FRESH OUTRAGE AFTER MORE SCHOOLS CLOSED IN SOUTHERN PROVINCES – Taliban authorities ordered all NGO-supported schools in both Helmand and Kandahar Provinces to close while their curriculums are reviewed. The majority of the programs that have been shuttered provided education to females although some boys attended the classes as well. A spokesman for the Kandahar education department blamed the closure on complaints received by citizens. Few believe this to be the case and see it as simply another means of implementing backward Deobandist principles across society. The closure is expected to affect tens of thousands across both Provinces.
SOME IN TALIBAN LEADERSHIP CONCERNED OVER STOPPAGE OF CASH AID SHIPMENTS – While the Taliban are supposedly cut out of the economic aid program, there are suspicions that the aid has made its way into Taliban accounts virtually from the inception of the program. While the United Nations has strenuously objected to accusations asserting the aid has been mishandled, many question the organizations’ ability to account for the funds accurately. Regardless, the shipments have reputedly been stopped since March 14th and sources in both Kabul and Kandahar claim that some Taliban leaders have lodged complaints with Ministers. If these reports are correct, it may indicate that the aid was indeed being misdirected.
FARYAB INCIDENT, 6 WOUNDED IN SCUFFLE WITH TALIBAN – At least 6 people were wounded after Taliban security forces in the Dawlat Abad District attempted to halt herders and farmers from grazing their animals and working their fields. The people injured are rumored to be of Turkmeni ethnicity and at least 2 were said to have received ‘life threatening’ injuries.
CHILD MURDERED WITH SCYTHE IN LOGAR PROVINCE – Taliban officials confirmed that an 11-year-old child was killed by a man wielding a scythe near Pol-e Alam on Monday. Local eyewitnesses say that an altercation led to the murder and the man has been arrested by the Taliban. It is not known what started the altercation.
ASSOCIATES OF GULBUDDIN HEKMATYAR SAY REPORTS OF HOUSE ARREST ARE FALSE – Several friends and family members of the controversial political figure say the rumors that began circulating on 17 April stating Hekmatyar was under house arrest and barred from political activity are completely false.
CONFLICT TRACKER Faryab: Taliban security forces reportedly beat and fired upon a group of herders and farmers in the Dawlat Abad district on Monday. 6 non-combatants were injured in the fray.
NEXT 24 HOURS
MODERATE FLOODING REPORTED IN SOME PROVINCES – Four Provinces have reported floodwaters that have closed several roads and others are expected to announce road closures in the next 12 hrs. No deaths have yet been reported but there are reports of several vehicles that had been washed away in Badakhshan Province. Travel conditions will remain perilous in Central, Eastern, and Northeastern Afghanistan for the next few days.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[REGNUM] Al Arabiya: Sudanese special forces fired on an armored vehicle of the US Embassy in Khartoum
The Sudanese Rapid Reaction Forces fired at the armored car of the US Embassy in this African country in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, Al Arabiya TV channel reported on April 17, citing its sources.
They claim that the shooting was intentional. The journalists' interlocutors also reported that the attackers fired "about a hundred bullets" in the direction of the car. None of the diplomats were injured in the incident.
As REGNUM reported , on April 15, fighting broke out in Sudan, the participants of which were the army and special forces, who accused each other of attacking their headquarters. During the clashes, 97 people were killed and another 365 were injured.
Three employees of the UN World Food Program (WFP) were among the victims of the confrontation. They worked in the city of Kabkabiya (Northern Darfur province). The mission of the organization in the republic announced the termination of activities after the death of its employees.
On April 17, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell wrote that the head of the EU mission in that country was attacked in Sudan.
The head of the EU mission in Sudan was attacked at his residence, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell wrote on April 17 in his microblog.
The head of European diplomacy called the incident "a flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention." He recalled that the Sudanese authorities must ensure the security of diplomats and diplomatic missions.
As REGNUM reported , on April 15, clashes between the army and special forces began in Sudan. The parties accused each other of attacking their headquarters.
