A few highlights for each city — more at the link.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Terrifying new research has laid bare how notorious Venezuelan super gang Tren de Aragua's criminal tentacles have spread across America.
Members of the violent migrant gang TdA have crept into the US hidden among the one million Venezuelan migrants who have entered the country during the Biden administration.
Arrest data shared with DailyMail.com has now revealed that the tattooed gangsters are operating in even more US cities than originally feared - with San Antonio, Texas, the latest hub of activity.
Dubbed the 'epitome of evil' and 'MS-13 on steroids', police investigations showed that the mob is behind a spiraling crime wave across the US, with members accused of murders, violent assaults on cops and sex trafficking women.
'MS-13, they were never organized; Tren de Aragua is a transnational criminal organization from the bottom to the top,' Colorado's former ICE director John Fabbricatore told DailyMail.com.
'These guys right here [in the US] - they're sending money back to leaders in Venezuela. They're set up shop like a corporation - it is the like the mafia. What it took MS-13 to do in like a ten-year period, Tren de Aragua has been able to do in less than a year,' he added.
EL PASO, TEXAS
Texas' largest city to straddle the US-Mexico border has been called the epicenter for TdA activity by state law enforcement officials.
As DailyMail.com exclusively reported, El Paso's Mexican sister city, Juarez, is the gang's new headquarters.
From its base on America's doorstep, gang members move back and forth between the US and Mexico, federal sources tell DailyMail.com.
Texas' sixth largest city, the busiest border crossing for most of 2022 and 2023, has also been used as the entry point for many TdA members.
In March, a rare riot on the border was orchestrated by TdA, in which a migrant mob overwhelmed Texas National Guard members, kicking and overpowering armed soldiers at a border crossing in El Paso, the governor of Texas said.
AURORA, COLORADO
Most of the nation first learned about Tren de Aragua when a video of armed men storming an apartment building in Aurora, Colorado, surfaced in late August.
While local leaders initially denied there was a gang problem in the Denver suburb, they later admitted the international crime ring had taken control of additional apartment complexes in the area.
By September, Coffman acknowledged Tren de Aragua was in the city limits, but continued to claim their presence was isolated to just those three apartments.
However, a July 3 letter to the city manager obtained by DailyMail.com detailed a meeting between the Aurora Police Department, the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations or HSI to discuss the gang problem at the three properties owned by CBZ Management.
'In that meeting, it was disclosed that our situation is not an isolated event, but numerous other multi-family projects in the City of Aurora and throughout the State of Colorado are subject to the same gang control,' disclosed CBZ management's attorney.
A special regional task force between Aurora cops, Colorado State Patrol and Colorado Bureau of Investigation was created on August 19 to take the cartel down.
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
TdA has been caught replicating its Aurora criminal model San Antonio, Texas.
Law enforcement sources confirmed TdA had been operating at the Palatia Apartments for five to six months, squatting in empty units they either rented out to other migrants, used as a base to deal cocaine or, most horrifically, as prostitution dens to pimp out women and children.
However, DailyMail.com can reveal that this apartment invasion is just the tip of the iceberg, with at least three additional rental properties also occupied by the criminal organization.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
The gang's exploits in the Big Apple have garnered much media attention, with two TdA mobsters charged over beating New York City police officers earlier this year.
The gang has been found to have taken part in cell phone thefts on mopeds, participated in thefts at stores, and have sold a pink, powdery drug known as Tusi, according to the New York Times.
As of September, the police had officially identified 24 Tren de Aragua members in the five boroughs, with the department explaining individuals had to self-identify as being part of the criminal network in order to be counted.
'Do we think that there's only 24 TDA members in New York City? That would be silly,' Chief Joseph Kenny told the publication. 'Obviously there are more.'
Just days ago, NYPD warned of the gang's growing power in Gotham.
'Right now what we have, I like to call a "perfect storm" of sorts. We have individuals, tremendously brazen, absolutely ruthless individuals that have committed a multitude of crimes with basically no repercussions,' NYPD Assistant Chief Jason Savino of the detective bureau told Fox 5.
'What started out as a robbery crew...20 individuals arrested for upwards of 50 robberies. Out of those 20 individuals, every single one of them is on the streets today.'
Savino went on to explain how the notoriously clever and adaptable crime ring is recruiting kids to do their dirty work because minors face little or no legal consequences if caught.
TdA is operating mostly in Times Square with a splinter group called 'Los Diablos de la 42' (or the devils of 42nd Street in Spanish) setting up shop on 42nd Street.
SAMFORD, CONNECTICUT
A motel murder has been pinned on TdA in a wealthy enclave of Connecticut that's considered a New York City suburb.
Gregory Marlyn Galindez-Trias, 24, and Moises Alejandro Condollo-Urbaneja, 22, have been accused of shooting Angel Samaniego, 59, at a Super 8 Hotel before fleeing the state, reported Fox News.
Investigators arrested them at a train station in New York State where they were traveling with their two children aged three and one.
ATHENS, GEORGIA
The man accused of killing a Georgia nursing college student has also been linked to the criminal enterprise TdA.
Jose Ibarra, 26, is charged in the death of the Laken Riley, 22, who was beaten to death while out running on the University of Georgia campus in February.
It is unclear if TdA is active in other parts of the Peach State but officials are concerned.
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, WISCONSIN
Unexpectedly, TdA has also popped up in the northern state of Wisconsin, where police said they are 'confident' a gang member beat and sexually assaulted a woman in September.
Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate, 26 of Venezuela, found his way to the small town of Prairie du Chien, about two hours outside of Madison, Wisconsin, when he went to spend time with the woman he later assaulted.
'Based on our investigation, we can confirm that Mr. Coronel Zarate entered the United States in September of 2023 at or near the El Paso, TX point of entry,' the cops said.
'Since that time, he has been arrested in Minneapolis, MN on November 17, 2023, for receiving stolen property. He was charged with Strangulation/Suffocation, False Imprisonment, Battery, and Disorderly Conduct in Dane County, WI on December 1, 2023.'
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Venezuela's most infamous export has been operating in Chicago since October 2023, according to NewsNation.
