Iraq's war against IS terrorism | Updates and Discussions

[ag3nt47]

Apparently the Shiite militias have been killing Sunnis on a wide scale.

There are now "tens of thousands" of militiamen, who "wear military uniforms but operate outside any legal framework and without any official oversight", Amnesty says.

The report quotes an unidentified Iraqi government official as saying that militias "mostly... kidnap Sunnis, because the victims can easily be labelled as terrorists and nobody is going to do anything about it".

Another unnamed government official said some Sunni men were considered to be "terrorists or terrorist supporters" because of where they lived. Others were killed "in blind revenge".

"I'm afraid that we're regressing back to the situation as it was seven or eight years ago, when this behaviour was very widespread," he said.

Militiamen have also tried to extort ransoms, sometimes killing their captives even after payments have been made, Amnesty said.

From BBC news

 

[flamer84]

Iraqi Christian village takes the fight to 'IS'

View attachment 130499

Mrayma Mansour, who leads the night patrol of Assyrian Christian fighters in the town of Al Qosh, looks jumpy. He has a dagger tucked into the waist band of his fatigues and his large green eyes are bloodshot.

Around him sit his men, holding hand-me-down weapons and drinking sugary tea. The talk is of betrayal. When the Kurdish peshmerga forces retreated from the "Islamic State" (IS) advance on Christian towns at the beginning of August, Mrayma's and his men stayed on, not knowing if Al Qosh would be attacked. IS forces were just a few kilometers south. Almost all the residents fled, fearing the worst. "We had 70-80 men who stayed and stood watch on the mountain," he said. "They were from different local parties, fighters, men with guns. We were scared thieves would come."

Al Qosh, an Assyrian Christian town of around 6,000 people, overlooks the flat Ninawa plains from its hillside perch. Families are now cautiously returning and peshmerga fighters are pushing back again on the front line, just 15 kilometers away. A lone-shopkeeper mans a corner store in the boarded up bazaar. The afternoon tolling of the church bells and the passing of an occasional vehicle punctuate the silence. The 7th century Rabban Hormizd monastery built in the cliffs overlooking the town is closed due to the security situation.

A semblance of normalcy

Peshmerga pullout

An air of unease still cloaks the town. A few peshmerga checkpoints dot the road between here and the front line just outside the town of Tel Isqof. Mrayma saw the peshmerga retreating from his lookout. "I saw cars and tanks withdrawing from Tel Isqof to Dohuk," he says, "when we saw this we told our families to go because it's not safe."

Now the Christian fighters, who dress in camouflage and drive rusted-out vehicles, are determined to protect their beloved town, but they know they are no match for the IS forces. Instead they reassure residents and stay alert for signs of the peshmerga retreating. "If I see them withdrawing I know [IS] is coming so it is a good alarm," he says, adding, "If they leave us and go what can we do? [IS] will kill us without weapons."

Hemin Hawrami, who heads the Kurdistan Democratic Party's foreign relations office, said that the peshmerga forces were "outgunned" by IS. There are around 100 fighters with the Assyrian Democratic Movement, and around 2,000 volunteers ready to fight, as well as forces aligned to different Christian parties.

Up against it?

Arms are bought privately or come from the Assyrian Democratic Movement and their supporters, say leaders.

In such a small community, rumors travel fast. Thaer is Mrayma's father-in-law. Over a lunch of cracked wheat in their airy home, he says "yesterday people were shouting, telling us to leave our homes, but that was just a rumor." He looks down. "Nobody knows why ISIS didn't come here, maybe it is because we are in the mountains. But we are still scared, at any time we could be attacked."

A village vs. IS

A deacon with the local church of Saint George, Wadhah Sabih, leans over and whispers to DW as prayers are recited in the ancient Syriac language. "We've defended Al Qosh many times against different enemies over centuries. But right now it's impossible to defend ourselves," he continues in hushed tones. "The army can't stand before IS - so how can a small village? IS sold themselves to the devil."

Christians are angry about being pushed from their ancient heartlands - August 10 this year was the first Sunday in centuries that the church bells of Saint George in Al Qosh didn't ring, Wadhah tells DW.

