#6
Gentlemen, a reminder that this is a family site. Let's keep those pictures limited to a PG rating, please. GBUSMC kept the racy stuff behind more innocent pictures.
#7
When I saw both Pappy and tw in the list, my psychotic powers told me someone was in trouble.
/me puts on the PHB hat and declares:
Gentlemen, there is no T&A in the War on Terror.
.... ok, T&A are there, but they are kinda far apart and in different words.
#9
SteveS, you well know that's not what in trouble looks like here.
Gentlemen, to put it another way, the trailing daughters started reading Rantburg over my shoulder when they were 10 and 12 respectively, and commenting a few years later. Mine have not been the only offspring to grow up here, and we now have several second-generation commenters. It is for the youngsters now reading that our language and image rules exist.
#11
A distraught headline writer in Yonkers
Who thought augmentation was bonkers:
"Bony Lumpkin in Gown!"
"Now She'll Never Drown!"
And "Beanpole Nicole Stoops to Honkers!"
On the other hand, if the woman actually ate, and didn't run with Tom Cruise, my life story would read "stalk, escape, repeat." So there's that.
[Tolo News] A number of jacket wallahs attacked the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... forces parking lot in Torkham Port border area in 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 early Thursday morning, local officials said.
Mohammad Hassan, Nangarhar police supply unit commander, said the incident occurred around 5 a.m. local time when four Taliban suicide bombers attacked NATO forces' supplies parking lot that was protected by the Afghan forces.
"There were four suicide bombers," Hassan said. "One of the suicide bombers driving a corolla detonated his explosives and paved the way for the three others to enter the parking area and begin clashing with the Afghan forces."
According to Hassan, roughly 37 vehicles caught on fire and two civilian drivers were maimed.
The clash continued for two hours and ended around 7 a.m. local time, with smoke and fire coming from the parking lot, Hassan added.
"All suicide bombers were bumped off by the Afghan forces," he detailed.
The Taliban grabbed credit for the attack in a statement they released to the media.
The Torkham-Jalalabad route was temporarily closed to the public for about four hours.
This was not the first attack on NATO's supplies parking lot. A number of suicide bombers attacked NATO's parked supplies in Torkham Port exactly seven months ago on Wednesday December 18.
Torkham is one of the major border crossings between Afghanistan and Pakistain, located on the Durand Line border. It connects Nangarhar province of Afghanistan with Pakistain's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... .
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2014 00:00 ||
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SLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Thursday that Pakistan is fighting a defining battle of the nation's history and terrorists will be defeated.
The prime minister made these remarks while chairing a meeting on national security, which agreed that the operational success in North Waziristan is linked to national unity, peace and stability. It said there is a need to extend full support to the troops in the combat area. The meeting resolved that all possible resources would be allocated to look after the IDPs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Prime Minister Nawaz said that the operation "Zarb-e-Azb" requires countrywide harmony, and added that a peaceful environment in the country would benefit the soldiers fighting in the North Waziristan Agency.
He expressed confidence that militants would be defeated in this war and the internally displaced persons from North Waziristan would be provided with every possible facility in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The meeting was attended by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Information Minister Parvaiz Rashid, Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafiq and SAFRON Minister Lt Gen (r) Abdul Qadir Baloch. During the meeting the Punjab chief minister briefed the prime minister about the Lahore incident. The chief minister said that "severe action" was being taken against those people who were involved, and no compromise would be made on justice.
The prime minister is said to have showed his displeasure over the role of his close associates in the entire saga. According to informed insiders of the PM Secretariat, Prime Minister Nawaz kept asking Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah and Hamza Shahbaz who ordered opening of fire on the unarmed civilians. "I will not let it go," the PM reportedly said. Nawaz Sharif, according to sources, was angry over the fact that he was kept in the dark while the protest was developing into a tragic incident.
[DAWN] Member of National Assembly belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... (MQM), Tahira Asif passed away late Thursday night from injuries she sustained after being shot in Lahore a day earlier, DawnNews reported. Wasn't she getting better yesterday?
She had been hit by a bullet in lower torso and left thigh and was taken to Sheikh Zayed Hospital in a critical condition on Wednesday.
