[Garowe] A controversial religious scholar from Somaliland who has been missing for days now has reportedly been found in a town in southern Somalia which is controlled by al-Shabaab ...... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... , the Interior and Security ministry of the breakaway region has confirmed.
"The holy man and his entire family have fled to southern Somalia and he may have joined al-Shabaab in Jilib, Middle Jubba region," said Somaliland's Deputy Minister of Security Abdullahi Hussein Mohammed.
Sheikh Adan Sunne, who was recently released from jail on bail has been on the radar of security forces in Somaliland on suspicions of having links with al-Shabaab, according to the sources. He is now in Jilib which serves as headquarters of the al-Qaeda linked group.
The Islamic scholar had gone missing and efforts to locate him have been futile, forcing authorities in Somaliland to launch a man haunt which ended up locating him in the al-Shabaab stronghold. He traveled to the al-Shabaab bastion by land, per Mohammed.
Al-Shabaab is yet to confirm that Sunne settled in Jilib town after his defection from the breakaway region, Somaliland.
Al-Shabaab has been closely working with some religious scholars as it pushes to topple the fragile UN-backed Somalia government in the Horn of Africa nation which is protected by AU troops.
Last month, the group grabbed credit for the death of Islamic scholar Sheikh Abdinasir who died in a bomb fitted to his car in Kismayo ...a port city in the southern Lower Juba province of Somalia, at the extreme southern end of the country (always assuming Somalia can be called a country). It is the commercial capital of the autonomous Jubaland region.... , Jubaland state.
Jilib town has been one of the no-go zones in Somalia with the security forces and the US Africa Command often targeting the town with missiles and drown strikes. A number of key al-Shabaab holy warriors have been killed in the town.
On Monday, US ambassador to Somalia Larry Andre admitted that the group has become stronger in recent months, adding that there is a need to change strategy in tackling it. The envoy blamed politicians for focusing too much on delayed elections instead of assisting stakeholders to contain the situation.
It is estimated that there are close to 7,000 active al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia who are fairly empowered given the huge taxes they collect from the people. In Somaliland, the group does not have any recognizable presence according to intelligence sources.
On Tuesday, Libya’s Interior Ministry announced that it freed a group of foreign hostages, who had been kidnapped.
In a statement, the ministry said that members of the Western Border Region Investigations Agency were able to free the hostages from the outskirts of Zuwara city.
The ministry added that the kidnappers were caught “red-handed” during the raid. It said that all legal measures were taken, and the culprits were referred to the competent authorities.
The United Nations has repeatedly warned of the dangerous trafficking operations taking place in the city.
Libya is currently facing a political crisis after the Parliament swore in a new government last week. The incumbent administration has refused to cede power, amid the fallout from a failed attempt to hold national elections in December.
Each rival government has support among the armed factions based in Tripoli. The Parliament-backed Prime Minister, Fathi Bashagha has said he intends to take over in the capital this week, raising fears of clashes.
Notably, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has recently documented a large number of cases of kidnapping and detention, enforced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings of civilians, officials, journalists, civil society members and human rights activists in Tripoli during the past year.
“Under international human rights law, no one may be arbitrarily arrested or detained. Torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings are strictly prohibited, as are abductions and kidnappings,” it added.
“The mission calls on the Libyan authorities to fully investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law, and International Humanitarian Law. Libya must end the entrenched culture of impunity in the country,” it stressed.
Libya has sought to emerge from a decade of chaos since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011.
In press statements, Al-Mahjoub said: “We, as soldiers, do not interfere in politics because our goal is to build a strong army that preserves the sovereignty of the country.”
He added that the LNA “supports the assumption of power by the Bashagha government, because we support legitimacy, and this is an issue is not being discussed.” The army’s participation in handing over the ruling Bashagha government or supporting the Dbaiba government are matters that are decided and taken at the leadership level. Removing foreign fighters from Libya is difficult without a government that supports it. I expect some foreign fighters to leave to participate in the battles between Russia and Ukraine, because they are mercenaries looking for money.”
He pointed out that “the removal of foreign mercenaries is a matter of time, and there remains differences on this matter, but the 5 + 5 Joint Military Commission (JMC) reached a consensus with all parties.”
He explained that “the Government of National Unity (GNU) was a party to the conflict and was not a unifying government. It was clearly biased, and therefore it was difficult to achieve the exit of mercenaries.”
The Director stated that “the presence of two governments in Libya is temporary, and preparations are underway for elections. The Dbaiba government thwarted the elections, it did not implement any of its commitments, and now there is an opportunity for another government that Libyans believe will be better. There must be a government that prepares for elections, and conducts them urgently. It must not compete in the elections like the GNU, which ruined the elections.”