Traditions and rites are under threat

Before 2003 it was estimated that there was 1.5 million Christians in Iraq, now there are around 400,000 left, many with plans to leave. Caught between Kurdish and Arab Iraq , the Ninawa plains has long been fought over, but when IS forces swept into control Mosul, ethnic and religious minorities say they felt terrified.

After massacres and the widespread displacement of the Yazidis religious minority, a new Yazidi fighting force was set up for self-protection around Sinjar.

"In Sinjar the [Yazidi] people don't trust strange men, Kurd or Arab, to protect them - they want a share in protecting themselves. We don't want to split Iraq, we just want to be in charge of our own place," says Yaqoob Yaqo, an Assyrian Democratic Movement member of the Kurdish Regional parliament.

Taking charge

Christian politicians say other minorities in the Ninawa plains should also be able to protect themselves, including Shabaks and Yazidis. But it is unlikely that divergent militia groups will be able to defeat the IS fighters. Yaqoob knows that to have any fighting chance, they need backup.

The fighters have so far requested support; weapons, training and tactical coordination from Baghdad and Erbil. They have also called for international protection, in the form of a safe zone.

Mrayma echoes the views of many when he says that if international support is not given to his people, "I will get my passport, family and try to go to another country because it won't be safe here."

On a rocky bern at the edge of the town, Assyrian fighters continue to vigilantly man the defence as evening falls. A young fighter stares out at the flat burnt plains below him. Back in the town the church bells are tolling again. On narrow streets in the old heart of Al Qosh, a baby is being taken to be baptized. The people here have lost trust in their protectors; but they don't yet know who in this conflict they can depend on.

Iraqi Christian village takes the fight to ′IS′ | Middle East | DW.DE | 13.10.2014

Ofcourse,no Western politician talks about arming the christians."Let them die",for all they care.

 

[Alienoz_TR]

Ofcourse,no Western politician talks about arming the christians."Let them die",for all they care.

Nope, Kurds are more important because Jews love them.

 

[flamer84]

Nope, Kurds are more important because Jews love them.

I don't know about Jewish involevement in all of this but christians in Iraq and Syria will be gone in a couple of years and noone lifted a finger about them while they've bombarded us with the Kurd campaign.Next,they'll be hunted in Lebanon,mark my words,it's like the Western world hates Christianity or at least some of its purest,older forms and not snake dancing evangelicals or protestants.

Iraqi city falls to ISIL as army withdraws

ISIL "100 percent control" Hit in Anbar, says police colonel, after troops are relocated to reinforce nearby airbase.
Iraqi city falls to ISIL as army withdraws - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

"Do not believe them!We are winning!Leave them to their illusions!"

 

[Alienoz_TR]

URGENT: ISIS seizes 3rd largest military base in western Iraq and takes its tanks, heavy weapons and supplies


ISIS armored unit. File photo.

Hit (IraqiNew.com) On Monday Iraqi military sources confirmed the fall of the military base of Hit, which includes a training camp and the base of the seventh division of the Iraqi army, after a major attack of the organization ISIS, using suicide car bombs and rocket-propelled grenades.

The military sources said that “the organization ISIS attacked the army base in Hit, the third largest military bases in western Iraq, from several axes, and carried out a series of suicide attacks on the walls of the base by car bombs, as well as a missile attack lasted about an hour which led to the storming of the base after the withdrawal of the army from it. “

In a related context, lieutenant colonel, Rahim Aljughaifi said that “ISIS have seized the contents of the base and the training camp, including tanks, heavy weapons, munitions and stores, as well as spare parts and different military supplies,” adding that “the army had requested help of the international coalition during the attack on the base, but the latter did not respond’, asserting the control of ISIS on the three towns surrounding the base.”

URGENT: ISIS seizes 3rd largest military base in western Iraq and takes its tanks, heavy weapons and supplies - Iraqi News

URGENT: ISIS assassinates MP, kills 24, wounds 54 in Baghdad suicide bombing


The MP for Bader bloc, Ahmed al-Khafaji.

Kadhimiya (IraqiNews.com) On Tuesday the Iraqi MP Ahmed al-Khafaji was killed in a suicide bombing that targeted Iraqi security forces in the town of Kadhimiya which is located in northern Baghdad, according to a security source.

