Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/rantburg/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances... Rantburg

Iraq
Turkey launches fresh airstrikes in Iraq as Erdogan renews threats for offensive
2024-05-07
[al-Monitor] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
 launched new Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s against the positions of Kurdish turbans in northern Iraq, the Ottoman Turkish Defense Ministry said on Monday, as Ankara ramps up its threats of a fresh military operation in the region.

The Ottoman Turkish Defense Ministry said 16 members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were killed in the strikes conducted in the northern Iraqi regions of Hakurk, Metina and Gara.

Headquartered in Iraqi Kurdistan, the PKK has been fighting for Kurdish self-rule inside Turkey since 1984 and is considered a terror organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
A video shared on the ministry’s X account showed an F-16 fighter jet taking off from an unspecified airbase then hitting several targets in the region.

Turkey’s counterterrorism operations are "continuing at an increasing pace," Defense Minister Yasar Guler said in an address to the Ottoman Turkish army’s top brass on Monday.

The fresh strikes came as Ankara renewed its threats of a large-scale military offensive in the region. "It is not possible for us to feel safe as long as the PKK finds a breathing space in Iraq and Syria," Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Xanadu Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Pleasure Dome Palace decree. It has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
 said later on Monday in a televised speech after a cabinet meeting in Ankara. "We will deliver the final blow to the separatist organization, whose maneuver room is shrinking."

Turkey also accuses the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the main ally of the US-led anti ISIS coalition in Syria, of having ties with the PKK.

Guler also issued a similar warning last week when he criticized an Iraqi Kurdish political party, as well as Iran, for what he described as their lack of action against the Kurdish hard boys.

He said the PKK "moves, operates and trains its fighters freely" in the northern Iraqi province of Sulaimaniyah, which borders 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 is under the control of the Kurdish Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

He added that the PKK turbans were forced to retreat toward the southern parts of Iraqi Kurdistan by Ottoman Turkish military operations in the region, but that the Iraqi side was failing to take any action to counter them. "Thus, we have to do whatever is necessary, and we will do it," Guler said during a televised interview.

Turkey, which maintains more than a hundred military outposts in northern Iraq, accuses the PUK — one of the two dominant political parties in Iraqi Kurdistan — of cooperating with the PKK.

Turkey has kept its airspace closed for flights to and from the international Sulaimaniyah airport since April in a bid to increase pressure on the PUK, which is headed by Bafel Talabani, the son of late Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

The Iraqi central government designated the PKK as a banned
...the word banned seems to have a different meaning in Pakistain than it does in most other places. Or maybe it simply lacks any meaning at all...
organization last month but stopped short of declaring it a "terrorist organization" — a long-sought demand by Ankara. Guler said the coordination between Ankara and Baghdad has increased since the move.
Link


Iraq
Unidentified drones target Sulaimani village: Local official
2024-04-21
Just the general background of daily living up there.
[Rudaw] Two separate dronezaps targeted a village near the Mawat district of Sulaimani province, resulting in material damage, the district’s mayor announced on Wednesday.

"We were targeted twice in the Sharbazher area by drones," Kamaran Hassan, Mayor of Mawat, which is part of the Sharbazher area, told Rudaw.

The first strike targeted a house in the Kurala village, according to Hassan, who noted that no one was in the house at the time of the attack.

Hassan said that in a separate strike, the Tazha and Shilana forests in Sharbazher area were targeted, resulting in no casualties, as was the case for the first strike.

Media affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) blamed The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund...
 for the attack, while the Ottoman Turkish defense ministry has yet to comment on the matter.

Turkey frequently bombards areas of the Kurdistan Region under the pretext of targeting the PKK. In February, Kamaran Osman, a member of the Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), a human rights
...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state...
 organization that monitors Turkey’s operation in the Kurdistan Region, told Rudaw that Ankara conducted 1,548 such attacks in 2023.

Turkey has repeatedly warned the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which effectively controls the local governments in Sulaimani, about the PKK’s activities in the province, with Defense Minister Yasar Guler saying in September that his country is "continuously warning" Talabani about what he called "an increase in terrorist activities" in Sulaimani.

