[Garowe] al-Shabaab ...... an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia attempting to metastasize into Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and similar places, all of which have enough problems without them... bandidosLions of Islam have reportedly kidnapped a Kenyan doctor in the northeastern county of Mandera, the third to be kidnapped in as many years by the group, which controls large swathes of rural central and southern Somalia.
Security teams launched a rescue mission on Saturday after the bandidosLions of Islam picked the doctor in Fino, a few kilometers from Mandera town which borders Somalia. The doctor is said to have been taken across the border to Somalia.
Police said the four bandidosLions of Islam who were armed with guns, picked the doctor and two locals from Fino Health Center before going to Somalia. The doctor, police said, is not a local thus the possible reason for the abduction.
The two locals were later released before the bandidosLions of Islam and the doctor passed through the Kenya-Somalia border, police said, in what could lead to a major operation within the area.
Police suspect the abductors, thought to be members of the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab group are in possession of medical equipment and medicine. At times, they abduct doctors to help with matters medication in areas they control.
In 2019, al-Shabaab kidnapped two Cuban doctors working in Mandera before releasing them months later following negotiations which were led by local elders. The doctors were identified as Assel Herrera and Landy Rodriguez and were part of a 100-member Cuban team that had come to Kenya for work under an agreement between the two countries.
Their driver, one Robow, was accused of setting them to the krazed killers, leading to his subsequent prosecution. Robow who was driving the car in which the doctors were traveling, was charged with terrorism for alleged complicity in the kidnapping of the medics.
Robow faced five counts including the commissioning of a terrorist act, kidnapping, and hostage-taking, aiding and abetting a terrorist act, and obtaining Kenyan registration by false pretense. He denied all the charges.
On Wednesday, February 16, Nairobi principal magistrate Martha Nanzushi ruled that Robow was guilty of kidnapping the medics and aiding a terrorist act.
She said the prosecution did not prove Robow was a Somali national as had been earlier claimed. "I find the accused guilty on counts one, two, three, and four as charged. No sufficient evidence adduced to this court in respect to count five," the magistrate said.
The Joint Operations Force to Combat Terrorism in Libya published videos of the confessions of a cell affiliated with the terrorist organisation “ISIS.”
The men confirmed that some of them joined the extremist organisation in 2014 and 2016. They added that they participated in the armed attacks that took place in the city of Benghazi before moving to the South of Libya.
The men also revealed that they formed a secret cell in Tripoli led by the arrested terrorist Ahmed Al-Khashmi, nicknamed Al-Adnani.
The Joint Operations Force arrested all elements of the cell consisting of Sanad Al-Suwaii, Ahmed Ali Al-Khashmi, Tariq Abdul Salam Al-Obeidi and Abdullah Idris Al-Obeidi. The cell was stationed in Tripoli.
Last month, the Libyan National Army (LNA)’s Official Spokesperson, Major General Ahmed Al-Mismari, announced that 24 ISIS militants were killed during three-day long clashes against LNA forces near the town of Al-Qatroun in Southwest Libya.
Speaking during a press conference, Al-Mismari confirmed that an ISIS militant was arrested and four LNA soldiers were reported missing during the clashes.
He said the LNA directed its units to “hunt down” the ISIS militants who had escaped.
The Spokesman added that the army started off a large-scale operation in the southern outskirts of Qatroun, which is located some 200 kilometers from the border with Niger and Chad. It did so after detecting movements by ISIS cells around Mount Asida.
Several units of the LNA, including the Tariq bin Ziyad Brigade, the 73rd Infantry Brigade, and the 128th Military Battalion, took part in the operation. Libyan Air Force warplanes provided close air support for LNA troops advancing on the ground.
Notably, LNA forces conduct combing operations in the country’s southern region periodically in order keep ISIS at bay. Despite this, the terrorist group’s cells manage to launch attacks from time to time.
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02/22/2022 00:00 ||
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No fewer than eight persons have been killed, while 14 others, including five women, have been kidnapped by bandits at Gpekure, Makuba and Galapai communities in the Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.
It was learnt that the bandits had laid siege to the communities since Friday night when they first launched an attack on Gpekure, where they killed seven persons and abducted seven others.
The attacks forced dozens of residents, especially women and children, to flee to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Zumba and Gwada communities, as well as Government Day Secondary School (GDSS), Shiroro.
A resident told Daily Trust that the attacks on Gpekure and Makuba happened around 11pm on Saturday, while that of Galapai was carried out around 1pm on Sunday.
