[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Several turbans belonging to the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... group and ISIS offshoot, ISIS Khurasan, were killed during infighting in eastern 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 of Afghanistan, local officials said Saturday.
The officials further added that the incident took place in the vicinity of Chaparhar district on Friday.
The provincial government media office in a statement confirmed the incident and death of five turbans during the festivities.
The statement further added that the clash broke out in the vicinity of Ghulam Dak area.
At least three ISIS turbans and two Taliban snuffies were among those killed, the provincial government said.
The statement by the provincial government also added that a Taliban hard boy has joined grinding of the peace processor by handing over a pistol, a AK-47 assault rifle, and three hand grenades.
According to the officials, the Taliban hard boy joined grinding of the peace processor in Dur Baba district.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
Y'all need to kill each other moar. Do it for Allah
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/17/2017 10:28 Comments ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least three Romanian soldiers were killed or maimed in a suicide kaboom in southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan.
The incident took place this afternoon after a jacket wallah detonated a Vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) near the convoy of the Romanian forces.
The Ministry of Defense of Romanian earlier this evening confirmed that one of the three soldiers maimed in the attack departed this vale of tears.
The source further added that three soldiers were maimed after a suicide bomber rammed his VBIED into a convoy of four Mine Resistance Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs).
"A small number of Resolute Support service members were maimed today when a vehicle-borne improvised bomb targeted their patrol in Kandahar," the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... -led Resolute Support Mission said in a statement.
The statement further added "The service members were taken to the Kandahar Airfield hospital for treatment."
The Taliban ...Arabic for students... forces of Evil group grabbed credit behind the attack claiming to have inflicted major loss to the soldiers.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2017 00:00 ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least two Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... Death Eaters were killed while planting an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) on a roadside in northeastern Kapisa province.
The 201st Silab Corps of the Afghan national army in the east said the incident took place on Thursday in the vicinity of Tagab district.
The Silab Corps officials said the two Taliban Death Eaters killed in the kaboom have been identified as Qari Mahfooz and Bakhtiar.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2017 00:00 ||
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[RADIOSHABELLE] The CIA is pushing for expanded powers to carry out covert dronezaps in Afghanistan and other active war zones, a proposal that the White House appears to favour despite the misgivings of some at the Pentagon, according to current and former intelligence and military officials.
If approved by President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... , it would mark the first time the CIA has had such powers in Afghanistan, expanding beyond its existing authority to carry out covert strikes against Al Qaeda and other terrorist targets across the border in Pakistain.
The changes are being weighed as part of a broader push inside the Trump White House to loosen Obama-era restraints on how the CIA and the military fight Islamist bandidosDeath Eaters around the world.
The B.O. regime imposed the restrictions in part to limit civilian casualties, and the proposed shift has raised concerns among critics that the Trump administration would open the way for broader CIA strikes in such countries as Libya, Somalia and Yemen, where the United States is fighting ISIS (the self-proclaimed 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), Al Qaeda or both.
Until now, the Pentagon has had the lead role for conducting air strikes ‐ with drones or other aircraft ‐ against bandidosDeath Eaters in Afghanistan and other conflict zones, such as Somalia and Libya and, to some extent, Yemen. The military publicly acknowledges its strikes, unlike the CIA, which for roughly a decade has carried out its own campaign of covert dronezaps in Pakistain that were not acknowledged by either country, a condition that Pakistain’s government has long insisted on.
But the CIA’s director, Mike Pompeo, has made a forceful case to Trump in recent weeks that the Obama-era arrangement needlessly limited the United States’ ability to conduct counterterrorism operations, according to the current and former officials, who would not be named discussing internal debates about sensitive information. He has publicly suggested that Trump favours granting the CIA greater authorities to go after murderous Moslems, though he has been vague about specifics, nearly all of which are classified.
"When we’ve asked for more authorities, we’ve been given it. When we ask for more resources, we get it," Pompeo said this week on Fox News.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
I wonder, could CIA gather founds by offering "drone safari" to (very) select costumers?
