Happy Thanksgiving to all, including to the Radical Left Lunatics who have worked so hard to destroy our Country, but who have miserably failed, and will always fail, because their ideas and policies are so hopelessly bad that the great people of our Nation just gave a landslide…
[COFutures] First Death in U.S. Resulting in a Criminal Indictment
C/O Futures Narcotics Research Note Series
Pamela Ligouri Bunker and Robert J. Bunker
A Stevenson Ranch resident, aged 22, died of an overdose of protonitazene on 19 April 2024 when he ingested counterfeit pink K-56 pills (i.e. oxycodone). He was sold the pills by Benjamin Anthony Collins (aka “BenzThaKidd”), homeless man aged 21, in what has become the first death in the U.S. resulting in a criminal indictment related to protonitazene.
This novel synthetic opioid is three times more powerful than fentanyl, almost unknown on America’s streets, and is being sourced from China. It is being cut (mixed) with other narcotics to make them more potent and cheaper to produce. It exists in the nitazene family of drugs developed in the 1950s as a replacement for morphine but these were not approved for use due to their dangerous effects which can include almost immediate death.
This drug family, known as ‘Frankenstein opioids,’ also includes isotonitazene which is more common and has been appearing on America’s streets since 2019.
[JustTheNews] Police conducted a “controlled explosion” Friday after finding a suspicious package near the U.S. Embassy in London and blocked off the area for further investigation.
The embassy in the British capital, built in 2018 near the Thames River, is considered one of the most modern and secure diplomatic compounds in the world and faced no known further threats, officials said.
"We can confirm that the 'loud bang' reported in the area a short time ago was a controlled explosion carried out by officers," London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement posted on its official X account.
“Cordons are in place in the area as a precaution while officers investigate a suspect package,” it added.
The embassy said on X that authorties had closed a road near the building out of "an abundance of caution."
[KhaamaPress] The Greek Coast Guard has reported that eight refugees, including six children and two women, have drowned after a boat sank near the island of "Samos."
International media outlets, citing the Greek Coast Guard on Monday, November 25, reported that 36 survivors from the boat were rescued.
The report indicated that strong winds have hindered the search operations for potential additional survivors.
It is still unclear how many people were on board the boat at the time of the sinking.
The island of Samos, located near The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... , is one of the key entry points to the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... Meanwhile,
...back at the mall, Clarissa spent the day shopping for new underwear. Tonight was going to be a special occasion... the number of illegal migrants colonists arriving from Samos has increased in recent months.
Previously, 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... High Commissioner for Refugees had stated that in 2024, Afghan refugees would make up the second-largest group of asylum seekers after Syrians.
According to the UN, in 2024, a total of 28,352 refugees arrived in Greece by sea, with 25% of them coming from Afghanistan.
The growing number of Afghan refugees making the perilous journey to Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... highlights the ongoing crisis and instability in Afghanistan, which continues to push people to seek safety elsewhere.
The tragic deaths near Samos are a stark reminder of the dangerous routes many
#2
Getting arrested is considerably more than that lot are accustomed to. Think DA Alvin Bragg will actually prosecute them instead of his usual habit of setting them free without even a warning?
[KhaamaPress] Following the detention of undocumented migrants colonists in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... , local media reported the arrest of 59 Afghan migrants colonists within the country. Among those detained was one individual from Pakistain.
According to Ottoman Turkish media, these individuals were arrested by police in the Dogubayazit district of Agri Province while being transported from one location to another in a vehicle.
Ottoman Turkish police stated that the arrests occurred precisely during the migrants colonists’ movement and confirmed that four others were also detained on charges of human trafficking.
The detention of Afghan migrants colonists in Turkey is not a new phenomenon. Ottoman Turkish authorities have previously arrested undocumented Afghan migrants colonists from various parts of the country and subsequently transferred them to deportation centers.
This comes as many Afghan youths, driven by poverty and unemployment in their homeland, are compelled to undertake perilous journeys of illegal migration.
The continued arrest of Afghan migrants colonists highlights the urgent need for coordinated international efforts to address the root causes of migration. Economic instability and security challenges in Afghanistan remain critical factors pushing individuals to seek refuge abroad.
