Qari Saifullah aka Gelaman Mehsud has been assassinated in Khost province of Afghanistan when unknown gunmen opened fire on his car. He was the spokesperson of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) faction Qari Hussain Force.
[ToloNews] The 207 Zafar Army Corps said Sunday that security forces conducted operations along the Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... -Ghor highway and in eastern districts of the province, clearing the areas of holy warrior fighters.
A commander said the Herat-Ghor highway has long been under Taliban ...Arabic for students... control.
"We want to reopen the Herat-Ghor highway, which has been closed for nearly one decade," said General Fazil Mohammad Junbish, 207th Corps commander.
According to the military official, winter operations will continue in other areas as well.
"We have other operations in the zone and also we conducted our winter operations all over the country," said General Mohammad Shoaib, deputy chief of staff.
Herat officials said that besides clearing operations along the Herat-Ghor highway, other eastern districts lacking security will also be cleared of holy warriors.
"The operation aims to clear the highway and reopen it for travelers," said Herat’s governor Abdul Qayum Rahimi.
"Our message to our enemies is "leave or be killed," said Abdul Qudos, an army soldier.
[KhaamaPress] Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... forces ambushed on the house of a former jihadi leader and public uprising forces head in Khwaja Bahauddin district of northern Takhar province last night.
Maryam Koofi, a former parliamentarian from Takhar province told Khaama Press that on Saturday late evening a number of Talibs ambushed on the house of Malik Tatar, a former Jihadi commander and the head of public uprising forces in Khwaja Bahauddin district of Takhar.
"The battle between the Taliban and Malik Tatar’s forces lasted for 12 hours as a result of which 10 Talibs and 20 members of public uprising forces were killed.", Maryam Koofi said.
The attack apparently targeted a local militia commander who escaped unharmed, said Jawad Hajri, a spokesman for the governor of Takhar province, where the attack took place late Saturday.
Local Afghan militias commonly operate in remote areas, and are under the command of either the defense or interior ministries.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack.
[IsraelTimes] US Africa Command says it conducted 3 Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s targeting al-Shabaab ...... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... members, a day after Somalia’s deadliest attack in two years killed 79.
The US military launched airstrikes against the al-Shabaab bully boy group in Somalia on Sunday, US Africa Command said, killing four terrorists.
The strikes came one day after Somalia’s deadliest attack in two years, when a boom-mobile killed at least 79 people in a busy area of Mogadishu.
"In coordination with the federal government of Somalia, US Africa Command conducted three airstrikes in two locations targeting al-Shabaab snuffies in the vicinity of Qunyo Barrow and Caliyoow Barrow, Somalia, respectively, December 29," AFRICOM said in a statement.
It said two strikes had killed two snuffies and destroyed two vehicles in Qunyo Barrow while a separate strike killed another two in Caliyoow Barrow.
US strikes in Somalia surged after President Donald Trump ...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US... declared the south of the country an "area of active hostilities". The rate of air strikes has risen sharply this year, and in an April statement AFRICOM said it had killed more than 800 people in 110 air strikes in Somalia since April 2017.
Saturday’s attack in Mogadishu has not been claimed, but the city is regularly hit by boom-mobileings and attacks waged by al-Shabaab Islamist snuffies allied to al-Qaeda.
"Since al-Shabaab’s first external attack in 2010, the group has ruthlessly killed hundreds," said US Army Major General William Gayler, AFRICOM’s director of operations.
"They have attacked and killed African partners, allies, and fellow Americans."
[RADIOSHABELLE] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...Qatar's satrapy in Asia Minor... has airlifted 16 badly maimed Somalis with a military plane to its country for proper treatment following Saturday’s deadly attack in Mogadishu’s Ex-control Afgoye.
The president of Somalia Mohammed Abdullahi Farmajo and other government officials have bidden farewell to the victims on Sunday at Aden Adde International airport.
The cargo plane brought medical supplies and doctors on Saturday evening to help the maimed people in local hospitals in Mogadishu.
The embassy said Turkey emphasizes the importance of international cooperation in the fight against terrorism on every platform and having lost two citizens in this attack.
