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Mpls. Man Charged with Making Threats in Islamic State Group Case
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Afghanistan
Insurgent Mortar Attack Kills Five in Afghanistan
[AnNahar] At least five members of a family have been killed after an murderous Moslem mortar hit their house in eastern Afghanistan, Afghan provincial authorities said Saturday.

"Five Afghan civilians, four women and a man were killed in an enemy mortar attack in Alingar district of Laghman province late Friday evening," provincial police chief, Daud Amin, told Agence La Belle France Presse.

Amin said eleven other members of the family were maimed in the mortar attack.

Laghman provincial governor front man, Sarhadi Zwak, confirmed the mortar attack and gave the same corpse count.

Zwak said women and kiddies were among the maimed in the attack.

No group immediately grabbed credit for the attack.

It comes as the Taliban holy warriors have announced their annual spring offensive -- vowing to target Afghan police, army and intelligence officials.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/26/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Horn
Somali, Ethiopian forces clash with Shaboobs in Galgadud
EL BUR, Somalia -- Somali government forces aided by Ethiopian-AMISOM forces clashed with Al Shabaab militants near Galgadud region town, El Bur of central Somalia on Friday night according to officials, Garowe Online reports. The ambush by militants triggered heavy gun-battle that inflicted heavy losses on Al Shabaab attackers, said commander with Somali National Army (SNA) Mohamed Kariye.

“The confrontation happened after anti-peace militants ambushed allied forces, we dealt severe losses to them and we seized Land Cruisers pick-up trucks, “Kariye said on Mogadishu-based radio station without unveiling the exact number of casualty figures on their side.

Somali militant group didn’t comment on the deadly clashes.
Running away too quickly to answer the reporter's questions?
Posted by: Steve White || 04/26/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Shaboobs arrested over deadly attack on UN vehicle
GAROWE, Somalia -- A police commander in Somalia’s northeastern state of Puntland confirmed that security forces have arrested over a dozen in sporadic sweeps since UN bus bombing, Garowe Online reports.

Col. Ahmed Abdullahi Samatar, Nugal regional police commander Saturday told the media that suspects arrested in connection with the rare terror attack that left four UNICEF staff dead are being interrogated at police headquarters.
How'd the Land Cruiser fare?
“The security situation is really good, and the findings of police have been handed over to the oversight committee,” said Col. Samatar, referring to the executive-level body named by Puntland Vice President Abdihakin Abdullahi Haji Omar in reaction at UN bus bombing.

Nugal regional police commander further noted that plans to establish community policing centers have got underway.

Last Monday, Al Shabaab suicide bomber killed four UNICEF workers-two Kenyans, Ugandan and Afghan- and two Somali body guards in bus in front of UN compound in the state capital of Garowe.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/26/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Africa North
Four Egypt Militants Killed Making Bombs
[AnNahar] Egyptian police said Saturday that four Islamists were killed in an accidental kaboom while preparing bombs south of the capital.
Guys, it is really, really important to pre-screen your bomb manufacture students for red-green colourblindness before allowing them into the program.
Understanding the '+' and '-' symbols on a diagram would seem to be a must as well...
And no smoking, dammit!
Police said the suspected faceless myrmidons were members of the blacklisted Moslem Brüderbund movement of former Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, whom the army toppled in 2013.
...strongly suggesting that the Muslim Brotherhood has never been the strictly peaceful political movement they've claimed to be since it was established during the Nazi pre-war period.
The kaboom took place on Friday on a farm in the province of Beni Suef south of Cairo, the interior ministry said in a statement.

Police found bomb-making materials and other blowed up stuff at the site, the ministry said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/26/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood

#1  All graduates of Gaza University....
Posted by: Pappy || 04/26/2015 8:48 Comments || Top||

#2  A nice story to start the morning.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 04/26/2015 9:19 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Boko Haram Retakes NE Town from Nigerian Army
[AnNahar] Suspected 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...
hard boyz have forced hundreds of soldiers to flee Marte, a border town along the shores of the Lake Chad, a local official and witnesses said Friday.

