Afghan intelligenceAt least three Taliban militants were killed in a joint raid of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in central Logar province of Afghanistan.
The Afghan Intelligence, National Directorate of Security (NDS), said the raid was conducted joinly by the NDS operatives of the Afghan National Police (ANP) forces.
According to a statement by NDS, the NDS operatives and ANP forces conducted the raid conducted the raid in Baraki Barak district after the Taliban militants started harassing the local residents by establishing the check post.
The statement further added that the check post was established by the local Taliban commander identified as Mullah Naqibullah.
NDS also added that the Afghan security forces confiscated 1 pistol, 4 hand grenades, 1 communication device set, and one motorcycle from the militants.
The anti-government armed militnat groups including the Taliban militants have not commented regarding the report so far.
The Taliban insurgents and militants belonging to other insurgent groups are actively operating in a number of the remote districts of Logar province which is located close to capital Kabul.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) has been reporting a steeper rise in Afghan National Army (ANA) forces casualties amid deteriorating security situation across the country.
According to a statement by MoD, at least 20 soldiers of the Afghan National Army (ANA) forces lost their lives while conducting counter-terrorism operations in the past 24 hours.
“The Afghan National Army (ANA) forces are prepared for all kinds of devotion and with all force to maintain security and comfort for the people of Afghanistan,” a statement by MoD said, adding that 20 Afghan soldiers were martyred during counter-terrorism operations against the internal and foreign terrorists.
The statement further added that the soldiers were martyred during the operations conducted in Badghis, Helmand, Nuristan, Laghman, Ghazni, Uruzgan, Kunduz, Paktia, and Maidan Wardak provinces.
The considerable rise in Afghan army casualties comes as the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) are busy conducting their annual operation to suppress the insurgency activities of the militant groups.
The annual operation by ANDS was launched in response to Taliban’s spring offensive which the group launched under the name of ‘Omari Operations’ earlier in April this year.
According to the earlier estimates by security officials, the Afghan army deaths stood at 4 service members daily on average which is mainly caused due to improvised explosive device (IED) attacks.
The shadow governor of the loyalists of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group has been arrested in northern Jawzjan province of Afghanistan.
According to the local government officials, Baz Mohammad, the ISIS shadow governor of the terror group designated for Jawzjan province, was arrested as he was attempting to expand the activities of the terror group in northern provinces.
Provincial governor’s spokesman Mohammad Reza Ghafoori confirmed that Baz Mohammad had recently traveled to Jawzjan and was seeking to recruit fighters from the province.
This is not the first time reports have emerged from the North of the country regarding the attempts by the terror group to expand foothold in the northern provinces.
The Afghan forces confronted the loyalits of the terror group for the first time in northern Balkh province.
The acting provincial governor Ata Mohammad who was leading clearance operations in Balkh province earlier in March said the loyalists of the terror group were confronted during the operations in Koshindeh and Zareh districts.
Noor said the militants were looking to start their operations from the mountainous terrai of Tanj and move towards the provincial capital city, Mazar-e-Sharif and their strategy was to move further towards Sholgara and then into Samangan and Sar-e-Pul provinces.
Posted by: badanov ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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As both sides return to the well
The provincial governor's office in southern Helmand said that battles on the frontlines eased off slightly on Wednesday in a number of districts in the province.
The security forces have meanwhile started clearing the Kandahar-Helmand highway for military forces after insurgents placed many roadside mines along the route, said officials.
The highway was closed by insurgents ten days ago and troops having been trying to reopen it to the public ever since, said the governor's office.
The governor's office also said that 32 Taliban insurgents were killed and wounded in recent clashes with security forces but officials did not provide details about casualties among security forces.
The Afghan air force is still carrying out airstrikes in different parts of the province, targeting insurgents.
Officials meanwhile have confirmed that despite an ease in fighting, security forces are not actually advancing in their battle due to the high number of roadside mines.
On Tuesday, the Army Chief of Staff Qadam Shah Shahim visited Helmand and said that insurgents are trying to take control of the province with the help of regional intelligence agencies and a number of international smugglers but that security forces will not let them succeed.
He said that Helmand has witnessed heavy clashes between security forces and the Taliban in the past few weeks.
He also said that security forces are planning a large-scale military operation to clear the areas of insurgents.
Meanwhile, officials at the emergency hospital in Helmand said that in the past 15 days more than 216 people, including security force members, have been admitted to the hospital.
"In the past 15 days the number of casualties has increased and compared to the same time last year, far more casualties were brought in to the hospital. We are working 16 to 17 hours a day," said the head of Helmand emergency hospital, Vesna Nestovoric.
Asadullah, a policeman who lost a leg and a hand in the Kandahar-Helmand highway clash recently said from his hospital bed that he had been on duty at a checkpoint when attacked by Taliban.
"I was at my check post on the Kandahar-Helmand highway when the Taliban seized the highway. My commander told me to go to re-open the highway. We were caught up in a clash when a rocket landed close to me and I was wounded. When I opened my eyes I was in hospital and realized I had lost a hand and a leg," the policeman said.
"My family so far doesn't know about this," he said.
Gul Mohammad, another police officer who was injured in the battle, said he will return to the battle filed to defend his country as soon as he is well enough to do so.
"I will defend the country and my people till the last drop of my blood. My slogan is that I will give my head but not my stronghold," he said.
Sharif, a 13-year-old civilian teenager, who was also wounded in a Helmand battle, said that during the battle he lost his elder brother.
"Me and my brother were leaving home when we heard gun shots. I lost my brother in that clash and I was wounded. Now I am in here [hospital] for treatment," he said.
Thousands of families have been displaced over the past few weeks due to the ongoing clashes in the province – specifically in Garemsir, Nawa, Washir and Nad Ali districts.
[STRATFOR] The Afghan government's battlefield victories in certain parts of the country have been overshadowed by the Taliban's much larger gains elsewhere. Of particular concern to the U.S. and Afghan governments is Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province, a strategic southern region that is home to a sizable Pashtun population and a considerable amount of opium. Despite heavy U.S. Arclight airstrikes in the area, the Taliban -- who already control 80 percent of the region -- have steadily encroached on the quiet provincial capital of Lashkar Gah. The gunnies have even reportedly deployed a new commando force equipped with night vision optics and staffed with sharpshooters to facilitate their advance on Helmand.
Meanwhile, ...back at the the conspirators' cleverly concealed hideout Montefiore's foot was still stuck and the hound had completely soaked his uniform with slobber... the Taliban have also launched offensives across the country to stretch Afghan cops even thinner, ratcheting up the pressure on Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... . In doing so, the Taliban are taking advantage of an opening created by the recent changes in U.S. and Afghan strategy: checkpoints. To free up the forces needed for their proactive campaign, Afghan troops have had to weaken and even dismantle many of their checkpoints. This has given Taliban fighters in numerous areas an opportunity to converge on and sever key roads, isolating and coercing the villages caught in the middle into joining them without having to launch costly direct assaults. The Taliban have successfully applied this tactic to several provinces, including Uruzgan and Ghazni.
