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Tawhid wal Jihad

Al-Taefa Al-Mansoura

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

'They Kill Everyone': How Central Asian Militants Carried Out Massacre in Syria

2025-03-12

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Sergey Adamov

[REGNUM] The past few days in Syria have seen an unprecedented surge in violence against local religious minorities: Alawite Muslims and Christians. Social media has been rocked by hundreds of videos in which militants proudly documented their crimes, including mass murders of unarmed people and public torture.

Throughout the conflict, Regnum correspondents were in contact with residents of the Syrian coast, thanks to which they were able to collect dozens of testimonies from civilians about crimes committed by militants.

Eyewitnesses note that militants of foreign origin, natives of Central Asia and the Caucasus, who are noticeably different from Arabs in appearance and stand out against their background, showed particular cruelty in reprisals against the civilian population.

A longstanding problem in the region.

A Red Crescent volunteer, who witnessed mass executions, spoke about the atrocities of foreigners. "The murders are happening for no reason, it is not the military or soldiers who are doing this. These are foreigners - Afghans, Uzbeks, Uighurs," said the author of the video, published on social networks.

Now the new Syrian authorities are arresting civilians for communicating with the media (primarily with the Russian media), so all reports from sources are published anonymously. However, oral testimonies can only serve as confirmation of the crimes in which natives of the Caucasus and Central Asia took part, who do not hide their goals: to create a monolithic society in Syria, united by a radical ideology, in order to carry this ideology further.

GUESTS FROM THE EAST
Militants of foreign origin first appeared in Syria during the first stage of the civil war in 2011–2012. The leadership of the Al-Qaeda* movement called on Central Asians to participate in military operations in the Middle East.

Terrorists from Uzbekistan (Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, IMU), Tajikistan and the Caucasus (Anjad-Kavkaz*)

…or Ajnad al-Kavkaz, Chechen group that split off from Caucasus Emirate…

were able to penetrate through Turkey into the northern regions of Syria, where they came into direct contact with the local branch of Al-Qaeda*, the Jabhat al-Nusra* group (later Hayat Tahrir al-Sham*).

Later, militants from among ethnic Uyghurs, representatives of the so-called “East Turkestan Islamic Movement” (ETIM)*, appeared on the territory of Syria.

The formed "terrorist international" took part in battles against government troops and by 2015 was able to establish control over the province of Idlib. A number of groups received their "allotments", for example, the Uyghurs settled in the area of the city of Jisr al-Shughur, and the Caucasians - the outskirts of Idlib.

The region has become a “promised land” for terrorists from all over the world, who have found in Idlib a safe haven and a springboard for planning attacks around the world. In the fall of 2024, it was these formations, as the most motivated, that took part in the offensive on Aleppo, which ended with the fall of the city, and subsequently the collapse of the government of Bashar al-Assad.

IN A NEW ROLE
The "revolutionary" government of Syria has praised the role of foreign formations, granting all foreign fighters Syrian citizenship and effectively legalizing their status.

Now the former “exiles” have become full-fledged citizens, and, what’s more, 100% loyal to the new regime.

The exact number of foreign fighters is unknown. According to Tajik authorities in 2024, there were about 400 Tajik citizens in the Syrian province of Idlib. The total number of "insurgents" in the ranks of the new Syrian army, according to various estimates, ranges from 5,000 to 10,000 people.

Former mercenaries received high positions in the new government.

For example, a native of Tajikistan, Saifiddin Tadjiboev, who was wanted in his home country on charges of terrorism and mercenarism, was appointed commander of the operational headquarters in the new government’s Ministry of Defense.

ON THE EVE OF THE MASSACRE
Since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's government, members of ethnic and religious minorities in Syria have lived in constant fear.

The new authorities in Damascus have officially declared that they will not persecute representatives of any community. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (aka Mohammed Julani) has demonstratively met with heads of Christian churches, promising protection and patronage.

However, already in the first days of the "new Syria" a wave of attacks on churches and representatives of religious minorities swept across the country. Even then, militants of foreign origin distinguished themselves separately, simply ignoring Damascus' calls for religious tolerance and disarmament.

In the following months, it was these same formations that spread across the entire Syrian coast, viewing the region and its inhabitants as fair game.

After the first open clashes broke out, a total mobilization of radicals and their supporters, a kind of "activists", was declared in the neighboring provinces of Hama and Idlib, who were joined by local residents who wanted to rob their Alawite neighbors. However, the backbone of the "cleansing" forces was made up of armed foreigners.

Footage taken by a militant of Chechen origin, commenting on the events in Syria in Russian, is being published online. "There will be no mercy," the author of the videos says, showing footage of terrorist columns being transferred to Latakia. "We continue to clean up," reads the caption to the video of armored vehicles being deployed on the streets of coastal cities.

Over the following days, Regnum correspondents maintained round-the-clock contact with residents of the Syrian coast, receiving information about what was happening first-hand.

This is how residents of the city of Baniyas describe the first night of the pogroms: “Towards evening, the power went out in our neighborhood. Then groups of pogromists began to enter from different sides, they broke into cars, robbed stores, threw stones at windows. They were followed by armed people who went from house to house. They came to our neighbors’ house with a can of paint, they “marked” people, painted their faces black, insulted them, and then left threats and insults on the walls.”

Among the attackers, local residents particularly noted militants with a characteristic Turkic appearance, often not speaking Arabic. According to eyewitnesses, it was they who showed particular cruelty. An audio recording with instructions calling on local residents "loyal" to the government was distributed, calling on them not to go out into the streets. The voice on the recording says that "Uzbek and Chechen mujahideen" do not differentiate between Sunnis and Shiites and kill everyone.

BLOODY MARCH 8TH
By the morning of the second day of the conflict, the regime had managed to concentrate enough forces on the coast to conduct all-out raids. The Islamists were particularly brutal in the Alawite areas outside the Syrian coast, in the provinces of Hama and Homs.

Tellingly, foreign fighters did not hide their participation in the massacre. In the area of the city of Jabla, a group of Uzbek natives was “spotted”, broadcasting live from the scene and streaming in the Uzbek language. The fighters, belonging to the group “Tawhid wal Jihad”*, told their audience that they had come to Latakia “to punish the infidels” and shared their “political program”.

In particular, they propose that the new Syrian authorities "cleanse" the region and populate it with "faithful Muslims." Syrian Christians are offered either to convert to Islam or to pay "jizya" for life - a tax on non-Muslims in Koranic law.

How traditional.

In fact, we are talking about a doctrine of genocide, which provides for the extermination of the indigenous population, followed by its replacement by “faithful” ones.

Convert, pay jizya, or die. Sometimes only the third is on offer.

In order to more actively populate the coast with "faithful" militants from Central Asia took part in the massacre of Alawites in the village of al-Tuwaim in Hama province. In the "final" round, the radicals beat to death about 15 children aged between one and ten years. Some of the residents of Hama were able to hide in the mountains, but now these people are afraid to return to their homes.

"When we heard about the beginning of the conflict, my relatives were able to leave. There were old people left in the village who asked to leave them. We know that they have been killed now. Somewhere in the houses there are bodies that no one has removed because people are afraid to return for a long time. All the men were killed, some women have disappeared, and no one knows where they are," the source told IA Regnum.

