Islamist Wave 2015 - News & Discussion

Angocachi Friday 30 Jan 2015

Iraqi government giving American tanks to Shia militia to fight ISIS.

A video uploaded to YouTube appears to show a large Hezbollah Brigades convoy transporting weapons, troops, and armored vehicles to the front to fight the Islamic State.

Several American-made military vehicles, including an M1 Abrams tank, M113 armored personnel carriers, Humvees, and Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAP), as well as Iranian-made Safir 4x4s and technicals (armed pickup trucks) are in the convoy.

The Hezbollah Brigades is US-designated foreign terrorist organization that has been involved in killing American soldiers in Iraq.

At one point in the video, a transport truck is shown carrying an M1 Abrams tank. The Hezbollah Brigades' flag is flying over the tank and other US-made vehicles. The M1, which is the main battle tank of the US Army, has been sold to and utilized by the Iraqi Army.

The screen shot above marks the first evidence of Iranian-backed militias having M1 tanks at their disposal. It is unclear if the Hezbollah Brigades seized the M1 from an Iraqi Army unit that dissolved in the face of the Islamic State's onslaught, or if the Iraqi military gave the militia the tank. Several Iraqi M1s have been photographed after being destroyed by the Islamic State.

The Hezbollah Brigades, or Kata'ib Hezbollah, receives funding, training, logistics, guidance, and material support from the Qods Force, the external operations wing of the Revolutionary Guard Corps. The radical militia has joined the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq. In addition, other Iranian-supported Shia militias, such as Asaib al Haq, Badr Organization, and Muqtada al Sadr's Promised Day Brigades have played a prominent role on the battlefield. these militias have played key rolls in securing Amerli , Baiji , and Jurf al Sakhar , and are on the forefront of the fighting in Diyala province.

The United States designated the Hezbollah Brigades as a terrorist organization in July 2009. On the same day, the US added a Qods Force commander who supported the "Special Groups," such as the Hezbollah Brigades, to the list of specially designated global terrorists. The so-called Special Groups are responsible for the deaths of hundrends of US and allied soldiers between 2004 and 2011. [For more information, see LWJ report, US sanctions Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades and Qods Force adviser .]

The organization has also been responsible for several American deaths during the war in Iraq. The US State Department described the Hezbollah Brigades as "a radical Shia Islamist group with an anti-Western establishment and jihadist ideology that has conducted attacks against Iraqi, US, and Coalition targets in Iraq."

The group has been directly linked to the murder of two UN employees in November 2008. Additionally, the Iranian-backed extremists conducted attacks against US and Iraqi forces, using explosively-formed penetrators and improvised rocket-assisted mortars , which have been described as flying improvised explosive devices.

Despite this, the group was assisted by US airstrikes when Iraqi and Kurdish forces broke the siege of Amerli in Salahaddin province. The US military said it launched airstrikes against the Islamic State outside of the town "[a]t the request of the Government of Iraq" and "in support of an operation to deliver humanitarian assistance to address the humanitarian crisis and protect the civilians trapped in Amerli." [See LWJ report US aided Hezbollah Brigades in breaking Islamic State siege of Iraqi town ]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/embed/ItK0Jb88quw

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/01/hezbollah_brigades_c.php#ixzz3QIZL2uy8

Angocachi Friday 30 Jan 2015

January 2015 has seen a flurry of violence from Salafist groups, Al Qaeda in Syria (Al Nusra) and Yemen (AQAP) have been hard at work. The Taliban, As Shabaab, Boko Haram, and Abu Sayyaf have all hit the headlines with big actions. ISIS is currently holding more territory and with a larger populace in Syria than any time in its existence while carrying out spectacular attacks in Tripoli and the Sinai. They even assassinated the Saudi General in charge of Arabia's north. We can expect some ISIS moves in Afghanistan in the coming months, it seems.

As for team Shia, the Houthis have captured Yemen's capital just as Saud changed crowns, Baghdad's Shia militias have pushed into ISIS held Diyala, and Hezbollah has killed 2 IDF in retaliation for the Israeli assassination of an Iranian general in Syria.

The above and Charlie Hebdo, January has gotten off too a very Jihadist start.

Longface Friday 30 Jan 2015

Good news, someone is dealing the right way with islamists.

'Kill our pilot and we'll execute ALL your prisoners': Jordan 'says it will hang its ISIS captives' if airman hostage is dead

Angocachi Friday 30 Jan 2015

Very interesting development.