"The terrorists, numbering over 2,000, appeared from various directions on Thursday and engaged the soldiers in Kirenowa town and adjoining communities in Marte," said Imamu Habeeb, a local community leader.

"They fought with soldiers over the night and the fight continued today (Friday), forcing hundreds of soldiers to flee," he added from Borno state capital Maiduguri.

Local fighter Shehu Dan Baiwa said the more than 2,000 fighters had been armed with bombs and tanks. "They used the weapons without restraint and succeeded in killing several people," he said.

This is the third time Boko Haram has seized control of Marte in restive Borno state, a key battleground of their six-year insurgency, which has killed more than 13,000 and left 1.5 million homeless.

The city is among several retaken in recent weeks by Nigeria's military, which has launched an offensive against the Islamists as part of a regional operation supported by Chad, Cameroon
...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there...
and Niger.

But Boko Haram have been fighting back, and Nigerian troops were also forced to retreat from Boko Haram's Sambisa Forest stronghold this week after a landmine blast killed one soldier and three vigilantes.

A senior local politician confirmed, on condition of anonymity, that the hard boyz had retaken Marte.

"We lost many (people) because some of our people that fled to Chad and Cameroon have return after Nigerian troops recovered the town recently," he added.

A senior military official confirmed the attack on Marte, but refused to say whether Boko Haram had retaken the town, describing the army's retreat as "strategic".
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/26/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram

#1  For those who are curious:

Marte is 30 miles south of Lake Tchad and 20 miles west of Cameroon.
Posted by: frozen al || 04/26/2015 12:09 Comments || Top||


Arabia
South Yemen Clashes, Raids Kill more Than 90
[AnNahar] At least 92 people have been killed in Saudi-led coalition air strikes and fighting between supporters of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and his opponents in southern Yemen, sources said Saturday.

In the key port city of Aden and in the adjacent restive Lahj
... a Yemeni governate located in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. It is the stomping grounds on the southern secessionist al-Harak movement
province alone, 46 rebels died in ongoing festivities and 12 hours of intense air strikes that lasted until early Saturday, a military source close to them said.

A medic in Aden said that eight pro-Hadi turbans were killed and 32 were maimed.

The military source and pro-Hadi turbans told AFP that coalition warships were also taking part in the shelling.

Warplanes' targets included the rebel-held presidential palace which was Hadi's last refuge before he fled to neighboring 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...
last month, military officials said.

Air strikes also hit the rebel-held Al-Anad air base in Lahj north of Aden, which housed U.S. troops supporting a long-running drone war against al-Qaeda before the fighting forced them to withdraw.

Residents in Lahj said that the rebels have captured "dozens" of civilians they accused of aiding the coalition by giving them information on rebel targets.
Of course they did. What's the point of having a Muslim jihad if there aren't plenty of hostages for the variou amusements they provide?
Government officials earlier gave a toll of 38 killed in festivities in the southern towns of Daleh and Loder.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/26/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Clashes Rage in Yemen as Calls for Peace Talks Grow
[AnNahar] Fierce fighting raged Saturday in south 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...
between Iran-backed rebels and loyalists of exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, as pressure mounted for the warring factions to hold political talks.

The Houthis, who have overrun large parts of the country and forced Hadi to flee overseas, have demanded a complete end to a month of Saudi-led air strikes against them as a condition for U.N.-sponsored talks.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/26/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis

#1  "No talks. We're not done killing you yet"
Posted by: Frank G || 04/26/2015 8:53 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Brazil Police Probing Lawyer's Alleged Links to Terror
[AnNahar] Brazilian federal police have seized documents, computers and flash drives from a lawyer in Brasilia suspected of terror links, local media reported.

Police said in a statement that the investigation was classified and that they were responding to a warrant to search and seize documents that may have been falsified.

