Islamic State

Iraqi Prime Minister: Air Force Hits Islamic State Targets in Syria

Iraqi air force planes have attacked Islamic State targets in Syria that were reportedly occupied by ISIS commanders. They targeted the positions as the terror group is still a threat to them as well.

The airstrike was confirmed by Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi’s office in a statement released on Sunday morning.

One of the strikes targeted a position south of the town of Deshaisha, the statement said.
ISIL commanders, according to Abadi, used the base, situated near the city of Deir Az Zor in the country’s east.
Iraq launched air raids on Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) positions several times over the past year with the support of the Syrian government and the US-led coalition fighting ISIL.
ISIL, also known by its Arabic acronym “Daesh,” controlled significant portions of Iraq and Syria. At its peak, the group ruled over roughly 110,000sq km between the two countries.
By October 2017, the group’s territory had been reduced to about 10,000sq km, mostly in Syria’s east.
ISIL’s administrative capital was once in Mosul, a large city in western Iraq. Mosul was freed by the Iraqi military and militias collaborating with the US-led coalition in July 2017 after nearly a year of battles.
Abadi stated at an April meeting of his ruling Darwa party that Iraq’s “land war with Daesh has ended. We have saved all the land of our country and taken control of the Syrian border.
“But the danger of Daesh’s ideology and sleeper cells remains. I should warn everyone about that,” he said.

The Iraqis were being proactive in targeting the ISIS positions, they know as the noose tightens around them in Syria, they’ll be looking to slip back into Iraq once again.

To read the entire article from Al Jazeera, click here:

Photo :Wikipedia File photo of Iraqi pilot firing a Hellfire missile

Missile Strikes on pro-Assad Forces in Syria Kill Dozens

Many Syrian troops loyal to President Assad and Iranian troops assisting them were killed in a missile strike that targeted several locations.

The Syrian military said facilities in Hama and Aleppo provinces were struck.
It did not say if there were any casualties. But a UK-based monitoring group said four Syrians and 22 foreigners, mostly Iranians, died.
It is not known who was behind the attacks. But Western nations and Israel have previously hit sites in Syria.
Earlier this month, the US, UK and France bombed three facilities they said were associated with the Syrian government’s alleged chemical weapons programme.
Israel is meanwhile alleged to have hit an airbase reportedly serving as an Iranian drone command centre and containing an advanced Iranian air defence system.
The office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will issue a statement on Monday evening on a “significant development” regarding the nuclear deal between Western powers and Iran.
A Syrian military source cited by the official Sana news agency did not identify any specific locations, saying only that the military sites were “exposed… to a new aggression” at 22:30 (19:30 GMT).
The source added that the strikes came after “terrorist organisations” had suffered defeats in the countryside around the capital, Damascus, an apparent reference to the recent recapture of the Eastern Ghouta region from rebel groups.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, said one strike appeared to have targeted a depot for surface-to-surface missiles at the 47th Brigade military base, south of the city of Hama.
The pro-opposition Orient News website also reported that large explosions were seen coming from what were believed to be ammunition caches at the base.
Opposition media activist Mohammed Rasheed told the Associated Press that debris from the explosion at the depot struck parts of Hama and that residents of areas near the base fled their homes.
Missiles are also reported to have hit locations in the Salhab area, west of Hama city, and the area surrounding Nairab military airport, which is close to the city of Aleppo and its international airport.

The SOHR reported that 26 soldiers were killed, the majority of them Iranians. Over 60 were injured, several of them seriously and many were still missing. Iranian state-run news services stated that “reports of killed Iranian troops were baseless.”

It is believed but has not been confirmed that the missiles were fired by the Israelis.

To read the entire article from BBC, click here:

Photo courtesy Video Screenshot

Plasan Unveils New Border Security, Special Ops Vehicle

Last week in Mexico City, the Israeli company Plasan debuted a new lightweight, fully protected vehicle that was designed for border security but could definitely have a role as a Special Operations tactical assault vehicle.

With the increased importance by the current administration with protecting the borders, especially with Border Patrol agents having to deal not only with illegal immigrants but increasing numbers of drug cartel members who are normally heavily armed, this vehicle will be a good addition.

It will allow troops along the border be they Border Patrol or National Guard to cover more square miles of territory than with the current issued vehicles while giving them much better protection.