Even in the east, where the Taliban 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.... have long feuded with each other, the two have reached a temporary cease-fire to better focus their efforts on attacking the government. The short-term cessation in hostilities has enabled the Taliban to concentrate on pushing back Afghan troops in Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province, while the Islamic State has expanded its reach in neighboring Kunar. Perhaps more concerning, though, are the Taliban's attempts to rebuild their presence in the north. The threat the group poses to Afghanistan's crucial ring road, which circles the country, is rising, particularly in Baghlan province, where the Taliban are trying to cut off a portion of the road to restrict Kabul's access to the northern provinces.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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[PMNEWSNIGERIA] Six men, comprising three Afghan soldiers, two coppers and one civilian, were reportedly hanged by the Taliban in Afghanistan’s remote south-western Farah province.
Mohammad Qol’Alamyar, Head of Operations for Farah Police, said on Wednesday in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... that the dear departed were kidnapped a couple of weeks ago while on their way to work.
He said that the men were sentenced to death for allegedly collaborating with the government in a Taliban desert court session.
Qol’Alamyar noted that the Taliban had recently stepped up abductions and killings of Afghan cops in order to undermine the morale of the government and its forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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Al Shabaab said its fighters killed a U.S. Soldier in an attack on a convoy carrying Somali, KDF and American forces near Kismayo city on Wednesday morning.
Al Shabaab claimed the coalition forces’ convoy came under deadly surprise ambush by armed militants at Abdalla Birole area, about 40Km west of Kismayo town. According to a statement posted on pro-al Shabaab Andalus Radio’s website, an American Elite soldier was among several soldiers killed in Today’s attack.
Unites States of America has a contingent of elite troops acting as military advisers helping Somali forces in assaults on Al Shabaab bases in south and central Somalia.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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[In Military] He’s a grandfather and longtime Washington suburbanite who now commands a powerful fighting force in northern Africa. He’s also a former CIA asset and anti-Islamist warrior who stands in the way of peace in Libya.
The United States and its allies can’t figure out what to do about Khalifa Hifter, the Libyan general whose refusal to support a fragile unity government has jeopardized hopes for stability in a country plagued by conflict.
Since he emerged as an important post-revolution figure in 2014, Western governments have struggled to define an effective policy to deal with Hifter, who has styled himself as an antidote to extremists while building his own power base and shunning the political process brokered by the United Nations.
"Hifter is threatening many of the Western-backed initiatives in Libya and the establishment of a recognized political power," said Barak Barfi, a scholar at New America, a Washington think tank. "Hifter doesn’t have the strength on the battlefield to deliver on his promises to defeat Islamists, but he can act as a spoiler."
Even as militia forces, backed by U.S. air power, make progress against the Islamic State in central Libya, Hifter looms as a primary impediment to White House hopes for restoring the democratic promise of the 2011 revolution that ended dictator Moammar Gaddafi’s long rule.
Hifter’s role in a much earlier, CIA-backed attempt to overthrow Gaddafi injects another element of complexity into American efforts to end Libya’s long crisis.
A former senior U.S. official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said that Hifter’s connections across the Middle East and beyond have made it difficult for the Obama administration to develop a unified strategy to confront or co-opt him.
"Even if there had been unity of thought within the U.S. government, we didn’t have the capability to marginalize him and we also didn’t have the capacity to integrate him," the official said. "He was this free electron."
Hifter, who got to know Gaddafi as a young military officer, appeared to be a loyal follower of the Libyan leader until 1987, when he and 400 other troops were captured by opposing forces in neighboring Chad, where he served as a commander in the Libyan leader’s war there.
Hifter turned against his onetime patron when Gaddafi repudiated the failed campaign in Chad, along with the prisoners of war and Hifter himself. Hifter joined the National Front for the Salvation of Libya (NFSL), a U.S.-backed group of Libyan dissidents that was laying plans to topple Gaddafi.
President Ronald Reagan’s White House had previously approved a covert operation, code-named "Tulip," that aimed to channel support to dissident groups with the goal of overthrowing the Libyan leader. Gaddafi had ties to terrorist groups and was allied with the Soviet Union. Reagan branded him "the mad dog of the Middle East."
It was in Chad that Hifter’s men connected with U.S. intelligence agents, according to multiple former officials who were involved in the Libya operation.
According to one former official, the Libyan soldiers under Hifter were trained by personnel from the CIA’s Special Activities Division, the agency's paramilitary arm. The CIA declined to comment.
The former official described Hifter as a tough, experienced soldier. "He’s a hardhead, but he’s a reasonable man," he said.
The planned coup attempt went nowhere, and U.S. officials were forced to rescue the Libyans in 1990, when a new Chadian leader prepared to throw them out. The men were flown to Nigeria and then Zaire, but it soon became clear that no African leader wanted them.
"It was a long, sad history of trying to dispose of them and finding a place for them to live," a former intelligence official said.
Six months later, a U.S. military aircraft flew about 350 Libyan rebels to the United States. Some of the rebels, including Hifter, continued to train with weapons in rural Virginia in anticipation of another coup attempt, according to Bechara Charbel, a journalist working for the pan-Arab newspaper Hayat who visited a training camp at the time.
Hifter, living in Northern Virginia, eventually split from the NFSL but remained active in dissident circles.
After Libyans rose up in 2011, Hifter returned to northern Africa but failed to secure the backing of interim leaders to head rebel military operations against Gaddafi. He came back to Virginia "to enjoy my grandchildren," he told New Yorker magazine.
In February 2014, seemingly out of nowhere, the general released a video announcing a military coup. He railed against the inability of the then-central government to confront armed Islamist groups that had grown strong after the revolution.
At the State Department, officials scrambled to respond. "Everyone was like, ’Is this a joke?’ " one former State Department official said. "Because this guy had been living in Vienna forever," referring to the suburb in Northern Virginia. The coup gained no traction, and the episode was widely derided.
Soon afterward, with support from tribal and political factions, Hifter launched "Operation Dignity," a bid to clear eastern Libya of militant groups including Ansar al-Sharia, which was blamed for the 2012 attack on U.S. personnel in Benghazi. As Libya's political crisis expanded, lawmakers in the eastern city of Tobruk named him their top military commander.
Hifter's actions also won him favor from some ordinary Libyans desperate for a response to rampant crime and lawlessness.
"In the east, he is a hero . . . someone who was able to take initiative when [others] failed to do so," said Mohamed Eljarh, a scholar with the Atlantic Council. "That is what won him trust, credibility and popularity."
Col. Ahmed Mesmari, a spokesman for the forces that Hifter commands, said they had sacrificed thousands of troops but succeeded in weakening a range of militant groups.
But the campaign -- which without a definitive military victory has left much of Benghazi in tatters and put civilians under threat -- has also fueled divisions among Libyans. Hifter’s forces have clashed sporadically with groups now aligned with the U.S.-backed government. In Tripoli and other parts of western Libya, some see Hifter as more dangerous than the Islamic State.
