[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The former acting minister of defense and acting head of the Afghan intelligence Masoom Stanikzai said the Afghan forces are facing threats posed by bully boyz who are receiving support from the neighboring intelligence.
Stanikzai was speaking during a gathering in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... to introduce the acting NDS chief and acting Minister of Defense.
Without elaborating further on which neighboring country’s intelligence agency is supporting the bully boyz fighting in Afghanistan, Stanikzai said the NDS operatives are always on alert to foil conspiracies against the national stability of the country.
Stanikzai called the NDS operatives a ’Silent Force’ who are always prepared to fight against the foreign conspiracies.
He promised President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. and CEO Abdullah Abdullah ... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun... and the Afghan people to use all efforts to protect the country against the threats posed by the terror groups.
According to Stanizkai, the Afghan forces successfully passed through a challenging year with the lack of necessary equipment to fight the myrmidons.
He said the Afghan forces are well prepared to suppress the bully boyz in the country by receiving more equipment from the international partners.
Hailing the coalition forces for supporting the Afghan forces in training and equipment process, Stanikzai said the Afghan people and Ulemas should support the Afghan forces as they continue to thwart the conspiracies of enemies of Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2016 00:00 ||
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[PUNCHNG] The Defence Headquarters had condemned online reports that 800 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... members had been granted amnesty.
It said the story was false and called on the public to disregard it, stressing that it would not tolerate acts of terrorism or criminality by any group.
According to the DHQ, the decision to rehabilitate repentant members of Boko Haram is based on a United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... convention and could not be considered as amnesty.
A statement by the Acting Director, Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Rabe Abubakar, in response to the report, read, "The attention of Defence Headquarters has been drawn to online Media stating that 800 Boko Haram Terrorists were given Amnesty. The story is false and has no iota of truth in it as DHQ has never mentioned Amnesty in all its statement.
"In line with United Nations convention Charter, which Nigeria is a signatory, The Defence Headquarters came up with an initiative "Öperation Safe Corridor", this initiative is geared towards rehabilitating and reintegrating the repentant gunnies back into normal life in the society.
"Therefore, the general public should disregard these insinuations as the initiative "Operation Safe Corridor" should not be taken as Amnesty."
"We hereby emphasise and stand our position that no act of Terrorism or Criminality will be condoned in our nation by any group. Please be guided."
[Daily Post.ng] No fewer than 800 repented members of the Boko Haram sect are currently undergoing various trainings at the moment, the Director General of National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Alhaji Mohammed Sidi said on Monday.
The NEMA DG, who made this disclosure at a two-day Public Hearing on the North East Development Commission Bill, 2016 said that the skill acquisition exercise was being handled by the military and monitored by the Office of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).
Sidi, who was responding to the comment of a former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Kaka Kyari Gujbawu, who canvassed general amnesty for returning Boko Haram insurgents, said, “It is not true that the Federal Government has no amnesty package. There is what is called safe corridor.”
“I do know that 800 plus (Boko Haram) have been registered. I don’t want to be specific. They have exited Boko Haram through the window. They are currently receiving various skill acquisition training. The military is handling it. It is being monitored by the Office of the CDS,” he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2016 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Boko Haram
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Yemeni government officials and rebels agreed on Tuesday to free half of the prisoners and detainees held by both sides within 20 days, officials from the two delegations said.
The deal, seen as the first breakthrough in peace talks which began in Kuwait on April 21, came during a meeting of the joint working group on prisoners and detainees formed by UN special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
There has been mounting international pressure to end the Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... conflict that the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... estimates has killed more than 6,400 people and displaced 2.8 million since March last year.
"It was agreed during the meeting to release 50 percent of the prisoners and detainees within the next 20 days," Mane al-Matari, media adviser to Yemen's foreign minister who heads the government delegation, told AFP.
A source close to the rebel delegation confirmed the agreement to release of half of those held by both sides and said "it will be an exchange of prisoners".
The two sides will meet again on Wednesday to finalize the mechanism on how and when the exchange will take place, Matari said.
