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Thousands flee to Cameroon after Boko Haram attack in Nigeria
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 08/26/2014 00:31 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan
Security Forces Go After Illegal Firearms in Parwan
[Tolo News] Parwan Governor Basir Salangi on Monday reported that a number of illegal weapons stores, amounting to a total of nearly 100 heavy and light firearms, have been discovered by security forces.

Governor Salangi said that troops were in the process of confiscating the weapons from around the province and said that 12 suspected murderers and 15 illegally gunnies have been tossed in the clink
Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!
during the operations.

"No government group or non-government group support these illegally gunnies," Salangi said. "They are only stray and criminal people and the election vacuum has allowed them to pickup guns and try to exploit the situation," he added.

There are unconfirmed reports that among the weapons seized by Parwan forces this week were Afghan military weapons, suggesting that members of the National Army have either sold their weapons or had them stolen from them.

But Salangi rejected those reports. "These weapons are not related to the police or national army, but the weapons they have either they bought them from the black market or they had them from the past," he maintained.

Without the source of the illegal arms being addressed, however, many are worried that the operations will have accomplished nothing, and problems related to insecurity and lack of rule of law will persist.

Parwan province neighbors Kabul and has traditionally been considered one of the most secure provinces in the country. But a recent uptick in killings, banditry and other criminal activity this year caused many to fear for a worsening security situation there.
Posted by: Fred || 08/26/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  I'm trying to imagine what could constitute an illegal arm in Afghanistan -- pocket nukes?
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/26/2014 5:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Fully automatic Death-Star?
Posted by: Shipman || 08/26/2014 9:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Polio Vaccine?
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/26/2014 12:16 Comments || Top||

#4  Yes, Deacon. They pitched you a couple of softballs and you hit them out of the park.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 08/26/2014 15:33 Comments || Top||

#5  He's patient that way.
Posted by: Shipman || 08/26/2014 18:49 Comments || Top||

#6  a King James Bible
Posted by: Frank G || 08/26/2014 19:34 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
AMISOM planning to launch assault on Shaboob-held areas
MOGADISHU -- As Al Shabaab group continues to pose formidable threat to security and humanitarian situation, African Union Mission in Somalia is planning to consolidate the gains against the militants according to officials, Garowe Online reports. AMISOM spokesperson Col. Ali Adan Hamud has disclosed that they will press ahead with new military campaign in a bid to flush Al Shabaab fighters out of their few bastions.

Despite reports of unpaid salaries, Hamud insists the second phase would progress as planned and named militant’s strongholds in central and southern Somalia as the epicenter of the forthcoming offensive.

Meanwhile, residents of Hiraan regional district of Bulo Barde have been grappling with skyrocketing prices of food and water after militants imposed blockade on the newly liberated town.

Al Shabaab maintains strongest military presence in Barawe coastal where US Special Forces carried out foiled operation in late 2013.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/26/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Security forces commander wounded in Kismayo Gun Attack
KISMAYO, Somalia -- Unidentified gunmen wounded the commander of security forces in the southern port city of Kismayo overnight on Sunday according to medical sources, Garowe Online reports.

Gabobe Hassan Bare-Kismayo Security Forces Chief- sustained minor injuries to his body during the attack by unknown assailants in Alanley neighborhood. Health officials at Kismayo General Hospital confirmed to Garowe Online News Agency that Barre is in good contion. The commander’s driver died in gun attack.

Dozens of suspects who were arrested in connection with the terror operation are being interrogated at Jubaland Intelligence headquarters.

Kenyan Defence Force (KDF) alongside local Somali forces squeezed Al Shabaab militants out of Kismayo in September 2012. The lucrative seaport had since been economic powerhouse for Al Qaeda inspired fighters.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/26/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Heavy casualties as Benghazi clashes rage on
[Libya Herald] A Saiqa Special Forces
...Libya's elite army unit, insofar as they have one, formed from a mixture of paratroopers and commandos. The group emerged from a militia with the same name in 2010. It now numbers a few thousand and reports to the Ministry of Defence. It deployed in Benghazi in an attempt to control the carnage. As a result, it has been attacked and several of its officers murdered. The force is popular in Benghazi for its stance against Ansar al-Sharia group...
officer has been killed and seven Operation Dignity members maimed in fighting in Benghazi with reports of at least nine members of Ansar al-Sharia
...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libyaand Yemen, with the Libyan versions currently most active. Tunisia's Shabaab al-Tawhid started out an Ansar al-Sharia and changed its name in early 2014. It still uses the old name now and then, probably because the stationery's not all used up and the web site hasn't expired yet...
also killed.

Head of Saiqa Special Forces Investigations Unit Fadel Al-Hassi identified the dead man as Ali Al-Madrasi.

The names of the maimed individuals have not been released with the exception of Hassi's own brother, Nasr Faraj Al-Hassi, an Air Force officer who was maimed yesterday by mortar fire in Sidi Mansour. He has been taken to Marj Hospital where he is said to be in a stable condition.

A spokesperson at Jalaa Hospital told the Libya Herald that four of the Operation Dignity maimed had arrived there but had been transferred to Benghazi Medical Centre (BMC). At BMC doctors said a total of nine dead from Ansar al-Sharia had been brought in but that the body of prominent Islamist Mohammed Abu Azzah was not among them.

Azzah, an Algerian and a leading figure within Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), was killed fighting alongside Ansar al-Sharia on Saturday. The head of Operation Dignity's air forces Adam Saqr Geroushi confirmed the death but said Ansar had retained Azzah's body. He added that there have been increasing reports of imported muscle fiighting alongside Ansar al-Sharia and its allies.

