A number of security force members from Helmand province claim the Taliban has access to a national database of security force members which is putting troops at great risk.
However, these claims have been rejected by the Interior Ministry.
According to the soldiers, a number of security force members have been identified by the Taliban as being troops after having their finger prints scanned by insurgents.
The troops said they wear civilian clothes under their uniforms and sometimes fight on the battlefield in civilian clothes.
"Most of them have private clothes under their uniform. When war intensifies, they take off their uniforms and then escape," an army commander told TOLOnews.
"They [Taliban] captured four of our colleagues. They scanned their fingers through a computer and found that they were security force members. Taliban has access to biometric [technology]," an army soldier said.
Interesting. Whence the impetus to modernize?
The Ministry of Interior (MoI) meanwhile rejected the claims and said these were unfounded rumors.
"This issue is not real. It is completely baseless," said Najib Danish, the deputy MoI spokesman.
"The issue of biometrics in Afghanistan has its own privacy that allows no one to access to it," he added.
Such an issue was raised after the Kunduz battle where it was said that militants had access to modern weapons and technology including biometric systems.
A recent investigation into the ongoing war in Helmand shows that security forces face huge challenges in fighting insurgents due to a lack of military hardware and the failure to get quick back up when needed.
TOLOnews journalist Tamim Hamid spent several days with these forces on the frontline as they engaged in clashes with insurgents.
In this report, local authorities talk about the absence of thousands of soldiers among the various security force branches in the province.
The people of Helmand, meanwhile, have strongly criticized what they call a lack of good governance in the province which they believe is the main reason for ongoing insecurity in the area.
The Afghan Intelligence operatives have detained at least 27 university students who were affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group and the Taliban group.
The National Directorate of Security (NDS) said the university students were arrested after they torched the national flag and instead raised the flags of ISIS and Taliban group.
NDS said a number of the detained university students also have links with Hezb-e-Islami Party led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
Filed under Salafists because it appears they don't really care enough to have a proper allegiance, except to whoever is the current strongest horse/most fashionable.
The group was looking to organize further illegal demonstrations in a bid to disrupt the situation in Nangarhar and particularly in Nangrhar University, NDS said, adding that the suspects were arrested during a joint operation conducted by Afghan police and intelligence operatives.
The Afghan security forces also confiscated numerous ISIS and Taliban flags along with documents proving their affiliation with the terror groups, NDS added.
Calling the Taliban and ISIS as terror groups, NDS warned of strict actions against those who are supporting and spreading propaganda in favor of the mentioned groups.
Nangarhar is among the relatively volatile provinces in eastern Afghanistan where anti-government armed militant groups are actively operating in a number of its remote districts which have also became a hotbed for the loyalists of ISIS terrorist group.
European ministers backed France’s request to trigger the bloc’s mutual defense clause Tuesday, opening the way for assistance to help Paris boost security at home and reinforce its overseas operations. French President François Hollande on Monday requested the activation of the European Union treaty’s self-defense clause, which commits governments to help a member that is “the victim of armed aggression.”
The clause had never been invoked before, leaving unclear the level of assistance member states will feel compelled to provide.
French officials have said they don’t want to invoke the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s mutual-defense clause, arguing the current U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State is more nimble. There are also concerns that invoking the NATO treaty, which was only done once, after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the U.S., could serve as a propaganda boost for Islamic State.
Personally I'd worry a lot less about a "propaganda boost" for ISIS and more about rallying the home town folks...
However, while EU assistance for France’s efforts to scale up domestic security should be straightforward, there may be more wariness about direct support for its military attacks on Islamic State.
Because war is ucky...
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called the French decision to activate the mutual-defense clause “first of all, a political act, a political message.”
War is a political act too, but at some point you start slitting throats and collecting heads...
She said the tool is mainly intended to intensify bilateral cooperation but that the EU is given some role in coordinating those efforts. She said many ministers had already announced offers of “material assistance” that could help free up French capabilities.
Before Tuesday’s meeting, two French officials said Paris hoped triggering the self-defense clause would prod the bloc to advance its work on other security issues, including better border control and increased intelligence-sharing.
