[An Nahar] Somali government forces supported by 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... troops took control of a key southern town on Saturday as they closed in on a major bastion of al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab rebels, officials and witnesses said.
Witnesses reported that the Somali and AMSIOM troops fought a heavy battle outside Qoryooley in lower Shabele region before finally wresting control of the town and closing on the Shabaab coastal base of Barawe.
Barawe is situated between the capital Mogadishu, seat of Somalia's internationally-backed government, and the southern port city of Kismayo, which is controlled by Kenyan AMISOM troops.
"The national army with the support of the AMISOM peacekeepers defeated the al-Qaeda affiliated gunnies in the lower Shabele region, today we have taken control of Qoryoley and we are moving onto other major towns where the gunnies are still harassing people," Colonel Mohammed Amey of the Somali army told Agence La Belle France Presse.
Local resident Mohammed Adan confirmed that Shabaab pulled out of the town after heavy fighting with Somali and AMISOM troops.
Witnesses also reported hundreds of residents fleeing the area to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
The U.N.-backed AU force this month launched a fresh offensive against Shabaab bases, with the gunnies largely fleeing ahead of the assault, only to later stage guerrilla attacks.
U.N. envoy to Somalia Nicholas Kay has called the offensive "the most significant and geographically extensive military advance" since AU troops started operations in 2007.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
They can close in all they want. Where they have a problem is holding position.
#2
"Closing in and wrestling control" are actually not the first tactical steps necessary. The first steps are the establishment of blocking positions and kill zones.
Qoryooleey has today officially been liberated from the control of Al-Shabaab by the co-allied Somali National Army and African Union troops, local media reports.
According to the way described to Radio Shabelle in Mogadishu by the Deputy Governor of the Lower Shabelle region Omar Mohamud Elmi (Arabey), he stated that the troops have not entered the district yet but have a presence on its borders and are preparing themselves to seize control of the district.
Al-Shabaab were recently discussing their tactics in the district until the troops stormed in and regained control of the territory.
The environment is currently reported to be serene with normal movement by the community although the surge increase in the Somali National Army and African Union troops are frightening the locals.
Some interesting pics of the mighty AMISON soldiers on patrol, including what looks to me to be an old T-55 battle tank as part of the force mix. Might be a T-72.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Qoryooleey? Who the hell fights over places named this?
[Ynet] An liquidation attempted on the life of Egyptian Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Sedki Sobhi was thwarted on Saturday, Sinai security sources told Paleostinian news agency Ma'an.
According to the unconfirmed report, a barrel with TNT was found at the el-Arish Airport while Sobhi was on a tour of one of the military facilities in the city.
The barrel, that weighted a quarter of a ton, was supposed to explode when Sobhi arrived at the airport, the report said, but security forces blew it up in a controlled environment before the chief of staff's arrival.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/23/2014 00:21 ||
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[AnNahar] The secretary to the Tunisian ambassador in Libya has been kidnapped, the foreign ministry in Tunis said on Saturday.
According to an embassy source, the incident occurred on Friday when the kidnappers forced Mohammed bin Sheikh into their vehicle, which had stopped his car in the Ain Zara suburb of eastern 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... The ministry said it was in contact with Libyan authorities to obtain more information and to step up efforts to secure Sheikh's release.
Tunisia was urging Libyan authorities "to ensure the protection of all employees and agents of diplomatic missions and consulates in Libya," it said.
Libya has been struggling to establish security since its 2011 armed revolt which overthrew longtime leader Muammar Qadaffy ...whose instability was an inspiration to dictators everywhere, but whose end couldn't possibly happen to them... With the country awash with weapons, the authorities have struggled to integrate militias into a regular army or police force.
Anti-aircraft gunfire and explosions were heard late at night and again after dawn on Saturday in Ajdabiya, the hometown of rebel leader Ibrahim Jathran. Libyan rebels occupying oil ports clashed with troops on Saturday after attacking an army base where reinforcements were preparing for an offensive to break the blockade, local residents said.
Anti-aircraft gunfire and explosions were heard late at night and again after dawn on Saturday in Ajdabiya, the hometown of rebel leader Ibrahim Jathran, whose fighters seized three ports in summer to demand a greater share in Libya's oil wealth.
