TTP ABANDONS THE CEASEFIRE WITH THE PAKISTANI GOVT – The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) announced they were abandoning the ceasefire agreement with the Pakistani government on Monday and ordered their members to launch attacks across the country. A source in the Ministry of the Interior said the move was in response to the killings of two TTP Commanders in Afghanistan in the last two weeks. The TTP believes the deaths were ordered by the Pakistani intelligence services and may have been carried out by agents operating in Afghanistan. The ceasefire has been tenuous at best and both sides have conducted military operations against one another since it was put in place in June. An incident in mid-November resulted in the deaths of 6 Pakistani police officers and the TTP claimed the clash was an attempt to thwart a raid on one of their cells in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. It is not clear if the Afghanistan Taliban will support the TTP, but it seems likely they will continue to operate across the border and probably retain tacit support from local Taliban leaders in the border regions. The situation merits close attention.
IRAN DEPORTATIONS CONTINUE – Iranian authorities continue to deport Afghan nationals at an astonishing rate. Pajhwok News reported that 3,000 had been recently deported in a twenty-four-hour period. Some analysts claim the regime is using the internal crisis it is facing as a convenient excuse to expel Afghans and provide its core supporters with proof the regime is taking its concerns to heart. Regardless of the reason, those who find themselves deported face a difficult situation in Afghanistan as winter weather bears down on the country and a desperate economic situation provides little to no opportunity for those returnees to earn a living.
TALIBAN TELLS CHINA IT’S TIME TO PUT WORDS INTO ACTION – In what amounted to a ‘soft rebuke’, the Minister of Industry and Commerce called on China to begin construction on projects related to its ‘Belt and Road’ initiative. The Ministry released a video of Nooruddin Azizi, current Minister of Industry and Commerce, urging China to begin work on the Wakhan Trade route.
NEXT 24 HOURS
TTP THREATS IN PAKISTAN — At-risk Afghans in Pakistan and residing in those Provinces along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border should be aware that attacks may begin soon, and the situation could escalate into a wider border crisis with possible Pakistani drone/air strikes and artillery shelling. The TTP may want to inflict significant damage over the next fourteen days to underline the seriousness of their intentions. Mosques, government buildings, military camps, and other high-visibility facilities are logical choices for targets and should be avoided if at all possible. If an escalation occurs, the border could be sealed for a time.
[Garowe] Somali forces ended a more than 20-hour battle to regain control of a hotel seized by forces of Evil in Mogadishu on Sunday evening.
At least 14 people were killed, including eight civilians, during the siege, police say.
Militants from the al-Shabaab ...... al-Qaeda's tentacle in East Africa... group, which said it was behind the attack, had been holed up in one of the rooms in the Villa Rays hotel.
Witnesses told the BBC they heard explosions and gunshots at the hotel.
Somali police have said that 60 people were rescued from the hotel, which is near the presidential palace.
As well as the eight civilians who died during the siege, one soldier was killed as well as five al-Shabaab fighters, police spokesperson Sadik Dodishe confirmed.
The Villa Rays hotel, which has also been referred to as Villa Rose, is popular with government officials and several ministers have confirmed being rescued.
At least one minister, Mohammed Ahmed, is reported to have been injured while another, Environment Minister Adam Aw Hirsi, told news hounds he had survived the attack.
Speaking to the BBC Mr Hirsi described the impact of the initial blast: "We prayed evening prayers in the small mosque in the hotel and there is this big explosion, deafening explosion, massive, that shattered glass everywhere, that shook the foundation of the building in which we were meeting.
"As soon as the earth-shattering kaboom took place we had a 120 seconds leeway between the earth-shattering kaboom and the terrorist foot soldiers coming," he continued.
An unknown number of assailants, armed with explosives and guns, were involved, coppers told Rooters news agency.
One eyewitness described hearing a "huge blast, followed by a heavy exchange of gunfire".
"We were shaken," Ahmed Abdullahi, who lives close to the scene, told the news agency. "We are just indoors, listening to gunfire."
Some government officials were rescued from Villa Rays after using windows to escape, said police officer Mohammed Abdi.
In August, three months after taking office, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud pledged "total war" against the Islamist forces of Evil following an attack on another popular Mogadishu hotel. More than 20 people died.
President Mohamud subsequently mobilized the Somali army and government-backed clan militias in a bid to take villages and towns from al-Shabaab, which controls large swathes of the country.
Al-Shabaab has continued to carry out attacks in central and southern Somalia despite recent government troops backed by African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... forces and local militias retaking areas previously captured by the group.
BBC Africa correspondent Andrew Harding recently spent time with the so-called "lightning" brigade, which is funded by the US and plays a central role in the uprising against al-Shabaab.
Al-Shabaab has a long history of targeting hotels known to be frequented by government officials and foreigners.
Video from earlier during the excitement:
Somalia security forces are yet to end a siege at a hotel in Mogadishu over 16 hours since the attack started. Al Shabab gunmen are still holed up in Villa Rose hotel not far from the presidential palace in Mogadishu. pic.twitter.com/giaA4Qmtpz
[AnNahar] The speaker of Tunisia's dissolved parliament appeared on Monday before a judge investigating accusations his party helped Tunisian jihadists travel to fight in Iraq and Syria.