Posted by: Pappy ||
11/18/2015 09:31 ||
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#1
EU Backs France’s ‘Mutual Defense’ Request - That America Save Us Again.
Meanwhile we'll allocate our monies to more socialist programs rather than defense.
#2
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called the French decision to activate the mutual-defense clause “first of all, a political act, a political message.”
Nailed it in one. It's also a pretty good smack at Germany, and perhaps just as significantly, a very pointed signal that Hollande is placing some mileage between Paris and the Washington.
[Hurriyet] Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu confirmed to Hurriyet on Nov. 17 that NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... allies Ankara and Washington have agreed to stage a "joint operation" along The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's border with Syria, with sources saying this is the start of a previously announced bid to establish an "ISIL-free zone."
"When will you start this?"
"We haven't actually set the date to plan things, you understand, but as soon as we do we will definitively be able to say when we will commence planning the details of the commencement."
Sinirlioglu was responding to a question on statements by U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... , who had said earlier in the day that the two countries would start an operation to complete the securing of the northern Syrian border, which has been used in the past by Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) krazed killers.
Military and diplomatic sources told Hurriyet that Kerry was referring to "a cleaning operation" to be conducted in a 98-kilometer long zone on the so-called "Mare-Jarablus line," underlining that the campaign would kick-off soon.
Precisely the time period referred to above.
As the U.S. and Turkey together provide "air protection," armed forces from the Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... (FSA) will launch an offensive against ISIL.
Of course the head of the Moslem Brotherhood (Turkey) prefers the Moslem Brotherhood (Syria) to all others. They don't seem to be all that effective against ISIS, however, unlike any of the Kurdish groups.
Officials stressed that the Turkish Armed Forces will not put boots on the ground, though action will be taken against ISIL elements along the Turkey-Syria border.
The Turkish military will hit ISIL targets in Syria by strikes launched from Turkish territory, they said.
However will they be able to spare the time when they have Kurds to go after?
"We are pressing the button for the 'ISIL-free zone' that was publicly mentioned earlier," a senior Turkish official speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... told Hurriyet.
"Seventy-five percent of Syria's northern border has so far been shut down.
Really shut down, or apparently shut down?
And we are entering an operation with the Turks to shut off the remaining 98 kilometers," Kerry said in an interview with CNN earlier on Nov. 17.
If Senator Secretary of State Kerry negotiated it, we can be in no doubt as to how it will turn out. We've seen the Iran negotiations, after all.
. The United States and Turkey hope that by sweeping ISIL from the border zone they can deprive it of a smuggling route that has seen its ranks swell with imported muscle and its coffers boosted by illicit trade, Rooters said in a Nov. 17 report.
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11/18/2015 01:14 ||
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The mother of ISIS beheading victim James Foley sent condolences Tuesday to France and said she feels their pain — as she asked Congress for a new American policy on hostage crises.
"We too have suffered from ISIS," Diane Foley told lawmakers on Capitol Hill. "Our son James was tortured and starved by ISIS for nearly two years, just for being an American."
Speaking before a House subcommittee, the still-grieving mom said her family's ordeal was only made worse because of America's "incoherent and ineffective hostage policy."
"What if we had been shrewd enough to engage with Jim's Syrian captors in the fall of 2013, to learn all we could about them, instead of ignoring them," she told the committee. "Is it ever wise to ignore enemies of freedom and justice?"
Foley's videotaped beheading in August 2014 at the hands of a masked ISIS barbarian horrified the world and cemented in the minds of many Americans the fanatical group's reputation for brutality. Since then, Diane Foley has accused U.S. officials of not doing enough to rescue her journalist son, who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012. And she has been pushing lawmakers to rethink the long-held U.S. policy of not negotiating with terrorists or paying ransoms.
"Jim believed in America," she said. "He believed that our government valued him as a journalist and as a citizen. He was hopeful until the end of his 20-month captivity. But he and our family were truly abandoned by our government. How would you feel if your son or daughter had been in Jim's predicament and treated similarly?"
