[Al Jazeera] Taliban ...Arabic for students... fighters have killed at least six coppers in an attack on a checkpoint and kidnapped dozens of bus passengers in two separate incidents in southern Afghanistan, officials said.
A group of fighters wearing army uniforms kidnapped 30 people, including 19 coppers, after stopping a bus on Tuesday night at the border between Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces.
"There were civilians in the bus as well and we are trying to identify the people kidnapped in the attack," Qudratullah Khushbakht, a front man for the Kandahar governor, told Al Jazeera.
In the second incident, a police checkpoint in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province came under attack by the Taliban fighters leaving six coppers dead and wounding five others, General Abdul Razik, Kandahar's police chief, told local media.
The Taliban grabbed credit for both attacks saying they kidnapped coppers "alive".
The Afghan army and the US-led coalition forces continue to battle the Taliban for the control of areas in the country but the security situation has been deteriorating.
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03/02/2018 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] A German national believed to be a military adviser to the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... in Afghanistan has been incarcerated Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! in the insurgency-racked province of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... , officials told AFP late Wednesday. Ach! Mein Gott! Er ist... Helmut von Helmand!
"A man with a long beard, wearing a black turban who identified himself as a German citizen and speaks Dutch,
...possibly he said Deutsch, like the Pennsylvania Dutch, who also are German...
was taken along with three other suspected Taliban on Monday night in Gereshk district of Helmand province," said Omar Zwak, the provincial governor's front man.
Gereshk police chief Ismail Khplwak (Gesundheit!) said the man ─ who was detained by Afghan Special Forces during a night raid ─ was the "military adviser of Mullah Nasir", commander of the Taliban's elite "Red Unit" in Helmand.
Photographs taken by the Afghan military show a man who looks to be in his 40s with a long reddish-brown beard speckled with grey, and wearing a black turban.
He is flanked by two members of the Afghan Special Forces dressed in combat gear and with night vision goggles pulled up onto their helmets.
The man is dressed in traditional Afghan dress worn under a khaki military jacket.
Much of opium-rich Helmand in Afghanistan's south remains controlled or contested by the Taliban who are heavily reliant on the proceeds of drug trafficking to fuel their insurgency.
The Taliban's Red Units serve as the Lion of Islams' special forces and have carried out many fatal attacks on the Afghan army and police.
"The German national calls himself Abdul Wadood, and he was taken to Kandahar for further investigation," the Afghan army corps statement said.
If confirmed it would be one of the few incidents in which a European has been captured fighting among the turbans.
Foreigners do fight alongside the Taliban ...Arabic for students... but citizens of Western nations are rare and most hail from Pakistain, Central Asia or Arab nations.
"They were in a mine-making centre when they were detained. Weapons and ammunitions were also confiscated from them," he said, adding that several Taliban were killed in the fighting.
Late last year sources told AFP of the presence of French fighters for the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group in northern Afghanistan, as analysts suggested foreigners may be heading for the war-torn country after being driven from Syria and Iraq.
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03/02/2018 00:00 ||
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[RADIOSHABELLE] A combined joint task force of the Somali National Army (SNA) and Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) AMISOM contingent killed 23 members of al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... terror group in Fahfahdun town situated in the South West prefecture of Gedo Province of Somalia.
KDF conducted an assault targeting the new base of the Lions of Islam in the outskirts of Fahfahdun town, reports say.
The holy warriors withdrew from the positions they held in the area. An exchange of heavy weaponry that lasted four hours left 23 holy warriors dead, three tactical vehicles with mounted machine guns destroyed, and light machine guns seized by the army.
The holy warriors were planning to use the base to conduct ambushes and attacks targeting the SNA and KDF troops in pacification mission in the region.
On Sunday, unknown KDF personnel were maimed when an armoured personnel carrier they were travelling in ran over a roadside explosive in Gedo region region on Sunday.
The victims were flown to Nairobi. Local residents said the incident happened between El Wak town and Busar village, both located near Somalia’s border with Kenya.
The region is an al-Shabaab hot-spot area where security vehicles have run over bombs in the past. KDF, which is part of Amisom troops in Somalia has started withdrawing from there as part of plans to leave some operations to Somali troops.
