Recent Appearances...

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Hello !
Recent Appearances...

Hizbul Mujahedin	Hizbul Mujahedin	United Jihad Council	Afghanistan-Pak-India				20051011	Link
Saadullah Hizbi	Saadullah Hizbi	Al-Badr	India-Pakistan	Kashmiri?	At Large	Front Man	20021120
		Bandipore spokesman of al-Badr

Europe

Islamists hold a mass rally in Hamburg demanding the creation of a caliphate

2024-04-30

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Do they now?

More on this story from yesterday.

[Regnum] More than a thousand Islamists in Hamburg took part in a rally demanding the creation of a caliphate in Germany, the German newspaper Bild reported.

According to journalists, the organizer of the action was 25-year-old student Joe Adade Boateng, who gained popularity on social networks. He criticizes the policies of Israel and Western countries.

A useful name to add to the archive, he’s the head of Muslim Interaktiv, a local branch of Hizbut Tahrir
...an al-Qaeda recruiting organization banned in most countries. It calls for the reestablishment of the Caliphate...
and for some reason he likes to be called Raheem.

Hamburg police spokeswoman Sandra Lövgrün, when asked why law enforcement did not ban the rally, replied that there were no reasons for this.

“There must be real evidence that there will be violent riots during the rally. Suspicions alone are not enough for a ban,” she said.

Lövgrun added that in Germany it is not prohibited to call for the creation of a caliphate, and the protesters did not violate the law prohibiting the propaganda of terrorism. Hamburg Interior Senator Andy Grote said he was disgusted by the action, but police found no legal reason to ban it. Journalists also established that law enforcement officers did not check the documents of the protesters, since there was no legal basis for this.

According to the newspaper, the Muslim Interactive group, which is close to the Hizb ut-Tahrir group (a terrorist organization whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation), was involved in organizing the rally, according to the newspaper.

As reported by IA Regnum, in April, German media reported that schoolchildren in Germany are increasingly converting to Islam in order not to be outcasts in a class where the majority of Muslims. In a survey conducted by the Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony among 786 Muslim students, 68% said that for them the rules of the Koran are more important than the laws of Germany.

Bild stated in October 2023 that there were many in Germany who despised non-Muslims and opposed the way of life established in the country. The publication published a 50-point manifesto for migrants, including noting that residents of Germany have the right to public protests as long as they do not glorify criminals or cause riots.

Link

Europe

Radical Islamists Rally in Hamburg Calling for Caliphate in Germany

2024-04-29

[BREITBART] The German city of Hamburg saw over a thousand Moslems rally on Saturday against the freedom of the press and other liberal values of the country while calling for the imposition of an Islamic caliphate.

Around 1,100 gathered in the central Hamburg district of St. Georg — a progressive area of Germany’s second-largest city often identified as a gay neighbourhood — to demonstrate against what they perceived as an attempt by the media to portray all Moslems in Germany as radical Islamists.

However,
some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves...
the rhetoric reported from the event indicated the radical positions of the group itself, with chants of Allahu Akbar (God is great or Our God is greater than yours). Meanwhile,
...back at the laboratory the smoke and fumes had dispersed, to reveal an ominous sight...
signs at the rally declare that a "Caliphate is the solution" and others read: "Germany = dictatorship of values", NTV reports.

The rally was also attended by members of the Moslem Interactive group, a successor to Hizbut Tahrir
...an al-Qaeda recruiting organization banned in most countries. It calls for the reestablishment of the Caliphate...
, an international Islamic fundamentalist political party seeking to institute a caliphate which was officially banned in Germany in 2003 for extremism.

Moslem Interaktiv, which was founded in 2020, previously organised a demonstration in St. Georg in October in the wake of the Hamas
Hamas

...a regional Iranian catspaw,...
terror attacks on Israel, despite the city placing bans on anti-Israel demonstrations at the time. The group has also been active outside of Germany, having organised a February 2023 protest against Qur’an burnings in Sweden.

Hamburg’s Interior Senator Andy Grote cited Moslem Interaktiv earlier this month as being part of a new generation of Islamist gunnies using social media to spread their messages to the youth of Germany.

