Security

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  • Syria civil war: The message from Moscow
    http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/middleeast/2016/06/syria-civil-war-message-moscow-nusra-160604163154005.html

    Russia has sent three messages over the past week or so about the situation in Syria.

    First, the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front is to be blamed for violating and jeopardising the truce.

    “The Nusra terrorist group is active in Aleppo and Idlib today and it is the main obstacle for the further extension of the cessation of hostilities,” the defence ministry said, accusing the group of exploiting the truce to rearm and regroup. 

    Second, the US is to be blamed for failing to separate the “moderate opposition units they control from terrorists. That is why further postponing by our American partners in that effort doesn’t only discredit the so called moderate opposition but leads to undermining the peace process”.

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned the deadline to back away from al-Nusra will expire this week.

    And third, the Turkey border is still being used to smuggle weapons to “terrorists” in Syria.

    “The number of heavy trucks moving from the Turkish-Syrian borders to the region of Azaz (Aleppo province) …and to the region of Darat Izza (Idlib province) has increased significantly,” the defence ministry said.

    • Russia to ’actively’ back Syria army around Aleppo
      http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2016/Jun-06/355603-russia-to-actively-back-syria-army-around-aleppo.ashx

      Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov vowed to “actively support” Syrian troops from the air around Aleppo Monday, after a weekend of fierce fighting left dozens dead in the divided city.

      Speaking in Moscow, Lavrov said Russia has waited long enough for Syria’s moderate opposition to leave areas controlled by extremist groups, and that air raids by Russia should “not be a surprise.”

      “What is happening in Aleppo and around it now, we warned the Americans about this in advance, and they know that we will be actively supporting the Syrian army from the air to prevent terrorists from seizing territory,” he told a press conference.

      Washington “is asking us and Syrian leadership to delay airstrikes” until opposition forces are separated from extremists of ISIS and Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, he said.

      “We believe there has been more than enough time” for that, he said.

      “Everyone who has not left the terrorists now only have themselves to blame.”

      Et en version originale : Лавров : Россия будет активно помогать Сирии с воздуха
      http://rg.ru/2016/06/06/lavrov-rossiia-budet-aktivno-pomogat-sirii-s-vozduha.html

      Россия будет активно поддерживать с воздуха действия сирийской армии под Алеппо, чтобы не допустить захвата террористами территорий, заявил глава МИД РФ Сергей Лавров.

      «Что касается происходящего сейчас в Алеппо и вокруг него, и об этом заранее предупреждали американцев, мы будем самым активным образом поддерживать с воздуха сирийскую армию для того, чтобы не допустить захвата террористами территорий», - отметил Лавров.

      При этом министр подчеркнул, что Москва рассчитывает на честное сотрудничество с партнерами. В то же время Лавров отметил, что «те, кто не отмежевался от террористов, должны пенять на себя».

      «США не выполняют взятые на себя обязательства отмежевать лояльные им оппозиционные отряды от позиции»Джабхат ан-Нусры" (запрещена в РФ - «РГ») и прочих террористов, - сказал Лавров. - Не будучи способными это сделать, американцы ссылаются на то, что позиции хороших и плохих оппозиционеров перемешаны и просят нас и сирийское руководство повременить с ударами с воздуха".

  • Syria’s Southern Front shows signs of disintegration - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
    http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2015/10/syria-southern-front-break-up-army.html
    A media activist told As-Safir, “After the MOC suspended its work and halted supplies, several leaders and militants withdrew from the battlefield and returned to their civil lives. They felt frustrated, and gave up their weapons.”

    He asserted that “most of these leaders are seeking asylum in Europe to escape the deteriorating security situation, and they are afraid of being targets of upcoming assassinations.” He added that “the leader of Usud al-Sunna Battalion, who is called Abu Amr Zaghloul, has reached Germany asking for asylum.”

    According to @saleelalmajd, a Twitter account that is widely followed, a number of factions from the Southern Front secretly pledged allegiance to Ahrar al-Sham, but will be announced later on. For their part, the Hawks of Houran Brigade and the Majd al-Islam Brigade announced that they joined Jaish al-Islam headed by Zahran Alloush.