For Special Operations troops it is a possible fit to replace the Polaris MRZR since those don’t offer the crew any protection at all while not sacrificing much on mobility and speed.

Plasan took an existing Arctic Cat 4 1000 All Terrain Vehicle and transformed it into a three-man fully protected all-terrain vehicle capable of operating in muddy, sandy, rocky and steep-sloped areas with ease. With a dry weight of 1.48 tons, the Yagu, as it is called, has plenty of power-to-weight ratios to carry the crew and its payload to do any mission.

The three-man crew will operate in an enclosed, fully armored, air-conditioned capsule. It has plenty of windows in front and on the side but also has 360-degree cameras that will provide the crew excellent situational awareness and response time.

The vehicle’s crew pod is encased in a composite armor that is rated as B6+ in ballistic protection. This armor with increased bullet resistant front and side windows will protect the crew from the NATO-standard 5.56x45mm and the most common Russian 7.62x39mm. The “+” in regards to the armor would mean that Plasan’s protective armor should be able to withstand even more powerful cartridges, up to .50 caliber.

This level of protection would normally require ballistic steel which would make the vehicle much too heavy for practical use. However, the weight of Plasan’s Yagu falls between the General Dynamics Flyer 72 and the current Special Operations-used Polaris MRZR.

The MRZR offers no ballistic protection at all and several Special Operations troops were complaining that the vehicle has a very limited combat role. The relatively narrow width of the vehicle makes it easier to traverse in narrow or blocked roads as well as loading it into Chinook Special Operations helicopters.

The weapon system mounted on a top cupola is operated remotely from inside the crew compartment. The Yagu also has a drone system that can be launched from inside the vehicle operating independently or as they displayed in a promotional video, can be launched on a cable tethered to the vehicle. The operating time for the drone is 27 minutes and contains target tracking features for additional situation awareness for the crew.

The Yagu uses the original Arctic Cat 1000 H2 V- Twin, S0HC 4 – stroke, 4 – valve w/EFI 951cc engine with electronic fuel injection, coupled to an automatic transmission with HI/LO gear, 2 or 4 wheel drive and the long-travel front and rear suspension used in the original vehicle. To support the added weight and improve mobility, the Yagu uses bigger tires (28 X 10r14 instead of the civilian model’s 26x9R14 and 26x11R14).

One thing that stands out is that the generator used for the air conditioning system is unprotected in the rear of the vehicle.

It is interesting that Plasan opted to release this vehicle at an event in Mexico City. With their contentious relationship with President Trump over the issues on the border and over the construction of a wall, the last thing they probably want to see is a Yagu.

But for the U.S. Border Patrol, the National Guard troops manning the border and for our Special Operations troops, this vehicle has some intriguing possibilities. It looks to be light, mobile and tough. It is based on a proven design and the Arctic Cat name means that the vehicle will be reliable.

The company offers other add-ons such as enhanced protection packages that will make the vehicle more survivable but will add weight to the vehicle. But the versatility and simplicity of the overall design make it worth testing for Special Operation Forces.

Video courtesy of Plasan:

Photos: Plasan

Iranian Base in Syria Hit by “Enemy” Missile Attack

A missile attack has hit a series of military bases housing Iranian military forces. One of the bases is said to be the recruitment center for Iranian-based Shiite militias.

“Syria is being exposed to a new aggression with some military bases in rural Hama and Aleppo hit with enemy rockets,” an army source was quoted as saying without elaborating.
Reports from the Syrian opposition said 38 regime soldiers were killed and 57 were injured in the attack, citing media outlets with connections to the regime.
An opposition source said one of the locations hit was an army base known as Brigade 47 near Hama city, widely known as a recruitment center for Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias who fight alongside President Bashar Assad’s forces.
State television did not give a location for the explosions but two residents contacted in eastern Hama countryside said the blasts came from a military base reported to be used by Iranian-backed forces.
“If someone thinks that it is possible to launch missiles to Israeli cities or our aircraft, no doubt we will respond and we will respond very forcefully,” he said at The Jerusalem Post conference in New York when asked by Yaakov Katz, Editor-in-Chief of The Jerusalem Post.
“We will keep our freedom of operation in all of Syria. We have no intention to attack Russia or to interfere in domestic Syrian issues. But if somebody thinks that it is possible to launch missiles or to attack Israel or even our aircraft, no doubt we will respond and we will respond very forcefully.”
A clip from Israeli television shows damage to the base where the Iranian forces are recruiting.
Liberman along with other senior Israeli officials have been warning of Iranian entrenchment on the Golan Heights, an area of key strategic importance for the Jewish State, stressing that it is a red line for Jerusalem.
Over the course of Syria’s eight-year long civil war Israel has publicly admitted to having struck over 100 Hezbollah convoys and other Iranian targets in Syria, while keeping mum on hundreds of other strikes attributed to it.

