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Showing posts from May 10, 2015

US kill senior ISIL leader in eastern Syria

U.S. military conducted an operation on Friday night in eastern Syria to capture an ISIL senior leader known as Abu Sayyaf and his wife Umm Sayyaf, according to a statement from the White House on Saturday.  Sayyaf was killed when he engaged with U.S. forces.  He had a "senior role in overseeing ISIL's illicit oil and gas operations—a key source of revenue that enables the terrorist organization," the White House said in a written statement by NSC Spokesperson Bernadette Meehan. Sayyaf was also involved in ISIL's military activities, Meehan added.  No U.S. personnel were killed or injured during this operation. Sayyaf's wife is currently in U.S. military detention in Iraq, from where the military operation was conducted.  The operation also led to the freeing of a young Yezidi woman who appears to have been held as a slave by the couple, according to the White House.  "We intend to reunite her with her family as soon as feasible," said Meehan. Source  ht

ISIS leader declares ‘Islam was never a religion of peace. Islam is the religion of fighting’ as he calls on Muslims to ‘fight for the Caliphate’ in new audio message

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15 May 2015 Message purportedly from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, not heard from in months Says: ' Islam was never a religion of peace. Islam is the religion of  fighting'     Ancient city of Palmyra, a world heritage site, under threat of destruction given  ISIS  vandalised treasures of Nimrud and Hatra in Iraq Extremists now barely a mile from gates of ancient world cultural centre   The leader of Islamic State has declared 'Islam is the religion of fighting' in a rare audio message which called on all Muslims to 'fight for the caliphate'. Islamic State released the message yesterday claiming it was from its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as the extremist group executed 26 civilians before reaching the gates of an ancient Syrian city amid fears they could destroy it. The audio message posted on militant websites features a voice that sounds like al-Baghdadi's exhorting all Muslims to take up arms and fight on behalf of the group's self-styled caliphate.  In it

Sahara militant Belmoktar rejects member’s allegiance pledge to Islamic State

RABAT –  The notorious extremist Moktar Belmoktar on Friday rejected a pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State group made by a member of his organization, suggesting splits in his operation. Belmoktar, who is known for daring attacks and for kidnapping foreigners, allegedly said the earlier pledge violates the rules and principles of his organization, which is still loyal to al-Qaida. Belmoktar, who is also a former chief of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), is wanted for having allegedly masterminded a siege in January 2013 of an Algerian gas plant in which 38 hostages were killed, including 10 Japanese. The statement was translated by a U.S. monitoring outfit, the SITE Intelligence Group. On Wednesday, an audio pledge to the Islamic State on behalf of Belmoktar’s organization Mourabitoune (The Sentinels) appeared, though it was signed by another member of the group, Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi. There is a competition between the older al-Qaida and the Islamic State group to ga

Unknown hackers attack German parliament's data network

Unknown hackers have attacked the German Bundestag lower house of parliament's computer system, a parliamentary spokeswoman said. German news magazine Der Spiegel's online edition had earlier said that the internal data network had been subject to an attack. It said experts had noticed several days ago that unknown attackers had tried to get into the data network. At almost the same time experts from Germany's domestic intelligence agency (BfV) at the government's cyber defence centre noticed the spying attempt and warned the Bundestag administration, the report said. "There was an attack on the Bundestag's IT system," parliamentary spokeswoman Eva Haacke said, giving no further details. "Experts from the Bundestag and the BSI (the German Federal Office for Information Security) are working on it." In January, German government websites, including Chancellor Angela Merkel's page, were hacked in an attack claimed by a group demanding Berlin en

Photos of Palmyra show why this ancient Syrian city must be saved

The ruins of the ancient city of Palmyra have withstood centuries of conflict in the Syrian desert and are now facing their   greatest threat yet : the Islamic State. Officials at the United Nations and the Syrian government have appealed for help in protecting this historic site with "outstanding universal value" ahead of an ISIS offensive in the city north of Damascus. The city,  UNESCO says , is a "unique relic" of the first century and "a masterpiece of architecture and Roman urbanism" that has influenced centuries of architecture across multiple civilizations and attracted thousands of tourists from all over the globe. ISIS is notorious for destroying historical artifacts — oftentimes "idols" from pre-Islamic cultures — across territory its taken in Syria in Iraq. While Palmyra's already suffered moderate-to-severe damage during Syria's civil war, the World Heritage Property still stands. These photos show why it must be protected. S

Islamic State crisis: Militants seize Ramadi stronghold

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Islamic State militants have seized the main government building in Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's largest province. As many as six suicide car bombs and mortars were used in the assault on the compound that houses the main police HQ and governor's office. At least 50 police officers are reported to have been taken prisoner at the site. IS and Iraqi troops have been battling for months to take control of the strategically important Anbar province. This latest attack comes a day after Islamic State put out an  audio message it claimed was from its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,  who Iraq had said was seriously wounded in a coalition air strike in March. Execution fears IS militants launched their raid on Ramadi overnight, driving suicide car bombs into the compound housing a number of government buildings. At least 10 police officers were killed and dozens of others wounded in the attack, officials said. Fighting continued into Friday and by 14:00 (11:00 GMT) the black flag of IS

Boston bombing: How will Dzhokhar Tsarnaev be executed?

