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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Egyptian Soldiers Kill Leader Of Sinai Jihadist Group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis
Today's Headlines
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 10/02/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan
Third suicide bomber kills three in Kabul
Three Afghan soldiers were killed Thursday when a suicide bomber targeted their vehicle, the third such attack in the last 24 hours. The latest incident took place in Kabul and wounded eight other Afghan National Army soldiers, said Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimi.
Posted by: ryuge || 10/02/2014 05:49 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Pact signed to keep US troops in Afghanistan
[DAWN] Officials from Afghanistan and the United States on Tuesday signed a long-delayed security agreement to allow American troops to stay in the country after the end of the year, fulfilling a campaign promise by new President Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..

Afghan National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar and US Ambassador James Cunningham signed the bilateral security agreement in a televised ceremony at the presidential palace, one day after Mr Ghani was inaugurated as president.

"As an independent country... we signed this agreement for stability, goodwill, and prosperity of our people, stability of the region and the world," Mr Ghani said in a speech after the signing.

Mr Cunningham said the pact showed that the US remained committed to Afghanistan, where foreign forces helped provide security since the 2001 toppling of the Taliban government.
Posted by: Fred || 10/02/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So we get to keep American targets in A'stan - how wonderful. Though I guess it makes sense, to gather intel, as long as they are allowed to adequately defend themselves. I'm sure the real reason is to allow the graft to keep flowing.
Posted by: Glenmore || 10/02/2014 7:52 Comments || Top||

#2  SOFA as part of the agreement?
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 10/02/2014 14:01 Comments || Top||

#3  Possibly. It's not as if they were dealing with a paranoid sectarian Iranian catspaw...
Posted by: Pappy || 10/02/2014 18:29 Comments || Top||


Taliban Suicide Bombers Kill 7 In Kabul, Wound 21
[Ynet] Taliban jacket wallahs struck two buses carrying Afghan soldiers in Kabul early Wednesday, killing seven people and wounding 21, just a day after the signing of a key US-Afghan security pact.

The long-awaited deal allows US forces to remain in the country past the end of 2014, ending the uncertainty over the fate of foreign troops supporting Afghans as they take over the fight against the Taliban insurgency.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/02/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa North
Egyptian Soldiers Kill Leader Of Sinai Jihadist Group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis
[Ynet] Egyptian soldiers have killed a top hard boy in the Sinai Peninsula amid festivities on Thursday, senior military officials said.

Mohammed Abu Sheeta, a leader of the al-Qaeda-inspired group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, was killed in the town of Rafah, which borders the Gazoo Strip and Israel.
Well, ain't that the... ummm... sheets...
Sheeta had led the abduction of Egyptian soldiers to press the government to release his detained brother, the officials said.

The officials also said soldiers discovered an underground field hospital and a store packed with explosives.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/02/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis


Man dies as locals chase Ansar from Benghazi checkpoint
[Libya Herald] An old man has killed and three civilians maimed last night in Benghazi when locals attacked an Ansar al-Sharia
...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libyaand Yemen, with the Libyan versions currently most active. Tunisia's Shabaab al-Tawhid started out an Ansar al-Sharia and changed its name in early 2014. It still uses the old name now and then, probably because the stationery's not all used up and the web site hasn't expired yet...
checkpoint and drove the forces of Evil away.

The incident, at a roadblock set up near Zamzam market reportedly saw the Ansar people flee after a two-hour battle, abandoning some of their vehicles.

An eye-witness told the Libya Herald: " A number of locals from Alserti, Wahaishe and Ard Alsalabi gathered and attacked the checkpoint when it was set up late and started checking passersby".

Fighting between the residents and Ansar lasted for around two hours, the eye-witness said, adding that unfortunately one civilian, an old man, was killed and three others were maimed.

He added angrily "They are not welcome at all in any place in Benghazi or of course Libya. If they are really battling for the rights of the country, why are they masked? They look like forces of Evil to us".

This was not the first time that Ansar forces of Evil have been set upon by ordinary people. Last week, a hit man believed to be a member of Ansar was killed by a crowd in Benghazi's Majouri district while he was trying to carry out an liquidation.
Posted by: Fred || 10/02/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Ansar al-Sharia

#1 
This was not the first time that Ansar forces of Evil have been set upon by ordinary people


Nice to have a feel good story every now and then.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/02/2014 14:02 Comments || Top||


Clashes continue in Sebha despite ceasefire
[Libya Herald] Fighting between members of the Awlad Suleiman and the Qaddadfa tribes has continued overnight in Sebha despite a ceasefire agreed yesterday by both sides. The 20-day truce, mediated on Monday by town elders and those from other tribes and nearby areas, including the Magarha, was supposed to include the removal all heavy weapons from the streets and a commitment to dialogue between both sides to resolve their differences.