The documents were stamped with the seal of the federal police, where lawyer Marcelo "Salahuddin" Bulhoes dos Santos once worked.

But press reports said Santos, who has represented Moslem clients in Brazil, is also being probed for alleged links to bully boy groups.

Brazilian law does not classify terrorism as a crime.

The Senate is due to vote next week on an anti-terror bill.

Early Friday, hooded men from tactical operations and anti-bomb teams scoured the lawyer's Brasilia home that also serves as his office, with bomb-sniffing dogs.

Santos calls himself Marcelo Salahuddin on social websites, after the celebrated sultan of Egypt and Syria who fought the European Crusaders in the 12th century.

He is due to present himself at the cop shoppe for questioning, prosecutor Mauro Lustosa told news hounds.

Santos previously worked in general coordination of the international criminal police, an Interpol branch at the Brazilian federal police, from 2008 to 2010.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/26/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
San Diegan accused of hiding ISIS links
[UTSANDIEGO] A San Diego man who returned from Syria a few weeks ago was incarcerated
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
in Rancho Bernardo Wednesday, accused of hiding from the FBI his participation in gunbattles alongside al-Qaeda-backed fighters, his role on a Sharia court and several other alleged connections to terrorist activity during his time overseas, according to a complaint filed Thursday.

Mohamad Saeed Kodaimati, 24, was arrested by the FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force officers at his home near Caminito de la Gallarda and Pomerado Road and charged with making false statements involving international terrorism. He pleaded not guilty
"Wudn't me."
in a brief hearing in San Diego federal court Thursday afternoon and is set to appear again Tuesday, when the prospect of bail will be discussed.

The arrest adds to a growing number of San Diegans accused of connecting with radical Islamic groups overseas. Prosecutors said the case is unrelated to a pair of arrests here Sunday that involved Somali-American men from Minnesota accused of preparing to cross into Mexico from San Diego and join 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....
.

Saeed, born in Syria, came to the U.S. around 2001 and became a U.S. citizen through his father's naturalization, according to court records. He lived in Charlotte, N.C., as a teenager and came to San Diego, where he has extended family, about six years ago.

Saeed left San Diego in 2012 for Istanbul, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
-- apparently in an unsuccessful attempt to fetch his mother and bring her to the United States. He was later deported from Turkey, where his family opened a sandwich shop, to Syria, a friend said outside court.

Saeed tried to fly back to San Diego on March 5 but was turned away and told to visit the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, the complaint states. Five days later, Saeed spoke with an FBI agent and Diplomatic Security Services special agent there.

Authorities allege Saeed lied when he was asked several questions about his activities in Syria, denying that he was a member of the Sharia court or had any affiliation with the Islamic State or al-Nusra
...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ...
-- both terrorist organizations fighting the Syrian regime.

He claimed that while he owned an AK-47, he was never involved in any fighting and had only shot it in the air a few times, the complaint states.

Federal court documents say an investigation into Saeed's Facebook communications, as well as statements he eventually made to FBI agents, revealed there was much more to the time spent in his war-torn homeland.

In a September 2013 Facebook email to a friend, he wrote he was working for the Sharia Authority at Hanano, describing the official body as "a government in the liberated area -- being set up upon the Islamic religion -- and governed by the Koran," according to the complaint.
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  "book him, Dan-O"
Posted by: Frank G || 04/26/2015 8:45 Comments || Top||

#2  The arrest adds to a growing number of San Diegans accused of connecting with radical Islamic groups overseas

I blame it on the traffic on I-15.
Posted by: Pappy || 04/26/2015 8:53 Comments || Top||

#3  that while he owned an AK-47, he was never involved in any fighting and had only shot it in the air a few times

Ahh, a fun night in Logan Heights.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 04/26/2015 18:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Oceanview and T Street
Posted by: Frank G || 04/26/2015 20:55 Comments || Top||

