December 16, 2015
REPORTS FROM IRAQ
Today’s Major Developments:
Daesh launches multiple counter-attacks against Peshmerga in Ninewa, and attacks Turks in Bashiqa. (See Ninewa coverage below)
Iraqis press diplomatic case on Turkish deployment with Biden, Arab League.
Iraqi forces stop Daesh attacks near Falluja.
Daesh cell arrested in Kirkuk amid worsening security conditions.
Italy sends military help team for the troubled Mosul Dam.
BAGHDAD
Political developments
Prime Minister Abadi spoke by telephone to US Vice President Joe Biden. His office then issued a statement saying he stressed to Biden the importance of maintaining Iraqi sovereignty and territorial unity. [Baghdadia]
The Arab League will hold an emergency foreign ministers’ meeting on 24 December to discuss the deployment of Turkish forces in Iraq, after Iraq requested such a meeting. [Rudaw]
Abadi’s spokesman says Iraq has no position on the new 34-nation Saudi alliance as it has no “clear picture” about it. He also says Saudi Arabia hasn’t yet announced officially the opening of its Embassy in Baghdad. [Buratha]
Military developments
Minister of Defense Khalid Al-Obeidi has met with his American counterpart Ashton Carter to discuss the status of the operations in all sectors of the campaign against Daesh as well as preparations for the battle to free Mosul from Daesh control, which Al-Obeidi described in a statement after the meeting as the “final battle” in the war against Daesh. He also supported continued US support to Iraq in training and equipment. [Baghdadia]
Iraqi security forces closed the Jumhuriya and the Tabiqayn Bridges over the Tigris in central Baghdad, after protestors upset about soldiers’ death benefits stormed the entrances to the fortified Green Zone in the center of the Iraqi capital, a security source said. Iraqi forces closed all entrances to the Green Zone. [Baghdadia]
Iraqi MP Nayif Al-Shammari has called on the Iraqi government to issue an amnesty (i.e., rehire) members of the police and other security forces who left their posts when Daesh invaded in mid-2014, so they can participate in the war to liberate Mosul. He says this would honor the survivors of those executed by Daesh in the city, describing many, such as teachers executed for refusing to implement the Daesh curriculum, as having taken heroic positions that led to their own deaths. [Sumaria]
DaeshDaily comment. Iraq already brought some of these men to work from the Speicher base in Salahuddin, but many others just wanted to stay in Erbil and get paid (so Iraq ignored them).
The Iraqi Parliament has approved the 2016 budget, a parliamentary source said. [Mada]
Security developments
An Iraqi Army 43rd Brigade unit confiscated explosive materials in two areas in Rashidiya in northeast Baghdad. [BOC Facebook Page]
An Iraqi Army 23rd Brigade unit defused 3 IEDs in the Al-Sour area in south Baghdad. [BOC Facebook Page]
An Iraqi Army 60th Brigade unit killed a terrorist and wounded another in the Ubaid area in southwest Baghdad. [BOC Facebook Page]
An IFP unit defused an IED planted near a citizen’s house in Bayya in southwest Baghdad while another IFP unit defused an IED planted in an orchard in Rukaya in north Baghdad. [BOC Facebook Page]
According to security sources:
- An IED exploded in the Griaat area of northwest Baghdad, killing one person and wounding eight others. [Mada]
- Unidentified armed men opened fire with a pistol on two brothers and their cousin near their home in Tarmiya north of Baghdad, killing all three. The three had all been serving in the Iraqi military but left earlier due to threats they received from unknown parties. [Mada]
- Unknown armed men dressed in military garb shot another soldier dead at a military checkpoint in Tarmiya. [Sumaria] [Baghdadia]
- A civilian was killed when an IED planted in a garden exploded in Taji north of Baghdad. [Baghdadia]
- An IED exploded on a roadside in the Shaab area of north Baghdad, injuring a civilian. [Baghdadia]
- An IED exploded near a popular market in the Mashtal area of east Baghdad, killing one person and injuring five others. [Mada]
- The body of a young woman was found shot in Sadr City in east Baghdad. The body carried torture and burn marks. [Sumaria]
- An IED exploded in the Zafaraniya area of southeast Baghdad, killing one person and injuring as many as six others. [Mada] [Baghdadia]
- Four civilians were wounded when an IED exploded in Arab Jabour in Dora in south Baghdad. [Ghad]
- An IED exploded in Hay Al-Amil, southwest Baghdad, killing two people and injuring five others. [Mada]
- An IED exploded targeting an Iraqi Army convoy in the Al-Enaz village in Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, killing six soldiers and wounding another. [Sumaria]
ANBAR
Ramadi
Iraqi forces now control the agricultural directorate building and Ramadi’s Court building after heavy clashes with Daesh fighters. The commander of the tribal PMFs in Anbar has announced that three detachments of his fighters have arrived in the northern sector of Ramadi to reinforce Iraqi security forces in holding territory seized from Daesh and to prepare to advance on the city center. [Baghdadia] [Mada]
In ongoing operations to clear the Jazeera area, Iraqi forces reportedly killed 16 Daesh members as well as destroying three vehicle bombs and several Daesh positions. [Mada]
Iraqi forces repelled a Daesh attack in Hsaiba east of Ramadi, the head of Khaldiya council has said, adding that the fighting led to the death of 14 Daesh members and the destruction of several Daesh fuel tankers.
