Fri Dec 13 2024, 02:35 AM

Islamic World News ( 24 Dec 2017, NewAgeIslam.Com)

AIMPLB Demands Withdrawal of Triple Talaq Bill, Says It's Against Sharia Law and Will 'Ruin Muslim Families'

New Age Islam News Bureau

24 Dec 2017

Photo: All India Muslim Personal Law Board holds emergency meeting in #Lucknow ahead of tabling of bill on Triple Talaq in Parliament

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• Pork Used In Hate Attack on Belfast Islamic Centre

• Officials: Saudi Crown Prince Tried to Persuade Palestinian President to Support US Peace Plan

• Jerusalem Tensions Cast Shadow over Christmas in Holy Land

• 'Pakistan Not In Habit of Taking Notices from Anyone Let Alone US': Rabbani Slams Pence's Remarks

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India

• AIMPLB Demands Withdrawal of Triple Talaq Bill, Says It's Against Sharia Law and Will 'Ruin Muslim Families'

• Islamic State, Al-Qaeda Competing For Indian Recruits

• Haj rule change in India leads to sharp rise in female applicants

• Rajsamand love-jihad case: Police says accused Shambulal was in ‘illicit’ relationship with a girl

• 2017 new high for Pakistan border assaults

• J&K: Army Major, 3 soldiers killed in firing by Pakistan along LoC

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Europe

• Pork Used In Hate Attack on Belfast Islamic Centre

• Islamic State Had Appropriated Ammunition Procured By Swiss Firm

• Muslim migrants succeed in Russia despite xenophobia

• Young Ahmadi Muslims to Stage Visits and Run Free Taxi Services for Elderly and Isolated Over Christmas

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Arab World

• Officials: Saudi Crown Prince Tried to Persuade Palestinian President to Support US Peace Plan

• Mosul's Morgue Men Endured Worst of Islamic State Butchery

• Islamic State Attack Militia in Iraq

• Campaign to be launched to removed Islamic State signs in western Anbar

• Al-Nusra Suffers Heavy Casualties in Failed Attack on Syrian Army Positions in Aleppo Province

• Syrian Army Sends Troops, Equipment to Northern Lattakia to Face Terrorists' Movements

• Terrorists' Logistic Convoy Hit in Syrian Army's Ambush Operation near Israel-Occupied Golan Heights

• Syrian Army Preparing for Recapturing Energy-Rich Regions Occupied by Kurds

• Syrian Army Utilizing Modern Cannons in War on Terrorism in Southwestern Damascus

• Army Repels ISIL's Attack on Gov't Positions in Homs

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Mideast

• Jerusalem Tensions Cast Shadow over Christmas in Holy Land

• 14 Palestinians Killed, Thousands Wounded, Hundreds Detained since US President Jerusalem Move

• Hezbollah Deputy Secretary: Al-Quds Must Be Priority, Israel behind All Regional Crises

• Bahrain’s Al-Wefaq: Manama Must Halt Military Trials of Civilians

• Turkey to Rename Embassy's Street in Ankara in Row with UAE

• Muslim world unity foiled plots against al-Quds: envoy

• Armed guards posted at Christmas church services in majority Muslim countries

• Turkey Sacks 2,766 Civil Servants over 'Terror' Links

• Thousands Protest Against Israeli PM in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem

• Iranian Top General Warns of Takfiris’ Continued Threats against Muslims

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Pakistan

• 'Pakistan Not In Habit Of Taking Notices From Anyone, Let Alone US': Rabbani Slams Pence's Remarks

• Terrorist Safe Havens Exist In Ungoverned Areas of Afghanistan, Not Pakistan: Maleeha Lodhi

• US told to learn from Pakistan in war on terror

• 3 FC personnel martyred in IED explosion in North Waziristan

• Pakistan, Iran agree on joint aerial border monitoring

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Australia

• Sydney Conference throws light on Islam in Practice

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North America

• US $50,000 Reward for Iraqi Anti-Terror Leader Revealed

• US to Resume Aid for YPG in 2018 as Trump Approves $393mln Syria Weapons List

• US Court Lifts Trump Measures Barring Some Refugees

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South Asia

• Civilians Suffer Heavy Casualties in Helmand Roadside Bombing

• SIS military commission chief killed in US drone strike in Afghanistan

• Ismail Khan endorses Noor’s recent stance against the govt and Abdullah

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Africa

• Christian Youths of Nigeria Calls for Arrest of Islamic Leader

• Gunmen kill three at cafe south of Egypt capital

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Southeast Asia

• Myanmar Invited to US-Thailand Military Drills Despite Rohingya Issue

• Rohingya: 500,000 Unlikely to Receive Schooling in 2018

Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau

URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/aimplb-demands-withdrawal-triple-talaq/d/113677

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AIMPLB demands withdrawal of triple talaq bill, says it's against Sharia law and will 'ruin Muslim families'

24 Dec, 2017 16:20:32 IST

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Sunday demanded the withdrawal of the triple talaq bill and said no Muslim organisation or scholar was consulted during its drafting, according to several media reports.

The organisation also argued that the bill is against Sharia law, and will ruin Muslim families, CNN-News 18 reported.

On Sunday, AIMPLB held an emergency meeting in Lucknow ahead of the tabling of the triple talaq bill in Parliament.

"No procedure was followed in drafting this bill, neither any stakeholder was consulted. President of AIMPLB will convey this stand to the prime minister and request him to withhold and withdraw the bill," ANIquoted AIMPLB's SajjadNomani as saying.

In August, the Supreme Court in a majority verdict ruled that the practice of instant divorce through triple talaq among Muslims is "void", "illegal" and "unconstitutional". By 3:2 verdict, the apex court held that the triple talaq was against the basic tenets of Quran.

In September, AIMPLB said that it respected the court's decision, but considered the Centre's submission in the Supreme Court about all other forms of their marriages as an "attack on the personal law".

firstpost.com/india/aimplb-demands-withdrawal-of-triple-talaq-bill-says-its-against-sharia-law-and-will-ruin-muslim-families-4273647.html

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Pork used in hate attack on Belfast Islamic Centre

Sunday 24 December 2017

A spokesman said: "The message behind the action was one of hate. "We know this individual does not represent the majority of people in Northern Ireland and reject this attempt to stir up tensions and divisions between Muslims and non-Muslims in Northern Ireland. "They will not succeed." He said there have been a number of incidents recently and asked people to report any harassment to police. DUP South Belfast MP Emma Little-Pengelly said such attacks achieved nothing and were wrong and entirely misdirected.

newsletter.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/pork-used-in-hate-attack-on-belfast-islamic-centre-1-8304953

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Officials: Saudi Crown Prince Tried to Persuade Palestinian President to Support US Peace Plan

Sun Dec 24, 2017 1:59

Abbas was invited to Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh on Tuesday where he held talks with King Salman and MbS. The invitation came shortly following a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Turkey's Istanbul where Abbas announced that he would no longer accept the US as a broker in the peace process, Middle East Eye reported.

However, on Tuesday MbS told Abbas that the US was "the only game in town" with regards to the peace process.

"The US is the only one with real influence on Israel, it's the only country that can put pressure on Israel in any peace process and no one else can do [that], neither EU, nor Russia or China," MbS told Abbas, according to Palestinian officials with knowledge of the meeting.

MbS told Abbas in a previous visit early this month that the US was "preparing for a peace deal and this deal might not look good at the beginning but at the end it will be good."

He also asked Abbas at the time to have the Palestinians in Lebanon align with the pro-Saudi camp and stay away from the pro-Iranian camp led by Hezbollah, the officials said.

"At some point bin Salman warned President Abbas that if he doesn't do the job in Lebanon, there are others who can do it, pointing to Mohammed Dahlan," one official told MEE, referring to the dissident Fatah politician.

In the most recent meeting with Abbas, MbS attempted to use "soft diplomacy" to try to persuade the Palestinian president to return the US-sponsored peace process and to receive US Vice President Mike Pence in his upcoming visit to the region.

