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Today: 69 articles and 170 comments as of 8:46.
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The leader of the Hamza Division eliminated in Aleppo province
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 4: Opinion
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6 13:53 Deacon Blues [5]
Page 6: Politix
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Africa Horn
Senior Somali police officer allegedly arrested in Ethiopia
[Garowe] A top security official from the federal government of Somalia has allegedly been arrested in Æthiopia, an incident if confirmed, would be the first officer within the Ottoman Turkish-trained to be detained abroad.

Unconfirmed reports indicate that Ahmed Dirir, the commander of the Haramacad police contingent, a paramilitary within the Somali Police Force, was arrested by Æthiopian intelligence officials on Sunday.

However,
women are made to be loved, not understood...
Garowe Online cannot authoritatively confirm the claims but multiple sources insisted the police boss is being held by authorities in Æthiopia for questioning. Investigations have not been concluded.

It's not clear why Æthiopia would detain the police officer but this is not an isolated incident. Last year, authorities in Djibouti returned a plane carrying former National Intelligence Security Agency [NISA] boss Fahad Yasin to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
after shortly landing at the Airport.

Fahad Yasin, now a national security advisor to outgoing President Mohammed Abdullahi Farmaajo. is a divisive
...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled...
technocrat in Somalia, often accused of meddling in the country's politics. He was returned back after it emerged that he was toxic to electoral deals which were being crafted.

Ahmed Dirir on the other hand has been the head of the paramilitary unit which is accused of extrajudicial killings within Somalia. The officers have been linked to the disappearance and subsequent deaths of politicians, journalists, and civil society members.

The opposition has often accused Farmaajo of using them to settle scores with his opponents, a claim he has repeatedly denied. The officers along with the Gorgor elite forces are trained in Turkey, a friendly nation to Somalia.

For some time now, Turkey has been on the receiving end for training the troops, with the opposition writing to Ankara sometimes back over the troops' role in the destabilization of Somalia. Authorities in Turkey have also refuted the claims previously.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/01/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Five die a minibus ambush in northeast Kenya


Five people were killed Monday when a minibus in northeast Kenya was destroyed by a roadside bomb during an ambush by armed men near the border of Somalia, police said.

The attackers opened fire on the 14-seater vehicle after it ran over the explosive about eight kilometers (five miles) from Mandera town on the Kenya-Somali frontier.

“A General Service Unit patrol team, which was on foot and close to the area, responded and engaged the attackers, who fled towards Somalia border direction,” a police report on the incident said.

The attackers used guns and rocket-propelled grenades during the assault, the report added.

Several passengers survived the attack “with various degrees of injuries.”

The Mandera region is prone to raids over its long and porous land border with Somalia, where the al-Shabaab militant group controls swathes of countryside and central government authority in remote areas is weak.

Other regions bordering Somalia are also susceptible to attacks and Kenyan officials are often quick to blame the militants for assaults on its soil.

Kenya has suffered several deadly attacks by al-Shabaab fighters in retaliation for Nairobi sending troops into Somalia in 2011 as part of an African Union force to oust the extremists.

Kenya is a major contributor of troops to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

In 2015, an attack on a university in Garissa, another region sharing a border with Somalia, left 148 people dead, almost all of them students.

Most were shot at point blank range after being identified as Christians.

Last week, a number of diplomatic missions in Nairobi warned of a possible terror attack targeting foreigners in the capital.

The French and German embassies warned of a possible attack within days, while the United States issued a new security alert warning of potential for acts of violence at this time of year in Kenya.

In 2019, al-Shabaab gunmen killed 21 people at an upscale hotel complex in Nairobi, and in 2013 a bloody four-day siege in the capital’s Westgate shopping mall claimed the lives of 67 people.
Garowe adds:
An Improvised Explosive Device [IED] targeting a passenger vehicle left at least 10 people dead on Monday in Mandera, a county located several miles from Nairobi, Kenya's capital and a few kilometers from Somalia.

