Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

India-Pakistan

Pakistani court sentences woman to life in prison for burning pages from Quran

2024-03-23

[IsraelTimes] Moslem woman denied the charge amid accusations that blasphemy
...the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. Some religions consider it to be a crime. In Pakistain you can commit blasphemy by looking cross-eyed at a Koran...
allegations often used to intimidate religious minorities and to settle personal scores

A Pak court sentenced a Moslem woman to life in prison after finding her guilty of burning pages of Islam’s holy book, a prosecutor said Friday.

Under Pakistain’s blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting the religion or religious figures can be sentenced to death. While authorities have yet to carry out a death sentence

...the barbaric practice of sentencing a murderer to be punished for as long as his/her/its victim is dead...
for blasphemy, just the accusation can provoke riots.

Government prosecutor Mohazib Awais said the woman, Aasiya Bibi, was arrested in 2021 on blasphemy charges after residents claimed she desecrated the Koran by burning its pages. Awais said the judge announced the verdict Wednesday in the eastern city of Lahore. He said Bibi, who has the right to appeal, had denied the charge during her trial.

A Christian woman with the same name was acquitted of blasphemy in 2019 after she spent eight years on death row in Pakistain. She moved to Canada to escape death threats from Islamic turbans upon her release. Wednesday’s case involved a different woman.

Domestic and international human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
groups say blasphemy allegations have often been used to intimidate religious minorities and to settle personal scores.

Earlier in March, another court in Gujranwala, Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....
province, sentenced a 22-year-old student to death and gave a teenager a life sentence in two separate cases after finding them guilty of insulting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.

Link

Africa North

Mali frees IS-linked jihadists in prisoner swap: Sources

2023-07-09

[AlAhram] Mali has freed at least two jihadists from the Sahel affiliate of 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....
group in a prisoner exchange, a security official and two politicians told AFP on Saturday.

The Sahel country's military had in recent days released Oumeya Ould Albakaye and Dadi Ould Cheghoub, both members of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara
...he succulent fruit of the union of splinter factions from Mokhtar Bekmokhtar'sal-Mourabitunes and MUJAO. Once the dust had settled and the smell of gunsmoke had dissipated, they became the Islamic State in Mali, then adopted their present clever name. They are headed by Adnan Abu Walid Saharaoui. It operates along the borders of Burkina Faso
...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and will leave office feet first, one way or the other...
, Niger, and Mali...
(ISGS), flying them from Bamako to the Gao region in the north, the security official said.

One of the politicians, an elected official in Gao, said that at least three jihadists were brought there on a military plane from Bamako.

All three sources said the operation was part of a prisoner exchange.

A fourth person, another security official, would not go so far but said a "gesture" was made "to protect the lives of our compatriots in mortal danger". He did not provide details.

Albakaye, an explosives expert, was captured by French forces in June 2022, before La Belle France withdrew its troops last year.

A security source who asked not to be named told AFP at the time that he had once been seen as a potential successor to former ISGS leader Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, who was killed by French forces in August 2021.

A regional chief commanding the areas of Gourma in Mali and Oudalan in neighbouring Burkina Faso, he was responsible for a large number of abuses against civilians in those countries, the military said last year.

Mali has been battling a security crisis since jihadist and separatist insurgencies broke out in the north in 2012.

Anger at the government's failure to stem the violence helped spark two coups in 2020 and 2021. The ruling junta has broken ties with traditional ally La Belle France and turned towards Russia.

Link

Africa North

French army says senior Al-Qaeda leader killed in Mali

2022-03-08

[AlAhram] La Belle France's army said Monday that its anti-jihadist force in Mali had killed Yahia Djouadi, a "big shot" of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) responsible for finance and logistics.

La Belle France's army said Monday that its anti-jihadist force in Mali had killed Yahia Djouadi, a "big shot" of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) responsible for finance and logistics.

Djouadi, an Algerian also known as Abu Ammar al-Jazairi, was killed overnight from February 25 to 26 around (160 kilometres (100 miles) north of Timbuktu in central Mali, the army said in a statement.

His death "once again weakens al-Qaeda's governance" in Mali, it added, calling him "a major link in northern Mali and especially the Timbuktu area" to the Qaeda-aligned GSIM group.