The report noted that despite apparently violating some of the principles of Islam, the influencers often using top of the line video editing with a "very professional appearance" as well as using sports cars and luxury brands in an apparent effort to gain more interest in their Islamist message.

Senator Grote said that since attempting to take over the streets of Hamburg in October, local officials have launched a crackdown on the group, saying: "We responded with consistent prosecution, including searches, and some social media channels were shut down on the initiative of the security authorities."

However,
some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves...
young Moslems in Germany are apparently still susceptible to the Islamist worldview. A survey of grade nine Moslems around the age of 15 this month found that nearly half (45.8 per cent) believe that an Islamic theocracy is the best possible government, while over two-thirds said the rules of the Qur’an were more important than the laws of Germany.

[Twitter] Courtesy of 3dc.

BREAKING:

Hundreds of Islamists are demonstrating in Hamburg, Germany.

They are demanding that a caliphate is established in the country.

The organization behind the protest is called Muslim Interaktiv, and is monitored by the authorities but not banned pic.twitter.com/RISFYJEKAY
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) April 27, 2024

Hamburg has long been notorious for its active Salafi-Islamist community. The Al Qaeda 9/11 plotters lived there for some time, regularly worshipping at al-Quds Mosque, which the authorities closed in 2010. The membership were known to have links to jihadi groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Bassil urges ceasefire in south even if Gaza war continues

2024-04-06

[An Nahar] Free Patriotic Movement
Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic...
chief Jebran Bassil has demanded "a ceasefire in south ~~Lebanon~~ Hezbollahstan
<del>Lebanon</del> Hezbollahstan

...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. ...
" and "separating the matter from the developments of the war in 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...
."

Calling for "solidarity in this critical period that the country is going through and is witnessing an unprecedented collapse," Bassil stressed, in remarks to Kuwait’s al-Anbaa newspaper, his "support for the resistance in repelling any Israeli attack on Lebanon."

He, however, rejected "

Hezbollah’s participation in Gaza’s war amid the lack of national consensus."

"It is clear that Hezbollah does not want a major war with Israel, and this is an appreciated and good stance, but it has meanwhile lost control of the decision to stop the war, leaving the matter in Israel’s hands. For the sake of whom has this happened? For the sake of Yahya al-Sinwar or for the sake of liberating Jerusalem?" Bassil wondered.

Urging the relevant countries to "help us achieve that," Bassil refused to link the presidential vote to a ceasefire in south Lebanon, emphasizing that the vote should take place regardless.

Noting that he is maintaining communication with Hezbollah "at the highest levels," Bassil revealed that he has asked Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
...Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
to support him in his endeavor to "separate the domestic Lebanese file from the war in Gaza."

He also called for an agreement on a new president "because no one can impose anything on anyone in Lebanon."

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Shiite Duo-FPM tensions after Saliba charged in al-Rashid case

2024-04-06

[An Nahar] State Security chief Maj. Gen. Tony Saliba has been charged by State Commissioner to Military Court Judge Fadi Akiki in the case of the detainee Dany al-Rashid’s escape from prison, judicial sources said.

The sources told the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper that Saliba has been charged with the misdemeanors of abuse of power and misuse of influence.

Al-Rashid had beat feet from his State Security prison in Beirut on March 27 before heading to Syria where he was eventually re-arrested by Lebanese and Syrian security agents.

According to media reports, al-Rashid was once an adviser to Saliba and the director of ex-minister Salim Jreissati’s office. He was reportedly enjoying a favorable treatment in the State Security prison -- including breaks to see his family and have dinner outside. He only decided to escape upon learning that he would be moved to an Internal Security Forces prison based on a judicial order, the reports say.

Seven other people, including al-Rashid, have been charged in the prison escape case.

Al-Rashid had been enjugged
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
in connection with the attempted murder of the engineer Abdallah Hanna in Zahle.

