In the past 16 hours the Pak military have fired 126 missiles into eastern Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... destroying three houses, but no casualties have been reported, local officials said.
The missiles were fired into the district of Dangam burning the homes down in the attacks, said Abdul Habib Sayedkhili, Kunar police chief.
"The residents of the targeted areas fled their homes to find a safety in other parts of the district," he said. "There were no casualties, but three homes were in flames."
Sayedkhili added that the Pak military has increased its attacks in the recent days, consecutively firing onto Afghan soil.
In the past month the Pak military have fired around 1,562 rockets into several districts of Kunar. Reports indicate that the attacks have claimed the lives of five people including women and kiddies and have left a dozen others maimed in the nonstop attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2014 00:00 ||
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[TELEGRAPH.CO.UK] A British Army colonel's life was saved by a US soldier who jumped in front of an assassin's hail of bullets, it has been reported.
The US Army reservist, who normally works for Apple, the Silicon Valley-based electronics company, was shot six times as an Afghan assailant opened fire on a group of high-ranking officers at a military training academy earlier this month, The Sunday Times said. The reservist, who has not been named, used his body as a shield to literally "take a bullet" for the senior British officer, and was hit twice in the leg and once in the shoulder, with a further three rounds stopped by his bulletproof vest.
Details of the act of heroism were revealed in an American casualty report, the newspaper said. It describes how the reservist returned fire with both his rifle and sidearm.
The attack by Mohammad Rafiqullah killed Major General Harold Greene, the deputy commanding general, Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan.
Maj Gen Greene was the highest ranking US officer to be killed in hostilities since Lt Gen Timothy Joseph Maude was killed by a hijacked airliner that crashed into the Pentagon, on September 11, 2001. A similar ranking officer has not been killed overseas since the Vietnam War.
The attack took place during an outdoor briefing at the Marshal Fahim National Defence University, in Kabul, which also houses the British-run officer training academy known as "Sandhurst in the Sand".
The Afghan ministry of defence described the attacker as "a terrorist wearing Afghan National Army uniform".
Several other senior officers, including a German brigadier general and the Afghan commander of the training base, were among the 14 injured, which also included two Britons. Their injuries were said to be not life threatening.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2014 00:00 ||
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#5
I'd be looking from something from the Brits as well. Possibly some recognition from Windsor. Our side.....Purple Heart and MSM downgraded to a letter of appreciation, along with a fight for medical discharge and follow-on medical treatments.
#7
Whahaha.....no matter how heroic, definitely no favour to be found at the White House by taking a bullet for a British Army officer. Poor old Hussein Onyango would be grave spinning.
#10
Should be happy if he still has a job at Apple
Good news - Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act guarantees his job on return.
Bad news - It's a civil case if violated.
Good news - Apple is such a profitable company that Tort Lawyers Inc would drool at the opportunity to represent for their piece of the action cut.
BELEDWEYNE, Somalia -- Somali government soldier and woman were killed in gun attack in Hiraan regional capital of Beledweyne of central Somalia as Al Shabaab-held areas fell to allied forces on Saturday, Garowe Online reports.
Unidentified assailants launched a raid on the soldier's home in Beledweyne's Dhagah Jebis neighborhood, gunning him down and snatching away his AK-47 rifle according to witnesses. Security forces immediately arrived at the attacked house and opened volleys of gunfire into air. Woman bystander reportedly died of stray bullets, sources stated.
So it's like a police shootout in Chicago...
Meanwhile, Governor of Hiraan region Abdifatah Hassan Afrah confirmed that Somali government forces aided by African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) peacekeepers librated string of vicinities in the region from Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab militants.
Abesale, Buuq Goosaar, El Ade, Badi Keen and Far Libah are among seized areas.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/18/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
[Ynet] After initial denial, Balad party confirms three Arab MKs flew to Gulf state for interviews with Arab-language press.
The three members of Knesset on behalf of Balad, the National Democratic Assembly party, flew to Qatar — the country which funds Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, and hosts its political leader — after the Gazoo terror group's representatives deliberated the Egyptian ceasefire offer in the Gulf state.
The MKs — Jamal Zahalka, Haneen Zoabi, and Basel Ghattas — were interviewed on Arab-language press and met with academics.
Various officials in Balad initially denied the trip to Qatar, though they eventually confirmed the itinerary.
