
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#1
"This calls for a response! Bomb the Kurds!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/08/2016 13:23
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Kilis, where according to Turkish officials Syrian refugees now outnumber the native Turkish population, has been hit several times by ISIS fire.
If I was a cynical bastid, I'd think the Turks might be providing some incentive to IS- y'know, to thin down the refugee numbers.
ADAN YABAL-Somali government forces aided by Ethiopian-AMISOM peacekeepers have taken back strategic town in Middle Shabelle region of southern Somalia from Al Shabaab militants without resistance, Garowe Online reports. The capture is the first secured by Ethiopian contingents serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
Al Shabaab militants ran away fled to Middle Shabelle region’s border with central Hiran region in advance, with situation returning to calm in liberated Adan Yabal district. The town had since been in the hands of beleaguered Al Shabaab group that continues to lose more ground against allied forces.
Meanwhile, Somali and Ethiopian troops are advancing towards Adale after moving from bases in El Bur. Anti-militant push has stalled for unknown reasons, prompting for donors including US and EU to threaten with funding cuts if visible gains are not consolidated over Al Shabaab group, analysts said.
“Another pressure mounts due to the fact that Puntland neutralized boatloads of militants in days,” an expert told under customary condition of anonymity.
Al Shabaab militants still remain active in a large chunk of territories in central and southern Somalia.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2016
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[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the recent victories have enabled the Syrian army to push towards Raqqa, the ISIS capital in Syria.
Zakharova welcomed comments by the Deputy Spokesperson for the US Department of State that the future of President Assad should be decided by a political process.
She stressed that the fate of the Syrian president should rest in the hands of Syrians.
Zakharova reiterated that Moscow insists on the participation of the Syrian Kurds in the upcoming round of Syrian negotiations. She also said that Moscow is concerned over the high level of violence in Kurdish-populated provinces in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... Moscow has also called on Ankara to end its military solution to the Kurdish issue, calling it a dead-end method.
"The level of violence that is not being reduced in the Kurdish-populated southeastern provinces of Turkey continues to be a concern. According to official data, since the beginning of the current Turkish government's so-called anti-terrorist operations in July 2015, 285 civilians have been killed, and this is only according to official figures," Zakharova said during her weekly briefing.
"We again call on Ankara to give up betting on the dead-end method of force in solving the Kurdish problem," she added.
Maria Zakharova also noted that over 1,500 explosives have been neutralized in the Syrian city of Palmyra with the assistance of Russian experts.
With regards to ultranationalist Alparslan Celik, who was tossed in the clink Please don't kill me! and questioned by Turkish authorities, Maria Zakharova said that Russian authorities are working on criminal proceedings against him for the killing a Russian Su-24 pilot.
"The fact that this hard boy has previously publicly admitted his involvement in the murder of the Russian pilot has not been commented on by Turkish authorities... At present, Russian competent authorities are looking into the possibility of making Celik criminally liable for participating in the murder of the Russian pilot," Zakharova told a briefing.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[DAWN] A BROKEN judicial system is always likely to attract novel, even unconstitutional, quasi-fixes.
With the superior judiciary and the legislative seemingly in denial about the need for root-and-branch overhaul of the judicial system, both state and society are finding alternatives that include parallel ’judicial’ forums.
The 21st Amendment-created military courts are an ad hoc -- and constitutionally ugly -- response to the military’s anti-terrorism priorities.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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[DAWN] POLITICAL pundits everywhere are having a field day with the Panama Papers, which have brought to light the murky business dealings of a wide cross section of the world’s elites. The usual Pakistani suspects find their names on the list, and are now scrambling to prove their innocence; our sitting prime minister foremost among them. The stakes are high — the resignation of the prime minister of Iceland leaves no room for doubt.
Yet in contrast with countries like Iceland, the land of the pure is tainted with so-called corruption scandals on an almost daily basis. The credibility of mainstream politicians is so poor that another exposé only confirms what we already know, rather than signifying a decisive shift in what passes for public opinion. Chances are, then, that Nawaz Sharif & co will weather this latest storm, even while the chattering classes will heap more scorn on politics and lament the ‘failure’ of democracy.
Of course, the Panama Papers will be frontline news for some days yet, because it is the sort of issue upon which our sensation-seeking corporate media thrives. Meanwhile, other stories will continue to be reported in a much less critical manner, as if it is only politicians and democracy that deserve to be subject to editorial comment.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Yet quite aside from the legitimacy that the establishment draws from external supporters, the absence of critical comment speaks to the lack of independence — and courage — of the Pakistani intelligentsia. I do not wish to dismiss the many brave men and women who do take up issues that are generally considered taboo.
"Considered Taboo" here as well? Retired DIA Director Mike Flynn might enthusiastically agree.
[FRANCE24] Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in November’s Gay Paree attacks, will be extradited to La Belle France from Belgium in a few weeks to allow for additional questioning by Belgian Sherlocks, his lawyer said on Thursday.
Abdeslam, who returned from Gay Paree hours after 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.... attacks in which his brother went kaboom!, hid from police for four months until he was captured in a raid on a house in the Brussels district of Molenbeek on March 18.
His fingerprints were found three days earlier in an apartment in the southern Brussels borough of Forest after a gunbattle during which an Islamist gunman was rubbed out and four copperswere maimed.
Prosecutors want to question him about that incident, his lawyer said. "There is a hearing, which will take place regarding the attempted murder of several coppers during the home search in Forest," Sven Mary told news hounds.
Abdeslam, who previously said that he wanted to be extradited to La Belle France, was not present at a court hearing in Brussels on Thursday.
"As I said, he wishes to go to La Belle France and that is the reason that things need to proceed and why we hope that it will be over in a few weeks," Mary added.
The shooting and bombing rampage by Islamic State murderous Moslems killed 130 people in Gay Paree on Nov. 13.
Posted by: Fred ||
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(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced on Thursday, that ten people had been either killed or wounded in a bomb blast in western Baghdad.
