Iraq....
Prince Bandar’s term in the post centered primarily around dramatic escalations of the Syrian Civil War, throwing ever more advanced weapons at every more extreme rebel factions, sometimes over explicit US objections.
At least 106 were killed today in Iraq, and another 73 people were wounded. Over half the fatalities were militants, but security forces and civilians were also harmed.
In Anbar:
The Iraqi government announced the deaths of 54 militants following clashes inGarma.
In Ramadi, a militant leader was killed. Four gunmen were killed and four more were wounded in an air strike.
Five people were killed and 11 more were wounded during continued shelling inFalluja.
Elsewhere:
A suicide bomber attacked an army base in Mahallabiya at the start of an attack that left 12 soldiers killed and 15 wounded, while another eight militants were killed.
In Baghdad, a car bomb killed nine people and wounded 22 more in the Karradadistrict.
A policeman was killed in Balad Ruz when he threw his arms around a suicide bomber to try to prevent him from targeting army recruits. The bomb killed two recruits and wounded 10 more.
In Mosul, a police colonel was gunned down. A roadside bomb killed a soldier and wounded another. Gunmen killed a Shabak shopkeeper. Gunmen also killed a Shabak man who was in charge of parks and forests. A principal was killed when gunmen attacked the school.
Three soldiers were killed at a militant checkpoint near Tuz Khormato. The militants also beat up the driver of the bus where they found the three soldiers.
A bomb at a policeman’s home in Samarra wounded two women.
Four soldiers were wounded in a roadside blast in Hilla.
A bomb in Qadisiya wounded three policemen.
Also, an argument between two segments of the Bani Malik tribe in Basra has escalated and security forces are unable to stop the violence.
Iran.....
IAEA: Iran Ahead of Schedule on Implementing Nuclear Deal
Halves 20 Percent Enriched Uranium Stockpile
by Jason Ditz, April 17, 2014
The interim nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 is looking better and better today, as the International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed Iran is actually well ahead of schedule in implementing the terms of the pact.
The primary metric they are judging that on is the 20 percent enriched uranium stockpile, which Iran has cut in half since the deal began to be implemented. The terms of the pact are that Iran get rid of the rest of the stockpile by mid-July.
Most of Iran’s enrichment is at 3.5 percent, the level needed for its Bushehr power plant’s reactor. The 20 percent fuel was created in an attempt to make fuel rods for the aging Tehran Research Reactor (TRR), and Iran stopped enriching to that level once they had enough fuel to make rods for it for its conceivable lifespan.
The TRR was built by the United States in the 1960s and provides Iran with materially all of its medical isotopes. The under-construction Arak Heavy Water Reactor, which runs on unenriched uranium, is seen as its eventual replacement, though Western nations have complained about the byproducts of the reactor including small amounts of plutonium.
Reports: Saudi Spy Chief Ousted at US Behest
Bandar Had Repeatedly, Openly Criticized US
by Jason Ditz, April 17, 2014
The recent sacking of Saudi spy chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan came at the behest of the Obama Administration, according to reports from experts familiar with the situation. The official Saudi statement claimed he had “asked to step down.”
Prince Bandar’s term in the post centered primarily around dramatic escalations of the Syrian Civil War, throwing ever more advanced weapons at every more extreme rebel factions, sometimes over explicit US objections.
Bandar, who was close with former President Bush during his time as Saudi Ambassador to the US, was loudly critical of the Obama Administration for not following up on threats to invade Syria, in unusually public comments that many saw as politically driven.
The main member of Bandar’s term as spy chief will no doubt be last August’s trip to Moscow, during which he offered Russia billions of dollars to abandon their alliance with Syria, and openly threatened terrorist attacks by Chechen militants, which he claimed the Saudi government controlled, against the Winter Olympics in Sochi unless Putin agreed.
Syria .....
In Syria, Rebel Attacks in the North Reflect a Number of Important Changes
The intra-rebel civil war has ebbed in these areas, allowing opposition fighters to resume their war with government forces
The Syrian government is eliminating the last rebel strongholds in the centre of the country along the crucial road linking Damascus to Homs and to Tartous on the coast. These areas have always been essential for it to maintain its grip on power.
At the same time, the rebels have launched offensives from places where they have strength, notably against Latakia province just south of the Turkish border and West Aleppo, which is a government bastion that has been under attack since 3 April. Rebel-held parts of Aleppo, most of whose inhabitants have fled, are being pounded by barrel bombs dropped by helicopters while rebels have been firing rockets and shells into the government controlled west of the city.
Homs was once the centre of the popular uprising in 2011 but opposition fighters now hold only some of the ruins in the old city. Many of its remaining inhabitants left under UN auspices in February, but a core of militant fighters stayed behind. Other rebel held areas in Homs have fallen and hundreds of thousands of Sunni have fed into al-Waer district in the west of the city which sealed off by the Syrian army.
In some parts of Homs life continues as normal though there were two recent car bombings inflicting heavy casualties. Other fought-over neighbourhoods have become ‘ghost districts’ and are uninhabited, their old population having fled to Lebanon or Tartous. The army has been systematically sealing off and capturing opposition enclaves in western Homs province such as that around the Crusader fortress of Krak des Chevaliers.
The main government effort at the moment is to clear the Qalamoun mountain region west of the main road linking Damascus and Homs and along the Lebanese border. Yabroud, long a rebel base, was captured after heavy fighting and in the last few days the army has taken the ancient Christian village of Maaloula. The last rebel strongpoint still holding out is Zabadani on the Lebanese border. In these battles fighters from the Lebanese paramilitary movement Hezbollah are acting as highly effective assault troops. They have also been committed in Aleppo this month to stop the rebel attacks underlining the government’s lack of combat-ready troops.
The rebel attacks in the north reflect a number of important changes. The intra-rebel civil war in which the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) has been fighting other groups has ebbed in these areas (though not on the Iraqi border). This allows the opposition fighters to resume their war with government forces. In this part of Syria they have the advantage of an open 500-mile long Turkish border across which they can advance and retreat.
A further feature of recent fighting is that the opposition side has been led by Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian affiliate of al-Qa’ida, and by other jihadi groups. In Latakia, the surprise attack on government positions was reportedly led by Chechen and Moroccan fighters who were initially able to break into an Alawite area where the government is strongly supported, as well as the Armenian village of Kassab.
No comments:
Post a Comment