[ToloNews] Fifty-eight members of the Afghan Border Police, who crossed the border into Turkmenistan following heavy battles with Talibs, have returned home through the Torghundi Port in the western Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... province on Monday, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
The forces came under attack by Talibs in Bala Murghab district, which shares border with Turkmenistan, in the northwest of Afghanistan, almost two weeks ago. The battle, according to Ministry of Defense, continued for two weeks.
The ministry said women and kiddies also accompanied the soldiers when they crossed the border into Turkmenistan after they came under pressure by Talibs.
Another 58 members of the border forces, the ministry said, were captured by the Taliban ...Arabic for students... "Search operations will continue until we release them," the statement added.
"From among 150 security force members, some of them surrendered to the Taliban due to the compulsion and some other were forced to flee," said Abdul Aziz Bek, member of Badghis Provincial Council.
"We are in a war situation. A war situation has its own words. It is true that one or two of our personnel are in the hand of the enemy, but we also have some of the enemies with us as hostages," said Noorullah Qaderi, Commander of Afghan Army’s 207 Zafar Corps.
Footage released by Ministry of Defense earlier this week shows an Arclight airstrike purportedly targeting Taliban hideouts in the district.
"They migrated to Turkmenistan alongside their families. They stayed in Turkmenistan for two days, but some of them had surrendered to the Taliban. We do not have any information about their fate," said Wali Shah Nayeb, an MP.
This comes a week after at least 20 Afghan security force members were killed in a Taliban attack in Badghis following a fierce battle with the hard boys.
Also on February, 15 Afghan security force members who had been captured by the Taliban were able to escape Badghis.
[KhaamaPress] At least 28 Talibs were killed during the Arclight airstrikes and festivities with the armed forces in the past 48 hours in northern Faryab province.
The 209th Shaheen Corps of the Afghan Military in the North in a statement said the airstrikes and festivities took place in Arkalik, Zohoria, Shakh, Ziarat Gah and Naw Dareh Qala areas of Qaisar district.
The statement further added that 28 Talibs were killed as a result of the festivities and airstrikes, 8 others were maimed, and 6 cycle of violences were destroyed.
The statement also added that the security personnel also sustained casualties during the festivities but did not elaborate further regarding the exact number, adding that the numbers announced by Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... are baseless.
The 209th Shaheen Corps also criticized the Provincial Council officials for endorsing the propagandas of Taliban group.
The anti-government armed holy warriors including Taliban have not commented regarding the report so far.
[KhaamaPress] Last night Twitter users posted to social media "#AFG Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... are 3 KM away from Tarin Kot the lovely provincial capital of Uruzgan."
Military officials in South of Afghanistan are saying that these tweets are a result of what appears to be a refute to the recent successful air strikes and joint Afghan Special Security Forces and 205th Corps operations in Uruzgan over the past two weeks.
Although these tweets seemed to be an announcement to an upcoming Taliban attack, what actually happened was another precision Arclight airstrike by the Afghan Air Force, the officials added.
"Eleven Taliban fighters were killed by Afghan Special Security Forces; five Taliban fighters were observed in a tactical formation in the open. The fighters were killed by one airstrike away from civilians in Tarin Kot district, " said the 205th Corps Spokesperson. "During the same operation six fighters were observed for several hours actively planning future attacks against Afghan National Defense Security Forces and civilians in the region. The fighters were killed by two separate airstrikes away from civilians in Tarin Kot district."
In the past two weeks, 76 Taliban fighters have been killed by on-going operations.
"We have seen significant effects from these operations, " said COL Abdul Wali, the 4th Brigade, 205th Corps Commander. "No matter what they say to the media, we have seen a drop in their ability to resource and coordinate attacks against ANDSF forces in the area. The recent operations have really hurt their formation."
[KhaamaPress] More than 40 Talibs were killed or maimed during the operations of Afghan Special Forces and Arclight airstrikes which were conducted in various provinces of the country over the past 24 hours.
