Hi there, !
Today Sat 03/24/2018 Fri 03/23/2018 Thu 03/22/2018 Wed 03/21/2018 Tue 03/20/2018 Mon 03/19/2018 Sun 03/18/2018 Archives
Rantburg
531698 articles and 1855979 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 62 articles and 248 comments as of 14:11.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Bodies of 39 Indian workers kidnapped by IS militants found in Iraq: minister
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
8 16:15 SteveS [] 
1 21:46 newc [1] 
0 [1] 
0 [] 
0 [1] 
0 [] 
0 [3] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [2] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [1] 
0 [] 
1 08:39 Mercutio [] 
4 08:31 Besoeker [] 
2 16:10 Mike Kozlowski [] 
Page 2: WoT Background
1 11:04 Frank G [1]
0 [1]
1 11:17 Snoluting Phomoth8901 []
1 07:40 Frank G []
0 []
0 [1]
3 18:26 gorb []
0 []
0 []
3 01:28 g(r)omgoru []
0 []
Page 3: Non-WoT
4 19:56 Frank G []
13 22:41 CrazyFool [1]
0 []
8 23:45 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [2]
3 11:03 Frank G []
9 12:30 Abu Uluque []
4 17:37 magpie []
4 16:20 gorb []
0 []
5 14:46 Raj []
1 16:18 Canuckistan sniper []
0 []
1 01:55 Anguper Hupomosing9418 []
8 16:51 Raj []
0 []
4 21:38 gorb []
0 []
0 []
3 02:57 Besoeker []
0 []
0 [1]
0 []
0 []
0 [1]
5 16:27 gorb []
3 13:41 Penguin_of_the Desert []
Page 4: Opinion
6 19:32 Anguper Hupomosing9418 []
5 14:02 Besoeker []
9 19:13 g(r)omgoru []
8 19:36 Anguper Hupomosing9418 []
9 14:49 Omeger Gray6606 []
87 22:04 Thing From Snowy Mountain []
Page 6: Politix
24 21:42 gorb []
Afghanistan
ISIS claims responsibility for Jalalabad city motorcycle bombing
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] 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 has grabbed credit for the cycle of violence bomb kaboom that left at least four dead in Jalalabad city.

The loyalists of the terror group released a statement on Monday claiming that the target of the attack was a pro-government gathering in the city.

However,
a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth...
another source (Amaq News) which publishes ISIS reports, claimed that the target of the attack was a vehicle carrying pro-government militia forces.

The incident took place at around 1 pm local time as a large gathering was underway in a stadium in the first police district of the city.

Provincial governor’s front man Attaullah Khogyani confirmed that the kaboom was triggered by a cycle of violence.

He said at least four people bit the dust in the kaboom and at least ten others were maimed.

Provincial public health director Dr. Najibullah Kamawal said the health condition of those maimed in the kaboom has been reported as satisfactory.

This comes as the loyalists of the terror group are under immense pressure 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 as counter-terrorism operations are underway to eliminate the safe havens of the loyalists of the group.

Posted by: Fred || 03/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Africa Horn
Al-Shabaab Militants Withdraw From Burdhubo Town
[RADIOSHABELLE] The al-Qaeda-aligned Al-Shabaab
... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
Death Eaters have withdrawn from Burdhubo district in Gedo region in Southern Somalia hours after it capturing it from Somali troops on Monday night.

The residents in the town have told Radio Shabelle region that al-Shabaab battle-wagons loaded with their weapons had been leaving since the morning.

Æthiopian troops serving under African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
mission in Somalia, known as [AMISOM] and Somali government forces retook control of the town shortly after al-Shabaab pull out.

The situation has returned to normal as the allied forces secured the town and carried out a mine clearing operation following their comeback, according to the locals.

Al-Shabaab has lost control of several small towns, including Mogadishu in the past years but still controls large swathes of territory in rural areas.

Posted by: Fred || 03/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)


Africa North
Derna Shura Council seizes weapons in Haftar-led forces’ attack on city’s western districts
[Libya Observer] Two fighters from Omar al-Mukhtar operations room of Khalifa Haftar
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, 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...
’s forces were killed and two others were maimed as the Derna Shura Council attacked Monday morning the Dignity Operation fighters at Kersa checkpoint in western Derna.

