U.S. Boosts Aid in Saudi-Led Fight To Defeat Rebel Force in Yemen - WSJ
▻http://www.wsj.com/articles/saudi-arabia-doesnt-currently-plan-on-ground-forces-in-yemen-1427469528
The U.S. military is preparing to expand its aid to Saudi Arabia in its air campaign against rebel forces in Yemen by providing more intelligence, bombs and aerial refueling missions for planes carrying out airstrikes there, American officials said Friday.
Micah Zenko sur Twitter : “Wow. US is providing Saudi Arabia with live video feeds from drones over Yemen for targeting purposes.”
▻https://twitter.com/MicahZenko/status/581833339461607424
Syria: Nation-wide clashes continue between regime and rebels | Al Akhbar English
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syria-nation-wide-clashes-continue-between-regime-and-rebels
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Syria: Nation-wide clashes continue between regime and rebels
Rebel fighters from the Islamic Front, Syria’s largest rebel coalition, hold a position on July 13, 2014 during clashes with militants of the Islamic State (IS), formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), for the control a village on the outskirts of Aleppo. (Photo: AFP-Ahmed Deeb)
Published Monday, August 11, 2014
The Syrian governorate of Deir Ezzor has been witnessing a growing escalation in fighting, with fierce battles taking place between the Islamic State (IS) and the tribes there, resulting in mass executions and large-scale displacement. In the meantime, a Syrian military source speaking to Al-Akhbar denied reports of clashes and shelling in the areas surrounding the Damascus International Airport, describing the battle to encircle the airport declared by the Army of Islam organization as “illusory.”
In Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria, developments are taking an increasingly bloody turn. Violent clashes broke out between IS and the tribesmen in the areas of al-Shaaitat, Abu Hamam, Kiskhiyeh, and Gharanij, prompting large numbers of civilians to flee those areas. According to activists, nearly 100,000 people, mostly women, children, and elderly people, have fled in the direction of Baqaan, Hujayn, al-Bahr, and al-Shaafa.
Meanwhile, sources said that the IS has been bombing the villages indiscriminately using T-72 tanks. In turn, the IS posted images purporting to show mass executions it carried out including by firing squad, beheading, and crucifixion. The IS claimed the victims were prisoners it had captured from the ranks of al-Shaaitat tribal fighters.
A source from the IS said, “The mujahidin, by God’s grace, have been able to capture a large number of traitors.” “Some were executed pursuant to God’s law on those who betray their oaths, and the rest will meet the same fate, and no one will escape punishment,” the source added.
“The operation is part of a failed psychological war following the successive losses suffered by Alloush and his organization.” – Syrian military sourceHowever, a source from the Shaaitat clan said that the IS’ victims were actually laborers from the oil fields in the area. The same source told Al-Akhbar, “The IS is holding dozens of prisoners from Shaaitat, mostly laborers from the oil fields now controlled by the IS.”
Many of these prisoners were not aware of recent developments, while others were kidnapped at checkpoints just for belonging to the Shaaitat clan, the source explains. “The crimes being committed by the IS against our people are meant to terrorize us, but they have backfired, and the criminals will not escape from the rebels who will avenge their brothers,” the source adds.
In the same vein, activists on social media sites said that the IS is trying to convince the Gharanij Brigades to stop fighting alongside Shaaitat, and allow the IS’ convoys to pass through their territory in return for safety for their lives and properties. However, according to the activists, the Brigades have refused the offer.
Sources also said the IS tried to end the fighting against Shaaitat’s fighters, as it sensed the battles were not proceeding in its favor. However, IS seems to have made humiliating demands, including for Shaaitat to hand over 170 people it wants and lay down arms including their personal pistols, which the Shaaitat clan has refused. In the meantime, locals said that Syrian warplanes dropped flyers “saluting the courage of the tribesmen, and confirming support for them against the IS’ terrorism.”