Described as a 'new threat developing amongst the newly arriving immigrant community,' the professional criminals have followed the thousands of law-abiding Venezuelans who have made the Windy City their final destination.
TdA is known to hide among its own law-abiding, asylum-seeking countrymen - not just to blend in, but to also exploit their own people.
MIAMI, FLORIDA
In South Florida, two Venezuelan migrants who police believe have TdA allegiance are accused of killing a former Venezuelan police officer in a Miami surbub.
Authorities claimed Yurwin Salazar and Julio César Hernández Montero lured victim Jose Luis Sanchez-Valera, 43, to a hotel where he met with a woman last November.
Surveillance video showed Sanchez-Valera left the hotel. But then three men were seen following him in another car before forcing him from the driver's seat and into the back seat of his SUV.
The next day, Sanchez-Valera's blood-splattered SUV was found on the side of the road.
OTHER TEXAS CITIES
In Dallas, a violent home invasion has been linked to TdA where a woman was pistol-whipped and threatened with having her fingers cut off if she didn't show armed goons where her valuables were stashed.
Manuel Hernandez-Hernandez, 28, is one of four men police in Texas believe took part in the September 21 home invasion.
He illegally entered the country near El Paso in March without being inspected, admitted, or paroled by an immigration officer, Immigration and Customs Enforcement told DailyMail.com.
In Houston, state police announced the arrest of confirmed gangster Jorgenys Robertson Cava, 32, earlier this year.
Local cops have also been working to establish whether the brutal murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray is tied to the group.
Houston also has a large Venezuelan population concentrated in the Katy suburb, which has earned it the nickname 'Katyzuela.'
In the Lone Star State, there is legal threshold for anyone to be classified as a gang member by the cops, with police around the state stating that simply having tattoos associated with a group is not enough.
Texas has offered $5,000 to anyone with information on gang members.
Reports can be made anonymously by calling Texas Crime Stoppers at 800-252-TIPS or on the Texas Department of Public Safety website, according to the department's social media accounts.
[SudanTribune] Residents of areas in northern Khartoum Bahri that remain outside of army control are facing a dire situation, with reports of renewed violence by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), acute food shortages, and a deadly outbreak of disease, local sources told Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... Tribune on Friday.
These sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said RSF fighters have returned to the Halfaya suburb, where they are conducting house-to-house searches, arbitrarily detaining, beating, and humiliating civilians accused of collaborating with the army.
This comes after the army declared it had seized control of Halfaya and the surrounding areas of Kadru and al-Azirqab in a late September offensive. However,
a lie repeated often enough remains a lie... the RSF subsequently released videos showing their continued presence in the southern part of Halfaya, which borders the Shambat neighbourhood.
The RSF has imposed a blockade on southern Halfaya and the al-Samrab neighbourhood, cutting off access to essential supplies and leading to widespread hunger. Adding to the suffering, a lack of medical care has allowed an unidentified fever to spread rapidly, claiming lives, including an entire family — a father, mother, and two children — in al-Samrab.
"People are dying here from fever. There is no medicine, no way to get help," one resident of al-Samrab told Sudan Tribune.
Meanwhile,
...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck slipped the habañero into the roasted jalapeño... in Shambat, the RSF has re-established checkpoints, severely restricting movement. Residents are unable to reach the central market to buy food or cross the Halfaya bridge to safety in Omdurman. Those remaining rely on handouts from community kitchens and fear being caught in the crossfire as the army attempts to push southwards.
"We are trapped," a Shambat resident explained. We can’t get food or medicine, and we are terrified of the fighting coming here."
"People are starving," one source said. "Families are dying from fever because there is no medicine and no way to get to a doctor." In the al-Samrab neighbourhood, an entire family — a mother, father, and two children — reportedly perished from an unknown illness within two days.
An army source, who also asked not to be named, revealed that an army truck was hit by a Kornet anti-tank missile fired from an RSF position in Shambat on Thursday. The source added that the RSF is using high-rise buildings in the area as sniper nests and launching pads for attacks, hindering the army’s advance.
The RSF has held most of Khartoum Bahri since the conflict erupted in mid-April. This latest report paints a grim picture of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in areas where they retain control, highlighting the urgent need for increased aid access and a cessation of hostilities.
[SudanTribune] Tens of thousands of people have fled to Chad after Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias attacked 13 villages in northwestern North Darfur state, tribal leaders said on Friday.
Earlier this week, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that due to the intensifying conflict in Darfur, close to 25,000 people arrived in eastern Chad in the first week of October alone. That’s the highest number of new arrivals this year within a week. Chad is host to over 600,000 Sudanese refugees — that’s more than any other country.
Adam Mezza, a Zaghawa tribal leader, told Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... Tribune that 40,000 people fled to the border with Chad after the RSF and allied militias burned 33 villages in Kutum locality.
He said most of the displaced have arrived in the border town of al-Tina, where they face a dire humanitarian situation due to a lack of aid.
"They are living in the open without shelter," Mezza said, adding that he had contacted authorities and aid organizations to appeal urgent humanitarian assistance.
He accused the RSF and allied Arab militias of widespread abuses and crimes against the displaced, most of whom are from the Zaghawa ethnic group, including ethnically motivated killings and looting of property and livestock.
There are fears that the conflict between the army and the RSF in North Darfur could escalate into ethnic violence due to sharp polarization between population groups in the region.
Arab tribes support the RSF, while African tribes, including the Zaghawa, support the army and allied armed movements.
The festivities in northwestern North Darfur are an extension of the fighting that has been taking place in El Fasher since May. Two weeks ago, the area witnessed bloody confrontations between the RSF and a mobile force belonging to the joint force of armed movements.
[ShabelleMedia] An explosion rocked the city of Kismayo ...a port city in the southern Lower Juba province of Somalia, at the extreme southern end of the country (always assuming Somalia can be called a country). It is the commercial capital of the autonomous Jubaland region.... last night when armed assailants lobbed a grenade into a crowded restaurant at the Golol intersection, causing significant destruction and injuring at least six civilians, local officials confirmed.