He said, “These communities are just few metres away from one another. Galapai is just few metres from Galadima-Kogo that was attacked two weeks ago. If you are in Galadima-Kogo and you shout, someone in Galapai will hear you.”
The Secretary, Niger State Vigilante Corps, Shiroro LGA, Ayuba Dakko, confirmed the attacks.[I blame National Geographic]
Mr Dakko said, “In Gpekure, they burnt houses and foodstuff, killed seven persons and kidnapped five women and two men. After that, they invaded Makuba where they killed one person on Saturday. Today (Sunday), around 1pm, they attacked Galapai where they kidnapped seven persons.
“There is nobody remaining in those communities now. People have fled to IDP camps in Zumba, Gwada and GDSS, Shiroro. I slept in the bush yesterday. We the vigilantes couldn’t confront them because we don’t have the types of weapons they have.”
Militants from the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), formerly known as Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād, have taken over a military base located in Gamboru Ngala, Borno State.
SaharaReporters gathered that the insurgents on gun trucks attacked the base on Saturday night, exchanging firepower with Nigerian troops stationed in the community.
File photo used to illustrate story
According to a military source, the gunmen came in different groups and could not be counted.
The source added that “some Nigerian soldiers were killed while others fled into the bush”.
It was learnt that the insurgents also “burnt some buildings and vehicles in the military base”.
Since the death of JAS leader, Abubakar Shekau, ISWAP has been consolidating its grip in locations around Lake Chad.
Last year, it appointed Wali Sani Shuwaram, a 45-year-old as the new Leader (Wali) of ISWAP in Lake Chad.
The sect’s membership has swollen with the defection of hundreds of Boko Haram fighters under Shekau.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army on its Twitter page on Monday announced success in its fight against insurgency around Mandara mountains along the northern part of the Nigeria-Cameroon border.
“Based on intelligence report, today troops of 144 Battalion Madagali-Adamawa State in conjunction with Civilian JTF laid an ambush on withdrawing ISWAP/Boko Haram Terrorists after a superiority clash between the terror groups. Scores of terrorists were neutralized at Mandara mountains,” it said.
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02/22/2022 00:00 ||
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The Nigerian Army says troops of 144 Battalion, Madagali in conjunction with Civilian JTF have killed an unspecified number of Boko Haram (BH) and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists in Adamawa State.
According to the army on its Twitter page, AK-47 rifles, bicycles amongst other items were recovered from the terrorists.
“Based on intelligence report, today troops of 144 Battalion Madagali-Adamawa State in conjunction with Civilian JTF laid an ambush on withdrawing ISWAP/BHT after a superiority clash between the terror groups. Scores of terrorists were neutralized at Mandara mountains,” the army tweeted.
Since the death of JAS leader, Abubakar Shekau, ISWAP has been consolidating its grip in locations around Lake Chad.
Last year, it appointed Wali Sani Shuwaram, a 45-year-old as the new Leader (Wali) of ISWAP in Lake Chad.
The sect’s membership has swollen with the defection of hundreds of Boko Haram fighters under Shekau.
The terror group has caused over 100,000 deaths and displaced millions of people mainly in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states.
[Aljazeera] Sixteen people, including foreign nationals, were injured in Saudi Arabia when a drone launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeting an airport in the kingdom was destroyed.
A coalition statement, cited by the Saudi state news agency SPA on Monday, said the drone was launched towards King Abdullah Airport in the southwestern Jizan province.
According to the statement, victims suffered injuries from shrapnel during the drone interception.
The coalition said the drone was fired "from Sanaa International Airport to target civilians".
"Sixteen civilians of different nationalities were injured," it said.
Saudi state TV reported three travellers were in critical condition.
It aired a short video clip of the aftermath that showed glass shattered across the floor inside the airport.
The state-run Ekhbariya news channel later showed travellers moving about within Jizan’s airport and reported that flights were back to operating normally.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don found Ramazan Appakov, a resident of Karachay-Cherkessia, guilty of justifying terrorism and fined him 300,000 rubles.
Ramazan Appakov, a 22-year-old native of Kislovodsk, Stavropol Territory, was accused of publicly justifying terrorism on the Internet (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of Russia).
