Rest in Peace, soldier...
[ArmyTimes] The Defense Department identified the soldier killed Tuesday in Afghanistan.
Staff Sgt. Matthew McClintock, 30, died from wounds suffered when the enemy attacked his unit with small arms fire, according to the DoD announcement released late Wednesday.
The incident is under investigation.
McClintock, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was assigned to 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group, in Buckley, Washington.
McClintock and his fellow Green Berets, from 1st Battalion’s A Company, deployed to Afghanistan in July, according to information from the Washington Army National Guard.
McClintock joined the Army in 2006. After completing his training, McClintock was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division, deploying to Iraq in 2007.
He was chosen for selection in the U.S. Army Special Forces School in May 2009, according to information from the Guard. He was assigned to 1st Special Forces Group, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, in November 2010.
He deployed to Afghanistan from August 2012 to May 2013.
McClintock left active-duty in December 2014 and was assigned to 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group, which is part of the Washington Guard. He was a Special Forces engineer sergeant, according to information from the Guard.
“Staff Sergeant McClintock was one of the best of the best,” said Maj. Gen. Bret Daugherty, commander of the Washington Guard, in a statement. “He was a Green Beret who sacrificed time away from his loved ones to train for and carry out these dangerous missions. This is a tough loss for our organization.”
McClintock is survived by his wife, infant son and his parents, according to the Guard.
McClintock was killed and two others were wounded in hours-long fighting Tuesday near the city of Marjah, in southern Helmand province.
Col. Mike Lawhorn, a military spokesman in Afghanistan, said “all casualties have been evacuated,” the Associated Press reported earlier on Wednesday.
The troops’ evacuation was delayed Tuesday when one helicopter took fire and was unable to land, and another was unable to take off.
Lawhorn told the AP that U.S. special operations forces were advising their Afghan counterparts during the battle. The Taliban have recently attacked a number of cities in Helmand, one of several fronts where the insurgents have advanced in the year since the U.S. and NATO formally concluded their combat mission.
Initial reports about the battle were sketchy.
“There is still a fight going on,” Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said Tuesday afternoon, hours after the casualties were sustained. “We don’t yet have all the details surrounding what has taken place.”
Cook added two U.S. helicopters were dispatched to the scene to provide medical evacuation for the U.S. casualties but could not complete the mission, according to the AP. One was waved off after taking fire and returned safely to its base, Cook said. The other, an Air Force HH-60 Pave Hawk, landed safely but was unable to take off because its rotor struck a wall.
At least 19 Taliban militants were killed and 2 others were injured during military operations by Afghan national security forces in the past 24 hours.
The operations were jointly conducted by Afghan national police, Afghan national army and Afghan intelligence – National Directorate of Security (NDS) operatives.
Interior ministry following a statement said Wednesday that the militants were killed or injured in Laghman, Kandahar, Paktia, Herat, Helmand, Ghazni and Paktika provinces.
The statement further added that another Taliban militant was also arrested during the operations.
Afghan security forces confiscated various types of light and heavy weapons along with explosives during the operations, interior ministry said.
The statement by interior ministry also added that the operations still continue in different parts of the country, including Deh Yak district of Ghazni province.
The Afghan national security forces have stepped up counter-terrorism operations across the country as the Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant during the recent weeks.
The Taliban militants have carried out numerous attacks across the country including capital Kabul during the recent days besides efforts have been put in place to end the decade-long insurgency by the Taliban through reconciliation process.
[Tolo News] An Afghan National Army soldier has been caught on camera switching sides and joining the Taliban in Dand-e-Ghori area in Pul-e-Khumri, Baghlan province.
In footage received by TOLOnews, the soldier receives a warm welcome from Taliban fighters in the area -- where officials believe that the holy warrior group has a huge presence.
"Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... son of Mohammad Akbar resident of Laghman [province] who served in the ANA ranks for past 11 months, today [Wednesday] joined Mujahideen along with his US-made PK gun," a Taliban member says after welcoming the former soldier.
Security officials at the 3rd Brigade of the 209th Shaheen Corps of the ANA base confirmed the soldier switched allegiance to the Taliban and said he had been part of the 6th battalion of the ANA troops in Samangan province.
The officials said it appeared as if the soldier joined the Taliban voluntarily.
"A few days ago, the weather was bad and the solider lost his way and went to the area under control of the Taliban," said Ghulam Farooq Ahmadi, the Commander of the 3rd Brigade of 209th Shaheen Corps.
Meanwhile, ...back at the hanging, Butch continued with his last words, trying not to repeat himself too often...... Baghlan Police Chief Abdul Rashid Bashir said he cannot confirm the issue, but said he is concerned about the presence of Taliban fighters in Dand-e-Ghori.
"We are not in a position to confirm the footage, but yes the soldier who joined the Taliban was from Kunduz [province] who came to Dand-e-Ghori -- an area where the Taliban has more presence," said Abdul Rashid Bashir Baghlan acting Police Chief.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) has not commented.
According to a controversial agreement signed last year between the Ministry of Tribal and Border Affairs and the tribal elders in Dand-e-Ghori, the locals agreed to not allow activity of any holy warrior group or security forces in their area, but now reports indicate that the area has turned into a safe haven for the rebels.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2016 00:00 ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] 31 bully boyz have been killed in fresh festivities between Taliban and Daesh [Islamic State] groups in eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province.
Spokesperson for the governor of Nangarhar said the festivities took place in Bati Kot and Achin districts.
Atuallah Khogyani added that the shootout that erupted in Doyam Farm area of Bati Kot District on Wednesday morning left 18 members of Daesh [Islamic State] group killed and four others maimed.
He said those killed include two commanders of the group by the name Ajmal and Abdul Ahad.
