Recent Appearances...

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Hello !
Recent Appearances...

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

2 hurt as Hezbollah shells north, launches explosive drones after wave of IDF strikes

2024-06-03

[IsraelTimes] Some 40 projectiles fired in series of attacks that sparked massive fire in Golan Heights; in first, drone impacts in Nahariya, causing small blaze

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 Hezbollah bombarded northern Israel with some 40 rockets in several separate barrages on Sunday, after the Israeli military carried out a wave of overnight strikes against the terror group.

Explosive-laden drones were also launched from Lebanon on Sunday, as the terror group continued its attacks on the north amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas
Hamas

..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
war in 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 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...
Strip.

The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday morning that it had carried out an overnight ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
with fighter jets against a Hezbollah compound in northeastern Lebanon’s Baalbek. Baalbek, an area identified in the past as a Hezbollah stronghold, is around 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the Israeli border. The IDF said the strike came as a response to Hezbollah shooting down a military drone over southern Lebanon on Saturday.

In addition to the compound, the IDF said fighter jets also struck a building used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil, and command rooms in Qana and Baraachit.

On Sunday morning, two explosive-laden drones were launched from Lebanon, striking open areas near the city of Katzrin in the Golan Heights, the military said.

The drones sparked a fire that was extinguished a short while later. The IDF said there were no injuries in the incident.

Hezbollah claimed to have targeted an Iron Dome battery in the area with several explosive drones.

Sirens had sounded throughout the area during the attack, as the military attempted to intercept the devices.

Later on Sunday, a barrage of at least 15 rockets was fired at Katzrin, striking open areas and sparking a large fire south of the city, according to the IDF and the Fire and Rescue Service. There were no reports of injuries in the attack.

Hezbollah claimed to have fired dozens of rockets at an IDF base in the area.

In other barrages on Sunday, 15 rockets were fired at the Kiryat Shmona area, and another eight were launched at the largely evacuated border community of Margaliot. According to the IDF, all of the rockets were intercepted.

Another rocket attack on Kiryat Shmona lightly maimed two people, the municipality said. The city said that at least three impact sites were reported in the city, also resulting in damage.

The military later said it carried out a strike against a building used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Houla, used to launch the attack on Margaliot. Lebanese media claimed that two shepherds were killed in the Houla strike.

In a separate attack, a building in the border community of Metula was damaged by anti-tank missile fire from Lebanon, the IDF said.

Also Sunday, several suspected drones were identified by the IDF as crossing into Israel from Lebanon, heading toward the Nahariya area on the coast. Sirens had sounded in the area amid the incident. Footage purportedly from the area showed an Iron Dome interceptor missile engaging one of the drones.

The IDF said the sirens were triggered after an interceptor missile was launched at "a target suspected of being a suspicious aerial target." The military later said the incident was over and under investigation, without elaborating further on whether or not the apparent drones were intercepted.

Later in the day, another explosive drone was launched from Lebanon toward the northern coastal city, with the IDF reporting that it had attempted to intercept the device. The interception attempts failed, and the drone hit an area in the city, causing a small fire that was being extinguished by firefighters, the military added. It marked the first time amid the war that an explosive drone hit Nahariya.

There were no injuries in both incidents, which Hezbollah did not immediately claim responsibility for.

The IDF said it also launched a strike Sunday against a Hezbollah weapons depot in southern Lebanon’s Mays al-Jabal. The strike was carried out after a Hezbollah operative was spotted entering the site. A short while later, a fighter jet struck the building, the military said. The IDF said secondary blasts were seen after the strike, indicating the site was used to store munitions.

Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there. So far, the skirmishes on the border have resulted in 10 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 14 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.

Hezbollah has named 326 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 62 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed.

Israel has expressed openness to a diplomatic solution to the conflict, but has threatened to go to war against Hezbollah to restore security to the north of Israel, where tens of thousands of civilians are currently displaced.

