Rantburg.com will experience some momentary outage sometime tomorrow Saturday morning. We are shifting from a temporary Secure Socket Layer certificate to a permanent one. You still will be able to access rantburg.com under the rantburg.com name, but with the nagging warnings. newrantburg.1dogstar.net will not be affected by his change.
When the new certificate is installed, tested, and working, there won't be a further notification.
This is the second time today that somebody thought today was Friday. I even got a "TGIF" note.
Out here, it is the excitement for next week's weather forecast.
Speaking of Outage:
The new Cracker Barrel logo is an affront to the arts and humanities. I'm not saying corporate logo art has soul, it doesn't, but it at least tries to do something. Look at the various Nintendo or Taco Bell logos, for example. This looks like someone forgot to turn on the other 5 layers before flattening image. And it isn't the artist's fault, it is everyone in the approval process.
And if this is the greater part of capturing a "younger demographic" by hyping pride displays, erasing the interior charm, and this logo is the, ugh,...face..., I say, "Sell, sell, sell."
Mali's military-led government has arrested two generals and a French national, accusing them of participating in an alleged plot to destabilise state, more than 30 soldiers and military officials had been taken into custody on suspicion of coup attempt.https://t.co/VvhBCA6Bqg
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Islamic State Sahel is in the middle of serious moves in Burkina Faso and Niger, battling Nigerien/Burkinabe junta and al-Qaeda forces - and allegedly winning this month. Below ambushes in Tillabéri and Gorom-Gorom (BF) with dozens of dead in each. #Niger#BurkinaFasopic.twitter.com/ouDSn99jNg
Mali's military-led government has arrested two generals and a French national, accusing them of participating in an alleged plot to destabilise state, more than 30 soldiers and military officials had been taken into custody on suspicion of coup attempt.https://t.co/VvhBCA6Bqg
At least 27 worshippers were killed and several injured early on Tuesday when armed bandits stormed a mosque in northern Nigeria's Katsina state during morning prayers, the village head and a hospital official said.https://t.co/rPow561LQW
Togo tight-lipped as Burkina jihadists infiltrate north, in a rare admission the authorities confirm growing al-Qaeda problem, with JNIM expanding further south throughout the last year and over 62 soldiers killed since January. https://t.co/lJTAJDcYep
[IsraelTimes] Akhmad E. also accused of planning to join Islamic State after he was arrested at an airport allegedly on his way to begin training
German prosecutors have charged a Russian national they suspect of planning an attack on the Israeli embassy in Berlin and of trying to join 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.... terrorist organization, they said on Wednesday.
Prosecutors believe the accused, identified only as Akhmad E. in line with German privacy rules, obtained instructions from the Internet on how to make explosives, but the plan failed as he could not get the components he needed.
"From the beginning of February, he planned to carry out an attack in Germany, for example on the Israeli embassy in Berlin," said federal prosecutors in a statement.
He has been detained since his arrest at Berlin airport in February. Prosecutors suspect he was on the way to Pakistain for military training with ISIS and that he funded the trip by selling expensive smartphones that he obtained by signing up for mobile phone plans.
He is also accused of translating propaganda into Russian and Chechen for IS, said the statement.
Prosecutors charged him on August 7 with preparing and incitement to commit a serious act of violence endangering the state and, as a minor, of trying to join a terrorist group abroad.
[IsraelTimes] Police officers arrested 18 people at worker-led protests at Microsoft headquarters Wednesday as the tech company promises an “urgent” review of the Israeli military’s use of its technology during the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.
Two consecutive days of protest at the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington called for the tech giant to immediately cut its business ties with Israel.
But unlike Tuesday, when about 35 protesters occupying a plaza between office buildings left after Microsoft asked them to leave, the protesters on Wednesday “resisted and became aggressive” after the company told police they were trespassing, according to the Redmond Police Department.
The protesters also splattered red paint resembling the color of blood over a landmark sign that bears the company logo and spells Microsoft in big gray letters.
“We said, ‘Please leave or you will be arrested,’ and they chose not to leave so they were detained,” says police spokesperson Jill Green.
Microsoft late last week said it was tapping a law firm to investigate allegations reported by British newspaper The Guardian that the Israeli Defense Forces used Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform to store phone call data obtained through the mass surveillance of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
🚨 BREAKING: Microsoft employees and "community members" calling themselves the "Worker Intifada" have established a "liberated zone," also known as an encampment, on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington. pic.twitter.com/X4hHO2DroA
And an interesting observation in the thread. I look forward to discovering if it is true:
The old guy with white beard, red hat is NOT a Microsoft employee, he's an organizer that sets these things up all over Seattle area (forget his name).@choeshow@KatieDaviscourt knows who he is. I'd like to know who pays him.
