Happy New Year ISIS: 29 U.S. And Arab NYD Air Strikes Devastate Militants Across Iraq And Syria

On New Year’s Day, a total of 29 U.S-led air strikes reportedly devastated ISIS positions, mainly in Raqqa and Kobane in Syria, where Kurdish Peshmerga and YPG forces have been involved in street battles with ISIS militants for months, as well as in Iraq.  As reported by the Guardian today, the city of Dayr az Zawr, which has a population of more than half a million people, was also rocked by numerous strikes.

The town of Mosul in Iraq, which is the location of the strategically important Fallujah dam as well as the town of Sinjar, were also hit hard by a combination of U.S. and Arab jet fighter pilots, from the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS.

The International Business Times also reported today that, in total, 17 bombs were dropped over Syria and another 12 over Iraq, though the exact split between the target cities has not been revealed for military purposes.

It hasn’t exactly been a “Merry Christmas” for ISIS in Iraq and Syria — not that they celebrate Christmas anyway — having enjoyed over 100 air strikes since Christmas Day. The militant group is hurting, and hurting badly, as the West, and even Muslim states, step-up to the reality of the situation they are facing.

Not only have towns like Raqqa and Kobane suffered the wrath of the U.S Air Force, strikes have also hit Al Asad, Al Qaim, Baiji, Kirkuk, and Tal Afar in Iraq.

In a timely visit to troops in the Damascus district of Jobar last night, Syrian dictator Bashar Al Assad went to deliver a New Year’s message. Syrian State TV showed Assad having dinner with soldiers and pro-government gunmen during the rare appearance.

Assad told his troops, “On New Year’s Eve families gather but you decided to be here to protect your country. I like to be with you on this occasion.”

The nostalgic and fatherly Assad visit came as the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced that the death toll from the four-year civil war topped 76,000 in 2014 alone. Of the dead, an estimated 17,790 were civilians, including 3,501 children, making it the deadliest year of the civil war in Syria so far.

Outrage grows over $9.3m seized in South Africa

There was more outrage yesterday over the smuggling of $9.3million from Nigeria into South Africa purportedly to buy arms.

Islamic body Jama’atu Nasir Islam (JNI) expressed disbelief that such a mission was undertaken ostensibly on behalf of government.

Senate Minority Leader Geroge Akume expressed “utmost dismay and anger” over the matter. He criticised Christian Association of Nigerian (CAN) President Ayo Oritsejafor for his role in the matter.

The CAN leader has admitted having a “residual interest” in Eagle Airline Limited, owners of the Bombadier jet to ferry the cash from Abuja to Johannesburg on September 5”.

He, however, said the plan had been leased to another company since August. The company gave the plane  out on charter.

Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) expressed disbelief over the impounding of the jet in South Africa, laden with $9.3 million in cash, purportedly to buy arms in the country, saying that the matter became more of concern to JNI because the government has full knowledge of it, despite its illegality.

A statement by JNI Secretary General, Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu in Kaduna yesterday said: “Government should tell Nigerians the real fact on the issue. We hope the matter will not be wheedled with. However, we note with dismay the unguarded utterances of some leaders that they will call on their followers to defend themselves.

“Also we note the uncourteous speeches attacking other leaders, which leave much to be desired and overheat the polity.

“JNI demands answers to why were the presidential fleet of jets not used? Is government short of official agents which necessitated assigning non official ones? With the current trend of cashless financial transaction, why is such huge amount carried in cash? And isn’t arms deals executed via third parties?

“Where is the Ministry of Defence and the office of the National Security Adviser? Was due process followed through relevant government agencies? And are bilateral matters dealt with in that way?”

The apex Islamic body in the North also urged Senators and Reps to rise initiate a special discussion on the matter, which according to it, as urgent public interest revolves on it, as it relates to threat to national security.

“The EFCC must wholly play its role in this direction by prosecuting those involved to adequately face the wrath of the law. It doesn’t matter whose ox is gored.

