[FoxNews] The U.S. military dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday just days after a Green Beret was killed fighting ISIS there, a U.S. defense official confirmed to Fox News.
The GBU-43B, a 21,000-pound conventional bomb, was dropped on an ISIS tunnel complex in Nangarhar Province.
The MAOB -- Massive Ordinance Air Blast -- is also known as the "Mother Of All bombs." It was first tested in 2003, but hadn't been used before Thursday.
"As [ISIS'] losses have mounted, they are using IEDs, bunkers and tunnels to thicken their defense," Gen. John Nicholson, Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement. "This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against [ISIS]."
For comparison, each Tomahawk cruise missile launched at Syria last week was 1,000-pounds each.
Posted by: DarthVader ||
04/13/2017 13:07 ||
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#14
Gorb not just landing pads. The guys I knew who fought there said it was really good before moving into a jungle and tunnel area. Main benefit with an air burst was popped ear drums in the enemy. They couldn't hear you coming and folks in tunnels were jellified by the over pressure. Also it would trigger many of the traps in a tunnel making the tunnel rats life a little bit safer.
#18
Thanks for the clarification. Sounds like the MOAB is 2x the size (who says I'm too pretty to do math?) and is pretty effective for clearing out the desert rats.
Posted by: Regular joe ||
04/13/2017 17:59 Comments ||
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#23
Tanya the Evil would give this thumbs up.
They should have used her little girl voice to warn the Twats to leave or dropped warning leaflets in German about 15 minutes before the attack.
#24
I can see how an airburst adjacent to a cave with a funnel shaped mouth would cause one hell of a pressure wave for a considerable distance in the cave.
#25
Although the reverse, a small entrance opening to a large cavern would limit it's effectiveness. And I doubt they had info on the configuration of the cave.
#28
Intel guy on Fox said it would have collapsed the tunnels which are closer to the surface and ruined entries. Rubbled them. Deeper tunnels, unknown. Called it an area denial weapon in this use.
In VN, it turned out that two right angles in a tunnel stopped the blast front and sent it back out. That's why they used gasoline vaopor. It would go all through the tunnel and then you could light it.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
04/13/2017 23:07 Comments ||
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The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group offshoot militants suffered heavy casualties in Eat of Afghanistan during the latest counter-terrorism operations.
The provincial government in a statement said at least forty nine militants including three commanders of the group were killed during the past 24 hours.
The statement further added that the militants suffered the casualties during the Hamza operations being conducted in the vicinity of Achin district.
The operations were conducted with the support of the airpower as the Afghan security forces continued to their clearance operations in this district, the statement said.
Several weapons and other military kits including explosives were also destroyed during the operations.
Nangarhar is among the relatively calm provinces in eastern Afghanistan but the anti-government armed militants have recently increased their insurgency activities in some parts of the province during the recent years.
Both the Afghan and US forces based in Afghanistan are conducting regular operations to suppress the insurgency led by ISIS militants and other insurgent groups including Taliban.
The increased raids by US forces follow a broader role granted to them by the Obama administration earlier last year, a step which was taken amid concerns that the ISIS affiliates are attempting to expand foothold in Afghanistan and turn Nangarhar into their regional operational base.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/13/2017 00:00 ||
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At least seven Taliban insurgents were killed in an airstrike in eastern Laghman province of Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the airstrike was carried out by the Afghan Air Force.
According to a statement by MoD, at least seven Taliban insurgents were killed and two others were in the airstrike conducted in the vicinity of Alisheng district.
This comes a clash broke out between the Afghan forces and the Taliban insurgents in this province late on Monday in this province.
The provincial governor’s spokesman Sarhadi Zwak confirmed that four Taliban insurgents were killed during the clashes.
The provincial government in a statement said at least seven Taliban insurgents were also critically wounded during the clashes and another insurgent was arrested.
The statement further added that the clashes broke out late on Monday evening as the Afghan forces were busy conducting counter-terrorism operations as well as eradicating the opium fields.
The operations were launched six days ago under the name of Almas-2 to clear the areas in the outskirts of the provincial capital of the insurgents.
A key Taliban leader in charge of a group of at least 80 insurgents was arrested by the Afghan intelligence operatives in north of Afghanistan.
The Afghan Intelligence, National Directorate of Security (NDS), said the detained Taliban leader has been identified as Akhtar Mohammad who was also famous as Belal.
A statement by NDS said Akhtar was arrested by the intelligence operatives from the vicinity of the Jawzjan province.
The statement further added that Akhtar was involved in major terrorist attacks including attacks on convoys, government officials and civilians, roadside bombings, and kidnappings.
Akhtar confessed that he was looking to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group offshoot in Jawzjan under the leadership of Mullah Hekmatullah.
NDS said the attempt by Akhtar was reflecting the latest move by the Taliban insurgents to infiltrate the ISIS terrorist group and further expand their insurgency in the country.
Both the Taliban insurgents and militants loyal to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group are active in some parts of Jawzjan province.
This comes as at least six employees of the International Committee of Red Cross were shot dead by militants in this province last week.
Local officials said the ICRC employee
The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) personnel destroyed four large heroin factories in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Interior (MoI) in a statement said the factories were destroyed during a special military operation conducted late on Tuesday night in the vicinity of Ghani Khel district.
The statement further added that the Afghan forces also discovered 7,500 kgs of morphine, 810 kgs of ammonium chloride, 500 liters of liquid opium, and some other types of chemicals and equipment used to produce heroin.
The chemicals and equipment were all destroyed on the spot, the Ministry of Interior added.
This comes as the Afghan forces are busy conducting operations to eradicate the fields from poppy cultivation as there has been a sharp rise in opium cultivation, production and smuggling across the country during the recent months.
According to the last survey report, there has been a 43 per cent rise in opium cultivation in Afghanistan.
The survey jointly conducted by the Afghan authorities and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, around 201,000 acres of land were cultivated with opium in 2016.
The report further added that estimates show a total of 4,800 metric tons of opium will be produced in 2016.
A group of six militants involved in major terrorist attacks were arrested by the provincial intelligence directorate operatives in Kandahar.
The National Directorate of Security (NDS) in Kandahar said the militants were arrested during a special military operation after their links with the terrorists were confirmed.
A statement by Kandahar NDS said the militants were involved in major terrorist attacks in Zherai, Maiwand, and Mianshin districts.
The statement further added that the group was planning and coordinating attacks on military bases, security check posts, and logistics convoys.
The militants were also involved in the assassination of the government employees, tribal elders and other influential figures in Kandahar.
According to Kandahar NDS, the militants were kidnapping the officials and elders as well as planting roadside bombs on main roads and highways.
The identities of the detained militants have not been disclosed with NDS saying the militants have confessed to their crimes and their identities will be disclosed by the judiciary institutions once their cases are opened for trial.
Kandahar is among the relatively calm provinces where the security situation had improved during the recent years but the anti-government armed militant groups have increased their insurgency activities in some of its districts during the recent months.
At least two Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers were killed in a blast in southern Zabul province, officials from 205 Atal Military Corp said on Wednesday.
In addition, two other soldiers were injured.