"It is very bad," local resident Mohammed Hussein told the Libya Herald this morning, The homes of ordinary Qaddadfa were being burnt and destroyed, he said. "I can hear the bombing." Over 13 people had been killed since fighting reignited three days ago, he added, nine from the Awlad Suleiman, the rest from the Qaddafa. The dead and injured were being taken to hospital in Sebha as well as in Brak Al-Shatti, he said.

Only one subgroup of the Awlad Suleiman were involved, he explained, the Ashridat clan. "They are not listening" to mediators, he claimed.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 10/02/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


India-Pakistan
Grenade attack injures two policemen in Karachi
[DAWN] A hand-grenade blast near Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
's Hassan Square area on Wednesday injured two coppers while another bomb detonated near Tipu Sultan cop shoppe causing fear and panic to grip the locality, DawnNews reported.

Unknown attackers hurled a hand-grenade at a police mobile van near Hassan Square flyover in Gushan-e-Iqbal area of Karachi. Two coppers were maimed in the incident, and were shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment.

The attackers managed to flee from the scene.

In another incident, unknown persons threw some explosives near Tipu Sultan cop shoppe. The kaboom caused fear and panic to grip the surrounding areas.

However,
there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened...
there was no loss of life or property reported in the incident.

Earlier during the day, a bomb shell was discovered in a garbage heap in Baldia Town, Sector 9 area of Karachi.

The Bomb Disposal Squad later arrived at the site and took the shell into their custody after examining it.
Posted by: Fred || 10/02/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


School teacher killed in Peshawar blast
[DAWN] A teacher was killed and two children injured on Wednesday when a hand-grenade attack took place on a school in the Shabqadar area of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar.
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
Sources said the school had received letters a month earlier which threatened the administration to direct students to wear shalwar kameez instead of pants and shirts.
I think the distinguishing quality of Pakistain is that there's no such thing as going too far.
According to police sources, unidentified miscreants threw a hand-grenade on Askari Public School and College in Shabaqadar area.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 10/02/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Iraq
IS seizes western Iraqi town of Hit
Sunni militants took control of most of the western Iraqi town of Hit in Anbar province early on Thursday, according to security sources and local officials.

Adnan al-Fahdawi, a provincial council member, said, "Ninety percent of the town of Hit has been overrun by militants, adding the attackers were better armed than local security forces.

An eyewitness speaking from Hit said, "Scores of militants can be seen in the town with their vehicles and weapons, I can hear shooting now everywhere."

The security sources said the attackers struck first with three suicide car bombs at the eastern entrance to Hit and a police station in town.

Early reports from Hit hospital sources said six people, including one civilian, were killed and 12 people were injured.
Posted by: ryuge || 10/02/2014 06:19 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Air Strike Kills 9 Jihadists North of Baghdad
[AnNahar] An air strike on a base of 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....
jihadist group north of Baghdad killed nine forces of Evil Wednesday, a senior Iraqi military intelligence officer said.

The officer said a warplane from the international coalition against IS had destroyed a compound used by the organization in Danadish village, near the town of Hawijah.

"Nine of them were killed, 11 maimed, five vehicles and 13 cases of ammunition destroyed," he told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

He said the unit's military leader, whom he named as Abu Abed Ahmed Abdallah al-Dandushi, and 30 other IS fighters had managed to flee after the strike, which was carried out at around 7:00 am (0400 GMT).

A local official from the Hawijah district confirmed the information.

"The coalition strike was very accurate and destroyed this compound which was being used as a shelter for fighters coming from Raqa (in Syria) before they were dispatched to (the provinces of) Anbar, Salaheddin or Diyala," he said.

It was not immediately clear which air force carried out the strike.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/02/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Jihadists Besieged in Clinic in Iraq-Syria Border Town
[AnNahar] Kurdish peshmerga forces on Wednesday were surrounding a clinic in Rabia where several 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....
jihadists had holed up after their group lost control of the town, officials said.

