[AnNahar] Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab bully boyz killed at least 25 people in an attack on a popular hotel in the capital Mogadishu where government ministers and officials were holding Friday prayers.
Twin kabooms followed by heavy gunfire were heard from the upmarket Central Hotel, close to the presidential palace, with the Islamist gunnies reportedly blasting their way into the fortified building before storming the complex.
The attack is one of the worst in the Somali capital in recent years.
An official at the presidential palace, known as Villa Somalia, said at least 25 people were killed and that the severity of injuries among the maimed meant the corpse count was expected to rise.
Government radio said the deputy mayor of Mogadishu and a member of parliament were killed. The deputy prime minister and minister of transport were among the injured.
The hotel attack began with two kabooms caused by a boom-mobile and a jacket wallah followed by gunnies who charged the building, with heavy gunfire heard as security forces took back control.
"The building was badly hit, the kaboom was very big," said police officer Abulrahman Ali.
"There were very many maimed people too, many of them seriously."
Thick clouds of black smoke were seen pouring from the hotel as the injured were rushed to hospital.
"There were people covered in blood, I counted 10 dead bodies but that was only in one area," said Ali Hussein, who was close to the hotel at the time.
Shabaab holy warriors grabbed credit for the attack.
"Our fighters attacked the Central Hotel," Shabaab front man Abdulaziz Abu Musab told AFP. "The aim is to kill the apostate officials."
Shabaab rebels have staged a string of assaults in their fight to overthrow the country's internationally-backed government. They have targeted hotels, the international airport, Villa Somalia, a U.N. compound and restaurants.
The murderous Moslems say they are targeting government officials for allowing the deployment of foreign 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 on Somali soil.
Shabaab attacks in Somalia have targeted key government and security sites in a bid to discredit claims by the authorities and AU troops that they are winning the war.
Friday's attack comes a month after a Shabaab suicide bomber went kaboom! a car at the nearby SYL hotel, the day before a planned visit by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... .
U.N. envoy to Somalia Nick Kay condemned the "brutal terrorist attack" on the hotel.
"My heart goes out to those who have suffered. We stand firm with the Somalia people," he said in a statement.
Britannia's ambassador to Somalia Neil Wigan also condemned the attack but said it "will not derail Somalia's determination to defeat Al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... 's terrorism".
Somalia is due to vote on a new constitution ahead of elections in 2016, but security remains a major problem.
[AnNahar] The Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group claimed deadly boom-mobileings in Libya on Friday as the international community struggles to find ways to end the chaos in the North African nation.
Libyan security sources said 31 people were killed and 40 maimed in three simultaneous attacks in the town of al-Qoba that targeted a police headquarters, a petrol station and the home of the parliament speaker.
A statement signed by the IS branch in the eastern Cyrenaica region said two of its bully boyz carried out suicide kabooms in retaliation for air strikes on the jihadist stronghold of Derna this week.
It said the attacks targeted forces of General Khalifa Haftar ... served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all... who launched a bloody campaign in May last year to rid Libya of Islamist militias who have thrived since an uprising more than three years ago.
"This is a message to anyone who is tempted to attack the soldiers of the caliphate (IS) or any Moslem," the IS statement said.
Egypt, in coordination with Haftar's forces, pounded jihadist positions in Derna on Monday after a gruesome IS video showed the beheading of 21 Coptic Christians, most of the Egyptian.
After its citizens were murdered, Egypt called for international military action against IS and echoed demands by Libya's recognized government for the lifting of a U.N. arms embargo to tackle the jihadists.
But Western and Arab states have flinched at the suggestion of force, and U.N. envoy Bernardino Leon told the U.N. Security Council Wednesday that the only cure for Libya's trauma was political.
Some analysts have warned however IS was expected to gain more strength in Libya, after having seized swathes of Syria and Iraq, and said the international community was running out time.
But others cautioned that military action in Libya, which has been awash with weapons since strongman Muammar Qadaffy ...who single-handedly turned a moderately prosperous kingdom into a dictator's fantasyland and was then murdered by his indignant subjects 42 years later... was ousted and killed in a 2011 NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization.... -backed uprising, would pour fuel on the fire.
