Hi there, !
Today Wed 10/14/2015 Tue 10/13/2015 Mon 10/12/2015 Sun 10/11/2015 Sat 10/10/2015 Fri 10/09/2015 Thu 10/08/2015 Archives
Rantburg
532934 articles and 1859797 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 66 articles and 152 comments as of 14:23.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
ISIS leader al-Baghdadi's convoy hit by air strike in Iraq
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
9 22:18 trailing wife [5] 
12 21:24 trailing wife [7] 
3 14:50 Sleang Theremble1426 [2] 
0 [] 
1 13:19 g(r)omgoru [2] 
0 [7] 
0 [3] 
4 17:54 Blossom Unains5562 [9] 
0 [2] 
0 [3] 
0 [7] 
3 11:12 Rambler in Virginia [2] 
0 [2] 
0 [2] 
0 [4] 
0 [6] 
0 [] 
0 [2] 
0 [1] 
0 [] 
0 [6] 
14 22:06 JosephMendiola [7] 
Page 2: WoT Background
0 [3]
3 15:23 Frank G [3]
5 17:43 Blossom Unains5562 [8]
1 14:31 lord garth [2]
6 17:48 Blossom Unains5562 [4]
1 13:12 paul [2]
4 11:29 g(r)omgoru [2]
0 [3]
2 18:07 Bright Pebbles [1]
0 []
2 11:23 Bill Clinton [3]
2 10:41 Shipman [3]
0 [7]
0 [5]
0 [1]
1 10:00 g(r)omgoru []
0 [5]
0 []
3 14:10 paul [2]
0 []
0 [3]
2 13:19 paul [2]
0 [3]
0 [4]
0 [6]
0 [2]
3 18:02 Blossom Unains5562 [3]
4 15:51 g(r)omgoru [2]
7 13:19 newc [2]
Page 3: Non-WoT
10 23:58 JosephMendiola [3]
0 [4]
12 20:38 USN, Ret. [5]
4 16:19 Pappy [2]
4 14:23 trailing wife []
Page 4: Opinion
6 15:51 Frank G []
16 23:50 JosephMendiola [2]
1 02:51 Elmerert Hupens2660 [2]
0 [3]
0 [2]
0 [3]
Page 6: Politix
4 20:26 Procopius2k [4]
3 18:07 Blossom Unains5562 [5]
6 15:35 Frank G [3]
0 [2]
Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 10/11/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan
100 Insurgents Killed in Kandahar Airstrikes
[Tolo News] Almost 100 Taliban bandidos krazed killers have been killed in joint Afghan and foreign troops Arclight airstrikes in southern Kandahar province, local officials said on Saturday.

In addition, 50 others were maimed.

The Arclight airstrikes targeted bandidos krazed killers at a gathering in Shurabak district of the province, officials from the Kandahar police media office said.

"The bandidos krazed killers were gathered in Shurabak and had planned to capture the district but the Afghan and foreign troops carried out Arclight airstrikes in which nearly 100 bandidos krazed killers were killed," officials said.

Officials said that the bandidos krazed killers had recently arrived in the district from bordering areas. No civilians were maimed or killed in the strike, they said.

The Taliban has not yet commented on the Arclight airstrikes.

Shurabak borders Pakistain where bandidos krazed killers are known to be active and frequently target local security forces.
Posted by: Fred || 10/11/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Insurgents Use Civilians to Slow Down Military Operations in Kunduz
[Tolo News] After seizing control of the strategic town of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan, Death Eaters have pursued various tactics to continue the siege of the city including the move to use mosques, schools and clinics as hideouts used to target security forces.

Afghan cops in the city have told TOLOnews correspondent Wali Arian that Death Eaters are not allowing the local residents to leave their homes, an issue which also slows down military operations.

Using civilians as human shields is a grave matter of concern for troops.

"We move forward with operations cautiously to save the people," Ahmad Habibi, commander of second brigade of Army Corps 209 Shaheen said.

It is now the third day that the Afghan cops are conducting clearance operations against the Taliban in Sedarak area of Kunduz. However,
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster...
officials say the Taliban fire on security forces from inside civilian homes.