Hassi also said three rocket propelled grenades, fired by Ansar, had hit Labraq Airport but without causing any casualties or material losses. He explained that Ansar had fired at the airport, one of the last to remain open in the whole of the country, from their southern stronghold at the port of Ras Hilal. In the past, Operation Dignity has claimed that Ansar uses the port for gun-running.

Benina Airport and its approach, including the nearby district of Buatni, have continued to witness the worst of the fighting in Benghazi over the last two days. The majority of residents in the area have nonetheless left their homes following weeks of festivities during which Saiqa Special Forces' main base in Benghazi was overrun by Ansar. Ansar was said to be building up for an assault on the airport itself before being pushed back last week from Benina by Saiqa.

The airport and the nearby Air Defence Brigade's camp remain among the last positions in the area held by forces loyal to Operation Dignity.

Operation Dignity has carried out bombings on a number of locations in the city, Hassi said, including Guwarsha, a Islamist stronghold. The attacks by Dignity's Airforces have become almost common-place with regular Arclight airstrikes on Islamist positions since the beginning of the campaign.
Posted by: Fred || 08/26/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Ansar al-Sharia


14 militants killed in North Sinai
[Al Ahram] Egyptian armed forces killed 14 Lions of Islam and destroyed 32 structures during raids in North Sinai over the past two days, an army spokesperson announced via Facebook on Monday.

Brigadier General Mohammed Samir stated that on Saturday the armed forces jugged
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
four wanted Lions of Islam in Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah. He added that the security forces also destroyed a tunnel between Rafah and Gazoo.

He said that on Sunday 14 Lions of Islam were killed in festivities with the security forces in North Sinai. He also announced that a dangerous wanted bad boy called Suleiman Mohammed Sallem Salama was arrested.

A field hospital and bomb workshop allegedly used by the Lions of Islam were destroyed on Sunday.

Militant attacks in the Sinai Peninsula have soared since the ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in July 2013, killing hundreds of soldiers and police.
Posted by: Fred || 08/26/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis


Arab Nations Strike in Libya, Surprising U.S.
[NY Times] Twice in the last seven days, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have secretly launched Arclight airstrikes against Islamist-allied militias battling for control 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...
, Libya, four senior American officials said, in a major escalation of a regional power struggle set off by Arab Spring revolts.

The United States, the officials said, was caught by surprise:
NSA can tell you what Grannie had for breakfast on Thursday but it can't track an air strike from Egypt to Tripoli? Really?
Egypt and the Emirates, both close allies and military partners, acted without informing Washington, leaving the B.O. regime on the sidelines. Egyptian officials explicitly denied to American diplomats that their military played any role in the operation, the officials said, in what appeared a new blow to already strained relations between Washington and Cairo.
Posted by: Fred || 08/26/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  The United States, the officials said, was caught by surprise

Unsurprisingly.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/26/2014 2:56 Comments || Top||

#2  It's almost as if the Egyptians don't trust us. Can't imagine why.
Posted by: SteveS || 08/26/2014 3:35 Comments || Top||

#3  "Leading Ignorant from behind"
Posted by: Frank G || 08/26/2014 8:25 Comments || Top||

#4  What I don't get is how they missed UAE airplanes flying across the fricking Arab Penninsula (presumably with Saudi permission), across the Red Sea, and staging in Egypt. Didn't you notice unusual planes based in Egyptian airbases? Didn't you notice the disappearance of planes and ground crew from UAE bases?

Al
Posted by: Frozen Al || 08/26/2014 10:44 Comments || Top||

#5  without informing Washington, leaving the Obama administration on the sidelines

Why should anyone be surprised? That's what the Obama administration wanted, right?
Posted by: Pappy || 08/26/2014 12:09 Comments || Top||

#6  Obama admin slams “outside interference” in Libyan chaos by Egypt, UAE attacks on Islamists. He's pissed no one got his OK.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/26/2014 15:33 Comments || Top||

#7  These shots are called Way, way, way above obamas head...
Posted by: newc || 08/26/2014 15:48 Comments || Top||

#8  My 'Egypt invades western Libya' scenario gets closer.
Posted by: phil_b || 08/26/2014 17:09 Comments || Top||

#9  phil_b, wouldn't that be eastern Libya?
Posted by: AlanC || 08/26/2014 19:11 Comments || Top||

#10  Egypt and the Emirates, both close allies and military partners, acted without informing Washington, leaving the B.O. regime on the sidelines
For homework, compare and contrast the above with verbiage from today's speech where the C-in-C (spit) flatly said that even those we disagree with still call us for help.......
Extra credit if the Most Clueless are identified in the response.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 08/26/2014 20:16 Comments || Top||

#11  phil_b, wouldn't that be eastern Libya?

Yes it would.
Posted by: phil_b || 08/26/2014 22:53 Comments || Top||


Rockets fired at eastern Libya's Labraq airport
[IRISHTIMES] Attackers have fired rockets at eastern Libyaas Labraq airport, targeting one of the oil produceras few functioning air hubs as violence between gangs escalates.

The airport east of the city of Benghazi has become a major gateway into Libya since Egypt and Tunisia cancelled almost all flights to the 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...
and the west of the country last week, citing security reasons.

The North African nation has descended into anarchy with a weak government unable to control fighters who helped topple strongman Muammar Qadaffy
...whose instability was an inspiration to dictators everywhere, but whose end couldn't possibly happen to them...
in 2011 but now vie for control of territory and resources.

