ISIS terrorists are arriving in Europe in the guise of refugees

Fears have been expressed in certain quarters that ISIS is 'spreading like cancer' and terrorists in the guise of refugees are arriving in Europe. This has been revealed by a US General who is the Commander of NATO's European unit. In his opinion, the arrival of thousands of migrants in to the continent is 'masking the movement' of violent extremists, criminals and foreign fighters.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 1 March 2016.

The US Air Force General has informed the Senate Armed Services Committee that these dangerous elements heightened the potential for a terror attack. Within this mix of people from different background, ISIS is 'taking advantage of paths of least resistance and is a threat to European nations as well as the United States.
The General has asked for more U.S. forces to be permanently based in Europe because it is facing threats from a more aggressive Russia as well as the ISIS. His requirement is for Army troops that could be ready to respond quickly to any crisis or military need. The Pentagon has decreased the number of US forces in Europe over the last several years, and has, instead, shifted focus to the Asia Pacific while fighting continues in the Middle East. However, in view of the increasing threats from Russia and ISIS questions are being raised about those decisions.
It is estimated that about 6,000 foreign fighters have left to join the fight in Syria and Iraq, and out of that, some 1,500 of them have returned to Europe. As per information of the International Organization for Migration, almost 130,000 migrants - or, more than 2,000 each day - have reached Europe by sea since the beginning of this year and 418 have died in the attempts, most drowning in the cold, rough waters. This means that the number of arrivals in the first two months of 2016 is more than 11 times as many as the same period last year.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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US airdrops 50-tons of ammunition for M-16s and AK-47 to Syrian fighters

US Military has airdropped 50 tons of supplies like ammunition for M-16s and AK-47s into Al-Hasakah province which is home to Syrian Kurds, Arabs and a minority Assyrian community. The items also included arms ammo and grenades. This is consequent to the shift in focus of Pentagon from training rebel fighters to equipping them.
This has been reported in foxnews.com dated 13 October 2015.

The airdrop of arms and ammunition comes two days after the Defense Department announced it was effectively ending its current training program. The airdrop was made by four C-17 transport aircraft and all the 112 pallets reached friendly forces.
It was done as had been done for Kobani which is considered to be one of the few bright spots in the war against the Islamic State. The arms dropped by the US to Syrian Kurdish fighters, known as the YPG, resulted in successfully expelling ISIS from the Turkish-Syrian border town of Kobani.
This time, however, Syrian Kurds were not recipients of the U.S. airdrop but only Syrian Arabs who were fighting ISIS. This is because Syrian Kurds are seen as enemies by Turkey whle the US looks upon them as a NATO ally.
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US to position military equipment in East Europe to deter Russian invasion

The situation in Eastern Europe is volatile and the US has plans to position military equipment like battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other heavy weapons to cater to approximately 5,000 troops in a number of Baltic and Eastern European countries. The intention is to counter any designs of a Russian aggression in Europe.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 14 June 2015.

The United States wants to reassure its European allies in the wake of Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea in March 2014. The proposal is likely to be approved by U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter and the White House. A meeting of NATO defense ministers would be held in Brussels this month and the approval could be accorded before that.
Once approved, the proposal would mark the first time since the Cold War that Washington would be positioning heavy military equipment in the newer NATO member states in Eastern Europe. These states used to, once, be under Soviet influence.
Under the proposal, 'a company's worth of equipment - enough for about 150 soldiers - would be kept in each of the three Baltic nations: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Moreover, equipment for a company or possibly a battalion - about 750 soldiers - would be located in countries like Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and possibly Hungary.
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Obama agrees to send 1500 additional troops to Iraq

The clock is turning a full circle for US President Barack Obama. When he took over as President of the USA, the US troops in Iraq were counting the days when they would return to the comfort of their homes as assured by Barack Obama. He had promised to evacuate Iraq by end 2011 and he did just that.
But, the present global scenario is forcing his hand because of the growing threats of the ISIS and he has agreed to send an additional 1500 troops to Iraq. This deployment would amount to doubling the current deployment. The Pentagon has decided to brand this deployment as Operation Inherent Resolve and the new troops would extend support to the roughly 1,600 US personnel already in Iraq.
The White House has indicated that the new forces would not be in combat roles and has asked Congress for $5.6bn (£3.5bn) to fund the mission against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The request includes $1.6bn for an "Iraq Train and Equip Fund".
The US has reiterated that its troops in northern Iraq do not have any fighting role and their main purpose is to help train national and Kurdish forces to battle the Islamic State jihadists.
The White House has clarified that as a part of the strategy for strengthening partners on the ground, the President has authorized the deployment of up to 1,500 additional US military personnel in a non-combat role – they would be involved to train, advise and assist Iraqi Security Forces, including Kurdish forces.
The plan is that the new troops would operate at military facilities beyond Baghdad and Irbil, where they have hitherto been based and the military would set up several training sites across Iraq to instruct 12 Iraqi brigades.

