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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Lebanon detains 25 people for questioning over attack on UN peacekeepers convoy in Beirut
2025-02-16
[X]

Lebanon claims over 25 arrested for attack on UNIFIL convoy that wounded peacekeepers

[IsraelTimes] Lebanese president vows perpetrators ‘will receive their punishment’ as Hezbollah and its allies seek to distance themselves from assault by Iran-backed terror group’s supporters

Lebanese authorities said Saturday that more than 25 people had been arrested following an attack by Hezbollah supporters on a 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...
 convoy the day before that maimed two peacekeepers, including the force’s outgoing deputy commander.

UN and Lebanese officials have condemned Friday’s attack, which came as Hezbollah supporters blocked the road to the country’s only international airport for a second night over a decision barring two Iranian planes from landing there.

"More than 25 people have been arrested by Lebanese army intelligence," with another person detained by the security services, Lebanese Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar told news hounds after an emergency security meeting Saturday.

"This does not mean these detainees carried out the attack... but the investigations will show who is responsible," he continued.

The army and security agencies would bolster measures to "maintain security and stability," Hajjar said, adding that violations would be treated "with all seriousness."

The UN Interim Force in Leb
...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?...
 (UNIFIL) has demanded an investigation after one of its vehicles was set on fire during the incident, which maimed outgoing deputy force commander Chok Bahadur Dhakal, a Nepalese national who was heading home after ending his mission.

UNIFIL deputy spokesperson Kandice Ardiel told AFP that a second Nepalese peacekeeper was also maimed and hospitalized.

On Saturday, Hezbollah supporters again demonstrated around Beirut airport, with the Lebanese army firing tear gas to disperse them. A politician from the terror group Hassan Fadlallah called on the army to hold those who fired at the protesters to account.

The Lebanese army and government "should have held immediate meetings to prevent the Israeli enemy from imposing its dictates on the airport and from continuing its occupation of Lebanese territory ... instead of using force against a peaceful sit-in on the airport road," Fadlallah added in a statement.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun vowed that "the attackers will receive their punishment," adding that "security forces will not be lenient with any party that tries to upset stability and civil peace," according to a statement from the presidency on X.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam strongly condemned the "criminal attack" and promised to arrest the perpetrators during a conversation with UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and UNIFIL Commander General Aroldo Lazaro.

’CIVIL PEACE’
In a meeting with Hajjar on Saturday, Salam emphasized the importance of maintaining security across the country, a statement from his office said. The premier was set to meet other "relevant ministers" later in the day.

The presidency’s statement said Aoun had stressed that the incident "cannot be allowed to be repeated," adding that the judiciary "has begun investigations on the ground."

The army said Friday that several areas around the airport had seen "demonstrations marked by acts of vandalism and festivities, including assaults on members of the armed forces and attacks against vehicles."

Videos circulating on social media showed demonstrators, some hooded and carrying Hezbollah flags, attacking a man in military garb and another in civilian clothes near the torched UNIFIL vehicle.

There was no immediate official comment from Hezbollah, which, together with its allies, appeared to be scrambling to distance themselves from Friday’s attack.

Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV said in a statement posted on its social media accounts that "unruly elements caused chaos with suspicious objectives on the Beirut airport road."

The Lebanese terror group’s ally, the Amal Movement, which is led by Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri

...perennial Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
, said: "The attack on UNIFIL is an attack on south Lebanon" and that "blocking roads anywhere is an assault on civil peace."

’ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE’
Several countries have condemned the incident, as did UN Secretary-General António Guterres
...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years...
"Such attacks are absolutely unacceptable... The safety and security of UN personnel and property must be respected at all times," said Stephane Dujarric, Guterres’s front man.

"Attacks against peacekeepers are in breach of international law... and may constitute war crimes," the statement said, adding that "UNIFIL must be allowed unrestricted freedom of movement throughout Lebanon."