[RADIOSHABELLE] Heavily armed Al shabaab holy warriors have briefly retaken the control of El Wak town near Somali border with Kenya following a dawn attack on Saturday.
Local residents, told Radio Shabelle that the town fell into Al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... hands after Somali government and Jubbaland forces have withdrawn from the town and fled towards Kenya.
Both sides have engaged hours-long gun-battle, but the number of casualties has not yet been confirmed. Residents are in fear of a possible counter-attack from the Somali forces.
According to the residents who spoke on condition of anonymity said the town is under full control of Al shabaab holy warriors who seized the Police station and the administrative HQ.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2017 00:00 ||
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[Al Jazeera] An Egyptian court has upheld a life sentence for ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi on charges of harming national security by leaking secret state documents to Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... while he was in office.
Morsi, democratically elected after Egypt's 2011 revolution, was removed from his position in mid-2013 by a coup led by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the army chief of the time.
Morsi was immediately incarcerated Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! after the coup and Sisi has been the president of the country since 2013.
The court also confirmed death sentences against three defendants in the same case.
There have been no explanations yet for the rulings and they cannot be appealed.
In 2014, Egypt charged Morsi and nine others with endangering national security by leaking state secrets and sensitive documents to Qatar.
Sisi's crackdown
Morsi is already serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted for the killing of protesters during demonstrations in 2012.
Since toppling Morsi, Sisi has clamped down on dissent. Mass trials have been held for thousands of supporters of Moslem Brüderbund, which Morsi was a member of, and hundreds have received death sentences or lengthy prison terms.
Cairo's relations with Doha were already troubled by Qatar's backing of Morsi during the time of the cirisis.
Egypt is one of four Arab nations in a Saudi-led bloc that cut relations with the Gulf state on June 5, accusing it of backing "extremist" groups and cooperating with their arch-foe Iran, allegations Doha has repeatedly denied.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2017 00:00 ||
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Aden- Three suspected al-Qaeda militants were killed in a drone strike in southern Yemen late on Thursday, a local security official and residents said.
The strike in Mudiyah district in Abyan province on the Arabian Sea coast had targeted a motorcycle which the suspected militants were riding, Reuters quoted the official as saying.
Abyan is one of several provinces in central and southern Yemen where al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) operates.
AQAP has taken advantage of the war that erupted after the Houthis and Saleh’s forces staged a coup against the legitimate authority in Yemen in 2014.
Meanwhile, Yemeni legitimate forces have forced al-Qaeda militants out of an area near Mudiyah, Sky News Arabia quoted military sources as saying last Wednesday.
Local Yemeni sources said that the legitimate forces entered al-Wadih and took base in the government compound. They also set up checkpoints at its entrances as part of efforts to combat terrorism.
That development came in line with orders by Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr on the formation of a security committee to confront the danger of al-Qaeda in Hadramawt and Shabwah, the sources said.
The committee is expected to make proposals on ways to confront such a danger in the two governorates.
Bin Daghr also called for the rejection of extremist thoughts, the sources added.
Posted by: badanov ||
09/17/2017 00:00 ||
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London- Houthis have tightened the noose on journalists associated with former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh after besieging them to choose between speaking in support of a united rhetoric or keeping silent.
The latest Houthi threat came in light of the dispute that erupted last month between both parties.
Yemen’s Minister of Information Muammar al-Iryani told Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday that “the general behavior of Houthis with journalists is marked by exclusion. The rebel groups do not miss a chance to silence any voice that does not respect their ideologies, even if their moves were at the expense of their partners in the coup.”
The minister said Houthis should release all prisoners, especially journalists.
Yemeni political analyst Najib Gholab explained that Houthis were currently expanding their threatening approach.
“They arrested some journalists and threatened others. Journalist Nabil al-Soufi who is close to Saleh, already announced that he will not speak about politics, and cynically said he will talk about cooking and fashion in order to avoid being arrested,” Gholab said.
He said that several social media activists considered the fact of submitting to the threats as not a right decision.
Yemeni political analyst Abdullah Ismail told Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday that “Houthis have started early to target pro-Saleh journalists,” adding that those insurgents do not accept any kind of criticism.