#5  See FREEREPUBLIC > OFFICIALS: FBI INVESTIGATES/PROBING POSSIBLE ISLAMIC STATE-LINKED TERRORISM PLOT IN US: CNN.

versus

* SAME > [Jihad Watch] ISLAMIC STATE DECLARES "CALIPHATE" IN YEMEN, VOWS TO CUT THE THROATS OF HOUTHIS.

versus

* SAME, DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Arutz Sheva] IRAN THREATENS SAUDIS AFTER HOUTHIS AID PLANES BLOCKED.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/26/2015 21:47 Comments || Top||


Mpls. Man Charged with Making Threats in Islamic State Group Case
[KSTP] A Minneapolis man is accused of threatening federal agents, the U.S. Attorney in Minnesota, and a criminal informant who assisted in the arrest of six men accused of trying to join the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
terrorist group in Syria.

Mahamed Abukar Said was charged in federal court Friday after posting a series threats on his Twitter page, according to an FBI affidavit.

The tweets have since been deleted but Sherlocks used screen grabs to capture the threatening messages. They claim to have linked the Twitter account to Said using past tweets, a phone number and information from the Division of Vehicle Services.

One tweet said, "Ima whack that US attorney general."
One tweet said, "Ima whack that US attorney general." Investigators believe he meant either U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger, who held a presser about the arrests earlier in the week, or the assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case.

Another tweet said, "The feds are getting two choices. Either they gon free my bros or they gon have a massacre happen then they gon take me too."

Said is also accused of trying to retaliate against an informant who aided the federal investigation.

Said's attorney did not return a call for comment Friday night. Said will be detained until a hearing next Wednesday.

The arrests of the six men, all of Somali descent, created tension in Minnesota's Somali community, the largest in the United States. Since 2007, more than 22 young Somali men have traveled from Minnesota to Somalia to join the Death Eater group al-Shabaab
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
. Authorities have also said a handful of Minnesota residents have traveled to Syria to fight with bandidos bully boyz in the past year.

The six men were charged after a 10-month investigation that was aided by recordings made by a man who once planned to travel to Syria himself, but then decided to cooperate. Court testimony about the use of an informant, along with the judge's decision to detain the men, prompted angry reaction from some of the roughly 200 local Somalis who attended Thursday's hearing.

Meanwhile,
...back at the saw mill, Scarface Al had tied Little Nell to the log and was about to turn on the buzz saw...
a man accused of trying to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State group will be sent from Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, to Minnesota to face charges.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen S. Crawford in San Diego signed a warrant for the removal of Mohamad Farah.

The FBI tossed in the slammer
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
Farah and Abdurahman Daud last weekend in San Diego. They are among the six men charged in a criminal complaint unsealed Monday with conspiracy to support a foreign terrorist organization. The four others were arrested in Minnesota and authorities say the six are friends.

The complaint says the men planned to reach Syria by going to nearby countries from Minneapolis, San Diego or New York City.
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraq
IS Suicide Bombers Kill Four at Iraq-Jordan Crossing
[AnNahar] 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 claimed an attack Saturday by French, Belgian and Senegal
... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees...
ese jacket wallahs on the Iraq-Jordan border that officials said killed at least four Iraqi security personnel.

The bombers detonated explosives-rigged vehicles, one of them a lorry, at checkpoints on the Iraqi side of the Turaibil crossing, said Sabah Karhout, the head of the Anbar province council.

He put the toll at four dead and eight maimed.

The deputy head of the crossing, Khaled Alwan, and army Colonel Jabr Khailan, both confirmed the attack but gave higher tolls.

The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group claimed the assault in a statement posted online, saying the bombers were from La Belle France, Belgium and Senegal. It said the bombers targeted the main checkpoint at the crossing, a mess hall and sleeping quarters for security personnel, and an army patrol.

Iraqi security forces control pockets of territory in Anbar, a vast desert province that stretches from the borders with Syria, Jordan and 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...
to the western approaches to Baghdad.

