#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli Mucho ado about nothing! If Amazon decides 2open 2nd HQ outside US, #Trump Mafia will bankrupt Amazon b4 u can say "Bezos" "We've got the talent to attract to attract Amazon but we need more housing: Don Pittis ....https://t.co/FtRRAuJ8DK
#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli LOL ..yes, it's true. BBC, CNN all MSN can't distinguish between Arabs n Indians. All Browns look same 2 White-contolled MSM. "Who is Behind “Fake News”? Mainstream Media Use Fake Videos and Images.... https://t.co/9YWL0wVcC1 via @grtvnews
#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli. "...No physician would dream of irresponsibly prescribing narcotics to a family member of an oligarch...." But to the rest, take as many as u want my dear ...and c u at your funeral. https://t.co/ZRA3svb93T
#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli "Will there be a US nuclear sneak attack on North Korea?" Only if the USA wants to go out with a bang and take South Korea and Japan along with it. https://t.co/lTdJMcjZHZ
#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli ".. In a 2016 interview, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said, “We stopped the arrest for low-level marijuana possession.” But that’s simply not true: 96 percent of those arrested in New York were busted for low-level possession...https://t.co/EgbChNPUAx
#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli Sending more US killers to foreign lands = More killing in that land, whether by US serial killers or by local serial killers, is irrelevant. "95 killed, 158 wounded in Afghan car bombing.... https://t.co/8yUYGlZt6F
#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli "Economic Collapse And Dollar Hegemony - How Did it start?.. ".The real revolution began in the 1700s when the French central bank began to take gold bars from its citizens in exchange for pieces of paper with the corresponding .... https://t.co/3DCc7SItUt
#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli "..Facebook employs a security team of 10,000—7,500 of whom “assess potentially violating content”—and that “by the end of 2018 we will more than double” it to over 20,000. Social media companies are intertwined with and often work.. https://t.co/6U7g1rig9K
#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli "Famed Whistleblower Reveals US Missile Miscalculations,,, ".. The reality at that time, in late 1961, turned out to be that they had four ICBMs to our 40 — not several hundred and not 1,000. General Power was wrong by.... https://t.co/2Z4jKzx2RX
#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli Worth a watch. Little further, midway on, check what happens during protest marches in Quebec and Toronto and how Canadian police pretend to be protestors but are actually agent provocateurs. https://t.co/IihyxT0634
#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli Now that most of our planet's vomit-inducing rulers have learnt from the warmonger USA, that war industry does wonders for one's economy, these human killing sprees will continue no end. https://t.co/eL8R442zN4
#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli All those signed this statement will now become Mossad's targets for blackmail, threats, hypnotism n worse. Watch how some will meet "natural" deaths "French Intellectuals’ Statement on Palestinian Child Prisoners.... https://t.co/SJNEZ19ANX via @grtvnews
#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli "..Those killed were travelling in a convoy which had been deployed to support a dawn raid on suspected IS militants in the area.... B4 they cud get there, they were hit. U really think this was a mistake n not safeguarding ISIS? https://t.co/bx0Dneeaca
#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli "..Robert Parry’s Legacy is Truth in Media! At this juncture in our history during which independent media is threatened, Robert Parry lives in our hearts and minds." Michel Chossudovsky, January 29, 2018https://t.co/tq7v30hqxb
#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli Here's my prediction. If Doug Ford can somehow get nominated, he will not only win the PC leadership but go on to win the Ontario premiership. "Doug Ford enters race for leader.... https://t.co/j5u7HUiDPd
#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli 1) ".. alarming statistic from the Vatican’s statistical yearbook of the Church showed a 71-per-cent decline in Canada’s Catholic marriages from 1975 to 2008, more than double the decline of weddings in general.... https://t.co/mHxhliX1x6
#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli Looks like the Kurds' ideology is not unlike ISIS ideology. "Female Kurdish Fighter Kills Turkish Troops in Likely Suicide Bombing in Syria.... https://t.co/UoOjoxAJDe
#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli The far-left r 2 despicable 4words. Disgusting! There's so much hatred in their souls that I fear it will translate in2 violence. https://t.co/xhvoG9IpIZ
#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli "... another two years before most American military troops pulled out of Vietnam, and another four before the war came to an end—after the deaths, he noted, of “three million people, fifty-seven thousand Americans, for nothing...https://t.co/Msc6b2YVPC
The empire is on its death bed and all because the Americans have lost their way...sadly, totally, completely. As far as I am concerned, I knew I was seeing the sunset days of a great country when the ghouls in the US Senate went on and on giving standing ovations to satanic warmonger Netanyahu during his Hitler-like speech to the US lawmakers. That was a purely devastating scene. Very, very, SAD.
Paul R Pillar at ConsortiumNews The battle for Raqqa is now being waged, and the diverse forces that have been helping to extinguish the self-proclaimed caliphate of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) soon must face squarely what becomes of the portion of Syria that ISIS had controlled.
It may be useful to recall an earlier and somewhat similar situation in which the defeat of a common enemy led not to peace and stability but instead to fighting among the victors. This occurred some two decades ago in another land in which, like Syria, the United States struggles to formulate a strategy: Afghanistan.
After the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, the pro-Soviet Najibullah regime hung on for another three years before succumbing to the militias, known collectively as mujahedin, that with foreign backing (including from the United States) had fought the Soviets throughout the 1980s. This mujahedin victory was followed by an accord providing for a power-sharing arrangement, but the agreement never fully took hold.
The warlords who had been allies in fighting against the Soviets and Najibullah fell out among themselves. A new phase of the Afghan civil war ensued, which for the next few years saw fighting, especially in the cities, that was at least as intense as the decade-long combat against the Soviets.
This phase of the war concluded as a new movement of religious radicals, known as the Taliban and supported by Pakistan, swept aside the brawling militias in most of the country and imposed their own version of order in south and central Afghanistan. The Taliban are, of course, today widely considered to be a principal adversary in Afghanistan of the United States and its allies.......
