| Arabia |
| UAE top court upholds life terms for 24 convicted for ‘terror’ links in controversial mass trial |
| 2025-06-29 |
Do not pass go, do not collect $200. It’s straight to jail for you lot, boys. [IsraelTimes] The UAE supreme court has jailed 24 people for life after upholding their convictions for “terrorist” links, which had been dismissed following a mass trial criticized by human rights groups.“The Criminal Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court ruled [on Thursday] to partially overturn the judgment issued by the State Security Chamber at the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal and to reconvict 24 defendants,” the United Arab Emirates’ official WAM news agency reports. The 24 were originally convicted in a mass trial of 84 people in July last year, most of whom had been behind bars since a similar mass trial of 94 people in 2013, according to human rights groups. “Following yesterday’s ruling… the total number of convicted individuals in this case has risen to 83 out of 84 referred to trial,” WAM says. Sixty-seven of them were jailed for life. “The court sentenced the defendants to life imprisonment for collaborating with the ‘Terrorist Justice and Dignity Organisation’, and providing funds to the Al-Islah,” …translates as The Reform, it is the UAE branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, formed on a core of Egyptian Brotherhooders who fled Nasser’s crackdown in the 1960s. Recruited by the government of one of the emirates as teachers to counter pan-Arab national socialist enthusiasts, they were tapped to run a number of domestic government ministries even as they formed a militant arm to overthrow the government, for which they were banned as terrorists in 2014. This despite two of their number having been involved in 9/11… WAM adds, referring to a group with ties to the outlawed Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood.The original 2013 trial of the so-called UAE 94 followed a round-up of dozens of government critics, including activists, lawyers, students and teachers in the aftermath of the Arab Spring uprisings around the region. It was strongly criticized by human rights groups. In March, the UAE rejected the appeals of 53 of those convicted in the July 2024 trial. The Abu Dhabi Federal Appeals Court overturned the convictions of the other 24 defendants, but the attorney general sought to reverse that decision, arguing it had been “legally flawed.” Prominent activist Ahmed Mansoor and academic Nasser bin Ghaith were among those tried last July, Human Rights Watch says. The UAE, a federation of seven absolute monarchies, prohibits criticism of its rulers and any speech that is deemed likely to spark social unrest. The Emirati courts have convicted dozens of citizens and Egyptian expats of forming clandestine cells, including Al-Islah. |
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| Iraq |
| Baghdad Operations Command overthrows a fugitive ''ISIS'' terrorist south of Baghdad |
| 2024-07-08 |
| [NINANEWS] Baghdad Operations Command forces overthrew a runaway "ISIS" terrorist in al-Yusufiyah district, south of Baghdad. The Command stated in a statement that a force from the 17th Infantry Division, in cooperation with a detachment from (Mahmoudiya Intelligence and Security, Federal Police Command Intelligence) in coordination with the Intelligence and Security Department of the Baghdad Operations Command, and in a qualitative operation, was able to arrest a terrorist (ISIS) nicknamed (Al-Fiter) "responsible for the squads of manufacturing boom-mobiles" in the terrorist ISIS organization. It explained that this came after receiving accurate intelligence information indicating his presence and monitoring his movements within the area of responsibility. After surrounding his location and setting up a tight ambush for him, he was arrested in the village of "Al-Islah" in the al-Yusufiyah district, south of Baghdad. The terrorist was handed over to the competent authorities to receive his just punishment according to the law. Related: South of Baghdad: 2024-05-10 Israeli airstrikes target Damascus: State media South of Baghdad: 2024-04-21 Blast rocks Iran-backed military base in central Iraq South of Baghdad: 2024-04-20 Explosion at PMF base south of Baghdad, US official confirms no US military activity in the area; Israel denies they dunnit, too; 1 turban toes up, 8 more hurting |
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| Arabia |
| UAE Sends Intelligence Unit to Support STC Against Saudi Moves in Socotra |
| 2023-03-08 |