#Pakistan 🇵🇰: "Tehrik-i #Taliban Pakistan" (#TTP) reportedly executed one of their militants for killing a civilian.
The militants, who conducted the execution, were armed with a #USA-made 🇺🇸 M4A1 carbine and several AKMS / Type 56-1 assault rifles. pic.twitter.com/So0GeCzoNe
[IsraelTimes] Army says Hamas ‘battered and bruised’ as Israel prepares to conquer Gaza City; aid groups say they still can’t get shelter equipment into Gaza despite lifting of restrictions
Since the end of the last ceasefire in the 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 a rusty iron fist by Hamas with 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... Strip in March, the Israel Defense Forces has eliminated over 2,100 terror operatives in the fighting there, including many senior Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... commanders and other leaders in the terror group, the military said Wednesday.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 10,576 Paleostinians have been killed in that time, without differentiating between combatants and civilians. Neither figure can be independently verified.
Over 10,000 terror targets have been struck by Israeli Air Force fighter jets, helicopters and drones as well as Navy vessels since March 18, the military said.
The IDF said it currently has "operational control" over 75 percent of the Strip’s territory, which was achieved during the army’s latest offensive.
"The operational control in the area enabled the IDF to significantly expand its activity, thereby dealing blows to the capabilities and terror infrastructure of the Hamas terror organization and disrupting its chain of command," the military said.
The most significant strike carried out since March was the bombing that eliminated of Mohammed Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza and brother of the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, whom Israel killed last year; Muhammad Shabana, commander of the terror group’s Rafah Brigade; and Mahdi Quara, commander of the South Khan Younis Battalion.
The three, along with other operatives, were killed on May 13 while hiding in a tunnel under the European Hospital in Khan Younis.
The IDF said it had also killed several Hamas government leaders, internal security officers, six top commanders in the terror group’s naval commando forces, and dozens of turbans who invaded Israel during the October 7, 2023, onslaught — in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed, and 251 taken hostage.
Fighting resumed in March after the collapse of a 60-day ceasefire-hostage release deal.
According to the IDF, its offensive against Hamas in recent months "dealt a blow to the combat and command capabilities of the terror organizations in the Gaza Strip" and "created favorable operational conditions intensifying the pressure on the Hamas terror organization and degrading its remaining capabilities.
"These achievements constitute the basis for the next moves of the IDF in the Gaza Strip," the military said, referring to the upcoming planned offensive in Gaza City.
The IDF has called up tens of thousands of reservists for the major offensive, which has drawn outrage across the international community, as well as hostage families, who fear the operation will be a death sentence ...the barbaric practice of sentencing a murderer to be punished for as long as his/her/its victim is dead... for their loved ones.
IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said in a presser on Wednesday that Hamas was a "battered and bruised guerrilla organization" following the IDF’s latest operation.
"We will deepen the blows to Hamas in Gaza City, a terror stronghold... We will deepen the blows to the terror infrastructure above and below ground, and cut the population’s reliance on Hamas," he said.
Defrin said the IDF "is not waiting" and has already begun preliminary operations in Gaza City, ahead of the offensive aimed at capturing the city.
"IDF troops are already taking control of the outskirts of Gaza City," he said.
Meanwhile,
...back at the shouting match, a new, even louder, voice was to be heard... aircraft from Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, the Netherlands, La Belle France, Singapore and Indonesia airdropped 154 pallets of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the IDF said.
Each pallet contained several hundred kilograms of food, according to the military.
Indonesia, the country with the largest Moslem population in the world, does not have relations with Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed reports of starvation in Gaza as "lies" promoted by Hamas. But facing heavy international pressure, in July the government instituted a series of measures to alleviate hunger in the Strip, including airdrops and 10-hour "humanitarian pauses" in military operations in three population centers to allow deliveries of aid.
Earlier in August, for the first time in nearly a year, Israel announced it would allow the entry of goods into Gaza through the private sector, an effort aimed at increasing the flow of essential food and hygiene items that were previously only delivered by aid organizations.
The US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), established to provide aid via an alternative that would keep goods out of Hamas’s hands, has been plagued by near-daily shooting incidents, in which the UN has said seen more than 1,000 killed as they try to reach the GHF distribution centers, allegedly by IDF gunfire.
Officials from five aid groups, including UN agencies, told Rooters on Wednesday they have not yet been able to deliver shelter materials to Gaza despite Israeli authorities saying they have lifted restrictions on such supplies, and warned that further delays could cause more Paleostinian deaths.
