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It was terrorism: Iran denies any role in deadly Tajikistan attack
Today's Headlines
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Page 6: Politix
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Afghanistan
Taliban militants suffer heavy casualties after blow by own IED in Kunduz
Another colour-blind jihadi [inbreeding!] can’t tell the difference between the red wire and the green wire?
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least eight Talibs were killed or maimed after blown by an improvised bomb planted by own comrades in northern Kunduz province.

The 209th Shaheen Corps of the Afghan military in the North said the incident has taken place in Dasht Archi district.

The source further added that an improvised bomb planted in Puli Moman village went off, leaving 5 holy warriors dead and three others severely maimed.
Correction: Don’t lose the map of the mine field, guys.
Posted by: Fred || 07/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336096 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Ok we snark about the competence of the splodey types.. but given the frequency of such *unfortunate* mishaps, one has to wonder if the Haliburton "Bomb Kits for Martyrs" Division has been peddling it's wares.
Posted by: Squinty Gurly-Brown3033 || 07/31/2018 13:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Dear Jihadis,

If you hear this playing while wiring, consider it your funeral dirge.

- Haliburton Last Rites Services Dept

Posted by: Warthog || 07/31/2018 14:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Let’s make sure the ‘red green standard’ remains.
Posted by: Throter Bourbon2737 || 07/31/2018 19:41 Comments || Top||

#4  "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy." ?
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 07/31/2018 23:00 Comments || Top||


Tribal elder among 4 killed in a suicide car bomb attack in Nangarhar
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least four people including a local tribal elder were killed in a suicide car kaboom in eastern Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
province of Afghanistan.

The provincial government media office in a statement said the incident took place at around 6:30pm local time in the vicinity of Rodat dsitrict.

The statement further added that the attack in Kabul Camp area left the local tribal elder Haji Hayat and three of his family members dead.

According to governor’s office, Haji Hayat’s son was also maimed in the suicide car kaboom.

The incident took place as Haji Hayat Khan was on his way to Jalalabad city from Kot district, the statement said, adding that the jacket wallah used a mini truck packed with explosives to carry out the attack.

Haji Hayat Khan was also a nominee for the upcoming parliamentary elections and three of his family members killed in the attack were serving as his security guards and driver, the provincial government added.

The statement by the provincial government also added that Haji Hayat Khan’s son has sustained minor injuries in the attack.
Al Ahram adds:
"Haji Hayat Khan was a prominent tribal elder and he was playing a important role in the fight against Daesh," said provincial council member Sohrab Qaderi, using the term often employed for Islamic State group in Afghanistan. "He was a strong barrier against Daesh expansion in Nangarhar."

The incident follows a series of attacks on targets in Nangarhar, the province on the border with Pakistan where Islamic State group first appeared in Afghanistan in late 2014.
Posted by: Fred || 07/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336076 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Arabia
Air strikes hit Yemen’s Hodeida province
[DAWN] The United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
on Sunday said air raids struck Yemen’s Red Sea province of Hodeida for three days, damaging a water plant and placing civilians at "extreme risk".

"On 26, 27 and 28 July, air strikes occurred near a reproductive health centre and public laboratory in Hodeida and hit and damaged a sanitation facility in Zabid and a water station, which supplies the majority of the water to Hodeida City," the office of the UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
said in a statement.

"These air strikes are putting innocent civilians at extreme risk," the statement said.

The UN office said that "damage to sanitation, water and health facilities jeopardises everything we are trying to do" and warned "we could be one air strike away from an unstoppable epidemic".

The strikes comes less than one month after the United Arab Emirates, part of a Saudi-led coalition backing the Yemeni government, said it had suspended an offensive to take the port city to give UN mediation efforts a chance.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, Yemeni military sources contacted by AFP confirmed that air raids had resumed after the coalition said a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea was attacked on Wednesday.

On June 13, 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...
and its allies in a pro-government coalition launched a major offensive to retake Hodeida, through which 70 per cent of Yemen’s food imports flow.

The fighting around Hodeida has raised UN fears of a new humanitarian catastrophe in a country already standing at the brink of famine and gripped by a deadly cholera epidemic.

Posted by: Fred || 07/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
ISIS releases video of 'Tajik attackers' pledging allegiance before killing four Western tourists
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] 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....
released a video on Tuesday purportedly showing attackers pledging allegiance to the bad boy group before killing four Western tourists in a knife and car-ramming attack in Tajikistan.
The video can be seen at the link. The lads dressed for the occasion in matching black t-shirts and uncovered heads, making identification easy.
The terror group sought to bolster its claim of responsibility for an attack which killed four Western tourists including two Americans on Sunday.

