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Today: 61 articles and 153 comments as of 9:46.
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Lebanon arrests 19 people suspected of belonging to ISIS
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 6: Politix
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Afghanistan
CIA pushing to expand authority to use drone strikes
[The Hill] The CIA is pushing to expand its authority to use covert drone strikes in Afghanistan despite objections from the Pentagon, according to a report from The New York Times.

The Pentagon has typically taken the lead on airstrikes in conflict zones. If the CIA’s request is approved by President Trump, it would be the first time the agency would be able to perform such strikes in Afghanistan.

The White House is reportedly open to the idea, which would loosen Obama-era restrictions on the CIA.

The Obama administration tightened rules on what the CIA was able to in Afghanistan and other countries in an effort to prevent civilian deaths. But the Trump administration wants to loosen those rules to more effectively target radical Islamic extremists.

CIA Director Mike Pompeo hinted at increased efforts against terror groups in an interview Monday on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

"If I were them, I'd count my days," Pompeo told host Bret Baier on Fox News's "Special Report" when asked if there are signs the U.S. is close to catching top al Qaeda leaders such as Ayman al-Zawahiri or the son of Osama bin Laden.

"My team even as we sit here is working diligently to find them and bring them to justice," the former Kansas lawmaker said.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/16/2017 00:32 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's a Klingon, 'regime change' conflict. It has been for years, possibly from the beginning.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/16/2017 0:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Any recommendations re North Korea, boys?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/16/2017 1:36 Comments || Top||

#3  Some thoughts:

In many ways, China and Pakistan are to Afghanistan as China and Russia are to North Korea. We have not prevailed in Afghanistan because we have not dealt with the actual threat.

You see the massive Russian "exercise" taking place in Belarus (Read about here in this Klingon publication). This is not only an exercise, it is a trip wire. Should the U.S. take military action against the NORKS, the Russians are prepared to create a great deal of mischief in eastern Europe.

Likewise the Chinese stand ready to cross the Yalu and come south as they did in Oct 1950. They will not permit a South Korean take-over of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Chinese would likely use a U.S. strike against the NORKS as justification or an opportunity for military action against Taiwan.

BLUF: Our options (as seen by the Chinese, Russians, and the North Koreans); the U.S. either goes big, or it goes home. It is likely that the state of our military and political will after decades of endless wars precludes major action. The pundits continue to chirp "Options for the U.S. are few." But the pundits are full of kak !

Recommendations:

(1.) End the bombastic war rhetoric and adopt the long game.
(2.) Continue to rebuild the U.S. military.
(2.a.) Begin a systematic extraction of our military from involvement and meddling overseas (endless wars), particularly in the ME and Africa. It should be abundantly clear by now that these efforts are futile, enormously expensive, and quite hopeless.
(2.b.) For the sins of 9/11 and all failures since, downsize the FBI and National Intelligence Community (less NSA) to the strength of a reinforced Infantry Rifle Platoon and rebuild from the ground up.
(2.c.) Terminate the activities of The United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court) and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. Find another way to do business, secretive courts who report to no one are not the answer.
(3.) Quietly and without fanfare, provide a tailored nuclear umbrella and response for the Japanese, South Koreans, and possibly the Taiwanese.
(3.a.) Shore up regional military support and intelligence collaboration with Australia, the Philippines, and other friends in the Pacific. The regime of Rodrigo Duterte will not last forever.
(4.) Immediately begin the no-notice, systematic and substantive trade reductions with China. This will have the duel effect of putting their economy in the ditch and assisting our own. Walmart and Target will suffer, but it is long, long overdue.
(4.a.) Give substantial tax incentives to U.S. firms who will take up the slack for Chinese import cutbacks.
(4.b.) Look to the UK, Australian, Taiwan, and New Zealand (yes New Zealand), Israel, Sweden, Norway, and Finland for assistance in taking up slack mention in (4.a.) above.
(5.) Adopt the 'One China' - 'One Taiwan' policy.
(6.) If the Chinese, Russians, and NORKS wish to 'go big', so be it. Let both China and Russia quietly know that a nuclear attack form North Korea against the U.S., Guam, or Japan will be immediately seen as a nuclear attack from Beijing, Moscow, and Pyongyang and will be dealt with as such.

Remain flexible and monitor daily. Modify 1. thru 6. as needed until the pain subsides.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/16/2017 7:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Well reasoned, B.
Posted by: Skidmark || 09/16/2017 8:29 Comments || Top||

#5  Sick the Air Force on them. They seem effective in keeping fixed wing aircraft out of the Army's hands. (See - A10)
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/16/2017 8:53 Comments || Top||

#6  ...er...Sic
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/16/2017 8:53 Comments || Top||

#7  B, really good post. Maybe you should post it as an article so it gets more attention. My comment would be that to be able to play the long game we have to do something about the Fiscal Freight Train that's coming down the tracks. In a sense, our most powerful weapon is the USD, and we're in the process of unilaterally disarming ourselves. Now, how we do something about that in the current political environment remains a mystery to me.
Posted by: Matt || 09/16/2017 11:43 Comments || Top||

#8  Concur with you 'Fiscal Freight Train' comment Matt. Nixon and Kissinger began the wealth transfer to China decades ago as method of introducing those Chinese Communist fellas to a 'market based, democratic economy' with a hope of promoting global peace through democracy.

