Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syrian militants continue abuses in north Syria despite integration: HRW

2025-05-15

[Rudaw] Syrian National Army (SNA) Death Eaters continue to detain and extort civilians in northern Syria despite a decline in arrests in recent months, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report said on Wednesday, warning that commanders complicit in serious human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
abuses are now being integrated into Syria’s official military structure.

"These fighters are being integrated into Syria’s Armed Forces, with their commanders appointed to key government and military positions, despite their past involvement in serious abuses," HRW said, calling on the transitional government in Damascus to "end and investigate ongoing abused and exclude those with records of abuse from the Syrian security forces."

The report cited Syrian for Truth and Justice (STJ) - a local human rights organization - which last month documented dozens of arrests by SNA factions in January and February. Despite the removal of most SNA checkpoints in the vicinity of the Kurdish city of Afrin in northern Syria, "hundreds remain detained in SNA-run, Ottoman Turkish-supervised prisons."

The watchdog also cited a December attack by fighters from the SNA’s notorious Suleiman Shah Brigade, who allegedly took control of a village in Aleppo province, beat residents, stole personal belongings, and arrested seven men "under the pretext of searching for weapons." Two of the men "remained in detention" as of early May, according to the HRW.

It also referred to earlier reports that detail "abductions, arbitrary arrests, unlawful detentions, including of children, sexual violence, and torture by the various factions of the SNA, the Military Police, a force established to curb such abuses, and members of the Ottoman Turkish Armed Forces and Ottoman Turkish intelligence agencies."

"The primary targets were Kurds and those linked to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which Turkiye considers part of the armed Kurdistan Workers’ Party [PKK], which announced its dissolution on May 12," HRW said.

"Turkiye, which still oversees former SNA factions and continues to provide weapons, salaries, training, and logistical support to these factions, also bears responsibility for their abuses and potential war crimes," it added.

In 2018, ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
and its allied Syrian militias seized control of Afrin, a Kurdish enclave in Rojava. Thousands of Kurds fled, with many settling in the nearby Shahba region. International organizations have recorded widespread violations in Afrin since then, including killings, kidnappings, looting of crops, and extortion of Kurdish farmers.

In December, the Islamist Hay’at 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) launched a blistering offensive from their stronghold of Idlib in northwest Syria and marched on Damascus, overthrowing Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Lord of the Baath...
’s regime. HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa set up a transitional government and appointed himself as interim president.

But Syria’s new authorities have faced backlash, particularly from the Kurds, for appointing militia leaders complicit in serious human rights abuses, including Ahmad al-Hayes, better known as Abu Hatem Shaqra, the former leader of the SNA’s Ahrar al-Sharqiya, and Mohammad Hussein al-Jassim (Abu Amsha), the notorious commander of the Suleiman Shah Brigade.

In 2021, the US sanctioned Hayes, accusing him of serious human rights violations, including trafficking Yazidi women and kiddies, and connections with 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). He is also accused by Syrian Kurds of killing popular Kurdish politician Hevrin Khalaf during Turkey’s 2019 military offensive against the Kurdish-led SDF in northern Syria.

Washington has also sanctioned Abu Amsha for "serious human rights abuses" in the Afrin region and for ordering his Death Eaters to "forcibly displace Kurdish residents and seize their property" in northern Syria.

"The fall of Assad’s abusive government has meant decades of atrocities by that government have come to an end," said Adam Coogle, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "But Syrian National Army factions are continuing to detain, extort, and torture residents with impunity."

Notably, Damascus has also faced criticism over a deadly crackdown in the Alawite-majority coastal areas, where at least 1,500 people, mostly civilians, were killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

In late April, over 100 were also killed in southern Syria’s Druze-majority areas after sectarian violence erupted

like lava from a volcano following a fake audio clip insulting the Prophet Muhammad, initially blamed on a Druze holy man.

Sharaa met with locals in Afrin in February and pledged to remove gangs and end abuses. In March, he signed a landmark agreement with SDF chief Mazloum Abdi to integrate the SDF into Syria’s state institutions, declare a nationwide ceasefire, and facilitate the return of displaced Syrians under government protection.

The deal resulted in a prisoner swap and a joint security arrangement in Kurdish-majority neighborhoods north of Aleppo previously held by the People’s Protection Units (YPG) - the SDF’s backbone.

