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Death toll from Beirut blast reaches 100 but is expected to rise even further
Today's Headlines
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Good morning
Ukrainian Oligarch Paid $700,000 To
The Husband Of A House Judiciary Committee Democrat
Wednesday August 5th, 2020

marion_davies_204
Jalalabad: district gov stopped 2nd attack, 270 prisoners on the lam
Syrian paper claims four killed by IDF Sunday were innocent civilians
Iran abducted California man while in Dubai, his family claims
Israel strikes Syria in response to attempted terrorist attack
Libyan tribes sue Haftar for civilian killings in city of Murzuq last year
Border Police arrest Palestinian with loaded pistol near Jenin
Democratic donor Ed Buck facing new
charges for prostitution, fatal drug overdose

Posted by: Fred || 08/05/2020 10:54 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Marion Davies posing with a Lying Dog-Faced Pony Soldier"
Posted by: Frank G || 08/05/2020 12:43 Comments || Top||

#2  I wonder which one William Randolph preferred more?
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 08/05/2020 13:55 Comments || Top||

#3  ^ The dog probably moved around more in bed.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/05/2020 15:01 Comments || Top||

#4  It always comes down to this.

Posted by: jpal || 08/05/2020 15:36 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Jalalabad: district gov stopped 2nd attack, 270 prisoners on the lam
[ToloNews] A district governor in 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..
, who has spent four years in Guantanamo Bay on charges of links with the Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
, led an operation against a group of four ISIS attackers who planned an assault on the city of Jalalabad and its airport as other members of the group stormed a jail in the eastern part of town, local officials said.
A good thing he was clever enough to be there to intervene, under the circumstances.
The officials said that simultaneously with the attack on Jalalabad prison, ISIS attackers were hiding at a residential building in Behsud district — four kilometers from Jalalabad city and its airport — to shell the city from there. The officials said 440 rounds of mortar shells were about to be used by ISIS fighters on Jalalabad city and airport from Behsud district. The mortar rounds were shown to media by local officials on Tuesday.

"The attack was very complicated. It was a chain attack and was part of the prison attack so that involved attacking Jalalabad and its airport," said Waisuddin, an army officer.

"I know about their activities," said Ghalib Mujahid, the district governor for Behsud district who led the operation. "For instance, if they go to Kunar or Achin..."

The attack on the prison was conducted by 11 ISIS fighters. It started with a boom-mobile explosion at around 7 pm Kabul time on Sunday and continued for almost 20 hours. The attack left 27 civilians and two security force members dead. At least 50 others were maimed, officials said.

According to the Defense Ministry, five prisoners were also killed. Local officials said the attackers destroyed a wall of the prison and tried to escape.

"ISIS and Taliban (member) and those who were accused of kidnapping--big crimes, some of them were sentenced to death and some of those who were sentenced to long-term jail have succeeded to escape," said Nasir Kamawal, member of Nangarhar Provincial Council.

"The government and the Taliban are focusing on talks. ISIS is showing its power," said Zabihullah Zmarai, a former member of Nangarhar Provincial Council.

ISIS on Tuesday posted a photo of 11 attackers and claimed that three of them were Indian nationals, four Tajikistan nationals, and that one Pak and three Afghans were involved in the attack.

Islamic State jihadists on the run after Afghan prison raid

[IsraelTimes] Afghan authorities are searching for about 270 inmates — most of them 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....
fighters — who remain on the loose after escaping during a deadly prison raid.

At least 29 people were killed when Islamic State button men attacked the facility in Jalalabad on Sunday, with fierce fighting lasting until yesterday afternoon.

More than 1,300 inmates tried to escape, a senior Afghan security official tells AFP on condition of anonymity, but most were either swiftly re-arrested or surrendered when surrounded by security forces.

But some 270 prisoners are "still on the loose", the official says. "Most of those who escaped are from ISKP," he says, referring to Islamic State’s Afghan branch, known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province.

Acting Interior Minister Massoud Andrabi said on Twitter that IS's new head in Afghanistan, Shahab Al-Mahajir, was a member of the Haqqani network, considered a Taliban offshoot.

Washington has branded the Haqqani network, accused of carrying out numerous deadly attacks in Afghanistan, a terrorist organisation.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/05/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Africa North
Massive fire breaks out at Misrata Airport
[ALMASDARNEWS] On Monday, a massive fire broke out at the Misrata International Airport, which is partially operated by the Ottoman Turkish Armed Forces in Libya.