Two days ago, Haftar’s forces shelled the western entrance of Derna heavily and then on Monday morning, Derna Shura Council attacked Haftar’s forces and seized a tank as well as military vehicles with 14.5 and 23 anti-aircraft guns.

"Those military vehicles were used by Haftar’s forces to shell the western districts of Derna damaging the people’s properties." Derna Shura Council said.

Dignity Operation forces led by Haftar have been besieging the city for quite long and every now and then shell or bomb certain areas, leaving behind civilians’ deaths and injuries as well as damaged properties. On March 04, four civilians were maimed in Zintan neighborhood in Derna due to such shelling.

The forces led by Haftar also boosted their military presence around Derna and called on the civilians to lay down their weapons and stay away from "terrorists’ zones" in order to control the city, which is the last eastern city outside Haftar’s grip.

Meanwhile,
...back at the dirigible, the gondola was dangling by a single thread of rope.

Jack! Cynthia cried. I just realized I'm afraid of heights! I don't even like high heels!...

despite all calls by international and local organizations to stop the siege on Derna and the military escalation there, Haftar’s forces continue to be deployed in preparation of advancing into the city’s neighborhoods.

Posted by: Fred || 03/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Arabia
Scores of Saudi-backed fighters reportedly killed, wounded in northern Yemen
[ALMASDARNEWS] Dozens of Saudi-backed fighters were killed and maimed in the Marib Governorate of 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...
this week, the Saba News Agency reported on Tuesday.

According to Saba News, the Saudi-backed fighters were attacked by a group of Yemeni soldiers inside the al-Mashjah area on Tuesday, resulting in heavy losses for the Hadi Loyalists.

Furthermore, another attack was carried out by the Yemeni Army in the Hababah al-Sadah and Serwah Souq areas, a military official told Saba News.

Recently, intense festivities have broken out near the Saudi border, as both anti and pro-government forces vow for control of the area between Marib and Sanaa.

Posted by: Fred || 03/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis

#1  After reading these clips for the past few months, I can only assume Baghdad Bob has morphed into Sanaa Sam.
Posted by: Mercutio || 03/21/2018 8:39 Comments || Top||


Europe
NGOs warn of intimidation as Italy seizes migrant rescue ship
[Al Jazeera] Human rights groups have warned of a campaign of intimidation after Italian authorities seized a Spanish rescue ship and threatened criminal charges against some of its crew members who refused to hand over rescued refugees and migrants colonists to the Libyan coasties.

The NGO Proactiva Open Arms said its vessel responded to boats in distress in international waters off the coast of Libya on March 15.

The vessel took the 216 rescued refugees and migrants colonists to the Sicilian port of Pozzallo port on March 17, where the ship was seized.

Complications in the operation began when the NGO attended to the second boat in distress.

Crew members said they were approached by a Libyan patrol boat demanding they transferred the migrants colonists to them, claiming the Libyans used "death threats" and intimidation.

The incident was caught on video by the Open Arms staff.

The NGO ship was then left sailing in the Mediterranean for more than 24 hours, as Italian authorities claimed they had not coordinated the rescue and were therefore not responsible.

Meanwhile,
...back at the hanging, Butch continued with his last words, trying not to repeat himself too often......
staff evacuated some of the victims, including a three-month old and her mother in need of medical attention, to the nearest port, which at that point was Malta.

The ship was eventually allowed to dock in Pozzallo, after the Spanish government intervened in the negotiations.

Italian authorities in Catania then proceeded to confiscate the boat and open an investigation against three crew members - the captain, rescue coordinator and the NGO's director.

They are accused of "aiding and abetting illegal migration", and risk up to seven years in prison and hefty fines for the NGO.

Posted by: Fred || 03/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  What's the difference between an NGO and a Human Trafficer?


Other than spelling of course.
Posted by: AlanC || 03/21/2018 7:24 Comments || Top||

#2  ...When are these people going to figure out that at the end of the day, the Libyans are no more than the old Barbary pirates, only now with automatic weapons?