The blast took place in Shenkai district of the province on Tuesday after an ANA vehicle struck an IED, officials said.
However, the officials did not provide more details about the attack.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
[SHABELLENEWS] Suspected Kenyan air force fighter jets have launched an air raid on Al shabaab controlled location near the southern port city of Kismayo ...a port city in the southern Lower Juba province of Somalia, at the extreme southern end of the country (assuming Somalia can be called a country). It is the commercial capital of the autonomous Jubaland region... on Wednesday, residents said.
The warplanes carried out the Arclight airstrike at Kanjaron area, located some 60Km south of Kismayo, targeting Al shabaab training and logistics bases, according to the locals.
There has been reports of civilians casualties as result of the aerial bombardment.
It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack which caused heavy loss of civilian and livestock lives, but Kenyan forces serving with AMISOM conducted such raids in the past.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2017 00:00 ||
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[SHABELLENEWS] Reports reaching us from Mudug region of central Somalia indicate that security forces have freed 8 Indian crew following an operation near the coastal city of Hobyo on Wednesday.
An official said Indian sailors were rescued after 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... regional forces attacked their pirate captors in Adalle, a small village located in the outskirts of the port town of Hobyo.
According to the security official, the hostages were taken to land after a clash on Monday between Somali forces and pirates over the Indian ship M.S.V. Al Kausar.
The official spoke to Radio Shabelle via phone on condition of anonymity because he was authorized to speak to the media on the matter.
The pirates took the eight hostages, leaving behind two other crew members after they were attacked by Somali forces who rescued the Indian Cargo ship that was hijacked in March 31.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2017 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] With Copts under attack, forces dispatched outside places of worship across country for festival celebrations.
Outside of Cairo’s St. Mark’s Cathedral, the seat of the Coptic Orthodox Pope, a dozen high-ranking coppers are stationed on all entrances, searching cars and scanning the area, as security measures are visibly beefed up outside churches before Easter prayers on Sunday.
The usually festive occasion is tainted with fearful apprehension after twin bombings in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria killed 45 people this week at churches on Palm Sunday, which marks the start of the Coptic Christian Holy Week.
The increased security measures on display outside churches across the country are meant to restore a sense of security for Egypt’s Copts amid a war on the embattled minority declared by the Islamist State group, which claimed Sunday’s bombings. However, Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... the enhanced security can do little against the effect of repeated attacks on Coptic churches in recent years.
Egypt’s Ministry of Interior announced on Wednesday the identity of the Alexandria church bomber, saying that he belongs to the same terrorist cell that carried out the December bombing of a chapel adjacent to Egypt’s main cathedral. The ministry identified the suicide bomber as Mahmoud Hassan Mubarak Abdallah, a 30-year-old worker at a petroleum company, and published his picture. It also published names and pictures of others identified as runaway members of the same cell, offering LE100 thousand ($5,510) for leads on their whereabouts. The Health Ministry said six Moslems were among the dead in Alexandria.
Outside of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Cairo’s central downtown area, a military tank is stationed with five soldiers on top -- one of the more overt manifestations of President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi’s declaration of a three-month state of emergency.
In the southern city of Assiut, security barriers closed off an area of about 100-meters around large churches. A local security source told the AP that agents will be dispersed ahead of Sunday’s prayers and a special unit will be formed at the security directorate to receive reports about suspicious individuals in the vicinity of churches. A military source said that troops have started patrolling the city and will be stationed across town before Sunday. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to brief the media.
In the neighboring city of Minya, home to the highest Coptic Christian population in the country, the Coptic Orthodox Diocese said that celebrations will only be limited to the liturgical prayers "without any festive manifestations," in mourning for Sunday’s victims.
Peter Naggar, a Coptic lawyer, saw the enhanced security around churches as an effort to appease Copts, many of whom blame the state for failing to protect them. In the Tanta attack, the bomber was able to enter the church and reach the front rows before blowing himself up.
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 continues to target security in the Sinai Peninsula almost daily while carrying out sporadic operations in mainland Egypt. According to SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks online activity of holy warriors, the IS-affiliated Amaq news agency announced on Tuesday that the group has killed 172 soldiers in Sinai since the beginning of the year.
The latest church bombings deal another blow to Egypt’s struggling tourism industry, which has suffered from political instability and a fragile security situation since the 2011 uprising. The U.S. issued a travel warning on Wednesday, advising its nationals in Egypt to stay away from places of worship for the next two weeks and to avoid crowds as long as they remain in the country.
Egypt's Ministry of Interior said that Mahmoud Hassan Mubarak Abdallah was born in Upper Egypt's Qena and resided in Suez governorate.
The ministry said that Abdallah was an associate of Amr Saad Abbas Ibrahim, a runaway who is the leader of a terrorist cell that orchestrated last December's deadly suicide kaboom of Cairo's St Peter and St Paul's Church, which killed 29 worshipers, mostly women and kiddies.
[AlAhram] Egypt's Catholic and Anglican churches have decided to cancel Easter celebrations on Saturday night after the two deadly suicide kabooms that hit Mar Girgis Cathedral in Tanta and St Mark's Cathedral in Alexandria on Palm Sunday.
Father Andrea Zaki, the head of the Anglican community in Egypt, said Easter celebrations will be cancelled and masses will be limited to prayer services in mourning of the victims of the attacks.
The secretary of Egypt's Coptic Catholic Church Emmanuel Ayad said on Wednesday that the Catholic Church has also decided to cancel Easter celebrations in solidarity with sister churches and the families of those killed in the attacks.
On Tuesday, the secretary of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church Bishop Rafael announced the cancelation of Easter celebrations and the limiting of Saturday night masses to prayers, with a reception of mourners on Sunday.
Christians are set to celebrate Easter in masses across the country's churches on Saturday night.
The acting head of the Tripoli Civil Registry Authority, Khalid Bibas was confirmed today as having been kidnapped by militias in Tripoli yesterday. Another colleague was also reported to have been taken away by an armed group.
The CRA went as far as naming the Bab Tajura brigade as their kidnappers. They accused them of haggling with him for a price in exchange for Bibas handing over access to the country’s civil registry database.
However, other sources have rubbished the reason for his ‘’arrest’’, saying that he and another colleague are accused of corruption and misuse of the civil registry database and are simply being questioned.
In Libya’s current polarized political division, weak central authority and security apparatus, it is unclear what the truth is. However, what is clear is that both the CRA and its staff have been frequent targets as a result of their sensitive and pivotal position.
Equally, the incident is symbolic of Libya’s current state of affairs. If Bibas was to be arrested, it could have been handled through the use of uniformed police rather than the reported ‘‘militias’’. Thereafter, if he has any charges to face, the Public Prosecutor’s Office would be expected to make an official public announcement.
The CRA is the basis and database of births, deaths, marriages and identity in Libya, and hence the basis of the National ID Number, a family book (Libyan nationality) ID cards, driving licences and passports.
In January this year, the Beida CRA had, for example, announced that it had discovered more than 4,000 forged documents.
