[ToloNews] Local officials in Badghis said there is a lack of coordination between security forces which increases their casualties.
The Afghan commando forces sustained heavy losses during an anti-terror operation in Aab Kamari district of Badghis province in an attack by the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... when the forces were evacuating a military helicopter in the area.
Badghis governor Abdul Ghaffar Malikzai said that lack of coordination from the center is as the main reason for the casualties.
"Over 25 Taliban fighters were eliminated, we also had some deaders, but the regrettable issue is that we had no coordination," he said.
But the Ministry of Defense (MoD) came up with a different logic, saying casualties among the commando forces were caused due to the complex nature of the area.
Reports say that over 30 members of the well-trained Afghan elite commandos including a commander were killed during the operation after the Taliban fighters launched a preemptive ambush on these forces while they were evacuating a military helicopter in the area.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth ordered the space pirate fleet to attack Zemblonia... the body of a prominent Afghan National Army Brigadier General Abdul Mubin Mohabati was laid to rest in his hometown in the northeastern province of Panjshir after he was killed alongside several other members of the Afghan army and foreigners by a Taliban intruder in the central province of Ghazni.
The attack in Ghazni took place after a high-level delegation comprising Afghan and foreign military officials were visiting Ghani to asses the security situation in the area.
Reports say that the intruder was serving in the ranks of the ANA over the past four years and was bumped off after they opened fire on members of Afghan National Army.
"Whenever our special force are carrying out operations somewhere, it should be carried out with full information in hand, they should deal blows to the enemy rather than becoming the victims," said Ziauddin Akazai, MP.
"They also take secrecy into consideration and then enter into the operation phase. I told you about the reasons that we sustained casualties, the reason is that the area is very complicated, there are hillsides and forests," said MoD front man Rohullah Ahmadzai.
Mohabati had a central role in the recent anti-Taliban operations in Ghazni which helped to recapture several key areas from the Taliban including the recapturing of Deh Yak and Khawja Omari districts which had been overruled by the holy warriors.
Fresh waves of violence grip Afghanistan at a time that the warring sides have also extended their efforts in the diplomatic front aimed at finding a political settlement to the ongoing bloody conflict.
Analysts, however, say that it is difficult to predict something correct about Afghanistan’s peace and war in the wake of complexity which exists on the battlefields.
[ToloNews] Attack on Kandahar police headquarters ended after two hours of festivities which left 12 dead and 60 maimed.
At least 12 people, including seven civilians, were killed in Taliban ...Arabic for students... ’s attack on Kandahar police headquarters on Thursday, officials from provincial hospital said.
The hospital officials also said that 60 others including 40 security force members were maimed in the attack.
Kandahar police headquarters came under attack at around 4:40pm on Thursday when a boom-mobileexploded outside the headquarters and button men started firing at security forces.
Kandahar police at around 7:00pm said the attack has ended.
Kandahar governor office meanwhile said two police members were killed in festivities with the Taliban fighters and three others were maimed.
The governor’s office also said that nine civilians, including women and kiddies, were killed and 80 others were maimed.
President Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money... in a statement condemned the attack and said the Afghan government is seeking ways for peace but the Taliban by such attacks shows that they do not want peace and stability.
[KhaamaPress] The security forces conducted a series of Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... and Badghis provinces killing more than 20 Talibs.
The military officials said Thursday that airstrikes killed 20 Talibs in Kajaki district of Helmand province.
The officials further added that an airstrike killed 2 Talibs in Ab-e Kamari district of Badghis.
The Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... group has not commented regarding the airstrikes so far.
The security situation in Helmand and Badghis provinces has tanked during the recent months.
Talibs are active in some districts of the two provinces and often conduct terrorist related activities.
Meanwhile, ...back at the buffalo wallow, Standing Buffalo watched the circling Commanches and asked himself What would Geronimo do?... the Afghan forces routinely conduct counter-terrorism operations against the anti-government gangs in the two provinces.
The U.S. forces also conduct regular airstrikes in restive parts of the country to suppress Taliban and other anti-government bully boys.
[KhaamaPress] The Afghan and coalition forces conducted separate operations in Ghazni and central Pashtun-infested Logar provinces killing or wounding at least 19 Talibs.