The attack, which occurred in the heart of the Jubaland regional administration’s current seat, underscores the persistent security challenges facing the port city. The perpetrators managed to flee the scene.
... as though they had never been... before security forces arrived to investigate, according to reports from reliable sources.
The incident adds to the series of bombings and targeted liquidations that have occasionally plagued Kismayo, with al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... , a Death Eater group still active in southern Somalia’s Juba region, suspected of involvement in such attacks.
Witnesses described a scene of chaos following the earth-shattering kaboom, with injured individuals rushed to nearby medical facilities for treatment. The exact condition of the victims was not immediately disclosed.
Security forces have launched a manhunt for those responsible, with heightened patrols expected in the area as part of efforts to prevent further attacks.
The government has pledged to intensify its operations against al-Shabaab, aiming to restore lasting peace and security to Kismayo and the broader Jubaland region.
[Garowe] At least 30 al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... Lions of Islam were killed on Saturday morning following fierce festivities between the Somali National Army (SNA) and the terrorist group, officials said, hinting that several fighters were also critically injured during the encounter.
The operation was activated by the SNA team along with local forces, backed by the militia, who have been integral in the fight against al-Shabaab. The security team targeted Qay’ad village in Mudug, just within Galmudug ...a semiautonomous region in central Somalia, bordering Puntland on the north. Galmudug is not trying to obtain international recognition as a separate nation, but rather considers itself autonomous within the larger Somali federalism, for what that's worth... state in central Somalia.
Military sources told the state media that over 30 Lions of Islam were neutralized during the encounter, the highest number in as many months. Over 40 Lions of Islam maimed during the battle are suspected to have retreated to Elbur town.
The fight also left Mohammed Bashir Muse and Maaday Foodey dead, ending their reign of terror in central Somalia. The two have been coordinating al-Shabaab activities within the fragile central regions of the Horn of Africa nation.
"In a successful operation by the National Army and local forces in Qay’ad, Mudug resulted in the deaths of nearly 30 al-Shabaab terrorists, including top leaders Mohammed Bashir Muse and Maadey Foodey," a statement from the state media confirmed.
"Over 40 maimedmurderous Moslems retreated to areas near Elbur," the statement further read, acknowledging the support of the local militias.
However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... al-Shabaab released images purportedly showing its fighters ambushing SNA units near El-dher town in central Somalia’s Galgadud region, claiming that it had killed 36 soldiers in the attack. They could not substantiate the claims.
The government of Somalia had announced total war against the al-Shabaab krazed killers, with the operations leaving close to 4,000 fighters dead. The al-Shabaab Lions of Islam are fighting to topple the fragile UN-backed federal government of Somalia.
[AA.COM.TR] The Nigerian army killed 101 holy warriors in the last week in operations that targeted Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... , the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... 's West Africa Province (ISWAP) and criminal gangs, an official said Friday.
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, confirmed that the military conducted operations across various regions of the country in the last week.
Buba said a Boko Haram commander was neutralized in the operations.
Additionally, 157 individuals held captive by the holy warriors were freed and 182 holy warriors were arrested.
The military seized 71 weapons, two vehicles and a large amount of ammunition.
Nigeria has long struggled with attacks from armed gangs, including Boko Haram and ISWAP, particularly in parts of the country.
Despite the death penalty for kidnapping, ransom abductions remain common, especially in the northern regions, where villages, schools and travelers are frequently targeted for ransom.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2024 00:36 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Ahmed and Alaa Omer are detained in unspecified country, were interrogated by FBI for allegedly running cybercrime collective Anonymous Sudan; Allegedly also targeted Iron Dome
The United States has indicted two Sundanese brothers linked to cyberattacks on early warning systems in Israel during the Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... onslaught on October 7, 2023, and other attacks in Israel, the US and Europe, The New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... reported Friday.
They had also claimed to have targeted Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense in an incident several months before the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... war started, that saw several Hamas rockets to evade the interceptors in one incident.
Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... ese nationals Ahmed and Alaa Omer are accused of running the cybercriminal collective Anonymous Sudan, which struck two online Israeli applications that give alerts of danger. The apps were third-party warning systems and not the official IDF Home Front Command warning system.
The attack is said to have come 30 minutes after Hamas-led faceless myrmidons breached the border with Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, but the indictment against the brothers does not indicate if they were coordinated with Hamas.
The assault on the border coincided with Hamas launching several thousand rockets into Israel.
A representative of one of the applications, "Tzofar — Red Alert," which alerts Israelis that they need to head to bomb shelters amid incoming rockets, confirmed to the Times that the company’s website had been targeted during the onslaught, but said the mobile app continued to work.
"We are currently targeting some critical endpoints in the alert systems of Israel," Anonymous Sudan posted to its Telegram channel on October 7. "Glory to the Paleostinian Resistance®, we are with you."
In February, Anonymous Sudan also targeted critical computer systems at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, a Jewish hospital in Los Angeles, the Times said.
"Bomb our hospitals in Gaza, we shut down yours too, eye for eye," the brothers were said to have written on Telegram. Throughout the war in Gaza, Israel has struck several hospital compounds where it says Hamas has embedded itself.
The brothers were arrested and are in jug in an unspecified country, where they have been interrogated by the FBI, the Times said, adding that it was unclear if they would be extradited to the US.
Their attacks were potentially so life-threatening that Ahmed Omer could face life in prison for one of the charges against him — the first time a cybercrime would carry such a penalty, the Times said, citing E. Martin Estrada, the US attorney for Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,’s central district who handled the indictment.
"When you’re attacking hospitals, you’re putting lives in jeopardy, and this one certainly put lives in jeopardy," Estrada said.
Anonymous Sudan has launched some 35,000 DDoS — distributed denial of service — attacks since it emerged on Telegram in January 2023, the Times said.
The newspaper cited Ian Gray, vice president of cybersecurity firm Flashpoint, as saying Anonymous Sudan has interacted with pro-Kremlin hacker groups linked to Russia’s security services.
The interaction "appears to be ideological and not based on national origin," Gray said, noting that Anonymous Sudan’s Arabic-language Telegram messages indicate it subscribes to a pan-Islamist ideology.
