BOMB BLAST TARGETS JOURNALIST GATHERING AT SHIA CENTER IN MAZAR-I-SHARIF – A bomb was detonated at a press awards ceremony being held at the Tabian Farhang Center in Mazar-i-Sharif just before noon on Saturday. 1 man was killed (thought to be a security guard) and 8 other non-combatants were wounded (including children). Taliban authorities had little to say about the blast but said an investigation had been initiated. The incident brought immediate condemnation from Iran and journalism NGOs as well as UNAMA.
GOVERNOR OF KANDAHAR ARRIVES IN BALKH TO SERVE AS INTERIM LEADER – Mohammad Yousaf Wafa was ordered to Balkh Province after the assassination of the previous Governor "Next!"
Wafa is considered an extremely close ally of the Supreme Leader and is reputedly carrying a brief that provides him with unilateral control to quell the Resistance in the Province and to eradicate ISIS-K. He was met by an immediate challenge in Mazar-i-Sharif when a bomb detonated at a Shia Center that was hosting an event for journalists.
TALIBAN REJECT NOTION THAT OVER 20 ARMED GROUPS ARE OPERATING IN AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban roundly rejected a recent UN report that claimed 23 armed groups are operating in Afghanistan. They suggested the UN had fallen for several online propaganda campaigns led by anti-Taliban groups to give the appearance of significant opposition to their rule. At the same time, they accepted elements of the report which praised their counter-terrorism and drug enforcement efforts. A survey of the many groups who have announced their existence on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites tends to support the Taliban’s position. Of the many groups, TAD has only been able to confirm that three main Resistance Groups have engaged the Taliban consistently and appear to be organized:
National Resistance Front
Afghanistan Freedom Front
Afghanistan Liberation Movement
Of the terror groups named in the report, only ISIS-K has repeatedly launched operations against the regime. The others (TTP, ETIM, etc.) are presumed to have an external focus and may actually enjoy protection from the Taliban.
CONFLICT TRACKER Balkh: An unidentified group bombed a Shia CommunityCenter supportd by Iran in Mazar-i-Sharif on Saturday around noon local time, The center was hosting an awards ceremony for journalists when the blast occurred. 1 security guard was killed and 8 non-combatants were wounded.
NEXT 24 HOURS
TALIBAN WILL REMAIN ACTIVE IN BALKH PROVINCE – After yesterday’s bombing of the Tabian Farhang center, Taliban security forces and police have been ordered to step up their activities and find those responsible. Taliban forces in Mazar-i-Sharif had already increased vigilance and security measures at government facilities after the assassination of the District Governor. Systematic searches of neighborhoods had barely begun when the second blast occurred. A source said that a former ANA soldier and his two brothers had been arrested in connection with one of the bombings but no additional information was available. At-risk Afghans in Mazar-i-Sharif should expect heightened patrolling, pedestrian/vehicle searches, and searches of homes/offices for the foreseeable future. Security personnel manning checkpoints and guarding government facilities will likely be nervous and on edge which could easily escalate into violence if they sense a threat (real or imagined). ISIS-K has often launched operations in a series of threes so, if they were behind both bombings, a third event could be planned. If possible, avoid spending much time outside, and definitely do not linger in areas where groups congregate.
Fog of war. Hopefully better numbers will be revealed lated.
[GEO.TV] A kaboom in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif on Saturday killed a security guard and maimed a group of journalists, as well as several children, police and a witness said.
The blast came two days after a jacket wallah killed the Taliban ...Arabic for students... governor of the northern Balkh province in an attack claimed by ISIS.
The attack on Mohammad Dawood Muzammil in the Balkh historic provincial capital Mazar-e-Sharif on Thursday marked the killing of one of the highest-ranking officials since the Taliban stormed back to power in 2021.
Saturday's blast took place during an event honouring Afghanistan's media at a cultural centre in Mazar-e-Sharif. Police said a security guard was killed and that five journalists were among the maimed.
"I heard a big bang... then there was chaos as everyone was trying to find a way to escape," Afghan journalist Atif Arian, who was maimed in the blast, told AFP.
"Some journalists are seriously maimed."
Balkh police front man Mohammad Asif Waziri said three children were also among the maimed.
Arian said the earth-shattering kaboom happened when a group of children were singing an anthem, minutes after a Taliban official had delivered a speech.
