TORKHAM STALEMATE CONTINUES – Islamabad released more information about the confrontation that occurred with Taliban border forces last Wednesday. Pakistani authorities released photos of the Taliban security post that was being constructed when hostilities began. The location of the structure was deemed to be within the demarcation zone and Islamabad claims this is a violation of law. Pakistan has since made additional demands for Kabul to once again control the TTP factions operating from within Afghanistan and has begun arresting Afghan refugees in some cities to underscore their intent. Trade between the two countries has been disrupted due to the closure and a protest against the standoff was reported in Nangarhar yesterday.
PRESS FREEDOMS CURTAILED – The Taliban Deputy Prime Minister, Abdul Salam Hanafi warned international press freedom organizations to stop interfering in domestic affairs. He said press freedoms in Afghanistan are subordinate to the Taliban’s framework of governance and must adhere to Sharia law.
9/11 ANNIVERSARY MARKED IN US AND ELSEWHERE – As leaders marked the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, many were quick to say that al-Qaeda is no longer a threat to the United States and has virtually ceased to exist. While it is factual to say that no recent operations can be attributed to the terror network. Long-time observers are more cautious and say the terror group will be difficult to ever fully eradicate and that premature announcements of its demise are risky and can be dangerous. The network’s brand name is one of the most globally recognized and it remains one of the most successful terror organizations throughout all of contemporary history. The network developed complex methods of financing terror operations that are thought to be in place today and due to its success with the 9/11 attacks, it can count on donors that other groups would not normally have access to. It is probably safe to say that current assessments about al-Qaeda’s limited capabilities are correct but prognostications that it will never pose a threat in the future could come back to haunt officials who are currently saying the curtain has fallen.
NEXT 24 HOURS
PAKISTAN DETENTIONS OF AFGHANS TO CONTINUE – Recent reporting indicates that as many as 220 Afghan refugees have been detained across Pakistan. Many are said to have proper identification and were residing in the country legally. The biggest roundups appear to have taken place in Karachi. The impasse with the Taliban over the TTP and other longstanding security issues may continue for some time and it is likely that further arrests of refugees will continue. It is not yet clear whether Islamabad intends to begin large-scale deportation operations and there have not been indications that a plan is in place to do so at this time. However, we recommend that at-risk Afghans in Pakistan continue to maintain a low profile and avoid drawing attention to themselves if at all possible. They are advised to remain in contact with those groups providing support and advise them of any and all changes to conditions on the ground (increased house searches, new security checkpoints, new roving patrols, etc.).
RUMORED BAN ON FOREIGN WIRE TRANSFERS INTO PAKISTAN MAY BE COMING – At least three managers of international wire transfer kiosks in Pakistan have informed Afghan refugees that future transfers that originate from Western countries may not be approved after 1 October. We are attempting to gain clarification from the two main transfer providers (Moneygram and Western Union) if the rumors are true. Neither company has yet confirmed or denied the rumors. Regardless, those who routinely transfer funds to Afghan refugees in Pakistan would be wise to consider alternatives should such a ban be put in place. Again, this information has yet to be confirmed.
[8am] Unknown assailants have reportedly assassinated a former jihadist commander in front of his wife in Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. , according to local sources.
Sources in Nangarhar have informed Hasht-e Subh that the individual in question was known as "Sheikh Muqaddas Bilal," and unidentified button men killed him on Saturday, September 9th, in the seventh district of Jalalabad city.
According to these sources, the former jihadist commander was ambushed while he was inside his personal vehicle with his wife and children. He was a prominent figure in the Rodat district of Nangarhar province.
The motive behind the liquidation remains unclear at this time, and the Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... have not yet commented on the incident.
UPDATE: Al-Shabaab leader arrested at Baidoa airport after a tip-off. Officials say Omar Mohamed Ismail alias “Nor” was trying to board a flight to Mogadishu at the time of his arrest. He was handed over to the relevant security agencies for questioning. https://t.co/mFa6mXOG31
The Southwest regional security forces nabbed a senior al-Shabaab ...... the personification of Somali state failure... commander at Baidoa’s Shaati Gaduud airport after a tip-off from the intelligence service.
Officials say Omar Mohammed Ismail alias "Nor" was trying to board a flight to Mogadishu at the time of his arrest. He was handed over to the relevant security agencies for questioning.
Nor during an interview said he was a Koranic teacher before joining al-Shabaab following a brainwashing by a close relative within the group, which is an ally of al-Qaeda in East Africa.
The detained commander said he came from Jilib town in the Middle Jubba region, which serves as the main al-Shabaab headquarters in southern Somalia, where he was trained.
UPDATE: Mohamed Mohamud, a regional MP and Abdullahi Ibrahim, a local city councillor of Dhusamareb, were killed in a roadside bomb explosion in El Garas town as SNA forces re-captured the town from Al Shabaab. https://t.co/eMi5MWugOO
Over 10 Kenya Defence Forces officers feared dead after a vehicle they were travelling in ran over an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Lamu, Coastal Kenya. pic.twitter.com/es9oc6vq9q
The Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) condemned the attack in the Buure area but did not confirm the number of casualties.
A security official, however, said ten soldiers were killed and four others maimed after their vehicle which was on patrol ran over an improvised bomb along Milimani Baure road.