The Anbar Operations Commander says Iraqi forces supported by Coalition warplanes stopped a Daesh attack on the Albu Dhiab area northwest of the city, killing 10 terrorists. [Sumaria]
The Anbar Operations Commander says Iraqi forces supported by Iraqi and Coalition airpower stopped another Daesh attack near the Palestine Bridge in northeast Ramadi, destroying three vehicle bombs, killing seven Daesh terrorists, and forcing the rest to flee. [Sumaria]
An Anbar Operations Command source says the IAA destroyed a Daesh location and killed 5 terrorists in Jaraishi north of Ramadi. [Harbi]
An IFP source says Iraqi forces destroyed a Daesh vehicle and defused 3 IEDs while clearing Madrassa Street in Madhiq east of Ramadi. [Harbi]
Videos of Iraqi forces in Tameem in Ramadi [Harbi] [Harbi] [Harbi] [Harbi] [Harbi] [Harbi] [Harbi]
A video of a Daesh vehicle bomb being destroyed while attacking Iraqi forces in Anbar [YouTube]
Falluja
A PMF source says two PMF groups are participating in the battles to liberate south Falluja that started today. [Harbi]
Iraqi forces have fully captured Nuaimiya just south of Falluja, a Baghdad Operations Command has announced, saying that its First Division troops have raised the Iraqi flag over the local police center. First Division forces killed 20 Daesh members and destroyed four heavy guns, weapons caches, and a vehicle, as well as a booby-trapped hideout, while defusing 17 IEDs, the BOC statement said.
The Sixth Division seized the Al-Maemir village, while a large contingent of Seventeenth Division forces reached the edge of the Bustan Al-Tikriti area east of Ameriyat Al-Falluja, the BOC said in its statement. The Sixth Division killed 14 Daesh militants, destroyed two vehicles, and defused 10 IEDs and a booby-trapped house, while the Seventeenth Division killed 17 Daesh militants, destroyed two vehicles and four weapons caches, and defused 36 IEDs. [Mada] [Ghad]
Daesh launched vehicle bomb and suicide bomb attacks on two fronts in Ameriyat Al-Falluja, 22 km (14 miles) south of Falluja city, the local administration said, attacking from both the Albu Daaij and the Al-Iqama areas. [Mada]
The Ameriyat Al-Falluja Police Chief says the curfew in the city was cancelled after security forces took full control of the situation, having stopped the Daesh attack. [Maalomah]
Daesh says its terrorists clashed with Iraqi forces in Ameriyat Al-Falluja, without giving information about the results. [ADI]
Three Daesh suicide bombers were killed as they attempted to raid a security command center 14 km (9 miles) east of Falluja, an Anbar Operations Command source said. [Mada]
Baghdad Operations Command troops killed 4 terrorists and wounded another and destroyed a vehicle in Qarma district. [BOC Facebook Page]
Hit/Haditha
Daesh says eight civilians were wounded (including three children and two women) in a Coalition airstrike on Hit (photos). [A3maq] [DabiqNews]
Western Anbar
The Chairman of the Border Crossings Commission in Anbar has ordered formation of an investigative committee to look into the circumstances surrounding an attack three days ago when seven vehicle bombs targeted the Iraqi border crossing at Trebil; all were reported destroyed without causing any human casualties. [Sumaria]
SALAHUDDIN
Baiji
An IFP source says a Rapid Intervention (RI) unit attacked Daesh hideouts in Fatha north of Baiji and killed six terrorists. An IFP source says the RI killed a Daesh sniper in the same area. [Harbi] [Harbi]
Tikrit
Eight members of Iraqi joint forces were injured in fighting against Daesh east of Tikrit, according to a PMF announcement. Battles are still ongoing pitting Iraqi police and PMFs against Daesh fighters in the Al-Ali and Al-Alam areas, where fighting erupted yesterday, the PMF spokesman in the area announced, saying that PMF reinforcements had arrived and that intelligence reports indicated that seven Daesh suicide bombers were in the area, while security forces continued to search for them. Security forces have surrounded the Al-Ali area and are preparing to dislodge it from Daesh control, a security source said. [Mada] [Baghdadia]
DIYALA
Muqdadiya/Abu Saida
Twelve mortar shells fell on Abu Musa, Asyud, and Al-Luhaybat villages in Muqdadiya, causing damage to homes but without causing human casualties, according to the Muqdadiya District Council. [Baghdadia]
The first group of displaced persons, numbering around 100 families, has returned to their homes in a village near Jalawla, a Kurdish Diyala Governorate Council member announced. [Sumaria]
KIRKUK