Ahmed Hassan, head of Afrin’s council of the Kurdish National Council (ENKS), told Rudaw in March that the number of Kurds returning to Afrin has significantly increased since the deal, with some Arab settlers reportedly leaving the city.

However,
denial ain't just a river in Egypt...
Nadine Maenza, president of the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Secretariat and former chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), told Rudaw in April that many displaced Kurds and Yazidis are still afraid to return due to militia presence.

"The Syrian transitional government should urgently unify its military under an accountable command with civilian oversight and ensure adherence to international human rights standards. It should take steps to prevent further abuses against Kurdish and other residents in northern Syria, ensure the release of all arbitrarily detained people, and investigate past abuses with fair legal proceedings," HRW said, also calling on Ankara to suspend its support to abusive SNA commanders and factions and provide reparations to victims.

The human rights watchdog also called on the international community to provide assistance to ensure that civilians are protected under the new transitional authorities, "including supporting an independent judiciary to ensure lawful detention and treatment of detainees."

"As Syria’s transitional government is integrating into its ranks SNA factions and other gangs, it must exclude those in the SNA that are responsible for abuses and hold them accountable," Coogle said. "If it doesn’t do so, the Syrian people will not be able to trust their armed forces and will be vulnerable to yet more abuse."

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

A weapons depot explodes near a former security branch in the city of Deir ez Zor

2025-02-06

[X]

A weapons depot explodes near a former security branch in the city of #Deir_ez_Zor, eastern #Syria.
Read more: https://t.co/Td9z2ahNZV pic.twitter.com/6KQITQLsHr
— NORTH PRESS AGENCY - ENGLISH (@NPA_English) February 4, 2025

An weapons depot exploded on Monday evening near a former security branch in the city of Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria.

A local source told North Press that the blast occurred in the al-Vilat neighborhood, near the former General Intelligence Directorate building, though the cause remains unknown.

Security forces, firefighting teams, special forces, and the Syrian Civil Defense rushed to the scene to contain the situation and ensure residents’ safety, the source added.

He further noted that the depot belonged to a group known as “Ahrar al-Sharqiya” which operates under the Military Operations Command. As of now, no information has been reported regarding casualties.

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

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Suspected ISIS attack kills local party official in east Syria

2024-12-05

[Rudw] A local official of the Future Syria Party was killed in an attack by suspected Islamic State (ISIS) gunmen in the eastern Deir ez-Zor province, local media reported on Wednesday.

“The Youth Council of the Future Syria Party announced the martyrdom of Mohammed Hassan al-Samir, the co-chair of the Youth Council of the Future Syria Party in Deir ez-Zor, in an attack by ISIS mercenaries,” said Hawar News Agency (ANHA), affiliated to the Kurdish administration in northeast Syria (Rojava), citing a party statement.

The Future Syria Party was founded in 2018 in northeast Syria (Rojava). It said at the time that it wanted to bring together all ethnic groups and build good ties with neighbors of Rojava, including Turkey.

But a year later, its leader Hevrin Khalaf was assassinated by Ahrar al-Sharqiya, a Turkish-backed militia group sanctioned by the US Treasury and known for various human rights violations and assassinations against Kurds in the country.

ISIS controlled vast swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq in 2014 but was territorially defeated in both countries by 2019. Despite its collapse, the extremist group continues its hit-and-run attacks in areas with security vacuums.

The jihadists frequently attack positions of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the province, which borders Iraq and houses troops of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition.

Control of Deir ez-Zor province is split between the SDF and the Syrian regime, backed by Iran. It is also home to many of the country’s key oilfields, such as Omar and Conoco, which the global coalition helps the SDF to control.

Link

India-Pakistan

Local commander among 25 terrorists killed so far in Tirah IBOs since August 20: ISPR

2024-08-28

[GEOTV] At least 25 terrorists, including a ring leader, were bumped off by security forces in multiple ongoing intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in Tirah valley of Khyber district since August 20, the military's media wing said on Tuesday.

According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the security forces are conducting ''extensive IBOs'' in Tirah valley against the Tehrik-e-Taliban
Taliban

...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
Pakistain (TTP) labelled as Fitna-Al-Khwarij and bad boy outfits ''Laskar-e-Islam and Jamat-ul-Ahrar''.

These operations, it said, were based on robust intelligence and resulted into major setbacks to Fitna-Al-Khwarij and its affiliates.

During the intelligence-based operations being conducted since August 20, the security forces so far killed 25 terrorists, including a ring leader named Abuzar aka Saddam.

