[IntelliNews] Turkmenistan’s paramount leader Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov was back in Ashgabat on February 20 following a below-the-radar visit to the United States that may have included a visit to Mar-a-Lago, US President Donald Trump’s compound-cum-private club in Palm Beach, Florida.
Turkmenistan’s tightly controlled media has said little about the visit, which reportedly lasted from February 16-18, other than to state that the Berdimuhamedov sought “to create favourable conditions for the further expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation”. No US government agency has issued information about the trip.
Local news outlets in Florida reported that a Turkmen government jet remained parked at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport for days. One report noted that the jet’s arrival on February 16 coincided with a time when Trump was at Mar-a-Lago, inferring that the two may have held private discussions at the club.
Berdimuhamedov’s stay in Florida may have been longer than originally planned. Photos taken by jet enthusiasts showed that the jet carrying Berdimuhamedov to Florida appeared upon landing to have experienced damage to its tail flaps. A second Turkmen jet later arrived to whisk the Turkmen leader back home.
Fleeting footage of Berdimuhamedov, taken at a distance, boarding the aircraft appears to show him bowing slightly and holding one hand across his chest in a traditional gesture of gratitude, indicating that US officials may have been present at his departure.
What Berdimuhamedov possibly discussed with Trump, if a Mar-a-Lago meeting did occur, remains a matter of speculation. Although Turkmenistan has a reputation as one of the world’s most isolated and repressive states, Berdimuhamedov has signalled a desire of late to open up the country to trade.
Gungodar, an independent website run by Turkmen exiles, noted that Turkmenistan shares a long border with Iran, a country currently in Trump’s crosshairs. “On the eve of a [potential] US military strike on Iran, they [Berdimuhamedov and Trump] probably have something to talk about," a February 17 commentary posted on the site suggested.
[NYPost] The Justice Department has axed New York’s most lenient immigration court judge, The Post has learned.
Judge Vivienne Gordon-Uruakpa, who ruled in favor of asylum claimants 97% of the time — more than any of her colleagues in the state — was terminated without public notice back in September because of her prolific record of asylum rulings, according to a government official.
Gordon-Uruakpa no longer appears on the web site of the downtown Manhattan courthouse where she used to serve.
Her departure appears to be part of a massive culling of the most lenient judges.
Glad to hear it.
Attorney General Pam Bondi gets to hire and fire immigration court judges — lawyers who don’t enjoy the lifetime tenure perks that many other federal judges do. Gordon-Uruakpa, 66, attended Fordham University in the Bronx and the Howard University School of Law. Her background is in legal aid and criminal defense.
Trump has fired more than 100 immigration judges during his term
…a good start…
as deportation rates grow while the administration has managed to slash illegal entry into the country at the borders.
Nearly 80 percent of migrants colonists colonists seeking asylum were deported in the last quarter, according to Syracuse University’s TRAC program.
A very good start.
The toughest New York judge on asylum, John Burns, got named Acting Assistant Chief Judge in January.
The Justice Department declined to comment on the reason Gordon-Uruakpa was fired.
#1
Put everyone’s record into Excel, graph their performance and cull the herd again. The only constraint is that you have to have willing replacements that won’t have the same graph.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/22/2026 8:40 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Then go through their finances with a fine toothed comb. I bet there are far left financiers. Then jail these corrupt fucktards.
[AlJazeera] Experts say ISIL and al-Qaeda-linked groups increasingly use drones to target army positions with IEDs and to gather intelligence.
By Shola Lawal
The brazen attack on the international airport and nearby military airbase in Niamey, Niger’s capital, came overnight between January 28 and 29.
Balls of orange fire flew across the sky as the Nigerien army attempted to respond while residents ducked for cover and whispered prayers, as shown in videos on social media. ISIL (ISIS) in Sahel Province, or ISSP – a Niger-based outfit earlier known as the ISIL affiliate in the Greater Sahara or ISGS – has since claimed responsibility and says it killed several soldiers, although the Nigerien army disputes this.
Analysts say the daring attack shows ISSP’s growing confidence at a time when the swarm of armed groups operating across the troubled Sahel region in Western Africa is expanding its areas of operation with advanced technology. Many of its fighters had breached military drone hangars using RPGs and mortars, and managed to damage several aircraft and one civilian aeroplane, according to videos from the group.
“This is unprecedented,” Heni Nsaibia, a senior analyst at the conflict monitoring think tank, ACLED, told Al Jazeera, noting that ISSP usually limits offences to rural areas and uses rudimentary weapons like AK-47s.
“They are refining their attacks and becoming more experienced in guerrilla warfare. To be able to infiltrate and penetrate the capital speaks to itself that they have tactical strength and boldness,” he said.
Although officially unconfirmed, conflict trackers suggest that ISSP may have deployed a drone in the assault, in what would mirror a region-wide trend that analysts say marks a dangerous escalation in the Sahel crisis. ISIL affiliates have used explosives-laden drones in rural attacks in Nigeria, but never in Niger.
“We have videos showing there was nocturnal gunfire from the Nigerien air defence,” Nsaibia added. “It’s possible they detected drones [from ISIL] used for surveillance, but it’s only a hypothesis.”
