More likely returning from the cold
An Afghan National Army soldier based in Baghlan-e-Markazi district in Baghlan province reportedly defected early Sunday to join the Taliban, security sources confirmed.
According to them the unnamed soldier also took with him three weapons.
The soldier was from 209 Shaheen Military Corps and joined a group of Taliban insurgents in the Jarkhashak area in the same district, sources said.
The soldier is reportedly a resident of Sar-e-Pul province, security sources confirmed.
However, local officials have not yet commented and neither has the Taliban.
[DAWN] A Taliban ...Arabic for students... jacket wallah killed at least 13 people and maimed several more in an attack on a convoy of Afghan soldiers in Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province late Sunday, an official said.
"A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-filled car as the Afghan National Army convoy passed a small market in Nawa District of Helmand," Omar Zwak, a front man for the provincial governor, told AFP.
He added that civilians and forces personnel were among the dead while more than a dozen others had been maimed.
A source working at a nearby hospital told AFP on condition of anonymity that the bodies of 15 victims had been brought to the hospital. Another 19 injured were also admitted, he added.
"The majority of the dead belong to Afghan forces and most of the maimed are civilians," the source said. The Taliban grabbed credit for the attack in a WhatsApp message sent to journalists.
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08/28/2017 00:00 ||
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Members of Tarhouna’s notorious Kani brigade are reported to have killed ten people this morning in the small village of Rgaiat and nearby Suq Al-Khamis Emsihel on the road from Tripoli International Aiport to Tarhouna. They also destroyed homes and buildings belonging to the local Suwai family. The attack this morning followed the reported killing of three Kani militiamen last night by the Suwai family who were themselves acting in revenge for the alleged killing of one of the family members by the brigade earlier during the day.
Events started when Kani militiamen are said to have raided the family home in Rgaiat of Major Juma Al-Suwai, a former officer of Khamis Qaddafi’s 32nd Brigade, and killed him. He was visiting home for Eid from Benghazi where is now a member of the Libyan National Army.
In reprisal, members of the family reportedly attacked members of the Kani Brigade which controls the road from Esbaia to Tarhouna, killing three of them.
This morning, the brigade brought in heavy weaponry and tanks and proceeded to blitz the Rgaiat, reducing the family home and other buildings to rubble. They also attacked neighbouring Suq Al-Khamis Emsihel where, a month ago, they killed four local youths in a fight to re-estabish control over the town’s cement works.
It is reported that altogether 10 locals died in today’s attack, including a brother of Major Suwai.
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08/28/2017 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[PREMIUMTIMESNG] Two factions 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... insurgency group may be ready for talks with the federal government, Abdulkadir Abubakar, a former commander of the group has claimed.
Mr. Abubakar, also known as Abu Muhammad, was the chief intelligence officer of the Boko Haram group and one of its top commanders, until his arrest in June by the military in Buni Yadi, Gujba local government area of Yobe State.
Mr. Abubakar told the News Agency of Nigeria at his cell in Maiduguri that Albarnawi and Mamman Nur factions of Boko Haram were willing to dialogue and cooperate with the government to defeat the most visible leader of the group, Abubakar Shekau ... the lunatic leader of Boko Haram who has been reported dead at least eleven times, pledged his body and soul to ISIS, told his fighters to hang it up once or twice, and been fired by the Caliph and refused to step down ... According to him, Mr. Shekau, whose capture, dead or alive, the military high command has ordered, has been the major obstacle to peace, since the insurgency began in 2009.
"Shekau is not willing to surrender due to his high handedness. Unfortunately, the government and military authorities accorded priority on dealing with Shekau, who is blood thirsty.
"Albarnawi has indicated interest to dialogue with the government to end insurgency and provide a lasting solution to the crisis. Albarnawi discusses this with members of his circle. And I can assure the government that he would cooperate to achieve peace.
"The two factions are willing to cooperate with Nigerian Government to defeat Shekau," he said.
Mr. Abubakar’s claim about the readiness of the factions to dialogue with the Nigerian authorities could not be verified as he had been incarcerated since June. But he insisted that the groups are predisposed to a peaceful resolution of the eight-year-old crisis.
Mr. Abubakar claimed to have undertaken various espionage missions and provided intelligence to the holy warriors, which enabled them to hit a long list of targets, among which were the abduction of 275 students at Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, and the massacre of students at Federal Government College, Buni Yadi. Over 20 students were murdered at Buni Yadi.
He also claimed to have been involved in other attacks on schools in Maiduguri, Damaturu, Potiskum and Mamudo.
The detained Boko Haram commander expressed his willingness to give the military useful information to crush the forces of Evil and arrest Shekau.