The official said Abbas was clear to MbS that he is fully committed to any "meaningful" peace process.

"The president kept the door open, telling the crown prince, 'if the US is willing to declare that a peace process is based on the two-state solution on the '67 boundaries, including East Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Palestine, we are ready to engage immediately, but if they want to drag us to the Israeli version of peace, we cannot'," the official added.

The officials told MEE Abbas was aware of the new US peace plan but regarded it as a copy of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's vision, a mini-state on half of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, without Jerusalem, refugees, borders and water.

"The president will not accept any partial deal, and the only deal that can be accepted is the one based on the 1967 borders," one official stressed.

He announced that any "temporary partial deal, as the one being prepared by Trump's team" would not be accepted.

US President announced early December that Washington would be recognizing Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s capital, stressing that the United States would relocate the embassy in the occupied lands from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds.

The move was hailed by Israel but condemned by the rest of the international community as one which undermines the peace talks.

Washington’s al-Quds move has raised a chorus of outcry across the international community. The Muslim world, the UN, world leaders from Europe to the Middle East to Australia, and even US allies in the West have criticized the bid, saying it would plunge the already tumultuous region into new upheaval.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in a statement issued following an extraordinary summit in Turkey's Istanbul, declared East Jerusalem the capital of Palestine "under occupation" and urged the US to withdraw from the peace process and back down from its Jerusalem decision.

On Thursday, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) overwhelmingly passed a non-binding resolution condemning US President Donald Trump’s decision and called on states not to move their diplomatic missions to the sacred city. The UNGA vote followed the US veto of a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution Monday. All other UNSC members voted in favor of a motion to rescind Donald Trump’s move.

en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13961003000956

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Jerusalem tensions cast shadow over Christmas in Holy Land

December 24, 2017

Preparations were under way in Bethlehem on Sunday for Christmas, with tensions still simmering in the city and the region following Washington's decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The controversial December 6 announcement by President Donald Trump unleashed demonstrations and clashes, including in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city Bethlehem, where Christians will mark the birth of Jesus in a midnight mass.

Bethlehem is normally flooded by tourists at this time of year, but has at times appeared almost empty of visitors as nearby clashes between Palestinian protesters and the Israeli army keep people away.

Archbishop PierbattistaPizzaballa, apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, said "dozens" of groups had pulled out of planned visits after being scared off by the announcement and subsequent violence.

"Of course this created a tension around Jerusalem and this diverted attention from Christmas," the Catholic church's top official in Jerusalem said of Trump's announcement, but stressing that Christmas celebrations would go ahead as planned.

Perhaps as few as 50,000 Palestinian Christians make up just around two percent of the predominantly Muslim population of the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Israel's tourism ministry has said that Christmas preparations have not been affected and that it expects a 20 percent increase in the number of Christian pilgrims this year compared with 2016.

The ministry plans to operate a free shuttle service for the short distance between Jerusalem and Bethlehem for mass.

Extra police

An Israeli police spokesman said that extra units will be deployed in Jerusalem and at the crossings to Bethlehem to ease the travel and access for the "thousands of tourists and visitors".

The annual scouts parade in Bethlehem will march through Manger Square near the Church of the Nativity, built over the spot where tradition says Mary gave birth to Jesus and where celebrations will culminate with midnight mass.

Israel seized east Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed it, in moves never recognised by the international community.

Palestinians view east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, and interpreted Trump's statement as rejecting their right to a capital in east Jerusalem, although the Americans deny this.

In a statement ahead of Christmas, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said that Trump's announcement "encouraged the illegal disconnection between the holy cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem, both separated for the first time in over 2,000 years of Christianity".

Abbas called on "world Christians to listen to the true voices of the indigenous Christians from the Holy Land... that strongly rejected the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital".

"They are the descendants of the first followers of Jesus Christ and an integral part of the Palestinian people," Abbas said, calling the local Christian community "an inherent part of our societies".

In neighbouring Egypt, Coptic Christians who celebrate Christmas on January 6 saw a church in Giza attacked by a mob following Muslim prayers on Friday, the latest in some 20 such incidents in 2017.

Hundreds entered the church, chanting slogans calling for its demolition, destroying furniture and attacking worshippers before security forces restored order.

But in Iraq, this year marks a positive turning point for the Christian community in the northern city of Mosul.

Christmas mass will be celebrated there for the first time in years following the city's recapture from the Islamic State group in July.

IS seized Iraq's second most populous city as part of a lightning offensive in 2014, driving out many Christians, and only small numbers have since returned.

Christian dignitaries as well as Iraqi political and military leaders are expected to attend the annual service at St Paul's Church in the eastern sector of Mosul.

dawn.com/news/1378590/jerusalem-tensions-cast-shadow-over-christmas-in-holy-land

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'Pakistan not in habit of taking notices from anyone, let alone US': Rabbani slams Pence's remarks

December 24, 2017

Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani, in response to a warning from United States (US) Vice President (VP) Mike Pence to Islamabad earlier this week, made it clear that Pakistan is not in the habit of "taking notices" from anyone.

Pence, while addressing US troops at the Bagram military base in Kabul, had said that Pakistan has allegedly provided safe haven to terrorists for too long but those days are over now, as US President Donald Trump has now "put Pakistan on notice".

"Two days ago, Pence had the gall, the audacity to say that Trump has put Pakistan on notice," Rabbani said in Islamabad on Sunday. "Let the word ring out in clear terms that Pakistan is a sovereign state and is not in the habit of taking notices from anyone, let alone the US."

The Senate chairman was addressing the first six-nation Speakers' Conference, which was inaugurated by President Mamnoon Hussain earlier today.

The conference ─ themed "The challenges of terrorism and inter-regional connectivity" ─ is being held in Islamabad, with representatives from Russia, China, Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey in attendance.

Addressing the conference, Rabbani further said that Trump, in his recently announced South Asia policy, had blamed Pakistan for the failures of the US in Afghanistan.

"We saw the US ignoring the sacrifices made by Pakistan," Rabbani observed.

He went on to state that the US has pursued a policy of "regime change and bringing about destabilisation in Muslim countries" particularly in the Middle East.

Describing Trump's decision to shift the US embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem the "blunder of all blunders", Rabbani said that Washington had failed to understand that it is neither supported practically, nor in fact, nor by history in their decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Rabbani noted that the United Nations General Assembly had given a befitting reply to Washington when over 120 countries rejected the US move.

"What they [US] fail to recognise is that the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital will give rise to a new intifada as the people of Palestine move to achieve their historic rights."

During his address, Rabbani also spoke about the Trump administration's recently unveiled national security strategy, noting that a new nexus seems to be emerging comprising of US, Israel and India.

"We find the US is trying to use or build up India as a policeman of the region," Rabbani said.

He added that although Pakistan "believes in dialogue and friendly relations with its neighbours [...] until and unless India is willing to speak on equal terms, we will perhaps just be looking at the mirage of peace in the region."

Earlier in the day, National Assembly Speaker AyazSadiq addressed the conference and noted that Pakistan's economy has suffered gravely due to "cowardly acts of terrorism".

He said that the problem of extremism had been aggravated by the rise of the drug trade.

"Why has the global coalition against terrorism consistently failed to control and destroy poppy cultivation?" Sadiq asked, noting that the drug had become a major source of terror financing.

"Although religious fanaticism has often been cited as the main cause of global terrorism, let us not forget that the rise of the populous right and the sanctioning of oppression has also added to the mayhem," Sadiq said.

"The world has failed to address the root cause of extremism," he added.

He said that the controversy over Jerusalem's status did not only violate international laws but also undermined peace efforts, divided the people of the world and fanned religious animosity.

He said that the US move to veto a United Nations Security Council’s draft resolution rejecting the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital was proof that the world needs a more just and equitable order.

dawn.com/news/1378569/pakistan-not-in-habit-of-taking-notices-from-anyone-let-alone-us-rabbani-slams-pences-remarks

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India

AIMPLB demands withdrawal of triple talaq bill, says it's against Sharia law and will 'ruin Muslim families'

24 Dec, 2017 16:20:32 IST

The organisation also argued that the bill is against Sharia law, and will ruin Muslim families, CNN-News 18 reported.

