Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

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

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

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

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israeli forces search house to house in West Bank city, arrest ~~100s~~ 11

2024-01-05

[GEO.TV] Israeli forces searched houses in the Nour al-Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm on Thursday, detaining hundreds of people suspected of militant activities, the military said.

Hundreds? Goodness, those Israelis are efficient!

Tulkarm, location of one of the main crossing points between the West Bank and Israel, has seen repeated raids by security forces since the start of war on October 7

According to residents, Israeli forces detained at least 120 people and demolished three houses, including one belonging to a member of the Tulkarm Brigades, an armed militant group linked to the Palestinian faction Fatah.
"Dude! That was our Clubhouse!"
"IDF forces continue to operate, alongside other Israeli security forces, in a broad divisional operation to suppress terrorism in the Nour al-Shams refugee camp in Menashe," the military said in a statement.

The Tulkarm Brigades said fighters were exchanging fire with the Israeli forces.

The military said the operation had been under way for more than 30 hours and said hundreds of individuals had been detained for questioning. Troops destroyed militant infrastructure and identified numerous weapons, it said.

The West Bank had already experienced the highest levels of unrest in decades during the 18 months preceding the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen but confrontations have risen sharply as Israeli forces have launched an invasion of Gaza.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers and settlers over the past weeks and security forces have carried out thousands of arrests, with repeated confrontations between troops and Palestinian protesters.

IDF says troops locate UNRWA daycare booby-trapped by local terrorists in West Bank

[IsraelTimes] IDF troops operating in the West Bank’s Nur Shams refugee camp located a UNRWA daycare center that was booby-trapped by local terror operatives.

The IDF says it has wrapped up a 40-hour-long raid in the camp near Tulkarem, during which troops questioned hundreds of suspects and arrested 11 of them.

Ah. That makes much more sense. Even the IDF are not so fabulous as to be able to arrest hundreds in only a few hours.

It says troops also seized many weapons and destroyed hundreds of explosive devices, including those planted in the UNRWA building.

Two soldiers were wounded, one lightly and one moderately, during the raid as a result of an explosive device hurled at them.

IDF troops operating in the West Bank's Nur Shams refugee camp located an UNRWA daycare center that was booby-trapped by local terror operatives.

The IDF says it has wrapped up a 40-hour-long raid in the camp near Tulkarem, during which troops questioned hundreds of suspects and… pic.twitter.com/s5NendcJcM
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) January 4, 2024

In another raid today, in the northern West Bank town of Sir, close to Jenin, a soldier was seriously wounded by an explosive device, the IDF adds.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Fatah’s Ramallah branch announces general strike in response to Arouri killing

2024-01-04

[IsraelTimes] The Ramallah branch of PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....
’s Fatah party announces a general strike for tomorrow in response to the alleged Israeli strike that killed Hamas
Hamas

...a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri 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...
earlier this evening.

The announcement further demonstrates Hamas’s popularity in the West Bank.

Notably, though, Hamas’s support 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...
— which has faced the brunt of the terror group’s decisions — is not as high, according to recent polls.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hezbollah wages drone, rocket and artillery attacks as border tensions escalate

2023-12-29

[NAHARNET] Hezbollah waged Wednesday a combined drone, rocket and artillery attack on Israeli forces and vehicles in the occupied Shebaa Farms, attacked an Israeli force in Dhaira and targeted the Hadb al-Bustan post and Kherbet Ma'ar with Burkan rockets.

The group also attacked a "new command center" near the Israeli naval base in Ras al-Naqoura as the Israeli army said it has intercepted eight out of 18 missiles launched 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...
towards the Western Galilee.

Israel for its part struck the outskirts of al-Jebbayn, Tayr Harfa, Dhaira, Yarine, al-Naqoura, Aita al-Shaab, and al-Hamames south of al-Khiam while Israeli soldiers along the border fired heavy machine guns towards bordering Lebanese forests.

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas
Hamas

...a regional Iranian catspaw,...
war on Oct. 7, Hezbollah and Israeli forces have engaged in near-daily festivities on the border that have killed around 150 people on the Lebanese side -- most of them fighters with Hezbollah and allied groups, but also at least 19 civilians.

An Israeli air strike on a house in Bint Jbeil on Tuesday night killed a Hezbollah fighter and two of his relatives.

On the Israeli side, at least four civilians and nine soldiers have been killed, according to Israeli officials.

On Tuesday, an anti-tank missile fired by Hezbollah maimed nine soldiers in Iqrit.

Link

Britain

Hizbullah Says British Ban is an 'Insult' to Lebanon

2023-12-26

[An Nahar] Hizbullah on Friday condemned Britain's decision to outlaw its political wing, describing the move as an "insult" to the Lebanese people.

Yeah, yeah. The Lebanese people have quite enough troubles at home, thanks to Hezbollah, without looking abroad for more.

Britain said Monday it would seek to make membership of the group or inviting support for it a crime.

The decision follows outrage last year over the display of the Hizbullah flag, which features a Kalashnikov assault rifle, at pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London.

"The British government has insulted the sentiments and the will of the Lebanese people by adopting this decision," the group said in a statement.

"The Lebanese consider Hizbullah to be a big political and popular force and they have granted it wide representation in parliament and government," it said.

Beyond Lebanon, the group warned Britain the move would "invite hostility from the people of the region," and would harm its role in the Middle East.

But British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said in a statement on Monday any distinction between its military and political wings "does not exist."

"This (decision) does not change our ongoing commitment to Lebanon, with whom we have a broad and strong relationship," he added.