The source said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “This morning, a bomb exploded near a popular market in the district of Abu Ghraib in western Baghdad, killing two people and wounding eight others.”
The source, who requested anonymity, added, “A security force rushed to the area and transferred the wounded to a nearby hospital for treatment and the dead bodies to the forensic medicine department, while cordoned off the area of the incident and barred approaching it.”
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced on Thursday, that five members of al-Hashed al-Shaabi had been either killed or wounded in a bomb blast in southern Baghdad.
The source reported for IraqiNews.com, “This morning, a bomb exploded near a civilian vehicle carrying five members of al-Hashed al-Shaabi, while passing in Arab Jabour village in al-Darwa area in southern Baghdad, killing two of the vehicle’s occupants and wounding three others, as well as causing material damage to the vehicle.”
The source, who requested anonymity, added, “A security force rushed to the area and evacuated the wounded to a nearby hospital to receive treatment and the dead bodies to the forensic medicine department, while carried out a raid to search for the perpetrators of the bombing.”
PESHAWAR: Security forces claimed on Thursday to have repulsed a cross-border attack on a checkpost in Kurram tribal region.
Security sources said at least 16 Afghanistan-based militants attacked a security checkpost in Kurram Agency but troops retaliated with gunfire, forcing the militants to retreat.
During a subsequent search operation, security forces claimed to have recovered the bodies of 12 attackers from the area.
Kurram is one of the most sensitive tribal areas as it borders three Afghan provinces and at one point was one of the key routes for militant movement across the border.
The region was claimed by the military to have been cleared of insurgents during an operation a couple of years ago.
Kurram tribal agency is adjacent to North Waziristan region where the operation Zarb-i-Azb is in progress against the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and other militant groups.
IED blast kills cop in Peshawar
A policeman was killed and a passer-by injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast near a police check-post in Peshawar.
Half a kilogram of explosive material was planted near a check-post in Samar Bagh area of the city. The explosion killed an on-duty policeman and injured a passer-by, SSP operations Abbas Majeed Marwat told DawnNews.
The victims were shifted to a nearby hospital.
Additional security personnel reached the area and cordoned off the blast site.
Homemade roadside bombs are a major weapon of militants who attack government forces in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and tribal districts.
[ABCNEWS.GO] Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert for the first time today publicly acknowledged the "harm" he caused to "others" for "misconduct that occurred decades ago," his attorneys said in a court filing, ahead of sentencing for a crime allegedly linked to hush money payments and past sexual abuse.
"Mr. Hastert is deeply sorry and apologizes for his misconduct that occurred decades ago and the resulting harm he caused to others," the filing says. "Mr. Hastert’s fall from grace has been swift and devastating. Neither we as his lawyers, nor Mr. Hastert, have the present insight to understand and reconcile the unfortunate and harmful incidents he caused decades ago with the enduring achievements, leadership, and generosity that earned him extraordinary affection and respect throughout this country during his many years of public service." Hastert's sorrow only outflanked by the sorrow of his getting caught. Beltway party slime, it knows no political boundaries.
The filing does not identify the past "misconduct," but last summer sources knowledgeable of the case told ABC News Hastert was paying a man -- still unidentified except as "Individual A" in court documents -- hundreds of thousands of dollars to hide that Hastert had engaged in sexual misconduct with him while Hastert was a high school wrestling coach. Hastert pleaded guilty in October to a single financial crime connected to the alleged hush money.
Hastert technically faces a maximum penalty of five years, but according to the terms of his plea deal, prosecutors previously indicated they will recommended he serve no more than six months. His defense team wants probation.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Sorry after being caught is meaningless to everyone but your mom.
DUHOK – Extremists of the Islamic State (ISIS) have executed 18 civilians in Iraq’s northwestern Mosul city on charges of spying for hostile groups, local sources reported on Thursday.
The ISIS-led Islamic Police had arrested the victims earlier on Tuesday after accusing them of spying for the Kurdish Peshmerga forces and Iraqi army. The 18 young men, who have been convicted of “treason” by the Mosul Sharia Court, were executed in various ways.
“Eight of them were publicly beheaded in central Mosul, while ten others were burned to death inside a cage in front of hundreds of people,” media activist Abdullah al-Malla told ARA News in Mosul.
The source added that a state of panic spread among civilians in Mosul subsequent to the brutal executions.
“Innocent people are being convicted and punished on baseless charges,” al-Malla said.
Speaking to ARA News in Mosul, rights activist Saleh al-Ali said: “The brutality of ISIS militants against civilians has remarkable increased in the recent weeks, especially after the Kurdish and Iraqi forces were able to hit security centers for ISIS in Mosul suburbs, besides the killing of a number of prominent jihadi leaders under airstrikes by the US-led coalition.”
“ISIS leadership believes that some locals are leaking security information about the group’s movements to its enemies. Arbitrary arrests and public executions have mounted, and every citizen is being deemed a suspect,” al-Ali reported.
Posted by: badanov ||
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BADHADE -Somalia’s Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab militants have seized a strategic town near Somalia’s southern border with neighboring Kenya without resistance, Garowe Online reports.
The militants poured into Lower Jubba region of Badhadhe after Kenyan-AMISOM peacekeepers alongside Jubaland forces made surprise pullout from the town. Some Al Shabaab officials have reportedly gathered residents in public.
Jubaland commander Farah Haybe Moallim has confirmed the withdrawal in an interview with VOA Somali Service on Tuesday. Moallim said, they were ordered to vacate Badhade.
Badhadhe, 180 off the southern port city of Kismayo has been a base for Kenyan forces over the last three years.
The new development follows a deadly raid by Al Shabaab militants on Kenya army base in Gedo region village El Ad on January 15. Analysts point to weak counter-terrorism policy, lack of intense coordination between the allied troops and visible presence clout maintained by what has been beleaguered Al Shabaab.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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More than 300 employees of a cement factory have been kidnapped by the Daesh group east of Damascus, Syria's official news agency said on Thursday.
