Posted by: Fred ||
05/13/2023 ||
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All look friendly enough. Now if they can just not fail the stupid test.
Posted by: jpalThey l ||
05/13/2023 15:31 Comments ||
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#2
Deprived of the means he would use,
One judge was unable to choose:
"Though you ladies are beauts,
Your demure skirted suits
Could conceal [awkward silence] tattoos!"
NEXT FLASHPOINT FOR PAKISTAN COULD BE 15 MAY – After ousted Prime Minister, Imran Khan was released from the Islamabad High Court on Friday, he announced that he had received protective status until 15 May. The bench went on to grant protection from arrest until 17 May for any cases that had been/would be lodged against him after 9 May. Some sporadic clashes between PTI protestors and police were reported on Friday but the majority of the chaos had subsided. Police units in Karachi and Punjab carried out arrests on Friday night of those who were said to have been responsible for some of the buildings being set on fire over the last three days. The PTI says that over 40 people were killed while the government’s official death toll stands at 12. The military forces are still deployed in Islamabad, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is believed they will remain on the streets until the middle of next week when Khan faces his next legal test.
AFGHAN WOMEN’S PROTESTS ALLIANCE ACCUSE UN OF COMPLICITY WITH THE TALIBAN – The group released a statement on Friday that called for a stronger stance in dealings with the Taliban. The group went on to accuse the UN of acceding to the Taliban’s demands and setting a precedence that runs counter to its own published values. Previously, the Alliance has called for a suspension of all UN activities until the restrictions on women were lifted by the Taliban.
HUNDREDS OF AFGHANS RETURN FROM PAKISTAN – Over 800 Afghans reportedly passed through the Spin Boldak crossing this past week. Most said they were fleeing the situation in Pakistan and some complained that Pakistanis had threatened and harassed them when the protests broke out. The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation made calls to the international community to help support those who had returned.
HAQQANI CRITICIZED IN KANDAHAR FOR RECENT COMMENTS – A source familiar with the situation in Kandahar says the Supreme Leader’s counselors were livid after the Minister of the Interior’s remarks at a ceremony making the death of Mullah Omar Mujahid on Thursday. A closed-door meeting reputedly took place (the Supreme Leader was not present at the meeting) where strategies to ‘contain’ the Minister were discussed. The source could not speculate on what (if any) decisions were taken by the group but stressed that the level of animosity towards the Minister is extremely high and that he is being accused of derailing the Supreme Leaders’ national plan.
NEXT 24 HOURS
PAKISTAN PROTESTS: QUIET REIGNS FOR THE MOMENT – While some of the PTI protestors who had traveled to Islamabad to support the former PM have been witnessed leaving the city, several large camps remain. Sources in Islamabad say they have been ordered to stay by the acting PTI party leadership until next week when the former PM is expected to be arraigned in court and could face another arrest. Several thousand PTI party members/leaders remain in custody and there are concerns among the security forces that protestors may try to storm the jails and prisons to try and free them. While we welcome the calm, at-risk Afghans are encouraged to remain vigilant and be ready to seek immediate shelter should tensions flare up over the weekend.
[VOAnews] The Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... released four Afghan journalists on Wednesday after detaining them for two days in the southeastern province of Khost ...which coincidentally borders North Wazoo and Kurram Agency... Sakhi Sarwar Miakhil, editor in chief of Gharghasht TV; Pamir Andish, editor in chief of Cheenar Radio; Abdul Rahman Ashna of Nan FM, and Mohammaduddin Shah Khiali, editor in chief of Wolas Ghag Radio were released by the Taliban, according to a statement by the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee.
AJSC stated that these journalists were detained Monday by the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice after they were summoned for "a seminar."
"Officials at the Directorate of the Promotion of Virtue (of the Taliban) in Khost Province told the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee that the editors of the mentioned outlets were summoned for a reform seminar," added AJSC’s statement.