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, ThePhilippines, Egypt, Albania, Serbia, China, Sudan, South Sudan, Bukina Faso, Palestine,Georgia, Chad, Spain, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Nepal, Congo, Uganda, Romania,Mexico, Gambia, Haiti, Cameroon, Chad, Algeria, Venezuela, Thailand, Argentina, Vietnam,Myanmar, Georgia, Burundi, Senegal, Macedonia, Armenia, Dominican Republic
From NYDaily Osama Bin Laden’s son Hamza calls for lone wolf attacks in U.S. in Al Qaeda video Al Qaeda in Afghanistan warned there's a new Bin Laden seeking destruction in the U.S. — Osama's son Hamza. The terrorist's prodigal son, in his mid 20s, told Al Qaeda supporters to carry out lone wolf attacks in Washington, D.C., Paris and Tel-Aviv in a video released Friday. "This is your duty," Hamza Bin Laden said as he called to move the jihadist war from the Middle East to allies of the U.S. and Jewish Americans...........
From IraqBusinessnews Peshmerga ‘Ready’ to Advance on IS Anwya believes this is because the United States and its allies are worried about hitting the peshmerga in its airstrikes. “They don’t want to get confused and hit us,” he claimed. The former US Marine agreed, saying, “If we pass the line we may get hit by airstrikes.” The peshmerga forces’ belief that it is better prepared to fight IS than the Iraqi military, coupled with the Iraqi government preventing them from going on the offensive at present, demonstrates that the two are not exactly on the same page. However, their differences have not hindered either’s success as of late. According to Ali, the peshmerga, the Iraqi armed forces and their allies have had more success in 2015 fighting IS than in the previous year. Media reports noted that IS lost several villages around Mosul in January of this year, for example. Despite this progress, until a decision is reached on when to move forward, the current situation of relatively light combat and a static front line is likely to continue...........
From GeopolitcalMonitor Is Turkey In Over Its Head? Turkey’s war against Islamic State began with bombs being dropped on Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK) forces – a central actor in the ongoing insurgency across parts of Syria (a country that ostensibly no longer exists) and Iraq. The PKK has sought autonomy from Turkey since the mid-1980s, with tens of thousands of Turkish and Kurdish soldiers and civilians being counted as part of the casualties of the roughly 30-year conflict. Attempts to carve out a sovereign Kurdish homeland from Turkey during the 1980s led to the deaths of over 30,000 people, many of whom were ethnic Kurds. As part of Turkey’s new role in its conflict with ISIS, the United States has been granted permission to launch aircraft from the Incirlik airbase located near Adana. The United States already has approximately six fighter aircraft and several hundred military personnel stationed at the base. The battle of Kobane, which lasted from mid-September 2014 until mid-March 2015, brought the fighting to the borders of Turkey. At the end of July 2015, when Turkey entered into the conflict, its attacks against the PKK were the first strikes against the Kurds situated in northern Iraq since the brokering of a peace deal between Turkey and the PKK in 2013. The Kurdish group’s accusations that the Turkish government is plotting terrorist attacks (in collusion with ISIS forces) against ethnic Kurdish communities greatly adds to tensions due to Ankara’s already inimical disposition toward the Kurds............
Cameroon Pledges More Troops Against Boko Haram - Cameroon has pledged to provide 2,450 troops to join the multina... http://t.co/AXeZBydzZg
From Reuters Spate of bombings kill 24 across Baghdad A spate of bombings across Baghdad killed at least 24 people on Saturday, two days after the deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital since Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi took office one year ago. The deadliest attack took place in the Shi'ite district of Habibiya, where 15 people were killed when a car bomb exploded near an open area where cars are displayed for sale. "The investigation, based on footage from a surveillance camera, showed a man parking a white car and sneaking into a nearby tea kiosk. Five minutes later the car exploded," said police officer Murtatha Abid Ali at the scene of Saturday's explosion, which wounded a further 35 people...........
From IntlReporter The War in Donbass. Kiev Deploys Tanks and Rocket Launchers, Recent Developments in Iraq and Palestine Yesterday Donetsk was hit by a record 800 artillery shells. The Telmanovo suburb was hit particularly hard, but the shelling was also very violent in the airport region. At least one local was killed and 2 wounded by the shelling. Meanwhile, Kiev has been continuing to pull its forces to the contact line. These forces include tanks and artillery systems, even multiple rocket launchers. The vice-speaker of the People’s Council Denis Pushilin informed that if Kiev escapes from the Minsk agreement the war will blaze up at any moment and it can touch not only Donbass. However, the vice-commander of Defense Ministry Corps Eduard Basurin didn’t confrim the information about full alert of the DPR’s Army....... from South Front, Global Research: The crew of Russia’s REN TV channel came under fire near Donetsk airport on Wednesday, the channel said on its website. “The Ukrainian military opened fire at the REN TV crew today when our correspondents were working near the Donetsk airport, which is one of the biggest flash points (in Donbass). Shooting has been under way in the village of Oktyabrsky, one kilometer away from Donetsk airport, for days,” REN TV said on its website. It is still unknown .........
From NDtv Multiple Blasts Rock Kabul, Firing on Near Airport A series of blasts rattled Kabul in Afghanistan late on Friday. The first of the evening was a suicide attack near the entrance of the Kabul Police Academy, killing 20 cadets, officials said. Two other blasts were reported from the near Kabul airport. Gunfire continued after the attack and NATO jets were heard flying overhead. "The attacker was wearing police uniform. When he detonated his explosives, 20 cadets were killed and 20 more were wounded," said a senior Afghan intelligence official. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid claimed that his outfit was behind the attack on the police academy. The suicide bombing comes less than 24 hours after a truck bomb tore through central Kabul, killing 15 civilians and wounding 240 others, in the first major attack in the Afghan capital since the announcement of Taliban leader Mullah Omar's death........