On Sunday, the IDF announced that it had completed a war simulation exercise over the past week, as part of preparations for an escalation in northern Israel amid daily attacks by Hezbollah. The drill, carried out by the Northern Command and other General Staff directorates and wings, included "many scenarios that simulate the expansion of the war in the northern arena, and multi-front war scenarios," the military said.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Two Hezbollah fighters said killed in alleged Israeli drone strike in Syria

2024-05-26

[IsraelTimes] One person, said to have close ties to Iran, killed by bomb placed in vehicle in Damascus suburb; no comment from IDF

An alleged Israeli dronezap in central Syria killed two fighters from 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 Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group on Saturday, Lebanese media and a war monitor said.

The Beirut-based al-Mayadeen TV didn’t say if there were casualties, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said two Hezbollah members were killed and several others maimed in the dronezap.

"An Israeli drone fired two missiles at a Hezbollah car and truck near the town of Qusayr in Homs province, as they were on their way to al-Dabaa military airport, killing at least two Hezbollah fighters and wounding others," said the Observatory.

It was the third strike against Hezbollah targets in Syria in about a week.

On Monday, Israeli strikes in the Qusayr area, which is close to the Lebanese border, killed eight pro-Iranian fighters, said the Observatory, a Britannia-based monitor with a network of sources in Syria. At least one Hezbollah fighter was among those killed, a source from Hezbollah told AFP at the time.

Another strike, on May 18, targeted "a Hezbollah commander and his ~~lover~~ companion," the Observatory said. It did not report any casualties.

Separately on Saturday, a bomb attached to a car went kaboom! early Saturday in the western part of the Syrian capital that is home to several diplomatic missions, killing one person and causing material damage, state media reported.

Security incidents, including blasts targeting military and civilian vehicles, occur intermittently in the capital of war-ravaged Syria.

Quoting a police official, SANA said "one person was killed when an bomb went kaboom! in their car in the Mazzeh district."

The neighborhood houses the Iranian consulate, destroyed last month in a strike blamed on Israel. The attack at the time killed seven people including two Iranian generals and a member of Hezbollah, and triggered a direct Iranian military assault on Israel for the first time, sparking fears of a regionwide war.

Several ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s have hit the tightly-secured neighborhood over the past months, mostly targeting Iranian officials.

Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the man killed in the earth-shattering kaboom was a Mazzeh resident who carried a card identifying him as a Syrian army officer. Abdurrahman said the dead man had close ties to the Iranians.

Last month, an bomb went off in a car in Mazzeh, an upscale neighborhood of Damascus, without causing any casualties, SANA reported at the time.

Tehran has been sending advisers to Syria since the country’s conflict, which later turned into civil war, began in March 2011 and has killed half a million people. Iran-backed fighters have helped tip the balance of power in favor of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Despoiler of Deraa...
’s government.

There was no comment from the IDF on either incident.

Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.

So far, the skirmishes on the border have resulted in 10 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 14 IDF soldiers and reservists.

There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.

Hezbollah has named 313 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon, but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 61 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Bassil criticizes Hezbollah as ties hang by 'fine thread'

2024-05-25

[NAHARNET] Free Patriotic Movement
Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic...
chief Jebran Bassil has criticized anew old FPM ally Hezbollah for opening a war on the southern border with Israel.

Bassil told Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai that 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...
has enough problems, from a refugee crisis to an economic collapse and a presidential void.

"I don't see that these festivities have done any good to Lebanon," Bassil said. "If others accept this war as a fait accompli, we will not accept it."

Bassil wondered if this costly war would return the Israeli occupied Shebaa Farms to Lebanon, the Paleostinian refugees to their land, or the Syrian refugees to Syria. "If it did or if it secured oil investments, I wouldn't have any problem."

"The problem is that Lebanon alone, of course in addition to Paleostine, is bearing this hefty cost, with no benefits in return," he added.

Bassil blamed Hezbollah for opening fire without consulting with other Lebanese forces, and called for keeping Lebanon away from the region's problems, but said that he would nevertheless live with Hezbollah and share with the group the same land, tragedies and achievements. "I do not want Hezbollah to lose this war," he said.

The FPM chief also criticized Hezbollah and Amal for trying to impose a candidate on Christians who does not represent them. "We support holding consultations, and we are in fact in constant communication with all parties, sometimes away from the spotlight and other times publicly," he said. "We are in consultation with everyone."