However,
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster...
successful house-to- house searches are being carried out and troops are conducting night raids in their quest to eliminate the Taliban from the city.
Posted by: Fred || 10/11/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  ..pursued various tactics to continue the siege of the city including the move to use mosques, schools and clinics as hideouts used to target security forces

Apparently, not so good under Russian RoEs. In the real international conventions, that act of using civilian shields is the real war crime, not the people who destroy them.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/11/2015 8:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Don't forget hospitals.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 10/11/2015 9:03 Comments || Top||

#3  P2K, as I understand the Russian ROEs, they are "There is the enemy. Kill them"
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 10/11/2015 11:12 Comments || Top||


Daesh Prevents Polio Campaign in Three Nangarhar Districts
[Tolo News] Daesh Death Eaters have reportedly stopped the national polio
...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set...
vaccination campaign from being carried out in three districts of eastern Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
province, local officials said on Saturday.

Nangarhar officials said Daesh has prevented about 46,000 children from receiving polio vaccines in the three districts.

This comes after the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) launched an anti-polio campaign across the country three days ago.

Najibullah Kamawal, the head of the health department of Nangarhar, said: "Our employees were not able to launch the campaign in Achin, Haskamina and Mina Kot districts in the province due to Daesh presence."

"Regrettably, almost 46,000 children remain deprived of polio vaccination in areas which are under control of Taliban, already there are four cases of polio in this district," head of Nangarhar health department Najibullah Kamawal said.

He also said that Daesh Death Eaters have closed ten health care centers in these districts.

"In districts where there is control of Daesh, health centers are also closed down and people there face a lot of issues," he said.

Meanwhile,
...back at the abandoned silver mine, the water was up to Jack's neck and still rising. And then he smelled the smoke...
a number of civil society activists and Ulema members in Nangarhar said that "this is oppression by Daesh on children".

"This act demonstrated by the Death Eaters is an act of oppression against the children. We call on warring factions to cooperate with medical teams," religious scholar Maulavi Abbas said.

The Ulema members and civil society activists called on Daesh to not stop health workers from treating people.
Posted by: Fred || 10/11/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Former Haqqani commander survives bomb blast in Khost
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A former commander of the Haqqani Terrorist Network narrowly survived a kaboom in Khost province
... across the border from Miranshah, within commuting distance of Haqqani hangouts such as Datta Khel and probably within sight of Mordor. Khost is populated by six different tribes of Pashtuns, the largest probably being the Khostwal, from which it takes its name...
on Saturday.

The bomb was placed in a vehicle parked along the roadside in Khost city and went off when Mawlawi Mohammad Sardar Zadran was going through the area in his vehicle.

Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police HQ of Khost confirmed the blast that took place around 12 pm today.

CID officer Gul Dad Mandozai said that Zadran survived the kaboom, but one of his body guards sustained injuries and his vehicle slightly damaged.

Mawlawi Zadran had separated ways with Haqqani Network and joined government through the reconciliation process about 12 years ago.

He is currently leading a Shura 'council' of former Mujahideen in Khost province.

No group has immediately grabbed credit for the attack.
Posted by: Fred || 10/11/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Subsaharan
Lake Chad blasts blamed on Boko Haram kill 37
[Al Ahram] Three kabooms blamed on the Nigerian jihadist group 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...
killed 37 people Saturday in a Chadian city on the shores of Lake Chad, security sources said.

Another 52 people were reportedly maimed in the attacks that struck at around 4:00 pm (1500 GMT), one targeting the fish market at Baga Sola and the other two occurring at a refugee camp on the outskirts of the city.

Lake Chad is shared between Nigeria, Niger, 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 Chad.

Climate change has reduced its surface in recent years, but it contains many islands and islets used by fishermen and its banks have dense vegetation, which makes infiltrations by Boko Haram Islamists into Chad much easier.

The Chadian army has since the start of this year been involved in a regional offensive against Boko Haram, whose attacks have spread across Nigeria's borders to neighbouring countries.
Posted by: Fred || 10/11/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Arabia
Arab coalition deploys Patriot to Yemen
[Janes] Key Points

  • The Arab coalition has deployed two Patriot fire units to defend its base in Yemen's Marib province

  • The deployment corroborates claims that the base was hit by a ballistic missile on 4 September

The Arab coalition fighting to reinstall Yemen's ousted president has deployed Patriot air-defence systems to defend its forward operating base in Marib province, satellite imagery from Airbus Defence and Space has confirmed.

The imagery from 1 October shows two Patriot fire units, each with an AN/MPQ-53/65 radar and just two launchers, at either end of the airstrip at the Safir refinery in Marib. Six AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, two UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters, and one CH-47 Chinook heavy lift helicopter can be seen on the airstrip.

