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21 facing federal charges in 'large-scale' drug ring involving UNC fraternities
Today's Headlines
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Page 4: Opinion
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Good afternoon
Calls Begin for Kamala Harris to Have a ‘More Important Job' Than ‘Just the Vice President'
Friday December 18th, 2020

evelynankers13
Islamist gunman behind failed 2015 Thalys train attack jailed for life by French court
340 Nigerian schoolboys freed after abduction claimed by Boko Haram militants — governor
Turkish Forces and proxy factions bring in military reinforcement to the area, as tense calm continues on Ain Issa frontlines
Cells target U.S. base perimeter in Al-Omar oil field
Daraa “Fifth Corps” arrests civilian after returning from Lebanon, and Air Force Intelligence arrests another civilian in Dail city
Feds charge Kenyan al-Shaboob with plotting 9/11-style attack on American city
‘Manhunt: Deadly Games' Is An Outstanding
Series About Richard Jewell And Eric Rudolph

Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2020 15:51 || Comments || Link || [13 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Love the spillway
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2020 18:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Love the toe point. She's had ballet or gymnastics training.
Posted by: jpal || 12/18/2020 18:46 Comments || Top||

#3  oh yeah "toe" point, yup.
Posted by: Mercutio || 12/18/2020 19:32 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
21 facing federal charges in 'large-scale' drug ring involving UNC fraternities
[ABC11] Twenty-one people -- including current and former students from University of North Carolina, Duke University, and Appalachian State University -- have been arrested for dealing drugs at and on college campuses.

United States Attorney Matthew Martin, a UNC alumnus, said the arrested drug pushers were not small-time drug users, but instead "hardened drug pushers."

"This is a large drug network and supply chain fueling a drug culture at fraternities and within these universities and around these universities and towns," Martin said.

He said the suspects were responsible for moving thousands of pounds of marijuana, hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, LSD, molly, mushrooms, steroids, HGH, Xanax and other narcotics.

The investigation started years ago. The Orange County Sheriff's Office and the Drug Enforcement Agency launched an investigation in November 2018 into cocaine being sold in the Chapel Hill area.

It soon became clear that the illegal drug distribution was happening at or near UNC fraternity organizations.

Court filings specifically point to UNC chapters of Phi Gamma Delta, Kappa Sigma, and Beta Theta Pi from 2017-2020 being sites of illegal drug activity.

"Dealers set up inside these houses, poisoning fellow members of their fraternity, fueling a culture. And that's why I say today is about saving lives. Because this reckless culture has endangered lives," Martin said.

An Appalachian State fraternity member is also accused of being part of the drug ring, selling to fellow App State students as well as people in Chapel Hill.

Investigators also identified a female Duke student as being responsible for distributing cocaine to students at Duke and to fraternity members at UNC.

A primary supplier from Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, was the first person charged. According to court documents, from March 2017 until March 22, 2019, he supplied approximately 200 pounds of marijuana and two kilograms of cocaine weekly to a cooperating defendant in Orange County. Law enforcement operations at locations associated with the subject in Carrboro and Hillsborough resulted in the seizure of 148.75 pounds of marijuana, 442 grams of cocaine, 189 Xanax pills, steroids, human growth hormone, other narcotics, and approximately $27,775 in U.S. currency.

The investigation showed that payment for drugs was made using Venmo and by sending cash through the U.S. mail. That supplier pleaded guilty to on Nov. 24 and was sentenced to 73 months in prison.

The five defendants indicted for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to distribute marijuana face terms of imprisonment ranging from 10 years to life.

"College communities should be a safe haven for young adults to get a higher education. Not a place where illegal drugs are easily accessible," DEA agent Matt O'Brien said. "The arrest of these narcos makes these college campuses and their respective communities safer."

UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz issued the following statement about the allegations; "We are extremely disappointed to learn of these alleged actions on our campus. The University is committed to working with law enforcement to fully understand the involvement of any university individuals or organizations so that disciplinary action can be taken. Although none of the individuals named today are currently enrolled students, we will remain vigilant and continue to work with our law enforcement partners to identify and address any illegal drug use on our campus. Our community can be certain that the University will enforce the student conduct code to the fullest extent possible."
My depraved imagination is having a hard time coming up with the image of twenty one hardened drug dealers named Skip, Brad, Devin, Kyle, Muffy, Barb, and Chase, sure enough, there's the list. There's even a "Chase Poindexter" on it.
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [14 views] Top|| File under: Narcos

#1  With no jail time for the oxycontin CEOs. Barr in action.
Posted by: Woodrow || 12/18/2020 1:59 Comments || Top||

#2  The University is committed to working with law enforcement...

And then their lips fell off.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/18/2020 5:41 Comments || Top||

#3  UK's MAIL has names and fotos.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/18/2020 6:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Dane, Amber, Kyle, Devon, Chase -- sure.

But note the source of the supply (hint: he and his mamacita aren't from NC but from Mexifornia):

The first person investigators charged in the case is accused of being the primary supplier.

Francisco Javier Ochoa Jr., 27, of Turlock, California, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine and conspiracy to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana, according to a news release.

Ochoa was sentenced Nov 24 to over six years in federal prison and five years of supervised release. He also was ordered to pay the court $250,000..
Posted by: Spomosh Glose4924 || 12/18/2020 6:26 Comments || Top||

#5  Anybody remember Ludlum's The Matlock Paper?
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/18/2020 8:44 Comments || Top||

#6  Yes Dron.
Posted by: Wren || 12/18/2020 14:28 Comments || Top||

#7  The "Big House" is going to be very different than the "Frat House."
Posted by: Dacama || 12/18/2020 18:00 Comments || Top||

#8  "Poindexter?"
Posted by: Dacama || 12/18/2020 18:02 Comments || Top||

#9  The food is better at the Big House...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/18/2020 20:58 Comments || Top||

#10  ^ But you still have to bend over and say, "Thank you Sir. May I have another?"
Posted by: Herb Graigum6098 || 12/18/2020 21:03 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
ANA Rebuffs Taliban Attack in Kandahar
[KhaamaPress] The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said on Thursday that the Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
attack in the Zherai district of Kandahar province had been repulsed.

Taliban fighters attacked security and defense forces in the Pashmul area of ​​Jiri district of Kandahar province yesterday, the statement said.

Security and defense forces are said to have repulsed a Taliban attack in which 12 Taliban fighters were killed and eight others were maimed.

The Taliban have not yet commented.

Earlier this morning, President Ghani has led a high-level delegation to Kandahar to assess the security situation in teh province.


"The president’s visit to Kandahar is one day and the purpose of his visit is to assess the security situation in Kandahar," presidential front man Dawa Khan Minapal told media.

President Ghani traveled to the western part of the province where the Taliban insurgency has increased.

20 kilometers from Kandahar capital, Arghandab district, wherein the Taliban are present and most of the time attacks Afghan national security outposts.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/18/2020 02:27 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


ANA Avoids Substantial Damages, Defusing 3 Bombs under Bridge
[KhaamaPress] The Afghan National Army (ANA) avoided possible infrastructure damages after defusing an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) placed under a bridge in western province of Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
, said the Ministry of Defense in a statement Thursday.

Officials accuse the Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
murderous Moslems for planning mines under bridges that potentially damage facilities at the location.

"#ANA prevented the demolition of a bridge by #Taliban in Shindand district of Herat province, yesterday," said the MoD in a tweet.

Officials did not provide further details but said at least "3 IEDs placed by Taliban under the bridge were discovered and defused by ANA."

Taliban did not immediately comment on the accusation.

