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Today: 65 articles and 177 comments as of 13:49.
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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Raqqa fully encircled
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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2 16:18 Sock Puppet of Doom [1]
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 4: Opinion
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1 10:34 Rex Mundi []
4 16:22 Crusader [1]
4 20:56 Frank G [2]
5 10:33 Abu Uluque []
8 16:39 g(r)omgoru []
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3 08:58 Rambler in Virginia []
Page 6: Politix
13 18:45 Procopius2k [1]
2 12:21 Alaska Paul []
6 10:25 ed in texas []
5 13:57 Seeking cure for ignorance []
6 10:29 gorb []
2 10:30 gorb []
Afghanistan
Bid to kidnap Afghan army officer turns deadly for militants in Logar
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A bid to abduct an officer of the Afghan national army in central Pashtun-infested Logar province, close to capital Kabul, turned deadly for the hard boyz in this province as the holy warrior appointed for the task was brutally rubbed out by the army officer.

The bid turned deadly for the hard boyz after the army officer whipped out his rod and plugged the driver of the vehicle.
According to local government officials in Logar, the incident took place early on Wednesday in Khosh district.

The provincial government media office in a statement also confirmed the report and said the hard boy given the task for the abduction of the army officer faced an unexpected reaction as he was trying to kidnap the army officer.

The statement further added that the incident took place in the vicinity of Qala-e-Safid area of Khosha district on Wednesday morning as the army officer was travelling in a vehicle and the snuffies were attempting to kidnap him.

However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk...
the bid turned deadly for the hard boyz after the army officer used the opportunity to take out the gun and instantly kill the driver of the vehicle, apparently a member of the hard boyz group, who was attempting to take him to the custody of the holy warriors.

According to the local officials, the dead body of the hard boy was taken to the historic provincial capital and the army officer was also shifted to a secure place after the incident.

The anti-government armed holy warrior groups including the Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
hard boyz have not commented regarding the incident so far.
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


2 Afghan Kops die in bombing in Farah
At least two policemen were killed in a roadside mine blast in western Farah province on Wednesday, local officials said. In addition, two other policemen were wounded.

The blast happened in the center of Farah city after a police vehicle struck a roadside mine, a spokesman for the provincial governor, Iqbal Bahir said. “The wounded policemen were taken to a nearby hospital in the city and they are in a stable condition,” Bahir said.

However, he did not provide more details about the blast. No group including the Taliban has claimed responsibility for the blast.
Posted by: badanov || 06/30/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Gunmen open fire on U.N. convoy in Libya
[AFRICANEWS] Gunmen opened fired on a United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
convoy on a coastal road west of the Libyan capital, Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
, on Wednesday, an incident that could complicate the gradual return of diplomatic and other international staff to Libya.

"The U.N. Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) confirms that a U.N. convoy was hit today travelling between Surman and Tripoli," a statement from the mission said, adding there were no reports of casualties among U.N. staff.

A member of parliament for Zawiya, Abdallah Alafi, said five male U.N. staff and two female staff had been held briefly and then released and would be transferred to Tripoli.

It was not clear why the convoy was hit and whether the staff were tossed into the calaboose or held for their own protection.

A picture circulating on social media showed an unmarked white vehicle of the kind used by U.N. staff in Libya apparently immobilised on the edge of a road, with the front wheel casing badly damaged and shatter marks on two of the windows.

"UNSMIL thanks the Government of National Accord, House of Representative Members from Zawiya and local authorities for their help in ensuring the safety of U.N. staff and is looking forward to their safe return to Tripoli," the U.N. statement said.

Surman is just west of the city of Zawiya. A number of militias have a presence in the area and the road is often closed because of local disputes. Kidnappings are common.

UNSMIL along with most diplomatic missions evacuated from Tripoli to neighbouring Tunisia in 2014 as rival factions battled for control of the Libyan capital.
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


3 LNA soldiers die in Banghazi
Benghazi, 28 June 2017:

In Benghazi’s Sabri district today, there has been more heavy fighting in which at least three Libyan National Army (LNA) soldiers have died and a significant number have been injured. The LNA has not issued official casualty figures but there has been a steady flow of ambulances taking the wounded away from the frontline.