| [HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] The UAE has sent a team of intelligence to limit the new Saudi activities being made in Socotra archipelago. A source familiar with the matter said that the UAE team, headed by an officer Hamad al-Zaabi, called "Abu Rashid", arrived in the city of Hadibo during the past two days to redeploy the UAE-funded Southern Transitional Council (STC)’s militia from the Dhalea and Yafaa areas. The sources confirmed that the "Abu Rashid", summoned the so-called police chief, Ali al-Daksami, and the commander of the STC militia, Ali Omar Kafayen, and a number of leaders to brief them on plans to confront the new Saudi moves after establishing a military base in the Muri area near Socotra airport. The sources indicated that the Emirati alert in Socotra came in the context of responding to the Saudi moves in the southern provinces, affirming that a UAE-funded commander of the so-called Coast Guard Battalion, Mohammed Ahmed Ali, was entrusted to limit the Saudi activity in the island. The Emirati alert was also response to when last week, Saudi forces returned the former governor of Socotra, Ramzi Mahrous, affiliated with the Islah party, who has fled to Mahra province since the UAE forces took control of Hadiboh in collusion with the Saudi forces in June 2020 |
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| Arabia |
| Senior STC commander killed in explosion |
| 2023-01-19 |
| by Emad Almarshahi [HODHODYEMENNEWS] A senior military commander of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC)’s militia was killed on Wednesday along with his ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirateafter seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... province, south of 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... Local sources said that an improvised bomb (IED) went kaboom!and targeted a military vehicle carrying the commander Abdul Rahim al-Makar and six of his escorts, while passing through Wadi Omran in Mudiyah district. The STC accused al-Qaeda of being behind the liquidations of its members in the districts of Abyan, in cooperation and coordination with elements of the Islah Party in the province. |
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| Arabia |
| UAE-backed Forces Clash with Abyan Tribes in Southern Yemen |
| 2023-01-18 |
| by Emad Almarshahi [HODHODYEMENNEWS] The district of Mudiyah in Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirateafter seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... province, southern 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... , on Monday, witnessed fierce battles between the UAE-backed militias and tribes known as "Al-Zumra", supported by the Islah Party and al-Qaeda. Local sources said that fierce festivities took place between the two sides, amid reports that al-Qaeda has sent hundreds of its members to take part in the new battle against the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC)’s militias in the district of Mudiyah. This came after the "STC" factions invaded residential villages in the district, the birthplace of what was known as the " al-Zumra ", and Islah leaders, after sending, large military reinforcements from Zinjibar to Mudiyah last Wednesday. In the same context, tribal sources said that hundreds of al-Qaeda elements arrived in the past hours to the outskirts of the Mudiyah district, coming from the Hatib district, south of the Shabwah border province. The latest news from Mudiyah reported that the festivities spread to the northern areas of the same district. |
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| Iraq |
| Peshmerga crippled ISIS movements between Diyala and Kurdistan |
| 2022-03-01 |
Shafaq News/ The security operations executed by the Peshmerga forces managed to deter ISIS plots and cripple the movement of its operatives in the territory between Diyala and the Kurdistan region, senior commanders said on Monday. In a statement to Shafaq News Agency, Peshmerga commanders said that the military campaigns at the borders of Garmyan with the governorates of Saladin and Diyala "aborted ISIS movements, cut the roads of death, and prevented the terrorist groups from slipping between the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga forces." The commander of the third brigade's second regiment, Colonel Jalil Mam Faiaq, said, "since January, we have not registered a single attack or terrorist incident at the outskirts of Khanaqin after cutting the supply routes of the terrorist groups and crippling the movement of its members." "The borders of Garmyan and Khanaqin are under control. It is subject to continuous inspection and surveillance by the Peshmerga forces," he added. "Al-Islah basin and the north of Jalawla are still infested by ISIS remnants. However, it is under the jurisdiction of the federal forces," Faiaq continued. ISIS took a swath of land in Iraq and Syria in 2014. Following a series of bloody offensives against it, the armed group lost its territorial control and was effectively defeated in 2017. However, having changed its strategies, ISIS still poses a threat in several provinces in Iraq with hit-and-run attacks, kidnappings, and roadside bombs. Meanwhile, territorial disputes in Diyala province between the Kurdistan region and Iraq’s federal government, coupled with a lack of coordination between Kurdish forces and their counterparts in Baghdad, have