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Home Front: WoT

ISIS Financier Who Fled U.S. in 2016 Finally Faces Justice

2026-09-26

[PJMedia] An Uzbekistani man is facing justice in federal court for providing material support to terrorists.

Davud Ansariy, a citizen of Uzbekistan and naturalized citizen of the United States, also known as "Kozimjon Gafurov" and "Kozim," will be arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lara K. Eshkenazi on an indictment charging him with one count of conspiracy and one count of providing material support to the Islamic State

...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and 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 .. ...
h Front (ANF), both foreign terrorist organizations at the time of the charged conduct.

Ansariy was extradited to the Eastern District of New York from Tbilisi, Georgia, on Sept. 23, where he was arrested in August 2026.

According to court filings, Ansariy was the leader of a group of radicalized individuals based primarily in Brooklyn, New York, who planned to travel to Syria to become ISIS or ANF fighters, or who financed the travel of aspiring fighters.

"After a decade on the run, Ansariy is back in the United States where he must answer to the charge that he supported two of the most ruthless terrorist groups in the world, ISIS and the al‑Nusrah Front," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. "As alleged in the indictment, Ansariy ran a network that raised money, arranged travel, and paved the way for individuals who hoped to fight for these foreign terrorist organizations. We thank our partners, domestic and otherwise, for helping us to ensure that bully boyz are apprehended wherever they hide."

The government’s investigation uncovered an extensive financial support network that raised money for those seeking to travel to Syria to join and fight for foreign terrorist organizations.

"More than a decade ago, the defendant fled the United States in an effort to evade justice for his extremely serious crimes," said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. for the Eastern District of New York. "As alleged, the defendant facilitated an expansive network that sought to finance the travel of imported muscle to wage ~~violent~~ mostly peaceful jihad. His extradition and prosecution should serve as a reminder that our office and our law enforcement partners will work relentlessly to hold accountable those who would provide support to bully boyz seeking to harm the United States. Ansariy will now face justice for his actions in a U.S. courtroom."

,The network’s participants referred to the group as "chayxona," an Uzbek word which translates to "tea house" or "tea party."

"This individual allegedly raised funds to help two foreign terrorist organizations and left the U.S. before he could be held accountable," said Assistant Director Jarod Brown of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division. "The passage of years and geographic distance will not stop the FBI; we will find those who help foreign terrorist groups and work with our partners to see justice is served. The FBI is committed to finding networks set up to fund terrorist acts and will shut them down."

The group also raised money to help support the families that fighters left behind when they traveled to Syria, and to help support the widows and families of those who were killed fighting. As a result of these "tea party" collections, Ansariy and others funded the travel of at least three individuals to Syria in 2013. All three are believed to have been killed in Syria.

In May 2016, Ansariy departed the United States for ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
on a one-way ticket that he purchased the previous day. His departure from the United States came five days after the arrest of one of Ansariy’s co-conspirators, on May 11, 2016. Since then, Ansariy has remained a runaway. A federal grand jury in Brooklyn returned an indictment against the defendant in November 2021.

If convicted of the charges, Ansariy faces a maximum penalty of 35 years in prison.

The FBI investigated the case, with the assistance of the New York Police Department, New York State Police, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Port Authority Police Department, and the U.S. Marshals Service. The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI Office of the Law Enforcement Attache in Tbilisi and the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia secured the arrest and extradition of Ansariy.

The government’s case is being handled by the Eastern District of New York’s National Security and Cybercrime Section. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey R. Oken is prosecuting the case, with assistance from Trial Attorney Joseph Kaster of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Irisa Chen and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Pravda for the Eastern District of New York.

Link

Home Front: WoT

‘Infidel Awareness Month’ Launches on the 25th Anniversary of 9/11

2026-09-14

[ChristianNewsWire] Press Release:
A coalition of Jews, former Moslems and Christians is launching "Infidel Awareness Month," a national observance running from September 11 to October 7, the anniversaries of the 9/11 attacks and the October 7 massacre that claimed thousands of innocent lives.

Each day, Infidel Awareness Month will remember the victims, examine the history and ideology behind the attacks, and ask a simple question: Why are we still afraid to name the threat?

"Infidel Awareness Month is about remembering, understanding and speaking plainly," said founder and historian Richard Landes. "We cannot defend a free society if we are afraid to name the ideology that has repeatedly declared us its enemy. No to supremacist Islam. Yes to Moslems who live as our equal neighbors."