"Jordani government promises to make ISIS martyrs if Jordani pilot captured waging domestically unpopular war of aggression against ISIS is executed because Jordani government refused to release a female prisoner in exchange offered by ISIS."

ISIS wants to be seen fighting France, the US, Iran, the Arab monarchs and juntas... it's how they receive much of their funding, recruits, and popularity. They need that to eclipse Al Qaeda and other similar groups in the business of Salafi Jihad making and Shariah state raising.

By taking that Jordani pilot hostage ISIS gave themselves a win-win. Either they get their prisoner in Jordan released, which is proof of their bargaining power with Arab crowns, or the Jordani government paints itself as a villain in the eyes of its own people; executing a female prisoner and getting its own pilot killed fighting Sunni Muslims although the foe gave a bloodless alternative).

Longface Friday 30 Jan 2015

This sort of thing could work in Tunisia but not in a country like Jordan. I don't know who the woman hostage is but the pilot is from a Jordanian tribe. His father said that if they release him they will have the appreciation of the Jordanian and Palestinian tribes, if they kill the pilot they will have the tribes against them. So how could this be win-win?

Angocachi Friday 30 Jan 2015

The Jordani public and the wider Arab street will blame the government. ISIS has had tribes against them and handled it, what they need is for Sunni Arab populations to turn against their regimes.

A Jew with an Update on Ikhwan in Egypt

His last article was titled "Iran Targets Netanyahu Children for Assassination"
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Adam Kredo is senior writer for the Washington Free Beacon. Formerly an award-winning political reporter for the Washington Jewish Week , where he frequently broke national news, Kredo’s work has been featured in outlets such as the Jerusalem Post , the Jewish Telegraphic Agency , and Politico , among others. He lives in Maryland with his comic books. His Twitter handle is @Kredo0 . His email address is kredo@freebeacon.com .

http://freebeacon.com/national-secu...ting-with-muslim-brotherhood-aligned-leaders/

The Muslim Brotherhood called for “a long, uncompromising jihad” in Egypt just days after a delegation of the Islamist group’s key leaders and allies met with the State Department, according to an official statement released this week.

Just days after a delegation that included two top Brotherhood leaders was hosted at the State Department , the organization released an official statement calling on its supporters to “prepare” for jihad, according to an independent translation of the statement first posted on Tuesday.

The State Department meeting was attended by a deputy assistant secretary for democracy, human rights, and labor and other State Department officials.

The Muslim Brotherhood statement also was issued just two days before a major terror attack Thursday in Egypt’s lawless Sinai region that killed at least 25.

“It is incumbent upon everyone to be aware that we are in the process of a new phase, where we summon what is latent in our strength, where we recall the meanings of jihad and prepare ourselves, our wives, our sons, our daughters, and whoever marched on our path to a long, uncompromising jihad, and during this stage we ask for martyrdom,” it states.

Preparation for jihad is a key theme of the Brotherhood’s latest call for jihad.

An image posted with the statement shows two crossing swords and the word “prepare!” between them. Below the swords it reads, “the voice of truth, strength, and freedom.” According to the statement, “that is the motto of the Dawa of the Muslim Brotherhood.”

The statement also invokes the well-known Muslim cleric Imam al-Bana, who founded the Brotherhood and has called for the death of Jews.

“ Imam al-Bana prepared the jihad brigades that he sent to Palestine to kill the Zionist usurpers and the second [Supreme] Guide Hassan al-Hudaybi reconstructed the ‘secret apparatus’ to bleed the British occupiers,” the statement says.

The Brotherhood’s renewed call for jihad comes at a time when current Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is cracking down on the group and imprisoning many of its supporters, who notoriously engaged in violence following the ouster of Brotherhood-ally Mohamed Morsi.

Egypt experts said the timing of this declaration is an embarrassment for the State Department.

“The fact that the Brotherhood issued its call to jihad two days after its meeting at the State Department will be grist for endless anti-American conspiracy theories about a supposed partnership between Washington and the Brotherhood,” said Eric Trager, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP). “The State Department should have foreseen what an embarrassment this would be.”

One member of that U.S. delegation, a Brotherhood-aligned judge in Egypt, posed for a picture while at Foggy Bottom in which he held up the Islamic group’s notorious four-finger Rabia symbol, according to his Facebook page.