KDF went to Somalia in October 2011. Kenya’s incursion into southern Somalia started after the kidnapping of two Spanish women, who were working for MSF at the Dadaab refugee camp.
The abductions were carried out by the holy warriors who the troops said planned to push away under the Operation Linda Nchi.
Two years later, the troops managed to take control of Kismayo ...a port city in the southern Lower Juba province of Somalia, at the extreme southern end of the country (assuming Somalia can be called a country). It is the commercial capital of the autonomous Jubaland region... port under Operation Sledge Hammer. Initially a team of about 2000 troops had been engaged in the operation but the number doubled when Kenya joined UN’s AMISOM.
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03/02/2018 00:00 ||
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[RADIOSHABELLE] Somalia’s Federal Government forces took over a town in Hiran region on Wednesday morning after al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... forces of Evil withdrew from the area.
The Somali army backed by Æthiopian troops under AMISOM attacked the district from different directions during the night, forcing al-Shabaab fighters to pull out from their bases.
The local residents reported heavy exchange of gunfire erupted early in the morning as the armored vehicle and the tanks of the allied troops have been rolling into the town.
The Somali and AU forces encountered a heavy resistance during the take over of the key area in central Somalia, but, the number of casualties in the shootout is still unclear.
The town has been under al-Shabaab control since 2016 and was the main operations hub for the forces of Evil fighting against Somali government and the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... forces [AMISOM].
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03/02/2018 00:00 ||
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[RADIOSHABELLE] An official says Somali security forces in Beledweyne, the regional capital of Hiran province received intelligence information regarding an exploding car in the region.
Hussein Osman Mumin, the deputy governor of Hiran on the security affairs told Radio Shabelle that the government troops were put on high alert to prevent the potential attack.
Mumin added that they have launched a search operation to seize the would-be suicide boom-mobile and urged the local residents to be more vigilant and notify Police immediately if they see something suspicious.
This comes after Somali government forces captured a truck laden with bomb-making materials and suspects during an operation at Buundo-weyn village in Beledweyne on Wednesday.
The security of the city has been beefed up in recent weeks amid reports that Al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... was planning to carry out attacks against military bases and regional offices in the town.
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03/02/2018 00:00 ||
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[RADIOSHABELLE] A mortar attack in the Somali capital Mogadishu, claimed by Islamist group al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... , killed a child and maimed two civilians and injured two others on Thursday, the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... peacekeeping force AMISOM said.
The mortar rounds were fired near a stadium, Lieutenant Colonel Wilson Rono, AFRICOMfront man, told Rooters.
Earlier on Thursday, al-Shabaab murderous Moslems set off a suicide boom-mobile at a checkpoint about 15 km (nine miles) outside the capital. At least five people were maimed including soldiers, police officer Ali Roble told Rooters.
A second police officer, Abdullahi Nur, told Rooters that many vehicles had been parked at the checkpoint for inspection when the blast occurred.
Al-Shabaab frequently carries out bombings in Mogadishu and elsewhere in Somalia in their effort to bring down the Western-backed federal government and drive out the AMISOM forces defending it.
On Friday, twin boom-mobile blasts in Mogadishu ‐ claimed by al-Shabaab ‐ killed 45 people.
Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabaab’s military operations front man, told Rooters the group was responsible for both the mortar attack and the boom-mobileing.
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03/02/2018 00:00 ||
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[RADIOSHABELLE] The Kenyan police on Wednesday launched an investigation into the killing of two suspected al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... returnees in the coastal county of Kwale.
Kwale police commandant Tom Odera said bodies of the two with multiple gunshot wounds were found dumped at forest by unknown people.
"The bodies were found dumped at Shimba Hills forest with gunshot wounds on the head," said Odera. He said the two bodies were found decomposing in the forest and had no identification documents.
A preliminary police report indicated that they might have been tortured before they were rubbed out at close range.
"Detectives are relying on fingerprints lifted from their bodies to identify the two," a senior officer, who sought anonymity, said.
"An autopsy will be conducted once we get the families of the two to assist in the investigation," the officer added.
