December 14, 2015
REPORTS FROM IRAQ
Today’s Major Developments:
Issue of Turkish troops defused by diplomacy, but details are still unknown.
Iraqi forces continue patient advance on Ramadi city, while Daesh destroys all the bridges.
North Oil Company official murdered in Kirkuk city; investigation demanded.
Kurds in northwest Syria trapped among Daesh, Syrian Army, and other Kurds
BAGHDAD
Political developments
Turkish forces began withdrawing some of their forces and hardware from the Zilkan base in Bashiqa, a PUK official confirms, though he was unable to confirm the extent of the redeployment. Turkish media have described the move as coming within “a new arrangement” for Turkish forces present in Ninewa, but specific details have yet to emerge. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said in a statement that Turkish forces will remain in Iraq to conduct training operations. [Sumaria] [Sumaria] [PUKMedia]
US Vice President Joe Biden has welcomed the Turkish decision to withdraw its forces, saying in a statement that he told the Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu in a phone call that the Turkish redeployment was an important step to calm the recent tensions and encouraging dialogue between Ankara and Baghdad. [Sumaria]
The Turkish Prime Minister says regarding the Turkish troops in Bashiqa “if there are threats we will send reinforcements, and of there are no threats we will reorganize our troops”. He also says Iraq is not capable of protecting its borders. [Anadolu]
DaeshDaily comment. We can’t yet discern the real understanding from the PR statements that have followed, but it appears that diplomacy has found a face-saving formula and that Joe Biden has again quietly helped to sort out an Iraq crisis. Turkey will apparently continue to pretend innocence, and Barzani and the Ninewa separatists will continue to pretend they had nothing to do with the crisis.
A Shia member of the CoR Security and Defense Committee, says there is no evidence Turkish troops withdrew from Bashiqa. He says Turkish armored vehicles actually entered Iraq from the Ibrahim Al-Khalil border center to Bashiqa. [Buratha]
A Shia MP says the Government and the CoR formed a joint committee to investigate the Iraqi political parties that knew about the Turkish troop movement in Iraq. He also says Turkey’s latest move might be mere re-deployment. [Etejah]
Iraq’s Minister of Transportation has confirmed reports that MP Mowaffak Al-Rubaie and several other Iraqi MPs were responsible for the delayed departure of a plane traveling from a conference in Malmo, Sweden. He and others tried to board the plane in Sweden carrying shampoo, in the case of Al-Rubaie, and other non-permitted items such as honey in the case of other unnamed MPs. Al-Rubaie was reportedly stopped at airport security; he insisted that he had been able to board with it in Baghdad before flying via London to Malmo, and asserting that he was an important Iraqi official and therefore able to skirt the rules of international air travel. Swedish aviation authorities have since filed a complaint with Iraqi Airways for having allowed Al-Rubaie to travel with the shampoo in his hand luggage in the first place. [IPA]
Security developments
The Central Criminal Court in Baghdad has issued death sentences to three Daesh emirs from Anbar. [Baghdadia]
An Iraqi Army 25th Brigade unit found an IED and other weapons and explosives in the Arab Jassem area in south Baghdad. [BOC Facebook Page]
A security source says security forces captured 5 Daesh members in Mada’in. [Maalomah]
Daesh publishes photos of detonating an IED on an Iraqi Army Humvee in Arab Jabour in south Baghdad. [DabiqNews]
Daesh says it destroyed an Iraqi Army Humvee with an IED in Yusufiyah in south Baghdad. [DabiqNews]
Daesh also says its terrorists attacked Iraqi soldiers with light weapons in another area in Yusufiyah. [DabiqNews]
Daesh says it killed an Iraqi Army officer with a sticky IED under his car in Rasheed in south Baghdad. [DabiqNews]