Afghan journalists were regularly targeted before the Taliban reclaimed power, with several attacks claimed by ISIS.
"Targeting journalists during an event to honour news hounds is a despicable and cowardly act," said Beh Lih Yi, Asia programme director at the Committee to Protect Journalists.
"The Taliban must investigate quickly, bring the perpetrators to justice, and end impunity for those who target journalists."
No group has so far claimed the attack.
Violence across Afghanistan has fallen since the Taliban seized control but security has tanked again, with the ISIS claiming several deadly attacks.
Muzammil, the Balkh governor, was killed by a suicide bomber minutes after he arrived at his office in Mazar-e-Sharif.
The group has emerged as the biggest security challenge to the Taliban government since last year, carrying out attacks against Afghan civilians as well as foreigners and foreign interests.
At least one person was killed and eight others were maimed in a blast on Saturday that occurred at the Tabyan Cultural Center in Mazar-e-Sharif, Balkh province.
Five journalists and three children were among the maimed.
The explosion occurred in Tabyan Cultural Center, where journalists were supposed to be honored in a meeting.
A TOLOnews news hound in Mazar-e-Sharif said that a number of news hounds, religious holy mans, and local officials participated in the conference.
"This morning, around 11:00am in PD 2 of Mazar-e-Sharif at the Tabyan Cultural Center, which belongs to Shia brothers,
Shia? Probably an ISIS-K project, then. They like killing them some Shiites...
a blast happened. Unfortunately, five journalists and three children were maimed. The condition of the maimed is satisfactory," said Mohammad Asif Waziri, a front man for the Balkh security department.
Afghan News Agency (AVA) belongs to the Tebyan centre.
According to the cultural centre connected to Iran’s Islamic government, "three people were killed and 30 others, including a significant number of journalists, were maimed in this incident."
[ShabelleMedia] ] Gunmen attacked a police outpost in northern Mogadishu, Somali capital early on Saturday morning, witnesses and police have confirmed.
The attack took place in Suqa-Holaha village within Heliwa district and there were reports of a shootout ensued between suspected al-Shabaab ...... the personification of Somali state failure... fighters and Somali police soldiers.
Before the clash, the assailants tossed a grenade at the base, which houses dozens of security forces who are stationed there to protect the area from al-Shabaab.
"We woke up to a heavy fighting in Baar Jowhar area between attackers and police. The confrontation took at least 40 minutes," said a resident, speaking to Radio Shabelle.
The details of the casualty figures still remains unclear as the security agencies did not release any statement regarding the attack, which comes in the midst of high alert.
Increased security measures almost prompted transport and business disruptions in the affected area for hours, according to the eyewitnesses, who declined to be named.
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] The pro-Saudi factions, or the so-called "Dera al-Watan" forces, deployed on Saturday in the vicinity of Aden airport and parts of the Khor Makasar area in Aden province, southern Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... Eyewitnesses confirmed that this move coincided with the deployment of dozens of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) militia elements in the neighborhoods surrounding al-Nasr camp in Khor Maksar and several streets of Aden city, which is under the control of the Saudi-led coalition.
This comes before the expected return to the city in the coming hours of Rashad al-Alimi, president of the Riyadh-formed "Presidential Council," and Moeen Abdulmalik, head of the pro-coalition government.
Local sources pointed out that the pro-Saudi factions tightened the screws on the movements of the STC elements in Khor Maksar and cordoned off the surrounding areas for their presence.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/12/2023 00:00 ||
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Indian Army recovered a consignment of arms, narcotics as well as an bomb from a forward location on Line of Control in Nowshera sector in Rajouri district.
As per official sources, Indian Army battalion deployed on the LoC in Lam recovered this consignment during an operation.
The recovered material include pistols, heroin like substance and bomb and operation in the area is still going on.
The sources said that no arrests have yet been made in the matter but this is believed to be an attempt of cross LoC smuggling.
SSP Rajouri Mohammad Aslam said that exact details of recovery will only be shared once the recovered material is handed over to police.
"Army has made this recovery and has informed us. We will share exact details once the recovery is handed over to us." he said.
