Hi there, !
Today Sat 01/19/2019 Fri 01/18/2019 Thu 01/17/2019 Wed 01/16/2019 Tue 01/15/2019 Mon 01/14/2019 Sun 01/13/2019 Archives
Rantburg
531687 articles and 1855967 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 74 articles and 223 comments as of 10:08.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Iran launches satellite into space
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
6 22:16 Neville Dark Lord of the Wee Folk7365 [1] 
0 [] 
6 14:53 magpie [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [1] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [1] 
0 [] 
7 22:46 newc [] 
1 08:28 Woodrow [] 
0 [1] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
Page 2: WoT Background
0 []
0 []
3 11:41 Procopius2k []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 [1]
Page 3: Non-WoT
2 10:04 Fat Bob tse Tung1475 []
2 16:51 Mike Kozlowski [1]
2 12:11 DarthVader []
2 12:07 Procopius2k []
21 23:20 Silentbrick []
5 11:50 Procopius2k [1]
5 08:59 Chris [1]
2 11:58 Flenter Gletle1338 []
2 07:10 M. Murcek [3]
2 08:41 Frank G [1]
3 15:22 Speamble Elmeack5265 []
0 []
0 []
3 17:02 SteveS []
0 []
1 01:00 newc []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
1 13:48 Frank G []
Page 4: Opinion
2 15:18 Besoeker []
8 17:10 Richard Aubrey []
4 12:27 Abu Uluque []
14 15:10 rjschwarz []
2 11:56 Procopius2k []
0 []
4 18:26 NoMOreBS []
0 []
29 23:52 Whiskey Mike []
0 []
11 15:07 rjschwarz []
Page 6: Politix
19 23:42 Whiskey Mike [2]
8 19:57 Frank G [1]
5 18:36 NoMOreBS []
3 12:11 Procopius2k [1]
4 10:02 Frank G []
3 10:24 M. Murcek []
1 00:31 Besoeker []
2 07:07 Frank G []
5 16:55 SteveS [1]
0 []
8 20:19 SR-71 []
15 19:55 Frank G []
Afghanistan
7 Taliban killed in Afghan, Coalition Forces operations in South of Afghanistan
[KhaamaPress] At least seven Talibs have been killed during the separate operations of the Afghan and Coalition Forces in three southern provinces of the country.

Informed military sources confirm that a coalition air strike in Shah Joy district of Zabul killed 2 known Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
bomb controllers and attack coordinators.

The sources further added that the Afghan Special Operations Forces conducted a raid in Tarin Kot city of Uruzgan province, killing 2 Taliban fighters.

In the meantime, Coalition air strikes in Nahr-e Saraj and Garm Ser districts of Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
n left 3 Taliban fighters dead while a weapons cache was also destroyed.

Both the Afghan and Coalition Forces have stepped up ground operations and Arclight airstrikes against the anti-government armed murderous Moslems in the restive parts of the country.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Magnetic bomb explosion leaves one dead in Kabul city
[KhaamaPress] A magnetic bomb went off in Kabul city earlier today targeting a civilian vehicle in the vicinity of the 9th police district of thecity, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) officials said.

Najib Danish, a front man for the Ministry of Interior (MoI), confirmed that the incident took place at around 8:20am local time in the vicinity of Abdul Haq square in the 9th police district of the city.

He said the magnetic bomb was planted a Corolla type civilian vehicle which was destroyed in the kaboom and its driver was killed.

No individual or group including Taliban
...Arabic for students...
has so far grabbed credit behind the incident.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Taliban claim Kabul truck bomb attack, warn more to follow
[DAWN] The Afghan Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
on Tuesday grabbed credit for a powerful truck kaboom in Kabul that destroyed surrounding neighbourhoods, killing at least four people and wounding more than 100, in the latest assault on the Afghan capital.

In a grim message, the snuffies also vowed to carry out more attacks in the city in direct response to the recent appointment of former spymaster and anti-Taliban veteran Amrullah Saleh as interior minister.