Last month, Ottoman Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said during a televised interview that the "cordial" relations between the PKK and the PUK "constitute a national security threat," for Ankara.

Iraq’s National Security Council banned the PKK from operating in the country last month, following a high-level meeting between Ottoman Turkish and Iraqi officials. The two sides discussed measures to be taken against the group, which Baghdad said poses a security threat to both countries.

In March, the PKK announced that it had downed 15 Ottoman Turkish drones between February 2023 and March 2024, adding that it had acquired new missile systems to shoot down, without providing details on the type and quantity of the acquisition.

Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
 said last month that Ankara is close to completing a zone that will "permanently resolve" the security issues along their border with the Kurdistan Region and Iraq by the summer.

Erdogan is expected to visit Iraq next week and border security is expected to be one of the topics of discussion.
Related:
Mawat district: 2024-01-07 Turkish airstrikes target alleged PKK targets in Duhok, Sulaimani
Mawat district: 2023-10-04 Turkish defense ministry claims 16 PKK targets in Kurdistan Region airstruck
Mawat district: 2023-09-13 Turkey bombards Duhok mountain for the third successive night: Locals
Related:
Sulaimani: 2024-03-31 Baghdad takes KRG to court over closing IDP camps
Sulaimani: 2024-03-27 Turkey hits alleged PKK targets in the Kurdistan Region
Sulaimani: 2024-03-21 UN mission probing ISIS crimes in Iraq forced to shut down early
Link


Iraq
Kurdish parties lose majority in Kirkuk provincial polls, Final results announced across Iraq
2023-12-30
[Rudaw] Kurdish political parties failed to maintain their majority in the disputed province of Kirkuk during the mid-December provincial elections, according to final official results announced on Thursday.

Local elections were held in Iraq’s 15 provinces, excluding the Kurdistan Region, on December 18. Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced final official results late Thursday.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) gained five seats (157,649 votes) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party
...every time you hear the phrase white people, white supremacy, white anything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word (Thomas) Nasty to the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects...
 (KDP) won two seats (52,278 votes) in the 16-seat provincial council, according to the results.

The Kurdish New Generation won 25,910 votes but failed to secure a seat. The party has been accused by the other two Kurdish parties of jeopardizing a Kurdish victory in the province - a claim disputed by the movement.

Arabs gained six seats and Turkmens won two seats. A party close to Shiite militia groups, won the Christian quota seat.

In the last polls held in the province nearly two decades ago, Kurdish parties had won most of the council’s seats.

The councils were dissolved in 2019 in response to demands by Tishreen protesters who criticized the system for its failures, including enabling corruption.

Kurds took control of Kirkuk when it was attacked by 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) in 2014. However,
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster...
 Iraqi federal forces expelled Kurdish forces from the province after an independence referendum was held in the province by Kurdish authorities in 2017.

Final electoral results from Iraq's provincial council elections announced

[Rudaw] Iraq's electoral commission on Thursday announced the final results of the latest local elections.

Local elections were held in Iraq’s 15 provinces, excluding the Kurdistan Region, on 18 December. Preliminary results representing 94 percent of the votes were announced the following day. The last provincial council elections took place in 2013, without Kirkuk.

According to Iraq's electoral body, 26 million people were eligible to vote.

The overall voter turnout reached 41 percent, higher than the parliamentary elections in 2021 despite the boycott by influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Kirkuk province recorded the highest turnout across all the provinces with 66 percent of eligible voters casting ballots, numbering over 566,000.

The councils were dissolved in 2019 in response to demands by Tishreen protesters who criticized the system for its failures and for enabling corruption.

