Syrian insurgents, who broke the siege of rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Saturday in a significant territorial gain, came under intense air attack from pro-government forces on Sunday, who were trying to repel the advance which also cut government-held Aleppo&#39;s main supply route.

Rebels have taken most of a large government military complex southwest of Aleppo city in a major offensive begun on Friday to break a month-long siege, and are now attacking further into government-held territory.

The surprise advance in Ramousah allowed fighters from insurgent areas in western Syria to break through a strip of government-controlled territory on Saturday and connect with fighters in the encircled sector of eastern Aleppo.

But fierce fighting and continuous Russian and Syrian air strikes in and around the Ramousah area mean no safe passage for besieged east Aleppo residents has been established, activists and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Fighters from a coalition of Islamist rebel groups called &quot;Jaish al-Fateh&quot; announced the start of a new phase to liberate the whole of Aleppo, saying it pledged to increased the numbers of fighters for the battle it said will only end by hoisting their flag on the ancient Aleppo citadel in government hands.

Jets believed to be Russian, intensified their bombing of rebel-held Aleppo countryside and also hit opposition-held Idlib city in north western Syria, rebels said.&nbsp;They released video footage that showed huge flames of fire it said was caused by white phosphorus bombs dropped on the city.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad wants to take full control of Aleppo, pre-war Syria&#39;s most populous city, which has been divided between rebel and government-held areas.&nbsp;Assad&#39;s government forces are supported in Syria by Russian air power, Iranian militias and fighters from Lebanon&#39;s Hezbollah group who have sent reinforcements to shore up the army .

Rebel gains this weekend could change the balance of power in Aleppo, after Assad said a siege by the&nbsp;government and allied forces on rebel-held east Aleppo in early July was a prelude to re-taking the city. The loss of Aleppo would be a crushing blow for rebels.

&quot;We have now seized full control of the Ramousah area...We are in our trenches but there are insane air strikes of unprecedented ferociousness. The regime is using cluster and vacuum bombs,&quot; said Abu al Hasanien, a senior commander in Fateh Halab, the coalition of moderate rebel groups inside the city.

Pro-Syrian government news channels have mostly played down the rebel gains and say Syrian army efforts have caused rebels to withdraw from some recently-gained areas.

But Lebanese pro-Syrian government news channel al Mayadeen said late on Saturday the Syrian army had &quot;withdrawn from a number of positions southwest of Aleppo and repositioned itself in new defensive lines&quot;.

The Syrian military was not immediately available for comment.&nbsp;As the insurgents took over parts of the government&#39;s Ramousah military complex, which contains a number of military colleges, they broadcast images of the weaponry and ammunition they were taking possession of.

Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, formerly the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, posted pictures of rows of armoured vehicles, munitions, howitzers, rockets and trucks.

The rebel front line is now pushing northwest into western held Aleppo on the edges of the Hamdaniya neighbourhood and a housing estate called the 3,000 project, rebels and the Observatory said.

North of Hamdaniya in the direction of the rebels&#39; push is another large government military complex, the Assad military engineering academy.

The opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC) congratulated rebels on making &quot;spectacular gains (which send) a clear message to the Assad regime, Iran and Russia that they will not be able to defeat the Syrian people or dictate the terms of a settlement.&quot;

 
Seiges

Fears are growing in government-held western Aleppo that it might become besieged by rebels, as east Aleppo has been by government forces, because the main route south to Damascus for goods transport, the Ramousah road, has been severed.

News of the rebel advance caused food prices to rise by as much as four times in western Aleppo, the Observatory said.

Following the cutting of the main Ramousah road, Observatory director Rami Abdurrahman told Reuters military vehicles can still get in an out of west Aleppo through remaining exit roads to the north, but these are not safe enough for civilians.

In eastern Aleppo, despite some scenes of celebration as fighters broke the siege yesterday, the lack of a safe route out means conditions for residents remain unchanged.&nbsp;Three vans of vegetables crossed into east Aleppo, Abdurrahman said, but this was a symbolic gesture, and the corridor is too dangerous for civilians or significant supplies to pass.

The United Nations and humanitarian agencies have said conditions in isolated rebel-held east Aleppo have become very concerning.

&quot;Most recently I&#39;m hearing that the markets are closed and it&#39;s next to impossible to purchase food. The UN estimates that collectively all aid supplies in east Aleppo&nbsp;will only last about two more&nbsp;weeks,&quot; Christy Delafield, senior communications officer for Mercy Corps, which runs the largest non-governmental aid operation inside Syria, told Reuters.

The multi-sided civil war in Syria, which has been raging since 2011, has drawn in regional and global powers, caused the world&#39;s worst humanitarian emergency and attracted recruits to Islamist militancy from around the world. 
 
(Reuters)

In an offensive begun on Friday, rebels took most of a large government military complex and are attacking the government-held territory

Syrian insurgents, who broke the siege of rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Saturday in a significant territorial gain, came under intense air attack from pro-government forces on Sunday, who were trying to repel the advance which also cut government-held Aleppo's main supply route. Rebels have taken most of a large government military complex southwest of Aleppo city in a major offensive begun on Friday to break a month-long siege, and are now attacking further into government-held territory. The surprise advance in Ramousah allowed fighters from insurgent areas in western Syria to break through a strip of government-controlled territory on Saturday and connect with fighters in the encircled sector of eastern Aleppo. But fierce fighting and continuous Russian and Syrian air strikes in and around the Ramousah area mean no safe passage for besieged east Aleppo residents has been established, activists and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Fighters from a coalition of Islamist rebel groups called "Jaish al-Fateh" announced the start of a new phase to liberate the whole of Aleppo, saying it pledged to increased the numbers of fighters for the battle it said will only end by hoisting their flag on the ancient Aleppo citadel in government hands. Jets believed to be Russian, intensified their bombing of rebel-held Aleppo countryside and also hit opposition-held Idlib city in north western Syria, rebels said. They released video footage that showed huge flames of fire it said was caused by white phosphorus bombs dropped on the city. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad wants to take full control of Aleppo, pre-war Syria's most populous city, which has been divided between rebel and government-held areas. Assad's government forces are supported in Syria by Russian air power, Iranian militias and fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah group who have sent reinforcements to shore up the army . Rebel gains this weekend could change the balance of power in Aleppo, after Assad said a siege by the government and allied forces on rebel-held east Aleppo in early July was a prelude to re-taking the city. The loss of Aleppo would be a crushing blow for rebels. "We have now seized full control of the Ramousah area...We are in our trenches but there are insane air strikes of unprecedented ferociousness. The regime is using cluster and vacuum bombs," said Abu al Hasanien, a senior commander in Fateh Halab, the coalition of moderate rebel groups inside the city. Pro-Syrian government news channels have mostly played down the rebel gains and say Syrian army efforts have caused rebels to withdraw from some recently-gained areas. But Lebanese pro-Syrian government news channel al Mayadeen said late on Saturday the Syrian army had "withdrawn from a number of positions southwest of Aleppo and repositioned itself in new defensive lines". The Syrian military was not immediately available for comment. As the insurgents took over parts of the government's Ramousah military complex, which contains a number of military colleges, they broadcast images of the weaponry and ammunition they were taking possession of. Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, formerly the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, posted pictures of rows of armoured vehicles, munitions, howitzers, rockets and trucks. The rebel front line is now pushing northwest into western held Aleppo on the edges of the Hamdaniya neighbourhood and a housing estate called the 3,000 project, rebels and the Observatory said. North of Hamdaniya in the direction of the rebels' push is another large government military complex, the Assad military engineering academy. The opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC) congratulated rebels on making "spectacular gains (which send) a clear message to the Assad regime, Iran and Russia that they will not be able to defeat the Syrian people or dictate the terms of a settlement." Seiges Fears are growing in government-held western Aleppo that it might become besieged by rebels, as east Aleppo has been by government forces, because the main route south to Damascus for goods transport, the Ramousah road, has been severed. News of the rebel advance caused food prices to rise by as much as four times in western Aleppo, the Observatory said. Following the cutting of the main Ramousah road, Observatory director Rami Abdurrahman told Reuters military vehicles can still get in an out of west Aleppo through remaining exit roads to the north, but these are not safe enough for civilians. In eastern Aleppo, despite some scenes of celebration as fighters broke the siege yesterday, the lack of a safe route out means conditions for residents remain unchanged. Three vans of vegetables crossed into east Aleppo, Abdurrahman said, but this was a symbolic gesture, and the corridor is too dangerous for civilians or significant supplies to pass. The United Nations and humanitarian agencies have said conditions in isolated rebel-held east Aleppo have become very concerning. "Most recently I'm hearing that the markets are closed and it's next to impossible to purchase food. The UN estimates that collectively all aid supplies in east Aleppo will only last about two more weeks," Christy Delafield, senior communications officer for Mercy Corps, which runs the largest non-governmental aid operation inside Syria, told Reuters. The multi-sided civil war in Syria, which has been raging since 2011, has drawn in regional and global powers, caused the world's worst humanitarian emergency and attracted recruits to Islamist militancy from around the world. (Reuters)

Jets pound rebels after they break month-long Aleppo siege

A United Nations peacekeeper was killed and four others were wounded on Sunday when their vehicle hit a mine in Mali&#39;s restive north, the UN mission (MINUSMA) said.

The attack on the vehicle, which was escorting a logistical convoy, occurred about 11 kilometres&nbsp;(seven&nbsp;miles) south of Aguelhoc in the region of Kidal, where several Islamist militant groups are active, the mission said in a statement.&nbsp;All five peacekeepers were from Chad, a mission spokesman said.

About two hours later, another mine exploded near a UN peacekeeping vehicle two kilometres&nbsp;east of the mission base in Kidal, but only caused material damage, the MINUSMA statement added.&nbsp;MINUSMA did not say who was responsible for the attacks.

In a statement on Sunday, Islamist militant group Ansar Dine claimed responsibility for a mine attack on Friday near Kidal targeting Chadian troops, according to SITE Intelligence Group.&nbsp;That explosion injured one peacekeeper, the spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement on Sunday.

Mali&#39;s government has not had a military presence in Kidal since clashes between the army and Tuareg rebels killed 50 soldiers there in 2014, leaving a heavy security burden on UN troops.

Mali has become the deadliest place to serve UN peacekeepers. The United Nations says more than 100 peacekeepers have been killed since MINUSMA deployed in July 2013. The UN Security Council voted in June to increase the contingent by 2,500 troops, taking the total number of uniformed personnel to more than 15,000.

In May, five Chadian peacekeepers were killed in an ambush near Kidal. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) also claimed responsibility for an attack that month that killed a Chinese peacekeeper and three civilians.

Islamist militant groups, some with links to al-Qaeda, hijacked a Tuareg uprising in 2012 and seized northern Mali until a French-led intervention drove them back a year later.&nbsp;But the region has remained plagued by violence despite a peace accord signed last year between Tuareg fighters and the government. Two days of fighting last month between Tuareg rebels and pro-government militia killed up to 20 people. 
 
(Reuters)

About two hours later, one more mine exploded near a UN peacekeeping vehicle but only caused material damage

A United Nations peacekeeper was killed and four others were wounded on Sunday when their vehicle hit a mine in Mali's restive north, the UN mission (MINUSMA) said. The attack on the vehicle, which was escorting a logistical convoy, occurred about 11 kilometres (seven miles) south of Aguelhoc in the region of Kidal, where several Islamist militant groups are active, the mission said in a statement. All five peacekeepers were from Chad, a mission spokesman said. About two hours later, another mine exploded near a UN peacekeeping vehicle two kilometres east of the mission base in Kidal, but only caused material damage, the MINUSMA statement added. MINUSMA did not say who was responsible for the attacks. In a statement on Sunday, Islamist militant group Ansar Dine claimed responsibility for a mine attack on Friday near Kidal targeting Chadian troops, according to SITE Intelligence Group. That explosion injured one peacekeeper, the spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement on Sunday. Mali's government has not had a military presence in Kidal since clashes between the army and Tuareg rebels killed 50 soldiers there in 2014, leaving a heavy security burden on UN troops. Mali has become the deadliest place to serve UN peacekeepers. The United Nations says more than 100 peacekeepers have been killed since MINUSMA deployed in July 2013. The UN Security Council voted in June to increase the contingent by 2,500 troops, taking the total number of uniformed personnel to more than 15,000. In May, five Chadian peacekeepers were killed in an ambush near Kidal. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) also claimed responsibility for an attack that month that killed a Chinese peacekeeper and three civilians. Islamist militant groups, some with links to al-Qaeda, hijacked a Tuareg uprising in 2012 and seized northern Mali until a French-led intervention drove them back a year later. But the region has remained plagued by violence despite a peace accord signed last year between Tuareg fighters and the government. Two days of fighting last month between Tuareg rebels and pro-government militia killed up to 20 people. (Reuters)

One UN peacekeeper killed, 4 wounded in north Mali mine attack

Militants linked to Islamic State have released photos that purport to show weapons and equipment that belonged to American soldiers and were captured by the group in eastern Afghanistan.

The photos, which came to light on Saturday, show an American portable rocket launcher, radio, grenades and other gear not commonly used by Afghan troops, as well as close-up views of identification cards for a US army soldier, Specialist Ryan Larson.

The US military command in Kabul denied any suggestion the soldier had been captured, saying he &quot;has been accounted for and remains in a duty status within his unit&quot;.

American special operations troops have been fighting alongside Afghan forces in a renewed offensive against militants who claim allegiance to Islamic State in Nangarhar Province, which borders Pakistan.

&quot;SPC Larson was attached to a unit conducting a partnered (operation) with Afghan Forces,&quot; US military spokesman Commander Ron Flesvig said in an emailed statement on Sunday.&nbsp;&quot;The soldier&#39;s ID&nbsp;and some of the equipment were left behind after the (operation). The loss of personal identification is unfortunate.&quot;

In July, US commanders said at least five special forces were injured in fighting in the province.

The website that published the photos speculated that the equipment and weapons were left behind during that engagement, but Flesvig said American officials are still trying to determine exactly when and how it was lost.

The push in Nangarhar came after President Barack Obama cleared American troops to take a more active role in fighting militants in Afghanistan.&nbsp;Besides advising work and special operations missions, American aircraft deployed at least 545 weapons in the first six months of 2016. 
 
(Reuters)

IS released photos on Saturday showing an American portable rocket launcher, radio, grenades and other gear not used by Afghan troops

Militants linked to Islamic State have released photos that purport to show weapons and equipment that belonged to American soldiers and were captured by the group in eastern Afghanistan. The photos, which came to light on Saturday, show an American portable rocket launcher, radio, grenades and other gear not commonly used by Afghan troops, as well as close-up views of identification cards for a US army soldier, Specialist Ryan Larson. The US military command in Kabul denied any suggestion the soldier had been captured, saying he "has been accounted for and remains in a duty status within his unit". American special operations troops have been fighting alongside Afghan forces in a renewed offensive against militants who claim allegiance to Islamic State in Nangarhar Province, which borders Pakistan. "SPC Larson was attached to a unit conducting a partnered (operation) with Afghan Forces," US military spokesman Commander Ron Flesvig said in an emailed statement on Sunday. "The soldier's ID and some of the equipment were left behind after the (operation). The loss of personal identification is unfortunate." In July, US commanders said at least five special forces were injured in fighting in the province. The website that published the photos speculated that the equipment and weapons were left behind during that engagement, but Flesvig said American officials are still trying to determine exactly when and how it was lost. The push in Nangarhar came after President Barack Obama cleared American troops to take a more active role in fighting militants in Afghanistan. Besides advising work and special operations missions, American aircraft deployed at least 545 weapons in the first six months of 2016. (Reuters)

Islamic State captures US weapons in Afghanistan

A machete-wielding man shouting &quot;Allahu akbar&quot; (God is the greatest) wounded two policewomen in southern Belgium today before being shot dead by police, with Europe on edge after a wave of jihadist attacks. 
 
The attack outside the main police station in the city of Charleroi, around 60 kilometres (40 miles) south of Brussels left one of the policewomen with &quot;deep wounds to the face&quot; while the other was slightly injured, Belga news agency said. 
 
Charleroi police said the attacker was shot and killed, while the two victims were out of danger. 
 
Belgium has been on high security alert for months since suicide bombers struck Brussels airport and a subway station near the European Union&#39;s institutions on March 22, killing 32 people. 
 
The attacks were claimed by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, which controls large areas of territory in Iraq and Syria and has claimed numerous terror attacks in Europe in the last year. 
 
Belgian Interior Minister Jean Jambon condemned a &quot;disgusting act in Charleroi&quot; on his Twitter account and said the country&#39;s terror threat level, currently at level three on a scale of four &nbsp;would be examined. 
 
