At least 14 Taliban insurgents were killed in infighting in the eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan, the security authorities said Friday.
The incident took place in the early hours of Thursday morning in Sarkano district after clashes erupted among Tehrik-e-Taliban and militants operating under the Islamic Emirate.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) confirmed that clashes took place around 5:00 am local time in Gula Pari area of Sarkano.
MoD further added that 8 militants of Tehrik-e-Taliban and 6 militants of Islamic Emirate were killed during the clash and 5 others were wounded from the two sides.
The anti-government armed militant groups have not commented regarding the report so far.
Infighting the among the Taliban groups has intensified during the past one year and since the announcement of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar’s death last year.
The Taliban group has divided into different factions since Mullah Omar’s death was confirmed and was succeeded by Mullah Akhtar Mansoor.
One of the main dissident Taliban group leader is Mullah Rasool who opposed with the appointment of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor as well as Mawlavi Haibatullah Akhundzada as new Taliban supreme leaders.
Akhundzada succeeded Mullah Mansoor who was killed in an airstrike by the US forces in Balochistan province of Pakistan last month.
Daesh militants on Friday conducted group attacks on local police checkpoints in Kott district of Nangarhar province, local officials said.
According to officials so far 30 Daesh militants were killed in Friday's attacks, which started at about 3am.
Officials said that Daesh militants killed and wounded at least 15 civilians during the attacks.
The wounded were taken to Jalalabad hospitals.
Meanwhile a number of residents said Daesh militants killed some children and took a number of women with them. They also said the militants set fire to a number of houses in the district.
"They shot civilians and killed children with knives and took women with them," said one resident.
"We fled our areas due to the war," another resident said.
The clash took place in Sayed Ahmadkhail area of Kott district.
"Daesh militants threatened the residents and beheaded children," another resident said.
The provincial governor's spokesman Attaullah Khogyani confirmed that civilians had fallen victim to Daesh's attacks. He said three civilians including a child were killed and 12 others wounded - including three children.
"In this clash 15 civilians were killed and wounded including women and children," Khogyani said.
It has been reported however that the battle is still ongoing.
Posted by: badanov ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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Somalia’s al Shabaab Islamist group launched a suicide bomb attack on a hotel in the center of Mogadishu on Saturday before militant fighters stormed the building, a police officer said.
The official gave no details of any casualties and there was no immediate comment from al Shabaab, which frequently carries out attacks in the capital in its bid to topple the Western-backed government.
“They started with a suicide bomb and then stormed in. Now they are inside and the heavy exchange of gunfire continues,” Major Nur Farah told Reuters.
He said Nasahablood hotel had been targeted. “It is too early to give details,” he added.
In previous years, al Shabaab has often intensified attacks during Ramadan, often picking targets where people gather just before or after breaking the fast.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/25/2016 13:59 ||
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#1
Does anyone else find it ironic that terrorist acts and killings increase during Ramadan?
Interesting that this one in particular is aimed exclusively at their fellow moslems.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
06/25/2016 14:06 Comments ||
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A car bomb exploded this evening in front of the visitors’ entrance at Benghazi’s Jalaa Hospital killing five people. Another 14 were wounded. At least three are said to be in critical condition.
Some of the casualties, which include two children, are reported to have been passers-by.
The wounded are being treated at the hospital. The dead were taken to Benghazi Medical Centre. They have been named as Hashim Mohamed Manaie, Ibrahim Shouaib Muftah, Imad Ali Ageela, Otman Ai Otman and Mohamed Abdullah Mahmoud.
It is presumed that the bombing was the work of the so-called Islamic State or Ansar Al-Sharia both of which have been heavily smashed by the Libyan National Army in recent weeks. However on Thursday evening, a grenade was thrown into the hospital’s reception area, causing significant damage. Some reports said it was a terrorist attacks but the hospital denied it saying it was the action of an individual with a grudge. It is not yet known if that was true or, indeed if the two incidents are linked.
All roads in the area around the hospital have been closed by the police.
Part of the reception area at Benghazi’s Jalaa Hospital was seriously damaged yesterday afternoon, when a grenade was thrown at it. The hospital says that it does not believe this was a terrorist act but rather a criminal action by an individual.
Hospitals and hospital staff across Libya have been subject to regular violent attacks from members of the public, usually over the hospital’s inability to provide treatment or the death of a relative or friend while being treated. Two days ago, Sabratha municipal council issued a condemnation of attacks on staff at the teaching hospital there.