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 03/21/2018 16:10 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Fifth package bomb strikes Texas amid 'serial-bomber' fears
[Al Jazeera] A package bomb went kaboom! at a FedEx distribution centre lightly wounding one worker near San Antonio, Texas on Tuesday after a series of blasts in the state capital of Austin this month.

Officials did not say if the latest attack was the work of what Austin police believe could be a serial bomber responsible for the four earlier bombs, which killed two people and maimed four others.

The kaboom at the FedEx facility in Schertz, northeast of San Antonio, was the fifth in the state in the last 18 days. If it is linked to the others, it would be the first outside the Austin area and the first involving a commercial parcel service.

"We are investigating it as being possibly related to our open investigation," FBI spokeswoman Michelle Lee told the Austin American-Statesman newspaper. "We can't know for sure until we have an opportunity to look at the evidence itself."

The package, filled with nails and metal shrapnel, went kaboom! shortly after midnight local time (05:00 GMT) at the facility, about 105km south of Austin.

The individual or people behind the bombings are likely to be highly skilled and methodical, said Fred Burton, chief security officer for Stratfor, a private intelligence and security consulting firm based in Austin.

"This is a race against time to find him before he bombs again," Burton said.

More than 500 federal agents were involved in the investigation.

And as of approx 2100 hrs, 20 March, a sixth undetonated device has been found. It appears likely there may be more than one bomber.
Posted by: Fred || 03/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Suspect fingered by surveillance video, police were closing in and suspect went KABOOM. That may be the end of this series of bombings.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/21/2018 5:16 Comments || Top||

#2  He's dead, Jim
Posted by: Frank G || 03/21/2018 7:24 Comments || Top||

#3  That may be the end of this series of bombings.

At least until the media makes him famous. I'm sure he was a troubled person, trying to turn his life around and going to church twice weekly... (/sarc)
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/21/2018 8:01 Comments || Top||

#4  Defense trial lawyers and ACLU members everywhere must surely be enraged.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/21/2018 8:31 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Paramilitaries repel 2 IS attacks, free four abducted personnel, Salahuddin
Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) The pro-government paramilitary troops have repelled a second attack carried out by 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....
members against Tuz Khurmatu region in Salahuddin province.

A statement by the media service of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) said, "faceless myrmidons attacked, in the evening, Bastmali village, south of Tuz Khurmatu, which was the second attack."

Troops of the 52 brigade, according to the statement, foiled the attack.

According to sources from the brigade, speaking to Alghad Press, four kidnapped personnel, were liberated in the wake of the attack.

Four PMF conscripts were liberated, after festivities with IS members at the outskirts of Amerli, east of Salahuddin, the brigade said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Closer to home
VIA @Switch_d
Colombian authorities captured Raúl Gutiérrez, a 43-year-old Cuban, who was plotting an Islamic terrorist-style attack against 29 diplomats at the American Embassy in Bogota.

Communicated with several Moroccan citizens, identified as Matin Muhanad, Said Samuid, and Francisco Quintana, that showed links between the Cuban native and the Islamic State (IS).
Posted by: newc || 03/21/2018 21:46 Comments || Top||


Iraq approves Turkish military operations to purge joint borders
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraq and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire....
have agreed that the latter can launch military operations on the joint borders presumably targeting anti-Ottoman Turkish, Kurdish fighters.

Meeting with Iraqi Justice Minister Haider al-Zamili in Baghdad, Ottoman Turkish ambassador to Iraq, Fateh Yildiz, said Ankara started to launch military operations on its borders with Iraq "to purge the borders from terrorist pockets in collaboration with the Iraqi government", as quoted by a statement by the Iraqi justice ministry.

"Turkey is prepared to cooperate with the Iraqi government in the field of counter-terrorism and entrenching the illusory sovereignty of both countries," the statement quoted Yildiz saying.

On his side, the Iraqi minister said "Iraq has shown good intentions in Ottoman Turkish demands related to the security on joint borders", adding that "the political and security situation requires new agreements".

Ottoman Turkish President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
said in a speech in Ankara on Monday his country would, at any time, launch operations in Iraq’s northern Sinjar region against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a group designated by Ankara as a terrorist group for engaging in decades of armed confrontations with it.

Turkey has also been carrying out offensives since January against Kurdish factions in Afrin, northwest of Syria.