DENOUEMENT
By the morning of March 9, the militants had reached the epicenter of the conflict, the city of Jabla, after which another wave of violence swept through the surrounding villages. In one of the videos made in the vicinity of Jabla, the militants filmed a residential building they had set on fire. "Look, the house of the Alawites is burning!" one of the authors of the video says.

Throughout the day, terrorist gangs continued to repeatedly "cleanse" populated areas, often shooting at everyone they encountered without distinction. At the same time, the heads of Syria's Christian churches issued a joint statement calling for an immediate end to the violence. The "world community" also joined the call, albeit belatedly.

Local residents report that a “clean-up” has begun in the cities of Baniyas, Tartus and Latakia: militants are removing corpses from city streets and even washing blood off the asphalt in preparation for the arrival of foreign journalists.

In a separate statement, Ahmed al-Sharaa said the government would set up a "commission" to investigate "incidents of violence" on the coast, but locals were under no illusions.

"We are still afraid to leave our homes now, no one can assess the damage done. Those who survived were left without all their property, others without their families. We will never forget these two terrible days. Now there is a "roll call" in the chats, we are looking for our own. But we know that there will be no justice for the criminals," the Syrians believe.

Events in Syria have vividly confirmed the worst fears about the prospects for a peaceful settlement in that country. But whatever their consequences, it is absolutely clear that terrorist groups operating in Syria pose a threat far beyond its borders, and that their militants may fall victim to far more than just Syrian ethno-confessional minorities.

People from post-Soviet countries who “distinguished themselves” by committing mass murders probably dream of returning to their native lands and repeating the same thing in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and, of course, in Russia.

Of course.

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Europe

Number of victims in Munich car crash into crowd rises to 36

2025-02-15

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Follow up to this story from two days ago.

[Regnum] The number of people injured in the car crash into a crowd of protesters in Munich has risen to 36. This was announced by Deputy Chief of the Munich Police Department Christian Huber at a press conference.

“At present, we are talking about 36 victims about whom we have information,” he said.

He also specified that two people were seriously injured, and eight more were moderately injured. At the same time, according to Huber, the number of victims as a result of the incident may increase.

As reported by the Regnum news agency, on February 13, a Smart car drove into a crowd of people in the center of Munich. The incident occurred at about 10:00 (12:00 Moscow time) during street protests in the city. Some eyewitnesses said that the driver had run over the car intentionally. Police officers broke the car's window to detain the suspect.

The Bild newspaper, citing informed sources, reported that the driver of the car that rammed the crowd was an Afghan citizen. And according to the Spiegel newspaper, the 24-year-old suspect moved to Germany from Afghanistan in 2016, after which he regularly published posts with Islamist content.

Later, Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Hermann also reported that the driver of the car that rammed the crowd had previously requested asylum in Germany and was denied. However, the Afghan citizen still had the opportunity to be in Germany. The head of the local department clarified that the suspect had not previously been associated with committing acts of violence, but had been involved in shoplifting and drug crimes.

Paraphrasing the machine translation: Nius.de has photos of Afghan bodybuilder Farhad N., 24, and his beloved Mini Cooper, reporting that he came to Germany from Italy at the end of 2016, requesting asylum, but his application was rejected in September 2017. Some time later he received a “tolerance”, preventing him from being deported, and eventually he found a job as a security guard for Ralph Lauren in Munich. He was also a competition bodybuilder, posting videos of his workouts accompanied by Moslem songs, and photos of his medals and himself with the “Tawhid finger” extended, also in designer clothing and expensive carsfor his 33,000 TikTok followers and 68,000 Instagram followers. His neighbours described him as a friendly and helpful young man who recently underwent “Blitzradikalisierung“, Sudden Jihad Syndrome. He followed and shared from at least two TikTok sites that carry Moslem religious content, and had recently described himself as Islamist on social media. He is also connected to false identity documents and drug offenses, but previous reports if shoplifting are incorrect.

Eugyppius describes him as 26 year-old asylum seeker in Germany named Farhad Noori, adding:

This was the second automobile attack on innocent bystanders in public since Magdgeburg in December, when the Saudi migrant Taleb al-Abdulmohsen drove a rented BMW into a Christmas market crowd, killing 6 and injuring 299. To this terrible tally comes the knife attacks in Mannheim, Solingen and Aschaffenburg. This singular and exceedingly rare category of crime — which has become a symbol for the decay in domestic security associated with mass migration — presently claims a nine-month toll in Germany of 12 dead and 343 maimed. The latest attack is additionally poignant, because it follows the Green and Social Democrat blockade of a bill to restrict migration in the Bundestag on 31 January. Among other things, the left parties withheld their votes because Alternative fur Deutschland supported the legislation.

Noori fits what is by now a well-established pattern: He is a native Afghan who came to Germany in 2016 with the rest of the Merkel wave; he was known to the police for theft and drug offences; after the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees rejected his asylum application, he received a visa of tolerated stay anyway.

Like al-Abdulmohsen, the Christmas market attacker, Noori also had a large social media presence, with 68,000 followers on Instagram and another 33,000 on TikTok. On Instagram one finds pictures he posted last year of himself standing next to the Mini Cooper used in today’s attack:

Noori was primarily a competitive bodybuilder, but he was also a pious Moslem; Der Spiegel notes that some of his final social media posts contain "Islamist content," which seems to be a reference to TikTok posts like this one. In apparent video of his arrest this morning, Noori can be heard shouting "God is great" over and over:

What will happen now is the very same thing that happened after all of these other attacks. Politicians will tell us that these events are unacceptable and that Germany must enact grave changes to prevent them in future. Then there will be renewed marches to celebrate diversity and oppose "the right," because the most important victims of ~~migrants~~ colonists attackers are of course all the peaceful Moslems they did not attack. Around this time we will be warned against over-generalising and overreacting, and then the story will slip from the headlines until the next time.

UPDATE: Some additional details have come to light. Noori’s asylum application was rejected in 2017, a year after his arrival. He became an illegal resident in 2020, but received his visa of toleration sometime thereafter. Some of his (now-deleted) Instagram posts show that he worked as store security for Ralph Lauren in Munich. He was known to the authorities for document forgery, among other crimes.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Disintegration or Integration: How Syria's New Authorities Are Trying to Save the Country

2025-01-11

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Kirill Semenov

[REGNUM] Just over a month ago, on December 8, 2024, the Assad family's 54-year rule in Syria suddenly ended. After a rapid 11-day military campaign, the armed opposition led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and Ahmed al-Sharaa ( Abu Muhammad al-Jolani ) came to power. From that moment on, the very future of Syria as a state was called into question.

Over the past month, Syria's new transitional government has made some efforts to reassure the public by emphasizing its commitment to preserving state institutions and avoiding the chaos that was seen during the transitions in Iraq and Libya. And it must be acknowledged that it has succeeded to some extent, although the time that has passed since it took power is still very short: it is too early to make more optimistic forecasts for the future.

Perhaps the main success of the new government is its international recognition.