In Raqqa, reports indicated that the IS continues to build up its forces to attack the Tabaqa military airbase, now the last remaining major Syrian military outpost in the governorate, after the IS overran the headquarters of both the 17th Division and Brigade 93 in the past several days. The IS fighters attacked the Tabaqa airbase on Friday, but the army managed to repel the attack.
On the other hand, Syrian warplanes conducted airstrikes against IS bases in the city of Tabaqa, also on Friday.
No fighting in the vicinity of Damascus airport
On Thursday, Zahran Alloush, leader of the Army of Islam, announced the start of a battle to encircle Damascus airport, which aims to seize the airport and surrounding areas. Then on Friday, opposition Local Coordination Committees were spreading reports about violent clashes in the towns of Hteita al-Turukman and al-Ghazlaniya, which are close to the airport.
However, a Syrian military source denied the reports, describing this battle as “illusory.” “There are no battles,” he said, adding that “the Syrian army has been in full control of the area since October.” The same source stressed that it would be “impossible” to make any breach in the vicinity of the Damascus International Airport and adjacent areas, and said, “The operation is part of a failed psychological war following the successive losses suffered by Alloush and his organization.”
In Qalamoun in the northern Damascus countryside, fierce fighting broke out in the hills near Rankous and al-Jubbah, with Syrian warplanes targeting dozens of militants. Clashes also continued in the Joubar district south of the capital. Mortar shells fired by opposition groups landed in several neighborhoods of Damascus, killing and injuring several civilians.
Nine Syrian rebel officers resign over “lack of aid”
►http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/nine-syrian-rebel-officers-resign-over-lack-aid
Rebel fighters watch on television the opening World Cup 2014 football match between Brazil and Croatia on June 12, 2014 in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. (Photo: AFP / AMC - Zein al-Rifai) Rebel fighters watch on television the opening World Cup 2014 football match between Brazil and Croatia on June 12, 2014 in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. (Photo: AFP / AMC - Zein al-Rifai)
Nine top officers from the opposition Free Syrian Army resigned Saturday over shortages and mismanagement of military aid from donor countries to their uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. "We seek your (the rebels’) forgiveness in resigning today, leaving behind our responsibility as chiefs of battlefronts and (opposition) (...)
Jihadist rebels in full control of #Mosul
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/jihadist-rebels-full-control-mosul
Rebel fighters seized #Iraq's second-largest city Tuesday, officials said, in another blow to the authorities, who appear incapable of stopping rebel advances. Overnight, hundreds of gunmen launched an assault on Mosul, 350 kilometers north of Baghdad near the border with #turkey, engaging in combat with troops and police, they said. Before the entire city fell, they took control of the governor’s headquarters, prisons and television stations. read more
#ISIS
Al-Zawahiri calls on #ISIS leader to return to #Iraq
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/al-zawahiri-calls-isis-leader-return-iraq
Rebel fighters from the Ansar al-Sham brigade hold a position on a ridge overlooking the Mediterranean sea reportedly in the village of Kasab, in the northwestern Syrian province of Latakia, on April 4, 2014. (Photo: AFP-Hass News/Ali Nasser) Rebel fighters from the Ansar al-Sham brigade hold a position on a ridge overlooking the Mediterranean sea reportedly in the village of Kasab, in the northwestern Syrian province of Latakia, on April 4, 2014. (Photo: AFP-Hass News/Ali Nasser)
#al-Qaeda leader #Ayman_al-Zawahiri called on the leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and #syria (ISIS), #Abu_Bakr_al-Baghdadi, to stop fighting in Syria and return to Iraq. Zawahiri has blamed Baghdadi for the infighting amongst Islamist fighters (...)
