World War III News and Updates .... January 4

Some of the countries in it, either 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, Gambia.....

From BBC
Boko Haram seizes army base    in Nigeria town of Baga
The militant group Boko Haram has seized a town and key multinational military base in north-eastern Nigeria, officials and eyewitnesses say.
A senator in Borno state said troops had abandoned the base in the town of Baga after it was attacked on Saturday.
Residents of Baga, who fled by boat to neighbouring Chad, said many people had been killed and the town set ablaze.
Baga, scene of a Nigerian army massacre in 2013, was the last town in the Borno North area under government control.
It hosted the base of the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF), made up of troops from Nigeria, Chad and Niger..........

From FarsNews:
Syrian Army Repels Terrorists' Attack on Abu Zohour Airport in Idlib
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorists were pushed back from the surrounding areas of Abu Zohour military airport as they were trying to launch a fresh wave of offensive on army positions at the airport in the Eastern parts of the city of Saraqeb in Idlib countryside.
Abu Zohour Airport located in the Northern parts of Idlib countryside is Syria's second largest military airport which is located in an area of 8 square kilometers and it has the capacity for 22 helicopters and Mig fighter jets...........



From Reuters:
Gambia president returns home after reports of coup attempt
Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh returned to Banjul on Wednesday and shops and banks reopened, a day after gunfire erupted around the presidential palace in an apparent coup attempt led by a former commander of the presidential guard.
In a sign of heightened security, government forces set up three checkpoints on the Denton Bridge into the capital to search people as they headed into work and check identity papers, witnesses said.....

From AlAkhbar:
Libya militants abduct 20 Egyptians, kill 14 soldiers  
slamist militants abducted 20 Egyptian Christians in Libya in recent days, a source close to the government said on Saturday, while militants who claimed to belong to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremist group killed 14 Libyan soldiers.
The Ansar al-Sharia militant group abducted 13 Egyptians on Saturday in the coastal city of Sirte, the source said, adding that seven others were also abducted last week.
Their identity was not immediately clear, except that they were said to be Coptic Christians.....

From Independent:
One of Germany’s most famous landmarks will go dark on Monday night as thousands people are expected to flood the streets in anti-Islam demonstrations.
As the Pegida movement against the so-called “Islamification of the West” has grown, so has opposition to it and Cologne Cathedral’s silent protest is set to be one of the most symbolic so far.
It will turn its lights off for almost three hours during the rally, following the example of the Semperoper concert hall in Dresden, where the protests have been centred...........

Growing support in Germany for protests against immigration http://t.co/1T9SMeshB3
— The WorldPost (@TheWorldPost) January 2, 2015

From BBC
North Korea has described    new sanctions imposed in response to a major cyber-attack against Sony Pictures as part of a hostile and inflammatory US policy.
The US placed sanctions on three North Korean organisations and 10 individuals after the FBI blamed Pyongyang for the cyber-attack.......

From IBTimes
Pro-democracy protests in Bahrain  over the detention of the country's opposition leader, Sheikh Ali Salman Ahmed Salman, have reached the fifth day, as police and demonstrators clash in Sitra and other villages.
Sheikh Salman, head of the Shi'ite al-Wefaq Islamic Society, was arrested on Sunday and charged with seeking to promote "political change using illegal forceful means and threats", according to a government statement.....



From Antiwar:
Iranian General Among 292 Killed in Iraq  At least 292 people were killed today. Almost all of them were militants. More than six people were wounded.
An Iranian general was shot dead near the al-Askari Shrine in Samarra. He was in charge of Iranian forces guarding holy sites in the city. Several others were wounded.
A woman and a girl were killed in Abu Saida during a bombing that also injured three children.
In Mosul, two doctors were executed.
Militants executed two members of the Albu Hardan tribe in Qaim on Saturday, resulting in battles today.
Heavy fighting is reported in Sinjar (Shengal), but Peshmerga forces were able to capture new territories nearby.
A car bomb exploded in Iskandariya.
Continuing mortar attacks in Muqdadiya forced the evacuation of 60 families. Three people were wounded today.
In Yathrib, 180 militants were killed in battles.....