According to informed military sources, Afghan Special Forces conducted a clearance operation in Chahar Darah district of Kunduz province and destroyed 2 IEDs. The Special Forces killed 7 Talibs in a similar raid in Khugyani district of 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.. while an airstrike a barricaded shooter in Khugyani district resulted into the killing of a barricaded shooter.
The sources further added that Afghan Special Forces conducted a raid in Ab Band district of Ghazni province killing 4 Taliban ...Arabic for students... fighters and seizing 32 ANA uniforms, 13 pressure plate IEDs and an assortment of weapons and ammunition.
In the meantime, 2 Talibs were killed in an airstrike in Khoshi district of Khost and 14 Talibs were killed, another hard boy was maimed during the Special Forces operation in Nad Ali district of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... . Over 2,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate and numerous IED components were also destroyed during the same operation.
At least 16 Talibs during separate airstrikes in Tarinkot city of Uruzgan and Kajai district of Helmand province, the sources said, adding that a separate air strike in Sangin district of Helmand destroyed a structure being used as a Taliban operations center.
The anti-government armed bully boyz including Taliban have not commented regarding the operations so far.
[KhaamaPress] At least seven Talibs were killed in an Arclight airstrike which was carried out in the vicinity of Khogyani district of 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.
The 201st Silab Corps in a statement said the Afghan Special Forces called in air support after coming under fire during the operation late last night.
The statement further added that 7 bully boyz who were involved in planning and coordinating suicide kabooms and roadside kaboomings were killed in the airstrike.
The anti-government armed bully boyz including Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... have not commented regarding the report so far.
Nangarhar province has been among the relatively calm provinces but the security situation in some of its remote districts has tanked during the recent amid growing attempts by Taliban and ISIS sympathizers to expand foothold in this province.
[Libya Observer] An unknown gang has kidnapped three people after opening fire on several others in Ghadduwah in southern Libya, sources from the town have reported.
The sources added that the gang entered in a heavily armed convoy of about 10 vehicles, adding that the vehicles "appeared to have logos similar to those of ISIS."
They indicated that the gang stormed into houses of two persons and ended up detaining them along with a third one from Ghadduwah town, which later descended into calm.
The head of the municipal council in the town Masoud Abdelsalam told news hounds that the armed convoy was not identified, adding that one person was injured by their fire and he was sent to Sabha Medical Center.
Ghadduwah and Taraghen in south Libya were subject to attacks by some button men who could be from ISIS or Chadian rebels or even Libyan gangs in the region.
Khalifa Haftar ...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all... 's self-styled army launched last January an operation to "cleanse the south of criminals and terrorists, thus seizing control of most of the south but failing to exact law and order.
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[PULSE.NG] Some residents of Michika told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that they started hearing gun fire and kaboom around 7 p.m. on Michika- Lassa road as the bully boys, who approachef the town, were engaged by the military.
"We are hearing gunshots and the fight is raging on," a resident of Michika who simply identified himself as Idris, said.
"Pray for us; Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... are trying to enter Michika," another resident, Teri, said.
John Jigalambu, a resident of Bazza, a village near Michika, said they could hear gun shots and most residents in the village had escaped to avoid the attackers.
Confirming the incident, the Adamawa Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Mallam Ahmad Sajoh, said the military was on top of the situation.
According to Sajoh, the bully boys, who entered through Kirchinga village in neigbouring Madagali local government, were being chased out by the military which had deployed reinforcement.
"They burnt the first bank in Michika and some shops," Sajoh said.
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[PJ] Police are searching for a suspect who reportedly opened fire inside a tram and at several other locations in Utrecht, Netherlands.
According to Financial Times, three people have been killed and five more injured. Police initially said nine were injured, but reduced the number to five on Monday afternoon.
Police are searching for 37-year-old Turkish man Gökman Tanis. They released a photo of the suspect on Twitter.
