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Today: 65 articles and 115 comments as of 11:05.
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Turbans attack Iraq TV channel HQ
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 12/24/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/24/2013 2:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Why is it that when I see Frances Neal sitting on Santa's knee, I get the feeling that Santa is getting the best of the deal?
Posted by: Au Auric || 12/24/2013 3:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Birthday Gam Shot

Pernilla Wahlgren [Sweden][Filmography](age 46)



Yumpin' Yiminy Design


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 12/24/2013 4:20 Comments || Top||

#4  Holiday Gam Shot

Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 12/24/2013 4:23 Comments || Top||

#5 

Merry Christmas Rantburgers.
Posted by: Threreling Munster6125 || 12/24/2013 11:20 Comments || Top||

#6 
Merry Christmas!
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 12/24/2013 11:25 Comments || Top||

#7 
Posted by: Frank G || 12/24/2013 17:37 Comments || Top||

#8  Feliz Navidad ya all.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/24/2013 18:35 Comments || Top||

#9  Merry-Merry, everyone!
Posted by: Barbara || 12/24/2013 19:51 Comments || Top||

#10  Thanks Frank G, that was pretty good. Kinda what my family used to be like before so many passed on.

Merry Christmas Rantburgers!
Posted by: Secret Asian Man || 12/24/2013 20:01 Comments || Top||

#11  Frohe Weihnachten!
to all 'burgers everywhere!!
Posted by: AlanC || 12/24/2013 20:50 Comments || Top||

#12 
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 12/24/2013 21:06 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Fighting clans in lower Shabelle separated by mighty Somali military
News Shabelle radio obtained from the lower Shabelle region confirmed to us that the Government forces have intervened and separated the 2 clan militia’s who have been fighting each other for the past few days.

This follows a day after Somalia’s defense minister Abdi Hakim Fiqi, Minister for judiciary and justice Abdullah Abyan and other high profile politicians visited Lambar konto residency (the war zone area) to calm the situation.

However, motorists who use the roads leading to the region confirmed to Shabelle Radio that illegal road blocks have been placed along the major roads leading to the Shabelle region by the rival clans. A driver who requested his name to be withheld told Shabelle radio that he has seen 30 road blocks between Shalanbood and Lambar Konton residency of which each vehicle has to pay 100,000 Somali shillings each roadblock.

The illegal road blocks have become a recurring problem in the region and the newly appointed prime Minister Dr. Abdiwali Sheikh promised to prioritize the removal of the road blocks.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/24/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Federal Govt troops clash at checkpoint in Afgoye
MOGADISHU -- The Somali Federal Government troops have clashed in deadly battle at a checkpoint in Afgoye town of southern Somalia on Sunday as President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud re-launched Somalia's biometric Passport in Mogadishu , Garowe Online reports.

Local reports say that an argument over the roadblock control degenerated into heavy fighting that lasted for hours, killing 8 people and wounding 10 others.

"The armed confrontation lasted for hours and it left 8 people including three female civilians dead," said Afgoye resident.

Somali Government forces were manning the checkpoint which links the market town of Afgoye to Bay regional capital of Baidoa.

African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) forces are said to have arranged ceasefire between the opposing sides who had since been vying for the generation of tax from the vehicles travelling on the main highway.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/24/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Egypt freezes over 1,000 NGO bank accounts
[Al Ahram] The Central Bank of Egypt has frozen the bank accounts of 1,055 non-governmental organizations following a decision by the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported on Monday.

An anonymous bigwig at the bank said some of the NGOs are linked to the Moslem Brüderbund, but he did not reveal their names or number.

The value of the frozen funds was not announced and it was not announced why the measures were taken.

The authorities have launched a crackdown on Islamists since Mohammed Morsi
...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator...
's removal on 3 July, arresting thousands and killing hundreds.

On 23 September, the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters banned all Brotherhood activities.

The court also ordered the seizure of the group's funds and the establishment of a panel to administer the frozen assets until appeals are held.
Posted by: Fred || 12/24/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  Good! Hit 'em where it really hurts.
Posted by: Barbara || 12/24/2013 23:23 Comments || Top||


Another day of violence at Egyptian universities
[Al Ahram] Security forces and pro-Moslem Brüderbund students once again clashed at a number sites across Egypt on Monday.

