Posted by: Fred ||
11/24/2025 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1803 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Almost every German city is now on the verge of bankruptcy ... refugee accommodation and integration are near the top of the list for reasons why the city is seeing a budget shortfall. Far from being a solution to Germany’s budget and pension crisis, they have become a massive financial burden for the country, costing at least €50 billion a year in social integration, housing, and benefits.
ISIS-linked Allied Democratic Forces ...established in the early 1990s through an agreement between portions of Uganda’s Salaf Tabliq Islamic sect and the National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (NALU), who said they had been sidelined by Museveni’s policies. At the time, the rebels staged deadly attacks in Ugandan villages and the capital, including a 1998 attack in which 80 students were massacred. A Ugandan military operation later forced the ADF into eastern Congo. The ADF has since established ties with the Islamic State group. The ADF has received funding from the Government of Sudan, which has also provided supplies and training. The ADF may also have received funding from the illegal mining and logging industries of the DRC.... (ADF) gunnies killed at least 89 civilians, including women and kiddies, in multiple attacks across Congo’s Ituri region, despite ongoing military operations.
Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) gunnies have killed at least 89 civilians, including 20 women and kiddies, in several attacks across Congo’s Ituri region.
The deadliest assault occurred on Friday, when ADF fighters attacked a health center, killing 17 people and setting the building on fire, exacerbating the region’s humanitarian crisis.
Despite operations by the Congolese army and Ugandan forces against the ADF, the group continues to carry out deadly attacks, undeterred by security efforts.
Founded in Uganda in the late 1990s, the ADF has since relocated to Congo’s remote jungles, where it has terrorized civilians. The group is now affiliated with ISIS.
[DW] Fifty of the 303 students kidnapped from a Catholic school in north-central Nigeria last week have escaped and have been reunited with their parents, the Catholic Church and Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said on Sunday.
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE KIDNAPPING?
Armed men raided the Catholic boarding school in the village of Papiri in Niger State on Friday morning, abducting 303 children and 12 teachers.
Some 253 pupils remain in captivity, according to the Catholic bishop who heads the school.
Among them are 6-year-old children, local media has reported, citing parents.
In a statement, CAN chairman Bulus Yohanna, a Catholic Bishop who is also the proprietor of the school, said the pupils fled from their captors on Friday and Saturday.
Africa's most populous country is currently under increasing scrutiny from US President Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... , whose administration designated Nigeria as particular concern due to the killing of Christians by radical Islamists.
School kidnappings have come to define insecurity in Nigeria, and armed gangs often see schools as "strategic" targets to attract more attention.
At least 1,500 students have been seized in Nigeria since the infamous kidnapping of the Chibok schoolgirls more than a decade ago. Many of the children were released only after ransoms were met.
TWO KILLED IN SEPARATE ATTACK, 38 WORSHIPPERS RELEASED
Friday's Niger state attack came just four days after the abduction of 25 schoolchildren in neighboring Kebbi state's Maga town, which is 170 kilometers (106 miles) away.
Two people were killed in that attack, but the 38 worshippers who were kidnapped have since been rescued by security forces, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu announced on Sunday on X.
[Rudaw] Iraqi security forces announced on Sunday that they carried out a "specialized" operation, conducted "in technical coordination with the French side," successfully targeting five key Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) positions in Kirkuk province.
In a statement, the Joint Operations Command (JOC) - which reports directly to the Iraqi prime minister and commander-in-chief of the armed forces - said the "specialized and precise" operation was launched after three months of monitoring "a terrorist group in the Kirkuk operational sector."
The surveillance was conducted by the Falcons Intelligence Cell (FIC), also under the authority of the Iraqi premier, in cooperation with the Iraqi Army’s Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI).
The Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) led the execution of the operation, with its chief and staff providing field supervision, the JOC confirmed, adding that the five targets were "dealt with through accurate Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s," noting that "the strikes were direct."
Importantly, the Command highlighted that the action was conducted by the CTS "in technical coordination with the French side," which enabled the "accurate" and "direct" strikes, adding that "the mission is still ongoing" and that further details will be provided later.
The JOC concluded by affirming that "our heroic security forces, supported by expertise, accurate intelligence, and continuous, distinguished field efforts, are persistent in striking the dens of terrorism and exacting just retribution from its defeated elements."
