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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Saudi Arabia Arrests 93 Jihadists, Says Attacks Foiled
Today's Headlines
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Tehran Cites 'Commercial Dispute' as U.S. Says Iran Forced Cargo Ship to Iranian Port
[AnNahar] Iran said a Marshall Islands-flagged fat merchantman was ordered to dock in its Gulf port of Bandar Abbas on Tuesday because of a commercial dispute.

U.S. defence officials said at least five Iranian ships demanded that the Maersk Tigris head towards Iran's Larak Island while it was in the Straight of Hormuz.

"The ship confiscation order was issued by a court and is linked to the Maersk company," Hadi Haghshenas of the Iran Ports and Maritime Organization was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency.

"Generally speaking, if a shipping company has debts and does not pay, the owners of the goods turn to the competent authorities," he said.

The Fars news agency, citing "an informed source", reported that the ship "had a dispute with the Iranian port administration, which obtained a court order to impound" it.

Tasnim said the Maersk Tigris was headed for Shahid-Bahonar, part of Iran's port complex at Bandar Abbas.

Iranian state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
said sailors from Britannia, Bulgaria, Myanmar and Romania make up the 24-strong crew, under the command of a Bulgarian.

Earlier, Pentagon front man Colonel Steven Warren said the captain "declined" the demand to alter course and one Iranian naval vessel "fired shots" across the bow of the Maersk Tigris.

It then "complied with the Iranian demand and proceeded into Iranian waters in the vicinity of Larak Island," he said.

The U.S. military's Central Command ordered a naval destroyer to the area and military aircraft were monitoring the situation, Warren said.

The destroyer was directed "to proceed at best speed to the nearest location of the Maersk Tigris", he said.

The incident occurred at about 0900 GMT in the Strait of Hormuz in Iranian territorial waters.

It came amid heightened tensions in the region as Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
and its Gulf allies wage a campaign of air strikes in 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...
against Iranian-backed Houthis.

The United States is providing intelligence and aerial refueling for the Saudi-led coalition.

Iran regularly boards fishing boats accused of violating its territorial waters.

In 2013, the navy held for a month the Indian-government owned tanker MT Desh Shanti that Iran said had polluted Gulf waters.

But at the time, media reports in India suggested Iran may have detained the ship out of "displeasure" because it was carrying crude oil from rival Iraq.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/28/2015 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Arabia
Saudi Arabia Arrests 93 Jihadists, Says Attacks Foiled
Saudi Arabia has arrested 93 jihadists, most of them linked to the Islamic State group, and has foiled several plots to carry out attacks across the kingdom, authorities said Tuesday.

The arrests have taken place since December and most of those detained were Saudis, the interior ministry said in a statement published by the official news agency SPA.

Security services had proof that led to the "early uncovering of terrorist activities in several parts of the kingdom by members of the deviant group", a Saudi term used to refer to jihadists, the statement said.

Among those held is a 65-strong IS-linked group plotting to target "residential areas, and operations to incite sectarian sedition" in attacks similar to the killing of seven members of the minority Shiite community in Eastern Province in November, it said.

The group includes a Palestinian, a Syrian and two stateless people, it added.

Another 15 Saudis formed a group calling itself "Jund Bilad al-Haramain", or Soldiers of the Land of the Two Holy Mosques in reference to Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites, the ministry said.

It said that cell was led by a bomb-making "specialist" and was testing car bombs, planning to attack security headquarters, soldiers and residential areas.

Authorities said they have also arrested two Syrians and a Saudi who had threatened to launch a suicide car attack against the American embassy in Riyadh last month.

US consular services in Saudi Arabia were suspended for a week in March over "heightened security concerns".

The Sunni-dominated kingdom is part of a US-led coalition carrying out air strikes against IS in Syria and Iraq, where the jihadists have seized swathes of territory.
Posted by: gorb || 04/28/2015 11:57 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraq
Misc. Iraqi Relevancies
Volunteer forces kill, wound 45 ISIS fighters, repel attack on southern Kirkuk

[IraqiNews.com] On Sunday, a security source within al-Hashed al-Sha'bi al-Turkmani militia in Kirkuk province revealed, that the militia repelled an ISIS attack on southern Kirkuk and managed to kill and wound around 45 elements of the ISIS group.

