December 10, 2015
REPORTS FROM IRAQ
Today’s Major Developments
High-level discussions continues as Turkish troop crisis continues.
Iraqi forces advance in Ramadi.
US denies troop deployment to Ramadi air base.
Coalition planes destroy bridge linking Hawija and Shirqat
BAGHDAD
Political developments
While Iraqi officials carried on remonstrating over the presence of Turkish forces in Ninewa Governorate, high-level Turkish officials weighed in on the controversy, with contradictory input. Turkish PM Erdogan has rejected the idea of Turkish withdrawal while the Turkish Ambassador to Baghdad seemed to suggest withdrawal might be possible, with conditions.
Erdogan says the Turkish troops are in Bashiqa and other locations for training missions and they might be increased or decreased depending on the situation. [Anadolu]
DaeshDaily comment. His Excellency is trying to mix the Turkish troops who are training the Peshmerga in Erbil and Suleimaniya with the troops in Bashiqa. Those two cities are within the KRG official control but Bashiqa belongs to the central government.
The blunt truth is that Turkey is in Bashiqa because (1) the military camp there was created by former Governor Nujaifi, who has been exposed as a lead conspirator in this scenario along with the shadowy National Mobilization Forces organization; and (2) because Barzani facilitated their movement into Bashiqa, taking advantage of the Peshmerga presence in the area and the fact that Iraq could not do anything about it. This has nothing to do with training anybody and looks so far like Stage 1 of a three-party conspiracy against the Iraqi government.
The Turkish Ambassador to Baghdad, Faruk Kaymakcı, said his country would be willing to withdraw its forces if the Iraqi government takes over the role of protecting its trainers, the CoR Defense and Security Committee announced after talks with the Ambassador today. One committee member, Iskandar Wutout, said that the Ambassador’s justifications for the Turkish presence in that session were “flimsy and unconvincing.” He predicted that the crisis would not be easily solved since it was, in his words, a “conspiracy planned in advance.”
DaeshDaily comment. Bashiqa is near the front lines between Daesh and the Peshmerga-held territory in Ninewa province in an area that is disputed between the Iraqi central government and the KRG, which has maneuvered for years to incorporate northern Ninewa into the anticipated independent Kurdistan. Iraqi forces can’t deploy to that area at this time so the task would fall to the Peshmerga. So the Ambassador’s suggestion that Iraqi forces take over security at the Bashiqa encampment may meet resistance in Baghdad as this would imply their acknowledgement of Kurdish control over this part of Ninewa.
The head of the Turkish intelligence service, Hakan Fidan, and Turkish foreign ministry advisor Feridun Sinirlioğlu arrived in Baghdad, sources at the Baghdad International Airport said, to discuss the crisis. The Iraqi foreign ministry confirmed that the talks took place, providing no details, but an unidentified committee member told Al-Ghad that the Ambassador said the Turkish deployment came at the invitation of the former Governor of Ninewa and some MPs. [Mada] [Mada][Baghdadia] [Sumaria]
DaeshDaily comment. Assuming the Ambassador was quoted correctly, his explanation is an admission that Turkey’s actions are unauthorized. The former Governor, Nujaifi, has no current authority by definition, and was actually voted out of office. “Some MPs” could include any self-selected group, possibly the new and self-named High Coordinating Committee. None of these people have any individual authority to authorize foreign troop movements into Iraq.
The Iraqi Prime Minister’s office has repeated its assertion that Turkish troops entered Iraq without the knowledge of the government, saying through its media office that the training program did not justify the “disgraceful violation” of Iraqi sovereignty on the part of the Turks. The PM’s office has also announced that it told the Turkish delegation that the solution to the crisis must include a Turkish withdrawal. [Xendan] [Mada]
61 Iraqi MPs have submitted a demand that the parliament investigate the “Turkish penetration” into Iraqi territory, CoR speaker Saleem Al-Jubouri said.