Khorasan pledge splits #al-Qaeda
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/khorasan-pledge-splits-al-qaeda
Rebel fighters from the “Al-Mujahedin The Falcons of Islam” brigade looks at a map as they prepare an operation in an area controlled by Syrian government forces in the northern city of Aleppo on April 7, 2014. (Photo: AFP- Baraa al-Halabi) Rebel fighters from the “Al-Mujahedin The Falcons of Islam” brigade looks at a map as they prepare an operation in an area controlled by Syrian government forces in the northern city of Aleppo on April 7, 2014. (Photo: AFP- Baraa al-Halabi)
The global jihad movement has split in two. Members of al-Qaeda will now have to choose between two different emirs. The so-called “Khorasan pledge” was the final nail in the coffin of the reconciliation between #Al-Nusra_Front and the Islamic State (...)
#Mideast_&_North_Africa #al-Zawahiri #Articles #Ayman #Iraq #ISI #ISIS #Osama_Bin_Laden #syria
The beleaguered Armenians of Kessab: Once again, it’s #turkey
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/beleaguered-armenians-kessab-once-again-it%E2%80%99s-turkey
Rebel fighters from the Ansar al-Sham brigade stand in front of an #Armenian church reportedly in the village of Kasab, in the northwestern Syrian province of Latakia, on April 4, 2014. Rebels launched a major offensive two weeks ago against several strategic positions in the heartland of President Bashar al-Assad’s clan and his Alawite sect. (Photo: AFP-Hass News/Ali Nasser) Rebel fighters from the Ansar al-Sham brigade stand in front of an Armenian church reportedly in the village of Kasab, in the northwestern Syrian province of Latakia, on April 4, 2014. Rebels launched a major offensive two weeks ago against several strategic positions in the heartland of President Bashar al-Assad’s clan and his Alawite sect. (Photo: AFP-Hass News/Ali Nasser) (...)
#Culture_&_Society #Articles #Kassab #National_Defense_Forces #popular_committees #syria
The moderate rebels: A needle in a haystack
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/moderate-rebels-needle-haystack
Rebel fighters members of the al-Sham Brigade (Liwa al-Sham) take part in a training session in the northeastern city of Deir Ezzor, on March 25, 2014. (Photo: AFP-Ahmed Aboud) Rebel fighters members of the al-Sham Brigade (Liwa al-Sham) take part in a training session in the northeastern city of Deir Ezzor, on March 25, 2014. (Photo: AFP-Ahmed Aboud)
The United States and its allies sound like a broken record when they claim to only “support moderate rebels” in #syria. This support, however, requires finding these moderate rebels first, a difficult if not impossible mission.
Suhaib Anjarini
read (...)
#Mideast_&_North_Africa #Ahrah_al-Sham #Al-Nusra_Front #Articles #Damascus #Free_Syrian_Army #ISIS #Islamic_Front #Muslim_Brotherhood
The Power of Less: I Removed Every Inessential Thing from my Website & Here’s What Happened. | Rebelle Society
▻http://www.rebellesociety.com/2014/03/26/the-power-of-less
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The Power of Less: I Removed Every Inessential Thing from my Website & Here’s What Happened. | Rebelle Society - ▻http://www.rebellesociety.com/2014...
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"These choices have nothing to do with gaining new skills. They are simply about eliminating the things that are distracting from the essential. Learning to ignore, reduce, and remove the inessential choices can be just as beneficial as teaching yourself to make better ones. This principle extends to many good uses of time as well. Eliminating bad habits and wasteful resources is like picking the low-hanging fruit. Simplicity becomes harder when you have to choose between two good options. But those choices are just as important. It took me a long time to learn this, but just (...)
The unknown role of #Kuwait's Salafis in #syria
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/unknown-role-kuwaits-salafis-syria
Rebel fighters fire a machine gun during clashes with pro-government forces on March 18, 2014 in the northern Syrian city of #Aleppo. (Photo: AFP- AMC/Tamer al-Halabi) Rebel fighters fire a machine gun during clashes with pro-government forces on March 18, 2014 in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. (Photo: AFP- AMC/Tamer al-Halabi)
Kuwaiti Salafis have played a central role in supporting armed groups in Syria. They have established support entities, and most of them do their work in public and are highly organized. Major credit goes to unofficial Kuwaiti money in arming a number of the biggest armed groups in Syria such as #Ahrar_al-Sham, Jaysh al-Islam, and #Al-Nusra_Front.