While the Jalaa hospital incident may not have been a terrorist act, the same was not the case for Benghazi Medical Centre. Yet another missile landed just outside the building yesterday, shattering windows but otherwise causing no serious damage. The hospital is regularly attacked by militants. On Wednesday night, a missile yet again hit the car park, destroying at least one vehicle.
Despite the attacks, the BMC continues to operate although, according to its director, Mohamed Zwai, it is stretched to breaking point. The number of wounded arriving at the hospital as a result of the fighting in the city in the past few days is way beyond what was expected and beyond its capacity. All the beds were full, he explained in a TV interview yesterday, and called on hospitals in nearby towns to help out.
Clashes were reported overnight between militias near Tripoli’s Abu Sleem district following an earlier shooting incident in which a boy was killed. The boy was in a car with his father, named as Hussain Naib, when it was shot at. He later died.
People in Abu Sleem have variously blamed a Misratan militia or the militia of Salah Al-Burki, based in Hadba for the killing, leading to a standoff between the militia of local commander Abdul Ghani Al-Kikli (“Ghneiwa”) and those of forces Burki.
Meanwhile, elsewhere across the city, anger at the presence of Misratan forces has grown massively, especially since Tuesday’s killings in Garabulli. In in the west of the capital, in Ghut Shaal, locals set tyres on fire and blocked roads.
Further protests are expected today.
We earlier reported that Ghneiwa’s forces were suspected of the boy’s killing and that they were now allied to the Misratans. We were mistaken. This was not the case
The danger of truck bombs, IEDs and booby traps may have been markedly reduced after Bunyan Marsous fighters yesterday overran an IS bomb-making factory in Sirte. But the price already paid by the anti-terrorist forces has been high.
The spokesman for the Bunyan Marsous Operations Room, Brigadier Mohamed Al-Ghasri said today that 210 fighters had been killed since the start of the assault on IS in Sirte, with 800 wounded.
This evening Misrata Hospital was treating four fighters injured by shrapnel from mortar rounds. Seriously wounded men continue to be sent abroad for treatment, the latest batch being flown to Morocco.
The bomb factory discovered in Sirte contained explosives leached from shells, detonators and wireless detonators.
Posted by: badanov ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] Morocco said on Thursday that it had dismantled a suspected myrmidon cell inspired by the radical group 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.... and that it had jugged Book 'im, Mahmoud! 10 men who were planning attacks in the North African kingdom.
The interior ministry said in a statement that the cell was operating in the eastern city of Oujda, and the town of Tendrara in the same region bordering Algeria. This was the latest in a series of radical Islamist groups that Morocco has said it has broken up.
It said 10 members of the group were meeting in a safe house and planning to rob a mall in the city of Oujda to fund their attacks across the kingdom.
The group includes an Algerian national living in Morocco illegally, according to the statement carried by state news agency MAP said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Libya pro-government forces repelled a counterattack by ISIS group as they pressed their offensive to retake the jihadist coastal bastion of Sirte on Friday, a military statement said.
Forces backing Libya’s unity government early Friday "repelled a new counter-offensive from ISIS... in very violent festivities," the statement said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.
At least 10 forces of Evil were killed in the fighting, it said. In a later statement it said four members of the GNA forces were killed in today’s festivities and 24 others were maimed.
Since May 12, pro-government forces from the west, Libyan naval forces and eastern militias have pushed the jihadists back into a residential zone of just five square kilometers (two square miles) inside the city.
But their early advances slowed when they entered Sirte on June 9 and reached built-up central and northern parts of the city. ISIS has hit back with suicide boom-mobiles and sniper fire.
The jihadists overran the city some 450 kilometers (270 miles) east of the capital in June last year.
Pro-government forces retaking the city would be a major blow to ISIS, which has faced a series of setbacks in Syria and Iraq.
Nearly 200 anti-ISIS fighters have been killed and over 600 injured since the start of the offensive, according to medical sources.
Pro-government forces, commanded out of Misrata -- 190 kilometers to the northwest -- are mostly made up of western militias that were born during the 2011 revolt that overthrew dictator Muammer Qadaffy.
A militia set up to guard the country’s main oil facilities has also been advancing on ISIS from the east.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[THECABLE.NG] Ten members of the Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... sect have been killed, while two captured alive, in an ambush laid by soldiers at the border town of Gamboru-Ngala in Borno state.
