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Double suicide attack kills 40 in Damascus
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
Top ISIS leader involved in Kabul demonstration attack killed
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A key leader of the ISIS loyalists in command of a group of 200 murderous Moslems who was involved in Kabul
...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either....
demonstration attack has been killed, it has been reported.

According to reports, Mawlavi Abdul Qayum who was also famous as Shaheen Khurasani was killed in an operation in Achin district.

The operation was reportedly conducted by the operatives of the Afghan intelligence, national directorate of security.

This comes as the officials announced earlier last month that one of the key ISIS leader who had planned the attack on a Shia mosque and on demonstrators in Kabul was killed.

According to ARG Palace, Qari Munib was killed during a counter-terrorism operation conducted on 13th January in Achin district of Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
Qari Munib was involved in some of the major attacks in Kabul city, including a deadly attack on protesters in Kabul and attack on Baqir-ul-Uloom mosque in west of Kabul city that left scores of people dead or maimed.

He was also involved in an attack on Nepali security guards in Kabul city late last year.

ARG Palace said the ISIS leader was targeted in line with the President Ghani and National Security Council’s instructions and in join coordination with the coalition forces based in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred || 03/12/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Taliban’s finance and military commission leaders killed in Kunduz
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Two important Taliban in charge of the finance and military commissions were killed during an operation in northern Kunduz province of Afghanistan.

According to the 209th Shaheen Corps of the Afghan National Army, Taliban’s military commission chief Qari Dost Mohammad and finance commission chief Mullah Niaz Mohammad were killed during a clash with the security forces.

The two important Taliban leaders were among at least six bully boyz killed during the operation conducted in Dasht-e-Archi district.

At least three cycle of violences and an explosives and ammunition depot of the group were also destroyed during the operation.

In an operation in Dand-e-Shahabuddin area of Baghlan province, at least one Taliban Lion of Islam was killed and two others were maimed, the 209th Shaheen Corps said.

Posted by: Fred || 03/12/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


3 foreign ISIS militants killed in US drone strike in East of Afghanistan
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least three snuffies affiliated with the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group were killed in an Arclight airstrike conducted by the US forces in eastern Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
province of Afghanistan.

The provincial police commandment in a statement said the Arclight airstrike was carried out late on Friday in Momand Dara area of Achin district.

The statement further added that the snuffies were targeted by Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, leaving three of them dead and at least three others maimed.

According to the police commandment, the local residents and security forces did not suffer any casualties in the Arclight airstrike.

Posted by: Fred || 03/12/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


8 Afghan policemen shot dead by their comrades in latest insider attack
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least eight Afghan coppers were rubbed out by two of their comrades in the latest insider attack carried out in southern Zabul province of Afghanistan.

According to the local government officials, the incident took place late on Friday in a check post located in Shinkai district.

Provincial governor’s front man Gul Islam Sayal confirmed the incident and said the two assailants managed to flee area after the attack.

He said the coppers belonged to the Afghan Local Police (ALP) forces and the assailants also managed to take several weapons from the check post with them.

Sayal further added that an investigation is underway regarding the incident and it is yet not clear if the two coppers had links with the anti-government armed bad boy groups.

According to Sayal, the check post where the incident took place is located on Qalat and Shinkai highway.

This comes as at least eleven coppers bit the dust in a similar attack carried out by their comrades in southern Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
province of Afghanistan.

The majority of the insider attacks are carried out by the comrades of the security forces with some of them having links with the bad boy groups.
Posted by: Fred || 03/12/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Arabia
Suspected Rebel-Planted Mine Hits Yemeni Ship, Kills 2
[An Nahar] A Yemeni coasties vessel on Friday hit a naval mine suspected of being planted in the Red Sea by rebels and the kaboom killed two sailors and maimed eight, including the ship's captain, security officials said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to brief journalists.

Saudi-led coalition forces combating Shiite rebel forces, known as Houthis, in Yemen's civil war had previously warned of the presence of naval mines planted by Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ...
gunnies in the Red Sea.