Suhaib (...)
#Mideast_&_North_Africa #Articles #Damascus #Idlib #ISIS #Latakia #Salafi
#syria: Jihadist factions close to civil war
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syria-jihadist-factions-close-civil-war
Rebel fighters make their way through a yard in the village of Morek, in the countryside of the Syrian city of Hama, on March 7, 2014. (Photo: AFP-Ali Nasser) Rebel fighters make their way through a yard in the village of Morek, in the countryside of the Syrian city of Hama, on March 7, 2014. (Photo: AFP-Ali Nasser)
Tensions continue to escalate between jihadist factions in Syria. Spokesman of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Abu Mohammed al-Adnani released a threatening audio message yesterday, titled “We invoke Allah to curse the liars.” Meanwhile, #Al-Nusra_Front sources told Al-Akhbar that they will retaliate on the “battlefields of jihad.”
Suhaib Anjarini (...)
#Mideast_&_North_Africa #Aleppo #Articles #ISIS #Saudi_Arabia #united_states
#syria: Local rebels willing to compromise but are ready for all scenarios
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syria-local-rebels-willing-compromise-are-ready-all-scenarios
Rebel fighters (C & R) walk with an unidentified gunman in the town of Babbila, a suburb of #Damascus, during a cease fire agreement between the group controlling the town and the regime on February 17, 2014. (Photo: AFP-Louai Beshara) Rebel fighters (C & R) walk with an unidentified gunman in the town of Babbila, a suburb of Damascus, during a cease fire agreement between the group controlling the town and the regime on February 17, 2014. (Photo: AFP-Louai Beshara)
The standing of over 500 fighters in Babbila has been resolved according to AFP. The agreement to resolve the standing of rebel fighters in the Damascus countryside has so far included a few thousand men. These fighters did not express concern over their (...)
#Mideast_&_North_Africa #al-Nusra #Articles #Free_Syrian_Army #National_Defense_Army #reconciliation
“If it doesn’t come bursting out of you...” | Rebelle Society
▻http://www.rebellesociety.com/2012/10/22/writing-lab-advice-from-charles-bukowski
if it doesn’t come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don’t do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don’t do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don’t do it.
if you’re doing it for money or
fame,
don’t do it.
if you’re doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don’t do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don’t do it.
if it’s hard work just thinking about doing it,
don’t do it.
if you’re trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.
if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.
if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you’re not ready.
don’t be like so many writers,
don’t be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don’t be dull and boring and
pretentious, don’t be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don’t add to that.
don’t do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don’t do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don’t do it.
when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.
there is no other way.
and there never was.
#syria : #Aleppo Defeats Death With #Theater
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syria-aleppo-defeats-death-theater
Rebel fighters stand on top of a tank confiscated from pro-regime fighters in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 21, 2013. (Photo: AFP - Mohammed Al-Khatieb). Rebel fighters stand on top of a tank confiscated from pro-regime fighters in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 21, 2013. (Photo: AFP - Mohammed Al-Khatieb).
While the warring parties were busy raining death down on Aleppo, the capital of northern Syria, many Aleppans came together to organize an eight-day theater festival to celebrate life in a time of war.
Suhaib Anjarini
read (...)
US to hold talks with Syrian #jihadists in Turkey: rebel source
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/us-hold-talks-syrian-jihadists-turkey-rebel-source
Rebel fighters hold their weapons during clashes with Syrian forces in the Salaheddin neighborhood of #syria's northern city of Aleppo on December 11, 2013. (AFP - Medo Halab)
Syrian rebel commanders from the #Islamic_Front which seized control of bases belonging to Western-backed rebels last week are due to hold talks with US officials in Turkey in coming days, rebel and opposition sources said on Saturday. The expected contacts between Washington and the jihadist fighters reflect the extent to which the Islamic Front alliance has eclipsed the more moderate Free Syrian Army brigades – which Western and Arab powers tried in vain to build into a force able to topple President Bashar al-Assad. read (...)
