Bet the air force will love this الرقة تذبح بصمت @Raqqa_Sl 1-#Raqqa #ISIS is preparing for military operations north of Raqqa city. They are digging trenches,building shelters and opening a new road
Middle East 24@middleeast_24 4h4 hours ago Turkey stop supply electricity to Tel Abyad (Girê Spî) after YPG liberate the city from IS terrorist. Be silent @NATO is sleeping.
Are we just gunna crash them into their positions? Be more than its done so far. I guess instead of tel abyad now it's tel aswad. This joke is only funny if you speak Arabic. Spoiler tel abyad means white hill. Tel aswad means black hill
Al Qaeda has confirmed that its second-in-command was killed by a recent US airstrike, dealing the global network its biggest blow since Shitty AMC Show of Osama bin Laden and eliminating a charismatic leader at a time when it is vying with the Islamic State group for the mantle of global jihad. https://news.vice.com/article/confi...airstrike-in-yemen?utm_source=vicenewstwitter
so in addition to being terrorists and religious nut jobs, they're racists too? FUCK THEM, FUCK THEM RIGHT IN THEIR SHEEP'S/GOAT'S PUSSY
@PzFeed: BREAKING NEWS: Queens college student charged with planning attacks on behalf of ISIS. FULL STORY: http://t.co/aE7z7mJ6LO
This is probably a bad time to mention Sudan, roughly translated, means where the black people come from?
At best, tangential to the thread, but since the ukraine thread was lost to the ether, and since I would quote him a lot in the previous middle east thread, it's cool to see Brown Moses (Eliot Higgins) working some big time shit
AMA with Syrian Air Force pilot who defected in May 2012, no answers as of yet but hopefully by tomorrow http://www.reddit.com/r/syriancivil..._syrian_air_force_pilot_staff_colonel_ismael/
Fuck that flag and ISIS with our JDAMS. Damn I want to pull a trigger(s) like that http://fat.gfycat.com/CleverPresentAngelfish.webm
I'm taking it in school, so fusHa with a bit of Shaami and maghrebi from my professors. Nowhere close to proficient. You?
Modern standard. Learned a bit of Iraqi and Egyptian with a spattering of Levantine slang. Didn't pass, but I know enough to survive/get discounts at hookah bars because I'm the white guy who can talk to them.
Always get a stare in various situations when I start responding to people who speak it. I'm the last guy that they think would know any of it.
Answers are up, some interesting stuff about their training, the regime, and the ethnic groups in Syria. helmet cam on ISIS fighter shows his own death
Turkey detains reporters for asking questions about ISIS http://news.yahoo.com/turkey-holds-reporters-asking-tough-155345181.html
3 AMA's done by former Syrian Air Force pilots, pretty interesting stuff http://www.reddit.com/r/syriancivil..._syrian_air_force_pilot_staff_colonel_ismael/ http://www.reddit.com/r/syriancivil...n_air_force_pilot_colonel_abdulsatar_alassaf/ http://www.reddit.com/r/syriancivilwar/comments/3aim2e/retired_syrian_air_force_pilot_and_68_to_80/
In 2014 there were 20 terrorist attacks that killed more than 100 people More than 60% of all terrorist attacks took place in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria and India in 2014. 78% of terrorism related fatalities occurred in Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria In Iraq, there were 162 days in 2014 that saw 10 or more terrorist attacks take place 9 of the 20 deadliest attacks were in Nigeria with 5 in Iraq
Syrian regime's news agency starts a social media campaign about summer in Syria, predictably it doesn't work out the way they hoped http://www.timesofisrael.com/summer-in-syria-not-so-hot-on-twitter/
new sadistic Daesh execution methods http://imgur.com/a/mkCUS AIDS spreading among Daesh fighters http://www.raqqa-sl.com/en/?p=1265
http://heavy.com/news/2015/06/isis-...ncensored-youtube-iraqi-espionage-men-killed/ Video of Isis rpg, drowning, and neck bombing prisoners
VBIED hit Kobane yesterday, entered from Turkey. I can't believe no one in the west is calling out Turkey for their overt aid of ISIS
We liked being able to use their airstrips as a gateway to the Middle East. Don't think we want to piss them off.
Rebel offensive started Thursday to attempt to capture Daraa in the province south of Damascus, FSA started and were joined by other rebel factions map in spoiler but probably not current Spoiler
A decent article, though a little self-serving, about the logistics of guerrilla warfare http://exiledonline.com/wn-38-ira-vs-al-qaeda-i-was-wrong/
Beyond The Levant @TheRealBTL #Iraq: Iranian General Ali Natriashvili from Khuzestan Province, reportedly killed fighting Islamic State in Baiji.
