Pakistan - Peshawar airport attack mastermind arrested.

Pakistan - Peshawar airport attack mastermind arrested. (ET).

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s counter terrorism department has arrested a high-profile terrorist who targeted an airplane at Bacha Khan International airport in Peshawar in June last year, officials said on Friday.

“Noor Muhammad, a resident of Nowshera, was taken into custody from Ring Road, Peshawar. The accused after initial interrogation confessed to firing at Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-756 from Riyadh to Peshawar on June 25, 2014,” a statement from CTD stated.

“The accused was a member of a banned terrorist outfit,” CTD officials said. However, they refused to name the outfit.

“We have evidence that the suspect was not only involved in collecting extortion money but in target killings of security personnel as well,” the officials added.

Further, the statement said the accused will be handed over to Badhaber police station where an FIR was registered against unknown culprits last year after the firing incident occurred. “Further developments are expected,” the officials added.

France ‘foils terrorist attacks’ on military sites, with the arrest of four people.

France ‘foils terrorist attacks’ on military sites, with the arrest of four people. (FR24).

Security forces prevented an attack on French military installations this week with the arrest of four people with links to jailed jihadists, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Wednesday.

The news of the arrests followed a statement from French President François Hollande, who said terrorist attacks had been foiled in recent days.

"This week, we stopped terrorist attacks which could have taken place," Hollande said on a visit to the French coastal city of Marseille.

The four suspects were aged between 16 and 23 and arrested in different places around France, Cazeneuve said. One was a former member of the navy.

A source close to the investigation into the thwarted attack, who asked to remain anonymous, said the four people arrested had been planning to film the decapitation of a member of the military in the south of France.

Their project, which the police have not yet provided, according to the press was to attack a military base near Perpignan, to kidnap them an officer and beheaded, to then transmit the images of this sordid execution. 

How far these individuals were they prepared? Did they have the means of their operation? The remains unclear. Three details, however, are worrisome.

The alleged leader of the group is a former military "reformed of the Navy," which accredits the presence of former French soldiers in the ranks of jihadists as has been mentioned several times.

One of the organizers in the Daech group in Syria would be, among others, an ex-military. According to former journalist David Thomson, a terrorism expert, ten former recruits would be active in the combat zones of "Islamic state."

Second worrying information: the reference made by the four young people arrested in the attack against 'Charlie Hebdo', they apparently counted "commemorate" next January with their attack to honor Kouachi brothers, authors of the massacre, fell under police bullets. What could be feared other such operations.

Third point: the very young age of these activists, on which again further details will surely be revealed soon by justice, if they are indicted. Recently, a report by the socialist deputy Malek Boutih emphasized the problem of jihadist recruitment among French teenagers - or resident in France - Muslims. The proof was soon to come. One of the four suspects, who was identified as the mastermind, had been planning to travel to jihadist-controlled areas of war-torn Syria, Cazeneuve added in his statement.

He said their leader was in contact with known French jihadists who are currently in prison.

The arrests were made at dawn on Monday, the day before Bastille Day, France’s national public holiday. Read the full story here. More here in French.

ISIS? Cache of explosives, detonators and grenades stolen from French army base in the South of France.

ISIS? Cache of explosives, detonators and grenades stolen from French army base in the South of France. (Euronews).

A cache of explosives, detonators and grenades have been stolen from an army base in the south of France.

The burglary happened despite heightened security in the country after a worker beheaded his boss and tried to blow up an industrial site near Lyon at the end of June.

The high-security army base is located in the town of Miramis around 60 kilometers west of Marseille.

The mayor of Miramis, Frederic Vigouroux, said everything stolen is “inherently dangerous.”

“There is a reinforced double wire fence, we have patrols, there are dogs, every type of security the military can provide. There are munitions, it’s not just a police station,” said Vigouroux .

A police official said the burglars appear to have cut through the fence to get into the base.

The Marseille prosecutor said an investigation is underway into charges of “fraudulent entry into a military compound.”   Hmmmm.......In the South of France where most ISIS groupies are active, Target Could be for 14 Th July, or arrival of the Tour de France, after checking it seems the second last arrival of the Tour de France is in the South of France.....Coincidence?.

180 détonateurs, pains de plastique et 40taine de grenades volés dans un entrepôt logistique de @armeedeterrefr à Miramas. #auditsecurite

— mpasquet (@Oser_Cest_Agir) July 7, 2015

Video - Stand Up Comedy Jim Jefferies - US Gun Control -

Some may consider putting this video as 'Bad taste', I've always considered and used humor as a way to get the message over.