Belgian police have carried out dozens of anti-terror raids since the November 2015 attacks in Paris, planned in Belgium and involving Belgian extremists, which left 130 people dead. 
 
Last month they arrested and charged a 33-year-old man, identified as Nourredine H., with attempting to commit &quot;terrorist murder&quot; and &quot;taking part in the activities of a terrorist organisation&quot;. 
 
Prosecutors said there was for now no link to the Brussels suicide bombings. 
 
Belgium is the main source per head of population of jihadist recruits going from European Union countries to fight with IS in Syria, causing deep concern that they will return home battle-hardened and even more radicalised. 
 
The interior ministry said 457 Belgian men and women had gone or tried to join jihadists in the Middle East, including 90 who are missing or dead. 
 
Belgium launched its first attacks against IS in Iraq in late 2014 as part of a US-led coalition. It joined a similar anti-IS operation in Syria this year. 
 
Several of those involved in the Brussels bloodshed in March were directly linked to the November 13 bomb and gun attacks in Paris. 
 
In June Belgian authorities charged two men with terrorist offences amid reports of a planned attack on a Euro 2016 fanzone in central Brussels. 
 
Belgium then beefed up security for its July 21 national day celebrations after a truck attack that killed 85 people in the French city of Nice on Bastille Day, July 14. 
 
(AFP)

Charleroi police said the attacker was shot dead, while the two victims were out of danger

A machete-wielding man shouting "Allahu akbar" (God is the greatest) wounded two policewomen in southern Belgium today before being shot dead by police, with Europe on edge after a wave of jihadist attacks. The attack outside the main police station in the city of Charleroi, around 60 kilometres (40 miles) south of Brussels left one of the policewomen with "deep wounds to the face" while the other was slightly injured, Belga news agency said. Charleroi police said the attacker was shot and killed, while the two victims were out of danger. Belgium has been on high security alert for months since suicide bombers struck Brussels airport and a subway station near the European Union's institutions on March 22, killing 32 people. The attacks were claimed by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, which controls large areas of territory in Iraq and Syria and has claimed numerous terror attacks in Europe in the last year. Belgian Interior Minister Jean Jambon condemned a "disgusting act in Charleroi" on his Twitter account and said the country's terror threat level, currently at level three on a scale of four would be examined. Belgian police have carried out dozens of anti-terror raids since the November 2015 attacks in Paris, planned in Belgium and involving Belgian extremists, which left 130 people dead. Last month they arrested and charged a 33-year-old man, identified as Nourredine H., with attempting to commit "terrorist murder" and "taking part in the activities of a terrorist organisation". Prosecutors said there was for now no link to the Brussels suicide bombings. Belgium is the main source per head of population of jihadist recruits going from European Union countries to fight with IS in Syria, causing deep concern that they will return home battle-hardened and even more radicalised. The interior ministry said 457 Belgian men and women had gone or tried to join jihadists in the Middle East, including 90 who are missing or dead. Belgium launched its first attacks against IS in Iraq in late 2014 as part of a US-led coalition. It joined a similar anti-IS operation in Syria this year. Several of those involved in the Brussels bloodshed in March were directly linked to the November 13 bomb and gun attacks in Paris. In June Belgian authorities charged two men with terrorist offences amid reports of a planned attack on a Euro 2016 fanzone in central Brussels. Belgium then beefed up security for its July 21 national day celebrations after a truck attack that killed 85 people in the French city of Nice on Bastille Day, July 14. (AFP)

Machete-wielding assailant shouting 'Allahu akbar' attacks, wounds two Belgian policewomen

Saudi Arabia has offered to help German investigators find those behind Islamist bomb and axe attacks in July, news magazine Der Spiegel reported today, citing a senior member of the Saudi government. 
 
Saudi authorities are in contact with their German colleagues, responding to new findings that show both attackers were in close contact via a chat conversation with possible Islamic State backers from Saudi Arabia, Spiegel said. 
 
Traces of the chat, which investigators have been able to reconstruct, indicate that both men were not only influenced by but also took instructions from people, as yet unidentified, up until the attacks, the report said. 
 
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack on July 18 near Wuerzburg in Bavaria in which a 17-year-old refugee believed to be from Pakistan or Afghanistan wounded five people with an axe before police shot him dead. 
 
A twenty-seven-year-old Syrian who blew himself up in Ansbach, southern Germany on July 24 had pledged allegiance to Islamic State on a video found on his mobile phone, investigators said. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bombing, which wounded 15 people.

Bavaria&#39;s Interior Minister said at the end of July that the Ansbach bomber had been &quot;significantly influenced&quot; in a chat conversation on his mobile phone that ended just before the attack. 
 
(Reuters)

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for both the attacks that happened on July 18 and 24 in Germany

Saudi Arabia has offered to help German investigators find those behind Islamist bomb and axe attacks in July, news magazine Der Spiegel reported today, citing a senior member of the Saudi government. Saudi authorities are in contact with their German colleagues, responding to new findings that show both attackers were in close contact via a chat conversation with possible Islamic State backers from Saudi Arabia, Spiegel said. Traces of the chat, which investigators have been able to reconstruct, indicate that both men were not only influenced by but also took instructions from people, as yet unidentified, up until the attacks, the report said. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack on July 18 near Wuerzburg in Bavaria in which a 17-year-old refugee believed to be from Pakistan or Afghanistan wounded five people with an axe before police shot him dead. A twenty-seven-year-old Syrian who blew himself up in Ansbach, southern Germany on July 24 had pledged allegiance to Islamic State on a video found on his mobile phone, investigators said. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bombing, which wounded 15 people. Bavaria's Interior Minister said at the end of July that the Ansbach bomber had been "significantly influenced" in a chat conversation on his mobile phone that ended just before the attack. (Reuters)

Saudi?Arabia?to?help?Germany?investigate?attacks, reports Spiegel

President Barack Obama on Thursday touted progress he said the United States and its allies had made in the military campaign against Islamic State, but warned that the militant group still can direct and inspire attacks.

The United States is leading a military coalition conducting air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, where the group seized broad swathes of territory in 2014. It has succeeded in breaking Islamic State&#39;s grip on some towns, although it still controls its two de facto capitals, Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria.

The president, criticized for suggesting Islamic State was made up of amateurs, presented a more measured assessment on Thursday.

He said the last two years of the US-led air and ground campaign have proved that the extremist group can be beaten in conventional military fights but that it has shown the ability to carry out damaging, small-scale attacks.

&quot;I am pleased with the progress that we&#39;ve made on the ground in Iraq and Syria,&quot; Obama told a news conference at the Pentagon after meeting with officials directing the campaign, but added: &quot;We&#39;re far from freeing Mosul and Raqqa.&quot;While the campaign against Islamic State in Iraq, Syria and now Libya is making significant gains, the group is adapting, reverting to high-profile attacks and using the internet to recruit and train, and to encourage &quot;lone wolf&quot; attacks.

&quot;They&#39;ve seen the degree of attention they can get with smaller-scale attacks using small arms or assault rifles,&quot; Obama said. &quot;The possibility of either a lone actor or a small cell carrying out an attack that kills people is real.&quot;

The United States must do a better job of disrupting Islamic State networks that can carry out attacks far from the group&#39;s bases in the Middle East, Obama said.

&quot;Those networks are more active in Europe than they are here, but we don&#39;t know what we don&#39;t know, and so it&#39;s conceivable that there are some networks here that could be activated,&quot; he said, while warning against over-reacting to such attacks.

&quot;How we react to this is as important as the efforts we take to destroy ISIL, prevent these networks from penetrating,&quot; he said, using an acronym for the group. &quot;When societies get scared they can react in ways that undermine the fabric of our society.&quot;

Coordinating with Russia

In Syria, where the United States is exploring options to cooperate with Russia militarily to defeat Islamic State, Obama said Russia&#39;s and Syria&#39;s most recent actions have raised doubts about their commitment to a pause in the conflict.

This week, a Syrian rescue service operating in rebel-held territory said a helicopter dropped containers of toxic gas overnight on a town close to where a Russian military helicopter had been shot down hours earlier.

The opposition Syrian National Coalition accused President Bashar al-Assad of being behind the attack. Assad has denied previous accusations of using chemical weapons.

The twin US goals in Syria have been to end the violence that has claimed some 400,000 lives, according to United Nations estimates, and to seek a political process to replace Assad, whom Obama has said &quot;must go.&quot;

Proposals for the United States and Russia to cooperate in Syria would have them share intelligence to coordinate air strikes and prohibit the Syrian air force from attacking rebel groups considered moderate.

But US military and intelligence officials have called the plan naive and said US secretary of state John Kerry risks falling into a trap that Russian President Vladimir Putin has laid to discredit the United States with moderate rebel groups and drive some of their fighters into the arms of Islamic State and other extremist groups.

&quot;The US remains prepared to work with Russia to try to reduce the violence and strengthen our efforts against ISIL and al-Qaeda in Syria, but so far Russia has failed to take the necessary steps,&quot; Obama said, adding that he was not confident Russia or Putin could be trusted. 
 
(Reuters)

He said US-led strikes groups can beat IS groups in conventional military fights, but they have the ability to carry out damaging attacks

President Barack Obama on Thursday touted progress he said the United States and its allies had made in the military campaign against Islamic State, but warned that the militant group still can direct and inspire attacks. The United States is leading a military coalition conducting air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, where the group seized broad swathes of territory in 2014. It has succeeded in breaking Islamic State's grip on some towns, although it still controls its two de facto capitals, Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria. The president, criticized for suggesting Islamic State was made up of amateurs, presented a more measured assessment on Thursday. He said the last two years of the US-led air and ground campaign have proved that the extremist group can be beaten in conventional military fights but that it has shown the ability to carry out damaging, small-scale attacks. "I am pleased with the progress that we've made on the ground in Iraq and Syria," Obama told a news conference at the Pentagon after meeting with officials directing the campaign, but added: "We're far from freeing Mosul and Raqqa."While the campaign against Islamic State in Iraq, Syria and now Libya is making significant gains, the group is adapting, reverting to high-profile attacks and using the internet to recruit and train, and to encourage "lone wolf" attacks. "They've seen the degree of attention they can get with smaller-scale attacks using small arms or assault rifles," Obama said. "The possibility of either a lone actor or a small cell carrying out an attack that kills people is real." The United States must do a better job of disrupting Islamic State networks that can carry out attacks far from the group's bases in the Middle East, Obama said. "Those networks are more active in Europe than they are here, but we don't know what we don't know, and so it's conceivable that there are some networks here that could be activated," he said, while warning against over-reacting to such attacks. "How we react to this is as important as the efforts we take to destroy ISIL, prevent these networks from penetrating," he said, using an acronym for the group. "When societies get scared they can react in ways that undermine the fabric of our society." Coordinating with Russia In Syria, where the United States is exploring options to cooperate with Russia militarily to defeat Islamic State, Obama said Russia's and Syria's most recent actions have raised doubts about their commitment to a pause in the conflict. This week, a Syrian rescue service operating in rebel-held territory said a helicopter dropped containers of toxic gas overnight on a town close to where a Russian military helicopter had been shot down hours earlier. The opposition Syrian National Coalition accused President Bashar al-Assad of being behind the attack. Assad has denied previous accusations of using chemical weapons. The twin US goals in Syria have been to end the violence that has claimed some 400,000 lives, according to United Nations estimates, and to seek a political process to replace Assad, whom Obama has said "must go." Proposals for the United States and Russia to cooperate in Syria would have them share intelligence to coordinate air strikes and prohibit the Syrian air force from attacking rebel groups considered moderate. But US military and intelligence officials have called the plan naive and said US secretary of state John Kerry risks falling into a trap that Russian President Vladimir Putin has laid to discredit the United States with moderate rebel groups and drive some of their fighters into the arms of Islamic State and other extremist groups. "The US remains prepared to work with Russia to try to reduce the violence and strengthen our efforts against ISIL and al-Qaeda in Syria, but so far Russia has failed to take the necessary steps," Obama said, adding that he was not confident Russia or Putin could be trusted. (Reuters)

Obama touts progress on Islamic State, warns of small-scale attacks

Bangladesh police said today a suspected Islamist extremist accused of carrying out a deadly attack on a prayer rally last month has been shot dead in a gunfight while in their custody. 
 
Shafiul Islam Don was being driven to a police station late Thursday when the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) vehicle carrying him came under attack by suspected fellow extremists. 
 
The 22-year-old was killed in the gunfight that ensued, local RAB commander Shariful Islam told AFP. 
 
&quot;The attackers opened fire as they tried to snatch Don. We fired back in retaliation,&quot; said Islam. 
 
&quot;After a brief gunfight, they fled the scene. We found Don and another person`s body from the spot.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
Police had arrested Don at the scene of last month&#39;s attack at a prayer ceremony marking the end of Muslim holy month of Ramadan.&nbsp; 
 
Three people were killed in the attack in Sholakia town, which came just a week after suspected extremists killed 22 people including 18 foreigners at an upscale cafe in Dhaka. 
 
Islam said he was a member of Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which authorities accuse of being behind a wave of killings of foreigners and religious minorities in recent years. 
 
Islam said Don had confessed in custody to taking part in several recent killings targeting people from religious minorities in the mainly Muslim country. 
 
Police have said a faction of the JMB led by a 30-year-old Canadian of Bangladeshi origin is behind the latest attacks. 
 
Many of its members are drawn from rich families and have vowed allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group. 
 
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has launched a major crackdown on Islamist extremism since the cafe attack.&nbsp; 
 
At least 17 suspected Islamist extremists were killed in the last five weeks and a number of militants were arrested. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp;

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has launched a major crackdown on Islamist extremism since the Dhaka cafe attack?

Bangladesh police said today a suspected Islamist extremist accused of carrying out a deadly attack on a prayer rally last month has been shot dead in a gunfight while in their custody. Shafiul Islam Don was being driven to a police station late Thursday when the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) vehicle carrying him came under attack by suspected fellow extremists. The 22-year-old was killed in the gunfight that ensued, local RAB commander Shariful Islam told AFP. "The attackers opened fire as they tried to snatch Don. We fired back in retaliation," said Islam. "After a brief gunfight, they fled the scene. We found Don and another person`s body from the spot." Police had arrested Don at the scene of last month's attack at a prayer ceremony marking the end of Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Three people were killed in the attack in Sholakia town, which came just a week after suspected extremists killed 22 people including 18 foreigners at an upscale cafe in Dhaka. Islam said he was a member of Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which authorities accuse of being behind a wave of killings of foreigners and religious minorities in recent years. Islam said Don had confessed in custody to taking part in several recent killings targeting people from religious minorities in the mainly Muslim country. Police have said a faction of the JMB led by a 30-year-old Canadian of Bangladeshi origin is behind the latest attacks. Many of its members are drawn from rich families and have vowed allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has launched a major crackdown on Islamist extremism since the cafe attack. At least 17 suspected Islamist extremists were killed in the last five weeks and a number of militants were arrested. (AFP)

Bangladesh terror attack suspect dies in gun battle: Police

A police officer for the US capital city&#39;s metro system was arrested Wednesday on charges that he tried to provide material support to the Islamic State jihadist group, prosecutors said. 
 
Nicholas Young, 36, had worked for Washington&#39;s Metro Transit Police Department since 2003, the Department of Justice said in a statement. He communicated for years with undercover agents and a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informant, discussing his knowledge and interest in terror activities, prosecutors said. 
 
&quot;Metro Transit Police alerted the FBI about this individual and then worked with our federal partners throughout the investigation up to and including today&#39;s arrest,&quot; Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority General Manager and CEO Paul Wiedefeld said. 
 
&quot;Obviously, the allegations in this case are profoundly disturbing. They&#39;re disturbing to me, and they&#39;re disturbing to everyone who wears the uniform,&quot; he said in a statement. Young met about 20 times in 2014 with the FBI informant who was posing as a US military reservist of Middle Eastern descent who wanted to join the Islamic State group, the Justice Department said. 
 
Young allegedly gave the man advice on travel to avoid detection by law enforcement, and also told him to watch out for informants. In June 2015, Young emailed undercover FBI agents asking for advice on how to send money to the IS group, prosecutors said. Last month, he sent an undercover agent $245 in gift cards to charge mobile messaging accounts that the Islamic State group uses in its recruiting efforts. Metro officials did not say what tipped them off to Young. 
 
He was fired from his job immediately upon his arrest, the agency said.&nbsp; 
 
&#39;Crowd-sourced terror&#39;&nbsp; 
 
Young had been on law enforcement&#39;s radar since 2010, when an acquaintance was arrested on charges of trying to provide material support to a terror group. The acquaintance ultimately pleaded guilty to the charge. According to the Justice Department, Young traveled to Libya in 2011 and tried to go a second time. Baggage searches at the time found that Young was traveling with military equipment such as body armor. He told authorities he had been with rebels attempting to overthrow dictator Moamer Kadhafi. That same year, Young met several times with an undercover agent while accompanied by Amine El Khalifi, an acquaintance. 
 