Fighting broke out just hours before the return to Libya of an oil tanker seized on Sunday by US commandos in the Mediterranean after it had loaded crude at one of the ports Jathran's men have occupied. The Morning Glory, once a North Korean-flagged vessel, was expected to arrive on Saturday in Libya under US Navy escort and dock at Zawiya, one of the country's key ports under government control.
There was no immediate confirmation from hospitals of any casualties after rebels opened fire with anti-aircraft canons and rocket-propelled grenades on the army base. Residents said nearby homes were hit by several shells in the attack.
"You can hear heavy shooting at several places in Ajdabiya," said one resident.
The struggle for control of Libya's vital petroleum resources is one of the challenges facing the weak central government, which has been unable to secure the North African country three years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. Brigades of former anti-Gaddafi rebels and militias refuse to disarm and often use armed force or control over oil facilities to make demands on a state whose national army is still in training.
Tripoli's central government gave Jathran a two-week deadline on March 12 to end his port blockade or face a military assault, though analysts say Libya's nascent armed forces may struggle to carry out that threat.
Jathran's self-declared Cyrenaica government, which is demanding more autonomy for his eastern region and a share of oil revenues, could not immediately be reached.
Cyrenaica was once a separate autonomous region under the Ottoman Empire.
After months of threats, Jathran's federalist gunmen managed to load crude onto the Morning Glory tanker. The ship left port and escaped Libya's navy, embarrassing Tripoli's government and prompting parliament to sack Prime Minister Ali Zeidan.
The seizure of the Morning Glory tanker in international waters was a rare boost for Tripoli's government, which has struggled to end the standoff that has cost the state more than $7 billion in lost oil revenue. The three ports account for around 700,000 barrels per day of Libya's oil export capacity, or around half of its total petroleum shipments.
The town where Saturday's battle broke out, Ajdabiya, is divided between Jathran supporters and those who fear his oil blockade will lead to the collapse of the state. But any major assault on the three ports may bolster support for Jathran's cause for a federalist state, allowing his eastern region more say in controlling its own affairs and spending local oil revenues.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2014 00:00 ||
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Libyan authorities closed the airport in the capital Tripoli on Friday after rockets hit a runway, airport sources and state media said.
"Flights were halted but we hope to reopen the airport within hours," a senior security official said, adding workers were clearing the runway of debris.
And wouldn't you like to be the first pilot landing there after it's been officially declared 'all clear'...
State news agency LANA said two rockets landed at dawn on a runway. The cause was unclear but gunfire could be heard during the night in the capital, residents said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2014 00:00 ||
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[TRIBUNE.NG] THE arrest of a terrorist who claimed to be a Cameroonian and an arms courier for the dreaded 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... sect has led to the discovery of a large cache of arms and ammunition hidden on the premises of a burnt church in Borno State.
The weapons, which have now been recovered by troops, include anti-aircraft guns, Rocket-Propelled Grenades (RPGs) as well as General-Purpose and other brands of machine guns. They were found buried in the premises of one of the churches earlier burnt by snuffies in Kalabalge Local Government Area of Borno State.
Major-General Chris Olukolade, the Director of Defence Information, who is on an operational tour of the troubled areas in the North-East, in company with the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Kenneth Minimah, and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adeshola Amosu, said in a statement that the troops also recovered from the location thousands of rounds of ammunition and links.
According to him, the middle-aged terrorist, who was one of those captured in recent raids, disclosed during interrogation that the weapons were stockpiled to be used in a pending attack on some communities around Nigeria-Cameroon border.
Olukolade disclosed that the weapons have all been evacuated, while guard locations and patrols are being maintained in the general area and surrounding localities.
He added that troops on Friday continued with various operations assigned to the formations involved in the counter-terrorist campaigns, and that "the caves of a particular mountain captured overnight is undergoing a thorough search for snuffies who are believed to have fled there in the wake of the ongoing offensive on various terrorist enclaves."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
first step in conversion to a mosque, eh?
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2014 7:24 Comments ||
Top||
#2
At First Boko Haram, in the pews,
They keep tools to set loose the good news
On the folks they detest,
Those who haven't professed
Erudite Muslim views on taboos.
