Belarusans Taking Opposition to Regime Into the Streets

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Belarusans Taking Opposition To Regime Into The Streets: Stupid Tyrant Lukashenko Tries To Force Unemployed To Pay $230 “Social Parasites” Tax “One Of The Largest Protests In Belarus For Several Years”

This was one of the largest protests in Belarus for several years. REUTERS

3.25.17 BBC

Police in Belarus have arrested hundreds of people during protests against a so-called "social parasites" tax on the under-employed.

Thousands defied a ban to protest, taking to the streets of Minsk and other cities. Demonstrators shouted "Fascists!" at riot police.

This was one of the largest protests in Belarus for several years

There have been weeks of sporadic protests against a $230 (£185) levy on those unemployed for six months.

President Alexander Lukashenko insists the tax will not be scrapped.

He says it instils discipline in the workshy, though he has suspended it for this year.

Opponents say it punishes those who cannot find a job.

"They're beating the participants, dragging women by the hair to buses. I was able to run to a nearby courtyard," demonstrator Alexander Ponomarev told AP news agency.

Earlier, police raided the offices of human rights group Vesna and detained about 30 activists. The authorities had already jailed more than 100 opposition supporters for terms of between three and 15 days in the lead-up to the demonstration, reports said.

Earlier this month Mr Lukashenko said people who worked fewer than 183 days a year would not have to pay the tax this year and said those who had already paid it last year would be compensated if they found a job. According to a recent tax inspection, 470,000 people should have paid the tax but only 50,000 had done so, Reuters news agency said.

Mr Lukashenko has run Belarus - a country where little dissent is tolerated - since 1994.

He has been described by some Western officials as "Europe's last dictator".

However, Mr Lukashenko has recently been seeking to improve ties with the West and lessen the country's dependence on Russia.

MORE: Riot Police In Belarus Attack Protesters Calling For End To ‘Dictatorship’ “Lukashenko Is In A Panic, In Fear Of His Own People” “People Don’t Care, They Want An End To This Dictator”

25 March 2017 by Tracy McVeigh, The Guardian

Armed riot police and water cannon were deployed in cities across Belarus and the internet was shut down across the country on a day of protest and human rights marches.

People were on Saturday night reported to be still attempting to demonstrate in the capital, Minsk, as well as in Brest and Grodno, on what was the national Freedom Day.

There were sporadic outbreaks of violence as masked police closed down key roads and charged at marchers to stop crowds forming. Witnesses claimed it was the most determined crackdown by President Alexander Lukashenko so far in what has been two months of protests and opposition to his 23-year rule.

A cordon of riot police armed with clubs laid into one group trying to march down a main avenue, said one activist, Alexander Ponomarev: “They’re beating the participants, dragging women by the hair.”

Opposition leader and former presidential candidate Vladimir Nekliayev is among more than 300 people who have been arrested and detained over the past few days, while 57 people using a human rights and legal centre in Minsk were held for several hours before being released.

“Lukashenko is in a panic, in fear of his own people,” said Natalia Kaliada, of the charity Belarus Free Theatre, who spoke from Brussels, where she had been lobbying the EU to resume sanctions against the regime in Belarus that were lifted last year.

“It’s a strategy of arrests and clearing the streets and blocking the internet that they think will spook people, but people are very angry.

“All these arrests and splitting up the crowds might make things a little quieter in Minsk, but now these protests are happening all over Belarus,” she said. “This is the worst crackdown over the last seven years, but it would have been the biggest protest. People don’t care, they want an end to this dictator. They say ‘basta’ – enough.”

The European Union lifted most of the sanctions against named individuals in Belarus’s ruling elite in February 2016 in what was seen by some critics as being a reward for the role Belarus took in hosting peace conferences between Russia and Ukraine.

The move horrified many human rights organisations, which point to the deeply repressive regime led by Lukashenko, who was described by former US president George W Bush’s secretary of state as “Europe’s last dictator”.

“It is a geopolitical game, Belarus is barely on the radar for the EU and yet it is dangerous to ignore what is happening there – not just dangerous for people in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, but for the whole world,” said Kaliada.

The most recent unrest has been sparked by a presidential decree that taxes the unemployed and part-time workers around £200 a year. The decree, launched as an “anti-parasite” tax, met widespread criticism from citizens, activists and journalists.

Earlier this month Lukashenko announced that he would suspend the deadline for payment until his government had reviewed the policy, but protest against his Soviet- style rule has continued to grow. Last week the president claimed that foreign-supported elements were agitating to bring him down.

MORE: The Protest Came After Weeks Of Opposition Activity Around The Country: “Unlike Past Protests, The Demonstrations Attracted A Wide Swath Of People” “This Was The First Time The Government Lost Its Ability To Control People”

A woman tries to defend herself after being pushed to the ground as police detain an activist during an opposition rally Saturday in Minsk, Belarus. A cordon of club-wielding police blocked the demonstrators' movement along Minsk's main avenue. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

March 25 By Amanda Erickson, Washington Post [Excerpts]

It was an unusual sight in Minsk: About a thousand people gathered in the capital Saturday to protest the authoritarian government. Activists, some wrapped in the red- and-white flag of the opposition, shouted “Fascists!" at riot police.

