The death toll of a suspected Saudi-led coalition airstrike that hit a family’s house in southern Yemen has been raised to 11, including four children from one family, security officials and witnesses said Wednesday.

The officials said that warplanes, thought to be Emirati, fired two missiles at the family’s house in the town of el-Mahala, in the southern province of Lahj. The house was flattened and only one child from the family survived the strike, they said.

The officials said the home is adjacent to a building that is suspected of housing Islamic militants.

A witness, Ahmed Hadash, said he heard explosions for 40 minutes while the warplanes were flying.

“The bodies were distorted and the human remains were everywhere,” he said.

The governor of Lahij, Naser al-Khoubeigi, has called on the Yemeni government and the coalition to conduct an investigation. He denied any communications between the authorities in Lahij and the coalition.

“We know nothing about the attack. The coalition conducts attacks without informing us. The responsibility of this operation is on those who provide the coalition with the wrong coordinates,” he said.

Security officials claim that the Saudi-led coalition regularly conducts unreported strikes and has detained many people, claiming that they are members of al-Qaida or the local Islamic State group affiliate.

“They have their own prisons,” one official said.

Also on Wednesday, a suspected Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit a mineral water factory in Lahij, security officials said. No causalities were reported.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

Yemen has been mired in a conflict pitting Shiite rebels against the internationally-recognized government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition. Extremist factions like al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have gained ground amid the chaos.

Since the war against Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, began, more than 8100 people in Yemen have been killed. The United Nations says more than 80 percent of Yemenis are in dire need of food, water and other aid as a result of the conflict in the Arab world’s poorest country.

ap.org

An informed source in the city of Fallujah revealed, that the so-called ISIS cut the tongues of five of its members who tried to flee from the city.

The source reported for IraqiNews.com, “ISIS terrorist gangs cut the tongues of five of its members who tried to flee from the city after being sentenced by the so-called ISIS Sharia Court.”

The source, who asked to remain anonymous, added, “ISIS committed this crime in public in front of its members and citizens.”

iraqinews.com

Jordan does not rule out deploying troops to ward off the Daesh militants from its border with Syria, Jordanian Ambassador to Russia Ziad al-Majali said.

“Military action is only possible to protect our borders from terrorists,” the ambassador told RIA Novosti, when asked about Jordan’s potential contribution to the Syrian crisis settlement.

Al-Majali noted that a military resolution of the Syrian crisis would be “unacceptable.” Jordan has always supported the political settlement of the conflict in Syria and the international efforts to end the civil war in its neighbor state, the ambassador added.

Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad fighting numerous opposition factions and extremist groups. A US-Russia-brokered ceasefire came into force across Syria on February 27, but it does not apply to terrorist organizations active in the country, such as the Daesh and Nusra Front, both outlawed in Russia.

Jordan has been a part of the the Friends of Syria format, a group of countries and international organizations that convene to discuss the topic of the Syrian crisis outside the UN Security Council. France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Qatar, Italy, the United Arab Emirates and the United States are also among the members of the group.

sputniknews.com/

Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists are using civilians as human shields in the group’s de facto Syria capital Raqqa, a Syrian activist said Tuesday, complicating things for a Kurdish-Arab alliance which has launched an offensive in the area.

The Syrian Democratic Forces, a seven-month-old alliance between Kurdish and Arab forces, launched an offensive on Tuesday in areas north of Raqqa.

The operation is potentially one of the most serious ground efforts against ISIS since it declared a self-styled “caliphate” straddling the Syrian-Iraqi border in 2014.

ISIS’s use of human shields mimics tactics used by other Islamist terrorist groups, most notoriously by Hamas in Gaza during its war with Israel in 2014.

“They are using the civilians as a cover. So you’ll find them in the same building. In a civilian building, you’ll find two or three apartments for ISIS fighters,” said Abdel Aziz al-Hamza, a co-founder of the Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently group.

“They also talk of some schools as places to stay because these schools have basements, something underground, so they are protected from the air strikes. And they are surrounded by civilian buildings.”

There have been mounting concerns that the estimated 50,000 civilians believed to still be inside had nowhere to go.

“The civilians are besieged, they can’t leave their city,” said Hamza, who fled Raqqa in January 2014 and has been living in Germany.

“ISIS doesn’t let anyone leave the city. At the same time, life has become at least ten times more expensive in the city,” he said.

“They are trying to show all the time that their city is a paradise, and everything is okay and you can find whatever you want.

“You will find huge lines of thousands of people waiting to get some food and they are getting this food from a relief kitchen which is not supported by ISIS.”

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said there had been intense coalition strikes in Raqqa on Tuesday, killing at least 22 jihadists.

According to US officials, several thousand ISIS jihadists are defending Raqa, while the SDF counts about 30,000 fighters.

inn.com

A representative of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has told Sputnik Turkey that the SDF has launched a large-scale three-pronged offensive to liberate Syria’s third-largest city Raqqa, which has been the ‘capital’ city of Daesh terrorists for over 2.5 years.

