[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The local officials in eastern Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... say dozens of artillery shells were fired on Dangam district from the other side of the Durand Line.
The district administrative chif of Dangam Mohammad Rahman Danish said more than 200 rounds of artillery shells landed on Dangam district late on Sunday night.
He said the shelling started late on Sunday night and continued for several hours causing damages to the properties of the local residents.
Danish said the shelling did not incur any casualty to the local residents but some agricultural fields received damages due to the artillery shells impact.
This comes as the cross-border shelling on Kunar province had stopped during the recent weeks.
The provincial governor of Kunar province Wahidullah Kalimzai said last month that the national defense and security forces have received instructions to respond to the cross-border incursions.
He said hundreds of rounds of artillery shells were fired on Kunar province from the other side of the Durand Line and the issue has been repeatedly shared through diplomatic channels.
Kalimzai also claimed that the Afghan forces have started to respond to the shelling and target the areas from where the shelling takes place.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/14/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11123 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] The Taliban ...Arabic for students... captured a district in western Afghanistan as security continued to deteriorate in the war-ravaged state, the US media reported on Monday.
The fall of the district, Anardarah district in Farah province, came days after Afghan cops suffered heavy casualties in another district in the same province, the reports added.
Farah is a strategically important province, as it borders Iran and is linked to the country’s lucrative drug routes.
The New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... warned that these setbacks could further deteriorate the security situation in Afghanistan, "as the US military finds itself drawn deeper into the war".
Dadullah Qani, a member of the Farah provincial council, told NYT that Taliban fighters stormed Anardarah district, which used to be a safe area, and overran a number of government compounds in the district centre early on Monday.
"The district governor’s compound and police headquarters are near the southern entrance of the district, and both are overrun by the Taliban," Mr Qani said. "There are casualties to the police, but we lost contact with them and we have no idea about their condition, including the police chief of the district."
Mohammad Naseer Mehri, a front man for the governor of Farah, told NYT that the attack began around 4am and the Taliban had managed to enter the governor’s compound and seize it.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/14/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
[ARABNEWS] Moroccan customs officials said Tuesday that they had seized 240 kilograms of hashish squeezed into orange juice cartons destined for export at the port city of Casablanca.
Authorities said the stash was found after a check of the supposed shipment of fruit drink showed up some "discrepancies."
After a search, bricks of cannabis resin totaling 240 kilograms (530 pounds) were found "carefully concealed inside cartons of orange juice from a local brand," said a statement by the customs authorities carried by local media.
In a bid to outfox officials the smugglers had added sand to the shipment to make it weigh the same as a consignment of juice, it said.
North African nation Morocco is the biggest producer of hashish in the world and one of the major exporters of cannabis resin, which is mainly shipped to Europe, according to the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... Office on Drugs and Crime.
Some 50,000 hectares of agricultural land were used for the production of cannabis, mostly in the impoverished northern Rif region, statistics from 2015 said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/14/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under: Narcos
[Ynet] French counterterrorism police have detained five people suspected of helping jihadis who left La Belle France to join the battlefields of Syria and Iraq.
A judicial official told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that four men and one woman were jugged You have the right to remain silent... Tuesday in the southeastern Isere region on suspicion of taking part in a criminal terrorist association and of providing financial support to a terrorist undertaking.
Investigators believe that the five are linked to jihadis in combat zones in Syria and Iraq and are suspected of giving them money.
The official said the five will remain in jug until a judge decides on whether to file preliminary charges. He requested anonymity to speak about an ongoing investigation.
French authorities said last month that two potential murderous Moslem attacks have been thwarted in La Belle France since January.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/14/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[Breitbart] The Austrian of Egyptian origin who was rubbed out over the weekend after attacking a soldier with a knife outside the Iranian ambassador’s residence in Vienna had Islamist sympathies, authorities said Tuesday.
Preliminary indications suggest that the 26-year-old man "clearly had sympathies with political Islam", Michaela Kardeis, head of public security, told a news conference in Vienna.
