[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Afghan Intelligence, National Directorate of Security ...the Afghan national intel agency... (NDS), released its new findings regarding the coordinated suicide kaboom on Salim Izadyar’s funeral ceremony in Kabul.
The new findings were released after the arrest of one of the remaining jacket wallahs and twelve other holy warriors who were apparently detained during an operation today.
According to NDS, the suicide bombers were trained in Mawlavi Ahmad Madrasa located in Chaman area of Quetta city of Pakistain and were sent to Kabul for the suicide attack.
NDS further added that the suicide bombers managed to pass through strict security measures by placing the explosives inside their shoes.
A group of at least three suicide bombers who had disguised themselves as funeral participants detonated their explosives among the prayer participants, leaving scores of people dead or maimed.
Salim Izadyar, the son of Mohammad Alam Izadyar, the first deputy house speaker of the Afghan Senate, was killed during the violent protests in Kabul on Friday.
The Ministry of Interior confirmed 6 people were killed and 87 others were maimed in the coordinated kabooms targeting the burial ceremony of Mohammad Salim Izadyar.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/06/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
According to NDS, the suicide bombers were trained in Mawlavi Ahmad Madrasa located in Chaman area of Quetta city of Pakistain and were sent to Kabul for the suicide attack.
That can't be right. Pakistain assured everyone
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/06/2017 9:06 Comments ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least twenty two murderous Moslems affiliated with the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group were killed in a series of Arclight airstrikes and ground operations in eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province of Afghanistan.
According to the local government officials, the operations were conducted in the past 24 hours in the restive Achin district.
The officials further added that the murderous Moslems were targeted in the vicinity of Mamand Dara, Lata Band Bazar, Pekha, and some other areas.
The two ISIS local leaders killed during the operations have been identified as Saqib and Noman, the officials said, adding that three vehicles belonging to the terror group were also destroyed.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/06/2017 00:00 ||
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Taliban attacked Imam Sahib district of northern Kunduz province on Sunday afternoon and clashes are still ongoing, local officials said on Monday.
Mohammad Yousuf Ayoubi, a member of the local provincial council said Taliban insurgents have advanced on the battlefield and over 1,000 families have been displaced.
“Nearly 20 civilians were wounded in the clashes. The Taliban have also moved forward and they are two kilometers from the district governor’s compound,” Ayoubi said.
But Hamidullah Hamidi, the provincial police chief, said the Taliban fighters have retreated and “they (Taliban) have suffered heavy casualties in the attack.”
“A Taliban commander is also among the dead and two armored vehicles belonging to the insurgents were destroyed,” Hamidi claimed.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A number of the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... forces of Evil were killed or maimed during an infighting among the forces of Evil of the group in southern Uruzgan province of Afghanistan.
According to the local government officials, the incident took place late on Sunday night in Chora district.
The district administrative chief of Chora, Aminullah, said information received by the government officials indicate at least two Taliban forces of Evil were killed during the festivities.
He said at least three Taliban forces of Evil were also maimed during the festivities and the forces of Evil of the group have also suffered casualties during separate festivities with the Afghan cops in this district.
He did not disclose further information regarding the main motive behind the infighting among the Taliban forces of Evil and the number of forces of Evil killed during the festivities with the security forces.
However, a hangover is the wrath of grapes... he said the Afghan cops have not suffered any casualties during the festivities.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/06/2017 00:00 ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Taliban ...Arabic for students... turbans suffered heavy casualties during an Arclight airstrike conducted in central Maidan Wardak province of Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed that the Arclight airstrike was carried out in the vicinity of Jalriz district, one of the volatile districts of the province.
A statement by MoD said at least 23 turbans were killed and around 40 others were maimed in the Arclight airstrike.
The statement further added that several weapons, ammunitions, and other military equipment belonging to the Taliban turbans were also destroyed.
The ministry also added that 7 Taliban turbans were killed and 9 others were maimed during a separate operation in Ghazni province while 13 turbans were killed and 6 others were maimed during the operations in Kunduz province.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/06/2017 00:00 ||
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[SHABELLENEWS] At least two people were killed, and more than five others maimed in a heavy inter-clan fighting at a small rural settlement near Galkayo, the regional capital of Mudug province.
Residents said the Fighting broke out between two sub-clans over grazing pasture and water at Saaho village, about 90Km away from Galkayo city, the regional capital of Mudug region.