But the general has powerful allies, including the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, which have encouraged his campaign in the eastern part of the country. French troops have been using Benghazi's Benina air base, where Hifter's forces also operate. And although it is unclear what relationship he has with the French, he has benefited from the perception of outside backing.
Hifter has been compared favorably to Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, the general-turned-strongman president in Egypt who shares the Libyan’s desire to quash the region’s Islamists.
"He's been able to parlay what I think has been uneven military performance into political leverage," said Frederic Wehrey, an expert on Libya at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "Regional support is a key factor."
Like other top political leaders in the east, Hifter has refused to support the Tripoli-based unity government, as required under a U.N.-brokered political deal, until it secures the backing from lawmakers in the eastern city of Tobruk.
"Hifter is not interested in democracy," the former State Department official said. "I don't even think he's particularly interested in peace."
At the heart of the impasse is Hifter's own future and plans by the new unity government that would strip the general of his command. Mesmari denied that Hifter and those under him were interested in politics, saying they want to protect Libya from a new government that he said had ties to Islamist factions. "We are military men," Mesmari said. "Our task is maintain the security in Libya."
Hoping to signal support for the unity government, U.S. diplomats have steered clear of Hifter, but neither do they expect a future for Libya without him. U.S. officials now hope to build support for giving Hifter a regional military position in the unity government.
But it seems unlikely the general, seizing his chance so many years after Gaddafi abandoned him in Chad, would accept a subordinate job.
Last week, the U.N. envoy to Libya acknowledged that support for the unity government, mired in infighting, is slipping away, threatening to collapse the Western project in Libya and creating the prospect of indefinite civil conflict and terrorist activity. That may help the general, Eljarh said, as he consolidates his position and continues to portray himself as the only man who can save Libya.
"Hifter feeds on the failure of governance, the failure of initiative and the failure of the international community to come up with solutions that are workable," he said.
#1
"Hifter feeds on the failure of governance, the failure of initiative and the failure of the international community to come up with solutions that are workable," he said.
Picked up those skills whilst living in northern Virginia did he ?
Why work for 'the man' when you can have your own business, uniform, sprockets, staff car, etc. ?
#2
who has styled himself as an antidote to extremists while building his own power base and shunning the political process brokered by the United Nations
so what are his bad points?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/18/2016 14:26 Comments ||
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#3
At the heart of the impasse is Hifter's own future and plans by the new unity government that would strip the general of his command.
Hifter is no George Washington. But he seems smart enough to see that their retirement plan for a warlord features a bullet and a quick burial.
#4
Hifter feeds on the failure of governance, the failure of initiative and the failure of the international community to come up with solutions that are workable," he said.
Sounds like Donald Trump. The only thing our current regime has succeeded at is graft and treason.
Zintani forces allied to the Libyan National Army led by General Khalifa Hafter are reported to have captured a top Tunisian member of the so-called Islamic State (IS).
Moez Ben Abdulgader Ben Ahmed Al-Fezzani was apparently arrested with more than 20 other IS supporters some days ago between the west Libyan towns of Rigdaleen and Al-Jmail. having fled Sirte and trying to get to Tunisia.
The news was only released yesterday.
Fezzani, also known as Abu Nassim, was designated Tunisia’s most wanted terrorist in February. In a communiqué at the time, it called on anyone with information about him to report it to the Tunisian police.
He is since said to have been responsible for the IS attempt in March to take over the southern Tunisian town of Ben Guerdane in which 58 people died – 45 militants and 13 members of the security forces.
From Tunis and born in 1969, Fezzani is said to have first joined Tunisia’s Ansar Al-Sharia. He then went to Libya where he was put in charge of the IS reception centre in Sabratha. Following its bombing last February by the US, he headed first to Benghazi then to Sirte where he remained until a few days ago.
According to the Zintanis, he and his colleagues were trying to head back to Tunisia. However his identity was discovered only after his arrest by a patrol. He is being sent to Marj for further investigations.
So far there has been no Tunisian comment on the claimed capture.
Posted by: badanov ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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The USA has reported that it has conducted a total of 57 airstrikes against IS in Sirte.
US African Command reported that “At the request of, and in coordination with, the Libyan Government of National Accord, U.S. Africa Command conducted precision air strikes against Daesh targets in Sirte, Libya”.
“As a result, the following targets were struck by U.S. forces:
Aug. 16:
Seven enemy fighting positions
One Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device
One Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device
One enemy fighting position
One pickup truck with mounted recoilless rifle
Eleven enemy fighting positions
One Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device
One command and control vehicle
One Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device
“These airstrikes bring the total number of airstrikes in support of Operation Odyssey Lightning, which began Aug. 1, to 57”.
“The U.S. stands with the international community in supporting the GNA as it strives to restore stability and security to Libya”.
“These actions, and those we have taken previously, will help deny Daesh a safe haven in Libya from which it could attack the United States and our allies”, concluded the statement.
Posted by: badanov ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
I like the idea of just dropping a SDB or something on the VBIEDs. Should/do they do that with buried IEDs?
The Tripoli Revolutionaries’ Brigade has said that its commander Haitham Tajouri was targeted unsuccessfully by assassins over the weekend. The attack on a TRB post at Mitiga airport, is said to have been mounted by members of the Al-Buni brigade, whose leader is known to be close to intelligence chief Mohamed Muftah Nuh.
It is unclear if the alleged attempt to kill Tajouri was the trigger for his seizure of intelligence offices in Tripoli, or a consequence of that act.
In a statement today the TRB said that the attack happened on Sunday, the day that Tajouri sent his men to occupy the intelligence HQ in Fornaj, as well as four other sites in the city, including the office at Mitiga airport. However the Libya Herald understands that the Al-Buni brigade mounted their assault on Saturday.
The TRB statement went on confirm its respect for the independence of the intelligence network but said that it would not withdraw from the intelligence buildings until Nuh had been replaced. It accused him of bribery to advance his personal ambitions and that this had disrupted the proper function of the intelligence organisation.
It also claimed that an intelligence officer, whom it named as Joudet Al-Khadar had been using financial inducements to get colleagues to spy for “foreign countries”. No further details were given.
It said that the intelligence organisation should by run by professionals who kept themselves above politics.
“We are ready to hand over all the administration buildings once the Presidency Council has assigned a new intelligence head in accordance with the Libyan Political Agreement”.
This is not the first reported attempt on Tajouri’s life. A year ago he was supposedly shot. In 2013 he was kidnapped on the capital’s Airport Road by a Zintani militia who held him overnight and then freed him saying his seizure had been “ a misunderstanding”.
Houthi militias and forces loyal to ousted former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh have cut the last supply routes on Tuesday between major cities Aden and Taiz.
The news comes more than two weeks after a UN report said that the Houthis had concealed fighters and equipment in or close to civilians in Al Mukha in the Taiz Governorate “with the deliberate aim of avoiding attack” and in violation of international humanitarian law.
Late on Tuesday, a rocket fired by Yemeni militias also killed seven civilians inside Saudi Arabia on, the civil defense agency said.
It was the highest reported number of civilian casualties in the kingdom's south since a Saudi-led coalition intervened 17 months ago in Yemen.
