Thousands Of US Troops Amass On Syrian Border For Military ‘Drill’

Thousands of U.S. Marines arrived in Jordan at around the same time the United States, the United Kingdom, and France were organizing a direct military strike on Jordan’s neighbor, Syria.  Shortly after the US-led bombing of Syria over alleged chemical weapons use, the Marine took part in military drills.

According to Antimedia, nearly 3,600 U.S. troops, including roughly 1,800 Marines with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, arrived in Jordan for the start of an almost two-week training exercise known as Eager Lion.

Thousands of Marines and U.S. troops kicked off a major military training exercise that is reportedly set to include civilian evacuation operations, as well as chemical and biological drills. The drills followed the U.S.-led Anglo-alliance’s assault on neighboring Syria, which was allegedly in retaliation for a chemical attack in the Syrian city of Douma.

It will be a rare display of allied firepower, reported the Marine Corps Times.  It also couldn’t come at a more tense time as U.S. Navy warships are steadily building a presence in the Mediterranean in preparation for what analysts presume will be a Tomahawk cruise missile strike on Syria.

Last year, satellite photos indicating a massive buildup of military armored vehicles sent alarm bells through Iran, Syria’s ally in its nearly eight-year civil war, prompting media speculation about a pending invasion. The build-up was nothing more than the start of Eager Lion. Eager Lion was then launched from the Zarqa Jordanian military base, located near the Syrian border and roughly 100 miles from the Syrian capital of Damascus. The exercise has routinely been viewed as a pretext for an invasion of Syria by analysts and countries aligned with the Syrian regime.

“Eager Lion is a major training event that provides U.S. forces and Jordan Armed Forces the opportunity to improve their collective ability to plan and operate in a coalition-type environment,” according to a press release from U.S. Central Command published April 2nd. “A wide variety of scenarios – from long-range bomber missions to maritime security operations to a ground force attack of a fictitious adversary – will occur throughout Jordan during the event.”

Departing Augusta Bay, Italy, just before the US-led attack was the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock New York which has onboard Marines and Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron VMM 162 (Reinforced), according to a post from the 26th MEU’s Facebook page.

The timing of this “event,” both this year and last, however, is incredibly unsettling.  Both came at a time when the US had decided that the Syrian government had conducted a chemical weapons attack against their own citizens.  Neither chemical attack had any evidence, and in fact, there’s more evidence to suggest the attacks didn’t even happen. 

While the media delivered a stunning performance on its coverage of Trump’s strikes on the Syrian government, as the Marine Corps Times notes, “little has been made of the fact that thousands of U.S. and Jordanian troops will be training a short skip away from the Syrian border with armored vehicles and military aircraft.”

Employee Of Bombed Research Site In Syria Says No Chemicals Released Is Proof None Exist

An employee of the chemical research center which was bombed by the United States, the United Kingdom, and France says that no chemicals were released during the strike that leveled the building.  That’s incredibly important proof that no chemical weapons we actually there, he said.

Said Said, an engineer at the Scientific Research Center facility, told RT Arabic that the very fact that no chemicals were released during the strike should serve as evidence that no chemical weapons program was run at the site. “You can see for yourself that nothing has happened. I’ve been here since 5:00 a.m. No signs of weapons-grade chemicals,“ he said. The researcher said he had worked at the facility for decades, and it used to develop medicine and household chemicals.

The West is alleging Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s leader used chemical weapons on civilians to justify military attacks on Damascus and Homs.  But interestingly enough, those strikes occurred the day before international investigators were scheduled to arrive to conduct a thorough inspection of the site. 

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had visited the site several times and never found any traces of banned chemicals. Since Syria joined the Chemical Weapons Convention under a deal brokered by Russia and the US in 2013, the UN chemical watchdog repeatedly confirmed its full compliance with its obligations to dismantle and remove its chemical stockpiles. In June 2014, the OPCW declared Syria free of chemical weapons.

On April 12, even US Secretary of Defense James Mattis told the House Armed Services Committee that the US government does not have any evidence that sarin or chlorine was used, that he was still looking for evidence. Yet the bombing happened anyway.

“We even provided them [OPCW] with a special place where they could collect and pack test samples taken during the inspection,” Said told RT. The inspectors would stay in the rooms on the upper floor and use the laboratory equipment, and the staff was “cooperating with them completely.”

Being a civilian research center, the staff did not believe it would be identified as the primary target for an attack. “As we work in civilian pharmaceutical and chemical research, we did not expect that we would be hit,“ Said told AFP. The allegations that that Barzeh was an integral part of Syria’s chemical program were “totally incorrect,” he stressed, speaking to CBS News.

Reports by the UN’s chemical watchdog, the latest of which was filed just a month ago, suggest Said is correct, and there are no chemical weapons at the facility.  The report on the first inspection that was conducted between February 26  and March 5, 2017, says that “the inspection team did not observe any activities inconsistent with obligations under the Convention,“ noting that Damascus had provided unimpeded access to the inspectors “to all selected areas.”

The follow-up inspection, carried out in November, did not find any incriminating evidence either. The March 2018 report reiterates: “As stated in previous reports, all of the chemicals declared by the Syrian Arab Republic that were removed from its territory in 2014 have now been destroyed.”

Red alert: Alexa maintains bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, will occur on “May 25, 2018”

(INTELLIHUB) — While tensions with North Korea remain at an all-time high, Alexa, of all things, was captured on video last Monday saying that the bombing of Hiroshima would occur in less than 70-days.

“How many days has it been since the bombing of Hiroshima?,” the user of the all-knowing Internet-connected device asked aloud before garnering an ominous answer from the outspoken circular-shaped machine.

“This might answer your question,” Alexa said. “The bombing is in 69-days, May 25th, 2018.”

Dovetailing with Alexa’s astonishingly grim prediction, former U.S. President Barack Obama visited Japan Sunday, where he warned that North Korea poses a “real threat.”

‘North Korea is a real threat and poses a significant threat not just to the region but to the whole world’, Obama said during his speech in Tokyo.

H/T: @Tabertronic on Twitter

Related video:

©2018. INTELLIHUB.COM. All Rights Reserved.

Shepard Ambellas is an opinion journalist, analyst, and the founder and editor-in-chief of Intellihub News & Politics (Intellihub.com). Shepard is also known for producing Shade: The Motion Picture (2013) and appearing on Travel Channel’s America Declassified (2013). Shepard is a regular contributor to Infowars. Shepard is the leading journalist covering the Las Vegas Massacre, logging over 1100+ hours, 160+ reports, during his ongoing investigation. Read more from Shep’s World. Follow Shep on Facebook. Subscribe to Shep’s YouTube channel.