Kissinger made a very successful career out of wickering Chinese business opportunities for western investors, and continues his efforts today. If there is one thing the Chinese understand, it is BUSINESS. I will refrain from using the tired axiom of the 'you know whats' of the orient. Kissinger might find it offensive.

After fifty plus years of assisting the Communist Chinese bolster their economy via massive trade imbalances, I believe we can now bear witness to the failure of Kissinger's democratization angle (failure that is, for the common man). A colossal cock-up of the first order. They are still totalitarian communists and are likely to remain so.

If our democracy and market economy is to survive, we must re-establish our manufacturing and industrial base. You buy my lawn mower, I buy your polo shirt. If there is anything left over, then purchase an imported Polish ham and have a picnic.

I'm not too concerned about the paranoid Russians. They are experts at collecting global 'road kill' and will probably remain so.

Just my penny farthing's worth.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/16/2017 13:10 Comments || Top||

#9  If an "You idiot, you've killed us!" scenario could be arranged, I'd say let em have as many drones as they want...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 09/16/2017 14:02 Comments || Top||

#10  If our democracy and market economy is to survive, we must re-establish our manufacturing and industrial base.

Environmentalism, Affirmative action, lack of vocational education, MBAs.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/16/2017 14:16 Comments || Top||

#11  Besoeker / Visitor, thank you! I am heartened by your coup d-oeil of USA grand national strategic objectives in re Afghanistan and Northern (as I refer to it) Korea.

I have taken the liberty of posting, approvingly of course, your comments below in full on my website just now. I also invite attention there to two lines of thought you and Sundance at Conservative Tree House work in parallel: economic leverage and who the real threat is in Afghanistan and Northern Korea: Pakistan and China.

If this is not to your liking, tell me and I will take it down:

http://theological-geography.net/?p=30890
Posted by: TopRev || 09/16/2017 15:09 Comments || Top||

#12  No issues here.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/16/2017 17:35 Comments || Top||

#13  trial post as several have failed.
Posted by: 3dc || 09/16/2017 17:45 Comments || Top||

#14  What I want to say requires sadly some of Freds Magic bad words so I need to think about how to say it. So misspellings and strangeness.

The USA as always is a poke her player.

Kimmy is playing double dare.

One of Kimmy's owners is playing that board game with knights and bishops.

His other owner is playing that Asian tile based game.

Poke her players do not play a good long game as they are too easily distracted and loose concentration. Sorry Besoeker.

It's close to the last hand of the night and kimmy and his owners have thrown the kitchen sink into the pile in the center of the table.

Now as any good poke her player knows it's the part of the game where it good to have a sawed off shot gun in near reach and a 45 in your hand under the table while you put in your final bid on the turn and prepare to call.



Posted by: 3dc || 09/16/2017 18:04 Comments || Top||

#15  Why does China wish to throw it all in the pot right now and play for a total win?

I find that to be the interesting question.
Posted by: 3dc || 09/16/2017 18:07 Comments || Top||

#16  Threshold politics, they can't afford the facade much longer.
Posted by: Skidmark || 09/16/2017 19:51 Comments || Top||

#17  TopRev dear, after reading your blog post, you need to know that Besoeker is of the XY variety. Nice write up.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/16/2017 21:00 Comments || Top||

#18  Thank you Besoeker and trailing wife!
Posted by: TopRev || 09/16/2017 23:47 Comments || Top||


3 Romanian soldiers wounded in blast near Kandahar aerodrome
An explosion occurred near a foreign forces’ convoy in Kandahar province on Friday afternoon, sources said.

The explosion was a car bomb blast and took place when a suicide bomber blew up his explosives close to a Romanian forces convoy in areas near the Kandahar Airport, sources said.

According to the sources, three Romanian forces were wounded in the blast.

More details will be added to this story.
Posted by: badanov || 09/16/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


2 ANA bases under attack in Faryab
A number of soldiers stationed in Ghormach district in the northern Faryab province have claimed that they are under siege by militants over the past two months and that they are faced with ‘serious challenges including lack of food’.

The military bases are located in Abgarmak and Chinaee regions in the district, soldiers told TOLOnews on Friday.

The Ministry of Defense said the route to the Ghormach district is closed and that they support the battalions from air.

According to the Defense Ministry, efforts are underway to break the siege and open the road to the district and to the bases.

“We provide their food, clothes, ammunition and other needs from air. But the basis of addressing the problem is to open the route and we are working on it,” Defense Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said.

