Troops Intercept Three Suspected Terrorists in Borno, One Killed While Attempting Escape
By Zagazola Makama
Troops of the Nigerian Army and members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) have intercepted three suspected terrorists in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno… pic.twitter.com/eOADNC6kbx
Troops Intercept Three Suspected Terrorists in Borno, One Killed While Attempting Escape
By Zagazola Makama
Troops of the Nigerian Army and members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) have intercepted three suspected terrorists in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State.
The suspects were intercepted at about 2:14 p.m. on Aug. 5 by troops of 73 Battalion, in collaboration with the CJTF, around the Kayamla general area of Konduga LGA.
According to a military source, the suspects claimed to be repentant terrorists undergoing rehabilitation at the Bulumkutu Rehabilitation Centre and said they were visiting their farms.
However, one of the suspects was allegedly found in possession of two rounds of 7.62 x 39mm ammunition.
Troops of the Nigerian Army have arrested a suspected Boko Haram terrorist logistics supplier during a joint operation with local hunters in Hong Local Government Area of Adamawa State.
The suspect, identified as Mallam Badamasi Maikudi, 40, was arrested at about 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 6 in Garaha town, following suspicious movements within the community.
According to military sources, troops of 232 Battalion (Tactical), working with a hunters’ group, apprehended the suspect after observing his activities in the area.
Preliminary information indicated that Maikudi was allegedly a regular supplier of energy soft drinks and foodstuffs to a suspected terrorist location.
The suspect is currently in military custody and is undergoing investigation to establish the extent of his links with the terrorist network.
[MilitantWire] In mid-July, the city of Carcassonne,
…a French city between Toulouse and the Mediterranean Sea..
France, became the stage for a violent clash when members of the “Moroccan Cartel New Generation” (Cartel Mocro Nouvelle Génération, CMNG) gang carried out a shooting attack against their rivals.
Their first appearance here. One wonders if they rent themselves out to the IRGC for attacks on Jews and other targets like the Foxtrot Network Kurdish mafia up north in Sweden.
The group's sharing of images referencing the Mexican drug cartel, CJNG (New Jalisco Generation Cartel), also drew attention to this attack.
Prior to and following the assault, the criminal group disseminated various images featuring firearms across the country. Through this tactical public display, the organization aims to amplify its notoriety while simultaneously broadcasting direct threats to its adversaries.
More at the link, including photos.
#France 🇫🇷: A gang called “Moroccan Cartel New Generation 🇲🇦” (#CMNG) carried out shooting attacks against their rival gangs in #Carcassonne.
The gang notably used a Soviet PPSh-41 “Shpagin” submachine gun with 7.62 Tokarev drum magazine (from former Eastern Bloc stocks). pic.twitter.com/lw3enZoRm1
According to comments in the X thread linked in the article, their opponents are DZNG, DZ somehow meaning Algerian, also cleverly named after the Jalisco New Generation cartel. It split off from the DZ Mafia in January of this year.
[IsraelTimes] Authorities believe suspects were recruited via a messaging app and are probing possible connection to attacks on synagogues and Jewish bakeries
Toronto police announced two arrests on Thursday in connection with the shooting at a US consulate in the city last month, calling the accused "criminals for hire."
The July 27 shooting was the second time this year gunfire had been directed at the US diplomatic building in the downtown core of Canada’s largest city.
As bad as being Jewish/Israeli in some eyes.
No one was injured in either event, but police described both as "national security" incidents, and the initial shooting on March 10 prompted beefed-up protection for US and Israeli diplomatic buildings in multiple Canadian cities, as war gripped the Middle East.
Toronto police said those arrested included a 19-year-old and a minor, aged 15. Both have been charged with 11 offenses, including "an attack on premises of internationally protected persons."
Police identified the adult suspect as 19-year-old Xen-Ul-Abdeen Syed, who faces multiple firearm, arson and stolen-property charges, as well as a charge of attacking the premises of an internationally protected person. The minor cannot be identified under Canadian law.
"We believe these offenses were carried out by criminals for hire, recruited and directed through encrypted messaging apps," police chief Myron Demkiw said in a statement.
"There has been significant public interest and speculation about who is behind these crimes," Demkiw added. "That remains a key focus of our investigation."
Police said they believe the suspects were recruited through an encrypted messaging app and were offered money to open fire on the consulate.
Two men, Sheldon Tracy-Stewart, 18, and Zara Jabbi, 19, were arrested in June as part of the investigation into the March shooting. Police said the men were recruited to carry out violent mostly peaceful acts but did not provide further details.