The source stated for IraqiNews.com "In the early hours of this morning, ISIS turbans attacked sites for al-Hashed al-Sha'bi al-Turkmani in the area of Tal-Ahmed near the village of al-Bashir of Tara district," noting that, "Al-Hashed forces had managed to repel the ISIS attack on the area."

"The festivities between the two sides resulted in killing around 20 ISIS fighters and injuring nearly 25 other elements of the group; according to the information that we have received," the source said.

The district of Tara is located 25 km south of Kirkuk.

Iraq is not bankrupt, we are facing war and financial crisis says Abadi

[IraqiNews.com] Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced Monday, that Iraq is not bankrupt, but it faces the problems of oil prices, the war and the financial crisis, while called on citizens to beware of Death Eaters gangs.

PM Haidar Abadi said at a meeting of the coordinating body for the governors and heads of provincial councils held in Karbala city and attended by IraqiNews.com, "The situation in the country requires a concerted effort in all provinces, especially as we are facing a war and a financial crisis," explaining that, "Iraq is not bankrupt, but the problem is in oil prices."

Abadi added that, "In every war there has to be loss and sacrifices."

Abadi called on citizens to beware of the warlords who take advantage of crises for murder, robbery and kidnapping.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/28/2015 00:15 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Baghdad and environs excitements
IA kills 65 terrorists, dismantles 84 IEDs for the 12th day in al-Karma, says BoC

[IraqiNews.com] Baghdad Operations Command announced Sunday, that 65 bully boyz have been killed and 84 improvised bombs (IEDs) were dismantled on the 12th day of the operation 'Fajr al-Karma' which aims to liberate the district of al-Karma and its surroundings.

Baghdad Operations Command said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, "Baghdad Operations forces, with direct and filed supervision from the commander of Baghdad Operations, had carried out counter operations against terrorists' sites to liberate the rest of al-Karma and its surroundings for the 12th day in a row; as a part of the operation 'Fajr al-Karma.'"

"The army forces managed to kill 65 Lions of Islam and dismantle 84 IEDs, in addition to destroying twelve of the enemy's shelters and treating 18 booby-trapped houses," the statement also read.

Army kills 44 terrorists, removes 45 IEDs in al-Karma district, says BoC

[IraqiNews.com] On Monday, Baghdad Operations Command Announced, That 44 Terrorists Have Been Killed And 45 Ieds Were Dismantled On The 13th Day Of The Army’s Operation ‘fajr Al-Karma’ In The District Of Al-Karma And Its Surrounding Areas.

baghdad Operations Said In A Statement Received By Iraqinews.Com, “security Forces Continued Advancing To Liberate The Rest Of Al-Karma And Its Surrounding Areas And Managed To Inflict Heavy Losses Upon The Terrorists’ Ranks In The District,” Noting That, “the Forces Managed To Kill 44 Terrorists And Dismantle 45 Improvised Explosive Devices As Part Of The Operation Fajr Al-Karma.”

“The security operations also resulted in destroying 9 shelters for the enemy and the seizure of 5 Katyusha rockets, in addition to destroying two vehicles that had carried explosives and 5 other vehicles that were carrying machine-guns," the statement added.

We have 7 F16 fighter jets in USA says Iraq Defense Minister

[IraqiNews.com] Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi announced on Sunday, that Iraq possesses seven F16 fighter jets in the United States, while pointed out that Iraq does not own the proper bases to receive those fighter jets.

Obeidi said in press statements followed by IraqiNews.com, "Iraq has seven F16 Fighter jets in Arizona, United States," noting that, "The Iraqi flag is on them."

Al-Obeidi continued, "The reason for the delay in receiving these jets is that we don't have suitable bases to have them," adding that, "The company responsible for securing the base was available, but after the recent events in Mosul, it pulled out of the country.”

Security forces close Republic Bridge, all roads leading to Baghdad’s Green Zone

[IraqiNews.com] On Monday, security forces closed the Republic Bridge and the roads leading to Baghdad's Green Zone on the back of the exit of dozens of Speicher victims' relatives from Tahrir

IraqiNews news hound said, "This morning, security forces took strict measures in the vicinity of the Green Zone in central Baghdad by closing the Republic Bridge and the roads leading to that area."