Pictures taken of the site showed the height of the flames in the departure hall of the airport.

According to Libyan sites, firefighters managed to extinguish the fire, which was seen from a distance, according to what activists documented.

The Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
-based Government of National Accord (GNA) did not issue any comment about the fire, and whether it unintentionally erupted or caused by external actors.

The Libyan National Army (LNA) has repeatedly accused the GNA of receiving Ottoman Turkish supplies at the Misrata Airport.

Posted by: Fred || 08/05/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Europe
BDS ‘Jew-hater’ convicted for violent assault in Germany
[Jpost] Conviction appears to be the first criminal penalty for violent mostly peaceful BDS activity

A Berlin court convicted on Monday a BDS activist for assaulting people during a presentation by an Israeli survivor of the Holocaust at the Humboldt University in the capital.

In a dramatic setback to the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign claim that it is a non-violent mostly peaceful initiative targeting the Jewish state, the Berlin court declared Stavit Sinai guilty for her violent mostly peaceful conduct.

The Berlin daily B.Z. titled its article about the BDS activists at the trial: "It is so shameful. Disgusting hatred of Jews in and in front of the Berlin courtroom."

Sinai’s conviction appears to be the first criminal penalty for violent mostly peaceful BDS activity in Germany.

The paper reported about the anti-Israel bad boy: "Lecturer Stavit S. is guilty. She hit the door of the hall ’wildly’ from the outside, injuring two people... Either she pays €450, or sits in prison for 30 days." The Jerusalem Post reported in 2017 that three BDS acitivst — Ronnie Barkan, Majed Abusalama and Stavit Sinai — stormed the Humboldt University in Berlin in order to disrupt a talk titled "Life in Israel — Terror, Bias and the Chances for Peace" by Yesh Atid MK Aliza Lavie and an Israeli survivor of the Holocaust, the now 85-year-old Deborah Weinstein.

The court dismissed the criminal trespass charges against Barkan, Abusalama and Sinai. Abusalama said he is a Paleostinian journalist from Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
. He lives in the United Kingdom.

The B.Z. journalist, Anne Losensky, wrote the trial was about "trespassing and assault," adding that "All three seem to enjoy the trial so they can use it at as propaganda against Israel."

Losensky wrote that "They wear masks made of the Paleostinian scarf [keffiyeh] — a symbol of the annihilation struggle against Israel." She continued that they showed "raised fists — as if the criminal court were a tribunal against Israel."

According to the B.Z., Sinai declared "I regret nothing." Her lawyer said Israel’s policy is "apartheid.
"
Berlin’s domestic intelligence agency, which documents threats to the democratic order of the city-state, deemed the conduct of the BDS activists to be antisemitic in its 2018 report. Last year, the Bundestag declared BDS to be an antisemitic movement.

The B.Z. reported that Barkan is a 43-year-old Slovak with an Israeli passport and Sinai as a 35-year-old Romanian with an Israeli passport. Barkan has previously disrupted a Holocaust film festival in Berlin.
BDS activists also protested outside of the court house.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/05/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Fifth Column
Antifa rioters back at it in Portland
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]



Posted by: Fred || 08/05/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Antifa/BLM

#1  OK, it has not been peaceful 50++ days.
Local government by either inaction and/or direct involvement has shown it has no wish to protect it citizens. This a City Gov. in Open Rebellion.

This solely politically based riot threatens the lives and private property of all citizens. The city has had time to wait it out and that failed over a month ago. Plus come elected officials even joined the rioters/looters in some cases.

Federalize the National Guard of a neighboring state using the Obama era developed Civilian control process. Bring them in on buses, deploy and surround the Rioting Thugs, arrest for rebellion. Then Federally detain them outside the city in a temporary tent camp.
Posted by: NN2N || 08/05/2020 8:14 Comments || Top||

#2  just shoot em
Posted by: 746 || 08/05/2020 10:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Instead of tear gas use skunk scent and make it super unpleasant for them to be there. Bonus is it won't show up on cameras. Just spray them with a super soaker and enjoy the fun.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 08/05/2020 10:30 Comments || Top||

#4  I've always liked the idea of tent camps as a cheap solution to the problem of where to keep large numbers of miscreants.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 08/05/2020 10:57 Comments || Top||

#5  Let em sleep under the stars
Posted by: Frank G || 08/05/2020 11:04 Comments || Top||

#6  Instead of tear gas use skunk scent and make it super unpleasant for them to be there. Bonus is it won't show up on cameras. Just spray them with a super soaker and enjoy the fun.