[IsraelTimes] The United Arab Emirates has thwarted organized cyber attacks targeting the country’s digital infrastructure and vital sectors, the state news agency says.
The attacks “included attempts to infiltrate networks, deploy ransomware and conduct systematic phishing campaigns targeting national platforms,” and involved artificial intelligence technologies to develop offensive tools, it adds. The report does not say who was to blame for the attacks.
One assumes the Houthis, like Hezbollah, are once again being officered by the IRGC, because like the Turks, as far as the Iranians are concerned Arabs are a bunch of rabble, though some are trainable. Recall, dear Reader, that the IRGC officers bugged out when American and Israeli fire got a bit too hot’n’heavy.
Yemeni journalist @FaresALhemyari reports unprecedented Houthi military mobilizations across multiple fronts.
According to his security sources, a Houthi military force moved from the city of Amran under the command of Abu Ali Mohammed Zaid Yahya Al Makhdhi, heading toward the… pic.twitter.com/HoQLRNEdBL
Yemeni journalist Fares AL hemyari reports unprecedented Houthi military mobilizations across multiple fronts.
According to his security sources, a Houthi military force moved from the city of Amran under the command of Abu Ali Mohammed Zaid Yahya Al Makhdhi, heading toward the border areas with Saudi Arabia as part of a broader mobilization effort to various front lines.
Possibly why President Trump did not limit Saudi Arabia’s explorations of nukes in the current negotiations.
A separate security source said another Houthi force led by Abu Hussein Salim Al Mansouri departed from one of the group’s training camps in Sana’a governorate. The unit traveled along the Sana’a-Hudaydah road through Manakhah Pass, heading toward Hudaydah governorate in western #Yemen.
In a separate development, the Houthis staged what has been described as one of their longest military marches under the slogan “Do not weaken in pursuing the enemy.” The march involved symbolic units from the second batch of special forces moving from Al Bayda governorate toward Ma’rib governorate, two key front lines with the internationally recognized government of Yemen.
[Breitbart] Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has accused the left-wing UK government of blocking him from travelling to the Chagos Islands amid ongoing controversy surrounding the sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory.
Earlier this week a small cohort of Chagossians embarked on an attempt to resettle on the archipelago’s atolls in a bid to scupper the 2025 deal in which London agreed to hand over control of the territory to the Indian Ocean nation of Mauritius.
In stark contrast to the open borders approach to illegal migrants landing in Britain, the four Chagos Islanders, who landed on the territory on Monday after sailing from Sri Lanka, were given eviction notices by UK authorities warning of potential jail time if they refuse to vacate.
Currently, under British International Overseas Territory law, all those seeking to enter the territory require a permit from the UK government to do so, whether they be Chagossian or British.
As a leading opponent of the deal to cede British sovereignty, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage sought to travel to the settlement to deliver food and medical supplies to the Chagossians. However, he claimed on Saturday evening that the Labour government in London had pulled strings to block his travel.
“The British government has made every effort to prevent me heading towards the Chagos Islands. They have asked the Maldives government to stop me from leaving here and setting foot on the boat. This was information conveyed to me by a senior figure in the Maldives government,” he told The Telegraph.
“I cannot believe such an attempt has been made to stop a British citizen from reaching British territory. My source told me the British were ‘very concerned’ about me and wanted to know why I was here. This trip is a humanitarian mission and I don’t want my presence to jeopardise that.”
A Foreign Office spokesman told GB News: “Our primary concern at this point is to ensure the safe departure of a group of individuals from an island that is not fit for human habitation, and on which any health emergencies or extreme weather could pose a serious threat to life.”
While the British have controlled the Chagos Islands for over 200 years, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer agreed in 2024 to hand over the territory to the nearby nation of Mauritius to comply with a ruling from the International Court of Justice at the United Nations.
Under the terms of the deal, the UK also agreed to pay Mauritius an average of £101 million per year for 99 years to lease the largest island, Diego Garcia, in order to retain control of the critical UK-U.S. military base.
Many Chagossians, who were evicted by the British from the islands in the 1960s to clear space to construct a military base on the island of Diego Garcia, have opposed the move by the UK to hand over control to Mauritius, as it would likely prevent them from ever returning to the land and regaining their own sovereignty.
Although President Donald Trump initially approved of the deal, he has since branded the move as a “blight” on Britain and criticised Prime Minister Starmer for abiding by the “wokeism” of globalist institutions such as the UN court.
Concerns have been raised that the deal between the UK and Mauritius could give the island nation veto power over Washington using Diego Garcia as a launching pad for international strikes. Should the U.S. ignore Mauritius and launch a strike from the territory, it could potentially give it the legal standing to claim that the treaty has been violated and thus enable them to renege on the lease and take full control of Diego Garcia.
There have also been concerns raised over the possibility of Mauritius allowing other countries to use other areas of the Chagos Islands for power projection, particularly Communist China, which has become a key ally of the leftist government in Port Louis.