[AnNahar] Twelve people were killed Saturday in festivities between Yemeni forces and Iranian catspaws on the outskirts of the northern city of Amran, a local official and tribal sources said.
The rebels, known as Huthis or Ansarullah, had travelled to Amran to take part in a demonstration, but shooting erupted when they insisted on crossing a checkpoint to the northern entrance to the city with their weapons, an official said.
Eight rebels were among the dead, as well as two soldiers and two civilians, a local official and tribal sources said.
A security bigshot in Sanaa said orders have been given to prevent Huthis from entering Amran, as the army dispatched reinforcements from the 310nd armored brigade.
The military also set up more checkpoints around the city as rebels attempted to enter from the east and west, local sources said.
Last week, Huthis armed with assault rifles paraded through Amran along with vehicles fitted with rocket launchers, demanding the sacking of the "corrupt government".
The Huthis have fought the central government in Sanaa for years, complaining of marginalization under former president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... , who was ousted in 2012 following a year of protests.
Last month, President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi and party leaders in Sanaa agreed to transform Yemen into a six-region federation as part of a political transition.
The rebels, who complain that the country would be divided into rich and poor regions under the plan, have been trying to enlarge their zone of influence by pushing out from their mountain strongholds in the far north to areas closer to the capital.
In early February, they seized areas of Amran province in fighting with local tribes that left more than 150 people dead.
Military sources said last week the rebel objective was to seize Amran city and, from there, lay siege to the capital.
At least five snuffies were killed and eight placed in durance vile You have the right to remain silent... during a search operation by security forces in Balochistan's ...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... Kech district on Saturday morning, a security official claimed.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] A police officer was killed in a relatively rare attack in the Iraqi port city of Basra Saturday, while security forces reopened a key highway after retaking a village from Death Eaters.
The latest bloodshed came a day after attacks across the country killed 33 people, with bombings and shootings largely targeting Sunni Arab-majority areas of northern and western IraqIn Basra, police Lieutenant Colonel Ihsan Maadhi was bumped off in front of his house in the center of the southern city, police and medical sources said.
The shooting was a relatively rare incident of violence in Shiite-majority southern Iraq, which still suffers attacks but on a markedly lower scale than Storied Baghdad and northern and western Iraq.
Elsewhere on Saturday, security forces reopened a key highway connecting Storied Baghdad and the northern city of Kirkuk after retaking a village from anti-government fighters who held it for several hours a day earlier.
The festivities in the village of Sarha were part of nationwide violence that left 33 people dead, including coordinated late-night bombings against the home of a police major in the center of Tikrit that killed four.
Attacks also struck elsewhere in Salaheddin province, as well as the restive northern provinces of Nineveh and Kirkuk and in the western desert province of Anbar., just weeks ahead of national parliamentary elections.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2014 00:00 ||
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Israel said Friday it had uncovered a new Gaza "terrorist" tunnel reaching into the Jewish state, but Hamas said the tunnel was old and had been exposed by storms.
The tunnel "reaches hundreds of metres (yards) into Israel" from the besieged Palestinian enclave, army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner told reporters, adding that it was designed for carrying out a "terrorist attack".
Lerner did not give the exact location of the tunnel, saying it was "engineered with substantial concrete slabs... and varies in depth from six to eight metres".
"The exposure of this tunnel was based on intelligence, and boots on the ground," he added.
But the armed wing of Islamist movement Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, said shortly before the army's announcement that the tunnel was old and had been exposed by storms, not by Israeli "security achievements".
"The tunnel the occupation claimed to have uncovered... is old, and was exposed and damaged by stormy weather two months ago," the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement late Thursday, released after initial unconfirmed media reports on the tunnel. The tunnel was located east of the southern city of Khan Yunis, the statement said.
Whoever is right doesn't matter: just fill it with napalm and throw in a match...
The Qassam Brigades said Israel's announcement aimed to "incite against the Palestinian people... and to (justify) aggression against Gaza".
Israel froze shipment of building materials into Gaza in October after discovering a sophisticated "terror tunnel" into the Jewish state from the Palestinian territory, a defence official said. Officials said that tunnel ran 450 metres into Israel and was intended as a springboard for militant attacks.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
If you're looking to smuggle a carton
Or smoke an entire kindergarten,
Your Pals have you covered
(try not to get smothered,
and beware subterranean fartin').
