As African leaders are meeting in Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta is seeking that African Union Mission in Somalia be strengthened with aerial and maritime capacity, Garowe Online reports.
Addressing the African Union Peace and Security Council ahead of Saturday 26th AU summit, President Kenyatta decried recent Al Shabaab attack on Kenyan-AMISOM base in southwestern Somalia. He said, his country has a far daunting task in rooting out terrorists trying to paralyze gains made by troop contributing countries in central and southern Somalia.
Among Kenyatta’s push are changing the rules of engagement and strengthened AMISOM power on land, air and the sea.
“The objective was to support the Federal Government of Somalia to recover the entire territory of Somalia by 2015, in time for the 2016 general elections. It is clear that this objective has not been achieved and it points to the need to vary the mandate of AMISOM,” said Kenyatta. “In order to achieve this strategic objective, AMISOM requires a reviewed mandate to enable its troops match the changing tactics,” the President added according to Citizen TV.
Praising inter-agency modalities, he said Kenyan security forces have foiled many terror attacks.
“In order to fight it therefore, all of us must continue the difficult and daunting task of identifying, separating, tracking and deterring the enemy wherever they may be found.”
Al Shabaab, Boko Haram and crisis in Burundi have taken a center stage in today’s agendas in Addis Ababa.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/31/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
“In order to fight it therefore, all of us must continue the difficult and daunting task of identifying, separating, tracking and deterring the enemy wherever they may be found.”
Study die Koevoet (the Crowbar) ops tactics you indolent bastids. Learn from the past or perish.
The UN human rights office says it has turned up six more cases of alleged sexual abuse against children by European troops in Central African Republic, including a 7-year-old girl who said she had to perform sexual acts on soldiers in exchange for water and cookies.
A UN team recently interviewed five girls and a boy who claimed their abusers were part of French and European Union military operations in the troubled African country, the office of Zeid Raad al-Hussein, the high commissioner for human rights, said.
The sexual abuse allegedly took place in 2014 in or near a camp for displaced people near M’Poko airport in CAR’s capital, Bangui, but only came to light in recent weeks in the latest in a string of similar allegations.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
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[TASS] Dagestan has blocked access to 40 Internet resources, the republic’s Press and Information Minister, Aznaur Adzhiyev, said at a meeting of the Anti-Terrorist Commission on Friday. He said, "In July-December 2015 about 100 resources having extremist features were exposed. At the end of January access to more than 40 resources was blocked."
The Press and Information Ministry said it had created a group of four qualified specialists monitoring the Internet on the permanent basis. Adzhiyev said, "Print and electronic media, Dagestan's segments of the social networks and blogs are being scrutinized for the presence of anti-constitutional, nationalist and extremist publications. Monitoring lists are dispatched to the authorities concerned."
"A group of journalists, experts and bloggers specializing on the problems of extremism and terrorism has been created. It incorporates members of the anti-terrorist committee in Dagestan, the executive authorities, law enforcement agencies, the Dagestani Research Center under the Russian Academy of Sciences and local universities. In the whole of 2015 about 1,300 anti-terrorist materials have been placed in the mass media," Adzhiyev said, adding that clerics are actively involved in the effort to resist extremism.
[AlAhram] German Chancellor Angela Merkel ...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as Mom... on Saturday tried to placate the increasingly vocal critics of her open-door policy for refugees, insisting that asylum seekers from Syria and Iraq would go home once the conflicts there had ended.
Merkel, despite appearing increasingly isolated over her policy, has resisted pressure from some conservatives to cap the influx of refugees, or to close Germany's borders. A record 1.1 million migrants arrived in Germany last year.
But growing concern about the country's ability to cope and worries about crime and security after assaults on women are weighing on support for Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).
Merkel said that despite efforts to integrate refugees and help them, it was important to stress that they had only been given permission to stay for a limited period of time.
"We need ... to say to people that this is a temporary residential status and we expect that once there is peace in Syria again, once IS has been defeated in Iraq, that you go back to your home country with the knowledge that you have gained," she said at a meeting of CDU members in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
She said 70 percent of refugees that fled to Germany from the war in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s had returned to their home countries.
Her remarks come after Horst Seehofer, leader of the CSU, threatened to take her government to court if his demand to stem the flow of asylum seekers was not met.
Her remarks come after Horst Seehofer, leader of the CSU, threatened to take her government to court if his demand to stem the flow of asylum seekers was not met.
Support for the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) has edged up into double digits. Its leader said in an interview published on Saturday that border guards should shoot at refugees to prevent them from illegally entering the country if need be.
Merkel has tried to convince other European countries to take in quotas of refugees, pushed for reception centres to be built on Europe's external borders, and led an EU campaign to try to convince The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... to keep refugees from entering the bloc.
But progress has been slow.
Germany wants to limit migration from North Africa by declaring Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia "safe countries", which would end their citizens' chance of being granted asylum.
