Category: Terror War

Fox News is reporting an ISIS splinter group in Egypt has declared war on the Palistinian group Hamas, issuing a video claiming it shows the execution of a Hamas collaborator.

“Never surrender to them. Use explosives, silenced pistols, and sticky bombs. Bomb their courts and their security locations, for these are the pillars of tyranny that prop up its throne,” a knife-wielding man says in the video released Wednesday, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks extremist websites.

The ISIS offshoot blames Hamas for failing to prevent the US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, among other accusations. Exactly how Hamas could have blocked the recognition is unclear, but the conflict between the two groups has been growing for over a year, according to the Washington Post. ISIS and Hamas share hostile views towards Israel, but ISIS is calling for a global jihad while Hamas is fixed on Israel, and is less interested in a general conflict with the West.

In Wednesday’s video, Hamas is criticized for “following in the footsteps of the disbelieving West.” The latest call to war, however, is nothing new. In 2015, Islamic State militants threatened to oust Hamas from power, citing their lack of enforcement of Islam in the territory, Reuters reported.

“We will uproot the state of the Jews (Israel) and you (Hamas) and Fatah, and all of the secularists are nothing and you will be over-run by our creeping multitudes,” a member of the Islamic state in Syria says in a video from a few years ago.

Well now, isn’t this interesting, Hamas isn’t rabid enough to suit ISIS. No honor among thieves, and I hope they both lose.

“Never interfere with your enemy when he is making a mistake.”
Napoleon

Fox News is reporting that Abu Omar, an ISIS militant accused of executing dozens of gay men and others has been captured in Mosul last week. He was caught in a hideout in the city after security forces received tips from local Iraqis, according to AhlulBayt News Agency.

Omar directed and appeared in gruesome videos portraying ISIS executions, including gays being thrown from buildings, and others being stoned to death or beheaded for perceived Sharia infractions such as blasphemy.

“In one video, apparently from March 2015, a man who appears to be Omer reads off a list of charges against three men before they are publicly beheaded.

Another photo appears to show Omer inspecting a pile of rocks before a public stoning. Now, this most feared ISIS executioner could be executed himself.”

The exact number of ISIS victims may never be known, but an AP investigation has found at least 133 mass graves, only a few of which have been exhumed. Estimates of victims vary between 11,000 and 13,000 dead.

Let the punishment fit the crime.

President Trump threatened to withhold US taxpayers dollars from Pakistan because, he claims, Pakistan is aiding the Taliban by giving them a chance to rearm and rest across their border. According to Stars & Stripes;

Trump’s New Year’s Day tweet comes as the administration, frustrated by Pakistan’s unwillingness to take on terrorist groups, is considering withholding $255 million in aid, The New York Times reported last week. Officials told the newspaper that a decision was expected in the coming weeks.

The administration told Congress in August it was holding back the $255 million until Islamabad did more to fight terrorism. In July, the Pentagon withheld $50 million in aid after Defense Secretary James Mattis told Congress he would not certify that Pakistan had done enough to fight the Haqqani network, a brutal branch of the Taliban.

Terrorist exploitation of outside sanctuaries is viewed by Gen. John W. Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, as the single greatest threat to the U.S.-led coalition campaign there, according to the Defense Department’s biannual country report, released last month.

In another Stars & Stripes article, Afghans praise Trump’s hard line against Pakistan;

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, writing on Twitter, greeted Trump’s remarks as “vindication that the war on terror is not in bombing Afghan villages and homes but in the sanctuaries beyond Afghanistan.”

Karzai proposed forming a regional coalition to pressure Pakistan “to bring peace to … the entire region.”

While U.S. officials have said cooperation with Pakistan is critical to efforts in the region, the relationship has chilled since May 2011, when al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden was found living near a major military facility in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, where he had apparently enjoyed sanctuary for years.

A pillar of Trump’s new regional strategy calls for greater pressure on Islamabad to eliminate such havens. Pakistan “has much to lose by continuing to harbor criminals and terrorists,” the president said when announcing his strategy in August.

The last time Pakistan tried to crack down on the Taliban in their tribal areas, they had a real shooting war on their hands which caused them to back off. Maybe with cash on the line, they’ll be able to draw on a little testicular fortitude and commit to the war against terrorists.