Following the charges against Saliba, intensive contacts were held between the Shiite Duo and the Free Patriotic Movement
Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic...
in order to "contain the fallout from these charges," Nidaa al-Watan reported, noting that Saliba is close to the FPM while Akiki is close to Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
Nabih <q>Knobby</q> Berri

...Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

FPM rejects 'instant' disarming of Hezbollah

2024-03-23

[An Nahar] The Bkirki Christian meeting on Thursday witnessed harmony among the conferees over pluralism, freedom, democracy and the importance of partnership between Moslems and Christians in public sector jobs, a media report said.

The parties, however, showed differences when the issue of "illusory sovereignty and arms" was discussed, the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Friday.

"Some voiced reservations when the defense strategy idea was discussed, arguing that the army, definitely, should be in charge of protecting illusory sovereignty," the daily added.

"When the discussions tackled distancing Leb
Leb

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Three residents of Ingushetia accused of aiding terrorists

2024-03-22

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

[KavkazUzel] The investigation charged three residents of Ingushetia with illegal arms trafficking and aiding terrorists. The accused have been arrested.

Could be Caucasus Emirate/ISIS or Hizb-ut-Tahrir, could be support for Ukraine, could be something else altogether. The article does not even hint, and I can’t find anything illuminating on the internet. This article from 11/23/2023 is the only thing in the Rantburg archives that might possibly be related to the current story.

As the "Caucasian Knot" reported, on March 5 it became known that the investigative authorities of Ingushetia opened a criminal case against three people for aiding members of a terrorist organization and storing weapons.

Charges of aiding terrorists (Part 5 of Article 33, Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code of Russia), illegal trafficking in explosive devices (Part 3 of Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code of Russia) and firearms (Part 3 of Article 222 of the Criminal Code of Russia) were brought against three residents of Ingushetia, it reported today the Russian Investigative Committee for Ingushetia.

According to investigators, in November 2023, the accused, aged 26, 28 and 33 years old, on behalf of a member of a terrorist organization who was wanted for committing crimes of a terrorist nature, purchased automatic firearms and ammunition and stored them for subsequent transfer to members of the terrorist organization. The court, at the request of the investigator, chose a preventive measure against the accused in the form of detention, the department said in a statement.

Let us remind you that on March 3, during the counter-terrorism operation (CTO) in Karabulak, security forces killed six suspected militants. On March 5, sources reported that Amirkhan Gurazhev, Zelimkhan Tsuroev, Magomed Barkinkhoev, Tagir Tsuroev, Mikail Tutaev and Bers Chemurziev were killed. No losses among security forces were officially reported; according to Kommersant, five FSB officers were injured during the counter-terrorism operation in Karabulak.

On the evening of March 2, a counter-terrorist operation regime was introduced in one of the blocks in the center of Karabulak. The National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) reported that the militants, while trying to detain them, opened fire on the security forces, a shootout ensued, and residents of nearby houses were evacuated. On March 3, NAC announced that six Islamic State militants were killed in the shootout, three of whom were on the federal wanted list. The "Caucasian Knot" has prepared a report " How the special operation took place in Karabulak."

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Bassil walks fine line between supporting, opposing Hezbollah strikes on Israel

2024-03-10

[An Nahar] Free Patriotic Movement
Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic...
chief Jebran Bassil is walking a fine line between supporting and opposing the ongoing war in Leb
...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
's south.

"The Lebanese have the right to defend their country but Paleostinians do not have the right to defend Paleostine from Lebanon [...] and self-defense is a legitimate right but the decision to attack requires a united Lebanese stance," Bassil said in a televised interview.

"I support the unity of the Lebanese arena, [...] but the decision of war was not taken by Lebanon, neither by Hezbollah," he added. "A Paleostinian faction took the decision of war, and I am against Hezbollah's decision to follow them."

"We support war if it will return the Shebaa Farms to Lebanon and secures offshore oil and gas exploration," Bassil explained. "But why are we linking Lebanon's fate to 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 Hamas with 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...
?"he asked. "Is Hamas
Hamas

...not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
linking its fate to Lebanon?"