The peshmerga launched a major military push Tuesday on Rabia, which lies on the border between Iraq and Syria, and quickly controlled most of it.

But a small group of IS fighters took refuge in the town's clinic, leading to a standoff with the peshmerga who fear the building has been booby-trapped.

"There are 10-12 IS members inside the hospital. We don't want to attack because it might be booby-trapped," said a senior officer, adding that the peshmerga fully controlled the rest of Rabia.

"There have been fighters inside the clinic since yesterday and we are surrounding them," peshmerga front man Halgord Hekmat said.

"We are monitoring, waiting for them to come out or kill themselves, but we are not fighting them," he told Agence La Belle France-Presse.

The Kurdish troops, with air support from the U.S.-led international coalition against IS, launched an offensive on three fronts on Tuesday.

Besides Rabia, they also advanced on Zumar, but the center of that town north of the main jihadist hub of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
remained in IS control late Wednesday, Hekmat said.

The peshmerga, who have been receiving new military equipment from their Western allies, also pushed south of Kirkuk on Tuesday, ousting the jihadists from three villages before calling in strikes.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/02/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


U.N. Announces Meaningless Number of Dead by Violence in Iraq Last Month
... almost none of those who died included because no one knows.
[AnNahar] Acts of violence across Iraq killed at least 1,119 people last month, according to U.N. figures released Wednesday excluding the restive western province of Anbar and casualties among jihadists.

The United Nations
...an idea whose time has gone...
Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said at least 854 civilians and 265 members of the security forces were killed in September, and close to 2,000 injured.

The figure was lower than in July and August (1,737 and 1,420 respectively)
...equally meaningless numbers, unfortunately...
but the U.N. stressed that it excluded Anbar province.

The western region saw some of the worst violence in September, including attacks by jihadist-led hard boyz on army bases which are feared to have left hundreds dead.

Many deaths are believed to go unreported and hundreds of people are still considered missing across the country.

UNAMI also said it was unable to account for those who died of causes related to the violence, including the displaced who have perished from lack of access to water, food or medication.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/02/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


British Jets Strike IS Jihadists West of Baghdad
[AnNahar] British fighter jets fired on 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) bully boyz west of Baghdad and in northwest Iraq in two rounds of air strikes Wednesday, the defense ministry in London said.

Two Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado warplanes based in Cyprus fired four Brimstone missiles on two IS vehicles, including an armed pick-up truck, the ministry said in a statement.

"Two Tornado GR4s from RAF Akrotiri conducted an armed reconnaissance mission in support of Iraqi government forces west of Baghdad," it said.

"They were tasked to examine a location suspected of being used as an ISIL (another term for IS) command and control position.

"At the scene they were able to identify ISIL activity and two vehicles, one of which was an armed pick up truck."

The missiles were used "to conduct a precision attack on the vehicles," it said.

Two British jets also fired on IS jihadists fighting Kurdish forces.

"The aircraft pin-pointed the location from which ISIL fighters were directing heavy fire on the Kurdish troops and conducted a precision strike with Paveway IV guided bombs," the ministry said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/02/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Fear notteth, Amerika + Londonistan, the Aussies will be sending another two warplanes [unarmed] to help deal wid dem dar ISIS Boyz!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/02/2014 2:00 Comments || Top||


Kurds Seize Iraq, Syria Border Post; Sunni Tribe Joins Fight Against Islamic State
[Ynet] Iraqi Kurdish troops drove 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....
fighters from a strategic border crossing with Syria on Tuesday and won the support of members of a major Sunni tribe, in one of the biggest successes since US forces began bombing the Islamists.

The victory, which could make it harder for murderous Moslems to operate on both sides of the frontier, was also achieved with help from Kurds from the Syrian side of the frontier, a new sign of cooperation across the border.
And incidentally makes it easier for the West-armed Iraqi Kurds to share weapons and ammunition with their West-blockaded brothers in Syria.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/02/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
US-Israel Ties In Crisis Over East Jerusalem Building Plans
[IsraelTimes] Implying that Netanyahu's talk of peace is insincere, Washington warns new project will 'distance Israel from closest allies'; PM says he rejects US criticism
This has been in the works for years. Once again, our president has created a crisis to take advantage of. He simply can't do otherwise when it comes to that shitty little country, Israel.
US-Israel relations were plunged into crisis Wednesday, soon after President Barack Obama
I've now been in 57 states -- I think one left to go...
and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks at the White House that began with a good-natured joint press briefing.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/02/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  At a time when the world is going to hell on multiple fronts and a lesser man would have bigger fish to fry, our President is taking time off from golf, fund-raising and not going to security briefings to boldly condemn this international outrage, this building of houses in some country he may not even be able to find on a map. For this, I raise my half-empty coffee cup in salute.
Posted by: SteveS || 10/02/2014 2:17 Comments || Top||

#2  I guess the juices didn't buy this scenic acreage for top shekel amirite?


