January 31, 2016 - NIGERIA - Boko Haram militants killed 86 people, including children, in their recent attack on villages in northeastern Nigeria on Saturday. Horrifying details of the attacks emerged on Sunday.
The Saturday night assault on the outskirts of the Nigerian city of Maiduguri – the birthplace of Boko Haram – lasted for hours, targeting villages and camps housing some 25,000 refugees, AP has reported, citing survivors and soldiers at the scene. By Sunday afternoon, 86 bodies had collected, officials said, adding that another 62 victims were being treated for burns.
The Islamic extremists launched the attack on the village of Dalori, where scores of charred corpses and bodies with bullet wounds could be seen lying in the streets, AP reported. “During the incident, lives were lost while some people sustained injuries,” army spokesman Colonel Mustapha Anka confirmed, according to AFP.
Citing an eyewitness surviving the attack, AP reported that Boko Haram extremists firebombed huts. The survivor said that he had heard the screams of children burning to death from a hiding place in a tree.
The shooting and burning attack was carried out by three suicide bombers and continued for nearly four hours, eyewitness who lost several family members told AP.
WATCH: Boko Haram burned people alive in northeast Nigeria.
After scores of villagers had been murdered in Dalori, Boko Haram attackers targeted the neighboring village of Gamori, where three female suicide bombers blew themselves up among people who had managed to escape the first wave of violence, a soldier at the scene told AP. Survivors complained that it had taken too long for military help to arrive at the scene of the massacre from nearby Maiduguri, AP reported. The first troops to arrive in Dalori were unable to overcome the attackers, as the terrorists were better armed, soldiers told AP on condition of anonymity. The extremist aggressors retreated only after reinforcements with heavier weapons arrived.
The attack came just a day after Boko Haram carried out a twin bombing that claimed the lives of 15 people in Adamawa state, which is also in the northeast of Nigeria.The Boko Haram terrorist group, whose name is literally translated “Western education is forbidden,” is believed to be even more deadly than Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL). Its extremists in Africa are said to have killed more people that IS, to which they pledged allegiance in 2015.“There is a real bias against media coverage of terrorist attacks in Africa, and especially in Nigeria,” Max Abrahms, assistant professor of political science at Northeastern University in Boston, told RT. “I think many people would be surprised to know how much killing power the main terrorist group Boko Haram has,” he said, adding that if such attacks were carried out against people in European or North American countries, “there would be much more media coverage.”
About 20,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes since the Nigeria-based terror group launched a military campaign in 2009, with the goal of establishing Islamist rule. The military managed to drive most of the extremists out of the towns and villages of northeastern Nigeria last year, and since then Boko Haram has been attacking soft targets, increasingly with suicide bombers.
“It’s still mostly a local operation, although, over social media in particular, Boko Haram likes to pretend as if it’s a very international group, highly connected to Islamic State,” Abrahms told RT.
“But the truth is that different affiliates have stronger or weaker relations with IS central, [and] the Boko Haram affiliation is relatively detached, unlike the one in Libya, which is actually directed by the IS leadership in Syria,” he said. - RT.
December 17, 2015 - NIGERIA - Boko Haram militants have killed 30 people and injured 20 in
attacks on three villages in northeast Nigeria, AFP has reported, citing
a local who is helping out the national army. The Islamists reportedly
used machetes to “slaughter” their victims.
“Most of the victims were slaughtered and most of the wounded [had suffered] machete cuts,” said Mustapha Karimbe, a civilian who has been helping the Nigerian military fight Boko Haram.
The attacks on the three villages – Warwara, Mangari and Bura-Shika – happened on Saturday. All of the villages are located in the state of Borno, near Buratai, which is the hometown of Nigeria’s highest military chief – Tukur Yusuf Buratai.
Details of the attack are coming to light only now, as communication posts had been damaged in previous Boko Haram attacks.
Most of the victims, a total of 20, were killed in Warwara village, another six were murdered in Bura-Shika, and four died in Mangari, according to another witness.
The Nigeria-based Boko Haram terrorist group has killed more people than Islamic State (IS, previously ISIS/ISIL), claiming 6,644 lives compared to 6,073 killed by IS, revealed the Global Terrorism Index recently published by the Institute for Economic and Peace (IEP). The Nigerian jihadists pledged allegiance to IS in March 2015.
This latest attack comes as Boko Haram fighters have intensified their attacks on Buratai and nearby settlements. Attackers usually come into a village, raid it, and burn it down.
Locals told AFP that they see the attacks as retaliation for the army chief’s ongoing fight against Boko Haram militants.
The radical terror group’s six-year insurgency, which aims to create an Islamic caliphate in northeast Nigeria, has left more 17,000 people dead.
Last week Boko Haram brutally killed 14 people in the village of Kamuya, which is the hometown of the mother of Nigeria’s army chief. - RT.
November 18, 2015 - NIGERIA - At least 32 people were killed and 80 wounded after an explosive device went off at a market in the northeastern Nigerian city of Yola, humanitarian agencies say.
“Thirty-two people were killed and 80 have been injured,” Reuters quoted a Red Cross official as saying., Another official from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Alhaji Sa'ad Bello, later confirmed the same numbers of casualties.
It is still unclear who is responsible for the blast, but the armed group Boko Haram has carried out attacks on Yola in the past, including suicide bomber attacks and other bombings.
The blast was reported at around 8 pm local time.
“The explosion happened in the midst of a large crowd because the area houses a livestock market, an open-air eatery and a mosque,” AFP quoted Red Cross official Aliyu Maikano as saying. “Our main preoccupation now is to save the injured.”
ISIS-affiliated Boko Haram claims responsibility for Nigeria’s deadly suicide bombings http://on.rt.com/6t39
Twitter: RT
One witness described the horrific aftermath of the scene: “The ground near my shop was covered with dead bodies. I helped to load 32 dead bodies into five vehicles,” witness Alhaji Ahmed told Reuters.
Another local said there were up to eight ambulances on the scene attending to the victims.
The suspected perpetrators, Boko Haram, have pledged allegiance to Islamic State and killed thousands of people in the northeastern part of the country during the last six years. The militant group is fighting for a state that would strictly adhere to Sharia law.
The last time Boko Haram militants attacked northeastern Nigeria was in late October, when separate explosions in Yola and Maiduguri killed at least 37 people. Fighters from the group have been targeting public places, such as places of worship, local markets, and bus stations.
In the past, the extremist group has claimed responsibility for attacks in neighboring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.Boko Haram began its insurgency in 2009, and since then has killed at least 17,000 people and left another 2.5 million homeless. - RT.