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11/18/2015 00:00 ||
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State leaders blasted the feds Monday for not alerting them about 14 Syrian refugees who were resettled in Louisiana. It's unclear when they arrived.
The majority of them are in the New Orleans area, but one came to Baton Rouge. WBRZ has learned Catholic Charities helped the refugee who settled in Baton Rouge, but said the immigrant left for another state after a couple of days, and they don't know where the refugee went since they don't track them.
Monday, Governor Bobby Jindal issued an executive order preventing the resettlement of Syrian refugees into Louisiana. The order prohibits state resources from being used for the refugees. However, that order does not apply to nonprofits and has no effect on the organization that helps refugees.
"We're at the receiving end," Executive Director of Catholic Charities, Chad Aguillard said. "We receive them, we welcome them into our community and help them resettle. There has been a lot of commotion and fear with Syrians. The fear is justified, but we have to check that against reality."
One way to check that justified fear is to keep tabs on the "refugees" for more than a week...
The executive order issued by Governor Jindal also calls for strict monitoring of the refugees. However, state leaders were not made aware that refugees were in Louisiana until this weekend after watching the news.
"This is a federal program, and it was their responsibility, as the governor has stated, that they should have notified myself or governor directly," GOHSEP Director Kevin Davis said.
As Catholic Charities continues to work with those less fortunate, the organization says it has helped refugees since the Vietnam War. It plans to continue to help refugees no matter where they are from.
"If we see anything suspicious, we are going to report it," Aguillard said. "We work with FBI, Homeland Security and do what we need to do to safeguard our community."
How will you know if you don't know where they are?
The feds say immigration laws prohibit states from blocking refugees from resettling. Calls to the State Department were not returned today.
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11/18/2015 00:00 ||
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LAHORE - An anti terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday handed over Shaheen Air’s pilot Asmat Mehmood – who crash landed on November 3 - to police on a seven-days physical remand.
The police produced the accused pilot before ATC Judge Khawaja Zafar Iqbal in strict security.
The Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) counsel arguing before the court submitted that the accused had endangered lives of 120 people on-board the aircraft. He said that the accused was drunk and his negligence could have resulted into loss of lives of passengers. He pleaded the court to hand over the accused to police for investigation.
Accused Mehmood’s counsel opposed the request and submitted that his client was not drunk. “He saved the lives of all the passengers who later termed him a hero,” he said.
The court after hearing arguments of both parties handed over the accused pilot to police on a seven-day physical remand and directed to produce the accused on expiry of the remand term.
A police team from Punjab arrested the accused pilot from his residence in Karachi on November 15 after registration of a case against him under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act at Sarwar Road police station on CAA’s complaint.
Carrying 121 passengers and crew, the plane reportedly touched down heavily causing its tyres to burst and skid off the runway. Passengers suffered minor injuries when hand-carry luggage in overhead cabinets fell on them. At least 10 passengers were injured when the plane crash-landed
LAHORE: The Civil Aviation Authority told an anti-terrorism court here on Tuesday that the ‘element of terrorism’ was also being explored during the investigation into the crash-landing of a private airline’s plane at the Allama Iqbal International Airport on Nov 3.
Advocate Usman Arif, the authority’s counsel, said Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act was rightly inserted in the FIR because everyone on board had been terrorised by the crash-landing. The investigators were seriously examining the possibility of the pilots’ links with any terrorist organisation, he added.
The CAA’s counsel said the interim medical examination of crewmembers of the Shaheen Air plane conducted just after the accident had revealed that Captain Asmat Mahmood, the pilot, had unacceptable level of alcohol.
He said the accident jeopardised the lives of passengers on board and it might have caused grave potential repercussions.
Sarwar Road police produced the accused before the presiding judge of ATC-II, Khwaja Zafar Iqbal and the investigating officer sought the pilot’s remand for 13 days.
Advocate Hassan Warraich, the pilot’s counsel, opposed the remand’s request and argued that inclusion of Section 7 of ATA in the FIR had no justification.
