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Brown Moses posted:The Syrian military reached Aleppo Central Prison, and broke the siege that had been going on for a year. Photos have been published here. This one stood out in particular Do we know they were all prisoners, rather than pro-Assad civilians taking refuge within the prison walls?
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May 23, 2014 13:06
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In case you were wondering, Caro is likely dead.
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May 23, 2014 14:11
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God, what an horrible way to die. What was he trying to achieve going to Syria? RIP. Kurtofan fucked around with this message at 14:31 on May 23, 2014 |
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May 23, 2014 14:16
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Kurtofan posted:God, what an horrible way to die. What was he trying to achieve going to Syria? Help the Syrian people was what he would say, how exactly he was going to do that seemed to vary on his mood.
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May 23, 2014 14:18
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RIP Caro. You went out doing something ostensibly more important than fighting the cabal who tried to assassinate you by placing a Sierra Mist bottle on the floorboard of your car. Almost the worst thing to contemplate is that he would be still alive, begging for death a year later.
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May 23, 2014 14:21
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Maybe a bit NSFW: Kafranbel's latest poster.
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May 23, 2014 15:39
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Muffiner posted:Maybe a bit NSFW: Adding China to that would have been a bit low hanging fruit.
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May 23, 2014 17:26
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Brown Moses, not sure if you can answer this question but have you been in contact with Caro/Kevin's family? I can't even begin to imagine what they must be going through.
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May 23, 2014 17:42
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Nckdictator posted:Brown Moses, not sure if you can answer this question but have you been in contact with Caro/Kevin's family? I can't even begin to imagine what they must be going through. I haven't been in direct contact, but they've been informed.
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May 23, 2014 17:46
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Pimpmust posted:Wait, was it not the Syrian Army that was holding the prison in the first place? Presumably any prisoners would have been put there by well, them, so how does this "liberation" story work out The prisoners get to eat again.
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May 23, 2014 18:24
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hepatizon posted:The prisoners get to eat again. Given how the regime treats its prisoners, I wouldn't be so sure.
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May 23, 2014 22:40
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Radio Prune posted:Given how the regime treats its prisoners, I wouldn't be so sure. He didn't specify what they'd eat.
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May 24, 2014 04:51
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Shame about Caro. RIP if the worst came to pass. Doesn't instill much confidence that others suspected of being held in Syrian govt custody, like Austin Tice or James Foley, will necessarily be faring much better, but I suppose it suggests they could still be alive.
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May 24, 2014 06:03
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At least Tice and Foley had news agencies they were working for, which might have offered them some protection. All Caro had were stories, and you know what Caro's stories were like.
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May 24, 2014 10:09
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I don't know if being a forgotten American in the possession of a regime that takes pride in pushing buttons and sticking it to the west would be better than being some Sunni. Seems to me they'd probably relish in the opportunity to make those guys lives awful knowing full well there would be no consequences.
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May 24, 2014 10:20
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Brown Moses posted:At least Tice and Foley had news agencies they were working for, which might have offered them some protection. All Caro had were stories, and you know what Caro's stories were like. Yeah, that's true, Foley especially IIRC. In related jihadi news, it appears that Al Shabab is trying to pull at Westgate-style attack on the Somali parliament at the moment. This comes about a week after they announced they're expanding their operations to Kenya -- as if they hadn't already -- and could be a pretty dramatic move. Anyone here been following developments in the Horn of Africa closely?
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May 24, 2014 10:38
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If anyone has some time to spare, here's a very long but fun read on the 2008 attack on the US embassy in Sana'a. http://www.buzzfeed.com/gregorydjohnsen/the-benghazi-that-wasnt-how-one-man-saved-the-american-embas
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May 24, 2014 16:39
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Do we have any news on the Syrian army offensive in/toward Aleppo? Haven't seen any articles and a quick googling just gives stuff from 2012/2013/february 2014 (man this is a long offensive).
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May 24, 2014 17:27
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Svartvit posted:If anyone has some time to spare, here's a very long but fun read on the 2008 attack on the US embassy in Sana'a. Interesting how these guys couldn't figure out how to get into the compound when the protestors in the 2012 attack in Sana'a did. Especially since the doors were knocked off the hinges. Must've panicked and lost their minds even more than they already had.