Sana said "employees and executives of the Al Badia cement factory" were abducted by the militants, after local residents reported that at least 250 workers at the plant had been missing since Monday.
"The company has informed the industry ministry that it hasn't been able to make contact with kidnapped individuals," Sana said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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Missing since Monday?
Not a lot of demand for cement?
300 is kind of a round number for kidnapped schoolgirls, mall shoppers and cement workers in that region isn't it? I wonder if that's a mystical number or it translates roughly from something like 'two handfuls of dozens' to mean 'a really large flock' of captives, 15 score or 4 virgin sets?
Senior defense and government officials from the U.S. and Ethiopia held the sixth annual Bilateral Defense Committee March 31, 2016, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The ministerial-level meeting produced a new agreement outlining the cross-exchange of logistics, services, supplies, and support between the nations, as well as a plan for future security cooperation activities designed to meet mutual defense priorities.
OJC is aimed at further degrading the Al-Shabaab violent extremist organization by removing them from their strong holds in multiple regions of Somalia. Since the start of OJC, the ENDF and other AMISOM forces have recovered major towns and villages in Somalia.
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[RFE/RL] Lithuania took in a young Afghan immigrant who worked as an interpreter for Lithuanian troops in Afghanistan after he reached out for help on YouTube.
Lithuania provided Abdul Basir Yoususi with a temporary visa that paves the path to asylum for himself, his wife, and daughter, and had him flown to Vilnius on April 6. Upon arriving, he said, "I heard Germany has a lot of money, but I want to be in Lithuania. I speak the language."
Yoususi said he never wants to return to Afghanistan because he received threatening letters after the troops he aided left. That prompted him to set out on a two-month journey to Greece that cost him around $6,500.
(IraqiNews.com) Babel – A source within the police force in Babel province said on Thursday, that the security forces managed to arrest 31 wanted individuals on various criminal charges during raid operations in different areas of the province.
The source, who requested anonymity, said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “Today, Babel police managed to detain 31 wanted individuals on criminal charges ranging between murder and armed robbery in different areas of the province,” pointing out that, “The detainees were transferred to a security center for interrogation.”
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least four Lions of Islam affiliated 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 Syria (ISIS) terrorist group were killed in a drone strike in eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province of Afghanistan.
According to the local government officials, the Lions of Islam were targeted in a drone strike in Achin district earlier today.
Provincial governor’s front man Ataullah Khogyani confirmed the Arclight airstrike and said at least three Taliban faceless myrmidons were also targeted in a separate drone strike.
He said the raid was conducted in Chaparhar district of Nangarhar province, leaving 3 Lions of Islam dead, including a commander of the Lion of Islam group.
The anti-government armed Lion of Islam groups have not commented regarding the reports so far.
This comes as the US Air Force has reportedly dropped 251 bombs and missiles targeting mainly the loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group in Afghanistan during the months of January and February.
According to the data compiled by the Air Force, the Arclight airstrikes in the first two months of the year was more than three times the strikes in the same period last year.
The increase in Arclight airstrikes followed by President Barack Obama teachable moment... ’s grant of authority to launch attacks on Islamic State Lions of Islam who had gained control over territory in several provinces, including areas in the Tora Bora region, where the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now sometimes referred to as Mister Bones... once took refuge.
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The revelations of the so-called Panama Papers that are roiling the world’s political and financial elites this week include important facts about Team Clinton. This unprecedented trove of documents purloined from a shady Panama law firm that arranged tax havens, and perhaps money laundering, for the globe’s super-rich includes juicy insights into how Russia’s elite hides its ill-gotten wealth.
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#1
What I’ve termed "fake terrorism" is a longstanding Kremlin core competency, and it can only be pulled off with logistical support, including with finances.
Just a hypothetical, but with the able assistance of the Iranian Quds Forces, it is certainly possible that "fake terrorism" could have taken place in cities as distant as Benghazi.
But of course such a hypothetical would surely not escape the scrutiny of our leadership, or would it ?
And do you care? Anybody expect anything different in that part of the world? The ISIS has murdered soldiers, prisoners, civilians, wimmins, kidlings, and stray cats. They now can enjoy the whirlwind... This is what happens when your idea of victory is to leave the battlefield to an armed and hostile enemy.
[OBSERVERS.FRANCE24] Videos on the Iranian version of YouTube, "Aparat", claim to show the darker side of how the Iraqi army carries out its war 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.... (IS) group.
The conflict engulfing Iraq is undeniably bloody. There are numerous, well-documented cases of atrocities carried out by the Islamic State group -- and the group itself flaunts the carnage it carries out by publishing videos. Human rights groups like Amnesia Amnesty International have also documented alleged war crimes carried out by both Iraqi Shiite militias and Kurdish Peshmerga forces. But these new videos allegedly show footage of atrocities carried out by the Iraqi army itself.
These videos are so grisly that we decided not to publish them and instead use screengrabs.
The first video apparently shows a prisoner, lying motionless on the ground with his hands tied. According to the caption, the man is a captured IS bad boy and the film was shot on a battlefield near djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... At about 0’44", one of the captors stands over the prisoner and fires point blank at his head. He continues to shoot, again and again and again.
The second video captures a horrifying series of events unfold. It starts with the close-up image of a man identified as a Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... i member of the Islamic State group, who has been captured on the battlefield by the Iraqi army. The prisoner looks extremely young -- an open shirt shows his thin, child-like chest. He seems to be smiling as Iraqi soldiers crowd around to ask him questions and take selfies and videos with him.
The situation doesn’t seem volatile until 0’39" when someone seems to grab the young man by his collar and drag him forward. Shortly thereafter, you see a man wearing a red beret--worn by officers in the Iraqi army.
