The Syrian Kurds have begun the release process for approximately 15,000 Islamic State family members from the notorious al-Hawl internment camp on the border with Iraq. The Kurds have long complained about an utter lack of European support and their inability to permanently guard the many prisoners at the camp.

The Kurdish administration has issued an amnesty for Syrian inmates in the al-Hawl camp and has begun their release. In al-Hawl, it is mainly women and children of ISIS terrorists who are held in captivity.

Kurdish Authorities: West Has ‘Total Disinterest’ in Helping With the Situation

The Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria accuse Western states of leaving them alone with the problem of IS prisoners. In the European countries, in particular, there is “a total disinterest.”

As an ally of the USA, the Syrian Democratic Armed Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-dominated militia alliance, have provided ground troops in the war against the Islamic State in recent years. After the jihadists’ military defeat in spring 2019, tens of thousands of ISIS members and their families were taken prisoner.

SDF troops are currently guarding around 11,000 ISIS fighters in around half a dozen camps in the Kurdish autonomous region in northeast Syria, including around 2,000 foreigners and tens of thousands of women and children.

The largest camp is al-Hawl. About 65,000 people are detained there. In addition to the approximately 25,000 Syrian inmates, around 31,000 Iraqi IS members and 9,000 prisoners from other countries are detained.

Why are the Kurds Releasing the ISIS Family Members?

The release aims to relive the administration of pressure and an improvement of the situation in al-Hawl.IS supporters are said to have led a regiment of terror in prison. The facilitation of “IS-related structures” in the camp became known in July. Children and young people would be indoctrinated and radicalized with the ISIS ideology. Inmates have tried to escape and attacked the guards several times.

Syrian women and children are now set to be released, and they could soon return to villages and towns in the northeast of the country. Syrian inmates in al-Hawl who seek to return home can register for the release and are then brought to their home region.

First Group of Prisoners Heads Home

The first group of almost 290 people left the camp two weeks ago and returned to the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor. Repatriation of camp inmates in Syrian areas, which are under the control of the government of President Bashar al Assad, is being worked on.

Turkey also captured ISIS fighters in northeast Syria. The Turkish army marched into the region a year ago in order to occupy the Kurdish autonomous region. Ankara then sent around 20 German Islamic State fighters who had been captured by Turkey back to Berlin. Extremists from other European countries were also deported to their home countries.

However, the majority of foreign and Syrian ISIS prisoners remained in camps under the care of the Kurdish national authorities.

What About Repatriating Foreign Fighters?

Elhalm Ahmad, head of the SDF’s political wing, has now announced talks with the home countries of foreign extremists who are in prison camps. The return of foreigners to Europe and other countries is difficult. The Kurdish autonomy authorities accuse Germany and other western states of rejecting to take back their citizens on the one hand, but on the other hand, blaming the Kurds for the poor conditions in the Syrian internment camps.

In fact, only Washington provided the Kurds with medical supplies worth $1.2 million in the spring to prevent the coronavirus outbreak in the northeast Syrian camps.

Germany and other countries did not provide any support, confirming the Kurdish criticism of Europe on this matter.

L'articolo 15,000 ISIS Family Members to be Released proviene da InsideOver.

A Feb. 16 rocket attack near the American Embassy in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad has brought renewed attention to threats by an Iran-backed paramilitary group called Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba. The militants have vowed to avenge America’s January 3 killing of the commander of the Iranian Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani.

Several rockets fell near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on February 16, causing multiple loud explosions and spreading fear in the area. Although there was no immediate claim of responsible for the attack, it focused analysts on the threats from Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, an Iraqi paramilitary group loyal to and backed by Iran, to take revenge for Soleimani’s killing.

Turning Point: the Assassination of Soleimani

Soleimani —Iran’s most influential military commander — was killed by a U.S. drone as his motorcade left Baghdad International Airport. His killing was a small detail in the larger picture of the ongoing showdown between the U.S., on one hand, and Iran, on the other.

The U.S. said it killed him because he killed American citizens in the Iraq War. Nevertheless, Soleimani’s killing pushed the region to the brink, given Iran’s pledge to make the U.S. pay for it. Iranian threats are taken seriously across the region for the simple reason that Tehran can easily turn these threats into action by giving orders to its allied militias to wreak havoc.

Iran-backed militias are present in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon. A little less than 20 attacks have been staged on or near American troop concentrations in different parts of Iraq since Soleimani’s killing. Dozens of U.S. troops were injured in these attacks with many more reportedly having suffered traumatic brain injuries, and Iran says they are only the beginning of its ongoing retaliation against the U.S.

Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba: the Little Known Group Threatening the US

The U.S. currently has about 5,200 troops in different parts of Iraq, including in the Ayn al-Asad Military Base in the western Iraqi province of al-Anbar. These troops will apparently turn into targets for Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba in the coming period, with the group stepping up its threats against the U.S., following Soleimani’s killing.