[IsraelTimes] Shipment on way to terror operatives in Jenin included claymores, RPGs and rockets; Defense Ministry announces plans to build fence along Jordanian border
The Shin Bet recently foiled an attempt by 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 JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... to smuggle large amounts of advanced weapons, including rockets, to terror operatives in the West Bank for use in attacks on Israeli targets, the security agency revealed Wednesday.
In a joint operation, the Shin Bet and the Israel Defense Forces captured a shipment of advanced weapons destined for terror operatives in the Jenin area, the organization said in a statement.
Later, a site where a large number of weapons from Iran had been buried was uncovered, the statement added.
The Shin Bet did not provide further details on where the weapons were hidden or where the shipment was captured.
Among the weapons captured were 40 "quality" claymore-type bombs and 33 makeshift claymores, along with remote detonation systems; six RPG launchers and 24 RPGs; three 107mm rockets; two 60mm mortar launchers and 20 mortars; six M16 assault rifles and one M4 rifle; seven sniper rifles; and 37 handguns.
According to the Shin Bet, two units of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ special forces — Unit 4000 and Unit 18840 — were responsible for the plot.
Unit 4000 is the special operations division of the IRGC’s Intelligence Organization, headed by Jawad Ghafari; Unit 18840 is the special operations unit of the IRGC’s Quds Force in Syria, which is subordinate to the head of Iran’s clandestine Unit 840, Asghar Bakri.
The Shin Bet said it had identified renewed attempts to smuggle advanced weapons into the West Bank in recent months.
"The seized weapons are part of an ongoing Iranian campaign to destabilize security in the region, by arming terror cells in Judea and Samaria whose goal is to carry out attacks against Israeli citizens and IDF troops," a statement from the agency read.
The Shin Bet carried out similar operations intercepting Iranian weapons on their way to the West Bank in March as well as in August of last year.
Weapons smuggling is a constant challenge for Israel along its long, porous eastern border with Jordan. Unlike Israel’s other frontiers — with Egypt, Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... and Syria — the border with Jordan is largely open, often without significant fencing, and guarding is limited, making it an easy channel for large-scale smuggling.
[IsraelTimes] A recent Israeli drone strike in Gaza City killed Murad al-Rajoub, a Hamas terrorist behind a 2002 bombing attack in Beersheba, the military says.
Israeli authorities say Al-Rajoub was one of two Hamas terrorists behind the May 2002 attack, in which 10 civilians were wounded. He had been sentenced to 38 years before being released and deported to Gaza in a 2011 deal in which Israel exchanged 1,027 terror convicts for captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.
According to Palestinian media, al-Rajoub was killed in a strike on Friday, along with three other Palestinians.
Meanwhile, the IDF says it is continuing an offensive against Hamas in the Strip’s far northern towns of Beit Lahiya and Jabalia.
Fighter jets struck dozens of Hamas weapon depots, buildings used by the terror group, and other infrastructure in the area overnight, according to the military.
The IDF says that many of the targets were located based on intelligence obtained from detained terror operatives who were interrogated.
[IsraelTimes] Overnight, troops of the Givati Brigade’s reconnaissance unit raided a former school in northern Gaza’s Jabalia, where the IDF says it had intelligence of Hamas operatives gathered there.
The operation comes as the IDF says the 162nd Division expanded its offensive in the far north of the Strip.
Many gunmen were killed in close-quarters combat and in airstrikes during the operation at the al-Harthani School, according to the military.
The former school was serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians.
Separately, the IDF says that Hamas operatives launched anti-tank projectiles at troops from within the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya overnight.
Troops also enabled thousands of civilians to evacuate from the areas of fighting over the past day, the military says, adding that among them several terror operatives were detained and taken to Israel for interrogation.
[X] Hamas gunnies dying tired:
כוחות אוגדה 162 הרחיבו הלילה את הפעילות במרחב ג'באליה ובית להיא.
במהלך מבצע חטיבתי כוחות שב״כ ולוחמי סיירת גבעתי ושריון, פשטו על המבנה ששימש בעבר כבית הספר ״אל חארתני״, זאת בעקבות מידע מודיעיני בדבר המצאות מחבלים במרחב>> pic.twitter.com/crb89gtICO
#1
Footage from Jabaliya: Terrorist shot dead while preparing to launch rocket at Israel During operations this week, the IDF identified and documented a Hamas terrorist who was attempting to launch rockets towards Israeli territory. The terrorist was operating from a structure located near a weapons warehouse, where additional terrorists were barricaded.