On Sunday, AIMPLB held an emergency meeting in Lucknow ahead of the tabling of the triple talaq bill in Parliament.

firstpost.com/india/aimplb-demands-withdrawal-of-triple-talaq-bill-says-its-against-sharia-law-and-will-ruin-muslim-families-4273647.html

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Islamic State, al-Qaeda competing for Indian recruits

December 24, 2017 11:00 IST

The Islamic State and Al Qaeda have been engaged in a fierce competition to promote their propaganda in India, an analysis of messages posted on social media platforms suggest.

In the past few months, both the IS and the Al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) have been posting several provocative messages.

A senior officer in the security establishment said the agencies were monitoring the content but were particularly concerned with the Al Qaraar media of the Islamic State that has been posting ‘Kashmir’ centric messages.

On December 3, the Al Qaraar group released a poster threatening attacks in India. An official said one of the pro-IS channels on the social media platform Telegram reached out to the AnsarGhazwat-ul Hind (AGuH) group headed by former HizbulMujahideen leader Zakir Musa.

“We are surprised by this development as AGuH is an Al Qaeda-backed group. A message was posted on a secret Telegram channel by Al Qaraar appealing AGuH members to join them, when it is widely known that IS and Al Qaeda are rival groups,” said the official.

The official said in the initial stages, Al Qaraar was only advocating the Sharia (set of Islamic religious principles) but now it advocated the IS ideology. The development is being watched closely given IS losses in Iraq and Syria.

Support for Rohingya

On November 28, the AQIS released a video where its spokesperson, Usama Mahmoud, called on Muslims in “Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Kashmir” to support the Rohingya in Myanmar and asked them to seek revenge.

The AQIS was created by Al Qaeda in August 2014 and was led by an Indian, Asim Umar, who was later identified as a Uttar Pradesh resident, SanaulHaq. Intelligence officials strongly suspect that the AQIS is being backed by the Pakistani establishment to carry out attacks in India on its pretext.

Terrormonitor.org, a non-profit watchdog that tracks the online activities of terror groups, said the AQIS had re-branded its media approach since it was challenged by the IS.

“The AQIS terror outfit has been promoted by official Al-Qaeda media such as Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF) and Al-Qaida affiliate groups like AQAP, AQIM, Al-Shabaab and others. We also see intense competition between Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. Both groups want to dominate the jihadist movement globally. Al-Qaeda has re-branded its media approach since the IS challenged its global domination,” an official with Terrormonitor.org said. He said India was the alternative front for Al-Qaeda despite their failure to gain a foothold in the country and it has been focussing on “propaganda-centric approach.”

“These [messages] are part of an aggressive propaganda campaign to show the Al-Qaeda strength as the IS has lost almost all its territory. Al-Qaeda, however, is still struggling to win the propaganda war with the IS to show it has re emerged in strength,” the official said.

On November 17, the Amaq news agency of the IS posted a message claiming responsibility for the attack in the Zakura area of Kashmir where a State police sub-inspector was killed and a militant Mugees Ahmad were killed and a special police officer was injured. It was said to be the first attack carried out by IS in the Kashmir Valley.

thehindu.com/news/national/islamic-state-al-qaeda-competing-for-indian-recruits/article22270385.ece

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Haj rule change in India leads to sharp rise in female applicants

The change in rules now means that women can undertake the Islam pilgrimage without a male companion.The panel that reviewed the policy noted that the religion per se didn’t prohibit this.

Updated: Dec 24, 2017 08:15 IST | SaubhadraChatterji and Zia Haq

A record 1,244 Indian women have applied to go for Haj next year after the NDA government allowed for the first time Muslim women to undertake the annual pilgrimage to Mecca without the company of a male relative.

Till now, Muslim women had to be accompanied by a mehram, usually a husband or a relative to whom marriage is unlawful, for the pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.

Officials in the minority affairs ministry said of the 1,244 applications from single women, 1,016 applications have been accepted so far.

The recommendation to allow women-only groups to apply for Haj was made by the Afzal Amanullah panel constituted to review the earlier Haj policy. The panel’s recommendation was accepted by the Narendra Modi government in October.

“There are many schools of thought on this (women going alone) but the religion per se doesn’t prohibit it. So I decided to make the recommendation,” Amanullah said.

Since demand often outstrips the quota of pilgrims India is allowed to send, applications are picked through a lucky draw. But in the category of women without male companions, there is no quota limit as the Centre wants to give priority to such applicants.

Kerala tops the list with 288 women, said Mohammed Hassain, who vets records at the Kerala Haj Committee.

Scholars say there is no restriction in Islam that explicitly bars single women from embarking on Haj. Saudi Arabia admits women-only groups if the pilgrims are over 45 years of age.

Puttutty, who goes by one name, has never wandered alone from her small village in Kottayam, a Kerala district famous with vacationers. When she occasionally does, the 54-year-old is usually accompanied by a male relative.

In June next year, Puttutty will break free from the many fetters traditional societies put on women. She, along with three other women in her group, will make a lifetime’s journey without a male looking over their shoulders.

“We are four women, so I am not at all nervous,” Puttutty told HT over the phone.

Another pilgrim who will lead an all-women’s team to Haj from neighouringMallapuram, Asya, said she too was venturing out alone for the first time but “God will help us”.

Faizan Mustafa, a scholar and the vice-chancellor of the Hyderabad-based NALSAR University of Law calls it “a welcome step”.

“It should have happened long ago. Why should the Indian government impose any restrictions on Indian Muslim women to go to Haj? I also think women should have representation in the Haj committees. When 50% of the population is women, they must find more space in these bodies.”

Afyia Siddiqui, a social activist from the NGO ‘Lab Azad Hai, described the reform as a “giant leap”.

In 2017, at least 1.24 lakh Indians went for the pilgrimage, while the total number of applicants was nearly 4.5 lakh.

Former Indian-origin American reporter AsraNomani created headlines when she published a memoir Standing Alone in Mecca after performing Haj by stealth as a single woman with an infant son born outside marriage.

SehbaFarooqi of the National Federation of Indian Women, said: “I have seen Muslim women married outside the community going to Haj taking help from neighbours or distant relatives and fudging their identities. Now, as the government is allowing women to go unaccompanied by male relatives, it will become very easy for them to travel to Saudi Arabia.”

“But I don’t know how the clergy will react. I must say, this is a great challenge for Indian Muslim women to assert their rights within the Sharia structure.”

The new Haj policy is among a series of reforms by the judiciary and the government to empower Muslim women and ensure gender justice in the community. The Supreme Court this year struck down instant triple talaq and also allowed women to enter the Haji Ali shrine in Mumbai.

In September, Saudi Arabia reversed its much-pilloried, long-standing policy of not allowing women to drive, as the kingdom faces pressure to modernise its patriarchal laws.

hindustantimes.com/india-news/haj-rule-change-in-india-leads-to-sharp-rise-in-female-applicants/story-mqfM6MH1s4Dk1XWzvA7nrJ.html

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Rajsamand love-jihad case: Police says accused Shambulal was in ‘illicit’ relationship with a girl

Days after an inhuman incident surfaced from Rajasthan's Rajsamand where a man was killed and burnt alive in an alleged case of love-jihad, the probing team in the case has said that the accused who killed the man was in an illicit relationship with a girl. Meanwhile, the investigation is still underway in the case.

By NewsX Bureau | Updated: 24 December 2017, 3:36 PM

Probing the Rajasthan’s Rajsamand alleged ‘love-jihad’ case, where a man was killed and burnt alive, the police during its investigation has found that the accused ShambulalRaigar was in an illicit relationship with a girl and to hide the truth from his family and society, he tried to gave it an angle of love-jihad. According to police, the accused was in a practice of watching hate videos, therefore, to save himself from public shame, he gave the entire episode a love-jihad angle.