Note that this is published in the USA by China. The articles in this issue are amazing including on why South Korea will Support China over the USA Japan and Taiwan. The US government intel appears to be stupid not to be reading this publication daily. Also all these people are Manchurian and many with tribal clan members in both North Korea and South Korea. They predicted South Korea would not let their troop take part in recent exercises in Korea with Japan the US and Oz to protect Korea. That's what happened. They government doesn't seem to understand that China has always been a nation of warlords not a nation in the western sense.
Seriously, why would any country depend on the USA right now?
* We are under constant economic, internal and external attacks.
* Our leaders are in constant conflict and promote internal civil unrest to get votes & $$$$, not what is best for their country or citizens.
* All just to stay in power, and/ or make $$$$$. It seems the 2 political main parties and their Elite Leaders have spent, wasted and pocketed 5x's more than was collected in revenues.
* DOJ Massive cover-ups of Leadership and Elitist sex crimes, $$ Million dollars crimes and Strange Auto-Pen Immunities.
#7
Ref SKorea and Japan. Japan occupied Korea from 1905-1945 during which time they tried to eradicate the Koran culture and imposed slave labor. The Japanese considered the Koreans untermensch. Long after the war, those Koreans imported as slave to Japan and still there could not get Japanese citizenship. Still touchy after all these years.
[HindustanTimes] Shah also stressed that the government would provide all necessary resources needed by them to achieve the goal of ‘terror free J&K’ at the earliest.
Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday directed all security agencies deployed in Jammu and Kashmir ...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it Azad (Free) Kashmir. The remainder they refer to as "Indian Occupied Kashmir". They have fought four wars with India over it, the score currently 4-0 in New Delhi's favor. After 72 years of this nonsense, India cut the Gordian knot in 2019, removing the area's special status, breaking off Ladakh as a separate state, and allowing people from other areas to settle (or in the case of the Pandits, to resettle) there.... to remain alert and continue to work in synergy to ensure that the gains achieved after the abrogation of Article 370 were sustained.
The home minister also stressed that the government would provide all necessary resources needed by them to achieve the goal of ’terror free J&K’ at the earliest.
The directions were given at a high-level review meeting on Thursday in Delhi, which was attended by lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha, union home secretary Govind Mohan, Intelligence Bureau director Tapan Deka, bigwigs of J&K and chiefs of central police forces.
Officials said Thursday’s meeting comes ahead of the Republic Day celebrations. The security forces, for the past few weeks, have launched an intensive campaign to hunt down gunnies in mountainous regions and the jungles.
The security forces, an officer said, are also keeping an eye on the infiltration of gunnies from across the border.
Speaking at the meeting, Shah said the Government of India was committed to establishing lasting peace in Jammu and Kashmir and completely eliminating terrorism. He said that the "terror eco-system in J&K has been crippled" due to sustained and coordinated efforts of the government, a ministry of home affairs statement issued after the meeting said.
A comforting statement that will be true until Pakistan’s ISI decides to once again send their pet jihadis across the border.
Appreciating the security forces for strengthening the security scenario of J&K, Shah said that Counter Terror (CT) operations targeting terrorist infrastructure and terror financing should be continued in a mission mode.
As reported by HT last month, Border Security Force (BSF) in Jammu has recently flagged the re-emergence of at least nine Jaish-e-Mohammed terror launch pads across the international border in Pakistain that were shut down following Operation Sindoor.
On April 22 last year, a terror attack at the picturesque Baisaran meadow brought India and Pakistain to the brink of a full-scale war. India launched Operation Sindoor in the early hours of May 7 and struck terror and military installations in Pakistain and Pakistain-Indian Kashmir (PoK) before the May 10 ceasefire.
[Rudaw] Iraq will prosecute all 5,704 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) bully boyz recently transferred from Syria, a judiciary official confirmed on Thursday.
Last week, the United States military announced it had completed the transfer of 5,704 male ISIS prisoners from detention facilities run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria. The operation lasted 23 days.
Iraq has already launched preliminary investigations into the detainees.
"We have started investigations. They already have legal cases, but their files were handled by SDF courts, which are not internationally recognized since they are not a state. We want to collect information and investigate them again. Most are foreigners; only about 470 are Iraqi," Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told Rudaw’s Alla Shally on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference last week.
An Iraqi judicial authority later confirmed to Rudaw that all transferred bully boyz will be tried in Iraqi courts.
Of the 5,704 detainees, 467 are Iraqi nationals, 4,253 are non-Iraqi Arabs, and 983 are citizens of dozens of other countries
LEGAL BASIS FOR PROSECUTION
Luma Fadhel Naif, head of research and studies at the Supreme Judicial Council’s National Center for International Judicial Cooperation, told Rudaw that foreign suspects will be prosecuted under Iraq’s Penal Code No. 111 of 1969.
The law - often referred to as the "Mother of Penal Laws" in Iraq - establishes the general principles governing crimes and punishments. Authorities are relying particularly on Article 6, which allows Iraqi courts to try foreign defendants for crimes committed outside Iraq if those crimes harmed Iraqi national security.