The police asks you to look out for the 37 year old Gökman Tanis (born in Turkey) associated with the incident this morning at the #24oktoberplein in #Utrecht. Do not approach him but call 0800-6070. pic.twitter.com/U1IWEDtUYu
‐ Politie Utrecht (@PolitieUtrecht) March 18, 2019
Schools have closed and security has been increased while counter-terrorism police search for the gunman, the BBC reported.
"We cannot exclude a terrorist motive," Dutch anti-terrorism co-ordinator Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg said at a news conference on Monday.
The attack took place at about 10:45 local time (09:45 GMT). One witness told local media that "a man started shooting wildly."
Tying up initial reports here and here with a ribbon. Note how quickly the authorities reacted to a possible jihadi attack.
[AlAhram] Dutch police nabbed ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... a Ottoman Turkish man suspected of shooting dead three people and wounding five on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht on Monday.
Utrecht police announced the suspect, 37-year-old Gokmen Tanis, had been taken into custody.
The city was put into lockdown after the shooting, shortly after the morning rush hour, which authorities initially said was an apparent terrorist attack. Police conducted raids in several locations.
But hours after the shooting, the gunman's motive remained unclear.
Unclear to some, most definitely. But not to others — read on, dear Reader:
A prosecutor said it could be for "family reasons"
...which translates as an honour killing when the victim is female...
and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...Qatar's colony in Asia Minor.... 's state-run Anadolu news agency, quoting relatives of the gunman, said he had fired at a relative on the tram and had then shot at others who tried to help her.
Helicopters hovered over the usually quiet mediaeval town.
Authorities had raised the terrorism threat in Utrecht province to its highest level, schools were told to shut their doors and paramilitary police increased security at airports, other vital infrastructure and at mosques.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte convened crisis talks immediately after the incident, which came three days after a lone gunman killed 50 people in mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand.
"Our country has today been shocked by an attack in Utrecht... A terrorist motive cannot be excluded," Rutte said.
"The first reports have led to disbelief and disgust. Innocent people have been struck by violence... We are now doing everything we can to find the perpetrator or perpetrators as soon as possible. That is now our complete focus."
The mayor of Utrecht, Jan van Zanen, said three people had been killed and nine injured, three of them seriously. The number of injured was later lowered to five.
Dutch police issued an image of Tanis and warned the public not to approach him.
The suspect had had previous run-ins with police, the prosecutor said. Local broadcaster RTV Utrecht said earlier the suspect was known to police for both minor and major crimes, including a shooting in 2013.
The shooting took place in Kanaleneiland, a quiet residential district on the outskirts of Utrecht with a large immigrant population.
[IsraelTimes] Ottoman Turkish intelligence services are investigating the deadly shooting attack in the Netherlands to determine whether it was a terror attack or a possible family dispute, President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... said Monday.
According to Turkish media, the main suspect, Gokmen Tanis, was born in Yozgat, central Turkey. Turkish state news agency Anadolu, citing “relatives” of the alleged assailant, said it may have been a possible “family dispute.”
[IsraelTimes] The father of the Ottoman Turkish-born man suspected of killing three people in an attack Monday in the Dutch city of Utrecht said his son should be punished if found responsible, a Ottoman Turkish news agency reports.
"If he did it, he must be punished," the DHA agency quoted Mehmet Tanis, father of 37-year-old suspect Gokmen Tanis, as saying after what Dutch officials said was likely a terror-related attack.
His father revealed he had lost contact with his son, having returned to his homeland in 2008 after divorcing his wife, DHA reports. She remained in the Netherlands with Gokmen.
Mehmet Tanis says he had since remarried and now lives in the central province of Kayseri.
"I have had no dialogue, no contact with my son for 11 years. We have not spoken to one another since 2008," he tells DHA.
In Utrecht stood Vredenburg Castle
(the Spanish could be such a hassle!)...
But Dutch are not German;
Mohammedan vermin
Had better take care who they rassle.