But the Tajik government has accused a banned Islamist opposition party of being behind the attack.

The Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) party's exiled leaders denied any link to the attack and said the authorities were using the incident for political purposes.

But on Monday, ISIS grabbed credit for the attack which was originally reported as a hit-and-run road accident.

In a statement, ISIS said that a 'detachment from the soldiers of the Caliphate' had carried out the attack against 'citizens of Crusader coalition countries,' according to intelligence monitor SITE.

On Tuesday, an ISIS outlet published a video of five men pledging allegiance to its leader His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
...the head of ISIS, or what remains of it, and a veteran of the Abu Graib jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us. So far he has been killed at least four times, though not yet by a stake through the heart...
The men, who speak Russian, sit under a black Islamic State flag and refer to each other by Arab names.

Some of them appear similar to the suspects whose photographs have been published by Tajikistan's interior ministry.

The cyclists were killed on Sunday when a car ploughed into them on a rural road.

After the crash, the attackers also stabbed their victims, Tajikistan's interior minister and the US embassy said on Monday.

The victims, two Americans, a Swiss and Dutch citizen, were struck by a car while on a popular cycle route in the Danghara district, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of the capital Dushanbe.

Another cyclist with the group, a French citizen, escaped without injury and had been questioned by police, he added.

The Dutch foreign ministry said one of the dead tourists was a 56-year-old man who was cycling the route with his 58-year-old partner, without providing names.

It was the first known attack of its kind against Western tourists in Tajikistan, a remote ex-Soviet state located north of Afghanistan in towering mountains where Islamists fought an insurgency against a Moscow-backed government in the 1990s.

A purported video of the attack received from an anonymous source and published by Radio Free Europe
...also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
showed a car doing a U-turn after knocking down the cyclists and driving over several people on a narrow road in broad daylight.

Security forces killed four suspected attackers on Monday and detained one.

Among the dead suspects was 21-year-old Jafariddin Yusufov, the owner of the Daewoo Leganza car that struck the tourists on Sunday afternoon, local officials said.

'(The suspects) had knives and firearms,' said interior minister Ramazon Hamro Rahimzoda, adding that two other cyclists, Swiss and Dutch nationals, were maimed and hospitalised.

'One tourist received a knife wound and is being given medical assistance. The victim's condition is stable,' said Rahimzoda, without mentioning a nationality.

In a statement on Tuesday, the interior ministry said it had detained four more suspects and blamed the IRPT for the attack.

Citing what it said was the confession of a detained suspect, the ministry said the attackers' leader had been trained in Iran and the group planned to flee to Afghanistan after the attack.

'We completely deny the illogical allegation by the interior ministry and condemn this terrorist act,' IRPT leader-in-exile Muhiddin Kabiri told Rooters.

'This (statement) draws the attention away from the real criminals.'

The Dushanbe government banned the IRPT in 2015, accusing it of plotting a failed coup.

Party leaders now in exile have denied those charges and said the move against them aimed to consolidate the grip of President Imomali Rakhmon, in power since 1992, the second longest-serving leader of an ex-Soviet state.

Kabiri said he was surprised that the government had ignored the claim made by Islamic State.

Party leaders who now live in exile have denied the charges and said the move against them aimed to consolidate President Imomali Rakhmon's grip on power.

Earlier on Tuesday, IRPT expressed condolences to the families and nations of the victims and said it hoped the investigation would 'not only refute rumours and assumptions', but also help Tajikistan regain trust in the eyes of foreigners.
Posted by: Fred || 07/31/2018 15:01 || Comments || Link || [336115 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  The Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) party's exiled leaders denied any link to the attack and said the authorities were using the incident for political purposes.

But on Monday, ISIS grabbed credit for the attack


No reason the miscreants could belong to both organizations, either simultaneously, with or without informing the exiled leadership, or sequentially. We see plenty of allegiance changing or sharing elsewhere.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/31/2018 17:44 Comments || Top||

#2  We see plenty of allegiance changing or sharing elsewhere.

There are no permanent sides in Calvinball, especially when playing to the death.
Posted by: SteveS || 07/31/2018 19:58 Comments || Top||


It was terrorism: Iran denies any role in deadly Tajikistan attack
Yesterday's report of events can be seen here.
[IsraelTimes] Iran denies accusations by Tajikistan police that it was partly responsible for an attack that killed four tourists in the former Soviet republic.