He added that these measures were taken on the back of the exit of the relatives of Camp Speicher massacre victims from the area of Tahrir Square in central Baghdad.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/28/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Terror Networks
US military: ISIS on defensive, more than 6,000 targets hit by coalition
[Rudaw] The US-led coalition has damaged or destroyed more than 6,000 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....
(ISIS/ISIL) targets in air strikes in Iraq and Syria, the US Central Command (Centcom) said.

It said in a statement Sunday that 6,097 targets have been hit since the start of air raids last summer. They include 77 tanks, 287 Humvee vehicles, 416 staging posts, 1,757 buildings, 1,330 fighting positions, 152 oil installations and 2,078 other various targets.

US and its partner nations have conducted more than 3,500 Arclight airstrikes against ISIS since the group stormed across Iraq in June, capturing about a third of the country.

The total cost of operations related to ISIS since its inception has exceeded $2 billion and the Pentagon has estimated an average daily cost of $8.5 million.

Centcom front man Air Force Col. Patrick Ryder said last week that ISIS is on the "defensive and its limited attacks are for propaganda purposes." He added that, "While initial reports may sometimes give the impression (ISIL is on the offensive), we see no evidence that they're able to do so."
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/28/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  It said in a statement Sunday that 6,097 targets have been hit since the start of air raids last summer. They include 77 tanks, 287 Humvee vehicles, 416 staging posts, 1,757 buildings, 1,330 fighting positions, 152 oil installations and 2,078 other various targets.

So I guess "targets have been hit" is a euphemism for "blew up $hit that we dropped and ran away from at the first whiff of trouble?" How do you lose a tank? And next time everyone goes all pansy, at least pour a jerry can of petrol in the Humvees first and burn them to the ground.
Posted by: gorb || 04/28/2015 10:38 Comments || Top||


Hundreds of Germans have flocked to ISIS, dozens have died fighting
[Rudaw] Nearly 700 German Death Eaters have travelled to Iraq and Syria to fight for their idea of a so-called 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....
and the trend is on the rise, German authorities said.

According to Germany's domestic security agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), about 680 Death Eaters from Germany have so far travelled to the Middle East to fight alongside ISIS.

Hans-Georg Maaßen, the agency's director, "The stream to the combat zones continues unabated (and) the brutal propaganda of the Islamic State attracts more."

The BfV is one of three major federal intelligence agencies in Germany. The agencies mention about 7,300 Salafists
...Salafists are ostentatiously devout Moslems who figure the ostentation of their piety gives them the right to tell others how to do it and to kill those who don't listen to them...
in Germany; the fighters are recruited from their ranks. Their number has risen tremendously during the last few years: in 2011, only 3,800 Salafists were known to authorities.

About a third of the bully boyz have returned to Germany, some with fighting experience. "Salafists want to establish an 'Islamic State' in Germany too!" Maaßen repeated several times. "The Islamist scene is increasing constantly. This leads also to a larger breeding ground for jihadism."

Islamist strongholds in Germany are cities like Berlin or states like Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia.

Prominent preachers like Pierre Vogel or "Sharia Police officer" Sven Lau propagate the Salafist movement in Germany, even though they officially refuse to support violence. Another German citizen fighting for the Islamic State is Denis Cuspert, better known as Deso Dog. In a video-message recently published he threatened German public by saying: "Actions were delivered in La Belle France, in Germany the sleepers are waiting."

Germany, which is providing Kurdish Peshmerga with training and weaponry, fears an attack by radical bully boyz on its own soil. Just recently a German spokesperson for ISIS, Christian Emde, told journalist Jurgen Todenhofer: "We will definitely return, and that will not be with friendliness or something like that, it will be with our weapons and our fighters."

On Wednesday, German intelligence revealed that 85 German Islamists have been killed to date during festivities between ISIS and the allied forces, such as the Peshmerga. Reports about festivities between Kurds and Salafists have been common since the outbreak of the war in Kurdistan.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/28/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Western governments should charter A320's to support a mass transport operation to carry every wannabe jihadi from every western country out to some desolate space in the Middle East - concentrate them is a "training" spot - and then send a flight B-52's over to vaporize them.