Speaking on this case, the police informed that they have videographed portions of their investigation as a proof and also to avoid any fake information circulating around. The police which is currently investigating this case said that they have videographed the statements of girl’s mothers who said that Shambulal was asked to bring back her daughter from a man in West Bengal. She further said their daughter did return from Bengal but she was kept at a rented place for about 10 months. The Woman also mentioned that due to fear of the society, they did not inform that matter to the police.

Further speaking on the case while the investigation is still on, AnandSrivastav, Inspector General of police, Udaipur Range, “He was into illicit relation with a girl in the town for more than 10 months, The girl too was questioned who said she was continuously been hassled by the accused Shambulal. Thus, in order to deviate everyone’s attention towards this issue, he himself planned to do something that can change the perception of people,” said. However, it has also been learnt that the accused targeted the wrong person and mistakenly killed someone else.

Carrying investigation in the case to find out whether the accused Shambulal was in an illicit relationship or not, the probing team has also recorded the statements of accused’s mother, neighbours, girl’s mother and others. The entire case came into public view after a horrific video has surfaced where a man was killed and burnt alive. The deceased according to reports was identified as Mohammed Bhatta Sheikh. The incident has surfaced from Rajasthan’s Rajsamand district after a video where a man was shot being burnt alive, went viral on social media. The accused, Shambulal Raigad, was later arrested by the police. The incident had taken place on Dev heritage road in Rajnagar area of Rajsamand district.

newsx.com/national/rajsamand-love-jihad-case-police-says-accused-shambulal-illicit-relationship-girl

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2017 new high for Pakistan border assaults

TNN | Dec 24, 2017, 02:51 IST

SRINAGAR: The cross-border firing by Pakistan army that killed a major and three soldiers at Keri in J&K's Rajouri sector on Saturday came towards the end of a year that saw over 780 ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the 778km Line of Control and 120 along the 198km international border.

Over 33 people, including 12 civilians, have been killed in these firings. This marks a new high in recent years. Ceasefire violations along the LoC in 2014 and 2015, for instance, stood at 153 and 152, respectively, while the tally was 228 last year.

Army chief General BipinRawat recently held that peace talks with Pakistan could take place only when it stopped supporting terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir. But given its actions and behaviour, it didn't appear that Pakistan really wanted peace, he added.

Director general of military operations Lt Gen A K Bhatt had also told his Pakistani counterpart, Major General SahirShamshad Mirza, last month that there appeared to be a "disconnect" between his army headquarters at Rawalpindi, which professes a desire for peace, and its troops on the ground along the LoC, who resort to heavy firing and ceasefire violations without any provocation.

While maintaining that the Army will continue its efforts to ensure peace and tranquillity on the borders, Lt Gen Bhatt said it will "continue to take all retaliatory measures and retain the right to punitively respond to any provocative acts of aggression from the Pakistani side".

The Indian Army has, over the last few months, repeatedly told the Pakistan army to desist from actively abetting cross-border terrorism and infiltration, warning that all misadventures to either target Indian troops or provide cover fire to infiltrating terrorists would be met with retaliatory punitive fire assaults.

India has stressed that any collateral damage in the cross-border firings is due to the Pakistan army's "unacceptable" support to cross-border terrorism and infiltration as well as its strategy to deploy civilians at forward posts to gain intelligence and act as guides to terrorists crossing the LoC.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/2017-new-high-for-pakistan-border-assaults/articleshow/62226645.cms

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J&K: Army Major, 3 soldiers killed in firing by Pakistan along LoC

RajatPandit | TNN | Updated: Dec 23, 2017, 21:10 IST

A major and three soldiers were killed in cross-border firing by Pakistan army at Keri in Jammu and Kashmir

An “area domination patrol” of the 2 Sikh battalion deployed in the Keri sector, under the 120 Infantry Brigade, was underway when it came under fire from Pakistan army posts

File photo used only for representationJ&K: Army Major, 3 soldiers killed in firing by Pakistan along LoC

NEW DELHI: A major and three soldiers were killed in cross-border firing by Pakistan army at Keri in Rajouri sector of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday afternoon, even as the two countries continue to exchange heavy fire at different places along the Line of Control (LoC) on a daily basis.

An "area domination patrol" of the 2 Sikh battalion deployed in the Keri area, under the 120 Infantry Brigade, was underway when it came under fire from Pakistan army posts at about 12.15pm.

"Major PrafullaAmbadas (32), Lance-NaikGurmail Singh (34) and SepoyPargat Singh (30) were killed in the unprovoked ceasefire violation, while two other soldiers were injured. One of them later succumbed to injuries in hospital. Our soldiers retaliated strongly and effectively on the Pakistan army posts. The martyrdom of our soldiers will not go in vain," said an officer.

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@ANI

J&K: Visuals of an army officer, and three jawans who lost their lives in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Keri (120 Infantry Brigade) Batallion Area

9:08 PM - Dec 23, 2017

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India has recorded over 780 ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the 778-km LoC already this year, while the number has crossed 120 along the 198-km international border manned by BSF in J&K. Over 33 people, including 12 civilians, have been killed in these firings.

This marks a new high in recent years. The ceasefire violations along the LoC in 2014 and 2015, for instance, stood at 153 and 152, while the tally was 228 last year. Army Chief General BipinRawat recently held that peace talks with Pakistan could take place only when it stops supporting terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. But given its actions and behavior, it doesn't appear that Pakistan really wants peace, he added.

The Indian director-general of military operations, Lt-Gen AK Bhatt, had also last month told his Pakistan counterpart, Major General SahirShamshad Mirza, that there appeared to be a "disconnect" between his Army headquarters at Rawalpindi, which professes a desire for peace, and its troops on the ground along the LOC, who resort to heavy firing and ceasefire violations without any provocation.

While maintaining that the Indian Army will continue its efforts to ensure peace and tranquility on the borders, Lt-Gen Bhatt said it will "continue to take all retaliatory measures and retain the right to punitively respond to any provocative acts of aggression from the Pakistani side".

The Indian Army has over the last few months repeatedly told the Pakistan army to desist from actively abetting cross-border terrorism and infiltration, warning that all misadventures to either target Indian troops or provide covering fire to infiltrating terrorists would be met with retaliatory punitive fire assaults.

India has stressed that the main reason for any collateral damage in the cross-border firings is due to Pakistan army's "unacceptable" support to cross-border terrorism and infiltration as well as its strategy to deploy civilians at its forward posts to gain intelligence and act as guides to the terrorists crossing the LoC.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/jk-major-3-soldiers-martyred-in-cross-border-firing-by-pakistan-army/articleshow/62222157.cms

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Europe

Pork used in hate attack on Belfast Islamic Centre

Sunday 24 December 2017

newsletter.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/pork-used-in-hate-attack-on-belfast-islamic-centre-1-8304953

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Islamic State had appropriated ammunition procured by Swiss firm

Dec 24, 2017 - 09:57

A report on the weapons used by the Islamic State claims that ammunition procured by Swiss firm Tradewell AG from Serbia for Iraqi forces was appropriated by the terror group and used in Syria.

The European Union funded report released on December 19 was a result of a three-year investigation by the NGO Conflict Armament Research. Entitled Weapons of the Islamic Stateexternal link, the publication analysed more than 40,000 items recovered from Islamic State between 2014 and 2017. In 2015, researchers found 19 boxes of 7.62 x 54R mm ball ammunition in the Syrian city of Kobane that they were able to trace back to the Swiss firm Tradewell AG. According to the SonntagsZeitung paper, the company did not have required approval from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs which has filed a complaint against Tradewell AG to the Attorney General.

The ammunition was part of a 2004 legal shipment of five million rounds from Serbia to the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq (MNSTC-I) as “part of the efforts of the international community to equip and strengthen the capacity of the central government of Iraq to deal with security challenges on its entire territory”. Tradewell AG, along with the American firm Laudes Corporation, were given permission to procure and deliver the materiel for and on behalf of the MNSTC-I for use by Iraqi security forces.