Since the first shooting, police have maintained a visible presence outside the consulate. The July 27 shooting occurred despite a marked police cruiser stationed nearby.
Police said a white Honda Accord pulled alongside the consulate at about 4:46 a.m. and a single shot was fired, striking the front of the building. A brief police chase followed, but police ceased the chase as the driver of the vehicle was traveling at excessive speed.
Chief Supt. Joe Matthews said Sherlocks believe shootings, homicides and arsons are increasingly being commissioned through online apps, with suspects offered varying amounts of money depending on the crime.
"In many circumstances we know they are not getting paid," Matthews said.
Police also allege the two suspects were involved in setting fire to a vehicle in a community outside Toronto three days before the latest consulate shooting.
Toronto police in June said they believed multiple shootings, including the March incident, could be linked to "multilayered" gun-for-hire networks that have also targeted synagogues in the city.
Over the weekend, two popular Jewish-owned bakeries were targeted by gunfire.
Toronto Police deputy chief Frank Barredo said police have not ruled out a connection between the two incidents.
"Investigators will follow the evidence to where it leads," he said.
by Leonid Tsukanov
Syria's Chargé d'Affaires to the United States, Mohammed Qanatri, has found himself embroiled in controversy. Renowned American journalist and filmmaker Lindsay Snell unexpectedly identified him as one of the gunmen who kidnapped her in Aleppo, Syria, in 2016.
The journalist is convinced that Kanatri, then known under the pseudonym Mohammad al-Sadiq, not only had a hand in her capture, but also subsequently harbored a grudge and even tried to find a way to take revenge.
However, the Syrian diplomat himself, apparently, is more concerned with the latent problems that have brought back memories of his recent past.
Fast career
Despite the fact that Canatri had little contact with international relations before the conflict (although, being an engineer with an international diploma, he knew several foreign languages), he made a dizzying career in the field of foreign policy.
After the victory of the opponents of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December 2024, he was placed under the protection of the so-called "political cabinet" of the country's new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, where he coordinated foreign policy issues and established cooperation with foreign businesses.
And already in May 2025, he received his first position in the national Ministry of Foreign Affairs, becoming deputy director of the "US Department." However, despite his formal title of deputy, it was Canatri who made the main decisions in this area, while his superior preferred to spend his time vacationing outside the city.
Thanks to his high performance, just six months later—in January 2026—Canatri received another appointment, becoming the US Chargé d'Affaires and the first official Syrian diplomat in a decade and a half to fully establish himself in Washington.
However, after moving to the United States, Kanatri remained almost always behind the scenes, spending most of his time at the embassy residence or the mission building on Wyoming Avenue. He rarely held meetings, and mostly on his own property.
The press attributed this behavior to "adapting to the US" and quickly lost interest in the diplomat. Especially since Canatri gave no reason to write about himself and was not known for the extravagant antics many expected of him.
However, as it turned out later, the most interesting was yet to come.
Forced evacuation
In late July 2026, Canatri was suddenly accused of persecution and illegal detention. The instigator was American journalist and filmmaker Lindsay Snell, who covered the Syrian civil war in the mid-2010s.
According to materials published by the journalist herself on social media, in 2016 she worked in Aleppo, which was under the control of the armed opposition and allied radical groups.
It was here that Snell met Canatri, who introduced himself as a press secretary for one of the field groups and agreed to give a video interview about the motives of the Assad regime's opponents. He also promised to help her prepare exclusive materials.
However, instead of new interviews, the girl was kidnapped: the very next day, a group of militants abducted her and took her to the countryside, where they locked her in an abandoned house. Canatri appeared soon after, initially feigning innocence, but soon confessed that he had ordered the journalist's "forced evacuation" "for security reasons."
Snell later mentioned in passing that the future diplomat had made "ambiguous romantic advances" to her, but when he didn't get what he wanted, he took offense and insisted on worsening her conditions. She was moved to a new location with less comfortable accommodations.
Snell managed to escape her captors two weeks later, but was later arrested by Turkish authorities for attempting to illegally cross the border and enter a military zone and spent another two months in a Turkish military prison. Kanatri allegedly learned of her whereabouts fairly quickly and, through his proxies, attempted to buy her off the military. However, the journalist was lucky: the decision to deport her to the United States arrived before the Syrian could reach her.
Interestingly, Snell immediately acknowledged her kidnapper after American media published photographs of the new Chargé d'Affaires in January 2026. However, she did not immediately launch accusations against the appointee, as she had no evidence other than her own words.