''However,
women are made to be loved, not understood...
four soldiers, having fought gallantly, paid the ultimate sacrifice and embraced martyrdom'', the ISPR added.

''The heavy losses inflicted upon Fitna-Al-Khwarij in these operations is testament to the valor and commitment of security forces to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country,'' it concluded.

Link

Africa North

Libyan Field Marshal's Humiliated Son Deals Blow to Spain's Economy

2024-08-09

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Vladimir Dobrynin

[REGNUM] Authorities in Benghazi, Libya, have halted work at the Al-Sharara oil field, which is a blow to the Spanish economy, reports one of the most informed publications in the Iberian kingdom, El Confidencial.

The correspondent Ignacio Sembrero, who narrates this, considers the actions of one of the two Libyan governments to be “tyranny,” a violation of international law, and is perplexed, in full accordance with the well-known phrase “And what about us?”

AFRICAN IN A FUR HAT
Work at the Al-Sharara field (347,000 bpd, 28% of the country's total daily oil production) is being carried out by an international oil consortium, which includes Spain's Repsol, France's Total, Australia's OMV, Norway's Statoil and Libya's own NOC.

According to Iberian sources, in this "group of comrades" Repsol bears the main burden, and therefore should receive more profit than anyone else. Accordingly, any stoppage of the field's activities will bring the greatest losses to the Spaniards.

Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC), a state-owned enterprise headquartered in Tripoli and the country's main oil company, plays the role of not only "one of the participants" in the consortium, but also, in fact, "overseer" of the foreign companies. And Libya itself is a member of OPEC+.

After the West overthrew Muammar Gaddafi, a civil war broke out in the country, as a result of which two influential groups are trying to take over (or, more precisely, to take over) the government.

One of them is called the Government of National Unity (GNU) with headquarters in Tripoli, acting in the interests of the West. And (therefore) recognized by the UN as the legitimate executive authority.

The second is the so-called Eastern Government, controlled and supported by the forces of the Libyan People's Army of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

This military leader was once an associate of Gaddafi, for whom he was "like a son", and studied in the USSR at the "Vystrel" courses and at the Frunze Academy. These circumstances allow the Western press to present Khalifa Haftar as a "conductor of the Kremlin's interests" and periodically publish his photo in a Russian ushanka hat.

The Government of National Accord of Libya (the predecessor of the Government of National Accord) has declared Khalifa Haftar a war criminal.

NOTICE OF ARREST WITHOUT ARREST
On August 2, according to Spanish and Italian press reports, Libyan General Saddam Haftar was detained at Naples' Capodichino Airport. The detention lasted only an hour - representatives of Italian law enforcement agencies informed Khalifa Haftar's 33-year-old son that "Madrid suspects him and accuses him of involvement in arms smuggling and demands his arrest if he is found on the territory of any of the states in the Schengen area."

The Italian security forces “asked Saddam several questions on the merits, explained that the order had been made public by Madrid several months earlier,” but did not risk arresting the Libyan military man and allowed him to board his personal plane, which was heading beyond the Apennine Peninsula.

In the recent past, the Spanish press reports, attempts were registered on the territory of the Iberian state to supply anti-drone systems for airports from the UAE to Libya (to the forces of Haftar Sr.), as well as drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras.

With Libya under an international arms embargo, the shipment of drones and counter-drone systems sent to Benghazi via multiple intermediaries was deemed “illegal acquisition subject to seizure.” And those involved in the deal were outlawed.

The number of such people is not reported, but it is known that between January and May, law enforcement officers in the Iberian kingdom detained five people (four Spaniards and one Libyan) connected with this topic and “shuttled” between Madrid and Valencia.

HUMILIATED AND INSULTED
The first thing the general discovered upon returning from Italy to Libya was a sit-in strike by residents of the Fezzan region, where the Al-Sharara deposit is located (also called Ash-Sharara in the Russian media).

The situation is not new: in early January of this year, a similar strike was already held by the population, dissatisfied with the environmental situation and the "lack of noticeable benefits from the exploitation of the field for those living in the area and the country as a whole." In the second half of January, according to the Libya al-Ahrar TV channel, the head of the NOC, Farhat Bengdar, promised the people that "the problems will be considered and resolved."

Judging by the new strike, the solution either did not take place or did not satisfy the population of Fezzan.

The general, having assessed the situation, ordered that all work being carried out at the field be stopped.