Then - rinse and repeat - until the West is bereft of Islamic assclowns.
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 04/28/2015 1:07 Comments || Top||

#2  The glorious tradition of 13th Waffen SS Handschar Mountain Division lives?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/28/2015 1:12 Comments || Top||

#3  Turkish origin by any chance.
Posted by: paul || 04/28/2015 1:51 Comments || Top||

#4  Fritz is that you? Hans? Adolph?


Ditto Mr. Ranger.
Posted by: AlanC || 04/28/2015 7:27 Comments || Top||

#5  Why the h*ll did they let them back into Germany?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 04/28/2015 9:15 Comments || Top||

#6  Because they do not believe in individual responsibility.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 04/28/2015 13:08 Comments || Top||

#7  Faster, please. Ah one and a two and a...Wunnerful, wunnerful!
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 04/28/2015 15:50 Comments || Top||

#8 
Posted by: || 04/28/2015 18:20 Comments || Top||

#9  Darwinism among those that should have never been allowed in.
Posted by: Frank G || 04/28/2015 18:23 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Car bombing in Baghdad kills at least 7 civilians
[Rudaw] Iraqi officials say a boom-mobileing in a busy commercial area in the capital has killed at least seven civilians.

A police officer says the Monday afternoon attack took place in Baghdad's southwestern neighborhood of Bayaa. The explosives-laden car was parked near a real estate office in an area where dozens of people gather every day.

The police officer says least 16 other people were maimed.

A medical official confirmed the casualty figures. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information.

Baghdad has seen near-daily attacks as security forces struggle to dislodge 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....
group from vast areas in northern and western Iraq seized by the Death Eaters last summer.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/28/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
Dozens of Soldiers, Civilians Killed in Fresh Boko Haram Violence
[AnNahar] 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...
gunnies killed dozens of soldiers and massacred civilians in a weekend attack on an island on Lake Chad, after 21 people were rubbed out in northeastern Nigeria.

The region has been relentlessly targeted by Boko Haram throughout the jihadist group's six-year uprising, but there has been a lull in violence in recent weeks.

A coalition of troops from Chad, Cameroon
...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there...
, Niger and Nigeria has claimed major victories over the rebels since February, reportedly flushing the holy warriors out of areas they previously controlled.

But the latest unrest highlighted the continuing and grave threat posed by Boko Haram, an bad boy group which has killed at least 15,000 people and forced 1.5 million from their homes.

- Island attack -
Islamist fighters traveling in motorized canoes stormed the island of Karamga on Lake Chad before sunrise on Saturday.

Troops from Niger stationed on the island "were caught off guard" and suffered heavy losses, said Umar Yerima, a fisherman who witnessed the raid but managed to escape.

Niger's military has confirmed the attack but defense officials were not immediately available to provide a corpse count.

A security source in Chad who requested anonymity said Niger lost 48 soldiers and another 36 were missing.

Another source, an official from southeastern Niger's Diffa region, said the toll was much higher at 80 dead and some 30 missing.

Yerima told AFP 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....
group-allied holy warriors "turned their guns" onto civilians after overpowering the troops.

"Some sought to escape by plunging into the lake but gunnies stood on the shore shooting them...

"They would aim their gun from the edge of the lake and shoot any head that emerged from the water, shouting 'holy shit! Allahu akbar' (God is greatest)," he added.

"They burnt the entire village and went on a shooting spree. Many residents were burnt alive in their homes."

Yerima said he managed to stay out of sight by hiding in the long grass that lines the water's edge.

The gunnies remained on a rampage until about roughly midday (1100 GMT), withdrawing when a military jet started bombarding the area, according to Yerima, who estimated the civilian corpse count was "huge" but could not provide specifics.

The security source in Chad said an aerial bombardment on the island was carried out by Chadian helicopter gunships based in Diffa.

- Warning -
Following the purported victories secured in the joint offensive, Nigeria's military and outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan
... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau...
have encouraged those displaced by the uprising to return home.

But community leaders in the embattled region have warned civilians are still at risk, especially those returning to remote areas like Gujba where the military's deployment has typically been thin.

Many experts agree that Boko Haram is likely to transition from capturing and holding territory -- a tactic seen from mid-2014 -- and revert to a pattern of hit-and-run attacks.

Analysts say boastings from regional armies should be treated with caution, as the Islamists are far from defeated and can easily regroup, especially if there is a let-up in the military pressure.