A local journalist with knowledge of the case who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal told VOA that the journalists were detained for the entertainment shows that were aired in April for the Eid celebration that marked the end of Ramadan.
"It was because in some of the shows [for Eid], music was played. There were entertainment shows, possibly with female voices," the journalist said.
The Taliban banned on-air music and entertainment programs after seizing power in August 2021.
Journalists in some provinces have told VOA that the Taliban barred them from airing female voices.
Gul Mohammad Graan, president of the Afghan chapter of the South Asian Association of Reporters Club and Journalists Forum, told VOA that the absence of a clear media policy by the Taliban has created "confusion" among the journalists.
"They do not know what to air and what not to," he added.
Graan said the disorder is also the result of an "interference" of different agencies of the Taliban’s government.
"Although the [Taliban’s] current government stresses that without the Ministry of Information and Culture, no government agency has the right to interfere in the media affairs, the Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and the Intelligence in the capital and provinces are imposing their own restrictions on media," he said.
Graan said the Taliban announced last year that the media law under the former government is in effect until a new media law comes into force, but "this is not the case."
In February 2022, Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said that the Mass Media Law of Afghanistan "is still enforceable."
Sumaya Walizada, a spokesperson for the Afghanistan Journalists Center, told VOA that according to Afghanistan’s mass media law, the government "should not interfere in the operation of free media."
Beh Lih Yi, Asia program director at the Committee to Protect Journalists, called on the Taliban "to immediately end the arbitrary arrests of Afghan journalists."
She told VOA that journalists in Afghanistan "have been detained simply for doing their job."
"We are concerned," she said, adding that there are still two Afghan journalists in the Taliban’s detention, and "we call on their immediate release."
[KhaamaPress] Mohammad Tahir Zaheer, former Minister of Information and Culture, has surrendered to the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... forces, sources said.
Sources confirmed to Khaama Press that Tahir Zaheere, former Minister and governor of Bamyan Province, surrendered to the Taliban forces on Wednesday.
According to the report, he surrendered to the Taliban in the Dara Soof district of Samangan province.
Sources also said that the Taliban forces have detained, imprisoned, and tortured Zaheer’s family members and relatives, leading to his surrender.
Last year, Zaheer and the Taliban’s Hazara ...a grouping of Dari-speaking people of Sino-Tibetan descent inhabiting Afghanistan and Pakistain. They are predominantly Shia Moslems and not particularly warlike, which makes them favored targets... leader Mawlavi Mehdi fought with the Taliban; however, after Mehdi’s death, he continued to fight with the Taliban.
Still, his family has not commented on his surrender. Also, it is unclear under what condition he surrendered to the Taliban forces.
Zaheeer was a former governor of Bamyan province and the former Minister of Information and Culture of the previous government.
[IsraelTimes] Country’s interior minister calls deadly attack in Djerba a ’cowardly criminal attack,’ but refrains from referring to it as terrorism; assailant named as guardsman Wissam Khazri
A Tunisian national guardsman behind an attack that killed five people intentionally targeted the ancient synagogue on the Mediterranean island of Djerba in a premeditated act, Tunisia’s interior minister said Thursday, as authorities also revealed the assailant’s name. The mass shooting on Tuesday sparked panic during an annual Jewish pilgrimage at the historic Ghriba synagogue on the resort island, believed to be one of the world’s oldest Jewish shrines.
Authorities were investigating the motive of the gunman, who was rubbed out after killing three coppers and two visitors, a French-Tunisian and an Israeli-Tunisian man, both of whom were Jewish. A dozen others were maimed.
Continued on Page 49
[SAHARAREPORTERS] The General Overseer of the Seraphic and Sabbath Assembly, Lagos State, Priest Azuka Kenrick Nnodu and two others have been convicted by the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos for drugs offences.
The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, had in February arrested Azuka Kenrick.