"MKs Zahalka and Ghattas flew for media interviews in Qatar and also happened to meet with academics," said a statement released by the party, which also confirmed Zoabi's arrival in Qatar.
Recently, the Balad MKs were involved in a number of incidents which stirred controversy.
Zoabi was investigated by the police last week for alleged incitement to violence and insulting a public worker, while Ghattas stood for a minute of silence in the Knesset plenum in honor of the Paleostinian victims in Gazoo.
Former Balad MK Azmi Bishara currently resides in Qatar after fleeing Israel when he was suspected in spying and aiding Hezbollah during the Second Leb War.
Deputy Interior Minister Faina Kirschenbaum, the director-general of Yisrael Beiteinu, criticized the MKs' visit to Qatar. "The Balad party members are dealing these days, together with Hamas chief Mashal and his advisor Bishara, in the corpses of Gazook residents."
She said: "Hamas' leadership in Qatar, together with their agents in the Israeli Knesset, is doing everything in its power to torpedo the ceasefire agreement. Balad, like Hamas, want the death of civilians on both sides to continue."
Kirschenbaum emphasized that "it is not acceptable that (the party's) members will visit a state which funds terror against Israel and nothing will be done. I call on the Attorney General to investigate the legality of their actions and the purpose of their visit to Qatar."
[ARABNEWS] Six suspected Al-Qaeda forces of Evil and three Yemeni troops died in festivities Sunday in the southeastern province of Hadramawt, scene of frequent attacks on the army, a local official said.
"At dawn, armed forces bombarded a house where Al-Qaeda gunnies had barricaded themselves in, killing three of them and wounding others," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The body of a fourth krazed killer was later found in the house in the Hadramawt town of Qatan, along with four people who were tossed in the clink Book 'im, Mahmoud! , a military source said.
He said the people arrested were two men — a Yemeni and a Somali — and two women, a Pak and a Filipino.
Responding to the army's action, other forces of Evil attacked an army position in Qatan, sparking a shootout, the local official said.
"Three soldiers were killed and six maimed during four hours of fighting," the official said, adding: "Two of the attackers died and four were maimed."
Weapons of various calibre were used in the skirmish and several nearby homes were damaged, witnesses said.
On Thursday, a policeman and two forces of Evil died in festivities in Mukalla, capital of Hadramawt.
Authorities in the city said they had prevented three suicide car kabooms against an official residence, a police barracks and another police site.
The defense ministry said it had "thwarted a dangerous criminal plan by Al-Qaeda" in Mukalla.
On Saturday night, gunnies riding motor bikes shot and killed two Yemeni men in separate attacks in the southern province of Lahij, a security source said on Sunday, blaming Al-Qaeda for the murders.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2014 00:00 ||
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[ARABNEWS] Border Guards patrols enjugged Please don't kill me! wanted criminals on the Kingdom's southern frontier.
The suspects were handed over to Interior Ministry officials.
Both Saudi and foreign suspects on the ministry's wanted list have been arrested, said Maj. Gen. Mohammad Al-Ghamdi, official front man for the Border Guards.
The front man did not, however, divulge details about the time of arrest or the number of people caught.
"Most cases we receive, which are related to infiltration and smuggling attempts, have occurred on the southern border," said Al-Ghamdi. "Border Guards use planes for surveillance." Six suspects are now on a list of wanted terrorists, including the official front man of a group.
The six will be prevented from traveling, their accounts frozen and they will not be able to purchase weapons.
Abdulrahman Al-Johani, a Saudi in his mid 40s, is on the Interior Ministry's list. Known as "Abu Al-Wafa," Al-Johani was stationed in Afghanistan and Pakistain.
Al-Johani reportedly oversaw the crossing of fighters into Iran and specializes in camouflage techniques.
He moved to Syria over two years ago and resumed a former role, only this time with the Al-Nusra Front.
Washington included Al-Johani on its list in March this year. Abdulmuhsin Al-Sharikh, also a Saudi, is on the wanted list, along with 85 other people, for fighting in Afghanistan.
Al-Sharikh was an Al-Qaeda activist in Iran and was later sent to Syria.
He is now a leader in the Al-Nusra Front in Latakia and an active Twitter user.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Nusra
[Dhaka Tribune] Police locked away Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! four leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... yesterday from different areas of Barisal and Chittagong.