"The Yemeni government is committed to release all the prisoners as per the agreement," he said.
Matari estimated that their number is in the "thousands", but the rebel source said there may be only hundreds of prisoners involved.
Following a two-day interruption, the two delegations resumed face-to-face talks on Monday after mediation efforts and an appeal by the UN envoy.
The Yemen conflict pits Iran-backed Houthis and their allies loyal to former president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... against forces loyal to the internationally recognized government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi who are supported by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2016 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Houthis
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Investigators probing the cyber theft of $81 million from Bangladesh’s central bank have discovered evidence of unidentified hacking groups from North Korea, Pakistain and one other place inside the bank’s network, Bloomberg reported, citing two people briefed on the progress of the bank’s investigation.
FireEye Inc, the company hired by the bank to conduct the forensics investigation identified digital fingerprints of the hacking groups, the two people told Bloomberg.
It was the third group, whose identity and country of origin is unknown, that pulled off the heist, Bloomberg reported.
Rooters was unable to independently confirm the findings.
FireEye has not found enough data to determine whether the third group, described by the company as the actual culprit, was a criminal network or the agent of another nation, Bloomberg reported.
FireEye front man Vitor de Souza declined to comment.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2016 00:00 ||
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[Daily Caller] The new Muslim mayor of London has issued a warning to Donald Trump: Moderate your stance on Muslims, or they will launch more attacks against America.
Trump recently praised Sadiq Khan for winning London’s mayoral race, and said he would be willing to create an exception in his policy restricting Muslim entry into the United States in order to allow Khan to visit. But in a statement Tuesday, Khan dismissed Trump’s invitation, and also denounced his views on Islam as "ignorant," suggesting Trump’s policies would increase the terrorist threat in both the U.S. and U.K.
#3
I'm still struck with disbelief on the U.S. presidential election of November 2008. Doubly struck that less than 15 percent of Londoner's voted for this fellow, and everyone else simply piled on.
Is Sadiq Khan now some sort of London terrorist attack insurance policy? Where is my tinfoil hat ?
#4
The new Muslim mayor of London has issued a warning to Donald Trump: Moderate your stance on Muslims, or they will launch more attacks against America.
#5
"The new Muslim mayor of London has issued a warning to Donald Trump: Moderate your stance on Muslims, or they will launch more attacks against America."
...thus confirming our suspicion that Islam is a violent murder cult masquerading as a religion.
They don't attack us because we're not sufficiently tolerant of them, or because of anything we've done to them, or because of anything we've failed to do for them: they attack us because their hateful, evil deity commands them to.
We're going to have to kill their god; there will be no peace until we do.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/11/2016 6:40 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Ahhhh, the sweet voice of moderation.
Since this rag-head loving buffoon has threatened to instigate attacks on America I figure he is now fair game for a targeted drone strike.
#16
The Queen needs to be Queen again.
Sadiq believes in beheading infidels with the Scimitar or else?
Let the Queen dust of the guillotine.
Use it to get rid of this Mohammedan headache.
[RFA] Authorities in northwestern China's Xinjiang region have given a seven-year prison term to an ethnic Uighur for watching a politically sensitive film on Muslim migration.
Eli Yasin, a resident of Chaghraq township in Akesu prefecture's Wensu county, was sentenced in February after being held since May 2015, sources said, adding that officials had suspected Yasin and family members who viewed the film with him of planning to go abroad "to wage jihad."
However, Hesen Eysa, security chief for Yasin's Karasu village said that family circumstances argued against their having had such a plan. He said, "All of them were over 40 years of age. They had a farm, and they were struggling to survive and provide for their children’s education."
"They showed no signs of opposing the government. At least I never saw any signs of this. As a security chief, I am having a hard time explaining these charges to the people in my village. None of this makes any sense. It is very unjust," he added.
Detained with Yasin were two sisters and the sisters' husbands, all residents of nearby Toxula township and each with three to five children in their own families.