Or not... but ya go to war with the deracinated tulipants ya got.
[Rudaw] The death of a Kurdish activist on hunger strike in a Ottoman Turkish prison sparked festivities between supporters and police near his grave on Monday as his lawyers and Kurdish party officials said he had did away with himself.
Zulkuf Gezen, who died late Sunday, was one of scores of detainees on hunger strike in support of a Kurdish politician in Diyarbakir, a sensitive region where Ottoman Turkish forces have battled Kurdish holy warriors.
Clashes erupted on Monday when police fired water cannon to break up supporters of the main pro-Kurdish opposition party HDP who had gathered at his grave, an AFP news hound at the scene said.
"A prisoner lost his life yesterday. If the justice ministry had fulfilled its responsibility, our friend who lost his life would still be alive," HDP co-leader Sezai Temelli told news hounds.
Gezen’s lawyers said he had hanged himself. He had been in prison for 12 years on charges of membership of the PKK Kurdish holy warrior group.
In a statement, the public prosecutor’s office said Gezen had did away with himself in a bathroom, but rejected claims he killed himself as part of his protest.
A politician from HDP or People’s Democratic Party (HDP), Leyla Guven, launched a hunger strike on November 8 while in jail to protest the prison conditions for Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan. She has been released but other detainees followed her lead.
Ocalan is one of the founders of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which has waged a bloody rebellion against the Ottoman Turkish state since 1984. It is blacklisted as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies.
Ocalan has been serving a life sentence for treason in an island prison near Istanbul since his capture in 1999.
The HDP remains under the scrutiny of Ottoman Turkish authorities, which accuse the party of links to the PKK. Several of its MPs are behind bars, including former party leader Selahattin Demirtas.
At least 171 prisoners are on hunger strike, according to the party, which has urged the international community to take action.
The PKK initially sought independence and more recently autonomy for The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the most dubious NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants... ally.... ’s Kurdish minority. Fighting has left tens of thousands dead.
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CONFIRMED: Heavy clashes (heavy shelling & machine gunfire) ongoing between Pakistani and Indian armies right now at Nakyal, near Goi, Akhnoor & Sunderbani sectors.
This photo has been shared with me by a soldier posted on Pakistani side of LoC. pic.twitter.com/Oy3wjSBdiU
[DAWN] At least three people, including two coppers, were maimed in an improvised bomb (IED) kaboom near a police vehicle in Dera Ismail Khan ... the Pearl of Pashtunistan ... 's Parowa tehsil on Monday.
The police van was on a routine patrol in Parowa area, which borders Dera Ghazi Khan, when the bomb planted on a bicycle went off, DI Khan District Police Office Saleem Riaz said.
As a result of the blast, two police officials including a sub-inspector and a passer-by sustained injuries. They were shifted to the district headquarters hospital for emergency treatment.
DPO Riaz said eight kilogrammes of explosives had been used in the IED that targeted the police vehicle.
Search operations are underway in the area to apprehend the suspects involved, he told DawnNewsTV.
A recent study shows that the year 2018 saw a remarkable reduction of 45 per cent in bad boy attacks in the country. The study conducted by the Pakistain Institute for Conflict and Security Studies showed the ratio of security forces’ casualties per attack significantly increased in 2018 compared to 2017.
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[ELUNIVERSAL] In northern Iraq, the PKK and the Party for a Free Way in Kurdistan (PJAK), Iranian Kurds twinned with the PKK, have bases for withdrawal
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[Rudaw] The Iraqi Army and a Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)-linked group skirmished on Sunday night in Shingal, with each side claiming that two of their fighters were killed, as the Yezidi militia says their convoy was ambushed on their way to a meeting.
Mahma Khalil, Shingal mayor told Rudaw TV on Sunday night that the festivities occurred when a Shingal Protection Units (YBS) military vehicle came under fire from the Iraqi Army as it was attempting to cross into Iraq.
