[KhaamaPress] The AC-130J Ghostriders, the U.S. military’s newest gunships help the Afghan forces both on the battlefield and psychologically, according to U.S. military officials.
The new plane reportedly begun operations in Afghanistan in the month of June and since then has flown hundreds of sorties.
Col. Terence Taylor, commander of Combined Joint Special Operations Air Component‐Afghanistan told the Stars and Stripes "Every night, the AC-130J is flying. The people they are supporting, are requesting them every single night."
This amounts to 218 sorties and 1,380 hours in the skies over Afghanistan, Col. Taylor added.
Chief Master Sgt. Edward Fry, enlisted leader alongside Taylor at the air component command told the Stars and Stripes "The Ghostriders have saved lives."
The Ghostrider’s ability to unleash hell, including from its 105 mm howitzer and 30 mm autocannon, have helped Afghan forces both on the battlefield and psychologically, Fry said, adding that "Them hearing the sound of the gunship overhead, that in many ways serves to embolden them."
This comes as the Afghan and U.S. forces have stepped up ground operations and Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s against the bad boy groups during the recent months, specifically after the 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... called off peace talks with Taliban ...Arabic for students... in September.
#1
DAMN! This one was supposed to have the battle laser!
https://www.military.com/defensetech/2018/04/11/air-force-special-ops-short-funding-ac-130-gunship-laser.html
[KhaamaPress] The Afghan Special Forces ...established in 2007 with the intent of taking one conventional infantry kandak (battalion) from each of the regional ANA corps, giving them special training and equipment, and reorganizing based on the U.S. Army Rangers. Each battalion is assigned to one of the six regional corps. The commandos comprise 7% of the Afghan National Security Forces but conduct 70% to 80% of the fighting... killed 11 Talibs and destroyed multiple caches of weapons during the operations in Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... , Uruzgan and Nimroz provinces.
The Special Forces killed 5 of the forces of Evil and destroyed a cache of weapons in Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province, the military officials said earlier today.
The officials further added that the Special Forces killed 6 Talibs, arrested another bully boy and destroyed a cache of weapons in Tarin Kot district of Uruzgan.
The Special Forces confiscated a large amount of narcotics belonging to Taliban ...Arabic for students... in Khash Rod district of Nimroz, the officials said, adding that the Special Forces destroyed a cache of weapons during a patrol in Tarin Kot district of Uruzgan.
The Taliban group has not commented regarding the operations so far.
[KhaamaPress] The Afghan forces defused a remote-controlled bomb in Kabul city earlier today, the Kabul Police Headquarters said.
According to a statement released by Kabul Police, the faceless myrmidons had planted the bomb close to Bot Khak roundabout in the 12th district of the city.
The statement further added that the the police forces defused the bomb with the help of Explosives Ordinance Disposal team of the National Directorate of Security ...the Afghan national intel agency... Talibs and other groups often use improvised bombs as the weapon of their choice to target the security personnel and government officials.
However, those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... such attacks normally inflict casualties on ordinary civilians.
[KhaamaPress] A series of Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s killed 33 snuffies of Taliban ...Arabic for students... and ISIS ...embracing their inner Islamic Brute... Khurasan groups in Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. , Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... and Kandahar provinces in the past 24 hours.
The military officials said Friday an airstrike killed 11 snuffies of ISIS Khurasan group in Deh Bala district of Nangarhar province.
The officials further added a similar airstrike in Deh Bala district of Nangarhar killed 11 Talibs while another airstrike in Sherzad district of the province destroyed a boom-mobile of ISIS Khurasan group.
An airstrike in Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand killed 3 Talibs and destroyed a small cache of weapons, the officials said, adding that airstrikes in Lashkargah district of the province killed 5 more Talibs.
The officials also added that an airstrike in Registan district of Kandahar killed 3 Talibs.
#Tunisia: 19 people from sub-Saharan African countries planning to illegally cross maritime borders to #Italy, including a baby, a child and 7 women intercepted off #Sfax coasts, @interieurTn said in a statement Friday. #TAP_En
#Tunisia: 19 people from sub-Saharan African countries planning to illegally cross maritime borders to #Italy, including a baby, a child and 7 women intercepted off #Sfax coasts, @interieurTn said in a statement Friday. #TAP_En
[Rudaw] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... has launched a new phase of its operation against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in eastern regions of the country, the Interior Ministry announced on Friday, as it continues to squeeze the group in the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq.
