[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A commander of the loyalists of Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group was killed in an Arclight airstrike conducted by the US forces in eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province of Afghanistan.
According to the local security officials, the Arclight airstrike was carried out in the restive Achin district, leaving the ISIS commander dead along with three other Death Eaters.
The officials further added that the dronezap was carried out in Abdul Khel district.
This comes as the local officials said Monday that seven loyalists of the terror group was killed in a similar Arclight airstrike in Haska Mina district.
Earlier, a commander of the terror group who was actively recruiting for the terror group was killed during an operation in Khogyani district last week.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2016 00:00 ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A senior commander of the Afghan Border Police forces was killed in an kaboom in eastern Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... Local officials confirmed the commander of the 3rd brigade of border police forces was killed late on Monday night in Dangam district.
Provincial police chief Juma Gul Hemat said a magnetic bomb planted in the vehicle of Gen. Wali Jan exploded by the bad boys.
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12/14/2016 00:00 ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 16 murderous Moslems were killed in an Arclight airstrike conducted in southern Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province of Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said Tuesday.
The Arclight airstrike was carried out in the restive Greshk district of Helmand province, MoD added.
The ant-government armed Death Eater groups have not commented regarding the report so far.
This comes as at least 14 murderous Moslems were killed and 11 others were seriously maimed in an Arclight airstrike conducted close to Lashkargah city, the thriving provincial capital of southern Helmand province.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said Monday that the Arclight airstrike was conducted in the past 24 hours but did not elaborate further.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
For more than a half-century Helmand has survived as one of the world's great rat-holes:
(From Wiki) "The Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority (HAVA) based in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan, originally named the Helmand Valley Authority (HVA) until its expansion in 1965, was established on December 4, 1952 as an agency of the Afghan Government. The agency was modeled on the Tennessee Valley Authority in the United States...
Over the decades hundreds of millions of USAID dollars have been spent on Helmand, and there is little or nothing to show for it. Thus, Helmand reminds us that there are failed regions in failed states not worth saving.
#2
Ref #1. Used to be some tough Marines at a fire base overlooking the Kajaki dam and power station. Nothing good ever happens in Helmand. A very sad place indeed.
#3
I must say, if the Pashtuns were to make an iron-clad agreement that they'd never, ever allow foreigners into their lands so as to set up a base that could be used against us and ours, I'd be perfectly happy to leave them alone and bring home our troops and our dollars.
Problem is: I know they'd lie.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/14/2016 10:16 Comments ||
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Did they get the idea from all the threats to electoral college voters in the U.S.?
Al shabaab militants have executed two electoral delegates near the coastal city of Harardheere in Mudug region in central Somalia, the latest in string of attacks against elders voted for the new MPs.
Radio Shabelle’s correspondent in central Somalia said the two elders were killed by Al shabaab as they returned from Adado city, the interim capital of Galmudug state where they took part lower house polls.
One of the slain electoral delegates was identified as Hassan Mohamed Nur, according to our reporter. The execution of the elders occurred at areas located in the outskirts of Harardhere.
Al shabaab did not comment on the murder of the men, but their death has sent a wave of shock among the local residents who are in panic of the killing of the electoral delegates.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/14/2016 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] A military court sentenced 141 supporters of the Moslem Brüderbund to up to 15 years in prison on Tuesday for ransacking public facilities and rioting, the defendants' lawyers told Rooters.
The Assiut military court sentenced 96 of them to 15 years in absentia. Forty-two of those in detention were sentenced to seven years in prison and three of those detained to five years. The 45 detained were each also fined 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,100), said lawyers Khaled al-Koumy and Mohammed Samir.
The case dealt with events in August 2013 in the city of Malawi in the Province of Minya which were among a wave of unrest after the army removed elected Islamist president Mohammed Mursi from power, following mass protests against his rule.
Suspects in security and terrorism-related cases are often sent to the military courts in Egypt. The general prosecution referred the defendants to a military tribunal in March last year.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/14/2016 01:10 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Terror group in Egypt claims IDF bombed their positions; former Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", member who joined Islamic State reportedly killed.
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.... terrorist group accused Israel of conducting multiple Arclight airstrikes against it in the northern Sinai peninsula, in a statement issued on its al-Amaq news agency Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, incoming rocket alert sirens sounded in southern Israel, as a result of a missile launched in Sinai. However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... the projectile did not clear the border and landed within Egyptian territory.
According to the IS news agency, Israel carried out three strikes over the course of three days in the area of Sheikh Zuweid in the northern peninsula. The Israel Defense Forces would not respond to the allegation.
In addition, Abdullah Kishta, a former senior member of Hamas who joined the Islamic State, was killed in Sinai, according to IS-affiliated media. But the circumstances of Kashta’s death were not immediately clear.
For the past two years, Kishta had reportedly worked as a bridge between the Islamic State and Hamas in the Gazoo Strip, assisting in smuggling fighters in and out of the coastal enclave.
Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai called Kishta out by name as a link between the two terrorist groups last year, saying the IDF had "proof" of the direct connection.
In July, a former Israeli bigwig told Bloomberg news that Israel had carried out dronezaps against hard boyz operating in the Sinai Peninsula in recent years. The Arclight airstrikes were conducted with Egypt’s knowledge and blessing, according to the ex-official, who spoke to the US-based news site on condition of anonymity.
While it has become a well-known secret that Jerusalem and Cairo cooperate closely on security measures in the Sinai and Gazoo, many of the details of that relationship have been kept a closely guarded secret.
Israel has allowed Egypt to move heavy weapons like tanks, artillery and attack helicopters into the Sinai to fight myrmidons, overlooking provisions in the landmark 1979 peace treaty between the two countries.
The two sides also are considered to have close intelligence ties.
The two countries have entered something of a golden age in their relationship since Sissi assumed the country’s leadership in 2013.