At the center of the initiative is one word: "infidel." It is a word many Americans never knew was meant for them. To a supremacist reading of Islam, it means everyone outside the faith, including Christians, Jews, secular people and even the Moslems who reject it.

"Twenty-five years ago, as a boy in Amman, I cheered when the towers fell. Today I am a proud infidel," said Danny Burmawi, founder and CEO of the Ideological Defense Institute which is partnering with Infidel Awareness Month. "The Month is about confronting the threat of an ideology that demands submission and seeks to impose Sharia law across society. We will not hide behind euphemisms. But this is not a war on Moslems — Moslems are this ideology’s first victims, and some of its bravest opponents are those, like me, who left it."

The Month is not a campaign against Moslems. It is a campaign against a supremacist, intolerant ideology that seeks to dominate rather than integrate, that is hateful rather than accepting of different faiths and points of view. Moslems who embrace diversity and who want to live as equal citizens and patriotic, peaceful neighbors are welcome and should never be the object of bigotry.

THE "27 DAYS OF TRUTH"
The observance opens with three days of context and closes the day after the October 7 anniversary; at its heart are 27 Days of Truth, one for each theme.

The program is built around three ideas:

• A Record. Remember the victims. Name them. Tell their stories.

• A Reckoning. Ask how euphemisms, censorship and fear of offense made it harder to speak honestly about jihadist ideology.

• A Warning. Recognize that the ideology did not disappear with the late Osama bin Laden

...... who is now sometimes referred to as Mister Bones......
or the fall of ISIS’s territorial caliphate.

The full program, daily schedule and additional information are available at InfidelAwareness.com.

ABOUT THE COALITION
Infidel Awareness Month is an independent coalition effort founded by the historian Richard Landes, joined by former Moslems, scholars, philosophers, and filmmakers. It is supported by private philanthropy. Learn more at www.InfidelAwareness.com.

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Britain

Four plead guilty to London arson attack on Jewish community ambulances

2026-08-29

[IsraelTimes] Four young men have admitted to being behind an arson attack on London ambulances owned by a Jewish charity at a UK court hearing.

British nationals Hamza Iqbal, 20, Rehan Khan, 19, Judex Atshatshi, 18, and British-Pakistani Saif Ali, 18, all pleaded guilty to criminal damage linked to the March 23 attack.

Four ambulances run by the Hatzola charity were destroyed in a London neighborhood home to a significant Jewish population, amid a spate of attacks in the British capital targeting Jewish or Israel-linked locations.

The vehicles were parked near a synagogue, and the damage was valued at one million pounds ($1.4 million).

At a previous hearing, prosecution lawyer Emma Harraway told the court there was strong evidence this was “a premeditated and targeted attack against the Jewish community.”

Several antisemitic attacks in London this year targeted synagogues and other Jewish sites.

An Iran-linked group known as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyah (HAYI) had previously claimed multiple attacks, including the destruction of the ambulances.

HAYI is basically a hiring agency of the IRGC, which finds and pays criminals and similar feckless sorts to attack Jewish targets in Europe and Britain as part of Iran’s war against Israel and Jews elsewhere. Recall that they believe that killing all the Jews in the world is a necessary step to the Mahdi climbing out of the well and establishing the worldwide caliphate.

The UK government has announced plans to ban HAYI, also known as the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right, as a national security threat.

Defense lawyers denied that the four defendants had any “terrorism” connections to groups proscribed in the UK.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hamas declared that the terrorist group will not disarm as long as Israel continues to exist

2026-08-27

Khaled Qaddoumi, Hamas's representative in Iran, declared that the terrorist group will not disarm as long as Israel continues to exist.

The statement comes as the future of Hamas's weapons remains one of the central disputes surrounding any long-term settlement in Gaza.

Israel… pic.twitter.com/00ZdvXsUHp
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 26, 2026

Text:

Khaled Qaddoumi, Hamas's representative in Iran,

…where he is far from the war, but as has previously been demonstrated, not necessarily safe from Mossad’s attention…

declared that the terrorist group will not disarm as long as Israel continues to exist.

OK. Not that anyone is surprised, and Israel already has action plans in place.

The statement comes as the future of Hamas's weapons remains one of the central disputes surrounding any long-term settlement in Gaza.