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May 24, 2014 17:45
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MothraAttack posted:In related jihadi news, it appears that Al Shabab is trying to pull at Westgate-style attack on the Somali parliament at the moment. This comes about a week after they announced they're expanding their operations to Kenya -- as if they hadn't already -- and could be a pretty dramatic move. Anyone here been following developments in the Horn of Africa closely? The Mogadishu attack has apparently been successfully repelled but doesn't come as much of a surprise, the security situation in Mogadishu has been gradually worsening since the Somali government pulled out a big chunk of their forces to launch a major offensive against Al-Shabab in March - grenade attacks and assassinations have become a lot more common in the last few months. The UN recently sent a force of 400 troops to shore up Mogadishu airport and protect UN personnel in an attempt to plug the security gap which should hopefully help stabilize the situation in the next few months. The March offensive has been pretty successful by most accounts, the government has retaken various key roads and villages with minimal resistance but al-Shabab seem to still be moving freely through government controlled territory. Over-extension is a serious threat at the moment. In regards to Kenya poo poo is getting worse thanks largely to the Kenyan governments anti-terrorism efforts which basically amount to collective punishment. They launched Operation Usalama in April of this year with the intention of cracking down on home-grown radical groups in Eastleigh and Mombasa by radically increasing the police presence and carrying out mass arrests of individuals linked to terrorist groups. They also ordered all Somali refugees in urban areas to relocate to refugee camps in the North, unsurprisingly a lot of people weren't too keen on this so the Kenyan government have started carrying out raids and detaining refugees without residency papers en-mass - at least 4000 people have been forcibly relocated since April of this year. The Kenyan police already have a horrific reputation among the Kenyan Somali community (they have been linked to a string of murders targeting prominent figures in the Islamist movement) and the current campaign of intimidation is undoubtedly feeding into the wave of attacks Kenya has seen since the start of the year. It's all very depressing...
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May 24, 2014 19:31
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E: ^^ Did Djibouti and Nigeria ever send troops like they promised? Last I heard Burundi would pull their AU contingent out because of other nations not pulling their weight. ^^ I can't believe I read that thread about caro. I had happily forgotten all about how colossally lovely a place GBS is. Tias fucked around with this message at 20:23 on May 24, 2014 |
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May 24, 2014 20:19
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Tias posted:E: ^^ Did Djibouti and Nigeria ever send troops like they promised? Last I heard Burundi would pull their AU contingent out because of other nations not pulling their weight. ^^ I think the second Djibouti contingent is due to arrive soon, AMISOM have approved their deployment to Kismayo to replace Kenyan troops that are being withdrawn at the request of the Somali government. As far as I know Nigeria still only has a small contingent that does not engage in combat operations and is there purely to assist in training the Somali police force. The biggest new contributor is Ethiopia who has deployed over 4,000 troops this year in a rather controversial decision by AMISOM, it's safe to say that a lot of people are worried that an Ethiopian military presence in Somalia is counter-productive but the sheer amount of manpower they are willing to commit has drowned out a lot of criticism. Burundi now insists that any claims they would pull their troops out where filthy lies spread by their enemies. Burundi is currently in a pretty fragile place internationally so their force may gradually decrease, there has been a crackdown on government opponents in recent months and international observers have started to raise the alarm over the re-emergence of ethnic violence as the government gears up for the elections next year. They recently expelled a UN diplomat after the government was accused of arming ethnic militias, there has been talk the UN might pressure AMISOM to decrease the Burundian contingent as relations continue to deteriorate but so far there have been no concrete signs of a troop reduction. Burundi have also committed troops to MISCA (the mission to CAR) and the CJTF-HOA have heavily invested in the Burundi National Defence Force as a proxy force so there is opposition to backing away from them at the moment. That may change if they starting gunning down civilians though.
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May 24, 2014 21:52
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Cool, thanks!quote:Burundi now insists that any claims they would pull their troops out where filthy lies spread by their enemies. In that case, I won't contribute to the confusion! I haven't actually heard that they would pull out, only that they requested that Djibouti, Guinea and Nigeria started shouldering the burden because they were losing too many men.
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May 25, 2014 11:45
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Pimpmust posted:Do we have any news on the Syrian army offensive in/toward Aleppo? Haven't seen any articles and a quick googling just gives stuff from 2012/2013/february 2014 (man this is a long offensive). Here's a Guardian article by Martin Chulov on the current state of affairs in Aleppo. The title seems a bit hyperbolic, but I think if the government can take back Aleppo, and also shut down the southern front around Deraa, then they can pretty much wrap up the strategic threat. Sure, it'll take years if ever to take back all the North and East, but many countries have carried along fine with huge chunks of their territory ruled by antagonistic rebels, such as Columbia, Myanmar, even India (large chunks are ruled by communists rather than the central government). If the government can break the back of what's left of the FSA, they can probably come to an accommodation with ISIS and Nusra. Battle for Aleppo could prove final reckoning in Syria's war http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/24/aleppo-battle-final-reckoning-syria-war Also a couple of maps on the current situation in Aleppo that have been posted on twitter:  
mediadave fucked around with this message at 13:00 on May 25, 2014 |
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May 25, 2014 12:43
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Yeah, if the regime can lay siege to East Aleppo that would likely seal the rebellion's long-term fate. That said, the opposition took one of the last two major regime bases in Khan Sheykun in reef Idlib yesterday, putting them in a greater position to threaten the Damascus-Aleppo supply line. If they also take the last stronghold, and continue to advance around Morek near Hama, the SAA is going to have some major supply headaches for their northern campaign. Chechen units are also allegedly counter attacking the prison today, and it looks like the regime has vacated most, if not all, of the facility's prisoners to an unknown location, signaling they perhaps intend to give it up to allow for more operational flexibility (and it's just plain dumb to keep keeping prisoners there, anyway). More details and analysis on Idlib: http://eaworldview.com/2014/05/syria-daily-insurgents-threaten-last-regime-bases-idlib-province/ Reports also coming out today, unconfirmed but via the Tahrir network, that ISIS killed Father Paolo last summer. MothraAttack fucked around with this message at 06:45 on May 26, 2014 |
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May 26, 2014 06:38
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Seems quite likely that the Regime will run into over-stretching problems, unless they've suddenly found a extra division or two tucked away somewhere. That supply line is mighty long if they intend to do a serious push into Aleppo.