It has regularly conducted Arclight airstrikes against PKK locations in norther Iraq.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Two people killed wounded in bomb blasts in Baghdad
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Two people were killed and injured in two kabooms in Baghdad, a police source was quoted saying on Tuesday.

"Unidentified button men hurled a hand grenade against house of a coffee shop owner in al-Saheroun district in Jisr Diyala region, causing his immediate death," the source told AlSumaria News.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source added, "a bomb placed under a vehicle of a civilian went off in al-Mahmoudiya village, leaving him injured."
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Mosul clearance continues: tortured imam, mayor stunned, 4 cops killed, 20 turbans bound

Iraqi army officer interrogated for fatal torture of Mosul imam

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi army command in Nineveh province is interrogating an officer for torturing a mosque’s imam in the city of Mosul to death, a senior commander was quoted saying.

BasNews quoted Maj. Gen. Najm al-Jubouri, Nineveh Operations commander, saying Tuesday that an officer from the 20th division tortured to death an imam from Mosul’s al-Islah al-Zeraee “in a way that violated the military code and human rights”.

According to Jubouri, “the officer has been remanded into custody preparing for his referral to a military trial after pleadings from the deceased’s relatives”.

He did not mention the reason of the officer’s conduct, but Abu Bakr Kanaan, head of the Sunni Endowment Diwan in Nineveh, told Anadolu Agency on Monday that the imam declared through the mosque’s loudspeakers traffic instructions dictated by a security force assigned to a neighboring district, which presumably enraged the officer and prompted him to arrest and brutally beat the preacher to death.

Since it launched an offensive to retake areas occupied by Islamic State militants since 2014, Iraqi forces, especially the Shia Popular Mobilization Forces, faced accusations from local and international rights groups that they committed human rights violations against civilians of the opposite religious sects at areas recaptured from the militants, especially in Nineveh.

The government has repeatedly rebuffed the accusations and reiterated it ensures to investigate any breaches.

Mayor wounded in stun grenade blast in Mosul: Source

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) A mayor of a residential region was wounded as a stun grenade exploded in west of Mosul, a security source was quoted saying on Tuesday.

Speaking to Alghad Press, the source said, “mayor of al-Bakr district was visiting mayor of al-Ta’meem district, when a stun grenade went off, leaving him injured.”

“The injured was taken to hospital for treatment, while security troops conducted investigations,” the source added.

Four policemen killed, twenty IS State members arrested in Mosul

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Four policemen, including an officer, were killed in an attack launched by Islamic State members, south of Mosul, an Iraqi security source from Nineveh said on Tuesday.

Speaking to DPA, the source said, “security troops invaded al-Shura region, 20 kilometers south of Mosul, in the wake of attack launched by IS members that left a police officer and three policemen killed.

In related news, Maj.Gen. Hamad Names al-Jabouri, commander of Nineveh Police, announced arrested twenty IS members in an operation in western Mosul.

In a statement, Jabouri said “Nineveh police managed today, during an operation, to arrest 20 IS members in Souq al-Maash region, west of Mosul.”
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


IS bomb attack kills woman, injures another in eastern Ramadi
Anbar (Iraqinews.com) ‐ An Iraqi woman was killed and another was injured when a bomb planted by defeated 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....
(IS) hard boyz went kaboom! in Ramadi city Tuesday, a security source was quoted as saying.

Speaking to IKH News, the source said, "An explosive charge left by IS hard boyz went off at an agricultural land in Albu Bali village, east of Ramadi, leaving a woman killed and another seriously injured."

"Security forces cordoned off the blast site and opened a probe into the incident," the source noted.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Bodies of 39 Indian workers kidnapped by IS militants found in Iraq: minister
New Delhi (Iraqinews.com) ‐ The Indian minister of external affairs said on Tuesday that the 39 Indian workers who were kidnapped by 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....
(IS) forces of Evil in djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
city three years ago have been recently found in Iraq.

Addressing an Indian parliamentary session, Sushma Swaraj said that the bodies were recently found buried in a mound of earth near Badush, a village northwest of Mosul, according to The News Agency that Dare Not be Named.

Iraqi authorities used radar to establish that the mound was a mass grave, she said, and exhumed the bodies. Indian authorities then sent DNA samples to relatives of the missing workers.