“Now in the U.S. State Department. Your steadfastness impresses everyone,” reads an Arabic caption posted along with the photo.

Other members of that group included Gamal Heshmat , a leading member of the Brotherhood, and Abdel Mawgoud al-Dardery , a Brotherhood member who served as a parliamentarian from Luxor.

When asked on Tuesday evening to comment on the meeting, a State Department official told the Washington Free Beacon , “We meet with representatives from across the political spectrum in Egypt.”

The official declined to elaborate on who may have been hosted or on any details about the timing and substance of any talks.

The meeting was described by a member of the delegation, Maha Azzam as “fruitful,” according to one person who attended a public event in Washington earlier this week hosted by the group.

The call for jihad, while surprising in light of the Brotherhood’s attempts to appear moderate, is part and parcel of organization’s longstanding beliefs, Trager said.

“Muslim Brothers have been committing violent acts for a very long time,” Trager explained. “Under Morsi, Muslim Brothers tortured protesters outside the presidential palace. After Morsi’s ouster, they have frequently attacked security forces and state property. “

“But until now, the official line from the Brotherhood was to support this implicitly by justifying its causes, without justifying the acts themselves,” he added. “ So the Brotherhood’s open call to jihad doesn’t necessarily mean a tactical shift, but a rhetorical one.”

Terrorism expert and national security reporter Patrick Poole said he was struck by the clarity of the Brotherhood’s call.

“It invokes the Muslim Brotherhood’s terrorist past, specifically mentioning the ‘special apparatus’ that waged terror in the 1940s and 1950s until the Nasser government cracked down on the group, as well as the troops sent by founder Hassan al-Banna to fight against Israel in 1948,” he said.

“It concludes saying that the Brotherhood has entered a new stage, warns of a long jihad ahead, and to prepare for martyrdom,” Poole said. “Not sure how much more clear they could be.”

Poole wondered if the call for jihad would convince Brotherhood apologists that the group still backs violence.

“What remains to be seen is how this announcement will be received inside the Beltway, where the vast majority of the ‘experts’ have repeatedly said that the Brotherhood had abandoned its terrorist past, which it is now clearly reviving, and had renounced violence,” Poole said. “Will this development be met with contrition, or silence? And what says the State Department who met with these guys this week?”

The State Department did not respond to a request for comment before press time.

Angocachi Saturday 31 Jan 2015

Qatar Joins Saud, Egypt, UAE, Bahrain in anti-Hamas/Ikhwan Axis.
This comes as Hamas demands arms, funds, and recruits from Iran-Hexbollah... and rumors of a Hamas-Hezbollah alliance in the event of an Israeli War spread.

During the Arab Spring Hamas dropped its alliance with its long time Iran-Assad-Hezbollah benefactors to pursue a new alliance with what seemed to them a new Ikhwani order based in Morsi's Egypt with Erdogan's Neo-Ottoman backing. This would have been infinitely more valuable to them for a dozen reasons, but the junta regained its footing in Cairo and the Ikhwani dream was snuffed out young.

What we are seeing now is Hamas crawling back to Tehran. Tehran will gladly take it because it needs as many rockets trained on Israel as possible to deter any further Israeli aggressions (exemplified by the recent bombing of an Iranian general in Syria by the IAF).

Looking down the road it's important to note that in the current age of Sunni vs Shia it doesn't help Hamas' image on the Sunni street to be seen as a tool of Iran. Hamas' base of support both inside and outside of Palestine is Sunni Islamists (as opposed to the Secular Arabs and Christian Arabs who favor Fatah). Sunni Islamists are just about to the man anti-Shia. They can't in good conscience support a group in league with the same Shia currently waring with Allahu Akbar shouting Sunni Arabs in Syria and Iraq. That means Palestinian Jihadist groups unaligned with Shia sponsors will... must grow in popular support relative Hamas. The biggest player in that game, already possessing vast territory in Syria, Iraq, Libya, and the Sinai (just along Hamas' Gazan heartland) is ISIS.

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Fitz

With the strengthening of an Egyptian-Saudi axis in the Gulf that is hostile to the Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar could no longer serve as a base of political operations for Hamas leader Khaled Meshal.

Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal, arguably Qatar ’s most famous resident, has left Doha , his departure marking a deeper geopolitical shift taking hold in the region.

