[Politico] KABUL‐On November 9, 2016, Scott Guggenheim, a longtime American adviser to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, rose early with the sun, got into an armored vehicle and headed across Kabul’s fortified Green Zone to the U.S. Embassy. Afghanistan is 8½ hours ahead of the East Coast of the United States, and the American expatriates, Afghan elites and others who had managed to scare up invitations had gathered in the basement of the embassy‐a city block-sized, blast-resistant compound as charmless as it is spotless‐to watch the results of the American presidential election. The basement was dominated by State Department employees, who are officially barred from political activism while living abroad but tend to support Democrats; some, anticipating a Hillary Clinton victory, were even calling the occasion a party. On the wall hung a Donald Trump piñata.
By midmorning Kabul time, however, Trump had taken a commanding lead, and the mood in the embassy basement began to shift. Ties came undone, breakfast Danishes were anxiously devoured, and under the red, white and blue bunting, a stunned silence settled in. The cover band that had been playing earlier packed up its instruments. Some of the diplomats were typing furiously on their BlackBerrys. Others stepped outside to smoke, leaving behind a more Trump-friendly crowd of uniformed soldiers and veterans who had returned to Afghanistan as private contractors.
Guggenheim recalls thinking of the election outcome: "For Afghanistan, it’s not such a bad thing. But for the United States, it’s a disaster." Depressed, he returned to bed. A few days later, he saw Ghani at the Gul Khanna, the presidential office. "Will you give me a passport?" Guggenheim asked him, jokingly. Ghani told him he would.
#6
Ghani sounds like a typical Third World leader who talks a good game while in academia, then scoops up the filthy lucre with both hands while in power.
#8
What a barftastic puff piece covering a worthless diplomat in a POS country. Woah, journalist shill please tell me more about the sweat upon his brow during the warm season, and the dust.
F#ck you Scott. F#ck you journalist. Y'all don't represent me. Get real jobs in Oklahoma you tards.
#9
What a barftastic puff piece covering a worthless diplomat in a POS country. Woah, journalist shill please tell me more about the sweat upon his brow during the warm season, and the dust.
Makes you wonder about some of the analyses and recommendations these experts provide, doesn't it? Sounds like they start out with a square peg and somehow make it fit into whatever shape holes they find. That's why they're in academia - they don't actually have to get anything done outside of filling reams of paper with unintelligible English-like sentences.
Funny thing is that Guggenheim is supposed to have spent decades in Indonesia. Last I heard, Indonesia is way behind China in terms of its economic development despite never having gone communist. Now, foreign development theorists never actually have the power to implement their recommendations if they don't have an occupation army in tow. That excuse went away when he showed up in Afghanistan.
[Ynet] An Afghan official says the Taliban ...Arabic for students... have killed 13 police in an attack on a checkpoint in the northern Kunduz province.
Hayatullah Ameri, chief of the Khan Abad district, near where the attack took place, says the snuffies stormed the checkpoint early Sunday. He says only one policeman escape the battle alive.
Taliban front man Zabihullah Mujahid claimed the attack.
At least nine policemen and 12 Taliban insurgents were killed in separate clashes in central Ghazni province on Saturday afternoon, local officials confirmed.
In addition, two policemen and four other Taliban fighters were wounded in the clashes.
The clashes took place in the city of Ghazni, and in the districts of Zana Khan, De Yak, Qarabagh, Khaja Omari and Ab Band after Taliban insurgents attacked police check posts, police officials said.
However, the officials did not provide further details about the clashes.
The Taliban has not yet commented over the attacks.
[AlAhram] Somalia's security ministry said Sunday that forces had killed two button men and captured three after a siege at a Mogadishu hotel following a twin boom-mobileing that left at least 14 dead.
Spokesman Abdiasiz Ali Ibrahim said a number of people had been rescued from Shabaab button men at the Nasa Hablod Hotel 2.
The attack began when a boom-mobilewent kaboom! outside the hotel entrance, followed by a minibus loaded with explosives going off at a nearby intersection.