Lucky Irabor, theatre commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, disclosed this at a news conference in Maiduguri, the state capital.
He said some of the items recovered from the suspects were six AK47 magazines, 56 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, a bundle of detonating cord and a manual booklet on how to make improvised bomb (IED).
"On June 10, our troops at Logomani ambushed suspected Boko Haram snuffies following information about their movement toward Muska village in Ngala Local Government Area of Borno," he said.
"As a result, 10 of them were killed and two others were captured, while two civilian captives were rescued from the snuffies during the operation."
Irabor added that the military has recorded tremendous success in its clearance operations in various parts of the state.
"On June 7, troops on patrol made contact with suspected Boko Haram snuffies around Tilani, Rann and Kalma in Kala Balge general area," he said.
"In the process, one was killed, while others who suffered gunshot wounds fled, three cycle of violences and a bag containing N466,000 cash was recovered from them."
He said some civilians who were in captivity have been rescued by the military.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
there seems to be some cautious progress in eliminating Boko Haram, keep it up
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/25/2016 8:49 Comments ||
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A wanted man has been killed in Saudi Arabia’s oil-producing Eastern province after an exchange of gunfire while police were searching his home, state news agency SPA reported on Thursday.
An Interior Ministry statement carried early Thursday by the state-run Saudi Press Agency identified the dead man as Abdulrahim Ali Abdulrahim al-Faraj.
The ministry said the raid Wednesday in Awwamiya saw the suspects open fire first. It said the shootout wounded no civilians or security force members.
It said al-Faraj, his brother and others are wanted for killing security force members, robbery and on other charges.
Last Update: Thursday, 23 June 2016 KSA 09:26 - GMT 06:26
[EN.FARSNEWS] Saudi warplanes hit the positions of friendly forces in Northern Yemen, and killed a large number of Death Eaters loyal to runaway former President Mansour Hadi, in what has come to be known as "routine" shooting and bombing of friendly troops by the Saudi air force.
Tens of pro-Hadi militias were killed in the Saudi fighter jets' air raid on their positions in al-Jawf province in Northern Yemen, the Arabic-language media quoted eyewitnesses as saying.
In a similar incident on December 30, scores of the militias loyal to Mansour Hadi were killed in the Saudi Arclight airstrikes in Ta'iz province in Southern Yemen.
Also on November 17, the Saudi warplanes killed scores of militias loyal to Mansour Hadi.
Also on October 18, the Saudi fighter jets killed 30 pro-Hadi Death Eaters in Ta'iz province.
Also on August 10, the Saudi fighter jets killed 20 other friendly militias from pro-Hadi bully boy groups.
In a similar incident on July 28, 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... killed 15 pro-Hadi bully boys. Saudi fighter jets conducted Arclight airstrikes on hills overlooking the al-Anad air base near the city of al-Houta, located about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the strategic Southern port city of Aden, leaving 15 Death Eaters dead and at least 40 others maimed.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Farsnews. One step up above(?) Almanar
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/25/2016 8:50 Comments ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Greek police say a teenage Syrian refugee has been lightly injured after being shot by an unknown man while trying to illegally return to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , from which he had entered Greece months earlier.
The 16-year-old, together with a 21-year-old Iraqi, had bought a small inflatable dinghy in which they planned to cross the Evros river, on Greece’s northeastern border with Turkey, near Didymoteicho.
Police say both men were threatened Thursday by two men in a boat from the Turkish side, who fired at them with a shotgun as they bravely ran away. The incident was announced Friday.
About 57,000 migrants colonists and other refugees, who entered from Turkey, are stuck in Greece after a series of Balkan border closures frustrated their plans to reach Europe’s prosperous heartland.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] A car kaboom in southeast The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... killed a civilian and maimed at least six military personnel, according to a senior government official and media reports.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government protocol, said initial reports indicated a boom-mobileexploded near a gendarme outpost in Omerli, a town in Mardin Province. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The civilian, he said, was a truck driver who was passing by in his vehicle. Six soldiers were maimed in the evening blast.
[AnNahar] Militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) on Friday killed six Turkish soldiers in two separate attacks in the troubled southeast of the country, the army said.
Two Turkish soldiers were killed in a gun attack by PKK members in the Derik district of Mardin province in the early morning, it said.
Less than an hour later, four Turkish troops died in a roadside kaboom by the PKK in the Hakkari province of the extreme southeast of the country, it added.