The forces quickly acted alongside the brigade's fire team, eliminating the terrorists and destroying the weapons warehouse and the rockets.
[IsraelTimes] Overnight, IDF soldiers entered the West Bank town of Idhna to demolish the home of Muhannad Ala’sawdeh, a Palestinian who killed three police officers in a September shooting attack, the army says.
On September 1, Ala’sawdeh opened fire at a police car on Route 35 near the Idhna-Tarqumiyah junction, just east of a checkpoint between the West Bank and Israel, before fleeing the scene. He was later killed in an exchange of fire with troops in Hebron.
Ch. Insp. Arik Ben Eliyahu, Command Sgt. Maj. Hadas Branch, and First Sgt. Roni Shakuri were killed in the attack.
As a matter of policy, Israel demolishes the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out deadly terror attacks
[IsraelTimes] The IDF says it foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons into Israel from Egypt earlier today, using a drone.
The drone had been identified crossing the border from Egypt into Israel, before it was downed by troops of the Border Defense Corps’ Caracal Battalion.
Troops at the scene found that the drone was ferrying four rifles, five magazines and hundreds of bullets, the military adds.
[IsraelTimes] Nearly 3,000 homes and buildings in Israel were damaged over the last 14 months of war with Hezbollah, Army Radio reports, citing official figures.
The tally of 2,874 structures includes 841 that will need to be completely rebuilt, according to the report.
In Kiryat Shmona alone, 382 buildings suffered damage, while the nearby kibbutz of Manara and the Western Galilee towns of Nahariya and Shlomi also took significant hits.
Israeli authorities have previously estimated property damage to be at least NIS 1 billion ($273 million).
About 55,000 acres of forestry, nature reserve, parks and open lands in northern Israel and the Golan Heights have been burnt down since the start of the war, Israeli authorities say.
Since the beginning of the war, 176 senior Hezbollah commanders have been eliminated, with the most senior being Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah. Among the senior figures eliminated are members of the Jihad Council: Fouad Shakar (head of strategic arrays), Ibrahim Aqil… pic.twitter.com/60TuaBlXtE
[IsraelTimes] Army stresses no civilian movement allowed south of Litani River as some return to villages where troops still deployed; soldiers detain 4 Hezbollah members who approached them
The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday that any Hezbollah violation of the ceasefire agreement in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... "will be answered with fire," after troops fired warning shots at people trying to approach several southern Lebanon villages on the first day of the ceasefire between the sides.
Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered "forceful action" to keep Hezbollah members from returning to villages near the border while the deal with Lebanon was being implemented.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said at a presser: "The IDF’s mission is to enforce the agreement. The IDF is determined, and any violation will be answered with fire."
Several suspects were hit by fire in Meiss al-Jabal, according to the IDF, which said it had shifted from active fighting in Lebanon to focusing on enforcing the agreement.
In the evening, the military said that troops had "killed turbans today," without elaborating or stating whether it was the same incident.
Meanwhile,
...back at the barn, Bossy's udder had begun to ache... the IDF said it had detained four Hezbollah members who approached troops in southern Lebanon and questioned them in the area.
The military said it was working to prevent people from reaching areas where troops are still positioned in southern Lebanon, and several routes to villages had been blocked.
Channel 12 reported Wednesday that the IDF also recently thwarted efforts by Hezbollah to develop chemical weapons
...have not been used since WWI except for in Iraq, by the late, unlamented Saddam Hussein and in Syria, but really, honest, not by the Syrian government. And in Germany in WWII, but that was against civilians. Lots of them, just one of many reasons Hitler's also late and unlamented... The unsourced report didn’t specify when the Israeli operation took place but says the chemical weapons are believed to have been slated for use by Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force during an invasion of northern Israel.
Israeli Air Force planes were still patrolling the skies and troops were still in positions in southern Lebanon. Overall, the calm appeared to hold, with rocket and drone fire on Israel halting since the early hours of the morning.
Earlier, the IDF said it fired warning shots at several vehicles in Lebanon that approached an area on the border where it was still prohibiting movement. The incident took place in the village of Kafr Kila, just across the border from the Israeli town of Metula, according to local authorities.