The fifth phase of Operation Kiran, meaning "breaker," targets PKK in the eastern provinces of Diyarbakir, Bingol and Mus. The operation was launched on August 17 in the southeastern provinces of Van, Hakkari, and Sirnak, and was followed by campaigns throughout the mainly Kurdish areas.
More than 2,500 personnel are taking part in the latest phase, the ministry stated, as reported by state-owned Anadolu Agency.
Turkey is simultaneously conducting operations against the PKK across the border in the Kurdistan Region where the Interior Ministry claimed they have "neutralized" over 400 PKK fighters in the last four months. The Ottoman Turkish army uses "neutralized" when referring to fighters who were killed, captured, or who have surrendered. This Operation Claw was launched on May 27 and is now in the third phase, focused on Sinat and Haftanin in Duhok province.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/09/2019 02:29 ||
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[IsraelTimes] FBI says man sent confidential documents to Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan, the abbreviation IRGC is a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... while working at a Michigan company that serves the auto and aerospace industries.
Federal prosecutors in bankrupt, increasingly impoverished, reliably Democrat, Detroit ... ruled by Democrats since 1962. A city whose Golden Age included the Purple Gang... have charged an engineer with sending corporate trade secrets to a brother in Iran.
According to NPR, officials said his brother worked at companies linked to Iran’s military programs, including one that "contributes to Iran’s proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities."
Amin Hasanzadeh of Ypsilanti is also accused of lying on immigration forms by failing to disclose his service in the Iranian military. He has permanent resident status in the US, commonly referred to as a green card.
The FBI says the 42-year-old Hasanzadeh sent confidential documents to Iran while working at a Michigan company that serves the auto and aerospace industries. The government says his responsibilities included work on a supercomputer that had aerospace applications. The alleged scheme occurred in 2015 and 2016.
Hasanzadeh appeared in court Wednesday and asked for an attorney. He said he works at the University of Michigan.
He was denied bond in a hearing on Friday, the Detroit News reported.
Federal officials say that before applying for a visa in 2010 and coming to the U.S., the electrical engineer served in the Iranian military and, according to the criminal complaint, worked at a company linked to "the Iranian government's Cruise Division of Air & Space Organization."
In 2011, Hasanzadeh started working as a defense contractor in Florida, focusing on "developing power electronics computer designs," according to the complaint. He did similar work in Maryland before getting a job in Michigan working for the unnamed "victim company" in January 2015.
Even though he was not allowed to take work home or share it over his personal email account, he allegedly started sending his brother confidential documents just six days into his employment.
Federal officials say his brother, Sina Hasanzadeh, worked at multiple companies linked to Iran's military programs, including one that "contributes to Iran's proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/09/2019 03:21 ||
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[11128 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#2
Even though he was not allowed to take work home or share it over his personal email account, he allegedly started sending his brother confidential documents just six days into his employment.
Obviously his first report was due within one week.
BAGHDAD (AP) ‐ A barrage of Katyusha rockets targeted an Iraqi air base that houses American troops south of the city of Mosul on Friday, officials said. No members of the U.S.-led coalition were injured.
The rocket fire appears to have originated in Mosul and struck the Iraqi army base in Qayyara, about 60 kilometers (38 miles) south of Mosul, where coalition forces are helping the Iraqis battle remnants of the Islamic State group, Iraqi security officials said. They spoke to The Associated Press did so on condition of anonymity under regulations.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility nor was it clear if any of the rockets struck the base.
Iraqi officials did not immediately say whether there were any casualties, though a coalition spokeswoman later said no coalition troops had been injured.
"Coalition forces are in Iraq at the invitation of the Government of Iraq to defeat ISIS remnants," U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Marisa Roberts said, using a popular acronym for the Islamic State group. "We will not be deterred by these attacks and maintain the right to defend ourselves."
[Rudaw] Iraqi security forces killed at least six protesters in the capital Baghdad and four more in the southern oil-hub city of Basra on Thursday, Rooters reported as protests continue amid regular internet blackouts.
Security forces used live rounds against protesters near the central Shuhada Bridge close to Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, the main base for demonstrators.
Brutal force was also used against those blocking Umm Qasr port, a key source of revenue for the Iraqi economy, which has been closed multiple times this week as demonstrators remain defiant.
Rooters also reported "scores" of protesters injured over the weekend.
Despite the deaths, Iraqi state media quoted Baghdad Operations Command commander Staff Lt. Gen. Qaes al-Mohammadawi as saying that traffic on Shuhada Bridge, where the deaths occurred, was moving as normal after it was reopened on Thursday.