She noted that DNA tests confirmed that 38 of them were the kidnapped workers. The DNA test for the remaining body has yet to be fully confirmed.

The Indian Express reported in June 2016, quoting Kurdish officials, that there was no sign of the 39 Indian workers in Iraq.

In July last year, Swaraj firmly said that she would not declare the 39 Indians dead without concrete proof or evidence.

Now, with the deaths confirmed, Swaraj said the Indians’ remains will be brought back to India.

The kidnapped workers, mostly from northern India, had been employed by a construction company near Mosul when forces of Evil overran the Iraqi city and seized wide swaths of territory.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Kirkuk combat chronicle: ISIS gets busy at fake checkpoint, someone attacks two families leaving 21 casualties

IS militants kill two people, kidnap three others at fake checkpoint in Kirkuk

Kirkuk (Iraqinews.com) – Militants of the Islamic State (IS) group killed on Monday night two people and kidnapped three others in oil-rich Kirkuk, a security source was quoted as saying.

Speaking to Alsumaria News, the source said that IS insurgents killed two persons and kidnapped three others after they set up a “fake checkpoint in a village in Hawija district, Kirkuk.”

“The abducted persons were taken to an unknown location,” according to the source.

The source pointed out that a probe was opened into the incident.

21 people, including children, killed, injured in attack, south of Kirkuk

Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Twenty one people, including children, were killed and injured in an attack that targeted two families, south of Kirkuk, a source from Tuz Khurmatu hospital said on Tuesday.

Speaking to Baghdad Today website, the source said, “the death toll of the attack have reached six victims, while fifteen others were wounded.”

Earlier today, a security source said several people were killed and injured in attack by unidentified gunmen in south of Kirkuk.

“Gunmen coming from behind Tuz Khurmatu mountains attacked a vehicle carrying two families who were on way back from a trip in the north,” the source said.

The attackers, according to the source, “opened fire against the vehicle leaving a child and a man killed, while others were wounded.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel security forces arrest 17 jihadis and Islamic Jihad #3

Israel security forces arrest 17 terror suspects in West Bank

[Ynet] IDF soldiers, the Shin Bet and Israel Border coppers tossed in the clink
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
17 people overnight Monday on suspicion of their involvement in terror activities in the West Bank.

Security Forces arrest senior PIJ official in West Bank

Security forces have tossed in the calaboose
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
a senior Paleostinian Islamic Jihad
...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah...
activist in the West Bank's Jenin refugee camp. The official, Bissam Raeb a-Rahman Sa'adi, 58, spearheads his group's activities.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Jihad (Palestian)


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
After a decade Israel admits: We bombed Syria nuclear reactor in 2007
Israel was behind the 2007 destruction of a nuclear reactor that was being built in northeastern Syria, the IDF Military Censor has now cleared for publication.

Until now, Israeli media have been blocked from publishing details of the reactor’s discovery and the decision- making process that led to its destruction ‐ even as many of those details were being published in the foreign press and in the memoirs of former president George W. Bush and vice president Dick Cheney.

The Mossad confirmed the existence of the Syrian reactor in March 2007, when the agency obtained photographs of the reactor that was being built in the northeastern Deir al-Zor province, close to the Euphrates River.

The pictures had been requested by the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate, which had suspicions that Damascus was engaging in rogue nuclear activity.

Military Intelligence had seen the structure being built during routine satellite scans of the country. Because it was built like a regular building, it was not immediately clear what the structure was. Then-head of Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin convinced Mossad chief Meir Dagan to send agents to obtain additional, conclusive intelligence.

According to Amir Peretz, who was defense minister at the time, "We had the intelligence but then came the dilemmas," both military and diplomatic.

In an interview with The Jerusalem Post, Peretz explained that in April 2007, he convened his first meeting on the facility with top Israeli officials, during which he made the decision to prepare all options to destroy the facility.

In the months that followed, prime minister Ehud Olmert embarked on a diplomatic push to get Bush to attack the reactor. In July 2007, after Bush decided not to attack, Olmert convened his security cabinet, which ultimately concluded that the reactor had to be destroyed.