After some time, information appeared that the base of special forces and the environs of the presidential palace were attacked by the military. The special forces, in turn, announced the capture of airports in Khartoum and Meroe, and also called on the citizens of Sudan to "unite" and condemn the actions of the army.
On April 17, the commander of the army of Sudan, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, disbanded the republic's Rapid Reaction Forces, assessing their steps as a rebellion. As a result of hostilities in the country, at least 97 people have died. At least 365 more people were injured.
Fighting between the army and paramilitaries in Sudan has killed around 200 people and maimed 1,800, left hospitals damaged and medical supplies and food in short supply Monday after three days of urban warfare.A weeks-long power struggle went kaboom! into deadly violence Saturday between the forces of two generals who seized power in a 2021 coup, Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Analysts say the fighting in the capital of the chronically unstable country is unprecedented and could be prolonged, despite regional and global calls for a ceasefire as diplomats mobilise.
Battles have also taken place throughout the vast country, and there are fears of regional spillover.
Terrified residents of the capital are spending the last and holiest days of Ramadan watching from their windows as tanks roll through the streets, buildings shake, and smoke from fires triggered by the fighting hangs in the air.
The conflict has seen air strikes, artillery and heavy gunfire.
Those compelled to venture out face queues for bread and petrol at outlets which are not shuttered. Residents are also dealing with power outages.
Volker Perthes, the head of the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... mission to Sudan, told the Security Council in a closed-door session, that at least 185 people have been killed and another 1,800 maimed.
"It's a very fluid situation so it's very difficult to say where the balance is shifting to," Perthes told news hounds after the meeting.
Earlier Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres ...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years... again called on Sudan's warring parties to "immediately cease hostilities". He warned that further escalation "could be devastating for the country and the region."
VITAL AID SUSPENDED
Medics in Sudan had earlier given a corpse count of nearly 100 civilians and "dozens" of fighters from both sides, but the number of casualties was thought to be far higher, with many maimed unable to reach hospitals.
The official doctors' union warned fighting had "heavily damaged" multiple hospitals in Khartoum and other cities, with some completely "out of service".
The World Health Organization had already warned that several of Khartoum's nine hospitals receiving injured civilians "have run out of blood, transfusion equipment, intravenous fluids and other vital supplies".
In the western region of Darfur, international medical aid organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported receiving 136 maimed patients at the only hospital in El Fasher still operating in North Darfur state.
"The majority of the maimed are civilians who were caught in the crossfire -- among them are many children," MSF's Cyrus Paye said.
Due to limited surgical capacity, "11 people died from their injuries in the first 48 hours of the conflict."
Three UN World Food Programme staff were also among those killed, on Saturday in Darfur, where humanitarian missions have had medical and other supplies looted, according to Save the Children and MSF.
A number of organizations have temporarily suspended operations, in a country where one-third of the population needs aid.
The fighting broke out after bitter disagreements between Burhan and Daglo over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army -- a key condition for a final deal aimed at ending a crisis since the 2021 coup, which derailed a transition to democracy. Both claim to be in control of key sites, including the airport and the presidential palace -- none of which could be independently verified.
#1
That the internecine warfare has spread to Darfur is not surprising. Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is a Rizayqat Arab, a tribe that predominates in parts of Darfur and Kordofan. The sons of cattle and camel nomads, Rizayqat take particular pleasure in killing Dinka, the southern Sudanese of Bahr al-Ghazal province, and the Zaghawa and other African Muslim tribals of Darfur.
One is left with the forlorn hope that this battle will destroy the corrupt Sudan military.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] The court of cassation refused to satisfy the complaint against the sentence of Abdul Akaev, a native of Dagestan, who was convicted of financing terrorism. Akayev transferred money to his brother, not knowing about his involvement in a terrorist organization, the defense pointed out.