"The law encompasses all crimes committed outside Iraq that have a direct impact on Iraqi national security, such as terrorist crimes or joining armed organizations that pose a threat to Iraq’s security," Naif said. "Therefore, Iraqi law applies to perpetrators when they are present within Iraq, even if the principal perpetrator of the crime is abroad."
She added that defendants will also be subject to Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Law No. 13 of 2005.
WHAT IS COUNTER-TERRORISM LAW NO. 13 OF 2005?
The Counter-Terrorism Law No. 13 of 2005 is one of Iraq’s strictest security laws. Although it consists of only six articles, its impact is sweeping.
While the law does not explicitly reference foreign nationals, it operates alongside the general penal code. Under Iraq’s legal framework, ISIS is classified as a terrorist organization that directly targeted Iraqi security. As a result, anyone who joined the group - regardless of nationality or where the act occurred - can be prosecuted under Iraqi law if their actions harmed Iraq’s national security.
The law imposes severe penalties and makes no distinction between those who carried out attacks and those who provided logistical or material support. Convictions can result in life imprisonment or the death penalty PUBLIC TRIAL GUARANTEES
Addressing concerns about due process for defendants from 61 different countries, Naif stated that Iraqi courts are bound by the legal guarantees outlined in the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Under Article 61/C, an interpreter must be provided if a defendant or witness does not understand the language used in court. Defendants also have the right to legal representation. If they cannot afford a lawyer, the court will appoint one at no cost.
Additionally, Article 152 stipulates that trial hearings must be public.
RIGHTS OF VICTIMS, INCLUDING YAZIDIS
Naif emphasized that Iraqi law protects the rights of victims to file complaints and seek compensation if crimes committed against them are proven.
"According to Article 10 of the Criminal Procedure Code, anyone who has suffered material or moral harm has the right to file a complaint to claim their personal rights against the accused," she said.
She also highlighted Law No. 8 of 2021, known as the Yazidi Survivors Law, which provides material and moral compensation to Yazidi survivors of ISIS atrocities and seeks to ensure a dignified life for victims.
Victims may register their testimonies as witnesses or complainants before investigative judges and courts.
Regarding the potential extradition of imported muscle, Naif said there is no legal barrier to transferring suspects to their home countries if those governments formally request their return - provided the individuals did not commit crimes against Iraqis on Iraqi soil.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/22/2026 2026-02-22 01:35 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1796 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[IsraelTimes] A Jordanian military base is hosting dozens of US airplanes amid an American military buildup in the region, The New York Times reports.
The US military has been amassing forces in the Middle East as US President Donald Trump has threatened to attack Iran.
Citing satellite imagery and flight trackers, the Times reports that more than 60 attack aircraft, as well as at least 68 cargo planes, have landed at Muwaffaq Salti base, east of Amman, over the past week.
The numbers are a sharp uptick from the craft that are usually parked at the base, with the number of attack craft there representing triple the usual figure, according to the Times. The report calls the base “a key hub” for American military planning.
The planes at the base include F-35 fighter jets, a change from the aircraft usually there. The base also has new air defenses, the Times says.
Jordan is one of several countries in the region that has barred attacks on Iran from its territory.
Jordan just claimed they won’t let the US to use their bases for strikes. Hope it’s misdirection. At this point it seems no country is “claiming” to support the U.S.
Much more at the link for those of you technical enough to appreciate it all properly, and some photos that even I can see are very pretty — for a given value of the adjective. Happy reading before whatever is about to happen commences.
[TWZ] New GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator Parts Reverse Engineered From ATACMS Ballistic Missile Tech. Replacing GBU-57s dropped on Iran highlights issues that come from being locked into a single contractor, which the Pentagon is trying to change.
Last year, the U.S. government was able to reverse engineer a critical subcomponent for the 30,000-pound GBU-57/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bunker buster bomb. Leveraging technology from the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) short-range ballistic missile saved years of work that would have otherwise been necessary to “eliminate obsolescence issues and meet operational demands.” The reverse-engineering effort also highlights the impacts of being locked into a single vendor, and underscores why the Pentagon is now pushing to make changes to, if not end this practice.
Details about the reverse-engineered component and other aspects of the MOP program were contained in a recent U.S. Air Force contracting announcement regarding efforts to replenish stocks of those bombs following Operation Midnight Hammer. During that operation, B-2 Spirit stealth bombers dropped 14 GBU-57/Bs on Iranian nuclear facilities. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) had to produce a detailed justification for awarding a sole-source contract to Boeing for the production of new MOPs and the sustainment of the existing inventory. Boeing is the bomb’s current prime contractor. A redacted copy of that document is available online.
[AnNahar] Unannounced, U.S.-brokered negotiations between Leb ...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. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration.... and Israel have made major progress, a senior source said.
"These negotiations, led by a high-ranking Lebanese figure, are based on a mutually agreed-upon framework of concessions," the source told the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper.
The source added that these negotiations, in which the Lebanese side is vehemently demanding that Israel show flexibility regarding the points it has occupied, are the same factors that prompted Hezbollah to allow the Cabinet session on weapons to proceed smoothly.
"Escalation at the Cabinet table harms the negotiation process and undermines the points of compromise on the table," the source explained.
