While conflict still rages in Libya, the UN-sponsored national dialogue is moving closer to establishing agreement on at least some fundamentals

Kurdish militia undertook a major offensive against Islamic State in northeast Syria earlier today as fears mounted for dozens of Christians abducted by the hardline group that recently beheaded 21 Egyptian Copts.

At least 90 Assyrian Christians – possibly as many as 150 – were seized from villages in Hasaka province in a mass abduction coinciding with the offensive in the same region by Kurdish forces backed by US-led air strikes, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which tracks the conflict.

Hundreds more Christians have fled to the two main cities in Hasaka province, according to the Syriac council and SOHR.

Aryo Edward, a journalist originally from Kharbour who leads the Assyrian Human Rights Network, has family in Tal Shamiram, one of the villages which was attacked. He told Christian Today that his wife phoned her cousin who lives in the village, but a member of IS picked up the phone.

“My wife asked ‘Where is my cousin? And he [the IS militant] said this is not his house any more, this house is for ISIS.

“The town was attacked so early in the morning that people were sleeping and didn’t have time flee or run away…they [IS] entered the houses, and not only kidnapped people but took over their properties.”

The abductions in Syria follow advances by Kurdish forces against Islamic State in areas of the northeast near the Iraqi border – an area of vital importance to the group as one of the bridges between land it controls in Iraq and Syria.

“They want to show themselves strong, playing on the religion string, at a time when they are being hit hard,” said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the British-based SOHR.

The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, backed by US-led air strikes, last month drove Islamic State from the Syrian town of Kobani, since when further signs of strain have been seen in the group’s ranks.

KURDS INFLICT NEW LOSSES ON ISLAMIC STATE
The Assyrian Christians were taken from villages near the town of Tel Tamr, some 20 km (12 miles) to the northwest of the city of Hasaka. There has been no word on their fate. There have been conflicting reports on where the Christians had been taken.

“These were peaceful villages that had nothing to do with the battles,” said Nasir Haj Mahmoud, a Kurdish official in the YPG militia in northeastern Syria, speaking by telephone from the city of Qamishli.
Some Christians are fighting under the umbrella of the YPG in Hasaka province, but not in that area, he added.

The new Kurdish offensive launched at the weekend was focused on dislodging Islamic State from areas some 100 km (60 miles) further to the east, including Tel Hamis, a town that is one of its strongholds.

The Observatory said at least 132 Islamic State fighters had been killed in the fighting since Feb. 21. Mahmoud, the Kurdish official, said seven members of the Kurdish YPG militia had been killed, including one foreigner.

He said he did not know where the foreigner was from, but British and U.S. citizens have gone to fight with the YPG against Islamic State. A second Kurdish official confirmed a foreigner was “martyred” but declined to give further details.

In a telephone interview from the city of Qamishli, he said the YPG had cut a main road linking Tel Hamis with al-Houl, a town just a few kilometers from the Iraqi border.

“This is the main artery for Daesh,” he said, using an acronym for Islamic State. The Kurdish YPG militia had seized more than 100 villages from Islamic State in the area, he added.

“We believe we will finish the battle of Tel Hamis in this campaign,” he added.
Videos posted online by the YPG showed Kurdish fighters firing at Islamic State positions in Hasaka.

The president of Libya’s elected parliament has proposed appointing army general Khalifa Haftar as top military commander, parliament’s spokesman said on Wednesday.

“Mr Aguila Saleh has proposed to appoint Haftar,” spokesman Farraj Hashem told Reuters. “The House of Representatives  supports this.” He said the decree still needed to be signed by Saleh.

Haftar, an army general, has emerged as strongman in eastern Libya, where the internationally recognised prime minister, Abdullah al-Thinni, is based since losing control of the capital to a rival islamic group in the summer.

Islamic State (Isis) militants have kidnapped more than 100 Iraqi men near Tikrit, including nine boys under 14 years old, according to local reports.

Jihadists attacked the Rubaitha village, east of Tikrit, and took the men away three days ago, according to Al Jazeera, which quoted a local sheikh, Anwar Assi al-Obeidi.

Earlier, Rudaw Kurdish news site reported that the number of those kidnapped by IS was 42, from the same al-Obed tribe.

The sheikh said those captured have relatives fighting against IS in Iraq. Hundreds of members of the al-Obeid tribe have been killed since June last year, he said.

The report comes a day after UN special representative for Iraq Nickolay Mladenov expressed concerns at reports that a number of civilians may have been kidnapped or killed by IS in the Baghdadi area of Anbar province.