Monday evening's kaboom near a heavily fortified foreign compound shook Kabul and comes as diplomats ramp up efforts to end the 17-year war in Afghanistan, which by some estimates was the world's deadliest conflict in 2018.
Khaama Press adds:
India has confirmed the death of one of its nationals in last night’s VBIED attack in Kabul which the Afghan officials say has claimed the lives of at least four people.The Ministry of Public Health officials are saying that the attack killed 4 people while around 113 others have sustained injuries, including many women and kiddies.
And from Tolo News:
The attack on Green Village NGO, which was swiftly claimed by Taliban
...Arabic for students...
krazed killers, left at least three soldiers and one civilian dead and over 114 others maimed with 30 of those injured in a critical condition.
Monday night's attack on the compound, which is used by international organizations for housing foreigners, including those working with the United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
, marks the fourth attack on the same compound by the turbans since 2012.

Security officials have said that foreigners around and inside the compound remained unhurt while most damages were inflicted to the Afghan civilians and their homes.

TOLOnews’ news hound Sharif Amiri who visit the blast scene reported on heavy damage around the compound and homes in the area.

In the past, people in the vicinity had asked the Afghan ministry of interior to relocate the base from the residential area.

"It is the legitimate right of the people. We are working on a greater plan with our international colleagues to relocate these camps to other areas," interior ministry front man, Najib Danish said.

Posted by: Fred || 01/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
Al Shabaab Claims Attack In Kenyan Capital
[RADIOSHABELLE] Somali gang al-Shabaab
... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
grabbed credit for an attack in an upscale neighbourhood in the Kenyan capital.

Two kabooms and gunfire were heard at an upscale hotel and office complex in Kenya’s capital on Wednesday afternoon, said a woman working in a neighbouring building.

"We are under attack," another person in an office inside a complex in the Dusit hotel told the Rooters news agency, then hung up. Local television showed smoke rising from the area.

The Nairobi police commander Philip Ndolo said they had cordoned off the area around Riverside Drive due to a suspected robbery.

Flames and plumes of black smoke billowed into the sky from the parking lot of the compound where several vehicles were on fire, with scores of people fleeing the compound, some of them lightly injured.

Somalia-based gang al-Shabaab grabbed credit for the attack that came a day after the trial began in deadly Westgate mall attack case that left 67 people dead.

"We are currently conducting an operation in Nairobi," the group’s military operations front man told Al Jazeera.

Kenyan prosecutors say the four suspects committed a "terrorist act" under Kenya’s anti-terrorism laws and used false documents. The men deny all the charges.

The country faced a spate of attacks after it sent its army into Somalia in October 2011 to fight the al-Qaeda-linked group.

Tuesday attack comes exactly three years after the gang overrun a Kenyan army base in Somalia killing dozens of soldiers.
Al Jazeera adds:
Al-Shabaab
... an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia...
claims coordinated assault in upscale hotel complex in Kenyan capital, with reports of at least 15 killed.

More than 12 hours after Tuesday's attack began at Nairobi's Dusit hotel complex, which also includes bars, restaurants, offices and banks, bursts of gunfire and kabooms were still heard in the area despite earlier government assurances that everything was under control.

The shots rang out at around 3:30am local time (00:30 GMT) as a group of around 150 workers was escorted from a building where they had sought refuge. Many more remained inside and some needed first aid for gunshot wounds, a first responder told Rooters news agency.

Kenya's Interior Minister Fred Matiang'i had said at 11pm that all buildings at the scene had been secured and scores of people evacuated. But he did not comment on the attackers' whereabouts and said security forces were still "mopping up".

By 1am local time, 15 bodies had arrived at Chiromo Mortuary and more were expected, an attendant told Rooters news agency. Identification papers indicated that 11 were Kenyan, one was from the United States and one from Britannia, he said. The other two were not carrying documents.

A Kenyan police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was also quoted by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named news agency as saying that 15 bodies had been taken to the morgue.

The US State Department confirmed that a US citizen was among those killed, but did not release the identity of the victim.

Al-Shabaab, which has been fighting the western-backed government in Somalia, grabbed credit for the attack, saying on Tuesday that it was in control of most parts of the building complex.

"Our fighters killed 47 enemies inside the complex. The mujahideen are still in control of most parts of the building complex," Abdiaziz Abu Mus'ab, the group's military operations spokesperson, told Al Jazeera.

Authorities did not comment on the number of the attackers but Kenya's Citizen TV aired security-camera footage that showed at least four heavily gunnies in dark-coloured, paramilitary-style gear.

No casualty figures have been released by officials, but witnesses reported seeing several bodies.

A police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to news hounds said bodies were seen in restaurants downstairs and in offices upstairs, but "there was no time to count the dead."