March 9, 2015 - NIGERIA
- More than 50 people have been killed and over 130 wounded in as many
as five bombings in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri. No
group has yet claimed responsibility, but suspicion falls on Boko Haram
as they have previously targeted the area. “We’ve received 50 dead bodies from the blast scenes and 36 injured people,” Salisu Kwaya Bura, Chief Medical Officer of Borno Specialists Hospital, told reporters as cited Reuters. “The state government has directed the treatment for the injured persons to be free.”
However, no exact figures for the number of people killed and injured have so far been confirmed.
According
to the latest updates from police, a total of 58 people died and about
139, including many children, sustained injuries, AP reported. At the
same time, other sources have put the death toll at 54 and a number of
wounded at 143.
It has been also reported that there was a string
of bombings across the city. Up to five explosions targeted different
areas of Maiduguri, the largest city in northeastern Nigeria, one after
another.
The first explosions rocked Baga fish market, located near a crowded market named "Monday Market"
which has evolved into a daily market, around midday. The Baga bombing
appears to have been the deadliest of the five attacks; 36 deaths were
reported there. “The bomb was devastating because it occurred in a crowded area,” Jamuna Jarmi, a grocery seller, told the local Vanguard News.
Witnesses claimed it was carried out by a female suicide bomber who arrived in a motor rickshaw.
The
terrorist attack was followed by another suicide bombing, also near the
Monday Market, just an hour later. The witnesses reported a bomb
exploded near Post Office shopping area causing numerous casualties.
Shortly
afterwards, the Monday Market itself was also was targeted by female
suicide bombers, who detonated bombs killing dozens of people around
them.
According a trader, who spoke to the BBC, one of the bombers
had a bomb strapped to her body, while another one was carrying a bag
containing an explosive.
The fourth attack hit in the busy Borno
Express bus terminal. A witness managed to count about 12 lying bodies
but was unsure if they were dead or injured.
According to Danlami
Ajaokuta, a vigilante leader, the security forces ordered the closure of
all shops in the city, fearing more attacks could follow.
The main gate to the Monday Market is closed on March 7, 2015 after a blast in Maiduguri. (AFP Photo / Ptunji Omirin)
The
latest attack took place at a checkpoint in about 80 km from Maiduguri.
Three people were wounded as a bomb hidden in a car exploded.
No
militant organization has taken responsibility for the attacks, but Boko
Haram is primarily under suspicion as the group sees Maiduguri as its
strategic goal. Another distinctive feature that points towards Boko
Haram is female suicide bombers, who are widely used by its terrorists.
Boko
Haram, which wants to establish an Islamist caliphate based on Sharia
law in northern Nigeria, controls vast areas that make up a territory
approximately the size of Slovakia.
The militants reportedly plan to proclaim Maiduguri their capital in case they seize the city.
The
terrorist organization last tried to take the city in December 2013.
They managed to seize a local air force base which led to clashes with
regular troops. - RT.
Boko Haram leader pledges allegiance to Islamic State group
This screen grab image taken on February 18, 2015 from a video made
available by Islamist group Boko Haram shows their leader
Abubakar
Shekau making a statement at an undisclosed location (AFP Photo/)
The
leader of Nigeria's Boko Haram militants, Abubakar Shekau, pledged
allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group in an audio recording
released Saturday.
"We
announce our allegiance to the Caliph of the Muslims, Ibrahim ibn Awad
ibn Ibrahim al-Husseini al-Qurashi," said the voice on the message,
which was believed to be that of Shekau and was released through Boko
Haram's Twitter account.
Qurashi
is better known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the IS group which
has proclaimed a caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq.
Shekau spoke in Arabic, but the message contained French and English subtitles.
It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the message.
Shekau
was not pictured, a contrast from most of Boko Haram's past messages in
which the Islamist leader has been shown, often in close up shots.
But
Shekau did identify himself in the recording, which was accompanied by
the subtitles and a graphic including an image of a radio microphone.
There
have in recent months been signs of closer ties between the Nigerian
militants and the IS group, with both using similar ways of
communicating with the outside world. Boko Haram has notably begun
releasing videos that resemble those made by IS.
Boko Haram has been waging a six-year uprising against the Nigerian state, which has claimed more than 13,000 lives.
Analysts have long debated the extent of Boko Haram's ties to other jihadist groups, but the evidence was never clear. - Yahoo.
The leader of the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram Abubakar Shekau (C) delivering a speech.(AFP Photo / Boko Haram)
March 5, 2015 - NIGERIA
- At least 68 people have been killed by Boko Haram militants in
north-eastern Nigeria close to Maiduguri, the capital of the Borno
state, witnesses said. Many kids are reported to be among those killed,
as a village was stormed and then put on fire.
The gunmen attacked
the village Njaba in Dambua area, about 100 km from Maiduguri, early on
Tuesday at the time of the morning prayer. The incident was reported
much later due to the remoteness of the location.
Witnesses, who managed to escape from the village, said the militants targeted mainly men. “There was pandemonium everywhere,” Fatima Abakar said told The Sahara Reporters. “I
ran into the bush. Since then I [have] never seen my husband and three
children. [I] came back to our village in the afternoon, dead bodies was
scattered everywhere.""
In the course of the massacre the gunmen blew up houses with petrol bombs, setting the village ablaze before leaving. “They burnt many houses. Many people fled the villages into the bush," Kurri Bulama, local resident, said.
The survivors who returned to the village after the attack said the dead bodies were lying everywhere in the area unattended. “I participated in the counting of dead bodies. Sixty-eight people were killed,” Muminu Haruna, a witness, told AFP after escaping the attack on Tuesday in Njaba.
The witnesses said there were no military present in the village since Monday.
Boko
Haram is trying to create an Islamic state in the northeast of Nigeria
and has killed thousands and kidnapped hundreds in the process. It has
also threatened Nigeria’s neighbors: Chad, Cameroon and Niger.
Some
1.6 million Nigerians have been displaced, and thousands have been
killed as a result of the militants’ deadly attacks. In January the
group massacred more than 2,000 people in the northeastern town of Baga.
The
area of Maiduguri is seen as a key strategic goal for Boko Haram, which
wants to carve out an Islamist state in northern Nigeria. The terrorist
organization last tried to take the city in December 2013. They managed
to seize a local air force base which led to clashes with regular
troops. - RT.
November 08, 2013 - KUWAIT - The rate at which oysters are dying at the Khairan beach has doubled since the incident was first reported last Wednesday, an environmental organization warned in a statement yesterday in which they demanded extensive investigation to find the reasons behind this phenomenon. “The Kuwait Dive Team found piles of dead oysters in numbers that vastly exceed those first reported on Wednesday”, team leader and President of the Environment Voluntary Foundation Waleed Al-Fadhel said yesterday. He further indicated that other marine species such as crabs were found dead at the same site.