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Tsarnaev may receive a lethal injection inside this death chamber at a federal prison in Indiana A jury has sentenced Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for his role in the bombing of the 2013 Boston Marathon. What happens now as he awaits execution? The 21-year-old Boston bomber will soon be leaving the state of Massachusetts, where he has lived since moving to the US from Russia at the age of eight. He is likely to be moved to a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, to await execution by lethal injection. The punishment was brought back into use for federal crimes in 1988. So far only three out of 74 inmates who have received death sentences in the federal court system have been put to death - all three in Terre Haute. Timothy McVeigh, who orchestrated the bombing of an Oklahoma City federal building, was the last inmate to be put to death within that prison's walls. Tsarnaev's lawyers are expected to appeal the decision, a process which could take many years in court to resolve. D

Close Osama aide sentenced to life in US

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 A close lieutenant of slain  Al Qaeda  leader  Osama bin Laden  was to sentenced to life in prison for multiple terrorism offences relating to his participation in the terror group's conspiracy to kill Americans overseas. Khalid al Fawwaz, 52, a citizen of Saudi Arabia was sentenced in Manhattan federal court at a proceeding attended by victims of the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. His sentence came after a six-week jury trial earlier this year when he convicted of all four counts in which he was charged. He was arrested in England in September 1998 and had challenged his extradition to the US for over a decade. He was brought to New York in October 2012. Manhattan's US Attorney  Preet Bharara  described al Fawwaz as one of bin Laden's "original and most trusted lieutenants" who played a critical role for Al Qaeda in its "murderous conspiracy" against America. "Fawwaz led an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan and a terr

Neo-Nazi groups to protest outside US embassy

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Neo-Nazi groups will hold their third protest in six months outside the US embassy later this month, a memorial for Nazi terrorist David Lane.  Holding publicly advertised events has traditionally been difficult for neo-Nazi organisations. Normally when their events are announced anti-fascists start organising against them, bringing large crowds out to block the routes of their marches, seize their rallying points and on some occasions even to turn over the neo-Nazis. Which is why when none of those things happen neo-Nazis feel they are on to a good thing. The lack of any opposition is the reason neo-Nazis are planning their third protest outside the United States (US) embassy on Grosvenor Square in a six month period. The first two were nearly completely unopposed, the third cannot go unopposed. The first two events were solidarity protests for a neo-Nazi terrorist jailed in the US called  Gary Yarbrough . He was a member of The Order, a violent gang of neo-Nazis responsible for a str

British 'neo-Nazi' who identified with Anders Breivik on trial for preparing terror attack claims he was bullied as a child for ginger hair

Mark Colborne, of Southampton, denies charges of preparing terrorist acts Mark Colborne, 37, claimed he felt “belittled by society” and recorded his hatred against “black and Caucasian idiots” in a journal found after his arrest on 3 June last year, the Old Bailey heard. Mr Colborne, of Southampton, who denied preparing terrorist acts, is alleged to have trawled the internet for poisonous chemicals and explosives in preparation for his attack. In his journals Mr Colborne compared himself to right-wing extremists such as American Timothy McVeigh, Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik and Nazi Heinrich Himmler the court heard. In June 2011 he wrote: “I identify with Heinrich Himmler. He had Jewish blood and was born Aryan. It was a curse to be born Aryan among dark-haired Caucasian fascists.” He later wrote:  "I'm looking for major retribution, a mass terrorist attack which will bring to the attention our pain not just mine but my brothers around the world." The court also hea

Germany faces ‘bigger danger’ from underground neo-Nazis

BERLIN   Underground neo-Nazi group members who remain untraceable are a big threat for Germany, an expert says. In fact, some experts believe that the threat to  Germany  from around 300 neo-Nazis, who are believed to have gone underground recently, is far bigger than from the newly uncovered far-right terrorist group, The Oldschool Society (OSS). Robert Ludecke, an expert at the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, an anti-racist group, told Anadolu Agency Thursday that he doubted OSS members posed a serious threat because although they were typical neo-Nazis, the group openly communicated on social media. “It is hard to say whether they are a serious threat or not. Normally terror groups do not act openly like this on Facebook. They have put their [real] names on Facebook, shared their pictures, almost wrote a diary online,” Ludecke said. “I would say OSS is not the real problem...the bigger danger is those neo-Nazis [who are] submerged, who went underground and cannot be found,” he said. In