“Weak management of military commanders and issues around helping the personnel on time are questionable and worrying,” said Mirdad Nijrabi, head of the internal security committee of the Wolesi Jirga, the Lower House of Parliament.

Meanwhile, dozens of Faryab residents at a gathering on Friday slammed the local officials and the leaders of the National Unity Government over ‘negligence in maintaining security of the province’.

“All Afghans are tired of your boring games and you (government leaders) know that we have realized your tricks. The people know that you are sacrificing a nation for your own interests,” head of Faryab civil society organization, Sayed Zainuddin Abidi, said.

Ghormach was fallen to the Taliban at least one month ago. Security forces however managed to retake the center of the district. Reports indicate that important parts of the district including the routes ending to this part of Faryab are under Taliban’s control.

More from al-Manar

A suicide attacker driving an explosives-filled vehicle slammed into a convoy of foreign troops in southern Afghanistan on Friday, officials said, with reports of several soldiers wounded.

The Taliban claimed the attack which Kandahar provincial governor spokesman Fazal Bari Baryalai told AFP “totally destroyed” one of the vehicles carrying Romanian soldiers in Daman district.

Afghan and NATO officials could not confirm reports of casualties but in a WhatsApp message to journalists Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said “seven invading forces” were killed.

The militants routinely exaggerate battlefield claims.

Provincial police chief General Abdul Raziq told AFP the scene had been cordoned off by foreign forces.

The Taliban’s latest assault follows the militant group’s pledge to turn Afghanistan into a “graveyard” for foreign forces after US President Donald Trump’s announcement to keep American boots on the ground indefinitely.

Earlier this month two Taliban suicide bombers launched separate attacks around Bagram Airfield, America’s largest base in the country, that wounded several US soldiers and civilians.

One of those attacks was in direct response to a US leaflet drop in the northern province of Parwan, where Bagram is located, that offended many Muslims in the deeply religious country.

The leaflet depicted a lion chasing a white dog — the same color as the Taliban’s flag — with the Islamic statement of faith — “There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is the messenger of Allah” — superimposed on its body.

Dogs are seen as unclean creatures by some Muslims and the association of Islam with a canine angered many people and sparked protests.

Source: AFP
Posted by: badanov || 09/16/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa North
Omar Mukhtar operations room denies increased fighting around Derna as situation in town worsens
[Libya Herald] The Libyan National Army’s Omar Mukhtar operations room which is tasked with the capture of Derna from the mujahedeen forces controlling it has denied escalating military action around the besieged town. Operations room front man Salah Bujidar said that there had been small scale festivities between mujahideen forces and the LNA but nothing more. The mujahindeen fired shells on a daily basis fired shells at army positions, he said, and it responded in kind.

Despite Bujidar’s statement, residents in the town are living a life of complete misery. Ten days ago, it was announced that the commander of the operations room, Colonel Kamal al-Jabali, had tightened the siege by closing the last remaining access route in and out of the town.

There is no fuel for vehicles or generators, no cooking gas and precious few medical supplies, although medicines for those with diabetes, blood pressure and cardiac conditions are reported to have been allowed in. Vegetables and fruit from farms in the vicinity of the town controlled by the mujahideen are said to be available although in limited supply but not other foodstuffs such as rice, pasta, oil, tomato paste or other staples. Shops are empty. To buy food and other commodities, people are allowed out to shop elsewhere but have to walk the one and a half kilometres from the last mujahideen checkpoint to the LNA frontline and there pick up transport to take them to Beida or elsewhere.

Bread, the basic staple of the Libyan diet, is a rarity, with bakeries forced to close because either there is no flour, or the ovens cannot work because there is no power ‐ or both.

Appeals from Derna residents or from others across the country to the LNA to relax the siege and at least allow in fuel, medicine and flour have fallen on deaf ears.

The siege was tightened at the end of July after members of the mujahideen summarily executed an LNA pilot, Colonel Adel Jehani, whose plane was shot down. The mujahideen have since said that those responsible had been tossed in the clink
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
but there is no evidence of this.

Posted by: Fred || 09/16/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Ansar al-Sharia


Explosion at Benghazi passport office
[Libya Herald] A boom-mobile went kaboom! in the car park of Benghazi’s passport department in the city’s Budzira district early this afternoon. Five security guards were reported sightly injured and taken to Jalaa hospital for treatment. Given the force of the kaboom, the number of casualties could have ben much higher but being Friday the department was closed at the time. A number of vehicles, however, were damaged.

No one has grabbed credit and it is not yet clear if the attack was the work of bandidos bully boyz linked to 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....
or carried out by someone with a grudge against the department.