Last Update: Wednesday, 17 August 2016 KSA 11:30 - GMT 08:30
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... forces carried out another powerful assault against the Saudi Army on Wednesday, destroying several armored vehicles inside the village of Al-Khouba in 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... ’s Jizan Region.
The Resistance media wing released footage from the battle that ensued on Wednesday, showing a score of Saudi armored vehicles destroyed by the Houthi units in southern Saudi Arabia:
With the Yemeni War spilling into the Jizan Region, the Saudi Army has been forced to deploy several units to the southern part of the kingdom.
However, the man who has no enemies isn't anybody and has never done anything... the Saudi Army has been unable to forestall the Houthi forces and Yemeni Republican Guard from advancing further north of the border, leaving them in a tough predicament and prolonged engagement.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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The Saudi-led aggression on Yemen has reached its extreme madness after escalating its operations against the civilians in the various provinces.
The Riyadh's hirelings pounded on Tuesday Serwah district of Mareb province with artillery shells, a local official was quoted by SABA news agency as saying.
The official added the hirelings intensified shelling on houses and farms in different areas in Serwah causing huge damage to the areas.
The Saudi fighter jets launched on Tuesday tens of air raids on Taiz province, a local official said.
The fighter jets targeted a large water tank in al-Qawaeda Akbosh village in al-Ahkom area with many air raids and destroyed it completely. Some 20,000 people in the villages of al-Ahkom area were bringing their drinking water from the tank, the official said.
Moreover, the Saudi jets waged four air raids on the governmental compound in Samee district causing huge damage to the compound.
The Saudi fighter jets targeted Mocha city with four raids and caused great damage to houses and private and government facilities.
The Saudi warplanes hit on Tuesday two houses in Majaz district of Sa'ada province, a security official said.
The hostile warplanes targeted Dhayan districts with four air raids in Majaz district, destroying the two houses completely.
Among the bombed targets, were shells, rockets launchers and vehicles in addition to groups of militiamen who were present in the caves and valleys.
The coalition warplanes recently bombed Houthi fighters from Yemen seeking to infiltrate Saudi Arabia.
Tuesday, a rocket fired by Yemeni rebels killed seven civilians inside Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the civil defense agency said.
It was the highest reported number of civilian casualties in the kingdom's south since a Saudi-led coalition intervened 17 months ago in Yemen.
The escalation in violence was one of the worst since peace talks began in Kuwait in April between Yemen’s government and the Houthis to end a 16-month conflict that has left more than 6,400 people dead, nearly half of them civilians, and displaced more than 2.5 million.
A truce that began in April has slowed the momentum of fighting, but violence continues almost daily.
Prospects for progress in the talks dimmed further this week when Houthi rebels and their allies in the political party of former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, announced they had decided to form a political council to unilaterally rule the country.
#1
The Houthis have brought this on themselves. Now Saudi Arabia has begun to level anything of value in their provinces of Sa'ada, Al-Jawf and Mareb, and in the Shiite villages of north Amran and Hajja. In a drought-prone region the destruction of water infrastructure alone will bring great hardship to Houthis.
[Asharq al-Aswat] A drone strike on Wednesday killed at least four suspected al Qaeda bandidosmurderous Moslems in southern Yemen, as unidentified warplanes shelled settlements held by the jihadist group further east, witnesses and local residents said.
The four suspected bandidosmurderous Moslems were killed when what was thought to be a U.S. drone fired on a checkpoint at the entrance of the city of Azan in southern Yemen.
It was not immediately possible to confirm the accounts by the residents, who said the bandidosmurderous Moslems had seized the city two months ago. The United States has acknowledged using drones but declines to comment on specific attacks.
The heightened air strikes came as forces loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi conducted a security operation against bandidosmurderous Moslems in al-Mansoura district of Aden, attempting to bring to an end a state of chaos that had wrapped up the southern port city where the Yemeni government is temporarily based.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ...the latest incarnation of various Qaeda and Qaeda-allied groups, including the now-defunct Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that boomed the USS Cole in 2000... and ISIS have taken advantage of the year-old 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... war between Hadi supporters, who are supported by a Saudi-led alliance, and Iran-allied Houthis to seize parts of the country, including the Hadramout ...the formerly independent Qu'aiti state and sultanate, annexed by Communist South Yemen in 1968, encompassing a region along the Gulf of Aden, extending eastwards to the borders of the Dhofar region of Oman. The people are called Hadhramis and speak Hadhrami Arabic. The city Tarimis is estimated to contain the highest concentration of descendants of the Prophet Muhammad (PTUI) anywhere in the world, approximately seven in every square yard... scenic provincial capital in southeastern Yemen.
Residents said unidentified warplanes launched three strikes on a former Yemeni army camp east of Mukalla controlled by al Qaeda late on Wednesday night.
They said the air strikes ignited a fire at the old al-Rayyan air base that could be seen from several miles away. Residents said they believed the attacks have caused casualties, but provided no figures.
The bandidosmurderous Moslems captured Mukalla in April last year, a month after a Saudi-led alliance began military operations trying to restore Hadi to power and keep the Houthis from taking over the country.
Last week, U.S. warplanes targeted a training camp run by al Qaeda, killing at least 50 people and wounding more than 30.
A local al Qaeda commander said in an audio recording posted on the Internet on Wednesday that the camp was being used to train tribal volunteers to fight the Houthis.
The authenticity of the recording by the commander, identified as Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki, could not immediately be verified.
In Aden, a security official said Yemeni troops loyal to Hadi, backed by local fighters, deployed in the al-Mansoura district which resulted in the capture of at least 21 suspected bad boys.
Yemeni Prime Minister Khaled Bahah, who is also the vice president, is based in Aden.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] 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... Army affirmed that a number of al-Qaeda members in Yemen surrendered, in response to Yemeni forces call that those involved in terrorist groups but with clean hands surrender to local authorities.
Yemeni army spokesperson, Brigadier Samir Al Haj told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that Yemeni forces in cooperation with the Saudi-led coalition leadership issued a statement addressing those who were deceived and persuaded to join terrorist groups. The military’s call received positive reactions as a number of wanted persons gave in.
"Going back to the right track is still an option," said Haj, adding that the population of terrorist gunnies is declining day after day. "We do not support war and we are keen to keep Yemeni people away from harm, but anyone who breaches the law will be battled to protect Yemeni people and territory," he continued. Forces continue to purge Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... Governorate of al-Qaeda members and have seized 80% of the region, according to Haj.
Security forces issued a statement that it would grant amnesty to terrorist groups’ members who surrender, following the notable victory in Hadramout ...the formerly independent Qu'aiti state and sultanate, annexed by Communist South Yemen in 1968, encompassing a region along the Gulf of Aden, extending eastwards to the borders of the Dhofar region of Oman. The people are called Hadhramis and speak Hadhrami Arabic. The city Tarimis is estimated to contain the highest concentration of descendants of the Prophet Muhammad (PTUI) anywhere in the world, approximately seven in every square yard... province and successive victories in arresting a huge number of top figures in terrorist groups. The statement guaranteed that "members involved in terrorist groups will not be prosecuted when surrendering."