But much of the province is held by IS, which spearheaded an offensive last June that overran swathes of territory north and west of the Iraqi capital. Some areas have been out of government control for longer than that. Anti-government fighters seized parts of Ramadi and all of Fallujah,
... the City of Mosques, which might have somthing to do with why it's not called Center of Prosperity or a really nice place to raise your kids...
to its east, in early 2014.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/26/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Gunmen kill top ISIS leader in central Hawija
[IraqiNews.com] On Thursday, a local source in Kirkuk province said, that an ISIS big shot has been killed in a krazed killer attack in central al-Hawija, located southwest of the province.

The source told IraqiNews, "Today, unidentified gunnies opened fire on a top leader of the ISIS group, known as Abu Khattab al-Jawali, in central Hawija; which led to his death immediately," noting that, "The group's elements lifted the body and began inspecting to find the krazed killers."
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/26/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraqi army battles Islamic State militants near Fallujah
[Rudaw] BAGHDAD -- Fierce festivities erupted northeast of Fallujah on Saturday between the Iraqi army and 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....
bandidos holy warriors following an ambush the day before that killed a general and staff officers.

Militants launched a complex attack Friday involving a bulldozer packed with explosives against a convoy as it approached an army camp, killing 1st Division commander Brig. Gen. Hassan Abbas Toufan and three staff officers in the Nadhem al-Taqseem region south of Lake Tharthar.

Ten soldiers also were killed and a dozen maimed in the attack which was against the nearby battalion headquarters as well, said Lieutenant general Mohammed Khalaf al-Dulaimi of the Anbar operations command.

Residents of Fallujah said that Islamic State bandidos holy warriors paraded an officer and three soldiers allegedly captured in the fighting through the streets in a pickup truck on Saturday. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Troops, including tanks, have been rushed to the area and were fighting Saturday in this rural region dotted with small villages.

Last year, the Islamic State overran large sections of the north and west of the country. In recent months, the Iraqi army, backed by the Popular Mobilizations Units of Shiite and Sunni militia fighters, has been gradually retaking territory.

After prying the city of Tikrit in the northern Salahuddin province away from the Islamic State group, Iraqi forces have turned their attention to Anbar province, particularly the regional capital of Ramadi that has been besieged by the hard boys.

Security forces had been reporting incremental progress this past week, including seizing a key bridge the bandidos holy warriors had been using to supply their forces. Some of the 100,000 residents that had fled Ramadi have started to return.

Fallujah has been firmly under control of the bandidos holy warriors since it was overrun in January 2014 and there has been little progress in efforts to retake it.

Iraqi militia blames Minister of Defense for ISIS massacre at Thar Thar Area, demands investigation

[IraqiNews.com] on Saturday the Iraqi Shia militia, the al-Hashd al-Sha'bi, demanded the Parliamentary Commission on Security and Defense summon Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi and open an urgent investigation about the "Thar Thar massacre" blaming him for exclusive responsibility.

Local Iraqi News media and Arab media reported on Saturday that ISIS executed dozens of Iraqi soldiers and elements of al-Hashd al-Sha'bi after surrounding them in the Thar Thar area north of Fallujah.

The information office of the al-Hashd al-Sha'bi said in a brief statement received by IraqiNews.com that "We demand the Parliamentary Commission on Security and Defense to call Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi and open an urgent investigation about the Thar Thar massacre."

The statement added that "The Minister of Defense is responsible for the massacre exclusively."
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/26/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  A bulldozer is not what I would classify as a high speed vehicle: wonder what really happened such that the convoy could not elude it?
Posted by: US , Ret. || 04/26/2015 10:28 Comments || Top||


Iraqi general, 3 officers killed in Islamic State ambush
[Rudaw] Fighters from 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 ambushed an Iraqi army convoy on Friday with a bulldozer packed with explosives, killing the commander of the Iraqi 1st Division and three of his staff officers north of Fallujah,
... the City of Mosques, which might have somthing to do with why it's not called Center of Prosperity or a really nice place to raise your kids...
said military officials.

