Islamic State

ISIS Recruiting Fighters for the Philippines, Not Syria

With the pressure on the Islamic State growing in the Middle East, and the beating they’re taking in Syria and Iraq, ISIS is changing its recruiting tactics to gather fighters for the fighting in the Philippines.

Foreign fighters are defecting by the hundreds in Syria and Iraq, so ISIS is putting the Philippines as their next big target for foreign fighters to go to.

The seven-minute, English-language video, released by the official ISIS media operation late last month, includes messages from several fighters in the Southern Philippines, and scenes from battles with government troops near the city of Marawi, including the pillaging of a Catholic church.
One of the fighters calls on Muslims in “East Asia, specifically those in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, and Singapore” to migrate and fight alongside the ISIS-linked militants in the Philippines.
A militant identified as “Abul-Yamaan from Marawi” proclaims: “Come forth to the land of jihad. Perform hijrah. Come forth to … Marawi.”

The three major ISIS-aligned Islamist groups on the island of Mindanao — Maute, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), and Abu Sayyaf, formerly an al Qaeda offshoot. ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi named Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon the ISIS emir of Southeast Asia in 2016 have been fighting in Marawi.

The US, which has been supplying Special Operations Forces to support the Filipinos’ efforts in defeating the terrorists have also supplied gun ships and air strikes to oust the insurgents and foreign terrorists who have flocked to the country.

To read the entire article from NBC News click here:

Photo courtesy Jack Murphy SOFREP

ISIS Defectors Fleeing Syria For Turkey, Europe, Middle East

Like rats fleeing a sinking ship, hundreds of foreign fighters for the Islamic State, seeing the writing on the wall, are massing in Syria’s Idlib province with plans to cross into nearby Turkey and find other ways to get back into the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.

Several dozen former fighters have already made it across the heavily patrolled frontier to towns and cities in Turkey’s south in recent weeks, the Guardian has confirmed. Four Saudi Arabian extremists arrived in a southern Turkish community in early September after paying smugglers $2,000 each for the perilous journey past border guards who have shot dead scores of infiltrators this year alone.
The exodus of fighters from areas controlled by Isis to other parts of Syria and Iraq has continued throughout the past year, as the terror group has lost much of its former heartland to a concerted assault by Iraqi troops, forces allied to the Syrian regime and a US-led air coalition in both countries.
However, large numbers of militants and their families are now trying to leave the war-battered states altogether – posing significant challenges to a global intelligence community that, for the most part, views them as a hostile and unmanageable threat, and sees limited scope for their reintegration.

With the disillusioned fighters from other countries trying to repatriate to their homes, they are ripe for interrogation by intelligence agencies such as CIA, MI6, and France’s DGSE as they try to learn as much as they can about the inner workings of the shadowy and brutal terrorist organization.

But for the fighters defecting from the Islamic State, no free rides should be given to these “fighters”. The only reason they’re defecting is that things are going badly for the IS. These stories of being disillusioned with the IS is very self-serving. It will be interesting to see if their countries of origin welcome back these people who swore allegiance to ISIS

To read the entire article from The Guardian click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Former al-Qaida Operatives Launch New Militant Group in Pakistan

A new al-Qaida-inspired militant group, the Ansar al-Sharia Pakistan, whose members have grown disaffected with the Islamic State group in the country, has recently emerged in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi claims to act as a platform for militants who breaking away from the IS.

The group, Ansar al-Sharia Pakistan, was reportedly formed by two former al-Qaida members who had severed ties with the organization in early 2017. Since then, the group has been involved in several attacks in Karachi, according to Pakistani counterterrorism authorities.
“The Ansar al-Sharia group started killings in Karachi since the beginning of this year and claimed responsibility for killing an army officer on Faisal Highway [in Karachi],” Major General Mohammad Saeed, the head of Rangers paramilitary security force in Karachi, told local media. He added the group has been focusing attacks on “the police only.”
The group was allegedly created to operate as a platform for militants who have parted ways with IS in the country, it said in an online statement. It claimed to be active in several parts of the country.