The French foreign ministry released a statement that "calls on the Lebanese security forces to guarantee the security of blue-helmet peacekeeping forces, and calls on Lebanon’s judicial authorities to shed all light on this unacceptable attack and to go after those responsible."

Israel has repeatedly accused Hezbollah of using the Beirut airport to transfer weapons from Iran, claims Hezbollah and Lebanese officials have denied.

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...
said Saturday that it was ready for "constructive talks" with Lebanon on restoring Tehran-Beirut flights.

In a telephone call, the two countries’ foreign ministers discussed "how to resolve the problem of civil flights" and "confirmed their readiness to hold constructive talks in good faith," an Iranian foreign ministry statement said.

Iran-backed Hezbollah has a large popular base in Lebanon, though a year of hostilities with Israel and the ousting of its ally Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
 in neighboring Syria have left the group weakened.

Lebanon’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation said Thursday it had "temporarily rescheduled" some flights, including from Iran, until February 18 as it was implementing "additional security measures."

The date coincides with the deadline for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon and for Hezbollah to vacate positions there, under a ceasefire deal that began on November 27.

Beginning on October 8, 2023, Hezbollah-led forces attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis for months, with the group saying it did so to support Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
 amid the war there.

Hezbollah eventually expanded its attacks to also target cities in central and northern Israel with rockets, in addition to the attacks on the border.

Some 60,000 Israeli residents were evacuated from northern towns on the Lebanon border shortly after Hamas
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
’s October 7 onslaught, amid fears Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, and increase rocket fire by the terror group.

Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel since October 2023 have resulted in the deaths of 46 civilians. In addition, 80 IDF soldiers and reservists died in cross-border skirmishes, attacks on Israel, and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September.

Two soldiers were killed in a drone attack from Iraq, and there have also been several attacks from Syria without any injuries.

The IDF estimates that some 3,500 Hezbollah operatives were killed in the conflict. Around 100 members of other terror groups, along with hundreds of civilians, were also reported killed in Lebanon.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hezbollah terrorists decided to burn down Beirut after the Lebanese government blocked an Iranian regime airplane from landing in the country
2025-02-15
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

UNIFIL’s outgoing deputy chief wounded as convoy attacked by pro-Hezbollah rioters
[IsraelTimes] Peacekeeping force demands perpetrators be brought to justice after terror group’s backers torch vehicle headed to Beirut airport, where 2 Iranian planes were blocked from landing

The outgoing deputy commander of UNIFIL was injured Friday, the international peacekeeping force said, after a convoy taking troops to the Beirut airport was attacked amid pro-Hezbollah demonstrations in the area.Supporters of the Hezbollah terror group have blocked the road to the country’s only airport for two consecutive nights over a decision barring two Iranian planes from landing in the Lebanese capital. The decision came after the Israel Defense Forces said 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...
was smuggling cash to Hezbollah via civilian flights.

According to Saudi-owned network al-Arabiya, the three-car UNIFIL convoy was assaulted by young men who beat officers, stole equipment and burned at least one vehicle.

In a statement, UNIFIL demanded a full and immediate investigation by Lebanese authorities and for all perpetrators to be brought to justice.

"We are shocked by this outrageous attack on peacekeepers who have been serving to restore security and stability to south Leb
...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects....
 during a difficult time," said the UN peacekeeping force. "Attacks on peacekeepers are flagrant violations of international law and may amount to war crime."

"Peacekeepers continue to work to restore security and stability in south Lebanon in accordance with our mandate under Security Council Resolution 1701," the statement added, referring to the UN decision ending the 2006 Second Lebanon War that requires Hezbollah to pull its fighters north of the Litani River.

The statement did not name the injured deputy commander, a post held since 2022 by Maj. Gen. Chok Bahadur Dhakal, of Nepal, who was set to leave the country after completing his mission when the convoy was attacked.

The Lebanese military vowed to take "firm action to prevent any breach of public order and arrest troublemakers" in "several areas, particularly the area around the airport."