The deployment of the Patriot systems effectively confirms there is an ongoing ballistic missile threat to the base as Yemen's air force has not resisted the coalition since it launched its intervention in March and most (if not all) of its aircraft have now been destroyed on the ground.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 10/11/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


Government loyalists, Arab coalition advance in Yemen's Taiz
I have been trying to find something that gives the tactical picture in Yemen but I am not finding much.
[AAWSAT] Aden, Taiz and Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat-Yemeni government loyalists, aided by Saudi-led coalition forces, have made fresh gains in Taiz, military sources said on Friday, bringing them closer to capturing the western governorate and the Red Sea port of Al-Mokha from Houthi rebels.

Government loyalist forces, known as the Popular Resistance, captured Friday a key military camp, 28 miles (45 kilometers) north of the strategic Bab El-Mandeb strait, after fierce clashes with the Iran-backed Houthis and allied supporters of ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Dozens of rebels were killed and injured during the fighting while the remaining fled in the direction of the desert, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Saif Al-Yafey, a district commander in Yemen's military, told Asharq Al-Awsat. Government forces have retaken Al-Omari camp in Al-Dhubab district of the Taiz governorate and are awaiting orders to advance towards Mokha, the commander said.

Last week, supporters of the internationally recognized President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, backed by Arab coalition airstrikes and ground troops, seized the strategic strait from the Houthi rebels.

Meanwhile, Saudi-led coalition warplanes continued airstrikes against Houthis and Saleh's positions in Mokha and Taiz on Friday, in what could be a prelude to an imminent ground operation.

"Having liberated Bab El-Mandeb strait and then the coastal Dhubab district, Arab coalition forces and the popular resistance are now moving towards liberating the coastal city of Mokha," a Yemeni military source told Asharq Al-Awsat.

"The Arab coalition's plan is to liberate the coastal line entirely from the Putschist militias," the source, who requested to remain anonymous, said , referring to an alliance of Houthi militias and Saleh's followers who seized the capital, Sana'a, and toppled Hadi in September of 2014.

Separately, the Houthi movement has sent to the foreign ministries of several countries letters in which they criticized the Saudi-led coalition and provided false information about the humanitarian situation in Yemen, Asharq Al-Awsat has learnt. The letters, which bore the symbol and official seal of the Yemeni Foreign Ministry, called for the need to allow aid into the country.
I guess the blockade is working.
Aid = guns and ammo for the Houthis, factory direct from Iran...
In comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, Yemen's Foreign Minister Riyadh Yassin said his country's diplomatic missions abroad contacted the ministry's temporary headquarters in Riyadh to inform it about the letters. Yassin accused the Houthis of fraud, saying that all diplomatic memoranda issued by the foreign ministry in Sana'a after the Houthis took over the capital were illegal.

A Saudi-led coalition of Arab states has been bombing the Houthis in Yemen for more than six months as part of a military campaign which aims to restore Hadi to power.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 10/11/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Bangladesh
Jamaat-backed militant group Allahr Dol active in the north
[Dhaka Tribune] A krazed killer outfit named Allahr Dol, meaning Allah's party, has been trying to organise in recent times mainly in the northern parts of Bangladesh.

Local law enforcers said the outfit's activities have so far spread to Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Rajshahi and Dinajpur districts in the north, Khulna in the south-west and Jhalakathi in the south.

They also said the outfit has been getting support, shelter and backup from the local chapter of Jamaat-e-Islami
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 10/11/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


The Grand Turk
Hundreds of protesters gather in Istanbul after bomb attacks in capital
[Al Ahram] Hundreds of protesters chanting anti-government slogans gathered in Istanbul on Saturday to try to march towards the city's central Taksim square, blaming the government for kabooms which killed at least 86 people in the capital Ankara.

The two suspected jacket wallahs hit as hundreds of people gathered outside Ankara's main train station for a planned march organised by civil society, pro-Kurdish and leftist groups to protest against conflict between Turkish security forces and Kurdish murderous Moslems in the southeast.

"Erdogan resign" and "Murderer AKP", some of the crowd in Istanbul shouted, accusing President Tayyip Erdogan and the ruling AK Party of responsibility for the violence.

Riot police with two water cannon vehicles watched on. Police have previously prevented demonstrators from trying to reach Taksim square, the epicentre of weeks of violent anti-government protests during the summer of 2013.
Posted by: Fred || 10/11/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This does have Erdogan's fingerprints all over it.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 10/11/2015 0:33 Comments || Top||

#2  I lean more towards the Islamic State. It has their hallmarks. It'd also be a twofer by hitting the Kurds, who are pretty much the only ones effectively standing up to the Islamic State.