“We are in support of any move to restore peace and security and we will not waiver. We commend the efforts of security agents in the fight against terrorism and the successes so far achieved,” the statement added.

Akume statement said the circumstances surrounding the incident suggested that those ferrying the money did it in open breach of Nigerian and international laws.

“South Africa has already established a prima facie case of criminality involved in the questionable misadventure.”

Pastor Oritsejafor’s arguments are unsustainable because he has vicarious liability at several levels. One, the vessel used for criminal activity belongs to him. Secondly, he commercially leased the vessel to Eagle Air, which is a company he holds an interest in and which in turn further leased same to the company that converted it to commercial use with his full knowledge and approval. The chain of ethical liability is unbroken. How will the pastor explain his involvement with people engaged in the murky waters of international arms trafficking?”

“The President of CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, claimed that his congregation donated this same jet to him on the 40th anniversary of his ministry sometime in 2012 for the purpose of attending to his flock and doing God’s work. The plane, a Bombardier Challenger 600, was registered as a privately owned jet supposedly for pastoral use. However, the three passengers arrested in South Africa with the aircraft were definitely not on pastoral visit to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

“Unfortunately, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has jumped into this fray, hurling insults on respectable members of the society and making statements that are more political than spiritual. I wish to remind officials of CAN that when on 27th August, 1976, Christian leaders first met at the Catholic secretariat, Lagos, they agreed to establish an organisation that would promote cooperation among Christians, interfaith harmony and safeguard the welfare of all Nigerians. When CAN was eventually registered in 1986, its constitution clearly articulated among other objectives to act as ‘watchperson of the spiritual and moral welfare of the Nation’. Another core objective is to promote understanding, peace and unity among the various people of Nigeria.

From the pioneer president of CAN His Eminence Dominic Cardinal Ekannem through his revered successors like His Eminence Anthony Cardinal Okogie, Dr. Sunday Mbang, Most Rev. Peter Akinola and the immediate past President of CAN and Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, His Eminence John Cardinal Onaiyekan, CAN witnessed its glorious years.

“My appeal to Pastor Oritsejafor is that as a Christian leader, his beacon should be Jesus the Christ. “

“I advise him to sell this controversial jet and use the funds to reconstruct or rehabilitate churches destroyed by Boko Haram in the northeast of Nigeria. This advice is especially apt now that the Pastor no longer needs the plane for pastoral duties,” Akume said.

ISIS hostage executioner, IDENTIFIED!

Washington (AFP) - The United States has identified the masked Islamic State militant who murdered two kidnapped American journalists in separate videotaped beheadings, FBI chief James Comey said Thursday.
The jihadist organization triggered global outrage when it released videos of a man with a British accent killing first James Foley then Steven Sotloff, freelance journalists who were kidnapped in Syria.
"We believe we have identified the executioner," Comey told reporters at a briefing in Washington. "I won't tell you who it is."
The British ambassador in Washington, Sir Peter Westmacott, had previously said that the allies were close to identifying the suspect.
Comey did not confirm or deny reports that the suspect in the killing is British, but said the FBI was concerned that another film from the Islamic State group features someone with a North American accent.
"Flames of War" -- a slickly produced propaganda video aimed at intimidating Western audiences and recruiting English-speaking fighters -- was released earlier this month.
It features a masked militant in combat fatigues speaking in English.
"There's no doubt that there's someone speaking with a North American-accented English on that video, so that's a big focus of ours right now," Comey said.
In addition to murdering two US hostages and a Briton, the Islamic State group has seized a large tract of territory spanning eastern Syria and northwestern Iraq, in a brutal and bloody campaign.
On August 8, President Barack Obama ordered air strikes against the group in Iraq, and this week expanded the campaign -- backed by Arab allies -- to hit IS targets across the border in Syria.
US authorities expect a long conflict against the group of at least three years, and have expressed
concerns that hundreds of Muslims from Europe or the Americas have joined the group.
There are fears in Western capitals that battle-hardened fighters may return from the field and launch attacks in their homelands.