Khalil said as a result of the one-hour fight two YBS fighters were killed and three others maimed. He added one Iraqi Army soldier was killed and another was maimed.
Continued on Page 49
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“Try ‘em fair and hang ‘em high” is a lot cheaper than giving them three hots and a cot until their country gets around to taking them back.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) ‐ An Iraqi court has sentenced a Belgian national to death by hanging for belonging to 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.... bad boy group.
Bilal al-Marchohi, 23, was found guilty of belonging to Islamic State and carrying out terrorist attacks on its behalf.
"I shouldn’t be prosecuted in Iraq," Marchohi was quoted by Rooters as saying during today’s hearing. "I should be prosecuted in Belgium. I am a Belgian citizen."
During an hour of proceedings, the presiding judge read out portions of Marchohi’s signed confession and showed a video and photographs that he said proved his membership of IS.
The images from a phone found in his possession at the time of his arrest showed Marchohi carrying a gun and making a hand gesture affiliated with the bad boys. Several pictures showed him cradling his infant son.
Marchohi denied all allegations against him in open court, including that he was a member of IS at any time.
Judge Jumaa Saidi told the court that the photographs were clear evidence Marchohi was a member of Islamic State.
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#2
In the old west, a man's horse and his cattle were key to his livelihood and survival. Horse and cattle thieves were reportedly dealt with quite severely.
I have no issues with the Iraqi decision. Their business, not ours.
[Ynet] Security forces also searched the family business and questioned the father of 20-year-old Omar Abu Lila, suspected of killing an Israeli soldier and a father of 12
Israeli military raided the home of the suspected Ariel attacker and incarcerated You have the right to remain silent... his teenage brother early Monday morning. The security forces also questioned the father of the suspect, and searched a store belonging to the family. The 20-year-old Omar Abu Lila, from the village of Az-Zawiya in the West Bank, is suspected of killing two people and seriously wounding two others.
The Israel Defense Forces launched a massive manhunt for Lila on Sunday after he rubbed out 19-year-old Staff Sergeant Gal Keidan, and maimed two others - one seriously and one critically - in a shooting and stabbing attack close to the West Bank settlement of Ariel. One of the victims, Rabbi Ahiad Ettinger died Monday morning of wounds he sustained in the attack. He was a father of 12.
"Throughout the night, the Israel Defense Forces, in cooperation with the Shin Bet, the Border Police and the Israel Police, operated in the area of the villages in the area of the Ephraim Regional Brigade in pursuit of the terrorist," said the military in a statement. "In the meantime, extensive operational and intelligence efforts are underway in order to locate the perpetrator."
On his Facebook page, Lila published posts praising Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... , and there was hardly any reference to political and religious issues. The only post to ever raise suspicions about his intentions, was a condemnation of Israeli security forces entering Temple Mount last summer.
The Sunday's incident apparently began when the 20-year-old stabbed the soldier at the Ariel Junction and then stole his rifle and shot him. The assailant used the weapon to fire at three vehicles, hitting a civilian and then hijacking a car, which he drove to another junction nearby where he shot another person before continuing on to a nearby Paleostinian village, said the military.
The security footage from the scene of the attack shows Lila approach the bus station where the 19-year-old Keidan was patrolling the area. The attacker is then seen confronting the soldier, grabbing his weapon and shooting him at point blank range, while soldiers stationed on the other side of the intersection open fire at the Paleostinian.
[IsraelTimes] Images posted on social media show demonstrators setting off small kabooms, lighting tires on fire and pointing lasers at Israeli security forces.
Paleostinians in the Gazoo Strip resumed night time protests along the border between Israel and the coastal enclave on Monday, a week after halting them.
Pictures and videos posted on Twitter show Paleostinians in several locations in the border area, setting off small kabooms, lighting tires on fire, and pointing lasers at Israeli security forces.
The loud sounds created by the kabooms at previous night time protests have caused significant distress for some Israelis living adjacent to Gazoo.