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi and Interior Minister Muhammad Salem Al-Ghaban have met with Kirkuk Governor Najmaldin Karim to discuss worsening population security conditions in Kirkuk as well as services for displaced persons in the Governorate, the PM’s office said in a statement, adding that they also discussed plans for recapturing parts of the province held by Daesh. [Rudaw]
CoR members representing Kirkuk have announced their intention to submit a request to the United Nations to investigate the assassinations that have occurred recently in the Governorate, accusing both the central government and the provincial government of “falling short” in discovering the perpetrators of Kirkuk’s recent wave of violent and criminal activity. [Sumaria]
A local source says Daesh executed a man, his wife and their three children because they tried to leave Hawija. [Maalomah]
Security forces arrested a Daesh “sleeper cell” in Kirkuk consisting of four men from the village of Jardagolu, 25 km (15.5 miles) south of Kirkuk, who had previously been members of Al-Qaeda and who had entered Kirkuk city along with Peshmerga forces on the pretext of being displaced persons. The four had been planning attacks in Kirkuk and in the KRG region, said the police director for the districts and sub-districts outside the city. [Mada] [Rudaw]
Coalition warplanes conducted a series of bombing raids on Daesh-held sites in western Kirkuk, including a grain storage facility in Hawija, the local electricity directorate, and several houses reportedly used for planning Daesh operations in the area, a security source said. [Baghdadia]
NINEWA
Mosul
Daesh launched simultaneous attacks on multiple Peshmerga positions in Ninewa Governorate today in a coordinated assault involving multiple suicide bombers and vehicle bombs, and mortar and artillery shelling. At least two Peshmerga commanders were killed along with reportedly scores of Daesh fighters. Heavy combat was still ongoing across a number of fronts stretching across Peshmerga-held areas of Ninewa.
Bashiqa. The Zilkan Camp in Bashiqa, which has featured prominently in an ongoing dispute between Iraq and Turkey over Turkish military presence at the camp, took heavy shelling by Daesh forces with more than 120 mortar shells landing on the camp where Peshmerga fighters and some non-government National Mobilization Forces personnel are barracked, the PUK has announced. A Ninewa security source said that the shelling of the base was preceded by an attack by three Daesh suicide bombers that was frustrated. Two were killed before they could detonate their payload and the third fled the scene without detonating himself. [Baghdadia]
Peshmerga forces engaged Daesh fighters amid the attack on the base and killed more than 23 of them in battles which are still ongoing east of Mosul. Mada reports that three Peshmerga soldiers were killed in the shelling, citing the PUK’s media official in Ninewa. Two National Mobilization Front militiamen were killed in the shelling and four others wounded, according to a statement issued by former Ninewa governor Atheel Al-Nujaifi, an NMF leader. The NMF have now vacated the Zilkan base, a Ninewa security source said, citing the renewed shelling. Anadolu reports that four Turkish soldiers at the base were wounded in the shelling, citing the Turkish military. [Mada] [Baghdadia] [Mada] [Anadolu] [Mada]
The Turkish Chief of Staff says 4 Turkish soldiers were wounded slightly. Daesh attacked the Peshmerga in Bashiqa and some of its shells fell on the camp. The Turkish artillery responded and destroyed some Daesh locations. The Chief of Staff says the attack shows the importance of providing protection for the camp. [IslamMemo]
However, a Sunni MP from Mosul says Nujaifi is the “godfather of Turkization” of Ninewa and wants to join it to Turkey, like his grandfathers wanted. He repeated the statement of others that Nujaifi’s claims that Iraq gave permission to Turkish troops are not true. [Etejah]
Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Turkish troops in Zilkan “responded properly” to the Daesh attack and destroyed several Daesh locations. It says a trainee was killed and another trainee and four Turkish soldiers were wounded. It says the attack proved Turkey’s fears about the safety of the compound was right and that the hostile Iraqi government response drew Daesh attention to the camp. [Anadolu]
The Turkish PM also says the Turkish troops destroyed Daesh locations in the area and says Turkey will take the necessary measurements to against the dangers in the area. [Anadolu]
DaeshDaily comment. The Turkish troops wouldn’t have been attacked if they were not there in the first place. It sounds like Turkey will now use this attack to strengthen its troop presence in Ninewa. Turkey always finds a way to take advantage of what Daesh does, while Iraq pays either way.
