[ToloNews] Local officials in Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... said that the process of distributing uniforms for the security forces of the Islamic Emirate has been started in this province.
According to officials, three thousand security force members have received uniforms so far.
"Currently we just distribute to police who are in checkpoints and this process is ongoing," said Hamid Ullah Mutawakil, front man for the governor of Herat.
"A security person can be identified by this uniform," said Abdul Rahman, a police officer.
"We are so happy for these uniforms, no one can misuse these uniforms," said Amanullah, a policeman.
Herat residents welcome the wearing of special uniforms by the forces of the Islamic Emirate.
"A policeman and a common man must have a difference, and we called on the Islamic Emirate to order other coppers to wear uniforms," said Sultan Ahmad Noril, a Herat resident.
"If he has a uniform, we understand that he is the national army or the national police, it’s very good work," said Ahsanullah Rezaye, a Herat resident.
The presence of Islamic Emirate forces without uniforms in the cities has always been accompanied by criticism.
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] The Cabinet of 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... , during its extraordinary meeting on Sunday, which was presided over by Prime Minister Dr. Abdulaziz Saleh bin Habtoor, decided to boycott American, Israeli, Swedish, Dutch, and Danish goods in retaliation to abuses of Islamic sanctities.
Go for it, guys. The outside world won’t notice, and it’ll make no difference domestically, but you’ll feel better having said so.
The economic boycott decision included the American, Israeli, Swedish, Dutch and Danish goods, and any country that follows the same approach and violates Islamic sanctities in any way.
In its meeting, the Cabinet formed a committee chaired by the Prime Minister and the membership of Deputy Prime Ministers and all relevant ministries to set up a mechanism to boycott the goods of those countries.
The Cabinet approved also the comprehensive media plan, and instructed the Minister of Information to implement it in coordination with the national media system, to achieve its awareness and enlightenment goals regarding the boycott, as a weapon in confronting aggressive actions against the sanctities of the nation.
In this regard, the Cabinet denounced the disgraceful disregard of most Arab and Islamic countries for these violations, which clearly indicates their loss of control and their transformation into tools in the hands of the Western Zionist project.
The Cabinet praised the great stances of the Yemeni people, who came out in an honorable way to express their condemnation and denunciation of burning copies of the Holy Koran in Sweden, as they had previously gone out to express their condemnation of insulting the Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him.
Yemen is a low-income country that faces difficult long-term challenges to stabilizing and growing its economy, and the current conflict has only exacerbated those issues. The ongoing war has halted Yemen’s exports, pressured the currency’s exchange rate, accelerated inflation, severely limited food and fuel imports, and caused widespread damage to infrastructure. The conflict has also created a severe humanitarian crisis - the world’s largest cholera outbreak currently at nearly 1 million cases, more than 7 million people at risk of famine, and more than 80% of the population in need of humanitarian assistance.
Prior to the start of the conflict in 2014, Yemen was highly dependent on declining oil and gas resources for revenue. Oil and gas earnings accounted for roughly 25% of GDP and 65% of government revenue. The Yemeni Government regularly faced annual budget shortfalls and tried to diversify the Yemeni economy through a reform program designed to bolster non-oil sectors of the economy and foreign investment. In July 2014, the government continued reform efforts by eliminating some fuel subsidies and in August 2014, the IMF approved a three-year, $570 million Extended Credit Facility for Yemen.
However, the conflict that began in 2014 stalled these reform efforts and ongoing fighting continues to accelerate the country’s economic decline. In September 2016, President HADI announced the move of the main branch of Central Bank of Yemen from Sanaa to Aden where his government could exert greater control over the central bank’s dwindling resources. Regardless of which group controls the main branch, the central bank system is struggling to function. Yemen’s Central Bank’s foreign reserves, which stood at roughly $5.2 billion prior to the conflict, have declined to negligible amounts. The Central Bank can no longer fully support imports of critical goods or the country’s exchange rate. The country also is facing a growing liquidity crisis and rising inflation. The private sector is hemorrhaging, with almost all businesses making substantial layoffs. Access to food and other critical commodities such as medical equipment is limited across the country due to security issues on the ground. The Social Welfare Fund, a cash transfer program for Yemen’s neediest, is no longer operational and has not made any disbursements since late 2014.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2023 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[14 views]
Top|| File under: Houthis
#1
I wouldn’t think it was worth organizing a counter boycott. I would not think that too many Americans are unloading containers of Yemeni animal hides and naphthalene. Give their citizens free Disney Plus. That stuff is more toxic than if we hit them mustard gas.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/30/2023 15:15 Comments ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The new establishment in Afghanistan has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with its neighbour Pakistain since it assumed power in August 2021. Shockingly, Pakistain is rubbing salt into the wound. Amid severe economic turmoil, Pakistain has repeatedly accused the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... -led Afghan government of supporting the armed rebellion of the homegrown bully boy group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP).