Sources within the National Intelligence Service and criminal investigations agency said the two might have been on police terror watch.
The Kenyan authority has maintained that despite a decline of terror activities in the country, terrorism remains a major security threat in the region.
This month security agents recovered over 36 grenades, 18 improvised bombs, and five AK-47 rifles from suspected murderous Moslems in Merti, Isiolo County.
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03/02/2018 00:00 ||
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[AlAhram] The Egyptian military and police potted 13 "takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... s" and enjugged Please don't kill me! 86 high-risk "snuffies and criminal elements" as part of the ongoing counter-terrorism operation in Sinai, an army communiqué said on Thursday.
Military front man Tamer El-Refai said in the statement on Thursday that two army officers were killed, and one officer and an NCO were maimed during operations.
"Air forces targeted and destroyed nine targets used to shelter terrorist elements, as well as two booby-trapped vehicles that were prepared to attack forces in the field of operations," the statement added.
"Army engineers uncovered and diffused 10 IEDs which were planted to target security forces during operations," it added.
The military also destroyed 100 hideouts, tunnels, trenches where large amounts of weapons and logistical material were discovered.
Betcha the Israelis have pictures of the secondaries...
[Ynet] A Paleostinian man was lightly maimed when a mortar fired during fighting in Sinai between the Egyptian army and 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.... fell on his home in Rafah, in the southern Gazoo Strip.
[10News] An armed attack currently underway in Burkina Faso's capital of Ouagadougou is centered on the French embassy, according to a post on the embassy's Facebook page. Formerly known as Upper Volta. NOT a garden spot
"The attack is ongoing at the French embassy and the French Institute," the post said, adding that people should remain "confined" to where they are. The French Institute is a cultural organization.
France's ambassador to Burkina Faso, Xavier Lapdecab, urged people via Twitter to act with "absolute precaution" as the attack is ongoing. Burkina Faso's national police have warned people to move away from areas around the "vicinity of the Prime Ministry -- and the United Nations roundabout."
"The specialized units of the defense and security forces are in action," the force said on its official Facebook page.
The US Embassy in Burkina Faso also warned US citizens to seek shelter amid reports of gunfire.
A tweet from the US Embassy read: "@Usembassyouaga has received reports of gunfire in downtown Ouagadougou. Avoid the area of downtown Ouagadougou. Seek secure shelter. Monitor local media for updates. Check back here for more updates from the embassy."
An attack by gunmen last year on a restaurant in Ouagadougou left at least 18 people dead, including two attackers.
That assault echoed a similar one in 2016 on a cafe in the same district of the city that left 29 dead. Responsibility for that attack was claimed by the jihadist group al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Later that year jihadist attackers launched an assault on the Grand-Bassam beach resort in Ivory Coast, killing 16.
Update at 3:35p.m. ET: It’s over and the good guys won, averting what was no doubt intended to be a jihadi massacre.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/02/2018 07:13 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
#2
From Skidmark’s article (a Daily Mail article, so there are photos):
The violence will trigger fears of a renewed round of Islamist violence in the West African nation that has been rocked by incursions made by jihadist groups based in neighboring Mali.
This is as close to confirming Frank G’s article’s suggestion of Al Qaeda in North Africa as can be done before tracking the contacts in their electronic devices
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Following fierce battles with the Yemeni Army and Arab Coalition, 17 Houthis were killed and dozens injured on Wednesday in Nahm, in Yemen’s capital Sanaa.
In a statement, the Yemeni army said, "National army forces fought fierce battles with the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... militia in Nahm, east of the capital, and killed 17 militiamen, and maimed dozens."
They added that the militia was trying to sneak into the al-Tabab mountains in the last two days to control this vital location.
Among those killed were three Houthi field commanders. According to the army’s statement, 33 Death Eaters were captured, including four field commanders.
The army was able to retrieve large amounts of weapons and ammunition following the battles in Nahm.
Hundreds of Death Eaters were killed and injured following several battles in the last weeks, in addition to air raids carried out by the Arab Coalition in Sanaa.