According to police, she was in a car, along with by her 25-year-old daughter and a handicapped servant, when she was shot at near Iqbal Town's Moon Market.
Iqbal Town SP (Operations) Dr Farrukh Raza has said Ms Tahira of Wafaqi Colony, Johar Town, was going towards Karim Block when she stopped apparently to buy some fruit from a vendor.
As she opened the door of the car, two men on a cycle of violence who had covered their faces with a piece of cloth approached her and tried to rob her.
Quoting a couple of witnesses, including the MNA's servant, the SP said the suspects first snatched a gold necklace from her, but fired at her when she tried to resist them.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] PESHAWAR: A suicide kaboom on the residence of a peace lashkar chief in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... capital killed at least two people and maimed five others, DawnNews reported on Thursday night.
The attack took place at the residence of Adezai peace lashkar's chief Farmanullah Khan in Adezai area on the outskirts of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
Khan confirmed the incident saying two people including the jacket wallah died in the attack on his hujra.
"Suicide bomber entered my hujra and went kaboom! himself," he told Dawn.com.
Farmanullah took over as the chief of Adezai Peace Committee after the death of his elder brother Dilawar Khan who had survived a number of attacks on his life as well.
Officials in Lady Reading Hospital confirmed that two bodies have been brought to the hospital and seven including a child are injured.
The SSP Operations Najeebur Rehman Bagwi also confirmed the incident and casualties.
Peshawar is on the edge of Pakistain's tribal region, the main sanctuary for al Qaeda and Talibs in the country.
The attack came days after Pak armed forces launched Zarb-e-Azb military operation against local and foreign faceless myrmidons hiding in North Wazoo tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
Dozens of bully boy hideouts have been destroyed and hundreds of suspected snuffies have died in first five days of the military offensive.
No one has yet grabbed credit of the attack, but the city has frequently been attacked in the past few years by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain bully boys.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: At least 23 more suspected snuffies were killed in the ongoing Zarb-e-Azb operation launched by the Pakistain Army in North Wazoo tribal region, according to a statement issued by the Inter Services Public relations (ISPR) on its website.
At least 15 suspected snuffies were killed in Zartatangi mountain heights, east of Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... are in North Waziristan tribal region late on Wednesday when one of the main suspected communication centers of snuffies was targeted by Cobra gunship helicopters of the Pakistain Army.
Meanwhile, ...back at the the conspirators' cleverly concealed hideout Montefiore's foot was still stuck and the hound had completely soaked his uniform with slobber... eight Uzbek snuffies who were planting improvised bombs (IEDs) on Miranshah-Mirali road were also killed near Miranshah by military snipers.
Security forces were also cordoning off residential areas sheltering suspected snuffies in North Wazirstan tribal region.
The military also claimed that several attempts by snuffies to flee from the cordoned off areas were foiled.
The ISPR statement further said that the evacuation of civil population from Miranshah and Ghulam Khan areas of the region had begun today, adding that check points had been established at various places where internally displaced persons IDPs were being provided all administrative support incl food items and medicine by security forces.
Moreover, an IDP camp was established at Bannu while the number of registration points at Saidgai post were increased to 20, including 10 for men and women, for speedy and organised evacuation.
The army launched its long-awaited major operation 'Zarb-e-Azb' in the tribal region a week after an attack on the airport in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , deploying troops, tanks and jets to the area in the crackdown on the Taliban and other bully boys.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] KARACHI Two Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain suspects, including one allegedly involved in the killing of army soldiers, were bumped off by the Pakistain Rangers, Sindh, in separate encounters on Wednesday, officials said.
The TTP local leader was rubbed out by the Rangers in Mauripur in the early hours of Wednesday, the police officials added.
The law-enforcers came under attack when they raided a hideout of gunnies in Musharraf Colony. In an ensuing exchange of gunfire, one suspected murderous Moslem was rubbed out, the police said.
The body was shifted to the Civil Hospital Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
"He was identified as Zuhair, a local TTP commander," said City SSP Sheraz Nazeer.
The murderous Moslem was allegedly involved in the killing of 10 soldiers and other Frontier Constabulary personnel in the tribal areas, the officer said, adding that the TTP leader had come to Karachi to target some "political and religious leaders".
