News Story: Trump attacks North Korea, prods allies for more military support in UN speech

By: Leo Shane III

WASHINGTON — In a wide-ranging speech before the United Nations, President Donald Trump attacked Iranian leaders as “murderous,” taunted the North Korean leader as “rocket man” and promised to drive out Islamic terrorist groups in the Middle East.

He also criticized UN countries for making the United States shoulder a “disproportionate share” of military responsibilities throughout the world, adding that America cannot ensure global peace on its own.

The appearance this week before the international coalition was Trump’s first as commander in chief, and security issues dominated his remarks. They echoed his campaign trail promises of making foreign governments shoulder more security responsibilities, remarks which have raised concerns among American allies.

“The United States will forever be a great friend to the world, and especially to its allies,” Trump said. “But we can no longer be taken advantage of or enter into a one-sided deal where the United States gets nothing in return.

“As long as I hold this office, I will defend America’s interest above all else. But in fulfilling our obligations to our own nations, we also realize that it’s in everyone’s interest to seek a future where all nations can be sovereign, prosperous and secure.”

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: Houthi Rebels Carry Out Series of Bomb-Boat Attacks

Saudi coalition forces have been on guard in the port of Mokha after a recent series of attacks by remote-controlled, bomb-laden boats operated by Houthi rebels. The Houthi forces have had success with this tactic before: in January, they damaged the Saudi frigate Al-Madinah with a remote-controlled boat, and they nearly struck a petroleum product terminal at Jazan, Saudi Arabia in April. 

On July 29, the rebels allegedly drove another remote-controlled boat into a pier at Mokha, Yemen, according to a statement from the coalition. It detonated near berthed vessels, but did not cause any significant damage. The Saudi military claimed that the Houthi rebels had attacked the port, thereby "disrupting the flow of humanitarian aid to Yemen, in particular medicines used to fight the rampant cholera epidemic." (The United Nations asserts that an ongoing Saudi blockade of Yemeni ports is contributing to widespread famine and disease.)

The Houthi forces claimed responsibility for an attack on the same date, but gave a different account. Official Houthi outlet Saba said that a bomb boat struck a UAE naval vessel at a position off the coast of Mokha, killing 12 and wounding 23 more. According to this account, the UAE warship was disabled by the blast and by a series of secondary explosions, and will require repair before it returns to service. Saba also claimed that a UAE minesweeper was damaged in the attack. 

Read the full story at MarEx

News Story: Number of terrorist attacks dropped worldwide in 2016 - U.S. State Department

WASHINGTON, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State Department said on Wednesday that terrorist attacks and fatalities from terrorism dropped globally in 2016 for the second straight year.

According to a State Department report on global terrorism, the total number of terrorist attacks worldwide in 2016 was 11,072, and 25,621 deaths were caused as a result, decreasing by nine percent and 13 percent respectively compared to 2015.

"This was largely due to fewer attacks and deaths from terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, Syrian, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Yemen," said Acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism Justin Siberell at a briefing with reporters.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Indonesia intensifies watch on nationals returning from Syria

by Abu Hanifah

JAKARTA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia has launched a more intensive coordinated watch on nationals returning from Syria by forcing them into a month-long de-radicalization program, following several Islamic State (IS)-related attacks that occurred in the country.

Close monitoring measures would also be applied against them by assuring domiciles, aimed at easing the efforts to tracking down suspects involving in possible attacks.

"Soon after they arrived here, we will identify them first and bring them to the de-radicalization program center. They will undergo the program here in one month before returning to families across the country," Head of Indonesian government anti-terror desk Suhardi Alius said.

The verification process is necessary to identify nationals who were combatants in IS-related conflicts.

A number of Indonesian nationals have travelled to Syria and joined IS in the past several years.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: SCO's membership opportunity for Pakistan to open up regional strategic options

by Muhammad Tahir

ISLAMABAD, June 11 (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), an influential regional security and economic block, has formally admitted Pakistan as its member, which is seen as an important foreign policy milestone for the country.

All the heads of the family members of SCO congratulated Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on this historic occasion at the 17th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO in Astana, Kazakhstan on June 9.

Sharif told the Astana summit that the SCO gives Pakistan a powerful platform for partnership to promote peace, build trust, and spur economic development for shared prosperity.

"The SCO's expansion takes place at an opportune time, as the Belt and Road Initiative transforms global economic landscape. And, in Pakistan, we are diligently implementing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is the flagship of the Belt and Road Initiative. What's more, these mega projects will benefit the entire SCO community," he said.

It is widely believed that Pakistan's accession would allow its closer cooperation with other member states, especially in security and anti-terror cooperation as many of the regional countries currently face security challenges.

