Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Young man shot dead during a second night of protests over water shortages in southwest Iran

2021-07-18

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

A young man was shot dead during a second night of protests over water shortages in southwest #Iran, a local official confirms, blaming armed protesters for the shooting, state news agency IRNA reports.https://t.co/9zLMqckZEe
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) July 17, 2021

Protesters erupted into the streets for a second consecutive night in Iran’s oil-rich southwest to protest water shortages, videos shared on social media showed, with reports of security forces shooting dead at least one protester.Security forces rubbed out Iranian Arab citizen Mostafa Naeemawi in the city of Shadegan (al-Falahiya) in Khuzestan province during Friday night’s unrest, Al Arabiya Farsi reported, citing local sources.

The protests began late on Thursday in several cities in Khuzestan province, including its capital, Ahwaz, according to videos shared online. The region is home to a large ethnic Arab population.

For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

Several videos shared on social media showed a large crowd chanting in Arabic late on Friday in the city of Susangerd (al-Khafajiya). "The thieves robbed us in the name of religion," protesters in Susangerd could be heard chanting in Arabic in one video, in reference to Iran’s Shia theocracy.

The government sent a delegation on Friday to Ahwaz to tackle the water shortages that have sparked the protests, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

Iran’s Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian warned in May of water shortages in the summer, saying this year was "one of the driest in 50 years."

The water shortages have also led to power outages which sparked protests in several cities earlier this month. Some of the protests turned political with chants against Iran’s highest authority, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei
...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...
The protests in Khuzestan come as thousands of workers in Iran’s key energy sector have launched strikes for better wages and working conditions.

Iran’s economy has been hit hard since 2018 when former US President Donald Trump

...Oh, noze! Not him!...
withdrew Washington from the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers and reimposed sweeping sanctions on the country. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the country’s economic problems.

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Iraq

Iraqi officer discloses military info to CIA over WhatsApp - report

2019-07-07

This seems very odd.

[Jpost] A senior commander in the Iraqi army disclosed information on military bases along the Iraq-Syria border to a CIA agent, according to audio files and WhatsApp chats released by the Iraqi Hezbollah terror group, the Iranian Fars news agency reported.

Mahmoud al-Falahi, the commander of operations in the al-Anbar province of Iraq, was asked by a CIA agent who is an Iraqi national to provide geographic coordinates of existing military bases along the border between Iraq and Syria "to be attacked by US and Israeli forces."

The CIA agent also instructed al-Falahi to meet with US army and intelligence service commanders in Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan region or at the US forces' base in al-Habaniyeh" in Western Iraq, according to Fars.

The released conversations show that al-Falahi provided the detailed coordinates of military bases in al-Anbar as the CIA agent requested.

Iraqi Hezbollah used the audio files to show al-Falahi's "plot against the Iraqi army, security, Hashd al-Shaabi (the Popular Mobilization Forces) and resistance forces" and warned that the spying he had done for the CIA and Israeli Mossad had endangered Iran's national security.

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Olde Tyme Religion

Iran’s Regime Arrests 8 Christians, Sending Them To Solitary Confinement

2019-07-06

[Jpost] Security officials from Iran’s ministry of intelligence raided the homes of eight Iranians who converted to Christianity on July 1 in the southern city of Bushehr, carting them off to solitary confinement.

The arrests of the eight Christians was first reported on Friday by Article18, an organization that promotes religious freedom and supports Iran's repressed Christians.

Article 18 wrote that intelligence agents " stormed the Christians’ homes in a coordinated operation at around 9am, confiscating Bibles, Christian literature, wooden crosses and pictures carrying Christian symbols, along with laptops, phones, all forms of identity cards, bank cards and other personal belongings."

Alireza Nader, the CEO of New Iran, a research and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., told The Jerusalem Post on Friday: "Reporting suggests that Christianity is on the rise in Iran, along with other non-Islamic religions. This is a threat to the Islamic Theocratic Republic, a regime based on a narrow and totalitarian view of Islam. As the regime faces more internal unrest, the more it’ll crack down on religious minorities it views as threatening its stranglehold on religion."

The Article 18 report noted that "Arresting agents also searched the work offices of at least two Christians and confiscated computer hard drives and security-camera recordings" and "The officers are reported to have treated the Christians harshly, even though small children were present during the arrests."

The human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
website wrote the Iranian regime authorities have not allowed lawyers to gain access to the arrested Christians. The Christians are being held at a ministry of intelligence site in the Persian Gulf port city of Bushehr.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in late June after the US released its new report on religious freedom that "In Iran, the regime’s crackdown on Baha’is, Christians and others continues to shock the conscience."