GWADAR: Four bullet-riddled bodies were found on Friday in Balochistan, three in the Dashat area of Kech district and one in the Cheetkan area of Panjgur district, sources said.
Officials of the Levies Force said the residents of Dashat area informed them about the presence of three bodies in Balnigore.
The corpses were taken to the Turbat district hospital, where they were identified as those of Inayatullah, Abdul Waheed and Mohammad Aslam, they said. All the victims were residents of the Kombail area of Dashat.
However, some sources alleged that the bodies were those of the men who had surrendered themselves to the authorities after denouncing militancy a few months ago.
They said the militants had kidnapped them about two months ago and now their bodies had been found.
The fourth corpse, found in the Cheetkan area, was moved to the Panjgur district hospital. The name of the victim could not be immediately ascertained.
KHAR: Security forces claimed on Friday to have repulsed an attack on their checkposts in border areas of Nawagai tehsil in Bajaur Agency by militants from Afghanistan’s Kunar province.
“At least two militants were injured as security forces successfully repulsed the cross-border attack in several areas of Nawagai in the small hours of Friday,” security officials said.
They said the militants had fired rockets and mortar shells at several checkposts located along the Pak-Afghan border. However, no casualty was reported in the attack.
Security forces, with the help of volunteers of a local peace committee, retaliated the attack and later launched a search for the assailants.
Two of the militants were wounded while escaping after the attack.
[Iraq Sun] Masked men in Kashmire raised Pakistain and 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 (ISIS) flags and pelted stones at coppers after Friday prayers in protest against New Delhi's rule.
The protesters also raised pro-Pakistain and pro-freedom slogans at the rally in Srinagar.
Protestors pelted stones at security personnel who in turn fired tear gas shells to disperse them.
Several incidents of pro-Pakistain rallies have been reported in recent times in Kashmire, which both India and Pakistain claim in full but rule in part.
Flags of Death Eater groups like ISIS, Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen are frequently raised at such protests.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Five people were killed and 28 more injured, including women and kiddies, in a kaboom at Almo Chowk here on Friday afternoon, police said.
The dead and injured, all passersby and shopkeepers in the area, were taken to Civil Hospital Quetta. At least three of the injured were at death's door. Two of the injured passed away while under treatment.
According to Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Police Quetta Chaudhary Manzoor, around 5 kilograms of explosives were used in the blast.
The blast went off outside a shop in the crowded Almo Chowk market as locals were busy in Ramazan and pre-Eid shopping. An initial investigation revealed the bomb was planted on a bicycle.
The impact damaged windows and walls of the nearby shops and homes in the marginalised neighbourhood.
"All the victims are civilians. A major aim of Lions of Islam is to create panic among the people," the DIG said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] PESHAWAR: In a big cover-up, the police hid not only dramatic escape of 11 Death Eaters and criminals from inside the Police Lines, Mardan but also blamed the death of a constable on an attack from outside last May, it has been revealed.
In his First Information Report of May 2, 2016, constable Mohammad Jan, said that at around 2:30am, he was guarding the upper post toward the railway track at Police Lines, when, suddenly, he overheard gunshots and when he looked down, he saw two gunnies below.
He said he fired back and the assailants fled taking advantage of the dark and the populated area.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – A security source in Nineveh province said on Friday, that ISIS fighters closed key bridges in the city of Mosul using concrete blocks in anticipation of military operations on the city.
According to information shared by the source to IraqiNews.com, “Today, elements of ISIS cut off some of the bridges in the city of Mosul using concrete blocks,” noting that, “Those bridges included the al-Khamis Bridge leading to the Dandan and Dobat neighborhoods in central [Mosul].”
The information added, “The objectives of closing the bridges is to separate the areas from each other in anticipation of any possible military operation launched by the security forces on the city.”
Posted by: badanov ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Mosul defenses are well-organized, along the lines of classical siege warfare. Inter-communicating trench works, etc. Thus US arty moving towards.
(IraqiNews.com) Salahuddin – Media officials with the Ministry of Defense announced on Friday, that the Iraqi joint forces had managed to liberate the area of Makhoul from ISIS, indicating that the forces are advancing into the district of al-Sharqat north of Tikrit.
The officials said in a press statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “The Anti-Terrorism Directorate and the army’s Armored Ninth Division had gained control over the [government] office of Makhoul vicinity north of Baiji (40 km north of Tikrit),” pointing out that, “The [forces] raised the Iraqi flag over the office.”
