Rebels from the Islamist al-Shabab group attacked a military base in southern Somalia early on Monday, killing at least 10 soldiers and burning two military vehicles, officials said.
African Union and Somali troops launched an offensive this year that has driven al Shabab out of its last major strongholds. Monday's attack highlights the challenge of halting guerrilla-style raids by the al- Qaida-aligned group.
"Al-Shabab attacked our military forces at 3 a.m." in the Lower Shabelle region, Somali military officer Aden Nur told Reuters. "They killed 10 soldiers and burnt two military vehicles [equipped] with anti-aircraft guns."
Despite ongoing peace talks between Sudan's government and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, or SPLM-N, daily aerial attacks continue in South Kordofan province’s Nuba Mountains. Adam Bailes was there and reports for VOA that government forces are targeting civilian areas, rather than military positions, with their daily bombardments.
One year after South Sudan's political infighting deteriorated into a deadly conflict, the parties appear no closer to silencing their guns and getting back to the business of building the world’s youngest nation.
Since its 2011 move to independence, the country has spiraled into a humanitarian crisis that the U.N. says has left half the population hungry and nearly two million displaced. Politically motivated fighting over the last year alone has killed thousands — possibly tens of thousands — of South Sudanese.
Ongoing efforts by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an eight-nation regional trade bloc in Eastern Africa, have not yielded a solution to the fighting between President Salva Kiir and his former vice president Riek Machar.
“This has lasted too long, it has been too costly, and, let’s face it, the leaders have not shown much regard for the livelihood of their citizens,” said U.N. Peacekeeping Chief Hervé Ladsous, who added that international pressure must be intensified.
[AnNahar] A Saudi soldier died Sunday in a Shiite area of the Sunni-dominated kingdom's east after a gunman opened fire, official media said.
Officers "came under fire from an unknown gunman firing from the farms" near Awamiya killing one soldier, the Saudi Press Agency said.
A manhunt was underway, it added.
Awamiya, just west of Dammam city on the Gulf coast, has witnessed festivities between security forces and protesters from the minority Shiite community.
In February, a firefight in Awamiya left two coppers and two suspects dead. Other shootings have occurred there in subsequent months.
Most of 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... 's Shiite minority live in the oil-rich east, and many complain of marginalization.
Since 2011, protests and sporadic attacks on security forces have occurred in Shiite areas, leaving around 20 Shiite youth dead.
Activists say several death sentences have also been handed down by courts in the kingdom since the demonstrations began.
[AnNahar] French police on Monday dismantled a network sending jihadist fighters to Syria in a series of dawn raids that saw them nab 10 suspects across the country, said Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.
Elite and anti-terror police units descended on around a dozen targets, mostly in the southern region of Toulouse ...lies on the banks of the River Garonne, half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The Toulouse metropolitan area is the fourth-largest in La Belle France... , but also around Gay Paree and in the northern region of Normandy.
"Dismantling organized jihadist networks is a top priority for police, in perfect coordination with judicial authorities," Cazeneuve said in a statement highlighting government's determination to "relentlessly fight terrorism."
In recent months La Belle France, which has Europe's largest Moslem population, has been facing the fact that hundreds of its citizens have openly joined jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria and have even called for attacks on their homeland.
The new reality was driven home in a video from the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group released in mid-November, showing three Kalashnikov-wielding Frenchies burning their passports and calling on Moslems to join them or stage attacks in La Belle France.
A grisly execution video released around the same time featured at least one French citizen who hailed from a small village in Normandy and converted to Islam in his teens.
Almost 1,000 Frenchies from a wide range of backgrounds are estimated to have left to join jihadists in Iraq and Syria, including some 400 thought to be currently fighting on the ground and almost 50 who were killed.
According to figures published in the Le Monde newspaper in November, about a quarter of those who left to join the jihadists were converts to Islam, with many coming from everyday French backgrounds.
Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre, spokeswoman for the Gay Paree prosecutor's office, said four of those detained Monday were already tossed in the clink Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! for unrelated minor crimes. She did not know how many people the network had recruited.
#1
I still have to see a network of those moderate Mulisms who are the real face of Islam for sending volunteers to fight Isis. Crucifiximns and children beheadings don't seem to move them. Just infidels anyway.