The video then jumps to a new cut showing the young prisoner being dragged outside by a crowd. There’s another cut and you see the young man splayed out on the ground. An Iraqi soldier takes aim and shoots him from a few feet away, firing many times. The next sickening shots show the young man’s lifeless body and went kaboom! head.
Under international law, the execution of a hostage or war prisoner is considered a "war crime".
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#1
Like mad dogs, the only cure is death.
Is the Iraqi Army Executing IS Fighters?
I think the majority of us would say:
"I certainly hope so, we don't want them going home to Paris, London, Detroit, or Rome and plying their craft there"
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
04/08/2016 0:15
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#2
Under international law, the execution of a hostage or war prisoner is considered a "war crime".
Is this Geneva convention crap? Doesn't apply here.
#4
Yes, gorb, it is crap created by the usual suspects (the Left and their own Mouth of Sauron, the MSM). The Convention requires compliance by the signatories and observance of the convention. Don't follow the convention, don't get the protection of the convention. IS is neither a signatory nor a follower of the rules, thus they are not covered.
#5
Sounds to like they are following the Geneva Convention concerning Illegal Combatants. No mention of the context of the video or its source. Were they convicted of a crime?
#10
Skid, IIRC, it was the Iranian Army that marched kids into minefields in the Iran-Iraq war. After a while they got tired of cleaning up all the scattered body parts, so they made the kids wrap themselves into blankets so the bodies weren't so scattered.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
04/08/2016 17:04
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#11
Re: @#10. See, they ARE humanitarians
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/08/2016 20:42
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The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is now getting more foreign aid than ever before, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said on April 6.
“The group is receiving an amount of aid that it has not received before from outside. Such an armed, barbaric, brutal group is being portrayed as an apostle of peace to the international public,” Kurtulmuş told Anadolu Agency’s Editors’ Desk in Ankara.
The aid also involved logistics support, which enabled the PKK militants to “set up traps” against Turkish security forces, the deputy prime minister said.
“What we call as terror is not just an issue about thousands of militants we are facing. It is Turkey’s existential issue. Regarding this issue, [counter-terrorism operations] is being carried out seriously. I hope we can get an outcome. But saying ‘it will end this day or that day’ would be wrong as it would deceive public opinion,” said Kurtulmuş, adding that Turkey’s fight against terrorism was a serious and ongoing process, highlighting that operations against the group would continue until the desired outcome is achieved.
The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union – resumed a 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015. Since then, over 350 Turkish security personnel and thousands of PKK militants have been killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq, according to official numbers.
During his remarks, Kurtulmuş also referred to the ongoing fight against the “parallel state,” saying the struggle against the followers of U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fetullah Gülen would continue in a legal manner.
“We have to protect the state and the nation. We will not blame anyone in an unjust manner or attack their individual rights. The struggle against the FETÖ [Fetullahist Terror Organization] organization is one that is being carried out in a lawful manner, and it will continue. However, if you are asking me when it will end, we cannot give a date for it either,” he said.
Headed by Gülen, the “parallel state” represents a clandestine group of Turkish civil servants and senior officials, allegedly embedded in the country’s institutions, including the judiciary and the police.
The organization was said to be behind a December 2013 corruption investigation into senior government figures, including ministers, on graft charges.
Since early 2014, investigations into the “parallel state” have seen hundreds of civil servants, including police and public prosecutors, arrested or reassigned.
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[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Copenhagen police said Thursday they had detained four people on suspicion of joining the ISIS group in Syria and seized weapons and ammunition in a search linked to the arrests.
All four were suspected of breaking Denmark's terrorism law while in Syria, and were locked away Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! in the Copenhagen area, police said in a statement without giving any further information on their identities.
"The suspects have been identified through investigations carried out in close cooperation between the Danish Security and Intelligence Service and Copenhagen police," the statement said.
Under Danish terrorism law, "letting oneself be recruited to commit acts of (terrorism)" is punishable with up to six years in jail.
"At one of the addresses we (searched) today we found some weapons and ammunition," police inspector Poul Kjeldsen told news hounds.
A person living at the address had links to one of Copenhagen's criminal gangs, police later said on Twitter.
"The arrests took place as part of the effort against people letting themselves be recruited to terror groups in the war-torn areas in Syria and northern Iraq," police said.
A preliminary hearing was scheduled to be held on Friday.
Local media said one of the apartments searched in another area was linked to a 27-year-old man whose name appeared in leaked documents that were given to Britain's Sky News, containing information on jihadists who have joined IS.
Sky reported last month that a disillusioned former IS member had given the channel tens of thousands of documents containing the names, addresses, phone numbers and family contacts of those joining the group.
Lots more arrests based on those leaked documents will come in the near future, one suspects.
[Ynet] Sweden is charging a 20-year-old man with terrorism for allegedly building a suicide bomb with the intent of staging an attack in Sweden.
The Prosecution Authority said on Thursday that it believed the man had intended to join the jihadist group Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... in Syria. Instead, he was detained in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... last June and sent back to Sweden.
"My belief is that he obtained, stored and combined liquids and objects with the purpose of making a suicide bomb," prosecutor Ewamari Haggkvist said in a statement. "The criminal act that was in preparation could have seriously harmed Sweden."
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[FRANCE24] Two men suspected of links 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.... group and of planning an attack were on Thursday held for questioning in Germany, the public prosecutor said, although no evidence of any "concrete threat" had been found
The pair, an Iraqi, 46, and a Nigerian, 29, would be held until Friday when they will either go before a judge or be released, prosecutor's office front man Thomas Steinkraus-Koch said.
The men were questioned in southern Bavaria on Thursday afternoon.
"From what we know now there is no concrete threat," Bavarian police added in a statement.
According to the Suddeutsche Zeitung daily's online edition, one of the suspects was tossed in the clink Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! in Munich while the other was picked up in Furstenfeldbruck in Bavaria.
"The two men... have been identified as possible suspects (likely to commit) an act of serious violence," police added.
Although initial investigations failed to establish any imminent threat, police decided to question the men immediately.