Also I bin wondering what came of that coffee cup.
Posted by: Shipman || 10/02/2014 5:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Is this gonna come in they way of some arab slums being erected or something.. Can not 1 day go by without this SOB creating some bullshit?
Posted by: chris || 10/02/2014 7:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Our president's two fathers were Muslim and his half brother is in the Brotherhood. It's quite clear what is going on.
Posted by: 3dc || 10/02/2014 14:53 Comments || Top||

#5  Pshut Up, Psaki
Posted by: Frank G || 10/02/2014 15:50 Comments || Top||

#6  I can see Obama's regime offering Freddie/Fannie loans to Arabs to buy those units. Cuz, inequality!
Posted by: Frank G || 10/02/2014 15:52 Comments || Top||

#7  I guess the juices didn't buy this scenic acreage for top shekel amirite?

Probably overpaid, Shipman. That's the pattern going back to the 1920s, or thereabouts. Also, if a title search were done, good odds that before Jordan annexed East Jerusalem and evicted the Jewish residents, the properties were actually owned by Jews, possibly ancestors of those Jews who bought it this time. Life is full of little ironies like that.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/02/2014 20:18 Comments || Top||

#8  TW, I thought Moses brought y'all to the border and then you took the land from the paleo Paleos?
Posted by: Glenmore || 10/02/2014 22:10 Comments || Top||

#9  The Paleos may be philistines, but the Philistines weren't paleos.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/02/2014 23:18 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Sources: MILF faction won't give up arms, in talks with BIFF
Sources say that large faction within the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) disapproves of the disarmament provision in the peace agreement it signed with the Philippine government and has begun talks with the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) which is harboring foreign terrorists in Mindanao. But MILF leadership said it stands "solidly" behind the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro, according to MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar.

Jaafar made the assurance amid reports that the large faction, led by Hashim Salamat, supposedly a nephew of the deceased MILF founder also named Hashim Salamat, is undertaking "realignment" talks with the BIFF.

Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan confirmed on Tuesday that foreign jihadis Zulkifli Abhir, alias Marwan, of Malaysia and Mohammad Ali, alias Muawiyah, of Singapore are both operating locally with the BIFF. He declined to comment on reports that Abu Saad and Quiam, both foreign jihadists of undetermined nationalities, were also operating with the BIFF and the Abu Sayyaf group.

Former President Fidel Ramos said the government should take all security measures "to prevent and pre-empt" any terrorist activity in the country, especially since Pope Francis is scheduled to visit the country in January.
Posted by: ryuge || 10/02/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I was expecting this to occur last week.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/02/2014 2:07 Comments || Top||

#2  More ... ...

See PHILIPPINES STAR > "ISLAMIC STATE POPULARITY GROWING IN THE PHILIPPINES".

OSCAR VALENZUELA, Executive DIrector of PH Anti-Terrorism Councilwhom also says that Filipino OFWS in the ME are vulnerable to local ISIS andor other Jihadi recruitment.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/02/2014 2:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Standard Operating Procedure. MILF will now become a much smaller organization as most of it members form a new organization which will then demand even more area of control.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 10/02/2014 4:50 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm always disappointed when I click any of the MILF links at Rantburg.
Posted by: Crusader || 10/02/2014 15:58 Comments || Top||

#5  Yeah I always had the same problem with GE's College Bowl.
Posted by: Shipman || 10/02/2014 16:05 Comments || Top||

#6  Looks like Abu Sayaff is now threatneng to kill both German hostages by October 17th of this year.

* GLOBALNATION.PH > ABU SAYAFF THREATENS TO EXECUTE TWO GERMAN HOSTAGES I ON OCTOBER 17TH IFF RANSOM [P$250.0Milyuhn] UNDELIVERED.

