Syria
Daily Sabah: US Sends HIMARS To YPG/PKK Terrorists In Northern Syria
“The U.S. transferred the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) – a light multiple rocket launcher mounted on a standard Army Medium Tactical Vehicle (MTV) to the PKK’s Syrian offshoot, the YPG terrorists in Syria, sources said Tuesday. HIMARS was transferred to the U.S.base in northern Syria’s Deir el-Zour province, TRT Haber cited sources as saying. U.S. forces have increased their efforts to reinforce their bases in Hassakeh, Deir el-Zour and Raqqa since last year, after their military points in the region were targeted by foreign terrorist groups backed by Iran. The PKK is a designated terrorist organization in the U.S., Türkiye and the European Union. Washington’s support for its Syrian affiliate, the YPG, has been a major strain on bilateral relations with Ankara.”
Prensa Latina: Syrian Army Destroys Terrorist Headquarters
“The sources said the airstrikes destroyed three headquarters of the Ansar Tawhid and Houras Al-Din groups in the town of Sarjeh in southern Idlib, and at least six members of these groups, including leaders, were killed in the raids. Over the past few days, Army detachments attacked rallies of the Levant Liberation Board, formerly Al-Nousra Front, in response to hostile actions by the extremists who used shells against military points. The extremist groups entrenched in Idlib escalated their attacks and violations to the de-escalation zone regime in place in that governorate. During its operations in 2020 the national Army managed to release 56 percent of this governorate, but the jihadists still control the rest, where they are holding hundreds of thousands of civilians as human shields.”
Iraq
Associated Press: UN Urges Iraq To Deliver On Reforms And Combat Corruption -- And Backs It Fight Against Terrorism
“The U.N. Security Council encouraged Iraq’s recently formed government to deliver on reforms and combat corruption in a resolution adopted unanimously Tuesday that backs the country’s ongoing fight against the Islamic State, al-Qaida and other terrorist groups. The resolution, which extends the U.N. political mission in Iraq for a year, welcomes last October’s confirmation by Iraq’s Council of Representatives of a new government and Cabinet led by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani after a more than year-long political stalemate that was punctuated by outbreaks of street violence. Twenty years after the U.S. invasion toppled longtime dictator Saddam Hussein and divided the unified country in the heart of the Arab world, Iraq is still seeking stability. In 2014, lslamic State fighters seized Iraqi cities and declared a self-styled caliphate in a large swath of territory in Syria and Iraq. The group was formally declared defeated in Iraq in 2017 following a three-year bloody battle that left tens of thousands dead and cities in ruins, but its sleeper cells continue to stage attacks in different parts of the country.”
Turkey
Anadolu Agency: Türkiye Expects Stockholm To Stop PKK Terrorists From Operating In Sweden
“Türkiye on Tuesday called on Stockholm to take action against PKK terrorists in Sweden. ‘It is completely unacceptable that PKK terrorists continue to operate freely in Sweden -which has applied for NATO membership,’ Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said on Twitter. Altun's remarks came a day after supporters of the PKK/YPG terrorist organization in Stockholm projected on the facade of the parliament building an image of a rag symbolizing the terror group. ‘We expect the Swedish authorities to investigate this incident, hold accountable those responsible, and stop self-identified members of PKK —which the EU recognizes as a terrorist entity— from operating on Swedish soil,’ Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said on Twitter. The PKK/YPG supporters also shared on social media videos containing provocations against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom.”
Lebanon
Associated Press: Palestinian Officials Say Israeli Strike On Eastern Lebanon Kills 5 Militants, Israel Denies Role
“An Israeli airstrike targeting positions of a Syria-backed Palestinian group in eastern Lebanon early Wednesday killed five Palestinian militants and wounded 10 others, two Palestinian officials said. An Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity denied the country had any role in the incident. Israel does not typically respond to foreign reports. Anwar Raja of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, told The Associated Press in Damascus that the Israeli strike hit positions in the Lebanese eastern town of Qusaya near the border with Syria. He said two of the wounded are in critical condition.”