The unknown attackers used a Grad multiple rocket launcher but did not cause any major damage and Labraq was still operating, director Abu Bakr al-Abidi said.

Tunis Air suspended flights to Labraq and Tobruk in the far east on Sunday, Libyan officials said. It was one of the last foreign airlines still flying to Libya after rival factions turned Tripoli International Airport into a battlefield last month.

An armed faction mainly from Misrata seized Tripoli airport from a rival group from Zintan, also located in western Libya, on Saturday. The terminal has been destroyed by a fire though it is unclear who was responsible.

Benghazias own airport has been closed since May when a renegade general launched a military campaign on Islamists in the port city.
Posted by: Fred || 08/26/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Islamists control Tripoli (the one in Libya)
Libya's Islamist militias said Sunday they have consolidated their hold on Tripoli and its international airport, driving out rival militias to the outskirts of the capital following a weekslong battle for control of the strategic hub.

The umbrella group for Islamist militias calling itself Dawn of Libya said it has also taken hold of other locations in the capital controlled by the rival militias, drawing to a close one chapter in a prolonged confrontation between the Islamist-allied militia, largely from the city of Misrata, and the powerful militia from the western mountains of Zintan.

The fight has largely destroyed the airport and scarred the capital, prompting diplomats, foreign nationals and thousands of Libyans to flee.

A field commander of the Dawn of Libya militia said Sunday his forces are in control of Tripoli and adjacent cities, pushing back the rival Zintan forces some 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of the capital. It was not immediately possible to reach members of the Zintan militias.

The fighting on the ground has mirrored a political standoff between Islamists and the outgoing parliament they controlled, and anti-Islamist groups who control the newly elected parliament. Each considers the other illegitimate.

After claiming control over the airport, Dawn of Libya called on the outgoing parliament to convene in the capital to take “the necessary measures to protect state sovereignty.” On Sunday, the speaker of the outgoing parliament, Omar Hmeidan, said the body will convene until it hands over power to the newly elected deputies.

Further inflaming the situation, the newly elected parliament described the Dawn of Libya militias as “outlawed” and “terrorist groups” who fight to undermine the legitimacy of the state. The newly elected parliament has been convening in Mauritania Tobruk because of security concerns amid a growing lawlessness in the capital and Libya��™s second largest city of Benghazi.

Fresh clashes Saturday in Benghazi pitting forces loyal to renegade Gen. Khalifa Hifter against a group of Islamist militias called The Benghazi Revolutionary Shura Council left eight troops killed and 35 wounded, a health official said. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the militias. Islamist militias also controlled an air defense base near the city��™s international airport, a security official said.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/26/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Send in the 'battle hardened' Italian Army to reclaim its lost north African empire.

Ghost of Gen. Graziani //sarccoff
Posted by: borgboy || 08/26/2014 13:09 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Thousands flee to Cameroon after Boko Haram attack in Nigeria
[Al Ahram] A 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...
attack on a border town in northeast Nigeria
... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border...
forced thousands of people to flee on Monday, in a fresh assault indicating the hard boys' growing ability to strike at will.

The attack on Gamboru Ngala comes after the town was almost entirely destroyed in May in a devastating assault that also left more than 300 people killed and prompted outrage at the lack of military response.

Many local residents sought refuge across the border in the north Cameroon
...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there...
town of Fotokol, where troop reinforcements were being sent, a security service source told AFP.

Boko Haram, which has been blamed for more than 10,000 deaths in a five-year-old uprising, has in recent weeks sought to take over a number of towns in Borno state, shifting from hit-and-run tactics to an apparent holding strategy.

The group's leader, Abubakar Shekau, declared in a video obtained by AFP on Sunday that the town of Gwoza, southwest of Gamboru Ngala, was now under an Islamic caliphate.

Residents said Monday's attack began at about 5:30 am (0430 GMT), with the forces of Evil launching coordinated strikes on the main cop shoppe and a military base known as the Harmony camp.

"The sounds (of gunfire) became more deafening as police and soldiers responded to Boko Haram," said witness Hamisu Lawan. "Most of our people have fled into Cameroon."

Others locked themselves in their homes, voicing fears that the Death Eaters would turn their guns on civilians once they had overrun the cop shoppe and military camp.

Residents in Fotokol, which is separated from Gamboru Ngala by a river, also reported "intense" fighting throughout the morning.

"(Cameroonian) soldiers are at the bridge," one said.

Cameroon said on August 18 that it had closed its vast border with Nigeria to guard against the spread of Ebola, which has caused five deaths in the country's financial capital, Lagos, in the far southwest.

But few believed that Cameroon had the resources needed to seal all the possible crossing points along the roughly 1,600-kilometre (1,000-mile) frontier.

Local officials and residents in Borno say Boko Haram may be in control of a key road that connects Gamboru Ngala to the state capital Maiduguri.

Establishing which parts of the area have in fact fallen into rebels hands is difficult in the remote region, where travel is dangerous and prolonged fighting has hit mobile phone networks.

In Sunday's video, Shekau did not develop his claims about Gwoza being part of the Islamic caliphate, despite previously voicing his support for the leader of the Islamic State (IS) hard boys, 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...
, who proclaimed himself the "leader of Moslems everywhere" in June.

Al-Baghdadi's Sunni Moslem fighters have taken over parts of Iraq and Syria.

Nigeria's military dismissed Shekau's claim as "empty", maintaining that the country's illusory sovereignty remained intact.

But that assertion is in conflict with multiple reports indicating that Boko Haram controls several towns in Borno and at least one in neighbouring Yobe state.