Afghan president, after seeking to befriend Pakistan, says recent Kabul attacks show Pakistan still exporting terror: http://t.co/lbPPum0ZBG
From CBC 9 dead, 4 rescued in Mali hotel attack 3 of the Islamic militants who stormed hotel also killed in attack that occurred far from militant strongholds Mali's special forces early Saturday rescued four people who hid in a hotel for nearly 24 hours after Islamic extremists stormed the building and launched a rare attack far from their northern strongholds that killed nine people, officials said. Three attackers were also killed in the fighting. The four rescued UN employees are two South Africans, a Russian and a Ukrainian, said Radhia Achouri, the spokeswoman for the UN mission in Mali. "Our contractors survived because at no time was their presence discovered by the terrorists in the hotel," she said adding there was not much resistance Saturday morning during the rescue. The four will soon go to Bamako, the capital, she said. Additional UN personnel may still be missing, said a UN official not authorized to speak to the press on the matter. Some personnel could not be reached, and some of the attackers left Sevare after the initial attacks Friday morning, the official said............
From AP Deadly attacks surge as Iran's foreign minister visits Syria Iran's foreign minister, who negotiated his country's nuclear deal with world powers, discussed ways of ending Syria's civil war with President Bashar Assad in Damascus on Wednesday, as attacks surged around the Syrian capital, killing at least 36 people and wounding dozens. Stepped-up rebel shelling and government airstrikes came just a few hours before Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in Damascus, where he discussed a four-point proposal Iran wants to offer to the United Nations as a way out of Syria's grinding conflict. That plan, according to a Lebanese politician familiar with the proposal, includes a cease-fire and a power-sharing government that would keep Assad in the picture, at least for now, pending internationally supervised elections. The politician, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to divulge details of the plan, said it shows the Iranians were "not ready" to withdraw their support for Assad........
Houthis withdrew from Shabwa. Some public and private properties were looted by southern Hirak activists. #Yemenpic.twitter.com/x7elxdtttX
From BBC Rwanda peacekeeper kills four colleagues in CAR A Rwandan soldier serving as a peacekeeper in the Central African Republic (CAR) has shot dead four colleagues before killing himself, the Rwandan Defence Ministry has said. Eight others were wounded in the attack, a statement said. A Rwandan military spokesman called the incident "deplorable". Those dead served under the UN's mission in CAR, deployed to support the country's fragile transitional government. The country descended into sectarian violence in 2013 when the predominantly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power, prompting reprisals from Christian militia. ........
Boko Haram has been 'decapitated': Chadian leader: N'Djamena (AFP) - Chad's President Idriss Deby declared Tue... http://t.co/TWoCqXGJ4L
From StarTribune Libyan officials: IS affiliate in Sirte battles local revolt, shells residential areas Libya's Islamic State affiliate is battling a rival Islamist group in the central city of Sirte, killing one of its senior clerics and besieging and shelling a residential area housing its supporters, officials and witnesses said Thursday.
The clashes have killed between 13 and 49 people, with officials giving different casualty counts. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters. The IS affiliate last week called on residents of a northern Sirte neighborhood working in the police, the judiciary and the financial sector to pledge allegiance to the group or face death, local journalist Ezzeldin Ahmed said. In response, a group of ultraconservative Muslim clerics in the area refused to pledge allegiance to IS and urged residents to rise up against it. One of the clerics was found dead Monday, setting off the clashes, he said. Libya has slid into chaos since the 2011 overthrow and killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. It is now divided between an elected parliament and government in the east, and an Islamist militia-backed government based in Tripoli. The Islamic State affiliate gained a foothold in Sirte in March, and has fought with rival militant groups and forces loyal to both governments.........
From Wowonaija Insurgency'' Military, Boko Haram currently in gun battle in Maiduguri Nigerian troops and Boko Haram members are currently engaged in a gun battle in Kayamula village, Jere LGA, which is a few meters from Maiduguri, Borno state. Residents were thrown into panic but the military assured them of their safety and appealed to them to remain indoors. This gun battle comes hours after a suspected Boko Haram member attacked a market in Sabon Gari in Damboa local government area, killing 50 people. ........
From AP IS affiliate claims responsibility for Saudi police bombing An allegedly new Islamic State affiliate in Saudi Arabia claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a mosque inside a police compound in the country's southwest on Thursday that killed at least 15 people, most of them members and recruits of the kingdom's special forces. It was the deadliest attack against Saudi security personnel in years and one that is likely to pull the kingdom deeper into the regional war with IS extremists. The blast took place in an Interior Ministry compound in the city of Abha, the provincial capital of Asir, which lies along the border with war-torn Yemen. The troops killed were members of an elite counter-terrorism force. The attack was stunning in its timing and target, coming just weeks after the Saudi Interior Ministry announced the arrest of more than 400 suspects in an anti-terrorism sweep. In April, they announced the arrest of more than 90 suspects........ The kingdom had for years quietly allowed thousands of Saudis to leave the country to join militant groups fighting in Iraq and Syria, until the late King Abdullah last year decreed that fighting abroad was illegal. At the same time, Saudi Arabia joined a U.S.-led coalition carrying out airstrikes in Syria and Iraq against the Islamic State group. The kingdom is also leading a coalition targeting Yemen's Iran-allied Shiite rebels who have carried out a number of cross-border attacks against Saudi military targets. It has also sheltered Yemen's exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi whose loyalists at home are battling Iran-backed Shiite rebels known as Houthis. Hours after Thursday's bombing in Abha, a previously unheard of IS affiliate, which calls itself Hijaz Province of the Islamic State, claimed responsibility for the attack. The group issued a statement saying..........
Go to the 26-min mark of the vid below to hear Max Blumenthal talk about the 51 day war and the atrocious war crimes committed in Gaza on the Palestinians by the Israeli govt.
From Reuters More than 200 feared dead in sinking of migrant boat Hopes faded of finding more survivors on Thursday from a shipwreck in which 200 migrants are feared drowned, as rescue ships were called to the aid of more migrant boats in the same area of the Mediterranean.
"We are witnessing a genocide caused by European selfishness," said Palermo mayor Leoluca Orlando as the Irish navy ship LE Niamh docked in the port carrying some 370 survivors of Wednesday's disaster and 25 corpses, including three children. Orlando, speaking on Italian television as hearses arrived to take the bodies away, called on European leaders to do more to prevent such disasters and to allow more refugees to re-settle in their countries. After the survivors disembarked, some were escorted back on board to see if they could identify the dead children......
From NYTimes Afghan War’s Convenient Myth: A Living Mullah Omar The Taliban, it turns out, had been sending the world messages from a dead man. And the world kept answering him. It continued until last month, when the Taliban issued a statement in the name of their supreme leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, intended to “elucidate some issues about the previous and present ongoing jihadi struggle.” In it, Mullah Omar seemed open to the idea of peace negotiations, raising hopes in Kabul. The reclusive Mullah Omar, of course, had not been seen in public in nearly 14 years, and some of his commanders, having last heard from him around 2008 or 2009, had been demanding proof of life. Mullah Omar, according to the Afghan spy service and some Taliban officials, had already been dead for more than two years — as many Afghan officials strongly suspected. Still, President Ashraf Ghani, who had gone all out for months to open talks with the Taliban, said before news cameras that he was encouraged by Mullah Omar’s latest words, characterizing him as having said that “negotiation is the solution.”..........
From Sputnik US-led airstrikes targeting the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria have killed more than 450 civilians over the past year, a new report said, even though the coalition has acknowledged only two non-combatant deaths. More than 5,700 air strikes have been launched in the campaign, which will mark its first anniversary on Saturday. According to a new report by Airwars, a nonprofit team of independent journalists aimed at tracking airstrikes, 52 attacks caused at least 459 non-combatant deaths, including those of more than 100 children.
From ConflictNews The UAE Just Effectively Invaded Yemen Around 3000 troops just landed in Aden largely under the world media’s radar Over the last week, the entire momentum of the war in Yemen has shifted. While previously pro-government forces and the so-called Popular Resistance were trapped within the port city of Aden, now they are pushing the Houthis back in all directions. First they managed to secure the port facilities, then the entire residential region of the city, and then finally the Aden International Airport......... ....Given the huge numbers of vehicles involved, and it would seem that these must almost certainly be regular Emirati troops. Indeed this has been effectively confirmed by comments from coalition officials who have said that 3000 troops, made up of UAE regulars and foreign-trained Yemenis had made landfall in Aden. Effectively, an entire foreign armoured division has invaded Yemen, however it is politically convenient for the Saudi-led coalition (of which the UAE is a large partner) not to talk much about it......
Bandar is another name for "monkey" in some of the Asian dialects. This particular monkey was/is a lapdog of US elites
Source: Crown Prince Mohammad bin Nayaf stated to Ali Mamlouk that Bandar bin Sultan was responsible for the turmoil between Saudis & Assad
From BusinessInsider US military official: 'We were outraged' when Turkey pulled a fast one right after the anti-ISIS deal An American military source told Fox News that US military leaders were "outraged" when Turkey began launching airstrikes against the Kurdish PKK in northern Iraq just hours after striking a deal with the US opposing the Islamic State, the militant group also known as ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh. A Turkish officer entered the allied headquarters in the air war against ISIS and "announced that the strike would begin in 10 minutes and he needed all allied jets flying above Iraq to move south of Mosul immediately," the source said. "We were outraged." The US special forces stationed in northern Iraq advising and training Kurdish peshmerga fighters had virtually no warning before Turkish jets started striking the mountains, where the PKK is headquartered. "We had no idea who the Turkish fighters were, their call signs, what frequencies they were using, their altitude or what they were squawking [to identify the jets on radar]," the source said. Turkish military leaders.......
From Guardian Islamic State claims responsibility for twin attacks killing at least 58 in Iraq Two explosions in Diyala province come in same region of an attack, also claimed by the terror group, which killed 115 last month At least 58 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded in two blasts in eastern Iraq in a province once considered mostly free of such dangers. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack. In January, Iraqi officials declared victory over the insurgents in Diyala province, which borders Iran, after security forces and Shi’ite paramilitaries drove them out of towns and villages. But the militants have remained active. The explosion took place on Monday at a market in Huwaidar, about 2.5 miles north of the provincial capital of Baquba, police and medical sources said. “The attacker managed to pass a checkpoint by lining up with a wedding motorcade and then split off with his explosives packed vehicle to blow it up in a crowded marketplace,” said the Diyala police captain, Mohammed al-Tamimi. ........
From DailyTimes Suicide attack kills 29 in northern Afghanistan * Attack took place in Khanabad district of northern Kunduz province when a group of militias were holding a security meeting * Taliban spokesman claims responsibility A suicide bomber blew himself up at a gathering of Afghan local militia forces loyal to the government late on Saturday, killing at least 25 militia members and four civilians, a local government official said. The attack took place in the Khanabad district of northern Kunduz province when a group of militias were holding a security meeting. Several Afghan civilians and militias were also wounded in the attack. “At least 29 people, including 25 members of a militia group supporting local government and four civilians, were killed in a suicide attack that took place in Khanabad district of Kunduz. Several civilians and militias were wounded,” said Khanabad District Governor Hayatullah Amiri. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, saying they killed 31 militias and wounded 26.........
From Sputnik OSCE Shamed for Not Reporting Kiev’s Atrocities in Donbass Hundreds of people gathered outside the OSCE office in Donetsk, demanding unbiased monitoring of the humanitarian situation in the region. “Your silence is killing children”, read one of the many posters held by the protesters. Several OSCE representatives came out to meet the protesters but refrained from making any comments. “If only the OSCE had monitored the situation more objectively, we would have had peace here a long time ago… The OSCE monitors are telling us nothing, saying only that they will make protocols, nothing else,” Donetsk News Agency quoted one of the protesters as saying.
From Dawn Yemen president’s loyalists retake provincial capital Forces loyal to exiled Yemeni president recaptured a southern provincial capital from Houthi rebels and their allies on Sunday as well as a coastal town, as they pressed an advance from second city Aden. Zinjibar, capital of Abyan province, had been held by troops of the renegade 15th Brigade which remains loyal to ousted strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh who is allied with the Houthi rebels. Troops entered Zinjibar, some 50 kilometres east of Aden, after overrunning the brigade’s barracks with support from Saudi-led coalition air strikes, military sources said. They deployed tanks to secure the city and then also retook the coastal town of Shaqra with “little resistance” from rebel forces, a military source said. .........
From Sky Dozens Killed In Truck Blast At Baghdad Market A refrigerated lorry packed with explosives blows up inside one of the largest wholesale food markets in Iraq's capital. Islamic State says it was responsible for carrying out a massive truck bombing in a crowded Baghdad market has killed dozens of people. Reports say at least 76 people died and at least 200 people were wounded in the early morning explosion at Jameela market in the predominantly Shia Sadr City neighbourhood............
From RT US ex-intelligence chief on ISIS rise: It was 'a willful Washington decision' The US didn’t interfere with the rise of anti-government jihadist groups in Syria that finally degenerated into Islamic State, claims the former head of America’s Defense Intelligence Agency, backing a secret 2012 memo predicting their rise. An interview with retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), given to Al Jazeera’s Mehdi Hasan, confirms earlier suspicions that Washington was monitoring jihadist groups emerging as opposition in Syria.........
From ArmyTimes Army names 3 units for Iraq, Afghanistan deployments About 2,550 soldiers with 10th Mountain Division will deploy in the next few months as part of Iraq and Afghanistan troop rotations, the Army announced Wednesday. The largest contingent will come from the division's Fort Drum, New York-based 1st Brigade Combat Team, which will send about 1,250 soldiers to Iraq to support Operation Inherent Resolve — a deployment first announced in March that's expected to last nine months. The brigade last deployed to Afghanistan for nine months in 2013. Another 300 troops from 10th Mountain's headquarters at Fort Drum will deploy to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom Sentinel, the Army announced, along with about 1,000 troops from the division's 3rd BCT, based at Fort Polk, Louisiana...........
From CBS U.N.: More women, children casualties of Afghan violence The United Nations said on Wednesday that an increasing number of women and children were getting hurt or killed in Afghanistan's war against the Taliban and other insurgents. The total number of casualties in the almost 14-year conflict was up one percent in the first half of this year, compared to the same period last year, a new U.N. report said. However, the number of women casualties rose by 23 percent and children 13 percent........
From the interview one can surmise that Karzai will hold Pakistan's powerful intelligence apparatus, which includes Pakistan's army, fully responsible, IF there is any trouble in Afghanistan which is ISIS-related.
BTW, our wonderful warmongering government of PM Stephen Harper has signed a Defence cooperation strategy
with Pakistan. Sadly, a former peacekeeping country like Canada has
fallen into a demonic hole under a PM who looks like an angel but is a
devil in disguise. I would be able to understand if a mutually
beneficial business deal had been signed that did not have to do with armaments (as I am
sure this one with the "Defence" will entail) ... but
no, nothing that spells PEACE can be accomplished under the warmongering Harper. Ugh!!!
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, Haiti, Cameroon, Chad, Algeria, Venezuela, Thailand, Argentina, Vietnam, Myanmar, Georgia, Burundi, Senegal, Macedonia
From Guardian Why did the Taliban go to Tehran? In the fight against Isis, the Taliban has softened its approach toward Iran and Shia groups, says veteran Afghan journalist Reports of an official Taliban delegation’s clandestine visit to Iran this week raised eyebrows in both Kabul and Tehran: why would Iran, a Shia powerhouse involved in proxy wars with several Sunni states and sectarian groups in the Middle East, host a radical Sunni militant group on its soil? The two erstwhile foes once came to the brink of a full-blown war against each other. However, when it comes to regional politicking the two have found much in common, including their fear of the spread of the Islamic State influence in the region. In 1998, Tehran deployed more than 70,000 forces along the Afghan border in a clear show of military might and threatened to invade Afghanistan and avenge the deaths of at least eight Iranian diplomats at the hands of Taliban in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif that year. Iranian generals predicted they would topple the Taliban regime within 24 hours, but the situation was defused when the United Nations interfered...........
From MacedoniaOnline The gang pretending to be NGOs and trained to overthrow Governments and stage coups around the world is paying $1,500 for ideas how to better organize demonstrations, reported Vecer.
That gang is Soros' Open Society Institute, USAid (Front for the CIA) and the Forum Group (another Soros financed "NGO"). This very group has already backed and financed not just the Macedonian opposition SDSM, but their activists & protests, dating back to 2009. The document (shown above) was sent to Macedonian students asking for their best ideas in an effort to overthrow a Government. Cash is offrered for the best ideas. The document has two headers, the first is that this is a "School for Active Citizens" and the second below is a "Call for Action". Serbian based Canvas led by Srgja Popovic who specializes in demonstrations has been hired both by Soros and the CIA to "help" overthrow a Macedonian Government that enjoys the support of nearly 75% of the populaiton. Canvas itself has gained quite the notoriety. Namely, the UAE has listed Canvas in the same ranks as Al-Qaeda, it is the only non-muslim terrorist organization listed by the Emirates! Canvas and Srgja Popovic were hired by the CIA and were instrumental in bringing chaos to Ukraine (look at Ukraine today) and in removing Egypt's Hosni Mubarak from power. Canvas members have managed to get themselves permanently banned from ever entering Russia, but they seem to be welcomed in the Macedonian capital. Soros Open Society Institute and the CIA via its fronts (PNAC, NED, USAid) have hired Canvas to do Kiev v2.0 in Macedonia. Canvas activists got themselves busy instantly. Realizing the Government enjoys massive support of the populace, it first started offering cash to students to bring others to protest. Failing to gain traction the money started flowing in all directions where through the USAID, OSI and Forum cash wsa offered just for decent ideas to overthrow a popular Government. These ideas were sent to Sonja Ismail, daughter of Guner Ismail, a popular SDSM member and former official. Several years ago Sonja Ismail was the focus of investigation for illegally owning three state apartments through her father that she rented out for years, earning her over 300,000 euros. ...........