The protest, which came after weeks of opposition activity around the country, reflected widespread frustration with the harsh, Soviet-style rule of the authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994.

Desperate for money, the government decided to reinstate a Communist-era law taxing the unemployed. The so-called “parasite law” was created, a century ago, to punish drunks and bums who refused to work.

In its modern incarnation, the “law against social parasites” requires people who work less than 183 days a year to pay the government $250 annually. (At the start of 2017, the average monthly salary was $380.) Those who refuse to pay face a fine and two weeks in jail. In December, about 500,000 people (a tenth of the country) were told they had to pay.

Lukashenko said the law is about fairness.

But Belarusans saw something else: a government tax on top of a government failure to provide people jobs. And they got angry. Thousands took part in protests in the country’s regions. A couple thousand more gathered in the capital of Minsk.

Unlike past protests, the demonstrations attracted a wide swath of people.

The outrage was so widespread that a couple of weeks ago, Lukashenko announced that he wouldn’t enforce the tax this year, though he’s not scrapping it. “We will not collect this money for 2016 from those who were meant to pay it,” he told the state news agency Belta. Those who have already paid will get a rebate if they get a job this year. Lukashenko has promised to keep the law on the books, and he says people will be taxed next year.

That wasn’t enough to mollify some protesters. And the country’s more traditional opposition hoped to build on the outrage to create a more sustained, far-reaching movement.

“This was the first time the government lost its ability to control people,” Jarabik [Belarusan expert Balazs Jarabik] said.

It was a rare moment when the country’s leaders did something that got a majority of people riled up. “The opposition thought this was a moment to pick up the ball and run with it.”

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

Afghan Soldier Opens Fire On U.S. Troops: Three Wounded By Insider Attack; “An Official Taliban Spokesman Described The Afghan Solider As ‘An Afghan With A Sense Of Patriotism’” March 19th, 2017 BY BILL ROGGIO, Long War Journal [Excerpts] Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

The assault was carried out by an Afghan National Army officer from the 215 Maiwand Army Corps “during a military training exercise,” TOLONews reported. US troops reportedly killed the Afghan soldier.

The 215 Maiwand Army Corps is based in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, which is heavily contested by the Taliban.

The Taliban has not claimed credit for today’s shooting, but did acknowledge it. Zabihullah Mujahid, an official Taliban spokesman described the Afghan solider as “an Afghan with a sense of patriotism.”

In the past, the Taliban has infiltrated Afghan security forces to carry out such strikes or convinced soldiers or policemen to turn their weapons on Coalition personnel.

POLITICIANS REFUSE TO HALT THE BLOODSHED THE TROOPS HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THE WAR

Taliban Take An Afghan District, Sangin, That Many Marines Died To Keep; “There Were No Big Threats To The District Yesterday, And We Do Not Know Why The District Is Abandoned”

[Thanks to Clancy Sigal, who sent this in.]

March 23, 2017 By Taimoor Shah and Rod Nordland, New York Times & Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty & BY BILL ROGGIO, Long War Journal

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — The Taliban captured the strategic district of Sangin in the southern province of Helmand on Thursday, according to local officials. It was the culmination of a years-long offensive that took the lives of more combatants than any other fight for territory in Afghanistan.

In a statement released on Voice of Jihad, the Taliban said that it controls the “Sangin district administration center, police headquarter and a key military base” after the district center was “completely overrun by Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate last night.”

According to the Taliban, Afghan forces “fled by airplanes overnight, leaving many tanks, vehicles, heavy artillery and a sizable amount of military equipment behind.”

The group reported that 39 armored personnel carriers, one tank, 34 pickup trucks and other vehicles and equipment were taken during the assault.

A spokesman for Helmand's governor said Afghan forces made a "tactical withdrawal" from the district center to avoid civilian casualties.

While spokesmen for the central government denied claims by the Taliban that the district had fallen to them, some conceded that the insurgents had overrun the district center and government facilities.

But local Afghan government and military officials said there was no doubt Sangin had finally fallen to their enemy.

A spokesman for the US military, Captain William K. Salvin, played down the development, saying Afghan security forces were still in the district and had merely moved its seat of government. “They repositioned the district center,” he said. “This move to a new district center has been planned for some time.”

More British and later US Marines died in Sangin than in any of Afghanistan’s roughly 400 other districts, until the international military coalition began turning it over to Afghan military forces in 2013. Since then, hundreds of Afghan soldiers and police officers have lost their lives defending Sangin, while US Special Operations soldiers and aerial bombing tried to prevent the collapse of the district, apparently without success.

The district, a center of the lucrative opium trade, is strategically situated between the Helmand River and the border with Kandahar province. “Sangin’s location is very, very important,” said General Abdul Jabar Qahraman, President Ashraf Ghani’s personal military envoy to Helmand province, who recently offered his resignation over widespread corruption that he says is undermining the government’s efforts there.

“By capturing Sangin, the Taliban are now able to connect Helmand with Kandahar,” Qahraman said, referring to Afghanistan’s second-largest city. “Abandoning Sangin is a mistake, but the government is no longer able to keep forces there.”

