Russia - Terrorist Attack on Moscow Concert Hall

UPDATE added on March 24

Morning News on March 23:
ارتفاع عدد قتلى هجوم قرب موسكو إلى 93 شخصا [أهل مصر] ................................ الإمارات تدين هجوم موسكو "الإرهابي" وتعلن تضامنها مع روسيا [الإمارات]
Death toll from attack near Moscow rises to 93 [Ahl Masr - People of Egypt]................................ UAE condemns Moscow's 'terrorist' attack, declares solidarity with Russia [UAE7]

140 dead and 120 wounded (March 24) in Russia's worst terrorist attack
in 20 years, when militants stormed a Moscow concert hall on March 22.
Clad in camouflage uniforms they opened fire on visitors with automatic
weapons and hand grenades.
According to Western media, the Islamic State ISIS assumed responsibility
for that operation as early as March 22.

The United States collected intelligence in March that Islamic State-Khorasan, known as ISIS-K, the branch of the group based in Afghanistan, had been planning an attack on Moscow, according to officials. ISIS members have been active in Russia, one U.S. official said.
.....
“ISIS-K has been fixated on Russia for the past two years,” frequently criticizing President Vladimir V. Putin in its propaganda, said Colin P. Clarke, a counterterrorism analyst at the Soufan Group, a security consulting firm based in New York. “ISIS-K accuses the Kremlin of having Muslim blood in its hands, referencing Moscow’s interventions in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Syria.”

[New York Times on March 22]

The founder of ISIS-K allegedly met with Taliban leaders in Jalalabad, Eastern Afghanistan, on Friday March 22, day of the Moscow assault. Information should have been available to Russian authorities the next day.
Editor's Note: The language used in ,both, the X post and the quoted article is 'Dari' or 'Afghan Persian'. The text has been counterchecked by me, and the English translation given seems to be reliable. The quoted article is referring to the term of 'Khorasan', the historic term for a Greater Persia comprising Afghanistan and which is allegedly preferred by the Tajiks of Central Asia for nostalgia and nationalism.
خراسان : دليلى براى ادامه جنك با طالبان نداريم
Khorasan: We have no reason to continue fighting the Taliban.
The above photo should be showing the Taliban governor of Nangarhar province
together with other Afghan or ISIS leaders in a scene of mutual brotherhood.
It could be the reminder of an earlier reconciliation between different groups.

Inside the Islamic State of Afghanistan, home of ISIS-K under Taliban rule.

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Russia - The Day After Putin's Reelection

Breaking News Update on March 22 added below:

朝鲜在俄罗斯对乌克兰的战事中持续提供支援。申源湜2月曾表示，朝鲜去年7月起已陆续运送约6700个货柜至俄罗斯。他周一更新数字，表示朝鲜至今已运送7000多个货柜至俄罗斯。

North Korea continues to provide support to Russia in its war in Ukraine. [South Korean defense minister] Shin Yuan-shik said in February that North Korea had successively shipped about 6,700 containers to Russia since July last year. He updated the figures on Monday, saying that North Korea has shipped more than 7,000 containers to Russia so far.

[东方 Online on March 19]

Chinese Opinion

First of all, in Yanan’s view [亚男视界], Putin’s declaration that Russia is ready for nuclear war has sent two major signals. First, even if Russia does not launch a nuclear war, it does not mean that its nuclear weapons have completely lost their use. Putin said this to prevent NATO from "jumping over the wall" and actually sending troops to Ukraine and causing a head-on conflict with Russia. Secondly, Putin is telling the truth. If Russia is really at the point of life and death, for example, if the United States and the West end the war, then Russia will have to show off its nuclear weapons. After all, at that critical moment, the Russian side is likely to have the idea that in the worst case, they will die together. Of course, judging from the ammunition currently obtained by Russia from North Korea, Russia has not yet reached the stage of using nuclear weapons.

Secondly, the United States and the West must now be worried about the situation on the Russian-Ukrainian frontline. If, as the West says, North Korea has more artillery shells to aid Russia than the entire Europe combined, then compared to the Ukrainian army’s stretched artillery shell reserves, North Korea helping Russia will allow Russia to breathe a long sigh of relief. Next, the Russian army may fight harder and harder. What’s even more ironic is that the United States and the West hoped to defeat Russia under the guise of supporting Ukraine. However, in the end, Ukraine received less and less assistance and even risked becoming an “abandoned child”. This reflects the U.S. The selfishness of the West and their fundamental unreliability.

[腾讯 on March 15]

Most recent video on Putin's intentions
produced by above quoted commentator
[亚男视界] from her website on March 19:
普京暗示北约下场或引爆三战，北约野心勃勃，中国亮出3招应对
Putin hinted that NATO might end up in or detonate World War III,
NATO is ambitious, and China has shown 3 ways to deal with it.

Breaking News on March 22

At least 40 dead and 100 wounded in Russia's worst terrorist attack
in 20 years, when militants massacred a Moscow concert hall tonite
where armed men clad in camouflage uniforms opened fire on visitors.
According to Western media, the Islamic State IS already assumed
responsibility for that operation.

