Carol Anne Grayson (Radical Sister) blog

Photo of Mullah Mansour next to image of Mullah Omar (Habibullah Helal)

Islamic Emirate have officially announced the “martyrdom” of Mullah Mansour, leader of the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) in a US drone strike in Balochistan near the town of Ahmad Wal on May 22nd 2016. He was killed along with a taxi driver in a vehicle which belonged to a person named Mohammad Azam according to the Guardian. Pakistani journalist, Syed Talat Hussain claimed that Mansour “was killed 65kms inside our territory. He said, drones have to be 4-6 km from target to strike precisely. This shows how deep did the US come into our area.”

Mansour was viewed by the US as “an obstacle to peace” as he refused to enter talks sponsored by the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the US) whilst US military and allies occupy Afghanistan and fought for the Islamic system of sharia law. His appointment caused some rifts in the Taliban but moves had been made to bring those with concerns back into the fold and some defectors that left to join Islamic State (Wilayat Khorasan) had recently returned.

Tom Bowen, NPR National Desk reporter covering the Pentagon tweeted,

Mansour was killed by two Hellfire missiles fired by #Reaper drones. Sources tell #NPR US tracked him from Iran, knew his SIM card #

Aftermath of US drone strike which killed Mullah Mansour and a taxi driver (Image AFP)

An account Habibullah Helal from Balkh highlighting news from Islamic Emirate, posted the following announcement of his death to the author of this blog today tweeting,

BREAKING… Islamic Emirate officially announce the martyrdom of Amir Ul Momenin Mullah Akhtar M.Mansoor (رحمه الله)

The council (Ahle Hal wal Ahqd) select Mulawi Haibatullah as Amir and Mulawi Sirajudin & Mulawi Yaqoub as his deputies

Islamic Emirate stated,

“With heavy heart, but full belief in Allah’s will, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan announces that the leader of the Islamic Emirate [Commander of the Faithful] Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was martyred in an American invading and evil forces’ drone strike on Saturday”

“Haibatullah Akhundzada has been appointed as the new leader of the Islamic Emirate after a unanimous agreement from the shura and all the members of shura pledged allegiance to him.”

“All people are required to obey the new Emir-al-Momineen (commander of the faithful).”

Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, a renowned religious scholar who teaches sharia to students

Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, the new Emir, is believed to be in his 50s and was a close friend and assistant of Mullah Omar. He is from Kandahar and belongs to the Noorzai tribe. Akhundzada is considered a Scholar of Hadeeth of High Level. According to the Guardian, “Haibatullah is a former Taliban chief justice and heads their religious Ulema council” and known to have “been responsible for issuing fatwas to justify military and terrorist operations.”

Sirajuddin Haqqani photo on FBI site 

Sirajuddin Haqqani one of the deputies (part of the Haqqani network) is a “specially designated global terrorist” by US with a $5 million bounty on his head and is said to have close links to Al Qaeda. His father was Jalaluddin Haqqani fought against the Soviet Union in the 1980s. The FBI wanted profile on Haqqani reads as follows,

“is wanted for questioning in connection with the January 2008 attack on a hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, that killed six people, including an American citizen. He is believed to have coordinated and participated in cross-border attacks against United States and coalition forces in Afghanistan. Haqqani also allegedly was involved in the planning of the assassination attempt on Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2008.”

Mullah Muhammad Yaqoub, the second deputy  is the eldest son of Mullah Omar who was the long time Emir of Islamic Emirate prior to Mullah Mansour. Mullah Omar died in April 2013, though news of his death was withheld. Dawn media reported Yacoub as saying his father “died a natural death…. We made enquiries from the doctors, it seems he was suffering from HCV (hepatitis C).”

Back in April Islamic Emirate announced new appointments for Mullah Yacoub and his uncle as follows,

“Monday 26th Jamadi ul Akhir 1437 Hijri corresponding with 04/04/2016, a special meeting was convened by the Islamic Emirate in which the leader, council members, high ranking officials and military heads participated….. 

