The Afghan security forces have seized a large cache of weapons, ammunition, explosives, and other types of military equipment from a school in Jalalabad city, the provincial capital of eastern Nangarhar province.
The Afghan Intelligence, National Directorate of Security (NDS), said the cache was located inside a school in the 2nd police district of Jalalabad city.
According to a statement by NDS, the cache was discovered and seized during a special operation conducted by the operatives of the intelligence.
According to NDS, the cache included seven RPG-7 rocket launchers, 4 Dshk heavy machine gun, two Ak-47 assault rifles, sixteen communication devices, $110,000 cash, four large sets of communication devices, thousands of rounds of ammunition.
The Afghan security forces also confiscated three video cameras, and several other types of military kits from the cache.
NDS said at least two suspects have been arrested in connection to the storage of the weapons, ammunition, and explosives.
Nangarhar is among the relatively calm provinces but the anti-government armed militant groups have recently increased to their insurgency activities in this province, including the militants affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group.
At least seventeen militants affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group have been killed in a series of airstrikes in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.
The provincial police commandment in a statement said the airstrikes were carried out late on Tuesday night in Achin district.
The statement further added at least four airstrikes were carried out targeting the militants in the vicinity of Pekh and Mamand Dara areas.
According to the police commandment, several weapons, ammunition, and explosives belonging to the militants were also destroyed.
The local residents and security forces did not suffer any casualties during the airstrikes, the police commandment added.
Nangarhar is among the relatively calm provinces in eastern Afghanistan but the anti-government armed militant groups have recently increased their insurgency activities in some parts of the province during the recent years.
The latest coordinated attack by ISIS loyalists came as the Afghan forces are busy conducting counter-terrorism operations in the restive districts of Nangarhar under the Shaheen-25 operations launched several weeks ago.
The operations are being conducted with the support of the US forces based in Afghanistan who are providing close-air support under a broader role granted by the Obama administration earlier last year to target the terrorist groups in the country.
Posted by: badanov ||
03/16/2017 00:00 ||
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A top commander of the Haqqani terrorist network was killed in an airstrike conducted in southeastern Paktika province of Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Interior (MoI) said “Yesterday evening, a top commander of the Haqqani terrorist network along with nine others killed and two others wounded in a targeted airstrike of the Afghan Air Force.”
The air raid took place in the Dara-e-Shinki village, Zirok district of eastern Paktika province, MoI added.
According to the Ministry, during the air raid, two vehicles and some amount of light and heavy rounds of ammunition were also destroyed.
Haqqani network was formed in the late 1970s by Jalaluddin Haqqani. The group is allied with al-Qaida and the Afghan Taliban and cooperates with other terrorist organizations in the region.
The US Department of State designated the HQN as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on September 7, 2012.
This come as local officials in Paktika said at least twenty nine insurgents of the Taliban group including two senior leaders of the group were killed in a US drone strike in the same district on Monday.
At least eight Daesh militants and two Taliban insurgents were killed on Tuesday by Afghan air strikes, the Ministry of Interior statement said.
The eight Daesh militants were targeted by Afghan air forces in Jawargar village of Achin district of Nangarhar province.
Two other armed Taliban insurgents were targeted in Kunduz province on Tuesday. The air strike was conducted in Yatimak village of Chahar Dara district of Kunduz province.
During the strikes the insurgent’s explosives-rigged vehicle and other light and heavy ammunition was destroyed.
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03/16/2017 00:00 ||
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Armed men are demanding a ransom for the release of an oil tanker they have seized off the coast of Somalia and the crew is being held captive, the European Union anti-piracy operation in the region announced late Tuesday. An EU Naval Force statement said the operation had finally made contact with the ship’s master, who confirmed that armed men were aboard the Comoros-flagged tanker Aris 13.
Monday’s hijacking was the first such seizure of a large commercial vessel off Somalia since 2012. It came as a surprise to the global shipping industry as patrols by the navies of NATO countries, as well as China, India and Iran, had suppressed Somali pirate hijackings for several years.
However, the United Nations warned in October that the situation was fragile and that Somali pirates “possess the intent and capability to resume attacks.” One expert said some in the region had let down their guard as the situation calmed. NATO ended its anti-piracy mission off Somalia in December.
A Somali pirate who said he was in touch with the armed men aboard the tanker said the amount of ransom to demand had not yet been decided.