Because of its strategic importance, the international coalition has invested heavily in defending Sangin, even after the US withdrawal of most combat forces from Afghanistan. In the years before then, it was the site of substantial losses for both British and US forces. “This district was one of the most dangerous not just in Afghanistan but maybe in the whole world,” Robert Gates, then the US defense secretary, said in 2011 in Sangin, addressing the 3/5 Battalion of the US Marines, which was deployed there. Those Marines had just “suffered the heaviest losses of any battalion in this 10-year-long war,” Gates said.

“In the five months since you’ve arrived here, you’ve killed, captured, or driven away most of the Taliban that called this place home,” Gates said. By the end of the battalion’s full seven-month deployment in Sangin, 29 members had died.

Officials in the Afghan central government adamantly denied Thursday that such sacrifices had come to naught.

“It is not true,” Major General Dawlat Waziri, the spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, said of the reports of Sangin’s fall. “We relocated an army battalion in Sangin, we moved them to a newly built garrison. Whenever we move our forces in Sangin, they claim that they capture Sangin.”

Local government and military officials, however, said Thursday that the remaining battalion of Afghan National Army soldiers defending the town of Sangin and the district’s government and military bases had pulled out overnight.

That was followed by heavy aerial bombing by the US-led coalition, to destroy vehicles, weapons and heavy equipment that the soldiers had abandoned, the officials said.

Hajji Mirajan, a member of the district shura, or government advisory body, in Sangin, said he did not understand why the soldiers had left, as no major attack had been underway.

“There were no big threats to the district yesterday, and we do not know why the district is abandoned,” he said.

Bashir Ahmad Shakir, head of the Helmand Provincial Council’s security committee, said the withdrawal had been planned for the past two months, after a long winter campaign by the Taliban to take the district.

“Officials were leaning toward the idea of leaving the district to the Taliban because of the constant threats,” he said. “I did not agree. We should stick to the idea of holding the district at least nominally.”

The shift of the defenders to a regimental base outside the district center meant the district had been conceded to the Taliban, Shakir said.

Salvin, the US military spokesman, said that the US military had helped move Afghan soldiers by airlift to the new district center and that everyone had been relocated safely.

“Excessive damage by the Taliban to the area in the bazaar made it impossible for the people to see the government leaders and made it difficult to provide necessary services,” he said. “Once that was complete, the US assisted in destroying the buildings that were no longer usable and also destroyed inoperable vehicles that were left in place so that they would not be a safety hazard.”

MORE: Resolute Support Spins Loss Of Sangin District Center As A Victory: “What Really Happened: The New District Center Had To Be Relocated Because Afghan And Coalition Forces Failed” “Resolute Support’s False Bravado Is Not Only Shameful, But Counterproductive To The Overall Mission” “Their Spin Cycle Only Served To Create A Bigger Mess”

March 23, 2017 BY BILL ROGGIO, Long War Journal. Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

After months of heavy fighting in Sangin, the Taliban took control of the district’s center in Helmand province last night. Yet, Resolute Support – NATO’s mission in Afghanistan – attempted to claim victory.

Resolute Support tweeted a statement which attempted to salvage the loss of Sangin’s district center:

Resolute Support’s statement is not credible. Let’s look at some of the statements made by Resolute Support to explain how, even with the sunniest possible spin, losing Sangin was nothing short of a disaster. > Resolute Support says: “Fighting destroyed the infrastructure and there were no more civilians in the district center.”

What really happened: The Sangin district center has exchanged hands multiple times during heavy fighting. The Taliban has surrounded the center for months, and fought over a deserted area in order to gain a victory over rubble.

Afghan forces, backed by the US military and Resolute Support, were unable to halt the Taliban’s advances and protect civilians in Sangin, so they left.

> Resolute Support says: “The new district center and ANP (Afghan National Police) HQ were repositioned just over two kilometers south.”

What really happened: The new district center had to be relocated because Afghan and coalition forces failed.

Leaving the old district center wasn’t by choice. They were forced to abandon the district center. In The New York Times, Afghan government and security officials admitted the district center had “fallen,” and not relocated as Resolute Support claims:

While spokesmen for the central government denied claims by the Taliban that the district had fallen to them, some conceded that the insurgents had overrun the district center and government facilities. But local Afghan government and military officials said there was no doubt Sangin had finally fallen to their enemy.

> Resolute Support says: “Once the move was complete, the US assisted in destroying the buildings that were no longer usable and also destroyed inoperable vehicles that were left in place so that they would not be a safety hazard.”

What really happened: This is what is known as the Ben Tre defense: “It became necessary to destroy the town to save it,” or more commonly quoted as “We had to destroy the village in order to save it.” Additionally, if there are no civilians in the old Sangin district center, then just to whom would those “inoperable vehicles” pose “a safety hazard?” The Taliban?

More likely, the Taliban seized working vehicles and equipment, as it has claimed. Expect to see a Taliban propaganda video showing off their war prizes, as the group has flaunted numerous times in the past.

> Resolute Support says: “The ANSDF (Afghan National Security and Defense Forces) defended the district center for two months and left on their own terms.”

What really happened: They needed to be airlifted out of the district center in the middle of the night and destroyed the town on the way out the door.

If they left on their own terms, they would have driven out the front gate and not left behind valuable equipment that was taken by the Taliban.

> Resolute Support says: “The only thing they left to the Taliban is rubble and dirt.”

What really happened: They also left rubble and dirt to the Afghans who owned property in the old district center, including the merchants at the bazaar.