Students from Ain Shams University threw stones at the security forces outside the defence ministry in Cairo. They responded with teargas, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

There were similar festivities in Assiut where security forces used teargas to disperse a march by pro-Brotherhood students. Traffic jams were reported in the area.

The dean of the pharmacy at Zagazig University was struck on the head by pro-Brotherhood students demanding the release of fellow students tossed in the slammer
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
following festivities on campus last month. Students from arts and education, engineering and pharmacy faculties took part in the protest.

Police gathered at the university gates but did not intervene.

Hundreds of students demonstrated outside the walls of the university waving pictures of former president Mohammed Morsi
...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator...
and demanding the immediate release of their colleagues.

Earlier today, festivities took place between pro-Brotherhood students and the police at Al-Azhar University.

At the three universities, protesters demanded the release of all students arrested at earlier protests and justice for those killed by police.

Pro-Morsi protests have taken place at a number of campuses across the country since the start of term in September.

Al-Azhar University has witnessed violent festivities between security forces and students in recent weeks.

In September, a proposal by the Supreme Council of Universities to grant powers of arrest to university security guards stirred controversy.

The interim cabinet sidestepped the proposal, which had sparked fears of a return to a policy of intimidating politically active students.

Police have repeatedly entered university campuses to disperse festivities and protests in recent months.
Posted by: Fred || 12/24/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Africa Subsaharan
Bokeaux kidnap wives, children of soldiers in Borno
[Nigerian Tribune] Many wives and children of military men were reportedly kidnapped by suspected Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
gunnies who attacked the Nuhu Muhammed Barracks in Bama, Borno State, on Friday, this is just as unconfirmed reports revealed that about 13 soldiers, 18 women and kiddies and about 100 Boko Haram sect members were killed during the attack.

Following the Friday attack, more troops and heavy artillery were seen coming into Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, while fighter jets have continued to fly over the city, as military sources said soldiers were still in pursuit of the military faceless myrmidons who attacked Bama, with some of them seen crossing over to Banji area in Cameroon.

The Nigerian military has deployed fighter jets in a bid to hunt down the gunnies and possibly rescue their victims.

7 Division Nigerian Army in Borno State is yet to make a statement regarding the attack but Sunday Tribune gathered that soldiers were also killed in the attack, aside women and kiddies who were earlier kidnapped by the faceless myrmidons and killed not too far away from the barracks.

According to a report published by the Associated French Press (AFP) yesterday and authenticated by Sunday Tribune's sources in Borno State, the audacious attack by Boko Haram fighters numbering about 300 did not only leave casualties in the form of the dead, a yet-to-be-identified number of soldiers' wives and children were taken away by the terrorists, who attacked the military barracks around 2.30 a.m.

Though the number of hostages taken by the Death Eaters could not be ascertained, as military authorities were yet to give a figure, findings revealed that the military had since surrounded Abbaram, a village near Bama, where it was thought that the Death Eaters might be keeping their hostages.

Posted by: Fred || 12/24/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram

#1  time to get medieval on these assholes
Posted by: Frank G || 12/24/2013 9:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Arc-Lights are medieval?
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/24/2013 12:13 Comments || Top||

#3  At least until that idiot King John crashed the Royal B-52. They only had one.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 12/24/2013 13:32 Comments || Top||

#4  To make matters worse, when he crashed it he flew it into the Royal F-150.

WORST... MONARCH... EVAH!
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 12/24/2013 13:33 Comments || Top||


French troops killed presidential guards: CAR presidency
[Al Ahram] Three ex-rebels rubbed out by French troops in the capital of the Central African Republic on Sunday were members of the presidential guard and were "killed in cold blood", the CAR presidency said.

"They were killed in cold blood by members of Sangaris," presidential front man Guy Simplice Kodegue said on Monday, referring to the French force sent this month to disarm ex-rebels sowing chaos in the country.

They are "members of the presidential guard," he told AFP.

President Michel Djotodia, who became the first Mohammedan leader of the majority Christian nation after a March coup, was formerly leader of the Seleka rebel coalition.

He has officially disbanded Seleka but some members went rogue, leading to months of killing, raping and pillaging -- and prompting Christians to form vigilante groups in response.

The French army said its troops opened fire in Bangui on Sunday against "a group of half-a-dozen people suspected of being ex-Seleka" and who "were preparing to use their weapons".