Nigeria's president-elect Muhammadu Buhari, an ex-army general, takes office on May 29. He has vowed to fight Boko Haram more effectively than Jonathan.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/28/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Boko Haram: Hundreds found dead in Nigerian town of Damasak, allegedly killed by militants
[ABC.NET.AU] Hundreds of people have been found dead in the north-east Nigerian town of Damasak, apparently victims of 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...
myrmidons, residents and officials said.

"Dead bodies were found in houses, streets and many more in the Damasak River which has dried up," local man Kaumi Kusur said, adding the victims were buried in 20 mass graves at the weekend.

Mohammed Sadiq, another local who helped in the burials on Saturday, put the corpse count at more than 400.

However,
a woman is only as old as she admits...
the Borno state government did not state a precise figure, giving a toll of "hundreds".

Troops from Chad and Niger retook Damasak from Boko Haram on March 9 as part of a regional offensive to combat the bad boys, who captured the town in November last year.

A Chadian security source said at the time that some 200 rebel fighters were killed in the offensive, as well as 10 soldiers.

On March 20, Chadian army front man Colonel Azem Bermandoa Agouna said about 100 bodies were found in a mass grave under a bridge just outside Damasak. Some had been decapitated while others shot.

Colonel Agouna said he estimated the massacre probably occurred in January.

In the latest discovery, Mr Sadiq said the bodies had been covered by sand from the encroaching desert.

"We were mobilised by the state authorities to bury them and we did it accordingly," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 04/28/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


21 feared killed by Boko Haram in Nigeria's Yobe State
[AA.TR] At least 21 people were reportedly killed when gunnies believed to be 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...
fighters ran into them in Nigeria's northeastern Yobe State over the weekend.

"On Saturday, 21 people, all men, ran into some Boko Haram fighters who killed them after taking away baskets of food and money from them," a top official of Yobe state government told the Anadolu Agency on Monday.

He said the incident happened in Bultaram village in Gujba local government area.

Liman Kyari, an official of the local vigilante group, confirmed the killings.

"It wasn't really an attack. The victims just ran into them while returning from their farms," he told AA by phone from Damaturu, the placid provincial capital.

"We suspect the killers to be part of the fleeing myrmidons," said Kyari, referring to Boko haram Death Eaters.

"The army has been notified and we are sure they are going to strengthen security there," he added.

Kyari said that while Gujba town has been liberated from Boko Haram, Nigerian soldiers can't be everywhere.

Army front man Col Sani Usman could not be reached for comment on the latest incident.

Nigeria is fighting a six-year Boko Haram insurgency that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced over one million people from the country's northeast, where the forces of Evil have been the most ruthless.

The Nigerian military recently announced that all territory captured earlier by the hard boyz in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states had since been liberated by government troops.

In the face of the government's recent onslaught, the forces of Evil are believed to have retreated back into the Sambisa Forest, a vast expanse of difficult terrain in the country's restive northeast that is said to be the radical sect's last stronghold.

Although experts have cautioned against complacency, the military onslaught has significantly weakened Boko Haram whose attacks have waned since early March.
Posted by: Fred || 04/28/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


India-Pakistan
Two killed as pilgrims' bus attacked in Quetta
[DAWN] At least two Hazara men were killed and another maimed after unknown assailants opened fire on a bus carrying pilgrims near the Chandni Chowk area in Quetta's Satelite Town on Monday.

The bus, carrying pilgrims belonging to the Shia Hazara community, was travelling from Quetta to Taftan, a town on the border of Iran.

A large number of security and rescue personnel reached the spot, which is situated in the outskirts of the thriving provincial capital city of Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
province.

Rescue workers shifted the victims to the Civil Hospital Quetta for treatment.

The gunnies managed to escape from the site where similar attacks have been carried out against pilgrims in the past as well.
Posted by: Fred || 04/28/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jundullah


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Bread enters Moadamiya town after 70 day-siege
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Syrian regime has let some bread to enter the embattled town of Moadamyeh al-Sham near Damascus after almost two months of complete siege caused death of 4 kids and an elderly.

"The regime allowed families only to have bread, each family had only one bag of bread as they are distributed according to family books", Mohammed Noor, a member of the media center in the town of 35,000 people reported to Zaman al-Wasl.