    It is no longer a secret that the financial conditions of the factions are dire, as a result of cutting support or pledging allegiance to this leader or that. This is not to mention the foreign influences on these allegiances, especially since some of the factions pledged allegiance after the pilgrimage called upon by Saudi intelligence.

    Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2015/10/syria-southern-front-break-up-army.html#ixzz3oThKWy7i

  • تركيا تنجرف الى الحرب بقوة ضد “الدولة الاسلامية” والمكافأة الامريكية منطقة عازلة مساحتها نصف لبنان.. انها مقامرة محفوفة بالمخاطر.. وقد تعطي نتائج عكسية.. فما هي مبررات الصمت السوري؟ وما هي المغريات التي دفعت تركيا لتغيير موقفها؟ | رأي اليوم
    http://www.raialyoum.com/?p=291585

    Parmi les commentaires de la presse arabe, ceux d’ABA :

    تركيا ستسمح بمقتضى هذا الاتفاق للطيران الحربي الامريكي باستخدام قاعدة انجيرليك الجوية القريبة من الحدود الشمالية العراقية والسورية في ضرب قواعد “الدولة الاسلامية”، وربما دمشق لاحقا، ومقابل ذلك ستلبي امريكا طلباتها في اقامة منطقة عازلة وحظر جوي بطول 90 كيلومترا تمتد بين مدينتي مارع وجرابلس السوريتين الشماليتين قرب الحدود التركية وبعمق 50 كيلومترا، اي بمساحة اجمالية مقدارها 4500 كيلومتر مربع، اي نصف مساحة لبنان تقريبا (10453 كليومتر مربع).

    Selon cet accord la Turquie autorise les USA à utiliser la base d’Incirlik proche des frontières avaec l’Irak et la Syrie pour frapper les bases de l’EI, et peut-être Damas ensuite. En échange, les USA accepteront les demandes turques d’une zone tampon large de 90 km et d’une profondeur de 50 km entre Marea et Jablos, soit quelque 4500 km2 (la moitié du Liban).

    ABA souligne par la suite l’importance d’un accord passé dans un contexte politique difficile pour l’AKP. C’est la fin d’une alliance tacite passée avec l’EI décrite par Erdogan en août 2014 comme des "sunnites humiliés et en colère"... La nouvelle position fera peut-être plaisir aux Kurdes, mais elle va irriter des milieux sunnites extrémistes (on estime qu’il y a 3000 partisans trucs de l’EI dans le pays). Risque de tensions internes, donc, avec des répercussions sur le tourisme turc qui pourrait être la cible d’un attentat.
    Le silence des officiels syriens, très surprenant, s’expliquerait par le fait que le régime a compris les nouvelles priorités occidentales. (...) Pourquoi la Turquie devrait-elle rester à l’écart des troubles régionaux ? En suivant cette politique, les dirigeants turcs prennent un risque très important.

    #turquie #syrie #zone_tampon

  • Internal divisions lead to ’hemorrhaging’ of Jabhat al-Nusra leaders
    http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2015/07/syria-jabhat-al-nusra-dismissal-leaders-secrets.html

    The dismissal of leaders within Jabhat al-Nusra continues. The latest chapter of this saga is the decision to dismiss one of its first seven founders, Abu Mohammed Saleh al-Hamwi. According to leaks supported by earlier data, the decision also included Iraqi national Abu Maria al-Qahtani, one of Jabhat al-Nusra’s most prominent media officials. Moreover, a few months ago, news published by As-Safir about the defection of Jabhat al-Nusra general military commander Abu Samir al-Urdoni and his joining the Islamic State (IS) was confirmed.

    (En ce moment, il y a une nouvelle #théorie_du_complot qui explique que si tous ces braves rebelles « modérés » rejoignent ISIS, c’est à cause de l’accord sur le nucléaire iranien. Cet article permet de constater que, hé ben non.)