He was arrested along with a student of Emmanuel College of Theology, Samanda, Ibadan, Udezuka Udoka and their freight agent, Oyoyo Mary Obasi over attempt to export methamphetamine and skunk consignments concealed in kegs of palm oil through the NAHCO export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The trio were arraigned by the NDLEA for conspiracy, procurement of persons to unlawfully export, unlawful export of 14.90 kilograms of Cannabis Sativa and 204 grams of Methamphetamine and unlawful possession of the hard drugs.
However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... Justice Akintayo Aluko on Friday convicted Nnodu (58) and his two co-defendants Udezuka Udoka (26) and Oyoyo Mary Obasi (40), following their "guilty" plea to a six-count charge.
Abu Ibrahim, the prosecution counsel alleged that they committed the offences with one Chisom, now on the lam, on February 9, 2023.
The defendants were arrested with the drugs at the NAHCO Export Shed, a Customs Point of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, Ibrahim told the court.
The court heard that the offences contravened sections 14(b); 21(2)(d) and 20(1)(a) of the NDLEA Act, 2004, and were punishable under Sections 11(b) and 20(2(a) of the same Act.
All the defendants pleaded guilty.
Ibrahim reviewed the fact of the case and urged the court to convict and sentence the defendants in accordance with the NDLEA Act, Following their plea.
But the defendants’ counsel Chief Benson Ndakara expressed shock at the defendants’ guilty plea, saying he was "taken by surprise at their change of mind, after dissipating extra energy and time to prepare and file their various bail applications."
Ndakara pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing the defendants, on the ground that they were first-time offenders without any record of previous conviction.
Justice Aluko who convicted the trio, but reserved judgment till an undisclosed date, remanded the defendants in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS), pending judgment.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/13/2023 00:00 ||
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[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] The Saudi forces have begun establishing a camp for their forces in the Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... i lands in northeastern Yemen, political sources reported on Wednesday.
The five brigade of the so-called "Dera al-Watan" forces created a camp south of the border crossing of al-Wadea with the Kingdom, according to the sources.
This came two days after the visit of the Saudi commander of the so-called "joint operation" of the Saudi-led coalition forces, Mutlaq al-Azaima’, to the Yemeni al-Wadea area. al-Azaima’ summoned the Salafi leader Bashir al-Madhrabi al-Subihi, who was appointed by the Riyadh-backed "Presidential Council" as a commander of the Dera al-Watan forces, which were established by Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... last year.
According to the sources, Saudi Arabia assigned the fifth brigade’s commander, Salem BaMoa’men called "Abu Issa," to deploy his elements to secure the border crossing instead of the soldiers of the "141st brigade" affiliated with the Islah Party.
Tensions have widened between Saudi Arabia and the UAE during the past months due to the Saudi regime’s refusal to deploy the "Hadhrami elite" factions on al-Abr road to secure the al-Wadea border crossing, considering this a threat to its national security, according to what Saudi politicians reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/13/2023 00:00 ||
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Hadhrami Elite, above: In Yemen there exist examples of sub-national areas that have enjoyed a success the nation could use as models for peace and state building. The Governorates of Hadhramaut and Ma’rib are two examples: In Hadhramaut, local authorities and communities have played a crucial role in limiting the Governorates' involvement in a continuing civil war -- and most notably, they have retained a share of national oil revenue. The Governorate’s local communities met in 2017 to organize the Hadhramaut Inclusive Conference, devoed to the unification of Hadhramaut polity. The conference presented a consensus on revenue sharing and autonomy. It also has worked to include regional self-protection. Thus, far it can be said the Conference has succeeded.
The largest #Colombian “narco sub” ever recorded -- some 30 meters (100 feet) long and three meters wide -- has been decommissioned in the Pacific, with three tons of #cocaine found on board, the country’s navy reports.https://t.co/fh2Tqh8zef
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) May 13, 2023
Posted by: Fred ||
05/13/2023 00:00 ||
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An acre of coca trees produced about a ton of coca leaves, which yields about a half a kilogram (pound) of cocaine.
[AlAhram] German prosecutors on Thursday charged a German-Iranian dual national for an attempted arson attack near a synagogue on the orders of the government in Tehran.