While the group is said to be breaking away from the IS, they use much the same language in their posts on Twitter, calling for attacks through “jihad against infidels and apostates.”

Though having no official affiliation with al-Qaida, the group pledges loyalty to and gets its ideology from Osama bin Laden. Pakistani police have identified some members of the group and said that three men from their “killer teams” have degrees in applied physics. They also claim to have arrested at least four women members.

The al-Qaida branch in South Asia, known as al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), has been active in the region especially in the Karachi region. The Pakistani police have vowed to root them out, even in Karachi.

To read the entire article from The Voice of America, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

US Backed SDF, Syrian Army Advance on Deir el-Zour

With both the Syrian Army and the US backed SDF militias advancing on the city of Deir el-Zour held by Islamic State fighters, the U.S.-led coalition has said they are says monitoring the Syrians to ensure they do not cross a deconfliction zone established across the city.

“We do monitor and watch where they are and where they are going at the same time as they move closer to the middle of the Euphrates Valley,” Colonel Ryan Dillon, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition against IS, told VOA on Thursday.
Dillon added that the coalition warplanes were continuing to strike IS positions in Deir el-Zour as the U.S-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) partnered with local tribal militias in preparation for an attack from the northeast of the deconfliction line.
The deconfliction zone in Deir el-Zour was established between the U.S. and Russia in late 2015 to separate their areas of operation in Syria and prevent inadvertent clashes between the two sides.
The vast line starts from the town of Tabqa, roughly 45 kilometers west of IS’s self-proclaimed capital, Raqqa, and extends parallel to the Euphrates River that runs across Deir el-Zour toward Al-Bukamal town bordering Iraq. It has divided Deir el-Zour province and city into two parts; SDF operates north and east of the line, and the Syrian government troops and their allied militias are in the west and south.

Earlier last week, the Syrian army moved into the western part of the city where Islamic State fighters still hold pockets of resistance inside. There are some estimated 2500-armed fighters in the province that is rich with oil. The province is one of the IS’ last remaining IS strongholds in Syria and stretches to the Iraqi border.

More than a million civilians live in the area of Deir el-Zour and with attacks by the Syrian army, supported by Iranian-backed Shiite militias and Russian airstrikes against the IS fighters, concern for civilian casualties remains high.

The upcoming battle for the city is expected to be a long, drawn out affair.

To read the entire article from The Voice of America, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Pakistan Tell US, “You Won’t Win War on Terror Without Us”

The government of Pakistan has made it very clear, and they are correct that the war on terror “cannot be won by excluding or confronting” Islamabad. Despite the words of President Trump (also correct) criticizing Pakistan’s penchant for allowing terrorists linked to the Taliban and the Haqqani network to hide in their territory, Pakistan vows to fight on with the U.S.

Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif made the remark Thursday at the end of a three-day conference of Pakistani ambassadors to key world capitals for formulating a comprehensive response to the new U.S. policy on Afghanistan.
U.S. President Donald Trump criticized Pakistan when he announced his long-awaited Afghan war policy last month. He accused Islamabad of harboring terrorists linked to the Taliban and Haqqani network, which are undermining U.S.-led efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and staging attacks on American forces.
The charges have strained an already fragile relationship between Islamabad and Washington.
“We want to stay engaged with the United States. There is absolutely no doubt about it … But this relationship will be driven by the interest of Pakistan. We want to have a relationship based on mutual respect,” Foreign Minister Asif told reporters after the meeting.

Pakistan has again rejected the notion that they haven’t done enough to combat terrorism. They are quick to point out the sacrifices their people and military forces have suffered economically as well.

Asif’s remarks called for the Trump Administration to recall the sacrifices that both the US and Pakistan shared back in the 1980s when the CIA and the Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI created, funded, trained and armed Afghan rebels, the Mujahedeen to fight the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan.