The source said in an interview for IraqiNews.com “the MP of Badr bloc, Ahmed al-Khafaji, was killed this afternoon by a car bomb driven by an ISIS suicide bomber in the Kadhimiya area north of Baghdad,” without giving further details.

A source in the police said earlier on Tuesday that 24 people were killed and 54 others wounded in the suicide bombing at the entrance of Kadhimiya in northern Baghdad.

The MP Ahmed al-Khafaji was serving as Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior for Intelligence before becoming a deputy of the Bader bloc during the current session of Parliament.

URGENT: ISIS assassinates MP, kills 24, wounds 54 in Baghdad suicide bombing - Iraqi News

 

[Oublious]

Where is this guy?

Once he was a secterian warlord. Whats hapenned to this dude? Iraq can use him other whise IS wil declare Bagdad the capital of Islami Dawlatiya..

 

[Alienoz_TR]

14 October 2014

In Hit which was occupied by a large group of ISIL gunmen, and following the fierce clashes yesterday that killed at least 7 residents, the Hit military camp and its large quantities of weaponry and munitions has been completely taken over by the gunmen.
The head of the local municipality in Baghdad announced today that the town is completely surrounded and that the armed groups have cut off all supplies of food and fuel destined to various parts of the township.
In Fallujah, clashes and bombardment of a number of the city's districts have killed 3 civilians and wounded 3 others.
In Garma, there have been intermittent clashes in several areas along the river that separates the town from Salahuddin Province. The area has also been targeted by airstrikes.
In Ramadi, the gunmen who seized control yesterday of the Shurta district have today extended their control over a number of neighboring districts in the western and southern sectors of the city.
The Anbar Council has today renewed its call for the replacement of the Anbar Operations commander Lt.-Gen. Rasheed Flayeh whom the Council is partially blaming for the surprising withdrawals from some areas, thus allowing the gunmen to take them over. However, reports reaching Anbar are indicating that the commander will stay on.
Meanwhile, tomorrow there will be a vote on the appointment of Kadhum Al-Fahdawi as the new Anbar Police commander following the assassination two days ago of the late commander, Gen. Ahmed Al-Dulaimi.

Daily Updates from Anbar: 14 October 2014

 

[tesla]

Obama vowa to expand operations against ISIL in Iraq
Urgent - Obama vowa to expand operations against ISIL in Iraq - Iraqi News

 

[Alienoz_TR]

15 October 2015

In Ramadi today, ISIL gunmen launched a broad offensive on a number of central and southern districts in the city. There were also explosions in the vicinity of the Anbar Council seat and the Anbar Police HQ, but we do not yet know the outcome of this action.
The gunmen have also taken over some areas that had been under the control of the security forces as part of their operation aimed at seizing all of Ramadi. The Council has issued an urgent call to the central government and to the army for help.
In Hit and its surroundings, there were clashes in the southwestern sector of the town, especially when the gunmen surrounded wide areas still being controlled by tribal fighters who have also called on the local government to intervene with airstrikes.
In Baghdadi, the situation is critical following the closure of all access to the town by the gunmen; nothing in the way of produce, foodstuffs, or fuel is now reaching the town, whose local municipality has called on the local and central governments, and on humanitarian organizations to open the access routes from Hit and Haditha.
In Fallujah, airstrikes have targeted the city's perimeter; a General Hospital source has announced that 3 residents were killed and 6 wounded.
In Garma and its surroundings between the town and Salahuddin Province are now controlled by security forces.
A statement by the Anbar Council today affirms that equipment, weapons, and munitions - believed to have been imported from outside Iraq - are to be used in reinforcing army and security units, particularly in Ramadi.

Daily Updates from Anbar: 15 October 2015

 

[1000]

US military advisors arrive in Iraq to train security forces | Business Standard News

Dozens of US military advisors arrived in Iraq Wednesday to train the country's security forces as they continue to face obstacles in their fight against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, officials said.

In western Iraq, up to 100 US advisors arrived at two air bases in the volatile province of Anbar and are expected to start training of the Iraqi troops to battle IS militants, who have seized large parts of the province, Sabah Karhout, head of the provincial council, told reporters.

"Habaniyah air base in east of the provincial capital city of Ramadi and Asad air base near the town of Baghdadi, received 100 US military advisors," Xinhua quoted Karhout as saying.