In Barisal, law enforcers arrested Abul Hossain alias Babul Master, Sadar municipality unit general secretary of Jamaat, Sadar union unit President Sharif Uddin and Nazirpur union unit President Abdul Malek, from a house in Hosnabad village of Muladi upazila around 11am while they were holding a secret meeting in the dead of night.
Confirming the arrest, Muladi cop shoppe OC Md Alauddin said a case was launched against the arrested and a local court had sent them to jail when they were produced before it.
In Chittagong, police arrested the party's local leader Mahmudul Haque, 35, in a drive in the hilly area of Satkania upazila.
Satkania cop shoppe OC Khaled Hossain said the arrest was made, due to a tip-off, around 2am.
The OC continued that Khaled, an Imam of a local mosque, was wanted in seven cases filed for committing subversive activities there during the countrywide violence centring the January 5 elections, for which he had also instigated the local youth.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
[TELEGRAPH.CO.UK] Dozens of Twitter accounts linked to Islamic State (IS) jihadists have been closed down by the site's administrators in the last week after they were used to threaten the United States and post a string of grisly images.
Members of the terror organization apparently attempted to reactivate the blocked accounts but Twitter's staff have repeatedly closed them down again.
The accounts had been used to boast of victories in Iraq and Syria and threaten US forces.
In one particularly graphic tweet, an Australian jihadi published a photograph of his seven-year-old son holding up a severed head.
IS used other accounts to terrify Twitter users by tricking them into viewing images of corpses using innocuous hashtags such as #Hawaii.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2014 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Iraqi Kurdish fighters have fully retaken control of the strategic dam of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... from ISIL Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... snuffies in northern Iraq.
According to Iraqi Kurdish officials on Sunday, Peshmerga forces managed to drive out Takfiri snuffies and regained the control of Iraq's largest dam which had been seized by ISIL murderous Moslems on August 7. According to Kurdish sources, the fighters are still clearing mines and booby traps from the area around the dam.
The dam provides northern Iraq with water and electricity.
The Kurdish fighters were reportedly aided by US and Iraqi planes that bombed krazed killer targets near the dam for the second consecutive day.
The US only began attacking the snuffies after they approached areas where the US personnel are stationed.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
"the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn..."
[AnNahar] Kurdish fighters backed by U.S. warplanes pushed back jihadists around Iraq's largest dam on Sunday, as Sunni Arab rustics and security forces fought the holy warriors west of Baghdad.
Two months of violence have brought Iraq to the brink of breakup, and world powers relieved by the exit of 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... Premier Nuri al-Maliki were sending aid to the hundreds of thousands who have fled their homes as well as arms to the Kurds.
Kurdish fighters were advancing on djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... dam, which the Islamic State (IS) fighters seized a week ago, but their progress was being hampered by roadside kabooms, Kurdish officials said.
The dam on the Tigris river north of Iraq's second city provides electricity and irrigation water for farming to much of the region.
It recapture would be the first major prize won back from the jihadists since they launched their shock offensive in early June, routing the security forces across much of northern and western Iraq.
An AFP journalist saw towers of smoke rising from the dam area on Sunday.
"Half of the Mosul dam area was retaken, the eastern part," said Kawa Khatari, an official of the autonomous Kurdish region's largest party.
"They are heading towards Tal Kayf, but the main road was planted with roadside kabooms," he added.
Another Kurdish official, Harim Kamal Agha, said the bombs planted by the retreating jihadists were slowing the advance.
The U.S. military said it carried out nine air strikes on Saturday in support of Kurdish forces.
U.S. Central Command said warplanes and drones had destroyed or damaged four armored personnel carriers, seven armed vehicles, two Humvees and an armored vehicle.
Buoyed by the air strikes U.S. President Barack Obama My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it... ordered last week, Kurdish forces have tried to claw back the ground they have lost since the start of this month, when the jihadists went back on the offensive north, east and west of Mosul.
In Anbar province, west of Baghdad, security forces backed by Sunni Arab tribal militia, who threw their weight behind a counter-offensive against the jihadists on Friday, made gains west of the scenic provincial capital Ramadi, police said.