The group is known for similar terrorism across Afghanistan that harm public utilities and infrastructures through mines and bombs.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/18/2020 02:27 || Comments || Link || [13 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa North
Boat carrying 126 persons including 8 women and 28 children was intercepted and returned to Libya
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Human Trafficking


Turkey Violates Ceasefire in Libya
[LIBYAREVIEW] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund...
continues to establish a military air bridge with the 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...
-based Government of National Accord (GNA) in Libya, and operates flights to transport mercenaries and weapons to support them, according to Jamal Shalouf, Head of the Silphium Foundation for Studies and Research in Libya.Shalouf said in a statement that the Ottoman Turkish Airbus A400M military cargo plane (code 221), was detected on Wednesday evening when landing at Misrata Airport. He claimed that this is believed to be the 33rd violation since the 5+5 Joint Military Committee (JMC) signed the October ceasefire agreement in Geneva.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) announced in mid-November, that the total number of mercenaries sent by Turkey to Libya amounted to 18,000, including 350 minors.



Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Africa Subsaharan
340 Nigerian schoolboys freed after abduction claimed by Boko Haram militants — governor
[RT] More than 300 schoolboys reported to have been kidnapped by 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...
fighters in Nigeria have been freed after nearly a week in captivity, officials said. The news came after a video emerged showing children begging for release.

The 344 students were released to authorities on Thursday and are set to be transported back to the state capital of Katsina City in northern Nigeria, Governor Aminu Masari told state media in a televised interview. Officials said the students were in good condition, but they have yet to receive a full medical check.

"At the moment, 344 of the students have been released and handed over to the security operatives. I think we can say at least we have recovered most of the boys, if not all of them," Masari said.

Boko Haram Growing in Influence After Kidnapping 330 Boys

[PJMedia] Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" in the local dialect. True to its name, the Islamic murderous Moslems kidnapped 330 boys from a school in Kankara, Nigeria. Hundreds of others escaped during the attack that authorities fear shows the terrorists’ growing power and influence.

Boko Haram has operated almost exclusively in northeast Nigeria
... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border...
. But Kankara is in the northwest part of the country and the fact that they were able to infiltrate and organize a large-scale raid has the government worried that their insurgency, which began in 2009, is spreading.

It’s possible that Boko Haram did not carry out the raid, contracting out that job to other terrorist groups, and then buying the boys. But however it happened, Nigerian families are begging the government to get their children back.

A 2014 raid on a girls’ school in Chibok devastated the community. There are still 100 girls missing from that terrorist act, which was apparently carried out so that Boko Haram fighters could have wives.

Rooters:

Cheta Nwanze, lead partner at Lagos-based risk consultancy SBM intelligence, said huge swathes of northwest Nigeria were ungoverned spaces where arms and people moved freely across mostly non-existent borders.

"There is a danger that jihadists operating in the Sahel could potentially build alliances with groups that have previously remained in northeast Nigeria. That would further destabilise the region," Nwanze said.

Nigeria is not a poor country. It’s awash in oil and raw materials. But the massive corruption of the government prevents a lot of Western investment to develop all that wealth. The growth of Boko Haram over the last decade, despite training and cash from America, shows just how far Nigeria still has to go.
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [20 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram (ISIS)


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
HRW Investigation of Oct 8. strikes on cathedral in Shushi appear to be deliberate targeting and a possible war crime.
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Ottoman Proxies


Europe
Paris court convicts 4 for Charlie Hebdo, kosher store terror attacks
Yesterday the convictions, today an idea of some of the sentences.
[Jpost] A court in Gay Paree has convicted one man of being accessory to murder in the 2015 jihadist terror attacks on the Charlie Hebdo
...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
satirical magazine and the Hyper Cacher kosher store.

In addition to Ali Riza Polat, a 35-year-old French citizen of Ottoman Turkish descent, three others on trial since September for the attacks were convicted Wednesday of the lesser offense of being a part of a terrorist enterprise. Polat was sentenced to 30 years behind bars, Le Monde reported.

The four men were among 14 people on trial in connection with the terrorist assaults in January 2015, whose actual perpetrators were killed after jointly planning the attacks.

Brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi carried out the attack on Charlie Hebdo and were killed there after murdering 12 people. Their partner, Amedy Coulibaly, killed four at the kosher store two days later before he was rubbed out by police. Coulibaly also killed a police officer.