Late on Friday, medical and security officials said an Arclight airstrike by the coalition killed at least a dozen civilians and maimed dozens more when it hit a crowded market in Yemen's coastal Hodeidah province. They said the corpse count was likely to rise. The officials insisted on anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the press.

The war in Yemen, which began when Houthis seized Yemen's capital of Sanaa in September 2014, has killed more than 10,000 civilians and displaced over 3 million people.
Posted by: Fred || 03/12/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


15 Dead in Fighting Near Yemen Red Sea Port
[An Nahar] Seven Yemeni soldiers and eight rebels were killed in heavy fighting over the past 24 hours near the Red Sea coastal town of Mokha, medical and security sources said Saturday.

The historic port was captured by government forces on February 10 as part of a major offensive launched in January to try to recapture Yemen's 450 kilometer (280 mile) Red Sea coastline, which had previously been almost entirely in rebel hands.

But there have been repeated festivities over the past month both inland and north of the town as the rebels seek to take it back.

The latest fighting focused on the village of Yakhtul, 14 kilometers (nine miles) north of Mokha, which is currently in government hands.

It came as an air strike on a rebel-held port further north by a Saudi-led coalition supporting the government killed 20 civilians and six rebels.

Friday's strike on the town of Khokha targeted rebel fighters who had taken refuge at the entrance to a market selling the mild narcotic qat, which is a central part of Yemeni social life.

The fighting around Mokha had driven more than 48,000 people from their homes, the Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency, Shabia Mantoo, told AFP earlier this month.

Posted by: Fred || 03/12/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis

#1  Cutting off Iran arms shipments has gotta hurt
Posted by: Frank G || 03/12/2017 10:19 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
At Least 242 Bodies Found in Hidden Graves in Messico
[An Nahar] Mexican authorities have found at least 242 bodies in hidden graves in the eastern state of Veracruz that were discovered by mothers searching for their missing children, officials said Friday.

The bodies were found over a six-month period, with the first discovered in August near the city of Veracruz by the volunteer collective known as El Solecito, formed by relatives of those who have disappeared.

The collective turns over the digging of the graves to forensic experts.

A total of 124 graves have been located and after combing through nearly all of them, 242 skulls were found, a senior official of the prosecutor's office told AFP, on condition of anonymity.

Another person close to the investigation, who also asked not to be identified, said the graves contained "a lot of young women's clothes, credentials, shoes and garments that look like they belong to inner-city kids."

Veracruz, one of the most violent states in Mexico, is the scene of bloody disputes between the Los Zetas and Jalisco Nueva Generacion drug cartels.

According to a military source involved in the work with El Solecito, the victims "probably were buried by criminals in league with the local authorities." The source also asked to remain anonymous.

Posted by: Fred || 03/12/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Narcos

#1  in league with the local authorities

Build that fuckin' wall - name it after Vicente Fox
Posted by: Frank G || 03/12/2017 10:14 Comments || Top||

#2  A star of old Mexico: Zorro
Stole oil and poder. Mucho oro!
From Fairbanks and Power,
Unmasked (such a glower!)
As 21st Century cachorro.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 03/12/2017 20:28 Comments || Top||


Europe
Arrests made following terror threat on Essen shopping center
[DW] Two men have been jugged in connection with a terror threat in the western city of Essen. Police sealed off and closed a shopping center after receiving indications of a planned attack from security sources.

Dozens of police surrounded the Limbecker Platz shopping mall in Essen on Saturday after receiving what they said was a credible evidence of a terror attack the day before.

Security services cited by the German tabloid newspaper "Bild" described the threat as a potential multiple suicide kaboom.

As well as the mall, nearby parking garages and an underground rail station were all placed in lockdown while sniffer dogs searched the area.

"We received very serious indications from security sources that a possible attack was planned here for today and would be carried out," a front man for Essen police told the Rooters news agency. "That is why we were forced to take these measures."

Police later ordered the shopping center, one of the biggest in Germany, to remain closed for the rest of Saturday, adding they now believed they had foiled an attack.

