Islamist al Shabaab militants attacked an African Union peacekeepers’ convoy on Sunday in southern Somalia, wounding at least three people and burning two vehicles, a Somali army officer said.
Al Shabaab said it had launched the attack near the town of Leego, in the southern Lower Shabelle region, and that it had destroyed two vehicles and had killed five members of the force. The militant group, which wants to topple the Western-backed government and impose its strict interpretation of Islam on Somalia, has been driven out of major strongholds by African and Somali forces but continues to harass them and launch bomb and gun attacks against officials, politicians and others.
The African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) could not be reached for immediate comment.
Dozens of well-armed fighters attacked the AU convoy, prompting an exchange of heavy fire, residents said.
Colonel Aden Mohamed, a senior Somali military officer, told Reuters from Leego that he had seen at least three AMISOM soldiers wounded and two burned vehicles. He said the casualty figure could be higher.
Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operations spokesman, told Reuters of the five dead and the two destroyed vehicles. The group often lies cites higher death tolls or casualty figures than numbers given by officials.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/20/2015 00:00 ||
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The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt is steaming toward the waters off Yemen to beef up security and join other American ships that are prepared to intercept any Iranian vessels carrying weapons to the Houthi rebels fighting in Yemen.
Navy officials said Monday that the Roosevelt was moving through the Arabian Sea. The U.S. Navy has been beefing up its presence in the Gulf of Aden and the southern Arabian Sea amid reports that a convoy of about eight Iranian ships is heading toward Yemen and possibly carrying arms for the Houthis. Navy officials said there are about nine U.S. warships in the region, including cruisers and destroyers carrying teams that can board and search other vessels.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ship movement on the record.
The Houthis are battling government-backed fighters in an effort to take control of the country. The U.S. has been providing logistical and intelligence support to Saudi Arabia-led coalition launching airstrikes against the Houthis. That air campaign is now in its fourth week.
The U.S. Navy generally conducts consensual boardings of ships when needed, including to combat piracy around Africa and the region. So far, however, U.S. naval personnel have not boarded any Iranian vessels since the Yemen conflict began.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest would not comment specifically on any Navy movements in Yemeni waters, but said the U.S. has concerns about Iran's "continued support for the Houthis.
"We have seen evidence that the Iranians are supplying weapons and other armed support to the Houthis in Yemen. That support will only contribute to greater violence in that country. These are exactly the kind of destabilizing activities that we have in mind when we raise concerns about Iran's destabilizing activities in the Middle East."
He said "the Iranians are acutely aware of our concerns for their continued support of the Houthis by sending them large shipments of weapons."
* RELATED BIGNEWSNETWORK > REPORT: US SHIPS HEADING TOWARD POSSIBLE CONFLICT WID IRAN IN YEMEN.
* LUCIANNE > [Times of Israel] IRAN LEADER [Supreme Ayatollah Khameini] DERIDES "SILLY" US THREATS [poten military action], BUT URGES HIS MILITARY TO BE "PREPARED".
#8
Iff Shia Iran is intended by the Bammer + aligned OWG Globlalists to be the US' Co-Superpower sibling in the ME + Gulf, then IMO the Bammer = USA cannot allow Iran to be stopped as per expanding its "sphere of influence" vee the US or US-Allies in the region, NOR can it be seriously damaged or destroyed ala US-led military action.
DITO AS PER PUTIN-LED RUSSIA + RISING CHINA IN EAST ASIA-PACIFIC.
The US = POTUS Obama is caught in a Geopol-MilPol "quandary", as mainstream Amers can generally or broadly understand + respect wanting overseas Allies to assume more of the security burden for their particular regions, BUT NOT AT THE PRICE OF US NATIONAL-GEOPOL SECURITY, COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES/ENDOWMENTS, + ULTIMATELY OUR NATIONAL IDENTITY + EXISTENCE, + WIDOUT FORMALLY ASKING THE PEOPLE OR VOTERS IFF THEY WANT IT.
Once again, the Anti-US OWG Globies have still NOT answered the question as to how much is "too much", andor how far is "too far", etc, for the post-Cold War/9-11 "Sole" Superpower USA to unilaterally give up or fall back across the World so that Russia, China, + Iran, Other? can rise to mighty "US-stye" OWG Co-Superpowerhood, + WIDOUT THE UNILATERALLY OR SELF-RETREATING USA BEING EXISTENTIALLY THREATENED BY SAME + WANNABE NATIONS-STATES + NGOS.
E.G. WORLD NEWS > [UT San Diego] US ADMIRAL WARNS OF CHINESE WATERWAY [waterways = maritime trade route(s)] CONTROL.