Anonymous Sudan has targeted the websites of several media organizations, including CNN ...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for... and The Washington Post, as well as Israel’s High Court and the Haifa port.
In May 2023 during a flare-up, Anonymous Sudan targeted the Iron Dome missile defense system, allowing 16 rockets, a larger-than-usual number, to cross into Israel from Gaza, the Times said, citing Flashpoint.
Despite the claims of the group and Flashpoint, it is considered highly unlikely that they managed to affect or infiltrate the military Iron Dome system.
While most of the rockets landed in open areas, meaning they would not have triggered an interception attempt, a number of them impacted populated areas of Sderot, including one projectile that hit a work site, injuring a foreign national there.
The military later said Iron Dome had suffered a technical malfunction, which was quickly resolved. Despite Anonymous Sudan’s claims, Iron Dome’s ability to track and intercept projectiles is considered incredibly unlikely to be linked in any meaningful way to the state-run early warning system, nor any third-party application created by a private developer.
At the time, Anonymous Sudan warned on Telegram that it would coordinate with Hamas on future attacks.
"We are now playing with Israel again," the group wrote. "The strong strikes will be when there is a missile attack from Gaza.”
Excerpts from the Justice Department’s press release:
A federal grand jury indictment unsealed today charges two Sudanese nationals with operating and controlling Anonymous Sudan, an online cybercriminal group responsible for tens of thousands of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks against critical infrastructure, corporate networks, and government agencies in the United States and around the world.
In March 2024, pursuant to court-authorized seizure warrants, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI seized and disabled Anonymous Sudan’s powerful DDoS tool, which the group allegedly used to perform DDoS attacks, and sold as a service to other criminal actors.
Ahmed Salah Yousif Omer, 22, and Alaa Salah Yusuuf Omer, 27, were both charged with one count of conspiracy to damage protected computers. Ahmed Salah was also charged with three counts of damaging protected computers.
According to the indictment and a criminal complaint also unsealed today, since early 2023, the Anonymous Sudan actors and their customers have used the group’s Distributed Cloud Attack Tool (DCAT) to conduct destructive DDoS attacks and publicly claim credit for them. In approximately one year of operation, Anonymous Sudan’s DDoS tool was used to launch over 35,000 DDoS attacks, including at least 70 targeting computers in the greater Los Angeles area.
Victims of the attacks include sensitive government and critical infrastructure targets within the United States and around the world, including the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, the FBI, the State Department, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and government websites for the state of Alabama. Victims also included major U.S. technology platforms, including Microsoft Corp. and Riot Games Inc., and network service providers. The attacks resulted in reported network outages affecting thousands of customers.
Anonymous Sudan’s DDoS attacks, which at times lasted several days, caused damage to the victims’ websites and networks, often rendering them inaccessible or inoperable, resulting in significant damages. For example, Anonymous Sudan’s DDoS attacks shuttered the emergency department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, causing incoming patients to be redirected to other medical facilities for approximately eight hours. Anonymous Sudan’s attacks have caused more than $10 million in damages to U.S. victims.
The March 2024 disruption of Anonymous Sudan’s DCAT tool, called variously “Godzilla,” “Skynet,” and “InfraShutdown,” was accomplished through the court-authorized seizure of its key components. Specifically, the warrants authorized the seizures of computer servers that launched and controlled the DDoS attacks, computer servers that relayed attack commands to a broader network of attack computers, and accounts containing the source code for the DDoS tools used by Anonymous Sudan.
If convicted of all charges, Ahmed Salah would face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison, and Alaa Salah would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
[IsraelTimes] Reports say suspect is Libyan national who entered Germany in November 2022 and was denied asylum last year; arrest came after alerts from unspecified foreign intelligence services
German security forces arrested a Libyan national on Saturday on suspicion of planning a terror attack on Israel’s embassy in Berlin, according to the Bild daily.
The news outlet reported that police commandos had stormed a flat in Bernau north of Berlin in the evening and taken the 28-year-old man into custody.
The report said the suspect was collared in a town near the German capital and is believed to be a supporter of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... terror group, adding that the arrest came after alerts from unspecified foreign intelligence services.
The Spiegel daily said the man was identified only as Omar A. and that he would face a judge on Sunday.
Israel’s ambassador to Berlin, Ron Prosor, thanked German authorities for "ensuring the security of our embassy" in a message on the social media platform X.
"Moslem antisemitism is not limited to hateful rhetoric, but fuels global terrorism," he wrote. "Israeli embassy staff are particularly at risk because they are on the frontlines of diplomacy."
Attacks targeted the Israeli embassies in Copenhagen and Stockholm in early October.
In early September, Munich police rubbed out a young Austrian man known for his links to radical Islamism after he shot up the Israeli consulate and on police.
More than 3,200 crimes motivated by antisemitism have been recorded by police in Germany in the last year since early October of 2023, roughly double the figure for the same period last year.
’THREAT LEVEL HIGH’
Bild said that in Saturday’s operation, a second flat was searched and witnesses were questioned at an apartment block in Sankt Augustin near the western city of Bonn. The flat belonged to the suspect’s uncle, who was not detained and was treated as a witness, it said. It was believed the alleged ISIS follower may have planned to head there after the attack before fleeing the country.
Bild said the Libyan man was thought to have entered Germany in November 2022 and to have made a request for asylum the following January, which was rejected in September 2023.
With the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) making ground in regional elections, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government has toughened its stance on new arrivals. Germany has vastly extended border controls to the frontiers with all nine of its neighbors, temporarily suspending elements of the EU’s free movement rules.
The German parliament approved on Friday curbs to the benefits offered to asylum seekers, as Berlin followed other European countries in taking a stricter line on migration. MPs backed plans to withdraw social support from asylum seekers who were already registered in another EU member state and are slated for deportation.
Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), in a now-deleted April statement, apologized and disavowed the spring remarks of one of its members, Khymani James, who fantasized about "murdering Zionists." One day after the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack, however, CUAD released another statement withdrawing its apology, standing with James, and advocating for "liberation by any means necessary, including armed resistance" while emphasizing in bold that "violence is the only path forward."