The other TTP suspect was killed in an encounter with the Rangers in Ittehad Town on Wednesday night, the area police said.
They added that acting on the information about the presence of suspected TTP murderous Moslems, the troops raided a place in 'Cottage Area' behind Mohammed Khan Colony where an exchange of fire ensued. In the shootout, the TTP suspect was rubbed out, the police said.However, a lie repeated often enough remains a lie... the police did not disclose the suspect's identity.
A Rangers spokesperson said that the dear departed was identified as Imran alias Umer alias Qari. He was allegedly associated with the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (Swat).
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] LANDI KOTAL: Unidentified gunniesrubbed out two persons, including a faith healer, in separate incidents in Jamrud on Wednesday.
Khasadar officials said that masked men bumped off a young man, Yousuf Khan, in Gudar area and then escaped.
In a similar attack in Shakas area, unidentified motorcyclists rubbed out a faith healer, identified as Bali Shah.
Also in the day, Khasadar force exchanged fire with a group of suspected turbans.
However, a woman is only as old as she admits... no one was hurt in the crossfire as Death Eaters escaped the area after Khasadars retaliated to the attack.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Senate, Odius Sepulcher called for war against the Visigoths... in Landi Kotal, a woman and her teenaged daughter were buried alive when they were hit by a landslide.
Sources said that the woman and her daughter were digging mud for repair of their house when a mudslide buried them alive. Family members later retrieved their bodies.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Sources said that the woman and her daughter were digging mud for repair of their house when a mudslide buried them alive.
Now that's poverty. Similarly lack of multiple food "choices" is not poverty, lack of food is poverty.
#2
...they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."
We have our snake handlers in this part of the country. Unfortunately, some of them must not be living the good life as they get bitten and don't survive.
[BBC] Tens of thousands of people are fleeing North Wazoo tribal region in north-west Pakistain after the army began an offensive against hard boys.
A camp for displaced people has been set up near Bannu but it lacks food, water and electricity, locals say.
Many displaced families are seeking shelter with friends and relatives.
A curfew has been lifted to allow people in North Waziristan to escape - and officials expect thousands more to flee to safety in the coming days.
The army says at least 160 Death Eaters had been killed since it began air strikes on hard boy targets in Shawal and other areas of North Waziristan on Sunday.
There is no independent media access to the area and no way of confirming the casualty figures.
Tanks and troops are also being sent in for a full-scale operation to target Taliban and foreign hard boy networks based near the Afghan border, the military says.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
I take it that they are fleeing because the mighty Pak Army doesn't give much credence to the concept of human shield.
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has seized a facility that produced chemical weapons under Saddam Hussein, but the site includes old and contaminated chemical weapons that U.S. officials said would be ineffective and hard to move.
Officials told the Wall Street Journal the weapons at the Al Muthanna complex are also hard to relocate, further complicating any effort by ISIS to use them in its offensive against Iraqi security forces.
Despite confidence that ISIS won’t be able to make the chemical weapons operational, the U.S. remains “concerned about the seizure of any military site" by ISIS, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told the paper. "We do not believe that the complex contains materials of military value, and it would be very difficult, if not impossible to safely move the materials."
#1
Special Commission Team Supervises Destruction of Iraq's Chemical Weapon Arsenal
The first chemical weapons destruction team of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) supervised the destruction of 463 122mm rockets which were loaded with sarin, a nerve agent. Destruction activities took place at the Khamissiyah Storage Site, 400 km. south of Baghdad, from 21 February to 24 March 1992.
#6
the site includes old and contaminated chemical weapons
Hmmmm...guys, these are people who have no problem martyring themselves to kill other people. Why would they be concerned about dying from rad exposure just to make sure a lot of apostates do the same?
#8
"We do not believe that the complex contains materials of military value"
CNS: Although the damaged Bunker 13 at Muthanna contained thousands of sarin-filled rockets, the presence of leaking munitions and unstable propellant and explosive charges made it too hazardous for UNSCOM inspectors to enter. Because the rockets could not be recovered safely, Iraq declared the munitions in Bunker 13 as "destroyed in the Gulf War".
Destroyed. By non-recovery. Still lying inside Bunker 13. But the spreadsheet has a tick for destroyed, so like that they no longer exist, pose no threat, and are not of military value.