The morning blast also left several people badly maimed along Arabia-Mandera Highway, which has been a hotspot for al-Shabaab
...... Somalia's version of the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...

attacks. The exact number of people in the vehicle which was traveling to Mandera town is still unknown.

According to eyewitnesses, the number of casualties may skyrocket due to severe injuries inflicted on some of the occupants. Police said at least eight other passengers were seriously injured in the incident.

Authorities in Kenya suspect that the attack was waged by al-Shabaab snuffies who have been targeting the region. Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, and Lamu Counties have been major targets of the Somalia-based al-Shabaab krazed killers.

So far, Northwestern regional commissioner George Seda noted, nobody has been arrested in connection with the blast. However,
nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits...
security forces have been mobilized to pursue the attackers, he added.
Posted by: badanov || 02/01/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)


Africa North
Clashes between armed groups in Al-Zawiya, west Libya


Posted by: badanov || 02/01/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
Herdsmen Gang-rape, Kill Housewife In Ondo Community


A fruit seller, Roseline Joguntan has been gang-raped and murdered on her farm by suspected Fulani herdsmen at Igbokoda in the Ilaje council area of Ondo State.

Vanguard reports that the culprits took advantage of the victim when she was alone on the farm.

According to the report, the deceased went to the farm alongside her daughter to gather fruits for her business and had instructed the child to take the fruits home.

A source was quoted as saying, “After gathering the first basket of the fruits, she told her child to take it home. It was when the girl came back that she noticed that her mother was missing before she later found her dead in the bush.

“The deceased husband, Mr Joguntan reported the case at the police station.”

Some of the residents alleged that the Fulani herdsmen who have dominated the community in the recent past gang-raped and killed her.

According to one of the residents “no sooner had the incident happened than some herdsmen were seen vacating the town en masse.”
Posted by: badanov || 02/01/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Fulani Herdsmen (Boko Haram)

#1  “The deceased husband, Mr Joguntan reported the case at the police station.”

More prob, the husband of the deceased.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/01/2022 12:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Was the husband slapped with a cyst-and-decease order?
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/01/2022 12:19 Comments || Top||

#3  The headline starts: "Herdsmen Gang-Rape..."
I do not want to read the article.
Posted by: ed in texas || 02/01/2022 14:37 Comments || Top||

#4  Apparently wifey was more alluring than your average ewe. Bad luck for her.
Posted by: jpal || 02/01/2022 14:59 Comments || Top||

#5  (not an) Embraceable Ewe
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/01/2022 18:23 Comments || Top||

#6  As ewe would know.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/01/2022 23:48 Comments || Top||


ISWAP In Gun Battle In Yobe, Borno, Five Terrorists Die
Posted by: badanov || 02/01/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: ISWAP


Terrorists Sack Community Market In Buhari’s Home State With Gunshots, Injure Traders
Posted by: badanov || 02/01/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Gunmen Kill Benue Commissioner’s Brother On Farm
Posted by: badanov || 02/01/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:


Over 50 Persons Abducted As Terrorists Attack Katsina Village
Posted by: badanov || 02/01/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Gujarat murder case: ATS arrests Muslim cleric
[OneIndia] A Moslem holy man was arrested from Delhi by the Gujarat
...where rioting seems to be a traditional passtime...
Anti Terrorism Squad in connection with murder of a man in Gujarat's Dhandhuka town recently over an alleged objectionable Facebook post that the accused claimed hurt their religious sentiments, an official said, according to news agency PTI.

Kishan Boliya was rubbed out by cycle of violence-borne men on January 25 in retaliation for a Facebook post he had shared on January 6, for which some Moslem community members had filed a police complaint claiming it hurt their religious sentiments.

ATS officials said Maulvi Kamargani Usmani was arrested from Delhi, and he is the second holy man to be held in the case after Mohammad Ayub Javrawala, who was caught from Ahmedabad on Friday.