He said the chairman of a departmental inquiry had declared his client a ‘hero’ for saving lives of the passengers. The pilot had to crash-land the plane due to a problem in the landing gear.
Mr Warraich said pilots were not responsible for any mechanical problem occurring during a flight because it concerned the engineering team. A considerable delay in registration of FIR showed the mala fide intention of the authorities. He alleged that the pilot was being made a scapegoat to save many other influential authorities.
The counsel asked the court to delete Section 7 of ATA from the FIR and refer the case to a court of ordinary law.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court allowed a seven-day physical remand and directed the investigating officer to complete investigation by the next hearing.
PESHAWAR: The apex committee of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa decided on Tuesday to ‘gradually’ withdraw army troops from checkpoints in areas where the security situation is improving.
However, a statement issued by the Governor’s House, did not mention any timeframe and the areas from where withdrawal of troops would start. It only said that the vacated checkpoints would be manned by police.
The statement also did not say who would replace the troops in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in case of their pullout from there.
Also read: KP police report: 100% conviction rate after NAP claimed
The apex committee meeting, presided over by Governor Mahtab Ahmad Khan, was attended by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, Corps Commander Lt Gen Hidayatur Rehman and senior officials of the military, law-enforcement agencies and civil administration.
KP police chief Nasir Khan Durrani, who attended the meeting, said that it had been decided that the army troops would be withdrawn from the checkpoints, but no timeframe or areas had been specified.
“It (pullout) will take some time,” he said, adding that deployment of police at the checkpoints would be planned according to capacity and resources of the force.
“The process will start gradually,” he added.
The army was called out in the province in 2007 by the then Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government to curb insurgency in Swat valley, spearheaded by outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan chief Mullah Fazlullah.
The army had launched an extensive operation against militants in Swat and other districts of Malakand division in 2009. Army and paramilitary troops were also deployed in other districts of the province and on the main highways to restore the state’s writ.
The troops have been manning checkpoints on the Indus Highway, Motorway and Grand Trunk Road, other main highways linking tribal agencies with KP and inner roads of all major cities and towns to contain movement and activities of terrorists.
The official statement said the apex committee had reviewed progress on the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) and discussed matters relating to the return of temporarily dislocated persons (TDPs) and the law and order situation in the province and Fata.
The committee expressed satisfaction over the progress and called for taking further steps. The meeting was briefed on security measures and rehabilitation arrangements in the affected areas.
The meeting was informed that more than 800,000 TDPs had returned to their homes with the government’s assistance.
LOUDSPEAKERS: It was decided that misuse of loudspeakers would not be allowed and action taken against those involved in militancy. No-one will be allowed to use loudspeakers for spreading hatred, violence and anarchy.
The committee decided that elements providing any sort of assistance and financial support to terrorists and other criminals in the province and Fata would be taken to task. All such channels of illegal monetary support will be blocked.
The officials concerned were directed to contact the federal government for the return of eight platoons of the Frontier Constabulary.
These troops will be deployed on the Karakoram Highway and other important points in the province.
LAHORE: The Punjab Counter Terrorism Department cannot rule out threat of Paris-like attacks in Lahore and elsewhere in the province, a senior CTD official has said.
Another senior official has said a seminary in south Punjab has been sealed for providing militant training to its students.
The two officials were briefing journalists on Tuesday about security arrangements being made for the coming local government elections in the province. Provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah was also present on the occasion.
There is no election-related threat from the Middle East-based Islamic State militant group, also known by its Arabic acronym Daesh, said CTD’s additional inspector general Rai Tahir. “But there are threats from the international terrorist organisation to Punjab,” he said.
As a precaution, he said, all the sensitive places and social media sites from where controversial messages could be spread were being monitored.
Mr Tahir said that details about the sensitive places and websites would be shared with the media at an appropriate time.
Provincial Home Secretary Maj (retired) Azam Sultan said the seminary in south Punjab which had been sealed was affiliated to Islamabad’s Lal Masjid, whose chief cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz had pledged allegiance to IS.