Why, they might even scare the Invincible Mad Mullah Mighty Military Machine™, even with their stealth, hypersonic, supercavitating torpedo/missile/plane/drone thingy.
P.S. Somebody ought to tell those guys they can't ride in the open bed of a pickup truck - it's not safe and dangerous and against the law!
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/20/2014 7:51 Comments ||
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#2
And don't even bring up the seat belt law...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/20/2014 9:16 Comments ||
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#3
Bet they don't have a permit for that heavy automatic assault rifle either.
Encouraging signs have emerged that the collapse of federal government control in Iraq may have slowed and that Baghdad is beginning the transition to counteroffensive operations to regain ground. Massive mobilization of largely Shiite volunteers has given Baghdad an untrained but motivated "reserve army" that can be used to swamp cross-sectarian areas around the Iraqi capital. All available formed military units have been pulled out of reserve and brought toward Baghdad to defend the capital. In this effort, all Department of Border Enforcement units have been relocated from the country's borders, and Iraqi army and Federal Police units have been redeployed from southern Iraq. Isolated federal government units are scattered across northern Iraq, in some cases hanging on against Sunni militants with the support of adjacent Kurdish forces. Fighting is now taking place on five fronts:
1. Southern Salah al-Din. In the Tigris River valley (TRV), the government is fighting to regain control of the mixed Sunni-Shiite areas up to sixty miles north of the capital, with the northernmost point being the "stop line" at Samarra, beyond which Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki dictated there be no further retreat. This line appears to be holding. Between Samarra and the massive army depot at Taji, on Baghdad's northern flank, the federal government is contesting insurgents' control by using its ground and aerial forces, seeking to maintain highway lines of control to Samarra.
2. Diyala River valley. To the northeast of Baghdad, in the Diyala River valley (DRV) and adjacent corridors, the government is fighting to protect Sunni-Shiite areas on the main highway between Baghdad and the Iranian border. The Badr Organization, an Iran-backed paramilitary group, has historically maintained a close focus on Diyala and today dominates Iraqi military and police paramilitary forces in the province. Baquba, the provincial capital, is now under attack from insurgents led by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).
3. Western Baghdad "belts". In Baghdad's outer suburbs to the west (Falluja, Karma, Abu Ghraib) and the south (Jurf al-Sakhar, Arab Jabour), ISIS-led forces are probing the capital's defenses, and other militant groups are periodically shelling Baghdad International Airport. The insurgents seem to have lifted the government's siege of Falluja, but for now nearby Ramadi remains loosely under combined federal and provincial government control.
4, The Kurdish front. The Kurdish peshmerga have moved into the disputed districts claimed by both Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), filling the vacuum left by collapsing Iraqi army units. Though the Kurds are mostly holding back from attacking ISIS, they have inherited areas such as Jalula where ISIS was fighting the Iraqi army and regularly killing Kurdish civilians before the uprising. Skirmishes meanwhile have been reported all along the KRG's new front line, and a number of Kurdish troops have been reported killed in social media martyrdom statements.
5. Jazirah and Mosul. In the upper TRV and the Jazirah desert abutting Syria, the insurgents are consolidating their position in the absence of government forces. However, in Bayji, an oil-refining center, and Tal Afar, a large Shiite Turkmen town west of Mosul, the government still holds pockets of terrain and is reinforcing its outposts with small contingents of air-transported Iraqi special forces.
More in the article. They try to answer the big "if":
If Iraq's government makes painful compromises to win back Sunni Arab and Kurdish support, U.S. security cooperation with Iraq will increase, as evidenced in President Barack Obama's speech today.
#1
I saw the following on Small Wars Journal regarding Kurdistan:
Kurdistan is not going to become independent until it finds a way to fund itself. 90% of KRG budget comes from Baghdad which Maliki has cut off since beginning of 2014 for all but 2 months. There have been months of protests in Kurdistan by government workers about not being paid. Around 70% of KRG budget goes to public workers. It's estimated that KRG would have to export around 1 mil/bar/day to earn enough money to sustain itself. Currently KRG capacity is only at 400,000 bar/day
#2
Apparently, Small Wars is unaware that last month a huge shipment of Kurdish oil departed Cehyan, Turkey for Europe. A pipeline was built by indeigenous Kurd to connect with the Turkish pipeline, and reports this week indicate that (1) Kurd oil continues to flow through the Turkish pipeline, and (2) Kurdistan govt (which now unites the major families) plans to increase pipline flow. The present government in Kurdistan feels that they never did receive the percentage of funds that wass legally owed them through agreement reached in Baghdad. Kurds believe that US special ops has been operaating for months from at airstrip north of Irbil.