Israel has repeatedly demanded the complete disarmament of Hamas and says the group cannot be allowed to retain military capabilities or govern Gaza.

Hamas got their single 10/7. Israel will not allow a second one.

Hamas, however, has repeatedly rejected permanent disarmament and describes its weapons as necessary for continued "resistance."

Given the Hamas definition of resistance is murdering all the Jews in the world, followed by the world’s Christians, on the way to establishing a worldwide Muslim caliphate, Israel will not permit it.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Members of Arab party Ra’am convene to choose electoral slate

2026-08-22

Keeping an eye on the antics of the Muslim Brotherhood in Israel.

[IsraelTimes] Traditionalist

…very traditional as they take the slow and steady path to establishing their Sunni caliphate via politics, charitable organizations, and more than a bit of violence on the side.

Arab party Ra’am holds its first internal election since chairman MK Mansour Abbas announced last year that the party would become “completely civil” and cut ties with its religious governing body, the Islamic Shura Council.

Roughly 1,050 party members are convening in the central Arab city of Taibe today to select the first five candidates on Ra’am’s slate for the October 27 election, the party says in a statement.

Places 6 through 10 on the party slate will then be selected by the party’s executive council, the statement says.

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International-UN-NGOs

UNHCR chief urges swift support as more Syrians return

2026-08-15

[North Press] United Nations
...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense...
High Commissioner for Refugees

…responsible for all the world’s refugees except the Palestinians. And all the world’s refugees are encouraged to quickly settle, either wherever they find refuge or back home, so they might stop being refugees.

Barham Salih on Thursday urged the international community to rapidly increase support for Syrians as growing numbers of refugees and internally displaced people return after years of conflict.

Concluding a week-long visit to Syria, Salih said the country is at a “historic turning point,” with more than three million Syrians having returned from abroad or displacement inside the country since December 2024.

“Recovery on this scale is a huge task, and Syria cannot do it alone,” Salih said, calling for swift international support for recovery, livelihoods, infrastructure and basic services while humanitarian needs remain significant.

During his visit, Salih traveled to Damascus, Idlib and Aleppo governorates, meeting government officials, displaced families, returnees and host communities to assess progress and remaining challenges.

In Damascus, he met President Ahmad al-Sharaa,

…the suave, well groomed head of the Al Qaeda branch in Syria that suddenly drove off the secular, Arab National Socialist al-Assad government that had ruled Syria for two generations in order to create a new Sunni caliphate…

the foreign minister and members of the government’s inter-ministerial committee overseeing its “No Tents, No Camps” initiative.

In Idlib, displaced families at al-Hijra camp told him that destroyed homes and a lack of basic services in their areas of origin continued to prevent them from returning.

Salih also visited a cadastral office

…where real estate property records are stored…

in Maarat al-Numan that UNHCR helped renovate, allowing residents to access land and property records.

Nearly four million Syrian refugees remain in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, while around 5.5 million people remain internally displaced inside Syria, according to UNHCR.

The agency stressed that returns must remain voluntary, safe and dignified while international support is expanded both inside Syria and for host countries continuing to shelter refugees.

Syria has faced prolonged displacement since the outbreak of conflict in 2011. Since December 2024, millions of Syrians have returned to their areas of origin or relocated within the country, increasing pressure on damaged infrastructure and already strained public services.

At Al-Hijra Camp in Idlib, northwestern Syria, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih met displaced families and heard about their hopes for the future, Aug. 13, 2026. – UNHCR

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syria’s army restructuring shows how Damascus intends to absorb the SDF

2026-08-08

[NationalContext] President Ahmed al-Sharaa is building a military system designed to prevent any faction, including the SDF, from preserving an autonomous chain of command inside the state. The restructuring now moving through the Ministry of Defence weakens commanders associated with abuses against Kurdish civilians, breaks apart factions of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and brings senior SDF officers into the national hierarchy.

Glory hallelujah. I hope al Nusra/HTS can maintain the moderation in the face of an internal drive toward caliphate.

Some SDF-linked accounts have presented these changes as evidence that Damascus is responding to Kurdish demands.

That reading misses the wider purpose of the restructuring. The process now separating Abu Amsha, Saif Abu Bakr and other former faction leaders from their forces is likely to be applied gradually to the SDF once its integration and formal dissolution are complete. Removing abusive commanders and unifying the army may serve Syria well. The SDF’s apparent plan to enter the state while retaining a concentrated military and political bloc is nonetheless unlikely to survive al-Sharaa’s centralising strategy.