#2
Dismantling organized jihadist networks is a top priority for police
A more forward looking strategy might have been to source these networks to filter out and fund the extreme malcontents, then provide terminal resolution in delivery.
KSM gets due process; Dr. Mitchell not so much. Who would have though that the fourth estate (MSM) would engage in fifth column activities?
Khalid. Khalid, oh yeah, him, the one who squealed like a nancy-boy after the first bucket of water, that guy...
One of the men behind the CIA's enhanced interrogation program lashed out at Senate Democrats and other lawmakers during an appearance on "The Kelly File" Monday night, telling host Megyn Kelly that his life is now in danger following the release of the so-called "torture report."
Dr. James Mitchell, a former U.S. Navy psychologist reportedly involved in the interrogation of suspected 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, claimed the CIA "saved lives" using techniques that some have claimed were entirely ineffective.
In the wide-ranging interview, he recalled some chilling comments Mohammed once said directly to him:
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed told me personally, "Your country will turn on you, the liberal media will turn on you, the people will grow tired of this, they will turn on you. And when they do, you are going to be abandoned."
Mitchell, referred to as one of the "architects" of the program, is also angry that lawmakers behind the release of the report on the enhanced interrogation program didn't even reach out to him about his role or other details.
Now, he feels that his life has been put in danger due to a bitter political fight. Mitchell confirmed that he has been receiving death threats ever since the release of the report that names him as one of the architects of the program.
#5
Half the American public turned against America a long time ago. Not sure anything can be done about it.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/16/2014 11:33 Comments ||
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#6
#4 Som gone.
If only it were so...
One of the many interesting bits in the interview was that Mitchell was named as a perp in the report but was also one of the people raising objections about certain parts of the program - an area where his name was *not* mentioned. One might begin to think the senate report was simply meant as a hatchet job.
#7
KSM really "got" that part of America that refuses to "get" him and his ilk.
The takeaway from this report imbroglio should be that the Dems can never be trusted with national security ever again. It is clear which side Feinstein is on. Her own.
Posted by: regular joe ||
12/16/2014 13:35 Comments ||
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#8
It always works this way. Most Americans think fire bombing Tokyo and Dresden was wrong. America turned on Blackwater, America will always turn on the guardians of America when they feel safe. Not news, just sheep doing what sheep do.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/16/2014 14:01 Comments ||
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#9
Most Americans don't know that we fire bombed anything before Nam. Most Americans can not identify our Vice President. See there is good and bad to being uninformed and stupid.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/16/2014 14:07 Comments ||
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#10
England tossed out Churchill first chance they got after the war was over. US tossed out George Bush Sr when the Cold war was over. Democracies are ungrateful and fickle.
#11
M. Murcek, if only the first black president came from the right instead of the far left. A President Powell, as Rino as he is would have gone a long way towards patching up some of the holes in this countries psych.
At least 84 people, most of them children, were killed after a group of gunmen stormed an army-run school in Peshawar. The Pakistani Taliban, Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack Tuesday.
Pervez Khattak, chief minister of the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said over 80 of the wounded are children ranging from 12 to 16 years of age. He said that two of the attackers are now dead, One blew himself up, while the other was killed by security forces.
Earlier, Shahram Khan, the provincial health minister, said that two teachers and an army official had also been killed, while 104 more were injured.
The Pakistan military said a rescue operation involving its troops is currently underway at the school, and gunfire is still being exchanged. Khattak said there was an "ongoing hostage situation" at the school.
A spokesman for the TTP, who called himself Mohammed Khurrassani, claimed that six suicide bombers entered the school compound with orders to kill older students. He said the attack was revenge for the "Zarb e Azb, Khyber-1 military operation and revenge of dumped bodies of detained prisoners."
#11
Here it is Jews and hairdressers and I wondered if you were joking. But the part about incluing America because of concern of being moderated was real.
[Dawn] At least 141 people, most of them children (132), died when Taliban gunmen attacked the school in the morning, 113 people were injured. The overwhelming majority of the victims were students at the school, which has children and teenagers in grades 1-10. All six Taliban attackers were killed.
According to a tweet by DG ISPR Maj-Gen Asim Bajwa, Pakistans military on actionable intelligence has carried out several raids including 10 airstrikes in Khyber Agency today.
Condemnations poured in from across the globe including all major political leaders and notables in the country. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief General Raheel Sharif also condemned the assault and rushed to Peshawar to show their support for the victims and the troops partaking in the operation to clear the school of terrorists.