This comes as a government body rejected concern about a potential environmental phenomenon behind the massive number of dead oysters reported recently at the Khairan beach. “The dead oysters were likely disposed by people who caught them for consumption or to look for pearl”, said Dr Muna Husain, head of the biodiversity protection department at the Environment Public Authority. She further added in a statement Thursday that “dead oysters naturally do not float to the surface, but remain attached to the seafloor or rocks near the beach”.
Newspapers had quoted Al-Fadhel who insisted that what happened was not a result of human intervention. “Dead oysters were opened by 45 degrees whereas a person looking for pearl would open the shells by 180 degrees”, he explained in statements to Al-Watan daily. Al-Fadhel further indicated that three types of shellfish, in addition to squids and algae where recorded in the death site, which he says further supports the argument that what happened was a result of pollution or natural phenomenon.
The Green Line, meanwhile, seems to agree that the dead oysters were washed ashore after being first caught then dropped back in the sea. “According to eyewitnesses and scientific indicators compiled by marine specialists, there is no doubt that the oysters were first removed from the seafloor and then thrown back to the water by perpetrators looking for pearl”, Green Line President Khalid Al-Hajri said in a statement Thursday.
He further indicated that his group “managed to identify people suspected in this crime” through an “environmental inspection method that the Green Line exclusively adopts”. Al-Hajri also took the opportunity to criticize the EPA for “failing to protect the Kuwaiti shores as shown evident by the recent incident”, and also blamed “a voluntary organization which hosts a traditional pearl diving ceremony every year”.
Harvesting pearl oil is illegal in Kuwait’s territorial waters as per a Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources decision made in 2007 to protect the marine species from overfishing. The dead oysters were found near a location known historically as the “best spot to fish for pear oyster in Kuwaiti waters”, according to Al-Fadhel.
“The spot located in front of Al-Khairan at depths ranging between 1 and 4 meters is considered the best pearl diving spot for the past 300 years for producing the most expensive kinds of pearl in the world”, said Al-Fadhel who called for procedures to protect “the national wealth”. Meanwhile, Al-Fadhel revealed that the Kuwait Dive Team recorded red tide in Al-Fentas Thursday, but did not connect between this phenomenon and the oyster deaths.
The reason for the catastrophic oyster massacre off Khairan seashore remains unknown. “Something massive happened there,” said Dr Manaf Behbehani, a scientist from Kuwait University’s Faculty of Science, pointing at the pile of dead oysters spread across the seashore in Khairan, south of Kuwait City. Speaking to Kuwait Times yesterday, he summed four possible causes of the kill as biological, chemical, physical or man-made. He explained that the reason for the fish-kill could be a natural biological cause, such as red tide or a virus or poisonous animals. According to him, the chemical cause could be from a desalination plant or chemical leakage and the physical reason could be sand covering the oyster bed. “Something happened there,” he said, elaborating that currently scientists and researchers are not excluding any cause. “For now we only have hypotheses,” he said.
Stressing that this is unprecedented for Kuwait’s seashores, Team Leader and President of the Environment Voluntary Foundation Waleed Al-Fadhel explained that the area where the fish-kill happened is the most popular site for oysters in Kuwait. ‘This is where our grandfathers used to dive and collect oysters,” Fadhel said.
The Kuwait Diving Team discovered that the oyster bed in Khairan area was normal yesterday; the density was also normal. Going northwards, however, they discovered that there were a smaller number of oysters in addition to dead oysters. Last week the lack of visibility did not allow the divers to investigate the reasons for the fish-kill. Yesterday, good visibility allowed them to see one meter under the seawater. But the Kuwait Diving Team said that they could not identify the reason for the fish-kill. The team managed to take a toxin sample which will be provided to the Environment Public Authority (EPA) laboratory for further tests and analysis.
Mahmoud Ashkanani, member of the Kuwait Diving Team, told Kuwait Times yesterday that the site was clean and there was no pollution detected. Asserting that investigations are still ongoing, he said that there is a law for the protection of seashells that individuals, companies and the authorities need to adhere to. “What we are sure is that whatever caused the oyster deaths, they were not pearl hunters,” Ashkanani explained.
What happens now? According to Behbehani the first stage now is to quantify the size of the fish-kill followed by a thorough investigation of the cause. The latter undertaking would require the combined effort of various authorities and researchers from the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, the Environment Public Authority and Kuwait University. Currently, Behbehani said, who are separately investigating the reasons for the fish-kill. After the lab analyses and findings from KISR, EPA and KU are completed, the researchers will compare the results. Kuwait Times reported yesterday that the rate at which oysters were dying at Khairan beach has doubled since the incident was first reported a week ago. Due to sand shifting, however, the amount of dead oysters was visibly less yesterday.
Catastrophe or not? Initially a government authority rejected the claims about a potential environmental catastrophe. “The dead oysters were likely disposed by people who caught them for consumption or to look for pearls,” Dr Muna Husain, head of the biodiversity protection department at the EPA was quoted as saying in a statement last week. She said that dead oysters naturally do not float to the surface, but remain attached to the seafloor or rocks near the beach. Moreover, last week the Environment Public Authority announced plans to take legal action against environmentalists who linked the massive oyster deaths to possible pollution. Fadhel last week indicated that three types of shellfish, in addition to squids and algae, were found at the site, which he says supports the argument that what happened was a result of pollution or a natural phenomenon. Stressing that the large number of dead oysters found makes it impossible to assume that the shellfish were caught and opened by humans. “Dead oysters were open 45 degrees whereas a person looking for pearls would open the shells 180 degrees.”
According to Fadhel, harvesting pearls is illegal in Kuwait’s territorial waters as per a decision of the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources in 2007 to protect the marine species from overfishing. The environmental catastrophe sparked public attention since it was first reported by the local press last Wednesday, as it highlights an environmental concern stemming from various reports about the pollution of Kuwait’s marine environment in recent years, and is surrounded with mystery given the state in which the dead shellfish were found. - Kuwait Times.
October 26, 2013 - ITALY - It is a massacre. The blue tongue is doing the slaughter of animals on farms in the province. The data updated Thu 17 are a war Bulletin: more than 43 percent of livestock farms have been infected by Bluetongue virus (2,833 1,236 outbreaks on farms), causing a massacre. Fallen stock in 66 villages in the North-West are 16 thousand 824 out of a total of 387 thousand 228. According to the epidemiological findings of the local crisis unit, the spread of the virus came from the mouth of the Coghinas and the Tirso.
Very few happy Islands spared by the epidemic: Viddalba, the northern area of Bonorva, Nule, Villanova Monteleone and campaigns between Sassari and Osilo. For the rest in 66 municipalities of Sassarese is difficult even to count the damage. As the worst hit area incidence is the health district of Ozieri, with 6.32 percent of fallen stock (8912 on 141034). Fearful the figures of animals killed by blue tongue even in other health districts: 3,464 to Sassari (1,977 only in the municipality capital), 2,718 in Goceano, 1730 in Alghero. In previous emergencies, in 2009, the chiefs died as a result of the virus were just over 9,000, plus another 1,700 killed.