Iraq’s Minister of Transportation, Baqir Al-Zubaydi, said that the Turkish deployment represents a “threat to national security” and, referring to Iraq’s F-16 and Sukhoi jets, said Iraq was “capable of striking any occupation [force], be it Turkish, or Arab, or by any other name.” [Sumaria]
Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan said in a press conference that a tripartite meeting would be held on December 21 between Ankara, the KRG, and Washington, without mentioning the possibility of Baghdad’s involvement. He said bluntly that his country would not withdraw its forces since they are, according to him, deployed to Iraq to train Peshmerga fighters, not to take on a combat role. However, he also said that Turkish forces were in Ninewa to promote stability in the region. [Sumaria] [Sumaria] [Sumaria]
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki called for the PMFs to prepare for “the enemies’ plans” for the partition of Iraq. He accused Turkey of “treachery” and called for mass demonstrations on Saturday “to reject the Turkish presence on Iraqi soil.” [Sumaria]
The United States Embassy issued a statement affirming its official position that military deployments inside Iraq by external forces must have the agreement of the Iraqi government. [Ghad]
The five permanent members on the UN Security Council are supportive of Iraq’s position with respect to the Turkish deployment, the Iraq foreign ministry spokesman has said. [Sumaria]
Security developments
The US Embassy in Iraq has issued a statement denying reports in Iraqi media, (which we reported yesterday) that US forces have landed at Ayn Asad airbase near Ramadi and will engage in combat. [PUKMedia]
Iraqi Criminal Courts have issued a death sentence to the military commander of Daesh’s Kirkuk “wilaya,” the judicial authorities announced. [Sumaria]
The Coalition killed the Daesh “minister of finance,” known as Abu Sallaf, in a recent airstrike, said Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren. [Sumaria]
Daesh says one of its snipers killed an Iraqi soldier in Tarmiya in north Baghdad. [DabiqNews]
Daesh says its terrorists shot and killed 2 members of the Sunni Islamic Party in Tarmiya. The two were brothers. [A3maq] [A3maq]
An Iraqi Army 23rd Brigade unit killed 2 terrorists and defused 4 IEDs and 2 booby-trapped houses in the Difa’ Al-Jawwi area in south Baghdad. [BOC Facebook Page]
An IFP force found explosives and IEDs in the Batta area in south Baghdad. [BOC Facebook Page]
According to security sources:
- An IED exploded near a commercial area of Hamamiyat village in Taji north of Baghdad, killing two people and injuring eight others. [Mada]
- Unknown armed men killed two civilians in Tarmiya north of Baghdad. [Baghdadia]
- A sticky IED mounted under a civilian car exploded in the Adhamiya area in east Baghdad, killing one person inside and wounding two others. [Mada]
- Unknown armed men opened fire on a PMF member in the Kasra wa Atash area of Sadr City in east Baghdad, killing him. [Sumaria]
- An IED blast in a commercial area of Zafaraniya, southeast Baghdad. killed one person and wounded seven others. [Mada]
- Daesh says its terrorists killed a “spy” in his house in the Sayyed Abdullah area of Mahmudiya in south Baghdad. [DabiqNews]
- An IED blast near a residential complex in Saidiya, south Baghdad, wounded two civilians. [Baghdadia]
- An IED exploded near a commercial area on Street 60 in Dora, south Baghdad, killing one person and wounding five others. [Mada] [Baghdadia]
- An IED exploded near a medical complex in the Wardiya area of Mada’in, south of Baghdad, killing one person and injuring four others. [Mada]
The MoD publishes a video of airstrikes on Daesh in Anbar and Salahuddin. [MoD Website]
Coalition airplanes flew 10 sorties on Shirqat, Tal Afar, Mosul and Falluja killing many terrorists, including a Daesh leader in Shirqat, and destroying 6 locations and 6 vehicles, including 4 vehicle bombs. [IWMC Report]
ANBAR
The chairman of Anbar GC has called on Iraqi families in Anbar to submit to the local authorities the names of their family members who have been abducted or disappeared, in order to create a centralized list for purposes of human rights monitoring. [Sumaria]
Ramadi
Iraqi forces have taken control of Ramadi’s central rail station, says the head of the Khaldiya District security committee. [Ghad]
As of Wednesday Iraqi forces have taken “complete control” over the western portions of Ramadi city, in the area between Palestine Bridge and Qasim Bridge, the Iraqi Counterterrorism Agency commander said. [Sumaria]
Iraqi forces supported by the IAA and Coalition warplanes cleared the road to the Al-Qasim Bridge and stopped a Daesh attack in the area, killing 15 Daesh terrorists and wounding 10 and destroying two vehicles. Two Iraqi soldiers were wounded. [IWMC Report]
The IAF destroyed two vehicle bombs and a boat in an air raid on Jisr Al-Warar in central Ramadi, the IWMC announced. The IAF also hit targets in Albu Farraj and Albu Dhiab, north of Ramadi, killing a total of ten Daesh members and destroying Daesh vehicles. [Baghdadia] [Sumaria]
The IAF destroyed two sniper hideouts in the Al-Dubat area south of Ramadi, killing two Daesh snipers, the IWMC says, while an Anbar Operations Command source said that a security operation south of Ramadi killed four Daesh snipers attempting to obstruct the progress of security forces on the main international highway. [Mada] [Mada]
On Thursday Iraqi forces took control of the southern part of the Malaab area south of Ramadi city, inflicting heavy casualties on Daesh, a security source said. [Sumaria]
DaeshDaily comment: The Malaab area was announced earlier as liberated but from today’s story it appears that it was lost again before being recaptured by Iraqi forces.
