At least 51 soldiers were killed in an ambush by jihadists in northern Burkina Faso, the army said on Monday, adding that around 160 of the assailants died during the counterattack. The army in its statement said that by the end of Monday (Feb 20), 43 new bodies were found, bringing the death toll to 51, AFP reported.

The attack&nbsp;took place on Friday (Feb 18) in Oudalan province near the restive frontiers with Mali and Burkina. The military patrol in the Sahel region, bordering Niger and Mali, was&nbsp;the victim of the&nbsp;"complex" attack between Deou and Oursi.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/burkina-faso-announces-the-end-of-french-military-operations-on-its-land-563739">Also read |&nbsp;Burkina Faso announces the end of French military operations on its land</a>

The military in its statement added, "operations are continuing with an intensification of air actions that have made it possible to neutralise around 100 terrorists and destroy their equipment," the military added.

"This figure is in addition to the 60 or so terrorists neutralised since the beginning of the response."

Attacks have mounted since the start of this year, and have killed over 100 in the last weeks, AFP reported.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/burkina-faso-at-least-19-killed-in-two-separate-attacks-by-jihadist-groups-561652">Also read |&nbsp;Burkina Faso: At least 19 killed in two separate attacks by jihadist groups</a>

The army claimed that "intense fighting" ensued between the military united that had been attacked and an armed terrorist group.

Last month, Burkina Faso's former colonial ruler France confirmed that it would withdraw hundreds of troops stationed in Burkina.

Being one of the world's poorest countries, it is battling a jihadist insurgency that spread from its neighbouring country, Mali.&nbsp;

The violence has led to over 10,000 deaths, as per estimation by NGOs and has displaced at least two million people.&nbsp;

(with inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

&nbsp;

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="350" loading="”lazy”" src="https://www.wionews.com/live-tv/embed?autoplay=1&amp;mute=1" width="100%"></iframe>

At least 51 soldiers were killed in an ambush by jihadists in northern Burkina Faso, the army said on Monday, adding that around 160 of the assailants died during the counterattack.

At least 51 soldiers were killed in an ambush by jihadists in northern Burkina Faso, the army said on Monday, adding that around 160 of the assailants died during the counterattack. The army in its statement said that by the end of Monday (Feb 20), 43 new bodies were found, bringing the death toll to 51, AFP reported. The attack took place on Friday (Feb 18) in Oudalan province near the restive frontiers with Mali and Burkina. The military patrol in the Sahel region, bordering Niger and Mali, was the victim of the "complex" attack between Deou and Oursi. Also read | Burkina Faso announces the end of French military operations on its land The military in its statement added, "operations are continuing with an intensification of air actions that have made it possible to neutralise around 100 terrorists and destroy their equipment," the military added. "This figure is in addition to the 60 or so terrorists neutralised since the beginning of the response." Attacks have mounted since the start of this year, and have killed over 100 in the last weeks, AFP reported. Also read | Burkina Faso: At least 19 killed in two separate attacks by jihadist groups The army claimed that "intense fighting" ensued between the military united that had been attacked and an armed terrorist group. Last month, Burkina Faso's former colonial ruler France confirmed that it would withdraw hundreds of troops stationed in Burkina. Being one of the world's poorest countries, it is battling a jihadist insurgency that spread from its neighbouring country, Mali. The violence has led to over 10,000 deaths, as per estimation by NGOs and has displaced at least two million people. (with inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Burkina Faso: At least 51 killed in attacks by jihadist groups

A jihadist group has claimed responsibility for the abduction of 12 Iranian security personnel near the border with Pakistan, Iran's semi-official news agency ISNA reported Monday.

"The terrorist group Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice in Arabic) has posted two photos... claiming that those in it are the forces abducted" on October 16, ISNA said.

Jaish al-Adl, formed in 2012, is a successor to the Sunni extremist group Jundallah (Soldiers of God) which has carried out a spate of attacks on Iranian security forces in recent years in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan.

The photos show seven members of the elite Revolutionary Guards force and five police commandos, all in combat gear, according to state news agency IRNA.

The Iranians, including intelligence offices, were abducted near Lulakdan, a village 150 kilometres (90 miles) southeast of Zahedan, capital of Sistan-Baluchistan.

They were "made unconscious" by a "single infiltrator" and then kidnapped and taken to bases inside Pakistan, said Guards commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, quoted by IRNA.

The photos also show a haul of automatic weapons and sniper rifles, rocket launchers, machine-guns, grenades and ammunition, apparently seized from the Iranian forces.

Sistan-Baluchistan has long been a flashpoint, with Pakistan-based Baluchi separatists and jihadists carrying out regular cross-border raids against Iran.

The province has a large, mainly Sunni Muslim ethnic Baluchi community which straddles the border.

A delegation led by the Guards' ground forces commander Mohammad Pakpour visited Pakistan on Monday to follow up on efforts to free the Iranians, the force said on its website.

Pakistan said last Wednesday that it has launched "active" efforts to locate the missing men.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has blamed the kidnapping on "our common enemies unhappy with the existing close, friendly relations between Pakistan and Iran".

A jihadist group has claimed responsibility for the abduction of 12 Iranian security personnel near the border with Pakistan, Iran's semi-official news agency ISNA reported Monday.

A jihadist group has claimed responsibility for the abduction of 12 Iranian security personnel near the border with Pakistan, Iran's semi-official news agency ISNA reported Monday. "The terrorist group Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice in Arabic) has posted two photos... claiming that those in it are the forces abducted" on October 16, ISNA said. Jaish al-Adl, formed in 2012, is a successor to the Sunni extremist group Jundallah (Soldiers of God) which has carried out a spate of attacks on Iranian security forces in recent years in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan. The photos show seven members of the elite Revolutionary Guards force and five police commandos, all in combat gear, according to state news agency IRNA. The Iranians, including intelligence offices, were abducted near Lulakdan, a village 150 kilometres (90 miles) southeast of Zahedan, capital of Sistan-Baluchistan. They were "made unconscious" by a "single infiltrator" and then kidnapped and taken to bases inside Pakistan, said Guards commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, quoted by IRNA. The photos also show a haul of automatic weapons and sniper rifles, rocket launchers, machine-guns, grenades and ammunition, apparently seized from the Iranian forces. Sistan-Baluchistan has long been a flashpoint, with Pakistan-based Baluchi separatists and jihadists carrying out regular cross-border raids against Iran. The province has a large, mainly Sunni Muslim ethnic Baluchi community which straddles the border. A delegation led by the Guards' ground forces commander Mohammad Pakpour visited Pakistan on Monday to follow up on efforts to free the Iranians, the force said on its website. Pakistan said last Wednesday that it has launched "active" efforts to locate the missing men. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has blamed the kidnapping on "our common enemies unhappy with the existing close, friendly relations between Pakistan and Iran".