#6
What Base + alleged NatSecCoop is that, I say???
* BIGNEWSNETWORK > [VOA News] STILL WAITING FOR ORDERS, US MILITARY HAS ISIL IN ITS SIGHTS.
They may be awaiting for a while yet.
* WORLD NEWS > [Daily Star.LB] IRAN SAYS OBAMA LACKS THE WILL TO FIGHT TERRORISM IN IRAQ.
* CHINA DAILY > IRAN MILITARY CHIEF: ISIS CREATED, SUPPORTED BY US + ISRAEL, ostensibly in reaction to Baby Assad = Syria Crisis. IRAN not to cooperate or ally wid US in Iraq due to ISIL [aka ISIS] being a US Proxy.
Iran Chief of General Staff Hassan Firouzabadi.
* BIGNEWSNETWORK > [World Tribune] FAILURE IN IRAQ + VIETNAM [SE Asia War] RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT US RESOLVE IN UKRAINE + EAST ASIA.
[Iraq Sun] A group of 44 foreign nationals, including four Turkish citizens, who were kidnapped Tuesday by tribal groups in northern Iraq, have been released, a Turkish diplomat said Thursday.
Deputy security chief of Kirkuk in northern Iraq provided help for the release of the foreign workers, the diplomat told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
"They are travelling to a secure place today.
" On Tuesday, a group of armed militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL) raided a construction site of a hospital near Kirkuk in northern Iraq and kidnapped about 60 foreign workers, including 15 Turkish workers, a released hostage was quoted as saying, adding that the kidnapped foreign workers also included Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Nepal and Turkmenistan nationals.
On Thursday, Turkey's foreign ministry urged its citizens in Iraq to leave the country immediately after militants abducted some 80 Turkish citizens in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, capital of Nineveh province.
Last Wednesday, a group of ISIL militants took control of Turkey's consulate general in Mosul, and abducted 49 staff and family members, including the consul general.
Another 31 Turkish nationals were also taken hostage by the group at a power plant in the Gyarah region of Mosul.
Also, a group of 40 Indians, who mostly belong to Amritsar, Batala, and Gurdaspur areas of Punjab, and were working as drivers, sanitary workers and construction labourers in Mosul, have been abducted in the strife-torn country.
Rescue efforts are on to ensure their safe return.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2014 00:00 ||
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[Iraq Sun] Iraqi government forces battled Sunni rebels for control of the country's biggest refinery on Thursday as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Maliki imposed order on Basra wen the Shiites were going nuts, but has proven incapable of dealing with al-Qaeda's Sunni insurgency. Reelected to his third term in 2014... waited for a U.S. response to an appeal for air strikes to beat back the threat to Storied Baghdad.
Sunni snuffies hung their black banners on watch towers at Iraq's Beiji oil refinery, a witness said Thursday, suggesting the vital facility had fallen to the bad boys, the News Agency that Dare Not be Named reported.
However, Switzerland makes more than cheese... a top Iraq security official said the government force protecting the refinery was still inside Thursday and that they were in regular contact with Storied Baghdad, according to the AP.
At the refinery, 200 km (130 miles) north of the capital near Tikrit, troops loyal to the Shi'ite-led government were fighting bully boyz from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL) and its allies who had stormed the perimeter a day earlier, threatening national energy supplies.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Sky News says the Iraqi army took it back. Link
On a side note, when they give a time, is it UTC if not otherwise stated? If the server was smart it would determine my timezone and adjust the time accordingly. I don't know how it works. Anybody?
#3
Good catch, Squinty. Let's call it the fog of war, and wait until the fat lady sings. ;-)
I've been frustrated about the lack of consistency of time stamps, too, but choose to assume that it is local time until further evidence appears or a definitive ruling is made by someone who knows.