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03/02/2018 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Air strikes killed nine civilians and maimed at least six on Wednesday in two separate attacks in north and west 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... by the Saudi-led coalition fighting against the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... movement, residents said.
The Saudi-led coalition, which has intervened in Yemen’s war since 2015 to try to restore president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power, has conducted frequent air strikes and has often hit civilians, although denies ever doing so intentionally.
The Houthis, a movement derived from northern Yemen’s Zaidi Shia Moslem community, have controlled much of Yemen including the capital Sanaa since driving Hadi out three years ago.
Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... and its Sunni Moslem allies ‐ including the United Arab Emirates ‐ say the Houthis are aligned with Shia Iran and pose a threat to the region.
Residents said four civilians had been killed in an air strike in the suburbs of the northern city of Saada, the main Houthi stronghold.
Five girls were killed in another Arclight airstrike that targeted a field in the west of the country, in the western Hodeidah district.
On Tuesday, airstrikes killed five civilians in north of the country.
The war has killed more than 10,000 people, displaced more than two million and driven the country ‐ already the poorest on the Arabian Peninsula ‐ to the verge of widespread famine.
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03/02/2018 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] A man who supplied a radicalized teenager with a gun to shoot dead an Australian police employee made an 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 salute as he was placed in durance vile ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... for 44 years Thursday.
Raban Alou admitted obtaining and giving a handgun to 15-year-old Farhad Mohammad
...the bullied basketballer who is also in our archives as Farhad Jabar and Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar...
at a Sydney mosque in 2015.
The teenager then shot Curtis Cheng in the back of the head outside the New South Wales police headquarters.
Mohammad, who authorities at the time said was born in Iran of Iraqi and Kurdish background, was shot and killed in an exchange of fire with police special constables soon after.
Alou, 20, was sentenced to a maximum of 44 years behind bars, with a non-parole period of 33 years, at the NSW Supreme Court after pleading guilty to aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring a terrorist act.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation said he gave an Islamic State salute -- with one finger pointing skywards -- and shouted "this is only the beginning" as he was led away.
In his sentencing remarks, Justice Peter Johnson said Alou had shown no remorse.
"The offender's response is devoid of basic humanity," he said, ABC reported.
"The offender was a very active planner and participant in this offence.
"Unless the offender had obtained the firearm and supplied it to Farhad Mohammad, this crime would not have been committed."
Canberra is concerned about the prospect of lone-wolf attacks by individuals inspired by groups such as Islamic State, and lifted its terror threat alert to high in 2014.
Since then, 85 people have been charged as a result of 36 counter-terrorism related operations around the country, police said earlier this month.
At least 14 attacks have been prevented in the past few years, although several have taken place.
[DailyMail] Alou was in trouble with the law for much of his teenage life, with several convictions including for robbery, armed robbery, possessing a knife in a public place and a raft of driving offences. He was supervised by the Department of Juvenile Justice at Blacktown, New South Wales since 14 March 2014.
In January 2015, the department lauded the fact he had become more dedicated to Islam. A report praised Alou for 'getting more involved in his religion, stopping his cannabis use and disassociating himself from his negative peer group'.
Just nine months later he aided an ISIS-inspired terror attack which saw father-of-two Mr Curtis shot in the back of the head while leaving work.
The sentencing report also reveals that Alou was a member of an ISIS supporters' WhatsApp group where he posted sick messages praising the terror cell's recent atrocities. The group was called 'The Bricks' and used the ISIS flag as its icon.
The judge's report also details how Alou manged to procure the Smith & Wesson .38 revolver before handing it over to Jabad at Parramatta Mosque on the day of the attack. He tried two different contacts before a third eventually agreed to source the weapon for him. In one chilling message with an unnamed friend, Alou asked to borrow $100 to buy the gun.
Handwriting analysis found the note found in Cheng’s pocket after he was murdered was written by Jabad's older sister Shadi Mohammad, 21, who played a major part in radicalising him. Before Jabad's attack, she fled to Turkey where she made her way to Syria to marry an ISIS fighter before being killed in an air strike in 2016.
This article starring:
Curtis Cheng
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/02/2018 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
[DAWN] Ceasefire violations at the restive Line of Control (LoC) continued on Thursday, claiming the life of an elderly man in Kotli district, Azad Jammu and Kashmire (AJK), local officials said.