Bile Hussein told The Associated Press that the armed men have locked most of the crew in one room and cut off communication lines. “Their main concern now is a possible rescue attempt, so that’s why all communications were cut off in the afternoon,” he said.
The Aris 13, manned by eight Sri Lankan sailors, was carrying fuel from Djibouti to Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, when it was approached by men in two skiffs, said John Steed, the director of Oceans Beyond Piracy. The EU statement said the ship’s master issued a mayday alert.
An official in Somalia’s semiautonomous state of Puntland said over two dozen men boarded the ship off the country’s northern coast, an area known to be used by weapons smugglers and members of the al-Qaida-linked extremist group al-Shabab.
The ship was anchored Tuesday off the town of Alula, said Salad Nur, a local elder. “The ship is on the coast now and more armed men boarded the ship,” he told the AP by phone.
The EU Naval Force said it had passed the information from its contact with the ship’s master to the oil tanker’s owners and an investigation was underway.
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement it was in touch with shipping agents and officials abroad for more information to help ensure the crew’s “safety and welfare.”
A U.N. shipping database shows the Aris 13 is owned by Armi Shipping SA, whose address is listed in care of Aurora Ship Management FZE, a company based in the United Arab Emirates. Calls and emails to Aurora went unanswered.
The incident involving the Aris 13 represents the first commercial pirate attack off Somalia since 2012, Steed of Oceans Beyond Piracy said.
“The pirates never went away, they were just doing other forms of crime and if any of the measures reduce (which they have, or ships take risks) the pirates are poised to exploit the weakness,” he said in an email.
Somali pirates usually hijack ships and crew for ransom. They don’t normally kill hostages unless they come under attack.
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03/16/2017 00:00 ||
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Libyan National Army bomb disposal experts defused a car bomb in Brega tonight. It is unclear where or how the black saloon was discovered but pictures on social media show soldiers standing beside two large shells apparently taken from the vehicle.
There were also reports this evening of clashes to the east of Sirte between LNA units and the Misratan 166 Brigade which is in charge of security in the town.
Meanwhile the Bunyan Marsous operations room announced that Sirte had been put under an overnight curfew until further notice. The ban on all civilian movement between 8pm and 7am was being put in place said BM because of remaining IS fighters in the town. Until now it had been thought that all the terrorists had been driven out toward Bani Walid where some 90 of them perished in US air strikes in February.
Meanwhile the Benghazi Defence Brigades insisted today that though they had been forced from Ras Lanuf and Sidra they were still in the vicinity of the Oil Crescent. However the LNA said that its aircraft had been striking that BDB “and its allies” in Jufra and that troops were moving south towards them.
The siege of the 12 Apartments complex in Ganfouda continues. The BRSC has posted that one of its commanders Jalal Makhzum had been killed in the fighting there.
Today saw a visit to the Oil Crescent by the head of the eastern National Oil Corporation established by the interim government of Abdullah Al-Thinni. Alwasat reported that Naji Al-Maghrabi had toured oil installations but did not say where. As with the rival central banks in Tripoli and Beida, the rival eastern and western NOCs had been working together. But there are fears that after the BDB assault on the Ras Lanuf and Sidra export terminals, the east may not be prepared to restore control of the Oil Crescent to Tripoli NOC, as it did when Hafter ousted Ibrahim Jadhran’s renegade Petroleum Facilities Guard last September.
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03/16/2017 00:00 ||
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TRIPOLI: Forces loyal to Libya’s UN-backed unity government seized the headquarters of a rival militia on Wednesday in a third day of intense fighting for control of Tripoli.
The capital has seen exchanges of rocket and artillery fire between unity government forces and a militia loyal to former Prime Minister Khalifa Ghweil.
Since taking power from Ghweil’s administration in March 2016, the Government of National Accord (GNA) has secured the backing of powerful militias in the capital, but some districts remain outside its control.
Ghweil refuses to recognize the GNA’s authority.
Government forces launched an assault on his headquarters in the Guest Palace, a complex of luxury villas in the city center, and overran it after heavy fighting.
“It’s over. Ghweil’s forces have pulled out and GNA forces have taken control of the area,” a witness told AFP.
A security source confirmed the militia’s withdrawal, but had no immediate word on any casualties.
It was the third straight day of fighting between government forces and the militia, who are mainly drawn from Ghweil’s hometown, third city Misrata.