Adage of Reason

Last Update on March 16.
Videos expressing opinion
on the Palestinian issue ...

Opinion on the Palestinian Issue

Sami Al-Arian, director of the Centre for Islamic and Global Affairs, has told Al Jazeera that
it is a “very sad moment” in Gaza as Ramadan begins without a ceasefire and for many on
the brink of famine. - “Unfortunately, Israel doesn't see the Palestinians as human beings;
they say they are ‘human animals’.

US Senator Bernie Sanders: “Netanyahu’s right wing government is blocking the borders
and preventing the massive amount of aid that needs to get through from getting through
and people are dying as a result. That is in violation of American law. We should stop
funding Netanyahu’s war machine.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the
USA, on March 14 for the first time called for the Israeli government to hold an election,
calling it the "only way" to determine Israel's path forward after its war with Hamas.

Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara highlights the complicity of
Western leaders, portraying them as "useful idiots" for supporting Netanyahu's
genocidal war in Gaza.

Jews for a Ceasefire - Al-Jazeera looks at whether there is a shift
within the Jewish community against Israel’s actions and policies.

عكس السير
من أوائل المؤسسات الإعلامية الخاصة في سوريا
" قليل من الحيادية ... كثير من المصداقية "

Akas Al-Sir (Reverse Traffic) on March 13:
One of the first privately owned media in Syria, their
adage being: "Some neutrality ..... Much reliability".

Founded in 2006, Akas Al-Sir is currently at the top of the most
followed news sites in Syria, according to international statistics.

Israeli Atrocities - Dilemma for Biden

- Riding the Internet Backbone -
Notice on new visitor statistics
and related article added below:

For the Biden administration, the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict has become an important issue dividing Democratic voters. In previous elections, American Jewish voters tend to support the Democratic Party. The political donations provided by pro-Israel groups to the Democratic Party far exceed their contributions to the Republican Party, almost twice as much as the latter. However, as the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip escalates, many young voters and ethnic minorities who originally supported the Democratic Party have become increasingly dissatisfied and strongly demand that the Biden administration put pressure on Israel to achieve an early ceasefire. During the primary campaign, Biden was already feeling pressure from progressive forces to do something without offending pro-Israel groups and appease the anger of other supporters.

对拜登政府而言，当下的巴以冲突已经成为分化民主党选民的一个重要问题。在历年大选中，美国犹太选民都更倾向于支持民主党，亲以色列团体为民主党提供的政治献金，也远远超过其为共和党提供的捐助，几乎是后者的两倍。然而，随着加沙地带人道主义危机的升级，很多原本支持民主党的年轻选民和少数族裔，已经变得越来越不满，强烈要求拜登政府向以色列施压，早日实现停火。在初选中，拜登已经感受到了来自进步力量的压力，必须在不得罪亲以色列团体的前提下做点什么，平息其他支持者的愤怒。

Therefore, the Biden administration came up with the current idea of "passing a knife with one hand and a band-aid with the other hand". An important decision that Biden will announce in his State of the Union address is to use US military engineers to build a floating dock near the port of Gaza City. The US military does not need to land but works on ships to complete the construction of the dock, thus opening up a channel for transporting relief supplies from the sea to the Gaza Strip. Earlier this month, the US military, with the assistance of Jordan, airdropped aid supplies to Gaza. However, the delivery cost of military transport aircraft is high, the accuracy is poor, and more importantly, the carrying capacity is limited. Compared with the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, it is a drop in the bucket.

于是，拜登政府想出了现在这样的“一手递刀子，一手送创口贴”的主意。拜登要在国情咨文里宣布的一项重要决定就是，要由美军方工程师出手，在加沙城就港口附近修建浮动码头。美军不需要登陆而是在船只上作业，完成码头的建设工作，从而打通从海上向加沙地带输送救援物资的通道。本月初，美军曾在约旦的协助下，向加沙空投援助物资。但军用运输机投递的成本高、精度差，更重要的是搭载能力有限，相对于加沙地带的人道主义危机而言，是杯水车薪。

[腾讯网 on March 8]

According to multiple foreign sources, although this round of negotiations ended inconclusively, Hamas and Israel will continue to communicate indirectly. Many senior U.S. officials blamed Hamas for the failure to reach a ceasefire agreement, saying it was because the latter refused to release elderly and sick Israeli detainees.

Hamas responded that the United States and Israel have a cooperative relationship, and the United States' rhetoric confuses right and wrong. It is Israel that has been hindering efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement. Israel did not attend this round of negotiations, allegedly because Hamas refused to provide a complete list of Israeli detainees who are still alive.

In this round of negotiations, neither Hamas nor Israel made concessions on key issues: Hamas said it would not release Israeli personnel before a long-term ceasefire agreement was reached; Israel insisted that it would not release Hamas until it completely eliminated it. The military operation will not end. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on the 7th that Israel will continue to advance military operations in the Gaza Strip.

Egyptian security sources revealed that the next round of negotiations is scheduled to begin on the 10th of this month.

According to the Associated Press, the mediator's previous hope that Palestine and Israel would reach a ceasefire agreement before Ramadan may not be realized.