Furthermore, Yemen’s Interior Minister Major General Hussein Mohammed Arab appointed on Tuesday head of Abyan purge operation Abdullah Naser al-Fadli as head of Abyan police department. This decision was highly welcomed by both, authorities and people.
Major General Arab told Asharq Al-Awsat that the military campaign will continue in order to maintain peace and stability and avert those committing evil, terrorism and murder.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
"members involved in terrorist groups will not be prosecuted when surrendering."
Post, blindfold, cigarette - there you go.
Posted by: Bov Flimbers ||
08/18/2016 22:40 Comments ||
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[EXPRESS.CO.UK] ARMED police commandos have incarcerated Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! a man with Islamist links who is suspected of planning a kaboom on a festival.
German special forces detained the 27-year-old in the town of Eisenhuettenstadt, east of Berlin and near the border with Poland.
Police said he is suspected of stockpiling materials that could be used as explosives.
The front man declined comment on whether there was any connection to 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.... but he is said to have links to Salafism, an extreme form of Islam which ISIS has its roots in.
He is believed to have been storing material ahead of a planned attack. Police have not revealed details of the plot.
A front man with the police in Frankfurt (Oder), a larger city nearby, said the suspect was a local citizen with no migration background.
Officers searched the apartment using dogs and several police vans were parked outside the block.
Eisenhuttenstadt, which has a population of about 30,000, is the the central reception centre for refugees in the state of Brandenburg.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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[FoxNews] A string of bombings, blamed on Kurdish rebels and targeting Turkey's security forces, killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 220 others, officials said Thursday.
Two of the attacks were car bombings that hit police stations in eastern Turkey, while a third — a roadside blast — targeted a military vehicle carrying soldiers in the southeast of the country.
Authorities say the assaults were carried out by the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has launched a campaign of car bombings targeting police stations or roadside bomb attacks against security force vehicles. Last week, PKK commander Cemil Bayik threatened increased attacks against police in Turkish cities.
[RussiaToday] At least 10 killed, almost 300 wounded in string of blasts in eastern Turkey
A third explosion in the past 24 hours has rocked eastern Turkey, killing four security personnel and injuring seven in Bitlis province. It comes after two car bombings targeted police stations, leaving at least six people dead and as many as 290 injured.
First, village guard Müslüm Yaldız was killed, and a soldier wounded in clashes with PKK militants in the village of Nazar, Hurriyet Daily News reports. Then, a hand-made explosive went off on a road near the village of Gayda, when a military vehicle was passing by. Three soldiers were killed and six injured in that attack.
Early Thursday, a car bombing hit police headquarters in the eastern Turkish city of Elazig, the administrative center of Elazig Province. At least three police officers were killed, according to local Governor Murat Zorluoglu. The Turkish premier Binali Yildirim put the number of those injured at 217, after the governor's office earlier said 146 people were wounded.
A bomb-carrying car exploded in front of the police station building, creating a hole in it and severely damaging the facility, according to local media.
Another car bombing attack on a police station in the eastern province of Van, near the Iranian border, killed a police officer and two civilians late Wednesday.
At least 73 people, 53 of them civilians and another 20 police officers, were injured, an official told AP.
Turkish authorities blamed the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for both attacks.
[TODAYONLINE] Three people were killed and 40 were maimed when a boom-mobilewent kaboom! near a cop shoppe in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's eastern province of Van near the Iranian border on Wednesday, state broadcaster TRT said, citing the local governor.
Police and ambulances were seen rushing in, according to another broadcaster, the privately owned Dogan news agency.
The station also serves as a police barracks, TRT said, citing a statement from the local governor. It was not immediately clear how many police and civilians were among the dead and maimed.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on live television there had been an attack on a cop shoppe in Van but did not elaborate.
No one immediately grabbed credit for the attack. Kurdish holy warriors frequently target cop shoppes and other security force outposts with boom-mobiles.
Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast has been scorched by violence since a 2-1/2-year ceasefire between the state and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party fell apart in July last year.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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Security forces have killed 12 militants in the recent strikes in Rajgal in Tirah Valley, reported Waqt News.
The operation is gaining speed as the security forces are cornering the militants on ground. Yesterday 14 militants were killed in an air strike and various hideouts were destroyed.
Earlier today, 2 security personnel were killed and 5 injured by a landmine blast during the operation.
KARACHI: Two employees of DawnNews were reportedly injured in a shooting incident by unidentified gunmen in the Landhi 89 area of the metropolis on Wednesday night.
The injured employees have been shifted to the hospital after receiving initial first aid, reported DawnNews.
DawnNews reported that Hakim Khan and Yousaf Khan have been transferred to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for further treatment.
One of the employees has been shot in the neck, while the other received a gunshot wound to the leg.
"The injured Hakim Khan and Yousaf Khan have been brought to JPMC. One sustained wound on the neck and the other has received gun shot injury on the leg," said Dr. Seemin Jamali, head of emergency at JPMC.
IG Sindh has taken notice notice of the incident.
Last year in November, unidentified gunmen attacked a DawnNews Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG) van in the Essa Nagri area of Karachi, injuring one staff member.
Attackers riding motorcycles fired shots at the DSNG van near Essa Nagri, leaving technician Hassan Mateen severely injured.
[Indian Express] In the first krazed killer attack on an Army convoy in the Valley since the July 8 killing of Hizbul Mujahideen krazed killer Burhan Wani, two Army personnel and a coppers were killed and five soldiers injured Wednesday. The Hizbul Mujahideen grabbed credit.
The convoy was attacked on the Srinagar-Baramulla highway in the early hours of the day near Khawaja Bagh in Baramulla. The attack site is barely 50 metres from the Army’s TCP post and not far from the office of the General Officer Commanding, 19 Infantry Division.
A senior police officer said at least three Death Eaters were involved in the attack. "This could be the handiwork of Jaish-e-Mohammad ...literally Army of Mohammad, a Pak-based Deobandi terror group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in 2000, after he split with the Harkat-ul-Mujaheddin. In 2002 the government of Pervez Musharraf banned the group, which changed its name to Khaddam ul-Islam and continued doing what it had been doing before without missing a beat... Death Eaters who have presence in the area,’’ the officer said.
Hizbul Mujahideen, however, grabbed credit for the attack. A front man of the krazed killer outfit told a local news agency that the attack was carried out by its special squad. He also warned of more attacks on security forces.
On Tuesday evening, Death Eaters hurled a grenade on the Kakapora cop shoppe in Pulwama district that left five coppers injured.
The Khawaja Bagh attack was the third by Death Eaters since August 15. In an attack at Nowhatta in Srinagar Monday, a CRPF commandant and two Death Eaters were killed and nine personnel injured.
Ever since protests began in the wake of Wani’s killing, the Army had been moving its convoys at night to avoid any engagement with people protesting on the streets.
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08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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(IraqiNews.com) Kirkuk – A security source in Kirkuk province announced on Wednesday that the Peshmerga forces foiled an ISIS attack to the south of the province.