So while Iranian militias were attacking US-backed SDF forces in the north, it appears the Israelis were hitting their bases hard in other locations, including their recruitment centers.

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

Photo courtesy video screenshot

Niger Report Slams Troops’ Complacency, Lack of Training for Ambush

The classified Pentagon investigation concerning the death of four U.S. soldiers in Niger last October during an ambush placed the blame squarely on the unit and listed a list of shortcomings including complacency and a lack of training.

Citing a culture of “excessive risk”, low-level commanders took shortcuts to approve operations — with at least one officer lifting orders from a different mission and pasting them onto the “so-called concept of operations to gain approval,” officials said.

Initially, the mission on Oct. 3, 2017, that ultimately sent the Army Special Forces team, along with Nigerian soldiers, into a deadly ambush, was a planned meeting with local officials. However, the team was redirected to assist in a search for Doundou Chefou, a militant suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of an American aid worker.
Upon returning, the team was later attacked by Islamic State-linked militants in a village near Tongo Tongo, resulting in the deaths of four U.S. soldiers and four Nigerien troops on Oct. 4.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday he has given a 200-page classified summary to Congress.
Mattis acknowledged Thursday there was not one but many problems that led to the American soldiers being ambushed by roughly 50 heavily armed ISIS-affiliated fighters more than six months ago in West Africa.
Mattis said: “I think right now we have found what we believe to be the crux of the problems, not problem but problems that contributed to this. It was not a delegation of authority problem. So, we know immediately how to address and we are doing that right now.”

It doesn’t come as a surprise that the report would come down hard on the unit. Since the Pentagon has changed the narrative on this operation several times since the October ambush.

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

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Russian “Civilian” Contractors Return Home to Military Bases

While the Russians claim to have no control over the Russian military contractors that have been fighting in Syria, including the ones that attacked a U.S. base, once their tours of duty are finished, their return to Russia goes straight to a military base.

Reuters followed groups for Russian contractors as they left Syria and once arriving in Russia, boarded buses and drove 220 miles to the Russian military base that is home to the Russian 10^th Special Forces Brigade in Molkino.

The destination of the Russians arriving from Syria provides rare evidence of a covert Russian mission in Syria beyond the air strikes, training of Syrian forces and small numbers of special forces troops acknowledged by Moscow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Feb. 14 Russians may be in Syria but “they are not part of the armed forces of the Russian Federation”. He referred Reuters to the defense ministry when asked why civilians fighting in Syria return to a military base. The ministry did not immediately respond.
A duty officer at the 10th special forces brigade, asked why non-military people were entering the military base, said: “Nobody enters it, as far as I am aware … You’ve seen them, okay. But you should not believe everything … You can maybe. But how can we comment on what other organizations do?”
More than 2,000 Russian contractors are fighting to help Syrian forces recapture land from their opponents, several sources, including one contractor, have said.
Reuters reporters saw a Syrian Cham Wings charter flight from Damascus land at the civilian airport in Rostov-on-Don on April 17 and watched groups of men leave the terminal through an exit separate from the one used by ordinary passengers.
They boarded three buses, which took them to an area mainly used by airport staff. A luggage carrier brought numerous oversized bags and the men, dressed in civilian clothes, got off the buses, loaded the bags and got back on.
All three reached the village of Molkino, 350 km (220 miles) south, shortly before midnight.
In the village, each bus paused for a minute or two at a checkpoint manned by at least two servicemen, before driving on. About 15-20 minutes later the buses drove back through the checkpoint empty. Publicly available satellite maps show the road leads to the military facility.