[IsraelTimes] Police in Gay Paree detained Thursday a gunman who fired shots near cafes targeted in last November’s attacks. No injuries were reported.
Security forces cordoned off the area, and several coppers stood with their weapons drawn at the building, according to a witness. He spoke under condition of anonymity for his security. Gay Paree police spokeswoman Johana Primevert said officers deployed Thursday after shots rang out and the gunman later surrendered to police.
The building is located at the junction of the Rue de Bichat and Rue du Faubourg du Temple in eastern Gay Paree, near two cafes targeted in the November 13, 2015 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.... attacks that left 130 people dead and maimed hundreds. La Belle France remains on edge and under a state of emergency since the attacks.
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[DAWN] In a manifestation of people’s growing distrust in conventional judicial system and mounting influence of religious organizations in society, Jamatud Dawa (JuD) has set up ’Darul Qaza Sharia’ in the provincial metropolis to dispense ’justice’ among people in light of Sharia laws, Dawn has learnt.
A legal expert Dawn talked to said this is in sheer violation of the Constitution of Pakistain. However, it was a brave man who first ate an oyster... the organization claims it offers arbitration only and resolves disputes in light of Sharia.
The JuD is not a proscribed organization and claims to render social welfare services besides running charitable schools and hospitals in calamity-hit cities of the country especially.
Organisers say it’s arbitration only
Sources say the organization’s ’Arbitration Court of Sharia’ has been taking up complaints of citizens approaching it for justice and summoning the ’defendants’ in person or through a legal counsel with warnings of strict action under the Sharia laws in case of no response.
A copy of official JuD summons available with Dawn bears two monograms ‐ Darul Qaza Sharia, Jamatud Dawa Pakistain and Saalsi Sharai Adalat-e-Aalia (Arbitration Court of Sharia).
The ’court’ has been established at the organization’s headquarters, Jamia Qadsia, Chauburji under a Qazi (judge) who is assisted by Khadmins (court associates) to decide the complaints. The complaints are addressed to the chief of the religious organization who later refers them to Qazi for further proceedings.
Sources say complainants approach the ’arbitration court’ in the hope of swift solutions as litigation before conventional courts takes much time especially in civil cases.
The organization’s front man Yahya Mujahid defends the functioning of the ’Sharia Court’ saying it is not a parallel system to the constitutional courts of the country. "It is an arbitration court, which decides disputes with the consent of the parties," he said. He states disputes have been resolved in accordance with Islamic laws and that offering arbitration to confronting parties is not illegal.
The front man failed to justify issuance of summons carrying a warning of strict action in case of non-compliance, when mentioned that there can be no coercion on any of the disputing party in arbitration.
In one such case regarding a monetary dispute between two property developers, the ’Sharia Court’ has been issuing summons to the defendant. However, it was a brave man who first ate an oyster... the defendant has not appeared before the Qazi so far.
He has written letters to judicial and executive authorities, including chief justice of Pakistain and prime minister, complaining about the unconstitutional summons being issued to him by the religious organization. The letters are yet to be answered whereas the JuD front man offers no explanation to the practice of serving summons.
Pakistain Bar Council member Azam Nazir Tarar says the Constitution does not allow any private organization to use the word "court". The word can be used for Supreme Court, Federal Shariat Court, high courts and all other courts established by a high court only.
"This is parallel judicial system and against the law of the land," he maintained in a talk with Dawn.
He says conventional courts of the country are working under Koran, Sunnah and Sharia laws. The Constitution of Pakistain bars any law against Koran and Sharia, Mr Tarar maintains.
Deputy Inspector General (Operations) Dr Haider Ashraf denies any knowledge of the existence of ’Sharia Court’ or having received any complaint in this regard. He says police will take action if they received any complaint as the law did not allow any parallel judicial system.
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Helpful graphic at the link
A recent NATO assessment on the security situation in Afghanistan reveals that foreign and domestic militants are operating in at least 20 provinces across the nation.
NATO's findings show that 15 Afghan provinces are presently under Taliban threat, while foreign terrorists, who apparently enjoy ties with Daesh, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), al-Qaeda militants and Harakat-e-Islami Uzbekistan militants, are trying to gain footholds in certain areas across the country, a move NATO believes could raise the scale of threats.
This assessment comes ahead of the alliance's Warsaw Summit in July.
NATO said the assessment was aimed at highlighting certain regions of the country which are under threat.
According to the organization, southern Helmand province is still one of the Taliban's major strongholds while there is now a wider Taliban presence in central regions.
Meanwhile, a number of Afghan political commentators and MPs have expressed deep concerns over the increased level of threats in the country, calling on government to target the militants resolutely.
"Right now in Uruzgan province, the Taliban have more developed and modern weapons than the weapons available to Afghan National Army and National Police, the Taliban militants are even equipped with night vision equipment," an MP from Urozgan Obaidullah Barakzai said.
Amid speculation over increased activities of foreign militants in Afghanistan, there are rumors that they are also trying to establish training camps and larger military bases across the country.
A map which has been drawn up by NATO shows that the militants who are apparently associated with al-Qaeda are looking to establish military camps in Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Nuristan and Kunar provinces while Daesh is seeking footholds in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar.
Referring to the NATO assessment, meanwhile, some Afghan military experts and political commentators have said that good leadership of the war and continuing the military operations against these groups are key to curbing their activities.
"If we forget the lessons we got from the battlefields during the past year, we will face defeat, therefore we need to move with a firm commitment and complete understanding of the situation to eliminate our enemies," said military expert Atiqullah Amarkhail.
However, it is believed that Uzbekistan-based militant group Harakat-e-Islami Uzbekistan has tried to infiltrate some northern provinces such as Farah, Badghis and Zabul as its affiliates are already conducting terror activities in various regions.