Analysts believe that Boko Haram will attempt to hold more towns in Borno in the short to mid-term, with Nigeria's military unable or unwilling to tackle them.

Some Nigerian troops stationed in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, have refused to deploy to retake Gwoza because of what they say are sub-standard weapons that leave them at the mercy of the better-equipped rebels.

Defence analysts have also argued that Nigeria needs to improve its counter-insurgency strategy and adapt to guerrilla fighting rather than relying on conventional means.

Others complain of a lack of political will to properly tackle Boko Haram, which wants to establish a hardline Islamic state and whose campaign has targeted schools, churches and government installations.
Posted by: Fred || 08/26/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Bangladesh
Bangladesh court charges 147 opposition supporters over blast
[DAWN] A court in Bangladesh on Monday ordered the trial of nearly 150 people, including big shots of the main opposition party, over an kaboom outside their headquarters last year.

The move to charge 147 people with setting off explosives in the capital Dhaka came as the opposition mounted fresh protests to try to unseat a government they say is illegal.

Hundreds of opposition supporters have been charged since violent protests over disputed elections held in January left more than 500 people dead across the country. The latest case concerns small kabooms that took place in March 2013 outside the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) head office. After the blasts, police stormed the building, ransacked rooms and tossed in the slammer
Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw!
key officials, in a raid shown live on private television channels.

"All 147 were charged under the country’s speedy trial laws. They could be nabbed
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
for up to 10 years if they’re found guilty," prosecutor Abdullah Abu said.

The court also issued arrest warrants against 48 people who failed to turn up at the court, he said.

The BNP-led 19-party alliance boycotted the January 5 elections, allowing the ruling Awami League party and its allies to clinch all the parliamentary seats in a polls marred by violence and widespread fraud.

Defence lawyers blasted the latest charges, calling them a "ploy" by the government to derail fresh opposition protests aimed at forcing an early general election.
Posted by: Fred || 08/26/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


India-Pakistan
Kingpin of kidnappers arrested in Peshawar
[DAWN] PESHAWAR: Police claimed on Monday to have tossed in the calaboose
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
the head of a kidnappers' gang during a raid at a house on Dalazak Road in the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
city.

DSP Sahibzada Sajjad Khan told news hounds that the police had already recovered the businessman kidnapped in the case for ransom. He added that three members of the gang had still been absconding and the police were making efforts to arrest them.

He said that the kidnappers had demanded millions of rupees for release of the businessman, but the credit went to police that managed to get a clue and arrested three kidnapers sometimes back.

The police official said the businessman, Syed Zia-ul-Hassan of Hango had been dealing in electric stabilizers in Lahore and Rawalpindi and used to visit Peshawar for business purposes. He was kidnapped on Nov 29, 2013.

The DSP said that police also recovered a 30-bore pistol from the possession of the kingpin of kidnappers and that efforts were in progress to arrest the rest of gang members.

Similarly, the official said that a car snatcher identified as Jawad of Kotwali area of Peshawar was also arrested and four cycle of violences were recovered from his possession. The accused, he said had also admitted to his involvement in lifting several cars from different areas of the provincial metropolis.
Posted by: Fred || 08/26/2014 00:32 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "$100 million or he gets mailed back in cigarette packs"
Posted by: Frank G || 08/26/2014 19:36 Comments || Top||


ANP leader shot dead in Charsadda
[DAWN] CHARSADDA: Unknown persons on Monday bumped off a local Awami National Party
founded by Abdul Wali Khan in 1986. Part of the PPP-led cabinet 2008-13. The ANP is considered left wing, advocating for secularism, democratic socialism, public sector government, and economic egalitarianism....
leader in Tarnab area here.

Fazal Ali, brother of the dear departed Walayat Shah, got registered FIR against unknown assailants. He told police that they had no enmity with any one.

ANP district president Barrister Arshad Abdullah and general secretary Mohammad Ahmed Khan condemned the killing and asked police to arrest the killers forthwith or they would launch a protest movement.Meanwhile,
...back at the laboratory, Igor and Oleg were discussing what the quickest way might be to deal with the monster...
police on Monday exhumed the body of a man from the courtyard of his house, where he was buried by her two wives, after axing him to death in Dang Qilla area of Tangi tehsil.
Now there's a good an argument for monogamy as can be made: had he had only one wife to fend off, he might have had a chance.
Mir Alam, the brother of the dear departed, Ihsanullah, had lodged an FIR with the police stating that his brother had been missing for the last three months, and accused his (the victim’s) two wives of murdering him. Afterwards, police interrogated his wives, who admitted to having killed their husband with the help of the victim’s son using knives and axe.

The dear departed was later laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard.

In another incident occurred in Station Koroona area of Tangi, a man was rubbed out by his rivals after exchange of hot words. The dear departed was named Rehman Uddin. Lehaz Ali, brother of the dear departed, nominated Shehzad, Nadeem and Zarshad in the murder of Rehman. And, a tractor hit and killed a woman in Umarzai bazaar here. The victim, Bakht Zeba of Amirabad area of Dir, was going to her relatives’ home when the tractor hit her. The tractor driver escaped the area.
Posted by: Fred || 08/26/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Six highwaymen killed in Sohrab Goth 'encounter'
[DAWN] KARACHI: Six suspects allegedly involved in highway robberies and rape of women passengers were rubbed out in an alleged encounter off the Superhighway on Monday, police and hospital officials said.