"Five button men stormed the building, two of them were killed and the rest captured alive. The security forces are still working on retrieving the casualties, we don't have exact number of the casualties so far," the front man told news hounds.
Another security official Mohammed Moalim Adan had put the corpse count at 14, "most of them civilians", as the operation was still ongoing Saturday night.
One senior police official and a former MP were among the dead.
The al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab claimed the bombing and hotel assault in a statement on its Andalus radio station.
"The Mujahedeen fighters are inside Nasa Hablod 2 hotel where... apostate officials are staying," said the brief statement.
The hotel is popular among government officials, several of whom were rescued by the security forces.
[AlAhram] The bodies of 36 people rubbed out have been found near Benghazi, in eastern Libya, a security official said Sunday.
The bodies, found in al-Abyar, around 70 kilometres (45 miles) east of Benghazi, were of suspected Islamist snuffies including 19 foreigners, the official said.
The United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... mission in Libya said it "condemns in the strongest terms the heinous crime resulting in the killing of at least 36" people.
It called for an immediate investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Controversial strongman Khalifa Haftar ...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all... , whose self-proclaimed Libyan National Army controls the region, ordered an enquiry to find their killers, the pro-Haftar LANA news agency reported.
In Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , a national unity government opposed to an eastern administration backed by Haftar called the killings a "heinous crime and a horrible act," and said it would also launch an investigation.
Fighters in Haftar's LNA, which has battled jihadist groups since 2014, have in the past been accused of involvement in summary executions of detained Islamist murderous Moslems.
LANA said Haftar's probe would seek to uncover whether those killed were detained at the time.
In August, the International Criminal Court issued called for the arrest of a senior commander in an elite force fighting alongside Haftar's LNA.
The officer, Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf al-Werfalli, is accused of war crimes over at least seven incidents in 2016 and 2017.
Werfalli's brigade was involved in a three-year battle to rid Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city, of jihadists.
ICC judges allege he personally shot or ordered the execution of people who were either civilians or injured fighters.
They say he was behind 33 execution-style killings there.
Haftar's forces said he was already under arrest and would be tried by a military court.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
10/30/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
They are not executing wounded soldiers. They're executing wounded terrorist, which is the exact way it should go. I sure haven't heard of any of the terror groups giving quarter to anyone , civilian or not.
Posted by: Chris ||
10/30/2017 9:54 Comments ||
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[Ynet] Security and hospital officials say an attack targeting a police vehicle by suspected gunnies in the turbulent northern part of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula has killed two conscripts.
They say the gunnies disabled the truck with a roadside kaboom detonated remotely then opened fire.
A total of 10 conscripts were maimed in the attack on the outskirts of el-Arish, Sinai's largest city on the Mediterranean coast.
[DAWN] At least two suspected snuffies were killed in a clash with the Aman Lashkar, a pro-government tribal militia, near the Pak-Afghan border in Khyber Agency ... the place to go if you've got an Indiana Jones hat and whip. Chock full of high adventure and treacherous Pathans. You should really train up to it, though... on Sunday.
The clash began after the snuffies attacked a militia post in the Zakhakhel area in tehsil Ladi Kotal with heavy arms, according to security sources.
The sources said that no members of the Aman Lashkar were harmed in the attack, whereas two snuffies were killed in retaliatory firing.
Members of the militia recovered the bodies of the dead bad boys. Some of the attackers fled to Afghanistan, the sources added.
Security personnel remain vulnerable to attacks by snuffies in areas near the Pak-Afghan border.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2017 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] India on Sunday shipped its first consignment of wheat to Afghanistan by sea through Iran's strategic Chahbahar Port, launching a trade route bypassing longtime rival Pakistain.
The shipment, an Indian gift for Afghanistan, was sent from the western seaport of Kandla. It will be taken by trucks to Afghanistan from the Iranian port.
The new trade route follows an air freight corridor introduced between India and Afghanistan in June last year to provide greater access for Afghan goods to the Indian market.
In his new Afghanistan strategy unveiled in August, United States President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... asked India to do more to help Afghanistan's development.
Pakistain currently does not allow India to transport through its territory to Afghanistan because of hostility in their ties.
Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Sunday that the shipment marked the convergence among India, Afghanistan, and Iran to spur an unhindered flow of commerce and trade throughout the region.
"I believe that this is the starting point of our journey to realize the full spectrum of connectivity from culture to commerce, from traditions to technology, from investments to Information Technology, from services to strategy and from people to politics," Swaraj said.
India, Afghanistan, and Iran last year decided to jointly establish a trade route for land-locked Central Asian countries. India committed up to $500 million for the development of the Chahabar Port along with associated roads and rail lines.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2017 00:00 ||
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[ISW] Key Takeaway: Iraq and Iran rejected a Kurdish ceasefire offer and launched a new phase of their military campaign against Iraqi Kurdistan. Iraqi forces and Iran’s proxies are prepared for new military operations to seize Iraqi Kurdistan's border crossings if Kurdish forces do not relinquish them. Iranian proxy leaders are coordinating with Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) commanders and may even direct the military operation, if it occurs. It will begin at the Fishkhabur crossing between Iraqi Kurdistan and Syria, where Iran's proxies including the Badr Organization and Asa'ib Ahl al Haq are deployed. Negotiations are underway after Prime Minister Abadi set a deadline for the handover of the crossings on October 28th, but there has been no sign of a Kurdish withdrawal. Kurdistan Regional Government President Masoud Barzani announced he will not seek an extension of his term past November 1st in a letter to the Kurdish Parliament on October 29th.
#4
It was stupid to do the referendum without a worst case war plan. And if they had war gamed the ensuing festivities, they would have recognized that the Shiite material advantage required counters they had not developed. But then again this guy's incompetence is not exactly some dark secret. He had over 25 years to build a self-sufficient state, and he dropped the ball repeatedly. Whereas Israel came into being from a standing start and almost immediately defeated the combined Arab armies.
#6
The Kurds enjoyed a quarter century under Pax Americana in relative peace and yet could not fashion a viable economy, state or military. Its leaders (and their progeny) should be forced into exile. Their removal from the local gene pool would improve the evolutionary fitness of the Kurdish people.
#7
Meanwhile, Jewish exiles from Europe, malnourished and fresh off an attempt to exterminate them, held off the combined Arab armies after a mere three years of the initial large scale Holocaust survivor settlements in Mandatory Palestine. Given that much of their weaponry came from cash-and-carry purchases from the Soviet Bloc, it's a testament to Ben-Gurion's skill and native intelligence and that of his compatriots that they managed this military miracle. What's even more impressive is that they managed to create an economically viable state out of the mostly barren sands of what is now Israel.
#8
Barzani is a moron. He has just defeated ISIS, enjoys the beneficence of a grateful nation (the U.S.), and has the whip hand in Iraqi politics.
He could have led the Kurdish provinces into a super-special autonomous region with defacto independence, which would be accepted by everyone in a decade or two.
But, instead he goes for a territory grab for Kirkuk's oil fields. Of course he was whipped by the people who are stealing the money.
His failure here shows his greed and incompetence. I am sad for the valiant Kurdish people, who deserve better leaders. Their permanent independence would have been far more valuable than any money they might have gotten from a depleting oil field.
[PRESSTV] Members of the Iraqi Federal Police force are going to be deployed to a key border crossing in the country’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region after Iraqi government forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters reached an agreement in a bid to resolve a conflict about control of border crossings.
An Iraqi government source, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... , told AFP that Iraqi and Kurdish military commanders struck a deal in the strategic northern city of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , located some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital Baghdad, late on Sunday for government forces to take control of Fishkhabur border crossing.
Fishkhabur is a vital oil export point on the border with The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... and Syria.
Peshmerga fighters exchanged heavy artillery fire with the Iraqi army soldiers there over the past few days. Iraqi officials then gave the Kurds an ultimatum to withdraw from the area around Fishkhabur "within several hours."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2017 00:00 ||
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Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Over seventy Islamic State militants were killed, while thirty-three regions and villages were liberated during the past two days in western Anbar, the Joint Operations Command said.
