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Jury sentences Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for marathon attack
Today's Headlines
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Africa Horn
14 sailors kidnapped in Somalia: Iran state TV
Mogadishu -- Somalia’s Islamist militants of Al Shabaab have kidnapped stricken boat carrying 14 crew members in Eldher town in central Somalia’s Glagadud region, Iranian State TV reported.

Last night, the television station’s scrolling news bar announced the kidnapping, saying the vessel owned by an Iranian fishing organization suffered a technical fault near the Somali coast. The station said the kidnapping happened today without elaborating. The Somali militants did not immediately claim responsibility for the abductions.

Piracy off the coast of Somalia once was a serious threat to the global shipping industry, but attacks have dropped dramatically the last several years after ships began carrying armed guards.
I think we need some more armed guards...
Posted by: Steve White || 05/16/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I says it was an Iranian fishing boat. If so, please pass the popcorn.
On the other hand, it could be an Iranian arms supply boat...
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/16/2015 9:23 Comments || Top||

#2  If the Iranian govt wants to show that they are take charge types. They would mount a rescue and get the hostages back or do some real hurt on the Shabaabs.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 05/16/2015 12:49 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Sahara militant rejects allegiance pledge to Islamic State
[Ynet] The notorious murderous Moslem Moktar Belmoktar has rejected a pledge of allegiance 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 made by a member of his organization, suggesting splits in his operation.

Belmoktar, who is known for daring attacks and for kidnapping foreigners, allegedly said the earlier pledge violates the rules and principles of his organization that is still loyal to al-Qaeda. The statement was translated by the US monitoring outfit, the SITE Intelligence Group on Friday. On Wednesday, an audio pledge to IS on behalf of Belmoktar's Mourabitoune organization surfaced, signed by another member of the group. That member, Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, was a leader of one of the two groups that came together to form the Mourabitoune.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/16/2015 09:03 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa

#1  splitters!
Posted by: Frank G || 05/16/2015 10:41 Comments || Top||

#2  A Skippy vs JIF issue. Creamy vs Crunchy schism soon to follow...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/16/2015 14:19 Comments || Top||


7 kids among 8 killed in Libya shelling
Benghazi -- Random shelling of residential areas in the restive eastern Libyan city of Benghazi has killed eight people from one family, including seven children, officials said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack late on Thursday.
Only ISIS would boast of killing little kiddies in an Arab country...
It came days after an operative from Libya’s Daesh affiliate was killed in fighting in this city, where clashes have been raging for nearly a year.

Ashraf Al Saiti, a senior medical official at Benghazi’s Al Jala hospital, said the family’s home in Al Salam district came under intense shelling from the nearby Al Sabri neighbourhood, a stronghold of extremists. The children killed were between five and 10 years old, he said.

Earlier this week, three children were killed and several civilians were wounded when a dozen mortar shells struck the neighbourhood of Baloun in central Benghazi, officials said.

The shelling appear to be linked to Monday’s killing of 19-year-old Daesh operative Ali Al Barghathi, also known as Farouk Al Barkawi, who returned from Syria where he had joined Daesh in 2013, said intelligence official Jibril Mustafa. Pictures and statements eulogising Al Barkawi have been posted on social networking sites by Daesh supporters.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/16/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
At Least 55 Killed in Boko Haram Raids on Two Nigerian Villages Wednesday
[AnNahar] At least 55 people were killed in two 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...
raids this week near Maiduguri, capital of restive northeastern Nigeria's Borno state, local and vigilante sources said Friday.

"Boko Haram fighters raided Bale and Kayamla villages where they killed at least 55 people and burnt several homes after looting them before proceeding to the outskirts of Maiduguri‎ where they were crushed by troops," vigilante official Abacha Zinnari said.

"They killed 30 people in Kayamla and another 25 in Bale," he added.

Bale resident Husseini Ari said the village on Thursday buried 25 people killed in the previous day's raid while several others who were maimed were taken to hospital.

"The village is mourning the death of 25 people killed in the Boko Haram attack," Ari said Friday.

A group of heavily armed Boko Haram fighters late Wednesday launched an offensive on Maiduguri city which was repelled by troops from a military base on the outskirts of the city, according to the military‎ and residents.