They added that contingents of police, including some in civilian clothes, stormed a warehouse at the Ganna Mandi in Sohrab Goth at around 2pm. On seeing the coppers, the suspects opened fire in their attempt to escape, which was returned by the police. During the exchange of fire, which continued for around 45 minutes, six suspects were killed, said Sohrab Goth SHO Ismail Lashari.

"We received six men, all brought dead at the mortuary of the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital by the Sohrab Goth police," said a hospital official. The dead men were aged from 22 to 35 years, added the official. Each of all had sustained six to seven bullet wounds on their bodies.

He said the killed men were allegedly involved in hijacking buses and coaches, looting their passengers and even raping some women victims, including a bride.

They hijacked vehicles on the Superhighway and brought them to the warehouse where they looted cash and jewellery from women passengers. Sometimes they allegedly subjected women to criminal assaults, said the Sohrab Goth official.

He said that around a month back, the suspects hijacked a bus on the Superhighway and allegedly raped two young women hailing from Moro taluka. Later on the two rape victims did away with himself, added the officer.

Ismail Lashari said the killed suspects had also allegedly hijacked a bus carrying members of a wedding party around two and half months back. They snatched gold ornaments from the bride and others and later on they allegedly subjected the bride to criminal assault also.

The Sohrab Goth SHO said the dead men belonged to a gang of highway robbers comprising 16 to 17 members. He said he believed that the ring leader, Landak, might have links with suspected hard boyz in the area, but the killed suspects were mainly involved in robberies and rape.

The police claimed to have seized two Kalashnikov assault rifles, two TT pistols, two repeaters and a hand grenade.

The SHO identified two of the killed men as Khudadad, 30, and Tahir Khan, 30. Later, the other dead men were identified as Wali Mohammed, 32, Mohammed Saleem, 25, Naseebullah, 30, and Abdul Manan, 28.
Posted by: Fred || 08/26/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
US Special Ops Sources: ISIS an 'Incredible' Fighting Force,
Heh. Junior Varsity. Obama's equivalent of "Mission Accomplished", only he didn't accomplish anything.

Here's something I am wondering about. Where did these guys get their organization? This didn't happen overnight. They've got the support and pre-planning, training, guidance, etc. from some mature government. Saudi Arabia? They seemed to handle taking over that oil facility quite handily. They even know how to operate it, I understand.

Where are they getting the expertise to operate the Abrams tanks they are capturing? They also seem to have captured an airbase in Syria. Do they have the expertise to take advantage of these resourses?

They're a larger group. They're attracting like-minded souls who happen to have expertise. Iraqi mil/ex-mil guys are joining up with them -- we trained those guys. And so on...
With the Obama White House left reeling from the "savage" slaughter of an American journalist held hostage by ISIS terrorists, military options are being considered against an adversary who officials say is growing in strength and is much more capable than the one faced when the group was called "al Qaeda-Iraq" during the U.S. war from 2003-2011.

ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, has been making a "tactical withdrawal" in recent days in the face of withering U.S. airstrikes from areas around Erbil in northern Iraq and from the major dam just north of Mosul it controlled for two nail-biting weeks, according to military officials monitoring their movements.

"These guys aren't just bugging out, they're tactically withdrawing. Very professional, well trained, motivated and equipped. They operate like a state with a military," said one official who tracks ISIS closely. "These aren't the same guys we fought in OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom) who would just scatter when you dropped a bomb near them."

ISIS appeared to have a sophisticated and well thought-out plan for establishing its "Islamic Caliphate" from northern Syria across the western and northern deserts of Iraq, many experts and officials have said, and support from hostage-taking, robbery and sympathetic donations to fund it. They use drones to gather overhead intel on targets and effectively commandeer captured military vehicles �-- including American Humvees -- and munitions.

"They tried to push out as far as they thought they could and were fully prepared to pull back a little bit when we beat them back with airstrikes around Erbil. And they were fine with that, and ready to hold all of the ground they have now," a second official told ABC News.

ISIS didn't necessarily count on holding Mosul Dam, officials said, but scored a major propaganda victory on social media when they hoisted the black flag of the group over the facility that provides electricity and water to a large swath of Iraq, or could drown millions if breached.

U.S. special operations forces under the Joint Special Operations Command and U.S. Special Operations Command keep close tabs on the military evolution of ISIS and both its combat and terrorism -- called "asymmetric" -- capabilities, officials told ABC News. A primary reason is in anticipation of possibly fighting them, which a full squadron of special mission unit operators did in the Independence Day raid on an ISIS camp in Raqqah, Syria.

"They're incredible fighters. ISIS teams in many places use special operations TTPs," said the second official, who has considerable combat experience, using the military term for "tactics, techniques and procedures."

In sobering press conference Friday, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said ISIS has shown that it is "as sophisticated and well-funded as any group that we have seen."

"They're beyond just a terrorist group. They marry ideology, a sophistication of strategic and tactical military prowess. They are tremendously well-funded," he said. "This is beyond anything that we've seen."

Prior ISIS's recent public successes, the former chairman of the 9/11 Commission, which just released a tenth anniversary report on the threat of terrorism currently facing the homeland, said he was shocked at how little seems to be known inside the U.S. intelligence community about the Islamist army brutalizing Iraq as it has Syria.

"I was appalled at the ignorance," former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean, who led the 9/11 Commission, told ABC News last week.

Kean, a Republican, who with vice chairman Lee Hamilton, a Democrat, recently met with about 20 top intelligence officials in preparation of the commission's latest threat report, said many officials seemed both blind-sided and alarmed by the group's rise, growth and competency.