El Khalifi later pleaded guilty to charges related to his plan to carry out a suicide bomb attack on the US Capitol Building. If convicted, Young faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The White House is &quot;mindful of the risk that is posed by homegrown extremists,&quot; spokesman Josh Earnest said. 
 
Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, hailed the work of the FBI in apprehending Young. 
 
&quot;This is a sobering reminder of the vigilance required to combat crowd-sourced terror. Our enemies&#39; old, top-down strategy no longer defines our threats,&quot; he said. &quot;The intelligence community does not exclusively hunt card-carrying members of ISIS and al-Qaeda. Our challenge is greater and today the FBI has met it forcefully.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

Young had communicated with FBI informants about his interest in terror activities, and had tried to provide material support to the IS

A police officer for the US capital city's metro system was arrested Wednesday on charges that he tried to provide material support to the Islamic State jihadist group, prosecutors said. Nicholas Young, 36, had worked for Washington's Metro Transit Police Department since 2003, the Department of Justice said in a statement. He communicated for years with undercover agents and a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informant, discussing his knowledge and interest in terror activities, prosecutors said. "Metro Transit Police alerted the FBI about this individual and then worked with our federal partners throughout the investigation up to and including today's arrest," Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority General Manager and CEO Paul Wiedefeld said. "Obviously, the allegations in this case are profoundly disturbing. They're disturbing to me, and they're disturbing to everyone who wears the uniform," he said in a statement. Young met about 20 times in 2014 with the FBI informant who was posing as a US military reservist of Middle Eastern descent who wanted to join the Islamic State group, the Justice Department said. Young allegedly gave the man advice on travel to avoid detection by law enforcement, and also told him to watch out for informants. In June 2015, Young emailed undercover FBI agents asking for advice on how to send money to the IS group, prosecutors said. Last month, he sent an undercover agent $245 in gift cards to charge mobile messaging accounts that the Islamic State group uses in its recruiting efforts. Metro officials did not say what tipped them off to Young. He was fired from his job immediately upon his arrest, the agency said. 'Crowd-sourced terror' Young had been on law enforcement's radar since 2010, when an acquaintance was arrested on charges of trying to provide material support to a terror group. The acquaintance ultimately pleaded guilty to the charge. According to the Justice Department, Young traveled to Libya in 2011 and tried to go a second time. Baggage searches at the time found that Young was traveling with military equipment such as body armor. He told authorities he had been with rebels attempting to overthrow dictator Moamer Kadhafi. That same year, Young met several times with an undercover agent while accompanied by Amine El Khalifi, an acquaintance. El Khalifi later pleaded guilty to charges related to his plan to carry out a suicide bomb attack on the US Capitol Building. If convicted, Young faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The White House is "mindful of the risk that is posed by homegrown extremists," spokesman Josh Earnest said. Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, hailed the work of the FBI in apprehending Young. "This is a sobering reminder of the vigilance required to combat crowd-sourced terror. Our enemies' old, top-down strategy no longer defines our threats," he said. "The intelligence community does not exclusively hunt card-carrying members of ISIS and al-Qaeda. Our challenge is greater and today the FBI has met it forcefully." (AFP)

US capital transit policeman arrested on terror charge

Islamic State has named a new leader of Boko Haram, the Nigerian militant group which last year swore allegiance to it. 
 
Abu Musab al-Barnawi was named the Islamic State&#39;s governor for West Africa in a two-page interview in its weekly magazine, al-Naba, which was circulated late on Tuesday. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler who took office last year, has made it a priority to defeat Boko Haram, which has tried to create a state adhering to strict sharia law in the northeast during a seven-year insurgency. 
 
Boko Haram controlled a swathe of land in northeast Nigeria around the size of Belgium at the end of 2014 but was pushed out by Nigerian troops, aided by soldiers from neighbouring countries, early last year. In the interview, al-Barnawi said Boko Haram was &quot;still a force to be reckoned with&quot; and that it had been receiving new recruits. 
 
Despite having been pushed out of most of the territory it controlled, Boko Haram has carried out suicide bombings in northeast Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon, Niger and Chad, focusing on busy public areas such as markets and mosques. 
 
Fulan Nasrullah, a security analyst, said al-Barnawi had been a senior figure within Boko Haram who was previously the group&#39;s military commander. The Islamic State publication did not mention Abubakar Shekau, who was the group&#39;s leader and represented the Nigerian jihadists in videos during an insurgency that has killed about 15,000 people and displaced more than two million. 
 
Shekau, whose death has been reported on numerous occasions by the army only for him to reappear in videos, was last seen in a video circulated in March in which he seemed to suggest he was ailing and Boko Haram was losing its effectiveness. A video emerged the following week saying there would be no surrender. In June, a senior US general said Boko Haram had fractured internally, with a big group splitting away from Shekau over his failure to adhere to guidance from Islamic State. 
 
The Nigerian group swore allegiance to Islamic State, based in Syria and Iraq, in March 2015. That assessment came days after US officials said they had seen no evidence that Boko Haram had so far received significant operational support or financing from Islamic State militants, concluding the loyalty pledge had so far mostly been a branding exercise. 
 
(Reuters)

Abu Musab al-Barnawi was named the Islamic State's governor for West Africa in a two-page interview in its weekly magazine, al-Naba

Islamic State has named a new leader of Boko Haram, the Nigerian militant group which last year swore allegiance to it. Abu Musab al-Barnawi was named the Islamic State's governor for West Africa in a two-page interview in its weekly magazine, al-Naba, which was circulated late on Tuesday. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler who took office last year, has made it a priority to defeat Boko Haram, which has tried to create a state adhering to strict sharia law in the northeast during a seven-year insurgency. Boko Haram controlled a swathe of land in northeast Nigeria around the size of Belgium at the end of 2014 but was pushed out by Nigerian troops, aided by soldiers from neighbouring countries, early last year. In the interview, al-Barnawi said Boko Haram was "still a force to be reckoned with" and that it had been receiving new recruits. Despite having been pushed out of most of the territory it controlled, Boko Haram has carried out suicide bombings in northeast Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon, Niger and Chad, focusing on busy public areas such as markets and mosques. Fulan Nasrullah, a security analyst, said al-Barnawi had been a senior figure within Boko Haram who was previously the group's military commander. The Islamic State publication did not mention Abubakar Shekau, who was the group's leader and represented the Nigerian jihadists in videos during an insurgency that has killed about 15,000 people and displaced more than two million. Shekau, whose death has been reported on numerous occasions by the army only for him to reappear in videos, was last seen in a video circulated in March in which he seemed to suggest he was ailing and Boko Haram was losing its effectiveness. A video emerged the following week saying there would be no surrender. In June, a senior US general said Boko Haram had fractured internally, with a big group splitting away from Shekau over his failure to adhere to guidance from Islamic State. The Nigerian group swore allegiance to Islamic State, based in Syria and Iraq, in March 2015. That assessment came days after US officials said they had seen no evidence that Boko Haram had so far received significant operational support or financing from Islamic State militants, concluding the loyalty pledge had so far mostly been a branding exercise. (Reuters)

Islamic State announces new Boko Haram leader

French priest Father Jacques Hamel, who was murdered in an attack by two jihadists on his Catholic church in a Normandy town, will be laid to rest today. 
 
According to his diocese, the funeral for the 85-year-old priest will be held at the 11th-century Gothic cathedral of the northern city of Rouen, where Muslims and Christians came together to mourn his death at a mass on Sunday.&nbsp;He will then be buried in a ceremony attended only by close family members, at a location which has not been revealed. 
 
Hamel became the latest victim of a terror attack in France when two 19-year-old jihadists stormed his church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray last Tuesday and slit his throat at the altar.&nbsp;Abdel Malik Petitjean and Adel Kermiche had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and both were shot dead by police after a tense hostage drama in which a worshipper was left seriously wounded. Three other hostages escaped unharmed. 
 
The attack stunned France&#39;s religious communities, sparking fears of tensions in a country with a population of some five million Muslims.&nbsp;However, the two communities have largely rallied together, with churches opening their doors to Muslims on Sunday for a moving tribute to Hamel, and against radical Islam. 
 
Pope Francis said Islam could not be equated with terrorism.&nbsp;&quot;It&#39;s not true and it&#39;s not correct (to say) Islam is terrorism,&quot; he said, defending his decision not to name Islam when condemning the brutal murder. 
 
&quot;If I have to talk about Islamic violence I have to talk about Christian violence. Every day in the newspapers I see violence in Italy, someone kills his girlfriend, another kills his mother-in-law, and these are baptised Catholics.&quot; 
 
The church attack came just two weeks after Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel ploughed a 19-tonne truck into a massive crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the Riviera city of Nice, leaving 84 dead and injuring more than 300 people.&nbsp;The repeat attacks in France have raised tough questions about security failures, but also about the foreign funding of many mosques. 
 
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Monday that authorities have shut down around 20 mosques and prayer halls considered to be preaching radical Islam since December.&nbsp;&quot;There is no place ... in France for those who call for and incite hatred in prayer halls or in mosques, and who don&#39;t respect certain republican principles, notably equality between men and women,&quot; the minister said. 
 
(AFP)

Father Jacques Hamel's funeral will be held at the 11th-century Gothic cathedral in the northern city of Rouen

French priest Father Jacques Hamel, who was murdered in an attack by two jihadists on his Catholic church in a Normandy town, will be laid to rest today. According to his diocese, the funeral for the 85-year-old priest will be held at the 11th-century Gothic cathedral of the northern city of Rouen, where Muslims and Christians came together to mourn his death at a mass on Sunday. He will then be buried in a ceremony attended only by close family members, at a location which has not been revealed. Hamel became the latest victim of a terror attack in France when two 19-year-old jihadists stormed his church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray last Tuesday and slit his throat at the altar. Abdel Malik Petitjean and Adel Kermiche had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and both were shot dead by police after a tense hostage drama in which a worshipper was left seriously wounded. Three other hostages escaped unharmed. The attack stunned France's religious communities, sparking fears of tensions in a country with a population of some five million Muslims. However, the two communities have largely rallied together, with churches opening their doors to Muslims on Sunday for a moving tribute to Hamel, and against radical Islam. Pope Francis said Islam could not be equated with terrorism. "It's not true and it's not correct (to say) Islam is terrorism," he said, defending his decision not to name Islam when condemning the brutal murder. "If I have to talk about Islamic violence I have to talk about Christian violence. Every day in the newspapers I see violence in Italy, someone kills his girlfriend, another kills his mother-in-law, and these are baptised Catholics." The church attack came just two weeks after Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel ploughed a 19-tonne truck into a massive crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the Riviera city of Nice, leaving 84 dead and injuring more than 300 people. The repeat attacks in France have raised tough questions about security failures, but also about the foreign funding of many mosques. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Monday that authorities have shut down around 20 mosques and prayer halls considered to be preaching radical Islam since December. "There is no place ... in France for those who call for and incite hatred in prayer halls or in mosques, and who don't respect certain republican principles, notably equality between men and women," the minister said. (AFP)

Funeral to be held for French priest slain by jihadists

A suicide car bomb attack in the eastern city of Benghazi targeting Libyan troops killed 23 people and wounded dozens of others today, a hospital official said. 
 
The official said the wounded were still arriving at the hospital in the aftermath of the bombing in the al-Qawarsha district on the outskirts of the city, Libya&#39;s second largest. For the past two years, fighting has been raging in Benghazi between forces under the command of Brig. General Khalifa Hifter and Islamic militias. 
 
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. A coalition of Islamist militias called the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries, which includes the al-Qaeda affiliate known as Ansar al-Shariah, claimed responsibility for the deadly attack in a statement posted on its Twitter account. 
 
The attack comes after the United States started an air campaign on Monday in the central city of Sirte, the last bastion of the Islamic State extremist group in Libya. The strikes followed a request made by the internationally- recognised government and presidency council in the capital, Tripoli. 
 
The two executive bodies were formed after the United Nations brokered a deal among Libya&#39;s rival factions. Libya has descended into chaos following the 2011 ouster and the killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. 
 
Since 2014, the country has been divided between two governments and parliaments, and a loose set of militias and tribes. The UN-brokered government led by Fayez Serraj aimed at healing the rift, but a crucial vote of confidence has yet to be obtained from the parliament. 
 
The parliament in eastern Libya does not recognize the UN Government, and many in the east are angry that Serraj&#39;s administration invited foreign military intervention without the eastern parliament&#39;s consent.&nbsp; 
 
(AP)

The attack comes after the United States started an air campaign on Monday in the central city of Sirte, the last bastion of the IS in Libya

A suicide car bomb attack in the eastern city of Benghazi targeting Libyan troops killed 23 people and wounded dozens of others today, a hospital official said. The official said the wounded were still arriving at the hospital in the aftermath of the bombing in the al-Qawarsha district on the outskirts of the city, Libya's second largest. For the past two years, fighting has been raging in Benghazi between forces under the command of Brig. General Khalifa Hifter and Islamic militias. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. A coalition of Islamist militias called the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries, which includes the al-Qaeda affiliate known as Ansar al-Shariah, claimed responsibility for the deadly attack in a statement posted on its Twitter account. The attack comes after the United States started an air campaign on Monday in the central city of Sirte, the last bastion of the Islamic State extremist group in Libya. The strikes followed a request made by the internationally- recognised government and presidency council in the capital, Tripoli. The two executive bodies were formed after the United Nations brokered a deal among Libya's rival factions. Libya has descended into chaos following the 2011 ouster and the killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Since 2014, the country has been divided between two governments and parliaments, and a loose set of militias and tribes. The UN-brokered government led by Fayez Serraj aimed at healing the rift, but a crucial vote of confidence has yet to be obtained from the parliament. The parliament in eastern Libya does not recognize the UN Government, and many in the east are angry that Serraj's administration invited foreign military intervention without the eastern parliament's consent. (AP)

Car bombing in eastern Libya kills 23

When Afghan troops pushed into Kot, a district close to the border with Pakistan, this week, they found many of the houses empty, with posters plastered on the walls and black flags left by departing Islamic State fighters. 
 
Backed by US special forces troops and airstrikes that authorities say have killed hundreds, the Afghan army has launched an offensive against insurgents, both Taliban and Islamic State, and prevented the fall of district and provincial centres. 
 
Islamic State first appeared in Afghanistan at the beginning of 2015, and US officials say some 70 per cent of its fighters come from the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Pakistani Taliban, many from the Orakzai area in the frontier region on the Pakistan side of the border. 
 
&quot;They were former members of the TTP, complete with their leadership, who wholesale joined Islamic State ... earlier this year,&quot; US Army General John Nicholson said. &quot;Seventy per cent, roughly, of those fighters are from the TTP, and many of them are Pakistani Pashtun from the Orakzai Agency.&quot; 
 
Previously considered a much smaller threat than the Taliban, their bitter enemies, the Kabul bombing underlined how dangerous Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan could be, even without holding large tracts of territory. 
 
&quot;We have already destroyed their training camps in Kot district and the operations will expand to other districts too,&quot; said Shereen Agha, an Afghan army spokesman. 
 
Other Islamic State members in Afghanistan were originally part of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, another militant group, he said. 
Afghan and US military officials believe the concentrated attacks on the movement over the past six months have killed many of its fighters and leaders and weakened the group, despite its ability to mount the Kabul attack. 
 
&quot;The fact that they could conduct a high-profile attack should not be perceived as a sign of growing strength,&quot; Nicholson said. 
 
Involving both regular army and special forces, the operation in Nangarhar in the eastern part of Aghanistan dubbed &quot;Wrath of the Storm&quot;, coincided with last week&#39;s suicide bombing in Kabul that killed at least 80 people and wounded more than 230 more. 
 
Provincial government spokesman Attahullah Khogyani said 78 IS fighters had been killed in the operation, and many bodies had been concealed inside houses to hide the number of fatalities they had suffered. 
 
Nicholson said this week that the number of IS fighters, estimated at around 3,000 in January, has been roughly cut in half and now stood at between 1,000-1,500. 
 
However, after innumerable false dawns in decades of conflict in Afghanistan, officials in the NATO-led coalition that provides assistance to Afghan forces are cautious about declaring success against Islamic State, which President Ashraf Ghani promised to &quot;bury&quot; in January. 
 