The governor's spokesperson further said that the second clash erupted in Achin District leaving five fighters of Taliban killed and four maimed.
It also left eight members of Daesh [Islamic State] killed, Khogyani add.
This comes a day after 15 fighters of Daesh [Islamic State] were killed in a clash with security forces in Saluram Farm area Bati Kot District.
The group planned to attack a security post but security forces raided them before they could launch their attack.
Nangarhar has turned into a hotspot of the group where it is trying to establish a regional command.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2016 00:00 ||
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Kenyan military convoy has been targeted in huge land-mine blast near Afmadow town of Lower Jubba region on Wednesday morning, according to a resident. The resident told Radio Shabelle that the landmine exploded near Tabta village as Kenyan defense forces (KDF) convoy passed the area on their to Qoqani town.
The resident could not however confirm the extent of casualties suffered by the KDF by the time of going to press. Reports said one vehicle was damaged in IED explosion.
No group has yet claimed responsibility of the attack on KDF army convoy in southern Somalia.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/07/2016 00:00 ||
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The head of the Libyan armed forces, General Khalifa Hafter, has ordered fighter planes at Benghazi’s Benina air force base to move to Ras Lanuf to protect the oil terminals and nearby oil fields from further attacks by the so-called Islamic State (IS).
The order follows an accusation from Ibrahim Jedhran, who heads the central region Petroleum Facilities’ Guards (PFG), that Hafter’s air force did nothing to defend the oil installations at the Ras Lanuf and Sidra terminals when they were attacked by IS yesterday and the day before. He said Hafter and IS were two sides of the same coin.
Six oil tanks – four in Sidra and two at Ras Lanuf – were set ablaze as fires spread as a result of the initial attacks. The National Oil Corporation has called for international help to put them out.
Aircraft were used to attack IS following the attack, but they are said to have come from Misrata. IS has now threatened it with reprisals because of the air strikes.
The situation at both terminals was this afternoon said to be calm although some missiles were reported to have landed at Sidra in the morning. IS forces have now pulled back to their new base at Ben Jawad, 30 kilometres further west. However, PFG officials have told the Libya Herald that they expect a fresh attack by IS.
It took Ben Jawad at the beginning of the week. A year ago, the town was used as the base for Libya Dawn’s failed assault on Sidra during which three oil tanks were destroyed.
Meanwhile there are reports that one of the four suicide attackers who launched the initial attack at Sidra on Monday was a 15-year-old from Tripoli who disappeared four months ago. Yesterday, IS had claimed that all the attackers were Sudanese. The boy, named as Abdulmonem Duelah, is said to have been recruited in Daesh at a local Tripoli mosque and then sent to Sirte.
Last month, Mustafa Sanalla, the NOC chairman recognised by the Tripoli authorities, warned that IS could attack the terminals and oil fields. His fear was that they would do so not to seize and keep them but to destroy them and deny the Libyan state oil income.
[AnNahar] Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... gunnies have mounted their first attacks since Nigeria's government declared them "technically" defeated, killing seven people in a raid and suicide kaboom, residents told AFP Wednesday.
The attacks happened on Tuesday in the northeastern state of Borno, near the Islamists' Sambisa Forest hideout, where the army is looking to flush out remnants of the rebel group.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who has made crushing the rebellion a priority, in December said a sustained counter-offensive had reduced the group's ability to strike effectively.
The first attack happened in Izgeki village, said one resident, who gave his name as Isyaku, from the town of Mubi in neighboring Adamawa state.
"I received information from my relatives who fled the attack... that some Boko Haram gunnies on bicycles attacked Izgeki across the river from Izghe on Tuesday morning where they killed two people.
"The attack forced villagers to cross the river into Izghe. The gunnies pursued them. One of them who had a suicide belt on him went kaboom! near the market, killing five people."
Izghe was previously attacked in February 2014 where more than 100 people were killed as the rebels torched homes, opened fire and set off explosives.
Thousands of residents fled the attack into Adamawa towards the town of Madagali and elsewhere but following the army's recapture of territory, some managed to return and begin reconstruction.
Izghe is in the district of Gwoza, which Boko Haram captured in August 2014 and which the group's shadowy leader Abubakar Shekau declared the center of its self-styled caliphate.
Ayuba Chibok, an elder in the town of the same name, said there was also an attack in the nearby village of Nchiha at about 10:00 pm (2100 GMT) on Tuesday.
"Luckily no-one was hurt but they (Boko Haram gunnies) looted food and burnt a large part of the village," he added. Residents managed to flee.
Boko Haram kidnapped some 276 girls from their school in Chibok in April 2014 in a daring raid that captured world attention. Fifty seven escaped soon afterwards but 219 are still being held.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/07/2016 01:07 ||
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Iran on Thursday accused the Saudi-led coalition battling Shiite rebels in Yemen of hitting its embassy there in an overnight airstrike, but the building bore no visible damage. "dodged that one" "Missile strike? There's no damage to your building!"
"Umm, we repaired it."
The accusation comes amid a dangerous rise in tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia in recent days following the kingdom's execution of a Shiite cleric and attacks on Saudi diplomatic posts in the Islamic Republic.
Analysts had feared the dispute could boil over into the proxy wars between the two Mideast rivals in Yemen and in Syria. could?
Iran's state-run news agency said on Thursday afternoon that a Saudi-led airstrike last night hit its embassy in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, citing the country's Foreign Ministry spokesman. However, an Associated Press reporter who reached the site just after the announcement saw no visible damage at the building.
Saudi officials could not immediately be reached for comment. "What?"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/07/2016 09:02 ||
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#1
Perhaps the payload consisted of pork byproduct. Domino delivery!