Another, and highly likely, possibility are the Gray Wolves. They have a history of killing Turkish leftists. They're also possibly involved in the bombing of the shrine in Bangkok.

The "bug" in this is that Turkey's stopped several suicide bomber infiltration attempts from Kurdish territory in Iraq. Being cynical, I also wouldn't put it past the PKK to run an op like this. But it's a very remote possibility.

Posted by: Pappy || 10/11/2015 6:58 Comments || Top||

#3  like putin doesent he want to be the all time Turkish president/prime minster
Posted by: paul || 10/11/2015 13:10 Comments || Top||

#4  A little larger attendance in Ankara: Thousands rally in Ankara to remember victims of bombings

Unintended consequences?

Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 10/11/2015 17:54 Comments || Top||


PKK says halts militant activity in Turkey until elections
[Hurriyet Daily News] The outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) called on its fighters to halt activities in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
unless they face an attack, a news website close to the organization said Oct. 10, three months after it ended a two-year-old de facto cease-fire.

Firat news agency reported the head of the KCK, the PKK umbrella group, as saying the decision was taken in response to calls from within and outside Turkey and that its members would avoid acts which could prevent a "fair and just election" being held on Nov. 1.

The announcement came hours after at least 30 people were killed when twin kabooms hit a rally of hundreds of activists outside Ankara's main train station in a terrorist attack.
Posted by: Fred || 10/11/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Policeman killed in PKK bomb attack in southeastern Turkey
[Hurriyet Daily News] A kaboom killed one policeman and maimed six others in the Sur district of southeastern Diyarbakir province on Oct. 10, the provincial governorate has said.

The Governorate said in a statement that the bomb went kaboom! while the coppers were clearing streets of barriers and trenches constructed by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) supporters.

"Treatment of the injured coppers is ongoing," said the governorate, adding that a shootout broke out with "three members of the separatist terror organization" following the initial attack.

"One individual was killed and the two [PKK] were maimed. In addition, 68 hand-made bombs and one Kaleshnikov rifle were seized," added the governorate.

A curfew was announced in some DIyarbakir neighborhoods.

Another police officer was killed by the PKK on Oct. 9 still in Diyarbakir, the governor's office and provincial police department said, as four PKK members were killed in an operations in the southeast, the military said on Oct. 10.
Posted by: Fred || 10/11/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


VIDEO: Security footage of Ankara twin blast released
[Hurriyet Daily News]
Posted by: Fred || 10/11/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Reports of a Russian plane shot down by Turkey
If correct, and it looks to me like it could equally have been a SAM, then major escalation by Erdogan, et al.
Rolled over for continued discussion because it was posted late in the day.
Posted by: phil_b || 10/11/2015 18:32 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yah. Also, _someone_ blew up a peace rally, although my Turkish correspondent thinks the government is too much wit da stupids to carry out a false flag attack.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 10/10/2015 18:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Serious enough to bump a round of golf?
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 10/10/2015 19:00 Comments || Top||

#3  Election 3 weeks away and AKP looking to fail to gain a majority again. I wouldn't put either events past Erdogan and his pals.
Posted by: phil_b || 10/10/2015 19:07 Comments || Top||

#4  No mention in AP
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/10/2015 23:13 Comments || Top||

#5  "WNU Editor: Regular reader and commentator James brought to our attention yesterday that a Russian jet had been shot down by Turkey. There was nothing on the wire services about a Russian jet being shot down, but I do have a very reliable source in Russia who always tells me if a story pertaining to the Russian military is true or not. I sent him an email and text-message late Friday night for his feedback. He has yet to respond (which is very telling because he always responds). It was only this evening while reading my email and the comments from the readers of this blog that I then realized that the probable reason why he did not respond was because the rumours of a Russian jet being shot down are true .... and he could not tell me because it was/is still classified and not for public release (an information black-out that was probably ordered from the Russian President's office itself). As of this moment I do not know if this story is true or not .... but I can say unequivocally that the Russian government is not denying it .... and that tells me a lot."
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 10/10/2015 23:48 Comments || Top||

#6  If a MIG was shot down it stands to reason that there would be wreckage. I haven't seen any evidence and I am sure that someone would have posted it on Twitter.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 10/10/2015 23:56 Comments || Top||

#7  I doubt the report. I know there was a lock on but no confirmed shoot down.
Posted by: newc || 10/11/2015 1:03 Comments || Top||

#8  If true, the feces are about to hit the oscillator in Turkey.