Jihadists claim responsibility for abduction of Iran troops

A Honduran national living in Florida was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison&nbsp;on Friday&nbsp;for planning to bomb a busy Miami shopping mall and for attempting to provide material support to a jihadist group.

Vicente Adolfo Solano, 53, pleaded guilty on&nbsp;March 14&nbsp;of charges of seeking to give material support "to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, after planning to detonate an explosive device at a Miami mall," US prosecutors said in a statement.

The statement did not say which mall had been targeted or give a date for the planned attack.

In early 2017 Solano had told another person -- who became an informant -- that he was angry with the United States and wanted to carry out an attack in Miami and join the Islamic State group.

Solano told the informant and two undercover FBI agents about his plan, and according to the prosecution gave them videos in which he made pro-IS statements and expressed anti-US sentiments.&nbsp;

Just before his arrest Solano "took possession of what he believed was an explosive device, took steps to arm it, and walked toward a mall entrance in order to carry out his attack."

The device however "was inert and did not pose a risk to the public."

Solano was arrested as he entered the site and will be deported to Honduras after his time in prison.

The sentence "speaks to those who harbor extremist ideals – your terroristic agenda will be thwarted and your punishment of years in prison will be your only lasting legacy," said Benjamin Greenberg, the US attorney for the district of southern Florida.

In early 2017 Solano had told another person -- who became an informant -- that he was angry with the United States and wanted to carry out an attack in Miami and join the Islamic State group

A Honduran national living in Florida was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison on Friday for planning to bomb a busy Miami shopping mall and for attempting to provide material support to a jihadist group. Vicente Adolfo Solano, 53, pleaded guilty on March 14 of charges of seeking to give material support "to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, after planning to detonate an explosive device at a Miami mall," US prosecutors said in a statement. The statement did not say which mall had been targeted or give a date for the planned attack. In early 2017 Solano had told another person -- who became an informant -- that he was angry with the United States and wanted to carry out an attack in Miami and join the Islamic State group. Solano told the informant and two undercover FBI agents about his plan, and according to the prosecution gave them videos in which he made pro-IS statements and expressed anti-US sentiments. Just before his arrest Solano "took possession of what he believed was an explosive device, took steps to arm it, and walked toward a mall entrance in order to carry out his attack." The device however "was inert and did not pose a risk to the public." Solano was arrested as he entered the site and will be deported to Honduras after his time in prison. The sentence "speaks to those who harbor extremist ideals – your terroristic agenda will be thwarted and your punishment of years in prison will be your only lasting legacy," said Benjamin Greenberg, the US attorney for the district of southern Florida.

Honduran who planned Miami bombing gets 17 years prison

A second batch of fighters from the Islamic State jihadist group left their final Damascus stronghold overnight, a monitor said Monday, bringing the Syrian regime closer to a major milestone.

The government has so far not confirmed any deal with IS, but a military source quoted by state media said civilians had been evacuated on Sunday night during a brief ceasefire.

"A second batch of elements from the Islamic State organisation left after midnight," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"They are heading to a pocket in the desert still under the control of the extremist organisation," the Britain-based monitoring group said.

The first group of IS fighters was transferred by bus out of southern Damascus on Sunday, the monitor said.

Government and allied forces started an operation last month to flush out jihadists and other groups from a cluster of neighbourhoods in southern Damascus.

They include Yarmuk, which was the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and has been a besieged IS stronghold since 2015, as well as the adjacent neighbourhoods of Tadamun and Hajar al-Aswad.

The evacuation of those areas would bring the entire capital and its surroundings under regime control for the first time since 2012.

State media has thus far fiercely denied reaching a deal with IS, but state news agency SANA reported for the first time Monday that some evacuations had taken place.

Citing a military source, it said women and children had been bussed out during a ceasefire that would remain in place until noon (0900 GMT) on Monday, but that the government would subsequently resume operations.

President Bashar al-Assad has used a combination of military pressure and evacuation deals in recent months to recapture territory around the capital from his armed opponents.

The assault against the jihadist force in southern Damascus has left more than 250 pro-regime forces, 233 jihadists and more than 60 civilians dead, according to the Britain-based Observatory.

The monitor's head Rami Abdel Rahman said the evacuation operation took place "at night and in secret".

"The Syrian government does not admit to negotiating with IS and wants to make sure the convoy is not targeted by the coalition led by Washington," he added.&nbsp

Last year, IS fighters and relatives were evacuated from an area on the Lebanese-Syrian border under a deal between IS on one side and the regime and the powerful Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah on the other.&nbsp

The US-led coalition bombing IS in Syria since 2014 sent planes to monitor the convoy, picking off dozens of jihadists along the way.&nbsp

The government has so far not confirmed any deal with IS, but a military source quoted by state media said civilians had been evacuated on Sunday night during a brief ceasefire

A second batch of fighters from the Islamic State jihadist group left their final Damascus stronghold overnight, a monitor said Monday, bringing the Syrian regime closer to a major milestone. The government has so far not confirmed any deal with IS, but a military source quoted by state media said civilians had been evacuated on Sunday night during a brief ceasefire. "A second batch of elements from the Islamic State organisation left after midnight," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "They are heading to a pocket in the desert still under the control of the extremist organisation," the Britain-based monitoring group said. The first group of IS fighters was transferred by bus out of southern Damascus on Sunday, the monitor said. Government and allied forces started an operation last month to flush out jihadists and other groups from a cluster of neighbourhoods in southern Damascus. They include Yarmuk, which was the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and has been a besieged IS stronghold since 2015, as well as the adjacent neighbourhoods of Tadamun and Hajar al-Aswad. The evacuation of those areas would bring the entire capital and its surroundings under regime control for the first time since 2012. State media has thus far fiercely denied reaching a deal with IS, but state news agency SANA reported for the first time Monday that some evacuations had taken place. Citing a military source, it said women and children had been bussed out during a ceasefire that would remain in place until noon (0900 GMT) on Monday, but that the government would subsequently resume operations. President Bashar al-Assad has used a combination of military pressure and evacuation deals in recent months to recapture territory around the capital from his armed opponents. The assault against the jihadist force in southern Damascus has left more than 250 pro-regime forces, 233 jihadists and more than 60 civilians dead, according to the Britain-based Observatory. The monitor's head Rami Abdel Rahman said the evacuation operation took place "at night and in secret". "The Syrian government does not admit to negotiating with IS and wants to make sure the convoy is not targeted by the coalition led by Washington," he added. Last year, IS fighters and relatives were evacuated from an area on the Lebanese-Syrian border under a deal between IS on one side and the regime and the powerful Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah on the other. The US-led coalition bombing IS in Syria since 2014 sent planes to monitor the convoy, picking off dozens of jihadists along the way.