It only recently started printing passports last month after equipment was sent from Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
.
Posted by: Fred || 09/16/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Ansar al-Sharia


Britain
Day 2: PM warns a second attack ‘may be imminent’ and raises terror threat to highest level after ISIS claimed cell planted crude Tube bomb which could have killed dozens
[DailyMail]
  • Soldiers will replace police at key locations out of public view so more armed officers can go onto streets

  • Scotland Yard has identified the suspect behind the rush hour bomb on District Line train at Parsons Green

  • Failure of the device to detonate properly avoided a massive blast that would have claimed dozens of lives

  • Manhunt underway for bomber amid fears he may have left other devices and could be armed with knives

  • Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the west London attack saying its 'soldiers' had 'planted IEDs'

  • About the bomb:

    o Crude bucket bomb had timer attached meaning terrorist probably exited at an earlier station but bomb failed to detonate;

    o The IED used Christmas lights as a fuse, as recommended by ISIS magazines and online bomb manuals;

    o The majority of victims suffered 'flash burns' and others suffered crush injuries in 'human stampede' as people fled the train and station;

    o 29 victims treated at hospitals, some quickly released
The Telegraph continues liveblogging here.
Update from the Telegraph liveblog at 1:00 p.m. EDT:
Detectives investigating the terrorist attack at Parsons Green have made a "significant" arrest in connection with the attempted bombing.

The 18-year-old man was arrested by Kent Police in the port area of Dover on Saturday morning under section 41 of the Terrorism Act.

He remains in custody at a local police station from where he will be transferred to a south London police station.
And from the Daily Mail article, which was updated a few minutes ago:
Surrey home raided by police hunting Parsons Green bomber 'is owned by MBE-awarded foster couple who have taken in hundreds of children including refugees from Middle East warzones'.

The house in Sunbury-on-Thames is where Penelope Jones, 71, and her husband Ronald, 88, raised 268 foster children.

The couple owned the property as of February this year although it is not known if they or any of their children still live there.

At least eight of the Jones' foster children have been refugees with some coming from Iraq, Eritrea, Syria, Albania and Afghanistan.

Earlier today police apprehended a suspect in the 'port area' of Dover as he tried to buy a ferry ticket to France in a a believed attempt to flee the country.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/16/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  BUT the real story is Trump v. May fighting over a tweet according to the MFM
Posted by: Frank G || 09/16/2017 8:43 Comments || Top||

#2 
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 09/16/2017 14:20 Comments || Top||


Europe
Two women injured by hammer-wielding attacker shouting "Allahu akhbar" in eastern France
[Reuters] Two women were injured on Friday by an attacker wielding a hammer and shouting Allahu Akbar in the eastern French town of Chalon-sur-Saone in Burgundy, local officials said.

The local prosecutor’s office said witnesses of the attack in a public park of the town center heard the attacker shout Allahu Akbar while hitting the women, who were taken to hospital but whose life is not in danger.

Prosecutors said they were treating the incident as a possible terror attack, but also did not rule out the possibility the attacker was deranged.

The attacker was still on the run on Friday afternoon, police said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/16/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  One of them white-supremacist, misogynists?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/16/2017 1:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Allah hates everything. Just like Mikey on the Life commercial...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 09/16/2017 14:32 Comments || Top||

#3  "...as a ... terror attack, but did not rule out the possibility the attacker was deranged"
SHARIA, TERROR, INSANITY. are synonyms.
Posted by: irishrageboy || 09/16/2017 15:36 Comments || Top||

#4  A hammer is used by carpenters; obviously the work of a Jesuit.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 09/16/2017 19:40 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Six Frontier Constabulary personnel injured in twin blasts at Torkham
[DAWN] At least six Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel and a child were maimed in two consecutive kabooms at the Pak-Afghan border at Torkham, security officials said on Friday.

CCTV footage and security sources confirmed the kabooms were caused by grenades.

The FC personnel, who were deployed at the gate, and a passerby child received injuries as a result of the two blasts.

Following the blasts, the security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation in the adjoining areas. The border crossing was also closed for all types of traffic.

The nature of the blast is yet to be ascertained, the FC officials said.

Meanwhile,
...back at the alley, Slats grabbed for his rosco...
the injured have been rushed to the Combined Military Hospital, 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.
, for treatment.
Posted by: Fred || 09/16/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Pity the Frontier Constabulary. Underpaid and under equipped (the money goes into Pak ICs.) Under trained as well. FC recruits also don't come from the best sources - those are reserved for the military.

One should consider them the misbegotten stepson of the Pakistani government. Fortunately and unlike Pakistani stepsons, they only get metaphorically buggered.
Posted by: Pappy || 09/16/2017 11:21 Comments || Top||

#2  From the quirky word jerk department... every single time my eyes see "Torkham" -- for decades now -- it gets misdirected through "obscure suburbs of London" on the way to where it belongs.

"Our terrorist terrace is free
All season at Torkham FC.
Not much of a firm --
If you please, sir, the berm --
And we're weak at the goal, as you see."
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 09/16/2017 20:52 Comments || Top||


US drone kills three 'terrorists' in Kurram Agency
[DAWN] A US drone killed three suspected turbans in an attack on a compound in Kurram Agency
...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora...
on Friday, officials said, in the first strike since President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
vowed to crack down on Pakistain.