The officials added, “The military troops are advancing towards the intersection of the district of al-Sharqat and opening save havens for many families to escape towards the security [forces].”
Posted by: badanov ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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(IraqiNews.com) al-Anbar – The commander of Anbar Operations, Maj. Gen. Ismail al-Mahalawi, announced on Friday destroying three boats for ISIS north of Ramadi.
Mahalawi said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “The international coalition aviation, in coordination with the army forces, bombed three boats belonging to the ISIS in the Euphrates River in the area of Zankoura north of Ramadi,” adding that, ” The bombing resulted in the destruction of these boats and killing the [ISIS] elements that were on board.”
“Those [elements] were trying to sneak into the area,” he also added.
Posted by: badanov ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior said on Friday, that nine people had been either killed or injured in a bomb blast north of Baghdad.
According to information shared by the source and received by IraqiNews.com, “An explosive device went off near a popular market in the area of al-Husseiniya, north of Baghdad, resulting in the death of one person and wounding eight others,” adding that, “A security force rushed to the scene and transferred the injured to a nearby hospital to receive medical treatment and the dead body to the forensic medicine authority, while imposed a security cordon around the area of the incident and prevented approaching it.”
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Makhool, a district in the province of Salah Al-Din which lies north of Baghdad, has been recaptured from ISIS militants on Friday, the Iraqi government said in a statement.
“The Iraqi forces raised an Iraqi flag at the center of the district after making the enemy incur human and equipment losses,” the statement read.
Iraqi security forces backed by volunteer forces were able to claim control over Makhool’s surrounding mountains more than four months ago after heavy clashes with ISIS.
Salah al-Din is on the border with Nineveh province where Iraq’s second largest city of Mosul is located. Mosul fell under ISIS control since June 2014.
Iraqi forces are currently trying to head to Qayyarah Airfield West, a former Iraqi air force base in Nineveh, before embarking a full-fledged operation to liberate Mosul.
On Thursday, Iraqi commanders were also preparing to dislodge ISIS fighters from pockets of territory in Fallujah’s northern and western neighborhoods where the militants have dug in after largely fleeing their positions in the city center last week.
Before Iraqi forces rolled into central Fallujah under cover of US-led coalition airstrikes, they were bogged down for weeks, trying to push through deep defensive trenches, tunnels and houses converted into bunkers by ISIS militants on the city’s southern edge. Now looking to the city’s north, Iraqi commanders expect to encounter a similarly fierce fight.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[RUDAW.NET] First it was 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.... , now Shiite militias are threatening the stability of Khurmatu and escalating sectarian tensions say residents.
Many Kurds, Sunni Arabs and Sunni Turkmen are leaving their homes in Khurmatu due to increasing killings and threats.
"Killing people is as easy as drinking water. The city does not have an owner. There is no security. We are many Kurds in Askari neighborhood. We all left and goodbye," a Kurdish resident told Rudaw while he was packed up and leaving town.
"The Kurds, Sunni Arabs and Sunni Turkmen are leaving. Only the Sunnis are leaving; it’s the sectarian war," he added.
According to the people of Khurmatu, the killings and threats increased in the last couple weeks, spurring many residents to leave town. People are putting their houses up for sale, indicating they have given up on Khurmatu and have no intention of returning.
The threats are believed to be mainly coming from the Shiite militias but people are not clear whether they are linked to the Hashd al-Shaabi or not. "We have been threatened. No one knows who is behind it ‐ Shias, Sunnis or ISIS. They threatened us to leave the neighborhood," a woman from the Askari neighborhood of Khurmatu told Rudaw.
The poor security situation has left residents feeling that the town is on the frontlines of the war and they face direct threats. "I am a Peshmerga at the frontlines. I came home but it is the same, like the frontlines. What a life?," a Peshmerga resident said.
People are asking for support, especially from the KRG who they want to give them a safe place to move to. In May, the people of Khurmatu and the KRG Ministry of Peshmerga asked the Kurdistan Region’s presidency to create a special force formed from the people of Khurmatu to protect their town.
Kurdish Peshmerga and Shiite militias have clashed several times over the past year. They have tried, unsuccessfully, to make peace agreements.
In April, they signed a 12 point agreement to stabilize the situation. But not all the points were implemented and tensions resumed. In May, they established a joint Peshmerga-Shiite force but the insecurity remained.
