The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) strongly condemns the Taliban for threatening to ‘eliminate’ journalists associated with two private TV channels – the Tolo TV and 1TV on October 12, 2015. The IFJ demands an end to the continuing threats made against Afghan journalists which violate press freedom across the country.

In a statement issued by the military commission, the Taliban said it ‘does not recognize Tolo TV and 1TV channels as media outlets but designates them as military objectives due to their disrespectful and hostile actions towards Afghanistan’. The Taliban also called the channels propaganda machines that ‘ridicule religious and cultural norms, encourage obscenity and lewdness, inject the minds of youth with dangerous substances such as irreligiousness, immorality, violence, gambling, intermixing and profanity’.

The statement threatened journalists saying ‘All the reporters and associates of these channels will be deemed enemy personnel, all of their centers, offices and dispatched teams will be considered military objectives which will be directly eliminated’.

The threat came in response of the TV channels’ coverage of the recent invasion of Kunduz, a city in northern Afghanistan by the Taliban in late September during which the TV channels reported that the Taliban fighters raped women in hostels.

The Tolo TV said it wouldn’t bow down to the threat. In a statement issued on October 13, it said: “We believe the Afghan people expect the Afghan media not to bow to such threats and to continue on their mission of informing people based on journalism ethics. Media organizations are not one of the warring sides, but civilian organizations. Whenever the Taliban or any other group has complaints, they can adopt peaceful means, because any attack on media and journalists is considered a war crime.”

Tolo TV also announced that they would boycott coverage of news related to Taliban and called on the Afghan government, national and international organizations to extend support to Afghan media and journalists, making their security and immunity a top priority.

The Afghan media industry stood in solidarity with the channels and collectively said they would not bow to the threats of the Taliban.

The IFJ said: “The IFJ strongly condemn the threats by the Taliban to destroy media facilities and eliminate journalists of media houses in Afghanistan. This is an outrageous reaction by the Taliban that dishonors press freedom and human rights. While expressing our solidarity with the media in Afghanistan, the IFJ urges the Afghanistan government to provide security to media houses and journalists.”

General Qasem Soleimani, who heads Iran’s Quds Force—the Iranian special forces unit designated with spreading the Tehran regime’s caliphatist revolution worldwide—has now arrived in Syria along with thousands of Iranian troops, according to reports.

Social media lit up on Tuesday with photos of Soleimani speaking to a group of what appears to be soldiers in Hezbollah and Syrian Army fatigues.

Soleimani has teamed with Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah, the Syrian Armed Forces under Damascus dictator Bashar al-Assad, and Russia, with plans to wage an assault on anti-Assad forces throughout the country.

The Iranian troops will join a coming ground offensive against Syrian rebels in Aleppo, a city that remains divided, with the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army entrenched in constant fighting over the area.

Notably, the presence of the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group in Aleppo is still limited. The pro-Assad coalition, especially Russia, has carried out most of its attacks on Syrian rebels that are not aligned with ISIS. Assad’s forces control most of the city’s western areas, while rebel groups control the east.

Experts have previously warned that there were around seven thousand Iranian troops already in Syria.

“The big battle preparations in that area are clear,” an unnamed official told Reuters. “There is a large mobilization of the Syrian Army… elite Hezbollah fighters, and thousands of Iranians who arrived in stages in recent days.”

“The decision to launch the battle of Aleppo has been taken… It is no longer hidden that thousands of Iranians are now in Syria and their role is fundamental,” a second official described as “close to the Syrian government” told Reuters.

Meanwhile, Iran continues to suffer major casualties in its attempts to prop up the Assad regime.

On Tuesday, two Iranian generals were killed during fighting between pro-Assad forces and Syrian rebels in the city of Homs. Iranian state-media reported that the two were engaged fighting against Islamic State forces, yet Homs remains an area that does not have a significant ISIS presence. (breitbart)

apa.az

American-made anti-tank missiles are turning the tide against the Syrian regime and allied forces in a major battle in the country’s centre and northwest, rebel groups said Tuesday.

Non-Islamist opposition factions say they are using the US-made TOW missiles to halt a Syrian army advance that is backed by Russian air strikes in the provinces of Hama and Idlib.

The deliveries are distinct from ammunition packages that a US-led coalition airdropped to Arab rebel groups in northeastern Syria late Sunday to bolster the fight against the extremist ISIS group.

“These rockets have played an important role in stopping the fierce attack by the Syrian regime and its Russian ally,” said Asaad Hanna, spokesman for the non-Islamist Division 101.

“We are using the (TOW missiles) more now to turn up the heat on the front lines,” Hanna said.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, non-Islamist groups in central Syria have been receiving increased amounts of TOWs in the past four days.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said that rebel commanders were telling their units to “attack any soldier you see using TOW missiles as we have a blank cheque” with supplies so plentiful.

In 2014, rebel groups vetted by the US received TOW missiles for use in the provinces of Idlib, Aleppo, and Latakia.

Ahmad al-Shuhub, spokesman for the Fursan al-Haq rebel brigade, saide the current support was coming from the US-led military based in Amman.

Shuhub said the missiles had allowed the rebels “to respond to the Syrian army’s advance”.

And Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad Saoud, spokesman for Division 13, said the TOW missiles “have determined the battle”.