Erdogan made a big mistake with the Russian. Putin will consequence Turkey big time if true.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 10/11/2015 11:17 Comments || Top||

#9  still unconfirmed except on social media. 48 hr rule is in effect
Posted by: Frank G || 10/11/2015 12:13 Comments || Top||

#10  RAF given green light to shoot down hostile Russian jets in Syria

good thing Obama's off fundraising, using victims as Gun Control props, and generally abdicating his role as CiC
Posted by: Frank G || 10/11/2015 16:17 Comments || Top||

#11  @#10. Thanks. I think I'm going to go ahead and open that 25 y/o bottle of Scotch I've been saving.
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 10/11/2015 17:41 Comments || Top||

#12  Confirmed: The report of a Russian MiG shot down is spurious.
Posted by: badanov || 10/11/2015 20:02 Comments || Top||

#13  Update on the RAF green light from Ruters via Ynet:

Britain dismisses reports about air force orders in Iraq

Russia called in the British defense attache in Moscow on Sunday after a British newspaper published what London said was an inaccurate report that its pilots had been given permission to attack Russian jets if fired on.

The British tabloid, Daily Star Sunday, quoted unnamed senior defense sources as saying it was just "a matter of time" before British fighters were involved in a confrontation with Russian jets over Iraq.


I'm afraid you'll need a different reason to drink that Scotch, Blossom Unains5562.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/11/2015 21:29 Comments || Top||

#14  Nuthin' on CNN this Monday Guam AM, nor AFAIK yesterday either.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/11/2015 22:06 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Five Al-Qaeda terrorists killed in Sheikhupura 'encounter'
[DAWN] At least five suspected holy warriors said to be affiliated with Al-Qaeda were killed in an alleged exchange of fire with police personnel in Punjab's Sheikhupura district on Saturday.

"At around 2am, police personnel escorted a prisoner Kashif alias Kashi from Lahore to a holy warriors hideout in Sheikhupura, in order to recover an arms cache," said a front man from Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Punjab.

The front man added that as soon as the police personnel along with the escorted prisoner reached a railway crossing within the limits of Factory area cop shoppe, they came under attack by seven to eight suspected murderous Moslems.

"Five holy warriors including Kashif were killed in retaliatory firing by police personnel while the others managed to flee taking advantage of to darkness", said the CTD spokeman.

The dear departed holy warriors were identified as Kashif, Umar Farooq, Qari Naveed and Imran, all belonging to Al-Qaeda with Umar Farooq having his name on Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....

CTD's red book, a list of 110 most wanted terrorists.

Arms and ammunition including two Kalashnikov assault rifles, two pistols and a huge amount of kaboom were recovered from their custody.

It is pertinent to mention that in a similar incident in July, the CTD had killed Malik Ishaq, chief of banned sectarian outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ...
along with his two sons and 11 attackers.

The police had interrogated them and had subsequently taken them to Shahwala in Punjab's Muzaffargarh district to aid the police in recovering weapons and explosives but the police party was attacked by around 12 to 15 gunnies who succeeded in freeing Ishaq, his sons and flee.

But the SHO CTD who was informed about the attack on the police party and was travelling on the same route, encountered the fleeing murderous Moslems, and the resulting exchange of fire killed 14 murderous Moslems, including Malik Ishaq and his sons.
Posted by: Fred || 10/11/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


Iraq
ISIS leader al-Baghdadi's convoy hit by air strike in Iraq
Salesman class says if you make x sales pitches you will make a sale. It's not clear what the value of x is for selling al-Baghdadi to dirt. Eventually...
Iraq's Air Force have reportedly hit a military convoy carrying the leader of Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Iraq.

A military statement claimed the strike had taken purportedly place in the Iraqi province of Anbar but admitted it was unclear if al-Baghdadi had been killed.

It is thought Iraqi jets targeted the convoy as it was travelling close to the Syrian border in Western Anbar today.

'Iraqi air forces have bombed the convoy of the terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi while he was heading to Karabla to attend a meeting with Daesh commanders', the statement read.
Posted by: Glenmore || 10/11/2015 09:09 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ashes to ashes, scum to scum.
Posted by: gorb || 10/11/2015 13:04 Comments || Top||

#2  every isis convoy should be targeted
Posted by: paul || 10/11/2015 13:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Wait a sec, didn't Vlad ordered his capture alive? Eliminating the evidence?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/11/2015 13:22 Comments || Top||

#4  didn't Vlad ordered his capture alive? Eliminating the evidence?