But the presidential front man said the shooting was unprovoked.

"This was not a disarmament operation and no shots were fired, contrary to what was reported in certain French media," Kodegue added.

He said the ex-rebels were driving in a vehicle when they were stopped.

"They were rubbed out despite having shown their badges and papers proving their mandate."

"It was deliberate," he charged.

La Belle France has deployed 1,600 soldiers to its former colony alongside the African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
's UN-mandated MISCA force to try to quell rising sectarian violence.
Posted by: Fred || 12/24/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "They were rubbed out despite having shown their badges and papers proving their mandate."

"badges? We don't have to show you no steenkin badges"
Posted by: Frank G || 12/24/2013 8:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Knowing the reticence of the French ROE, there was a reason..
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 12/24/2013 10:33 Comments || Top||


AU troops 'kill' CAR protester in Bangui
African Union (AU) troops have opened fire on protesters in the Central African Republic (CAR), killing one person, witnesses said. About 40 people were also wounded, mostly in a stampede, caused by the shooting near the airport in the capital, Bangui, a charity said.

On Sunday, French forces killed three people, the CAR government said.

AU and French troops are battling to end Christian-Muslim conflict that has engulfed CAR. Militias from the two groups have been involved in attacks and counter-attacks since Michel Djotodia installed himself as the country's first Muslim ruler in March, ousting then-President Francois Bozize, who came from the majority Christian population.

Two days of violence earlier this month left about 1,000 people dead, according to Amnesty International.

The AU has nearly 4,000 troops in CAR, including a contingent from neighbouring Chad, and France, the former colonial power, has deployed 1,600 soldiers to help restore order.

Many Christians accuse the Chadian government of being allied to the Seleka rebel group which propelled Mr Djotodia to power, while Muslims allege that French forces are siding with Christian militia groups known as anti-balaka.

Witnesses said a Christian crowd staged the protest on Monday, demanding the resignation of Mr Djotodia and the withdrawal of Chadian troops from the AU force.

The Chadian forces fired into the air and towards the crowd after protesters threw rocks at their vehicles, the AFP news agency quotes its reporters at the scene as saying.
Throw rocks, catch bullets. Isn't that the way it usually works?
One person was killed, according to AFP and Reuters.

A spokesman for the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said around 40 people had been treated for injuries at their airport medical centre. Three people with bullet wounds were in a critical condition, MSF's Sylvain Groulx told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme.

On Sunday, several thousand Muslims protested in Bangui against the presence of French troops, chanting: "No to France".

The French army said it had opened fire on suspected ex-Seleka fighters who were "preparing to use their weapons".

It did not give casualty figures, but Mr Djotodia's spokesman Guy Simplice Kodegue said the French troops had shot dead three presidential guards - not ex-Seleka rebels.

"They were killed in cold blood by members of Sangaris," he told AFP, using the codename of the French force.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/24/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Throw rocks, catch bullets. Isn't that the way it usually works?

Rock
Bullets
UN

Not near as fun as Scissors Stone Paper, one party has a 33% of a terminal game.

Posted by: Shipman || 12/24/2013 7:49 Comments || Top||

#2  The Chadian forces fired into the air and towards the crowd after protesters threw rocks at their vehicles, the AFP news agency quotes its reporters at the scene as saying.

One person was killed, according to AFP and Reuters.

Very tall people, or they lied.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 12/24/2013 15:25 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Pressure is mounting in southern territories
[Yemen Post] Southern snuffies took arms on Saturday across several southern provinces, calling for retributions against Sana'a central government on the wake of the confirmed death of Sheikh Mohammed al-Rayami .

A powerful tribal leader, Sheikh al-Rayami was killed on Saturday when his booby-trapped vehicle went kaboom! in the south-eastern province of al-Baydha. "Mohammed al-Rayami, a high-ranking tribal chief, was killed when a bomb went kaboom! under his car in the main street in al-Bayda province," a local official told the press on condition of anonymity Saturday.

Two by-standers, both children were severely maimed in the blast.

The report of his death literally set Yemen' southern territories alight, as secessionists snuffies understand the attack as proof that Sana'a would always act the colonial force over South Yemen, forever refusing to offer its leaders due respect and importance.