More Islamic State fighters leave Damascus district: Monitor

The fight to oust the Islamic State jihadist group from its Syrian stronghold Raqa has displaced thousands of civilians, but some have decided to stay on the frontlines despite the dangers.

Although the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have captured over half of Raqa city since they first entered it in June, the battle remains grinding and fierce.

In Al-Sabahiya district of western Raqa, 40-year-old Anud was watching as plumes of black smoke rise from the battlefield just streets away.

She fled to the neighbourhood with her husband and seven children two weeks ago after their home in the city centre was destroyed.

Her face covered in a black-and-white scarf, Anud told that the abandoned home they were living in belonged to her brother, who had fled to a camp.&nbsp;

&quot;We couldn&#39;t pay 50,000 pounds ($100) to rent a home, so we came and opened up my brother&#39;s house in this dangerous area,&quot; she said.

&quot;We cleaned it and removed five mines that were inside the rooms.&quot; &nbsp;&nbsp;

The house is completely empty, its blue ceramic tiled floor bare and the walls unadorned except for black graffiti. &nbsp;

Al-Sabahiya was one of the first neighbourhoods captured by the SDF, but it remains dangerous.

&quot;We don&#39;t let the children leave the house because we&#39;re afraid mines might explode underneath them,&quot; Anud said.

The family&#39;s belongings are still stacked in the white lorry parked outside, ready in case they have to flee at a moment&#39;s notice.

&quot;We&#39;re living on the edge. We don&#39;t know how we will die,&quot; she sighed. &quot;God protect us. May Raqa be liberated so that we can return to our homes in peace.&quot;&nbsp;

As Anud gestured, her 11-year-old son Ahmed listened in silence.&nbsp;

Ahmed stopped speaking after the trauma of seeing his home destroyed, his father wounded, and his neighbours displaced in fierce bombardment of his district.

Outside, a pair of scrawny young boys pushed a wheelbarrow full of jerry cans to a nearby canal to draw some water.&nbsp;

Much of Al-Sabahiya has been destroyed by fighting, and civilians desperately rummage through the rubble looking for salvageable items.&nbsp;

It is Abu Ghanem&#39;s native neighbourhood, but the fighting in Raqa has displaced his family several times. &nbsp;

&quot;Back and forth, back and forth, sometimes we can go back to our houses, sometimes we go and sit in the open,&quot; the man in his sixties said.

He said his family can&#39;t afford to leave the city and rent a home elsewhere.

&quot;Sometimes there&#39;s no bread, sometimes there&#39;s no flour, sometimes there&#39;s nothing to eat,&quot; he said.

He sat cross-legged on a blue wicker mat inside his simple home, dragging on a cigarette as relatives lit a small camping stove to begin cooking.&nbsp;

Air strikes and bombardment still regularly shake the walls of his house, whose glass windows had long since shattered.

&quot;In the middle of the night, the children wake up and ask for bread because they are hungry,&quot; Abu Ghanem said.

&quot;We&#39;re living on the front line in the middle of fear and terror.&quot;

His wife, Umm Ghanem, would rather leave the area.

&quot;Should we stay here to die?&quot; she asked angrily of her husband. &quot;We don&#39;t know when a mine could explode. We&#39;re holding our lives in our hands.&quot; 
 
When Fatima Ahmed&#39;s family fled their home in the western Al-Romaniya district, they initially headed to a camp for the displaced, like thousands of other civilians from Raqa.

But she said it was impossible to survive at the camp without money to buy basic necessities, so they headed back to Al-Sabahiya.

&quot;We&#39;re staying here, what can we do? We don&#39;t have the money to leave,&quot; she said, dressed in a black robe.&nbsp;

Conditions in the camps for the displaced scattered across Raqa province are harsh, according to UN agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross.&nbsp;

Food and clean water are difficult to access, displaced families struggle in the blistering heat, and even the most basic medicine is often unavailable.&nbsp;

That leaves Raqa natives like Fatima torn between being unable to afford life in the camp and trying to keep their families safe.

&quot;There are a lot of mines here... We spend all day standing over the children like guards to make sure they don&#39;t get hurt,&quot; she said.

&quot;We don&#39;t have anything -- no water, no electricity. We take water from an irrigation canal nearby and it&#39;s dirty.&quot;&nbsp;

The home they are squatting in is near a position held by an SDF unit, which sometimes provides them with bread, sugar, and other food to survive.

Al-Sabahiya lies adjacent to their home district of Al-Romaniya, but in battle-torn Raqa, it feels worlds away. &nbsp;

&quot;We hope that the situation and the danger will end and we can go back to our homes because we&#39;re fed up with death and fear,&quot; she said.