Bassil said that the FPM-Hezbollah understanding is hanging by "a fine thread". "It doesn't mean it is fragile but the points of agreements are that little," he explained. "When it comes to protecting Lebanon, the relation with Hezbollah is very strong," he said.

On a separate note, Bassil said he does not support opening the seas for migrant boats to reach Europe, an idea floated by Hezbollah chief Sayyed His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
...The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...>
, amid soaring anti-Syrian sentiment and accusations the West is seeking to keep refugees in Lebanon.

The European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
had announced earlier this month $1 billion in aid to Lebanon to help tackle irregular migration, as Cyprus, the EU's easternmost member, wants to curb migrant boat departures from Lebanon towards its shores.

"If you want to close the sea, you should also close the land," he said.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Geagea warns of Hezbollah-Bassil agreement on 'mediocre president'

2024-05-22

[An Nahar] Lebanese Forces
A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb...
leader Samir Geagea
....Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005....
has noted that "the presidency is a Lebanese issue par excellence," calling on MPs to "shoulder their responsibilities, especially the parliament speaker."

"We are awaiting the visit of French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian to 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...
, because he is following up on the issue from all its aspects and is informed on the steps, especially in terms of specifying the characteristics that were announced for the election of a president during the meeting that was held in Doha around a year ago," Geagea said in an interview with MTV.

"I’m not very optimistic, but the five-nation committee (for Lebanon) must continue its work through pressing the Axis of Defiance to stop its obstructive role," Geagea added.

The LF leader also stressed that the committee in its latest statement "did not call for a (Speaker Nabih) Berri-style dialogue, but rather for consultations in the vein of what the Moderation bloc had suggested."

"These consultations have been ongoing since the beginning of the presidential vacuum, but they are facing obstruction from the Axis of Defiance due to the latter’s inability to secure the election of its candidate Suleiman Franjieh," Geagea added.

The LF leader also claimed that "there are under-the-table contacts, especially between (Free Patriotic Movement
Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic...
chief) Jebran Bassil and Hezbollah, that might lead to an agreement on a mediocre president."

"We will do everything necessary to prevent the election of this candidate on whom Bassil and Hezbollah will agree," Geagea vowed.

Link

Terror Networks

Black flags over the Dark Continent. Who is the Russian Afrika Korps fighting with?

2024-05-21

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Kirill Semenov

[REGNUM] On May 15, ISIS reported attacks on local soldiers and the Wagner Group (as they still call all Russian forces) in Mali and Niger, including the bombing of 20 people on mines in eastern Niger and the hijacking of a Red Cross ambulance in the western part of this country.

Thus, the local branch of the terrorist organization is trying to demonstrate its activity in the region and at the moment is probably the main opponent of the Afrika Korps of the Russian Defense Ministry, which was deployed in a number of countries in the Sahel - a region also called the “Greater Sahara”.

There is a whole mosaic of terrorist groups and organizations operating here that oppose local governments. But the main role is played by two terrorist organizations: in addition to the one indicated, Al-Qaeda. They have integrated smaller factions and are still present in many countries in the region, despite attempts to combat them (or imitate it) by anti-terrorist forces led by the United States and France.

Therefore, Western forces are leaving this part of Africa today, in many countries of which new governments have come to power.

AFRIKA KORPS, THE TURKISH FACTOR AND FIRST SUCCESSES
The Russians are acting in Africa not to impose enslaving agreements on local governments, as the Americans and French did, but only to ensure security from international terrorism, preventing its spread throughout the region and the world.

Just the sheer noble goodness of their pure Russian hearts, is it? Kewl.

The countries of the European Union and the United States are unable to provide such assistance. They make assistance programs for Africans conditional on compliance with a number of conditions. Firstly, from the promotion of “democratic reforms” and “human rights”, secondly, from the participation of local authorities in the fight against illegal migration in the interests of the EU, and thirdly, from obligations to counteract Russian influence in the region.

Russia does not make such demands and is ready to provide assistance to either a military or civilian government, democratic or Islamic, only in order to prevent terrorist leaders from taking the place of this government.

However, Western countries and Russia are not the only external players in the region.

For example, in Niger, the piquancy of the situation is added by the fact that, according to Syrian opposition sources, a group of 300 fighters of anti-government Syrian formations from the Sultan Murad, Al-Hamza and Suleiman Shah groups, operating under under the auspices of Turkey.