The importance of the control and integrity of the CRA database has national and global ramifications. The ability to adjust the database can give access to duplicate or false Libyan state-sector salaries and false IDs and passports for those with possible terrorist motives.
It will be recalled that the CRA has been at the centre of a huge political battle as both political wings in the Libyan conflict have attempted to take control of the organization.
This battle has been witnessed in Tripoli as various militias and political streams have attempted to infiltrate the CRA. In the first week of January, the CRA was attacked again by armed militias in an effort to put in place an alternative manager at its Tripoli headquarters in the Drebi district of the capital.
In October last year, another armed attack on the headquarters in Tripoli led to the death of its acting manager. In 2015, four CRA IT engineers (two Libyans and two foreigners) were kidnapped by armed militias in Tripoli in an effort to coerce them into giving their kidnappers access to the CRA database.
The internationally recognized government of the time said that it feared the kidnappers intended access to CRA database in order to issue forged IDs, passports or Libyan nationalities.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/13/2017 00:00 ||
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Cairo – Armed militiamen attacked the house of Al-Seddiq Al-Kabeer, Governor of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) in Tripoli. On the other hand, fierce clashes erupted between the Libyan National Army under the command of General Khalifa Haftar and the internationally-backed Government of National Accord headed by Libya Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj.
Forces aligned with a U.N.-backed government in Tripoli said on Monday that three of their men had been killed in air raids against a desert air base by rivals allied with eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar.
The armed group broke into Kabeer’s house in Nufiliyeen area in Tripoli in an endeavor to kidnap the governor, security sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. Perpetrators broke and entered the household holding the governor’s family members hostage, as well as appropriating some legal documents.
Although the attack targeted Kabeer, the militiamen failed to kidnap the governor since he was not at the household during the time of the theft and kidnap. No party rose to claim responsibility for the attack targeting the official responsible for regulating Libya’s national currency.
Footage Asharq Al-Awsat looked into writings on the household’s walls demanding the governor’s resignation.
Kabeer was said to be in Malta on Monday when his house came under attack, he attended a Valletta meeting on Friday between the governors of the European Central Banks and the Governors of the North African and Mediterranean Banks, the CBL official website reported.
They discussed during the meeting the experiences of these countries in the role of monetary policy and the framework of financial policies under the current regional and global economic conditions.
CBL employees issued a statement condemning the attacks and saying they was part of a series of systematic jabs seeking to down the national bank and undermine public institutions.
Since 2014, loose and shifting military alliances based in the east and west of Libya have been engaged in a stop-start conflict which the GNA has been unable to resolve.
The oil-producing North African state slipped into turmoil during the 2011 uprising that ended Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year-old and has been riven by factional strife since then.
The struggle for control around Tamanhent air base 30 km (19 miles) northeast of Sabha risks escalating into a major confrontation between forces officially linked to the Government of National Accord (GNA) and Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA).
Haftar is aligned with an eastern parliament and government that have spurned the GNA since it arrived in the capital Tripoli, in the far west of the country, a year ago.
His forces have been extending their reach along Libya’s central Mediterranean coastline and into the desert regions of Jufra and Sabha, and say they also intend to take control of Tripoli.
After an LNA strike against Tamanhent last week the GNA warned of the risk of civil war and said it was mobilizing forces to repel the attack.
Tamanhent is controlled by a force from Misrata, a militarily powerful western city that has backed the GNA. Air strikes on Monday killed three men stationed there and wounded at least one more, according to Mohamed al-Gasri, a spokesman for the defense ministry in Tripoli.
An eastern military source said there had also been ground clashes around Samnu, about 50 km northeast of Sabha. A medical source in Sabha said three LNA troops had been killed.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/13/2017 00:00 ||
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[FOXNEWS] Senegal ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... ese police say authorities have tossed in the clink ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... a suspected recruiter for the Nigeria-based 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... Islamic murderous Moslem group.
Police said Wednesday they arrested the Nigerian on April 1 in a Dakar suburb. Police said the suspect was known to Nigerian intelligence services and had been in Mauritania for some months before coming to Senegal to recruit on behalf of Boko Haram.
Senegal police also said they arrested two Moroccans at the international airport who had been linked to 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. The two men, who police said came from a Syrian refugee camp in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , denied association with the murderous Moslem group. Police said they came to Senegal for its proximity to Morocco.
Senegal has increased security following major attacks by al-Qaeda-linked turbans in Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and will leave office feet first, one way or the other... , Ivory Coast and Mali.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2017 00:00 ||
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[RT] Nigeria’s secret police have thwarted a plot by Death Eater Islamist group 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... to launch attacks on the UK and US embassies in the capital Abuja, the country’s Department of State Services (DSS) has said in a statement.
The DSS says it has locked away Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! five people who had planned terrorist attacks on the embassies, as well as other Western "interests," to take place on March 25 and 26.
The forces reportedly uncovered the plot as they dismantled an 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, formerly ISIS/ISIS)-linked cell based in Benue State and Federal Capital Territory.
The statement, signed by DSS official Tony Opuiyo, said: "The group had perfected plans to attack the UK and American Embassies and other western interests in Abuja."
Boko Haram, a terrorist organization based in northeast Nigeria ... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border... , has led an eight-year insurgency in the country.
While some of those kidnapped later managed to escape, and 21 were released thanks to government negotiations, more than 200 remain missing.
In its statement, the DSS also said that on March 22 it arrested a 20-year-old Boko Haram member from the town of Fika, in the Yobe State of Nigeria, who admitted involvement in the holy warrior group’s activities.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2017 00:00 ||
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Riyadh, Jeddah- Yemen’s government said on Tuesday a Houthi decision taken two days ago to establish a so-called new Dar al-Fatwa and appoint a new rebel mufti, who studied and grew up in the religious academies of Qom and Tehran, reveals that the plan of insurgents in Yemen has sectarian and racial grounds.
On Monday night, the so-called Houthi political council appointed Shams al-Din Mohammad Sharaf al-Din as the Mufti of Yemen instead of Judge Mohammed bin Ismail al-Omrani.
Yemeni Minister of Endowments or Awqaf Ahmed Attiyah told Asharq Al-Awsat that this decision is a further step in the bad records of Houthis and Saleh rebels.
The Yemeni minister said: “We had preferred that the religious institutions stay away from this conflict. We thought the coup was political and military. But through this decision, they have also hurt the religion and legitimate institutions.”
Attiyah also warned that the new appointment would pave way for other fatwas that could spill blood and money based on sectarian grounds.
The minister accused Iran of interfering in Yemen’s Sharia law. “We, at the Awqaf ministry, have a general mufti and a Dar al-Fatwa, therefore, we do not recognize this new rebellious authority.”
Attiyah said the Yemeni Awqaf ministry fully rejects the Houthi decision, which the minister described as being “part of the coup and unconstitutional.”
He told the newspaper that according to the constitution, the president has the sole right to form a new Fatwa authority.
“The new mufti studied in Qom and Tehran, and he was raised in the auspices of Iranian mullahs,” Attiyah said.
Meanwhile, the Yemeni government confirmed that the Socotra Island would remain under Yemen’s sovereignty, denying rumors spread by Houthi media outlets about leasing the island to the UAE.