"This is one of the best times we’ve ever had" in terms of cooperation between governments, Israeli ambassador to Cairo Haim Koren said earlier this year. "There’s good cooperation between the armies, we have understandings about the Sinai Peninsula, and basically, we see (eye-to-eye) on development of the region."
Hashem Abdel Aileh Kishtah was an expert in anti-tank weapons and is believed to have been responsible for increase in use of Kornet missiles by ISIS against Egyptian tanks.
Kishtah was originally from the city of Rafah in the southern Gazoo strip, and was high-ranking official in the Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", Izzadin al-Qassam military brigade.
A Der Speigel report stated that Kishtah is a central figure in increasing ISIS's fighting capabilities in Sinai, particularly over the last two years.
[Ynet] Four suspected members of al Qaeda's 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... branch, including a local commander, were killed on Tuesday by a dronezap on their vehicle east of the capital Sanaa, local officials said.
It was the latest in a series of strikes by pilotless planes, believed to be operated by the United States, in war-torn Yemen.
The officials said the vehicle was travelling on a main road between the Marib governorate and al-Jawf when it was attacked.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/14/2016 00:36 ||
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Aden, Ma’rib-Yemeni security forces seized a commercial truck carrying spy drones on its way to the Houthi rebels, according to a Yemeni military official.
The truck was caught in the province of Ma’rib, which is largely under the influence of the Yemeni government, with Houthi presence remaining in pockets of the province.
Before it was caught, the truck was on its way to the Houthi held capital city of Yemen, Sana’a.
The drones were reportedly hidden beneath the truck that was carrying car parts and electricity motors, according to Colonel Nasser al-Tariq.
The rebels “use drones to spy on national army positions and opposition forces on the battlefield,” he said.
The latest development comes just a week after a report released by a UK-based independent research group suggested an arms pipeline running from Iran, through Somalia and Yemen, is arming Houthi rebels.
Conflict Armament Research (CAR) suggested in the newly-released report that a significant number of Iranian arms are being transferred to Yemen using dhows.
Moreover, Yemeni military forces in Ma’rib announced on Monday that they found a network of mines and improvised explosive devices in the form of stones planted by Houthi and Saleh militias in areas that connect Ma’rib with al-Bayda’ east Yemen.
Moreover, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that security forces in Ma’rib have busted a terrorist cell composed of four people trying to plant explosives in the center where soldiers receive their salaries.
Sources did not give further information about the cell members or the investigation process.
In the south of the country, Yemeni police forces defused on Monday an explosive-laden car that was found parked in a residential neighborhood in Aden province.
Residents of the neighborhood of Mu’alla reported to security agencies in Aden that they found a booby-trapped car, according to a senior official.
Police bomb disposal technicians arrived at the scene and defused the explosives after moving the booby-trapped vehicle to a safe place.
The incident comes two days after a suicide bomber of the Yemen-based affiliate of the ISIS group struck an army base near Aden’s international airport, leaving 50 pro-government soldiers dead and more than 40 others injured.
The ISIS suicide bomber disguised with military uniform blew himself up as hundreds of soldiers gathered to receive their delayed monthly salaries, according to local sources.
The southern port city of Aden is the headquarters of Yemen’s internationally-backed President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and his government.
[Ynet] Dutch prosecutors say a 40-year-old man suspected of involvement in a terror organization in Syria or Iraq was arrested recently at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport after earlier being detained in Turkey.
The National Prosecutor's Office says in a statement that the suspect was taken into custody on Saturday and appeared before an investigating judge on Tuesday.
The man, whose identity was not released, is thought to have been in territory controlled by the extremist Islamic State group in Syria or Iraq since October 2015. He was detained last month when he crossed from Islamic State-controlled territory into Turkey.
[Ynet] Germany will on Wednesday carry out its first group deportation of Afghans whose asylum applications have been rejected, in line with an agreement with Kabul, the news magazine Der Spiegel said on Tuesday, citing government sources.
More than a million migrants from the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere have arrived in Germany this year and last, prompting concerns about security and integration and boosting support for anti-immigrant groups such as the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
In 2016, Afghans are the second biggest group of asylum seekers in Germany after Syrians, according to data from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).
A spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry did not confirm the exact date but said there would be a repatriation flight to Afghanistan by the end of the year, although details would not be announced in advance to avoid jeopardising it.
[Ynet] Finnish prosecutors are demanding life sentences for Iraqi twin brothers charged with Islamic State-related killings of at least 11 unarmed soldiers in their home country.
The Pirkanmaa District Court said Tuesday the alleged killings were part of atrocities committed by IS militants at a military base outside Tikrit in June 2014 when some 1,700 Iraqi army soldiers were slain.
The 23-year-old brothers, who have not been identified, arrived in Finland in September 2015 and were arrested three months later.
Finnish prosecutors have based the case on eyewitness accounts, IS video footage of the massacre and information from an Iraqi investigative commission.
[DeutscheWelle] A new report published on Tuesday sounded alarm bells across Germany over allegations that Greek police knew that the man suspected of killing a medical student in the city of Freiburg had a violent past. According to the magazine "Stern," a man thought to be the suspect known as "Hussein K." was convicted of attacking a female student on the island of Corfu in 2013.
The magazine wrote that Hussein was sentenced to ten years in prison. If it is the same man, how he regained his freedom remains unclear. Stern claimed that he told authorities at the time he was 17, the same age reported by authorities in Germany three years later.
According to Freiburg-based newspaper "Badische Zeitung," local police are investigating this report. They cautioned, however, that they will need to work with Greek authorities and that such a task could take some time. Police spokeswoman Laura Riske told the paper that they had already compared the suspect's DNA to a Europe-wide database and had not found any matches.