Polat and the others — Nezar Pastor Alwatik, Amar Ramdani and Willy Prevost, who received sentences ranging from 13 years to 20 years — were prosecuted for providing the killers with the necessary weapons, equipment or intelligence to carry out the attacks.

Another six defendants were convicted of belonging to a criminal enterprise without the aggravated element of terrorism.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/18/2020 04:04 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula


Final witnesses take stand at Barcelona attack trial
[ENGLISHBETA.ALARABIYA.NET] The final witnesses took the stand Thursday at the trial of three men over their alleged roles in the 2017 krazed killer attacks in Barcelona and a nearby town that killed 16 people and injured 140 others.

The last day of testimony was provided by police experts who analyzed the mobile phones and laptops of the defendants, who have been in jug for the past three years.

One officer told the court the defendants had searched for information about IS and what Islam has to say about terrorism.

The three men are not accused of taking part directly in the attacks, which were claimed by IS, but of belonging to the krazed killer cell that carried them out.

Prosecutors in the trial are asking for prison terms for the trio - Driss Oukabir,
...the Moroccan who rented the getaway van to be used after another van was driven into a holiday crowd in Barcelona, causing over 100 casualties ...
Mohammed Houli Chemlal
...the bomb maker of the 12-man cell, he was pulled from the rubble of the bomb factory in Alcanar, 70 km south of Barcelona...
and Said Ben Iazza
...who does not appear in Rantburg’s archives, at least under that name...
- ranging from eight to 41 years.

On August 17, 2017, a man driving a van plowed into people on Barcelona’s crowded Las Ramblas boulevard, killing 14 people before escaping on foot.

The driver fled and killed another person before being rubbed out several days later.

The next morning, five other members of the same cell rammed pedestrians in the nearby town of Cambrils, a resort 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the south, and fatally stabbed a woman before being rubbed out by police.

The three defendants have denied being part of an krazed killer cell.

More than 200 witnesses have taken the stand, including police, victims and neighbors of the defendants, since the trial began on November 10 at a court near Madrid.

But many questions about the attacks remain unanswered including whether the attackers received help from abroad during their trips to La Belle France, Belgium and Morocco and how their radicalization went unnoticed.

One of the most gut-wrenching witness testimonies was delivered by Javier Martinez, whose three-year-old son was killed in the attack on Las Ramblas.

"We will never know what my son would have become," he said on the third day of the trial as he swayed slowly from side to side.

"All the desire to go on with life and fight were broken on Las Ramblas," he added.

The trial will resume on January 11 when the court will hear final arguments from the prosecution and defense before judges deliberate on their verdict.

Dated 25. November:
The 17-A terrorists bought material for explosives under different identities

[ARAinCalatan] They purchased tens of litres of hydrogen peroxide or acetone in at least five establishments

The photos of Younes Abouyaaqoub, the driver of the attack on the Rambla, and above all of Mohammed Hichamy, who led the attack in Cambrils, are those identified by several employees of companies that sell chemical products in Catalonia when they were asked to identify who had gone to buy tens of litres of hydrogen peroxide or acetone. In the weeks before the attacks, the turbans visited at least five establishments, according to witnesses who testified in the trial. But they presented different identities, and the arguments to justify the purchases also varied: they said they needed the peroxide to bleach clothes and the acetone to clean wood, iron or other metals. They did not create any alarm in the shop assistants, some of whom added that they spoke in Catalan and that the treatment had been "very polite".

In the tenth session of the trial, it has been stated that the first purchase attempt was on July 11, 2017 in Tortosa. That day a boy who could not be identified himself with the photos of the turbans tried to buy 100 litres of hydrogen peroxide but the ID he gave in a loud voice was wrong: the letters did not match the numbers. It was also unclear to him which vehicle he would use to transport them, which is necessary because he had to fill out a form detailing the origin and destination address in order to acquire the substance. In addition, it seemed that he was on foot, a fact that surprised the workers. The next day another boy came back who also wanted 100 liters to sell in Morocco to launder clothes. When he showed the documentation, it said Saïd ben Iazza and the company linked him to the one from the previous day, because he also wanted to buy without VAT.