While this new attack against a high profile official is likely to have been the work of al-Qaeda, southern snuffies chose to unleash their wrath onto Sana'a central government. It is important to note that at this stage no group has yet admitted responsibility for the Sheikh's death.

At a time when tensions are running ever higher for every day the NDC is delayed, Haraki snuffies (Southern Secessionist Movement) moved against northerners' interests in the provinces of Hadhramawt and Aden where they targeted shops and businesses belonging to northerners.

Officials confirmed on Sunday that Saturday's festivities forced several cities across the south had to be locked down, all local schools and public offices closed for security purposes.

"Four Southern Movement snuffies and two coppers were maimed in an armed clash in Ataq, capital of Shabwa province," police told news hounds. In Hadhramawt, three soldiers were killed and several others severely maimed when armed rustics targeted a military outpost near al-Qotn.

In Aden, residents in Crater confirmed that gunnies attempted Saturday to take over the local cop shoppe.

While today order has been more or less restored; intermittent clashed have been reported in Aden and across the southern province of Hadhramawt, underscoring the volatility of Yemen' security situation
Posted by: Fred || 12/24/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Government calls the army to quell southern uprising
[Yemen Post] Following two days of violent armed festivities across several southern provinces of Yemen: Hadhramawt, Shabwa and Aden, President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who admittedly warned that the situation did not bode well for unity, called on the armed forces to return calm and order.

As tanks and armoured vehicles moved into Hadhramawt, the epicentre of the southern rebellion, residents said they were preparing themselves for a violent showdown in between southern Death Eaters and the central government armed forces. Several local Haraki members (Southern Secessionist Movement) warned that a move against the South would add fuel to an already high burning fire, as once again northerners would appear the ever quelling colonial force.

In Aden, residents in Mansoura, a popular district of the former capital, residents confirmed hearing a loud kaboom on Sunday evening, followed by heavy gun shots.

In Crater as well residents reported festivities violent clashed in between armed Death Eaters and men from the security forces. Witnesses confirmed that southern Death Eaters attempted earlier in the day to storm a cop shoppe near Haddadeen Street.

In Dar Saad, another district of Aden, Death Eaters erected road blocks, challenging the police from crossing onto their neighbourhoods. Emboldened by Hadhramawt sudden shift from peaceful resistance to armed confrontation; die-hard secessionists were heard calling on residents to rise against Sana'a central government to reclaim their independence and illusory sovereignty.

Posted by: Fred || 12/24/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Trainer of suicide bombers sentenced in Dagestan
Sultanat Krymova, a resident of Kaspiysk, Dagestan, was sentenced to two years in prison for possessing an explosives belt. Sabina Sheymuradova and Krymova from Makhachkala used their apartment to brainwash females into joining terrorist groups, according to a report by the National Anti-Terrorism Committee. They also used their apartment to produce explosive belts.
Posted by: ryuge || 12/24/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Civilians killed in army operation in Wazoo
Residents of the ethnic Pashtun region of North Waziristan accused government troops on Monday of killing dozens of civilians during a military operation against Taleban insurgents.

The operation started just after a December 18 suicide bomb attack on a checkpoint in North Waziristan, a stronghold for Al Qaeda-linked Taleban militants on Pakistan’s mountainous border with Afghanistan. Speculation that the army might launch a major offensive in the frontier tribal areas has been building as the government’s attempts to engage the Pakistani Taleban in peace talks have floundered in recent months.

Military officials said at least 23 militants had been killed in clashes with security forces in the Mir Ali region of North Waziristan following the suicide attack.

Pakistani authorities imposed a curfew across the lawless region and residents said many people had fled from their homes after days of shelling and raids by helicopter gunships.

Resident Mohammed Tayyab said he lost three of his children and his wife in the shelling.

“On the first day of the attack an artillery shell hit the room where my kids and wife were sleeping,” Tayyab said by telephone. “The government has put them to sleep forever.” Residents put the civilian death toll at several dozen.

“From the first day of the attack until now 70 civilians have been killed,” said a tribal elder in Mir Ali who declined to be identified for fear of state reprisals.

“Some truck drivers and hotel and shop keepers were shot directly, and dozens were killed by gunships, mortars, and artillery shelling on the civilian population.”

The army did not respond to telephone calls and text messages requesting a comment on the allegations of civilian deaths in North Waziristan.