Normally, claims by the Taliban, particularly from a victory such as this one in Sangin, can rarely be taken at face value. Facts and figures are often exaggerated to widen the margin of a win in the public eye.

This time, it was Resolute Support that could not be trusted.

Resolute Support’s false bravado is not only shameful, but counterproductive to the overall mission. It would have been far better for Resolute Support to sweep this loss under the rug rather than defend the indefensible. Their spin cycle only served to create a bigger mess.

6 Killed As Bomber Rams Afghan Militia Base

March 21, 2017 New York Times

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — At least six members of a militia belonging to the Afghan intelligence agency were killed in a car bombing at their base in the southern province of Helmand, Afghan officials said Tuesday.

The attack late Monday was in Gereshk District, just outside the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, which has been largely besieged by Taliban forces for more than a year.

Bashir Ahmad Shakir, the head of the security committee on the Helmand provincial council, said the bomber Monday had rammed his car into the base compound, on the main road leading to Lashkar Gah. Hayatullah Hayat, the governor of the province, said six members of the service were killed and seven wounded in the attack, the Associated Press reported.

Gunfire In Kabul? It’s Not The Taliban — It’s The Politicians: “Kabulis Are All Too Familiar With The Spectacle Of Powerful Political Figures Charging Around Town And Running Roughshod Over Those Who Get In Their Way” “Arrests In Such Cases Are Rare Because Those Responsible Usually Have Powerful Allies In The Government”

MARCH 19, 2017 By ROD NORDLAND and JAWAD SUKHANYAR, New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — Heavy gunfire echoed down Darulaman Road, in the vicinity of Parliament and President Ashraf Ghani’s private home, for more than an hour very early Friday morning.

Police units mobilized and rushed to the area. Shekaba Hashimi, who was up late helping her children study for their university exams, was convinced it was the Taliban. “I thought, ‘Oh, God, there is another attack in this area,’” she said.

Half of the city seemed to have the same fear, as sleepy Kabulis piled onto social media to share notes on the gunfire as it moved through town.

Hours later, the Kabul police sheepishly admitted that it was only another government big shot on another drunken rampage. In this case, the culprit was said to be Lalai Hamidzai, a member of Parliament who once led its committee on the advancement of the rule of law.

Kabul’s police chief, Maj. Gen. Hassan Shah Frogh, said that Mr. Hamidzai had been drunk and had chased through town after someone he was angry at, and ended up firing into a hotel where his quarry had taken refuge. Then, in a cover-up effort, he fired into the air at his own house a few miles away to make it look as though he were the one who had been attacked, General Frogh said.

Mr. Hamidzai parried that charge of drunkenness by saying in a Facebook post that a senior policeman at the scene had been drunk, and that the policeman was an armed robber to boot.

Soon videos were broadcast of CCTV footage showing Mr. Hamidzai staggering around and shooting at the gate of the hotel as his entourage fired automatic weapons into the air and over the walls. Mr. Hamidzai insisted that the videos were faked, but the police said they were genuine.

Kabulis are all too familiar with the spectacle of powerful political figures charging around town and running roughshod over those who get in their way, even police officers. In fact, attacks on the Kabul police are far more common from such politicians than from the Taliban, though the insurgents’ attacks are typically more deadly.

Whether celebrating a cricket victory, expressing anger at being turned away from a wedding or protesting a roadblock, such politicians’ response has on numerous occasions been gunplay and violence — often fueled by liquor, even though it is illegal to possess or consume alcohol in Afghanistan.

Arrests in such cases are rare because those responsible usually have powerful allies in the government, and the authorities are loath to challenge their armed bodyguards, who act as mini-militias.

No one has been arrested in the episode involving Mr. Hamidzai, although a police spokesman, Abdul Basir Mujahid, said an investigation was underway.

On Saturday, the children of another member of Parliament, Zaheer Sadat, a doctor from the Panjshir Valley with a history of brawling, got into a fight with the neighbor’s children. The adults in both houses opened fire on one another with automatic weapons, said Gen. Salem Almas, the head of the Kabul Police criminal investigation division. Five people were wounded, he said.

Dr. Sadat was not present at Saturday’s shooting, the police said. But in November 2015, when his convoy was stopped by the police, his bodyguards badly beat three of the officers, the police said. Dr. Sadat said that the officers had tried to attack him; the police said he was just angry at being stopped.

“No one is above the law,” said Mirdad Nejrabi, the head of Parliament’s Internal Defense Committee. “Being a member of Parliament does not mean one has immunity to do whatever he or she can to disrupt law and order.”

Just over a week ago, a brother-in-law and an associate of Mr. Hamidzai’s were stopped by the police while driving through the city drunk, according to a police official who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of being fired for discussing the case.

They beat up the officers and the police commander of the area who tried to intervene, the official said. Senior security officials have also been accused of disturbing Kabul’s peace. In January, the head of the Kabul Garrison, Lt. Gen. Gul Nabi Ahmadzai, and his men were reported to have indulged in widespread celebratory firing after his son got engaged. The shooting was so intense that many in the city thought a terrorist attack was underway.

Last year the government put the Kabul Garrison in charge of security in the city, with General Ahmadzai outranking the police chief. In doing so, it cited the unit’s greater level of professionalism since the Australian military trained and advised its command last year.