[Dawn] A bomb struck the convoy of Sardar Khan Rind — a former district nazim ...small time big shot, the chief elected official of a local government in Pakistan, such as a district, tehsil, union council, or village council... and the son of a PTI provincial politician — in the Sunni Shoran area of Kachhi district, killing two of his private bodyguards and critically wounding a third, officials said on Saturday.
Mr Rind escaped unhurt in the blast, which according to officials was carried out using a remote-controlled improvised explosive device. No one has immediately grabbed credit for the attack.
Dhadar Assistant Commissioner Fahad Shah Rashdi confirmed that the convoy was targeted in the Sunni Shoran area.
"Two bodyguards were killed and one was injured in the IED blast while Sardar Khan Rind was unharmed in the blast," he said, adding that the dead and the injured were moved to District Headquarters Hospital Dhadar.
Sardar Khan Rind is the son of the Rind tribe chief and PTI politician from Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind, who is also a former federal minister.
Dhadar Station House Officer Shaukat confirmed this account, Dawn.com reported.
The PTI MPA corroborated the police officer’s statement, saying: "There has been a blast [targeting] my elder son Sardar Khan Rind’s convoy. He is safe, although others in convoy have been martyred and injured," he said, according to Dawn.com.
Levies officials said Mr Khan was on his way to Quetta from his native town Sunni Shoran in convoy. When he reached near the Noshman area, a powerful blast took place at the convoy, killing two security guards on the spot and injuring one other.
Officials of Levies and other security forces rushed to the site soon after receiving information about the blast.
Security forces have also launched a search operation in the area to trace the elements involved in detonating the IED with remote control. No one has grabbed credit for the blast.
[GEO.TV] Two security guards of the son of Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... MPA Assembly Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind were killed, while one other sustained injuries on Saturday in an improvised bomb (IED) attack that occurred in the Noshman area of Balochistan, the district administration confirmed.
The IED planted alongside the road detonated when the convoy of Rind, son of the said MPA was on its way to Dhadar, according to Assistant Commissioner Fahad Shah Rashdi.
As a result, two security guards were killed instantly, while one suffered critical injuries. Luckily, Mir Sardar Khan Rind remained unhurt. The injured guard was moved to Civil Hospital Dhadar.
Meanwhile, ...back at the mall, Clarissa spent the day shopping for new underwear. Tonight was going to be a special occasion... the personnel of the law enforcement agencies have cordoned off the area and started the search for the arrest of the culprits.
Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo condemned the attack on the convoy.
In a statement, the chief minister expressed his grief and sorrow over the death of two security guards in the act of terrorism.
"Thank God that Sardar Khan Rind remained safe in the earth-shattering kaboom," the chief minister said and directed the LEAs to use all resources to bring the elements involved in the earth-shattering kaboom to the task.
He said the terrorist elements wanted to create an atmosphere of fear and panic, vowing that law and order situation in the province would be maintained at any cost.
The chief minister extended condolences and sympathies to the families of the dear departed security guards.
With terrorism rearing its head once again in the country, the civil-military leadership has resolved to accelerate action against the perpetrators of terror attacks in the country.
During the last National Apex Committee, the country's top sought national consensus to root out militancy.
The recent attacks by Lions of Islam in the country's rural and urban centres, claiming the lives of innocent Paks and law enforcers, have triggered the security forces to speed up operations against the culprits.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/12/2023 00:00 ||
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Like crystal meth, big players and independents alike make the stuff, and the users are insatiable.
[Rudaw] Iraqi authorities on Saturday said they seized three million pills of captagon, an amphetamine-type stimulant that has been sweeping the Middle East for years, near the Syrian border. "These apples are very tiny...and pill-like!"
The pills had been hidden in apple crates "loaded onto a refrigerator truck" and discovered at the al-Qaim crossing between Syria's Deir Ezzor province and western Iraq's Anbar desert region, the Iraqi border authority said.
The truck driver had been arrested, the agency added in a statement.
A border authority official told AFP on condition of anonymity that the shipment from Syria into Iraq contained captagon pills produced by several manufacturers.
Iraqi security forces have intensified narcotics operations in recent months, with several high-profile drug seizures reported.
Sharing borders with Syria, Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Fifteen of the nineteen WTC hijackers were Saudis, and most major jihadi commanders were Saudis, to include Osama bin Laden. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman quietly folded that tent in 2016, doing terrible things to the guys running it, and has since been dragging the kingdom into the current century... , Iran, Kuwait and other countries, Iraq has served as a major conduit for traffickers of captagon, which is primarily produced in Syria and has its largest market in Gulf Arab states.