Three-day mourning was also announced by the federal government.
As darkness fell on the area, officials said they had cleared the school of militants. The operation is completed, said Bilal Ahmad Faizi, the head of the state-run rescue organisation, speaking to reporters after leaving the school area.
#28
And Hillary thinks we should empathize with the barbarians who do this....
Posted by: abu do you love ||
12/16/2014 19:42 Comments ||
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#29
At least they didn't waterboard any of the children. That would be a crime.
Anyone feel like negotiating with these guys?
Posted by: Matt ||
12/16/2014 19:58 Comments ||
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#30
Sure, I'll "negotiate" with these MFs, Matt.
I'll bring my .357; what can you bring to the party? ;-p
Posted by: Barbara ||
12/16/2014 20:07 Comments ||
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#31
Frankenstein's monster graphic applicable
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/16/2014 20:25 Comments ||
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#32
The Hard Boyz repor claim to hate Malala, yet once again we hear nothing from US, Western Feministas/Feminazis on this, nor as per the Hard Boyz = ISIS' abuse of both Muslim + Non-Muslim women when it suits them.
[IraqiNews.com] On Monday, a security source in Salahuddin province said the ISIS group executed 17 people, including both security elements and civilians from al-Alam in eastern Tikrit.
The source informed IraqiNews, ?The ISIS group forces of Evil today executed 17 people, including both security elements and civilians from Falaka in al-Alam area, located in the east of Tikrit,? adding that, ?The 17 executed individuals were four from al-Takarta tribe and 13 others belonged to al-jabour and al-Jaysat tribes.?
?The victims were kidnapped earlier from the area of Biji,? said the source.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/16/2014 00:00 ||
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[IraqiNews.com] The security forces declared breaking the siege imposed on Baghdadi area of western Anbar province.
Security source told IraqiNews.com ?The army elements supported by the Iraqi tribes succeeded in breaking the siege, which was imposed by the faceless myrmidons affiliated to what is so called the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Levant, on Baghdadi area of western Anbar.?
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/16/2014 00:00 ||
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[IraqiNews.com] The turbans of the ISIL kidnapped 27 civilians, among them women, northern Tikrit on Monday.
Security official told IraqiNews.com ?The turbans of the ISIL kidnapped 23 young men and four women in Khanuka village within Shurqat district of northern Tikrit city,? noting that ?The ISIL kidnapped the civilians because they tore the leaflets distributed by the terrorist organization.?
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/16/2014 00:00 ||
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[IraqiNews.com] On Sunday, Baghdad Operations Commander Abdul-Amir al-Shamri, announced that the security forces have killed 9 holy warriors and detained 24 others during al-Arbaen Pilgrimage in the city of Karbala.
Al-Shamri said in a presser attended by IraqiNews, ?Iraqi forces managed to kill 7 holy warriors and arrest 24 others during the al-Arbaen Pilgrimage in the city of Karbala,? adding that, ?The security elements removed explosives from 4 vehicles, and deactivated 22 explosive mines and 2 vests packed with explosives.?
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/16/2014 00:00 ||
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[IraqiNews.com] The Ministry of Defense announced killing dozens of the ISIL snuffies in Anbar province.
A statement by the MoD received by IraqiNews.com cited ?A security force of the Iraqi Army managed to kill 19 ISIL snuffies and injure one another in al-Yatama area of AMiriyat al-Fallujah by Abrams tank.?
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/16/2014 00:00 ||
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[IraqiNews.com] The Air force bombarded an Improvised tanker driven by a jacket wallah of northern Tikrit.
Security source stated to IraqiNews.com ?The Iraqi Air Force bombarded the improvised tanker to detonate it and kill the suicide bomber inside it in Fatih area of Beji district of northern Tikrit.?
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/16/2014 00:00 ||
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[IraqiNews.com] ?Huge military enforcements reached on Monday to Ein al-Asad Military Camp and the headquarter of Anbar Operations Command,? security official told IraqiNews.com.
The source confirmed ?The security forces controlled Dulab area as well as several villages close to Hit district of western Anbar province.?
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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[IsraelTimes] A Paleostinian terror cell planning a suicide kaboom in Tel Aviv and other attacks was thwarted over the last several months, the Shin Bet security service said Monday.
