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Showing posts from November 17, 2019

Turkey says PKK/YPG in an in-house fight for influence

The  PKK  and its Syrian offshoot, the YPG, are in a dispute over which group will have the most influence, according to Interior Minister  Süleyman Soylu , “There is a conflict between the  Qandil  and Ferhat Abdi Şahin,” Soylu told Hürriyet Daily News on Nov. 21.  Qandil is the name of the mountain in northern Iraq where the PKK has its main headquarters and training camps, and Ferhat Abdi Şahin, codenamed Mazlum Kobane, is now the leader of the YPG who is based in eastern Syria.  The YPG was formed in northern Syria upon the instructions of the imprisoned leader of the PKK, Abdullah Öcalan, to expand and coordinate the PKK’s activities in Turkey’s southern neighboring country. Turkey had designated the YPG as the PKK’s offshoot in Syria and has been actively fighting against it since mid-2016 in Syrian territories. “My observations in the past three years tell me about an internal conflict between Qandil over the status of Öcalan. The Qandil prefers Selahattin Demirtaş (as the lead

US teen shooter built ‘ghost gun’ from parts

LOS ANGELES: A 16-year-old boy who opened fire at his  Southern California high school, killing two classmates and wounding three others before shooting himself in the head, used a “ghost gun” built from parts, the local sheriff said on Thursday.  Nathaniel Tennosuke Berhow pulled the .45-caliber  semi-automatic pistol  from his backpack on November 14, his birthday, and shot students at Saugus High School in  Los Angeles  seemingly at random before turning the gun on himself. He died of his wounds the next day.  “When we did a search of the house, we encountered what’s called a kit gun. The weapon used in the homicide was also a kit gun,” Los Angeles county sheriff Alex Villanueva said. “It was assembled from parts, had no serial number. So it becomes what’s known as a ‘ghost gun’”. Kit guns are sold legally at gun shows and online and are sometimes called “80% guns” because they are purchased roughly 80% assembled, he said.  The sheriff said that despite conducting 45 interviews and

Turkey 'neutralizes' 5 PKK terrorists in N. Iraq

ANKARA The Turkish military neutralized five PKK terrorists amid air-backed operations in northern Iraq, Turkey's Ministry of National Defense said on Saturday. One terrorist in the Sinat-Haftanin region of northern Iraq was neutralized as part of Operation Claw-3, along with four more neutralized in the Zap region, the ministry said on Twitter. It added: "Our operations are going to continue without pause." Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" in statements to imply terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured. On May 27, Turkey launched Operation Claw against the PKK in the Hakurk region of northern Iraq, followed by its second and third phases in July and late August. More than 400 PKK terrorists were “neutralized” in northern Iraq over the past four months, according to the ministry. In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and t

Pakistan aims to spread unrest through Kartarpur Corridor, says PoK activist

Glasglow [Scotland], Nov 23 (ANI): PoK activist  Amjad Mirza , who lives in exile in Glasgow, has said that Pakistan has a devious agenda behind the opening of Kartarpur corridor. He affirmed that Pakistani generals had grown desperate after losing the plot along the Kashmir border and wanted an alternate route to hamper peace and harmony in India, hence the corridor.   "Why has Pakistan taken this decision now? Why have they done it after 73 years? They have done it so because the gateway to Kashmir where they were spreading terrorism is closed now. This has resulted in the Pakistani army, the real ruler of the country, losing confidence among the common people. Through this corridor, they will now use the Khalistani extremists to hamper peace and harmony in Punjab." said Mirza.   The corridor which was inaugurated earlier this month, allows people from India to visit Sikh shrine  Kartarpur Gurdwara  without a visa. Pakistani leadership with Prime Minister  Imran Khan  at t

Important for Pakistan to implement FATF recommendations to counter terror financing: US

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The implementation of the FATF recommendations, besides taking action against terrorist networks, would help the US revise its travel advisory against Pakistan. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan (File Photo| AFP) WASHINGTON: It is important for Pakistan to fully implement the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to counter terror financing, a top American diplomat has said. The implementation of the FATF recommendations, besides taking action against terrorist networks, would help the US revise its travel advisory against Pakistan, the diplomat said in response to a question. "We want to see improvements in Pakistan's security situation so that we can reflect that in a travel advisory," Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice Well said at an event at the Wilson Center think tank on Thursday. "Some of the steps that, I think, are very important are Pakistan's implementation, full implementation of the

