[GaroweOnline] The Ministry of Security of Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... state has said it closely monitored telephone communications between senior Somali Federal Government officials and the pirates who hijacked the cargo vessel MV Lutuf.
Puntland officials accused federal figures of acting as intermediaries to facilitate a ransom payment to secure the ship’s release. However,
denial ain't just a river in Egypt... the ministry did not publicly name the officials involved nor release audio recordings or independent evidence to substantiate its allegations.
Earlier reports indicated that the pirates had demanded roughly $2 million to free the vessel. At the time of the demand, it remained unclear whether formal negotiations had begun or who had agreed to pay the ransom.
Puntland security officials condemned the alleged ransom payment as a "serious mistake," warning that financial payouts incentivize further hijackings and undermine international counter-piracy efforts.
Armed pirates hijacked the MV LUTUF on August 17 off the coast of Puntland. The pirates left the ship after taking the ransom, according to local security officials, who spoke to Garowe Online by phone.
According to a Somali official, the vessel was transporting Ottoman Turkish military supplies, communications gear, and satellite systems bound for the TURKSOM military base in Mogadishu.
The hijacked vessel carried a 10-member crew comprising six Indian nationals, one Ottoman Turkish citizen, one Georgian national, and two Serbian security guards.
[KhaamaPress] The United States deported dozens of refugees, including 12 Afghan nationals, to the Central African Republic on Saturday, despite concerns that some of the Afghans face serious threats from the Taliban ...Arabic for students... if returned to Afghanistan, according to the News Agency that Dare Not be Named.
According to the News Agency that Dare Not be Named, the group was flown to Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, as part of a transfer to a third country. The deportees also included eight Iranian nationals and several refugees from Nepal and Nicaragua.
Among the Afghans was a man in his early 20s whose family has longstanding ties to the US military mission in Afghanistan. His lawyers said a US federal judge had previously blocked his deportation to Afghanistan because he faced a credible risk of persecution and retaliation by the Taliban.
Court documents obtained by the News Agency that Dare Not be Named state that the man’s family had received repeated Taliban threats because his brothers worked alongside US forces in Afghanistan. One brother now lives in the United States after serving in the former Afghanistan National Army, while another, a US-trained pilot, was killed by the Taliban after the group’s return to power in 2021.
Alma David, one of the refugee’s attorneys, said the court order prohibited his removal to Afghanistan because of the documented risks he faced there. Instead of returning him to Afghanistan, US authorities transferred him to a third country along with the other refugees.
The deportation comes as the United States continues to tighten immigration enforcement while using third-country transfers for some migrants colonists and refugees whose removal to their home countries has been delayed or blocked by legal rulings.
The case has drawn criticism from refugee advocates, who argue that transferring vulnerable Afghan refugees to countries with limited protection systems raises serious humanitarian concerns. Rights groups have also warned that Afghans linked to the former US-backed government or military remain at risk of persecution if ultimately returned to Afghanistan.
[IsraelNationalNews] In a video aimed at international audiences, Israeli public diplomacy advocate and Samaria resident Ezra Tubi challenges media reports about the village of Qusra, arguing that claims of a Jewish "siege" are false and part of a broader campaign to delegitimize Israel.
As international headlines continue to portray the events surrounding the Palestinian village of Qusra as another example of "settler violence" and a "siege" on Palestinian homes, Israeli spokesman and Samaria resident Ezra Tubi is presenting a very different narrative.
Standing on a strategic hill overlooking the area, Tubi opens his English-language video with a direct challenge to the international media.
"Behind me are the 'terrorist settlers' you've been reading about," he says. "But I'm about to show you a completely different story."
According to Tubi, the Jewish presence on the hill is not only rooted in historical and biblical ties to the land but is also driven by urgent security concerns.
"This is our ancestral homeland," he says. "But just as importantly, this location has enormous strategic significance for the safety of thousands of Israelis."
Tubi links the current tensions to the October 7 Hamas massacre, arguing that support for the attack was openly expressed in Qusra.
He points to an official statement issued by the village municipality one day after the massacre, announcing a general strike in honor of what it described as the "heroic martyrs of Gaza." For Tubi, this demonstrates that the security threat is far from theoretical.
"Based on our experience," he says, "we have every reason to believe that, given the opportunity, they would do exactly the same thing to their Jewish neighbors."
He goes on to argue that the struggle over the hill is not accidental but part of a much larger battle over strategic terrain.
"This is one of the highest points in Samaria," he explains. "Whoever controls this hill controls the surrounding area. The expansion of Arab construction here has not been random. It is part of a deliberate strategy, backed by funding and political support from hostile Arab countries and European governments."
According to Tubi, a group of young Jewish residents established a presence on the hill in an effort to prevent what they viewed as a strategic takeover.
"From the moment the Israeli flag was planted here," he says, "the entire world turned against them. Livestock was poisoned, explosive devices were planted, and young Jews were targeted in lynching attempts."
A central focus of Tubi's message is the widely reported claim that Jewish residents imposed a "siege" on Palestinian homes near Qusra.
He dismisses the allegation outright.
"The media keeps repeating the word 'siege,'" he says. "But where exactly is the siege? These are the two houses everyone is talking about. Where is the evidence? Where are the videos showing a siege? A group of Jews standing in an area during an active conflict is not a siege."
Tubi concludes by arguing that the controversy surrounding Qusra is merely one chapter in what he describes as a much broader information war against Israel.
"This is just another propaganda campaign," he says. "Yesterday it was allegations of deliberate starvation, genocide, or killing babies in Gaza. Today it's 'settler violence.' Don't be fooled. This is not a campaign against settlers. It is a campaign against the State of Israel and against Jews around the world."