Iraqi air force, g(r)omgoru.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/11/2015 15:40 Comments || Top||

#5  Iraqi air force

I'm sure Besoeker can us an explanation involving "Klingons".
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/11/2015 15:42 Comments || Top||

#6  48-hour rule applies.

Seeing some news from the area that al-BigDaddy probably wasn't part of the flattened fluffy bunnies or kittens.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 10/11/2015 15:54 Comments || Top||

#7  "can" ----> "can give"
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/11/2015 15:55 Comments || Top||

#8  "Allegedly" ...

Youse can't have a Govt-MSM verified "Zombie Apocalypse" widout any Zombies.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/11/2015 22:04 Comments || Top||

#9  Ynet reports the hospital says the strike got several ISIS leaders, but not Mr. al-Baghdadi.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/11/2015 22:18 Comments || Top||


Iraq launches its first drone from Kut Airbase to target ISIS sites in Anbar
There's a picture of the thing at the link.
[IraqiNews] Iraqi has launched its first drone flight from al-Kut Airbase towards al-Anbar to target sites belonging to the ISIS organization in the province.

The Iraqi TV channel Alsumaria reported that, "the first Iraqi combat drone took off, this morning, from Kut Airbase in Wasit province," pointing out that, "the plane headed towards Anbar to strike a target for ISIS," and adding that, "the process of launching the aircraft was conducted in the presence of Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi,"

It is noteworthy, Iraqi forces are often assisted by US drones to provide information about ISIS targets and the situation in the provinces controlled by the organization.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/11/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq

#1  Is that a US drone? I wouldn't trust Iraq not to just give it to Iran.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 10/11/2015 0:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Chinese CH-4 UAV.

New Iraqi CH-4B Drones now in Operation from Kut Airbase
Posted by: Betty Hitler2611 || 10/11/2015 1:47 Comments || Top||

#3  Looks like they downloaded the design files from General Atomics.
Posted by: Sleang Theremble1426 || 10/11/2015 14:50 Comments || Top||


15 civilians killed, injured by ISIS shelling on Amiriyat Fallujah, says District Council
[IraqiNews] al-Anbar -- Amiriyat al-Fallujah District Council announced Saturday, that three civilians had been killed and 12 others were maimed by a shelling that targeted their houses in the district.

The head of the council, Shaker al-Issawi, said in an interview for IraqiNews.com, "The ISIS organization shelled, at noon, by mortar shells and rockets the residential area in the district of Amiriyat al-Fallujah (23 km south of Fallujah), killing three civilians and wounding 12 others."

Issawi also pointed out, "The victims of the terrorist attack included women and kiddies."
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/11/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Two protesters shot dead in Iraqi Kurdish town
[Al Ahram] Guards rubbed out two demonstrators in the Iraqi Kurdish town of Kalar Saturday as protesters tried to storm the local headquarters of the regional president's party, a hospital front man said.

"Two protesters have died of bullet wounds. One was 19 and the other 40," the official told AFP.

Witnesses and a security official said the protesters eventually set fire to the local office of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Kalar, a town in the southernmost part of Iraq's Kurdish region.

Thousands of people demonstrated in the main southern Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, in Kalar and in several other towns Saturday, demanding that acting regional president Massud Barzani step down.

Two protesters were rubbed out in similar circumstances on Friday in Qala Diza, further north.

The demonstrations were initially protests against the non-payment of salaries to civil servants by the Kurdish Regional Government, which faces a dire budget crisis.

The latest protests evolved into a mobilisation against Barzani in areas of Iraqi Kurdistan where opposition to the KDP is traditionally strong.
Rudaw reports the local perspective of events:
[Rudaw] QALADZE, Kurdistan Region - A young protester died after the Kurdistan Democratic Party's headquarters were torched Saturday during deadly protests in the Sulaimani Province town of Qaladze.

The 13-year-old boy died in the hospital from injuries sustained when the building was set on fire, Qaladze hospital personnel Othman Muhamad told Rudaw.

Three people were rubbed out yesterday during demonstrations in Qaladze, while dozens more were maimed.

The semiautonomous Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq has been erupting in protests for the past week as anger over lack of government wages, feuding political parties and economic instability has reached a boiling point.