Although the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have captured over half of Raqa city since they first entered it in June, the battle remains grinding and fierce

The fight to oust the Islamic State jihadist group from its Syrian stronghold Raqa has displaced thousands of civilians, but some have decided to stay on the frontlines despite the dangers. Although the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have captured over half of Raqa city since they first entered it in June, the battle remains grinding and fierce. In Al-Sabahiya district of western Raqa, 40-year-old Anud was watching as plumes of black smoke rise from the battlefield just streets away. She fled to the neighbourhood with her husband and seven children two weeks ago after their home in the city centre was destroyed. Her face covered in a black-and-white scarf, Anud told that the abandoned home they were living in belonged to her brother, who had fled to a camp. "We couldn't pay 50,000 pounds ($100) to rent a home, so we came and opened up my brother's house in this dangerous area," she said. "We cleaned it and removed five mines that were inside the rooms." The house is completely empty, its blue ceramic tiled floor bare and the walls unadorned except for black graffiti. Al-Sabahiya was one of the first neighbourhoods captured by the SDF, but it remains dangerous. "We don't let the children leave the house because we're afraid mines might explode underneath them," Anud said. The family's belongings are still stacked in the white lorry parked outside, ready in case they have to flee at a moment's notice. "We're living on the edge. We don't know how we will die," she sighed. "God protect us. May Raqa be liberated so that we can return to our homes in peace." As Anud gestured, her 11-year-old son Ahmed listened in silence. Ahmed stopped speaking after the trauma of seeing his home destroyed, his father wounded, and his neighbours displaced in fierce bombardment of his district. Outside, a pair of scrawny young boys pushed a wheelbarrow full of jerry cans to a nearby canal to draw some water. Much of Al-Sabahiya has been destroyed by fighting, and civilians desperately rummage through the rubble looking for salvageable items. It is Abu Ghanem's native neighbourhood, but the fighting in Raqa has displaced his family several times. "Back and forth, back and forth, sometimes we can go back to our houses, sometimes we go and sit in the open," the man in his sixties said. He said his family can't afford to leave the city and rent a home elsewhere. "Sometimes there's no bread, sometimes there's no flour, sometimes there's nothing to eat," he said. He sat cross-legged on a blue wicker mat inside his simple home, dragging on a cigarette as relatives lit a small camping stove to begin cooking. Air strikes and bombardment still regularly shake the walls of his house, whose glass windows had long since shattered. "In the middle of the night, the children wake up and ask for bread because they are hungry," Abu Ghanem said. "We're living on the front line in the middle of fear and terror." His wife, Umm Ghanem, would rather leave the area. "Should we stay here to die?" she asked angrily of her husband. "We don't know when a mine could explode. We're holding our lives in our hands." When Fatima Ahmed's family fled their home in the western Al-Romaniya district, they initially headed to a camp for the displaced, like thousands of other civilians from Raqa. But she said it was impossible to survive at the camp without money to buy basic necessities, so they headed back to Al-Sabahiya. "We're staying here, what can we do? We don't have the money to leave," she said, dressed in a black robe. Conditions in the camps for the displaced scattered across Raqa province are harsh, according to UN agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Food and clean water are difficult to access, displaced families struggle in the blistering heat, and even the most basic medicine is often unavailable. That leaves Raqa natives like Fatima torn between being unable to afford life in the camp and trying to keep their families safe. "There are a lot of mines here... We spend all day standing over the children like guards to make sure they don't get hurt," she said. "We don't have anything -- no water, no electricity. We take water from an irrigation canal nearby and it's dirty." The home they are squatting in is near a position held by an SDF unit, which sometimes provides them with bread, sugar, and other food to survive. Al-Sabahiya lies adjacent to their home district of Al-Romaniya, but in battle-torn Raqa, it feels worlds away. "We hope that the situation and the danger will end and we can go back to our homes because we're fed up with death and fear," she said.

Civilians brave dangers to wait out IS exit from Syria's Raqa

Iraqi Prime Minister on Tuesday said in a televised address that the security forces need only three more months to completely eliminate the Islamic State group.

The Iraqi forces launched their offensive against the IS in October. The premier had previously promised to retake the IS-held Mosul &quot;before the end of the year&quot;. The jihadists have occupied the city since June 2014.

&quot;The available data indicate that Iraq requires three months to eliminate Daesh,&quot; Haider al-Abadi told a televised news conference, referring to the jihadist group by an Arabic acronym.

Although the Iraqi forces have reconquered several parts of eastern Mosul but IS still occupies the city&#39;s west.

High-ranking officials believe that the battle against IS could drag on, and the Sunni extremist group continues to carry out attacks in areas from which it had been dislodged by the government offensive, reports AFP.

At least 23 people were killed last week in an IS triple car bombing on a market in Gogjali, east of Mosul. Gogjali was retaken after more than two years of IS occupation in early November.

(With inputs from AFP)

Previously, he had vowed that the IS-held city of Mosul would be retaken 'before the end of the year'

Iraqi Prime Minister on Tuesday said in a televised address that the security forces need only three more months to completely eliminate the Islamic State group. The Iraqi forces launched their offensive against the IS in October. The premier had previously promised to retake the IS-held Mosul "before the end of the year". The jihadists have occupied the city since June 2014. "The available data indicate that Iraq requires three months to eliminate Daesh," Haider al-Abadi told a televised news conference, referring to the jihadist group by an Arabic acronym. Although the Iraqi forces have reconquered several parts of eastern Mosul but IS still occupies the city's west. High-ranking officials believe that the battle against IS could drag on, and the Sunni extremist group continues to carry out attacks in areas from which it had been dislodged by the government offensive, reports AFP. At least 23 people were killed last week in an IS triple car bombing on a market in Gogjali, east of Mosul. Gogjali was retaken after more than two years of IS occupation in early November. (With inputs from AFP)

Iraq PM says three months needed to eliminate IS

The Islamic State is likely to mustard gas as the Iraqi forces advance to re-take Mosul, IS group&#39;s last main stronghold in Iraq, a Pentagon spokeman said on Monday. 
 
&quot;We can fully expect that as this road towards Mosul progresses, ISIL is likely to try to use it again,&quot; Jeff Davis was quoted as saying by AFP.&nbsp; 
 
Davis said that IS&#39;s ability to weaponise mustard agent has been rudimentary. Their mustard gas is typically a powder bound together with tar. The gas is more of an irritant than lethal, Davis said. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s not generally in a lethal concentration. It&#39;s more of an irritant than anything else, but again, not something we view as militarily significant,&quot; he said, noting that the gas form of mustard agent used in the First World War was far more lethal, Reuters reported. 
 
&quot;We recognise this is real. They&#39;re dead set on it. They would love to be able to use chemical weapons against us, against the Iraqis as they move forward. We are making every effort to make sure that we&#39;re ready for it.&quot; 
 
Davis added that Iraqi soldiers have been given training and have practiced to be in a situation of exposure to the IS chemical weapon. The United states has provided more than 50,000 gas masks to the Iraqi forces, he said. 
 
&quot;We want to make sure that the Iraqi security forces and the Peshmergas (Kurdish fighters) have the ability to detect this and to defend against it,&quot; Davis said. 
 