[IsraelTimes] Lawyer for Finn Joughin says he was trying to protect Palestinians’ property, after settlers took him into custody for allegedly assaulting a minor before handing him over to cops
A British activist who was detained on Saturday by settlers and then handed over to police is to be deported from Israel.
The decision came after a UK government spokesperson told the News Agency that Dare Not be Named that embassy officials raised the case with Israeli authorities.
Finn Joughin was taken into custody by armed settlers on Saturday in the southern West Bank village of Umm al-Kheir, where he was trying to protect the locals amid repeated attacks from settlers who set up illegal outposts on the neighboring hillsides. The volunteer activity is known as protective presence and has become increasingly common throughout the West Bank amid a surge in settler violence.
The settlers who detained Joughin, later holding him in a structure before giving him to police, accused him of assaulting a minor. In footage of the incident, Joughin is seen holding on to a fence, next to an Arabic sign that reads "Welcome to Khirbet Umm al-Kheir," and pressing his body against that of a child in an apparent attempt to prevent the child from passing through.
His lawyer, Inbar Shaked Vardi, said the video shows he was trying to protect the village. Fellow activists accused the settlers of kidnapping him.
He "stood next to the fence in an attempt to prevent its dismantling and damage to the property of the villagers, while the settlers got close to him and were trying to forcibly pass by him," she told Haaretz.
She added that Joughin was filmed without his consent and was subjected to baseless accusations in Hebrew, which he does not speak. She said her client suffered "severe damage to his right to privacy and to his reputation."
She said that, to the best of her knowledge, police did not question the men who detained Joughin at all when they came to take him.
According to Israel Police, Joughin was detained by the head of the security squad of "one of the settlements adjacent to Ma’on," a recognized settlement south of Hebron, signaling that the settlers involved in the incident were residents of an illegal outpost in the area.
He was detained "on suspicion of performing an indecent act against a minor," police said late Saturday in response to a query.
The interrogation of the British national "included, among others, the taking of testimonies that indicated a suspicion of a case of assaulting a minor," police said. "The suspect was arrested at the end of his interrogation and the investigation of the case is ongoing."
Joughin attended a hearing at the Population and Immigration Authority ahead of his deportation, according to Haaretz. Israel has deported dozens of activists who have traveled to the West Bank to help protect Paleostinians from settler violence.
Settler violence has surged in recent months, with daily attacks and harassment. Prosecutions are rare, and critics accuse the IDF and Netanyahu’s government of condoning or even encouraging the violence.
The most senior IDF officer in the West Bank reportedly warned during a closed-door security assessment on Monday that mounting settler violence could ignite a broader escalation in the territory.
🇸🇾🇮🇱 La Syrie a fait savoir à Israël qu'elle n'accepterait aucune restriction à son droit de développer ses capacités militaires ni de former des alliances avec d'autres pays dans le cadre d’un accord de sécurité, rapporte l'agence de presse officielle syrienne SANA, citant une… pic.twitter.com/dZwnWm45iR
🇸🇾🇮🇱 Syria has informed Israel that it will not accept any restrictions on its right to develop its military capabilities or to form alliances with other countries as part of a security agreement, reports the official Syrian news agency SANA, citing a diplomatic source.
Yes, yes, the Brave Lions of Islam must not be obedient to mere yahoods, when Allah himself decreed the Jews are dhimmis. The problem with those uppity Israeli Jews is that they have a more powerful army than the Syrian members of the Master Religion, and they will only indulge America so far. Now that Syria has spoken, shutting up is their next step.
Syria's immediate priority, according to the report, is the withdrawal of Israeli forces to the front lines prior to the fall of Bashar al-Assad and the full implementation of the 1974 disengagement agreement.
No doubt. Now you need to bell the Israeli cat — see below.
The diplomatic source specified that any future security agreement must also respect Syria's territorial integrity.
The Agreement on Disengagement[1] between Israel and Syria, which was signed on May 31, 1974,[2] provided for the continuation of the cease-fire already in effect and for the separation of opposing parties by a UN Peacekeeping Force. The Agreement specifically states that “H. This agreement is not a peace agreement. It is a step toward a just and durable peace on the basis of Security Council Resolution 338 dated October 22, 1973.” [3]
Fifty years later, following the fall of the Assad regime, Israel said it "considered the agreement void until order is restored in Syria",[4] leading to the 2024 Israeli invasion of Syria. Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa reaffirmed his government's commitment to the agreement and entered negotiations for a new security arrangement with Israel in the Golan Heights.
Posted by: badanov ||
08/31/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[173 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria/HTS
#1
That's cute
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/31/2026 0:20 Comments ||
Top||
#2
The dumb pig will rather turn his country over to Turks?
[North Press] Families of people abducted or missing after being captured by the Islamic State (ISIS) held a protest on Sunday in Kobani, northern Syria, demanding information about the fate of their relatives who have been missing for more than a decade.
The protest was organized by the Meshtanour Association, which represents families of people abducted by ISIS as well as missing and abducted persons. It was held at the Free Women’s Square in Kobani city to mark the International Day of the Disappeared.
Mahmoud Zito, an official at the Meshtanour Association, told North Press that most of the people abducted by ISIS were taken in groups from different locations in 2014.
“On the International Day of the Disappeared, we want to make our voice heard by the world, human rights organizations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Global Coalition and the Syrian government, and ask them to help determine the fate of our abducted sons,” Zito said.
The association has documented the names of 587 people from Kobani and its surrounding countryside who were abducted by ISIS between 2014 and 2015, according to Zito. More at the link
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.
...Arabic for 