Armed forces commander in chief Khalifa Hafter used a broadcast to praise the efforts of the soldiers and to tell them that the end of the Benghazi battle against the militants was in sight.

As with the final stages in the fight to take Ganfouda, it appears that the militants are putting up a ferocious defence. At least two soldiers were shot dead by a sniper, who LNA sources say, was then himself shot and killed by an LNA marksman.

In their slow advance today, soldiers reportedly took control of the Al-Thadi football club and surrounding buildings. A single shell fired from inside Sabri landed in the Salmani district on the Shamal football ground, damaging shops but causing no casualties.

Troops today discovered the body of a soldier who went missing two years ago. Mohammed Al-Barghthi disappeared in 2015 during one of the LNA’s first operations against Suq Al-Hout. It is unclear how he died or how his corpse was discovered and identified.

Posted by: badanov || 06/30/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Tunisia dismantles terror cell
[AAWSAT] Tunisian security forces arrested on Thursday 13 members of a network that works on financing terrorists in Syria.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement that the cell transferred the funds to Syria through Tunisia, Libya and Turkey.

The members of the network hail from various countries and include two women.

The operatives transferred vast sums of money to Turkey, where a Turkish member of the network, sent them to Syria.

Eleven members of the network were arrested in the city of Ben Guerdan in southern Tunisia.

Most of them “launder money earned in trafficking foreign currencies by buying gold and real estate and funding their trade activities,” the Interior Ministry explained according to Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP).

During a raid on the suspects’ location, authorities seized 3 million dinars (1.2 million dollars), gold and foreign currencies, as well as shotguns and two cars that were used in their operations.

The detainees face charges of money laundering and collecting funds for individuals, organizations and operations linked to terrorist crimes.
Perhaps at some point we will learn whether the recipients were ISIS, Al Nusra, or one or more of the many other jihadi groups running around the Syrian landscape.
Posted by: badanov || 06/30/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Bahrain authorities seize explosives in raid on Shiite group
[Ynet] Authorities in Bahrain say they have seized explosives and detained several suspects as part of a raid targetting a Shiite holy warrior group in the Gulf island nation.

The Ministry of Interior announced details of the operation against the Ashtar Brigade in the northeastern village of al-Dair on Thursday.

The Ashtar Brigade has claimed a number of bombings and attacks in the Sunni-ruled country, which hosts the US Navy's 5th Fleet.

The ministry says more than 50 kilograms of high-grade explosives and other materials including bomb-making diagrams and ammunition were seized in the raid. It was not immediately clear when the arrests took place.

Bahrain has been roiled by years of low-level unrest following a 2011 uprising led by its majority Shiites against the Sunni monarchy.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/30/2017 00:31 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies

#1  The ministry says more than 50 kilograms of high-grade explosives and other materials including bomb-making diagrams

Markings in Farsi, diagrams in Arabic?
Posted by: Pappy || 06/30/2017 11:26 Comments || Top||


6 Soddy soldiers die in missile attack un Najran
Yemeni army soldiers, backed by fighters from allied Popular Committees, have conducted a fresh missile attack against a military base in Saudi Arabia’s southern Najran region, killing six Saudi soldiers.

The Arabic-language al-Masirah television network reported on Thursday that the missile hit the al-Shabakah base.

Yemeni forces carried out a similar attack on the al-Farizah military base in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Jizan region, which set the post on fire, the report added.

The Yemeni forces have recently stepped up their retaliatory assaults against Riyadh’s deadly war on the impoverished country.

Separately on Thursday, a Yemeni military source reported intense clashes between militants loyal to former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, and Houthi Ansarullah fighters in the Sirwah district of the central Ma’rib Province.

Six pro-Hadi militants and 14 Houthi fighters lost their lives in the clashes over the past 24 hours, the source added.