General Ahmadzai could not be reached for comment, but an aide who answered the phone in his office said, “Who doesn’t fire in the air in Afghanistan? Everyone does.”

There has long been a culture of impunity among Afghan politicians, but the weak coalition government has greatly worsened it.

As the frequency of such episodes rises, fed-up police officers are pushing back by going public. In an interview, General Almas, the head of the criminal investigation unit, disputed Mr. Hamidzai’s claims that the video evidence of his shooting up the hotel had been faked.

General Almas said he was at the scene on Friday night, trying to persuade a drunken Mr. Hamidzai to calm down and stop shooting. “We have the proof,” General Almas said. “He cannot deny anything.”

Who Needs The Taliban? Regime Police Factions Killing Each Other: “We Couldn’t Stop Them. They Are Launching Mortars At Each Other’s Positions

MARCH 20, 2017 By JAWAD SUKHANYAR and FAHIM ABED, New York Times. Rod Nordland contributed reporting.

KABUL, Afghanistan —

A feud that began when one police commander in western Afghanistan was accused of killing the civilian son of another has set off days of clashes, leaving four police officers dead, Afghan officials said. Fighting between the sides continued Monday in Maimana, the capital of Faryab Province, as officers loyal to each of the commanders fired heavy weapons at one another’s houses in and around the city, local officials said.

Each faction was from a different unit of the same provincial police force and represented a rival political party.

It was another indication of strife in Afghanistan’s shaky coalition government, which combines ethnic-based factions that in some cases have never quite moved past the civil war they fought in the 1980s and 1990s.

The latest outbreak began on Saturday when the head of Faryab Province’s police antiterrorism department, Ahmad Shah Malang, killed the son of Nizam Qaisari, the police commander in Qaysar, a neighboring district, according to the governor. The son, Burhanuddin Qaisari, a second-year law student at Herat University, had come home to Maimana during school vacation.

The provincial governor, Sayed Anwar Sadat, said that Mr. Malang killed the student in a city park. When Mr. Qaisari came to retrieve his son’s body with a contingent of armed officers, a gunfight with Mr. Malang’s men broke out.

“When his family went to the park to take the body, illegal armed men loyal to Malang opened fire on them,” the governor said. He said eight city police officers were wounded when they tried to intervene.

Mr. Qaisari returned with reinforcements and attacked Mr. Malang’s home, the governor said. Four police officers were killed and six wounded in that battle, he said.

Mr. Malang, the commander accused of killing the student, is a member of the Jamiat-i- Islami party, aligned with the country’s chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah. The Faryab governor and the aggrieved father, Mr. Qaisari, belong to the Junbish-i-Milli party, followers of the first vice president, Abdul Rashid Dostum.

The enmity between those parties has an ethnic dimension, because Jamiat is largely a Tajik party, and Junbish is largely Uzbek.

“They are turning this into an ethnic fight,” said Governor Sadat, accusing the Jamiat party of bringing tanks and militia reinforcements from neighboring Balkh Province to support Mr. Malang.

A spokesman for the Junbish party headquarters in Kabul, Bashir Ahmad Tayanj, accused Jamiat of bringing the Taliban into the fight as an ally.

Wafiq Hakimi, the national spokesman for Jamiat, denied those claims. “These allegations that the Jamiat party have armed forces are not true,” he said. “We are a political party and we do our activities through political means, not with guns.”

Reached by telephone in the midst of the fighting in Maimana, Mr. Qaisari was at turns angry and on the verge of sobs. “What was my sin that they slaughtered my son?” he said. “They slaughtered him with a knife.”

Messages for Mr. Malang seeking comment were not answered. Aides said he was busy with the fighting. But later, Governor Sadat’s spokesman, Ahmad Jawed Bedar, said that Mr. Malang had been taken into custody by the Afghan National Army and taken away by helicopter in the investigation of the killing of Burhanuddin Qaisari.

The governor said that senior Afghan military and police officials were trying to broker a cease-fire. But other officials said Maimana was under a state of emergency as fighting continued on Monday, preventing any meaningful mediation.

Karim Yuresh, a spokesman for the overarching Faryab provincial police force — to which both of the warring commanders belong — said the episode apparently began as a misunderstanding. Mr. Qaisari’s son had gone to the park for target practice, and Mr. Malang and his men responded to the sound of gunfire. The ensuing fight left Mr. Qaisari’s son dead, but the subsequent clashes also cost Mr. Malang two cousins, and both sides vowed to exact revenge, Mr. Yuresh said.

“Our mediation did not help,” Mr. Yuresh said. “We couldn’t stop them. They are launching mortars at each other’s positions. A delegation including the Afghan Army and police from Balkh arrived to mediate, but so far, that didn’t help, either.”

Vice President Dostum, the founder of the Junbish party, has his own problems with the government. He is under investigation by the attorney general in connection with the kidnapping, rape and torture of a political rival, Ahmad Ishchi, in November.

Nine of his bodyguards, including the chief of his security detail, Gen. Abdul Sattar, have been charged in that case, although General Dostum has not.

The bodyguards refused to submit to arrest, and the Kabul police surrounded General Dostum’s compound in Kabul in February in an armed standoff that lasted several days. Government officials ultimately agreed to a compromise in which the attorney general was allowed to interview seven of the nine bodyguards, but not General Sattar, in General Dostum’s compound, instead of taking them into custody.