The sale and use of drugs in Iraq has soared in recent years.
In June, Iraqi security forces said they had forced down a microlight aircraft near the Kuwaiti border headed to the emirate from Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites.... with one million captagon pills.
Weeks earlier, Iraqi police announced they had seized more than six million pills of the stimulant in a major drug bust.
Areas in central and southern Iraq bordering Iran have become major narcotic trafficking routes for drugs, including crystal methamphetamine.
The interior ministry's anti-drug unit in December 2021 named the neighbouring provinces of Basra and Maysan as the "leading southern provinces in terms of trafficking and consumption".
[IsraelTimes] Another Paleostinian assailant turns himself in and is taken for questioning following incident near Jit, west of Nablus
Israeli soldiers came under fire early Sunday morning in the northern West Bank, responding with gunshots that reportedly killed three assailants.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that the shots had been fired toward a military post near Jit, west of Nablus.
A force from the Golani Brigade returned fire, "neutralizing" three of the Paleostinian assailants, the IDF said. Several Hebrew media reports said the three were killed.
Another assailant turned himself in and was arrested and taken for questioning, the military said, adding that there were no casualties among the Israeli troops.
The forces seized three M-16 rifles, a pistol and magazines that had been in the attackers’ possession.
[IsraelTimes] Organizers claim half a million attend weekly protests, plan ’day of escalating resistance’ on Thursday; coalition scheduled to drive contentious bills through Knesset committee
Organized by the anti-democracy Movement for Quality Government, Antifa’s branch in Israel for driving Bibi Netanyahu and his supporters out of politics. It was previously known as V15 (for Victory 15, the last election Bibi won against the will of a Democratic president), both names being fig leaves for its true identity as the Israeli branch of the Washington, DC-based OneVoice Movement founded by Progressive multi-billionaire Daniel Lubetzky in 2002 as an international “grassroots” front of his PeaceWorks Foundation to drive Israel to fulfill his vision for the region without bothering to become a citizen. The US State Department gave V15 millions of dollars under President Obama, and more in recent years.
More than 300,000 Israelis rallied Saturday night across the country in the tenth consecutive week of demonstrations against the government’s efforts to radically overhaul the judicial system. Organizers claimed around half a million turned out for the protests nationwide. Media estimated there were at least 200,000 in Tel Aviv alone.
Interesting that the Times if Israel journalist does not offer estimates from government specialists, often enough as much as an order of magnitude less than the maximalist assumptions of enthusiasts.
The protests were held as the coalition readies to charge full steam ahead from Sunday with its highly contentious remaking of the judiciary, thus far rejecting pleas, including from the president, to scrap its current legislation and instead patiently negotiate a more widely accepted compromise.
Organizers said they would further ramp up their response if the government doesn’t shelve the overhaul legislation, with a planned "day of escalating resistance" declared for Thursday.
Continued on Page 49
[IsraelTimes] Forces detain four others who allegedly aided in Thursday night’s attack in Beitar Illit; five more wanted Paleostinians nabbed in Qalqilya.
Israeli forces on Friday night detained a Paleostinian man suspected of planting a makeshift bomb on a bus in a West Bank settlement a night earlier, the military said.
In a joint statement with the Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police, the Israel Defense Forces said the suspect, along with four others who allegedly aided him in the attempted bombing attack, were arrested in the West Bank town of Battir.
On Thursday night, troops searched the settlement of Beitar Illit after the improvised bomb was found on the bus. Surveillance camera footage from the bus showed a person leaving the vehicle, before smoke was seen rising from one of the seats, apparently after the device malfunctioned. Police sappers safely neutralized the IED. Nobody was hurt in the incident.
The IDF said they were given "accurate intelligence information" from the Shin Bet about the suspect’s whereabouts.
Along with the other four suspects, troops also seized a vehicle suspected to have been used by the suspects in the attack, the IDF added. The five were handed over to the Shin Bet for further questioning.