Syrian rebel groups call on al-Qaeda faction to withdraw from Azaz
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syrian-rebel-groups-call-al-qaeda-faction-withdraw-azaz
Rebel fighters gather in the Salaheddin district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on September 23, 2013. (Photo: AFP - Salah al-Ashkar)
Six of the most powerful rebel factions in #syria issued a joint statement on Thursday telling an al-Qaeda front group to withdraw from the northern town of Azaz bordering Turkey. In a separate statement, rebels in central Syria also called on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to leave Homs province. The (...)
#Syrian_army Makes Headway in #Damascus and #Homs
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syrian-army-makes-headway-damascus-and-homs
Rebel fighters duck as they run behind a barricade to avoid being fired at by Syrian regime forces in the Old City’s front line in Aleppo on 18 September 2013. (Photo: Jm Lopez) Rebel fighters duck as they run behind a barricade to avoid being fired at by Syrian regime forces in the Old City’s front line in Aleppo on 18 September 2013. (Photo: Jm Lopez)
Despite threats of an attack on #syria by Washington, the Syrian army (...)
#syria: Al-Qaeda Looking for Local Mujahideen
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syria-al-qaeda-looking-local-mujahideen
Rebel fighters aim their weapons during fighting against Syrian government forces on 7 September 2013 in Syria’s eastern town of Deir Ezzor. (Photo: AFP - Ricardo Garcia Vilanovoa) Rebel fighters aim their weapons during fighting against Syrian government forces on 7 September 2013 in Syria’s eastern town of Deir Ezzor. (Photo: AFP - Ricardo Garcia Vilanovoa)
The number of foreigners flocking to fight in Syria is on the (...)
Although al-Nusra Front and ISIS have been able to lure many recruits who believe in their stated goals, especially foreign fighters, many observers do not rule out the possibility that the “spoils strategy” they adopt may well backfire. In this regard, an activist from the city of Raqqa purported that as soon as fighters aspiring for enrichment achieve their goals, they will desert the group. The activist said, “Many have deserted after getting their money. This is to be expected, because simply, there is no other cause.”
A resident of the city of Tall al-Abyad, near the border of Turkey, which is controlled by radical Islamic brigades, said that the residents always feared the moment when radical groups would need money themselves. The resident said that the groups would then turn to the residents, “after looting cash, equipment, grain, and so forth from government institutions.”
The residents’ fears came true. According to Kurdish sources, the radical groups recently robbed “billions of Syrian pounds from Kurdish citizens” in Tall al-Abyad. Then, “they demanded many Arab families to send men to enlist in their ranks or pay cash in return for exempting them.”
Syrian regime captures al-Qa’ida chief’s brother on ’aid mission’ - Middle East - World - The Independent
►http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syrian-regime-captures-alqaida-chiefs-brother-on-aid-mission-8439147.
Rebel fighters insisted Mohamed al-Zawahiri was engaged on a humanitarian mission and had not been involved in violent acts. They also claimed that he had, in fact, proposed a local truce to enable aid to get through.
#Sous-Surveillance, un projet en devenir.
►http://reflets.info/sous-surveillance-un-projet-en-devenir
Entretien avec des membres de Rebellyon à propos du projet ►http://sous-surveillance.net sur Reflets
Dans un pays, un monde, où la surveillance numérique est en plein essor (à son apogée), où des projets naissent et se pérénisent, voient le jour et disparaissent aussi vite que la vitesse de la lumière, nous avons pu entrer en contact avec des rebels de la vidéo surveillance. Leur projet « Sous Surveillance » voit le jour, venant approfondir ce qui a été affirmé par la CNILdans un rapport paru le 10 Juillet. Un simple chiffre à vous signaler, en France ce sont plus de 900 000 caméras de vidéos surveillance qui sont en fonctionnement. Souriez vous êtes filmés !