Since last year, debt-ridden Pakistain has seen a massive surge in bully boy-led attacks, but TTP remains the main threat to the Pak government. Within a short time, the group has spread its tentacles in the tribal belt of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa region. In Balochistan
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2023 00:00 ||
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[15 views]
Top|| File under: Pak Taliban (TTP)
#1
Often overlooked is the TTP infiltration in Pakistan's cities, especially Karachi:
Approximately ten years ago it was reported, "The latest players in Karachi’s land grab — for long the domain of those with close links to the major political parties and forces amongst the establishment here — are TTP elements who have been putting down their roots in various parts of the city over the past couple of years.
Large swathes of Pakhtun neighborhoods in districts west and east, as well as pockets in districts Malir, central and south are reported to be under the influence of the TTP. While all 30 or so of its factions have a presence in the city, the most influence is wielded by the Hakimullah Mehsud and Mullah Fazlullah factions."
According to local police and residents of the affected areas, elements belonging to the TTP have entrenched themselves in these areas after having terrorised the local Pakhtun population into submission, and driven out the ANP from most of its traditional strongholds.
[Rudaw] The Syrian government expressed "total rejection" Saturday to a report by the global chemical weapons ...have not been used since WWI except for in Iraq, by the late, unlamented Saddam Hussein and in Syria, but really, honest, not by the Syrian government. And in Germany in WWII, but that was against civilians. Lots of them, just one of many reasons Hitler's also late and unlamented except among devout Moslems... watchdog accusing the regime of carrying out a chlorine attack in 2018, calling the report "misleading" and false.
"Syria totally rejects the report released by the so-called ’Investigation and Identification Team’ of the organization of the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) about alleged chemical attack in Douma on April, 2018, in addition to its conclusions," state media SANA cited the country’s foreign ministry as saying.
The OPCW report on Friday found "reasonable grounds to believe" that the rebel-held town of Douma was targeted by helicopters of the Syrian air force who dropped two cylinders of chlorine gas on the town, killing 43 people.
Syria and its main backer Russia claim that the attack was staged and that dead bodies from elsewhere in the country were taken to Douma to show that they were targeted by the toxic gas.
"Those who prepared this report neglected the objective observations raised by State parties, experts, academics, and former OPCW inspectors, known for their expertise and knowledge," the foreign ministry added, further blaming the watchdog and saying it "lacks legitimacy."
However, some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves... the OPCW said that its Sherlocks thoroughly investigated the incident, including scenarios presented by Syrian authorities, but they were unable to find any "concrete" evidence to verify the scenarios.
"The Syrian Arab Air Forces are the perpetrators of this attack," the report concluded.
In 2021, Syria’s voting rights at the watchdog were revoked after it refused to cooperate over accusations that Damascus carried out chemical attacks in the country.
Over 13 million Syrians — half of the country’s prewar population — have been displaced since the deadly Syrian Civil War began over a decade ago. More than six million of the displaced are refugees who have fled the war-torn country, according to a report from the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in March.
Syria joined the OPCW in 2013 under pressure from the international community after being blamed for another deadly chemical weapon attack, but does not recognize the investigation team’s authority and has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons.
Bringing perpetrators in Syria to justice remains a long way off. Syria’s ally Russia has, in the past, blocked efforts by the U.N. Security Council to order an International Criminal Court investigation in Syria.
The OPCW team previously identified Syrian forces as responsible for three chemical attacks in Latamneh in March 2017 and one in Saraqeb in February 2018.
The organization said "reasonable grounds to believe" is the standard of proof consistently adopted by international fact-finding bodies and commissions of inquiry that investigate potential violations of international law.
Friday’s report said that standard was met through evidence indicating at least one Syrian air force Mi8/17 helicopter dropped two yellow cylinders on Douma during a government military offensive to recapture the city,.
One of the cylinders hit the roof of a three-story residential building and ruptured, "rapidly released toxic gas, chlorine, in very high concentrations, which rapidly dispersed within the building killing 43 named individuals and affecting dozens more," according to the report.
A second cylinder burst through the roof of another building into an apartment below and only partially ruptured, "mildly affecting those who first arrived at the scene," the report added.
Syrian authorities refused the investigation team access to the sites of the chlorine attacks. The country had its OPCW voting rights suspended in 2021 as punishment for the repeated use of toxic gas, the first such sanction imposed on a member nation.
The investigation by the organization’s team, which was set up to identify perpetrators of chemical weapon attacks in Syria, built on earlier findings by an OPCW fact-finding mission that chlorine was used as a weapon in Douma.
The Sherlocks interviewed dozens of witnesses and studied the blood and urine of survivors as well as samples of soil and building materials, according to the watchdog agency.
As part of the probe, they also assessed and rejected alternative theories for what happened, including Syria’s claim that the attack was staged and that bodies of people killed elsewhere in Syria were taken to Douma to look like victims of a gas attack.
The report found that the two cylinders carrying chlorine were modified and filled at the Dumayr air base and the helicopter or helicopters that dropped them were under control of the Syrian military’s elite Tiger Force.
Survivors reached by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named in the aftermath of the Douma attack said they were overwhelmed by the smell of chlorine. Activists said many of the dead were found with foam around their mouths, an indicator of suffocation. Medical workers said they treated people for symptoms that included difficulty breathing and fainting.