The Spaniards believe that Haftar Jr.'s actions are dictated by his personal motives and are based not on economics, but on politics, with the help of which they are hitting the economy.

Most Libyan media (backed by Tripoli), such as the English-language Libya Observer, Libyan Today 24, and Al-Ahrar TV, claim that Saddam used the "telephone law" to order a halt to all oil production behind closed doors.

"This is only the first step in pressuring Madrid to cancel the arrest warrant for General Haftar. He felt humiliated and insulted. And now there are ongoing attempts to pressure Spain to cancel this statement as soon as possible," writes the Libya Observer.

"Saddam gave immediate instructions by telephone to close the facility without resorting to military force. This was the general's response to the attempt to arrest him last Friday in Italy on the basis of an order issued against him in Spain," Italpress quoted Bashir al-Sheikh, the leader of Ira del Fezzan, an armed group operating in the region.

A Spanish diplomat with experience in Libya (who was unnamed but agreed to comment for ElConfidencial) expressed concern that "the blackmail of Repsol is only the first step."

"If Saddam Haftar is not satisfied with Madrid's actions, this could affect other Spanish companies present in Cyrenaica," he warned.

DEAR FIELD MARSHAL
The head of the Libyan Presidential Council (the highest executive body of the country's government recognized by the UN) Mohammed Yunus Al-Menfi claims that "the Spanish Interior Ministry's warrant is a clear mistake." But not in the part that proposes arresting Saddam Haftar. But in the part that states that the recipient of the drones in the materials of the Spanish security forces was Tripoli, where the internationally recognized government sits, and not Benghazi, where the elder Haftar rules. The warrant in the version in which it exists casts a shadow on the Government of National Accord, Al-Menfi believes.

That is, in Tripoli, in general, they are not against Saddam Haftar being arrested somewhere in Europe, but the document must necessarily emphasize his connection with his rebel father and his complete lack of involvement with the Libyan GNA.

"Although Khalifa Haftar is a rebel, Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni and other European leaders respect him, and not only because of the energy resources under his control," the author of the publication in the Spanish media outlet notes with disappointment. "Meloni received him last year in Rome as a true head of state, and in May of this year she went to visit him in Tobruk with a double goal. The first was to agree on measures to stop the flow of illegal immigrants heading to Italy from the coast of Libya. The second was to expel the Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group from the country, or at least reduce their area of influence. Meloni and other European leaders respect Field Marshal Haftar."

According to Ignacio Sembrero, the Italian prime minister's attempts to " get along with the Libyan rebel leader may explain the relative leniency of the Italian police " who did not want to arrest Haftar Jr. And the Apennine operatives had plenty of opportunities - the general had been attending football matches in Italy for several days involving the Libyan club Al-Nasr, which he owns.

“Being listed in the Schengen Information System as a person for whom there is an arrest warrant means that documentation presented at the border is subject to stricter checks and constant monitoring of their movements around the country, something that was not done with Saddam Haftar, who travelled freely around Italy,” La Repubblica reports.

"If such frivolous behaviour by the police is confirmed, it could become a problem, since it is a violation of the rules of international cooperation or represents a legally illegal favourable attitude towards a relative of the Libyan field marshal," adds the newspaper Il Messaggero.

It is easy for the Italian press to talk about "violations of the rules of international cooperation" when the situation does not directly concern Rome's economic interests. But what decision will Madrid come to when analyzing the current situation at the Al-Sharara field?

The West has already taught the rest of the world that concluded treaties and international law mean exactly that they mean nothing. And Saddam Haftar's game fits perfectly into the framework of a "rules-based world" that, as it turns out, can be established by more than one side.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Infighting erupts between Turkey-backed militants in Afrin

2024-06-11

03-06-2024
[Rudaw] Fierce fighting took place between two militia groups affiliated with ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
<del>The Sick Man of Europe</del> Turkey

<del>The Sick Man of Europe</del> Turkey

...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
on Monday over a land ownership dispute in the Kurdish town of Afrin, causing the injury of several civilians, a war monitor reported.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that Ahrar al-Sharqiya and the Hamza Division militia groups, which are supported by Ankara, clashed in Afrin’s Jandaris city "over a dispute on a piece of land."

The UK-based war monitor added that at least six civilians were maimed in the festivities.

Several opposition news outlets reported the infighting, with some saying heavy and medium weapons were used in the festivities.