Iraqi Eighth Infantry missile units struck Daesh positions in the Madhiq area east of Ramadi, destroying a vehicle bomb and killing “tens” of Daesh members. [Baghdadia]
A Coalition airstrike destroyed three Daesh vehicles in the Abu Teban area west of Ramadi, killing the occupants. [Baghdadia]
A video of Iraqi forces inside the liberated Anbar Operations Command. [MoD]
Coalition airstrikes destroyed 9 hideouts, 3 boats and 2 locations in the Ramadi area. [IWMC Report]
Anbar Operations Command artillery shelled a Daesh gathering in Jazeera Khaldiya, killing 6 Daesh members and wounding 4 and destroying a vehicle. [IWMC Report]
The IAA destroyed a Daesh hideout in Tal Mshaihda east of Ramadi and two vehicles carrying 9 fighters in Albu Farraj to the north. [IWMC Report]
An IAA helicopter was targeting a Daesh hideout when the pilot noticed a group of civilians and changed the rocket’s path in Albu Chlaib northwest of Ramadi. [IWMC Report]
Daesh says several civilians, mostly children, were killed or wounded in an airstrike on Ramadi (photos). [ADI]
Falluja
An Iraqi Rapid Intervention unit defused 27 IEDs in several areas east of Falluja. [BOC Facebook Page]
Daesh publishes photos of destroying an Iraqi Army excavator with a 23mm cannon. [ADI]
Iraqi troops killed 5 Daesh terrorists and destroyed a vehicle in the Al-Rofa area in Qarma. [BOC Facebook Page]
Iraqi forces destroyed a booby-trapped house and also a Daesh mortar launching location in Albu Sawda in Qarma. [BOC Facebook Page]
Hit/Haditha
Tribal fighters of the Albu Nimr broke a Daesh siege in the Abu Delaya area near Haditha where six people had been trapped, allowing the six to reach safety, and destroyed a vehicle and an excavator in the operation. [Sumaria]
Western Anbar
Daesh says two Syrian brother attacked an Iraqi Army convoy with a vehicle bomb carrying a machine gun on the road between Ain Al-Asad and the Kilo 160 area west of Kubaisa, killing many soldiers and destroying many vehicles. Daesh says the remaining vehicles were targeted with IEDs, killing 15 soldiers and destroying 7 vehicles. Daesh published a photo of the two terrorists. [DabiqNews]
The Al-Suqoor (Falcon) Intelligence Cell has announced 22 Daesh members were killed in a coordinated operation with Iraqi joint forces and central intelligence that targeted the local headquarters of a suicide-attack ring in the Jraijib area of Al-Qa’im which the force said had been planning suicide attacks on Iraqi forces in Anbar and Salahuddin. [Mada]
SALAHUDDIN
Baiji
The IAF bombed a Daesh location in Zuwiya village in the Makhoul Mountains area killing several Daesh members. [IWMC Report]
The IAA killed 20 Daesh terrorists in the Makhoul Mountains area and destroyed a fuel station used by Daesh in Harariyat north of Baiji, killing or wounding 10 terrorists. [IWMC Report]
Shirqat
A Coalition airstrike in the Shumait area destroyed the bridge linking Shirqat to Hawija. Iraqi warplanes struck Daesh sites in the same area, killing “tens” of Daesh members, the IWMC says. Another airstrike in the same area killed the Daesh administrator for the local area and two of his associates. [Baghdadia] [Mada] [Sumaria]
Shirqat is “in range,” a PMF commander said, claiming that the Daesh-held city would fall quickly to Iraqi forces. [Sumaria]
Samarra
Samarra Operations Command troops supported by PMFs destroyed 25 IEDs and defused 27, and destroyed 4 vehicles, a shovel and an excavator in different areas west and southwest of Samarra. [IWMC Report]
Daesh publishes photos of battles west of Samarra. [DabiqNews]