On February 15, Nasr al-Shamri, the deputy commander of the militia and its spokesman, posted a photo of an American armored vehicle outside Ayn al-Asad base, with some U.S. troops inside it.

Under the photo he wrote: “We are far closer than you can imagine”.

On the same day, al-Shamri said his militia had started the countdown for responding to what he described as “American occupation troops”.

“This is an Iraqi decision par excellence,” al-Shamri wrote on Twitter. “We will not accept any request for delaying this response.”

From Humble Origins to a Fearsome Force

Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba was founded by Akram al-Kaabi – who is still the commander of the paramilitary group – in 2013. While it receives financial support from the Iraqi government, this militia does not get its orders from Baghdad, but from Tehran.

In March, 2019, the U.S. Department of State designated Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba a “terrorist” organization to tighten the noose around its financing. It accused the group of carrying out an Iranian agenda and of having loyalty to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Al-Kaabi previously served in the Mahdi Army, a paramilitary group loyal to Iraqi Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr. He plotted a series of attacks against the Iraqi government and the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.

In 2005, Iran tasked the Lebanese Hezbollah movement with forming a paramilitary group in Iraq with the aim of fighting American troops. Hezbollah Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, ordered some of his officers to train the new group. This gave rise to the League of the Righteousness militia. Al-Kaabi became the commander of this militia in 2007.

Iran directly bankrolls Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba. According to some reports, Tehran pays each member of the militia $1,500 every month. In 2017, the militia formed the Golan Battalion with the aim of capturing the Syrian Golan Heights from Israel.

Al-Kaabi and his militia are also instrumental in backing Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad and have contributed to suppressing the ongoing demonstrations in Iraq. Over 500 Iraqis have been killed in the crackdown on the demonstrations – including by Iranian snipers – so far.

L'articolo Iraqi Militia Throws Down the Gauntlet to the U.S. proviene da InsideOver.

Last August marked 20 years since the momentous referendum vote which resulted in East Timor’s independence from Indonesia. But how did we get here, two decades later?

To begin with,  Portugal used to trade with Timor hundreds of years ago and during the middle of the 16th century, they colonised the nation. The Fretilin (Revolutionary Front for Independent East Timor) – a major left-wing party in East Timor –  soon gained territory of the nation during a brief civil war and in 1975 declared East Timor Independent.

Only nine days later, an aggressive Indonesia invaded the colony, leading to the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives as a result of the direct conflict.  The Fretilin Party fought with great resistance against the Indonesians as many opposed the takeover of control. East Timor suffered 24 years of disease, famine and terrible conflict at the hands of the Indonesian military and colonial rule.  The East Timorese were against Indonesian rule as Portugal’s colonial impact meant that most of the population were Catholics who spoke Tetun – their own language – and were therefore culturally dissimilar to the rest of Indonesia. A quarter of a million lives were lost as civilians fought Indonesia’s occupation and annexation.

After mass bloodshed, there was mounting pressure from international countries for the violence to end. At the beginning of the resistance, many took a blind eye to appease Indonesia and did not interfere. However, The Economist Reports that declassified documents from America reveal Australia and America’s western governments were, in fact, aware of Indonesia’s cruel aims and failed to act until the matters worsened.

Soon, a referendum was authorised. The UN-backed referendum saw the Southeast Asian nation granted independence but at a bloody cost. On the 30th August 1999, a whopping 78.5% of people voted in favour of independence from Indonesia. East Timor came back to its pre-annexation status of autonomy, but became a territory under UN supervision with no government.

However, following the referendum result, there was great bloodshed for three weeks. Anti Independence Timorese militia who were supported by the Indonesian military began to attack. The country’s infrastructure was destroyed and hundreds and thousands of civilians were forced out of their homes, whilst some fled to escape and became refugees. the fight for independence was a resilient one fought by the natives of East Timor. Following this horrendous timeline of events, the nation became devasted and exhausted at heart.

An Australian-led UN peacekeeping force was deployed to stop the violence, and in August 2001 East Timor held its first democratic elections to establish an autonomous government.

A year later in 2002, full sovereignty was established and, the former opposition leader of CNRT was elected President at the time. The country then unveiled a new national flag, with the yellow symbolising the people’s fight for independence, the red expressing the people’s suffering which was endured for such a long time, the black signifying colonial repression of the country whilst the star symbolised hope for the future. This flag gave the people something to believe in and allowed them to become part of a strong community who fought for their country.

Last month on the 30th, people came together in the country’s capital Dilli to celebrate the landmark ruling that led to the independence of East Timor. Celebrations are expected to last until the end of September for the people who paid a big price for freedom.

L'articolo A History of East Timor’s Independence, 20 Years On proviene da InsideOver.

