Hi there, !
Today Thu 12/19/2019 Wed 12/18/2019 Tue 12/17/2019 Mon 12/16/2019 Sun 12/15/2019 Sat 12/14/2019 Fri 12/13/2019 Archives
Rantburg
532909 articles and 1859642 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 67 articles and 229 comments as of 19:13.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Iran claims the whole Persian Gulf. Both sides!
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
16 16:40 CrazyFool [12] 
0 [] 
2 04:29 lord garth [10] 
0 [] 
0 [7] 
0 [6] 
2 07:35 Lex [4] 
0 [3] 
0 [7] 
0 [4] 
0 [5] 
0 [1] 
0 [1] 
0 [2] 
0 [5] 
Page 2: WoT Background
1 08:17 b [8]
0 [8]
4 12:58 g(r)omgoru [12]
1 08:24 b [7]
0 [5]
0 [1]
0 [6]
1 04:04 g(r)omgoru [5]
2 08:52 Lex [6]
0 [3]
1 01:44 g(r)omgoru [6]
0 [6]
0 [8]
2 07:50 Mercutio [6]
6 10:04 M. Murcek [2]
3 07:51 Lex [5]
8 17:37 SteveS [2]
1 07:17 Procopius2k [8]
Page 3: Non-WoT
2 15:23 jpal [3]
0 [2]
7 15:17 Deacon Blues [5]
6 21:37 Anomalous Sources [3]
4 11:47 Frank G [5]
5 14:19 magpie [5]
4 17:52 SteveS [5]
0 [1]
3 07:14 Procopius2k [1]
2 15:39 g(r)omgoru [4]
0 [1]
0 [2]
0 [6]
0 [5]
8 16:46 SR-71 [2]
2 08:55 Procopius2k [1]
0 [6]
7 09:09 M. Murcek [3]
1 11:17 magpie [3]
10 17:57 charger [3]
Page 4: Opinion
0 [3]
9 11:06 magpie [4]
14 19:13 Frank G [5]
8 19:46 JohnQC [9]
8 21:50 Anomalous Sources [9]
5 12:34 Tom [2]
0 [6]
4 08:06 JohnQC [8]
Page 6: Politix
8 22:22 swksvolFF [2]
14 23:20 Tom-JerZee [2]
14 18:41 Matt [3]
2 09:08 JohnQC [9]
10 14:32 Frank G [4]
10 23:24 Tom-JerZee [3]
Afghanistan
Special Forces kill, detain 12 Taliban militants in Kabul and 3 other provinces
[KhaamaPress] The Afghan Special Forces
...established in 2007 with the intent of taking one conventional infantry kandak (battalion) from each of the regional ANA corps, giving them special training and equipment, and reorganizing based on the U.S. Army Rangers. Each battalion is assigned to one of the six regional corps. The commandos comprise 7% of the Afghan National Security Forces but conduct 70% to 80% of the fighting...
killed or detained 12 Talibs during the operations in Kabul and three provinces.

The military officials said Sunday the Special Forces killed 6 Talibs and destroyed a small cache of weapons during a raid in Tarin Kot district of Uruzgan province.

The officials further added that the Special Forces arrested 3 Talibs and destroyed a small cache of weapons during a separate raid in Mahmood Raqi of Kapisa province.

The Special Forces arrested 2 Talibs during a raid in Kabul city, the officials said, adding that the Special Forces destroyed a cache of weapons during a raid in Shindand district of Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
The officials also added that the Special Forces arrested a Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
bully boy during a separate raid in Ghorian district of Herat province.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/16/2019 00:12 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Airstrikes kill 18 Taliban militants in Ghor, Uruzgan and Kandahar provinces
[KhaamaPress] A series of Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s killed at least 18 Talibs in Ghor, Uruzan and Kandahar provinces, the informed military officials said Sunday.

The officials further added that the security forces conducted the airstrikes in the past 24 hours in the three provinces.

Elaborating further, the officials said an airstrike killed 12 faceless myrmidons in Dowlatyar district of Ghor province in the central parts of the country.