From Thursday night till early Friday morning, a "terrorist infiltration" alert sounded in the settlement after the suspected improvised bomb was discovered. Residents were ordered by the military’s Home Front Command to remain in their homes and lock their doors and windows until further notice. The restrictions were lifted at 7 a.m. on Friday, after the military believed the suspect was no longer in the settlement.
In a separate arrest raid overnight, the IDF said troops detained five wanted Paleostinians in the West Bank city of Qalqilya.
[NPASYRIA] A person was killed and five others were injured on Saturday in shelling by Syrian government forces of the eastern countryside of the city of Atarib, west of Aleppo, north Syria.
Local sources told North Press, “The shelling hit two houses on the outskirts of the city of Atarib in Aleppo western countryside, killing young man Mustafa al-Taleb and wounding five others, including a woman and a child.”
He added that the houses’ residents come from the town of Termanin, nearly 45km north of Idlib, but that they fled from their town and settled in the eastern countryside of Atarib after their homes there took immense damage during the war.
The source said that the city and its surroundings are repeatedly subjected to shelling by government forces, which are stationed 2km from the city, which pushes Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) respond and shell the government positions from the city.
The city of Atarib repeatedly witnesses mutual shelling between government forces on one hand and HTS or Turkish-backed opposition factions on the other, amid difficult living conditions, especially after the devastating earthquake that hit the region on February 6.
[NPASyria] On Saturday, local sources told North Press that unknown people contacted relatives of Wissam Samih Dekhlallah after he was kidnapped on March 9 and demanded a ransom for his release.
"The gang," as the sources called them, sent footage, showing marks of torture on the body of Dekhlallah and demanded a ransom of 25.000 USD in turn to release him.
Kidnapping in turn for ransoms has increased in Daraa amid the unstable security witnessed in the region since government forces took control and a settlement agreement was put into force in the summer of 2018.
In July 2018, the opposition armed faction and the government forces reached a ceasefire agreement mediated by Russia in the opposition-held areas in Daraa. Under the deal, the opposition armed factions agreed to hand over their heavy weapons in exchange for staying in Daraa, and those oppose the agreement would go to Idlib, which is under the control of the HTS.
The sources said that Dekhlallah holds the position of head of the Consumer Protection Division in Daraa’s Ration Directorate.
He was kidnapped while heading to his town Tasil in the western countryside of Daraa to spend the weekend with his family, the sources added.
Dekhlallah has lived in the Daraa city center for years.
No information has been obtained on whether his relatives managed to secure the required amount of money or if the security branches of the government forces has conducted any search operation so far.
Locals in Daraa told North Press that the security apparatuses affiliated with the government forces are responsible for the kidnappings.
They added that the government apparatuses have failed to pursue kidnapping gangs which are now known in every region and are constantly moving through the government military checkpoints.
Locals wonder how it is not possible to detect the location of the gangs through pursuing their phones while they always monitor activist muppets who oppose the government all the time.
The Governorate of Daraa witnesses increasing security unrest. Last week, 15 killing cases were recorded in different areas of the governorate, and festivities took place between members of the Russian-backed Eighth Brigade and a group accused of dealing with drugs.
[NPASyria] Unidentified button men shot and killed on Saturday a leader of an gang affiliated with the Syrian government forces in the northern countryside of Daraa, southern Syria.
A local source told North Press, "Yahya Abu Halawa, a leader of a group affiliated with the government’s Military Security Branch, was killed after being shot by unknown button men in the town of Ibtaa, north of Daraa."
He added, "Abu Halawa had a close relationship with Brigadier General Louay al-Ali, head of the Military Security Branch in Daraa Governorate, and he used to visit his office frequently."
"Abu Halawa hails from the town of al-Sheikh Maskin in northern Daraa, and joined the ranks of the Military Security Branch after the government forces captured Daraa Governorate in 2018," the source said.
On Friday, unidentified button men shot and killed a soldier of the government forces in the western countryside of Daraa.
Daraa and its countryside are witnessing a spike in insecurity, which increased during the past week, as 15 deaths were recorded in separate areas of the city and its countryside, most of whom were killed in festivities in the eastern countryside of Daraa.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/12/2023 00:06 ||
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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.
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.
...Arabic for 
...... the personification of Somali state failure...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites....
[IsraelTimes] Forces detain four others who allegedly aided in Thursday night’s attack in Beitar Illit; five more wanted Paleostinians nabbed in Qalqilya.