The source added that Washington, which is overseeing the negotiations, is acting based on two firm principles: preserving Lebanon's unity and guaranteeing Israel's security.
Under the proposed agreement, Washington would guarantee Israel's withdrawal from one or two occupied points in south Lebanon, in exchange for Lebanon "storing" Hezbollah's weapons.
"There are negotiations on placing the weapons in depots, in coordination between the Lebanese Army and Hezbollah, which would lead to a lengthy period of conflict suspension, during which Hezbollah would strictly commit to not attacking Israel. With time, this would turn the weapons into junk, while Washington would guarantee Israel’s withdrawal from one point after another," the source said.
According to the source, this complex negotiating framework allows both Hezbollah and Israel a period for monitoring each other's behavior. It also provides Lebanon with an opportunity to progress on its path to recovery and offers the U.S. a guarantee of Israel's security without the need to worry about Hezbollah's potential actions.
The source attributed the shift in Hezbollah’s stance to four crucial points:
"1. The American siege on Iran’s leadership.
2. The limited room for maneuver domestically.
3. The rejection by the (Shiite) Duo's popular base of engaging in a new war.
4. Hezbollah's limited capacity to wage war, or even to defend itself effectively."
The source elaborated on the fourth point, explaining that Hezbollah spent 18 years between the 2006 war and the 2024 war stockpiling weapons, while Israel pursued its strategic objectives one after another. The result was that the military machine of 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... and Hezbollah was defeated by Israel's technological, security, and intelligence capabilities.
[AnNahar] The Lebanese Army has been searching for weapons and arms depots in the area north of the Litani River for several months, a media report said.
"Speaking of separation between a first phase and a second phase is not accurate, because whenever informed of the presence of arms, ammunition or depots in a certain place, the army heads to it, regardless whether it’s part of its plan’s first phase or not," An-Nahar newspaper reported on Wednesday.
"The army is pressing on with the implementation of the plan, and it had started the second phase before devising a plan, through the containment actions that have been ongoing for around a year in the North Litani region, where arms, ammo, depots and warehouses are being confiscated without any confrontations with Hezbollah," the daily quoted unnamed sources as saying.
[AnNahar] School bus driver Ali al-Dorr averts his gaze every time he passes the rubble of his son's home -- destroyed by an Israeli strike in south Leb ...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. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration.... despite a year-old ceasefire.
Though his son managed to evacuate in time, the attack left notebooks, papers and furniture strewn among the debris of the apartment building in Qannarit, overlooking the coastal city of Sidon, the scene of several strikes in recent weeks that Israel says targeted Hezbollah.
Dorr, 62, said he bought the flat for his son, who lived there with his family until the Israeli army warned on January 21 of an impending attack.
"I pass by here every day to drop off students. I turn my head, so I don't feel the heartbreak," he told AFP.
"At least the family got out alive."
Images of slain Hezbollah members and the movement's yellow flag can be seen at the entrance to Qannarit, a village surrounded by olive trees about 30 kilometers from the Israeli border.
It was hit by Israeli raids during more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah that broke out around the start of the 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... war.
A November 2024 ceasefire was supposed to end the violence, but Israel has kept up regular attacks in Lebanon, usually saying it is targeting the Iran-backed group, which it accuses of violating the truce.
More than 370 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since the ceasefire took effect, per an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures.
Lebanon's government has committed to disarming Hezbollah, and the army in the coming months is set to do so in the area that includes Qannarit.
Israel, which has also kept troops in five south Lebanon border areas it deems "strategic", has called the army's efforts insufficient.
- 'NO SAFETY' -
While the war spared Fatima al-Nassar's home, the ceasefire did not.
The walls of the 52-year-old Paleostinian housewife's home were blown off when a strike hit nearby, rendering it unlivable.
Her family garden, where they used to grow vegetables to sell at the local market, is now littered with rubble and cloaked in a blanket of grey dust.
"We've been here for 25 years... You work so hard -- for all your efforts to disappear in a second," she said, still in disbelief.
"There is no safety" in the south, she said.
Two Israeli strikes on Qannarit on January 21 destroyed 26 homes and damaged around 350 others, deputy mayor Ibrahim Hamdan told AFP.
The health ministry said 19 people were maimed.
Along with the fear of potential strikes, south Lebanon residents also have to contend with the frequent, nerve-wracking buzz of Israeli drones.
A video circulating on social media recently, purportedly from Kfar Kila near the border, showed a drone hovering over and following people as they visited their loved ones' graves.
This month in Qannarit, an Israeli drone hit a bulldozer that was working to clear the site of last month's strike, wounding one person and destroying the machine, which now lies among the rubble.
- 'WILL THEY HIT US?' -
Qannarit resident Ahmad al-Awdali, 49, was among those who lost his home. A red mattress now lies among the destruction of what used to be his son Ali's room.
"Our home wasn't hit during the war, it was hit now," he said.
If there were really a truce, he added, "this wouldn't have happened".
He and Ali were also nearby when the bulldozer was hit, leaving the 10-year-old traumatized.