It's all that dribbling of green goo. Khat requires a lot of water for successful cultivation, too.
Jeddah – Yemeni areas under insurgency control continue to register deteriorating humanitarian conditions, with worsening water supply shortages. The internationally backed government estimated that eight Houthi-held areas have poor water supply.
With every day that passes by Yemenis locked in Houthi-held areas face worsening survival conditions with access to drinkable water dropping. High levels of contamination of water sources have been recorded.
The water supply and sanitation ministry in Yemen refrained from declaring a state of emergency, in an aim to curb the outbreak of panic and further disorder in the war-torn country.
Partnered with international bodies, the ministry will spare no effort in the quest to containing the crisis.
Most of the areas suffering water shortages are located in Tihamah which is a Red Sea coastal plain stretching from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Bab el Mandeb Strait, government official Hibatalllah Saghir Sharim told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Parched tracts of land include Hajjah Governorate, Hodeida, and Sana’a districts all of which are held under Iran-aligned Houthi militias, the official said.
Local authorities have sent out a cry of help warning the human catastrophe right around the corner.
Water pumping has dropped by a disastrous 50 percent in militia-held areas, the government has been working day and night to enhance water provisions to districts in need. However, water supplies pumped or channeled to insurgency areas are appropriated by militiamen to be sold at rocketing prices to impoverished civilians.
Sharim said that ministerial staffs have contacted a number of international parties officially relaying the growing fears for civilians entrapped in coup-held areas. Some organizations have responded positively to the call for help.
The only challenge remaining at hand is delivering aid and humanitarian assistance to people undergoing a hostile and oppressive insurgency rule.
Yemen will soon be facing the worst drought in almost 70 years with a significant risk of starvation leading to “mass deaths”, the United Nations refugee agency had also warned.
Four countries – Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen – stand on the brink of a new humanitarian crisis brought about by drought and famine.
A coup-run court has sentenced to death Yahya Al-Jubaihi, a journalist who was abducted from his house in Sanaa, Yemen last September, said the Saudi news agency SPA.
Yemeni sources said the court ruled to execute Jubaihi, for fabricated and forged accusations.
“The ruling was sudden and unexpected,” the sources said.
Jubaihi was not previously offered a hearing or given the right to appoint a lawyer, the sources added.
Jubaihi is a member of the Arab journalists union and the Yemeni journalists trade union and works as lecturer at the Faculty of Information, University of Sana’a. In the 80s, he served as freelancer and appointed as media counselor at the Yemeni cabinet secretariat general.
In 2015, Iran-allied Houthis staged a nationwide coup to topple the internationally recognized government headed by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.
Serving a foreign expansionist agenda, Houthi forces controlling the capital Sana’a and allied with forces loyal to the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh have clashed with forces loyal to the government of Hadi, based in Aden.
After taking over Sana’a, the Houthi-led Supreme Revolutionary Committee declared a general mobilization to overthrow Hadi and further their control by driving into southern provinces.
Terror group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and ISIS have also carried out attacks, with AQAP controlling swathes of territory in the hinterlands, and along stretches of the coast.
The civil conflict has escalated so that over 21 million people, or around 80 percent of Yemen’s population, are in need of humanitarian aid, the United Nations says.
KHARTOUM: The Sudanese Army said on Tuesday that five of its troops have been killed while fighting for the Saudi-led Arab coalition against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Khartoum joined the coalition in 2015 after breaking decades-old ties with Tehran.
“We have lost five martyrs including an officer, and 22 others have been wounded,” army spokesman Brig. Ahmed Khalifa Al-Shami said in a statement.
He said Sudanese forces had completed on Tuesday their “first stage of duty” in Yemen and were now preparing to launch the second stage.
“Our troops in Yemen have captured all the areas targeted in the first stage, inflicted big losses on the enemy and are holding many prisoners of war,” Khalifa said.
Separately, Yemeni security and military officials said forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognized president have launched an attack on the Houthis around the southeastern port city of Al-Mokha, unleashing heavy fighting that has killed some 38 fighters from both sides.
They said Wednesday that the fighting began a day earlier and was supported by the Saudi-led coalition.
The military officials say troops loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi aim to take the area’s key port at Al-Hodeida.
[Dhaka Tribune] Police have detained a suspected Lion of Islam from Kadirganj area of Rajshahi district.
The identity of the detainee is yet to be ascertained.
Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) Spokesperson Senior Assistant Police Commissioner Eftekharul Alam said they cordoned off an eight-storey building around 12:15am on Thursday.
RMP Deputy Commissioner Nahidul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune: "We detained the suspected Lion of Islam from the seventh floor of the building and recovered Tk11 lakh from his possession but we did not find any explosives.
"He rented the house four months ago but did fill up the tenant form."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2017 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (IS)
[DAWN] Bangladesh hanged three Islamist murderous Moslems including the leader of a banned Lion of Islam outfit on Wednesday, after they were sentenced to death over a 2004 grenade attack on the British ambassador.
The authorities hanged Mufti Abdul Hannan, the leader of Harkatul Jihad Al Islami (HuJI Founded in 1984 by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Aktar. The Bangla branch was established in 1992 with assistance from Osama bin Laden. Recruits come mostly from Deobandi madrassahs. HuJI and Fazlur Rehman Khalil are signators of bin Laden's declaration of war on the west. ), and one of his associates at Kashimpur prison just outside Dhaka and another associate in a jail in the northeastern city of Sylhet, home minister Asaduzzaman Khan said. "They were hanged at 10 pm (1600 GMT)," he said.
The three were sentenced to death in 2008 for the grenade attack four years earlier at a 14th-century Sufi shrine in Sylhet, which killed three people and injured the British high commissioner at the time.
Bangladesh’s highest court last month upheld the death sentence, rejecting the final appeals by Hannan and the two associates, Delwar Hossain and Sharif Shahedul Islam.
They had sought clemency from the Bangladesh president in a last-ditch attempt to commute the execution orders to life sentences, but he rejected their pleas.
A madressah teacher who studied in India and Pakistain, Hannan, 60, fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan before returning to join HuJI, a group founded for jihadists who fought in that war.
Prosecutors said Hannan had headed HuJI since the late 1990s, criminal masterminding deadly attacks on a church, secular gatherings, and mosques used by Islam’s minority sects.
In August 2004, in one of the country’s deadliest Lion of Islam attacks, he criminal masterminded the blasts at a political rally of the current Prime Minister the loathesome Sheikh Hasina ...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums.. outside her party office in central Dhaka.
Hasina, then leader of the opposition, narrowly survived what she said was an liquidation attempt. At least 22 people were killed and more than 100 were maimed.
By the time Hannan was tossed in the slammer Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! in late 2005, more than 100 people had been killed in attacks he orchestrated across the Moslem-majority nation.
HuJI was the first Islamist Lion of Islam outfit to emerge in Bangladesh, and rose to prominence as Hannan escalated its deadly operations under his leadership.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2017 00:00 ||
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[RT] Government-owned postal service PostNord has halted mail delivery to some addresses near the immigrant-dominated Stockholm suburb of Rinkeby ‐ a "no-go zone" known for frequent riots, car burnings and a recent attack on police pursuing a terrorist suspect.