Another airstrike in Shaid-e Hasad district of Uruzgan killed 3 Talibs, the officials said, adding that a similar airstrike killed 3 more Talibs in Khakrez district of Kandahar.

The Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
group has not commented regarding the airstrikes so far.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa North
Morocco says arrests jihadist who planned 'suicide attack'
[AlAhram] Moroccan anti-terror police announced Sunday the arrest of an alleged jihadist who "planned a suicide kaboom".

The 41-year-old Death Eater tried to "build expertise in the use of arms", Morocco's central office for judicial investigations said in a statement.

He was imbued in the "ideological propaganda" of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group, it added.

"Electronic devices and documents... on the making of explosives" were seized, the office said.

Long spared jihadist violence, Morocco was last year hit by the gruesome murder of two Scandinavian tourists in the High Atlas mountains, committed in the name of IS.

The perpetrators were sentenced to death, a penalty not carried out in Morocco since 1993.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/16/2019 01:45 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Caribbean-Latin America
50 bodies found in Mexican mass grave
[DAWN] GUADALAJARA: The bodies of at least 50 people have been unearthed from a mass grave at a farm outside Mexico’s western city of Guadalajara, local authorities said.

The grim site was discovered just over three weeks ago in Jalisco ‐ a state hard-hit by violence linked to organised crime. The local prosecutor’s office said on Saturday 13 of the dead ‐ 12 men and a woman ‐ have been identified and the remains given to their families.

The process of identifying more of the victims and how they died would continue, it added.

A mass grave with 34 bodies was discovered in a suburb of Guadalajara on Sept 3, while another was found nearby in May with the remains of 30 people.

Nearly 2,500 murders were reported between January and November in Jalisco ‐ where the powerful Jalisco Nueva Generacion cartel is based ‐ state authorities have said.

More than 3,000 unmarked graves with at least 5,000 bodies have been found in Mexico since the government deployed the military to fight the country’s powerful narco mobs in 2006.

Posted by: Fred || 12/16/2019 00:26 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Narcos

#1  a state hard-hit by violence linked to organized crime

The cartel or the government? Yeah, I know, embrace the power of 'and'.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/16/2019 7:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Which areas of Mexico do the cartels not dominate?
Posted by: Lex || 12/16/2019 7:35 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Protester and civilian activist #Haqi_Ismail was assassinated by unknown men on a motorbike
[TWITTER]

Posted by: Fred || 12/16/2019 00:47 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Sweeping Peshmerga, Asayesh raid captures 10 ISIS suspects in Diyala
[Rudaw] Kurdish Peshmerga and Asayesh (security) forces launched a widespread raid in pursuit of Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) forces of Evil near the Iraq-Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan, the abbreviation IRGC is a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
border on Sunday and arrested ten suspects, according to Kurdish security force officials.

Multiple Peshmerga brigades and Garmiyan Asayesh forces were involved in the raid south of the town of Kolajo, Diyala province. Ten armed suspects who had disguised themselves as farmers were captured in the area, described as a prohibited militarized zone.

"The captured suspects were carrying arms," Peshmerga commander Sherko Hama Salih said. "Our operations will continue. ISIS [Islamic State] has switched to partisan [hit and run] tactics."

Increased ISIS activity forced the Peshmerga to change their tactics "from the defensive to offensive," Salih added.

"We will from now conduct operations in any place where there is information of ISIS conducting activities," he said. "We will uproot them."

Today's raid saw the identification of ten new locations to establish observation posts, he added.

According to Asayesh official, the aim of the operation was to clear 20 different locations in and around Kolajo of ISIS presence. Satellite images provided by the US-led counter-ISIS coalition were used to assist the operation, he added.

"We raided all the designated areas... The operation included all the dangerous places where ISIS forces of Evil were hiding," Captain Jasim Mohammed of Garmiyan’s Asayesh told Rudaw.