A former "emir" of al-Qaeda's Libyan operations, Djouadi fled to Mali in 2019 and settled in the Timbuktu region, helping organise the group and coordinating supplies, financing and logistics, the army said.

It added that he was killed by ground forces supported by a Tiger attack helicopter and two drones.

La Belle France is preparing to redeploy some 2,400 troops away from Mali to other countries in the Sahel region
... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas...
facing cross-border jihadist insurgencies, after falling out with the military junta in Bamako.

While the pullout is set to stretch over six months, the army said that "operations continue against armed terrorist groups, especially against the top leaders of al-Qaeda, GSIM and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara

Deutsche Welle adds:

La Belle France has said forces from its Operation Barkhane contingent killed a senior regional al-Qaeda leader in an overnight raid near Timbuktu last week. Meanwhile,
...back at the shootout, Butch clutched at his other leg......
two UN peacekeepers have died in an explosive attack.

On Monday, two members of the UN's Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) force were killed in a roadside kaboom when the vehicle they were traveling in hit an improvised bomb.

"This morning, a supply convoy ... struck an improvised bomb north of Mopti," MINUSMA front man Olivier Salgado wrote on Twitter. Four other peacekeepers were maimed in the attack.

The nationalities of those killed and injured in the attack were not immediately released.

FUTURE OF UN PEACEKEEPING MISSION IN DOUBT
Western nations participating in the international mission have said the shifting situation on the ground may in fact compromise the 13,000-strong contingent, the annual mandate of which must be renewed this June. As with the French deployment to Mali, UN troops have been on the ground in the Sahel since 2013 in an effort to halt the advance of Islamic fighters who began seriously challenging governments and civilians in the region in 2012.

MINUSMA troops have been heavily dependent upon French air and medical support throughout their mission. La Belle France's withdrawal from Mali, as well as the recent coup, has caused contributing nations such as Germany, Sweden and Denmark to rethink their commitment to it.

Link

Africa North

French soldiers kill Islamic State leader in Western Sahara, Macron says

2021-09-16

[DW] French troops have killed the leader of the west Africa branch of IS according to French President Emmanuel Macron. The group is responsible for scores of ~~violent~~ mostly peaceful attacks in several countries.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday morning that French military forces had killed Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, the leader of the so-called 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....
in the Greater Sahara
<span style=color:maroon;>Islamic State in the Greater Sahara</span>

<span style=color:maroon;>Islamic State in the Greater Sahara</span>

...he succulent fruit of the union of splinter factions from Mokhtar Bekmokhtar'sal-Mourabitunes and MUJAO. Once the dust had settled and the smell of gunsmoke had dissipated, they became the Islamic State in Mali, then adopted their present clever name. They are headed by Adnan Abu Walid Saharaoui. It operates along the borders of Burkina Faso
...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and will leave office feet first, one way or the other...
, Niger, and Mali...
(ISGS).

"It's another major success in our fight against terrorist groups in the Sahel," Macron wrote in a tweet.

ISGS is active across large swathes of the Sahel region
... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas...
, especially the tri-border region between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso known as Liptako-Gourma. The area has been ravaged by bad boy violence that has also targeted children.

Aside from carrying out multiple of attacks on local civilians, ISGS was also responsible for the killing of US soldiers in 2017 and the execution of six French NGO workers in August of last year.

INCREASING VIOLENCE IN THE TRI-BORDER REGION
There are currently around 5,100 French troops present in the region as part of Operation Barkhane. They are joined by soldiers from Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad.

Due to the increasing violence, La Belle France has repeatedly pushed for support from other European countries. However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things...
given minimal successes and growing criticism at home, Macron has said that the number of French soldiers in deployment will be halved by 2022.

Sahrawi formed ISGS in 2015 following a split from another group, Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), at which point he declared his group's allegiance to IS, the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) reports.

The group gained attention from IS media outlets in 2019 after carrying several attacks. ISGS has expanded its operations in recent months along the Niger-Burkina Faso border, according to ECFR.

Link

-Great Cultural Revolution

Living with the Achievement Gap

2021-07-27

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 align="right" />BLUF:
[American Thinker] Equally evident is that we are endowed with different levels of skill and talent. Therefore, it’s downright disgraceful to mock billionaires as "policy mistakes," after all, entrepreneurship inherently leads to inequality.