“Several journalists were subject to distortion and threats,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Saudi Foreign Ministry denied Iranian claims that Saudi Arabia requested Iranian mediation with Houthis.
Director of Media Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Osama Ahmed Nugali, refuted the statements of Hossein Amir Abdollahian, senior advisor to the Iranian Parliament Speaker, carried by Iranian News Agency (IRNA) that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia requested Iranian mediation with Houthis in Yemen.
He further confirmed that these claims are outright baseless and unfounded.
Early this month, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir said that Tehran’s propaganda of rapprochement with Riyadh is “ridiculous.”
[Iran Press TV] Saudi Arabia's airstrikes have killed seven civilians, including women and children, and injured five others in Yemen’s central province of Ma'rib. The strikes hit Harib al-Qaramish district, Yemen's al-Masirah television network reported on Saturday. There are no more details available yet regarding the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2017 00:00 ||
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[Mirro] Penelope and Ronald have six children of their own. Neighbours said two Syrian boys had been fostered by the couple recently and claimed one had been questioned by police earlier this month.
Serena Barber, 45, who lives in Cavendish Road, said: "There has been a lot of trouble with one of the boys. The other boy was really quiet."
Serena told of the moment police stormed the street at 1.40pm yesterday. She said: "There was a loud bang on our door. An armed officer was there. He gave us two minutes to get out. It was terrifying. I left my daughter’s ashes in the house. If anything happens I will be heartbroken."
Sindi Xaba, 26, who was evacuated with her husband and son, said: "We were told there were explosives in a back garden but they didn’t say where. We were told it was close by. It is worrying."
Mojgan Jamali was told by police to get out as quick as she could. The mother of three said: "There was a knock at the door from the police.
"They told me to leave. They said: ’You have one minute to get out of the house and get away’.
#1
How many of those "kids" have actually been legal adults for years and years -- and in how many cases was this known by the authorities but covered up?
#3
'Officers from Kent police had to partially evacuate the port of Dover at 11am this morning. That work is now complete and they have recovered a number of items during that search.'
'At around 1.40pm with the assistance of Surrey Police, we evacuated a house on Sunbury-on-Thames. As a precautionary measure we evacuated the surrounding buildings.
Ms Griffiths, 42, said the couple may not be able to return home for days as police continue to search their house.
She said: 'I think they are actually staying with friends of theirs.
'But I spoke to the police officer earlier and he said he doesn't think they will be going home until at least five days because of forensics.'
In England, you are a subject of the state. What you think you have is not really yours in any meaningful way.
Now, in the USA, take Orlando, we give the terrorist den the once-over and then turn it over to the "reporters". Much better.
[Guardian] A second man has been arrested by detectives investigating the terrorist attack that injured 30 people on a London Underground train on Friday.
The 21-year-old man was arrested in Hounslow, west London, at about 11.50pm on Saturday in connection with the explosion at Parsons Green station, the Metropolitan police said.
He was detained under section 41 of the Terrorism Act and taken to a police station in south London where he remained in custody on Sunday, the force said.
An 18-year-old man was arrested in the departure area of Dover port earlier on Saturday in connection with the attack. Armed police launched a raid on a property in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, on Saturday in relation to the bombing. As many as 60 homes in the area were temporarily evacuated as a precaution, police said.
Residents said the property being searched by police was occupied by an elderly married couple who were known for fostering many children and young people over several decades and in 2010 were made MBEs.
Police are searching a house just yards away from Heathrow airport after a second suspect was arrested in connection with the Parsons Green bombing.
Police raided the property in Stanwell, Surrey, just yards away from Britain's busiest airport, as news broke the Dover suspect is an Iraqi refugee who was allegedly arrested two weeks ago at the exact same tube station where the device exploded on Friday before being released.
The teenager - who is being held after police tracked him to the departures hall of the coastal town's port - is thought to have been a 'problematic foster child' who was raised in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, by Penelope Jones, 71, and husband Ronald, 88.
The couple's home was raided by armed officers yesterday and ‘a bomb and 15 firearms’ have been found at the property, a neighbour claimed.