Clashes between demonstrators and police continue in the town of Said Sadiq and Kalar in the Sulaimani. Protesters torched the KDP's building in Kalar on Saturday.

Police used tear gas during a mass demonstration in Sarra Square in the city on Saturday when hundreds of protesters gathered again to demand three months of unpaid salaries and an end to the current political stalemate that has left the KRG without an official president since August.

Major political parties in Kurdistan have condemned the violence and called on citizens and party members for peace.
More on the day's events:
Violent protests rage across Sulaimani province
Posted by: Fred || 10/11/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
The Times of Israel liveblogged Saturday's events
[IsraelTimes]
It was a busy day. Riots and stone throwing by Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Gazans broke through the security fence into Israel before being caught, a few stabbings, 13 more Border Police companies called up in addition to the 3 called up Friday (up to 2,000 troops altogether), a Gazan rocket destroyed by Iron Dome results in Israeli jets bombing two Hamas weapons factories ... go to the link to read all the details.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/11/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Palestinians finally grasped that they have to defend their title as world champion terrorists from ISIS.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/11/2015 13:19 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
U.S. Delivers Hellfire Missiles, Precision Munitions to Lebanese Army
When feeling cynical, the thought occurs that is one way to get them into the hands of Hizb'allah...
[AnNahar] The United States delivered Friday a new shipment of Hellfire missiles and artillery munitions to the Lebanese army, the U.S. embassy said in a statement.

"Ambassador David Hale visited Beirut Airbase this morning to inspect America's latest delivery of 'Hellfire' missiles and artillery munitions to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF)," it said.

The shipment included 50 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles
Hezbollah Lebanon has an air force that can deliver Hellfires?
and 560 artillery rounds, including some precision munitions.

"This represents $8.6 million worth of U.S. security assistance to Leb and boosts the LAF's ability to secure Leb's borders against violent Lion of Islams," the embassy said.

The Hellfire air-to-ground missiles are used on Cessna Caravan aircraft previously delivered to the army by the U.S.

The missiles "allow the LAF to strike confirmed Lion of Islam positions without exposing themselves to return fire," the embassy explained.

"The other artillery rounds include laser guided projectiles -- the first munition of its kind in the LAF's arsenal -- which will provide the LAF with a precision-strike capability at significant stand-off ranges," it said.

The embassy noted that "today's munitions delivery demonstrates America's sustained commitment to ensure that the Lebanese Armed Forces has the support it needs to be the sole defender of Lebanese territory and its borders, and is answerable to the state and to the Lebanese people through the state."

In August 2014, the army fought deadly battles with Syria-based snuffies 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....
and 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 .. ...
Front groups in the northeastern border town of Arsal.

Several countries boosted their military aid to Leb in the wake of the festivities.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/11/2015 00:08 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Srsly from a Cessna Caravan? Great plane but I dunno, I jus dunno.
Posted by: Shipman || 10/11/2015 2:59 Comments || Top||

#2  when will we stop arming muslims? it never ends well
Posted by: anon1 || 10/11/2015 4:20 Comments || Top||

#3  If the Cessna was a U-27-A then it is approbate for Lebanon's needs.
Posted by: Omavimble Elmererong1300 || 10/11/2015 8:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Toda raba (thank you very much in Hebrew).
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/11/2015 8:45 Comments || Top||

#5  we should send one, via airmail, to ALMANAR. That's what U.S. aggression is, bitches
Posted by: Frank G || 10/11/2015 12:16 Comments || Top||

#6  I beg to differ, #2 anon. We should continue arming and helping the Kurds as much as possible.

The others? Not so much.
Posted by: Barbara || 10/11/2015 14:15 Comments || Top||

#7  First thought..

This will find its way into hands that want to use them against Israel

Second thought...

Why the fuck aren't we arming the Kurds? Oh yeah, they win Obungle doesn't want the Iranians to lose.
Posted by: DarthVader || 10/11/2015 15:12 Comments || Top||

#8  Europe (Germany) and Canada are arming and training the Kurds. Such arms as America is sending the Kurds are going via Baghdad... So little to none of that is arriving on the other side.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/11/2015 16:22 Comments || Top||

#9  It appears that whomever makes the decisions in D.C. learned a thing-or-two from the Benghazi experience.
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 10/11/2015 17:36 Comments || Top||

#10  canada is providing transport of weapons

the weapons are mostly of US manufacture but have somehow been owned by canada

also some french made weapons
Posted by: lord garth || 10/11/2015 17:59 Comments || Top||

#11  Who is the Muslim Brotherhood supporting? That'll give us some indication as to resources flow.
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 10/11/2015 21:13 Comments || Top||

#12  Thank you, lord garth.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/11/2015 21:24 Comments || Top||


In Syria: Army Recaptures Hama Village, Russia Strikes 55 ISIL Targets
[ALMANAR.LB] Syrian army forces succeeded on Saturday to capture a village from turbans in the central province of Hama as part of a military campaign backed by Russian Arclight airstrikes.