"There has been trouble in the area, and we have put in place protective measures to ensure the safety of our employees," Maria Ibsen, PostNord’s spokesperson, told several local media outlets after they reported the story.
The joint Swedish-Danish-owned postal company decided to stop delivering mail, packages, and leaflets to 200 households in the district of Hjulsta adjacent to Rinkeby on the outskirts of the Swedish capital on March 29. Ibsen admitted that local residents, who were now forced to pick up their mail from a nearby post office branch between the hours of 7 and 10 am, had repeatedly complained since then.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
Ibsen admitted that local residents, who were now forced to pick up their mail from a nearby post office branch between the hours of 7 and 10 am
Turn in miscreants and that problem goes away. BTW, that's the SOP in case of a strike of postal workers in the US, you go to the local post office and pick up your mail. Details in a DoD oplan (which hasn't been dusted off and looked at in generations).
[RT] German police say that two people suspected of involvement in Tuesday’s bombing near the Borussia Dortmund team bus have an Islamist background. The federal public prosecutor also confirmed that the explosives used contained metal shards.
Police have searched the apartments of both suspects, one of whom has been placed in durance vile Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! , the prosecutor confirmed Wednesday. Officials are attempting to secure an arrest warrant for the second suspect.
A spokesperson for the public prosecutor, Frauke Koehler, said shrapnel from the bombs used in the attack traveled more than 100 meters (330ft) and contained metal pins which had pierced a headrest of a bus seat.
The team bus was severely damaged in the blast, which police are treating as a terrorist attack "based on the facts of the crime," however the exact motive remains unclear, according to a police statement.
Three letters were found at the scene of the blast, the nature of which led Sherlocks to believe the attackers may have an Islamic background. Earlier reports from German media claimed one of the letters opened with: "In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful."
Police confirmed the letter calls for the withdrawal of German Tornado aircraft from Syria and the closure of the American airbase at Ramstein.
Another letter posted online, which also grabbed credit for the attack, came from a group with "left-wing holy warrior background" police said. An investigation into the post, however, cast "considerable doubts about the authenticity" of the claim.
Three bombs hidden behind a hedge went off near the Borussia Dortmund team bus on Tuesday evening as the team made its way to a Champions League quarter-final game against Monaco.
Dortmund’s center back Marc Bartra was the only person to suffer injuries in the blast, with his arm and hand affected. He has since undergone surgery, according to the club.
The fixture has been rescheduled for Wednesday evening.
German police searched properties belonging to 'two suspects from the Islamist spectrum' on Wednesday and placed in durance vile Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! a 25-year-old Iraqi man from Wuppertal - not far from Dortmund - meaning another man is still on the loose.
The second suspect is a German, aged 28, from Froenderburg, near Unna, also in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
They have both reportedly been on the police and intelligence services radar for affiliation to ISIS while it has been claimed that one of them was seen in the vicinity of the scene of the crime shortly before the pipe shrapnel bombs were detonated.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
They need to use a daisy cutter on the now go area to change minds....and bodies..
Ankara – Turkish security forces arrested 20 ISIS suspects during two separate raids in Konya and Adana on Tuesday.
Counter-terror forces arrested 14 people in a security operation against ISIS in Konya, according to security sources.
Konya has witnessed a number of anti-terror campaigns targeting ISIS militants after a terrorist attack that was carried out by Uzbek national Abdulkadir Masharipov on Reina nightclub in Istanbul on New Year’s Eve that led to the death of 39 people and injured dozens.
During these raids, security forces have arrested dozens of those related to the perpetrator of the terrorist attack and most of them were from Central Asia.
Moreover, Turkish security forces arrested 6 suspects during a security operation against ISIS in Adana while 10 others are still on the run.
Security sources said that Turkish anti-terrorism police raided number of addresses in Adana city center that were specified earlier in the framework of efforts exerted to combat ISIS.
Turkish Security forces have launched a series of security operations targeting ISIS during the past few months and arrested hundreds of foreign ISIS militants.
Among those arrested were some Iraqi, Lebanese and Syrian nationals in Adana, who intended to sneak to Europe and carry out terrorist attacks there.
ISIS terrorist organization has already claimed responsibility for a number of terrorist assaults that have resulted in many casualties in Turkey throughout 2016 and earlier this year.
In a common matter, the Consulate General of Russia in Istanbul asked the Turkish authorities for information on deportation of Akbarjon Jalilova, who carried out the terrorist attack in St. Petersburg metro last week.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/13/2017 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Part time chef and cancer treatment center worker seen posing with IS flag, tossed in the clink by undercover agents on way to join terror group in Syria.
More idiots caught by the FBI before they could be properly seduced into causing real trouble by real ISIS or Al Qaeda agents.
Two suburban reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown ... home of Al Capone, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel,... men who posed for photos holding a black 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.... Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/13/2017 00:32 ||
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At least three people were injured in a blast in Gwadar city on Wednesday evening.
Police officials said the “miscreants targeted three civilians on Gwadar airport road”.
They added the improvised explosive device (IED) was planted in a motorcycle parked on the side of a road.
The injured were shifted to District Headquarters Hospital Gwadar for medical treatment. The blast also partially damaged shops located in the area.
Police and personnel of other law enforcement agencies reached the site of the blast and started their investigation.
Chief Minister Balochistan Nawab Sanaullah Zehri condemned the blast and directed the police to submit a report in this regard.
"We would not bow down before terrorists targeting innocent civilians,” said Zehri while adding the perpetrators of the blast would be brought to justice.
Security was beefed up in and around Gwadar city after the blast.
Balochistan has been experiencing incidents of violence and targeted killings for over a decade. The largest province of the country by area, is home to a insurgency by ethnic Baloch separatists.
Al Qaeda-linked and sectarian militants also operate in the region. The province shares borders with Afghanistan and Iran.
[Iraq News] Iraqi Intelligence Service announced, on Wednesday, that six elite leaders 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.... were either killed or maimed by a US-led coalition air strike, while pointed out that these members are occupying important media positions in the so-called Wilayat Baghdad and Wilayat al-Janub.
The intelligence Service released a statement saying that the international coalition air force, based on accurate information obtained from Iraqi National Intelligence Service, conducted an air strike, targeting a vehicle carrying a number of the Islamic State members.
The air strike resulted in the killing of the terrorist Abu Hajar al-Ghareri, the media official of the so-called Wilayat al-Janub, media official of al-Hamza axis the terrorist Abu Ibrahim and the terrorist Abu al-Khattab, as well as wounding two other members, the statement added.
Furthermore, the air strike also resulted in the injury of Mohanad Abbas, also known as Abu Saif, the media official of the so-called Wilayat Baghdad.
The Intelligence Service did not reveal the location that was bombarded by the international coalition aircraft.
Noteworthy, US-led coalition is conducting air strikes, since more than two years, on the Islamic State headquarters and hideouts in Iraq and Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2017 00:00 ||
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Basra (IraqiNews.com) A security source in Basra revealed that one person was killed, while four others were wounded in an armed tribal clash, north of the province, Alsumaria News reported on Wednesday.