- IS rise in Libya -
The oil-rich North African nation has two rival governments and parliaments, one recognized by the international community and the other with ties to Islamists.
Since Qadaffy's ouster, Libya's beleaguered authorities have been struggling to rein in powerful armed militias who have mushroomed after the uprising and are fighting for power.
There is increasing concern that some of these militias have pledged allegiance to the Sunni Moslem bad boy IS.
In recent weeks IS has claimed several bloody attacks, including a January assault on a 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... hotel that killed nine people, five of them foreigners.
"The threat of Islamic State in Libya is set to increase exponentially," analyst Mohammed El-Jareh, a non-resident fellow with the Atlantic Council's Hariri Center for the Middle East, warned on Friday.
There has also been increased reports that gunnies who claim affiliation to the group are tightening their grip on power.
On Thursday a group of gunnies seized Sirte university and a conference centre, days after taking control of state radio and other government buildings in the coastal city, witnesses said.
Sirte, the hometown of Qadaffy, is a stronghold 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... , classified as a terrorist organization by the United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... which is known to be close to al-Qaeda.
Ansar al-Sharia has also a presence in Benghazi, where Haftar has been battling Islamists, as well as in Derna -- historically Libya's most radical Islamist city -- and Sabratha in the west.
Its ties with IS are unclear although several of its members are reported to have defected to the jihadist group.
IS is also said to have cells in Libya's vast southern desert, as well as in Tripoli.
On Friday five Egyptians were among the 31 people killed in al-Qoba, a local official and medics said. Most of the dead were queuing for petrol at a station in the town.
Medics said parliament speaker Aguila Salah Issa was not at home at the time of the bombings.
The internationally recognized parliament has been based in Libya's remote eastern city of Tobruk, since the Fajr Libya militia alliance overran Tripoli in August.
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02/21/2015 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A Moroccan court sentenced a former Spanish soldier to eight years in jail on Friday on charges of leading an Islamist network in the kingdom that was plotting terror attacks, the state news agency MAP said.
Seventeen other members of the group, all believed to be Moroccans, were sentenced to between two and 10 years in prison on a variety of charges.
The Spaniard was only identified by his initials -- J.F.
He was jugged Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! in January 2014 and the Interior Ministry said at the time that he had served in Melilla, a tiny Spanish enclave on the Morocco's Mediterranean coast. He resigned his commission and joined al Qaeda in Afghanistan where he learned guerrilla tactics, it said.
The authorities accused him of forming a criminal network with Moroccans drawn from numerous cities including Fes, Marrakesh and Nador, where he himself was based, near Melilla.
No further details emerged from the trial and it was not clear if his organization was affiliated to any particular Islamist group.
Morocco, a Western ally against Islamist militancy, regularly reports that has broken up radical cells accused of plotting attacks. On Thursday, the Interior Ministry said it had arrested three men seeking to join groups loyal to the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... in Libya.
All 18 were charged with forming a criminal group for the purpose of carrying out acts of terrorism, as well as belonging to a banned religious organization and of holding public meetings without permission.
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[AnNahar] At least 30 people were killed in 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... raids on two villages in northeast Nigeria ... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border... n Borno state near the town of Chibok, a community leader and resident told AFP on Friday.
The attacks on Thursday targeted the villages of Thlaimakalama and Gatamarwa, which were torched by the rampaging holy warriors, said Pogo Bitrus, head of the Chibok Elders Forum.
"From information coming in from residents of the two villages at least 30 people were killed in the attacks," he added.
Luka Haruna, who lives in Chibok, some 15 kilometers (nine miles) away, gave an identical corpse count and added: "The two villages were completely destroyed."
Chibok gained notoriety last April when Boko Haram fighters kidnapped 276 schoolgirls, causing global outrage and a social media campaign to release them.
Fifty-seven managed to escape but 10 months on, 219 are still being held.
Bitrus said the latest attacks happened about noon (1100 GMT) on Thursday.
The turbans were passing through the two neighboring villages as they fled the nearby town of Askira Uba, which they invaded on Monday evening, he added.