According to final results of the votes from Iraq’s provincial council elections the main winning parties in each province are the following:

Kirkuk province:
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan: 5 seats

Salahaddin province:
Jamahir Party: 5 seats
National Framework Alliance: 2 seats
Al-Azm: 2 seats
Democratic Party : 2 seats

Anbar province:
Taqadum: 6 seats
Anbar Is Our Identity: 3 seats
Qimam Alliance: 2 seats

Nineveh province:
Nineveh For Its People: 5 seats
Kurdistan Democratic Party: 4 seats
National Contract Alliance: 3 seats

Baghdad province:
State of Law Coalition: 9 seats
We Build Alliance: 9 seats
Taqadum Party: 8 seats

Diyala province:
Diyalatuna al-Watani Alliance: 4 seats
Taqadum Party: 3 seats
Sovereignty: 3 seats
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan: 1 seat

Wasit province:
Wasit Ajmal Alliance: 7 seats
We Build Alliance: 2 seats
State of Law Coalition: 2 seats

Karbala province:
Ibdaa’ Karbala Alliance: 7 seats
State of Law Coalition: 2 seats
We Build Alliance: 2 seats

Najaf province:
We Build Alliance: 3 seats
State of Law Coalition: 3 seats
Wafah Movement: 2 seats

Maysan province:
We Build Alliance: 6 seats
State of Law Coalition: 3 seats
The National State Forces Alliance: 3 seats

Muthana province:
State of Law Coalition: 3 seats
The National State Forces Alliance: 3 seats
We Build Alliance: 3 seats

Dhi Qar province:
We Build Alliance: 5 seats
State of Law Coalition: 4 seats
The National State Forces Alliance: 2 seats

Babil province:
We Build Alliance: 4 seats
State of Law Coalition: 3 seats
The National State Forces Alliance: 3 seats

Diwaniya province:
We Build Alliance: 4 seats
State of Law Coalition: 3 seats
Qiyam Alliance: 3 seats

Basra province:
Tasmim Alliance: 12 seats
We Build Alliance: 5 seats
State of Law Coalition: 3 seats

Link


Iraq
Turkey’s ambition in Iraq play out in Kirkuk
2023-10-08
[Shafaq News] In late August, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani stirred the pot of existing tensions when he ordered the evacuation of the Iraqi military’s Joint Operations Command headquarters in Kirkuk and gave it back to the Kurdistan Democratic Party
...every time you hear the phrase white people, white supremacy, white anything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word (Thomas) Nasty to the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects...
 (KDP)—the dominant political party in Iraqi Kurdistan. Outrage sparked protests by Sunni Arab tribes, Turkmen factions, and Iran-friendly Shia militia Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq. The tensions further escalated when Kurdish supporters confronted the protesters. The fallout was followed by a heavy-handed security intervention, four tragic deaths, and a citywide curfew. With local elections looming on December 18, the heightened KDP influence irked many actors, including the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

The decision was ultimately tied to a broader political quid pro quo. To solidify a government under Sudani in Baghdad in 2022, Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) backing was crucial. Reports suggest that returning the contentious headquarters was part of this political bargain, and was peppered with other Kurdish perks. The approaching Iraqi provincial elections have escalated tensions in Kirkuk—a resource-rich and diverse province populated by Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen. As a key regional player, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
Link


Iraq
Arbat airport drone entered airspace from Turkey: Iraq military spox
2023-09-20
Follow up to this story from yesterday.
[Rudaw] Iraq’s top military spokesperson on Monday said the drone that struck Sulaimani’s Arbat airport and killed three people came from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
, calling the attack a violation of Iraqi illusory sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"On Monday, September 18, at 17:00 a drone entered Iraqi airspace through the border with Turkey and bombed Arbat airport in Sulaimani province," Yehia Rasool, military spokesperson for the Iraqi prime minister said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The Sulaimani-based counter-terrorism directorate on Monday announced that three of its members were killed in an unidentified dronezap that targeted Arbat airport, 27 kilometers southeast of Sulaimani. Three other members were maimed in the attack according to a statement from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)-affiliated force.

Rasool said that the attack constitutes "a violation of Iraq’s security, security and territorial integrity" and also "a threat to the peace and security of the region", adding that the repeated Ottoman Turkish strikes "undermines Iraq’s efforts" to build a balanced political, economic and security relation with its neighbors."

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) condemned the attack on the airport on Tuesday, stating that "Attacks repeatedly violating Iraqi illusory sovereignty must stop. Security concerns must be addressed through dialogue and diplomacy - not strikes," it said.
Link


Iraq
Arbat Airport's attack kills three anti-terrorism service members
2023-09-19
[Shafaq News] The anti-terrorism apparatus of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) confirmed the aerial bombardment targeting Sulaymaniyah Agricultural Airport.