Material seized at his home and his social media activities would be further analysed in the coming days, Kardeis said, but for now there were no more details about his background or possible motives.
The defence ministry said meanwhile that during his Austrian military service in 2012 the man was registered as a devout Moslem, giving him the right to pray five times a day and grow a beard.
The Kurier newspaper reported that the man, who lived with his parents in a working-class area of Vienna, followed on Facebook the German Salafist preacher Pierre Vogel.
In addition the Vienna-born man was a fan of a Facebook group that agitated for the "release of Sunni prisoners in Iran", Kurier reported.
Police said on Monday that he may also have had mental health problems.
‐ Four shots ‐
The man named by police as Mohammed E. attacked the soldier outside the Iranian envoy’s residence just before midnight (2300 GMT) on Sunday, stabbing him several times as they wrestled on the ground.
The soldier tried to use pepper spray to immobilise his attacker but later used his gun, firing at least four shots and killing the attacker at the scene, according to police.
The soldier escaped relatively unscathed with a wound to his upper arm. He was also suffering from shock.
Police have ordered reinforcements around all diplomatic missions in the city.
Iran is one of the main international backers of the Syrian regime, and has sent military advisers and thousands of "volunteers" to battle Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... Lions of Islam in both Syria and Iraq.
Last June, IS grabbed credit for two attacks on Iran’s parliament and the shrine of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini that killed 17 people and maimed dozens.
Iran has since tracked down and killed several suspected jihadists, and over the past few months authorities have announced the arrest of dozens of IS suspects in several regions.
Austria has been spared the spate of Islamist holy warrior attacks suffered in recent years by other European countries like La Belle France, Belgium, Germany and Britannia.
However the small and wealthy EU member ‐ outside the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and structure.... military alliance and officially neutral ‐ punches above its weight when it comes to Islamic holy warriors.
Last year authorities said that 300 people from 8.7-million-strong Austria had travelled to Syria since the civil war there began, one of the highest numbers per capita in the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... .
Around half of the departees are from Austria’s 30,000-strong Chechen minority, one of Europe’s biggest. Many also have links to western Balkans countries.
[WashingtonPost] A federal judge in Brooklyn handed down a 45-year prison sentence Tuesday to a Texas native convicted last fall of supporting al-Qaeda and conspiring to murder Americans.
Muhanad Mahmoud al-Farekh, 32, of Houston, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian M. Cogan in the Eastern District of New York.
Farekh’s case renewed a lengthy debate in the B.O. regime over whether it was legally and morally permissible to target and kill a U.S. citizen overseas without a trial. Though U.S. authorities nominated him to be placed on a terrorism kill-list, he was captured in Pakistain and eventually brought to the United States for prosecution.
"With the sentence handed down today, al Qaeda terrorist Muhanad Mahmoud Al Farekh is being held accountable for his crimes," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers said in a statement Tuesday.
Farekh had traveled overseas, joined al-Qaeda, and conspired to kill Americans, including through an attack using bombs on a remote U.S. military base in Khost, Afghanistan, in 2009, prosecutors said.
Farekh was detained in Pakistain in 2015, transferred to U.S. custody, questioned and then secretly flown to New York to face terrorism charges. In September, he also was convicted on charges of conspiracy to bomb a U.S. facility and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction.
Farekh, who was raised in Dubai, served in al-Qaeda’s external operations unit from 2007 to 2014, prosecutors said. In March 2007, Farekh and two fellow students from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, traveled to Pakistain intending to fight American troops, they said. Before leaving, the men watched videos encouraging violent jihad and listened to sermons by Anwar al-Awlaki ... Born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, zapped in Yemen, al-Awlaki was a dual citizen of the U.S. and Yemen. He was an Islamic holy man who was a trainer for al-Qaeda and its franchises. His sermons were attended by three of the 9/11 hijackers, by Fort Hood murderer Nidal Malik Hussein, and Undieboomer Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. He was the first U.S. citizen ever placed on a CIA target list... , a charismatic preacher and operational leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ...the latest incarnation of various Qaeda and Qaeda-allied groups, including the now-defunct Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that boomed the USS Cole in 2000... ‐ and a U.S. citizen ‐ who was killed in a U.S. dronezap in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... in 2011.