He said the authorities had taken Maulana Aziz’s statements about IS seriously and were monitoring whether the terrorist group had been able to make inroads into the province.
Though Lal Masjid, which hit headlines during Gen Pervez Musharraf’s rule when it had to be raided by army personnel in 2007, does not fall in the jurisdiction of the provincial government, Punjab is giving its input to the federal authorities and taking all possible measures to suppress chances of spread of extremism from the seminary, he added.
Rana Sanaullah said that action would be taken by the provincial government if IS was found to be active in any manner in the province. “Whether the person involved with Daesh is a seminary teacher or a college teacher, he won’t go scot-free.”
When asked if south Punjab could be described as a breeding ground for IS, he said Daesh is the name of a mindset which may rear its ugly head anywhere in the province.
He said that religious schools in the Seraiki belt of Punjab were being monitored to check entry of terrorists into the province.
The minister said that all the seminaries in Punjab had been geo-tagged and the authorities knew where seminaries were located and how many.
He admitted that people listed in the Fourth Schedule, a list comprising the elements that had taken part in militant activities or suspected to have links with militants, included some madressah teachers and students.
But he added that such people had been forced out of the seminaries and the schools were no longer involved in militancy.
Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2015
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11/18/2015 00:00 ||
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[Inquirer] Philippine security forces in western Mindanao said they were closely monitoring the movement of four foreign jihadis as world leaders began gathering in Manila for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
City police director Angelito Casimiro said Dr. Mahmud Ahmad, Muammar Ghadafi, Like Elvis, Gaddafi isn't dead?
Mohammad Najib Husen and Muhammad Joraimee Awang Raimee had been sighted in Abu Sayyaf camps in Basilan and had recently tried to travel to Turkey via Manila. But he said the four, all of them Malaysians, canceled their planned trip for reasons not yet known.
Casimiro said they have been teaching the Abu Sayyaf bomb-making techniques. He said Ahmad, a surgeon previously connected with the University Malaysia and his three associates, were now working for the Daesh.
The four arrived in the Philippines in May 2014 and have been moving around Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, and are currently in Basilan, Casimiro said.
Col. Arthur Biyo said such special units as antihostage-taking and airport security personnel had been dispatched from Mindanao to help secure APEC delegates in Manila and in Visayas.
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11/18/2015 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] The detainee Mohammed Ibrahim al-Hujeiri, aka Kahroub, was involved in the kabooms that killed a number of Syrian Muslim holy mans and maimed Lebanese troops in the northeastern border town of Arsal, the army said Tuesday.
"Along with a man called Abou Ali al-Yabroudi, the detainee Hujeiri collected information about the time and place of the meeting that the Qalamoun Scholars Committee held in Arsal," the Army Command said in a statement.
"They then tasked the Syrian Abou Firas with booby-trapping a cycle of violence and parking it outside the meeting's venue and blowing it up on November 5," it added.
At least six holy mans were killed and several others maimed in the kaboom.
Hujeiri was also involved in a bombing that targeted an army vehicle in Arsal the next day.
"In collaboration with al-Yabroudi, Abou Firas and Abou Ali al-Asiri, he targeted a military personnel carrier with a roadside kaboom," the army said.
Five soldiers were maimed in the bombing.
The man has also confessed to booby-trapping "ten cycle of violences with the aim of carrying out liquidations inside Arsal," the army added.
Hujeiri also has a long record of activities with several myrmidon groups.
During his cooperation with al-Yabroudi, their group booby-trapped five cars with the aim of "targeting army posts, facilitating the entry of myrmidons, and enabling them to reach Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... to seize control of an outlet to the sea."
Hujeiri, who had ties 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.... 's Qalamoun branch, had also been a member of the Seif al-Haq group led by the Syrian Amin Mohammed Ghourli, which comprises Lebanese and Syrian nationals, the army said.
The group was behind firing rockets at Hermel, monitoring a judge's house with the aim of abducting him, and distributing ammo to bully boyz during the deadly Arsal battles with the army.
