Friday 26 December 2014

ISIS Governor in Mosul Killed

Edited By: KANWAL ABIDI    
                   *Journalist & Political Analyst
IRAQ: The latest ISIS-appointed governor of Mosul was killed in coalition airstrikes on Thursday, according to Iraqi police.
Hassan Saeed Al-Jabouri, also known as Abu Taluut, was killed 18 miles south of Mosul in the village of Qayyara, according to Maj. Gen. Watheq Al-Hamdani, a senior regional Iraqi police commander who is leading the government's efforts to retake Mosul from ISIS.
Jabouri is the second ISIS-appointed governor of Mosul killed by airstrikes and had been in office for less than 25 days.
Earlier this month, U.S. airstrikes killed one of his predecessors, Radwan Taleb Al-Hamdouni, according to U.S. security officials.
Mosul is a key stronghold for ISIS fighters and was taken from Iraqi forces earlier this year. The Pentagon said that it has a strategy to retake the city beginning in January.
Meanwhile, more than 100 people were injured or killed in six airstrikes by Syrian forces on the ISIS held city of al-Bab and the town of Qbasin in the northeast of Aleppo, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
In the village of Abo Qassayed, 30 ISIS militants were killed Tuesday as Syrian Kurdish forces captured that town held by ISIS, according to the observatory.
ISIS captured a Jordanian fighter pilot Wednesday after his plane crashed over Raqqa.
"Evidence clearly indicates" that the terrorist group "did not down the aircraft," U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
Turkey warming up to Iraq
Relations between Iraq and Turkey are improving because of the new government in Baghdad, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday.
"Now that the coldness between Turkey and Iraq is over, we will accelerate our relations in every possible way," he said in a televised interview.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said that Iraq and Turkey share common economic and security goals, according to Anadolu Agency, Turkey's government news agency. Iraq wants to reach global oil market's through Turkey, Al-Abadi said.

Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu promised that Turkey will not allow any foreign fighter access to Syria, whether they be Syrian opposition or ISIS fighters, according to Anadolu Agency.
...........................................The End !!!
Editor's Note:  
It shall NOT End ... as ISIS has begun:
ISIS is gaining its strength globally and if its roots of extremism are not addressed, it shall prove to be futile to the world.

Friday 19 December 2014

Warning By 9/11 Mastermind

Man Who Interrogated 9/11 Mastermind Shared a Dire Warning with Megyn Kelly

Dr. James Mitchell, one of the men who interrogated 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was on Fox News’ “The Kelly File” to discuss the controversial report on the CIA’s enhanced interrogation methods.

Here is how Mitchell described KSM:
Mitchell described Sheikh Mohammed in initial interrogations as “immensely arrogant” and “disdainful.”
“He had a propensity at that particular point to be confrontational without being physical,” Mitchell said.

But the biggest take-away from Mitchell’s interview is a chilling discussion of how terrorists know very well how liberals in politics and in the media will never stand for interrogation methods… And that’s why the terrorists think they will win:
Mitchell alleged that no one from the Senate committee has ever asked him a single thing about the interrogations.

“Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has the opportunity to address the charges against him, but I don’t,” he said.

What Mitchell felt:
Mitchell told Kelly that he feels horrible because this report puts Americans at risk.

“It shows al Qaeda and the al Qaeda 2.0 folks, ISIL, that we’re divided and that we’re easy targets, that we don’t have the will to defeat them because that’s what they know. 

In fact, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed told me personally, ‘Your country will turn on you, the liberal media will turn on you, the people will grow tired of this, they will turn on you, and when they do, you are going to be abandoned.’”


 News Edited By: KANWAL ABIDI    
                            Journalist & Political Analyst

Infomation Shared Via Fox news (US)



Tuesday 16 December 2014

Peshawar School Tragedy

Taliban Attacks Students in Pakistan

Tragedy Begins:     
A group of Taliban gunmen attacked a school in Northern Pakistan on Tuesday morning, 16th Dec, which resulted in the killing of atleast 145 people, most of the students were under the age of 15. More than 180 others were injured. Police say the siege, which lasted about eight hours, is now over, with all of the terrorists dead. Other officials said four of the attackers blew themselves up in suicide attacks, though there were as many as 9 attackers. 

The Army Public School is a military-run primary school for the children of army members in Peshawar, in the northern part of the country, near the border with Afghanistan. 

Claim of the Attack: 
Pakistani Taliban sources claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was retaliation for ongoing government offensive - Zarb e Azb; against them in the region of North Waziristan. 


Witnesses Account:
Witnesses says as many as six men scaled the fence of the school and began opening fire on students. Many students were reportedly killed by a suicide bomb in the school courtyard. The attackers then went room to room, shooting indiscriminately at children and teachers.


One witness told the BBC, "We ducked under the tables and chairs, but they shot at our heads and legs. The kept firing and coming further inside the room, but we did not move because they shot at anyone who moved."  
(Eds Note: It seemed that the terrorists wanted to take their lives or else make them disabled for their lives)

School Auditorium Account:
The worst of the assault happened in an auditorium, where several classes had been gathered for first-aid training. One student who survived shared with European "Radio Free Europe: journalist that, "It was 10:30 this morning when we were called to an auditorium to get first-aid training by an army colonel. When we walked in, gunshots erupted and [the militants] entered the auditorium. They killed many students —I saw about 40 to 50 students killed in front of me—and they also fired at the colonel."
(Eds Note: It seemed that the terrorists were aware of the fact that the School Auditorium will have lot of school children, so that they can attack them at massive hit, causing maximum loss to precious lives)

According to the BBC World Service, the attack is believed to be an attempt to demoralize and humiliate the military. However, it may have the unintended effect of finally uniting the nation against the groups that have claimed tens of thousands of lives in Pakistan in the last 15 years. Today, both Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and opposition leader Imran Khan issued strong statement condemning the attack, insisting the military offensive—which began in June with stated goal of driving the Taliban out of the region—will continue.