On Saturday evening police announced the investigation was ongoing, and thanked people who had responded via social media or by telephone during the security operation.

An 'Islamic State' plot?
The German Press Agency and "Bild" quoted security sources as saying the plot was believed to be the work of the self-styled "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....
" (IS) militia.

The sources said a German man who traveled to Syria to fight alongside the group was the suspected criminal mastermind. He had reportedly been in contact with a number of people in the Essen area to organize the attack, and had also sent them bomb-making instructions via an online chat.

An interior ministry front man in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where Essen is located, declined to comment on reports about "IS" involvement in the foiled plot.

Two arrests made
Two men in the nearby town of Oberhausen were tossed in the slammer
Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw!
in connection with the threat. One was questioned after a police search of an apartment in the town. Another was taken in for questioning from a nearby internet cafe.

Security sources told the German Press Agency that while the pair had been in contact with the German Death Eater in Syria, they were not being treated as would-be perpetrators.

According to its website, the Limbecker Platz shopping center has more than 200 stores and attracts up to 60,000 people.
The Daily Mail has photos, of course.
Update from The Times of Israel at 7:00 p.m. EDT makes it officially official:
A threatened attack against a mall in the western city of Essen is linked to the Islamic State extremist group, Germany’s interior minister said Sunday.

Thomas de Maiziere told public broadcaster ARD that Germany’s domestic intelligence service, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, had received “tips of an attack and passed them on” to local security authorities in Essen.

“The case was evaluated several times … and it couldn’t be eliminated that there could have been a concrete attack at this mall. This was prevented,” de Maiziere said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/12/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Franz? Dieter?
Posted by: Frank G || 03/12/2017 10:17 Comments || Top||

#2  This one makes no sense to me. The authorities picked up some chatter or something about a major attack on the mall, so they shut down the mall and announced they've shut it down so that civilians -- and the perpetrators -- stay out of potential crossfire. Subsequently they picked up two people peripherally connected, but whom they say are not the perpetrators, and today they announced they have prevented a major ISIS attack.

But it seems to me they merely blocked an attack that could easily be rescheduled either in terms of place or timing, and have not picked up the people and material directly involved. So what benefit is derived, other than to make the populace wary of Muslims, whether long term residents, new colonists, or converts -- and as a result to drive votes from Angela Merkel's party to the openly anti-migrant AfD?
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/12/2017 19:52 Comments || Top||

#3  to make the populace wary of Muslims, whether long term residents, new colonists, or converts -- and as a result to drive votes from Angela Merkel's party to the openly anti-migrant AfD?

Heh, you say this like it's a bad thing, tw. I do get your point though. Perhaps, as simple Americans, we are unreceptive to subtle European nuances. Or maybe they are dancing around an even bigger shitstorm. Dunno. Doesn't make sense to me either. To be continued, I'll wager.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/12/2017 20:45 Comments || Top||


Europe migrant colonist briefs

German Bundesrat says Maghreb states not safe for refugees

[DW] The German parliament's upper chamber rejected a law that would have allowed quicker deportations to Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. The decision deals a blow to Chancellor Angela Merkel's refugee strategy.

Kosovo police seize fake banknotes worth 2 million euros

[DW] Police in Kosovo have found counterfeit currency worth more than 2 million euros in a car attempting to cross the border into neighboring Albania. An Albanian and a Cameroonian have been arrested. In a statement, police said it was the biggest seizure of its kind since the end of the 1999 war in Kosovo.

Berlin Christmas market attacker was a 'cyberspace Casanova' who flirted with 140 women online and asked to marry woman via Facebook who was on 'the same wavelength' as him
10/03/17
[DailyMail] Fatima A., 29, the daughter of a Thai mother and a Swiss father, got to know ISIS assassin Anis Amri through Facebook before he went on the rampage with a lorry at a Christmas marker in Berlin, Germany.