Five suspects hailing from Jenin and the village Attil in the Tulkarem area of the West Bank planned to infiltrate into Israel by acquiring a permit for the female member of their group to receive medical care in Israel.
She was then to dress as a pregnant Jewish woman and detonate an boom belt in Tel Aviv, the Shin Bet said in a statement.
The cell members admitted under Shin Bet interrogation to planning to carry out shooting attacks, detonate a mine next to a bus carrying soldiers, and kidnap a soldier as well, according to the internal security agency.
The five were locked away I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! between October and November by IDF forces working with the Shin Bet and police, but the information was only cleared for release Monday.
The names of the suspects were listed as Yasmin Shaban, 31, from Jenin; Munadil Takaz, 22, from Attil; his brother Muatez Takaz, 20, from Attil; Abd al-Haleq Masimi, 22, from Attil; and Marwan Tzadki, 20, from Attil.
The Shin Bet said that the suspects planned to use a safe house inside of Israel to dress Yasmin and prepare her for the attack.
They admitted to being in touch with a terror operative in the Gazoo Strip, who told the cell that both Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, and Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... would take credit for the attack.
Security forces found during the arrests an improvised M-16, hunting rifle, ammunition, and kaboom.
Munadil Takaz and Shaban were indicted in the Samaria Military Court for making contact for the purpose of causing death, membership in an illegal organization, and other crimes.
The others will be indicted in the future, the Shin Bet said.
There was no immediate reaction from Paleostinian groups.
#1
The cell members admitted under Shin Bet interrogation to planning to carry out shooting attacks, detonate a mine next to a bus carrying soldiers, and kidnap a soldier as well, according to the internal security agency.
Can the Israelis can still interrogate prisoners? Can they use EIT methods? Can they still yell at prisoners? Gasp, the horror of it all.(sarc)!
#4
Did they use the 'kind and gentle' Shin Bet interrogation techniques or the kind one would use when you actually need to know how the miscreant plans on murdering your children?
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
12/16/2014 16:25 Comments ||
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#5
Since the various Muslim factions present an existential threat to the country of Israel, and its citizens, I don't think Shin Bet and Mossad give a rat's ass about niceties of not yelling at the people being interrogated.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/16/2014 16:39 Comments ||
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[AnNahar] Israeli police said Monday that eight Paleostinians in annexed east Jerusalem have been tossed in the slammer Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! for allegedly inciting anti-Jewish violence in postings on the Internet.
The eight were detained last week for "inciting hatred, violence and terrorism" against Jews and Israeli security forces, mostly with messages and videos on Facebook, a police front man told Agence La Belle France Presse.
The front man said one of the suspects had posted a picture of himself with an M16 assault rifle. Such postings had resulted in "many messages of support on Facebook," he said.
The operation was the Israeli police's "biggest aimed at repressing this kind of incitement to violence on social networks and the Internet," the front man said.
New .50-caliber bullets that can change direction after they have been fired could soon make U.S. military snipers more deadly.
The EXACTO program — or Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance — is being developed by California's Teledyne Scientific & Imaging, LLC at the behest of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, according to a DARPA video posted on YouTube.
"The objective of the EXACTO program is to revolutionize rifle accuracy and range by developing the first ever guided small-caliber bullet," DARPA officials said in a July statement accompanying the video. "The EXACTO .50-caliber round and optical sighting technology expects to greatly extend the day and nighttime range over current state-of-the-art sniper systems."
The specially designed ammunition can change direction in midair.
How that is done remains a tightly held secret. The Defense Department and its related agencies declined to comment.
DARPA's statement announced that testing had been successful, a historical first. The video shows two rounds of testing, in February and April. A bullet was deliberately fired off target both times, then changed path. In the second test, it appears to have struck the intended target.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, says ethnic rebels attacked an army outpost near the border with China last week, killing seven soldiers and wounding 20 others.
State-run media reports Monday say Kokang fighters surrounded the post for two days in northern Shan State.
The Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), which is allied with the Kokang guerrillas, says fighting in the area was still ongoing Monday. Tar Phone Kyaw, secretary of TNLA, disputes the government account and blames the Army for the violence.
“The area where fighting took place this week are controlled by our groups - TNLA and Kokang, then the fighting took place because the government troops entered the area. We didn't make any strikes against military outposts held by government forces," said Kyaw.