[IsraelTimes] Hamas and Fatah clashed on Thursday over a conciliatory speech delivered by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in which he justified security cooperation with Israel, saying that the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers last week was "destructive" for Palestinians.
Abbas delivered a principled condemnation of the kidnapping during a speech Wednesday to Muslim foreign ministers convened in Saudi Arabia, also saying the American citizenship of abducted teen Naftali Frankel was irrelevant to the PA's efforts to retrieve the three boys. "We told them [the US administration] that whether Israeli or American, he is a human being," he said.
His stance quickly drew fire from Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, who blasted Abbas for "basing his statements solely on the Israeli narrative, without presenting any true information."
Hamas MP Mushir al-Masri joined Abu Zuhri's criticism, accusing Abbas of preferring the three Israeli youths to thousands of Palestinian prisoners languishing in Israeli jails.
"The occupation said it is pleased with Abbas's statements regarding the kidnapped soldiers (sic)," Masri wrote on his Facebook page. "How dare Fatah defend his statements? Is this not a blow to the legacy of the martyrs and an offense even to Fatah's prisoners?"
Later, Masri juxtaposed a photo of Abbas with a photo of assassinated Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, affixing the text "we want our children home" to both. But while Yassin's photo was matched with a smaller picture of Palestinian prisoners behind bars, Abbas's was paired to a photo of the three Israelis. "The difference between truth and lie," commented Masri, adding "the most important is the three Shalits."
Fatah, which had remained largely silent on the week-old kidnapping, issued a detailed statement on Thursday, condemning the Hamas statements and defending Abbas's stance.
"[Hamas's] cheap accusations concerning the prisoners are nothing but words," read a statement on Fatah's official website. "Everyone knows that president [Abbas] has placed our heroic prisoners at the top of his agenda �... his insistence on freeing the fourth batch of veteran prisoners halted the negotiations. We did not agree to what Hamas has agreed to, namely the deportation of prisoners abroad, far from their families."
The Cairo reconciliation agreement signed between Fatah and Hamas in May 2011 explicitly called for "peaceful and political resistance," the statement continued; the kidnapping, it implied, constituted a breach of that accord.
As the IDF expanded its West Bank operation on Wednesday to target Hamas's civilian infrastructure as well as its military one, the Islamic movement found itself more diplomatically isolated than ever before.
In an interview with London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi Thursday, Hamas official Salah Bardawil admitted that Egypt "was not interested in what's happening," adding that Egypt has not contacted Hamas since the kidnapping last Thursday.
Hamas was in touch with Abbas, however, demanding an urgent Palestinian diplomatic drive "to stop the Zionist attack against the Palestinian people," Bardawil said.
[IsraelTimes] Hamass attempt to release prisoners from Israeli detention by means of the kidnapping of three yeshiva students has backfired, the head of the IDFs Central Command, Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon, said Thursday, pointing out that the group had suffered many new arrests following the abduction.
In a letter penned to troops involved in Operation Brothers Keeper, Alon, who is in charge of IDF forces in the West Bank, explained that the wave of arrests of Hamas members 50 of whom had been released as part of the prisoner swap for the return of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011 undermined the terror groups original aim.
The arrest of 50 terrorists freed as part of the Shalit deal by our forces will delay their return for many years. Thus, Hamass attempt to release prisoners brought about the opposite result, he wrote.
A statement from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbass office on Thursday condemned the arrest of the former prisoners, saying it constitutes a gross violation of the [Shalit] release agreement.
Among the 50 convicts freed in 2011 and rearrested Wednesday overnight, four were in the midst of serving double life sentences; 13 had been serving life sentences; 19 had been sentenced to over 20 years; and five had been slapped with sentences of up to 20 years. The convictions included murder, manslaughter, producing weapons, maintaining contact with the enemy, and shooting attacks.
#1
A statement from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's office on Thursday condemned the arrest of the former prisoners, saying it "constitutes a gross violation of the [Shalit] release agreement."
[IsraelTimes] An explosion in a tunnel near Gaza's border with Israel killed at least five members of Hamas and wounded several others Thursday, Palestinian officials said.