While the reasons for Mr. Meshal’s departure in late December were cloaked initially by official denials from both Hamas and Qatar – Meshal’s refuge and base of operations since fleeing unrest in Damascus in January 2012 – Hamas officials and observers now say it was brought about by pressure from Qatar’s Arab Gulf neighbors.

The main force at play in the region is a strengthening of an Egyptian-Saudi axis that is increasingly hostile to Islamists, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is the Palestinian chapter.

Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who succeeded ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and regards the Brotherhood as his political enemy, has already made life difficult for the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip. And Saudi Arabia has blacklisted the Brotherhood as a “terrorist organization,” a measure later adopted by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Qatar, on the other hand, has spent the better part of the last decade backing the Brotherhood and other Islamist movements across the region to use as proxies to push its political agenda.

Observers say Qatar’s shift toward the Saudis and Egypt and away from Islamists is purely pragmatic.

“Right now the wind of change is blowing in Saudi Arabia’s favor, and Qatar is moving with it,” says Hassan Abu Haniyeh, an Amman-based political analyst and expert in Islamist movements.

Qatar’s political investments had appeared to pay off following the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011, which saw several Islamist movements rise to power across North Africa , most notably the Brotherhood in Egypt.

With the Brotherhood ruling Egypt and making political gains across the Arab world, Qatar emerged as an influential powerbroker and kingmaker, acting as a liaison between Western governments and Arab monarchies and Islamist movements, particularly Hamas.

ROLE IN ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT

Qatar’s leadership found itself in a unique position vis-à-vis Hamas, which had been shunned by the bulk of Arab states as a militant movement.

After Hamas relocated its political operations from Damascus to Qatar, Doha used its sway over the group to flex its muscles diplomatically, playing a larger role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and helping facilitate a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation. The current emir and then crown prince, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, even personally intervened to spearhead a reconciliation between Meshal and Jordan’s King Abdullah.

Yet with the 2013 military coup that ousted the Brotherhood in Egypt and a resurging anti-Brotherhood axis led by Saudi Arabia, Qatar quickly found itself on the losing end of a regional power shift and under growing pressure to cut ties with its former proxies.

In April 2013, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the UAE all withdrew their ambassadors over Doha’s support of the Brotherhood and accused the Qatari leadership of “undermining security” and “intervening in the affairs” of member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council. They also threatened to suspend Qatar’s membership in the Council.

For a time, Qatar was able to smooth over the rift with its Gulf neighbors while maintaining “distant ties” with the Brotherhood and fellow Islamist groups in the Gulf, Syria and Iraq.

STRATEGIC REALIGNMENT

Yet with the Brotherhood’s influence waning and Saudi Arabia’s ascent, observers say, Qatari leadership has chosen to undergo a strategic realignment, making a realpolitik decision to strengthen its ties with the Saudi-Egypt axis and distance itself from its former Islamist proxies.

“Qatar is taking it slowly, adjusting its policies each day according to the political atmosphere,” says Mr. Abu Haniyeh, the Amman-based analyst.

With the Sisi regime in Egypt as stable as ever, observers say Doha decided also to mend its ties with Egypt – a major trade partner – agreeing to a reconciliation effort pushed personally by the late Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz.

At reconciliation talks in Egypt in late December, held with Saudi participation, deliberations centered on two subjects, say observers and those close to the talks: the fate of jailed Al Jazeera journalists and Qatar’s ongoing asylum for Brotherhood and Hamas officials.

In order to mend ties with Egypt and rejoin the Arab world, Qatar had only one option: give up Hamas.

The results of Qatar’s new realignment have been clear.

SERIES OF RESTRICTIONS ON HAMAS

In September, Qatari officials expelled seven high-profile Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including Brotherhood cleric and spiritual leader Wajdi Ghuneim, who said “Qatar is being exposed to external pressures to take decisions against the Muslim Brotherhood – decisions it does not desire to take.”

As weeks passed, Hamas insiders say, Qatari officials imposed a series of restrictions on Hamas leadership as well, proving that the crackdown expanded beyond the Egyptian Brotherhood and that the movement’s Palestinian branch was no longer welcome to operate freely.

According to Hamas officials, Qatari security officials prevented the movement’s political bureau from receiving official delegations in Doha in December and “strongly advised” Hamas officials against traveling or communicating with Iranian officials.

The restrictions escalated into a crackdown in late December after Qatari authorities briefly detained two Hamas financiers under suspicion of “illegal monetary and economic transactions.”