The incident underscored tensions in Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s new government, which includes Hezbollah as a minor member.

Hezbollah and its allies appeared to be scrambling to distance themselves from Friday’s attack. Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV said in a statement posted on its social media accounts that "unruly elements caused chaos with suspicious objectives on the Beirut airport road."

The fellow Shi’ite Amal Movement of Parliament Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri

...perennial Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
, a Hezbollah ally who secured the terror group a place in the government, said in a statement that "the attack on UNIFIL is an attack on southern Lebanon" and called for the army and security forces to pursue the perpetrators.
"Except for Hezbollah, they're cool. Look at someone else"
The United States condemned the attack, saying it was"reportedly by a group of Hezbollah supporters."

Salam, the former top judge at the International Court of Justice, was tapped for premier by Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, whose election last month, with the backing of Washington, Riyadh and Gay Paree, ended a two-year impasse.

Aoun had previously served as head of the Lebanese Armed Forces. Upon accession to the presidency, he vowed to uphold the state’s monopoly on arms — a thinly veiled threat against Hezbollah’s extensive arsenal. The Iran-backed terror group was the only armed force not to surrender its weapons to the state after Lebanon’s 15-year civil war, which ended in 1990.

In retaliation for what it described as Israel’s illegal threat, Tehran on Friday blocked Lebanese planes from landing in Iran, stranding dozens of homebound Lebanese.

Throughout the nearly 14-month war with Hezbollah, which ended with a November 27 ceasefire, Israel has repeatedly accused the terrorist organization of using Lebanon’s only airport to smuggle arms from Iran.

Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Lebanon's Hezbollah launches drone, missile attacks against Israel
2024-04-28
[Iran Press TV] The Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has launched a wave of drone and missile attacks on the Israeli regime hours after two of its fighters were killed in Israeli attacks targeting border areas in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah said in a statement late on Saturday that its explosive drones and guided missiles had hit military targets in the Al Manara settlement as well as a gathering of Israeli forces concentrated in the 51st Battalion of the regime’s Golani Brigade.

The anti-Israeli operation was large in size compared to similar attacks launched by Hezbollah in recent weeks.

It came as an apparent response to Israel’s attacks earlier on Saturday on areas in southern Lebanon that killed three people, including two Hezbollah fighters.

Hezbollah had issued separate statements saying the fighters, who it said were martyred on the path to liberate the Israeli-occupied al-Quds, had been from the villages of Kafr Kila and Khiam, located in areas near Lebanon’s border with the occupied Palestinian territories.

Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
General Strike in Jenin after Israeli Occupation Forces Kill 3 Palestinians
2023-01-15
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] General strike was announced in Jenin and the surrounding towns on Saturday after the martyrdom of three Paleostinians by Israeli fire.

Paleostinian media reported that Ezz al-Din Hamamreh and Amjad Khalilia were martyred in a clash with Israeli occupation forces who raided the town of Jabaa, south of Jenin.

Paleostine Today reported fierce festivities in Jabaa as Paleostinian resistance fighters repelled the Israeli raid in the town early on Saturday.

Israeli media also reported that IOF killed two Paleostinians in the town of Jabaa.

Meanwhile on Saturday, Yazan al-Jabari succumbed to wounds sustained during an Israeli raid in Jenin a day earlier.

Shortly afterwards, Mosques in Jenin and the surrounding towns were mourning the three young men.

General strike was then announced in the city and the nearby towns, with shops and schools were seen closed in mourning of the deaders.

Nablus and several areas across the occupied West Bank have been the scene of near-daily raids by Israeli occupation forces. So far, 12 Paleostinians have been martyred in the West Bank since the start of 2023, including 7 only in Jenin, according to Paleostine Today.