Despite the presence of both HTS and al-Sharaa himself on terrorist lists, most leading world and regional capitals have rushed to establish ties with him. For example, many countries whose official representatives al-Jolani has already met have not considered it necessary to normalize relations with Taliban Afghanistan, although more than three years have passed since the Taliban came to power.

It is clear that international contacts were facilitated by HTS's refusal to necessarily proceed with the assertion of the primacy of Sharia, as well as the new authorities' declared readiness to maintain the existing secular system of government throughout the transition period. Within the country, major roads were opened, many previous restrictions were lifted, and basic public services were restored to return to normal life.

However, the main problem facing the current Syrian government is ensuring the security and unity of the country. And here there are many cracks that threaten to become splits in the future. Although the government is making efforts to prevent negative scenarios.

Unlike the situation in Afghanistan in 2021, when the Taliban came to power and faced a significant surge in ISIS terrorist activity, the new Syrian government was able to prevent terrorists from emerging from the desert to carry out attacks in Syrian cities. Therefore, New Year's celebrations throughout Syria and Christmas in Christian areas took place without casualties. Although it is Christians and representatives of non-Sunni Islamic faiths who are the first to fall victim to ISIS terrorist attacks.

The fact that large-scale public celebrations are held on these non-Islamic holidays also shows that the authorities in Damascus, despite the continuing concerns of Syrian religious minorities, have not introduced Sharia law in the country and banned holidays and events that are not related to Islam. Even alcohol continues to be freely available. The same applies to the dress code: women can still go around without covering their heads.

By the way, representatives of the fair sex have taken several positions in the leadership of the new Syria. In particular, Meysa Sabreen became the chairperson of the Central Bank of the country and the first woman in this position in the history of Syria, and Mohsen al-Maytawi was appointed governor of Suwayda province, also becoming the first woman in such a position.

CHRISTIANS: BETWEEN HOPE AND FEAR
Syrian Christians, despite many pessimistic expectations, were reportedly able to celebrate Christmas without hindrance. But it was not without incident.

In the run-up to the holiday, several individuals affiliated with HTS burned a Christmas tree in the city of Suqaylabiya in Hama province. This led to mass demonstrations by Christians on Christmas Eve (which is celebrated in Syria according to the Gregorian calendar). However, according to the new Syrian government's security service, the perpetrators were detained and given disciplinary punishment.

To reassure Syrian Christians, Ahmad al-Sharaa met with representatives of all Christian denominations in Syria on December 31. A ban was also imposed on sectarian slogans, including those directed against Syrian Christians.

However, the fear for their future among Christians in Syria has not disappeared. The situation is aggravated by conflicts between individual representatives of Christians and Muslims, which lead to an increase in interreligious tension. And, according to Christians, the new authorities are trying to side with the Muslims when resolving them.

This happened in the city of Maaloula, where a conflict between local Christians and Muslims occurred. Then one of the local Sunnis, accused of attempting to rob a Christian home, was killed. Armed Muslim militias from the surrounding villages began to converge on the city. This led to the flight of a number of Christian families, who began to accuse the new Syrian authorities of supporting local Muslims and doing nothing.

Nevertheless, many Christian communities in Syria, despite their fears and mistrust of the new authorities, are actively involved in building the new country. And the Antiochian Patriarchate has welcomed the return to the country of leading Syrian Ash'ari Muslim theologians, such as Sheikh Osama al-Rifai, a world-renowned Islamic scholar who can counter sectarian manifestations among Muslims.

The Patriarchate also organized a political conference to encourage Antiochian Christians to actively participate in the political life of Syria. “We see this as a significant development after many years of passivity in politics, which has negatively affected the Christian community in Syria. We also call on the government and people of Greece to support and assist such initiatives,” the statement said.

DRUZE AND KURDS: CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM
The appointment of Druze activist Mohsen al-Maitawi as governor of Suwayda province, populated by members of this religious minority, was able to open up opportunities for more productive cooperation with the new authorities in Damascus. Thus, the largest armed Druze groups, People of Dignity and Liwa al-Jabal, announced on January 6 their readiness to integrate into the new Syrian army.

This was the result of meetings between political, religious and public figures from Suwayda and officials from the transitional government, which agreed that all key positions for ensuring security in the region would be given to Druze.

A process of negotiations has also begun between the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the new Syrian authorities.

An SDF delegation met with Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on December 30. The parties discussed the future of northern Syria, security cooperation between the SDF and the transitional government, and the fate of Kurdish-controlled areas of Aleppo.

Media outlets affiliated with the SDF called the meeting positive, noting that such discussions are expected to intensify in the coming weeks. SDF chief Mazloum Abdi noted that during the talks, the parties agreed on the need to preserve a united Syria. Therefore, it can be said that the SDF has already made certain concessions, abandoning the federalization of the country.

The transitional government hopes to peacefully integrate the Syrian Democratic Forces into the structures of the Ministry of Defense and does not intend to start an armed conflict for now. This, however, may be met with opposition from Turkey and the Syrian National Army (SNA) formations associated with it, which hope to solve the "problem" of the Syrian Kurds by force and are already preparing a new military operation.

PRO-TURKISH FORCES: INTEGRATION PROBLEMS
The SNA and Turkey have their own priorities, which do not fully correspond to the plans of the new authorities in Damascus. At the same time, the integration of the SNA into the new Syrian army has not yet begun, despite statements by its factions about self-dissolution and entry into new structures.

Moreover, the future of the so-called interim government in Gaziantep, Turkey, under whose auspices the SNA operates, is also unclear: it has not yet been dissolved either.

Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that the SNA, with the support of Turkey, will begin its own military campaign against the SDF, which could disrupt Damascus’ plans for the peaceful integration of Kurdish formations.

For now, Damascus and HTS have only received the opportunity to take control of border crossings that were previously controlled by the SNA.

The issue of including the "Southern Operational Headquarters" in the new army is no less complicated. It was the forces of this command that were the first to enter Damascus on December 8.

Armed groups in southern Syria have declared their refusal to disband themselves in accordance with the wishes of the new administration leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa. This will complicate his task of establishing Damascus' authority throughout Syria and could lead to serious consequences and even a clash between the parties.

A spokesman for the Southern Operations Command, which currently controls Daraa province, Colonel Nassim Abu Arra, told Al-Akhbar that the southern factions do not agree with the "idea of dissolving the factions."

He noted that they have weapons, heavy equipment and full gear, and they should become part of the Ministry of Defense forces as a single military body.

However, the real leader of the southern Syrian forces, who prefers to remain in the shadows and refuses to take up positions in the new government, is Ahmad al-Awda, the former commander of the 8th Brigade of the 5th Corps, formed by the Russian military from among the reconciled rebels. He apparently also intends to play his own game, relying on the support of the UAE and Jordan, which are very wary of al-Sharaa.

The latter also has many problems with more radical groups such as Ansar al-Tawhid. Since HTS took control of Hama province on December 5, 2024, several extrajudicial executions, destruction of houses, attacks on public and private property have been recorded there. They were carried out by representatives of this group from among foreign citizens, primarily ethnic Uzbeks and people from the Russian Caucasus.

It is known that al-Sharaa met with representatives of this group in Damascus, but the results of the meeting and whether it will be liquidated are unknown. However, the number of sectarian crimes in the Hama region has decreased. Also, representatives of this radical group were unable to prevent the celebration of Christmas in the province.

