Ballisitc Missile hits oil tankers at Al Hamran northwest of Manbij in Syria

Ballistic missile strikes have hit oil tankers and markets across northern Syria on Friday, according to reports.

At the time of publication, reports are indicating that strikes were carried out by either Russian or Syrian government forces, specifically against oil markets controlled by opposition forces in northern Syria. Moreover, the reports are conflicting about whether the missiles were the Syrian Army’s OTR-21 Tochka-U or the Russian’s Iskander.

<b>The strikes killed one person and injured 10 others</b>, a war monitor and a source from the Turkey-backed faction that controls the region told The Jerusalem Post.

One strike reportedly hit oil tankers in al-Hamran, which is near Jarablus and northwest of the northern Syria town of Manbij, resulting in a massive explosion.

The exact location of theses strikes was determined as the al-Hamran crossing between the TFSA (Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army) and SDF-controlled (Syrian Democratic Forces) areas, according to a report. The supposed target were reportedly trucks smuggling oil.

Three missiles hit the al-Hamran crossing, according to Syrian journalist Mohamed Rasheed, “causing huge explosions and burning fuel vehicles at the targeted place.”

(There is more of importance at source link. Please click through)

 

What is this?

Let’s hope this is a plot to defang Iran

RT article

“US President Donald Trump has approved military strikes in Syria in retaliation for the alleged chemical attack by the Assad government in Douma, near Damascus, last week.

“A short time ago, I ordered the United States Armed Forces to launch precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad,” Trump said in a televised address from the White House. He added that a combined military operation by the US, the UK and France is already underway in Syria.


Explosions Heard in Damascus Region – Reports (sputniknews, Apr 14, 2018)
https://sputniknews.com/world/201804141063539038-explosions-heard-damascus-reports/

“According to reports, explosions have been heard within Syria’s Damascus region as US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he was ordering to “launch precision strikes on Syria.”

Multiples unconfirmed reported have surfaced of Syrian military bases being struck by US, UK and French airstrikes.

Netizens on social media have reported hearing “big explosions.”


Syrian Army Uncovers Chemical Lab in Eastern Ghouta – State Media (sputniknews, Apr 13, 2018)
https://sputniknews.com/news/201804131063535441-syrian-army-uncovers-lab-ghouta/

“The Syrian Army has discovered a facility in Eastern Ghouta used for making toxic biochemical weapons, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported Friday.

The “Syrian Arab army units found a large lab for making toxic materials” and a workshop for producing artillery shells of various sizes while inspecting towns where terrorists were recently evacuated from in Eastern Ghouta, located just east of Damascus, SANA noted.

Thank you M., Wrath of Khan and all.

Chemical weapons attack, maybe, by someone possibly

The first casualty of war is truth. And we are pretty much always at war. So… yeah.

Here is a clip from the Syrian Army showing a chemical weapons factory they found belonging to the terrorists in Ghouta.

The Russians claim not to have found any trace of a chemical weapons attack at all, and are making rather clear threats to retaliate against a US strike on Syria to any platform that launches the strike. This would mean US naval assets. The US takes that sort of attack rather seriously with the notable exception of Barack Obama who seemed to encourage them.

From Iranian propaganda outlet, Farsnews:

The Arabic service of RT news channel quoted a Russian military diplomatic source as warning that any increased military build-up in the Mediterranean will intensify tensions, adding that Moscow is pursuing and assessing the developments.

 

He stressed that the Russian A-50 reconnaissance planes have been monitoring the guided-missile destroyer the USS Donald Cook’s voyage in the past few days, saying, “The Russian warships are able to give a rapid response if necessary.”

 

The source noted that the Russian navy also has deployed submarines in the Mediterranean equipped with torpedoes and missiles to destroy marine and ground targets.

Meantime, Russia’s Humeimim airbase in Syria’s Lattakia province is equipped with anti-ship cruise missiles of Kh-35 type.

 

The US newspaper, Wall Street Journal, reported earlier that the US already has one guided-missile destroyer, the USS Donald Cook, in the eastern Mediterranean, where it could take part in any strike on Syria, according to US defense officials. A second, the USS Porter could get there in a few days.

 

Russia has maintained that there has been no evidence of any chemical attack in Douma and sees Washington’s threats to “punish” Syria with military force as a pretext for intervention.

 

On March 13, Russia’s military chief of staff, General Valery Gerasimov, said that Moscow had intelligence about militants in Eastern Ghouta preparing a false-flag chemical attack in the area.

The senior official added that the US could use the fake attack as a pretext for striking out at government quarters in Damascus.

Mirror.UK: Russia will shoot down US missiles fired at Syria and target launch sites, warns ambassador

US missiles fired at Syria will be shot down, and launch sites targeted, a Russian ambassador warned today.

The measures threatened by Alexander Zasypkin, Russia’s ambassador to Lebanon, could trigger a major escalation in the Syrian conflict.