Police officials in Wensu county hung up the phone on learning that a reporter had called them for comment on the matter.
#2
Ah, Kansas, you curious fellow:
Rebellious heart, but act mellow.
Shout "fire?" No, too low key,
But smell kinda smokey...
Political status: Non-yellow.
[IsraelTimes] A Belgian man on trial over a foiled jihadist plot tells a court on Tuesday that he obeyed detailed orders from Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the late ringleader of the deadly Gay Paree attacks.
Mohammed Arshad, 27, says he acted on instructions from Abaaoud to buy walkie-talkies and ingredients for explosives, rented two vehicles and a flat in the town of Verviers, purchased furniture and worked to obtain false papers.
Arshad is one of seven men who went on trial in Brussels on Monday accused of belonging to a cell plotting to kill Belgian coppers, which was dismantled in a deadly raid in Verviers in January 2015.
"It was not very well thought out. I did what was asked of me," Arshad says in a deposition to the court, adding that Abaaoud had put "pressure" on him during calls the latter made from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... Abaaoud was killed in a French police raid days after the November 13 Gay Paree gun and bombing attacks in which he allegedly played the role of ringleader. He also had close links to the cell behind the March 22 Brussels airport and metro attacks.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/11/2016 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] President Barack Obama will meet with his National Security Council on Tuesday morning to discuss US efforts to fight ISIS militants, the White House said.
“The session is the latest in a series of NSC meetings in recent months convened at the White House and at key departments and agencies, including the CIA, the Department of State and the Department of Defense, on our campaign against the terrorist group,” it said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Gee, kinda thought that this kind of thing would happen pretty much every day.
[HOSTED.AP.ORG] The Justice Department will not seek the death penalty against Ahmed Abu Khattala, the suspected Libyan holy warrior charged in the Benghazi attacks that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans, federal officials announced Tuesday. The department revealed its decision in a court filing that provided no explanation.
His attorneys had been imploring the Justice Department to remove the death penalty as a possibility if Khattala is ultimately convicted at trial.
How much did he give the Clinton campaign? If it's good enough for the Dept. of Justice, it's good enough for defendants...
Khattala, captured by U.S. special forces in Libya two years ago and brought to the U.S. aboard a Navy ship, has been awaiting trial in federal court in Washington in connection with the September 2012 violence at a diplomatic compound in Benghazi.
Prosecutors have described him as a ringleader of the attacks, which quickly emerged as a political flashpoint and became the topic of congressional hearings involving Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as For a good time at 3 a.m. call Hillary and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Timothy Pickering ... , who was secretary of state at the time of the rampage.
The 18-count indictment arises from a burst of violence that began the night of Sept. 11, 2012, at a State Department diplomatic compound, an attack prosecutors say was aimed at murdering American personnel and plundering maps, documents and other property from the post. U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed, along with Sean Patrick Smith, a State Department information management officer.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2016 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#1
Assuming it doesn't resolve through a plea agreement, a trial of Abu Khattala would represent one of the most significant terrorism prosecutions in recent years and also an illustration of the Obama administration's commitment to prosecuting suspected militants captured overseas in U.S. civilian courts.
[DAWN] PESHAWAR: Continuing with the criticism of rival Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... over the Panama Papers issue, PTI chairman Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight... on Monday said quitting the office would have been the only honourable thing for the prime minister to do.
He also said a dishonest and corrupt leader brought ruin on the entire country.
Addressing a public meeting held here in connection with the PK-8 by-election to be held on May 12, the PTI chief highlighted the menace of rampant corruption in the country and the offshore companies owned by the prime minister’s son and disclosed in Panama Papers and said corruption ruined a country if it wasn’t checked.
He said Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohammad told him once that an honest leader was the main ingredient of a country’s development and prosperity.
Imran Khan began his speech by cheering the youths for their presence despite mismanagement and firing in the air ahead of his arrival at the venue.