"The Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran denies any link with this terrorist attack and categorically denies that there is any military base to train murderous Moslems inside Iran," says foreign ministry front man Bahram Ghasemi, according to the Mehr news agency.

"We condemn all terrorist acts all over the world, including the recent attack on foreign tourists in Tajikistan," he says.

Two Americans, a Dutch and a Swiss citizen were killed Sunday about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the capital Dushanbe after being struck by a car and attacked on a popular cycling route.

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....
jihadist group grabbed credit but this was rejected by Tajikistan police, who blamed a banned Islamist opposition party that it said had undergone "military sabotage" training in Iran.
Shiite Iran has an awful lot of connections to Sunni terror groups, from open support of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad to sheltering members of Osama bin Laden's family and the inner circle of Al Qaeda when they fled the Americans in 2002.
Ghasemi condemns the "baseless" allegations and says Iran was "ready to cooperate with officials of Tajikistan to shed light on this dark attack."

Radio Free Europe has video of the attack, showing the driver deliberately circling round against the traffic flow to take another pass.

Yahoo adds:
Five people suspected of involvement in the attack were killed by police and at least four suspects detained, according to separate police accounts published on Sunday and Monday.

Among the dead suspects was 21-year-old Jafariddin Yusufov, the owner of the Daewoo Leganza car that struck the tourists on Sunday afternoon, local officials said.

The Dutch foreign ministry told AFP on Monday that one of the dead tourists was a 56-year-old man who was cycling the route with his 58-year-old partner, without providing names.

The cyclists were travelling on a road that adjoins the famous Pamir Highway, a Soviet-era road surrounded by stunning mountain scenery.

Reuters adds:
Security forces pursuing suspects in the attack killed four, including one who resisted arrest, and detained a fifth man, the former Soviet republic's interior ministry said.

A "wanted" notice disseminated by Tajik authorities named two suspects aged 18 and 19 from the same village close to the Tajik-Afghan border, and a third one, 21, from the town of Nurek located not far from the site of the attack.

The government of Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon - who expressed condolences to the U.S., Swiss and Dutch authorities on Monday - fought Islamist guerrillas in a 1992-1997 civil war which claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Some Tajik Islamists then joined a coalition government but in 2015 the state outlawed their political party, accusing its leaders of being behind a failed coup, a charge they deny.

Thousands of people from the mainly Muslim region have joined Islamic State militants in recent years. Several men from Central Asia were detained last year over a bombing of the metro in Russia's St Petersburg, and over truck attacks in New York and Stockholm.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/31/2018 10:34 || Comments || Link || [336144 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies

#1  Vacationing in Tajikistan? I assume this makes them eligible for the Darwin Award.
Posted by: Squinty Gurly-Brown3033 || 07/31/2018 11:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Four fewer Democratic voters.
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/31/2018 12:47 Comments || Top||

#3  Security forces pursuing suspects in the attack killed four, including one who resisted arrest
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/31/2018 14:22 Comments || Top||

#4  I don't believe them for a second, but it's interesting that Iran is publicly disavowing this terror attack. It wasn't that long ago that Iran wanted to be seen as terrorist central command. I wonder what changed?
Posted by: The peanut gallery || 07/31/2018 18:51 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Islamic State member in charge of petroleum products arrested, west of Anbar
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) 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....
member in charge of the petroleum products has been incarcerated
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
, east of Fallujah city in Anbar, a mobilization forces commander was quoted saying on Monday.

In remarks to Almaalomah website, Col. Mahmoud Mordi al-Jumeili, commander with al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) in Anbar, said, "security troops carried out an operation al al-Dawayah region in al-Karma town, east of Fallujah,
... the City of Mosques, which might have somthing to do with why it's not called Center of Prosperity or a really nice place to raise your kids...
during which they besieged IS leader called Ahmed Meshaan al-Duleimi, in charge of the petroleum products, without any confrontations."

Duleimi, according to Jumeili, "is considered a prominent IS leader. He is in charge of providing the group with petroleum products as well as money."

Arresting Duleimi "comes within a plan draw by security troops to follow the remnants of Islamic State in the liberated regions," Jumeili added. "He was transferred under tight security measures to a detention cell for investigations."
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/31/2018 00:13 || Comments || Link || [336087 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1 
Posted by: Jack Chaiter7913 || 07/31/2018 7:07 Comments || Top||


Civilian injured as stun grenade exploded, south of Baghdad
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) A civilian was injured as a blast caused by a stun grenade took place, south of Baghdad, a security source said on Monday.

