Amnesty International: Saudi strike "kills 36 civilians" In Yemen, adding to the "bloody trail of civilian death"

Amnesty International: Saudi strike "kills 36 civilians" In Yemen, adding to the "bloody trail of civilian death"

    Sunday, August 30, 2015   No comments

A bottling plant in Hajjah province is hit as Amnesty International warns of a "bloody trail of civilian death" in Yemen.

Issa Ahmed, a resident in Hajjah province, told the Reuters news agency the bottling plant was hit on Sunday morning.

He said: "The process of recovering bodies is finished now.

"The corpses of 36 workers, many of them burnt or in pieces, were pulled out after an airstrike hit the plant this morning."

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On Friday, air raids killed 65 people in Taiz - most of them civilians - and last month 65 people including 10 children were killed after a milk factory was hit in western Yemen.

Human rights group Amnesty International said earlier this month that the Saudi-led campaign has left a "bloody trail of civilian death", which could amount to war crimes.

More than 4,300 people have been killed in five months of conflict in Yemen.

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The U.S. government knows that Saudi Arabia has Used Cluster Bombs in Yemen

The U.S. government knows that Saudi Arabia has Used Cluster Bombs in Yemen

    Thursday, August 27, 2015   No comments

The U.S. knows the Saudi government has employed cluster bombs in its ongoing war against Shiite Muslim rebels in neighboring Yemen, but has done little if anything to stop the use of the indiscriminate and deadly weapons during what has become a human rights catastrophe in one of the Arab world's poorest countries.

With watchdog groups warning of war crimes and attacks striking civilians in Yemen, the Pentagon declined to comment publicly on whether it has discussed cluster bombs with Saudi Arabia or encouraged its military to cease using them, deferring all such questions to the State Department. But a Pentagon official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, tells U.S. News "the U.S. is aware that Saudi Arabia has used cluster munitions in Yemen."

Deferrals by the Pentagon on the topic are nothing new, though the use of the weapons by the Saudis – some of which were reportedly supplied by the U.S. – appears to be only a recent tactic. Former spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren told reporters in May the Defense Department was looking into claims the Saudis were using cluster munitions and called on all sides to "comply with international humanitarian law, including the obligation to take all feasible measures to minimize harm to civilians." Warren's successor, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, was asked about similar reports in July and did not at that time have any new information. 

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Human Rights Watch reported that "Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces appear to have used cluster munition rockets in at least seven attacks in Yemen’s northwestern Hajja governorate, killing and wounding dozens of civilians, Human Rights Watch said today. The attacks were carried out between late April and mid-July 2015."

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Read more >>  Report 1, Report 2, Report 3: U.S.-made bombs are killing hundreds of innocent civilians, Report 4: Saudi Arabia used illegal weapons many times in Yemen; Report 5: Saudi-led Coalition Likely Launched 7 Attacks Harming Civilians 

 

European companies beat US to Iran business after nuclear deal reached

European companies beat US to Iran business after nuclear deal reached

    Wednesday, August 26, 2015   No comments

The ink was barely dry on the agreement with Iran to limit its nuclear programme before a German government plane packed with the nation’s economic elite touched down in Tehran.

The trip was the first in a rush of European ministers and business people flocking to a market poised to reopen after years of grinding sanctions. Upscale Tehran hotels are packed and tables at trendy restaurants are scarce as foreigners jostle for bargains, even amid uncertainty over whether President Obama can overcome US congressional opposition to the deal.

The stream of visitors to Tehran is the latest sign of the Atlantic-wide divide between the US and Europe, where there is scant opposition to the pact that aims to crimp Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Barack Obama and secretary of state John Kerry have warned detractors that they would be unable to reimpose a multinational trade embargo if congress rejects the plans. The other five countries that helped broker the deal have also told congress they will not return to the negotiating table. The trips show that US leaders can’t keep Europeans from flying to Tehran ahead of the congressional vote, which must take place by 17 September.