Babak J. was instructed by an intermediary "acting on behalf of unknown Iranian state agencies" in November 2022 to carry out an arson attack on a synagogue in the region of North Rhine-Westphalia, the federal prosecutor's office said in a statement.
Subsequently, the accused is said to have sought to convince an acquaintance to set fire to a synagogue in Dortmund using a Molotov cocktail but was refused.
Babak J.'s handler later named another synagogue -- in the city of Bochum rather than in Dortmund -- as a target, prosecutors said.
"The accused refrained from attacking the well-monitored synagogue in Bochum itself for fear of discovery," they said.
Instead, the suspect tried to set fire to a school building adjoining the synagogue in the western German city, according to prosecutors.
Germany has seen a series of incidents of anti-Semitic violence in recent years,
The State Investigation Agency (SIA) Kashmir ...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it Azad (Free) Kashmir. The remainder they refer to as "Indian Occupied Kashmir". They have fought four wars with India over it, the score currently 4-0 in New Delhi's favor. After 72 years of this nonsense, India cut the Gordian knot in 2019, removing the area's special status, breaking off Ladakh as a separate state, and allowing people from other areas to settle (or in the case of the Pandits, to resettle) there.... arrested a notorious terror runaway based and operating in and from Oman at the Srinagar International Airport on Thursday.
A statement of SIA issued here said that he has been found involved in terror funding case under FIR No 09/2021 of Police Station SIA, Kashmir.
It said that Danish Ahmad Koul, son of Bashir Ahmad of Tibeti Colony, Hawal, Srinagar, working in Oman at a business establishment, was found involved in funding active bully boyz by financing them through his Kashmir-based OGW network.
"A case FIR No 09/2021 was lodged on August 10, 2021 under the provisions of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967, as amended, waging war against Union of India by way of aiding, abetting, supporting, and assisting active bully boyz of Srinagar and south Kashmir at Police Station SIA, Kashmir," the statement said.
"During investigation, it was revealed that the accused along with one more terrorist financier, a local accomplice, Hammad Farooq Tramboo, son of Farooq Ahmad of Kachgari Mohalla, Soura, Srinagar, in the garb of being salesmen were channelising hefty amounts of funds raised by the ISI and Pakistain-based Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... and TRF handlers, masters for distribution among bully boyz of the said proscribed terrorist organizations and families of eliminated bully boyz in J&K under a deep rooted criminal conspiracy."
The statement said that Tramboo was already facing trial in the case at the Court of Special Judge NIA Court, Srinagar, while Danish Ahmad Koul was on the lam and his arrest was much awaited as he did not join the interrogation sessions of the case during the course of investigation.
"The duo at the behest of Pak handlers had recruited three more conduits in Srinagar for facilitating distribution of funds among the adversaries in J&K. The funds have been calculated to be running in millions of rupees, which were being pumped into J&K for furthering terrorist designs to overawe the government establishments and intimidate people for dissociation of J&K from the Union of India. The investigation so far unfurls deep criminal conspiracy and is expected to give more specific leads for more arrests forthwith," the statement said.
[Dawn] Two bad boyz were potted while as many soldiers were martyred on Friday in an attack by Lions of Islam on a Frontier Constabulary (FC) camp in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... ’s MoslemBagh town, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
In a blurb, the ISPR said that a "group of Lions of Islam attacked an FC camp in Moslem Bagh area in northern Balochistan".
"In the process of clearance operation, two soldiers have embraced shahadat (martyrdom) while another three are injured," it added.
"So far, two Lions of Islam have been sent to hell by the security forces, who continue to maintain pressure on the terrorists."
The statement said that an operation by the security forces was "under way to capture the Lions of Islam who have been cornered into a building complex" while a heavy exchange of fire was also taking place.
The ISPR further said: "Commander 12 Corps is supervising the security forces operations being conducted at Moslem Bagh area in Balochistan where Lions of Islam have been cornered."