Afrin is a Kurdish city that was taken over by Turkey and Ottoman Turkish-backed Syrian rebels in a military operation against Kurdish fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in 2018. Most of the Kurdish population fled and Ottoman Turkish authorities resettled Arabs displaced from elsewhere in Syria into their vacated homes.

Human rights groups and the United Nations
...an idea whose time has gone...
have published multiple reports detailing arbitrary arrests, detention, and pillaging, among other violations committed against Afrin’s Kurdish population and they hold Ankara responsible.

Infighting between the members of the Ankara-aligned so-called Syrian National Army (SNA) is not something new. There have been festivities between members of the military umbrella dozens of times over land control.

Washington has sanctioned several Turkey-backed militia groups, including Hamza Division, over human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
violations committed against Afrin residents.

The US Department of the Treasury in August accused the Hamza Division of operating detention facilities "in which it houses those it has kidnapped for extended periods of time. During their imprisonment, victims are held for ransom, often suffering sexual abuse at the hands of Hamza Division fighters."

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

A resident of Dagestan receives a suspended sentence for connections with militants in Syria

2023-12-29

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] The Kizilyurt district court in Dagestan sentenced local resident Batyr Aliyev, deported from Egypt after participating in militant activities in Syria, to three years of suspended imprisonment.

The sentence to a resident of Dagestan, whom the court recognized as a member of an illegal armed group abroad, was reported on December 27 by the press service of the republican FSB.

According to the investigation, the man “shared extremist ideology” and deliberately arrived in Syria to join the militants there. “Later, through Turkey, the man left for Egypt, from where he was deported in August 2023 and upon arrival in Russia he was detained by law enforcement agencies,” Interfax-South quotes an FSB representative as saying.

A resident of Dagestan was charged with participation in an armed formation not provided for by federal law (Part 2 of Article 208 of the Criminal Code of Russia). This article provides for from eight to fifteen years of imprisonment, but the court imposed a much milder sentence on the resident of Dagestan - three years of suspended imprisonment.

According to the file of the Kizilyurt District Court, the last case considered under this article was brought against Batyr Aliyev. He was sentenced on November 16, it came into force on December 4, and on December 27 the case was archived, according to the information on the court’s website.

From the verdict, also published on the court’s website, it follows that Batyr Aliyev had no previous convictions, was not officially married, although he previously had two wives, and did not work anywhere at the time the case was considered.

“About the beginning of 2013,” a resident of Dagestan, “sharing a religious ideology of an extremist nature,” decided to move to Syria and join the militants there. On November 10, 2013, he left Dagestan for Azerbaijan through the Yarag-Kazmalyar checkpoint, then arrived in Baku, from there on November 15 he flew to Istanbul, and on November 18 he went with a certain Samir to the Turkish-Syrian border, the text of the verdict says.

As the court found, by November 20, 2013, Aliyev had already arrived in the Syrian city of Bab al-Hawa, “which was controlled by illegal armed groups operating as a united front against government forces.” There he voluntarily joined one of these groups, but performed the duties of its member less than a month, until approximately December 10, 2013.

That sounds like the original Free Syrian Army, made up of everything from romantically idealist Baathists who turned their back on the corrupt Assad government to Salafists and Muslim Brotherhooders to ISIS and Al Qaeda in Iraq in Syria/Al Nusra. By December of that year ISIS and Al Nusra had broken off from the group, and the six largest Muslim Brotherhood-style groups had set themselves up as the Islamic Front. As I recall, the non-religious rump of the Free Syrian Army subsequently withered away, the name being resurrected some years later by Turkey for its Ottoman proxy sockpuppets.

Aliyev fully admitted his guilt in court, but refused to testify against himself. The text of the verdict also states that in Syria he met several people from Dagestan, natives of the Makhachkala village of Khushet, whom he identified from photographs provided by FSB officers as members of an illegal armed formation.

Ah. His reduced sentence is a reward for turning state’s evidence.

Judging by the text of the verdict, Aliyev was unable to give more detailed testimony against these people, citing the fact that his fellow countrymen “didn’t let him get close to them.”

Regarding himself, Batyr Aliyev said that he spent only two weeks among the militants, without having time to understand the activities of the unit. He then went to Turkey, and a month later he moved to Cairo and lived there for more than a year until he was detained by local law enforcement officers. After being in custody for about a month, he was deported to Russia.