Hujeiri had also created an IS cell in the town in order to monitor individuals who cooperate with Lebanese security agencies, the army added.
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11/18/2015 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... on Tuesday ordered the Russian navy in the Mediterranean to establish contact with its French counterparts and work together "as allies" in a campaign against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group in Syria
Putin instructed his military to work out a joint Russian-French action plan against IS snuffies as he pushes the idea of establishing a broad anti-IS coalition that would involve both Russia and the West.
"It's necessary to establish direct contact with the French and work with them as allies," Putin told the military top brass at a meeting after French President Francois Hollande ...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist... said the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle would be deployed to the eastern Mediterranean.
"It's necessary to work out with them a plan of joint actions both at sea and in the air," Putin said, adding that both the chief of the general staff and the defense ministry had received orders to that effect.
The Kremlin said separately that Putin and Hollande had agreed in phone talks to ramp up cooperation and tackle "international terrorism" together.
"It has been agreed to ensure closer contact and coordination between the military and security service agencies of the two countries during operations against terrorist groups by Russia and La Belle France in Syria," the Kremlin said in a statement following the phone call between Putin and Hollande.
The two will further discuss the fight against terrorism in a meeting in Moscow on November 26, the Kremlin said.
Putin has been seeking to capitalize on shifting dynamics in the West following Friday's terror attacks in Gay Paree and the bombing of a Russian passenger plane over Sinai in October, arguing that Russia and the West should unite against a common enemy.
Earlier Tuesday Russia announced that the Airbus A321 carrying 224 people, most of them Russian tourists, was knocked out of sky by a bomb and pledged vengeance.
On Tuesday, Russian strategic bombers hit Islamic State group targets in Syria's Raqa and Deir Ezzor provinces, defense minister Sergei Shoigu said.
He added that cruise missile strikes had also hit Aleppo and Idlib provinces.
The strikes are the first time that Russia has deployed its strategic long-range bombers during its air campaign in Syria and came as Shoigu said Moscow had doubled the number of combat sorties it flew over the country.
In total, Shoigu said that Russian forces hit 206 "terrorist" targets in Syria in the latest wave of strikes.
Apart from a spate of missiles fired from its Caspian Sea fleet in October, up until now Moscow has mainly relied on smaller fighter jets to hit targets in Syria but has now deployed the more powerful long-range bombers from Russian territory.
Iran’s army conducted exercises Tuesday close to its border with Afghanistan designed to simulate how it would respond if “terrorist groups” such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) organization mounted an attack.
The operation in the northeastern province of Khorasan came a day after a military commander said ISIS would be “neutralized” if it breached a 40 kilometer zone approaching Iran’s borders. Tanks, helicopters and planes took part in Tuesday’s manoeuvres, the ISNA news agency reported.
“One aim of the exercise was to practice methods and means to confront the possible actions of terrorist groups at the borders,” said General Amir Reza Azarban, an army commander in the province.
Iran, the major Shiite power in the Middle East, is heavily involved in conflicts in Syria and Iraq against ISIS, primarily Sunni Muslims who denounce Shiites as apostates. More at the link
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11/18/2015 00:00 ||
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URFA – Subsequent to the intense airstrikes by the French warplanes –which take place within the U.S.-led coalition’s operations in the wake of deadly Paris attacks– on the main stronghold of the radical group of Islamic State (ISIS) Raqqa in northeastern Syria, locals have been split between approbation and resentment over the anti-ISIS strikes by French fighter jets.
The ISIS propaganda circulated that large numbers of civilians fell under French attacks, instigating locals to support the group on ground, while many local activists denied ISIS allegations of any civilian casualties so far.
Civilians Relieved with French Strikes
“As French fighter jets pummel ISIS locations in Raqqa, civilians enjoy more freedom because they escape another day of suppression by ISIS,” an eyewitness from Raqqa told ARA News on the condition of anonymity.
“As airstrikes hit their positions, ISIS gunmen hastily disappear and people breathe freely,” he said.