"I am cooperating with the military and I am ready to provide information on the whereabouts of Shekau. Shekau has left his enclave in Sambisa and moved deep into Mandara Mountain. I know the area where he is hiding and willing to provide a guide to the military.
"The intensified military offensive has weakened Shekau’s position and that of the other groups," he added.
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08/28/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
"Shekau is not willing to surrender due to his high handedness."
SANAA: A Yemeni colonel loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and two Houthi rebels have been killed in Sanaa, in an unprecedented escalation of violence between the allies with Saleh’s party warning it could push the capital into all-out war.
An anti-government alliance between Saleh and rebel leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi has crumbled over the past week, with the two accusing each other of treason and back-stabbing.
Witnesses in Sanaa, which Saleh and Houthi jointly control, said the ex-president’s forces had spread in southern parts of the capital near the presidential offices, which Saleh still holds despite resigning in 2012.
They said the forces had deployed in Sabaeen Square and the district of Hadda.
Saleh’s General People’s Congress party said in a statement on Sunday that “remaining silent on the incident would open the door to strife that would be difficult to contain.”
Col. Khaled Al-Rida, the deputy head of foreign relations in the GPC, was killed in the clashes between supporters of Saleh and Abdul Malik Al-Houthi late Saturday, the statement said.
A source within the GPC said the clashes erupted at a Houthi rebel checkpoint in Hadda after a dispute between fighters manning the checkpoint and armed supporters of Saleh who were driving by.
The rebel-run Saba news agency said two members of the Popular Committees, a tribal alliance largely dominated by the Houthis, were also killed.
Saleh and Houthi joined ranks in 2014 in a shock alliance that drove the internationally recognized government out of Sanaa and into the southern province of Aden.
From its inception, analysts have viewed the alliance as a tactical move by both sides, with rebels exploiting Saleh’s political power and the former president benefitting from the Houthi’s guns on the ground.
War of words
But in the past week, a war of words between Saleh and Houthi erupted with Saleh suggesting that his allies were merely “a militia,” and the rebels calling him a “back-stabber” and “traitor” who would “bear the consequences” of his insult.
The most recent clashes have added fuel to the fire, with the GPC statement accusing a “group that knows no morality or oaths” of being behind the colonel’s killing — a thinly veiled reference to the Houthis.
The Houthis reportedly suspect Saleh has been negotiating with a Saudi-led military coalition that supports the Aden-based government.
Saleh, meanwhile, is said to be displeased with the Houthis’ newfound power in the capital, where they run a number of key offices.
The Saudi-led coalition entered Yemen’s war in March 2015 in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi’s government against the Iran-backed rebels and Saleh.
The war has since pushed the country to the brink of famine, and killed more than 8,400 civilians — including in coalition air strikes.
On Sunday UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged warring parties in Yemen to allow humanitarian aid into the country, namely by re-opening the international airport in Sanaa and Hodeida port.
The coalition supporting the Hadi government imposed an air and sea blockade on all rebel-held territory in March 2015 and tightened it in August last year saying it was the only way to stop weapons smuggling.
Hodeida, a port on the Red Sea, is a key entry point for aid also in rebel-held territory.
The coalition on Saturday claimed responsibility for an air strike in the Yemeni capital that killed 14 civilians the previous day, which it called a “technical mistake.”
On Friday, the United Nations human rights office said air raids by the coalition had killed 42 civilians in Yemen in the past week, with multiple children among the dead.
The country also faces a deadly cholera outbreak that has claimed nearly 2,000 lives and affected more than half a million people since late April.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A prominent military and political commander who is a loyalist of ousted President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... was killed on Saturday in Sanaa in the festivities which erupted between 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 ... militias and forces loyal to Saleh on Saturday.
Khaled Ahmad Zeid al-Razi was a close bodyguard of Saleh before he was appointed deputy chief of the foreign relations department in the General People’s Congress which Saleh heads.
Khaled is the brother of Tarek al-Razi who was the head of Ahmad Ali Abdullah Saleh’s office when the latter was commander of the Elite Republican Guards. Their brother Aref al-Razi was Yemen’s envoy in Tehran and their father is Ahmed al-Razi, a prominent tribal leader who was close to Saleh, and who passed away in 2004.
Khaled was in the Elite Republican Guards until 2011 when the popular revolution toppled Saleh’s regime and his family. He was an expert in special forces and combating terrorism and he was an escort whom Saleh and his son relied on for protection.
In 2011, he quit military work but remained a staunch supporter of Saleh and part of his inner circle. A few months ago, he was appointed deputy chief of the foreign relations department in the General People’s Congress.
