ROADS FROM KABUL TO THE NORTH HAVE ADDED SECURITY – Several local sources have described increased security measures that have been implemented along many of the roadways that lead to the Northern Provinces over the past three days. While some reports say that roads have been closed completely to travel, we have not been able to verify if this is true. We have verified that Taliban security checkpoints along the Northern routes are using biometric systems to screen travelers and are also subjecting people to significant screening questions about their travel. A source close to the Ministry of Defense says the additional screening is an attempt to thwart potential Resistance incursions into Kabul.
HIBATULLAH SPEAKS (MAYBE) – A video message was released on Twitter purporting to be the supreme leader. It was billed as a recent message to the nation but observers have found that it actually contains excerpts from a speech delivered to a group of Taliban judges in February 2023.
PAKISTAN DOUBLES DOWN ON ITS THREAT TO CONDUCT COUNTER-TERRORISM OPERATIONS IN AFGHANISTAN – Recently, Pakistan’s Minister of Defense warned the Taliban leadership that Pakistan’s armed forces would take action against suspected terrorist elements in Afghanistan unless the Taliban can bring them to heel. The Taliban responded with its continued insistence that no terrorist groups operating within the boundaries of Afghanistan.
TALIBAN FM ALLOWED A SEAT AT THE TABLE FOR CONFERENCE IN UZBEKISTAN – After initially rebuffing FM Muttaqi’s requests to join the 4th regional security conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan it appears the 7 nations in attendance relented and allowed him to speak. The representative of Pakistan warned her counterparts that the refugee situation would likely grow and predicted that Western groups were looking for an ‘excuse’ to walk away from the problem. Muttaqi used his time at the podium to hammer the West for the current conditions in the country, press Afghanistan’s neighbors for more economic development, and to recognize the Taliban as a strong central government. The other representatives voiced a consensus that Afghanistan requires an inclusive government and a lifting of restrictive policies on women. Apparently, Uzbekistan invited Muttaqi at the last moment and, as hosts of the conference, allowed him to speak.
CANADA RECEIVES AN ADDITIONAL 350 REFUGEES YESTERDAY – It is believed the latest flight originated from Pakistan and contained mainly refugees who had worked for the Canadian forces and/or government under the previous regime. Canada has vowed to evacuate 40,000 Afghan refugees and is hoping to reach this goal by the end of 2023.
RESISTANCE FORCES PLEDGE UNITY AND COOPERATION – Two of the largest and best-equipped Resistance forces have formed an alliance to cooperate and coordinate in their struggle against the Taliban. The Freedom Front released a document yesterday that pledged full cooperation and unity with the National Resistance Front (NRF). It is rumored that other Resistance groups are considering similar alliances with the NRF. While the Taliban have ridiculed the threat posed by the various Resistance organizations since they rose to power, they have been able to capitalize on the lack of coordination among the groups to mass their military operations against primarily NRF bases in Panjshir and the other Northern Provinces. Should an all-encompassing alliance be struck, the Taliban will face a very different enemy in 2023.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON SWEDISH EMBASSY CLOSURE IN ISLAMABAD – According to a source familiar with the situation, the closure was ordered based on a threat to Swedish diplomatic personnel and facilities by suspected terrorist groups over the burning of the Quran outside of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm in January 2023. It was not immediately apparent which group(s) made the threats.
CONFLICT TRACKER Kabul: Taliban security forces say they engaged militants in the Kart-e Naw neighborhood of Kabul. The Taliban claim to have killed 2 militants in the operation. The security forces spokesman did not say which group may belong to.
NEXT 24 HOURS
TRAVEL TO NORTHERN PROVINCES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED CAREFULLY – With the recent reports of increased security checks along routes from Kabul to Panjshir, Takhar, and other Northern Provinces, we recommend that at-risk Afghans contemplating the journey wait until more information is available on the new checks. While we have not received information of any arrests or violence yet, we feel it is prudent to check with those who have made the trip or who may have knowledge of what kind of information is being collected at the checkpoints.