Shocking numbers have been revealed regarding the overall total bulk of foreign terrorists and radical fighters who have entered Syria trying to topple the government over the past eight and a half years of conflict. The staggering toll of foreign belligerents explains the complexities of the Syrian war and why it has gone for so long, as well as the exceptionally high human, economic and territorial cost it has inflicted upon the country.

Frightening Figures of Terror Mongers

Figures of Jihadis and other militants who flooded into Syria through Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon but mainly over the 900 km border shared with Turkey have varied throughout the years of the conflict, ranging between 200,000 and 300,000 militants coming from over 80 countries spanning all the way from China, through Asia, Africa, Europe to the United States. Those estimates and origins of terrorists killed or captured by the Syrian army and its allies reveal a horrifying story and a conspiracy that amounts to a mini world war against Syria. The numbers do not include the uninvited formal foreign forces and soldiers – mainly Turkish and American – who operate and control vast sways of Syrian land.

A document adopted by the United Nations sets the total number of terrorists who have infiltrated into Syria at a massive 171,400. 51,910 of whom were killed at the hands of the Syrian army, and 33,847 went missing, were arrested or escaped the war as government forces regained most of the cities, towns, villages and areas that had been under rebel control for years.

At the worst stage in the conflict, some 70% of Syrian territories were completely or partially out of government control, including whole cities and large towns in the southern parts of the country. This included strategically located suburbs of the capital Damascus, all the way up north and northwest covering hundreds of miles as well as the majority of Syria’s oil and natural gas fields and installations, along with the country’s two strategic and largest dams of Al Tabqa and Tishreen on the Euphrates river.

Numbers, Nationalities and Fate

The UN-adopted document states that among the largest contributors to the anti-government armed campaign in Syria was Saudi Arabia with 24500 Jihadi men and women; 5990 of whom were killed in the fighting, including 19 women while another 2700 have gone missing. The rest are still actively involved in running and funding terror groups, such as al Nusra’s supreme leader and mentor Abdullah al Muheisni. Al Nusra changed its name into HTS (Hay’at Tahrir Al Sham) after it was officially classified as a terrorist organization, and is the Syria version of al Qaeda international terror base.

Unsurprisingly, Turkey tops the list with a staggering figure of 25800 terrorists; 5760 were killed by the Syrian army while 380 others are reported missing.  Chechnya came close with 21000 fanatic Jihadis; 5230 of whom were killed in the war, including 16 women. Chechen fighters are considered among the most veteran and tough terrorist operating in Syria, especially in forest and rugged mountainous areas along the coastal city of Latakia’s borders with Turkey. Those indoctrinated Jihadis have formed their own battalions and led some of the fiercest battles and attacks against both army and civilian targets.

Messengers of Pan-Arab Death

As aforementioned, the Saudis were prime contributors to the terror-mongering effort in Syria, but even war-torn and troubled Arab nations such as Libya, Algeria, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq and even Lebanon have sent an average of 10000 terrorists each, almost one third of whom were killed in action and thousands went missing over the past 8 years of Syrian conflict. Libyan fighters, like their Tunisian comrades-in-terror, have been extremely brutal in atrocities they have perpetrated against Syrian soldiers and civilians alike.

One stark example was that of the 14000 Palestinian terrorists, mainly from the Islamic Hamas Movement, once stationed and led from Damascus before it switched ranks and moved to Qatar. They appear to have completely ignored or forgotten about their national cause of an independent Palestinian State, and instead headed for Syria killing their fellow Arab kens and historical supporters. 4920 Palestinian fanatics were killed in confrontations with the Syrian army. A similar story applies to other Arab fundamentalist who left their national cause and headed for the Syrian killing spree, in the name of the false democracy they know nothing about.

No Short Supply of Non-Arab Hire Guns

Turkmen terrorists totaled 8600; 3050 were killed in action, including 11 women, and 900 went missing. Turkmen militants brought their families along, settled and opened schools of their own mainly in Hama, Idlib and Latakia countryside.

An average 4000 figure was given to terrorists and fatality rate regarding those who came from countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan among other Asian nations.

The UN-adopted document states that a massive chunk of 30000 terrorists joined the Jihad in Syria came from western Europe, Scandinavia and other western nations. The nationalities included the US, France, Britain, Belgium, Russia, New Zealand, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway.

Islamic fanatic Jihadis who had managed to hide in the west or flee from the Syrian conflict have committed a series of heinous terror attacks in a number of European and western nations, including some of their own national countries, mainly France, Belgium and the United Kingdom. Reciprocal terror attacks against Muslims ensued in countries as far as in the US and New Zealand.

Terror is a cosmopolitan cancer that has to be obliterated; it has no religion, nationality nor boundaries. Syria has been at the forefront fighting terrorism on behalf of the whole world. It is high time all civilized nations and major world powers join in efforts to put an end to this vicious circle of violence and blood-shed that threatens the future of humanity at large.

L'articolo Figures And Fate Of Foreign Fighters In Syria proviene da InsideOver.