Hamas officials say the arrest sent a clear message: Hamas officials were welcome in Qatar. Their politics were not.

NEXT STOP TURKEY?

“There has been clear pressure from outside forces that has changed Qatar’s policy,” says Abu Hamzeh, one of Hamas's officials who relocated to Qatar after leaving Damascus and is now residing in Amman.

He says 20 Hamas officials have left Qatar for Turkey over the past month.

“We may always be welcomed as guests, but we can no longer act politically or even financially or logistically in Qatar.”

It was amid this air of uncertainty in late December, that Meshal and a group of his closest advisers left their refuge and operations base in Qatar for Istanbul with little fanfare or notice.

Hamas officials were coy about the length of Meshal’s stay in Turkey, with senior official Izzat Rishaq disputing reports that Doha had asked Meshal to leave or that he had abandoned Qatar.

Instead, the officials praised Turkey’s “open political atmosphere,” and Meshal personally thanked Turkey at a high-profile congress for the ruling Justice and Development Party for “standing with the Palestinian people and the Arab and Muslim world.”

Swirling speculation over a Hamas-Qatar fallout forced Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled bin Mohamed al-Attiya to deny rumors that Meshal had been forced out, stressing that “Khaled Meshal is a dear guest in Qatar” whose welcome had not been worn out.

But amid the conflicting statements, one message came through loud and clear: the Qatar-Hamas honeymoon was officially over.

http://news.yahoo.com/hamas-leader-exit-qatar-signs-growing-saudi-egyptian-170458489.html

Hamas begins rapprochement with Hezbollah, Iran

It is no longer a secret that there has been swift rapprochement between Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. The crowning move would be for Khaled Meshaal, head of Hamas’ political bureau, to visit Tehran for Hamas to completely return to the Axis of Resistance.

What is new in the relationship between Hamas and Hezbollah is what Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah announced on TV on Jan. 15 regarding Hamas' having serious intentions to redress its relationship with Hezbollah and Iran. Nasrallah said this decision was a central one taken by the Hamas leadership locally and abroad, and that bilateral relations have come a long way.

Nasrallah’s tone in talking about Hamas left a positive impact on the movement, knowing that this reconciliatory discourse did not emerge overnight. It was rather the fruit of a series of meetings between Hamas and Hezbollah in Beirut, during which Hezbollah felt that Hamas was seriously willing to thaw out the frozen relations between the two over the Syrian issue. The coming days might hide other positive steps in favor of the rapprochement.

The increased rapprochement between Hamas and Hezbollah has given Hamas breathing space, allowing it to partly come out of the political isolation imposed on it in the past months, following the boycott with Egypt, the Qatari-Gulf reconciliation and pressure applied on Turkey for hosting Hamas officials.

Hamas quickly confirmed news of the rapprochement in a message attributed to Mohammed al-Deif, leader of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and addressed to Nasrallah. In the letter, Deif offered his condolences for the deaths of the Hezbollah leaders in Quneitra on Jan. 18. Moreover, Deif called on Nasrallah to direct his weapons toward Israel so that both parties could manage their coming battle united.

Al-Monitor noticed that Hamas’ condolences for Hezbollah in the wake of the Quneitra attack sparked contradictory reactions among the Hamas cadres on Facebook pages , as some supported this move, while others refused it.

A member of Hamas’ political bureau, Sami Khater, told Al-Monitor, “There is consensus between Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran, and we haven’t changed anything in our politics toward them. Our relations were never cut off, and Hamas always aims at maintaining good ties with Hezbollah and Iran to support the Palestinian cause.”

One of the effects of the tangible rapprochement between Hamas and Hezbollah was the confusion stirred by Meshaal’s statements about the Syrian opposition. He said he supported the Arab people for revolting to obtain their rights by using “peaceful methods.” Meshaal was making insinuations to the opposition’s militants in Syria.

The head of Hamas’ foreign relations, Bassem Naim, told Al-Monitor, “Hamas has paid a high price due to its ethical stance regarding the Syrian crisis.” He accused the Syrian opposition of failing to achieve anything for its people, other than destruction and homelessness, and he condemned the opposition’s attack against Meshaal by accusing him of being affiliated with the Iranian axis.

Deputy Chief of Hamas’ political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, announced on Jan. 20 his unity with Hezbollah after the Israeli assassination, and he considered the incident a message reaffirming the need to reunite against Israel and to work on the same page.

