Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s most prestigious centre of learning, expressed outrage at the Islamic State group for burning to death a captive Jordanian pilot, saying its militants deserve to be killed or crucified.

After a video was released showing the caged fighter pilot, Maaz al-Kassasbeh, dying engulfed in flames, the Cairo-based authority’s head, Ahmed al-Tayib, expressed his “strong dismay at this cowardly act”.

This “requires the punishment mentioned in the Koran for these corrupt oppressors who fight against God and his prophet: killing, crucifixion or chopping of the limbs.”

“Islam forbids killing of the innocent human soul… It forbids mutilating the human soul by burning or in any other way even during wars against an enemy that attacks you,” Tayib added in a statement.

IS itself has implemented such punishments against its own members for robbery at checkpoints or stealing funds from religious endowments in territories controlled by the group in Iraq and Syria.

Source:  thepeninsulaqatar

The “Islamic State” (ISIS) terrorist group called for fresh attacks against France in a video released Tuesday, nearly a month after a deadly Islamist assault on a Paris magazine shocked the world, AFP reports.

In the video, an unidentified, masked jihadist is seen surrounded by militants calling on French Muslims to quit their country for ISIS’ self-proclaimed “caliphate”, which covers parts of Iraq and Syria.

The video also called for more killings in France and demanded that France release Islamist detainees and allow them to leave the country.

Gunmen from Ansar al Sharia have stormed the al-Mabrook oilfield in Central Libya, a spokesman for state-run National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Wednesday.

 
Syria urged Jordan to work with it to fight Islamic State and al Qaeda’s Syria wing, condemning what it described as the “heinous” killing of a Jordanian pilot by militants, Syria’s state news agency SANA said on Wednesday.

The Syrian foreign ministry called on Jordan, which is part of a U.S.-led aerial campaign against Islamic State, “to cooperate in the fight against terrorism represented by the organisation Daesh and Nusra Front … and other terrorist organisations associated with them in Syria and the region.”

Daesh is a pejorative Arabic acronym for Islamic State and Nusra Front is al Qaeda’s Syria wing.

Both have seized land in Syria.

The United States has said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad cannot be a partner in the fight against Islamic State.

Defense ministry of Afghanistan says that three Afghan National Army soldiers have embraced martyrdom in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion.

A statement issued by the Defense Ministry on Wednesday morning does not specify the exact location of the incident but states that in took place in past 24 hours.

The statement further states that 48 insurgents were also killed and 69 others injured during the past 24 hours while in confrontations with the Afghan National Army occurred in six provinces.

According to the statement 13 Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) were also discovered and defused by the military.

In the meantime, a statement issued by the Interior Ministry states that nine insurgents were killed in police operations in past 24 hours.

Interior Ministry statement  further states that the operations were conducted in Kabul, Khost, Paktika, Laghman, Paktiya, Helmand, Ghazni, Kandahar, Maidan Wardak, Nimroz and Faryab provinces.

Afghan National Police were also assisted by the Afghan National Army soldiers and personnel from the National Directorate of Security (NDS) where six IEDs were also defused by the security forces, the statement adds.

Source:  khaama

Tehran has passed on its missile-building know-how to Hezbollah, Palestine, Syria and Iraq, allowing them to locally produce their own weapons, an Iranian military commander has said.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has helped Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Lebanon’s Hezbollah by exporting the technology that it has for the production of missiles and other equipment,” Revolutionary Guard Air Force commander Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh said in remarks published Monday in Fars News Agency.

“They can now stand against the Zionist regime, [Daesh] and other takfiri groups and cripple them.”
Hajizadeh noted that his country has also exported its drone technology to other countries.

In November, Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary-general, revealed that Hezbollah had acquired advanced Fateh Iranian missiles with “pinpoint accuracy” that provide a “real deterrence” to Israel.

Source:  albawaba

French military aircraft are carrying out surveillance missions to help countries bordering Nigeria tackle Boko Haram militants, officials said on Tuesday, amid efforts by African countries to coordinate a response to the threat posed by the group.

The African Union (AU) has authorised a force of 7,500 troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin to fight the militants. It is expected to seek a United Nations Security Council mandate, which could also include logistical support from other countries.

“Our air force is carrying out reconnaissance missions” said a French defence ministry source.

Source:  thenews.com.pk

At least 16 soldiers have been killed and 38 wounded during separate clashes around a rebel-held stronghold and a key oil terminal in an eastern Libyan port, officials say, APA reports quoting Press TV.

The Libyan army lost 11 soldiers during an offensive against armed men near the town of Derna on Monday, said Colonel Ahmed al-Mashari on Tuesday.

The armed groups suffered “heavy losses” in the skirmishes, the official added.

Experts say the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group fighting in Syria and Iraq has gained a foothold in Derna amid the chaos in Libya.

Meanwhile, five soldiers were killed and another 13 were wounded during clashes with Fajr Libya militias in the key oil hub of Sidra, Colonel Ali al-Hassi said.

The Tripoli-based General National Congress, backed by the Fajr Libya militias, controlling the capital, are waging a war against the official Libyan army, supported by the Tobruk-based parliament, in the far east of the country.

The new Tripoli rulers have set up a rival parliament and government not recognized by the international community.

Rival political factions are fighting for power and oil in the country, which is devastated by a NATO campaign that led to the fall of longtime dictator Muammar Ghaddafi in 2011.

Source:  apa.az

The Jordanian government has vowed ‘revenge’ and ‘punishment’ for the brutal killing of its pilot, air force Lt. Mu’ath Safi al-Kaseasbeh, by the Islamic State group, the Associated Press reported.

Several media reports quoted anonymous Jordanian officials as saying Jordan planned on speeding up the execution of  Sajida al-Rishawi — a failed suicide-bomber whose release ISIS had demanded in a previous video in exchange for Japanese hostage Kenji Goto — in retribution for Kaseasbeh’s death.

Al-Rishawi is an alleged attempted suicide bomber who is thought to have taken part in bombings in Amman in November 2005. She survived when her explosive belt failed to detonate.

She was sentenced to death by a Jordanian court in September 2006. She is currently appealing the sentence. Jordan also has in its custody four other Islamist terrorists, and their fate is unclear.

The Islamic State group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, released a video Tuesday that showed it burned al-Kaseasbeh alive. The video, titled “Healing of the Believers’ Chests”, included gruesome footage from al-Kaseasbeh’s purported execution.

Stills from the video were widely circulated on ISIS-affiliated Twitter accounts. International Business Times has chosen not to display the video, whose authenticity could not be verified independently.  The Jordanian government confirmed his death and said he had been killed Jan. 3, before ISIS demanded a prisoner exchange for his release.

In a December edition of its Dabiq online magazine, ISIS released the first images and the first interview with the Jordanian military pilot. The group said it shot down the pilot’s plane, but both U.S. and Jordanian officials denied that claim.

ISIS listed several demands it wanted Jordan to meet in exchange for the release of the pilot. The Sunni militant group said it wanted Jordan to stop fighting with the U.S.-led coalition and release several prisoners in exchange for the pilot, regional media reported Sunday. It was the first time ISIS demanded a member of the U.S.-led coalition drop out of the fight.

Jordan has just resumed executions after an eight-year moratorium. In December, it executed 11 people, according to Death Penalty Worldwide, an online database run by Cornell University Law School. Jordan authorities did not give a reason for lifting the moratorium begun in 2006.

According to the database, as of February 2013, there were at least 106 individuals on death row in Jordan. Executions are carried out by hanging. Terrorism-related offenses are among crimes punishable by death alongside murder, rape, robbery and drug trafficking among others.