Daesh says its terrorists attacked Sahwa locations in Rasheed with midsize weapons. [DabiqNews]
Daesh says it killed an Iraqi Intelligence Service captain with a sticky IED under his car in Latifiya in south Baghdad. [DabiqNews]
According to security sources:
- A major working for the Ministry of Defense was injured when a sticky IED exploded on his car in Shula, a Shia area in northwest Baghdad. [Mada]
- An IED exploded in a popular restaurant in the Husseiniya area of north Baghdad, killing two and injuring seven. [Mada]
- An IED exploded in a commercial area of Hurriya in northeast Baghdad, killing one person and injuring six. [Mada]
- A sticky IED exploded on a civilian vehicle as it passed through the Habibiya area of east Baghdad, killing the driver and injuring three passengers. [Mada]
- Security forces defused a roadside IED in Sadr City in east Baghdad. [Sumaria]
- An IED exploded near a commercial area on Mustashfa Street in Mada’in in southern Baghdad Governorate, killing one person and injuring six. [Mada] [Baghdadia]
- Security forces arrested a man in Mada’in wanted on terrorism charges. [Sumaria]
- An IED exploded Baghdad
Coalition warplanes flew 21 sorties, targeting locations in Shirqat, Baghdadi and Mosul, and killing many terrorists and destroying 2 mortars, 3 rocket launchers, a hideout, a checkpoint, 3 heavy weapons, 7 combat locations, 2 IEDs and 3 vehicle bombs. [IWMC Report]
ANBAR
The Anbar Police Chief says 8,000 people from Anbar have been involved with Daesh. Arrest warrants have been issued for 2,500 of them. [Buratha]
DaeshDaily comment. This is a significant statement, as it shows that the jihadis are not the larger part of the problem; those residents of Anbar who support Daesh are the larger problem. After Daesh goes, those people will still be there.
Ramadi
Iraqi security forces killed 33 Daesh fighters and destroyed several vehicles in a widespread campaign in areas north of Ramadi, the Anbar police commander said. He added that “Daesh has become incapable of stopping the advance of the ground forces of the Army and Police and tribal fighters and their movement [in Ramadi] remains visible to [Iraqi air power], which continues to destroy their strongholds and positions in Ramadi” [BasNews]
Daesh has destroyed all bridges linking to Ramadi in order to obstruct advancing Iraqi forces, the head of the Khaldiya council has said, adding that Iraqi security forces are developing alternative ways to penetrate Daesh’s defenses of the city. [Mada]
DaeshDaily comment. Lack of bridges works both ways. Daesh fighters are more likely to be trapped in the city with no safe way out.
A Daesh bomb-maker in Ramadi, a Syrian known as Ibrahim Al-Halabi, was killed along with several of his associates in a wide-ranging Iraqi security operation in the Jazeera Al-Khaldiya area, an Anbar Operations Command source told Mada Press. A police source told Sumaria TV that the Syrian was killed in fighting with Iraq River Police while he was trying to cross the Euphrates River to escape from the Ramadi area. The Anbar Operations source added that Iraqi forces destroyed three vehicle bombs that had been prepared for use on Iraqi forces, as well as destroying a missile-launching platform. He said Daesh’s battle readiness in Ramadi is continuing to be degraded after dozens of Daesh members were killed or fled the area, according to the source. [Mada] [Sumaria]
An Anbar Operations Command source says the IAA bombed a Daesh gathering in the Rosain area in north Ramadi city, killing 10 terrorists. [Maalomah]
Coalition planes with ground support from Anbar Operations Command killed 15 Daesh members in Albu Dhiab and Albu Farraj north of Ramadi, an Anbar security source said. [Sumaria]
The Iraqi Second Mechanized Brigade killed ten Daesh members in operations around Ramadi, including in East Hsaiba, Madhiq, and Sadiqiya, a division source said. [Baghdadia]
Iraqi forces defused 50 booby-trapped houses and destroyed 100 IEDs in the Hay Al-Zaytoun area in Tameem. [IWMC Report]