And offer a $100 reward for anyone who can report a neighbor who comes home smelling like a skunk.
Posted by: gorb || 08/05/2020 12:09 Comments || Top||

#7  Let em sleep under the stars

I don't care as long as the camp is surrounded by copious amounts of concertina wire and the guards are well armed.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 08/05/2020 18:38 Comments || Top||

#8  Gorb, the skunk scent would certainly make it complicated when they lied to their parents about what they were doing all night.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 08/05/2020 23:09 Comments || Top||

#9  Yes, I guess it would. And being kicked out of their parents' basement would give them something to do, too.
Posted by: gorb || 08/05/2020 23:30 Comments || Top||

#10  New looking picnic benches; not even the normal graffiti/carving.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 08/05/2020 23:38 Comments || Top||


Portland catch and release
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 08/05/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Antifa/BLM

#1  I would think it would complicate matters when you eventually go to trial to have a list of post-parole crimes. If they have a trial after the useful idiots currently in charge of Portland have been tossed some of these folks might seriously get time.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 08/05/2020 10:32 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Aircraft bomb near village north of Sulaimani, setting farmland ablaze
[Rudaw] Aircraft bombed a village in Sulaimani province on Tuesday, burning through a large swathe of farmland, a local official has said.

The bombing struck close to the Sharbazher district village of Galala, approximately 50 kilometers north of Sulaimani city center, at around 11:00 am, Mawat area mayor Kamaran Hassan told Rudaw.

Hassan said he suspected the strikes were carried out by The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
, who have previously bombed the area "a dozen times".

The strikes did not cause any casualties, but "scorched a large swathe of farmlands and pastures," Hassan said.

The fires caused by the strike have not yet been put out, he added.

Turkey launched ongoing air offensive Operation Claw-Eagle on June 15, with the stated aim of removing bases belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) from Kurdistan Region-Turkey border areas. Operations have mainly, though not exclusively, focused on areas in Duhok province’s Zakho district, where villagers living in its mountains have borne the brunt of the bombing.

Seven civilians have been killed since Claw-Eagle began, and many villages have been abandoned by residents fearful of Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/05/2020 01:56 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Rocket lands in Baghdad's Green Zone
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 08/05/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Border Police arrest Palestinian with loaded pistol near Jenin
[Jpost] Border Police arrested a Paleostinian with a loaded pistol in the glove compartment of his car near the West Bank city of Jenin on Monday night.

The car was stopped by police after the suspect raised their suspicion. Border Police found a loaded FN pistol wrapped in paper in the glove compartment of the car.

The suspect, a resident of Jenin in his 30's, was transferred for questioning by Israel Police.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/05/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Death toll from Beirut blast reaches 100 but is expected to rise even further
See the overnight roundup on the subject here.
[NYPOST] Lebanese rescue workers dug through rubble looking for survivors of a powerful warehouse explosion that shook the capital Beirut, killing 100 people and injuring nearly 4,000 in a toll that officials expected to rise.Tuesday’s blast at port warehouses storing highly kaboom was the most powerful in years in Beirut, already reeling from an economic crisis and a surge in coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
infections.

President Michel Aoun
...president of Leb, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah...
said that 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, used in fertilizers and bombs, had been stored for six years at the port without safety measures, and he said that was "unacceptable."

He called for an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Officials did not say what caused the blaze that set off the blast. A security source and media said it was started by welding work being carried out on a hole in the warehouse.

"It’s like a war zone. I’m speechless," Beirut’s mayor, Jamal Itani, told Rooters while inspecting damage on Wednesday that he estimated would cost billions of dollars.

"This is a catastrophe for Beirut and Leb
...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
The head of Lebanon’s Red Thingy, George Kettani, said at least 100 people had been killed.

"We are still sweeping the area. There could still be victims. I hope not," he said.

Kettani earlier told broadcaster LBCI that the Red Thingy was coordinating with the health ministry to set up morgues because hospitals were overwhelmed.

Hours after the blast, which went off shortly after 6 p.m. (1500 GMT), a fire blazed in the port district, casting an orange glow across the night sky as helicopters hovered and ambulance sirens sounded across the capital.