He later challenged JUI-F leader and former chief minister Akram Khan Durrani to fulfil what he had promised to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
"Akram Durrani told PM he could topple the KP government. How could he do so since the PTI has the majority in the provincial assembly? Bribery could be his only means (to oust the government). I would let him do it to cleanse my party," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2016 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohammad - Really? Asked him about honesty? No kidding.
[DAWN] KARACHI: With the country still struggling to find a way out of the controversy caused by the Panama Papers, names of 259 more Paks with links to offshore companies have surfaced in one of the world’s biggest-ever data leaks on an online searchable database made public by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) on Monday night.
The names in the latest release of documents on the website offshoreleaks.icij.org include that of Abdul Sattar Dero, a former general manager of the Port Qasim Authority; Shaukat Ahmed, the ex-president of the Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Saba Obaid, mother of renowned filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy; Irfan Puri; Salman Ahmed and Gul Muhammad Tabba; Hussain Dawood with sons Abdul Samad Dawood and Shazada Dawood; Maya Ismael, daughter of the late Inayat Ismael; Ali Siddiqui, son of banker and stockbroker Jahangir Siddiqui; and Mir Shakil ur Rahman of the Jang Group.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2016 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] BAGH: Pakistain People's Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Baby Bhutto Zardari ...Pak dynastic politician, son of Benazir Bhutto and grandon of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. As far as is known, Bilawal has no particular talents other than being pretty and being able to memorize political slogans, but he had the good luck to be born into the right family and he hasn't been assassinated yet... on Tuesday cautioned the people of Azad Kashmire that a PML-N victory in upcoming elections would mean an approval for Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... ’s pro-India policies.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] KARACHI: Director General (DG) Rangers Major General Bilal Akbar announced the suspension and arrest of at least five Rangers officers for their alleged involvement in the death of MQM worker Aftab Ahmed.
According to Geo News anchor Shahzeb Khanzada, Major General Bilal Akbar said five Rangers personnel have been suspended and tossed in the clink Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! following the probe launched to resolve the matter of Aftab Ahmed's death in Rangers' custody.
Vowing to take the investigation to its logical conclusion, DG Rangers reportedly told the television channel that the five suspended officers include two in-charges and three subordinates. All five are being investigated.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2016 00:00 ||
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[HERALD.DAWN] Forrmer and serving coppers will tell you that three kinds of people or groups are involved in kidnapping for ransom. The first category comprises organised criminal gangs which kidnap people mainly for money. These gangs are mostly involved in the abduction of wealthy businessmen. Sometimes, these gangs are hired by people to settle personal scores with rivals. Most of these gangs keep their victims within the settled areas, but some transfer their prey to the tribal areas where, according to police officials, "all shades of criminals blend into one another."
The second category consists of those trained by banned krazed killer groups, often linked to the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Such groups use kidnapping as a source of revenue for their activities or as a pressure tactic to secure the release of their jugged I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! activists or both. Police believe that the krazed killer groups involved in kidnappings have developed close links in recent years with criminal gangs that "provide temporary lodging and logistical support" to the kidnappers in return for money. Usually it is the krazed killer groups that select the targets and timings but coppers say they are also "open to suggestions from their local controllers". A retired police officer, who has worked on kidnapping-for-ransom cases, explains that criminal gangs make money by facilitating the snuffies in reaching their target and helping the kidnappers in transporting the kidnapped person to the tribal areas. "Militant groups cannot successfully carry out this kind of operation, especially in [the] case of high-profile kidnappings, without the help of their local controllers," he says.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2016 00:00 ||
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[ALARABIYA] In the photo that Aziza produces on her mobile phone, her 14-year-old daughter Layla is wearing a pink satin dress and smiling meekly at the camera.
"This was her engagement party," said 35-year-old Aziza. "(Her fiance) was 22 years old. His family came to us at various times to ask for our daughter. The third time we accepted."
At first Aziza and the young man's parents struggled to convince the two to accept the arrangement but when they did, the wedding preparations were quick to get underway.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2016 00:00 ||
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[LI] Today is Israel Memorial Day, in which those killed in combat and in terrorist attacks are remembered.