In an official statement, the agency reported that the attack by the "enemies" killed three anti-terrorism service members and injured three others.

The statement emphasized that a comprehensive investigation into this "terrorist act would commence." It pointed out that the incident occurred under the "observation of foreign agents and internal collaborators," vowing that those responsible for aiding in this act would be brought to justice.

Given the ongoing investigation, specific details surrounding the incident will remain confidential for now. The statement concluded.

A government source reported earlier on Monday that the Arbat Agricultural Airport, located 50km (30 miles) to the east of Sulaymaniyah, was targeted by an unidentified drone.

A medical source revealed to Shafaq News Agency that the bombing caused nine deaths and three injuries.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth ordered the space pirate fleet to attack Zemblonia...
 a source said Shar Hospital sent ten ambulances to the accident site.

Arbat Airport was established in Sulaymaniyah Governorate in 2005 and is used for agriculture.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Kurdish forces arrest suspected ISIS bagman in Raqqa
2023-09-10
[Rudaw] Kurdish counter-terrorism forces detained a suspected emir 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....
 (ISIS) in the Syrian city of Raqqa on Thursday, announced the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The Kurdish-led SDF on Friday said in a statement its Anti-Terrorism Units (YAT) raided a building in Raqqa city, arresting ISIS emir Abdulghafour Taber al-Diab (aka Abu Amir), describing him as a financial manager of ISIS "responsible for financing the ISIS terrorist cells and their terrorist acts in the region, supplying them with weapons."

"Various weapons and military equipment were confiscated during the operation," added the SDF.

The Sulaimani-based Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG) had an "active participation" in the raid and the US-led global coalition against ISIS were providing aerial support, according to the statement.

The SDF has carried out several other joint operations with the CTG, which is unofficially tied to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

The US-backed force announced in a separate statement later in the day that it had ended the Operation Security Reinforcement which was launched on August 27 in Deir ez-Zor against ISIS activities. The SDF said that the operation later changed its plan, hitting Arab tribes which had sided with the Syrian regime and revolved against the Kurdish administration following the arrest of one of their SDF-affiliated commanders.

Nine civilians, 25 SDF fighters and 23 members of anti-SDF groups were killed in the operation. Four regime-affiliated fighters, two ISIS members and fifteen members of revolting tribes were arrested by the SDF, read the statement. "In addition, large quantities of weapons, ammunition, and explosives were confiscated."

Mazloum Abdi, general commander of the SDF, said on Thursday that an amnesty would be announced for those people who were arrested for their involvement in recent festivities in Deir ez-Zor, excluding those affiliated to the regime.
Related:
Raqqa: 2023-09-06 Gunmen kill four Asayish members in Manbij: Monitor
Raqqa: 2023-09-06 The uprising of the Arab tribes that swept the northeast of Syria into the hands of Russia
Raqqa: 2023-09-04 US, Coalition officials meet with SDF, tribal leaders to calm Deir ez-Zor tensions
Link


Iraq
Turkish airstrike reportedly hits PKK targets in Sulaimani province: Sources
2023-08-07
[Rudaw] Ottoman Turkish Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s reportedly targeted the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Sulaimani province’s Aghjalar subdistrict on Sunday, sources told Rudaw amid contradictory reports surrounding the incident.

A source familiar with the incident, who chose to speak on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that a Ottoman Turkish strike targeted the PKK in Aghjalar on Sunday morning.

Hemin Bahjat, mayor of Aghjalar, told Rudaw English on Sunday that authorities were contacted about a fire in the nearby village of Chnartu, and that he is unaware of any attack having taken place. "We did not find any remnants of vehicles or casualties," he stated, adding that the fire had been extinguished. "We have no extra information," the mayor said.

The Erbil-based Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD) released a statement on Sunday afternoon claiming a Ottoman Turkish drone targeted a vehicle belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), killing an official, near Aghjalar. The statement added that another fighter was injured.

Aghjalar is a subdistrict of Chamchamal in Sulaimani province.

Rojnews, a media outlet affiliated to the PKK, cited unknown sources claiming that Ottoman Turkish drones bombarded Chnartu village, without mentioning any casualties.