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/07/2016 10:09 Comments ||
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Perhaps the IRANIAN BOMB was just tested in NKOR and they are feeling a bit cocky!
[AnNahar] Bahrain announced on Wednesday that it has discovered a "terrorist cell" linked to Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, reported al-Arabiya television.
It said that the cell was plotting to carry out bombings in the country.
The cell was headed by twins Ali and Mohammed Fakhrwari, it continued.
Bahrain News Agency said that Ali Fakhrawi and two others had traveled to Iran and Leb at the end of 2011 to demand financial aid from Tehran and Hizbullah.
"They met in Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahieh with Hizbullah chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... and his deputy Sheikh Naim Qassem ... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies... , where they proposed to them the idea of 'reviving' an Islamic movement," it added.
"They requested financial assistance to carry out their terrorist activity in Bahrain and they received encouragement from Nasrallah, who also gave them 20,000 dollars for their cause," said the news agency.
"Ali Fakhrawi traveled in mid-2015 to Iran, where he met members of the revolutionary guards, and later Leb where he met Qassem, who provided further support to his organization and other related terrorist groups," it reported.
The head of the cell is a runaway residing in Iran, while Bahraini authorities succeeded in arresting six of its members, said al-Arabiya.
Hizbullah and Bahrain's relation has witnessed tension since the beginning of a 2011 uprising in the kingdom as the party became a strong advocate of the popular protests.
Ties between Leb and Bahrain reached an all-time low in 2011 when Nasrallah slammed the crackdown on the protesters.
His remarks prompted the Bahraini authorities to suspend the flights of Gulf Air and Bahraini Air between Manama and Beirut for several months.
Tensions between Hizbullah and Bahrain continued through 2015 with the Gulf Cooperation Council condemning in January 2015 Nasrallah remarks on the country as "incitement to violence and discord."
Fakhrawi and his twin brother were linked to the bully boy activities of eight other suspects named by the Gulf kingdom's state news agency BNA, some of whom were tossed in the slammer Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! as early as 2013 and two of whom were designated as runaways, one in Iran.
In November, Bahrain said it had arrested 47 members of a group believed to have links to "terrorist elements in Iran" who it said were planning to carry out attacks in the coming days.
Bahrain recalled its ambassador to Iran in October after it said security forces discovered a bomb-making factory and arrested a number of suspects linked to the Revolutionary Guard.
In March, Bahrain's public prosecutor said it seized bomb-making equipment being smuggled from Iraq aboard a passenger bus for use in attacks.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/07/2016 00:00:00 ||
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#1
The cell was headed by twins Ali and Mohammed Fakhrwari
[Al Ahram] Troops loyal to Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi seized a Red Sea port town Wednesday in the country's northwest following fierce fighting with Iran-backed sock puppets of the Medes and the Persians, a military chief said.
"We have full control of the port and the town, along with its historic castle," Fifth Military Region commander General Adel al-Qumairi said of Midi.
Intensive festivities had raged in the area since mid-December when government forces trained in nearby 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... crossed the border and seized the town of Haradh.
The rebels, known as Houthis, have reportedly used Midi's port to bring weapons into their traditional stronghold in the north.
Despite losing Midi, they and their allies of renegade troops loyal to former president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... , continue to control a long stretch of the coastline.
Government forces have enjoyed air support from the Saudi-led coalition, which launched a campaign against rebels in March after they advanced on the southern city of Aden where Hadi had taken refuge before fleeing to Riyadh.
The rebels continue to control the capital, which they overran 2014, but loyalists have captured areas east and northeast of the capital recently.
On Wednesday, coalition warplanes bombed rebel positions in Sanaa, including the presidential complex, witnesses said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2016 00:00 ||
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[Bangla New Age] Three people are set to be hanged at Jessore Central Jail tonight for killing Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal leader Kazi Aref Ahmed, also one of the main organisers for the war of independence, and four other leaders of the party.
Jessore superintendent of police Anisur Rahman said that Safayet Hossain of Rajnagar village under Mirpur upazila in Kushtia, Anwar Hossain of Kursha village at the upazila and Rashedul Islam alias Akbar of Kursha village would be executed tonight.
JSD leaders Kazi Aref, Lokman Hossain, Yakub Ali, Ismail Hossain and Samaresh Mandol were rubbed out at a rally at Kalidaspur Government Primary School ground under Daulatpur upazila in Kushtia on February 16, 1999.
On August 30, 2004, the District and Session Judge's Court in Kushtia sentenced 10 people to death and 12 people to life term.
The High Court, in 2008, acquitted one of the condemned convicts and 10 life-termers of the charges.
The Appellate Division on November 19, 2014 rejected petitions filed by the convicts for a review of a verdict it pronounced on August 7, 2011 upholding the High Court verdict.
The clemency prayers of the three condemned convicts were also rejected by the president.
The other condemned convicts are still in hiding.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2016 00:00 ||
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[Bangla New Age] The Appellate Division on Wednesday upheld the death sentence of Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami ...During the liberation war of 1971, Nizami formed the Al-Badr Force and acted as its supreme commander. The Al-Badr militia took active part in rape, extortion, looting and killing of Bangladeshis who supported the liberation, including a pre-planned massacre on December 14, 1971, when the Al-Badr militia along with Pakistan Army rounded up hundreds of doctors, professors, writers, and other Bengali intellectuals, and executed them... for planning the killings of intellectuals in Dhaka and mass killings at two places in Pabna during the War of Independence.
A four-judge bench chaired by Chief Justice SK Sinha, delivered the unanimous verdict at about 9.10AM amid pin drop silence the courtroom.
The bench included, Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Hasan Foez Siddique.
