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-Land of the Free
Facebook has Special Privileges for Special People
2021-09-15
[Business Insider] H/T to MeWe.
Facebook has a secret internal system that exempts 5.8 million users from having to follow the rules on its platform, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The paper on Monday published an investigation detailing how high-profile users on its services who are "newsworthy," "influential or popular, or "PR risky" don't see the same enforcement action as do ordinary users, citing company documents it had viewed.

Figures like former President Donald Trump,
before he was banned
soccer star Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and even Doug the Pug are covered by the system, nicknamed "XCheck" or "cross check." The system was created in response to the shortcomings of Facebook's dual human and AI moderation processes.

Less than 10% of the content that XCheck flagged to the company as needing attention was reviewed, per a document reported by the paper. Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone told the Journal that the number grew in 2020 but did not provide evidence to support that assertion.

Most Facebook employees have the power to add users to the XCheck system for whitelisting status, a term used to describe high-profile accounts that don't have to follow the rules. But the Journal viewed a 2019 audit that found Facebook doesn't always keep a record of who it whitelists and why, which poses "numerous legal, compliance, and legitimacy risks for the company and harm to our community."
Related:
Facebook: 2021-09-14 Portland names new bridge after Simpsons character Ned Flanders
Facebook: 2021-09-11 Police: Assailant shot attempting to stab cops in Jerusalem Old City, later dies
Facebook: 2021-09-09 Taliban monopolize power in Afghanistan, will not last longer: Salahudin Rabbani
Link


India-Pakistan
What Mullah Baradar's passport says about Taliban ties with Pakistan
2021-09-12
[ONEINDIA] Pakistan on Friday categorically denied links to the Taliban and rejected media reports that it had helped the group take control of the Panjshir Valley.

While Islamabad denies any meddling in the affairs of Afghanistan, a year ago, much before the Taliban had taken control over the country, Twitter was abuzz with details of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar's passport.

Baradar who is today number two in the Afghanistan government holds a Pakistan passport. He holds a Pakistani passport with different identification details. The passport which was circulated on Twitter identifies Baradar as Muhammad Arif and a Pakistani national.

Aurang Khan Zalmay, a Twitter user pointed out in 2020 that Baradar, head of the Taliban's political office in Qatar holds Pakistani nationality and travels with a Pakistani passport on the condition of anonymity.

The government of Pakistan has issued Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar an identity card (NIC) and a passport by an alias of Muhammad Arif Agha S/O Syed Muhammad Nazeer Agha, Zalmay also pointed out.

Baradar along with Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai was heading the negotiations at Doha. He used to reside in Quetta, Pakistan and was provided heavy security by Pakistan.

Related:
Taliban: 2021-09-10 Afghanistan commercial flights resume as U.N. accuses Taliban of harassment
Taliban: 2021-09-10 20 Years after 9/11 – Are We Better Off?
Taliban: 2021-09-10 Panjshir Residents Say Blocked Roads May Cause Starvation
Related:
Panjshir Valley: 2021-09-08 Thousands of Anti-Taliban Fighters Can Return 'Anytime', Says Massoud
Panjshir Valley: 2021-09-07 Taliban enters Panjshir, opposition vows to continue resistance
Panjshir Valley: 2021-09-04 Taliban celebratory gunfire turns deadly, Pakistan's spy chief arrives in Afghanistan
Related:
Islamabad: 2021-09-09 Taliban monopolize power in Afghanistan, will not last longer: Salahudin Rabbani
Islamabad: 2021-09-08 Women's riot erupts in Kabul - Taliban bewildered; 2 protesters toes up in Herat
Islamabad: 2021-09-06 Pakistan's ISI Chief in Kabul for Bilateral Relations: Taliban
Related:
Abdul Ghani Baradar: 2021-09-09 Farooq Abdullah backs new Taliban 'govt' in Afghanistan; urges talks with other nations
Abdul Ghani Baradar: 2021-09-08 Who is who in the new government of Afghanistan
Abdul Ghani Baradar: 2021-09-07 Taliban-Haqqani rift brings Pakistan’s ISI out of the woodwork in Kabul
Related:
Muhammad Arif: 2020-06-26 Mullah Baradar holds Pakistani Passport and National Identity Card: Report
Muhammad Arif: 2018-05-28 Elderly woman found in trash dump accuses sons of beating her up
Muhammad Arif: 2016-01-01 Engineer killed in Ormara
Related:
Hasan Akhund: 2021-09-09 Farooq Abdullah backs new Taliban 'govt' in Afghanistan; urges talks with other nations
Hasan Akhund: 2021-09-08 Who is who in the new government of Afghanistan
Hasan Akhund: 2001-09-18 Mullah Akhund promises Holy War
Related:
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikza: 2021-09-02 The Taliban leader who trained with the Indian Army
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikza: 2021-07-13 Turkmenistan deploying troops, heavy weapon on border with Afghanistan
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikza: 2020-08-25 Pakistan Invites Taliban, China to Discuss Afghanistan Peace
Link


