The newly elected leader of the Islamic State has made his first public appearance since proclaiming a caliphate, justifying the Sunni-led rebellion against the Iraqi government.
In a video posted on social media, the newly elected 'caliph', Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is seen delivering a Friday sermon and leading prayers in the grand mosque of Mosul.
Baghdadi, who delivers a 15-minute-long sermon wearing a black turban and robe, spoke on the blessings of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, and the legitimacy of fighting in the path of God against oppression.
Quoting verses from the Quran on jihad, Baghdadi spoke on the need of establishing sharia rule and how God had helped the "jihadists" in establishing the so-called caliphate.
Sources and eyewitnesses in the border town of al-Bukamal east Syria informed Zaman Alwasl that many factions affiliated with FSA have pledged allegiance with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) amid a huge public attendance, where their weapons have been handed over to “ISIS”.
The source said brigades of Ahl Al Athar, Ibin al-Qa'im, and Aisha have pledged allegiance to the State after clashes that ended quickly for the benefit of ISIS, while the leader of these brigades and factions have fled to the countryside of al-Bukamal into neighboring towns in Deir Ezzor province.
Recent attacks and counter-attacks in the long-running Syrian civil war have claimed the lives of several top fighters and commanders on the side of the government regime—at least two of them Iranians.
And the death of one Iranian officer in particular has resulted in a major intelligence coup for rebel forces. They found among the officer’s possessions notes detailing the regime’s command and manpower problems.
Gen. Abdullah Eskandari was the former head of veterans’ and martyrs’ affairs in city of Shiraz in Iran. He was apparently part of Tehran’s secretive force fighting in Syria on behalf of embattled president Bashar Al Assad.
Some time in late May, a sniper reportedly shot and killed Eskandari near Damascus. Rebels decapitated the general’s body and put his head on a spike in order to pose with it in photos.
Not long after, the opposition published the contents of a notepad they claimed they found in Eskandari’s kit. The pad doesn’t mention that its contents are classified, nor does it carry an official seal. However unofficial, the notes seem to confirm the infighting and manpower shortages the observers have long suspected of plaguing the Syrian regime and its Iranian backers.
The first page of the notepad describes the four major Syrian intelligence—Political Intelligence, Military Intelligence, Air Force Intelligence and Government Intelligence. All four are independent … and all four report directly to Al Assad. According to Eskandari’s notes, competition is fierce between the agencies.
The pad’s second page pays special attention to Hama province in north-central Syria. It states that 13,000 rebels are active in the five districts. The regime can muster only a few thousand paramilitary soldiers and a small army contingent to contest the province. The paramilitary National Defense Force in Hama includes five brigades of 1,000 men each, according to the notes.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps directly organized one of the brigades, Eskandari reveals. “For 10 months after we started here, we didn’t have any real power, but now they [the Syrian regime forces] are paying attention to us,” the general writes.
The header on the third page reads, “Syrian army dissipation and disintegration!” The general recommends that paramilitaries should replace the regime’s 33rd Infantry Division in manning checkpoints—and that the 87th and 35th Divisions have left Dara’a, near the border with Jordan.
(Reuters) - Two cylinders reportedly seized by Syrian government troops in an area controlled by armed opposition groups contained deadly sarin, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a letter to the U.N. Security Council published on Monday.
Ban said that on June 14, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) United Nations Joint Mission overseeing the destruction of Syria's chemical stockpile analyzed the contents of the cylinders.
"The Joint Mission confirmed that these contained sarin," said Ban's letter. The letter said the cylinders were "reportedly seized by the armed forces of the Syrian Arab Republic in August 2013 in an area reportedly under the control of armed opposition groups."
Syria - The Idleb Islamic Front has gained control of the Altarrf military point
A jihadi fighter in Syria has told Sky News he has been training British teenagers as young as 16 to fight in the war.
Yilmaz, a Dutch national who has been in the region for two years, said: "It's extremely easy to get here … People go on holiday, they end up in Syria."
Speaking via Skype, from the Idlib province of the war-torn country, the fighter insisted the majority of Britons did not pose a threat to their home country.
But he added: "There is always the chance of a loose cannon doing something stupid, doing something crazy."
Asked how young his trainees from Britain were he replied: "16, 17 ... Most are in their 20s."
Security services in the UK estimate 400 to 500 British jihadists are involved in the conflict in Syria or Iraq, and there are concerns some may wish to return and commit terrorist acts when they return.
The Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) opened a new front in their offensive on Kobanê last night, according to an article from DİHA carried in Özgür Gündem. ISIS forces, who have been pushing on Kobanê from the south and west, are now attempting to advance on villages to the east of Kobanê as well. YPG units defending the canton destroyed two ISIS tanks yesterday, while scores of ISIS fighters are reported to be dead on the field.