  • Idlib waits for zero hour
    http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2015/04/syria-idlib-army-regain-jabhat-al-nusra.html

    Jabhat al-Nusra continues its siege on the villages of al-Fu’ah and Kafriya, which are under constant bombardment. The residents of these two villages are defending them, amid constant fear of Jabhat al-Nusra invading. This [potential invasion] threatens the lives of 50,000 civilians living in the villages, and foretells a humanitarian catastrophe. Jabhat al-Nusra has already set up checkpoints close to the two villages, while the confrontation lines are close to the villages’ borders with Binnish, the Bruma farms and Maarrat Misrin.

    The two villages witnessed some crises due to the siege, despite the Syrian army’s helicopters regularly dropping aid. In this context, the field source said, “The residents only get a little food and medical supplies because the villages are small, and it is hard for them to get out of there and try and get the supplies that were dropped outside [the villages’] borders.” The source explained that a bread crisis has started to emerge.

  • Joint Arab force can’t agree on ’terrorism’ - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
    http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2015/04/arab-pan-summit-yemen-gulf-terrorism.html#

    The devil is in the details, as they say. But what is hidden in the details can be revealed through experience. This joint military force won’t benefit Palestinians, and it won’t constitute an alternative for foreign military bases, either. Maybe if it had been formed in 2011, it would have been the salvation of “legitimate” regimes that were toppled by the revolutions.

    • As-Safir drew a map of the field based on the pressure exercised by the Lebanese and Syrian armies and Hezbollah on terrorist organizations that daily attempt to breach border security in the Bekaa Valley. The map shows that takfiri militants now control approximately 992 square kilometers (383 square miles) of the Lebanese-Syria border along the eastern Anti-Lebanon mountains, including 450 square kilometers (173.7 square miles) stretching over 56 kilometers (34.7 miles) into Lebanese territory.

      Militants in the badlands number approximately 3,000 gunmen, supplemented by others from refugee camps in Arsal and elsewhere. The main factions swearing allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) or Jabhat al-Nusra include the following:

      – The al-Farouq Brigade, led by Mowafaq al-Jarban (also known as Abu el-Sous), who also happens to be deputy to Abu Omar al-Lubnani, IS’ acting military commander in the Qalamoun. The al-Farouq Brigade has pledged allegiance to IS. Membership in the brigade reached its apogee of approximately 5,000 militants during the Qusair battle, but the organization now only numbers a few dozen members.
      – Liwa Fajr al-Islam (Dawn of Islam Brigades) also pledged allegiance to IS. It used to be commanded by Imad Jomaa, whose arrest by the Lebanese army ignited the Arsal attack of Aug. 2, 2014.
      – The Green Brigade, led by the so-called Sheikh Nabil, swore allegiance to IS.
      – Liwa’ al-Haq (Brigade of Righteousness), led by the so-called Abu Jaafar Amer, pledged allegiance to IS.
      – The Turkmen Brigade, led by the so-called Abu Qassem, also pledged allegiance to IS.
      – Division 11, led by Abu Hassan al-Rifai from Ras al-Maara, is one of the most prominent factions that pledged allegiance to Jabhat al-Nusra.
      – The Ghuraba Brigade (Foreigners) pledged allegiance to Jabhat al-Nusra. Its current leader is Abu Hassan al-Talli and its members are now positioned in the Al Jibbeh and Asal al-Ward badlands.
      – The Al-Omda Group also swore allegiance to Jabhat al-Nusra.
      – The number of Free Syrian Army (FSA) members who pledged allegiance to IS and Jabhat al-Nusra amounts to approximately 1,500 (out of a total of 3,000). Among them are 750 who pledged allegiance to Jabhat al-Nusra and 800 to IS.

  • Islamic State reaps profits from organ trafficking - Al-Monitor : the Pulse of the Middle East
    http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2014/12/islamic-state-financing-funding-human-trafficking-extortion.html

    Un petit degré de plus dans l’horreur... Daesh, selon cet article traduit du quotidien al-Hayat et qui cite tout de même des sources crédibles (Haut-Commissariat aux réfugiés, le Times également), entre autres sources de financement, fait dans le trafic d’organes...