Some 600 Paleostinians participating in the night time protests on Monday largely remained several hundreds of meters away from the border fence, an IDF front man said.
At past evening protests, many Paleostinians, mainly youth, have approached the fence and clashed with security forces. In some instances, they have thrown Molotov cocktails and rocks at troops.
Security forces detained and subsequently questioned four Paleostinians on Monday, who crossed the border, the army front man said.
[Ynet] A cluster of balloons with an bomb attached to it was found Monday in the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. Police sappers were called to the scene.
[IsraelTimes] Border Police officers jugged Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! a Paleostinian man Monday at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron on suspicion of planning a stabbing attack, as Israel remained on edge following a deadly shooting and knifing the previous day.
The suspect, in his 20s and from the Paleostinian town of as-Samu, was found to be carrying a knife, and during questioning said he planned an attack, Israel Police said in a statement.
Officers manning a security post close to the holy site became suspicious of the man, who was loitering nearby and appeared to be nervous and anxious.
Security forces approached the suspect with the intention of conducting a search of his person, but he resisted, the statement said. He was arrested and a search uncovered the knife.
His identity was not immediately cleared for publication.
[IsraelTimes] A bigwig with the Paleostinian party Fatah is badly beaten up in the Gazoo Strip on Monday, with the group accusing the strip’s Islamist rulers Hamas, a regional Iranian catspaw, of responsibility.
Hamas denies the claim and pledges to investigate the attack, which comes amid days of violent crackdown by its security forces on protests in Gazoo.
Atef Abu Seif, front man for Fatah in Gazoo and a member of its central committee, was beaten by a group of men near his home in the enclave, the official Fatah-aligned Paleostinian news agency Wafa says.
Pictures posted on Wafa show Abu Seif with a bandaged head and leg, with his clothes speckled with blood.
Mahmoud Aloul, deputy chairman of Fatah, accuses Hamas of carrying out an liquidation attempt.
Iyad al-Bozum, front man for the interior ministry in Gazoo, condemns the incident, telling AFP "the police are investigating the attack."
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continued their operation to reclaim the last self-proclaimed 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.... (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIS) enclave in the Syrian village of Baghouz on Sunday.
Footage from the area captures the exchange of gunfire and shelling.
According to the SDF, 29 IS Death Eaters were killed and "a large quantity of weapons and ammunition" was seized from IS on Sunday.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIS/IS/ISIS) launched arguably their last counter-offensive to regain the territory they lost to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the Baghouz area of eastern Deir Ezzor.
Backed by nearly 100 women and kiddies, the Islamic State stormed the Syrian Democratic Forces’ positions at the northern flank of the Baghouz Camp in a bid to force the latter to retreat from several areas.
According to preliminary reports, the Syrian Democratic Forces did retreat from some points after losing a half dozen fighters on Monday.
The reports said the Syrian Democratic Forces saw many women and kiddies dressed in their combat fatigues attacking their points during today’s battle.
The Syrian Democratic Forces will likely counter this Islamic State offensive in the coming hours as they hammer away at the terrorist group’s last bastion with both Arclight airstrikes and heavy artillery.
Due to their shortage of fighters, the Islamic State has begun using women and kiddies at the front-lines to help defend their last positions at the Baghouz Camp.
The Islamic State had previously prohibited women from fighting at any of their front-lines; however, due to a shortage in manpower and provisions, they have made an exception to this rule.
[Jpost] U.S.-backed fighters said they had taken positions in Islamic State's last enclave in eastern Syria and air strikes pounded the tiny patch of land beside the Euphrates River early on Monday, a Rooters journalist said.
Smoke rose over the tiny enclave as warplanes and artillery bombarded it. Another witness said the jihadists had earlier mounted a counter attack.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia said in an update on Monday that tens of gunnies had been killed during what it called fierce festivities, and one SDF fighter had been injured. It said Islamic State had sent four jacket wallahs to points close to SDF fighters.