[Garowe] Somalia's elite Danab Special Forces captured one of the most strategic villages within Galmadug, the military said, in what would tremendously help the military in pursuing the Death Eaters in the remaining parts of the central state which has been home to thousands of terrorists.
According to the military, the elite forces managed to recapture Ali Afrah village which is situated near the recently liberated Gal'ad town within the Galgadud area. It is within Galgadud that the government of Somalia has invested in the fight against al-Shabaab ...... the personification of Somali state failure... , an al-Qaeda-linked group.
Participating in the crackdown were also the Ottoman Turkish-trained Gorgor soldiers whose name is derived from Eagle. The Danab Special Forces [lightning] are trained and equipped by the US Africa Command and are known for engaging in sophisticated operations across the country.
The village is situated almost 18 kilometers from Galcad District which is between Budbud and Towfiq in the volatile Galgaduud region. During the first phase of a crackdown against al-Shabaab, the country managed to eliminate al-Shabaab from several areas of the Hiiraan, Galgaduud, and Bay regions.
Mohammed Moalim Abukar Hassan, alias Sharib, the commander of the 9th unit, 18th battalion of the Gorgor regiment, was among the officers leading the forces. He informed the media that al-Shabaab fighters had fled the village before the government forces arrived, and they encountered no resistance.
According to him, the country will continue with operations against the group will continue until all regions are liberated. President Hassan Sheikh recently launched a crackdown against al-Shabaab with the second phase scheduled to target central and southern regions.
Somalia has reached out to Djibouti, Kenya, and Æthiopia who have pledged to add more soldiers to the country to help in the second phase of operations against the group.
Last week, the forces liberated several villages in Lower Jubba key among them Aw-Qumbale, El-adde, Anjel, and Janay Abadale.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] The Court of Appeal upheld the sentence of a resident of Astrakhan, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison on charges of helping militants of a terrorist organization in Syria.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in June 2022, a military court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Darya Bolgova, a native of Astrakhan, to 11 years in a penal colony, finding her guilty under Part 1 of Article 205.1 (Promoting terrorist activities), Part 2 of Article 205.5 ( Participation in the activities of a terrorist organization) and part 2 of Article 208 (Participation in an armed formation).
According to the investigation and the court, Darya Bolgova joined the militants in Syria in 2013 and from 2013 to 2021 bought food for them, cooked food, ran a subsidiary farm, acted as an interpreter, for which she received a monetary reward. In addition, the court decided that Bolgova persuaded another person to join the group members via the Internet, and from 2015 to 2021 she took part in the activities of the Islamic State terrorist organization. On July 2, 2021, Bolgova was deported from Turkey to Russia.
The Court of Appeal in Moscow upheld the sentence of the native of Astrakhan, and it entered into force, the department of the TFR for the Astrakhan region reported today on its website.
The name of the defendant is not indicated in the publication, but the details of the investigation version, the dates of the crimes and the articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation given in the report are identical to the case of Darya Bolgova.
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04/14/2023 00:00 ||
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] A participant in an attack by militants on the Perm OMON in Chechnya in 2000 was sentenced to life imprisonment.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in August 2022, the court sentenced Maxim Ponaryin, a native of Stavropol Territory, to life imprisonment, recognizing him as one of the participants in the attack on the convoy of the Perm OMON in the Vedensky district in 2000.
Rashid Atuov, a native of Karachay-Cherkessia, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on the same charge. In November 2022, a court in Chechnya added to them 12.5 years in prison, appointing Ponaryin the final sentence of life imprisonment, and Atuov 20 years in prison.
On March 29, 2000, near the village of Dzhani-Vedeno in the Vedensky district of Chechnya, about 200 militants attacked a convoy of employees of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of the Perm Region and military personnel of the local commandant's office. A total of 33 law enforcement and military officers were killed, captured and subsequently killed another 10 police officers of the Perm region. On July 5, 2002, a memorial was opened in Perm in memory of the fallen security officials and military.
The Supreme Court of Chechnya convicted a man accused of participating in the attack on the Perm riot police in 2000 and sentenced him to life imprisonment in a special regime colony, the Prosecutor General's Office announced today.