The 203rd Thunder Corps in a statement said the Afghan artillery units conducted strikes against Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... positions in Nogha area of Ghazni city.
The statement further added that the artillery strikes killed 4 Talibs and maimed 3 others.
Furthermore, the Afghan Air Force conducted Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in Rawza area of Ghazni city killing 4 Talibs.
The 203rd Thunder Corps also added that the Afghan forces killed 3 Talibs and maimed 2 others in Khwaja Omari district of Ghazni.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Alamo, Davy was wondering if Buck was okay. He suspected he wasn't... the U.S. forces conducted airstrike in Azra district of Pashtun-infested Logar which killed 3 Talibs.
[KhaamaPress] The security forces killed a prominent Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... commander Mawlavi Junudullah during an operation in northern Faryab province.
The Special Operations Corps in a statement said the Special Forces conducted an operation against a Taliban hideout in Kolian area of Bulchiragh district.
The statement further added that the security forces killed Mawlavi Jundullah, one of the prominent commanders of Taliban during the raid.
Furthermore, the Special Forces also killed 18 fighters of Jundullah during the same operations.
The Special Operations Corps also added that the security forces also maimed 9 Talibs during the raid.
The Taliban group has not commented in this regard so far.
[KhaamaPress] A Vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) went off prematurely in Balkh province of Afghanistan earlier today.
The 209th Shaheen Corps in statement said the earth-shattering kaboom took place in Zekzayak Village of Chahar Bolak district.
The statement further added that a Toyota Corolla type vehicle packed with explosives went off prematurely before the jacket wallahs manage to detonate it in the area of their target.
The anti-government armed elements including Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... have not commented regarding the incident so far.
[KhaamaPress] The Afghan forces arrested the security guard of a senior ISIS leader before he manages to carry out targeted liquidations in Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province.
The Nangarahr Governor’s Office in a statement said the security forces arrested Abdul Wajid, the security guard of Omar Khurasani, one of the big shots of ISIS Khurasan.
The statement further added that the terror group had recently deployed Wajid to Nangarhar to carry out targeted liquidations.
Furthermore, the statement added that Wajid is originally a resident of Haska Mina district. He joined ISIS ranks two years ago.
The Governor’s Office also added that the security forces arrested Wajid in Tangi area of Behsud district as he was attempting to carry out a targeted liquidation.
The anti-government armed elements including ISIS sympathizers have not commented in this regard so far.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/19/2019 00:00 ||
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[RADIOSHABELLE] Unknown button men have shot and killed a tribal elder in central Somalia on Wednesday night, police and witnesses said.
The elder, Abdullahi Abdirahman was bumped off by assailants armed with pistols in the troubled southern Galkayo town, the regional capital of Mudug.
The killers managed to escape the scene before the arrival of the local security forces. No group has yet grabbed credit for the apparent liquidation.
The town which straddles the border between Galmudug ...a semiautonomous region in central Somalia, bordering Puntland on the north. Galmudug is not trying to obtain international recognition as a separate nation, but rather considers itself autonomous within the larger Somali federalism, for what that's worth... and Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... has been the scene of rising killings and frequent rape in the past few months.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2019 00:00 ||
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[RADIOSHABELLE] Jubaland state forces were reported to have detained a leading Somali traditional elder in the coastal city of Kismayo ...a port city in the southern Lower Juba province of Somalia, at the extreme southern end of the country (assuming Somalia can be called a country). It is the commercial capital of the autonomous Jubaland region... , the regional capital of Lower Jubba on Wednesday.
Suldan Mohammed Osman Yusuf known as [Kuyow] was arrested at the city’s cop shoppe with no charges, according to local residents, who spoke to Radio Shabelle over the phone.
President Ahmed Madobe has been blamed for being behind the detention of the famous clan chief in order to replace him with another elder for picking the next politicians.
The arrest of the elder comes as Jubaland is set to hold parliamentary and presidential elections next month despite accusations of irregularities committing by current leadership.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2019 00:00 ||
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Just DO IT
[NY Post] Three jihadists were sentenced to death in Morocco for butchering two female Scandinavian backpackers in an ISIS-inspired execution.