Hundreds of Boko Haram fighters stormed Askira Uba, burning homes and public buildings, despite a regional campaign to crush their six-year insurgency.
Residents who fled the town said they appealed to troops based in Chibok some 25 kilometers away but they allegedly refused to deploy.
The Death Eaters fled when soldiers were eventually sent. Some left towards Gwoza, on the border with 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... , and the Sambisa Forest, where Boko Haram has camps.
Boko Haram seized Gwoza in June last year and later declared it a part of their Islamic caliphate. The town is considered to be the group's headquarters.
Nigeria's military said on Thursday that fighter jets had bombarded Sambisa Forest after Chad, which is involved in the regional fight-back, attacked the nearby town of Dikwa.
Bitrus said: "The turbans mowed everything in sight as they fled Askira Uba and these two villages which they passed through became targets.
"They opened fire on residents and set houses on fire as they drove in a huge convoy."
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02/21/2015 00:06 ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] Twelve suspected gunnies -- who the RAB described as "digital bully boys" - were placed in durance vile Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! on Thursday from Chittagong's Hathazari, where they were receiving bully boy training at a coaching centre.
Aged between 18 and 25, the arrestees all possessed multimedia mobile phones and micro-SD memory cards which contained audio-visual clips from different international and domestic bully boy outfits.
When a RAB 7 team made the arrests, three alleged trainers were tutoring nine bully boy apprentices in an establishment that posed as an Arabic literature and language coaching centre.
The RAB termed the men "digital bully boys," and claimed that the detainees were set to complete a 45-day audio-visual militancy training before being shifted to a different site for arms training.
Lt Col Mifta Uddin, commanding officer of RAB 7, said the team acted on a tip-off and carried out a two-and-a-half-hour raid to initially detain 25 people from Al Madrasatul Abu Bakar, situated on the third floor of SK Safina Bhaban at the upazila's Alipur Area.
"Later, we found 12 of the detainees were connected to bully boy activities through digital ways. They were handed over to Hathazari cop shoppe and a case was lodged in this regard," he said.
Lt Col Mifta added that the bully boys' internal communications were being run using social media -- mainly via Facebook. "However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... the law enforcers are trying to find out their links with other bully boy organizations and their secret activities as their operations seem dangerous for national security," he said.
The RAB would now recommend the police to interrogate the accused under the Taskforce for Interrogation (TFI) Cell in order to seek out the criminal masterminds behind the entire operation, Lt Col Mifta added.
Sources inside the elite force told the Dhaka Tribune that mobile phones, computers, tablet computers and other electronic tools were also seized during the raid. However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... details about inter-communication among bandidoshard boyz could not be found as the detainees reportedly deleted all internet chats and call records after each individual communication.
The madrasa-like coaching centre was run by Mohammad Fattah -- who is currently on the run.
The elite force were conducing drives to arrest Fattah and his other cohorts, the RAB 7 commanding officer told a presser at the force's headquarters in the port city yesterday.
RAB 7 Chandgaon Camp Commander Major Jahangir Alam said: "The trainers used to brainwash the students by presenting them video clips of training and operational activities of international bully boy groups -- ISIS, al-Qaeda, al-Nusra ...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant... , Hezbollah, Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, and some others -- and domestic bully boy group like Ansarullah Bangla Team and others."
The trainees were also taught the ways of Jihad through presentations about examples of discrimination and torture against Moslem communities across the world, Major Jahangir added.
Those arrested during Thursday's raid are: Abdur Rahman Ibn Asadullah, 23; Osman Gani, 20; Mostakim Billah Mashrur, 21; Nabil Hossain, 19; Sirajul Mostafa Solaiman, 19; Shamim Hossain Ismail, 18; Mahmudul Hasan, 22; Mohammad Yusuf, 23; Shafiqul Islam Shiekh Salauddin, 19; Rafiqul Islam Jubaer, 19; Abdul Kaiyum Sheikh Mansur Islam, 18; and Harunur Rashid, 19.
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02/21/2015 00:00 ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] Five people have been injured in a crude kaboom in the Nilkhet area of the capital on Friday night.