Rached Ghannouchi, an arch-rival of President Kais Saied and also head of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party,
...the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia...
arrived in the morning at the anti-terror court in a suburb of the capital Tunis, said one of his lawyers, Mokhtar Jemai.
At the end of the hearing, the judge is expected to decide whether or not to charge the 81-year-old.
Several other Ennahdha officials have been questioned on the "shipment of jihadists" case since Saied sacked the Ennahdha-supported government and seized full executive authority in July 2021.
After Tunisia's 2011 revolt which toppled dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali and sparked the Arab Spring, thousands of Tunisians joined jihadist groups in neighbouring Libya as well as 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.... group in its strongholds in Iraq and Syria.
Rivals of Ennahdha, which dominated Tunisian politics from 2011 until Saied's power grab, accuse the party of helping them leave.
The party has repeatedly rejected those accusations as "fabricated" and says authorities are trying to distract public attention from "economic and social concerns and the deterioration of people's living conditions".
Ghannouchi also appeared before a judge on November 10 as part of a case involving money-laundering and "incitement to violence".
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] The case of a resident of the Khasavyurt district, accused of transferring money to members of a terrorist organization and participating in it, has been submitted to court, investigators said.
A resident of the Khasavyurt district has been charged under Part 1 of Article 205.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (financing of terrorism) and Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of a terrorist organization), the press service of the TFR Department for Dagestan reported today.
According to investigators, in December 2015, the defendant transferred $1,000 to a member of the Islamic State*, this money was then used by members of this terrorist organization.
“In addition, from October 2015 until 2022, the accused participated in the activities of the Islamic State terrorist organization, taking measures to revive, expand and continue its activities on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic, the Republic of Turkey and the Russian Federation, by financing the terrorist activities of its participants," the ministry's website says.
The criminal case with the approved indictment was sent to court for consideration on the merits, the investigators said.
Details about the identity of the accused were not given in the publication. The investigation also did not specify to which court the case was sent. Part 1 of article 205.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for from five to 15 years in prison, part 2 of article 205.5 - from 10 to 20 years in prison.
It should be noted that in Dagestan in January-October 2022, the most terrorist crimes (394) were registered among the regions of Russia, the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia calculated. Moscow occupies the second place in the rating with a serious margin (121 crimes).
[GULISTANNEWSTV] Police on Monday said that in a major break-through against hard boyz infrastructure in 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.... Valley, Sopore Police along with 22 RR busted AGuH module by arresting AGuH Handler of North Kashmir, Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind is an al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamist murderous Moslem group active in Kashmir. The group's stated objective is to impose Sharia law in Jammu and Kashmir and jihad against India
4 OGWs cum murderous Moslem associates in Sopore. Besides that police claimed that Incriminating materials, huge cache of arms and ammunition have been recovered from their possession, thereby giving a huge setback to the organization operatives and thus averting a major tragedy. Besides, arms & ammunition was recovered in South Kashmir’s Awantipora.
In a handout to the police said that upon an information by sister agency regarding movement of main murderous Moslem handler, Sopore Police alongwith 22RR established an MVCP grid in Sopore. During MVCP 02 individuals identified as Mushtaq Ahmed Bhat (Main Handler) of Chanapora, Srinagar and Ishfaq Ahmed Shah resident of Budgam were arrested. Incriminating material, arms and ammunition including 01 Pistol, 01 Magazine, 10 rounds and 3 Grenades was recovered from their possession.
The police front man further stated that on further interrogation and development of the information, 02 more murderous Moslem associates identified as Abdul Majeed Kumar resident of Bernate, Boniyar and Abdul Rashid Kumar resident of Pattan were also arrested. Incriminating material including 01 Pistol, 01 Magazine, 10 rounds and 11 Grenades were recovered from their possession.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the busted murderous Moslem module of AGuH was being handled by Ahsaan Dar and one individual named Chaudhary from across the border (PoK). The module was instructed to ensure continuous supply of arms & ammunition in Kashmir Valley for conducting attacks on outsiders, civilians and Security Forces to instil fear in the minds of general public. The timely and effective action by Sopore police and 22RR by busting the murderous Moslem module have resulted in averting a possible major tragedy.
Meanwhile in Awantipora, Police along with 42 RR and CRPF recovered arms & ammunition including 202 AK rounds, 03 detonators, 7.62 mm 26 rounds, 02 rounds of Insas wrapped in Polyethene hidden under boulders at Bund Lalgam area of Awantipora, reads the statement.
5 Among 6 Convicts Get Lifers As NIA Special Court Pronounces Sentences’ in ‘Jaish-e-Mohamad Conspiracy Case’ https://t.co/ShkUPBAoYo via @Gulistan News
The European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) on Monday said that police have busted a huge drug "super-cartel" that controlled a third of Europe's cocaine trade.