Ringleader Abdessamad Ejjoud,
...a street vendor and ‘underground imam’ with jihadi ambitions who lived near Marrakech, led the hunt for killable foreign tourists around the village of Imlil in the Atlas Mountains. He and his friends are the kind of self-actualized jihadis both Al Qaeda and ISIS have been seeking for years. The wonder, honestly, is that this kind of thing hasn’t been happening weekly...
Younes Ouaziyad and Rachid Afatti were convicted of terror charges Thursday in the trial over the grisly slaughterings back in December.
...Mr. Ouaziyad has been identified as a carpenter, which would make Mr. Afatti either the plumber or the other street vendor, while Abderrahim Khayali, the fourth plotter who walked away before the kill, will be whatever is left. The miscreants were quickly scooped up following the murders because one of the group left his ID behind, and the clever lads were recorded on CCTV...
...all the articles on the subject in our archives mention the murdered girls, so this link is an easy way to find them...
28, and Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, were fatally wounded Dec. 17 in a tent on a Christmas camping trip near Mount Toubkal, one of Morocco's highest peaks.
Prosecutors allege that Ejjoud, 25, and Ouaziyad, 27, beheaded the hikers while Afatti, 33, recorded the slayings on his phone. All three men pledged allegiance to ISIS in a video before the murders.
The trio was sentenced along with 20 other accomplices who received jail terms ranging from five to 30 years.
At least three of the twenty are reportedly known jihadi wolves. Kevin P., not mentioned here by name, but likely one of the 20 other convicted accomplices, is a Swiss-Spaniard convert to Islam accused of teaching some of the suspects social media skills and archery, and of recruiting Moroccans and sub-Saharan Africans for jihad. The Local - Denmark adds:
The defence team argued there were "mitigating circumstances on account of their precarious social conditions and psychological disequilibrium".
Most poor people — or rich people, for that matter — do not go looking for innocents to murder. So their precarious social condition is no excuse. If, on the other hand, psychological disequilibrium is meant to say they are not sane, then clearly they need to be locked up until they can be brought to sanity, as they are a danger to all in the vicinity.
Coming from modest backgrounds, with a "very low" level of education, the defendants lived for the most part in low-income areas of Marrakesh.
Jespersen's lawyers have accused authorities of having failed to monitor the activities of some of the suspects before the murders.
This article starring:
Maren Ueland
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/19/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
Justice seems swift and permanent in Morocco. I'm kind of envious.
#2
Morocco has been trying to establish a tourism economy with some success.
Keeping tourists from being killed would help this effort.
Posted by: lord garth ||
07/19/2019 5:19 Comments ||
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#3
Take the train from Casablanca going south
Blowing smoke rings from the corners of my my, my, my, my mouth
Colored cottons hang in air
Charming cobras in the square
Striped Djellebas we can wear at home
Don't you know we're riding on the Marrakesh Express
Don't you know we're riding on the Marrakesh Express
They're taking me to Marrakesh
Somehow CS&N seem a bit naive and dated right about now.
#5
Blackbeard, a technical q: assuming you care about either your clothes or your alibi, how does the head-sawing murderer prevent all that blood spurting all over him?
A suicide kaboom claimed 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.... group in North Sinai killed two people including a civilian Thursday, a day after the hard boyz beheaded four people there, medical and security sources said.
The bombing hit security forces stationed near a parking lot in the city of Sheikh Zuweid, the sources told AFP.
One member of the security forces was killed and three others maimed, they said, adding that a civilian was also killed in the blast.
Egypt's military confirmed in a statement that a soldier was killed in the assault.
Thursday's bombing comes a day after gunnies beheaded four civilians in the same area, according to the sources, after they allegedly collaborated with the Egyptian military.
In online statements, the Islamic State group grabbed credit for the attack and the beheadings.
[Ynet] The Islamic State group has grabbed credit for a suicide kaboom that killed two people, including a civilian, and maimed three in Egypt's restive northern Sinai Peninsula.
The Death Eater group says in a statement on an IS-affiliate website that an IS Death Eater named Abu Omar El-Seedy had detonated his boom vest near a military checkpoint at dawn on Thursday.