The hard boyz had raided the villages before the foiled assault on the city but the story was slow to emerge following a round-the-clock curfew imposed on the city by the military on Thursday which restricted movement.

"The gunnies burnt around 50 houses and looted food stores and livestock," said Ari, adding that the hard boyz targeted homes they identified as belonging to vigilantes in the village

Musa Kumbo, a resident of Kayamla, said at least 30 people were killed in the Boko Haram raid on that village and surrounding settlements.

"The attackers were heard sh‎outing that they would come back and finish their operation once they were done with Maiduguri," Kumbo said.

At least three soldiers, six vigilantes and dozens of Boko Haram hard boyz were killed during festivities in Maiduguri on Wednesday evening, sources have said.

The assault was the first on Maiduguri for three months and came after sweeping offensives against Boko Haram strongholds by a regional military coalition of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and 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...
.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/16/2015 10:24 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Arabia
Soddies exchange fire in Saada and Hijja
The Saudi shootings on Friday continued violating the ceasefire in Yemen, targeting the provinces of Saada and Hijja.

In a different context, the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab-African Affairs Hussein Amir-Abdollahian said on Thursday that necessary coordination has been made with 'relevant sides' at the United Nations for harboring of the Iranian aid ship in Yemen.

He said that Iran has already began airlifting medical and food aid to Yemen through Oman and Djibouti.
Posted by: badanov || 05/16/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Multiple accidents follow as armed men fire at security patrol in Saudi
Four armed men fired at a two-guard Saudi road security patrol of the Rafyea border crossing centre on the Kharj arterial road in Saudi Arabia on Friday morning. The four attackers were later detained after the SUV car they were travelling in turned turtle. They all received moderate injuries and were taken into police custody.
Whereupon they received severe injuries...
The four-wheel drive patrol of the road security patrol also got somersaulted while on the hunt for the armed assaulters. One guard sustained moderate injuries while the other escaped the assault unharmed.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/16/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Sixty-year-old French jihadist gets eight-year jail sentence
[Ynet] A sixty-year-old Frenchie was sentenced to eight years in jail by a Gay Paree court on Friday for taking part in operations by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in Northern Mali.

Gilles Le Guen admitted joining the bad boy group but said he left it after a couple of months. "At some point I was enthusiastic but quickly pulled back," he said during his trial. The father of eight from Brittany was convicted of taking part in AQIM propaganda and training, as well as in an attack on Diabaly in Northern Mali.
An Nahar adds background on the gentleman, and a photo of the stylish gentleman at the link:
The Gay Paree criminal court handed down the sentence to Gilles Le Guen -- the first conviction under a law passed at the end of 2012 allowing authorities to prosecute those suspected of waging Jihad abroad.

The former member of the French merchant navy was enjugged
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
by special forces in late April 2013. At the time, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian described him as a "drop-out who became a terrorist".

In October 2012, Le Guen appeared in traditional Moslem robes with a gun at his side in a video on a Mauritanian website in which he warned La Belle France, the United States and the United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
against military intervention in Mali to drive Islamists from the country's arid north.

Le Guen, a former heroine addict with a drawn face, showed little emotion as the sentence was handed down.

During his trial, he said he converted to Islam in 1982 but was opposed to any "application of Sharia law in a tyrannical fashion."

He said he had been "instrumentalized" by AQMI, whose members he described as "turbans without anything to offer to the people."

Despite voicing "religious admiration" for the later al-Qaeda leader the late Osama bin Laden
... who is now sometimes referred to as Mister Bones...
, whom he compared to Che Guevara, he said he was against hostage-taking, suicide kabooms and declared himself "incapable of killing."

Raised in a Catholic family, Le Guen converted to Islam at the age of 18 after a brief spell as a Hindu and "does not and will not pose -- when he gets out -- any danger for French and Western society," said his lawyer.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/16/2015 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Home Front: WoT
Jury sentences Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for marathon attack
[BostonHerald] A jury's ruling today to sentence marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death is "justice" and a warning Boston "will not tolerate terrorism," survivors and police said after the verdict.