To read the entire article from The Voice of America, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

U.S. Confirms Higher Number of Troops in Afghanistan

The United States and the Pentagon have disclosed there are significantly more troops in Afghanistan than previously reported. Just a week after President Trump released a new strategy to end the war after 16 years, this report shows that the numbers of US troops to be much higher than previously thought.

According to Pentagon officials, there are 11,000 U.S. soldiers are stationed in Afghanistan, rather than the previously reported 8400 which was capped by the previous administration of President Obama. The majority of the US troops are Special Operations Forces that are tasked with training, advising and assisting local security forces battling jihadis loyal to the Taliban and Islamic State militant group (ISIS).

“This is not a troop increase,” Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said, according to Reuters. She added that the disclosure was an attempt by the administration to provide more transparency.
Military officials had previously hinted they were hiding the true number of U.S. personnel active in Afghanistan. Nearly 17 years after the U.S. first invaded to dislodge the Islamic government of the Taliban, which refused to give up Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, Trump said he would no longer focus on nation building. Instead, the objective is simply “killing terrorists.”
Trump also said he would no longer provide troop counts or dates or locations of operations, noting that such information could end up in enemy hands. While the Pentagon did offer a troop count in Afghanistan on Wednesday, it declined to release the same figures for Iraq and Syria, where more than 7,900 U.S. troops may be battling ISIS alongside local partners, according to a report published last week by The Military Times. The Pentagon reports only 5,765.

The Pentagon is reporting that 503 Special Operations troops assisting the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish alliance, are in Syria, but other defense officials have said this could really be as high as 900. In Iraq, the Pentagon states that 5,262 U.S. soldiers are assigned there but that number may be as high as 7,000.

To read the entire article from Newsweek, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

U.S. Airstrikes Block Road and Strand ISIS Fighters in Syria

The United States condemned an “agreement between Lebanese Hezbollah and ISIS” allowing hundreds of ISIS fighters and their families to be bused through Syrian territory controlled by President Assad to an area on the Iraq border. Later, US-led coalition aircraft bombed a road and vehicles in Syria on Wednesday in an effort to prevent those fighters from reaching Iraq.
Brett McGurk, the US special presidential envoy for the global coalition to counter ISIS, said in a statement that “the coalition cratered the road heading east between Hamaymah and Abul Kamal to prevent the further transport of ISIS fighters to the border area of our Iraqi partners, and struck individual vehicles and fighters that were clearly identified as ISIS.
“Russian and pro-regime counter-ISIS words ring hollow when they allow known terrorists to transit territory under their control,” the press desk of the Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve wrote in response to an inquiry from The Jerusalem Post. “ISIS is a global threat; relocating terrorists from one place to another for someone else to deal with, is not a lasting solution.”
The US-led coalition of around 70 countries has been fighting ISIS for three years and is on the verge of defeating the group in Iraq and also in its capital of Raqqa in Syria.

The US did not, however, hit the convoy which was carrying family members as well as ISIS fighter, something the terrorists knew would play into the decision. They did target fighters who were clearly identified.

The U.S. has refrained from any attacks west of the Euphrates River due to its “de-confliction” with the Syrian regime and Russia so that the respective air forces of the U.S. and Russia that operate in Syria do not come into contact. But by showing that the unacceptable move to bring ISIS troops into Iraq thru Syrian territory won’t be tolerated.

To read the entire article from The Jerusalem Post, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Iraqi Army Calls Fighting for Tal Afar Worse than Mosul, ‘Gates of Hell’

Iraq’s military forces are engaged in a fierce fight in the small town of al-’Ayadiya just outside of Tal Afar. Islamic State fighters have dug in to hold the small town where reports of the fighting being ‘multiple times worse’ that the battle for Mosul. One Iraqi officer, Colonel Kareem al-Lami, described the fighting at al-’Ayadiya as opening “the gates of hell”.

The Iraqi military took Mosul from the Islamic State in June but was forced to endure a long, bloody, house-to-house urban warfare with high casualties. Hundreds of IS fighters had dug in deep into houses and buildings and fighting to the death in many cases, making the progress slow.