"The court found that the accused, acting as part of an armed gang under the general leadership of Shamil Basayev and Khattab, in March 2000, during an armed rebellion near the village of Dzhani-Vedeno, Vedeno district of the Chechen Republic, committed an encroachment on the lives of employees of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of the Perm Region and military personnel commandant's office of the Vedeno district," the publication on the department's website says.
The man, whose name is not indicated in the message, was found guilty under Art. 279 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (active participation in an armed rebellion for the purpose of forcibly changing the constitutional order and violating the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation) and Art. 317 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (encroachment on the life of law enforcement officers and a military man).
"The indictment in the criminal case was approved by the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation. […] Previously, the courts of the North Caucasus Federal District sentenced seven more members of the criminal community to long terms of imprisonment for committing this crime," the report says.
[Rudaw] A Dutch court on Thursday sentenced four women to prison sentences for up to three years on charges of being 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) members and complicity in "terrorist crimes" after being repatriated from a camp in northeast Syria last year.
"The women traveled to the battlefields in Syria and Iraq knowing that a war was going on there. They have joined ISIS there. Their husbands had positions with IS," Dutch judges said in a statement by the Rotterdam District Court.
The four were part of a group of five Dutch women and 11 children who were repatriated back to the Netherlands last February from Roj camp in northeast Syria, controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
"The sentences imposed vary from 30 to 36 months in prison, of which 12 to 15 months are suspended," the judges’ statement added.
However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... the court also stated that "the women have explicitly renounced the IS ideology."
Thousands of children of foreign nationals with suspected links to ISIS live in northeast Syria’s al-Hol and Roj camps, with human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... groups calling camp conditions "filthy," "often inhumane," and "life-threatening."
"More and more is known about what the original population of IS area had to endure and there are hardly any words to describe the seriousness of it," the judges said.
Video shows reinstated Tennesee Democrat lawmaker @brotherjones_ attacking drivers at a 2020 riot outside the state capitol. Rep. Justin Jones has become a celebrity to the left after shutting down official proceedings in the House & then being expelled. https://t.co/kbO3J9nmYp
A violent Portland #Antifa member/journalism student was convicted for arson & riot attacks between 2020–21 targeting police & city hall. But like other far-left extremists, Alma Raven-Guido was given a special deal where she won't go to prison. My report:https://t.co/5oDqpuhGH1
[Dawn] Three bad boyz were potted during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... ’s Gishkore area, the army’s media wing said on Thursday.
According to a statement released by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), an IBO was conducted to clear a terrorist hideout linked with firing incidents on security forces and civilians, as well as planting of improvised bombs (IEDs) on Turbat-Hoshab road in general area Gishkore.
"As a result of continuous intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance of the area, a location of turbans was identified and security forces were heli-inserted," the ISPR said.
"While the establishment of blocking positions to cut escape routes was under way, turbans opened fire [on] security forces," the statement said, adding that three bad boyz were potted in the heavy exchange of fire that ensued.
The ISPR said a cache of arms and ammunition, including IEDs, had been recovered during the operation.
"Security forces, in step with the nation, remain determined to thwart such attempts aimed at sabotaging the peace, stability and progress of Balochistan," the statement said.
A day earlier, three bad boyz were potted by security forces during an IBO in the Loesum area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district.
The ISPR had said the slain turbans were "actively involved in multiple terrorist activities against security forces as well as extortion and murders of innocent citizens".
Over the past few months, the law and order situation in the country has worsened, with terrorist groups executing attacks with near impunity across the country.
Since the talks with the Tehrik-e-Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... Pakistain (TTP) broke down in November last year, the turban group intensified its attacks, particularly targeting the police in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and areas bordering Afghanistan. Insurgents in Balochistan have also stepped up their violent mostly peaceful activities and formalised a nexus with the TTP.
According to statistics released by the Pakistain Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based think-tank, January 2023 remained one of the deadliest months since July 2018, as 134 people bit the dust — a 139 per cent spike — and 254 received injuries in at least 44 turban attacks across the country.