(Reuters)

Afghan forces claim they have destroyed IS training camps in Kot district, bordering Pakistan, and are set to expand operations further

When Afghan troops pushed into Kot, a district close to the border with Pakistan, this week, they found many of the houses empty, with posters plastered on the walls and black flags left by departing Islamic State fighters. Backed by US special forces troops and airstrikes that authorities say have killed hundreds, the Afghan army has launched an offensive against insurgents, both Taliban and Islamic State, and prevented the fall of district and provincial centres. Islamic State first appeared in Afghanistan at the beginning of 2015, and US officials say some 70 per cent of its fighters come from the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Pakistani Taliban, many from the Orakzai area in the frontier region on the Pakistan side of the border. "They were former members of the TTP, complete with their leadership, who wholesale joined Islamic State ... earlier this year," US Army General John Nicholson said. "Seventy per cent, roughly, of those fighters are from the TTP, and many of them are Pakistani Pashtun from the Orakzai Agency." Previously considered a much smaller threat than the Taliban, their bitter enemies, the Kabul bombing underlined how dangerous Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan could be, even without holding large tracts of territory. "We have already destroyed their training camps in Kot district and the operations will expand to other districts too," said Shereen Agha, an Afghan army spokesman. Other Islamic State members in Afghanistan were originally part of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, another militant group, he said. Afghan and US military officials believe the concentrated attacks on the movement over the past six months have killed many of its fighters and leaders and weakened the group, despite its ability to mount the Kabul attack. "The fact that they could conduct a high-profile attack should not be perceived as a sign of growing strength," Nicholson said. Involving both regular army and special forces, the operation in Nangarhar in the eastern part of Aghanistan dubbed "Wrath of the Storm", coincided with last week's suicide bombing in Kabul that killed at least 80 people and wounded more than 230 more. Provincial government spokesman Attahullah Khogyani said 78 IS fighters had been killed in the operation, and many bodies had been concealed inside houses to hide the number of fatalities they had suffered. Nicholson said this week that the number of IS fighters, estimated at around 3,000 in January, has been roughly cut in half and now stood at between 1,000-1,500. However, after innumerable false dawns in decades of conflict in Afghanistan, officials in the NATO-led coalition that provides assistance to Afghan forces are cautious about declaring success against Islamic State, which President Ashraf Ghani promised to "bury" in January. (Reuters)

US army general: 70% of IS fighters in Afghanistan from Pakistani Taliban

A man in the US state of Ohio pleaded guilty on Monday to charges that he planned to attack the US Capitol during a speech by President Barack Obama last year.&nbsp; 
 
Christopher Lee Cornell, a 22-year-old from the Cincinnati area, pleaded guilty to &quot;terrorism charges,&quot; the justice department said in a statement. 
 
Cornell admitted to attempting to kill government employees, possession of a firearm to commit violent crime and attempting to &quot;provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organisation,&quot; it said. 
 
According to the plea agreement, he said that from about August 2014 through January 2015 he had schemed to travel to Washington in order to attack the US Capitol during Obama&#39;s State of the Union Address on January 20, 2015. 
 
Cornell had amassed two semi-automatic rifles, approximately 600 rounds of ammunition, and had researched how to make bombs. He was arrested on January 14, 2015. 
 
&quot;The defendant admitted that his planned attack on the US Capitol was an attempt to provide material support and resources - both personnel and services - to the Islamic State,&quot; the department said. 
 
&quot;After his arrest, he posted statements online that included a call for others to join him in violent extremism against the United States and its citizens,&quot; according to his admissions in the plea agreement. 
 
Cornell faces as much as 40 years in prison on the charges. 
 
(AFP) 
&nbsp;

Cornell admitted to have schemed to travel to Washington to attack the US Capitol during Obama's 2015 State of the Union Address

A man in the US state of Ohio pleaded guilty on Monday to charges that he planned to attack the US Capitol during a speech by President Barack Obama last year. Christopher Lee Cornell, a 22-year-old from the Cincinnati area, pleaded guilty to "terrorism charges," the justice department said in a statement. Cornell admitted to attempting to kill government employees, possession of a firearm to commit violent crime and attempting to "provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organisation," it said. According to the plea agreement, he said that from about August 2014 through January 2015 he had schemed to travel to Washington in order to attack the US Capitol during Obama's State of the Union Address on January 20, 2015. Cornell had amassed two semi-automatic rifles, approximately 600 rounds of ammunition, and had researched how to make bombs. He was arrested on January 14, 2015. "The defendant admitted that his planned attack on the US Capitol was an attempt to provide material support and resources - both personnel and services - to the Islamic State," the department said. "After his arrest, he posted statements online that included a call for others to join him in violent extremism against the United States and its citizens," according to his admissions in the plea agreement. Cornell faces as much as 40 years in prison on the charges. (AFP)

Man pleads guilty to planning attack on US Capitol, aiding a terrorist organisation

Lawmakers in Mali agreed on Saturday to extend a 10-day state of emergency in the violence-wracked country by another eight months, officials said.&nbsp; 
 
In an extraordinary session of the National Assembly in Bamako, the 99 MPs present unanimously voted to maintain the state of emergency, a parliamentary source said. The extension will last until March 29, 2017, public broadcaster ORTM said. 
 
The government had declared a state of emergency on July 21, a day after an attack at an army base in central Nampala left 17 soldiers dead and 35 wounded. The state of emergency gives the security services greater powers and puts restrictions on public gatherings. 
 
Two groups -- the Islamist organisation Ansar Dine and a newly formed ethnic group -- both claimed to have carried out the raid on the military camp in Nampala, which the government described as a &quot;coordinated terrorist attack&quot;. Several security sources in the region said they doubted the veracity of the claim of responsibility from the National Alliance for the Protection of Peul Identity and Restoration of Justice (ANSIPRJ). 
 
The ethnic group was only founded last month following inter-communal clashes in the area and lacked the means to mount an attack, they said. Last week&#39;s attack was the latest in a series of assaults on security forces in Mali. A previous state of emergency in place since April had only been lifted the week before. 
 
Ansar Dine is a mainly Tuareg group that controlled areas of Mali&#39;s northern desert together with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and a third local group in early 2012. Although the Islamists were largely ousted by an ongoing French-led military operation launched in January 2013, sporadic assaults from desert hideouts are common. Attacks have notably become more frequent in the country&#39;s centre, close to its borders with Burkina Faso and Niger, both from criminal and jihadist elements. 
 
In one high-profile attack last November, claimed by AQIM, jihadists stormed the capital&#39;s Radisson Blu hotel, killing 20 civilians, including 14 foreigners. 
 
(AFP)

The government had declared emergency on July 21, a day after an attack at an army base in central Nampala left 17 soldiers dead

Lawmakers in Mali agreed on Saturday to extend a 10-day state of emergency in the violence-wracked country by another eight months, officials said. In an extraordinary session of the National Assembly in Bamako, the 99 MPs present unanimously voted to maintain the state of emergency, a parliamentary source said. The extension will last until March 29, 2017, public broadcaster ORTM said. The government had declared a state of emergency on July 21, a day after an attack at an army base in central Nampala left 17 soldiers dead and 35 wounded. The state of emergency gives the security services greater powers and puts restrictions on public gatherings. Two groups -- the Islamist organisation Ansar Dine and a newly formed ethnic group -- both claimed to have carried out the raid on the military camp in Nampala, which the government described as a "coordinated terrorist attack". Several security sources in the region said they doubted the veracity of the claim of responsibility from the National Alliance for the Protection of Peul Identity and Restoration of Justice (ANSIPRJ). The ethnic group was only founded last month following inter-communal clashes in the area and lacked the means to mount an attack, they said. Last week's attack was the latest in a series of assaults on security forces in Mali. A previous state of emergency in place since April had only been lifted the week before. Ansar Dine is a mainly Tuareg group that controlled areas of Mali's northern desert together with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and a third local group in early 2012. Although the Islamists were largely ousted by an ongoing French-led military operation launched in January 2013, sporadic assaults from desert hideouts are common. Attacks have notably become more frequent in the country's centre, close to its borders with Burkina Faso and Niger, both from criminal and jihadist elements. In one high-profile attack last November, claimed by AQIM, jihadists stormed the capital's Radisson Blu hotel, killing 20 civilians, including 14 foreigners. (AFP)

Mali extends emergency by 8 months

One of the jihadists who murdered an elderly French priest smiled as he carried out the attack, and nuns who witnessed the grisly murder said the killers spoke about the Quran. 
 
The two nuns who were in the church when Father Jacques Hamel was killed, his throat slit on the altar, said the men appeared aggressive and nervous during the attack at the Eglise Saint-Etienne in Normandy on July 26. 
 
Then, one of the attackers seemed pleased. 
 
&quot;I got a smile from the second (man). Not a smile of triumph, but a soft smile, that of someone who is happy,&quot; nun Sister Huguette Peron told Catholic newspaper La Vie on Friday. 
 
Abdel Malik Petitjean and Adel Kermiche, both 19, had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and both were killed by police in the shock attack. 
 
The men stormed the 17th-century stone church during mass in the town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, taking several hostages before killing the priest and seriously wounding another captive. 
 
One nun fled the scene and alerted the police, leaving Sister Huguette and Sister Helene Decaux, both in their 80s, in the church with the jihadists. At one point, Sister Helene got tired and asked to sit down. &quot;I asked for my cane, he gave it to me,&quot; she said. 
 
Then the men started talking about religion, asking the nun if she was familiar with the Quran. &quot;Yes, I respect it like I respect the Bible, I&#39;ve read several suras. And those that hit me in particular are the suras about peace,&quot; Sister Helene responded. 
 
One of the attackers replied: &quot;Peace, it&#39;s what we want... as long as there are bombs on Syria, we will continue our attacks. And they will happen every day. When you stop, we will stop.&quot; 
 
Neighbours and acquaintances said Kermiche was &quot;obsessed&quot; with going to Syria, where an international coalition including France is carrying out air strikes against the IS jihadist group. 
 
&quot;Are you afraid to die?&quot; one of the attackers asked. The nun said no, then he said: &quot;Why?&quot; &quot;I believe in God, and I know I will be happy&quot; Sister Helene said, as she quietly prayed to herself. 
 
Then they started talking about God. 
 
&quot;Jesus cannot be God and a man. It is you who are wrong,&quot; one of the men said. &quot;Maybe, but too bad,&quot; Sister Huguette replied. At that moment, she prepared for her own death, not knowing what was coming next. 
 
&quot;Thinking I was going to die, I offered my life to God&quot; she added. 
 
(AFP)

The two nuns who were in the church when Father Jacques Hamel was killed said the attackers appeared aggressive and nervous

One of the jihadists who murdered an elderly French priest smiled as he carried out the attack, and nuns who witnessed the grisly murder said the killers spoke about the Quran. The two nuns who were in the church when Father Jacques Hamel was killed, his throat slit on the altar, said the men appeared aggressive and nervous during the attack at the Eglise Saint-Etienne in Normandy on July 26. Then, one of the attackers seemed pleased. "I got a smile from the second (man). Not a smile of triumph, but a soft smile, that of someone who is happy," nun Sister Huguette Peron told Catholic newspaper La Vie on Friday. Abdel Malik Petitjean and Adel Kermiche, both 19, had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and both were killed by police in the shock attack. The men stormed the 17th-century stone church during mass in the town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, taking several hostages before killing the priest and seriously wounding another captive. One nun fled the scene and alerted the police, leaving Sister Huguette and Sister Helene Decaux, both in their 80s, in the church with the jihadists. At one point, Sister Helene got tired and asked to sit down. "I asked for my cane, he gave it to me," she said. Then the men started talking about religion, asking the nun if she was familiar with the Quran. "Yes, I respect it like I respect the Bible, I've read several suras. And those that hit me in particular are the suras about peace," Sister Helene responded. One of the attackers replied: "Peace, it's what we want... as long as there are bombs on Syria, we will continue our attacks. And they will happen every day. When you stop, we will stop." Neighbours and acquaintances said Kermiche was "obsessed" with going to Syria, where an international coalition including France is carrying out air strikes against the IS jihadist group. "Are you afraid to die?" one of the attackers asked. The nun said no, then he said: "Why?" "I believe in God, and I know I will be happy" Sister Helene said, as she quietly prayed to herself. Then they started talking about God. "Jesus cannot be God and a man. It is you who are wrong," one of the men said. "Maybe, but too bad," Sister Huguette replied. At that moment, she prepared for her own death, not knowing what was coming next. "Thinking I was going to die, I offered my life to God" she added. (AFP)

France church attackers spoke about Quran, gave a 'soft smile'

French authorities filed terror charges yesterday against two suspected members of the same Islamic State cell that massacred 130 people in Paris last November, a judicial source said. 
 
The 29-year-old Algerian Adel Haddadi and the 35-year-old Pakistani Mohamad Usman were charged with &quot;criminal conspiracy with terrorists&quot;, the source said of the men turned over earlier Friday by Austrian authorities. 
 
Investigators believe they travelled to the Greek island of Leros on October 3 on the same boat full of refugees as two men who took part in the November 13 attacks. 
 
Those two, thought to be Iraqis, blew themselves up outside the Stade de France stadium, one of a series of brazen assaults by around 10 people around the French capital. 
 
But Haddadi and Usman were held up, detained by Greek authorities for 25 days because they had fake Syrian passports. 
 
Once let go, they followed the main migrant trail and made it to Salzburg in western Austria at the end of November - after the Paris attacks. 
 
Austrian police commandos then arrested them in December at a migrant centre a few hours after French authorities informed them the men could be in the country. 
 
Austrian police said on Friday &quot;that during the entire journey and until their arrest the men remained in constant contact with the terror group &#39;Islamic State&#39;.&quot; 
 
After his arrest, Haddadi told investigators that he wanted to go to France to &quot;carry out a mission,&quot; according to a statement seen by AFP. 
 
A source close to the investigation said that Haddadi &quot;was meant to take part in the Paris killings with his travelling companions.&quot; 
 
After France filed a European arrest warrant, a court in Salzburg approved at the beginning of July the transfer of the two men to France. 
 
Usman is reportedly thought to be a bomb maker for Pakistani extremist organisations including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). 
 
India holds LeT, allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda, responsible for attacks in 2008 in Mumbai that killed 166 people. 
 
Usman unsuccessfully appealed against his transfer from Austria, saying he would not get a fair trial in France and that he feared for his safety. 
 
Salzburg prosecutors added yesterday that two more men, a Moroccan and an Algerian arrested eight days after the others, remained in custody. 
 
In December prosecutors had said that the men, aged 25 and 40 at the time, were being held &quot;because of indications of close contact&quot; with the two now transferred to France. 
 
(AFP)

The 29-year-old Algerian and the 35-year-old Pakistani were charged with 'criminal conspiracy with terrorists'

French authorities filed terror charges yesterday against two suspected members of the same Islamic State cell that massacred 130 people in Paris last November, a judicial source said. The 29-year-old Algerian Adel Haddadi and the 35-year-old Pakistani Mohamad Usman were charged with "criminal conspiracy with terrorists", the source said of the men turned over earlier Friday by Austrian authorities. Investigators believe they travelled to the Greek island of Leros on October 3 on the same boat full of refugees as two men who took part in the November 13 attacks. Those two, thought to be Iraqis, blew themselves up outside the Stade de France stadium, one of a series of brazen assaults by around 10 people around the French capital. But Haddadi and Usman were held up, detained by Greek authorities for 25 days because they had fake Syrian passports. Once let go, they followed the main migrant trail and made it to Salzburg in western Austria at the end of November - after the Paris attacks. Austrian police commandos then arrested them in December at a migrant centre a few hours after French authorities informed them the men could be in the country. Austrian police said on Friday "that during the entire journey and until their arrest the men remained in constant contact with the terror group 'Islamic State'." After his arrest, Haddadi told investigators that he wanted to go to France to "carry out a mission," according to a statement seen by AFP. A source close to the investigation said that Haddadi "was meant to take part in the Paris killings with his travelling companions." After France filed a European arrest warrant, a court in Salzburg approved at the beginning of July the transfer of the two men to France. Usman is reportedly thought to be a bomb maker for Pakistani extremist organisations including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). India holds LeT, allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda, responsible for attacks in 2008 in Mumbai that killed 166 people. Usman unsuccessfully appealed against his transfer from Austria, saying he would not get a fair trial in France and that he feared for his safety. Salzburg prosecutors added yesterday that two more men, a Moroccan and an Algerian arrested eight days after the others, remained in custody. In December prosecutors had said that the men, aged 25 and 40 at the time, were being held "because of indications of close contact" with the two now transferred to France. (AFP)

France charges two men over links to Paris attacks

Corsican lawmakers on Thursday called on the French state to close down radical mosques on the Mediterranean island, hours after an underground separatist movement issued a threat against Islamic extremists. 
 
The regional parliament adopted a resolution urging Paris to ensure the immediate closure in Corsica &quot;of prayer or meeting places that act as centres of radicalisation or where hateful speeches are made, creating an atmosphere that is favourable to violence&quot;. 
 
The resolution was adopted with a landslide, with MPs from the nationalist, left and right parties voting for, and only three Communists abstaining. 
 