"We have noticed on several occasions that in Badakhshan province, Chechen, Uighur, Uzbek and Tajik militants are conducting terrorist activities. Therefore we call on the government to take firm action against these groups and launch clearance operations against them in Badakhshan," an MP from Badakhshan Safiullah Muslim said.
Concerns have been heightened over a possible surge in security threats in Afghanistan in recent months, but the Ministry of Interior (MoI) says that the terrorists which operate in Afghanistan are funded from across the Durand Line.
The assessment however shows that the Haqqani terror network and fighters apparently from Hizb-e-Islami are also posing threats in the eastern regions. This however, comes as the group holds direct talks with the Afghan government to seal a final agreement on peace. Video report at the link
[EXPRESS.CO.UK] In a crushing blow to European bureaucrats, 61.1% of Dutch voters voted to block the deal as politicians hail “the beginning of the end of the EU”.
The treaty, which would see a major shift in political, trade and defence co-operation between the EU and Ukraine has been automatically accepted in 27 member states, including Britain.
The Netherlands is the only country to oppose the plan creating a major stumbling block in what many considered would be the first step in Ukraine becoming a member of the EU.
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(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Thursday the commander of al-Jazeera Operations Ali Ibrahim Daboun announced destroying three booby-trapped vehicles belonging to ISIS west of Ramadi.
Daboun said in a press statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “A force from the army’s 7th brigade found three booby-trapped vehicles belonging to ISIS on the military road west of Ramadi.”
“ISIS members abandoned these vehicles and escaped toward Kabisa vicinity. The booby-trapped vehicles were destroyed, without inflicting any human losses among the security forces,” Daboun added.
(IraqiNews.com) al-Anbar – The commander of Anbar Operations Command, Maj. Gen. Ismail al-Mahalawi, announced destroying two shelters belonging to the ISIS in the area of Albu Ziyab north of Ramadi.
Mahalawi said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “Our ground forces shelled with artillery and Russian Kornet rockets two shelters belonging to the ISIS in the area of Albu Ziyab north of Ramadi,” adding that, “The bombardment resulted in destructing the two shelters and killing 11 [ISIS] elements, in addition to causing considerable material damage.”
(IraqiNews.com) al-Anbar – Media officials with the Ministry of Defense announced on Thursday destroying four headquarters and a cache of weapons belonging to the ISIS in an aerial bombardment by the Iraqi Army Aviation in Ramadi.
The officials said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “Based on intelligence information, Sukhoi warplanes conducted accurate air strikes that targeted ISIS sites resulting in the destruction of four headquarters for the terrorists in Albu Bali region north of Ramadi, in addition to destroying a store of weapons and a laboratory for manufacturing improvised explosive devices.”
The statement also added, “A headquarters and tunnels belonging to the terrorists were destructed in the area of al-Mahamdh.”
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – The leadership of al-Hashed al-Shaabi in Anbar Province announced on Thursday the liberation of an area in central Karma east of Fallujah from the control of ISIS, while pointed out to the killing of 13 ISIS members during the operation.
The commander of the 1st battalion in Karma Fallujah brigade in al-Hashed al-Shaabi Colonel Mahmoud Mardi Jumaili said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “The security forces were able, at noon today, to liberate Albu Tayeh area in central Karma District through a security operation, and killed 13 ISIS members.”
Jumaili added,”The operation resulted in the destruction of four car bombs and a truck equipped with a rocket launcher,” indicating that, “The cleansing battles of Karmat Fallujah are ongoing and the security forces are achieving a notable progress.”
For a map, click here. You can enlarge the map, if you open it separately.
Three Donetsk separatist police were killed and a total of seven soldiers and police from both sides were wounded in ongoing artillery and gunfire exchanges along the line of contact in northern Donetsk, according to Russian language news reports.
According to a news release by the Donetsk ministry of defense, the three separatist soldiers were killed in artillery attacks along with five wounded, but the report did not elaborate the location.
Ukrainian artillery fire has been hitting rebel positions in western Donetsk districts and suburbs at Yasinovataya and in northern Gorlovka since early March. Although both sides report casualties, some sources insist the bloodletting for both sides is much worse than is being reported.
According to the Donetsk ministry of defense, on Wednesday night Ukrainian artillery hit rebel positions at Peski and at the Volvo center of western Donetsk city using mortar fire. Earlier on Wednesday, Ukrainian artillery hit the Donetsk airport and at Zaystevo.
According to a news account in lb.ua, on Wednesday rebels fired on Ukrainian positions at several locations, totaling 67 times. Rebels fired on Ukrainian troops at Avdievka, Peski, Marinka and Opynoye.
Rebel mortars struck Ukrainian positions at Shirokino and Krasnogorovka in southern Donetsk.
Rebel media said on Thursday Ukrainian forces fired on areas in western Donetsk city, specificialy at Spartak, the Donetsk airport and the Volvo Center in western Donetsk city.
In the southern Donetsk, according to rebel media, Ukrainians fired on rebel positions at Bezimyanovo and at Kominternovo. A separate rebel report said a BMP infantry fighting vehicle fired on rebel positions at Zhelaya Balka on Thursday, which is on the southern extent of Gorlovka, essentially a first for that area. Zhelaya Balka is just north of the contested crossroads at Yasinovataya, where rebel and Ukrainian troops have been firing on one another's positions for more than a month.
The same report said that Ukrainian troops at Novgorod, which is near Zaytsevo, fired on rebel positions, but the report did not elaborate on just where the fire fell.
Yet another rebel report said that Ukrainian heavy artillery and tank main gunfire was fired on rebel positions at the checkpoint near Yasinovataya. Ukrainian media long has accused the rebels of using 122mm artillery on their positions near Yasinovataya.
Another lb.ua report said that rebel forces fired on Ukrainian forces at Avdievka and Opytnoye.
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 Ukraine by clicking here.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The police chief of southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan General Abdul Raziq has said Pakistain is attempting to create the third group of Afghan Taliban, in a move that he believes is being taken after the Taliban group infuriated Pakistain with certain steps, including rejection of group’s role certain attacks in the country.