"It was established that in November 2018, while in the village of Uchkeken, Malokarachaevsky district of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, the defendant posted on a public page in one of the social networks a video file containing calls for terrorist activities and statements on the recognition of the ideology and practice of terrorism as correct, in need of support and imitation," an employee of the press service of the Southern District Military Court told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on February 18.
Appakov was found guilty, he was fined 300 thousand rubles. Appakov did not appeal the verdict, and it entered into force, the press service of the court reported.
The "Caucasian Knot" has no comments yet from Ramazan Appakov and his representatives regarding the verdict.
It should be noted that the maximum punishment under this article is imprisonment for a term of five to seven years.
Earlier, the "Caucasian Knot" also wrote that on February 18, the Southern District Military Court sentenced a resident of Dagestan , Ali Aliyev, to a large fine, finding him guilty of publicly justifying terrorism.
[KavkazUzel] A military court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Dagestan resident Ali Aliyev to a large fine, finding him guilty of publicly justifying terrorism.
Ali Aliyev, a resident of Makhachkala, was accused of publicly justifying terrorism using the Internet (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of Russia). Punishment under this article provides for both a fine in the amount of 300,000 to one million rubles and imprisonment for a term of five to seven years.
"It was established that in 2020, while in Makhachkala, the defendant posted text comments on a social network containing a positive assessment of the actions of members of illegal armed groups and international terrorist organizations," the press service of the Southern District Military Court told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
The defendant was found guilty, he was fined 400 thousand rubles, however, taking into account the period of detention, as well as being under house arrest, the amount of the fine was reduced to 300 thousand rubles. Aliyev did not appeal the verdict and it entered into force, the press service of the court reported.
The "Caucasian Knot" does not yet have any comments by Ali Aliyev and his representatives regarding the verdict.
Shafaq News / On Monday, Turkish warplanes targeted the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Duhok Governorate, Kurdistan.
A military source told Shafaq News Agency that "Turkey attacked the Kurdish group on Korzar Mountain of Matin, in Amadiya District."
Plumes of smoke rose high into the air around the scene.
Earlier Today, Turkish warplanes attacked north of Erbil Governorate, Kurdistan.
Eyewitnesses told our Agency that "Turkey carried out airstrikes on Parbezin Mountain in Sidekan, Bradost of Erbil where PKK fighters are located."
In the same context, "today, Turkish aircrafts struck intensively mountains overlooking the Shiladze district in the Amadiya District of Duhok."
No further information was disclosed.
The Turkish military has regularly attacked PKK positions in Iraq and Syria.
On February 2, about 60 Turkish fighter jets carried out operations on training camps, shelters, and ammunition storage facilities used by the PKK and its affiliates in northern Iraq and Syria.
PKK is designated a terrorist group by Ankara, the European Union, and the United States.
2022-02-21 10:19
Shafaq News / Al-Siyada coalition, headed by Khamis al-Khanjar, commented today on the recent attacks that targeted its headquarters and offices throughout the country.
Yesterday, a group of unknown assailants threw a hand grenade at the headquarters of the leader of Takaddom movement, Mohammad al-Halboosi, in al-Heet.
The headquarters of Takaddom movement and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Kirkuk, Baghdad, and al-Anbar have been targets for frequent attacks over the past few weeks.
The coalition said in a statement today, "The coalition follows up with great concern the continuous terrorist aggressions targeting its representatives' headquarters and offices, and the Katyusha attacks on innocent civilians' homes, and surrounding cities with military convoys."
"These aggressions followed a series of threats made by figures that belong to well-known armed factions, through direct and indirect messages", it added.
The coalition concluded its statement by commending the positions of "National leaders" that denounced the attacks, calling on all parties to, "support the Iraqi judiciary and security agencies to pursue the criminals and those who issued those threats."
Shafaq News / The Security Media Cell announced arresting four ISIS terrorists in Baghdad today.
The Cell said in a statement that the terrorists were arrested in a security operation today, noting that all legal proceedings were initiated against them.
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[AnNahar] Israel has recently carried out sabotage and espionage operations that targeted sensitive Hizbullah posts inside Lebanese territory, a media report said.
*Snicker* They see you when you’re sleeping,
They know when you’re awake,
They know if you’ve been bad or good...
Interestingly, this story showed up in the Beirut website, but not The Times of Israel.
Israeli elite commandos managed to “destroy secret facilities inside these posts and to seize important information related to Hizbullah’s arms program, various sites and the means of communication between its combat units,” Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai has quoted U.S. diplomatic sources as saying.