“We are talking here about 80 million people who need energy supplies, who naturally also need healthcare, who want to get back off their knees in the oil and gas businesses. There are opportunities and chances,” Joe Kaeser, chief executive of Siemens, the German industrial conglomerate, told German television last month.

Siemens sent a top official to Tehran with the German vice chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, last month. Their government plane touched down at the Imam Khomeini international airport five days after world powers agreed on the nuclear deal on 14 July. “The agreement reached between the E3/EU+3 and Iran in Vienna has laid the foundations for a normalisation of economic relations with Iran,” Gabriel said, using another term for the group of six world powers that negotiated the deal. The vice chancellor was accompanied by a delegation of top officials from some of Germany’s largest companies, including Daimler, Volkswagen and ThyssenKrupp.

Since Gabriel’s visit, top ministers from France and Italy have visited Tehran. British foreign secretary Philip Hammond was there last weekend to reopen his nation’s embassy. Spain, Sweden and Poland plan to follow in the autumn. Next month Austrian president Heinz Fischer plans to be the first European head of state to visit Tehran since 2004. Vienna hosted an EU-Iran trade conference just a week after the deal was signed.

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Did Turkey tip off al Qaida in Syria about U.S.-trained group of Syrian fighters?

Did Turkey tip off al Qaida in Syria about U.S.-trained group of Syrian fighters?

    Wednesday, August 26, 2015   No comments

GAZIANTEP, Turkey: The Turkish government Tuesday denied accusations by Syrian rebels that its intelligence service had tipped off an al Qaida-linked group that then abducted the commander and 20 members of a U.S.-trained group of Syrian fighters about to confront the Islamic State.

In a statement to McClatchy, which first reported on Monday the allegations from multiple Syrian rebel groups that the Nusra Front had been alerted by the Turkish government, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s office said it denied “the allegations in the strongest terms possible. The idea that Turkey, a key supporter of the Train and Equip Program, would seek to undermine its own interests in Syria is ludicrous.”

The statement was attributed to a senior member of the prime minister’s office.

The dispute centers around the arrival into Syria of the first 54 members of a program by a coalition of anti-Islamic State members – including the U.S., Jordan, the United Kingdom and Turkey – to train and equip carefully vetted Syrian rebels for the fight against the Islamic State in Syria. The so called “T&E” group is part of a moderate Syrian rebel group known as Division 30, which has drawn members from a variety of units that were once under the umbrella of the Free Syrian Army. The FSA led the initial military uprising against the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad before being eclipsed by a number of jihadist and Islamist groups, including the Islamic State.

On July 29, the 54 fighters and their commander, Col. Nadim Hassan, arrived in Azaz, along the Turkish border, where they were immediately abducted or attacked by the Nusra Front. Hassan and about 20 of his men remain held by Nusra, which has declared the group an American front designed to target Islamists, despite the group’s repeated insistence that it would only participate in operations against the Islamic State, which Nusra, despite sharing a common ideology and origins in al Qaida in Iraq, also fights.

U.S. airstrikes have mostly concentrated on the Islamic State but at times have targeted Nusra Front facilities because of the group’s open allegiance to al Qaida.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/middle-east/article32378286.html#storylink=cpy

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Saudi rulers are not interested in fighting Al Qaeda and ISIL in Yemen

Saudi rulers are not interested in fighting Al Qaeda and ISIL in Yemen

    Tuesday, August 25, 2015   No comments

Dubai (AFP) - Al-Qaeda has gained more ground amidst the chaos in Yemen -- this time in second city Aden -- but for now Saudi Arabia is turning a blind eye to its longtime enemy, experts say.

Supported by a Saudi-led military coalition, forces loyal to Yemen's exiled government retook Aden last month from Iran-backed Huthi rebels who have seized large parts of the country including the capital Sanaa.

As authorities work to reassert control over Aden, the capital of formerly independent South Yemen, Al-Qaeda has moved into the gap.

The jihadist group's militants, already in control of other parts of southern Yemen, are reported to have taken up positions in several strategic parts of the city.