Speaking to Almaalomah website, the source said, "a stun grenade, placed near stores in al-Radwaniyah region, south of Baghdad, went off, leaving a civilian maimed."

Security troops, "cordoned off the blast scene and transferred the maimed to medical center for treatment."
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/31/2018 00:11 || Comments || Link || [336102 views] Top|| File under:


Iraqi courts sentence al-Qaeda, IS members to death, life over terrorism charges
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) Diyala Criminal Court has sentenced four convicts to death over joining a terrorist group and committing crimes in the province in 2007, the High Judicial Council announced on Monday.

In a statement, Abdul-Sattar al-Bayraqdar, a spokesperson of the council, said "the court reviewed cases of four suspects who were convicted for joining al-Qaeda and carrying out terrorist operations."

Among the operations, according to the statement, were "kidnapping and killing five members of one family and stealing money after attacking their house in al-Ghalibiya region, Diyala, in 2007."

Moreover, the security committee of Diyala provincial council said three 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....
members were sentenced to death.

Speaking to AlSumaria News, Sadeq al-Husseini, head of the committee, said "judiciary in Diyala sentenced three members of Islamic State to death, while the four others were sentenced to life.

Husseini added that several terrorism cases will be finalized soon.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/31/2018 00:06 || Comments || Link || [336084 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


Islamic State members killed, injured in operations, southwest of Kirkuk: Police
Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Several 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....
leaders were killed and injured as a security operation was carried out, southwest of Kirkuk,
... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time...
the Federal Police said on Monday.

Troops "carried out, today, an operation from two axes in Kirkuk," the police said in a statement, adding that the operations were at villages of al-Riyad and Hawija regions.

The villages, according to the statement, "Rebza, Shalaka, Wadi al-Naft, al-Mahmoudi and al-Deb."

The police managed to "kill many IS members and injure others."
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/31/2018 00:04 || Comments || Link || [336074 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Diyala dead dudes: 21 turbans toes up in two operations


17 Islamic State militants killed in Diyala military operation: commander

Diyala (IraqiNews.com) ‐ Up to 17 members of 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 killed in a military operation that was launched Sunday to eliminate terrorist hotbeds in Diyala province, an army commander was quoted as saying.

Speaking to Alghad Press on Monday, Commander of Diyala Operations Mazhar al-Azzawi said, "the military operation, which was launched yesterday in the northern and northeastern parts of Diyala, was typical and caused many casualties among Islamic State fighters."

"The operation, backed by army jets, left 17 Islamic State fighters dead and 10 of their hideouts destroyed," Azzawi said, adding that the Iraqi army is determined to continue purging the whole province from IS dormant cells.

Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks across Iraq against troops. Security reports indicate that the turban group still poses threat against stability in the country. The group still has dormant cells, through which it carries out attacks across Iraq like it used to do before 2014.

In January 2015, Iraqi forces announced liberation of Diyala province from Islamic State bully boy snuffies who proclaimed an "Islamic Caliphate" in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

The province has seen months of fighting between Iraqi troops and IS snuffies especially in the Jalawla and Saadiyah areas in the province’s north and areas near the town of Muqdadiyah.

Four Islamic State militants killed while trying to infiltrate into Diyala

Diyala (IraqiNews.com) – Four Islamic State (IS) members were killed Monday while trying to infiltrate into Diyala province, a security source was quoted as saying.

"The 110th brigade of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) has ambushed four IS members while driving their armored vehicle into the Gent valley in northeastern Diyala," Watan News quoted the source as saying.

According to the source, the terrorists were planning to carry out terrorist attacks against civilians in Diyala.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336075 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
IDF raids Hamas television station in West Bank, arrests employees
[IsraelTimes] Soldiers also confiscate broadcasting equipment at al-Quds TV; troops nab students suspected of terror cell membership at Hebron University

The IDF raided a Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,-affiliated television station in the West Bank early Monday, arresting employees and confiscating broadcasting equipment.

In total, 20 people were placed in durance vile
Please don't kill me!
in overnight operations.

The army said it arrested four Paleostinians suspected of incitement for their work at al-Quds TV, which was defined earlier this month as a terror organization.