Neither The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
 nor the PKK have made any official comments.

Rudaw’s news hound Peshawa Bakhtyar spoke to villagers and locals of Aghjalar who said they had heard a loud noise, similar to that of a strike, adding that planes were heard flying above overnight.

The Sulaimani-based Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s (PUK) Counter Terrorism Group (CTG) has not released any comment about the incident.

Last year in May, Ottoman Turkish drones targeted a vehicle in Aghjalar, killing five passengers, including at least two PKK members, Bahjat told Rudaw at the time. A month later, Ottoman Turkish state media reported that Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency (MIT) was behind the attack, claiming a commander of the gang was killed.

Ottoman Turkish officials have repeatedly accused Sulaimani authorities of supporting the PKK. Ottoman Turkish forces often carry out aerial attacks in the province on the grounds of targeting the PKK.

A flight ban on Sulaimani International Airport by Turkey has been in place since April 3. The Ottoman Turkish foreign ministry has said that the ban, which is to remain in effect until January, is related to the alleged "intensification" of PKK activity in Sulaimani.
Link


Iraq
PUK Representative: ISIS Presence Diminished in Border Areas, Improved Coordination Key
2023-07-16
[Shafaq News] Mulla Karim Shakur, the representative of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, disclosed on Saturday the latest figures regarding the presence of ISIS elements along the borders of the Kurdistan region and the Tuz Khurmatu district in eastern Saladin Governorate.

Shakur emphasized that the ISIS movements in remote mountainous areas have been effectively neutralized, thanks to heightened coordination between army forces and the Peshmerga.

Speaking to Shafaq News agency, Shakur stated, "The activities of ISIS members in the southern part of the Tuz Khurmatu district have nearly disappeared and are now limited, thanks to pre-emptive operations and the strong coordination between the Peshmerga, the Iraqi army, and other allied formations. The same can be observed in the rugged mountainous areas situated between the outskirts of Kifri and Tuz Khurmatu districts."

According to data from the Tuz Khurmatu Operations Command and security sector officials, the number of ISIS members present in all sectors along the Tuz Khurmatu border with the Kifri district is estimated to be fewer than 80. As reported by the PUK representative, most of these individuals have been detained in remote and uninhabited areas, lacking both residents and security forces.

Shakur remarked, "The security situation along the volatile borders between Tuz Khurmatu and Kifri has significantly improved compared to previous years and is steadily progressing."

The representative stressed that the end of ISIS and its remnants in the hot spots between the Kurdistan Region and Saladin is approaching, particularly following the completion of procedures for deploying a joint coordination brigade comprising the army and Peshmerga forces in the coming phases.
Link


Terror Networks
SDF warns ISIS is preparing to launch attacks on Syria, Iraq
2023-06-08
[Rudaw] 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) terror group is preparing and training its cells to launch attacks on Syria and Iraq, a spokesperson for the Kurds that control northeast Syria said Wednesday, adding that 22 members of the group were captured in May.

"ISIS is currently engaging in a process of preparing, training, & financing to launch terrorist acts targeting Syria, Iraq, and NE Syria, taking advantage of the free mobility of its cells in Syrian al-Badia & the Ottoman Turkish-occupied areas," Farhad Shami, media head for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said in a tweet.

The SDF fought the lion’s share of the battle against ISIS and territorially defeated the terror group in 2019 after the terror group swept through swathes of the country in 2014. The Kurdish force is in control of numerous detention facilities that house tens of thousands of veteran ISIS fighters.

According to the force, "12 partnered anti-ISIS operations in multiple regions" were conducted in May, which resulted "in 22 captured terrorists" and the death of an ISIS Death Eater.

The SDF carried out partnered operations with the US-led coalition and the anti-terror units of the Kurdistan Region’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), called the Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG).

On Wednesday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that the coalition and local forces in Iraq and Syria carried out 38 operations against ISIS which resulted in eight turbans killed and over 30 detained.

