ISIS update 1/12/2016.. terrorist attacks Iraq and Istanbul

At least 45 killed in Iraq terrorist attacks

Bomb kills 2, injures top officer in East Iraq

48 Dead In String Of ISIS Attacks Across Iraq Targeting “Rejectionist Heathens”

Update: 18 are now dead in a mall attack in eastern Baghdad. As expected, Islamic State has indeed claimed responsibility promising “worse” to come.

“Two bombs later went off in the eastern town of Muqdadiya, killing at least 20 people and wounding another 50 [while] another blast in a southeastern Baghdad suburb killed seven more,” Reuters reports. “Islamic State militants controlling swathes of Iraq’s north and west claimed responsibility for the mall attacks, which it said had targeted a gathering of ‘rejectionist heathens’, its derogatory term for Shi’ite Muslims.”

Police have now regained control of the mall. There are no hostages. The attackers shot and killed 5 people upon entering before detonating explosive vests.

* * *

Last week, two attacks on Sunni mosques in Iraq suggested a violent sectarian backlash may be in the cards for the war-torn country on the heels of Saudi Arabi’s move to execute prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

As we noted in “Iraq Says Mosque Bombings Were False Flag ISIS Attacks,” the sectarian issue is particularly divisive in post-Ba’thist Iraq and thus it wouldn’t exactly be a surprise if the country’ Shiite majority lashed out at Sunnis following al-Nimr’s rather untimely demise.

Iraqi officials however, said the attacks were likely false flags staged by ISIS in an effort to exploit the Sheikh’s execution and derail efforts to unite Sunni tribesman and Iran’s powerful Shiite militias in a coordinated effort to drive Islamic State from the country.

Now, gunmen have taken some 75 hostages at a mall in a Shiite neighborhood in eastern Baghdad.

“Police and medical officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters, say the gunmen set off a car bomb at the entrance to the mall on Monday before moving in,” AP reports, adding that “the officials say another 25 people were wounded in the attack and that three police are among the dead.”

“When the security forces got too close, [the attackers] killed three hostages… We are taking a cautious approach now. We want this attack to end with the lowest possible number of casualties,” a source told AFP.

Although no one has yet taken “credit” for the attack, one has to believe this is Islamic State and if so, it marks an incursion into the Iraqi capital and a serious escalation in hostilities just as the country marked its first real “victory” in Ramadi last month.

Earlier today, the group set off a car bomb in Baquba, which is a mere 40 miles from the capital.

If this is in fact ISIS, it’s worth asking which of Islamic State’s regional Sunni benefactors ordered an attack on Shiite civilians.

Iraq launches airstrikes against Daesh in Anbar

Iraqi army advances in Anbar province

Iraqi army recaptures Ramadi’s Great Mosque from ISIS, raises flag

Iraqi Air Force Hits terror targets In iraq

Ramadi Liberated, but Ruined

48-hour evacuation ultimatum given to residents of towns near Ramadi

Iraq forces evacuate hundreds of civilians near Ramadi

Explosion in the heart of Istanbul

Bomb attack kills 10 in Istanbul

Explosion rocks major tourist area in Istanbul

Dark Forces at work in Bombing of historic Istanbul Centre of Tourism

by Ray Caymen, VT Istanbul Bureau

VT Istanbul – Following the double suicide-bombing massacre in Ankara in October, never claimed by ISIS, which left over 100 people (mostly left-wing Kurds) dead, Turkey is rocked by another suicide-bomb attack in Istanbul presently with 10 casualties and 15 wounded. The bomb was detonated near the Obelisk in the famous Sultanahmet Square and the over-worked symbolism just reeks of manipulation.

The authorities were quick enough to put the blame on ISIS and a suicide-bomber from Syria, which is quite convenient for Erdogan.

Erdogan did not state it himself in his globally televised press conference but we heard his standard speech to the effect that “terror is terror and we condemn ISIS as well”. He can show the world that he is fighting against ISIS and that the organisation is targeting Turkey in retribution, and he can show Syria in a bad light.

Best of all, he gets to play the victim in front of the whole world with the usual crocodile tears, which is a role he excels in. But his credibility in the international arena and the region is at an all time low.

Earlier, voice recordings of the secret meeting between his Intelligence Chief Hakan Fidan and Davutoglu, who was Foreign Minister at the time, along with top Military personnel surfaced. Fidan speaks of “having his people send rockets” from Northern Syria to provide an opportunity for Turkey to move military force into Syria. Who would believe anything these people say anymore?