Iraqi forces have in recent days recaptured almost all of the northwestern city of Tal Afar, long a stronghold of Islamic State. They have been waiting to take al-’Ayadiya, just 11 km (7 miles) northwest of the city, before declaring complete victory.
Tough resistance from the militants in al-’Ayadiya has forced the Iraqi forces to increase the number of air strikes, as well as bring in reinforcements from the federal police to boost units from the army, air force, Federal Police, the elite U.S.-trained Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) and some units from the Shi’ite Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).
Up to 2,000 battle-hardened militants were believed to be defending Tal Afar against around 50,000 government troops last week.

Iraqi commanders are having to deal with a determined enemy who is dug in deep into an urban environment and is willing to make them pay for each building taken. The progress will be slow as they must deal with a street fighting exercise in bloody warfare. The Iraqis are planning of using artillery and air strikes to push the Daesh (Islamic State) out of the area.

To read the entire article from Reuters, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

‘Dogs of War’ Getting Increasingly Harder to Come By

The U.S. military has sent countless dogs to serve alongside soldiers in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere since Sept. 11. They have become a valuable member of the troops working in some of the toughest battlefields in the world. With increases in technology, including constructing mannequin dogs, the Pentagon is ensuring many more of them will make it home.

At any given time, there are about 1,600 Military War Dogs (MWDs) are either in the field or helping recuperating veterans. That’s approximately one dog for every three U.S. soldiers currently in Afghanistan.

These animals are, however, an increasingly precious resource. With terrorists targeting public transportation and tourist sites all over the world, global demand for bomb-sniffing dogs has surged. Canines with finely trained noses now fetch $25,000 and up on the open market, where border patrol units, the State Department, and private security firms go for canine talent. Even the war on bedbugs scoops up some of the best noses in the business. And that’s just U.S. demand.
So, out of necessity, the Department of Defense is buying up lifelike canine mannequins to better train medics that care for furry soldiers when they fall. Since these dog dolls hit the market in January, the Pentagon has purchased about 80 of them from TraumaFX, an Atlanta-based unit of defense contractor KForce Government Solutions Inc. The company, which employs Hollywood movie designers, is bidding on an additional six proposals at the moment.

While the demand for war dogs is increasing both in the war theatre as well as at home, the pipeline for getting trained dogs in the field is very limited. A well-trained dog cast somewhere around $42,000 before it is ready to get out in the field and the training lasts about four months.

That’s why buying the dog dummies are valuable assets for veterinary services that are assigned to care for them when they are hurt in the line of duty.

To read the entire article from Bloomberg, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

Iraqi Forces Driving on Islamic State Held Town of Tal Afar

Iraq’s armed forces announced that they’ve captured two areas on the edge of the town of Tal Afar. Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Rasheed Yar Allah, the commander of the Iraqi troops, said that Iraqi Special Forces drove the Islamic State militants from one area on the southwestern edge of town and police and paramilitary units from another in the northwest.

In further developments, the Iraqi forces are moving to encircle the city on Iraq’s northwest border near Syria. Iraqi forces captured three more neighborhoods – al-Nour and al-Mo’allameen in the east and al-Wahda in the west.

The U.S.-led coalition is supporting the move providing airstrikes for the Iraqi troops, and there are reports of U.S. and other special forces are operating near the front lines.
British Maj. Gen. Rupert Jones, the coalition’s deputy commander, said Iraqi forces are off to a “really positive start” and are “closing the noose” around the militants.
“The key is that they’ve broken into the city,” he told Pentagon reporters via videoconference from Baghdad.

The Islamic State which swept into Iraq and Syria has been taking a beating in recent months trying to hold onto territory it deemed their “caliphate” in both countries. But despite setbacks in Mosul and elsewhere, they still have a reported 2000 fighters in Tal Afar and 2500 in the Syrian town of Raqqa where the fighting is still raging.

To read the entire article from ABC News, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia