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Today: 70 articles and 105 comments as of 19:57.
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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Report: Nasrallah suffers heart attack
Today's Headlines
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Afghanistan
Islamic State group commander killed in Afghanistan, US forces say
[AlAhram] A senior commander 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....
holy warrior group was killed in Afghanistan in a raid, U.S. Forces Afghanistan said on Saturday.

Khetab Emir was killed in the raid on Jan 10 in the eastern area 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..
province, said Lt. Ubon Mendie, a front man for the U.S. forces based in Afghanistan.

Emir, who was known by multiple names, facilitated high-profile attacks and supplied Islamic State fighters with weapons and materials to make explosives, Mendie said in a statement.

"His removal helps protect innocent Afghans from future Islamic State violence and weakens their presence in Nangarhar," Mendie said.

Islamic State fighters have developed a stronghold in the province on Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistain and have become one of the country's most dangerous holy warrior groups.

The hardline holy warrior group's local affiliate, known as Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) after an old name for the region that includes Afghanistan, has been active since 2015, fighting the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
as well as Afghan and foreign forces.

The fight against Islamic State and other holy warrior groups including Al Qaeda and the Taliban is at the heart of the U.S. led counterterrorism mission being conducted alongside the NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
-led Resolute Support operation aimed at training and advising Afghan cops.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Gunmen Storm Police Headquarters In Herat; 2 Killed
[ToloNews] A number of button men attacked police district-6 (PD6) headquarters in Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
city in the west of Afghanistan on Friday evening, the Ministry of Interior confirmed.

The Interior Ministry front man Najib Danish confirmed the attack and said security forces have started operation to clear the area of attackers.

Sources said two people were killed in the attack and one was maimed.

Herat governor’s front man Jailani Farhad said one of the button men has been killed.

Herat police front man Abdul Ahad Walizada said the area is under the control of security forces and that the search operation is ongoing.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Several Taliban killed in separate operations, airstrike of Afghan, Coalition Forces
[KhaamaPress] At least 26 Talibs were killed during the separate operations and Arclight airstrike of the Afghan and Coalition Forces in the past 24 hours.

According to the informed military sources, Afghan Special Operations Forces conducted a raid of a bomb making facility in Tarin Kot district of southern Uruzgan province, killing 16 Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
fighters.

The sources further added that the Afghan Special Operations Forces conducted a raid in Bala Boluk district killing 3 Taliban fighters, finding and destroying 22 IEDs and 30 pounds of homemade explosives, and removing 4 anti-tank mines, 6 pressure plates and 15 anti-personnel mines.

A coalition air strike in Nahr-e Saraj district of southern Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
province targeted a Taliban operations and weapons storage building, leaving 7 Taliban fighters dead, the sources added.

The anti-government armed holy warrior groups including Taliban have not commented regarding the operations so far.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


2 Taliban militants killed, 3 wounded in a premature IED explosion Zabul
[KhaamaPress] At least two Talibs were killed and three others sustained injuries in an kaboom triggered by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).

The 205th Atal Corps of the Afghan Military in the South said in a statement that the incident has taken place in the vicinity of Shaikan area of Meezan district.

The statement further added that the Death Eaters were busy planting an Improvised Explosive Device when the incident took place.

According to 205th Maiwand Corps, at least two Death Eaters were killed in the kaboom and three others sustained injuries.

The Talibs and other Death Eaters including ISIS often use improvised bomb as the weapon of their choice to target the security forces and government officials.

However,
it's easy to be generous with someone else's money...
in majority of such attacks the ordinary civilians are killed while in some cases the Talibs are themselves blown up in premature kabooms.

Anti-government elements must immediately end the indiscriminate and disproportionate use of all improvised bombs (IEDs) in areas frequented by civilians, said UNAMA in a special human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty...
report released in late 2018.