Families of contractors have confirmed that the contractors have been using the military base prior to deploying to Syria and their immediate return to a Russian military base is another sign that the government controls them far more than they admit to.

To read the entire article from Reuters, click here:

Photo courtesy Video Screen Shot

The Australian Army Chief Got it Wrong…Bring Back the Punisher

Opinion: The Chief of Staff of the Australian military, Lieutenant General Angus Campbell, Chief of Army has written a memo in which he has decided that “what could be termed ‘death’ symbology/iconography” is to be eliminated from their military culture.

SOFREP.com’s Luke Ryan wrote about this earlier this week where the general listed several examples of such iconography, followed by why the symbol negatively represents the Australian Army: “Pirate Skull and Crossbones (maritime outlaws and murderers), the Phantom or Punisher symbols (vigilantes), Spartans (extreme militarism) or the Grim Reaper (bringer of death).” Gen. Campbell believes that these symbols are counter to the ethos embraced by the Australian Army, “employing violence with humility always and compassion whenever possible.”

While the general states that the troops wearing these symbols were never presented in an “ill-intentioned manner” however he states that “it is always ill-considered and implicitly encourages the inclusion of an arrogant hubris and general disregard for the most serious responsibility of our profession: the legitimate and discriminate taking of life.”

Part of what the general is playing to is the endless battle between what the military preaches incessantly to the troops (uniformity) and the small liberties the fighting men take with their instruments of war which builds a bit of esprit de corps and is a small price to pay for a bit of motivation for the troops. Some, like the general, take uniformity to the nth degree and end up pissing off the troops to no end for no good reason.

Rest assured, Special Operations has had its share of uniformity geeks and Special Forces was certainly not immune to it. Thankfully the generation today, while serving overseas hasn’t had to put up with pedantic ravings of certain sergeant majors who couldn’t speak of anything tactically with the adults in the room, so they became the haircut, mustache and belt police. Those of our generation know exactly who I speak of.

With all due respect to our Australian brothers in arms, this general missed the boat entirely. The Australians, like the United States military, has been in this Global War on Terror since the beginning. The vast majority of the men who use those symbols are in the combat arms MOS’ and the very symbol of the Australian Infantry Combat Badge is the bayonet. There is no compassionate way to use a bayonet unless the men who trained me and countless others at the U.S. Army Infantry School at Ft. Benning are totally wrong.

To be honest here, when I first read the headline, I thought it was a joke, a hoax, not unlike the ones we see on certain satirical websites. If the general is worried about the perception of the military and the men who wage war in it among their citizens, let them take their place and put their own lives on the line.

If instead he is, and this is probably more true, worried about having everything look the same and worried about political correctness, then he needs to step back and check himself.

These things aren’t new or related to just the Global War on Terror. A scene from the film “Full Metal Jacket” from the Vietnam era had its own pogue attempts at curbing the men’s small sense of individuality.

Pogue Colonel: What is that you’ve got written on your helmet?
Private Joker: “Born to Kill”, sir.
Pogue Colonel: You write “Born to Kill” on your helmet and you wear a peace button. What’s that supposed to be, some kind of sick joke?
Private Joker: No, sir.
Pogue Colonel: You’d better get your head and your ass wired together, or I will take a giant shit on you.
Private Joker: Yes, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Now answer my question or you’ll be standing tall before the man.
Private Joker: I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man, sir.
Pogue Colonel: The what?
Private Joker: The duality of man. The Jungian thing, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Whose side are you on, son?
Private Joker: Our side, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Don’t you love your country?
Private Joker: Yes, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Then how about getting with the program? Why don’t you jump on the team and come on in for the big win?
Private Joker: Yes, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Son, all I’ve ever asked of my marines is that they obey my orders as they would the word of God. We are here to help the Vietnamese, because inside every gook there is an American trying to get out. It’s a hardball world, son. We’ve gotta keep our heads until this peace craze blows over.

Even back in World War II, the brass knew enough when to leave the men alone. During the earlier years of the war, any bomber pilot that flew and completed 25 combat missions were allowed to go home. That is how stacked the deck was against any crew trying to survive. The Army, even the stick-up-their-ass senior officers knew that the crew painting pin-ups or cartoon characters and such on their aircraft was a small price to pay for men risking their lives over the skies of Europe.