According to the released information, the leader of Islamic Emirate and the (Quetta) Shura (council) members appointed the brother and leadership council member of the founder of Islamic Emirate, the late Amir ul Mumineen Mullah Muhammad Umar Mujahid (may Allah have mercy on him), Al-Haj Mullah Abdul Manan Akhund as the head of Dawat wal Irshad (Preaching and Guidance) Commission and his elder son, Mawlawi Muhammad Yaqoub (Mujahid) as a leadership council member as well as the military chief of 15 provinces in the Commission for Military setup.”

Reactions

Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi from a break-away Taliban group told the New York Times, “Sheikh Haibatullah is not the right choice for us…….He has been selected quite similarly to Mansour with no consensus of all mujahedeen — it will never be acceptable to us.”

Pakistan Tehreek -e-Taliban Jaamat -ul-Ahrar (TTP JA) posted the following message,

“It is to be said with great sorrow that the Muslim ummah (brotherhood) has been deprived of a great leader. Molvi Akhtar Muhammad Mansoor sahib bless him has been elevated to the great status of Shaheed. May Allah accept his martyrdom and grant patience to his family and loved ones. Jihad is the path to martyrdom and through this very path the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the great caliphs embraced eternal peace. But by their passing away the work of jihad and obligation of faith did not stop but became more intense. Therefore we give assurance to mujahideen and all muslims that they should not despair nor should they develop lazy (sluggish) ways but should focus on their jihad with more speed and focus. Allah will definately protect His deen Allah Willing and this is the promise of Allah.”

Umar Khalid Khurasani Khadim Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (Jamaat ul Ahrar)

Thomas Ruttig of the Afghanistan Analysts’ Network told CNN, “the Taliban understood that they needed a new consensus leader, and quickly, to prevent what was possibly the aim of the U.S. and Afghan governments — to create turmoil around the succession.”

 Shortly after the announcement of a new leader, Islamic Emirate posted of their latest attack as part of the ongoing Operation Omari as follows,

“Martyrdom attack in PD5 in capital ‪#‎Kabul‬ left dozens of judges killed and wounded details later…” Islamic Emirate

The Taliban targeted the judiciary killing 11 people when a suicide bomber targeted a minibus on the outskirts of Kabul, the Afghan capital. This was the first strong message under the new leadership, the attack was carried out as “revenge for the killing of six innocent prisoners in Kabul.”

See link for more on this story,

“Taliban suicide bomber kills eleven in Kabul during morning rush hour”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/taliban-suicide-bomber-kills-eleven-commuters-in-kabul-during-morning-rush-hour-a7048211.html

Links

“US drone strike in Pakistan kills Taliban leader Mullah Mansoor”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/21/us-airstrike-taliban-leader-mullah-akhtar-mansoor

Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights/WOT and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad . She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.

Nabila Rehman, 9, holds up a picture she drew depicting the US drone strike on her Pakistan village which killed her grandmother.

Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuter

The Obama administration is set to “exclude Pakistan” from its publication of total casualties resulting from covert drone strikes, according to a report in the Washington Post.

If accurate, this would mean that as many as 72% of known covert drone strikes would be excluded from the tally, along with 84% of recorded casualties, according to figures from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

In March this year, the White House announced that in “the coming weeks” it would release an assessment of civilian casualties resulting from strikes taken outside of warzones.  Drones operated by the CIA and US Special Forces are believed to have carried out hundreds of these strikes in secret, in countries such as Yemen and Pakistan, where the US is not at war.  However, to date, the US Government has provided no public estimates of the resulting civilian death toll.

Yesterday’s report in the Post, based on anonymous sources in the US Government, claims that the tally  is “likely to exclude Pakistan” because the Obama administration “still does not publicly acknowledge CIA attacks inside Pakistan.”

This would mean not only excluding the bulk of known drone strikes outside of warzones, but also some of the worst reported errors of the program, including an attack on a funeral in June 2009 that killed as many as 50 civilians and a strike on a meeting of tribal elders in March 2011 that killed 41.