According to the IDF, the cars drove away after the warning shots.
The IDF’s Arabic-language front man subsequently warned Lebanese civilians to hold off on returning to villages in southern Lebanon.
"For your safety and the safety of your family, you are prohibited from moving south toward the villages that the IDF has ordered to be evacuated or toward IDF forces in the area," he said, adding that from 5 p.m. until 7 a.m. Thursday, "it is absolutely forbidden" to cross the Litani River in a southbound direction. Those who are south of the Litani must remain where they are, he said.
"We remind you that the IDF is still deployed in its positions in southern Lebanon in accordance with the terms of the ceasefire agreement, and our forces will deal firmly with any movement that violates this agreement," Adraee added.
In a similar vein, Hagari said that IDF troops were still positioned in southern Lebanon "in the villages and areas from which there will be a gradual withdrawal, in accordance with the agreement."
"Air Force planes continue to fly over Lebanon’s skies, collecting intelligence and are prepared to operate wherever necessary," he said, adding that in the coming weeks, the IDF will "shape" its defenses on the northern border and "implement lessons from the past."
The military published a map of areas in southern Lebanon that are currently off-limits for Lebanese civilians amid the gradual handover to the Lebanese Armed Forces.
"We are stationed and operating in this area. Armed operatives in the area marked on the map is a violation [of the ceasefire], and any armed operative will be eliminated or detained," Hagari said.
Addressing Lebanese civilians, Hagari said: "As you saw throughout the war, we are doing what we say. For your safety, we call on you not to approach the area where our forces are. The ceasefire agreement is built in a gradual way, and we will update when you can return."
The IDF has 60 days to withdraw under the deal, which seeks to end 14 months of Hezbollah-initiated fighting. During that time, the Lebanese army is to gradually take responsibility for southern Lebanon and an American-led committee will be established to adjudicate complaints regarding potential ceasefire violations, the IDF said.
Hezbollah forces will leave southern Lebanon, and its military infrastructure will be dismantled. The US has also reportedly provided a side letter specifying Israel’s rights to respond to any violations of the ceasefire.
A copy of the ceasefire deal was not published before it came into effect.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement Wednesday that he and Katz had instructed the IDF to "not allow the [Lebanese] population to enter the area of the villages near the border in southern Lebanon."
The IDF assessed that its enforcement of the ceasefire could potentially lead to several days of fighting with the terror group in the future.
Lebanon’s army said, meanwhile, that it had begun "reinforcing its presence in the South Litani sector and extending the state’s authority in coordination with the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)."
An Israeli security official said Israeli forces remained in their positions hours after the ceasefire began and would only gradually withdraw.
He said the pace of the withdrawal and the scheduled return of Lebanese civilians to their homes would depend on whether the deal is implemented and enforced by all sides. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the deal and its implementation with the media.
Both Israel and the Lebanese army have warned residents of the southern villages to wait until IDF troops withdraw before returning. However,
man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... the AFP news agency reported that tens of thousands of residents had headed back to their hometowns in the hours after the truce took effect.
Katz said Hezbollah members must be prevented from reaching areas in southern Lebanon where the IDF is still prohibiting movement, "and if they endanger the IDF troops, they must be hit."
Despite the danger, several videos were uploaded throughout the morning that appeared to show people returning home.
A short video apparently taken by a Lebanese man claiming to have returned to Kafr Kila showed widespread destruction, though no Israeli military presence could be seen.
Another clip posted to social media showed that Lebanese had reached the border wall between Kafr Kila and the Israeli community of Metula.
Live television footage also showed people walking around in the town of Khiam, in close range of an IDF tank.
Videos showed an Israeli flag being burned in a village after locals returned to previously evacuated areas. In the clips, a man can be seen removing the flag hung on a watchtower, before it was set on fire.
On the highway linking Beirut with south Lebanon, thousands of people drove south with their belongings and mattresses tied on top of their cars. Traffic was gridlocked at the northern entrance of the port city of Sidon.
"This is a moment of victory, pride, and honor for us, the Shiite sect, and for all of Lebanon," said Hussein Sweidan, a resident returning to the port city of Tyre. He said he saw the ceasefire as a victory for Hezbollah.