A member of Anbar GC says the liberation of Tameem and other areas in Ramadi was done by Iraqi forces and the reports about US forces participating are not true. [Maalomah]
Coalition airstrikes also destroyed a Daesh facility for making IEDs and vehicle bombs in the Al-Sinaea area of central Ramadi, killing three Daesh militants. [Mada] [Baghdadia]
An Anbar GC member says Iraqi forces might liberate Daesh strongholds in Sufiya just east of the city border and Dhubbat and Hoz within the city in the coming 2 days. He also says Iraqi forces are advancing slowly because of the IEDs and booby-trapped houses and also because Iraqi forces fear a Daesh counterattack on Habbaniya base. [Maalomah]
A security source says the IAF destroyed 4 Daesh Humvees in Sufiya in east Ramadi. The source says the vehicles were trying to parade in the area to boost the terrorists’ morals. [Maalomah]
Iraqi forces destroyed a Daesh excavator and a vehicle killing 4 terrorists in the Tal Masoud area east of Ramadi. [IWMC Report]
The IFP killed a Daesh sniper and destroyed his hideout in Hay Al-Aramil just south of Ramadi. [IWMC Report]
A video of Iraqi forces destroying a Daesh vehicle bomb in Ramadi [YouTube]
Videos of the Golden Division and other troops battles in Ramadi [YouTube] [YouTube] [YouTube] [Facebook] [Facebook]
A video of an IAA helicopter targeting Daesh in Ramadi [YouTube]
Falluja
A security source says several Rapid Intervention troops were killed or wounded when a Daesh construction shovel bomb attacked them in Nuaimiya just south of the city. [Ghad]
An Iraqi Army 59th Brigade unit defused 4 IEDs in the Annaz area. [BOC Facebook Page]
An Iraqi Army 24th Brigade unit killed 2 Daesh terrorists and destroyed a hideout in the Abadi area. [BOC Facebook Page]
Baghdad Operations Command troops killed 4 Daesh terrorists and destroyed 4 hideouts and a vehicle in Albu Sawda in Qarma. [BOC Facebook Page]
An Iraqi Army 45th Brigade unit raided a house belongs to a captured Daesh member in Dhabitya in Qarma and found 3 IEDs and other explosives. [BOC Facebook Page]
Daesh publishes photos of rocketing Iraqi forces in Qarma. [DabiqNews]
Iraqi Rapid Intervention troops killed 2 terrorists and destroyed a vehicle carrying a machine gun east of Falluja. [BOC Facebook Page]
Hit/Haditha
Iraqi airstrikes destroyed a Daesh bomb-making facility in Dolab, Hit District, killing 11 Daesh members, an Anbar police source said. [Sumaria]
Jazeera Operations Command troops defused 23 IEDs in the Albu Hayat area. [IWMC Report]
Jazeera Operations Command troops killed 10 Daesh fighters and destroyed a truck carrying rockets in the Albu Hayat area. [IWMC Report]
Jazeera Operations Command artillery shelled Daesh in Dwailiba, wounding 3 terrorists and destroying 3 rocket launchers and the ammunition caches. [IWMC Report]
SALAHUDDIN
Baiji
Al-Nujaba Movement says its fighters captured 3 “strategic” hills in the Makhoul Mountains area. [Mawazin]
Salahuddin Operations Command troops destroyed 2 Daesh vehicles and killed the terrorists inside them in the Makhoul Mountains area. [IWMC Report]
Iraqi Sukhoi planes acting on intelligence provided by the Military Intelligence Directorate, targeted Daesh on the Abu Sajiyat Road near the Himrin Mountains, killing 12 Daesh members. [Mada]
Clashes broke out on Sunday in the Himrin Mountains between Iraqi forces and Daesh militants, a Salahuddin security source said. The fighting erupted while police forces attempted to create a safe passage for ten individuals from two families who had fled from Hawija earlier in the day, the source said. Two policemen were killed in the fighting, during which Iraqi forces were able to rescue five individuals including an eight-year old boy. Search operations for the remaining five fleeing individuals continued into Monday when Iraqi forces found the remaining individuals, Salahuddin security sources said. The family members were in poor shape due to hunger and the cold conditions and one person did not survive the journey, the source added, reporting that the surviving family members have been taken to a secure location. [Mada] [Mada]