The U.S. has designated the Islamic Theocratic Republic as a "Country of Concern" since 1999, because its regime violates religious freedom as defined by the U.S. International Religious Freedom Act (1998). Article18 said the names of the Iranian Christians who were imprisoned are: :Sam Khosravi, 36, and his wife Maryam Falahi, 35; Sam’s brother Sasan, 35, and his wife Marjan Falahi, 33; Sam and Sasan’s mother, Khatoon Fatolahzadeh, 61; Pooriya Peyma, 27, and his wife Fatemeh Talebi, 27; and Habib Heydari, 38."

According to Article 18, "Khatoon Fatolahzadeh, whose arrest came after six cars carrying security officials turned up outside her home, was released the same day due to her age."

The State Department’s religious freedom report said that Iran’s holy manal regime "continued to harass, interrogate, and arrest Baha’is, Christians (particularly converts), Sunni Moslems, and other religious minorities, and regulated Christian religious practices closely to enforce a prohibition on proselytizing."

Peter Kohanloo, the president of the U.S.-based Iranian American Majority organization, told the Post: "The Iranian regime’s recent arrests of Christian converts prove once again that there is no true freedom of religion in the country. If Europe
Europe

...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
cares at all about its Christian patrimony, then it should take seriously U.S. efforts at isolating the regime instead of undermining our economic sanctions campaign."

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Iraq

Anbar antics: 5 turbans toes up,1 turban tied up

2019-01-13

Five IS leaders killed during reconnaissance operation in Anbar

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) – An Iraqi military commander has said that five leaders of Islamic State have been killed during a reconnaissance operation in the western province of Anbar.

Speaking to IKH News website on Saturday, Commander of Anbar Operations Major General Mahmoud al-Falahi said that Iraqi warplanes were on a reconnaissance mission in Anbar’s western desert when they spotted a pickup truck carrying five Islamic State leaders.

He added that the troops immediately opened fire at the terrorists, killing them all.

“The troops also seized three explosive belts and a huge amount of weapons and ammunition during the operation,” he noted.

Iraqi troops arrest Islamic State militant in Anbar

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) – Iraqi military intelligence forces arrested on Saturday an Islamic State militant in Anbar province.

The arrested terrorist was found to have been implicated in terrorist attacks launched by Islamic State against security forces in Anbar province, Iraqi website Alghad Press quoted the Security Media Center as saying in a statement,

The arrest was made after receiving accurate intelligence information that the terrorist was residing in Albu Ali al-Jasim district in Anabr, added the statement.

Link

Iraq

Anbar Antix: paramilitaries foil turban infiltration from Syria, jacket wallah killed by cops

2018-06-06

Paramilitary troops foil Islamic State infiltration attempt from Syria into Iraq

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The pro-government paramilitary troops have announced thwarting an attempt by Islamic State to sneak into Iraq.

In remarks on Tuesday, Qassem Musleh, commander of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) for western Anbar axis, said troops “carried out missile strikes against Islamic State members who attempted infiltration and approaching the Iraqi-Syrian borders.”

The attempt of tens of militants, according to Musleh, was foiled.

PMFs, in collaboration with army troops and border guards “thwarted many infiltration attempts toward Iraq-Syrian borders, as the militants are pressured in al-Bagouz region, where military operations are carried out by the Syrian Democratic Forces.”

Last week, the Iraqi security troops reportedly made military reinforcements along the borders with Syria.

The Iraqi-Syrian borders are under the control of joint troops of military and border guards.

Iraqi police kill Islamic State suicide attacker, west of Anbar: Commander

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) An Islamic State suicide bomber has been killed, south of Ramadi, Anbar, the operations command said on Tuesday.

Speaking to AlSumaria News, Maj. Gen. Mahmoud al-Falahi, commander of Anbar Operations, said “Anbar police managed to kill a suicide attacker wearing a suicide belt in al-Tash al-Oula region, south of Ramadi.”

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Iraq

Iraq launches operation to clear western deserts of ISIS

2018-02-04

[RUDAW.NET] The Iraqi army has launched a widespread operation in Anbar’s deserts towards the Saudi borders, aiming to clear the area of remaining ISIS elements, despite the declaration of the end of ISIS war in Iraq in early December.

Mahmood Falahi, the commander of the Anbar Operations Command, announced that the operation started on Saturday to clear Anbar’s deserts and remote areas all the way to Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
’s borders.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over ISIS in December, though Iraqi forces continue to combat cells of the group in pockets mainly in Anbar province and along with the Kurdish Peshmerga near the Hamrin mountain area that is close to northern Saladin province.

The US-led anti-ISIS coalition has stated that their focus remains assisting Iraq to combat ISIS and also to build up internal and border security to ensure the terror organization cannot regroup.