Iraqis have been out on the streets since October 1, 2019, demanding an end to corruption, more employment opportunities, and an end to nepotism.
After entering a brief hiatus on October 8 to observe the Shiite pilgrimage of Arbaeen, protests erupted once again on October 25, with more radical demands calling for the overthrow of the government and electoral and constitutional reforms.
Protesters are fighting to surpass security forces holding numerous strategic bridges leading to the capital’s fortified Green Zone- home to politicians, foreign embassies, government offices.
The Jumhurya, Sinak and Ahrar bridges are some of the current hotspots.
Iraqi Security forces in the Green Zone have set up multiple levels of barricades to prevent protesters from breaking into the area. Protesters have now started using green lasers beams to block their vision, and have also seized control of the "Ottoman Turkish Restaurant" building in Tahrir Square, a bombed-out Baghdad tower restaurant that has now has become a symbol of the protests.
Iraq’s most important port, Umm Qasr in Basra has also been closed due to the protests.
Umm Qasr has been subject to several closures- and re-openings- in the past week as protesters and security forces continue to clash. In the early hours of Thursday, the Iraqi army regained control of the port before it was shut by protesters just hours later.
According to Major General Abdul-Karim Khalaf, spokesperson for Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, the closure of the port and the surrounding roads have cost Iraq $6 billion.
More than 260 Iraqis have been killed and 10,000 maimed since the protests first started on October 1.
Among the worst cases of violence against protesters has been the usage of military-grade tear gas, with canisters piercing the skulls of protesters.
Despite the frustration, Iraqis continue to take to the streets. Internet blackouts have become regular for Iraqis.
Telegram channels that support the protests have not posted since Thursday, a sign that the Internet is still down. This internet blackout continues despite an announcement by Iraqi state media that internet was back on "throughout the country" on Thursday.
Curfews were also imposed throughout the city and across several Iraqi provinces. Those in the capital, however, have now been lifted permanently, according to al-Mohammadawi.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/09/2019 01:14 ||
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Remember @AP on Oct 30th: “Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani flew into Baghdad late at night and took a helicopter to the heavily fortified Green Zone, where he surprised a group of top security officials by chairing a meeting in place of the prime minister” https://t.co/B0yRSIkHpF
@AP: “We in Iran know how to deal with protests,” Soleimani told the Iraqi officials, according to two senior officials familiar with the meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the secret gathering. “This happened in Iran and we got it under control.”
@AP: The day after Soleimani’s visit, the clashes between the protesters & security forces in Iraq became far more violent, with the death toll soaring past 100 as unidentified snipers shot demonstrators in the head & chest. Nearly 150 protesters were killed in less than a week.
If you don’t call that “foreign hands” meddling in another countries affairs, I don’t know what is.
Also please note one of the main issues for the protesters is to stop Iranian meddling in the country. Such Iranian meddling that is now resulting in hundreds of Iraqis killed.
#2
“We in Iran know how to deal with protests,” Soleimani told the Iraqi officials, [said the leakers]. “This happened in Iran and we got it under control.”
You just need a little Stalin-Style repression.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/09/2019 8:40 Comments ||
Top||
US-led coalition: “At approx 7:45pm several rockets impacted the Iraqi’s Qayyarah base. No Coalition troops were injured. We appreciate the Iraqi Security Forces immediate response&investigation...We will not be deterred by these attacks & maintain the right to defend ourselves.”
#UPDATE: Three militants killed after search by Iraqi security forces for cell that carried out rocket attack near US base in Iraq https://t.co/VsbuZKi4CZ
[IsraelTimes] IDF armored vehicle hit by Molotov cocktail, no injuries reported; soldiers respond with tear gas, live fire.
Some 6,000 Paleostinians protested on 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 border with Israel on Friday, with several hundred rioting, throwing rocks, Molotov cocktails and explosives at Israel Defense Force troops
In one instance an IDF armored vehicle was hit by a Molotov cocktail, but there were no injuries. Rioters also tried to damage the security fence.
The soldiers responded with tear gas and occasional live fire. The Hamas, a regional Iranian catspaw,-run Gaza health ministry said 69 protesters were hurt, including 29 by live fire.
Also Friday, Hamas security forces in Gaza foiled an attempt by three suspected jihadists to sneak into Egypt and arrested them after an exchange of fire, the terror group said.