Fighting was also taking place near the strategic Euphrates Valley town of Haditha, which hosts another important dam, Police Staff Major General Ahmed Sadag said.
The rallying of more than two dozen Sunni tribes to the government side marked a potential turning point in the fightback against the jihadists and their allies.
The holy warriors were able to sweep through the Sunni Arab heartland north and west of Baghdad in June, encountering little effective resistance, and Iraqi federal security forces have yet to make significant headway in regaining ground.
Anbar was the birthplace of the Sahwa, or Awakening, movement of Sunni tribes that from late 2006 sided with U.S. forces against their co-religionists in Al-Qaeda, helping turn the tide of that insurgency.
In the north, members of minority groups including the Yazidis, Christians, Shabak and Turkmen, remain under threat of kidnapping or death at the hands of the jihadists, human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... groups said.
On Friday, IS fighters killed around 80 Yazidi Kurds in the village of Kocho near the northwestern town of Sinjar, Kurdish officials said.
The jihadist' storming of the town on August 3 sent tens of thousands of civilians fleeing into the Sinjar mountains, prompting an international aid operation and helping to trigger the launch of U.S. air strikes.
The Yazidis' ancient non-Moslem faith is anathema to the Sunni forces of Evil of IS.
Human rights groups and residents say IS fighters have been demanding that religious minorities in the Mosul region either convert or leave, unleashing violent reprisals on any who refuse.
Amnesia Amnesty International, which has been documenting mass abductions in the Sinjar area, says IS has kidnapped thousands of Yazidis in this month's offensive.
Tens of thousands have fled, most of them seeking refuge in areas of northern Iraq still under Kurdish control, some in neighboring Syria.
When the jihadists began their Iraq offensive on June 9, Kurdish forces initially fared better than federal government troops, many of whom simply fled.
But the U.S.-made weaponry abandoned by the federal army has turned IS into an even more formidable foe.
Many in and outside Iraq say the Shiite-led government was partly to blame by pushing sectarian policies that have marginalized and radicalized the Sunni Arab minority.
Maliki was seen as an obstacle to any progress, and his announcement on Thursday that he was abandoning his efforts to cling to power was welcomed with a sigh of relief at home and abroad.
International support has poured in for prime minister designate Haidar al-Abadi as he attempts to forge a new, more inclusive government capable of uniting broad support against the jihadists.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/18/2014 00:00 ||
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Should Hamas resume rocket attacks on Israel when the five-day truce ends at midnight on Monday, the chances of Israel agreeing to conduct a prolonged war of attrition with Gaza, in which Palestinian rocket attacks are met only with Israeli air strikes and artillery fire, are low.
The more likely scenario is that the IDF will initiate the next phase of its operational plans, based on a deep ground offensive into the Gaza Strip. One would almost think that Hamas wants Israel to reconquer Gaza strip
#1
If Israel is forced into retaking the Gaza strip, they should start bulldozing entire areas, east to west, south to north, at least a mile wide. Nothing there except dirt. If that failed to produce the desired results of the expulsion of Hamas, widen the security zone by another mile. Problem will solve itself one way or another, eventually.
#7
Christopher Gunness never heard about crying wolf?
Let's be honest Chris, Gaza is one of those places that only seems to exist to provide entertainment on the evening news - but - after awhile it's boring and just doesn't generate any viewership.
Oh and you Chris, are too effeminate for a man. The only man who is permitted to cry on camera is Senator Boehner because the media needs a Rhino leader we can all look askance at.
#8
We'll said CondorMan :). To paraphrase Sir Winston (I think)' Gaza is one of those sad areas that produces more stupid than can be consumed locally.
[IsraelTimes] Security establishment officials said Sunday that there was an unprecedented cyber-attack on Israel from Iran during Operation Protective Edge, including the brief hijacking of the Israel Defense Forces' Twitter account.
The targets were mostly civilian websites and systems, rather than military or national infrastructure networks, Channel 2 reported.
A defense source said that the attack caused no significant damage and reiterated that critical systems were well protected. Nonetheless, the source added, the scale of the attack was impressive.
"In terms of the scope and kinds of targets that they tried to get to, we haven't seen an attempt like this before," the unnamed official said. "This time, the Iranians made a significant effort."
The source called for the establishment of a unified cyber body inside the defense establishment, which will be better able than the current apparatus to use the resources that Israel possesses to defend itself.