"This is nothing to celebrate. This is justice," said first-responder Michael Ward. "He wanted to go to hell and he's gonna get there early."

The verdict against Tsarnaev, who'll turn 22 in July, was announced by U.S. District Court Judge George A. O'Toole Jr.'s courtroom clerk Paul Lyness. Tsarnaev showed no emotion as the verdict was read.

Only three of the 12 jurors bought into the defense argument that Tsarnaev was influenced by his older brother Tamerlan. The jurors unanimously agreed that Tsarnaev showed no remorse for the marathon attack and its aftermath that killed four young people, maimed 17 and injured hundreds.

The jurors unanimously voted to put him to death for the week of terror.

"You're not going to blow up our marathon. You're not going to blow up our city," said Boston police Commissioner William Evans. "We will not tolerate terrorism."

Tsarnaev will be formally sentenced by O'Toole this summer after survivors and loved ones of the victims have the opportunity to present impact statements. Tsarnaev will also be afforded the chance to speak. He chose not to take the stand in his own defense during the trial -- a factor jurors were not allowed to consider or even discuss amongst themselves, per O'Toole's orders.

Tsarnaev is expected to remain incarcerated locally until after the sentencing, when he will be delivered to the USP Terre Haute prison in Indiana, where he will be the youngest person on federal death row.

The seven women and five men, who reached their verdict after 14 hours of deliberations, convicted the former University of Massachusetts Dartmouth sophomore on April 8 of a 30-count indictment that included the April 15, 2013, bombing murders of marathon spectators Martin Richard, 8, of Dorchester, Lingzi Lu, 23, a Boston University graduate statistics student from China, and restaurant manager Krystle Marie Campbell, 29, a Medford native.

Tsarnaev was also held responsible for the shooting death of MIT Police Officer Sean Collier, 27, three days after the marathon massacre, when the FBI went public with photos of Tsarnaev and his late older brother Tamerlan, 26, as their terror suspects.

Tsarnaev's lawyers maintain it was Tamerlan who shot Collier three times in the head as he sat in his cruiser on the Cambridge campus. The brothers tried, but failed, to wrest Collier's sidearm from him with plans to head to New York City with more explosives.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev died April 19, 2013, following a brutal firefight with Watertown police, during which he was run over by his brother as he fled the shootout.

The jurors' identities have never been disclosed. They have been a part of the epic case since they were summonsed in early January, and heard 10 weeks of testimony between the separate guilt and sentencing phases - much of it from survivors and amputees with memories so painful and haunting that jurors openly sobbed in the courtroom.
The Boston Globe adds:
The death sentence automatically sets in motion an appeals process that could last more than a decade.

The jury's call for the ultimate punishment comes in a state and city that polls show to be overwhelmingly against the death penalty.
Apparently the jurors felt strongly about what the Tsarnaev boys did...
Before revealing Tsarnaev's sentence, the clerk read through the jury's findings in a 24-page verdict sheet. Jurors had to weigh aggravating and mitigating factors for 17 death penalty eligible counts for which Tsarnaev had been convicted. They needed to find only that Tsarnaev deserved a death sentence for one of the counts, and the courtroom went quiet as the clerk announced the jury’s finding that “death is the appropriate sentence for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.”

In the end, the jury sentenced Tsarnaev specifically for the bomb he placed in front of the Forum restaurant on Boylston Street that killed 8-year-old Martin Richard and Lingzi Lu, a 23-year-old Boston University graduate student from China.

The jury chose life sentences for the charges Tsarnaev faced that related to the bomb that was placed by his older brother, Tamerlan -- the bomb that killed Krystle Marie Campbell, 29, of Arlington. They also did not impose a death sentence on the charges that involved the fatal shooting of MIT police officer Sean Collier.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/16/2015 09:43 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Nike
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/16/2015 10:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Lest anyone forget, the Globe once described Tamerlan as a 'stay at-home dad'.
Posted by: Raj || 05/16/2015 10:21 Comments || Top||

#3  I didn't think the jury would do this in Massachussetts. Good for them.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/16/2015 11:01 Comments || Top||