But experts say that while Saudi Arabia may turn eventually to tackling Al-Qaeda in its southern neighbour, Riyadh's focus now is purely on stopping the Huthis.

"I don't think Saudi Arabia's main priority in Yemen is Al-Qaeda... The Huthis are more of a high priority," said Ibrahim Fraihat, a senior fellow at the Brookings Doha Center.

"That's probably another reason why we saw Al-Qaeda flourishing" in the south, he said.

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Turkish mourners blame Erdogan, AKP for rise in violence

Turkish mourners blame Erdogan, AKP for rise in violence

    Monday, August 24, 2015   No comments

Mourners slam Erdoğan, Turkish gov’t at funeral ceremonies for slain soldiers

A lieutenant colonel’s angry rebuke during the funeral ceremony for his soldier brother has been added to the increasing number of protests by mourners accusing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the government over the spike in violence ahead of early elections in Turkey.

A lieutenant colonel’s angry rebuke during the funeral ceremony for his soldier brother has been added to the increasing number of protests by mourners accusing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the government over the spike in violence ahead of early elections in Turkey.

Army Captain Ali Alkan was killed after PKK militants attacked a military outpost in southeastern Şırnak province’s Beytüşşebap district late Aug. 21.

More than 15,000 people, including several members of parliament, participated in the funeral ceremony for Alkan in the southern province of Osmaniye on Aug. 23.

Tensions ran high when Justice and Development Party (AKP) politicians attempted to take a place in the front row during the prayer service for Alkan. “You have nothing to do here. Get out,” an infuriated mourner shouted at AKP deputies Suat Ünal and Mücahit Durmuşoğlu.

“I am a relative of our martyr and I am not standing in the front row. What are these marauders doing there?” another person in the crowd asked angrily. Then the crowd began to boo the local religious head who conducted the ceremony for making a place for AKP deputies.

As AKP deputies were forced to leave the ceremony grounds, a cousin of the slain soldier yelled in protest, targeting Erdoğan. “What kind of deal have you made that the children of our homeland are going like this? Why doesn’t Turkey stand up? Why does Turkey sleep? Is it the solution process? The solution is now lying here,” Ahmet Şahin said.

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Competing narratives of armed conflicts: Turkey corrects the BBC, "members of PKK are not militants, they are terrorists"

Competing narratives of armed conflicts: Turkey corrects the BBC, "members of PKK are not militants, they are terrorists"

    Friday, August 21, 2015   No comments

Turkey has accused the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) of “openly supporting terrorism” by making “written and visual propaganda” of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) during a broadcast on Aug. 20.

“Such broadcasting about an organization which is listed as a terrorist [organization] by many countries, particularly EU countries, is open support for terrorism,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Aug. 21.

The broadcast, which portrayed the PKK as “an innocent organization struggling against another terrorist organization and encouraged [people] to join the PKK, is not acceptable in any way,” the ministry said in a written official statement.

This is not the first time that Turkish authorities have targeted U.K. media outlets’ reporting on the PKK, which is listed as terrorist organization by a large portion of the international community including the European Union and the United States, in addition to Turkey.

In 2005, then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan harshly criticized the BBC and Reuters for describing PKK members as militants and guerillas instead of terrorists.

Watch a report on 60 Minutes:

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Acknowleding Turkey's role in allow weapons and fighters to flow to ISIL, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter now says, "More needed from Turkey in Islamic State fight"

Acknowleding Turkey's role in allow weapons and fighters to flow to ISIL, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter now says, "More needed from Turkey in Islamic State fight"

    Thursday, August 20, 2015   No comments

Turkey needs to do more in the fight against Islamic State militants and has indicated it is willing to go beyond its recent decision to allow U.S. planes to conduct air strikes from Turkish bases, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Thursday.

Carter said Turkey had agreed in principle to participate in the coalition bombing campaign against the militants, but the United States also needed Ankara to step up its efforts to control its long border with Iraq and Syria.