Sources from the General People’s Congress said Khaled was treacherously killed after mediations calmed down the situation. Khaled was with Salah, the son of Ali Abdullah Saleh, in their car when armed Houthis stopped them at a checkpoint. They clashed but eventually calmed down, only to kill him later.
Members of the General People’s Congress vowed that "Khaled’s death will not be in vain" and called on their supporters to prepare to eliminate Houthi militias.
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[IsraelTimes] Police investigating Friday’s sword attack outside Buckingham Palace in London tossed in the clink You have the right to remain silent... a second man on Sunday, a statement said.
"The man was arrested on suspicion of being involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism at 10:15hrs today and he has been taken into custody," the statement said.
That does rather upset the lone wolf theory...
The 30-year-old man was arrested at an address in West London and police are searching the property as part of the inquiry.
A warrant for the extended detention of the 26-year-old man involved in Friday’s incident has also been granted, the statement said.
[Daily Mail] Video has surfaced of an Islamist terrorist cell that chose to blow themselves up rather than surrender to police.
Police had tracked the four militants to a house in the village of Psedach in the Russian republic of Ingushetia, where they ordered the men to surrender. However, rather than give themselves up, the group chose to set of a bomb which destroyed their hideout, killing all four of them.
The Islamist cell members were wanted by the Russian secret service in connection with the attempted murder of policemen. Federal Security Service agents surrounded their hideout, and the group began shooting at the officers, who returned fire.
The video footage shows that specialist troops began shooting at the property with rifles, machine guns and mortars. Realizing that the game was up, the rebels then decided to blow themselves up rather than be captured. The video shows that the huge blast from their suicide bombs ripped the roof off the little cottage.
The terrorists were believed to be members of the Khunzakh militant group. Two of them, Bekhan Soltukiev and Mikhail Cherbizhev were wanted for a series of attacks on police officers. Authorities identified the third man who died in the blast as Khasan Khatsiev.
They have yet to release the identity of the fourth man killed in the explosion, which completely destroyed the building.
[Daily Excelsior] The Saturday’s deadly strike by 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... (JeM) in South Kashmire comes as a surprise for the security forces who had wiped out the outfit from the area two years ago by killing its two top commanders in Tral, Pulwama.
The attack on District Police Lines (DPL) Pulwama is first strike by Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in South Kashmire that led to killing of eight security force personnel.
The attack comes at time when security forces achieved major successes against forces of Evil this year especially in South Kashmire. This year security forces killed 136 forces of Evil so far after they launched major offensive against them especially in the last two months.
Sources said that security agencies had inputs about a possible strike in South Kashmire. They said that the group was intending to target the office of the Senior Superintendent of Police Pulwama but heightened security prevented the strike there.
They said that the fidayeen forced their entry into the DPL Pulwama by cutting the wire and jumping over the fence. They said that the proposed visit of former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah prevented the further casualties. "As Omar was to visit Shopian, the police men who normally get ready for deployments by 5 am were ready on Saturday one hour ahead of the schedule, at the same time when the fidaydeen struck", they said.
Sources said that after entering the DPL, the fidayeen rushed towards the SOG camp inside the complex but alert guards fired at them forcing them to enter the residential block where they were neutralized after day long shootout.
Sources said that the group recently infiltrated into Kashmire from Poonch side and comprised 5 members including 3 fidayeen of Afzal Guru Squad. The squad had earlier carried attacks in North Kashmire near the LoC in Tanghdar and this is first strike of the JeM in South Kashmire.
JeM was trying to set up base in South Kashmire and its two senior commanders, Adil Pathan and Burme stayed in South Kashmire for two years but failed to get any foothold before they were killed in Tral on October 8, 2015.
Security forces had launched hunt against the two members of the JeM who were part of the fidayeen squad and are looking for the locals who have provided them logistics to carry out the attack.
In the meantime, police today indentified the three fidayeen as Dawood, Abu Bakar and Abu Saad, all Pak nationals. Three AK-47 rifles, six magazines and one UBGL was recovered from the encounter site.
In the meantime, at Pattan in North Kashmire, large number of people joined the CRPF in the last rites of a CRPF man, Mohammad Yaseen Teli, killed in fidayeen attack at Pulwama. The cop had received Gallantry award on last Independence Day for his extraordinary role in counter-insurgency operation at Nowhatta on August 15, 2016.
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[Daily Excelsior] Just five days after Battalion Commanders of India and Pakistain held flag meeting at Chakan-Da-Bagh on the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district, Pak troops this evening resumed heavy mortar shelling and firing on civilian locations in Poonch district, injuring five civilians including a woman.
The August 23 flag meeting between India and Pakistain seems to have no impact as Pak troops started heavy mortar shelling and firing targeting forward posts of the Indian Army followed by civilian population at Kirni, Shahpur, Gountrian and Digwar in Poonch sector at 6 pm.