Now the count is much more dramatic, as explains Francesco Sgarangella, Director of prevention Services of the Asl of Sassari. The health Executive spoke yesterday during the meeting of the Environment Committee, with representatives of Multiss, hoc convened by its Chairman, Mario Campus. The tones were not of the best: "this new epidemic is a defeat for the health care system, for the livestock and world politics. We must all admit that the guard was lowered, and many farmers did not want to vaccinate their animals.
By 2014, this is no longer possible: health regulations require the mandatory vaccination, together with a series of preventive measures that no farmer can afford to ignore. "We hope to start by January with the vaccination campaign, if that were the case, we can really fight the virus ' underlined Sgarangella.
Combat blue tongue will move on two fronts: indirect prophylaxis (vaccination) with the use of inactivated vaccine and BTV8 BTV1; direct prophylaxis with pest control actions in the public areas and with various measures in livestock farms.
At the meeting, present the provincial Councillor for the environment, Paolo Bianchini, were also invited regional advisors, but only one responded to the call. Is Louis lot (Pd), which took the opportunity to point the finger at the region: «the emergency was handled in a very bad, not from Asl but by region. The Department of Agriculture is absent, capable only of providing compensation, which are so righteous and due, but this is not the way to solve a problem so serious '. - La Nuova. [Translated]
September 22, 2013 - KENYA - Sixty-eight dead. At least 175 injured. About 30 hostages still inside, as well as perhaps a dozen gunmen.
Those are the grim numbers, more than a day after Islamist attackers stormed an upscale Nairobi mall on Saturday, spraying bullets and holding shoppers captive.
Elaine Dang of San Diego is helped to safety after the attack. The military asked local media not to televise
anything live because the gunmen are watching the screens in the mall.
Kenyan paramilitary police officers patrol the area near the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, where hostages are
being held for the second day on Sunday, September 22. Gunmen burst into the mall and opened fire in a deadly
attack on September 21. Kenyan government and Western diplomatic sources said Al-Shabaab militants were
holding about 30 hostages inside the shopping center on Sunday. As grim-faced Kenyan soldiers warily
searched the five-story building -- and as Al-Shabaab maintained its defiant stance --
the siege was no closer to a resolution.
The tense standoff continued into Sunday night, with sporadic gunfire heard through the day and at least one explosion.
Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta told reporters Sunday afternoon the Kenyan people had showed resiliency as a nation and would triumph against the attackers.
The tragedy was also personal for Kenyatta; one of his nephews and his fiancee were among the dead.
"They shall not get away with their despicable, beastly acts. Like the cowardly perpetrators now cornered in the building, we will punish the masterminds swiftly and indeed very painfully," Kenyatta said.
Kenyan government and Western diplomatic sources said Al-Shabaab militants were holding about 30 hostages inside the shopping center.
WATCH: Dozens captive inside Kenya mall.
As grim-faced Kenyan soldiers warily searched the five-story building Sunday -- and as Al-Shabaab maintained its defiant stance -- the siege was no closer to a resolution.
There are 10 to 15 gunmen involved, Kenyatta said.
"We know that they were across the building," State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu told CNN's Zain Verjee. "We know that they are now isolated somewhere within the building."
Soldiers kept vigil outside the mall, guns dangling from their shoulders.
"We want to do everything possible, and the security people are doing everything possible to make sure we lose no more lives," Esipisu said.
A woman shields a baby as a soldier stands guard inside the Westgate Mall on Saturday, September 21.
A rescue worker helps a child outside the mall on September 21.
The Kenyan Red Cross tweeted that nine bodies were recovered Sunday night, bringing the death toll to 68.
More
than 175 were injured in the attack, Kenyatta said, offering his
support to the wounded and relatives of the dead. He said that he and
other Kenyan officials visited hospitals Sunday morning.
"No
one should lose their life so needlessly, so senselessly and no family
should have to receive news that their loved ones have been killed by a
criminal bunch of cowards," he said.
It was the deadliest terror attack in Kenya since al Qaeda blew up the U.S. Embassy there in 1998, killing 213 people.
The attack Saturday targeted a popular weekend meeting spot. Kenyans and expatriates gather at the luxurious Westgate Shopping Mall on weekends to drink lattes, catch a movie or browse through the more than 80 stores.
WATCH: What led to al-Shabab attack on Kenya mall?
Al-Shabaab,
al Qaeda's proxy in Somalia, claimed responsibility, and said it was
not backing down. In a message on its Twitter feed, the group said "all
Muslims" were escorted from the mall before the attack.
"When
justice is denied, it must be enforced," it said in a tweet Sunday.
"Kenyans were relatively safe in their cities before they invaded us
& killed Muslims #Westgate"
Since Kenya
launched attacks against Al-Shabaab in Somalia in 2011, the group has
hurled grenades at Kenyan churches, bus stops and other public places.
Last
year, the Kenyan military played a major role in handing Al-Shabaab
forces a defeat when as part of a peacekeeping mission, they liberated
the key Somali port of Kismayo. Many questions
Late in the day, helicopters approached the mall. Activity around the center picked up briefly but then it was quiet again.
Police in Kenya grew irritated as people took to social media to describe what they were seeing and hearing.
"If
you must Facebook or tweet, then talk about football or your favourite
music but NOT MISINFORM the public on security operations!" authorities
said on Twitter.
Earlier in the day, three injured
security forces were taken out of the besieged mall, but the severity of
their injuries was unclear.
Men help a wounded woman outside the mall on September 21.
People who had been hiding inside the mall during the gunfire flee the scene.
By Sunday afternoon, at least 1,000 people had been freed from the mall, Kenyatta said.
One apparent hostage left the building Sunday, and said she had been hiding in the basement of the mall, CNN affiliate KTN reported.
Al-Shabaab vowed not to negotiate with Kenyan authorities.
"The Mujahideen are still strong inside #Westgate Mall and still holding their ground," the group tweeted late Saturday.
Israeli special forces are at the scene and are working with their Kenyan counterparts in the hostage crisis, Kenyan government sources told CNN.
Kenyatta said several nations had offered help but "this remains an operation of the Kenya security agencies."
WATCH: Gunfire as standoff continues in Kenya mall.
Esipisu said there were reports of a white woman among the hostage takers. Kenyan intelligence officials were investigating the claims, he said.
Esipisu was asked if the reported woman was thought to be the infamous Al-Shabaab-affiliated "White Widow," Samantha Lewthwaite. "Nothing is being ruled out," he said.
