Video - Qatar-based Muslim Brotherhood 'Godfather' Al-Qaradawi admits ISIS leader started career as Muslim Brotherhood member.

💥 Qatar-based MB suicide bombers' mufti Al-Qaradawi admits Daesh leader started career as MB #UK_and_Terrorist_MB
pic.twitter.com/POFUZcGfmo

— Hasan Sari (@HasanSari7) March 25, 2017

Video - Aleppo Syrian citizen on the tragedy that he lived under Militants rule in the eastern neighborhoods.

#Aleppo Syrian citizen speaks of the tragedy that he lived under Militants rule in the eastern neighborhoods pic.twitter.com/0e1A4Qbrkg

— Yusha Yuseef (@MIG29_) November 29, 2016

Video - TV Report on Yazidi Female Brigade Fighting terrorist group ISIS

Islamic State Claims over 7,000 fighters are ‘ready to defend Mosul’.

Islamic State Claims over 7,000 fighters are ‘ready to defend Mosul’. (AraNews).

The US-led coalition said that the Islamic State (ISIS) has between 3,000 and 4,500 fighters in Mosul and that there are no signs that the group is leaving its de facto capital in Iraq.

“We think anywhere from 3,000 to 4,500 [ISIS] fighters are in Mosul, somewhere in that ball park. It’s a mixture of Iraqi and foreign fighters,” Colonel Dorrian, a coalition spokesman said.

Abu Azzam al-Muhajir, an ISIS militant from Saudi Arabia, disagreed telling ARA News there are at least 7,000 militants “ready to defend Mosul.” “Also, there are still 500,000 civilians living in Mosul, and they will not accept [their] return to the central government’s authority and rule by the Shia,” al-Muhajir told ARA News.

The US-led coalition said it will continue to attack ISIS in Mosul. “[ISIS] shows no sign of really trying to leave Mosul at this point. Really, what they’ve done is they’ve continued to dig in, build elaborate defenses and so we’re really ready for a tough fight there,” Col Dorrian said.

“The Iraqi security forces have been well trained to do urban style warfare. That’s one of the things that we’ve done for refit. We are expecting [ISIS to have] a mixture of Iraqi and foreign fighters,” he added.

An ISIS source told ARA News that group has cordoned all the roads to Nineveh Governorate and has completed almost 80 percent of their field works around Mosul.

Those field works include a row of trenches, which are reportedly filled with crude oil. The trenches can be set alight to obscure visibility. ISIS has also erected concrete barriers near neighborhood entrances and key road junctures.

The coalition’s Col Dorrian said that at least 8 brigades of the Iraqi Army will march on Mosul. “We also expect the Iraqi Police to be involved, because they’re going to be a part of the effort to maintain security once areas have been liberated. [The police need] to hold those areas so [ISIS] can’t re-infiltrate.”

“We think it’s going to be a very large battle. We do expect the [Kurdish] Peshmerga to be involved, although the details of their involvement are still being worked out,” Dorrian said. ”We also expect there to be tribal forces involved.”

Reporting by: Wladimir van Wilgenburg and Chalak Haji

Video - Ever wondered where ISIS Got all those pickup trucks?

#Turkey ships 35 brand new pickup trucks on 7 car haulers to #Jarablus today from Karkamış for rebel use in #Syria pic.twitter.com/xzDNbnLEkt

— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) September 10, 2016

How a Secret Branch of the Islamic State Built a Global Network of Killers.

How a Secret Branch of the Islamic State Built a Global Network of Killers. (NYTimes).By Rukmini Callimachi

A jailhouse interview with a German man who joined the Islamic State reveals the workings of a unit whose lieutenants are empowered to plan attacks around the world. Read the full story here.

12. What we learned from jailhouse interview of Sarfo, a German recruited by Emni is that body is building global portfolio of terrorists

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) August 3, 2016

18. There is department "for European affairs," "for Asian affairs," and for "Arab affairs." They recruit citizens of each region 2go back

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) August 3, 2016

19. Sarfo and French intelligence documents say it was Emni who trained gunman who opened fire on beach in Sousse, Tunisia and Bardo Museum

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) August 3, 2016

24. Among the big revelations that Sarfo shared is system of "clean men" used by ISIS to incite terror in the West without leaving trace 2IS

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) August 3, 2016

25. Idea is that ISIS has "hundreds" of operatives that have gone to ground in Europe and beyond. They radicalize new converts to Islam

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) August 3, 2016

27. Attackers are radicalized virtually via people in Syria but final handoff including help getting arms etc are done via "clean men"

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) August 3, 2016

Ahead of normalization with Israel, Turkey’s Erdogan met terrorist group Hamas leader.