The four arrested were named by Paleostinian news site Wafa as station head Ala Rimawi and three freelance journalists, Sami Ulwan, Husni Injass and Qutaibah Hamdan. Wafa also said the army seized their cars and their personal computers.

The Israeli military in recent years has shuttered a number of television and radio stations operating in the West Bank over suspected incitement and ties to terror groups.

Israeli leaders have spoken out repeatedly about the threat of incitement in Paleostinian media, while Paleostinian television programs are cited in Shin Bet interrogations of murderous Moslems as sources of inspiration.

The army said it also arrested a group of Hebron University students suspected of comprising a Hamas cell and of inciting others to commit terror attacks. During the operation the army confiscated propaganda documents. It also distributed leaflets warning locals not to involve themselves with terror.

In addition, security forces arrested five Paleostinians in Qalqilya suspected of Hamas activity and involvement in facilitating terror operations in the past few months.

During the operation riots broke out in three locations. The army said they were dispersed using crowd control methods.
The Jerusalem Post adds:
During the joint operation ‐ which was carried out by IDF troops from the Binyamin and Ephraim Regional Brigades and the Shin Bet (Israel security agency) ‐ technical equipment, vehicles and personal computers were confiscated.

The al-Quds channel, which first broadcasted in October 2008 from Beirut and had channels in Ramallah and Jerusalem, was banned from operating in Israel earlier this month by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336108 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1 
Posted by: Jack Chaiter7913 || 07/31/2018 7:09 Comments || Top||


In first, incendiary balloon lands in Be'er Sheva
[Ynet] Sappers rush to street in Negev desert's largest city to remove balloon believed to have been flown from Gazoo, raising fears the daily fires may no longer be restricted to Gazoo border towns only.

An incendiary balloon, which police believe was launched from the Gazoo Strip, landed on Monday evening in Be’er Sheva, raising fears that murderous Moslems are increasing the range of the devices that have caused numerous fires in Israeli border communities.

Police sappers were called to the Ringelblum Street in the Negev desert’s largest city to remove the balloon.

Police forces also closed the road off to traffic and distanced passersby. The road was reopened shortly after.

Throughout the day, firefighters worked to extinguish fires that erupted in Israel Gazoo border communities as a result of incendiary balloons flown from the Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,-ruled coastal enclave.

In total, five fires were extinguished by the firefighters in the Eshkol Regional Council while another fire broke out in the Dorot Forest in the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336076 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1 
Posted by: Jack Chaiter7913 || 07/31/2018 7:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Anybody got any photos of these balloons? Are there various types, sizes, capacities, payloads?
Posted by: Bobby || 07/31/2018 8:08 Comments || Top||

#3  This article has photos of this particular one, Bobby. Just click on the headline.

There are single and multiple balloons as well as the original kites, and payloads vary from smudge pots and molotov cocktails to explosives, though that last is rare thus far.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/31/2018 11:34 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Hoping for peace, bracing for war in Mindanao
[IRIN] Mindanao is on the verge of a hard-won peace deal granting greater autonomy to minority Muslims. But on the edges of sprawling Liguasan Marsh, civilians like Tamano Bandila are bracing for more violence. He fled his home last year, after hearing rumours that militants linked to the Islamic State were near. He said, "I’m worried that ISIS will come back and recruit the youth and there will be more conflict,” he said, adding that civilians would be the collateral damage.

Bandila’s home is in the middle of the central Mindanao marshlands that is also a stronghold of the island’s largest Muslim armed group – the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. For more than 40 years, grievances among the island’s Moro Muslims have fuelled a separatist movement that has battled the Philippine army.

The backdrop is last year’s five-month siege of Marawi, where fighting levelled the city and uprooted 360,000 people. The destruction both deepened long-held frustrations and raised fears that further missteps in the peace process will fuel extremism.

The government declared an end to the Marawi siege in October, but clashes with Islamist militants continue in places like the Liguasan Marsh. Here, the MILF has done what was once unimaginable: formed an uneasy alliance with the Philippine army

Today, the MILF and the military coordinate operations in the vast marshlands: the army providing airstrikes while MILF fighters lead the charge on the ground. MILF spokesman Von Al-Haq said, “We are the one who assaults the enemy directly."

President Rodrigo Duterte is on the cusp of signing – as early as this week – the Bangsamoro Organic Law, implementing the peace accord and granting greater autonomy and fiscal powers to a Moro Muslim homeland on Mindanao. Sky-high expectations surround the peace agreement, but local community groups worry that in practice, the resulting law will be stripped back from what was originally negotiated in 2014.