On 27 July, the boy who identified himself with Ben Iazza's documentation returned, accompanied by another boy. At that time they already had his details and bought 240 litres of hydrogen peroxide. In both cases, they registered an address in Vinaròs, while the first attempt to buy - which did not succeed - had an address in Tarragona. But after the attacks, when the police showed the shop assistants the photos of the terrorists, it was revealed that they had used a false identity: they pointed out Abouyaaqoub as the one who had pretended to be Ben Iazza and Hichamy as the companion. Now Ben Iazza is one of the three accused in the trial for having facilitated the purchase of material to make explosives and collaborated with the jihadist cell.

ALL THE AVAILABLE ACETONE
Another witness was a worker from another company in Tortosa who on August 2 sold all the acetone in the establishment, 50 liters, to a boy who said he needed it to clean wood. The boy asked if they would have more before August 15 but did not return. With the police photos, the shopkeeper identified Hichamy. He is the same boy pointed out by a worker from a company in Gurb who on July 25 attended to him when he asked if they had acetone. He returned the next day, when he argued that he wanted it to degrease parts and that he would need more by the end of August. He did not ask for an invoice and took 175 litres. Seeing the photos of the terrorists, the shop assistant also realised that on 18 Julyhe had sold Saïd Aalla, the driver of the car in the Cambrils attack, a jerry-can of acetone.

The procedure was repeated with the employees of another company in the Baix Ebre at the beginning of August. First they sold Hichamy 25 litres and another day all the acetone they had, 125 litres more. He told them that he wanted more but did not return either. Another purchase was in Vinaròs on August 7, when Hichamy bought 100 more litres of acetone with the excuse of using it to clean iron and other metals. During their statement, some of the workers have recognised in the images of the objects recovered from the Alcanar chalet products that they had sold to the terrorists. Abouyaaqoub also bought switches and buttons on August 14 at an electronics store in Sant Carles de la Ràpita.

Three workers from pawn shops in Vinaròs, where the cell members sold jewellery, also took part in the trial. One of the shop assistants had doubts because the boy she served was not clear about whose initials the jewellery corresponded to. In fact, another of the witnesses was a neighbour from Ripoll whose jewellery was stolen in July 2017 and who runs a restaurant where Aalla had worked.
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Islamist gunman behind failed 2015 Thalys train attack jailed for life by French court
[RT] An Islamist Death Eater who opened fire on a train bound for La Belle France during a thwarted terrorist attack in 2015 has been given a life sentence by a French court.
Since they don’t do death sentences over there, “life”, which as I recall is actually around a quarter century, is the next best thing. After all, had he succeeded, there were 150 passengers on the train he could have killed.
The attacker was jumped by three Americans who helped foil his raid.

Moroccan citizen Ayoub El-Khazzani,
...the Moroccan ISIS man who originally claimed he was just a homeless guy who’d found the guns, including a Kalashnikov, under a bush in a park. Queerly enough, he had residency papers from Spain dated 2007, where he was known for making fiery speeches in the local mosque. He ran out for a quick Syrian visit before returning for the events in question...
31, was convicted of attempted murder with the intent to commit terrorism after he fired gunshots on the high-speed Thalys service as it crossed the La Belle France-Belgium border, heading for Gay Paree, on August 21, 2015.

Three other men were handed sentences of between seven and 27 years for helping El-Khazzani plot his attack, which involved him boarding the train while heavily armed and wounding two passengers, before he was overpowered by three US servicemen and some other passengers.

After foiling the attack, the American trio — Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler
...a Zoomie, a Doggy, and some guy they knew...
— later starred as themselves in a Clint Eastwood-directed movie, ’The 15:17 to Gay Paree’.