Riske added that in the two weeks he has been in detention, the suspect has not given the police an official statement.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/14/2016 01:10 ||
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[AlAhram] Spanish police have placed in durance vile ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... a former member of an illegal Spanish paramilitary group who now is suspected of spreading 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 propaganda and planning a suicide kaboom, the interior ministry said on Tuesday.
The man has expressed support online for Islamic State's attacks in European countries over the past year and was preparing to carry out a suicide attack on some form of public transport, it said in a statement.
He served a prison sentence for the murder of a French railway worker in 1984 when he was a member of the Anti-Terrorist Liberation Groups, or GAL, according to the statement.
The GAL were illegal death squads set up by Spanish officials during the 1980s to fight a covert war against the Basque separatist group ETA ETA or Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (English: Basque Homeland and Freedom) is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization that has been around since 1959. It demands independence from Spain and France for the Greater Basque Country. The group is proscribed as a terrorist organization by most civilized countries. More than 700 members of the organization are incarcerated in prisons in Spain, La Belle France, and other countries, though members do seem to find ready hospitality in Venezuela. They killed 28 people from 1983 to 1987. After their existence came to light, the then interior minister was convicted of kidnapping and other bigwigs found guilty of murder.
The arrested man, who had travelled to Afghanistan, Syria and Paleostine, was detained by the Spanish police's elite counter-terrorism unit in the town of Segovia, close to the capital Madrid, the ministry said.
"His high level of radicalisation has led him to try to obtain the means to commit a terrorist attack, being willing to carry out an indiscriminate suicide attack against means of transport," it said, without specifying any target.
The man was born in the Basque town of Irun near the French border. Spanish police arrested another man suspected of Islamic State links in Irun last month.
Spanish police have arrested 173 suspected Islamist Lions of Islam since the security alert level was raised to one notch below the highest in 2015 following terrorist attacks in Gay Paree.
Yes, but how many have been tried, convicted, and jailed? Except for a few celebrity cases -- yesterday's funders of the man in the hat, who was involved in the Belgian train station, for instance -- we aren't seeing many trials or sentences here at Rantburg.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/14/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] GWADAR: At least eight workers of the National Party (NP) were maimed on Tuesday in a hand-grenade attack in Turbat town.
Police said some men hurled a grenade at the NP office in Turbat town during a party meeting. The grenade went kaboom! in the office, leaving eight party workers injured, two of them seriously.
"Eight workers of the National Party were maimed in the grenade attack," Commissioner of the Makran Division Bashir Ahmed Bangulzai told Dawn, adding that the injured were immediately shifted to the district hospital. Two workers who received serious injuries were shifted to 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... for treatment.
"A local grenade was used in the attack," a police brass hat said, adding that the attackers beat feet from the scene on a cycle of violence after hurling the grenade.
A "local grenade" -- is that made in the same factory as a shutter gun?
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Not "local," my friends, please. Artisanal.
Less deadly, but spicy and seasonal.
Made right here in Gwadar
With almost clean water,
And priced right for Mahmoud... uh... reasonable!
[Daily Excelsior] The BSF last night foiled an infiltration attempt by a group of four to five murderous Moslems in Ramgarh sector of Samba district and apprehended a former Pakistain army personnel while other murderous Moslems retreated to Pakistain.
Official sources said alert jawans of the BSF noticed movement of four to five murderous Moslems inside Pakistain territory close to the International Border in Ramgarh sector last night and became alert. They fired para illuminating bombs to lit up the area.
Finding the BSF jawans alert, the turbans, who were trying to infiltrate into the Indian territory under the cover of dense fog and thick sarkanda growth, retreated to Pakistain. The BSF later apprehended a intruder as he kept on moving towards the Indian territory even after firing of warning shots towards him. The intruder escaped unhurt and was captured.
He has been identified as Mohammad Baksh son of Feroz Din R/o village Gandiyal in Parsroor area of Sialkot district of Pakistain. He had served in Pakistain army and is now a pensioner.
From his possession, BSF recovered two currency notes in 500 denomination, two identity cards, one small knife and a paper with "CMA Lahore Cantt" written on it with pen.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2016 00:00 ||
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Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) An Iraqi army soldier and 18 militants were killed on Tuesday when Iraqi army forces fought off an attack by Islamic State combatants north of Mosul, a statement said.
The attack targeted army locations on Baawiza, and assailants used light guns and a booby-trapped car driven by a suicide fighter, according to Brigadier General Nizar Idris from the 16th division .
“Iraqi forces, backed directly by international coalition air forces, managed to thwart the attack,” said Idris. He said one soldier and 18 militants were killed in the attack, while three armored vehicles belonging to the group were killed.
Iraqi government forces, backed by tribal militias and US-led air forces, have been leading a military campaign to retake Mosul from ISIS since October. Iraqi government forces have liberated almost 50 of the eastern side of the city, military officials say. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Monday during a visit to Mosul’s Hammam al-Alil that two thirds of Nineveh have been retaken from ISIS. Government forces are eyeing the eastern shore of the Tigris River, which cuts through Mosul, so as to consummate the liberation of the eastern region.
ISIS remains in control of several areas of the western section, which is adjacent to its strongholds in Syria, but Al-Hashd al-Shaabi forces are reporting daily advances towards liberating ISIS locations in that region.
Also on Tuesday, Al-Hashd al-Shaabi troops said they had liberated the village of Ashwah, brought down some of Islamic State militants’ defenses and killed a number of the extremist group’s members near Tal Afar, west of Mosul.
ISIS, meanwhile, claimed several attacks on al-Hashd during the same day.
Al-Hashd media service said it carried out successful offensives on ISIS in ِAshwah village, southwest of the strategic ISIS stronghold of Tal Afar. It said two booby-trapped cars were destroyed before attacking the troops which moved 200 meters away from the village’s center.
ISIS Amaq news agency said, meanwhile, that militants carried out suicide attacks against al-Hashd in Ashwah and Tal Askaa, and targeted a bulldozer run by the militia in al-Sharaea village.