Confusion over Shekau’s Death !

Nigeria and Cameroon were, yesterday, locked in an argument over who killed Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau and where he was killed.

In a rare public show by the Cameroonian army (Armee Camerounaise), photos of Shekau were made public alongside a statement claiming he was killed during a cross-border raid deep inside Nigeria by its military.

A Cameroon military source, according to Cameroon Concord, said on Sunday night that Shekau was killed following an aerial bombardment of his hideout inside Nigeria.

On the other hand, the Nigerian Army is also laying claim to the same feat but without photographic evidence yet. The Nigerian Army said its soldiers might have killed Shekau in Konduga, a town some kilometres away from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

According to a report posted on its twitter handle, DHQ said yesterday that, “there was no raid whatsoever in any part of Nigeria’s territory in pursuit of terrorists as claimed in some reports allegedly quoting Cameroon military authorities.

“All operations on-going in the environs of Konduga and all associated border locations within the country are completely being undertaken by Nigerian troops.”

Reportedly, the Cameroon armed forces since Sunday have been in serious combat against thousands of Boko Haram fighters trying to enter Cameroon via Fotokol from Gamboru Ngala in Nigeria.

This came amid confusion over Shekau’s identity as military experts are trying to ascertain whether the dead ‘Shekau’ was Isa Damsaka or Bashir Mohammed, who are both top commanders believed to be posing as Shekau.

Meanwhile, efforts to exchange some of the abducted Chibok school girls with Boko Haram prisoners have flopped again.

The Nigerian military claimed that its troops might have killed Shekau on September 17 during a desperate attempt by the sect to capture Konduga as part of their plot to eventually march on and capture Maiduguri.

“It is getting more certain that the terrorist commander who has been mimicking Shekau in those videos is the one killed in Konduga on September 17, 2014, the military revealed.

The military, however, cautioned that “the process of confirming the dead body we have is the same as that character who has been posing as Shekau is ongoing. He is definitely a prominent terrorist commander. I don’t want to say anything about this yet, please.”

The military source insisted that the resemblance between Shekau and the corpse in their custody is too striking to be a coincidence. They cited his facial marks, beard and teeth in addition to the recovery by  Nigerian troops of some of the armoured vehicles and Hilux SUVs that had featured in previous videos of the prime suspect. The source assured that the Defence Headquarters will soon address the nation after full investigation of their latest discovery.

The counter-claims by both countries have raised some posers: Who actually killed Shekau and where was he killed and how authentic are the claims?

Confusion over Shekau’s identity

Indeed, confusion reigns supreme over Shekau’s identity. Strident efforts by the Nigerian military high command to establish the true identity of the top Boko Haram leader who was shot dead last week, continued in earnest yesterday, even as the video of the slain man was obtained exclusively by Vanguard.

The military, it was learnt, had been cautious in making a formal announcement that Shekau had been killed as a similar declaration last year, was instantly countered by the sect, following the emergence of another ‘Shekau’ in several video posts on the Internet.

Vanguard gathered from top security sources that although a bearded man, who resembled Shekau in several material details, was shot dead in Konduga last week, the military was not sure whether the slain man was Isa Damsaka or Bashir Mohammed, who the security agencies claim had been mimicking the real Abubakar Shekau, said to have been killed since June 2013.

The apparent fear over the death of Shekau, in the battle for Konduga, it was also learnt, has caused some disquiet in the Boko Haram camp, especially as the video of the dead commander surfaced on the internet yesterday.

In the six-second video, the critically wounded ‘Shekau’ was seen lying on the ground writhing in pains as men in military uniform and civilians surround him with some voices saying, “Waste that man! Waste that man!”

However, the Australian negotiator, Dr. Stephen Davis, who claims to have worked closely with Abubakar Shekau, said yesterday that he was convinced that the real Shekau was killed since June 2013 by the Nigerian security agencies.