The Philippine Congress has wrangled over matters of tax revenue, control over resources and waterways, and even the basic question of how outlying municipalities will accede to a new autonomous territory. While the MILF says the current agreement is an imperfect but acceptable new beginning, Islamist militants are likely to use any failings in the resulting deal as fodder in the future.
Posted by: ryuge || 07/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336076 views] Top|| File under: Moro Islamic Liberation Front


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Russian military shoots down drone in Syria
Snip. Duplicate.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336074 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: Jack Chaiter7913 || 07/31/2018 7:10 Comments || Top||


Iran Ramps Up Support to Taliban in Western Afghanistan
[TheJamestownFoundation] During an official visit to Iran in May, Tariq Shah Bahrami, Afghanistan’s defense minister, received assurances that Tehran was fully committed to helping Kabul fight terrorism. It was a welcome guarantee, coming as Afghan forces faced a fresh onslaught from the Taliban, which typically mounts an annual offensive in April. Within months, however, the promise appeared to ring hollow as Afghan officials increasingly blamed Iran for the fighting in Afghanistan’s western Farah province.

A Common Enemy
Speaking after his meeting with Bahrami on May 13, Iranian Army Chief of Staff Mohammad Hossein Baqeri declared that Tehran and Kabul shared a common purpose.

“The shared backgrounds between the two countries of Iran and Afghanistan, including religion and language, have brought them together in such a way that no obstacle can undermine their close relations, especially in combatting the terrorist groups,” he said (Khaama Press, May 13).

However, as Bahrami gathered assurances and pledges of support from the clerical regime’s senior officials in Tehran, a battle was brewing along the nearly 1,000 kilometer-long border between the countries. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of Taliban fighters descended on the western city of Farah, which serves as the capital of the rural Farah province.

Heavily armed Taliban fighters breached Farah’s defenses in the early hours of May 15. By mid-day, they had overrun large swathes of the town, torched several government building and killed and captured government soldiers, policemen and pro-government militia members.

“The incompetent defense minister, the head of the Directorate of National Security [the Afghan secret service] and Mr. President, the residents of Farah are utterly disappointed with you because we were nearly overrun by Iranian and Pakistani spies,” said Humayon Shahzada, a militia member who fought in the battle (Tolo News, May 15).
Posted by: 3dc || 07/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336080 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Lebanon arrests senior army officer for collaboration with Israel ‐ report
[IsraelTimes] A senior Lebanese army officer was jugged
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
on suspicion of collaborating with Israel, according to a report in the Lebanese Arabic-language al-Akhbar newspaper Monday.

The man was suspected of removing records of wanted people suspected of working for Israel and of accepting bribes in exchange for releasing detainees.

A number of other officers and civilians were also arrested on suspicion that they were also involved, the newspaper, which is seen as pro-Hezbollah, reported.

The senior officer was initially questioned by Sherlocks within his unit. He was released and during that time prosecutors gathered more evidence against him. He was arrested three weeks ago, the paper said, and transferred to the Rihaniyeh Military Prison.

Five others were arrested, including three members of the same family who were subsequently released. A man and a woman remain in jug, the paper reported.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336077 views] Top|| File under:


Syrian Army's Daraa adventures: Egyptian ISIS emir reaches neutrality, former rebels fight alongside, final ISIS stronghold taken


Syrian Army kills Egyptian ISIS emir in southwest Syria

[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) killed one of the highest ranking commanders of the so-called 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....
(ISIS) in southwestern Syria last night.

According to a military report from Daraa, the Syrian Arab Army killed the Islamic State emir of Shajarah, Abu Walid al-Masri, after a fierce battle in the southwestern countryside of Daraa.

The report added that the Islamic State commander was of Egyptian descent.

The Islamic State affiliated Jaish Khaled bin Walid forces have recently been suffering heavy casualties in the Yarmouk Basin region, thanks in large part to the intensity of the Syrian Arab Army’s attack.

Since killing Abu Walid al-Masri, the Syrian Arab Army has begun a new attack on Shajarah in a bid to expel the terrorist group from the area.

Former rebels fight alongside Syrian Army in Daraa (video)

[ALMASDARNEWS] Former rebels from the Free Syrian Army
... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund...
(FSA) are now fighting alongside the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in the Daraa Governorate after years of conflict.