Sporadic celebratory gunfire was heard at a main roundabout in the city, as people returning honked the horns of their cars and residents cheered.
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati appealed to Israel to fully commit to the ceasefire and "withdraw from all the regions and positions it occupied."
"I hope this will be a new page for Lebanon, I hope the coming days will lead to the election of a president," Mikati said.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
...perennial Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians... , who negotiated the truce on behalf of Hezbollah, urged displaced residents to return home, despite the official instructions from the Israeli and Lebanese armies.
"Return to your land and your birthplace," he said.
Berri called the last months of war "the most dangerous" in the history of Lebanon — apparently outstripping the civil war from 1975 to 1990 that nearly destroyed the entire country — but praised the Lebanese people for showing unity and urged the swift election of a president.
In Israel, the mood was far more subdued, with many concerned that the deal did not go far enough to rein in Hezbollah and that it did not address Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... and the hostages still held there.
"I think it is still not safe to return to our homes because Hezbollah is still close to us," said Eliyahu Maman, an Israeli displaced from the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, which is not far from the border with Lebanon and was hit hard by rockets fired from Lebanon.
#1
Day One: Israel says Hezbollah cease-fire violated, fires on south Lebanon
Israel said on Thursday that its cease-fire with Hezbollah was breached hours after Lebanese security sources said Israeli tanks attacked six areas of southern Lebanon, calling into question a truce reached after more than a year of fighting.
A cease-fire between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah took effect on Wednesday under a deal brokered by the U.S. and France, intended to allow people in both countries to start returning to homes in border areas shattered by 14 months of fighting.
The Israeli military said the cease-fire was violated after what it called suspects, some in vehicles, arrived at several areas in the southern zone.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah accused Israel of attacking people returning to their villages in south Lebanon. The Israeli military has urged residents of towns along the border strip not to return yet for their own safety.
Israeli tank fire hit six areas within that border strip on Thursday morning, striking Markaba, Wazzani and Kfarchouba, Khiyam, Taybe and the agricultural plains around Marjayoun, state media and Lebanese security sources said.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/28/2024 9:44 Comments ||
Top||
[IsraelTimes] Syrian rebels in the last opposition enclave in northern Syria have launched a wide-scale military operation against the Syrian army and seized territory in the first such advance in years, army and rebel sources say.
The rebel offensive has overrun at least 10 areas under the control of Syrian President Bashir al-Assad in northwestern Aleppo province, says a source in the operations room run by a coalition of bully boy groups led by the turban Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... The land incursion is the first such territorial advance since March 2020 when Russia, which backs Assad, and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... , which supports the rebels, agreed to a ceasefire that led to military action halting in Syria’s last major rebel stronghold in the country’s northwest.
Rebels advanced almost 10 km (6 miles) from the outskirts of Aleppo city and a few kilometres away from Nubl and Zahra, two Shi’ite towns where Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... ’s Iran-backed Hezbollah has a strong militia presence, an army source says.
They have attacked al-Nayrab airport east of Aleppo, where pro-Iranian militias have outposts.
Rebels say the campaign was in response to stepped-up strikes in recent weeks against civilians by the Russian and Syrian air force on areas in southern Idlib, and to preempt any attacks by the Syrian army, which was building up troops near front lines with rebels.
The army pounded areas near rebel-held Idlib city and the cities of Ariha and Sarmada along with other areas in southern Idlib province, according to an army source.
That’s all very well, but I hope at some point which particular rebels they are will be identified. Al Nusra/Hayat Tahrir al Sham is a strong possibility, but there are other possibilities as well. Update from the Times of Israel at 10:40 a.m. ET:
The offensive was launched the same day the ceasefire began between Syrian ally Hezbollah and Israel. The attack was the biggest since March 2020 when Russia, which backs Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Turkey, which supports the rebels, agreed to a ceasefire that ended years of fighting that uprooted millions of Syrians opposed to Assad’s rule.
Syria’s armed forces said Thursday the offensive was led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... , or HTS, which controls much of northwest Syria, and is a violation of a de-escalation agreement. It said the attacks are ongoing and have targeted a number of villages and military bases.
HTS, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and Turkey, has long been targeted by Syrian government and Russian forces. Formerly known as the al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... Front, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, HTS later changed its name several times and distanced itself from al-Qaeda.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said clashes between the army and the rebels killed more than 130 combatants in the worst fighting in the country’s northwest in years, as the government also reported fierce battles.