"He doesn't sleep... During the night he suddenly wakes up scared," said Awdali, who is also a bus driver.
"Every time we go to a house he asks me, 'Will they hit us?'"
The conflict has damaged or destroyed swathes of the south, with many border towns in ruins and reconstruction yet to begin.
The Qannarit municipality said it was sheltering 55 families who have fled towns and villages near the frontier, seeking relative safety.
Ali Ghaddar, 56, has been trying to keep his hardware shop going after one of the Israeli strikes that hit Qannarit on January 21 shattered his glass storefront.
Many people lost their homes and "the area has been killed economically", said Ghaddar, surrounded by other shops also damaged by the raid, which levelled the building across the street.
A Hezbollah flag sticks out of the rubble at the stricken site.
In the face of the recent destruction, he said, the ceasefire seemed a distant notion.
"For those who say the war ended, I say no, it's still happening."
[IsraelTimes] Beirut can’t let Lebanon be dragged into conflict, must declare neutrality, say ‘prominent political sources’ cited in separate report by anti-Hezbollah outlet
Officers from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have effectively taken charge of Hezbollah in anticipation of a war with the US and Israel, Saudi outlet al-Arabiya reported Saturday, as Lebanese officials were said to assail the possibility of their country getting dragged into battle.
The IRGC officers, some of whom recently arrived in Leb ...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?... from Iran, are tasked with rebuilding Hezbollah’s military capabilities, which were significantly degraded in the 14-month fighting with Israel that ended with a November 2024 truce, al-Arabiya said, citing sources close to Hezbollah.
The Iranian officers have also been personally briefing Hezbollah operatives across Lebanon, said the unnamed sources cited by al-Arabiya. They added that IRGC officers were meeting with members of Hezbollah’s missile unit at a site in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley that was bombed by Israel overnight, amid a wave of Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s that maimed at least 50 people and killed 12, including a senior Hezbollah officer. The IDF said the strikes targeted Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... and Hezbollah command centers.
According to the Hezbollah-aligned sources, a wider Israeli military offensive against Lebanon is only a matter of time.
The report came as US President Donald Trump ...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried.... has amassed military forces in the region and repeatedly threatened to use them against Iran, first over the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s brutal crackdown on anti-regime protesters last month and more recently over its nuclear program.
Israel is preparing to fight alongside the US and expects to be targeted 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... if the US strikes there, according to Hebrew media.
Channel 12 news reported Saturday that Trump was leaning toward attacking Iran, but had agreed to a request from his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to give Iran another day or two to submit a proposal in the indirect US-Iran nuclear negotiations that commenced earlier this month.
An unnamed US official was quoted by the network saying that the 10- to 15-day deadline Trump gave Iran on Thursday was "not scientific."
Trump has demanded Iran give up entirely on its nuclear enrichment program, but is reportedly open to letting the Islamic Theocratic Republic preserve some "token" enrichment capabilities.
Speaking to pro-Iran demonstrators in Lebanon last month, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem ... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies... said the terrorist group would not be neutral if the US struck Iran, but stopped short of explicitly threatening Israel.
Meanwhile,
...back at the the conspirators' cleverly concealed hideout Montefiore's foot was still stuck and the hound had completely soaked his uniform with slobber... the Ynet news site said in an unsourced report this week that Iran was pressuring Hezbollah to fight alongside it in the event of a war with Israel. The report also said the IDF had prepared a plan to "significantly strike" Hezbollah and had conveyed to it "that if it decides to intervene, this time the blow will be very painful."
On Saturday, anti-Hezbollah Lebanese outlet Nidaa al-Watan cited "prominent political sources" in the country as saying Beirut must declare its neutrality in case of a US-Iran war, and refuse to let Hezbollah drag Lebanon into war with Israel.
"Hezbollah thought it could confuse Israel and the US by saying it would not be neutral if Iran were struck, so Israel responded by saying that as soon as it’s informed by Washington of the zero hour, it will preemptively strike Hezbollah. Israel won’t let Hezbollah have the initiative," Nidaa al-Watan quoted its sources as saying. "Hezbollah will drag Lebanon into this war."
Hezbollah, previously a formidable force in Lebanon’s government, has been politically sidelined with the accession in January 2025 of Lebanon’s US- and Saudi-backed President Joseph Aoun, a former army chief who has vowed to uphold a state monopoly on arms — a thinly veiled threat against Hezbollah’s extensive arsenal.
[IsraelTimes] Wall Street Journal says US believes some 15,000-20,000 people departed Al-Hol amid chaotic government takeover from US-backed Kurdish forces
Fewer than 1,000 families remain at a camp where relatives of suspected 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.... hard boyz had been held in Syria’s northeast, the camp’s former director said this week, with thousands having fled last month as government forces seized control of the area from Kurdish-led fighters.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that American intelligence believes upwards of 20,000 prisoners — including individuals with ties to the Islamic State terror group — were now on the lam in the country.
Al-Hol, near the Iraqi border, was one of the main detention camps for relatives of suspected Islamic State fighters who were detained during the US-backed campaign against the jihadist group in Syria.