Before Awlaki’s killing, the B.O. regime engaged in intense, internal debate over whether the lethal targeting of a U.S. citizen overseas without judicial process was lawful and sound policy. In the wake of Awlaki’s death, the administration imposed new rules that, among other things, directed that the Pentagon, rather than the CIA, should carry out lethal strikes against Americans overseas suspected of terrorism.
On Jan. 19, 2009, al-Qaeda operatives drove two trucks loaded with explosives to the gate of Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost, Afghanistan. The first truck blew up, wounding several bystanders, including a U.S. serviceman and a pregnant Afghan woman. The second truck hit the blast crater left by the first truck and failed to explode.
Farekh, prosecutors said, helped build the second truck bomb. Forensic technicians recovered 18 latent fingerprints from the device that matched Farekh’s.
Farekh’s lawyer, David Ruhnke, said that Farekh would appeal his conviction.
Saw somethng, said something. This time, at least, it worked.
[IndyStar] A man in the country illegally has been charged with a federal crime after two gun scares, including one involving an AR-15-styled rifle equipped with a scope and bump stock outside a downtown Indianapolis hotel on the day of the Women's March with thousands of attendees.
Ahmed Alaklouk, described in federal court documents as a Tunisian native and Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... n citizen, has been living in Indiana on a terminated student visa. Federal law prohibits someone in the country illegally from possessing guns or ammo, but court records say police found him with weapons on two occasions in January.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Federallaw prohibits someone in the country illegally from possessing guns or ammo, but court records say police found him with weapons on two occasions in January.
Obviously we need MOAR laws. So he wasn't deported the first two times they had a chance? Tell me more
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/14/2018 8:34 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I'd like to know if his AR-15 had the chainsaw bayonet attached.
#3
Hotel security saw several firearms inside Alaklouk's truck parked at the hotel: six handguns in the back seat, and a rifle in the front seat... Police told him to secure his weapons in a hotel safe or out of sight in his vehicle because leaving them in the open could result in a break-in.
Sounds like the police didn't want to be bothered.
[DAWN] One Rangers man was martyred and three others injured when a personnel of the paramilitary force came under attack by suspected hard boyz in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... 's Lyari ...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot.... neighbourhood on Tuesday evening.
A Rangers contingent was on a routine patrol in Lyari's Ali Mohammad Mohalla when suspected hard boyz attacked the security personnel with hand grenades and automatic weapons at around 8:15pm, said a blurb issued by the force.
In the ensuing exchange of fire, Rangers Sepoy Fawad was martyred while three others sustained injuries, who were shifted to Civil Hospital Karachi.
At least one holy warrior died in retaliatory firing by the Rangers personnel, the statement said.
Sources told DawnNewsTV that law-enforcement personnel had started an operation against suspected criminals of Lyari gang war before a heavy exchange of fire started.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/14/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11124 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
Kirkuk (Iraqinews.com) – Pro-government troops of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) announced on Tuesday killing Seven Islamic State (IS) militants in a military operation southwest of the oil-rich Kirkuk province.
In a statement, a copy of which was obtained by Alghad Press, the PMFs said that “four of those killed in the military operation were clad in explosive belts as they sought to blow themselves up to block the troops’ advancement towards al-Rebza village in southwestern Kirkuk.”
“The troops killed three other IS militants in the operation as well,” according to the statement, adding that the military operation will go on as scheduled to eliminate all IS cells across Kirkuk.
Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Eight Islamic State members were killed in an ambush set up by the pro-government paramilitary troops, southwest of Kirkuk, a source was quoted saying on Tuesday.