Follow @ShepardAmbellas

The post Red alert: Alexa maintains bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, will occur on “May 25, 2018” appeared first on Intellihub.

DHS Emergency Protocols in Place After a Bomb Exploded at a Texas FedEx Facility

Last night, a bomb meant for Austin, Texas exploded at a FedEx facility in Schertz, Texas. This is the fifth in a series of deadly bombs that have targeted Austin, the capital of the state.

The first three bombs were in packages delivered to people’s homes, resulting in two deaths and injuries to two more people. The fourth bomb was detonated by a tripwire and seriously injured two men.

The first package exploded March 2, killing Anthony Stephan House, 39, when he picked up a package on the front porch of his northeast Austin home. The second bomb went off March 12 inside a home in east Austin. Draylen Mason, 17, was killed and his mother was hospitalized. The third blast came a short time later in a neighborhood south of downtown. A 75-year-old woman picked up a package on her front porch when it exploded, seriously injuring her. The last Austin blast occurred late Sunday, when a blast, possibly set off by a tripwire, injured two men in southwest Austin.

The first three attacks involved suspicious packages left on doorsteps in Austin. The package Sunday apparently was left on the side of a road in the city. The latest explosion took place at a FedEx facility about 65 miles from Austin.  (source)

Each bomb has been somewhat different, and increasingly sophisticated.  The Washington Post reports:

Police have declined to describe the bombs in detail, saying only that they appear to be the sophisticated work of a person or people who know what they are doing — and noting that the bombmaker has been able to assemble and deliver the devices without setting them off. After telling residents to remain wary of unexpected or suspicious packages, authorities are urging broader caution.

“We’re even more concerned now that if people see something suspicious, they just stay away from it altogether and contact law enforcement,” said Fred Milanowski, special agent in charge of the Houston division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. “Because if they move that package or if they step on that tripwire, it’s likely to detonate.”

Milanowski said bombs using tripwires are activated when any pressure is applied to the wires, and he said that can include people “tripping over it or picking up the package.” (source)

After the tripwire bomb, residents were cautioned to stay indoors.

Dan Defenbaugh, a former FBI official who spent decades investigating bomb cases, said the use of a tripwire Sunday “dramatically changes the tactics involved.”

The shift in method — from a bomb targeting an individual or their family to a device that could kill a random passerby — evokes past attacks that created climates of fear, such as the Washington-area sniper shootings that gripped the D.C. region for weeks in 2002 as victims were shot at random. And, as during the Unabomber’s campaign of sending explosives through the mail, the Austin attacks thus far defy explanation and have come without any threat or warning.

“Once a bomb builder makes a device, they usually make it the same way each and every time,” said Defenbaugh, who managed the Oklahoma City bombing investigation. “That’s not happening here. I’m also troubled by the fact that there hasn’t been an extortion demand or communication.” (source)

The attacks have taken place in various neighborhoods around the city, as shown by this map from WaPo.

Officials haven’t identified a pattern to the bombings, at least not publicly.

At this point, there is no clear motive for the bombings. Initially, it was thought that the motivation could be racial, as the first victims were black and Hispanic. But the tripwire victims were both white males, which has caused investigators to reconsider their original supposition.

The bomb at the FedEx facility has triggered DHS protocols

Last night, a fifth bomb exploded just northeast of San Antonio, Texas. The package was reportedly bound for Austin. One person was injured and treated at the scene.

According to AlertsUSA, this most recent event has triggered the implementation of Department of Homeland Security emergency protocols across the postal and shipping sectors.

The Postal and Shipping Sector is one of 18 critical infrastructure sectors established under the authority of Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7 (HSPD-7).

Several government departments and agencies have formed the Postal and Shipping Government Coordinating Council (GCC) which works closely with sector stakeholders to enable assessment of national, cross-sector critical infrastructure protection and resilience programs.

Sector-specific assets include: over 400 high-volume automated processing facilities; over 40,000 local delivery units; many and varied collection, acceptance, and retail operations; over 50,000 transport vehicles including vans, trucks, tractor trailers, and aircraft; and information and communications networks.

This morning’s explosion at a Schertz, TX FedEx facility has triggered a variety of emergency protocols (some seen, most not) for acceptance, processing & delivery locally, as well as on a regional and national level.

The intensity of the emergency protocols will vary from location to location, but the entire sector is now on high alert.

Given the unknowns and the ongoing nature of the threat, these emergency protocols are likely to be observed by other carriers beyond FedEx. (source)

Here are more details about the sector-specific plans of the DHS, USPS, and other relevant shippers.

How do you keep yourself safe from random attacks like this?

As is true with most acts of terror, situational awareness is the key to keeping yourself and your family safe. You should stop and think before touching or opening any package:

• Is this package expected?


• Do you recognize who the package is from?


• Is there anything at all suspicious about the package?

If you have any doubt that the package is safe, you should call 911 and let them know of your concerns. Be on your toes and caution children not to touch any packages without your permission. Obviously, those in the Austin area should be particularly careful.

The post DHS Emergency Protocols in Place After a Bomb Exploded at a Texas FedEx Facility appeared first on The Sleuth Journal.

[VIDEO] ISIS Attempts Manhattan Bombing!

New York City Police confirmed one male suspect was in custody following Monday’s explosion near the Port Authority Bus Station. The suspect, who has ties to ISIS was the only one with injuries, officials said.

Commuters were urged to avoid the area as authorities continue to investigate the bombing which luckily, wasn’t as horrific as it could have been. New reports said the suspect in Monday’s explosion in New York City was wearing the explosive device when it was detonated. It remained unclear whether it was a backpack or explosive vest of some sort, though it appeared it was not a pipe bomb as previously reported.

Eyewitness Francisco Ramirez told CNN that he heard two explosions as he was exiting a bus about 7:45 a.m. EST.

“From what I saw it sounded like it came from the subway, but I’m just guessing,” he said. “It was two distinct explosions seconds from each other. As I was making my way toward the outside, I kept getting shoved by cops and there were cops at every entrance blocking and there was police and SWAT everywhere.”

“It was scary. It was just a lot of chaos but I didn’t see any injuries,” he added.

BREAKING VIDEO: MOMENT OF EXPLOSION AT TIMES SQUARE SUBWAY STATION pic.twitter.com/bb6nEPwfqD

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 11, 2017

At least four people have also suffered non-life threatening and minor injuries such as ringing in ears, headaches, and scrapes according to police officials.

President Donald Trump has been briefed on the situation, according to Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.  Reports said that New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has also been briefed on the incident.