The Supreme Court of Russia did not satisfy the complaint of Abdul Akaev, a native of Dagestan, against the verdict of the Central District Military Court, which sentenced Akaev to nine years in prison on the case of assisting terrorist activities.
Akaev was found guilty of financing terrorism after transferring the money to his brother, who, according to the investigation, was a member of the terrorist organization "Islamic state."
Akaev himself insists that the money transferred by him was to be used by his brother to purchase medicines for the treatment of his wife suffering from cancer, who lives in Turkey, Kavkaz.Realii writes today.
According to the cassation appeal of the defense, witnesses confirmed Akayev's ignorance of his brother's involvement in IS* activities, and there is no evidence of such involvement in the case file.
"The content of the correspondence between the brothers confirms the convict's version that the money he transferred was intended for a relative ... According to the defense counsel, the court distorted the testimony of the witness about the circumstances of the case, and the verdict was decided on inadmissible evidence," the publication cited the cassation complaint.
However, the Supreme Court considered that the defense did not provide evidence of Akaev's innocence and falsification of the charges, therefore, the decision of the Central District Military Court remained in force, the publication says.
According to the case file on the website of the Supreme Court, the cassation appeal was considered on April 13, 2023, and the verdict was delivered on April 21, 2022 by the Central District Military Court in Yekaterinburg.
Consideration of Akayev's appeal took place on August 22, 2022 in the military court of appeal, the sentence was upheld, according to the text of the cassation ruling published on the website of the Supreme Court.
According to the document, Akaev was convicted of facilitating terrorist activities "in the form of terrorist financing" committed by him on November 27, 2018 in Novy Urengoy. The lawyer asked to cancel the verdict and appeal ruling and send the case for a new trial to the court of first instance.
"Having checked the materials of the criminal case, having discussed the arguments of the cassation appeal and objections to it, having listened to the parties, the judicial board finds the decisions of the courts regarding Akaev lawful, justified and fair," the ruling on refusal to change Akaev's sentence is explained.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] The court did not satisfy the request of the defense to transfer under house arrest a member of the Azerbaijani movement "Muslim Unity"
... the Muslim Unity Movement (MMU), also in our archives as the unregistered Movement for Muslim Unity — no doubt an artifact of the translation — they describe themselves as a peaceful Shiite Islamic socio-political movement that calls for democratic reform and religious liberties, but it’s clear from context that they they mean the peace that comes from submission to Khomeini Shiism and Iran...
Samir Babayev, who was accused of drug trafficking. Babaev declared his innocence in court.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Samir Babayev, a member of the Muslim Unity Movement (DME), was detained on December 2, 2022. A day earlier, another member of the movement, Nijat Aliyev, was detained. Both were arrested on charges of drug trafficking. The DME called the accusations far-fetched , considering the persecution of activists as a new round of pressure on the opposition movement.
Today, a preparatory hearing on the case of Samir Babayev was held at the Baku Grave Crimes Court. His lawyer Fariz Namazli filed a motion to transfer Babayev to house arrest, explaining that there were no grounds for keeping his client in custody.
"The investigation has been completed, the evidence has been collected. He does not plead guilty. He claims that the drug was planted in his pocket and insists on an acquittal. He is not going to evade the trial," Meydan TV quoted the lawyer as saying.
In addition, the lawyer filed a petition for the return of the car, which he drove, to the Babayev family. The lawyer expressed the opinion that the car was irrelevant to the case, since nothing was found in the car during a search.
Samir Babayev supported both motions of his lawyer. However, the panel of judges did not satisfy the petition for his transfer to house arrest, and left the petition for the return of the car without consideration, the newspaper writes.
Recall that in February, the Union for Freedom of Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan published an updated list of political prisoners, which included the names of 93 people . The previous list compiled by human rights activists in November 2022 included 100 names.
The updated list of political prisoners included 12 members of the Muslim Unity movement. The vector of political repression in Azerbaijan has shifted from pro-Western activists to members of the Muslim Unity, human rights activists said.
