Bharat Rakshak

ramana wrote:TSJ, Even US is doing that. Why only blame Europe? Worse they want others who face the heat to play nice.

By Telegraph Video and Richard Spencer, Middle East Editor
10:00PM GMT 05 Jan 2016

Islamic State fighters have managed to make their own thermal batteries for surface-to-air missiles, according to a new report.

The batteries have been manufactured in a “University of Jihad” in the de facto capital of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Raqqa, according to videos shown to Sky News.

'Jihadi University' builds missiles (Photo: Sky News)

Their development would be highly significant. While the group has captured large quantities of old missiles, few have been put to use as their batteries had decayed.

Isil have been pushed back in recent months in both Syria and Iraq thanks to their inability to strike back at air attacks from the western allies, and now from Russian jets.

British and other jets could now theoretically be at risk, though the most modern western fighters are probably beyond the threat posed by older surface-to-air missiles of the sort owned by the Syrian army, which Isil would have taken.

Of more concern might be the threat to civilian aircraft, if Isil managed to smuggle such weapons or batteries to operatives around the world - or the instructions on how to make them.

The threat to passenger planes from jihadists has been a constant concern of airlines in recent years, especially since the fall of Col Muammar Gaddafi.

Military experts at the time estimated that 20,000 surface-to-air missiles had gone missing from his stocks in the chaos that followed the civil war. But many of these were also out-of-date.

The new video material was handed to Sky News by the non-Isil rebels of the Free Syrian Army, who found it on an Isil fighter they seized as he passed through their territory apparently on the way to Turkey.

They were apparently unaware of the exact nature of its contents. But when put together, it showed a training school in Raqqa where Isil-sponsored scientists developed new products.

Besides the missile battery, it also showed experiments with remote-controlled car bombs “driven” by dummies. The dummies have internal heat mechanisms that allow them to mimic the “scan signature” of human beings.

Islamic State's driverless car bomb (Photo: Sky News)
The video may have been intended to pass on to Isil trainers operating abroad, it is suggested.

Major Chris Hunter, a former British special forces bomb technician, is quoted in the report as saying the material was “shocking”.

"With this training footage it's very clearly purely designed to pass on information - to pass on the progress in the research and development areas,” he says. “It gives us a very good insight into where they are now, what they're aspiring to do and crucially the diversity of the types of threats we might face.”

Turkey limits defense sales to India to appease Pakistan

Turkey has started to build a military training base in Somalia as part of its pledge to build up the national army for the Somali government, a senior Turkish diplomat has said.

Chinmayanand wrote:Somali Army or proliferating ISIS ?

Some 12 al-Nusra terrorists were killed in clashes that erupted after Daesh militants attacked al-Nusra Front positions in the village of Hosh Hamad in the province of Daraa.

The recent advance by the Syrian Army across the country has increased strife among militant groups, according to FARS News.

Earlier it was reported that Ahrar al-Sham Emir and Shura Council member was killed by unidentified gunmen in the Syrian Province of Homs.

Abu Rated al-Homsi, a member of Ahrar al-Sham Shura Council and Homs Emir, was killed in Syria on Tuesday.

According to reports, unidentified gunmen opened fire at a car carrying al-Homsi, the "Emir" of the Islamic Movement of Ahrar al-Sham, and his wife in the village of al-Farhaniyah, near the town of Talbiseh in Homs. Al-Homsi and his wife were killed.

Ahrar al-Sham leaders have lost three senior commanders as a result of infighting in the recent weeks, according to intelligence sources.

Syrian army soldiers patrol near a building previously used for storing seeds in the countryside of Deir Hafer, a former bastion of Islamic State group, near the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 2, 2015

"Mohammad Abu Yihiya, one of the leaders of Ahrar al-Sham, and Abu Tamim another commander of the terrorist group in Jarjanaz town in Idlib province have been killed as a result of infightings," the sources told FARS News.

Meanwhile, terrorists acknowledged that the military commander of Ahrar al-Sham Abdul-Qader al-Dabaan had been killed.

Last week, it was reported that heavy battles broke out between Takfiri militants from Jeish al-Islam and Jeish Tahrir al-Sham groups in Damascus province as militants continued to lose positions in Syria.
Terrorists from Jeish al-Islam engaged in clashes with Jeish Tahrir al-Sham terrorists in Damascus countryside.

Despite tensions, Russia's 'Syria Express' sails by Istanbul
AFP
By Stuart Williams
January 5, 2016
A Turkish flag flies on a ferry as Russian warship, the BSF Saratov 150, is seen sailing through the Bosphorus off Istanbul en route to the eastern Mediterranean sea

Istanbul (AFP) - It's an occasional but regular sighting in Istanbul. Out of the mist on the Bosphorus that divides Europe and Asia looms the hulk of a Russian warship purposefully making its way to the Mediterranean.

Most likely the ship is part of Moscow's so-called "Syria Express", a key supply line for naval deliveries from its Black Sea ports to military operations backing the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

Dozens of Russian warships, auxiliary naval cargo ships and sometimes even submarines have passed through the Bosphorus Strait, northbound and southbound. Every month since Russia stepped up operations inside Syria last year, according to maritime experts.

But the sight of a Russian warship in Istanbul is striking given that Moscow and Ankara are experiencing their worst relations since the end of the Cold War after the shooting down of a Russian warplane by Turkish jets on the Syrian border on November 24.

The two countries back opposing sides in Syria's almost five-year civil war, with Russia the key supporter of the Damascus regime while Turkey argues that the ouster of Assad is essential to solving the Syrian crisis.

Analysts say that Turkey is bound by the 1936 Montreux Convention on the Dardanelles and Bosphorus, a treaty that gives Ankara full control over the two Straits while committing it to allowing the free passage of naval traffic from Black Sea littoral states.

Russian naval warships in the Bosphorous
Map of Istanbul locating the Bosphorous Strait as well as a wider map showing Crimea and Sevastopol, …

Under its terms, Turkey can only block Russian naval shipping if war is declared or if it feels under an imminent threat of war.

"Since there is no declared war between these two countries it is not possible for Turkey to close the Straits to Russian warships," said Cem Devrim Yaylali, Istanbul-based Turkish naval expert and editor of the Bosphorus Naval News website.

He said that even "in the worst days of the Cold War" -- pitting NATO member Turkey against the Soviet Union -- Ankara and Moscow both observed the treaty.

Mikhail Voitenko, Russian maritime expert and editor of the Maritime Bulletin website, said that the supplies delivered via the Bosphorus were a "lifeline" for the Syria campaign.

"Without the Syrian Express, the Syrian campaign would choke in days or weeks."
A Russian Navy vessel is seen sailing through the Bosphorus in Istanbul, on its way to the coast of …

- Disrupt Syria Express? -

The ships come from Russia's Black Sea naval port or its Sevastapol base in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014 in a move opposed by much of the international community including Turkey.

After entering the Black Sea mouth of the Bosphorus, they sail through the iconic waterway in full view, passing famous landmarks like the Ottoman-era Dolmabahce and Topkapi Palaces.

They then sail across the Sea of Marmara before passing through the Dardanelles and turning south towards the Mediterranean coast of Syria and Russia's naval base at Tartus, its only such facility outside the ex-USSR.

Their passage, however, has not been without tensions in recent weeks.

Passage of Russian warships through the Bosphorus has not been without tensions in recent weeks (AFP
Turkey accused Russia of "provocation" when a soldier aboard the Tsezar Kunikov was spotted on December 4 with a MANPAD shoulder launched missile aimed at the shore.

The Kilo-class Russian submarine Rostov na-Donu was also followed by a Turkish patrol vessel during its passage through the Bosphorus last month.

Almost all the naval traffic in the Bosphorus is Russian. However, the Arleigh Burke class US destroyer USS Ross made a passage in mid-December, possibly in a show of NATO support to Turkey at the peak of the crisis with Moscow.

After one of its planes was shot down just on the Syria border, Moscow has discouraged Russians from travelling to Turkey dealing a blow to the tourism industry and also imposed sanctions on selected goods.

But it stopped short of using the full potential array of sanctions and analysts say Russia may be mindful that Turkey could still disrupt the transit of materials to Syria.

Voitenko said Turkey could "disrupt the Syrian Express to a near fiasco without violating any of the international agreements on Straits shipping regime."