Noor mentioned that security members at barriers searched the bread bags fearing of smuggling anything else like biscuit or extra loafs of bread, besides humiliating people by searching their clothes in rude way.

Syrian regime has closed the only barrier to Moadamyeh on 17th February as a punishment, after its failure to let media in the city to show that it had returned to regime's control, to the contrary, people demonstrated and shouted captions and slogans supporting the revolution.
Posted by: Fred || 04/28/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Explosive device kills senior Syrian army commander in Homs
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Senior Syrian army commander was killed on Monday when an explosive device detonated near his car in al-Waer neighborhood in Homs city, activists and monitoring group said.

Brigadier General Nasha't Hajoj, commander of T-4 military air base, 90 km east Homs, was killed by IED planted near his car, activist said.

So far, no rebel group claimed the responsibility of the assassination.
Posted by: Fred || 04/28/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Islamist rebels say capture army base in Syria's Idlib province
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] A coalition of Salafist tough guys said they seized a Syrian army base in northwestern Idlib province at dawn on Monday after a jacket wallah from al Qaeda's Nusra Front drove a truck packed with explosives inside and set it off.

Syrian state media said the army had inflicted heavy casualties on rebels in the area and launched air strikes, but did not say the base had fallen.

The capture of Qarmeed camp, if confirmed, would be the latest in a series of setbacks for the army in the region. It would allow the rebels to tighten their siege on the major Mastouma army base nearby which has seen heavy fighting in recent weeks.

"A truck with two tonnes of explosives penetrated one of the entrances of the camp that made it easier to take over the camp," Sheikh Husam Abu Bakr, a rebel commander from Ahrar al Sham said via Skype.

Insurgents have been trying to push the army out of the few remaining government areas in the province, bringing them closer to Latakia, the ancestral home of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
.

Hardline Sunni Salafist tough guys seized Idlib city, the placid provincial capital, last month after forming an alliance that includes Nusra, the Ahrar al-Sham
...a Syria jihadi group made up of Islamists and salafists, not that there's that much difference, formed into a brigade. They make up the main element of the Islamic Front but they don't profess adoration of al-Qaeda and they've been fighting (mainly for survival) against the Islamic State. Their leadership was wiped out at a single blow by a suicide kaboom at a crowded basement meeting in September, 2014...
movement and Jund al-Aqsa, but not the rival 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....
group which controls large tracts of Syria and Iraq.

On Saturday, the coalition captured the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour for the first time in the four-year-old conflict.

The Islamist alliance calls itself the Army of Fatah, a reference to the conquests that spread Islam across the Middle East from the 7th century.
Posted by: Fred || 04/28/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


Aleppo Rebels form joint command room
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Aleppo's Salafist tough guys on Sunday have formed a new command room called 'Fatah Aleppo' in step imitates their counterparts in neighboring Idlib province who made remarkable gains started by taking control of Idlib city and most of its countryside.

Jaysh al-Islam, al-Shamiya Front, Fastaqem Kma Amrt, Ahrar al-Sham
...a Syria jihadi group made up of Islamists and salafists, not that there's that much difference, formed into a brigade. They make up the main element of the Islamic Front but they don't profess adoration of al-Qaeda and they've been fighting (mainly for survival) against the Islamic State. Their leadership was wiped out at a single blow by a suicide kaboom at a crowded basement meeting in September, 2014...
, Fajr al-Khilafah, al-Sham revolutionaries and al-Sham Legion have merged in the the biggest alliance in the key northern city northwest Syria.

The new command room, according to source from Fastaqem Kma Amrt, is to take advantage of the humiliating defeats of Syria forces in Idlib inflicted by the Army of Fatah, an alliance that includes Nusra, the Ahrar al-Sham movement and Jund al-Aqsa.

'Army of Fatah' is a reference to the conquests that spread Islam across the Middle East from the 7th century.

At dawn on Monday, Fatah Army seized Qarmeed camp, an army base in Idlib after a jacket wallah from al Qaeda's Nusra Front drove a truck packed with explosives inside and set it off.

The capture of Qarmeed camp, if confirmed, would be the latest in a series of setbacks for the army in the region. It would allow the rebels to tighten their siege on the major Mastouma army base nearby which has seen heavy fighting in recent weeks.