A Must read!  The Chapel Hill Tragedy and American Muslims’ Mental Health.

When acts like this murder hit so close to home, it’s natural to fall in to a state of despair, helplessness, paranoia and depression. But that is not the only murder that is happening: we are slowly killing ourselves by denying the destruction that mental illness is causing in our communities.

How does one cope with such acts of hatred, knowing that people do not care if you live or die? This type of stress is not new in the society; any marginalized and oppressed population feel the same pain. Statistics of drug use, depression, anxiety, suicide, addictions, psychotic episodes in the American Muslim population are rapidly approaching (if it already has not in select areas) the norm of American society.

We have taken that away from ourselves as a society. We do not put the same weight of mental health as we do on physical health. This is the silent killer. 

The instability of people’s mental health goes unnoticed, and then when they do some unstable things, we are surprised and shocked.

Hatred is a mental health issue. 

Lack of value for life is a mental health issue. 

How many youth had to die in those schools before we took mental health seriously? 

How many people had to get shot on college campuses before we address our mental health? 

How many fatal hate crimes do we want to happen to anyone before we take this seriously? 

Mental Health is not a game anymore: it is life and death, literally. 

Our mental health takes us seriously, so we had better take it seriously. This begins with acknowledging that there is a problem, addressing it, and beginning the process of healing and some type of therapy, consultation, evaluation, and similar services from professionals.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr. Halim Naeem holds a degree in Counseling Psychology at Western Michigan University. He is a practicing psychotherapist and president of his own private practice, Naeem and Associates in Livonia, MI. He specializes in ADD/ADHD, psychological assessment, and behavioral issues among adolescents and young adults. He works with individuals, couples, and families. He is also the president of Muslim Mental Health (www.MuslimMentalHealth.com), the leading nationwide experts regarding mental health issues in the Muslim community.

@riwired @Salon CHICAGO MURDERS - 2015 DEATH TOLL: 188. - NO presidential Statement http://t.co/ylRZXmHxRL #CharlestonShooting pres Hometown

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) June 19, 2015

Video - PA official justifies shooting civilians: "There are no innocent Israelis"

Video - PA official justifies shooting civilians: "There are no innocent Israelis" HT: Palwatch.

PA official Rejects joining International Criminal Court because PA could be put on trial.

Senior Palestinian official and Fatah leader, Abbas Zaki, stated that he does not want the Palestinian Authority to join the International Criminal Court, because if Palestinians shoot Israelis they could then be tried in international courts. Discussing this, Zaki added that in his opinion "there are no innocent Israelis."

Member of Fatah Central Committee Abbas Zaki:

"I'm against signing the Rome Statute (i.e., joining the International Criminal Court) as long as our country is occupied. If tomorrow you shoot, they’ll say you signed an agreement. This is not meant for people who want to liberate their country... I think the [Palestinian] people’s weapon is pure - they don’t want to kill. By the way, there are no innocent Israelis."

[Palestine Today TV (Lebanon), Aug. 22, 2014] Click to view

Earlier this year, Palestinian Media Watch reported on Zaki's belief that "Allah, will gather them [Israelis] so we can kill them."

"Vae Victis" - Could Foreigners Who Serve in Israeli Army Face War Crimes Charges?

"Vae Victis" - Could Foreigners Who Serve in Israeli Army Face War Crimes Charges? (Forward).

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki has sent a letter to UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon and a number of Western foreign ministers asking them to bring to trial their citizens who serve in the Israeli army or volunteer with the military for alleged war crimes commited in Gaza.

Haaretz received a copy of the letter Maliki sent Tuesday to his U.S., British, French, Australian, Canadian and South African counterparts. In the letter, he emphasized that UN member states bear the responsibility of investigating and putting on trial people in their jurisdictions who have violated international law.

“The Israeli military currently has approximately thousands in its ranks. This total includes both Israeli dual nationals and non-Israeli volunteers enlisted through so-called “Mahal” programs,” Maliki wrote. “These dual nationals and foreign nationals participate in Israeli combat operations within the territory of the occupied State of Palestine, including the current offensive in the Gaza Strip. Additionally, foreign nationals volunteering with the so-called “Sar-El” program provide non-combat maintenance and logistics support to the Israeli occupation forces.”