* SAME > CHINESE ACTIVITIES THEATEN PHILIPINE DEFENSE - AFP CHIEF.
* RELATED MANILA TIMES > STOP [SCS = China] RCLAMATIONS - AFP.
* BIGNEWSNETWORK > BEIJING SHOCKS US WID UNBELIEVABLE PROGRESS OF AIRSTRIP [construction[ IN SOUTH CHINA SEA.
* MANILA TIMES > EDITORIAL: OPENLY AGGRESSIVE CHINA KNOWS IT CAN ACT WID IMPUNITY.
* SAME > REALITY CHECK IN SOUTH CHINA SEA.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [SMH.com] INDIA STILL NO RIVAL TO CHINA SUPERPOWERS
#9
How bout just minding our buisness and letting the saudis, egyptians or whomever take care of the shit an stay out of it.
Bout time to return to isolationism.
Posted by: chris ||
04/20/2015 22:24 Comments ||
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[AnNahar] An Egyptian court Sunday sentenced to jail a man convicted of spying for Israel in the Sinai Peninsula where security forces are fighting an Islamist insurgency, judicial officials said.
Two Israeli accomplices of the jugged Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! Egyptian were tried in absentia and also given life terms, the officials added.
In a verdict delivered by a court in North Sinai, the three were also slapped with fines of 10,000 Egyptian pounds (about $1,130 or 1,200 euros) each. In Egypt, a life sentence amounts to 25 years.
Prosecutors said the convict, Salamah Mohammed Suleiman, received money and was also given a house in Israel in return for providing his Israeli handlers with information about Egyptian security forces and jihadists in North Sinai.
Suleiman also illegally traveled to Israel five times -- the first visit being in 2011 -- to work out the details of his mission that intended to "harm Egypt's national interests", the prosecution said.
In March, an Egyptian man was sentenced to life in jail and a woman to 15 years for syping for Israel.
Their two Israeli handlers were sentenced in absentia to life in jail.
In two other cases over the past few months, an Egyptian and a Jordanian telecommunications engineer have been jugged Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! for 10 years on similar charges.
The Egyptian military has poured troops and armor into the Sinai to quell the insurgency spearheaded by a local Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group affiliate.
Sinai Province, previously known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, has staged some of the deadliest attacks against Egypt's security forces since the army ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in July 2013.
[AnNahar] Clashes between rebels and pro-government forces and Saudi-led air strikes killed at least 85 people in Yemen, medics and military sources said Sunday, after Riyadh pledged to fund a U.N. aid appeal.
The United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... says hundreds of people have died and thousands of families have fled their homes since the coalition air war began on March 26 at the request of embattled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
Continued on Page 49
[MPRnews] The FBI nabbed Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! several people in Minneapolis and San Diego on Sunday as part of a joint terrorism task force investigation, a front man for U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger confirmed Sunday evening.
A Somali woman who said she was the mother of two men who were arrested told MPR News that the FBI arrived at her house around noon. One of her sons was arrested at her house; the other was arrested in San Diego.
The FBI arrested several people in Minneapolis and San Diego on Sunday as part of a joint terrorism task force investigation, a front man for U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger confirmed Sunday evening.
A Somali woman who said she was the mother of two men who were arrested told MPR News that the FBI arrived at her house around noon. One of her sons was arrested at her house; the other was arrested in San Diego.
She said more than a dozen FBI and coppers searched her house and confiscated a tablet computer owned by the son arrested in San Diego.
She said she met with four families Sunday whose sons were also arrested in the operation.
Another Somali woman said her son was arrested in Minneapolis around 10 a.m. Sunday, after he returned home from work.
The FBI arrested a total of six men, according to family members, who said they didn't know why the men had been arrested.
Ben Petok, a front man for Luger, declined to offer further details but said there was no threat to public safety.
Authorities are planning a news conference Monday morning to provide more information.
Federal authorities have been investigating the departures of about 15 young people from the Twin Cities who allegedly traveled to Syria to support the terrorist group ISIS over the past year or so.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/20/2015 01:24 ||
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#1
Mountains:molehills. Six unhappy teenage immigrants.
#4
Skidmark,
At first I thought "domestic criminal organizations" referred to the Democratic Party.
Posted by: frozen al ||
04/20/2015 11:33 Comments ||
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#5
Ben Petok, a front man for Luger, declined to offer further details but said there was no threat to public safety.
No! No! Certainly not! It's just a pack of lone wolves.
One tidbit came out of this that I didn't know: San Diego Union/Tribune reports that San Diego County has the second largest Somali population in the United States, second only to Minneapolis.
