#2
DarthVader is the real thing, dear Walking Unvaxxed. If you are, too, the whole thing becomes incredibly silly.
I, on the other hand, am purely civilian, though I’m old enough that it’s my basement that holds kids with keyboards... or more often the dining room. I could be mistaken — my memory being distressingly porous — but I’m under the impression that I’m a bit younger than our Mr. Vader.
#3
Well I'm 50 and an Army vet. 11BC2 and served with the 3/502 and 2/502 from the 101st. Pecking away on my keyboard from my own house. I did my bit and still am very capable of doing more if someone really pisses us off.
#7
My comment was that the woman looks like she’s in a vintage episode of Dr Who. I’m not sure that anyone needs a rifle in her regard. If she is still alive, more power to her.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/22/2023 13:23 Comments ||
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#8
No worries TW. You more than make up for it with your charm
Posted by DarthVader
[Garowe] Disturbing reports out of Bosaso, a city in the northeastern Federal Member State of Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... , Somalia, reveal a city under siege. Multiple businesses have been forced to close due to threats from the terrorist group ISIS while political intrigue unfolds at the state level.
Numerous entrepreneurs in Bosaso have shared their experiences with the Garowe Online News Agency . They report receiving threatening phone calls from the bad boy group, demanding extortion money under threat of their businesses being destroyed.
A particularly chilling instance of these threats was a hand grenade attack on the "Mareero Spare Parts" store. This act of terror has amplified an already palpable sense of fear among the city's business community.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shouting match, a new, even louder, voice was to be heard... the National Hospital in Bosaso has reopened after a week-long closure. Reports suggest the hospital was initially shut down after its management refused to accede to extortion demands from ISIS. However, those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... sources now say that the hospital has reopened after negotiating and ultimately paying the demanded extortion money to the terrorist group. In a statement, the hospital confirmed that it continues to serve the public despite the pressure and threats.
One local business owner, the hair salon proprietor, recounted his encounter with the terrorist group to Garowe Online. "They contacted me recently and demanded I pay 300 USD monthly," he said. After bargaining, he reduced the monthly extortion fee to 150 USD.
Simultaneously, political machinations are unfolding in Puntland's capital city, Garowe. The Puntland government has offered no public response to the situation in Bosaso. Instead, attention has been diverted to political matters by President Dani, who is currently in Garowe. There are allegations that the Parliament Speakers is working with the Puntland State House to extend their term illegally. Military vehicles now surround the city, standing guard at the Puntland Parliament headquarters, further heightening tensions.
In April, the Al Macruuf Supermarket was attacked and burned down after its management refused to pay the extortion money demanded by the terrorist group. This incident serves as a stark reminder of the severity of the situation in Bosaso, underscoring the urgent need for a comprehensive response from the Puntland government.
[Garowe] Kenya will modernize the Kenya Defense Forces [KDF] artillery as one of the latest moves to help in degrading the al-Shabaab ...... the personification of Somali state failure... holy warriors, Defence Minister Aden Duale has confirmed, following increased terror attacks along the porous Kenya-Somalia border.
At a security meeting in Garissa, Duale, who served as a politician within the county, said the country will buy sophisticated armored personal carriers which can be able to detect Improvised Explosive Devices [IEDs] just before the earth-shattering kaboom.
At least 22 officers have died in the last 2 weeks in Garissa and Lamu counties, while one suspected Al-Shabaab terrorist was arrested last Thursday on the Garissa - Dadaab road by a multi-agency team. The latest wave of attacks has caused a security scare in the country.
The CS said the government will in the next three months buy sophisticated equipment to help the police and the KDF in the fight against Al-Shabaab and that the government will not be intimidated in any way.
But to further prepare security forces, Duale, who was accompanied by senior security chiefs, said locals will be directly involved in chatting security matters within Kenya. Also to be contacted are traditional elders and religious scholars who hold high influence among members of the Somali community along the border.
Just as Duale held the security meeting, miles away, a fresh al-Shabaab attack in northeastern Kenya was reported, in an area between Ali Gedi and Guba, in Banisa sub-county. The al-Shabaab snuffies targeted a security vehicle escorting public transport vehicle.
Officials said three people were killed including two soldiers as a result of a kaboom from an IED that targeted the security vehicle. Experts say the increased attacks are motivated by the ongoing crackdown against the group in Somalia, forcing some snuffies to cross over the border to carry out retaliatory attacks.
The KDF is intending to move closer to Kenya's border from Somalia upon full exit from the Horn of Africa nation. Kenya is among the Troops Contributing Countries and has been playing a key role in degrading al-Shabaab, a group fighting to topple the fragile UN-backed federal government of Somalia.