ATS Superintendent of Police Imtiaz Sheikh told news hounds Shabbir Chopda, who had rubbed out Boliya, was in touch with Usmani through social media platform Instagram, adding that the arrested holy man ran a social organization and instigated youth from the community to take action against those who insult Prophet Mohammad.

Chopda (25) and Imtiaz Pathan (27) were held on Friday along with Javrawala, who instigated the two to commit the crime and also arranged for the murder weapon.

Usmani had directed Chopda to get in touch with Javrawala for action against Boliya, the ATS SP said, adding that the two holy mans were in touch with each other.

The Gujarat ATS began their probe into the case on Saturday.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/01/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under: Devout Moslems


Iraq
Iraqi security forces arrests two ISIS Bad Guys in Ninevah


The Federal Intelligence and Investigation Agency the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior announced, on Monday, the arrest of the leader of Umar Bin al-Khattab Brigade and one of his aides of the Islamic State Organization (ISIS) in Nineveh Governorate, west the country.

The ISIS leader involved in several invasions against the Iraqi forces in Makhoul Mount, north of Saladin Governorate, and then was designated as the leader of Umar Bin al-Khattab Brigade and involved in the battle of Mosul against the security forces, according to the agency.

In 2019, he returned to the Iraqi capital Baghdad in order to inspect the conditions there, gather information, and implement operations there.

As for his aide, he worked for the “Islamic Police” and involved in invasions in Makhoul Mount, then he returned to Mosel where he was designated to fight against the Iraqi security forces aiming to regain control over Mosel.

Meanwhile, the statement did not mention details about the identity of the ISIS leader and his aide.
Posted by: badanov || 02/01/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


PMF UAV was downed by the Coalition warplanes


The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that crashed near Speicher military base in Saladin was shot down by the Coalition warplanes, a source revealed on Monday.

The source told Shafaq News Agency that the UAV was on a reconnaissance mission in al-Eith, east of Saladin, when it was downed by the US-led Coalition forces.

Another source told Shafaq News Agency earlier that the UAV that belongs to al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces-PMF) went down in an area between al-Mahzam and Speicher base, north of Tikrit.
Posted by: badanov || 02/01/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies


Iraqi forces kill a prominent ISIS leader


Iraq's Security Media Cell announced that the National Security forces had confirmed that the ISIS “deputy governor of north Baghdad” were killed.

In a statement, the Cell said that the DNA test approved that the body is for Adwan Farhan Jafal, so-called “Sheikh Seif.”

Sheikh Seif was killed by Iraqi airstrikes in Tarmiyah district, along with five other ISIS elements, a week ago.
Rudaw adds:
According to a report published this month by Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, there is little evidence of a significant ISIS resurgence in Iraq, with the militants increasingly isolated from the population.

“The Islamic State’s insurgency in Iraq underwent a steep decline over the last 20 months,” the global security think-tank states. “A comprehensive analysis of attack metrics shows an insurgency that has deteriorated in both the quality of its operations and overall volume of attack activity, which has fallen to its lowest point since 2003.”
Posted by: badanov || 02/01/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraqi Military Intelligence foils a suicide bombing in al-Anbar


The Iraqi military thwarted what the Security Media Cell (SMC) said on Monday was an attempted suicide bombing in al-Rutba district in the far west of al-Anbar.

"Accurate input by the intelligence department of the fifth division shed light upon an ISIS plot to carry out a bombing attack in al-Rutba," SMC said, "further follow up revealed that the suicide bomber transferred the supplies to the vicinity of Saad airbase."

"Under the command of the division's intelligence chief, a force from the reconnaissance company and the third regiment of the 19th brigade conducted an extensive search campaign in the vicinity of the airbase and was able to locate the hideout."

The security forces seized an explosive vest, four hand grenades, two projectiles, an explosive device, and other equipment.