The agency made no mention of fatalities among al-Hashd.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) There are only six districts left to announce full Iraqi security control over the eastern section of Mosul, the army’s Counter Terrorism Service said Tuesday, noting that 50 ISIS militants were killed in operations over the past few days.
CTS commander Abdul Wahab al-Saedi said in statements that his forces had so far recaptured 32 districts from ISIS since operations to retake the city launched in October, adding that troops were advancing in three other neighborhoods. “Our forces have managed to liberate significant and critical parts of the eastern shore of Mosul, and there are only six districts left before announcing the eastern section fully free from ISIS.”
CTS troops are now less than two kilometers from the eastern shore of the Tigris River, Saedi unveiled, adding that US-led air forces continue to bomb the extremist group’s remaining locations in the east.
“Operation ‘We Are Coming, Nineveh’ will soon see the opening of new fronts as part of new strategies prepared by the Joint Operations Command. They will paralyze ISIS’s most vital weapon in Mosul: civilians held as human shields,” Saedi stated
Sami al-Aridy, another senior CTS commander, said in statements that 50 ISIS militants were killed during operations that led to the recapture of eastern Mosul’s district of al-Falah two days ago.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) A police officer at Nineveh Police revealed on Tuesday, that a double car bomb explosion in eastern Mosul, left dozens of casualties.
Major Iyad Ziad said in a press statement, “The ISIS terrorists attacked security forces in al-Zohour area, in eastern Mosul, using two booby-trapped vehicles.”
“The explosion of the two booby-trapped vehicles resulted in the killing and wounding of dozens of civilians, as well as 7 of security forces,” Ziad added.
Meanwhile, media officials with the Ministry of defense quoted Commander of the Counter-Terrorism forces, Abdel Wahab al-Saedi, as saying that less than 2 kilometers are separating between security forces and the bridges of Mosul.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) We Are Coming, Nineveh Operations Command announced on Tuesday, that the Counter-Terrorism forces freed two neighborhoods, in the eastern side of Mosul, from the ISIS control.
Commander of Operations, Lieutenant General Abdel Amir Yarallah, said in a press statement, “Forces from the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) liberated the neighborhoods of al-Falah al-Oula and al-Falah al-Thaneya, in the eastern side of Mosul, as well as raising Iraqi flag over their buildings.”
“Security forces also inflicted heavy human and material losses on the enemy,” Yaralla added.
Joint security forces, backed by Army Aviation and international coalition, continue liberating the city of Mosul from the ISIS control, after Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced launching the battle to liberate Mosul in October 2016.
(Reuters) Iraqi Shi’ite forces fighting Islamic State west of Mosul aim to clear a large strip of land on the border with Syria to prevent the militants melting into the remote desert region and using it as a base for counter attacks, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
The Popular Mobilisation fighters – mainly Shi’ite, Iranian-backed paramilitary groups who form part of a wider Iraqi force waging the eight-week Mosul campaign – have deployed west of the city to cut the route to Islamic State-held territory in Syria.
They have taken an air base south of the town of Tal Afar, about 60 km (40 miles) west of Mosul, and linked up with Kurdish peshmerga fighters to seal off the town’s western flank.
Jafaar Hussaini said the Kata’ib Hezbollah, one of the Shi’ite armed groups, would advance further west to clear the border region where he said the militants had hidden many weapons stores for future use.
“The key objective is to … make sure that the terrorists lose the ability to regroup and launch counter attacks against advancing forces,” said Hussaini, speaking by telephone from a desert area near Tal Afar.
Kata’ib Hezbollah is one of the two main Shi’ite groups fighting west of Mosul. A spokesman for the Badr militia, the other group, said it was targeting villages around Tal Afar to “surround Daesh (Islamic State) and tighten the noose around them”.
While the army advance in east Mosul, where soldiers have been constrained by street-by-street fighting and a built-up urban battlefield, Hussaini said progress in the western region was slow because the Popular Mobilisation forces had to clear dozens of villages scattered over a wide area.
The forces are still 60 km from the frontier with Syria, he said. “We are targeting full control of the desert areas along the Syrian border”.
Defeating Islamic State in Mosul, the largest city under its control in Syria or Iraq, would deal a heavy blow to its self-styled caliphate covering parts of both countries, and could see it return to more covert militant operations.
Clearing the remote border region, which has long been a stronghold of the ultra-hardline Sunni militants, would make it more difficult for them to continue operating in northern Iraq.
FOOD AND FUEL SHORTAGES
Since the Popular Mobilisation forces closed off Mosul from Syria, residents in Islamic State-held districts of the city say fresh food has become scarce and prices have soared.
Fuel prices have also risen, leading aid groups to warn of increasing winter hardship for the 1 million residents.
“The city has never seen these prices,” a resident from the west side of the city, which is still completely under Islamic State control, told Reuters by telephone.
“For a barrel of heating fuel the price has reached a million dinars ($850) – it used to be sold for 150,000 dinars,” he said, adding that food prices had risen four or five fold, despite efforts by the militants to punish traders they accuse of hiking prices purely for profit.
One trader said that no fresh fruit or vegetables other than potatoes and onions had reached the city in the past week. “Residents are worried how they can get bread. If the siege continues at this level many people will die from lack of food,” he said.
In the east of the city, where Iraq’s elite Counter Terrorism Services have made slow progress in a grueling fight, some civilians fled the front lines and sought sanctuary in areas now under army control.
“We are very happy even though we have left behind us everything we own. The house, the car and our possessions,” said one resident of Muthanna district, who escaped with his family to stay with a relative in the nearby Zahra neighborhood.
“What’s important is that we escaped death and hell”.
He said many people in Muthanna had been killed.
“An explosive-rigged car blew up in front of one of the houses, which collapsed on top of the residents. There was a family of seven inside, including three children,” he said. “We worked for two days to dig out the bodies”.