The special report ‐ titled "Increasing Harm to Afghan Civilians form the Deliberate and Indiscriminate Use of Improvised Explosive Devices" ‐ had documented a sharp increase from 1 January ‐ 30 September 2018 in the killing and maiming of Afghan civilians by IEDs, which have caused almost half of the civilian casualties from conflict-related violence.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
Death toll from Sudan protests rises to 24
[PULSE.NG] Anti-government protests that have rocked Sudan since last month have left 24 people dead, an official said on Saturday, without specifying how they died.
Posted by: Fred || 01/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan


IED Blast Hits AU Troops In Somali Capital
[RADIOSHABELLE] A roadside kaboom kaboom was reported to have hit a military convoy carrying African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
soldiers in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu on Saturday.

The remote-controlled land destroyed one of the armoured vehicles in between SOS and Ex-control Balad in the capital’s Huriwa district, according to the eyewitnesses.

A witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Radio Shabelle that the AU troops opened fire indiscriminately at a nearby crowd, though details of the casualties remain unclear.

Posted by: Fred || 01/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)


Africa North
Egypt police kill 6 terrorists in remote hideout in Upper Egypt
[AlAhram] Egypt’s police potted six bandidos Lions of Islam in a dawn raid on a hideout in Upper Egypt on Saturday, a statement by the interior ministry read.

The ministry said "the terrorist elements" were killed in a shootout as the forces attempted to raid their hideout, which was located in a gorge in one of the mountainous areas along the western Assiut-Sohag desert highway.

They were found in possession of ammunition, weapons, and an improvised bomb.

The raid came following combing operations by the ministry’s national security bureau and others in remote areas of Upper Egypt.

The ministry said that the raid is a "a continuation of the ministry's efforts in confronting terrorist organizations which aim to undermine peace and security and chasing elements which aim to execute hostile operations in the country."
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Renewed clashes erupt in Hudaydah despite ceasefire between warring parties
[PRESSTV] Fresh festivities have erupted between Yemeni 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 ...
Ansarullah fighters and bandidos snuffies loyal to the country’s Saudi-backed former regime in Hudaydah despite a UN-brokered truce in the vital Red Sea port city.

An AFP correspondent reported artillery and machine-gun exchanges in Hudaydah's south early on Saturday, adding that they abated later in the day.

The renewed fighting came amid a Hudaydah ceasefire, which was reached between Yemen’s warring parties in Sweden in December.

They agreed to the withdrawal of their forces and deployment of UN monitors to the port, the entry point for most of Yemen’s vital aid and commercial goods.
Posted by: Fred || 01/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Europe
Police in western Germany launch massive raids against criminal clans
[DW] More than 1,300 coppers were deployed in coordinated raids against family crime syndicates across northwestern Germany. The raids are focused on shisha bars, cafes and gambling venues.

German police launched simultaneous raids in six cities across the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) on Saturday evening, with some 1,300 officers sweeping shisha bars and other venues in Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg, Bochum, Recklinghausen and Gelsenkirchen.

Authorities said they were targeting family crime clans of Arabic background in the northwestern state. According to the mass-circulation Bild daily, police are focusing on the Arabic crime syndicates, especially those with Lebanese background.

Police are focusing on the Arabic crime syndicates, especially those with Lebanese background.
Police front man Oliver Peiler told news hounds that the coordinated raids started at 9 p.m. local time (2000 UTC).

"As we do quite often, tonight we are checking numerous shisha-bars (...) because the shisha bars act as sanctuaries for members of these family clans," he said.

Clans also use shisha bars, cafes, and gambling venues for money laundering and other illegal business activities, according to media reports. Police in Essen tweeted that a man has been detained carrying €9,000 ($10,322) in cash.

"He will now need to prove to the authorities that the money has been obtained legally," they said.

THOUSANDS OF MEMBERS
While dozens of people have been searched and mutiple properties swept, police are only expected to release official results of the crackdown on Sunday.

Firefighters, customs officers, members of the tax collection service and communal coppers were deployed alongside police squads. Police forces in the affected cities also shared images of the raids on social media under the hashtag "#NullToleranz," or zero tolerance.