Some reports are conflicting as this story continues to develop.

Mosul Terror-Bombed to Rubble

[image: Ivor Prickett for The New York Times]When America attacks another nation, international, constitutional and US statute laws of war are discarded with imperial arrogance.

They’re for other countries, not the USA, its rules alone followed. The devastating result is always the same.

Wherever the self-styled “indispensable nation” shows up, mass slaughter, horrendous destruction, utter chaos, and appalling human misery follow.

The battle for Mosul will long be remembered by truth-telling historians and analysts as one of history’s great crimes. Iraq’s long ago thriving second largest city of 1.7 million people was turned to smoldering rubble.

Thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of defenseless civilians were indiscriminately massacred – largely by US-led terror-bombing, leveling residential areas and vital infrastructure, the city turned into a moonscape.

UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq Lise Grande explained when the battle for Mosul began last October, US-led coalition and Iraqi forces “committed to a humanitarian concept of operations, which puts civilian protection at the center of their battle plan. They committed to do everything possible in order to ensure civilians were protected during the fighting.”

Instead, indiscriminate mass slaughter and destruction took place throughout months of conflict.

In February 1968, AP foreign correspondent Peter Arnett said the following about the battle for Ben Tre:

“It became necessary to destroy the town to save it,” quoting a US military officer. “He was talking about the decision by allied commanders to bomb and shell the town regardless of civilian casualties, to rout the Vietcong.”

The same applies to numerous other US offensives, including the battle for Mosul. The shocking disregard for human lives and welfare defines all US wars – aggressive ones of choice post-WW II in all cases, never for self-defense, humanitarian intervention and democracy building as falsely claimed.

Two surprising neocon/CIA-connected Washington Post articles discussed the utter devastation of months of war on Mosul.

Maybe Langley was gloating, taking a victory lap, using WaPo to explain the destructive power of America’s military.

One article headlined “How war ravaged the city of Mosul in satellite images,” saying they “show how the conflict has turned a once lively city into rubble.”

Pre-and-post-battle images are stunning – the former taken in November 2015, the latter on July 8. It’s hard comprehending they’re from the same locations in the same city.

They bear testimony to US imperial viciousness. They show high crimes of war and against humanity on an unimaginable scale.

Destroyed areas look like a nuking aftermath. On the ground, no signs of life are visible – residential areas, hospitals, bridges and other infrastructure leveled.

A second article headlined “After Daesh defeat, a daunting search for bodies in the rubble of Mosul,” saying:

“The streets of Mosul’s Old City are littered with bodies, tangled between shattered stones and remnants of the lives they left behind.”

“In the baking summer heat, exhausted rescue crews are now sifting through the debris of the toughest battle against Daesh, also known as ISIS, in what became its final redoubt in the city.”

“As Iraqi ground troops, US-led coalition jets and Daesh militants pulverized the Old City’s winding maze of streets last week, thousands of civilians were caught in the crossfire.’

“(T)he area is now deserted. (A)ll that remains in the Old City is rubble and unknown (numbers) of bodies” – many thousands massacred indiscriminately, largely defenseless civilians, mostly women and children.

Last fall, Washington redeployed thousands of ISIS fighters from Mosul to Syria. It’s unknown how many remained to draw out months of fighting.

Hundreds of corpses already were found “suffocated under the ruins of their homes,” said WaPo. Other bodies so far lie rotting in streets turned into open-air graves.

Mangled and charred bodies are unrecognizable. In dozens of interviews with survivors, WaPo reporters found no one who hadn’t lost a relative or friend.

All US war theaters bear testimony to its might makes right way of operating. Imperial aims alone matter, nothing else.
ter.”

Smith ignored the use of ISIS terrorists as imperial foot soldiers. He was silent about unknown thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of defenseless civilians massacred by US-led terror-bombing, UK warplanes involved.

He said nothing about US and likely British forces embedded with Iraqi troops, likely directly involved in their high crimes of war and against humanity.

Washington, London and Baghdad want horrors they caused suppressed. They want the rape and destruction of Mosul portrayed as a liberating struggle.

They want the myth of Iraqi and US-led coalition forces prioritizing the safety and welfare of civilians reported – not the ugly reality of all US-led imperial wars, noncombatants suffering most.

UK Defense Secretary Calls Terror-Bombing Yemen Saudi Self-Defense

(image: almasdarnews.com)

Let’s see if I’ve got this straight. America has been drone-bombing Yemen since the Bush/Cheney years, largely killing defenseless civilians, yet media scoundrels ignore it.

In March 2015, Obama launched preemptive war on the country without declaring it, conspiring with Saudi Arabia, creating a humanitarian disaster, at least 80% of the population affected – hundreds of thousands at risk of starvation, dying from preventable diseases or perishing from Riyadh terror-bombing.

Media scoundrels largely abstain from covering a raging holocaust instead of condemning it. As long as they’re silent, the world’s severest humanitarian crisis goes unnoticed – except in occasional UN reports they don’t publish or comment on. Official death and injury numbers way-understate the calamity’s enormity, most Yemenis at risk.

According to London’s  Independent, neocon UK Defense Secretary Michael Fallon defended the indefensible, saying Riyadh is “defending itself,” blaming Houthi fighters for Saudi high crimes committed against them and defenseless Yemeni civilians.

Fallon’s logic goes like this. Preemptive naked aggression is OK by a UK ally as long as it’s called self-defense.

He cut to the chase on why Britain supports Saudi ruthlessness – because it’s an “enormously important trading partner, a commercial partner, but also a defense partner,” he said. The bottom line is money and political expediency.

Riyadh is Britain’s largest arms and munitions buyer, amounting to billions of pounds, billions more to other despotic regimes, including Israel.

The UK is a merchant of death and destruction, doing business with brutal regimes like Riyadh, partnering in genocide like Washington.

It’s the second world’s largest arms exporter after America, selling them to 22 of the 30 countries on its human rights watch list, according to UK Trade and Investment.

“We share intelligence with Saudi Arabia about terrorism,” Fallon blustered. Both countries are two of the world’s leading exponents of state terrorism, along with supporting ISIS, al-Nusra and likeminded groups, the scourge they claim to oppose.

Saudis use earlier UK-made cluster munitions against civilians in Yemen. America, Britain, France, Israel, Saudi Arabia and their rogue allies fit the classic definition of rogue states.

Their agendas are responsible for mass slaughter and destruction on an appalling scale in multiple countries. They remain unaccountable for the highest of high crimes.