He also suggested a thorough review of the access to information sites — such as that of the IDF Spokesperson, the Home Front Command, and the IDF's Twitter account — to prevent hijacking of accounts such as those that took place during the fighting.
At the beginning of July, the IDF's Twitter account sent out a fake message reporting that two rockets from Gazoo had hit the Dimona nuclear reactor and had caused a leak. The message was followed by another reading "Long live Paleostine." Within minutes, the IDF regained control of the account and published an apology.
In January, an Israeli cybersecurity expert claimed that Israel was subjected to an attack via email messages infected with a virus that enabled hackers to take control of computers. One of the machines that fell victim was in the Defense Ministry, he said.
Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on July 8 in an effort to stem rocket fire from the Gazoo Strip and destroy a network of tunnels dug by Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, under the border, which were used by forces of Evil to infiltrate Israel.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/18/2014 00:29 ||
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[Iran Press TV] The corpse count from the Israeli attacks on the besieged Gazoo Strip has exceeded 2,000, medical authorities in the blockaded area say.
Oh? How many of them are actually happily home with the family? What about the unknown number of Lions of Islam who died in the collapsed tunnels?
According to the authorities on Sunday, at least 2016 Paleostinian people have bit the dust and as many as 10,193 others have suffered injuries since the Israeli military unleashed merciless attacks on the densely-inhabited Gazoo Strip on July 8.
The officials reported that more bodies are being recovered from the rubble and more injured Paleostinians die from their wounds. Nearly 540 children are reportedly among the dead.
Local reports indicate that some of the fatalities occur due to lack of necessary medical equipment and life support machines in hospitals in the blockaded area.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
I wonder if it will finally be found that 95% of the dead/wounded were actually Hamas (or other bad guys)? Like it shook out the last time.
#5
The headline is very telling. It's the Israeli war on Gaza, even though Hamas started this particular round as they and the Arabs have started every round of the conflict. Why isn't it the Gaza war on Israel?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/18/2014 9:09 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Deacon, because Islam is a religion of peace. /heavy sarcasm
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
08/18/2014 10:08 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Weird how we get these breathless reports about casualties supposedly caused by Israel and the US, but never about ISIS. How many "additional deaths" have they caused in Syria and Iraq?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
08/18/2014 12:22 Comments ||
Top||
[BREITBART] Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, reportedly rejected a comprehensive, 11-clause long term ceasefire proposal on Saturday. Egypt has warned that this proposal will be its final effort to secure a lasting end to the Israel-Gazoo conflict.
According to details leaked by Egyptian newspaper al-Shorouk, the 11-clause proposal contained several key concessions to the Paleostinian delegation, including the opening of border crossings between Israel and Gazoo, the elimination of the so-called "buffer zones" along the Israel-Gazoo border, the extension of the fishing zone to 12 miles off the Gazook coast, and the assistance of Israel and the Paleostinian Authority in rebuilding the infrastructure of the Gazoo Strip.
The proposal also called for negotiations to resume after a month of quiet, at which time the issues of a seaport and airport in Gazoo would be discussed. Egypt has warned that its latest proposal will be its final effort, Israel Radio reported on Friday.
Hamas front man Osama Hamdan said the Egyptian proposal did not meet the needs of the Paleostinian people.
"Israel must agree to the demands of the Paleostinian people, or it will face a long war of attrition," Hamdan wrote in a Facebook post.
It's been facing a long war of attrition since the 1920s, Mr. Hamdan. The result has been ever increasing piles of Palestinian rubble.
Another member of the Paleostinian delegation, Bassam Salhi, said progress was being made in the negotiations but put the chance of a long-term ceasefire agreement at "no greater than 50%," according to Ynet News.
The armed military wing of Hamas, the Iz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, tweeted the following message on Saturday night, vowing to "continue the struggle."
We are continuing our struggle. ALLAH IS OUR GOAL, THE PROPHET IS OUR LEADER, JIHAD IS OUR WAY, AND DEATH FOR ALLAH IS OUR MOST EXALTED WISH
— Al-Qassam Brigades (@Qassam_English) August 16, 2014
Despite the apparent rejection of the proposal by Hamas and Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... , the Israeli delegation will be in Cairo on Sunday to resume indirect negotiations. The current five-day ceasefire is set to expire at midnight on Monday.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2014 00:00 ||
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#3
Somebody ought to introduce the ham-heads to the Vietnamese Buddhist monk who set fire to himself in protest. It made quite an impression on me - I can still see the well-known photo. And the Tunisian similarly made quite an impression a few years ago.
