Top Al-Qaeda Leader Killed in Syria

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Saudi-born Sanafi al-Nasr, senior al-Qaeda leader and strategist, was killed in an airstrike in Aleppo province in Syria.

A source revealed that al-Nasr along with two other Takfiri terorist group’s members, Saudi Abdul Malik al-Jazrawi and Moroccan Abu Yasir al-Maghrebi, was reportedly killed by an airstrike in Aleppo province in Syria.

Al-Nusrah Front has released a photo showing a car struck by an airstrike in Al-Dana, West of Aleppo. The terrorist group has also published a picture of the bodies of the dead Takfiri militants, but has not verified their identities.

Abdul Muhsin Abdullah Ibrahim Al-Sharikh, known as Sanafi al-Nasr, was born in the Saudi town of al-Shaqra in Riyadh. He led al-Qaeda’s “Victory Committee”, which is responsible for developing and implementing al-Qaeda’s strategy and policies. Al-Nasr was an important power broker and a strategic thinker in al-Qaeda terorist group in Syria.

The Syrian armed forces and the Hezbollah fighters, with Russia’s air backup, have started large-scale clean-up operations to haunt the remaining members of the militant groups across the Aleppo province.

Hours ago, the Syrian soldiers gained control of Al-Huwayjinah in Aleppo, leaving a group of militias dead and wounded, while Russian warplanes launched airstrikes over militants’ positions near al-Zarba Village In Aleppo Countryside.

The Syrian army troops and Lebanese Hezbollah forces on Friday regained full control over the towns of Hadadin al-Gharbiyeh and al-Kassarat and al-Madajen areas in the olive farms in the Southern parts of the Aleppo city.

The Armed units and the Lebanese Resistance, with Russia’s air backup, also recaptured the villages of Abtayn, and Qala’at Al-Najam, along with the Defense Battalion Base and the farms surrounding it in their operations against Takfiri terorists’ positions in the Southern flanks of Aleppo.

Meanwhile, the Syrian troops seized back Al-Vazihi village in Aleppo countryside in fierce clashes with the Takfiri terrorists, and killed tens of militants and dozens more injured in army’s operation.

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Third Intifada has begun in Palestine

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“The Zionists are trying to use the chaos created by the Takfiri phenomenon throughout the Middle East to divide the al-Aqsa Mosque between Muslims and Jews but they were met with resistance and now, a third intifada has begun,” Hujjat al-Islam Hoseyni-Bushehri said.

During his Friday prayer sermon delivered to a large and fervent crowd of believers in Qom, Hujjat al-Islam Hoseyni-Bushehri said that the Zionists are trying to use the chaos created by the Takfiri phenomenon throughout the Middle East to divide the al-Aqsa Mosque between Muslims and Jews but they were met with resistance and now, a third intifada has begun.

“By the grace of God, the Zionists will be defeated,” he said.

He expressed his appreciation for the establishment of a coalition made up of Russia, Iran, Syria and Iraq, saying that when the Western coalition against ISIL was formed, instead of attacking the Takfiris they put weapons at their disposal.

Qom’s Friday prayers’ leader said that now that the JCPOA has been approved, the government and the parliament should insist on the lifting of sanctions. He also called on the authorities to “prevent the enemies’ ability to influence us nor should they allow the United States to find a way to have political, economic, social and cultural influence in Iran.”

Hujjat al-Islam Hoseyni-Bushehri emphasized that the US has taken the most hostile stance towards the Iranian nation and said that as long as the US maintains its arrogant stance toward Iran, Iran will not have relations with them. “The people are aware and the officials must also be aware so that the US cannot realizes that they cannot influence Iran,” he said.

His Eminence also refered to the tragic incident in Mina saying this tragedy which overwhelmed the Hajj pilgrimage is only one side of the story and the carelessness of the House of Saudi over handing over the bodies to their respective countries of the pilgrims is another issue.

“Some of the bodies were buried in Saudi Arabia and some others were returned to their countries,” the Iranian scholar stated.

Hujjat al-Islam Hoseyni-Bushehri stressed that the Saudi government should have had enough foresight before accepting two million pilgrims. He added that similar incidents have occurred in past years during the Stoning of the Devil ritual.

His Eminence said that Saudi Arabia is fighting wars on three fronts and sent experienced troops to the battlefield instead of having them present in the Hajj rituals. The Saudi government’s lack of responsibility and accountability has caused greater discomfort among the people and until recently, they did not even offer any consolation to the victims of this tragedy.

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ISIS punishes 35 of its elements after trying to flee to Turkey

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A local official in Anbar province announced on Thursday that ISIS has flogged 35 of its elements for trying to escape to Turkey.

“ISIS managed to catch 35 of its elements in Abu Kamal area in Syria, after they had tried to flee to Turkey,”
The official said .

The official, who asked anonymity, added: “ISIS flogged these elements and shot their feet in front of the people, while issued sentences of imprisonment against them.”