Islamic State was able to get its hands on this ammunition during its battles with the Iraqi armed forces in Mosul in 2014. According to the report, the terror group immediately commandeered weapons and ammunition captured in Mosul and used them during their siege of the Syrian city of Kobane. It is estimated that at least 12% of all weapons and ammunition recovered from Islamic State came from Iraqi stockpiles.

swissinfo.ch/eng/tradewell-ag_islamic-state-had-appropriated-ammunition-procured-by-swiss-firm-/43778964

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Muslim migrants succeed in Russia despite xenophobia

by Mansur Mirovalev 2| hours ago

Moscow, Russia - Ravshan and Joomshut are two comical characters playing labour migrants from ex-Soviet Central Asia in Our Russia, an immensely popular TV show.

Their broken Russian, bad hygiene, servitude to their Slavic boss and complaints about their unfortunate sex lives have made their names a slur - a negative symbol of many Russians' attitudes towards the natives of the mostly Muslim region of more than 60 million.

The duo's slapstick image masks the fear of "darkies", as some xenophobes call Central Asians and other Muslims, said SandjarYanyshev, a Moscow-based, Uzbekistan-born essayist and poet. Their skin is dark, their culture is a riddle, their presence in Russia fills some locals with fear, and the fastest way to overcome this fear is to make fun of it, he said.

"What's funny is not dangerous," Yanyshev told Al Jazeera.

Millions of Central Asians - mostly from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan - work in Russia, usually in low-paid, menial jobs. They face widespread xenophobia: Some 27 percent of Russians feel "irritation, dislike or fear" towards Central Asians, and almost one in five Russians think that their presence in Russia has to be "limited", according to a survey by the Levada polling agency conducted in July.

Hundreds of them have been killed and thousands wounded in hate attacks by ultra-nationalists and skinheads, and corrupt police officers routinely prey on them to extort money, otherwise threatening detention or deportation.

Despite all odds

And yet, some Central Asians manage to succeed beyond expectations.

AlisherUsmanov, Russia's wealthiest oligarch with a net worth of $15bn, is an ethnic Uzbek. The son of a minor Communist official now controls steel factories, co-owns the UK's Arsenal football club, and is reportedly very close to President Vladimir Putin.

Uzbek singer NargizZakirova, who boasts a coarse, three-octave voice, a shaved head and elaborate tattoos, tops the list of Russia's most popular touring artists after her success in a television show for aspiring singers.

One of Russia's most successful rappers, Jah Khalib, and film director TimurBekmambetov - who directed some of Russia's most profitable films, in addition to a movie with Angelina Jolie - hail from Kazakhstan.

Cosmonaut SalijanSharipov, who has spent more than 200 days in outer space, was born in southern Kyrgyzstan. He conducted a series of scientific experiments and had a copy of the Quran with him.

Unlike Muslims moving to other European nations, Central Asians share a cultural background with many Russians and often speak their language fluently.

"We've studied this language since school, we know it, and it makes things easier for us here," KhakimGaniev, a chef and author of best-selling books on Uzbek cuisine, told Al Jazeera.

Despite being labelled a blue-collar workforce, many Central Asians work as software engineers, designers, medical doctors and scholars.

Succeed and leave

Success in Russia, however, does not always guarantee a carefree life and freedom from xenophobia.

Aziz Beyshenaliev, an ethnic Kyrgyz who studied the Chinese language and acting in Uzbekistan, moved to Moscow in 1997, and worked as a courier and loader before securing small roles in films and television series.

In dozens of movies, he portrayed "Muslim terrorists" (despite his own conversion to Orthodox Christianity), medieval nomadic warlords, World War II heroes and a Kazakh intellectual who fought for Central Asia's independence from Russia but died in Nazi Germany.

But in 2015, Beyshenaliev decided to leave Russia because his son Seitek, a lanky, amiable palaeontology buff with distinct Asian features, faced ostracism and frequent hate attacks in school.

"I am a grown man who can abstract my mind from the society that dislikes my ethnicity," the 46-year-old told Al Jazeera. "But a child's overcoming of it is incomparably more difficult. He does not have to be at war with the outside world."

Seitek, now 15, thrives in a new high school in Almaty, Kazakhstan's multi-ethnic economic capital, and his father took up film directing and theatre acting.

Living next to Muslims

The arrival of Central Asians continues Russia's centuries-old coexistence with Muslims.

Descendants of Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan ruled the Golden Horde, a medieval superpower that controlled parts of southern Russia and Eastern Europe. Its rulers embraced Islam in the 14th century, but as their power disintegrated, hundreds of nobles pledged allegiance to the emerging principality of Moscow.

They converted to Orthodox Christianity and spawned dozens of Russian aristocratic families. Novelist Vladimir Nabokov of Lolita fame proudly said that his family originated from Nabok, Genghis Khan's illegitimate son.

Russian czars vanquished Central Asia and the Caucasus that once belonged to Persians, Arabs and Turks. In an effort to cut the USSR's Muslims from their roots and religion, Communist Moscow replaced their Arabic-based alphabets with Cyrillic scripts - a factor that still affects their cultures.

"It is easy for our kids to go to school here because everything is in Cyrillic," Pairavsho, an ethnic Tajik man living in the village of Rozhdestveno, 200 kilometres northwest of Moscow, told Al Jazeera. Almost half of the schoolchildren in the village's only school are now Tajiks.

Millions of Slavic civilians were evacuated to Soviet Central Asia during World War II and received a warm welcome that contrasts with today's xenophobia.

Economic woes and integration

The exodus of Central Asians is an echo of USSR's sometimes-catastrophic policies that reshaped the regional economy and agriculture. Moscow forced the region to focus on cotton, a water-thirsty, soil-depleting crop.

"Cotton became a curse of its people," ShukhratGaniev, an expert with the Humanitarian Rights Center, a think-tank in the central Uzbek city of Bukhara, told Al Jazeera.

Diversion of the region's major rivers to new cotton fields in steppes and deserts dried up the Aral Sea, the world's fourth-largest body of water the size of Sri Lanka, causing what the United Nations dubbed "the largest man-made environmental disaster in history" that fosters labour migration.

Moscow boosted industrial development in Central Asia, but the plants and factories were designed as part of the unified Soviet economy, and the USSR's 1991 collapse decimated the region's industrial output - while the region's longtime autocrats with a Soviet mindset still try to control their economies, Ganiev said.

"Unfortunately, we have not moved away from the Soviet vision of our economy's development," he said.

Central Asia now faces further de-industrialisation because of cheap Chinese exports, while global warming, melting glaciers and ineffective water management could trigger wars over water in the arid region.

Migrants' earnings keep their motherlands afloat. In 2016, their remittances contributed more than a third of Tajikistan's GDP and a fourth of Kyrgyzstan's GDP, according to the World Bank.

The success of some Central Asians in Russia heralds integration for many more of their compatriots. Some 800,000 have become Russian nationals, and their presence in the already multi-ethnic nation of 143 million has contributed to Russia's cultural diversity and economic growth, said Sergey Abashin, an anthropologist and migration analyst with the European University in St Petersburg.

aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/muslims-succeed-russia-xenophobia-171224055010711.html

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Young Ahmadi Muslims To Stage Visits And Run Free Taxi Services For Elderly And Isolated Over Christmas

Ahmadi Muslims from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association will also visit homeless shelters nationwide

Tess de la Mare | 7 hours ago

A minority Muslim group has launched a nationwide initiative this Christmas to bring some festive cheer to the elderly and isolated.

Young Ahmadi Muslims from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA) will be visiting care homes and hospices as well as providing a free taxi service to the elderly on Christmas Day.

AMYA's members hope to carry out more than 2,000 visits to spend some time with people who might otherwise be on their own, the organisation said.

They will also visit homeless shelters where they will prepare warm meals and gift bags.