Over the past two months, Kolajo has witnessed several attacks by ISIS remnants and sleeper cells. The town, situated 188 kilometers southeast of Erbil between Kalar and Tuz Khurmatu, is currently under the control of the Peshmerga and Asayesh.

Today's operation comes after a spate of ISIS attacks in Diyala in recent weeks. An attack on Peshmerga forces in Kolajo on November 29 killed a commander and two other force members.

As a result of the resurgence, more Peshmerga have been deployed to the area, and the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs has already called on the international community to increase its military support.

ISIS seized vast areas of northern Iraq in the summer of 2014. At the height of its power between 2014 and 2016, ISIS controlled an area roughly the size of Great Britannia, spread across both Iraq and Syria. It was declared territorially defeated in Iraq in December 2017.

Two years later, international warnings of an ISIS resurgence continue to ring out.

The latest US Pentagon inspector general report covering July 1 to Oct 25 said ISIS has continued to cement and expand its command and control structure in Iraq, enabling the group to stage more attacks.

"ISIS in Iraq conducted both attacks of opportunity, such as improvised bombs and hit-and-run attacks, and attacks designed to intimidate or gain influence, such as liquidations, kidnappings, and sniper attacks," the report read, citing the Combined Joint Task Force‐OIR (CJTF-OIR) which leads the fight against the murderous Moslem group.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/16/2019 00:44 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Five people arrested over involvement in killing, hanging man in Baghdad
[THEBAGHDADPOST] Five people have been arrested over involvement in killing an Iraqi teenager among protesters in central Baghdad, Interior Ministry said.

Interior Ministry Spokesperson Khalid Mahna said police arrested five suspects involved in the incident, describing it as a "criminal act".

Earlier this week, videos went viral on social media showing the body of a teenager being hanged on a traffic light post at Wathba Square in Baghdad, allegedly after being killed by a group of people among protesters.

Reports said that the victim, was under effect of drugs,
...we haven’t heard anything about drugs before, though we have heard that the protesters were Eve teasing the girls of the lad’s household, and the police stood by while the mob hanged him...
when he shot up protesters and killed five people. Protesters later captured and killed him among the crowd.
Rudaw adds:
Gruesome images emerged on social media on Thursday of an individual named by his family as Haytham Ali Ismael being strung up from a set of traffic lights in Baghdad’s Wathba Square, where protesters have been camped out for several weeks.

It was alleged that Ismael had fired on protesters from a rooftop, killing at least five, before being grabbed by the mob.

Relatives of the slain teen insist he did not shoot at protesters.

"The thing is he went out, told them that they should leave because they have girls at home, that it is inappropriate [for them to continue camping in front of his house]," Ismael’s aunt told Rudaw.

"He told them that they are protesters, that they should be protesting in Tahrir Square, not near families," she added.
Posted by: Fred || 12/16/2019 00:17 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


ISIS terrorists attack Iraqi police convoy in Kirkuk
[THEBAGHDADPOST] The ISIS armed faceless myrmidons once again targeted the Iraqi federal police west of Kirkuk,
... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time...
killing at least two coppers.

According to a statement by Iraq’s War Media Cell, the attack took place early morning on Sunday near Riyadh subdistrict of Kirkuk province.

The police convoy was delivering food supplies to outposts in the region when it came under attack.

The remaining ISIS Lions of Islam in Kirkuk enjoy so-called security vacuum since the Iraqi government took control of the disputed Kurdish province in October 2017.
Iraq declared final victory over IS back in December 2017. The group, however, remains a serious threat to country’s stability with its frequent terrorist attacks on security forces and civilians.

Posted by: Fred || 12/16/2019 00:16 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Diyala provincial council prevents IMIS from opening offices in province
[THEBAGHDADPOST] Diyala provincial council has prevented the Iranian Militias in Iraq and Syria (IMIS) from opening new offices in the province, a high-level security source in the province operations command said.

The source underlined that IMIS was ordered to move its offices and warehouses outside the province.

