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Post by DavidH on Mar 5, 2017 15:36:48 GMT
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Post by DavidH on Mar 5, 2017 16:14:37 GMT
Novus Miles @novumiles 38 minutes ago
New footage of US SOF in Manbij.
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Post by DavidH on Mar 5, 2017 16:19:02 GMT
US delegation in Israel to study relocation of embassy to Jerusalem An official United States delegation led by Congressman Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is briefly visiting Israel on Saturday and Sunday to study the possibility of relocating the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. "The delegation is in Jerusalem to learn first hand what it will mean to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” said Ruth Lieberman, a friend of DeSantis and a political advisor in Israel. “Its leadership intends to return to Congress with a report and a deeper understanding of what to expect, and of some of the decisions that have to be made as well,” Lieberman said. www.jpost.com/Israel-News/US-delegation-in-Israel-to-study-relocation-of-embassy-to-Jerusalem-483221
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Post by DavidH on Mar 5, 2017 16:51:12 GMT
Russia Seeks U.S. Backing for Libyan StrongmanThe Kremlin’s growing embrace of Gen. Khalifa Haftar, a rival of the United Nations-backed coalition government in Tripoli, signals Moscow’s desire to extend its influence in the Middle East and North Africa An adviser to Gen. Haftar’s Libyan National Army, which controls much of the eastern part of the country, said Russia has sent midlevel military officers, including Arabic-speaking personnel from Russia’s predominantly Muslim Chechnya region, to help train its forces. Gen. Haftar, seen by critics as a would-be autocrat in the mold of late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, has traveled to Moscow twice in the past eight months and has requested weaponry, people close to the Kremlin said, despite a U.N. arms embargo. European countries have lobbied Russia to use its influence with Gen. Haftar, who has received support from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, to get him to reconcile with the Tripoli government, which has broad international backing. www.wsj.com/articles/russia-seeks-u-s-support-for-libyan-general-1488277858
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Post by DavidH on Mar 5, 2017 19:30:47 GMT
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Post by DavidH on Mar 5, 2017 22:06:36 GMT
Liz SlyV @lizsly 3 minutes ago Barzani says Iraq will be split up into pieces, including an independent Kurdistan, after Mosul is liberated. Masoud Barzani: Independent Kurdistan is loyal response to Peshmerga sacrifices The fall of Mosul is likely to mark the beginning of the splitting of Iraq into different parts, as has been the case with countries who have come out of ethnic and religious conflicts, such as Czechoslovakia, the Kurdish President Masoud Barzani has said, adding that an independent Kurdistan would bring more stability to the Middle East. "The independence of Kurdistan would create an area of stability in this region. We have already seen too much blood, and injustice,” Barzani said, noting that an independent Kurdistan will be “based on the rule of law, respect for democratic rules, coexistence between different identities and a multiparty system.” www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/050320174
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Post by DavidH on Mar 6, 2017 9:14:48 GMT
Syria: U.S Army forces with tanks in west of Manbij. via @delilsouleman
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Post by DavidH on Mar 6, 2017 9:29:19 GMT
Patrick Galey @patrickgaley 2 hours ago A fifth night of suspected US drone and air strikes on Yemen hit Abyan province on Monday, a security source has told @afp. Unprecedented Number of US Drone and Air Strikes Hit YemenMore than 30 drone strikes have hit Yemen in just 2 days. The United States has carried out another wave of airstrikes directed at supposed al-Qaeda locations throughout Yemen, U.S. Officials said on Friday. This comes after the Pentagon released a statement yesterday stating that “more than 20 strikes” were conducted. Residents have reported numerous civilian deaths, as well as firefights on the ground between U.S. forces and al-Qaeda militants, according to Reuters. However, a US official has denied these claims. www.commondreams.org/news/2017/03/03/unprecedented-number-us-drone-and-air-strikes-hit-yemen
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Post by DavidH on Mar 6, 2017 14:15:41 GMT