In his testimony, El-Khazzani said he had been ordered to carry out the attack by Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the Belgian terrorist of Moroccan origin who allegedly plotted the Gay Paree massacres of November 2015 which killed 130 people.
Mr Abaaoud fought for IS in Syria, then was promoted to criminal mastermind of a large Francophone network in Europe which committed a series of attacks in France and Belgium in 2015-16, even after he was killed in shootout with French police following the November 13, 2015 Paris massacre. In addition to the November Paris attack, his projects included the Vervier, Belgium cell plot foiled in January, 2015, Ayoub El-Khazzani’s attempted August Thalys train attack, and the March 22, 2016 attack on Zaventem airport in Brussels that had over 200 casualties.
El-Khazzani was with Abaaoud in Syria and traveled with him back to Brussels. The judge called him "a puppet" controlled by Abaaoud, who was killed by French special forces after the Gay Paree attacks.

During his trial, El-Khazzani told the court that his victims were to have included Americans and members of the European Commission.

Thursday’s ruling comes a day after 14 people were found guilty of being accomplices to the button men behind the Gay Paree attacks that killed 17 people in January 2015.

The defendants were found to have provided financial and logistical support to a trio of attackers who murdered 12 people in the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo
...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
, plus a policewoman and four other people at a Jewish supermarket.
The Times of Israel points out:
Unlike Khazzani, who was immediately apprehended, all the gunmen in the Charlie Hebdo assault were killed in the aftermath of the massacres, leaving only their accomplices to go on trial.
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [16 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Fifth Column
Family antifa are protecting in Portland hasn't paid mortgage since at least 2017
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Antifa/BLM

#1  It's not just healthcare anymore. Housing is a right. /sarc
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 12/18/2020 11:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Buried the lede: these are killers evading capture arrest and trial
Posted by: Blackbeard Whaique8455 || 12/18/2020 11:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Basically boils down to:

I have a right to whatever you have!

Houses, cars, TVs, appliances, children, etc...

And doesn't that family have a second house as well?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/18/2020 13:17 Comments || Top||

#4  And doesn't that family have a second house as well?

Yes.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/18/2020 19:18 Comments || Top||

#5  Filing this for tomorrow, but you can read it now...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/18/2020 19:55 Comments || Top||


Antifa in Seattle now barricading a yellow house on E Denny Way
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Antifa/BLM

#1 
Posted by: Woodrow || 12/18/2020 1:56 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Feds charge Kenyan al-Shaboob with plotting 9/11-style attack on American city
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] A Kenyan member of al-Shabaab
...... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
stands accused of plotting to fly an airliner into a United States' skyscraper after training as a pilot in the Philippines.

Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 30, spent years preparing to carry out a 9/11-style attack, prosecutors say. He pleaded not guilty
"Wudn't me."
to all counts in a New York court Wednesday.

Abdullah was arrested in 2019 in the Philippines with an improvised bomb, a hand grenade and a gun, CNN
...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for...
reported at the time. He was extradited to the US Tuesday.

Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: 'This chilling callback to the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001, is a stark reminder that terrorist groups like al-Shabaab remain committed to killing U.S. citizens and attacking the United States.'

It is not clear which skyscrapers or cities were part of the alleged plot.

Abdullah faces multiple terrorism-related charges and if convicted 20 years to life in prison.

Abdullah, who has been in jug since last year, took orders from an al-Shabaab commander responsible for the hotel attack in Nairobi in 2019, prosecutors said.

Al-Shabaab has sworn allegiance to al Qaeda and serves as the terrorist group's principal wing in East Africa.

The State Department in 2008 designated al-Shabaab, which means 'the youth' in Arabic, as a foreign terrorist organization. The Death Eater group has fought to establish an Islamic state in Somalia based on Shariah law.

Prosecutors, in announcing the hijacking plot, said the hard boy group recently 'embarked on a string of terrorist attacks' following the United States' decision to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

Those include the 2019 attack that killed some 21 people — including an American businessman who survived the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center — at a Nairobi hotel.

