Hi there, !
Today Thu 10/18/2018 Wed 10/17/2018 Tue 10/16/2018 Mon 10/15/2018 Sun 10/14/2018 Sat 10/13/2018 Fri 10/12/2018 Archives
Rantburg
533705 articles and 1862032 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 47 articles and 131 comments as of 12:53.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Jihadist rebels reinforce front-lines near Idlib buffer zone, no withdrawal
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
0 [7] 
0 [1] 
0 [1] 
0 [4] 
0 [2] 
0 [5] 
7 13:49 newc [5] 
3 17:44 Skidmark [5] 
3 17:06 gorb [] 
0 [2] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
1 20:37 Neville Dark Lord of the Wee Folk7365 [3]
11 19:00 Jerong Phimble9768 [8]
0 [5]
2 12:10 Skidmark [6]
2 09:04 Frank G [3]
0 [4]
0 [4]
0 [5]
0 [8]
0 []
0 []
0 [7]
0 [6]
0 [1]
2 13:10 Rex Mundi [11]
0 [4]
0 [5]
1 10:11 Frank G [10]
0 [3]
Page 3: Non-WoT
10 21:29 DooDahMan [5]
0 [17]
3 13:40 Whiskey Mike [3]
9 17:12 KBK [1]
13 21:23 USN, Ret. [5]
3 14:31 magpie [2]
0 [3]
Page 4: Opinion
14 19:33 Procopius2k [9]
5 21:28 DooDahMan [14]
4 19:03 Anomalous Sources [10]
Page 6: Politix
5 20:55 3dc [13]
2 12:30 Skidmark [6]
4 21:32 DooDahMan [5]
12 23:03 49 Pan [5]
0 [1]
8 22:29 Thurt Sforza1408 [6]
2 18:39 JohnQC [7]
5 18:35 JohnQC [2]
Africa North
Terrorist Hisham El-Ashmawy reveals strategic info to Libyan authorities: LNA
[Al Ahram] A Facebook page affiliated with the Libyan National Army (LNA) called ’The Internal Security Apparatus in Derna’ posted on Saturday what it says are parts of revelations by Hisham El-Ashmawy, an Egyptian terrorist and leader of an al-Qaeda offshoot in Libya, who was captured last Monday in the Eastern Libyan city of Derna.

According to the page, El-Ashmawy revealed that 50 holy warriors affiliated with ISIS, under the leadership of Abu al-Baraa al-Liby, are still taking shelter in the city's centre, while 56 others from different terrorist organization are injured and taking shelter in a number of building basements in the city with very little food provisions.

The page said El-Ashmawy is undergoing interrogation in a secret prison in Eastern Libya.

El-Ashmawy affirmed that Abu Hafs al-Mauritani, the Islamic scholar and al-Qaeda mufti, is among the fighters sheltering in Derna's old city. El-Ashmawy also revealed that Omar Refaai Serour, an Egyptian al-Qaeda leader in Libya, has died of his injuries in battles with the LNA.

The captured terrorist also affirmed that Sufian Bin Qumu, the leader of Ansar al-Sharia
...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libyaand Yemen, with the Libyan versions currently most active. Tunisia's Shabaab al-Tawhid started out an Ansar al-Sharia and changed its name in early 2014. It still uses the old name now and then, probably because the stationery's not all used up and the web site hasn't expired yet...
, a group affiliated with al-Qaeda in Libya, has also been killed in battles with the LNA.

Another LNA affiliated page also said on Wednesday that LNA forces have captured Safwat Zidan, a notorious associate of El-Ashmawy.

Reports also said that the LNA has captured the wife of the dear departed Egyptian al-Qaeda leader Omar Refaai Serour.

An Egyptian military source told Ahram Online that it is not clear when El-Ashmawy, who has been sentenced to death in Egypt, will be handed over to Egyptian authorities.

On Thursday, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said that Egypt wants El-Ashmawi to be returned to his country to be held accountable for his crimes.

El-Ashmawy was born in 1978 and graduated in 2000 from the Military Academy. He was expelled from the Egyptian army in 2011.

El-Ashmawy, a former Special Forces officer also known as Abu Omar El-Mohager (the immigrant), was considered among the most dangerous holy warriors linked to many attacks in Egypt.