The Huffington Post exclaims that “Donald Trump Heats Up Feud With Iran By Praising Anti-Government Protests”.

I’m not sure how much he could “heat up” a feud with Iran, the country that declared war on us in 1979 and the country that helped Shi’ite militias in Iraq kill US troops with their special IED explosives with guidance from Quds Force advisors.

The Iranian government denounced President Donald Trump on Saturday after he escalated his support for the anti-government protesters who have been holding demonstrations in the country for three days.

Trump tweeted Friday his praise of the “peaceful protests” in Iran, calling protesters “Iranian citizens fed up with regime’s corruption & its squandering of the nation’s wealth to fund terrorism abroad.”

On Saturday, the president tweeted two video clips of his speech at the United Nations General Assembly in September, in which he called the Iranian government an “oppressive regime” and suggested that Iran’s leaders are afraid of their own citizens.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi responded to Trump’s amped-up support in a state television report Saturday by insisting that “Iranian people give no credit to the deceitful and opportunist remarks of U.S. officials or Mr. Trump,” according to The Associated Press.

CNN reports that two protesters have died in the “peaceful protests” in Tehran. The government has also blocked the Telegraph mobile messaging application, although the desktop app remains unaffected.

“Many reports of peaceful protests by Iranian citizens fed up with regime’s corruption & its squandering of the nation’s wealth to fund terrorism abroad. Iranian govt should respect their people’s rights, including right to express themselves.” Trump added.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi pushed back against the US comments a day later, saying the Iranian people gave no credence to such “opportunistic” remarks by Trump or his administration.

His statement on the Foreign Ministry website also described “Mr Trump’s government” as the main source of ill will toward Iran.

Iranian officials have pointed to foreign intervention as being behind the anti-government protests.

I guess the media misses the Nobel-winning presidential touch which coddles the mullahs who have no illusions about their war against the United States.

In another link, CNN reports that five protesters were shot in Durod in the western part of Iran. So, tell me, who should President Trump support in this conflagration? If not the oppressed rebellious protesters, should he lend his support to the oppressive government, like his predecessor?

Military.com reports that Task Force Southwest, a Marine Corps contingent in Helmand Provence, Afghanistan has taken out Mohammad, a Taliban governor in Marjah;

“He was in a vehicle traveling with deputies, bodyguards, and a cousin of his, who was also a sub-commander,” Hubert said. “We took the shot [with two Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons] successfully, and [he was] dead on the spot, which was huge.”

Mohammad, who was based in the Taliban hotbed of Marjah, but operated throughout Helmand province, had been well-known to the Marines for years.

Col. Matthew Reid, deputy commander of the task force, told Military.com he had known about Mohammad in 2010, when he deployed to Helmand for active combat operations.

“We’re still not really fully aware of the exact ramifications of taking him out,” Reid said. “It was a pretty big takedown, so we’re pretty happy about it. He was behind a lot of attacks against Marines back in the day–really high profile attacks.”…Now, he said, newly leaderless Taliban fighters in southern Marjah are acting disorganized and confused, without orders to carry out.

According to PennLive, Ahmed Aminamin El-Mofty shot at officers before he was killed in the Pennsylvania capital city. One trooper was injured and she is recovering, according to reports. She was chased by El-Mofty who opened fire on her with two handguns. When troopers returned fire, El-Mofty was dead.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has joined the investigation. Marsico said EL-Mofty has ties to the East and West shore. El-Mofty also has ties to the Middle East, and traveled there recently, according to [Dauphin County District Attorney Ed] Marsico.

Marsico declined to comment on if Friday’s shootings were an act of terrorism, saying the motive was still under investigation.

“Obviously, we don’t want people to run wild in speculation,” he said.

Marsico also declined to say whether or not El-Mofty was known to officers prior to Friday’s shootings.

Well, if it quacks like a duck….

The local district attorney said that E-Mofti was targeting police, the Associated Press reports;

A prosecutor says there’s “no doubt” that a gunman who fired at police in several locations in Pennsylvania’s state capital, wounding one of them, was targeting police officers.

Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico says 51-year-old Ahmed Aminamin El-Mofty fired at a capital police officer shortly after 4 p.m. Friday and later at a state trooper, wounding her. Mr. Marsico says both officers were in marked vehicles.