No group has so far grabbed credit for the attack, however, Somali president blamed al-Shabaab ...... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... for being orchestrating the menace.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2019 00:00 ||
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Turkey transfers over a thousand pro-Turkish Syrian fighters to Libya tonight. A real air bridge between Turkey and Libya operates this night. https://t.co/2mKeO8NPk1
[Jpost] Two Saudi men rubbed out last week in the eastern city of Dammam were driving a car loaded with explosives and were planning an "imminent terrorist operation," the SPA state news agency said on Sunday, citing security forces.
The two were found with explosive paste in the car, SPA said. They started shooting at security forces when they were approached on Wednesday and were rubbed out.Five kg of paste was taken from the car and found later to contain the explosive RDX, SPA said.
Police named the two men and said a third unnamed man had been arrested.
[AlAhram] A ballistic missile attack destroyed a military parade for a 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... i southern separatist group killing at least six troops and three children, a front man said Sunday.
The explosion took place while the separatists, known as the Resistance® Forces, were finishing a parade for new recruits at a soccer field in the capital of Dhale province, said Maged al-Shoebi, a front man for the group, who spoke with The News Agency that Dare Not be Named by phone.
Continued on Page 49
Authorities rescued expectant mother with 19 others near Dunkirk this morning
Two other vessels, one near Kent with 11 from Iran, and the other with 11 near Calais, also stopped today
It’s the latest migrant landing since Boxing Day, when group of 49 were detained including Iranians, Iraqis and Afghans, plus another 14 by the French
More than 125 migrants who entered the UK illegally via small boats have been returned to Europe in 2019, while more than 1,700 have crossed the Channel in small boats
Home Secretary vowed illegal migrant crossings of Channel would be halved
[AlAhram] Russia's President Vladimir Putin ...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances... on Sunday thanked US counterpart Donald Trump ...the Nailer of NAFTA... for intelligence that helped to foil attacks on Russian soil, the Kremlin said.
Putin thanked Trump "for the transfer, through special services, of information allowing the prevention of terrorist acts in Russia," the president's office said in a statement.
Russia's FSB, a successor to the KGB, quoted by Russian agencies, said two Russian citizens were arrested on Friday suspected of planning an attack in St Petersburg during the New Year festivities.
They appeared to have been preparing a "terrorist act", the reports said.
Although Moscow and Washington are at odds on many issues, both regularly stress their mutual determination to fight terrorism.
#2
Another article for impeachment ? He conspired with the lifelong enemy to thwart austere religious scholars of islam from practicing their religion.
#6
We have two common enemies, each of whom poses a worldwide, major threat to our sovereignty and way of life: China and Islam.
It's ridiculous that America's supposed Wise Men can't come up with a strategy that enables us to work with the Russians to contain, thwart and suppress these common enemies.
.@EsperDoD gave a statement in Florida tonight where he said that the “strikes were successful” and that he “discussed other options” and “additional actions as necessary” with President Trump https://t.co/qBRLXoctwW
Special Air Mission SAM967 has just landed at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida. It is speculated Pompeo and Esper are having an unscheduled national security meeting with President Trump due to developments in Iraq pic.twitter.com/AAPbLU9mE1 (via @CivMilAir
Note al-Khazali is from Sadr City Iraq and led the Mullah's special forces but 41 Iranians and 25 PMU were killed in this bombing.
A follower of Muqtada al-Sadr's father he became a spokesman for Sadr Mahdi Army after the 2003 US invasion. He created Asaib Ahl al-Haq (عصائب أهل الحق) in 2006 as it emerged from the Mahdi Army's "Special Groups" and his Khazali network of followers. AAH is said to have been responsible for 6,000 attacks and eventually raised 10,000 fighters.
He was SANCTIONED by the USA on Dec 6th!
[Twitter]
Close associate of #IRGC (#Iran 's Islamic Rev. Guard Corps ) Commander #QassemSuleimani was killed in #US strikes against $PMU bases in #Iraq and #Syria 16 others were also killed in these strikes. US: "it was preemptive defense strikes after attack on int Coalition base" https://t.co/F4Rc2cBR1b
#Iraq (update): 40+ casualties reported in US airstrikes carried out tonight on Kataeb Hezbollah's HQs & ammo depots near #Syria|n border (Al-Qaim area). 1st evidence available👇 pic.twitter.com/9m5YxtMADy
Pentagon statement: U.S. airstrikes targeted Iran-backed Kata'ib Hizbollah’s in Iraq & Syria after American defense contractor killed in rocket attack Friday. https://t.co/hO3dbI3Vmh
🚨 BREAKING: The military commander of the Hezbollah brigades, Abu Ahmed Al-Basri: Our forces are ready to demolish the US bases and crush their rotten heads while we are awaiting the green light.