"One official told me 'I am more scared than at any time since 9/11,'"Kean recounted in a recent interview.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence defended the intelligence community's tracking of ISIS, saying officials had "expressed concern" about the threat as far back as last year.

"The will to fight is inherently difficult to assess. Analysts must make assessments based on perceptions of command and control, leadership abilities, quality of experience, and discipline under fire -- none of which can be understood with certainty until the first shots are fired," ODNI spokesperson Brian Hale said.

Where did ISIS learn such sophisticated military methods, shown clearly after the first shots were fired?

"Probably the Chechens," the one of the U.S. officials said.

A Chechen commander named Abu Omar al-Shishani -- who officials say may have been killed in fighting near Mosul -- is well known for commanding an international brigade within ISIS. Other Chechens have appeared within propaganda videos including one commander who was killed on video by an artillery burst near his SUV in Syria.

Earlier this year, ABC News reported on the secret history of U.S. special operations forces' experiences battling highly capable Chechen fighters along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border since 2001. In addition, for decades Chechen separatists have waged asymmetric warfare against Russian forces for control of the Northern Caucasus.

In the battle against ISIS, many within American "SOF," a term that comprises operators from all branches of the military and intelligence, are frustrated at being relegated by the President only to enabling U.S. airstrikes in Iraq. They are eager to fight ISIS more directly in combat operations -- even if untethered, meaning unofficially and with little if any U.S. government support, according to some with close ties to the community.

"ISIS and their kind must be destroyed," said a senior counterterrorism official after journalist James Foley was beheaded on high-definition ISIS video, echoing strong-worded statements of high-level U.S. officials including Secretary of State John Kerry.

But asked when the Obama administration would attempt to confront ISIS, the official declined to answer.

Ben Rhodes, the President's Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications, told reporters Friday that Obama is currently focused on protecting American lives, "containing" ISIS where they are and supporting advances by Iraqi and Kurdish forces.

"Our military objectives in Iraq right now are limited to protecting our personnel and facilities and address the humanitarian crisis," Rhodes said. The "ultimate goal," Rhodes said however, was to "defeat" ISIS.

"We have to be clear that this is a deeply-rooted organization... It is going to take time, a long time, to fully evict them from the communities where they operate," he said. "In the long term, we'll be working with our partners to defeat this organization."
Posted by: gorb || 08/26/2014 12:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  In 1991 the US govn't & media kept harping on 'the battle hardened' Iraqi Army. This recent reticense regarding ISIL just IMO CYA phoney baloney nonsense. (I'm presuming we don't fight them with both hands tied behind our back.)
Posted by: borgboy || 08/26/2014 13:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Arent they syrian/ex saddam army guys?
Posted by: Paul D || 08/26/2014 13:12 Comments || Top||

#3  Where to start.

Battle hardened? Palestinians could be considered battle hardened after decades of war, that doesn't always translate to good. Especially when fighting a western army and not other 3rd worlders.

There is a huge difference between the tactics and stratgeies of a guerrilla or terrorist army and one fighting large scale battles. We really should have hit them when they marched towards Baghdad, they'd be dead and buried by now.

I have read up on the Chechyns and they are bold and brave and appropriately suicidal and they pulled off wonders against an untrained Russian conscript army but I don't see them screwing around with Putin's Russia and I suspect they are picking fights with teh weak horse (which is Obama of course).
Posted by: rjschwarz || 08/26/2014 14:25 Comments || Top||

#4  Is this a ping-pong game? First, the administration (mainly Obama) says these guys are the JV. Then he goes on vacation and Hagel and Demsey hold a news conference and say we have to do something about the worst scourge since Ghengis Khan. Then Obama flies in from vacation and says these guys aren't so bad.

The administration and Obama should quit talking. Quit reacting to the 24/7 news cycle every time someone sneezes. Develop a strategy. It's prudent to never underestimate your enemy.
Posted by: JohnQC || 08/26/2014 15:25 Comments || Top||

#5  "Develop a strategy"

Unfortunately, I think they already have, John. :-(
Posted by: Barbara || 08/26/2014 15:38 Comments || Top||

#6  ISIS was known in Iraq even before the surge but lacked as much challenge by US forces as Al Qeada
Posted by: newc || 08/26/2014 15:45 Comments || Top||

#7  "Well funded" says far more than well trained.
Posted by: Iblis || 08/26/2014 19:09 Comments || Top||

#8  They are clearly well funded and have quality talent. Here is my theory.

The Syrian government created ISIS to kill off the other opposition groups and to be a foil against which to demonstrate the Assad regime's reasonableness. Much of their talent is from Syrian Army "defectors".

The whole dam thing will collapse as soon as everyone agrees to support Assad in fighting them, and he provides an amnesty to get his minions to return to the fold.

This is where a strategy would help. Decide who is worse, Assad or ISIS, then ally with the other to kill the worst one. Sadly, then ally with everyone else in the world to kill that fool who allied with you in the first place. Because they both need to go.
Posted by: rammer || 08/26/2014 20:38 Comments || Top||

#9  I don't subscribe to the conspiracy, but there's a strong Sunni Baathist hand in ISIS
Posted by: Frank G || 08/26/2014 21:02 Comments || Top||

#10  Assad harbored Iraqi Baathists, for the record.
Posted by: Pappy || 08/26/2014 22:02 Comments || Top||


Suicide Bomber Kills Nine
[IN.REUTERS] Iraq's Prime Minister-designate Haider al-Abadi said on Monday he was optimistic about forming a new government soon with a "clear vision", but fresh bomb attacks in Baghdad and other cities underlined the country's deepening sectarian conflict.