Bassil went on to say that he understands that Hezbollah was pre-empting a possible Israeli attack and that he is convinced that the group, unlike Israel, does not want a war, but warned the group against letting Israel drag the country into a war. "We shouldn't give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a chance to destroy everything," he said.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

FSB stops the activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir cell in Crimea

2024-03-07

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] FSB officers stopped the activities of the Hizbut Tahrir
...an al-Qaeda recruiting organization banned in most countries. It calls for the reestablishment of the Caliphate...
cell in Crimea, the department’s press service reported on March 6.

“The Federal Security Service in the Republic of Crimea suppressed the activities of a secret cell of the international terrorist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami,” the FSB reported.

Good job, guys.

As department officials established, members of the cell carried out anti-constitutional activities in Crimea. At the same time, they were guided by the doctrine of creating a so-called global caliphate and destroying the institutions of secular society. The goal of the extremists was to overthrow the current government in Russia by violent means.

Members of the cell spread terrorist ideology among Crimeans, and they also recruited Crimean Muslims.

During the searches, a lot of propaganda materials banned in Russia were found on the members of the cell. Security forces also seized communications equipment and electronic storage media used for terrorist activities.

Large sums of money in Russian and foreign currencies were also seized from members of the banned organization.

As Regnum reported, the FSB announced on March 6 that a criminal case had been opened against a resident of the village of Emelyanovo in the Krasnoyarsk Territory due to calls for violent actions against Russian military members of the SVO. He posted the corresponding video on his personal YouTube channel. He faces up to five years in prison.

In the city of Karabulak in Ingushetia, FSB special forces eliminated six militants as part of a counter-terrorism operation. Regnum news agency published a fragment of the operation.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Israel kills Hezbollah commander with airstrike on car carrying him through streets of Lebanon

2024-02-27

[NYPOST] The Israel Defense Forces says it killed a senior Hezbollah commander in an ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
that targeted a car driving down the streets of southern Leb
Leb

...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
on Monday.Video of the strike shows the car carrying Hezbollah’s Hajir chief Hassan Hussein Salami driving through the village of Majadel as an IDF aircraft locks in on the vehicle.

A bomb is quickly dropped on the car, which erupts into flames and crashes into a nearby building before stopping.

A vehicle that was driving on the other side of the road and was right next to the car carrying Salami when the airstrike hit avoided the blast and sped away.

The IDF said Salami belonged to the terror group’s Nasser unit and had been in charge of numerous attacks carried out against the Jewish state along the northern border, including the recent missile attacks targeting two military bases.

Hezbollah officials confirmed Salami’s death on Monday, but the Iran-backed terror group did not identify him as a commander.

Along with the strike that killed Salami, Israeli warplanes killed at least two Hezbollah members in the Bekaa Valley on Monday, the deepest attack into Lebanon since hostilities surged with the terror group over the war in 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 Hamas with 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...
"Its aggression on Baalbek or any other areas will not remain without response," Hezbollah politician Hassan Fadlallah said of the attacks during a televised funeral of a fellow murderous Moslem.

Following the warning, Hezbollah launched 60 Katyusha rockets aimed at Israel’s army headquarters in the Golan Heights, one of the most intense attacks so far.

The IDF did not report any injuries as a result of the barrage in Golan Heights.

The Times of Israel adds:

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah on Monday fired a barrage of 60 Katyusha rockets at the Golan Heights. Footage circulating on social media shows several rockets impacting and exploding near a bus carrying passengers, who quickly disembarked to take cover.

Salami’s rank is equivalent to a brigade commander. The IDF said Salami was the commander of a regional unit in Hezbollah and oversaw attacks on IDF troops and Israeli communities in northern Israel. Recent actions that Salami was involved in included anti-tank missile attacks on Kiryat Shmona and on the base of the 769th "Hiram" Regional Brigade, according to the IDF.

Later, the IDF said it struck further Hezbollah targets in southern Leb, including the site from which the barrage of rockets was launched. Sites targeted by fighter jets in Ayta ash-Shab included buildings used by the terror group, the IDF said. The rocket launch site from which Hezbollah fired some 60 rockets at the Golan was located in the village of Kawkaba, and it too was struck by a fighter jet.