[AnNahar] The army jugged Please don't kill me! Monday an Internal Security Forces sergeant as he was smuggling the sister of a member of al-Nusra ...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant... Front from a Lebanese region to another.
?A patrol from the Lebanese army's Intelligence Directorate has arrested ISF Sergeant H. al-Fleiti along with Fatima al-Ahmed, a sister of Hmoud al-Ahmed ? one of the members of al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... Front who kidnapped several ISF members from the Arsal cop shoppe? in early August, state-run National News Agency reported.
LBCI television said Fleiti was apprehended in the Bekaa border town of al-Qaa on charges of ?smuggling Syrian suspects from Beirut to Arsal in return for money.?
?He was trying to smuggle Fatima to Masharii al-Qaa in a Chevrolet Tahoe SUV,? NNA said.
[AnNahar] Militants linked to Al-Qaeda dealt a major blow to Syria's regime on Monday by seizing two key army bases within hours, giving them control over most of Idlib province.
The gains also signaled another defeat for Western-backed rebels who were driven out of most of the northwestern province last month by the jihadist Al-Nusra ...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant... Front.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Al-Nusra Front -- the battered country's Al-Qaeda branch -- seized Hamidiyeh and Wadi al-Deif, the regime's largest outposts in Idlib.
The jihadists advanced in coordination with Islamist rebel groups Ahrar al-Sham ...a Syria jihadi group made up of Islamists and salafists, not that there's that much difference, formed into a brigade. They make up the main element of the Islamic Front but they don't profess adoration of al-Qaeda and they've been fighting (mainly for survival) against the Islamic State. Their leadership was wiped out at a single blow by a suicide kaboom at a crowded basement meeting in September, 2014... and Jund al-Aqsa, the Observatory said, adding that a string of villages in the area also fell.
Al-Nusra Front claimed via Twitter it was "the only faction that took part in the liberation of Wadi al-Deif", and that it was now "chasing down" soldiers.
State television cited a military source as implicitly acknowledging the loss.
"The army redeployed this morning in the Wadi al-Deif region and is engaged in fierce fighting at Hamidiyeh," it reported the source as saying.
The attack on Wadi al-Deif, which began on Sunday, killed at least 31 troops and 12 jihadists, the Observatory said.
Speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, a source from Leb's Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... which had deployed fighters to bolster regime efforts in Idlib said "more than 3,000 (Islamist) gunnies" joined the twin offensive.
Mainstream rebels had been battling to take Wadi al-Deif and Hamidiyeh for around two years, but despite repeated attempts had failed to do so.
Charles Lister of the Brookings Doha Center said the gains highlighted the rise of the jihadists in the province.
"The nature of the operations has served to underline the renewed prominence of more Islamically-minded forces in Idlib, with Jabhat (Front) al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... and Ahrar al-Sham having played the dominant role in practically capturing the facilities," he said.
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said Al-Nusra had used tanks and heavy weapons captured last month from the Western-backed Syrian Revolutionary Front.
Its defeat of the SRF was seen as a blow to U.S. efforts to create and train a moderate rebel force as a counterweight to jihadists of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group.
Within hours of taking Wadi al-Deif, Al-Nusra and the two other Islamist rebel groups also seized Hamidiyeh, the Observatory said.
"They took 15 soldiers prisoner from Hamidiyeh," Abdel Rahman said, adding that helicopters evacuated senior officers late Sunday, hours before it fell.
After Al-Nusra and its allies moved in, regime warplanes launched 17 air raids against the base, the Britannia-based group said.
Thomas Pierret, who teaches Islamic and Middle Eastern studies at the University of Edinburgh, said the advance is important militarily because the bases are on a road linking the central province of Hama to Aleppo in the north.
Lister said the advance may pave the way for "a major assault on Idlib city", which like most Syrian quiet provincial capitals remains in regime hands.
The gains give Al-Nusra firm control of much of Idlib province, limiting the chances of a challenge from potential rivals.
Until September this year, Ahrar al-Sham had sought to distance itself from more hardline jihadists in Syria.
But a September 9 kaboom that killed its top leadership "pushed the group to align itself more openly with Al-Nusra", Abdel Rahman said.
"Now the two are fighting side by side."
On Monday, Ahrar al-Sham broke its silence on the September blast, blaming "a criminal group" with "international links". Abdel Rahman said this was an apparent reference to Western intelligence agencies.