Another positive aspect of the development is that India has also secured the membership at the same time that could help the two bitter neighbors improve relations.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Officials Warn of Daesh Fighters Returning to Asia After Middle East Defeat

As a fierce standoff between Philippines security forces and militants fighting under the Daesh flag continues in the city of Marawi, US and Australian officials warn that fighters may return to Southeast Asia from the Middle East, to take up arms in their own countries.

The Indonesian defense minister said Sunday at an international security forum in Singapore that around 40 out of 1,200 Daesh militants fighting in the Philippines are from Indonesia, referring to the fighters as "killing machines."

The issue of the impending return of hundreds of Southeast Asian fighters who also fought with Daesh in Syria and Iraq has been part of the agenda at an Australia-US ministerial summit, attended by top US and Australian officials, including Pentagon chief Jim Mattis and Canberra's Defense Minister Marise Payne.

"[Deash fighters will] come back with battlefield skills, they'll come back with hardened ideology, they'll come back angry, frustrated, and we need to be very aware of that," Payne said.

News Story: Mattis, Tillerson Met Australian Ministers Over Anti-Terror Fight

In their first joint appearance abroad, U.S Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and U.S Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Monday pledged unity with longtime ally Australia in fighting Islamic extremists who seek to intimidate the West.

According to the Associated Press, Mattis and Tillerson spoke alongside their Australian counterparts at the opening of a joint meeting expected to touch on a range of subjects including defeating Daesh, stabilizing Afghanistan and dealing with North Korea's nuclear threats.

In her opening remarks, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said "countering terrorism" would be high on the meeting's agenda.

Bishop said: "We meet a day after the shocking events in London and I know that we've spoken to our counterpart (British) Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to express our deepest condolences to the British people and the British government for yet another barbaric terrorist attack.

“And the issue of countering terrorism will be high on our agenda today. The global terrorist threat is ever evolving, we've seen brutal attacks in a number of European cities, we've thwarted attacks here in Australia, and so we want to discuss with you, the links back into the Middle East, the role we're playing with you in Iraq and Syria and also in Afghanistan.

“We are united in our resolve to defeat ISIS (Daesh), the Islamic State terrorist organization and its ilk."

Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne said her government was concerned by IS (Daesh) linkages in Asia and the Pacific.

Payne said: "For Australia, from our perspective today it's important that we do discuss Daesh's links in Southeast Asia, violent extremist organizations and the risk that returning foreign fighters who may endeavor to resume positions in their own countries might pose in this region. They'll come back with battlefield skills, they'll come back with hardened ideology, they'll come back angry, frustrated, and we need to be very aware of that."

Read the full story at TOLOnews

News Story: Former Australian PM calls for special 'terror courts' to deal with returning foreign fighters

FORMER PM Tony Abbott
(Image: Wiki Commons)

CANBERRA, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has declared that Australia is "pussyfooting" around the role radical Islamism is playing in causing terrorism, and has called for a "special court" to be created specifically to deal with returning Australian Islamic State (IS) fighters.

Penning a piece in News Corp newspapers on Thursday, the former Prime Minister said that returning foreign fighters were getting away with traveling to and from conflict zones such as in the Middle East due to a loophole in current Australian law.

Abbott said that just two Islamist extremists have been charged in Australian courts despite dozens returning to Australia from Iraq and Syria over the last few years - something recently made illegal by the government.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Not for All the Tea in China - Beijing Wants ‘Active Role’ in Mideast Peace

China on Monday signaled a willingness to broker peace between Israel and Palestine, according to local sources.

Citing comments by Chinese special envoy to the Middle East Gong Xiaosheng, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported on Tuesday that Beijing now seeks to enter the historically fraught relations between Palestine and Israel.

While meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Monday, Gong reiterated Beijing's support for a Palestinian state while learning about Abbas's April visit to Washington, a Russian trip in early May and the Palestinian leader's meeting with US President Donald Trump in Bethlehem last week, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Following Trump's first trip outside the US as president, the White House has signaled that it also seeks to broker a peace deal between the historically opposed states.

China, according to Wafa, seeks to widen its role in the region, and is particularly interested in striking a peace deal between Israel and Palestine, as well as seeing an end to the ongoing Syrian civil war and its attendant refugee crisis.

News Story: Trump budget proposal kills Obama's counterterrorism partnerships fund

By: Joe Gould

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s budget announced Tuesday proposes an end to President Obama’s signature counterterrorism training program, long criticized on Capitol Hill as too broad to be effective. 

The White House proposal would zero out the Counterterrorism Partnerships Fund, from $1.8 billion in fiscal 2017. CTPF, billed as a means to provide security assistance to moderate allies fighting extremists in Africa and the Mideast, endured successive cuts in Congress and criticism Obama was too light on strategy and specifics for Congress's liking. 