"The US advisors will train and advise the Iraqi troops, including police and government-backed tribal fighters, in their fight against the Islamic State in the militant-seized cities and towns in the Anbar province," he added.

 

[1000]

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=68523
Iraq beats back ‘Islamic State’ assault on Ramadi
Security personnel and tribesmen beat back hours-long jihadist attack on Ramadi while reinforcements reach Amriyat al-Fallujah.

 

[Alienoz_TR]

ISIS besiege Amiriyat al-Fallujah, police chief warns of transmission of the battle to Baghdad and Karbala

Shafaq News / The local police chief in Amiriyat al-Fallujah town in Anbar province west of Baghdad, said the terrorist ISIS organization is besieging the town from three directions.

The French Associated Press quoted police chief of Amiriyat al-Fallujah, Aref al-Janabi , seen by "Shafaq News", that "ISIS has arrived to the town –which is one of the last strongholds of the Iraqi army in Anbar- from three axes, and stressed that they are" almost completely trapped. "

He added that they are still holding out and receive support from fighters of the tribes, but "if it Amiriyat al-Fallujah fall, the battle will move to the gates of Baghdad and Karbala."

ISIS besiege Amiriyat al-Fallujah, police chief warns of transmission of the battle to Baghdad and Karbala

Haditha town faces a humanitarian crisis after ISIS isolated it

Shafaq News / A security source revealed early, on Thursday that the humanitarian situation has become difficult in Haditha district far western Anbar after about a week of terrorists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria “ISIS” organization imposing a blockade on the region in preparation to storm it.

The source told “Shafaq News", that "The district is witnessing a significant rise in food prices due to the blockade imposed by the terrorists and preventing the entry and exit of food to and from the district."

The source explained that "the district is waiting for the federal government’s intervention through the use of Air Force planes to transport food, weapons and ammunition to the district," pointing out that "the security forces are within the district to protect him from any attempt to break into the terrorist elements."

ISIS elements have been able to in the past days to tight control on the main roads leading to Haditha district after controlling Heet district and nearby roads following the withdrawal of army troops from the district without a fight, according to what reported by security sources.

Haditha town faces a humanitarian crisis after ISIS isolated it

 

[Alienoz_TR]

16 October 2014

Groups of ISIL gunmen have launched an 3-front attack on the Baghdadi township. Their bombardment of the town's residential districts has injured a number of civilians, and more than 200 citizens from an eastern district have fled, seeking more secure areas in the town's western sector. But the attack failed following the intervention of the army and its air support that struck at a number of the gunmen's positions. The gunmen then withdrew to their earlier positions around Baghdadi.
Meanwhile, reports coming out of the Anbar Operations Command say that more than 100U.S. military experts have arrived at the Ayn Al-Asad military base in Baghdadi, to provide advice and lay out plans for facing and fighting the outlaw groups.
In Ramadi, there have been heavy clashes in the city's central and southern districts; some mortar shells have driven residents to flee out of the city.
In Amiriyat Al-Fallujah, 30 km south of Fallujah city, gunmen launched a surprise attack aimed at capturing the town that has been hosting more than 2,000 displaced families. The 4-hour long attack resulted in material losses but there were no casualties.
In Fallujah and Garma, the situation is calm, aside from a few intermittent clashes, especially in the southern and southwestern parts of Garma, along the Anbar border with Salahuddin Province.

Daily Updates from Anbar: 16 October 2014

 

[1000]

Iraq Is Cutting Off Electricity From Regions Held By ISIS

 

[Alienoz_TR]

Isis targets Baghdad with wave of car bombs and mortar attacks killing 150

Islamic State militants have targeted the Iraqi capital Baghdad with a wave of devastating car bombs and mortar attacks, killing at least 150 people since Sunday, in an escalating campaign of violence and mayhem.

Four car bombs hit Shia districts of Baghdad on Thursday afternoon. At least 36 people were killed and 98 wounded within the space of two hours, Iraqi officials said. The deadliest attack took place when two parked car bombs exploded simultaneously in the northern Dolaie neighbourhood, killing 14 civilians.