contributed to a security vacuum that has been increasingly exploited by ISIS. Toward the end of 2021, ISIS staged a series of attacks targeting civilians and security forces, leaving casualties and injuries. Consequently, the federal and Peshmerga forces organized a joint large-scale security campaign to purge the terrorist enclaves in the area. An officer of the Iraqi army told Shafaq News Agency that the recent security cooperation between the Defense ministry and the Peshmerga forces contributed to restoring trust between the federal forces and the residents of the Kurdish villages. "Many villagers back-pedaled on the notion of displacement after the security assurances, the resumption of the security cooperation between the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga forces, and forming the joint brigades." The commander of the second axis of the Peshmerga forces (Qara Tappa-Hemrin), Major-General Merdan Shawschin, said, "we managed to eradicate ISIS in our territory. We completely destroyed ISIS arsenal in Diyala and Saladin." The commander ruled out the possibility of ISIS resurgence in the Kurdish areas after losing their spots. "However, the situation on the other side of the borders of Diyala-Khanaqin is not our duty. We are maintaining the gains of the December operation." |
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| Iraq |
| New details on ISIS's attack on a village in Khanaqin |
| 2021-04-22 |
 [SHAFAQ] A security source disclosed the details of the ISIS attack that targeted a village on the outskirts of Khanaqin district.The source told Shafaq News agency that the terrorist organization fired a mortar shell at al-Islah village before attacking an army point stationed in Sayed Jarad village near the border areas between Jalawla and Khanaqin, burning homes and killing livestock. Furthermore, a kaboom targeted a patrol of the Iraqi army, killing one and maimed four others. The source added that reinforcements from the army were brought to the scene of the incident, clashed with the terrorists, and forced them to flee to an unknown destination. Jalawla and the outskirts of Khanaqin have been witnessing, for three years, unprecedented attacks due to the security gaps left by the withdrawal of the Peshmerga forces following the Kurdistan independence referendum in 2017. |
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| Iraq |
| Iraqi civilian wounded by booby-trapped cows |
| 2019-09-01 |
 [Jpost] A security source said on Saturday that a civilians was maimed when booby-trapped cows went kaboom!in a village in eastern Iraq, according to Al Sumeria. The source stated that "two cow bombs went kaboom!in the village of Al Islah in the Diyala Governorate in Iraq, wounding a civilian." Security forces cordoned off the scene and transported the injured person to a nearby hospital for treatment. Animal-borne explosives attacks are not unheard of. In November 2003, forces of Evil fired more than a dozen rockets from donkey carts in Baghdad, according to CBS News. Iraqi police also reported the use of dogs rigged with bombs in attacks in 2005, according to The Standard. In 2003, Paleostinian forces of Evil strapped explosives to a donkey and detonated them remotely on the road between Jerusalem and the town of Gush Etzion, The Guardian reported. No humans were maimed, but Ingrid Newkirk, founder of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) organization, wrote to Yasser Arafat and asked him to keep animals out of the conflict. |
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| Arabia |
| Yemeni militiamen suspected of child rape: Amnesty |
| 2019-03-12 |
 [DAWN] Children as young as eight have been raped in a besieged city in war-hit Yemen, Amnesty said it had documented evidence of the rape of three boys and the sexual assault of a fourth in the southwestern city of Taez, controlled by pro-government forces and surrounded by Yemeni rebels. The families of the four boys, aged eight to 16, told Amnesty their sons had been assaulted over the past eight months, including at a mosque, but authorities in the area had not been responsive. All four families reported the assaults to the Criminal Investigations Unit in Taez, Amnesty said. No legal measures had been taken. "Rape and sexual assault committed in the context of an armed conflict are war crimes," said Heba Morayef, Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa director. "Commanders who fail to stop such heinous acts can themselves be responsible for war crimes." The mother of an eight-year-old boy told Amnesty her son had been raped at least twice in 2018 at a mosque, each time by two men including the son of an Islah-affiliated imam. Al-Islah is a Yemeni krazed killer party with historic ties to the Moslem Brüderbund and Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... Medical reports reviewed by Amnesty showed the boy suffered impaired mobility and concussions as a result of assault. The father of a 13-year-old boy reported his son had been raped by the same two men at the same mosque. Another boy, who reported being raped in December, told Amnesty he had been assaulted at gunpoint by an "Islahi-aligned militiaman". "He was unable to sit afterwards or go to the bathroom for three days," the mother of the 16-year-old said. "He just sat there staring into space." Other unreported cases are likely, Amnesty said, as families are often too afraid of militias, which have flourished in the chaos of war, to come forward. Convicted sexual violence offenders can be given the death penalty  under Yemeni law. A number of men have been publicly executed in recent years for the rape and murder of children. |