Speaking to AlSumaria News, the source from al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) said troops, in collaboration with Federal Police in Shalaka village in Riyad town, southwest of Kirkuk “carried out an operation leaving eight IS members killed.”
The source, who preferred to remain anonymous, said, “targeting the militants was based on accurate intelligence information that helped to set up the ambush for the militants and destroy the rest house they were hiding inside.”
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/14/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11124 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Three Islamic State members were killed in an airstrike launched by the U.S.-led Coalition, west of Anbar, a source from Anbar Operations Command announced on Tuesday.
“Coalition jets shelled an Islamic State tunnel in the desert, southwest of Rutba,” the source told AlSumaria News.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said, “the shelling left a tunnel destroyed and three militants, who were hiding inside, killed.”
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Six Islamic State members were killed as the U.S.-led Coalition launched an airstrike in west of Anbar, a security source said on Tuesday.
“Fighter jets of the U.S.-led Coalition shelled a vehicle of Islamic State in Wadi al-Qathf region in Rutba, west of Ramadi,” the source from Anbar Operations Command told AlSumaria News.
“The shelling left six militants killed and the vehicle destroyed,” the source, who preferred anonymity, added.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/14/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11122 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) ‐ Five non-combatants were killed and injured on Tuesday in a kaboom near a popular market in northern Baghdad, a security source was quoted as saying.
Speaking to Alghad Press, the source said, "An explosive charge went off near a busy street market in al-Taji district in northern Baghdad."
"The kaboom left a civilian killed and four others maimed," the source said, adding that a security force cordoned off the blast site.
The source added that the "ambulances carried the body to the forensic medicine department, and the injured to a nearby hospital for treatment."
Salahuddin (Iraqinews.com) – Suspected Islamic State (IS) militants have detonated a mosque on a road between Salahuddin and Kirkuk provinces, a move that is seen by commentators as a new escalation against worship places in Iraq, a security source was quoted as saying.
Speaking to Alsumaria News on Tuesday, the source said, “Armed men believed to be members of the Islamic State group have sneaked into al-Mustafa mosque in al Alam district in Tikrit and detonated it.”
“The explosion caused material damage to the mosque but no human casualties were reported,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, pointed out.
The source noted that a security force rushed to the blast site and opened a probe into the attack.
Salahuddin (Iraqinews.com) – Iraqi army, backed by pro-government troops, killed on Tuesday four Islamic State (IS) militants while trying to infiltrate into al-Shirqat district in northern Salahuddin province via western borders, a security source was quoted as saying.
Speaking to Knooz Media, the source said, “A group of IS militants tried to infiltrate into the Sunni-dominated al-Shirqat district coming from western borders, but troops of the Iraqi army and al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) managed to foil their plot and killed four of them.”
The source affirmed that the security situation “in the district is now under control.”
Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) The Shiite militia of Saraya al-Salam (Peace Brigades) have accused the protection guards of Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi of attacking the personnel deployed between Samarra and Tikrit in Salahuddin, which sparked confrontations that caused the death of the guards commander, Brig. Gen. Sherif Ismail Ebeid.
Speaking to Baghdad Today website, Mohannad al-Azzawi, media official of the militias in Samarra, said, “a parade from the cabinet, including big number of troops, was coming from Baghdad to Samarra. As it arrived at the central checkpoint in Samarra, the troops refused the measures taken by the security troops, composed of federal police and three personnel of the brigades.”
The troops of the parade, according to Azzawi, “opened fire against police and beat the brigades personnel and confiscated their weapons.”
A security source previously said commander of the 57th brigade of Abadi’s protection guards was killed, while two others were injured in armed confrontations with Saraya al-Salam near Samarra.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/14/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11123 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
So, putting all the stories together and re-arranging would the following be a proper analysis?