In the eastern suburb of Talibiyah, a suicide bomber rammed his car into a police checkpoint, killing at least 12 people, they added. The dead included seven policemen and five civilians.

These latest attacks follow a series of dramatic advances in Iraq by Isis fighters, who have succeeded in capturing most of the sprawling Anbar province to the west of Baghdad.

In recent weeks the jihadists have taken control of the city of Hit, and have attacked the provincial capital of Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad. Iraqi government troops have fallen back to an air base in the desert outside Hit.

Isis has comprehensively consolidated its grip on the Sunni area, which borders Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the governorate of Baghdad.

Isis fighters are now encamped on the outskirts of the capital, and appear to be able to target important installations with relative ease. Earlier this month four mortar shells rocked the Green Zone in the heart of Baghdad, home to the US embassy and numerous government buildings.

The jihadists have also fired off mortars at the Shia northern district of Kadhimiya. On Tuesday night they succeeded in killing a member of parliament.

Western observers say Isis is putting pressure on the government of Haider al-Abadi, Iraq’s new prime minister. They do not believe Baghdad is in imminent danger of falling to Isis – or at least not yet. “Baghdad was always the target. You can rampage in Mosul and take vast swaths of Anbar. The taking of Anbar was just to set up a platform to move on Baghdad,” Toby Dodge, director of the Middle East centre at LSE, said. “Isis has strategy and it has tactics. The strategy is to take Baghdad. The tactic is to press on the weakest spots.”

After capturing Mosul, Iraq’s second city, and others areas in early summer Isis fighters surged towards the capital. They paused this operation in July and August, when the Iraqi army and Shia militias staged a concerted fightback.

Isis was now renewing its offensive, Dodge suggested. “They have extended networks in Baghdad. Clearly it was only a matter of time before they went back to their main target. But this isn’t the Battle for Baghdad.”

US and allied air strikes had made little difference, he added, with Isis “quickly adapting”.

Fighting continued in the northern Syrian town of Kobani, where Kurdish units said there was little sign of an Isis retreat. Some reports said Isis had abandoned parts of the territory it occupied after taking heavy casualties.

Speaking from inside Kobani, Ismet Sheikh Hasan, a commander with the main Kurdish militia defending the town, said: “On Wednesday night they started again, coming at us with a lot of strength. Whoever said Isis is retreating is wrong. They are still here in Kaniya Kurda [east] and on the region of Mistenur Hill. There are a lot of them here. They are using a lot of mortars still.” Gunfire could be heard down the phone line.

Isis has besieged Kobani for 31 days. Kurdish fighters from the YPG, the People’s Protection Unit, have partially stayed their advance with the help of US air strikes. In the last two days, US-led coalition forces have conducted more than 40 air strikes against Isis in the area surrounding Kobani – a huge increase from when the air strikes began a fortnight ago.

Sources close to the Kurdish forces who are monitoring the battle said on Thursday that in a month of fighting about 1,290 Isis militants have been killed, compared with only 189 from the YPG-led forces inside Kobani. In response to this bombardment Isis has moved back to villages on the outskirts of the city to the south and west of Kobani.

The black flag of Isis raised more than a week ago on a hill in the city’s east had gone, but Hasan said Isis still had control of the area and are using the homes for cover from the strikes. “The flag is down but Isis still has that area,” he said. “The air strikes are helping but Isis is separating out and going into the houses in the area to protect themselves.”

He said the only area where they have really pushed Isis back is in the west, where the YPG has regained control of a village close to the city. “We took it and now we are fighting for another one, further west.”

Despite the persistence of Isis, Hasan says he does believe the militants might eventually be forced to retreat. “If I didn’t believe this then I wouldn’t be here fighting,” he said.

At least four fighters with the women’s arm of the YPG – known as the Women’s Protection Unit or YPJ – were killed and buried in Turkey on Tuesday after dying from their injuries in the Turkish hospital across the border.

Hasan said the women had a special psychological power against Isis. “Isis thinks that if a woman kills one of them, he cannot go to Paradise. He will go to hell. So the Kurdish women from Kobani want to fight Isis very much. They are very willing. And they are very proud. We are sad that they have died. But all the women who fight right now are here because they want to fight.”

Isis targets Baghdad with wave of car bombs and mortar attacks killing 150 | World news | The Guardian