Sharing details the source said, “ISIS this morning shelled Peshnerga sites in the center of Dagug which is 30 km from Kirkuk. Peshmerga forces repulsed the attack and killed at least six ISIS fighters and wounded eight others. ”
“ISIS, through these attempts, is trying to prove that it is still able to attack the security forces in Kirkuk,” further added the source seeking anonymity.
Posted by: badanov ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – Commander of Anbar Operations Maj. Gen. Ismail Mahlawi announced on Wednesday that five ISIS members were killed towards north of Ramadi.
Mahlawi, in a press statement, said, “International coalition aviation bombed an ISIS hideout in Albu Alli al-Jassim, to the north of Ramadi. The hideout was destroyed fully and five members of the organization were also killed.”
Adding further, Mahlawi said, “Situation in Khalidiya Island is good and our troops continue to cleanse the areas and villages from ISIS grip. Diffusing of mines and IEDs by the security forces are also continuing in full swing.”
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – Al-Hashd al-Shaabi Command in Anbar province today announced that dozens of ISIS members were killed while they were trying to attack Haditha district, west of Ramadi.
Al-Hashd al-Shaabi leader Sheikh Abdullah al-Jaghfi, in a statement, said, “Iraqi Security Forces backed by al-Hashd al-Shaabi fighters repulsed an ISIS attack targeting the front berms of al-Khasfa area and approach of one of the army headquarters. Dozens of ISIS men were killed in the operation.”
Jaghifi added, “All the attacks that were launched by ISIS around Haditha district and Baghdadi and are monitored. The security forces have enhanced their presence in all entrances and checkpoints of Haditha.”
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – Commander of al-Jazeera Operations, Maj. Gen. Qassim Al-Muhammadi announced on Wednesday that 10 ISIS men were killed in an aerial bombing carried out by international coalition aviation near Ramadi.
Mohammadi, in a press statement, said, “The coalition forces bombed an ISIS hideout at al-Bikr in northern Heet city near Ramadi.”
“The bombing, apart from killing ten (10) ISIS members, also destroyed the hideout. The forces have further diffused 8 explosive devices and cleansed 9 residential buildings in al-Doulab.”
Posted by: badanov ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – A security source in Nineveh informed on Wednesday that an airstrike in Mosul killed a number of ISIS men including its ‘security official’.
“The Iraqi Air Force today attacked a ISIS headquarters in Nineveh and killed a number of ISIS fighters, which also included the outfit’s security official,” the source informed Iraqi News seeking anonymity.
“The strike was carried out after receiving accurate information about the presence of ISIS men in the province. The outfit has taken utmost precautions to shield leakage of vital information about them,” the source added further.
(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – A security source in Nineveh informed that an airstrike in Mosul carried out by the US-led international aviation killed at least 50 ISIS men and destroyed a chunk of their vehicles and other belongings.
Sharing details about the incident, the source seeking anonymity said, “International coalition aviation jets today bomb ISIS headquarters at Masaref, Kahera, Ghabat and Somer in central Mosul, killing 50 men of the outfit.”
“The airstrike also destroyed a number of ISIS headquarters and 22 vehicles of the outfit,” the source further added.
Posted by: badanov ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the police department informed on Tuesday that gunmen robbed over one billion Iraqi dinars from an exchange company at gunpoint in central Baghdad.
Sharing details the source said, “Gunmen today entered an exchange center and held the owner and others present at gunpoint and robbed 1.25 billion Iraqi dinars. The exchange office is located along the Muhammad al-Qasim highway near Finance Ministry office in central Baghdad. Security forces cordoned off the area and have initiated a probe into it.”
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Ministry of Interior informed that an IED explosion near a popular market at northeast of Baghdad killed one person and injured seven others.
Sharing details, the source said, “This morning, in an IED explosion near the 4000 market in al-Shaab, northeast of Baghdad, killed one person and injured seven others.”
“Ambulances rushed to the area and transferred the wounded to a nearby hospital and the dead body to the forensic department,” further added the source.
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – Baghdad Operations Command announced that the security forces killed three ISIS suicide bombers at Tarmiya district in northern Baghdad.
The command, in a statement issued to the media, said, “Forces from the 1st Regiment of Infantry’s 22nd Brigade, acting on a tip, killed three ISIS suicide bombers in Tarmiya to the north of Baghdad. The dead members were taking shelter in a hideout.”
“Furthermore, the security forces foiled an attempted ISIS attack on the civilians,” further added the statement.
[IsraelTimes] Security forces nabbed Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! a top West Bank Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, official overnight Tuesday, drawing accusations from the Gazoo-based terror group that Israel is meddling in the upcoming Paleostinian municipal elections.
Hussein Abu Kweik was arrested at his home in the el-Amari refugee camp near Ramallah, the Shin Bet security agency said in a statement.
Abu Kweik is Hamas’s main West Bank campaigner in the elections, which are slated for October 8. Last week, he was appointed Hamas’s only representative to the PA’s central elections commission, which is overseeing the elections.
He was arrested in a joint operation by the IDF and Shin Bet "for his involvement in security-related activities that presented a threat to security in the area," the Shin Bet said.
Specifically, Abu Kweik is suspected of "incitement," the security service said. However, a clean conscience makes a soft pillow... additional allegations may be brought against the senior Hamas official following his interrogation, it added. In recent days Abu Kweik has boasted that his group is the "spearhead of the resistance" against Israel, Israel Radio reported.
In the same operation, Israeli forces arrested a number of other suspected Hamas members from villages and cities around the West Bank, the IDF said. Two were arrested along with Abu Kweik in el-Amari. In Beitunia, one alleged member of the terrorist group was picked up, along with one in Dayr Samet, southwest of Hebron, and another in Surif, west of Efrat. Three more suspected Hamas members were arrested by IDF troops in Hebron, the army said.
In addition to the alleged members of the terrorist organization, 12 Paleostinians were arrested in the West Bank overnight Tuesday, five of them for throwing rocks and taking part in violent protests, the army said.
During nighttime raids in the Hebron area, Israeli forces also found military equipment, bullets and two handguns -- one in the al-Fawar refugee camp and the second in Halhul -- the army said.
Hamas’s Gazoo leadership decried Abu Kweik’s arrest Wednesday, with front man Sami Abu-Zuhri calling it an Israeli attempt to intervene in the elections.
Hamas has already accused PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... ’s Fatah party of arresting Hamas activists in a bid to influence the results of the elections.
The group is considering boycotting the municipal elections if the Paleostinian Authority does not cease arresting its members, he said.
Since Hamas -- considered a terror group by Israel and most Western governments -- surprisingly agreed to participate in the municipal elections, it has been complaining that its activists in the West Bank are being rounded up by PA security forces.
Fatah has made the same complaint about its representatives being arrested in the Gazoo Strip.
[IsraelTimes] A Paleostinian teenager was tossed in the slammer I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! in connection with Thursday’s stabbing attack in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of A-Tur, the Shin Bet security agency announced Wednesday.