Andy Rooney of “60 Minutes” fame, was in 1943 a reporter for Stars and Stripes, but still the same Andy Rooney. And he flew a couple of combat missions with B-17s over Germany and reported this:

“Grim-faced Luftwaffe pilots, proud of the guts that take them within the suicide circle of a fortress formation, determined to do or die for the Fatherland, must wonder what the hell kind of air force they are up against. They come diving in, teeth clenched, hell-bent for Hitler and along with a hail of lead are greeted by the stupid grin of some absurd comic-book character, or the nude form of a pretty girl painted on the nose of the bomber they are attacking….” The art was “something else, Andy Rooney wrote.”

General Campbell’s own Twitter account showed how ridiculous this ban is by Retweeting an award some Australian cadets had won in a Land Navigation competition at West Point. Included was the USMA Logo, the Spartan helmet. Campbell wants to ban the helmet for being too militaristic.

This is the kind of chickenshit adherence to uniform regulations that pisses the soldiers off to no end. There are certain things that leaders should and must do for their troops.

Ensuring that they have the best equipment and enough supplies to do the job. Give them the best training that they can get to ensure that every one of them returns home alive. And provide them with the best leadership, which starts with a sense of mission that they can. When leaders come up with this, the troops that are supposed to be leading tune them right out and become convinced, and rightfully so, that they don’t have the troops best interest at heart.

Before Special Forces troops deploy on missions, they’d give a briefback to the commander and his staff. When it was the turn of the Command Sergeant Major, (CSM A.) to address any questions, we had one who would ask pertinent questions on mission accomplishment, the logistics of said mission and ensuring that every member of the team knew what his assigned part of the mission was.

We had another (CSM B.) who didn’t ask a single question about the mission, not one. But would tell the Team Sergeant to make sure that SSG so and so, trims his mustache and ask if any of the team members were wearing unauthorized belts or boots.

Which one would you want to follow, or have as your CSM?

In the end, is wearing the symbols of a skull and crossbones, or the Punisher a bit silly? Of course, it is, but as a lover of the Punisher logo, a sticker of it has been on my truck for years. But at the same time, shouldn’t the leaders of the military of each country have more important things to worry about than a logo of a Spartan helmet or the Punisher? You’re damned straight they do.

The Superman “S” is for honor and integrity, much like the shield of Captain America. The symbolism of the Punisher and perhaps Batman is a bit darker. For the lawbreakers or the bad guys, it means that “we’re coming for you and you’ll have nowhere to hide.”

Leave Frank Castle and the Punisher be, and let’s hope the U.S. military isn’t as short-sighted and dumb as this. The men have been at war for 17 years and we should be more concerned with getting them all home safely than if they are wearing a skull face veil or a logo spray painted on their kit.

Photo: SOFREP, Marvel

Due to Declining National Support Is a Military Coup a Possibility in Iran?

Water shortages, economic and political fallout at home, increased military presence Syria and other countries have resulted in larger protests in Iran. The government cracked down violently against the protests in over 80 cities which have resulted in at least 21 deaths.

In early February, dozens of women were arrested for taking off their head scarves and protesting against mandatory veiling in Tehran.
Later the same month, police clashed with members of the Gonabadi Sufi order, which led to five deaths, according to Gonabadi activists, and hundreds arrested. In late March, Arabs staged protests in Khuzestan province after a the national TV excluded their community from a program about Iran’s ethnic diversity. Then in April, the security forces cracked down on water shortage protests in Isfahan province. Labour strikes in various cities across the country have also persisted.
Apart from these protests, the Islamic Republic has been facing numerous social-economic and political problems, including a rapidly depreciating currency, worsening droughts and deepening military involvement in Syria. At the same time, the government has not been able to alleviate many of the root causes of these issues.
It is amid these heightened tensions that the possibility of a coup against the current government, whose term expires in 2021, has arisen. There are already some signs that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) could be moving in that direction if Ayatollah Khamenei orders them to do so.
There is a growing consensus among Iranian political elites who believe implementing radical reforms is the only solution to these crises. But reforms seem very unlikely since Iran’s dual political structure is in deadlock.
The elected bodies of the regime, including the president and the parliament are incapable of creating any meaningful change because their powers are limited by the system in place. At the same time, the unelected bodies, including the supreme leader, the judiciary, and security forces, which enjoy vast political powers, believe that it is the government’s incompetency that is causing the current problems.