In July 2015, El-Ashmawy announced the establishment of the Mourabitoun organization in Libya, which is loyal to the al-Qaeda terrorist organization.

El-Ashmawy is believed to have been involved in an liquidation attempt on former Egyptian Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim and the murder of top prosecutor Hisham Barakat, as well as plotting an attack on Egyptian border guards in February 2015, which resulted in the death of 29 armed forces personnel.

He is also believed to be behind a deadly attack on Christian pilgrims in Upper Egypt's Minya governorate in May 2017, which killed 29 people.

In January 2015, his group was suspected of staging a multi-pronged attack on the headquarters of the Army Battalion 101 headquarters in El-Arish in North Sinai, which killed 30 soldiers and officers.

An Egyptian military court sentenced him, in absentia, along with 13 other holy warriors to death over the New Valley massacre in Farafra on 19 July 2014, where 22 border guards were killed.

Posted by: Fred || 10/15/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


Egypt says will continue with efforts to unify Libyan armed forces
[Al Ahram] Cairo will continue with efforts to help unify the Libyan armed forces, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told the UN envoy to Libya in Cairo on Sunday.

In an official statement, Egypt's foreign ministry front man Ahmed Hafez said that Shoukry apprised UN envoy Ghassan Salame of Egyptian efforts to push forward with the Libyan crisis settlement.

According to Shoukry, the violent festivities witnessed by Libya's Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
have proven the necessity of dealing with the spread of militias and the importance of constructing and unifying Libyan national security institutions to achieve the aspired stability.

Salame discussed the efforts made by the UN in Libya, including successfully reaching a ceasefire agreement between gangs in Tripoli, as well as his vision on dealing with similar challenges in Libya.

He also praised Egypt's efforts to unify the Libyan army, expressing his hope that such efforts would encourage working on unifying other Libyan institutions.

The meeting included an exchange of viewpoints on pushing forward political talks in the country, with both sides agreeing on the necessity of carrying out the UN initiative for a Libyan solution with all its elements.

Posted by: Fred || 10/15/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Africa Subsaharan
Nigerian Islamic State group may kill abducted medic within 24 hours: ICRC
[Al Ahram] A healthcare worker abducted by Islamic State group in Nigeria in March may be killed within 24 hours, the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement on Sunday, pleading for mercy and urging Nigeria's government to work for her release.

"Speed and urgency are critical. A deadline that could result in the killing of another healthcare worker is less than 24 hours away," ICRC said, adding that one of two other women abducted at the same time was killed in September.
Posted by: Fred || 10/15/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram (ISIS)


Arabia
Senator Sanders says stop US arms sales to Saudi Arabia, get out of Yemen
[ALMASDARNEWS] U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders
...The only openly Socialist member of the U.S. Senate. Sanders was Representative-for-Life from Vermont until moving to the Senate for the rest of his life in 2006, assuming the seat vacated by Jim Jeffords. He ran for the 2016 nomination for president, to be cheated by Hillary, then went back to being a socialist...
spoke to CNN’s State of the Union this weekend about Washington’s potential response to 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...
over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

In response to the question, Senator Sanders told the host that the U.S. could halt their arms sales to the Saudi regime and pull out of Yemen.

"I think one of the strong things that we can do is not only stop military sales, not only put sanctions on Saudi Arabia, but most importantly, get out of this terrible, terrible war 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...
led by the Saudis," Sanders stated.

"It’s clear, we cannot have an ally who murders in cold blood, in their own consulate, a critic, a dissident, that is unacceptable," Sanders added.
Posted by: Fred || 10/15/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Houthis

#1  Bernie would make Jimmy Carter and Hussein Obama look like Washington and Jefferson.
Posted by: Zenobia Clart9643 || 10/15/2018 4:26 Comments || Top||

#2 
Posted by: Thregum Greath3827 || 10/15/2018 6:42 Comments || Top||

#3  There you go, Herb!
Posted by: Frank G || 10/15/2018 7:17 Comments || Top||

#4  He also did not denounce the violence by the left when asked about it. He said, "I am very strongly in favor of mobilizing the American people to stand up for economic justice and social justice and racial and environmental justice, and I think we have to mobilize people. I am not a great fan of being rude or disrupting activities."
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 10/15/2018 7:27 Comments || Top||