#4  The appeals process will likely drag on for decades. That'll give Joker plenty of time to contemplate his 72 virgins in his new digs at Terre Haute federal penitentiary.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/16/2015 12:28 Comments || Top||

#5  You will never beat the terrorists by being purely defensive, while the fed govt doesn't deal with the problem despite advance warnings. Candlelight vigils etc will not keep the terrorists away. Being nice to psychopaths means nothing to them because they are incapable of empathy.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 05/16/2015 12:42 Comments || Top||

#6  This is one martyr that is in no hurry to be martyred.
Posted by: Hupesh Ebbusomp5266 || 05/16/2015 15:53 Comments || Top||


Osama’s aide sentenced to life in US for embassy bombings in Africa
New York -- A Saudi man whom US authorities described as a top Osama bin Laden deputy was sentenced to life in prison on Friday in connection with the deadly 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Khalid Al Fawwaz was sentenced by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan after being convicted of four conspiracy counts in New York in February.

He was not charged with helping to plan the attacks, which killed 224 people and injured more than 4,000. Instead, prosecutors said he served as a key Bin Laden adviser in London, disseminating the Al Qaeda leader’s violent messages to media outlets and sending supplies to the group’s members in Africa.

In addition, US authorities accused Al Fawwaz of running an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan in the 1990s and helping to establish a cell in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi that later conducted surveillance ahead of the embassy bombing there.

Several victims and relatives on Friday urged Kaplan to impose a life sentence.

Before the sentence was imposed, Al Fawwaz turned and addressed the victims, saying words could not express his sadness at the “tragic violence that occurred.”

“I do not support violence,” he continued. “I never intended for any of my activities to contribute to it.”

His statement echoed the defence his lawyers presented at trial, portraying him as a peaceful dissident who shared with Bin Laden a desire for reform in their native Saudi Arabia but turned away as Bin Laden grew increasingly radicalised. “My goal was reform, not rebellion,” Al Fawwaz said on Friday.

But Kaplan rejected that assertion as “untruthful,” saying Al Fawwaz clearly supported Bin Laden’s calls for violence against Americans.

Al Fawwaz was arrested in London in 1998 and extradited to the United States in 2012 following a legal battle. He is the 10th defendant to be convicted at trial or via a guilty plea in connection with the bombings, according to prosecutors.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/16/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Read it wrong. For a second I wondered if Hillary got life.
Posted by: 3dc || 05/16/2015 10:16 Comments || Top||

#2  I read it as 'Obama aid'...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/16/2015 10:22 Comments || Top||

#3  “I do not support violence,” he continued. “I never intended for any of my activities to contribute to it.”

which killed 224 people and injured more than 4,000

There will come a time when measured consequences of action will have more import than action or negligent inaction.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/16/2015 13:38 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Karachi Korpse Kount
KARACHI: A lone gunman on a motorbike shot dead a senior police officer in Karachi on Friday, police said, the third in a sudden spate of killings targeting senior officers in the city.

“The killing of three senior ranking officers in 15 days is quite unusual,” a senior police officer requesting not be named told Reuters.

“Earlier, low-ranking policemen like constables and assistant sub-inspectors were being targeted, but now the pattern is changing.” It was unclear who was behind the shootings, or even if they are linked.

Friday’s killing of Superintendent Ejaz Haider was claimed by both a Taliban spokesman and a Twitter account purporting to be from a breakaway group of Pakistani militants who have sworn allegiance to Islamic State, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi communications.

Neither claim could be immediately verified. Authorities doubt that Islamic State has operational links with Pakistani militants. But it underlines fears that the ultra-violent Islamic State is inspiring Pakistani militant groups to emulate it, even if the groups do not share funding or fighters.

The official, who was reportedly removed from his post around a month ago, was driving a car when fired upon by unidentified gunman on motorcycle in Pehalwan Goth off Gulistan-e-Jauhar.

Haider, who was travelling with his wife when attacked, died on the spot while his wife was injured and shifted to a nearby hospital.

The shooting of Haider, who was a Shia Muslim, follows Wednesday’s massacre of 45 Shia commuters in Karachi. That attack was also claimed by militants who swore allegiance to Islamic State.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/16/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Quetta Quorpse Qount
QUETTA -- Frontier Corps (FC) on Thursday killed 10 militants and arrested several others during search operations in Kalat, Mastung, panjgur and Boi areas of Balochistan.