"It’s rare for potential perpetrators of violence, particularly school-based violence, to widely and publicly broadcast their intent in such a way as it becomes national news. But that’s exactly what Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), a coalition of student groups, did on October 8, 2024," Ernst and Stefanik wrote in their letter, obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, to James Dennehy, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office. "These violent threats demand immediate attention and a thorough investigation to prevent any acts of terrorism."
CUAD also helped organize the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic protests that plagued Columbia in the spring, including the illegal encampments and a violent campus building takeover. Ernst and Stefanik, noting the student group’s involvement, said CUAD’s threats "aren’t idle and noted that the director of the Orthodox Union-Jewish Learning Initiative at Columbia and Barnard urged Jewish students to "return home as soon as possible and remain home" because "Columbia University’s Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy."
"In light of the considerable violence occurring for which this group is already responsible, and Columbia University’s inability and unwillingness to police its own campus necessitating it to request the NYPD intervene, federal intervention is now necessary," the Republicans wrote.
Ernst and Stefanik also wrote that, according to an FBI tool, "The School Shooter: A Threat Assessment Perspective," CUAD’s threats and history make its most recent statements "a medium-level threat" that often "warrant investigation as a possible criminal offense."
#1
How much pro-hamas/Israeli hate is funded by Qatar? I heard the Columbia student body elected an Israeli student as student president while the usual boneheads were spouting their hate and nonsense.
Posted by: Difar Dave ||
10/20/2024 18:35 Comments ||
Top||
[GeoTV] Security forces apprehended five bully boyz — or "Khawarij" — in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) conducted in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... 's Pishin, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Saturday.
During the operation, a large number of weapons, ammunition, and explosives, including three boom jackets, were seized from the faceless myrmidons involved in multiple terrorist attacks who were planning to target security forces as well as innocent civilians, added the military's media wing.
The development comes amid security forces' ongoing efforts to curb the scourge of terrorism which has witnessed a notable spike in recent times.
As per the third quarterly report (Q3) issued by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), the total fatalities from three quarters of this year have surpassed the total fatalities recorded for the entire of 2023 with 1,534 deaths compared to last year's 1,523.
A total of 722 people were killed, including civilians, security personnel, and outlaws, while 615 others were maimed in as many as 328 incidents recorded during the third quarter.
Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have been on the forefront of the country's war against terror and have faced the brunt of terror attacks.
Separately, the ISPR also said that the security forces carried out an IBO in Balochistan's Zhob district on Thursday wherein two khawarij were eliminated and weapons and ammunition were recovered during the sanitisation operation.
Security forces of Pakistain remain steadfast in their commitment to eradicate terrorism from the country and protect innocent civilians from this menace, added the ISPR.
Lauding the security forces' efforts, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif commended the officers and soldiers.
"The entire nation including myself, pays tribute to the brave Pakistain Army soldiers and officers for purging the country from Fitna al-Khawarij," said the premier, adding that the entire nation stood united with the armed forces in their mission to thwart the ambitions of country's enemies who wish to spread unrest and stability.
The recent IBO's come after security forces, last week, neutralised four bully boyz in two separate intelligence-based operations in KP districts.
[IsraelTimes] Suspected attacker, a 27-year-old Palestinian, dies in incident on Route 60 near Ofra settlement
A Paleostinian driver swerved into a parked armored police vehicle at high speed on Saturday in a suspected car-ramming attack in the West Bank, police said.
The driver was killed in the incident, and no coppers were maimed.
Security camera footage showed the car speed toward an armored vehicle and a police patrol car, as a number of officers stood around. Right before the car rammed into the police vehicle, a seemingly unaware officer stepped out of the way of the vehicle, narrowly missing being hit.
The incident occurred on Route 60 near the Ofra settlement in the West Bank.
Police said that "during an operational activity by the police of Judea and Samaria District on Route 60 near the settlement of Ofra, a Paleostinian vehicle collided with a police car, for a reason that has not yet been clarified at this stage. There were no casualties in the incident, police forces are on the scene."
Police later stated that the attacker was a 27-year-old Paleostinian from the Nablus area, and was alone in the car. They clarified that he was killed as a result of the collision.
Police said that a bomb squad was dispatched to the scene to inspect the vehicle, and that the incident was being investigated as a terror attack.
The Israeli army added that "IDF and security forces are continuing their operational activity in the area."
The incident comes with Israeli forces on high alert amid fears that the Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... terror group will try and carry out terror attacks to avenge their slain leader Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the October 7 massacre, who was killed by Israeli forces in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... this week.
Since October 7, troops have arrested some 5,250 wanted Paleostinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,050 affiliated with Hamas.
According to the Paleostinian Authority health ministry, more than 716 West Bank Paleostinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were button men killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or bully boyz carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 41 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another six members of the security forces were killed in festivities with terror operatives in the West Bank.
Since October 7, the IDF has carried out more than 70 Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in the West Bank, using drones, attack helicopters, and fighter jets.
Israeli settlers running amok. The thing is that there is usually a long-standing tit-for-tat going on, none of which is provided in the report to give the reader perspective.
[IsraelTimes] Palestinian media reports that extremist settlers have set fire to three houses, a poultry farm, and several agricultural fields in the central West Bank village of Jalud, near Nablus.
Jalud council head Raed Haj Muhammad tells the Palestinian news agency Wafa that several families who were picking olives in the area were unable to return home as a result of the fires.
Gunfire can also be heard in unverified videos of the blaze posted to social media.
Looking at the photo at the link, I think the spokespersons may have been overestimating again. Big contrast to the hundreds of thousands they started with, a year ago.
[IsraelTimes] About 500 activists gather for an anti-government, pro-hostage deal protest on Tel Aviv’s Begin Road, outside the IDF headquarters.
This week’s protest on Begin Road is unaffiliated with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which resumed its weekly rallies at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square rather than Begin Road today. The Tel Aviv protests were paused in late September amid IDF Home Front restrictions due to the intensified fighting in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... The Begin Road rally typically features overtly anti-government slogans and is attended by hostage relatives who are more outspokenly critical of the government.
"If there is no deal, we’ll burn the country down, this is the last chance," protesters chant.