The Mahal program enables young Jews aged 18 to 24 years from around the world who don’t have Israeli citizenship to volunteer for the Israeli military. They serve in combat units for one-and-a-half years, and volunteers get temporary residency status. The Sar-El program, a joint initiative of the Jewish Agency and the Israel Defense Forces, brings Jewish volunteers from around the world to Israel for a period of one week to one year during which time they volunteer with bases around the country.

In the letter, Maliki says that IDF forces have carried out a long line of war crimes in the Gaza Strip, in the past and in the current round of fighting, which has caused the deaths of many innocent civilians and the destruction of key infrastructure. Under the Geneva Convention, which all the recipients of the letter are signatories of, “States are obligated to take all measures necessary to suppress violations of international humanitarian law, including grave breaches, i.e. war crimes,” he added.

“Palestine hereby calls upon all member States of the United Nations to meet these legal obligations with regard to the potential involvement of its nationals in international crimes relating to Israel’s occupation of Palestine, including the ongoing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip,” he wrote.

Maliki then identified a number of steps the Palestinians want the recipients of the letter to take:

1. Identifying all of its nationals who are serving in or otherwise aiding Israeli occupation forces, including participants in the so-called “Mahal” volunteer brigade and the so-called “Sar-El” volunteer program;
2. Notifying all such persons of alleged violations and war crimes committed by Israel during the current offensive in the Gaza Strip, the potential criminal liability for committing or contributing to the commission of war crimes, and each State’s obligation under international humanitarian law to investigate potential war crimes within its jurisdiction and prosecute where appropriate; and
3. Investigating any allegations that its nationals were involved in the commission and/or the aiding and abetting of war crimes during the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, and prosecuting these individuals where appropriate.

It remains to be seen how practical the Palestinian request from Western countries to investigate their citizens who served in the IDF is. There is reason to believe that most of the countries that received the letter will be reluctant to do anything about it. And even if they wanted to advance the issue, it would prove extremely difficult for them to identify and locate those individuals.

However, Maliki’s letter is another attempt to increase the diplomatic and legal pressure internationally after the Gaza operation. It was only a few weeks ago that the Palestinian Authority pushed for the establishment of a Gaza war crimes commission in the UN Human Rights Council to investigate alleged Israeli crimes during the fighting in Gaza.

In addition, the PA is holding discussions and consultations with Hamas about the possibility of signing the Rome Statute and applying to the International Criminal Court in the Hague. But despite the surge in Palestinian statements on this topic, it seems that Abbas, fearing an Israeli response and harsh international criticism, is not interested, at this time, to move further along that path.

Report: Turkey Seeks 10 Life Sentences For Israeli Commanders For Flotilla Response

                                          Mavi Marmara armed terrorist 

Report: Turkey Seeks 10 Life Sentences For Israeli Commanders For Flotilla Response.(Ynet).A Turkish prosecutor has prepared an indictment seeking life sentences for four former Israeli military commanders over their alleged involvement in the 2010 killing of nine Turks on a Gaza-bound aid ship, Turkish newspaper Sabah reported on Wednesday. No other source has confirmed the report. Sabah said it had seen details of the indictment prepared by Istanbul state prosecutor Mehmet Akif Ekinci and that it called for 10 life sentences to be given to each of the four commanders. It said the Istanbul chief prosecutor must approve the indictment before it is sent to the relevant court. The indictment was reported to accuse Israel’s former Chief of General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, former Navy commander Eli Marom, former Air Force official Avishai Levy and former Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin all involved in the raid and refers to them as “fugitive suspects”, Sabah reported.
The charges include first degree murder, assault and torture. The 144-page indictment, it said, had been prepared after testimony from some 600 people, including 490 passengers from the six-ship flotilla and relatives of those who had died. Correspondence from the Turkish prime minister’s office, the foreign and justice ministries and the intelligence service had also helped the prosecutor draw up the indictment, it said. The indictment suggests that should the four arrive in Turkey they would be immediately arrested. Sabah said that Turkey is demanding 10 life sentences (and not nine, for the nine activists who were killed) because one of the victims has been in a coma since the raid. In the indictment’s third part which details Turkey’s relations with the Jews throughout history, the prosecutor notes that the Ottomans took in the Jews that were expelled from Spain and that Turkey had accepted Jews during the Holocaust and saved some 20,000 Jews from death camps by issuing them passports. Based on this he concluded that Israel owes its very existence to the Turkish republic.Hmmmm.....Time for Israel to recognize Kurdish autonomy and the Armenian Genocide.Read the full story here.