US forces conducted airstrikes on five facilities belonging to an Iran-backed militia in Iraq and Syria on Sunday night, the US Department of Defense has said. Fifteen of its fighters were killed in western Iraq, an official from the militia told AFP.
The "precision defensive airstrikes" were conducted on three Kataib Hezbollah locations in Iraq and two in Syria, according to a statement from US Secretary of Defense assistant Jonathan Hoffman, in response to repeated attacks on Iraqi bases hosting US-led coalition personnel.
Among the fifteen killed were commanders, an official from the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) - an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias in Iraq, including Kataib Hezbollah - told AFP. Iraqi Security Media Cell reported four Kataib Hezbollah members were killed and 30 injured in three airstrikes at a base on the Iraq-Syria border at 7 pm on Sunday evening.
Among those killed was militia commander Abu Ali Khazali, according to a statement from the PMF.
A base in al-Qaim, western Iraq, was one of the targeted locations, a US defense official told Rudaw English.
The five locations included "weapon storage facilities and command and control locations that KH [Kataib Hezbollah] uses to plan and execute attacks on OIR [Operation Inherent Resolve] coalition forces," according to the US Defense statement.
The strikes "will degrade KH's ability to conduct future attacks against OIR coalition forces," the statement added.
Sunday's airstrikes follow an attack on the K1 military base in Kirkuk province on Friday night.
One US civilian contractor was killed when ten missiles struck the base. At least two Iraqi policemen were killed, according to a federal police source. Several US and Iraqi service members were also injured, US officials from the Combined Joint Task Force said on Saturday morning.
The US blamed Friday's attack on Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia that forms part of the PMF, a powerful umbrella group of militias in Iraq that operate with little Iraqi government oversight.
Iraqi bases hosting US military personnel have been subject to a spate of attacks in the last two months. Iran-backed groups are suspected by the US and its allies to have conducted the attacks.
One of Iraq's biggest parliamentary alliances has condemned the airstrikes as "American aggression against Iraqi sovereignty."
"The Nasr Coalition...demands the government [of Iraq] commit the American forces present on Iraqi soil to the terms of the agreements signed between the two countries...such attacks will harm security, stability and bilateral relations," the statement read.
A few hours after the strikes, four rockets exploded near a base housing US troops close to Iraq’s capital without wounding anyone, an Iraqi security official told AFP.
The military spokesman for Iraq’s outgoing prime minister Abel Abdel Mahdi decried “a violation of Iraqi sovereignty”.
Another powerful pro-Iran faction, Assaib Ahl al-Haq — whose leaders were recently hit with US sanctions — called for Americans to withdraw from Iraq.
“The American military presence has become a burden for the Iraqi state and a source of threat against our forces,” it said in a statement.
“It is therefore imperative for all of us to do everything to expel them by all legitimate means.”
[Jpost] Bahrain expressed support for strikes conducted by the United States targeting Kataib Hezbollah facilities in Iraq and Syria, Bahrain's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
[IsraelTimes] Foreign Minister Israel Katz praises the United States for its strikes on bases belonging to the Iran-backed Iraqi Hezbollah militia in Iraq and Syria, calling it “a turning point in the regional reality in light of the conduct of Iran and its metastases.”
“If the Iranians make a mistake in understanding the essence and power of the US, they will suffer blows they have never suffered before,” Katz says in a tweet.
[Jpost] - U.S. officials said on Sunday that air strikes in Iraq and Syria against an Iran-backed militia group were successful, but warned that "additional actions" may still be taken in the region to defend U.S. interests.
Oh dear. I should be concerned, were I in any way connected to the Mad Mullahs...
The U.S. military carried out the strikes on Sunday against the Kataib Hezbollah militia group in response to the killing of a U.S. civilian contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base, officials said.
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.
...Arabic for 
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
...
...Qatar's satrapy in Asia Minor...
...the Nailer of NAFTA...