A local councillor said the teenager came to the UK aged 15 after his parents died in Iraq.
Following the arrests the Home Secretary Amber Rudd has this afternoon announced the UK terror threat level has been reduced to 'severe' — meaning intelligence chiefs no longer think an attack is imminent.
[Al Jazeera] British police have made a "significant" arrest in the manhunt for suspects a day after the London Underground blast that injured more than two dozen people, authorities said.
Police said that an 18-year-old man was enjugged Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! by Kent police in the port of Dover on the English Channel on Saturday.
He is being questioned under the Terrorism Act. Dover is a major ferry port for travel between Britannia and La Belle France.
"We have made a significant arrest in our investigation this morning," Deputy Assistant Police Commissioner Neil Basu said but he warned that the investigation was ongoing and the threat level remains at "critical," meaning a government task force that includes the security services believes another attack is imminent.
Basu's comments suggested that other suspects may still be on the lam.
The 18-year-old suspect has not been charged or identified. Police say he will be brought to a south London cop shoppe for more questioning.
Police have not said if he is suspected of planting the bomb or if he played a supporting role in a possible plot.
Authorities had increased the "terrorism" threat level to "critical" late on Friday, after a bomb partially went kaboom! during the morning rush hour.
Friday's device reportedly contained the explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP) and nails, but is thought to have only partially detonated from inside a bucket.
There were fears the number of those hurt could have been much higher had the bomb, which was concealed within a supermarket carrier bag, fully exploded.
It is not yet known whether the device, which was reportedly fixed with a timer, went off at its intended target or whether it was intended to go off further into central London.
The teen - who is being held at a London police station - is thought to have been a 'problematic foster child' who was allegedly arrested two weeks ago near to where the attack took place before being freed.
If true, this appears to suggest that President Donald Trump's much criticized tweet revealing the suspect was known to British law enforcement was not entirely wrong.
Police also said they are 'keeping an open mind' on whether there was more than one person responsible for the Parsons Green bombing.
A home in Sunbury-on-Thames raided by investigators in connection with the attack, which injured 30, is owned by a couple who were both appointed MBEs for fostering hundreds of children.
Close friends of pensioners Penny and Ron Jones said the couple - who are widely respected in the local area - were at 'their end' with the teenager.
Around 60 people were evacuated from near the house, where locals claimed 'explosives' were found in the garden. There is no suggestion the Joneses had any knowledge of any alleged wrongdoing at the property.
Serena Barber, 47, who has known the couple all her life and lives in a property backing on to theirs, said: 'They have two boys at the moment, both are foreign. One is very quiet and polite, the other who is 18 is awful.
'I know about two weeks ago he was arrested by police at Parsons Green, for what I don't know and returned back to Penny and Ron. After that Penny said she was going to have to stop caring for him, she couldn't handle him.'
Around 60 people were evacuated from near the house, while unconfirmed reports suggested 'explosives' were found in the garden and 'firearms' seen under the floorboards.
Neighbour Carrie Hill, 38, said: 'Police told me there was a bomb found in the garden and firearms hidden under the floorboards.'
Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
MBE foster couple
Oh my goodness me. To laugh or cry?
"We strive to provide an oasis,
A place for Mohammedan faces,
A safe little borstal
Until they go postal
For ISIS. We're probably racist."
Let's see...who, oh who, does this on a regular basis? Amish?
Two female American tourists suffered facial injuries in an acid attack that left two others nursing burns, outside a train station in Marseille.
The four tourists, in their early twenties, were travelling between Marseilles and Paris when a 41-year-old man sprayed them with hydrochloric acid, according to reports.
It is understood the tourists were in gare Saint-Charles station just after 11am this morning when the attacker struck.
According to witnesses, no slogans were shouted out during the attack, and it was not thought to be terrorist related.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/17/2017 09:32 ||
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#1
One French site states that the perp was a mentally unstable woman who after throwing the acid on the victims as they sat on a bench then started showing pictures of acid burns on her to the victims.
#2
A vegan, an Amish, a Hassid,
Were splashing a woman with acid.