Gunfire and explosions were heard from multiple parts of the capital.
A rocket hit the Al-Khadhra Hospital without causing any casualties, a medic said.
Gunmen stormed the headquarters of Al-Nabaa television, a privately owned channel known for its conservative leanings, witnesses said.
The channel remained off the air on Wednesday. The fighting brought life in the capital to a standstill, with schools and shops closed.
UN Libya envoy Martin Kobler on Tuesday tweeted an appeal for an “immediate cease-fire,” saying the fighting put civilians at “grave risk.”
Clashes erupted in the neighborhoods of Hay Al-Andalus and Gargaresh on Monday evening, prompting the government to deploy tanks.
Tripoli’s GNA-allied police said security forces in Tripoli were battling “outlaw groups that are destabilizing security and inciting chaos.”
“It was our duty to eradicate them and fight them to stabilize the capital,” the police added.
Heavy fighting has also rocked the east of Libya where forces loyal to military strongman Khalifa Haftar announced their recapture of two key oil ports on Tuesday.
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03/16/2017 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] Four teenage jacket wallahs killed two people and injured 16 others in a residential area in the northeast Nigeria ... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border... n city of Maiduguri, a disaster agency front man said on Wednesday.
The girls knocked on the door of a house and then detonated their devices, a representative of the state-run emergency service in Borno State said.
The focus on individual homes is a new tactic.
The blasts in the Muna Garage area, on the edge of the city worst hit by jihadist group 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... 's eight year insurgency, occurred around 1:15 a.m (0015 GMT), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) front man Abdulkadir Ibrahim said.
"Four female teenage suicide bombers and two other men died," he said.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said the blasts occurred in the Usmanti area on the outskirts of Maiduguri. Usmanti is near a sprawling camp for people who have been driven from the remote countryside by Boko Haram violence and, increasingly, the need for food.
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03/16/2017 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Another policeman has been killed during an upsurge of violence in a Shiite-dominated district of 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... , official media said on Wednesday.
Gunfire broke out at about 7:30 pm (1630 GMT) Tuesday when police tried to stop a suspicious car near the central hospital in Qatif, on the Gulf coast, the interior ministry said in a statement.
Someone in the car started shooting, mortally wounding one of the officers, it said.
His colleagues stopped the suspects' car but they escaped "while shooting randomly" and then stole the car of a doctor to make their getaway, the ministry added.
Police found Molotov cocktails in the suspects' abandoned vehicle, which also had been stolen.
The dead policeman is the second Qatif officer rubbed out in just over a week.
Another was bumped off on March 7 as he tried to leave a Qatif cop shoppe in his personal car.
Two days later a "terrorism" suspect was rubbed out and a policeman maimed during a firefight in the Qatif area.
Last Saturday police said they came under fire while looking for suspects in the Shiite town of Awamiya.
They "responded as necessary," leading to the death of a teenager who was wanted, they said.
At least 10 coppers have now been rubbed out since 2014 in the Qatif area, where cop shoppes are guarded by unusually heavy security with concrete walls or protective barriers.
Most of Saudi Arabia's Shiites live in the oil-rich east, where they have long complained of marginalization in the Sunni-majority kingdom.
There has been periodic unrest since Shiite protests began in 2011 and developed into a call for equality.
[METRO UK] A letter bomb has detonated at the offices of the International Monetary Fund in the centre of Paris. The letter exploded when it was opened this morning.
A police source in France said that one person was slightly injured to the face. No other damage has been reported from the incident in western Paris, a police official said.
The Paris police department said on Twitter an operation was ongoing at the offices of the IMF and World Bank after a person was hurt following the apparent explosion of a suspect package.
#1
Addressed to Wolfgang Schaüble, the finance minister, the package came from Greece and contained "an explosive mixture" that could have caused "considerable" damage, said police.
[DW] German police have said a package containing explosives was delivered to Germany's Finance Ministry. Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office has seized and destroyed the package. No injuries have been reported.
Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) confirmed that it had been filled with a mixture of low-grade explosives, similar to those found in fire crackers. Police also reported that the mixture is often used in pyrotechnics and could have caused serious injuries, had the package been opened.
Not enough information to determine if this is a true War in Terror situation or Black Bloc anarchists, Turkish Grey Wolves avenging Erdogan's honour, communists, neo-Nazis, or yoots having fun.