ALAWITES: THREAT OF REPRISALS
Security issues in Alawite-populated areas remain the most difficult. The delicate balance between restoring order and protecting individual rights is highlighted by sporadic reports of people being detained for minor violations. There are also crackdowns on alleged accomplices to Bashar al-Assad 's regime crimes. However, the criteria for "involvement" are not clearly defined. Therefore, any Alawite who served in the security forces could be at risk.

And while there are not many serious abuses in other parts of the country, in regions where Alawites live, the number of violent acts increases sharply.

There are two factors at play here.

Firstly, the hostility of Assad's opponents towards the Alawites as the regime's mainstay that developed during the civil war. And, secondly, the persistence of cells of armed supporters of Assad in Alawite areas who carry out attacks on representatives of the new Syrian authorities.

On December 28, the transitional government's security forces launched a large-scale operation to clear northwestern Syria, the purpose of which was to find "war criminals" from among the employees of the former Syrian structures. However, independent observers noted that peaceful Alawites who were not members of the armed formations of the former government also became victims of such operations. Some of them were subjected to violence, beatings and arrests simply because they belonged to the Alawite religious community.

There have been cases of Alawites being killed by radical jihadists who serve the current transitional government. These killings have usually been presented as “eliminations” of criminals in hiding. The situation is aggravated by the presence of a large number of provocateurs and openly criminal elements in the region.

However, despite the existing cases of violence against members of minorities, there are no mass killings, much less genocide, of Alawites, contrary to the statements of a number of information resources associated with the previous regime, as well as some Kurdish and Alawite organizations.

Numerous journalists and representatives of human rights organizations work openly in the country, recording almost all cases of violence, and any acts of mass reprisals would have become known immediately. Just as the names and places of detention of all those arrested after the establishment of the new government became known.

But this does not change the existing problems that Alawite sheikhs pointed out at a meeting with representatives of the transitional government in Tartus in early January.

Ahmad al-Sharaa, through his envoys, tried to reassure the Alawites, stressing that HTS and the transitional government were seeking to protect minorities. In response, the sheikhs declared their support for the transitional phase and their desire to build a just state. They noted that the Assad regime did not represent any sect or faith, and the Alawites should not be held accountable for its crimes: it was a repressive system from which everyone suffered.

The Alawites also demanded that criminals from all sides, not just former supporters of the regime, be held accountable fairly and without discrimination. Incidentally, this demand is absolutely fair.

Of course, everyone is familiar with the mass killings of civilians by Assad's supporters from the so-called shabiha. For example, one can recall the massacre in Houla in May 2012, where more than 100 bodies of civilians were found, including 32 children under 10 years old. The UN Security Council blamed the Syrian government for these events in a corresponding resolution, which was then supported by Russia.

However, the opposition also committed mass killings of civilians, including women and children, during the conflict, and most often the victims were Alawites. Examples include the bloody events in the cities of Arima (Latakia) in August 2013 and Al-Zara (Homs) in May 2016. In both cases, the terrorist group Jabhat al-Nusra, the predecessor of HTS, was involved in the mass killings of Alawite civilians.

Therefore, if we are talking about searching for people who committed particularly serious crimes during the civil war, then this should not concern only the accomplices of the regime; all those responsible should be held accountable.

The Alawites also insist on the eradication of all abuses and violations that occur locally in relation to representatives of individual faiths. They supported the confiscation of weapons from all those who are not in the service of the state, but again drew attention to the fact that the confiscation operations should concern not only representatives of individual sects and faiths (primarily the Alawites), but also all other citizens of Syria, including former members of opposition groups.

Alawite leaders also called on the authorities to prevent decisions that harm social equality, such as arbitrary dismissals or delays in salaries for members of certain faiths.

Thus, over the past month, Syria has not descended into bloody chaos, but the threat of disintegration, followed by a new round of civil war, remains on the agenda. And in this matter, much depends not only on the ability of the various factions of Syrian society to negotiate and the ability of the authorities to keep the radicals in check, but also on the position of international players.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

8 Foreign Nationals have been arrested by Security Forces in the Northwestern Syrian City of Hama, for lighting a Christmas Tree in the City on Fire

2024-12-24

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

A Group of 8 Foreign Nationals have been arrested by Security Forces in the Northwestern Syrian City of Hama, for lighting a Christmas Tree in the City on Fire. Father Maher, the Priest of Hama Parish, states that the Tree will be restored and relit by Christmas. pic.twitter.com/xcdhjTQEQ3
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) December 23, 2024

Hundreds protest in Syrian capital after Christmas tree burned

[IsraelTimes] Hundreds of demonstrators have taken to the streets in Christian areas of Damascus to protest the burning of a Christmas tree near Hama in central Syria.

“We demand the rights of Christians,” protesters chant as they march through the Syrian capital toward the headquarters of the Orthodox Patriarchate in the Bab Sharqi neighborhood.

The protests come a little more than two weeks after an armed coalition led by Islamists toppled the government of Bashar al-Assad, who had cast himself as a protector of minorities in the Sunni-majority country.

A demonstrator who gives his name as Georges tells AFP he was protesting “injustice against Christians.”

“If we’re not allowed to live our Christian faith in our country, as we used to, then we don’t belong here anymore,” he says.

The protests erupted after a video spread on social media showing hooded fighters setting fire to a Christmas tree in the Christian-majority town of Suqaylabiyah, near Hama.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the fighters were foreigners from the Islamist group Ansar al-Tawhid.

In another video posted to social media, a religious leader from Syria’s victorious Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) addresses residents, claiming those who torched the tree were “not Syrian” and promising they would be punished.

“The tree will be restored and lit up by tomorrow morning,” he says.

The Islamist HTS movement, rooted in Al-Qaeda and supported by Turkey, has promised to protect minorities since its lightning offensive toppled Assad this month following years of stalemate.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Lebanese Druze politician says country should ‘permanently abandon’ war on Israel

2024-12-17

[IsraelTimes] Hezbollah ally Wiam Wahhab, who heads the minor Arab Unification Party, says ‘the nation does not want war’ and the only victor in the region is Netanyahu

Wiam Wahhab, a Druze Lebanese politician and former minister, said in an interview on Sunday that 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?...
should end its long-running fight against the State of Israel and pursue normalization.

Wahhab, the founder and head of the minor Tawhid Party, or Arab Unification Party, is considered an ally of the Hezbollah terrorist group, which holds considerable power in Lebanon, and of ousted Syrian president Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
In an interview with the local al-Jadeed TV station, Wahhab said, "We must permanently abandon this mentality of war with Israel," according to translation from the L’Orient Today Lebanese news outlet.

Wahhab, who served as environment minister in Lebanon from 2004 to 2005, said he would be willing to strike a "deal with the devil," meaning Israel, in order to ensure the safety of his Druze community. The Druze population in Lebanon is thought to make up about three percent of the population. Wahhab’s party does not currently hold any seats in parliament.

"The Lebanese have sacrificed more than 75 years of their lives for the Paleostinian cause. This must come to an end," he said during the interview, adding that "the nation does not want war and no longer wishes to fight the Israeli state."