"Say, after we've 'Allah-ed,'
Some oil and a salad
Would sure go down swell at the masjid."
[Al Jazeera] A Danish woman, who allegedly refused to take off her niqab, the religious outfit covering face and full body, has been deported from the Brussels airport after police were unable to identify her, a Belgian official said.
Theo Francken, the Belgian State Secretary for Asylum and Migration, confirmed the incident on Saturday on his official Twitter account.
"A Danish citizen coming from Tunis refused to take off her niqab at our border. Police could not identify her. She was sent back to Tunis," Francken tweeted.
He did not identify the woman by her name.
"Thursday I informed my Danish colleague Inger [Stojberg, Danish minister for immigration, integration and housing] about the niqaab-incident with a Danish citizen on our Schengenborder," he added.
In November 2015, police in Brussels briefly held a Saudi woman wearing a niqab.
Niqab banned since 2011
A law banning women from wearing the full-face veil, niqab, and burqa, which also covers the eyes, came into force in Belgium on July 23, 2011.
Women wearing full-face veils in public are subject to fines and can face up to seven days in jail in the country.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the top human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... court in Europe, upheld Belgium's ban in July, rejecting a complaint by two Moslem women who wear the niqab.
The court based in Strasbourg said that the law was not discriminatory and did not violate the right to respect for private and family life, nor freedom of religion
Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2017 00:00 ||
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#4
Hmm no, if she get put in jail, it would just give crappy lawyers time to extend her stay. Deporting immediately prevent that and save the state money in not having to hire lawyers and pay courts and all that.
[Ynet] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's official news agency says police have detained 74 suspects who are alleged members 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.... group.
The Anadolu news agency said Saturday the anti-terror police conducted simultaneous operations at 15 different addresses in Istanbul.
Anadolu said 73 of the detained were foreigners and were handed over to relevant authorities to be deported. There was no information on their nationalities. The other suspect was being questioned.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
09/17/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
To be released tomorrow after they are given their orders.
Posted by: chris ||
09/17/2017 0:35 Comments ||
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Diyala (IraqiNews.com) Two persons, including an officer, were killed, while seven others were wounded in a suicide attack in northeast of the Diyala, an official said.
“Two armed militants accessed al-Jihad district in Muqdadiyah, northeast of Diyala. They opened fire, when one of them blew himself up,” Adnan al-Tamimi, head of Muqdadiyah council, said on Saturday.
“The blast left a civilian killed and seven others wounded,” he said, adding that “security troops are currently besieging another suicide attacker there.”
Troops intervened imposing strict measures in the region, according to the source, as five mortar missiles were shelled.
“Curfew was imposed in Muqdadiyah, suspending official working hours on Sunday,” the source added.
Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State Sunni extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
A monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), which excludes security members deaths, said 297 Iraqis, were killed and injured due to violence and armed conflicts during the month of ِAugust. Baghdad was the most affected province with 45 deaths and 135 injuries.
Despite the group’s defeat in its main havens across Iraqi provinces, observers believe the group may still constitute a security threat.
Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) A civilian was killed, while at least ten others were injured in a booby-trapped car explosion in Kirkuk, Interior Ministry said.
“A terrorist attack took place using a booby-trapped vehicle in Adan district in Kirkuk,” the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
“As per preliminary information, a civilian was killed and 10 others were wounded,” the ministry said.
According to a security source, the blast occurred near a store that sells alcohols in the center of the province.
The blast comes few days before an anticipated referendum on independence of Kurdistan, scheduled for September 25.
Last month, Kirkuk provincial council voted on including the province in the referendum. Kirkuk is one area where Kurdistan Region disputes sovereignty with Iraq.
Posted by: badanov ||
09/17/2017 00:00 ||
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Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Three persons were wounded in a blast in northern Baghdad, a police source said on Saturday.
“A bomb placed on the side of the road near a market in al-Taji region, northern Baghdad, exploded on Saturday, leaving three persons wounded,” the source told AlSumaria News.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source added that the wounded were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment.
[Al Jazeera] Iraqi armed forces has dislodged 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) from a natural gas-rich border area with Syria, according to the military.