PM Nawaz Sharif said today that “This is a decisive moment in the fight against terrorism.The people of Pakistan should unite in this fight. Our resolve will not be weakened by these attacks." This is the deadliest terrorist attack in Pakistan since 2007, when 140 people were killed in an assassination attempt on former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was later killed by another bomber.

WORLD LEADERS Opinion on the Attack:
World leaders elsewhere have condemned the attack as well. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it "unspeakable brutality." France's Francois Hollande called it "despicable" and the U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, Richard Olson, says the country "stands in solidarity with the people of Pakistan, and all who fight the menace of terrorism."

In a statement released by the White House, President Obama said, "By targeting students and teachers in this heinous attack, terrorists have once again shown their depravity. We stand with the people of Pakistan, and reiterate the commitment of the United States to support the Government of Pakistan in its efforts to combat terrorism and extremism and to promote peace and stability in the region."

Turkey has declared a National Mourning Day on 17 the Dec 2014.

Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai, who received the Nobel Peace Prize last week for her advocacy of education in Pakistan, said "I, along with millions of others around the world, mourn these children, my brothers and sisters—but we will never be defeated." Her co-winner, India's Kailash Satyarthi, told network NDTV that "I beg the Taliban, take me and leave these children."

NO CONCLUSION:

---------------> Words are hard to find when concluding incidents of tragedy and being a mother myself, I find it VERY hard to compile information about young children deaths and that too so horrifying and horrendous. It is very easy to condemn the attack and attend to the injured in hospitals - but what we need are concrete steps from government to protect the lives of Pakistanis and to take adequate security measures.

Tomorrow, on 17th Dec, APC , All Parties Conference is scheduled to take place in Islamabad. The ongoing political row between PML N (Ruling Government) and PTI, will take new turns and Imran Khan is said to attend the APC, but the real test lies in making our country free from the terrorists rides. 

The Pakistan political leaders have to think now that their differences are very small and petty - but human life is live. They have to forget that elections were rigged or fixed, time is of essence which demands to "protect the human life constituency" under respect and safety.

Compiled and Edited By:

KANWAL ABIDI  (Online News Editor of 063 News)

 * Journalist / Political Analyst    

Time of the story being filed:    11.45 pm   16.12.2014

This is a developing story and I will continue to update as more information becomes available.


Tuesday 9 December 2014

Qatar & Turkey In Support of Hammas

Key panels urge sanctions on Qatar, Turkey over Hamas
Edited By: Kanwal Abidi
                    *** Political Analyst / Journalist
Summary:
Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee want the Treasury Department to "take all necessary measures" to stop Qatari and Turkish support for Hamas.
......................................................................................................

Two key House panels are stepping up their rhetoric against Qatar and Turkey and urging that the US Treasury Department take "all necessary measures" against the two countries if they continue to support Hamas.
---- Leaders of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittees on terrorism and the Middle East are gathering signatures on a letter to the Treasury's top sanctions official praising his efforts to date but demanding his "immediate attention" to their request that more be done. The letter is expected to draw strong bipartisan support and has been in the works since the panels held a joint hearing on Hamas financing back in September, a committee source tells Al-Monitor.
The letter in particular slams Qatar for harboring Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and for its $400 million donation for Gaza reconstruction in 2012. The country's then-ruler, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, was the first head of state to visit Gaza since Hamas took over five years earlier in 2007.
"Any entity or nation that continues to back this US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization and provide it material and financial support should be sanctioned," states the letter to Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen. "Therefore, as Members of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa and the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade, we are requesting that Treasury use every tool available to designate all individuals, institutions, entities, charities, front companies, banks and government officials who clearly violate US laws by assisting Hamas and its proxies. We also request specific public updates on Treasury’s discussions with the Qatari government on previously designated, Qatar-based terrorist financiers that the Qataris have yet to act upon."
Turkey is also on lawmakers' blacklist for serving as the headquarters for Saleh al-Arouri, whom lawmakers accuse of heading the group's terrorist operations in the West Bank.
"In August, the media reported that he was behind an allegedly thwarted plot to topple, undermine or replace the Palestinian Authority government in the West Bank. Also in August, al-Arouri stated that Hamas was behind the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens this June," the letter states.
"In addition to Hamas figures that knowingly and openly operate in Turkey, numerous charities, front companies and possibly even banks provide some form of support from Turkey for the terror group. One organization that has been reported to have had direct contact with Hamas is the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) charity that planned the flotilla incident of 2010. We are aware that Treasury has expressed concerns about IHH’s terrorism connections in the past."
The Treasury Department has repeatedly — and publicly — denounced Qatar's support for Hamas, notably in a March 4 speech by Cohen. The department has also sanctioned a number of secondary Qatari and Turkish entities and individuals over the years, notably in a round of Iran sanctions in August.
The letter is being spearheaded by Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla, Ted Deutch, D-Fla., Ted Poe, R-Texas and Brad Sherman, D-Calif., the chairmen and top Democrats on the Middle East and terrorism panels. Missing from the list of signers are lawmakers who have expressed concerns about antagonizing potential US allies in the war against Islamic State, notably NATO ally Turkey.

Chief among those critics has been Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., a leading member of the congressional Turkey Caucus. Connolly pointed out during the September hearing that when he co-authored a private letter to then-presidential candidate Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the summer admonishing him for his anti-Israel vitriol, Erdogan ended up using the letter in his successful presidential bid.