In a statement on Saturday, “the regions liberated included al-Hasa, water station in al-Hasa complex, al-Shirwaniya, al-Tazaliya, al-Zallah, al-Awani and villages of Leheiba, al-Nazwa, and al-Saadiya village, stretching along 56 kilometers.”
Troops at the southern axis, according to the statement, “combed Ajbab train station, Ajbab village, northern Jibab, the cement factory, Qaim train station, train maintenance workshop, Ekaz gas station, al-Masharee’ region, stretching along 119 kilometers.”
More regions were liberated by army troops, backed by al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces)
“Seventy-five militants were killed, nine booby-trapped vehicles were destroyed,” it said, adding that over 300 bombs were defused, three headquarters and four booby-trapping workshops were destroyed. Seven weapon stashes were destroyed.
The command said troops are still advancing to achieve targets in western Anbar.
The Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced on Thursday the launch of operations to liberate Qaim and Rawa towns.
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State military official and six of his companions have been killed in aerial shelling in west of Anbar, a paramilitary official said.
Qatari al-Samarmad, a commander at the Mobilization forces in Anbar, was quoted saying on Sunday as saying that “Iraqi jets shelled an IS haven in central Qaim, west of Anbar, leaving Ra’ed al-Atouri, the military official of Qaim, and six of his companions killed.
“Targeting Atouri, who is considered close to the supreme leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, came as information indicated his presence in the haven,” he added.
The jets, according to Samarmad, “intensified shelling of the group’s hideouts in Qaim, while security troops are tightening control on strategic regions.”
Joint Operations Command airdropped, earlier on the day, more than one million leaflets urging IS militants to turn in themselves.
Many IS militants reportedly fled Qaim heading to al-BuKamal in Syria, after several leaders ran away and were killed in airstrikes by the Iraqi and U.S.-Coalition jets.
Posted by: badanov ||
10/30/2017 00:00 ||
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Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Three persons were killed and injured in a bomb blast that took place on Sunday in southeast of Baghdad, a security source said.
“An explosive device, placed in al-Nahrawan region, southeast of Baghdad, went off,” the source told Alghad Press.
“The blast left one person killed and two others wounded,” the source added.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) A civilian was killed, while nine persons were wounded on Saturday in three bomb blasts in Baghdad, security sources said.
“A bomb, placed near stores in al-Taji region, north of Baghdad, exploded,” the source told Alghad Press. “The blast left three persons wounded.”
Moreover, two policemen were wounded in another blast in south of Baghdad.
“A bomb, placed on the side of the road in Hour Rajab region, south of Baghdad, exploded while a police patrol was passing, leaving two personnel wounded,” the source said.
“Security cordoned the blast spot and transferred the injured to nearby hospital,” he added.
In a third blast, one person was killed, while four others were wounded in northwest Baghdad.
Speaking to Baghdad Today, the source said, “a bomb exploded near stores in Sabaa al-Bour region, leaving one killed and four wounded.
[Ynet] Shin Bet reveals circumstances surrounding Reuven Shmerling's mysterious death earlier in the month after two Paleostinian turbans are indicted; indictment details evidence strongly indicating nationalist motivation, underpinned by Facebook posts; recounts reconstructions of planned attacks; defendants confessed they wanted to kill Jews to avenge death of friend who attempted a stabbing attack.
Idiot knowingly hires two illegal Palestinians, insults them, then is surprised when they choose him to be the victim of their plan to kill a Jew out of revenge for a friend being killed while committing an attack on another Jew.
Two turbans who were indicted at the Lod District Court Sunday for the murder of Reuven (Moti) Shmerling in early October in Kafr Qasim used a knife, a pickax and a fan to kill their victim, it was cleared for publication by the Shin Bet. They were also indicted for entering Israel illegally.
The Paleostinians who were placed in durance vile Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! Continued on Page 49
Syrian Army units, in cooperation with the supporting forces, on Sunday advanced in the neighborhoods of Deir Ezzor city and regained control over al-Arfi and al-Ummal neighborhoods, a military source said.