Despite American Privilege, despite affirmative action, despite a multitude of DEI programs, despite massive assistance to help the needy, there remains an achievement gap. Unfortunately, pandering politicians pay no mind for fear of offending constituents’ sensibilities; when underperformance is addressed, it is usually in the context of inequality, rather than complacency. So many minorities succeed under meritocracy, without the necessity to be superhuman, that it undermines the progressive mantra of systemic racism.

Hopefully, those who accept personal responsibility will achieve equality in America’s middle class.

Emphasis added.

Link

Africa North

France Opens Door to Talks with Some African Jihadists

2020-12-22

[AnNahar] La Belle France could back talks with some jihadist elements in Africa's restive Sahel region
... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas...
, a source in President Emmanuel Macron's office said on Monday.

A dialogue with some elements of the Group to Support Islam and Moslems (GSIM)

...in Arabic Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Moslemin (JNIM), the regional umbrella affiliated with Al Qaeda in North Africa...

would be "possible", the source said, because their agenda was more local and opportunistic than other groups.

La Belle France has more than 5,000 troops fighting jihadists in the region, which runs the width of Africa to the south of the Sahara. Overlapping insurgencies severely affect Mali, Burkina Faso
...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and will leave office feet first, one way or the other...
and Niger.

Macron ruled out negotiating with jihadist groups in the Sahel last month, telling Jeune Afrique magazine: "We don't talk with terrorists. We fight."

The source told AFP on Monday there could be no negotiation with the leadership of al-Qaeda, and any talks with 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....
in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) were also "neither possible nor requested by anybody in the region".

"We're at war with two organizations which are not of the Sahel but international, and which are waging a terrorist battle beyond the region," the source said.

Although affiliated with al-Qaeda -- which the source said "nobody has ever managed to negotiate with" -- GSIM contains elements which might deserve "a response that is different from the war on terror".

There is no reason for La Belle France to stand in the way of discussions between regional governments and such elements, the source said.

Negotiating with jihadists in the Sahel region became a hot topic in October when French hostage Sophie Petronin was freed following talks led by Malian envoys -- officially without French participation.

"Our objective is, by eliminating certain leaders, to allow the Malians and the others to sit at the same table," the source said.

The source also said that a summit is planned in Africa in February with the leaders of the G5 Sahel countries -- Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad.

La Belle France is planning to reduce its troop strength in the region just a year after sending hundreds of extra troops to the Sahel, army and government sources have told AFP.

La Belle France would like to withdraw several hundred troops from its current 5,100-member contingent to make room for a stronger European commitment, they say.

This would take it back to levels deployed before a surge in activity in January, when rising numbers of jihadist attacks prompted La Belle France to bolster its troop presence.

Link

Terror Networks

Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, the emir of the Islamic State’s Saharan branch, heavily critiques Al Qaeda’s operations in the Sahel

2020-11-15

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

Highly recommended analysis: Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, the emir of the Islamic State’s Saharan branch, heavily critiques Al Qaeda’s operations in the #Sahel #Sahara https://t.co/SUIy1nMiMe #BelMocktar #ISGS #JNIM #GSPC #AQIM #MUJAO #GIA #Mali Thanks @Weissenberg7
— Fred Van Der Kraaij (@FredVDKraaij) November 14, 2020

Link

Arabia

Slave markets found on Instagram and other apps

2019-11-03

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 style='float:right;border:1px solid midnightblue;padding:3px;margin:3px;' />h/t Gates of Vienna
[BBC] - Drive around the streets of Kuwait and you won't see these women. They are behind closed doors, deprived of their basic rights, unable to leave and at risk of being sold to the highest bidder.

But pick up a smartphone and you can scroll through thousands of their pictures, categorised by race, and available to buy for a few thousand dollars.

An undercover investigation by BBC News Arabic has found that domestic workers are being illegally bought and sold online in a booming black market.

Some of the trade has been carried out on Facebook-owned Instagram, where posts have been promoted via algorithm-boosted hashtags, and sales negotiated via private messages.

Link

Africa North

IS Jihadists Kill Seven Tuareg Leaders in Sahel

2019-07-17

[AnNahar] 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....
jihadists in southwestern Niger have killed seven leaders of the Tuareg ethnic group in less than three months, as part of a strategy to create a political void in the region, officials said Tuesday.