The injured are Musa Rahman, 28, Rashedul Islam, 20, Raqibul Islam, 20, Sumon Ahmed, 25 and Abul Kalam, 45.
Inspector Mozammel Huq, in-charge at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) police outpost said two unidentified motorcyclists hurled a splinter-packed crude bomb around 9pm in the capital's busy Nilkhet intersection, adjacent to the Dhaka University campus.
The injured were having tea at a nearby stall, he said.
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02/21/2015 00:00 ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] Police have jugged Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! 30 people, including five BNP-Jamaat activists, for carrying out subversive activities in Sunamganj.
Sunamganj SP Md Harun-or-Rashid said the drives were conducted from Thursday night till Friday morning.
He said police would continue such drives to keep the law and order situation under control.
So far, more than 70 people have died and scores have been injured in different parts of the country in violence during the non-stop blockade enforced by the BNP-led alliance.
Law enforcers continued a crackdown on alleged anarchists in different parts of the country.
The BNP led 20-party alliance has been enforcing a non-stop nationwide blockade since January 5 in protest against the "confinement" of party chief the loathesome Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... .
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[DAWN] Shahbaz Rangers on Friday claimed to have placed in durance vile Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! two Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) snuffies in a raid on a Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... -bound coach coming from 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. .
Sindh Rangers Commander Colonel Abdul Ghaffar said in press briefing at the Shahbaz Rangers headquarters here that the 60-Wing personnel on a tip-off carried out a raid on the coach while it was passing through an area near Mirpur Mathelo town of Ghotki district on Thursday night.
They picked up two suspected passengers and during the subsequent interrogation it emerged that they belonged to the TTP, Col Ghaffar said.
Without disclosing the suspects' names, the Rangers commander said that they were fleeing to Karachi to escape death in the ongoing military operation Zarb-e-Azb ..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)... and intended to fly to a foreign country, probably the United Arab Emirates.
Col Ghaffar spoke of some startling disclosures by the suspects during the interrogation but declined to share them with the media at this juncture.
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02/21/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] President Mamnoon Hussain turned down on Friday clemency appeals of six prisoners on death row, who are likely to be executed over the next couple of days, sources in the Presidency told Dawn. All six prisoners are from Sindh.
Sources say the president's decision has been conveyed to the Sindh Home Department, which has directed the inspector general for prisons to carry out the executions.
The prisoners whose appeals have been turned down include Achar alias Bhai Khan, Abdul Aziz, Bashir Ahmed, Mohammad Faisal, Mohammad Afzal and Munawwar Ali. All six are said to have been convicted in various terrorism cases.
The president has already rejected 17 mercy pleas from criminals awarded the death penalty since last December.
The decision regarding the rejection of six men's appeals was not officially made public. Sources said it had been decided at the top level that such decisions would not be announced officially due to security concerns.
"The summary regarding the appeals of six convicts was initiated by the interior ministry and received by the Presidency through the Prime Minister Office.
After the president's decision, the summary was sent back through same channels for execution," the source said.
President Mamnoon, he said, would back all executive orders aimed at eliminating turbans and had decided that no mercy appeal by any convicted terrorist would be accepted.
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02/21/2015 00:00 ||
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[RUDAW.NET] ISIS gunnies have been killed and targets destroyed by Iraqi Arclight airstrikes on the bad boy stronghold of Fallujah.
"The Iraqi bombardments on the area of Jollan, in northern Fallujah, ... the City of Mosques, which might have somthing to do with why it's not called Center of Prosperity or a really nice place to raise your kids... resulted in killing 17 ISIS gunnies and destroyed four armored vehicles," the head of Anbar military operations said in a statement on Friday.
The statement added that warplanes destroyed an ISIS arsenal for used for making ammunition and land mines, which the jihadists had used to deadly effect against the Iraqi army.
The Iraqi army has been trying to drive ISIS gunnies out of the town of Fallujah for more than a year. Despite attacks with artillery and heavy weapons, the Iraqi forces have not advanced into the town.
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[Ynet] Kiryat Gat couple with daughter were driving to capital to enjoy snow when Arab youths hit their car with snowballs containing stones; none were hurt.