 

In comments broadcast on Tuesday evening, said he was referring to a statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian armed forces chief of staff.

The Russian military said on March 13 that it would respond to any U.S. strike on Syria, targeting any missiles and launchers involved in such an attack. Russia is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s most powerful ally.

 

The United States and its allies are considering whether to hit Syria over a suspected poison gas attack that medical relief organisations say killed dozens of people in the rebel-held town of Douma near Damascus on Saturday.

Many years ago, this site posted videos taken by the pre-Islamic state groups, Al-Qaeda or Nusra front or whatever Muslim Brotherhood front group of jihadis you want to name in the region, where they were developing chemical weapons and testing them on rabbits with grotesque success. Those videos are likely scrubbed off the internet but in an emergency can likely be found and reposted.

Shortly after the Islamic State was declared, there were other videos of Islamic terrorist groups using fairly crude home made or adapted weapons systems to launch chemical weapon containers into neighbourhoods. So the evidence of these groups using these weapons against civilians is very strong. While the likelihood of the optometrist, Assad, leader of Syria, launching a pointless WMD attack against his own population hours or days after the US president announces he is planning a troop withdrawal seems counter-intuitive.

Clearly it would result in an undesirable outcome for Syria.

Unless it doesn’t.

The only thing that fits the puzzle to me would be if the US hit Iranian assets in the area, freeing Al Assad from the yoke of that tyranny using the weapons attack as a false flag to do that.

Its possible that Assad could be a good partner in the region if he was free of the pressure from Iran which I am certain is large and undesired.

But then again, the first casualty of war, right? Just speculating really.

Looking forward to all your reasoned responses.

Eeyore for VladTepesBlog.

Update: Police Think Syrian Set Leipzig House On Fire Intentionally, Wounding 16, Killing 1

As we reported, a Syrian refugee set fire to an apartment house in Leipzig in the early morning hours of Good Friday, wounding 16, and killing one woman.

The Federal Prosecutor confirms to Bild newspaper that the man was arrested and charged with particularly grave arson, murder, and attempted murder. Police think that the arson was intentional. The man had set fire to a rubbish bin at the rear exit, so that the entire stairs and hallway caught fire within minutes, from the ground floor to the roof. The house’s entrance appears to have been blocked with a sofa.

According to neighbours, the Syrian regularly fought with his wife so bad that police came to intervene several times.

The woman who died in the flames is not yet identified, but is believed to be tenant Sandy B., 40 years old; while a yet unidentified man, who is in critical condition with utmost severe burns, is believed to be her partner.
The two who had to jump from the roof into the firefighters’ cushion, a man and a woman, suffered broken bones, but are otherwise fine.

What was left of the staircase collapsed Saturday night.

The fire spread through the hallway from the ground floor to the roof within minutes. Photo: Einsatzfahrten Leipzig

People locked on the roof jump down into the firefighters’ cushions. Photo: Silvio Buerger

The hallway collapsed the next day. Photo: Silvio Buerger

Aerial view of the house. Photo: Bild Zeitung

 

Germany: Syrian Sets House On Fire, 17 Wounded, 1 Dead

A Syrian set fire to an apartment house in Leipzig in the early morning hours of Good Friday, killing one person and wounding 17. A local fire engine enthusiast, Einsatzfahrten Leipzig, filmed the following footage:

This next video by Bild shows the two who are locked on the roof jump down into the firefighters’ cushion:

Bild report 16 wounded, two of them critically, and one dead. 34 people lost their home.

When police searched the house on Friday afternoon with a thermographic camera, they found what they initially thought was a male body. But the autopsy later revealed that it was a female body. Police also found several dead pets in the house.

Police confirm that the arsonist is a 32-year-old Syrian, a resident of that very house, and that he will be charged with arson and murder.

Residents locked on the roof flash a torchlight to catch the firefighters’ attention. Photo: Einsatzfahrten Leipzig.

A woman hands a toddler to firefighters. Photo: Silvio Buerger

The wounded are taken to hospitals. Photo: Silvio Buerger

Deceased Pets lie in the street after the fire. Photo: Silvio Buerger

 

“We want everyone to see what was done to our daughter”

Germany – Vivien, 24, was stabbed down and critically wounded by a 17-year-old Syrian refugee last Saturday, when she and her boyfriend were shopping for groceries in the small German town of Burgwedel (see report Bloody Weekend – Knife Attacks All Over Germany). She had to undergo emergency surgery and remained in critical condition.

Prosecution has opened an investigation against the boy for battery. His family, who came to Germany as refugees in 2013, issued a statement that they are sorry about the incident, however, “they want it investigated how it could come to him stabbing out”.

Vivien’s parents approached the newspaper Bild Zeitung. An original translation:

Vivien (24) was stabbed down and critically injured by a 17-year-old Syrian refugee when she was shopping.