Three traditional Tuareg chiefs and four senior Tuareg officials have been killed since late April by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara
The succulent fruit of the union of splinter factions from Mokhtar Bekmokhtar'sal-Mourabitunes and MUJAO. Once the dust had settled and the smell of gunsmoke had dissipated, they became the Islamic State in Mali, then adopted their present clever name. They are headed by Adnan Abu Walid Saharaoui. It operates along the borders of Burkina Faso
...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and will leave office feet first, one way or the other...
, Niger, and Mali....
(ISGS) in the volatile region of Niger on the Mali border, they said.

Arrisal Amdagh, a Tuareg chief in the rural district of Inates, was rubbed out at his home in April, and his son Almoubacher Ag Alamjadi, who succeeded him, was killed on Monday, a Nigerien security source said.

Their deaths were confirmed to AFP by Defense Minister Kalla Moutari on Tuesday.

Four senior members of the tribe were killed by a roadside kaboom as they were heading to the father's funeral, their relatives said last month.

In a separate incident in June, a traditional Tuareg leader in Bankilare district was kidnapped and killed, a local source said.

Niger, one of the world's poorest countries, lies in the heart of the fragile Sahel region
... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas...
, which is battling an Islamist insurgency.

Insurgent groups are active in the west and north of the country, spilling over from a long-running campaign in Mali, while Nigeria's Boko Haram

... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
is present in the country's southeast.

"The ISGS strategy is to kill traditional chiefs in the border areas," a security source told AFP.

"It's a way of voiding the area of an effective state presence, enabling you to move in and impose your law."

On July 1, 18 Nigerien soldiers were killed when jihadists struck an army camp at Inates, according to the defense ministry.

Niger is part of the so-called G5 Sahel group of five nations set up to manage a coordinated response to the jihadist insurgency in the impoverished region.

Link

Africa Subsaharan

18 dead, four missing in attack on Niger army camp

2019-07-03

[AlAhram] Eighteen soldiers were killed when "terrorists" struck an army camp in western Niger, the government said Tuesday, adding the US and La Belle France had provided air support to help repel the assault.

The attack took place on Monday afternoon at a camp at Inates on the border with Mali, the defence ministry said in a statement. Four soldiers were listed as missing.

Niger, one of the world's poorest countries, lies in the heart of the fragile Sahel region
... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas...
, which is battling an Islamist insurgency.

"The attack began with the detonation of two suicide vehicles at the entrance to the camp, followed by gunfire from Death Eaters who arrived on cycle of violence

," the statement said.

"The counter-attack, with air support from our partners (French and American), enabled the enemy to be routed beyond our borders," it said.

"Sweeping-up operations are continuing."

Several "terrorists" were killed, a truck was destroyed by air strikes and two suicide vehicles were destroyed, it said.

On Monday, a military source, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
, told AFP there had been a twin "car-kaboom" at the camp and suggested the toll would be high.

The base, located in a volatile region, trains Nigerien soldiers to serve in a UN peacekeeping mission in Mali.

Insurgent groups are active in western and northern Mali, spilling over from a long-running jihadist campaign in Mali, while Nigeria's Boko Haram

Link

Home Front: Culture Wars

Homeless Set Up Camp In Walmart Parking Lot, Police Say They Can't Do Much About It