One of AMYA's initiatives will see 50 members in Yorkshire offering a taxi services to more than 100 elderly members of the local community and take them to YMCA centres.

Members will “serve them, sit with them, pack them a meal for Christmas Day, then take them home,” the organisation said.

AMYA said it was hoping to beat last year's record of feeding over 1,600 people, donating 336kg of food and 100kg of clothing and visiting 1,500 isolated adults.

The organisation said in a statement: “This campaign is particularly important to us as we feel that it offers our youth vital training and personal development, which helps to shape them into productive, conscientious and well integrated members of British society.

“Moreover, it enables us to demonstrate the motto of our community: Love for all, hatred for none.”

On New Year's Day AMYA has planned a clean-up of Britain's streets involving 500 members who will go out litter picking after 7am prayers.

There are an estimated 35,000 Ahmadiyya in the UK, while AMYA itself has around 8,500 members across its 124 branches.

Ahmadiyya are regarded as blasphemous by radical Islamists because they believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who founded the movement in the late 19th century, to be the messiah promised to Muslims in the Koran.

The sect is widely persecuted in Pakistan and in November it emerged threats had been made to the Ahmadiyya community in Britain, prompting some mosques to install metal detectors.

In March last year, Glasgow shopkeeper Asad Shah was murdered by extremist Tanveer Ahmed because of his religious views.

Ahmed, a taxi driver, travelled from his home city of Bradford to carry out the killing after identifying his target through social media.

As he was jailed for a minimum of 27 years, Ahmed shouted: “Praise for the Prophet Mohammed, there is only one prophet.”

independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/muslim-christmas-elderly-free-service-taxi-isolated-ahmadi-homeless-shelter-a8127036.html

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Arab World

Officials: Saudi Crown Prince Tried to Persuade Palestinian President to Support US Peace Plan

Sun Dec 24, 2017

However, on Tuesday MbS told Abbas that the US was "the only game in town" with regards to the peace process.

MbS told Abbas in a previous visit early this month that the US was "preparing for a peace deal and this deal might not look good at the beginning but at the end it will be good."

He also asked Abbas at the time to have the Palestinians in Lebanon align with the pro-Saudi camp and stay away from the pro-Iranian camp led by Hezbollah, the officials said.

The official said Abbas was clear to MbS that he is fully committed to any "meaningful" peace process.

"The president will not accept any partial deal, and the only deal that can be accepted is the one based on the 1967 borders," one official stressed.

He announced that any "temporary partial deal, as the one being prepared by Trump's team" would not be accepted.

The move was hailed by Israel but condemned by the rest of the international community as one which undermines the peace talks.

en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13961003000956

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Mosul's morgue men endured worst of Islamic State butchery

MOSUL, Iraq — Dec 23, 2017, 2:22 PM ET

The young man ended up on the morgue's examining table in two parts.

He had been seized for selling cigarettes, a crime usually punished by flogging by the Islamic State group extremists who had occupied Mosul. But while he was being whipped, he shouted a curse insulting religion. On the spot, they cut off his head for blasphemy.

Sameh al-Azzawi, the 35-year-old medical assistant examining him, was sick of seeing Mosul's youth butchered for the slightest reason. The man was a newlywed. His family was waiting outside; it was one of the occasional times when the fanatics allowed the return of someone killed by the group. So al-Azzawi violated the rules: He picked out some thick thread and quickly sewed the man's head back on, then zipped him up in the body bag. He could sew a head back on a body in four minutes.

The family quietly thanked him.

The morgue in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul was where atrocity met bureaucracy, the processing point for the machine of butchery that the Islamic State group created across its territory in Iraq and Syria. Every day, the doctors and staff witnessed the worst of what the militants were capable of inflicting on a human being, constantly fearing they could be next.

Yet the morgue men of Mosul found ways large and small to defy their captors by honoring the dead as best they could.

"Our profession as doctors is all about humanity," said the morgue's senior examiner, Modhar al-Omari. "They were doing the exact opposite."

The staff sometimes faced up to 60 or even 100 corpses a day. As pickup trucks laden with bodies did three-point turns to back through the morgue's gates, hands, legs or heads fell off onto the ground.

Some were the mangled bodies of civilians and IS fighters killed in bombardment by the U.S-led coalition or fighting with Iraqi troops. Others bore the marks of IS' brutal enforcement of its radical version of Islamic law. A broken skull on a man with internal bleeding could mean he was thrown from a rooftop, the punishment for those suspected of being gay. A woman with a split skull from a blunt force was likely stoned to death, the sentence for accused adulterers. Then there were punishments for spying or blasphemy: a gunshot wound through the head or decapitation.

Convinced its "caliphate" was here to stay, the Islamic State group was keen on keeping records like a government. As they put together death certificates, the examiners quietly documented IS atrocities . They surreptitiously put an Arabic letter alif to mark a member of the group, and an M, the first letter in the Arabic word for "executed," for the group's victims.

One Excel sheet shows more than 1,200 people shot in the head, a likely sign of IS "executions," between June 2014 when IS took over Mosul and January 2017, when Iraqi forces were fighting to take the city back — an average of 11 a week. The list has 12 women marked as "stoned to death." It also lists 95 people who were beheaded and 50 men and boys who died from a "fall from a height," likely hurled from rooftops.

The staff operated under close scrutiny by IS officials and threat of punishment if they broke the rules or tried to leave. Among those rules: The bodies of those "executed under religious law" could not be returned to their families, except in cases where an IS commander allowed it. Instead, they were dumped in mass graves. Thousands more went directly into mass graves without ever coming to the morgue ad IS brought at least 1,000 bodies to the morgue that they did not allow the staff to examine, so they have no idea who they were and did not record them.

Al-Azzawi managed to sew the heads back on about 10 bodies, he estimates. It had to be quick. He did it after midnight in the washing area, which IS fighters tended to stay out of because it was the worst smelling part of the morgue.

He stopped when one militant saw a body with the head restored. "We cut it and you put it back?" the fighter shouted. He warned that any examiner caught doing it would himself be beheaded.

"HE'S STILL ALIVE!"

A pickup truck dumped nearly a dozen bodies onto the pavement of the morgue courtyard, the latest delivery. "Get up!" an IS fighter screamed at the staff, summoning them to begin their daily task of sorting through the dead.

As the medical assistants went to work, one of them stopped short in surprise: Among the bodies, a young man in a soccer jersey and training pants who had been thrown off a rooftop was breathing.

"He's still alive!" the assistant shouted instinctively.

He hardly had time to realize his mistake. The IS fighter opened fire with his automatic rifle, spraying the bodies. Bullets thumped into the already dead and finished off the young man.

"It's a lot of pressure. Pressure, pressure, pressure," said Raid Jassim, the chief medical assistant. "I always expected them to come at any moment and kill or behead us."

In 2005, Jassim was overjoyed to get a government posting at Mosul's Forensic Department, the morgue. The pay was several times more than what he'd earn in a government hospital. He was a graduate of a medical institute, a two-year diploma after high school, and had gone on to serve as an army nurse. At the morgue, he carried out examinations of bodies under supervision of doctors like al-Omari.

But no training prepared him for what he saw under the killers ruling his city.

A few months after IS took over, a militant brought in the body of a Yazidi woman, one of thousands from the religious minority group taken as sex slaves. She had hanged herself after being repeatedly gang-raped.

Jassim, 48, watched in horror and disgust as the militant spoke to the body. "Why did you kill yourself? I told you I am not selling you to the commander. I told you I was going to marry you," the fighter pleaded.

One evening, fighters drove up with two men, alive, in the trunk of their car. They pulled them into the morgue courtyard and — in front of staffers too terrified to say a word — they shot one in the head and decapitated the other.

"This is a message to anyone who betrays the Caliphate," one fighter yelled. The examiners suspected the two were IS members who had turned against the group. But they didn't know why the fighters brought them to the morgue to kill. Was it a message for the staff somehow?

"In these occasions, we don't open our mouths. We just stay silent," Jassim said.