Yemeni forces reject UN claim about decrease in Saudi strikes

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The spokesman for the Yemeni armed forces has rejected a statement made by the UN’s Yemen envoy that Saudi airstrikes in the impoverished country are now down 80 percent.  “The remarks come as the Saudis have carried out more than 12 airstrikes in the last two days,” Brigadier General Yahya Saree said on Friday. His remarks came after United Nations Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths claimed earlier Friday that Saudi airstrikes in Yemen had dramatically decreased.  "In recent weeks, there have been entire 48-hour periods without airstrikes for the first time since the conflict began," Griffiths said. "There were almost 80% fewer airstrikes nationwide than in the two weeks prior,” Griffiths told the UN Security Council by video conference from his office in Amman. The Saudi airstrikes continue even as Yemen’s voluntary bid to cease missile and drone strikes against the kingdom has held for two months, according to Griffiths.   In September, president of the Suprem

Man attacked in Norway for burning Quran during rally

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A video has surfaced wherein a man is seen attacking another who has a burning book in his hand, thereafter the mob is seen going into a frenzy and police intervening to stop the skirmish. The crowd from behind the barricades can he heard hooting. This footage had been shot in the city of Kristiansand in Norway where a leader of a group, which has been holding rallies against the Islamification of Norway, was attacked initially by a Muslim man then subsequently by a mob for defying the police orders against burning the Quran. - Ad -   - article resumes -  According to  reports , Lars Thorsen, the leader of an organisation named  Stop Islamization of Norway  (SIAN) burnt a copy of the Quran while two copies of the religious text (The Holy Quran) were thrown in a trash can during the rally. The rally had been approved by local authorities, but police had warned SIAN against desecrating the Quran after the group said it planned to do so. The action infuriated counter-prot

‘Ghost guns’ are untraceable, easy to make, more prevalent

For a few hundred dollars, tools and some elbow grease, you can make your own rifle or handgun. It’s all perfectly legal — and it can be done without leaving anything behind for the government to trace. These “ghost guns” have long been popular among hobbyists or gun enthusiasts. But gun control advocates say they are increasingly popping up in crimes, used by people who are prohibited from buying a firearm and are trying to circumvent a background check. “Whatever the hobbyists think about it, criminals are taking advantage of this,” said Nick Suplina, managing director for law and policy at Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control group funded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “These firearms directly undercut federal and state law designed to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them,” he added. Last week,  a teenager used a homemade handgun  to fatally shoot two classmates and wound three others at a school in suburban Los Angeles, authori

3 Cops Dead, 7 Others Injured In Colombia Police Station Attack: City Government

The attack in Santander de Quilichao was not related to ongoing protests against President Ivan Duque, said city secretary Jaime Asprilla. Three officers were killed and seven other people injured after an attack on a police station in troubled southwestern Colombia on Friday, a local official told AFP. "It was an attack on the police station with cylinders placed on a ramp that sadly leaves us three dead and seven wounded at the moment," city secretary Jaime Asprilla said, adding that the attack in Santander de Quilichao was not related to ongoing protests against President Ivan Duque. Source:  https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/3-cops-dead-7-others-injured-in-colombia-police-station-attack-city-government-2137281

Syria war: At least 16 killed in ‘beyond sadistic’ missile attack on camp for displaced people

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The Syrian regime bombarded a camp hosting displaced people and a maternity hospital in the country’s northwest on Wednesday, killing at least 16 people, the vast majority of whom were women and children. Dozens were injured and at least eight children and two women were thought to have been among those killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Large parts of the camp were burnt and several fire brigades were called to the scene, with rescuers warning on Thursday that the death toll was expected to rise as more people succumbed to severe burn injuries. The regime fired at least two ground-to-ground missiles, which caused “significant damage to the camp as well as the burning of tents of displaced people”, SOHR reported. The attack raised the total death in  Idlib  province to at least 4,557 people since April 2019, when attacks against the enclave intensified, it said. “Attacking one of the most densely packed IDP [internally displaced person] cam

‘You can hear the bombing right now’: Trump claims a ceasefire in Syria is working – but the casualties pile up

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A black cloud looms over Tal Tamr. Great plumes of smoke rise from burning tyres lit by fighters defending this town, in northeast  Syria , as they try in vain to block the view of the  Turkish  aircraft hunting them on the frontline a few miles away. Residents of the surrounding villages are leaving in droves as the fighting draws closer. Wounded soldiers and civilians trickle in at the town’s only hospital. An American Apache helicopter circles above the fray, observing but not engaging – a metaphor not lost on the people below. Hours earlier,  Donald Trump  declared from the White House that a ceasefire here was “holding very well”. For those living in the path of Turkey’s offensive, it was as if he was describing an alternate reality. “What is he talking about? There is no ceasefire. You can hear the sound of helicopters and bombing right now,” says Dr Hassan Amin, the beleaguered director of Tal Tamr hospital. No sooner has the doctor finished talking than a man is rushe