Control of the camp changed hands last month when government forces under President Ahmed al-Sharaa seized swaths of the northeast from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, including several jails holding Islamic State fighters.
Jihan Hanna, the former director who still coordinates with international agencies and the Syrian government, told Rooters the remaining families were Syrian nationals and were being transferred to a camp in Aleppo. Most of the camp’s foreign nationals had fled, she said.
The Syrian government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to the latest camp data obtained by Rooters, dated January 19 — a day before the government took control of the camp — its population was 6,639 families comprising 23,407 people, mostly Syrians and Iraqis, as well as 6,280 foreigners from more than 40 nationalities.
The Syrian government accused the SDF of withdrawing from Al—Hol on January 20 without any coordination. The SDF, in a statement that day, said its forces had been "compelled to withdraw from Al—Hol camp and redeploy to areas surrounding cities in northern Syria that are facing increasing risks and threats."
According to a US assessment, the Syrian government’s negligence — specifically around the camp’s periphery — is largely to blame for the large number of escapes.
A Syrian government security source said most people in the camp fled that day during a five-hour period when it was unguarded, and that some had left with men who came to take their relatives to unknown destinations.
The security source and a source from a non-governmental organization working there said a section of the camp that housed its most dangerous residents, known as the annex, was empty.
The security source said the escapees had spread throughout Syria and that security authorities, working in cooperation with international partners, had established a unit to "follow up on the matter and pursue those who are wanted."
Some have left Syria.
In Leb ...The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... , the army has questioned more than a dozen Lebanese who crossed illegally from Syria after leaving Al—Hol, a Lebanese security source said.
The Syrian government’s Directorate of International Cooperation said on Tuesday that hundreds of people, mostly women and kiddies, had been transferred from al—Hol to a newly prepared camp near the town of Akhtarin in northern Aleppo.
Al-Hol facility, located in Syria’s eastern desert near the Iraqi border, was established by the SDF after it took control of large parts of northeast Syria. The camp once held more than 70,000 people, including suspected Islamic State fighters’ family members.
By the end of 2025, only roughly 23,000 people remained, according to a report by the Pentagon’s Inspector General. A diplomat told The Journal earlier this week that there were now some 300 to 400 families still there.
Security analysts have long warned that the camp risked further radicalization of detainees. A report to the US Congress found that those who fled the camp are at risk of recruitment into ISIS, as they’re more vulnerable due to a lack of economic prospects upon returning home.
Intelligence from the Pentagon found that there has been a willingness within Sharaa’s government to help the US combat terror groups, The Journal reported. However,
it's easy to be generous with someone else's money... a report published on Thursday by the Department of Defense Inspector General found Damascus’s efforts were "limited by a lack of trained, qualified personnel, and the nascent state of security institutions."
Washington has drawn close to Syria’s new authorities since the fall of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... in late 2024. Yet, as fears that Death Eaters could escape mounted, the US military relocated roughly 5,700 adult male Islamic State fighters from the Syrian network of prisons and camps to Iraq in an operation that ended last week.
A defense official told The Journal that the majority of the Death Eaters it feared could break out have been secured.
US media reports on Wednesday claimed the US is planning to withdraw all of its 1,000 remaining troops from Syria over the next two months, ending its presence in the country.
A US official told the Journal the withdrawal will be "conditions-based," meaning that if ISIS rebounds, troops may wind up staying in Syria.
US forces recently withdrew from some bases in Syria, including al-Tanf and al-Shadadi, which were used in the US-led international coalition’s fight against ISIS.
[IsraelTimes] Syrian authorities have taken over management of Qamishli airport as part of an ongoing process to integrate Kurdish-led forces and institutions into the national government, state media reports.
The SANA news agency, citing the General Authority of Civil Aviation and Air Transport, says officials toured the facility today after assuming control and “discussed mechanisms to restart its operations.”
The head of the authority, Omar al-Husari, says on X that taking over the airport is “an important institutional step in the process of unifying the management of airports under the umbrella of the state.”
The Kurds — who controlled much of northeast Syria before striking the integration deal under military pressure from the government — had taken over the airport following the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in late 2024.
While it was not open to civilian flights, Russia had used part of the facility as a base before withdrawing last month.
Qamishli is the only airport in northeastern Syria, and for years served as a lifeline for the region’s residents, particularly during nearly 14 years of civil war beginning in 2011, during which there were regular flights between it and Damascus.
The airport had remained under the government’s control during the war, and continued to receive flights up until Assad’s overthrow.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] Mass protests involving students from Sharif University of Technology have resumed in Iran.The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) reported this on its website on February 21.
A new phase of student protests began with a march marking the 40th day of remembrance for those killed during the January clashes. Unauthorized events took place in several cities, including Mashhad, Isfahan, and Shiraz, with students carrying banners with anti-government slogans and chanting loudly.
Students clashed with security forces at the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, and protesters gathered outside the University of Medical Sciences in Mashhad. No casualties have been reported.
Earlier, the administration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian published a list of the names of those killed during the unrest that began in the republic in late December 2025. The total death toll stands at 3,117.