One of my goals is to follow up on the victims of the Knife Intifada. Last week I updated regarding the murder of Israeli mother Dafna Meir, who was stabbed in her home by a Palestinian teen in front of her children; the 16 year old was recently convicted. When I travel to Israel again, currently planned for June, I hope to meet with several of the families.
You may recall our on February 19, 2016, report on the murder of Tuvia Yanai Weissman, 21, who was stabbed to death in a supermarket while he was shopping with his wife and baby daughter. When he saw the Palestinians stabbing other shoppers, he rushed towards them and fought them with his bare hands, but was killed in the process.
He was an American citizen. The Palestinian attackers were 14 years old. They were shot by a private citizen during the assault. One died and was treated in an Israeli hospital. Three Palestinians teens were indicted in the attack.
Weissman’s heroism in coming to the rescue of other shoppers under attack has been recognized by the IDF.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A leader of the international boycott movement against Israel on Tuesday accused Israeli authorities of imposing a travel ban on him as retribution for his political activities.
The move comes weeks after Israel’s interior minister, who oversees immigration policy, was quoted as saying that he would consider revoking residency rights of Omar Barghouti.
In a possible first step, Barghouti said Tuesday that Israel told him last month that it was not renewing a permit that allows him to travel abroad. As a permanent resident of Israel, he does not hold a passport and instead requires special permission to travel in and out of the country.
Barghouti, a Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... i-born Paleostinian who is married to an Israeli woman, said he has lived legally in Israel since 1994 and never before had a problem renewing his travel permit. He said he does so every two years.
"Refusing to renew my travel document now is therefore clearly political," he said in an email. "It does not just deny me my freedom of movement. It is seen by legal experts as a first step toward revoking my permanent residency, a clearly political and vindictive measure that has no legal basis."
Barghouti is a founder of the international BDS movement, which calls for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel.
BDS supporters say the movement is using nonviolent means to end Israeli occupation, and it has made gains in recent years. US and British academic unions have endorsed boycotts, student governments at universities have made divestment proposals, and a number of churches have sold off shares in businesses seen as profiting from Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. The BDS movement also claims responsibility for pressuring some large companies to stop or modify operations in Israel.
Israel says the movement’s true goal is to destroy the country. BDS pushes, among other things, for a return of Paleostinian refugees to family properties lost in the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation. Israel says the Paleostinian "right of return" would lead to a massive influx of refugees and mean the end of the country as a Jewish state. Israeli officials have identified the BDS movement as a major threat.
The Israeli Interior Ministry said Tuesday that there is evidence that Barghouti’s "center of life" is in the West Bank, not Israel, and his residency is under review by the attorney general. Barghouti denied the allegation, saying he spends most of his time with his family in the northern Israeli city of Acre.
In late March, Israel’s Interior Minister Aryeh Deri was quoted as telling a conference that he was considering revoking Barghouti’s residency.
"I was given information that his life is in Ramallah and he is using his resident status to travel all over the world in order to operate against Israel in the most serious manner," Deri was quoted as saying. "He was given rights similar to those of a citizen and he took advantage of our enlightened state to portray us as the most horrible state in the world."
The Israeli Justice Ministry confirmed that it was reviewing the case at the request of Deri. It did not say when the review would be completed.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2016 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under:
#1
How about we cut you into 22 pieces, and send them---one piece to a country---to EU?
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A ceasefire in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo will be extended by 48 hours beginning at 1 a.m. on Tuesday (6 p.m. ET Monday), state news agency SANA said on Monday, quoting the Syrian military high command.
Aleppo, Syria’s largest pre-war city, has witnessed a vicious flare-up in fighting in recent weeks, shattering a nationwide cessation of hostilities agreement and causing peace talks to collapse.
The cessation of hostilities and such local truces do not include Lion of Islam groups ISIS or al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch, the Nusra Front.
Rebels and the mainstream Syrian opposition have said the Syrian government uses this fact to continue to attack rebel positions. Both sides accuse the other of causing the cessation of hostilities to break down.