Egyptian security officials had said the bomber targeted an armored vehicle near the local market of the northern Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid, killing a soldier and a civilian and wounding three soldiers.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/19/2019 00:00 ||
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Argentinian authorities designated Hezbollah, which it blames for two attacks on its soil, a terrorist organization and ordered the freezing of the Lebanese group’s assets in the country.https://t.co/T0PqktOxct
[DAWN] Nearly 300 migrants colonists from sub-Saharan Africa were rescued at sea overnight between Spain and Morocco, while a woman was found dead on one of the four boats, Spain’s maritime rescue service said on Wednesday.
The service saved 220 people, including 57 women and four minors, in the Alboran Sea, the stretch of the western Mediterranean between the two countries, a spokeswoman said.
The woman’s body was found aboard one of the boats, she added. The cause of her death is unknown, she said.
Moroccan authorities meanwhile rescued another 57 migrants colonists from another boat in the Alboran Sea, the spokeswoman said, without detailing their ages or gender.
Around 11,000 migrants colonists have arrived in Spain by sea so far this year, and 203 have died attempting the crossing from North Africa, according to the latest figures from the International Organisation for Migration, issued on Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2019 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Trump administration says it has brought home for prosecution a US national suspected of fighting alongside the ISIS group in Syria.
The Pentagon said in a statement on Thursday that the individual had previously been held by Syrian Democratic Forces as a suspected member of ISIS.
The identity of the person was not immediately disclosed, and it wasn’t immediately clear where in the US the individual had been brought.
US officials have been encouraging other nations, including in Europe ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... , to bring home their citizens who fought in Syria. They see prosecutions in American courts as an example that could be set for other countries.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
They see prosecutions in American courts as an example that could be set for other countries.
Really? Are they so stupid they can't figure it out for themselves?
Personally I think they're keeping them over there for a reason.
I also think we'll fuc& it up somehow, and end up setting a bad example. Unless he disappears from the military transport plane on the way home, then I think we can call that a success.
[Business World] Nine Abu Sayyaf militants surrendered to Philippine troops in Sulu on July 15, the military reported late Wednesday. Upon surrender, they also turned over their weapons consisting of seven high-powered and two low-powered firearms.
Military spokesman Cirilito Sobejana said in a statement, “I would like to attribute this success to the loving people of Sulu who continuously support us in our campaign against the Abu Sayyaf. We anticipate that in the coming days, the remaining bandits will opt to lay down their arms and choose to live a peaceful life,”
Also last Monday, a high-ranking member of the rebel group was killed in Basilan after attempting to evade arrest by government troops. Military spokesman Fernando Reyeg said, “Arod Wahing pulled his gun and grenade when security forces raided his safe house.”
Wahing was one of the suspects in the kidnappings of Dutch Ewold Horn in 2012 and a German couple in 2014. “He is a trusted follower of Abu Sayyaf top leader Radullan Sahiron in Sulu,” Reyeg said, “He, however, fled to Basilan to escape the series of armed engagements with military forces in Sulu.”
Posted by: ryuge ||
07/19/2019 00:00 ||
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[Bangkok Post] A bomb in a cooking gas cylinder placed under a roadside stall exploded and severely wounded three paramilitary rangers on foot patrol in Narathiwat provnince on Wednesday morning. The blast was reported on the Phetkasem Highway in Bacho district.
The explosion demolished the stall and left a 30-centimeter-deep crater. Blood stains, along with rangers' bullet-proof vests and helmets, were scattered at the scene. The injured rangers received severe shrapnel wounds.
Police said the three rangers were walking close to the stall, which was under construction, when the bomb was detonated. They blamed southern insurgents.
[The Sun UK] A BRITISH oil tanker with 23 crew on board has been seized by Iranian troops in the Gulf, the country's state TV said.
The Government's Cobra committee is holding an emergency meeting in Whitehall tonight after the Stena Impero was halted in the Strait of Hormuz by what the ship's owners called a "hostile action".
A second oil tanker, the the British-operated, Liberian-flagged Mesdar, turned sharply north towards Iran's coast on Friday afternoon after passing westward through the Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf, according to Refinitiv tracking data.