Infighting has long embarrassed the Afghan government. Even in Kabul, armed conflict among government followers is common, as evidenced by several recent clashes there. The Taliban often use the infighting in their propaganda.

IRAQ WAR REPORTS CBS Reporter In Mosul Lets Slip 5,000 U.S. Troops Now In Combat For Mosul! “Roughly 5,000 American Forces Here In Support Of The Iraqis”

March 21, 2017 By CHARLIE D'AGATA, CBS NEWS [Excerpt]

MOSUL -- We witnessed first-hand just how vicious a street battle the fight for western Mosul has become. Heavy gunfire and explosions rang out from every direction.

It was hard to know where to take cover. Iraqi soldiers dashed across the street, dodging fire from an ISIS sniper. A mortar exploded behind us.

This is what the fight to recapture the Old City of Iraq’s second-largest metropolis has become and, right now, it’s clear ISIS still has the upper hand. Iraqi forces’ armored vehicles can’t get through the labyrinth of alleyways and narrow side streets, so soldiers have to fight this battle on foot.

ISIS has held these neighborhoods for more than two years. They know the pinch points and blind spots. Their snipers have taken up positions in the taller buildings, and they take aim at anyone who approaches.

For six months, Iraqi forces have fought to reclaim Mosul, starting with the eastern side of the city which was declared liberated in January.

The U.S. and coalition airstrikes that helped Iraqi forces push through the outlying areas of Mosul to get to this point are much more difficult to target in the congested neighborhoods that ISIS still holds. As many as 650,000 civilians are still trapped in these areas.

We watched as heavy artillery, some of it fired by the roughly 5,000 American forces here in support of the Iraqis, soared toward ISIS targets. Attack helicopters fired missiles and heavy machineguns. But those weapons, too, have their limitations in built-up areas.

The Impact Of The Fight For Mosul On Iraqi Armed Forces “Has Been Colossal” “Some Divisions Had Casualty Rates Of 30%”

Medics tend to an Iraqi regime fighter injured in a clash with ISIS forces near the village of Bazwaya, on the eastern edge of Mosul. Bulent Kilic /AFP/Getty Images

March 5, 2017 by ALICE FORDHAM, NPR [Excerpts]

In a pink-painted village clinic converted into a field hospital a few miles from the Mosul front lines, there is no emergency care facility, so wounded Iraqi troops are just wheeled into the foyer for treatment.

Over the crackle of walkie-talkies, one of two men arriving with shrapnel wounds from a car bomb calls out, "Mohammad Jassim, my brother, where is he?"

He is right here, a medic reassures him. Both men are confused and in pain but expected to survive. They are federal policemen, a national force playing a key role in the fight by Iraqi forces to take Mosul back from ISIS. More federal police casualties arrive in ambulances throughout the day.

The field hospital is one of several, along with front-line points for immediate treatment of the gravely wounded, set up after the months-long Mosul operation restarted on Feb. 19.

ISIS is expected to lose Mosul. But its fighters are inflicting a terrible toll. The number of civilians and combatants killed and injured has far exceeded what was predicted, with hundreds of car bombs, land mines and booby traps adding to the danger.

The impact on the Iraqi armed forces has been colossal. Iraqi officials do not give figures, but American military officials have told reporters some divisions had casualty rates of 30 percent, without specifying whether the men were killed or injured. SOMALIA WAR REPORTS

Insurgent Bombing Targets A “Gathering Of Officers, Officials, And Government Militias”

Bombing near the presidential palace today. (Source: Garowe Online)

March 21, 2017 By Omar Nor and Shachar Peled, CNN & March 22nd, 2017 BY CALEB WEISS, The Long War Journal.

Extremist group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a deadly explosion that police say killed 10 people Tuesday afternoon in Mogadishu, Somalia.

The jihadist group said on its Shahada News Agency Telegram channel that the bombing targeted a “gathering of officers, officials, and government militias” at a checkpoint near the palace.

At least 15 people were injured in the bomb explosion at a busy security checkpoint in the country's capital, according to Somali federal police Maj. Ahmed Ibrahim. The blast was caused by an explosive-laden vehicle about 150 meters from the entrance of Villa Somalia, the presidential palace in Mogadishu, Ibrahim said.

The attack occurred hours after Somalia Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre appointed his new Cabinet.

Somali security forces sealed off the area, where a thick column of white smoke rose into sky. Local ambulances rushed in and carried away wounded to hospitals in Mogadishu. MILITARY NEWS

Resurgent Syrian Rebels Surprise The Mass Murderer Assad With New Assaults: One Of The Government Forces’ Main Weaknesses: “They Are Spread Thin After Six Years Of War And The Drain Of So Many Men Fleeing The Country Rather Than Serving In The Army’

A rebel fighter opened fire on Sunday in Jobar, a district east of Damascus. Credit Amer Almohibany/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

MARCH 21, 2017 By ANNE BARNARD, New York Times & REUTERS [Excerpts]

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syrian insurgents seized several government positions on the outskirts of Damascus on Tuesday in the third day of their most ambitious offensive in the capital in years, sending a sharp reminder that the war in Syria is far from over. Rebel offensives erupted in several other parts of the country.

