Author: Steven Sahiounie

The Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) has formally filed a racial discrimination charge against the Minneapolis Police Department in connection to the May 25 killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man. The state governmental body’s release noted that the Minneapolis cops continued to kneel on the handcuffed 46-year-old and “did not respond to [Floyd’s] calls for help.” “This incident, and others similar to it since at least January 1, 2010 and continuing to the present, require investigation into whether the respondent’s training, policies, procedures, practices, including but not limited to use of force protocols and any corresponding implementation,…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Rajab Rahil Abdul-Fadhil Al-Megrahi has filed a complaint on May 31 before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights accusing the Libyan Minister of Interior of the Government of National Accord (GNA), Fathi Bashagha, of gouging out his eye with a spoon while he was being held at the Mitiga prison in 2019.    Al-Megrahi appeared in a video on social media reading the statement he brought to the court. He recalls in graphic detail his detention at the Mitiga prison near the airport in Tripoli during the summer of 2019.  He states he…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Muhammed Momtaz Al-Azhari, 23, was arrested by FBI agents on May 24 in Tampa, Florida.  The culmination of a federal sting-operation, he is being held in Pinellas County jail at the request of federal agents who accuse him of material support of the Islamic State, and scouting Florida targets for a planned mass shooting. Al-Azhari, an American citizen, had gone to Saudi Arabia in 2015 to join a terrorist group following Radical Islam, which is a political ideology and is neither a religion nor a sect.  He planned to go to Syria and fight…

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump plans to sell 7,500 precision-guided bombs for approximately $500 million to Saudi Arabia, the Wall Street Journal reported this week. The Wall Street Journal quoted a source in the U.S. Congress as saying that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee received an initial notification of the supply and sales plan in mid-January. The source explained that if this deal is approved, Saudi Arabia will buy 7,500 “Paveway IV” precision guided bombs from Raytheon Technologies. The source added that the U.S. government will commit Raytheon Technologies to produce other…

The Tripoli-based Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) forces have achieved a new advance near the capital city after clashing with the Libyan National Army (LNA). According to the GNA’s official Facebook page, their forces scored a big advance south of Tripoli, capturing several sites along the Ramleh axis. The leadership of the “Burqan Fury” operation confirmed on its Facebook page, Saturday, that its Mahjoub brigade were “advancing strongly” at the Ramleh axis and the vicinity of Tripoli Airport, noting that those forces took control of two cars equipped with weapons and destroyed six others and forced the Libyan Army…

A mysterious small unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) has crashed near the town of Qarah Tapah in the western Iraqi province of Diyala. ISIS cells in the region found the UCAV’s wreckage and destroyed it. The terrorist group’s news agency, Amaq, released on May 29 photos of the wreckage. The UCAV design is identical to that of Lebanese Hezbollah’s “Mirsad” and the Yemeni Houthis’ “Samad-2.” Drones of the same type were also spotted in Syria, where they were being used by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) or its allies. Unlike the drones spotted in Lebanon, Yemen and Syria, the one…

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and Iranian-backed forces are amassing a large strike force in the southern countryside of Idlib, according to opposition sources. On May 29, opposition sources said large reinforcements of the army and its allies arrived in the cities of Saraqib and Ma`arat al-Nu`man as well as the Zawiya Mountain. The sources also reported an increase in reconnaissance sorties over Greater Idlib. Syrian and Russian warplanes patrol the region on a regular basis. Nevertheless, no airstrikes have been carried out so far. The SAA’s 25th Division, previously known as the Tiger Forces, and Lebanon’s Hezbollah maintain a strong…

The Turkish Ministry of National Defense announced on May 30 that its forces had foiled an infiltration attempt by Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria. “Five terrorists of the PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party]\YPG [the People’s Protection Units] organization were neutralized while attempting to sneak into Operation Peace Spring region,” the ministry said in a press release. The ministry also released a short video showing Turkish forces detecting the infiltration attempt with ground-based surveillance systems and a drone. Then, the infiltrators were targeted with heavy howitzers. The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is affiliated with the YPG, is yet to comment…

On May 30, the Libyan National Army (LNA) announced that its units had eliminated a prominent Turkish-backed Syrian commander. According to the army, the commander, Murad Abu Hamoud al-Azizi, was killed during clashes on a highway leading to the Tripoli International Airport, a few kilometres south of the capital. Al-Azizi was leading militants from the Sultan Murad Division in Libya. The group is one of the Turkish-backed factions which deployed militants in Libya to support the Government of National Accord (GNA) upon Turkey’s order. In the last few weeks, the army eliminated several Syrian commanders. One of them was Mohamed Hindawi who…

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) announced on May 30 that the Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) had received a new batch of Mig-29 fighter jets from Russia. A military source told the state-run agency that the new fighter jets were handed over to the SyAAF during an official ceremony in the Russian Hmeimim Air Base in southern Lattakia. The source said the fighter jets were “advanced” and “upgraded.” “These warplanes, which are more effective than their previous generation, flew from the Hmeimim Air Base to their deployment areas in Syrian air bases,” the source said. According to the source, the…