"They are all from Minnesota and are all part of the same conspiracy," U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Andrew Luger told a press conference, adding that several of the men had been repeatedly seeking to travel to Syria over the past year, with the help of an acquaintance who had made it to Syria and was actively recruiting in Minnesota.
Four of the men were arrested Sunday in Minneapolis, while two were arrested in San Diego, where they had intended to acquire forged documents and then cross into Mexico to begin their journey to Syria, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
One hopes the forgers have been picked up, and the ratlines are being traced.
Mountains:molehills
You report the War on Terror with the news you've got, Skidmark. The day it's announced they've picked up the entire staff and supporters of CAIR, ISNA, MSA, and the boards and religious staff of certain select mosques across the U.S., we can move this thing to a new level.
#7
Those with long memories will recall that Hamas operation in the US was administered by Holy Land Foundation headquartered in Texas. HLF ran branch offices in Paterson, N.J., Bridgeview, Ill., and San Diego. For twenty five years San Diego has been a center of Islamist recruiting.
[Rudaw] Kurdish Peshmerga forces have retaken five villages from the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... after launching an offensive Saturday in the south of the oil-rich province of Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... security officials told Rudaw Sunday.
The villages of Daquq, Auzeria and Atshana were among the most important areas retaken by Kurdish forces on Saturday. According to Peshmerga commanders in Kirkuk, the southeastern villages of Auzeria and Atshana were of key value to ISIS fighters to link areas under their Control to Daquq.
Peshmerga have followed the military plans on Saturday's offensive, and they have successfully reached the results, Sarhad Qadir, director of security in Kirkuk province, told Rudaw Sunday.
Responding to Rudaw's question as to whether there was any possible plan to recapture the Turkmen village of Bashir south of Kirkuk, Qadir said the village was not an immediate objective, but the main roads to Bashir had been cleared of ISIS. "If we received an order to recapture the village, it wouldn't be a difficult task," he said.
Bashir is home to more than 2,000 families, most of them Shiite Turkmens.
This is the second time Kurdish forces have tried to clear Atshana and Auzeria villages from the murderous Moslems. Last month the Peshmerga took temporary control of the areas, but ISIS later regained them.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/20/2015 00:15 ||
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#1
They should rename that village given how many times its changed hands... Daquq -> Dafuq
[Rudaw] Iraqi forces backed by US-led coalition Arclight airstrikes killed upwards of 100 Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... forces of Evil over the weekend in an ongoing military campaign to clear Anbar province of the Death Eaters, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense has announced.
"Iraqi security forces belonging to Baghdad Operations Command backed by Anbar command, Shiite militias from the Hashd al-Shaabi and Iraqi aircraft have been able to kill 77 ISIS fighters in areas close to the town of Garma," the Defense Ministry announced in a statement released Sunday.
Baghdad Operations Command has announced victory in at least three areas of Anbar province Friday that were recaptured from ISIS fighters by joint Iraqi forces.
"Forces belonging to Baghdad have been able to retake Janabin, Albu Suda and Albu Jenfer north of Garma. These areas were previously under the control of Islamic State gunnies," said Baghdad Operations front man Saad Maan in a Friday statement.
According to the Iraqi Defense Ministry statement, US-led coalition Arclight airstrikes conducted a numbers of attacks on ISIS positions in various parts of Anbar province, including the largely ISIS-held bustling provincial capital Ramadi. The Anbar towns of Baghdadi and Garma were also the sites of Arclight airstrikes.
Coalition forces have also stepped up Arclight airstrikes in djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... province and the oil-reach city of Baiji in Salah addin province. Overall, coalition Arclight airstrikes Saturday are estimated to have hit 15 sites in Iraq, according to the Sunday statement. It added these strikes killed more than 20 ISIS murderous Moslems.
At least 60 countries around the world have joined the US-led anti-ISIS campaign to drive the forces of Evil out of Iraq and Syria.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/20/2015 00:00:00 ||
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#1
An order of magnitude more Communist Vietnamese were killed on an average day during the Vietnam War. They still won.
[ARA] Militant fighters of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS/ISIS) stormed a number of houses in the sub-district of Zab (95 km west of Kirkuk), on Sunday, and kidnapped 24 residents, including officials of the local council of the area, and Iraqi security personnel.
Speaking to ARA News, eyewitnesses from Kirkuk said that the abductees were executed on the road linking the city of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... with Baiji (45 km south of Mosul) in northern Iraq.
The sources added that the radical group accused the victims of having suspicious links with the Iraqi security forces and with joining the ranks of the Shiite militia of the Popular Mobilization Force.
