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Showing posts from February 21, 2016

Operations in Turkeys southeastern Cizre district successfully finished, interior minister Ala says

Interior Minister Efkan Ala announced on Thursday that counterterror operations in Şırnak's Cizre district have ended. Speaking to reporters in Istanbul, Ala said that counterterror operations against the PKK are over in the southeastern district of Şırnak but security forces will continue to monitor some areas for criminal activity. He stressed that there could still be booby traps and landmines in the district but that the state has taken control, successfully completing operations. Since the imposition of a weeks-long curfew in the district, security forces have cleared the region of PKK tunnels and filled ditches previously dug by the PKK, inflicting heavy losses on the terrorist organization. The majority of casualties suffered by the police and the Turkish military were due to roadside bombs and rockets fired at military vehicles. Operations in the southeastern districts of Sur, Cizre and Silopi have rid the are of more than 718 terrorists since mid-December, according t

Europe Feels Urgency to Address Migrant Issue as Pressure,Radicalization Mount

Fear in Europe is spreading as more than 40 suspected jihadists posing as Syrian refugees were caught entering Europe. Nineteen were captured in Turkey, but the rest made it into the EU before being identified. Turkish military officers say they found more than 10 kilograms of explosives and four bomb vests that allegedly could be used in suicide attacks in two bags transported by a party of 34 people from Syria. VOA's Jane Bojadzievski has more Source http://m.voanews.com/a/europe-feels-urgency-address-micgrant-issue-pressure-radicalization-mount/3209827.html

2014 Intercross interview with Peter Singer on “What everyone Needs toKnow about Cyber.”

A  discussion with futurist Peter. W. Singer, author of multiple award winning books on the future of conflict and national security, including the recently published and critically acclaimed  Ghost Fleet. visit this link  and follow the instructions to access the webcast. Ahead of the event, we are re-posting a  2014 Intercross interview  with Peter Singer on “What everyone Needs to Know about Cyber.”  Intercross: Let's start with something that a lot of people seem to confuse, which is the use of terms like  cyber warfare ,  cyber crime, cyber terrorism, and cyber security. We hear them used interchangeably but presumably, the distinctions are important? Peter W. Singer: When it comes to cyberwar, what concerns me is how this term is used to describe activities that do not amount to armed conflict. A major magazine recently had a cover story entitled, “Cyberwar” and the picture on the front was an ominous cloud over a city. If you read the actual article, it talked ab

Colombia rebels: Laying down guns to embrace roles as mothers

MAGDALENA MEDIO VALLEY (Colombia) (AFP) - They have seen bloodshed and death in Colombia's jungles but for some women rebel fighters, the greatest pain was being forced to abandon their children. Wearing green combat fatigues, Rosmira, 29, sits with a group of her sisters-in-arms at a secret mountain camp, where AFP was exceptionally granted access by commanders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). In a half-century-long conflict that has left countless orphans and widows, these are a lesser-known group -- women who chose to become mothers without laying down their arms. Forced night marches have left bags under Rosmira's eyes which she tries to hide with makeup. Trained as a soldier from the age of 11, she has a harrowing gaze. But her voice is surprisingly soft as she tells her story, sitting in the camp in the northwestern region of Magdalena Medio. "When I handed over my daughter, I felt like I had lost half of myself," she said.

Suicide Bomber Kills 11, Wounds 40 In Eastern Afghanistan

ASADABAD, Afghanistan:  A suicide bomber killed an Afghan militia commander and at least 10 others in the eastern province of Kunar near the border with Pakistan on Saturday, officials said. Provincial Governor Wahidullah Kalimzai said the bomber rode up on a motorcycle to the entrance of the government compound in the town of Asadabad and blew himself up. At least another 40 people were also wounded. "Most of victims were civilians and children who were either passing by or playing in the park," he said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the apparent target of the attack, a tribal elder and militia commander named Haji Khan Jan, was among the dead. He had been closely involved in a number of operations against the Taliban in his district last year Source http://m.ndtv.com/world-news/suicide-bomber-kills-at-least-11-in-eastern-afghanistan-1281821