Batyr Aliyev was in custody during the consideration of the case, from August 3 to November 16, 2023. As mitigating circumstances, the court took into account the admission of guilt, repentance, the presence of Aliyev’s young children and positive characteristics from his place of residence, and as a result, sentenced him to three years of suspended imprisonment with a probationary period of two years.

The "Caucasian Knot" also wrote that in April 2023, the cassation court returned for review to the prosecutor's office the case of Khanumkyz Kulibekova, whom the court in Khasavyurt sentenced to five years in prison on charges of intending to join an illegal armed group in Syria. The court recommended that the charges be reclassified under a more stringent article.

Dear Khanumkyz joined ISIS, an entirely different matter.
Related from Rantburg’s archives: 2013-12-11 Newly-Formed Islamic Front Seizes Syria-Turkey Border Crossing

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hidden agendas lurk behind military changes in Syria’s Suwayda

2023-08-24

[NPASyria] Recently, Suwayda Governorate in southern Syria has witnessed a number of scenarios regarding the military aspect including convoys of militias affiliated with the Syrian government forces heading deep in the desert of Suwayda, the formation of local military councils, and the threat of the revival of 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) in the area. These incidents left everyone baffled and wondering about the triggers behind them.

After years of being a hotbed for smuggling narcotics, the desert in the east of Suwayda has morphed into a conflict zone between two parties. One party wants to secure its border along the desert, and the other advances armed forces to maintain its control over the area.

Suleiman Abdulbaqi, leader of the Ahrar Jabal al-Arab movement in Suwayda, told North Press that the military movements that occur in the desert are carried out by "Iranian-backed and Afghani militias in addition to Lebanese Hezbollah militias along with the Syrian government forces and militias affiliated with the Military Security."

Ahrar Jabal al-Arab was founded in February 2022 by a group of activists, led by Sheikh Suleiman Abdulbaqi. It calls for a democratic, fair and civil state, revealing the fate of the arrestees, and combating corrupation and drug-smugglers.

In Syria?? That way lies madness, though one understands the heartfelt desire.

Presently, those factions attempt to station in the desert that expands all the way to the Jordanian border.

"Ramping up forces in the area comes in a bid to keep it under their controlled, being a passageway for smuggling drugs and weapons to Jordan," Abdulbaqi said.

The forces in the desert are establishing outposts and bringing reinforcements. Not long ago, they brought military convoys to their posts in eastern Suwayda, Abdulbaqi added.

Late in July, thousands of Iranian-backed Lions of Islam entered the desert, according to a previous statement by Abdulbaqi to North Press.

Early in August, a circulated footage showed a group of people from Suwayda claiming to join the Military Council led by Brigadier General Manaf Tlass, which includes defectors from the government forces.

Manaf Tlass is the cousin of former Syrian Minister of Defense, Mustafa Tlass, and one of the highest-ranking military figures who was serving within the ranks of the Syrian Elite Republican Guard. He was the first commander of the Elite Republican Guard to defect from the Syrian forces and declare support for the opposition.

Hafez Qarqut, a writer and politician, said to North Press, "The Military Council tried to communicate with defected members who are originally from Suwayda to enlarge its own popular incubator across Suwayda."

However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by...
Qarqut reckons the influence of the Military Council over Suwayda will be limited and related to international decisions and actions.

"There will be no actual activation of the Military Council’s role without international support, no matter the large numbers it recruits," Qarqut added.

USING ISIS
The presence of military factions in Suwayda’s desert sparked concern and fear among the local population, particularly fear of using ISIS to attack Suwayda.

Abdulbaqi pointed out that the area currently occupied by these factions were previously ISIS forts.

Abdulbaqi rules out the presence of ISIS Death Eaters. However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by...
he speculates that some ISIS Lions of Islam operate under the guise of Iranian-backed militias.

He highlighted that these remnants are now being utilized by the Syrian government and its affiliated militias, either for launching attacks on Suwayda or intimidating its residents. The threat posed by ISIS continues to persist in the eastern desert of Suwayda.

Abdulbaqi stressed "even though the people of Suwayda constantly fight against gangs, the regime is likely to resort to utilizing them. Currently, efforts are underway to strengthen the regime’s military militias and remaining members of gangs in order to solidify its presence in the region."

In December, 2022, the Suwayda Governorate witnessed widespread public protests rejecting the political and economic situations in the governorate. The protests then turned into festivities between the protesters and the security forces, which resulted in casualties and material damage.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

IDPs, SNA faction clash in Syria’s Afrin, SNA shoots 2 in Raqqa

2023-08-20

[NPASyria] On Friday night, armed festivities erupted in the town of Jindires in the west of Afrin, northwest Syria, between displaced people and a ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish-backed armed faction as members of the latter assaulted on the displaced.