According to FC spokesman, the FC personnel carried out search operations in various parts of Balochistan. Eight militants were killed during encounters and several others were arrested in Kalat, Juhan, Mastung and Boi areas, he added. Three FC officials were also injured during the exchange of fire, he said. Ammunition, including 12 SMG rifles, 20 grenades and 25 kg of explosives were also seized from them.

The militants were involved in attack on security forces in Nushki and other areas.

Meanwhile, two militants were killed in encounter by FC during a search operation in the Tasp area of Panjgur District. Two SMG rifles, two grenades, 12 magazines, a motorcycle and a vehicle of FWO had been seized from them.

The search operation is being continued to recover three abducted labourers.

The officials also arrested two militants on a tip in the Saeedabad area of Urmara. Arms were also seized from them.

Balochistan Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti had said militants were working for other countries. Many militants, he had claimed, have moved to the tribal areas of Balochistan, especially the Pashtun belt after Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan, adding that there would not be any place for them to hide.

Balochistan has long been a hotbed of terrorism. Security officials claim that the Indian spy agency, Research and Analysis Wing, is funding and training militants.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/16/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Mighty Pak Army launches offensive in Shawal Valley
DERA ISMAIL KHAN/WANA: Troops began preparations on Friday for an offensive to try to push the Taliban from their last major stronghold in mountainous North Waziristan. The heavily forested ravines of the Shawal Valley are dotted with Taliban hideouts and the area is a key smuggling route into neighbouring Afghanistan.

“It is a massive military action against the Taliban militants and their allies in the Shawal mountains,” said a government official.

The Pakistani Taliban controlled almost all of the northwestern region of North Waziristan until troops launched an offensive there last year. The Taliban still control the Shawal Valley and have used it as a launchpad for attacks on security forces. The area is a stronghold of Khan Sajna Said, a leader of a Taliban faction whose name was added to a sanctions list of ‘specially designated global terrorists’ by US authorities last year.

Military jets began bombing the valley in the early hours of Friday, and a military statement said 15 militants were killed.

A Taliban spokesman said the 15 were all civilians. “Jets bombed the houses of innocent people, none of our men or mujahids were killed in these air strikes,” he said. It was impossible to verify the reports because the fighting is in areas sealed off to journalists.

“Hundreds of trucks and pickups full of soldiers and weapons ... are moving towards Shawal,” said Zainullah, a telephone operator in the valley. “There are roadblocks everywhere, no one can come in or go out. There is a complete curfew and phones lines are also being cut.”

Several military officials told Reuters the military had requested help from Afghanistan to prevent militants from fleeing over the border. Any cooperation would be a significant step forward in a thaw in relations that began when Afghan President Ashraf Ghani took office last year. NATO forces, which left Afghanistan last year, had repeatedly urged Pakistan to take action against Taliban havens.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/16/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Peshmerga attack ISIS bases close to Erbil
[Rudaw] Kurdish artillery from the Peshmerga forces have launched attacks on ISIS positions on the Gwer frontlines south of Erbil, a Peshmerga commander told Rudaw.

Jabar Baker Surchi, a Peshmerga commander, said the bombardments was meant to repel ISIS fighters who have been shelling the Peshmerga forces for several days.

"We have been attacking Daesh positions since early in the morning. They have made some counter-attacks as well," Surchi said Friday, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.

"As a result of the Peshmerga assaults on their positions we are monitoring the bully boys' movements in Kanash village. Their cars are moving around and it seems they have large number of casualties," he added.

Attacks still erupt each week between Kurdish forces and the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group at the Gwer frontline about 30km fr
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/16/2015 08:54 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Sources: Iraqi forces pounded by ISIS in Anbar, two more towns could fall
[Rudaw] ERBIL, Kurdistan Region -- Intense fighting continued in Iraq's Anbar province on Friday, with ISIS in control of the heart of Ramadi and Iraqi forces reportedly on the verge of losing two other towns, sources told Rudaw.