ISIS seized large swathes of territory in Iraq in 2014 but was defeated in 2017 after three years of fierce battles. Despite its defeat, the group continues to pose a security threat, particularly in disputed areas between Erbil and Baghdad, across several provinces including Diyala, Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... Nineveh, and Salahaddin.
In a Thursday interview with Rudaw, Major General Tahsin al-Khafaji, Director of Media and Moral Guidance at Iraq’s Defense Ministry, said that "ISIS is dying" and currently lacks the capability to carry out significant attacks.
Highlighting coordination with Kurdish Peshmerga forces, Khafaji noted that close collaboration and years of shared battlefield experience have allowed Iraqi and Kurdish forces to maintain the offensive, pursuing ISIS remnants through "monitoring, drawing out [the bully boys], and striking."
Meanwhile,
...back at the wine tasting, Vince was about to start on his third quart... French forces are active in Iraq primarily through Operation Chammal and as part of the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. The operation focuses on airstrikes against ISIS targets using Rafale fighter jets, alongside reconnaissance and intelligence missions.
La Belle France also provides extensive training, advice, and support to Iraqi security forces to enhance their capacity to combat ISIS remnants.
Additionally, Gay Paree contributes personnel to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... ) Mission Iraq (NMI) - a non-combat advisory and training mission aimed at reforming Iraqi security institutions and military education.
French Major General Christophe Hintzy in May assumed command of NMI, stating, "For La Belle France and for me personally, it is an honour and immense privilege to take over command of the NATO Mission in Iraq."
[IsraelTimes] The IDF says it shot dead a Palestinian who hurled stones at troops in the West Bank this afternoon.
The incident began following reports of stone throwing by Palestinians against Israeli civilians near the West Bank settlement of Ofra, the military says.
The IDF says troops were dispatched to the scene and used riot dispersal means “to restore order in the area.”
“During the troops’ activity, a terrorist hurled rocks at the force, which responded with precise fire to neutralize the threat and eliminate the terrorist,” the IDF says, adding that no soldiers were wounded.
Palestinian media identified the man as Baraa Maali, 20. The Palestinian Authority’s official news outlet, WAFA, cited the leader of the nearby village of Deir Jarir as saying that Maali was shot dead as settlers attacked the village.
[IsraelTimes] A young Palestinian man was killed by IDF gunfire in the West Bank village of Deir Jarir, northeast of Ramallah, the Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry announces.
Citing village leader Fathi Hamdan, the PA’s official news outlet, WAFA, identifies the man as Baraa Khairi Ali Maali, 20, and says he was killed by IDF gunfire as settlers attacked the village.
Maali took a bullet to the chest from IDF forces who shot at Palestinians as they tried to fend off the settler attack, Hamdan tells WAFA. He was pronounced dead at the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah, Hamdan says.
The Student Movement in the West Bank’s Birzeit University, where Maali was a student, announces a general strike tomorrow “mourning the martyr’s soul and condemning the Israeli killing policy against our people.”
Haytham Ali Tabatabai, terror group’s No. 2, hit in first Beirut strike since July; Hezbolah says 4 other operatives killed; Lebanon calls for action to stop Israeli attacks; US said to back strike but wasn’t forewarned
Israel said on Sunday it had killed Hezbollah’s military chief of staff, Haytham Ali Tabatabai, in a targeted Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... in the southern suburbs of Leb ...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.... ’s capital, Beirut. The terror group later confirmed his death in a statement.
Tabatabai was considered second only to Secretary-General Naim Qassem ... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies... , in the Iran-backed terror group’s command structure.
The IDF confirmed Tabatabai was killed. Later, the terror group also confirmed his death, eulogizing him as a "great Jihadi commander." It said Tabatabai "dedicated his life to the resistance" and "was among the leaders who laid the foundation" for it.
Hezbollah also named four other operatives killed in the strike, and one of the group’s officials, Mahmud Qomati, told news hounds at the impact site that the attack "crosses a new red line."
An AFP correspondent at the scene said the strike hit the third and fourth floors of a nine-story building. Lebanon’s state NNA outlet reported three missiles were fired at the building in the Haret Hreik area — a Hezbollah stronghold — damaging vehicles and other nearby structures.
The four other Hezbollah operatives killed, in addition to Tabatabai, were named as Ibrahim Ali Hussein, Rifaat Ahmed Hussein, Mustafa Asaad Barrou and Qassem Hussein Barjawi.
Lebanon’s health ministry said the strike also maimed 28 people. The IDF issued footage of the strike.