US considers advisory assistance in fight against Boko Haram

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The U.S. Africa Command has asked Washington to send a small group of military advisers to Nigeria to assist its military's fight against the Islamic insurgency Boko Haram, it said in a statement Friday. At the request of the Nigerian government, the U.S. Africa Command's Brig. Gen. Donald Bolduc sent staff in recent months to conduct a preliminary assessment to determine what is needed and what could be recommended in assisting select Nigerian units, the command said. "The types of mission sets envisioned under these proposals would likely involve a platoon-sized element operating in a strictly advise-and-assist capacity, much like the previous operations suspended in Nigeria in 2014," said a statement from Africa Command. "U.S. military forces are not currently, and are not planning to operate in an offensive capacity in the Lake Chad Basin region. Our mission is always to enable African partner nations to lead the fight against v

Terrorists could control our thermostats

The Munich Security Conference is an annual catalog of horrors. But the most ominous discussion last weekend wasn’t about Islamic State terrorism but a new generation of weapons — such as killer robots and malignly programmed “smart” appliances that could be deployed in a future conflict. Behind the main events at the annual discussion of foreign and defense policy was a topic described in one late-night session as “The Future of Warfare: Race with the Machines.” The premise was that we are at the dawn of a new era of conflict in which all wars will be, to some extent, cyber wars, and new weapons will combine radical advances in hardware, software and even biology. Espen Barth Eide, the former foreign minister of Norway, imagined a future weapon that fuses GPS guidance, facial-recognition technology and artificial intelligence and can be programmed like an electronic hit man. Kenneth Roth, the head of Human Rights Watch, noted the advantages of such “killer robots” for militar

Where ISIS Gets Its Bomb Making Materials

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One of the cornerstones of the ISIS's arsenal is undoubtedly the improvised explosive device, or IED. And as the group attempts to hold what territory it has in Iraq and Syria, it has become a staple of the group's defensive and offensive capabilities. The modern IED came of age during the early years of the last Iraq war, as bands of insurgents began attacking US vehicles and patrols with hidden bombs made of unexploded ordnance, industrial supplies and whatever else could be squeezed into a container and made to explode. Countering the low-budget, highly lethal devices became a game of chess for the United States and its allies fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. For every American widget put into the field, the enemy would make a bomb capable of, at the least, undermining it. But with the United States long wars of occupation winding down, groups like the ISIS--who are now fighting opponents with little of the same capabilities the United States once brought to bear--are produ

Syrian women under siege share insights about love, fear and food

Leila Albakry, 24, wakes up every morning to the sound of music and a cup of coffee. Her husband joins her, and for a few precious moments they can pretend that life is normal. But nothing about their life is ordinary. For starters, they live under siege in eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, where food and electricity are scarce and potable water is hard to find. The area is controlled by a coalition of rebel groups, including Jaish al-Islam. Residents are subject to constant shelling by the Syrian government and, more recently, Russian warplanes — all the more reason for Leila and her husband to stay focused. Source http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-02-24/syrian-women-under-siege-share-insights-about-love-fear-and-food

Aid group urges Europe to halt arms to Saudis bombing Yemen

CAIRO (AP) — An international coalition of 100 aid and rights organizations on Friday urged Western countries to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia for its extensive air campaign against Iran-backed Shiite rebels in Yemen. The Control Arms Coalition released a report listing 11 countries — including France, Britain, U.S. and Germany — that it says sold arms such as drones, missiles and bombs worth $25 billion to the kingdom in 2015. The report says the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen amounts to a "gross violations of human rights and possible war crimes." The United Nations says the fighting in Yemen has killed more than 6,000 Yemenis since March 2015, and more than 35,000 have been wounded. The fighting pits the widely recognized Yemeni government, backed by Saudi Arabia, against Shiite Yemeni rebels known as Houthis who overran the capital and other Yemeni cities in 2014. The group's report came ahead of a Geneva meeting of governments that signed the Arms Trade

U.S., allies conduct 30 strikes against Islamic State: statement

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its allies staged 30 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria on Thursday, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement on Friday. In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 14 strikes, including eight near al-Hawl, which hit five tactical units and destroyed seven Islamic State vehicles, a staging area and a mortar position, according to the statement. In Iraq, 16 attacks were carried out, including four near Kisik that destroyed a fighting position, light machine gun, a fighting position and hit two tactical units, the statement said. (Reporting by Clarece Polke; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Source http://news.yahoo.com/u-allies-conduct-30-strikes-against-islamic-state-134354204.html