Afghanistan
Taliban monopolize power in Afghanistan, will not last longer: Salahudin Rabbani
2021-09-09
[KhaamaPress] Head of Afghanistan’s second-largest political part-Jamaat Islami- Salahudin Rabbani
...highly educated (King Fahd U, Kingston U, Columbia U) son of post-Communist/pre-Taliban Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani who held a number of positions in the Afghan government over the past two decades, both abroad and at home ...
reacted to the caretaker government of the Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
and said that a government which composed of a single ethnic group will not last long.

Salahuddin Rabbani has written on his Facebook post that the monopoly of power has been experienced in the past which was defeated and the Taliban with this cabinet will too bite the dust.

The former foreign minister is writing the statement from an unknown place as he had fled Afghanistan to Islamabad prior to the Taliban takeover and Pak officials say that he has left that country as well.

Rabbani said that the Taliban had pledged to be establishing an all-inclusive government which is not seen at all in their new cabinet and accused the Taliban to be tribal hard boys.

"The people of Afghanistan will never accept the regimes which have been imposed through force and will fight to change the ongoing undesirable situation." Reads the statement.

Rabbani has called on the international community and the regional countries in particular not to rush the recognition of the Taliban because the government does not represent all the classes and ethnic groups of Afghanistan.

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan announced a 33-member caretaker cabinet on Tuesday, September 7 in which no woman is seen.
Related:
Jamaat Islami: 2020-06-27 Good Afternoon
Jamaat Islami: 2020-06-27 Former Emir of the Jamaat Islami Munawar Hasan passed away on Friday after a long illness
Jamaat Islami: 2018-09-19 Noor warns of unprecedented uprising over the arrest of Herat protesters
Link


Iraq
2 soldiers killed, 3 wounded in IS attack in Iraq: Source
2021-07-22
[AlAhram] IS group forces of Evil withdrew after reinforcement troops arrived at the scene, al-Bazi said without saying whether the holy warrior forces of Evil sustained casualties

Two soldiers were killed and three maimed in an attack by forces of Evil of the holy warrior 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....
(IS) group in Iraq's Salahudin province in the north of Baghdad, a provincial police source said on Wednesday.
The attack took place late on Tuesday night when IS group forces of Evil attacked an army base in the rugged area of Mteibijah in the eastern part of the province, leaving two soldiers killed and three maimed, Col. Mohammed al-Bazi told Xinhua

IS group forces of Evil withdrew after reinforcement troops arrived at the scene, al-Bazi said without saying whether the holy warrior forces of Evil sustained casualties.

Mteibijah area has long been a redoubt of IS group forces of Evil despite repeated anti-IS military operations in the sprawling rugged areas in the eastern part of Salahudin province, which extends to the neighboring Diyala province and the nearby Himreen mountainous area.

The security situation in Iraq has been improving since Iraqi security forces fully defeated the IS group forces of Evil across the country late in 2017.

However,
there's no worse danger than telling a mother her baby is ugly...
IS group remnants have since melted in urban areas or deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.
Link


India-Pakistan
J&K govt sacks 11 employees including Salahuddin's sons
2021-07-11
[OneIndia] As many as 11 Jammu and Kashmir
...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it Azad (Free) Kashmir. The remainder they refer to as "Indian Occupied Kashmir". They have fought four wars with India over it, the score currently 4-0 in New Delhi's favor. After 72 years of this nonsense, India cut the Gordian knot in 2019, removing the area's special status, breaking off Ladakh as a separate state, and allowing people from other areas to settle (or in the case of the Pandits, to resettle) there....
babus government employees, were sacked for allegedly working as over ground workers for terrorist organizations.

Out of the 11 employees, four are from Anantnag, three from Budgam and one each from Baramulla, Srinagar, Pulwama and Kupwara.