Daesh says one of its suicide terrorists attacked the Peshmerga in Bashiqa Mountain and says its terrorists launched an attack on the Peshmerga in the same area.[A3maq] [A3maq]
A Daesh source says Daesh terrorists attacked the Turkish camp in Bashiqa with 200 Grad rockets, killing or wounding many of them. [A3maq]
Daesh says its terrorists launched an attack on the Peshmerga in Al-Khazer after a suicide attack
Although Daesh has claimed the attack on Zilkan base in its media outlets, Iran’s Fars news agency carries one report, which lacked confirmation and which we found not credible, stating that the Shia Kata’eb Hezbollah militia claimed responsibility for the shelling of the Bashiqa base. [Fars] Kata’eb Hezbollah pointed out it has no presence near Bashiqa and says it didn’t shell the NMF compound. [Rudaw]
Coalition warplanes joined the fight, targeting the Daesh attackers in the Khazer and Wirdaq areas, but were unable to strike the attackers in the Bashiqa area owing to poor weather conditions, a PUK media official said. A statement issued by the Security Committee of the KRG says that the Coalition flew 23 sorties in the fighting. [Mada] [Rudaw]
Northwest Ninewa
Daesh also launched a heavy attack on Peshmerga positions in Al-Ayadhiya west of Mosul, detonating two suicide vehicle bombs and four explosives vests, a Peshmerga source said. Two Peshmerga fighters and 17 Daesh militants were killed in the attack. Rudaw refers to four Daesh suicide bombers who reportedly killed and injured ten Peshmerga fighters in an attack on a Peshmerga command center in the Kasik area, Rudaw reports, providing no further details. [Baghdadia] [Rudaw]
A Peshmerga field commander said the Peshmerga stopped two Daesh attacks in Ninewa today, citing the battles in Bashiqa, on the Khazer front, and in Nawaran near Sinjar, saying that the Peshmerga were able, with international air support, to repel the attacks and inflict casualties on Daesh in the Nawaran area numbering in the tens including suicide attackers, as well as destroying 12 vehicle bombs and a weapons cache. The Daesh attackers in the villages of Hasan Sham, Mankouba, and the Qusair Mountain were also repelled by Kurdish forces, who killed 20 Daesh fighters—their bodies left behind when their fellow militants fled the battle. A Peshmerga commander, General Magdid Harki, and another field commander were killed in the battle to prevent Daesh from advancing up Qusair Mountain. [BasNews] [Rudaw] [Xendan]
Daesh says 3 of its suicide terrorists attacked the Peshmerga in Kraishat village, killing or wounding many of them. [ADI]
A video of destroying a Daesh vehicle bomb near Nawaran [Kurdistan24]
A video of Daesh suicide bombers’ vehicles captured by the Peshmerga [Kurdistan24]
Makhmur
Daesh publishes photos of targeting Peshmerga in Makhmur with locally made rockets. [DabiqNews]
Daesh says its terrorists captured the Al-Zanqal area and the oil company close to it in Gwer after battles with the Peshmerga. [A3maq]
Other Developments
Daesh has executed a former parliamentary candidate with the Uniters for Reform list, Ghaib Sultan Abd, after taking him from his home in the Qayara area south of Mosul, a Ninewa police source said. [BasNews]
A local human rights group says a Saudi Daesh imam issued a verbal fatwa to kill newly born children with Down Syndrome. The group says it couldn’t confirm the report but says there have been 38 deaths among such children in the city. [Karemlash]
Daesh publishes photos of executing three “spies”. [DabiqNews]
One important story got lost in the battle reports. Italy is sending 450 of its soldiers to protect engineers from the Italian firm Trevil who will be working to prevent the collapse of Mosul Dam, the Italian PM Matteo Renzi has announced. Trevil participated in the construction of the dam in the 1980s along with German companies. The Dam provides water and power to more than one million people and is under threat of failure, Renzi said. [Mada]
Other Governorates
SOUTHERN IRAQ