The jacket wallah attacked the convoy of Humvees and then holy warriors opened fire, killing Brig. Gen. Hassan Abbas Toufan, a colonel and two lieutenant colonels in the Nadhem al-Taqseem region, said a member of the division and an intelligence officer. There was no initial count on the number of soldiers killed in the attack. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

The attack represents a setback for the Iraqi army which is embroiled in a fierce battle to reconquer western Anbar province, which has been under the control of the myrmidon Islamic State group for the past year. Fighting has been focused on the historic provincial capital of Ramadi, where the government had been making slow progress.

Earlier on Friday, the army had recaptured the important al-Houz bridge over the Euphrates in western Ramadi, which had served as a primary supply route for the krazed killers, according to police Col. Mahdi Abbas.

The security situation in Ramadi sharply deteriorated after the ISIS group seized three villages around the city, forcing an estimated 100,000 to flee their homes. Many had just started to return in the past few days as Iraqi soldiers and police have been able to secure the center of Ramadi and push the holy warriors back from some areas of the city.

During the weekly Friday prayer, Iraq's most revered Shiite holy man, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani urged the country's politicians to end all disputes in order to confront the political, economic and security challenges facing the country.

"It is important that the brothers (the politicians) should come out with final and drastic solutions for the problems," said al-Sistani's representative during a sermon Friday in the holy Shiite city of Karbala.

Many Iraqis blame the rivalries among the country's politicianship for the humiliating defeat suffered by government forces in the past year at the hands of the Islamic State holy warriors that control large sections of the north and west of the country.

In Friday's violence, police officials said a bomb went kaboom! near an outdoor market in the Sunni town of Tarmiyah, north of Baghdad, killing four people and wounding eight.

A bomb near a courthouse killed three people and maimed nine in the town of Mahmoudiyah, south of Baghdad.

Medical officials confirmed the corpse count. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

No group immediately grabbed credit for the attacks.
Iraqi News adds:
The commander of Anbar Operations, Major Geneneral Mohammed Khalaf, announced on Friday that the Iraqi Air Force had repelled ISIS attacks on Nazim Thar Thar area, indicating that ISIS did not dominate Nazim, while confirming that festivities are still ongoing.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/26/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Peshmerga push back ISIS assault on Mount Shingal
[Rudaw] Kurdish forces defeated a large band of ISIS fighters who attacked Peshmerga positions on Mount Shingal early on Friday, officials told Rudaw.

"About 50 Daesh gunnies attacked Peshmerga bases west of Shingal Mountain. Our forces repelled the gunnies after hours of fighting," said Ibrahim Murad, a Peshmerga officer in the area, using Arabic acronym for ISIS.

No causalities were reported on Peshmerga side but, according to Murad, dozens of Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
fighters were killed during the battle.

Shingal police chief Qassim Sumo confirmed that Kurdish forces with air support from the US-led coalition had forced ISIS to retreat in a counter-attack.

In other developments, a bombing attack struck police during a search for ISIS fighters in the Kurdish town of Khanaqin early on Friday, leaving at least four Kurdish officers maimed.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/26/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Three car bombs hit Iraq-Jordan border crossing, four dead
Baghdad -- Three suicide car bombs exploded at a border crossing between Iraq and Jordan on Saturday, killing four soldiers, a witness and an Iraqi border police source said, in an attack claimed shortly afterwards by Daesh.

The militant group claimed responsibility for the attack in a video, saying it had targeted a government complex, control point for the border crossing, and army patrol, according to monitoring group SITE.

A Jordanian official said his government had responded by stepping up security measures at the Tureibil crossing, while an Iraqi defence ministry spokesman said Baghdad would investigate the assault.

The Iraqi government announced a new offensive this month to recapture parts of Anbar from Daesh, but the militants struck back by attacking Ramadi, the Baiji refinery, and Al Thirthar dam.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/26/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Iraqi forces dismantle 54 IEDs between Baiji refinery and Tal Garad
Posted by: frozen al || 04/26/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel Carries Out Two Attacks in Syria
Arab-Israeli media is reporting that Israel has carried out two attacks in Syria in as many days. The target appears to have been a shipment of long-range rockets destined for Hezbollah.
And now they're destined for upper atmosphere.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/26/2015 02:30 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I was hoping they would have struck more considering the cover syrian OPTEMPO provides.
Posted by: newc || 04/26/2015 13:52 Comments || Top||


Car Terror
In the third terror attack in less than two days, an Arab driver plowed down three people, one of whom is moderately injured.

Update
Car Attack Terrorist Arrested
Alas, no death penalty
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/26/2015 02:24 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There seems to be a problem with embedding links in the text.
Car Attack Terrorist Arrested
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/26/2015 2:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Link fixed.
Posted by: Pappy || 04/26/2015 8:59 Comments || Top||

#3  Thanks Pappy. But, lately, happens to me all the time.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/26/2015 9:10 Comments || Top||

#4  Are they sure it's terrorism and not just Arab Driving?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 04/26/2015 10:30 Comments || Top||


Israeli forces kill two Palestinians
Jerusalem -- Israeli security forces killed two knife-wielding Palestinians in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem on Saturday, police said.
Brought knives to a gun-fight...
In the West Bank city of Hebron, a Palestinian was shot dead by a paramilitary Israeli border police patrol after stabbing one of its men in the head and chest, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said. The injured policeman was taken to hospital.
Naturally the Israeli soldier is blamed for defending himself...
Samri described the dead Palestinian as being around 20 years old. No further details on his identity were immediately available.

Earlier, 17-year-old Palestinian Ali Abu Ghannam attacked Israeli border police with a cleaver at a checkpoint in East Jerusalem and then ran away fled, with troops giving chase and firing warning shots in the air, Samri said.

Reaching a second checkpoint, Abu Ghannam drew another knife and ran toward security guards there. They shot him dead when he ignored their warnings to stop, Samri said.
Apparently the yout didn't understand Hebrew...
Abu Ghannam’s family rejected the Israeli account of the incident. One relative, Mohammed Abu Ghannam, said he did not believe the boy had been armed and that he had been on his way back from a friend’s party when he was killed.
He was at a Boy Scout meeting...
The family were refusing to receive the body, Mohammed Abu Ghannam said, because Israeli authorities had ordered a limit on the number of people allowed at the burial — a measure often imposed by Israel at the funerals of Palestinian militants in Jerusalem.
So toss him into an unmarked grave somewhere in the Sinai...
Stone-throwing Palestinian youts protesters faced off with Israeli riot police in East Jerusalem later on Saturday, Samri said, adding that one policeman had been lightly injured.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA quoted President Mahmoud Abbas’s office saying Abu Ghannam’s killing emphasised “the ugliness of the occupation and its crimes against the defenceless Palestinian people under baseless and incorrect pretexts”.
An Nahar adds:
Clashes broke out in Ghannam's home neighborhood on Saturday as young Palestinians in Al-Tur protested against the killing of the teenager.

Around 50 protesters threw stones and rolled burning tyres at Israeli security forces, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets, an Agence France Presse correspondent reported. Five protesters were wounded.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said one officer had suffered minor injuries from a stone to the face and police had used "riot dispersal means" to quell the protest.

She said there were no immediate arrests.

Palestinians in east Jerusalem declared a general strike.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/26/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Reports: Rebels enter strategic town in northwestern Syria
[Rudaw] BEIRUT -- Activists and opposition media are reporting that several hard-line Syrian rebel groups have pushed their way into a strategic town in northwestern Syria following intense festivities that lasted only days.