Militants of Sultan Suleiman Shah (al-Amshat) faction assaulted on young men from the town of Ainjara, west of the city of Aleppo. As a result, the IDPs of Aijara, who are living in Jindires, gathered and clashed with the faction’s krazed killers, eyewitnesses told North Press.

Afrin has been under the occupation of ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
<del>The Sick Man of Europe</del> Turkey

...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
and the SNA factions since 2018 following a military operation dubbed "Olive Branch" against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) under the pretext of preserving Turkey’s national security.

They said that intermittent festivities broke out between the two parties, where they used machine guns, without any reports on casualties.

The Ainjara IDPs demanded al-Amshat to hand over those who assaulted their relatives, and the latter agreed for fear of more escalation, according to the eyewitnesses.

On August 17, the US Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Sultan Suleiman Shah Division (al-Amshat), Hamza Division, al-Amshat leader Muhammad Hussein al-Jassem (Abu Amsha), his younger brother Walid Hussein al-Jassem, Hamza leader Saif Abu Bakr, and the Istanbul-headquartered al-Safir Oto, a car dealership owned by Abu Amsha, for committing "serious human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
abuses" against the people of Afrin, mainly the Kurds.

On March 20, snuffies of Ahrar al-Sharqiya, a faction affiliated with the ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA), killed five Kurds and maimed others in Jindires for celebrating Newroz, a Kurdish national celebration.

The incident was followed by local and international angry reactions, calling for holding perpetrators accountable for the incident and removing the injustice in areas under the SNA factions’ control and demilitarize the region (northwestern Syria).

Following the incident, thousands of the people of Jindires and nearby villages took to streets, demanding perpetrators be held accountable and the expulsion of SNA factions from the region.

Turkish-backed SNA faction shoots 2 people in Syria’s Raqqa

[NPASyria] Militants of the ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, known as the Syria National Army (SNA), shot on Saturday at two young men in Raqqa Governorate, northern Syria.

The two young men were trying to leave the city of Tel Abyad and go to the areas held by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). They were maimed and taken to Suluk Hospital, west of Tel Abyad, an exclusive source told North Press.

The city of Tel Abyad in the north of Raqqa has been under the occupation of the ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish forces and has been controlled by the SNA factions since 2019 following the so-called "Peace Spring" military operation that aimed to push away the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) under the pretext of protecting the ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish national security.

After that, the SNA handed over the two young men to the Civil Police faction for investigation. This is the second incident during August, the source said.

The two young men were forcibly deported from ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
<del>The Sick Man of Europe</del> Turkey

...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
to Tel Abyad two weeks ago. They decided to flee the area as they were blackmailed by the SNA factions.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

US Imposes Sanctions on Two Armed Groups in Syria

2023-08-19

[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] The United States imposed on Thursday sanctions on two Turkiye-backed Syrian gangs and some of their leaders accused of human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
abuses in areas under their control.

"The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating two Syria-based armed militias and three members of the groups’ leadership structures in connection with serious human rights abuses against those residing in the Afrin region of northern Syria," it said.

"An auto sales company owned by the leader of one of the gangs is also being designated," read the blurb.

The Treasury said that "the Afrin region of Syria is largely controlled by a patchwork of gangs, many of which use violence to control the movement of goods and people in their respective territories."

"Today’s action demonstrates our continued dedication to promoting accountability for perpetrators of human rights abuses, including in Syria," said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.

"The United States is committed to supporting the Syrian people’s ability to live without fear of exploitation from gangs and without fear of ~~violent~~ mostly peaceful repression."

The sanctions include the militia of Suleiman Shah Brigade which is "a prominent element of the armed opposition to the Syrian government and a component of the Syrian National Army, a coalition of Syrian armed opposition groups."

"The brigade subjects the populace of this area to abductions and extortion," added the Treasury.

"The brigade has targeted Afrin’s Kurdish residents, many of whom are subjected to harassment, abduction, and other abuses until they are forced to abandon their homes or pay large ransoms for return of their property or family members."

Sanctions were also imposed on the Hamza Division.

"The Hamza Division, another armed opposition group operating in northern Syria, has been involved in abductions, theft of property, and torture. The division also operates detention facilities in which it houses those it has kidnapped for extended periods of time. During their imprisonment, victims are held for ransom, often suffering sexual abuse at the hands of Hamza Division fighters," according to the Treasury.