On Saturday, the coalition captured the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour for the first time in the four-year-old conflict.

Insurgents have been trying to push the army out of the few remaining government areas in the province, bringing them closer to Latakia, the ancestral home of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Scourge of Qusayr...
.
Posted by: Fred || 04/28/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Saudi-led strikes kill at least 12 Yemeni rebels
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Saudi-led warplanes hit anti-government forces in south 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...
Monday, killing at least 12 Shiite Huthi snuffies and allied forces as fighting continued across several provinces, military and local sources said.

Coalition aircraft pounded five schools converted by rebels into military bases in Ataq, the capital of Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
province, military sources said.

The raids killed at least 12 Houthis and troops 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...
, who has allied himself with the northern snuffies against the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, the sources said.

Also in Abyan, warplanes targeted rebel positions on the outskirts of Loder, the province's second largest city, witnesses said.

Clashes were ongoing southwest of Loder between rebels and southern forces that have sided with Hadi, they added.

Fierce fighting also raged in the central city of Taez, with the warring parties using tanks and rocket-propelled grenades inside residential areas, local officials said.

Medics said at least 16 non-combatants were killed in Taez on Sunday. Coalition warplanes meanwhile hit rebel positions east of Taez overnight, witnesses said.
Posted by: Fred || 04/28/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Saudi deploys National Guards on Yemen border
Riyadh -- The first troops from Saudi Arabia’s National Guard have been deployed on the border with Yemen, official media said late on Sunday. They will join members of the border guard and the army who have reinforced the frontier since March 26 when a Saudi-led coalition began air strikes against Houthi rebels and their allies in Yemen.

The vanguard of National Guard troops “have arrived in Najran region to participate in the defence of the southern borders... so as to confront any possible threats,” the official Saudi Press Agency said.

King Salaman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia announced on April 21 the National Guard’s mobilisation, just hours before the coalition declared an end to its air campaign dubbed “Operation Decisive Storm”.

Despite that declaration, the coalition has continued daily air strikes in Yemen, where Iran-backed Houthi rebels are allied with army units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

A diplomatic source said the decision to deploy the National Guard was made the week prior to King Salman’s announcement. The National Guard is led by Prince Miteb bin Abdullah.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/28/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis

#1  between this and Baltimore, they're gonna be stretched thin
Posted by: Frank G || 04/28/2015 14:57 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Three officials killed in Mogadishu in 24 hours
MOGADISHU -- Suspected Al Shabaab gunmen killed three Somali government officials in separate attacks in volatile Mogadishu on Sunday according to officials, Garowe Online reports.

Armed assailants shot and killed custodian corps commander Abdullahi Kamal Ismael at KPP junction in Mogadishu’s Hodon district on Sunday morning, witnesses and police confirmed.

Late Hussein Abdi, Hamar Jajab municipality official was also targeted in another pre-planned assassination before dusk prayers.

Separately, the Deputy Commissioner of Mogadishu’s Dayniile district Ibrahim Mohamed Barise instantly died after attackers opened fire at him on Sunday evening.

Nobody has been arrested in connection with the string of deadly shootings. Beleaguered Al Shabaab has so far claimed near-daily rampages, mainly in Mogadishu.

On Saturday, former Federal Member of Parliament Haji Ali Adan was shot dead inside buzzing Bakara market.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/28/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Arabia
Yemeni Tribal Fighters Ambush Saudi Army in Najran: Senior Officer Killed
[ALMANAR.LB] A group of Yemeni tribal fighters penetrated the border with KSA and moved into Najran dam where it ambushed a Saudi military patrol, killing a senior officer and a number of soldiers.

The tribal fighters, then, returned to their bases in the Yemeni bordering area despite the Saudi intense bombardment.

The Yemeni army, backed by the popular committees, kept striking the takfiri
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed...
Lions of Islam in different areas across the country, advancing in Maareb.
Posted by: Fred || 04/28/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis

#1  Senior officers go on patrol?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/28/2015 1:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Are these Houthi tribes man or Al-Q types, or some long lost branch of the Comanche?
Posted by: AlanC || 04/28/2015 7:29 Comments || Top||

#3  My experience: "Senior" usually means "commissioned."
Posted by: Pappy || 04/28/2015 10:04 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian Army Kills Scores of Terrorists across Country
[ALMANAR.LB] Units of the Syrian army and the armed forces on Monday continued tightening the noose around Lions of Islam across the country, killing scores of them and destroying their arms and ammunition.