"The seized material was detonated under controlled conditions by the Explosive Ordnance Disposal squads," SMC said.
Posted by: badanov || 02/01/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Two Iraqi soldiers injured in Nineveh


Two soldiers were injured in an explosion in Nineveh governorate, a security source reported.

The source said that an explosive device blew up in al-Sahaji area in Nineveh.
Posted by: badanov || 02/01/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas said hunting for fugitive ‘Israeli agent’ after jailbreak
[IsraelTimes] Abed Alkrim Abu Ouda, former member of terror group’s armed wing, was arrested in 2019 on suspicion of mapping underground tunnels with device given by Israeli handlers

Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", security forces were scouring 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 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...
Strip over the weekend in search of a man who beat feet from a maximum-security prison, Paleostinian media reported Sunday.

The runaway was identified as 35-year-old Abed Alkrim Abu Ouda, who served as a member of Hamas’s military wing before he was arrested by the terror group in 2019 on suspicion of mapping underground tunnels with a tracking device he allegedly received from his Israeli handlers.

It was not clear how Abu Ouda, who was being held in the Ansar Prison, managed to escape.

Hamas has arrested a number of suspects on suspicion of helping Abu Ouda, according to Paleostinian media.

Authorities also set up checkpoints and deployed dozens of security officers in several parts of the Gaza Strip, especially near the border with Israel.

The terrorist group even postponed all fishing activities for several hours on Saturday out of fear he would escape the Strip via the sea.

According to some Paleostinian media outlets, Abu Ouda managed to cross into Israel.

While the IDF did report over the weekend that an individual had tried to cross the border fence, there was no indication that person was Abu Ouda.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/01/2022 01:11 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  IF, (big if), he was working as an agent for the IDF, he was bound to have an emergency contact 'safe' plan. A phone number, a drop site to leave a note, etc.
The moment he thought he was away clean, the plan runs. Time is not your friend in this.
Posted by: ed in texas || 02/01/2022 14:29 Comments || Top||


Russian signal jammers accused again of interfering with flights entering Israel
[IsraelTimes] Airplanes flying into Israel from the west are again experiencing problems, due to a signal spoofing system installed by Russia in Syria, Israel’s Kan news outlet reports.

According to the report, pilots began having issues a few weeks ago, and Israel has sent a message to Moscow informing it that the system is interfering with its civilian airspace, but Russia has insisted the system is needed to protect its soldiers.

The interference with the airplanes’ GPS reception appears to stem from a form of electronic warfare known as "spoofing," which Russia has been accused of doing in the past as a defensive measure, despite the disruptions it causes to nearby aircraft and ships.

According to the report, the issue is related to a signal jammer installed at Hmeimem air base in Latakia, close to where some alleged Israeli air strikes have taken place recently. However,
there's no worse danger than telling a mother her baby is ugly...
officials reportedly believe the jamming to be aimed at other targets, with Israel just collateral damage.

One pilot tells the station that the spoofing has caused pilots to have to react suddenly, such as when a plane’s GPS guidance system tells it is in a different place than it is, or that it suddenly has to pull up immediately.

"What we’ve run into is [electromagnetic] spectrum interference from the east, which has taken us a while to understand what it is," the pilot says.

Even before the report on the jamming, some had taken notice of odd behavior by Israeli planes nearing Israel.

In 2019, Israel civil air authorities complained publicly that similar Russian interference was having a "significant impact on all aspects of operating a plane from the cockpit, as well as on managing air traffic."

Russia dismissed the allegations as fake news, but the problem was dealt with, until recently.

This time, there has been no official confirmation or complaint about the interference.