An Iraqi military statement said on Saturday Akashat, a desert region located south of the Euphrates river, was captured in an offensive which had been announced earlier in the day.
The attack on Akashat is meant to pave the way for the recapture of urban centres in the Euphrates valley, including the border post of al-Qaim, it said.
Iranian-backed Shia paramilitary forces known as Popular Mobilization and Sunni tribal fighters known as Tribal Mobilization took part in the offensive, it added.
The Iraqi air force dropped thousands of leaflets overnight on Akashat as well as on al-Qaim and the towns of Ana and Rawa, alongside the Euphrates, telling ISIS fighters to surrender or face death, the statement said.
Pro-Assad forces launch offensive
Meanwhile in Syria, an alliance of Shia fighters fighting with the Syrian army said it launched an assault to reach al-Bukamal, the Syrian border town on the Euphrates, facing al-Qaim.
Securing al-Bukamal is important for Iran's allies as the two other main crossings into Syria, to the north and to the south, are under the control of forces allied with the US.
Securing a land corridor across Iraq could make it easier for Iran to ferry heavy weapons to Syria should Baghdad approve such transfers. The Shia-led Iraqi government in Baghdad has good relations with both Tehran and Washington.
The Russian- and US-backed campaigns against ISIS in Syria have mostly stayed out of each other's way as the sides seek to avoid conflict, with the Euphrates often acting as a dividing line between them.
The cross-border "caliphate" declared by ISIS in 2014 in effect collapsed in July, when a US-backed Iraqi offensive captured djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , the ISIS's self-styled capital in Iraq.
The towns in the border region with Syria and Hawija, a northern province close to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... are the only urban centres still under ISIS control in Iraq.
The group overran about a third of Iraq in 2014 in a sweeping offensive that allowed the fighters to grab hundreds of millions of dollars worth of weaponry and vehicles left by the fleeing Iraqi forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2017 00:00 ||
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[Washington Times] Philippine military officials said this week that the five dozen or so rebels still holding out in Marawi have begun putting out “feelers” on ending their resistance, but the terrorist group’s ability to hold out so long is deepening concerns that the Islamic State will look to the Pacific as it is pushed out of its strongholds in the Middle East.
Islamic State claimed over the weekend that the Maute group killed 50 soldiers as the military launched a massive offensive to drive insurgents out of Marawi. It was some of the heaviest fighting since the group took control of the city.
Troops pushed Maute fighters out of positions near the strategically critical bridge in the Banggolo neighborhood, where rebels had been able to choke off the military advance into the city. The bridge is one of three linking Marawi’s city center to surrounding neighborhoods.
Military spokesperson Jo-ann Petinglay said Friday that the battle zone had been narrowed to a roughly 50-acre patch in the city. Filipino military leaders now say they hope to wrap up the campaign in October, and President Duterte has ruled out any deal to allow the last fighters to flee in exchange for the release of dozens of hostages.
Despite claims that the Maute group was almost finished in Marawi, Duterte reinstated martial law across the southern province over the weekend after Maute affiliate Jamaatu al-Muhajireen wal Ansar retook an extremist training camp in the southern Philippine town of Datu Salibo 62 miles away. The camp had been protected by a joint force of government troops and members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
The tenacity of the Maute group’s hold on Marawi are bolstered by an influx of advanced weaponry and combat-hardened Islamic State advisers — mostly from the Middle East and Chechnya — directed into the Philippines by the group’s operational leadership in Syria.
Rory MacNeil, a research associate with the Australian National University, said, "Through Hapilon, ISIS has provided an influx of supplies, ammunition, high-tech communications equipment and foreign fighters. By contrast, the [Philippine military] is poorly equipped and inexperienced in conducting urban counterinsurgency operations” since the majority of its counterterrorism operations experience is rooted in jungle warfare against small bands of rebel forces."
Aside from operational support, the Maute group and other Islamic State affiliates in the region have adopted some of the terrorist group’s successful propaganda tactics, including the use of social media, to expand their reach in the region.