Elsewhere in Salahuddin
Iraqi forces defused 25 IEDs in the Yathrib area south of Balad, a Salahuddin Command source said. [Ghad]
Unknown gunmen in military garb kidnapped two civilians in the Askari area of Tuz Khurmatu, a security source said. [Ghad]
DIYALA
Baquba
A member of Diyala GC has said that tribal PMF forces in the governorate are facing conditions of “extreme poverty,” blaming the central government for failing to pay salaries for these fighters. [Sumaria]
Muqdadiya/Abu Saida
Dijla Operations Command troops supported by PMFs found 12 IEDs, 8 hideouts, and 4 observatory locations, in addition to a bulldozer and explosives materials, and destroyed 25 IEDs near Albu Hishma south of Muqdadiya. [IWMC Report]
Northern Diyala
Daesh says it destroyed 5 electricity towers in Sadiya. [DabiqNews]
The head of the Udhaim council announced that the area is completely in the control of security forces and that the danger from Daesh is 110 km (68 miles) away. [Sumaria]
Daesh says it detonated an IED on an Iraqi Army patrol in Udhaim, killing three soldiers. Daesh also says it destroyed an Iraqi Army Humvee in another area of Udhaim. [DabiqNews]
Diyala police have announced the capture of a second Daesh hideout within a month, in the Himrin Mountains. [Sumaria]
KIRKUK
NINEWA
Mosul
Coalition warplanes destroyed a Daesh local command center inside a water plant in the Qayara area south of Mosul, killing twenty Daesh members including local commanders, as well as destroying weapons and explosives, the Ninewa Operations Commander said, adding that the local population was in a “state of revolt” against the Daesh, which had weakened its control. [Baghdadia] [Mada]
A Peshmerga officer says Coalition airplanes bombed and destroyed Daesh rocket launchers on Mount Bashiqa. The officer says Daesh used to rocket Peshmerga troops from the mountain. [ARA]
A PUK official says Coalition airplanes bombed Daesh in Badoush and Bashiqa, killing 10 terrorists and wounding 6. [PUKMedia]
A PUK official says Daesh executed a female teacher in Mosul for refusing to teach her students Daesh’s new curriculum. [PUKMedia]
Daesh has executed a judge from the Mosul appeals court, in the Bab al-Toub area in central Mosul. [Sumaria]
A Ninewa police source says Daesh executed 3 former Iraqi Army officers in the Badoush prison. The officers were captured 9 months ago and refused to “repent”. [BasNews]
Eyewitnesses say Daesh beheaded another man in Mosul, accusing him of witchcraft. [Karemlash]
A Ninewa police source says unknown armed men shot and killed two Daesh snipers in downtown Mosul. [BasNews]
Kata’eb Al-Mosul says its fighter destroyed a Daesh vehicle south of Mosul, killing or wounding 4 terrorists. [KM Facebook Page]
Northwest Ninewa
Daesh publishes a video of the battles near the Shandoukha village. [DabiqNews]
Daesh publishes photos of its terrorists in the Bazkartan area. [DabiqNews]
Other Governorates
SOUTHERN IRAQ
Babil. The deputy chair of Babil GC escaped an assassination attempt as he returned from Baghdad, the official said, stating that gunmen opened fire on his vehicle as he was traveling but that no one was injured in the attack. [Ghad]
REPORTS FROM SYRIA
Northeast
Local activists say Daesh captured 5 young men in the Ain Al-Hara village, southwest of Hasaka, and forced them to join its fighters. The activists say this is the first time Daesh enforced compulsory military service. [BasNews]
DaeshDaily comment. Many reports appeared earlier that Daesh is doing this.