According to statistics released by the Pakistain Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based think-tank, January 2023 remained one of the deadliest months since July 2018, as 134 people bit the dust — a 139 per cent spike — and 254 received injuries in at least 44 Death Eater attacks across the country.
[Dawn] Five people were arrested on Thursday after a third blast in less than a week shook the area around the Sikh holy site of the Golden Templein Amritsar, Indian police said.
Two of the suspects had prepared the improvised bombs at a guest house in the city, state police director general Gaurav Yadav told news hounds, while the other three provided the materials. He gave no information about their suspected motives and said investigations were continuing.
Pressure for a separate Sikh homeland known as Khalistan sparked deadly violence in India in the 1980s and 1990s.
In March, a manhunt was launched in Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... state to arrest a firebrand ...firebrands are noted more for audio volume and the quantity of spittle generated than for any actual logic in their arguments... Sikh separatist that sparked protests and vandalism among the diaspora.
It was unclear whether that was connected to the three explosions. No injuries were reported in the third blast, which happened around midnight, with police describing it as low-intensity.
"The area is totally sealed and a forensic team is working on it," police official Naunihal Singh said.
[Rudaw] Peshmerga forces on Friday carried out two search and clearance operations against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) in Gwer town after festivities between villagers and suspected krazed killers.
After recent attacks in the area, "we suspected that [ISIS krazed killers] had infiltrated into Peshmerga territories," read a statement from the Peshmerga ministry.
The Peshmerga carried out search and clearance operations in the vicinity of Gwer district, 50 kilometers west of Erbil. The first operation in the morning lasted three hours and was followed by a second in the afternoon "to further ensure the residents of the area" that they are safe, according to the statement.
The ministry did not mention if any ISIS fighters were arrested or killed.
Abbas Mohammed is a resident of Kapran village. He said that some villagers have spotted four gunnies they suspect were ISIS members.
"I personally saw a person running and we shot at him, but he was not hit due to trees," he told Rudaw’s Behroz Faraidun on Friday, adding that a shepherd was briefly kidnapped and said after his release that the abductors were ISIS members.
The shepherd, aged 16 or 17, was seized by faceless myrmidons who called out to him and grabbed him when he approached. It is unclear how he was released but he was "terrified" after his ordeal, said Asi Ali, another resident of the same Kurdish village.
Some residents have reportedly abandoned their homes.
Gwer is located in an area disputed between the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). It has been a safe haven for ISIS sleeper cells because of the security gap between Peshmerga and Iraqi forces, as well as the rugged landscape. ISIS has taken advantage of the situation to move around, harass local residents, and carry out attacks.
ISIS button men killed a resident of Kapran village late last month who was going fishing on a nearby river.
Erbil and Baghdad have discussed establishing joint brigades to secure areas between their forces such as around Gwer. Talks stalled because of elections and a year of political wrangling to form a government, but funds for two joint brigades are included in the draft 2023 budget.
On Friday, the Peshmerga forces conducted a search and inspection operation in response to an attack by ISIS on the Iraqi army forces.
The operation was carried out by the Twenty-First Infantry Brigade of the Ministry of Peshmerga within their sector of responsibility—the process aimed to locate and eliminate ISIS members who may have infiltrated the area.
According to a statement of the Peshmerga, the operation involved the participation of the second regiment and a commando brigade, specifically targeting rugged and dense areas suspected of harboring ISIS members.
The operation concluded in the morning, indicating that the initial phase was completed successfully. However, a second phase was initiated in the afternoon to strengthen security measures further and reassure the local population.
[Shafaq News] On Friday, armed festivities erupted between Peshmerga forces and ISIS elements in the al-Kuwair area of Makhmur district, near the capital of the Kurdistan Region, Erbil.
According to a military source, the festivities were triggered by the detection of movements by several ISIS members in the district.
The exchange of fire between the Peshmerga forces and ISIS murderous Moslems is ongoing, and the extent of casualties on either side is unknown.