The southwestern areas of the province of Kirkuk have been held by the Islamic State since mid-June 2014, while battles continue between the group and Iraqi forces who try to regain those areas.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/20/2015 00:00 ||
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[GMA News] The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) fired grenade launchers upon Philippine Special Action Forces (SAF) and Philippine Army posts in Shariff Aguak and Datu Hoffer Ampatuan towns in Maguindanao Sunday night.
The first attack came at 6:30 p.m. when two grenades were fired at the 43rd Special Action Company's office in Shariff Aguak The office is near the provincial police office. Policemen at the post returned fire, forcing the BIFF to disengage and withdraw.
Twenty minutes later, another six grenades were fired at the nearby company command post. Policemen, who were now on alert after the first attack, immediately returned fire and again forced the BIFF to withdraw.
The third attack came at around 7 p.m., this time grenades were fired at the Philippine Army's 2nd Mechanized Battalion stationed in Datu Salibo town.
Later that evening, BIFF spokesman Abu Misry Mama claimed responsibility for the attacks. Security forces believe the attacks were ordered by the new BIFF commander, Commander Bungos.
[ARA] Sunday, the opposition fighters in Damascus expelled bandidosholy warriors of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS/ISIS) from the Barzeh Balad neighborhood, arresting dozens of them.
Activists from Barzeh Balad told ARA News that the military situation is "stable", beside continuing security operations in the buildings and orchards of the neighborhood in search of hidden IS holy warriors there.
"The specialized units dismantled mines and improvised boom belts found in the vicinity of the IS headquarters in the Barzeh orchards," a local source said.
The source pointed out that the IS group has been receiving huge amounts of money and reinforcements in the neighborhood over the past months, adding that interrogations continue with several IS members held by the rebels.
The opposition fighters deployed in the Qaboun and Barzeh neighborhoods in Damascus issued a statement on Saturday warning all those who help IS members.
"The prisoners (IS members) will be transferred to an opposition-linked judicial court to be prosecuted for their crimes against peaceful civilians," the source told ARA News on the condition of anonymity for security concerns.
Commenting on these developments, human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... activist Hamid Jarrah told ARA News: "The agreement between the different opposition factions was a main factor behind defeating the IS group in Barzeh. Overcoming minor rifts will help the moderate opposition defeat bad boy groups and the Assad regime."
"There is no popular incubator for IS in Damascus or other areas of Syria," he argued. "Only fear or material inducements are behind joining IS ranks."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/20/2015 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Lebanese authorities are reportedly investigating claims that a prominent member of 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... is involved in transferring money from Leb to military groups affiliated with the Paleostinian Islamist movement Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, Shiite Houthis in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... and other organizations.
According to the Kuwaiti al-Seyassah published on Sunday, security sources are probing reports saying that M.A.S, who is also known as Abou Jaafar, is linked to carrying out Hizbullah's financial transactions to foreign groups.
Security sources said that investigations are focusing on the financial activity of the prominent Hizbullah member.
In March, Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh downplayed Washington's concerns on the possibility of involving Lebanese banks in money laundering operations to finance terrorism, in particular the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
[AnNahar] A mother and her five children were among at least 19 civilians killed on Sunday in Syrian regime bombardment of the southern province of Daraa, a monitoring group said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the six members of one family died in the rebel-held area of Dael.
All of the children were under the age of 18.
Two brothers and another relative were killed in another house in the same air attack, the Britannia-based group said.
It said a regime barrel kaboom in the al-Karak al-Sharqi area killed six people in the same family, including three women and a child, as well as a couple.
Two more civilians died in raids on the rebel-held area of Tafas.
"The regime has intensified its air campaign after losing ground in Daraa province in recent months," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
It was in Daraa that peaceful demonstrations broke out against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators... 's regime, prompting a harsh crackdown that led to armed rebellion.
"The regime is trying to make up for its losses, but is bombarding houses where there are women and kiddies," Abdel Rahman said.
Rebels have gained two significant victories over the army by taking the main border crossing point with Jordan and the ancient town of Bosra al-Sham.
In the northeast, regime forces have also lost Idlib city, the second thriving provincial capital to fall to the insurgency in four years.
Analysts say the rebels' main backers 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... , The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... and Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... have set aside their differences and supplied the insurgency with more weapons to halt regime advances and curb the influence of Damascus ally Iran.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/20/2015 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.
The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt is steaming toward the waters off Yemen to beef up security and join other American ships that are prepared to intercept any Iranian vessels carrying weapons to the Houthi rebels fighting in Yemen.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
