THE CASH AID CONTROVERSY CONTINUES – Pajhwok Afghan News reported again that no cash assistance flights had arrived in Kabul since 14 December 2022. This report follows an earlier report by AMU TV that quoted a Da Afghanistan Bank official making the same claim. However, another DA Bank spokesman gave a conflicting statement in a subsequent press announcement that the aid had not been halted. The United Nations issued a fact sheet yesterday that outlined the procedures used to transport funds to Afghanistan but failed to disclose whether transfers had been halted. The Under-Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, announced on a BBC radio show on Friday, 6 January that funds had been ‘temporarily suspended’.
PAKISTAN RELEASED ANOTHER 300 AFGHANS FROM PRISON IN SINDH – An additional 303 Afghans were released from Pakistani prisons on Monday, following an earlier release of approximately 500 previously detained Afghans. The refugees were seen loading on busses that were scheduled to transport them to a temporary holding area near Spin Boldak Gate where they will likely be deported in the coming days.
SEVERAL STRANDED TRAVELLERS RESCUED ALONG GHOR-KABUL HIGHWAY – Hundreds of travelers are thought to be stuck along snow-clogged Afghan highways after a heavy storm dropped several inches across the country over the previous forty-eight hours. Approximately 50 were rescued by citizens and security forces personnel along the Ghor-Kabul Highway. The road remains closed and a new storm system is expected to drop more snow across the country. One child succumbed to exposure as a result of the
SOME WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES IN BALKH PROVINCE ORDERED TO CLOSE DOWN – Women proprietors of businesses in Balkh Province have reported they were visited by Ministry of Vice and Virtue representatives and were told to be prepared to close their shops by Thursday. Balkh Province has the highest concentration of women-owned businesses in Afghanistan and accounts for a significant portion of economic activity.
CONFLICT TRACKER Kandahar: The AFF reportedly struck a Taliban convoy in Police District 4 of Kandahar City. The ambush is thought to have wounded 3 Taliban and may have disabled two trucks.
NEXT 24 HOURS
MORE SNOW/RAIN IN THE FORECAST – A second storm front is expected to bring more rain and snow to Afghanistan. The severe weather is expected to affect 22 Provinces and will continue until January 11th. At-risk Afghans are cautioned to avoid travel and to check on the conditions of roads if travel is absolutely necessary.
[ShabelleMedia] A blurb by the government of Somalia stated that the National Intelligence & Security Agency [NISA] Forces and international partners have killed up to 61 al-Shabaab ...... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... in a planned operation in the Middle Shabelle region.
This operation targeted 150 al-Shabaab fighters, who wanted to attack the national army and local pro-government clan militia in the Hawadlay area, which is among the newly recovered villages in Somalia.
"About 61 al-Shabaab members were killed and a number were maimed in a planned operation carried out by NISA and international partners in farming fields on the outskirts of Hawadlay area in the Middle Shabelle region," said the Ministry of Information.
Two boom-mobiles were also destroyed in the raid by NISA before the fighters bring them into Mogadishu to carry out attacks.
"The government and the Somali people are cautious of any conspiracy that may come from al-Shabaab bully boyz who were defeated in direct battles," the statement added.
There was no independent verification of the government claims. And al-Shabaab is yet to comment on the deaths of the 61 combatants.
The National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) has recently targeted al-Shabaab fighters in planned operations, killing many fighters in the country’s southern regions.
[HODHODYEMENNEWS] The battles renewed violently on Sunday between Sanaa forces on one side and the Saudi-led coalition forces on the other, on the fronts northwest of Dhalea province, which resulted in the death and injury of 7 coalition recruits, Yemeni Press Agency (YPA) reported, citing local sources.
According to the local sources in Dhalea, fierce confrontations have renewed between the two parties, on Moris front.
The sources confirmed that the Sanaa forces were able to repel a military attack by the coalition recruits and forced them to retreat to their positions in “Al-Qahra” area.
The Sana’a forces launched a counter-attack to pursue the fleeing remnants of the coalition forces towards “Al-Qahra” and “Al-Zila” areas, where fierce battles are currently taking place between the two sides, according to the sources.