Opposition television station Orient News reported Saturday from inside the town of Jisr al-Shughour in Idlib province. Rebel fighters from Islamic factions, including the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, appeared to be milling in the town's central square, raising their black flag. The Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said the rebels are in control of large parts of the town.

Syrian state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
quoted a military official saying the army is still in intense festivities there.

Jisr al-Shughour is a strategic town west of the city of Idlib, the thriving provincial capital which fell to rebels less than a month ago.
An Nahar update at 10:00 a.m. ET adds perspective:
Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate and its allies seized the last major government-held city in Idlib province on Saturday, in a blow that could expose the regime's coastal heartland to rebel attack.

The city's fall opens up a strategic assault route for the rebels to neighboring Latakia province on the Mediterranean coast, a bastion of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
's regime, analysts said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Britannia-based monitoring group said the bodies of at least 60 regime loyalists had been seen on the streets of the city, which was overrun by thousands of rebels.

In the wake of the capture, the Observatory said government planes carried out at least 30 air strikes on and around the city.

"At least 10 people have been killed in the city in the strikes, both civilians and fighters, and dozens more are injured, with the toll expected to rise," Abdel Rahman said.

- '23 prisoners executed' -
The Observatory also reported that government forces summarily executed at least 23 prisoners in a detention facility before they withdrew.

Jisr al-Shughur became the regime's de facto placid provincial capital after the Army of Conquest coalition overran Idlib city last month.

With the loss of Jisr al-Shughur, the regime holds only a few areas in the east of the province, including the town of Ariha, a military base in Al-Mastumah and an air base at Abu Duhur.

- Assad heartland exposed -
But an activist from Idlib told AFP that both Ariha and the Al-Mastumah base were now under rebel siege, along with another military base called Al-Qarmid.

While last month's capture of Idlib city was hailed by many in the opposition because it was only the second placid provincial capital entirely lost by the regime, the seizure of Jisr al-Shughur may prove to be strategically more important.

"This city is more important than Idlib city because it is close to Latakia province and regions controlled by the regime in the northeast part of Hama province," Abdel Rahman said.

It lies on the road leading to the regime's Latakia bastion, and is also close to the border with The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
, which is a leading backer of the uprising against Assad.

"For the opposition as a whole, it would open up the route into Latakia from Idlib and Hama, which could significantly enhance any future offensive on Latakia," said Charles Lister, a visiting fellow at Brookings Doha Center and a Syria specialist. "That would be very dangerous for the regime."

He said the capture could also pose a new threat to the regime in neighboring Aleppo province, which lies to the east of Idlib.

"At the end of the day, this needs to be seen as more than just an offensive on Jisr al-Shughur, there's a much bigger strategy playing out."
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/26/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra



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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2015-04-26
  Mpls. Man Charged with Making Threats in Islamic State Group Case
Sat 2015-04-25
  Italy arrests suspected bin Laden bodyguards, Peshawar bombers
Fri 2015-04-24
  Italian police arrest 18 in AQ plot to attack Vatican
Thu 2015-04-23
  Adam Gadahn finally actually dead
Wed 2015-04-22
  IS “crucifies” family in Derna
Tue 2015-04-21
  Iraqi security official: heavy fight continues in Ramadi
Mon 2015-04-20
  Clashes, Saudi-led Air Strikes Kill 85 in Yemen
Sun 2015-04-19
  IS claims Responsibility for Deadly Afghan Bombing
Sat 2015-04-18
  ANZAC Day terror plot foiled in Melbourne
Fri 2015-04-17
  Top Saddam aide Izzat al-Douri killed
Thu 2015-04-16
  BIFF names new chief
Wed 2015-04-15
  Syria-bound British councilor's son arrested in UK
Tue 2015-04-14
  Ajnad Al Sham 'declares war' on ISIS south of Damascus: statement
Mon 2015-04-13
  U.S. drones kill 2 leaders in Pakistan
Sun 2015-04-12
  Paks free Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi, terrorist behind Mumbai attacks

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