Earlier this month, the top civil and military leadership reaffirmed their commitment to thwart terror threats and vowed to re-launch the National Action Plan (NAP) within 15 days to crush gunnies reportedly coming in from Afghanistan.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/14/2023 00:00 ||
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[KhaamaPress] According to officials, a shooting incident early on Wednesday at a station in the Indian border state of Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... resulted in the deaths of four army personnel, and a search for the shooters was in progress.
An unknown number of shooters were on the lam at the Bathinda military station and had ammunition on them, a defence source told Rooters, declining to be named, citing the matter’s sensitivity.
The statement said the incident occurred at 4:35 am (2305 GMT).
The military station, located about 280km (175 miles) north of the capital New Delhi, houses mostly families of soldiers and is a residential army base.
In February, Punjab state witnessed protests by Amritpal Singh, the so-called Khalistani leader, and Waris Punjab De head supporters, which clashed with police.
The Amritpal supporters broke the police barricade and stormed Ajnala Police Station, where three coppers were hurt.
Recently, Punjab police arrested Amritpal Singh’s close aide Pappalpreet Sing from Punjab’s Hoshiarpur.
However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... no group or individual has taken responsibility for the fire incident at the Indian military station.
The Indian police are hunting two masked men responsible for the pre-dawn killing of four soldiers at an army base in Punjab’s Bathinda.
Earlier on Wednesday, four soldiers were shot to death in their sleep in the barracks by two people, one of them thought to be using a rifle that was reported missing from the base two days earlier.
The rifle was located later on Wednesday but the attackers had not been caught, the army said.
State police said it was "not a terror attack".
Not Moslem terror, but still Pakistain-inspired.
A police report quoting an army major who claimed to have witnessed the attack, seen by AFP today, said two faceless myrmidons had entered the highly guarded outpost with their faces covered.
One was carrying a rifle reported missing from the base two days earlier, the report said, and the duo fled towards a forest near the barracks after the attack.
Police were scanning CCTV footage and a search for the suspects was underway, local media reports said.
Punjab has been on edge since authorities launched a manhunt for firebrand ...firebrands are noted more for audio volume and the quantity of spittle generated than for any actual logic in their arguments... Sikh separatist preacher Amritpal Singh last month.
Singh has rallied a huge following in recent months by demanding the creation of Khalistan, a separate Sikh homeland, the struggle for which sparked deadly violence in Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... in the 1980s and 1990s.
He remains on the lam despite a huge dragnet involving thousands of coppers and a statewide internet shutdown that lasted for several days.
INDIAN SOLDIER DIES OF GUNSHOT WOUND AT SAME BASE WHERE 4 OTHERS KILLED
A soldier died of a gunshot wound at a military base in India’s northern border state of Punjab, but it was not related to the killing of four soldiers there hours earlier, the Indian army said on Thursday.
The soldier at Bathinda Military Station on Wednesday evening was thought to have shot himself, a statement from the army said.
"There is no connection whatsoever" to the killing of four soldiers by unknown attackers 12 hours earlier, it added.
"The soldier was on sentry duty with his service weapon. The weapon and cartridge case from the same weapon was found next to the soldier," the statement said.
The soldier, who had returned from leave on April 11, was rushed to a military hospital, where he died of his injuries, it added.
[IsraelTimes] Bedouin woman was arrested last week while carrying scissors near Damascus Gate; Jerusalem man told cops he planned to take knife from his restaurant job to carry out an attack
The Israel Police announced on Thursday that it had foiled two separate attempted terror attacks in Jerusalem’s Old City before and during the Passover holiday.
According to police, two suspects were arrested since the start of April who are accused of planning to carry out stabbing attacks in the capital.
In one incident, police said a woman from the Bedouin town of Rahat was arrested on April 2 on suspicion of planning to stab a group of coppers. Police said the woman, 31, was arrested near Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City after officers saw her walking around with her hand inside her bag, approached her and found she was carrying scissors.
She later confessed that she was planning to use them to stab an officer in the capital, police said.
The woman was arraigned in court on Thursday, and her remand in jug was extended until Monday, when prosecutors intend to file an indictment at the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court.