He said the third would be created under the leadership of Mullah Qayum Zakir as the rejection of certain attacks in Afghanistan including an attack in Shah Shahid area of Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... was rejected by the Taliban group which sparked furore among their Pak supporters.
"Currently two groups of Taliban are operating in Afghanistan which are led by Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor and Mullah Rasool. But Pakistain is attempting to create the third group of Taliban under the leadership of Mullah Qayum Zahir and Pakistain is being supported by Siraj Haqqani in this work," he was quoted as saying in a report by Tolo News.
Gen. Raziq said the Taliban will face reactions from Pakistain as they have been rejecting to claim responsibilities for certain attacks in the country, including a mysterious attack in Shah Shahid of Kabul which led to death of Syed Mohammad Haqqani who was assassinated by Pakistain.
The remarks by Gen. Raziq comes as Pakistain’s foreign affairs adviser for the first time admitted that Pakistain has influence on Taliban group based in the country.
The confirmation by Aziz regarding Pakistain’s influence on Taliban and the facilities provided to them followed as talks were underway to revive direct Afghan peace talks which the Taliban group rejected.
It is believed that Pakistain has increased pressures on Taliban group and has warnings to the group’s leadership to participate in peace talks or they will face expulsion from the country together with their family members.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pond, Gloria slowly backed away from the eight-foot bull frog. If the creature croaked she would surely be deafened... the Taliban group is busy to end the widening rift among the big shotship of Taliban and appointed Mullah Omar ... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality... ’s son in top commissions of the group in an attempt to consolidate the group’s operations.
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Turkish warplanes conducted air strikes on Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq on Wednesday, destroying caves and shelters used by the rebels, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Thursday.
Citing security sources, it said F-16 and F-4 jets destroyed the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets in the Zap area of neighboring Iraq, where PKK militants are based.
Iran intends to produce the powerful explosive Octogen for use in the warheads of its missiles to improve their “destructive and penetration power,” Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan said Wednesday. Octogen is used as an explosive in penetrating missile warheads and as a solid rocket fuel — but is also employed as part of the detonator in an atomic bomb.
What could go wrong? And which member of the journolist-community is going to ask Obama about this?
During a ceremony to inaugurate a Octogen production plant, Dehqan stressed Iran’s goal of gaining the know-how to make the explosive material in order to avoid relying on external sources.
“Concurrently with its efforts to increase the precision-striking power of its weapons systems, the Defense Ministry has also paid attention to boosting the destructive and penetration power of different weapons’ warheads and has put on its agenda the acquisition of the technical know-how to produce Octogen explosive materials and Octogen-based weapons,” he said, according to a report from the semi-official FARS news agency.
Western powers have called on the UN to take action against Iran over tests of ballistic missiles carried out on March 9, noting they threatened Israel.
The ayatollahs are shaking in their curly-toed slippers...
Under a UN Security Council resolution passed alongside a landmark nuclear deal last year, Iran is forbidden to develop weapons that can carry nuclear weapons. That would seem to include ballistic missiles, including two that were tested last month with the words “Israel must be wiped off the earth” emblazoned on one, according to the US and other Western powers.
The EMP scenario is also looking more likely...
Dehqan complained that the West is preventing countries from helping Iran in technical matters and said, “We should endeavor to reinvigorate our infrastructures in the defense industries, reduce dependence and use domestic industries.”
The minister’s comments came as Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei accused the United States and Western nations of being untrustworthy, in comments to members of the cabinet and senior parliamentary and judiciary figures in Tehran on Wednesday, FARS reported.
“The Americans cannot be trusted and, in addition to the Americans, certain other Western states are also the same; hence, we should put trust in our own abilities and the US officials’ positions and performance is also a confirmation of the same fact,” Khamenei said.
Khamenei has in the past repeatedly accused the West of reneging on its commitments in the nuclear deal, maintaining that many international companies continue to avoid working with Iran out of fear of the US.
The nuclear agreement, passed in July 2015 and implemented in January, lifted punishing economic sanctions and has allowed Iran to forge fresh economic and diplomatic ties with the West. In return Iran agreed to dismantle the weapons-capable aspects of its nuclear program.
At the end of March the US, France, Britain and Germany and three allies called for a United Nations Security Council meeting to formulate an “appropriate response” to Iran’s recent ballistic missile tests, which they say were carried out in defiance of the UN resolution.
We had an "appropriate response" -- it was called 'sanctions'. Then Champ undid them, and all you're left with is a sternly-worded letter...
The letter called the launches “destabilizing and provocative” and says the Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missile and Qiam-1 short-range ballistic missile that were fired are “inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons.”
Iran maintains that because it cannot develop nuclear weapons under the deal, no missile is capable of carrying a nuclear weapon.
Nice non-sequitur...
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2016
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Great, a new industry!
"You didn't build that."
The EMP scenario is also looking more likely... Oh no. Shipman told us it wasn't so!
A long piece at the Observer about how the Rooshuns are playing the refugee crisis to their advantage. Of course they are; they're good at the long game.
Special bonus appearance by the Poles, who have figured out that their world class intelligence service can't identify the bad refugees hiding within the good refugees, and as a result are taking no refugees. Boggle, eh?
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2016
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Albeit JV by Vlad's standards, our Champ plays a pretty wicked 'long game' as well. A similar playbook no doubt.
And yes, a hat tip must be extended the Poles and other Former Soviet Union (FSU) friends and family for their 'No Vacancy' stance. They evidently received the Kremlin email.
Foreign forces riding in warplanes attacked the Al shabaab controlled Jilib district of Somalia’s southern middle Jubba region, sources said. Reports said the attack began with airstrike before special soldiers swooped into Jilib and engaged a fierce gunfire with Al shabaab fighters.
Details are scarce, but Shabaab has reportedly resisted the air and ground attack by the unidentified foreign forces who bombed Al shabaab base in the town.