"Shelling started at about 7:30am with Indian troops firing volleys of mortar shells at civilian populations," said Assistant Commissioner Nakyal Waleed Anwar.
"Splinters of a mortar shell hit 70-year-old Nazeer Hussain Mughal in Dheri village at about 10:30am, leaving him dead on the spot," he said.
Anwar said that Indian troops were targeting educational institutions where elementary board exams were being held since Tuesday.
"Today’s exams have been cancelled in most vulnerable schools due to the targeted shelling from across the divide," he said.
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03/02/2018 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[ALMASDARNEWS] For the third night in a row, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has launched a big assault at night, targeting several areas around the East Ghouta region.
Led by the Elite Republican Guard, the Syrian Arab Army stormed the small town of Hawsh al-Zarqiyah from their positions at the recently captured air defense base.
The Syrian Army attack would prove too much for the Salafist tough guys of Jaish al-Islam ...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful... , as they were ultimately forced to withdraw east to the nearby town of Utaya.
According to a military source, the Syrian Army is now heavily shelling the southwestern and northwestern flanks of Utaya; they are expected to attack the town in the coming hours.
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03/02/2018 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire.... ’s military advance in the Kurdish-dominated area was launched on January 20 and continues amid the UN Security Council’s recent resolution 2401, calling on all parties to immediately cease hostilities in the area to secure safe and unhindered humanitarian aid supplies, as well as medical evacuations.
On Thursday, Turkey’s Central Command sent parts of the country’s special police forces and the gendarmerie to the area of Afrin in Syria, aiming to support the Olive Branch operation, the Ottoman Turkish Yeni Shafak media reports.
According to the outlet, special forces have already started their duty in their new location, which includes de-mining and search operations, primarily in the city. The special forces are also tasked to counteract night attacks by terrorists.
In addition, these units can be used in battles in the central part of Afrin.
The media outlet recalled that the special operations forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkey and the gendarmerie gained considerable experience in counter-terrorism operations in the cities of Silopi, Idil, Yuksekova, Nusaybin and Shirnak in the south-east of Turkey in 2016.
Olive Branch
The report follows the recent resolution unanimously adopted by the UN Security Council on February 27, which urges all parties to the Syrian conflict to immediately stop all festivities and adhere to a long-term humanitarian truce ..The purposes of a truce are twofold: 1.) bring up more arms, ammunition, and reinforcements; and 2.) get the enemy to relax his vigilance. A truce is not the same thing as a ceasefire, and a ceasefire doesn't mean you have to stop shooting... on the entire territory of Syria in order to ensure safe and unhindered humanitarian aid supplies, as well as medical evacuations for those injured.
The document, however, specified that the ceasefire does not apply to military operations against ISIS, al-Qaeda, and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly known as the Nusra Front) terrorist groups.
Thus the Ottoman Turkish side, which has been accused by US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert’s of violating the Syrian truce, stressed that Ankara’s military operation against Kurdish forces in Afrin had been aimed against terrorists.
Turkey has been conducting its military operation code-named "Olive Branch" in the Kurdish-dominated area of Afrin for over a month. The advance was triggered by Washington’s announcement that it would begin training a 30,000-strong border security force, comprised of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which Ankara considers affiliates of the Ottoman Turkish Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey.
Reacting to the Ottoman Turkish military advance, Damascus has expressed its opposition to the Ottoman Turkish operation, saying that such actions violate Syrian illusory sovereignty.
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03/02/2018 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] According to Israeli satellite pictures, Iran has built another permanent military base in Damascus with hangars used to store short to medium range missiles, Fox News reported.
The news channel obtained the images from the Israeli company, ImageSat international, which show two white hangars, about 30 meters by 20 meters each.
According to Fox news, the base is operated by the Quds Force, an Iranian faction operating in Syria under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
A similar Iranian base was destroyed in Syria by the Israeli military in December.