Trump Airstrike Paved the Way for ISIS to Attack Christian Town Protected by Syrian Army

When George W. Bush attacked Iraq and the Saddam Hussein regime, millions of Americans rejoiced as the president took unilateral measures to overthrow the evil dictator’s powerful hold over the country. Bush was successful with his stated goal, regime change, but for Iraqi Christians, life would never be the same.

One 2016 publication stated the Christian population in Iraq fell by 80 percent in just a decade following the US invasion. CNN stated Christianity was “in peril” after ISIS took control of the country. And The New York Times questioned if this generation would see the end of Christianity in the Middle East. Oh how quickly it seems American Christians forget the toll taken on their Middle Eastern brothers and sisters when regimes change, and terrorists take over. But that is precisely what will happen if the United States has its way with Syria, the way it did in Iraq. Yet it seems millions of American Christians have pledged their prayer support for the president’s preemptive strike on Syria.

Evangelist and pastor of Harvest Church, Greg Laurie, issued the following statement.

The United States of America has struck chemical and weapons sites in Syria with Tomahawk and Cruise missiles!
President Trump, commenting on the horrific attacks of the Syrian Government on it’s own people, including children with Sarin gas said,
‘No child of God should ever suffer such horror’
Pray for our leaders and military and the innocent victims of Syria!
May God protect and bless the United States of America.

While no official investigation was conducted by anyone to determine whether or not it was moderate rebels, ISIS rebels, White Hats (many of whom are self-professed former rebels), the Russians, or the Syrian Army, before Donald Trump and his war machine began dropping bombs on Syrian airfields. Yet, powerful Christian leaders, such as Laurie, have swallowed the U.S. government’s narrative, hook, line, and sinker.

READ MORE:  Children"s Hospital Bombed in Syria Amidst Massive Civilian Casualities from US Air Strikes

The blind belief in the U.S. government’s narrative belies the fact the government has lied to the American people before in an attempt to have their way with the world’s dictators. The Bush administration said Saddam had Weapons of Mass Destruction (as in nuclear weapons), but there were none. After the invasion was complete, a mad search was conducted and there were no weapons of mass destruction found.

One pastor who’s very close to Trump is Pastor Mark Burns. The South Carolina pastor of the Harvest Praise and Worship Center in Easley, is also considered by some to be Trump’s “Most Vocal Pastor.” Burns, who claims to receive bi-weekly briefings from the White House on “politics, legislation & faith,” posted a simple prayer request on his Facebook page:

Praying for the Children in Syria and our US Military Forces.

But what if both Laurie and Burns changed their prayer for life to include the Syrian Christian Church? How would that simple change affect the narrative? If you speak to Iraqi Christians today, they’ll probably tell you they wish the Americans never dropped their first bombs in Iraq. While Saddam may have been an evil tyrant and ruled with an iron fist, the Christian church and population in Iraq never suffered the genocidal fate it now confronts.

According to at least one news source, the military base the Americans attacked with dozens of cruise missiles was the only thing standing between jihadists and the complete destruction of a Christian town in Northern Syria called Mhardeh. The ancient Christian population there faces extinction by ISIS, who’ve been attacking them as late as this week. According to one news source:

The jihadist rebels of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) launched several artillery shells towards the predominately Christian city of Mhardeh in northern Hama today.

As a result of today’s attack by the jihadist rebels, the St. George Roman Orthodox Church inside of Mhardeh was damaged, along with several buildings nearby.

According to local activists in northern Hama, the jihadist attack on Mhardeh wounded at least a dozen civilians that were in the vicinity of the St. George Church.

Christians need to be reminded that the same thing which happened to the Iraqi Christian population will occur with the Syrian Christian population and has already taken place throughout many areas in Syria, thanks in part to U.S. sponsored “moderate” rebels.

READ MORE:  US-Funded White Helmets Exposed in Al-Qaeda Plot that Poisoned Water of 5 Million Syrians

The facts are, even as Bashar al-Assad told Barbara Walters in a 20/20 interview several years ago, Syrians are also fighting the war on terror against Islamic extremists hell bent on destroying their country. And, if House Representative Tulsi Gabbard and Senator Rand Paul are to be believed, the U.S. is funding the extremist groups which are also attacking the Assad regime.

Now, it seems, the country has to worry about a full-blown military invasion of Syria. Standing in the way of the USA and its desire to see regime change take place in Syria, are the Russians, the Iranians, and the silent but highly effective Chinese. It sounds like the making of World War III. If American Christians really want to make a difference to keep their own country out of war, they need to call their congressmen and begin to voice opposition to any military incursion in Syria, and start to pray for the Syrian Christian Church which is on the brink of becoming extinct.

Heartbreaking Video of 4yo Girl Who Survived US Airstrikes Proves It’s Not ‘Our Freedom they Hate’

(RT) — The father of the 4-year-old Hawraa, who is slowly recovering from severe wounds she suffered in a coalition airstrike on her home in Mosul that killed her mother and most of the family, told RT about the horrors and desperation he went through during the raid.

Hawraa miraculously survived the US-led coalition airstrike on al-Jadida neighborhood in Mosul on March 16 that claimed the lives of her mother and two other relatives.

“We were sitting at my uncle’s house. She [Hawraa] and her mother, and my uncle’s wife went back home to cook and give her a bath, because she was sick. So they went home at eight o’clock, and the house was shelled by the American air force,” Hawraa’s grieving father, Alaa, recalls.

Hawraa was the only one to make it through the airstrike, and then had to battle for her life in the field hospital of Iraq Special Operations Forces after suffering multiple shrapnel injuries. The girl, although still feeble and is hospital care, is keen on making a full recovery. Hawraa has become strong enough to be able to speak to her other relatives by phone, although she still needs her grandmother’s help to sit down.

The 4-year-old seems not to comprehend completely what has happened to her.

“Yesterday, she was touching her hair and asking, where is my hair? Is it burned off?” Hawraa’s grandmother told RT.

While it will take a long time for the child to heal physically, it will be even harder to get rid of mental scars.

READ MORE:  BREAKING: Pentagon Caught Paying PR Firm $540 Million to Make Fake Terrorist Videos

“She has developed a fear from explosions and the sounds of bullets. She doesn’t want to go back, ever,” her grandmother said.

‘Made in USA’

Adjusting to the brutal reality is no less tough for Alaa, who keeps replaying events of the night of the raid. Due to the constant shelling of the area by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS, ISIL) terrorists, Alaa was forced to stay in his uncle’s house effectively being trapped there for three days and thus unable to help his family.

“I tried to save her, but I couldn’t save her from the shelling and the airstrikes. And Daesh [IS] were firing at us, and there were snipers, they were shooting at me so I couldn’t go out with her, I stayed there around three days,” Alaa said, adding that every time he attempted to go outside, he was shot at.