Late on Sunday, an SDF front man, Mustafa Bali, said on Twitter that several enemy positions had been captured and an ammunition storage area had been blown up.
An Islamic State front man said on Monday the displacement of "the weak and poor" from Syria's Baghouz would not weaken the group.
"Do you think the displacement of the weak and poor out of Baghouz will weaken the Islamic State? No," Abi al-Hassan al-Muhajer said in a recording distributed by Al Furqan, a media organization linked to Islamic State.
He added "the Islamic State will return, God willing, to the regions it left whether it takes a long or a short time."
In the recording al-Muhajer also said Islamic State leader His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ...the head of ISIS, or what remains of it, and a veteran of the Abu Graib jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us. So far he has been killed at least four times, though not yet by a stake through the heart... urged the group to avoid using telecommunications devices as they had brought harm, and to take caution.
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[ALMASDARNEWS] The Salafist tough guys are once again clashing in southern Idlib after a relatively peaceful two weeks among the rival factions.
According to local reports, heavy festivities erupted between Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham 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... inside the town of Umm Seir in southern Idlib earlier today.
The reports said both parties used light and medium weapons, but they did not go into specifics regarding the reason for the festivities.
Harakat Ahrar al-Sham and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham have clashed on a number of occasions in the past, with the majority of their firefights ending in one side losing territory to the other.
Since the collapse of the jihadist-led 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... coalition, Harakat Ahrar al-Sham has attempted to change their image from a hardline Islamist group to a similar rebel force as the Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... (FSA).
Ahrar al-Sham is now part of a large coalition of rebel forces fighting under the banner of the Ottoman Turkish-backed National Liberation Front ...the Turkic paramilitaries intended to replace with their native jihadi ferocity all the highly trained Turkish soldiers Sultan Erdogan I the much beloved has jailed in the last few years for not worshipping the ground he walks upon. The Uighurs and so forth who did not join Al Nusra or ISIS seem to have ended up here... (NLF).
Despite the emergence of the NLF in northwestern Syria, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham still remains a major force in the governorates of Hama, Idlib, Latakia, and Aleppo.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/19/2019 00:00 ||
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[ALMASDARNEWS] A massive kaboom rocked Afrin city on Monday after unknown assailants targeted the main headquarters of the Ottoman Turkish-backed rebels.
According to local reports, a boom-mobileexploded in front of the Hekmeh building, which is the location of the Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... ’s (FSA) main headquarters in the Afrin region.
The corpse count following this attack is still unknown.
This attack comes on the first anniversary of the rebel takeover of the Afrin region from the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Since capturing Afrin last March, the Ottoman Turkish military and their rebel allies have turned the region into one of their main strongholds in northern Syria.
Furthermore, the Ottoman Turkish military has recently announced the opening of a new border crossing that links the Hatay Province with the Afrin region’s Jandaris District.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/19/2019 00:00 ||
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[ALMASDARNEWS] The Iranian Navy has dispatched its 61st naval group, consisting of the Sabalan frigate and the Bandar Abbas logistical support ship, to the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait between 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... and Djibouti connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, South Fleet Commander Rear Admiral Afshin Tashak has said.
"The naval group is on a mission to provide security for the routes used by the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) in the area of the Gulf of Aden and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait," Tashak said, speaking to Iranian media on Sunday.
According to the admiral, the naval group set sail for the strategic shipping strait on Saturday, departing from Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas.
Also Saturday, the 60th flotilla, consisting of two logistical ships, which fended off a pirate attack on an oil tanker last week, safely returned home to the southern Iranian port of Bushehr after completing a 5,600 nautical-mile journey.
The Sabalan frigate is equipped with a 114 mm main gun, along with anti-ship missiles, mortar, machine gun, torpedo tubes, and anti-air defence weaponry. The Bandar Abbas is a lightly armed replenishment ship with a helicopter deck and hangar capable of carrying a lone light helicopter.