Just boys being boys, as they do, unreported, every day. If Gaza Man is the Man who digs, West Bank Boy is the Boy who throws rocks.
Arab youths hurled snowballs containing stones at a car carrying a couple and their three-year-old daughter on Route 60 near Jerusalem on Friday.
The father, Avi (not his real name), his wife and their daughter were making their way towards Jerusalem from Kiryat Gat, in order to enjoy the snow-covered scenes in Jerusalem. At approximately 2pm, the car exited the Gilo neighborhood and headed south on the Tunnels Road.
"When I exited the first tunnel, I saw more than 10 youths standing nearby, shouting in Arabic," the father told Ynet. "I saw them throw a snowball at us and suddenly heard a 'boom', and realized it wasn't snow, but stones."
Due to the heavy snow that had accumulated on the road, he was not able to leave the area quickly, and the car was pelted with many stones. Eventually, he managed to escape with his vehicle, and fled to safety.
"I decided at the end to step on the gas pedal and managed to escape. It was very difficult, if I had been a new driver or someone who feels insecure on the road it could have ended in disaster, because it was almost impossible to drive like that in the snow. If I had stopped, it would have ended with a lynching. I've seen things in my life, but this is the first time I was in this kind of situation. I never saw anything like it," the father said.
After managing to escape, the father arrived at the Tunnels checkpoint and reported the incident to the security forces, who accompanied him to the area of Beitar Illit. When he arrived home, he discovered the damage to his car, which was apparently caused by large stones.
"My wife and I are in shock," he said. "They took advantage of the fact that people were driving very slowly and that there were few cars on the road in order to attempt to carry out a lynching," he said, adding that it was "only luck" that saved them from a disaster.
Once receiving the report, the police dispatched two teams of Border Police officers to the scene. The Border Police said that the teams drove to the scene of the attack with the driver and searched the area, but did not locate the stone throwers.
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02/21/2015 15:33 Comments ||
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#7
"My wife and I are in shock," he said. "They took advantage of the fact that people were driving very slowly and that there were few cars on the road in order to attempt to carry out a lynching... (Um, a little over the top here.),
"...he said, adding that it was "only luck" that saved them from a disaster. Ditto.)
Granted, stones in a snowball are what a$$hole kids throw, but, imho, if the yoots really meant bidnez, they would have dispensed with the snow.
[The Nation] A car bomb shook Narathiwat's downtown area yesterday, damaging dozens of homes and wounding 13 people, four of them seriously. The bomb was hidden in a pickup truck parked in front of a karaoke bar, not far from a Chinese shrine.
The blast set fire to the pickup truck that carried the bomb but the flames were put out by a local fire crew. More than 20 homes and shophouses were damaged. Police said that the vehicle was stolen from someone who had been killed in a recent insurgent ambush in Songkhla province.
In separate incidents in Narathiwat, another bomb hidden in a motorcycle parked in Muang district was detected and defused, while a "dud" hand grenade was thrown into a food shop.
[An Nahar] Syrian rebels on Friday seized back territory from regime forces north of Aleppo, stymieing government efforts to sever a key opposition supply route into the city, a monitor said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebel forces had taken back the strategic Mallah Farms area outside the city, as well as several villages seized by government troops in an offensive that began Tuesday.
The advances were a setback for the regime, which had hoped to block the highway leading to the Turkish border from the rebel-held east of Aleppo.
The offensive was also intended to break a rebel siege on two Shiite government-held towns that have been blockaded for more than 18 months.
But on Friday, the Observatory said the regime had failed to achieve either goal in the bloody offensive.
All but one of the villages taken by government troops in the initial fighting have been recaptured by rebels and fighters from Syria's Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra ...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant... Front, the monitor said.
It reported that the fighting killed 129 regime forces, including five members of Leb's 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... , as well as 116 rebel and jihadist forces, among them a military chief from Al-Nusra.
With the capture of the Mallah Farms, the rebels have succeeded in preventing government forces from blocking their supply route and encircling eastern opposition-held Aleppo, the Observatory said.
Before the offensive, regime forces occupied part of the strategic Mallah Farms sector.