[ARA News] Erbil – The US-coalition estimates that there are still 3,000 to 5,000 ISIS fighters inside Mosul.
“3,000 to 5,000 is probably still accurate. At the start of the campaign, we estimated somewhere between at the low end 3,500, at the high end, about 6,000. By our calculations we think we have killed or badly wounded over 2,000. So if you do the math, that’s still 3,000-5,000,” Lieutenant General Stephen J. Townsend, who leads the coalition forces against ISIS on the ground, told a press conference in the city of Qayyarah.
Furthermore, the coalition general denied that there is a stalemate in Mosul.
“I don’t think it suggests anything about a stalemate. This is a major urban area. Any army on the planet, to include the United States Army, would be challenged by this fight. And the Iraqi army has come back from near defeat two years ago, and now they’re attacking this major city, 400 kilometers from Baghdad,” he added.
Mosul is the Islamic State’s de facto capital in Iraq. The group took over the city in June 2014, and immediately afterward announced its self-proclaimed Caliphate.
On October 17, the Iraqi Army and Kurdish Peshmerga launched a major operation to liberate Mosul city and its surroundings. According to military sources, more than 2,200 ISIS militants have been killed in the operation so far.
In the meantime, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who visited Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region this week, said that the security forces haven taken losses in Mosul.
The UN Iraq Mission said that at least 1,959 members of the Iraqi security forces have been killed since the launch of the anti-ISIS Mosul operation on 17 October in all of Iraq.
“The Iraqi Security Forces have been and are fighting hard. As a consequence of that, they have taken losses and they are our comrades-in-arms over the years. So our hearts go out to them, to their families,” Secretary Carter said. “And at the same time we are constantly helping them to reset their forces after they carry out an operation. That’s one of the roles we play here. We’re in an enabling role. We do equipping, logistics, sustainment.”
“We help them with their own medical system so that they can treat their casualties, with mobility as well as all of the awesome military power of the United States, air power, artillery, and so forth, so that they can have battlefield success with minimal losses,” he added. “But there still are significant losses because it’s a hard fight,” he concluded.
Moreover, the coalition says that they have killed prominent ISIS jihadist leaders. “A significant part of their leadership has been killed. And the rest of it, knowing that they’re being hunted, are therefore forced to behave like hunted men. And that by itself also adds a benefit in the sense that their freedom to communicate, their freedom to move, their freedom to instill confidence in their forces is also reduced as we wipe out some of them, because the rest of them have to lie lower,” US Defence Secretary Carter said.
“I’ll just add that so as the secretary said, we’re continually striking his command and control and key leaders daily. And we see that in our intelligence reporting that it’s affecting his life,” Lieutenant General Stephen J. Townsend. “And Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi probably wishes he had more direct command and control over his formation than he does right now. He’s trying to find ways to regain effectiveness. So we have to constantly stay after this every day of the fight to eventually win. And we will win,” he stated.
Supported by the US-led coalition, the Iraqi forces have so far captured some 28 neighborhoods in the war-torn city since the launch of Mosul operation, forcing the Islamic State back towards the downtown core.
Informed sources inside Mosul told ARA News that the Iraqi forces currently control approximately 50% of Mosul city, beside tightening the siege on the ISIS-held downtown districts.
[AlArabiya] ISIS blew up the Khosr river bridge east of Mosul in an attempt to halt the progress of Iraqi forces coming in from the recently liberated Al-Falah neighborhood as they head towards ISIS-held Hay AlSukkar.
Iraqi forces, however, reported the stopping of battles in Eastern Mosul – announcing the completing of the first phase of taking back the city.
Saturday, Iraq’s joint operations command that counter-terrorism forces regained control of 31 neighborhoods on the left coast of the city of Mosul.
They continue to advance in three other neighborhoods after inflicting heavy losses on ISIS during recent battles.
The joint operations’ command also said that their forces are less than two kilometers away from Mosul’s bridges, adding that the coalition’s air force continues to destroy ISIS gatherings in east Mosul.
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12/14/2016 00:00 ||
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Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Twelve Islamic State militants were killed on Tuesday as US-led fighter jets bombed their locations in Anbar’s western town of Rawa, a military official said.
The ISIS haven was targeted after reconnaissance missions, commander of the army’s al-Jazeera Operations, Qassem al-Mohammadi, was quoted as saying by Alghad Press.
The towns of Annah and Rawa are ISIS’s last major strongholds in Anbar, and Iraqi air forces, backed by international coalition jets, have been targeting the group’s location at those areas where they used to launch attacks on security and civilians.
Iraqi security and tribal forces are still preparing for a major operation to liberate Anbar’s towns which the extremist group occupied along with other areas of the country in 2014.
ISIS is currently fighting oto defend its last major stronghold in Iraq, Mosul, where Iraqi security forces and US fighter jets have been in a wide-scale campaign since October to retake the city.
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Anbar Police Command announced on Tuesday finding a large cache of weapons and explosive devices, inside one of the houses in al-Jaghifi area, in central Fallujah.
The Command said in a press statement, “Security information allowed the police forces to discover a large cache of weapons and explosive materials and devices, inside one of the houses in al-Jaghifi neighborhood, in central Fallujah.”
“The ISIS members prepared a number of secret caches of weapons and hideouts in different areas of Fallujah, in order to be used against security forces after the liberation of Fallujah,” the statement explained.
“Security forces are working continuously to discover the rest of ISIS hideouts that were prepared by the terrorist sleeper cells in Fallujah,” the statement further added.
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12/14/2016 00:00 ||
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Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) A police source revealed, that unidentified gunmen attacked a house, in eastern Baghdad, using machine guns and hand grenades, without leaving any casualties, Alsumaria reported on Tuesday.
The source said, “At early hour this morning, unidentified armed men attacked a house in Tareq neighborhood in al-Sadr city, in eastern Baghdad, using machine guns and two hand grenades.”