Sons of most wanted terrorist and founder of the terror outfit, Hizbul Mujahideen
...Party of Holy Warriors, founded by Muhammad Ahsan Dar in September 1989. One of the Pak sock puppets waging jihad in Indian Kashmir. It was originally organized as the armed wing of Jamaat-e-Islami. In 1990, Dar declared Hizbul as the sword arm of Jamaat. Hizbul murdered many of the pro-independence intelligentsia in Kashmir. After the organization was taken over by Syed Salahuddin Dar and several other ex-Hizb leaders were assassinated between 2001 and 2003...
founder Syed Salahudin among those dismissed from service by J&K govt. Sons, Syed Ahmad Shakeel and Shahid Yousuf were also involved in terror funding.

Salahuddin has been designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the United States. They were involved in raising, receiving, collecting and transferring funds through Hawala (non-banking) transactions for terror activities of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen,

They were dismissed designated under Article 311(2)(c) of the Constitution. The designated committee in Jammu and Kashmir in its second and fourth meeting, recommended three and eight cases, respectively, for their dismissal from government service.

Of the 11 employees dismissed, four were working in the education department, two in the Jammu Kashmir Police and one each in the agriculture, skill development, power and health departments, and SKIMS, the officials said.

Earlier seven employees, including Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Davinder Singh and an assistant professor, were dismissed by the Union Territory's administration.
Related:
Kashmir: 2021-07-10 Pakistan rejects India's denial, says there is irrefutable evidence of India's involvement in Lahore blast
Kashmir: 2021-07-09 Hindutva Terror
Kashmir: 2021-07-09 Four youth martyred by Indian troops in occupied Kashmir
Related:
Syed Salahudin: 2018-04-25 Salahudin asks civil society to advise JRL on strategy
Syed Salahudin: 2008-08-28 UJC to hold rallies on September 5
Syed Salahudin: 2006-03-31 Hizbul Mujahedeen offers ceasefire if India includes them in talks
Link


Iraq
60 militants of IS group killed in airstrikes in Iraq
2021-04-08
[AlAhram] The Iraqi aircraft, in coordination with the Counter-Terrorism Service, conducted Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s on IS group hideouts in Himreen mountain range, leaving 60 IS Death Eaters killed, front man of the Iraqi military, said on Wednesday


A total of 60 Death Eaters 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....
(IS) group were killed in earlier airstrikes in a mountainous area in Salahudin province, north of Iraq's capital Baghdad, the Iraqi military said on Wednesday.

The Iraqi aircraft, in coordination with the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), conducted airstrikes on IS group hideouts on March 25
Wait — that’s two weeks ago. We used to get more timely reports before Iraq News stopped updating their English language website.
in Himreen mountain range, leaving 60 IS Death Eaters killed, Yahia Rasoul, front man of the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi forces, said in a statement.

On March 24, Rasoul said in a statement that the Iraqi security forces, backed by US-led coalition and Iraqi aircraft, launched the offensive on March 9 and continued for 14 days in the Makhmour mountain range in Iraq's northern province of Nineveh, destroying 120 IS group positions and killing 27 IS bully boys.
Impressive numbers!
According to Rasoul, March's offensive forced the IS Death Eaters to flee to alternative hideouts in Himreen Mountain in Salahudin province.

The mountains and vast rugged areas north of Baghdad have witnessed intense activities of the IS Death Eaters during the past months, despite repeated military operations to hunt them down.
Related:
Himreen mountain: 2019-10-11 5 killed, 7 wounded in ISIS attack in eastern Iraq
Himreen mountain: 2019-04-23 Iraqi special forces conduct airborne operation to kill 7 ISIS leaders
Himreen mountain: 2008-06-16 Al-Qaeda to send 25 female suicide bombers to Diala
Related:
Salahudin: 2020-11-30 Rocket hits oil refinery in Iraq's north, no casualties
Salahudin: 2020-05-24 Two ISIS leaders killed in eastern Syria raid: Coalition
Salahudin: 2020-05-18 6 ISIS terrorists, policeman killed in attacks in Salahudin and Diyala
Link


Iraq
Rocket hits oil refinery in Iraq's north, no casualties
2020-11-30
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

IS group claims responsibility for attacking oil refinery in Northern Iraq: Statement

[AlAhram] IS group grabbed credit on Sunday for attacking the Siniya oil refinery in northern Iraq, according to a statement posted on the group's official channel.

