World War III News and Updates .... December 27

Some of the countries in it, in major or minor roles:
USA, UK, Canada,  Australia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Jordan, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Yemen, Nigeria, France with (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad ) Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Albania, Estonia, Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Japan, Republic of Korea, Ireland, Spain, Slovakia, Norway, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Novorussia, Ukraine, Russia, Chechnya, Somalia, Iran, India, South Korea, North Korea,  Central African Republic, Kenya, Tunisia, The Philippines, Egypt,  Albania, Serbia, China, Sudan, South Sudan, Bukina Faso, Palestine, Georgia, Chad, Spain, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Nepal, Congo, Uganda, Romania, Mexico.....

From CentCom:
Dec. 26: Military Airstrikes Continue  Against ISIL in Syria and Iraq
SOUTHWEST ASIA - U.S. and partner nation military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria Dec. 26 using fighter, bomber, and remotely piloted aircraft to conduct sixteen airstrikes. Separately, U.S. and partner nation military forces conducted fifteen airstrikes in Iraq Dec. 26 using fighter, bomber, attack aircraft, and remotely piloted aircraft against the ISIL terrorists.

The following is a summary of those strikes:
Syria
* Near Kobani, thirteen airstrikes destroyed three ISIL buildings, two ISIL staging areas, an ISIL vehicle, and nineteen ISIL fighting positions and struck two large ISIL units and four ISIL tactical units.
* Near Al Hasakah, two airstrikes destroyed two ISIL vehicles and struck a drilling tower.
* Near Ar Raqqah, an airstrike struck an ISIL staging area.

Iraq
* Near Al Asad, three airstrikes destroyed an ISIL mortar, an ISIL rocket system, four ISIL vehicles and struck a large ISIL unit and two ISIL tactical units.
* Near Sinjar, three airstrikes destroyed three ISIL vehicles and struck three ISIL tactical units.
* Near Mosul, three airstrikes destroyed three ISIL tactical vehicles, an ISIL fighting position, an ISIL commercial vehicle and struck two ISIL tactical units.
* Near Al Qaim, three airstrikes destroyed an ISIL fighting position, an ISIL storage container, ISIL equipment and struck two ISIL tactical vehicles.
* Near Bayji, an airstrike struck a large ISIL unit.
* Near Kirkuk, an airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
* Near Tal Afar, an airstrike struck an ISIL vehicle.
Airstrike assessments are based on initial reports.....................

From Reuters:
Syria ready to discuss Russia peace plan talks.......
Syria said on Saturday it was willing to participate in "preliminary consultations" in Moscow aimed at restarting talks next year to end its civil war but the Western-backed opposition dismissed the initiative.
Two rounds of peace talks this year in Geneva failed to halt the conflict which has killed 200,000 people during more than three years of violence and there was little sign of the latest move gaining traction.......

From Stripes:
1,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne headed to Iraq
Approximately 1,000 paratroopers from the Army’s famed 82nd Airborne Division will deploy to Iraq early next year to help the Iraqi security forces take on the Islamic State, the Pentagon announced Friday.

The soldiers from the 82nd’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, based at Fort Bragg, N.C., will begin to deploy in late January to train, advise and assist the ISF, Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters.
Their mission is part of the coalition effort to build up the Iraqi army and Kurdish peshmerga so that they can recapture territory from Islamic State militants.
The paratroopers are preparing for a nine-month deployment, according to a spokeswoman for the 82nd Airborne......

From AlJazeera:
Soldiers die in attack on Libya oil terminals
Fajr Libya fighters firing rockets from speedboats at al-Sidra port set oil tank on fire, amid clashes in Sirte.
More than 20 soldiers have been killed in a surprise attack in which fighters used speedboats in a failed bid to seize some of Libya's main oil terminals, according to officials.
Fighters launched Thursday's attack on al-Sidra port by firing rockets from speedboats, setting an oil tank on fire, security sources told AFP news agency.
Soldiers damaged three of the vessels before clashes in which the fighters were eventually repelled, sources said.....