The pilot charged that officials knew of the problem but were "burying their heads in the sand," rather than issue an official complaint.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/01/2022 01:11 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So, Iranians using Russian technology, in Syria, against Israeli (only?) aircraft. That's globalization!
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/01/2022 12:14 Comments || Top||

#2  You know the Israelis are working hard to find a way to jam the jammers. Fun and games.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 02/01/2022 13:44 Comments || Top||

#3  The interesting thing about this, discovered in the invasion of Iraq, is that the jammers can be killed by a 'tuned' beam rider missile. Saddam had them, and they didn't survice very long. I suppose we're on about Gen 4 of this now.
Posted by: ed in texas || 02/01/2022 14:34 Comments || Top||

#4  Those pesky Russians! We should have turned Patton loose on them after WWII but Truman would have none of it. Think about it today if Russia had become a US state before Alaska or Hawaii.
Posted by: jpal || 02/01/2022 15:06 Comments || Top||

#5  Signal jammers or simply the Russian 5G rollout?
Posted by: SteveS || 02/01/2022 15:18 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Security sweeps continue in Hakasah


For the five consecutive day, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Internal Security Forces of North and East Syria (Asayish) are still combing neighborhoods in the city of Hasakah, northeast Syria, in search for the Islamic State Organization (ISIS) members.

Both neighborhoods of al-Aziziyah and al-Ghazel, east of Hasakah, are subjected to an extensive combing operations by Asayish in search for ISIS inmates who are still on the loose, according to North Press correspondent.

On Monday, shooting heard in an area north of al-Sina’a prison reporting no details.

So far, Asayish arrested hundreds of mercenaries and killed a number of them who refused to surrender, Hussein Salmo, co-chair of Jazira Region Military Council, said yesterday.

Simultaneously, combing operations are continuing in neighborhoods of Guweiran and al-Zohour adjacent to al-Sina’a prison, south of Hasakah.

Since Friday, residents of western Guweiran neighborhood have been gradually returning to their houses after combing parts of the neighborhood has finished.

Since January 26, SDF and Asayish managed to arrest hundreds of ISIS members and escapees from the prison during the combing operations, according to statements by military commanders.

On January 20, about 200 ISIS members attacked al-Sina’a prison in Guweiran neighborhood in an attempt to break their fellow inmates from it, according to SDF General Command.



Rudaw adds:
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Monday said that the death toll was 121 of its fighters, prison guards and civilians, as well as 374 ISIS members since the clashes started.
Posted by: badanov || 02/01/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under:


SDF defuses IEDs in Deir Ezzor, arrests 27 ISIS turbans in Raqqa


On Monday, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) defused an improvised explosive device (IED) that was planned to target a school in the town of Dhiban, 50 km east of Deir ez-Zor, east Syria.

The media center of the Hajin Military Council (affiliated with the SDF) published on its official website that the engineering division of the Hajin Military Council forces managed to defuse an IED.

The bomb, according to the media center, was planned for remote detonation to target a primary school in Latwa neighborhood, in the center of Dhiban town in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor.

It is noteworthy that the SDF has recently intensified its security operations in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, after the increased attacks of ISIS cells in the area.

Yesterday, the Hajin Military Council announced on its Facebook account the arrest of nine ISIS cells in an SDF security operation in the towns of Abu Hamam and Abu Hardoub, east of Deir ez-Zor.

SDF arrests 27 ISIS suspects in Raqqa

[Rudaw] The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Monday announced the arrest of 27 suspected members of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) in Raqqa. Dozens of other people were arrested the previous day for smuggling members of the group out of a prison.

"Our SDF and the Internal Security Forces conducted a security operation targeting the Deash terrorist cells in several villages and squatter camps in the eastern countryside of Raqqa city," the US-allied force said in a statement.

"Our forces raided a number of points in the camps where Deash terrorist cells used to hide and prepare for terrorist operations. As a result of the operation, 27 holy warriors and suspects were arrested and handed over to competent authorities," it added.

The SDF said on Sunday that they arrested 26 people in Deir ez-Zor, accusing them for being “active in smuggling & transferring detainees out of #Ghweran prison.”
Posted by: badanov || 02/01/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:


Revolutionary Guard Kills Gunman in Attack in Southern Iran


Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard killed an unidentified gunman who attacked its intelligence office Monday in southern Iran, near the Pakistani border, the country's state-run IRNA news agency reported.