Quneitra

A unit from the army and armed forces destroyed three dens, with Lions of Islam of al-Nusra
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 04/28/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Terror chief gunned down in Dagestan
[Prensa Latina] Russian security forces on Monday killed terrorist commander Khasmagomed Charinov during a shootout in the Russian republic of Dagestan. Charinov, who was located as a result of intelligence work in the town of Oktyabrskoye, in Khasavyurt district, shot at security forces when they urged him to surrender.

Spokesmen for the local attorney's office said weapons and rounds of ammunition were found in the house where Charinov was hiding. During the search, a mine was found and detonated as men were trying to deactivate it, destroying the house.
Posted by: ryuge || 04/28/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Roadside bomb kills soldier in southern Thailand
[The Nation] A soldier was killed and another slightly hurt when a roadside bomb exploded yesterday in Pattani province. The homemade bomb exploded as a six-man army patrol was passing on foot. Master Sergeant First Class Nipon Niyomchai was injured in his torso and both legs, and later died from excessive bleeding.

Militants also planted a pipe bomb two meters from the scene, but it was discovered and defused.

Police suspect the attack was carried out by militants to mark the 11th anniversary of the Krue Se Mosque incident.
Posted by: ryuge || 04/28/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Village chief gunned down in southern Thailand
[Bangkok Post] A village chief was gunned down in Narathiwat province early on Monday. The attack occurred shortly before 6 a.m. in Sisakhon district. Uma Dueramae, 50, chief of tambon Choeng Khiri, was returning home on foot from a village mosque after prayers when a motorcycle passed him and the pillion rider fired two shots at him. Uma died at the scene.
Posted by: ryuge || 04/28/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


NPA militant nabbed in Compostela Valley
[PhilStar] Philippine soldiers on patrol arrested a suspected communist militant in Compostela Valley. Troops from the 25th Infantry Battalion nabbed Eugenio Piamonte, also known as Nestor among his comrades, in Monkayo, Compostela Valley on Sunday afternoon. The military seized from Piamonte an assault rifle, 11 unexploded IEDs, 10 police uniforms with combat boots, 10 Army uniforms with 25 IB patches, and more.

As of Monday, troops have recovered 18 unexploded IEDs in Eastern Mindanao, eight of which were planted by the New People's Army along roads in populated areas since the end of March.
Posted by: ryuge || 04/28/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies



Who's in the News
38[untagged]
5Islamic State
4Houthis
4Govt of Syria
3Govt of Iran
3Boko Haram
2Thai Insurgency
2Govt of Iraq
2Taliban
1Govt of Saudi Arabia
1Govt of Sudan
1Commies
1al-Shabaab
1al-Qaeda
1Jundullah
1al-Nusra
1Govt of Pakistan

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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2015-04-28
  Saudi Arabia Arrests 93 Jihadists, Says Attacks Foiled
Mon 2015-04-27
  Isis Leader Baghdadi Is Reportedly 'Unable To Move' After A Spinal Injury
Sun 2015-04-26
  Mpls. Man Charged with Making Threats in Islamic State Group Case
Sat 2015-04-25
  Italy arrests suspected bin Laden bodyguards, Peshawar bombers
Fri 2015-04-24
  Italian police arrest 18 in AQ plot to attack Vatican
Thu 2015-04-23
  Adam Gadahn finally actually dead
Wed 2015-04-22
  IS “crucifies” family in Derna
Tue 2015-04-21
  Iraqi security official: heavy fight continues in Ramadi
Mon 2015-04-20
  Clashes, Saudi-led Air Strikes Kill 85 in Yemen
Sun 2015-04-19
  IS claims Responsibility for Deadly Afghan Bombing
Sat 2015-04-18
  ANZAC Day terror plot foiled in Melbourne
Fri 2015-04-17
  Top Saddam aide Izzat al-Douri killed
Thu 2015-04-16
  BIFF names new chief
Wed 2015-04-15
  Syria-bound British councilor's son arrested in UK
Tue 2015-04-14
  Ajnad Al Sham 'declares war' on ISIS south of Damascus: statement

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