It is noteworthy to highlight the crucial role of Kurdish forces, particularly the Peshmerga, in the fight against ISIS since the terrorist group's offensive in Iraq began in 2014. The Peshmerga forces swiftly mobilized to defend Kurdish territories in northern Iraq.
Through coordinated operations with Iraqi security forces and global coalition partners, they significantly pushed back ISIS and reclaimed territories in northern Iraq. Notably, the liberation of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , Iraq's second-largest city, from ISIS control in 2017 stands as one of its most significant achievements in the fight against the terrorist organization.
ICYMI: Palestinian militants fire rockets toward #Jerusalem for the first time since fighting across the #Israel-Gaza border intensified while Israel kept up airstrikes on #Gaza amid Egyptian efforts to forge a ceasefire.https://t.co/kkfeo5wHjb
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) May 12, 2023
Paleostinian bully boyz on Friday fired rockets toward Jerusalem for the first time since fighting across the Israel-Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... border intensified this week while Israel kept up Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s on Gaza amid Egyptian efforts to forge a ceasefire.
Rocket sirens sounded in the town of Beit Shemesh and elsewhere in the hills outside Jerusalem, ending a 12-hour lull in fighting. Brief explosions could be heard in Jerusalem, possibly from Israeli missile defenses intercepting the rockets.
The Israeli military did not immediately confirm any interceptions near Jerusalem. Local media reported Israeli air defenses shot down two longer-range rockets.
Israeli towns near the Gaza border also came under renewed rocket fire.
Shortly afterward, Israel renewed air strikes against the Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... bully boy group in the Gaza Strip.
No injuries were reported in Friday’s violence, the latest setback in Egyptian attempts at engineering a truce.
Israeli forces launched an airstrike campaign against the Islamic Jihad leadership in the early hours on Tuesday, accusing them of planning attacks on Israel. Islamic Jihad, the second largest gang in Gaza after the ruling Hamas, the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,, has since fired almost 1,000 rockets, some deep into Israel.
At least 31 Paleostinians in densely populated Gaza, including women and kiddies, have been killed in the past three days, while one person in Israel was killed when an apartment was struck by a rocket in a Tel Aviv suburb.
In Gaza, a small impoverished coastal territory blockaded by Israel and Egypt since 2007, people woke up to empty streets, and many were keen for a respite after days of explosions.
The latest flare-up caps more than a year of resurgent Israeli-Paleostinian violence that has killed more than 140 Paleostinians and at least 19 Israelis and foreigners since January in a seemingly never-ending cycle.
Islamic Jihad spurns co-existence with Israel and preaches its destruction.
It turns out that choice is expensive in terms of men (and anyone near them and materiel.
Top ministers of Israel’s current religious nationalist government rule out any state sought by Paleostinians in territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
As Egypt pressed on with mediation efforts, two Paleostinian officials familiar with the talks said the sides were debating a draft proposed by Cairo.
Among truce terms, Islamic Jihad wants Israel to commit to ending strikes against its leaders. Israel has rejected that. Israel appeared to be hoping that Islamic Jihad, if depleted of rockets and commanders, would halt hostilities unilaterally.
At least 80 people have been injured in the Israeli airstrikes that destroyed five buildings and damaged more than 300 apartments Gaza, where residents have been experiencing decades of a worsening humanitarian crisis.
Israel’s military said that almost 200 Paleostinian rockets had misfired, and that such failed launches had killed four people inside Gaza, including a 10-year-old girl. Islamic Jihad denied that its rockets had misfired or caused deaths in Gaza.
Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in the 1967 war, as well as East Jerusalem which Paleostinians want for their capital. Israeli forces and settlers withdrew from Gaza in 2005.
Statehood talks between Israel and the mainstream Paleostinian Authority, based in the West Bank, have been frozen since 2014.
Compare to this report from Israel several hours later, at 7:39 p.m. local time:
[IsraelTimes] Terror group confirms death of Iyad al-Hassani, head of terror group’s operations department; Israel expects more long-range rocket launches in coming hours
An Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... in the Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip on Friday afternoon killed a senior Paleostinian Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... member, the sixth since the latest round of hostilities began earlier this week.
