Iran - Civilians arrested at gathering for death of Singer

A number of civilians arrested in Mashhad

Posted on: 17th November, 2014

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HRANA News Agency – Following the death of “Morteza Pashai”, Iranian popular singer, musician and songwriter, spontaneous gatherings were held around the nation in Iran by the fans of the deceased, and in some cases it was associated with conflict and detention of civilians by the security forces.

According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), following the death of Morteza Pashai, young Iranian singer, musician and composer, spontaneous gatherings by supporters of the deceased were held in cities across the country. In these street demonstrations people sang the death artist’s songs holding lit kindles in their hands.

According to eyewitnesses, in some cases, such as Hashemieh streets in Mashhad, the rally turned violent and police arrested a number of citizens. The number of detainees and their conditions are not known until the time of drafting this report.

ISIS defector: 'I joined out of fear' VIDEO

Egyptian woman dies of bird flu, second death in 2014

Monday, 17 November 2014

An Egyptian woman died on Monday of H5N1 bird flu after coming into contact with infected birds, the second death from the disease this year, a health ministry spokesman told Reuters.

Egypt has identified seven cases of the virus in people this year, including the two who died, Hosam Abdel Gaffar said. 

In the latest case, the woman was 19 and died at a hospital in the southern region of Assiut, he said. 

According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), from 2003 through until October 2, 2014, there have been 668 laboratory-confirmed human cases of H5N1 infection officially reported from 16 countries. Of these cases, 393 have died.

Egypt’s health ministry had announced in an earlier statement the discovery of the disease in a 30-year-old woman in the southern area of Minya, bringing to seven the number of confirmed Egyptian cases of the disease. 

Another of the victims was a three-year-old who had been exposed to infected birds and was doing well, it said. 

The WHO warns that whenever bird flu viruses are circulating in poultry, there is a risk of sporadic infections or small clusters of human cases -- especially in people exposed to infected birds or contaminated environments.

Human cases of H5N1 are rare, however, and the virus does not currently appear to transmit easily from person to person.

Egypt’s H5N1 cases have largely been found in impoverished rural areas in the south of the country, where villagers, particularly women, tend to keep and slaughter poultry in the home. 

Families of captive Lebanese soldiers block roads

Monday, 17 November 2014

Relatives of Lebanese soldiers held hostage by militants burned tires and blocked roads Monday after they said Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)  threatened to kill their sons, causing hours of citywide gridlock.

The beheading of U.S. aid worker Peter Kassig, announced by the extremists Sunday, further panicked those protesting.

"Oh God, I have no other son," said a mother of a captive soldier, Aisha Ahmad, weeping, "If they don't release my son, I want to set myself on fire."

ISIS and other militants in Syria seized some 20 Lebanese soldiers and police officers in August during a brief cross-border raid. They already have killed three of the captives, beheading two.

Relatives of the captured men have surrounded the prime minister's office in Beirut with protest tents, demanding the government negotiate faster.

Monday's demonstration began after militants threatened to kill more hostages unless the government revoked sentences handed down to Islamist prisoners Friday night. Four Islamist militants received life sentences, while a fifth was sentenced to death in absentia.

"This decision threatens our children," protester Omar Haidar said. "We will close all Beirut's roads until our children are returned."

They marched onto the city's main plaza, blocking highways, including an east-west route linking Christian and Muslim neighborhoods. It was mostly shuttered during Lebanon's 15-year civil war that ended in 1990.

But the demonstrators, relatives of the captured men, belonged to all of Lebanon's squabbling faiths.

Chain-smoking Marie Khoury, who wore a cross, blocked a road alongside a woman wearing a Muslim headscarf.

"Lebanese soldiers have no sect, they are for the country," Khoury said. But the rare show of communal solidarity meant nothing for Lebanese, she said.

Nearby, a taxi driver directed cars out of the sudden jam.

"They won't get anything from the government," said Ali Saeed, referring to the demonstrators.

Still, he said he had brothers in the army and understood why they protested.

"I would do as they did. What else can you do?" he asked.