It also comes after IS militants attacked and kidnapped 150 Assyrian Christians hostage, including many women and children, from the north-eastern Syrian province of al-Hasakah.

IS is expected to release a video threatening to kill the hostages if the US-led coalition airstrikes do not stop, according to activists

Soldiers from Chad killed 207 Boko Haram militants in fighting on Tuesday near a Nigerian town close to the border with Cameroon, Chad’s army announced in a statement.

One Chadian soldier was killed and another nine were wounded in the clashes near Gambaru, the scene of regular attacks by the Nigerian group in recent months. There was no immediate independent verification of the Chadian army’s announcement.

Chad’s military also claimed to have seized large quantities of small arms and ammunition and two pick-up trucks.

Niger, Cameroon and Chad have launched a regional military campaign to help Nigeria defeat the Boko Haram insurgency, which aims to carve an  emirate out of northeastern Nigeria.

Chad deployed troops last month in support of Cameroonian efforts to stop repeated cross-border raids by the extremists, whose operations increasingly threaten Nigeria’s neighbours.

The African Union last month authorised the creation of the regional force, which will also include Benin, and is pushing for a UN Security Council mandate for the operation.

Source:  khaleejtimes

Libya’s official Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni on Tuesday criticized the United States, Britain and European Union for failing to supply arms to his forces as they battle those of a rival government.

The tough comments come a day after Libya’s elected parliament, allied to Thinni, suspended its participation in U.N.-sponsored talks to try to end the power struggle between the two rival administrations and assemblies.

Thinni has been confined to a rump state in the east since a rival faction called Libya Dawn seized the capital Tripoli last year, reinstating an old assembly known as the GNC and setting up a rival government.

Thinni and the House of Representatives, also based in the east, enjoy the recognition of world powers but anti-Western sentiment has been building up. Many normal people demand military support in the power struggle with Tripoli, four years after the NATO-backed ousting of Muammar Gaddafi.

“Unfortunately, the international community and especially the United States, Britain and the European Union have refused to arm the Libyan army,” Thinni told pan-Arab channel Al-Arabiya.

“Libya Dawn is part of militant Islamists which get weapons, ammunition and supplies from all over the world,” he said. “But America and Britain have other ideas against the interest of the Libyan people.”

Libya is still under a U.N. arms embargo dating from the 2011 uprising, though the country is awash with weapons and dominated by armed factions.

Thinni has been facing pressure from army general Khalifa Haftar who has merged his forces with army troops in the east to fight Islamist groups. While the alliance has managed to win back some territory in Benghazi, Haftar has drawn criticism for calling in air strikes on civilian airports and seaports.

Frustrated with hardships in the east, where the conflict has made petrol, electricity and medicines scarce, protesters have demanded Thinni quit and hand power to a military council headed by Haftar.

In another sign of pro-military sentiment, a committee of the House of Representatives on Tuesday voted to create the position of top military commander, its spokesman Farraj Hashem said.

Lawmakers did not name anyone but analysts expect Haftar to get the job. Some of his senior officers have already received official positions.

In Tripoli, the rival General National Congress (GNC) urged all parties to join the U.N. talks, its second deputy speaker Saleh Makhzoum told reporters.

The United Nations had planned to hold a new round in Morocco this week, after several sessions inside and outside Libya made little progress.

Source:  libyanewstoday

The US Department of Defense (Pentagon) announced that about ten thousand rifle M-16 and other military supplies worth about $ 17.9 million have arrived Iraq this week, while US forces are training and supplying the Iraqi security forces for fighting ISIS militants.

The Pentagon spokesman , Colonel Steve Warren said in a press statement that ten thousand telescope and 100 thousand ammunition envelope have been also was sent to Iraq in the context of urgent military agreement that was completed in 22 days i.e. quarter its original time.

Warren said that the United States has sent 232 Hellfire missiles to Iraqi forces on February 15, in addition to 1570 rockets sent last year.

He added that wireless devices for armored vehicles will arrive next month.

In the past week, an official said that the central leadership of the US Army told reporters that the US and coalition forces will soon begin training Iraqi forces, which are scheduled to take part in an attack to regain control of Mosul.

The official added that there is a need to 20 thousand to 25 thousand Iraqi and Kurdish force to launch an attack, which could begin in April or May if the troops were ready.

News of American efforts to arm the Iraqi forces came after a detailed and statement unusual last week about preparations for the process this spring to regain control of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city from ISIS

Source:  shafaaq