Ahead of normalization with Israel, Turkey’s Erdogan met terrorist group Hamas leader. (WT).

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Hamas leader Khaled Masha’al on June 24 reportedly to ease tensions amid Turkey’s announcement that it will normalize ties with Israel.
Erdogan met with Masha’al in Istanbul to discuss “ways to resolve the disagreements among Palestinians as well as Turkish humanitarian assistance,” according to the Turkish Anadolu news agency.

Sources also said the Erdogan-Masha’al meeting came at a time when rumors suggest that Masha’al, currently in exile in Qatar, is searching for another place to live. Hmmm......State sponsor of Islamist terrorism. Read the full story here.

Senior #Hamas officials blast #Israel-#Turkey normalization deal https://t.co/gQrBPzs6Ju pic.twitter.com/S2yj62J8mS

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) June 28, 2016

Lavrov suspects West of keeping al-Nusra handy for ousting Assad.

Lavrov suspects West of keeping al-Nusra handy for ousting Assad. (Tass).

Moscow suspects that the West would like to preserve the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization (outlawed in Russia) in some form and use it for the overthrow of Syria’s current authorities, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a meeting of the Valdai discussion club on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

One has the impression that some sort of gambling is underway, that some would like to keep Nusra handy in some form to eventually use it for the overthrow of the regime," he said. "At least, I put a straight question to John Kerry. He vowed it was not so. But then it remains to be seen why the Americans, given the opportunities they have, are unable to pull the groups they cooperate with out of the territories controlled by the bandits and terrorists."

According to Lavrov, Moscow is urging the United States to be more patient on the Syrian issue.
"I’ve seen John Kerry’s statement (to the effect patience regarding the future of Bashar Assad was wearing thin - TASS) and I found it surprising," Lavrov said. "Normally Kerry is a self-reserved politician. I don’t know what happened. I saw US Department of State’s explanations of what Kerry said, too. One should be more patient."

"As for the essence of what Kerry found so worrisome - and he said that patience was wearing thin because we are allegedly unable to do to Bashar Assad what we ostensibly should have done - I can say that we’ve made no pledges to anyone to do anything. We’ve given no promises," Lavrov said.

"We agreed that all those who work on the Syrian settlement should be guided by the agreements within the International Syria Support Group, enshrined in the UN Security Council’s resolution."

US Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking in Oslo on Wednesday, said that ceasefire in Syria was in jeopardy. "Russia needs to understand that our patience is not infinite, in fact it is very limited with whether or not Assad is going to be held accountable," Kerry said. Also, Kerry promised that the United States "is prepared to hold accountable members of the opposition" who have been involved in continuing violence.

Video - French special forces inside Syria, embedded with YPG/SDF in Manbij offensive vs ISIS

Video - French special forces inside Syria, embedded with YPG/SDF in Manbij offensive vs ISIS.(RT).

France has deployed its special forces on the ground in northern Syria to advise rebels and help them fight Islamic State, a French Defense Ministry official has revealed to AFP.

"The offensive at Manbij is clearly being backed by a certain number of states including France. It's the usual support - it's advisory," the official told the agency.

Until now, France admitted the presence of some 150 special forces in the region, all of them in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Manbij is a key strategic town under Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) control in northern Syria. It’s a waypoint between the Turkish border and the IS-held Raqqa.

The latest comment isn’t the first hint at France’s presence in Syria: last Friday, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the Public Senat TV channel that Paris was “providing support through weapons supplies, air presence and advice."

France isn't the only Western country in Syria: about two weeks ago, footage emerged of US special forces fighting alongside Kurdish militia near the city of Raqqa, a month after Obama said some 250 troops would be deployed in the region.

#UPDATE: France has deployed special forces in northern Syria to advise the Syrian Democratic Forces https://t.co/rhSaWzQtMR

— AFP news agency (@AFP) June 9, 2016

Caucasians in the ranks of Islamic State (ISIL).

Caucasians in the ranks of Islamic State (ISIL). (CaucasianKnot).