Activists of the campaign “Raqqa Slaughtered Silently”, which documents ISIS violations in Raqqa province, confirmed that there were no civilian casualties in the French raids so far, arguing, “Any allegations of attacking civilians are baseless.”
“They (ISIS militants) hide in their headquarters like rats, so people enjoy some freedom,” the campaign’s spokesman told ARA News, pointing out “people could enjoy smoking for a while.”
Music, dance and smoking are forbidden under the ISIS strict regulations.
However, A civil rights activist in Raqqa emphasized concerns about ISIS using civilians as human shields under the airstrikes.
“The group has previously used civilians as human shields in several areas across Syria in order to stop the progress of its enemies,” he said, on the condition of anonymity. “In the coming days, the group may oblige people to gather around its headquarters in Raqqa, in an attempt to cause as much civilian casualties as possible and claim that the coalition is killing innocent citizens. Thus the U.S.-led coalition should take such strategies by the radical group into consideration.”
Resentment
With the start of the French intense airstrikes, the city saw entire outage of electricity and water.
“This has dramatically increased the suffering of civilians in the ISIS de facto capital of Raqqa,” local media activist Muhammad Samman told ARA News on Tuesday.
“Last month, the radical group started imposing conscription sanctions on violators, confiscating their property, arresting dozens, pushing them undergo jihadi trainings, in a bid to acquire jihadist mentality of killing opponents,” the source added.
Fiercest Raids On Raqqa
On Tuesday, 10 French jets of Rafale and Mirage 2000, took off from the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, and dropped 16 bombs on ISIS locations in the Syrian city of Raqqa, destroying two tactical units for the terror group, according to the French Ministry of Defense.
One of the raids targeted an ISIS-held garage north of the city, a weapons storehouse and a training camp for the extremist group, local activists told ARA News in Raqqa.
Also, the U.S.-led coalition forces conducted nearly 30 airstrikes, mainly by French fighter jets, most of which hit the southern part of the city, the French Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.
In the meantime, the Russian defense minister said on Tuesday that they have destroyed 40 targets for the terror group in Raqqa, using winged missiles of Russian ships in the Mediterranean.
French Strikes “Mere Temporary Reaction”
Speaking to ARA News, Syrian human rights activist Majeed Salqini said that the ongoing French strikes “could be viewed as a temporary reaction to the recent Paris attacks”.
Salqini compared the currently intensified French raids to a previous air campaign by Jordan “right after ISIS militants burned the Jordanian pilot Moaz Kassasbeh to death”.
“The French ire hitting ISIS in Raqqa, especially after Paris attacks, can be understood within the framework of a media propaganda.”
“This will soon diminish similar to the Jordanian reaction regarding the murder of its pilot,” he told ARA News.
French President Francois Hollande had announced that “ISIS will face merciless war” after claiming its responsibility for Paris deadly attacks, during which at last 129 were killed and 300 more wounded.
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
"locals have been split between approbation and resentment over the anti-ISIS strikes by French fighter jets."
The problem is that we can only win if the local civilians, fake and real, start to fear the West more than they fear ISIS. Only then will the West be able to impose its will on the enemy.
Any Western action in Syria that is constrained by the same self-defeating ROE that governed the interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq will end in a similar humiliating political defeat.
So far all of this looks like a farcical reprise of the 9/11 war which the West lost.
#3
I still think they should have nuked the place as a demonstration of intent. It's like the joke about training a donkey - first you have to get it's attention.
HASAKAH – The Kurdish-Arab joint alliance of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) regained swaths of territories in the eastern countryside of Hasakah, northeastern Syria, from the terror group of Islamic State (ISIS) after weeks of fierce battles, SDF top commanders told ARA News.
“We are determined to liberate every single town and village from the ISIS barbaric group in Syria.”
Remarks of the SDF top commanders came on the sidelines of a press conference in the recently liberated town of al-Hawl.
Speaking to ARA News, official spokesman of the SDF, Colonel Talal Silo, said: “The liberation of al-Hawl from ISIS comes in the framework of our campaign to cleanse the entire southern countryside of Hasakah from the barbaric group.”