There was no immediate word from the Guards about the second tanker or from the operator of the second tanker on what had prompted the change in direction along the vital international oil shipping route.
Ship tracking data showed the Impero changed course while sailing to Saudi Arabia. Shipping line Northern Marine said it had lost contact with the crew as reports claimed it was now heading to an Revolutionary Guard base in Iran.
Iranian state-controlled TV claimed its had seized the ship because it was "violating international maritime rules".
Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt has been briefed, Sky News reports.
The Ministry of Defence said: "We are urgently seeking further information and assessing the situation following reports of an incident in the Gulf."
Iran has also seized a second tanker, the Liberian-flagged MV Mesdar, according to a US official. Two more US officials tell CNN that, according to maritime intelligence reports, the indication is the Mesdar has been seized.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced earlier that its navy has captured a British-flagged tanker ‘Stena Impero’ in the Strait of Hormuz.
The order of seizure of the two ships isn’t clear at this time.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/19/2019 15:21 ||
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#1
The British are no longer what they used to be. The only person left from the days of old who could effectively possibly deal with this is Queen Elizabeth II who is in her 90's.
#3
If they're not returned quickly - if they in effect become hostages, and a standoff results that lasts, oh, I dunno, let's say... 444 days - then this will likely help Trump's re-election.
He need not solve the UK's problem - that's up to them - but he can use this as a foil to get independent voters to recognize the danger that smelly little islamists pose to us, both abroad and at home. Can't wait to see Ilhan Omar's tweets.
#5
Don't worry the EU has your back. All those stand up guys from Germany, France and Belgium.
Posted by: Regular joe ||
07/19/2019 18:04 Comments ||
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#6
It's the Brits' problem. Let them solve it. They, France, and Germany want to get around sanctions and play footsie with the MMs, then let them deal with these psychos.
We stay out of it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/19/2019 18:45 Comments ||
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#7
Convoy time doncha think pig pen?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
07/19/2019 20:28 Comments ||
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Posted by: Skidmark ||
07/19/2019 10:20 ||
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#1
Earlier today, it was claimed that an unmanned Iranian bomb boat was discovered lying in wait for the Duncan in the Red Sea.
The remote-controlled Blowfish' was reportedly spotted by Saudi forces in the destroyer's path as it headed south from the Suez Canal to protect Gulf shipping lanes.
The small vessel was laden with explosives, enough to blow a hole in the side of the destroyer, and steered from up to four miles away, sources told the Mirror.
Former naval officer Simon Warrington said: 'The threat from the Houthis, who as Iran's proxy militia do Tehran's dirty work, is very real.''
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/19/2019 10:44 Comments ||
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#2
Blow up the bomb boat and any small boat/aircraft that is 4 miles away.
[Jpost] The United States said on Thursday that a U.S. Navy ship had "destroyed" an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz after the aircraft threatened the vessel, but 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 a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... said it had no information about losing a drone.
In the latest episode to stir tensions in the Gulf, U.S. President Donald Trump ...Oh, noze! Not him!... told an event at the White House that the drone had flown to within 1,000 yards (metres) of the USS Boxer and had ignored "multiple calls to stand down."
"This is the latest of many provocative and hostile actions by Iran against vessels operating in international waters. The United States reserves the right to defend our personnel, facilities and interests," Trump said.
"The drone was immediately destroyed," he added.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told news hounds at the United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... : "We have no information about losing a drone today." "We do have a brand new autonomous submersible vehicle"
The Pentagon said in a statement that the USS Boxer, an amphibious assault ship, had taken "defensive action" against a drone on Thursday morning as the Boxer was moving into the Strait of Hormuz.
"We do assess it was an Iranian drone," said Commander Rebecca Rebarich, a Pentagon spokeswoman.
Iran in June shot down a U.S. military surveillance drone in the Gulf with a surface-to-air missile. Iran says the drone was in its airspace, but Washington says it was in international skies.
Trump said at the time the United States had come close to launching a military strike on Iran in retaliation for the downing of the U.S. drone.
The increased use of drones by Iran and its allies for surveillance and attacks across the Middle East is raising alarms in Washington.