The news on his wife’s demise came amid that chaos. A neighbor told Alaa that he saw somebody who appeared to be his wife lying under a wall with a big, one meter high and half a meter wide hole in it. Walls with such man-made holes are used by IS militants to move swiftly while at the same time in disguise.

“I went through the holes and I saw my wife. I saw only one of her legs and part of her abdomen. She had no leg, no arms and no head, just this part of her body still there. I tried to take her out and they started to shoot at me. I just covered her with a blanket so the dogs wouldn’t eat her body,” Alaa recalled.

READ MORE:  Pentagon Caught Deceiving America, Thousands of Airstrikes Hidden from Public

Alaa was told that his house, with his family inside, was targeted in the coalition raid. Later he discovered what he believes was a part of an American shell used in the bombing.

“You know that at the end of the missile there are four flaps, on that cartridge was written ‘made in USA’, I’m sure that was American,” Alaa said.

Alaa’s family became one of the many civilian casualties inflicted by the coalition air raids in Mosul. As terrorists use civilians as human shields and deliberately draw coalition warplanes to residential areas, the line between civilian and terrorist targets has become blurred.

Alaa believes that the bomb might have mistakenly landed on his house, while it was intended to strike a shooting position of jihadists in a nearby home. He recounts the toll of other misplaced strikes, going as far as calling the carnage “genocide.”

“All of these were airstrikes. Our house, out neighbor’s house. In one house alone, 144 people [were killed] and in front of our house 32 people [were killed]. Next to our house 13 people [were killed], in the house behind us more than 20 [were killed],” he said.

“This is genocide, I don’t know, how else can you see this?”

The US-led coalition has subsequently issued a statement, admitting that it targeted the area at the request of the Iraqi forces at the time of the incident and launched a formal investigation into the deaths of dozens of civilians in the residential neighborhood of western Mosul on March 17.

Announcing the probe, US CENTCOM commander General Votel stressed that IS “exploits” the US “sensitivity for civilian casualties” by using them as human shields, arguing that in this particular case the IS fighters “bear the responsibility for this as well.”

READ MORE:  BREAKING: US Coalition Strikes Syrian Army Killing Dozens -- Russia Accuses US of "Defending ISIS"

Video Reveals Tragic Aftermath of Russian Metro Bombing That Killed 9, Injured 20

(RT) — At least 9 people have been killed and 20 injured after a suspected IED detonated inside a St. Petersburg Metro car. Footage of the panicked aftermath of the bombing, which occurred between Sennaya and Technology Institute stations, shows shocked commuters searching through the twisted metal wreckage of a Metro carriage.

Национальный антитеррористический комитет заявил, что взрыв был один. Эвакуация людей из метро полностью завершена pic.twitter.com/htGyluMH4A

— Лентач (@the_lentach) April 3, 2017

Video taken from inside the Technology Institute station in the center of St. Petersburg also reveals people desperately looking for injured victims on a blue underground train.

The train’s door and windows appear to have been blown out by the explosion with blood and metal debris seen on the station platform. Meanwhile, an explosive device was defused at Ploshchad Vosstaniya Metro station, Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee has confirmed.

A second video, uploaded to YouTube, shows commuters filing through thick black plumes of smoke in an underground walkway at the Sennaya station. The explosion occurred between the two Metro stations as the train, traveling from Sennaya, pulled into the Technology Institute station.

Meanwhile, footage apparently captured by a commuter traveling through the station on another track shows emergency services attending the scene.

All Metro stations in the city have now been suspended and an investigation into the blast is underway. Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed condolences to the families of those killed in the blast.

Vladimir Putin: We will take all the necessary measures to provide assistance to those affected by the St Petersburg metro explosion

— President of Russia (@KremlinRussia_E) April 3, 2017

Security personnel have since cordoned off the area surrounding Moskovsky Avenue and Sadovaya Street, while emergency services are also at the scene.

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Report: US Airstrikes Slaughter 230 Innocent Civilians in a Single Night in Mosul

Mosul, Iraq — Reports coming out of Iraq this week are downright terrifying with local media reporting up to as many as 230 innocent civilians slaughtered in US coalition airstrikes — in a single night.

According to the Kurdish media company, Rudaw, 137 people – most believed to be civilians – died when a bomb hit a single building in al-Jadida, in the western side of the city on Thursday. Another 100 were killed nearby.

As the British Telegraph reports, the casualties were “mostly women and children,” and “were pulled from three adjoining houses in the Jadida neighbourhood of west Mosul overnight Wednesday and into Thursday morning, according to witnesses.”

“There was so much bombing, and so many deaths,” an elderly woman said of the strikes.

“Pieces of human flesh were flying in all directions.”

According to Antiwar, Central Command said that they were “aware of the loss of life” and were carrying out “further investigation,” while insisting that all of their strikes against Mosul overnight “comply with the Law of Armed Conflict.”

Centcom also reported that “military forces conducted nine strikes consisting of 67 engagements coordinated with and in support of the government of Iraq against ISIS targets.”

Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Erbil in northern Iraq, said fighting in the area had intensified in the last few days.

“For more than a week there was a stalemate as Iraqi forces struggled to advance on the Old City, but in the last few days, the fighting has intensified.

“There are air strikes and ISIL is also using civilians homes with civilians in them. People have been caught in crossfire and targeted by ISIL … The shelling is indiscriminate,” said Dekker.

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“There is no safe passage out of the city. Civilians are literally everywhere.”

Reports from civilians in Mosul say ISIS fighters are employing tactics such as establishing fighting positions on the rooftops of apartment buildings. These buildings are occupied by innocent civilians and are also the targets of US coalition strikes.

“ISIS made us keep our door open, so they could get onto the roofs at any time. They even broke down the walls between houses so they could move around,” a local resident told RT.

“There were so many killed in the airstrikes, rockets, and mortars… Our entire neighborhood is in ruins. There are maybe ten houses still standing. The children are traumatized. When the jets start flying, they start crying,” another woman said.

If the aim of ISIS is to maximize civilian casualties by manipulating the US military into striking these targets, that, they have done. If their aim was to reduce the airstrikes, they have failed.

However, if we examine the mission of ISIS more closely, the former is far more likely.

The mission of ISIS is to create a rift in society in which there are extremists and everyone else. The want to eliminate the ‘gray zone’ — the area in which different religions and cultures peacefully coexist — by any means necessary. By using civilians as human shields, knowing that US forces will bomb them anyway, this tactic plays right into their strategy.