The battle forced hundreds of of families to displace from their houses in village due to the escalating clan violence. Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... accused clan militia from Galmudug ...a semiautonomous region in central Somalia, bordering Puntland on the north. Galmudug is not trying to obtain international recognition as a separate nation, but rather considers itself autonomous within the larger Somali federalism, for what that's worth... of attacking the area.
Galmudug state is yet to release its own statement, in relation to the Puntland accusation.
Local elders were reported to have began an effort to de-escalate the tension, and bring an end to the fight which comes days after Galmudug and Puntland signed peace deal in Adado.
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06/06/2017 00:00 ||
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[SHABELLENEWS] At least one person was killed, and scores were wounded in a deadly grenade blast targeted a Police station in the southern port town of Kismayo on Monday morning, officials said.
The explosion ripped through the central Police headquarters, and killed a policeman.
Al shabaab claimed credit for the attack, saying the bomb has killed 5, and wounded 21 Police force members, according to a statement posted on the group’s Online media outlets.
The statement read the attack was targeted Police soldiers prepared to beef up Kismayo security ahead of Somali President’s arrival in the port town on Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/06/2017 00:00 ||
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[SHABELLENEWS] Kenya Defence Force (KDF) on Saturday, June 3, killed 14 al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... holy warriors in Abdidore about 27Km from Kismayu, Somalia.
Sources said the holy warriors had attempted to enter the KDF camp located in the area before being repulsed by the Kenyan soldiers.
Among those killed in the botched attack was a mid-level al-Shabaab commander, said to have been coordinating the raid on the KDF camp.
According to sources, the holy warriors had used two vehicles laden with explosives to try and gain entry into the camp but were neutralised by the Kenyan forces.
The terror group on sensing defeat retreated as KDF fired heavy artillery on them.
The latest confrontation between KDF and al-Shabaab comes just hours after the terror group attempted second attack on Kulbiyow on Friday night, June 2.
The holy warriors briefly overrun the camp belonging to SNA for hours and bombarded the KDF camp nearby with mortars.
According to reports, al-Shabaab suffered heavy losses after KDF heavily bombed the town of Kulbiyow as the holy warriors were retreating.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/06/2017 00:00 ||
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[Al Jazeera] Libyan forces loyal to renegade General Khalifa Haftar ... served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all... and ISIS fighters have launched simultaneous attacks against forces loyal to the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), just hours after unidentified fighter jets raided GNA-held areas.
The Bunyan al-Marsous Forces, who support 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 GNA, said they were simultaneously attacked on Friday by both Haftar forces and the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS, known as ISIS) group in the central district of Jufra, south of Sirte.
The GNA, formed in 2015, has struggled to exert its authority in Tripoli and beyond, or rein in gangs, including ISIS, that have held power on the ground since the country's 2011 uprising.
Haftar, a retired army general, is the self-proclaimed commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA).
"Fresh fighting has erupted between forces loyal to renegade commander Khalifa Haftar and forces loyal to the UN-backed GNA, helped by the Benghazi Defence Brigades in the area of al-Jufra in the central desert of Libya," Al Jazeera's Mahmoud Abdelwahed, reporting from Tripoli, said.
Jufra is about 400km to the south of Sirte.
He said fighter jets, believed to be Egyptian, attacked 14 locations in Jufra overnight on Thursday, "including several residential areas and the Jufra airbase used by the UN-backed GNA forces".
While there were no reports of casualties, our correspondent said the air raids had caused heavy material losses to GNA military points and installations.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/06/2017 00:00 ||
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[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] An ice-addicted African refugee on parole who had links to Somalia-based terrorist group al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... was behind an ISIS-inspired attack on the streets of Melbourne.
Yacqub Khayre murdered one man, maimed three coppers and took a woman hostage in a dramatic two-hour siege in a hotel on Bay Street, Brighton, on Monday.
Police say the hostage was a sex worker Khayre had hired through an escort agency, posing as a client, and then tied up as he hid inside the building armed with a sawn-off shotgun and wearing a balaclava and gloves.
The 29-year-old refugee rubbed out a hotel attendant, an Australian national born in China, as part of a trap to lure police into 'The Buckingham' serviced apartments.
Just before 6pm, he appeared in the foyer of the hotel, firing shots at waiting tactical command officers heavily armed and wearing bullet-proof vests.