“We will soon liberate the entire province of Hasakah from ISIS terrorists,” he added.
On October 30, the joint forces launched a military campaign that aims to expel ISIS extremist militants from the Hasakah province.
Between October 30 and November 13, the Kurdish-Arab alliance of SDF liberated an area of 1,362 square kilometers, which includes some 200 villages and towns, among them the strategic town of al-Hawl on the Syrian-Iraqi border.
The recent military operations in Hasakah province resulted in the death of 493 ISIS militants, 33 SDF fighters and four civilians, according to Silo.
The joint troops have also sized hundreds of weapons and a large deal of ammunition in the two-week operations against ISIS in northeastern Syria.
Al-Hawl, which is located some 40 kilometres (25 mi) east of Hasakah, holds a strategic location for being a key access to the Iraqi territory, Silo concluded. “After losing al-Hawl, ISIS’s military and economic situation may deteriorate due to the cut of a main supply route between the group’s strongholds in Syria and Iraq.”
Recapturing al-Hawl came hours after the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Iraqi Kurdistan took control of Shingal (Sinjar) district in Nineveh province after fierce battles with ISIS. In August 2014, ISIS launched a massive offensive on Shingal, causing a mass displacement of tens of thousands of Yezidi civilians and the captivity of thousands of women.
Speaking to ARA News, Sheikh Bandar Deham al-Hadi, commander of the Arab force al-Sanadeed, which takes part in the SDF operations, said: “Within two weeks, ISIS was harshly defeated by our SDF forces in the key town of al-Hawl and major areas of the southern countryside of Hasakah province.”
Al-Hadi pointed out that their troops launched an attack from four sides on al-Hawl, regaining the villages of al-Mahra, Oum Hijera and al-Khatooniya, as well as the Tishrin oilfield.
“Our fighters are heading to the ISIS-held Shaddadi city and the rest of the occupied areas in Hasakah province,” he added.
“Al-Sanadeed joined the SDF with more than 1700 fighters, deploying them on the frontlines and backlines of the battles. Despite the wide geographical area of the fighting fronts, these joint forces were able to expel ISIS terrorists within less than two weeks,” al-Hadi told ARA News.
He pointed out that their battles with ISIS are fateful, and they will continue hitting ISIS strongholds on the whole the Syrian soil, adding “ISIS is different from the Syrian people ideologically and religiously.”
“This terror gangs came to ‘distort the religion of Islam’, the SDF will continue combatting its odd mentality,” he explained, adding “we promised our people in Syria to eradicate this barbaric group.”
Noteworthy, the United States has delivered a second batch of ammunition to fighters of the Kurdish-Arab alliance battling the extremist group in northern Syria, a U.S. official reported earlier this week.
The Syrian Democratic Forces announced two weeks ago the start of its military campaign for regaining control of the ISIS-held areas in the province of Hasakah. The SDF includes Kurdish forces of the YPG and YPJ, the Syriac Military Council, the Arab tribal group of al-Sanadeed, al-Jazeera brigades, Jaish al-Thuwar group and Burkan al-Furat battalion.
Posted by: badanov ||
11/18/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
This will to make Turkey unhappy... or unhappier.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
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A number of security force members from Helmand province claim the Taliban has access to a national database of security force members which is putting troops at great risk.
The Afghan Intelligence operatives have detained at least 27 university students who were affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group and the Taliban group.
Who Then Vamoosed
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PESHAWAR: The apex committee of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa decided on Tuesday to ‘gradually’ withdraw army troops from checkpoints in areas where the security situation is improving.
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Iran’s army conducted exercises Tuesday close to its border with Afghanistan designed to simulate how it would respond if “terrorist groups” such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) organization mounted an attack.
URFA – Subsequent to the intense airstrikes by the French warplanes –which take place within the U.S.-led coalition’s operations in the wake of deadly Paris attacks– on the main stronghold of the radical group of Islamic State (ISIS) Raqqa in northeastern Syria, locals have been split between approbation and resentment over the anti-ISIS strikes by French fighter jets. 