#5  When is his wife going to the Graybar Hotel for Fraud re: loans to her University?
Posted by: Frank G || 10/15/2018 8:44 Comments || Top||

#6  He's still getting air time?
Posted by: Skidmark || 10/15/2018 12:15 Comments || Top||

#7  Just do the opposite of what he says, and you will be fine.
Posted by: newc || 10/15/2018 13:49 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Embattled Bangladesh opposition forges new alliance
[Al Jazeera] Bangladesh's main opposition party has forged an alliance with centrist parties, with an 82-year-old former foreign minister emerging as the main leader ahead of upcoming elections.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is hoping the alliance will help it boost its support and move on after a series of setbacks, including the jailing of its leader the loathesome Khaleda Zia
Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ...
for corruption in February and the sentencing of exiled acting leader, her son, last week.

The Jatiya Oikya Front (United National Front) was formally announced in the Bangladeshi capital late on Saturday after months of negotiations among opposition parties.

Kamal Hossain, a former foreign minister and an eminent lawyer who drafted the secular constitution just after independence in 1971, has emerged as the main leader.

"There is no alternative to a free and fair election," Hossain told a press briefing late on Saturday.

The new alliance issued a seven-point list of demands including the dissolution of parliament and the holding of free and fair polls organised by an interim government.

"The launch of the Jatiya Oikya Front will go down in history as a turning point," senior BNP leader and former law minister Moudud Ahmed told news hounds.
Posted by: Fred || 10/15/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Jordan announces Nassib Crossing to be reopened on Monday
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Jordanian government announced on Sunday that they have solved their technical issues and will reopen the Nassib Crossing tomorrow.

According to the Jordanian government spokesperson Jumana Ghunaimat, Amman’s decision to reopen the Nassib Crossing was a crucial decision to boost trade between the neighboring countries.

"This was a crucial artery of trade between Jordan and Syria and transit to other countries," she said.

This move to reopen the Nassib Crossing on Monday comes at the same time both Syria and Israel agreed to restore the Golan Heights Crossing.

The Nassib and Golan Heights crossings were both closed in early 2015 after the Syrian Arab Army lost several imperative areas along the southwestern border of the country.

Posted by: Fred || 10/15/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:


Netanyahu threatens Hamas with 'very strong blows'
[DAWN] Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday threatened to inflict "very strong blows" on Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, after fresh violence along the border with the Gazoo Strip controlled by the Islamist group.

"Hamas has apparently not understood the message ‐ if these attacks do not stop, they will be stopped in another way, in the form of very, very strong blows", Netanyahu said during the weekly cabinet meeting.

Seven Paleostinians were killed in festivities along the Gazoo border on Friday and Israel suspended fuel deliveries, having accused Hamas of using demonstrations as cover for attacks against the Jewish state.

Posted by: Fred || 10/15/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Before they attack you, GREEN LIGHT GO, Israel.


or wait around for them to launch them.
Either is fine today. I have your back.
Posted by: newc || 10/15/2018 1:27 Comments || Top||

#2 
Posted by: Thregum Greath3827 || 10/15/2018 6:42 Comments || Top||

#3  threatened to inflict "very strong blows"

He's going to huff and puff and blow their houses down.
Posted by: Skidmark || 10/15/2018 17:44 Comments || Top||


Israel ministers say no major Gaza military op until at least next week — report
[IsraelTimes] Security cabinet adopts a wait-and-see approach, despite threats from Netanyahu and Liberman of looming offensive in response to surge in violence.
And possibly not even then, so we’ll see.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/15/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Mmmm, okay.

Whenever is convenient for you.
Posted by: newc || 10/15/2018 1:56 Comments || Top||

#2  restrictions on fuel would be a better way to influence Gaza
Posted by: lord garth || 10/15/2018 16:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Israel ministers say no major Gaza military op until at least next week

Hopefully that's how much time the windup will take before the throw.
Posted by: gorb || 10/15/2018 17:06 Comments || Top||


Egypt says commercial truck traffic resumes with Israel through Sinai
[IsraelTimes] Years-long jihadist insurgency in the peninsula severed all trading with Jewish state.

The Egyptian military on Sunday said that commercial truck traffic with Israel had resumed via a border crossing in the Sinai Peninsula that had been shut down amid the jihadist insurgency there.