“Over the past months, Israeli elite forces conducted operations in various areas of Lebanon and entered into Hizbullah posts. These forces left messages to Hizbullah asking it to dismantle what is present in the manufacturing plants,” the sources added.
One can only imagine what they said.
“At other posts, they left sabotage marks on the contents of the sites,
“Ari was here”
while at other points they managed to obtain very precious information that exposed a lot of capabilities; means of communication and manufacturing; and other intel that is very valuable for the Israeli intelligence,” the sources said.
“For a good time call Hezbollah Joe 555-1212”
Hizbullah meanwhile managed to capture a man who was spying for Israel and had met with Israeli officers in various places in the world, al-Rai reported.
His name is Abdullah Abdullah ibn Mohammed Mahmud, but they call him George.
The spy informed the Israelis of the locations of important and secret Hizbullah and Iranian sites in Syria, the newspaper added.
Deir ez-Zor, Syria (North Press) – The attack on al-Sina’a prison in Hasakah city, northeast Syria, gave a moral impetus to the sleeper cells of the Islamic State Organization (ISIS), which increased its operations, a military commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Monday.
On January 20, ISIS sleeper cells carried out a series of attacks on al-Sina’a prison, where thousands of ISIS members are detained, to break their ISIS inmates fellows out of the prison, which led the residents of the neighboring areas to flee and take shelter in mosques.
“The recent period has witnessed an increase in the pace of operations as the level of daring of ISIS operations has risen to the point of attacking military units,” Ibrahim al-Jassem, the commander of the SDF’s Hajin Military Council, said.
Since January 22, in conjunction with the attack on al-Sina’a prison, ISIS has claimed 20 operations against the SDF and one against civilians in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor.
Al-Jassem added that ISIS is not eliminated and has the ability to move, and this requires the help of countries to ensure its final defeat.
The countryside of Deir ez-Zor has been witnessing an increase in cases of killing of SDF members, the employees of the Autonomous Administration, tribal notables and civilians, most of which have been claimed by ISIS.
Meanwhile, SDF has intensified its security operations in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor to pursue ISIS sleeper cells.
Reporting by Anwar al-Midan
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02/22/2022 00:00 ||
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#ISIS cells repeatedly launch a complex series of coordinated ambushes and assaults on Syrian government positions and military vehicles. https://t.co/BeYiOpI33j
PALMYRA, Syria (North Press) – On Monday, the National Defense Forces (NDF) affiliated with the Syrian government sent new military reinforcements from their positions in the countryside of Hama to the Syrian desert to fight the Islamic State ISIS.
“The National Defense Forces operating in the city of Maharda, north of Hama, sent new military reinforcements to their points in the Syrian Badia, east of Homs,” special sources told North Press.
“The military reinforcements consisted of about three tanks and more than 20 other vehicles, some of which carried machine guns of different calibers. They also included more than 60 members, most of whom are from the predominantly Christian city of Maharda,” the sources added.
This batch of reinforcements was preceded yesterday evening by similar reinforcements that came from the city Maharda and sites in its surrounding, the sources said.
ISIS activity has increased in the Syrian Badia, especially in the triangle of the governorates of Homs – Hama – Raqqa, as ISIS cells repeatedly launch a complex series of coordinated ambushes and assaults on government positions and military vehicles.
Reporting by Bara’ Shami
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02/22/2022 00:00 ||
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ALEPPO NORTHREN COUNTRYSIDE, Syria (North Press) – Over the past four years, the Turkish bombing has spared nothing, neither human life nor property, as villages in the countryside of Afrin and areas where Afrin’s IDPs residing have been subjected to repeated Turkish shelling with the support of the Turkish-backed armed opposition factions causing human and material losses.
Since 2018, 15 civilians, most of them children, were killed and dozens were wounded due to the Turkish bombing of villages in Sherawa district, south of Afrin, and the northern countryside of Aleppo, north Syria, according to statistics by Human Rights Organization-Afrin.
The bombing also burnt 2,100 acres of land, caused the loss of livestock in Sherawa, and destroyed houses, according to the organization.
On February 15, the center of the city of Tel Rifaat and its surroundings were hit with about 20 missiles by the Turkish forces, injuring 5 children as well as damaging civilians’ property.
In March of 2018, Turkish forces and Turkish-backed armed factions took control over the city of Afrin, displacing more than 300,000 indigenous people towards Shahba region, Aleppo northern countryside.