The strike in the Gaza City neighborhood of Nasser that killed Iyad al-Hassani, along with another man the military said was his assistant, dealt yet another blow to the terror group and further dampened hopes for a ceasefire.
In a joint statement, the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet security agency said al-Hassani was a top official in the group’s military council, in charge of its operations department. In recent days, he had also replaced the head of Islamic Jihad in northern Gaza, Khalil Bahtini, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Tuesday morning.
A spokesperson for Islamic Jihad confirmed al-Hassani’s death to AFP and other outlets.
According to the Hamas, a regional Iranian catspaw,-run health ministry, another five people were maimed in the airstrike targeting the top floor of an apartment building.
"He was involved in all the decisions concerning the rocket fire and rocket barrages carried out by the group toward Israel," the IDF said.
Speaking to news hounds after the strike, IDF front man Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the military had identified al-Hassani traveling in several vehicles over the past day. "Our ability to track using aircraft has improved in the operation, giving us the ability to track [commanders] between apartments," he said.
"What is important is that he received an appointment two days ago to replace Bahtini, after two days he is no longer with us, the most senior PIJ figure today in the Gaza Strip, managing combat, in contact with overseas [officials]," Hagari said.
Hagari said "the thing that affects [Islamic Jihad] the most is the assassinations."
"We are continuing as hard as we can in attacking those who are planning to launch rockets at us, while also keeping a strong defense," he added.
Islamic Jihad was expected to respond to the latest assassination.
Hagari said there would likely be more long-range rocket fire after the liquidation. "As has been the case in recent days, including today when two rockets flew toward Jerusalem and were intercepted, we could be met by such fire even in the coming hours," he said.
MORE ROCKETS, MORE STRIKES
The IDF renewed strikes on the coastal enclave just before noon Friday, after Islamic Jihad bandidosDeath Eaters launched large barrages of mortars on communities near the Strip, and also fired long-range rockets toward the Jerusalem area for the first time in this round of fighting.
The rocket attacks shattered several hours of calm that had raised hopes overnight for a deal to end the hostilities, amid efforts by Egypt, Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... and the United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... to broker indirect talks.
Israel in response cut off talks for a ceasefire agreement with Islamic Jihad, Israeli officials said. Ceasefire efforts had at any rate been held up by Islamic Jihad’s demand that Israel permanently end liquidations, a proposal Jerusalem has rejected outright.
Israel generally avoids confirming ceasefire agreements with terror groups, but several previous rounds of fighting between the IDF and Gaza have come to a close with international mediation and indirect talks.
The IDF said it had carried out strikes on Friday against four Islamic Jihad command centers, used by the terror group’s rocket array to plan and carry out attacks on Israel. It also struck several underground rocket launchers and mortar launching positions across Gaza.
Meanwhile, ...back at the revival hall, Buford bit the snake and Eloise began speaking in tongues... the IDF extended restrictions on movement and gathering for residents living up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Gaza Strip, to Saturday at 8 p.m. The IDF said the extension of the restrictions came following an assessment held by military officials, following renewed rocket fire from Gaza at Israel.
The Home Front Command rules mandated school closures, work closures — unless employees have a bomb-safe room they can reach in time — and limited outdoor gatherings to no more than 10 people.
Indoor gatherings in towns near the Gaza border were restricted to 50 people, while those up to 40 kilometers from the border with the Strip were limited to 100 people.
Additionally, special education schools were permitted to operate, provided there is a bomb-safe room that school kids and teachers can reach in time.
This week’s clash began after Israel launched Operation Shield and Arrow with simultaneous airstrikes early Tuesday that killed three Islamic Jihad commanders along with some of their wives and children as they slept in their homes. Israel said it was retaliating for a barrage of rocket fire launched last week by Islamic Jihad following the death of one of its West Bank members, Khader Adnan, from a hunger strike while in Israeli custody.