Passed at the peak of the tourist season, the text also calls for tighter security measures in areas frequented by holidaymakers. 
 
The resolution was passed after a splinter group of the nationalist Corsican National Liberation Front (FLNC) in a statement warned Islamists that any attack on the island would trigger &quot;a determined response, without any qualms&quot;. 
 
&quot;What the Salafists want is clearly to install in our home the politics of Daesh, and we are ready for that,&quot; the FLNC October 22 group said in a statement published in the Corse Matin daily, using another name for the Islamic State group. 
 
&quot;Your mediaeval philosophy does not scare us,&quot; the statement added.Then, addressing &quot;Muslims in Corsica&quot; in general, the militant group called on them to &quot;take a stand&quot; by denouncing radical Islamism, and urged them to inform on &quot;disaffected youths who are tempted by radicalisation&quot;. 
 
The group also warned the government in Paris that it would be held partly responsible for any jihadist attack on the island, &quot;because it knows who the Salafists in Corsica are&quot;. 
 
In less than two weeks IS group jihadists claimed four bloody assaults in France and Germany that killed nearly 90 people, wounded hundreds and left the continent on edge. 
 
Fear of fresh violence and tensions in France have spiked since July 14&nbsp;when a Tunisian man ploughed a 19-tonne truck into a crowd leaving a fireworks display in the Riviera city of Nice.&nbsp; 
 
Then on Tuesday morning, two jihadists slashed a priest&#39;s throat during mass in northern France.&nbsp; 
 
One of the attackers had been charged over terror links, after two failed attempts to join jihadists fighting in Syria. 
 
In Corsica last December, angry protesters vandalised a Muslim prayer hall and trashed copies of the Koran after an assault on firefighters that was blamed on local youths of Arab origin. 
 
&quot;The parents abandon them, the problem is education,&quot; a 35-year-old local resident named Mehdi said at the time. &quot;But us, we want to all live together, without a problem.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

Resolution was passed after Corsican National Liberation Front warned Islamists that any attack on the island would trigger a firm response

Corsican lawmakers on Thursday called on the French state to close down radical mosques on the Mediterranean island, hours after an underground separatist movement issued a threat against Islamic extremists. The regional parliament adopted a resolution urging Paris to ensure the immediate closure in Corsica "of prayer or meeting places that act as centres of radicalisation or where hateful speeches are made, creating an atmosphere that is favourable to violence". The resolution was adopted with a landslide, with MPs from the nationalist, left and right parties voting for, and only three Communists abstaining. Passed at the peak of the tourist season, the text also calls for tighter security measures in areas frequented by holidaymakers. The resolution was passed after a splinter group of the nationalist Corsican National Liberation Front (FLNC) in a statement warned Islamists that any attack on the island would trigger "a determined response, without any qualms". "What the Salafists want is clearly to install in our home the politics of Daesh, and we are ready for that," the FLNC October 22 group said in a statement published in the Corse Matin daily, using another name for the Islamic State group. "Your mediaeval philosophy does not scare us," the statement added.Then, addressing "Muslims in Corsica" in general, the militant group called on them to "take a stand" by denouncing radical Islamism, and urged them to inform on "disaffected youths who are tempted by radicalisation". The group also warned the government in Paris that it would be held partly responsible for any jihadist attack on the island, "because it knows who the Salafists in Corsica are". In less than two weeks IS group jihadists claimed four bloody assaults in France and Germany that killed nearly 90 people, wounded hundreds and left the continent on edge. Fear of fresh violence and tensions in France have spiked since July 14 when a Tunisian man ploughed a 19-tonne truck into a crowd leaving a fireworks display in the Riviera city of Nice. Then on Tuesday morning, two jihadists slashed a priest's throat during mass in northern France. One of the attackers had been charged over terror links, after two failed attempts to join jihadists fighting in Syria. In Corsica last December, angry protesters vandalised a Muslim prayer hall and trashed copies of the Koran after an assault on firefighters that was blamed on local youths of Arab origin. "The parents abandon them, the problem is education," a 35-year-old local resident named Mehdi said at the time. "But us, we want to all live together, without a problem." (AFP)

Corsican lawmakers urge France to close down radical mosques

Austria has handed over to France two suspected members of the same Islamic State (IS) cell that massacred 130 people in Paris last November, prosecutors said today. 
 
The Algerian and Pakistani men, now aged 29 and 35 and who have not been named, were arrested in Austria on December 10. 
Austrian and French authorities believe they travelled to Greece along with two men involved in the November 13 atrocities, posing as refugees. 
 
While the eventual assailants continued on to France, the two were detained by Greek authorities for 25 days because they had falsified Syrian passports. 
 
Once let go, they made it to Salzburg at the end of November -- after the Paris atrocities -- and Austrian police arrested them at a migrant centre. 
 
Following a French request, a court in Salzburg in western Austria approved at the beginning of July their transfer to France. 
 
&quot;Both suspects have now left the country,&quot; prosecutors said in a statement on Friday. 
 
They had said in April that they were looking into &quot;leads&quot; suggesting that the Pakistani may have been involved in attacks in 2008 in the Indian city of Mumbai that killed 166 people. 
 
He unsuccessfully appealed against his transfer, saying he would not get a fair trial in France and that he feared for his safety. 
Salzburg prosecutors added Friday that two more men, a Moroccan and an Algerian arrested eight days after the others, remained in custody. 
 
In December, prosecutors had said that the men, aged 25 and 40 at the time, were being held &quot;because of indications of close contact&quot; with the two who have now been transferred to France. 
&nbsp;

Austrian and French authorities believe the men travelled to Greece along with 2 men involved in November 13 atrocities, posing as refugees

Austria has handed over to France two suspected members of the same Islamic State (IS) cell that massacred 130 people in Paris last November, prosecutors said today. The Algerian and Pakistani men, now aged 29 and 35 and who have not been named, were arrested in Austria on December 10. Austrian and French authorities believe they travelled to Greece along with two men involved in the November 13 atrocities, posing as refugees. While the eventual assailants continued on to France, the two were detained by Greek authorities for 25 days because they had falsified Syrian passports. Once let go, they made it to Salzburg at the end of November -- after the Paris atrocities -- and Austrian police arrested them at a migrant centre. Following a French request, a court in Salzburg in western Austria approved at the beginning of July their transfer to France. "Both suspects have now left the country," prosecutors said in a statement on Friday. They had said in April that they were looking into "leads" suggesting that the Pakistani may have been involved in attacks in 2008 in the Indian city of Mumbai that killed 166 people. He unsuccessfully appealed against his transfer, saying he would not get a fair trial in France and that he feared for his safety. Salzburg prosecutors added Friday that two more men, a Moroccan and an Algerian arrested eight days after the others, remained in custody. In December, prosecutors had said that the men, aged 25 and 40 at the time, were being held "because of indications of close contact" with the two who have now been transferred to France.

Austria hands over November 13 Paris attack 'accomplices' to France

The second &#39;jihadist&#39; involved in a French church attack had tried to travel to Syria, prosecutors said today as calls mounted for the prime minister and interior minister to resign after the latest terror attack. 
 
The prosecutor&#39;s office said that the second killer was 19-year-old Abdel Malik Petitjean, who was listed on France&#39;s &quot;Fiche S&quot; of people posing a potential threat to national security in June after trying to reach Syria from Turkey. 
 
Petitjean, whose face was disfigured after being gunned down by police, had been harder to identify than his accomplice Adel Kermiche, 19, and investigators confirmed his identity after a DNA match with his mother. 
 
&#39;Petitjean described perfectly normal&#39;&nbsp; 
 
Petitjean was described as perfectly normal by his incredulous family and friends. 
 
Unlike his accomplice, Petitjean never raised suspicions for radicalisation among his neighbours, and was unknown to police until last month when he tried to go to Syria. 
 
Petitjean was born to a family of Algerian origin and lived in the quiet lakeside town of Aix-les-Bains in the shadow of the Alps, popular with visitors seeking thermal cures. 
 
<img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/france-20160728104730.jpg" />

<div class="media-description">
Petitjean, whose face was disfigured after being gunned down by police, had been harder to identify than his accomplice Adel Kermiche
</div>

 
The resort is 700 kilometres (430 miles) from the industrial Normandy town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray where Petitjean and Kermich stormed a church and took hostages on Tuesday. 
 
He and Kermiche, also a Frenchman born to an Algerian family, slit the 86-year-old priest&#39;s throat at the altar. Another elderly worshipper was severely injured but several other hostages escaped unharmed. 
 
Both assailants were shot dead by police. 
 
&#39;What was inside his head?&#39; 
 
Djamel Tazghat, who manages the local mosque in the Aix-les-Bains suburb where Petitjean lived in social housing, said he recognised the young man in a video published by the Islamic State group in which the two pledged allegiance to the jihadist movement. 
 
&quot;I liked him a lot. We never had a problem with him at the mosque. No strange observations, he was always smiling... It&#39;s incredible,&quot; he said. 
 
&quot;All the believers are shocked because he was known for his kindness, his calm. We never had any sign of radicalisation. What was going on inside his head?&quot; 
 
Petitjean -- whose identity card was found at Kermiche&#39;s house -- had never been convicted of a crime in France so his DNA and fingerprints were not available to speed up the identification process. 
 
Sources say that after being gunned down by police, the second attacker&#39;s face was too disfigured to allow him to be clearly identified, and that his DNA had to be matched to that of his mother. 
 
He came onto the radar of French police in June after he tried to travel to Syria from Turkey, and was placed on France&#39;s &quot;Fiche S&quot; of people posing a potential threat to national security. 
 
Sources close to the investigation said Petitjean &quot;strongly resembles&quot; a man hunted by anti-terrorism police in the days before the attack over fears he was about to carry out an act of terror. 
 
The sources said France&#39;s anti-terrorism police unit UCLAT sent out a note four days before the attack -- saying it had received &quot;reliable&quot; information about a person &quot;about to carry out an attack on national territory&quot;. 
 
Three members of Petitjean&#39;s family were taken in for questioning, said a source close to the investigation. 
 
Unlike Kermiche and other jihadists carrying out recent attacks in Europe, there have been no indications that Petitjean suffered from psychological problems. 
 
 
&#39;Hard to believe&#39; 
 
After finishing high school in 2015, Petitjean&nbsp;worked part-time sales jobs and his resume said he liked science-fiction movies, video games, music and boxing. 
 
&quot;It is hard to believe. He was against Daesh. He was not radical at all,&quot; said Hakim, 17, who claimed he was Petitjean&#39;s friend. 
 
His mother, Yamina Boukessoula, refused to believe her son was involved when she spoke to AFP just hours before the official confirmation. 
 
&quot;He was a good French citizen. He is gentle. I know my child, I know my son. He was not involved at all,&quot; she said. 
 
Petitjean grew up with two sisters in a blended family. 
 
His mother said he had left their home on Monday to visit his cousin in the northeastern city of Nancy. 
 
His last text message to his mother came on Tuesday morning, just before the attack: &quot;Don&#39;t worry, everything is fine... I love you.&quot; 
 
On Wednesday afternoon his mother, still refusing to believe her son was involved, sent him a final message: &quot;Malik, it&#39;s mum, I don&#39;t know where you are. I have bad news. Call me. The police have come, they are talking rubbish. I hope nothing has happened to you my son. I love you. I miss you so much.&quot; 
 
 
&#39;Government guilty of being unable to stop attacks&#39; 
 
The attack came as the government was already facing a firestorm of criticism over alleged security failings after the Bastille Day truck massacre that left 84 dead two weeks ago. 
 
A brief show of political unity at a mass attended by different faiths in Paris on Wednesday quickly dissolved as Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve faced fresh calls to resign. 
 
&quot;If the government is not responsible for the wave of terrorism, it is guilty of not having done everything to stop it,&quot; said Laurent Wauqiez, the deputy leader of the right-wing Republicans party in an interview with Le Figaro newspaper. 
 
&quot;Manuel Valls and Bernard Cazeneuve must go because they refuse to take vital measures to fight Islamism.&nbsp;We need a new government, determined to act&quot;.&nbsp; 
 
France to form National Guard&nbsp; 
 
The French government has assured the country that everything possible is being done to protect citizens, while warning that more terror attacks are inevitable, after three major strikes and several smaller attacks in the past 18 months. 
 
President Francois Hollande confirmed today that the creation of a National Guard to be made up of reserve forces, after the government earlier urged &quot;patriots&quot; to sign up to become reservists. 
 
Hollande said parliamentary consultations on the formation of the force would take place in September &quot;so that this force can be created as fast as possible to protect the French&quot;. 
 
The government has faced tough questions as it emerged both church attackers were on the radar of intelligence services, and had tried to go to Syria. 
 
One of the criticisms is that Kermiche had been released from prison while awaiting trial on terror charges after his second attempt to travel to Syria. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp;

The second killer was Abdel Malik Petitjean, who was listed on France's 'Fiche S' of people posing a potential threat to national security

The second 'jihadist' involved in a French church attack had tried to travel to Syria, prosecutors said today as calls mounted for the prime minister and interior minister to resign after the latest terror attack. The prosecutor's office said that the second killer was 19-year-old Abdel Malik Petitjean, who was listed on France's "Fiche S" of people posing a potential threat to national security in June after trying to reach Syria from Turkey. Petitjean, whose face was disfigured after being gunned down by police, had been harder to identify than his accomplice Adel Kermiche, 19, and investigators confirmed his identity after a DNA match with his mother. 'Petitjean described perfectly normal' Petitjean was described as perfectly normal by his incredulous family and friends. Unlike his accomplice, Petitjean never raised suspicions for radicalisation among his neighbours, and was unknown to police until last month when he tried to go to Syria. Petitjean was born to a family of Algerian origin and lived in the quiet lakeside town of Aix-les-Bains in the shadow of the Alps, popular with visitors seeking thermal cures. Petitjean, whose face was disfigured after being gunned down by police, had been harder to identify than his accomplice Adel Kermiche The resort is 700 kilometres (430 miles) from the industrial Normandy town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray where Petitjean and Kermich stormed a church and took hostages on Tuesday. He and Kermiche, also a Frenchman born to an Algerian family, slit the 86-year-old priest's throat at the altar. Another elderly worshipper was severely injured but several other hostages escaped unharmed. Both assailants were shot dead by police. 'What was inside his head?' Djamel Tazghat, who manages the local mosque in the Aix-les-Bains suburb where Petitjean lived in social housing, said he recognised the young man in a video published by the Islamic State group in which the two pledged allegiance to the jihadist movement. "I liked him a lot. We never had a problem with him at the mosque. No strange observations, he was always smiling... It's incredible," he said. "All the believers are shocked because he was known for his kindness, his calm. We never had any sign of radicalisation. What was going on inside his head?" Petitjean -- whose identity card was found at Kermiche's house -- had never been convicted of a crime in France so his DNA and fingerprints were not available to speed up the identification process. Sources say that after being gunned down by police, the second attacker's face was too disfigured to allow him to be clearly identified, and that his DNA had to be matched to that of his mother. He came onto the radar of French police in June after he tried to travel to Syria from Turkey, and was placed on France's "Fiche S" of people posing a potential threat to national security. Sources close to the investigation said Petitjean "strongly resembles" a man hunted by anti-terrorism police in the days before the attack over fears he was about to carry out an act of terror. The sources said France's anti-terrorism police unit UCLAT sent out a note four days before the attack -- saying it had received "reliable" information about a person "about to carry out an attack on national territory". Three members of Petitjean's family were taken in for questioning, said a source close to the investigation. Unlike Kermiche and other jihadists carrying out recent attacks in Europe, there have been no indications that Petitjean suffered from psychological problems. 'Hard to believe' After finishing high school in 2015, Petitjean worked part-time sales jobs and his resume said he liked science-fiction movies, video games, music and boxing. "It is hard to believe. He was against Daesh. He was not radical at all," said Hakim, 17, who claimed he was Petitjean's friend. His mother, Yamina Boukessoula, refused to believe her son was involved when she spoke to AFP just hours before the official confirmation. "He was a good French citizen. He is gentle. I know my child, I know my son. He was not involved at all," she said. Petitjean grew up with two sisters in a blended family. His mother said he had left their home on Monday to visit his cousin in the northeastern city of Nancy. His last text message to his mother came on Tuesday morning, just before the attack: "Don't worry, everything is fine... I love you." On Wednesday afternoon his mother, still refusing to believe her son was involved, sent him a final message: "Malik, it's mum, I don't know where you are. I have bad news. Call me. The police have come, they are talking rubbish. I hope nothing has happened to you my son. I love you. I miss you so much." 'Government guilty of being unable to stop attacks' The attack came as the government was already facing a firestorm of criticism over alleged security failings after the Bastille Day truck massacre that left 84 dead two weeks ago. A brief show of political unity at a mass attended by different faiths in Paris on Wednesday quickly dissolved as Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve faced fresh calls to resign. "If the government is not responsible for the wave of terrorism, it is guilty of not having done everything to stop it," said Laurent Wauqiez, the deputy leader of the right-wing Republicans party in an interview with Le Figaro newspaper. "Manuel Valls and Bernard Cazeneuve must go because they refuse to take vital measures to fight Islamism. We need a new government, determined to act". France to form National Guard The French government has assured the country that everything possible is being done to protect citizens, while warning that more terror attacks are inevitable, after three major strikes and several smaller attacks in the past 18 months. President Francois Hollande confirmed today that the creation of a National Guard to be made up of reserve forces, after the government earlier urged "patriots" to sign up to become reservists. Hollande said parliamentary consultations on the formation of the force would take place in September "so that this force can be created as fast as possible to protect the French". The government has faced tough questions as it emerged both church attackers were on the radar of intelligence services, and had tried to go to Syria. One of the criticisms is that Kermiche had been released from prison while awaiting trial on terror charges after his second attempt to travel to Syria. (AFP)

France church attack: Second suspect 'never raised suspicions for radicalisation'

A Bangladesh court today upheld the death sentence for six Islamist terrorists convicted over a suicide bombing in 2005 of a lawyer&#39;s office that killed eight people, a top prosecutor said. 
 