Al Manar neglects to mention a key fact about the deaders:
2 Islamic Jihad gunmen killed in attempted West Bank shooting attack on IDF troops

[IsraelTimes] Local wing of terror group tries to target Israeli forces near Jaba’, south of Jenin; another Paleostinian maimed in clash 2 weeks ago dies

Two members of the Paleostinian Islamic Jihad
...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah...
 were killed after they shot up Israeli forces in the northern West Bank on Saturday morning, the military and the terror group said.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, troops operating near the village of Jaba’, south of Jenin, came under fire from a passing vehicle. The IDF said troops returned fire at the car and identified several suspects being hit.

In a statement, the PIJ said members of a local wing based in Jaba’ had shot up the Israeli forces in the area.

The Paleostinian Authority Health Ministry said two men were killed in the incident, Izz a-Din Basem Hamamra, 24, and Amjad Adnan Khaliliya, 23.

They were both identified as members of the PIJ in a later statement by the terror group.

Paleostinian media outlets published footage of the car apparently involved in the attempted attack. The windows could be seen shattered and the seats were soaked in blood.

Separately early Saturday, a Paleostinian man died two weeks after he was critically maimed by gunfire during festivities as troops worked to demolish the homes of two button men who killed a military officer last year.

Yazan al-Jaabari, 19, died from wounds he sustained on January 2, the Ibn Sina hospital in the southern town of Jenin said in a statement. The PA Health Ministry also confirmed his death.

Two Paleostinian button men were also killed during that firefight.

The IDF said at the time that during the operation in Kafr Dan, north of Jenin, troops came under "massive gunfire" by Paleostinian button men.

"Troops responded with riot dispersal means and fired at a number of gunnies who fired at them," the IDF said, adding that "suspects were hit."

The village is the hometown of two Paleostinian button men who carried out a deadly attack along the West Bank security barrier on September 14, killing Maj. Bar Falah, 30, the deputy commander of the elite Nahal reconnaissance unit.

Israel regularly demolishes the homes of Paleostinians accused of carrying out deadly attacks, as a matter of policy. The efficacy of the measure has been hotly debated even within the Israeli security establishment, while human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
 activist muppets denounce the practice as unjust collective punishment.

A military investigation into the death of Falah pointed to "errors" made by troops, who detected the suspects near a military post and moved in to investigate but failed to realize they were armed and were caught unawares by their initial volley of fire, which hit Falah.

The incidents came during an Israeli anti-terror offensive, mostly focused on the northern West Bank, to deal with a series of Paleostinian attacks that killed 31 people in 2022.

The IDF’s operation has netted more than 2,500 arrests in near-nightly raids. It also left more than 170 Paleostinians dead in 2022, and another 12 since the beginning of the year, many of them while carrying out attacks or during festivities with security forces, though some were uninvolved civilians.
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Palestinians demand Israel return bodies of loved ones
2018-07-17
[Al Jazeera] Dozens of relatives of slain Paleostinians held a rally calling on Israel to return the bodies of their loved ones.

Monday's protest in Ramallah took place before an Israeli Supreme Court session on Tuesday regarding the cases of 10 Paleostinians killed by Israeli forces since 2015 whose bodies have not been returned.

Under the slogan "we want our children back", the mothers, fathers and relatives marched from Al Manara Square in downtown Ramallah holding up signs of their slain sons, chanting "freedom to our deaders".

"It is our right to get their bodies back and bury them. It is our right to know what happened to our boys," Azhar Abu Srour, an organiser of the rally, told Al Jazeera.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Rockets kill 2 in Turkey
2018-02-03
[Al Manar] Two people were killed and 16 were wounded in a Turkish border town Friday by rockets fired from Syria, local authorities said, as Turkey continues its offensive against a Syrian Kurdish militia.

Three rockets hit neighborhoods of Reyhanli in southern Turkey and 68-year-old Rifat Sinirli died in hospital, the state-run news agency Anadolu reported.

Reyhanli mayor Huseyin Sanverdi said on Twitter that a man was killed by a rocket fired from Syria’s Afrin region, a Kurdish enclave where the Turkish army has launched its offensive against the YPG militia deemed “terrorists” by Ankara.