The Pashtun lands along the Afghan border have never been brought under the full control of any government.
And don't you think it's going to start now...
Taleban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur said insurgents would respond by launching a full scale counter offensive on army positions if attacks against civilians did not stop on Monday.

Residents said bodies were left in the open in the villages of Mosaki and Hasukhel as terrified villagers fled the area.

“We are moving our families to keep them safe but the army’s mortars and shells are following us,” said Asad Sher of Mir Ali. “Please tell us where is safe. The army is demolishing our homes and bazaars.”

Malik Gul Salehjan, another man, said: “My children are asking me for bread but I am not able to give them anything because there is nothing in my house.”

A North Waziristan administration official said tribal elders and army representatives convened a jirga, or meeting, on Monday to try to find a negotiated end to hostilities.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/24/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Turbans attack Iraq TV channel HQ
[Al Ahram] Militants attacked a local television station headquarters north of Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
on Monday, storming the building and setting off bombs, police and journalists said.

Four jacket wallahs entered the headquarters of the Salaheddin television channel in Tikrit, north of Storied Baghdad, a police lieutenant colonel said. There were three kabooms inside, the cause of which was unknown.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 12/24/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State of Iraq & the Levant


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Gaza: 2 Palestinians Wounded In Hamas Training Camp Blast
[Ynet] Two Paleostinians were maimed in a Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, training camp in Gazoo City after a blast destroyed the camp. No additional details were available.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/24/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Red wire? Green wire? What to do, what to do?
Posted by: tipover || 12/24/2013 0:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Goes to show. If you are colorblind - bombmaking is probably not your gig.

At least not for long.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/24/2013 3:44 Comments || Top||


Gaza Rocket Hits South Of Ashkelon
[Ynet] Projectile fired from Gazoo Strip just after midnight Sunday lands in settled area near southeastern border.

A rocket fired from the Gazoo Strip went kaboom! in a residential area of the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council in southern Israel late Sunday night. There were no injuries reported, but light damage was sustained.

Police sappers located the remnants of the rocket Monday morning.

The rocket fell hours after a bomb exploded on a bus in Bat Yam, moments after the bus driver safely took all of his passengers off the vehicle. A police sapper was lightly hurt in the blast.

On Sunday, just after midnight, the red alert siren went off in several communities in the southern regional council. Some of the residents in one of the areas reported hearing a large blast.

Police officers and the bomb squad unit from Lakhish Region immediately started searching for the rocket, and located it at dawn Monday.

Local residents say they do not remember such a significant blast since the IDF's Gazoo operation Pillar of Defense ended in November 2012.

"We were very lucky that it happened in the middle of the night, when no one's wandering in the streets," a resident said. "It completely caught us by surprise. We have become used to the quiet since Pillar of Defense."

Hof Ashkelon Regional Council Chairman Yair Farjon said the rocket startled the area, but life will go on. "We will continue to be on the lookout, but we will continue with our routine, being sure that the IDF knows how to locate the source of the rockets and to stop them from being fired."

In Egypt, a military representative told Paleostinian news agency Ma'an that a rocket fired from Gazoo during a Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, experiment landed in Egyptian territorial water, a hundred meters from Rafah.

The source said that Hamas announced that it was a trial launch, and therefore it erroneously reached Egypt.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/24/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Southeast Asia
NPA militants celebrate anniversary with a cease-fire
The New People’s Army has declared a unilateral cease-fire in southern Philippines to celebrate the group’s 45th anniversary. The NPA, which is celebrating the anniversary of its founding on December 26, also urged rebel forces to stay vigilant because of possible military attacks.

NPA spokesman Rubi del Mundo said the truce will take effect on Christmas eve up to December 26, and from New Year’s eve to January 2, 2014. The order was issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

The Philippine military also imposed a unilateral cease-fire on December 21 which ordered troops to suspend all offensive operations. However, Del Mundo accused the military of failing to comply with its own cease-fire and said security forces attacked NPA militants in Davao City and in North Cotabato province.
Posted by: ryuge || 12/24/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies


Thai police hunt three men in hotel bombing
Police are searching for three leading terrorists insurgents who are suspected of involvement in three bombings in the downtown Sadao district of Songkhla on Sunday. The three were identified as Seri Waemamu, Rusaran Baima and Abdultorle Kasor.