Migrant smuggling is now worth £5billion to criminal gangs and is comparable to the illegal drugs market, report warns
09/03/17
[DailyMail] A report from Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency, describes refugee and migrant smuggling in Europe as a 'highly profitable and widespread criminal activity'.
From Breitbart -- Europe migrant crisis:
Eight UK-Bound Iraqi Migrants Saved from Refrigerated Truck in Spain
11 March
MADRID (AFP) – Eight Iraqis, including four children, were found crammed inside a refrigerated truck in a service area in eastern Spain, police said Saturday, adding that they had been trying to reach Britain.

Turkey Threatens to Lift Migrant Blockade to Europe
11 March
The Turkish Foreign Minister has said that his country is prepared to once again allow migrants passage into Europe if Turks are not permitted to travel in the European Union (EU) without visas.

Truck Drivers Still Under Threat from Calais Migrants
11 March
Three months after the notorious ‘Jungle’ Calais migrant camp was cleared, there has been a huge surge in the number of migrants gathering in the area in the hope of illegally entering the UK.

German Police Attacked by Group of Young Muslims
9 March
Two police in the German city of Hamburg were attacked by a group of several Muslims while out on patrol after the Muslims claimed to have been “provoked” by the officers.
More from Breitbart -- immigration:
EU Fears Migrant Deluge in Spring
10 March
With boat migrant arrivals in Italy already up significantly from 2016, European Union (EU) officials fear a deluge when Winter gives way to Spring.

EXCLUSIVE: Hungarian Minister – ‘Illegal Immigration Poses a Huge Security Threat to Europe’
10 March
The influx of unregulated waves of illegal immigrants poses a “huge security threat to Europe,” according to Hungary’s Foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó.

Swedish Police Officer: 10 out of 11 School Rioters Were Migrants
10 March
Swedish police officer Peter Springare claims 10 of the 11 youths arrested during a school riot in the Swedish town of Hallsberg came from migrant backgrounds.
This is the same Swedish policeman who was reported about when he previously posted his frustration with the situation on Facebook.
Hungary Migrant Crisis: ‘The Storm Has Not Yet Passed… We Are Under Siege’
9 March
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has told new recruits to Hungary’s border force the country is “now under siege” at a swearing-in ceremony, and warns they cannot afford to become complacent. Hungary responded to the migrant crisis by erecting strong border fences on its frontiers with Serbia, which is entirely outside the borderless European Union (EU), and Croatia, which is inside the bloc but not yet included in its passport-free Schengen zone.

The government is now upgrading these defences, which have slashed illegal migration from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands and saved the country billions of forints. It is also recruiting an extra 3,000 border guards. But the prime minister warned 462 new recruits that “we cannot afford to sit back” during an oath-taking ceremony on Tuesday.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/12/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists


The Grand Turk
Turkish Coast Guard: 48 Syrian Migrants Stopped at Sea
[An Nahar] Turkey's coast guard says it has prevented 48 Syrian migrants from reaching Greece.

In a statement on its official website, the Turkish Coast Guard said the migrants on a rubber dinghy were stopped after a tip early Friday. Aerial footage accompanying the statement shows the dinghy at sea followed by the rescue operation off the coast of Kusadasi in western Turkey.

According to coast guard statistics, 1,812 migrants have been stopped at sea and 19 smugglers apprehended this year. The number of migrants making the illegal crossing to Greece dropped dramatically since the EU-Turkey migrant deal last March.
Posted by: Fred || 03/12/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists


India-Pakistan
Maoist Rebels Kill 11 Police in Central India
[An Nahar] Suspected Maoist rebels killed 11 paramilitary commandos Saturday in a remote part of central India after ambushing their convoy, police said, the latest attack in the country's simmering internal conflict.

The troops were on their way to provide protection to workers for a road construction project when the gunnies attacked, said a police brass hat of restive Chhattisgarh state.

"We can confirm that 11 security personnel have bit the dust in the ambush which was carried out by Maoist rebels in Sukma district," police deputy inspector general Sundarraj P. told AFP.