The Israeli army said Tabatabai was a "veteran and central operative in the terror organization," after joining its ranks in the 1980s and holding several senior roles, including the commander of the elite Radwan Force and head of Hezbollah’s operations in Syria.
During the war, the IDF said, Tabatabai was appointed to head Hezbollah’s operations division, responsible for "consolidating the organization’s situational picture and force buildup."
In late 2024, after most of Hezbollah’s leadership was killed, he "effectively served as the official responsible for managing the fighting against Israel," the IDF said.
After the end of the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in November 2024, he was officially appointed as the military chief of staff in the terror group. "In this role, he led the organization’s reconstruction," the military said.
Israel has been escalating its strikes on Hezbollah in recent weeks, accusing the terror group of violating the year-old ceasefire and increasingly attempting to rebuild its capabilities, and expressing frustration at lagging Lebanese efforts to disarm the group.
The strike came almost exactly a year after the US-brokered truce in Lebanon took effect on November 27, 2024.
Tabatabai’s liquidation came in response to "Hezbollah’s repeated violations of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and the 2024 ceasefire understandings, as well as the threat he posed to Israel and to regional stability," the Foreign Ministry said after the strike.
The Lebanese government has failed to address Hezbollah’s violations, said Israel, while Hezbollah is working to "restore and expand" its military capabilities.
The Foreign Ministry maintained Israel "is committed to the full implementation of the ceasefire understandings and has reported hundreds of violations through the international mechanism led by the United States."
’ISRAEL WILL NOT LET HEZBOLLAH REBUILD ITS STRENGTH’
The Prime Minister’s Office announced shortly after the attack that "the IDF struck, in the heart of Beirut, the Hezbollah chief of staff who led the organization’s military buildup and armament efforts."
"Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu ordered the strike on the recommendation of the defense minister and the IDF chief of staff," it said.
In a video statement issued a few hours later, Netanyahu called Tabatabai "a mass murderer" with the blood of many Israelis and Americans on his hands, and vowed: "Israel will not let Hezbollah rebuild its strength."
The premier said that he "expects the Lebanese government to fulfill its commitment to disarm Hezbollah."
TABATABAI LED HEZBOLLAH FORCE TASKED WITH INVADING ISRAEL
Tabatabai, born in 1968 in Beirut, was the son of a south Lebanese mother and an Iranian father. He was raised in southern Lebanon and joined the terror group in his youth.
He had been wanted by the United States since 2016, with a $5 million bounty for information on him.
Tabatabai previously commanded Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, which was tasked with preparations to invade Israel. Israeli officials say Hezbollah had long planned an October 7-style terror assault on northern Israel border communities.
According to the US Department of State, he also commanded Hezbollah’s special forces in Syria and 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... In 2015, Israel attempted to assassinate Tabatabai in southern Syria, in a strike that killed Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of Imad Mughniyeh, a senior Hezbollah commander killed in Damascus in 2008.
Tabatabai was promoted in late 2024, after the IDF eliminated most of Hezbollah’s top leadership. Former chief of staff Fuad Shukr was killed in a strike on Beirut in July 2024. His replacement was swiftly killed as well.
Netanyahu also praises US President Donald Trump for his decision to make the final preparations for outlawing the Muslim Brotherhood and declaring it a terrorist organization. He pledges that Israel will complete the process of outlawing the organization as well. Israel currently bans only some branches of the movement in Israel.
How exciting. The Southern Branchof the so-called Islamic Movement, the Muslim Brotherhood in Israel, is not only the core of the Ra’am political party, but they’ve been part of the Israeli government. The Northern Branch, based in the Galilee town of Umm Al Fahm, was banned in 2015, after leader Sheikh Raed Salah, sometimes called the Sheikh of Al Aqsa, rotated through prison for incitement once too often. Then their “reconciliation committees” were banned in January,so hopefully this time it will stick…
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.
...established in the early 1990s through an agreement between portions of Uganda’s Salaf Tabliq Islamic sect and the National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (NALU), who said they had been sidelined by Museveni’s policies. At the time, the rebels staged deadly attacks in Ugandan villages and the capital, including a 1998 attack in which 80 students were massacred. A Ugandan military operation later forced the ADF into eastern Congo. The ADF has since established ties with the Islamic State group. The ADF has received funding from the Government of Sudan, which has also provided supplies and training. The ADF may also have received funding from the illegal mining and logging industries of the DRC....
...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...
...
...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....