Later, Nizami's counsel Khandker Mahbub Hossain told news hounds that no decision was taken as yet whether a petition would be filed seeking review of the verdict.
It depends on the client, he said, adding, if Nizami asks a review petition would be filed.
But Nizami might as well not seek a review of the apex court verdict as no previous petitioner got any benefit from their review petitions.
Khandker Mahbub also said his client did not deserve death sentence as an abettor as none of the principal accused in Pakistain army were tried.
Nizami would get the opportunity to seek a review of the verdict, attorney general Mahbubey Alam told news hounds.
On October 29, 2014, the International Crime Tribunal-1 sentenced Nizami to death on four counts of war crimes.
The apex court upheld Nizami's death sentences on three charges which include planning intellectuals' killings and two charges of mass killings at two places in Pabna, his home district.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2016 00:00 ||
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Two IS militants confessed to Turkish security forces they received orders to bomb government buildings including the Turkish parliament and courthouses, reports say.
Turkish Cumhuriyet daily quoting security sources indicated that the two IS militants known as Musa Canöz (28) and Adnan Yıldırım (40) arrested on December 30, revealed that they were instructed by a leading IS figure in Syria to carry out suicide bombings in Ankara on government institutions among which the Parliament and course houses.
The daily also reported that the two IS militants confessed they received 20 days of training in preparing bombs and explosives in the Syrian city of Raqqa; the seat of the terrorist group’s headquarters.
“When we returned to Ankara we made our own suicide vests. Our main goal was to deal a deathly blow to the PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party]. However, we were later instructed to carry out attacks on governmental buildings. Then we began to question this order to bomb Ankara courthouses, Parliament and police stations and gave up on the plan. While looking for a place to dispose of the bombs and ammunition we were caught by the police,” the suspects were reported as saying.
According to reports anti-terrorism police had been on the tail of the two IS militants for three month before nabbing them at the end of last year. Police’s raid on the two Jihadists was possible after the security forces succeeded in decoding a last message of a series communications between them and a third person known as Enes; said of Arab origin. Police also told the daily they had seized hand-made explosives and bomb-making equipment produced by the two militants.
Another local daily pointed out early this year that the two men received orders from a certain Ebu Enes who turns out be a sheikh after police investigations. The daily also pointed out that the two would-be suicide bombers arrived in Turkey from Syria last year.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/07/2016 00:00 ||
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[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Turkish police on Wednesday have jugged Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! seven Syrian people said they were involved in the liquidation of Syrian journalist Naji al-Jerf ten days ago, sources told Zaman al-Wasl.
The Turkish police is due to hold presser to stand on the crime clues on Thursday.
Al-Jerf was bumped off in Gaziantep on December 27, 2015, the Turkish town where the film maker and journalist lived with his wife and two young daughters after fleeing their war-torn homeland.
Eyewitnesses said a masked gunman shot him twice using a pistol fitted with a silencer before fleeing in an unlicensed vehicle. No one has yet grabbed credit but suspicion has fallen on ISIS.
Jerf was an active campaigner against the ISIS faceless myrmidons who found opportunity in the uprising he had believed in from the beginning.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2016 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Enrique Marquez, the man accused of purchasing the two assault rifles used in the San Bernardino shooting that left 14 people dead, pleaded not guilty "Wudn't me." on Wednesday to terror-related charges.
Marquez, 24, was indicted last week by a federal grand jury in Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, lying about the purchase of the two weapons used in the December 2 shooting, marriage fraud and lying on the visa application for the woman he married.
During his brief arraignment in federal court in Riverside on Wednesday, Marquez, who has been held without bond since his arrest last month, simply said "not guilty" when asked how he wished to plead.
According to the charges against him, Marquez in November 2011 bought a Smith & Wesson assault rifle and three months later purchased another rifle.
Both weapons were allegedly purchased on behalf of Sayed Farook. Authorities say he and his wife Tashfeen Malik used them in the attack at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino that maimed 22 along with the 14 killed, many of them Farook's former co-workers.
Marquez in 2011 and 2012 also allegedly plotted with Farook to carry out terror attacks at an area college that both men had attended and on a busy freeway.
Marquez, a long-time friend of Farook -- Marquez converted to Islam after Farook introduced him to the religion -- told Sherlocks that both plots were abandoned and he eventually distanced himself from Farook.
He also allegedly entered into a sham marriage with a woman linked to Farook's family in November 2014 and lied on her visa application.
Marquez, who has cooperated with authorities, is set to be tried on February 23. He faces up to 50 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
They should make an example of him over the strawman purchase.
#3
Would be interesting to see the left's natural inclination to attack firearms and strawman purchases pitted against their natural preference for terrorists of color.
[SANDIEGOREADER] Among the several dozen Pakistani and Afghan men who have entered the U.S. illegally, coming into San Diego from Tijuana, two were found to have ties to terrorist groups, according to a letter sent by U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter to the Department of Homeland Security.
Muhammad Azeem and Muktar Ahmad, both in their 20s, surrendered to U.S. Border Patrol agents in September, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. One was listed on the Terrorist Screening Database for “associations with a known or suspected terrorist. The other was a positive match for derogatory information in an alternative database,” according to Hunter’s letter.
Azeem and Ahmad are among dozens of men — described by Border Patrol agents as “military age and carrying U.S. cash” who began entering the U.S. through a Tijuana-based human-smuggling pipeline in September.
Pakistanis and Afghans crossing the border illegally in the San Diego sector are pretty unusual, according to Border Patrol statistics. In 2013, U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained fewer than 400 Pakistanis throughout the entire United States — at the ports of entry, airports, and along the border between ports.