Looking at similar acts of terror in the past, we can however deduce who the perpetrator is by media blackouts. With ISIS there is usually a gag-order on the media, whereas with other extremist groups there is little hindrance for the media. It looks like there will be a media blackout on this so do not be expecting the truth to come out any time soon.

ISIS has openly stated that all other Turkish cities except Istanbul is fair game for the full scope of its activities. “God has bestowed Islamic State with kilometres of land with war and guns, and we ask Him to open the gates of Constantinople (Istanbul) without war and blood-shed” states the foreword of a pro-ISIS magazine Konstantiniyye in its first issue focusing on the conquest of Istanbul.

The delusional idea is that the “believers” will simply take over Istanbul and make it the capital of the Islamic world. It is important to note that Rome and the Vatican, which is the prime target of ISIS in Europe, “will not be spared and women/children will be raped and made into slaves”.

Furthermore, this latest terrorist attack will undoubtedly be another blow for Turkish tourism after the debacle of downing the Russian SU-24, which resulted in Turkey facing huge cancellations from Russian travel agencies. Preliminary reports suggest that there are German nationals among the deceased and this will surely impact visitors from Germany, which is the top tourism provider for Turkey.

The chaos continues and however difficult it may be, we need to see beyond the carnage, get past the fear and find the real source of this evil. Rest assured that the people who are ultimately behind this attack and others like it do not give a moment of thought to the value of human life, it’s all part of their plan.

Turkish Military execute 12 Kurdish Civilians on Street

Relentless warfare in Turkey’s southeast

Turkish Police & Journalist beat Protester

Russia: Turkey sends reinforcements to terrorists in Syria

Turkey and Saudi Arabia biggest threats to world peace – Sen. Black

Opposition refuses to negotiate while Syria is being bombed

Russia calls for constitutional reform in Syria

Assad hails Iran, Russia role in fighting terror

US irked by Syrian request for Russia to fight militants: Analyst

International aid arrives in militant-held town in Syria

Inside Besieged Madaya: ‘Militants sold us 1 kg of rice for $250’

International Military Review – Syria, Jan. 11, 2016

International Military Review – Syria, Jan.12, 2016

Footage of Syrian Arab Army New Operation in Western Aleppo

SAA/Hezbollah Operations in West Aleppo: Al-Rashidin

Kirby: Alleged civilian casualties Russian airstrike Syria. 11 Jan 2016

West Media Starves Truth in Syria
By Finian Cunningham

By Finian Cunningham

January 11, 2016 “Information Clearing House” – “Sputnik” – The Western news media are at it again – telling barefaced lies and half-truths about starving towns in Syria being liberated from sieges. Fake images of emaciated children are also being published to shore up their fraudulent narrative.

Take the image of the malnourished little girl whom the BBC and the British Independent newspaper claimed was from the Syrian town of Madaya. Turns out the girl is from south Lebanon. Her name is Marianna Mazeh. The photo published widely this week by Western media is from three years ago, yet the same media are claiming that she is one of the residents of the Syrian town of Madaya, which the Western media also say is being blockaded by the governments forces of President Bashar al-Assad.

Turns out too that Marianna’s family are infuriated that her forlorn image is being circulated for propaganda purposes. “I live in Tayr Filsey [south Lebanon], not Madaya, and I am fine,” the little girl told Al Manar news agency. She is now aged seven and apparently has made a full recovery from her earlier emaciated condition. The reason for her previous illness is not clear.

A toddler is held up to the camera in this still image taken from video said to be shot in Madaya on January 5, 2016

But what is clear is that Western media have been caught — once again — falsifying reality about the siege towns in Syria now being liberated.

British state-owned broadcaster BBC tells us that there are up to 400,000 people being held in some 15 besieged towns across Syria. The BBC and other Western media refer to these places as “rebel-held”, and by a process of outright lies or half-truths, it is inferred that the locations are being besieged by the Syrian army, supported by Hezbollah militia and Russian air power.

Occasionally, the Western media let slip, like when the New York Times reported this week on “people being shot as they try to escape” the captive towns. The people are being shot — by the so-called rebels holding the residents as hostages, but the NY Times omitted that fact.