"Three other CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) personnel are critically injured. We have deployed helicopters to evacuate them."

The rebels also snatched weapons and wireless radio sets from the spot, local media reports said.

The attack is the latest in a deadly conflict that pits the hard boyz against local and national authorities in the forests and rural areas of mainly central and eastern India.

The guerrillas, who say they are fighting for the rights of tribal people and landless farmers, often collect funds through extortion.

The Maoists are believed to be present in at least 20 states but are most active in Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra, occupying thousands of square kilometres (miles) of land.

The decades-long insurgency is believed to have cost tens of thousands of lives, with much action focused around the murderous Moslem-dominated, so-called "Red Corridor" stretching through central and eastern India.

Critics believe attempts to end the revolt through tough security offensives are doomed to fail, saying the real solution is better governance and development of the region.

Posted by: Fred || 03/12/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Commies


Radd-ul-Fasaad: 13 Afghan nationals among dozens of suspects held in fresh raids in Punjab
[GEO.TV] At least 13 Afghan nationals were taken into custody by law enforcement personnel in search operations conducted all over Punjab, informed Pakistain Army`s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations.

According to the provided information, as many as 26 suspects were apprehended in raids conducted at DG Khan, Sadiqabad, Lahore, Narowal, Attock and Islamabad.

A heavy cache of weaponries was recovered from the suspects, claimed the military`s media wing, further adding that the operation was jointly conducted by Police, Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....

Rangers and intelligence agencies.

Pakistain launched a nationwide military operation 'Radd-ul-Fasaad', this year which would include broad-spectrum security and counter-terrorism operations in Punjab, and continuation of ongoing operations across the country.

The move came after deadly bombings across the country all through February, killed hundreds of civilians.

Posted by: Fred || 03/12/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat ul-Ahrar


Iraq
Western Mosul Reconquista

Special forces to change tactics in western Mosul given bad weather

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Special forces from the Iraqi Interior Ministry will change tactics on Saturday and turn to defense in its battles against Islamic State militants due to bad weather conditions, according to a senior commander. Maj. Thamer Ismail, commander of the Rapid Response forces, one of the elite forces leading the operations against IS in western Mosul, said combat missions for Saturday will rely on air and artillery strikes due to bad weather conditions in the city.

“Security forces will take the defense line today due to worsening weather conditions in Mosul..targets will be concentrated and (handled) via aircraft and artillery to exhaust Daesh (Islamic State),” Alghad Press quoted him saying.

Ismail said forces shall proceed towards liberating the remaining regions of western Mosul once the weather gets better.

Iraqi government forces took over eastern Mosul in January after three months of fighting with IS, and have entered a third week of operations to clear the western region from militants. The troops have become closer to the central Mosul’s Old City, having recaptured major government facilities, a military base and the city’s airport.

Weather conditions had been one reason behind occasional operation slowdowns during battles at the east of the city.

Ministry: foreign IS experts killed in Mosul blitz, including former Mercedes executive

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Some of Islamic State’s senior foreign experts were killed in an airstrike in western Mosul last Thursday, according to a statement released by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense on Saturday. The airstrikes, which targeted the 17th of July district in western Mosul, were carried out upon receiving intelligence tips, destroyed an IS headquarter and killed several outstanding foreign experts operating within the extremist group, the ministry said in its statement which did only referred to the killed militants by their nicknames.

Those, according to the ministry’s statement, included “Abu Omar al-Faransi”, a Tunisian-French who the ministry said was a former executive at automaker giant Mercedes. Al-Faransi (understandably his nom de guerre) was an automation specialist. Another one was “Abu Aesha”, also a nickname, who was a booby-trapping specialist who, according to the ministry, innovated the weaponisation of the group’s drones. A third expert killed in the strike was “Abu Mohamed al-Rusi”, a Russian, who worked as an aircraft engineer.

Islamic State has attracted thousands of foreign nationals since it took over large parts of Iraq and Syria to establish a so-called “Islamic Caliphate”.