Yemen’s Khabar news agency said a high-ranking pro-Hadi commander was among the casualties of the Ma’rib scuffles.

Other reports said dozens of Saudi mercenaries had been killed in the clashes.

Source: Press TV
Posted by: badanov || 06/30/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


20 die in fighting in Marib
ADEN: Six soldiers were killed in Yemen on Thursday, a military source said, as government forces seek to cement their control over Marib province, east of the rebel-held capital.

The source said 14 rebels were also killed over the past 24 hours in intense fighting for Sarwah, the last district in the mainly Sunni province still held by the rebels.

The government has been battling since last year to retake the mountainous district, which commands the main road to the capital Sanaa.

Despite the military intervention of a coalition in March 2015, the government’s writ is still largely confined to the south and areas along the Saudi border.

The government announced a shake-up of its military command on Wednesday. It also named new governors for three of the six provinces largely under its control — Hadramawt, Shabwa and the far-flung island of Socotra.

Both Hadramawt and Shabwa have seen significant activity by Al-Qaeda, which has taken advantage of the conflict between the government and the rebels to expand its presence.

The World Health Organization estimates that more than 8,000 people have been killed in the conflict, most of them civilians.

The country has also been hit by a deadly cholera outbreak and faces the risk of famine.
No one could have known war is hell.
Posted by: badanov || 06/30/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Europe
Paris man attempts to ram car into crowd outside mosque in Creteil suburb
One incident is merely that. Two incidents suggest concern. Three incidents show a trend. We are now at two.
[DW] Gay Paree police have said that no one was hurt in the attempted attack and that the man were tossed into the calaboose. Reports indicate that the perpetrator had wanted to avenge attacks linked to the so-called "Islamic State."

Gay Paree police have said that no one was hurt in the attempted attack and that the man were tossed into the calaboose. Reports indicate that the perpetrator had wanted to avenge attacks linked to the so-called "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....
French authorities on Thursday night said that the attacker had failed to run his car into a crowd outside a mosque in the Gay Pareeian suburb of Creteil because of barriers set up in front of the religious site.

The driver reportedly tried to repeatedly break through the barrier, but expeditiously departed at a goodly pace after realizing he couldn't go further. He was later incarcerated
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
in his home.

Local media reported that the man had wanted to avenge attacks carried out by the so-called "Islamic State" jihadist group, which over the past years have killed dozens of people in the French capital. French news agency Agence La Belle France Presse (AFP) said the man had made "confused remarks" about the jihadist attacks carried out in La Belle France in recent years.

Unconfirmed reports suggest the perpetrator was a 43-year-old Armenian.

The incident mirrors last week's attack outside a mosque in the Finsbury Park area of north London, when a man plowed a van into a crowd of worshippers, killing one and injuring about a dozen peope. The perpetrator, identified as 48-year-old Darren O., was detained soon after and charged with terrorism-related murder and attempted murder.

"What has happened in Creteil seems to justify the fears I expressed following the attack by the Finsbury Park mosque in London," Abdallah Zekri of the French Council of the Moslem Faith told AFP.

However,
Switzerland makes more than cheese...
French authorities said that an investigation into Thursday's failed attack would continue to be carried out by regular police, rather than by an anti-terrorism unit. Police said they would first determine whether the perpetrator was sane and could be held accountable for his actions.
What's the French word for "intifada?"
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/30/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  What's the French word for "intifada?"

Jacquerie.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/30/2017 2:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Using the tactics of the Islamacists against them? People getting fed up with jihadists attacks. First London and now Paris.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/30/2017 10:36 Comments || Top||


Gas canister with likely ‘ignition device’ found in Berlin McDonald’s
[RT] McDonald’s customers hoping to treat themselves to an Egg McMuffin were instead startled to find a gas canister at the fast food chain. The restaurant was evacuated following the discovery, which police say likely contained an "ignition device."