Residents were fleeing areas in and around the historic provincial capital Ramadi since early morning Friday, when intense fighting erupted between the jihadis and Iraqi army forces.

Another source inside Ramadi said that at least 50 Iraqi army forces were killed in Friday's battles, with numbers unconfirmed by Rudaw.

Provincial officials warned that ISIS was pounding Iraqi forces east of Ramadi, and that the towns of Garma and Baghdadi were barely holding on against the barrage.

"Garma and Baghdadi are in serious threat from Daesh gunnies," warned Sabah Karhut, head of Anbar's Provincial Council, referring to ISIS by its Arab acronym and calling for urgent help.

"The towns could fall and Daesh could commit a mass killing against the residents of these two towns if the government doesn't send enough troops," he said.

Ayid Amash, another member of the Provincial Council, called on Baghdad to urgently send help.

Military sources said that ISIS was in control of Ramadi's center, and that its fighters had Iraqi forces surrounded in several other parts.

"Daesh gunnies in the center of Ramadi conducted several attacks against the security forces," an Iraqi officer told Rudaw on condition of anonymity. "After hours of intense fighting the gunnies were able to control two areas, including the Jamiya region, which was previously in the hands of Iraqi forces," he added.

"The security forces are currently surrounded by Daesh gunnies in some areas inside the city," he added.

With ISIS in control of large parts of Ramadi, military sources said the Iraqi troops have some incredibly difficult urban fighting ahead of them.

Iraqi forces had recently intensified attacks on ISIS in Anbar, after beating them out of the city of Tikrit. But the advance in Anbar has been slow, with intense house-to-house fighting and plenty of mines and booby traps hampering the push.

Iraqi forces are on a westward push to retake Anbar, a sprawling Sunni-dominated desert province captured by ISIS in its offensive last year.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/16/2015 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Given the withdrawal of US troops, I thought all the Shiites had to do to win was to exterminate the Sunni Arabs - i.e. walk artillery shells from one end of Sunni Arab settlements to the other. It sounds like the Shiite leadership has been too busy stealing the money allocated for munitions for that to be possible.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 05/16/2015 16:30 Comments || Top||


IS Captures Government HQ In Ramadi
[ABCAustralia] Islamic State fighters took over the main government compound in Iraq's western city of Ramadi, giving them nearly full control over Anbar's provincial capital, the group and officials say.

The insurgents attacked the city overnight Thursday (local time) using six suicide car bombs to reach the city centre, police sources said.

The jihadists seized the government complex around 2:00pm and raised IS's black flag, a police officer said.

IS "now occupies the government centre in Ramadi and has also raised its flag over the police HQ for Anbar," the police major said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Rudaw adds:
Ramadi was a key stronghold of the insurgency in the US-led war in Iraq. It's now mostly held by Iraqi government forces, although ISIS bandidos forces of Evil control some parts of it, mainly on the outskirts.
And from An Nahar:
Police, army forces and tribal forces are defending the city as we speak to prevent IS from taking over entirely. Iraqi and coalition aircraft are in support," he said.

He and other officials said a large number of civilians were fleeing the city center, the second time in a month they have done so following another IS offensive in April.

"Families are trying to flee on foot, leaving their cars and homes behind, but most areas around Ramadi are under IS control," said Sheikh Jabbar Adjadj al-Assafi, a tribal leader.
Posted by: Grunter || 05/16/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  There goes the great gains made by the mighty iraqi army
Posted by: chris || 05/16/2015 5:47 Comments || Top||

#2  New "Tet Offensive."
Posted by: Pappy || 05/16/2015 12:15 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
PA uncovers Hamas cell in Hebron planning attacks on Israel
A Palestinian Authority security official said Friday that the PA's security services uncovered and arrested a Hamas cell near Hebron in the West Bank. The official told Israel Radio on Friday that the group was planning attacks meant to take place in Israel.
"Hey! That's our job!"
Palestinian police were first alerted to the cell after a report was received of people preparing explosives inside an apartment. Five members of the cell were then arrested.

The report said that cell members were in the early stages of preparing the necessary materials to make an explosive device and a search of the house did not find any completed explosives.