Geoffrey Hartman, a fellow in the Southeast Asia Program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that the Maute group “represents the next generation of Islamic extremism in Southeast Asia, with a leadership educated in Egypt and Jordan and ties to jihadist allies in both the Middle East and other parts of Southeast Asia."
But critics say the fact that the Marawi crisis began with a failed attempt to capture Hapilon in a suspected safe house near Marawi is proof that the Philippine military is not up to the task. National War College professor Zachary Abuza said, "The whole siege began with a botched raid, and there is compelling evidence that the Maute group set a very effective ambush for them. Second, the [Philippine army] cannot claim to have been taken by surprise. The Maute group has besieged towns and cities twice in 2016. This is part of their playbook."
Posted by: ryuge ||
09/17/2017 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Maute group (IS)
[AFP] A Thai soldier died and 20 other people were injured, including two civilians, as militants ambushed an army patrol in Thailand's far South.
The attack began early Thursday when a roadside bomb struck a vehicle carrying the rangers in a remote village in the Yaha district of Yala province. A second bomb was detonated half an hour later as bomb squad experts arrived to clear the scene, followed by a shootout in which the rebels peppered the security forces with fire.
Military spokesman Colonel Pramote Prom-in said a lance corporal had died from his wounds, with 18 other soldiers injured and "two villagers slightly injured".
The attack comes while the military government holds talks with an umbrella group claiming to represent the rebels to set up 'safety zones' in the south as a form of limited ceasefire.
[AlAhram] Syria's foreign ministry said Saturday that it would consider Ottoman Turkish ground troops expected to temporarily monitor a safe zone deal in the country's northwest as "illegitimate".
The comments came a day after regime allies Russia and Iran agreed with opposition backer The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... to jointly police a "de-escalation" zone in Syria's Idlib province.
Damascus's delegate to the talks, Bashar al-Jaafari, had described them as successful but the foreign ministry in Damascus on Saturday criticised Turkey.
"These agreements on de-escalation zones do not grant any legitimacy to a Ottoman Turkish presence on Syrian territory," a source from the ministry told state news agency SANA.
"It is an illegitimate presence," the source added, while recognising that the accord "is temporary".
The Idlib zone is the fourth such area to be agreed among Turkey, Russia, and Iran after two days of talks in Kazakhstan aimed at easing the six-year Syria conflict.
Under the deal, a total of four de-escalation zones would be set up, each for a six-month period which could be renewed.
Three zones are already in place -- in Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, in central Homs, and in parts of southern Syria -- and are being monitored by Russian military police.
Idlib province, which lies along Syria's border with Turkey, was widely expected to be the most complex zone to establish.
Much of it is held by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an alliance of fighters dominated by al-Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate.
In the Kazakh capital Astana on Friday, Turkey, Russia and Iran agreed "to allocate" their forces to patrol Idlib and parts of the neighbouring Latakia, Hama and Aleppo regions.
Turkey has long backed rebels in Syria's six-year conflict and intervened directly in August 2016 to fight the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS) myrmidon group as well as Kurdish militias it sees as "terrorists".
Syria's government regularly complains about Turkey's intervention to the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... and says its military activities on Syrian soil constitute a violation of its illusory sovereignty.
"The Astana deal is an international deal respected by Syria," Waddah Abed Rabbo, editor-in-chief of the al-Watan daily, which is close to the government, told AFP.
"But it doesn't at all legitimise the presence of foreign powers -- Ottoman Turkish or otherwise -- on Syrian soil without direct coordination with Syria's government," Abed Rabbo said.
More than 330,000 people have been killed and millions more displaced since Syria's crisis erupted in March 2011.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
09/17/2017 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
[Ynet] With as many as 6,000 Afghans and hundreds of Paks fighting for Assad, counterterrorism experts worry about blowback from ISIS against the Shiites in both countries and the possibility Iran uses these militias as proxies in future wars.
Thousands of Shiite Moslems from Afghanistan and Pakistain are being recruited by Iran to fight with Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Scourge of Qusayr... 's forces in Syria, lured by promises of housing, a monthly salary of up to $600 and the possibility of employment in Iran when they return, say counterterrorism officials and analysts.