Bangladesh&#39;s judiciary is under pressure to fast track cases involving terorrists as the government faces mounting criticism to crackdown on Islamists over a series of recent deadly killings. A bench of two high court judges rejected appeals from the six convicted over the 2005 bombing, claimed by local extremist group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). 
 
&quot;The court upheld the death orders against the six JMB extremists, as the charges against them were proved beyond any doubt,&quot; deputy attorney general Sheikh AKM Moniruzzaman told AFP. JMB has also been blamed for a siege this month by five gunmen on an upscale cafe in Dhaka that killed 20, mostly foreign hostages and two police officers. 
 
Police have rejected the Islamic State (IS) group&#39;s claim for the July 1 attack. The group posted gruesome images of the carnage before the military stormed the cafe.&nbsp; 
 
Moniruzzaman said the six convicted terrorists had conspired and assisted in the bombing of the lawyer&#39;s office, just north of Dhaka, part of JMB&#39;s then deadly campaign against the secular judiciary. 
 
&quot;Of the ten JMB extremists originally sentenced to death by the trial court in 2013, two were acquitted by the high court and two others were sentenced to life in prison,&quot; he added. The attack was one of a series of blasts the JMB carried out in 2005, then raising fears that the Muslim-majority nation would descend into Afghanistan-style Islamic militancy. 
 
Four lawyers and four litigants died in the attack. The suicide bomber was also killed. Authorities launched a crackdown on the JMB at the time, but it has regrouped in recent years under new leaders. According to experts, it has been actively recruiting young and highly educated young men to its ranks. 
 
Police have blamed the banned group for scores of gruesome murders of religious minorities, as well as of foreigners, since 2013. 
 
(AFP)

The six were convicted over the 2005 bombing, claimed by local extremist group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh

A Bangladesh court today upheld the death sentence for six Islamist terrorists convicted over a suicide bombing in 2005 of a lawyer's office that killed eight people, a top prosecutor said. Bangladesh's judiciary is under pressure to fast track cases involving terorrists as the government faces mounting criticism to crackdown on Islamists over a series of recent deadly killings. A bench of two high court judges rejected appeals from the six convicted over the 2005 bombing, claimed by local extremist group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). "The court upheld the death orders against the six JMB extremists, as the charges against them were proved beyond any doubt," deputy attorney general Sheikh AKM Moniruzzaman told AFP. JMB has also been blamed for a siege this month by five gunmen on an upscale cafe in Dhaka that killed 20, mostly foreign hostages and two police officers. Police have rejected the Islamic State (IS) group's claim for the July 1 attack. The group posted gruesome images of the carnage before the military stormed the cafe. Moniruzzaman said the six convicted terrorists had conspired and assisted in the bombing of the lawyer's office, just north of Dhaka, part of JMB's then deadly campaign against the secular judiciary. "Of the ten JMB extremists originally sentenced to death by the trial court in 2013, two were acquitted by the high court and two others were sentenced to life in prison," he added. The attack was one of a series of blasts the JMB carried out in 2005, then raising fears that the Muslim-majority nation would descend into Afghanistan-style Islamic militancy. Four lawyers and four litigants died in the attack. The suicide bomber was also killed. Authorities launched a crackdown on the JMB at the time, but it has regrouped in recent years under new leaders. According to experts, it has been actively recruiting young and highly educated young men to its ranks. Police have blamed the banned group for scores of gruesome murders of religious minorities, as well as of foreigners, since 2013. (AFP)

Bangladesh upholds death sentence for six terrorists

Al Qaeda&#39;s powerful Syrian branch announced yesterday it was ending its relationship with the global jihadist network founded by Osama bin Laden and changing its name, to remove what it called a pretext used by world powers to attack Syrians. 
 
In the first known video statement ever to show his face, the leader of the Nusra Front, Mohamad al-Golani, announced that the group would re-form under a new name, with &quot;no ties with any foreign party&quot;. 
 
The move was being made &quot;to remove the excuse used by the international community - spearheaded by America and Russia - to bombard and displace Muslims in the Levant: that they are targeting the Nusra Front which is associated with Al Qaeda,&quot; he said. The group would now be called Jabhat Fatah al-Sham. 
 
Golani appeared in the video flanked by two other Nusra Front figures, in front of Jabhat Fatah al Sham&#39;s new white flag. Nusra Front&#39;s old flag was black, the colour used by ultra-hardline jihadist groups such as Al Qaeda and Islamic State. 
 
Earlier yesterday, bin Laden&#39;s successor as al Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, announced that he was giving the Nusra Front his blessing to break away. In his message, Golani thanked Zawahri for putting the interests of the Syrian people ahead of organisational interests. 
 
The move appeared to be an attempt to appeal to Syrians who have long had deep misgivings about Nusra&#39;s links with al Qaeda and the significant presence of foreign jihadists among its ranks, which set it apart from Western-backed rebel groups. 
 
It could alter the strategic alignment on the ground in Syria if the renamed Nusra gains acceptance among other rebel groups fighting against President Bashar al-Assad. 
 
But Assad and his Russian allies are unlikely to accept the rebranding as requiring them to halt military operations that have put the Syrian leader in the strongest position on the battlefield for years. 
 
The Nusra Front, long one of the most powerful rebel forces in Syria&#39;s five-year, multi-sided civil war, was excluded along with Islamic State from a US and Russian-backed ceasefire this year, a loophole other rebels blamed for the truce&#39;s collapse. 
 
Nusra is listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States and United Nations. Assad&#39;s other opponents have long said its presence gave the government and its Russian allies a pretext to abandon the truce and launch advances under the cover of anti-terrorist operations permitted under the ceasefire. 
 
Aleppo siege tightens 
 
The Nusra announcement came as Syria&#39;s government and its Russian allies launched what they called a &quot;humanitarian operation&quot; in the rebel-held sector of Aleppo, Syria&#39;s largest city before the war, which government forces have held under effective siege since early July. 
 
Although Moscow and Damascus described their new plans for rebel-held Aleppo as an operation to aid people trapped there, Western countries are worried that the real aim is to depopulate the area ahead of an offensive to storm it. 
 
Aleppo has been divided into rebel and government zones for years. Asserting full control would be the biggest victory for Assad&#39;s government so far, and a potential turning point in a civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands, spawned the world&#39;s worst refugee crisis and drawn in most regional and world powers. 
 
Rebel-held parts of Aleppo have been bombarded since Wednesday with air-dropped leaflets telling civilians they would be given safe passage out and providing maps to exit routes designated as safe corridors. Yesterday Assad ordered rebel fighters in the city to surrender within three months. 
 
Around 250,000 civilians are believed to be trapped in the rebel zone of Aleppo. The United Nations says food supplies will run out within weeks. 
 
Assad said rebels who surrender within three months would be given an amnesty. State television quoted the governor of Aleppo as saying three humanitarian corridors would be established so residents could safely leave. 
 
Russia said a fourth corridor would be set up in the north of the city for surrendering rebels, near the Castello Road, the main land route into the rebel sector, most of which the army seized to complete its encirclement. 
 
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said: &quot;On behalf of the President of the Russian Federation, today, (we will) start a large-scale humanitarian operation together with the Syrian government to help civilians in Aleppo.&quot; 
 
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said helicopters over rebel-held areas dropped baby diapers and meal packs that had Russian-language labels. 
 
&quot;If it is a genuine humanitarian proposal then clearly it will be accompanied by an end to the bombing campaign and by Russian support for other aspects of this comprehensive approach to the humanitarian situation in Aleppo,&rdquo; British ambassador to the United Nations Matthew Rycroft told reporters in New York. 
 
&ldquo;Clearly the UN and the rest of us cannot be complicit in anything else, for instance an form of emptying of Aleppo or preparing for an onslaught of Aleppo or indeed any continuation of this medieval siege of Aleppo which is going on.&quot; 
 
The proposed safe corridors did not appear to be open so far. Two rebels and aid workers contacted in besieged Aleppo said the army fired at civilians in one of the safe corridors, in the Salah al Din district. A doctor for a medical charity that operates in Aleppo also said the army had fired artillery at families gathering near another humanitarian corridor, in the opposition-held Bustan al Qasr neighbourhood. 
 
Hael Asi Hilal, head of the Syrian Red Crescent in rebel-held areas, said no family so far had been able to leave via any corridor due to snipers firing at them. 
 
The army, backed by allied militia forces and air support from Syrian and Russian jets, has meanwhile taken more ground on the northern edge of the city. State television said the army had advanced in the Bani Zeid district, on the southern side of the Castello road. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said pro-government forces had taken full control of the district. 
 
A rebel source confirmed that the army had made advances. He said Kurdish forces from the nearby Sheikh Maqsoud district had also taken advantage of the fighting to advance into a housing complex in Bani Zeid. 
 
&quot;There has been a (rebel) withdrawal, but no one has surrendered,&quot; Zakaria Malahifji of the Aleppo-based rebel group Fastaqim group told Reuters. 
 
The United States and Russia are both leading separate military campaigns against Islamic State in Syria but are otherwise supporting opposite sides in the wider civil war, with Moscow backing Assad and Washington saying he must leave power. 
 
The Cold War-era superpowers jointly sponsored the ceasefire earlier this year that led to UN brokered peace talks. But that collapsed in May and since then government forces have been advancing with Russian support. 
 
US Secretary of State John Kerry has been holding talks with Russians with the aim of building a system of military cooperation that would allow them to jointly identify legitimate targets not covered by the truce. But so far the negotiations have yet to bear fruit. 
 
A Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said Washington&#39;s stance would allow militants to regroup since it would call for a ceasefire before distinguishing between terrorists and other opposition groups. 
 
&quot;There is an element here of a political ruse at least,&quot; Sergei Ryabkov said. 
 
One US national security official said it was difficult to negotiate with the Russians as long as the wider objectives of Moscow and Washington diverge. 
 
&ldquo;The Russians want to destroy ISIS to save Assad,&rdquo; the official said. &ldquo;We want to destroy ISIS to eliminate a terrorist threat and start a political process to remove Assad, whom President (Barack) Obama has said must go.&rdquo; 
 
(Reuters)

The leader of the Nusra Front, Mohamad al-Golani, appeared in a video in front of the group's new white flag and announced the split

Al Qaeda's powerful Syrian branch announced yesterday it was ending its relationship with the global jihadist network founded by Osama bin Laden and changing its name, to remove what it called a pretext used by world powers to attack Syrians. In the first known video statement ever to show his face, the leader of the Nusra Front, Mohamad al-Golani, announced that the group would re-form under a new name, with "no ties with any foreign party". The move was being made "to remove the excuse used by the international community - spearheaded by America and Russia - to bombard and displace Muslims in the Levant: that they are targeting the Nusra Front which is associated with Al Qaeda," he said. The group would now be called Jabhat Fatah al-Sham. Golani appeared in the video flanked by two other Nusra Front figures, in front of Jabhat Fatah al Sham's new white flag. Nusra Front's old flag was black, the colour used by ultra-hardline jihadist groups such as Al Qaeda and Islamic State. Earlier yesterday, bin Laden's successor as al Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, announced that he was giving the Nusra Front his blessing to break away. In his message, Golani thanked Zawahri for putting the interests of the Syrian people ahead of organisational interests. The move appeared to be an attempt to appeal to Syrians who have long had deep misgivings about Nusra's links with al Qaeda and the significant presence of foreign jihadists among its ranks, which set it apart from Western-backed rebel groups. It could alter the strategic alignment on the ground in Syria if the renamed Nusra gains acceptance among other rebel groups fighting against President Bashar al-Assad. But Assad and his Russian allies are unlikely to accept the rebranding as requiring them to halt military operations that have put the Syrian leader in the strongest position on the battlefield for years. The Nusra Front, long one of the most powerful rebel forces in Syria's five-year, multi-sided civil war, was excluded along with Islamic State from a US and Russian-backed ceasefire this year, a loophole other rebels blamed for the truce's collapse. Nusra is listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States and United Nations. Assad's other opponents have long said its presence gave the government and its Russian allies a pretext to abandon the truce and launch advances under the cover of anti-terrorist operations permitted under the ceasefire. Aleppo siege tightens The Nusra announcement came as Syria's government and its Russian allies launched what they called a "humanitarian operation" in the rebel-held sector of Aleppo, Syria's largest city before the war, which government forces have held under effective siege since early July. Although Moscow and Damascus described their new plans for rebel-held Aleppo as an operation to aid people trapped there, Western countries are worried that the real aim is to depopulate the area ahead of an offensive to storm it. Aleppo has been divided into rebel and government zones for years. Asserting full control would be the biggest victory for Assad's government so far, and a potential turning point in a civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands, spawned the world's worst refugee crisis and drawn in most regional and world powers. Rebel-held parts of Aleppo have been bombarded since Wednesday with air-dropped leaflets telling civilians they would be given safe passage out and providing maps to exit routes designated as safe corridors. Yesterday Assad ordered rebel fighters in the city to surrender within three months. Around 250,000 civilians are believed to be trapped in the rebel zone of Aleppo. The United Nations says food supplies will run out within weeks. Assad said rebels who surrender within three months would be given an amnesty. State television quoted the governor of Aleppo as saying three humanitarian corridors would be established so residents could safely leave. Russia said a fourth corridor would be set up in the north of the city for surrendering rebels, near the Castello Road, the main land route into the rebel sector, most of which the army seized to complete its encirclement. Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said: "On behalf of the President of the Russian Federation, today, (we will) start a large-scale humanitarian operation together with the Syrian government to help civilians in Aleppo." The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said helicopters over rebel-held areas dropped baby diapers and meal packs that had Russian-language labels. "If it is a genuine humanitarian proposal then clearly it will be accompanied by an end to the bombing campaign and by Russian support for other aspects of this comprehensive approach to the humanitarian situation in Aleppo,” British ambassador to the United Nations Matthew Rycroft told reporters in New York. “Clearly the UN and the rest of us cannot be complicit in anything else, for instance an form of emptying of Aleppo or preparing for an onslaught of Aleppo or indeed any continuation of this medieval siege of Aleppo which is going on." The proposed safe corridors did not appear to be open so far. Two rebels and aid workers contacted in besieged Aleppo said the army fired at civilians in one of the safe corridors, in the Salah al Din district. A doctor for a medical charity that operates in Aleppo also said the army had fired artillery at families gathering near another humanitarian corridor, in the opposition-held Bustan al Qasr neighbourhood. Hael Asi Hilal, head of the Syrian Red Crescent in rebel-held areas, said no family so far had been able to leave via any corridor due to snipers firing at them. The army, backed by allied militia forces and air support from Syrian and Russian jets, has meanwhile taken more ground on the northern edge of the city. State television said the army had advanced in the Bani Zeid district, on the southern side of the Castello road. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said pro-government forces had taken full control of the district. A rebel source confirmed that the army had made advances. He said Kurdish forces from the nearby Sheikh Maqsoud district had also taken advantage of the fighting to advance into a housing complex in Bani Zeid. "There has been a (rebel) withdrawal, but no one has surrendered," Zakaria Malahifji of the Aleppo-based rebel group Fastaqim group told Reuters. The United States and Russia are both leading separate military campaigns against Islamic State in Syria but are otherwise supporting opposite sides in the wider civil war, with Moscow backing Assad and Washington saying he must leave power. The Cold War-era superpowers jointly sponsored the ceasefire earlier this year that led to UN brokered peace talks. But that collapsed in May and since then government forces have been advancing with Russian support. US Secretary of State John Kerry has been holding talks with Russians with the aim of building a system of military cooperation that would allow them to jointly identify legitimate targets not covered by the truce. But so far the negotiations have yet to bear fruit. A Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said Washington's stance would allow militants to regroup since it would call for a ceasefire before distinguishing between terrorists and other opposition groups. "There is an element here of a political ruse at least," Sergei Ryabkov said. One US national security official said it was difficult to negotiate with the Russians as long as the wider objectives of Moscow and Washington diverge. “The Russians want to destroy ISIS to save Assad,” the official said. “We want to destroy ISIS to eliminate a terrorist threat and start a political process to remove Assad, whom President (Barack) Obama has said must go.” (Reuters)

Nusra Front renames itself Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, ends link to al Qaeda

Two jihadists who attacked a French church and killed a priest pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, a video showed on Wednesday, as investigators worked to identify the second assailant. 
 