MULTI-AGENCY security teams arrest an Al-Shabaab militant, Abdinasir Hassan Hussein at the Garissa-Dadaab road. Hussein is believed to have been distatched by the terror group to plan attacks in Garissa. pic.twitter.com/AyWyDgLFdT
[GOOBJOOG] The Æthiopian Defense Forces have thwarted an al-Shabaab ...... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... attack on their base at Bardhere in Southern Somalia.
According to Somali National Army officials, the Æthiopian forces intercepted two vehicles which were being used by the attackers, foiling the attempted attack.
"The attempted attack was foiled by the vigilant, brave and professional Æthiopian National Defense Forces troops," a senior Somali National Army official said.
The Æthiopian forces, which is part of the Frontline States (Æthiopia, Kenya and Djibouti) serving in the country under the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... and the Somali National Army, have had close collaboration in the fight against al-Shabaab, registering numerous successes against the bad boys.
The collaboration between these two forces demonstrates a united front against turban groups and serves as a powerful deterrent to militia groups seeking to disrupt peace efforts in Somalia.
The frontline states will take part in the second phase of the offensive against the al-Shabaab which is led by the Somali National Army which is taking control of the country’s security as the ATMIS forces begins its drawdown.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2023 00:00 ||
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TWO KENYAN police officers, 1 civilian killed after their vehicle hit an IED in Mandera, Kenya. 4 other officers and a civilian who was in the vehicle injured. The officers were escorting a bus transporting civilians to Mandera from Banisa. The militants who escaped with one gun. pic.twitter.com/PRaFPaExS2
[An Nahar] After a spate of arrests and executions for drug offences, Ibrahim, a dealer in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , is not taking any chances.
"I don't deal with new clients or go to the clients myself," said the 37-year-old, using a pseudonym to protect his identity.
"They have to take on the risk," he told AFP from the Red Sea city of Jeddah, weeks after several of his customers were arrested.
Ibrahim is on the front lines of a war on drugs in Saudi Arabia, which has seen an influx of the addictive amphetamine captagon flooding in from war-torn Syria and Leb ...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... After becoming a major market, Saudi Arabia is hitting back, ending a moratorium on the death penalty for drug cases and launching a zealous crackdown.
The result is at least 20 executions for drug offences since last year, according to an AFP tally, and a sharp rise in arrests.
At least two Saudi security officers have been killed in drug raids, including one last week, according to state media.
"Several of my customers were recently arrested in a private compound," said Ibrahim, who mainly sells captagon and hashish. "This never used to happen before."
Acts of violence committed by drug users prompted the crackdown, a security official told AFP.
They include a recent case in which a drug addict killed his parents by dousing them with fuel and setting them on fire, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the press.
- PARTY PILL -
Across Jeddah, roadside billboards urge citizens to report any illicit drug activities to the authorities.
While alcohol is illegal in the conservative country, it is also believed to be the world's biggest market for captagon, which is used by wealthy Saudis as a party pill and by workers to stay awake during long shifts.
While previous anti-drug campaigns targeted smuggled shipments, mainly from Syria and Lebanon, the latest initiative is zeroing in on dealers and users within the country.
Apparently to provide a deterrent, a nearly three-year moratorium on executions for drug crimes was scrapped last year. Saudi Arabia is one of the world's biggest users of capital punishment, executing 147 people in 2022.
"In the last year to two years, we have seen an uptick in internal arrests and the use of the death penalty (in drug cases)," said Caroline Rose of the New Lines Institute think tank.
The shift from border seizures to arrests of dealers is partly due to "a focus on security issues surrounding captagon and a recognition of just how deep some of these networks go", Rose told AFP.
The campaign is also aimed at keeping drugs out of the hands of Saudi youth, the drivers of an ambitious reform agenda to diversify the oil-dependent economy. Fifty-one percent of the 32.2 million population is under 30.
"Saudi Arabia is carrying out a huge economic project...and the youth are the main pillar of this project," said Sulaiman al-Oqaily, a Saudi political analyst.
- ADDICTION ON THE RISE -
Rampant drug use is taking its toll, with more than 200,000 addicts in Saudi Arabia, according to health ministry figures cited by domestic media.
Growing numbers are seeking addiction treatment, mainly because they fear arrest, said Hamad al-Sheehan of the Rushd Specialized Center in Riyadh.
"After the recent campaign, the numbers have increased at the centre," the director of treatment said from his office, where at least 10 young men were waiting to be seen.
"We currently receive 1,000 people per month instead of only 100 previously."