Two top leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines were arrested on Saturday in the province of Cebu.
The military said Benito Tiamzon, the CPP chairman, was arrested by security forces along with his wife Wilma, also the secretary general of the communist organization. Wilma, who was previously arrested in October 1989, escaped from her jail in police headquarters in Camp Crame in Quezon City in December of the same year.
Authorities gave no other details about the capture of the communist leaders, but military spokesman Emmanuel Bautista praised their arrest. He said the captured militant leaders are facing many criminal charges.
He said, "They are currently undergoing processing and documentation for legal disposition. The arrest of Benito and Wilma Tiamzon is another victory for the combined efforts between the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), PNP (Philippine National Police) and other stakeholders in pursuit of peace and security."
He added, "We call on to the rest of the CPP-NPA members to lay down their arms, abandon the armed struggle and return to the comfort of their families and join us in bringing peace and development to our nation."
The arrest of the Tiamzons has further dampened any hope for the resumption of peace talks between the militants and the Aquino government.
The National Democratic Front of the Philippines has condemned what it called the illegal arrest of the two leaders who are its consultants to the peace process. It said both are immune from arrest because they have safety and immunity guarantees for the duration of the peace negotiations between Manila and the militant group.
It said, "Benito Tiamzon and Wilma Austria are NDFP Consultants who have fulfilled and are fulfilling highly significant tasks in the peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines."
The NDFP has demanded the immediate release of the communist couple. It said, "This latest flagrant violation of the JASIG by the Aquino regime, in addition to so many other gross violations of the JASIG, most seriously prejudices the GPH-NDFP peace negotiations."
The Maoist rebellion has claimed 30,000 lives according to government estimates.
Though the communist party's armed wing, the New People's Army, is down to about 4,000 guerrillas from more than 26,000 in the late 1980s, the rebels continue to pose a threat according to the government.
The rebels frequently ambush or raid small military and police units, as well as extorting money from rural businesses, military officials say.
In April last year President Benigno Aquino's government announced that the peace talks being brokered by Norway had collapsed, dampening hopes of a political settlement before the president's six-year term ends in mid-2016.
The Aquino government is scheduled to sign a peace treaty on March 27 with the largely Catholic country's largest Mohammedan guerrilla group, ending the country's other long-running rebellion that had claimed 150,000 lives in the south.
Turkish armed forces shot down a Syrian plane on Sunday which Turkey said had crossed into its air space in an area where Syrian rebels have been battling Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... 's forces for control of a border crossing.
"A Syrian plane violated our airspace," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told an election rally in northwest Turkey. "Our F-16s took off and hit this plane. Why? Because if you violate my airspace, our slap after this will be hard."
Syria condemned what it called a "blatant aggression" and said the jet was pursuing rebel fighters inside Syria. It said the pilot had managed to eject before the plane crashed.
The Turkish general staff said one of its control centers detected two Syrian MIG-23s around 1 pm (1100 GMT) and warned them four times after they came close to the Turkish border.
One plane entered Turkish airspace at Yayladagi, east of the Kasab border crossing, it said. A Turkish F-16 fired a rocket at the Syrian jet and it crashed around 1,200 meters (1,300 yards) inside Syrian territory.
Amateur video released by rebel fighters showed smoke rising from wooded hills in the border area where they said the plane had come down.
[AnNahar] Sniper activity continued on Saturday afternoon in the northern city of 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... , wounding at least one person.
"Ahmed Mheish was maimed by sniper fire at al-Malloula highway in Tripoli's Bab al-Tabbaneh," the state-run National News Agency reported.
The NNA said that the maimed was transferred to a hospital in the region, noting that he is in a critical condition.
LBCI television noted that another person was maimed by sniper fire while he was in his car in al-Malloula area.
"A young girl was also injured in (the Tripoli neighborhood of) Jabal Mohsen," it added.
"The International Highway in Bab al-Tabbaneh also came under intensified sniper fire," NNA said.
NNA then reported that unknown assailants torched a white Mercedes car near al-Mankoubine area after they targeted it with gunshots, but the driver, who hails from Jabal Mohsen, escaped unharmed.