The blast was heard throughout Cyprus, which is about 100 miles (160 km) away.

It revived memories of a 1975-90 civil war and its aftermath, when Lebanese endured heavy shelling, boom-mobileings and Israeli air raids. Some residents thought an earthquake had struck.

Dazed, weeping and injured people walked through streets searching for relatives.

"The blast blew me meters away. I was in a daze and was all covered in blood. It brought back the vision of another explosion I witnessed against the U.S. embassy in 1983," said Huda Baroudi, a Beirut designer.

Prime Minister Hassan Diab promised there would be accountability for the blast at the "dangerous warehouse," adding "those responsible will pay the price."

The U.S. embassy in Beirut warned residents about reports of toxic gases released by the blast, urging people to stay indoors and wear masks.
Posted by: Fred || 08/05/2020 09:43 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  Add a 0 to that death toll and you might start getting close. That blast/shock wave was devastating
Posted by: Frank G || 08/05/2020 11:41 Comments || Top||

#2  I think you are right.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 08/05/2020 12:03 Comments || Top||

#3  long term planning or just an "accident"?
Posted by: 746 || 08/05/2020 16:31 Comments || Top||


Fire breaks out at Iranian industrial area, no casualties
Were there any spy squirrels observed in the area at the time in question?
"Bring out the Arson Squirrels!"
[Jpost] A fire broke out at an Iranian industrial area near Tehran on Tuesday, Iran's state TV reported, the latest in a string of fires and explosions, some of which have hit sensitive sites.

"The fire broke out at the industrial area of the Jajrud district in the Pardis county this morning... there were no casualties... firefighters are trying to contain the fire," it said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/05/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Firefighters tackled a huge fire in Jajrud Industrial Zone. The site is located 17 miles northeast of Teheran, Iran.
Posted by: b || 08/05/2020 9:26 Comments || Top||

#2  It’s a huge fire? How exciting for them. Thank you for the update, b.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/05/2020 17:36 Comments || Top||


Day 2, Beirut Port explosion roundup: Lebanese health ministry revises death toll in Beirut blast to 73, says at least 3,700 others injured
Day 1 events can be seen here. This morning’s update can be seen here.
Secretary General of Kataeb Party killed in Beirut Port explosion
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Secretary General of the Kataeb Party, Nizar Najarian, was reported dead after suffering a severe injury at the party’s headquarters during the massive blast at the Port of Beirut on Tuesday.

According to LBCI, the party’s secretary general died as a result of a severe head injury at the party’s headquarters, Beit al-Wassit (Central House), in Beirut.

Several politicians have mourned his death, including the President of the Kataeb Party of Leb
...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
, Samy Gemayel.

The Lebanese Health Ministry has reported that as many as ten people have been killed as a result of the earth-shattering kaboom at the Port of Beirut.

Civil defense units are now combing through several areas around the earth-shattering kaboom’s epicenter to help civilians and put out fires.

Those responsible for Beirut 'catastrophe' will 'pay price': PM
[Al Ahram] Lebanon's prime minister vowed Tuesday that those responsible for two massive blasts in Beirut's port, which killed at least 50 people and injured thousands, would be held to account.

"What happened today will not pass without accountability. Those responsible for this catastrophe will pay the price," Hassan Diab said in a televised address.

Diab also appealed for international assistance to help Lebanon, which is already mired in its worst economic crisis in decades.

"I am sending an urgent appeal to all countries that are friends and brothers and love Lebanon, to stand by its side and help us treat these deep wounds," the prime minister said.

A security bigshot said earlier that the earth-shattering kabooms that shook the entire capital could be due to "kabooms" confiscated and stored in a warehouse "for years".

Diab in his speech promised announcements about "this dangerous warehouse that has been in existence for six years, since 2014".