He said that captagon and other methamphetamine-type drugs are among the most abused in the kingdom. Most of his patients are between 17 and 21 years old and half are women, he said.
If Sheehan's patients fear arrest, the crackdown is working, Oqaily said.
"The message is if you don't fear for yourself, you should fear the government," he said.
Last month, Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef warned drug pushers and smugglers that they will not escape.
"We are still at the beginning of the campaign," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2023 00:00 ||
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[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] A clothing salesman set fire to his body in a protest against abuses by the Saudi-led coalition’s local authorities in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... ’s southern port city of Aden.
According to informed sources in the city, a citizen who owns a clothes stall poured petrol onto his body and set himself on fire in front of the local authorities building in Sheikh Othman in a protest against the confiscation of his goods by the municipality in the area.
Sources indicated the citizen has been taken to the hospital of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) amid reports that he had died.
The sources pointed out that the citizen reached a dead end with the authorities to recover his property.
The citizen does not have the funds in order to pay the royalties and levies imposed by the authorities loyal to the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), one of the sources said, adding that the citizen likely hails from the northern governorates.
The local authorities in Aden exhausted the lives of vendors and stall holders from the northern governorates by carrying out arbitrary campaigns against them and destroying their families’ livelihoods without taking into account the living conditions of citizens.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2023 00:00 ||
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[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... announced on Tuesday a new bloc to represent Hadhramaut province, led by Saad Eddin bin Talib.
Southern media, quoting sources in the Hadhramaut delegation in Riyadh, reported that the Saudi ambassador to the government loyal to the Saudi-led coalition, Muhammad Al Jaber, gave the delegation the green light by announcing a new bloc to represent Hadhramaut.
The media sources pointed out that the Saudi ambassador named bin Talib, a leader affiliated with the Islah Party, as head of the bloc, instead of Faraj al-Bahsani, who was the most prominent candidate by virtue of his membership of the "Presidential Leadership Council".
The sources considered Saudi Arabia’s decision a prelude to the removal of al-Bahsani from the Leadership Council.
The overthrow of al-Bahsani from representing Hadhramaut would end the last influence of the UAE in the oil-rich province.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2023 00:00 ||
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[Rudaw] A German court has handed a woman holding German nationality 111 months behind bars for crimes against humanity during her time with the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS), including enslaving a Yazidi woman, state media reported.
Nadine K.,
...wife of Ibrahim O., more fully Dr. Ibrahim Nahel Othman, mother of one, house-mother for future ISIS wives — or perhaps brothel keeper is a more realistic description — manager of an ISIS weapons stash, and mistress of her husband’s concubine. The ideal ISIS wife, in fact, except that she only spit out one child for the Caliphate and, since it isn’t named, probably a girl child at that...
37, was sentenced to nine years and three months in prison by the Koblenz Higher Regional Court for "aiding and abetting war crimes and genocide." She stood trial after being ’accused of enslaving’ a Yazidi woman during her time with the so-called Islamic State in Syria and Iraq," German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) said.
The accused is believed to have traveled to Syria in December 2014 from Germany alongside her husband to join ISIS, residing in ISIS-occupied territory for a year before moving to djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , Iraq when the terror group captured the city.
"In early 2016, the couple were accused of enslaving a 22-year-old woman from Iraq’s Yazidi minority. The Yazidi woman was kidnapped by IS members in 2014, after the jihadi group attacked her home village in the Iraqi Sinjar region," DW said in January.
Prosecutors said that the couple kept the Yazidi woman as a "household slave" and contributed to ISIS efforts "to wipe out the Yazidi faith."
She was arrested by authorities upon arrival at Germany’s Frankfurt airport in March 2021.
Yazidi activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad hailed the sentencing later on Wednesday, saying that all abusers deserve accountability.
"I am heartened to see Nadine K held to account for the appalling part she played in the Yazidi genocide, and the enslavement and sexual abuse of a Yazidi woman," Murad said in a blurb.
Murad herself was held captive by ISIS and survived the terror group after escaping captivity.
"Germany is showing the world that ISIS can be prosecuted, and I urge other countries to follow its lead," she added.
ISIS swept through vast swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014 and declared a so-called caliphate in a brazen offensive that saw the terror group take control of around a third of Syria’s territory as well as several Iraqi cities, including the second largest northern city of Mosul. It was declared territorially defeated in 2017.
During its brutal reign, the group committed heinous atrocities, such as genocide, sexual slavery, and massacres, against non-Moslems, especially the Yazidi ethnoreligious group. Shiite Moslems were also a target of the jihadists’ terror.
The couple returned to Syria in 2016 and brought the Yazidi woman along, staying in the country until Kurdish-led forces dismantled ISIS’ so-called caliphate in 2019 and arrested the couple, freeing the Yazidi woman in the process.
The Yazidi woman was present and testified at the trial, recognizing the accused.
More than 6,000 Yazidis were kidnapped when ISIS overran the community’s heartland of Sinjar in 2014. Around 2,700 remain missing, with little done to bring solace to the rescued.
The Wednesday ruling marks the third time an ISIS member has been convicted for genocide against the Yazidi community in Iraq and Syria since 2014.
In January, the German parliament recognized the 2014 crimes against the Yazidi community by ISIS as "genocide." Berlin has been an essential member of the US-led global coalition against ISIS.
In September, a German public prosecutor pressed war crimes charges against a German national who married several ISIS members, including one that had allegedly kept a Yazidi woman as a slave.
In 2021, a Bavarian court handed a 10-year prison sentence to a German convert to Islam for leaving a five-year-old Yazidi girl who she and her husband kept as a slave to die of thirst in the sun.
Germany frequently prosecutes those who committed serious crimes abroad, such as crimes against humanity, on the legal principle of "universal jurisdiction," giving Berlin the green light to prosecute international crimes regardless of where they were committed.
[GEO.TV] At least more than 30 people are feared to have drowned in the sea Wednesday as a migrant dinghy carrying 59 people was on its way to Spain's Canary Islands, according to two organizations focused on migrants colonists.
The organizations — Walking Borders and Alarm Phone — said the dinghy was originally carrying 59 people on board.
Helena Maleno, head of Spain's Walking Borders migrants colonists charity wrote on Twitter that 39 people had drowned.
Alarm Phone, which focuses on supporting rescue operations in trans-Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... said on Twitter that 35 people were missing.
Earlier Wednesday, Alarm Phone reported the boat was taking on water and three passengers were dead, adding that "we demand immediate rescue, do not let them down!"
There has been no confirmation from Spain's coastguard or the Moroccan authorities regarding the total number of on board the vessel or how many might be missing.
According to Rooters, the Spanish maritime rescue service said that a child had died and 24 people were rescued from the sinking dinghy in a Moroccan-led rescue operation carried out some 88 miles to the southeast of Gran Canaria island.
The body of one child was recovered by the Spanish maritime rescue service and sent by helicopter to Gran Canaria, a Spanish coastguard source said as Moroccan authorities are asking for their help.
The coastguard later tweeted that a second body had been found by a merchant ship, the Navios Azure, without giving more details.
"The dinghy had been begging for rescue in Spanish waters for more than twelve hours. Among the survivors, 24 people, 22 men, 2 women, are being transferred to Cap Boujdour," Maleno of Walking Borders wrote on Twitter.
The Canary Islands — located off the coast of West Africa — has turned into a central destination for migrations that want to enter the European country Spain.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2023 00:00 ||
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[GEO.TV] Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) President Parvez Elahi has been sent to jail on judicial remand in a money laundering case after the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) presented him before a local court.
The former 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.... chief minister was arrested by FIA officials after finally getting bail in a corruption case.
On Tuesday, an anti-corruption court ordered the authorities to release Elahi, who had been incarcerated for almost three weeks in a case pertaining to illegal recruitments in the Punjab Assembly, on bail against a surety of Rs1 million.
However, facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable... a new case was registered against the PTI president and his son Moonis Elahi on charges of money laundering within hours of the release orders.
As Elahi deliberately avoided submitting the surety bond in hopes of a protective bail in the new case from a high court this morning, he remained at the Camp Jail and was eventually apprehended by the FIA officials from the detention centre.
The ex-Punjab chief minister was taken into custody by the FIA officials, who got his medical examination done from the Services General Hospital in Lahore.
They then presented Elahi before a judicial magistrate after officially arresting him following a medical examination which declared him medically fit.
During the hearing, the prosecution sought a 14-day physical remand of the PTI leader. However, facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable... the judicial magistrate rejected the request and sent Elahi to Camp Jail on judicial remand.
After this, the FIA officials took him to jail.
Elahi and his son Moonis Elahi reportedly invested funds worth billions of rupees in five Panama companies, sources had said while sharing details of the money laundering case. They further said that the duo bought Panama companies via "money laundering."
In order to bring Moonis Elahi back home, the FIA has decided to get issued red warrants against him, the sources added.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2023 00:00 ||
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[GEO.TV] At least 15 human traffickers — including the prime suspect — have been arrested so far during the ongoing countrywide crackdown linked with the migrant boat tragedy off the coast of Greece, authorities told a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday.
Chairing the high-level huddle regarding human smuggling and the recent capsizing of a boat in the Mediterranean near Greece, the premier directed the authorities concerned to bring the responsible for human trafficking to book at the earliest.
Authorities in Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... still have no clear idea how many people were aboard the ill-fated boat when it sank last week — estimates range from 400 to over 700 — but likely hundreds came from Pakistain, and many from Azad Jammu Kashmir ...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it Azad (Free) Kashmir. The remainder they refer to as "Indian Occupied Kashmir". They have fought four wars with India over it, the score currently 4-0 in New Delhi's favor. After 72 years of this nonsense, India cut the Gordian knot in 2019, removing the area's special status, breaking off Ladakh as a separate state, and allowing people from other areas to settle (or in the case of the Pandits, to resettle) there.... (AJK).
The United Nations ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... Human Rights office said in a statement on Sunday that at least 500 people were still missing and that dozens of people were known to have perished. A good number of women and kiddies were among the missing persons in the "horrific tragedy". The ferry boat was carrying up to 750 people that went down 50 nautical miles off Pylos in southern Greece, it further said.
During the meeting, PM Shehbaz expressed resentment over not taking timely action to check human smuggling and taking concrete steps despite the repetition of such incidents.
He directed Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah to supervise the investigation process and formulate recommendations related to the necessary legislation to prevent human trafficking. The prime minister also ordered the investigation committee to submit the report after completing it at the earliest.
The meeting was informed that ten FIRs had been registered after the incident. It was further briefed that 104 people including 12 Paks had been rescued, while 74 bodies had been recovered.
The premier also directed the relevant institutions to be in constant contact with the families of the victims, while the Pak embassy in Greece was further instructed to stay in touch with the Greece authorities regarding the incident.
TWO MORE APPREHENDED
Earlier today, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) apprehended two alleged human traffickers from Gujranwala linked with the migrant boat tragedy off the coast of Libya in February this year.
The development came after the FIA expanded the scope of its investigation into the recent Greece shipwreck incident and formed teams in major cities to bring the human traffickers to justice.
At least three Paks perished in a boat wreck near Libya's Benghazi city, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on February 28.
In another shipwreck incident off Libya's coast on January 31, at least 16 Paks bit the dust. "There were 32 Paks among 80 to 90 people aboard the boat," the foreign office had confirmed.
A spokesperson of the FIA said that the suspected human traffickers had received Rs2.5 million from a citizen named Umair Yahya for transporting him to Europe. Yahya had died in the shipwreck incident.
The arrested human traffickers were identified as Mohsin Javed and Sharafat Ali. The FIA has started the paperwork but haven't done much else against the suspected human traffickers and launched investigations into the incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2023 00:00 ||
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[Rudaw] A landmine explosion in an Erbil town on the border between the Kurdistan Region and Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... claimed the life of a 65-year-old shepherd on Sunday.
Mamand Hamadamin was herding his sheep along the mountainous areas of Haji Omaran before stepping on a landmine which went kaboom! and immediately took his life. He had fallen victim to the area’s mines in the past as well, losing one of his legs in the incident.
Rabar Anwar, media head for the Mine Action Agency’s branch in Erbil, told Rudaw that the body will be sent for examination at the Soran forensics department.
Iraq and the Kurdistan Region suffer from large numbers of landmines that remain scattered across the country to this day due to the Iran-Iraq war, the 1991 Gulf War, the 2003 invasion by the US-led coalition, and the occupation of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) in 2014.
A vast area scattered with landmines needs to be cleared, otherwise it will continue to claim lives and leave civilians with long-term disabilities if not thoroughly cleaned.
The United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in April 2022 that over 519 children had been killed or injured in Iraq in the previous five years from explosive ordnance, adding that landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) remain one of the leading threats to children in the country.
There are around 3,000 minefields in the Kurdistan Region. Around 2,700 people have been killed by landmines and 10,800 others maimed or maimed since the 1990s, according to the Mine Action Agency.
[An Nahar] Israeli forces arrested three people Wednesday in a Paleostinian village which the military said was home to assailants who killed four Jews near a settlement in the occupied West Bank.
The army said Israeli forces detained three "wanted people" in Orif village in the northern West Bank.
The arrests comes after button men targeted Jews near Eli settlement Tuesday, killing four and wounding four others.
Multiple Israeli officials were unable to confirm their nationalities when contacted by AFP, while local media reported all of those killed were Israeli.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War and the territory, excluding east Jerusalem, is now home to around 490,000 Israelis who live in settlements considered illegal under international law.