Meanwhile, ...back at the hoedown, the fiddler suddenly struck a sour note. The dancing stopped abruptly. Everyone looked at Bob... radio Voice of Leb (93.3) said two shells were hurled at the Talaat al-Omari area and near the Jihad field in Tripoli, without causing any injuries.
And earlier in the day, a bomb was hurled in Tripoli's Syria street, according to LBCI.
Later in the evening, the Army Command's Orientation Directorate announced that troops continued to execute the security plan in the city, and to respond to the sources of fire.
"The troops continued implementing the adopted security procedures to control the security situation and preserve stability," the army said in a communique.
The statement detailed: "The army's plan included patrolling, responding to the sources of fire, and raiding locations in Jabal Mohsen that are under suspicion."
"The raids resulted in seizing armory and ammunition."
The NNA had said earlier that troops raided several location in Jabal Mohsen, in search for two runaways suspected of shooting at Mheish.
It noted that the suspects belong to the Sana and Deeb families.
"The army continued its raids in Jabal Mohsen, particularly in al-Haram building, in search for Hussein Deeb, nicknamed Suna, for suspecting his involvement in firing gunshots at Mheish," VDL detailed.
According to NNA, the army also erected a checkpoint at the entrance of the Arab Democratic Party politburo chief Rifaat Eid ...secretary general of the Leb Arab Democratic Party, a Pencilneck regime front organization... 's house to look for Mheish's shooter.
But Eid told LBCI: "We are not covering any party and we support the army's procedures."
Al-Mustaqbal ... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri... MP Mohammed Kabbara contacted Prime Minister Tammam Salam and former premier Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. over the situation in the northern city.
"Hariri assured that the cabinet will map a plan along with security leaders, and that this plan will be final to restore calm and normal life in Tripoli," Kabbara revealed.
A security source said earlier Saturday that festivities in the northern city have killed 24 people since March 13, as sniper fire forced the closure of the highway to Syria.
The security source said that since March 13, "there have been 14 killed and 128 maimed".
Fierce fighting on Friday killed 10 people raising the corpse count to 24 since March 13, the security source said, adding that 128 people have also been maimed in the nine days of violence.
"Seventeen soldiers were among the maimed," the source said.
The army has been deployed in Tripoli for several weeks to try to bring peace to the warring districts but troops have repeatedly come under fire.
Relative calm prevailed on Saturday although snipers forced the closure of the highway leading from Tripoli to the Syrian border.
Most of the fighting in the city has taken place under the cover of darkness.
[AnNahar] The General Directorate of State Security detained a four-member network specialized with trafficking and smuggling weapons to gangs in the neighboring country Syria, the state-run National News Agency reported on Saturday.
The NNA said that the State Security Bureau in the southern Nabatiyeh province thwarted an attempt by the network to smuggle arms to gunnies in Syria.
The network is comprised of four Lebanese men, identified by their initials: W. N., S. Q., S. D., S. A..
A large quantity of arms were seized in their possession.
The NNA said that the four suspects were referred to the competent judicial authority.
Smuggling weapons to Syria has increased in recent months.
Several individuals have been placed in durance vile Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! in Leb on suspicion of carrying out such operations.
Leb and Syria share a 330-kilometer border, but have yet to agree on official demarcation.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/23/2014 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Syrian helicopters fired several rockets on Saturday evening on the Arsal plains in the Bekaa.
"A Syrian army helicopter fired two rockets on Wadi al-Raayan area in Arsal," the state-run National News Agency said.
The NNA later added that the helicopters fired another two rockets on al-Majar region in the Arsal plains.
Earlier in the afternoon, Syrian warplanes raided al-Rahwe area, also in the northeastern border town of Arsal.
On Thursday, Syria's air force carried out strikes on areas on the outskirts of Arsal.
The new raids came after an assault on Wednesday night.
Syria's army and Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... overran the rebel bastion Yabrud in the Qalamoun mountains on Sunday and are now targeting other opposition strongholds along the frontier with Leb.
Mainly-Sunni Arsal has been periodically targeted with often deadly air strikes by Syria's forces in the past few months.