The Indian side retaliated effectively, leading to heavy exchanges which continued till late tonight when the reports last came in.
Reports said that five civilians were maimed in forward villages of Bandi Chechian and Qasba in Shahpur area of Poonch sector as they were trapped in mortar shelling while working in their fields and didn’t get a chance to take shelter in houses or bunkers.
The injured have been indentified as Zahid Hussain Shah, Mohammad Qasim, Mohammad Zameel, Parveen Akhtar and Mohammad Safeer.
However, the man who has no enemies isn't anybody and has never done anything... majority of the civilians had returned to their houses around 6 pm when Pak troops directly pounded civilian population in forward areas of Poonch sector. They took shelter inside their houses and few bunkers to survive, sources said, adding that number of mortar shells landed close to houses of the people at Bandi Chechian, Qasba and Kirni, which were located right on the LoC in which some houses and other structures including cattle sheds were damaged.
"Indian side gave very befitting report to mortar shelling and firing by the Pak troops and inflicted heavy damages on the other side, the details of which were being ascertained," sources said.
Confirming losses on Pakistain side, they said the details would be available later.
Security forces and people evacuated the injured civilians from the border villages amidst heavy shelling and shifted them to hospital. They had sustained splinter injuries.
Panic gripped the villages in forward areas of Poonch sector after fresh round of mortar shelling, which came after a lull of few days. After Battalion Commander level flag meeting between India and Pakistain on August 23, the civilians living close to the LoC had been anticipating relief from firing and shelling.
However, the man who has no enemies isn't anybody and has never done anything... within five days of the Commanders level meeting, Pakistain violated truce and again started heavy mortar shelling and firing.
At the Battalion Commander level flag meeting, India had charged Pakistain with abetting terror activities and targeting civilian population on the Line of Control (LoC) during mortar shelling and firing.
Heavy shelling and firing on the LoC had been going on after brief intervals in various sectors of Poonch and Rajouri districts since May 1 in which Army jawans and civilians have been martyred and injured. The civilian property has also suffered extensive damages. However, the man who has no enemies isn't anybody and has never done anything... the losses have been very heavy on Pakistain side, whose number of soldiers have been killed and injured and several bunkers and posts were destroyed.
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08/28/2017 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Two people died and another three were critically maimed when Indian forces opened fire across the Line of Control (LoC) in Azad Jammu and Kashmire (AJK), officials and residents said on Sunday.
The casualties took place in Fatehpur village of Nezapir sector in Haveli district, which came under "unprovoked" Indian shelling from 10pm to 11pm, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Chaudhry Kashif Hussain said.
One shell landed in the house of Sheikh Mushtaq, 65, a retired schoolteacher, leaving his children Naveed, 32, and daughter Asma, 20, dead on the spot, Hussain said.
Naveed ran a photocopy shop while Asma was a BSc student.
Mushtaq, his wife Naseema Begum, 55, and another son Ansar, 25, were critically injured and hospitalised in Forward Kahuta, district headquarters of Haveli.
Indian troops had also shelled Nezapir sector earlier in the day - from 3pm to 5pm - but no casualties were reported during that spell.
Though there was no immediate word from the Inter-Services Public Relations -- the army’s media wing -- some residents claimed Pak troops had also responded to Indian shelling.
Condemning the "unprovoked and indiscriminate" shelling, AJK’s Minister for Information Mushtaq Minhas said it was the "height of barbarism" on the part of Indian troops to target innocent civilian populations along the LoC.
"Targeting the unarmed non-combatants with small and heavy arms is a criminal breach of international laws and conventions which warrants for immediate intervention of the international community in general and the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... in particular," he said in a statement.
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Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) Four Islamic State militants targeted by shelling were killed in north of Salahuddin province, the pro-government paramilitary troops said.
“The 29th brigade targeted a gathering of militants at al-Zawya crossroads in north of Salahuddin,” the media service of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) said in a statement on Sunday.
“The shelling left four militants killed and a vehicle burnt,” it added.
Pivotal regions that link between each of Diyala, Salahuddin and Kirkuk, are still held by the militants which poses threats to the liberated regions. Iraqi troops are urged to prevent the militants infiltration between Salahuddin and Kirkuk provinces, especially the regions stretching along Hamreen mountains and Al-Azeem town.
The government is expected to launch military offensives at the few remaining IS havens, including in Salahuddin.
The group has been actively engaged in the Iraqi government’s war against IS, and claimed full control over Iraq’s borders with Syria, but has been operating only on ground with air support from the Iraqi army warplanes.
PMUs, an alliance of more than 60 mostly Shia militias, are recognized by the government as a national force under the Prime Minister’s command after an edict from Iraq’s top Shia clergy was made in 2014 ordering their formation to counter IS militants.