The men, women, and children who watched their father, mother, son, or daughter explode right before their eyes this week, as a US bomb destroyed their home, will undoubtedly foster resentment toward the West. This approach is the most powerful recruiting tool the terrorist regime has.

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As the Free Thought Project has previously reported, the West, in their constant bombardment, interference, meddling, and policing of the world, has fostered a breeding ground for terrorism. Indeed, America’s foreign policy, alone, since 9/11, has created a million Osama bin Ladens — all funding and arming of ISIS excluded.

Sadly, the military industrial complex shows no signs of slowing its cancer-like growth.

As long as Americans keep buying the lies spewing from the warmongering tyrants in power, nothing will change. As long as Boobus Americanus continues to believe “It’s our freedom they hate,” death and destruction will rain down — until there is nothing left.

Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Agorist is also the Editor at Large at the Free Thought Project. Follow @MattAgorist on Twitter, Steemit, and now on Facebook.

Secret Letter from 9/11 Mastermind to Obama Confirms CIA Blowback ‘Conspiracy Theory’

Washington, D.C. — A letter written by the man accused of being the mastermind behind the attacks on 9/11 has just been released. Within the 18 pages of this letter are accusations of tyranny, empire, and murder, who the mastermind, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, says are the reasons for the tragic attacks a decade and a half ago.

The letter was drafted in 2014, from the confines of Guantánamo prison and dated January 2015. It was to be delivered to Obama two years ago, however, it did not reach him until last month — on his way out of the White House. The Miami Herald sought to obtain a copy of this letter and it was published this week.

The letter, in which Mohammed address Obama as “the head of the snake” and president of “the country of oppression and tyranny,” was kept secret by prison officials who said it should be suppressed as propaganda.

When reading the letter, it becomes perfectly clear as to why they wanted it suppressed — it provides a motive for the murderous attacks on 9/11, other than ‘the terrorists hate our freedom.’

“Your hands are still wet with the blood of our brothers and sisters and children who were killed in Gaza,” writes Mohammed as he starts the letter accusing the US of facilitating Israeli aggression against the Palestinian state. In fact, Israel is mentioned 38 times within the 18 pages.

Mohammed was captured in 2003 and didn’t confess to FBI and CIA agents that he was a member of al-Qaeda and responsible for the 9/11 attacks — until 3 1/2 years later — after being in the CIA’s secret prison network, where he was waterboarded nearly 200 times.

While there is certainly no reason to take an accused terrorist’s word, former Congressman Ron Paul has been saying this for decades. And, as the Free Thought Project has reported on multiple occasions, US foreign policy creates terrorism. As Paul said after the terror attacks in Paris in 2015:

The interventionists will do anything to prevent Americans from seeing that their foreign policies are perpetuating terrorism and inspiring others to seek to harm us. The neocons know that when it is understood that blowback is real – that people seek to attack us not because we are good and free but because we bomb and occupy their countries – their stranglehold over foreign policy will begin to slip.

That is why each time there is an event like the killings in Paris earlier this month, they rush to the television stations to terrify Americans into agreeing to even more bombing, more occupation, more surveillance at home, and more curtailment of our civil liberties. They tell us we have to do it in order to fight terrorism, but their policies actually increase terrorism.

If that sounds harsh, consider the recently-released 2015 Global Terrorism Index report. The report shows that deaths from terrorism have increased dramatically over the last 15 years – a period coinciding with the “war on terrorism” that was supposed to end terrorism.

The report Paul mentioned above noted a sharp increase in terror:

Terrorist activity increased by 80 per cent in 2014 to its highest recorded level. …The number of people who have died from terrorist activity has increased nine-fold since the year 2000.

For decades, the US and its Western allies have been violently and frequently meddling in the Middle East. Beginning with the clandestine overthrow of democratically elected leaders, moving on to financing violent extremist groups, and morphing into full blown invasions of entire countries, the Middle East has been the target of destruction since at least 1953.

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Ignoring all of the treachery, corruption, and death exported from the US in the last 70 years, the troglodytes in D.C. continue to assert that ‘the terrorists hate our freedom.’ Sadly, the propaganda being shoved down the throats of Americans by these ill-informed political puppets, preserves this idiotic assertion.

Millions have died in the West’s relentless pursuit of nation building and controlling oil, all of it is written off as “collateral damage,” and the clueless politicians march on.

In the accused terrorist’s letter, Mohammed mentions “the blood of the innocents your drone attacks killed in Waziristan, Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Somalia, and elsewhere around the globe.” Killing innocent people fosters resentment and ultimately terrorism.

No one is siding with Mohammed here, but when trying to find solutions to terrorism, these words should not be ignored.

Do you think that the children of those slain by a decade bombing and constant threats of drone strikes will simply forget about the atrocities inflicted upon them? Do you think that the parents who watched their babies blown apart by predator drones, or the hospital workers who watched as US bombs rained down from the sky — will just turn the other cheek?

Ignoring the nation building conducted by the United States over the last seven decades is as ignorant as it is dangerous. Continuing an interventionist foreign policy does nothing to keep America safe — in fact, it has the exact opposite effect and the CIA even has a word for it.

It is called BLOWBACK.

However, anyone who talks about Blowback, including Ron Paul, is written off as a conspiracy theorist or a kook.

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However, consider this simple math — every time a bomb drops in the Middle East by the West, in their relentless and murderous pursuit to dominate the region for special interests, a dozen ‘terrorists’ are born.

The reality is that since 9-11, the US and their NATO allies have made the situation even worse as they fostered a breeding ground for extremist and fundamentalist groups. As Americans sat back on their couches and watched the “Shock and Awe” on CNN, the US was sowing the seeds for perpetual war.

They were planting a garden in which a million Bin Ladens would later bloom.

This policy played right into the hands of the, then, tiny and insignificant fundamentalist groups who managed, allegedly at the direction of Mohammed, to carry out the deadliest terror attack ever on US soil. Now, a group who was never heard of 3 years ago is recruiting people on a global scale and growing their ranks daily.

Sadly, the United States is showing no signs of reversing course, and they are playing right into the hands of these terror groups — who feed off the West’s foreign policy.

As the Free Thought Project’s Jay Syrmopolous points out, if there is one thing that Islamic fundamentalists and neocon war hawks agree on, it’s that there should be no “grayzone”; only black and white.

The grayzone is the zone of peaceful coexistence. Eliminating the grayzone – and rendering a world as black & white the flag of the Islamic state is the ultimate goal of fundamentalists on all sides.

In fact, a recent ISIS publication, titled Extinction of the Grayzone made clear that the strategy has been at play since the attacks on 9/11.