Arsal's residents support the Syrian revolt against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... , and the town is hosting tens of thousands of Syrian refugees.
Smuggling routes used by opposition forces to move fighters and weapons back and forth between Leb and Syria pass through the Arsal area.
The army has erected several checkpoints in Arsal, which lead to the arrest of 43 Syrians until Saturday, among them were many Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... and al-Nusra Front members.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/23/2014 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] The army has nabbed Book 'im, Mahmoud! 43 Syrians in the northeastern border town of Arsal and handed them over to the Military Police, the state-run National News Agency reported on Saturday.
"The number of men arrested by the army at checkpoints erected three days ago in the Arsal plains has risen to 43," the NNA said.
It noted that the detainees are members of the Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... and the al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front.
"The detainees were handed over to the Military Police in Bekaa's Ras Baalbek region."
Troops had arrested 15 Syrians on Wednesday also in Arsal, among whom were several Al-Nusra Front members.
And on Tuesday, five others were held in the Akkar town of Shadra for entering Leb illegally.
Meanwhile on Monday, the army arrested two Lebanese and 19 Syrians in Wadi Khaled for entering Leb with a Kalashnikov rifle, two guns, ammunition, 30 mobile phones, a laptop and various foreign currencies in their possession.
Since the eruption of the uprising in Syria in March 2011, security forces and the army have arrested a number of gunnies and individuals who sought to enter Leb illegally.
The un-demarcated Lebanese-Syrian border has facilitated the flow of gunnies to and from Syria.
[AnNahar] A previous political adviser to the King of Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... has been sprung early this month after being kidnapped from his own house in the northern Metn District of Mount Leb and held hostage for one day, the An-Nahar daily reported on Saturday.
In an phone interview to the daily, Ahmed al-Ajaji said: "On March the 9th I was sleeping at my own home in the Beit Misk project and woke up later to find myself somewhere else," he believes that he was drugged and taken a hostage.
The kidnappers had demanded a 20 thousand dollars ransom in exchange for his release.
Based on the kidnappers' accent, Ajaji suspected that they were from the Bekaa town of Baalbek despite their revelation that they were Syrians.
Hostage-taking of wealthy businessmen in Leb has risen more than seven-fold in an unlikely knock-on effect from Syria's civil war.
The kidnapping is creating a sense of palpable panic. Lebanese media routinely runs pleas from families of the kidnapped.
#5
Ahmed al-Bopeep has lost his sheep,
And thinks he knows where to find them:
"I rather expect they've gone to Baalbek,
With Shiite sheep-shaggers to mind them."
Ahmed al-Bopeep fell fast asleep,
And dreamt he heard them bleating;
When he arose, he searched his bedclothes,
But they were still a-fleeting.
Then he did go with his bag of dough,
Determined for to find them;
He found them indeed, but it made his heart bleed,
For they'd left their honor behind them.
In Baalbek one day, al-Bopeep did stray,
On a tip from a Jewish flamingo;
There, sipping martinis and dressed in bikinis
Was his flock, in flagrante delicto.
Bopeep heaved a sigh, the sheep gave a cry,
And over the hillocks went gamboling;
He shot their seducers, two Hezbollah bruisers,
Then after his lambs he went scrambling.
"Right here by Jove's temple, I'll make an example,
To prevent any indecent rumors;
I've still got my goats!" he cried, slitting their throats,
In this best of all possible Ummahs.
[AnNahar] Fighting raged Saturday between rebels and loyalist forces in Syria's northern Latakia province, a day after 34 people were killed as Islamists sought to seize a border crossing into Turkey, an NGO said.
The fighting has prompted Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... 's government to complain to the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... that Turkey was providing cover to rebels crossing the border from its territory.
Latakia province, which includes Assad's family village, is considered a regime stronghold, and many of its residents are from his Alawite minority.
Large parts of Latakia have remained relatively insulated from three years of fighting in Syria, but the province was shaken Friday as three Islamist groups battled to seize the Kasab border crossing.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Islamists included the al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front, who were also active in Saturday's festivities against regular troops and pro-regime militia.
At least 34 people were killed on Friday, including 13 rebels and five civilians, according to the Observatory.
Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Britannia-based Observatory, said fighting was under way in three government-controlled villages and another three that loyalists were trying to seize from rebels.