There are about 50 criminal clans active in NRW, with their collective membership topping 10,000, according to police information cited by the Rhenische Post newspaper.
One hopes that number includes the recent acquisition of previously unaffiliated migrants who responded to Angela Merkel’s invitation.
The clans are often involved in prostitution, which is legal in Germany, but also commit acts of violence and vandalism, as well as welfare fraud and other non-violent crimes.

The police are currently investigating the clans' possible offenses in the real estate market, state criminal police representative Thomas Jungbluth told the newspaper.

'NO TOLERANCE FOR LAWLESSNESS'
The police force in the city of Essen said that some clan members show "little respect towards police or emergency services."

"We won't stand for it," they tweeted.

State Interior Minister Herbert Reul, who observed the raid in Bochum, said it was paramount that state authorities respond to clan criminality.

"We need to show that we are here and that we have no tolerance for lawlessness," he said. "We must not allow that criminal structures decide what the law is in Germany."

Child migrants struggle to survive northern France

[DW] Around 250 unaccompanied minors are camped out in freezing temperatures on the northern coast of France. Living on the streets without proper access to food, they have reportedly endured regular attacks by police.

Germany: Man stabs pregnant woman, kills unborn child

[DW] The 25-year-old pregnant Polish woman was stabbed during a hospital stay in the western German town of Bad Kreuznach near Mainz. The perpetrator, a 25-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker, was visiting the woman when the two got into a "violent argument." The attacker surrendered to police at a train station shortly after fleeing the scene. He was arrested and taken into custody.

AKK: CDU to review Angela Merkel's migration policy since 2015 crisis

[DW] CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer wants a "comprehensive review" of Germany's immigration system. Contradicting Angela Merkel, the new party leader said scrutiny of the fateful year of 2015 was necessary.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/13/2019 00:58 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  "child" migrants. who'll be claiming a pension if the border control failure lets them invade the UK .
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 01/13/2019 14:46 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Turkey deploys further military reinforcements to Syrian border
[PRESSTV] The Ottoman Turkish military has sent new reinforcements to the country’s areas on the border with Syria’s Lion of Islam-held province of Idlib as Ankara is preparing for a military operation against US-backed Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in the wake of US President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
’s decision to withdraw American troops from the war-torn country.

The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...Qatar's colony in Asia Minor....
's private Demiroren news agency reported that battle tanks and armored vehicles were loaded onto trucks on Saturday, and dispatched to the southern Ottoman Turkish province of Hatay.

The development came on the same day that Turkey's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and top-brass military officials, namely Chief of General Staff General Yasar Guler and Land Forces Commander General Umit Dundar, in addition to Head of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization Hakan Fidan, held a meeting in Hatay and exchanged viewpoints on the latest developments in Syria's Idlib.

Posted by: Fred || 01/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


India-Pakistan
Rangers claim arrest of Lyari gangster wanted for 25 'heinous crimes'
[DAWN] Pakistain Rangers Sindh on Saturday announced to have jugged
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
a suspected gangster from Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, who is said to be wanted in "25 heinous crimes of killings, attacks on law enforcers, extortion, kidnappings, and others".

The paramilitary force conducted an intelligence-based operation in Ali Mohammed Mohalla of Lyari
...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot....
and apprehended Shahzad alias Mohammed Azeem alias Faizu Dada who was associated with Ghaffar Zikri gang.

Ghaffar Zikri was bumped off along with his minor son in an encounter jointly carried out by police and Intelligence Bureau in Lyari last year.

The Rangers spokesperson said the held suspect was wanted in assassinations, attacks on state institutions and extortion, and there were at least 25 FIRs registered against him. Moreover, the Sindh government had also announced a reward of Rs0.3 million for his arrest.

Attacks on law enforcers
Sharing details of the crimes allegedly committed by the suspect, the spokesperson said Shahzad along with his accomplices carried out at least 11 attacks on the coppers during 2007 and 2008, in which three innocent citizens were also killed during an exchange of fire.