Some of them resorted to camps namely al-Awda, Afrin, Barkhodan, Sardam and Shahba, while others settled in 42 villages and towns in Aleppo northern countryside, as some families moved to other Syrian towns and cities, most notably to areas run by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
Meanwhile, Turkey did not manage to seize several villages in Sherawa district including Soghana, Aqiba, Ziyara, Ibbin, Kalotah, Mayasa, Zarna’it, Zouq Kabir, Burj al-Qas, Bashemra and Khereibka, and then to be seized by Syrian government forces following the withdrawal of People’s Protection Unites (YPG) from there.
RUSSIAN AND GOVERNMENT SILENCE
The presence of the government forces in the aforementioned villages in Sherawa district, south of Afrin, and the deployment of Russian forces points in the northern countryside of Aleppo, do not prevent Turkey and its backed factions from targeting these areas on an almost daily basis.
Suleiman Ja’afar, the co-chair of the Legislative Council of Afrin, said since they were forcibly displaced to the northern countryside of Aleppo, they have met with the Russian forces deployed in the area several times, “every time they try to hold us to give up everything, even Afrin.”
“During our recent meeting with the Russians in the village of Wahshiya, the Russian official told us that Russia is not ready to hold the weapons to defend you,” Ja’afar added.
Ja’afar considers the Russian silence regarding the Turkish bombing an evidence of exchanged interests between the two parties.
The headquarters of the Russian forces are located in the northern countryside of Aleppo, they deploy in the villages of Wahshiya, Kashta’ar and the city of Tel Rifaat.
The Russian and the Syrian government silence regarding the Turkish bombing raises fears among the displaced people that Russia won’t support them, as it did previously when Turkey invaded Afrin.
Russia expelled its forces from Afrin, at the time, evacuated their points, and headed to the northern countryside of Aleppo.
TERRIFIED CHILDREN
Aziza Ibrahim, a mother of three, an IDP of a village of Afrin countryside and residing in Tel Rifaat, does not know how to dispel her children’s fears during the bombardment.
“My children go to school, but they are scared. We were not spared from the bombing despite our displacement to the northern countryside of Aleppo, we were bombed and the shells rained down on us,” said Ibrahim who lost two of her children, 15 years old and 11 years old, in Turkish bombardment on Tel Rifaat in December 2019.
Ibrahim said her children cannot sleep because of the intense sounds of the bombing.
The scenes of the Tel Rifaat massacre, which killed 10 civilians, eight of whom were children under the age of 15, in addition to wounding 13 others, are still stuck in minds of Afrin’s displaced, young and old.
VICTIMS OF TEL RIFAAT MASSACRES
On the fourth anniversary of Turkey’s invasion of Afrin, the Turkish forces bombed the villages of Aqiba, Ziyara, and the vicinity of Deir Jamal and Sheikh Issa village in the northern countryside of Aleppo, reporting material damage.
Amina Mustafa, displaced of a village of the countryside of Afrin to the village of Aqiba, recounts the moments of the bombing, which wounded her husband and destroyed part of the roof of her house.
Mustafa indicates that all her family members were inside the house when the shell fell on one of the rooms.
“My children were sitting in the room when a shell fell, I was in the room with my husband and our ten children.”
“A shell hit the house, thank God, my children didn’t get hurt,” she noted.
Reporting by Nariman Hesso
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02/22/2022 00:00 ||
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IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – On Monday, a farmer was deadly shot by the Turkish border guards (gendarmerie), while working on his farmland in Salqin, northwest of Idlib.
“The Turkish border guards opened fire directly on the agricultural lands near the town of al-Mashrafiya in the Salqin, northwest of Idlib,” North Press reported local sources.
The shooting led to the death of Abdulmuttalib al-Khasara, who was also the Imam of a mosque, at the Bab al-Hawa border hospital after being seriously wounded, according to the sources.
There have been many shooting incidents by Turkish border guards at residents, including women and children, in the areas near the Syrian-Turkish border, north of Idlib.
Activists told North Press that Turkish border guards deliberately fire on residents trying to cross the Syrian-Turkish border.
On February 10, a displaced child was killed by the Turkish border guards, while being near the Badama camp near the town of Ain al-Baida in the Jisr al-Shughur countryside, west of Idlib.
Reporting by Samir Awad
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02/22/2022 00:00 ||
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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.
...... an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia attempting to metastasize into Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and similar places, all of which have enough problems without them...