"The United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... and our partners have...not been able to bring in shelter materials following the Israeli announcement," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokesperson Jens Laerke said.
"There’s a set of impediments that still needs to be addressed, including Israeli customs clearance."
CARE International, ShelterBox and the Norwegian Refugee Council also said they had not yet received any authorization to deliver shelter materials. Another international NGO, which declined to be identified, said it had been unable to deliver such supplies but was trying to get clearance.
Over 1.3 million Gazooks lack tents, the United Nations said this month, and more people are expected to be displaced by the planned operation to seize Gaza City.
COGAT, the military agency that coordinates aid, did not immediately respond to Rooters’ questions. It has previously said it invests considerable efforts to ensure aid reaches Gaza and has denied restricting supplies.
After nearly two years of war, many displaced Paleostinians are living in the rubble of their homes or in tents.
The Red Thingy told Rooters it had received permission from COGAT to bring in shelter materials from what is known as the Jordanian corridor to Kerem Shalom, but that many challenges remain.
The Norwegian Refugee Council, a humanitarian organization, said it had applied for permission to deliver 3,000 tents across Gaza, including the north, but had not yet received a reply.
Many aid groups are resisting Israeli demands — under measures imposed in March — to register, because it means disclosing personal information about Paleostinian staff.
COGAT says the mechanism is a security screening intended to ensure aid goes directly to the population rather than to the Hamas terror group.
ShelterBox’s regional director, Haroon Altaf, said granting permission to only a select number of aid groups would not meet demand for shelter materials.
"If it’s only a handful of organizations that can bring shelter aid in, it doesn’t really change much, and it’s deeply concerning. People are going to die because of it," he said.
[IsraelTimes] At least 18 Hamas fighters try to raid army encampment in Khan Younis; 3 soldiers hurt; military thinks the gunmen sought to kidnap troops
A cell of at least 18 Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... operatives attempted to raid an Israel Defense Forces encampment in the Khan Younis area of the southern 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 a rusty iron fist by Hamas with 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... Strip on Wednesday morning, according to a military probe of the unusual incident.
Three soldiers were maimed, one of them seriously, in the attack, the IDF said.
The military assessed that the Hamas button men sought to kidnap troops.
According to a military probe, the attack began at around 9 a.m., with the operatives emerging from a tunnel in the south of Khan Younis and opening fire with machine guns and RPGs while approaching the army encampment.
Some of the button men managed to breach the encampment, where they exchanged fire with troops of the Kfir Brigade.
At least ten of the operatives were killed by the troops and in Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s directed by the forces, while eight managed to flee back into the tunnel, according to the army probe.
The IDF released footage showing the airstrikes and efforts by troops to repel the attack.
"The troops identified more than 15 turbans who emerged from a tunnel and opened fire, including RPG fire, at the forces," IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said in a presser.
"In the same incident, several turbans entered a building where our forces were residing, and the turbans were eliminated. We are investigating how this occurred, and will draw the necessary conclusions," Defrin said.
A clip circulating online showed the bodies of two button men in the army encampment, and another video showed a tank of the 74th Armored Battalion ramming into an RPG-wielding operative amid the attack.
The maimed troops served with the Kfir Brigade’s Nahshon Battalion. One was maimed, and the other two are listed in good condition, according to the military.
The IDF said it was working to track down the remaining button men involved in the attack.
Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, took responsibility for the attack in a statement, claiming that its button men "stormed the site" and carried out a suicide kaboom.
Al-Qassam claimed to have targeted several tanks with bombs and RPGs, and hit several buildings in the encampment being used by the IDF soldiers, using RPGs and machine-gun fire.
"A number of fighters stormed the houses and finished off a number of occupation soldiers inside from point-blank range with light weapons and hand grenades," the terror group claimed, despite no Israeli soldiers being reported killed in the incident.
The terror group also claimed to have carried out sniper fire that "fatally maimed" the commander of a tank, and that it carried out mortar shelling in the area "to secure the withdrawal of the fighters."
"Upon the arrival of the rescue force, one of the deaderslet 'er rip among the soldiers, leaving them dead and maimed," al-Qassam claimed.
Hamas’s military wing said the attack "lasted for several hours," though according to the IDF probe, the incident was wrapped up in under an hour.
During the war, Hamas has repeatedly made exaggerated claims regarding its operations against IDF troops in Gaza.
The incident on Wednesday marked a rare case of a relatively large cell of operatives attempting to attack an IDF post. Last month, a cell of at least 12 button men tried to attack an IDF logistics road in Khan Younis.