The statement said two Katyusha rockets were used in the attack. It gave no further details on any casualties.
An earlier Al Ahram article adds:
A rocket hit a small oil refinery in northern Iraq on Sunday, causing fire and minor damage, two refinery officials said.

Firefighters are still trying to contain the fires, refinery and local officials said, which broke out after the rocket hit a fuel storage depot inside the Siniya refinery.

There were no reports of casualties at the refinery, which is near Iraq's largest oil refinery of Baiji in the Northern Salahuddin province.
Related:
Siniya oil refinery: 2018-10-07 One killed, others wounded, including police, in Salahuddin, Anbar blasts
Related:
Baiji: 2020-11-20 China Hopes for a New Era of Appeasement
Baiji: 2020-08-29 Three Katyusha rockets hit Baghdad’s Green Zone
Baiji: 2020-05-18 6 ISIS terrorists, policeman killed in attacks in Salahudin and Diyala
Related:
Salahuddin: 2020-11-09 Iraqi forces launch 'large scale' anti-ISIS air and ground operation in Salahaddin
Salahuddin: 2020-11-01 Iraqi pilot, co-pilot killed as military jet falls due to technical failure in Balad city, Salahuddin
Salahuddin: 2020-10-30 Taliban Seeks Release of More Prisoners in Talks with US Envoy
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Two ISIS leaders killed in eastern Syria raid: Coalition
2020-05-24
[Rudaw] Two 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) leaders were killed in a joint raid by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and US-led anti-ISIS coalition in Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria on Sunday, according to a Coalition statement.

According to the Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) statement released on Friday evening. Ahmad ’Isa Ismail al-Zawi, otherwise known as Abu Ali al-Baghdadi, was the leader of ISIS in North Baghdad, and Ahmad ’Abd Muhammad Hasan al-Jughayfi, a senior supplies and logistics leader across Iraq and Syria, were killed in the May 17 operation.

"The removal of these ISIS leaders will disrupt future attacks against innocent civilians and our security partners and in the region," the statement read.

The deaths of Zawi and Jughayfi deals yet another blow to the turban holy warrior group after the recent transport of senior ISIS leader Nasser al-Qardash to Iraq after being held in detention by the Kurdish-led SDF in eastern Syria for a year. His transfer to Iraq was announced by the Iraqi Intelligence Service on Wednesday.

ISIS controlled vast swathes of Iraq and Syria at the height of its power between 2014 and 2016. Though the group was declared defeated in Iraq in December 2017 and in Syria in March 2019, the group have maintained the ability to carry out turban attacks including kidnappings, killings and ambushes, particularly in rural areas - as reiterated by a Pentagon report on the group's activities published last week.

Though the deaths and detentions of high-profile figures leave a "surely weakened" ISIS, they are not enough to definitively destroy the group, security analyst Husham al-Hashimi told Rudaw on Thursday.
Related:
Syrian Democratic Forces: 2020-05-21 Iraq security forces arrest the new ISIS leader
Syrian Democratic Forces: 2020-05-09 SDF, coalition raid ISIS locations in Deir ez-Zor
Syrian Democratic Forces: 2020-05-05 ISIS militants renew riots at Hasaka prison
Related:
Deir ez-Zor: 2020-05-19 Coalition warplanes strike ISIS hideouts south of Kirkuk: Iraqi forces
Deir ez-Zor: 2020-05-18 Iraqi forces launch fresh anti-ISIS military operation amid uptick in attacks
Deir ez-Zor: 2020-05-18 6 ISIS terrorists, policeman killed in attacks in Salahudin and Diyala
Link


Iraq
6 ISIS terrorists, policeman killed in attacks in Salahudin and Diyala
2020-05-18
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Related:
ISIS: 2020-05-16 Good Afternoon
ISIS: 2020-05-16 Islamist militants kill five soldiers in Nigeria's northeast
ISIS: 2020-05-16 Deir Ezzor | Iranian forces continue boosting positions in the desert
Related:
Salahudin: 2019-03-15 20 BIFF militants killed in Maguindanao clashes
Salahudin: 2019-03-05 Iraqi court sentences two men to death over shrine bombing
Salahudin: 2018-08-13 Salahuddin adventures: 1 turban tied up, 14 more permanently unwound while attacking, turbans attack Baiji refinery again
Related:
Diyala: 2020-05-09 SDF, coalition raid ISIS locations in Deir ez-Zor
Diyala: 2020-05-09 New cycle of ISIS crop arson stoked as summer approaches
Diyala: 2020-05-06 ISIS attacks #Iraqi army in Diyala again, casualties reported
Link


Southeast Asia
20 BIFF militants killed in Maguindanao clashes
2019-03-15
[Rappler] At least two foreign fighters are believed to be among the 20 Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters killed in military operations that began on Monday, March 11.