Middle East
Reuters: Five Members Of Palestinian Militant Group Killed In Blast On Lebanese-Syrian Border
“Five members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine militant group were killed in an overnight explosion near Lebanon's border with Syria, security sources told Reuters on Wednesday, with the group blaming Israeli air strikes. An Israeli source told Reuters the Israeli military was not involved in the Syria-Lebanon border blast. Lebanon's army declined to comment. A PFLP statement on Wednesday said five of its members were killed in Israeli bombing on a site controlled by the group near the border. The group's spokesman in Damascus Anwar Raja told Reuters an Israeli strike on the Lebanese town of Qusaya had killed five members, including fighters, and wounded 10.”
Africa
AFP News: Attacks Kill 40 In Burkina Faso, Including Army Volunteers
“Two attacks attributed to jihadist insurgents have killed around 40 people in western Burkina Faso, including volunteers in a civil defence militia, sources said on Tuesday. Around 20 people died on Saturday when an armed convoy was targeted near Bourasso close to the Malian border, the regional government said, while a security source and local resident said around 20 others were killed in an attack in the same region on Sunday.”
Associated Press: At Least 17 Civilians Killed By Extremist Rebels In Eastern Congo
“At least 17 people were killed by extremist rebels in eastern Congo’s North Kivu province, local authorities said. Civilians were killed by fighters with the Allied Democratic Forces — believed to be linked with the Islamic State group — in the Bambuba-kisiki area in Beni territory, said Sabiti Njiamoja, a deputy to the local governor, on Monday. ‘We buried 10 bodies on Sunday. The victims are civilians killed by ADF between Thursday and Friday in Kainana. Seven others were found on Monday,’ he said. Conflict has been simmering for decades in eastern Congo, where more than 120 armed groups are fighting. Most are vying for land and control of mines with valuable minerals, while some groups are trying to protect their communities.”
United Kingdom
BBC: Luton Man Jailed Over Bomb-Making Manual And 'Assassin Guide'
“Mohammed Adnan Saleem, 22, of Montrose Avenue, Luton, had saved several banned documents, including a bomb-making manual and a file on explosives. He was convicted in March on three counts - brought under the Terrorism Act 2000 - at the Old Bailey in London. The Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (EROS) said Saleem ‘held a dangerous extremist mindset’. Saleem was arrested in May 2020 during an investigation led by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU).”
Germany
Al Arabiya: Germany Arrests Seven Suspected Supporters Of ISIS
“German authorities have arrested seven suspected supporters of ISIS as part of an investigation into terrorist financing, prosecutors said on Wednesday. At the same time, authorities conducted 19 raids in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, as well as in one property in the Netherlands, the federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement. The individuals arrested are suspected of belonging to an international network that solicited financial donations for ISIS in Syria through platforms including Telegram and subsequently transferred them to the group or its intermediaries. At least 65,000 euros ($71,552.00) were transferred in this manner, prosecutors said, adding that the money was used to support ISIS members imprisoned in Syria, in some cases allowing them to escape from prison camps.”
Europe
Fox News: Underage ISIS Terrorist Planned Bomb Attack In Northern Italy, Authorities Allege
“Italian authorities have arrested a minor suspected of being a supporter of the ISIS terror network who was allegedly planning an explosive attack in the area where he lived, police said Tuesday. The minor, identified as an Italian citizen of foreign origin, was arrested in the province of Bergamo on suspicion of association with the aim of terrorism, terrorist training, extolling the virtues of terrorism and instigation to commit a crime. Italian authorities said others in the network of young ISIS supporters were arrested last week in Europe and the United States, but did not provide further details.”
Reuters: Threat Of Terrorist Attack In Netherlands Has Increased -Gov't Agency
“The threat of a possible terrorist attack in the Netherlands has increased in recent months, the country's anti-terrorism agency NCTV said on Tuesday. The NCTV said there were increasing signs of jihadist groups plotting possible attacks in Europe, including in the Netherlands. The overall threat level remained at three on a scale of five, the NCTV said, meaning that an attack is plausible.”
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