Three officers were struck by bullet fragments, one in the neck, while Khayre was fatally maimed during an exchange of 'severe' gunfire, ending the two-hour siege.
But questions have since risen over why the man, who carried out a violent meth-fuelled home invasion just months after he was accused of planning a suicide kaboom against Sydney's Holsworthy army barracks, wasn't just deported back to Somalia.
The Seven Network television said it had received a phone call from a man who said: "This is for IS. This is for al-Qaeda" shortly before the shootout.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/06/2017 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Indian paramilitary forces claimed to have killed four suspected snuffies who were allegedly trying to storm their camp in India-held Kashmire (IHK) on early Monday.
The gunnies lobbed grenades and fired automatic weapons outside the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp in IHK before dawn, a front man said.
CRPF Spokesman Bhuvesh Choudhary claimed that the 'militants' were trying to storm the camp. He added that all four 'militants' were eliminated. There were no injuries on our side, he said.
Four assault rifles, grenades and other ammunition were recovered from the bodies of the slain gunnies, whose identities were not known.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/06/2017 00:00 ||
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A heartwarming story, I know.
The venerable U.S. Air Force B-52 Buffs have been supporting the air war on ISIS since April 2016.
The Stratofortress strategic bombers, based at Al Udeid, Qatar, launched their first air strike against a Daesh weapons storage facility in Iraq on Apr. 18, 2016.
As already highlighted in a previous article, the USAF B-52s have mainly flown Close Air Support and Air Interdiction mainly delivering two types of JDAMs (Joint Direct Attack Munitions): the 500-lb laser-guided GBU-54s and the 2,000-lb GPS-guided GBU-31V3 "bunker busters" loaded onto the Heavy Stores Adaptor Beam pylons.
The typical loadout includes 3x GBU-31s and 8x GBU-54s along with PGMs carried inside the bomb bay of the B-52H Stratofortress. With the 1760 Internal Weapons Bay Upgrade the Buffs can carry up to 16 external laser JDAMs (8 per pylon) as well as 8 internal J-series weapons mounted on a conventional rotary launcher: a mix of PGMs that gives the Buffs the ability to deliver attack both stationary and moving ground targets.
In particular, the GBU-54s, that combines 500-lb Mk-82 warhead and the precision strike capability delivered by its dual Laser/GPS mode guidance system can be used against targets with reduced collateral damage.
For hardened targets or concrete shelters, the weapons of choice is the GBU-31s.The JDAM is a GPS aided inertially guided bomb. The Guidance and Control Unit (GCU) containing a HG1700 RLG, GEM-III GPS receiver and computer package is installed inside the bomb tailkit. The GCU is used on the bunker busting 2,000-lb class BLU-109/B forged steel penetrator warhead.
The GBU-31s are assembled at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, by airmen from the 379th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron’s Munitions Flight. Considered that the base
The following video provides a really interesting point of view: it shows a high-altitude attack on a target in western Mosul (according to @obretix), as seen from the cockpit of a B-52 of the 23rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron on May 23, 2017.
The detonation of the bombs as they hit the ground appears to be pretty huge.
Posted by: gorb ||
06/06/2017 01:14 ||
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#1
BUFF's - What can't they do?
Do we have a Barksdale, etc maintenance person who can tell me why the controls for engines 4 and 5 on the throttle quadrant are higher than the rest? I'm thinking faster identification so as to use them at relative higher thrust at cruise, but...
#3
Never flew anything bigger than a Cub, but I always assumed it was eubonics - or maybe it was ergonomics? - to help you find the center in the dark.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/06/2017 13:46 Comments ||
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#4
The GBU-31s are assembled at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar
From what I read in the news, there seems to be a passion for bomb making in Qatar.
Most likely it's for yaw control. The B-52 rudder is a bit on the small side, resulting in not being able to make turns very well. There was a B-52 that lost most of its vertical stabilizer, yet was able to fly and land with no problem.
I'm thinking the pilots used the #4 & #5 engines to supplement the rudder control, so by increasing/decreasing the thrust on those two engines, they can control the yaws.
#6
Multi-engine aircraft number their engines from outboard port to outboard starboard. Number "1" would be the outermost engine on the left (pilot's) side, "8" would be the outermost on the right.
Yaw control would be most efficient (thrust:vertical axis pivot) using the outer engines (#'s "1" and "8") with efficiency decreasing as one worked toward the aircraft longitudinal axis (center).
