Ignoring empty threats, Iran tightens its military noose around Israel

Hamas’ Saleh Arouri in Tehran.

 

Iran pressed ahead with its plans this week, regardless of the loud scorn and threats poured on Tehran from Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Cairo and Washington.

On Friday, Oct. 20, less than two weeks after Saleh Arouri, Deputy Chief of the Hamas political bureau, approved an Egyptian-sponsored reconciliation agreement between his party and the rival Fatah, he was leading a large Hamas delegation to Tehran.

Britain prepared to use air strikes or send in troops as retaliation against future cyber attack

A strike on UK systems “could invite a response from any domain – air, land, sea or cyberspace”, said the Defence Secretary

 

Britain could launch military retaliation such as air strikes against a future cyber attack, the Defence Secretary has suggested.

Sir Michael Fallon warned potential attackers that a strike on UK systems “could invite a response from any domain – air, land, sea or cyberspace”.

The Defence Secretary said the UK’s ability to carry out its own cyber attacks against Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (Isil), also known as Daesh, had saved lives during the battle for Mosul in Iraq and the capability was also being used in the fight for Raqqa in Syria.

VIDEO: Humongous ISIS convoy allowed to escape Raqqa to fight the Syrian Army instead

Please see the source for the video.

 

 

AMASCUS, SYRIA (3:40 A.M.) – Al-Masdar News has obtained jaw-dropping footage from northern Syria suggesting the US-led coalition has allowed hundreds of ISIS vehicles to leave Raqqa city for areas controlled by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA).

Despite Kurdish and American drones hovering above Raqqa on all flanks, the Islamic State convoy remained completely untouched by coalition airstrikes, thus suggesting an under-the-table deal may have been struck between the warring parties:

Mexico on HIGH ALERT after radioactive material ‘capable of creating DIRTY BOMB’ is stolen

This certainly isn’t the first time this has happened in Mexico, and certainly won’t be the last.

See the following articles for further information on other previous incidents:

Border Battle: TX agents now looking for terrorists smuggling radioactive material

The strange trend of Mexican thieves stealing radioactive material by accident

 

Nine states were placed on high alert following the theft [Google]

 

THE MEXICAN government has placed nine states on high alert after radioactive material capable of creating a dirty bomb was stolen near the nation’s second largest city.

The Iridium 192, a potentially highly unstable material used in radiography equipment, was stolen on the outskirts of tourist hotspot Guadalajara.

Luis Felipe Puente‏, head of national emergency services, placed nine states on high alert after the material disappeared just half a day’s drive from the Texan border.

US Air Force to quit Incirlik, move to Syria base

After seeing what transpired in Turkey last year, it’s definitely believable that America wants out of it. However, this story adds a twist to the plot. Not only is moving one USAF airbase into Syria odd, but five in total is a tell-tale sign of something possibly larger around the corner.

For this to happen Assad would have to be gone. Either by peaceful means or force. Syria would then be split up among three or four powers — likely American, Russian and Chinese/European forces. The Chinese have mobilized 150,000 PLA troops not only for a possible North Korean fallout.

It’s also interesting to note that the Bundeswehr (German army) is also on the move and positioning itself. Perhaps this is part of its military ‘golden triangle‘ (see also HERE) strategy.

It’s a bit of a mystery now, so this story is something to keep an eye on.

 

 

Several US engineering teams are working round the clock to build a big new air base in northern Syria after completing the expansion of another four. They are all situated in the Syrian borderland with Iraq, DEBKAfile’s military forces report.

This was going on over the weekend as senators, news correspondents and commentators were outguessing each other over whether the US missile attack on the Syrian Shayrat air base Friday, in retaliation for the Assad regime’s chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun, was a one-off or the start of a new series.

Europe: Christmas Shoppers in Jihadist Crosshairs

In Ludwigshafen, Germany, a “‘strongly radicalized” 12-year-old boy “of Iraqi heritage” planted a bomb at a Christmas market at the end of November. (Image source: Focus video screenshot)

 

 

• In Ludwigshafen, Germany, a “‘strongly radicalized” 12-year-old boy “of Iraqi heritage” planted a bomb at a Christmas market at the end of November.
• Previously, the festive shopping tradition of Christmas markets had become “potent symbols of freedom,” with Germany’s Interior Minister, Thomas de Maizière, urging people to stick to unserem Leben — “our way of life.”
• In Birmingham, England, the Christmas market has concrete barriers installed to deter vehicular suicide bombers. According to the head of Britain’s foreign intelligence service, the magnitude of the terrorism faced by the UK is “unprecedented.”
• French security forces thwarted attacks planned for December 1, against Disneyland Paris and the Christmas market on the main thoroughfare of the French capital, the Champs-Elysée.
• With a pro-Sharia (Islamic law) advocate now secretary of state in the Berlin regional senate, and other Muslims even refusing to shake the hand of the German President Joachim Gauck at events designed to promote integration, Germany’s “way of life” is changing fast.

As the winter nights lengthen, an even darker shadow is falling across the run-up to the Christmas holidays in several European nations. Families in markets and shopping districts across the continent are buying presents in the knowledge that jihadists mean to target them.

Claim: Iran sealed ISIS-Mosul escape route

Iraqi army members ride in a military vehicle in Bartila, Iraq December 7, 2016. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani

 

Reports claim Iran is responsible for sealing an escape route left by US-led coalition in Western Mosul, forcing ISIS to now fight to the death.