In Hama province, SANA reporter said that army units carried out intensive operations against al-Nusra front gatherings and fortifications in surroundings of the villages of Khirbet Jwei’ed, Tum al-Hawa and Abu Laffeh in the province northeastern countryside, killing more than 30 terrorists and destroying a number of vehicles, some equipped with heavy machineguns.
The reporter added that a number of al-Nusra self-claimed leaders, among them Anas abu Malek, Abu Abdullah Taftanaz and Nour al-Shami, were identified among the killed terrorists.
Hezbollah central military media published photos of the operations in north-eastern Hama.
Source: Al-Manar Website and SANA
Posted by: badanov ||
10/30/2017 00:00 ||
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BEIRUT/AMMAN: At least 11 civilians were killed and a school day violently interrupted amid intensive Syrian regime shelling of an opposition-held enclave north of the capital Damascus Sunday, sending panicked kindergarten children scurrying for shelter, opposition activists reported.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Eastern Ghouta Media Center said those killed in the Saqba and Hamouriyah districts include two women, one child and a media activist. The Ghouta Media center said the media activist worked for the local Al-Jisr TV.
In a video posted by the Ghouta Media Center, kindergarten children were seen running in the streets of Kfar Batna, another village in the area that was shelled. Panicked children were scattered in the small rural streets of the village, some in tears while others called out for their parents. Rescuers struggled to escort the children out of the area covered in a cloud of dust following the explosions.
The first-responders group in the Damascus suburbs, the Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, reported that two shells fell in a school in the center of the village, injuring several. Baraa Abdurrahman, a resident of Kfar Batna, said the shells fell in a street that has a couple of schools. He added that six were injured.
Eastern Ghouta, north of Damascus, is part of a de-escalation zone declared earlier this year in Syria. But violence amid a tight regime siege has persisted in the area, which has faced intense government shelling for four years.
Images of starving children and adults emerged from the Ghouta suburbs, one of the hubs of the 2011 uprising against President Bashar Assad’s rule, prompting UN officials to say the area is facing a humanitarian crisis.
In a related development, the regime forces, supported by Russian jets and Iranian-backed militias, escalated bombing of areas of Deir Ezzor still held by Daesh.
Former residents and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were heavy aerial strikes on eastern Syria’s largest city as troops pushed toward the Hay Al-Umal area, which overlooks some of the remaining militant-held neighborhoods where an estimated 1,500 civilians are trapped.
“The situation is catastrophic, there are families under the rubble and others who fled have no shelter,” said Sheikh Awad Al-Hajr, a tribal leader, referring to the plight of those remaining inside the city and in cities, towns and farms in the fertile strip along the Euphrates bordering Iraq.
Fighting and relentless airstrikes in Deir Ezzor province, the last stronghold of Daesh, have prompted tens of thousands of civilians to flee, former residents and aid workers say.
Earlier on Sunday, the Observatory said heavy clashes between regime’s forces and Daesh in Deir Ezzor city have killed at least 73 fighters in the last 24 hours
The monitor said the fierce fighting on Saturday killed at least 50 Daesh fighters, as well as 23 Syrian soldiers and pro-regime militiamen.
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said regime forces had captured two new neighborhoods and the municipal stadium.
Posted by: badanov ||
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Deir Ezzor (Syria News) The Syrian regime forces and their allied militias recently managed to advance towards Albukamal City, the last stronghold of the Islamic State group (Previously Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), east of Deir Ezzor, local sources told Qasioun News on Sunday.
The sources informed that the Syrian regime forces advanced towards the city of Albukamal, east of Deir Ezzor, while planning to enter the city from three axes, including the axis of al-Mayadin City and Ashara area, in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.
Furthermore, Syrian regime forces are aiming to start their advance towards the city of Albukamal from the areas they recently recaptured in the vicinity of T2 Airbase, south of Deir Ezzor.
Meanwhile, Syrian regime are planning to recapture the province of Deir Ezzor and drive out the Islamic State fighters who are still besieged inside the areas of Hamidya, Sheikh Yassin, Omal, Rashadya, Rasafa and the old airport, in addition to some parts of Muwazafin and Jubail neighborhoods.