One of the attackers was shot at the scene by a civilian, while Israeli forces subsequently killed a second assailant who expeditiously departed at a goodly pace.
The military said Wednesday that its forces had entered Orif to "map the homes" of the shooters, a precursor to their demolition.
Israel routinely demolishes the homes of Paleostinians accused of carrying out attacks, arguing that such measures act as a deterrent while critics say it amounts to collective punishment.
The shooting near Eli settlement came a day after Israeli forces launched a raid on the West Bank city of Jenin, in which seven Paleostinians were killed including a holy warrior from Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... The latest casualty was a 15-year-old girl who died of her wounds after being shot by Israeli forces during the incursion, the Paleostinian health ministry said Wednesday.
Separately on Monday, Israeli troops killed a member of Paleostinian holy warrior group Islamic Jihad, near Bethlehem in the West Bank, who the army accused of throwing Molotov cocktails.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2023 00:00 ||
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What's the Hebrew word for "intifada?"
[An Nahar] Hundreds of Israeli settlers on Wednesday stormed into a Paleostinian town in the occupied West Bank, setting fire to dozens of cars and homes to avenge the deaths of four Israelis killed by Paleostinian button men the previous day, residents said.
The settler attack came as the Israeli military deployed additional forces across the occupied West Bank, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to build 1,000 new settler homes in response to the deadly shooting.
The moves threatened to further raise tensions after day days of deadly fighting in the West Bank.
Residents in Turmus Ayya said some 400 settlers marched down the town's main road, setting fire to cars, homes and trees.
Mayor Lafi Adeeb said some 30 houses and 60 cars were partly or totally burned.
"The attacks intensified in the past hour even after the army came," he said. At least eight Paleostinians were hurt during the ensuing festivities, which the army tried to disperse by firing rubber bullets and tear gas. By the midafternoon, he said the situation was calming down.
The settler attack brought back memories of a settler rampage last February in which dozens of cars and homes were torched in the town of Hawara following the killing of a pair of Israeli brothers by a Paleostinian gunman.
Tuesday's shooting in the settlement of Eli came a day after seven Paleostinians were killed in a daylong battle against Israeli troops in the holy warrior stronghold of Jenin. The worsening violence has created a test for Israel's government and prompted calls for a widespread military operation in the West Bank.
As Israel deployed more forces to the area, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had approved plans to build 1,000 new homes in Eli.
"Our answer to terror is to strike it hard and to build our country," Netanyahu said.
The international community opposes settlements on occupied lands sought by the Paleostinians for a future independent state. Netanyahu's far-right government is dominated by settler leaders and supporters.
Israeli media identified the four killed in the shooting as Harel Masood, 21, Ofer Fayerman, 64, and Elisha Anteman, 18, Nahman-Shmuel Mordoff, 17. An Israeli civilian killed one assailant at the scene, while Israeli troops chased and killed the second shooter after he fled.
The army said it was beefing up its troop presence in the West Bank. On Wednesday morning, it said troops arrested three suspects in the Paleostinian village of Urif in connection to the attack and mapped out the homes of the two button men ahead of their likely demolition.
Israel demolishes the homes of Paleostinian attackers as part of a policy it says aims to deter others, but critics say the tactic amounts to collective punishment.
Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", did not officially claim responsibility for the attack, although it identified the two button men — Mohannad Faleh, 26, who was killed by a civilian at the scene and Khaled Sabah, 24, who was killed by the army as he fled — as its members.
In the aftermath of Tuesday's attack, Israeli settlers attacked Paleostinian property in adjacent villages, causing extensive property damage. At least five Paleostinians were maimed in attacks by Israeli settlers, Israel's army radio reported.
Tuesday's shooting followed a massive gunbattle between Paleostinian Death Eaters and Israeli troops in the northern Jenin refugee camp a day earlier. Seven Paleostinians were killed and more than 90 others were maimed in that clash. On Wednesday, the corpse count from the raid rose to seven when 15-year-old Sadeel Naghniyeh succumbed to wounds sustained in the gunbattle, Paleostinian health officials said.
Eight Israeli soldiers were also maimed in the shootout.
Tuesday's deadly shooting was the latest in a long string of violence in the region over the past year and half that shows no sign of relenting. At least 130 Paleostinians and 24 people on the Israeli side have been killed so far this year, according to a tally by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2023 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
SANA reporter: more than 50 citizens of occupied Golan injured in an attack on them by Israeli occupation forces in Masada village. pic.twitter.com/QRQOBFCatv
— SANAEnglishOfficial (@SANAEnOfficial) June 21, 2023
[Jpost] Thousands of Druze Israelis in the Golan Heights clashed with Israel Police on Wednesday as they protested against the construction of wind turbines in the area, according to the Israel Police Spokesperson's Unit.