“The attack inflicted significant damage to the house front, and didn’t cause any human casualties,” the source told Alsumaria on condition of anonymity.
“Security forces rushed to the area of incident and opened an investigation to reveal the identity of the attackers,” the source further added.
The capital, Baghdad, is witnessing violent acts and bomb attacks, as well as separate attacks against civilians and security forces.
[Ynet] A female terrorist attempted to carry out a vehicular attack at the Qalandiya checkpoint
...apparently it's next to a Palestinian "refugee camp" of the same name, which would explain its popularity as an attack point...
on Tuesday afternoon, but was stopped before she could harm anyone.
The woman, an east Jerusalem resident in her 30s, sped towards the security forces stationed at the checkpoint, prompting them to begin the arrest procedure by firing into the air.
This caused the woman to stop the car, exit it wielding a knife, and call out "Allahu Akbar."
Security forces overpowered her and tossed in the clink Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! her. She was unharmed.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The last Syrian Air Force base in east Homs is now in grave danger as the 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.... of Iraq and al-Sham" (ISIS) launch their largest attack yet.
ISIS began their assault by seizing several sites north of the T-4 Airbase, including the airport's hangars and Russian military base that was built several months before the terrorist offensive in east Homs.
While reinforcements have arrived in eastern Homs, it is not likely that they will have much of an affect on the battle due to the Islamic State's superior numbers and geographical advantage.
According to a military source at the T-4 Military Airport, the situation is currently very tense, with the Islamic State repeatedly storming sites after being repelled a number of times prior.
Losing the T-4 Military Airport would not only be a public relations disaster for the Syrian Arab Army, but it would also delay any potential counter-offensive they were planning near Palmyra.
The other issue they face is the potential loss of Quraytayn, which is located south of the T-4 Airport and directly east of the Qalamoun Mountains.
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12/14/2016 00:00 ||
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[ALMASDARNEWS] The jihadist rebels have accepted a reconciliation agreement that would surrender the key town of Kanakir near the Golan Heights-Damascus border to the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in exchange for amnesty.
According to a military source in Damascus, more than 1,500 murderous Moslems from the Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... (FSA) and Harakat 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... turned themselves into the Syrian Arab Army, as part of the reconciliation and peace agreement in Kanakir.
The agreement will allow civilians to return to their normal lives and use the Syrian government highways and institutions; they will also be transferred to a site of their choosing if they request it to the Syrian Arab Army.
For the Syrian Arab Army, the surrender of Kanakir gives them access to the West Ghouta-Golan Heights border, which will be crucial in the coming weeks when they begin their offensive near Hader.
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12/14/2016 00:21 ||
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[ALMASDARNEWS] The jihadist rebels of Jaish al-Fateh ...Army of Conquest coalition includes Ahrar al-Sham, Jabhat al-Nusra, Fath al-Sham, Ihyaa al-Jihad Brigade, Mujhedi Nawa, Asoud al-Tahid Brigade, Ansar al-Haqa Brigade and the Islamic brigade of al-Omarein, of which three are affialiated with al-Qaeda. It is or has been supported by Saudi Arabia and Turkey... and Halab Fatah have officially agreed to a ceasefire deal that would allow for their Lions of Islam and local residents to leave the beseigd neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo.
Initially, a similar deal was put in place that would allow for the evacuation of civilians; however, several Lions of Islam reneged on this agreement and forced residents to remain in the besieged areas.
The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has not yet entered any of the remaining besieged neighborhoods, despite claims by Syrian opposition activists that government forces entered Kalaseh and Bustan al-Qasr.
A Syrian military source told al-Masdar moments ago that they will not enter any of the jihadist controlled neighborhoods until they are permitted by the observing groups and opposition.
The Syrian Armed Forces have suspended operations in eastern Aleppo indefinitely, as they shift their focus to more pressing fronts in eastern Homs and southern Aleppo.
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[ALMASDARNEWS] The jihadist rebels of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham ...formerly al-Nusra, the current false nose and mustache of al-Qaeda in the Levant... , alongside Jaish al-Mujahiddeen, launched a new offensive in the western sector of Aleppo on Tuesday, targeting the Syrian Arab Army's defenses at the al-Zahra Association Quarter.
Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and their allies began the assault by storming the western sector of the al-Zahra Quarter, resulting in a fierce battle with the Syrian Arab Army and Liwaa al-Quds ...the Jerusalem Brigade is a Paleostinian-Syrian pro-Government group that operates in Aleppo, formed in 2013. The group is composed of predominately Sunni Paleostinians from the al-Nayrab district as well as the former refugee camp Handarat. It is believed to be the largest Assadist auxilliary force operating in storied Aleppo... (Paleostinian paramilitary) that lasted for several hours on Tuesday.
Unable to infiltrate the Syrian Army's defenses, the jihadist rebels were forced to withdraw west of the Great Aleppo Mosque in order to avoid Arclight airstrikes and intense shelling from the government.
According to a military source in Aleppo, the jihadist offensive resulted in the loss of more than 20 combatants, including several members of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham.
As a result of this jihadist assault on Tuesday, the Syrian Armed Forces launched a swift counter-offensive this morning to capture the remaining sites in al-Zahra that are under Jabhat Fateh al-Sham's control.
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[Al Arabiya] Syrian regime forces and sectarian militias carried out on Monday nearly two hundred executions in Aleppo, which included women and children, according to eyewitnesses from within the city, Al Arabiya News Channel reported.
A firing squad from Bashar al-Assad’s forces and militiamen also executed medical staff.
According to activists on the ground, Hezbollah militia carried out most of the mass executions in the war-torn city.
Sources confirmed to Al Arabiya that militias loyal to the regime had also burned nine children and four women.
Meanwhile, the White Helmets in Aleppo reported more than 90 bodies under the rubble that had not been recovered.