Several members of the crowd hoist banners from left-wing groups, including Breaking The Silence, which collects testimonies of alleged human rights ...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state... abuses from soldiers who served in the West Bank; binational socialist collective Standing Together; and Israeli-Paleostinian women’s movement Women Wage Peace, whose founder Vivian Silver was murdered at her home in Kibbutz Be’eri during the Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... onslaught on October 7, 2023.
Using trucks, police cordoned off an area for the protesters in front of the Kirya army base. On the sidewalk, activists sell copies of "Mr. Abandonment," a compilation of essays by public intellectuals and hostages’ relatives criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A woman reads out the Home Command’s directions in case of a siren, reciting the its mantra: "remember, the Home Command’s instructions save lives."
"A deal also saves lives," she adds.
A deal with who, you feckless, vicious idiot? Nobody is in charge, and the spokesman yesterday said bluntly there will be no exchange for the hostages until Israel surrenders. Which means another 10/7 for your people and continued rocket barrages in the Galilee. Are you really so selfish that you demand the entire country suffer again just so you can feel a little bit better?
Relatives of hostages and thousands of protesters around the country Saturday night called on the government to leverage the killing of Hamas leader and October 7 architect Yahya Sinwar earlier this week to reach a deal for the return of the remaining hostages still held in Gaza.
Parents, siblings, and other family members of hostages were present at several different protest locations, urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seize on the opportunity presented by Sinwar’s death to return their loved ones home while they are still alive.
“You got your revenge! Now bring consolation!” declared a large banner held by multiple protesters in Tel Aviv.
More dramatics were reported, but since they lacked giant plaster-of-Paris puppets, they are of no interest to us
[IsraelTimes] Strikes reported in Strip’s north and center; Israel says it supplied Gaza’s isolated north with 30 truckloads of aid
More than 50 people were killed in several Israeli strikes in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... over the past day, according to reports on Saturday by local hospital officials, News Agency that Dare Not be Named journalists, and the Paleostinian Authority news agency. The IDF said its strikes targeted terror sites in the Strip, and that it took measures to warn uninvolved parties to vacate the area. It said troops had killed dozens of button men in close-quarters combat.
Meanwhile,
...back at the shattered spaceship, Fffflirgoll the Arcturan slithered stealthily toward the control room, where the humans had barricaded themselves... Israel was said to be increasing the flow of supplies to the Strip’s much-battered north while pressing on with a renewed offensive there.
Strikes were reported at a number of hospitals and inactive schools sheltering displaced people. Israel says terror operatives regularly use such facilities as operating bases, and that it makes an effort to avoid harm to innocents. Marwan Sultan, director of the Indonesian hospital, said Israeli tanks had surrounded the hospital, cut off its electricity and shelled its second and third floors, causing risk to staff and patients. At al-Awda Hospital, strikes hit the building’s top floors, injuring several staff members, the hospital said in a statement. According to WAFA, the official PA news agency, at least seven people were killed and several were maimed in the strike on the school in Shati in the Strip’s north. In central Gaza, at least 10 people were killed, including two children, when a house was hit in the town of Zawayda, according to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital where the casualties were taken. Another strike killed 11 people, all from the same family, in the Maghazi refugee camp, according to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, where they were taken. AP journalists counted the bodies taken to the al-Aqsa Hospital from the two strikes.
Overnight between Thursday and Friday, the strikes on Jabaliya killed at least 30 people. Fares Abu Hamza, head of the Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... -run health ministry’s ambulance and emergency service, said more than half of them were women and kiddies. The IDF said its forces, which have been operating in Jabaliya for the past two weeks, killed dozens of button men on Thursday, carried out aerial strikes and dismantled military infrastructure.
The IDF said it carries out "many measures before its actions in order to avoid harming uninvolved" people and that each of its strikes "is based on intelligence indications of terror infrastructure or the presence of terrorists."
The army accuses Hamas of using civilians in Gaza as human shields and has published evidence to that effect from hospitals, schools, kindergartens and other civilian sites.
Israel launched a new offensive in northern Gaza earlier this month targeting Hamas fighters, who it said were regrouping there. Residents said Israeli forces had effectively isolated the far northern Gazook towns of Beit Hanoun, Jabaliya and Beit Lahiya from Gaza City, blocking movement except for those families heeding evacuation orders and leaving the three towns. Israel urged all civilians to evacuate northern Gaza at the start of the war, but some have refused to leave.
Residents said communications and internet services had been cut, disrupting rescue operations. Hamas health officials say aid had not been reaching the worst affected areas in northern Gaza, including the three isolated towns.
In Jabaliya, residents said Israeli tanks had reached the heart of the camp after pushing through suburbs and residential districts. They said the army was destroying dozens of houses daily, from the air and the ground, and by placing bombs in buildings, then detonating them remotely.
At the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, medics said they had to replace children in intensive care with more critical cases of adults badly maimed by the strike on the school in Jabaliya, where Israel said button men had embedded themselves. Kamal Adwan’s director, Hussam Abu Safiya, said in a video statement that the children had been moved to another division inside the facility, where they were being cared for. He said medical staff were exhausted and that hospital supplies, including food, were badly depleted.
Israel said it sent about 30 truckloads of aid into northern Gaza on Friday, including food, water, medical supplies, and shelter equipment. "We’re fighting Hamas, we’re not fighting the people of Gaza," military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani told journalists in an online briefing.
The US threatened Israel this week that it could withhold arms shipments to Israel if the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza were not alleviated. Following the threat, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the number of aid trucks entering Gaza be increased to 250 a day, according to Kan news.
The broadcaster also reported that at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, ministers were expected to deliberate whether to enlist a private security contractor to distribute humanitarian assistance in Gaza. Israel has accused Hamas of hijacking aid trucks, taking supplies for itself or selling them at exorbitant rates.
#1
The slime ball Bernie Sanders claimed this morning that Israel is denying aid to Gaza civilians. He also said Israel is waging war on women and children. I wish he would just go away.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/20/2024 11:10 Comments ||
Top||
[X]
Hezbollah-affiliated sources reported that Bassel Shokur, a senior commander in the Radwan force, was eliminated in recent fighting with Israel. Shokur was also involved in the 2006 kidnapping of soldiers Goldwasser and the late Regev.