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| Arabia |
| Qatari Islamist’s confessions reveal Doha ‘plot’ to sabotage Gulf states |
| 2017-07-30 |
| [ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... ’s alleged "plots" against the UAE and Gulf states have been detailed in a new documentary released by Emirati state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe? channels, local media reported on Friday. The program features audio and video confessions by Qatari Moslem Brüderbund supporter Mahmoud al-Jaidah, who received a seven-year jail term in the UAE for supporting the illegal Islamist group, Al Islah. In the documentary, Jaidah is filmed saying that Qatar had become "the preferred" and "only" mediator of terrorist organizations in the past 20 years. "The report revealed that Qatar supported Al Islah and provided hotel accommodations to members of the group," according to the Dubai-based Gulf News. The documentary comes amid a diplomatic crisis in the Gulf, as Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have boycotted Qatar over its alleged support for holy warrior groups. |
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| Arabia |
| Houthis hold prisoners under bad conditions |
| 2017-01-23 |
| ADEN: Houthi militias have turned prisons into hellholes for Yemeni citizens who defy their illegal seizure of power, a recent report said. The report revealed torture methods used by the rebels and how Yemeni citizens are kidnapped and bargained over for hefty ransoms. The abductees, according to the report, are categorized and distributed to jails and detention centers according to how “dangerous” they are. That's how the US does it. The shocking phenomenon is seen in the city of Dhamar, which has been transformed into a large prison for those who oppose the Houthi fighters and troops loyal to deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Several government buildings have been turned into detention centers to meet the growing number of prisoners. Now there are over 55 prisons and centers in Dhamar that contain more than 2,000 abducted prisoners from different provinces who receive brutal physical and psychological torture, according to Dhamar Media Center. Oh, no. Anything but "psychological torture..." Meanwhile, tens of the released prisoners came forward to reveal that they were severely tortured on daily basis. They added that the Houthis established tens of road checkpoints to kidnap opponents and disseminated lists of most-wanted people. Typical behavior of every regime in this region. Someone must have gotten a hefty check out of this report. A former prisoner recounted that investigations with prisoners always start after midnight and last until morning. “Detained people are violently beaten, lashed, waterboarded, tortured with electricity and forced to confess incidents they did not commit,” the prisoner recounted. “In Al-Shouna prison, the most notorious one, drinking water is not good even for animals! Prisoners are forced to sleep at the same spot where they urinate or excrete. Every 20-30 persons are confined to a single room or basement,” the former anonymous prisoner said. Local sources elaborated that the rebels consider the journalists and military commanders and Ma’reb fighters loyal to President Hadi Mansoor the most dangerous category, so when any of them is kidnapped, he is held in the political security prison in Dhamar for two days before being moved to the new national security prison, and then to the big prisons in Sanaa. Such people are not released even if huge ransoms are offered. The second category includes the leaders of the Al-Islah Party and the influential, non-military figures, who are usually jailed in Al-Gharbia prison in Dhamar. Next comes the category of the ordinary citizens who express their opposing stance on social media platforms, those who tore down Houthi slogans or insulted their leaders. Such prisoners can be liberated for hefty sums of money. The fourth category includes the so-called “deceived people,” who are not proven to support legitimacy, so they are held for at least two months before being released after huge ransoms are paid. More than nine abductees have died of brutal torture in Dhamar prisons since Houthi rebels seized them in October 2014. |
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