The rebel fighters from Free Syrian Army’s Shabaab al-Sunnah Brigade are currently taking part in the Syrian Arab Army’s ongoing offensive against the ISIS-affiliated Jaish Khaled bin Walid Lions of Islam in the Yarmouk Basin region.

According to a Syrian military report, over 500 former rebels are now fighting alongside the government forces after settling their cases in the Daraa Governorate.

These reconciled rebels were given the option to serve alongside the Syrian Arab Army in order to settle their cases and remain in the Daraa and al-Quneitra governorates.

Syrian army retakes biggest Islamic State's stronghold in Daraa: Agency

[IraqiNews] The Syrian army has announced liberating a village in al-Yarmouk basin in the countryside of Daraa, south of Syria, after a military operation that ended the last stronghold of Islamic State there, the Syrian SANA news agency reported.

The army forces, according to the report, entered al-Shajara village, the main stronghold of the militants in al-Yarmouk basin, from two regions. The first one from Abdeen village, northwest of al-Shajara, while the second from Tal Gitar and Ain Ghazala, in the east and northeast of the village.

Huge losses were inflicted on the enemy in lives and equipment, the report added. The confrontations ended with liberation of the village.

In related news, the report said army forces achieved progress in Abdeen village.
Posted by: Fred || 07/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336080 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Infighting looms in Idlib as Nusra, former Ghouta militants trade blows, Kurds may team up with Syrian Army
[ALMASDARNEWS] Former forces of Evil of Eastern Ghouta and the al-Qaeda-linked group in Idlib have been recently engaged in a series of arrest campaigns; portending a new bloody infighting between the two old foes.

Having undergone an all-out regrouping and reorganizing process, Jaish al-Islam
...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful...
rebel group launched a full-scale crackdown against Nusra forces of Evil who had fought them years ago in Eastern Ghouta region.

In 2016, both Salafi-oriented groups were caught in heavy infighting in Eastern Ghouta, which had killed up to 500 fighters from both sides.

The Saudi-backed Jaish al-Islam was evacuated from its stronghold of Eastern Ghouta as per a surrender agreement with the Syrian Army last March.

In response, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham
set up checkpoints and enjugged
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
several Jaish al-Islam fighters. Up to 50 forces of Evil from both warring parties have been arrested during the last two months.

The recent escalated tensions might evolve to a full-scale infighting similar to those broke out earlier among various rival Death Eater factions.

However,
facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable...
local sources spoke about a tendency among Nusra leadership to cool things off to avert a potential war in which Syria Liberation Front (the arch enemy of HTS) will definitely join the fight alongside Jaish al-Islam.

Syrian Army, Kurdish forces to potentially team up for Idlib offensive

[ALMASDARNEWS] A source from the Syrian military told al-Masdar News last night that the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) may potentially team up for the government’s upcoming Idlib offensive.

According to the source in Damascus, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDF) met with the Syrian government last week to discuss a number of topics, including potential military cooperation.

The source said that the SDC, the political arm of the SDF, offered to take part in the Idlib offensive and help limit The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
’s sphere of influence in the northern part of the country.

While nothing is official, the source said that if the military cooperation does happen in Idlib, it be an imperative step towards reconciliation and a political settlement in northern Syria.

The Idlib Governorate offensive that is referenced above has to deal with the Syrian Arab Army’s upcoming operation to retake the strategic district of Jisr al-Shughour in the southwestern part of the province.

Jisr al-Shughour and the al-Ghaab Plain located south of the district are two imperative areas in northwest Syria that are used as launching points for jihadist attacks against the government forces.

Furthermore, the Ottoman Turkish border-crossing near Jisr al-Shughour has allowed the jihadist rebels of the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham
to deeply entrench themselves in this part of northwest Syria.

Turkey will not likely approve of the Syrian Army’s upcoming northern Latakia and Jisr al-Shughour offensives, which could escalate the situation in northwest Syria if the two parties encounter one another.
Posted by: Fred || 07/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336070 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


ISIS on last legs in east Deir Ezzor as they retreat to Hasakah desert
[ALMASDARNEWS] 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....
(ISIS) is on the verge of defeat in the Deir Ezzor Governorate after losing several areas at the hands of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Backed by US and French Arclight airstrikes, the SDF scored a major advance in eastern Deir Ezzor last week, seizing several towns from the Islamic State bully boyz near the Iraqi border.