Many international and local human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
organizations accused IMIS of committing sectarian genocide against Sunnis in Iraq, as the terror militias aim to make a demographic change in Iraq to carry out Iran' Mullah Shiite crescent plan.

IMIS is working to hasten Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan, the abbreviation IRGC is a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
plots to carry out demographic changes in the Sunni areas, exploiting the deteriorating security situation in the Iraqi cities where battles against ISIS were being conducted.
Posted by: Fred || 12/16/2019 00:14 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies


Baghdad International Airport announces the suspension of flights
[THEBAGHDADPOST] Baghdad International Airport administration announced on Sunday, that air navigation has stopped today.

"Due to the bad weather and lack of visibility due to thick fog, air traffic stopped for Sunday from the early morning hours, when the visibility range reaches zero, and the airspace will be opened as soon as the ranges of visibility are consistent with what was approved by international organizations is reached ," the airport administration said in a statement received by Shafaq News.

The statement called on "travelers to understand the matter in order to preserve their lives and properties, and will be announced later as soon as the airspace opens and air traffic returns to normal."
Posted by: Fred || 12/16/2019 00:11 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Iraqi Journalist Assassinated in Baghdad
[THEBAGHDADPOST] A well-known journalist was assassinated by unknown gunnies in capital Baghdad on Sunday.

Haqi Ismail Azawi, who was also known as a civil activist, was reportedly killed in the area of Shaabi in north of Baghdad, Iraqi media reports said.

A medical source said in a statement that his body was received by the forensic department for investigations.

Awazi was an active and well-known journalist covering news about the ongoing anti-government protests in Iraq.

Iraq has been rocked by mass demonstrations since early October. Several activists and journalists have been assassinated since the beginning of the protests.
Posted by: Fred || 12/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran claims the whole Persian Gulf. Both sides!
[Twitter]
Posted by: 3dc || 12/16/2019 08:05 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Silly Persians! I think they mean the Gulf of Rumsfeld.
Posted by: SteveS || 12/16/2019 8:13 Comments || Top||

#2  #Iran’s #IRGC navy commander claims the Persian Gulf belongs to Iran, and that Iran has the right to question any vessel that enters the Straits of #Hormuz

What could possibly go wrong with that notion?
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/16/2019 8:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Someone's ego and mouth is writing checks their body can't cash.
Posted by: DarthVader || 12/16/2019 8:43 Comments || Top||

#4  So why the careful fuss over which side of the gulf our drone was on when they shot it down?
Posted by: gorb || 12/16/2019 8:44 Comments || Top||

#5  OK, 'now youse can't leave.'
Posted by: Cesare || 12/16/2019 9:36 Comments || Top||

#6  Perhaps Israel would like to have Iran now that the Iranians have evidenced the desire to self-darwinate?

Posted by: Silentbrick || 12/16/2019 9:58 Comments || Top||

#7  Back in the Navy, we called it "Letting your alligator mouth override your candy @$$."
Love the Daffy pic. in my mind all the comments were in his voice.[HEH!]
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 12/16/2019 10:05 Comments || Top||

#8  "All your gulf are belong to us!"
Posted by: Frank G || 12/16/2019 10:29 Comments || Top||

#9  They can have the Arabian gulf sea floor (bot no claims on minerals beneath that or water above that).
Posted by: rjschwarz || 12/16/2019 10:31 Comments || Top||

#10  Sorry, admiral, but I bought the Persian Gulf from a reputable antiques dealer in the French Quarter several years ago for $25US. But you can have it if you want -- the liability insurance premiums are killing me.
Posted by: Matt || 12/16/2019 10:36 Comments || Top||

#11  Move Iran's territory back to 50 miles from the Persian gulf line and put their NEW border there.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/16/2019 10:55 Comments || Top||

#12  Jeez, he and Yip-yip must have the same policy advisor.
Posted by: Mercutio || 12/16/2019 11:01 Comments || Top||

#13  I thought the Navy expression was “ a battleship mouth but a tugboat ass”?
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 12/16/2019 12:02 Comments || Top||

#14  The sanctions are painful, but deterrence isn't working on them.