The source said that a person was killed and four others were wounded in a dispute between two tribes in al-Shafi area, in al-Qurnah District, adding that one of the wounded was only passing in the area during the armed clash.
Security forces from the police’s emergency brigade and Basra Operations Commando brigade interfered to end the clash between the two tribes, the source added on condition of anonymity.
The province of Basra is relatively stable, but it witnesses tribal clashes and disputes since 2003, due to social conflicts.
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi government forces have announced resumption of military operations in Central Mosul, after being suspended for few days.
“Military operations were resumed in Central Mosul with support from U.S.-led coalition jets,” Maj. Gen. Najm al-Jubouri, head of the Joint Operations Command’s Mosul operations told BasNews on Wednesday. “Troops are opening safe passageways to get civilians out of the battlefields.”
“Sporadic confrontations started early on the day between the troops and Islamic State militants in Mosul’s Old City,” he added.
“Eight IS members were killed, dozens were injured in Central Mosul,” Jubouri said.
On Tuesday, local sources were quoted by Shafaaq News as saying that IS started to forcibly evacuate residents out of al-Saa, Serjkhana, Bab Jadid and Bab al-Beed in the Old City toward the neighboring districts of Mashahda and Zanjili.
However, Commanders from the Iraqi side and the allied U.S.-led coalition accused IS of using civilians in Mosul as human shields since operations launched in October to retake the city. Security troops were prompted to change tactics and slow down the pace at many occasions to ensure safety of civilians.
On Monday, the Federal Police Chief Lt. Gen. Shaker Jawdat said its troops brought down 60 percent of IS defenses around the Old City.
Eastern Mosul was recaptured in January after three months of fighting. Another offensive was launched mid February to retake the western region.
Troops have been struggling to fully retake central Mosul’s Old City, a densely-populated and structured area which generals view as vital for victory over IS.
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Interior Ministry’s Rapid Response Forces announced arrival of Al-Raad combat force at Mosul’s Old City, coming from Baghdad.
Captain Adnan al-Khafaji, from the ministry forces, was quoted by Middle East Online as saying that Al-Raad force arrived few days ago in the Old City. “The force, along with Federal Police and the Rapid Response Forces started on Tuesday raiding the Old City amid fierce resistance by the Islamic State militants.”
“Al-Raad force is well-trained on street wars as well as protecting civilians and their properties,” he added.
Khafaji revealed that “suspending the operations helped IS reinforce its fighting capabilities and develop confrontation methods.”
Previously on Tuesday, Maj. Gen. Najm al-Jubouri, head of the Joint Operations Command’s Mosul Operations indicated opened safe passageways to get civilians out of the battlefields as sporadic confrontations started earlier on the day between the troops and IS in the Old City.
On Monday, the Federal Police Chief Lt. Gen. Shaker Jawdat said its troops brought down 60 percent of IS defenses around the Old City.
Eastern Mosul was recaptured in January after three months of fighting. Another offensive was launched mid February to retake the western region.
Troops have been struggling to fully retake central Mosul’s Old City, a densely-populated and structured area which generals view as vital for victory over IS.
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi security forces lost 34 personnel of multiple ranks during encounters with Islamic State militants in western Mosul over the past 18 days, according to a senior army officer.
Col. Salman Okashat, from the army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Forces, told Anadolu Agency that those fell down during operations to recapture the districts of Yarmouk and Matahen, which troops took over recently.
Okashat said 76 other security members were wounded during the battles, adding that the forces were currently aiming at three other districts in the same scope of operations.
Iraqi government troops, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary forces, recaptured eastern Mosul in January after three months of fighting, and launched a renewed offensive in February to retake the western region.
The Joint Operations Command said Tuesday that Islamic State militants were only in control over 6.8 percent of territory of Iraq.
The Iraqi Joint Operations Command, which spearheads the campaign against IS in Mosul, has never given official tallies of its victims, and reports in that respect have relied on sporadic counts by officers in the field.
Late March, the U.S. Central Command said 284 Iraqi troopers were killed since operations began in western Mosul, while 490 were killed during battles for the east. The Iraqi command had dismissed the numbers as exaggerated.
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Seventeen Islamic State members were killed on Wednesday in west of Mosul, the Iraqi army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Forces (ICTF) declared.
“The forces raided al-Abar area killing 17 IS members,” Major Ali Mohsen, of ICTF, told BasNews. “Security troops arrested six IS female members of different Arab nationalities, working for the so-called hisbah (vigilantism) office in the region.”
“Troops liberated around 40 percent of Al-Abar region,” he said adding that battles are still ongoing.
Meanwhile, Abdul-Ghani al-Assadi, commander of the army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Forces, said that the special forces stormed two districts of al-Abar and al-Tanak in western Mosul to drive IS out.
On Monday, Assadi said the forces completed “two thirds” of missions assigned to them as part of the Mosul liberation campaign, taking over 28 districts out of 38 on their targets list.
Iraqi government forces announced earlier on Wednesday resumption of military operations in Central Mosul, after being suspended for few days.
Federal Police Chief Lt. Gen. Shaker Jawdat said on Monday that its troops brought down 60 percent of IS defenses around the Old City.
Eastern Mosul was recaptured in January after three months of fighting. Another offensive was launched mid February to retake the western region.
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Fifteen Islamic State militants were killed in an airstrike in al-Hadar region in Nineveh, western Mosul, according to Iraqi government.
In a statement, the Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell said on Wednesday that “an airstrike targeted a gathering of IS militants in al-Shaihan village, al-Hadar area, depending on federal investigations and information.”
“The raid left 15 IS militants including three leaders killed including security and administrative officials of the so-called Wilayat al-Jazeera. Others were injured as they were intending to launch attack at several areas,” the statement added.
The army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) declared storming two districts of al-Abar and al-Tanak in western Mosul. 17 IS members were killed, while six female members of different Arab nationalities were wounded.
Iraqi government forces announced earlier on Wednesday resumption of military operations in Central Mosul, after being suspended for few days.
Eastern Mosul was recaptured in January after an offensive was launched in October by the Iraqi forces and the U.S.-led coalition. Another offensive was launched in mid-February to retake the west.
Battles in the west are believed to be much more difficult due to the density of residential areas and the high number of civilians who the commanders believe are used as human shields by IS members.
Tikrit (IraqiNews.com) Al-Hashd al-Shaabi Media Directorate announced, on Wednesday, arresting 12 suicide bombers, who sneaked from the city of Mosul to the city of Tikrit.
The media directorate said in a statement that forces from al-Hashd al-Shaabi’s 41st brigade carried out a proactive operation, based on intelligence information, in the areas of Zweirija and Wadi al-Yabes, on borders between Tikrit and Ramadi.
The operation resulted in arresting 12 terrorists of the Islamic State, the statement explained.
The terrorists were coming from al-Hadar area in Mosul, and wearing explosive belts, the statement further added.
Members of the Islamic State are frequently trying to sneak into Salahuddin, to violate the security situation in the province, while security forces are trying to repulse their attacks and kill many of them.