Among the areas captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces last week were the towns of al-Ismail, al-Aqra, Bir Mazal, Bir Dahamad, al-Jarjari, al-Halluni, al-Bujari, Abud al-Jadan, al-Khinzir, Bir Zuqum, Bir Umm Ghurba, Qarat al-Moutab, Umm al-Rus, Sabkhat al-Sahil and Khasham.

These aforementioned towns were captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces in the matter of 72 hours, local activists reported.

The Syrian Democratic Forces have now reached the desert area of al-Hasakah, which is where the Islamic State bully boyz are expected to make their last stand in the coming days.

Posted by: Fred || 07/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336076 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Syrian Army declares entire border with occupied Golan Heights liberated
[ALMASDARNEWS] For the first time since 2014, Syria’s entire border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights has been declared holy warrior-free after both the rebel and 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....
(ISIS) fighters conceded their last positions.

According to a military report from the Daraa Governorate, the Syrian Arab Army’s 4th Armored Division was able to seize the Islamic State’s last border points this afternoon, following a fierce battle with the terrorist group’s Jaish Khaled bin Walid faction.

Meanwhile,
...back at the shouting match, the spittle had reached unprecedented levels...
at the Shajarah front, the Syrian Arab Army’s Tiger Forces branch overpowered the remaining Islamic State snuffies at this key town, resulting in the capture of the latter’s last major stronghold in the Daraa Governorate.

With the border of the occupied Golan Heights cleared and Shajarah liberated, the Syrian Arab Army is on the verge of seizing the last 50 square kilometers of territory that is still under the occupation of the Jaish Khaled bin Walid forces.

Once this last Islamic State pocket is cleared, the Syrian Arab Army will have full control of the Yarmouk Basin region and the entire Daraa Governorate for the first time since 2011.

Posted by: Fred || 07/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336073 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Jihadist rebels launch another attack on Hmeymim Airbase
[ALMASDARNEWS] The jihadist rebels have launched another attack on the Russian military’s Hmeymim Airbase in western Syria, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported tonight.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, an armed drone approached Hmeymim Airbase this evening before it was shot down by the air defense forces at this military installation in the southwestern countryside of the Latakia Governorate.

A source from the Syrian Arab Army the armed drones took off from the Jisr al-Shughour District of the Idlib Governorate; this region is primarily controlled by jihadist rebels.

This latest attack by the jihadist rebels comes just 24 hours after they attempted to bomb the Hmeymim Airbase at night.

These attacks by the jihadist rebels have become almost a daily occurrence, which has prompted the Russian and Syrian air forces to intensify their Arclight airstrikes in the Jisr al-Shughour countryside.

Posted by: Fred || 07/31/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336073 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria



Who's in the News
22[untagged]
7Islamic State
6Govt of Pakistan
5Commies
5Govt of Iran
3Hamas
3Govt of Syria
3Taliban
2Govt of Iraq
2Sublime Porte
1Houthis
1al-Nusra
1Jamaat-e-Islami
1Moro Islamic Liberation Front
1Moslem Colonists
1Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life,
1Govt of Iran Proxies
1al-Qaeda

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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.
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
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trailing wife
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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2018-07-31
  It was terrorism: Iran denies any role in deadly Tajikistan attack
Mon 2018-07-30
  2 killed in Gaza blast during attempted launch of projectile toward Israel
Sun 2018-07-29
  Duterte invites the Abu Sayyaf to peace talks
Sat 2018-07-28
  Police enter Al-Aqsa Mosque, clash with worshipers in Temple Mount riots
Fri 2018-07-27
  Imran to be next PM
Thu 2018-07-26
  Houthis send missiles at tankers transiting from the Red Sea
Wed 2018-07-25
  Russian Air Force launches more than 40 airstrikes over southwest Syria
Tue 2018-07-24
  2 Syrian missiles with half-ton warheads trigger Israel's anti-missile system
Mon 2018-07-23
  Several dead in Kabul suicide blast as exiled VP Dostum returns
Sun 2018-07-22
  Iraq protests death toll reaches 11 amid ongoing popular unrest
Sat 2018-07-21
  Rebels handover more towns to ISIS in southwest Syria
Fri 2018-07-20
  Senegal convicts 13 suspected Boko Haram fighters
Thu 2018-07-19
  26 persons killed in regime offensive on Daraa and Qunaitra
Wed 2018-07-18
  15 Afghan Taliban killed in attack by suspected IS rivals
Tue 2018-07-17
  Israeli army drills for Gaza incursion, in apparent warning to Hamas

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