The United States believes that Iran-linked militia in Iraq have recently increased their surveillance of American troops and bases in the country by using off-the-shelf, commercially available drones, U.S. officials say.
Oil prices jumped on Thursday after news of the ship seizure. They later fell, however, on weakness in U.S. equities markets and an expectation that crude output would rise in the Gulf of Mexico following last week's hurricane in the region.
The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on an international network of companies and their agents it said were involved in the procurement of materials for Iran's nuclear program.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru ||
07/19/2019 00:00 ||
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#5
I'm getting the feeling that everyone, media, politicians, generals, etc., involved in this shit seems to think that it's all a video game with no real consequences.
No harm, no foul, just another blip or bleep and the score goes up or down. This is worrisome.
#7
No harm, no foul, just another blip or bleep and the score goes up or down
Yes and no, AlanC. It is serious, but the smarter people are trying to prevent it from erupting into a full-blown confrontation.
I don't want a war with Iran, and no sane person does. Maybe we should bring our existing war on the Asian landmass to a conclusion before we contemplate launching another Asian land-based war, no?
#8
Another thought. Trump was elected because of popular disgust with the political class's handling of two issues: illegal immigration and the Swamp's forever wars against everybody or nearly everyone across SW Asia and N. Africa.
If Trump cannot prevent yet another war breaking out, this time with Iran, then it is a near-certainty that a Democrat will be elected in 2020.
It isn't 1980 anymore. We've had 20 years of inconclusive wars prosecuted by incompetent political leaders from both parties. Enough.
#9
Lex - any war with Iran was predicated on their nuke program being accepted (tacitly) by Oblahblah but rejected by Trump (which is in America's interest), as well as their long campaign of terror following the taking of American hostages in Carter's era. Most Americans won't like it but will understand why it happened - cowardice and weakness in the face of the Ayatollah's reign of terror
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/19/2019 12:04 Comments ||
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#10
Disagree. Nothing is more likely to push Trump below 270 electoral votes than another war.
#11
Hopefully there won't be a war. Iran is full of assholes and idiots but even they would know what it means for them. Rubble and ruin, and the ayatollah hanged in Tehran a couple of years from now.
Follow up to this and this from yesterday. Videos can be seen at the link.
[IsraelTimes] Footage broadcast on state TV comes hours after Tehran admits capturing a foreign vessel, claiming it was involved in smuggling fuel out of country.
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 a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... on Thursday released a video showing a United Arab Emirates-based oil tanker that vanished in Iranian waters over the weekend, hours after admitting its Revolutionary Guard had seized a foreign vessel and its crew of 12 for smuggling fuel out of the country.
Iranian TV released footage of the ship surrounded by Guard vessels and showed the registration number painted on its bridge, matching that of the UAE-based MT Riah.
The Panamanian-flagged tanker stopped transmitting its location early Sunday near Qeshm Island, according to data on the tracking site Maritime Traffic.
However, it's easy to be generous with someone else's money... it often did so over the past two years when nearing Iranian waters, other tracking data shows.
US Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, declined to comment.
Iran earlier said the tanker was seized south of its Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Neighboring Qeshm Island has a Revolutionary Guard base on it.
Iranian state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
did not at first identify the seized vessel but said it was intercepted on Sunday and was involved in smuggling some 1 million liters (264,000 gallons) of Iranian fuel. Iran did not identify the nationalities of the crew.
The announcement solved one mystery ‐ the fate of the missing ship ‐ but raised a host of other questions and heightened worries about the free flow of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical petroleum shipping routes. One-fifth of global crude exports passes through the strait.
Crude prices, which had been falling since last week, ticked higher almost immediately after the announcement.
It was not immediately clear whether the seizure was a straightforward attempt by Iran to curb oil smuggling or also an effort to assert its authority in the strait and send a message to its rivals in the region. The UAE has long lobbied for tougher US policy toward Iran, though more recently it has called for deescalation.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the seized vessel was at best a "small tanker" and that Iranian forces are cracking down on fuel smuggling daily.