Later in the afternoon, he announced a second man was killed in another attack by “treacherous terrorists.”

The Hatay governor’s office said 16 people were injured.

Source: AFP
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hezbollah blames Israel for car bombing against Hamas member in Lebanon
2018-01-20
[ALMASDARNEWS] Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Friday that Israel was behind a recent car kaboom on one of the leaders of the Paleostinian movement Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, in the Lebanese city of Sidon.

"Everything indicates that the enemy Israel is behind the plotting of the blast targeting one of Hamas’ leaders in Sidon. We hope that it will be qualified as a crime and violation of illusory sovereignty," Nasrallah told the Al Manar TV channel, noting that the incident posed danger to the security of Leb.

On Sunday, Mohammed Hamdan was injured after an bomb planted in his BMW went off in Sidon.

The incident took place after on December 12 Washington and Tel Aviv had agreed upon the "general framework for future cooperation regarding Iranian malign activities", forming four joint teams to grapple with Iran’s activities in the Middle East region, including Tehran’s clout in Syria and its support for the Lebanese hard boy group Hezbollah.

The memorandum of understanding aimed to tackle the alleged Iranian threat, was reportedly signed during a meeting at the White House between US National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and his Israeli counterpart Meir Ben-Shabbat.

Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Nasrallah: 'It was not our wish for Hariri to resign'
2017-11-06
[Al Jazeera] The leader of Leb's Hezbollah movement has called the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri
Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too.
 a "Saudi imposed decision".

In a televised appearance on the Hezbollah-owned Al Manar TV, Hassan Nasrallah said on Sunday that Hariri's resignation speech was "written by Saudi".

"It was not our wish for Hariri to resign," he said of the sudden and unexpected move.

"Even if he was forced to resign, the way in which it was executed does not reflect Hariri's way in dealing with things," Nasrallah added, questioning the text of Hariri's speech broadcast during his visit to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Saturday.

Hariri blamed interference in Leb by Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah for his decision to quit, adding he feared an liquidation attempt.

Hariri said Iran fomented "disorder and destruction" in the country and meddled in the internal affairs of Leb and other Arab states. He described Hezbollah as "Iran's arm" in the country.

Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Lebanon, Syria declare ceasefires in fight against ISIL
2017-08-28
[Al Jazeera] Leb's army has announced a ceasefire in its offensive against ISIS fighters at the country's northeast border with Syria.

The ceasefire took effect at 7am local time (04:00 GMT) on Sunday in order to determine the fate of Lebanese soldiers who are in ISIS captivity, the military statement said.

Reporting from Beirut, Al Jazeera's Mohammed Jamjoom said that the ceasefire was a significant development in Leb, given that "the army seemed very confident just a couple of days ago that they were going to rid those areas of the last remnants of ISIS fighters".

"Now the Lebanese government is sending out a message that they care for their soldiers, and are trying to ensure that these soldiers can be released as quickly as possible," he said.

The fate of nine soldiers that ISIS, also known as ISIS, took captive then remains unknown.

Syria, Hezbollah ceasefire
Shortly after, the Lebanese group Hezbollah and the Syrian army, which are engaged in another offensive against ISIS on the other side of the frontier in Syria along the border with Leb, announced a ceasefire that took effect at the same time.

A Hezbollah military media unit said the ceasefire took place "under a full agreement to end the battle in west Qalamoun against [ISIS]".

At the time of writing, there were no reports of ISIS fighters failing to respect submit to both ceasefires.

Hezbollah's Al Manar TV reported that the gang has received the bodies of five of its fighters who were held by ISIS. The bodies will be identified by DNA testing later.

The Lebanese army has been battling ISIS fighters in their last border foothold, near the town of Ras Baalbek.