I'll take 'yoots having fun' for $600.
The Metro UK article you posted at 8:06 a.m. EDT about the letter bomb sent to the IMF in Paris names the little miscreants:
The incident, just six weeks before a presidential election, comes as a militant Greek group Conspiracy of Fire Cells claimed responsibility for a parcel bomb mailed to German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Wednesday.
Greece’s interior ministry said authorities in both Greece and Germany were working together on the case.
A Greek police source said the package had a Greek stamp. The “sender” of the parcel was given as a deputy leader of the opposition New Democracy party — along with his real address.
#2
Could be, Skidmark. Wikipedia has an article on the lads. They appeared in 2008 bombing upscale car dealerships and banks, claiming to be a third kind of anarchist -- anarcho-individualism, which is somehow different than social anarchism and insurrectionary anarchism. The article reports nothing on them after 2011.
Security officials on Wednesday apprehended 26 suspects including 11 Afghan nationals in joint search operations in various cities, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) stated in a press release.
Punjab Rangers, police and intelligence officials conducted search operations in Islamabad and Rawalpindi as well as different cities of Punjab, including Dera Ghazi Khan, Lahore, Sialkot, Attock, Hassanabdal, Narowal, Shakargarh and Rajanpur.
Weapons, ammunition, improvised explosive devices as well as material required to build suicide jackets such as circuits were also confiscated during the operation.
The development is part of Operation Raddul Fasaad, which translates roughly to 'elimination of discord'.
Read more: Progress on NAP: 1,865 terrorists killed, over 5,000 arrested, says report
The Pakistan Army launched the operation in February 2017 following a spate of terror attacks that claimed more than 100 lives in Pakistan.
The military action is aimed at indiscriminately eliminating the "residual/latent threat of terrorism", consolidating the gains made in other military operations, and further ensuring the security of Pakistan's borders.
Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Navy, Civil Armed Forces (CAF) and other security and law enforcing agencies (LEAs) will be part of the operation, which is intended to be a continuation of National Action Plan (NAP).
According to a recent progress report on NAP, shared by Minister of State for Interior Balighur with the Senate, so far some 1,865 suspected terrorists have killed and over 5,000 arrested.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi army forces arrested on Wednesday ten Islamic State members in western Mosul, including the extremist group’s so-called oil and finance ministers.
BasNews quoted Col. Thamer Jaber, from the 9th division, saying Iraqi troops captured two more villages in western Mosul after intense fighting with IS fighters. He said the forces were backed by an aerial cover from the U.S.-led international military coalition.
Battles, according to the officer, left 11 militants dead, including four suicide bombers. He added that ten others were also arrested, including IS “oil minister”, Hossam Gala-Eddin, and finance minister, Ghazi al-Tikriti, but did not mention their exact nationalities.
Iraqi government forces recaptured eastern Mosul from Islamic State on January 24th after three months of battles. Security commanders recently said they became in control of 30 percent of western Mosul since another offensive launched in February to retake the region.
Iraqi troops have made remarkable victories in the west by recapturing major government facilities, a military base and the city’s airport. Commanders said Tuesday they became in control over 90 percent of the Old City, a much-wanted target believed decisive for putting government troops closer to final victory.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said hours earlier that the battle for Mosul was entering its final stages.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Sixty percent of western Mosul has become under Iraqi government troops’ control, a spokesperson said Wednesday as troops push deeper in the region against Islamic State militants.
Sabah al-Nuaman, a spokesperson of the Counter-Terrorism Forces, said 60 percent of western Mosul has become under security forces’ control. “Operations are continuing in the eastern axis (of operations) and are not affected by inclement weather,” Nuaman said. “The Counter-Terrorism Service is preparing to advance in the western axis,” he added.
The police service said three days ago that security troops were controlling a third of western Mosul.
Iraqi government forces recaptured eastern Mosul from Islamic State on January 24th after three months of battles, and launched a new offensive in mid February to retake the west.
Iraqi troops have made remarkable victories in the west by recapturing major government facilities, a military base and the city’s airport. Commanders said Tuesday they became in control over 90 percent of the Old City, a much-wanted target believed decisive in putting government troops closer to final victory.
Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition generals had predicted the battle to end within six months, but Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi said Tuesday the operations were entering their final stages.