Tikrit
A medical source says three civilians were wounded in a Daesh mortar shelling on the Albu Ubaid village west of Tikrit. [Ghad]
A security source says Daesh launched a large attack on several areas, including the Allas oil field, near the Himrin Mountains. [Ghad]
A security source says PMFs and tribal fighters killed 2 Daesh suicide terrorists, who tried to sneak into Al-Alam subdistrict from a hideout in a delta in the Tigris, and are looking for a third terrorist. [Mada]
Samarra
The IAF destroyed a Daesh command headquarters west of Jazeera Samarra, killing seven Daesh militants, the IWMC announced. [Mada]
Saraya Al-Salam confiscated large amounts of weapons in the Ishaqi area near Samarra. [Harbi]
Tooz
A security source says additional Peshmerga troops arrived to Tuz Khurmatu and were deployed in several areas in the city. [Ghad]
DIYALA
Baquba
The former Governor of Diyala, Amer Al-Mugamaei, says an Administrative Court has decided to restore him to his position as Governor of the province, in place of sitting Governor Muthanna Al-Tamimi. The Governorate Council passed a vote of no confidence against the Governor in March, based on allegations of embezzling funds earmarked to support displaced persons. [PUKMedia]
Daesh says it detonated an IED in the Al-Mafraq area in Baquba killing an Iraqi Army “spy”. [DabiqNews]
Daesh says it detonated an IED on an Iraqi Army Humvee in Al-Qatoun, destroying it and killing the soldiers inside. [DabiqNews]
Muqdadiya/Abu Saida
More than 100 families have returned to the villages of Wuloush, Al-Jazeera, and Jaqjiq, near Muqdadiya, which were recaptured from Daesh some time ago, the District’s Mayor has announced, saying the return of the displaced villagers came through a coordinated effort between Dijla Operations Command and the District government. [Sumaria]
Northern Diyala
A security source says unknown armed men assassinated an Iraqi Army major in Mansouriya in northeast Diyala. [Maalomah]
KIRKUK
An unidentified group of armed men driving a BMW attacked a car belonging to the inspection directorate of the North Oil Company in the Wahda area in east Kirkuk city, killing the deputy director of the inspection directorate and his driver, as well as injuring a police engineer and a lawyer in the inspection directorate. [Sumaria]
A Turkmen MP from Kirkuk asks the Iraqi government to investigate the recent assassinations against Arab and Turkmen officials in Kirkuk, including the oil company officials today. He asks, if the security forces can’t find the people who committed these crimes then what are they doing in the city? [Buratha]
DaeshDaily comment. The subplot here is the mistrust of Kurdish political leadership and Asayesh security apparatus by Turkmen and Arabs in Kirkuk. This is an ongoing issue, but was further intensified by the occupation of Kirkuk territory by Daesh and the KRG. The Kurds imposed their authority in Kirkuk after 2003 without any agreement from Baghdad, and declared their authority over Kirkuk city when the Iraqi Army abandoned it in the face of the Daesh invasion.
Security authorities in Kurdistan publish a video of a captured Daesh terrorist who admitted beheading 5 Peshmerga prisoners in Hawija. [Rudaw]
Counter-terrorism forces have announced the capture of a suspect known as Abu Maryam on charges of involvement in multiple crimes, which include killing numerous Peshmerga prisoners. [PUKMedia]
A joint security operations room has been established in Kirkuk to respond to crimes such as theft, abduction, and rape, the High Security Committee of the Governorate has announced. [Mada]
NINEWA
Mosul
Coalition planes struck Daesh targets in Al-Mazraa village, near Al-Kasik, on the Mosul-Tal Afar road west of Mosul, killing 45 Daesh members and destroying six vehicle bombs, an Iraqi joint command source said. [Mada]
Daesh has executed three Sunni imams in central Mosul, reportedly for having refused a Daesh order to use their Friday sermons to encourage those gathered prayer to join Daesh, a local source said.