The 7th most populous country in the world gets a Muslim president. Will the country remain turned towards the West or pivot elsewhere? 40% of Nigeria's population is either Christian or non-Muslim. From Guardian President Buhari’s to-do list: Boko Haram, democracy and the 'petrocalypse' Amidst a fuel crisis and an ongoing islamist insurgency Daily Maverick chart the most pressing concerns for Nigeria’s new administration In the vast expanse of Abuja’s Eagle Square, Muhammadu Buhari became Nigeria’s head of state on Friday. There is little doubt that most Nigerians are glad to see the back of his controversial predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, whose most significant act in office was to concede defeat in the March election. This means that Buhari assumed office on a tide of national goodwill – but also under pressure from stratospheric expectations, and burdened with lofty campaign promises. The new president has plenty of work to do, and these are the issues that will be top of his overflowing inbox:....
From ChristianPost Boko Haram Hacks to Death Dozens, Including Scores of Christians; Continues Forcing Young Girls to Carry Out Suicide Bombings Boko Haram has killed dozens of people, including many Christians, in a slew of separate attacks carried out in raids on villages in Nigeria in the past week. The U.N. has said that the Islamic terror group continues forcing women and young girls to carry out its suicide bombings. Morning Star News reported that Boko Haram's raids in Adamawa state have killed at least 29 people, most of whom are believed to have been Christians. Last week the jihadists hacked to death 10 Christains with machetes in Pambula-Kwamda, a Christian community in Adamawa's Madagali Local government Area. "They destroyed the telephone mast first before invading our community — this was to prevent us from telephoning and requesting help," said one pastor from the community who did not wish to be named. "They killed 10 members of our church [Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, or EYN] using machetes and then slaughtering them." Although the Nigerian army has successfully pushed out Boko Haram from a number of its hideouts in the past several months, the terror group continues carrying out deadly raids..........
For those of you who do not know what Israel is currently doing to Palestine. pic.twitter.com/1QrHZeRJaw
From NYTimes Taliban and Afghan Peace Officials Have Secret Talks in China A peace envoy from Afghanistan met in western China last week with former Taliban officials with close ties to Pakistan’s intelligence agency, in an attempt to keep open the possibility of formal Afghan peace talks, officials said on Monday. The meeting, hosted by China and, in part, organized by Pakistani officials, took place on May 19 and 20 in Urumqi, capital of the western region of Xinjiang, which has mountainous borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan and is home to many Muslims. The main representative of the Afghan government was Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, who was, at the time, a key member of the country’s Peace Council, the group charged with exploring talks with the insurgency, and since then has been nominated by President Ashraf Ghani as defense minister. On the other side of the table were three figures from the old Taliban government in Afghanistan, according to current and former officials with knowledge of the discussions who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity because of diplomatic sensitivities............
From TheTimes Libya fights jihadis with DIY weapons Libya’s battered army has been forced to fashion arms out of scraps from the Second World War to fight the country’s insurgency, leading it to call for a UN weapons embargo to be lifted. In six warehouses in the east of the country, soldiers convert weapons that date from the 1940s into usable arms to fight militias and jihadists. However, after a year-long war, they said that they were running out of scrap to make the DIY arms and fear the consequences for their neighbours across the Mediterranean. “We are fighting the biggest battle in North Africa — it’s as important.......
From AlMonitor Libya PM escapes assassination attempt Libya's Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani escaped unharmed when would-be assassins opened fire on his car on Tuesday, the spokesman for his internationally recognised government said. "The prime minister's car was hit by bullets when armed men opened fire as it was leaving an area where a session of parliament was held" in the eastern city of Tobruk, said Hatem el-Ouraybi. "The prime minister was not hurt, but one of his bodyguards was wounded," he told AFP on the phone......
USA trained, armed, funded jihadis from the past/present/always
Laurent Brayard, journalist, French citizen writing at UkraineWar ...........I accuse you, the French Government together with all, or almost all, journalists in our country, of participating in a monstrous lie, from which people are dying in the Donbass: this—the myth of Russian Army aggression in Ukraine. I was in Donbass, I drove in there through two checkpoints Novoshakhtinsk and Matveyev Kurgan. If there were 50,000 Russian soldiers over there, as alleged by pro-Ukrainian activists such as the immoral Nathalie Pasternak, whose hands are now stained with blood; if there really were entire divisions, I would certainly have seen hundreds of tanks, trucks, service and supply units. Yet I did not notice any accumulation of Russian troops on the border, hiding whom would be extremely difficult in a region where the landscape consists mainly of Cossack steppe. During the trip, I saw neither soldiers nor regiments nor brigades nor divisions nor the army of the Russian Federation. Everywhere I went, in the cities through which I passed, such as the Cossack city of Antrasit with 54,000 residents, south of Lugansk, I did not encounter any Russian troops. I was able to interview the locals I encountered, and all of them, including those who do not support Novorossiya (and I did come across such people), said that there is no Russian Army in the Donbass. I myself was able personally to confirm this, as throughout the trip I met only republican army soldiers, dressed and armed very diversely.
Later, I will talk about what exactly I saw and heard in the Donbass. For the French Government it would be enough to send a single diplomat, only as an observer, so that they could............
Novorussian mom/grandma curses the Kiev government for bombing of her son's residence which killed members of her family, which govt let me remind you, is supported by Canada, USA, UK, Australia and the EU.