The IDF said a tank also shelled a building used by Hezbollah in Kafr Kila earlier in the day.

Earlier Monday, Hezbollah downed an Israeli Air Force drone, an Elbit Hermes 450 model, over the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon with a surface-to-air missile. The drones are used by the IAF for surveillance and attacks.

In response to the incident, the IDF said it launched the strikes on Hezbollah’s air defense unit near Baalbek.

The Israeli Air Force also struck the downed aircraft in the Nabatieh area, The Times of Israel learned. Such actions are taken to prevent sensitive tech from falling into the hands of the enemy.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hariri meets US ambassador, Grand Mufti Daryan in Beirut

2024-02-14

[NAHARNET] Ex-PM and al-Mustaqbal
... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri...
Movement leader Saad Hariri
...Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too....
met Tuesday at the Center House in Beirut with American Ambassador Lisa Johnson and Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan.

Johnson told news hounds as she left the Center House that the meeting with Hariri was "excellent".
"I didn't get blown up. So there's that"
Hariri, who had withdrawn from political life two years ago, arrived Sunday night in Beirut to prepare for the 19th anniversary of the martyrdom of his father Rafik Hariri and his ~~lover~~ companions on February 14.

Hariri had resigned as prime minister after unprecedented nationwide protests broke out in 2019 to demand the wholesale overhaul of Leb
Leb

Link

Iraq

US Treasury sanctions Iraqi airline, militia leaders for assisting IRGC; Fly Baghdad rejects accusation

2024-01-23

[Rudaw] The United States Department of Treasury on Monday announced its sanctioning of Iraqi airline Fly Baghdad and several members of Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah

...spelt in some sources Kataeb Hezbollah...

for providing assistance to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said that it has designated Fly Baghdad and its CEO Basheer Abdulkadhim Alwan al-Shabbani, "for providing assistance" to the IRGC’s Quds Force and its proxy groups in Iraq, Syria, and Leb
...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
According to the US Treasury, Fly Baghdad "has supported the operations of the IRGC-QF [Quds Force] and its proxies by delivering materials and personnel throughout the region."

"Fly Baghdad flights have delivered shipments of weapons to Damascus International Airport in Syria for transfer to members of the IRGC-QF and Iran-aligned militia groups on the ground in Syria, including the Syrian Arab Elite Republican Guard, Lebanese Hizballah, KH [Kataib Hezbollah], and the KH-affiliated Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas Brigade," read the statement.

The US Department of Treasury added that Fly Baghdad was also involved in transferring hundreds of Iraqi fighters, including fighters of the Iran-backed militia group Asaib Ahl al-Haq, in support of the Iranian proxies’ attacks on Israel, in October.

Along with Fly Baghdad, the OFAC also designated three leaders and supporters of the Iran-backed Kata’ib Hezbollah, "as well as a business that moves and launders" for the group.

The statement named Hossein Moanes al-Ibudi, a senior member of the Kataib Hezbollah and a member of the Iraqi parliament, Riyad Ali Hussein al-Azzawi, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) specialist and an engineer for the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), and Awqad Muhsin Faraj al-Hamidawi, who directs Kataib Hezbollah’s "businesses and aspects of the financial portfolio," as part of the list of individuals sanctioned by the US "for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support" of the group.

A travel company, al-Massal, was also sanctioned on the grounds that it was used by Kataib Hezbollah to generate revenue and launder money.

"Al-Massal is being designated ... for being owned, controlled, or directed by Awqad al-Hamidawi," according to the statement.

"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 ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
and its proxies have sought to abuse regional economies and use seemingly legitimate businesses as cover for funding and facilitating their attacks," said US Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson, adding that the US will "continue to disrupt Iran’s illicit activities aimed at undermining the stability of the region."

As a result of this move, all assets and property belonging to the specified legal persons, "that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons," are blocked and must be disclosed to the Treasury’s OFAC. Furthermore, any organizations that are owned, whether directly or indirectly, individually or collectively, by 50 percent or more by one or more individuals subject to asset blocking are also subject to the same restrictions.