Daesh also executed one of its own judges, known as Younis Abd Al-Salam, on charges of collaborating with Iraqi security forces and the International Coalition, a PUK official said, adding that the executed man was known for having passed many death sentences on Mosul residents. Meanwhile, in Qayara, Daesh executed one of its most prominent local commanders, the deputy governor of its “Dijla state” on charges of grand treason, a Ninewa source said, speculating that the charge may involve passing information to the security forces. [BasNews] [PUKMedia] [Karemlash]
A local source says Daesh executed a doctor publicly in Hammam Al-Alil south of Mosul for refusing to implement Daesh orders. [Maalomah]
DaeshDaily comment. There has been one incident after another lately in which medical doctors have been executed. No one is safe in the “caliphate.”
The corpses of 31 Daesh fighters killed in combat with Iraqi forces have arrived at the central morgue in Mosul, a Ninewa security source says. [BasNews]
Sinjar
Peshmerga forces repelled a Daesh attack in the Tal Qasab area southeast of Sinjar, destroying two vehicle bombs with their drivers inside before a third sped away. [Rudaw]
Northwest Ninewa
Daesh says one of its Syrian suicide terrorists attacked the Peshmerga in the Halloum village northeast of Tal Afar with a vehicle bomb killing or wounding many of them. [ADI]
REPORTS FROM TURKEY
The Turkish border guard arrested 14 foreigners who sneaked from Syria into a Turkish military zone in Kilis. The prisoners were taken to a hospital for medical checkup; then they will be handed to the local police. [Anadolu]
REPORTS FROM SYRIA
Northeast
The Asayesh says it found two vehicle bombs in Hasaka, one parked near the College of Agriculture and the other near a hospital. [Qasioun]
A local activist says 2 motorcycle bombs exploded in the Tal Majdal village in Hasaka’s western countryside killing 4 YPG fighters and wounding 6 people including a child. [BasNews]
Daesh publishes photos of shelling the Safawiya village east of Ain Eissa. [ADI]
Daesh attacked areas in and around the town of Ayn Eissa near Kobane with heavy weapons and mortar shells, the YPG has announced in a statement, noting that Daesh has launched its attacks from the area outside Jarabulus. [Hawar]
Northwest
The towns of Tal Aren and Tal Hasel are “at the mercy” of Daesh and the regime, as Daesh continues shelling the predominantly Kurdish areas. The two towns have the unlucky quality of being situated in a location strategic to both the Daesh and the Syrian regime, which has also held the towns. The area is located on a strategic highway linking Aleppo to Al-Safira and is located near several important military installations, including two military airfields and a chemical weapons research and production facility within a 10 to 25 km (6-16 mile) radius. Daesh began shelling the towns in November after the regime troops retreated from the area. Daesh has cut off roads around the area, making it difficult to remove the injured for treatment. [Hawar]
A controversial law ratified by the self-governing administration of Afrin took effect Sunday, allowing the administration to manage the funds and properties of those who have migrated from Afrin or been absent from the town for more than a year. [BasNews]
PYD intelligence (Asayesh) forces conducted a widespread conscription and detention campaign, taking away tens of Kurdish civilians in the city of Afrin and surrounding areas, as well as in the Dirkik countryside, especially in the village of Suwaydiya. According to a Kurdish activist in the Afrin area the Asayesh raided Suwaydiya at night after cutting electric power to the city, demanding that families provide sons to the conscription campaign, and detaining some of the area’s civilians, including women, children, and whole families. The activist said that the village remained surrounded by the Asayesh forces, who had imposed a curfew in the city, and reported similar raids in various villages in the Afrin and Dirkik areas. The Kurdish intelligence forces also reportedly seized property from villagers, including personal and agricultural items. Detainees predominately belonged to the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria. [BasNews]