Afghan Ex-IS Commanders Say Money, Not Ideology Drove Them

Two former Islamic State (IS) commanders who defected recently to authorities in Afghanistan told VOA’s Ashna TV that they joined the extremist group not because of ideology but largely for money. The revelations underline a discrepancy between those who join IS in Syria and Iraq and the fighters in Afghanistan, analysts say. It underscores too, they add, that IS is a complex phenomenon and operates differently from region to region. The two men, former Taliban, said they had no contacts with IS in Syria and do not back the IS idea of spreading a caliphate throughout the world. “I was in the mountains. There was poverty; we were helpless and living with our guns,” Arabistan, one of the commanders told VOA. “There was no work. They [IS] started paying us a monthly salary of 10,000 [Pakistani rupees or approximately $100]. So we joined them.” VOA could not independently verify the accounts of Arabistan and former fellow commander Zaitoon. The men were interviewed in a comfor

Saudi Warplanes Land in Turkey for IS Mission

WASHINGTON —  Four Saudi warplanes landed at Incirlik military base in Turkey on Friday to join the U.S-led Western coalition aerial raids against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria, Turkish officials and news reports say. VOA reporter Tan Cetin was near the Turkish airbase and confirmed the arrival of the Saudi warplanes as they landed in the morning. This came as a U.S.-Russian-brokered cease-fire unfolded in Syria. The cease-fire does not pertain to coalition forces bombing IS and other terrorist targets, and a cessation in the Syrian civil war could lead to a new coalition strategy against IS in Syria and Iraq, analysts say. The Saudi government has not confirmed the arrival of the F-15 jet fighters at the Turkish base. But analysts in the kingdom say Riyadh wants to see how the Syrian cease-fire works out on the ground. “The manifestation of the cease-fire would have a great impact on how Saudi Arabia and its allies go about their Syria policy,” a local analyst in Saudi

Two Powerful Explosions in Mogadishu Kill at Least 10

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At least ten people were killed and more than 30 others were injured in two powerful explosions and gun fire in the Somali capital Friday evening, witnesses said. Witnesses reported a truck filled with explosives was detonated at a security checkpoint near Hotel SYL in Mogadishu at around 7:45 p.m. local time. Somali Security Minister Abdirizak Omar Mohamed told VOA Somali that five members of the national security agency were instantly killed at the checkpoint at the initial impact of the explosion. He said the suicidal driver was also killed. Moments later, three gunmen got out of a car and started firing in an attempt to force their way into Hotel SYL, but security forces blocked them. Mohamed said security forces and guards at the hotel shot and killed the three militants before they reached the hotel. Witnesses confirmed that the Al-Shabab militants were unable to enter the hotel. Mohamed praised the security forces for their quick action. A Somali man injured in a

Gun Extremism: 5 dead, including gunman, in Belfair shooting

BELFAIR, Wash. - Mason County Sheriff's officials say a gunman killed four people in a home in rural Mason County before fatally shooting himself after an hours-long standoff. Mason County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Ryan Spurling says the armed man called 911 Friday morning to say he had shot four people in a private home, local authorities said. The possible victims included the man's wife, two children, and someone else. Officers tried to negotiate with the man for about three hours as he held a gun to his head.  Just before 1 p.m., officers were able to make their way inside the home, where they found the bodies. Mason County Sheriff Casey Salisbury said the gunman shot and killed himself in front of deputies. Officials have not released the identities of the four victims. Officials said there were 11 structures on the property and each one needed to be searched. A 12-year-old girl found at the scene is believed to be related to the shooting victims. She was not seriously in

US, Russia-brokered cease-fire goes into effect across Syria; ISIS and Nusra Front excluded

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Opposition activists on the ground also reported early adherence to the truce. (Source: AP) A cease-fire brokered by the United States and Russia went into effect across Syria on Saturday, marking the biggest international push to reduce violence in the country’s devastating conflict, but the  Islamic State  group and al-Qaida’s branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, were excluded. The cease-fire aims to bring representatives of the Syrian government and the opposition back to the negotiating table in Geneva for talks on a political transition. The U.N.’s envoy, Staffan de Mistura, announced that peace talks would resume on March 7 if the cessation of hostilities “largely holds.” If it does, it would be the first time international negotiations have brought any degree of quiet in Syria’s five-year civil war. But success requires adherence by multiple armed factions — and the truce is made more fragile because it allows fighting to continue against the Islamic State group and Nusra Front, wh