Some 1,000 Neo-Nazi Groups Legally Acting in US - Human Rights Ombudsman

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MOSCOW, May 13 (Sputnik) — He stressed that the number of such extremist organizations could increase in the future, warning that the trend could soon become "political mainstream." © Flickr/ Zoriah "Officially, there are almost 1,000 extremist neo-Nazi groups which are legally acting [in the United States]," Dolgov noted, speaking in the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament. In March, the Russian delegation in the United Nations said racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia were still present in many democratic countries. Russia said recent Nazi veterans' parade in Latvia, neo-Nazi marches in Lithuania and Estonia, and the spread of neo-Nazism in Ukraine were indicative of the growth of radical extremist movements on the European continent and beyond. According to the Russian delegation's statement, recent cases of police violence in the US cities of Los Angeles and Madison, with law enforcers shooting African-Americans, testify that racia

Swedish neo-Nazi party crumbles as support falls

AFP/The Local | 12 May 2015, 00:03   A Swedish neo-Nazi party, the Party of the Swedes, has decided to bow out of politics after membership dropped following last year's elections. T he decision was first announced late on Sunday in a lengthy statement on the party's website after a meeting of party officials. "It wouldn't be right vis-a-vis the great champions of the party to let the party wither away," the party's leadership wrote. Founded in 2008, the party only managed to win one seat in its short history: a councillor in 2010 in the small southwestern town of Grästorp, who later had to step down because he lived in a neighbouring municipality. Four years later, despite fielding more candidates and having greater financial resources, the national election of 2014 was a "serious setback" for the party, according to the statement, as it only managed to garner 4,189 votes (0.07 percent) compared with the 10,000 targeted. Although it carefully avoide

Tyler, The Creator Explains Why He Used a Neo-Nazi Symbol With the LGBT Flag on These New Golf Wang T-Shirts

The lookbook for  Tyler, The Creator 's  Golf Wang 's Spring/Summer 2015 collection  dropped yesterday, and there is one piece in the collection that has people talking. One of the T-shirts features a rainbow colored logo with the words "Golf Pride Worldwide" encircling it, which doesn't seem like a big deal at first glance, but the message is actually pretty major. In an  article for his Golf Media app , Tyler explains that he took the logo from a Neo-Nazi group called "White Pride Worldwide" and added the LGBT pride rainbow to flip the imagery on its head. " What if a black guy wore this logo on a shirt? Would he be promoting self hate? Would he be taking the power out of a shape? What if a gay guy wore this on a shirt? Would he [be] promoting Homophobia? Then BAM! I had it." Tyler also addresses the fact that people have called him homophobic his entire career because of his use of the word "faggot." "T rying to take the power

Islamic State Attacks Iraq's Ramadi With 6 Car Bombs, Raises Flag on Government Building

Baghdad:  Islamic State militants raised their black flag over the local government compound in the Iraqi city of Ramadi on Friday after overruning most of the western provincial capital. The insurgents attacked Ramadi overnight using six suicide car bombs to reach the city centre, where the Anbar governorate compound is located, police sources said. Fighting continued on Friday in parts of Ramadi, 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad, and government forces were still in control of a military command centre in the west of the city. If Ramadi were to fall completely to Islamic State it would be a strategic blow to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's government, barely six weeks after the army and Shi'ite militias recaptured the city of Tikrit from Islamic State. The militant group said it had stormed Ramadi's provincial government compound and taken control after "eliminating the apostates" who remained inside. Police said the militants used an armoured bulldozer to remo

For some Colombian kids, classroom is jungle and family is FARC

 -  BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Aurora, who grew up doing back-breaking work on a farm in central Colombia, was 12 years old when she first set foot in a classroom, and the lesson was self-defense against “enemy combatants.” Her hometown was in a stronghold of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the Marxist guerrilla group that has been at war with the Colombian government for half a century. When the rebels recruited her as a pre-teen, she ran away from home, where she had family problems, and was sent to the jungle for training. She studied military tactics and learned to use AK-47 and R-15 rifles. “I was just about 13 when I used a gun for the first time,” she told AFP. “They taught us lessons in a classroom. We learned a lot of stuff, like how to defend ourselves from the enemy.” She spent more than four years in the FARC, until her left leg was blown off in combat when she was 16. Today, Aurora, whose name has been changed to protect her, is a petite, smiling 24-year-old who is stu