    The third funding source was exposed by otolaryngologist Siruwan al-Mosuli. He said that lately he noticed unusual movement within medical facilities in Mosul. Arab and foreign surgeons were hired, but prohibited from mixing with local doctors. Information then leaked about organ selling. Surgeries take place within a hospital and organs are quickly transported through networks specialized in trafficking human organs. Mosuli said that the organs come from fallen fighters who were quickly transported to the hospital, injured people who were abandoned or individuals who were kidnapped.

    He said that organ sales yield large profits. A specialized mafia is engaged in these operations, in addition to medical institutions working in other countries. Without coordination among these parties, such a trade cannot be sustained, he said. According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the organization sells bodies and organs of injured people they arrest.

  • « L’opposition modérée » prise en sandwich par Assad et l’EIIL ?

    Ou... L’EIIL prise en sandwich par Assad et « l’opposition modérée » ?

    Syrian factions join forces to fight IS

    http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2014/08/factions-fight-is-in-battle-for-aleppo.html

    Alongside the Syrian army’s raids, which the factions fighting IS consider a sort of support, there is talk among the factions about several truces underway with the Syrian army on the nearby fronts. Those include withdrawing from the Handarat camp and partially lifting the siege on Nubl and Al-Zahraa to ensure complete dedication to fighting IS. [...]

  • Showdown begins between Syrian army, Islamic State
    http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2014/07/violent-attack-syria-army-islamic-state-raqqa-hasakah.html#

    The Syrian crisis is entering a new phase of intense battles between the Syrian army and the Islamic State (IS), following months of relative calm devoid of direct clashes between the two parties.

    After about two weeks of skirmishes and limited engagements, IS launched a double offensive targeting Division 17 in Raqqa, and Regiment 121 (Melbiya Regiment) in Hasakah, in a move considered to be the largest military attack launched by IS since its establishment, leading to the most violent confrontations between it and the Syrian army since the crisis began.

    Traduction de:
    http://www.assafir.com/Article/1/363138

    • Je me demande comment la Division 17 a fait pour tenir isolée jusque là. J’ose à peine imaginer le moral de la garnison de la base, surtout maintenant que l’ISIS semble décidé à se débarrasser des derniers irritants dans son sanctuaire.

  • ISIS supporters watch from the shadows in Saudi Arabia - Al-Monitor : the Pulse of the Middle East
    http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2014/07/saudi-arabia-islamic-state-support.html

    Anecdote à méditer racontée par Jamal Khashoggi, un éditorialiste saoudien « libéral », à propos de menaces à peine voilées de la part de l’EI alors qu’il se trouvait en famille dans un restaurant de Jeddah...

  • Many countries choosing to ignore danger posed by ISIS (traduction d’un article du Safir)
    http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2014/06/isis-iraq-syria-countries-ignore-danger.html

    There is no doubt that what ISIS is doing matches the goals of the creative chaos policy sought by Western countries. But the very close match has made it impossible to tell which of the two parties is serving the other’s project. Although each party is betting on its ability to ultimately impose its own project and uproot the elements that don’t agree with it, merely accepting that the possibilities remain open, and the danger that this entails to the countries in the region as a whole, can only mean that the two parties are openly colluding to hit the area and change its geopolitics without taking into account the cost that will paid by the region and its people.

    To implement its project amid this complex international game, ISIS is depending on external and internal factors that would give a degree of power, which ISIS has proved would be more than enough to continue playing the game while avoiding its risks.

    One of the most important external factors that ISIS is using is the “invisibility cloak” granted to it by the political and media propaganda promoting the idea that what is happening in the region, and specifically in Iraq and Syria, is a “popular revolution” against a tyrannical regime. So ISIS’s role was minimized and most events were attributed to other parties dubbed “rebels.”

    It is no secret that research centers and media outlets, with direct guidance from the intelligence services, have devoted all their time and effort to market the idea that what’s happening in Iraq is a “revolution” carried out by the tribes against the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, in a repeat of the Syria scenario since its crisis began in 2011.