I wonder why.

Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 12/16/2019 14:32 Comments || Top||

#15  I tried to subtly comment, but couldn't figure out how to load the "Kiss my *ss" pic to comments.
Posted by: Mercutio || 12/16/2019 15:59 Comments || Top||

#16  Consider this, Obama would have given it to them for free. Clinton would have had their the Clinton Foundation sell it to them.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/16/2019 16:40 Comments || Top||


US deployed 14,000 troops to Middle East to address Iranian threats: Esper
[Rudaw] US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Friday that his country has deployed about 14,000 troops to the Middle East to confront Iran’s growing influence in the region.

"Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan, the abbreviation IRGC is a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
continue its malign influence and widespread destabilizing activities across the Middle East," Esper said during an onstage discussion at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, citing Iranian support to its proxies in 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...
, Leb and Iraq, and shutting down of dronezaps on shipments in the Strait of Hormuz.

"To address these threats, since May this year, nearly 14,000 US military personnel have been deployed to the region to further enhance deterrence and demonstrate our commitment to our allies and partners," he added.

Believing that Iran could be behind a series of attacks on its military bases in Iraq, several US officials told CNN last week that the US is increasingly concerned about new provocations against their troops in the region.

A number of defense sources told the news agency that may deploy 4,000-7,000 additional troops to the area.

Esper’s comments follow rocket attacks on a military base near Baghdad airport, which houses US troops, on Wednesday. The tenth of its kind since late October, the attack was blamed on the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), known as Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic.

Two days earlier, several members of the Iraqi counter-terrorism units, trained by the US, were maimed near the same airport in an overnight attack.

"We strongly condemn the Iranian proxy attack that maimed five Iraqi soldiers near the Baghdad Airport this week. To Iran’s leaders - the U.S. will respond decisively if Iran or its proxies harm U.S. personnel or our Iraqi partners," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted on Friday.

Kataib Hezbollah, which is part of Hashd al-Shaabi and is blacklisted by the US, was blamed by security sources for the attacks.

Iran provides military, financial and political support to a number of hard boy groups overseas including Hashd al-Shaabi in Iraq, Hezbollah in Leb, Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
s in Yemen, and various Paleostinian groups.

It's wide involvement in regional affairs is deemed to be a core component of Iranian defense strategy.

A report published by the US Defense Intelligence Agency last month described Tehran as leading an "Axis of Resistance®" against the West, made up of state and non-state Shiite and Alawite actors, and labelled Iran as "implacably opposed" to the US presence in the Middle East.

Aramco oil facilities in Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
were repeatedly attacked in September, with Iranian-linked Houthi rebels claiming responsibility for the offensive. Despite popular speculation, the United Nations
...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense...
said Tuesday that they were unable to verify that Iran was behind the attack.

Following the US withdrawal from northern Syria in early October, which attracted widespread condemnation, 3,000 troops were sent to Saudi Arabia as a "defense tactic" against Iran.

The US announced fresh sanctions on Iran on Wednesday, targeting an Iranian shipping network and three agents of an Iranian airline company.

"The Iranian regime uses its aviation and shipping industries to supply its regional terrorist and hard boy groups with weapons, directly contributing to the devastating humanitarian crises in Syria and Yemen," Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said in a statement.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/16/2019 01:23 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies

#1  Council on Foreign Relations. Gosh, if that's not an untrustworthy nest of globalist snakes. If they say we should do it, it's a pretty good indicator that it's a mistake. These are the people who cheerleaded Iraq and Afghanistan.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 12/16/2019 2:12 Comments || Top||

#2  the 14k may be an average deployment or it may be a peak or it may even be a bogus number including people who were rotated out as well as those rotated in

its a govt spokeperson
Posted by: lord garth || 12/16/2019 4:29 Comments || Top||


Supporters of #Hezbollah set fire to tents of #Lebanese demonstrators in #Beirut
[TWITTER]

Posted by: Fred || 12/16/2019 00:45 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Lebanese burn ruling parties’ offices after night of clashes
[THEBAGHDADPOST] Attackers in northern Leb set fire to the offices of two major political parties on Sunday, the state-run National News Agency said.