"If the regime had taken that territory, they would have completely encircled the rebels in Aleppo," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
In Aleppo city, meanwhile, a civilian was killed and 11 others maimed in rebel fire on the government-held Khaldiyeh and Hamdaniyeh districts, state news agency SANA reported.
The government offensive launched as U.N. peace envoy Staffan de Mistura said Damascus had agreed to halt aerial and artillery fire on Aleppo for a period of six weeks if rebels agreed to the same.
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02/21/2015 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The military court released on Friday an alleged fighter linked to runaway Salafist holy man Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir ...Leb Salafist holy man with the usual grouch against Shiites. Currently on the run, he seems intent on reigniting the Leb civil war... .
Assem al-Arefi, who was in jug over engagement in the heavy festivities with the Lebanese army in the southern city of Sidon in 2013, was freed from custody, Voice of Leb Radio (100.5) reported.
Photos showed Arefi making the "V" for victory sign as he left his detention center.
It wasn't clear if he was released on bail.
Al-Asir and singer turned runaway Islamist Fadel Shaker are reportedly hiding in the Paleostinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hellhole that lies in Sidon.
Sidon's festivities between the army and supporters of al-Asir have resulted in the death of at least 16 troops.
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02/21/2015 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Salafist Sheikh Bilal Deqmaq, who was handed over to Leb by Turkish authorities earlier this week, had made a $250,000 profit after selling arms in Leb and escaping to Turkey, An Nahar newspaper reported on Friday.
Deqmaq was brought back to Leb on Wednesday aboard a Turkish jet and was accompanied by Turkish coppers who handed him over to Lebanese authorities.
Come, come. He's just an innocent but well-armed tourist... or something like that.
He was tossed in the calaboose Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! in Turkey on suspicion that he was smuggling cash to Death Eater groups, but was set free after he denied the charges.
Following his release, Deqmaq was put under close watch by Turkish police.
An arrest warrant was issued for him after Lebanese troops raided his parents' house 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... in late October and captured large amounts of weapons and ammunition, including automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
Another wanted Salafist holy man, Dai al-Islam al-Shahhal, said at the time that the weapons belonged to him and demanded their return.
"You can't take those -- they're mine! You can tell by the serial numbers filed off each one."
"By gum, he's right, Sarge: every one has the serial number filed off."
"Release the man his weaponry, Officer Michel. Guess we don't have a case after all, dagnabbit."
He claimed that he had stored the $500,000 worth arms at Deqmaq's house to keep them out of the sight of Death Eaters, who would use them against the army.
According to An Nahar, the cash in Deqmaq's possession at the time of his arrest in Turkey was the result of his $250,000 profit from selling large quantities of the arms stored in the house.
Al-Shahhal did not have information about his scheme, said the daily.
[ARA] On Friday, the joint Kurdish forces (People's Protection Units "YPG" and the Peshmerga) regained control of the biggest checkpoints held by bandidosbully boyz of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group (IS/ISIS) in the western countryside of Kobane (Ain al-Arab) in the province of Aleppo, in northern Syria, military sources reported.
Speaking to ARA News on the phone, YPG fighter Abu Ali Osman said that Jeb al-Faraj checkpoint and a large part of Jeb al-Faraj village in the town of Shuyookh are now under the control of the joint forces.
"Our forces regained new villages including Khirbet Atto, Jadid and Qasimiyah, after fierce festivities against IS terrorist," he added.
According to Kurdish military sources, at least 30 bandidosbully boyz of the IS group were killed during Friday's festivities.
Additionally, the joint forces retook the villages of Nassiro and Kek Dada near Qara Qozak Bridge, in southern Kobane, announcing the bridge, Serrin's junction and silos as a military zone.
Also on Friday, the U.S.-led international coalition's warplanes hit IS-held locations near the bridge of Qara Qozak, killing a number of bandidosbully boyz and destroying an armored manned-vehicle.
The Kurdish joint forces were so far able to regain control of more than 250 villages in the countryside of Kobane, pushing IS bandidosbully boyz back towards Jarablus from the west and Raqqa from the southeast
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#1
RIP 19 year old Pirvin Kobani, Kurdish young warrior lady/YPJ fighter featured 2 months ago in this Father/Daughter video, KIA by booby trap explosive left behind by ISIS.