Officials said the strike took place in remote Ghuz Ghari village in Kurram agency, close to the Afghan border where at least five fighters from the Afghan Taliban
...Arabic for students...
had gathered.

"The US drone fired two missiles, at least three fighters from the Afghan Taliban have been killed and two maimed," a senior government official in Kurram Agency told AFP.

The identities of those killed and maimed remained unclear but an intelligence official in Kurram said one of the dead belonged to the Haqqani network.

Two other mid-level government officials confirmed the strike and casualties and told AFP that the compound was completely destroyed in the attack.
Posted by: Fred || 09/16/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Iraq
30 ISIS Bad Guys detained near Tal Afar
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Several Islamic State members were arrested as security troops were combing the group’s recently lost bastion in Nineveh province.

In a statement on Friday, the Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell said troops found a child and arrested 14 females members in Aiyadhiya region, located near Tal Afar.

Thirteen of the arrested members were Turkish national and a Russian one with sixteen children with them. They were arrested in Qasabet al-Ra’ie village at the outskirts of Aiyadhiya,

Speaking to Sputnik, a source said the children and women were families of the foreign IS members

A security source and eyewitness were quoted on Wednesday as saying that IS female members, most of whom were foreigners, turned in themselves to Iraqi troops. Around 1,000 foreign women from Turkey, Tajikistan, Russia, Azerbaijan and China, left Aiyadhiya along with their children.

The women were transferred to Hammam al-Alil camp, allocated for the displaced, in south of Mosul. They are under high security and are being interrogated.

Another source from the camp said IS women arrived today to the camp on board for more than fifteen buses.

On Tuesday, Brig. Gen. Yehia Rasool, spokesperson of the Joint Operations Command, said in a statement that army troops, backed by fighter jets, killed 65 militants, including 15 suicide bombers, during an operation to purge the village, located west of Aiyadhiya.

Iraqi troops were able to liberate Tal Afar on August 31. PM Haidar al-Abadi announced in a televised speech on August 20 the beginning of operations to recapture the town, which has been held by the militants since 2014, when the extremist group first emerged to proclaim its self-styled ‘caliphate’. This came after 40 days of declaring victory in Mosul, the group’s former capital, where operations lasted between October to July.

Joint troops then recaptured Aiyadhiya, located 11 KM away from Tal Afar, after invading it on August 29.
Posted by: badanov || 09/16/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


3 militants die in explosion in Salahuddin
Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) Three Islamic State militants were killed and injured as an explosion occurred in east of Salahuddin, a local source said.

“A vehicle carrying IS militants in Mutaibija, Salahuddin, exploded, leaving two militants killed and a third wounded, in accordance with preliminary information,” the source told AlSumaria News on Friday.

“It’s unknown if the blast was due to aerial bombardment or explosives on board of the vehicle,” the source, who preferred anonymity, added.

Occasional attacks have been witnessed in Mutaibija by Islamic State against government and paramilitary troops deployments since Iraqi forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and PMUs, launched a major offensive to retake areas occupied by IS since 2014.

Earlier this week, Jaafar al-Battat, the service’s chief of staff of the Federal Police, said in remarks that troops completed their mobilizations and are awaiting orders from the supreme commander of the armed forces to move towards Shirqat, the group’s haven located north of the province.

Pivotal regions that link between each of Diyala, Salahuddin and Kirkuk, are still held by the militants which poses threats to the liberated regions. Iraqi troops are urged to prevent the militants infiltration between Salahuddin and Kirkuk provinces, especially the regions stretching along Hamreen mountains and Al-Azeem town.

It’s expected that the Iraqi government will head towards liberating other IS strongholds across Iraq, including in Salahuddin.
Posted by: badanov || 09/16/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


4 die in bombing attack in Hor Rajab region


Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) A civilian was killed, while three others were wounded in a bomb blast in southern Baghdad, a security source said.

“A bomb, placed near a market in Hor Rajab region, in Dora neighborhood, south of Baghdad, exploded on Friday, leaving a civilian killed and three others wounded,” the source told Alghad Press on Friday.

“Police troops cordoned off the accident spot. Ambulances transferred the injured to hospital, while the victim was taken to forensic medicine department,” the source added.
Posted by: badanov || 09/16/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Anbar Antix


US artillery sets up fire block near Ramadi

Ramadi (IraqiNews.com) U.S. artillery forces bombarded a group of Islamic State militants who sneaked to an area south of the city of Ramadi in Anbar, a military source was quoted saying on Friday.

Baghdad Today quoted a source at the Habbaniya base, located between Ramadi and Fallujah, intensely bombarded al-Tash Islands, south of Ramadi, after a group of Islamic State members sneaked into the region.