A Lebanese official who contributed to the mediation between Hezbollah and Hamas told Al-Monitor, on condition of anonymity, “The party will be happy if Hamas joins it in any confrontation with Israel to respond to the recent assassination. This would bring Hamas back to the Iranian axis. Nevertheless, Hezbollah is well aware that there is no agreement among Hamas members to fight alongside the party in the next war, which might break out any minute.”

A prominent Hamas leader in Gaza, Mahmoud al-Zahar , who strongly espouses Hamas’ return to the Iranian axis, said on Jan. 25, “Hezbollah has enough power to fight Israel, but Gaza is supporting it with the means permitted to it.”

However, Naim told Al-Monitor, “The battle against the Israeli enemy is one and the same, regardless of the front. It does not need to be announced by any particular political party, but the decision to take part in the next battle or not depends on the nature of the field battle, not on a specific supportive or opposing political decision.”

“Gaza took part in the recent war. However, the West Bank did not make any moves, although Hamas wanted to flare up the situation at the time. The same applies to Hezbollah. The decision to join it in the confrontation against Israel is left to purely field considerations, and it does not mean that Gaza will automatically engage in any battle that breaks out in south Lebanon,” he said.

Amid this rapprochement between Hamas and Hezbollah, Hamas sources, on condition of anonymity in an interview with Al-Monitor, refused to confirm or deny the news that Hezbollah had turned down the movement’s request to move the headquarters of the military leader Saleh al-Arouri from Turkey to Beirut. These sources indicated that these were confidential military matters not to be leaked to the media.

Perhaps Hamas is benefiting from Nasrallah’s statements on the rapprochement to pressure some Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which do not want Hamas to return to the Iranian axis. This would reduce some of the pressure on the movement.

Naim told Al-Monitor, “Hamas’ relations with Qatar and Turkey will not be negatively affected if the movement keeps drawing closer to Iran and Hezbollah. Turkey and Qatar enjoy clear political leniency and understand well Hamas’ moves with Tehran and Beirut.” Naim refrained from naming other regional parties that do not understand this rapprochement.

Although Hamas is rushing into the Hezbollah-Iran axis, there are sources inside the movement advising its military and political leaders to slow down in mending the relations. These sources do not want Hamas to rush into an axis that does not have much to offer the movement.

Hamas members demanding a slowdown of the renewal of relations with the past allies believe that Iran is drowning in debt and economic crises, and that it does not have any funds to offer Hamas. Meanwhile, Hezbollah is up to its ears in the Syrian mess and might need Hamas to clean its slate in front of the Arab world more than Hamas might need Hezbollah’s military and arms assistance.

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/ori...pprochement-iran-hezbollah.html#ixzz3QU9ufxb0

Angocachi Saturday 31 Jan 2015

There's a Jew who's run an anti-Islamic website for several years called thereligionofpeace.com. It keeps close tabs on the headlines and maintains a list of incidents wherein a Muslim kills somebody with Jihadist or Islamist motives. The location, death toll and a short description is offered for each incident... all in chronological order.

For the month of January 2015 there have been hundreds of Jihadist killings, and if estimates are correct regarding a recent Boko Haram massacre the death count is well over 2,000. That's not including unpublished troop and militia fatalities that must be occurring in Syria and Iraq regularly. Nor does it include honor killings or shariah executions.

Countries where Jihadist attacks have been made in January 2015
Iraq
Pakistan
Cameroon
Afghanistan
Nigeria
Syria
Somalia
Libya
Thailand
Mali
Yemen
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia
Russia
Egypt
Turkey
France
Lebanon
Kenya
Indonesia
Niger
India
Israel
the Philippines

That's a wide area of Jihadist activity and signals quite a year ahead.

Angocachi Saturday 31 Jan 2015

For reference.
Dark Green are majority Muslim sub-national entities; e.g. Xinjiang in China or Anbar in Iraq.
Light Green are majority non-Muslim sub-national entities hosting majority Muslim areas within; e.g. West Papua in Indonesia or the Crimea in Russia.
White are majority non-Muslim sub-national entities not hosting majority Muslim areas within. This includes sub-national entities that have large Muslim minorities but do not form majority Muslim areas larger than a neighborhood; e.g. much of Uganda or Western European cities like Brussels.
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I've checked the demographic data for every sub-national entity in the Eastern Hemisphere. This beats the hell out of those maps that only show the approximate percentage of Muslims per country or broadly paints an area Muslim even when they're a small minority there.