TURKEY PLANS TO INVADE SYRIA, BUT TO STOP THE KURDS, NOT ISIS ISTANBUL — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is planning a military intervention into northern Syria to prevent Syrian Kurds from forming their own state there, despite concerns among his own generals and possible criticism from Washington and other NATO allies, according to reports in both pro- and anti-government media. In a speech last Friday, Erdogan vowed that Turkey would not accept a move by Syrian Kurds to set up their own state in Syria following gains by Kurdish fightersagainst the so-called Islamic State, or ISIS, in recent weeks. “I am saying this to the whole world: We will never allow the establishment of a state on our southern border in the north of Syria,” Erdogan said. “We will continue our fight in that respect whatever the cost may be.” He accused Syrian Kurds of ethnic cleansing in Syrian areas under their control. After the speech, several news outlets reported that the president and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had decided to send the Turkish army into Syria, a hugely significant move by NATO’s second-biggest fighting force after the U.S. military. Both the daily Yeni Safak, a mouthpiece of the government, and the newspaper Sozcu, which is among Erdogan’s fiercest critics, ran stories saying the Turkish Army had received orders to send soldiers over the border. Several other media had similar stories, all quoting unnamed sources in Ankara. There has been no official confirmation or denial by the government. The government refused to comment on the reports. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said “the necessary statement” would be issued after a regular meeting of the National Security Council, which comprises the president, the government and military leaders, this Tuesday. he reports said up to 18,000 soldiers would be deployed to take over and hold a strip of territory up to 30 kilometers deep and 100 kilometers long that is held by ISIS. It stretches from close to the Kurdish-controlled city of Kobani in the east to an area further west held by the pro-Western Free Syrian Army (FSA) and other rebel groups, beginning around the town of Mare. This “Mare Line,” as the press calls it, is to be secured with ground troops, artillery and air cover, the reports said. Yeni Safak reported preparations were due to be finalized by next Friday. There has been speculation about a Turkish military intervention ever since the Syrian conflict began in 2011. Ankara has asked the United Nations and its Western allies to give the green light to create a buffer zone and a no-fly area inside Syria to prevent chaos along the Turkish border and to help refugees on Syrian soil before they cross over into Turkey. But the Turkish request has fallen on deaf ears. “We will never allow the establishment of a state on our southern border in the north of Syria.” The latest reports fit Erdogan’s statement on Friday and the government position regarding recent gains by Syrian Kurds against the Islamic State. The Syrian Kurdish party PYD and its armed wing YPG, affiliates of the Turkish-Kurdish rebel group PKK, have secured a long band of territory in northern Syria from the Syrian-Iraqi border in the east to Kobani. Ankara is concerned that the Kurds will now turn their attention to the area west of Kobani and toward Mare to link up with the Kurdish area of Afrin, thereby connecting all Kurdish areas in Syria along the border with Turkey. Erdogan expects that the Syrian Kurds, whose advance against ISIS has been helped by airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition, will go on to form their own state as Syria disintegrates after more than four years of war. PYD leader Saleh Muslim denied that Syria’s Kurds intend to do this. But Turkey’s leaders are not convinced that is true. The daily Hurriyet reported Erdogan and Davutoglu wanted to “kill two birds with one stone” with a military intervention along the Mare Line. One aim would be to drive ISIS away from the Turkish border, depriving the jihadists of their last foothold on the frontier and thereby cutting off supply lines. Such a move would tie in with the U.S. strategy to contain and weaken ISIS. A second goal of the operation would be closer to Ankara’s own interests. The English-language Hurriyet Daily News quoted one source saying there was a need to “prevent the PYD from taking full control over the Turkish-Syrian border,” and also to create a zone on Syrian territory rather than in Turkey to take in new waves of refugees. But the military is reluctant, the reports said. Generals told the government that Turkish troops could come up against ISIS, Kurds, and Syrian government troops and get drawn into the Syrian quagmire. Retaliation attacks by ISIS and Kurdish militants on Turkish territory are another concern. Finally, the soldiers pointed to the international dimension. The military leadership told the government that the international community might get the impression that Turkey’s intervention was directed against Syria’s Kurds, the newspaper Haberturk reported. Turkey’s NATO partners, some of whom have deployed troops operating Patriot missile defense units near the Syrian border to shield member country Turkey against possible attacks from Syria, are unlikely to be happy with a Turkish intervention. Turkey’s pro-government press insisted there were no tensions between civilian and military leaders in Ankara. “If the government says ‘go,’ we will go in,” the pro-Erdogan daily Aksam wrote, attempting to sum up the military’s stance in a headline. On Sunday, fighting broke out between ISIS troops and FSA units near the town of Azaz, close to the Turkish border crossing of Oncupinar. News reports said ISIS was trying to bring the Syrian side of the border crossing under its control. The area of the latest clashes lies within the “Mare Line” cited as the possible location of a Turkish incursion. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...-send-troops-into-syria-widening-the-war.html
Think of all the foreign fighters ISIS could get into Syria with a Turkish military escort all the way to raqqa
Cahit Storm@cahitstorm 41s41 seconds ago Turkey launch offensive against Kurds in north Kurdistan with airstrikes and heave artillery. Caliph Erdogan have choose his side.
What an asshole. I had the best time when I visited turkey and everyone was as nice as could be. Then there's this asshole who they keep electing.