DaeshDaily comment. The PYD and its YPG militia have been a big asset against Daesh, but their recently initiated efforts to create their own governmental entity in northeast Syria faces severe political headwinds. They are grabbing the property of people who flee and forcing men into their military force without the support of any election or other expression of public opinion by those affected, and of course they don’t have agreement from the Syrian government either. This gives Turkey, which is hostile to Kurdish independence anywhere, a big opening. President Barzani is allied with Erdogan and against the PYD. The Kurdistan Democratic Party is a separate political party opposed to the PYD and its PKK connection and friendly with Barzani. Barzani hopes to win Turkish support for Iraqi Kurdistan’s independence by following Turkey’s anti-PKK line. This helps to explain why Turkey is now targeting YPG-held locations at times, and why Iraqi Kurds and Syrian Kurds have a political conflict over Sinjar. All of this is one more example of why Syria is a mess and could get worse.
Daesh publishes a video of the battles against the Syrian Army in Aleppo. [DabiqNews]
Daesh publishes photos of rocketing Syrian armed groups in the Al-Bil village in north Aleppo. [DabiqNews]
Daesh publishes photos of the results of the Russian bombing on Maslama in Aleppo. [ADI]
Central and West
Daesh publishes photos of shooting down a Syrian Army drone in West Qalamoun. [ADI]
Daesh says it captured the town of Hadath east of Sadad from the Syrian Army, killing 5 soldiers and capturing a tank and a vehicle and other different weapons and ammunition (photos). [JustPaste]
REPORTS FROM OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICAN COUNTRIES
Daesh audio newsletter for today in English. [Archive]
Egypt. Egyptian authorities say security forces captured a Daesh cell of 7 members responsible for recruiting and sending terrorists to Syria. The cell is led and financed by a local dentist who admitted he recruited many terrorists in several cities by paying them 5,000 Egyptian pounds ($638) each. [Mogaz]
Daesh says it destroyed an Egyptian police armored vehicle in Arish, killing or wounding the policemen inside. [DabiqNews]
Libya. Daesh terrorists executed a Libyan man and a woman from an Arab country publicly in Sirte, accusing them of witchcraft and opposing Daesh in the city. [AfriGate]
Daesh issued orders to the people of Sirte they must register all their business contracts in its sharia court, otherwise they will be punished. [AfriGate]
Other countries
Sweden. A court in Sweden has sentenced two men to life imprisonment over “terror crime” murders carried out by Islamic State militants in Syria in 2013. The case against the pair is the first time that a “terror crime”–as opposed to “crimes against international law”–has been tried by a Swedish court. [BBC]
DaeshDaily comment. The war on terror would be going much better if other nations took the same measures against their citizens who joined Daesh. Some countries released Daesh returnees even after it was proven they had killed Syrian and Iraqi civilians. Many in Iraq and Syria feel that their blood is cheaper when things like this happen. What’s the difference between a terrorist who kills Iraqi or Syrian civilians and a terrorist who kills civilians in other countries?
Some of the returnees claimed to be only “cooks” or doing other civilian jobs for Daesh, but with tens of thousands of civilians killed by Daesh, every Daesh member is implicated in at least one of these casualties and should be held accountable for their crimes. Otherwise they are more than capable of continuing their crimes in their home countries. Does anyone really want Daesh recruiters or potential suicide bombers loose in their streets?
SOCIAL MEDIA SOURCES
Facebook Page of the Day
A Daesh page from Ramadi
Daesh Twitter Accounts of the Day
https://twitter.com/Khalid_Mohsen19
https://twitter.com/khilafaa_42