Breaking the factional commands: The government’s first approach after the fall of the former regime was to absorb armed formations into the Ministry of Defence without dismantling their internal structures. Former faction leaders received military ranks, and many of their fighters entered newly created divisions under the same commanders. That arrangement brought roughly 130 armed formations nominally under state authority without provoking immediate resistance, while preserving much of the factional reality beneath the new titles: commanders continued to lead the same fighters, officers and local networks that had served under them before the new army existed.

The current restructuring moves beyond that transitional stage. Reports differ over whether the final structure will contain five or six corps, but the direction is consistent. Divisions are being reduced, reorganised or placed under wider regional commands, and faction leaders are being transferred away from direct control of the formations built around their personal networks.

Muhammad Hussein al-Jassem, known as Abu Amsha, who formerly led one of the key Turkish-backed SNA factions, has reportedly been moved from command of the 62nd Division to deputy commander of the Central Corps. The new post carries higher formal rank while separating him from the fighters and officers of his former Sultan Suleiman Shah faction, and places him inside a headquarters where authority is divided among a commander, deputies, chiefs of staff and central departments. Saif al-Din Bolad, known as Saif Abu Bakr, the former commander of the Hamza Division, another prominent SNA faction, was removed from command of the 76th Division and offered an administrative role within a corps headquarters; he reportedly rejected the reassignment and resigned from the ministry.

The transfers have also reached the 80th Division, an Aleppo-based formation assembled largely from SNA factions of the northern countryside. Among the officers moved from it into the Second Corps command are Muatasim Abbas, founder and long-time commander of the Muatasim Division; Abdul Nasser Abu Jalal, a defected army captain who founded the opposition’s 9th Division (Special Forces) in the western Aleppo countryside; and Thaer Maarouf, former commander of the Samarqand Brigade and a senior figure in the SNA’s First Legion. Each of the three built his standing on a faction of his own.

These transfers matter because a faction leader’s real power comes from control over a concentrated body of fighters, weapons, bases and subordinate officers. A senior title inside a corps headquarters can remove him from his original force while conferring rank and status inside the state. Once the ministry controls salaries, appointments, ammunition, logistics, training and deployments, the former commander becomes dependent on the institution, and his authority ceases to rest on personal control of an armed organisation.

More at the link

Link

Iraq

Iraq says Syria border remains secure despite alert reports, foils Syrian balloon-born Captagon smuggling

2026-08-06

[Rudaw] Iraq's borders with Syria remain "calm and secure," a high-ranking Iraqi border official said Tuesday, despite reports from regional and Syrian media outlets that Syria's army has entered a state of alert and is deploying units along the country's borders with Iraq amid security concerns.

"The situation along [Iraq's] border with Syria is normal, and the movements on the Syrian side to secure the borders are taking place with our knowledge and in coordination with us," Lieutenant General Mohammed Abdul-Wahab Sakr al-Saeedi, commander of the Border Guard Forces, told the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA).

He further emphasized that "there is no current threat on the borders, and there is an exchange of information and coordination with the Syrian border forces."
The remarks follow reports from regional outlets that Syria's defense ministry has ordered Alert Level C and deployed units along the Iraqi border, amid a widening conflict between the US and Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
and its affiliated gangs across the region, including in Iraq.

"Our units are holding the border firmly, and the Syrian side has not occupied the border posts so far," Saeedi said.

The Iraq-Syria border, which stretches approximately 600 kilometers, has been at the forefront of numerous conflicts in recent years, most notably the war against the Islamic State

...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS), which saw krazed killer gunnies exploit the border's vulnerability to establish a so-called caliphate spanning the two countries.

The border has also seen several gangs build underground tunnels to bypass it, transiting personnel, weapons, and narcotics across the frontier.

Iraq foils balloon-borne Captagon smuggling attempts launched from Syria

[Rudaw] Iraqi border forces have seized 4.5 million Captagon pills during the first six months of the year after foiling attempts to smuggle the narcotics into the country using balloons launched from Syria, according to data provided to Rudaw by the Iraqi Border Guard Command.

The figures show the pills were intended to be flown into the deserts of Anbar and Najaf provinces using GPS-equipped balloons, marking what officials say is a growing smuggling tactic adopted after the fall of the former Syrian regime in December 2024 and tighter security measures along the Iraqi-Syrian border.