Iran claims that it can level Israel ‘in less than eight minutes,’ and the Obama administration has once again showed its penchant for fecklessness regarding the Middle East. This brazen declaration from Iranian military officials comes after their new 2,000km-range missiles that were tested over the past couple of weeks proved to be fairly accurate (via Daily Mail):

Iran has boasted it is capable of destroying Israel ‘in less than eight minutes’ – two weeks after testing missiles which can reach the state.Senior military adviser Ahmad Karimpour said the country had the capacity to ‘raze the Zionist regime’ using the ‘abilities and equipment’ Iran had at its disposal.

The warning came just weeks after Iran claimed to have successfully tested 2,000km-range missiles capable of hitting Israel.

According to the Times of Israel, Karimpour – an adviser to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ elite unit al-Quds Force – said: ‘If the Supreme Leader’s orders [are] to be executed, with the abilities and the equipment at our disposal, we will raze the Zionist regime in less than eight minutes.’

Earlier this month, Tehran military chiefs hailed the accuracy of a rocket it claimed could leave the Earth’s atmosphere before hitting its target ‘without error’.

These ballistic missile tests were part of the months-long negotiations over the nation’s nuclear program, but the U.S. and other world powers decided to water down language directed at its missile program in a way that these tests, while disconcerting, are allowed under international law (via U.S. News and World Report):

There was never any explicit linkage between Iran’s nuclear and missile programs in the negotiations with Iran and six world powers – the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. The topic of limiting Iran’s missiles came up early in the proceedings, Iran balked and the United States dropped the matter. It did not seem to be a problem, since the United Nations and other international organizations already had sets of restrictions in place. But most of those limitations were dropped under the final terms of the deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.[…]

On the same day at the U.N., U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power agreedthat the missile test “merits a [Security] Council response.” But Russian Ambassador to the U.N. Vitaly Churkin objected, saying that Iran’s missile test did not violate U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231, which was adopted in July 2015 as part of the nuclear deal’s implementation.

Resolution 2231 rescinded six previous resolutions aimed at restricting Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. In particular, it negated Resolution 1929, which instructed that “Iran shall not undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using ballistic missile technology, and that States shall take all necessary measures to prevent the transfer of technology or technical assistance to Iran related to such activities.” This language was the basis for a number of national and international missile-related sanctions.

Contrast the powerful enabling language of resolution 1929 with thefeeble text that replaced it in resolution 2231: “Iran is called upon not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology, until the date eight years after the [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] Adoption Day or until the date on which the [International Atomic Energy Agency] submits a report confirming the Broader Conclusion, whichever is earlier.”

Under the old legal regime, Iran was told it “shall not” engage in missile programs, and member states were empowered to take “all necessary measures” to prevent missile technology transfer. Under the new deal, Iran is simply “called upon” not to continue its missile program for eight years at the most, and member states are not granted any specific powers to stop it. Somehow in the rush to reach a deal acceptable to Iran, the anti-missile language was watered down to the point of irrelevance.

[Russian Ambassador to the U.N. Vitaly] Churkin believes that this is acritical legal difference. “A call is different from a ban,” he said, “so legally you cannot violate a call, you can comply with a call or you can ignore the call, but you cannot violate a call.” Power denounced this as Russia “lawyering its way to look for reasons not to act,” and a “call” versus a “ban” is a distinction without a difference.

Well, they’re doing it, and this administration doesn’t seem to see the nefarious intent. After all, Iran had missiles that can reach Israel. What they’re really after are missile packages that can reach us—here in the United States. But that’s a homework assignment for the next guy or gal in the Oval.

townhall.com

“Many parts of Fallujah came under intense fire on Tuesday after army forces and the Hashd al-Shaabi [Shia militia] fired about 60 missiles into the city,” local tribal chief Sheikh Majid al-Jerisi told Anadolu Agency by phone.

According to al-Jerisi, casualties included five children and three women, while a number of others were injured.

It was the second day in which Fallujah came under fire following the launch of a fresh campaign by Iraqi forces to capture the war-battered city from IS.

On Monday, at least nine civilians were killed when the Iraqi army and allied militiamen shelled different parts of the city, according to al-Jerisi.

“Army forces and the Hashd al-Shaabi shelled Fallujah from morning till evening on Monday with more than 30 mortar rounds,” al-Jerisi said.

According to a local security source, Iraqi forces early Monday captured 12 districts of Fallujah, considered IS’s primary stronghold in Anbar province.

In a Monday statement, federal police officer Raed Jawdat said that joint forces — including army troops, counter-terrorism units, pro-government militiamen and tribal fighters — had managed to capture the city’s Subaihat, Al-Shihabi, Al-Lifiyya, Al-Karma, Al-Boaudh, Jamilah, Al-Bouhadid, Al-Nasser and Al-Sajr districts, among others.

Jawdat added that some 40 IS militants had been killed in the operation, in which medium and heavy weapons were employed.

On Sunday night, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced the launch of the military campaign.