Merkel said she had spoken to Morocco's king and that Morocco had said it was prepared to take back people from that country.
#12
Have to agree wid #2, espec iff POTUS Obama's post-Jan 2017 POTUS Successor is another Anti-US US OWG Globalist, or in alternate is not a Globalist but continues the Bammer's "minimalism" approach = Admin decisions as per fighting Terror + FP.
THE REFUGEES = SO-CALLED "RAPEFUGEES" WON'T BE LEAVING GERMANY OR EUROPE, ITS THE HARD BOYZ THAT WILL COMING + JIHADIN' GERMANY + EU.
#13
Frau Turkel cried, "Fly, fly, my pretties!
Descend upon Christendom's cities,
Till the whole damned EU
(And their little God, too!)
Will be drowned in Mohammedan kiddies."
The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that no Russian aircraft had violated Turkish airspace, adding that neither Russian air defense in Syria, nor Syrian radards had detected violations of Turkish borders by a Russian Su-34 warplane as Ankara claimed earlier in the day, Sputnik reported.
Turkey's reports of an alleged violation of Turkish airspace by a Russian Su-34 are unfounded and "propaganda," the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said.
"There were no violations of Turkish airspace by aircraft of the Russian air group in the Syrian Arab Republic. Turkish authorities' statements of an alleged violation of Turkish airspace by a Russian Su-34 jet are naked propaganda," Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.
The alleged incident involving a Su-34 fighter bomber took place on Friday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said earlier in the day, adding that the plane had been warned by Turkish air radar units.
"None of these radars are able to establish the type and affiliation of an aircraft — whether it belongs to Russia or to the so-called US-led anti-ISIL [Daesh] coalition," Konashenkov told reporters.
He emphasized that neither Russian air defense systems in Syria nor Syrian radar stations detected any violations of the Turkey-Syria border.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said earlier in the day it had summoned the Russian ambassador after an alleged incident involving a Su-34 fighter bomber. On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he wanted to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the incident.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/31/2016 00:00 ||
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Iff Turkey's claims are "unfounded" in Russia's view, ergo so also are US + NATO demands for Russia to respect NATO Ally Turkey's airspace.
[RFE/RL] A Kosovar citizen accused of hacking the personal data of over a thousand U.S. military personnel and sending it to Daesh made his first public appearance in the United States on January 27. Ardit Ferizi appeared in court in Virginia to face terrorism charges after being extradited from Malaysia, where he was detained in October.
Court documents say the hacker broke into the server of an American online retailer and stole the military members' identifying information. The complaint says Ferizi provided the information to Daesh, including the British hacker Junaid Hussain, who bragged about having the information in an August 2015 tweet.
Twitter posts show that Ferizi also offered to create a computer program enabling Daesh to post propaganda that would "never get deleted."
Posted by: ryuge ||
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[Inquirer] The $5 million price tag for the capture, dead or alive, of Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, has caught the attention of experts in the aftermath of a tragic police operation to take him down in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province, a year ago.
How the bounty affected the overall conduct of the operation is not clear. However, a Jakarta-based think-tank has urged a rethinking of the role of rewards in the war on terror. As with other terrorists, the bounty for Marwan's capture was put up by the U.S. Rewards for Justice program. The program is credited for aiding in the downfall of key Abu Sayyaf leaders. As of 2012, intelligence firm Strategic Forecasting said, more than $11 million in bounties had been paid out in the Philippines by the program.
The program's website listed as part of its success stories the capture of key Abu Sayyaf figures: Toting Craft Hanno, Khadaffy Janjalani (deceased), and Abu Solaiman and Hamsiraji Marusi Sali. It paid $100,000 for Hanno, $5 million for Janjalani, $5 million for Solaiman, and $1 million for Sali.
In a report, the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, said,"The huge bounties placed on the heads of foreign jihadis have helped to burnish their reputations as world-class terrorists, perhaps out of proportion to their actual roles. They encourage killing high-value targets rather than making any effort to arrest them alive."
In 2008, a Brussels-based think-tank warned about the distorting effect of monetary rewards in the drive against terrorists in the Philippines. In its report, the International Crisis Group noted that military informants "equate amount of bounty with the importance of the individual concerned."
It cited the case of Jemaah Islamiyah operatives Umar Patek and Dulmatin. Dulmatin, who reports to Umar Patek, commanded $10 million in reward for his capture while his boss only fetched $1 million.
The Rewards for Justice program now lists four terrorists in East Asia and the Pacific region whose capture merits its bounty. They are Isnilon Hapilon of Abu Sayyaf, up to $5 million; Radullan Sahiron of Abu Sayyaf, up to $1 million; and Indonesian Jemaah Islamiyah operative Aris Sumarsono alias Zulkarnaen or Daud, up to $5 million. Abdul Basit Usman of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, who was killed last year, is still on the list, with a reward of up to $1 million.