Syrian Air Force carries out 200 airstrikes in 36-hours in rebel-held areas

The situation in Syria appears to be hazy with the Syrian Air Force carrying out nearly 200 airstrikes on rebel positions in a period of 36-hours bbc.com. The strikes targeted rebel-held areas in Quneitra, Deraa, and the Damascus countryside, Hama, Idlib and Aleppo.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the raids took place mostly in western areas between midnight on Sunday and noon on Tuesday but could not provide any figure of casualties.
The intensified strikes by the Syrian Air Force comes even as US-led forces continue to bomb Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria and Iraq. The US and Arab jets have been attacking IS positions in around the northern Syrian town of Kobane, where Kurdish fighters are under siege.
Incidentally, the US had airdropped military aid for Kurds but, it seems, one of the packets have fallen into the hands of the IS and they have released a video of the same. This has been confirmed by a spokesman of the Pentagon – he has said that the vast majority of the bundles had ended up in the Kurds' hands but he was aware of one that had not.

Islamic State militants are learning to fly MiG aircrafts

Islamic State militants are now learning to fly fighter aircrafts bbc.com – this has been made possible by Iraqi pilots who have joined Islamic State and who are now training its members in Syria to fly fighter aircraft.

According to a UK-based activist group that monitors the conflict, it seems the IS has got three aircraft and witnesses had seen the planes being flown around a military airport in Aleppo.
Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the SOHR, has revealed that the IS was using Iraqi officers who were pilots under ex-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to train fighters in Syria.
The number of pilots who have defected is not known but, as per witnesses, the planes appeared to be MiG-21 or MiG-23 models. The IS has three planes which it captured earlier from the Syrian military in Aleppo and Raqqa.

However, the US Central Command spokesman has indicated that the Pentagon was "not aware" of IS conducting any flight operations in Syria or elsewhere.

US in a limbo – it wants to eliminate IS militants but without boots on the ground

That the Islamic State is a serious threat to the US goes without saying and with its declared policy of ‘no US boots on the ground’, the big shots in White House and the Pentagon are working overtime to evolve a suitable strategy news.sky.com.
The US is, therefore, trying to form a sort of "core coalition" to battle Islamic State militants in Iraq. To achieve this, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel have called for support as they held talks with officials from 10 nations on the sidelines of the NATO summit to build a strategy to defeat IS.
As John Kerry has remarked – there is a need to attack the IS in ways that prevent them from taking over territory, to bolster the Iraqi security forces and others in the region who are prepared to take them on, without committing troops of our own. That would be a red line for all concerned – there should be no boots on the ground.
Instead of direct military strikes, the 10 nations could provide intelligence, equipment or weapons. The 10 nations are US, Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, Turkey, Italy, Poland and Denmark.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has added that there has to be a comprehensive response to the ISIL challenge.
The beheading of two American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff by the IS and the death of a senior IS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi in a US drone strike have led to the formation of a coalition.
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US drone strike kills Somali terror chief responsible for Westgate Mall massacre

US drone strike is believed to have killed 37-year-old Ahmed Abde Godane, the leader of al-Shabaab terror group nzherald.co.nz. This Somali Islamist leader had ordered last year's Westgate shopping Centre massacre in Kenya in which 67 persons were killed. Ahmed Abde Godane had, reportedly, been targeted by a salvo of missiles as he left a meeting of the group's senior leaders and the Pentagon is trying to confirm whether he had really died. As per witnesses, there was a sound like that of an earthquake as missiles hit a forested region in Somalia's Sablale district, 170-Km south of Mogadishu. A spokesman of al-Shabaab has revealed that Godane was in one of two vehicles that was hit in the attack in which six fighters were also killed, but declined to say if he was among the dead. Godane had, at one time, appeared in an al-Shabaab video in which he was shown pledging his allegiance to Osama bin Laden. Godane also gave his backing to last September's Westgate mall massacre in which 67 people were killed when gunmen stormed the Shopping Centre in Nairobi. Godane, who also went by the name Abu Zubayr, was listed by the US State Department as one of the world's most-wanted terrorist fugitives – he had a price of $8.4 million bounty on his head.