There is talk among Iran’s hardliners that having a military president under the control of supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei would solve all of their domestic and economic issues.

To read the entire article from Al Jazeera click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Russia, China Strengthen Ties to Challenge US in the Middle East

U.S. sanctions against Russia have resulted in pushback from Moscow. The Russians and Chinese have pledged to strengthen their bilateral military and political ties to challenge U.S. interests everywhere but especially in the Middle East. Moscow has one of its biggest allies in Syria and the Russians are surprisingly taking the side of Iran as well in this latest development.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu met Tuesday with Air Force General Xu Qiliang, deputy vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, and other regional military officials as part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the eastern city of Qingdao. As increasingly powerful Russia and China build up their clout on the world stage, they sought a more united front against the U.S., which frequently challenged their rise.
“Time changes everything,” Shoigu said, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. “But, fortunately, it does not change our relations both personally between us and between our states, and the very close, friendly relations of the heads of our states serve as a guarantee of this.”
Shoigu praised “the privileged character of intergovernmental ties” evidenced by numerous meetings between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, both of whom secured enough national support to extend their terms last month. He said the two nations were continuing “their strategic course toward further boosting friendly and trustworthy ties in the defense sphere,” calling this relationship “an important factor for maintaining global and regional security.”
The U.S. and its allies have accused Assad of using chemical weapons in rebel-held territory, and President Donald Trump has twice ordered missile strikes against Syrian government facilities. The U.K. and France joined in the latest and most intense round earlier this month, despite warnings not only from Russia and Iran, but China as well, all of whom doubt Assad’s role in alleged toxic gas attacks. China has also joined Russia, Iran and other countries in investing in the war-torn country’s reconstruction.

The Russians characterized the recent gas attack and resultant Allied coalition response as “Western Style”, in a play on words that may mean their dropping the pretext of no gas attack happened to the U.S. and coalition did it to allow a missile attack.

To read the entire article from Newsweek, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

63 Dead in Bombings in Afghanistan Voter Registration Centers

Afghanistan voting registration centers were rocked by suicide bombers on Sunday as the Islamic State terrorists, unable to force their way into any long-term presence in the country being pushed out by the U.S. are trying to disrupt the voting process as much as possible.

As a crowd lined up outside a voter registration center in Kabul on Sunday, a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing 57 people in the deadliest of a spate of attacks targeting Afghanistan’s upcoming elections, officials said.
Six more people were killed when a vehicle struck a roadside bomb near a voter registration center in the northern province of Baghlan, the fifth attack in a week on the election process, Afghan media reported.
The Kabul attack, in a western neighborhood heavily populated with members of the Hazara ethnic group, targeted a compound where government statistics officials were distributing national identification cards.
The number of casualties climbed steadily throughout the day, and by nightfall it stood at 57 dead and 119 wounded, said Wahidullah Majrooh, a spokesman for the Health Ministry.
At least five of the dead were children, believed to have been students at a nearby high school.
Witnesses said only two police officers were guarding the center, adding to fears that Afghan security forces were ill-prepared to stop insurgent attacks on parliamentary elections scheduled for October.
The bomber detonated his vest in the crowd before he could be searched by police, said Hashmat Stanikzai, a Kabul police spokesman. He could not confirm how many officers were posted at the center.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack via its Amaq news agency, saying its target was Shiite Muslims; most Hazaras are Shiites. The Sunni extremist group has claimed several high-profile bombings against Shiites in Afghanistan, including one at a mosque in October that left more than 50 dead.
Witnesses had complained to police a day before the bombing that there was far too little security at the registration center, which is located in a residential area. Haji Zaman, a tribal elder, said that on Saturday more than 100 people were waiting in line outside the compound with just two police officers guarding the center.
“I argued with policemen and some more people came to support me, saying there’s no security outside the compound and people shouldn’t gather there,” Zaman said. He said he called the head of the center and told him to shut it down because civilians could be at risk

Civilians are apathetic about voting for precisely what transpired this weekend, they feel the government can’t protect them nor speak to the many problems that face the country.

To read the entire article from the Los Angeles Times, click here:

Photo courtesy AP