🔴 ELIMINATED : Muhammad Naif Abu Shamala, a Hamas Nukhba company commander who infiltrated Israel and took part in the attempted infiltration of the Ma’aras Post during the October 7 massacre.
Throughout the war, he advanced numerous terror attacks against IDF troops and… pic.twitter.com/IdzGpvsPhF
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has launched an offensive on the city of Gaza and controls its outskirts. This was reported on August 20 by the Jerusalem Post, citing army spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin.
"The IDF has begun the first steps to invade Gaza City," the publication reported.
According to the general, the IDF controls the outskirts of the city.
He also confirmed that about 60,000 draft notices would be sent out this week, with another 20,000 to be sent out later this month.
In his statement, Defrin also confirmed that the IDF is working to ensure sufficient space for the safe evacuation of Gaza civilians, as well as for them to receive medical care.
On August 7, the American news site Axios reported, citing an Israeli official, that the Israeli government had approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to occupy the city of Gaza. The plan is to evict about 1 million Palestinians. Tel Aviv expects the operation to take several months.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that another escalation in Gaza would provoke further displacement, killings and widespread destruction. He has called on Israel and Palestine to agree on a new ceasefire and ensure unhindered access for humanitarian aid to the region.
Russia has condemned Israel for its decision to expand its military operation in Gaza, as it will worsen the situation in a region already in a state of humanitarian catastrophe.
In Israel, the decision to occupy Gaza has sparked massive protests.
On August 20, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz approved Operation Gideon's Chariots 2 to capture Gaza City. According to the defense minister, once this operation is completed, Gaza will change its appearance and will no longer look the same.
More from regnum.ru Israel to mobilize 60,000 reservists to seize Gaza City
Israel is preparing to mobilize 60,000 reservists in connection with the operation to capture Gaza City. This was reported on August 20 by Bloomberg, citing a representative of the Israeli government.
"The Israeli army is preparing to begin calling up some 60,000 reservists to step up its offensive in the Gaza Strip against Hamas, while preparing a response to a new ceasefire proposal," the article notes.
According to the publication, the call-up announcement could be made as early as August 20. The number of Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip and its environs will almost double.
“Well, the next steps should, of course, be measures to de-escalate the situation; we are in favor of the earliest possible resumption of negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis,” he said at a joint press conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi.
And so Israel will, after all the hostages — both living and dead — are returned, Hamas lays down its arms and leaves the Strip for points very far elsewhere.
[IsraelNationalNews] In a nighttime operation in east Jerusalem, hundreds of thousands of shekels, foreign currency and vehicles were seized from the homes of former security prisoners who received funds from the Palestinian Authority.
Israeli police, in coordination with the Anti-Terror Economic Warfare Headquarters in the Ministry of Defense, carried out a major overnight operation on Wednesday in eastern Jerusalem, targeting individuals allegedly receiving terror-related funding.
According to authorities, the operation enforced Defense Ministry orders against ten former security prisoners accused of illegally receiving financial support from the Palestinian Authority as compensation for past terror-related activities.
During the raids, police seized significant sums of money—nearly 80,000 shekels in cash, \$59,240, 8,946 Jordanian dinars, and an undisclosed amount in euros. Four vehicles and a motorcycle, identified for forfeiture under Defense Ministry directives, were also confiscated.
Police stated that the funds and assets were provided to the prisoners’ families by the PA as rewards for their involvement in terror attacks. The operation targeted individuals previously imprisoned in Israel for terror offenses.
In one home, police also found a substance suspected to be hashish, leading to the arrest of an Old City resident for questioning.
Chief Superintendent Yuval Kaminitz, described the operation as part of a broader strategy to combat terrorism not only through arrests and prosecutions but also by dismantling financial networks that support such activity.
“Our message is clear,” Kaminitz said. “The fight against terrorism extends beyond the battlefield and prison walls—it includes targeting the financial infrastructure that enables and rewards acts of terror. We remain fully committed to saf
[IsraelTimes] UN peacekeeping mission says observers and Lebanese troops also located ‘several unexploded ordnances,’ amid Security Council deliberations on extending UNIFIL’s mandate
The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday night said it struck several Hezbollah targets in southern Leb ...The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... , as the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) announced its observers and Lebanese Armed Forces soldiers located a Hezbollah tunnel.
Among the targets struck by Israel were weapon depots and a rocket launcher, according to the military.
The presence of the Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon was a violation of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon, the IDF said, referring to a November 2024 truce deal.
UNIFIL meanwhile said in a statement that the tunnel found near the southern Lebanese town of Qoussair was "approximately 50 meters" (164 feet) long, and that "several unwent kaboom! ordnances" were also found in the area.