Between October 1, 2014, and Sept. 30, 2015, the San Diego sector of the Border Patrol detained 18 Pakistanis and 1 Afghan, according to Border Patrol statistics. Between October 1 and mid-November of last year, 2 Afghans and 22 Pakistanis reportedly surrendered to Border Patrol agents.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2016 00:00 ||
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PESHAWAR: Capital city on Wednesday arrested 61 suspects including seven proclaimed offenders, 47 Afghan refugees and 44 outlaws and recovered arms and ammunition them.
Police official said that search operations were carried out in different parts of the city. The police also recovered two Kalashnikov, 16 pistols, two rifles, 266 rounds, nine kilogramme hashish and 20 bottles liquor from them.
PESHAWAR: The Special Police Unit arrested a terrorist wanted to Hangu police from Kohat on Wednesday.
According to police, the Special Police Unit arrested a terrorist identified as Chan Beg. The arrested terrorist was wanted to Hangu police in connection with terror attacks in 2009. The terrorist was handed over to City police for further interrogation.
QUETTA: Security forces arrested 10 suspected militants, among them three activists of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), from Qila Saifullah, Zhob and Kalat areas on Wednesday.
They also recovered a large quantity of illegal arms and ammunition from Gawal Ismailzai area of Zhob district.
Official sources said that the Frontier Corps troops accompanied by intelligence personnel raided a place on the outskirts of Qila Saifullah town and arrested three suspected militants of the banned TTP.
“The arrested suspects belong to the TTP,” an FC spokesman said, adding that they were handed over to the authorities concerned for interrogation.
The spokesman said that acting on a tip-off the FC teams raided a place in Gawal Ismailzai area of Zhob district and took four suspects into custody. “Arms were recovered from their possession,” he said. The weapons seized included two rifles-303, one SMG, one rifle-7mm, one pistol and ammunition.
In another action, the FC personnel detained three suspected militants from Kalat and seized weapons from their possession.
He said that the recovered weapons included one SMG, two rifles and 2,100 rounds.
QUETTA: Security forces arrested seven suspected militants during two search operations in Balochistan's Zhob and Kalat districts on Wednesday, officials said.
Four suspects belonging to the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group were arrested after a raid in Gawal Ismailzai area of Zhob, said Khan Wasey, spokesman for the Frontier Corps (FC), adding that weapons were also recovered from their possession.
Wasay alleged the weapons were being smuggled into interior Balochistan for use in subversive activities.
Gwal Ismailzai is considered a sensitive area in northern Balochistan where TTP has carried out operations in the past.
In another operation, the FC picked up three suspected militants from Mangochar area of Kalat district, Wasey said, adding that weapons and explosives were also confiscated.
Balochistan has been experiencing incident violence and targeted killings since more than a decade. More than 1,400 incidents targeting the minority Shia and Hazara community have taken place in the province during the past 15 years.
The largest province of the country by area is home to a low-level insurgency by ethnic Baloch separatists. Al Qaeda-linked and sectarian militants also operate in the region.
QUETTA: Unidentified gunmen abducted six locals of Balochistan's Dera Bugti district on Wednesday.
Levies sources confirmed that at least six people were kidnapped on their way to Gandoi area of Sui tehsil when they were whisked away by gunmen. The abductors also took away the two vehicles the abductees were travelling in.
Levies and FC personnel reached the spot and launched a search operation to recover the abducted men. No group has so far claimed responsibility for abduction.
In September last year, General manager of Balochistan Development Authority (BDA), Bacha Khan, along with five other officers were abducted from province's Killa Saifullah district.
Pakistan's largest province — which borders Iran and Afghanistan — is riven by sectarian strife and violence.
Its roughly seven million inhabitants have long complained they do not receive a fair share of its gas and mineral wealth.
Baloch separatists demanding more autonomy and control over gas and mineral resources have frequently targeted security forces and police for years.
KARACHI: Four men affiliated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were arrested in Karachi's posh Defence Housing Authority Phase 1 neighbourhood on Wednesday, Karachi-South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Dr Jamil Ahmed said.
Acting on a tip-off from a credible source who claimed that the men were planning a suicide attack, the DIG said police conducted an operation in the area to arrest the four, namely Hanif alias 'Nadeem Kala', Ashraf Ali alias 'Bhaloo', Rehmat Shah and Zahid Hussain.
Police recovered a shopping bag containing ball bearings, suicide jackets and 4 kilograms of explosive material. They also recovered bomb-making material and four pistols from the possession of the suspects, the DIG said.
Ahmed said nine First Information Reports (FIR) have been registered against them in cases relating to possession of arms and explosive materials, and police encounters.
The men are also suspected of involvement in the 2011 Ghas Mandi gambling den blast which killed at least 15 people, in sectarian and targeted killings, police sources say.
In December last year, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) claimed the arrests of four men suspected of involvement in the Ghas Mandi bomb attack, as well as killing people from different sects and other terrorist activities.
The suspects, Mohammed Shahid alias Zubair, Mohammed Ali, Manzoor Ahmed and Usman Ghani alias Baba, belong to the outlawed TTP and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi.
The TTP in December also claimed to have gunned down a retired army major, Major (r) Raza, in the DHA Phase 1 neighbourhood.
KARACHI: Five suspected militants affiliated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group were killed in an 'encounter' in Karachi on Saturday, police said.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rao Anwar said the 'militants' were killed during an exchange with police at a graveyard in Machar Colony area of Sohrab Goth.
"The militants had set up a hideout in the graveyard and on police's arrival, they opened fire," claimed Rao Anwar.
In the encounter that ensued, five attackers were killed, he said.
Two of the attackers were identified as Naeem and Hafeezullah, while identities of the other have not asceratined so far, the police official added.