After decades of constant fighting against Israel, Lebanon "must stop following pipe dreams... the nation does not want to fight," said Wahhab. "We want to live comfortably," he added, suggesting that "the only victor in the region is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who continues to reshape the Middle East."

"The Lebanon front has paid a heavy price since Hezbollah opened a support front for 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...
," said Wahhab, referring to the more than year of attacks by the terror group on northern Israel, starting right after the Hamas
Hamas

..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
onslaught on the south on October 7, 2023.

Israel believes that around 3,500 Hezbollah operatives have been killed throughout the conflict. A tentative ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah entered into effect last month, though each side has accused the other of violating the terms of the deal.

Wahhab suggested that the Iranian Axis of Resistance® "ended after the deaths of [Iranian general] Qassem Soleimani

[in 2020] and [Hezbollah leader] His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...>
" in an Israeli ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
earlier this year. The only path forward, he said, is normalization with the State of Israel.

The Lebanese politician is known for his outspoken statements, and has made comments suggesting Lebanon abandon its fight against Israel in the past.

In October 2022, after Israel and Lebanon reached an agreement over their maritime border, Wahhab said in an interview with al-Jadeed that, "in my opinion [by signing the deal], we went for sustainable peace. Let’s not kid around."

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syria after the collapse. What next?

2024-12-12

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Text taken from the website of Elijah J. Magnier. The rest of the text is in Russian and behind a paywall.
[ColonelCassad] Rapid military developments in Syria, without resistance from the Syrian army, led to the fall of President Bashar al-Assad and his unopposed departure from Damascus. This transition was the result of high-level negotiations between key players, including Turkey, Russia and Iran. However, the surprises in the Middle East are far from over; they are only just beginning with this transition of power and the attempt to create a new state with very different standards.

One of the key reasons for the rapid fall of the Assad regime was the strategy employed by the advancing forces in the towns and villages they captured, especially in the countryside of Idlib, Aleppo and its surroundings (apart from isolated extremist actions), but also in Hama, Homs, Damascus and southern Syria.

The attackers deliberately distanced themselves from the brutal tactics that had united the world against the forces fighting the Syrian army since 2011.

This shift in approach allowed the regime to collapse like a snowball rolling down a mountain, with minimal resistance as one city after another surrendered. The orderly surrender occurred without significant bloodshed after protracted negotiations led by the main mediators: Turkey, Iran, and Russia.

Russia and Iran lost a staunch ally and a strong base in the Middle East, leaving Turkey as the dominant power. Istanbul provided military support to the advancing forces, coordinated their operations, and carefully directed their actions through a joint operations room. Under Turkish leadership, these forces achieved all of their objectives in areas previously controlled by the Syrian army. However, they did not extend their success to areas controlled by U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in the northeast, where power extended to Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa.

Syria remains deeply divided, with the northeast under Kurdish control, Israel expanding its occupation of new Syrian territory in the south, and no unified factions that could form a cohesive ruling authority. Instead, Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi al-Jallali has been appointed to lead an interim administration running the country. What events have brought Syria to this point, and what does the future hold?

As head of the interim administration, Prime Minister al-Jallali will likely be responsible for the day-to-day functions of the state while preparing it for a longer-term transition. This includes maintaining basic governance, preventing a complete collapse of institutions, and overseeing negotiations to achieve a more permanent political settlement. Al-Jallali will have to navigate deep divisions as he works with opposition groups, external actors, and the remnants of the Assad-era bureaucracy. His ability to manage these relationships will determine whether Syria can move toward stability. His appointment signals to the international community that Syria is attempting to rebuild itself within a framework that combines continuity and change. However, it also raises questions about whether genuine reform is possible with a figure associated with the previous regime. Al-Jallali’s leadership during the transition will set the tone for Syria’s transition. Whether he can maintain stability and steer the country toward a new political structure will depend on his ability to build consensus among internal and external actors.

His tenure will likely determine whether Syria moves toward unity or remains divided and uncertain.

Many factions in Syria have united under the leadership of the Repel Aggression Coalition, forming a single alliance that includes groups such as Jaysh al-Izza, Jaysh al-Ahrar, Faylaq al-Sham, Al-Quwat al-Mushtaraka, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zinki, the Sultan Murad Brigade, Ansar al-Tawhid, Suqour al-Sham, Ahrar al-Sham, the Sulayman Shah Brigade, the Al-Hamza Division, and the Turkistan Islamic Party Brigades. Among them, Ahrar al-Sham and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham stand out as the largest and most influential.

A call has been announced for a “National Transitional Council” (NTC) to unite all elements of the revolution. This comes after Abu Muhammad al-Julani said that existing institutions would remain under the current prime minister in order to maintain stability following the unexpectedly rapid collapse of the Syrian government’s control over major cities.

However, the path forward remains uncertain. It is not yet clear how the state will be governed in the coming weeks or who will lead the effort to draft a new constitution and prepare for parliamentary elections. The main challenge will be creating a coherent governance structure and reconciling the diverse and often conflicting ideologies of the combined factions.

As these factions, with their different backgrounds and agendas, try to forge a unified vision for Syria’s future, questions remain about who will wield ultimate authority and how they will navigate the complexities of building a functioning state.

The success of this fragile alliance will likely determine whether Syria can move toward stability or remain divided and uncertain.

The creation of the National Transitional Council highlights the enormous challenges of uniting disparate factions into a coherent governing structure. While the Repel Aggression coalition suggests a temporary convergence of interests, the long-term sustainability of such an alliance remains questionable.

Factions within the NTC span a wide range of ideologies. Groups such as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and Ansar al-Tawhid advocate sharia-based governance of Syria. Their extremist vision risks alienating moderate factions and potential international supporters. Large groups such as HTS and Ahrar al-Sham may claim disproportionate influence, risking the marginalization of smaller factions and internal disunity. At the same time, Ahrar al-Sham and Faylaq al-Sham combine Islamic principles with nationalist aspirations, seeking a pluralistic model of governance that includes diverse Syrian groups.

On the other hand, factions such as the Sultan Murad Brigade and the Turkistan Islamic Party Brigades include foreign fighters and minorities, and they pursue unique goals, complicating the prospect of national unity. Smaller factions often support democratic or technocratic governance, which can conflict with the dominant Islamist forces in the coalition. These differences highlight the difficulty of creating a common vision of governance and policy.

Israel has formally abandoned the 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria, declaring its intention to renegotiate the dynamics on the border. In a bold move, Israel captured Mount Hermon and several villages in Quneitra, declaring Syria an open battlefield and signaling its intention to advance further into Syrian territory with blatant disregard for international norms. The Israeli Air Force conducted a sustained campaign, systematically attacking and destroying more than 100 strategic targets, including Syrian air defense systems, ammunition depots in Damascus, and key installations at several airports across the country, further weakening Syria’s already depleted defenses.

On the other hand, Russian forces, deployed on the Syrian-Israeli border primarily for stabilization following the Syrian civil war, acted as a buffer between Israeli and Syrian forces, preventing escalation. They were stationed primarily in the Quneitra and Golan Heights areas and served as intermediaries, restraining both sides from aggressive actions that could lead to a wider conflict. However, their presence was also a symbol of Russia’s influence in the region and its role as a security guarantor for the Assad regime.