Turkey Wonk has been setting the stage a bit with "why" Turkey is doing it, but I haven't had a chance to listen lately Turkish Elections & Anti-ISIS Strategy Posted on May 19, 2015by aaronstein1 Note: Aaron was the guest on the latest episode of the Middle East Week podcast. Below is that episode, as well as the show notes. Aaron Stein comes back on the show to discuss Turkey’s upcoming election, their fight against ISIS, and relations with Saudi Arabia. Topics we covered include: An overview of the key political parties and politicians in Turkey Constitutional changes Erdogan and the AKP are pursuing Potential backlash AKP could face for pushing for a presidential system Kurdish politicians’ decision to run as a political party, as opposed to running as individual independent candidates The evolution of how Turkey views the ISIS threat Turkey’s strategy to fight ISIS in Syria Turkey’s lack of influence in Iraq, and how that effects their view of ISIS The rapprochement between Turkey and Saudi Arabia Links: Turkey’s Role in a Shifting Syria by Aaron for the Atlantic Council’s MENASource blog Aaron’s podcasts: Turkey Wonk & Arms Control Wonk Aaron Stein (@aaronstein1) on Twitter Karl Morand (@KarlMorand) on Twitter The Fall of Tel Abyad: Turkey and the Rise of the PYD Posted on June 23, 2015by aaronstein1 The fall of Tel Abyad poses a number of challenges for Turkish foreign policy. The Kurdish advance has sparked claims of ethnic cleansing, resulted in 23,000 refugees fleeing to Turkey, and sparked concerns that Islamic State fighters have quietly slipped into the border town of Akcakale. To discuss the political and humanitarian aspects of the battle for Tel Abyad, Aaron speaks with Has Avrat, a southeast Turkey based specialist in humanitarian refugee issues.
ISIS executes top official in Mosul for planning a coup http://www.businessinsider.com/report-isis-executed-top-mosul-official-2015-6 Spoiler Reports have emerged that ISIS has executed one of its top administrative officials in Iraq's second-largest city of Mosul for planning a coup against the extremist group. The Iraq Press news outlet first reported the incident on Monday, saying ISIS had executed Abu Usman al-Hassan — one of the group's commanders and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's representative in the city — on charges of conspiracy, prompting a number of Syrian and Arab fighters to withdraw toward Raqqa in protest of the execution. "ISIS executed the commander inside Mosul after severe disagreements between him and a number of other commanders," an eyewitness told the outlet. "He was accused of conspiring against the 'caliphate state.'" Meanwhile, a Kurdish official responsible for Mosul affairs described Hassan as a member of ISIS' Mosul Shura Council and one of the top commanders in the city, which the group seized in June 2014. "He was accused of conspiracy and the ruling against him was put in to action in the Ghazlani Base to the west of Mosul," Saad Mamuzin, the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party's (KDP) branch for Mosul said. Mamuzin added that disagreements over distribution of posts and money in the city were the reason behind the execution and had caused confrontations between members of ISIS. The Erbil-based ARA News also covered the story, reporting that the Mosul official was executed "following rifts between foreign and local [ISIS] militants." The outlet quoted local sources as saying he was a "prominent leader and close friend to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi." The Institute for the Study of War ARA news echoed the Iraq Press account that Hassan had been killed for "plotting against the Caliphate"; however, the report said the men under the official's command had been transferred to Raqqa and had not left in protest of his execution. "Subsequent to the execution of the senior leader Abu Usman Hassan, the group sent nearly 250 fighters, mostly Syrians and from other Arab nationalities, to Raqqa — IS' de facto capital in Syria," a source told the outlet. Read more: https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/565512-isis-executes-top-official-in-mosul#ixzz3ebSCWPFA
I'm not sure if I should laugh or feel bad for how fucked up that region is. It's setting new levels of facepalm. Everyone is using the fog of war to exact revenge on their foes like they have a trade deadline to meet. And it's definitely a buyers market.
It's pretty laughable how fucked up the Middle East is. I used to think Africa was the most fucked up place. It may still be and we're just used to it, but the Middle East is taking things to a new level. I guess the people figure that they should get all this revenge in before the big players step in and out a stop to it.
I'm torn really. Mexican Cartels/South Americans slaughter each other over the drug trade like it's a religion. Their gorey public displays are in a class of their own. Also their death rates are top notch. But styles make fights and the ME isn't going to go out quietly. ISIS has really shaken the wasps nest and wants to put on a show for the ages.
SAA has reactivated the ZSU-57-2 Sparka, shows the desperation of the Assad regime. I think the latest these things were produced was the early 60s. https://twitter.com/DPRKJones/status/616330288340209665
speaking of, there was a video posted last week or so of a Syrian jihadi group executing 18 Daesh. apparently Daesh is swinging in all directions and they found other jihadists that won't take their shit. they captured the Daesh, dressed themselves up in orange jumpsuits to mock them as the "executed" becomes the executioner and took shotguns to the backs of their heads at insanely close range. it's as graphic as you'd imagine and then they followed Daesh protocol and fancied up the graphics of the video and whatnot to mock them even further. and you want to cheer because 18 shitheels are no longer breathing air and killing innocent people but the executioners are every bit as bad so it really has become a cartel war in some areas where there is no good guys and you hope somehow both sides just snuff out each other.