The Trump administration does propose $1.8 billion for a Counter-Islamic State of Iraq and Syria Train and Equip Fund — a continuation of three accounts consolidated in the 2017 budget Congress passed earlier this month. That fund is meant to support Iraqi government forces as they retake Mosul, Iraq, and vetted Syrian forces as they retake Raqqa, Syria, from the Islamic State group. The proposed funding is under the off-budget overseas contingency operations (OCO) account.

Obama, in 2014, announced the CTPF in a speech at U.S. Military Academy at West Point commencement, as a means to “more effectively partner with countries where terrorist networks seek a foothold.” He envisioned a fund of up to $5 billion, to “allow us to train, build capacity, and facilitate partner countries on the front lines” of Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Mali and beyond, he said.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Report: Trump Names India, Russia Among Countries Affected by Terrorism

US President Donald Trump listed India along with Russia, China, Australia, Europe and the Middle East as victims of terror in his address to the Arab Islamic American Summit in Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh on Sunday.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — Trump's speech, which mostly focused on fighting terrorism and extremism during the summit and conveniently ignored the other issues plaguing the Middle East and Africa, has been greeted with optimism and hope in India.

Media reports on the event have also created euphoria that New Delhi is very high on Washington's agenda in the fight against terrorism. Experts noted that the US, India cooperation on terrorism has grown and both countries are sharing information and collaborating on many related fronts. But they also reminded that more concrete steps need to be taken with like-minded countries in the fight against terrorism, instead of getting into a celebratory mood over symbolic statements.

News Story: Trump says Iran and IS are major "threats" to Middle East

JERUSALEM, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Speaking in an address to the press in Jerusalem on Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran is a "threat" to the region and must stop training "terror group."

In statements following a working meeting with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Trump noted Iran and the Islamic State (IS) as the major threats to the Middle East.

He called on to strengthen the longtime partnership between Israel and the United States to struggle Iran and the IS.

"This moment in history calls for us to strengthen our cooperation as both Israel and America face threats like IS and other terror groups and countries like Iran, which sponsors terror and foments violence not only here but all over the world," he said.

He staged a firm stance, saying the U.S. and Israel should unanimously declare that "Iran can never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon, not ever, ever, and must cease its training and funding of terror groups and militias, and must cease immediately."

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: DPRK delegation visits Arab countries amid sanctions

PYONGYANG, April 21 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Friday sent a delegation of diplomats to visit some Arab countries amid mounting international sanctions clamped on it due to its missile and nuclear tests.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Sin Hong Chol and his delegation left here to visit some Arab countries, without specifying the countries.

Earlier, Kim Jong Un, the supreme DPRK leader, exchanged messages with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the anniversaries of each others' important national events, said KCNA.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Will Daesh 3.0 Rise From Mosul’s Ashes?

Map of Ethnic Groups of Iraq (Click Image to Enlarge)

By JAMES KITFIELD

They’re surrounded, targeted by constant bombardments and slowly strangled of supplies and reinforcements for months so fighters for Daesh (aka ISIS) might reasonably have abandoned Mosul and tried to slink off into the night.

That’s what happened last June in the battle to recapture Fallujah, when Daesh fighters were relatively quickly routed, and hundreds were killed by U.S. aircraft when their fleeing convoy was spotted in the dark with infrared targeting systems. Everyone in the anti-Daesh coalition hoped for a similar retreat by demoralized terrorists that would separate them from the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians still cowering in Mosul’s byzantine old city, on the west bank of the Tigris River.

But Daesh’s fighters are not abandoning Mosul, which with the Syrian town of Raqqa, forms the twin-capitals of the self-proclaimed Islamist “caliphate.” They are falling back on defensive positions prepared for two years in the densely congested side streets and alleyways of the old city, gathering Iraqi civilians close as they can as “human shields” and apparently preparing for a last, desperate stand.

The result? “The toughest and most brutal phase of this war, and probably the toughest and most brutal close quarters combat that I have experienced or even read about in my 34-year career,” Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve says. A veteran of six combat tours, Townsend calls the fighting in Mosul “the most significant urban combat since World War II.” The tragic byproduct has been an alarming spike in civilian casualties, including a U.S. strike against a reported ISIS truck bomb on March 17 that may have collapsed a nearby building and killed as many as 200 civilians gathered there by Daesh. The U.S. military is still investigating the incident, which drew criticism from the United Nations and Amnesty International.

On a recent trip near the frontlines of the Battle of Mosul, Townsend found a possible explanation for Daesh’s determination to stage an apocalyptic fight to the death in the old city. “Every movement has a well-spring or some home turf where it finds support, and in recently talking to Iraqi and coalition commanders and listening to their intelligence assessments, I heard about neighborhoods supporting ISIS that I remembered from being a brigade commander in Mosul 10 years ago, when those same neighborhoods were sources of support for Al Qaeda in Iraq,” said Townsend, speaking recently to defense reporters by phone from Baghdad. If the Shiite-led Iraqi government fails to reach out to those and other neighborhoods and towns of disenfranchised Sunnis after the fighting stops, he noted, then Daesh’s expulsion from Mosul will likely prove a fleeting victory. “What’s important after ISIS is defeated is that the government of Iraq has to reach out to these groups of people and make sure they feel like they have a future in the Iraqi state,” said Townsend.