"Most of the Captagon shipments transported by balloons and intercepted by border guards are launched from the Syrian border toward Iraq. In July alone, more than 4,000 Captagon pills were seized after traffickers attempted to smuggle them by balloon into the Rutba desert in Anbar province," Saad Ghazi, head of the security committee at the Anbar Provincial Council, told Rudaw's Hastyar Qadir on Tuesday.

The seizures highlight the evolving methods used by regional drug trafficking networks as Iraq continues to serve as both a destination and a transit route for Captagon, a highly addictive amphetamine-type stimulant. Iraqi authorities have intensified anti-narcotics operations in recent years, expanding cross-border cooperation with neighboring countries to disrupt trafficking networks.

A senior Iraqi border official, speaking to Rudaw on condition of anonymity, said, "The balloons carrying Captagon are usually released during the day and fly at a height of approximately 200 meters. They are equipped with GPS devices so drug traffickers can later locate and retrieve them after they land," the official said.

"Our border guard units immediately bring the balloons down whenever they detect them, preventing the shipments from reaching their intended destinations," the source added.

According to the official, part of the Captagon seized inside Iraq is intended for the domestic market, while traffickers attempt to move the rest onward to other countries, including Gulf states.

This year, Iraq has stepped up efforts to combat Captagon trafficking.

In June, Iraqi and Syrian anti-narcotics authorities dismantled an international trafficking network in joint operations inside Syria, seizing around 200 kilograms of narcotics destined for Iraq. Syrian authorities said the operation also led to the confiscation of 800,000 Captagon pills. At the time, officials said joint Iraqi-Syrian operations had seized more than five million Captagon pills since the start of 2026.

Authorities in Iraq have also carried out a series of domestic operations in recent months. In July, Iraqi security forces seized 51 kilograms of Captagon pills and arrested two suspected traffickers in separate raids. Days earlier, military intelligence arrested a suspected drug dealer in Baghdad who was allegedly carrying 14,000 Captagon pills.

Captagon was produced on an industrial scale in Syria under the rule of former president Bashar al-Assad, with regional and international officials long accusing figures linked to the former Syrian government of facilitating the trade. Although Assad's government has fallen, Iraqi officials say clandestine production and smuggling networks remain active across the border, forcing traffickers to adopt new methods to evade tighter security.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

YPJ says talks with Damascus continue under Jan. 29 agreement

2026-08-05

Yes, yes, it’s very exciting that the HTS government of Syria is talking to the Kurds instead of trying to kill them. Enjoy it while it lasts, guys.

[North Press] The Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) – an all-female force active within the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – said on Tuesday that negotiations with the Syrian transitional government are continuing within the framework of the Jan. 29, 2026 agreement, adding that no final decision has been reached regarding the force’s future status.

In a statement, the YPJ said it held talks with Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra in April, during which it submitted a written proposal outlining its vision and recommendations concerning the implementation of the agreement.

“To this day, we have not been informed of any official proposal or decision by the authorities in Damascus,” the statement read.

The YPJ noted that discussions are ongoing over proposals to incorporate the force into the Syrian Interior Ministry as an independent unit tasked with combating terrorism, stressing that no agreement has yet been finalized.

“There are proposals for the Women’s Protection Units to join the Ministry of Interior as an independent force dedicated to combating terrorism. However, no final decision has yet been reached on this matter,” the statement added.

They are immodest females who think themselves equal to men. Will this be allowed to stand in a Sharia-ruled caliphate?

More at the link

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Israeli military clears forest land in northern Quneitra

2026-08-04

[North Press] Israeli military bulldozers carried out land-clearing operations in a forested area near the village of Jbata al-Khashab in the northern countryside of Quneitra Governorate on Monday, local sources told North Press.

The sources said Israeli military vehicles cleared parts of Al-Shahar Forest, located southwest of Jbata al-Khashab along the separation line with the occupied Golan Heights.

Not occupied. Annexed. So long as Israelis are capable of holding weapons, the Arabs will not get it back, because until June 1967, the Arabs hung out at the top of the Golan ridge and shelled the Jewish farms below — more than two decades of near daily sirens, near daily of children living, learning, and playing in underground shelters, because to go outside was to risk being blown to bits. Exactly how it had been for Israeli children since 2007 in southern Israel within rocket distance of the Gaza Strip.