The morgue was located in the al-Shifaa medical complex, a large compound in the western half of Mosul that included the city's main hospital, Jomhouriya, and other facilities. It was the primary medical facility for the militants, so fighters were brought from elsewhere in Iraq and even Syria for treatment. The office of the IS health minister was located there. That meant the staff was under the militants' eyes all the time.

Jassim is a chain smoker and smoking was a crime. He hid his pack under his belt, covering up the smell with a spray of musk. Still, he was caught and punished with 30 lashes.

Another time he was severely beaten with a rifle butt in the office of IS's deputy health minister, where he was taken after he refused a fighter's demand that he forge a death certificate. Jassim's two young sons, outside the office, heard their father's screams.

But in a few cases, he and other staffers smuggled the dead to their families before they vanished into mass graves. They did it in secret, at night, cutting electricity to shut off the morgue's security cameras as they hustled the bodies into their cars.

In one case, Jassim inspected the body of a woman who had been killed for allegedly feeding information to the Iraqi military.

In February 2016, she had posted on her Facebook page, "Snow is falling." That seemed suspiciously like code to the Islamic State group, and she was arrested. The judge allowed her husband and children to meet with her for an hour before she was taken out to a public square and shot to death.

After that excruciating torment, the family should at least to be able to bury her, Jassim thought.

He met the businessmen at night in a parking garage, switching off the headlights of their cars off for fear of airstrikes. "You brought her?" the businessman asked. "Yes," Jassim replied. The man broke into tears and hugged him in gratitude. Jassim then opened his car's trunk so they could pull out his wife's corpse.

BURYING THE TRAUMA

Al-Azzawi recounts how tragedy after tragedy broke him down.

One day, he was going through the latest body bags when he saw a name he recognized pinned to a corpse. It was his cousin. The face was unrecognizable; he had been shot in the head for allegedly spying.

"I couldn't believe it, I was reading the piece of paper over and over," he said.

Months later, al-Azzawi tried to escape Mosul with a smuggler's help. He and dozen others hid under boxes of potato chips in a truck but were caught near the Syrian border. He spent 10 days in detention, released only after he signed a pledge never to flee again on pain of death.

After that, "anything they ask for I do without complaint."

One day after seeing 60 bodies, he went home and smashed his TV set.

Iraqi troops liberated western Mosul in the summer of 2017, and much of the medical complex where the morgue is located was bombed into ruins during the fighting that drove out the militants.

A stench now pervades the morgue from bodies that were in the refrigerators and are now buried in the rubble. The metal desks in the morgue offices have IS stickers on the drawers. Written on a wall is one of the slogans of the group, "Baqiya" — Arabic for "We will remain." Next to it, someone has scrawled an insult, "Son of dog."

Freed, the morgue men struggle with what they endured. Jassim can't sleep without popping multiple valiums. His 13-year-old son — fearing for his father — won't sleep apart from him. Some staffers have disappeared since liberation, simply not showing back up to work.

Al-Omari, the chief examiner, has been numbed by the helplessness he felt in the face of the fanatics' dictates and butchery.

The 43-year-old veteran doctor and surgeon was well known among his staff for his calm. He was used to wearing suits, but under IS he was forced to wear the "Islamic" garb of shortened pants and a long beard that the group said was the style of the Prophet Muhammad.

The atrocities his staff was forced to contend with seemed endless: 16 boys under the age of 14 shot in the head. Six girls shot in the head. His job was to sign off on the cause of death for victims' brutalized corpses. As a forensics doctor, he also had to investigate the "crimes" of the living — like signing medical examinations of whether women accused of adultery were virgins or not.

He got some revenge by passing on information. He secretly told the government in Baghdad when several senior commanders were killed in airstrikes.

But he says he has never cried for the dead.

"You can't talk or explain. You just keep it inside," he says. "If I cried, I'd cry every day for every single body."

abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mosul-morgue-staff-bore-witness-islamic-state-horrors-51965585

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Islamic State attack militia in Iraq

Four pro-government militiamen have been killed in an attack by Islamic State militants in northern Iraq.

Deutsche PresseAgentur | December 24, 20177:47pm

Islamic State militants have killed four pro-government militiamen in an attack in northern Iraq, two weeks after Baghdad announced a military victory over the extremist group.

Around 30 militants attacked positions of the Popular Mobilisation Shi'ite militia near the city of Tikrit, 170km north of Baghdad on Sunday, a local security official said on condition of anonymity.

The dawn attack started with mortar shelling, followed by a ground offensive in which the extremists used heavy weapons, according to the official.

Government forces were dispatched to the area and were able to repulse the attack, killing at least three Islamic State militants.

The second such attack in three days in northern Iraq was launched from Mteibeja, a rugged area between the northern provinces of Diyala and Salah al-Din where Islamic State is still active.

Last week, Iraqi forces launched a mop-up operation aimed at cleansing Mteibeja of Islamic State affiliates.

The operation was later halted due to the inhospitable nature of the area noted for its dense vegetation.

On December 9, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the liberation of all of the country's territory that was under Islamic State control, completing a US-backed campaign of about three years against the radical Sunni group.

news.com.au/world/breaking-news/islamic-state-attack-militia-in-iraq/news-story/815d5b7eb12e8fdfe0e60bdd7a77910c

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Campaign to be launched to removed Islamic State signs in western Anbar

Dec 24, 2017, 2:07 pm | byNehal Mostafa

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) A wide-scale campaign will be launched to remove the signs of Islamic State in western Anbar, an official announced.

Speaking to AlSumaria News on Sunday, Hussein Ali, mayor of Rawa, said “the local administration of the town, in cooperation with the residents, started a campaign to remove the signs of IS from Rawa.”

“The campaign includes painting the pavements, removing banners as well as any other signs of the group,” Ali added.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced, earlier this month, full liberation of Iraqi lands, declaring end of war against IS members.

In November, Abadi said his country has defeated Islamic State over the military level, but will declare final victory after desert areas are purged of militants. Earlier in the month, Iraqi forces recaptured Anbar’s western town of Rawa, the very last bastion under Islamic State control.

Iraqi forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary troops, have been fighting since October 2016 to retake territories Islamic State occupied in 2014.

The war against IS has displaced nearly five million people, with tens of thousands of civilians and militants killed since the launch of the offensives to recapture occupied cities.

iraqinews.com/iraq-war/campaign-launched-removed-islamic-state-signs-western-anbar/

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Al-Nusra Suffers Heavy Casualties in Failed Attack on Syrian Army Positions in Aleppo Province

Sun Dec 24, 2017 1:43

The sources said that the army men fought Al-Nusra back from their positions along a road connecting the town of Khan Touman to the Warehouses in the region.

The sources said that the army soldiers, backed up by the artillery and missile units, fended off the attack and killed 30 terrorists, destroying 8 vehicles and a large volume of military hardware.

The remaining pockets of Al-Nusra left behind their dead comrades and their equipment and retreated under the heavy fire of army units.

Relevant reports said on Friday that the army men engaged in heavy fighting with terrorists in a region between the town of Khan Touman and Air Defense Battalion Base and fended off their attack after killing a number of them and destroying their equipment.

In the meantime, the army's artillery and missile units pounded terrorists' positions in the village of Hobar and Rmeileh and Siyaleh regions in Southern Aleppo, killing or wounding a number of terrorists.

en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13961003000936

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Syrian Army Sends Troops, Equipment to Northern Lattakia to Face Terrorists' Movements

Sun Dec 24, 2017 2:45

The sources said that the army has forwarded hundreds of fresh forces and a large volume of military equipment to Northern Lattakia, adding that Ahrar al-Sham, meantime, has sent more militants and heavy weapons to the region.

The sources said that last round of clashes between the army and the terrorist groups in the region took place in June 2016 and lasted until August of the same year.

Also in November 2017 the army troops fended off heavy offensive of a group of terrorists in the Northern territories of Lattakiaprovince , inflicting major losses on them.