The European Union's police agency in a statement according to AFP, also arrested 49 people in six countries, including six chief suspects in Dubai, seized 30 tonnes of the drugs and led to arrests in Belgium, La Belle France, the Netherlands and Spain. The operation was carried out with help from the US Drug Enforcement Agency, DEA, over the space of 11 days in November.
The statement noted that the crackdown, which involved one "extremely big fish" from the Netherlands and based in Dubai, largely targeted cocaine coming from South America through the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp.
"The drug kingpins, considered as high-value targets by Europol, had come together to form what was known as a 'super cartel' which controlled around one-third of the cocaine trade in Europe.
"The scale of cocaine importation into Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... under the suspects' control and command was massive and over 30 tonnes of drugs were seized by law enforcement over the course of the investigations," the European Union’s statement added.
According to Europol, Dubai had arrested two "high-value" suspects who are linked to La Belle France, two connected to the Netherlands and another two linked to Spain.
Yahoo News further reports that 10 people were arrested in Belgium, six in La Belle France and 13 in Spain, while another 14 people were arrested in 2021 in the Netherlands as part of the same operation.
Europol said that the arrests were the latest in a series that followed a police hack of sophisticated encrypted telephones used by organized crime networks last year.
It was gathered that police took down the SKY ECC phone platform 2021 after secretly using it for a long period to listen in on what was supposed to be secure communications between narcos.
According to Yahoo News, Dutch prosecutors said they would request the extradition of the suspects from the United Arab Emirates.
One of the suspects who is a 37-year-old man with dual Dutch and Moroccan nationality, was held for allegedly importing thousands of kilogrammes (pounds) of cocaine into the Netherlands in 2020 and 2021.
The Dutch public prosecution service said in a statement, "These are serious criminal offences pertaining to international drug trafficking, mainly from South America via the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam."
The statement also said that another suspect is a 40-year-old with dual Dutch-Bosnian nationality.
A Europol source told AFP on condition of anonymity that one of the "Dutch suspects is an extremely big fish".
The source added that the Dutch suspects were allegedly linked to Ridouan Taghi, who was arrested in Dubai in 2019 and is now on trial in the Netherlands.
Taghi is said to have been accused of running a huge Amsterdam-based cocaine smuggling group and faces charges including murder. Spain's Guardia Civil said a total of 13 people were arrested in Barcelona, Madrid and Malaga on November 8 after 698 kilogrammes (1,539 pounds) of cocaine were found in a container in the port of Valencia.
The statement added that a Brit who is the head of the smuggling operation fled to Dubai after an attempted arrest in Spain and was continuing to direct operations from there, adding that cocaine was imported from Panama in Central America and his supplier, a Panamanian, also lived in Dubai
[IsraelTimes] No immediate comment from army on incident that kills two in central West Bank, hours after Paleostinian killed in clash near Hebron.
Two Paleostinian brothers were killed by Israeli troops early Tuesday in the central West Bank, Paleostinian health officials said, bringing the morning’s corpse count to three.
The Paleostinian Authority Health Ministry said the brothers, Jawad Rimawi, 22, and Dhafer Rimawi, 21, were killed when Israeli troops opened fire on them in the town of Kafr Ein.
The Israel Defense Forces said festivities had erupted in the town during a routine military operation.
"A violent mostly peaceful riot developed with the participation of several suspects who threw cinderblocks and Molotov cocktails at IDF forces," the military said in a statement.
The IDF said troops returned fire at the suspects, and said it was aware of reports of two Paleostinians being killed in the incident.
The incident came hours after a Paleostinian man was killed in festivities with troops, after two military vehicles broke down in a town near Hebron.
The IDF said the two jeeps, on a routine patrol, got stuck in the city due to "technical malfunctions."
Paleostinians opened fire, and others threw stones and bombs at the soldiers, who responded with live fire and other riot dispersal means, the military said.
"The jeeps were successfully rescued by IDF forces who entered the town," the IDF said.
There were no injuries among the troops, although damage was caused to the vehicles, according to the IDF.
The IDF said Tuesday morning that troops had arrested two wanted Paleostinians during overnight raids in the towns of Jaba’ and Kafr ’Aqab.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[REGNUM] According to the Sozcü newspaper, the German government condemned the Turkish air operation in the regions in northern Iraq and Syria, calling it a violation of international law. “We call on Turkey to act proportionately and respect international law,” said German Foreign Ministry spokesman Christopher Burger, noting the need to protect civilians. He also added that information about the death of civilians as a result of Turkish air strikes is extremely alarming.
“We call on Turkey, along with all other actors, not to take any action that could further escalate the current tensions in northern Syria and Iraq,” Burger said. A tougher statement came from Washington. The written message, published on the official website of the US State Department, states the following: “The United States expresses its sincere condolences for the civilian casualties in Syria and Turkey. We call for de-escalation to support the common goal of protecting civilians and defeating ISIS. We also continue to oppose any uncoordinated military action in Iraq that violates the sovereignty of Baghdad."
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.
...... al-Qaeda's tentacle in East Africa...
...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 .jpg "Kashmir")
...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it 
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