  • Saudi terrorism list raises question about #Islamic_Front - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
    http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2014/03/saudi-terrorism-list-syria-spark-new-conflicts.html

    ... the commission’s list contained vague terms that rendered the list very hard to interpret and subject to many variations. That may have been intentional in order to leave maneuvering room and flexibility for Saudi authorities regarding some organizations with which the kingdom has strong ties, especially in the Syrian arena. Perhaps the most prominent of those is specifically the Army of Islam, and generally Jabhat al-Nusra.

    It is not clear whether the terrorism list encompassed the Islamic Front. The Islamic Front was not mentioned on the list, which may suggest that it was excluded from the terrorism label and that Riyadh will continue to fund the front’s components, especially the Army of Islam, led by Zahran Alloush. But the commission asserted that the list encompasses “every organization that is similar to these organizations in thought, word, or deed” and “all organizations contained in Security Council resolutions and international bodies” and “known as terrorist and practice violence.” That indicates that the Saudi decision left room for many organizations and movements that are not mentioned on the list by name, whereby it is up to the discretion of Saudi political leadership to classify some groups as terrorist at the proper time and in the way that serves Saudi interests.

    The initial impression, however, is that Saudi Arabia has effectively excluded the Islamic Front from the terrorism label. There is no doubt that this exception puts the kingdom in front of serious contradictions. How can it justify the classifying the Brotherhood as terrorist and yet exclude groups that describe themselves as “Salafist jihadist,” such as Ahrar al-Sham, which dominates the Islamic Front? “Salafist jihadism” is known to be more extreme than the Brotherhood, in both thought and deeds. More important is that Ahrar al-Sham includes leading al-Qaeda figures. We are not referring only to Abu Khalid al-Suri, who was killed, but a jihadist source confirmed to As-Safir that Hani al-Lahem, who was killed earlier, was also a leading person connected to #al-Qaeda.

    #Arabie_saoudite

  • Lebanon security forces jam prisoner mobile phones - Al-Monitor : the Pulse of the Middle East
    http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2014/01/lebanon-prison-fear-islamists-jabhat-nusra.html

    Très intéressante histoire des djihadistes de Roumieh : depuis leur prison dans la banlieue de Beyrouth, ils sont accusés de diriger pas mal d’opérations militaires et terroristes. Des dispositifs de brouillage sont en place, mais personne parmi les responsables n’a l’air très disposé à les utiliser, par peur des représailles...

    L’article original en arabe : http://www.assafir.com/#!/ArticleWindow.aspx?ChannelID=1&ArticleID=335820
    et la trad en français sur le site du Manar : http://www.almanar.com.lb/french/adetails.php?eid=153273&cid=18&fromval=1&frid=18&seccatid=23&s1=1

  • François Hollande en Arabie Saoudite pour discuter de très gros contrats de Défense - La Tribune

    http://www.latribune.fr/entreprises-finance/industrie/aeronautique-defense/20131225trib000802749/francois-hollande-en-arabie-saoudite-pour-discuter-de-tres-gros-contrats-d

    C’est une visite d’Etat à très, très gros enjeux pour l’industrie de défense française. Tout le secteur aura les yeux tournés vers l’Arabie Saoudite où François Hollande se rendra les 29 et 30 décembre pour une visite officielle de 24 heures dominée par la situation régionale et les enjeux économiques.

    France tries to supplant US as Saudi Arabia’s arms supplier - Al-Monitor

    http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2013/12/france-saudi-relations-replace-washington-arms.html

    The top priority of the French president, who’s visiting Saudi Arabia Dec. 29-30, is to conclude an unprecedented arms deal with Saudi Arabia, thus exploiting the chill in US-Saudi relations and entering the oil region’s largest arms market, which has spent more than $70 billion during in one decade to accumulate the region’s largest arsenal.

  • What Was the Objective Of Israel’s Airstrikes on Syria ? - Al-Monitor : the Pulse of the Middle East
    http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2013/05/israeli-airstrikes-damascus-syria-perparation-intervention.html#

    What Was the Objective of Israel’s Airstrikes on Syria?

    Toujours Al-Monitor, une lecture des bombardements, stratégiquement fort peu clairs, à Lattaquié il y a quelques semaines comme un signal d’Israël pour montrer son désir d’intégrer l’axe sunnite...