But CNN terrrorism analyst Peter Bergen said it was unlikely.
"It
would be very unusual for a woman to be involved in one of these
operations," he said. "Typically these groups are misogynist. Their view
is the woman should be in a home and shrouded in a body veil."
Lewthwaite's
husband, Germaine Lindsey, was one of the suicide bombers killed in the
2005 attack on London's transportation system. His Buckinghamshire-born
widow is wanted by Kenyan authorities for her alleged role as an
Al-Shabaab and al Qaeda-linked financier. A day of horror
The
calm was shattered around noon local time Saturday. Gunshots erupted as
shoppers picked up groceries, savored lunch and browsed through the
racks at stores.
Before long, pools of blood smeared pristine hallways. Bodies lay strewn across the floor.
Uche
Kaigwa-Okoye was sipping coffee when he heard what first sounded like a
fallen table, then the continuing rat-a-tat of gunfire. As the gunshots
became louder, screaming crowds headed for the exits.
He joined 20 people who took shelter for about five hours in a women's bathroom cubicle.
An injured man is wheeled into the Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi.
People run from the Westgate Mall.
"They had grenades, and it was really, really loud," he said of the attackers. He noticed tear gas in the hallways as well.
"All of us felt like they were close," he said.
As people texted family and friends outside the mall, word spread that nobody could be trusted. And even if the good guys could be sorted from the bad guys, the intermittent barrages of gunfire made any escape attempt seem futile.
Sara Head, a Washington resident, experienced similar horror in the mall's parking garage. As her car pulled up, she heard gunfire. She crawled underneath and hid behind cars before getting into a stairwell.
Eventually, the stairwell lights came back on and the door to a nearby supermarket opened. She dashed through, passed a nearby loading dock and fled to safety.
WATCH: Kenya forces move to end mall siege.
"There was blood throughout the supermarket," Head said. "It wasn't clear if it was OK to exit."
Several Kenyan agencies made a plea for blood donations.
"Hospitals are appealing for more blood, the response is incredible but more is needed," tweeted Francis Kimemia, secretary to the Cabinet.
Foreigners among casualties
Most of the casualties are Kenyan, authorities said. But the mall is popular with expatriates and foreign nationals, who were among those killed and injured.
Those killed include three British citizens, two French nationals and two Canadians, including a diplomat, their governments said.
Several American citizens were among the wounded, including Elaine Dang, a University of California, Berkeley, graduate.
A Kenyan woman is helped to safety after the masked gunmen stormed the upscale mall
and sprayed gunfire on shoppers and staff.
Bodies lie outside the shopping mall.
Dang worked as the general manager for Eat Out Kenya, which confirmed her injuries on its Twitter and Facebook pages.
The State Department said Saturday there were several Americans among the injured, but none among the dead. Secretary of State John Kerry didn't offer details.
The U.S. Embassy is asking personnel to stay in place Sunday and avoid the Westgate Mall area and any large gatherings. All U.S. citizens in Kenya are urged to register online so the embassy can provide them with updated information on travel and security -- and can contact them in case of emergency.
WATCH: Kenyan forces push to end mall standoff.
Israel's Foreign Ministry said one national was slightly wounded and three escaped. A cafe at the mall is owned by an Israeli, but the ministry does not believe the mall was targeted because of that.
September 07, 2013 - MADAGASCAR - Hundreds of dead fish floated yesterday in a river through the port city of Tamatave, in eastern Madagascar. Analyses are underway to determine the cause of the carnage.
Mysterious fish kill in Madagascar.
Stunning yesterday for the people of Tamatave, which in their wake, have discovered hundreds of dead fish covering a surface of Pangalanes.
"We still do not know which products have poisoned the fish," said the head of the region, Alain Mahavimbina in L'Express de Madagascar.
The latter states that samples have already been made for the purpose of analysis to identify the exact causes of this massacre.
Pending the results of the analyzes, the population of the Grand Harbour was asked not to drink water from the canal and especially not to eat freshwater fish.
Unfortunately, laments the newspaper, malicious did not wait long to recover the fish and sell them in local markets. - LINFO. [Translated]
Middle East military tensions around Syria shot up again Monday, June 18, with the news reported by the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars that a joint Russian-Chinese-Iranian exercise is to take place in Syria. It was described as “the biggest of its kind ever staged in the Middle East” with 90,000 personnel, 400 air planes and 900 tanks taking part.
A cordial handshake between Russian and Chinese admir.als
As part of its preparations, Beijing is reported to have asked Egyptian authorities to permit the passage through the Suez Canal in late June of 12 naval ships heading for the Syrian port of Tartus, where Moscow maintains a naval and marine base. debkafile reported earlier this week that Russian naval vessels with marines on board were heading for Tartus. The Iranian media did not itemize their contribution to the joint exercise. debkafile stresses that this would be the first time that substantial Russian and Chinese military strength has ever been deployed in Syria or anywhere else in the Middle East. It means that the two powers are prepared to parade their unabashed partnership with the Iranian and Syrian armies for the shared purpose of obstructing US-European-Arab military intervention in Syria.
A large-scale Russian and Chinese military presence in the embattled country would expect to deter the United States from leading a military operation against Bashar Assad and his regime. No date was attached to the report but the exercise may possibly take place before the end of the month The large-scale maneuver was announced in Tehran on the first day of the nuclear crisis talks in Moscow between Iran and the six world powers, their third attempt to resolve the crisis by diplomacy. However, Russian and Iranian sources close to the talks were pessimistic about progress. An Iranian delegation member complained the atmosphere was harsh and unconstructive. A Russian source saw no way of bridging US-led Western differences with Tehran when the parties reconvene Monday. debkafile also notes that the big joint Russian-Chinese-Iranian exercise “at sea, air and land on Syrian soil,” was released for publication shortly before US President Barack Obama was due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit in Mexico. - DEBKA.
Ships carrying Russian commandos may soon sail to Syria to escort strongman Bashar Assad to safety from the country where a rebellion against him is growing fiercer.
A child at Syrian rebel rally. Reuters.
Reports to this effect were cited by Voice of Israel radio's veteran "listener" Miki Gurdus, who specializes in listening to radio broadcasts on various frequencies worldwide. The Interfax news agency said Monday that two Russian navy ships are to sail to Syria to protect Russian citizens and its naval base there. This would be the first time since the current rebellion in Syria began that Russia is sending extra troops to its base in Syria. Cited by the Associated Press, Interfax quoted an unidentified Russian navy official as saying that the Nikolai Filchenkov and Caesar Kunikov amphibious assault vessels will be heading to the Syrian port of Tartus. The ships appear not to have left their home port in Sevastopol on the Black Sea yet. The Russian official mentioned nothing about evacuating Assad, but said the ships will carry an unspecified number of marines to protect Russians in Syria and evacuate materials from Tartus if necessary. Russia has shielded Damascus from international sanctions over its bloody crackdown on the rebellion against the minority Alawite regime. Russia also continued to provide the regime with arms. - Israel National News.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press is reporting that two Russian navy ships are completing
preparations to sail to Syria with a unit of marines on a mission to
protect Russian citizens and the nation's base there, a news report said
Monday. The deployment appears to reflect Moscow's growing concern
about Syrian President Bashar Assad's future.