“The operation to liberate Fallujah is being carried out with the participation of Iraqi army forces, counter-terrorism units, the federal police, the Hashd al-Shaabi militia and tribal fighters,” al-Abadi said.

Located along the Euphrates River about 50 kilometers west of capital Baghdad, Fallujah — which fell to IS in early 2014 — is currently home to some 90,000 people.

thepeninsulaqatar.com/

Extremists of the Islamic State (ISIS) have executed 20 civilians in Mosul city of Iraq’s northwestern Nineveh province, local sources reported on Sunday.

The victims, including 19 young men and a woman, were arrested by the ISIS-led Islamic Police last week on various charges.

The ISIS-linked Sharia Court in Mosul issued a statement regarding the reasons behind the execution of the twenty civilians.

“The woman was accused of committing adultery, nine men were accused of spying for hostile parties, and ten others were arrested on charges of apostasy and violating the ISIS regulations in Mosul,” local media activist Abdullah al-Malla told ARA News in Mosul, citing a statement by the Sharia Court.

“They were publicly executed by firing squad. Hundreds of people have been invited to witness the brutal execution,” al-Malla reported.

This comes just one days after ISIS extremists beheaded three civilians in Iraq’s northwestern Nineveh province on charges of spying for the Kurdish Peshmerga force. The three victims were arrested by ISIS militants on Friday evening while trying to escape the Safina village of the Qayyarah district in southern Mosul.

The Sharia Court in Mosul claimed that interrogations revealed the involvement of the three young men in leaking security information about the group to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, local sources reported.

“By such executions, ISIS is trying to send a message to the Peshmerga, Iraqi army and the US-led coalition that the group is still powerful and is able to uncover any attempts to leak security information about its activities to those forces,” head of Nineveh media centre Raafat al-Zarari told ARA News.

aranews.net

Prominent Islamic State (ISIS) jihadi and governor of Deir ez-Zor Abu Khadijah al-Masri was killed along with other ISIS members during clashes with Syrian army forces in eastern Syria, activists reported on Sunday.

Al-Masri, an Egyptian jihadi who joined ISIS ranks in 2014, was appointed by the group’s leadership as a Wali, or governor, for the ISIS-held Deir ez-Zor. He joined the military campaign in defence of the ISIS-held Syrian eastern province against regime army troops.

“More than 15 ISIS fighters were killed on Sunday, including al-Masri, in clashes with the Syrian army in the vicinity of Deir ez-Zor military airport,” media activist Salman Hammadi told ARA News in Deir ez-Zor.

Fierce clashes took place on Sunday in the Tharda district near the airbase. ISIS militants were forced to withdraw towards the city centre after the death and injury of dozens of the group’s fighters under shelling by the Syrian army.

After a failed attempt to storm the military airbase, ISIS militants launched two car bomb attacks on the regime-held neighbourhood of Sinaa east of the city Deir ez-Zor, killing at least four pro-regime forces and injuring others.

“Conduction the car bomb attacks came in response to the death of al-Masri and other fighters of the Islamic State near the Deir ez-Zor airbase,” a source close to ISIS told ARA News.

aranews.net

On Saturday evening three Islamic State (ISIS) attackers killed scores of civilians and injured a dozen more in an indiscriminate attack in the al-Wusta district of Syria’s northeastern city of Qamishli [Qamishlo]. This is the third attack the extremist group carries out against locals in the same district mainly populated by Christians.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it targeted Kurdish forces in Qamishli. “Martyrdom commando’s launched on attack on army positions in central Qamishli against Kurdish units,” the ISIS-linked Amaq agency said on Saturday.

The ISIS members started the attack by firing randomly on civilians with automatic weapons and throwing grenades before attempting to carry out suicide attacks in the Miami street near the Dominos and Miami restaurant of Wusta district.

Eyewitnesses in the restaurant who escaped the attack suggested an attacker shouted ‘Allah Akbar’ before exploding himself at the entrance of the restaurant.

Local sources confirmed the death of six civilians and the injury of a dozen others as a result of the terrorist attack on the Christian district in Qamishli.

Also on Saturday, at least five members of the Kurdish security forces of Asayish were killed after two car bomb attacks hit a security headquarter in the Alia town in Hasakah province, northeastern Syria, officials said.

“Two car bombs exploded near the Asayish centre in Alia town in Tel Temir countryside of Hasakah province on Saturday. Five Kurdish Asayish forces died due to the terror attack,” the Asayish leadership said in a statement.

“Our forces were killed while trying to prevent the explosive cars from entering the town. They died while trying to prevent civilian casualties,” Asayish officer Ali Abdo told ARA News in Alia town.

The Kurdish security officer accused militants of the Islamic State (ISIS) of being behind the attack.

“We have expelled ISIS terrorists from Tel Temir district and the surround areas. Now the group tries to infiltrate into the district and kill more innocent civilians, especially Christians and Kurds, but we stress that we’ll do our best in order to protect the people of this region against this barbaric group and its atrocities,” he told ARA News.

aranews.net