Tag: Middle East

The U.S. and other Western nations view the U.N.-backed government in the capital as the best hope for unifying Libyans and defeating the extremist group. Libyan forces loyal to the U.N.-backed government are currently battling a powerful Islamic State affiliate in the central city of Sirte with the help of U.S.-led airstrikes. Martin Kobler, the U.N. envoy to Libya, expressed concern over the general’s seizure of the terminals. He later called for a cease-fire and recognition of the U.N.-brokered government.

Three Americans volunteered for combat alongside Kurdish militia; repatriation was a complicated affair.
Americans don’t need a visa to enter Iraqi Kurdistan, but their passports are stamped there before they are driven into Syria through YPG-controlled border checkpoints. The volunteers don’t get Syrian government visas.

When fighters die in Syria, getting them home is a far more complex affair, and an expensive one. Representatives of the Rojava government paid $43,600 dollars for the cost to return the remains of all three men this time, according to Lucy Usoyan, a Washington-based representative of a Kurdish group that helped organize the return.

“If you have [the Islamic State’s] No. 3 in the crosshairs and he’s using human shields, would we be able to strike him or not?” the officer asked. “This is an important debate. But are we fighting a war or are we not? They are clearly waging a war against us. Are we waging a war, or are we conducting a police action?
“How do you ‘advise and assist’ someone when you are not allowed to go into combat with them?” the officer added.

“It’s like after the Afghanistan war in the 1980s,” said Neumann, citing the period after Soviet troops withdrew in 1989 and legions of foreign fighters formed a diaspora of radicalized veterans that subsequently fueled the rise of al-Qaeda. “They’ll be asking themselves, ‘What’s next?’ “

IDF Special Forces in combat actions against Hamas while operating in the Gaza Strip.

Amidst the chaos of the Syrian Civil War, elements affiliated with the Free Syrian Army strike a Russian Gazelle helicopter with a TOW missile in Hama, Syria.

Four 500lb bombs were dropped upon the targets, killing 16 insurgents… Overall, bad day to be an insurgent!

For many members of the special forces community, opposing the presidential candidacy of Hillary Clinton is about more than just policy. It’s personal.

The Russians have consistently denied that their troops are involved in any ground fighting in Syria, and if their special forces troops were involved in the recapture of the ‘Aleppo artillery base’ then on the face of it that would contradict this.

Brennan said that compared to al Qaeda, Daesh is a lot less “deliberate” in its planning and more “free-wheeling,” willing to carry out attacks on shorter notice.
“You look at 9/11 and other major attacks, and it was very deliberate, methodical, a lot of planning went into it. I think ISIL tries to move from idea to bang within months or within weeks,” Brennan said, using the administration’s preferred acronym for Daesh .

The probe began in September last year after an Italian was arrested in Hungary “while driving in a vehicle with several illegal migrants”, Eurojust said in a separate statement. Italian police said the smuggling ring picked up migrants who had reached Hungary, and from there they were moved on toward Germany, Austria, and more rarely to France and Italy.

Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), announced on Monday that a mass grave containing more than 80 bodies of the so-called Islamic State (IS), or Daesh terrorists from different nationalities has been found in the city of Fallujah in Anbar Province, Iraq.