Continued on Page 49
Deir Ezzor (Syria News) More than fifteen civilians were either killed or wounded, on Saturday morning, in Russian air strikes conducted in eastern Deir Ezzor, while regime forces recaptured a town, located on the southern banks of the Euphrates River.
A source told Qasioun News that fifteen civilians were killed and others were wounded, this morning, in air strikes carried out by Russian warplanes on Mahkan town, in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.
Meanwhile, Syrian regime forces and allied militias, managed to recapture Hawija Mariya area, which is located on the southern bank of the Euphrates River, and Ayyash Fuqani area, north of Deir Ezzor.
The Syrian army forces also conducted intensive artillery and rockets shelling on the Islamic State-held areas, the source added.
It is noteworthy that the Islamic State has recently lost large areas in Deir Ezzor, against the advance of the regime forces, which entered the city early this month.
[Al Jazeera] Russian air strikes have targeted US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces and coalition advisers east of the Euphrates River in Syria's Deir Az Zor province, according to the Pentagon.
Saturday's incident maimed several SDF fighters, but the coalition advisers were unharmed, it said in a statement.
"Russian munitions impacted a location known to the Russians to contain Syrian Democratic Forces and coalition advisers," the Pentagon said.
Russia's military front man earlier denied targeting SDF, an alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters.
"This is not possible. Why would we bomb them?" Igor Konashenkov, Russia's military front man, told AFP news agency at the Hmeimim base, Moscow's main outpost for its air operations in Syria.
The attack was first reported by the SDF in a statement, which accused the Syrian government - backed by Russia air force - of trying to obstruct its fighters as both of the forces battle 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 in oil-rich Deir Az Zor province - ISIS's last major foothold in Syria.
Such attacks "waste energies that should be used against terrorism ... and open the door to side conflicts", it said.
On Friday, Bouthaina Shaaban, top adviser to Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... , told al-Manar television that it was up to Russia and the US to see that the SDF and Syria's army do not clash.
"Whether it's the SDF, ISIS, or any illegitimate foreign forces ... we will work against them until all our land is liberated," she told the channel, which is run by allied Lebanese movement Hezbollah, referring to ISIS using its Arabic acronym ISIS.
"It's the role of Russia and America to see that this confrontation doesn't take place," she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2017 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants detained on Saturday 15 civilians over cooperation with security troops and executed militants for escaping, in Anbar, Alghad Press reported.
IS arrested 15 civilians over cooperation and sending information to security troops about the group’s headquarters in Qaim, western Anbar, the news website said.
The group also executed two militants over escaping Tal Afar town, Nineveh.
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.
Iraqi joint troops managed earlier on the day to liberate Akashat region, between Rutba town, on borders with Jordan, and Qaim, on borders with Syria.
Sputnik quoted a source as saying that the militant group withdrew from the hours, few hours after an offensive was launched there, heading toward Qaim, with no resistance against the troops.
Earlier on the day, PMF announced launch of operations to liberate Akashat from four directions. Anbar Operations Command later said joint troops reached to the region in order to liberate it.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
[Mirro] Penelope and Ronald have six children of their own. Neighbours said two Syrian boys had been fostered by the couple recently and claimed one had been questioned by police earlier this month.
[Guardian] A second man has been arrested by detectives investigating the terrorist attack that injured 30 people on a London Underground train on Friday. 
[Washington Times] Philippine military officials said this week that the five dozen or so rebels still holding out in Marawi have begun putting out “feelers” on ending their resistance, but the terrorist group’s ability to hold out so long is deepening concerns that the Islamic State will look to the Pacific as it is pushed out of its strongholds in the Middle East.
The tenacity of the Maute group’s hold on Marawi are bolstered by an influx of advanced weaponry and combat-hardened Islamic State advisers — mostly from the Middle East and Chechnya — directed into the Philippines by the group’s operational leadership in Syria.
[AFP] A Thai soldier died and 20 other people were injured, including two civilians, as militants ambushed an army patrol in Thailand's far South. 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