Meanwhile, ...back at the bunker, his Excellency called the chief of staff and complained that the artillery was keeping him awake... an official from Russia’s Security Council said on Thursday that the US has set up around 20 military bases in Syria on territory controlled by the Kurds, the RIA news agency reported.
The official, Alexander Venediktov, an aide to Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, also said Washington was supplying the Kurds with the most advanced weapons, according to RIA.
The comes amidst wide criticism of Russia and Iran’s continued support for the Assad regime, and their raids of eastern Ghouta which has killed hundreds of civilians, including women and kiddies.
The duo has received backlash from UN officials and security council members, including Kelley Currie, the US ambassador for economic and social affairs.
"Russia, Iran and the Assad regime are not even trying to hide their intentions," Currie told the council in their last meeting. "They are asking civilians to leave eastern Ghouta on the false premise that they can then attack anyone left in the area as much as they would like."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that Israel will not tolerate an Iranian foothold on its northern border with Syria.
Earlier this month, an unmanned Iranian aircraft was shot down by Israeli forces after entering Israeli airspace.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
According to Fox news, the base is operated by the Quds Force
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... suffered heavy losses on Thursday during its offensive against a Kurdish militia in northwest Syria, with the military announcing that eight soldiers were killed and 13 more maimed.
The corpse count, released by the Ottoman Turkish military staff in two separate statements, makes Thursday one of the deadliest days for Ankara since launching its cross-border operation against the People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria's Afrin region on 20 January.
"As part of the operations in Afrin, five of our heroic comrades fell as deaders and seven were maimed" on Thursday, said the staff in a first statement.
Shortly after, it issued a second statement in which it announced that three more soldiers had been killed as well as six maimed, without giving details of the circumstances.
"May God grant peace to our martyred soldiers in Afrin, all my condolences to their loved ones," front man for the Ottoman Turkish presidency Ibrahim Kalin said on Twitter.
The day's toll brings the number of Ottoman Turkish soldiers killed since the launch of operation "Olive Branch" to at least 40.
Ankara considers the YPG a "terrorist" organization closely linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a group that has been leading a bloody guerrilla war on Ottoman Turkish soil since 1984.
However, nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits... the YPG is supported by the United States and have been spearheading the international coalition fight against 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.... (ISIS) group in Syria.
The situation was complicated further 10 days ago following the deployment of pro-regime elements in the enclave of Afrin, with observers warning of an increased risk of collision between the forces of Ankara and Damascus.
On Monday, Turkey deployed some 600 members of the police and gendarmerie special forces in the Afrin region, indicating it was preparing for urban fighting.
The Ottoman Turkish authorities have rejected a call by the United States this week to implement the humanitarian truce ..The purposes of a truce are twofold: 1.) bring up more arms, ammunition, and reinforcements; and 2.) get the enemy to relax his vigilance. A truce is not the same thing as a ceasefire, and a ceasefire doesn't mean you have to stop shooting... , called for by the UN Security Council in Syria, with Ankara saying the UN resolution did not concern its operation.
The International Committee of the Red Thingy said a humanitarian aid convoy entered the Afrin region on Thursday for the first time since the start of the Ottoman Turkish offensive, which has had a severe impact on civilians.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), 141 civilians, including 27 children, have died since the beginning of the Ottoman Turkish military campaign, a claim which Ankara denies.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#1
turkey's deployment of extra police probably means that their FSA and other allies (some of which are ex al queda under a different brand name) are taking a considerable beating
Posted by: lord garth ||
03/02/2018 10:24 Comments ||
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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
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
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[DAWN] A German national believed to be a military adviser to the 
the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
...a port city in the southern Lower Juba province of Somalia, at the extreme southern end of the country (assuming Somalia can be called a country). It is the commercial capital of the autonomous Jubaland region...
the personification of Somali state failure...
the personification of Somali state failure...
the personification of Somali state failure...
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed...
[10News] An armed attack currently underway in Burkina Faso's capital of Ouagadougou is centered on the French embassy, according to a post on the embassy's Facebook page.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Following fierce battles with the Yemeni Army and Arab Coalition, 17 Houthis were killed and dozens injured on Wednesday in Nahm, in Yemen’s capital Sanaa.
...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...
...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful...
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] 