A witness who gave his name only as Ken said he saw five bodies at the hotel entrance.
Posted by: Fred || 01/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)

#1  WHO DARES WINS Tooled-up SAS hero stormed Kenya hotel

Incredible images showed the operator in jeans, trainers and body armour storming through doors and aiding injured, his face covered by a balaclava.

He was pictured operating at the hotel alone. But he was joined in the mission by US Navy Seals, sources said.
Posted by: Woodrow || 01/16/2019 8:28 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Haftar launches fresh military operation on the pretext of "securing" south Libya
[Libya Observer] The Spokesman for the self-styled army in eastern Libya, Ahmed al-Mismari, has announced that Khalifa Haftar
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, 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...
ordered the launching of a military operation to advance on the southwestern districts in Libya to "secure and protect the residents from gunnies and criminal groups."

"The operation is going to protect the people from the gunnies and criminals who work for foreign parties to change the topography of Libyan and its identity." The statement of al-Mismari said.

The statement says the operation aims to protect also Libya's resources such as water, oil and gas as well as helping Libyans to be provided for by the needed services such as foods, power, water and other important things.

"The operation targets as well exacting law and order in the region, fighting smuggling, crimes, human trafficking, and illegal immigration, let alone protecting oil facilities and local as well as foreign companies." The statement adds.

The operations room operated by Haftar's forces called on residents to be vigilant and to avoid being in festivities' zones in Sabha, where it said there are gatherings of gunnies and criminals.

Previously, Haftar's command announced the launching of four operations each aimed to secure the southern region, yet none of them had any effect on the ground.

Posted by: Fred || 01/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Africa Subsaharan
Boko Haram: Many killed as troops retake Rann after bloody battle
[DAILYPOST.NG] The Nigerian military on Tuesday retook Rann, the headquarters of Kala Balge local government area of Borno state in northeast Nigeria
... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border...
, following invasion by suspected ISWAP on Monday night.

Troops who tactically retreated when the Lions of Islam overwhelmed them got reinforcement to turn the table against the bad boys, killing several of them, according to military sources in Maiduguri.

According to some Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, who arrived Maiduguri, today (morning), the Lions of Islam had sacked the military base earlier and also sacked the people in the camp at Rann.

"Many people were killed and a lot more were maimed. They burnt down the General hospital and school and other government and NGOs facilities," Bukar Bunu said.

On how they arrived Maiduguri, he said they have been on the run and got help from some people who were also escaping when the base and the camp fell.

Our Correspondent gathered that, reinforcement came from Ngala and with the help of air support, troops successfully forced the Lions of Islam to flee having more superior firepower.

Speaking with some camp officials who do not wish to be mentioned, they said, the influx of IDPs has increased across the camps in Maiduguri, and with the 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...
attacks in both Damasak and Rann yesterday, the number of Internally Displaced Persons is expected to rise even more this week.

The military is yet to make an official statement regarding the attacks in Damasak and Rann, especially that there were sketchy details in the attack on Damasak in Mobbar Local Government Area of Borno State.

It could be recalled that as at last week, over 30,000 displaced persons arrived 9 camps in Maiduguri.
Posted by: Fred || 01/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram (ISIS)


Arabia
Yemeni forces strike military base in southwestern Saudi Arabia
[PRESSTV] Yemeni army soldiers, supported by allied fighters from Popular Committees, have launched an attack against a military base in Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
’s southwestern Jizan region in retaliation for the Riyadh regime’s atrocious military campaign against their impoverished homeland.

The media bureau of Yemen’s Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ...
Ansarullah movement released video footage on Tuesday, showing Yemeni troops and their allies targeting vehicles at Awjebah base with a domestically-developed combat drone and a salvo of artillery rounds.

Yemeni soldiers and Popular Committees fighters also fired a Zelzal-1 (Earthquake-1) ballistic missile and several artillery rounds at the gathering of Saudi-paid bully boyz loyal to Yemen's resigned president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi east of al-Nar mountain in the northern Yemeni province of Hajjah.
Posted by: Fred || 01/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Europe
Brussels Jewish Museum Gunman Linked to Other Jihadists
[Breitbart] The Frenchman accused of murdering four people at the Jewish museum of Belgium had links with other jihadists, including those behind the Brussels and Paris attacks, investigators say.