The exact casualty figures of the attack remain unclear. US military stepped up special operations targeting top Al Shabaab leaders in south and central Somalia over the past few months.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2016
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(IraqiNews.com) The official spokesperson for the paramilitary al-Hashed al-Sha’bi force, Ali al-Husseini, announced on Thursday the killing of 15 ISIS elements as well as the destruction of three suicide bombers during clashes in southern Kirkuk.
Husseini said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “This evening, al-Hashed al-Sha’bi forces as well as al-Abbas Combat Regiment had managed to repel the attack on the area of Tel Ahmed in the vicinity of Bashir located in Tuz Khurmatu (35 km south of Kirkuk),” explaining that, “15 [ISIS] elements had been killed and three booby-trapped Hummer [vehicles] were destructed in the vicinity of the village.”
Husseini also added, “The artillery of al-Hashed [al-Sha’bi] forces flattened the [ISIS] positions with heavy artillery and helped repel the terrorist attack.”
(IraqiNews.com) Salahuddin – The leadership of the Federal Police announced on Thursday the killing of 18 militants from the so-called ISIS, including a sniper, during armed clashes with the security forces north of Tikrit in Salahuddin Province.
The Federal police Captain Raed Shakir Jawdat said in a press statement received by IraqiNews.com, “Armed clashes broke out between a force from the Federal Police and ISIS members near a fertilizers factory on the road between Baiji and Sharqat north of Tikrit,” pointing out that, “18 ISIS fighters were killed during the clashes, including a sniper.”
Jawdat added, “The security forces also managed to detonate two car bombs during the operation.”
[Bangkok Post] An assistant village leader and a villager were gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Narathiwat province on Wednesday morning. The attack took place on a road facing rubber plantations in Rueso district. Police found two bodies inside a pickup truck. Both had been shot multiple times. Spent AK rifle cartridges were found scattered across the road.
An investigation showed that Mr Rosadan was traveling when two attackers on a motorcycle followed and the pillion rider opened fire. Before fleeing, the gunman got off the bike to take a pistol from the dead assistant village chief.
Police believed the attack is linked to southern insurgency.
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Head of the Telecommunication and Media parliamentary bloc MP Hasan Fadlallah said on Thursday that NileSat decision to block Al-Manar broadcasting via its satellite is reckless, calling on Egypt to reverse the resolution which does not serve its interests.
The national Egyptian interests require that it keeps the voice of moderation and unity on face of the Zionist and the takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... plots, MP Fadlallah said in an interview with Al-Manar TV Channel.
He also urged the Lebanese government to defend and protect the national media outlets.
"If Leb had protected its media outlets, all Satellite companies would not have dared to block the broadcast of any TV channel."
Nilesat Managing Board blocked the broadcast of Al-Manar TV channel across the Nilesat signals starting from 08:00 a.m. Cairo time on Wednesday.
The Egyptian Satellite Company justified the decision by claiming that the Al-Manar TV violated the agreement signed between both parties and broadcast programs which provoke sectarian strife and sedition.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2016
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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.
ISIS fighters have reportedly executed 175 of the 300 kidnapped cement workers outside the Syrian capital Damascus, according to the Syrian state's military.
[Breitbart] Columnist Charles Krauthammer argued that if the Supreme Court fails to overturn President Obama’s executive actions in United States v. Texas and allows the administration to grant government benefits to noncitizens "you can send Congress home, and can you eliminate Article I from the Constitution, then there are no laws" on Thursday’s "Special Report" on the Fox News Channel.
[Telegraph] Saddam Hussein's former deputy has resurfaced making a call for an anti-Iranian crusade a year after he was supposedly killed in Iraq.
Russia is blocking the release of a confidential UN report showing that pro-government militias in Sudan’s Darfur region rake in $54 million per year in gold mining, it emerged on Tuesday.
[DAILYCALLER] Student government leaders at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga have demanded one of its members to resign over chalking a message on campus supporting Donald Trump.
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Anonymous group launched a cyber attack against scores of Zionist websites, hacking and controlling 55 of them for several hours.
In the heart of Russia's Buddhist region of Kalmykia, Russian wrestler Said Osmanov kicked a statue of Buddha in the face and urinated on it while broadcasting live on the Periscope app. The incident happened inside a Buddhist temple in the capital Elista where the wrestler was staying for a tournament.
Khalifa Ghweil, chief of Tripoli’s so-called National Salvation Government dealt serious blow to the Libyan political process and the unity government Wednesday as he nullified a decision by his ministers to step down and hand over the Libyan capital to Prime Minister-designate Faiez Serraj.
Yet quite aside from the legitimacy that the establishment draws from external supporters, the absence of critical comment speaks to the lack of independence — and courage — of the Pakistani intelligentsia. I do not wish to dismiss the many brave men and women who do take up issues that are generally considered taboo.
BADHADE -Somalia’s Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab militants have seized a strategic town near Somalia’s southern border with neighboring Kenya without resistance, Garowe Online reports.
[RFE/RL] Lithuania took in a young Afghan immigrant who worked as an interpreter for Lithuanian troops in Afghanistan after he reached out for help on YouTube.
(IraqiNews.com) Babel – A source within the police force in Babel province said on Thursday, that the security forces managed to arrest 31 wanted individuals on various criminal charges during raid operations in different areas of the province.
John and Tony Podesta aren’t fooling anyone
What I’ve termed "fake terrorism" is a longstanding Kremlin core competency, and it can only be pulled off with logistical support, including with finances.
Turkish warplanes conducted air strikes on Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq on Wednesday, destroying caves and shelters used by the rebels, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Thursday.
Iran intends to produce the powerful explosive Octogen for use in the warheads of its missiles to improve their “destructive and penetration power,” Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan said Wednesday. Octogen is used as an explosive in penetrating missile warheads and as a solid rocket fuel — but is also employed as part of the detonator in an atomic bomb.