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Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Six Islamic State militants were killed in airstrike that targeted western Anbar, a security source from the Shia-led paramilitaries in the province was quoted saying.
“Fighter jets bombed a booby-trapping workshop in al-Masharei region in central Qaim town, west of Anbar, which left six militants killed,” the source told Waradana news website.
The source indicated tunnels under the workshop that links the nearby regions to others. “The shelling caused explosion of several booby-trapped vehicles that were inside the workshop.”
In related news, a security source from the province said an IS leader was killed in Qaim.
Speaking to Alghad Press on Sunday, the source said, “jets killed Ali Anaz Suleiman Turfah Salmani, known as abu Othman, as shelling targeted a house he lives in at Qaim.”
The leader, according to the source, is considered a prominent figure at the so-called ‘caliphate department’.
Anbar’s western towns of Anah, Qaim and Rawa are still held by the extremist group since 2014, when it occupied one third of Iraq to proclaim a self-styled Islamic Caliphate. Iraqi troops were able to return life back to normal in the biggest cities of Anbar including Fallujah, Ramadi and others after recapturing them.
Fighter jets from the Iraqi army and the international coalition regularly pound IS locations in the province.
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Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Eight people were killed and wounded on Sunday when two booby-trapped vehicles exploded in two areas southwest of Baghdad, news reports said, quoting security sources.
The explosions hit the Abu Dsheir and the Shorta al-Rabaa (4th police precinct), the reports said. No official statement has been made yet of the final casualty toll, but one source, Alsumaria News, said three women were killed and five other persons were wounded in the Shorta al-Rabaa, while two others were killed in the Abu Dsheir region
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) One person was killed and two others were injured on Sunday when an explosive device went off at an area southwest of Baghdad, according to police sources.
Alsumaria News quoted the source saying that an IED placed on the side of a road near commercial shops in Jisr Diyala exploded, leaving one dead and two others wounded.
The explosion comes a few hours after two car bombings rocked two areas also southwest of Baghdad, killing and wounding eight people.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iraq’s Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday that Iraqi forces recovered 95 percent of Tal Afar from ISIS, the Death Eater group’s stronghold in the country’s northwest.
After just eight days of fighting, all 29 neighborhoods in Tal Afar city had been taken back from the Death Eater group, the military said in a statement on Sunday.
However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... fighting was ongoing in al-'Ayadiya, a small area 11 kilometres northwest of the city, where holy warriors who fled the district's city center were hiding out, Iraqi military front man Brigadier General Yahya Rasool said.
Tal Afar was the latest objective in the war on the Death Eater group following the recapture in July of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , where it declared its self-proclaimed caliphate over parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.
Baaj (IraqiNews.com) Six Islamic State militants were killed as the Shia-led paramilitary troops repelled an attack in west of Mosul.
“The 40th brigade repulsed an attack in Baaj, located west of Mosul,” according to a statement by the media service of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces).
“The attack targeted al-Risala and al-Hamdaniya districts in the town,” it added.
PMFs, backed by the army troops and fighter jets, managed to liberate the town, which is close to the Iraqi-Iranian borders, in June.
Previously, the troops took control over the borderline with Syria liberating the remaining villages in the vicinity of Qairawan, a main Islamic State bastion which links between Tal Afar town and the Syrian borders, and Baaj, after the troops announced full liberation of Qairawan.
The group has been actively engaged in the Iraqi government’s war against IS, and has recently claimed full control over Iraq’s borders with Syria, but has been operating only on ground with air support from the Iraqi army warplanes.
PMUs, an alliance of more than 60 mostly Shia militias, are recognized by the government as a national force under the Prime Minister’s command after an edict from Iraq’s top Shia clergy was made in 2014 ordering their formation to counter IS militants.
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[IsraelTimes] Five relatives sentenced to prison after judges rule they knew Omar al-Abed planned to carry out attack, failed to prevent it
To be fair, three months previously the PA had arrested young Mr. al-Abed and questioned him quite vigorously for a fortnight over his plans in exactly this direction without, apparently, any satisfaction. But before he went out that fateful night, he posted on Facebook that when dead he wanted his body covered with a Hamas flag. And Palestinians tend to give loyalty as families.
In a rare move, a military court convicted five family members of the terrorist who stabbed to death three Israelis in the Halamish settlement last month of failing to prevent the attack, the army said Sunday.
On July 21, Omar al-Abed left his home in Kobar and traveled to the nearby settlement. Inside the settlement, he went to the home of the Salomon family, who were celebrating the birth of a grandchild. al-Abed killed the father, Yosef Salomon, 70, and two of his children, Chaya, 46, and Elad, 36. Yosef’s wife, Tova, sustained several stab wounds to her back, but survived.