"It's a border over which logistics for ISIL and the fighters cross," Carter said, using an acronym for the militant group. "So we're looking for them to do more in that regard as well and are in active discussions with them about that."

Turkey was expected to participate in air strikes against Islamic State in Syria after it reached a deal with the United States on greater participation in the campaign against the group. But Turkish bombing efforts have primarily focused on the Kurdish PKK, which it considers a terrorist group.

Carter told a Pentagon news conference he didn't think the Turks were "dragging their feet" on joining the bombing campaign.

"Their leadership has indicated that this needs to be done," he said. "It's long overdue because it's a year into the campaign, but they're indicating some considerable effort now, including allowing us to use their air fields. That's important, but it's not enough."

"They need to join the (air strike rotation) and they need to work more on controlling their border," Carter said.

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ISIL calls for conquest of İstanbul, war against ‘treacherous’ Erdoğan

ISIL calls for conquest of İstanbul, war against ‘treacherous’ Erdoğan

    Tuesday, August 18, 2015   No comments

The people of Turkey have been called to war against the “treacherous” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and to conquer the city of İstanbul, according to a video released by extremist terrorist group the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Reciting verses from the Quran, a militant clad in grey combat gear and sporting an ashen beard said that on the command of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the “amīr al-mu'minīn,” translating to “commander of the faithful,” also used to signify caliphs, “all believers should conquer İstanbul, [the city] that the treacherous Erdoğan is trying, day and night, to give to the crusaders.”

The militant making a call for war in the video is claimed to have joined ISIL in 2014, according to a report in the Milliyet daily on Tuesday.

The unnamed militant, who has a Kalashnikov rifle resting between his arms at all times during the video footage, speaks fluent Turkish. He calls on the people of Turkey to “rise up and fight” against the infidels, crusaders and those “taghuts” -- idolaters of false gods -- who trick people into becoming the slaves of the crusaders.

The ISIL militant also calls on the people to repent from the sins that caused the people of Turkey to be governed by such taghuts, referring to Erdoğan, and his friends. He also calls on the people to refrain from democracy, secularism, man-made laws and all idolaters of false gods.


ISIL militants had vowed to ‘liberate' İstanbul in past

A threat was previously made by an ISIL militant to “liberate” İstanbul if the Turkish government refused to release more water from the Euphrates River to Syria.

The militant, who introduced himself as ISIL press officer Abu Mosa in a Vice News documentary on ISIL put out in August 2014, urged Turkey to release more water from the Euphrates River, warning that otherwise the group would do so from İstanbul when it "liberates" the city.

Mosa was later killed during air strikes by the Syrian government forces on ISIL militants attacking an air base in northeast Syria.

With regard to reduced water supplies from the Euphrates River to the province of Raqqa, which is ISIL's self-declared capital, he said, "I pray to God that the apostate [Turkish] government reconsiders its decisions. Because if they do not reconsider it now, we will reconsider it for them by liberating İstanbul."

“God willing, if they don't open it [the dam], we will open it from İstanbul,” he said. When asked if this is a threat, he said: “Yes, it is a clear threat.”

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U.S. trained Division 30 declares its loyalty to al-Qaeda branch in Syria

U.S. trained Division 30 declares its loyalty to al-Qaeda branch in Syria

    Monday, August 17, 2015   No comments

ISR comment: As the U.S. trained Division 30 declares its loyalty to al-Qaeda branch in Syria, its $36 million program initially aimed at moderate Syrian opposition fighters ends up being a training program for future Nusra or ISIL fighters.

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The meagre American foothold in the fight for northern Syria shrank further on Tuesday as Division 30 rejected a US promise to defend the brigade against Jabhat al Nusra with airstrikes. On Friday, US warplanes bombed al Nusra positions after the jihadist group stormed Division 30’s headquarters and killed five of its members.

In its statement, Division 30 denied its "connection to the operations of the coalition against any faction on Syrian lands".

It said "it would not be dragged into any side battle with any faction" and that "it did not and will not fight Jabhat al-Nusra".

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