[HODHODYEMENNEWS] Saudi forces expelled on Monday the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC)’s militia from one of the most important training camps in Aden city, southern Yemen.
According to informed sources, the STC militia left the camp that belongs to the STC’ president, based on directives from the command of the Saudi forces present in Al-Buriqa camp, to be the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense of the government backed by the Saudi-led coalition.
The Saudi forces worked to secure the camp located in the Al-Buriqa area, west of Aden, under the pretext of starting maintenance and restoration work for the buildings, after the military parade that the militia carried out in early January, the sources explained.
Saudi Arabia has worked to reduce requirements for the UAE-funded militia from Dhalea and Lahj provinces.
[HODHODYEMENNEWS] A violent explosion shook on Sunday the port city of Aden, and the initial information indicated that it took place in a mosque in the city.
Eyewitnesses reported that the explosion took place inside “Muthayib” mosque in the Crater District, during the evening prayer.
They said that ambulances and police came an hour after the explosion, and did not provide any information about the victims or the cause of the explosion.
Aden is witnessing an unprecedented chaos in light of the conflicts between the armed factions funded by Saudi-led coalition to control the city.
This is the result of an FBI tip about an imminent attack by ISIS-linked Iranians.
[MSN-DW] German police have searched two garages in connection with a suspected planned bioweapon attack. A top official has meanwhile criticized Germany's reticence in using the internet for intelligence gathering.Police searches of two garages used by a terrorist suspect in the western German town of Castrop-Rauxel on Monday failed to uncover any hazardous substances, according to authorities.
"We have found nothing in the end that can be used as evidence," a front man for state prosecutors in nearby Dusseldorf said.
The searches came after two Iranian brothers were arrested on suspicion of planning to carry out a terrorist attack with bioweapons.
The brothers, aged 32 and 25, were taken into custody in the Ruhr area town on the weekend for allegedly planning an attack using the toxins cyanide and ricin with the intent of killing "an unspecified number of people," prosecutors said.
The two are believed to have been motivated by Death Eater Islamist ideology.
A police search of the elder brother's apartment on Sunday also failed to uncover any hazardous substances. The garages were also said to be used by him.
The arrests came after tipoffs from US police authorities.
YOUNGER BROTHER ALREADY IN DETENTION
It has meanwhile emerged that the 25-year-old brother was sentenced to seven years' detention in 2019 for attempted murder.
The conviction came after an incident in July 2018 in which the man threw a large branch weighing 10 kg (22 pounds) onto a German highway, hitting a car driven by a 32-year-old woman. The driver was injured by shattered glass but survived.
The man was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident. The court ordered that he be treated for alcoholism following a period in normal detention.
A front man for state prosecutors in Dortmund said the man was still being held at a detoxification clinic in another city in the Ruhr area, Hagen, when he was arrested on the weekend. The front man said the suspect had been given weekend leave to stay with family members.
OFFICIAL CALLS FOR BETTER USE OF INTERNET INTELLIGENCE
They always do, and it never happens.
The interior minister of the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where Castrop-Rauxel is located, has now called on German authorities to improve their use of the internet in gathering intelligence about possible terrorist attacks.
Herbert Reul, whose job includes overseeing police and security affairs in the state, told German television that "the important thing is to know early on who is planning what."
He said he did not understand why Germany was so reticent about using existing techniques for gleaning intelligence on the internet, while acknowledging that different countries had very different rules governing how they could intercept and investigate online information.
Germany's data protection regulations are among the strictest in the world, something that is often attributed to the fact that two regimes in its history -- the Third Reich and communist East Germany -- used surveillance of the people to assert control.
[Dawn] Unknown Lions of Islam attacked the Yarikcop shoppe here on Sunday night with gunfire and ’missiles’. However, some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... no loss of life was reported.
A police front man, Syed Yaqoob Shah, told Dawn on Monday that Lions of Islam surrounded the Yarik cop shoppe at around 1am and fired missiles at the building.
He said the police retaliated to the attack and an exchanged fire with the attackers took place, which lasted for about 45 to 50 minutes. He said the Lions of Islam were forced to flee.
The front man said the cop shoppe building was partially damaged.