According to the Judea Regional Court, the family members "knew of [al-Abed’s] intention to carry out the attack and did not work to inform the security services as needed to prevent it."
Two of al-Abed’s brothers and an uncle were sentenced to eight months in prison. His father, Abd al-Jalil, was sentenced to two months in prison.
Abd al-Jalil, who was enjugged Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! in an initial raid after the attack, told the Haaretz daily last month that his son’s actions were understandable.
His mother, Ibtisam, was sentenced to one month in prison. She was also found guilty of incitement for praising her son’s actions in a widely shared video.
In addition to the prison time that they will have to serve, the five family members were given suspended sentences.
The family members’ sentences were meant to be commensurate with how aware they were of al-Abed’s intentions.
They were arrested in a series of raids on their home in the weeks following the brutal terror attack.
The Israel Police investigated the allegations against the al-Abeds and handed over their findings to military prosecutors, who indicted the family members earlier this month.
Last Thursday, a military court indicted al-Abed for the murder of Yosef, Elad, and Chaya Salomon and the attempted murders of Yosef’s wife, Tova, and daughter-in-law Michal, along with her five children.
On August 16, the military demolished the family’s home in Kobar, as an additional form of punishment against the al-Abeds.
Israel defends the practice of demolishing terrorists’ homes as an effective means of deterring future attacks, though it has been criticized as a form of collective punishment.
There has been considerable political support, notably from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for seeking the death penalty against Abed, but the Military Advocate General’s office, which will try the case in an IDF court, said that the punishment is not Israeli policy, despite it being permissible under law.
[Breitbart] Special intelligence forces of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",, have foiled an attempt by six Hamas holy warriors to join Wilyat Sinai, the Egyptian branch of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... , a Hamas security source told Breitbart Jerusalem.
According to the source, two of those tossed in the slammer Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! are members of the al-Qassam Brigades’ unit of elite fighters and another is a naval commando. Two others are regular Hamas members and the last of the six was serving in the Hamas security services in the city of Rafah.
The group of six were arrested together, said the source, as they planned to infiltrate Sinai through tunnels in Rafah. They were arrested with Kalashnikov rifles belonging to Hamas in their possession, which they intended to take with them to Sinai. All six were transferred to a prison facility run by the al-Qassam Brigades’ special intelligence and, after initial questioning, are due to be transferred to a prison facility run by Hamas’ Interior Ministry.
The security source in Hamas said that the organization was surprised by group’s plan, which comes after an incident last week in which a Hamas security officer was killed while detaining two jihadists who were trying to infiltrate Sinai.
Earlier this week, a Gazook jihadist told Breitbart Jerusalem that Hamas arrested over 170 jihadists in the wake of the incident.
[Telegraph] The Islamic State has released a new video calling on Muslim militants in southeast Asia to wage jihad in the besieged city of Marawi, while denouncing America and Australia for aiding the Philippine military. Its release comes as the battle between IS-linked militants and government forces in the southern Muslim city of Marawi enters its fourth month.
In the seven-minute long video, produced by IS's Al Hayat media, a militant identified as Abul-Yaman from Marawi, appeals to Muslim brothers in east Asia, particularly those in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand and Singapore to migrate to the city “to perform jihad.”
The graphic and chilling footage, which depicts dead Philippine soldiers and so-called martyrs dying in battle, is accompanied by an American-accented narrator who condemns the “subjugation” of Muslims in the Philippines.
It opens with scenes of young men engaged in fierce fighting amid the city ruins, brandishing AK-47s through incoming mortar fire and air strikes. In scenes reminiscent of the destruction of Mosul, it then cuts to the destruction of a Catholic church, showing militants tearing down a cross, smashing statues of the Virgin Mary and ripping up posters of the pope. A masked militant shouts, "We will make revenge ...We will be in Rome, inshallah."
The terrorist group then turns its wrath on Philippine President Duterte, for running to “his masters, the defenders of the cross, America, along with their regional guard dog Australia” to beg them for help. It accuses Philippine allies of aiding Duterte in “a malicious air campaign” against the Islamic State.
The fighting in Marawi has put Canberra on edge, with rising concerns that the growth of IS in the region could herald more terrorist attacks in Australia. In June, Australia deployed two surveillance planes to Mindanao to help the Philippine military in the battle. Earlier this week, Australian intelligence chief Nick Warner also met President Duterte in an unusually public visit to discuss progress.
Regional neighbours are also worried. Malaysia’s top terrorist officer, Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, said that the new video was “powerful” and would “inflame the passions” of Muslim fanatics. He said, "Since the Marawi siege started, we have seen increased activities from IS cells in Malaysia trying to enter into the southern Philippines."