As for Israel’s current expansion of a buffer zone in Syria, one can only guess why Israelis would distrust the permanent goodwill of an expansionist, caliphate-seeking more-or-less branch of Al Qaeda that is currently working to consolidate its conquest of formerly Arab Socialist Syria.

According to the sources, the operation targeted the same forest where similar clearing activities had previously been carried out by the Israeli military.

Al-Shahar Forest covers approximately 500 dunams and lies adjacent to the separation line in northern Quneitra governorate.
The dunam is a measure of area used in the lands of the former Ottoman empire, defined by the Ottomans as the amount of land that could be plowed in a single day. In Israel this is standardized to 1000 square meters or one decare. For some reason Iraq defines it as 2500 square meters.

BREAKING NEWS — South Syria: Israeli forces continue bulldozing operations in the Harsh Al-Shahhar area near the village of Jubata al-Khashab in the Quneitra countryside, southern Syria. pic.twitter.com/I8O3nwQREz
— Fared Al Mahlool | فريد المحلول (@FARED_ALHOR) August 3, 2026

An Israeli force of five military vehicles entered Jabata al-Khashab in northern Quneitra. The town's mukhtar, Muhammad Mreiwid, puts Israeli-held land there at about 10,000 dunams of forest, pasture and farmland since 2024.

Satellite analysis has documented some 2,500 dunams… pic.twitter.com/1NdrsmfyOn
— Levant24 (@Levant_24_) August 2, 2026

One Incursion at a Time: Israel Builds Its Permanent Occupation of Southern Syria

Israeli occupation forces entered southern Quneitra again on Sunday morning, establishing a military checkpoint on the al-Hiran–al-Rafid road and searching local residents, all civilians, and… pic.twitter.com/y2Yv9iHyiU
— Radio Free Syria (@Radio_FreeSyria) August 2, 2026

…all civilians, and passing vehicles.

These invasions have become almost daily, extending across northern and southern Quneitra and into western Daraa. Sunday’s checkpoint is not an exceptional event, just one small part of Israel’s steadily expanding occupation of southern Syria.

This past weekend alone, on Friday, Israeli vehicles entered the vicinity of Ruwayhina Dam in northern Quneitra. On Saturday morning, another force established a checkpoint at the Wadi al-Ruqqad bridge in western Daraa and searched a civilian home. Later that day, five Israeli vehicles entered al-Ajraf in northern Quneitra, stopped and searched passers-by and installed a large surveillance camera before reportedly removing it and withdrawing.

The individual patrols may be temporary. The system of control they are creating is not.

Since seizing additional Syrian territory following Bashar al-Assad’s downfall in December 2024, Israel has constructed military positions, fortifications and roads, dug trenches, cleared agricultural and forest land and demolished civilian property. Its forces conduct home raids, detain residents, erect checkpoints and determine where Syrians may travel inside their own country.

Amnesty International has documented the repeated expulsion of Syrian families and deliberate destruction of civilian homes in Quneitra, saying these acts should be investigated as war crimes. Other documentation records the seizure and demolition of homes, mine-laying, forced displacement and the clearance of around 45 hectares of the historic Jubata al-Khashab forest.

This is occupation by accumulation: one road, checkpoint, demolition, surveillance post and military base at a time. Dividing it into hundreds of supposedly separate incidents makes a sustained territorial project appear to be a series of minor security operations.

Ordinary Syrians have shown extraordinary restraint in the face of these incursions, arrests, demolitions and seizures of their land, but anger is rising. Residents have blocked Israeli patrol routes with stones, demonstrated against the occupation and, in Abdin in June, confronted advancing troops before Israel responded with gunfire and artillery shelling. More Syrians are evidently prepared to resist.

Yet the Syrian government is walking a perilous tightrope. Any organised military retaliation could be seized upon by Israel as the pretext for a much wider war against a country whose armed forces and infrastructure it has already systematically weakened.
Israel has repeatedly threatened Syrian government forces and previously bombed Damascus under the claimed justification of “protecting” Syria’s Druze and other minorities. Damascus must therefore oppose an advancing occupation without handing Benjamin Netanyahu the confrontation he could use to escalate it—while knowing that continued restraint gives Israel more time to entrench its control.

Israel originally portrayed its advance beyond the 1974 disengagement line as a temporary security measure. It is no longer even pretending that its presence will be temporary.