• Original campaign called for Iraqi forces to close Mosul in a horseshoe formation, leaving an opening for ISIS forces to flee.
• Tehran lobbied for Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization fighters to be sent to the western front to seal off Mosul.
• Several thousand militants have little choice but to now fight to the death in Mosul.
• Kurdish official: “If you corner your enemy and don’t leave an escape, he will fight till the end.”
• Battle planner: “In the west, the initial idea was to have a corridor … but the Hashid (Popular Mobilization) insisted on closing this loophole to prevent them going to Syria.”
• Humanitarian worker on ‘kill box’: “Iran didn’t agree and insisted that no safe corridor be allowed to Syria. They wanted the whole region west of Mosul to be a kill box.”

“Syrian 5th Corps” is new Shiite foreign legion

 

Syria and its allies came closer than ever to taking Aleppo on Friday, Dec. 2, when they captured the Tariq al-Bab district to gain control of 60 percent of the rebel-held eastern part of the city.

Drawing on the lessons of this success, the winning forces have begun building a military outfit modeled on the format of the victorious coalition. It is designated the “Fifth Corps” of the Syrian army, but debkafile’s military and intelligence sources can identity the new unit as the framework for an international Shiite brigade or foreign legion.

Iran said to have developed Shi’ite proxy force in Iraq for deployment elsewhere

The Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces has some 80,000 fighters. /AFP

 

Iran has in place thousands of loyal Shi’ite militiamen in Iraq that could be used as a permanent force in the region, deploying to hot spots in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere, analysts say.

There are some 80,000 fighters under Iran’s direction in the Hizbullah Brigades, Badr Organization and other groups that fall under the Iraq-approved umbrella group known as the Popular Mobilization Forces.

Church bells ring anew in freed Mosul district

An Iraqi woman and child stand just outside a shelter built for refugees driven from their homes by Islamic extremists. (Photo, caption courtesy of Voice of the Martyrs)

 

Iraq (MNN) — Iraqi forces continued a slow-but-steady advance in more of Mosul’s eastern districts last week, according to The Washington Post. Several eastern areas of Mosul have already been liberated from ISIS’ grip. But the whole city’s freedom could still take months to secure.

Emily Fuentes with Open Doors USA says some displaced families from Mosul are trying to decide if and when they should return to the secured districts.

PUTIN’S WAR CRY: Russian leader says ‘we will fight UNTIL THE END’ as WW3 fears escalate

VLADIMIR Putin has urged Russians to “fight until the end” as tensions continue to mount between the West and the Kremlin.

In a speech to both Russian and foreign politicians, along with a host of analysts, Putin slammed Barack Obama’s foreign policy and defended his decision to bombard the besieged city of Aleppo.

…

Putin said: “If we shouldn’t be there – then why are you in Mosul?

Fiercely resistant ISIS seizes two Iraqi cities

 

US soldiers were Monday ordered to use gas masks after ISIS poured oil on a sulfur mine 70km south of Mosul that continues to burn near the US and Iraqi military center at Qayyarah.One obstacle after another – often unforeseen – is slowing the coalition’s advance on Mosul – as debkafile was the first publication to reveal last week. It is becoming obvious that ISIS is following a plan to circle around Mosul in a wide radius and pouncing on important spots for diversionary attacks:

Last week, they overran Kirkuk; this week, Sinjar and Rutba.

Toying with a World War (II)

BERLIN/DAMASCUS (Own report) -While jihadi militias pursue their military offensive launched on the weekend in Aleppo, the German government is increasing its pressure on Russia. “As the most important supporter of the regime” in Damascus, Moscow must provide “a sound agreement for Aleppo,” demanded German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. But it was in fact the militia that broke the ceasefire initiated by Russia late last week and it was they who were also preventing the evacuation of the civilian population by firing at the escape corridors, as a British journalist reported from Aleppo. Similar practices are being used by the militia in the Iraqi town of Mosul, however these are being described for what they are, i.e. the IS is using civilians as “human shields.” The German government is intensifying its pressure on Russia, at a moment when Moscow is reinforcing its military strength in the Eastern Mediterranean with the deployment of an aircraft carrier battle group near the Syrian coast, aimed at achieving an equal footing with the western powers. A German Bundeswehr frigate is accompanying the French aircraft carrier “Charles de Gaulle” in the same region, where the Russian aircraft carrier “Admiral Kuznetsov” is going. Particularly the German Green Party leadership is raising demands for declaring a no-fly zone over Syria – preparing another escalation, risking a direct war with Russia.

Tehran will fight Turkey’s role in Mosul operation

 

The involvement of Turkish special operations, armored and artillery forces in support of the Kurdish Peshmerga battle to drive ISIS out of Bashiqa, 12 south of Mosul, marks a pivotal moment in the US-led coalition’s anti-ISIS offensive to free Iraq’s second city. The entire Mosul operation hangs in the balance since Turkey stepped into the fighting in Iraq, at the initiative of the US. Instead of fighting ISIS, the coalition’s partners are squaring off to fight each other.

debkafile’s military sources report that Turkey was allowed to gatecrash the fighting around Mosul after US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter visited the KRG capital of Irbil Sunday, Oct. 23. He urged Kurdish leaders to bow to President Tayyip Erdogan’s demands for a role in the battle.

Get Ready to Walk Away from Incirlik

An F-15E Strike Eagle from the 48th Fighter Wing at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, lands at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, Nov. 12, 2015. (U.S. Air Force / Airman 1st Class Cory W. Bush)

 

As U.S.-Turkey relations cool, retaining access to the air base will require ending our dependence on it.

Turkey’s Incirlik airbase has supported America’s most vital strategic needs for more than a half century, first during the Cold War and more recently in the fight against terrorists. Now, as its host country becomes less stable and less friendly to the United States, the best way to ensure continued access to this large and well-located base is to prepare to do without it.