Reconnaissance drones had detected preparations by the militants to target the military base with guided missiles, according to the source.

Islamic State has held the towns of Annah, Rawa and Qaim, on Anbar’s western borders with Syria, since 2014. Recent news reports have said military reinforcements were sent to areas near those towns preparing for an invasion against IS. and that Iraqi military aeroplanes dropped millions of messages on western Anbar telling civilians that liberation offensives were nearing, and urging people to stay away from militants’ locations.

The Iraqi Joint Operations Command has, meanwhile, declared that its coming battle would be in IS-held Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk. So far, United States.-backed government forces have recaptured Mosul, Islamic State’s former capital, and the town of Tal Afar, a major haven west of Mosul.

Iraqi warbirds smoke ISIS Bad Guys near Karbala

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi troops have destroyed an Islamic State camp in west of Anbar, killing militants inside, according to the military media.

In a statement on Friday, the Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell said, “based on information from the military intelligence department, the air force carried out airstrike, which destroyed camp of the terrorist abu Saleh Askari of the State of the South, in the desert in west of Rutba.”

“The air raid killed the militants who were inside the camp and burnt their vehicles,” the statement said, adding that the militants “were planning for a terrorist operation in Karbala.”

On Thursday, Emad al-Dulaimi, Rutba mayor, said in remarks that the first phase of military operation to liberate two regions of Okashat and Annahin will be launched simultaneously within the coming few hours.

Anbar’s western towns of Anah, Qaim and Rawa are still held by the extremist group since 2014, when it occupied one third of Iraq to proclaim a self-styled Islamic Caliphate. Iraqi troops were able to return life back to normal in the biggest cities of Anbar including Fallujah, Ramadi and others after recapturing them.

Fighter jets from the Iraqi army and the international coalition regularly pound IS locations in the province.
Posted by: badanov || 09/16/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
2 Hamas fighters die in separate Gaza tunnel collapses
A dreadful way to die, crushed and smothered in sandy mud.
[IsraelTimes] Two Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", fighters died in separate tunnel collapses in the Gazoo Strip overnight, the Paleostinian terror organization, which controls the territory, said on Friday.

Khalil al-Dimyati, 32, and Yusef Abu Abed, 22, were killed after two "resistance tunnels" collapsed, Hamas said, referring to tunnels used for military purposes.

It did not give details of the locations or causes of the collapses, but confirmed the two men were members of Hamas’s armed wing.

A security source said one collapse was in Gazoo City, while the other was near the city of Khan Yunis.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/16/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian Army Combat Summary
Units of the Syrian Army and Armed Forces established full control over the villages of al-Shindakhia al-Janobia and Abu Tarraha in Jub al-Jarrah area in the eastern countryside of Homs.

SANA reporter in Homs said that army units, in cooperation with allied forces, established full control over al-Shindakhia al-Janobia and Abu Tarraha villages after fierce battles with ISIL terrorists, in which large numbers of terrorists were killed while their remnants fled towards neighboring areas.

The reporter added that army units immediately combed the two villages in search of IEDs and mines and dismantled them to secure the installation of new military points in order to make them a platform for the expansion of military operations in the region.

The reporter said that army units killed and injured a number of ISIL terrorists during heavy clashes with ISIL in the neighboring village of Dohor al-Khanzir.
Posted by: badanov || 09/16/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Russian, Syrian airstrikes continue in Deir Ezzor
Deir Ezzor (Syria News) Dozens of civilians were either killed or wounded, on Friday, in air strikes carried out by Syria and Russia, in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, local sources told Qasioun News.

Local sources reported that 25 civilians were killed in Syrian and Russian air strikes on the areas of Mayadin, Boqros Tahtany, Tabya Shamya, Jadid Bakara, in eastern Deir Ezzor.

The death toll in Jadid Bakara town reached 7 civilians, while 9 civilians were reported ded in Boqros Tahtany area, 5 in Tabya Shamya area, and 10 in the city of Mayadin, the sources added.

Noteworthy, air strikes were carried out on the eastern areas of Deir Ezzor leaving civilian casualty on semi daily basis.
Posted by: badanov || 09/16/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Syrian weapons stores detonates in Homs
Homs (Syria News) A source informed that strong blasts hit the Syrian regime-held T4 airbase, located in the eastern countryside of Homs, Qasioun News reported on Friday.

Media outlets belonging to the Syrian regime stated that several blasts occurred at the ammunition warehouses in the T4 airbase, causing huge material damages to the warehouses; however, they denied the responsibility of any military or armed group.

Noteworthy, T4 Airbase, also known as Tiyas Military Airbase, is a Syrian Arab Air Force base, located in the Homs Province. The Airbase was used to conduct air strikes against the Syrian opposition forces during the Syrian Civil War.