The assault began last week, coinciding with the Hezbollah and the Syrian army offensive in Syria's western Qalamoun region.
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Africa North
Forces loyal to Libya's Haftar 'burn 6,000 books'
2017-06-19
[Al Jazeera] Forces loyal to renegade Libyan general Khalifa Haftar
... served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all...
 have been accused of burning more than 6,000 books, including works on religion, politics, poetry and philosophy.

According to a video posted on Facebook by Al Manara, a Libyan media platform, more than 6,000 books - including reported biographies of the Prophet Muhammad - were destroyed by a police force in the eastern city of Benghazi on Saturday.

The video showed a police officer claiming that the seized literature was promoting the ideas of "ISIS" (the Arabic term for Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're 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 the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
 of Iraq and Levant or ISIS), as he sat behind a desk covered with books, including classical Islamic works.

The officer said the books "promoted violence" and the "ideas of the Moslem Brüderbund", which has been banned by UAE and Egypt.

In January, more than 100 Libyan writers and intellectuals, including renowned Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho, condemned a seizure of books deemed "erotic" or anti-Islamic by authorities in eastern Libya.

Books by Egyptian Nobel Prize-winning novelist Naguib Mahfouz and Arabic translations of books by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche were allegedly among dozens seized from a truck heading from Tobruk to Benghazi.

A video of the book seizure was posted online where security officials denounced the "cultural invasion," claiming the works promoted sorcery, as well as erotic materials.

In an open letter, more than 100 novelists denounced the confiscation, calling it "intellectual terrorism".

Link


Iraq
Iraqi troops capture Islamic State stronghold in daring overnight raid
2017-05-24
[ALMASDARNEWS] Last night, the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) liberated the small city of Qayrawan in a swift overnight operation against the Islamic State. The sound military plan was masterminded by PMU commander-in-chief Hadi Al-Amari.

Prior to its capture, Qayrawan was surrounded on three flanks but the PMU left open a small route of escape in western Nineveh which ISIS took advantage of, withdrawing most of its fighters from the jihadist bastion before its takeover.

In addition, the PMU liberated the nearby villages of Tall Banat and Tall Kasab where they engaged and killed many ISIS insurgents at the Sinjar road.
Al Manar adds:
The Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) managed on Tuesday to liberate the Qairawan district in Nineveh province, advancing towards Baaj town in order to reach Syria border. The popular forces were supported during the operation by the Iraqi
Link


Southeast Asia
33 wounded in second Philippines mystery bombing
2016-12-30
[Reuters] At least 33 people were hurt after two bombs exploded during an amateur boxing match in a central Philippine town, government and police officials said on Thursday. The attack took place in Hilongos town in Leyte province, about 380 miles southeast of Manila, late on Wednesday, the second on a public place in less than a week.

The explosions took place when people were watching a boxing match that was part of an annual Roman Catholic holiday festival. Police recovered an 81-mm mortar cartridge from outside a mall in Leyte province. The homemade explosive devices were detonated remotely by a mobile phone during the fight.

Police not identified the attackers, and no group has yet claimed responsibility. Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said a probe has been launched into the attack.

There are conflicting reports on the number of wounded. It is thought to include at least ten children aged between seven and 15 years. Hilongos Mayor Alberto Villahermosa said, "There were two blasts ... Luckily, the second blast wasn't perfect... The bomb expert said the detonating cord wasn't long enough. It wasn't made properly. The explosion wasn't very strong."

The twin blasts follow a grenade attack on Christmas Eve that injured 16 people outside a Catholic church on Mindanao. However, there is no indication that both the attacks are linked, police said.
Al Manar adds:
Another unexploded bomb was also found in the town, which is about 620 kilometres (385 miles) south of Manila, said the town’s mayor Albert Villahermosa.

A bomb went off on a highway on the southern island of Mindanao barely an hour later, wounding six people, the military said.

“A lamppost was catapulted from the impact of the explosion,” said Lieutenant Colonel Edgar Delos Reyes.
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