Commander: police arrest 40 IS members in Mosul’s recaptured areas

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Federal Police forces have detained 40 Islamic State members in Mosul areas which security forces had taken over, according to a senior operations commander.

Lt. Gen. Najm al-Jubouri, commander of the Nineveh Operations, said in statements Saturday that Federal Police forces arrested 40 during searches in the southern region of western Mosul. Those, he said, included Arab and foreign nationals. The arrests were made after residents of those areas tipped off police about the suspects, according to Jubouri who revealed that police intelligence offices were opened in liberated areas to receive civilians’ information about IS vestiges.

The commander said the forces, carrying out the searches at the southern area, had found three underground tunnels used by the extremist group, adding that those tunnels, which extended beneath houses previously occupied by the militants, led to the western town of Tal Afar.

Iraqi forces invade Mosul’s Old City, a major target of operations against IS

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi forces stormed Saturday the Old City region in western Mosul, a major target on the combat list as operations continue to drive out Islamic State militants out of the region.

Shafaaq website quoted security sources saying that Counter-Terrorism Forces and the Federal Police invaded Bab al-Toub, the first district of the Old City, from three directions. The CTF also announced it took over al-Resala, another neighborhood, after invading it earlier in the morning.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a recent seminar in Sulaimaniyah province that his security command was avoiding engagement in a major street battle in the Old City given the region’s density.

Islamic State frees Mosul prisoners as grip on last major city slips

(Reuters) Islamic State has released dozens of prisoners held in jails in the districts of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul that remain under its control, residents said on Saturday. The release of the prisoners on Friday is another sign that the militants are being overwhelmed by the U.S.-backed Iraqi offensive that started on Oct. 17 to dislodge them from Mosul, their last major city stronghold in Iraq.

Among those released were people who had been caught selling cigarettes, violating a smoking ban, or in possession of a mobile phone and therefore suspected of communicating with the outside world, the residents said.

Iraqi forces dislodged Islamic State from the eastern side of Mosul in January, and on Feb. 19 launched the offensive on the districts located west of the Tigris river.

State-run TV on Friday said about half western Mosul has been taken back from the militants who are besieged in the old city center and districts to the north.

One of the men released on Friday said two militants got him out of a basement where he was held captive with other people, blindfolded the group and drove them away in a bus.

“After driving a distance, we stopped and they told us to remove the blindfolds and then they said ‘go, you are free,'” he said by phone, adding that about 25 prisoners were on the bus.

The man, who requested not to be identified, indicated that he had spent two weeks in prison for selling cigarettes.

One Mosul resident said his brother had suddenly reappeared at the house on Friday after spending a month in captivity for possessing a mobile phone.

Iraqi forces storm Abar area, recapture 2 others near Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) A Federal Police Officer announced on Saturday, that Iraqi security forces liberated two areas, and stormed another, south of Mosul. Captain Tarek Jassim said in a press statement, “Security forces liberated the areas of Bab al-Bayd and al-Farouq, after fierce battles with the Islamic State group.”

“The battles resulted in the killing of 28 members of the Islamic State, including 4 suicide bombers and a sniper,” Jassim added.

Jassim also pointed out that the security forces started to storm al-Abar area, south of Mosul, to liberate it from the control of the terrorist group.

Iraqi forces capture village, major water station near western Mosul’s Tigris bank

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi forces on Saturday became in control over a major water station and a village near the western bank of the Tigris River as fights rage on against Islamic State in the western side of Mosul. Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarallah, commander of the Joint Operations Command’s battles in Nineveh, said the army’s 16th division liberated the Khawaja Khalil village as well as the “grand water project” which feeds the eastern region which the government recaptured in January.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/12/2017 01:01 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  “Security forces will take the defense line today due to worsening weather conditions in Mosul..targets will be concentrated and (handled) via aircraft and artillery to exhaust Daesh (Islamic State)”
Posted by: Pappy || 03/12/2017 8:20 Comments || Top||

#2  hange tactics on Saturday and turn to defense in its battles against Islamic State militants

"The war is too heavy. We can no longer take it to them. They will now come to us."
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/12/2017 10:18 Comments || Top||


Anbar Operations foils IS attack on army’s headquarters near Ramadi
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Commander of Anbar Operations Major General Mahmoud al-Falahi announced on Saturday foiling an attack launched by 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....
on an army’s headquarters, west of Ramadi.