The police claimed that it was the first gun and missile attack on a cop shoppe in Dera Ismail Khan ... the Pearl of Pashtunistan ... .
[Dawn] The police claimed to have killed two bandidosLions of Islam in a fierce shootout in Landi Jalandhar area of Bannu district along the Indus Highway on Sunday night.
A police official told Dawn that the two bandidosLions of Islam were wanted for killing Domel cop shoppe’s head constable Pasham Khan and injuring constable Shah Wali Khan in an armed attack on Saturday.
He said district police officer Dr Mohammad Iqbal formed police teams to hunt down button men.
The official said on a tip-off about the presence of two terrorists, a police contingent went to the Master Koroona village in Landi Jalandhar area, where they came under a gun attack.
He said there followed an exchange of fire, which led to the killing of the desperados and seizure of arms and ammunition.
The official said the police shifted the bodies to a local hospital. He said the two were also named in other cases of terrorism.
PEACE JIRGA: The police and elders on Monday agreed to launch joint efforts against militancy in Bannu district.
The agreement came during a peace jirga at the police lines in Bannu city, where police officials, elders, and political and social leaders were in attendance.
— NORTH PRESS AGENCY - ENGLISH (@NPA_English) January 9, 2023
On Jan.7, the Indian authorities in Howrah, Indian state west of Bengal, arrested two people on charges of raising money to finance the Islamic State Organization (ISIS) in Syria, The Indian Express reported.
Both 28-year-old Muhammad Saddam, a mechanical engineer, and 30-year-old Sayeed Ahmad raised about Rs 30.000 ($364.02)
...it sounds way more impressive in Indian rupees...
to be sent later to Syria before being arrested, a senior officer said.
The Indian Express cited officials as saying, “Saddam was first influenced by ISIS ideology through radical literature and videos, and he then radicalized Sayeed, his childhood friend.”
The Indian authorities revealed that the suspects were communicating secretly using coded language, as investigation, so far, has revealed that they were collecting money to send to Syria.
Indian officials noted that they suspect more people were involved in those activities.
The investigation is underway to find out if they have any Bangladesh links, as well as, besides the possibility of their involvement in the procurement of explosives and the recruitment of youths for radical activities.
Militants loyal to the #IslamicState extremist group executes two persons they abducted more than a year ago in the outskirts of #Diyala's northeastern district of al-Saadiya.#Iraq#ISIS#ISIL#terrorism
Militants loyal to the Islamic State extremist group have reportedly executed two civilians they abducted more than a year ago in the outskirts of Diyala's northeastern district of al-Saadiya.
A source told Shafaq News Agency that a group of ISIS extremists donning military outfits raided the residence of al-Rabei' neighborhood's headman, shot him dead, and attempted to abduct his son. The incident took place one year and seven months ago.
An off-duty security officer, according to the source, attempted to stop them, but they abducted him as well and drove away to an unknown destination.
"Websites affiliated with the ISIS posted footage of the execution online," the source said, "investigations are underway to locate the site where the crime took place and the IP address to access the internet."
[IsraelTimes] Troops come under fire while operating in Shuweika, near Tulkarem, but are unhurt; festivities in al-Eizariya and Abu Dis; sniper rifles, handguns found hidden in Hebron home
Israeli troops operated extensively throughout the West Bank before dawn on Monday, arresting 11 wanted Paleostinian suspects and seizing several firearms, the Israel Defense Forces said.
During a military raid alongside coppers in the West Bank city of Hebron, forces found four sniper rifles, two hunting rifles, three handguns, and other weapon parts hidden in the home of a Paleostinian suspect.
He was arrested and taken for questioning, police said.
In the village of Shuweika, near Tulkarem, the IDF said Paleostinian button menshot up troops as they were arresting a wanted man.
"The forces fired at button men who had fired at them. Suspects were hit," the military said. There were no immediate reports by Paleostinian media of injuries.
The IDF also reported festivities as forces operated in the towns of al-Eizariya and Abu Dis, on the outskirts of Jerusalem. "During the operation, suspects hurled stones, explosives and Molotov cocktails at the forces, who responded with riot dispersal means," the military said.
The 11 Paleostinians who were wanted over suspected terror activities were taken to be questioned by the Shin Bet security agency.