From AlJazeera Syrians in Yemen: 'Back to square one' Syrian refugees in war-torn Yemen have been catapulted into the same type of conflict they were fleeing. Sanaa, Yemen - Hussar Huwais moved swiftly between cars, selling wreaths of white jasmine. As the traffic lights turned green at this intersection in the Hadda neighbourhood of Yemen's capital, Sanaa, Huwais scurried back towards the pavement. These few crucial minutes at the crossing presented a chance to earn a few dollars to sustain his family for another day. After selling his small plot of land in Hama, Syria, two years ago, Huwais fled to Yemen. Leaving behind their war-torn country, Huwais and his family said Sanaa initially felt like a safe haven. "Enough of Arabs killing each other. Young people who never used weapons are fighting and dying innocently. They are paying a bigger price for the war," said Huwais, who is in his early 40s..........
From CTVNews UNICEF reports 'alarming spike' in Boko Haram female suicide bombers Children are now being seen as potential threats after an "alarming spike" in suicide bombings by girls and women used by Boko Haram militants in northeastern Nigeria, the U.N. children's agency said Tuesday. The number of reported suicide attacks has jumped to 27 in the first five months of this year compared to 26 for all of last year, it said. Tuesday's report came as Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno state visited the site of the latest Boko Haram attack and surveyed the damage: 37 people killed Sunday, 400 buildings razed including mosques, and 22 vehicles and dozens of motorcycles torched.........
From AntiWar ISIS Gains Ground Against Tripoli Govt in Libya Western Officials Express Alarm as Forces Retreat ISIS forces are making a new round of gains along the western Libyan coast, seizing more territory in Sirte and moving westward toward Misrata, the base of operations for the current Tripoli government. Western officials are expressing alarm at the sudden shift, with officials from the Misrata militia insisting they had no choice but to retreat in the face of recent offensives by ISIS. Concern of falling morale among their forces is adding to fears that ISIS will be able to expand greatly in this area. The Misrata militia, now known as Libya Dawn, was one of the major powers during the Libyan Civil War, and retained autonomy in the city after the ouster of Gadhafi. They’ve since expanded, and now control Tripoli and much of the rest of the country’s west, while the Western-backed government is operating out of Tobruk, near the Egypt border, and controls only a portion of the east. The rest of the country is mostly held by various militias, with ISIS taking much of the central coast. ISIS in Libya was actually a totally separate Islamist militia faction which pledged loyalty to the Syria-based leadership last year. Since then, they’ve gained advisers and training from parent ISIS, and a much higher profile that has allowed them to recruit more easily...........
#ISIS Wilayat #Sinai claims responsibility for the bombing of an #Egypt - #Jordan gas pipeline in al-Arish
Sinai attacks kill Egyptian policeman, wound 8 An Egyptian policeman was killed and eight wounded in three roadside bombings on Wednesday in the Sinai Peninsula where an Islamic State-linked group is spearheading an insurgency against security forces. Jihadists have killed scores of police and soldiers in attacks in the peninsula since the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. Wednesday's attacks targeted police vehicles near a police station in North Sinai's provincial capital of El-Arish, security officials said. One explosion killed a policeman, and a total of eight were wounded in the three separate attacks..........
From Independent Turkish President Erdogan threatens editor over photos 'showing weapons being sent to Syria' Istanbul's prosecutor's office is investigating a newspaper editor, after the publication he heads published images of truckloads of ammunition being transported from Turkey to Syria. The Cumhuriyet newspaper has suggested that the images, published on 29 May but allegedly dating from 19 January 2014, prove that a Turkish intelligence mission was carrying arms to rebels in bordering war-torn Syria. Can Dundar, chief editor of the Cumhuriyet daily newspaper, is now being investigated over allegations he breached anti-terrorism laws, the Anadolu Agency reported. .......... Meanwhile, in Canada.
Is there no end to the failures of American foreign policy blunders? The dying Empire's failures are also a reflection on the foreign policy failures of Canada, UK, Australia and other nations who are under the mistaken belief that their welfare and future depends on always jumping as high as possible when the puppet master Empire mumbles "jump."
Just for a moment here, reflect on how different today's world would have been if after the 9/11 attacks, the Empire had opted to bomb and invade the country actually responsible for the attacks .... Saudi Arabia. After a fair and sincere reflection, ask yourself if you were brainwashed at that time by the Bush/Chenney administration and whether it's time for you to free yourself from those kind of strangleholds and stand by your own intelligence instead of being a slave to other people's agenda and motives. Azam Ahmed writing at NYTimes: Taliban Justice Gains Favor as Official Afghan Courts Fail Matiullah Khan and Muhammad Aywaz were each dug in, their property dispute in southern Afghanistan at an impasse.
Despite paying more than $1,000 apiece in lawyers’ fees, they found no resolution in the government’s judicial system. The tribal courts, informal networks of elders that most rural Afghans rely on, had also come up short.
So the two men did what a growing number of Afghans do these days when there is no other recourse: They turned to the Taliban. Within a few days, their problem was resolved — no bribes or fees necessary.
“He would have kept my house for himself if it wasn’t for the Taliban,” said Mr. Khan, a resident of Kandahar City who accused Mr. Aywaz of commandeering his home. “They were quick and fair.”
Frustrated by Western-inspired legal codes and a government court system widely seen as corrupt, many Afghans think that the militants’ quick and tradition-rooted rulings are their best hope for justice. In the Pakistani cities of Quetta and Chaman, havens for exiled Taliban figures, local residents describe long lines of Afghans waiting to see judges.
“You won’t find the same number of people in the Afghan courts as you do in the Taliban courts,” said Hajji Khudai Noor, a Kandahar resident who recently settled a land dispute through the Taliban in Quetta. “There are hundreds of people waiting for justice there.”
Western officials have long considered a fair and respected justice system to be central to quelling the insurgency, in an acknowledgment that the Taliban’s appeal had long been rooted in its use of traditional rural justice codes. But after the official end of the international military mission and more than a billion dollars in development aid to build up Afghanistan’s court system, it stands largely discredited and ridiculed by everyday Afghans. A common refrain, even in Kabul, is that to settle a dispute over your farm in court, you must first sell your chickens, your cows and your wife.