This one below looked great, showing population density and intense detail, but it didn't even catch that Bayan-Olgii in Western Mongolia is over 80% Kazakh Muslims. It marked a chunk of Vietnam and Cambodia Islamic due to the minute Cham presence there, and did the Utsul Muslims similarly in Hainan (there are ~5,000 in one city of 686,000). It painted the whole East African Coast and the parts of Madagascar as Muslim... it's nothing of the sort. The premise is good but the resulting map is sloppy and inaccurate.
$[IMG]$

Angocachi Sunday 1 Feb 2015

ISIS in Pakistan and Afghanistan: Hundreds of Taliban Fighters Sign Up, Commanders Say

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Hundreds of Taliban fighters have joined ISIS' new branch in Pakistan, according to three militant commanders in the country.

The Pakistani government's 10-month onslaught in an area of the country once overrun by terror groups has pushed many fighters toward ISIS, one of the fledgling group's leaders told NBC News.

"The military operation in North Waziristan by the Pakistan army has helped us a lot," said Mufti Hassan Swati, who claims to be the deputy head of ISIS in Pakistan. "Hundreds of militants quit their groups and joined us [after it started]. Initially we had some problems of resources in running the organization but we have enough resources now."

Swati, who previously led the Pakistani Taliban's (TTP) branch in the city of Peshawar, was among a group of militants who opposed peace talks with the government. The group helped unleash a wave of suicide attacks that killed and maimed hundreds in the second half of 2013.

According to Swati, the new ISIS chapter was being led by Hafiz Saeed Khan from its headquarters in Baloshistan, a lawless and desperately poor Pakistani province. Khan was once a strong contender for the leadership of the TTP. However, he lost out to Maulana Fazlullah , who has taken credit for the horrific Pakistani school massacre that left 153 dead on Dec. 16 and whose fighters were blamed for the shooting of schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai.

Swati and Khan were among six high-ranking TTP members to announce that they had defected to the new branch of ISIS in October . ISIS' media arm this week declared Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan to be one region called the province of Khorasan — the name given to a historic region that covers part of modern-day Iran, Afghanistan and India.

NBC News interviewed four commanders fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan, and two with the TTP. All spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Swati claimed that 10,000 fighters had joined the cross-border group's ranks and training camps had been established throughout the region, but could not provide any evidence to back up these claims. Militants in the region have a history of overstating their power and influence.

Members of the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban acknowledged that the new branch had attracted fighters, but said the number of adherents was in the hundred not the thousands. Most of the defections have come from the TTP, two commanders in the field told NBC News.

"A few hundred militants affiliated with their commanders had joined Daesh," one TTP commander said, using the Arabic name for ISIS.

Pakistani officials would not publicly acknowledge the presence of ISIS on their territory, but one who spoke to NBC News on condition of anonymity said that a military offensive had been launched to eliminate the group.

Last year, NBC News revealed that ISIS had created a 10-man "strategic planning wing" with a master plan on how to wage war against the Pakistani military, and was trying to join forces with local militants.

And in late September, a pamphlet apparently made by the self-proclaimed caliphate was distributed among Afghan refugees in Pakistan exhorting them to pledge allegiance. It lashed out against "America and the rest of the infidels."

Some fighters in Afghanistan have also joined the new group, according to four commanders in the country who spoke to NBC News.

"A small number of people of the Afghan Taliban who weren't happy with their leadership joined Daesh, but others are discussing meeting and waiting for a suitable time to become part of it," a Taliban commander in Afghanistan's Nangahar province said in a telephone interview.

"Our people are now getting frustrated and asking us why did we fail in getting a space in Afghanistan to implement Shariah, despite the loss of thousands of people in their war against the U.S. and its allies," he said. "Their concerns are genuine as we don't have an inch of land in our possession in Afghanistan where we could live freely."

In October, militants aligned with ISIS launched a brutal offensive in Afghanistan alongside Taliban fighters that left more than 100 people dead. Insurgents carrying the black flag of ISIS captured several villages in Ghazni province. At least 60 homes were set ablaze, officials said.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/i...-taliban-fighters-sign-commanders-say-n296707

Islamist Wave 2015 - News & Discussion

10 posts