“The grayzone is critically endangered, rather on the brink of extinction. It’s endangerment began with the blessed operation of September 11th, as these operations manifested two camps before the world for mankind to choose between, a camp of Islam… and a camp of kufr – the crusader coalition.”

ISIS is trying to create a world war, and the West is helping to foster it. A group of murderous sociopaths has their finger on the hair trigger that is a nuclear holocaust. It is sheer insanity!

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This letter, which is irresponsibly being written off and ignored by the mainstream media, should serve as a wake-up call — not because a terrorist is providing wisdom — but because of the same reason psychologists try to figure out why people murder.

Until we address the actual cause, the symptoms will continue until there are no more rights and the world lives in a perpetual state of fear and violence. At least for now, we have a choice.

Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Follow @MattAgorist on Twitter and now on Steemit

Pentagon Caught Deceiving America, Thousands of Airstrikes Hidden from Public

Washington, D.C. — (RT) US Central Command has been misleading the public in its assessment of the overall progress in the war on terror by failing to account for thousands of airstrikes in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, a Military Times investigation reveals.

The investigation revealed that open source data of US Air Force strikes does not contain all the missiles fired. That incomplete data, however, continues to be used by the Pentagon on multiple occasions in official reports and media publications.

The publication says that in 2016 alone, American aircraft conducted at least 456 airstrikes in Afghanistan that were not recorded in the database maintained by the US Air Force.

The investigation also revealed discrepancies in Iraq and Syria where the Pentagon failed to account for nearly 6,000 strikes dating back to 2014, when the US-led coalition has launched its first airstrikes against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS,ISIL) terrorist targets.

According to the Air Force, coalition jets conducted 23,740 airstrikes through the end of 2016. The US Defense Department, however, puts the number at 17,861 until the end of January 2017.

“The Pentagon routinely cites these figures when updating the media on its operations against the Islamic State and al-Qaida affiliates in Iraq and Syria,” the publication says.

Military Times remains especially puzzled by a statement made by an Air Force official in December who assured the publication that its monthly summary of activity in Iraq and Syria “specifically” represents the entire American-led coalition “as a whole, which is all 20-nations and the US branches.”

“It’s unclear whether this statement was intentionally misleading, or simply indicative of widespread internal ignorance, confusion or indifference about what’s contained in this data,” Andrew deGrandpre, Military Times’ senior editor and Pentagon bureau chief, said in the article.

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Military Times says that the “most alarming” aspects of the investigation are that the discrepancies in numbers go back as far as 2001, when the US, under George W. Bush’s administration, struck Afghanistan in response to the 9/11 attacks on American soil.

The publication reveals that the unaccounted-for airstrikes in all three war zones were allegedly conducted by US helicopters and armed drones which are overseen by US Central Command.

“The enormous data gap raises serious doubts about transparency in reported progress against the Islamic State, al-Qaida, and the Taliban, and calls into question the accuracy of other Defense Department disclosures documenting everything from costs to casualty counts,” deGrandpre wrote.

The Pentagon and Army did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“Those other key metrics include American combat casualties, taxpayer expense and the military’s overall progress in degrading enemy capabilities,” the publication added, wondering whether the military wanted to mislead the American public.

Twice in 1 Day, White House Caught in Lies About Terrorists Attacking Americans

The United States is already engaged in combat operations (within the last year) in at least seven countries; Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen. And the latest rhetoric coming from the Trump administration seems to want to add Iran to the list.

Earlier this week, President Trump’s National Security Adviser Michael Flynn said Wednesday he was  “officially putting Iran on notice”. On Thursday, when asked to clarify Flynn’s comments, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer pointed the finger of blame toward Iran.

Spicer said, “I think General Flynn was really clear yesterday that Iran has violated the Joint Resolution, that Iran’s additional hostile actions that it took against our Navy vessel are ones that we are very clear are not going to sit by and take.” He then reiterated Flynn’s warning by adding, “I think that we will have further updates for you on those additional actions. But clearly wanted Iran to make sure they understood that they are on notice. This is not going unresponded to,” Spicer emphatically stated. The only problem with Spicer’s comments is that they’re reportedly patently false!

Iran did not attack a U.S. Naval vessel. On the contrary, it was a Houthi rebel group (only aligned with Iran) which attacked a Saudi naval vessel, not an American one. The war rhetoric is reminiscent for some of the time when the U.S. proclaimed the Vietnamese had attacked a U.S. vessel in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964. The fake news story issued by the U.S. government led to a nearly 10-year war in Vietnam against the North Vietnamese.

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Not content with allowing Spicer to get away with proclaiming a lie, CBS News’ Major Garrett corrected Spicer by telling him it was a Saudi vessel, a clarification which Spicer acknowledged without any self-correction on his part. Spicer simply said, “Sorry, thank you, yes a Saudi vessel. Yes, that’s right.”

Spicer’s gaffe happened on the same day Trump’s adviser Kellyanne Conway put forth the notion the media was somehow biased towards the Trump administration. “I bet there was very little coverage that President Obama had a six-month ban on the Iraqi refugee program after it was discovered two Iraqi’s came here, were radicalized, and were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre,” she told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews. The only problem with her claims is that just like Spicer’s fake story, they did not happen. Not only did the Obama administration not put the refugee program on hold, but no massacre took place in Bowling Green.

However, what did take place was an FBI entrapment scheme to get a few former Iraqi insurgents to involve themselves in a weapons-running operation to Iraq. Conway backtracked on her comments through Twitter, having later tweeted she meant to refer to them as the “Bowling Green terrorists.” But even that admission of misspeaking is inaccurate as well. In fact, no one was hurt in the FBI’s sting operation.

Fox News’ Judge Napolitano recently opined on the FBI’s so-called “thwarted terror plots.” According to the judge, the FBI has engaged in 17 plots to identify loners, whom the FBI identified as potential terrorists. Napolitano said the FBI, “befriended them, cajoled them, and persuaded them” to engage in a terror plot to commit illegal activity. Napolitano declared, “none of this keeps us safe. All of this makes us less free as any one of us can be entrapped, and we are fools if we praise the government for exposing a plot of its own creation and saving us from a danger that never existed.”

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Judge Napolitano then asked, “Are we really safe in a false sense of security?” “When no one is harmed and the government controls the plot aren’t we just punishing someone for his thoughts. And in a free society aren’t free people to think as they wish? This must be so. Because if the government can punish us for our thoughts, there is no limit to its power,” he said emphatically.