Why aren't more brave lions of Islam torching themselves in exalted devotion to allen?
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/18/2014 7:52 Comments ||
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#4
As you wish. They will make sure you die for Allah.
[IsraelTimes] The Times of Israel is liveblogging events as they unfold through Monday, August 18, the 42nd day of Operation Protective Edge. A five-day truce, which began at midnight Wednesday, is set to expire on Monday night unless Israeli and Palestinian negotiators agree to extend it, or finalize a long-term deal.
[AnNahar] At least 31 Islamic State holy warriors were killed in Syrian air force raids Sunday in the northern province of Raqa, a stronghold of the jihadist fighters, a monitoring group said.
"The regime carried out 13 raids on the city of Raqa and 11 on the town of Tabqa in Raqa province, killing at least 31 jihadists and wounding dozens of them," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Britannia-based group's head, Rami Abdel Rahman, said the raids were the regime's "most intensive" against the Islamic State since the jihadists joined the more than three-year-old conflict in Syria in spring 2003.
The IS has held most of Raqa province since February, after having ousted other rebel groups battling Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... 's regime.
The Observatory said the regime has also carried out air strikes on the eastern province of Deir Ezzor as well as Akhtarin and Dabeq in Aleppo province, two northern towns which the IS seized from rebels on Wednesday.
The Syrian military has turned its firepower on the IS since the jihadists in June declared a "caliphate" straddling Syria and neighboring Iraq, where the group has been targeted by US air strikes over the past week.
"The regime wants to show the Americans that it is also capable of striking the IS," said Abdel Rahman, whose group relies on information from opposition activists and medics on the ground.
"The regime strikes the IS where it is strong. In regions where the group is confronted by rebels, it doesn't intervene so that the two enemies weaken each other," he said.
"But once one party takes the upper hand, it strikes," said Abdel Rahman.
Since joining Syria's conflict, IS has also seized most of Deir Ezzor, another province on the Iraqi border, spreading terror as it imposes its own strict interpretation of Islam with penalties such as beheadings.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/18/2014 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] The Lebanese army on Sunday placed in durance vile Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! 12 Syrian gunnies in an ambush east of the border town of Arsal, the state-run National News Agency reported.
The 12 men are suspected of belonging to armed terrorist groups that took part in the battles with the army earlier this month.
The Jihadists overran the town on August 2 when the military arrested an al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front member Imad Jomaa.
Scores of soldiers were killed and maimed in the battles that ensued the attack, which ended with a ceasefire on August 7.
A military official denied to Voice of Leb radio (100.5) the arrest of turbans on Sunday.
The official, who was not identified, said that the army apprehended in Arsal five Syrians for not having identification cards.
[AnNahar] Syrian government troops have reportedly urged the residents of the eastern border village of Tufail to evacuate it ahead of a planned shelling, said the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper on Sunday.
The remaining residents of the village were warned to evacuate the area otherwise they may be harmed in the shelling.
One of the officials in the village informed western Bekaa politicians that the warning was issued by Syrian forces, demanding that the evacuation take place "within hours."
The troops have alleged that gunnies were in the area.
The official however denied such claims, saying that 12 families are residing in Tufail and the only gunnies in and around the region are Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... members.
He revealed that the officials were working on evacuating the Tufail Syrian refugee camp in the Arsal area, "but we were later surprised with the call to evacuate the remaining residents of the village."
In April, Tufail was isolated after the only road that leads to the town came under the control of Syrian government troops.
The town is located at the end of the eastern mountain belt's plains, in an area that is 24 kilometers inside Syrian territories. Tufail is surrounded by Syrian lands to its north, east and south, and by the Lebanese villages of Ham, Maarboun and Brital to its west.
More than 4,000 Lebanese nationals reside in Tufail, Christians and Moslems, among them there are around 25 soldiers in the army and some 5,000 Syrian refugees.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/18/2014 00:00 ||
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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.
CACTUS, 18kt, Eniwetok, 5 May 1958. 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