“Whatever we are want, they are giving it to us,” Saoud said, adding that his group’s situation in terms of ammunition and weapons “is fantastic”.

“The TOW missiles are the central and vital player in determining the battle between us and Russia, Iran, and Syria.”

According to the Observatory, Division 13’s base in the northwestern province of Idlib was targeted by Russian strikes last week.

Russia began its air war in Syria on September 30, saying it was targeting the ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) group and other “terrorists”.

The strikes have been concentrated in Hama and Idlib, often striking Islamist and other rebels instead of ISIS.

Russian air support in northern parts of Hama province has helped a Syrian army ground operation retake some villages in the area.

Spokesperson for the Iraqi Shi’ite militia group known as Popular Mobilization Forces or Hashd al-Shaabi, Kareem al-Nouri has highlighted the need for the Kurdish Peshmerga forces to fight against Islamic State (IS) as they share a common enemy.

Al-Nouri revealed to BasNews that the Shi’ite militia is made up of over 65,000 fighters with tens of thousands more will to enlist, but limited budgets prevent them from expanding their forces.

Concerning his group’s failure in liberating the Iraqi western province of Anbar, al-Nouri claimed that US intervention has delayed the operation because Washington wants the glory of liberating Anbar alone.

“Also, there are thousands of civilians living in the IS-held areas which make the operation more complicated,” Al-Nouri added.

He said that the Peshmerga must take part in the anticipated operation to liberate Mosul and Hawija as they have previously proven their strength by defeating the jihadists in Hawija and Jalawla.

Regarding the future of Shi’ite militia groups while the Iraqi government is creating the Iraqi National Guard, al-Nouri claimed that no other alternatives can replace the Shi’ite militias as they have already demonstrated their effectiveness in the country.

The Shi’ite official rejected reports accusing the group of committing war crimes in Sunni areas and pointed out that some Sunni tribal forces fought alongside Shi’ite forces to drive back IS insurgents from Sunni areas, “and they can prove the opposite of the allegations.”

Iraq has started bombing Islamic State targets with help from a new intelligence center that includes representatives from Russia, Iran and Syria, the head of parliament’s defence and security committee said on Tuesday.

The intelligence center, which includes six members from each country, has been operational for approximately one week, Hakim al Zamili, a leading Shi’ite politician, told Reuters.

Turkey has warned the United States and Russia it will not tolerate Kurdish territorial gains by Kurdish militia of Syrian Kurdistan close to its frontiers in north-western Syria, two senior officials said.

“This is clear cut for us and there is no joking about it,” one official said of the possibility of Syrian Kurdish militia crossing the Euphrates to extend control along Turkish borders from Iraq’s Kurdistan region towards the Mediterranean coast.

Turkey fears advances by Kurdish YPG militia, backed by its PYD political wing, on the Syrian side of its 900 km (560-mile) border will fuel separatist ambitions among Kurds in its own southeastern territories. But Washington has supported YPG fighters as an effective force in combating Islamic State.

“The PYD has been getting closer with both the United States and Russia of late. We view the PYD as a terrorist group and we want all countries to consider the consequences of their cooperation,” one of the Turkish officials said.

Turkey suspects Russia, which launched air strikes in Syria two weeks ago, has also been lending support to the YPG and PYD.

“With support from Russia, the PYD is trying to capture land between Jarablus and Azaz, going west of the Euphrates. We will never accept this,” the official said.
He said Turkey had raised its concerns at high level meetings with the U.S., European Union and Russia.

IRAQI STRIKES

The officials did not say what action, if any, Turkey might take if YPG forces crossed the Euphrates. Ankara has carried out air strikes against Turkish Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels based in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan; but attacks on Kurds in Syria would be far riskier, bringing Ankara into possible conflict both with U.S. and Russian air forces.

The YPG said on Monday it had joined forces with Arab rebels and that their new alliance has been promised fresh weapon supplies by the United States for an assault on Islamic State forces in what is effectively their capital, Raqqa.

Turkey has accused the Kurdish militia of pursuing “demographic change” in northern Syria by forcibly displacing Turkmen and Arab communities. Ankara fears ultimately the creation of an independent Kurdish state occupying contiguous territories currently belonging to Iraq, Syria and Turkey.

Amnesty International on Tuesday accused the YPG, which has seized swathes of northern Syria from Islamic State this year, of committing war crimes by driving out thousands of non-Kurdish civilians and destroying their homes.

The Kurds, who have emerged as the U.S.-led coalition’s most capable partner in Syria against Islamic State on the ground, deny such accusations. They say those who left areas they seized did so to escape fighting and are welcome to return.

Since it was established in 1984 the PKK has been fighting the Turkish state, which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, with the aim of creating an independent Kurdish state.

In the 1990s, the PKK limited its demands to establish an autonomous Kurdish region and more cultural rights for ethnic Kurds,who make up around 22.5 million of the country’s 75-million population but have long been denied basic political and cultural rights, its goal to political autonomy. A large Turkey’s Kurdish community openly sympathise with PKK rebels. Over 40,000 people have been killed int the fighting.

The PKK on Saturday declared a ceasefire and pledging to suspend all offensive actions ahead of November polls.

ekurd.net