He argued that as well as the warships and auxiliary cargo ships, ordinary freighters are also involved and these could be stopped by Turkish authorities under any pretext.

"In fact, Turkey may stop the Russian campaign in Syria without a single shot fired...," he added

Nick_S wrote:Lol, amazing video.

http://viduki.com/video/39235/The_new_Europe

Nick_S wrote:Lol, amazing video.

http://viduki.com/video/39235/The_new_Europe

Nick_S wrote:Lol, amazing video.

http://viduki.com/video/39235/The_new_Europe

‘We weren’t prepared for this’: Cologne police chief speaks out after NYE mass sexual assaults

Cologne police were not ready to deal with the mass sexual assaults committed during New Year’s celebrations, the city’s police chief told RT, adding that they have never experienced such incidents before.
"Eventually we had a situation where a large group of men were going after women. We did intervene and help. But I'll admit that we were totally bewildered by it all. We have never encountered incidents like this before and we weren't prepared for it," Cologne Chief of Police, Wolfgang Albers, told RT.

Security has been boosted in the German city which was rocked by mass sexual violence on New Year.

According to witnesses, “heavily intoxicated” men of “Arab or North African” origin flooded the city’s famous square between its central train station and Gothic cathedral.

Aged between 15 and 35, individuals in the crowd began throwing firecrackers and setting off fireworks as the New Year arrived.

With the festivities in full swing, some men reportedly sexually assaulted women and pick-pocketed revelers. Among the criminal complaints officially filed, there is at least one allegation of rape.

The city residents are now afraid that such a situation may repeat.

“It scared me. I am coming through this place every day and I am very scared by what happened here. I hope this will never happened again. It is horrible especially for women,” one woman told RT.

“I am afraid. You cannot separate this from the debate about refugee situation. In my opinion we have to help the refugees but we also have to realize and face the danger that comes as a side effect with this policy and we have to stand up to it!” another Cologne resident, a middle-aged man, said.
...

‘We weren’t prepared for this’: Cologne police chief speaks out after NYE mass sexual assaults

Cologne police were not ready to deal with the mass sexual assaults committed during New Year’s celebrations, the city’s police chief told RT, adding that they have never experienced such incidents before.
"Eventually we had a situation where a large group of men were going after women. We did intervene and help. But I'll admit that we were totally bewildered by it all. We have never encountered incidents like this before and we weren't prepared for it," Cologne Chief of Police, Wolfgang Albers, told RT.

Security has been boosted in the German city which was rocked by mass sexual violence on New Year.

According to witnesses, “heavily intoxicated” men of “Arab or North African” origin flooded the city’s famous square between its central train station and Gothic cathedral.

Aged between 15 and 35, individuals in the crowd began throwing firecrackers and setting off fireworks as the New Year arrived.

With the festivities in full swing, some men reportedly sexually assaulted women and pick-pocketed revelers. Among the criminal complaints officially filed, there is at least one allegation of rape.

The city residents are now afraid that such a situation may repeat.

“It scared me. I am coming through this place every day and I am very scared by what happened here. I hope this will never happened again. It is horrible especially for women,” one woman told RT.

“I am afraid. You cannot separate this from the debate about refugee situation. In my opinion we have to help the refugees but we also have to realize and face the danger that comes as a side effect with this policy and we have to stand up to it!” another Cologne resident, a middle-aged man, said.
...

Iran has accused Saudi Arabia of launching an air strike on its embassy in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a.

According to Iranian state-run TV channels a number of embassy guards were injured in the alleged missile attack.

The IRIB news channel quoted an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Hossein Jaber Ansari, as saying: "Saudi Arabia is responsible for the damage to the embassy building and the injury to some of its staff."

Speaking to the Reuters news agency, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said it was investigating Iran's claim.

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He confirmed heavy air strikes were carried out in Sana'a on Wednesday night, but said they were targeting Houthi missile launchers.

Earlier, Iran accused Saudi Arabia of using cluster bombs in a series of air strikes on Thursday which, it said, killed five people.

The claims come amid escalating tensions between the two Middle East powers, after the execution of a prominent Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia and the subsequent ransacking of the Saudi embassy in Tehran.

Saudi Arabia is militarily backing the ousted Sunni-led government in Yemen, while Iran backs the Shia Houthi rebels.