Two Fly Baghdad-owned, Iraqi-registered aircraft were identified as "blocked property in which Fly Baghdad has an interest."

The US treasury designated the IRGC’s Quds Force as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT)" in 2007, and the US Department of State designated Kataib Hezbollah as an STDG and a "foreign terrorist organization (FTO)" in 2009.

The sanctions come at a time when US interests across Iraq and Syria are the target of dronezaps from IRGC-backed militia groups. On Monday, the Islamic Resistance® in Iraq, an Iran-backed group, announced targeting Ain al-Asad military base in Iraq’s western Anbar province with drones.

According to the Pentagon, US bases forces have been attacked approximately 140 times in Iraq and Syria since mid-October.

The US has carried out retaliatory strikes against Iran-backed militia groups in Iraq, drawing the ire of the Iraqi government, and amplifying cries of ending the US-led global coalition against the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) mission in Iraq.

In November, the US Treasury Department sanctioned six individuals affiliated with Kataib Hezbollah, and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, another Iran-backed group, as well as its leader Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Saraji.

Washington accused both militias of receiving support from Iran’s IRGC and involvement in dozens of attacks on American interests in Iraq and Syria since Israel’s war with Paleostinian Hamas
Hamas

...the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
in the Gaza Strip.

Fly Baghdad Cancels Flights After U.S. Sanctions; Denies Accusations

“Nuh uh. Wudn’t us,” the big guy said emphatically.

[Shafaq News] Hours after the United States imposed sanctions on Iraqi airline "Fly Baghdad," the company was compelled to cancel several flights from Baghdad International Airport. Videos on social media showed stranded passengers at the airport after Fly Baghdad's flight cancellations.

The U.S. Treasury accused Fly Baghdad of transporting weapons to Syria and supporting organizations banned by the U.S. government.

In response, the company, along with its management and owner, expressed surprise at the decision, asserting that it lacked any substantial or moral evidence.
"Moral Evidence"?
Fly Baghdad denounced the decision, emphasizing its years of operation under the direct supervision of the Iraqi government, including the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority and the Ministry of Transport.

The company called on the U.S. Treasury Department to "present evidence supporting the accusations," it intends to pursue legal action to demand compensation for what it considers a decision based on misleading and unreal information that does not withstand legal scrutiny.

Link

India-Pakistan

Iran and Pakistan exchanged missile strikes. What to expect next

2024-01-19

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Kirill Semeno

[REGNUM] On January 18, Islamabad said its forces had launched "a series of well-coordinated and targeted precision military strikes" against Iran's southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province in an operation called Marg Bar Sarmachar. This broadly translates to “death to the partisans.”

"Several" militants were killed during the operation, Pakistan's foreign ministry added.

Islamabad also noted that in recent years it has expressed concern to Tehran about “shelters and shelters” in Iran for Pakistani Baloch separatists, whom Pakistan calls “Sarmachar.” The Pakistani authorities, as they themselves claim, wanted the Iranian side to share data regarding the presence and activities of these militants.

“Sarmachar” refers to two groups, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), that are fighting for greater regional autonomy for Pakistani Balochistan, even to the point of granting it independence from Pakistan. At the same time, their militants often commit terrorist acts and kill journalists.

ISLAMABAD'S "MIRROR RESPONSE"
Pakistan's actions are a "mirror response" to Iran's attacks on Pakistani soil two days earlier.

On Tuesday evening, January 16, Iran's IRGC forces allegedly attacked the headquarters of the Jaysh al-Adl movement in Pakistan. This group conducts its anti-government activities in the province of Sistan and Baluchistan in Iran, seeking to transform this region into an independent Islamic emirate.

The Pakistani government strongly condemned Tehran's actions and said the strikes killed two children and wounded three others.

“ What is even more alarming is that this illegal act occurred despite the existence of multiple channels of communication between Pakistan and Iran, ” the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said. “ Pakistan has always said that terrorism is a common threat to all countries in the region, which requires coordinated action.”