Abu Rani, Spox for Abu Sayaff Chief-El Supremo Radulan Sahiron, whom also wants PHIL + World to know that Abu Sayaff takes Islamic Law = Sharia very seriously.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/02/2014 22:27 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Deadly twin blasts near school in Syria's Homs, 18 killed, 40 injured
[ABNA.IR] Two blasts near a school in the government-controlled central Syrian city of Homs on Wednesday left a number of people dead and injured, including children, state media said.

"Two terrorist kabooms near the Akrameh al-Makhzumi school and the Zaim hospital caused deaths and injuries," said state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
.

Both the official news agency SANA and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group also reported the attacks, and said one of them had been caused by a boom-mobile.

"Children were among the casualties in the blasts," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman, adding that it was unclear what had caused the second blast.

The blasts hit the Akrameh neighbourhood of Homs, which is home to a majority of Alawites, members of the same sect of Shiite Islam to which Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators...
belongs.
Posted by: Fred || 10/02/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


ISIL advancing on grandfather of the founder of Ottoman Empire's tomb in Syria
[ABNA.IR] Turkey on Tuesday said ISIL Terrorist were advancing on a tiny exclave considered Turkish territory in northern Syria, but insisted it was still in control of the land despite reports its guards there were encircled.

The tomb of Suleyman Shah, the grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire Osman I, on the Euphrates River, is Turkish territory under a 1920s treaty and still guarded by a few dozen Turkish troops.

The pro-government Yeni Safak daily had reported earlier that the 36 Turkish soldiers guarding the tomb had been overwhelmed by a group of some 1,100 ISIL Terrorists.
It suggested that the troops could now be held hostage by the Terrorists.

But Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arninc acknowledged that ISIL Terrorists were advancing on the tomb but played down speculation that the situation was critical.
Turkey has previously warned that it would consider an attack on Suleyman Shah as an attack on its sovereign territory to which it would respond in kind.

The tomb is located around 25 kilometers south of the Turkish border in northern Syria, much of which is now under the control of ISIL Terrorists.

Details of Turkey's control of the tomb are kept mostly secret and it is not clear how Ankara keeps the guards resupplied or how its troops are moved in and out for their patrol missions.
Posted by: Fred || 10/02/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Who knew?
Huh, everyday it's something new.
Posted by: Shipman || 10/02/2014 5:45 Comments || Top||

#2  On 27 March 2014, recordings were released on YouTube of a conversation purportedly involving Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu, National Intelligence Organization (MİT) head Hakan Fidan, and Deputy Chief of General Staff General Yaşar Güler. The recording has been reported as being probably recorded at Davutoğlu's office at the Foreign Ministry on 13 March. Transcripts of the conversation reveal that, as well as exploring the options for Turkish forces engaging in false flag operations inside Syria, the meeting involved a discussion about using the threat to the tomb as an excuse for Turkey to intervene militarily inside Syria. Davutoğlu stated that Erdogan told him that he saw the threat to the tomb as an "opportunity." Wiki

Opportunity? Never let a crisis go to waste maxim of Rahm Emmauel? Who would have known his fame had spread to Turkey.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/02/2014 14:22 Comments || Top||

#3  back in March, Turkey probably underestimated the strength of ISIS and overestimated the strength of Assad

since ISIS took a bunch of Turkish diplos hostage (the hostages were released presumably there was an indirect ransom), Turkey has been more sheepish about taking on ISIS with ground forces
Posted by: lord garth || 10/02/2014 14:27 Comments || Top||

#4  presumably there was an indirect ransom

Probably a trade for a multiple number of prisoners, either in Turkey or elsewhere. President Erdogan talked vaguely about the example set by the US (for that deserter) and Israel (for Schalit, et al).
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/02/2014 19:40 Comments || Top||

#5  Given the proximity, Turkish resources, and transit through Turkey by ISIL members, seems like it would have been straightforward for the Turks to scoop up some ISIL players to trade for their diplomatic staff.
Posted by: Classical_Liberal || 10/02/2014 20:23 Comments || Top||


U.S.-Led Strikes Hit IS outside Syria's Ain al-Arab
[AnNahar] U.S.-led forces carried out at least five air strikes on Wednesday against Islamic State group fighters attacking the Syrian Kurdish town of Ain al-Arab, a monitoring group said.

The strikes hit IS positions south and southeast of the town, known as Kobane by the Kurds, which the jihadists have been battling to take for more than two weeks, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

At least eight jihadists were killed in a strike on an IS tank east of the town, said the Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a wide network of sources inside Syria for its reports.