He also bumped off one Kareem Shah over non-payment of extortion in 2009, besides killing a Baloch person on directions of Ghaffar Zikri in the same year, the official said.

"In 2011, he rubbed out an alleged drug peddler, Shah Jehan. Later that year, he along with his accomplices kidnapped a member of Kutchi Rabita Committee, Jamshed, and killed him.

The Rangers have handed him over to police for further legal action.

Posted by: Fred || 01/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Iraq
Anbar antics: 5 turbans toes up,1 turban tied up


Five IS leaders killed during reconnaissance operation in Anbar

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) – An Iraqi military commander has said that five leaders of Islamic State have been killed during a reconnaissance operation in the western province of Anbar.

Speaking to IKH News website on Saturday, Commander of Anbar Operations Major General Mahmoud al-Falahi said that Iraqi warplanes were on a reconnaissance mission in Anbar’s western desert when they spotted a pickup truck carrying five Islamic State leaders.

He added that the troops immediately opened fire at the terrorists, killing them all.

“The troops also seized three explosive belts and a huge amount of weapons and ammunition during the operation,” he noted.

Iraqi troops arrest Islamic State militant in Anbar

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) – Iraqi military intelligence forces arrested on Saturday an Islamic State militant in Anbar province.

The arrested terrorist was found to have been implicated in terrorist attacks launched by Islamic State against security forces in Anbar province, Iraqi website Alghad Press quoted the Security Media Center as saying in a statement,

The arrest was made after receiving accurate intelligence information that the terrorist was residing in Albu Ali al-Jasim district in Anabr, added the statement.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


PUK’s Asayesh detained 65 PKK-linked Tavgari Azadi members in ‘wide attack’: party
[Rudaw] SULAIMANI - Tavgari Azadi accused the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of cracking down on their party in order to curry favour with The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...Qatar's colony in Asia Minor....
"They want to ban democratic movements like Tavgari Azadi for the sake of political agreements," a representative of the PKK-linked party read from a statement during a presser on Saturday.

In recent days, Asayesh (security forces) associated with the PUK have raided offices of Tavgari Azadi, tossed in the calaboose
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
members, and banned the screening of a film about the life of an assassinated PKK founder.

Late last year, the PUK ordered the party to close its offices in the Kurdistan Region.

Tavgari Azadi, however, maintains it is authorized to operate because it is licensed by Baghdad.

Next week, a delegation plans to visit the Interior Ministry to try and sort out the problem, they said.

The party’s application for a license from the Kurdistan Regional Government has been unprocessed for years.

This past week, Asayesh have arrested 65 Tavgari Azadi members, their representative told news hounds, saying this was part of a "wide attack" on them.

The women have been subsequently released and some were present at the presser.

They claimed their members had been mistreated while detained and called on the international community to intervene and end the "brutal attacks" against them.

Two of the people detained are journalists and a Sulaimani-based media watchdog condemned the PUK’s actions, accusing the dominant party in the province of trying to "silence people."

The crackdown on the PKK-linked organization comes as the PUK is trying to negotiate an end to a flight ban imposed by Turkey on Sulaimani airport that has caused millions of dollars in damage. Ankara imposed the ban after accusing the PUK of supporting the PKK.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel responds with air strikes in Gaza following rocket launch
[IsraelTimes] Multiple targets hit in northern Paleostinian enclave, according to Paleostinian media.

The Israeli Air Force struck a number of targets in northern Gazoo on Saturday, according to Paleostinian media, in response to an earlier rocket launch into Israeli territory.

The rocket landed in an open field in Israel, setting off sirens in the southern communities of Sdot Negev and Sha’ar Hanegev, the Israeli military said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The rocket launch caps another weekend of violence along the Gazoo border where some 13,000 Paleostinians participated on Friday in the riots along the fence. Israeli soldiers responded with tear gas and, in some cases, live fire, the army said.