At least one lawyer wants to see if defendant Mehdi Nemmouche sheds more light on such links during his trial that opened last Thursday for the May 24, 2014 museum shooting spree.

The first opportunity may come on Tuesday when Nemmouche begins testifying in his defence in a Brussels criminal court.

Guillaume Lys, the lawyer for the French Association of Victims of Terrorism (AFVT), hopes his cross-examination may yield more detail about the November 13, 2015 Paris attacks.

"Our goal is to be able to have more information about the links between these people and others whom we know and who committed other acts," said Lys, who represents a civil party in the trial.

The following links have already been established by investigators:

‐ ABDELHAMID ABAAOUD ‐
Weeks before the Jewish museum attack, Nemmouche was in regular telephone contact with Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the presumed mastermind of the Paris attacks that killed 130 people and wounded hundreds more.

Abaaoud was killed in a police shootout days after those attacks.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Spain arrests 17 in ongoing anti-terror operation
[IsraelTimes] Authorities in the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia say 17 people, including five alleged members of an myrmidon Islamist cell, are tossed in the calaboose
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
Tuesday as part of an ongoing anti-terror operation.

As well as having terror links, the suspects also allegedly committed theft, drug trafficking and other crimes, according to the Mossos d’Esquadra regional police.

More than 100 agents were taking part in the operation, which was still taking place mid-afternoon, a spokeswoman says. The spokeswoman says six venues had been searched in and near Barcelona.

Catalan regional minister of security, Miquel Buch, tells news hounds that most of the arrests were in a central neighborhood of the Catalan capital, but some were in the nearby town of Igualada.

The five suspected of being part of an myrmidon cell were originally from Algeria, Buch tells news hounds. "They were determined about carrying out an attack, but they didn’t have the capacity for it," he says.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists


Germany Arrests German-Afghan Army Adviser for 'Spying for Iran'
[News18] Germany on Tuesday detained a German-Afghan man on suspicion he was spying for Iran while working for the German army as a linguistic and cultural adviser.

The 50-year-old identified as Abdul Hamid S was arrested in western Germany, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

"The accused was a language evaluator and cultural issues adviser of the German armed forces. In this capacity, he is believed to have passed on information to an Iranian intelligence service," they added.

According to Spiegel Online, he is suspected of working for Iranian secret services for several years.

While working for the German army, he had access to highly sensitive information including on troop deployment in Afghanistan, the report added.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 01/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


The Grand Turk
Turkey orders arrest of nearly 200 people over suspected Gulen ties, Hurriyet says
[AlAhram] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund....
ordered the arrest of 192 people over suspected links to the network of the U.S.-based Moslem holy man accused of orchestrating an attempted coup in 2016, the Hurriyet newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Police operations targeting the followers of Fethullah Gülen
... a Turkish preacher living in Pennsylvania whom the current govt of Turkey considers responsible for all the ills afflicting Turkey and possibly the entire world...
have been carried out regularly since the failed coup and have recently gained momentum. Authorities in Istanbul and Adana ordered the arrest of more than 100 military suspects last week.

The Ankara chief prosecutor's office said it ordered the arrest of 50 military suspects - 3 lieutenants and 47 sergeants - as well as 55 people accused of using the ByLock messaging app, the newspaper reported.

Turkey outlawed ByLock in the aftermath of the failed putsch, saying followers of Gulen used it to communicate on the night of July 15, 2016, when a group of rogue soldiers attempted to overthrow the government, killing some 250 people.

Gulen, a former ally of President Tayyip Erdogan who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, has denied the charges and condemned the coup.

The prosecutor's office in the central province of Konya ordered the detention of 50 people, including military personnel and their contacts in the Gulen network, the newspaper said.

The prosecutor's offices of two other provinces, Mugla and Kocaeli, ordered the detention of 15 and 22 military personnel respectively.

More than 77,000 people have been tossed in the clink
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
pending trial, while 150,000 civil servants, military personnel and others have been sacked or suspended from their jobs as part of the post-coup purges.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/16/2019 00:15 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  Still milking that Gulenist coup, eh? It's teats must be severely chapped by now.

...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund....