He noted that “the LNA has a good number of ‘R-17’ missiles that have been returned to service after their maintenance, they serve us in the war against terrorism. Our enemy is terrorism, where fighters take advantage of the desert region, and try to cross the borders between Libya and neighbouring states.”
“These missiles go to a range of approximately 300 kilometers, and it is possible to hit their targets instead of direct fighting and losing more soldiers. These missiles are a real message to terrorism that we can strike them anywhere. Also, this type of superior weaponry is important for any conventional army. We have benefited from these missiles in promoting peace in Libya, and the wider region by eliminating terrorism that transcends borders and threatens us all.”
“The arms embargo imposed on Libya resulted in the LNA finding alternatives. I cannot disclose the number of missiles that have been serviced, but it is substantial and secures our needs. We are working to fix other types of weapons, and of course, we are working to service our planes.” Al-Mahjoub explained
Shafaq News/ The United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, called for a "peaceful solution" for the conflict in Yemen to ease the sufferings of "20 million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance".
"A man-made crisis in Yemen has 20 million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance," Grandi tweeted on Wednesday, "they need our support now more than ever — but, most of all, they need a peaceful resolution to the conflict that causes their suffering."
The nearly seven-year-old war between Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group and a Saudi-led coalition, and ensuing economic collapse, have left 80% of Yemen's population reliant on help.
Efforts for a ceasefire stalled as the warring sides ramp up military operations and resist compromise. The Houthis want a coalition blockade on areas the group holds lifted ahead of any truce talks, while Riyadh wants a simultaneous deal.
The Saudi-led alliance intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Houthis ousted the government from the capital, Sanaa, in a conflict in which several Yemeni factions vie for power.
[OneIndia] India expressed concern as the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to proclaim March 15 as International Day to Combat Islamophobia ...the irrational fear that Moslems will act the way they usually do... . India while expressing concern over phobia against one religion being elevated to the level of an international day.
India also said that there are growing contemporary forms of religiophobia, especially anti-Hindu, anti-Buddhist and anti-Sikh phobias. The 193 member UN General Assembly adopted a resolution which was introduced by Pakistain's ambassador Munir Akram.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/17/2022 01:32 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
There are radical as well as some sponsored elements including journalists who create a phobia when there is none existent.
Sounds familiar
[IsraelTimes] US environmental group says it made decision ‘hastily’ without enough consultation with outside groups, after being accused of ‘greenwashing’ alleged Israeli crimes.
The Sierra Club Leadership, having appeared to have bowed to and/or adopted the Progressive Anti-Semitic Ideology agenda. Is now getting a %^&* storm of negative attention, which is hurting membership and donations.
#4
If they had permanently nixed the Israel trips they would have faced pressure to nix trips to China and Russia for example.
A lot of old line groups are using luxury trips as a revenue source. I got a brochure the other day from the National Geographic for a tour that would cost about $100k/person (it was for a half dozen premium venues around the world on a private plane)
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
03/17/2022 12:32 Comments ||
Top||
#1
“The festival of Purim commemorates the Divinely orchestrated salvation of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from Haman’s plot “to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day.” It is celebrated with Megillah readings, gifts of food, charity, feasting, and merriment.”
Posted by: Pa Cooky ||
03/17/2022 10:57 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Not closing off the West Bank is huge. As countries slowly begin to normalize their relations with Israel, even the Palestinians are getting tired of acting like Palestinians.
Happy Purim! (or however you say that)
#4
Happy Purim, indeed. :-) The proper way to celebrate is Carnival/Fasching style: costumes, pastries (to use up the flour before Passover), listening to the reading of the story, and some insist it is necessary to get so drunk they can’t tell the difference between "Cursed be Haman" and "Blessed be Mordecai."
[DW] The local MP of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has said the detained aid worker is "on her way home." Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been held by Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites.... since 2016 after being convicted of espionage, a charge she has denied.
United Kingdom aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is leaving Iran, according to her local Labour constituency representative, Tulip Siddiq. The parliamentarian wrote in a Twitter post that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was heading home.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/17/2022 00:00 ||
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[21 views]
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[Rudaw] Four Swedish nationals, including children, affiliated with the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) were repatriated from the notorious al-Hol camp
...sometimes spelt al-Hawl camp...
in northeast Syria (Rojava), a senior Kurdish official said on Wednesday.
Two Swedish women and two children "from ISIS families were handed over to a delegation from the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs," read a tweet from Abdulkarim Omar, co-chair of the Kurdish administration’s foreign office.
Nine orphaned Russian children from ISIS families were repatriated from Rojava in late February.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites....
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