The Interfax news agency quoted an unidentified Russian navy official as saying that the two amphibious landing vessels, Nikolai Filchenkov and Caesar Kunikov, will be heading shortly to the Syrian port of Tartus, but didn't give a precise date. The official said the ships will carry an unspecified number of marines to protect Russians in Syria and evacuate some equipment from Tartus, if necessary. Each ship is capable of carrying up to 300 marines and a dozen tanks, according to Russian media reports. That would make it the largest known Russian troop deployment to Syria, signaling that Moscow is becoming increasingly uneasy about Syria's slide toward civil war. - AP.
The US government has enlisted Britain's help in a bid to stop a ship suspected of carrying Russian attack helicopters and missiles to conflict-riven Syria, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.
The helicopters Hillary Clinton was referring to
are believed to be part of a 36-strong consignment ordered by the Syrian
government at the end of the Soviet era, some of which were transferred
back to Russia recently for routine maintenance.
The MV Alaed, a Russian-operated cargo vessel, is currently thought to be sailing through the North Sea after allegedly picking up a consignment of munitions and MI25 helicopters - known as "flying tanks" - from the Russian Baltic port of Kaliningrad. Washington, which last week condemned Moscow for continuing to arm the Syrian regime, has asked British officials to help stop the Alaed delivering its alleged cargo by using sanctions legislation to force its London-based insurer to withdraw its cover.
Under the terms of the current European Union arms embargo against Syria, imposed in May last year, there is a ban on the "transfer or export" of arms and any related "brokering" services such as insurance. Withdrawal of a ship's insurance cover would make it difficult for it legally to dock elsewhere and could force it to return the cargo to port. The request to London from US officials comes after the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, disclosed on Tuesday that Moscow was in the process of shipping a batch of attack helicopters to Syria. Dismissing Russian government claims that its weapons sales to Syria would not be used for internal repression, Mrs Clinton warned the shipment could "quite dramatically" escalate the conflict, which has already claimed an estimated 10,000 lives. Yesterday, the United Nations monitoring mission said it had suspended its work because of "intensifying" violence on either side, which was putting its teams of unarmed observers at risk. - Telegraph.
UN observers in Syria have suspended their patrols and activities. The mission chief cites escalating violence in the Arab country, where both opposition and regime forces are striving for military gains rather than a peaceful resolution. A sharp rise in the bloodshed has derailed the mission "to observe, verify, report as well as assist in local dialogue and stability projects," said the head of the UN observers. The ability of the unarmed force to defuse the year-long conflict, which every day looks more like a civil war, is in doubt.
There appears to be a "lack of willingness" from Syria's government and opposition to seek peace, continued the leader of the contingent, Norwegian General Robert Mood. Instead the mission sees "a push towards advancing military positions." "Violence over the past 10 days has been intensifying willingly by the both parties, with losses on both sides and significant risks to our observers," General Mood told reporters in Damascus. The 300 observers will not be conducting patrols, says General Mood, but will stay in their locations in the country “until further notice.” The suspension will be reviewed on a daily basis, but the mission is still ready to resume its mandated activities when the situation in the country grows fit. The suspension is the latest blow to international envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan. Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and the opposition have both ignored the proposed ceasefire, which was supposed to go into effect April 12. Russia still regards Annan’s six-point plan as a crucial factor in resolving the Syrian crisis, which is estimated to have taken over 10,000 lives in over a year. The UN monitors’ security should be a priority to all the parties to the conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Kofi Annan on Saturday. UN observers in Syria were first attacked on June 13 as the mission was trying to enter the town of Al-Heffa. They had gone there after government troops overran the area near the Mediterranean coast, seizing it back from rebels after battles that raged for eight days. Locals threw stones at the UN vehicle and fired several shots. This prompted the UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous to say the crisis in Syria has grown into “a civil war.”
Russian ships on standby Moscow says the Russian Black Sea fleet is on standby, ready to sail to Syria’s port of Tartus in the event Russian citizens living in Syria requiring evacuation. US media speculate a Russian military vessel is already making way to the Tartus, which Moscow uses as a Mediterranean naval base. The ship is reportedly carrying weapons to resupply Russia's defenses at the base. “All our ships are at their base in Sevastopol except the big landing craft vessel Ceasar Kunikov, but it is sailing in the opposite direction: from the Mediterranean back to the Black Sea. On Saturday it will dock in Sevastopol,” a source in Russia’s Joint Staff told Itar-Tass news agency. The source has confirmed that if the Tartus naval base requires protection, the Black Sea Fleet is quite likely to be assigned with the task. “Several ships of the Black Sea Fleet are on full alert to sail out, this includes big landing craft vessels with naval troops aboard,” said the official. Russia’s Air Forces will support the Navy in their possible mission to Tartus, if a relevant order is issued. “We should protect our nationals. I am sure we will not abandon Russians and evacuate them from the conflict area if required,” Air Force Chief Deputy Vladimir Gradusov told reporters on Saturday. A Russian warship found itself “en route” to Syria in American news outlets just several days after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had accused Russia of sending attack helicopters to Syria, a move she said escalated violence in the Arab country. On Thursday however this lost steam as the State Department acknowledged the helicopters were actually refurbished ones already owned by the Assad regime. Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday that Moscow is only providing Syria with defense weapons coming under old contracts. The refurbishment of the helicopters supplied many years ago had been planned some timein advance. - RT.
WATCH: UN suspends Syria mission due to rising violence.
The United States and Russia continue discussions on a post-Assad
transition strategy despite some disagreements on approaches to the
settlement of a political crisis in Syria, the U.S. State Department
said. U.S. Deputy State Secretary Robert Burns met with Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday on the sidelines of the Hearts of
Asia ministerial meeting in Kabul to discuss a wide range of issues,
including the situation in Syria.
A protester burns a portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“It was a constructive conversation. I won't say there aren't still
gaps. There are still gaps, but it was a constructive conversation. And
we're continuing to talk to the Russians about this [crisis in Syria],”
State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said at a news briefing on
Thursday. Russia has twice – along with China - vetoed UN resolutions against
Damascus over what it calls a pro-rebel bias, but has, however, fully
backed UN envoy Kofi Annan’s six-point plan, which calls for the
withdrawal of heavy weaponry from urban areas and a ceasefire to end
15-months of spiraling violence there. Western powers are trying to persuade Russia to apply pressure on
Syrian President Bashar Assad and convince him to cede the power in the
country to opposition before the current crisis escalates to a civil
war. - RIA Novosti.