Since 2008, the Iranian Navy has contributed substantial resources to international anti-piracy missions off the eastern coast of Africa. According to Tashak, Iranian naval groups have escorted some 6,000 oil tankers through international waters over the past decade.
The Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the adjacent Gulf of Aden linking the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal is a major global shipping route, with the equivalent of about 4.7 million barrels of oil shipped through the strait each day.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/19/2019 00:00 ||
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[ALMASDARNEWS] The Kurdish-led "Wrath of Olives" operation room announced on Monday that their forces had killed three members of the Ottoman Turkish military in eastern Aleppo today.
According to the official social media account of the Wrath of Olives operation room, their fighters detonated a roadside kaboom while a Ottoman Turkish military convoy was moving through the village of Ajil near the key town of al-Bab.
The Kurdish group said that at least three Ottoman Turkish soldiers were killed as a result of the attack, including two military coppers.
The Ottoman Turkish military has yet to comment on these recent claims; however, the social media account of the Wrath of Olives released a number of photos of the alleged Ottoman Turkish soldiers killed during the operation.
The Wrath of Olives operation room was formed shortly after the Ottoman Turkish-backed Euphrates Shield took control of the Afrin region in northwestern Aleppo.
Since then, the Wrath of Olives operation room and the Afrin Liberation Forces have wreaked havoc on the Ottoman Turkish and rebel troops in northwest Aleppo.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/19/2019 00:00 ||
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[Rudaw] Iranian security forces twice clashed with gangs in the border area with the Kurdistan Region in a space of a week raising the possibility of increasingly tension at a time that Tehran and Washington are competing for influence in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
One Iranian border guard was killed on Sunday night in a clash with a group of gunnies near Baneh city in the western Kurdistan Province, the commander of the border guards in the province said.
"The border guards clashed with a number of armed bandidos who intended to carry out subversive activities inside the country," Commander Kiumars Sheikhi of the border guards in the Kurdistan province told Tasnim news. "We have found traces of these armed bandidos and we are pursuing them."
In a separate incident on Friday night, a Kurdish group clashed with border guards near the western city of Marivan which lasted half an hour with no casualties reported. No Kurdish group grabbed credit for the attack.
Iran has several hundred kilometers of mostly non-existent borders with the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Tehran has historically attached critical importance to this region. Iran has repeatedly protested to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and its two ruling parties to stop Kurdish opposition groups from using their territory to deploy fighters to inside Iran.
A cute little map can be seen at the link
Tehran says its adversaries 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... , Israel and the United States are supporting the Kurdish opposition groups, but the Kurdish groups say they are struggling for greater rights for the Kurdish minority which number over 8 million within Iran.
Peshmerga fighters of several armed Kurdish opposition groups ‐ headquartered in Iraqi Kurdistan since the 1990s ‐ often clashed with Iranian security forces including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) until last September when IRGC targeted two camps in Iraqi Kurdistan belonging to two of the main Kurdish groups. The missile attack came after three years of festivities between fighters of Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and Iranian security forces in which dozens of fighters from both sides died.
In the latest clash on Sunday night, one border guard was killed, commander Sheikhi said without specifying which Kurdish group was responsible for the clash. Iran has been fortifying its border area with Iraqi Kurdistan by constructing roads to the mountain tops and launching large scale clearing operations via artillery, drones and thousands of troops to stop infiltration of Kurdish groups into the country.
While a number of minor festivities have occurred since the missile attack on the Kurdish camps in September, the latest attacks could raise tension between Tehran and Erbil if claimed by the Kurdish opposition groups based in the Kurdistan Region.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/19/2019 00:00 ||
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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.
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all...
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Islamic State (ISIS/
...the head of ISIS, or what remains of it, and a veteran of the Abu Graib jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us. So far he has been killed at least four times, though not yet by a stake through the heart...
...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...
...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...
