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Ottoman Turkish artillery opens fire on Kurdish forces across entire frontier in northern Aleppo
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Southeast Asia
18 Philippine troops killed by ISIS during ongoing battle for Marawi
[ALMASDARNEWS] Heavy festivities continue to embroil the city of Marawi, located on the southern island of Mindanao, while civilians bear the brunt of the ongoing crisis.

According to Amaq Agency, 13 government soldiers were killed during skirmishes in Marawi’s neighborhoods on Tuesday while an additional 5 were burned alive as an Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
RPG destroyed an armored vehicle, bringing the total alleged Philippine Army corpse count to 18 for the day.

On the other hand, the Philippine Armed Forces said they had restored 90% of the city under government control due to ongoing counter-insurgency operations that have the ISIS-linked Maute and Abu Sayyaf
...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder...
groups running low on manpower.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred || 06/28/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11132 views] Top|| File under: Maute group (IS)


Maute rebels take slaves as Marawi battle intensifies
Good photos and video report at the link. These reporters have some gonads
[Sky News] Over four days in Marawi, Sky News watched the Philippine military carry out repeated air strikes, bombers wheeling overhead and diving towards targets in the city. The fighting is intense and sustained - mortars and helicopters mounted with machine guns are being used, as well as armored personnel carriers and ground troops.

Philippine forces train to combat militants in jungle conditions, but here they are facing urban warfare, fighting street-to-street, at times house-to-house. We saw armored vehicles reinforced with planks of wood in an improvised attempt to withstand anti-tank weaponry and rocket-propelled grenades fired by the rebels.

Drone footage from inside rebel-held territory showed a mosque believed to be used as a base - local fighters are also said to have knowledge of tunnel networks and bomb shelters beneath the city. The mosque has not been targeted by the military, but whole streets around it have been flattened. We saw large fires burning in the ruins.

One commanding officer told us some of the trapped civilians are being used as slaves and orderlies by the rebels, with some being forced to wear black robes and act as human shields. Lt Col Christopher Tampus, commander of 1st Infantry Battalion said, "Those hostages are being dressed, we have some visuals of this. They are being dressed with a black-like robe. We believe these are civilians because we can easily see how they move."

We set out to reach a family we had heard was still in touch with relatives trapped inside, but as we ran across the street to their house a bullet landed less than a meter from our team. It appeared we were being targeted.

We planned to stay in the building until the threat outside subsided, but then a fire started. It was not clear whether deliberately or not. We had to get out, but the only way was back across the same street. We lined up to make the run, one at a time, into our vehicle, crouching low inside until we had reached relative safety.

We passed a dead dog, abandoned in the road, and black graffiti as a reminder of what they were running from. "WELCOME ISIS!" one scrawled message read. Another had a picture of a skull and cross-bones beneath an ISIS slogan.

We spoke to the uncle of a young man killed fighting for the Maute group, who told us there are many more like him. He said, "In my village, the number of recruited were 10. Actually there are lots of them that have already been killed in the fighting in Marawi. There are a lot because Abdullah Maute targeted Cotabato City. He convinced a lot of teenagers..."

On Sunday, a temporary ceasefire was declared to mark the end of Ramadan, and allow a humanitarian pause. A delegation of religious leaders and volunteers, armed only with megaphones, headed out across the front line to try to negotiate the release of some of the trapped civilians. But as we waited for news, a number of shots were fired into our street, forcing everyone to take cover behind parked cars.

Three hours later, the rescue teams re-emerged, bringing with them a 14-month old girl and her mother, father, grandfather, and aunt. The family had hidden in their employer's basement for 33 days. The 14-month-old girl and her family spent 33 days hidden in a basement

His daughter-in-law had given birth while they were trapped, but the baby did not survive. The teams also brought out the body of a 72-year-old man, who had suffered a stroke, and died before he could be reached.

Even as the rescued family was being taken to hospital, the fighting in Marawi resumed. The military insists the rebel leadership is crumbling and victory is irreversible but declined to say when it might come.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: ryuge || 06/28/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11132 views] Top|| File under: Maute group (IS)



Who's in the News
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7Islamic State
4Arab Spring
3Sublime Porte
2al-Shabaab (AQ)
2Govt of Saudi Arabia
2Maute group (IS)
2Commies
1Govt of Pakistan
1Govt of Qatar (MB)
1Pirates
1Govt of Syria
1Hamas
1Boko Haram (ISIS)
1Govt of Iran
1Govt of Iran Proxies
1Govt of Pakistain Proxies

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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2017-06-28
  Ottoman Turkish artillery opens fire on Kurdish forces across entire frontier in northern Aleppo
Tue 2017-06-27
  IS suicide bomber’s belt explodes, kills 12 well-wishing comrades in Diyala
Mon 2017-06-26
  High Court reinstates Trump travel ban, will hear arguments
Sun 2017-06-25
  Evolution theory to be scrapped from Turkish schoolbooks
Sat 2017-06-24
  Jihadist who threw grenade in French kosher shop gets 28 years
Fri 2017-06-23
  Philippine military: Omar Maute likely dead
Thu 2017-06-22
  BIFF Bravely Takes Hostages at Philippine School
Wed 2017-06-21
  ISIS Lord High Holy Man, al-Baghdadi confidant, killed by US-led coalition forces
Tue 2017-06-20
  Afghan forces clear strategic Tora Bora of ISIS militants: Gen. Waziri
Mon 2017-06-19
  IRGC completely dismantles terrorist group in southeast Iran: Commander
Sun 2017-06-18
  Afghan forces recapture Tora Bora in Nangarhar
Sat 2017-06-17
  Taliban rejects report on Kandahar bombing that killed UAE ambassador, diplomats
Fri 2017-06-16
  Army takes over Mosul’s Old City entrance, IS trapped
Thu 2017-06-15
  SDF capture former IS member known as Jihadi Jack
Wed 2017-06-14
  Senior Republican politician and several aides shot at baseball practice near Washington


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