Pakistan has also reportedly seen the use of some of the most controversial aspects of the program, including “signature strikes,” where groups of people are killed on the basis of patterns of behaviour rather than being individually identified as targets.

The Post’s report also raises questions over whether CIA strikes will be excluded en bloc from the assessment, which would mean that a significant number of strikes undertaken in Yemen and elsewhere would not be assessed.

Commenting, Jennifer Gibson, staff attorney at international human rights organization Reprieve said:

“Over three years ago, President Obama promised the world more transparency about his deadly covert drone program, because, in his words ‘no one should take my word for it that we’re doing things the right way.’ Yet, once again, that’s exactly what he’s asking us to do.

“Excluding the vast majority of drone strikes from this assessment means that it will hardly be worth the paper it is printed on.

“Numbers, without faces, were never going to tell us the true cost of this deadly program, but they were a step in the right direction. Now it looks like even that little step into the light was one too many for this administration.”

ENDS

Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights/WOT and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad . She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.

Abu Mohamed al-Adnani, IS spokesperson

(Image via Bilal Abdul Kareem website)

Social media was abuzz with messages on Saturday from Islamic State followers anticipating the release of an audio message speculating that it might come from IS leader Abu Bakr al -Baghdadi. Users of the Al Furqan hashtag found their accounts quickly taken down replaced by satire and abuse. Social media showed the usual double standards on censorship silencing IS supporters whilst accounts for alleged CIA torturers remain in place as usual.

Image announcing audio release

Some IS related accounts got a little carried away in the run -up to the release posting images on Telegram and Twitter showing messages of support from around the world and may have accidently revealed their locations. BuzzFeed stated, “their photos were supposed to instill fear by showing that the group had supporters in major European cities. Instead, the photos were used to geolocate the fanboys, and give tips to local law enforcement officials on how to find them.”

Post via Michael Horowitz

Those waiting were presented with a 31 minute recording via Al Furqan media entitled “That They Live By Proof” from IS spokesperson Abu Mohamed al-Adnani, born Taha Sobhi Falaha in Syria. According to Rewards for Justice, Adnani, a senior leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) was named as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to Executive Order 13224 by the U.S. Department of State on August 18, 2014.

Adnani delivered what was essentially an attempt to rally supporters threatening Jews and Crusaders and calling for attacks on the west, both military and civilian targets. Michael Horowitz, geopolitical and security analyst commented, “seems to me that this speech is an answer to the recent (Ayman Al-) Zawahiri speech and preparation for major defensive battles, ISIS.” (Zawahiri is the current leader of Al Qaeda).

Reuters news agency quoted Adnani who stated, “Ramadan, the month of conquest and jihad. Get prepared, be ready to make it a month of calamity everywhere for the non-believers especially for the fighters and supporters of the caliphate in Europe and America”. There was however no reference to any attack on EgyptAir flight MS804 which crashed into the Mediterranean this week (the circumstances which led to the catastrophic incident are still unclear). Rukmini Callimachi, correspondent for The New York Times, focusing on al-Qaeda and ISIS tweeted, “Cairo-based journalist listened to whole speech. No mention of plane.”

Adnani did refer to the US coalition carrying out 20,000 airstrikes on Iraq and Syria, whose planes “do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, man or woman.” Residents of Raqqa, northern Syria are now under further threat of airstrikes if they don’t leave the city. Charles Lister, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute who focuses on terrorism, insurgency and sub-state security threats across the Middle East tweeted, “US-led coalition have dropped leaflets on Raqqa (Friday) calling on residents to flee to city: “the time has come” – He added that ISIS in Raqqa had now “issued a decree permitting civilians to leave the city to take shelter in Raqqa’s rural areas.”

As Middle East Eye reported, part of the Adnani rhetoric was that the group will not go under even if it goes back to guerilla warfare. He stated, “will we be defeated if we lose Mosul, or Sirte, or Raqqa, or all the cities, and go back to how we were before?….. No. Defeat is only losing the desire and the will to fight.”