"It was a threat that we couldn’t live with," one member of the security cabinet at the time told the Post. "Syria with nuclear weapons would have posed an existential threat to the State of Israel."

Just like Iran nowadays

...Just before midnight on September 5, 2007, four F-15s and four F-16s took off for the al-Kibar facility. The planes entered Syrian airspace via Turkey, and sometime between 12:40 and 12:53 a.m., the pilots called out the operation’s codeword, "Arizona," signaling that some 17 tons of bombs had been dropped on the facility and it had been destroyed.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/21/2018 01:05 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  and Norks and Iranians killed too IIRC
Posted by: Frank G || 03/21/2018 7:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Well....the information may have been classified but it wasn't
secret. Someday the Arabs will understand that Israel is here to stay and they should consider making amends.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy || 03/21/2018 7:28 Comments || Top||

#3  Was a hell of a mission too.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/21/2018 8:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Flew right through an expensive and supposedly highly sophisticated Russian air defense system, they did. IIRC, Pravda published a report that it was flying saucers.

One question: Who controls that territory now?
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 03/21/2018 11:15 Comments || Top||

#5  "We did it and we aren't sorry.

Get a clue, Iran ...."
Posted by: Snoluting Phomoth8901 || 03/21/2018 11:15 Comments || Top||

#6  "We did it before and we can do it again ..."
Posted by: Snoluting Phomoth8901 || 03/21/2018 11:16 Comments || Top||

#7  Thanks Israel. Now, who killed Kennedy and who did the Las Vegas shooting?
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/21/2018 11:23 Comments || Top||

#8  Flew right through an expensive and supposedly highly sophisticated Russian air defense system, they did.

It may have been expensive, but my understanding was they had an old-school Soviet integrated air defense. The attackers injected signals that made it appear there was a ginourmous swarm of attackers which led to the system being shutdown. (corrections welcome!).

Definitely a ballsy bit of work, both in the execution and in the political will to do it.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/21/2018 16:15 Comments || Top||


Syrian Army, allies drive back huge ISIS offensive in east Syria
[ALMASDARNEWS] After two days of high-pitched engagements across Syria’s eastern province of Deir Ezzor, the Syrian Army and allied paramilitary groups have officially driven back the most powerful 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....
offensive of 2018 to be directed against pro-government forces.

During the battle that was, Islamic State turbans attacked Syrian pro-government forces at the T-2 military airbase as well as the Euphrates cities of al-Mayadeen and Abu Kamal.

The terrorist onslaught was intense and the Syrian Army had to call on Arclight airstrikes to beat off attacks which came at it and allied forces in waves (highly typical of ISIS).

Well over one hundred men from both government factions and ISIS are believed to have fallen in the festivities that took place across Deir Ezzor province; the battle at T-2 is said to have been the most brutal.

Islamic State forces launched their attack out of a large swath of uncleared desert countryside (technically besieged) in western Deir Ezzor province. The scale of the attack now raises questions as to how many jihadist turbans may be present inside the area.

Posted by: Fred || 03/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Turkish airstrike hits Syrian forces near Afrin, 6 killed
[ALMASDARNEWS] An outpost for the Syrian forces near Afrin was hit by an Arclight airstrike conducted by a Ottoman Turkish jet killing six fighters ‐ including a colonel ‐ and injuring two others.

According to sources, the aerial bombardment struck a gathering for the pro-government fighters stationed along the road linking Afrin to Nubl an al-Zahraa towns.

The road is extensively used by thousands of civilians who fled the battles in Afrin, particularly after the Ottoman Turkish-backed bully boyz managed to entirely seize the city.

Last week, a Ottoman Turkish airstrike killed 8 fighters from the Syrian Popular Forces at al-Ziyarah crossing.
Posted by: Fred || 03/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


More East Ghouta rebels surrender as Army advances, tit for tat kills 20+ each in Damascus and E. Ghouta, Russia sez E.G. 65% rebel-free
[ALMASDARNEWS] Up to 15 rebel fighters have turned themselves in to the Syrian government in an Eastern Ghouta town as more civilians are granted safe exit from embattled area.

According to a military source, 15 gunnies from the al-Qaeda-linked Faylaq al-Rahman group ‐ including two snipers ‐ have surrendered to the Syrian Army in Kafr Batna town.