A rocket was launched, with a possible chemical agent, against US soldiers at a base near Qayyarah, a northern town in Iraq. The Pentagon suspects that the IS group used mustard gas in the attack last week. 
 
Hundreds of US troops are working to prepare an airfield for an Iraqi offensive to recapture the city of Mosul neat the base, Reuters reported. 
 
Iraqi security forces, backed by US-led coalition air power, are in the final weeks of preparing operations ahead of an assault to recapture Mosul, according to AFP.&nbsp; 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies)

According to the spokesman, the IS group's mustard gas is 'not generally in a lethal concentration' but more of an irritant

The Islamic State is likely to mustard gas as the Iraqi forces advance to re-take Mosul, IS group's last main stronghold in Iraq, a Pentagon spokeman said on Monday. "We can fully expect that as this road towards Mosul progresses, ISIL is likely to try to use it again," Jeff Davis was quoted as saying by AFP. Davis said that IS's ability to weaponise mustard agent has been rudimentary. Their mustard gas is typically a powder bound together with tar. The gas is more of an irritant than lethal, Davis said. "It's not generally in a lethal concentration. It's more of an irritant than anything else, but again, not something we view as militarily significant," he said, noting that the gas form of mustard agent used in the First World War was far more lethal, Reuters reported. "We recognise this is real. They're dead set on it. They would love to be able to use chemical weapons against us, against the Iraqis as they move forward. We are making every effort to make sure that we're ready for it." Davis added that Iraqi soldiers have been given training and have practiced to be in a situation of exposure to the IS chemical weapon. The United states has provided more than 50,000 gas masks to the Iraqi forces, he said. "We want to make sure that the Iraqi security forces and the Peshmergas (Kurdish fighters) have the ability to detect this and to defend against it," Davis said. A rocket was launched, with a possible chemical agent, against US soldiers at a base near Qayyarah, a northern town in Iraq. The Pentagon suspects that the IS group used mustard gas in the attack last week. Hundreds of US troops are working to prepare an airfield for an Iraqi offensive to recapture the city of Mosul neat the base, Reuters reported. Iraqi security forces, backed by US-led coalition air power, are in the final weeks of preparing operations ahead of an assault to recapture Mosul, according to AFP. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Pentagon: Islamic State could use mustard gas to defend Mosul

While 9/11 failed to bring America to its knees as Al-Qaeda hoped, it ushered in an era of instability, especially in the Middle East, that Islamic extremists have skilfully exploited, analysts say. 
 
By reacting with a doctrine of &quot;Shock and Awe&quot; and invading Iraq in 2003, the US committed a series of missteps that indirectly helped foment jihadism, say critics. 
 
Founded in the 1980s, Al-Qaeda was gravely weakened after being expelled from Afghanistan in 2001 by the US-led invasion of the country that had harboured the terror group&#39;s leader Osama bin Laden. 
 
But the occupation of Iraq offered them a new opportunity, underlining how jihadist groups have resisted attempts to vanquish them and have now expanded into franchises in the Middle East, Asia, the West and parts of Africa. 
 
&quot;September 11 was the culmination of several years of planning by Al-Qaeda of &#39;the big one&#39;,&quot; Didier Le Bret, who recently resigned as France&#39;s national intelligence coordinator to run in next year&#39;s parliamentary election, told AFP. 
 
&quot;Above all it marked the start of a realisation (by the Americans) of their vulnerability on home soil. And that is something they cannot bear.&quot; 
 
He said the invasion illustrated the dangers of acting first and worrying about the consequences afterwards. 
 
Among the consequences was the damage done to America&#39;s reputation by the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, the camp opened by George W Bush at a US base in Cuba to hold &quot;enemy combattants&quot; captured around the world. 
 
For Le Bret, the conflict in Iraq was &quot;an unfinished war, built on a lie&quot; that ended up destabilising the whole region. 
 
Jean-Pierre Filiu, professor of Middle East studies at Sciences-Po University in Paris, said it also squandered support for the US among its allies. 
 
&quot;The US enjoyed unprecedented international solidarity in its campaign against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda (in Afghanistan),&quot; he said. &quot;But after that campaign, which was crowned with success within a few weeks, the Neoconversatives imposed a strategy of a &#39;global war on terror&#39; which reignited global jihad.&quot; 
 
Tai chi terror tactics 
 
The US presence in Iraq made it a magnet for jihadists, with Al-Qaeda in Iraq becoming a major force in the post-war insurgency that later morphed into the Islamic State (IS) group. 
 
IS extremists, seeing power vacuums created through weak governance in Iraq and a civil war in Syria, grabbed territory in both countries after declaring their &quot;caliphate&quot; for Muslims in 2014. 
 
Spurred by social media and the forces of globalisation, they have since encouraged Muslims to take up arms against the West which they see as an ideological enemy. 
 
While conducting a campaign of mass murder and terror in territories under their control, they have spread their tentacles worldwide, inspiring or carrying out attacks in France, Germany, the United States, Turkey or Bangladesh. 
 
&quot;Daesh, or the so-called Islamic State, was born out of the alliance of two totalitarianisms, that of Al-Qaeda and the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein,&quot; Filiu said. 
 
&quot;Instead of taking the measure of this new threat, Barack Obama was for a long time in denial, allowing the emergence of a &#39;terror caliphate&#39; that has spread around the world,&quot; he argued. 
 
Obama&#39;s reticence to commit the US to a new battle in the Middle East reflected the caution of a nation scarred by Iraq, where thousands of US troops and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians died during the post-invasion insurgency.&nbsp; 
 
Bin Laden&#39;s son said 9/11 was aimed at setting up a grand showdown with America in Afghanistan where the Soviet army had been defeated by US-backed mujahideen. 
 
&quot;I was surprised the Americans took the bait&quot;, Omar bin Laden, one of 11 sons, told Rolling Stone magazine in 2010, a year before his father&#39;s death at the hands of US special forces. 
 
By forcing Washington out of its isolationism and luring it into Iraq, bin Laden was using what historian Yuval Noah Harari calls the &quot;tai-chi masters method.&quot; 
 
&quot;The terrorists hope that even though they can barely dent the enemy&#39;s material, power, fear and confusion will cause the enemy to misuse its strength,&quot; the author of Sapiens, a history of humanity, wrote in The Guardian newspaper last year. 
 