Eight Iraqis were killed in an apparent case of friendly fire in western Anbar province. The majority of the dead are members of Iraqi security forces.

Iraq’s Joint Operations Command stated that their forces were conducting an operation based on "accurate intelligence about the presence of a terrorist leader, Karim Afat Ali al-Samirmd, in one of houses in al-Baghdadi district to meet with a terrorist cell."

Link

Iraq

Iraqi troops destroy four Islamic State armored vehicles, seize three others in Anbar

2018-01-11

Anbar (Iraqinews.com) ‐ Iraqi troops destroyed on Wednesday four 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....
armored vehicles and seized three others during a military operation in Anbar province, a military commander was quoted as saying.

Speaking to Alsumaria News, Commander of Anbar Operations Major General Mahmoud al-Falahi said, "A joint force from Anbar Operations Command, al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) and the Border Guards carried out a military operation in several desert areas in Anbar province on the Iraqi-Saudi borders."

"The military operation was backed by Iraqi warplanes and the U.S.-led international coalition," he said, adding that the troops destroyed four IS armored vehicles and seized three others during the campaign.

"In addition, four camps of Islamic State were completely destroyed in the military operation," Falahi pointed out, noting that the final tally of IS losses will be announced later as the military operation is still ongoing.

Link

Iraq

Anbar Antix: 4 ISIS henchmen picked up, 500 ISIS rockets revealed

2017-12-08

Four Islamic State militants arrested in western Anbar

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Four Islamic State members were arrested during a security campaign in west of Anbar, a security source from Anbar Operations Command said.

“Security services managed to arrest for suspects while being on their way back to the liberated town of Annah, western Anbar. They were arrested during a security campaign to check identities of the suspects,” the source told BasNews website.

“Security services transferred the suspects to the detention cells in Ramadi for investigations,” the source, who preferred anonymity, added.

500 Islamic State rockets, tunnels found in Tal Afar, Anbar

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi security forces on Thursday discovered underground tunnels and hundreds of rockets belonging to Islamic State militants as they combed areas recaptured from the militant group in Nineveh and Anbar.

Interior Ministry spokesman, Saad Maan, said in a press conference that troops found 500 rockets in the town of Tal Afar, west of Nineveh. He said most of those were prepared for drones.

Iraqi troops seized Tal Afar back from Islamic State militants in August.

Meanwhile, the army’s Anbar Operations Command said it uncovered three underground tunnels and a pickup truck belonging to the group south of the city of Haditha, Anbar.

The command’s chief, Mahmoud al-Falahi, was quoted by Alsumaria News saying that army and police forces also detonated 15 explosive devices in the city of Ramadi.

Link

Iraq

Anbar Antix

2017-11-29

Iraqi troops prepare operation in Wadi Hauran
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi troops are on high alert to liberate Wadi Hauran area from the Islamic State militants, a military commander said.

“Our units have cleared 50 percent of the total area of the desert of around 29,000 square kilometers (11,000 sq miles). The first phase is over,” Spokesman for the Joint Operations Command Brigadier General Yahya Rasool told AFP on Monday.

“Now, our units will proceed to clearing the rest of the desert zones, including Wadi (valley) Hauran,” he said.

“The valley is deep and reaches Syrian territory. The mission is to destroy all the hideouts in the desert and valleys to secure western Iraq’s border with Syria” before soldiers are posted along the frontier, he said.

Wadi Hauran, with 200-metre-deep (650-foot-deep), is the longest valley in Iraq, stretching on 350 kilometers (210 miles) from the Saudi border to the Euphrates River, also reaching the borders with Jordan.

Iraqi Army destroys ISIS camp near al-Rutba
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi army destroyed on Tuesday an Islamic State camp south of Ar-Rutbah town in Anbar, a military commander said.

“The army’s 1st brigade destroyed an IS camp at a desert area near Ar-Rutbah town in Anbar,” Commander of Anbar Operations Major General Mahmoud al-Falahi told DijlahTv on Tuesday.

“The camp included a booby-trapped vehicle, explosive charges and a laboratory for making bombs,” Falahi said.

On Monday, a woman was killed, while her husband and daughter were injured as a booby-trapped house exploded in Anbar province.

Link

Iraq

Iraqi refugees repatriated to Anbar, Salahuddin, Nineveh

2017-11-23

Commander: 240 Iraqi refugee families repatriated in Anbar, Salahuddin

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Two-hundred and forty Iraqi families have been repatriated to their home regions in Anbar and Salahuddin provinces after expelling Islamic State militants, a military commander was quoted saying.

Maj. Gen. Mahmoud al-Falahi, commander of Anbar Operations, was quoted Wednesday by IkhNews saying that buses were secured to return those families along with their belongings.