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May 26, 2014 16:19
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While this is the million dollar question, what do we see as the most likely outcome for the political structure a year or two from now? It seems like it will probably be: 1. Government retains control of Damascus and a north-south corridor, 2. Moderate-ish factions in the south and JAN bordering Turkey in the north maintain nominal control of huge swaths of the country 3. From northeast Syria to Iraq ISIS maintains control 4. A continuing stream of refugees adds to the crush of human suffering in camps in all of Syrias neighbors. Unless there's any real external change we can foresee? The moderate stream of anti-tank weapons?
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May 27, 2014 02:54
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So I suppose the game here for the Regime is an attempt to encircle the pocket of rebels in the southeastern portion of the city, cutting off their supply lines and putting them to siege?
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May 27, 2014 04:31
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MothraAttack posted:Reports also coming out today, unconfirmed but via the Tahrir network, that ISIS killed Father Paolo last summer. That was before the deiz ez zor offensive by JaN, IF, and FSA right? I remember a lot of people hoping he would turn up in one of the prisons they captured, and it was a pretty depressing thought when he didn't.
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May 27, 2014 12:59
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Voting extended for another day in Egypt. Guess someone's not happy with the turnout.
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May 27, 2014 16:44
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The Egyptians today gave a gigantic "gently caress you" to the military regime, the voter turnout has been such a catastrophe (not that it will change the result) that regime media are going crazy asking " where are the people? Where is the patriotism? Where is the live of Egypt?" Hahhahaha. I'm really glad, given how Egypt is effectively under military occupation they did the best thing they could do given the circumstances, a little bit of faith in humanity has been restored to me. I suspect that tomorrow the turnout will improve because the regime and it's allies will force everyone they have power over to go vote, but today Egyptians silence screams loud and clear. Al-Saqr fucked around with this message at 17:00 on May 27, 2014 |
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May 27, 2014 16:57
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It seems like a miscalculation, now they look like idiots. They could likely have just claimed 40% turnout and no one would have been able to seriously dispute it (even if it's obviously less).
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May 27, 2014 17:16
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The Sabahi campaign has reportedly just filed a legal complaint about the repeated extensions.
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May 27, 2014 18:24
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Brown Moses posted:The Sabahi campaign has reportedly just filed a legal complaint about the repeated extensions. Sisi's campaign as well, apparently. Egyptian media is going ballistic and it's amazing to watch. This is gonna be the best night ever. Ham fucked around with this message at 19:27 on May 27, 2014 |
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May 27, 2014 18:31
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So what is the turnout at presently? Al Jazeera said 12% yesterday evening.
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May 27, 2014 19:30
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The election committee just refused both campaigns' complaints about the extension, and is going through with a third voting day. Sabbahi was threatening withdrawal from the elections if they were extended so....this'll be interesting.Demiurge4 posted:So what is the turnout at presently? Al Jazeera said 12% yesterday evening. The prime minister is claiming 30% but independent polling shows it at more like 15-20%. For reference, the 2012 presidential elections had 51% voter turnout.
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May 27, 2014 19:31
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Egyptian presidential election committee announces a 35% turnout so far.
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May 27, 2014 21:34
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Ham posted:Egyptian presidential election committee announces a 35% turnout so far. Haha they're desperate to inflate the numbers, those vapid corrupt fucks.
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May 27, 2014 22:05
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You pessimists have it all backwards, the people are demanding an additional day of voting so they can relive the glory of voting for Sisi again.
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May 27, 2014 22:07
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Unsubstantiated exit poll performed at 800 polling centers in 16 governorates show Sisi in the lead with 93% of the vote. Sabbahi is at 6%, with 1% crossing out their ballot papers.
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May 27, 2014 22:10
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