Customers found the gas canister at a McDonald’s in Berlin’s Kreuzberg neighborhood at around 9am local time on Thursday. It was connected to a cable.

Customers were quickly evacuated while explosives experts were called in to examine the device.

Two hours later, at around 11am, police tweeted that specialists had disarmed the device. Fire services also ventilated the restaurant "due to the high concentration of gas there."

Police also tweeted that Sherlocks believe the canister was armed with an "ignition device."

Bild reported that the cable attached to the canister had been reeled out to the parking lot behind the restaurant.

"A signal would have been enough to blow the whole restaurant into the air. We assume this was an attempt at an attack," a police source told the German tabloid, as quoted by The Local.

State security authorities have now taken over the investigation, according to Spiegel.
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Muzzies or haute cuisine fanatics?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/30/2017 2:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Welcome to Mickey D,s would you like to become a happy meal or hamburger ?
Posted by: Snilet Hatrack8707 || 06/30/2017 7:23 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Ohio man pleads guilty to joining Al-Qaeda in Syria
[RT] A Somali-born resident of Columbus, Ohio, has admitted to training and fighting alongside the al-Nusra
...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ...
Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria. He also admitted to planning an attack in the US upon his return from Syria.

Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud, 25, is a Somali-born naturalized citizen of the US. In 2014, he traveled to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
where he crossed the border into Syria, court documents show.

While in Syria, Mohamud received training from the al-Nusra Front, a terrorist organization affiliated with al-Qaeda, prosecutors said.

"After returning to the US, Mohamud planned to obtain weapons in order to kill military officers or other babus government employees or people in uniform. Evidence seized by the FBI indicates that Mohamud researched places in the US to carry out such plans," the Justice Department said in a statement.

He was jugged
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
in the US in 2015.

Mohamud’s brother also fought with al-Nusra,
...that would be Abdifatah Aden, who with only two names clearly was not the favourite son...
and he was killed in Syria, according to US prosecutors.
Mr. Mohamud returned to America two days after his brother's death in June, 2014, carrying his marching orders in his head.
Two years ago, a federal grand jury charged Mohamud with one count of attempting to provide and providing material support to terrorists, one count of attempting to provide and providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization ‐ namely, the al-Nusra Front ‐ and one count of making false statements to the FBI involving international terrorism. He pleaded guilty to all charges brought against him.
Ynet adds:
Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud pleaded guilty two years ago to terrorism charges, according to court documents unsealed Thursday.

Federal prosecutors said Mohamud researched places to carry out the attacks and had booked a flight to Texas.

It's unclear why almost two years have passed since his guilty plea and the unsealing of the documents. The Department of Justice said the plea was sealed because of an ongoing investigation.
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra

#1  It's unclear why almost two years have passed since his guilty plea and the unsealing of the documents.

Who was President two years ago?
Posted by: Pappy || 06/30/2017 7:36 Comments || Top||

#2  He was being considered for a Cabinet-level post?
Posted by: Frank G || 06/30/2017 20:42 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Pakistan bans TAJK backed by Hafiz Saeed
[The Hindu] Tehrik-e-Azaadi Jammu and Kashmire (TAJK), which India claims to be a front for Hafiz Saeed
...founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its false-mustache offshoot Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The United Nations declared the JuD a terrorist organization in 2008 and Hafiz Saeed a terrorist as its leader. Hafiz, JuD and LeT are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Pak intel apparatus, so that amounted to squat...
’s Jamaat-ud-Dawa
...the front organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba...
(JuD), has been banned by Pakistain after India raised the issue at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global anti-financial terror body, in February this year.

According to the website of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NCTA) under Pakistain’s Interior Ministry, TAJK was placed on the list of "proscribed organizations" on June 8. There are 64 other outfits in the list, which includes Jaish-e-Mohammad
...literally Army of Mohammad, a Pak-based Deobandi terror group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in 2000, after he split with the Harkat-ul-Mujaheddin. In 2002 the government of Pervez Musharraf banned the group, which changed its name to Khaddam ul-Islam and continued doing what it had been doing before without missing a beat...
, Al Qaeda, Tehrik-e-Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
and Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
Liberation Army among others.