Civilian Evacuation
The legal adviser of the Free Syrian Army, Osama Abu Zayd, appealed to the international community to help provide assistance for the evacuation of civilians and guarantee their freedom and safety, stressing that the FSA was willing to exit if there were international guarantees for them.
Zayd stressed that the Syrian regime forces are forcing those fleeing from Aleppo to fight on their side.
UN ‘alarmed’
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon is alarmed by reports of atrocities against “a large number” of civilians, including women and children, in recent hours in the Syrian city of Aleppo, his spokesman said Monday.
“While stressing that the United Nations is not able to independently verify these reports, the secretary-general is conveying his grave concern to the relevant parties,” said spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
Ban has asked his envoy Staffan de Mistura to follow up.
“The United Nations underlines the obligation of all parties on the ground to protect civilians and abide by international humanitarian and human rights law,” Dujarric said.
“This is particularly the responsibility of the Syrian government and its allies,” notably Russia and Iran, he added.
Assad Aleppo take over
Syria’s army and its allies have taken full control of all Aleppo districts abandoned by rebels during their retreat in the city, a Syrian military source said on Tuesday.
On Monday rebel defenses collapsed, leading to a broad army advance across more than half of the remaining insurgent pocket in Aleppo and a retreat of opposition fighters to a few districts on the west bank of the city’s river.
Recapturing the entire rebel pocket of Aleppo will constitute the biggest battlefield victory yet for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his military coalition of Russia’s air force, Iran and Shiite militias.
For rebels, it will mark a sobering loss and leave them without a significant presence in any of Syria’s main cities. They still hold much of the countryside west of Aleppo and the province of Idlib, also in northwest Syria.
Soddy condemn Syrian government Aleppo progrom The upside for the Syrian government is they think they have a good chance of winning the elections in Aleppo
[Asharq Al-Awsat] Saudi Arabia’s top religious body on Tuesday condemned what it said were “criminal massacres” by the Syrian regime against civilians in Aleppo and called on the Islamic world to help save fellow Muslims.
State news agency SPA said the secretariat appealed to the Muslim world “to rise in support of its causes and stand with all its energy for its rights”. Qatar earlier called for an emergency Arab League meeting to discuss the situation in Aleppo, Qatar-based Al Jazeera television reported.
The appeal came after the United Nations said it had reports that Syrian soldiers and allied Iraqi fighters had summarily shot dead 82 civilians in recaptured Aleppo districts, and a military source said the last rebel pocket could fall “at any moment”.
“The criminal Syrian regime has committed the ugliest crimes in a way unknown in modern history, where the bodies of the dead fill the streets and under the rubble of destroyed buildings,” the secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars said in a statement carried by SPA.
“The savage bombardment harvests lives everywhere, including in hospitals and houses of worship, while the international community is helpless or ineffective to take any decision to deter this criminal machine,” it added.
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12/14/2016 00:00 ||
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[AlArabiya] Airstrikes killed 85 civilians including dozens of children in Oqayrabat village in the central province of Hama, on Monday according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The warplanes either belong to the Syrian regime or Russia.
Oqayrabat lies northwest of Palmyra, the city that was recaptured by ISIS during the weekend.
In addition to the deaths, more than 20 civilians experienced suffocation as a result of the explosive barrels dropped on the village of Hanuteh in the town of Uqayribat, where a woman and two children were killed, while many others were wounded.
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[al-Manar] Turkish General Staff stated Tuesday that military aircraft destroyed 28 targets of the so-called ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL) terrorist group in northern Syria as part of the Euphrates Shield operation over the past 24 hours.
“As a result of airstrikes conducted by our Air Force in the al-Bab, Bzagah regions 28 ISIL targets were destroyed including 6 shelters, 3 headquarters, 3 checkpoints, 2 military vehicles, 2 depots, 3 garages and artillery posts,” the statement obtained by RIA Novosti said.
It added that a total of 157 strikes had been carried out against ISIL positions.
On August 24, the Turkish army launched Operation Euphrates Shield against militants of the ISIL terrorist group.
Turkish forces with assistance from Syrian opposition fighters occupied the city of Jarabulus in northern Syria and are currently conducting its offensive on the ISIL-held city of al-Bab.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan stated that the aim of the operation is to clear the region of terrorists and making it into a safety zone for refugees.
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[ARA News] Homs – Militants of the Islamic State (ISIS) on Tuesday made new gains in their fight with the Syrian Army forces in the central governorate of Homs.
ISIS fighters captured the main road between al-Qaryatain town and Homs city, which used to be a key supply route for the Syrian regime’s army forces.
The radical group seized control of the supply-line after capturing military checkpoints that were previously held by the Syrian regime’s troops.
“Subsequent to clashes with the Syrian Army forces, ISIS fighters took over four checkpoints in the vicinity of al-Qaryatain, which enabled the group to block the army’s supply route,” local media activist Amro al-Hussein told ARA News.
“The route was a main supply line for the Syrian Army in Homs Governorate. The army forces have been relying on this route to send military reinforcements from al-Qaryatain town to the T4 Airbase and further into Homs city,” al-Hussein reported.
This comes just one day after the Islamic State militants assaulted the T4 Military Airport, breaching its defenses with mortar batteries and heavy machine guns. Located in the Homs’ eastern countryside, the T4 Airport is a critical security installation, providing regime forces with close air support.
Earlier on Sunday, the hardline group recaptured the ancient city of Palmyra in Homs Governorate. Activists and military sources confirmed the rout, reporting that the army had been forced to withdraw under fire.
“The army withdrew after the clashes reached the city center and it became impossible for them to push ISIS back,” media activist Abas al-Omar reported.
Russia had supported the Syrian Army in Palmyra, with airstrikes and logistical support but their efforts were apparently insufficient to save the city.