The official said that Palestinian security forces have arrested other Hamas military cells in Hebron, Kalkilya, Nablus and Jenin since the beginning of the year.
To protect themselves, not the evil Joooz...
Posted by: Steve White || 05/16/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
One soldier, three Abu Sayyaf militants killed in clash
[Gulf Today] Three Abu Sayyaf insurgents and a soldier were killed when Philippine security forces raided and captured their bomb-making factory on the island province of Basilan. Ten others were injured, seven soldiers and three militants, in the clash that happened in a remote village in the town of Mohammed Ajul on Thursday morning.

The slain soldier was a member of the elite army rangers who have launched pursuit operations against the insurgents who fled into the jungle after a four-hour gun battle that led to their camp's capture. Among those being pursued is a Malaysian national, not yet identified but described as an expert-bomb maker.
Posted by: ryuge || 05/16/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf


At least 30 bombs in southern Thailand injure at least 20
[Bangkok Post] Officials have stepped up security measures to their highest level in Songkhla province following a series of bomb attacks in Muang Yala municipality on Thursday night. The multiple blasts that hit 30 locations in the province have left at least 20 people wounded since Thursday.

Meanwhile, six more bombs exploded in Yala's Muang district yesterday morning, injuring two and bringing the total number of bombings in the province since Thursday night to 30. Bomb disposal officers yesterday morning also gathered and destroyed an additional three bombs.

Yala police commander Chamlong Suvaluck and bomb disposal officers went to examine the scene of the first bombing where a ping-pong bomb had been thrown into a shop, causing damage but no injuries. The second location was at a morning tea shop where one person was hurt. The third bombing occurred at a grocery store.

The fourth bomb exploded near a healthcare center, wounding one.The fifth bomb and sixth bombs exploded in front of a grocery shop in Yala's Muang district. Col Pramote Prom-in said authorities estimated that 20 insurgents were responsible for the bombings.

In nearby Narathiwat province, four military rangers were ambushed in Sukhirin district yesterday, killing one and wounding the rest.
Posted by: ryuge || 05/16/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
American Commandos Kill Isis Leader
(CNN)U.S. Special Operations forces killed a senior ISIS commander during a raid intended to capture him in eastern Syria overnight Friday to Saturday, sources familiar with what happened on the ground in Syria told CNN.

The ISIS commander, Abu Sayyaf, who was in charge of ISIS' oil and gas operations and directly and increasingly involved in ISIS command and control, fought capture and was killed in the raid, the sources said.

His wife, an Iraqi named Umm Sayyaf, was captured and taken to Iraq for interrogation, the sources said.

All the U.S. troops involved returned safely. About a dozen ISIS fighters were killed in the firefight at a residential building.
Video at Link
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 05/16/2015 08:47 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somali, Philippines, Libya... any other announced places we fight on the ground?
Posted by: 3dc || 05/16/2015 10:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Nice to see something positive in the news from Syria.

Bye-Bye bad guy.
Posted by: Millard Fillmore1859 || 05/16/2015 11:13 Comments || Top||

#3  U.S. Special Operations forces killed a senior ISIS commander during a raid intended to capture him

Funny - somebody in the Pentagon recently said "no more Gitmos."
Posted by: Pappy || 05/16/2015 12:16 Comments || Top||

#4  ISIS supporters shaken by the attack vow "We will take Obama".
Posted by: Ebbomosh Hupemp2664 || 05/16/2015 14:04 Comments || Top||

#5  "We will take Obama".

ISIS you are a bunch of sissies and pansies, you will never take him.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/16/2015 16:00 Comments || Top||

#6  #4 ISIS supporters shaken by the attack vow "We will take Obama". Posted by: Ebbomosh Hupemp2664

Really? I'll give you $10 if you do that, and another $10 if you keep him.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/16/2015 16:06 Comments || Top||

#7  In this week's episode of the Jetsons versus the Flintsones, you get to see what happens when superior technology and Tier 1 pipe hitters converge on a mud hut. The results should not be a surprise.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy || 05/16/2015 20:31 Comments || Top||


YPG forces liberate strategic Syrian town from ISIS
Posted by: badanov || 05/16/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Syrian rebels advance against ISIS in Raqqa
Kobane, Syria – On Friday, rebels of the Burkan al-Furat took control of several new villages on the eastern countryside of the city of Tel Abyad (Gire Spi) in Raqqa province, northeastern Syria, after clashes with militants of the Islamic State (IS/ISIL), military sources reported.