The protestors attempted to take over a police station, throwing Molotov cocktails and stones at the police officers who responded by opening fire. The police said that some protestors shot at them, injuring several officers.
Two protestors, 22 and 45 years old, were moderately injured by police fire. They were taken to a nearby hospital.
The police officer who shot one of the injured Druze protesters was quoted by Walla as saying that he "felt his life was in real danger." The protestors reportedly ran at the officer while throwing stones and holding something sharp, as per the report.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, the leader of the Druze community in Israel, that he is "concerned" over the "serious" events transpiring in the Golan Heights, in a meeting also attended by Shin Bet director Ronen Bar. In a video statement released following the meeting, the prime minister stressed that Israel is a state where the rule of law reigns supreme, noting that he will "not accepts riot, not in the Golan Heights and not in Judea and Samaria." Netanyahu fully backed officers in their attempts to control the riots.
Israel Police chief Kobi Shabtai reassured that Israel Police and Border Police officers spread across the Golan Heights have his "full support," further condemning any attack on officers by Druze protestors. Shabtai further ordered to continue dialogue with Druze community leaders as a means to calm the protest.
[JPost] Followup The cell has carried out several shooting attacks against settlements throughout the West Bank recently.
The IDF on Wednesday night killed a terror cell in the West Bank using a drone, an unusual move generally reserved for targeting major terrorists or rocket-firing cells in Gaza.
A joint statement by the IDF and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said that intelligence from the domestic security agency had located the terror cell in real-time as it was perpetrating a shooting attack near Jalma in the Menashe region.
According to the statement, this same terror cell has recently carried out a number of shooting attacks throughout Judea and Samaria.
Once the cell was identified, the IDF gave a rapid order to have the drone fire on and kill the cell before they could escape again, as they have after past shootings.
IDF WAS GIVEN GREEN LIGHT TO CONDUCT DRONE STRIKES IN SEPTEMBER
The drone attack came only days after the IDF used a helicopter strike to help rescue ambushed soldiers in Jenin, signaling the defense establishment is taking off the gloves in the West Bank in an unprecedented way - at least in comparison to recent years dating back to Operation Defensive Shield in 2002.
In September 2022, IDF commanders in the West Bank were given the green light to use armed drones to carry out targeted killings of Palestinian terrorists, with the approval of then chief of staff Aviv Kohavi.
According to sources, commanders were then allowed to use the platforms not only as cover and intelligence for forces during operations but also to carry out strikes should armed gunmen be identified as posing imminent threats to their troops.
The order came as Israeli security forces have encountered a significant rise in shooting attacks and massive gunfire during arrest raids, specifically in the northern West Bank cities of Jenin and Nablus.
However, it is only recently that drones, helicopters and other heavier firepower platforms are actually being used in a continuous way.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/22/2023 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
[BenarNews] Indonesian police said Wednesday they had arrested 532 suspects in a nationwide crackdown against human trafficking operations that victimized more than 1,500 people, most of whom were lured with false promises of overseas jobs.
The police task force on human trafficking conducted raids across the country from June 5 to June 19, following hundreds of tip-offs from the public, national police front man Ahmad Ramadhan said. Most of the cases involved women who were recruited as migrant workers or domestic help to work in other countries such as Malaysia and Singapore.
"Of the more than one thousand victims, 711 were adult women and 86 girls. There were also 731 adult men and 44 boys," he told journalists, adding most of them did not have the proper papers or protections required by Indonesian law for overseas workers.
Authorities were still investigating 83 cases, prosecuting 347 cases and had completed one case with a conviction, he said.
During a meeting on Tuesday of senior police officials from across Southeast Asia, Indonesian police chief Sigit Listyo Prabowo described human trafficking as a serious challenge in the region.
He said he hoped that the meeting in Yogyakarta would result in more cooperation and safeguards for Indonesian workers abroad, according to a statement from the police
Indonesia is one of the world’s largest source countries for migrant workers, with an estimated 9 million citizens working abroad in 2017, according to the World Bank. Only about 4.7 million of these workers are officially registered by the labor protection agency, leaving the rest vulnerable to exploitation by illegal syndicates.
Most of the Indonesian migrants colonists are women who work for low wages in sectors such as domestic service, construction and agriculture and manufacturing. They mainly go to Malaysia, Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
In late May, Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo promised to crack down on human trafficking syndicates after a government agency revealed that nearly 2,000 Indonesian workers had died in the past three years due to mistreatment, accidents and illnesses after being sent abroad via illicit means.