Police said the trio planted the bombs as their gasoline-smuggling network wanted Sadao to be included in a list of security areas. Since October they have been trying to take revenge against officials who stepped up suppression of gasoline smuggling in the district.

After studying security camera footage, police said at least five men were involved in the three explosions in Sadao, which wounded 27 people.

These terrorists insurgents were also involved in a drive-by shooting in Pattani province on Dec 3, killing five people, police said. This incident happened when seven locals left their homes in a truck to hunt in a nearby forest, and were attacked by four gunmen on two motorcycles. Police said the terrorists insurgents had stolen the pickup truck of the slain locals and used it as a car bomb at the Oliver Hotel in Sadao.
Posted by: ryuge || 12/24/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
SNC Threatens to Boycott Geneva Talks as 300 Die in Week of Air Raids on Syria's Aleppo
[An Nahar] Syrian warplanes have killed more than 300 people in an eight-day bombing campaign on Aleppo, with the opposition National Coalition saying it will not attend planned peaced talks if the bombing continues.

The vicious campaign has seen aircraft drop barrels of TNT on rebel-held neighborhoods -- a tactic widely condemned as unlawful -- flooding hospitals with victims, according to activists, medics and others.

The attacks come as Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators...
's forces have advanced on several fronts recently while Western nations have been preoccupied with Syria's chemical disarmament and preparing for the January peace talks.

"From December 15 to 22, 301 people have been killed, including 87 children, 30 women and 30 rebels," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists and witnesses on the ground.

It later said 21 people had been killed Monday in attacks on the rebel-held Marjeh and Soukkari districts of Syria's second city, once its commercial capital.

Activists released what they said was footage of a school targeted in the village of Marea near Aleppo. Children can be seen running from the school and screaming as loud kabooms rumble in the background.

Inside, men pull children from the rubble, their faces caked in dust and blood. It was not possible to verify the footage.

Assad's opponents say the bombing is aimed at demoralizing their supporters and turning them against the hard boys.

A security source told Agence La Belle France Presse the army had adopted the tactic because of a lack of ground forces, and argued the heavy civilian toll was because the rebels -- branded "terrorists" by the regime -- are based in residential areas.

Aleppo has been split between opposition and government forces since a massive rebel assault in July 2012.

Human Rights Watch
... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world...
has accused the government forces of using weapons and tactics that fail to distinguish between civilians and combatants, making such strikes "unlawful."

The main opposition National Coalition has called on Western states to impose a no-fly zone to halt the attacks.

"Until Assad's warplanes are stopped, the humanitarian disaster, regional instability and the rise of extremism will only continue to get worse," said Munzer Aqbiq, an adviser to the Coalition's president.

If bombing continues Coalition 'will not go to Geneva'

Later, Coalition Secretary General Badr Jamous went further and said that "if the bombing the Assad regime is carrying out and its attempt to annihilate the Syrian people continue, then the coalition will not go to Geneva."

The so-called Geneva 2 talks are aimed at getting agreement on a political transition to end the war, which has claimed an estimated 126,000 lives since March 2011 and displaced millions.

But the increasingly fractured opposition has said Assad must step down as part of any deal, which Damascus rejects.

And several powerful rebel groups have rejected the talks outright, raising concerns that even if an agreement is reached the opposition would be unable to enforce it on the ground.

The initiative is aimed at building on the momentum of a deal to eradicate Syria's vast chemical arsenal by mid-2014, which averted punitive U.S. strikes after an August gas attack near Damascus killed hundreds of people.

But analysts argue the regime has been emboldened by U.S. President Barack Obama
My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it...
's failure to act after Assad allegedly crossed his "red line" against using chemical weapons.

"There are no more red lines, there is a green light," Salman Sheikh, the director of the Brookings Doha Center, told AFP, saying there is an "element of vengeance" in the Aleppo bombings.

"Any credible use of force was taken off the table by Obama and the international community."

Meanwhile,
...back at the wreckage, Captain Poindexter awoke groggily, his hand still stuck in the Ming vase...
Assad said Syria was being confronted with a major offensive by Islamist Death Eaters.