The Shite Militia blew up an empty Sunni mosque then got into a firefight with the Iraqi PM's guards killing a Brig. Gen. Then all parties agreed to blame ISIS.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
03/14/2018 7:02 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Unstable and explosive is no way to go through life, son
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/14/2018 7:09 Comments ||
Top||
#4
The Shite Militia blew up an empty Sunni mosque then got into a firefight with the Iraqi PM's guards killing a Brig. Gen. Then all parties agreed to blame ISIS.
[ARABNEWS] Paleostinian Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah survived an liquidation attempt during a rare visit to Gazoo on Tuesday when a roadside kaboom detonated next to his convoy.
The prime minister was unhurt in the blast and continued with some of his official duties, but six of his guards were slightly maimed.
The attack happened in northern Gazoo, just a few hundred meters from the Erez crossing to Israel.
The convoy, which had just crossed into Gazoo, included the head of the Paleostinian intelligence service Majid Faraj.
Three cars were damaged in the kaboom and the six injured guards were taken to the West Bank where they were treated in hospital in Ramallah.
Al-Hamdallah and Faraj continued on to the opening ceremony of the internationally funded sewage treatment plant but left Gazoo soon after without meeting any Hamas, one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbung millipede, leaders.
Hamas has been in control of Gazoo since 2007, after seizing the territory in festivities with the rival Fatah faction, which controls the West Bank.
The two sides reached an Egyptian-brokered deal in October, which was supposed to see Hamas hand over powers to the Paleostinian Authority.
But after giving up security oversight of the Gazoo border crossings in November, the deal has faltered and Hamas maintains full control of the territory. Yesterday’s bombing is expected to further derail prospects of Paleostinian unity, which many feel is essential for any progress in peace talks with Israel.
"What happened is a disgraceful act and will only increase our determination to serve the Gazoo Strip," al-Hamadallah said at the opening ceremony of the wastewater plant.
The bombing "will only increase our resolve to continue our work in the service of the Gazoo Strip and end the division, and we will continue to work with determination to complete our government projects," he said.
Hamas condemned the attack, accusing "Israel and its agents" carrying it out.
"This crime is an integral part of the attempts to tamper with the security of the Gazoo Strip and to strike any efforts to achieve unity and reconciliation," the group said.
Hamas’s Interior Ministry in Gazoo said it had opened an urgent investigation into the incident and incarcerated Please don't kill me! a number of suspects.
Major General Tawfiq Abu Naim, commander of the internal security forces in Gazoo, said "There will be an investigation.
"I have had three inspection tours of the place to secure the road since yesterday. This incident serves only the occupation," he added, referring to Israel.
Witnesses said the bomb was planted under an electricity pole on Gazoo’s main north-south road. The device went off shortly after Hamdallah’s 20-vehicle convoy had entered through the crossing, AP reported.
"I could not see anything because smoke and dust filled the air. When the smoke cleared, the kaboom was followed by heavy gunfire, apparently from police securing the convoy. When the dust cleared, I saw people running everywhere, and police were running around," said a witness.
Two vehicles were badly damaged and could not continue. One had bloodstains on the door. At least two bodyguards were slightly maimed.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/14/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11123 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
[AFP] Philippine police have arrested an Abu Sayyaf rebel who allegedly helped guard a group of tourists kidnapped in 2001, including an American missionary who was later killed.
Hood Abdullah is accused of guarding hostages including American citizen Martin Burnham, who was killed and his wife injured in the crossfire during a botched rescue attempt in June 2002. Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said, "Burnham, an American hostage, was always handcuffed to Abdullah...especially on the move."
Burnham died 13 months after Abu Sayyaf gunmen kidnapped a group of 20 tourists at an upscale western Philippine resort, including the Burnhams and another U.S. citizen, who was later beheaded. While Abdullah did not take part in the resort raid, he guarded the Burnhams when several groups of hostages including the missionary couple were put together in one detention area, Aguirre said. The other hostages were plantation workers and Jehovah's Witnesses — two of whom were rescued and helped to identify Abdullah, the justice secretary added.