&quot;Terrorists calculate that when the enraged enemy uses its massive power against them, it will raise a much more violent military and political storm than the terrorists themselves could ever create.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

By reacting with the doctrine and invading Iraq in 2003, the US committed a series of missteps that indirectly helped foment jihadism

While 9/11 failed to bring America to its knees as Al-Qaeda hoped, it ushered in an era of instability, especially in the Middle East, that Islamic extremists have skilfully exploited, analysts say. By reacting with a doctrine of "Shock and Awe" and invading Iraq in 2003, the US committed a series of missteps that indirectly helped foment jihadism, say critics. Founded in the 1980s, Al-Qaeda was gravely weakened after being expelled from Afghanistan in 2001 by the US-led invasion of the country that had harboured the terror group's leader Osama bin Laden. But the occupation of Iraq offered them a new opportunity, underlining how jihadist groups have resisted attempts to vanquish them and have now expanded into franchises in the Middle East, Asia, the West and parts of Africa. "September 11 was the culmination of several years of planning by Al-Qaeda of 'the big one'," Didier Le Bret, who recently resigned as France's national intelligence coordinator to run in next year's parliamentary election, told AFP. "Above all it marked the start of a realisation (by the Americans) of their vulnerability on home soil. And that is something they cannot bear." He said the invasion illustrated the dangers of acting first and worrying about the consequences afterwards. Among the consequences was the damage done to America's reputation by the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, the camp opened by George W Bush at a US base in Cuba to hold "enemy combattants" captured around the world. For Le Bret, the conflict in Iraq was "an unfinished war, built on a lie" that ended up destabilising the whole region. Jean-Pierre Filiu, professor of Middle East studies at Sciences-Po University in Paris, said it also squandered support for the US among its allies. "The US enjoyed unprecedented international solidarity in its campaign against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda (in Afghanistan)," he said. "But after that campaign, which was crowned with success within a few weeks, the Neoconversatives imposed a strategy of a 'global war on terror' which reignited global jihad." Tai chi terror tactics The US presence in Iraq made it a magnet for jihadists, with Al-Qaeda in Iraq becoming a major force in the post-war insurgency that later morphed into the Islamic State (IS) group. IS extremists, seeing power vacuums created through weak governance in Iraq and a civil war in Syria, grabbed territory in both countries after declaring their "caliphate" for Muslims in 2014. Spurred by social media and the forces of globalisation, they have since encouraged Muslims to take up arms against the West which they see as an ideological enemy. While conducting a campaign of mass murder and terror in territories under their control, they have spread their tentacles worldwide, inspiring or carrying out attacks in France, Germany, the United States, Turkey or Bangladesh. "Daesh, or the so-called Islamic State, was born out of the alliance of two totalitarianisms, that of Al-Qaeda and the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein," Filiu said. "Instead of taking the measure of this new threat, Barack Obama was for a long time in denial, allowing the emergence of a 'terror caliphate' that has spread around the world," he argued. Obama's reticence to commit the US to a new battle in the Middle East reflected the caution of a nation scarred by Iraq, where thousands of US troops and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians died during the post-invasion insurgency. Bin Laden's son said 9/11 was aimed at setting up a grand showdown with America in Afghanistan where the Soviet army had been defeated by US-backed mujahideen. "I was surprised the Americans took the bait", Omar bin Laden, one of 11 sons, told Rolling Stone magazine in 2010, a year before his father's death at the hands of US special forces. By forcing Washington out of its isolationism and luring it into Iraq, bin Laden was using what historian Yuval Noah Harari calls the "tai-chi masters method." "The terrorists hope that even though they can barely dent the enemy's material, power, fear and confusion will cause the enemy to misuse its strength," the author of Sapiens, a history of humanity, wrote in The Guardian newspaper last year. "Terrorists calculate that when the enraged enemy uses its massive power against them, it will raise a much more violent military and political storm than the terrorists themselves could ever create." (AFP)

'Shock and awe' response to 9/11 helped jihad's spread: Analysts

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned Sunday of new terror attacks against France. 
 
Paris was put on high alert last week after French authorities said they had dismantled a &#39;terrorist cell&#39; planning to attack a Paris railway station under Islamic state&#39;s guidance. 
 
&quot;This week at least two attacks were foiled,&quot; Manuel Valls said in an interview with Europe 1 radio and Itele television on Sunday, Reuters reported. 
 
Three French women were arrested this Friday after a car loaded with gas cylinders was found near Notre Dame cathedral. 
 
Valls, however, said former president Nicolas Sarkozy&#39;s proposals to boost security was not the right way to deal with threats. 
 
Sarkozy had suggested special courts and detention facilities for citizens suspected of militant links in an interview to local newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. 
 
&quot;Every Frenchman suspected of being linked to terrorism, because he regularly consults a jihadist website, or his behavior shows signs of radicalisation or because is in close contact with radicalised people, must be preventively placed in a detention center,&quot; Sarkozy had said in the interview. 
 
Last month, Sarkozy announced his candidature for the 2017 presidential election. 
 
&quot;He (Sarkozy) is wrong about trying to wring the neck of the rule of law,&quot; Valls said in response to Sarkozy&#39;s statement. 
 
Valls said there were 15,000 people on the radar of police and intelligent services who were in the process of being radicalised, Reuters reported. 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies)

Officials said last week they had dismantled a 'terrorist cell' that planned to attack a Paris railway station under IS guidance

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned Sunday of new terror attacks against France. Paris was put on high alert last week after French authorities said they had dismantled a 'terrorist cell' planning to attack a Paris railway station under Islamic state's guidance. "This week at least two attacks were foiled," Manuel Valls said in an interview with Europe 1 radio and Itele television on Sunday, Reuters reported. Three French women were arrested this Friday after a car loaded with gas cylinders was found near Notre Dame cathedral. Valls, however, said former president Nicolas Sarkozy's proposals to boost security was not the right way to deal with threats. Sarkozy had suggested special courts and detention facilities for citizens suspected of militant links in an interview to local newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. "Every Frenchman suspected of being linked to terrorism, because he regularly consults a jihadist website, or his behavior shows signs of radicalisation or because is in close contact with radicalised people, must be preventively placed in a detention center," Sarkozy had said in the interview. Last month, Sarkozy announced his candidature for the 2017 presidential election. "He (Sarkozy) is wrong about trying to wring the neck of the rule of law," Valls said in response to Sarkozy's statement. Valls said there were 15,000 people on the radar of police and intelligent services who were in the process of being radicalised, Reuters reported. (WION with inputs from agencies)

French prime minister warns of new attacks, says 15,000 people on police radar

The Islamic State jihadist group claimed responsibility for a spate of bomb attacks across Syria on Monday that left dozens dead in mostly government-controlled territory.&nbsp; 
 
The IS-affiliated Amaq news agency said the jihadist group was behind a &quot;string of simultaneous suicide attacks&quot; in Damascus, coastal Tartus, central Homs, and Hasakeh in the northeast. 
 