The attack is the third in two weeks in France and Germany in which jihadists have pledged allegiance to the group, increasing jitters in Europe over young, often unstable men being lured by IS propaganda and calls to carry out attacks in their home countries. 
 
IS also claimed that Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who killed 84 people when he ploughed a truck into a crowd in the French city of nice on July 14, was one of their &quot;soldiers&quot;, however no direct link has been found. 
 
France was still deep in mourning over the massacre when two men stormed into a church in the northern town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray during morning mass Tuesday and slit the 86-year-old priest&#39;s throat at the altar before being gunned down by police. 
 
Another man was left seriously injured in a hostage drama, while three nuns and a worshipper escaped unharmed. 
 
One of the attackers was identified as French jihadist Adel Kermiche, 19, who was awaiting trial on terror charges and had been fitted with an electronic tag despite calls from the prosecutor for him not to be released. 
 
Sources close to the investigation said they found an identity card belonging to one Abdel Malik P., also 19, at Kermiche&#39;s home, who they believe is the second attacker. 
 
They said Abdel Malik &quot;strongly resembles&quot; a man hunted by anti-terrorism police in the days before the attack over fears he was about to carry out an act of terror. 
 
In a video posted on the IS news agency Amaq, two bearded men, calling themselves by the noms de guerre Abu Omar and Abu Jalil al-Hanafi, hold hands as they swear &quot;obedience&quot; to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. 
 
God of death 
 
President Francois Hollande, members of his government and opposition rivals gathered together at the symbolic Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris for a mass attended by Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders to pay tribute to the murdered priest. 
 
The moving gathering provided a rare show of unity and respite from days of political sniping over the repeat attacks, which right-wing parties say are due to the Socialist government&#39;s failure to protect citizens. 
 
&quot;Those who drape themselves in the finery of religion to hide their deadly project, those who tell us of a God of death, a Moloch (false god) who rejoices in the death of man and promises heaven to those that kill by invoking him. They cannot hope that man gives in to their illusion,&quot; said Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois at the service. 
 
The mass came after a meeting earlier in the day between Hollande and top religious leaders who warned French people against being drawn in by IS efforts to pit different believers against each other. 
 
Prime Minister Manuel Valls has warned that the goal of the attack, claimed by Islamic State jihadists, was to &quot;set the French people against each other, attack religion in order to start a war of religions&quot;. 
 
In an editorial, Le Monde newspaper wrote that France was under attack as it had one of the biggest Muslim communities in Europe. 
 
&quot;The jihadists&#39; aim is to provoke violent revenge attacks that will create a religious war in our country,&quot; it said. 
 
Pope Francis said &quot;the world is at war&quot; but argued that religion was not the cause. 
 
&quot;When I speak of war I speak of wars over interests, money, resources, not religion. All religions want peace, it&#39;s the others who want war.&quot; 
 
Where are the police? 
 
Residents of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray were struggling to come to terms with the bloodshed in their small town, so far from France&#39;s tourist hubs. 
 
They made their way to a makeshift memorial to lay flowers, candles and messages of peace -- a ritual that has become chillingly familiar from Brussels and Paris to Nice and Munich, all cities that have been struck by attackers inspired by the Islamic State group. 
 
The government, already under pressure after the Nice attack, faced more questions over security weaknesses after it emerged Kermiche was known to anti-terror investigators. 
 
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Kermiche twice tried to travel to Syria under a false identity.&nbsp; 
 
After his latest arrest in Turkey in May 2015, he was held in custody until March this year when he was released and fitted with the electronic bracelet. 
 
Annie Geslin, who worked with Kermiche&#39;s mother for many years, told AFP &quot;he was the youngest child and had psychological problems.&quot; 
 
Mohammed Karabila, who heads the regional council of Muslim worship for Haute Normandie, where the church attack took place, asked simply: &quot;How could a person wearing an electronic bracelet carry out an attack? Where are the police?&quot; 
 
(AFP)

Police face ire over lax security as Adel Kermiche, one of the attackers, had been arrested before and was fitted with electronic bracelet

Two jihadists who attacked a French church and killed a priest pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, a video showed on Wednesday, as investigators worked to identify the second assailant. The attack is the third in two weeks in France and Germany in which jihadists have pledged allegiance to the group, increasing jitters in Europe over young, often unstable men being lured by IS propaganda and calls to carry out attacks in their home countries. IS also claimed that Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who killed 84 people when he ploughed a truck into a crowd in the French city of nice on July 14, was one of their "soldiers", however no direct link has been found. France was still deep in mourning over the massacre when two men stormed into a church in the northern town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray during morning mass Tuesday and slit the 86-year-old priest's throat at the altar before being gunned down by police. Another man was left seriously injured in a hostage drama, while three nuns and a worshipper escaped unharmed. One of the attackers was identified as French jihadist Adel Kermiche, 19, who was awaiting trial on terror charges and had been fitted with an electronic tag despite calls from the prosecutor for him not to be released. Sources close to the investigation said they found an identity card belonging to one Abdel Malik P., also 19, at Kermiche's home, who they believe is the second attacker. They said Abdel Malik "strongly resembles" a man hunted by anti-terrorism police in the days before the attack over fears he was about to carry out an act of terror. In a video posted on the IS news agency Amaq, two bearded men, calling themselves by the noms de guerre Abu Omar and Abu Jalil al-Hanafi, hold hands as they swear "obedience" to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. God of death President Francois Hollande, members of his government and opposition rivals gathered together at the symbolic Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris for a mass attended by Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders to pay tribute to the murdered priest. The moving gathering provided a rare show of unity and respite from days of political sniping over the repeat attacks, which right-wing parties say are due to the Socialist government's failure to protect citizens. "Those who drape themselves in the finery of religion to hide their deadly project, those who tell us of a God of death, a Moloch (false god) who rejoices in the death of man and promises heaven to those that kill by invoking him. They cannot hope that man gives in to their illusion," said Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois at the service. The mass came after a meeting earlier in the day between Hollande and top religious leaders who warned French people against being drawn in by IS efforts to pit different believers against each other. Prime Minister Manuel Valls has warned that the goal of the attack, claimed by Islamic State jihadists, was to "set the French people against each other, attack religion in order to start a war of religions". In an editorial, Le Monde newspaper wrote that France was under attack as it had one of the biggest Muslim communities in Europe. "The jihadists' aim is to provoke violent revenge attacks that will create a religious war in our country," it said. Pope Francis said "the world is at war" but argued that religion was not the cause. "When I speak of war I speak of wars over interests, money, resources, not religion. All religions want peace, it's the others who want war." Where are the police? Residents of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray were struggling to come to terms with the bloodshed in their small town, so far from France's tourist hubs. They made their way to a makeshift memorial to lay flowers, candles and messages of peace -- a ritual that has become chillingly familiar from Brussels and Paris to Nice and Munich, all cities that have been struck by attackers inspired by the Islamic State group. The government, already under pressure after the Nice attack, faced more questions over security weaknesses after it emerged Kermiche was known to anti-terror investigators. Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Kermiche twice tried to travel to Syria under a false identity. After his latest arrest in Turkey in May 2015, he was held in custody until March this year when he was released and fitted with the electronic bracelet. Annie Geslin, who worked with Kermiche's mother for many years, told AFP "he was the youngest child and had psychological problems." Mohammed Karabila, who heads the regional council of Muslim worship for Haute Normandie, where the church attack took place, asked simply: "How could a person wearing an electronic bracelet carry out an attack? Where are the police?" (AFP)

French church attackers pledged allegiance to IS in video

Al-Qaeda prepared the ground for a break with its Syrian affiliate, Al-Nusra Front, today following several days of online chatter over a break-up between the jihadist groups.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;We direct the leadership of Al-Nusra Front to go ahead with what preserves the good of Islam and the Muslims, and protects the jihad of the Syrian people,&quot; Ahmed Hassan Abu al-Khayr said in an audio message released online by Al-Nusra.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;We urge them to take the appropriate steps towards this matter,&quot; said Abu al-Khayr, who was identified as a deputy of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.&nbsp; 
 
Jihadist sympathisers and observers have been speculating online about a possible split between Al-Nusra and the network founded by Osama bin Laden to which it pledged allegiance in 2013.&nbsp; 
 
Analysts say Al-Nusra aims to rebrand and defend itself as it comes under increased pressure after Moscow and Washington agreed to step up joint efforts against the group.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Whatever Nusra does, its ultimate objective is to further embed itself into Syria&#39;s revolution and secure its long-term future&quot; as a legitimate rebel group, analyst Charles Lister tweeted.&nbsp; 
 
Al-Nusra first emerged in January 2012 -- 10 months after Syria&#39;s conflict began with anti-government protests that were brutally repressed by President Bashar al-Assad&#39;s regime.&nbsp; 
 
It is Syria&#39;s preeminent jihadist group, along with its key rival, the Islamic State group. But unlike IS, which opposes all those who fail to swear allegiance, Al-Nusra has worked alongside an array of rebel groups fighting Assad&#39;s regime and has popular support.&nbsp; 
 
Al-Nusra is a key member of the al-Qaeda network, alongside North Africa&#39;s al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), based in Yemen. But it has been eclipsed in recent years by IS.&nbsp; 
 
(AFP)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Analysts say Al-Nusra aims to rebrand itself after Moscow and Washington agreed to step up joint efforts against the group

Al-Qaeda prepared the ground for a break with its Syrian affiliate, Al-Nusra Front, today following several days of online chatter over a break-up between the jihadist groups. "We direct the leadership of Al-Nusra Front to go ahead with what preserves the good of Islam and the Muslims, and protects the jihad of the Syrian people," Ahmed Hassan Abu al-Khayr said in an audio message released online by Al-Nusra. "We urge them to take the appropriate steps towards this matter," said Abu al-Khayr, who was identified as a deputy of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Jihadist sympathisers and observers have been speculating online about a possible split between Al-Nusra and the network founded by Osama bin Laden to which it pledged allegiance in 2013. Analysts say Al-Nusra aims to rebrand and defend itself as it comes under increased pressure after Moscow and Washington agreed to step up joint efforts against the group. "Whatever Nusra does, its ultimate objective is to further embed itself into Syria's revolution and secure its long-term future" as a legitimate rebel group, analyst Charles Lister tweeted. Al-Nusra first emerged in January 2012 -- 10 months after Syria's conflict began with anti-government protests that were brutally repressed by President Bashar al-Assad's regime. It is Syria's preeminent jihadist group, along with its key rival, the Islamic State group. But unlike IS, which opposes all those who fail to swear allegiance, Al-Nusra has worked alongside an array of rebel groups fighting Assad's regime and has popular support. Al-Nusra is a key member of the al-Qaeda network, alongside North Africa's al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), based in Yemen. But it has been eclipsed in recent years by IS. (AFP)

Al-Qaeda prepares ground for split up with Syrian affiliate

Islamic State&#39;s news agency on Wednesday posted a video of two men it said were those who attacked a church in France in which they pledged allegiance to the group&#39;s leader. 
 
The video was posted by Amaq news agency a day after two men burst into the Catholic church in Normandy during a service, forced the priest to his knees and slit his throat. 
 
The two men who identified themselves as Abu Omar and Abu Jalil el-Hanafy appeared in the one-minute video sitting on a staircase pledging loyalty to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Islamic State&#39;s leader. 
 
One of the two attackers has been named as 19-year-old Adel Kermiche, who was under close surveillance after two failed attempts to reach Syria last year, France&#39;s anti-terrorism prosecutor said yesterday 
 
The second attacker remains unidentified. Police shot and killed both assailants as they emerged from the church. 
 
(Reuters)

The two men identified themselves as Abu Omar and Abu Jalil el-Hanafy in the one-minute video and pledged loyalty to Islamic State's leader

Islamic State's news agency on Wednesday posted a video of two men it said were those who attacked a church in France in which they pledged allegiance to the group's leader. The video was posted by Amaq news agency a day after two men burst into the Catholic church in Normandy during a service, forced the priest to his knees and slit his throat. The two men who identified themselves as Abu Omar and Abu Jalil el-Hanafy appeared in the one-minute video sitting on a staircase pledging loyalty to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Islamic State's leader. One of the two attackers has been named as 19-year-old Adel Kermiche, who was under close surveillance after two failed attempts to reach Syria last year, France's anti-terrorism prosecutor said yesterday The second attacker remains unidentified. Police shot and killed both assailants as they emerged from the church. (Reuters)

Islamic state posts video of men it says were French church attackers

Two bomb blasts claimed by Islamic State hit the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli near the Turkish border today, killing at least 44 people and wounding 170 others, state television reported.
The official SANA news agency said at least 140 people were also injured when a suicide bomber in a vehicle blew himself up in a western neighbourhood of the city.

The attack was initially described as a double bombing, but sources in the city and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights subsequently said the initial attack had caused a gas tank to detonate.

The area targeted houses of several ministries of the local autonomous Kurdish administration.
It said one of the bombs exploded near a security headquarters of the Kurdish administration that controls most of Hasaka province, where Qamishli is located. 
 
State TV said one blast was from a car bomb and the other from a bomb on a motorbike. 
 
It rolled footage purportedly from the scene of one blast, showing large-scale damage to buildings, vast amounts of rubble strewn across the road and plumes of smoke rising. 
 
One explosion was so powerful it shattered the windows of shops in the Turkish town of Nusaybin, directly across the border. Two people were slightly hurt in Nusaybin, a witness said. 
 
IS &#39;targeted&#39; Kurdish security forces&nbsp; 
 
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they had targeted Kurdish security forces. 
 
The jihadist group, which is fighting against the Kurdish YPG militia and its allies in Hasaka and Aleppo provinces, has targeted Qamishli and the provincial capital, Hasaka city, in the past with bombing attacks. 
 
A suicide blast killed six members of the Kurdish internal security force, known as the Asayish, in April. In July, an Islamic State suicide bomb killed at least 16 people in Hasaka. 
 
The YPG captured large areas of territory from Islamic State in northeastern Syria last year and is involved in a US-backed offensive that has advanced against the jihadists further west near the Turkish border. 
 
(Reuters, AFP)

British Syrian Observatory said one of the bombs exploded near security headquarters of the Kurdish administration that controls Qamishli

Two bomb blasts claimed by Islamic State hit the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli near the Turkish border today, killing at least 44 people and wounding 170 others, state television reported. The official SANA news agency said at least 140 people were also injured when a suicide bomber in a vehicle blew himself up in a western neighbourhood of the city. The attack was initially described as a double bombing, but sources in the city and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights subsequently said the initial attack had caused a gas tank to detonate. The area targeted houses of several ministries of the local autonomous Kurdish administration. It said one of the bombs exploded near a security headquarters of the Kurdish administration that controls most of Hasaka province, where Qamishli is located. State TV said one blast was from a car bomb and the other from a bomb on a motorbike. It rolled footage purportedly from the scene of one blast, showing large-scale damage to buildings, vast amounts of rubble strewn across the road and plumes of smoke rising. One explosion was so powerful it shattered the windows of shops in the Turkish town of Nusaybin, directly across the border. Two people were slightly hurt in Nusaybin, a witness said. IS 'targeted' Kurdish security forces Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they had targeted Kurdish security forces. The jihadist group, which is fighting against the Kurdish YPG militia and its allies in Hasaka and Aleppo provinces, has targeted Qamishli and the provincial capital, Hasaka city, in the past with bombing attacks. A suicide blast killed six members of the Kurdish internal security force, known as the Asayish, in April. In July, an Islamic State suicide bomb killed at least 16 people in Hasaka. The YPG captured large areas of territory from Islamic State in northeastern Syria last year and is involved in a US-backed offensive that has advanced against the jihadists further west near the Turkish border. (Reuters, AFP)

IS claimed bombing kills at least 44 in northeast Syria city Qamishli, state TV says

The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group aims to open a new front in southern Syria in addition to its ongoing offensive in the northeast, US defense secretary Ashton Carter said yesterday. 
 