In an attempt to revive the cessation of hostilities, a number of short-term local truces have been put in place since April 29, first around Damascus and northern Latakia and then in Aleppo.
The Aleppo truce went into effect in the middle of last week, but there has still been some fighting between rebels and government forces.
The most significant outbreak of violence has been southwest of Aleppo around the town of Kham Touman, which rebels seized on Friday, inflicting a rare setback on government forces and allied Iranian troops who suffered heavy losses in the fighting.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2016 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[IsraelTimes] Hossein Dehghan says Russian-made air defense batteries now in service, Tehran to start manufacturing similar system
Iran’s army is now fully equipped with a Russian air defense system after a long and controversial delivery process, Defense Minister General Hossein Dehghan was quoted as saying Tuesday.
"I inform our people that... we are in possession of the strategic S-300 system" and that it "serves our air force’s counterattack command," Dehghan said, according to the ISNA news agency.
Israel didn't announce (and didn't need to announce) that its system for the S300 is operational, and has been for a while...
Parts of the system, including missile tubes and radar equipment, were displayed on April 17 during a military parade in southern Tehran.
The United States and Israel have criticized Russia for the sale of the S-300 system to the Islamic republic.
Tehran says it needs the system to strengthen its defense against possible attacks, including on its nuclear facilities. The Russian-made system is among the most advanced of its kind in the world, offering long-range protection against both airplanes and missiles.
I wonder if Israel made a deal with Putin so as to obtain the codes for the Iranian S-300s...
Israel has long sought to block the sale to Iran of the S-300 system, which analysts say could impede a potential strike on Tehran’s nuclear facilities. Other officials have expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... that the systems could eventually be delivered to Syria and Hezbollah, diluting Israel’s regional air supremacy.
The Israeli Air Force has trained for a scenario in which it would have to carry out strikes in Syria or Iran on facilities defended by the S-300 system. In an interview late last year, IAF commander Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel said the S-300 was a "significant but not insurmountable challenge" for the IAF.
"The power of our armed forces is not against our southern, northern, eastern and western neighbors," he said.
Iran and Russia originally signed a contract for its delivery in 2007, but in 2010 Moscow suspended the sale after the UN Security Council issued a resolution against Iran’s nuclear program. In 2010 Russia froze a deal to supply the system to Iran, linking the decision to UN sanctions instituted because of Tehran’s nuclear program. Putin lifted the suspension in July 2015, following Iran’s deal with six world powers that curbed its nuclear program in exchange for relief from international sanctions.
In the last several months, there have been multiple reports in the Russian and Iranian press that delivery of the system was imminent or had been carried out.
Dehghan also announced Tuesday that Iran will start manufacturing this year an air defense system, Bavar 373, "capable of destroying cruise missiles, drones, combat aircraft and ballistic missiles."
"This long-range system is able to destroy several targets at once," he added.
The two countries are also in talks for delivery to Iran of Sukhoi SU-30 fighter jets, a deal criticized by Washington.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/11/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
I wonder if Israel made a deal with Putin so as to obtain the codes for the Iranian S-300s...
Well, everyone seems to think one of the reasons Putin is better than Obama is that he always sticks by his allies. But usually amends it with "but hopefully he'll yentz them over this one time..."
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.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The former acting minister of defense and acting head of the Afghan intelligence Masoom Stanikzai said the Afghan forces are facing threats posed by 
[Daily Caller] The new Muslim mayor of London has issued a warning to Donald Trump: Moderate your stance on Muslims, or they will launch more attacks against America.
[RFA] Authorities in northwestern China's Xinjiang region have given a seven-year prison term to an ethnic Uighur for watching a politically sensitive film on Muslim migration.
Hillary Clinton
[HERALD.DAWN] Forrmer and serving 
[ALARABIYA] In the photo that Aziza produces on her mobile phone, her 14-year-old daughter Layla is wearing a pink satin dress and smiling meekly at the camera.