Philippine military spokesman Cirilito Sobejana said “more or less 20” were killed “including one foreign terrorist." He said the body of an Arab-looking fighter was seen among the dead.

Sobejana said Singaporean militant Muhamad Ali Abdul Rahiman, known as Mauwiyah, was also in the area along with BIFF subleader Salahudin Hassan during the air strikes. They are believed to be among those killed. He said they're still retrieving the body parts so the fatalities may be identified.

The 6th ID launched on Monday, March 11, air strikes and ground operations against BIFF fighters in the so-called “SPMS box” – the towns of Shariff Aguak, Pagatin, Mamasapano, and Salibo where the different BIFF factions operate. Up to 1,360 families or more than 5,000 residents were displaced in the military operations that was supposedly coordinated with local government units and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Captain Arvin Encinas, 6th ID spokesman, said the deaths resulting from the operations significantly reduced the number of BIFF combatants. He said they have names of at least 17 of the fighters killed in the operations, based also on information from the community. He said residents believe Mauwiyah was among those killed although only two bodies were recovered. Mauwiyah is a senior Jema'ah Islamiyah member reportedly associated with Moro militants.

The military estimates that over 200 fighters compose the three different factions of the breakaway group of the MILF, which now heads the new Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Link


Iraq
Iraqi court sentences two men to death over shrine bombing
2019-03-05
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) ‐ An Iraqi court has sentenced two men to death by hanging for their involvement in a suicide kaboom at a religious shrine in the central province of Salahudin.

"The Karkh criminal court has looked into the case of two defendants involved in a suicide kaboom that targeted visitors of a religious shrine in Balad district of Salahudin, leaving scores dead and maimed," Alghad Press quoted the media center of the Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq as saying in a statement on Monday.

The two defendants admitted that the attack "was only meant to achieve terrorist ends and undermine security and stability in the country," the statement read.

The court ruling was issued pursuant to article 4/1 of the anti-terrorism law, added the statement.

The law empowers courts to convict people who are believed to have helped jihadists even if they are not accused of carrying out attacks.
Link


Iraq
Salahuddin adventures: 1 turban tied up, 14 more permanently unwound while attacking, turbans attack Baiji refinery again
2018-08-13


Islamic State member, in charge of killing security personnel, arrested in Salahuddin

Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) An Islamic State member, in charge of the 2014 massacre in east of Tikrit, has been arrested in Salahuddin province, the Security Media Center said on Friday.

Spokesperson for the center, Brig, Gen. Yahia Rasool, said in a statement that troops, backed by forces from Samarra Operations Command “managed to arrest a dangerous militant, who was in charge of a massacre, when number of security personnel from al-Alam town were killed in 2014.”

The militant, according to Rasool, “was arrested in an operation in al-Muthanna district in Samarra city.”

In 2014, the militant group, which was in control al al-Alam by then, reportedly killed 17 security personnel and civilians.

Iraqi army foils Islamic State attack, kills 14 militants in Salahudin

Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi army has repulsed an Islamic State attack, leaving many militants killed in Salahuddin province, a security source said on Sunday.

Speaking to Alghad Press, the source said, “the Iraqi army foiled an attack by Islamic State in al-Aitha region, east of al-Dour town, from five regions. The attack left five army personnel killed and others wounded.”

Salahuddin Operations Command, according to the source, “killed 14 Islamic State members, wearing suicide belts, and followed the militants which carried out the attack.”

Islamic State fighters kill five locals in attack near Baiji oil refinery

Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) – At least five people were killed last night in an attack by the Islamic State group on a village near Iraq’s largest oil refinery Baiji in Salahuddin province, an Iraqi security source said on Saturday.

“A group of Islamic State militants launched an attack on Alb Jrara village near Baiji oil refinery late Friday, promoting locals to carry weapons in an attempt to repel the attack,” the source told Kurdistan 24.

The source said that the clashes between the two sides left “five people dead and one person injured,” adding that among those killed in the attack are four brothers belonging to two families.

“IS militants used heavy and medium weapons in the attack before fleeing the scene into an unknown location,” according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Link



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