Brig. Gen. Tareq Younis said the first few trucks from Israel crossed over into Egypt on Sunday, and that Egyptian vehicles began bringing goods into Israel earlier this month.

The trade, mostly foodstuffs and raw materials, passed through the el-Auga route, south of Gazoo and closer to central Sinai.

Egypt has been battling jihadists for years, but the Sinai-based insurgency ‐ affiliated 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....
terror group ‐ gained strength after the 2013 overthrow of elected but divisive
...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled...
Islamist president Mohammed Morsi.

Thousands of Egyptian security forces and civilians have been killed, and thousands more placed in durance vile
You have the right to remain silent...
in what critics describe as a heavy-handed security crackdown. Homes have been destroyed, and heavy restrictions imposed on the movement of people and goods.

Israel has assisted Egypt throughout its fight with the IS jihadists, and their predecessors. According to foreign media reports, this has included conducting dronezaps in the peninsula on Islamic State targets. It has also reportedly taken the form of significant intelligence sharing.

More publicly, since 2013, Israel has also allowed additional Egyptian forces into the peninsula, beyond the level permitted under the 1979 peace accord between the two countries. Heavy weapons, like tanks, artillery and attack helicopters, have been brought into Sinai to fight the Islamists, a sign that Jerusalem is not concerned those big Egyptian guns could be turned against it.

Earlier this year, The New York Times

...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...

reported that Israel was covertly carrying out a full-blown aerial campaign against IS targets in Sinai, with the blessing of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. The Israeli aircraft are reportedly often unmarked and sometimes use indirect routes in a bid to cover up the origin of the strikes.

In February, the Egyptian military launched a massive operation in Sinai as part of its efforts to oust the jihadist group from the peninsula.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/15/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria minister discussed with Iraqi counterpart reopening border crossings
[Al Ahram] Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem discussed "speeding up" the reopening of border crossings with Iraq in a meeting with Iraqi counterpart in Damascus, the Syrian state news agency SANA said on Sunday.

Near Syria's border with Iraq, the U.S. military has closed the main Damascus-Baghdad highway, though there is a smaller crossing at Albu Kamal further east that is presently open only for government or military traffic.
Posted by: Fred || 10/15/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria



Who's in the News
18[untagged]
3Islamic State
3Hamas
3al-Nusra
3Commies
2Govt of Iran
2Antifa
1Govt of Pakistan
1Govt of Syria
1Houthis
1Moslem Colonists
1Muslim Brotherhood
1Sublime Porte
1Taliban
1Abu Sayyaf (ISIS)
1al-Qaeda
1Ansar al-Sharia
1Arab Spring
1Boko Haram (ISIS)
1Govt of Pakistain Proxies

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2018-10-15
  Jihadist rebels reinforce front-lines near Idlib buffer zone, no withdrawal
Sun 2018-10-14
  4 ISIS militants blown up by own explosives in Kunar province
Sat 2018-10-13
  Indian troops kill key Kashmiri fighter in Handwara siege
Fri 2018-10-12
  Easing frayed ties, Turkish court allows US pastor to go free
Thu 2018-10-11
  Afghan officials get 20 years for handing secrets to Pakistan
Wed 2018-10-10
  Turkey to search Saudi Consulate for missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi
Tue 2018-10-09
  Nikki Haley Resigns As US Ambassador To The UN
Mon 2018-10-08
  IDF fires at Gazans launching incendiary balloons at Israel
Sun 2018-10-07
  Defying Israeli occupation, Golan Druze pledge loyalty to Syria’s Assad
Sat 2018-10-06
  FFFFFFFinally: JUSTICE BRETT KAVANAUGH CONFIRMED 50-48
Fri 2018-10-05
  Yemeni army advances further into Saada amid violent clashes with Houthis
Thu 2018-10-04
  15 terrorists killed in shootout with police in North Sinai: Egypt's interior ministry
Wed 2018-10-03
  'Ricin poison' packages sent to Pentagon
Tue 2018-10-02
  21 ISIS militants killed in drone strikes in Nangarhar province
Mon 2018-10-01
  Houthi naval force targets Saudi patrol boats inside Jizan Port


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.
18.222.179.186
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (19)    Non-WoT (7)    Opinion (3)    (0)    Politix (8)