Idlib was among the first provinces to fall, soon after the March 2011 outbreak of the armed revolt against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... 's rule.
Syria's war began as a pro-democracy movement demanding his ouster, but later morphed into a brutal war after the regime unleashed a massive crackdown. More than 200,000 people have been killed in nearly four years, and around half the population has been forced to flee.
[AnNahar] The Lebanese army foiled an infiltration attempt overnight when some gunnies tried to infiltrate the outskirts of Ras Baalbek and Wadi Rafek near of al-Qaa, the state-run National News Agency reported on Monday.
Lebanese troops engaged in heavy armed festivities with the infiltrators, NNA added.
Reports have raised fears lately that Syrian armed gunnies were planning to open a front in Leb by invading the northeastern border town of Arsal and advancing into al-Qaa, Ras Baalbek and other nearby villages.
According to the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Siyassah, the al-Qaeda-affiliate al-Nusra ...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant... Front, the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and the Levant and the Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... have been entrenched for the past two months and a half on the mountains overseeing the Lebanese Bekaa on the porous Syrian-Lebanese border.
[AnNahar] The army announced on Monday the arrest of two suspects linked to unrest in the northern region of Bhannine and city of 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... in October.
It said that Lebanese Ibrahim Mohammed al-Saghir was detained in the North for belonging to a terrorist group.
He is suspected of taking part in the Bhannine festivities against the army, tossing hand grenades against military positions, and firing a rocket propelled grenade.
The rocket attack led to the death of a soldier, added the army communique.
The second suspect was identified as Lebanese Dabbah Maan Jahjah, who was nabbed Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! in the Metn region.
He took part in the October unrest in Tripoli where he tossed hand grenades at residences and shot up soldiers on the Halba-Qoubaiyat road.
A soldier was killed and another maimed in that attack.
Investigations are underway with the detainees.
Dozens of people were killed and injured in October when turbans engaged in festivities with the military in Tripoli, Bhannine and surrounding areas.
A number of suspects linked to the unrest have been arrested in recent weeks.
[AnNahar] The Lebanese army has tossed in the clink Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! two Syrians for trying to infiltrate the southern town of Shabaa through Mount Hermon, the state-run National News Agency reported on Monday.
NNA said members of a military checkpoint - erected at the eastern end of Shabaa - apprehended Ibrahim Mazrdakash and Omar Othman as they were trying to reach the town via Mount Hermon's heights.
The two men hail from the Syrian town of Beit Jinn, which is located southwest of Damascus on the foothills of Mount Hermon, NNA said. The town lies on the border with Leb's Hasbaya district.
After their arrest, the Syrians were questioned by the military, the agency added.
[StrategyPage] Despite renewed U.S. Air Force efforts to retire the much loved (by their pilots and the ground troops who depend on it) A-10C ground attack aircraft, at least ten of them from a reserve unit have been quietly sent to the Middle East to join in the air operations against ISIL (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.... in Iraq and the Levant) in Iraq and Syria. Many older ISIL members (who fought in Iraq before the A-10s were withdrawn) are not happy with this news while the soldiers and faceless myrmidons fighting ISIL are much encouraged.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/16/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
It's gotta suck to see one of them coming to get you.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/16/2014 0:12 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Thanks Ebbo. The white flares seen in #2 are countermeasure decoys designed to divert man-portable (MANPAD) air defense missiles. The ground mounted units seen igniting in the video are 'simulated MANPAD's' or anti-aircraft systems which trigger the attacking aircraft's countermeasure flare release.
#8
But there's no obscene overcharges income to be made for defense contractors, and no bribes and payoffs incentives for lawmakers and DOD project managers, so we need to get rid of them.
Purely a maintenance decision.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
12/16/2014 7:47 Comments ||
Top||
#9
The Army has been trying to replace the M2 for decades years now too. There are just some designs that fulfill their niche so well that nothing within reasonable expense can replace it. If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.
#10
Take the Hogs away from the Air Force along with the manpower and resources, and in return give them all the medevac aviation assets from the Army Medical Corps, so we can get them armed to do their missions in combat environments.
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.
At least 84 people, most of them children, were killed after a group of gunmen stormed an army-run school in Peshawar. The Pakistani Taliban, Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack Tuesday.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