Paleostinian woman killed in Gazoo riots buried

[Ynet] Hundreds of Paleostinians gathered Saturday for the funeral of a woman killed by Israeli forces at a protest near the perimeter fence, this year's first fatality from the weekly mass demonstrations.

Amal al-Taramsi, a 43-year-old activist who had regularly attended the protests, was shot the day before. al-Mezan, a Paleostinian human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
group, said she was around 200 meters (yards) from the fence when she was shot in the head.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Headshot!
Posted by: Frank G || 01/13/2019 7:13 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Thai Security Forces Kill Two Linked to Deadly Shooting at School
[AnNahar] Two snuffies believed to be tied to a cycle of violence drive-by shooting at a school in Thailand's south were rubbed out Saturday, police said, as UNICEF warned of trauma for children near the scene of the lunchtime violence.

Since 2004 festivities between Malay-Moslem rebels and the Buddhist-majority Thai state that annexed the area over 100 years ago have killed nearly 7,000 people, mostly civilians of both faiths.

The conflict rarely makes global headlines but is a reality for residents of border provinces where security forces maintain a large footprint, aided by poorly paid defence "volunteers" drawn from local communities.

The four men killed in Thursday's shooting were all Moslems and were guarding a school in Pattani province when the attackers struck just before lunchtime with students mere metres away.

Pattani provincial police commander Piyawat Chalermsri told AFP Saturday that two people with alleged ties to the school violence were killed in a shootout Saturday morning.

Though he did not give information about their identities or affiliation, he said he was "confident that they are the same group who carried out the attack Thursday" by driving by on cycle of violences.

Authorities have also detained one suspect and are questioning five others, while a military source said an eight-year-old had been grazed by a bullet but not seriously injured.

UNICEF Thailand representative Thomas Davin said Friday that one child at the Bukoh school attack was reportedly injured by debris and some who may have witnessed the attack could face long term psychological trauma.

"This attack has undoubtedly put the school children, the teachers and school personnel in harm’s way. It has put children at grave risk of injury or death," he said.

"Such violence could also affect parents’ willingness to send their children to school ‐- potentially to the detriment of many children’s learning and future development."

The 15-year insurgency has seen scores of teachers killed, slain for their perceived collaboration with the Thai state, which led to the use of armed guards at schools.

The corpse count in the conflict dropped to a record low last year as Thailand's junta tightened its security operations.

But recent weeks have seen an uptick in violence, as rebels show they remain able to carry out more pinpointed operations.

In a rare statement dated January 4 the main rebel group -- the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) -- swore to "keep fighting" while warning people not to help or support the state.

But Thai authorities as well as the Malaysian controller of the talks have recently expressed confidence they will make progress soon.

Former 4th Army commander Udomchai Thammasarorat said at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Thailand on Friday that he "wants to find a solution to exit from the violence" and he has urged the southern army commander to try and ensure public safety.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/13/2019 00:15 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Report: Nasrallah suffers heart attack
[IsraelNationalNews] Hezbollah leader reportedly fighting cancer and heart problems. The Lebanese media reported on Saturday that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was hospitalized after apparently suffering a heart attack.
Who knew he had a heart?
Additional reports said that Nasrallah is also fighting cancer.

Israel Hayom quoted Lebanese journalist Jerry Mahar as saying that "an intelligence source confirmed that a senior figure in the Hezbollah organization was hospitalized today in a hospital in the capital Beirut, and other sources confirmed that it was Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, who has been fighting cancer for years."

The reports were not confirmed by any official source in the country and Hezbollah did not respond to the report.

Nasrallah has not been seen in the media since reports of the exposure of Hezbollah tunnels in Operation Defensive Shield.

In his last public appearance in November, Nasrallah blasted reports of a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel and warned the Jewish State not to attack Lebanon.