Local sources say 3 car bombs exploded in Tal Tamr in Hasaka’s western countryside killing or wounding many people. Local sources say one of the vehicles targeted a YPG checkpoint and one targeted an Asayesh center while the third exploded in a main street. Welati says the three vehicles were loaded with sugar. Other sources say two vehicles exploded near two markets while the third exploded near a hospital (photos). The hospital received the bodies of three people killed in the attack, including a doctor, and 17 wounded so far.
The PYD management in Jazeera accused Daesh, Turkey and the recent opposition-group meeting in Riyadh of organizing the attack to counter the Syrian Democratic Forces.
[Qasioun] [ARA] [Welati] [Hawar] [Hawar] [Hawar] [Hawar] [Hawar]
Daesh publishes photos of executing a man publically after accusing him of murder. [DabiqNews]
Daesh publishes photos of shelling and rocketing the YPG east of Ain Eissa. [DabiqNews]
Northwest
Eyewitnesses say Daesh withdrew more than 300 vehicles and 5 tanks from Deir Hafir, 50 km (31 miles) east of Aleppo towards Manbij after the Syrian Army advanced from the Kowaires airbase area towards the city. [BasNews]
Local activists say Coalition airplanes and Apaches targeted Daesh heavily near Manbij, killing many terrorists and destroying 2 vehicles. [BasNews]
Daesh says dozens of Syrian armed groups’ fighters “repented” and joined its ranks. [DabiqNews]
Daesh says 2 people were killed and 5 wounded in Syrian bombing on Bazaa in Aleppo’s eastern countryside. [A3maq]
Central and West
In a significant development, Daesh recaptured Mahin and several other towns in Homs eastern countryside after heavy clashes with the Syrian Army and its supporting militias. [Qasioun]
Daesh says it captured Mahin city and the Huwwarin village after killing many Syrian soldiers and forcing the rest to flee. [DabiqNews] Daesh says 25 soldiers were killed and 3 tanks and a vehicle destroyed in Mahin. [A3maq]
Daesh publishes photos of the battles near Mahin. [DabiqNews] [DabiqNews]
East
An informed source in Deir Ez-Zor says Daesh’s oil official, Abu Sara Al-Iraqi, was killed with three of his associates in a Coalition airstrike in the Bukamal area. The source says this is the third Daesh oil official killed by the Coalition in less than three months. [BasNews]
Daesh shelled two areas under Syrian Army control in Deir Ez-Zor, wounding four civilians including a child. The Syrian Army bombed and shelled several areas in Deir Ez-Zor eastern countryside. [Qasioun]
A local activist says Daesh issued new taxes on the shops in Deir Ez-Zor, and forced more taxes on the Shaitat tribe. He also says Daesh arrested many people, claiming it was looking for cigarettes, and confiscated the house of an Alawite citizen in Mayadin. [KulRadio]
REPORTS FROM OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICAN COUNTRIES
Egypt. Daesh publishes photos of the Egyptian Army land mine it destroyed in south Rafah yesterday. [ADI]
Daesh publishes two photos of an executed Egyptian Army “spy”. [DabiqNews]
Libya. An informed source says Daesh terrorists paraded in 30 vehicles in Sabratha and established 2 checkpoints in the city. The source also says police stations were evacuated and government offices were closed in the city. [AfriGate]
Informed sources say Daesh clashed with a local militia in Sabratha and the militia captured 2 Daesh members, a Libyan and a Tunisian. [AfriGate]
A Libyan military officer says local and foreign terrorists established a checkpoint in Ajdabiya. He confirmed that military operations will start on December 15 to clear the city. [AfriGate]
The Libyan Security Observatory publishes a map showing Daesh locations in Libya. [AfriGate]
A Libyan military source says Libyan airplanes bombed Daesh in west Benghazi. The source didn’t specify the time of the airstrikes. [Hadath]
A video of Daesh terrorists in Sirte. [Ewan]
Daesh says it shelled Libyan armed groups with mortars in Derna. [DabiqNews]
Morocco. The Morocco Ministry of Interior says security forces captured two Daesh supporters who issued a video threatening terrorist attacks in the kingdom. [Aawsat]
SOCIAL MEDIA SOURCES
Facebook Page of the Day
Shakw Makwq, a popular Iraqi page
Daesh Twitter Accounts of the Day
https://twitter.com/ut_sajbkdx
https://twitter.com/aaahmedd1990