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ISIS pays up to $10,000 for each recruiter in Europe

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ISIS terrorist group is paying up to $10,000 to each recruiter in European countries for recruiting people to join ISIS in Syria and Iraq, UN experts said on Friday.

“ISIS is using social media and informal networks of friends and family, with many of them in Syria, to recruit new militants in Belgium,” said Elzbieta Karska, who heads a UN group studying the issue.

According to UN experts, more than 500 Belgians have joined the ranks of ISIS in Syria and Iraq so far, which makes Belgium the top European exporter of ISIS foreign militants.

“Recruiters were paid from two, three thousand to 10,000 dollars depending on who was recruited,” Karska said, pointing out that the findings were preliminary.

“The well-educated people like technology specialists or doctors were paid more,” the human rights lawyer added.

She pointed out that the Belgian-based extremist group of Sharia4Belgium has earlier recruited dozens of people, but many of its members are jailed now.

“Last year, the main way of recruitment was through informal networks and social media,” Karska said.

“Now in Syria, the process of recruitment takes place through friends and family, who are also paid on the basis of the number of persons they recruit or marry .”

“The number of women or girls, who leave Belgium to marry terrorists or care for those who are ill or wounded, increases. Some of them may actually join the military groups and fight,” she argued.

No specific figures are defined for those who left Belgium, but the number of men departing for fighting has reportedly declined from about 10 per month three years ago to some four per month.

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Enemies seek to spread corruption to defeat Muslims

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In a meeting with martyrs’ organizations, Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi emphasized on the need to strengthen the culture of jihad and martyrdom in society and warned against the enemies’ plots to promote moral corruption and social ills in society.

In a meeting with children of martyrs from the Iran-Iraq War and the administrators of organizations which assist them, Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem-Shirazi said that the children of the martyrs should use their abilities so that they can continue the path of their fathers and maintain the culture of martyrdom in society.

The revered source of emulation explained the rewards of martyrdom, quoting Imam Ali’s words from his sermon on jihad in Nahj al-Balaghah [The Peak of Eloquence]: “Surely, jihad is one of the doors of Paradise, which God has opened for His chief friends… Whoever abandons it, God covers him with the dress of disgrace and the clothes of distress.”

His Eminence said that jihad or struggle is a universal rule in nature and in the world and within man, there is a continuous struggle, adding: “Pathogens enter the human body through various means but God created white blood cells to fight against these pathogens and prevent disease in human beings.”

Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi stated that jihad and martyrdom follow each other.

“Paying tribute to the families of the martyrs recognizes the truth and institutionalizes the culture of martyrdom in society. The martyrs and the families of martyrs have extraordinary capacities that should and they should use these capacities and with their piety, they can bring the message of the martyrs to society,” he said.

His Eminence emphasized the need to revive the duty of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil in society, saying the families of the martyrs should be respected and are more successful in enjoining the good and forbidding the evil. One of the conditions of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil is the probability of its effect which more likely among the families of martyrs.

The professor in the Islamic Seminary of Qom said the families of the martyrs must be united and cooperate with each other as unity can prevent the influence of Satan.

In the current era, corruption is greater than in any other period and one of the reasons for the growth of corruption is the existence of satellite channels which spread moral corruption throughout the world.

“The enemies have realized that in order to defeat Shi’ites, and Muslims in general, they must influence their belief system,” the source of emulation explained.

Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi said that we should not be disappointed while performing our duties in this regard, adding that the duties of the scholars and the families of martyrs in the current era are greater than ever before because there is a greater potential to err in modern times. “We cannot adopt a passive state like in the past – this was a mistake. God Almighty has promised those who remain staunch Muslims victory,” he said.

His Eminence expressed his hope that the martyrs’ organizations can strive to accomplish their important work in response to corruption and to rely on God’s promises. He added that in order to advance their beneficial work, it also requires planning and human resources.

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84-year-old Mosque in Malaysia to Be Relocated

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Masjid Zakaria, which is one of the oldest mosques in Selangor, Malaysia, will be relocated nearby to Jalan Gombak.

The mosque, which was built in 1931, could not accommodate the large number of Muslims attending Friday prayers, with some resorting to praying outside the mosque beside the main road.

Selangor Mentri Besar Azmin Ali, who was at the ground- breaking ceremony for the new mosque held before Friday prayers last week, had been concerned about the safety of the people and brought the matter to the attention of the state in March 2009.

“It is dangerous to be praying next to the main road as one can be hit by a vehicle.

“The existing mosque also does not have many parking spaces,” he said, adding that in March 2013, the state approved RM11mil to build the new mosque.

“The site of this new mosque is more suitable as it is away from the main road.

“The state will monitor the progress of the construction in stages,’’ said Azmin.

The new mosque will be located on a hill with a land area of 1ha about 200m away from the existing place of worship.