Lebanon's Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil said senior British officials had agreed the issue should not "impact on bilateral relationships between Lebanon and Britain."

Bassil, whose Free Patriotic Movement is allied with Hizbullah in government, added it "will not have direct negative consequences on Lebanon because we are already used to this situation with other countries."

The move earned swift praise from the United States and Israel and on Thursday it was hailed by Saudi Arabia.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Israel intends to assassinate Palestinian officials in Lebanon

2023-12-24

[An Nahar] Lebanon has been warned that the Israeli Mossad intends to assassinate Palestinian officials in Lebanon, topped by Hamas senior leaders Saleh al-Arouri and Osama Hamdan and Islamic Jihad chief Ziad al-Nakhalah, diplomatic sources said.

“The threats are high and require extraordinary measures,” the sources told ad-Diyar newspaper in remarks published Friday, saying that French intelligence chief Bernard Emie had warned -- without mentioning names -- of such a scenario during his latest visit to Beirut.

“French President Emmanuel Macron relieved Emie of his duties and replaced him with Nicolas Lerner hours ago, which is a suspicious timing that indicates that Emie might have paid the price of these leaks,” ad-Diyar added.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Lebanon: State Media Say Syrian Suspected of Deadly Bombing Committed Suicide

2023-08-20

[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] A Syrian citizen suspected of being behind a deadly bombing that killed and maimed dozens near the capital, Damascus, last month did away with himself when button men tried to detain him in Leb
Leb

...an Iranian colony 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 dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of 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...
where he fled, state-run National News Agency reported Saturday.

The agency identified the man as Wissam Dalla and said that he entered Lebanon illegally and was staying with relatives in a Beirut southern suburb where he was planning another "terrorist attack."

The 23-year-old man jumped from the 7th floor of the building where he was staying late Friday night and later succumbed to his wounds in hospital, Rooters reported.

NNA said the dead man was suspected of links to the holy warrior ISIS organization.

The Times of Israel clarifies:

A man suspected of involvement in an attack last month on a Shiite shrine in Syria died following a Hezbollah pursuit late Friday south of the Lebanese capital, the Iran-backed terror group said.

Wissam Dalla, a Syrian in his early twenties, "threw himself from the seventh floor" of a building where he had been staying with relatives "after learning his location had been discovered," Hezbollah said in a statement sent to AFP.

Dalla was "responsible for the earth-shattering kaboom in the Sayeda Zeinab area" south of the Syrian capital last month, the Shiite Moslem group added.

AFP was unable to independently confirm the allegations against Dalla.

Lebanese security forces played no role in the incident, a security source told AFP on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Leb’s authorities did not immediately issue any statements.

On July 27, six people were killed and at least 20 others maimed when a bomb went kaboom! south of Damascus near the Sayeda Zeinab mausoleum, Syria’s most visited Shiite pilgrimage site, authorities said.

The Sunni Moslem bully boy Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group later claimed the blast, which came ahead of the annual commemoration of Ashura, a key event on the Shiite calendar.

Friday’s incident took place in Hay al-Sellom, an impoverished neighborhood in Beirut’s southern suburbs — a Hezbollah stronghold.

The group had pursued Dalla amid fears he could carry out another attack, the statement added, saying he was taken to the hospital but died.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

US designates SNA leaders for committing atrocities in Syria’s Afrin

2023-08-18

Like master, like man.

[NPASyria] US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated on Thursday two factions and three leaders of ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish-backed armed opposition, aka Syrian National Army (SNA), due to committing serious human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty...
abuses against those residing in Afrin Region, northwest Syria, particularly the Kurds.

The Suleiman Shah Division (Amshat), affiliated with the SNA, subjects the populace of this region to abductions and extortion, and has targeted Afrin’s Kurdish residents, the US Department of the Treasury said, in a blurb.

Afrin has been under the occupation of ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
<del>The Sick Man of Europe</del> Turkey

<del>The Sick Man of Europe</del> Turkey

...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund...
and the SNA factions since 2018 following a military operation dubbed "Olive Branch" against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) under the pretext of preserving Turkey’s national security.

The operation caused the displacement of about 300,000 of the original inhabitants of the Kurds of Afrin who have been taking shelter in 42 villages and five camps in Aleppo northern countryside, locally known as Shahba region, since then.

The SNA-affiliated Hamza Division has been involved in abductions, theft of property, and torture, according to the source.

The Amshat and Hamza Divisions are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13894 for being responsible for or complicit in, or for having directly or indirectly engaged in, the commission of serious human rights abuses against the Syrian people.

Al-Safir Oto, headquartered in Istanbul, is a car dealership owned by Abu Amsha, the leader of Amshat Division, that provides an outlet for Abu Amsha to invest his income.

Abu Amsha is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13894 for engaging in serious human rights abuses and al-Safir Oto is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13894 for being owned or controlled by Abu Amsha.

Walid Hussein al-Jasim, younger brother of Abu Amsha and holds a leadership role in the Amshat Division, committed sexual assault against women, and coordinated abductions, muggings, and ransoms. In addition, he killed a prisoner who was unable to pay ransom in 2020 following a month of abuse.

Al-Jasim was also designated pursuant to E.O. 13894.

Saif Abu Bakr, leader of the Hamza Division, was also designated pursuant to E.O. 13894 for acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Hamza Division.

On August 15, North Press held a dialogue session that discussed the state of human rights and violations in the ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish-occupied city of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain), northeast Syria. The dialogue session presented a comprehensive report on those violations titled "Atrocities committed by the SNA in ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish-occupied areas in north Syria".

Link

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