No Israeli soldiers were hurt in the overnight raids, the army said.
[BenarNews] Gunmen allegedly linked to the Abu Sayyaf ...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder...
The overall strength of the Abu Sayyaf Group was believed to have fallen to 130 active fighters in ASG’s strongholds on the southern islands of Basilan and Jolo, the military said last November.
Group (ASG) injured a paramilitary officer and three civilians during a Sunday night attack on an army detachment on the southern island of Basilan ...Basilan is a rugged, jungle-covered island in the southern Philippines. It is a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, bandidos, and maybe even orcs. Most people with any sense travel with armed escorts... , police and military officials said.
Continued on Page 49
[AlAhram] Iranian activist muppetFaezeh Hashemi, daughter of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ... the fourth President of Iran. He was a member of the Assembly of Experts until he was eased out in 2011 He continues, for the moment, as Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council. In 2005 he ran for a third term as president, ultimately losing to rival Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was in Khamenei's graces back then. In 1980 Rafsanjani survived an assassination attempt, during which he was seriously injured. He has been described as a centrist and a pragmatic conservative without all that much reason. He is currently being eased out of any position of actual influence or power and may be dead by the end of 2012... , has been sentenced to five years over "propaganda" and acts against national security, her lawyer told AFP on Monday.
Hashemi was arrested in the capital Tehran on September 27 for encouraging residents to demonstrate amid nationwide protests sparked by Mahsa Amini's death.
"My client, Ms Hashemi, was sentenced to five years in prison by the preliminary court," her lawyer Neda Shams said, adding she plans to appeal the verdict.
The 60-year-old former politician and women's rights activist muppet was charged with "collusion against national security, propaganda against the Islamic republic and disturbing public order by participating in illegal gatherings", the lawyer said.
"The decision, which is not final, was communicated to me on Wednesday, and we will appeal it within the time frame allowed by law," added Shams.
Hashemi has faced similar charges before, and in 2012 was arrested and sentenced to six months in prison for "propaganda against the Islamic republic".
Last October, judiciary front man Massoud Setayeshi said without elaborating she had been sentenced in March "to 15 months in prison and two years of additional punishment including the prohibition of activities on the internet".
Hashemi's late father, president between 1989 and 1997 who died in 2017, was considered a moderate and advocated improved ties with the West.
Iranian authorities say hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed and thousands arrested in connection with the protests, which they generally describe as "riots".
Four people have been executed, and the judiciary has said 13 others have been sentenced to death over the unrest. Six of these defendants have been granted retrials.
[Rudaw] Three more protestors were sentenced to death in Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites.... on Monday on charges of "waging war against God," the judiciary reported, as criticism over the regime’s executions and no remorse on protestors attracts further condemnations.
Iran sentenced to death Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi, and Saeed Yaghoubi for "moharabeh," or "waging war against God," after they were found guilty of killing and injuring members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Basij paramilitary force during antigovernment protests in the central province of Isfahan, the judiciary’s Mizan Online said.
The latest sentences rise Iran’s protestor death sentence ...the barbaric practice of sentencing a murderer to be punished for as long as his/her/its victim is dead... s to 17 and come two days after the Islamic republic executed two men on similar charges of being involved in the killing of a Basij member, which doubled Iran’s executions over the protest movement to four.
The three convicts were also found guilty of "forming and managing a criminal group with the intention of disrupting the security of the country and society," Mizan stated, adding that the charges warrant a ten-year prison sentence.
Iran has been rocked by nearly four months of nationwide antigovernment protests that stemmed from the death of young Kurdish woman Zhina (Mahsa) Amini at the hands of Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code.
Fierce condemnations from the United States and European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... struck Iran following the Saturday executions, as the questionable trials behind the death sentences were strongly condemned and labeled as a crucial part of the regime’s ongoing efforts to suppress demonstrations.
IRGC-affiliated media on Monday reported that Iranian professional footballer Amir Reza Nasr Azadani was charged by an Isfahan for allegedly planning to disrupt the country’s security and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Azadani was also accused of being involved in the deaths of the three security personnel in Isfahan as well as for being involved with the protest movement.