Posted by: ryuge ||
08/28/2017 00:00 ||
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[AlMasdar] Aerial drones are being used to maximum effect by the Russian military which is looking to bolster Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... in the battle against ISIS and the Syrian al-Qaeda branch (Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham).
The number was confirmed by Major General Alezander Noviko, Head of the Russian General Staff’s Office for the Development of UAVs, on Friday.
Contrary to the US’ large arsenol of armed drones, the Russian counterparts are for the most part unarmed and used in reconnaissance roles in order to monitor ceasefire regions, scout jihadist-held frontline positions or to ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian aid.
"The drones used in Syria have low radar, optical and acoustic signature," Novikov said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/28/2017 00:00 ||
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#3
Given the ambiguous timeline, it's likely since the Rus arrived. As the lead units were Spetznaz, they probably brought them when they came, and sent back "bring more".
I could see using them every time you lager up, to just to check the neighborhood, and then send them out again midwatch. Better than a 'mad minute'.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
08/28/2017 9:33 Comments ||
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[AlMasdar] On Sunday around noon, Ottoman Turkish soldiers crossed the border into a Kurdish-held part of northern Syria after which heavy festivities broke out between the warring parties.
According to a local outlet, the Ottoman Turkish military briefly entered outskirts of Bubana town, some 15 kilometers west of Ayn al-Arab (Kobane), but were quickly expelled by Kurdish border guards.
Sporadic skirmishes continue in the region with bullets flying across both sides of the border.
Despite being the strongest ally of the US-led coalition, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) remain at odds with the Ottoman Turkish military due to ties with the outlet PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party).
The Ottoman Turkish Army and allied Islamist groups already control a large chunk of territory in northern Aleppo; however, the Ottoman Turkish-led forces are yet to push east of the Euphrates River despite ongoing aspirations of reaching Raqqa province.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/28/2017 00:00 ||
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[AlManar] The Syrian Army units destroyed gatherings and a radio-controlled plane of ISIL terrorists in Deir Ezour Province.
SANA reporter in Deir Ezour said that an army unit dropped a radio-controlled plane in al-Jafra village in the eastern countryside.
The reporter pointed out that an army unit thwarted an attack of ISIL terrorist groups on military posts in the axis of al-Reshdia, killing or injuring many of the terrorists.
He pointed out that the Air Force of the Syrian Army directed blows to ISIL fortifications in al-Reshdia, the surrounding of Liwa al-Tameen and in the towns of al-Mayadeen and Mohasan and the villages of al-Shomeittia, al-Tebni, al-Masrab and al-Kharitta, killing many of the terrorists and injuring others.
Local sources said that locals in Deir Ezour killed many terrorists and confiscated their weapons.
[AlMasdar] Improvised suicide drones are increasingly being used by Lions of Islam active in Syria, Head of the Russian General Staff’s Office for UAV Development Major General Alexander Novikov said at a roundtable held during the Army-2017 International Military-Technical Forum.
"Today, it is possible to purchase unmanned aerial vehicles or their components for a small amount of money," the general pointed out.
"After a small upgrade, these devices can be used not only for air surveillance but also for conducting air strikes. In Syria, Lions of Islam have been repeatedly using suicide drones, they also use unmanned aerial vehicles for delivering homemade bombs and mortar shells," Novikov added.
"The number of unmanned aerial vehicles used by Lions of Islam continues to grow," he said.
[AlMasdar] The Syrian Arab Army resumed their offensive operations in the eastern countryside of al-Sukhnah, Sunday, striking the so-called 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.... ’s (ISIS) last positions along the Sukhnah-Deir Ezzor Road.
Led by the 3rd and 5th legions, the Syrian Arab Army stormed the Islamic State’s positions at the Kasrah Faraj area, which resulted resulted in a short battle this afternoon.
ISIS was unable to hold this part of the Sukhnah-Deir Ezzor Road, resulting in their subsequent withdrawal from Kasrah Faraj and nearby Talat al-Karam and Wadi al-Waleij.
The Syrian Arab Army is still pushing along the highway, as their allies from the Russian Air Force continue to pound the Islamic State’s positions between Sukhnah and Deir Ezzor.
[AlMasdar] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) resumed their Jordanian offensive this morning after taking a brief hiatus to allow for their soldiers to rest.
Using heavy artillery and missiles, the Syrian Army pounded the Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... ’s (FSA) defenses for nearly two hours before they began their ground assault.
Led by the 5th Corps’ infantry units, the Syrian Arab Army overpowered the Free Syrian Army fighters at several sites near the Jordanian border, paving the way for the government forces to capture Rudwat al-Sheikh, al-Darifah Canyon, Ruwdat al-Salibiyah, and Garrison 164.