................

'starvation tactics'

According to [UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Michael] Fakhri, Israel banned small fishing boats from the Gaza Strip and destroyed fishing boats, fishing houses and other facilities. Since the current round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out in October last year, about 80% of the Gaza Strip’s fisheries have been damaged. Not a single ship in the main port of Gaza City, located in the northern Gaza Strip and on the Mediterranean Sea, was spared, and all were destroyed by the Israeli army.

................

Adding fuel to the flames of the Palestinian-Israeli situation, the Israeli Civil Administration's High Planning Committee approved on the 6th the construction of 3,426 new housing units in Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The Palestinian Wafa News Agency reported on the 6th that Palestinian Presidential Spokesperson Abu Rudeina said that Palestine strongly condemns Israel’s move and believes that this approach will not bring security to any party.

[新浪科技 on March 9 (local time)]

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Starting on March 2024, internet traffic to the blueprinteditor site seems to have been diverted to the already described south-east Asian internet hub of Singapore. From there, an increased internet traffic to my site simultaneously resulted in small Singapore dominating my country list.

=> Riding the Internet Backbone <=

Axis of Resistance in Gaza - Activity in Feb 2024Chances of a Truce between Hamas and Israel

A Palestinian Media Comment
on a Possible Truce has been
added below on Mar 4, 2024

Watch the speech of Abu Hamza, spokesman for the Al-Quds Brigades, on the 148th day of the Israeli war on Gaza.

شاهد كلمة أبو حمزة الناطق باسم سرايا القدس في اليوم 148 من حرب إسرائيلي على غزة

Abu Hamza, spokesman for the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, said that a few days earlier, they had killed and shredded all members of an Israeli force in the Zeitoun neighborhood.

قال أبو حمزة الناطق باسم سرايا القدس، الذراع العسكرية لحركة الجهاد الإسلامي إنهم أوقعوا قبل أيام جميع أفراد قوة إسرائيلية في حي الزيتون قتلى وأشلاء

Video Quotation Insert:
Spokesman for the Al-Quds Brigades: We continue our steadfastness in front of the Zionist war machine and the clear war of extermination.

الناطق باسم سرايا القددس: نواصل ثباتنا امام آلة الحرب الصهيونية و حرب الإبادة الواضحة


Please Note:
Information on military proceedings and progress of the so-called 'Axis of Resistance' in Gaza, included in this blogspot, cannot be independently confirmed. The authenticity of the above video, however, seems to have been verified by voice comparison. It is presented by 'Al-Jazeera', the state-owned TV station in Qatar and which can be regarded as a usually reliable source.

This information comes at a time when urgent need for troops has become an item of public discussion in Israel. As some orthodox Jews are violently insisiting on their right to refrain from military service, plans to treat them as ordinary citizens when it comes to the drawing of troops now divide public opinion in Israel. [German TV]


Extensive listing of Resistance Operations in Feb 2024,
followed by a summary of important events:

[الميادين, pro-Iranian news center in Lebanon, on 2nd March]

On the Chances of a Possible Truce between Hamas & Israel

Everyone is anticipating the outcome of the new round of negotiations between Hamas and Israel in Cairo, on which hopes of reaching a truce before Ramadan are pinned, and while positive signs loom on the horizon with the pressure exerted by Washington on Netanyahu on the one hand, coinciding with pressure from Doha on Hamas leaders on the other, it can be said that the Gaza Strip is close to getting out of the bottleneck.......

أمد/ الجميع في ترقب لما ستسفر عنه الجولة الجديدة من المفاوضات بين حماس واسرائيل في القاهرة والتي تعلق عليها الآمال في التوصل الى هدنة قبل شهر رمضان، وفيما تلوح المؤشرات الإيجابية في الأفق مع وجود ضغط تمارسه واشنطن على نتنياهو من جهة يتزامن معه ضغط من الدوحة على قادة حماس من جهة أخرى فإنه يمكن القول أن قطاع غزة يقترب من الخروج من عنق الزجاجة
......

It is too early to talk about the future of Gaza and the form and content of the government that will control things, but there are suggestions that the PA has already begun to prepare for the post-war phase and that Moscow's meeting between Palestinian factions may be the last chance for Hamas to ensure its survival in the Palestinian political scene under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which will enable it to withdraw from the rule of Gaza by saving face rather than saying that it has been defeated.

من السابق لأوانه الحديث عن مستقبل غزة وعن شكل ومضمون الحكومة التي ستتولى ضبط الأمور، لكن ثمة هنالك ايحاءات تشير الى أن السلطة الفلسطينية قد بدأت فعليا في الاستعداد لمرحلة ما بعد الحرب وأن لقاء موسكو ما بين الفصائل الفلسطينية قد يكون آخر فرصة لحماس لضمان بقاءها في المشهد السياسي الفلسطيني تحت مظلة منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية وهو ما سيمكنها من الانسحاب من حكم غزة بحفظ ماء الوجه بدل أن يقال أنها هزمت

[AMAD, Palestinian news site, allegedly opposed to Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas and run from Cairo, on March 3, 2024]

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