It is noteworthy that the Syrian regime military operations are running simultaneously, while the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia launched an offensive, northeast of Deir Ezzor.
Posted by: badanov ||
10/30/2017 00:00 ||
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Deir Ezzor (Syria News) The Syrian Democratic Forces militia has carried out, on Saturday, an extensive offensive on the Islamic State group, in the northern countryside of Deir Ezzor Province, Qasioun News reported.
The Syrian Democratic Forces managed to capture Namlya Village on the banks of the Khabour River, in northern Deir Ezzor, after clashes with the Islamic State militants resulting in the killing of 9 ISIS fighters.
Furthermore, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) besieged the Islamic State militans near Khabour River, in northern Deir Ezzor, one week ago, after crossing the river and seizing both al-Omar and al-Tanak Oil Fields, northeast of Deir Ezzor.
Deir Ezzor (Syria News) Informed sources informed that the Syrian Democratic Forces militia (SDF) launched an attack, at dawn today, on the headquarters of the Islamic State group (Daesh), and captured some parts of Basira Village, northeast of Deir Ezzor, Qasioun News reported.
The sources revealed that the Syrian Democratic Forces militia attacked the positions of the Islamic State group, on the banks of the Euphrates River, northeast of Deir Ezzor, and also managed to capture some parts of Basira Village, where the extremist militants are completely besieged.
The SDF militia also recaptured the villages of Baghdadi, Dahla, Jadida and Ukaidat, after violent battles with the Islamic State militants, east of Deir Ezzor, the sources added.
[AlAhram] Heavy festivities between Syria's army and the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're 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 the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group in Deir Ezzor city have killed at least 73 fighters in the last 24 hours, a monitor said Sunday.
Syria's army controls most of Deir Ezzor city, capital of Deir Ezzor province in the country's east, and made further advances after responding to an IS group attack that began Saturday, the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.
The monitor said the fierce fighting Saturday killed at least 50 IS fighters, as well as 23 Syrian soldiers and pro-regime militiamen.
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said government forces had captured two new neighbourhoods and the municipal stadium.
"IS is now encircled in an area between the city and the (Euphrates) river," Abdel Rahman said.
IS once held large sections of Deir Ezzor city, and for nearly three years laid siege to other parts of it that remained under government control.
In early September, advancing government forces broke the siege, and they have been working since to expel the jihadists from the rest of the city.
Abdel Rahman said the fighting that began Saturday was the fiercest in the city since government troops broke the siege, adding that festivities were continuing Sunday, with regime ally Russia carrying out heavy air strikes in support of the army and allied fighters.
Deir Ezzor, an oil-rich province that borders Iraq, was once a stronghold of IS group, but the jihadist group faces twin assaults there, from the regime and the US-backed Kurdish-Arab Syrian Democratic Forces.
The jihadists have already been expelled from neighbouring Raqqa province, and are now confined to just a few pockets of territory in Deir Ezzor.
Posted by: badanov ||
10/30/2017 00:00 ||
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Idlib (Syria News) Local sources informed, on Friday, that eight persons were either killed or wounded in the explosion of missiles that were dropped earlier during a Russian air strike on the countryside of Idlib Syria, Qasioun News reported on Saturday.
The sources revealed that a rocket, from the remnants of a Russian air strike that was conducted earlier, exploded in the village of Badriyah, in the countryside of Idlib, while the civil defense team was trying to dismantle it, killing two persons and wounding six others.
The remnants of the explosion, especially the shells, were scattered in the majority of areas in Idlib Province, as a result of the heavy air raids that were carried out by the Russian and Syrian Air Force, leaving several civilian casualties.
It is noteworthy that Russian troops, including Air Force and Navy fleets, are joining the ongoing battles in Syria, to back up the Syrian regime in its war against the Islamic State and opposition forces, based on an official appeal from the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Russia.
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.
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all...
... the place to go if you've got an Indiana Jones hat and whip. Chock full of high adventure and treacherous Pathans. You should really train up to it, though...