The report said the attack happened in the town of Saravan, in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, about 1,360 kilometers (850 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran. According to the report, a local citizen was also wounded during the shootout.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack and the report did not say whether the attacker acted alone or provide any further details. It said the case is under investigation.

Sistan and Baluchistan, one of the least developed parts of Iran, has been the scene of occasional clashes between Iranian forces and various militant groups. The relationship between the predominantly Sunni residents of the region and Iran's Shiite theocracy has long been fraught.

The province, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, is also where a Sunni separatist group affiliated with al-Qaida and known as Jeish al-Adl, or Army of Justice, operates.

Security forces have also clashed with drug traffickers in the province, located along a major smuggling route for Afghan opium and heroin.

In March 2021, an explosion killed one person and wounded three in Saravan.

Last month, the Guard and an armed criminal gang clashed in the province, leaving three Guard members and "at least five bandits" dead in the district of Kourin. And in July, armed bandits shot and killed four Guard members in the province.
Posted by: badanov || 02/01/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under:


Alleged Israeli airstrike targets sites near Damascus
[JPost] The alleged airstrikes come hours after a ballistic missile launched by Iran-backed Houthis targeted Abu Dhabi

Syrian air defenses were activated in response to an alleged Israeli missile barrage targeting the vicinity of the capital Damascus, state media said early on Monday citing a military source. This is the first alleged Israeli airstrike reported in Syria this year.

The source was quoted as saying that the interception resulted in some material damage.

The missiles were launched from the direction of Riyaq, a Lebanese town east of Beirut, according to the Syrian SANA news agency.

According to the opposition-affiliated Halab Today TV, the strikes targeted sites belonging to the Assad regime near Al-Qutayfah, northeast of Damascus, causing injuries and material damage.

A series of cargo flights on airlines used to transport Iranian weapons traveled between Iran and Syria in recent weeks, according to independent flight trackers.

Courtesy of badanov:


Israeli strikes early Monday hit a military outpost and weapons depot operated by Hizbullah near the Syrian capital Damascus, a war monitor reported Monday.

"Sites operated by the Lebanese Hizbullah group... in the east Qalamoun region, northeast of Damascus, were hit by Israeli strikes at dawn," the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The war monitor, which relies on sources inside Syria, said that the attack sparked fires "in military outposts and arms depots belonging to Hizbullah".

The Observatory said there were believed to be casualties but it did not offer a toll.

Asked about Israeli strikes near Damascus, the Israeli army told AFP: "We do not comment on reports in the foreign media."

Official Syrian state media said the attack caused only material damage, without elaborating on its intended target.

"At 3:05 am today, the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial assault with a volley of missiles... targeting some points on the outskirts of Damascus," SANA news agency said.

"Our air defenses responded to the attack and intercepted some" of the missiles, it added.

Posted by: Frank G || 02/01/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies


Lebanon catches Israeli spy ring operating throughout country- report
[JPost] We've got Juice everywhere!
The spy rings reportedly provided Israel with intelligence on Hezbollah and Palestinian factions in the country.

Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi announced on Monday that 17 spy networks working for Israel were caught throughout Lebanon recently, according to Lebanese media.

Earlier on Monday, a report by the Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper stated that more than 15 Israeli spy networks with over 35 members had been caught by security forces in Lebanon in the last four weeks.

According to the report, the Information Branch of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces Directorate launched an operation four weeks ago to dismantle the spy networks one by one. The newspaper added that the branch is trying to keep the operation under wraps by claiming that the suspects were arrested for fraud and drug crimes.

Al-Akhbar claimed that "very sensitive" information showed that, in the past two years, Israeli intelligence has succeeded in conducting a number of "remarkable" operations in Lebanon and Syria and possibly in other locations as well.

About five weeks ago, a special officer reported to the Information Branch that he had found a sign of work for an operation, with follow-up finding a connection to Israel. The tip set off the branch's largest-ever operation against Israeli intelligence, with the case involving dozens of people suspected of supplying Israel, directly or indirectly, with or without prior knowledge, with information related to its goals.