Recent events have forced Moscow to abandon these positions due to the security risks to its soldiers, creating a vacuum that has allowed Israel to expand its operations and consolidate its control in southern Syria.

No international power has stepped up to defend Syrian sovereignty or oppose Israel’s annexation of additional Syrian territory. For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the occupation of parts of Syria represents a major achievement in Israel’s strategic ambitions. Not only does the move strengthen his political position at home, it also reinforces Israel’s territorial and military dominance at a key moment in the evolution of the Middle East’s geopolitical situation.

Moscow, which has provided refuge to Bashar al-Assad and his family, has announced that it remains in touch with all parties involved in Syria, maintaining a pragmatic approach toward the new authorities. However, uncertainty hangs over Russia’s strategic presence in the region. The possible loss of the Khmeimim and Tartus military bases would be a significant loss, as these facilities provide the only access to the warm waters of the Mediterranean, a critical geopolitical asset for projecting influence in the region.

Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2012, Turkey under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken a firm stance against President Bashar al-Assad. Erdogan has repeatedly stated that his goal is to visit Damascus and pray at the Umayyad Mosque. Today, with the fall of Assad, this goal seems achievable, cementing Turkey’s status as the “godfather” of the new Syrian leadership.

Turkey has long-term goals in Syria: securing its borders, countering Kurdish autonomy, and strengthening its influence in northern Syria. To this end, Ankara has used military action, economic integration, and support for opposition groups and jihadists. However, achieving these goals depends on Turkey’s ability to balance domestic political objectives, regional rivalries, and international interests.

Turkey has established zones of influence in regions such as Afrin, Jarablus, and al-Bab, where it exerts significant administrative, economic, and military influence. Turkish currency and goods dominate local markets, and the establishment of schools and cultural institutions has helped spread the Turkish language and culture.

These actions also help Turkey address its domestic challenges. It hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees, and anti-refugee sentiment has become a significant political issue. By creating “safe zones” in northern Syria, Ankara aims to repatriate significant numbers of refugees, reducing domestic tensions and demonstrating its role as a stabilizing force in the region. However, such ambitions have drawn opposition from Russia and Iran, especially in light of Turkey’s resettlement of opposition-supporting Syrians in areas cleared of Kurdish forces. This process of demographic engineering is aimed at weakening Kurdish influence and strengthening Turkey’s position.

Turkey’s military campaigns and support for offensive forces are also aimed at undermining U.S.-backed Kurdish militias in northeastern Syria. Although the United States relies on Kurdish militias such as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to fight ISIS, Ankara views the alliance as a threat to its security. Turkey’s operations demonstrate to Washington that it will not tolerate a prolonged Kurdish presence on its borders, even if it means disrupting American plans to stabilize the region.

Despite the fall of the Assad regime, the fighting in Syria is far from over. Fighting continues in northeastern Aleppo between Turkish-backed forces and U.S.-backed Kurdish militias. Turkey views these Kurdish forces not as Syrian militias but as affiliates of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated a terrorist organization in Turkey and internationally. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan recently underscored this position, saying that these forces are “foreign fighters who have gathered in Syria and they must all be eliminated.” The Kurdish forces remain determined to defend their autonomy and continue to receive U.S. support, creating a protracted conflict that limits Ankara’s ability to achieve its goals.

The United States, however, takes a different stance. While Washington also considers Ahmed al-Shaar (Abu Muhammad al-Julani), the leader of the task force, a terrorist, it continues to support Kurdish groups, including militias linked to the PKK, which it also officially recognizes as terrorist organizations. Yet these same Kurdish forces play a key role in protecting the American presence in Syria. U.S. forces also provide them with air cover and prevent attacks on them, creating a paradoxical dynamic. The U.S. will only recognize new leaders in Syria if there is a smooth transition.

In recent days, Kurdish forces have advanced and taken control of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa, adding these territories to the already-held regions of Hasakah and Qamishli, which are critical to Syria’s economy and resources. The new Syrian leadership is unlikely to accept this development, as it exacerbates tensions in the northeastern region, which contains the country’s grain basket as well as oil and gas resources. This Kurdish control presents an ongoing dilemma and raises the question of federalization, especially given the different identities of the Kurds, Alawites, and Druze in Syria.

However, Turkey’s staunch opposition to Kurdish autonomy will make the creation of a Kurdish state similar to Iraqi Kurdistan much more difficult. Ankara is unlikely to tolerate even the hint of a Kurdish enclave in northeastern Syria, ensuring that the issue remains a contentious and unresolved point in the country’s fragmented landscape.

Read the rest at the link

Syria. The last 75 years
Text taken from the Telegram channel of alter_vij

Commentary by Russian military journalist is in italics.
[ColonelCassad] In Syria over the past 75 years, not counting external wars:

1949 – three military coups, the supreme power changes as many as three times in one year

1951 – military coup

1954 – general rebellion and coup

1961 – military coup

1962 – as many as two military coups in one year

1963 – military coup, the Baath Party comes to power (one of the leaders is Assad Sr.)

1966 – military coup, where Assad Sr. is one of the main participants

1968-69 – riots in the main cities of the country, suppressed by the army

1970 – military coup, Assad Sr. comes to power

1976-82 – civil war between the Assad government and the Islamists. Mass killings in Aleppo. The city of Hama, mentioned more than once in December 2024, was completely destroyed during the fighting in 1982...

1984 - President Assad's younger brother unsuccessfully tries to overthrow his brother and seize power.

Since 1985, 20 years of relative stability begin under the harsh dictatorship of the Assad clan

2000 - Assad Sr. dies, power passes to his son

2005 - Vice President Khaddam, a close associate of his late father, unsuccessfully attempts to overthrow Assad Jr.

Since 2011 - as we all know, an ongoing war.

So 2024 and even 2025 will not be the last years of the eternal Syrian turmoil...

P.S. And what beauty was happening there throughout the 19th century! Emperor Nicholas I first thought about introducing Russian troops into Syria in 1840, when the "Egyptians" and "Turks" were once again fighting for Damascus and Aleppo during the civil strife within the Ottoman Empire.

Russian military intelligence began systematic work on the lands of modern Syria while Pushkin was still alive...

For five years, from 1834 to 1839, Russian officers worked continuously in Palestine and Syria. The first to survey the region for the possibility of military operations was Colonel of the General Staff Alexander Duhamel, who was listed as consul in Egypt. Then Lieutenant Colonel Pyotr Lvov worked in Syria. This native of the Tver province, a veteran of wars with the Turks and Polish rebels, compiled the first military map and topographic description of Syria in the style: "... here a road cut into the rock winds, and Beilan in a military sense would deserve special note."

Beilan is now the Turkish Belan in Hatay, where there are still more Arabs than Turks, and the line of the Syrian-Turkish border was recognized by Damascus only in 2011 and almost immediately "unrecognized" after Erdogan supported the internal Syrian rebellion.

But let's go back to the 19th century.

Emperor Nicholas I personally familiarized himself with the map of Syria and other documents of Lieutenant Colonel Lvov, leaving his own notes on them. As a result of this acquaintance, the lieutenant colonel became a colonel and received a lifelong pension of 2,000 rubles per year.