State news agency SANA said loyalists had "destroyed an ammunition and rocket depot, as well as vehicles transporting weapons... in numerous operations" in the north of the province.
And a security source said the army on Friday had retaken two cop shoppes that had been captured by "rebels infiltrated from Turkey".
The source said Damascus had sent a message to U.N. Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... accusing Ankara of "providing cover" for the rebels and demanded that the Security Council "denounce this terrorist attack on Syrian territory".
"Terrorist" is the common regime term for rebels.
Friday's festivities came after Al-Nusra, Sham al-Islam and Ansar al-Sham announced the beginning of the "Anfal" campaign in the Latakia area.
Friday's festivities came after Al-Nusra, Sham al-Islam and Ansar al-Sham announced the beginning of the "Anfal" campaign in the Latakia area.
On another front, rebels on Saturday seized a strategic hill west of the city of Aleppo in northern Syria, the Observatory said.
It said 21 pro-government forces and 18 rebels were killed in the battle for Shwayhneh hill that raged for several hours.
More than 146,000 people have died in the three-year war, and millions more have been displaced.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/23/2014 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] Syrian state media say government forces have ambushed a group of rebels who crossed into the country from neighboring Jordan and killed several of the fighters.
SANA news agency said on Saturday that the rebels were members of the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front. It says they were attacked near the town of Adra, northeast of Damascus, and that most of the rebels died in the ambush. The report says their weapons were seized.
[Ynet] BEIRUT - Syrian troops launched a counteroffensive Saturday in an attempt to regain a border crossing point with Turkey a day after it fell in the hands of rebels led by members of an al-Qaeda-linked group, activists and state media said.
Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said opposition fighters led by members of the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front are in control of the crossing point "but have been targeted by regime forces since yesterday." The Leb-based Al-Mayadeen TV, which has news hounds throughout Syria, said Syrian warplanes carried out several air raids in the Kassab area.
State-run news agency SANA said Syrian troops are on the offensive in the area and killed several opposition fighters including a Saudi citizen whom it said was the leader of the Ansar al-Sham faction. It said a local leader of the Nusra Front also died in the fighting.
[Ynet] While IDF was attacking terror targets in the Strip, Syrian government was transferring advanced medium-range missiles to its ally in Leb.
The Syrian government used an escalation of hostilities between Israel and Gazoo-based terrorist organizations to deliver a shipment of advanced weapons to Hezbollah, according to a Saturday report from Saudi newspaper Al Watan.
According to the report, while the IDF was attacking terror targets in the Gazoo Strip, Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... 's administration transferred medium-range missiles and other military supplies to the regime's Lebanese ally.
The Saudi paper designated the equipment and supplies which passed from Syria to Leb as "advanced weaponry" without specifying the exact hardware transferred to the Shiite movement.
The cloudy weather conditions on those days, however, may have been the more influential factor for the weapons delivery.
The report further claimed, on the authority of the same sources, that the Assad regime hid an additional Israel attack on Syrian targets. The alleged attack, according to the Saudi paper, claimed the lives of 17 people. Over all, the report said, 30 casualties have been attributed to recent Israeli attacks.
Leb's official news agency reported that at the end of February Israeli Air Force combat jets attacked two targets on the border between Syria and Leb. Voice of Leb reported Saturday morning that the objective of the attack was a Hezbollah convoy, which was delivering advanced rockets from Syria to the organization's stores in the northern Bekaa Valley.
The Syrian government had officially acknowledged earlier in the week that one of its personnel were killed and seven injured in the Israeli attacks on Quneitra -- undertaken in response to the bomb which injured four IDF soldiers in the border area near the Druze town of Majdal Shams.
The Al Arabiya report of the initial strike said that IAF jets attacked the headquarters of the 68th and 90th Divisions of the Syrian army in Quneitra.
Syrian opposition sources reported that another military facility near the A'Salam freeway that connects between Damascus and Quneitra.
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.
[Ynet] An 
[AnNahar] The secretary to the Tunisian ambassador in Libya has been kidnapped, the foreign ministry in Tunis said on Saturday.
Two top leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines were arrested on Saturday in the province of Cebu.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[AnNahar] The army has 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