Officials from Bowling Green, Kentucky also responded by saying in a statement, “while in 2011, two Iraqi nationals living in Bowling Green were arrested for attempting to provide money and weapons to terrorists in Iraq, there was no massacre in Bowling Green.” And Mayor Bruce Wilkerson said he also appreciated the clarification given by Conway.

Taken as a whole, the two stories serve as an example of “fake news” put out by members of the Trump administration. Whether the motives for doing so are war with Iran, or simply a reaction to defending the Trump administration’s travel ban on seven largely Muslim countries, is anyone’s guess at this point. Free thinkers everywhere can only hope the U.S. and it’s war machine, military industrial complex aren’t planning for yet another devastating war with Iran.

It has long been the position of The Free Thought Project that the reason why there exists a “radical Islamic terrorist” problem is because the U.S. continues to bomb people in the Middle East and elsewhere, a move which creates more terrorists.

BREAKING: Syria Accuses Israel of Bombing Airport, Vows to Retaliate

Damascus, Syria — Israeli jets just bombed a Syrian Revolutionary Guard airport near Damascus, and Syrian officials are now accusing Tel Aviv of supporting terrorism.

According to several reports, the Mezzeh airport just west of the capital city was hit with a bombardment from Israeli military jets, leaving an as-yet unknown number of people dead.

“The Syrian Arab Army has warned that there will be repercussions for Israel for the ‘flagrant attack’ on the military base, state TV said, citing a Syrian army command spokesman. It also linked the alleged strike to Israel’s support of terrorist groups,’” state-run RT reports.

Differing reports claimed rockets had been fired from “an area near Lake Tiberias in northern Israel just after midnight,” which landed in the airport compound.

Explosions from the attack could be heard as far away as the city of Sana’a, causing chaos and confusion — and forcing Syria to vow reprisals.

“Rockets strike at Mezzeh Military airport in Damascus minutes ago,” tweeted Hadi al-Bahra, former president of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces.

#Breaking #Syria Army warns #Israel of "consequences of blatant attack on #Almazza Airport." says missiles used NOT F-35. pic.twitter.com/7ZNDrMlOqu

— Ali Alimadadi 🇮🇷 (@alialimadadi110) January 13, 2017

Journalists and activists on the ground described a number of resulting fires from the strikes, and video of the aftermath began making rounds on social media.

#BREAKING Israeli jets attacked Syria army base in Damascus as part of its "support of terrorists groups: Sana news agency pic.twitter.com/0e2wFEjnmM

— Guy Elster (@guyelster) January 12, 2017

Israel and the terrorists are attacking Damascus tonight mezzeh airport. pic.twitter.com/pOyE47KmzT

— ayham alassad (@Ayham22mmAl) January 13, 2017

VIDEO: Alleged footage of airstrikes against Mezzeh airport in Damascus #Syria. – @AlbinSzakola pic.twitter.com/JzJQc59sVs

— Conflict News (@Conflicts) January 13, 2017

“Syrian army command and armed forces warn Israel of the repercussions of the flagrant attack and stresses its continued fight against (this) terrorism and amputate the arms of the perpetrators,” Syria’s army command said in a statement cited by the Telegraph.

Ambulances streamed into the area while the airport was still under attack.

Syrian government officials have recently accused the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) of attacking various positions inside Syria from within Israel.

According to reports, the airport and area surrounding it is used primarily as support for the elite Syrian Revolutionary Guard and has been the base of operations for targeting rebel positions in the suburbs of Damascus.

Israel has previously targeted Hezbollah — a group it considers terrorist and a direct threat — inside Syria when those forces act in support of the Russian-backed Syrian government.

According to the Times of Israel, “The report of Israeli military action was the first in over a month. The last incident also involved an attack on the Mazzeh airbase. In early December Syrian state media reported that the IDF fired missiles from within ‘occupied’ territory at an important Syrian regime airbase outside Damascus.”

State news agency SANA reported on December 7, “several surface-to-surface missiles” struck the airbase and had emanated from the disputed Golan Heights area. An unnamed source from the Syrian army at the time called that attack a “desperate attempt” by Israel to support terrorists.

That attack did not have any casualties, but the repeated bombardment in this case does appear to have caused deaths.

After the December strike, the BBC reports, “on 30 November, Israeli jets were reported to have fired missiles from Lebanese airspace into Syria, striking Sabboura, an area outside Damascus.”

As per policy, the IDF has refused to comment on the incident.

Only scant information is available hours after this attack, so this article will be updated as needed when further details come to light.

US-Supported Terrorists Shell Russian Embassy In Damascus

(© Omar Sanadiki / Reuters)

They’ve done it before without causing casualties or damage. According the Russian Foreign Ministry, terrorists fired two mortar rounds at the embassy’s compound.

One shell exploded near the diplomatic mission’s entrance, damaging the building and four vehicles. The attack came from terrorist-controlled Jobar district.

On Friday, the Security Council addressed the incident, saying its “members…condemned in the strongest terms another mortar shelling of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Damascus (Syrian Arab Republic), which caused significant material damage.”

They stressed the “fundamental principle of the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises.” Host governments are obligated “to take all appropriate steps to protect diplomatic and consular premises against any intrusion or damage, and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of these missions or impairment of their dignity, and to prevent any attack on diplomatic premises, agents and consular officers.”

Not easily done when countries are attacked by foreign-supported death squads, supplied with heavy weapons to wage war.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova expressed concern over no “international reaction…but we will try to get it,” she said, including on the platform of international organizations, because we are talking about a diplomatic mission, about systematic terrorist attacks.”

Russian upper house Federation Council Security and Defense Committee first deputy chairman Frants Klintesevich believes the latest shelling was conducted to disrupt Moscow’s humanitarian pause, saying it failed – nor can there be an “option of making any concessions to terrorists.”

Separately, heavily US-led Western pressure got General Assembly members to vote Russia off the UN Human Rights Council – a body infested with major human rights abusers, including reelected member Saudi Arabia with over a three-fourths majority vote.

Ignored was its genocidal war on Yemen, ruthless despotic rule tolerating no dissent, arbitrary arrests and imprisonments, torture and physical abuse, public beheadings and whippings, violence against women, along with other major violations of civil and human rights.

Russia, Hungary and Croatia vied for two Eastern European seats. Moscow’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said “(i)t was a very close vote and very good countries competing, Croatia, Hungary. They are fortunate because of their size, they are not exposed to the winds of international diplomacy. Russia is very exposed. We’ve been in the UNHRC for several years, and I am sure next time we will stand and get back in.”

Not easily as long as Washington maintains pressure to prevent it. US-led NATO’s undeclared war on Russia continues. Hillary’s ascension to power next year threatens to turn it red hot.