Laith AlKhouri, NBC News Counterterrorism Analyst/ Co-founder & Director of MENA Research put out the following tweets summarising key points from the Adnani audio…

Al-#Adnani: “Listen #America; Crusaders; Jews, your armies & groups will not scare us. Your threats & campaigns will not derail us.”

Al-#Adnani: “You won’t win & you’ll be defeated. Do you believe that victory is by killing one leader or more? Then it’s a false victory.”

Al-#Adnani to #Obama: “Where’s the new Middle East map U.S. came up with? Or, was it us who drew it out & your destruction is now imminent?”

Al-#Adnani incited killing civilians in U.S., Europe: “Know that in Crusader lands there’s no immunity…no presence to so called innocents”

Al-#Adnani to lone-wolves in U.S. and Europe: “Know that targeting so-called civilians is more beloved to us, more brutal & painful to them”

Daniele Raineri, journalist at Il Foglio response to audio

He tweeted,

According to AQ leaning @al_maqal_pubb now Adnani officially uses the definition of apostates for Jabhat al Nusra

Raineri posted the following comments….

Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights/WOT and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad . She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.

Rohingya have a continuing fight for rights and security to be recognized and upheld (Image via Muhammad Noman)

Press Release
Dated: 16th May 2016

We, the undersigned Rohingya organizations express our serious concern that the security, honor and dignity of the Rohingya population continue to be at stake due to growing anti-Rohingya sentiment at the behest of the powerful and influential groups in the Myanmar.

We are worrying that the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) government seems to have inclined to yield to the demand of the extremists calling for “Rohingya ethnocide”. Following a protest in late May in Yangon by about 300 ultra-nationalists, including Buddhist monks, publicly denouncing the United States of America for using the word Rohingya, the Myanmar Foreign Ministry, headed by State Counselor-com-Foreign Minister Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, had surprisingly advised foreign embassies in Myanmar avoid using “Rohingya”, although the Rohingya people have the right to self-identify.

In addition, in a press conference on 13 May, the Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing had denied the existence of the word Rohingya in Myanmar by lying that “they were called Rohingyas under former prime minister U Nu to win their vote” although history testifies that Muslim Arakanese are called Rohingya.

Such actions of the government have, to all intents and purposes, encouraged the extreme racist nationalists, and since then protests have grown and spread in Myanmar by stirring up prejudice against Rohingya and Muslims in general. But no action is taken against those inciting hatred and violence.

The Aung Mingla Ghetto, the only Rohingya quarter left in the heart of the Rakhine State capital Sittwe with 4350 people, is now under threat and the decision of the Rakhine State government to conduct house to house check under the pretext of looking for so-called 20,000 people from outside are living in it is unjustified.

We respect the right to freedom of expression and protest, but it needs to be within the framework of the democratic norms and principle. We are very much concerned that the current waves of protest spreading hate speech and Islamophobia against Rohingya in particular could lead to violence against them. Round the clock senses of utter insecurity and abject helplessness on the part of the persecuted and traumatized Rohingya people are prevalent in squalid segregated concentration camps, confined villages and ghettos under siege in Rakhine State.

The government should not allow people to disturb the law and order situation with threat of violence that could amount to a breach of the peace. The NLD government has “the responsibility to protect” the defenseless Rohingya people. It has also the responsibility to uphold the internationally recognized principle of having the right to self-identify.

We urge the NLD led government to take the following immediate measures:
1. To allow Rohingya people to self-identify their ethnic name “Rohingya”
2. To take action against those spreading hate speech against Rohingyas and Muslims in Myanmar.
3. To end ghettoization and allow all internally displaced persons to return to their community, places and properties.
4. To end persecution against Rohingya, including restrictions on their basic human rights and freedoms.
5. To lift all restrictions on the operations of international aid agencies in Rakhine State and take action to ensure the security of aid workers.
6. To amend 1982 Citizenship Law to conform it to international human rights law and citizenship standards ensuring full citizenship and all accompanying rights to Rohingya?