Surprise Offensive Roils the Libyan WarLibyan National Army oil facilities fall to lightning assault. On March 3, 2017, fighters from Saraya Defend Benghazi — also known as Benghazi Defense Brigade, an Islamist militia group that formed in June 2016 to oppose the dominant Libyan National Army and its popular leader Gen. Khalifa Hafter — together with members of Ibrahim Jadhran’s Petroleum Facilities Guard and Misrata’s Al Marsa Brigade, attacked An Nawfaliya, Bin Jawad, Es Sider and Ras Lanuf in Libya’s Oil Crescent. Their goal was to seize the oil terminals in those towns. And thus control Libya’s wealth. The attack has upended the Libyan civil war. As in December 2016, the Libyan National Army Air Force responded harshly, launching air strikes from Ras Lanuf airstrip and Benina air base with Mi-35s and MiG-23s, the latter carrying RBK-250 cluster bombs under their fuselages. The planes and copters struck SDB positions south of Nofaliya and in the Jufrah area. The LNA’s 12th Brigade rushed in as the SDB captured the Es Sidra oil terminal. The attackers assault the Ras Lanuf airstrip, forcing the LNA to abandon one Mi-35 that was out of service due to technical problems. Continues- warisboring.com/all-bets-are-off-as-a-surprise-offensive-roils-the-libyan-war-2bf9d25441a1#.gg2ceay09
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Post by DavidH on Mar 6, 2017 14:40:09 GMT
Charles ListerV @charles_Lister 13 minutes ago New deployments of U.S. SOF have arrived north of Manbij, including several Stryker IAVs & HMMWVs.
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Post by DavidH on Mar 6, 2017 20:59:38 GMT
US and Russian troops patrol neighboring villages in SyriaIn what is the closest encounter between the two superpowers in Syria to date, both sides have sent troops into the area around the northern town of Manbij to in a bid to halt fighting between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Turkish troops and allied rebel groups. The Manbij Military Council, an SDF-affiliated group, said on Monday that the town had been placed under the protection of the US-backed coalition following several days of clashes with Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army. Several US armoured vehicles flying the stars and stripes were seen patrolling Manbij and the surrounding countryside over the weekend, in what the Pentagon called an effort to “reassure” allies. The Manbij military council earlier asked Russian and Syrian troops to form a buffer zone between Manbij and Turkish forces in al-Bab, 25 miles to the southwest. Col Gen Sergei Rudskoi, a spokesman for the Russian general staff, confirmed on Friday that its commanders in Syria had negotiated an agreement for troops loyal to Damascus to take over several Kurdish controlled villages. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/06/us-russian-troops-patrol-neighboring-villages-syria/
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Post by DavidH on Mar 6, 2017 22:10:29 GMT
الرقة تذبح بصمت @raqqa_SL 26 minutes ago US military base in old La farge cement factory west Ain Eissa north Raqqa contain: Chinook, Apache & V-22 Osprey helicopters.
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Post by DavidH on Mar 7, 2017 17:43:20 GMT
Yemen: Latest Map of Controlvia @riskstaff
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Post by DavidH on Mar 8, 2017 17:52:30 GMT
RFE/RLV @rferl 50 minutes ago Where do IS suicide fighters come from?
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Post by DavidH on Mar 8, 2017 19:18:59 GMT
Charles Lister @charles_Lister 3 minutes ago U.S Marines have arrived in NE Syria to lend artillery support (with M777 howitzers) to YPG/SDF battle for Raqqa. Marines have arrived in Syria to fire artillery in the fight for RaqqaMarines from an amphibious task force have left their ships in the Middle East and deployed to Syria, establishing an outpost from which they can fire artillery guns in support of the fight to take back the city of Raqqa from the Islamic State, defense officials said. The force is part of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. It includes parts of an artillery battery that can fire powerful 155-millimeter shells from M777 Howitzers, two officials said. The expeditionary unit’s ground force, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, will man the guns and deliver fire support for U.S.-backed local forces who are preparing an assault on the city. Additional infantrymen from the unit are likely to provide security. www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/03/08/marines-have-arrived-in-syria-to-fire-artillery-in-the-fight-for-raqqa/?tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.1fa72838ec73
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