"We condemn any form of normalization with the Zionist entity," Nasrallah said. "I say to the Palestinian people, do not lose hope over the Arab states' normalization with Israel; what before went on behind the scenes now is taking place publicly. The current normalization has put an end to Arab hypocrisy, and removed the mask from the swindlers and hypocrites."
Posted by: Frank G || 01/13/2019 13:21 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  He is 58 years old.

About a decade ago he designated one of his cousins as a successor. About 6 years ago he made to decision (or Iran made the decision) that Hezbollah would throw their full weight behind Assad. This decision has resulted in several thousand dead Hezbollah fighters and many more wounded.

If he died there would likely be some sort of succession conflict.
Posted by: lord garth || 01/13/2019 14:02 Comments || Top||

#2  From the Times of Israel today:

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has denied reports that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is currently receiving treatment for cancer.

"The recent claims by the Zionists that Nasrallah is sick are the biggest lie of the year," he states.


This doesn’t addess the question of the heart attack, oddly enough.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/13/2019 14:10 Comments || Top||

#3  May he soon be cavorting with Ginsburg.
Posted by: Bobby || 01/13/2019 16:08 Comments || Top||

#4  Hey Nassan, you know all those ACE inhibitors, ARNIs and Beta blockers you'll be taking are produced by joos using pork fat buffers. And the supposedly Turkish stuff is re-branded Israeli anyway.
Have a nice life.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 01/13/2019 16:30 Comments || Top||

#5  "We condemn any form of normalization with the Zionist entity," Nasrallah said. "I say to the Palestinian people, do not lose hope over the Arab states' normalization with Israel; what before went on behind the scenes now is taking place publicly. The current normalization has put an end to Arab hypocrisy, and removed the mask from the swindlers and hypocrites."


"Good afternoon, State Department Divisive Policies and Middle East Plots Office..."


Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 01/13/2019 16:56 Comments || Top||

#6  State funeral?
Posted by: Iblis || 01/13/2019 21:10 Comments || Top||

#7  I think we should start the Death Pool on him and roll this post over to tomorrow.

I'll take February 14, since that's Valentine's Day and hearts are involved & shit...
Posted by: Raj || 01/13/2019 21:42 Comments || Top||


‘We struck thousands of targets': IDF chief of staff on Israel's ‘near-daily' strikes in Syria
[RT] The outgoing IDF chief of staff has acknowledged that Israel has been bombing Syria on a "near-daily" basis for years, in a massive military campaign allegedly aimed at degrading Tehran’s supposed military buildup in the region.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) rarely acknowledge striking specific targets in Syria but its outgoing chief of staff just openly confessed to running a large-scale bombing campaign in its neighbor’s territory.

In 2018 alone, Israel dropped around 2,000 bombs on alleged Iran-linked targets, Gadi Eisenkot told the New York Times in his final interview as chief of staff of the IDF before he retires next week.

"We struck thousands of targets without claiming responsibility or asking for credit," Eisenkot stated, confessing to carrying out strikes on a "near-daily" basis.
Update from the Times of Israel at 1:00 p.m. ET:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday confirmed that Israel conducted an Arclight airstrike against Iranian targets in Syria over the weekend, which he said destroyed a number of weapons caches in the Damascus airport.

"The Israel Defense Forces has attacked hundreds of Iranian and Hezbollah targets. Just in the past 36 hours, the air force attacked Iranian depots full of Iranian weapons in the Damascus International Airport," Netanyahu said, speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting in his Jerusalem office, in a rare acknowledgement of such a raid.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/13/2019 06:35 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  And that wonderful anti-aircraft system Russia sold Syria hasn’t significantly slowed them down? Oh dear.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/13/2019 11:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Juice Magic™
Posted by: Frank G || 01/13/2019 11:14 Comments || Top||

#3  What worries me is they may be supporting the islamists.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 01/13/2019 20:35 Comments || Top||


Two Manbij security forces killed by roadside bomb
[Rudaw] Two members of the Manbij security forces were killed by a roadside kaboom on Saturday.