Police also claimed to have recovered 2.5 kilograms of explosive material and other arms and ammunition from the hideout.
Earlier today, police claimed to have detained four men, also allegedly affiliated with the TTP, from Karachi's posh Defence Housing Authority Phase 1 neighbourhood.
Karachi-South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Dr Jamil Ahmed said a shopping bag containing ball bearings, suicide jackets and 4 kilograms of explosive material was recovered from the arrested men.
[Daily Excelsior] DIG North Kashmire, Garib Dass, today said that security forces in Kashmire are well prepared to deal with Pathankot type of attacks.
When asked about his comments on Pathankot attack, Dass said that counter-insurgency grid in Kashmire is strong to deal with such type of Fidayeen attacks in Kashmire. "We take appropriate steps to foil such acts. You already know this. The counter-insurgency grid in Kashmire is strong and we, all the security forces, are well prepared here to deal with such attacks. We are trained for it", he said.
The DIG, when asked about the infiltration of Death Eaters into Kashmire, said that with the heavy snowfall passes have been closed and chances of infiltration has become less. He, however, said that counter-infiltration grid is strong to deal with any kind of infiltration on the Line of Control (LoC).
"Counter-infiltration grid is strong. There was lot of snowfall in North Kashmire, the passes are closed and there are less chances of infiltration. If there is any attempt in snow, it will be dealt with", said DIG.
In the meantime while addressing a presser in North Kashmire, Dass said that Police locked away ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... three Death Eaters of Hizbul Mujahideen who were behind the killing of their colleague last year by suspected him of misusing funds and planning his surrender.
"On September 19, last year, a bullet ridden body of Fayaz Ahmad Bhat alias Showkat son of Abdul Rahim Bhat of Wailoo Pattan who was an active bad boy of Hizbul Mujahideen outfit was found lying in the orchards of village Devbug Kunzer", the DIG said.
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ERBIL – The radical group of Islamic State (ISIS) arrested on Wednesday dozens of teachers in Iraq’s northwestern province of Nineveh for refusing to teach the new curriculum imposed by the group on the schools across the province.
Speaking to ARA News in Mosul, media activist Abdullah al-Malla said that ISIS militants raided the homes of dozens of Iraqi teachers and arrested them for protesting against the Sharia curriculum imposed by the jihadi group.
“More than 30 teachers were arrested today for refusing to teach the Islamic curriculum at the schools of Mosul in Nineveh province,” al-Malla said, adding that the Sharia Court plans to punish those teachers and replace them with some “more committed” staff.
The extremist group has recently imposed its own curriculum on the schools of Nineveh province.
ISIS has cancelled major subjects from the educational curriculum in areas under its control across Syria and Iraq, such as philosophy, math, biology and chemistry.
“These essential courses have been replaced by some extremist subjects on Sharia and jihad, designed by the group to idelogize students and gain their support to the alleged Caliphate,” a teacher in Mosul told ARA News, under the condition of anonymity.
“This protest by the teachers of Nineveh province is a first step towards eliminating the unjust regulations imposed by ISIS on the people,” the source concluded.
The extremist group has earlier executed a number of teachers in Mosul city for refusing to teach the new curriculum.
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – The US-led international coalition announced, that it has carried out 19 air strikes on the ISIS organization near eight cities in Iraq, while indicated to the conducting of another air strike in Syria.
A statement received by IraqiNews.com said, “The international coalition warplanes had carried out 19 air strikes near eight Iraqi cities,” pointing out that, “The air strikes hit a number of hideouts, tactical units, as well as various equipment.”
The statement added, “The strikes were concentrated near Ramadi and Kisik, while wounded a number of ISIS elements, in addition to some vehicles and buildings,” indicating that, “The coalition had also carried out an air strike in Syria, destructing a building belonging to the ISIS organization near al-Reqqa area.
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Joint Special Operations Command announced, that 19 ISIS elements were killed in two air strikes carried out by the Iraqi Army Aviation in Tharthar area northeast of Ramadi (110 km west of Baghdad).
The source said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “The Army Aviation in coordination with the forces of Baghdad Operations Command have carried out an air strike on Yabes River area in Tharthar City, destroying a vehicle belonging to ISIS.”
The source added, “The second air strike resulted in the killing of 19 ISIS elements, while destructed a vehicle and an armored excavator belonging to the organization.”
(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – According to a local source in Nineveh province, 19 Afghan ISIS elements, including an explosives expert, had been killed while trying to booby-trap vehicles east of the city of Mosul.
The source reported for IraqiNews.com, “We have received accurate intelligence indicate that 19 Afghans, including the leader Habibullah al-Afghani who is an explosives expert in the so-called Wilayat Nineveh, had been killed while booby-trapping vehicles in a warehouse in the area of Badush in eastern Mosul.”
The source, who requested anonymity, added, “The ISIS evacuated the bodies of its militants from the area of the incident.”
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – On Wednesday, a security source said, that unidentified gunmen have robbed a currency exchange office west of Baghdad, while stole one million and 100 thousand dollars.
The source said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “Last night, unidentified gunmen stormed a currency exchange office through a hole in an abandoned house next to it in Mansour District west of Baghdad,” adding that, “The gunmen were able to steal one million and 100 thousand dollars.”
“The owner of the currency exchange has informed the police about the incident,” adding that, “A security force rushed to the area and started an investigation,” the source continued.
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Joint Special Operations Command announced, that the so-called ISIS War Minister was killed in an aerial bombardment in Barwana District in Anbar Province, along with three of his assistants.