Protests in Iran began on December 28 following a sharp decline in the national currency. They included clashes with police, attacks on government buildings, and internet restrictions across the country.
Head of top Tehran engineering school calls for criminals to be ‘dealt with’ after Basij officers reportedly clash with students, who greet them with calls of ‘death’ to Khamenei
Iranian students hollered poorly rhymed slogans against the government at rallies for people killed in the regime’s bloody crackdown on protesters last month, local and diaspora media reported Saturday, as groups opposed to the holy manal leadership faced off with its supporters and security forces.
Videos geolocated by AFP to Tehran’s top engineering university showed fights breaking out in a crowd as people shouted "bi sharaf," or "disgraceful" in Farsi.
Footage posted by the Persian-language dissident TV channel 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... International, which is based outside the country, also showed a large crowd chanting anti-government slogans at Sharif University of Technology.
According to Iran International, protesters clashed with members of the regime’s Basij paramilitary force, chanting "death" to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...> , and "long live the king," referring to the monarchy toppled in Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Local news outlet Fars said that what was supposed to be a "silent and peaceful sit-in" of students killed last month was disrupted by people chanting anti-regime slogans. A video posted by Fars showed a group chanting and waving Iranian flags facing off with a crowd wearing masks and being held back by men in suits. Both groups were holding what appeared to be memorial photographs.
Iran International quoted Sharif University President Masoud Tajrishi calling for perpetrators of "illegal acts" to be "dealt with."
"The enemy wants the university to become virtual, but we will not allow it," Tajrishi was quoted as saying. "We want to show that we can manage the university. Anyone who carries out illegal acts at the university must be dealt with."
Meanwhile,
...back at the the conspirators' cleverly concealed hideout Montefiore's foot was still stuck and the hound had completely soaked his uniform with slobber... students at Tehran’s Beheshti University held a sit-in in solidarity with the people slain or imprisoned during the regime’s protest crackdown, according to a statement by the student union cited by Iran International.
And in the city’s Amirkabir University of Technology, demonstrators yelled "long live the king," according to footage published by the outlet, which cited the student union later saying that security forces blocked the school’s exit and detained students.
Other footage published by Iran International showed students at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences chanting "freedom."
Iranians reprised their protest slogans this week to mark 40 days — the traditional Shiite mourning period — since the killing of thousands of protesters in a crackdown that peaked on January 8 and 9.
The unrest first broke out in December over prolonged financial strain, but went kaboom! into mass anti-government demonstrations.
ts News Agency (HRANA) has recorded more than 7,000 killings in the crackdown, the vast majority protesters, though the toll may be far higher.
Iran International itself has put the corpse count at over 36,000.
Iranian authorities, who have undercounted deaths in previous rounds of unrest suppressed by the regime, acknowledge more than 3,000 deaths, but say the violence was caused by "terrorist acts" fueled by Iran’s enemies.
The demonstrations came as Iran’s authorities are under pressure to make a deal on the country’s nuclear program with the United States, which has amassed forces within striking distance.
US President Donald Trump ...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US... has repeatedly threatened military action against Iran, first over its protest crackdown last month and more recently over its failure to rein in its nuclear program.
"World powers are lining up to force us to bow our heads... but we will not bow our heads despite all the problems that they are creating for us," Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian declared Saturday in a speech carried live by state TV.
Iranian regime thugs squared off with student protestors in the streets of Tehran Saturday leaving some injured, as the Islamic Republic refuted claims that they’ve slaughtered more than 30,000 of their own people.
Students from Sharif University of Technology, Amirkabit University of Technology and Besheti University of Tehran, took to the streets chanting slogans like “Death to Khamenei,” according to Iran International.
Some student protestors at Sharif University were attacked by Basij militia forces — an Iranian government paramilitary group, Times of Israel reported.
Those clashes ended with some students injured and the large crowd chanting “shameless” at the Basij brutes, according to the outlet reported.
The extent of the injuries is unclear.
Student protests also sprung up in the eastern city of Mashad, where demonstrators at Mashad University of Medical Sciences gathered and forcefully chanted “freedom,” according to a video obtained by Iran International.
Posted by: badanov ||
02/22/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1765 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
🇸🇾⚡- The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIS, have announced a "new phase of Jihad" against the current Syrian government of Ahmed al-Sharaa.
ISIS accuses al-Sharaa of being an "apostate," that does not "differ from Alawites and Kurds." The Islamic State calls the…
— Rerum Novarum // Intel, Breaking News, and Alerts (@officialrnintel) February 21, 2026
Text:
🇸🇾⚡- The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIS, have announced a "new phase of Jihad" against the current Syrian government of Ahmed al-Sharaa.
ISIS accuses al-Sharaa of being an "apostate," that does not "differ from Alawites and Kurds." The Islamic State calls the November-December 2024 overthrow of Bashar al-Assad as "Turkish-American theater." ISIS calls Damascus a government run by "crusaders."
Posted by: badanov ||
02/22/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1757 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
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.
.jpg "Kashmir")
...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it 
...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 
...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. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration....
...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. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration....
..always the voice of sweet reason...
...The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
...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 