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[AnNahar] A coalition dronezap in Syria killed three 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 leaders involved in plotting foreign attacks, including two men who helped facilitate last year's attacks in Gay Paree, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
"The three were working together to plot and facilitate attacks against Western targets at the time of the strike," Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said in a statement.
They were killed in a December 4 Arclight airstrike in Raqa, an IS group stronghold in Syria.
Two of those killed -- Salah-Eddine Gourmat and Sammy Djedou -- were involved in facilitating the November 13, 2015 Gay Paree attacks, in which 130 people died, Cook said.
Gourmat was a French national and Djedou, Belgian.
Both of them were "close associates" of Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, an IS front man and external operations leader who was killed in a coalition Arclight airstrike in August.
The third person killed was Walid Hamman, a Frenchie who Cook said was a suicide-attack planner convicted in absentia in Belgium for a terror plot disrupted in 2015.
They were riding together in a vehicle at the time of the dronezap, Pentagon front man Navy Captain Jeff Davis said.
All three belonged to a network led by Boubaker al-Hakim, a Tunisian killed in an Arclight airstrike last month, officials said.
During last year's IS-claimed attacks in Gay Paree, jacket wallahs and gunnies launched a coordinated assault across the French capital, including at the Bataclan, a concert hall where three attackers killed 90 people during a rock gig.
Gourmat had worked on external attacks in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa and was involved in the "financial facilitation" of the Gay Paree attacks, Davis said.
Djedou took part in plotting Europe attacks, Davis added without giving details about his role in the Gay Paree attacks.
Djedou was a close associate of Abdelhamid Abaaoud who led the deadly November 13 attacks in Gay Paree before police gunned him down during a raid days later, according to Belgian broadcaster RTBF.
Djedou had left Belgium in 2012 for Syria, where he eventually rose up the Islamic State ranks and helped plan the Gay Paree attacks as well as the attacks in Brussels that killed 32 people in March, RTBF added.
Hamman was a "longtime French terrorist" who helped the IS group seize djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , among other operations, Davis said.
A French court sentenced an absent Gourmat, then 24, to four years in prison in March 2014 on charges including trying to conduct jihad in Syria.
He had been incarcerated Please don't kill me! with two other men in May 2012 at an airport near Saint-Etienne in central La Belle France carrying a revolver, night-vision goggles, camouflage clothing and tactical vests.
They had been trying to fly to Gaziantep in southeast The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... .Gourmat and another of the arrested men claimed they were going on a humanitarian trip.
Gourmat, who was not kept in jug ahead of his trial, later fled La Belle France.
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Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants executed an Iraqi journalist in central Mosul on Saturday, a press freedoms organization said Monday.
ISIS executed Hashem Fares, a photojournalist for al-Haqiqa, a local newspaper, and a former reporter for al-Diyar, a local TV, said the Iraqi Observatory for Press Freedoms , an Iraqi Journalists Syndicate body.
The reason for the execution is still unknown, the organization said, but ISIS has had a bloody history of executions of journalists, foreign workers and civilians since it took over several regions in Iraq in 2014, and most of the time accused the victims of either treason or collaboration with security.
Iraq is ranked among the world’s most dangerous work environments for journalists, with 420 workers in the profession killed since the ouster of late Saddam Hussein in 2003, according to data from the observatory and the syndicate.
Reporters Without Borders had counted 110 journalists deaths in 2015, with Iraq and Syria accounting for the biggest number of victims.
ISIS abducts 30 in Ninevah ISIS recruiting drive begins
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State (ISIS) militants have reportedly kidnapped 30 civilians southwest of Nineveh, a local source told Alsumaria News on Tuesday.
The civilians were kidnapped from an area between al-Baaj and the Syrian borders and were taken to an unknown destination, according to the source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The extremist group accused the kidnapped civilians of “abandoning the land of the Caliphate” and smuggling civilians out of ISIS-controlled areas, common accusations the group posed against civilians held by the group.
ISIS has also reportedly been holding civilians in Nineveh to use them as human shields against Iraqi troops and popular militias fighting to liberate the city from the militants, and has said, on several occasions, to force civilians to leave homes at areas it loses to Iraqi forces and drive them to other regions under its control.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi police caught on Tuesday 10 Islamic State affiliates at a refugee camp east of Mosul, a police commander stated.
“Nineveh’s local police forces detained 10 ISIS members who escorted their families during migration to al-Khazir refugee camp east of Mosul,” Birg. Gen. Watheq al-Hamadani, Nineveh police chief, was quoted as saying by DPA news agency.
The arrests occurred after the forces scrutinized the names of persons on the wanted list and arrested ten “whose hands were stained with blood with the group,” as Hamadani put it. They were driven to Nineveh’s police headquarter for interrogation.
Despite fierce resistance, Islamic State militants have reportedly been losing ground and equipment in Mosul, their last stronghold in Iraq, since Iraqi government forces and US-led air forces launched a major campaign to recapture the city in October. Many militants and their families reportedly fled the city to Syria or other regions in Iraq still under the group’s control.
The battles forced at least 103.000 people to leave homes in Mosul to refugee camps in Nineveh and other provinces, according to recent data from the migration ministry. Concerns persist over the fate of hundreds of thousands others stranded in the battlefields, with Iraqi commanders saying that the existence of civilians there slows down the progress of operations and dictating extra cautiousness.
There are at least 3 million internally dispalced people inside Iraq, according to UN data.
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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.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A commander of the loyalists of 
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A senior commander of the Afghan Border Police forces was killed in an 
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 16 
Ref #1. Used to be some tough Marines at a fire base overlooking the Kajaki dam and power station. Nothing good ever happens in Helmand. A very sad place indeed. 
Basque separatist group ETA
[AlArabiya] Airstrikes killed 85 civilians including dozens of children in Oqayrabat village in the central province of Hama, on Monday according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