1st bank in #Mosul #Iraq starting to deal with the new #ISIS coins (Gold, silver & copper) via @EjmAlrai pic.twitter.com/Xrqfk78hLl
— Conflict News (@rConflictNews) January 3, 2015

From RT
Airstrikes against Islamic State top $1bn, kill over 1,100 people
US and coalition airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria have killed nearly 1,200 people ‒ including 52 civilians ‒ and wounded at least 800 others at a cost of more than $1 billion since the bombings began in September.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said Thursday that airstrikes in Syria over the last three months have killed 1,046 fighters from the Islamic State – most of whom were non-Syrian fighters.
An additional 72 jihadists from Jabhat al-Nusra, a rival group, were killed in bombing raids against their headquarters in the western countryside of Aleppo and the northern countryside of Idlib.
Of the 52 dead civilians, eight were women and five were children. They died during coalition airstrikes on oil fields and refineries in the al-Hasakah and Der-Ezzor countrysides, as well as al-Raqqa, Menbej – located northeast of Aleppo – and the Idlib countryside.......

“We, in SOHR, believed that the real number of casualties in ISIS is more than our number, because there is absolute secrecy on casualties and due to the difficulty of access to many areas and villages that have witnessed violent clashes and bombardment,” the group said in a Tuesday statement, expressing “strong condemnation” of the civilian deaths as a result of coalition activities.
While casualty figures are impossible to verify, the Britain-based SOHR is considered to be the most reliable resource “in a sea of misinformation” from both sides of the conflict, NPR reported........

From AlJazeera:
Yemen report highlights   turmoil's human cost
Violence claimed 7,000 lives in 2014, with Houthis gaining control of 70 percent of army capabilities, think-tank says.

At least 7,000 people were killed in Yemen in 2014, including at least 1,200 civilians, three times the level of deaths from when the current turmoil began in 2011, according to a Yemeni think-tank's report.
It is now thought that Shia Houthi fighters are controlling about 70 percent of army's capabilities, the Abaad Centre for Strategic Studies says in a report.......

From SaharaReporters:
Mali: Anderaboucane Mayor, Son Killed In Mounting Violence  
Arougdeyni Ag Hamatou, his son, who died hours after the assault, and driver were severely injured in the attack said to have been committed by gunmen on a motorcycle.
The mayor of Mali’s northern town of Anderaboucane has died as a result of gunshot wounds he suffered when gunmen attacked his vehicle on Thursday.....

From Mobile apps:
An Afghan official says  insurgents killed five policemen, including their commander, in the volatile eastern province of Logar, a day after four policemen who were abducted in the same region were found dead.
Din Mohammad Darwesh, spokesman for the provincial governor, says insurgents ambushed the five men early Sunday in Baraki Barak district, where the Taliban launch frequent attacks on government security forces.

From AlJazeera
India army hunts rebels  after Assam massacre
Military helicopters deployed in northeastern state after rebels slaughter 75 people, including children.
India has deployed military helicopters to hunt down tribal fighters in the northeastern state of Assam after rebels killed 75 people this week.
Tuesday's attack was the deadliest in the remote area in years.
A military official said helicopters were scouring the jungles of Assam to track down fighters trying to flee to Bhutan and the neighbouring Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which has thickly forested mountains, reported the Reuters news agency.
About 5,000 additional soldiers have been deployed to Assam in response to this week's attacks, the government said........

From Yahoo:
IS seizes dozens in northern Iraq
The Islamic State jihadist group seized dozens of men from two villages in northern Iraq on Friday while searching for people who burned its flag, officials and residents said.
An intelligence officer said that a total of 170 men were taken from the villages of Al-Shajara and Gharib in Kirkuk province, after two IS flags were burned in the area, an account confirmed by other officials from the province............

From BBC:
Mexico missing students: 10 more police officers held
Mexican authorities investigating the disappearance of 43 student teachers in Guerrero state have arrested a further 10 municipal police officers.
Around 90 people in total, including 58 police officer, have been detained so far.
The students disappeared in September after clashes with police in the city of Iguala.

National prosecutors say police handed them to criminal gangs who murdered them and burnt their bodies.
Parents of the students dispute this, arguing the authorities are hiding what happened to them.
The remains of only one student, Alexander Mora, have been identified so far.....

From TheGuardian:
Boris Johnson has been accused  of using Parliament Square as his “private back garden” in an attempt to crush the fledgling Occupy Democracy movement.
Lawyers have written to London’s mayor threatening legal action after he sanctioned the construction of “unlawful” fences around the square, which campaigners claim are a deliberate attempt to stop them protesting peacefully. Parliament Square is considered to be one of the most important sites in the country for demonstrators and is maintained by Johnson’s Greater London Authority (GLA). Protesters argue that the square was conceived as a place for public meetings, focusing particularly on issues that they believe are being ignored by MPs......

#NOW: African Israelis march against police brutality, harassment (via @activestills) #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/OPbLVKG01G
— +972 Magazine (@972mag) January 4, 2015