"All these people were arrested under the same article on drug trafficking on a large scale. The authorities have been bringing such a standard accusation against believers for many years. This category is not always educated people, as a rule, from the provinces or the periphery of large cities. They have little public are known, and therefore the authorities label them as "drug dealers," said Elshan Hasanov, one of the coordinators of the Union for the Freedom of Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan, in particular.
On January 25, 2017, the leader of the Muslim Unity movement, Taleh Bagirzade, and 17 of his supporters were sentenced to terms of 10 to 20 years on charges of organizing riots after a security operation in November 2015, which resulted in the death of seven people, including two policemen, said the reference of the "Caucasian Knot" "Nardaran."
The defendants complained of torture and pleaded not guilty. Azerbaijani human rights activists recognized the defendants in the Nardaran case as political prisoners. Subsequently, some of the convicts were released on pardon and the end of their term.
[Shafaq News] The Iraqi Security Media Cell announced on Monday the arrest of a "terrorist target" affiliated with ISIS, who participated in multiple attacks in northern Baghdad and Samarra.
In a statement, the Media Cell said that "the Iraqi National Intelligence Service managed to arrest one of the important terrorist targets involved in targeting security forces and civilians in several Iraqi provinces."
The Media Cell added that the target was working with the so-called 'Al-Sawari Brigade' terrorist group, which was active in northern Baghdad and participated in terrorist operations in Samarra, before joining the ranks of ISIS in what is known as the Kirkuk governorate.
The arrest took place in al-Sulaymaniyah governorate based on precise intelligence information, and a tracking operation that lasted for ten months, in cooperation with the Counter-Terrorism Agency in the governorate.
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[Rudaw] An unidentified drone crashed near a Peshmerga base south of Erbil on Sunday evening, causing no damage, a commander told Rudaw.
"Last night, we noted that a drone was flying around. By the time we alerted our superiors, it crashed," Colonel Hassan Mohammad Sur told Rudaw on Monday.
The origin of the drone is unclear and it has no distinct features that would help identify it, he added.
The drone crashed 500 meters away from the base of the Peshmerga ministry’s third battalion in the Qushtapa sub-district, 15 kilometres from Erbil, on the border with Kirkuk province. Iraqi forces are also positioned nearby the area.
Drone warfare has become a common occurrence in the Kurdistan Region, as well as Iraq, with most incidents being attributed to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund... , Iran, and pro-Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... Iraqi militia groups. An explosive-laden drone was found near Duhok dam by a villager last week.
Last November, several drone attacks targeted members of the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) in the town of Pirde, along the Erbil-Kirkuk provincial border. Social media accounts affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary guards (IRGC) grabbed credit.
[IsraelTimes] No reports of injuries after home in Meirav struck by gunfire; IDF says troops searching area nearby another kibbutz targeted earlier this month in similar attack
Shots were fired late Monday night at a kibbutz in northern Israel, two weeks after a nearby town was targeted in a similar shooting attack claimed by Paleostinian terrorists.
A message from the local regional council sent to residents of Meirav said Monday’s gunfire appeared to have come from the Paleostinian village of Jalbun, on the West Bank side of the green line.
The message also said there were no special instructions and that residents could continue with their routines.
One home in the community was struck, with a picture on social media showing a bullet hole in a wall. No injuries were reported.
The Israel Defense Forces said troops were searching for suspects in the area.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the gunfire, which the military called a shooting attack.
Earlier this month, several homes in nearby Kibbutz Ma’ale Gilboa were damaged by bullets. An offshoot of the Paleostinian Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... terror group, which took responsibility for the attack, claimed at the time the targeted homes were in Meirav.
While shooting attacks targeting Israelis take place periodically, they more frequently take place inside the Green Line, and the targeting of Israeli civilians inside Israel proper is less common.
[IsraelTimes] The military says Navy forces detained four Paleostinians off the coast of the Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip early this morning over suspicions they were involved in a smuggling attempt.