"The country is facing a takfir
...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...
i ideology," Assad said, using a term for Sunni Mohammedan Death Eaters. "This is terrorism without limits, an international scourge that could strike anywhere and anytime."
Posted by: Fred || 12/24/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Report: Hezbollah, Syrian Rebels Clash In Lebanon
[Ynet] Lebanese site reports Hezbollah man killed in festivities between Syrian rebels, Shiite terror group on Lebanese soil, in additional incident of spillover from Syrian conflict into neighboring countries

A clash erupted overnight Saturday between a Hezbollah patrol and armed Syrians on the outskirts of Lebanese town, Lebanese media outlets reported Sunday.

According to Now Leb, the Hezbollah patrol detected a group of armed Syrians in the Bekaa area, and a firefight between the two parties ensued. The clash ended in the death of one Hezbollah man and the injury of another, the report said.

The report, which quoted the An-Nahar news website, further claimed that the Syrians also suffered casualties.

Voice of Leb radio was quoted as reporting that "Ali Dirgham Fares was killed and another man was hurt in festivities between members of Hizbollah and fighters from the Free Syrian Army and the (al-Qaeda-inspired) al-Nusra Front in the barren mountains of the Bekaa town of Nahle."

Nahle lies to the east of east of Syria's Qalamoun, where Bashir al-Assad's regime forces and Hezbollah men have battled rebels since mid-November.

Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah and his Shiite terror group's media mouthpieces have constantly attempted to frame the rebel presence in Qalamoun as a threat to Leb's security.

But according to Now Leb, newspaper unaffiliated with the terror group reported that the Qalamoun battle could lead to an influx of Syrian rebel fighters into Lebanese territory.

In early June, Now Leb reported, Hezbollah fighters engaged in a firefight with Syrian rebels on the outskirts of Baalbek along the Syrian-Lebanese border.

AFP cited a security source as saying that at least one Hezbollah member was killed in the fighting on the Syrian side of the border.

Meanwhile in Aleppo
Syrian aircraft pummeled opposition areas in the northern city of Aleppo on Sunday, killing at least 32 people and extending the government's furious aerial bombardment of the rebel-held half of the divided city to an eighth consecutive day.

Since it began on Dec. 15, the government's unusually heavy air campaign in Aleppo has killed more than 200 people, smashed residential buildings and overwhelmed the city's hospitals with casualties. The timing of the assault -- a month ahead of planned peace talks in Switzerland
...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
-- suggests that Syrian President Assad could be trying to strengthen his position and expose the opposition's weaknesses before sitting down at the negotiating table.

Sunday's air raids targeted several Aleppo neighborhoods, but the worse hit was Masaken Hanano, where bombs fell on a second-hand market, a two-story building and a main road, activists said.

The Aleppo Media Center activist group said at least 32 people were killed, and published a list of the names of the dead on its Facebook page. Another group, the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said in a later statement that at least 47 people, including seven rebels, were killed and dozens maimed.

"The medics say they are removing people in parts; they aren't sure how many there are," said Hassoun Abu Faisal, an activist with the Aleppo Media Center. He said the bombs destroyed vehicles lining a main road, destroyed a two-story building and left a crater where part of the market was.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/24/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah



Who's in the News
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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2013-12-24
  Turbans attack Iraq TV channel HQ
Mon 2013-12-23
  New Air Strikes on Aleppo Kill Dozens, Schoolchildren among 8 Dead in Homs
Sun 2013-12-22
  Alabama men convicted on terrorism charges get 15-year prison terms
Sat 2013-12-21
  N. Waziristan clashes: Troops pound militant hideouts, 40 killed
Fri 2013-12-20
  AQ in Syria executes top US backed FSA commander.
Thu 2013-12-19
  Suicide attack kills 5 soldiers in Miranshah
Wed 2013-12-18
  Iran nuke deal implodes
Tue 2013-12-17
  Ansar Al-Sharia homes attacked in revenge for Benghazi kiilling
Mon 2013-12-16
  Assailants stab Japan diplomat in Yemen
Sun 2013-12-15
  Six killed in US drone strike in Khyber Agency
Sat 2013-12-14
  Deadly clashes in Bangladesh after top JI leader hanged
Fri 2013-12-13
  Bangladesh executes Islamist leader and convicted war criminal Abdul Quader Mollah
Thu 2013-12-12
  Boko Haram slaughters nine people in Borno
Wed 2013-12-11
  French Army Kills 19 Islamist Militants in Mali
Tue 2013-12-10
  MILF, Manila reach power-sharing agreement

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