The new ISIS offensive was launched from the village of Melluh Gomer and is directed at the villages of Kendal, Adukê and Tepeyê Kopirlik, around 20 km to the east of Kobanê. ISIS gangs are also battling the YPG for the villages of Zor Mixar, Zaret and Bêdin to the west of Kobanê, and the town of Sırrın and surrounding villages in the south.
YPG forces have put up fierce resistance, destroying two ISIS tanks and a heavy machine gun. Scores of ISIS fighters have been killed in the most recent offensive, which began last week. Yesterday 2 YPG fighters also lost their lives, and 6 more were wounded.
Jabhat An-Nusra liberates Northern and Southern Rasm Al-Halabi in Reef Quneitra.
An Australian Islamic preacher suspected of rallying support for Isis militants in Syria has been arrested in the Philippines, where he has been preaching radical Islam and recruiting militants since February, according to Australian police.
Melbourne-native Robert Cerantonio, 29, who goes by the alias of Musa, was arrested on Friday morning in Lapu-Lapu city on the island of Cebu in the central Philippines, along with a Filipina woman and Filipino man, a stack of different currencies, SIM cards, mobile phones and his passport.
“He has been literally calling for jihad,” a senior police intelligence official told Reuters. “He has been recruiting Filipino Muslims to fight in Iraq and Syria.”
The Taliban has released a statement calling on rival jihadist factions in Syria to reconcile. The Taliban avoids any mention of the Islamic State, which recently decreed that it now rules as a caliphate, even though the organization is at the center of the jihadists' infighting.
The statement, published in Arabic on one of the group's websites as a "weekly analysis," was first obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.
Instead, the Taliban calls for the creation of a common shura council capable of mediating the differences between the warring insurgent groups in Syria. Al Qaeda's senior leadership has repeatedly encouraged the jihadists to settle their differences in this manner, but the Islamic State has rejected all attempts at mediation.
The Taliban's silence with respect to the Islamic State's announced caliphate is interesting because the claims made by Abu Bakr al Baghdadi's group can be read as a challenge to the authority of all other jihadist entities.
BEIRUT: The Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, intends to establish an Islamic “emirate” in the country but is holding off for now, according to statements that emerged over the weekend.
An undated audio recording purported to be by the group’s leader Abu Mohammad al-Golani was circulated Saturday, accompanied by doubts about the tape’s authenticity. Nusra’s media arm issued a “clarification” the following day, however, backing most of the main points raised by Golani during his address to a gathering of Nusra fighters.
The group calling itself the Islamic State, previously known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, has taken control of the rebel-held portion of the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor, buoyed by advances in neighbouring Iraq, a monitoring group has said.
Rival rebel groups fighting against forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad either changed sides or fled from the strategic Euphrates valley city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday.
The Islamic State, after moving heavy weapons it took from the Iraqi army to Syria’s Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa towns, has been mounting three-pronged attacks since July 2 against Kobani, one of the three cantons of Rojava. IS had been expected to move toward Baghdad, backed by Sunni tribes, Baathists and Salafist Islamic factions, but diverted its operations to Syria. IS easily captured Mayadeen, Muhassen and Al Omar oil basin at Deir ez-Zor and its next target was predicted to be the Kurdish Jazeera canton. But IS struck at Rojava’s most symbolic target, Kobani.
Beirut (Alliance News) - At least seven Hezbollah fighters were killed and more than 31 wounded in attacks by Syrian rebels in the Qalamoun region bordering Lebanon, activists and a monitoring group said.
"The clashes took place in a region that borders the northeastern Lebanese area of Arsal," Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told dpa.
He added that the fighting intensified Sunday when Hezbollah launched an attack in a bid to finish
off the pockets of rebels in the Rankous area. Hezbollah captured at least 14 militants from the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front during the clashes, Abdel Rahman said.
Syrians jets carried out seven raids on mountainous areas between Lebanon and Syria, near the town of Arsal, activists said.
On July 15 2014 00:49 konadora wrote: is there a good source where i can find out what is the reason behind this? a lot of snippets here and there. like, why is this happening and how.
really appreciate it, thanks!
What exactly do You mean? The whole war? The rise of Islamic rebels and their role in conflict? The infighting between various Islamist factions?
On July 15 2014 00:49 konadora wrote: is there a good source where i can find out what is the reason behind this? a lot of snippets here and there. like, why is this happening and how.
really appreciate it, thanks!
Because a whole bunch of wars and conflicts since the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq have removed any form of government and stability from the region which has left these forces the opportunity to amass and begin more wars.
SEYDA ZEINAB, Syria—The Lebanese movement Hezbollah, facing a heavy strain on its resources, is recruiting more fighters in Syria and bringing in fresh but inexperienced forces from Lebanon to shore up Bashar al-Assad's regime.
In the past year, Hezbollah's battle-tested fighters helped Syrian forces retake territory around the capital Damascus and other key cities such as Homs and Aleppo, paving the way for Mr. Assad to win a third, seven-year term as president in elections last month.
But Hezbollah members and people involved in the group's operations in Syria said the militant group is now stretched thin by two conflicts involving its Shiite allies that threaten to erode, if not undo, its successes in Syria.