On January 14, days before JuD chief Hafiz Saeed was put under "house arrest" in Pakistain, he appeared at a presser held by TAJK chairman Ghulam Mohammad Safi. In the video available with The Hindu, Safi said, "I congratulate Hafiz Saeed that he has declared 2017 as the year of Kashmire and that he has agreed to run his programme under the banner of TAJK." The video was put out by the JuD’s cyber cell and also sports the JuD logo. While the JuD is not banned in Pakistain, it was placed under the category of "organizations under watch" on January 27. Three days later, Saeed was placed in detention under pressure from the United States.

India first raised the activities of TAJK at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary at Gay Paree in February.

"This the first time, Pakistain has banned an outfit on the basis of representations submitted by India to an international body," said a senior government official.
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba

#1  Bans Supports
Posted by: Frank G || 06/30/2017 20:42 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Iraqi military claims capturing iconic mosque
[DAWN] The Iraqi military on Thursday announced the recapture of the iconic djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
mosque where Death Eater IS chief His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
...formerly merely the head of ISIL and a veteran of the Bagram jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us...
made his only public appearance, calling on Moslems to obey him.

The announcement of the recapture of the mosque -- which 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 blew up last week as Iraqi forces closed in -- comes three years to the day after the faceless myrmidons declared a 'caliphate' straddling Iraq and Syria.

"Counter-Terrorism Service forces control the Nuri mosque and al-Hadba (minaret)," the Joint Operations Command said in a statement.

After a senior special forces commander said the mosque had not in fact been retaken, the operations command clarified that it meant Iraqi forces had isolated the area and were "advancing toward the completion of the goals."

The mosque and its famed al-Hadba (hunchback) leaning minaret were Mosul landmarks and also held major significance in the history of IS rule in Iraq.

Iraqiya state TV carried a banner on Thursday announcing the "fall of the mythical state" -- a play in Arabic on the IS title "state of the caliphate." Baghdadi appeared at Friday prayers at the Nuri mosque in 2014, soon after IS seized Iraq's second city, calling on Moslems to obey him.
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Of course thats the most important thing, you know capturing a blown up mosque. These people are a whole nother level of fuckin stupid.
Posted by: chris || 06/30/2017 9:54 Comments || Top||

#2  I wonder how much money is gonna be spent to recreate the Leaning Minaret?
Posted by: Pappy || 06/30/2017 11:30 Comments || Top||

#3  I wonder how much money is gonna be spent to recreate the Leaning Minaret?

How about if they just build a new minaret, and one of us goes over there and figures out a way to make it lean. Or fall over.
Posted by: gorb || 06/30/2017 22:15 Comments || Top||


Mosul Offensive News


Iraqi forces capture symbolic mosque in Mosul

(Reuters) Iraqi forces captured on Thursday the wrecked historic mosque of Mosul in which Islamic State proclaimed its self-styled “caliphate” three years ago, an Iraqi military statement said.

Taking the Grand al-Nuri Mosque hands a symbolic victory to the Iraqi forces which have been battling for more than eight month to capture Mosul, the northern city that served as Islamic State’s de facto capital in Iraq.

The insurgents blew up the medieval mosque and its landmark leaning minaret a week ago, as U.S.-backed Iraqi forces started a push in its direction. Their black flag had been floating on al-Hadba, the ”hunchback” minaret, since June 2014.

Iraqi forces capture another mosque, church

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi government troops resumed advances against Islamic State militants in western Mosul’s Old City on Thursday, recapturing another mosque and a medieval church.

The Federal Police’s media office said forces took over al-Saa’a Church and Omar al-Aswad mosque in Bab Jadid neighborhood in the Old City.

The centuries-old church had been ransacked by Islamic State militants in 2015 and was turned into a reservoir for items looted by the group from security agents’ homes, according to Sputnik.