In December 2016, the Islamic State militants attacked the airbase a day after overrunning pro-government forces in Palmyra.
Posted by: badanov || 09/16/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Assad forces advance against ISIL in central Syria
[Al Jazeera] Syrian government forces have pressed their offensive in the province of Hama and captured a new city in Deir Az Zor, aiming to clear the country 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 the Levant (ISIS, also known as ISIS) group, according to opposition activists and state media.

The violence on Friday came as a deal was announced in the Kazakh capital of Astana on de-escalation in the nearby, mostly rebel-held province of Idlib.

Syrian troops have been on the offensive against ISIS in central Syria for weeks under the cover of Russian Arclight airstrikes.

In August, troops were able to besiege a wide area controlled by the group that has been shrinking ever since.

One of the main battles has been taking place near the central town of Okeirbat, which government forces captured in mid-August.

Earlier this month, ISIS fighters regained control of the town only to lose it again on Thursday after a crushing attack that involved intense air attack, according to the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Okeirbat was the largest town ISIS held in the central province of Hama. The area is important because it is close to villages loyal to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Light of the Alawites...
If it loses the central region, ISIS will be mostly left in the eastern province of Deir Az Zor as well as a third of the northern city of Raqqa, once the group's de facto capital.

The Observatory said on Friday that more than two weeks of fighting has left hundreds dead on both sides.

The government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media reported the festivities, saying ISIS positions are being targeted with artillery and rockets.

Separately, the government forces also captured a new neighbourhood, al-Bogheliyah, from ISIS in the eastern city of Deir Az Zor, according to Syrian Central Military Media.

They have been marching from western parts of the city while US-backed fighters of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been approaching the city from the north.

US military front man Ryan Dillon said during a Pentagon briefing that the SDF had begun clearing

Operations are going on northeast of Deir Az Zor, but that the US-backed fighters have no plans to go into the city, he added. He said that so far the SDF fighters have met "light resistance."

"They have objectives, and they have reached the initial objective of clearing the initial portions of the Khabur River Valley. They have begun that clearance of some of that area, in still ISIS-held territory."

Dillon's comments appeared to hint that the SDF will leave it to government forces to retake the city.

Mohammed Ibrahim Samra, the governor of Deir Az Zour province, said the city has been completely liberated from ISIS.

However,
the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits...
despite Samra's comments, opposition activists say that ISIS still control almost 35 percent of the city.

A joint statement said on Friday that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
, Russia and Iran have agreed on the establishment of a "de-escalation" zone in Syria's northern province of Idlib during a meeting in Kazakhstan's capital Astana.
Posted by: Fred || 09/16/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Lebanon arrests 19 people suspected of belonging to ISIS
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Leb’s army said on Friday it had tossed in the slammer
Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!
Islamist snuffies who were planning attacks in the country after foreign embassies warned their citizens to avoid public places.

Army intelligence "carried out several raids arresting 19 people linked to a cell" belonging to ISIS, the army said in a statement. Security forces were taking extra precautions, it added.

The cell which had "planned and prepared to carry out terrorist action" was led by Egyptian Fadi Ibrahim Ahmed, who was based in the Ein el-Hellhole Paleostinian refugee camp in southern Leb, the army said.

Leb’s Interior Ministry said earlier it was looking into warnings issued by foreign embassies over potential attacks in the country, but that there was no need to panic.

"These warnings are based on information from a foreign intelligence agency," the ministry said.

"Lebanese security services are following up to check its authenticity and accuracy ... There is no cause for fear or exaggeration."

The French Embassy in Beirut urged French citizens in Leb on Friday to be vigilant over the next 48 hours, citing an "elevated risk of attack targeting public places".

The US Embassy said earlier in the week it had barred staff from visiting the Casino du Liban in Jounieh, north of Beirut.

Posted by: Fred || 09/16/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Terror Networks
The Beatings Will Continue: Iraqi Edition


3 ISIS Turbans executed in Anbar

Qaim (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants executed three young men accusing them of collaboration with security forces, a security source said Friday as the province anticipates imminent military offensives to eliminate the extremist group.

The source told Alghad Press that the three young people were executed in the center of the town of al-Qaim, but did not give details of the method the execution.

Islamic State militants have systematically executed civilians fleeing areas they had taken over since 2014. Many other civilians were also executed for contacting security forces. Recent reports from Anbar have also said that the militants had forcibly recruited young people to fight for the group.

ISIS preachers, families flees Kirkuk

Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Three Islamic State prominent preachers escaped from the group’s haven in southwestern Kirkuk to unknown destination along with their families, a local source said.

“Three IS preachers in Hawija, Kirkuk, escaped along with their families to unknown place last on Thursday,” the source told AlSumaria News.

“The group stormed houses of the three preachers and inspected houses of their relatives in efforts to find them,” the source, who asked to remain anonymous, added.

Earlier on the day, the group reportedly executed a senior leader, known as Abu Qatada al-Muhajir, for attempting to flee the town.

