Iraq’s female bomber recruiter

Suspected militant recruiter Samira Jassim reportedly calls herself “the Mother of Believers”.

Detained in January by Iraqi security forces, the mother of six is accused of converting dozens of vulnerable women into suicide attackers.

In an apparent video confession, the middle-aged woman described how she identified potential bombers, helped supply them with explosives and led them to their targets.

Filed under: Voice, Arab, Arab Media, Barack Obama, E.U, Egypt, European Union, France, Gaza, Gaza raids, Gaza strip, Hamas, IAF, IDF, International, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Israel, Israel Air Force, Jordan, Kassam Rockets, Lebanon, Middle East, MidEast, Muslim, Operation Cast Lead, Palestine, Palestinian Authority, Qassam Rockets, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Terror, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, Turkey, U.N, U.S.A, UK, War, West Bank, World

Rocket from Gaza fired into Israel

Palestinian militants fired a long-range rocket from Gaza into southwestern Israel on Tuesday morning. It was the first such attack into the city of Ashkelon since the two sides declared a cease-fire, the Israeli military said.

This aerial view shows the power station and industrial zone of Ashkelon, Israel, in March of 2008.

Filed under: MidEast, Arab, Arab Media, Barack Obama, E.U, Egypt, European Union, France, Gaza, Gaza raids, Gaza strip, Hamas, IAF, IDF, International, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Israel, Israel Air Force, Jordan, Kassam Rockets, Lebanon, Middle East, MidEast, Muslim, Operation Cast Lead, Palestine, Palestinian Authority, Qassam Rockets, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Terror, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, Turkey, U.N, U.S.A, UK, War, West Bank, World

Israel admits its troops killed Gaza girls

Israel admitted Wednesday that one of its tanks killed three girls whose father’s cries on live television shocked viewers in the final days of the Gaza offensive, but said the action was “reasonable.”

An Israeli army (IDF) investigation found that two tank shells were fired at a building housing the apartment of Izz el-Deen Aboul Aish on January 16 — two days before the end of its assault on the Islamist-ruled Gaza Strip.

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UN backtracks IDF strike on Gaza school

The United Nations has reversed its stance on one of the most contentious and bloody incidents of the recent Israel Defense Forces operation in Gaza, saying that an IDF mortar strike that killed 43 people on January 6 did not hit one of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency schools after all.

Filed under: MidEast, Arab, Arab Media, Barack Obama, E.U, Egypt, European Union, France, Gaza, Gaza raids, Gaza strip, Hamas, IAF, IDF, International, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Israel, Israel Air Force, Jordan, Lebanon, Middle East, MidEast, Muslim, Operation Cast Lead, Palestine, Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Terror, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, Turkey, U.N, U.S.A, UK, War, West Bank, World

Will peace finally come to Sri Lanka?

In recent days, events of importance to South Asia have been unfolding in Sri Lanka, where decades of civil war have all but destroyed the international reputation of what was once the region’s most progressive and democratic country. The Sri Lankan army, on the march against an armed ethnic Tamil movement, has seized the rebels’ de facto capital and is closing in on the last strongholds of the group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Filed under: Analysis, Australia, Canada, Chennai, Colombo, Elephant Pass, Guerrilla Group, Guerrilla war, India, Jafna, London, LTTE, Madras, Mahindra Rajapaksa, Mullaitivu, Sri Lanka, Tamil, Tamil Nadu, Terror, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, Toronto, UK, Velupillai Prabhakaran, War

US gravely concerned over Iran satellite launch

Despite largely dismissing first Tehran-built satellite in orbit as ‘a symbolic step,’ world governments uneasy with development. However American security official says satellite ‘not a game changer’

Iran has launched its first satellite in a step that has important symbolism but does not itself alter the strategic balance in the region, a US national security official said on Tuesday.

Filed under: MidEast, Arab, Arab Media, Barack Obama, E.U, Egypt, European Union, France, Gaza, Gaza raids, Gaza strip, Hamas, IAF, IDF, International, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Israel, Israel Air Force, Jordan, Lebanon, Middle East, MidEast, Muslim, Operation Cast Lead, Palestine, Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Terror, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, Turkey, U.N, U.S.A, UK, War, West Bank, World

Final elimination of terror in Sri Lanka – Rajapaksa

Declaring that Sri Lanka was on the threshold of the “final elimination” of terror from its soil, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has pledged that Tamils in the embattled north would be given “equality and all rights” after the capture of the entire LTTE-held territory by the security forces.

“The stronghold of terror, once believed to be invincible such as Kilinochchi, Elephant Pass and Mullaittivu, have fallen in rapid succession, bringing the final elimination of terror from our motherland and the dawn of true freedom to all our people well within our reach,” he said in his message on the eve of the country’s 61st Independence Day tomorrow.

Filed under: Asia, Australia, Canada, Chennai, Colombo, Elephant Pass, Guerrilla Group, Guerrilla war, India, Jafna, London, LTTE, Madras, Mahindra Rajapaksa, Mullaitivu, Sri Lanka, Tamil, Tamil Nadu, Terror, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, Toronto, UK, Velupillai Prabhakaran, War

Israel should look into abuse claims – Rice

The United States expects Israel to investigate claims of abuse during the Gaza Strip war, its new U.N. envoy said.

Susan Rice, last week confirmed as the Obama administration’s envoy to the United Nations, expressed “deep concern” in her maiden speech Thursday to the U.N. Security Council “about the loss of Palestinian and Israeli life in recent weeks and the tragic suffering of Palestinian civilians, who require urgent humanitarian and reconstruction assistance.”

Filed under: Voice, Arab, Arab Media, Barack Obama, E.U, Egypt, European Union, France, Gaza, Gaza raids, Gaza strip, Hamas, IAF, IDF, International, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Israel, Israel Air Force, Jordan, Lebanon, Middle East, MidEast, Muslim, Operation Cast Lead, Palestine, Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Terror, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, Turkey, U.N, U.S.A, UK, War, West Bank, World