Iraqi forces capture Old Bridge in Mosul Google Map at the link
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraq’s Federal Police command said Wednesday that government forces had become in control over a strategic bridge in western Mosul as battles rage on to expel Islamic State militants from that region.
Federal Police chief Shaker Jawdat was quoted saying that the 2nd and 3rd divisions, backed by Rapid Response teams, took over Mosul’s Old Bridge (aka Iron Bridge), which links central Mosul’s Old City with the eastern side, passing above the Tigris River.
Jawdat added that forces continued incursions inside Bab al-Jadid and Bab al-Bid, both districts inside the Old City which police said were recaptured on Tuesday.
The bridge, a vital target in the combat operations for western Mosul, is one of the five bridges connecting both sides of the city. The bridges had been partially damaged by airstrikes to isolate the liberated eastern Mosul from the IS-held west. The Iraqi forces had installed a floating bridge upon starting the offensive on western Mosul last month to allow supplies and backup from the east. If recaptured, the Iron Bridge will be the third to be retaken by Iraqi forces.
“Our troops are making a steady advance towards the Grand Mosque and we are now less than 800 meters from the mosque,” a federal police spokesman said, quoted by Reuters.
Earlier on Wednesday, the army’s Counter-Terrorism Force said 60 percent of western Mosul became under government troops control.
3 ISIS Top Turbans smoked in central Mosul Google Map at the link
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Airstrikes by the Iraqi army jets killed three senior Islamic State leaders in central Mosul on Wednesday, Iraq’s military intelligence service said as government troops achieve more victories in on the ground at that region.
A statement by the service said the strike by Iraqi fighter jets killed the trio in Mosul al-Jadida, a district retaken by the forces hours earlier near the Old City.
Those included Mohamed Fathy al-Jubouri, a so-designated “military official” for the group in western Mosul, his aide, Ahmed Nawwaf al-Jubouri and Abu Anas al-Jubouri, a suicide squads official, according to the statement.
Iraqi government troops have made further accomplishments in central Mosul’s Old City, most recently taking over the third of five bridges linking both sides of the city, besides other neighborhood in the Old City.
A spokesperson for the Counter-Terrorism Service said earlier on Wednesday that government forces became in control of 60 percent of the western side.
Iraqi government forces recaptured eastern Mosul from Islamic State on January 24th after three months of battles.
Since a new offensive launched in February to retake the western section, Iraqi troops have made remarkable victories by recapturing major government facilities, a military base and the city’s airport.
Iraqi force capture Badush region in Mosul Google Map at the link
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi government troops and allied paramilitary groups retook Wednesday a major region in western Mosul from Islamic State militants, adding to earlier victories made in the region over the past few days.
The Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell quoted the Joint Operations Command saying that the army’s 9th division, backed by paramilitary groups, completely recaptured the region of Badush, northwest of Mosul.
The statement said the development put government forces and allied groups in total control over the western bank of the Tigris River, which bisects Mosul.
The victory in Badush comes hours after consecutive accomplishments in central Mosul, with Iraqi forces announcing taking over 90 percent of the Old City and 60 percent of the western region.
Iraqi forces recaptured eastern Mosul in January after three months of fighting, and since starting a new offensive in the west last month, they have recaptured several areas around Badush, including the town’s infamous prison where IS executed hundreds of inmates in 2014.
Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition generals had predicted the battle for Mosul to conclude in six months, but Iraqi premier Haider al-Abadi said Tuesday operations were entering their last stages.
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Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) A security source in Salahuddin Province revealed that the toll of the car bomb explosion that hit Tikrit rose to 50 casualties, while pointed out that security forces imposed a curfew in the area, Alsumaria News reported on Wednesday.
The source said that the final toll of the car bomb explosion that hit al-Atba area in central Tikrit rose to seven dead and 43 wounded.
Security forces also imposed a curfew in the area after the attack, the source added on condition of anonymity.
Earlier, a source in Salahuddin Province informed that 13 person were either killed or wounded in a booby-trapped vehicle explosion that hit central the city of Tikrit.
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Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi police forces announced on Wednesday seizing three explosive belts southwest of Kirkuk.
Chief of Kirkuk Police, Colonel Sarhad Kader said in a press statement, “Joint forces from Asayish (Kurdish security forces) and Peshmerga conducted a security operation in al-Raml Village in Baiji vicinity (25 km southwest of Kirkuk).”