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Ministry of Defense announced, on Wednesday, killing 20 terrorists of the Islamic State group, and destroying a 23mm cannon by an air strike carried out by the Army Aviation, in western Mosul.
The ministry said in a brief statement that the Army Aviation carried out an air strike on al-Sabuniyah area, in western Mosul, killing 20 Islamic State’s militants, as well as destroying a 23mm Cannon.
Noteworthy, joint security forces are carrying out extensive military operations to recapture western Mosul from the Islamic State terrorist group, after liberating the eastern side of the city last January.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/13/2017 00:00 ||
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Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Five persons were killed and injured due to a bomb blast that occurred at al-Madaen district, southeast of Baghdad.
“A bomb, placed near a market in al-Wardiya region in Madaen district, exploded on Wednesday leaving one person killed and four others wounded,” a security source told Al-Ghad Press.
“Security troops cordoned off the blast spot preventing approach of civilians,” the source added.
According to United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), violence in the country left 1115 casualties, excluding security members, during March. Baghdad was the second most affected province with 84 deaths and 246 injuries, according to the organization’s monthly casualty count.
Islamic State militants said they had been behind some bloody explosions and attacks that hit the capital in the past months, leaving casualties among civilians and security troops. However, several blasts are not followed by a claim of responsibility
IS members are believed to be escalating attacks in Baghdad and other provinces to shift attention from, and make up for losses in, the city of Mosul, where a U.S.-backed security campaign has been running since October to recapture IS’s largest stronghold in Iraq. Security commentators are afraid that, even after the recapture of Mosul, IS will continue to represent a security threat through guerrilla-style and lone-wolf attacks waged by dormant cells.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/13/2017 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Lawmaker Ahmed Attoun joins 13 other Paleostinian politicians in Israeli custody; front man for Gazoo terror group also picked up near Ramallah.
Israeli security forces tossed in the slammer Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! a Paleostinian parliamentarian and a front man from the Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, terror group in the West Bank city of Ramallah early Wednesday morning, reports in Hebrew and Arabic language media said.
Ahmed Attoun, a Hamas politician and member of the Paleostinian Legislative Council, was picked up by Israel Defense Forces soldiers at his al-Bireh home during the arrest raid. Hamas front man Fayez Abu Wardeh was also arrested at his Ramallah home overnight.
An East Jerusalem native, Attoun was previously arrested by Israel for his involvement in Hamas politics, and was exiled to the West Bank after his release a year later from jail in 2011. He joins 13 other Paleostinian politicians currently in Israeli custody, according to reports.
In a statement, the IDF said it arrested suspects wanted for security-related offenses in Qalandiya, al-Bireh and Hebron, and the three were handed over for questioning. It was not immediately known if Attoun and Abu Wardeh were among the three. One of those arrested is suspected of throwing rocks at vehicles on West Bank roads and taking part in violent protests against Israeli troops, the army said.
Last month, Israel arrested Hamas MP Samira Halayka in the West Bank city of Hebron. The Shin Bet at the time confirmed Halayka’s arrest, but would not say what she was suspected of doing.
The Gazoo-based terrorist group won a majority of seats in the Paleostinian legislature during the 2006 elections, sparking a violent clash with Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... ’s Fatah party, its political rival and rulers of the West Bank.
Reconciliation attempts over the years since have repeatedly failed. Earlier this year, the PA said the repeatedly delayed local elections in the West Bank and Gazoo would take place on May 13. According to local opinion polls and political experts, Hamas -- which has been enjoying unusual popularity in the West Bank and remains well-supported in Gazoo -- is expected to make significant gains in the elections.
[Jpost] An air strike on Tuesday by a US-led coalition fighting Islamic State mistakenly killed 18 members of the Syrian Democratic Forces south of the city of Tabqa, Syria, the Pentagon said on Thursday.
"The strike was requested by the partnered forces, who had identified the target location as an ISIS fighting position," it said in a statement, referring to the Islamic State militant group by an acronym. "The target location was actually a forward Syrian Democratic Forces fighting position." Well, I guess, as long as they didn't use chemical weapons - it's OK.
...a rumor, flying around Twitter and the Internet, that General Mohammed Hasouri, the pilot of the Su-22 that dropped Sarin gas on the town of Khan Sheikhoun last week, was killed by a car bomb a few days later. Whether true or not, the Syrians are acclaiming the good work of the General for blowing up an al-Qaeda weapons dump, not decrying him for gassing civilians.
In a strange video shot at the Shayrat air base from which the Su-22 departed, one can see General Ali Abdullah Ayoub and his staff being treated to a look at the destruction that rained down on the base after it was hit by 59 US-launched cruise missiles...
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/13/2017 08:27 ||
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Clashes between Fatah movement and Takfiri militants renewed in Ain Al-Hilweh refugee camp after terrorists violated an agreement reached on Tuesday.
Al-Manar correspondent reported intensified clashes in Al-Tireh neighborhood on Wednesday, noting that RPGs (Rocket-propelled grenade) and gunfire have been heard in Sidon and its suburbs.
A deal was announced earlier on Tuesday, following a meeting for Palestinian factions who agreed to dissolve the so-called “security zone” of Takfiri militant group of Bilal Badr, which has been engaged in deadly clashes with Fatah movement and different fighters of the Palestinian Joint Security Force since Friday.
The agreement between the factions led Bilal Badr to flee the Al-Tireh neighborhood of the camp in return for the recently re-established joint security forces to deploy. However, the deployment of the Joint Force was delayed after Badr insurgents fired shots at the Joint Security Force members to block their entry on Tuesday.
The 100-member-force Joint Security Force includes members of Fatah Movement, Hamas, Osbat al-Ansar and other nationalist and Islamist Palestinian groups.
Tensions have been high in Sidon since last Friday, when Badr group opened fire on the Joint Security Force fighters as they were deploying in Al-Tireh neighborhood, as a part of an agreement following an earlier battle which lasted for days in the refugee camp last February.
Schools and universities have been closed since Friday due to fierce clashes which killed at least 8 people and injured dozens others.
Syrian Army and Armed Forces units carried out intensive bombardments against gatherings and supply routes of ISIL and al-Nusra Front in the eastern and northern countryside of Homs central province.
A military source told SANA that army units carried out special operations, destroying a number of ISIL dens and vehicles and killing a number of terrorists in al-Mshairfeh al-Janoubieh village, al-Bardeh area, to the south of Palmyra and to the east of al-Qaryatain village in the eastern countryside.
In the northern countryside, a large number of al-Nusra terrorists were killed and others were injured and their arms and vehicles were destroyed in intensive bombardments carried out byarmy units against their gatherings and positions in Bourj Qa’ai village, in the surroundings of al-Rastan city and to the southwest of Talbisa town.
Damascus Countryside
An Army and Armed Forces unit killed 7 ISIL terrorists and destroyed a machinegun nest in Kassaret Ez Eddin in al-Dumair area in Damascus eastern countryside.
Daraa
An army unit killed scores of al-Nusra terrorists and destroyed their arms and vehicles in Daraa al-Balad area in Daraa southern province.