At least 48 people died in the blasts, Syrian state media reported, a majority of them in a double bombing in President Bashar al-Assad&#39;s coastal stronghold of Tartus.&nbsp; 
 
Quoting the head of Al-Bassel hospital in Tartus, state television said 35 people were killed and 43 others wounded in the attack.&nbsp; 
 
In the northeast of the country, at least eight people were killed by a bomber on a motorbike in Hasakeh city, which is mostly controlled by Kurdish forces, though the regime is also present. 
 
State media said the dead were six members of the Kurds&#39; Asayesh security forces and two civilians. 
 
Amaq said in a statement that a bomber wearing a suicide belt had attacked an Asayesh checkpoint there. 
 
Another four people were killed in a car bomb in Homs city&#39;s Al-Zahraa neighbourhood, whose residents mostly belong to the same Alawite sect as Assad.&nbsp; 
 
A bomb attack was also reported on Al-Sabura road west of the capital Damascus, with state media saying one person was killed and three were wounded. 
 
(AFP)

The IS-affiliated Amaq news agency said the jihadist group was behind a 'string of simultaneous suicide attacks'

The Islamic State jihadist group claimed responsibility for a spate of bomb attacks across Syria on Monday that left dozens dead in mostly government-controlled territory. The IS-affiliated Amaq news agency said the jihadist group was behind a "string of simultaneous suicide attacks" in Damascus, coastal Tartus, central Homs, and Hasakeh in the northeast. At least 48 people died in the blasts, Syrian state media reported, a majority of them in a double bombing in President Bashar al-Assad's coastal stronghold of Tartus. Quoting the head of Al-Bassel hospital in Tartus, state television said 35 people were killed and 43 others wounded in the attack. In the northeast of the country, at least eight people were killed by a bomber on a motorbike in Hasakeh city, which is mostly controlled by Kurdish forces, though the regime is also present. State media said the dead were six members of the Kurds' Asayesh security forces and two civilians. Amaq said in a statement that a bomber wearing a suicide belt had attacked an Asayesh checkpoint there. Another four people were killed in a car bomb in Homs city's Al-Zahraa neighbourhood, whose residents mostly belong to the same Alawite sect as Assad. A bomb attack was also reported on Al-Sabura road west of the capital Damascus, with state media saying one person was killed and three were wounded. (AFP)

48 dead in IS-claimed string of bomb attacks across Syria

Boko Haram today released a video of the girls allegedly kidnapped from Chibok in April 2014, showing some who are still alive and claiming others died in air strikes.&nbsp; 
 
The video is the latest release from embattled Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, who earlier this month denied claims that he had been replaced as the leader of the jihadist group.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;They should know that their children are still in our hands,&quot; said a man whose face was covered by a turban in the video posted on YouTube.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;There is a number of the girls, about 40 of them, that have been married by the decision of Allah,&quot; said the man in the 11-minute video, which shows girls with veils sitting on the ground and standing in the background.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Some of them have died as a result of aerial bombardment.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
The mass kidnapping of 276 Chibok schoolgirls in April 2014 provoked global outrage and brought unprecedented attention on the Boko Haram conflict, in which at least 20,000 people have been killed since 2009. 
 
Throughout 2015, the Nigerian military announced the rescue of hundreds of people, most of them women and children, who have been kidnapped by Boko Haram.&nbsp; 
 
But the missing schoolgirls were not among them, despite several unconfirmed sightings. 
 
(AFP)

In the 11-minute video, a man claimed that 40 abdcuted girls 'have been married by the decision of Allah', while others died in air strikes

Boko Haram today released a video of the girls allegedly kidnapped from Chibok in April 2014, showing some who are still alive and claiming others died in air strikes. The video is the latest release from embattled Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, who earlier this month denied claims that he had been replaced as the leader of the jihadist group. "They should know that their children are still in our hands," said a man whose face was covered by a turban in the video posted on YouTube. "There is a number of the girls, about 40 of them, that have been married by the decision of Allah," said the man in the 11-minute video, which shows girls with veils sitting on the ground and standing in the background. "Some of them have died as a result of aerial bombardment." The mass kidnapping of 276 Chibok schoolgirls in April 2014 provoked global outrage and brought unprecedented attention on the Boko Haram conflict, in which at least 20,000 people have been killed since 2009. Throughout 2015, the Nigerian military announced the rescue of hundreds of people, most of them women and children, who have been kidnapped by Boko Haram. But the missing schoolgirls were not among them, despite several unconfirmed sightings. (AFP)

Boko Haram releases new video of alleged Chibok girls

Libyan pro-government forces pressed an advance against the Islamic State group in the coastal city of Sirte today as they battled jihadists holed up in waterfront residential areas. 
 
In May, forces loyal to the unity government began an offensive to retake the Mediterranean city and home town of slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi, which IS seized in June last year. 
 
The offensive came amid growing concern that jihadists would use Sirte, where they had set up centres to train militants, as a springboard for attacks on European shores hundreds of kilometres (miles) away. 
 
One June 9, pro-government forces entered Sirte and more than two months later pushed the jihadists from key positions including their headquarters at the Ouagadougou conference centre, a sprawling compound near the city centre. 
 
AFP correspondents who toured the city on Saturday said loyalist forces were pressing their advance, buoyed by US air strikes earlier this month that targeted IS holdouts in the city. 
 
The forces fired machineguns mounted on pick-up trucks and light weapons at IS targets in the distance as they tried to advance towards an area known as &quot;residential district three&quot; facing the Mediterranean, the correspondents said. 
 
On Sunday, the spokesman for the forces, General Mohamad Ghassri, told AFP that both residential districts near the waterfront were &quot;currently battle zones&quot;. 
 