Falahi said in a press statement, "Forces from the army’s 1st brigade and coalition air force managed to foil an attack launched by the Islamic State on an army’s headquarters, west of Ramadi."

"The security forces, baked by the international coalition aircraft repulsed the attack and killed 11 members of the Islamic State group, as well as destroying three vehicles belonging to the terrorist group," Falahi added.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/12/2017 01:01 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Four IS militants killed in foiled attack east of Baiji
Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) A security source in Salahuddin revealed that security forces killed four members 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....
, after foiling the group’s attack on east of Baiji, north of Salahuddin, Alsumaria News reported on Saturday.

The source said, "Security forces foiled an attack launched by the Islamic State group on al-Fatha intersection, east of Baiji."

"Four members of the Islamic State were killed, and an unidentified number of turbans were maimed during the attack, while security forces seized large quantities of weapons in the enemy’s area," the source added on condition of anonymity.

The source also informed that seven members of al-Hashd al-Shaabi forces, that repulsed the attack, were maimed.

Earlier today, Iraqi security forces repulsed an armed attack launched by the Islamic State terrorist group on the western side of Sharqat that was liberated earlier by security forces, and killed 15 members of the group, who tried to sneak into the city.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/12/2017 01:01 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraq Battles IS in Mosul, Commander Says Resistance Weakening
[An Nahar] Iraqi special forces battled 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 on Friday in west djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, where a commander said jihadist resistance is showing signs of weakening under repeated assaults.

The jihadists are also facing simultaneous offensives in Syria by government forces, Turkish-backed rebels and a US-supported alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, piling more pressure on IS.

But the battle for Mosul's Old City -- which could see some of the toughest fighting of the operation -- has not yet begun, nor has fighting inside the city of Raqa, IS's main bastion in Syria.

Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service assaulted the al-Amil al-Oula neighbourhood of west Mosul early on Friday, and were battling the jihadists inside it, said Staff Major General Maan al-Saadi, a CTS commander.

"The enemy fought fiercely in the first defensive line from al-Ghazlani base to Wadi Hajar and to al-Sumood neighbourhood," Saadi said, referring to areas that Iraqi forces have recaptured since launching their assault on west Mosul on February 19.

But "after these neighbourhoods, after we broke the defensive line, they lost many fighters," he said.

"The enemy has begun to collapse. They have lost many of their combat capabilities. Today, the enemy sent (boom-mobiles), but not in the numbers that they sent at the beginning of the battle."

In another sign that the jihadists are feeling the squeeze, their chief His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
...formerly merely the head of ISIL and a veteran of the Bagram jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us...
was reported to have abandoned Mosul, leaving local commanders behind to oversee IS's defence of the city.

"He was in Mosul at some point before the offensive.... He left before we isolated Mosul and Tal Afar," a town to the west, a US defence official said.

Posted by: Fred || 03/12/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Knife-carrying Palestinian arrested outside Hebron’s Jewish enclave
[IsraelTimes] A knife-carrying Paleostinian man was tossed in the slammer
Please don't kill me!
by Israeli forces on Saturday outside the Jewish enclave in the West Bank city of Hebron, the army said.

The man was detained at an IDF checkpoint after soldiers found a knife in his possession.

The suspect was then handed over to security forces for questioning over suspicions he planned to carry out a terror attack.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/12/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Double suicide attack kills 40 in Damascus
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Twin kabooms Saturday near religious shrines frequented by Shiite pilgrims in the Syrian capital Damascus killed at least 40 Iraqis, Syria’s interior minister and media reported.