The army men warded off terrorists' heavy assault on its positions near the town of Rabi'eh in Northern Lattakia, killing and wounding a number of them and destroying their equipment.

en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13961003001116

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Terrorists' Logistic Convoy Hit in Syrian Army's Ambush Operation near Israel-Occupied Golan Heights

Sun Dec 24, 2017 1:9

The Arabic-language website of AMN reported that the army men ambushed a group of terrorists that tried to penetrate from Israeli-held occupied lands into Beit Jinn in Southwestern Damascus via Jabal (mount) al-Harmoun and destroyed the column.

The AMN reported that the army's missile and artillery units shelled heavily the convoy as soon as it entered the government-held regions, killing a large number of militants.

It added that the remaining pockets of the terrorists crossed the borderline and fled to occupied lands in the Golan Heights.

People in the occupied parts of Syria’s Golan Heights held a protest to condemn what they called Israel’s support for anti-Damascus terrorists in Early November.

The demonstrators accused Israel of backing the al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front (Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at or the Levant Liberation Board), during its assault on the government-held town of Hader in Quneitra province.

Israeli forces were deployed to the area to disperse the protesters.

en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13961003000848

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Syrian Army Preparing for Recapturing Energy-Rich Regions Occupied by Kurds

Sun Dec 24, 2017 12:58

The Arabic-language al-Hadath news quoted the Russian papers as saying that the Syrian intelligence service rests assured that Kurds and the US officers played a key role in evacuating ISIL's Chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and seven of his close aids from his hideout in Iraq to a US-run base in Ra'as al-Ein and then to Rmeilan in Hasaka province in Northeastern Syria.

Al-Hadath further said that the Kurdish militants are likely to retreat from Eastern Syria in the new year, adding that the Syrian Army's elite units are now prepared to take control of oil and gas fields on the Eastern bank of the Euphrates River that the Kurds occupied with the US back up.

In went on to say that the Syrian Army plan to use an assault strategy similar to the Iraqi troops' Kirkuk liberation operation.

According to the report, the Syrian Army Command plans to give the last ultimatum to the Kurds to deliver control of oil and gas fields to the government troops before waging the attack.

Militant-affiliated websites reported earlier this month that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) captured three more regions in Eastern DeirEzzur and deployed closer to the Syrian Army position, increasing the possibility of direct confrontation with government forces.

The websites reported that the SDF imposed control over the villages of Abu Hammam and al-Hayan and the town of Daranj in Eastern countryside of DeirEzzur city near the defense lines of the army men.

The websites added that the SDF's advances close to the army positions doubled the possibility of direct confrontation between the two sides.

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Syrian Army Utilizing Modern Cannons in War on Terrorism in Southwestern Damascus

Sun Dec 24, 2017 12:11

The Arabic-language website of Russia's state news agency, Sputnik, reported that the army's artillery units have been using ZU-23 cannons that are mounted on armored vehicles to target terrorists' positions in Beit Jinn and Mughur al-Mir in Southwestern Damascus.

It added that the terrorists' heavy counter-attacks have made the army men use ZSU-23 autocannons known as Shilka to target accurately the terrorists' positions.

RT reported earlier this month that the army was utilizing modern Russia-made UR-77 armored vehicles to cross the Euphrates River to storm ISIL's positions on the Eastern bank of the river in DeirEzzur province.

The Arabic-language service of RT reported that the UR-77 armored vehicles would missiles from the Western bank of the Euphrates River to the Eastern bank.

The Arabic RT further said that the missile blast detonates landmines and ruins other barriers in an area 100 meters in length and 6 meters in width to help the friendly troops to go to the depth of enemy fronts.

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Army Repels ISIL's Attack on Gov't Positions in Homs

Sun Dec 24, 2017 11:40

The terrorists' offensive to capture the government forces' positions in the Northern parts of Homs province were warded off by the strong defense of the Syrian military men.

Meantime, the Syrian army and popular forces continued their military advances in other parts of Syria, including Damascus and DeirEzzur, over the past 24 hours.

Tens of terrorists were killed and dozens more were injured during the Syrian army's operations in other provinces across Syria.

Homs

The Syrian Army troops warded off a heavy offensive of the terrorist groups in Northern Homs on Saturday and managed to impose several casualties on the militants.

The army men clashed with the terrorists that attacked pro-government forces' positions in the village of Jabourin from the village of al-Mashrou'a in Northern Homs and managed to fend off their attack after killing a number of them.

In the meantime, heavy fighting is underway between the army soldiers and ISIL in Humeimeh and al-Mo'ayzileh in Southeastern Homs.

Damascus

The Syrian Army troops stormed the positions of the al-Nusra Front (Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at or the Levant Liberation Board) in Southwestern Damascus on Saturday and captured two more regions.

The army men launched a fresh offensive on Al-Nusra positions near the small town of Beit Jinn and drove the terrorists out of al-Tamathiyat and al-Hanqarat regions South of al-Awaj River and East of Beit Jinn Farm.

The army soldiers imposed military control over a large area in Beit Jinn Farm and also cut off the only road between Beit Jinn Farm and the two towns of Beit Jinn and Mughur al-Mir.

A field sources said that the army has captured the strategic al-Hanaker region that enabled the pro-government forces to tighten noose on terrorists in Mughur al-Mir.

DeirEzzur

The Syrian Army troops hit ISIL's strongholds in SoutheasternDeirEzzur on Saturday and imposed control over more regions near the town of Albu Kamal.

The army men stormed ISIL's positions in Albu Kamal's countryside near the border with Iraq and managed to capture the region on the bank of Euphrates River.

A number of ISIL terrorists were killed and their weapons and equipment were destroyed in the clashes.

Relevant reports said that the army troops warded off ISIL's large-scale attack on pro-government forces' positions in a region between the provinces of DeirEzzur and Homs.

The army men exchanged heavy fire with the ISIL in regions near the T2 Oil Pumping Station in Southwestern DeirEzzur and al-Ma'eizileh in Southeastern Homs and managed to fend off their heavy attack.

The army men killed a number of terrorists and destroyed their military equipment.

Hama

The Syrian Army troops and Air Force targeted the positions of Al-Nusra Front in Northern and Northeastern Hama on Saturday, damaging the terrorists' strongholds.

The army's artillery and missile units opened heavy fire at Al-Nusra positions in the towns of al-Latamina and al-Mosheirefeh in Northern Hama, leaving several militants dead and their equipment and positions destroyed.

Also, the army aircraft bombed Al-Nusra's strongholds in the villages of Ibn Wardan, Um Zahmalak and Abu Dali in Northeastern Hama, inflicting major losses on the terrorists.

Idlib

The Syrian Army forces managed to push the Al-Nusra Front back from more positions in Northeastern Hama, paving the ground for the launch of larger anti-terrorism operation in Southern Idlib, field sources reported on Saturday.

The sources said that the army's artillery and missile units shelled heavily Al-Nusra's strongholds in the towns and villages of Atshan, Tal Skeik and Um Hartin in Northern Hama near the border with Idlib.

They went on to say that the army's advances in Northern and Northeastern Hama have paved the way for the pro-government forces to further advances towards the towns of al-Tamanna and Khan Sheikhoun and later towards Ma'arat al-Nu'aman to free Southern Idlib.

The sources further said that the army men managed to advance against the Al-Nusra base in the town of Abu Dali in Northeastern Hama.

Military sources reported on Friday that a large number of reinforcements from the Syrian Army’s Tiger Forces arrived in Northern Hama after spending several weeks in DeirEzzur province.

The sources said that a large number of the Tiger Forces’ Taha Group officially arrived in the town of Qomhana in Northern Hama.

The Taha Group is a seasoned unit from the Tiger Forces that has fought in several battles against the ISIL and Al-Nusra Front in Hama, Homs, and DeirEzzur provinces.

In addition to the reinforcements from the Tiger Forces, a large number of military personnel from the National Defense Forces (NDF) have moved towards the front-lines in Northern Hama, as they prepare to launch a major attack on the militant positions in Idlib province.

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