The forces "foiled a dawn attempt to infiltrate Egypt by way of the southern Gaza Strip border," according to the interior ministry of the Hamas-ruled coastal territory.
After shots were fired "the three button men were arrested," it said, without reporting casualties on either side.
A Gaza security source told AFP that the three men were Paleostinian members of "an Death Eater Salafist group," a term used to refer to backers of foreign jihadist movements.
[Bangkok Post] Fifteen people manning a security checkpoint were killed when it was attacked by gunmen on Tuesday night in Yala province. The victims' weapons were stolen. Authorities said there were at least ten attackers.
The militants approached on foot through a rubber plantation to attack the defense volunteer booth in tambon Lam Phaya of Muang district about 11:20pm.
Eleven local residents and officials, mainly defense volunteers on duty, were gunned down during the attack. Four wounded colleagues later succumbed to their injuries. Three other wounded people were being treated at the hospital. Two defense volunteers survived the onslaught unscathed.
The dead included present and former assistant village and sub-district heads, a former sub-district head, a health official, and a police captain supervising southern border investigations. Officials said the attackers stole an assault rifle, two shotguns and five pistols from the checkpoint victims.
The rebels scattered road spikes, set fire to tires, felled a tree and bombed a power pole to obstruct pursuit. It also hindered emergency services rushing to the scene of the attack. Three rescue vehicles were disabled.
About the same time, another checkpoint was attacked. No casualties were reported there.
Police in Thailand on Friday blamed the worst attack in years in the country's restive south on the region's main Muslim insurgent group, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional.
Fifteen people, including a police officer and many village defence volunteers, were killed on late on Tuesday when suspected separatists stormed a security checkpoint in Yala.
It was the worst single attack in years in a restive region where a long-running Muslim insurgency has killed thousands of people in a fight against central government rule in overwhelmingly Buddhist Thailand.
There has been no immediate claim of responsibility, as is common with such attacks in the region.
"We have evidence indicating that it was the BRN," said Ronnasilp Pusara, a police commander in the south, referring to the Barisan Revolusi Nasional, the main insurgent group operating in the south.
"We have captured one suspect, who is now being interrogated. He also belongs to the BRN," he said.
Reuters could not immediately reach a representative of the BRN for comment.
The separatist insurgency in Thailand's largely ethnic Malay-Muslim provinces of Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat has killed nearly 7,000 people since 2004, says Deep South Watch, a group that monitors the violence.
In August, the BRN told Reuters it had held a secret preliminary meeting with the government, but any step towards a peace process appeared to wither after the deputy prime minister rejected a key demand for the release of prisoners.
[Rudaw] Nearly half a million people in northern Syria may soon be without clean drinking water as a key piece of infrastructure, damaged by Ottoman Turkish bombs, remains out of service, the International Committee of the Red Thingy (ICRC) warned on Friday.
Alouk water pumping station is located east of Sari Kani (Ras al-Ain) and provides clean water for the surrounding area including Hasaka city, Areesha camp, and al-Hol camp. It was damaged in a Ottoman Turkish bombardment on October 11.
The facility was damaged a second time on October 29 and fighting in the area prevented repair crews from accessing the site. Syrian state media SANA accused Ottoman Turkish-backed militias of preventing specialized teams from reaching Alouk.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/09/2019 02:25 ||
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Link ||
[11127 views]
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#1
If Turkey wants too be the big kid on the block, let them pay too fix it. Because this is the usual call that goes out before they start asking the US for money too "fix" shit.
Posted by: chris ||
11/09/2019 9:40 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Let them drink diesel fuel push on towards Israel!
#UPDATE: Former Iranian diplomat @AmirMousawi7 to Mayadeen reports preliminary indications are that the drone (shot down by Iranian air defences earlier) was an Israeli drone that took off from Bahrain.
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.
...
...Arabic for 
...
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
BAGHDAD (AP) ‐ A barrage of Katyusha rockets targeted an Iraqi air base that houses American troops south of the city of Mosul on Friday, officials said. No members of the U.S.-led coalition were injured.
[IsraelTimes] IDF armored vehicle hit by Molotov cocktail, no injuries reported; soldiers respond with tear gas, live fire.
A blooming business opportunity if quickly exploited. 
[Bangkok Post] Fifteen people manning a security checkpoint were killed when it was attacked by gunmen on Tuesday night in Yala province. The victims' weapons were stolen. Authorities said there were at least ten attackers. 