In a separate incident, police said a 37-year-old resident of the A-Tur neighborhood of East Jerusalem was arrested in recent days in the Old City while wearing a mask.
Police discovered that the man was violating the terms of a legal order to stay out of the Old City, after he was recently caught hanging the flags of a terror organization atop the Temple Mount.
According to police, the suspect confessed during questioning that he had intended to carry out a stabbing attack in Jerusalem using a knife he planned to take from a restaurant in the capital where he works as a cook. The suspect’s remand has been extended through Monday.
[IsraelTimes] Security forces brace for possible attacks as tens of thousands set to attend al-Aqsa prayers, annual events in Iran marked by anti-Israel incitement and cyber attacks
Israeli authorities closed off the airspace near the borders of Lebanon, Syria and Gaza until Sunday afternoon.
Israel has readied its air defenses amid fears of a security flare-up on Friday when Paleostinian worshipers will throng the al-Aqsa Mosque for Ramadan prayers and Iran will commemorate its annual "Quds Day" with anti-Israel activities.
Iron Dome missile defense batteries were on a high state of alert for potential attacks, especially in the north, with several batteries deployed and oriented toward Leb
Continued on Page 49
[IsraelTimes] Dozens chant against Israel and in support of Hamas, the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®, at flashpoint holy site, as over 2,000 officers sent to secure capital during mass prayers
Paleostinians crowded the Temple Mount and al-Aqsa Mosque on Thursday night and extra security forces were headed to Jerusalem as the capital braced for the final Friday prayers of Ramadan, with tensions surrounding the holy site remaining high after festivities last week.
Dozens of Paleostinians at the site late Thursday night chanted against Israel and Jews, and praised snuffies including Hamas military commander Muhammad Deif, Army Radio reported. Some of the Paleostinians threw rocks and glass bottles at police. Border Police officers have been sent to the area but have not entered the Temple Mount.
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Soldiers of government forces are killed in mutual attacks between Turkish-backed #SNA and government forces as #Syria's de-escalation zone witnesses continuous shelling. #Turkeyhttps://t.co/MboMWgRVJS
— NORTH PRESS AGENCY - ENGLISH (@NPA_English) April 13, 2023
Posted by: Fred ||
04/14/2023 00:00 ||
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[NPASYRIA] Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS, formerly al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... Front) arrested on Wednesday 11 turbans of Sham Legion (Faylaq al-Sham), a faction affiliated with the Ottoman Turkish-backed factions of the Syrian National Army (SNA), in southern Idlib, northwest Syria.
In response, Sham Legion condemned the arrest in a statement.
Military sources linked to Sham Legion told North Press that HTS attacked posts of Sham Legion on contact lines with Syrian government forces in Zawiya Mountain in southern Idlib and arrested several of its krazed killers.
HTS arrested 11 turbans of Sham Legion presented in guard posts on contact lines near the town of al-Bara in Zawiya Mountain, the sources added.
The arrest happened due to disagreements over smuggling operations in the region.
The source noted that HTS turbans surrounded the region, pushed out turbans of other factions, and seized their weapons and gear.
They also assaulted several turbans of the Sham Legion affiliated with the National Front for Liberation, a Ottoman Turkish-backed Syrian opposition coalition.
Sham Legion released a statement condemning HTS’ actions and accusing them of assaulting, beating, and arresting its krazed killers, seizing their weapons, and taking control of their posts in southern Idlib.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/14/2023 00:00 ||
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Five years since the 2018 agreement, there are still residents in #Syria’s #Daraa unable to return to their homes because the government's security services seized them, as #Russia that brokered the settlement agreement turns a blind eye.https://t.co/Ow9iYT6MWU
— NORTH PRESS AGENCY - ENGLISH (@NPA_English) April 13, 2023
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04/14/2023 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...... the personification of Somali state failure...
The Court of Appeal upheld the sentence of a resident of Astrakhan, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison on charges of helping militants of a terrorist organization in Syria.
A participant in an attack by militants on the Perm OMON in Chechnya in 2000 was sentenced to life imprisonment.
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