#2
What did it cost to build the tunnel infrastructure, Grom? What did it cost to supply the destroyed weapons, train the dead and maimed men now useless for the purpose?
Relatedly, How much did Nasrallah, et all have socked away in private bank accounts, and can Israel hack them? Ditto for Hamas, not to mention the several million in Israeli shekels found in Yahya Sinwar’s hideaway — that’ll come in handy in paying for a small part of the war he started.
#5
You have to explain these things up front, Grom, or I’ll keep completely missing the point. I was surprised, too, but as I have no sense of money value, I wasn’t sure if I should be.
[IsraelTimes] The military is working to systematically demolish the web of shafts it says would be used in an Oct. 7-style attack on the north
A tunnel in southern Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force was recently demolished by combat engineers, the IDF said Saturday. The military described the underground passage as one of Radwan’s central tunnels in Lebanon, which included a command center, a weapons depot, rooms to reside in, scooter bikes, and other equipment. Next to the tunnel, the IDF said troops also located dozens of weapons and equipment belonging to Hezbollah.
Additionally, more than 50 other tunnel shafts and three other major tunnels were demolished by combat engineers under the 91st Division in southern Lebanon, the IDF said. According to the IDF, more than 100 tons of explosives were used to demolish the four tunnels.
Israeli forces have spent much of the past year destroying Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... ’s vast underground network in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... . They are now focused on dismantling tunnels and other hideouts belonging to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Scarred by Hamas’s deadly massacre into Israel last year that sparked the war in Gaza, Israel says it aims to prevent similar atrocities across its northern border from ever being carried out.
The military has combed through the dense brush of southern Lebanon for the past two weeks, uncovering what it says are Hezbollah’s deep attack capabilities — highlighted by a tunnel system equipped with weapons caches and rocket launchers that pose a direct threat to nearby communities.
Israel’s war against the Iran-backed terror group stretches far inside Lebanon, and its Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in recent weeks have killed more than 1,700 people, about a quarter of whom were women and kiddies, according to local health authorities. The IDF estimates that more than 1,500 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in the conflict so far.
But its ground campaign has centered on a narrow patch of land just along the border, where Hezbollah has had a longstanding presence, in violation of UN resolutions.
HEZBOLLAH HAS DEEP TIES TO SOUTHERN LEBANON
Hezbollah, which seeks Israel’s destruction, is the Arab world’s most significant paramilitary force. It began firing rockets into Israel a day after Hamas’s devastating onslaught on October 7, 2023. After nearly a year of tit-for-tat fighting with Hezbollah, and warnings it would not tolerate the terror group’s continued presence on the border, Israel launched its ground invasion into southern Lebanon on October 1 and has since sent thousands of troops into the rugged terrain.
Even as it continues to bolster its forces, Israel says its invasion consists of "limited, localized and targeted ground raids" that are meant to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure, so that tens of thousands of displaced Israelis can return home. The fighting also has uprooted more than 1 million Lebanese in the past month.
Many residents of southern Lebanon are supporters of the group and benefit from its social outreach. Though most fled the area months ago, they widely see the heavily armed Hezbollah as their defender.
That broad support has allowed Hezbollah to establish "a military infrastructure for itself" within the villages, said Eva J. Koulouriotis, a political analyst specializing in the Middle East and Islamic terror groups. The military says it has found weapons within homes and buildings in the villages.
A LAND OF TUNNELS
With Israel’s air power far outstripping Hezbollah’s defenses, the terror group has turned to underground tunnels as a way to elude Israeli drones and jets and prepare its attacks against Israeli communities. Experts say Hezbollah’s tunnels are not limited to the south.
"It’s a land of tunnels," said Tal Beeri, who studies Hezbollah as director of research at the Alma Research and Education Center, a think tank with a focus on northern Israel’s security.
Koulouriotis said tunnels stretch under the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbollah’s command and control are located and where it keeps a stockpile of strategic missiles. She said the group also maintains tunnels along the border with Syria, through which it smuggles weapons and other supplies from Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... into Lebanon.
Southern Lebanon is where Hezbollah maintains tunnels to store missiles — and from where it can launch them, Koulouriotis said. Some of the more than 50 Israelis killed by Hezbollah over the past year were hit by anti-tank missiles.
In contrast to the tunnels dug out by Hamas in the sandy coastal terrain of Gaza, Hezbollah’s tunnels in southern Lebanon were carved into solid rock, a feat that likely required time, money, machinery, and expertise.
An Israeli military official said that using prior intelligence, Israel had found "hundreds and hundreds and hundreds" of underground positions, many of which could hold about 10 operatives and were stocked with rations. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military rules, said troops were blowing up the tunnels or using cement to make them unusable.
The group used tunnels during the monthlong 2006 Second Lebanon War, but the network has been expanded since, defying a United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... ceasefire resolution that compelled Lebanese and UN forces to keep Hezbollah out of the south.
In mid-August, Hezbollah released a video showing what appeared to be a cavernous underground tunnel large enough for trucks loaded with missiles to drive through. Hezbollah operatives were also seen riding cycle of violences inside the illuminated tunnel, named Imad-4 after the group’s late military commander, Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in Syria in 2008 in a kaboom blamed on Israel.
HEZBOLLAH’S TUNNELS COULD BE HINDERING ISRAEL’S MISSION
Israeli troops are pushing through southern Lebanon using tanks and engineering equipment, and air and ground forces have struck thousands of targets in the area since the invasion began.
The military recently said it found one cross-border tunnel that stretched just a few meters into Israel but did not have an opening. Israel also exposed a tunnel shaft that was located about 100 meters from a UN peacekeepers ’ post, although it wasn’t clear what the precise purpose of that tunnel was.
Israel says the tunnels are stocked with supplies and weapons and are outfitted with lighting, ventilation, and sometimes plumbing, indicating they could be used for long stays. It says it has arrested several Hezbollah terror operatives hiding inside, including three on Tuesday who were found armed. The Israeli military official said many Hezbollah operatives appear to have withdrawn from the area.