2019-06-29

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GePhFydYSQLhUD95T/oI2ZWzUdoEnuxO+LISi7dC1EscsPlDdguWjllbPnqYdazvg45vSLtk2YEoulRJfOp5k+UbapaQGvVepavjWJFMu614E7w2GUJ2MagkY6rGnIqH85bnjA1WZYa5ML76jgGDvG2iVLI7VOXzg3XywQQCN9Ax3ROtobimYCEWkgEJAGqiQN2UWpGzJ7OqYhya3QSGx5xpptiCamm81eCJtCcL7DIN6wnZPsChEFJswADkPvSKt3wDrAFVAZ2HutvNBFyRLSSQGUd2PAxOZLvJFEgPR8d+OOBjF2THoRBk4gAjc8NMlg1ugesGK2FGwyEC6pTk3gBSmB8Yz5luR8uJXmMD7ornXTcdYHLtAFSAnBy6gTqc4vFOI+qRUtEgN2mYNhv1fKNFbPyQ60KbtQigUtQOi8N1TWLC1ApvKmLNMAxpoNYyhs+UDeSo44CLkuwj4XbUlwIt2T7CjDyVlSkKKlXVEjUVI3Po0CmWuQGcqFM0kflGquX9kLS+j1374oW+YhIYrGDMS/GNI2vuDrKqrTKBxLtTfvAeDnaiRisZZEd+MYx6tKiorCjkwJbwDROTa5MxV3qL5wvN7u85RprJx6mqjaaFHszUmrfaY8Mmge17GubdJmpQ2F3He+o4wQWOUTg74YinOJrlJUClSHAYAMMBrGbvx0KVeepir2EqpNq0+yjPewgU7Y5LBM4Pn2fKu+NZVnJoAacmyaMq12Sd9kXRxrUxnz556lOqGOgL9hr/AIp/D+cKK/sto1PM+kKL5s/xGehfhOss0mWB2VvjRtfrGD9QgC8pUsbuHdTCFChGxYlpBDpYg6doA74eWjKjnFqB9BChRm5btFpdywZV0gFuL+kEVKb7Q7zWFChIbK9oQDQk1GVB4ROVZgHND/M0PCholsjMkgMwBJyNAOBwipPSAoFQAGDYl+7nChQJgyNoSpJDS1ak5xUnbXusm4BXHOlMmh4UaJJvBm5NLJD9oBWI5IU/F3bnFGauYUk493k5h4UVjBOWwaSpgWUatUUfjEgknk/CHhQMaRdROSkYK0wDxCdaUYm8M8OUKFAhtjptfZxUGGn00R68khj3ZwoUIbLkleoMGmrBAa931+cNCgwAJVqYMT3bvnABNCjlwJxrChQEtjzZhDi6QODjwZ4JLUVH3VNrlyeFChZKSGFjQS/V1D1c8IdFhl/bQCd5LE8TDQoa3BrAOVZJYBNxJAJwCqPg0FUsAJLNwFG0hQobSEg0uYxZKBv4coELTXAltPQGvKGhROlNjbaIL2gGJbxevDKM+dbxiCBq4PFscYUKKVcckuTwR9tTonx/3QoUKHoiLWz/2Q== style='float:right;border:1px solid midnightblue;padding:3px;margin:3px;' />[Hot Air] I’ve written a lot about homelessness on the west coast and the property crime that tends to go with it. This story from Garden Grove in Orange County is happening just about five miles from my house. Homeless people have set up a camp of sorts in the parking lot of a local Walmart. There are complaints about harassment of shoppers, break-ins and vandalism of parked cars, and shoplifting from the store itself. And yet, not much is happening to change it.

A nearby store has hired security guards to patrol the lot as well as maintenance people to clean up the trash left behind by the homeless but that doesn’t solve the crime or other problems. According to KCAL 9, the Walmart where this homeless camp is being set up has refused to ask people to leave and local police say there’s not much they can do.

"There’s just a lot of homeless, a lot, asking for money," said one shopper who was there with a child. "I don’t come after it’s dark."

And when area cops are called out to the scene, their hands are tied.

"Many times they sit there and say, ’Can’t you just arrest them?" But it doesn’t work that way," Brian Meers, a Garden Grove police officer assigned to the homelessness problem, said. "Most of the violations in the state are misdemeanor crimes now and they get out in six hours, and the reality of it is that they’re going to go right back to doing what they were doing before."

This is exactly the same problem that is happening in places like Seattle and Portland. In February, a report commissioned by area business leaders revealed that the 100 most prolific homeless offenders in the area were responsible for 3,500 criminal cases. The homeless are stealing from stores like Walmart, sometimes using a shopping list of items provided to them by a ringleader. The vast majority of the time these thefts aren’t caught, but even when they are caught and police are called, the thieves are back on the street in a day or less. It eats up an enormous amount of police time but nothing really changes.

You might be thinking that the obvious solution here is to enforce the law and make people pay an actual price for theft, harassment, and vandalism but that’s not a very popular notion in a lot of liberal big cities. In fact, there’s a coalition of activists in Los Angeles working this week to reduce police impact on the homeless. From the LA Times:

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