Syria State TV aired footage from the scene showing blood-soaked streets and several damaged buses in a parking lot, apparently where the kabooms went off near Bab al-Saghir cemetery. The cemetery is one of the capital’s most ancient and is where several prominent religious figures are buried.

Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar visited the injured in local hospitals. He said 40 were killed and 120 were maimed. He said the attacks targeted civilians, including Arab visitors, who were frequenting the shrines in the area. He didn’t elaborate, but Iraqi Shiites often visit shrines in Syria. Iranians and other Shiites from Asia are often also among the pilgrims to the area.

There were conflicting reports on what caused the kabooms. State news agency SANA said the blasts were caused by bombs placed near the cemetery and that at least 33 were killed and more than a hundred maimed.

Leb’s al-Manar TV quoted Syrian officials saying twin suicide kabooms killed 40. Arab TV al-Mayadeen said at least 40 were killed, and the area was sealed by security after the kabooms.
Update from the Times of Israel on March 15, 2017:
The blast follows twin attacks on Saturday that killed at least 40 people in Damascus. That attack was claimed by the Syria’s al-Qaeda branch, formerly known as the Nusra Front.
Posted by: Fred || 03/12/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


Lebanese-Palestinian Clashes Erupt in Bourj al-Barajneh
[An Nahar] Heavy armed festivities erupted in and around the Paleostinian refugee camp of Bourj al-Barajneh in south Beirut between the Lebanese Jaafar family and the al-Qaffas Paleostinian family, media reports said on Friday.

Media reports said at least three people were killed and several others maimed.

MTV said its cameraman Jad Abu Antoun was maimed in the leg by a ricochet gunshot during his coverage of the festivities. He was later discharged from hospital after receiving the needed treatment.

The reports said that machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades could be heard in the area.

Several roads around the area were blocked as the result of stray bullets.

After relative calm that followed the deployment of the Lebanese army, media reports said gunfire had renewed in the evening.

It has been reported that the festivities erupted against the backdrop of disputes over construction works.

"The situation is now calm and we're communicating with the army and with AMAL Movement and 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...
and we've informed them that the gunnies have been pulled from the streets," Fatah Movement's Bourj al-Barajneh official was quoted as saying.

He stressed that the incident had no political motives.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq meanwhile left a cabinet session to follow up on the situation.

Posted by: Fred || 03/12/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sort of like a mob union dispute.
Posted by: phil_b || 03/12/2017 1:04 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
21[untagged]
12Islamic State
4Sublime Porte
4Moslem Colonists
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2Taliban
2Hezbollah
2Houthis
1Jamaat ul-Ahrar
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1Narcos
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1al-Nusra

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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2017-03-12
  Double suicide attack kills 40 in Damascus
Sat 2017-03-11
  Syrian force a ‘few weeks’ from Raqqa, U.S. Marines deployed
Fri 2017-03-10
   Ax attacker at Düsseldorf main train station arrested
Thu 2017-03-09
  Baghdadi abandons Mosul fight to field commanders
Wed 2017-03-08
  IS gunmen dressed as medics kill 30 at Kabul military hospital
Tue 2017-03-07
  Mufti Hannan jailbreak attempt fails
Mon 2017-03-06
  New wave of US air raids on Qaeda in Yemen
Sun 2017-03-05
  Jordan hangs 15 death row prisoners at dawn in further break from moratorium on executions
Sat 2017-03-04
  Kurdish YPG fighters repel treacherous Turkish attack near Syria’s Afrin
Fri 2017-03-03
  Syrian Army recaptures Palmyra, aided by Russian Air Force: Kremlin
Thu 2017-03-02
  Islamic State supreme leader’s speech admits defeat in Mosul
Wed 2017-03-01
  Two women in nerve agent attack on Kim Jong-nam charged with murder
Tue 2017-02-28
  Islamic State claims attempted bombing in Algeria -AMAQ
Mon 2017-02-27
  Taliban shadow governor among 21 killed in counter-terrorism operations
Sun 2017-02-26
  Hamas Diggers Dead in Gaza Tunnel ‘Work Accident'

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