From Reuters:
Libya has called on Italy  to send firefighters to prevent a fire spreading out of control at Es Sider, the country's biggest oil port, officials said on Saturday.
A rocket hit an oil storage tank last week at the port in the east of the country during clashes between forces allied to Libya's competing governments.....

From VICE:
Al Shabaab Gunmen Attack a Christmas Party  at an African Union Base in Somalia
African Union troops fought off an ambush waged by at least eight gunmen at a base in Somalia on Thursday, during an attack carried out by al Shabaab militants that was reportedly targeting a Christmas party at the compound.

The deadly clash left at least five militants dead and lasted for several hours, after an unverified number of fighters from al Shabaab infiltrated the AU mission (Amisom) base, which is located just outside of the international airport in Mogadishu. While the offensive was underway, al-Shabaab confirmed it was behind the attack.........

From Janes:
Rocket attack on Yemen's Balhaf LNG terminal signals AQAP militants' growing intent to systematically target energy assets
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants fired two inaccurate Grad-type rockets at the Balhaf liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Shabwah province on 18 December.

Yemeni media reported that one of the rockets had landed in the sea, whereas the other had landed near the complex perimeter without causing casualties or material damage.
AQAP took responsibility for the attack on 21 December, claiming that the operation was in retaliation for the use of an adjacent airstrip to operate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and to stop the French energy producer Total, which co-operates the LNG terminal, from "looting the Yemeni resources".........

From ABC:
2 Car Bombs Rock Southern Sweden's City of Malmo
Swedish police say two car bombs have shattered dozens of windows in a multiethnic district of Malmo, Sweden's third largest city.
Police spokeswoman Linda Pleym says no one was injured by Saturday's pre-dawn explosions in Rosengaard, a district dominated by immigrants from Iraq, Kosovo, Bosnia and Lebanon. One car bomb exploded at the foot of a building, the other in a parking lot nearby.
It was unclear who was behind the two explosions and if they were connected. No arrests were immediately made.
The blasts were the latest in a series that has rocked the southern.........

From BBC:
Swedish mosque hit by arson  in Eskilstuna, injuring five
An arsonist set fire to a mosque in the Swedish town of Eskilstuna on Thursday, injuring five people, police said.
About 15 to 20 people were attending midday prayers in the mosque, located in the ground floor of a residential building, when the fire broke out on Christmas Day.
Local media footage showed smoke and flames billowing from the windows before firefighters put the blaze out.
The incident comes amid a fierce debate in Sweden over immigration policies.
The far right wants to cut the number of asylum seekers allowed into Sweden by 90%, while mainstream parties are intent on preserving the country's liberal policy.......

From Yahoo:
Islamic State captures Jordanian pilot after warplane shot down in Syria
 Islamic State fighters took a Jordanian pilot prisoner after his warplane was shot down in northeast Syria on Wednesday, the first captive taken from the U.S.-led coalition battling the jihadi group.
Jordan's armed forces said one of its pilots had been captured after a coalition air raid over the province of Raqqa......

From BBC:
Colombia Farc ceasefire starts after deadly attack Colombia's Farc rebels have begun an indefinite, unilateral ceasefire.
The group unexpectedly announced on Wednesday that it would begin a truce for an unlimited time from Saturday.
The move has been welcomed by the UN and the European Union. However, Colombia's government said it would not join the rebels in the truce........

From WSJ:
Pakistan Military: Dozens of Militants Killed in Strikes Near Afghanistan Border
Pakistani warplanes and ground forces killed 39 militants as part of a continuing operation in a volatile tribal region near the Afghan border, the Pakistani military said.
The airstrikes were carried out Friday evening in the Datta Khel area of the North Waziristan tribal region, an army statement said Saturday, adding that an underground tunnel system and a large underground cache of weapons and ammunition were also destroyed......