&quot;We will aggressively pursue opportunities to build pressure on ISIL in Syria from the south, complementing our existing, robust efforts from northeastern Syria,&quot; he said in a speech to US troops at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. ISIL is another term for the Islamic State group. 
 
Carter said the move will help Jordanian security and further split IS theatres of operation in Syria and Iraq. 
 
At the moment, the main coalition effort is centred on recapturing the Manbij pocket in northern Syria, the last jihadist-held territory bordering Turkey. 
 
That offensive is being led by the Syrian Democratic Forces, an Arab-Kurdish coalition. 
 
US-backed rebels also have tried to attack IS from the south, but so far without success. 
 
The New Syrian Army, a small rebel formation allied with the United States, tried in June to attack IS positions in Boukamal on the border with Iraq. 
 
But after coming within five kilometers of the town, the rebels were repelled by a jihadist counter-offensive. 
 
In another setback, the Pentagon said a rebel camp was bombed in mid-June by Russian warplanes, a charge Moscow has denied. 
 
After two years of war against the jihadists, the coalition estimates it has recovered about 50 per cent of the territory seized by IS in Iraq, and 20 per cent in Syria. 
 
The allies&#39; objective is to isolate and then recapture the cities of Raqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq, the most important IS strongholds. 
 
&quot;As this isolation and pressure on Raqa and Mosul builds from the outside in, our partners will continue to reach deep inside those cities to enable pressure on ISIL from the inside out,&quot; Carter said. 
 
(AFP)

US defense secretary said the move will help Jordanian security and further split IS theatres of operation in Syria and Iraq

The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group aims to open a new front in southern Syria in addition to its ongoing offensive in the northeast, US defense secretary Ashton Carter said yesterday. "We will aggressively pursue opportunities to build pressure on ISIL in Syria from the south, complementing our existing, robust efforts from northeastern Syria," he said in a speech to US troops at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. ISIL is another term for the Islamic State group. Carter said the move will help Jordanian security and further split IS theatres of operation in Syria and Iraq. At the moment, the main coalition effort is centred on recapturing the Manbij pocket in northern Syria, the last jihadist-held territory bordering Turkey. That offensive is being led by the Syrian Democratic Forces, an Arab-Kurdish coalition. US-backed rebels also have tried to attack IS from the south, but so far without success. The New Syrian Army, a small rebel formation allied with the United States, tried in June to attack IS positions in Boukamal on the border with Iraq. But after coming within five kilometers of the town, the rebels were repelled by a jihadist counter-offensive. In another setback, the Pentagon said a rebel camp was bombed in mid-June by Russian warplanes, a charge Moscow has denied. After two years of war against the jihadists, the coalition estimates it has recovered about 50 per cent of the territory seized by IS in Iraq, and 20 per cent in Syria. The allies' objective is to isolate and then recapture the cities of Raqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq, the most important IS strongholds. "As this isolation and pressure on Raqa and Mosul builds from the outside in, our partners will continue to reach deep inside those cities to enable pressure on ISIL from the inside out," Carter said. (AFP)

US-led coalition aims to open new anti-IS front in Syria

Morocco said today that it had arrested 52 suspected militants inspired by Islamic State and that it had foiled several attacks in the North African kingdom by seizing weapons and bomb-making materials. 
 
It is the largest group arrested in years and the latest of a series of cells that the authorities say they have found plotting attacks inside and outside Morocco. 
 
The North African kingdom, an ally of the West against Islamist militancy, has been on high alert since 2014, when Islamic State took control of large swathes of northern Iraq and Syria. The 52 arrested were among 143 people investigated in many Moroccan cities and towns, the interior ministry said in a statement. 
 
Many members of the group were planning to create an Islamic State province (Wilayat) in Morocco, the statement said. They intended to assassinate Moroccan security and military officers and tourists, as well as targeting prisons and festivals and other institutions in the country. 
 
Morocco&#39;s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation, the judicial part of the Moroccan domestic intelligence service, has tracked suspected militants since Islamic State established itself as a global threat. Morocco has dismantled 38 suspected militant cells with Islamic State ties since 2013, the statement said, adding 159 cells had been found since 2002. 
 
Hundreds of fighters from Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria have joined Islamist militant forces in Syria. Some are threatening to return and create new jihadist wings in their home countries, security experts have said. 
 
Nearby Libya has become a major draw for jihadists from North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. Islamic State has taken advantage of the security chaos there to build a base, operate training camps and take over the city of Sirte. 
 
Morocco has been the target of militant attacks, most recently in 2011 in Marrakesh, when an explosion in a cafe killed 15 people, mostly foreigners. 
 
(Reuters) 
&nbsp;

The 52 suspects arrested were among 143 people investigated in many Moroccan cities and towns

Morocco said today that it had arrested 52 suspected militants inspired by Islamic State and that it had foiled several attacks in the North African kingdom by seizing weapons and bomb-making materials. It is the largest group arrested in years and the latest of a series of cells that the authorities say they have found plotting attacks inside and outside Morocco. The North African kingdom, an ally of the West against Islamist militancy, has been on high alert since 2014, when Islamic State took control of large swathes of northern Iraq and Syria. The 52 arrested were among 143 people investigated in many Moroccan cities and towns, the interior ministry said in a statement. Many members of the group were planning to create an Islamic State province (Wilayat) in Morocco, the statement said. They intended to assassinate Moroccan security and military officers and tourists, as well as targeting prisons and festivals and other institutions in the country. Morocco's Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation, the judicial part of the Moroccan domestic intelligence service, has tracked suspected militants since Islamic State established itself as a global threat. Morocco has dismantled 38 suspected militant cells with Islamic State ties since 2013, the statement said, adding 159 cells had been found since 2002. Hundreds of fighters from Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria have joined Islamist militant forces in Syria. Some are threatening to return and create new jihadist wings in their home countries, security experts have said. Nearby Libya has become a major draw for jihadists from North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. Islamic State has taken advantage of the security chaos there to build a base, operate training camps and take over the city of Sirte. Morocco has been the target of militant attacks, most recently in 2011 in Marrakesh, when an explosion in a cafe killed 15 people, mostly foreigners. (Reuters)

Morocco arrests 52 suspected Islamic State militants, foils several attacks

Malian forces arrested a regional leader of Islamist group Ansar Dine in central Mali on Tuesday, after it claimed an attack in the region that killed 17 soldiers, the army spokesman said. 
 
Ansar Dine laid claim to the attack last week by gunmen who fired on troop positions, burned buildings and pillaged shops, killing 17 Malian soldiers and wounded 35 on an army base in the central town of Nampala last week. 
 
Army spokesman Modibo Naman Traore said the state security services arrested the commander, Mahmoud Barry - nicknamed &quot;Abou Yehiya&quot; - as he was travelling on a road between Nampala and the town of Dogofri. 
 
&quot;He is close to Lyad Ag Ghali, the chief of Ansar Dine,&quot; Traore said, adding that Barry had also planned an attack on the town of Nara that killed 12 people. 
 
French forces intervened in 2013 to push back Islamist fighters who had hijacked a Tuareg uprising to take over northern Mali. But despite 11,000 United Nations peacekeepers deployed in the country since, insecurity has worsened and militants still launch frequent attacks across the vast desert country and its neighbours. 
 
(Reuters)

The leader had laid claim to an attack by gunmen on army base that killed 17 and injured 35

Malian forces arrested a regional leader of Islamist group Ansar Dine in central Mali on Tuesday, after it claimed an attack in the region that killed 17 soldiers, the army spokesman said. Ansar Dine laid claim to the attack last week by gunmen who fired on troop positions, burned buildings and pillaged shops, killing 17 Malian soldiers and wounded 35 on an army base in the central town of Nampala last week. Army spokesman Modibo Naman Traore said the state security services arrested the commander, Mahmoud Barry - nicknamed "Abou Yehiya" - as he was travelling on a road between Nampala and the town of Dogofri. "He is close to Lyad Ag Ghali, the chief of Ansar Dine," Traore said, adding that Barry had also planned an attack on the town of Nara that killed 12 people. French forces intervened in 2013 to push back Islamist fighters who had hijacked a Tuareg uprising to take over northern Mali. But despite 11,000 United Nations peacekeepers deployed in the country since, insecurity has worsened and militants still launch frequent attacks across the vast desert country and its neighbours. (Reuters)

Mali arrests Islamist group leader linked to attack on troops

The nine militants that were killed in a special drive by joint forces in Dhaka were all very young and &#39;highly educated&#39; and they shouted &quot;Allahu Akbar&quot; before attacking the law enforcers during the standoff, officials said.&nbsp; 
 
The militants were aged about 20, wore jeans and sneakers and were highly educated, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia and added that &quot;Allahu Akbar&quot; inscribed black flags were recovered from the den. Thirteen handmade grenades, one sword, one pistol, seven magazines and were also recovered. 
 
SWAT, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Detective Branch of police (DB) and Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) jointly carried out a one-hour operation &quot;Storm 26,&quot; at Jahaj Building in Dhaka&#39;s Kalyanpur area today. The militants had rented the apartment on June 20 and had gathered there to carry out terror attacks, said officials. 
 
The occupants of the building and adjacent ones were evacuated overnight to carry out the raid. A militant identified as Hassan, who was held alive during the drive, has reportedly confessed to be an operative of the Islamic State and was a student of Bogra&#39;s Government Shah Sultan College. However, the police suspects they are members of the banned militant outfit Jama&#39;atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) who were trying to wield the emblem of the Islamic State. 
 
The DMP Commissioner added that police suspect these attackers belong to the same group that attacked the Gulshan cafe because similar kind of red handkerchiefs, black dresses and backpacks were found.&nbsp; 
 
(ANI)

It is suspected millitants were members of banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, who were trying to wield the IS emblem

The nine militants that were killed in a special drive by joint forces in Dhaka were all very young and 'highly educated' and they shouted "Allahu Akbar" before attacking the law enforcers during the standoff, officials said. The militants were aged about 20, wore jeans and sneakers and were highly educated, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia and added that "Allahu Akbar" inscribed black flags were recovered from the den. Thirteen handmade grenades, one sword, one pistol, seven magazines and were also recovered. SWAT, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Detective Branch of police (DB) and Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) jointly carried out a one-hour operation "Storm 26," at Jahaj Building in Dhaka's Kalyanpur area today. The militants had rented the apartment on June 20 and had gathered there to carry out terror attacks, said officials. The occupants of the building and adjacent ones were evacuated overnight to carry out the raid. A militant identified as Hassan, who was held alive during the drive, has reportedly confessed to be an operative of the Islamic State and was a student of Bogra's Government Shah Sultan College. However, the police suspects they are members of the banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) who were trying to wield the emblem of the Islamic State. The DMP Commissioner added that police suspect these attackers belong to the same group that attacked the Gulshan cafe because similar kind of red handkerchiefs, black dresses and backpacks were found. (ANI)

Bangladesh raid: 'Slain militants were young and highly educated'

The head of the European Commission yesterday pledged &quot;Europe&#39;s solidarity and cooperation in the fight against barbarity&quot;, in a letter to French President Francois Hollande after a church attack claimed by the Islamic State group. 
 
&quot;More than ever, all over Europe, solidarity and cooperation will be essential in the fight against barbarity and to ensure that our shared values prevail,&quot; Jean-Claude Juncker wrote. 
 
&quot;The European Commission is fully mobilised, along with other European institutions, to provide all the support it can to France in these painful moments,&quot; he added. 
 
In a statement, the EU&#39;s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini also expressed solidarity and offered her &quot;condolences to the families of the victims, to France and the Catholic Church.&quot; 
 
&quot;Targeting a man of faith, of any faith, is always a crime against our common humanity because it means targeting the deeper essence of our lives, believers and non-believers alike,&quot; she said. 
 
&quot;The right answer is to keep living together, to stop the hatred,&quot; Mogherini said. 
 
&quot;The terrible, daily news of attacks reinforce our common work against terrorism, within and beyond our borders,&quot; she said. &quot;It&#39;s unity that will make us prevail.&quot; 
 
The president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, wrote on Twitter: &quot;We stand side by side with the French in the face of this incomprehensible savagery.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

EU members pledged their solidarity and cooperation to France. EU's foreign policy chief stressed on unity in fight against terrorism

The head of the European Commission yesterday pledged "Europe's solidarity and cooperation in the fight against barbarity", in a letter to French President Francois Hollande after a church attack claimed by the Islamic State group. "More than ever, all over Europe, solidarity and cooperation will be essential in the fight against barbarity and to ensure that our shared values prevail," Jean-Claude Juncker wrote. "The European Commission is fully mobilised, along with other European institutions, to provide all the support it can to France in these painful moments," he added. In a statement, the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini also expressed solidarity and offered her "condolences to the families of the victims, to France and the Catholic Church." "Targeting a man of faith, of any faith, is always a crime against our common humanity because it means targeting the deeper essence of our lives, believers and non-believers alike," she said. "The right answer is to keep living together, to stop the hatred," Mogherini said. "The terrible, daily news of attacks reinforce our common work against terrorism, within and beyond our borders," she said. "It's unity that will make us prevail." The president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, wrote on Twitter: "We stand side by side with the French in the face of this incomprehensible savagery." (AFP)

EU vows to help France fight Islamic State 'barbarity'

A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle near a crowded checkpoint north of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 12 people, security and medical officials said. 
 
The blast at the entrance to the town of Khales also wounded 37, according to Diyala province police spokesman Colonel Ghalib al-Attiyah and health department spokesman Faris al-Azzawi. 
 
Hospital sources said the death toll was expected to rise given the extent of critical injuries. 
 
Attiyah said the checkpoint was crowded with cars, and that a number of them were burned in the blast. 
 
Amaq, a news agency that supports Islamic State, said the attack had targeted Iraqi troops in Khalis. 
 
The blast came a day after a suicide bombing claimed by Islamic State killed at least 15 people in Baghdad&#39;s Kadhimiyah neighbourhood. 
 
Islamic State overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces have since regained significant ground and are conducting operations to set the stage for the battle to recapture Mosul, the last IS-held city in the country. 
 
The jihadists have responded to the battlefield setbacks by striking civilians, and experts have warned there may be more such attacks as the jihadists continue to lose ground. 
 
(AFP) 
&nbsp;

Islamic State claims responsibility for blast. Medical officials say death toll is expected to rise given the extent of critical injuries

A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle near a crowded checkpoint north of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 12 people, security and medical officials said. The blast at the entrance to the town of Khales also wounded 37, according to Diyala province police spokesman Colonel Ghalib al-Attiyah and health department spokesman Faris al-Azzawi. Hospital sources said the death toll was expected to rise given the extent of critical injuries. Attiyah said the checkpoint was crowded with cars, and that a number of them were burned in the blast. Amaq, a news agency that supports Islamic State, said the attack had targeted Iraqi troops in Khalis. The blast came a day after a suicide bombing claimed by Islamic State killed at least 15 people in Baghdad's Kadhimiyah neighbourhood. Islamic State overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces have since regained significant ground and are conducting operations to set the stage for the battle to recapture Mosul, the last IS-held city in the country. The jihadists have responded to the battlefield setbacks by striking civilians, and experts have warned there may be more such attacks as the jihadists continue to lose ground. (AFP)

At least 12 dead in Iraq's car bomb explosion

islamic-state

Islamic State, News on Islamic State, stories on Islamic State, articles on Islamic State, Islamic State stories at Wion, Islamic State news, Islamic State latest news

islamic state

Jets pound rebels after they break month-long Aleppo siege

One UN peacekeeper killed, 4 wounded in north Mali mine attack

Islamic State captures US weapons in Afghanistan

Machete-wielding assailant shouting 'Allahu akbar' attacks, wounds two Belgian policewomen

Saudi?Arabia?to?help?Germany?investigate?attacks, reports Spiegel

Obama touts progress on Islamic State, warns of small-scale attacks

Bangladesh terror attack suspect dies in gun battle: Police

US capital transit policeman arrested on terror charge

Islamic State announces new Boko Haram leader

Funeral to be held for French priest slain by jihadists

Car bombing in eastern Libya kills 23

US army general: 70% of IS fighters in Afghanistan from Pakistani Taliban

Man pleads guilty to planning attack on US Capitol, aiding a terrorist organisation

Man pleads guilty to planning attack on US Capitol, aiding a terrorist organisation

Mali extends emergency by 8 months

France church attackers spoke about Quran, gave a 'soft smile'

France charges two men over links to Paris attacks

Corsican lawmakers urge France to close down radical mosques

Austria hands over November 13 Paris attack 'accomplices' to France

France church attack: Second suspect 'never raised suspicions for radicalisation'

Bangladesh upholds death sentence for six terrorists

Nusra Front renames itself Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, ends link to al Qaeda

French church attackers pledged allegiance to IS in video

Al-Qaeda prepares ground for split up with Syrian affiliate