"We live in a very dangerous environment. The United States has pushed itself and the rest of the world into probably the brink of an abyss," he told news hounds at the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... in New York. Zarif accused the Trump administration of "trying to starve our people" and "deplete our treasury" through sanctions.
Iranian media reported earlier this month that some 8 million liters of government-subsidized Iranian fuel are smuggled daily through Iran’s borders to other countries where prices are much higher.
Analysts at the Israeli-based maritime risk analytics company Windward said that the Riah has been at sea for the past two years and has a pattern of turning off its location transmitters for days at a time, particularly when entering Iranian waters.
The firm said data suggests that for more than two years that the 58-meter (190-foot) Riah had been clandestinely receiving fuel from an unknown source off the UAE coast and delivering it to other tankers, which then take it to 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... and Somalia.
No distress calls were made from the Riah, and no ship owner reported a missing vessel.
The ship’s registered owner, Dubai-based Prime Tankers LLC, told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named it had sold the vessel to another company, Mouj al-Bahar. A man who answered a telephone number registered to the company told the AP it didn’t own any ships.
Officials in the UAE said the ship was neither UAE-owned nor operated and carried no Emirati personnel.
Update: President Trump calls on other countries to condemn what he says are Iran’s attempts to disrupt the freedom of navigation and global commerce in the strategic waterway in the Gulf region.https://t.co/2lEAF2mi5Xpic.twitter.com/HiFjWhWCw3
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Russia has sent special forces in recent days to fight alongside Syrian army troops struggling to make gains in a more than two-month assault in northwestern Syria to seize the last opposition bastion, senior rebel commanders said.
They said although Russian officers and troops had been behind front lines directing the operations, using snipers and firing anti-tank missiles, this was the first time Moscow had sent ground troops on the battlefield in the campaign that began at the end of April.
"These special Russian forces are now present on the battlefield. The Russians are intervening directly now," said Captain Naji Mustafa, front man for the The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... -backed National Liberation Front ...the Turkic paramilitaries intended to replace with their native jihadi ferocity all the highly trained Turkish soldiers Sultan Erdogan I the much beloved has jailed in the last few years for not worshipping the ground he walks upon. The Uighurs and so forth who did not join Al Nusra or ISIS seem to have ended up here... (NLF) coalition of rebel factions.
Russian ground forces entered the battle with government forces to seize the strategic Humaymat hilltops in northern Hama that fell into rebel hands last week, regaining it after previous successive attempts by the army failed.
"When (Syrian President Bashar) al-Assad’s forces failed to advance, Russia then intervened directly ... after bombing the area with more than 200 sorties," Mustafa said.
Russian defense ministry officials were not immediately available for comment.
More than two months of Russian-backed operations in and around Idlib province have yielded little or nothing for Russia and its ally President Bashar al Assad.
It is a rare case of a military campaign that has not gone in Russia’s favor since it intervened in 2015.
"Russia did not only fail but has been exposed to defeat," Mustafa said.
The head of a major rebel group said Moscow’s deployment of undisclosed numbers of ground forces came only after elite Syrian troops known as the Tiger Forces and allied militias were unable to make "any significant territorial gains."
"The Syrian army found itself in a crisis and were forced to ask for Russian troops on the battlefield," said Jamil al-Saleh, the head of Jaish al Izza rebel group.
Rebels contacted by Rooters said supplies of weapons including guided anti-tank missiles by Turkey had not only made it a costly battle for the Russians and their allies but repelled ground assaults.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2019 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The United States imposed sanctions on Thursday on five people and an international network of companies the US Treasury said are involved in the procurement of materials for Iran’s nuclear program.
They are the first punitive steps by Washington since Tehran announced earlier this month it would increase its levels of enriched uranium that can be used for bomb fuel.
Tehran announced on July 1 that it had amassed more low-enriched uranium than permitted under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, marking its first major step beyond the terms of the pact since the United States withdrew more than a year ago.
"Treasury is taking action to shut down an Iranian nuclear procurement network that leverages Chinese- and Belgium-based front companies to acquire critical nuclear materials and benefit the regime’s malignambitions," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a 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 a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... cannot claim benign intent on the world stage while it purchases and stockpiled products for centrifuges," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2019 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.