Shekau killed June 2013 — Davis

Davis, in a mail to Vanguard, said that Abubakar Shekau was killed around June 19, 2013 while they were close to concluding a peace deal on the Boko Haram insurgency.

Davis said:  “I continue to hold to the position that Shekau was killed on or about June 19, 2013 when we were close to concluding a peace deal. Videos immediately prior to that time were produced using a “fake” Shekau. The fake Skekau is Isa Damsaka. It was confirmed to me by Boko Haram that he was killed in the recent military engagement at Konduga.

“Most members of Boko Haram have never seen Shekau. They believe what they have been told that Shekau is their leader. The real Shekau is dead. The Shekau the world has been seeing in videos is a “fake” and Boko Haram fighters have been fooled. They have followed blindly.

“The message of Boko Haram purifying Islam is also fake. When the Boko Haram leaders broke the news of Shekau’s death in June last year, they said he had diverted from the Holy Qu’ran through the kidnappings, rapes and beheadings. The fake Shekau continued these atrocities under the patronage of the sponsors and escalated their terrorist activities. Shekau is dead but they will try to find another to perpetuate the lie.

“This is the time for Boko Haram commanders to come forward and release the captive girls. There are Chibok girls and many other girls who have been kidnapped. Let commanders come forward and release a large number of girls as a first step towards a peace dialogue.

“I have no doubt the sponsors will try to prevent any commander releasing the girls as part of a peace deal. The pressure must therefore be put on the sponsors so the commanders can come forward.

“Shekau was killed on or about June 19, 2013 as we were concluding a peace deal. I have spoken at length to several senior people who were present. The Shekau impersonator recently killed was Isa Damsaka. Boko Haram leaders have been using him for quite some time to make their propaganda videos. The script is written for him by another commander which he then reads as he delivers his message on-camera.”

How  Shekau was killed

Details of how Abubakar Shekau, the impostor and leader of the Boko Haram terrorist group was killed in a shoot-out with Nigerian troops in Konduga on Wednesday, September 17 emerged, yesterday, with military sources disclosing that he met his waterloo in an ambush reminiscent of the type the sect had been using to hack down Nigerian troops.

Vanguard gathered that during the first attack on Konduga, where hundreds of insurgents were taken unawares and killed after over seven hours of fighting with several of their colleagues, arms and ammunition captured, the military commanders strategically urged his captured members to send a message to Shekau that they (insurgents) have killed the troops.

Before the captured insurgents were urged to make the contact and deliver the message, the military commanders had promised them that their co-operation would play a role in the level of punishment to be meted to them after the battle, hence they felt reassured.

Also, the captured insurgents had disclosed that Shekau usually moved in a convoy of cars painted in military colours while he sits in a MOWAG Armoured tank with Boko Haram inscription on its front.

When Shekau was contacted, his captured men spoke to him in Arabic, assuring him that they had taken over Konduga, thereby giving him the positive signal to proceed from Sambisa Forest. To convince him further, some of his men that were captured were asked to sing the victory song in Kanuri language they normally sing at the background.

Having convinced himself that the messenger was his chief courier in such situation and the message was authentic, he and his followers made for Konduga, heavily armed with anti-aircraft weapons, general purpose machine guns, several AK-47 rifles and other IEDS’.

However, on entering Konduga town, he and his followers were encircled by strategically placed and heavily armed Nigerian soldiers. Immediately he contacted the messenger and discovered that something was amiss, he ordered his followers to start shooting in all directions.

This spurred the Army Commanders to give the directive to open fire. When he discovered that the fire power of the Nigerian Army who used both infantry and artillery weaponry was overwhelming, he jumped out of the MOWAG and made to escape.

But Nigerian soldiers spotted him and opened fire on him, inflicting serious injuries on  his legs. It was learnt that he also received bullet wounds in other parts of his body as he was said to have bled to death.

Military sources had on Sunday night disclosed that Nigerian troops scored a strategic victory in the current battle against terrorists operating in the North-East on September 17.