A Sunni rebellion against the Shiite-dominated government in neighboring Iraq is drawing home Iraqi Shiites who have been fighting alongside Hezbollah in Syria, according to pro-government militiamen in Syria.
On July 15 2014 00:49 konadora wrote: is there a good source where i can find out what is the reason behind this? a lot of snippets here and there. like, why is this happening and how.
really appreciate it, thanks!
Because a whole bunch of wars and conflicts since the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq have removed any form of government and stability from the region which has left these forces the opportunity to amass and begin more wars.
Lol Please try to shift blame onto america more. The war started in syria which has nothing to do with what america has done in the region. Then the iraq government turned out to be a complete failure and after we left collapsed like a twig and has now split into three sections that has almost no chance of returning to a unified state again.
The reason why ISIL (or IS Islamic state as they're calling themselves now) is beacuse they've been allowed to amass and rearm themselves in the civil war in syria. The whole war is now spiraling out of control beacuse people where too afraid to goto war in syria when the conflict was localized.
I have no idea why you brought afghanistan in beacuse that county has nothing to do with whats going on.
Now the IS has american trained officers, generals, and equipment including but not limited to tanks and apcs. They now pose a larger military threat then any other state in the region.
On July 15 2014 00:49 konadora wrote: is there a good source where i can find out what is the reason behind this? a lot of snippets here and there. like, why is this happening and how.
really appreciate it, thanks!
Because a whole bunch of wars and conflicts since the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq have removed any form of government and stability from the region which has left these forces the opportunity to amass and begin more wars.
Lol Please try to shift blame onto america more. The war started in syria which has nothing to do with what america has done in the region. Then the iraq government turned out to be a complete failure and after we left collapsed like a twig and has now split into three sections that has almost no chance of returning to a unified state again.
The reason why ISIL (or IS Islamic state as they're calling themselves now) is beacuse they've been allowed to amass and rearm themselves in the civil war in syria. The whole war is now spiraling out of control beacuse people where too afraid to goto war in syria when the conflict was localized.
I have no idea why you brought afghanistan in beacuse that county has nothing to do with whats going on.
Now the IS has american trained officers, generals, and equipment including but not limited to tanks and apcs. They now pose a larger military threat then any other state in the region.
well....except that it has. 1) America's invasion of Iraq turned Syria into a number one transhipment point of terrorists in the Middle East. 2) America's tacit support for overthrow of Mubarak and explicit support of Gaddafis overthrow encouraged a bunch of 'average' Syrians to rise up When you take 1+2 it means that a national uprising inspired by American's actions in the middle east found a hardcore veteran group of terrorists who were on the ground also because of America's other actions all fully supplied by Gulf Arab oil and gas millionaires who also were set up to do so because thats what they did in Iraq.
No invasion of Iraq = no terrorists in Syria = either the uprising gets crushed sooner or America doesnt feel bad about interfering into Syria like they did in Libya.
That's not true. Islamic militants have been present and rising up in Syria ever since the foundation of the current ba'athist state, with the Hama massacre as a previous low. And the Arab spring didn't happen because the US wanted it to happen, or somehow allowed it to happen, it happened because of a real democratic deficit in the entire region.
The most you can blame the US for in Syria is standing by on the sidelines instead of trying to intervene in an earlier stage, but the root causes were always there.
Normally, I say normally because that has been the pattern for a while is US pledge of support and military aid for these regimes and propping them up for concessions has led to stability in the region despite all of the corruption and despotism.
If simply by withdrawing support of these Arab despots has created this mess, then US simply has decided that these rulers aren't worth effort anymore.
Denying that US actions has destabilized the region and paved way for todays mess is just stupid. Without US involvment (or in some cases lack of therof [like discontinuing support for Mubarak]) Saddam, Mubarak, Assad and Gaddafi would still rule with ironhand and no muslim fundamentalist would dare to rise head.
The basic problem is that there are people ruling these countries with an iron fist. In the end, you can only keep suppressing a majority of your population for so long before they start rising up. You can blame the US for its support of dictators in the Middle East, thereby delaying the inevitable collapse of regimes like ones we have/had in Egypt/Libya/Syria/Tunisia but in the end regimes like that are flat out untenable. Civil war was always coming to Syria, Assad was always going to have to use more repression and violence and he would have always lost out on territory where his loyal support is vastly outnumbered.
Also, the US stood by Mubarak longer than his own army did and only caved once it was clear he wasn't staying in power, Assad always had hostile relations with the US and direct US involvement in the conflict has been rather minimal, Ghadaffi was more a UK/FR operation than it was a US project and while the invasion of Iraq created instability on the Syrian eastern border, you have to admit that the initial protests against Assad weren't Jihadi or Islamist in nature (neither were the ones in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia). The real space for jihadis to operate in Syria was only created after the civil war was well under way and the country was torn up.
EPT