The total area captured by the Syrian Army is approximately 200 square kilometers, making this one of their largest gains this week.
[AlMasdar] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has once again restarted their east Damascus offensive after Faylaq al-Rahman refused to expel the al-Qaeda linked Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham faceless myrmidons from the area.
According to a military source in Damascus, the Syrian Arab Army’s 38th, 42nd, and 105th brigades pounded the strategic suburbs of Jobar and ’Ayn Tarma with a barrage of surface-to-surface missiles this morning, paving the way for their assault later in the day.
The source added that the Syrian Arab Army has begun storming Jobar and ’Ayn Tarma, capturing several buildings from the Faylaq al-Rahman and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham krazed killers.
With the resumption of the east Damascus offensive today, the Syrian Arab Army is once again trying to pressure Faylaq al-Rahman to reconsider expelling HTS in exchange for a ceasefire.
Posted by: badanov ||
08/28/2017 00:00 ||
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[Al Jazeera] Lebanese authorities have located human remains believed to belong to soldiers kidnapped by ISIS in 2014, according to a top security official.
The announcement on Sunday came hours after the Lebanese army declared a ceasefire deal with the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS, also known as ISIS) gang along the border with Syria in exchange for information on the missing soldiers.
The head of the General Security agency, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, said ISIS fighters who had surrendered led his agency and the Lebanese army to the remains.
"We have removed the remains of six bodies. We are expecting the number to go up to eight," he told news hounds gathered in Leb's capital, Beirut.
"We believe that these remains belong to the soldiers."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/28/2017 00:00 ||
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[Al Jazeera] Leb's army has announced a ceasefire in its offensive against ISIS fighters at the country's northeast border with Syria.
The ceasefire took effect at 7am local time (04:00 GMT) on Sunday in order to determine the fate of Lebanese soldiers who are in ISIS captivity, the military statement said.
Reporting from Beirut, Al Jazeera's Mohammed Jamjoom said that the ceasefire was a significant development in Leb, given that "the army seemed very confident just a couple of days ago that they were going to rid those areas of the last remnants of ISIS fighters".
"Now the Lebanese government is sending out a message that they care for their soldiers, and are trying to ensure that these soldiers can be released as quickly as possible," he said.
The fate of nine soldiers that ISIS, also known as ISIS, took captive then remains unknown.
Syria, Hezbollah ceasefire
Shortly after, the Lebanese group Hezbollah and the Syrian army, which are engaged in another offensive against ISIS on the other side of the frontier in Syria along the border with Leb, announced a ceasefire that took effect at the same time.
A Hezbollah military media unit said the ceasefire took place "under a full agreement to end the battle in west Qalamoun against [ISIS]".
At the time of writing, there were no reports of ISIS fighters failing to respect submit to both ceasefires.
Hezbollah's Al Manar TV reported that the gang has received the bodies of five of its fighters who were held by ISIS. The bodies will be identified by DNA testing later.
The Lebanese army has been battling ISIS fighters in their last border foothold, near the town of Ras Baalbek.
The assault began last week, coinciding with the Hezbollah and the Syrian army offensive in Syria's western Qalamoun region.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/28/2017 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[DAWN] A 
[PREMIUMTIMESNG] Two factions of the 
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A prominent military and political commander who is a loyalist of ousted President 
[IsraelTimes] Police investigating Friday’s sword attack outside Buckingham Palace in London 
[Daily Mail] Video has surfaced of an Islamist terrorist cell that chose to blow themselves up rather than surrender to police. 
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[Daily Excelsior] The Saturday’s deadly strike by 
[Daily Excelsior] Just five days after Battalion Commanders of India and Pakistain held flag meeting at Chakan-Da-Bagh on the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district, Pak troops this evening resumed heavy mortar shelling and firing on civilian locations in Poonch district, injuring five civilians including a woman..jpg)
[DAWN] Two people died and another three were critically 
[IsraelTimes] Five relatives sentenced to prison after judges rule they knew Omar al-Abed planned to carry out attack, failed to prevent it
[Breitbart] Special intelligence forces of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of 
[Telegraph] The Islamic State has released a new video calling on Muslim militants in southeast Asia to wage jihad in the besieged city of Marawi, while denouncing America and Australia for aiding the Philippine military. Its release comes as the battle between IS-linked militants and government forces in the southern Muslim city of Marawi enters its fourth month.
[Al Jazeera] Residents accuse security forces of shooting 'indiscriminately' at the Muslim minority, forcing thousands to flee.
[Al Jazeera] Lebanese authorities have located human remains believed to belong to soldiers kidnapped by 