The official who declined to be named said ten of the personnel on board were killed on the spot and those who sustained injuries are at death's door. "The condition of the injured soldiers is bad," the official said, noting that the earth-shattering kaboom destroyed the vehicle.
In a statement issued Monday in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, the KDF condemned the incident, saying the criminals were determined to disrupt the movement of people and goods in the area and thus destroy socioeconomic stability in the area.
"KDF calls on the residents to share information with security agencies on these criminal elements who lurk in their communities," the military said. Lamu County has been in the spotlight for some years now owing to increased scathing attacks by the holy warriors that have left hordes of security officers and civilians dead.
Security personnel believe there is an active al-Shabaab ...... the personification of Somali state failure... cell in the area given the attack on the KDF came hours after another one left two construction workers with serious injuries on Sept. 9.
[Dawn] A soldier was martyred and six others, including three civilians, were maimed in an improvised bomb (IED) blast on a security forces vehicle in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire... ’s Warsak district on Monday, according to the military’s media affairs wing.
Initially in the morning, Warsak Superintendent of Police (SP) Mohammad Arshad Khan said a Frontier Constabulary (FC) soldier was martyred and eight people, including two civilians, were maimed in the incident. He said a vehicle of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa FC’s Mohmand Rifles regiment was targeted in the attack at around 10:30am.
The vehicle was headed towards Peshawar from Machni when the blast occurred, he added.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) later said in a statement that the martyred soldier, 29-year-old Lance Naik Abdur Rehman, was a resident of Bannu.
"Sanitisation of the area is being carried out in the area to eliminate the Lions of Islam and their controllers," the statement read
[Shafaq News] The Ninawa Criminal Court issued a death sentence ...the barbaric practice of sentencing a murderer to be punished for as long as his/her/its victim is dead... against a senior member of the "Diwan al-Ashair" (Tribes Department) within ISIS terrorist organization.
According to a statement from the Supreme Judicial Council's Media Center, the terrorist was responsible for planting bombs and detonating them against security forces convoys in the al-Ba'aj district of Nineveh province. Additionally, he held several positions within the organization during his tenure and participated with ISIS gangs in the occupation of the city of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... The statement further explained that the terrorist had also assumed a leadership role in battles against the security forces, carrying weapons and wearing the distinctive attire of these criminal gangs. The ruling against him was based on the provisions of Article 4/1, and by reference to Articles 2/1, 3, 5, and 7 of the Counter-Terrorism Law No. 13 of 2005.
[Shafaq News] The Iraqi judiciary issued a death sentence ...the barbaric practice of sentencing a murderer to be punished for as long as his/her/its victim is dead... for members of a gang involved in international drug trafficking.
According to a statement from the Popular Mobilization Forces' media, the gang members were arrested earlier by the General Directorate of Security and Discipline (Investigations and Preventive Security).
The gang is considered, according to the statement, "one of the most prominent international drug trafficking gangs," and after completing the investigations, they were referred to the Iraqi judiciary, which issued a death sentence by hanging until death against them.
The next stage of the judicial overhaul process, with the anti team screaming (and worse) in their Alinsky-inspired, anti-democratic way.
[IsraelTimes] Demonstration held in Jerusalem day before judges mull petitions against reasonableness law, the only piece of legislation passed so far in Netanyahu government’s judicial shakeup
Tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied against government plans to shake up the judicial system outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem Monday, the evening before a highly charged hearing that could set up an unprecedented clash between the courts and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. The protest came as political tensions have flared ahead of Tuesday’s High Court hearing, in which a full panel of 15 judges, a first, will hear petitions against the reasonableness law curbing the top court’s power to exercise judicial review over government decisions and appointments.
Proponents of the coalition’s proposals for weakening the judiciary have warned the justices against invalidating the law, and last week staged a similar yet smaller protest outside the court, with the opposing sides seeking to turn out their backers in demonstrations of support ahead of the hearing.
Continued on Page 49
#1
If the court strikes the law down - why had they protested for 3 months.
If it doesn't - the ethical validity of their protests becomes questionable.
Amendment from Grom JR. If the court doesn't strike the law down, then they will become violent.
[IsraelTimes] At least six people have been killed and dozens maimed in festivities in a Paleostinian refugee camp in southern 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... , first responders say, as fighting rages for a fifth day.
Violence broke out late Thursday in the Ain al-Helweh camp on the outskirts of the coastal city of Sidon, just weeks after similar festivities pitted members of Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase.... ’s Fatah movement against Islamist bad boys.
The toll has risen to at least "six dead, one of them killed on Monday, and more than 60 maimed," says Imad Hallak from the Paleostinian Red Islamic Thingy’s Lebanon branch. The casualties include both fighters and civilians, he adds.
An AFP correspondent in Sidon reports ongoing festivities with automatic gunfire and shelling, after fighting had subsided somewhat overnight.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) says the city’s southern entrance is closed to traffic. The NNA had reported Saturday that three fighters and one civilian had been killed.
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.
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
...... the personification of Somali state failure...
...... the personification of Somali state failure...
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire...
...the barbaric practice of sentencing a murderer to be punished for as long as his/her/its victim is dead...
...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...