The half-truth that the Western media don’t tell is that many towns in Syria have been, and are still, taken over by foreign-backed mercenary militia. They are terrorists, not “rebels”, belonging to such groups as the so-called Islamic State (or Daesh), al Nusra Front and Jaish al-Islam. All of them espouse a twisted, corrupted version of Islam, which ordains that anyone opposed to them can be beheaded or their children gang-raped.

The Western media portray the “Syrian regime” forces as having blockaded the towns and using starvation as a weapon against the residents. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The populations have been held hostage by the terror groups and used as “human shields” to prevent the Syrian army advancing to liberate those being held against their will.

This week, the siege towns being reported in the news are Madaya near the capital Damascus, as well as the northern locations of Kefraya and Foua. But the same siege situations and eventual liberation were repeated previously in many other towns and villages, such as Zabadani, Kessab, Adra, Homs and Maloula.

In all cases, the residents have welcomed the Syrian army with open arms as “liberators” — grateful to have been freed from the nightmare of captivity under the foreign-backed mercenaries. Their conditions of starvation and general brutality were not due to alleged blockade by the Syrian state forces, as the Western media claim, but rather as a direct result of being kidnapped en masse by the mercenaries.

Irish peace activist, Dr Declan Hayes, told this author how he witnessed the liberation of Maloula near the border with Lebanon back in 2014.

“It was Easter Sunday, April 24, when we entered the town with Syrian army forces. It had been held captive by the mercenaries for several months. We were greeted by cheering, flag-waving children, by young and old, by Christians and Muslims. The atmosphere was euphoric,” recounted Hayes.

“You had to see the destruction of Maloula to believe it. Everything had been destroyed by the occupying mercenaries. People were still in a state of shock from the brutality they had been subjected to. Beheadings, shootings, kidnappings, rape. There was graffiti on walls written by the so-called jihadists which said, ‘We get closer to God by cutting the heads off our enemies’.”

These are the same mercenaries that Western governments and their media refer to as “rebels”. As with the siege of Madaya and other towns being ended this week, the Western media contrived a narrative that Maloula was similarly under siege from the Syrian army.

Of course, the reason why the West refers to “rebels” and not “terrorists” is because the terrorists are supported by Western governments and their regional allies in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. Half-truths are invented because the full truth is a shocking revelation of the real, criminal nature of Western governments and how they have sponsored a covert war in Syria for their illicit scheme of regime change against the Assad administration.

Dr Hayes says there is a clinical method in the madness that Syrian towns and communities have been plunged into. The objective is to destroy the rich pluralist fabric of Syrian society and culture.

“Maloula is one of the earliest Christian dwellings in the world. People there speak Aramaic dating back to the time of Jesus,” explained Hayes. “But the community there also include Muslims, Sunni, Shia, Alawite, Druze and other faiths. They have been living peacefully together for centuries. Maloula is an epitome of larger Syrian society. It is pluralist, peacefully coexisting.”

What the foreign-backed mercenaries have tried to do since the conflict erupted in March 2011 is to destroy the tapestry of Syrian society by brutalizing communities and trying to hack open sectarian schisms.

Hayes believes that the mercenary brigades running amok in Syria for the past five years have been directed by Western military intelligence, the American CIA and British MI6, along with Turk intelligence. “The command and control of these terrorists is outside Syria. The terrorists are following a demonic, but deliberate, plan to destroy the society.”

The Western news media are the propaganda arm of the state-sponsored terrorist assault on Syria. A country has been brought to within a breath of being demolished totally, of being turned into failed state like so many other countries where Western powers have illegally interfered “to bring democracy”.

Russia’s military intervention at the end of September pulled Syria back from the brink. And it is Russia’s air power, along with the ground forces of the Syrian army, Hezbollah and Iran, that is now forcing the terrorists to capitulate. Hence the rapid ending of so many sieges.

Spinning with ever-more lies, Western media are now trying to tell their public that the “evil Assad regime” is (inexplicably) having a change of heart and allowing in aid convoys to the stricken, starving populations.

The plain truth is that people in Syria are being held siege by Western-orchestrated terrorists.

A siege of another kind is also being forced on the minds of the Western public by the Western media; it involves starving them of the truth. Finian Cunningham

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Militants Withdraw from More Territories East of Syria’s Damascus
URGENT: Senior Militant Commander Killed by Syrian Army North of Dara’a
Aleppo: Syrian Air Force, Army Destroy ISIL’s Positions, Supply Lines
Militant Groups Sustain Heavy Causalities in Army Attacks in Syria’s Dara’a