Interesting thread at the tweet:
"Those are for personal use, man"
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [19 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


Iraq
Protests in Babel province denouncing the frequent targeting of militias against demonstrators
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Deir Ezzor Russian-backed militia deploys troops on Syria-Iraq border for the first time
[SYRIAHR] Reliable sources in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor have informed the Syrian Observatory that the Russian-backed "5th Corps" started to deploy its forces in several posts on the Syria-Iraq border near al-Bokamal city.

It is worth noting that several Iranian-backed militias, including al-Nujabaa’ Movement, the Iraqi Hezbollah and "Al-Abdal", had handed over several posts to the 5th Corps, in accordance with a Russian-Iranian agreement whose terms have not been demonstrated yet. This Russian-Iranian consent started to be obvious nearly a week ago when Russian forces opened headquarters in al-Bokamal city centre.

It is also worth noting that today’s deployment is the first of its kind since the start of the Russian-Iranian cold war which lasted for months.

On December 10, reliable SOHR sources confirmed that Russian forces opened their first headquarters in al-Bokamal city in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, near the Syria-Iraq border. According to SOHR sources, the Russian forces were stationed in the building of the "tourist hotel" in al-Bokamal city centre. This development came after several attempts opposed by the Iranian militias which control the city.
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [14 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


People of Al Hasakah city and surrounding villages awaiting return of water, after cut off for 25 days
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [14 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Turkish military in NW Syria 30 vehicle enter Syria, heading to Turkish posts in Jabal Al Zawiyah
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Daraa “Fifth Corps” arrests civilian after returning from Lebanon, and Air Force Intelligence arrests another civilian in Dail city
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [19 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Cells target U.S. base perimeter in Al-Omar oil field
[SYRIAHR] Reliable sources have informed the Syrian Observatory that ISIS cells targeted the perimeter of the American base in the al-Omar oil field. The shells were fired from a cemetery near the town of Dhiban in Deir ez-Zor countryside, but no casualties have been reported so far.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Senate, Tremulus continued with his speech against Varius and his cohorts, watching as his colleagues dropped off to sleep one by one...
the U.S. forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces were put on high alert and combed the area around the field with medium and heavy weapons.

It is worth nothing that ISIS cells carry out daily attacks targeting the SDF in the eastern Euphrates.
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [19 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Turkish Forces and proxy factions bring in military reinforcement to the area, as tense calm continues on Ain Issa frontlines
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [13 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte



Who's in the News
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3Taliban
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2Ottoman Proxies
1Human Trafficking
1Boko Haram (ISIS)
1Muslim Brotherhood
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1al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula

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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2020-12-18
  21 facing federal charges in 'large-scale' drug ring involving UNC fraternities
Thu 2020-12-17
  Far-Left Anarchist Extremists Indicted Over Terror Plot To Kill Police
Wed 2020-12-16
  Sudan officially removed from U.S. terrorism list: embassy
Tue 2020-12-15
  Senior Jemaah Islamiyah Figure in Indonesian Custody
Mon 2020-12-14
  Bill Barr Resigns
Sun 2020-12-13
  Armenians Storm Capital Demanding PM Resign After Azerbaijan Victory Parade
Sat 2020-12-12
  Killer of Lebanon's Hariri sentenced to life in prison, remains at large: UN court
Fri 2020-12-11
  Trump hails Israel & Morocco establishing relations as 'massive breakthrough' — and recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over W. Sahara
Thu 2020-12-10
  Yet Another Muslim Country Joins Abraham Accords With Israel
Wed 2020-12-09
  Hooray! We're back!
Tue 2020-12-08
  Antifa super spreader in Portland.
Mon 2020-12-07
  Italian police round up migrant-smuggling ring, arrest 19
Sun 2020-12-06
  US Congress Moves to Block Afghanistan Troop Withdrawal
Sat 2020-12-05
  GNA Signs Military Agreement with Italy
Fri 2020-12-04
  Turkish-backed factions’ violations Al Hamza Division storms village in Ras al Ain countryside


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