ISIS claims beheading of U.S. aid worker

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militants claimed they beheaded U.S. aid worker Peter Kassig in video, Agence France-Presse reported.

The 26-year-old former U.S. soldier was paraded at the end of an ISIS video released in October that showed the murder of British aid worker Alan Henning.

Britain and the United States said they are analyzing the video to confirm the authenticity of the video. 

“We are aware of a further video and are analyzing its contents. If true this is a further disgusting murder,” said the spokeswoman for British Foriegn Office said.

Kassig's parents said Sunday they were awaiting official confirmation on the death of their "treasured son."

"We are aware of the news reports being circulated about our treasured son and are waiting for confirmation from the government as ... to the authenticity of these reports," Ed and Paula Kassig said in a statement.

The same video showed the gruesome simultaneous beheadings of at least 18 men described as Syrian military personnel, the latest in a series of mass executions and other atrocities carried out by ISIS.

“This is Peter Edward Kassig, a U.S. citizen of your country," said a black-militant wearing a balaclava, the same outfit worn by the man who beheaded two American journalists and two British aid workers in earlier videos.

The man stood over a severed head bearing a resemblance to Kassig, a former American soldier who risked his life to provide medical treatment and aid to those suffering from Syria's civil war.

“Here, we are burying the first American crusader in Dabiq, eagerly waiting for the remainder of your armies to arrive,” the militant said.

Dabiq is the site of a major 16th century battle in what is now northern Syria that saw the Ottomans defeat the Mamluks and begin a major expansionist phase of an empire the ISIS group considers to have been the last caliphate.

The United States has been conducting airstrikes targeting ISIS militants in Iraq and Syria.

It is believed that hundreds of ISIS militants have been killed so far with reports emerging last week of the group’s leader serious wounds following a U.S.-led airstrike.

The aid worker took on the name of Abdul-Rahman Kassig after converting to Islam, before his capture.

Women in Iraq’s Anbar form group to fight ISIS

Saturday, 15 November 2014

“Women of Justice,” an all-female group aimed at fighting a jihadist group in Iraq, was recently formed in the Sunni-stronghold province of Anbar, Al Arabiya News Channel reported Saturday.

The 50-member group was formed following a popular tribal drive in Anbar to eject the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) jihadists from areas they have occupied in the western province.

Khansa Ahmed, head of a women center in Anbar, told the news website PUK Online on Wednesday that “the 50-women military force is to support tribal forces fighting ISIS.”

She added: “The women are currently being trained to carry weapons, and more recruits are expected,” thanking the Anbar tribal council for allowing the formation of the group.

The group represents the first type of women militarization in Anbar.

The women are expected to be deployed to give backup to security and tribal forces during their operation against ISIS.

Earlier this month ISIS killed scores of male members of a prominent Sunni tribe called Albu Nimr in Anbar, offering a chilling glimpse of what could await both Shiites and many Sunnis if the capital were to fall.

Albu Nimr said 497 of its members, including 20 women and 16 children, were executed by ISIS, to spread fear among other tribes not to resist the jihadist group, which is currently occupying about one third of Iraq.

Meanwhile, there was mixed reactions to the group with some expressing support while others shunned the move as they feared the militarization of civilians outside the government’s control.

Iraqi forces drive ISIS from refinery town of Beiji

Iraqi forces retook the strategic northern town of Beiji on Friday after more than two weeks of fighting with the Islamic State jihadist group, Agence France-Presse quoted officials as saying. 

Baiji, which had been out of government control for months, lies on the main highway to Iraq’s ISIS-controlled second city Mosul, and the town’s recapture also further isolates militants in the city of Tikrit, to the south.

Iraqi state TV also reported the “liberation of Beiji,” quoting the top army commander there, Gen. Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi.

A witness told Reuters that security forces crossed a bridge close to the refinery, 200 km north of the capital.

ISIS seized Baiji and surrounded the sprawling refinery in June during a lightning campaign through northern Iraq.

The group also controls territory in neighboring Syria and has proclaimed a caliphate straddling both countries.