Hawija and other neighboring regions, west of Kirkuk, have been held by IS since mid-2014, when the group emerged to proclaim an Islamic “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria. The group executed dozens of civilians and security members there, forcing thousands to flee homes.

Further reinforcements from the Federal Police were sent earlier this month from Baghdad to the town, as the military command declared, late August, the end of operations in Tal Afar, the militants’ last haven west of Nineveh, and the approach of the launch of offensives for Hawija.

Spokesperson of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command Yehia Rasool said, last week, there were 2000 IS militants inside Hawija.

ISIS executioner dies in Kirkuk

Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State’s second executioner was killed this month in southwest of Kirkuk, a senior paramilitary official said on Friday.

“An IS executioner was killed near his house by unknown gunmen at the outskirts of Hawija, Kirkuk, marking the second accident of its kind in one month,” Jabbar al-Maamouri, of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) told AlSumaria News on Friday.

“The significant rise in murder of IS militants and leaders indicate people’s rejection against the group’s crimes,” Maamouri added.

The group’s executioner is one tasked with beheading using sword.

Earlier on the day, the group reportedly executed a senior leader, known as Abu Qatada al-Muhajir, for attempting to flee the town.

Hawija and other neighboring regions, west of Kirkuk, have been held by IS since mid-2014, when the group emerged to proclaim an Islamic “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria. The group executed dozens of civilians and security members there, forcing thousands to flee homes.

Further reinforcements from the Federal Police were sent earlier this month from Baghdad to the town, as the military command declared, late August, the end of operations in Tal Afar, the militants’ last haven west of Nineveh, and the approach of the launch of offensives for Hawija.

Spokesperson of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command Yehia Rasool said, last week, there were 2000 IS militants inside Hawija.

Posted by: badanov || 09/16/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


American Fighting for ISIS ‘Surrenders’
[THEDAILYBEAST] The U.S. military confirmed a Daily Beast report Thursday that an American fighting in Syria for 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....
has been taken into custody.

"The U.S. citizen is being legally detained by Department of Defense personnel as a known enemy combatant," Pentagon front man Eric Pahon said.

A source familiar with the situation told The Daily Beast earlier that the American was captured by Kurdish forces. Other military spokespeople indicated that the fighter "surrendered" on or around Tuesday.

In either case, the detention of an American fighting for ISIS on an active battlefield would set up a major decision for Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
about the future of wartime captures.

According to The Daily Beast’s source, the U.S. citizen was initially taken into custody by the Syrian Democratic Forces, the mostly Kurdish local proxy that the American military is using to fight ISIS on the ground in Syria. That source said the Kurds then turned the captive over to American forces. It is not clear where the American is currently being held, nor if the International Committee of the Red Thingy has had access to him.

Neither the U.S. military command overseeing the war against ISIS nor the Justice Department, which plays a substantial role in deciding what to do with U.S. citizen detainees, are disputing this reporting.

"We are aware of the report that a U.S. citizen believed to be fighting for ISIS surrendered to Syrian Democratic Forces on or about Sept. 12," said the front man, Maj. Earl Brown.
Posted by: Fred || 09/16/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State



Who's in the News
24[untagged]
7Islamic State
4Taliban
4Govt of Syria
3Houthis
3Govt of Pakistan
2Commies
2Moslem Colonists
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2Govt of Saudi Arabia
2Ansar al-Sharia
1al-Qaeda
1Govt of Iraq
1Govt of Qatar (MB)
1Arab Spring
1Hamas
1Lashkar e-Jhangvi

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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.
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
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ryuge
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trailing wife
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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2017-09-16
  Lebanon arrests 19 people suspected of belonging to ISIS
Fri 2017-09-15
  The Latest on Subway Incident: London Ambulance says 18 22 people hospitalized
Thu 2017-09-14
  Girl strapped with bomb kills 5 in Cameroon mosque
Wed 2017-09-13
  US forces have failed in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s FM claims
Tue 2017-09-12
  Islamic State perform ‘farewell prayer’ preparing to leave Hawija
Mon 2017-09-11
  Sixteen years
Sun 2017-09-10
  Rohingya exodus to Bangladesh nears 300,000
Sat 2017-09-09
  300 ISIS fighters stranded in the desert, as bait to target jihadists
Fri 2017-09-08
  US warplanes takes out ISIS members running to stranded convoy
Thu 2017-09-07
  Two arrested after 'bomb factory' discovered near Paris
Wed 2017-09-06
  Insurgents call Rohingyas to arms for war in Myanmar
Tue 2017-09-05
  US-backed Syrian militias seize Great Mosque of Raqqah from Daesh
Mon 2017-09-04
  US Coalition bombs ISIL convoy heading to Deir Ezzor from Lebanon, claims 85 dead
Sun 2017-09-03
  Arson attacks push thousands more Rohingya from Myanmar
Sat 2017-09-02
  US-backed Syria force says seizes Raqa Old City from IS

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