The statement also said 20 children were rescued from the neighboring al-Shifa district where troops took over a few medical facilities and an orphanage.

The development comes a few hours after the Iraqi army said it took over the Grand Nuri Mosque, the birthplace of the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed “caliphate”, marking a symbolic collapse of the group’s rule in Iraq.

Iraqi forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and allied paramilitary troops, took over eastern Mosul in January, and aimed at the western side of the city starting mid February.

There are a few hundred militants believed to be in the Old City, holding at least 50.000 civilians captives.

Meanwhile, DPA quoted an Iraqi medical source saying that more than 204 civilians, including children below 13 years, died by Islamic State and security forces fires over the past week.

Saadullah al-Khaffaf, a field doctor escorting Iraqi forces, told the agency that those had been killed while escaping the Old City, adding that the number is prone to increasing as there are hundreds othes stranded at areas still under the militants’ control. He said the number does not include those bombed while at home.

600 Bad Guys die in final push for Mosul

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) More than 600 Islamic State fighters had been killed and 900 families were set free from western Mosul’s Old City as Iraqi forces took over the group’s birthplace mosque on Thursday.

Abdul-Ghani al-Assadi, commander of the army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service, was quoted by Rudaw network saying Iraqi forces killed more than 600 Islamic State militants as they took over Nuri al-Kabir mosque, the place where the group’s founder, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared the establishment of the group’s rule in 2014. “Daesh (Islamic State) fighters are fighting ferociously, but have failed to stop advances by Iraqi troops,” he said.

According to Assadi, IS is still in control over al-Maydan, Serjkhana and Ras al-Khour, all areas in the Old City, and forces are attempting to drive them out of those areas. His remarks came at odds with a statement by the Defense Ministry confirming that no areas were under IS control anymore in western Mosul.

Sabah al-Noaman, a spokesperson of the CTS, also said only a few groups of IS were hiding at some areas of the Old City while trying to find a way out. He said forces freed more than 900 families from the district.

“The return of al-Nuri Mosque and al-Hadba minaret to the fold of the nation marks the end of the Daesh state of falsehood,” Iraqi premier Haider al-Abadi said in a statement earlier on Thursday.
Posted by: badanov || 06/30/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Palestinian with knife stopped at Hebron checkpoint
[IsraelTimes] Soldiers detain man after he tries to hide blade, in second such incident of the day in the West Bank city.

A Paleostinian man was jugged
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
on Thursday at a checkpoint in Hebron
...Hamas Central in the West Bank, and the site of the oldest Jewish community in the world. It was here that Abraham purchased a field to bury his wife, Sarah, where David was anointed king of Israel and ruled until he moved to Jerusalem, and where Jews lived continuously until driven out by the Arab pogrom of 1929. They moved back in 1967....
after he was found to be carrying a knife, police said, in the second such incident of the day in the flashpoint West Bank city.

Security forces outside the Tomb of the Patriarchs asked the suspect, a 20-year-old resident of the area, to place his personal belongings on a table, police said.

After they noticed him trying to hide a knife, they detained him for questioning.

Earlier Thursday, a Paleostinian man was arrested approaching a Border Police roadblock at an entrance to the city with a concealed knife, police said in a statement. When officers called on the man to stop for a security check, he discarded the knife, which he had been carrying in his sock, Israel Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said. The suspect, a resident of a nearby Paleostinian village said to be in his 30s, was taken in for questioning.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/30/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Kurdish Sniper Smiles After Dodging Death [VIDEO]
[Daily Caller] A Kurdish sniper narrowly escaped with her life after a bullet whizzed past her head and struck the wall behind her.

Video of the incident began making its way round the Internet late Tuesday.

The female sniper, dressed in a military uniform, was shooting from cover with what appears to be a Soviet produced Dragunov SVD rifle.

After firing a shot of her own, the bullet flies past her head and crashes into the wall she was standing up against, which was already peppered with bullet holes.