Abadi is tasked with forming a power-sharing administration that can ease tensions and counter Islamic State militants who pose the biggest security threat to Iraq since a U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

"The talks to form the government were positive and constructive. I hope in the next two coming days to agree on a clear vision of a unified programme for the government," he said.

Shortly after Abadi spoke, a suicide bomb attack in a Shi'ite mosque in Baghdad killed at least nine people and wounded 21, police and medical sources said.

The attacker detonated his suicide bomb vest inside the mosque in the New Baghdad district of the capital at prayer time, police said.

Two car bombs were also detonated in the Shi'ite holy city of Karbala on Monday, killing four people and wounding 17, police and medical sources said. An additional two car bombs targeted the city of Hilla, south of Baghdad, but there were no fatalities or injuries, police sources said.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for four car bombs in northern Iraq on Saturday, three of them in the city of Kirkuk, where Kurdish fighters have flocked since Iraqi army units quit their posts in June, and one in Arbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdish region.

The militant group said the attacks were in response to Kurdish forces joining the U.S. military to attack them.
Posted by: Fred || 08/26/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Two car bombs in Baghdad kill 15
Iraqi police officials say two car bombs in a busy commercial district in Baghdad have killed at least 15 people and wounded another 21, the Associated Press reported.

The bombs, which detonated less than two minutes apart, hit a restaurant on a commercial street in north Baghdad, the officials said. Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures.

Earlier Monday, at least 43 people were killed in various attacks across Iraq, all of them in Shiite-majority areas.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/26/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Egypt announces Gaza cease-fire set to begin at 7 p.m.
First rocket at 19:13
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/26/2014 12:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Mortar attack on Eshkol leaves 1 critically injured, 3 seriously hurt
Cease fire can't be far off
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/26/2014 11:24 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


liveblogging Israel-gaza active conflict day 50
Tuesday, August 26, the 50th day of Operation Protective Edge. Hamas pounded southern Israel with over 100 rockets on Monday, and Israel struck at targets in Gaza, amid reports of progress toward a new Egyptian-proposed truce. Late Monday also saw new rocket fire on Israel from Lebanon. A poll showed a drastic fall in support for Prime Minister Netanyahu’s performance in recent days

also - in the 8 hours preceding 1030pm EDT 8-25, no projectile have been fired from Gaza
Posted by: lord garth || 08/26/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israeli air strikes kill two Palestinians, 20 wounded
[REUTERS] Israeli air strikes launched before dawn on Tuesday killed two Paleostinians and destroyed much of one of Gazoo's tallest apartment and office buildings, setting off huge kabooms and wounding 20 people, Paleostinian health officials said.

Israel had no immediate comment on the attacks that took place as Egyptian mediators stepped up efforts to achieve an elusive ceasefire to end seven weeks of fighting.

Paleostinian health officials say 2,125 people, most of them civilians, including more than 490 children, have been killed in Gazoo since July 8, when Israel launched an offensive with the declared aim of ending rocket fire into its territory.

Sixty-four Israeli soldiers and four civilians in Israel have been killed.

Paleostinian officials said 70 families lived in the 13-storey building, which was listing to one side after the blasts. The structure also housed offices and a shopping complex.
Posted by: Fred || 08/26/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  the 13-storey building, which was listing to one side

Try flooding the compartments on the 'uphill' side. That's standard damage control practice, I think.
Posted by: SteveS || 08/26/2014 0:06 Comments || Top||

#2  Along with counter-flooding all heavy fixtures, stoves, washers, dryers, heavy machine guns should be thrown over the side, to keep the meta centric height of the foundation stable.
Posted by: Shipman || 08/26/2014 0:13 Comments || Top||

#3  if only they hadn't cut up all available steel tubing to make mortars, they could brace it up
Posted by: Frank G || 08/26/2014 11:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Or they could tunnel under the 'uphill' side...
Posted by: Pappy || 08/26/2014 22:03 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
NPA attacks two banana plantations in the Philippines
Communist rebels raided two banana plantations in Mindanao in one day -- one of their most brazen attacks for months in the face of recent setbacks. The attacks by the New People's Army (NPA) on Saturday caused extensive damage but no one was killed.

About 50 militants raided an aircraft hangar at a plantation owned by Del Monte Philippines in the town of Tubay on Saturday evening. Investigating police officer Jomar Ascares said, "The rebels disarmed the security guards and seized their two shotguns, tied their arms... then proceeded to the hangar and poured gasoline onto the (crop-duster) plane."

Just hours before the burning of the plane and hangar, about 60 NPA guerrillas raided another banana plantation in Pantukan town, disarming 10 security guards, burning a building and equipment, and cutting down about 300 banana plants, said Senior Supt. Abraham Roxas.

The attacks on the plantations were in retaliation for the companies' refusal to meet extortion demands, said Major Christian Uy, a Mindanao army spokesman. He said the NPA fighters were becoming "desperate" to raise money because they were not receiving as much financial support from their superiors.
Posted by: ryuge || 08/26/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Oh, the bananity!
Posted by: gorb || 08/26/2014 2:33 Comments || Top||

#2  There's something not staright about this story.
Posted by: Classer || 08/26/2014 4:36 Comments || Top||

#3  The attacks on the plantations were in retaliation for the companies' refusal to meet extortion demands This is how they operate. They hit the large company, it can afford the loss. Then the smaller farmers will pay up.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 08/26/2014 12:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Ban-na-na, ba-na-na-na, hey hey, good bye
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/26/2014 19:16 Comments || Top||

#5  (Channeling Mae West)
" So is that a banana in your RPG or are you glad...."
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 08/26/2014 20:17 Comments || Top||

#6  I'd say "go to your room", DB, but that's a keeper.
Posted by: Pappy || 08/26/2014 22:04 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
ISIS Captures Major Syrian Air Base
BEIRUT — Islamic State fighters captured a major military air base in northeastern Syria on Sunday, eliminating the last government-held outpost in a province dominated by the extremist group, activists and state media said.