Government forces seized Atshan village in Hama from faceless myrmidons including Takfiri
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed...
s and Al-Qaeda affiliate the Nusra Front, Syria's state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Observatory, a Britannia-based group, reported heavy fighting around the village as government forces sought to push northwest and take a neighboring hilltop.

With support from Russian Arclight airstrikes, they targeted the town of Khan Sheikhun, just across the provincial border in Idlib and on a key highway that runs from Aleppo to Damascus.

The highway is cut by terrorist forces in several locations to the north of Khan Sheikhun.

Hama province has been a key target for the Russian strikes that began on Sept. 30, along with parts of the neighboring provinces of Latakia and Idlib.

Russia: 55 ISIL Targets Hit in 24 Hours

In Moscow, Russia's defense ministry said Saturday that its forces had carried out 64 sorties hitting 55 ISIL targets in the past 24 hours.

29 field camps and ammunition depots of the terrorist organizations in Hama were destroyed in the air strikes, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

Heavy fighting
... as opposed to the more usual name-calling or slapsy...
was also reported on Saturday between government forces and faceless myrmidons in northern Latakia province.

Russian warplanes struck both Latakia and Idlib provinces on Friday and Saturday, including a raid in Idlib that destroyed a base belonging to ISIL terrorists.

In Aleppo province to the north, faceless myrmidons from Ahrar Al-Sham group battled to reverse an advance by ISIL that brought the holy warriors to within a few kilometers (miles) of Syria's second city.
An Nahar adds:
In the northern province of Aleppo, Salafist tough guys including the powerful Ahrar al-Sham
...a Syria jihadi group made up of Islamists and salafists, not that there's that much difference, formed into a brigade. They make up the main element of the Islamic Front but they don't profess adoration of al-Qaeda and they've been fighting (mainly for survival) against the Islamic State. Their leadership was wiped out at a single blow by a suicide kaboom at a crowded basement meeting in September, 2014...
group recaptured one of several villages seized by IS in its Friday advance, a monitor said.

The Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels were battling to take back a second village from the jihadist group, which is now within 20 kilometres (12 miles) of Aleppo city.
Posted by: Fred || 10/11/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria



Who's in the News
38[untagged]
5Govt of Pakistan
5Islamic State
4Taliban
3Arab Spring
1Govt of Iraq
1Govt of Sudan
1Govt of Syria
1Houthis
1Human Trafficking
1al-Shabaab
1Jamaat-e-Islami
1Narcos
1Salafists
1Boko Haram
1al-Qaeda

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2015-10-11
  ISIS leader al-Baghdadi's convoy hit by air strike in Iraq
Sat 2015-10-10
  Stabbing attack at Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, 3 policemen wounded
Fri 2015-10-09
  Military Begins House-To-House Searches in Kunduz
Thu 2015-10-08
  Russia Fires Cruise Missiles in Syria as Assad Begins a Ground Attack
Wed 2015-10-07
  Five arrested in western Sydney over terrorist attack outside police HQ
Tue 2015-10-06
  IS destroys ancient Palmyra Arch of Triumph
Mon 2015-10-05
  Israel bars Palestinians from entering Old City after deadly attacks
Sun 2015-10-04
  Sar-e-Pul's Kohistanat District Falls to Taliban
Sat 2015-10-03
  Yemeni loyalists control all of key strait
Fri 2015-10-02
  Taliban militants have reportedly captured Wardoj district of Badakhshan
Thu 2015-10-01
  Afghan forces retake northern city of Kunduz from Taliban militants
Wed 2015-09-30
  U.S. military carries out airstrikes on Kunduz after Taliban attack
Tue 2015-09-29
  Kunduz Falls To The Taliban
Mon 2015-09-28
  85 Pakistani IS turbans killed in Nangarhar province of Afghanistan
Sun 2015-09-27
  Iraqi security reports slow advance into Ramadi


Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
18.118.144.69
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Background (29)    Non-WoT (5)    Opinion (6)    (0)    Politix (4)