She immediately dropped down for more cover after dodging the bullet, and couldn’t help smiling after the close call that would have almost certainly ended her life.

The Kurdish soldier was accompanied by at least two others who can be heard speaking to her just after the bullet struck. Although we can’t make out what they’re saying, it’s likely one of them told her she’s lucky to be alive.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/30/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Nice big blue headscarf target with red spots and awfully clean cammies. Possibly 'Kurdish girl snipers' calendar shot.

Just a little too calm. No second shot report, almost like a ricochet.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/30/2017 10:30 Comments || Top||

#2  It was be a waste of a pretty young sniper if she were zapped. She might consider giving a little more attention to her sniper hide and get rid of the bright blue head covering for something a little less conspicuous.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/30/2017 10:30 Comments || Top||


Syrian rebel forces continue to push into Raqqa, Raqqa now fully encircled
Raqqa (Syria News) The Syrian Democratic forces (SDF) have advanced deeper, on Thursday, into the neighborhoods, south of Raqqa, while fierce clashes renewed with the Islamic State group.

Qasioun News reported that the Syrian Democratic Forces advanced, this morning, into the village of Kasret Affan, south of Raqqa, after violent battles with the Islamic State group.

Furthermore, four members of the Islamic State group were killed during the clashes that took place in the village, south of Raqqa, while the Syrian Democratic Forces was trying to impose their control on al-Bayrouni School, east of Raqqa.

Meanwhile, the SDF shelled the vicinity of the Pullman Garage and al-Taj Hall, south of Raqqa, using heavy artillery, while the army aviation bombarded ferried in the Euphrates River in the city.

It is noteworthy that the Syrian Democratic Forces continue advancing in several neighborhoods of the city of Raqqa, against the Islamic State group, in order to retake the remaining occupied areas in the city.

US-backed forces encircle Raqqa after closing last route into city: Monitor

[AlAhram] US-backed forces on Thursday fully encircled 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....
-held city of Raqqa after closing the bad boys' last way out from the south, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters that launched a long-anticipated assault on the Islamists' de facto Syrian capital this month, had earlier said they were on the point of cutting off Raqqa's last exit.
Posted by: badanov || 06/30/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Terror Networks
The Beatings Will Continue: Iraqi and Syria Editions


ISIS mufti executed in Mosul

Tal Afar (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants have executed a top legislator for plotting armed dissent against the group at a major stronghold west of Mosul, a local source in Nineveh province said Thursday.

ِThe source told Alsumaria News that Abu Zakaria, the first “mufti” to be appointed by the group in 2014 in the town of Tal Afar, was executed after he had been jailed for more than four months over accusations of plotting an armed dissent against the group there.

Abu Zakaria, in his 50s, is a resident of Mosul, the source revealed.

Islamic State have been holding Tal Afar since 2014, with the area becoming one of its most significant bastions in Nineveh province.

ISIS recruits new leader in Daraa

Daraa (Syria News) The self-proclaimed Islamic State group has assigned a new Emir, on Wednesday, after the killing of the first line leaders by a U.S. air strike in Jillen Town, west of Daraa.

Qasioun News reported on Thursday that the Islamic State militants have pledged allegiance to Wael Fa’our al-Eid, also known as Abu Taim Inkhil, as the General Emir in al-Yarmouk Basin, after serving as the military Emir in the same area.

The 40-year-old new Emir was the security operations and assassinations official in the so-called Jaysh al-Jihad (Jihad army) in the area, especially in Inkhil Town.

It is noteworthy that the international coalition bombarded, yesterday, headquarters of the Islamic State’s Jaysh Khalid Brigade, west of Daraa, and killed the General Emir of the group in the area.
Posted by: badanov || 06/30/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State



Who's in the News
39[untagged]
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2PLO
2Sublime Porte
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1Lashkar e-Taiba

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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2017-06-30
  Raqqa fully encircled
Thu 2017-06-29
   ISIS Number 4 and human shield deaths west of Mosul
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

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