Speaking to ARA News on the phone, the spokesman of the Burkan al-Furat forces, Shervan Darwish, said that their forces liberated several villages near the IS-held city of Tel Abyad, including Safariya Sharqi/Gharbi, Idqi, Sabaa Jaffar, Saluka, Izaa Saluka, and Gorish plant in addition to nearby hills.

Darwish pointed out that the village, located on the highway of Aleppo-Qamishli, are now under the control of Burkan al-Furat’s rebels, adding that their forces have earlier seized control of Kij Qaran village on Thursday.

The rebels were able to kill seven IS insurgents and seize an armored vehicle, according to the same source.

Posted by: badanov || 05/16/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Terror Networks
US-led coalition launches 24 air strikes against Islamic State
[Ynet] The United States and its allies conducted 24 air strikes since early on Thursday targeting 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....
Death Eaters in Syria and Iraq, the Combined Joint Task Force carrying out the operations said.

In Syria, 12 air strikes hit near Al Hasakah, Kobani and other towns, the task force said in a statement Friday. In Iraq, 12 strikes hit buildings and other structures near Bayji, 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...
Ramadi and other towns, it said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/16/2015 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


ISIS Top Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi : '€˜Islam Is The Religion Of War'
[Daily Caller] An audio recording surfaced online Thursday purporting to be the voice of Islamic State's self-styled caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, urging Muslims worldwide to join the jihadi group.

Baghdadi's face has not appeared in any IS media since July 2014, when the group conquered the major Iraqi city of Mosul. His last audio message was released in November.

The message, whose title is translated as "March Forth Whether Light or Heavy," relies heavily on Quranic passages and arcane myths about the end of the world. The leader uses them to argue that "there is no excuse for any Muslim who is capable of performing hijrah [immigration] to the Islamic State, or capable of carrying a weapon where he is." The English translation used here was released simultaneously by official Islamic State channels.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/16/2015 03:08 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Take that George!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/16/2015 5:39 Comments || Top||

#2  I'll pretend I didn't hear that -- Every Western Politician since 2002
Posted by: regular joe || 05/16/2015 8:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Okay, now let's see how many of those "moderate" muslims jump all over this in denial, and how big a play it gets from the MSM, WH and the "main line" Islamic states like Egypt, KSA, Iran, Indo. etc.
Posted by: AlanC || 05/16/2015 8:22 Comments || Top||

#4  AlanC -- you really like the sound of crickets, don't you?
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/16/2015 16:08 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2015-05-16
  Jury sentences Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for marathon attack
Fri 2015-05-15
  Belmokhtar's Jihadist Group in N. Africa Pledges Allegiance to IS
Thu 2015-05-14
  ISIS acting leader al-Afri killed by US-led airstrike
Wed 2015-05-13
  Iraq Blast Kills Four including Peshmerga General
Tue 2015-05-12
  Drone Strike Kills 4 Qaida Suspects in Yemen's Mukalla
Mon 2015-05-11
  Terror recruiter with roots in Minn. linked to Texas shooting
Sun 2015-05-10
  Houthis agree to five-day cease-fire in Yemen
Sat 2015-05-09
  Pakistani Chopper Crashes into School, 2 Ambassadors Killed
Fri 2015-05-08
  ISIS controls 80% of Baiji refinery in Salahuddin
Thu 2015-05-07
  Fighting continues in Benghazi despite fall of Mreisa
Wed 2015-05-06
  Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq repel a major ISIS attack southeast of Fallujah
Tue 2015-05-05
  Troops Kill 28 Suspected Militants in Central Nigeria
Mon 2015-05-04
  3 Shot, 2 dead a '€˜Muhammad Art, Cartoon Contest' in Texas
Sun 2015-05-03
  40 Person Mob Assaults 2 Jews on Paris’ Boulevard Voltaire
Sat 2015-05-02
  Saudi Air Raids Kill Dozens of Yemenis

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