Different sources, including the Russia's FSB, have confirmed the information that militants from Russia are fighting for the Islamic State (IS) (earlier – the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – ISIL), a self-proclaimed entity in the territory of Syria and Iraq. The material of the "Caucasian Knot" below tells about penetration of natives of the Caucasus into the conflict zone and provides estimates of the number of them.

"Islamic State": overview

The organization "Islamic State" was created on October 15, 2006, as a result of the merger of 11 radical Sunni groupings. At the same time, they adopted a draft "Constitution" entitled "Notice to Mankind about Birth of Islamic State". Until 2013, its name was "Islamic State of Iraq" (ISI). The organization set a target to capture the Sunni part of Iraq and turn it into a militarized Islamic Sunni state, as soon as the forces of the international coalition led by the USA, left Iraq.

On April 9, 2013, the grouping named "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) was formed with the aim to establish an Islamic Emirate in the territory of Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. The Levant is a historical region in the eastern Mediterranean, which covers the territory of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Turkey and Cyprus.

Starting June 2014, ISIL launched an attack on several areas of Northern Iraq by organizing a large-scale offensive in Sunni provinces. By October 2014, ISIL occupied one-third of Iraq.

The terrorist organization is made up of the militants who once fought against US forces during their stay in Iraq, and against the forces of the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

By September 2014, according to the estimates of the CIA (US Central Intelligence Agency), the membership of the grouping reached some 20,000-31,500 persons. The IS troops include Mujahideens from 80 countries, including France, UK, Germany, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, USA, Canada and Russia.

Since the moment of its inception, ISIL has been closely connected with the international terrorist network "Al-Qaeda", but in February 2014 the latter declared a break-off with the "Islamic State". The reason for the split was in the quarrel of the ISIL with the official branch of "Al-Qaeda" in Syria named "Djabkhat an-Nusra".

In late June 2014, the grouping changed its name and became known as just the "Islamic State". The establishment of Caliphate was proclaimed led by militants' leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Abdullah Ibragim as-Samarai).

The "Islamic State" has been recognized as a terrorist organization by Australia, UK, Indonesia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, USA, Turkey and other countries.

On September 8, 2014, the grouping "Islamic State" was recognized as a terrorist organization by the League of Arab States. Besides, the "Islamic State" is subject to international sanctions in accordance with Resolutions of the UN Security Council passed against "Al-Qaeda" and its affiliated organizations.

Gennady Gatilov, a Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, in one of his speeches has treated the ISIL as an "extremist" organization involved in "terrorist activities".

On September 3, 2014, supporters of the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" distributed the video record, in which they accused Russia of supplying weapons to Bashar al-Assad and threatened to start a war in the Caucasus.

Islamic State and natives of the Caucasus

How many natives of the Caucasus fight for "Islamic State"?

In June 2013, Russian authorities admitted the participation of citizens of the Russian Federation in the conflict. The Russia's FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov expressed concern about the fact that some 200 militants from Russia were fighting for jihadists in Syria. The Chechen leadership also admitted that residents of the republic were taking part in the war in Syria. It was reported that from a few hundreds up to 1700 natives of Chechnya were at war in the region.

In September 2013, it became known that militants from Northern Caucasus formed a military unit named "Al-Mukhadjirin" (immigrants) in the city of Aleppo in Northern Syria. It was headed by a Chechen named Abu Abdurakhman. Most members of the unit had experience of fighting in the Caucasus.

In July 2014, Sergey Kamenny, the head of the FSB in Kabardino-Balkaria, said that more than 60 citizens of his republic were among the international terrorist groupings operating in Syria.

On September 3, 2014, supporters of the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" spread a video with a threat to start a war in the Caucasus and "liberate the Caucasus by the mercy of Allah."

According to Sergey Smirnov, First Deputy Director of the FSB, some 300-400 mercenaries from Russia, now involved in the Syrian conflict, may come back to Russia.

According to Abu Umar al-Shishani, a field commander of Chechen origin, "500 Caucasians, who had fought against Bashar al-Assad in Syria, were killed." The al-Shishani's grouping, which is at war under the banner of the ISIL, has between 700 and 1000 members; among them there are several hundreds of Caucasians.


It is noteworthy that the authors of the information-analytical bulletin prepared by the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" report that the drop in the number of victims of the conflict in Northern Caucasus, noticed in 2014, was associated with the fact that part of radicals went to Syria. Read the full story here.