A vehicle of the Manbij security forces hit an bomb on the Aleppo road, killing two of the fighters and injuring a third, the Manbij Military Council stated.

Manbij has been under the control of local administration and security councils since it was liberated from ISIS in August 2016.

The local forces are backed by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the international coalition against ISIS.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:


Syrian army shelling of opposition-held Idlib threatens ceasefire deal
[Rudaw] Syrian army artillery struck areas of opposition-held Idlib on Saturday after forces of Evil allegedly tried to infiltrate regime held areas, according to state TV network SANA.

Regime shelling was focused on the town of Tamanaa near Maaret al-Numan, which was seized from Ottoman Turkish-backed rebels by jihadist forces earlier this week.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based conflict monitor, the regime shelled six areas inside and around Idlib.

Opposition held areas of the province are now completely under the control of the "Salvation Government" ‐ the administrative arm of the former al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham
(HTS).

The group boasts 25,000 fighters, SOHR reports.

The National Liberation Front
...the Turkic paramilitaries intended to replace with their native jihadi ferocity all the highly trained Turkish soldiers Sultan Erdogan I the much beloved has jailed in the last few years for not worshipping the ground he walks upon. The Uighurs and so forth who did not join Al Nusra or ISIS seem to have ended up here...
(NLF) ‐ an alliance of rebel groups backed by The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire....
‐ has withdrawn to the Aleppo countryside and Afrin, leaving HTS in control of all border crossings.

Turkey and Russia brokered a buffer zone agreement between the regime and the armed opposition last autumn to prevent a government offensive, which the UN feared would lead to a bloodbath.

Now that Ottoman Turkish-backed forces have withdrawn, it is unclear whether the ceasefire will hold.

Ottoman Turkish troops and tanks held military exercises on the border with Idlib on Saturday, Rooters reports. Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria fear Ankara is preparing for an offensive against the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and may move its forces east.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra

#1  Now that Turkish-backed forces have withdrawn, it is unclear whether the ceasefire will hold.
I will take "What is Answered 'No' " for 100$, Alex.
Posted by: magpie || 01/13/2019 15:47 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
35[untagged]
5Commies
4Islamic State
3Moslem Colonists
3Sublime Porte
2Arab Spring
2Hamas
2Govt of Iran
2Govt of Pakistan
2Taliban
2Govt of Sudan
1Thai Insurgency
1al-Nusra
1al-Shabaab (AQ)
1Fulani Herdsmen (Boko Haram)
1Govt of Syria
1Hezbollah
1Houthis
1Human Trafficking

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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2019-01-13
  Report: Nasrallah suffers heart attack
Sat 2019-01-12
  12 civilians killed in jihadist attack in Burkina Faso
Fri 2019-01-11
  Jihadists take control of Idlib province after collapse of Turkish-backed rebels
Thu 2019-01-10
  Turkish-backed rebels surrender last positions in southwest Idlib
Wed 2019-01-09
  Turkish-backed rebels issue urgent plea for help from available forces in Idlib
Tue 2019-01-08
  Israel said to block latest Qatari cash transfer to Gaza
Mon 2019-01-07
  SDF troops capture ISIS stronghold east of Euphrates
Sun 2019-01-06
  Turkey asks US for help in fighting ISIS in Syria
Sat 2019-01-05
  Over 500 militants killed as infighting spreads in Syria: Report
Fri 2019-01-04
  Niger troops kill more than 280 Boko Haram fighters this week: Government
Thu 2019-01-03
  Turkey’s planned invasion impeded by new jihadist offensive in Aleppo
Wed 2019-01-02
  Sisi supporters try to amend Egypt's constitution to let him remain in power
Tue 2019-01-01
  Iraqi warplanes hit strategic Daesh position in eastern Syria, kills 30 commanders
Mon 2018-12-31
  2 killed, dozens wounded in bombing near Philippines mall
Sun 2018-12-30
  Morocco arrests Swiss-Spaniard over beheaded tourists


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