Read the full story at Breaking Defense

News Story: Iran denies interference in regional states' affairs

TEHRAN, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry dismissed the allegations raised recently by the Arab League that Tehran interferes in its neighbors' internal affairs, Press TV reported on Thursday.

Iran foreign policy has always been based on "good-neighborly relations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Former Pakistan Army Chief Set to Take Command of 'Muslim NATO'

Pakistan’s former army chief, Raheel Sharif

Ayaz Gul

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s former army chief, Raheel Sharif, is set to become the first commander of a new Saudi-led counterterrorism coalition of mostly Sunni Islamic states, a move frustrating neighboring Shi'ite Iran in addition to prevailing domestic opposition and criticism.

Sharif is likely to travel to Saudi Arabia as early as next month to take charge of what commentators increasingly refer to as the “Muslim NATO”, according to Pakistani officials and close aides.

They said that “putting in place the military structure” of the proposed 39-nation Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism (IMAFT), which will be headquartered in Riyadh, is among Sharif’s initial tasks.

The general, who retired last November, is credited for undertaking an effective military crackdown against Pakistani Taliban and other militants in Pakistan during his three-year tenure as the chief of the powerful military. The counterterrorism operations led to a significant decline in militant violence in the country.

An “arrangement" between the two governments has resulted in Sharif’s appointment and granting permission for him to become the first commander-in-chief of the alliance, said Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif while defending the decision.

“After having received a written request from them [Saudi Arabia], we conveyed our consent to them in writing,” Asif told local Geo TV.

But leaders of the minority Shi'ite community, political parties and observers in Pakistan have criticized the government, as well as Sharif for accepting the assignment, fearing it would fuel domestic sectarian rivalries and undermine the credibility as well as national goodwill he earned.

News Story: New Zealand military aircraft to be deployed to Middle East

An RNZAF C-130 (Image: Wiki Commons)

WELLINGTON, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The military is to deploy a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft to the Middle East to help in operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries, Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee said Tuesday.

The aircraft was deploying in response to a request from the Australian Defence Force to provide additional capacity during a period of high operational tempo, Brownlee said in a statement.

"I am pleased the New Zealand Defence Force can provide this assistance, considering the significant support we receive from the Australian Defence Force in Iraq and New Zealand's other deployments in the region," Brownlee said.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Fijian UN peacekeepers get armored military vehicles

An Australian Army Bushmaster in Afghanistan

SUVA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Seven armored military vehicles purchased for Fiji's military have been delivered to the Middle East from Australia for Fiji's United Nations peacekeepers, the government-owned Fiji Boradcasting Corporation (FBC) reported Tuesday.

The Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles have been taken from Lebanon to the Golan Heights, said Viliame Naupoto, commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces.

"They (Australia) have survived IEDs - improvised explosive devices. They have used this sort of vehicles in Afghanistan and it has been a very credible vehicle and we are very happy that our soldiers will now be covered," Naupoto told the FBC.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Australia - IS may declare caliphate in Mindanao

By Audrey Morallo

MANILA, Philippines — Australia warned over the weekend that the so-called Islamic State (IS) might declare an Islamic caliphate in Mindanao as the group is already being pushed out of the Middle East.

Speaking to Sky News Australia, Julie Bishop, the country’s foreign minister, said that Canberra was concerned about IS fighters returning from the Middle East back to their home countries in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines.

Bishop, who has just returned from the United States for talks with countries about eradicating IS, said that around 600 Southeast Asian fighters were monitored to have been on their way home after fighting for IS in the Middle East.

“So there’s concern that ISIS may well seek to declare a caliphate, an Islamic caliphate in southern Philippines,” she said.

Bishop said that Australia had relayed its concern to President Rodrigo Duterte when she visited the Philippines recently.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: Australia has resettled 10,000 Syrian refugees fleeing the Middle East

CANBERRA, March 22 (Xinhua) -- More than 10,000 of the 12,000 Syrian refugees Australia pledged to take from the war-torn nation have been successfully resettled, according to local media on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will officially announce the news at the Australian Migration Settlement Awards at Parliament House on Wednesday night, but News Corp has reported that 10,000 of those promised a place in Australia had arrived, with the remaining refugees 'on the way'.

It has taken some time for the refugees to be brought into Australia, as the government wanted to ensure all background checks successful to prevent any radicalized fighters from gaining entrance into Australia, the report said.

Read the full story at Xinhua