Kafr batna, a former key bastion for the ultraconservative faction, has fallen to the government forces two days ago.

Meanwhile,
...back at the shootout, Butch clutched at his other shoulder......
fierce fighting is currently taking place as the Army troops launched an assault to recapture Hazah and Ayn Tarma Valley.

East Ghouta militants massacre civilians in Damascus, 20 or more killed

[ALMASDARNEWS] Militants in the East Ghouta region fired several missiles and artillery shells into Damascus city, killing and wounding scores of civilians.

According to an Al-Masdar field correspondent in Damascus, the militants fired a missile into the Kashkoul District, hitting a crowded market in the city.

The correspondent added that the death toll is rapidly rising, with more than 20 civilians already reported dead as a result of this attack.

In addition to the attack on Kashkoul, the militants also wounded one woman and five children in the Mezzeh District of Damascus after they launched several indiscriminate artillery shells into the area.

Syria's war: 16 children die in Eastern Ghouta school attack

[Al Jazeera] At least 16 children and four women are reported to have been killed after a school in Syria's Eastern Ghouta was hit by an air raid.

The deaths came as the government bombardment of the enclave resumed following a brief lull, activists told Al Jazeera.

The attack on the school, which acted as a shelter for children in the town of Irbin, occurred on Monday night, the activists said.

Overnight shelling of remaining rebel-held towns of Eastern Ghouta has killed a total of 32 people, the activists said.

The area, which has been under rebel control since mid-2013, has been under a relentless bombing campaign, launched by Russian-backed Syrian forces a month ago.

Russia says 65 pct of Syria's eastern Ghouta is free of rebels: RIA

[AlAhram] Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that 65 percent of territory in Syria's eastern Ghouta had been "liberated from terrorists," the RIA news agency reported.

His ministry said earlier on Tuesday that the total number of civilians, mostly children, who had been evacuated from the district since the start of a humanitarian operation has risen to 79,702.
Posted by: Fred || 03/21/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria



Who's in the News
26[untagged]
7Islamic State
6Govt of Pakistan
4Sublime Porte
3Govt of Syria
2Hamas
2Arab Spring
2Houthis
2Moslem Colonists
1Hizb-i-Islami-Hekmatyar
1al-Shabaab (AQ)
1Islamic Jihad (Palestian)
1Commies
1Taliban
1Palestinian Authority
1Govt of Saudi Arabia
1Govt of Iran

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2018-03-21
  Bodies of 39 Indian workers kidnapped by IS militants found in Iraq: minister
Tue 2018-03-20
  36 takfiris killed, 345 arrested in last five days of Operation Sinai 2018: Egypt Armed Forces
Mon 2018-03-19
  Turkey's Erdogan says Afrin city centre under 'total' control
Sun 2018-03-18
  KP government seals offices of Hafiz Saeed's JuD, FIF; seizes mosques, seminaries
Sat 2018-03-17
  Greek court rejects Turkey’s request for extradition of eight soldiers
Fri 2018-03-16
  German prosecutors indict Syrian migrant over alleged bomb plot
Thu 2018-03-15
  Anbar antics: 7 turbans permanently unwound, tribal types get frisky
Wed 2018-03-14
  Al-Qaeda operative born in Texas sentenced to 45 years for conspiring to murder Americans, supporting terrorism
Tue 2018-03-13
  Trump fires Rex Tillerson as secretary of state and replaces him with CIA boss Mike Pompeo
Mon 2018-03-12
  Syrian Army surrounds Jaysh Al-Islam stronghold in East Ghouta
Sun 2018-03-11
  First group of militants surrender arms & leave East Ghouta after Russia-brokered talks
Sat 2018-03-10
   Tuareg militias again clash with Islamic State-loyal militants in northern Mali
Fri 2018-03-09
  Mullah Fazlullah's kid killed in drone strike in Afghanistan
Thu 2018-03-08
  Accomplice of Paris attacks mastermind held in Poland
Wed 2018-03-07
  Kirkuk Klean up: 33 turbans permanently unwound

Better than the average link...



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.
44.197.238.222
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Background (11)    Non-WoT (26)    Opinion (6)    (0)    Politix (1)