Swap of Chibok girls with Boko Haram prisoners flops again

Meanwhile, it has also emerged that efforts of the security agencies to free the 219 Chibok girls from their Boko Haram captors has failed again.

Vanguard learnt from top security agents that the deal to free the girls, who have spent 162 days with their abductors, had broken down almost irretrievably as a result of the inexplicable decision by the Boko Haram side to ask for impossible conditions.

One of the conditions put down by Boko Haram at the last minute was that the Federal Government must account for and produce 18 of its top commanders said to have been captured and detained in several detention facilities across the country.

Although the government was willing to free some of the Boko Haram detainees in exchange for the girls, a top government source, who was privy to the discussions, said that many of the Boko Haram commanders could not be traced.

The top government official said: “Boko Haram commanders suddenly demanded an equal man-to-man exchange instead of the agreed total girls for 16 Boko Haram prisoners. Also, of the 16 prisoners, not all of them could be traced by the government side.

“The exchange of the Chibok girls with the Boko Haram prisoners was to take place at an agreed location in Yola, the Adamawa State capital. But the true position of things as of today is that the talks have broken down.”

Answering a question, the government official said that Nigeria opted to bring in the International Committee of the Red Cross as a facilitator because of its neutrality and competence in facilitating such exchange of prisoners in many parts of the world.

Jonathan is afraid of Boko Haram: David-West

A former Minister of Petroleum, Prof Tam David-West, has berated President Goodluck Jonathan for failing to address the security situation in the country.

David-West said he was convinced that the President was afraid of Boko Haram that was why he (Jonathan) refused to visit the parents of the schoolgirls that were kidnapped in Chibok, Borno State over four months ago.

David-West said it was wrong of Jonathan to have invited the parents of the Chibok girls to Abuja instead of going to Chibok to visit them, adding that going to visit them would have given both the parents and Nigerians a psychological boost.

The former minister said this during an interview with Sahara TV, which was monitored by our correspondent.

He said Jonathan had no right to seek a second term in office and urged Nigerians to rise against bad governance. He said it was unfortunate that more Nigerians were being abducted by terrorists.

He described as shocking, the takeover of several towns by Boko Haram members.

He said, “Anyone that is complacent about the state of affairs in the country is an enemy of Nigeria. It is a terrible situation and we should be ashamed, President Jonathan should be ashamed. He is the Commander-in-Chief and the number one security officer and citizen of the state.

“Over 200 of your girls taken away from your territory for the past three months and you are still talking. First, you are not even sure, his wife said nothing happened, then he also did not believe that anything happened and later he changed and said he knows where they are. If you say you know where they are, why can’t you save them?

“With all the security forces in the country, you cannot bring them. Our President is afraid of Boko Haram. He claimed they have infiltrated his cabinet and isn’t he ashamed? Since you know they have infiltrated your cabinet, why don’t you expose them?

“Up till now, he has not gone to Chibok and when he made that cosmetic move to see them, he invited the parents to come to Abuja and when they were going, he gave them money which has now been exposed and that is why Boko Haram has been so because they know that the President is weak.”

David-West said even though he is Jonathan’s kinsman, he would not turn a blind eye to the incompetence of his administration.

Boko Haram Invades Bama, Meets Resistance From Nigerian Troops

Boko Haram militants have invaded Bama, the second largest city in Borno state with the aim of taking over the town, but residents told Saharareporters that Nigerian troops in city have resisted the terrorists leading to a huge fire fight. Several civilians including the Emir of Bama have already fled to the state capital Maiduguri to avoid being caught in the crossfire. Eyewitnesses said that the sect arrived the vicinity of Bama early today and began firing mortars, RPGs and hurling grenades into the city. The battle was still raging as at the time of publishing this report. Bama is a strategic city with over 500,000 inhabitants. If the sect captures Bama with all the military hardware in the city, then it just days away from capturing Maiduguri which less than 40 miles from Bama.