“The operation resulted in seizing three explosive belts,” Kader added. “The operation was conducted based on accurate intelligence information.”
Security forces discover several caches of weapons and explosives belonging to the Islamic State and other armed groups in Kirkuk Province.
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Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi security forces discovered a mass grave containing remains of the Islamic State militants in Saqlawiyah area, in Anbar Province, Alsumaria News reported on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, social media activists informed that security forces found the grave, which contains remains of about 500 terrorists of the Islamic State group.
The activists further explained that the majority of these terrorists are holding Arab and foreign nationalities.
Earlier this week, Maj. Gen. Qassem al-Mohammadi said that Iraqi security forces will turn to Islamic State strongholds in western Anbar, including Anah, Rawa and Qaim, after expelling the extremist group from western Mosul.
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Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) A police source revealed that a member of Sahwa militia (Sunni Awakening Movement) was killed, while another one was wounded in an armed attack, north of Baghdad, Alsumaria News reported on Wednesday.
The source said, “Today, unidentified gunmen fired indiscriminately on a checkpoint belonging to Sahwa militia in al-Raoud area, north of Baghdad, killing one members and wounding another.”
“Security forces arrived in the area of incident, while ambulances evacuated the wounded to a nearby hospital and the body to the forensic medicine department,” the source added on condition of anonymity.
In a related context, anonymous gunmen launched an armed attack on al- Za’franiya area, south of the capital, Baghdad, killing a civilian.
[IsraelTimes] Projectile believed launched by Salafist group landed in an empty field late Wednesday.
Israeli Air Force jets struck two Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", installations in the north of the Gazoo Strip early Thursday in response to the latest rocket fire from the territory at Israeli communities nearby, the army said.
There were no immediate reports about damage or casualties from the Israeli strike.
Less than two hours before the strike, a rocket fired from the Gazoo Strip landed in an empty field in the Sdot Negev Regional Council near Netivot.
The rocket went kaboom! on impact. No one was hurt and no damage was reported from the kaboom.
The "code red" siren did not trigger, as the army’s sensors determined the rocket would not land near a populated area.
Security forces combed the area.
Initial assessments suggested that the rocket was not fired by Hamas, which rules Gazoo, but by radical Salafist groups in the strip, according to Hebrew media reports citing military sources.
A rocket was last fired at Israel from Gazoo in late February, leading the IDF to launch air strikes against five Hamas installations in the territory.
Israel holds Hamas responsible for all rocket fire and other attacks emanating from the territory.
[IsraelTimes] The Shin Bet announces the arrest of four Paleostinian men involved in a pipe kaboom and plotting additional shooting attacks.
The security service says it broke up a two-man terror cell outside of Jerusalem in January that was responsible for a pipe kaboom that maimed an IDF soldier in October.
The alleged pipe bomb-throwers were part of the "al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade," Fatah’s military wing, the Shin Bet says.
They were also behind a number of other incidents, in which explosives were thrown at soldiers, the Shin Bet adds.
"In addition, the cell members planned to carry out shooting attacks at security forces in the area," the agency continues.
The two suspects were picked up on January 9, the agency says, but details of the case remained secret until now.
The agency also says that later in January it enjugged Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! two other Paleostinian men outside Hebron for allegedly planning to carry out a shooting attack on "Israeli security forces and civilians" in the area on behalf of the Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", terrorist group.
On January 30, the Shin Bet picked up Muhannad Jabber Mahmoud Abu Sal, 28, and Ahmad Abd al-Rahman Hasan Abu Sal, 25, who are suspected of planning to carry out shooting attacks for Hamas, the agency says
The two men came from the al-Aroub refugee camp. The younger Abu Sal previously served time in an Israeli prison for belonging to Hamas, the Shin Bet says. He recruited Muhannad and "was supposed to acquire the weapons for the attack," the Shin Bet adds.
The security agency has handed over the findings of its investigation, and indictments are expected in coming days.
[IsraelTimes] Border Police troops arrest a 17-year-old Paleostinian after they found a knife among his belongings during a search at a checkpoint near the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron.
He was transfered to security forces for interrogation, police say.
[Ynet] IDF, Border Police, Shin Bet and Israel Police forces nabbed Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! 23 wanted terror suspects overnight Tuesday in the West Bank. The suspects are all wanted in connection with terror activities and violent protests against security forces and civilians.