According to sources, they are in Niger to help the new government of this country in the fight against terrorism after it asked the Americans to “exit”.

In addition, Ankara supplies Bayraktar drones to Mali and Burkina Faso, where Russian units also operate. Therefore, it is possible that Africa will become a field of cooperation between Russia and Turkey in the counter-terrorism field.

Cooperation or opposition, given that those groups are wholly owned subsidiaries of the Turkish government. Interesting times, guys — do try to see the amusing side of this little project you’ve taken on after encouraging the locals to push out France and America.

Since the deployment of the Afrika Korps in the Greater Sahara, local armed forces have been able to achieve important successes in countering terrorists. Most notably, in April, Malian government forces killed Abu Huzeifa, a local ISIS affiliate commander, in a large-scale operation in the northern Menaka region.

And earlier this year, the Burkina Faso Air Force, where Russian forces and advisers are also deployed, killed the second-most senior leader of ISIS in the Greater Sahara, Abdulmalik Haroun Oulel, as a result of an air strike on a convoy. It is a major victory for Burkina Faso's army and a sign that the country's recent military-led modernization campaign, led by Russia, is allowing them to more effectively target jihadists.

FULANI, SAHRAWI AND TUAREG
It is significant that Abdulmalik came from the new generation of ISIS-BS leaders, since he was a native of the region and a representative of the local Fulani people, semi-sedentary inhabitants of the Sahel, who were discriminated against by local governments. Therefore, the Fulani often joined the ranks of terrorists and constituted the majority in their ranks. This applies to both ISIS and al-Qaeda.

The two previous ISIS leaders in the region with the corresponding surname al-Sahrawi (i.e. "Sahrawis") were from Western Sahara and Morocco and had previously operated in Algeria before retreating to the Sahel, where they led local Fulani militias.

In October 2015, Adnan Abu al-Walid al-Sahrawi, a jihadist fighter originally from Morocco, along with several supporters from the Mourabitoun group operating in Algeria and Mali and associated with al-Qaeda, pledged allegiance to " Islamic State".

However, at that time the activities of Abu al-Walid’s group in Africa went almost unnoticed. This was also related to the delay in recognition of this branch by the “headquarters” of the terrorists, which took place only in 2017. And when this group was nevertheless included in the “caliphate”, it was first reassigned to the branch of “ISIS - West Africa velayat”, from which “ISIS in the Greater Sahara” remains dependent to this day, despite recognition as an independent factions.

During those years, the dominant jihadist organization in the Sahel was Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). It has carried out terrorist attacks as far away as Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, and Grand Bassam in Côte d'Ivoire.

Back in 1998, Hassan Khattab, the commander of one of the scattered extremist units during the “black decade” (civil war) in Algeria, formed his own organization called the “Salafi Group of Preaching and Combat.”

In 2006, its leadership joined the global al-Qaeda network and swore allegiance to Bin Laden. A few months later, they renamed themselves Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The group then moved its activities from Algeria to the Sahel, primarily to Mali.

AQIM was able to unite several disparate groups in the north and central part of Mali, including the remnants of the Mourabitun movement. Then, in early March 2017, an organization associated with AQIM, Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), appeared. In it, in addition to the Fulani, who make up the majority in ISIS, there are also Tuaregs, along with their Salafi-jihadist group “Ansar al-Sunna”.

"SAHEL PHENOMENON"
Unlike the Syrian-Iraqi conflict arc, where ISIS waged an irreconcilable fight not only with Iraqi and Syrian government forces, but also with its competitors from Al-Qaeda, in the Greater Sahara, the dominant JNIM tried to maintain friendly relations with ISIS -BS.

In the expert community, such relations between the two groups were defined as the “Sahel phenomenon” or “Sahel exception”: local factions of the two largest terrorist groups were able to move in parallel courses for some time without coming into conflict with each other.

The ideas of reconciliation with ISIS (contrary to the general course of Al-Qaeda) were promoted by three AQIM field commanders.

The first of them, al-Humam, was known for openly supporting the Paris terrorist attacks on November 13, 2015.

