Fears of imminent attack: ISIS declares state of emergency - US military official claims

ISLAMIC State (ISIS) has declared a state of emergency in its terror heartland over fears of an imminent attack, a US military official has claimed.

The jihadi group feels threatened in its self-declared capital of Raqqa in Syria and is moving troops to prepare for a possible invasion, according to Colonel Steven Warren.

The US military official said it was monitoring the terror group’s declaration to attempt to better understand what it meant.

Speaking in a Pentagon briefing over the phone from Baghdad, Iraq, Col Warren said: “We have seen this declaration of emergency in Raqqa, whatever that means.

The world needs Trump and I am with him all the way - Fani-Kayode

A few weeks ago I wrote an essay which was published in all my columns titled "Mr. Trump and Islam". In that contribution I argued that Mr. Donald Trump, the American entrepeuner and billionaire presidential candidate, was unstoppable.

I said he would win the nomination and then go on to win the election against Hillary Clinton.

The first has happened and the second will happen as well. The world needs Trump and I am with him all the way.

During the coming election debates he should do the Nigerian people a favour and ask Hillary Clinton one question.

Algeria Minister Meets Assad In Damascus As Syrian Army Advances Near Palmyra City

DAMASCUS - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with an Algerian minister on Monday, in a rare Arab ministerial visit to the war-torn country, state media reported.

In a related development, Syrian army advanced towards Arak region in the Eastern countryside of Palmyra city and has managed to approach Arak and T3 gas fields. 

Assad has compared his country's war against rebels to the conflict between security forces and Islamist militants that devastated Algeria during the 1990s. The Syrian army and the resistance forces continued their advances in the Eastern part of Homs province, and started fresh operations to seize back several important areas near the ancient city of Palmyra (Tadmur).

Assad forces won back the strategic cities of Palmyra and Quaryatayn in the part month. If the army purges terrorists from Arak gas field in the coming days, the next destination will be the strategic city of al-Sukhneh which would mean cutting off  ISIL's main supply route between Deir Ezzur and Raqqa provinces.

Boko Haram, Islamic State collaborating, military leaders say

U.S. and Nigerian military officials said an increase in collaboration between the Islamic State and the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram is "cause for alarm" for a wide swath of north and central Africa.

Brig. Gen. Donald Bolduc, commander of the United States military's Special Operations Command in Africa, said an IS weapons convoy from Libya, intercepted while traveling to the Lake Chad region, suggests a growing link between the two groups. Nigerian Gen. Lamidi Oyebayo Adeosun, commander of a joint African force battling Boko Haram in the Lake Chad area, echoed Bolduc's concerns, saying officials are attempting to learn more about the relationship. Last year, the Boko Haram pledged allegiance to IS, also known as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh.

"The Lake Chad basin is ground zero" in the fight against Islamic extremists in Africa, Bolduc said. He said IS and Boko Haram are sharing "tactics, techniques and procedures" in the Lake Chad region, which includes northeast Nigeria, and parts of Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

THE OUTLAWS OF ISLAM - FANI KAYODE

"In the name of God the Great we shall kill, slaughter and drain the blood of every single unbeliever, every apostate and every traitor that supports them until we establish our new world Caliphate. We will wash our hands with the blood of the infidels"- Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, the leader of The Islamic State of Iraq and The Levant (ISIL).

These are the words of a monstrous vampire that desires to swim in an ocean of innocent blood. These are the thoughts and satanic vision of the indisputable leader of the dreaded terrorist movement known as Daesh.

These are the aspirations of a man that rejects the version of Islam that we know, that we respect and that the overwhelming majority of Muslims espouse and practice.

Russia rejects criticism of air strikes in Syria, Iraq welcomes air strikes

Lavrov says operations targeting "ISIL and other terrorist groups", with announcement of raids in two Syrian provinces.

Russia's foreign minister has defended Russia's military operations in Syria after it came under international criticism during a news conference at the UN headquarters in New York.

Addressing the media on Thursday, Sergey Lavrov said the goal of the Russian military operation was in response to the request of President Bashar al-Assad and on the basis of the decision granted by the Russian parliament with the Russian president and in accordance with the Russian constitution.

Russian warplanes backing Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad bombed rebel groups for a second day Thursday as reports suggested Iran is sending combat troops to support the embattled regime in Damascus.

President Buhari Named self as Nigeria’s petroleum minister, Promises to appoint a minister of State for Petroleum

President Muhammadu Buhari

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday named the petroleum minister. And that is himself. Adding that he would personally head the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in the new cabinet.

Mr. Buhari, while addressing some select reporters in New York on Tuesday, after addressing a Global Leaders’ Summit on Countering ISIL and Violent Extremism, the President said: “I wil remain Minister of Petroleum.

“I will appoint a minister of State for Petroleum”. He said, the step is being taken as part of efforts to sanitise Nigeria’s oil industry, which is said to be plagued by corruption, massive fraud, and crude oil theft.

The President who restated his determination to sanitise Nigeria’s oil industry and free it from corruption and shady deals said the first step in this direction had already been taken with the appointment of a new management for the NNPC and its subsequent reorganisation.

He added that the prosecution of those who misappropriated NNPC’s revenue under past administrations would soon commence, reaffirming his anti corruption pledge that the federal government will fight corruption, because it has been identified as the root of all problems hindering Nigeria as a nation.