"Mohammad Hussein al-Jasim (Abu Amsha) is the leader of the Suleiman Shah Brigade. Under Abu Amsha’s leadership, members of the brigade have been directed to forcibly displace Kurdish residents and seize their property, providing vacated homes for Syrians from outside the region who are often related to fighters in the brigade.

Abu Amsha also ordered the brigade to kidnap local residents, demanding ransom in return for their release and confiscating their property as part of an organized effort to maximize the brigade’s revenue, likely generating tens of millions of dollars a year."

Sanctions also included al-Safir Oto which is a car dealership owned by Abu Amsha.

"Al-Safir Oto is headquartered in Istanbul and operates multiple locations in southern Turkiye that are managed by commanders of the Suleiman Shah Brigade. Abu Amsha allegedly owns al-Safir Oto in partnership with the leader of the Syrian gang Ahrar Alal-Sharqiya, Ahmad Ihsan Fayyad al-Hayes."

Mohammad Hussein al-Jasim is being designated "for being responsible" for "the commission of serious human rights abuses in relation to Syria," said the Treasury.

Moreover, Walid Hussein al-Jasim was sanctioned, and he is "a younger brother of Abu Amsha who also holds a leadership role in the Suleiman Shah Brigade, including serving as the head of the brigade when Abu Amsha left Syria to fight in Libya."

Sayf Boulad Abu Bakr who is "the leader of the Hamza Division and its public face, appearing in numerous propaganda videos produced by the Hamza Division" was also designated.

Link

Afghanistan

Daily Evacuation Brief August 17, 2023

2023-08-17

[AfghanDigest] LAST 24 HOURS

LARGE SCALE ANTI-CHRISTIAN RIOTS IN PAKISTAN – Angry mobs descended on a Christian church In Faisalabad and ransacked and burned it. The mob was angry after word spread that a Christian man had been accused of blasphemy for possibly burning a Quran. The mob then began attacking homes of Christians and several fires have been reported across the city. Several of the main roadways were blocked and both police and the military have responded to the situation. Unconfirmed reports that many people were injured and that ‘lynch mobs’ had been organized to find and persecute Christians are being shared on social media. The government is attempting to contain the riots in Punjab but there are fears they could spread.

TTP LEADER RUMORED TO HAVE BEEN TARGETED ALONG PAK-AFGHAN BORDER – Asad Afridi, a former leader of the TTP was reportedly targeted by a drone in the Gaz Dara region along the border. Afridi reportedly suffered major injuries in the attack and 2 others who were with him were said to have been killed. It is not clear who may have been behind the strike and this information has yet to be verified.

US SECRETARY OF STATE COMMENTS ON AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL – Antony Blinken spoke at a press conference yesterday to mark the two-year anniversary of the Afghanistan withdrawal. In his remarks, he claimed that the decision to withdraw US forces was a difficult one but was also the right decision.

TALIBAN BAN ON POLITICAL PARTIES NOT UNEXPECTED – The Ministry of Justice announced yesterday that all political parties are banned across the country because they are not based on Sharia law. The formal proclamation will likely add fuel to those opposed to the defacto regime and will make the process of international recognition even more remote.

PASSPORTS FOR AFGHANS LIVING ABROAD NOW MORE EXPENSIVE – The Passport Directorate announced it was raising the cost of a new passport from $120.00 to $220.00. The additional costs have been attributed to inflation and increased procurement costs from a new supplier.

CONFLICT TRACKER:
Takhar: NRF forces reportedly ambushed a Taliban security vehicle in Talaqan at approximately 1600hrs local. The NRF tram is said to have killed 4 Taliban and wounded 1 other in the engagement.
Kabul: Bomb blasts and gunfire were spotted in Police District 11 in Kabul on Tuesday evening. It is said that AFF units attacked a Taliban security checkpoint in Khair Khana and that 4 Taliban were possibly killed and 6 more were wounded.

NEXT 24 HOURS
POSSIBLE FURTHER ANTI-CHRISTIAN VIOLENCE TODAY – After the violent demonstrations targeting Christians, their homes/businesses, and their places of worship shook Punjab Province yesterday, the government dispatched thousands of police and military personnel to try to disperse rioters and regain control of the security situation. There is a possibility the riots could spread to other cities across the country.

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