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]






Wheat in Beirut's port granaries not usable, Lebanon will import wheat
[Jpost] Lebanon's economy minister, Raoul Nehme, told local media on Tuesday that the wheat in Beirut's port granaries can not be used and that the ministry lost track of seven employees in the granaries. The minister also told local media that Lebanon will import wheat and added that the country currently has enough wheat until they begin importing it.
Another straw on the camel’s back on the way to national bankruptcy.
Posted by: Fred || 08/05/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  كنت فقط أدخن جمل!!!
Posted by: Vespasian Ebbereng3110 || 08/05/2020 0:30 Comments || Top||

#2  ربما لا يجب أن تدخن الإبل.
Posted by: gorb || 08/05/2020 1:47 Comments || Top||

#3  Lebanon's Hezbollah calls for national unity in face of catastrophe after blast

Which means it was their warehouse.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/05/2020 2:07 Comments || Top||

#4  Farm Report sez: hoo! That blowed up reeeeal good.
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 08/05/2020 2:43 Comments || Top||

#5  Red Cross: over 100 dead, 4,000 injured in Beirut blast
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/05/2020 3:18 Comments || Top||


#7  Seized munitions warehouse: "This stuff might come in handy later..."
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/05/2020 4:57 Comments || Top||

#8  4k of ammonium nitrate explosion would be about a 0.4 kiloton TNT explosion

which is a lot
Posted by: lord garth || 08/05/2020 7:02 Comments || Top||

#9  Not even close.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/05/2020 7:11 Comments || Top||

#10  News reports say there was 2750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored in that warehouse from a seized cargo in 2013. That's more than the main 1947 Texas City explosion but the explosion was less powerful since in the Texas City explosion, the cargo ship's hold acted like bomb case, magnifying the blast wave.
Posted by: Alistaire Oppressor of the Welsh6649 || 08/05/2020 7:23 Comments || Top||

#11  Poor Lebanon. It was the French Riviera and Amalfi Coast combined with better beaches and skiing and gambling thrown in for good measure. Beautiful place with beautiful architecture and beautiful girls everywhere and an otherwise warm population. Then they had a vermin infestation of paleo's and Hizbo. Gradually ground down into chaos and now this. Tragic.
Posted by: Cesare || 08/05/2020 8:02 Comments || Top||

#12  Daily Mail has photos of the giant water filled crater.
Posted by: Alistaire Oppressor of the Welsh6649 || 08/05/2020 8:25 Comments || Top||

#13  "Perhaps we can market Beirut Lagoon as a new tourist dive spot destination?"
Posted by: Frank G || 08/05/2020 9:30 Comments || Top||

#14  new estimates assuming there was some high explosives mixed in with the ammonium nitrate are close to 2.0 kilotons of TNT
Posted by: lord garth || 08/05/2020 10:24 Comments || Top||

#15  Hahahaha - Happy Birthday Obama. I dont believe in coincidence, follows I dont think it was a mistake that this happened on Zero's birthday. Somebody is poking fun at symbolism.

Netanyahu warned Hezbollah about their missile factories in residential Beirut neighborhoods. His 2018 UN Speech, he held up a Beirut city map with suspected missile sites and labeled right there in front of that apartment complex sitting next to the dock - dotted in red outline was one which happens to be ground zero for the explosion.

Fireworks factory (plausible deniability). Ammonia Nitrate (stuff that goes boom "might come in handy") warehouse. All proxy to a location that was ID'd in an Israeli geo-political white paper as a Hezbollah missile factory. Which was ground zero for a 4.5 Richter Scale Blast on Obama's birthday.

How's that for a string of random events.
Posted by: mossomo || 08/05/2020 12:13 Comments || Top||

#16  For energy yield of the blast, I found one site where the guy gives his full analysis and estimates 0.3 kiloton (same as my estimate earlier today) TNT equivalent.

I can't yet find a similar full analysis of the estimates that come out as 2 or more kilotons.

BTW, the bomb at Hiroshima was about 15 kilotons TNT equivalent.
Posted by: lord garth || 08/05/2020 13:06 Comments || Top||

#17  My cited Halifax Explosion was estimated at 2.9 kilotons killing 2000 if you bothered to click.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/05/2020 15:03 Comments || Top||

#18  I'm not disputing the estimate of the force of the 1917 Halifax Explosion.

I'm saying I can't find a fully described 2 or more Kiloton estimate of the 2020 Beirut explosion.
Posted by: lord garth || 08/05/2020 15:44 Comments || Top||

#19  Besides the ANO there was an ACTUAL 2 kt of TNT. Not an equivalent.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/05/2020 21:50 Comments || Top||


Foreign jihadists launch big attack in northern Latakia
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
The northern Latakia countryside witnessed a heavy battle on Monday after the foreigner-led Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP)
...formerly the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, this Uighur jihadi group is listed under Tehrik-e-Taliban in the Al Qaeda organization table. Now based in Badakshan, Afghanistan with a second branch in Al Nusra-controlled Idlib-Latakia with a rump group remaining in China. The Russians and Americans take turns killing off their Syrian emirs — they’re on their third Number 1 in three years, so he’s about due to kiss a missile...
attacked the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) positions in the Jabal Turkmen region.