CNN reports
this afternoon that the Pentagon has finalized plans to attack Syria
and forcefully depose its leader, Bashar al-Assad, under the cover of
securing weapons of mass destruction and preventing “sectarian violence”
it has fomented by supporting and training the Free Syrian Army.
“The U.S. military has completed its own planning for how American troops would conduct a variety of operations against Syria, or to assist neighboring countries in the event action was ordered, officials tell CNN.” CNN says the Pentagon has “finalized its assessment of what types of units would be needed, how many troops, and even the cost of certain potential operations.” “There is a sense that if the sectarian violence in Syria grows, it could be worse than what we saw in Iraq,” an unnamed Obama administration official told CNN. The attack plan is similar to the one used against Libya: The military planning includes a scenario for a no-fly zone as well as protecting chemical and biological sites. Officials say all the scenarios would be difficult to enact and involve large numbers of U.S. troops and extended operations. CNN reveals that the United States, Britain and France have discussed the attack, which they describe as “contingency scenarios,” and have trained specifically for a military intervention. They are also “sharing of intelligence about what is happening in Syria with neighboring countries including Jordan, Turkey and Israel.” - Info Wars.
Meanwhile, Syrian Air Force is preparing bombing raids as part of their
fight against insurgents and terrorists north of Aleppo. A look at
home-made problems and terror networking darkens the picture, and the
right strategy appears to still be out of reach.
Consultant and peace activist Christoph R. Hörstel told RT that his information
“is directly obtained from Syrian security personnel of various origins
personally taking part in battles and other operations, and/or close
relatives of such personnel – some are even well-known people. The
information reaches me through a partner in Turkey. I counter-check all
information obtained this way as best as possible under the
circumstances,” Hörstel said. He gives an outline of the military’s activities from Syria. These
days, the Syrian Army is busy preparing for the prolonged fighting to
prevent the establishment of a war zone from the northwestern town of
Hafeh, to Hassakeh in the northeast. As one of the first targets, the
areas around Aleppo are under scrutiny, involving a huge military
deployment. More military operations are due in Idlib and Hafeh. Kurdish
volunteers, who until now have not responded to rebel advances, are
being weaponized – and thus internally upgraded in status – by the
government east of Hassakeh for boarder guarding; southern borders are
being mined, and a buffer zone has been established inside Lebanon to
keep Syria trouble-free at least in part; coastal areas are now fully
under control, say official sources – but how correct that is will soon
be clear. - RT.
All this, against the background of a report from Human Rights Watch, that Government forces have used rape and other sexual violence against
men, women and children during the Syrian uprising.
The US-based group said it had recorded 20 incidents from interviews
inside and outside Syria with eight victims, including four women, and
more than 25 other people with knowledge of sexual abuse - including
medical workers, former detainees, army defectors, and women's rights
activists. "Sexual violence in detention is one of many horrific weapons in the
Syrian government's torture arsenal and Syrian security forces
regularly use it to humiliate and degrade detainees with complete
impunity," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at HRW. "The assaults are not limited to detention facilities - government
forces and pro-government shabiha militia members have also sexually
assaulted women and girls during home raids and residential sweeps." Cases were reported all around Syria, but most of all in Homs province, an epicentre of the revolt. - Stuff.
Russia is shipping attack helicopters to Syria’s Assad regime that is fighting to defeat a 15-monthlong uprising, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. “We are concerned by the latest information we have that there are attack helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria, which will escalate the conflict quite dramatically,” Clinton said at a conference today in Washington.
Annan has said Syria risks 'all-out civil war' if there is no pressure to abide by his six-point plan.
Pentagon spokesman Captain John Kirby said he couldn’t confirm Clinton’s information, although “we know that they are using helicopter gunships now to attack their own people.” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland declined to disclose the source of Clinton’s information or to elaborate on it. In Syria, there are signs that government forces have been massing in the past day or two around Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and financial center, Clinton said. “That could very well be a red line for the Turks in terms of their strategic and national interests,” she said. “We are watching this very carefully.” Clinton said the U.S. supports the efforts by United Nations-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan to form a group of nations that includes Russia to develop a “road map for political transition” in Syria.
While Russia has advocated including Iran in talks about a Syrian transition, Clinton said that would be a “grave error” because Iran has trained and supported both Syrian government forces and militias blamed for civilian massacres. Clinton said the U.S. has a time line to see if Annan can be successful in efforts to quell the violence and initiate a shift that removes Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power. The “outer limit” is mid-July, when the UN Security Council is to consider whether to extend the observer force, she said. Without “discernible” progress, she said, “it will be very difficult to extend a mission that is increasingly dangerous for the observers on the ground.” Speaking at the same event, Israeli President Shimon Peres said the Arab League should take the lead on resolving the Syrian crisis. - Business Week.
WATCH: Kieran Dwyer, a spokesman for the UN peacekeeping office, discusses his office's assertion that Syria has entered into a civil war.
UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said Tuesday that Syria is now in a full-scale civil war as President Bashar al-Assad's military battles opposition forces around the country.
A UNSMIS image shows smoke rising following shelling from the central flashpoint city of Homs on June 11.
Asked whether he believed Syria is in a civil war, Ladsous told a small group of reporters: "Yes I think we can say that. Clearly what is happening is that the government of Syria lost some large chunks of territory, several cities to the opposition, and wants to retake control. There is a massive increase in the level of violence," Ladsous said. At least 36 people were killed in shelling and clashes across Syria on Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Regime forces rained shells on rebel positions in the northwestern Latakia province, pounding the town of Al-Haffe for the eighth straight day as they appeared to be preparing to storm it, monitors said.
The Observatory said troops also shelled rebel bastions in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, the northern province of Aleppo and several parts of the central province of Homs. At least 120 people have died in fighting in Al-Haffe over the past week, including 68 troops, 29 civilians and 23 rebels, with hundreds wounded, the Observatory says. Troops also stepped up attacks on the central city of Homs and its suburbs, pounding rebel positions. Nationwide violence cost the lives of at least 111 people on Monday, including 79 civilians. More than 14,100 people, most of them civilians, have been killed since the anti-regime revolt erupted in March 2011, according to the Observatory. - The Jakarta Globe.
President Barack Obama has told the US Navy and Air Force to prepare air
strikes on Syria as part of a “no fly zone” that will be enforced with
the aid of British and French military power, according to a report.