Turkish Supported Hizb ut-Tahrir 'militants' detained in Crimea.

Hizb ut-Tahrir 'militants' detained in Crimea — prosecutor-general. (Tass). 

Four followers of the Hizb ut-Tahrir terrorist organization have been detained in the city of Bakhchisarai in Crimea, the republic’s Prosecutor-General Natalya Poklonskaya told TASS on Thursday.

"Officers of the Crimea and Sevastopol department of the Russian Federal Security Service detained members of a terrorist organization and the organizer of this cell in the city of Bakhchisarai. Searches are underway," she said, adding that a criminal case was opened against three Bakhchisarai residents on charges of participating in a terrorist organization and one more person was charged with organizing terrorist activities.

"It has been established that one of those detained, being the leader of a local cell of the terrorist organization, has been engaged in secret anti-constitutional activities by means of conducting propaganda campaigns among local residents to recruit them to his terrorist organization and holding secret meetings," Poklonskaya said.

As many as six followers of Hiz ut-Tahrir have been detained in Crimea since the beginning of the year. The terrorist group was active in Crimea’s resort cities of Yalta and Alushta and maintained friendly relations with the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars, a public movement outlawed in Russia.

Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami (Islamic Party of Liberation) is an international religious and political organization founded in 1953 in Jerusalem. Its goal is to remove all the non-Islamic governments and bring back the Muslims to the "truly Islamic life."

Russia’s Supreme Court banned Hizb ut-Tahrir in 2003 as a terrorist organization.

Hmmm......Hizb ut-Tahrir is very welcome in Islamist Erdoganistan.

Six day ago: 

Hizb ut Tahrir / Wilayah Turkey: Istanbul Became One Heart with Aleppo (PDF).

Hizb ut-Tahrir calling for a caliphate in Turkey

Moscow calls on EU not to support Turkey’s plans of 'Islamist' safety zones in Syria.

Moscow calls on EU not to support Turkey’s plans of 'Islamist' safety zones in Syria. (Tass).

Russia’s Ambassador to EU says such zones may become shelter areas for armed Islamists to receive new weapons.

Russia calls on the European Union (EU) to refrain from supporting Turkey’s plans to establish so-called safe zones for refugees in Syria, Russia’s Ambassador to EU told Die Welt newspaper in an interview published on Thursday.

"I call on EU not to support Turkey’s plans to establish safety zones. It is most probable that they will become shelter areas for armed Islamists, where they will receive new weapons and where supplies to them will be provided," Chizhov said.

"This may only prolong bloodshed in Syria," he noted adding that such zones will hardly serve humanitarian purposes.

"Turkey’s assistance in establishing safe enclaves will violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria. This will hardly contribute to strengthening EU’s right to be a more independent and responsible player in the Middle East," the diplomat added.

Chizhov also warned EU against attempts to support Turkey’s plans "in exchange for Ankara’s help in the matter of reducing migrant flows to EU."

Military funeral held for eight policemen killed in Cairo by Muslim Brotherhood terrorists.

Military funeral held for eight policemen killed in Cairo by Muslim Brotherhood terrorists. (AlAhram).

A military funeral was held in New Cairo’s police academy on Sunday afternoon for eight policemen gunned down by unknown assailants in the capital's southern district of Helwan.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, four individuals, who were waiting in a mini-van, opened fire on a police patrol resulting in the deaths of all eight officers, state news agency MENA reported.

The slain policemen included seven low-ranking policemen and a junior police officer.

The assailants are still at large.

Sunday's deadly assault on the patrol was one of the largest attacks on security forces in the capital in months.

The south Cairo prosecution said in a statement it had examined the scene of the crime, questioned 10 eyewitnesses and impounded 120 bullet shells from the site.

The officers' bodies were transported from the scene to the Zeinhom morgue to undergo an autopsy at the hands of medical examiners.

Shortly thereafter, families of the slain officers arrived outside the morgue to retrieve the victims' bodies to prepare them for burial.

The prosecution has yet to issue a full report on the incident.

💥⬆️The so called MB "popular resistance" terror group claimed responsibility 4 the Helwan attack on FB page earlier pic.twitter.com/jTneOAlzW9

— Hasan Sari (@HasanSari7) May 8, 2016