You know, it wasn't *that* long ago that Turkey looked like an actual modern secular nation.
Posted by: SteveS || 01/16/2019 1:00 Comments || Top||

#2  it wasn't *that* long ago

The notion of progress as a ratchet is not sound.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/16/2019 7:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Gulen arrests have become Turkey's version of the Mueller 'investigation'.
Posted by: Raj || 01/16/2019 9:04 Comments || Top||

#4  I dunno MM. My ratchet has a button and will click both ways depending on what you want.

I'd almost like to see Yippee declare himself Sultan who rules over all. My pop-corn bill would go through the roof I fear.
Posted by: AlanC || 01/16/2019 11:23 Comments || Top||

#5  Jeepers! How long is it going to take to kangaroo court try 77,000 criminals? How many courtrooms, how many judges, how many lawyers?

Just think of the logistics!
Posted by: Bobby || 01/16/2019 12:57 Comments || Top||

#6  "There is no Progress. There is only Change." -Liszendir, a character in The Warriors of Dawn(1975) by M.A. Foster

An observation that struck me as very apt when I first read many years ago... There is Change that you like and Change that you don't, if someone says there is Progress™ they are trying to sell you something.
Posted by: magpie || 01/16/2019 14:53 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Security forces kill 2 'IS militants' linked to 2013 abduction of Yousuf Raza Gilani's son
[DAWN] Two suspected members of the murderous Moslem 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 allegedly linked to the 2013 abduction of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
... Pakistain's former prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics could be awe-inspiring ...
's son, Ali Haider Gilani, were killed in a pre-dawn raid on a 'militant hideout' in Faisalabad
...formerly known as Lyallpur, the third largest metropolis in Pakistain, the second largest in Punjab after Lahore. It is named after some Arab because the Paks didn't have anybody notable of their own to name it after...
on Tuesday, a Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....

Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) official said.

CTD official Rai Tahir identified the two Death Eaters as Adeel Hafeez and Usman Haroon. He said both were killed during an intense shootout in the raid conducting by security officials.

Tahir said officials had, in the past, foiled other attacks the pair had plotted, adding that they were also behind the killing of two intelligence officials in recent years as well as other high-profile crimes.

The two Death Eaters were also linked to the 2011 Al Qaeda abduction of an American development worker, Warren Weinstein, the official said. Weinstein, who was taken from Lahore, was accidentally killed in a United States dronezap in 2015 on the Afghanistan-Pakistain border. He provided no specific information about the role the two had in Weinstein's case.

The American worker's accidental death was announced by Washington in 2015. President Barack Obama
Ready to Rule from Day One...
at the time said he took full responsibility for US counter-terror missions and offered his condolences to families of the hostages.

Posted by: Fred || 01/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraq
3 policemen injured in armed attack by Islamic State on Iraqi checkpoint
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) ‐ Three Iraqi coppers were maimed Tuesday in an armed attack by 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....
on a security checkpoint in Diyala province, a security source was quoted as saying.

Speaking to Baghdad Today news website, the source said that Islamic State faceless myrmidons launched an armed attack in Khanaqin district, 100km northeast of Baqubah, leaving three coppers dead, including a critically-maimed officer."

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that security reinforcements were deployed to the scene and the maimed coppers were moved to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraqi troops arrest IS terrorist, dismantle 55 explosives in Anbar
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) ‐ An 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....
terrorist was placed in durance vile
Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!
Tuesday in Anbar province with three machine guns in his possession, an Iraqi military front man said.

"Security forces arrested a terrorist while hiding at his house in Ar-Rutbah district in western Anbar," Almaalomah news website quoted front man for the Security Media Center Brig. Gen. Yahya Rassol as saying, adding that three machine guns were found inside the house.

He added that the troops also dismantled 55 explosive charges that were left by Islamic State turbans in the province.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Bengali citizen killed in bomb blast in Iraq’s Erbil
Erbil (IraqiNews.com) ‐ A Bengali citizen was killed Tuesday in a kaboom in central Erbil, the capital city of Iraqi Kurdistan, a security source was quoted as saying.

"An explosive charge hidden inside a container went off at a garbage dump in central Erbil, leaving one person dead," the source told Baghdad Today website.

"The victim was found to be a Bengal citizen," the source added.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Man gets life sentence in Iraq for supplying IS militants with money
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) ‐ An Iraqi court has sentenced a man to life in jail over accusations of supplying 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....
turbans with money.