"In line with resolution 1701, the findings were handed over to the LAF," the observer force said, referring to a UN-backed ceasefire resolution between Israel and Hezbollah.
"UNIFIL continues to patrol, monitor and work with the LAF to help bring back stability and security to the area of operations," it said.
[IsraelTimes] Munition left from Israel’s war with Iran earlier this year exploded on Tuesday in the Islamic Republic’s west, killing one person, state media says.
Official news agency IRNA says that “unexploded ordnance of the Zionist regime” detonated near the city of Beyranshahr, in Lorestan province of western Iran.
“The incident left one person dead and nine people injured,” it adds, quoting a Revolutionary Guards statement.
The 12 days of fighting in June saw Israel bomb Iranian nuclear and military sites as well as residential areas, killing more than 1,000 people, including senior commanders and nuclear scientists.
Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks that killed dozens in Israel.
The United States, which briefly joined the war by striking Iranian nuclear sites, announced a halt in fighting on June 24.
While the hostilities ended, there was no agreement formalizing the ceasefire.
Iranian officials have since maintained that Tehran remains ready in case another confrontation breaks out with its sworn enemy, Israel.
On Sunday, Yahya Rahim Safavi, a military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told local media the country was “preparing plans for the worst-case scenario.”
[X] Fog of war stuff. Let us look forward to subsequent clarification — 48 Hour Rule.
Yeah, not Caliph, another senior Iraqi emir. Though it's still important since it showcases how strong is Iraqi IS's grip on the Syrian one, amid uncertainty if Syria wilayat wasn't compromised by the US. https://t.co/mpJ5VXlysh
US-led coalition forces killed a senior Iraqi 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) leader on Wednesday during an airdrop raid in northwestern Syria’s Idlib province, state media said.
"International coalition forces executed an airdrop operation targeting a house in the town of Atmeh in northern Idlib countryside, resulting in the death of the house's tenant, who was one of the ISIS organization's leaders," state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
al-Ikhbariya said, citing an unnamed source.
It identified the target as Salah Numan, an Iraqi ISIS leader responsible for "coordinating and organizing a number of cells affiliated with the organization inside Syrian territory."
Three witnesses told AFP the raid took place around midnight, reporting they heard aircraft and gunfire. Numan tried to escape by jumping from a balcony but was killed as coalition forces opened fire.
The state TV source said Numan’s wives, who were hiding with him, were interrogated, and electronic devices were seized. The building was owned by Mustafa al-Sheikh. His son, Ahmed Mustafa al-Sheikh, along with Muhannad and Mohammed al-Sheikh, were also questioned after being "forced to remove their clothes," according to the source.
An Iraqi security source told AFP that Numan was the brother of a senior ISIS commander killed in a 2020 coalition strike in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor province. Iraqi intelligence helped guide Wednesday’s operation, the source added.
The US-led coalition has carried out numerous raids in Idlib against ISIS operatives. ISIS emir Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s successor, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, was killed in Atmeh in 2022 in an operation also conducted with Iraqi intelligence support.
Despite ISIS’ military defeat in 2019, it continues to pose security risks, particularly in the vast eastern desert.
Last month, a Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spokesperson told Rudaw that an estimated 2,000 ISIS Lions of Islam remain active in the Syrian desert.
Sources in Syria report that in the early morning the US-led international coalition forces carried out a commando operation in the village of Āţimah in the Idlib province, in northwest Syria near the Turkish border.
During the raid, a senior ISIS commander was arrested, and French women who were with him were also taken into custody.
According to reports, the raiding forces were flown in by at least four helicopters, in coordination with Syria's Internal Security Forces. At the same time, Syrian forces blocked the roads leading to the area.
Syrian media noted that the detainee may be ISIS leader Abu Hafs al-Qurashi. Gunfire was heard during the operation, but no casualties were reported - neither fatalities nor injuries.
An ISIS commander known as Abu Hafs al-Qurayshi, an Iraqi citizen, was taken away while another Iraqi citizen was killed, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Observatory, an anti-Assad organization of uncertain funding, said the man captured had a French-speaking woman with him, and it was not immediately clear if she was taken by the US force or by Syrian security forces who later cordoned the area.
Two years ago, ISIS announced that a man called Abu Hafs al-Hashemi al-Qurayshi was named as its new leader after Turkish authorities killed his predecessor.
Syrian state TV on Wednesday quoted an unnamed security official as saying the Iraqi man targeted in the operation is known as Ali, adding that his real name is Salah Noman. It said Noman was living in an apartment with his wife, son and mother. It said he was killed in the raid.
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.
...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 
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