The toll “in battles ongoing for the past 24 hours has risen to 132, including 65 fighters from HTS,” 18 from allied factions “and 49 members of regime forces,” said the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria.
The toll from the monitor, which has been accused of inflating regime losses in the past, could not be verified.
In its first statement since the surprise campaign, the Syrian army said it had inflicted heavy losses on “terrorists” who had launched a “large attack on a wide front.”
The army said it was cooperating with Russia and unnamed “friendly forces” to regain ground and restore the situation to what it was.
Opposition factions launched the offensive early Wednesday and claimed in a series of statements on social media that they had wrested control of over 15 villages from government forces, capturing a military base and hardware, and taking a number of soldiers hostage.
The opposition fighters said their offensive will allow the return of thousands of displaced people who were forced to flee government bombardment in recent weeks.
The offensive follows weeks of simmering violence in the area, where activists said government and allied Russian forces have stepped up their bombardment of parts of the last remaining stronghold of the opposition.
It also comes as Iran-linked groups, such as Hezbollah, who had backed Syrian government forces since 2015, have been preoccupied with their own war against Israel.
Russia, along with Iran, backed Syrian government forces soon after the anti-government protests in 2011 turned into a war. Turkey has backed an array of opposition forces and established military presence in parts of northwestern Syria. Meanwhile, the United States has supported Syrian Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State largely in the east of the country.
Turkish security sources said on Thursday that the rebels initially launched a limited operation after attacks by Syrian government forces, and expanded the operation after government forces abandoned their positions.
The Turkish sources said that the rebels’ movements remained within the boundaries of a de-escalation zone in Idlib, which was agreed on in 2019 by Russia, Iran and Turkey with the aim of reducing hostilities between the rebels and government forces.
Unnamed defense ministry officials quoted in the state-run Anadolu Agency said Thursday the Turkish military had taken “all kinds of measures” to protect its troops in Syria.
Syria’s civil war has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced millions and battered the country’s infrastructure and industry.
The northwestern region is subject to a ceasefire — repeatedly violated but still largely holding — brokered by Turkey and Damascus ally Russia after a Syrian government offensive in March 2020.
⭕️70% of Hezbollah’s UAV stockpile and most of the cruise missile inventory of Hezbollah’s Aerial Unit (127) were destroyed yesterday.
As part of the IDF's operational activity in Lebanon, IAF fighter jets launched a comprehensive strike last night, prior to the ceasefire… pic.twitter.com/4AZvM6MgDl
… As part of the IDF's operational activity in Lebanon, IAF fighter jets launched a comprehensive strike last night, prior to the ceasefire coming into effect, to dismantle Hezbollah’s Aerial Unit’s terrorist infrastructure, which was systematically entrenched within civilian villages and buildings. The targets struck included:
-150+ UAV Launching Positions
-Approx. 30 of the Unit’s Command Centers
-Approx. 20 Weapons Storage Facilities Containing UAVs and Cruise Missiles
-Approx. 4 UAV and Cruise Missile Manufacturing Workshops
Wow. Just wow!
What the IDF accomplished yesterday will go down in history!
Last night, the IDF destroyed the secret underground base of Hezbollah for the production of missiles. Hezbollah assumed the IDF had no info on this facility. The IDF used 100 bombs, among them bunker… pic.twitter.com/bQVqRiSvi7
In the hours before a ceasefire with Hezbollah came into effect early Wednesday, Israeli fighter jets destroyed the terror group’s largest underground precision-guided missile manufacturing site in Leb, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The military released footage of the Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s from the night before on the site, which was hidden in a subterranean complex that stretched for 1.4 kilometers (less than a mile) near the town of Janta in eastern Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, very close to the Syrian border.
Fighter jets pounded the location for over four hours, according to the military, dealing "a blow to the Hezbollah terror organization’s ability to produce weapons."
Before the massive bombardment of the missile site, planes struck the surrounding area, including a central Hezbollah Radwan Force base, the IDF said in its statement. The military estimated that dozens of operatives were killed in the strike on the Radwan base.