We also call on the international community, including US, UK, EU, ASEAN, OIC, to support the establishment of a United Nations Commission of Inquiry into the situation and human rights violations in Rakhine State and the government policies and laws targeting the Rohingya.

Signatories;
1. Arakan Rohingya National Organisation
2. Bradford Rohingya Community in UK
3. Burmese Rohingya Community in Denmark
4. Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK
5. Rohingya Community in Netherlands
6. Rohingya Community in Germany
7. Rohingya Community in Switzerland
8. Rohingya Organisation Norway
9. Rohingya Community in Finland
10. Rohingya Community in Italy
11. Rohingya Community in Sweden

For more information please contact:

Tun Khin: +44 7888714866
Ko Ko Lin +8801726068413
Nay San Lwin: +49 6926022349

End

Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights/WOT and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad . She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.

Post via Islamic Emirate

HERAT, May. 12 – Reports from Shindand district say that combined hireling troops launched an operation against Mujahideen positions in the district center peripheries last night at 09:30 pm local time.

The Quick Reaction Force of Islamic Emirate immediately arrived and engaged the enemy in fierce combat that lasted till around 04:00 am in the morning during which 7 enemy check posts were completely overrun, over 21 hirelings killed and wounded and 3 APCs destroyed.

Officials say that 5 pickup trucks, 10 motorbikes, Dshk heavy machine gun, mortar tube, 2 PKM machine guns, 19 rifles and a sizable amount of ammo was seized from the enemy, adding that only 4 Mujahideen were injured in the entire duration of the fighting.

End

Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights/WOT and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad . She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.

Post via Islamic Emirate

Our countrymen are aware that the officials of various organs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan are striving day and night in military, cultural, political, education, social and multiple other fields for the defense of our homeland, establishment of a pure Islamic government and to serve and better the lives of our oppressed Muslim nation.

Lately the Department for Prevention of Civilian Casualties has received many complaints and proposals from tribal chieftains, elders and ordinary Muslims around the country about the conduct of drivers of transport and freight vehicles. Complaints about our respected countrymen recurrently facing problems, casualties and losses at the hands of drivers and transport companies during their journeys.

We keep witnessing that many of our countrymen are frequently inflicted with harm and death in traffic incidents such as the one which took place yesterday in Ghazni’s Maqur district where 73 innocent travelers were killed and tens of others injured including women, children, elderly and young men.

On these basis the Department for Prevention of Civilian Casualties working in the framework of Commission for Military Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan considered it an appropriate time to intervene. The Department for Prevention of Civilian Casualties – to safeguard and protect the lives of our countrymen – hereby issues a notice to all drivers and companies of all private, transport and freight vehicles to strictly follow all traffic rules while journeying on major roads.

The Islamic Emirate is obliged to take Shari and legal action against all offenders from now onwards.

Similarly if any of our countrymen are harassed by drivers during their journeys, they may forward their complaints to the local Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate or contact the provincial officials of Department for Prevention of Civilian Casualties via the numbers provided below.

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

Commission for Military Affairs

Department for Prevention of Civilian Casualties

02/08/1437 Hijri Lunar

20/02/1395 Hijri Solar                    09/05/2016 Gregorian

Email: molkietalafat_m@yahoo.com

Phone Numbers

Main Office: 0707918384

Maidan Wardak: 0781811577

Zabul: 0703436531

Helmand: 079562664/0793655685

End

Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights/WOT and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad . She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.

Solidarity expressed for Handwara minor girl from all over the word including above group in Germany

Press Release
12 May 2016

Mother of Handwara girl who  will give affidavit

Press release
9 May 2016

Post via Islamic Emirate

GHOR, May. 09 – 2 enemy check posts located adjacent Taywara district center were overrun by Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate during an armed attack amid the ongoing annual ‘Omari’ operation last night.

Officials say that 16 hirelings were shot dead with sniper fire during the attack and several other casualties caused by intense mortar fire however their exact figures are not yet known.

End

Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights/WOT and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad . She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.