Jokowi and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, during talks in Kuala Lumpur this month, "agreed to establish a special bilateral mechanism to resolve problems of Indonesian migrant workers," the Indonesian leader said.
Wahyu Susilo, the executive director of Migrant Care, an NGO that advocates for migrant workers’ rights, welcomed the police’s actions but hoped they would not be short-lived.
He called on the police to expose the national network of the traffickers and their protectors within the security apparatus.
"It would be very helpful if this disclosure could explain or illustrate the national chain of command and investigate the alleged involvement of officials and their backers," Susilo told BenarNews.
Another expert expressed cynicism about recent crackdowns.
The arrests were an attempt to boost the government’s image ahead of the end of its term in 2024, said Trubus Rahardiansyah, a public policy expert at Trisakti University in Jakarta.
"Many people think that this is just for show. They start strong but end weak," he told BenarNews.
Arresting traffickers was not enough to solve the problem, he said. In his view, there should also be strict law enforcement that would deter them from committing crimes again.
"Once they are in prison, they will collude with the police again. Corruption is rampant because of the money involved in human trafficking. It has to stop," Trubus said.
He also urged the government to take preventive measures to address human trafficking, including by forming a special commission involving experts, activists and security officials under the president’s supervision.
"It should include representatives from different fields and operate with openness and responsibility," he said.
"That’s what should be done if the government is serious."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/22/2023 00:08 ||
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Top|| File under: Human Trafficking
#1
strict law enforcement that would deter them from committing crimes again
[BenarNews] The Philippine military defended itself Wednesday against allegations that it killed members of a former Moslem guerrilla group, which had signed a peace deal with Manila in 2014, during a weekend shootout in the south.
Philippine officials say the seven people slain during the clash with government forces in Maguindanao on Sunday were members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters ...a MILF splinter group aligned with the Islamic State... (BIFF), a pro-Islamic State
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/22/2023 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
[BenarNews] A 13-year-old Egyptian member of the Abu Sayyaf ...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder... bad boy group and a sub-leader of the outfit have surrendered to the military in the southern Philippines, the military said Friday. The teenager gave himself up to troops this week in Indanan, a town in the island province of Sulu, officials said. He joined the bad boy group when he was 10, and blamed his mother, a jacket wallah who died in a kaboom in Indanan in 2019, for his introduction into militancy, he told the military. The boy was with the sub-leader who was identified by an alias, as Ellam, 26. The duo turned over two M-16 rifles, a magazine and 20 ammunition during their surrender.
"He is the last juvenile foreign terrorist," the military said in a statement, referring to the teenager.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/22/2023 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf (ISIS)
[Rudaw] Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... on Wednesday morning carried out the death sentence ...the barbaric practice of sentencing a murderer to be punished for as long as his/her/its victim is dead... against a Kurdish prisoner who had spent the past ten years of his life behind bars after being accused of killing a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Hemin Mostafaei from the Kurdish city of Marivan in Iran’s western region (Rojhelat) was arrested in March 2013 for the alleged murder of an IRGC member. He was sentenced to death for "premeditated murder" after his confession was broadcasted on Iran’s state-owned Press TV.
Sources close to Mostafaei’s family claim that the inmate had buckled under the intense physical and psychological torture he was being subjected to and was left with no choice but to take responsibility for the murder, according to human right monitors in Rojhelat.
The death row inmate was transferred to solitary confinement at the Sanandaj central prison on Monday in preparation for his execution. His family members and rights activists gathered in front of the prison to try to cancel the execution but to no avail.
Iran executed at least 576 people last year, a significant increase from 314 in 2021, making it the country with the second highest rate of known executions during 2022, according to the annual report from Amnesia Amnesty International.
This year, after last fall's widespread demonstrations and a crackdown on the drug trade, Iran has carried out an alarming number of executions. Amnesty estimated at least 282 people were executed during the first five months of 2023.
Most of those who are executed in Iran are convicted based on confessions that are condemned by rights groups who say they are often obtained under duress.
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...
...... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] A clothing salesman set fire to his body in a protest against abuses by the Saudi-led coalition’s local authorities in 
...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 
[GEO.TV] At least more than 30 people are feared to have drowned in the sea Wednesday as a migrant dinghy carrying 59 people was on its way to Spain's Canary Islands, according to two organizations focused on 
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
...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 
[BenarNews] Indonesian police said Wednesday they had arrested 532 suspects in a nationwide crackdown against human trafficking operations that victimized more than 1,500 people, most of whom were lured with false promises of overseas jobs.
[BenarNews] A 13-year-old Egyptian member of the 
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