"Kurdish fighters on the front lines saw the bodies literally being thrown into the air" by the force of the blast, said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

Despite the air strikes, the jihadists continued to shell the town on the Turkish border from positions as little as three kilometers (two miles) away.

Fierce fighting overnight killed nine Kurdish fighters and one IS militant, the Observatory said.

The group also reported that at least 10 people had been executed by the group on Tuesday, including a civilian and three Kurdish female fighters, who were beheaded.

A Kurdish male fighter was beheaded along with the women, and another five fighters were also executed in a separate incident in the area, the Observatory said.

Abdel Rahman said the Kurdish fighters were vastly outnumbered and outgunned in the fight for Ain al-Arab.

"Though they are fewer in number and are militarily worse equipped, the Kurdish fighters refuse to withdraw and are fiercely defending their town," he said. "For them, it is a matter of life or death."

Hundreds of Kurdish fighters are facing thousands of jihadists armed with tanks, heavy artillery and 220mm multiple rocket launchers.

"The Kurds are armed with Kalashnikov rifles, Soviet-era DShK machineguns and RPGs," Abdel Rahman said.

Local Kurdish leader Anwar Muslim acknowledged the balance of forces favored the jihadists.

"IS have brought in the weapons they seized from Mosul (Iraq's second city) and Tabqa airbase (in Syria's Raqa province)," he said.

IS seized large stocks of heavy weaponry from fleeing Iraqi troops when they captured Mosul in June. They took more when they overran the Syrian army garrison at Tabqa in late August.

"We are trying to push them (the jihadists) back with the help of the coalition's strikes. They are our common enemy," said Muslim.

"There are still thousands of civilians inside the town," said the Observatory's Abdel Rahman.

Ain al-Arab would be a key prize for IS, giving it unbroken control of a long stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/02/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Syria-Linked Militants Release Lebanese Soldier
[Ynet] Islamist Death Eaters have released a Lebanese soldier they seized last month from a town at the border with Syria where they have clashed with the Lebanese army, security sources and state media said on Wednesday.

It was not immediately clear why the soldier, identified by Leb's state news agency as Kamal al-Hujairi, had been released. He was seized while visiting his family's farm near the border town of Arsal last month, the National News Agency said.

Militants are believed to be holding about 15 Lebanese soldiers and 15 other members of the security forces captured during an incursion by gunnies - including some linked 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....
group - into Arsal in August.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/02/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Islamic State Beheads Kurds As Coalition Jets Strike Group Near Turkish Border
[Ynet] Report says 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 beheads group of Kurdish men, women, while sources say US-led Arclight airstrikes have targeted group's fighters; two blasts in Homs kill children and residents.

US-led forces launched air strikes on Islamic State fighters who are besieging a Kurdish town near the Syrian border with Turkey on Wednesday, Kurdish sources in the town and a monitoring group said, a rare daylight coalition attack.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/02/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State



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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2014-10-02
  Egyptian Soldiers Kill Leader Of Sinai Jihadist Group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis
Wed 2014-10-01
  Iraq Bombings, Attacks Kill Nearly 50
Tue 2014-09-30
  India Police Arrest over 200 for Religious Violence in Gujarat
Mon 2014-09-29
  Afghan villagers hang Taleban militants
Sun 2014-09-28
  Jihadist's Tweets Suggest Khorasan Leader's Death
Sat 2014-09-27
  Air Strike Kills Senior IS Jihadist in Syria
Fri 2014-09-26
  Oklahoma Muslim Convert Goes 'Postal', Beheads Woman
Thu 2014-09-25
  Terror raids nab nine in London, including Choudary
Wed 2014-09-24
  Top Iraqi generals retired after huge loss to IS militants
Tue 2014-09-23
  US, Arab Allies Launch First Wave of Strikes in Syria
Mon 2014-09-22
  Iraqi Forces Launch Operation against Militants near Fallujah
Sun 2014-09-21
  60,000 Kurds Facing ISIS Advance In Syria Flee To Turkey
Sat 2014-09-20
  Acting JMB chief among 7 arrested; plans included snatching jailed Ansarullah chief
Fri 2014-09-19
  U.S. Targets IS Training Camp in Iraq for First Time
Thu 2014-09-18
  Ringleader in Canada Terror Case Pleads Guilty

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