According to a field report from the Latakia Governorate, the Turkestan Islamic Party began their attack on Monday by attempting to infiltrate the Syrian Arab Army’s positions near the mountaintop of Jabal Hassan al-Rai

The jihadist rebels attempted to utilize the dense forest and mountain terrain to overwhelm the Syrian Arab Army troops in the area.

However,
there's no worse danger than telling a mother her baby is ugly...
according to a source in Latakia, the Syrian Arab Army was able to repel the jihadist attack after a fierce battle with the foreigner-led group.

In response to this jihadist attack, the Syrian Arab Army unleashed a big assault on the key town of Kabbani,
...also known as Kbanah, it appears to be one of the few roads that you would need to cross the hilly terrain (logistics!) and try to pinch off another salient (only road and so forth) [thanks for the explanation, magpie!]...
which is currently under the control of the Turkestan Islamic Party.

Since the end of July, the Syrian Arab Army and their allies from the National Defense Forces and Elite Republican Guard have repeatedly targeted the strategic mountaintop town of Kabbani, which has become the Turkestan Islamic Party’s primary stronghold in the Jabal al-Akrad region.
Posted by: Fred || 08/05/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


Iran's military is 'more ready than ever' for war: Iranian MoD
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 08/05/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  "...Just ask the fake aircraft carrier!"

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 08/05/2020 7:44 Comments || Top||

#2  It's multi-use; 'aircraft' carrier, submarine and port blocker all in one!
Posted by: Raj || 08/05/2020 12:58 Comments || Top||

#3  ^ Heh
Posted by: Frank G || 08/05/2020 13:26 Comments || Top||

#4  And don't forget their F-5 knockoff that doubles as a towed drone.
Posted by: gorb || 08/05/2020 14:14 Comments || Top||

#5  With Mid-East food supplies catching fire and burning everywhere... I don't think they are ready.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/05/2020 21:53 Comments || Top||


Intensive airstrikes hit #Iranian positions near Syria-Iraq border, leaving casualties
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
The Jerusalem Post adds:
The Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s were intensive, with 15 militia members reportedly killed.


Iranian positions near Albukamal, a key border city in Syria that is near Iraq, were hit by "unidentified jets," according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). These areas are festooned with pro-Iranian militias who have entrenched themselves at a base called Imam Ali and spread like a carpet along the western bank of the Euphrates River.

They have a network of bases and smuggling routes, as well as houses they occupy all the way to Deir Ezzor and also inland toward bases known as T-4, T-3 and T-2. This area has been hit by airstrikes monthly for more than a year.

The recent attacks took place between five and nine in the morning, apparently on August 3, although the reports emerged on August 4. They targeted Iranian-backed forces at Imam Ali, an area named al-Sekka and also in the desert near Deir Ezzor. There were casualties and weapons were destroyed. "Military vehicles affiliated with the targeted forces transported the dead and injured," SOHR says.

The SOHR report was picked up at al-Ain, where the report also notes that "15 Iraqi militia members loyal to Iran" were killed. The airstrikes were intensive. al-Ain says that a major explosion also happened at al-Hizam al-Akhdar area near Albukamal, targeting an Iranian militia there.

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 the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
has some 20,000-30,000 affiliated militias in Syria but only around 800 actual Iranian operatives linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iran has signed a deal to support Syrian air defense, which could see it deploy the 3rd Khordad or Bavar systems. Tehran tried to move a 3rd Khordad to T-4 base in April 2018, but it was hit by an airstrike.

The Syrian regime blames Israel for airstrikes in Syria. Jerusalem has carried out more than 1,000 airstrikes on Iranian targets. Israel says it carried out other airstrikes in Syria on August 3 in retaliation for a thwarted IED planting effort by an unknown group in Syria near the Golan. "Jets, attack helicopters and aircraft struck military targets in southern Syrian belonging to the Syrian armed forces," the Israel Defense Forces said on Monday. al-Ain says that this is "noteworthy" in its reports about the strikes by unknown aircraft near Albukamal.