The suspect has been identified by police as 19-year-old Ahmad Na’im A’shayer, a resident of A-Tur. He is also suspected of hurling Molotov cocktails and firecrackers at security services on April 15, the Shin Bet said.
#1
IDF FBI arrests key Hamas MoveOn.org, NBBP, Occupy, BLM, GetOutTheVote elections official and 20 others agitators in the West Bank urban constituencies in the USA
Aw dam, I woke up, t'was a good dream
Posted by: Bov Flimbers ||
08/18/2016 23:08 Comments ||
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[GULFTODAY.AE] A 28-year-old Indonesian sailor who was reportedly due for beheading on the island province of Sulu in restive Mindanao escaped the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf ...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder... Lions of Islam who held him hostage since his abduction and six other companions in June, the military reported on Wednesday.
Major Filemon Tan, the front man of the military’s Western Mindanao Command, identified the escapee as Mohammad Safyan, one of seven Indonesian crewmen aboard a tugboat who were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf off the Sulu Sea on June 23.
Tan said Safyan was rescued by residents when he was caught in a fishnet off the coastal village of the town of Luuk, Sulu on Wednesday morning.
Tan quoted Safyan was saying he decided to escape after the Lions of Islam reportedly informed him he was due for beheading, apparently for their alleged failure to pay their ransom demand.
Tan added Safyan told military authorities he made a successful but wild dash for freedom in a mangrove swamp where he and the other hostages spent the night.
The military said Safyan was one of seven Indonesian crewmen including their skipper aboard an Indonesian tugboat loaded with coal who were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf off the Sulu Sea on June 23.
At the same time, Tan announced that elite members of the Army Special Forces overrun and seized two camps maintained by the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu’s neighbouring island province of Basilan ...Basilan is a rugged, jungle-covered island in the southern Philippines. It is a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, bandidos, and maybe even orcs. Most people with any sense travel with armed escorts... One of the camps seized is located in a mountain village in the town of Tipo-Tipo, Basilan which is well-fortified and equipped with bunkers, tunnels and foxholes, according to Tan.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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[AlAhram] Russia on Wednesday launched warplanes from Iran for the second time to bomb 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, denying the action violated a UN Security Council resolution.
The strikes came after Russia on Tuesday began flying warplanes from an Iranian airbase in a major switch in its bombing campaign in Syria, prompting concern from the United States.
On Wednesday, Russian Sukhoi-34 jets took off from the Hamedan base in western Iran and carried out a group aerial strike against IS group targets in Deir Ezzor province, the defence ministry said in a statement, calling the operation a success.
The strikes with high-explosive fragmentation bombs "destroyed two command centres and large field camps for training Death Eaters in the area of the town of Deir Ezzor, killing more than 150 fighters including foreign mercenaries," the ministry said.
Russia had previously only flown raids out of its bases in Syria and Russia.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted Wednesday that using the Iranian base did not breach a UN Security Council resolution that requires its prior approval for the supply, sale or transfer of warplanes to Iran.
"There are no grounds to suspect Russia of breaching the resolution," Lavrov said at a news conference in Moscow. "In the case we are discussing now, there was neither the sale, nor supply, nor transfer of warplanes to Iran."
Defence consultancy IHS Jane's said Wednesday that Moscow's use of the Mozdok airbase in southern Russia, from where long-range bombers had been flying their Syria raids, may have been disrupted by apparent expansion works.
"Flight operations may have been disrupted by the construction of a second runway" which began some time between May and June, according to satellite imagery, it said in a report.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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"The Russians did notify the coalition" under the memorandum of understanding on flight safety over Syria that was agreed to by the two countries, said Army Col. Chris Garver, a spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve.
Garver declined to say how much warning the U.S. had of the Russian overflights. "We knew in time," he said, adding that it was "not a lot of time but it was enough."
[ALMASDARNEWS] Militants from the FSA’s 13th Division, Sultan Murad, and Jabhat Al-Shamiyah managed to capture the border town of Al-Rai from the grips of ISIS in the northern countryside of Aleppo.
Shortly after the capture, ISIS sent three VBIEDs prior to a counterattack that was foiled by the aforementioned jihadists. Two 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.... turbans were captured as well.
The rebel conglomeration would have to create a buffer zone around the town if they are to secure it from future attacks by the internationally-recognized terror group.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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[ALMASDARNEWS] 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.... Lions of Islam based in the Al-Bab, ISIS’s largest stronghold in Aleppo, mobilized for a massive attack on Syrian Army positions in the vicinity of the Kuweirus Air Base that lies in Aleppo’s eastern countryside.
Prior to their assaults, they sent several VBIEDs to the villages north of the base with festivities reported inside the government-held village of Nasrallah.
Russian/ Syrian pilots have been working overtime attempting to upset the desperate ISIS offensive that is most likely aimed at setting up a considerable buffer zone around the city ahead of an impending attack by the SDF.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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[ALMASDARNEWS] After securing most of the 1070 Hamdaniyah Project, the Syrian Army managed to cut the supply line between Hikma school and the Ramousah Technical College allowing for a breach in the first jihadist defense lines.
Units from the Syrian Army’s Republican Guard capitalized on the breached and attacked the Technical College that is in the northernmost area of the Ramousah Artillery Base advancing by noon to seize control of most of the college whilst killing and injuring dozens.
Unable to fortify positions in the aforementioned college, the Syrian Army was forced to retreat when the jihadists launched a counterattack.
The front has now calmed after firefights dispersed. It is likely that this attack was primarily a probing attack aimed at destroying the jihadists’ first line of defense in preparation for upcoming major assaults.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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[ALMASDARNEWS] Intense festivities broke-out in the lovely provincial capital of the Al-Hasakah Governorate tonight after Kurdish police (Asayish) attacked the National Defense Forces’ (NDF) positions near the city-center.
No reason was given for the surprise Asayish attack on the NDF; however, the former decided to arrest a large number of pro-government fighters and civilians after storming their positions.
Following these arrests by the Asayish, another series of festivities broke-out on Marsho Street between the latter and the NDF/Hajaneh, resulting in a violent exchange with small arms and RPG rounds.
In response to the counter-attack by the NDF/Hajaneh at Marsho Street, the Asayish started to indiscriminately target residential areas; this prompted the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) to intervene by shelling the Kurdish police from the Kawakeb Base.
As of now, the SAA and People’s Protection Units (YPG) have been deployed to the city in order to cease the violence; however, festivities still persist near the city-center.
The Syrian Arab Army has issued another warning to the Asayish about shelling residential neighborhoods; if they continue to do so, they will send their tanks into Hasakah City.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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[ARA News] DERIK – Militant fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) bombed Wednesday regime-held districts in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province, causing casualties among civilians, activists and eyewitnesses reported.
ISIS militants targeted the regime-held districts of al-Joura, Hawiqa and Sinaa with dozens of mortar shells.
At least 12 civilians were injured in the attack.
“Militants of the Islamic State started a new offensive on areas held by the Syrian regime in Deir ez-Zor. Since Wednesday afternoon the ISIS shelling on Hawiqa, al-Joura and Sinaa has not stopped,” local media activist Samir al-Khalaf told ARA News.