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry recalled the ambassador from Iran, and Islamabad stated that it reserves the right to retaliate. And, as you can see, these measures did not take long to arrive.

In turn, Tehran has now expressed protest against Pakistan’s “anti-terrorist operation” on its own territory. According to the Iranian Tasnim agency, Pakistan's charge d'affaires in Tehran was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry after a missile strike on the territory of the Islamic Republic.

“A Pakistani diplomat was summoned to the ministry in the absence of the ambassador (as the ambassador was recalled for consultations after the Iranian attacks) to give an explanation regarding several explosions in areas near the city of Serawan in the province of Sistan and Baluchistan that occurred earlier today,” the report said.

Thus, we can say that Tehran, with its great-power ambitions, has finally met with an equally ambitious regional player in the person of Islamabad, and at the same time possessing nuclear weapons.

Pakistan, unlike many neighboring countries that have suffered to one degree or another from Iran’s actions, did not wait to respond and was not afraid of a possible escalation.

Another question is that such Pakistani-Iranian disagreements can, if the parties wish, be resolved quickly enough, since both countries are China’s closest partners, with which they are closely connected not only economically, but also military-politically. Islamabad, however, is larger, Tehran somewhat smaller.

In general, it cannot be ruled out that Pakistan’s retaliatory actions were carried out under the control of Beijing and could even be coordinated with Tehran. But we will know about this only by how Iran ultimately responds to Pakistani attacks.

In addition, both Pakistan and Iran are members of the SCO and the Organization has a good reason to remind itself and its security dimension in the form of the SCO anti-terrorist center in Tashkent. The SCO could invite both countries to develop a certain algorithm for joint actions against terrorist and separatist Baloch groups that use the territories of Pakistan and Iran for attacks from both sides of the border.

HOT BALOCHISTAN
The territory of Baluchistan, a geographical region inhabited by the Baluchis, one of the Indo-European peoples, is divided between Pakistan and Iran. In these territories there are various groups seeking independence from Islamabad and Tehran, respectively. Moreover, these movements are often sponsored by external forces.

Thus, Iran previously, before normalizing relations with Riyadh, accused Saudi Arabia of supporting Sunni jihadist groups present in the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan.

At the moment, a whole mosaic of various Sunni formations is still active there. Most of them arose from the foundations of the leading rebel faction of Iranian Balochistan, Jundallah, which was never able to recover from the defeat in 2010-2011.

It should be noted that the leader of Jundallah himself, Abdulmalik Rigi, rejected accusations that Jundallah is a radical Salafi organization.

“We’re not radical,” he said. “We’re correct. It’s just that everyone else is lax or straight-up heretical. Dunno why they all call us taqfiris.”

Its closest analogue before the split was the Afghan Taliban (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation), which adheres to Hanafi jurisprudence and Maturidi theology, traditional for the region.

Nowadays, Jaysh al-Adl, close to Jundallah and founded by its former members, is among the most active Sunni jihadist groups in Iranian Balochistan.

There are also other anti-government groups operating in Iranian Balochistan. Such as “Harakat Ansar al Iran”, renamed “Harakat al Ansar” - also a “splinter” of “Jundallah”, part of which merged with another independent Islamist Baloch faction “Hizb al Furqan” into a new structure - “Ansar al Furqan”. However, the activity of this group began to decline after the death of its leader Hisham Azizi in 2015.

It’s been a while since we used the Toad the Wet Sprocket analogy.

In turn, secular nationalist groups of Baloch separatists with a left-wing Marxist bias, such as the Balochistan Liberation Front and the Baluchistan Liberation Army, are active in Pakistan. They also, according to the Pakistani authorities, enjoy the protection of external forces, primarily India.

Pakistan would say that.

During their first stage of activity in the 70s of the last century, they fought not only against Pakistan, but also against Iran. And only in the 2000s did they completely refocus on the confrontation with Islamabad. It is likely that the FOB and AOB were able to maintain their secret bases on Iranian territory, ceasing the fight with Tehran, so as not to further irritate the Iranian authorities.