The assaults came just hours after the capital Beirut was rocked by the most violent government crackdown on protesters since nationwide demonstrations began two months ago. Lebanese security forces fired rubber bullets, tear gas and used water cannons throughout the night to disperse anti-government protesters from the city center ‐ the epicenter of the protest movement in Beirut ‐ and around parliament.

The overnight confrontations in Beirut left more than 130 people injured, according to the Red Thingy and the Lebanese Civil Defense.

In the northern Akkar district on Sunday, attackers broke the windows and torched the local office for resigned Prime Minister Saad Hariri
...Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too....
’s political party in the town of Kharibet al-Jindi.

In a separate attack in Akkar district, assailants stormed the local office of the largest party in parliament, affiliated with President Michel Aoun
...president of Leb, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah...
and headed by Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil. Their party said the contents of the office in Jedidat al-Juma town had also been smashed and burned.

Leb is facing one of its worst economic crises in decades, and the protesters accuse the ruling political class in place for three decades of mismanagement and corruption.

The violence comes a day before the president is due to hold talks with different parliamentary blocs to name a new prime minister on Monday.

Interior Minister Raya al-Hassan on Sunday ordered an investigation into the festivities which she said injured both protesters and security forces. She said she watched the confrontations "with concern, sadness and shock."

Al-Hassan blamed "infiltrators" for instigating the friction and called on the demonstrators to be wary of those who want to exploit their protests for political reasons. She didn’t elaborate.

Nationwide protests began on Oct. 17, and the government headed by Hariri resigned two weeks later.

Political parties have since been bickering over the shape and form of the new Cabinet. Protesters want a technocratic government, not affiliated with established political parties.

After weeks of back and forth, Hariri has emerged as the likely candidate for the job.

Posted by: Fred || 12/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:



Who's in the News
36[untagged]
5Govt of Iraq
4Govt of Iran
4Islamic State
3Taliban
3Hamas
3Sublime Porte
2Govt of Iran Proxies
2Commies
1Hezbollah
1Palestinian Authority
1Govt of Pakistan
1Narcos
1Moslem Colonists

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
Mon 2019-12-16
  Iran claims the whole Persian Gulf. Both sides!
Sun 2019-12-15
  Attempt to assassinate the son of the political spokesman of Muqtada al-Sadr
Sat 2019-12-14
  Haftar-led Libyan Army claims new advance near Tripoli
Fri 2019-12-13
  Triumphant Boris hails landslide win gives him ‘power to get Brexit done’
Thu 2019-12-12
  AMAL, Hizbullah Supporters Try to Storm Riad al-Solh, Repelled by Tear Gas
Wed 2019-12-11
  Iraqi protesters defiantly turn out in the capital Baghdad
Tue 2019-12-10
  Jersey City shooting - possibly 6 dead at JC Kosher grocery
Mon 2019-12-09
  Al-Shabaab Militants Kill 8 On Bus In Northern Kenya
Sun 2019-12-08
  At least 10 killed in Kenya bus attack claimed by al-Shabab
Sat 2019-12-07
  Baghdad operations commander orders the Iraqi army to move in Sinak and Khilani to protect the protesters
Fri 2019-12-06
  Naval Air Station Pensacola shooter who killed 3 was Saudi aviation student
Thu 2019-12-05
  Pelosi Asks House Judiciary Committee to Proceed with Articles of Impeachment
Wed 2019-12-04
  Anti-government protesters have set fire to the Iranian consulate in Najaf for the third time in a week
Tue 2019-12-03
  Burkina Faso: 14 people killed in gun attack at church during Sunday mass
Mon 2019-12-02
  40 to 100 Iranian protesters executed in a marsh.


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.
3.16.76.43
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Background (18)    Non-WoT (20)    Opinion (8)    (0)    Politix (6)