Following Pyotr Lvov in Syria and Palestine in 1838-39, Captain of the Life Guards Pavlovsky Regiment Joseph Dainese, assistant to the quartermaster general of the Active Army, worked. This Italian, who transferred to Russian service, compiled a "military survey map" and a detailed "Memoire sur la Syrie en 1838" (written in French, "Report on Syria in 1838").

Based on the work of Duhamel, Lvov and Dainese in St. Petersburg, the Department of the General Staff of the Ministry of War compiled the following summary in 1840: "The conquest of Syria, given the disposition of the inhabitants to the advancing army, is possible by acting from Anatolia during one 7- or 8-month campaign, but given the hostility of the steppe and mountain tribes, offensive actions, even from Anatolia, will be extremely difficult, will require a strong army and can be successful only with the slowest course of the war, special caution and inevitable sacrifices."

https://t.me/alter_vij/3365 - zinc

PS. Find Bashar al-Assad in the picture, who has recently become a Muscovite. Perhaps he will vote for Sobyanin in the elections.
The Sobyanin reference refers to Sergey Sobyanin, current mayor of Moskva who is apparently running for reelection.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Philadelphia: More on the Teen Jihadi who Planned to Bomb Pride Parade

2024-09-29

More on this story from August. Robert Spencer gets us a name and background.

[PJMedia] Muhyyee-Ud-din Abdul-Rahman is eighteen years old, and like many young men his age, he had big dreams. Abdul-Rahman wanted to become a bombmaker for jihad groups, and he researched the Philadelphia Pride parade and the Army-Navy game as potential targets. His father, a prominent far-left lawyer, had no comment, but one has to wonder: did this young man learn at home that this kind of behavior was acceptable?

The News Agency that Dare Not be Named reported that Abdul-Rahman was nothing if not enterprising: he "conducted at least 12 tests on homemade bombs near his family’s home before he was arrested and was close to being able to detonate devices with a blast radius of several hundred yards."

Robert Listenbee, Philadelphia’s First Assistant District Attorney, adds that the would-be jihadi "had a scholarship to attend college as a wrestler and decided he wanted to become a bomb maker. He wanted to leave America and go to Syria to join a terrorist group. He developed bombs in his home and tested those bombs 12 to 20 times in his backyard and in the woods nearby. Some of the bomb-making parts were found in his trash before he was arrested."

As Abdul-Rahman was doing all this, it is extremely unlikely that his parents didn’t notice: "detectives found Abdul-Rahman was collecting materials to make explosives at his parents’ [home]."

Abdul-Rahman wanted make bombs for two jihad terror groups: Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad (KTJ),

…made up of Turkic types: Uzbeks/Tajiks/Uighurs and based in Syria’s Idlib province — nothing at all to do with the spoilt kid of a Moslem African-American politician….

which is an al-Qaeda affiliate, and Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (HTS). He did not, however, intend to use his bomb-making skills only in Syria. CBS News notes that he was "was searching online for potential targets in the Philadelphia area, specifically the Philly Pride March and the Army-Navy game. He allegedly was also looking into targeting local power plants and domestic military bases."

How far has the apple fallen from the tree? Muhyyee-Ud-din Abdul-Rahman is the son of Qawi Abdul-Rahman, a prominent Philadelphia criminal defense attorney who ran in May 2023 for a seat as a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge. In a "vote for ten" election, Abdul-Rahman finished fourteenth, with 3.88% of the vote.

According to the Rantburg archives, Pops is a lawyer, wannabe judge so he could put his thumb on the scales for his people, father of three teenagers, loudly proud to be a child of the US Air Force and the Philadelphia projects — but he lives in the intersection of activist Islam and Black Lives Matter...

In a campaign video, Abdul-Rahman wears a djellaba, a flowing robe that is common in North Africa but usually worn in America only by Moslems who are extremely devout. His forehead also sports a superbly prominent zebiba, a dark mark caused by performing the repeated prostrations that are called for in Islamic prayer, and that is generally understood to be a sign of extraordinary piety.

Journalist Victor Fiorillo of Philly Mag reported back in Aug. 2023 that he contacted Qawi Abdul-Rahman to ask him about his son, and found the renowned attorney extremely bellicose: "You wanna find out what I’m really about?" Qawi Abdul-Rahman asked Fiorillo. "Text or call me one more time, and you’ll find out what I’m really about."

Qawi Abdul-Rahman has insisted, however, that he had little or no knowledge of what his son had been up to. He said he was "shocked and devastated" by his son’s arrest, adding, "I didn’t see it coming at all. At all. I go to court because I want people to know that Moslems are out here doing things in the community, for the community. I’m an American like everyone else."

Of course. Qawi Abdul-Rahman’s judge campaign page features another video that proclaims that "Black Judges Matter." In that video, he complains of judges who don’t give him and his clients the same attention and care they give to his "white counterparts." He complained about judges and court staff "looking at us as if we don’t belong."

Philadelphia officials are insisting that their young terror suspect was "radicalized on the Internet" and that his plans had nothing to do with Islam, but is anyone there looking into the possibility that his determination to strike against America arose from sources closer to home?

🚨Teen Radicalized Online Plots Bomb Attacks on Targets in the Philadelphia Area 🚨

An 18-year-old from West Philadelphia, Muhyyee-ud-din Abdul-Rahman, has been charged with plotting bomb attacks, including targeting the Philly Pride Parade and infrastructure sites like military… pic.twitter.com/xfce0lcd4V
— Sivan🕊 (@SivanSpeaks) September 27, 2024

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Al-Qaeda militant accidentally detained in Moscow

2024-07-26

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Police officers accidentally detained a native of Azerbaijan in Moscow, who turned out to be a militant of the Al-Qaeda group (a terrorist organization whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation). This was reported on July 25 by a source familiar with the situation.

According to the informant, whose words were quoted by Izvestia, the detainee took part in military operations in Syria on the side of terrorists from 2012 to 2013.

…back when it was Al Qaeda of Iraq and Syria?

He is currently in a pretrial detention center, and will then be handed over to the authorities of Azerbaijan.

According to the Telegram channel Mash, law enforcement officers detained the 37-year-old militant when they stopped him on Michurinsky Prospekt to check his documents. In 2019, a Baku court issued a warrant for the militant's arrest, but he managed to escape to Russia via Kazakhstan.

As reported by the Regnum news agency, on July 15, Federal Security Service (FSB) officers detained two migrants from the Central Asian region in Omsk who had organized a collection of money to buy weapons for militants of the Islamic Katiba Tawhid Wal-Jihad (a terrorist organization whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation). The detainees regularly transferred money to the accounts of the international terrorist organization.

On July 11, the FSB prevented an armed attack by a member of a terrorist organization banned in Russia on an Orthodox church in Adygea. The detainee turned out to be from one of the countries of the Central Asian region.

Later, the man who was preparing the terrorist attack admitted that he was going to set fire to the Holy Dormition Cathedral in Maykop. He specified that he did this on the instructions of the terrorist organization "Islamic State" (a terrorist organization whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation).