Government forces have been scrambling to repel the attack since it began on Sunday, bringing troops and allied militias from other front lines to hold their territory in Damascus, as government warplanes pummel rebel-held suburbs with scores of strikes. Rebel shells hit the city, wounding 15, and the authorities shut down many of the main roads.

After the government seized the eastern half of Aleppo from rebels last year, it worked hard to create the impression that the war was essentially over.

The recent activity, including a series of suicide bombings in Damascus and a rebel attack Thursday on the northern city of Hama, seemed to indicate that the war might be entering a new phase instead.

Wael Alwan, spokesman for the Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel group Failaq al Rahman, said: "We launched the new offensive and we restored all the points we withdrew from on Monday."

He said the attack strengthened the hand of the mainstream opposition ahead of new peace talks in Geneva on Thursday. "Our gains today will give strength to our presence in Geneva after tomorrow," he added.

Another rebel official heading to Geneva said the attack showed the limitations of Russia's extensive military support.

"This is a military and political message to Russia that the regime is weak and has no full control and is unable to decisively tilt the balance in its favor militarily," Issam al Rayess, a spokesman for the FSA's Southern Front alliance of Western and Arab backed rebel groups.

While the government still seems to be consolidating control over major population centers along Syria’s western spine, it appears at a minimum likely to face a lingering rural insurgency and bombing campaigns in the cities by hard-line jihadist groups.

At the least, the rebel assaults carried a political message: that the insurgents could still disrupt life in the capital and challenge the forces of President Bashar al-Assad at several points around the country, while simultaneously attacking Islamic State fighters.

By mounting a series of simultaneous assaults around the country, the rebels seemed intent on exploiting one of the government forces’ main weaknesses.

While they have Russian air support and help on the ground from Iranian-trained militias, they are spread thin after six years of war and the drain of so many men fleeing the country rather than serving in the army.

It was not immediately clear if the rebels could maintain the offensive. Their forces around Damascus have been badly depleted in recent years and their territory rolled back as the government besieged districts and forced their surrender. There were reports late Tuesday of several new insurgent assaults on government territory taking place at once: one in Hama Province and another on the western outskirts of Aleppo. In recent weeks, rebels have also launched attacks in Daraa Province to the south.

Rebel and jihadi groups were also advancing against the Islamic State in the Qalamoun region, north of Damascus.

The government has been hitting rebel-held areas to the east of Damascus with air raids and artillery for more than a month, despite a nominal cease-fire that was supposed to be maintained during new rounds of peace talks in Geneva and in Astana, Kazakhstan.

With their monthlong offensive, government forces appeared to be trying to further isolate the besieged suburbs of East Ghouta, hoping to eventually force the rebels there to surrender or face a grinding battle with widespread humanitarian suffering, as happened in Aleppo.

That makes the districts of Jobar and Qaboun, and neighboring Barzeh, critical territory for both sides. They are the gateway to the business and tourism center of Damascus, where relatively normal life has been a symbol of the government’s continuing control over the capital during six years of conflict. For the rebels, the area contains the smuggling tunnels that help supply East Ghouta, supplementing whatever food can be grown there.

A main highway out of Damascus passes nearby, and during lulls in the fighting when it is passable drivers survey a landscape of jagged shells of destroyed buildings.

Rebels initially gained ground in a surprise attack on Sunday. Then rebel groups including Faylaq al-Sham, the Army of Islam and Ahrar al-Sham advanced.

The attacks took Damascus residents by surprise. Schools were closed for at least a day. Smoke could be seen rising over familiar landmarks.

A reporter for Syrian state television, in the midst of assuring the audience that life was going on as normal in central Abasiyeen Square, flinched on air at the sound of a nearby projectile. When she was seen next, she was newly clad in a flak jacket and helmet.

The government responded in force to the initial assault. Elite units, regular troops, irregulars in jeans carrying Kalashnikovs, members of foreign militias and armored vehicles could be seen near the front line on Sunday and Monday.

They managed to take back the territory, but on Tuesday the insurgents hit back and regained much of the contested ground. Footage showed fighters with Ahrar al-Sham entering a textile factory they had just seized.

MORE; FSA And Rebel Statements On Current Damascus Offensive: “Despite Some Mainstream Media Reports — Accepting Pro-Assad Propaganda — There Are Few Fighters From Jabhat Fatah Al-Sham, The Group Formerly Linked To Al Qa’eda”

Mar 23, 2017 Michael Karadjis via Marxism Group

In the current rebel offensive in Damascus, which has linked two rebel-held working class districts across and industrial zone and taken them close to Assadist HQ, the Free Syrian Army released the following statement:

During this operation, the Free Syrian Army remains fully committed to all international laws of war, most importantly: 1. Avoiding civilians of all religions and sects outside of the area of conflict

2. Avoiding diplomatic missions and buildings from the aim of direct and indirect fire

3. Avoiding all buildings of worship and symbols from the aim of direct and indirect fire

4. Commitment to fair treatment of prisoners and bodies of the dead without insulting or abusing them

5. Securing and protecting medical personnel, Civil Defence crews, humanitarian aid and media groups https://twitter.com/FSAPlatform/status/844141770694889472/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc %5Etfw

The main rebel formation leading this offensive, Faylaq al-Rahman ('Rahman Brigades'), an FSA-soft Islamist coalition, released an almost identical statement: http://en.eldorar.com/node/5186

According to EAWorldview:

"The rebel offensive is now being led by the factions Faylaq al-Rahman and Ahrar al- Sham, with involvement of other Free Syrian Army units and support from Jaish al-Islam in strengthening frontlines.