Talks were also set back on Thursday after Israel assassinated the commander of Islamic Jihad’s rocket division and his deputy. That came before a rocket slammed into a Rehovot home, killing an Israeli woman — the country’s first fatality in the current conflict.
At least 33 people in Gaza have been killed since Israel launched the offensive, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, and at least 111 more injured.
Military officials have said Israel has killed at least 18 terror operatives but admit the IDF was responsible for the deaths of 10 civilians during the initial strikes, which destroyed residential structures where families were sleeping. Officials believe some Gaza civilians have been killed by Paleostinian rocket misfires.
Gazook fighters, who only began firing rockets in response to the bombing on Wednesday afternoon, launched at least 937 projectiles during the conflict, as of Friday afternoon.
According to the military, at least 761 of the projectiles crossed the border, while 181 fell short in Gaza — with some of them believed to have killed four Paleostinians.
The IDF said air defense systems — Iron Dome and the medium-range David’s Sling — intercepted 296 of the rockets, marking a 91% interception rate of projectiles heading for populated areas. Several rockets have landed within towns, killing one and injuring several others, as well as causing extensive damage.
The rest landed in open areas without causing damage, according to the IDF. Most rockets targeted towns in southern Israel, but some reached as far north as Tel Aviv.
The military also said it had carried out strikes against 254 targets belonging to Islamic Jihad during the campaign.
Israeli officials have insisted that they are keeping the fight limited to Islamic Jihad and not the larger and better-armed Hamas terror group, which rules the Strip, hoping to avoid widening the conflict.
A security bigshot warned that as the fighting continues, the chances of Hamas joining the fray grow.
"The rope we’re walking on will be even thinner and the odds grow. We’re ready for the possibility," the unnamed source told the Ynet news site.
Another Israeli official said the liquidations of top Islamic Jihad members send "a message" to other terror groups such as Hamas, in an apparent warning to the Gaza Strip’s rulers.
"The high-quality assassinations that harm the PIJ’s chain of command are also a message to Hamas and other terror organizations that threaten to harm Israel," the official said in a statement to news hounds.
Hagari stressed on Friday that the campaign was still focused on Islamic Jihad, as it has been the terror group leading the rocket fire on Israel. "I have seen statements about what Hamas is doing. [it’s] not involved in the fighting, not taking part, not assisting logistically, and therefore we are focusing on the one who is trying to harm us, the PIJ," he said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the revival hall, Buford bit the snake and Eloise began speaking in tongues... an official in the Hamas government in Gaza warned Friday that Gaza’s only power plant was running out of fuel, and would need to stop operating if it does not get new supplies from Israel through the Kerem Shalom Crossing in the next 72 hours.
"We warn against the continued closure of the crossings and preventing the entry of fuel needed for the power plant, as the station’s management was forced to stop one of the three power-generating turbines to prolong its operation, as it is expected to stop completely within 72 hours," Salama Maarouf said.
[NPASYRIA] Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) revealed on Friday the toll of its operations in Syria, Iraq, and areas in Africa, and Asia.
Al-Naba online ISIS-linked newspaper said in a statement "the group conducted one operation in Syria in the government-held areas, as a result a police officer was killed and four soldiers were maimed in targeting their car in Masakin Barza in the countryside of Damascus."
The newspaper added that the group’s holy warriors carried out another operation against the Iraqi army north of Baghdad, targeting an Iraqi soldier in the town of Tarmiyah.
In West Africa, the group carried out six operations, killing and wounding 11 individuals. ISIS grabbed credit for an operation in a province in Central Africa, in which three individuals were killed and maimed, as it claimed another in Khorasan, killing one individual.
The group also claimed another operation in the Sahel in Africa, killing and wounding seven.
Lately, ISIS’ activities and risk have record a significant increase despite the operations carried out by the US-led Global Coalition and its partner forces to defeat the group.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/13/2023 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.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
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...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
...
...
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