[IsraelTimes] No Israelis seriously injured as Paleostinian teenager drives into bus stop at West Bank’s Etzion Junction.
A Paleostinian teenager allegedly attempted to ram her car into a bus stop at the Etzion Junction in the central West Bank on Wednesday, prompting Israeli security forces to shoot and wound her, the army said.
No Israelis were seriously injured in the incident, though a 28-year-old Israeli woman in "advanced stages of pregnancy" was taken to the hospital after experiencing a panic attack, according to the Magen David Adom ambulance service.
The 16-year-old Paleostinian driver was critically injured from the crash and IDF gunfire, according to Arab media. She received medical treatment from the Israel Defense Forces and was taken to the hospital, MDA said. She was identified by Arabic media as Fatemah Taqatqa from Beit Fajjar, a Paleostinian town south of Bethlehem.
The incident occurred shortly before 4:00 p.m.
Surveillance footage from the scene, first posted on social media and later released by the IDF, showed the car veer across multiple lands of traffic and crash into the metal bollards surrounding the bus stop.
According to the military, the teenager specifically targeted the troops stationed at the junction, but both soldiers and civilians could be seen standing at the bus stop.
Local Bethlehem media reported that the driver’s cousin, Amjad Taqatqa, was locked away Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! shortly after the attack. The IDF could not immediately confirm the report.
The Etzion Junction’s bus stop and hitchhiking post has been the scene of a number of terror attacks in late 2015 and early 2016, including both car-rammings and shootings. The busy junction sits at a major crossroads in the Etzion settlement bloc between Jerusalem and Hebron.
The vehicular attacks forced the government to install metal poles around the junction’s bus stop in order to prevent attacks, which have waned over the past year.
[AnNahar] Two suicide kabooms hit Damascus Wednesday including an attack at a central courthouse that killed at least 32 people, as Syria's war entered its seventh year with the regime now claiming the upper hand.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts, the second wave of deadly attacks in the capital in less than a week after twin bombings killed 74 on Saturday.
But they came with the rebels fighting Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... 's regime increasingly divided and dispirited after a series of battlefield setbacks.
Negotiations to end the conflict have meanwhile made little progress, with rebels this week declining to attend negotiations in Kazakhstan.
Wednesday's first attack saw a jacket wallah rush inside the building and blow himself up when police tried to prevent him from entering the courthouse in the centre of Damascus, state media reported.
A police source told AFP that 32 people were killed and 100 maimed.
The second blast hit a restaurant in the western Rabweh neighborhood, wounding 25 people, the source said.
A man receiving treatment with a bandage over his eye said the attacker was wearing a military jacket.
"He had his hands up and screamed 'God is greatest' and then the blast happened," he told state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
AFP correspondents in Damascus said the streets emptied after the two blasts, with several roads also blocked by security forces.
- Rebels under pressure -
Damascus was already reeling from Saturday's bombings, which mainly killed Iraqi pilgrims in the city to visit Shiite shrines.
That attack was claimed by former al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham ...formerly al-Nusra, the current false nose and mustache of al-Qaeda in the Levant... Front, part of a rebel alliance that controls large parts of the northwestern Idlib province.
Rebel forces suffered a series of reversals during the sixth year of the war, including being forced from their onetime stronghold of east Aleppo in December.
The loss was an especially difficult blow to rebels who had imagined marching on Damascus in the early days of the civil war.
A key turning point came in September 2015 when Russia began a military intervention in support of Assad's government, which has since regained much of the ground it lost.
Under pressure from air strikes by a U.S.-led coalition, IS has also retreated to bastions like its de facto Syrian capital Raqa.
- 'Savage horror' -
The conflict has killed more than 320,000 people, with over the half the country's population displaced either within Syria or becoming refugees.
The war has also ravaged the country's infrastructure and set the economy back decades.
"When we began to demonstrate, I never thought it would come to this. We thought it would end in two, three months, a year at most," Abdallah al-Hussein, a 32-year-old footballer from the town of Saraqeb in Idlib province, told AFP. "Whether this war is ended with weapons or peacefully doesn't matter. People want to live in peace."
In recent months the opposition's backers have dialed back their support, with The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... now working with former rival Russia on peace talks and U.S. President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... 's administration showing little interest in the conflict or negotiations to end it
Syrian army and allied forces established full control over a strategic hill northeast of Palmyra in Homs countryside.