The Parents of Knife-Victim Vivien (24) reproach:

“Everyone should see what was done to our daughter”

The 24-year-old woke up from her coma – this is what her lawyer and her boyfriend have to say.

By Mirko Voltmer, March 29, 2018

Hannover – sensors watch over her somatic functions, tubes sustain Vivien K. (24). The young woman is in intensive care – she was the victim of a knife-stabber after an argument in the supermarket.

“We want nothing more than our daughter to get well again. But we also want everyone to see what happened to her”, say Vivien’s parents.

The doctors had to remove her spleen, and part of her pancreas. Her ribs are broken. Four days after the knife attack, on Wednesday, she woke from the artificial coma.

Flashback: On Saturday, she and her boyfriend Domenic K. (25) were shopping a supermarket in Burgwedel (Lower Saxony), and happened upon two cousins (13, 14), who were allegedly wrestling. Vivien, who is a shop assistant, asked the two to stop it.

Outside, the couple met the two again, with a brother (17). He stabbed Vivien into the belly with a jackknife. Domenic: “I thank God that Vivien is still alive. The doctors said, two centimeters that made the difference between life and death.”

The alleged perpetrator is in custody and remains silent. He came to Germany as a Syrian refugee in 2013. He is charged with dangerous battery.

The suspect (17) on the way to the committing magistrate

According to a relative, Domenic pulled one of the children by the ear, before the attack.

The victim’s attorney Björn Nordmann: “In my preliminary assessment of the issue it is an attempted murder. The alleged perpetrator approved of my client’s possible death when he stabbed her brutally.”

A spokesman of the public Prosecutor: “Our investigations are at the beginning, we still have to interview witnesses. It is possible that we will then assess the issue differently.”

Germany: Court orders Volkswagen to keep Islamist employee

An original translation from Bild:

After dismissal on terror suspicions:
Court orders VW to keep Islamist employee

By M. Manske
March 12, 2018 — 11:10pm

Hannover — It is 11:42 AM when Samir B. (30) strolls into the Hannover State Labor Court in sweat pants and moccasins. The Islamist is suing Volkswagen.

The car manufacturer dismissed him in November 2016 because he threatened coworkers, and because he appeared to be leaving for ISIS territory. The German-Algerian had acted provocatively in the court’s hallway, filming the journalists present. A court clerk makes him delete the video, as he doesn’t have a permit to film.

The allegations against the assembly line worker (monthly net wage €3,500) are serious: Volkswagen were concerned that their employee might carry out an attack on the manufacturing plant in Wolfsburg. For example, at one of their workers’ caucus, where up to 10,000 workers attend.

BILD is documenting the case

It was late August 2014, when Samir B. was in a restaurant in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Next to him sat the Wolfsburgers Bilel H. and Houssem H. Both of them went to Syria shortly thereafter, and joined the Islamic State. Both of them are dead now!

They were part of the Wolfsburg terror cell. And it seems that Samir B. was involved in their activities more deeply than he wants to admit.

Samir B. (right) with the ISIS terrorists Bilel H. (red cap) and Houssem H. in a Berlin restaurant. Photo: Facebook

On December 28, 2014, Federal Police stopped him at Hannover airport — he had €9,350 in cash and a drone with him, Wolfsburger Nachrichten report.

The investigators are certain: B. wanted to travel to the Syrian war zone. His passport was confiscated.

According to VW’s lawyers and the Braunschweig District Court, it is an established fact that Samir B. “was involved in recruiting and supporting fighters from Wolfsburg”.

According to one investigator, Samir even drove the ISIS-recruiter Yassine O. and the two sentenced returnees Ayoub B. and Ebrahim H.B. to the airport.

The Islamist played it cool, just smiled arrogantly, when the judge read out the case. He had the stamps of Saudi Arabia, Egypt ad Turkey in his passport. From Turkey, he travelled three times over land and back by plane.

Hans-Eberhard Schultz (75) with Samir B. on the way to the courtroom

In the Wolfsburg shopping street, he and other future ISIS fighters handed out Korans and literature by the hate preacher Pierre Vogel. And that is not all: according to investigators, Samir threatened his colleagues in the tyre factory: “You are all going to die.”

According to VW, the workers feared their radical colleague more and more. Therefore the car manufacturer had no alternative but to dismiss him. On January 11, Samir B. got his passport back.

In Hannover, he puts it on the table in front of him defiantly. VW want to get rid of the man by any means; upon the judge’s advice, they even offer him a €65,000 settlement and a clean employment reference letter — the Islamist seems interested, asks repeatedly what net sum that would get for him. But his attorneys refuse the deal!

Then at 6:39pm the court hands down the verdict: They deem the dismissal invalid! VW had not been able to show that the company’s peace was manifestly disturbed.

This means: in four weeks, when the Islamist receives the written verdict, VW will have to let him work again. The car manufacturer still consider the dismissal valid, and will probably take it to the Federal Labor Court.