An official from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) blamed the insecurity on the presence of multiple gangs in the town. "All those different gangs are present in Khurmatu, causing instability in town," Hassan Baram told Rudaw on June 18.
"Khurmatu is like a diversified and colorful military base. Such a small district cannot contain all those brigades, battalions, foreign and internal forces. The Kurdish authority should try to expel those forces from the town and the security of Khurmatu should be handed to the security forces," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[EN.ABNA24] A security source in Kirkuk said on Friday, that the so-called ISIS had executed five civilians on charges of cooperating with the security forces southwest of the province.
According to information "The ISIS had executed, today, five civilians from the district of al-Hawija at a popular market before the eyes of people (55 km southwest of Kirkuk)," noting that, "The five civilians were sentenced to death on charges of cooperating with the security forces by the [ISIS] court."
"The [ISIS] is living in a state of fear after receiving fatal blows in addition to the destruction of a large number of [its] positions southwest of the province," the information further added.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[Iraq Sun] Iraqi forces, backed by U.S. coalition Arclight airstrikes and Apache attack helicopters, began moving Wednesday toward the crucial al Qayyarah airfield south of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... Known as a "super-base," the airfield has two major runways and previously was capable of handling fighter jets, helicopters and large U.S. transport planes. It lies just west of the Tigris river and of advancing Iraqi forces.
"It is like the U.S. fight for Baghdad in 2003," said one Iraqi commander speaking on the phone through a translator. "There are jet fighters in the sky, and below them are helicopters and on land we have ground forces with M1A1 tanks," the commander said on condition that he remain anonymous. "This is the way it is going right now," he said on Thursday.
U.S. coalition has been hammering IStargetsinthe area with Arclight airstrikes almost daily sinceJune 1. On Wednesday, four strikes hit an IS tactical unit, destroyed an IS assembly area and eight IS boats. On Tuesday, six strikes near Qayyarah destroyed IS bunkers, tunnelentrances, two mortar systems and six boats.
According to IHS Jane's Defence Weekly, photographs released by Iraq's Ministry of Defense last week showed OshKosh M-All Terrain Vehicles armed with heavy machine guns, Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles and M1A1 Abrams tanks advancing towards al Qayyarah. Iraq's 9th Armored Division and brigades of the U.S.-trained 15th Infantry Division are moving in from Makhmour, from where Iraqi forces started their offensive towards Mosul in March.
Mosul is the country's second largest city and IS's "capital" in Iraq.
U.S. Special Envoy Brett McGurk met with Kurdish Regional President Masoud Marzani and Iraq's National Security Advisor Faleh al Fayyad on Sunday to lay the ground for taking the city. McGurk said on his Twitter feed that the meeting aimed at preparing the political-military plan for Mosul's "full liberation."
Kurdish commanders have insisted a political agreement on how the city will be taken and how it will be controlled afterwards is essential to a successful military operation. There are concerns that a heavy Shi'ite militia presence in the operationcould aggravate the sectarian divisions exploited by IS in Iraq. Iraqi security forces have been boosted by Shi'ite militia in other offensives, including in Fallujah.
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06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[Jpost] Two Israelis in their 50s were lightly injured in a vehicular terror attack in the West Bank, just outside of the Kiryat Arba settlement
...near Hebron, Hamas central in the West Bank..
. on Friday afternoon.
The two Israelis had stopped at the bus stop, just outside the settlement to pick up hitchhikers when a car driven by a Paleostinian woman rammed into them.
Soldiers at the scene shot and killed the woman.
The two Israelis were transported to the Shaare Tzedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.
[AnNahar] 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 fighters have detained some 900 Kurds in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo over the past three weeks, amid fierce fighting for control of a nearby IS stronghold, a Kurdish official and Syrian activists have said.
The Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday the 900 civilians were detained near the IS-held town of al-Bab.
Sherfan Darwish, front man for the U.S.-backed predominantly-Kurdish Syria Democratic Forces, told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that over 900 were seized in retaliation for an SDF offensive on the IS-stronghold of Manbij.
Darwish said that, "whenever ISIS is defeated they retaliate against civilians," using an Arabic acronym for IS.
The Observatory and Darwish said some of the detainees were forced to dig trenches in IS-held areas while others are imprisoned in detention centers.