The spies were monitoring not just Hezbollah, but also the Palestinian factions in Lebanon, including Hamas. The network had also managed to penetrate into the Information Branch itself and get very close to its leadership, according to Al-Akhbar.

Another spy from southern Lebanon breached Hezbollah, saying that he had been recruited by an organization claiming to be working for the United Nations to collect statistics, studies and polls. The spy had taken part in fighting in Syria.

The Lebanese al-Janoubia news ridiculed Hezbollah for being unable to detect the spies while the Information Branch, which has been criticized by Hezbollah in the past, was able to find the spy ring within Hezbollah.

A Syrian citizen was arrested in Damascus as part of the crackdown on the Israeli intelligence ring as well, according to Al-Akhbar. The Syrian was reportedly monitoring civilian, military and commercial sites and providing maps from within the Syrian capital, but was not aware he was working with Israel.

A number of workers in NGOs in Lebanon were also found to be part of the ring.

The report additionally claimed that the cell was linked to the explosion of a Hamas weapons depot in the Burj al-Shamali refugee camp in southern Lebanon in December.

The spies were communicated with via websites and closed chat rooms, as well as phone calls via Lebanese phone lines, according to the report. The Information Branch reportedly revealed that Israel was using a new method of operation, conducting most of its recruitment of agents through social media, with the motive of many of the agents being money due to the worsening economic crisis in Lebanon.

The agents received payments through money transfer companies with the source of the funds coming from locations in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia.

The suspects came from all sects and a number of nationalities, according to the report, including Sunni, Shi'ite, Druze and Christian Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians. The networks operated throughout Lebanon.

One detainee, from Tripoli, reportedly stated that he hated Hezbollah and was "ready to do anything against the party," adding that he took the initiative to contact the Israelis. The detainee was reportedly trained to use drones and was even provided with one.

With one of the suspects in Sidon, family members claimed that the charges are "slander," saying that he was in financial distress and was too cowardly to be an agent. “My son, Tafran, is a coward who is afraid of his shadow,” his father told Al-Akhbar.

The Al-Akhbar report added that the Information Branch is expected in the coming hours to provide judicial authorities with investigation records in preparation for referring the detainees to the military court.

Lebanese Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri praised the "qualitative achievement" by the Information Branch in its exposing the spy network.

In October, Turkish media reported that a Mossad network of 15 Arabs, including Palestinians, were caught by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT).
Courtesy of badanov, Al Arabiya adds:
Al-Akhbar, a newspaper supportive of Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah movement, reported the busts on Monday, calling it the largest operation against suspected Israeli agents in the country for 13 years.

It said that the ISF’s intelligence unit started the crackdown four weeks ago and had so far detained around 20 people, including Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian nationals -- some of whom were later released.

The al-Akhbar report claimed that at least 12 of the suspects in detention were aware they working for Israel, while the rest believed they were providing information for global companies or nonprofit organizations.
From The Times of Israel:
According to Al-Akhbar, security forces initially uncovered two alleged moles — a senior official in the directorate and a member of Hezbollah who had previously fought in Syria, saying that he had been recruited by an organization claiming to be working for the United Nations.

In Damascus, a man was also arrested for providing maps of roads and buildings in the Syrian capital.
Posted by: Frank G || 02/01/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


The leader of the Hamza Division eliminated in Aleppo province
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin

[ColonelCassad] In the Al-Baba area, unidentified persons eliminated one of the leaders of the Hamza Division,
...one of the paramilitary units the Turks put together to form the Syrian Liberation Front...
Safi al-Ali, one of the main pro-Turkish groups in northern Syria, which has been operating in Syria since 2013. The Hamza Division fighters, in addition to hostilities in Syria, took part in hostilities in Libya and Karabakh.
Ah. The poor shmoes Turkey sent abroad to get them out from underfoot, but consistently forgot to pay...
Judging by the photographs, the car was shot almost point-blank from automatic weapons. So far, no one has claimed responsibility for this liquidation.