On the other hand, it is obvious that the attacks on the secret cells of Jaysh al-Adl by Iran were largely in the nature of a PR campaign and were not aimed at suppressing terrorist activity.

They were supposed to demonstrate that Iran has become a full-fledged regional power that is capable of suppressing any threats in neighboring states. And thereby putting it on a par with the United States or Israel, which also act against any hostile forces outside their territory.

*Snicker*

ECHO OF GAZA
But in any case, it should be borne in mind that the current Iran-Pakistan escalation is associated with Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip.

“Doze Juices made us do it!”

The events of October 7 thus became a trigger for regional escalation, which is already extending beyond the Middle East.

It is unlikely that Iran would launch strikes on the territory of Pakistan, where, according to Tehran, Jaish al-Adl terrorists are hiding, if it were not for the need to respond to the actions of the United States and Israel, which killed IRGC officers in Damascus and the leaders of pro-Iranian militias in Iraq.

So they killed a couple of Pakistani tribals? How does that punish The Two Satans?

Also, according to Iran, they directed the actions of the terrorist group ISIS (banned in the Russian Federation) during the terrorist attack in Kerman. All this was a consequence of growing tensions between Iran, on the one hand, and the United States and Israel, on the other, due to the events in Gaza.

Oy.

But against this background, Iran had to somehow demonstrate its readiness to suppress threats from another direction, namely from Pakistani Baluchistan, from where jihadist militants infiltrated into the country and committed terrorist attacks. In this case, an Iranian strike on “friendly” Iraq while ignoring the response in the direction of Pakistan could cause even greater misunderstanding in Baghdad.

It must be really interesting inside their heads...

Iraq, despite its close ties with the Islamic Republic, filed a complaint against the actions of its neighbor to the UN Security Council.

Client kitten bares claws?

However, it is unlikely that Iran's actions will lead to anything more serious. Of course, tensions in the region will increase, but Tehran’s actions themselves are more likely aimed at the domestic Iranian audience. It should have no doubt that the Islamic Republic is ready to destroy its opponents along the perimeter of the country's borders and is not afraid to do this by striking American and Israeli targets.

Did they find their targets by tracking the spy squirrels?

Another question is, are the places where the Iranian missiles fell really the CIA and Mossad bases from where attacks on Iran were coordinated, or were they simply declared so by the IRGC itself?

To ask the question is to answer it.

The same applies to Jaysh al-Adl cells in Pakistan.

The bottom line is that the result of the Iranian attacks on Iraq was the murder of the Kurdish tycoon Peshrav Zeya, who, if the Iranians are to be believed again, was a Mossad agent, but it is not possible to verify or refute this.

Thus, Tehran’s algorithm of actions is as follows:

First, blame the terrorist attack in Kerman on the United States and Israel, which allegedly manage and direct ISIS terrorists. Then take revenge for this terrorist attack by targeting some CIA and Mossad bases in Iraq, which, by the way, neither the United States nor Israel consider their targets. Iran itself declared them as such, and therefore the United States will not take retaliatory actions. Which is exactly what Tehran needed.

All this fits well within the framework of a resonant response that would not lead to a regional war that Iran does not need.

Ouch.

At the same time, the initial story about the alleged complete destruction of the American consulate in Erbil as a result of an Iranian strike with the corresponding footage was most likely made deliberately. For many in the Middle East, this fake story began to take on a life of its own as evidence that it is not only the Houthis who are capable of challenging the United States.

Even though the destruction never happened, those perfidious Yanks being entirely too facile with their anti-drone technology. But reality is not really a factor in that part of the world, poor darlings.

Resonance was all Tehran needed in this situation.

But it is obvious that in the case of Pakistan, Iran did not calculate the reaction. Pakistan has never been afraid to escalate with the much stronger India, and certainly will not retreat in front of Iran.

But at the same time, Tehran itself is by no means eager to enter into confrontation with Islamabad, opening up another front for itself. Therefore, the question is whether Iran will be able not to “follow the principle” and not respond with blows to blows, taking the escalation to a new level.

Interesting times. Especially for the Mad Mullahs, who aren’t getting any of the wars they want.

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