In July, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz declared that Israeli forces would remain in what Israel calls “security zones” in Syria, Lebanon and Gaza “until further notice.”
“We will not withdraw from the security zones,” he said.
US President Donald Trump reportedly asked Netanyahu to begin withdrawing from Syria, warning that Israel’s presence was increasing tensions.

Netanyahu subsequently told his security cabinet that Washington wanted withdrawals from Syria, Lebanon and Gaza—and that he intended to refuse.

There is little reason for Netanyahu to treat Trump’s request as an ultimatum. Washington has imposed no visible consequence for his refusal. On Friday, Trump openly acknowledged that his administration’s campaign against the International Criminal Court was intended partly to “defend Bibi”—Netanyahu—from prosecution.

The United States is therefore asking Netanyahu to moderate one violation of international law while actively protecting him from accountability for others. Its objections to the occupation increasingly resemble diplomatic theatre rather than meaningful pressure.
The United Nations continues to condemn Israel’s violations of Syrian sovereignty and the 1974 agreement. Human-rights organisations document possible war crimes. The ICC has issued a warrant for Netanyahu over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Yet he continues to travel abroad, receive diplomatic protection and reject demands for withdrawal.

Netanyahu has learned that condemnation without enforcement imposes no cost. Israel can ignore the UN, defy Syria, reject even Washington’s requests and continue changing reality on the ground.

Sunday’s checkpoint is therefore not the whole story. It is the latest step in an occupation Israel established by stealth, is expanding in full view of the world and now openly declares it has no intention of ending.

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Cyber

Al‑Qaida and the Islamic State are both adopting AI – but differ in how they think about the technology

2026-07-29

by Sara Harmouch

[TheConversation] Artificial intelligence may not create a new kind of terrorism, but it makes existing tactics cheaper, faster and easier. That is the central argument of a July 2026 report from the U.S.-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies.

It is a convincing argument, but it leaves one question unanswered: Are different terrorist groups thinking about the technology in the same way?

As a terrorism expert who studies how militant groups think and adapt, I have analyzed propaganda, guides and strategic writings from the two most influential jihadi movements of the 21st century – al-Qaida and the Islamic State group – to observe how they interpret and adopt new technologies, such as AI. I also examined documented uses of AI by their affiliates, media outlets and supporters.

I found that affiliates, media outlets and supporters across both movements use AI for propaganda, recruitment, security and planning. But al-Qaida and Islamic State-linked networks approach AI in ways that reflect how each movement fights. Al-Qaida is more deliberate and thinks in decades. The Islamic State moves quickly and seeks immediate effect.

In short, each group’s approach reflects its organizational culture and reveals a different view of time and war. The Islamic State built its project around a caliphate to hold and display now – and that urgency rewards whoever produces a visible effect today. Al-Qaida built its project around a generational war of attrition, betting that will and endurance could outlast a technologically superior enemy.

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Afghanistan

UN Official: Al-Qaeda Still Maintains a Presence in Afghanistan

2026-07-19

[ToloNews] The acting UN Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism has claimed in an interview with Russia’s TASS news agency that al-Qaeda still maintains a presence in Afghanistan, although its activities in the country have significantly declined.

According to TASS, Alexander Zuev said that the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) and Tehrik-e-Taliban
Taliban

...mindless ferocity in a turban...
Pakistain (TTP) are currently the most active murderous Moslem groups operating in Afghanistan.

TASS quoted Zuev as saying: "Over the past decades, various terrorist groups have traditionally operated in Afghanistan. al-Qaeda is not currently highly active there, but it continues to maintain its presence in the country."

Last Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said that ISIS-K is attempting to use Afghanistan as a base to expand its activities and establish a caliphate.

Responding to those remarks, the spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior said the Islamic Emirate remains committed to its obligations under the Doha Agreement and does not allow any group to operate from Afghan territory.

Abdul Matin Qani, the ministry’s spokesperson, said: "We have fulfilled the commitment we made in Doha that Afghanistan’s territory will remain secure. We have carried out this responsibility at the regional level. There is no subversive group in Afghanistan that poses a threat to the country’s internal or cross-border security."

Military analyst Turyalai Zazai said: "Their concerns should hold no value for the people of Afghanistan because these are not genuine concerns; rather, they are propaganda aimed at the Afghan people to achieve political objectives."

This comes after the spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate previously stated that ISIS has been suppressed in Afghanistan and that no group will be allowed to use Afghan territory against other countries.

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