“Their mission will be to knock out Assad’s central
regime and military command centers so as to shake regime stability and
restrict Syrian army and air force activity for subduing rebel action
and wreaking violence on civilian populations,” reports Israeli intelligence outfit DebkaFile.
Having threatened military action for months, the United
States was apparently encouraged by the fact that Russia is once again
backing down from its harsh rhetoric and indicating that it will not
oppose the toppling of President Bashar Al-Assad. After having intimated that Russia would support Syria via indirect military means if NATO powers launched an attack, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Saturday
that Russia “will be only glad to support such an outcome” (the ousting
of Assad), suggesting Moscow has softened on the idea of regime change
in Syria. The likelihood of military intervention has been brought forward by reports that opposition rebels are planning to use chemical weapons and then blame the atrocity on Assad’s regime. Rebels attempted to stage a similar ‘false flag’ recently when British Channel 4 reporter Alex Thomson was purposefully led by rebels into a trap whereby it was hoped he would be killed by government troops and his death used as a propaganda stunt. Hostility towards Syria from the international community
has intensified in recent weeks, particularly after the recent massacre
in Houla which was blamed on Assad’s forces despite the fact that
eyewitnesses in Houla said opposition rebels were responsible for the
slaughter, which killed 108 people – mostly women and children. As Daniel McAdams highlights, the Houla massacre has
been exalted as the primary justification for military intervention and
yet the media-generated narrative behind the atrocity has completely
collapsed. “A respected mainstream publication, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ),
has reported that the infamous Houla massacre in Syria, which the US
and NATO hoped would be the casus belli for their planned invasion, was
in fact carried out by rebel forces,” writes McAdams.
As we reported last weekend,
the presence of Syrian National Transitional Council head Bassma
Kodmani at the recent Bilderberg confab of global power brokers in
Chantilly Virginia strongly suggested that a military assault on Syria
was nearing. US air strikes on Syria will be launched without Congressional approval, just as Obama green lighted the attack on Libya with a churlish disregard for the constitutional process. US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has repeatedly stated
that Congressional authorization for a military assault on Syria will
not be sought by the Obama administration, which considers NATO and the
UN to be the supreme authority. Given what happened last year in Libya, where Al-Qaeda flags now fly high over courthouses
and other centers of power while minorities are brutally oppressed –
allied to what is set to unfold in Syria – our warning back in 2008
before Obama even took office has become even more prescient. “Obama may eventually withdraw a portion of troops from
Iraq, but mark our words, they won’t be home long before they are sent
off to bomb another broken-backed third world country, this time in the
name of a United Nations-backed “humanitarian” war, just as Bill Clinton
presided over in Somalia and Serbia with the full support of the
establishment political left.” we wrote on November 4 2008 in an article
entitled, The More Things “Change” The More They Stay The Same. The same “humanitarian” bloodbath inflicted on Libya,
which went from the most prosperous country in Africa to a sectarian
nightmare ruled by brigades of armed thugs,
now awaits Syria unless the likes of China and Russia back up their
rhetoric with any real action, a scenario that is becoming increasingly
unlikely with each passing day. - Prison Planet.
WATCH: Obama accelerates preparations for limited air strike, no-fly zones in Syria .
Russian Defense Ministry launched an intensive training units for operations abroad, including in Syria. Preparation for combat operations in this country, may lead Pskov 76th air assault division of Airborne, the 15th Brigade combined arms in Samara, as well as special units staffed by the Chechens, who had previously served in the GRU spetsbatalonah "West" and "East" writes, "Nezavisimaya Gazeta", citing anonymous sources in the military.
Pskov Airborne Division - one of the most combat-ready connections in the Russian army, the newspaper notes. Its officers, NCOs and men participated in the peacekeeping operation in Kosovo in 1999-2001, in both Chechen wars in 1994-1996 and 1999-2007, and in the war with Georgia in August 2008. In 2004, the first division in the Russian army was fully contracted. As for the Chechen soldier, then in 2006-2007 they were initiated by then-Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has successfully carried out peacekeeping missions in Lebanon, reminiscent of "NG". They distinguished themselves in combat operations against Georgia in South Ossetia in August 2008. In addition, preparation for possible action in the Syrian special forces have already passed from the separate brigade of marines Black Sea Fleet. They were present at the patrol ship "Smetliviy", which in May, before returning from almost two months of the watch in the Mediterranean Sea, visited the Syrian port of Tartus, where the point of logistics of the Russian Navy. "A clever," he returned to Sevastopol on May 31, as reported by Ukrainian news agency UNIAN. At the same time Head of Information Management BSF captain Vyacheslav Trukhachev agency said that security is "Sharpness" with the passage of the Straits, and docked in the Syrian port provided a group of anti-terror - a separate brigade of marines BSF.
A day earlier from the Mediterranean returned to the Russian tanker "Iman," which in Tartus fueling ships of the Russian Navy. In March, nearly burst into an international scandal, when the Syrian opposition in the Arab media rumors spread that the tanker are special forces and attack aircraft the Marine Corps. Europe, even Russia has warned against landing in Syria of its military. With the denial made by press service of the Ministry of Defense, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. They explained that "Iman" performs only the task of logistics and staffed by civilian personnel on board is only a guard unit. But Lavrov added that such "fairy tale" The Syrian opposition - is a clear provocation aimed at disrupting peace in the country to plan a special envoy of UN / LAS General Kofi Annan. "Kosovo precedent" and "brilliant initiative" wards of Dmitry Medvedev The representatives of the Russian government claimed that no troops to send to Syria is not planned. But amid the worsening situation around the country began to fear the Russian press that Russia and the West will be on the verge of armed conflict - as was the case in Kosovo.
Sami diplomats, who are still afraid, "the Libyan scenario" in Syria is increasingly remembered the "Kosovo precedent" in 1999, when NATO began bombing Yugoslavia without UN authorization. This provoked an acute crisis between Russia and the West, which nearly resulted in a direct conflict, when Russian paratroopers occupied the Pristina airport. Now, after 13 years in the West once again talked about the possibility of military operation, bypassing the United Nations, where Russia and China have veto power as permanent members of the Security Council, will block any resolution with this scenario. For the participation of Russian troops outside the country, including in Syria, in addition to the UN resolution, you need a political solution to the Russian leadership. Last week, Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Bordyuzha said that part of the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces in dealing with the Syrian conflict, "it is theoretically possible." However, he stressed that the military in Syria will fall into this hell, because there are fighting with heavy weapons, and any interference with the goals of peacekeeping would mean keeping active hostilities. "In Syria, apparently, you need to carry out an operation to enforce peace, first of all militias - said Bordyuzha. - That is, those who are trying to solve political problems by force of arms, not in the constitution of the state." Therefore, he concluded that the initiative to send CSTO forces in Syria - "bright only for politicians." - Newsland [Translated].