Lebanese military expert Naji Malaeb, a retired brigadier general, asserted that Hezbollah’s tunnels were preventing Israel from making major gains. He compared that achievement to the war in Gaza, where Hamas has used its tunnels to bedevil Israeli forces and stage insurgency-like attacks. Nevertheless, Israel has managed to largely dismantle Hamas’s fighting capabilities in Gaza.
Israeli authorities insist the mission in Lebanon is succeeding. The military assesses it has killed hundreds of Hezbollah operatives in the ground operation (and a total of 1,500 in the conflict), while 17 Israeli soldiers have been killed during that time.
Israel has encountered Hezbollah’s tunnels before. In 2018, Israel launched an operation to destroy attack tunnels that crossed into Israeli territory. Beeri said that six tunnels were discovered, including one that was 1 kilometer (1,000 yards) long and 80 meters (87 yards) deep, crossing some 50 meters into Israel.
AN OCTOBER 7-STYLE INVASION
For Israel, the tunnels are evidence that Hezbollah planned what it says would be a bloody offensive against communities in the north.
"Hezbollah has openly declared that it plans to carry out its own October 7 massacre on Israel’s northern border, on an even larger scale," IDF front man Rear. Adm. Daniel Hagari said the day troops entered Lebanon.
Former Hezbollah leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> , who was killed by Israel last month while in an underground bunker, had signaled in speeches that Hezbollah could launch an attack on northern Israel.
In May 2023, just months before Hamas’s massacre, Hezbollah staged a simulation of an incursion into northern Israel with rifle-toting gunnies on cycle of violences bursting through a mock border fence bedecked with Israeli flags.
Related: Another Times of Israel article has video of what more than 100 tons of explosives looks like when blowing up a Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force tunnel in south Lebanon.
[X-IDF]
Fighter jets of the Israeli Air Force attacked a short time ago, under the precise intelligence guidance of the Intelligence Division, a number of munitions warehouses and the headquarters of the intelligence headquarters of the terrorist organization Hizbullah in Da'ha in Beirut
מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו לפני זמן קצר, בהכוונה מודיעינית מדויקת של אגף המודיעין, מספר מחסני אמצעי לחימה ומפקדה של מטה המודיעין של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בדאחייה שבביירות>> pic.twitter.com/RSwesXrVli
[Rudaw] At least two "unofficial" border crossings on the Syrian-Lebanese border were targeted by Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s, a war monitor reported on Friday, with regional tensions high over a year after the Israel-Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... war.
"Israeli warplanes launched an airstrike targeting an unofficial crossing in the Qabash area near the Lebanese town of Qasr. Another Israeli airstrike targeted another crossing," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor.
No information on casualties was readily available, the Observatory added.
Israel has recently intensified its strikes in Syria, targeting warehouses of the Syrian army and Iran-backed militia positions.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on regime-controlled areas of Syria throughout its over a decade-long civil war, often claiming to target pro-Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... militias, such as Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... ’s Hezbollah group which supports the Syrian army.
The strikes have increased since October 7 of last year, when Paleostinian Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... bully boyz launched an unprecedented, large-scale attack on Israeli territory that has prompted significant retaliation.
Israel rarely confirms strikes attributed to it in Syria but has repeatedly warned that it would not tolerate its arch-rival Iran gaining a foothold there.
Israel has carried out 115 strikes on Syrian territory since the beginning of the year, killing 257 combatants and injuring 181 more, according to data from the Observatory.
[IsraelTimes] Army says over 100 rockets fired at Israel Saturday; Hezbollah command post destroyed in deepest incursion into Lebanon since start of war
A man was killed and at least 10 were maimed as Hezbollah fired multiple rocket barrages on northern Israel on Saturday. Israel struck terror targets in Beirut while ground troops carried out their deepest operation in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... since the start of the incursion.
Alexei Popov, 51, from the Haifa suburb of Kiryat Haim, was pronounced dead from critical injuries sustained in a rocket attack near Acre, medics announced, as over 100 rockets were fired at the Haifa area and Western Galilee. The man had stopped his car by the roadside when he was hit by parts of an interceptor after it struck a rocket above the city. Motorists are urged to exit their vehicles and lie down by the side of the road when sirens are heard.
A 28-year-old was listed in light-to-moderate condition after being hit by shrapnel in a direct impact on a home in Kiryat Ata, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said. Also at the scene, MDA said it treated a man and a woman in their 40s who were lightly hurt by the blast.
Five others were treated for acute anxiety, MDA added.
In another rocket strike on a road in the Western Galilee, MDA said four people were maimed, including a man in his 30s who was in moderate condition after being hit by shrapnel, and three others who were lightly hurt by the blast.
The IDF published footage of serious damage to a house in the northern border town of Shlomi, which was hit by a Hezbollah rocket during the attacks.
"Hezbollah fires rockets indiscriminately, and this is the result," the military wrote in a post on X.
DEEPEST OPERATION YET
The IDF said it has demolished a Hezbollah command center in its deepest operation yet in southern Lebanon.
Troops with the 98th Division raided the Hezbollah site, which the military said included surveillance equipment that observed Israeli towns in the Galilee Panhandle. Soldiers also found bombs, weapons, and intelligence materials in the command center, the IDF added. The military did not disclose where exactly in southern Lebanon the command center was located, or other details about it.
Additionally, troops of the IDF’s 7th Armored Brigade located a cache of weapons and several Hezbollah tunnels in a school in southern Lebanon, the military said. The IDF said Hezbollah embedded itself within the school in a village in southern Lebanon.
"At the complex, several tunnel shafts and caches of weapons were located and destroyed," the military added.
In the eastern Beqaa Valley region, four people including a local mayor were killed in an Israeli strike on a residential building in the town of Baloul, Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported. The incident came days after the mayor of Nabatieh, a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon, was killed in an Israeli strike.
Lebanese media also reported Israeli strikes in the southern suburb of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold known as Dahiyeh, shortly after the IDF called on Lebanese civilians near several buildings there to evacuate.
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.
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
... the personification of Somali state failure...
... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
More than 50 people were killed in several Israeli strikes in 
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