"Five martyrs were killed in a resistance activity in Saghira neighborhood" in eastern Gaza City, the local Hamas information office said, without elaborating. The Hamas members were reportedly taking part in "operational activities" when the tunnel collapsed, Palestinian media reported.
The IDF was not available for comment with regard to the incident.
On Wednesday, sources in Gaza told the Times of Israel that citizens in the Strip were preparing for war after Israel accused Hamas of kidnapping three Israeli teens.
Israeli forces, aided by PA security, have been engaged in a widespread operation against Hamas in the West Bank since the kidnapping Thursday night south of Jerusalem of Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gil-ad Shaar, 16 and Naftali Frankel, 16. As of Thursday, approximately 250 people had been detained in the operation, according to the IDF.
Gaza residents have expressed concern that an escalation could disrupt preparations for the month-long Muslim holiday of Ramadan, which begins in 10 days. The weeks before the holiday are known for intensive shopping, and residents have reported shortages of fuel and other supplies at gas stations and stores in Gaza as a result of a deepening economic crisis.
Ten Muslim militants and seven soldiers were killed yesterday in one of the bloodiest battles in the southern Philippines in recent months.
Soldiers were approaching a known Abu Sayyaf hotbed on the island of Jolo when the fighting broke out. The Abu Sayyaf initially fired on the soldiers, killing an officer. Ten minutes later, six more soldiers were killed and many others injured when the Abu Sayyaf attacked them with mortar shells.
The fighting left a reported 10 Abu Sayyaf fighters dead, although only one body was recovered, and 24 soldiers injured, the military said. A military statement said, "The remaining troops are still in the area of operations while the casualties were evacuated."
The attack comes after the Abu Sayyaf suffered a series of setbacks including the capture last week of one of its leaders, Khair Mundos. Days later, two of his followers were also arrested.
Posted by: ryuge ||
06/20/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
I feel bad for the Philippines' soldiers. Sounds like they didn't have good intel.
[Ynet] Around 150 Australians have fought with radical militants in Syria and Iraq, raising government fears of a terrorist threat to Australia if the fighters return home, the foreign minister said on Thursday.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she had cancelled a number of passports on the advice of security agencies in a bid to reduce the security threat to Australia. She did not say whether the passports were canceled to prevent Australians leaving or returning.
#3
"Oh then, g'day mate, 'et's throw another kufir 'on the bar-b"
Am I the only one who is looking at the Jihadi All-Star game and thinking, better them over there? Or is it disturbing so many are gathering on the New Caliphate is It! commercials? Both I'd say; did get the Grande Order of the Passport Stomping ceremony.
#5
'Twas Muslim Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the fighting craze;
He slew and ate the Christian horse that served him many days;
He dressed himself in baggy clothes, a badge of black enamel,
And hurried off to Syria and bought a mangy camel;
And as he pulled it through the gate, with air of lordly pride,
The grinning ISIS cameleer said, "Brother, can you ride?"
[Iran Press TV] At least six Syrian people have bit the dust and nine others injured in a car kaboom in the western city of Homs.
A Syrian television report said the victims of the attack in the restive city of Homs included women and kiddies.
The blast targeted an Alawite neighborhood in the Akrameh district. The residents of the district are reportedly the supporters of the Syrian government.
This is the second such attack in the city in the past week
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, however, said that four people were killed in the attack.
No group has grabbed credit for the attack yet, but similar bombings in Homs were carried out by foreign-backed 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... gunnies fighting against the government of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ...
On June 12, seven Syrian people were killed and 55 others injured after a boom-mobile detonated in the Wadi Dahab district of the city.
Homs has been cleared of gunnies by the Syrian army, but boom-mobilekabooms recurrently take place in the city.
On May 12, a final group of foreign-sponsored Takfiris left the city as part of a deal reached between the Damascus government and the gunnies on May 4.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State of Iraq & the Levant
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.
Wazoo
Starts January 4, 2014.
Nouri al-Maliki
[IsraelTimes] An explosion in a tunnel near Gaza's border with Israel killed at least five members of Hamas and wounded several others Thursday, Palestinian officials said.
Ten Muslim militants and seven soldiers were killed yesterday in one of the bloodiest battles in the southern Philippines in recent months. 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