The jihadis launched their long-anticipated offensive last week to seize the sprawling Tabqa air field, located some 45 kilometers (25 miles) from the extremists’ stronghold in the city of Raqqa. The air base was one of the most significant government military facilities in the area, containing several warplane squadrons, helicopters, tanks, artillery and ammunition.

After several failed efforts to breach the facility’s walls in recent days, Islamic State fighters managed to punch through and storm the air field Sunday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Despite government airstrikes to try to beat back the attack, the jihadis quickly quashed the remaining pockets of resistance, killing dozens of soldiers.

“Some of the Syrian regime troops pulled out, and now the Islamic State is in full control of Tabqa,” said Observatory director Rami Abdurrahman. “This makes Raqqa province the first to fully fall out of government hands.”
Posted by: Ebbomosh Hupemp2664 || 08/26/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think that qualifies as a full blown "Oh Shit" moment for our foreign policy(?).

I just hope ISIL doesn't have anyone qualified to fly a MIG-21 or a MI-8.

I would say that Tabqa qualifies as a target rich environment for our flyboys if our administration has the cajones to pull the trigger.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 08/26/2014 0:26 Comments || Top||

#2  I just hope ISIL doesn't have anyone qualified to fly a MIG-21 or a MI-8.

There are, probably, some Iraqi Baathist pilots still around.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/26/2014 2:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Most likely a few trained pilots from the 'stans as well.
Posted by: Pappy || 08/26/2014 12:13 Comments || Top||

#4  Despite government airstrikes to try to beat back the attack, the jihadis quickly quashed the remaining pockets of resistance, killing dozens of soldiers.

How is a major air base only manned by dozens of troops?
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/26/2014 17:57 Comments || Top||

#5  Assuming they have some pilots, what would be their first target? I can't believe they have trained dog fighters do they'll do ground attack.

Which ground?
Posted by: AlanC || 08/26/2014 19:09 Comments || Top||

#6  Assuming they have some pilots, what would be their first target? I can't believe they have trained dog fighters do they'll do ground attack.

Which ground?
Posted by: AlanC || 08/26/2014 19:09 Comments || Top||

#7  bad link
Posted by: 3dc || 08/26/2014 20:18 Comments || Top||

#8  See also DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > "ISLAMIC STATE" MILITANTS CAPTURE KEY SYRIAN AIR BASE [NE Syria], GIVING THEM OPEN ROAD TO THE SEA + MASSIVE STORE OF WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT.

"Open Road to the Sea" being the key or operatibe phrase here, as the ISIS/ISIL seeks startegic access via Turkey andor Lebanon.

The main threat of the ISIS Caliphate stems from its potential influence on Israel's Muslim neighbors, most espec already anti-Israeli SHIA IRAN + TURKEY.

* E.G. GROONG > [Guradian.UK] ISIS SURGES TOWARDS THE BORDERS WID TURKEY AS WEST MULLS OPTIONS.

Neo-Ottomanism or no Neo-Ottomanism, at present Turkey is effec contained, + must mostly adhere to the "Japan Model" of Economic achievement in order to expand its MilPol or Geopol influence - THIS WILL CHANGE TO THE US', WEST'S DETRIMENT IFF THE SUPER-RADICALIST OR HARDLINE ISIS/ISIL IDEO FINDS FAVOR WID LOCAL TURKISH ISLAMISTS + BAD BOYZ.

The Clock is ticking on Turkey.

The good news here for the US, NATO-EU + Russia is that the ISIS' demand for strategic access via Turkey + Lebanon puts it in direct conflict wid Shia Rising Iran's own "Mahanist" agenda.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 08/26/2014 23:00 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2014-08-26
  Thousands flee to Cameroon after Boko Haram attack in Nigeria
Mon 2014-08-25
  Boko Haram leader declares Islamic caliphate in Nigeria
Sun 2014-08-24
  Boko Haram Executes Two People For Smoking Cigarettes
Sat 2014-08-23
  Syrian army ambushes 140 IS fighters in al-Raqqa
Fri 2014-08-22
  Boko Haram Takfiris seize town in NE Nigeria
Thu 2014-08-21
  Israeli Fire Kills 31 in Gaza as Hamas Warns Foreign Airlines, Declares Truce Talks Over
Wed 2014-08-20
  Geelani, Yasin Malik meet Pak envoy after India calls off talks
Tue 2014-08-19
  Kurdish PKK trains Yazidis to fight back against Islamic State.
Mon 2014-08-18
  Apple employee took assassin's bullets for British colonel
Sun 2014-08-17
  Jihadists kill dozens in north Iraq 'massacre': officials
Sat 2014-08-16
  Iraq Sunni Tribes Take Up Arms against Jihadists
Fri 2014-08-15
  ISIS jihadist poses with severed head as Caliphate seize more key towns
Thu 2014-08-14
  Boko Haram Appoints New Emir for Gwoza
Wed 2014-08-13
  Prince Saud: Israel has no right to self-defense
Tue 2014-08-12
  "Convert by noon today or we will kill all of you"

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