Deir Ezzor
Army units directed intensive strikes on gatherings and axes of ISIL terrorist organization in al-Arfi and al-Hawika neighborhoods, the area surrounding Deir Ezzor Airport, Hawijit Saqr and in al-Boghilia village in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor.
Eight terrorists were killed, others were injured and a truck was destroyed due to the strikes.
Source: SANA
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04/13/2017 00:00 ||
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[ALMASDARNEWS] Earlier tonight, reports from the western countryside of Damascus indicated that the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and Hezbollah were targeted by Israeli Arclight airstrikes in the Falita Barrens.
Local activists reported loud kabooms coming from the Falita Barrens, claiming Israeli fighter jets were conducting a raid near the border.
However, women are made to be loved, not understood... a source from the Syrian Air Defense notified al-Masdar News on Thursday morning that the Syrian Arab Army is not present in the Falita Barrens.
The source did add that the Syrian Arab Army is heavily shelling the area and this may caused some confusion.
Syrian opposition activists are now claiming Israeli warplanes struck Hezbollah’s positions in the area.
It is still unknown whether or not Hezbollah was attacked by Israeli Arclight airstrikes in western Damascus ‐ Hezbollah’s media wing has not released a statement.
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04/13/2017 00:00 ||
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[ARA News] Kurdish fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) have targeted positions of the Turkish army on the Syrian-Turkish border with heavy artillery, military sources reported on Thursday.
“A main military base for the Turkish army in northern Syria was hit by YPG fire,” the YPG media office told ARA News.
“The operation came in response to the recent Turkish attacks on Kurdish villages in Afrin district [northwest of Aleppo],” the source reported.
At least two Turkish military vehicles were destroyed and several soldiers were killed in the attack, according to Kurdish officials.
Turkey’s military forces launched an offensive on the Kurdish district of Afrin in Syria’s northwestern Aleppo Governorate two weeks ago, killing and wounding dozens of civilians, eyewitnesses and officials told ARA News.
The Turkish Army had initiated the offensive by shelling the villages of Malla Khalil and Der Ballout in the Jinderis area of Afrin. Several houses were destroyed and dozens of civilians were killed or injured during the attack.
Also, Turkey’s military hit with heavy artillery the Kurdish villages of Ferferk and Qere Baba in the Rajou area in Afrin District. Furthermore, the villages of Anqala and Khalil in the Kurdish Shiya area were also exposed to artillery shelling by the Turkish troops.
“The barbaric Turkish attacks on the Kurdish villages of Afrin caused dozens of casualties among civilians, many of them were women and children,” a local human rights activist told ARA News.
“The Erdogan-led thugs [Turkish forces] launched simultaneous attacks on all these villages in Afrin, with the ultimate goal of killing as many Kurds as possible. The world should witness this and take action to prevent more massacres by the Turkish dictator,” a Kurdish activist said.
The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) has repeatedly vowed to respond to the Turkish attacks on Rojava–Syrian Kurdistan.
“We strongly condemn these massacres against the Kurdish people in Afrin, and we will respond by force,” the YPG spokesman Redur Xelil said in a statement in March.
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04/13/2017 00:00 ||
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Hawija (IraqiNews.com) Three children died Tuesday due to food and medicine shortages as refugee convoys from Kirkuk’s Islamic State stronghold town of Hawija were stranded outside the province’s center.
A local source at Kirkuk’s municipal council told Alsumaria News that the three children died due to the lack of foodstuff and medicine supplies for 600 refugees who fled Hawija to the province. He said the refugees were held at the Khaled crossing for ten days.
The source said keeping the families outside could endanger their lives.
Since taking over large areas of Iraq in 2014 to proclaim an “Islamic Caliphate”, Islamic State militants held several towns and regions in southwestern Kirkuk, most notably Hawija, where thousands of civilians fled to refugee camps while others have been executed for either attempting to escape or collaborating with security.
Security campaigns against IS and the group’s bloody system of governance have displaced more than 400.000 since October, and more than four million have been displaced since IS emerged in 2014 according to the government.
The Iraqi government has not yet launched any security campaigns to retake IS-held towns of Hawija, but it is expected to do so after it eliminates militants from Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city and the Islamic Stat where a security offensive has been running since October. Google Map at the link
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) The Islamic State is now punishing members who escape battles with Iraqi troops in Mosul by cutting their ears, local sources in Nineveh said Tuesday.
Speaking to Alsumaria News, the source said the group cut on Tuesday one ear of each of 33 members who had fled the battlefield. They were imprisoned before the punishment was carried out at a local hospital, the source added.
“The leadership of the extremist group threatened to cut both ears if escapes are repeated,” said the source, asking not to be named.
The source said it was significant that the group did not execute the delinquent members as it had used to do since operations to retake Mosul launched in October, adding that the new punishment was apparently adopted as the group was shrinking in numbers.
Iraqi government troops, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary forces, recaptured eastern Mosul in January after three months of fighting, and launched a renewed offensive in February to retake the western region.
The Joint Operations Command said Tuesday IS, at present, is deployed at only 6.8 percent of territory of Iraq.
News about internal divisions within IS ranks, as well as executions of slack fighters have been recurrent.
A statement by Kurdistan’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) said that the Islamic State extremists in Hawija shot two members of the group including Mahmoud abdullah Hussein Sultan and Mostafa Taha Menheih.
The militants, according to the statement, killed the two members for killing a third member called Abu Omar, who owns a foreign exchange bureau in Hawija.
The reason behind killing the third member was not declared.
Since taking over large areas of Iraq in 2014 to proclaim an “Islamic Caliphate”, Islamic State militants held several towns and regions in southwestern Kirkuk, most notably the strategic town of Hawija. Iraqi authorities postponed an operation to liberate the town last year, instead they moved onto central Mosul.
The Iraqi government is expected to launch an offensive to retake IS-occupied areas in Kirkuk once it eliminates militants from Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city and the Islamic State where a security offensive has been running since October.
where thousands of civilians fled to refugee camps while others have been executed for either attempting to escape or collaborating with security.
3 ISIS Turbans die in Anbar revolt The peasants are revolting
Rawa (IraqiNews.com) Three Islamic State members were killed in Anbar on Wednesday when gunmen targeted their gathering at one of the group’s pockets at the west of the province, according to a security source.
Aljournal News website quoted the source saying that the attack took place at the center of the town of Rawa, an Islamic State stronghold west of Anbar. Three IS militants were killed and a gun-supplied pickup truck.
According to the source, intelligence information confirmed that the attackers were local civilians indignant towards the group’s rule.
Islamic State has maintained control over the towns of Annah, Rawa and Qaim since the group emerged in 2014 to proclaim a self-styled ‘Islamic State”.
There has not been an officially-declared military campaign to free IS-held regions west of Anbar, but the province’s military command launched a brief assault early January that managed to recapture some western villages before stopping again.
Local officials believe Islamic State is holding thousands in those regions to use them as human shields against any future security offensive.
The Iraqi government is expected to aim at IS havens in Anbar once it is finished with eliminating the group from Mosul, its biggest bastion in Iraq. Google Map at the link
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04/13/2017 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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