The source said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “The Iraqi Army Aviation has bombarded the hideout of the so-called ISIS War Minister Dohan al-Rawi in Tel Khrintha in Barwana District, killing him along with three of his assistants,” adding that, “A security force have besieged him for five hours before the aerial bombardment.”
[Manila Times] The Philippine Army's 73rd Infantry Battalion based in Davao del Sur has begun pursuit operations to track down Mohammad Jaafar Maguid, the alleged leader of Ansar al-Khilafah (Supporters of the Caliphate) in the Philippines (AKP). He is believed to be in the hinterlands of Sarangani Province.
Colonel Ronnie Babac is leading the operation against Maguid and his close associate, identified as Limbo Jusin Pala. The two are top on the list of high-profile members of the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) under its fallen leader Abdul Basit Usman. Maguid was tasked to continue the role of Usman and Malaysian bomb maker Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as "Marwan."
Maguid, alias Tokboy, who escaped from a four-hour firefight with security forces in the town of Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat on November 23, was reportedly on a mission to create large-scale violence in Central Mindanao.
The AKP has claimed affiliation with Daesh, whose presence in Mindanao was confirmed by a ranking military intelligence officer. Another source from Maguindanao said that Maguid directly trained under two Indonesian nationals who arrived in Mindanao three years ago. The Indonesians are reportedly training Daesh recruits organized by Maguid in undisclosed areas near the MILF camp. Their recruits are thought to be disgruntled MILF commanders who now strongly support Daesh in the region.
Maguid and Pala were also tagged as former cell leaders of the 3rd Battalion, Headquarters Brigade of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters’ (BIFF) inner defense group led by its regional field commander Ustadz Haun Salindatu.
Maguid, charged for attacks on the town center of Maasim, Sarangani in August 2008 that killed three people, was arrested in July 2009 but managed to escape from the Sarangani provincial jail in March 2010. Maguid is also facing a series of other charges including for a grenade attack in Maasim Town in June 2009; the murder of Sarangani Rep. Emmanuel Pacquiao's cousin Rogelio Pacquiao in July 2009; the killing of Maasim Vice Mayor Sawab Pangolima last October; and several other incidents.
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01/07/2016 00:00 ||
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[Gulf Today] Philippine security forces rescued 26 people aboard a
mini-bus six hours after they were kidnapped by heavily armed Abu Sayyaf militants on the island province of Basilan.
The driver said he and the passengers were on their way to a remote village when the rebels stopped their vehicle on Sunday morning. The militants then ordered the driver to go to another village where a special team of soldiers on an armored vehicle rescued them six hours after their abduction.
The military said, "The armed men immediately scampered and fled towards a forested area when they spotted the impending arrival of the soldiers," adding the passengers had been traumatized by their abduction but had not been harmed.
In a separate but related development, Brigadier General Alan Arrojado reported the arrest of an Abu Sayyaf sub-leader wanted for a series of killings in the neighboring province of Sulu. The suspect, identified as Junni Jumala, did not resist when he was arrested on Monday afternoon.
Arrojado credited villagers for the arrest of Jumala, who is wanted for a series of killings in Patikul and Jolo as well as his alleged involvement in ambush of Patikul Vice Mayor Jun Tarsam who survived the attack in late December.
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[The Nation] A Thai ranger was killed Wednesday morning after militants detonated a homemade bomb to ambush his patrol unit in Narathiwat province. Police said Maneethorn Kanchanakarn and 11 other rangers were on patrol when insurgents set off a gas cylinder bomb to ambush them. The two sides exchanged gunfire for about 10 minutes after the blast. Maneethorn died en route to the hospital.
RAQQA – Extremists of the Islamic State group (ISIS) executed on Wednesday a woman in Syria’s northeastern city of Raqqa, local sources reported.
Lina Qasem, 35, was an employee in the Postal Corporation of Raqqa before ISIS jihadists took over the city in the summer of 2013.
She was shot dead on Wednesday on charges of leaking security information to the U.S.-led coalition–which has been striking ISIS positions in Syria and Iraq for nearly two years.
“When the militants arrested her last week we couldn’t find out the reasons behind her arrest, but today the Sharia Court issued a statement accusing Lina of cooperation with the coalition against the Caliphate,” a family member of Lina Qasem told ARA News, under the condition of anonymity for security concerns.
“She was shot dead in front of dozens of people at the central square of Raqqa,” the source said. “After the execution, the group refused to hand over her dead body to her family.”
On Tuesday, the ISIS radical group tortured a 21-year-old Syrian girl to death in the city of Manbij north of Aleppo on charges of violating the Sharia dress. The victim reportedly died under torture at the hands of a female jihadist, known as Oum Farouq, in the ISIS detention center in Manbij.
KOBANE – At least three militant fighters from al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda branch in Syria, were killed in clashes with the Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) near Sheikh Maqsoud district in Aleppo.
Al-Qaeda-affiliated militants launched an offensive on the Kurdish headquarters in Sheikh Maqsoud on Wednesday, which led to clashes between them and the YPG fighters.
“Nusra terrorists launched several mortar shells on our security center in the district,” a YPG spokesman told ARA News in Aleppo. “Subsequent to clashes, the terrorists retreated from the vicinity of Sheikh Maqsud.”
“We have collected the corpses of three terrorists who were killed in the clashes,” the source said.
Islamist rebels of al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham have been targeting the YPG headquarters in the Kurdish district of Sheikh Maqsoud with rocket-propelled grenades and hell cannon for weeks. The militants have recently intensified their shelling on the district by using mortar shells and bombing residential buildings.
On Monday, Nusra shelling on the district killed four civilians and wounded more than ten others.