Abdullah was arrested on February 27 in Zamboanga City, where Aguirre said he was believed to be scouting for fresh victims while working as a motel security guard. On February 28, authorities arrested a second Abu Sayyaf rebel, Jimmy Bla, elsewhere in Zamboanga. Bla owns several powerful motorboats and is believed to have been providing “fast sea transport” to kidnappers.
Posted by: ryuge ||
03/14/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf (ISIS)
[IsraelTimes] Ankara says troops blocking all exits from Afrin in major offensive against YPG militia, as elsewhere civilians evacuated from besieged Eastern Ghouta
The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... said Tuesday its army and allied rebels had surrounded the Kurdish city of Afrin in northern Syria, raising the prospect of another devastating siege in the country’s long conflict.
In a statement Tuesday, the Ottoman Turkish military said it had completely encircled Afrin city, home to some 350,000 people and defended by a well-armed Syrian Kurdish militia, the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Birusk Hasakeh, a YPG front man inside Afrin, denied the city had been totally besieged but said the last route leading out of it was being shelled heavily.
"If they do encircle the city, we will be ready for a long fight. We will resist," he told AFP.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Ottoman Turkish forces had moved to within firing range of that last access route, which leads to a pair of regime-held towns ‐ essentially encircling Afrin and 90 villages to its west.
’Exit route’ for civilians?
Sealing off Afrin city would be a key step in Turkey’s "Olive Branch" operation, launched on January 20 and aimed at ousting the YPG, a vital partner for a US-backed coalition against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group, but seen by Ankara as "terrorists."
It remains unclear what Turkey’s next move will be, but it may lay siege to Afrin while allowing civilians to leave to avoid a high-casualty offensive.
The Britannia-based Observatory said Ankara was seeking to push civilians into either rebel-held or Syrian regime territory to allow for a "speedy military operation."
Abu Jaafar, a commander in the pro-Ankara forces waging Operation Olive Branch, said rebels were considering leaving an "exit route" for civilians.
"We will allow civilians... to leave so they will not be hurt in case [Kurdish] fighters hold out in the villages, neighborhoods, or buildings inside Afrin," he told AFP.
Hundreds of civilians were seen fleeing Afrin on Monday, with cars and buses piled high with personal belongings heading to regime-held areas further east.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/14/2018 03:50 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#1
Perhaps "unknown fighter jets" need to pound the Turks back a bit?
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/14/2018 8:38 Comments ||
Top||
#2
We'll find out soon enough whether Tillerson was behind the non-response to Operation Olive Branch.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has officially entered the al-Qadam District in southern Damascus after a long absence due to the ongoing war.
According to a military source in Damascus, the rebel forces in al-Qadam handed over their last positions to the Syrian Army, despite the fact they were under attack by 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.... (ISIS).
ISIS was able to claim at least 30 percent of al-Qadam, primarily the eastern neighborhoods, before the Syrian Army entered on Tuesday.
The Syrian Army now controls at least 70 percent of al-Qadam, which is considered one of the largest districts in southern Damascus.
In the coming hours, the Syrian Army will attempt to clear the Islamic State gunnies from the eastern neighborhoods of al-Qadam, while they finalize preparations for their upcoming Yarmouk Camp offensive.
Al-Qadam borders the Yarmouk Camp from its western axis; this will be a launching point for the Syrian Army and their Paleostinian allies.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/14/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11122 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
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.
... Born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, zapped in Yemen, al-Awlaki was a dual citizen of the U.S. and Yemen. He was an Islamic holy man who was a trainer for al-Qaeda and its franchises. His sermons were attended by three of the 9/11 hijackers, by Fort Hood murderer Nidal Malik Hussein, and 
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
[AFP] Philippine police have arrested an Abu Sayyaf rebel who allegedly helped guard a group of tourists kidnapped in 2001, including an American missionary who was later killed. 
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has officially entered the al-Qadam District in southern Damascus after a long absence due to the ongoing war.
