“The explosive-laden drones targeted a graduation ceremony attended by cadets'
families, and women and children were among the dead. A UK-based monitoring
group said 116 people had been killed. The Syrian army blamed the attack on
"terrorist groups backed by known international forces". There was no immediate
claim from the rebels and jihadists battling the government in the country's
civil war. The drone attack is believed to have been launched from
opposition-held areas north-west of Homs. Later, the monitoring group Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), reported that 11 civilians had been killed
in government bombardments on several cities, towns and villages in the
opposition stronghold of Idlib province and Aleppo. Syria's state news agency,
Sana, quoted a statement from the General Command of the Armed Forces as saying
that several drones carrying explosives targeted the Homs military academy just
after the afternoon graduation ceremony had ended. The statement said the armed
forces "considers this act an unprecedented criminal one, and affirms that it
will respond with full force and determination to these terrorist groups
wherever they are".”
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Eye on Extremism
October 6, 2023
BBC: Syria War: Dozens Killed In Drone Attack On Graduation Ceremony
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“The explosive-laden drones targeted a graduation ceremony attended by cadets'
families, and women and children were among the dead. A UK-based monitoring
group said 116 people had been killed. The Syrian army blamed the attack on
"terrorist groups backed by known international forces". There was no immediate
claim from the rebels and jihadists battling the government in the country's
civil war. The drone attack is believed to have been launched from
opposition-held areas north-west of Homs. Later, the monitoring group Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), reported that 11 civilians had been killed
in government bombardments on several cities, towns and villages in the
opposition stronghold of Idlib province and Aleppo. Syria's state news agency,
Sana, quoted a statement from the General Command of the Armed Forces as saying
that several drones carrying explosives targeted the Homs military academy just
after the afternoon graduation ceremony had ended. The statement said the armed
forces "considers this act an unprecedented criminal one, and affirms that it
will respond with full force and determination to these terrorist groups
wherever they are".”
Associated Press: ‘Prophet Of Doom’ Who Wounded 10 In New York City Subway
Shooting Is Sentenced To Life In Prison
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“A man who sprayed a New York City subway car with bullets during rush hour,
wounding 10 people and sparking a citywide manhunt, was sentenced Thursday to
life in prison after several of his victims tearfully and angrily recounted
their ongoing trauma. Frank James, 64, pleaded guilty earlier this year to
terrorism charges in the April 12, 2022, mass shooting aboard a Manhattan-bound
train. He received a life sentence on 10 counts and 10 years for an 11th count
of discharging a firearm during an act of violence. Three of his victims spoke
in court of the physical and emotional pain they continue to experience more
than a year after the attack in a packed subway car. They described the panic
and the splattered blood on the train, and how they used their own clothes as
tourniquets to stanch the bleeding from victims’ wounds. “I have not been able
to make sense of it,” said a young man identified as B.K. At times his voice
cracked as he spoke and his eyes turned glassy from tears. Another victim, a
51-year-old man identified as L.C., told the court he had post-traumatic stress
disorder and thoughts of suicide.”
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United States
Reuters: US Jet Shoots Down Turkish Drone In Syria, Pentagon Says
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“The United States on Thursday shot down an armed Turkish drone that was
operating near its troops in Syria, the Pentagon said, the first time
Washington has brought down an aircraft of NATO ally Turkey. A Turkish defense
ministry official said the drone that was shot down did not belong to the
Turkish armed forces, but did not say whose property it was. Turkey's National
Intelligence Agency carried out strikes in Syria against Kurdish militant
targets after a bomb attack in Ankara last weekend, a Turkish security source
said on Thursday. On Thursday night, Turkish military air strikes destroyed 30
Kurdish militant targets in northern Syria, including an oil well, a storage
facility and shelters, and "neutralised" many militants, the Turkish defence
ministry said. Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said Turkish
drones had been seen carrying out airstrikes in Hasakah, Syria, on Thursday
morning about 1 km away from U.S. troops. A few hours later a Turkish drone
came within less than a half a kilometer (0.3 miles) of U.S. troops and was
deemed a threat and shot down by F-16 aircraft.”
Pakistan
Reuters: Pakistani Minister Defends Decision To Expel Afghans
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“Pakistan's foreign minister defended on Thursday an order that all illegal
immigrants, including 1.73 million Afghans, must leave, saying no other country
allows illegal immigrants and the decision is in line with international
practice. The order, announced on Tuesday and with a Nov. 1 deadline for people
to go, has frayed relations with Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, who said the
threat to force out Afghan migrants was "unacceptable". "No country allows
illegal people to live in their country， whether it is Europe，whether it is
countries in Asia, in our neighbourhood," the minister in a caretaker Pakistani
government, Jalil Abbas Jilani, told Hong Kong's Phoenix TV in an interview on
the sidelines of a forum in Tibet. "So, accordingly，this is in line with the
international practice that we have taken this decision." Pakistan has been a
refuge for people fleeing from war in Afghanistan since the 1970s. Pakistan's
interior minister said on Tuesday some 1.73 million Afghans in Pakistan had no
legal documents and the number of Afghan refugees in Pakistan totalled 4.4
million.”
Voice Of America: Pakistan Turns Up Heat Over Cross-Border Attacks
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“A senior Pakistani diplomat said Thursday that while the Taliban had brought
peace and security to Afghanistan, increased terrorist attacks from the
neighboring country threatened stability in Pakistan, putting strains on an
already difficult bilateral relationship. "Unfortunately, the peace dividends
for us are missing," Asif Durrani, Pakistan's special representative on
Afghanistan, told an international seminar in Islamabad. He said his government
was engaged in a sustained dialogue with the Taliban to seek an end to the
cross-border terrorism orchestrated by fugitive leaders and militants of the
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, a globally designated terrorist
organization. "The TTP attacks on Pakistan along the borders have increased.
They are taking shelter on the Afghan soil," the envoy stated. "I cannot blame
the government in Afghanistan at the moment," Durrani stressed. "But we as
Pakistan expect that the kind of peace they have brought in their land should
also contribute to peace in our borderlands, and those TTP people who are
taking shelter in Afghanistan either should be returned to Pakistan or be
neutralized."”
Lebanon
Haaretz: Lebanese Army Removes Military Outpost On Israeli Side Of Border, IDF
Says
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“The Israeli military said on Thursday that it had identified a "concrete
structure" on Wednesday night which had been built inside Israeli territory
along the border with Lebanon, near the northern moshav of Shtula. According to
the statement, the military had begun working to remove the structure in
coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Earlier
Thursday, the Lebanese Army removed it. According to military sources, the
structure exceeded the borderline by two to four meters, and was apparently
intended for use by Hezbollah. Tensions on the border have risen over the past
months as Hezbollah has set up two military posts in Israeli-controlled
territory on the border with Lebanon. According to Israeli sources, one of the
tents was taken down while another remains standing. Israel is trying to avoid
escalation along the border while working to dismantle the posts. Hezbollah
Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addressed the issue in July, saying
that “Israel doesn’t dare to make a move in [Lebanese] territory against the
tent because it knows what will happen.””
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