Pilots may remember that "arm" thingie their IP's beat them over the head with.
#7
I messed up the link above, here's the proper link abput the rudder: B-52 Rudder
Here's a picture showing how far from the fuselage the engines are. I think that #4 & 5 is fa enough away to give a good leverage arm for the powerful engines.
Baaj (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi paramilitary forces fighting the Islamic State have recaptured nine more villages, proceeding with a campaign to impose control over the Iraqi borders with Syria.
Badr Organization, a part of the mainly-Shia Popular Mobilization Units, said Monday it had taken over nine villages northwest of Baaj, with dozens of militants fleeing to Syrian border cities.
“Forces are proceeding towards the liberation of what is left of Iraqi-Syrian borders towards al-Waleed border corssing,” the statement said, pointing to a crossing in Anbar province, south of Nineveh, which is also close to the borders with Jordan.
Operations on Monday left more than 45 Is members dead, including suicide bombers boarding booby-trapped cars, Badr Organization added.
On Sunday, PMU media said mobilization forces recaptured the entire Baaj region and proceeded to take over surrounding villages near the Syrian borders. Operations targeting border regions near Syria launched in May 12th.
The campaign has been running simultaneously with government troops battles with IS in Mosul, the group’s largest stronghold in Iraq where the group is nearing eventual defeat.
On Sunday, Abu Mahdi Al-Mohandes, deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization Units, said “mobilization forces will go after terrorism outside Iraq if it threatens Iraq’s soil and national security”. His remarks revive a controversy around whether the Shia-led, Iran-trained force could pass the Syrian borders to give leverage to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces against IS and other and rebel groups. A mobilization forces spokesperson said last week that the troops would not take the step unless with an Iraqi parliament green light. U.S.-backed Kurdish Syrian forces fighting the Islamic State had warned the organization against crossing the borders.
Posted by: badanov ||
06/06/2017 00:00 ||
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Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Five members of one family were killed and injured as a mortar missile fell on their house in western Baghdad, a security source said on Monday.
“A mortar missile fell on one of the houses in Ibrahim bin Ali region, in western Baghdad, which left a 10-year old boy killed and four other members of one family wounded,” the source told Mawazin News.
“Security cordoned off the accident spot, while ambulances transferred the injured to the hospital for treatment,” the source added.
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Federal Police forces on Monday aimed again at the strategic, Islamic State-held Old City from the southern entrances, reopening an old front they had ceded late April.
The service’s chief, Lt. Gen. Shaker Jawdat, said early Monday that his forces, backed by army warplanes, started attacking Islamic State militants’ defenses south of the Old City, killing seven members before besieging Bab al-Jadid neighborhood.
Jawdat said his forces had also run into a prison run by Islamic State militants in the recaptured district of 17 Tamuz. He said forces found corpses of two men and a woman who had apparently been “brutally killed” before the prison was set to fire.
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi special forces killed early Monday 21 Islamic State members in a snap operation at a western Mosul district where troops struggle to invade on their way to the strategic Old City.
Speaking to Shafaaq News website, Cap. Abdul-Wadoud al-Anbari said the Interior Ministry’s Rapid Response teams and the army’s 9th division killed 21 militants, including five snipers, in al-Shefa district, one of the last three districts surrounding the IS-held Old City area.
Since late April, Iraqi forces began a push towards the medieval Old City from the northwest, retaking several surrounding districts. At present, only three neighborhoods around the Old City remain under IS control: Zanjili, al-Sihha and al-Shefa.
The Old City was the place where Islamic State’s supreme leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared the establishment of the group’s rule in Iraq and Syria.
The area’s impassable alleyways have made it hard for army and police vehicles to go through, and the existence of at least 200.000 civilians under IS captivity has also slowed down the pace of operations, according to Iraqi generals.
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) One special police force officer and four civilians were killed on Monday during battles against Islamic State militants in western Mosul, security and local sources said.
Shafaaq News website quoted a security source that a lieutenant colonel at the Interior Ministry’s Rapid Response forces was killed during battles in Zanjili, one of the last three remaining districts around the Old City, the medieval district which stands as Islamic State’s last bastion in western Mosul.
Local residents also told the website that four members of one family were killed in an airstrike by warplanes from the U.S.-led coalition in Mashahda neighborhood. Three houses were destroyed in the strike, according to the sources.
Late Sunday, Ali al-Karbalai, a lieutenant from the Rapid Response forces, told Anadolu Agency that 32 Iraqi soldiers were killed in 24 hours in suicide attacks by Islamic State militants in al-Shefa and Zanjili districts.
Posted by: badanov ||
06/06/2017 00:00 ||
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Diyala (IraqiNews.com) A Peshmerga fighter was wounded as a bomb blast targeted security patrol, east of Diyala province, a local source has said.
“A bomb placed on the side of an agricultural road near al-Tabaj region, northeast of Baqubah, exploded on Monday, leaving a Peshmerga fighter injured,” the source told AlSumaria News.
“Security team conducted investigations on the accident and transferred the victim to a nearby hospital for treatment,” the anonymous source added.
Several attacks were launched against the Kurdish troops over the past few months at regions the forces are deployed at in Diyala claiming lives of many of them.
On Sunday, the Kurdistan Region’s Government said number of Kurdish fighters killed since the breakout of the Iraqi war against Islamic State militants in 2014 stood at 1760.
Meanwhile, the military intelligence department said in a statement that one militant was killed as a group attacked security personnel in the province.
The statement added that the militant was injured before troops followed him and were able to kill him.
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) Diyala Police Command announced, on Monday, foiling a suicide attack on a checkpoint in Balad Ruz District, east of Baqubah, while pointed out that two security members were injured during the attack.
Diyala police spokesman, Colonel Ghalib Attiyah, said in a statement that a suicide bomber, wearing an explosive belt, tried to approach the eastern checkpoint of Balad Ruz District, but the checkpoint security members stopped him before blowing up himself at the checkpoint.
Two security members were slightly wounded due to the explosion, Attiyah added. Security forces were aware that there will be an attack attempt on the checkpoint, and took all the needed procedures.
Earlier today, six unidentified bodies were found in al-Aitha area, northeast of Baqubah, while security members arrested five persons wanted on terrorism and criminal charges in different areas of the province.
Posted by: badanov ||
06/06/2017 00:00 ||
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[RT] A group of Filipino rescuers, nicknamed the Suicide Squad, are risking their lives to save hundreds of civilians trapped in Marawi, which is under the control of Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... -linked myrmidons. RT traveled to the area to speak exclusively to the group.
The Suicide Squad have rescued more than 500 civilians in the last two weeks, RT’s Charlotte Dubenskij said, reporting from Marawi, on Mindanao island.
"It started on our first mission when it was very dangerous, when most of our members were shot at when trying to save people," Saripada Pacasum, a Suicide Squad member, told RT.
He said the group frequently comes under attack from jihadist fighters, who captured the southern city, which has a predominantly Moslem population, in May.
"Shots were fired when we tried rescuing some. There were also shots in our direction, so it's pretty risky. That's why every time we step out of the scenic provincial capital to engage in saving people, we are also scared that we might not make it," Pacasum said.
Attempts to rescue thousands of civilians trapped in the fierce fighting between government troops and Islamist bully boyz failed on Sunday after a temporary four-hour ceasefire, announced to let rescue workers like the Suicide Squad in, was broken after less than an hour.
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06/06/2017 00:00 ||
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Raqqa (SyriaNews.media) The Syrian Democratic Forces, on Monday, managed to retake several towns and villages in the northern and western country sides of Raqqa, Qasioun News reported.
The Syrian Democratic Forces also advanced toward Mazraet Heteen, Mazraet al-Kahtaneya, Mazraet Rabea, Hawi al-Hawa Village and al-Khatouniya Village, west of Raqqa, after battles with the Islamic State, amid mutual shelling.
The city of Raqqa is suffering difficult humanitarian situation, due to the lack of water, electricity and communications.
Noteworthy, Syrian Democratic Forces recently controlled several areas in eastern, northern and western Raqqa, backed by the international coalition air force.
More from ARA:
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Monday captured three villages in the northern countryside of Raqqa province, in northeastern Syria, after clashes with ISIS militants.
The US-backed SDF troops took control of the villages of Hawi Hawa, Yaroubiya and Abu Sus.
“Our forces were able to liberate these villages in northern Raqqa after clashes with Daesh terrorists,” a SDF spokesman told ARA News, using another acronym for ISIS.