Pro-government forces &quot;have entered district number two&quot; which could fall under their control later Sunday, he said. 
 
&quot;IS has only control over one sector, residential district one in the heart of downtown Sirte,&quot; he said. 
 
&quot;From a military point of view, the battle (for Sirte) is over,&quot; he said, adding that &quot;victory&quot; would be announced soon. 
 
Earlier the forces loyal to the UN-backed Government of National Accord said in a statement that their fighters had seized buildings on the outskirts of district two and were chasing the jihadists. 
 
Eyes on Rome 
 
Mustafa al-Faqih, one of the commanders of the loyalist forces, told AFP that the jihadists fled after their headquarters fell on Wednesday. 
 
The &quot;enemy forces collapsed&quot; in the face of the loyalist advance, he said. 
&nbsp;
<div class="row">
<div class="article-blockquote">
<div class="col-sm-10 col-sm-offset-1 blockquote-content quoteshare">
<blockquote>
<h5>We will advance on areas where the enemy is still deployed in the coming days, God willing.&quot;</h5>
</blockquote>
</div>

<div class="col-sm-1 blockquote-content">
<div class="share-blockquote"><a class="twitter popup" href="http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=We will advance on areas where the enemy is still deployed in the coming days, God willing.&quot;" target="_blank">&nbsp;</a></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
 
The taking of the Ouagadougou centre, where Kadhafi once hosted Arab and African summits as well as European leaders, was the first in a string of blistering losses sustained by the jihadists this week. 
 
A statement by the loyalist forces on Saturday said they had seized a radio station near the centre which the jihadists used to broadcast propaganda, describing its capture as &quot;important&quot;. 
 
They also drove jihadists out of the university of Sirte which they had used as a key defensive position, they said. 
 
On Sunday, pro-government fighters could be seen removing jihadist graffiti from the walls of the Ouagadougou centre. 
 
&quot;The caliphate will endure and expand,&quot; read one slogan at the centre&#39;s main entrance, before it was removed. 
 
A trail of destruction has hit the once grandiose centre, with windows shattered, ceilings caved in and bullet strikes on its walls. 
 
Outside, a group of pro-government fighters flashed victory signs and pointed to a banner left behind by the jihadists that read: &quot;We are fighting in Libya but our eyes are on Rome.&quot; 
 
Libya&#39;s former colonial power Italy lies a mere 300 kilometres (less than 200 miles) across the Mediterranean from Sirte. 
 
On Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi faced criticism at home for reportedly sending special forces to Libya to help the anti-IS fight without approval from parliament. 
 
Renzi&#39;s centre-left government has refused to confirm or deny reports that dozens of special forces have been deployed to help with de-mining and training pro-GNA forces. 
 
More than 300 pro-government fighters have been killed and 1,800 wounded since May in the battle for Sirte, medics have said. 
 
The jihadists have not revealed their losses. 
 
&nbsp;

'From a military point of view, the battle is over,' spokesman for the forces said, adding that 'victory' would be announced soon

Libyan pro-government forces pressed an advance against the Islamic State group in the coastal city of Sirte today as they battled jihadists holed up in waterfront residential areas. In May, forces loyal to the unity government began an offensive to retake the Mediterranean city and home town of slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi, which IS seized in June last year. The offensive came amid growing concern that jihadists would use Sirte, where they had set up centres to train militants, as a springboard for attacks on European shores hundreds of kilometres (miles) away. One June 9, pro-government forces entered Sirte and more than two months later pushed the jihadists from key positions including their headquarters at the Ouagadougou conference centre, a sprawling compound near the city centre. AFP correspondents who toured the city on Saturday said loyalist forces were pressing their advance, buoyed by US air strikes earlier this month that targeted IS holdouts in the city. The forces fired machineguns mounted on pick-up trucks and light weapons at IS targets in the distance as they tried to advance towards an area known as "residential district three" facing the Mediterranean, the correspondents said. On Sunday, the spokesman for the forces, General Mohamad Ghassri, told AFP that both residential districts near the waterfront were "currently battle zones". Pro-government forces "have entered district number two" which could fall under their control later Sunday, he said. "IS has only control over one sector, residential district one in the heart of downtown Sirte," he said. "From a military point of view, the battle (for Sirte) is over," he said, adding that "victory" would be announced soon. Earlier the forces loyal to the UN-backed Government of National Accord said in a statement that their fighters had seized buildings on the outskirts of district two and were chasing the jihadists. Eyes on Rome Mustafa al-Faqih, one of the commanders of the loyalist forces, told AFP that the jihadists fled after their headquarters fell on Wednesday. The "enemy forces collapsed" in the face of the loyalist advance, he said. We will advance on areas where the enemy is still deployed in the coming days, God willing." The taking of the Ouagadougou centre, where Kadhafi once hosted Arab and African summits as well as European leaders, was the first in a string of blistering losses sustained by the jihadists this week. A statement by the loyalist forces on Saturday said they had seized a radio station near the centre which the jihadists used to broadcast propaganda, describing its capture as "important". They also drove jihadists out of the university of Sirte which they had used as a key defensive position, they said. On Sunday, pro-government fighters could be seen removing jihadist graffiti from the walls of the Ouagadougou centre. "The caliphate will endure and expand," read one slogan at the centre's main entrance, before it was removed. A trail of destruction has hit the once grandiose centre, with windows shattered, ceilings caved in and bullet strikes on its walls. Outside, a group of pro-government fighters flashed victory signs and pointed to a banner left behind by the jihadists that read: "We are fighting in Libya but our eyes are on Rome." Libya's former colonial power Italy lies a mere 300 kilometres (less than 200 miles) across the Mediterranean from Sirte. On Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi faced criticism at home for reportedly sending special forces to Libya to help the anti-IS fight without approval from parliament. Renzi's centre-left government has refused to confirm or deny reports that dozens of special forces have been deployed to help with de-mining and training pro-GNA forces. More than 300 pro-government fighters have been killed and 1,800 wounded since May in the battle for Sirte, medics have said. The jihadists have not revealed their losses.

Libya forces press assault on last IS positions in Sirte

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

jihadist-group

Jihadist Group, News on Jihadist Group, stories on Jihadist Group, articles on Jihadist Group, Jihadist Group stories at Wion, Jihadist Group news, Jihadist Group latest news