The second, Abu Iyad al-Tunisi, leader of the Ansar al-Sharia group and member of the AQIM Shura, believed that ISIS could be “returned to the right path.” A noticeable number of his yesterday's recruits from Ansar al-Sharia were already in the ranks of the organization in Syria, and some occupied important positions.

Both were killed by French troops on February 21, 2019 in Elak, north of Timbuktu.

The third AQIM commander who tried to get closer to ISIS, Abu Yahya al-Jazairi, was killed during an attack on Malian armed forces in Bamba on April 6, 2020.

After this, the two groups moved on to open confrontation.

In 2020, ISIS invaded JNIM-controlled territories, committed atrocities against civilians (potentially alienating locals from the jihadist movement itself), and demonstrated the ability to overshadow JNIM activities with terrorist attacks.

The weakening of JNIM and the strengthening of ISIS in the Sahel was also facilitated by the fact that the then government of Mali began negotiations with prominent Tuareg JNIM leaders and openly announced this. These negotiations split the ranks of AQIM/JNIM and pushed its most radical elements to join ISIS.

A significant part of the Tuaregs also left the JNIM, moving to the more moderate group “High Council for the Unity of Azawad”, which does not share the jihadist views of Al-Qaeda.

As a result, the Mali government refused to negotiate not only with radical jihadists, but also with Tuareg rebel groups and moderate Islamists. This caused great displeasure in Algeria, which actively lobbied for the peace process and blamed “the machinations of the UAE” for its failure.

As a result, the failure of the negotiation process led to certain groups of the local population calling on the “jihadists” to unite with each other again.

UNITY ON ETHNIC GROUNDS
The combination of ISIS and AQIM/DNIM could create new risks not only for local governments, but also for the Russian military present in the Sahel countries. Let us recall that it was Russian PMCs (Wagner) that played the main role in the capture of Kidal in Mali in November 2023.

After this, they started talking about the possibilities of restoring ties between ISIS and AQIM/DNIM. Then a new group appeared on the scene: Wahdat al-Muslimin (Unity of Muslims), which called on warring terrorist organizations to unite against common enemies “to preserve the blood of Muslims.”

Wahdat al-Muslimeen is not a jihadist group per se, but rather a pro-jihadist (or simply anti-government) propaganda group that seeks to unite ISIS and AQIM/JNIM to fight local armies and their allies, including those from Russia.

This group is associated with local Fulani communities in the triangle between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. As already noted, representatives of this nationality feel alienated and stigmatized by the armies of the three countries in which they live. The local military often baselessly accuses all Fulanis of having links with terrorists, bringing down repression on them and thereby facilitating the transition of many Fulanis to these organizations.

Therefore, as both JNIM and ISIS-BS become more and more “Fulani” in their ethnic composition (Tuaregs, on the contrary, tend to move into more moderate groups), the threat of unification of the two groups on an ethnic basis remains.

This is an important example of the fact that any actions of the Russian military in Africa must be provided with appropriate expert and diplomatic support, taking into account all regional specifics and ethnic diversity.

The argument that since a certain group has raised this or that terrorist flag, it must be destroyed is not always adequate to local conditions. In reality, such a group can go through a whole chain of “ideological rebirths,” pursuing not religious, but purely tribal goals and objectives, and simply looking for allies among those who are able to protect this tribe or ethnic group from repression and discrimination.

This applies not only to the Fulani, but also to the Tuareg.

Terrorism in the Sahel is still identified with the Tuareg movement. Indeed, jihadist groups and Tuaregs fighting against states in the region are sometimes forced to cooperate with each other. However, jihadists and Tuaregs still should not be identified. They are temporary fellow travelers, sharply diverging in their ultimate goals.

Previously, jihadists had repeatedly knocked out the Tuaregs from their bases, and the Tuaregs, as noted, moved into more moderate movements.

In this regard, information about the nature of certain groups and factions coming from local authorities and the military must be carefully checked. Often, under the pretext of fighting terrorism, groups that are not related to terrorist activities can also be “purged.”

Instead of gaining new supporters in the fight against terrorism, this may lead to increased support for the terrorists themselves from ethnic groups subject to various forms of discrimination.

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

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

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

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