Al-Qaeda Responds to SDF Progress
Sheikh Maqsoud is under the control of Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) –leading member of the western-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The developments come after the al-Qaeda-affliated Nusra Front and its allies lost ground to the Kurdish-Arab alliance of the SDF in northern Aleppo.
On Friday, the SDF seized control of the villages of Tat Mrash and Tanab in the vicinity of Azaz city north of Aleppo after clashes with militant fighters of al-Nusra Front and the Islamic Movement of Ahrar al-Sham.
On Sunday, the western-backed SDF units recaptured the village of Keshtaar in the suburb of Tel Rafaat city north of Aleppo. The village has been constantly used by Nusra militants and allied Islamists as a base from which they used to attack the Kurdish region of Afrin northwest of Aleppo.
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Powerful Islam Army group tossed in the clink Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! two brothers in Eastern Ghouta suburbs east of Damascus over links with the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... , sources told Zaman al-Wasl Tuesday.
Nasif al-Mohammed, 24, and his brother Ahmed, 17, who work in local relief associations in Yelda suburb, were arrested over cooperating with ISIS group in the nearby district of al-Hajer al-Aswad.
Such a claim was denied by the elder brother, Yemen, who said the arrest was to force ISIS freeing senior commander in Islam Army since "we have relatives fight along with ISIS in al-Hajer al-Aswad," he added.
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01/07/2016 00:00 ||
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[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Syrian regime and rebel bombardment killed at least 20 civilians and maimed dozens in the capital and a nearby Eastern Ghouta suburbs on Wednesday, state media and am activist group said.
Mortar rounds fired from the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region onto residential areas of Damascus left nine civilians dead and 25 maimed, local monitoring group tracks rebels shelling on Damascus said.
The attack came after the regime fired 6 cluster rockets onto the Eastern Ghouta town of Douma earlier in the day, killing five civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and media center.
Eastern Ghouta, which is largely controlled by the Jaish al-Islam ...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful... (Army of Islam) rebel group, is regularly bombarded by government forces.
Seven other civilians, including a child, were later killed in government Arclight airstrikes on the nearby towns of Hazzeh and Zamalka, the Observatory said.
The group also gave the same toll as state media for the attack on Damascus and said some of the maimed there were at death's door.
In the Southern Ghouta suburbs, regime army pounded Moadamiya and Daraya towns with 6 barrel bombs and three surface-to-surface missiles.
On Tuesday, 4 surface-to-surface missiles hit Daraya, activist said.
Last December, Syrian regime army had targeted the poor outskirts of Daraya with 853 barrel bombs, 72 surface-to-surface missiles and 400 shells, killing at 21 people, the town's local council said.
For two weeks, Syrian Elite Republican Guards and notorious Division 4 have intensified siege on Moadamiya town and Daraya as rebels refuse to surrender or to evacuate the town in similar scenario to fellow fighters in Homs and Zabadani.
More than 260,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict erupted in 2011 with protests against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... 's government.
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01/07/2016 00:00 ||
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[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Southern Front rebels launched new attack early Wednesday on regime army in the northern frontline of Sheikh Miskeen town in Daraa province, sources said.
'Ahl al-Nakhwa' battle has left number of regime soldiers dead and two tanks destroyed, field commander said.
Bashir al-Assad's forces backed by fighters from Leb's Hezbollah movement have launched major offensive two weeks ago, seeking to control Sheikh Miskeen and powerful air base, Brigade 82.
Rebel groups, including Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front, had been in control of Sheikh Miskeen and Brigade 82 since last year.
Rebels have been pressing slow advances by Tuesday near Sheikh Miskeen.
Fauzi al-Nassar, commander of al-Sanamayn Martyrs Brigade, told Zaman al-Wasl that rebels have achieved progress in the surrounding district of Sheikh Miskeen town that was captured by regime army week ago.
Meanwhile, ...back at the saw mill, Scarface Al had tied Little Nell to the log and was about to turn on the buzz saw... regime warplanes have staged more strikes on Sheikh Miskeen and neighboring tows, according to local activists.
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[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Death toll of the six-month-old siege imposed on the town of Madaya northwest of Damascus has risen to 31, local activists and medics said Wednesday.
Of 31 deaths in Madaya in recent weeks, 10 were attributed to a lack of food and the rest were either shot to death or blown up by mines planted by the Syrian regime and Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah forces, activists and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Despite all pleas, regime keeps tuning a blind eye on the tragic living conditions in Madaya which is surrounded by a belt of 6000 landmines.
Up to 40,000 people have been left for death of hunger in the border town with Leb for over 200 days due to the suffocating siege, activists said.
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Bangla New Age] The Appellate Division on Wednesday upheld the death sentence of Jamaat chief 
(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – According to a local source in Nineveh province, 19 Afghan ISIS elements, including an explosives expert, had been killed while trying to booby-trap vehicles east of the city of Mosul.
[Manila Times] The Philippine Army's 73rd Infantry Battalion based in Davao del Sur has begun pursuit operations to track down Mohammad Jaafar Maguid, the alleged leader of Ansar al-Khilafah (Supporters of the Caliphate) in the Philippines (AKP). He is believed to be in the hinterlands of Sarangani Province.
[Gulf Today] Philippine security forces rescued 26 people aboard a 
[The Nation] A Thai ranger was killed Wednesday morning after militants detonated a homemade bomb to ambush his patrol unit in Narathiwat province. Police said Maneethorn Kanchanakarn and 11 other rangers were on patrol when insurgents set off a gas cylinder bomb to ambush them. The two sides exchanged gunfire for about 10 minutes after the blast. Maneethorn died en route to the hospital.
...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful...
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Death toll of the six-month-old siege imposed on the town of Madaya northwest of Damascus has risen to 31, local activists and medics said Wednesday.