The missile manufacturing plant was built several years ago with Iranian support, the IDF said. It was used by Hezbollah to build precision surface-to-surface missiles and other weapons, as well as to store the guided missiles. The IDF said that Iranian operatives also worked at the facility alongside Hezbollah. Its proximity to Syria allowed Hezbollah to smuggle into Lebanon thousands of components to build the precision missiles, as well as for operatives to travel between Syria and Lebanon, according to the statement.
"This was Hezbollah’s most strategically significant production facility in Lebanon targeted during the war. The strike was made possible by a precise intelligence file that was collected and built over the years," the IDF said.
IDF front man Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, in a live presser Wednesday evening, also remarked on the attack, saying Israel had been monitoring the site "for a long time."
*Snicker*
They see you when you’re sleeping
They know when you’re awake
They know if you’ve been bad or good…
He said the complex was divided into different spaces, each of which produced a different part for the precision surface-to-surface missiles.
Preventing Hezbollah from obtaining precision-guided missiles has been a central plank of Israel’s to disrupt Iran’s weapons supply to the terror group.
Waves of IDF strikes until 4 a.m. Wednesday
[IsraelTimes] Several waves of strikes, targeting over 300 Hezbollah sites, were carried out from around 5 p.m. on Tuesday into the night, right up until the ceasefire took effect at 4 a.m.
One of the strikes in the Beqaa Valley, close to the Syrian border, targeted an underground Hezbollah precision-guided missile manufacturing and storage site, the military said.
The IDF said it spent four hours bombing the underground kilometer-long site, which contained machinery used to build precision-guided missiles, as well as depots to store them. An adjacent Radwan Force base was also struck, and the military estimated that several dozen Hezbollah operatives were killed.
Another strike shortly after midnight hit a border crossing between Syria and Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... , which the IDF said was used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons. Syrian media reported six dead in the strike.
Among the 300 Hezbollah sites struck on the day before the ceasefire, 42 were in Beirut, 48 were in the Beqaa Valley, and 150 were in southern Lebanon, according to the military.
The IDF said targets included 15 sites used by the terror group for the management and storage of funds, 64 command centers, 65 buildings used for military purposes, and 42 weapon depots.
The IDF said that another strike on Tuesday in Beirut killed Jafar Ali Samaha, the operations chief of Hezbollah’s aerial forces, known as Unit 127, which is responsible for drone and cruise missile attacks on Israel.
Throughout the war, the IDF said that it struck over 150 drone launch sites, some 20 depots where drones and cruise missiles were stored, and four manufacturing plants belonging to Unit 127. The military has estimated that 70 percent of Hezbollah’s drone and cruise missile stockpile have been destroyed.
During the entire conflict, the military said, over 12,500 Hezbollah sites in Lebanon were struck, including 360 in Beirut’s southern suburbs. In the 2006 Second Lebanon War, for comparison, some 140 sites were struck in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
In September, the commander of the aerial forces, Muhammad Hussein Sarour, was killed in Beirut. Other top commanders in the unit have also been killed, including Samaha on Tuesday.
Amid the fighting, hundreds of explosive-laden drones launched by Hezbollah at Israel were intercepted, according to the IDF. Numerous drones have also impacted Israel, causing casualties and damage.
Hezbollah began firing into Israel the day after Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... ’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in southern Israel, in support of its fellow Iran-backed terror group, drawing Israeli reprisals and leading to the displacement of some 60,000 residents of northern Israel.
Fighting intensified in late September, with Israel killing much of Hezbollah’s leadership and launching a limited ground incursion on October 1 that has seen soldiers search villages for rockets and other arms held by the terror group, and tackle its terror tunnels and other infrastructure.
Hezbollah believes the number of its fighters killed during 14 months of hostilities could reach several thousand, with the vast majority killed since Israel went on the offensive in September, three sources familiar with its operations say, citing previously unreported internal estimates.
One source says the Iran-backed terror group may have lost up to 4,000 people — well over 10 times the number killed in its month-long 2006 war with Israel. So far, Lebanese authorities have said some 3,800 people were killed in the current hostilities, without distinguishing fighters from civilians.
The IDF has estimated that Israeli forces killed some 3,000 Hezbollah operatives.
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.
There is so much to be thankful for this year — not least the fellowship to be found here. May next Thanksgiving bring even more to be grateful for!
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
[LI] 
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