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

In Omsk, FSB officers detain migrants for collecting money for Islamists

2024-07-16

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] In Omsk, FSB officers detained migrants from the Central Asian region who organized a collection of money to buy weapons for militants of the Islamic Katiba Tawhid Wal-Jihad,

…an Uzbek/Kyrgyz unit of the Al Qaeda-oriented Al Nusra/Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in Syria. In 2022, founding leader Sirojiddin Mukhtarov was airstruck by the Russian Air Force….

the press service of the FSB Directorate for Omsk Region reported.

“Having entered into a criminal conspiracy, they established contact with an emissary of the terrorist organization Katiba Tawhid Wal-Jihad, who was wanted internationally, and then organized a collection of funds for the purpose of purchasing weapons for the militants,” the statement said.

According to law enforcement, the accomplice to the crime has been arrested. The man regularly transferred small amounts to the accounts of an international terrorist organization. His accomplice, who lives in Novosibirsk, has also been detained. Both criminals are from Central Asian countries, the press service of the UFSB added.

The department also specified that the men were planning to leave the Russian Federation and become members of a terrorist organization. A criminal case was opened under articles of a terrorist nature.

It is also reported that the accomplices were trained in the manufacture of homemade explosive devices; they were trained in a number of areas using specialized literature on terrorism.

Earlier, Regnum news agency reported that a foreigner was detained in the Amur Region for financing a terrorist organization. A criminal case was opened against him under the article "Financing of terrorism", under which he faces 8 to 15 years of imprisonment.

FSB officers also detained a resident of Rostov-on-Don suspected of financing the Ukrainian army. The woman transferred a total of over 330 thousand rubles for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

FSB detains 49 militant accomplices who were sending money to Syria

2024-02-27

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Almost 50 accomplices of Islamists who transferred money to militants in Syria were detained in 22 regions of Russia. The Center for Public Relations of the FSB of the Russian Federation reported this on February 26.

The FSB, in cooperation with Rosfinmonitoring and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, eliminated the international channel of resource support for militants from “Katiba Tawhid wal-Jihad”

Also spelt Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad. The Syrian branch of this Al Qaeda franchise is the Uzbeks/Tajiks/Uighurs section allied to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) in Idlib Province, having pulled together fighters from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Katibat Imam al Bukhari, and Turkestan Islamic Party. It was listed a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in March, 2022. Back home they mostly cause trouble in post-Soviet Central Asia, Russia and Xinjiang of the Uygur Autonomous Region of China.

(a terrorist organization whose activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation), which was coordinated by emissaries located in Syria.

“As a result of the activities carried out on the territory of 22 Russian regions, 49 members of an accomplice terrorist network involved in the collection and transfer of funds for the needs of militants operating in Syria were detained,” the report says.

It is noted that some of them spread radical Islamic ideology in the Muslim Ummah of the Russian Federation via the Internet and justified terrorism.

The department noted that criminal cases have been initiated, operational search activities and investigative actions are ongoing.

As Regnum reported, a student was taken into custody in the Altai Territory for trying to send a parcel of medicines abroad to the militants of the Islamic State (IS, a terrorist organization whose activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation). He established contact with terrorists, and during the conversation expressed a desire to go to Syria and join the ranks of a terrorist organization.

In addition, at the end of 2023, the student purchased a batch of medical supplies needed in real combat conditions. Next, he sent the parcel abroad to the address specified by the “curators” in the interests of a terrorist organization. The mail was promptly seized by FSB operatives. A criminal case has been initiated on this fact.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Dozens of terrorists killed in Syrian offensive in Idlib province

2023-10-05

[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] Dozens of foreign-sponsored Takfiri

...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed...
holy warriors have been killed and maimed after Syrian army forces carried out a string of military operations against terrorist bases and arms depots in the northwestern province of Idlib.

Syria’s official news agency SANA, citing a statement issued by the Syrian Ministry of Defense on Tuesday, reported that the strikes were in retaliation for the recent terrorist attacks on the positions of Syrian army troops and government-held towns.

The statement said the operations destroyed the headquarters and weapons caches of members of the so-called Ansar al-Tawhid (Supporters of Monotheism) Takfiri group.

Dozens of terrorists, among them high-profile commanders, were among the fatalities, it added.

Syrian government troops also intercepted and shot down two combat drones operated by holy warriors over an area in the neighboring Aleppo province.

The operation came after Russia’s Defense Ministry warned that members of Takfiri terrorist outfits were planning to stage attacks in Syria’s northwestern provinces of Latakia, Idlib and Aleppo against the positions of Syrian and Russian military forces.

Deputy Chief of the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria Major General Oleg Yegorov said on Tuesday that the center had received information that the Death Eaters were set to carry out the assaults.

He said Russian and Syrian forces would adopt proper measures to repel the attacks.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Military escalation causes casualties in NW Syria

2023-08-30

[NPASYRIA] The de-escalation zone in the countryside of Idlib, Aleppo and Latakia in northwestern Syria witnessed, for the third consecutive day, a continuation of intensive mutual shelling between the Syrian government forces and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else

Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else

...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
(HTS — formerly al-Nusra
...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ...
Front).

"The government forces continued their intensive artillery and missile attacks on the villages and towns of Fatterah, Kafr Aweed, Sfohen, Kansafra and the outskirts of al-Bara in Zawiya Mountain, south of Idlib, amid their attempts to advance and regain posts they lost in al-Malaja area in Zawiya Mountain at the beginning of this week," a military source of the Syrian opposition told North Press.

"The HTS thwarted last night an attempt by Division 25 (Special Tasks) affiliated with the government forces to progress in the al-Malaja, south of Idlib, where the latter tried to progress and regain the posts it lost a few days ago, as the area witnessed ~~violent~~ mostly peaceful festivities that were ended with the withdrawal of government forces to their posts," the source added.

"The government forces also tried this morning to progress in the outskirts of Nahshaba, north of Latakia, amid a preparation of intensive artillery and missile escalation, but the HTS thwarted the attempt and managed to kill and wound more than 12 soldiers", according to the source.

"A military source within the al-Fateh al-Mubin Operations Room targeted with artillery and rocket shells posts of the government forces in Kafr Nabl, Ma’arat Harmah, Hazarin and al-Malaja, south of Idlib, and managed to destroy a rocket launcher and a cannon in Ma’arat Harmah", a source from the al-Fateh al-Mubin Operations Room reported.

In Hama, pro-government media reported that two soldiers were killed and two others were maimed by a landmine explosion in a car in Salamiyah countryside, east of Hama Governorate, central Syria.

"Units of our armed forces, in cooperation with the Russian warplanes, carried out air and missile strikes on headquarters of terrorist groups affiliated with what is called "Ansar al-Tawhid Group" and the HTS in the southern countryside of Idlib", the Ministry of Defense of Syria announced.

The Ministry of Defense added, in a statement, that "the strikes resulted in the complete destruction of those headquarters with all their weapons, equipment and ammunition, killing large numbers of murderous Moslems and their leaders, including Mahmoud Sarmini and Mamdouh Alloush from the HTS, and Abu Rayan Muwahh and Abu Qusoura al-Gharbi from Ansar al-Tawhid Group".

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