“Those families have lived at refugee camps for four years,” Falahi said.

Refugee camps in Anbar still host tens of thousands of displaced families.

Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch accused Iraqi security officials in Anbar of hampering the repatriation of civilians at areas retaken from the Islamic State over suspicions of having links with the militant group.

In the same time, the organization said Iraqi officials were also forcing other reluctant families to return home even as those families feel it is unsafe to repatriate.

The United Nations says nearly five million people have been displaced since Islamic State militants took over large areas of Iraq in 2014 to proclaim a self-styled “Islamic Caliphate.”

Ministry: 446 Iraqi refugees in Syria returned to Nineveh

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) A total of 446 Iraqis who had sought refuge in a Syrian camp from Islamic State militancy have returned to their home regions, the Iraqi migration ministry said Wednesday.

Khaled Abdel-Karim, head of the Ministry of Migration and Displacement’s office in Nineveh, told Alghad Press that nearly 446 refugees al-Houl camp in in Syria’s Hassaka returned to the province.

“The refugees were transported to Hammam al-Alil camp south of Nineveh for security vetting and will stay there for the time being”.

In October, the ministry said it returned 1250 refugees displaced by the war against Islamic State militants from the same camp.

Al-Houl contains 130 housing units that can admit 200 families, and was established during the United States invasion of Iraq under a United Nations supervision.

Iraqi authorities had unveiled plans to repatriate all refugees before this year’s end. A campaign launched in 2016, and backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary troops, managed to retake all of Islamic State-held territories, most notably Mosul, the group’s former capital, by November 17th.

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Iraq

Anbar Antix

2017-10-22

Iraqi warbirds eliminate ISIS Bad Guys near Rutba

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants were killed in airstrike launched by the Iraqi army in western Anbar, a source from Anbar Operations Command said on Saturday.

“Iraqi jets managed to shell seven vehicles of IS in desert of Wadi al-Qathf, south of Rutba, leaving them totally destroyed and several militants inside them killed,” the source told AlSumaria News.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source added, “the operation was carried out while Maj.Gen. Mahmoud al-Falahi, Anbar Operations Commander, was on a mission in the western desert looking for hiding militants.”

Iraqi troops were able to return life back to normal in the biggest cities of Anbar including Fallujah, Ramadi and others after recapturing them in 2015 and 2016.

Iraqis claim 40 dead ISIS Bad Guys in Anbar

Qaim (IraqiNews.com) Warplanes from the United States-led coalition killed 40 Islamic State militants west of Anbar as operations approach for the recapture of the group’s last havens in Iraq.

Alghad Press quoted a security source saying that the fighter jets pounded militants’ locations near the “phosphate company” in the town of Qaim, killing 40 members.

More than 15 vehicles belonging to the militants were destroyed in the raid, according to the source.

Since Islamic State militants took over large areas of Iraq and Syria to establish a self-styled “caliphate” in 2014, Iraqi government forces, backed paramilitary troops and U.S.-led coalition, launched a wide-scale campaign to retake those regions.

Link

Iraq

Eight Islamic State suicide attackers killed west of Ramadi

2017-09-30

[Iraq News] Iraqi troops killed on Friday eight 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....
suicide kaboomers in west of Ramadi, according to security sources.

Speaking to AlSumaria News, Maj.Gen. Mahmoud al-Falahi, Anbar Operations Commander, said, "troops of the army’s eighth division and the Tribal Mobilization Forces, carried out a joint task on Friday in Wadi Abu Jeir region, southwest of al-Wafaa town, west of Ramadi."

"Troops managed to kill six IS suicide attackers," he added.

Meanwhile,
...back at the buffalo wallow, Standing Buffalo drew a bead on his old enemy and squeezed the trigger...
a security source said army troops killed two other murderous Moslems in west of Ramadi.

"The army’s eighth division managed to kill an IS suicide attacker while combing Ma’amel al-Jass, west of Ramadi," the source told AlSumaria News.

"Troops were also able to kill another attacker wearing a suicide belt while combing abu Jeir region, west of Ramadi," the source, who asked to remain anonymous, added.

Ramadi was recaptured by government and tribal forces from IS in December 2015, however, several occasional attacks by the group have occurred since then.

The murderous Moslem group invaded, on Wednesday, al-Tash and the 5th Kilometer regions, south and west of Ramadi. The murderous Moslems reportedly took over al-Tash and al-Jamea (university) areas after invading them with 20 pickup trucks, however, troops were able to repulse the attack. 40 IS murderous Moslems were killed, while three injured others were maimed, Brig. Gen. Saad Maan, spokesperson of Baghdad Operations said in a weekly presser on Thursday.

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