Despite some mainstream media reports — accepting pro-Assad propaganda — there are few fighters from Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, the group formerly linked to Al Qa’eda" (http://eaworldview.com/2017/03/rebels-renew-offensive-in-syrias-capital-damascus/).

FORWARD OBSERVATIONS

“At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Oh had I the ability, and could reach the nation’s ear, I would, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke.

“For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder.

“We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.”

“The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose.”

Frederick Douglass, 1852

The Social-Democrats ideal should not be the trade union secretary, but the tribune of the people who is able to react to every manifestation of tyranny and oppression no matter where it appears no matter what stratum or class of the people it affects; who is able to generalize all these manifestations and produce a single picture of police violence and capitalist exploitation; who is able to take advantage of every event, however small, in order to set forth before all his socialist convictions and his democratic demands, in order to clarify for all and everyone the world-historic significance of the struggle for the emancipation of the proletariat.” -- V. I. Lenin; What Is To Be Done The Pentagon

From: Mike Hastie To: Military Resistance Newsletter Sent: March 14, 2017 Subject: The Pentagon

The Pentagon

Sorry, photo by Mike Hastie Army Medic Vietnam

Photo and caption from the portfolio of Mike Hastie, US Army Medic, Vietnam 1970-71. (For more of his outstanding work, contact [email protected])

One day while I was in a bunker in Vietnam, a sniper round went over my head. The person who fired that weapon was not a terrorist, a rebel, an extremist, or a so-called insurgent. The Vietnamese individual who tried to kill me was a citizen of Vietnam, who did not want me in his country. This truth escapes millions.

Mike Hastie U.S. Army Medic Vietnam 1970-71 December 13, 2004 DANGER: CAPITALISTS AT WORK

OCCUPATION PALESTINE

Palestinian Resistance Attacks Israeli Military Post

March 19, 2017 IMEMC News & Agencies

Friday night, fighters who are reportedly part of a Palestinian resistance group, fired at an Israeli military post west of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.

The fighters were travelling in a vehicle and, at approximately 2:00 AM, they opened fire at a watchtower of the Salem military base.

Immediately after, according to the PNN, the Israeli army sent out a large number of troops, after which the resistance fighters disappeared.

Due to the attack, however, several Israeli soldiers raided Palestinian areas around the towns of Rummanah and Zabuba, after which they established roadblocks at the cities’ entry points. Heroic Zionist Soldiers Attack Northern Gaza Farmland

March 18, 2017 IMEMC News

Israeli soldiers fired, on Saturday at dawn, several shells into Palestinian agricultural lands, in the northern part of the besieged Gaza Strip.

Media sources in Gaza said the soldiers, stationed in military bases across the border fence, fired the shells into land, close to the border area, in Beit Lahia, and added that the attack did not lead to any casualties.

Israeli sources claimed the shelling was carried out after a shell was fired from Gaza, and landed in an open area in the Regional Council in Asqalan.

Occupation Army Kills Another Unarmed Palestinian Teen

Israeli soldiers killed, on Friday at night, a Palestinian child in the al-‘Arroub refugee camp, north of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and caused moderate-to-severe injuries to another child, after ambushing them and opening fire at them.

Dr. Mustafa Takrouri, the director-general of the al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron, said the slain child, Morad Yousef Abu Ghazi, 16, was killed by a live round to the chest. He died while being transferred to the hospital.

Dr. Takrouri added that another child, identified as Saif Salim Roshdi, 17, was also shot with a live round in his chest, and is currently at the intensive care unit, suffering moderate-to-severe wounds.

The Israeli army claims that the soldiers “ambushed Palestinians in the refugee camp as they attempted to hurl Molotov cocktails on military vehicles.”

Zionists Shoot Man For Raising Flag While Palestinian

Israeli soldiers invaded, on Friday evening, Sebastia town, north of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, to remove a Palestinian flag and its pole, and shot a young man with a live round.

The soldiers invaded the town from several directions and headed to its center to remove a Palestinian flag and its pole, while firing many live rounds.

Medical sources said a young man, identified as Ahmad Sami Sha’er, was shot with a live round in his thigh, and was moved to Rafidia Hospital, in Nablus.

To check out what life is like under a murderous military occupation commanded by foreign terrorists, go to: http://www.palestinechronicle.com/ The occupied nation is Palestine. The foreign terrorists call themselves “Israeli.” DANGER: POLITICIANS AT WORK

Trump Approval Rating Drops To Lowest Yet: Only 37 Percent Of Respondents Approve Of Trump, An Historic Low For The Poll. March 20, 2017 by Nika Knight, staff writer; Common Dreams

Gallup has released the latest numbers from its tracking poll of President Donald Trump's approval ratings, and things (again) don't look good for the president.

Only 37 percent of respondents approve of Trump, an historic low for the poll. A whopping 58 percent disapprove of his actions in office so far.

Last month, Trump's approval rating in the Gallup poll was 42 percent—which was also a record low for the poll at the time.

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