Hezbollah’s Military Media Center told al-Manar on Wednesday that the allied forces took control of al-Mustadirah Hill northeast of Palmyra.
ISIL terrorists fled al-Mustadirah to neighboring areas after inflicting heavy losses, the source said, adding that the allied forces’ next target is a neighboring oil field near al-Mustadirah.
Earlier on Monday, the allied forces took control of al-Sawame’ in Palmyra’s east. The video below shows Syrian army soldiers along with allied forces in al-Sawame’ area. Video at the link
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(BasNews) The Syrian Kurdish National Council (ENKS) headquarter in Girki Laki town, 70 km east of Qamishlo in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), was bombed early on Wednesday.
The ENKS headquarter in Girki Laki was exploded by the forces affiliated with the ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Rojava. The ENKS local board member Ismail Hammoud told BasNews “ENKS’ official headquarter in Girki Laki was bombed and an armed force affiliated with Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) raided the office.”
Hammoud said all ENKS headquarters in Rojava have been closed and all its political activities have been banned.
“The PKK has launched a massive campaign against the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria (KDP-S) and ENKS,” Sa’id Omer, a KDP-S leading member told BasNews.
Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants have burned to death nine civilians, including children, for attempting to escape the group’s strongholds southwest of the province.
Alsumaria News quoted a security source saying the extremist group burned to death nine civilians from the IS-held town of Hawija over charges of “abandoning the land of the Caliphate’, a common charge poised against people fleeing the group’s areas of control.
“Daesh (IS) arrested the civilians at a road between al-Riyadh and Hamreen Mountains,” said the source. “They burned them before of other civilians on their way to al-Alam,” said the source, referring to a region in neighboring Salahuddin province.
Since Islamic State took over large parts of Iraq in 2014 to proclaim an “Islamic Caliphate”, it held a handful of areas in southwestern Kirkuk, where civilians have been subjected to extreme religious governance, brutal tortures and executions. IS’s reign forced thousands of civilians to flee to central Kirkuk.
Islamic State militants have reportedly tortured and enslaved civilians at areas under their control in Iraq for violating their religious rules, and executed many for either acting as informants for security services or attempting to escape “the land of the Caliphate” as the common charge reads. Many of the brutal executions were filmed and posted on IS’s social media platforms.
There has not been yet an official campaign to liberate Kirkuk, but it is expected that the government will move to clear Islamic State pockets across Iraq after finishing with its campaign to expel the group from neighboring Mosul, the group’s largest bastion in Iraq.
(BasNews/IraqiNews.com) Kurdistan Region’s Directorate of Yezidi Abductee Affairs has revealed that eight Kurdish Yezidis were freed from Islamic State (IS) captivity on Tuesday and brought to safety in Kurdistan Region.
Hussein Qa’idi, head of the directorate, confirmed to BasNews that the rescued Yezidis are all from Sinjar and they were abducted by the extremists back in August 2014 when the city was overrun by IS.
Three of them are children and five are women, the official said, noting that Kurdish security forces have transferred them to Duhok province of Kurdistan Region where they reunited with their families after more than two years.
Qa’idi thanked Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani for sparing no efforts in supporting their campaign to rescue every Yezidi abductee, saying that nearly 2,900 Kurdish Yezidis have so far been freed from the jihadists’ captivity; but yet more than 3,500 others remain at the hand of IS.
He also criticized the central government of Iraq for failing to provide any help to rescue the Yezidi abductees.
Thousands of Yazidi Kurds fled Sanjar, a Mosul region on the borders with Syria, to nearby mountain areas following its fall to Islamic State militants in August 2014. The extremist group massacred, enslaved and tortured thousands of that ethno-religious minority.
The Kurdish-speaking community came to the spotlight when Islamic State militants, taking over large parts of Iraq, victimized its members, committing massacres and subjecting them to forced conversions, sexual slavery and other reported atrocities.
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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.
Armed men are demanding a ransom for the release of an oil tanker they have seized off the coast of Somalia and the crew is being held captive, the European Union anti-piracy operation in the region announced late Tuesday. An EU Naval Force statement said the operation had finally made contact with the ship’s master, who confirmed that armed men were aboard the Comoros-flagged tanker Aris 13.
[IsraelTimes] Projectile believed launched by Salafist group landed in an empty field late Wednesday.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