"The Central Criminal Court in Baghdad has sentenced a man to life imprisonment as he was found guilty of handing over money to IS turbans in Hawija," a town which had fallen to the turban group in June 2014, Alghad Press website quoted the Iraqi judiciary as saying in a statement.

"The defendant admitted delivering money to IS turbans in return for $100," said the statement, adding that the verdict was issued pursuant to article no. 4 of the anti-terrorism law.

Iraq’s anti-terrorism law empowers courts to convict people who are believed to have helped jihadists even if they are not accused of carrying out attacks.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Deadly explosion in Syria's Manbij kills four US soldiers, injures three
[yenisafak.com] A large explosion in the northern Syrian town of Manbij on Wednesday killed at least 14, including three American soldiers, according to reports.

The explosion, thought to be a suicide attack, took place at the Kasr al-Umara restaurant in the town's city, and targeted at least 15 American soldiers who were patrolling the city.

Four U.S. soldiers were killed and three wounded in the blast, a U.S. official said.

The wounded soldiers are reportedly receiving treatment for the injuries, the seriousness of which remains unclear.

An Daesh-affiliated web site, Amaq, said an attacker with an explosive vest had struck a foreign military patrol in a suicide attack.

An unspecified number of civilians were also wounded.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/16/2019 09:33 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Guess Trump was right when he wanted to immediately pull the troops out.
Posted by: Chris || 01/16/2019 14:27 Comments || Top||

#2  ISIS is obviously not dead. Time to halt the withdrawal. The real drain on our resources is Afghanistan. $5b to local Afghan security forces for equipment purchases (to rebuild their equipment inventory lost through the Taliban era via attrition and wear and tear), supplies and payroll and $40b to support GI's in providing training and air support in Afghanistan. A big chunk of that $40b is probably to route supplies, with the associated payoffs to local clan chiefs, through Pakistan.

Things would be a lot easier and cheaper if we could just go through the area, Roman-style, slaughtering anyone who got in the way, along with their entire clans. There'd be tens of millions of Pakistani and Afghan carcasses for the local vultures to dine on, but we'd be done already.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 01/16/2019 16:51 Comments || Top||

#3  Part of the appropriations document, for anyone interested.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 01/16/2019 16:52 Comments || Top||

#4  Guess Trump was right when he wanted to immediately pull the troops out.

I'd say he's completely wrong. He said ISIS was dead so we could pull out. This incident shows ISIS is very much alive. And capable.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 01/16/2019 16:54 Comments || Top||

#5  Islamists have been murdering people for over 1,400 years. To send our youngsters over there to completely stop 1400 years of Islam's tradition in Syria is deadly ignorance. ISIS came into existence in Iraq after our military had been in Iraq for years.
Posted by: Neville Dark Lord of the Wee Folk7365 || 01/16/2019 22:05 Comments || Top||

#6  2,000 US Troops in a country of 19 million people is not going to stop anything.
Posted by: Neville Dark Lord of the Wee Folk7365 || 01/16/2019 22:16 Comments || Top||


U.S.-Backed Fighters Seize East Syria Village from IS
[AnNahar] U.S.-backed Syrian fighters Tuesday seized a key village from 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....
jihadist group, further chipping away at their last eastern holdout on the Iraqi border, a Britannia-based monitor said.

Backed by air strikes of the U.S.-led coalition, the Syrian Democratic Forces have since September been battling to expel the jihadists from the so-called Hajin pocket in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.

In recent weeks, they have whittled it down to just a handful of villages on the eastern banks of the Euphrates River.

On Tuesday, the Kurdish-led alliance seized the largest of these from the jihadists after they fled, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

"The SDF took control of Sousa after the withdrawal of IS fighters to territory that remains under their control," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

That leaves IS battling to defend just 15 square kilometers (under six square miles) of land, he added.

IS overran large parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq in 2014, proclaiming a "caliphate" in areas under their control.

But they have since lost most of that to various offensives in both countries -- even if they retain a presence in Syria's vast Badia desert, where Russia-backed regime forces have fought them.

According to the Observatory, more than 1,100 IS jihadists have been killed since the start of the operation on September 10, while more than 600 SDF fighters have also bit the dust.

Around 360 civilians including 130 children have also been killed, the monitor says.

Syria's war has killed more than 360,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government demonstrations.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/16/2019 00:24 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iran launches satellite into space
[PRESSTV] Iran has launched a domestically-built satellite into space with an aim to collect environmental information to boost the country's forecasting system; however, technical problems that occurred during the final stage of the launch prevented the spacecraft from reaching orbit.

Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi tweeted on Tuesday that the first and second stages of the space mission had been performed successfully, but that the Simorgh satellite carrier had failed to accelerate to orbital speed in the third stage.
So not really a success, then. Still, they did manage to get it up into the air, so that’s something.
"The Payam (Message) satellite was successfully launched this morning aboard the satellite carrier. But the satellite unfortunately failed to be placed in orbit in the final stage," said the minister.

Azari Jahromi, however, stressed that Iran was preparing to launch another Low-Earth Orbit satellite, named Doosti (friendship).
And when that day eventually comes, we’ll be watching.

Posted by: Fred || 01/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  or the fully successful launch of a 2 stage mid-range ICBM...
Posted by: Chinesh Glamp1293 || 01/16/2019 8:53 Comments || Top||

#2  It isn't actually all that hard to get something into space. Just need a rocket roughly the size of a telephone pole to go straight up and you will get to a height that is considered "space".

Keeping it up there is the real technical challenge. It has to be going fast enough to balance the pull of earth's gravity while not going so fast it hurls out into the solar system. This requires multiple stages that needs pretty serious engineering and physics. You know, Rocket Science.

Most countries still don't have it and it is hard to develop.
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/16/2019 12:03 Comments || Top||

#3  I shot a missile into the air,
Achieving orbit if we dare.
It fell to earth I know not where,
due to an unidentified failure in the 3rd stage boost phase.
(hey, you want rhymage, go find ZenFlo!)

-- Poemifying 'n Rocketry B. Hard
Posted by: SteveS || 01/16/2019 13:27 Comments || Top||

#4  It fell to earth in a blaze?
Posted by: Fat Bob Glaise8594 || 01/16/2019 13:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Hah!

Confessed the best tester for Estes,
Possessed of asbestos-dressed testes,
"All the dolls break my falls
And fry eggs on my balls.
Yes, I'm blessed... but jeez, give it a rest, please!"

Though to be honest, he was only about average size. Six inches, tops. Funny little fella.
Posted by: Flemp Lumumba1072 || 01/16/2019 14:16 Comments || Top||

#6  You’re not fooling anybody with all these anonymizer nyms, Zenobia F. :-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/16/2019 14:26 Comments || Top||

#7  Maths are hard
Posted by: newc || 01/16/2019 22:46 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
35[untagged]
8Commies
7Islamic State
4Sublime Porte
2Govt of Iran
2Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
2Govt of Pakistan
2Houthis
2Moslem Colonists
2Taliban
1Boko Haram (ISIS)
1Muslim Brotherhood
1Narcos
1Palestinian Authority
1Govt of Iraq
1PLO
1Arab Spring
1al-Shabaab (AQ)

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2019-01-16
  Iran launches satellite into space
Tue 2019-01-15
  Explosions, gunfire erupt at Kenyan hotel in possible terror attack
Mon 2019-01-14
  Sudan Opposition Call for More Protests 'To Shake the Tyrant's Throne'
Sun 2019-01-13
  Report: Nasrallah suffers heart attack
Sat 2019-01-12
  12 civilians killed in jihadist attack in Burkina Faso
Fri 2019-01-11
  Jihadists take control of Idlib province after collapse of Turkish-backed rebels
Thu 2019-01-10
  Turkish-backed rebels surrender last positions in southwest Idlib
Wed 2019-01-09
  Turkish-backed rebels issue urgent plea for help from available forces in Idlib
Tue 2019-01-08
  Israel said to block latest Qatari cash transfer to Gaza
Mon 2019-01-07
  SDF troops capture ISIS stronghold east of Euphrates
Sun 2019-01-06
  Turkey asks US for help in fighting ISIS in Syria
Sat 2019-01-05
  Over 500 militants killed as infighting spreads in Syria: Report
Fri 2019-01-04
  Niger troops kill more than 280 Boko Haram fighters this week: Government
Thu 2019-01-03
  Turkey’s planned invasion impeded by new jihadist offensive in Aleppo
Wed 2019-01-02
  Sisi supporters try to amend Egypt's constitution to let him remain in power

Better than the average link...



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.
44.213.65.97
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Background (10)    Non-WoT (22)    Opinion (11)    (0)    Politix (12)