The United States, Britannia and La Belle France blamed Syrian government forces and launched punitive Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s. Syria denied responsibility.
Douma was the final target of the government’s sweeping campaign to seize back control of the eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus from rebels after seven years of revolt. Militants gave up the town days after the alleged attack.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/30/2023 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[SHAFAQ] A leading figure in the Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq movement has pitted Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani against a patron of the Shiite Coordination Framework, a source from inside the mainly Iran-backed Shiite consortium revealed on Sunday.
According to the source, Prime Minister al-Sudani nominated the officer in charge of the Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq's organizations in al-Karkh, Mohannad Shaker, for the upcoming governorate Council elections.
"Al-Maliki, who deems himself the Coordination Framework's leader and the patron of the Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq movement, was not pleased with the move," the source said, "al-Maliki wants to keep the nomination power exclusive to himself, and such a moved is a mutiny from his point of view."
"Al-Sudani, and some of the Framework's leaders share his view, rejects al-Maliki's monopoly," the source continued.
"Purportedly, the leader of the Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq movement, the villainous-looking Qais al-Khazali ......sinister-looking Iranian stooge, Secretary General of Persian proxy militia Asaib Ahl al-Haq, wannabe Nasrallah...... , stands at the midpoint, but he signaled an unpronounced backing to al-Sudani by forming a list along with other members of the Coordination Framework," the source said.
Al-Sudani's ties with the Coordination Framework have always been marred by sporadic disagreements. On January 28, 2022, al-Sudani made a set of decisions without consulting the Coordination Framework's commission, which unnerved al-Maliki and other leaders.
[ElectronicAntifada] A graduate student worker at New York University (NYU) is being investigated by the administration for the alleged "vandalism" of an Israeli mail services bag.
Items shipped to the library from an Israeli vendor were packed in an Israeli postal bag.
The bag was disposed of and left in a recycling bin in July. A discarded Israeli postal service bag sits in a recycling bin. Fuck is written above the word Israel, and Free Palestine is written on the top in red marker. Fuck Palestine, fuck Hamas, fuck all terrorist scum. You kill children with missiles, you pieces of shit.
Naye Idriss, who was one of three Arabic language translation workers at the Bobst Library in the New York college, saw the discarded mail bag that had been sitting in the bin for days, said Dylan Saba, staff attorney at the civil rights group Palestine Legal.
Saba told The Electronic Intifada that Idriss “picked up a pen and wrote ‘fuck’ over the word ‘Israel,’ and then maybe the next day, she wrote ‘Free Palestine’ on it.”
The university is now charging Idriss with writing “potentially anti-Semitic words” on the discarded bag – even though nothing she wrote expressed any anti-Jewish bigotry whatsoever.
Related from last September: Columbia, NYU and Brooklyn College get failing grades on confronting anti-Semitism
After years of serious complaints about abuse by faculty, administration, and fellow students creating a hostile and sometimes dangerous environment for Jewish students, a foreign grad student scribbling on a bit of trash is what the university rears up on its hind legs to deal with?
NEW: The strike on Iran's MoD facility in Isfahan was “specific, surgical & successful”, sources with direct knowledge told me. They added the facility was connected to Iran’s missile program: “4 different areas in the building were accurately targeted & the goal was achieved"
[IsraelTimes] The alleged strike comes while talks between Jerusalem and Washington are aimed at finding new ways to counter Tehran’s nuclear program
Israel was behind a Saturday night drone attack that struck a defense facility in the Iranian city of Isfahan, according to a Sunday report.
The Wall Street Journal cited US officials and people familiar with the matter to say Jerusalem directed the strike. The report could not be independently confirmed.
Israel’s Channel 12 news reported Sunday that the site was a weapons production facility for Iran’s killer Shahed-136 drones and that the attack drones in operation were launched from an area near the site by "highly-skilled" operators who knew their target well. The unsourced report said the attack incorporated high-quality intelligence and technological ability.
Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites.... has been selling Shahed-136 drones to Russia for its use in the nearly year-long war on Ukraine. The "kamikaze" drones have been deployed to attack Ukrainian civilian sites and critical infrastructure facilities since September.
Iran has claimed air defenses were able to intercept some of the attacking drones, while others caused only minor damage. Some news reports, including in Israeli media, indicated the damage was more severe. Video allegedly from the scene showed large blasts.
While official reports in Iran pointed to one blast resulting from the strike, opposition Iranian news outlet Iran International cited eyewitnesses as saying that they saw three or four explosions.
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.
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] The Cabinet of 
...have not been used since WWI except for in Iraq, by the late, unlamented Saddam Hussein and in Syria, but really, honest, not by the Syrian government. And in Germany in WWII, but that was against civilians. Lots of them, just one of many reasons Hitler's also late and unlamented except among devout Moslems...
......sinister-looking Iranian stooge, Secretary General of Persian proxy militia Asaib Ahl al-Haq, wannabe Nasrallah......
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites....