The mosque, which will be completed in July 2017, can accommodate 1,500 to 2,000 people at a time.

The mosque will have ample parking space and other facilities for the convenience of Muslims living in the surrounding area.

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Saudi Arabia Has No Belief in Fighting Terrorists: Iranian MP

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Chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi underlined Saturday that Saudi Arabia does not seek to fight terrorists but rather supports them.

“Saudi Arabia has no belief in fighting terrorists but has (instead) supported them,” Boroujerdi said, addressing a core group meeting of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) underway in Tehran.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he referred to aerial bombardments of terrorist-infested areas in Syria by Russian aircraft, saying they have been effective both psychologically and militarily and that grounds have been prepared for liberating the terrorist-held areas.

The senior Iranian lawmaker said new developments are expected in Syria in the future, noting that the situation in the Arab country has already improved.

Boroujerdi further emphasized that Iran only has “advisory presence” in Syria and that it would consider any new request from the Syrian government.

High-ranking diplomats have gathered in Tehran to attend the core group meeting of the MSC, which focuses on the implementation of the July 14 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, Iran’s regional role, the security architecture in the Middle East.

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Iran’s FM urges countries to stop backing ISIS as ‘temporary capital’

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Iranian FM Zarif urged countries to recognize insecurity in the region would spread to other parts of the world if nations were to pursue their own securities in the instability of others.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made the remarks on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) meeting in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

“We have to realize that the issues and threats in the Middle East are related to all other countries, and it should not be the case for only one country to make efforts to settle the conflicts,” said Zarif, adding if all countries believed that ISIL could not be considered as their ‘temporary capital,’ all regional issues would have been settled.

“Some countries believe that Iran’s nuclear deal is a threat, thinking that portraying Iran as a threat to the international community could become some kind of capital for them [to pursue their own personal gains], but the question here is, who should build trust?,” said Zarif

He added that Iran has been a victim to terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda, Taliban and ISIL and has never waged an attack on any other countries, so if anyone should make an attempt at building trust it would be those who had lend a hand in the formation of these terrorist groups.

Stressing that Iran does not wish to linger in the past as it would not be to the benefit of anyone, Zarif added that the country is ready to pursue a win-win strategy to settle Syrian crisis.

“Europe is gripped with a refugee crisis, but we too have been through that stage. At one point, we had three million Afghan refugees in Iran; however, it will be beneficial to all of us to end this humanitarian nightmare and all must show some flexibility in this regard,” said the Iranian diplomat.

The high-profile Munich Security Conference convening foreign ministers from some European and Middle East countries began in Tehran on Saturday to prepare the stage for discussions on regional developments.

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Syrian Army, Hezbollah Retake Three New Areas in Southern Aleppo Operation

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The sources said that, the Syrian Army, in coordination with Hezbollah, the National Defense Forces (NDF), and Kata’ebat Al-Ba’ath (Al-Ba’ath Battalions), launched their large-scale Southern Aleppo offensive in the Azzan Mountains at 10 a.m. (Damascus Time) on Friday morning.

The Syrian Armed Forces and Lebanese Resistance captured 3 new sites from the militants Jabhat Al-Shamiyah (Levantine Front), Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham, and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) this morning, killing a number of enemy combatants in the process of their advance in the Aleppo’s Southern countryside, massdar reported.

The Syrian army troops and Lebanese Resistance captured the villages of ‘Abtayn, and Qala’at Al-Najam, along with the Defense Battalion Base and the farms surrounding it; this rapid progress by the pro-government forces caught the militants off-guard, as they frantically retreated to the Southwest in order to evade the swarming enemy fighters.

The main objective of the Syrian Armed Forces-Lebanese Resistance’s Southern Aleppo offensive is to recapture the ‘Azzan Mountains from the terrorists, while also creating a larger buffer-zone around the Syrian government’s only highway leading to the provincial capital.

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Iranian MP, Nasrallah hold talks on latest developments in Lebanon

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IRNA said Friday that Alaeddin Boroujerdi met with Nasrallah earlier in the day hours after he arrived in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, from Syria, where he had held key talks with top Syrian officials.

Boroujerdi, who serves as the chairman of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis)’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, was also expected to sit down with Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Basil, according to Lebanese sources, while a meeting was also planned between him and Mohammad Ra’ad, a senior member of Hezbollah representing the party in the Lebanese parliament.

Boroujerdi and Nasrallah had met in January during the Iranian legislator’s previous trip to Lebanon, which saw him also meet Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

The Iranian official traveled to Syria on Wednesday at the head of a delegation on a two-day visit. During his stay in Damascus, Boroujerdi met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In the meeting, he voiced Iran’s full support for Syria’s battle against foreign-backed Takfiri terrorist groups.

The lawmaker also said in a press briefing after the meeting with the Syrian leader that that the Islamic Republic is ready to examine and discuss any request by Syria for sending military forces to the Arab country.

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