North Korea Accuses the US of Declaring War and Threatens to Attack US Aircraft As War Against ISIS
In Europe and the war on terror, seven men have now been arrested in the Parsons Green (Islamic State) ISIS-inspired or directed terror attack that left 30 train passengers injured when the bomb only partially exploded in morning rush hour on September 15th. As well, Muhammad Rabbani a director of the controversial campaign group Cage claimed he is the victim of a 'deeply intrusive' terrorism law ahead of his trial in the UK. Muhammad Rabbani, 36, is charged with 'willfully obstructing or seeking to frustrate a search under the Terrorism Act 2000' after refusing to hand over passwords to his laptop at Heathrow airport on 20 November 2016. The group caused controversy in 2015 when they defended and praised Kuwaiti-born London extremist Mohammed Emwazi man was named as ISIS executioner 'Jihadi John'. London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan has revealed that seven terror plots have been foiled in the last six months since the Westminster attack by British security forces.
In Africa, on Friday, US forces conducted six drone strikes against ISIS desert camp some 150 miles outside the Libyan city of Sirte, killing 17 ISIS fighters and destroying three tactical vehicles. On Sunday, at least three UN peacekeepers were killed in Mali's troubled north while authorities in Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland said on Saturday they had seized a boat loaded with weapons, including anti-aircraft machineguns, AK47 rifles, pistols and ammunition. It is feared that the seized weapons were destined for the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militants. If true this might be the first tangible sign of cooperation between al-Qaeda militants in Yemen and Somalia.
In Asia, a flag like that of ISIS was seen waving in Islamabad's Khana area on Sunday morning, before being removed by police. Chinese and Pakistani forces are currently conducting joint anti-terror drills. A suicide bomber has attacked a NATO convoy in the Afghan capital, Kabul, injuring at least three people. The Myanmar army continues its ethnic cleaning of Rohingya Muslims in the countries Northwest. The Violence erupted in Rakhine state following attacks on security forces by Rohingya militants last October. Further attacks on August 25th provoked a renewed military offensive with many reported atrocities and rape being used as a weapon in the ethnic cleansing operations. The Rohingya militants have denied any links to ISIS or al-Qaeda. The first known ISIS recruitment video featuring a fighter from Singapore has surfaced on social media. After four months of intense aerial bombardment and house-by-house fighting, Philippine commanders believe they are in the final stages of the operation to oust the ISIS-linked Maute rebels and foreign fighters from the city of Marawi.
In the fight against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, the Russian Kilo-class conventionally-powered attack submarine Veliky Novgorod attacked jihadi forces on Friday by firing a series of Kalibr cruise missiles at targets 200 miles away in Idlib, Syria. On Saturday, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces captured the country’s largest gas field from ISIS in an eastern province that borders Iraq. The Iraqi government, backed by the US and other allies, launched a new offensive against the Islamic State in the Hawijah district of Kirkuk province, one of the last two remaining ISIS strongholds inside Iraq. On Monday, millions of Iraqi Kurds began lining up to vote in an independence referendum. Kurds represent the world's largest ethnic group who occupy one geographical area but that do not have their own country. The Kurdish population is largely Sunni Muslims and their estimated population of 35 million spans a mountainous region across Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Armenia. The Kurds have been US military allies in Iraq and Syria and proven effective fighters against ISIS. But they are largely distrusted and historical persecuted by the governments of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Iraq is running scared of a split in their country and the loss of wealthy oil fields under Kurdish control. Iraq’s central government in Baghdad ordered the Kurdish region to hand over all border crossings and airports to federal government control late Sunday night and Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard launched a military exercise on Sunday in its northwestern Kurdish region just ahead of the voting in Iraq.
On the international security front, after Iran test-fired its 2000-2500-kilometer range Khoramshahr Medium Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM) on Saturday, US President, Donald Trump, criticized the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran and other world powers on Saturday, tweeting that the U.S. doesn’t have “much of an agreement.” Trump has vowed to tear up the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), even before he was elected as President. The Khoramshahr MRBM is believed to be a derivative of North Korea’s BM-25 Musudan Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM).
In the Korean crisis, North Korean Foreign Minister, Ri Yong-ho has warned that his country's targeting of the US with ballistic missiles was inevitable after comments between US President, Donald Trump, and Dictator Kim Jong-un. He vowed the country will take “merciless pre-emptive action” if it detects US or allied military action against it. Just hours earlier, US B-21 strategic bombers and escorting fighter aircraft flew in international airspace to the farthest point north of the two Koreas’ border that any such American aircraft has gone this century. North Korea on Sunday released propaganda photos of a US bomber and a supercarrier under attack and thousands of North Koreans held a massive anti-US demonstration in Pyongyang over the weekend. US Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, warned Sunday "all options are on the table" when it comes to dealing with the threat of North Korea. While most observers are focused on North Korea’s long-range missile and nuclear capabilities other experts are warning that North Korea has between 2,500 and 5,000 metric tons of chemical weapons including VX nerve gas and the consequences of their use would be catastrophic. Numerous governments and agencies on both sides of the Pacific detected a 3.4 magnitude earthquake Saturday near the site where North Korea set off a hydrogen bomb earlier this month, prompting speculation of another weapons test, that is yet unconfirmed. Today, North Korea accused US of declaring war on the country and warned that they have "right" to shoot down US bombers even when they are not flying in North Korean airspace.
#ParsonsGreen #JihadiJohn #Cage #ISIS #alqaeda #Maute #alShabab #UK #Syria #Iraq #Iran #US #Libya #Somalia #Yemen #mali #Pakistan #China #Singapore #Afghanistan #Myanmar #RohingyaMuslims #EthnicCleansing #IranRussia #Kiloclasssubmarine #KalibrcruiseMissiles #NorthKorea #Philippines #ChemicalWeapons #NerveGas #VX #KurdishReferendum