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06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[RUDAW.NET] The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) made further advances against 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.... (ISIS) gunnies on Thursday, advancing to within just two kilometres from the city centre.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor reported that the fighters were engaging ISIS gunnies in heavy festivities in Manbij’s western districts, only two kilometres from the city centre.
This marks the first time the SDF, a coalition of forces dominated by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), entered Manbij after capturing surrounding villages and farmland and laying siege to the city.
Despite launching vicious counter-attacks against SDF positions, ISIS has been unable to break the siege and is steadily losing ground.
The SDF launched their offensive against the strategically-important ISIS-held city just over three weeks ago. With Manbij under SDF control, ISIS will be completely off from the Turkish border.
They are being supported in this offensive by US-led coalition air support and special forces’ advisors.
Thursday’s festivities bring the total number of casualties in this campaign to 63 SDF fighters and at least 458 ISIS bully boys.
Nearby in Raqqa province, ISIS repelled a Syrian regime offensive, kicking the Syrian army out of areas they had recaptured from the gunnies earlier this month.
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06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[RUDAW.NET] Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are making progress in their offensive to liberate the strategic town of Manbij but 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.... IEDs (improvised bombs) and concern for civilian lives remain big obstacles, confirmed an SDF commander.
"The unlimited number of IEDs and our responsibility to protect civilian lives and homes are main factors in slowing down the operations. ISIS planted IEDs in 80% of the civilian homes and they use the people of the southern and western neighborhoods as human shields," said Adnan Abu Amjad, commander of the Manbij Military Council.
The SDF, dominated by the Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG), are leading the operation to liberate Manbij under the umbrella of the local Manbij Military Council.
As ISIS continues to target civilians, the SDF are trying to find safe ways to reach them. "With our progress, we are trying to find a safe path for the civilians to rescue them, because many people try to escape," Abu Amjad said, noting that ISIS indiscriminately targets anybody, including civilians, who enter certain marked areas.
"We did rescue some of the maimed people and transferred them to Kobani hospitals," he confirmed.
As the fighting continues, the humanitarian crisis and lack of essential goods is also threatening the lives of civilians. "The humanitarian situation of Manbij is so bad and no food is left for them and they cannot get medicine. Therefore we are trying to liberate the area as soon as possible," he explained.
According to the SDF military commander, so far they killed 1,800 ISIS fighters in Manbij and have the bodies of 800 Death Eaters.
In retaliation for the SDF successes against ISIS in Manbij, the terrorist group has reportedly kidnapped 900 Kurds from Aleppo province in the past three weeks, SDF front man Sherfan Dawrish told the News Agency that Dare Not be Named (AP).
At least 26 of those kidnapped may have been executed for refusing to follow ISIS orders, a Kurdish media activist Rezan Hiddo told AP.
Though the SDF are proceeding with caution, they are steadily gaining ground from ISIS. Local media in Rojava reported on Friday that the YPG forces now control the silos of Manbij.
And according to a video Rudaw received, YPG forces are already in the villages of Manbij where they have established checkpoints and are pulling down ISIS flags and raising their own flags and images of PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) leader Abullah Ocalan. Civilian homes destroyed by coalition Arclight airstrikes can be seen in the video.
Most of the YPG fighters who have retaken control of the villages are originally from Manbij and surrounding areas but they were living in Kobani since ISIS seized control of the region. They are happy to return to their homes.
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06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] In a remote corner of Leb near the border with Syria, Lebanese troops have been quietly making steady progress, fighting against Islamic murderous Moslems holed up in the rugged mountains.
It is a fight less visible than the war against 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.... group in Syria, Iraq and Libya. But hardly a day passes without army artillery stationed on the edge of the town of Arsal pounding nearby Lion of Islam positions.
Continued on Page 49
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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.
Somalia’s al Shabaab Islamist group launched a suicide bomb attack on a hotel in the center of Mogadishu on Saturday before militant fighters stormed the building, a police officer said.
The danger of truck bombs, IEDs and booby traps may have been markedly reduced after Bunyan Marsous fighters yesterday overran an IS bomb-making factory in Sirte. But the price already paid by the anti-terrorist forces has been high.
[DAWN] PESHAWAR: In a big cover-up, the police hid not only dramatic escape of 11 
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior said on Friday, that nine people had been either killed or injured in a bomb blast north of Baghdad.
[RUDAW.NET] First it was 
[RUDAW.NET] Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are making progress in their offensive to liberate the strategic town of Manbij but 