The source reported that rescue teams continued their search for victims under the rubble.
“So far 12 civilians were injured, some of them are in critical conditions, while the local rescue teams continued their search for survivors under the ruins of the destroyed buildings. The number of casualties may rise in the coming hours,” a doctor in the Deir ez-Zor national hospital told ARA News.
ISIS has imposed a siege on regime-held areas of Deir ez-Zor and has been preventing humanitarian aid from entering those areas for months.
Posted by: badanov ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] The Syrian regime and its allies are trying to compensate for their failure to achieve field progress on western and southern fronts in Aleppo by intensifying Russian and Syrian air raids on opposition controlled areas. Eastern neighbourhoods in the city were bombed as a result and 19 civilians, including three children were killed.
Twelve members of opposition factions were also killed as a result of raids carried out by Russian planes on a convoy on the Ramouseh Road in the south west of the city. Opposition factions have been foiling several attacks carried out on crucial points on the southern front, and are threatening to liberate other areas in Aleppo that are controlled by the regime.
The director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that "At least 19 non-combatants were killed, including three children, and dozens were maimed by raids. We do not know whether the aircraft was Syrian or Russian." The agency’s correspondent in the eastern neighbourhoods said that "the raids did not subside on Monday and Tuesday nights and during the hours of the morning".
As long as civilians support and protect opposition factions, they will be directly targeted by air strikes according to what the deputy leader of the Fastaqim Kama Umirt group Mulhim Ukaidi confirmed. He believes that the regime and its allies "Are quick to take Dire Revenge on civilians with each loss that they incur in any area, and this is what happened after they lost control of the Ramouseh area, the Artillery College complex, the Hotel School and an armament college".
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08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – A well placed security source in Nineveh province informed that ISIS executed seven Mosul residents after they refused to send their children to schools run by the organization.
The source informed, “This morning, ISIS executed seven citizens in the center Mosul city after they refused to send their children to schools run by the organization.”
The source added, “The execution was carried out in one of the ISIS camps.”
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – Fallujah Police Directorate announced about finding ten ISIS prisons containing the bodies of 13 victims during a search operations in Fallujah.
Fallujah Police Chief, Colonel Jamal al-Jumaili, in press statement said, “Security forces belonging to the army and police, during search operations in Fallujah discovered ten ISIS prisons inside civilians’ houses and government buildings in different areas of the city.”
“ISIS was using the prisons to torture and execute the innocent civilians. 13 decomposed bodies were found inside the prisons,” he added.
Jumaili further added, “The security forces are conducting search operations and securing the residential areas where the prisons were found. The prisons contained quarries and secret hideouts that were used by ISIS to hide the abductees for executing in the future.”
[ARA News] ALEPPO – Radical group of the Islamic State (ISIS) has shut down the internet network in the city of al-Bab in Syria’s northern Aleppo province, local sources reported on Wednesday.
The group has also broke into civilians’ houses and confiscated all satellite devices.
“They [ISIS militants] stormed the houses in al-Bab and confiscated satellite devices. Also, all internet cafes in the city were shut down on Wednesday,” local media activist Abdulkarim al-Yousef told ARA News over the phone.
“The group has tightened security measures inside the city of al-Bab and at its entrances. Nobody is allowed to leave the area under any circumstances,” al-Yousef said.
Another source in al-Bab, who spoke to ARA News on condition of anonymity, said that there are concerns that ISIS may use civilians as human shields in the case that western-backed SDF forces make any move to attack ISIS positions in al-Bab.
This comes as a group of Syrian armed rebels announced the formation of the al-Bab Military Council in preparation to fight ISIS in al-Bab city and its countryside.
The operation is expected to be backed by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that have recently expelled ISIS from the nearby city of Manbij and cut off the group’s supply lines between Aleppo and Raqqa–the ISIS de facto capital in Syria.
[ARA News] MANBIJ – The Syrian border city of Manbij, which has been liberated recently by the SDF, has witnessed tragic daily happenings and heavy atrocities against civilians at the hand of ISIS militants for years.
Speaking to ARA News, people of the city have expressed their joy after the liberation, especially after suffering brutal practices by ISIS and its extremist Islamic rules for over three years.
According to local sources, militants of the Islamic State (ISIS) used to “suppress the people of Manbij and treat them inhumanly”.
Eyewitnesses said that the group had deprived the civilians from their basic rights under the pretext that they refused to join jihad. “This is how ISIS used to force people into its alleged jihad,” an eyewitness told ARA News.
“We have suffered the most under the group’s rule here. We’ve seen the most horrible suppression ever,” said . On the day of Manbij liberation we all felt reborn,” said Khalaf Yousef, a citizen from Manbij.
“Those extremists used to sexually harass the women, while they were trying to show off the behavior of good Muslims on the streets. They were trying to hide their real ugly face from the public, but their brutality was known to everyone in the city,” Yoousef told ARA News.
“ISIS had established a detention centre for women. Only God knows what they’ve been doing inside there. Our suffering under ISIS was indescribable,” he said.
The Islamic State had imposed its control over Manbij nearly three years ago. Most of the city’s residents evacuated their houses at that time, looking for a safe haven away fro ISIS. However, many others haven’t had the opportunity to escape, so they’ve been obliged to follow ISIS’s rules in order to survive.
Muhammad al-Abdullah, a citizen from Manbij who has witnessed ISIS atrocities repeatedly, told ARA News: “ISIS terrorists were showing us how they beheaded and slaughtered people. We were always terrified, especially in the night, I wasn’t able to sleep for what I’ve seen. Sometimes ISIS militants would even call on people to participate in executions.”
“We had no more education under ISIS, all schools were closed. Everyday there were public executions and crucifixions. They were stopping us on the street to question the way we dressed,,” he said.
Yassir Hamadi, another citizen from Manbij, said: “We were suffering shortage of bread, they [ISIS] were preventing people from getting food and basic supplies. Many people were displaced. ISIS made us suffer.”
Speaking to ARA News, rights activist and citizen of Manbij Marea al-Ahmed said: “If you’re ill they would never let you visit a hospital or a doctor, claiming those working there are apostates.”
“We have been stranded inside Manbij. ISIS terrorists were obliging the people to eat from the garbage. They’ve used us as human shields. They used to gather the people around them in order to avoid airstrikes. And when you return home you find out that your house is mined. They’ve even placed explosives inside the mosques. Yesterday some people tried to clean the mosque of Manbij but the terrorists had placed explosives inside Quran books. Is this Islam?”
“Also, under ISIS bread was very expensive and barely available in Manbij. And anyone caught by ISIS while smoking would be mercilessly punished and forced to follow a Sharia course. Moreover, any woman caught violating the Sharia dress code would be brutally punished. We’ve documented a lot of such cases,” al-Ahmed said.
Video report at the link
Posted by: badanov ||
08/18/2016 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
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“This morning, ISIS executed seven citizens in the center Mosul city after they refused to send their children to schools boom belt classes run by the organization.”
Posted by: Bov Flimbers ||
08/18/2016 23:27 Comments ||
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