A false or unfounded accusation could have cost her dearly. Especially since, by the time he moved to Washington, Canatri had established connections with heavyweight American politicians—for example, with US Representative Joe Wilson, who, by his own admission, saw in the diplomat "the strength of a new Syria." Attacking Canatri would have guaranteedly offended his patron.
So, for the next six months, Snell conducted her own journalistic investigation, meticulously gathering information about Canatri's biography and activities up until 2024. She studied his facial expressions, gait, gestures, and intonation. And in the final stage, she used AI tools to model the facial features of the kidnapper hiding behind the mask, comparing them with Canatri's official photos.
Over time, Snell managed to gather a small amount of evidence. Although much of it remained circumstantial and could not be used in an American court, she nevertheless decided to lay her cards on the table and voice her accusations against her new attorney.
And to make the story even more convincing, she published unpublished fragments of an old interview with Kanatri/al-Sadiq, dated 2016.
Suspicious coincidences
As expected, the new Syrian government did not comment on the scandal surrounding Canatri's shady past, especially since similar episodes appeared in the biographies of other prominent functionaries of the new regime. Therefore, they preferred to brush the matter under the rug. Washington, for whom Canatri's past was more of an open secret, also remained silent.
However, the story still left its mark on the chargé d'affaires. After Snell sparked the furor, sensation-seeking investigators dissected Canary's "Washington period" literally day by day. And they uncovered quite a few interesting findings.
For example, it was noted that, starting in March 2026, Canary began meeting significantly more frequently with American politicians associated with the so-called Jewish lobby in Congress. And in July, he suddenly broke away from his usual seclusion and appeared at least three times in the same neighborhoods where high-ranking Israeli officials and diplomats had recently been spotted. The last such meeting, judging by geolocation data, took place on August 3.
Observers have linked his sudden rise to US and Israeli attempts to fully draw Syria into the conflict with Iran, including using Damascus's resources to organize a land blockade of the Islamic Republic. In this case, Kanatri is the only link between the Syrian authorities and Western interests, and Damascus's final decision will largely depend on his position.
However, due to the media hype and increased attention to Kanatri, it's unlikely the Syrians and their Western partners will be able to agree on anything concrete. Therefore, the Israelis will likely seek an alternative channel of communication, possibly reaching out to other interested groups.
In this case, the consequences for the chargé d'affaires' career could be more serious, as along with the dialogue, he will lose valuable leverage over Damascus, and therefore, some of his political capital.
Posted by: badanov ||
08/09/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria/HTS
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] The US military has redirected 51 merchant vessels since the resumption of the naval blockade of Iran. This was reported on August 7 by US Central Command (CENTCOM) on social media.
As of August 7, CENTCOM forces have diverted 51 commercial vessels, disabled two vessels, and boarded two more to enforce the naval blockade.
CENTCOM previously stated that more than 1,000 commercial vessels had transited the Strait of Hormuz in three months with the assistance of the US military.
Tensions in the Middle East escalated three weeks after the US and Iran signed a memorandum ending the conflict. In early July, the US announced the end of the ceasefire and resumed attacks on Iran. Washington also announced the resumption of a naval blockade of Iranian ports. The IRGC began launching retaliatory strikes against US targets in the Middle East.
On July 25, US President Donald Trump canceled planned strikes on Iran for the first time in nearly two weeks. According to Axios, the US military presented the president with another attack plan, but he refused to authorize its implementation and ordered no strikes. Prior to this, Trump had approved such operations daily for 13 days. According to The New York Times, Trump postponed plans to intensify the military campaign against Iran due to concerns about depleting its stockpile of interceptor missiles for air defense systems.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Syria’s interior ministry announced late Friday that security forces killed two suspected Islamic State (ISIS) members in a clash near a Shiite Muslim holy site in Damascus, a day after a bombing injured more than a dozen people near the capital.
"While carrying out its duties on roads leading to military barracks and government facilities in the Sayyida Zaynab area, a night patrol affiliated with the Internal Security Command in the Damascus countryside became suspicious of two masked individuals positioned on the side of the road," read a statement from the ministry.
"When patrol members attempted to stop them to verify their identities, the two opened fire on the officers, sparking a clash that ended with both being neutralized," it added.
The ministry claimed that the suspects had been planting an explosive device "in preparation for an attack targeting a government facility," adding that the individuals were affiliated with ISIS.
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.