"Although our operations are crucial in degrading the ISIS threat, they are not enough alone, so we call on the international community to effectively tackle the challenges posed by ISIS prisoners & camps in NE Syria, and support us in countering ISIS terrorism & ideology," Shami said.
Link


-Lurid Crime Tales-
US jury convicts American for torture, weapons manufacturing in Kurdistan Region
2023-05-24
[Rudaw] A US federal jury convicted an American for manufacturing weapons illegally and torturing an Estonian citizen, in cooperation with Kurdish soldiers on a military compound in the Kurdistan Region in 2015, the US Justice Department said on Monday.

According to the statement by US Justice Department Ross Roggio
...formally Ross William Roggio, who was setting up a gun factory in Kurdistan after two failures in the business in the U.S. The unnamed Estonian was skeptical that he would succeed on the third try. Mr. Roggio could theoretically get over 700 years for this example of managerial excess...
"arranged for Kurdish soldiers to abduct and detain the victim at a Kurdish military compound" for 39 days. The Estonian man who was subjected to the torture worked for Roggio at a weapons manufacturing company in the Kurdistan Region.

"Roggio suffocated the victim with a belt, threatened to cut off one of his fingers, and directed Kurdish soldiers to repeatedly beat, tase, choke, and otherwise physically and mentally abuse the victim," the statement added.

A federal jury convicted the 54-year-old from Pennsylvania on Friday but his sentence is scheduled to be set on August 23. He faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

"Roggio brutally tortured another human being to prevent interference with his illegal activities," Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said.

The man was convicted of exporting weapons parts to Iraq without prior approval from the US State Department, committing torture, and "conspiring to commit an offense against the United States".

In 2018, Roggio and his consulting company were charged in a 37-count indictment for illegally exporting firearm tools from the US to Iraq. Roggio was arrested in February last year.

"The heinous acts of violence that Ross Roggio directed and inflicted upon the victim were blatant human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty...
 violations that will not be tolerated," said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division at the time of the arrest.

A Rolling Stones report from February detailing Roggio’s business in the Kurdistan Region linked him to Polad Sheikh Jangi, the former head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) counter-terrorism. The report claims that Roggio allegedly used the factory to manufacture weapons for Sheikh Jangi. There has been no comment regarding the claims by the former counter-terror head.
Related:
Ross Roggio: 2022-02-20 Man arrested in the US for torturing a victim in Kurdistan Region
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
CENTCOM announces that US forces arrest an ISIS facilitator and two assistants in eastern Syria
2023-04-13
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Wednesday that US forces conducted a helicopter raid in eastern Syria on April 8, capturing Hudayfah al Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
i, a controller 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...
 (ISIS) attack, and two of his associates.

The CENTCOM tweeted that arresting the ISIS controller and his lovers assistants "will disrupt the organization’s ability to plot and carry out operations."

Joe Buccino, the CENTCOM spokesperson said, "Operations against ISIS are important for the security and stability of the region."

In addition, he stressed that ISIS still poses a great threat to the region and the world, as the group "retains the capability to conduct operations in Iraq and Syria with a desire to strike beyond the Middle East."

The CENTCOM said that such kind of operations "reaffirms our commitment to the enduring defeat of ISIS."
Rudaw adds:
The statement of CENTCOM reveals that the operation was carried out on Saturday evening in eastern Syria, without providing a more specific location, adding that no civilians were harmed.

The three detainees were identified as Hudaydah al Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
i, an ISIS attack controller, and two of his associates.

UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) first reported the story on Sunday, saying that the turbans were captured as a result of a joint-operation by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and a counterterrorism group from the Kurdistan Region, with the support of helicopters of the US-led global coalition against ISIS.

SOHR did not identify which party the counterterrorism group belonged to.

The SDF and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) have seemingly developed closer relations in recent months, with their links first exposed in March when a helicopter carrying SDF counter-terror forces crashed in Duhok due to bad weather, killing nine. The forces were going to Sulaimani for training, three months after PUK leader Bafel Talabani visited northeast Syria (Rojava) and discussed joint anti-terror efforts with Abdi.

About a thousand US troops stationed in Syria are part of an international coalition that has fought ISIS in the country since 2014. The coalition has been an ally of the SDF since 2017, providing the forces with weapons, military equipment, and advisers.
Link



Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/rantburg/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More