Hezbollah says one of its members was killed on July 20 in airstrikes in Syria and blamed Israel, leading to tensions. On June 24, wide-ranging airstrikes hit a number of locations in Syria, including "dish hill" near Suwayda and also points near Deir Ezzor. At least seven Iranians and Syrians were allegedly killed in those strikes; reports at the time indicated that Iran might respond.
Posted by: Fred || 08/05/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies


Israel strikes Syria in response to attempted terrorist attack
[Jpost] The targets hit in the strikes included lookout points, intelligence gathering mechanisms, anti-aircraft weapons and more.

The IDF carried out Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s against targets belonging to the Syrian military in southern Syria on Monday night, in response to an attempted terrorist attack that was thwarted along the Syrian border the night before.

IDF aircraft, including fighter jets and helicopters, carried out the strikes, according to the IDF.

The targets hit in the strikes included lookout points, intelligence gathering mechanisms, anti-aircraft weapons and means of control and command at Syrian military bases.
That sounds fairly comprehensive...
"The IDF sees the Syrian regime as responsible for all operations carried out in its territory and will continue to act with determination against all attacks on the illusory sovereignty of the State of Israel," the IDF said.

Syrian air defenses responded to "enemy targets" southwest of Damascus on Monday night, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.

According to the agency, only material damage was caused in strikes that targeted the Quneitra area in southern Syria. al-Arabiya reported that injuries were caused in the strikes.

Shortly before the strikes in Quneitra, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that airstrikes by unidentified aircraft had targeted sites on Monday morning belonging to pro-Iranian militias in Albukamal in the Deir Ezzor area of Syria near the Iraqi-Syrian border. Deaths and injuries were reported in the strikes, which damaged armories and other sites belonging to the militias.

IDF soldiers thwarted an attempt to place bombs near the Syrian border fence late Sunday night.

"Special forces that were carrying out an ambush near an IDF post in the southern Golan Heights spotted a cell with a number of hard boyz planting bombs along the border. An IDF force and an aircraft opened fire together on the four-member cell and hit them," the military said, adding that no soldiers were harmed in the incident.

"We don’t know who sent them," said IDF front man Brig.-Gen. Hidai Zilberman on Monday. "There are a lot of players in Syria, some acting for 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 the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
and some not. We cannot say right now that this is a Hezbollah attack, but we can’t rule it out either."

Later on Monday, the army said that during an investigation of the scene, some 25 meters from the perimeter fence inside Israeli territory, weapons and a bag containing a number of bombs were found.

The foiled attack took place near an abandoned military post in the southern Golan Heights on the Syrian border where the IDF had operated the Mazor Ladach field clinic, which was opened in August 2017 and closed a year later, Zilberman told news hounds.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/05/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria



Who's in the News
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3Sublime Porte
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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2020-08-05
  Death toll from Beirut blast reaches 100 but is expected to rise even further
Tue 2020-08-04
  Beruit goes BOOM!
Mon 2020-08-03
  Israel army says it has foiled a terror attack at the border with Syria
Sun 2020-08-02
  Turkish brig.-gen. executed for revealing Qatari funding of jihadists
Sat 2020-08-01
  Turkey Sends Fighter Jets to Azerbaijan After Threat to Bomb a Nuclear Power Plant
Fri 2020-07-31
  Indonesian Court Convicts, Sentences Top 2 Jemaah Islamiyah Militants
Thu 2020-07-30
  ISIS claims responsibility for killing of top Iraqi commander
Wed 2020-07-29
  Iran launched several ballistic missiles from Iran to the Southern Arabian Gulf
Tue 2020-07-28
  Germany arrests ISIS woman who abused Yezidi woman in Syria
Mon 2020-07-27
  Islamic extremists in Nigeria execute 5 men as warning against converting to Christianity
Sun 2020-07-26
  Allahu akbar: Turks hold Hagia Sophia triumphal march
Sat 2020-07-25
  Taliban ready for intra-Afghan dialogue immediately after Eid
Fri 2020-07-24
  Federal officers in Portland may have been permanently blinded by lasers
Thu 2020-07-23
  Photo Appears to Show Black Lives Matter Supporters Holding Down and Kneeling on Neck of White Baby
Wed 2020-07-22
  At Least 14 People Wounded In Mass Shooting Outside Funeral in Chicago

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