Iran's supreme leader has awarded medals to navy commanders for capturing US sailors who entered Iranian territorial waters this month, Iran's state media said on Sunday.
Syrian opposition negotiators are demanding the release of thousands of detainees, including hundreds of women and children being held by Bashar al-Assad’s government, as a confidence-building measure before joining UN-brokered peace talks in Geneva.
Syrian and western sources said on Saturday that an initial list of 177 prisoners had already been given to Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy trying to restart long-stalled negotiations between bitter enemies nearly five years into the conflict.
In total, the opposition is seeking the release of 3,000 people, including 700 held in Deraa, the largest city in southern Syria. “We are trying to push for women with newborn children,” said Farah Atassi, an opposition adviser. “That’s a priority. Then we will move to the next list.” In the past the government has pledged to free political detainees but in the end released only ordinary criminals.
The Geneva talks got under way on Friday with a meeting between De Mistura and a Syrian government delegation. The opposition announced later that it would also attend after a day of confusion and pressure – and receiving assurances from the US and UN that its demands for an end to airstrikes and improved humanitarian access would be taken seriously.
John Kerry, the US secretary of state, made the pledge to Riyadh Hijab, head of the opposition’s higher negotiations commission, after being accused of angering him by speaking bluntly in a stormy meeting last weekend. Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, also helped to persuade the reluctant Syrians to take the plunge, diplomats said.
The anti-Assad rebels are pressing for immediate implementation of two clauses of UN resolution 2254, which underpins the latest phase of international diplomacy on Syria. These address humanitarian issues and call for an end to attacks on civilians.
The 17-strong opposition team flew to Geneva on Saturday on a private plane arranged by Saudi Arabia. The Syrians – representing both political and armed groups – spent four days in Riyadh debating whether to turn up, and were hailed by supporters on social media for standing firm and insisting that their conditions were met.
Formal sessions of what the UN is calling “proximity talks” – separate meetings between De Mistura and each Syrian faction – are scheduled to take place in the Palais des Nations on Monday, a full week after the negotiations were originally scheduled to begin. No direct contact is expected.
Diplomats say freeing prisoners is more easily achievable than ceasefires and allowing aid convoys into 15 locations defined as under siege across the country. Releases will also allow the opposition to demonstrate to sceptical supporters that it has concrete gains to show for taking part in the talks – and help prepare the ground for taking tougher decisions.
Kerry’s assurances to the Syrian opposition have not been made public, but they are believed to have included a promise to look at options for breaking sieges, most likely using air drops of food and other supplies. Overall, however, there is a growing mood of mistrust of the US, with European and Arab diplomats saying privately that they believe Washington is playing for time for the remaining months of Barack Obama’s term in the White House.
De Mistura also plans to convene four standing UN working groups, looking at humanitarian issues; security, including efforts to fight Isis; political and legal matters; and reconstruction. Diplomats describe an attempt to create a permanent forum for negotiations, avoiding direct confrontation and collapse if possible. “He is trying to produce a slower process that becomes a normal form of engagement with a bit of flexibility,” said one official.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/31/2016 00:00 ||
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About half the voters in the US want Swillary. One must wonder if we are about to get what they deserve...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/31/2016 10:25 Comments ||
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#2
The 3:00 am call came in to the office of the POTUS, and either his feckless losers were unable to convey the urgency to him, or - he just didn't give a rat's ass. Absolutely unacceptable.
BY all means, go see "13 Hours". It correctly portrays the military wheels in motion, and also the military assets that just sat on the runway, as wave after wave of "tangos" conduct attack after attack.
Obama - there is no friggin' excuse. You are truly a SCOAMF.
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 UN human rights office says it has turned up six more cases of alleged sexual abuse against children by European troops in Central African Republic, including a 7-year-old girl who said she had to perform sexual acts on soldiers in exchange for water and cookies.
[TASS] Dagestan has blocked access to 40 Internet resources, the republic’s Press and Information Minister, Aznaur Adzhiyev, said at a meeting of the Anti-Terrorist Commission on Friday. He said, "In July-December 2015 about 100 resources having extremist features were exposed. At the end of January access to more than 40 resources was blocked." 
The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that no Russian aircraft had violated Turkish airspace, adding that neither Russian air defense in Syria, nor Syrian radards had detected violations of Turkish borders by a Russian Su-34 warplane as Ankara claimed earlier in the day, Sputnik reported.
[RFE/RL] A Kosovar citizen accused of hacking the personal data of over a thousand U.S. military personnel and sending it to Daesh made his first public appearance in the United States on January 27. Ardit Ferizi appeared in court in Virginia to face terrorism charges after being extradited from Malaysia, where he was detained in October.
[Inquirer] The $5 million price tag for the capture, dead or alive, of Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, has caught the attention of experts in the aftermath of a tragic police operation to take him down in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province, a year ago.