#2
An appeal yesterday by Kurdish forces for international assistance in clearing thousands of mines and booby traps left behind by retreating ISIS forces.
[ARA] After fierce festivities with IS murderous Moslems, the joint Kurdish forces of the People's Protection Units and the Peshmerga reported advances towards the city of Tel Abyad in Raqqa province, in northern Syria, a military source reported on Monday.
The radical group of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS/ISIL) has been in control over Tel Abyad and its surrounding for nearly two years.
The Kurdish forces retook the first village near Tel Abyad after forcing IS Death Eaters out of the village.
Speaking to ARA News, the YPG fighter Noureddin Gabani said the joint Kurdish forces were able on Monday to liberate the village of Baghdik, administratively linked to the city of Tel Abyad in Raqqa province.
"Following intense bombardment by the Peshmerga forces against IS headquarters in the area, the joint forces took over strategic hills overlooking Tel Abyad," he added.
Noureddin pointed out that the joint forces also seized control of the village of Jaada in southwestern Kobane, near the Qara Qozak Bridge, after an air strike launched by the U.S.-led coalition's warplanes on a checkpoint of the Islamic State group (IS/ISIS) near the bridge.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also confirmed the news, saying: "The Kurdish forces in cooperation with the Syrian opposition forces (FSA) took over an IS-held hilltop (in reference to a hill overlooking the village of Baghdik) in Raqqa after bloody festivities."
This is the first time the Kurdish forces have enter the province of Raqqa.
At least 35 IS bully boyz were killed, while four members of the Kurdish forces were reported killed during the festivities.
The Kurds have regained at least 163 villages in the countryside of Kobane in the past three weeks after expelling the IS bandidosmurderous Moslems from the city.
Notably, the joint forces have blocked the international highway of Rodko from IS bad boys.
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[RUDAW.NET] Peshmerga fighters repelled an ISIS attack on Thursday that struck the Khazir front in northern djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... province.
Brigadier general Faiaq Hassan, a Peshmerga commander, told Rudaw that ISIS bandidosmurderous Moslems launched the fierce nighttime assault on foot, but the Peshmerga were able to fight them off.
"They launched a multipronged assault, using heavy weapons. But now they are on the retreat," said Hassan.
"Due to bad weather, we were not able to estimate the ISIS casualties, and the Peshmerga did not have any casualties," he added.
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[RUDAW.NET] Peshmerga forces fought off multiple ISIS attacks on various Kurdish frontline positions on Thursday with coalition warplanes playing a decisive role in the defense.
"ISIS fighters attacked Peshmerga forces in the village of Qoban, Bashiqa and the Peshmerga forces repelled the attack. The ISIS turbans quickly disappeared once the coalition aircrafts arrived in the area even without launching strikes," said Sardar Qadir Sur, a Peshmerga officer.
According to Sarda, poor weather prevented the Peshmerga from launching a counter-attack on ISIS forces in the area.
Separately, ISIS launched attacks on Kurdish forces at three points along the Badooshi frontline, using heavy weapons.
"The festivities have not ended yet, but ISIS was repelled and all the Peshmerga are safe," said Captain Hashim Ismael.
ISIS also attacked Kudish forces at the Khazir frontline at 9:10 pm.
According to Brigadier General Fayaq Hassan, ISIS fighters used a ground assault against Peshmerga positions.
"ISIS launched multiple attacks on different fronts, using heavy weapons. ISIS is in retreat and fighting continues," Hassan said on Thursday night.
Peshmerga sources told Rudaw coalition airplanes had struck four ISIS targets in the Gwer area, destroying vehicles and automatic weapons.
US Central Command said coalition forces had conducted 15 Arclight airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria in the last 24 hours.
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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.
[The Nation] A car bomb shook Narathiwat's downtown area yesterday, damaging dozens of homes and wounding 13 people, four of them seriously. The bomb was hidden in a pickup truck parked in front of a karaoke bar, not far from a Chinese shrine. 