Countless training programs funded by Western allies for lawyers and judges have become bywords for waste. Laws suited to Western-style democracies have populated the books.
“The problem is we spent money on what we wanted to see, as opposed to thinking about what Afghans wanted to see,” said Noah Coburn, a political anthropologist at Bennington College.
Recognizing that informal tribal law would remain the choice for most Afghans, the United States in recent years began spending money to support local councils and connect them more publicly with the government. But a review by an independent monitoring organization found that instead of bolstering the government’s image, the effort mostly reinforced the primacy of the informal courts — of which Taliban justice could be considered a radical extension, wielding a mix of Pashtun tradition and extreme interpretations of Islamic law. ....
but try telling that to the suicidal Empire whose politicians are in the pay of armament manufacturers. 405 drone strikes in Pakistan have killed over 2000 people and almost half of those were civilians and approximately 200 were children.
For Pakistan, the chickens have come home to roost. The sins of the Pakistani government's love affair with the Afghanistani Taliban is what led to the massacre of Pakistani children. The whole of Pakistan knows it.
Pakistan gave solace to the Taliban when they were fleeing America's wrath after 9/11. Pakistan's govt of that time, welcomed thousands of the hardcore islamists fleeing with their families and turned a blind eye when those Afghan immigrants starting forming their own groups of terror cells inside Pakistan to help their brothers in Afghanistan against the USA and allies. This is what happens when you give asylum to those fleeing from war in their own countries. The accepting nations have no clue to the terror-related virus that is being brought into the country by the asylum seekers. End result = innocent lives lost to terrorism only because of government corruption, bad decisions and greed for personal wealth.
Countries involved in either 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.....
How many of us had even the tiniest of thoughts that in this supposedly modern and enlightened age we would be looking at a nuclear war, and looking at it in our lifetime?????? Vid posted Dec 14
Over and besides the terrorism attack by the Taliban on innocent children in Pakistan, here's what the hateful are doing in Afghanistan. From Stripes: Taliban mount assault on Kunar border district, Afghan officials say Taliban insurgents launched a massive attack against local security forces in eastern Kunar province and Afghan army units have been deployed to repulse the assault, officials said Tuesday. Fighting broke out Sunday in Dangam district near the Pakistani border when fighters allied with the Pakistan-based Tehreek-e-Taliban attempted to infiltrate Afghanistan, Kunar province’s police chief, Abdul Habib Saidkhail, said. “About 2,000 insurgents are involved in the fight,” Saidkhail said in a telephone interview. Since Sunday, hundreds of local Afghan volunteers have poured into Dangam to shore up the district’s defenses, he added....... From Syria360: Kobani – The terrorist attacks by the Daesh / ISIS mercenaries attempting to occupy Kobani continued yesterday on the 91st day. On all the fronts of Kobani, our forces are leading frequent operations against the terrorists who are on the defensive position. Yesterday overnight clashes took place between our forces and the terrorist groups on the southern front of the city. Our forces were able to capture 2 firearms and a number of military equipment on this front, however the information on the casualty numbers for these battles were not immediately verified..... .....People’s Defense Units YPG / Women’s Defense Units YPJ ......The Syrian army started fresh military operations in Aleppo city in a bid to complete its siege of the city which is now under the control of the Takfiri terrorists. The army units made major advances in Aleppo countryside and killed at least 26 militants at the start of their operations...... From AlAkhbar: New Islamist coalition formed in Eastern Libya ahead of pro-gov't assault Islamist militias in the eastern Libyan town of Derna say they have formed a new coalition ahead of an assault by pro-government forces. "Everybody saw what happened in Benghazi: disaster; institutions destroyed; houses demolished; mosques and universities burned by the criminal hands of Haftar's supporters," said the newly formed Mujahideen Shura Council. Forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar and Abdullah al-Thani, Libya's internationally recognized prime minister, are fighting to wrest full control of Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi from Islamist militants......... From IBTimes: Yemen: 15 school children among 25 killed in Radaa car bombs At least 25 people were killed when two car bombs exploded in the Yemeni city of Radaa, an al-Qaeda stronghold. The first bomb exploded close to a school bus that was passing a checkpoint in the city, killing 15 school children, Reuters news agency reported. A second car bomb exploded near to the house of an official rumoured to support the Houthi movement, killing a further 10 people. From FaceIraq: At least 12 people have been killed as Islamic State (IS) militants carried out two suicide-car bombs attacks in the western Iraqi province of Anbar where the extremists are gaining further ground, Al Jazeera reported Saturday..... From BBCnews: Yemen kills 'al-Qaeda militants disguised as veiled women' Several suspected al-Qaeda militants, disguised as fully veiled women, have reportedly been shot dead by Yemeni security forces near the Saudi border. The militants were killed after one of them opened fire on a soldier who was checking their vehicle, officials say. One report quoting a Yemeni official said three militants were killed - while another put the number at five. The Yemeni offshoot of al-Qaeda has exploited recent instability to seize parts of the country's south and east......... From Antiwar: US Stops Paying Northern Syrian Rebel Salaries Vetted Rebels Join al-Qaeda as US Funds Dry Up “Vetted, moderate” rebels in northern Syria are joining al-Qaeda left and right these days, according to commanders familiar with the situation, as the US has suddenly and without explanation stopped paying them salaries..... From Reuters: Somali al Shabaab militants behead two policewomen Al Shabaab militants have beheaded two Somali policewomen, prompting a policeman to kill five women linked to the group who were being held for a possible swap of captives, an official said on Wednesday. The policeman killed the women - all wives of rebels from the Somali Islamist group - after discovering the dead bodies of his policewoman wife and her colleague, Tayeglow district commissioner Mohamed Abdallah told Reuters. "We wanted to negotiate the release of the Somali policewomen but unfortunately they were beheaded," he said. The policewomen's bodies were found in the morning after they were abducted from their houses by rebels overnight.....