At least 36 ISIS militants were killed in the clashes, and 20 more were taken prisoners.
“The rest of the militants withdrew towards Raqqa city under heavy blows by the SDF forces,” the official said.
The SDF fighters have tightened their siege on Raqqa city, the de facto capital of ISIS, amid preparations to storm the city in a major military operation support by the US-led coalition.
[ARA News] The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is announcing on Tuesday the official start of the operation to liberate the city of Raqqa from Islamic State’s (ISIS) militants.
Senior Kurdish officials have confirmed that the SDF is holding a press conference on Tuesday to announce the official start of the liberation of Raqqa city.
The SDF forces will release a statement to launch the final stage of liberating Raqqa, which includes a major assault on the city of Raqqa–ISIS’s de facto capital.
The Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım on Sunday said that the operation began on June 2. However, John Dorian, a spokesman for US-led coalition, said that no end date was set for the start of the liberation campaign. Earlier on Saturday, the official spokesman of the YPG [leading member of the SDF] said the key operation will start in days.
On Monday, the SDF tightened the siege on ISIS in Raqqa city after liberating three more villages in its northern countryside and killing at least 36 ISIS militants.
“The Syrian Democratic Forces continue to close in on ISIS around Raqqa. The SDF has gained about 350 square kilometers from ISIS in the last week. The SDF is poised around Raqqa. They’re within three kilometers of Raqqa City from the north and the east, and are about 10 kilometers from the city to the west,” coalition spokesperson Army Colonel Ryan Dillon said.
“The coalition continues to service ISIS targets with precision air and artillery strikes as the enemy attempts to strengthen their defenses in and around Raqqa. The coalition conducted 59 strikes in support of the isolation of Raqqa this past week, hitting fighting positions, construction equipment, artillery systems and command and control nodes,” he added.
“The Syrian Democratic Forces have given instructions for citizens of Raqqa to vacate. Currently, Raqqa IDPs right now are almost 200,000, with 92,000 of them in camps. Other ones are in settlements that are just built-up settlements,” Dillon stated.
Moreover, he said that the SDF and the Raqqa Civilian Council have made the decision to ask civilians to depart as opposed to staying in Raqqa.
“As far as asking them to leave, that is a decision, just as the decision for the initial stages of Mosul, for civilians to stay, was by the government of Iraq and the Iraqi Security Forces. The same applies here in Raqqa,” he said.
The progress comes as part of the US-backed Euphrates Wrath Operation to liberate Raqqa province from ISIS jihadists.
On 13 April, the Syrian Democratic Forces launched the fourth phase of the Euphrates Wrath Operation against Islamic State’s extremists to clear out the northern countryside of Raqqa.
During the first phase of Euphrates Wrath, which began on November 6, 2016, the SDF liberated roughly 560 km² in Northern Raqqa.
On 10 December, 2016, the SDF launched the second phase of the Euphrates Wrath, during which it captured over 2500 km² in Western Raqqa.
On 4 February, 2017, the Syrian Democratic Forces launched the third phase of the Euphrates Wrath Operation, and liberated dozens of villages in Eastern Raqqa from ISIS jihadists.
The campaign is ultimately aimed at liberating the city of Raqqa from ISIS extremists.
Damascus (SyriaNews.media) The Syrian opposition announced, on Monday, bringing down a warplane in Tal Dakwa area, in the Syrian Badiyah in the countryside of Damascus.
The army’s media office manager, Saad al-Haj, said in a statement that troops of al-Sharkeya Lions Army brought down a warplane in Tal Dakwa area, in Damascus, and added that the troops are currently searching for the warplane’s pilot in the area.
The pilot landed in an area far from the government forces, who are stationed in Teshreen Thermal Station, and the warplane type was not identified so far.
Noteworthy, Syrian opposition recently launched an offensive, codenamed “The land is ours” to stop the advance of the government forces into the Syrian Badiyah.
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.
[SHABELLENEWS] At least two people were killed, and more than five others 
Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
[Al Jazeera] Libyan forces loyal to renegade General 
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] An ice-addicted African refugee on parole who had links to Somalia-based terrorist group a.jpg)
[DAWN] Indian paramilitary forces claimed to have killed four suspected 
Raqqa (SyriaNews.media) The Syrian Democratic Forces, on Monday, managed to retake several towns and villages in the northern and western country sides of Raqqa, Qasioun News reported.