MAJOR VERSIONS.
1. Safi al-Ali was eliminated by Kurdish guerrillas operating from Afrin.

2. Safi al-Ali was removed by the Turks themselves due to some of their own reasons for the "rotation" of the leadership of controlled groups.

3. Safi al-Ali was eliminated by agents of the Syrian Mukhabarat operating in the territories occupied by Turkey.

4. Safi al-Ali was part of the internecine struggle of pro-Turkish groups or ISIS militants.

In any case, whoever ends it, a rather significant murder - in recent years he was one of the most senior leaders of the "green factions" oriented towards Turkey.



A leader in the Turkish-backed al-Hamza Division was killed yesterday evening, in an attack carried out by unknown gunmen in the city of al-Bab, east of Aleppo.

Unidentified gunmen directly shot the car of the leader of the Hamza Division, Safi al-Ali, a local source told North Press.

The leader was targeted in front of his house in the Haydariyah neighborhood north of the city, while the attackers fled away, the source added.

Since 2017, al-Bab city has been under the control of the Turkish-backed armed Syrian opposition factions following Operation Euphrates Shield, which was led by Turkey.

Areas under the control of the Turkish-backed factions have been witnessing security chaos accompanied by frequent explosions, in addition to cases of abduction and corruption amid the failure of these factions to maintain security.

On Sunday, Head of the local council of Rajo district, north of Afrin, Khalil Haj Oso, was seriously injured and his 15-year-old child was killed in an IED explosion inside his car in Afrin region, north of Aleppo, northern Syria.
Posted by: badanov || 02/01/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Ottoman Proxies



Who's in the News
34[untagged]
5Islamic State
3Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
3Taliban/IEA
2Palestinian Authority
2Govt of Iran Proxies
2Commies
2Migrants/Illegal Immigrants
1Govt of Sudan
1Hamas
1Hezbollah
1Houthis
1ISWAP
1Jaish-e-Mohammad
1Moslem Colonists
1Muslim Brotherhood
1Ottoman Proxies
1Sublime Porte
1al-Shabaab (AQ)
1Fulani Herdsmen (Boko Haram)
1Devout Moslems
1Govt of Iran
1Govt of Pakistain Proxies
1Govt of Pakistan

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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2022-02-01
  The leader of the Hamza Division eliminated in Aleppo province
Mon 2022-01-31
  Cairo court sentences 10 to death over terrorism charges; including Yehia Mousa
Sun 2022-01-30
  DR Congo sentences 51 accused of killing UN staff
Sat 2022-01-29
  Russia insists ‘we don’t want wars’ as it ponders Ukraine-NATO answer
Fri 2022-01-28
  Fighting Rages on Between Libyan Army and ISIS
Thu 2022-01-27
  SDF declare victory in week-long ISIS stand off in northeast Syrian prison, 181 dead thus far
Wed 2022-01-26
  Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer Announces Retirement
Tue 2022-01-25
  Over 120 Killed After ISIS Mass Prison Break In US-Occupied Northeast Syri, 140+ as of Monday
Mon 2022-01-24
  Egyptian court sentences Mufti of Al-Qaeda affiliate 'Al-Nusra Front' to life in prison
Sun 2022-01-23
  56 IS terrorists killed in northeast Syria
Sat 2022-01-22
  Iran says in talks with Russia to build nuclear power units
Fri 2022-01-21
  Al Qaeda announces death of former Bin Laden associate
Thu 2022-01-20
  Indonesian Militant Linked to Bali Bombings Sentenced to 15 Years
Wed 2022-01-19
  Mohammed al-Houthi: Yemen's only goal is the end of aggression
Tue 2022-01-18
  The Houthis attack Abu Dhabi, Arabian coalition airstrikes Sanaa


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