Crossfire War – RAPID FIRE NEWS=TEHRAN – BEIRUT – DAMASCUS WATCH – West Asia – North – Northeast Africa Theatre:
Lebanon Army Enters Outskirts of Tripoli to End Two Days of Fighting – Several Islamic Militants Killed in Another Infiltration Attempt into India – Albanian Mayor in Kosovska Mitrovica Warns of Incidents
Night Watch: TRIPOLI – The Lebanese army was forced to send police and troops in armored personnel carriers to restore an atmosphere of calm in the northern city of Tripoli as fighting continued for the second day between pro-government Sunni militias and anti-government Alawite fighters who are close to Hezbollah and Damascus. France24/AFP are reporting the units positioned themselves on the frontline of the Sunni Bab Tibbaneh area and the Alawite Jabal Mohsen after the fighting killed nine people and wounded fifty. Despite the much heralded Doha agreement last month, which was supposed to have set an exact timetable to require Lebanon to settle on a more representative cabinet, all that has been done is to establish former General Michel Suleiman as President. Internal rivalry has prevented any further measures by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to appoint a full cabinet and there are no signs he will soon be able to. I suspect Hezbollah-Damascus-Tehran are quite satisfied with the status quo since Hezbollah’s military telecommunications system is no longer threatened and their weapons smuggling continues. [FRANCE24]
Al Kibar- France24/AFP report government controlled media in Syria is not even acknowledging the presence of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of being in the country. They are here to inspect the nuclear weapons site destroyed by the Israel Air Force (IAF) in September last year and the site was reportedly only one week away from production. Even the Syrian government has not made any public statement concerning the guided tour they gave the Vienna based UN agency. Publicly the administration of President Bashar al-Assad has always denied the military purpose of the site which was financed by Tehran using technological assistance from North Korea. It was to have been a very real sign of the closeness of Syrian-Iranian military industries at the center of their regional military axis. [FRANCE24]
Jumagund – Fayaz Wani, NewsBlaze news agent in Kashmir, reported yesterday there was another attempt by Islamic militants to infiltrate into India’s part of Kashmir. Indian officials state eight were have known to have made the attempt from Pakistan into the Jumagaund sector of North Kashmir. Four were known to have been killed as four others fled back into Pakistan’s part of the province. This is another in a long line of small scale infiltration attempts which began with the melting of the snow in May. Fighting always increases in May but not with this level of frequency and there was one occasion when Pakistani rangers provided cover fire. Though the rate of infiltration seems to average at two-three times a week it is still only small units of several militants and not enough to force Delhi to use its hot pursuit policy which would mean attacking the bases(launching pads) in Pakistan’s part of the province. An Indian attack inside Pakistan would set off their fourth war since 1947. I suspect that is what Islamabad-Tehran want to force Delhi to do.
Kosvoska Mitrovica – The Albanian mayor in the southern part of the divided city Kosovska Mitrovica is warning about “incidents” that could lead to further violence. B92 reports Bajram Rexhepi is requesting patrols in northern Kosovo be increased “in order to prevent possible incidents and deterioration of security.” Rexhepi stated only the “cool-headedness” of the Albanian community have prevented any serious violence after a Serbian national flag was raised over the northern Kosovo village of Rudare. He also spoke of “unknown persons” being seen in northern Kosovo which is still mostly Serbian. Rexhepi claims they could be members of the Serbian MUP, one of the Serbian police units and that would make their presence a direct threat to not only Kosovo’s declared independence but especially to Kosovo’s new constitution which went into effect this month. The Serbian government has not only ignored the province’s independence but has continued to maintain Serbian institutions in the province that are still supported by the Serbian communities in the north. And that is the singe greatest challenge to the Albanian government in Pristina and the basis for a resumption of war. [B92]