One of the suspects was maimed by a sponge-tipped bullet fired by the Navy troops, the Israel Defense Forces says.
The four suspects and the vessel have been handed over to the Shin Bet security agency for further investigation.
Attempts at smuggling via the maritime route from northern Egypt to Gaza are believed to be frequent.
[IsraelTimes] Civilian victim, 36, moderately maimed; attacker taken to hospital
An Israeli man was hurt in a stabbing attack at the Gush Etzion Junction south of Jerusalem in the West Bank on Monday evening, the military and medics said.
The Israel Defense Forces said the female Paleostinian assailant was shot after carrying out the attack. She was taken to a hospital in Jerusalem, although her condition was not immediately clear.
Footage from the scene showed the suspected attacker lying on the ground next to a knife.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said a 36-year-old man was treated in moderate condition after being stabbed by the Paleostinian woman. He was taken by MDA to the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem, where medical officials there described his condition as moderate but stable.
"IDF soldiers responded with live fire toward the terrorist and neutralized her," the IDF said in a statement.
[IsraelTimes] Yusef Mansour and Marsil Mansour, West Bank residents, communicated with Quds Force operatives via social media; were asked to smuggle and sell weapons, spy on IDF
Security forces uncovered attempts by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force to recruit Paleostinians to carry out terror attacks against Israeli targets, and arrested two West Bank men suspected of planning an attack, the Shin Bet security agency said Monday.
According to a statement, Yusef Mansour and Marsil Mansour, Paleostinian residents of the West Bank, were in contact via social media with Quds Force operatives, who had presented themselves to the pair as members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Leb
Continued on Page 49
Seven soldiers of the government forces were killed and others were wounded in an attack carried out by #HTS in the de-escalation zone in NW #Syria.https://t.co/dDthKWv97O
— NORTH PRESS AGENCY - ENGLISH (@NPA_English) April 17, 2023
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Turkish forces advance new military reinforcements to their military base in northwest #Syria's #Azaz, an area #Turkey has been occupying since 2016. https://t.co/LFPvOnneMF
— NORTH PRESS AGENCY - ENGLISH (@NPA_English) April 17, 2023
[AFP on Yahoo] A US helicopter raid on Monday killed a senior Islamic State group leader in Syria suspected of plotting attacks in Europe and the Middle East, US Central Command said.
"Early this morning, April 17, US Central Command forces killed Abd-al Hadi Mahmud al-Haji Ali, a senior ISIS Syria leader," Centcom said in a statement, using another acronym for IS.
It said he was an "operational planner responsible for planning terror attacks in the Middle East and Europe".
The operation was launched "after intelligence revealed an ISIS plot to kidnap officials abroad to use as leverage", the statement said.
An earlier Centcom statement said the raid in northern Syria had "resulted in the probable death of the targeted individual", without naming him.
"Two other ISIS operatives were killed in the raid," both statements said, without identifying them either.
No civilians or US troops were hurt, the first statement said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike targeted a building in Al-Suwaydah village about 25 kilometres (15 miles) west of the town of Jarabulus on Syria's northern border with Turkey.
The Britain-based war monitor, which relies on sources on the ground, said the strike killed the main target and two other fighters.
The IS member had previously been imprisoned in Kurdish-held Manbij, south of Jarabulus, the Observatory said.
He had taken refuge in the Al-Suwaydah area around six months earlier under the protection of a pro-Turkish group, it added.
Local residents told AFP the man was killed as he was trying to flee and that his body was handed over to one of his brothers.
- 'DESIRE TO STRIKE' -
A Turkish-backed rebel group deployed in the Al-Suwaydah area said in a statement that two of its fighters were killed after they went to the site of the raid.
Many former IS militants joined pro-Turkish groups after the jihadists lost their last scraps of territory in Syria in March 2019, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Earlier this month, the US military said it had launched a strike in Syria killing senior IS leader Khalid Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri, who Centcom said was responsible for planning attacks in Turkey and Europe.
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.
...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