Mizan also said that the rulings are "preliminary and can be appealed in the supreme court."
Iranian opposition Telegram channels published videos in the cities of Tehran, Arak, and Karaj - where the executions were carried out - of people taking to the streets and chanting slogans against Lord High Potentate and Supreme Leader of All He Surveys Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini... to protest the executions after the news broke out.
On December 8, Iran carried out the first official protest-linked execution, hanging 23-year-old Mohsen Shekari after similarly being accused of wounding a member of the Basij.
At least 519 protesters, including 70 children, have been killed and over 19,000 have been arrested since the protests began almost four months ago, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) on Sunday.
#1
SARCASM SWITCH ON
We should give the ISLAMIC CLERICS some credit.☻
Unlike Russia, where problems fall out windows or here in the US where such problems for the wrong political agenda or the elite get arrested, confined years waiting trial only to develop sudden Medical condition's.
They just openly state why and kill their decedents. Seems a lot quicker, and more humane, than the various processes used by many other governments.
— NORTH PRESS AGENCY - ENGLISH (@NPA_English) January 9, 2023
On Monday, ”Spoils of War Committee” of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) seized lands and real estate belonging to expat Christians of Idlib though they have agents to facilitate things.
Unbelievers are to Moslems as wheat fields for harvesting, as sheep for shearing. Or so they firmly believe.
A Christian source of the Christian-majority village of al- Yacoubiyah in the western countryside of Idlib said a group of the “Spoils of War Committee” announced seizing a number of lands and residential and commercial real estate of expat Christians.
The source added that the HTS refused the agency agreements the agents have shown, demanding the presence of either the original owners or their hires to discuss the issue.
Al-Nusra, after taking control over Idlib, established the ” Spoils of War Committee” which is tasked with counting possessions and resources of the Christians in general, those, whom the HTS considered supporters of the government, and some minorities such as Shiite, Alawites, and Druze, according to reports.
A source of the “Spoils of War Committee” said the confiscated possessions included lands of about 470 acres, three shops, and 14 houses in al- Yacoubiyah and al-Quniyah in the countryside of Jisr al-Shughur west of Idlib after verifying they belong to expat Christians.
The source added the agency agreements relatives of the expat Christians bear are not admissible, thus the original owners must come to check on his security condition.
Since 2016, the committee has confiscated more than 600 residential real estate, and lands of about 1.100 acres that belong to the Christian people of Idlib, according to the source.
Prior to the Syrian crisis, there were nearly 10.000 Christians living in Idlib, but they fled the region after al-Nusra’s takeover.
Reports say there are 200 Christians that were said to be living in Idlib up to 2021, mostly elderly people. They were living in Idlib, Jisr al-Shughur, al- Yacoubiyah, Qunaya, Jdayde, Halluz, and al-Ghassaniah, most of whom are from the Greek Orthodox denomination.
However, al-Nusra has changed the name of the committee to “Housing Corporation” to legalize its practices and seek the international community support to remove its name from the terrorism regulations.
In September 2022, videos and photos went viral, showing the opening ceremonies of the al-Yacoubiyah church in which tens of Christians take part in a bid seen by observers and activists as a move by Abu Mohammad al-Julani, leader of the HTS, to approach the West and to show himself as a moderate figure.
Turkish border guards shoot a man to death and injure three others while trying to cross the border in #Idlib Governorate, northwestern #Syria. #Turkeyhttps://t.co/LoSM7flbO3
— NORTH PRESS AGENCY - ENGLISH (@NPA_English) January 9, 2023
Posted by: badanov ||
01/10/2023 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[15 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#ISIS militants attack a military post of the Syrian government forces in the eastern countryside of #Syria's #Deir_ez_Zor, which resulted in the killing of one of the attackers. https://t.co/XO1h1XCUPD
— NORTH PRESS AGENCY - ENGLISH (@NPA_English) January 9, 2023
Posted by: badanov ||
01/10/2023 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
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.
[AfghanDigest] LAST 24 HOURS
...... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
by Emad Almarshahi
[IsraelTimes] Troops come under fire while operating in Shuweika, near Tulkarem, but are unhurt; 
[BenarNews] Gunmen allegedly linked to the 
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites....