A group of 26 Qatari falconers (hunters), who were abducted by an unknown armed group today, were in off-limits areas and not abiding by Iraqi government instructions, the Iraqi Ministry of Interior has announced. It said it would continue the effort to find the missing men. [Sumaria] Media sources say nine of the Qatari hostages were released and arrived in Kuwait. [Sumaria]
A security source says unknown armed men in two vehicles shot and killed two civilians in Hartha in northeast Basra. [Mawazin]
REPORTS FROM TURKEY
REPORTS FROM SYRIA
Northeast
Daesh says 2 of its suicide terrorists attacked the YPG on Mount Abdulaziz on Monday with explosives vests, killing 18 YPG fighters including the military commander of the area. [A3maq]
The YPG has called for residents of the Tal Hamis area, in the Hasaka countryside, to return home after the removal of land mines in the area that were placed by Daesh before it lost control of the area to YPG forces. [BasNews]
The YPG says it arrested 21 Syrian security members in Qamishli accusing them of “misbehaving.” Local sources say Syrian troops withdrew to their headquarters after the situation got tense with the YPG. [ARA]
Northwest
The Free Syrian Army Chief of Staff said Russia has launched 1,300 airstrikes on Syria so far and only 5% of them targeted Daesh. He says 1,300 people including women and children were killed by Russian airstrikes so far. [KulRadio]
Syrian helicopters bombed Al-Bab, followed by Russian airstrikes on the city, killing 9 civilians and wounding more than 40. Syrian planes also launched 3 airstrikes on Maskana, but there are no reports of casualties. [Qasioun]
The Syrian regime resumes operation of the Kowaires airbase after recapturing it from Daesh. [Qasioun]
Daesh detonated a car bomb in Harbal village after Jabha Shamiya launched an attack to recapture it. [Qasioun] Daesh says it stopped a fourth Jabha Shamiya attack on Harbal, killing or wounding many JS fighters (photos). Daesh says at least 8 JS members were killed in the attack. [DabiqNews] [A3maq]
Daesh publishes photos of the results of the Russian bombing on Maslama. [DabiqNews]
Central and West
A Syrian military spokesman says Syrian troops shelled Daesh in eastern Homs countryside, killing many Daesh fighters and destroying many vehicles. [SANA]
Daesh publishes a video of executing Nusra Front fighters. [DabiqNews]
Daesh publishes a video of the Hadath village north of Mahin. [A3maq]
East
Daesh says it captured 3 Syrian army military locations and killed seven soldiers in the Jufra area near the Deir Ez-Zor airport. [A3maq]
REPORTS FROM OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICAN COUNTRIES
Daesh audio newsletter for today in Arabic [DabiqNews]
Saudi Arabia. Daesh publishes several video messages threatening Saudi Arabia. [DabiqNews] [DabiqNews] [DabiqNews] [DabiqNews]
Egypt. An Egyptian security source says a roadside IED exploded targeted a military armored vehicle in Arish but missed it. A soldier was taken to the hospital after he got wounded by debris. [Youm7]
Egyptian security conducted a security campaign in Arish and captured 28 terrorism suspects. [Youm7]
Libya. An informed source says Libyan troops surrounded a terrorist leader’s house in Ajdabiya and asked the residents of the area to leave. Libyan warplanes launched several airstrikes on Ajdabiya targeting the Ajdabiya Shura Council of Revolutionaries and other terrorist groups. [LANA]
Daesh says its terrorists shelled Libyan armed groups in Derna with 106 mm cannons and other weapons. [ADI]
Tunisia. Security forces arrested two terrorism suspects in Gabes. [Tunisien]
The Tunisian Ministry of Interior says security forces arrested a Daesh female suspect in Tunis. Security forces found Daesh media materials and statistics in the woman’s house and videos of important facilities in the capital. The woman admitted she was radicalized after attending sermons led by a terrorist in a mosque. [Tunisien]
Tunisian Army artillery shelled several areas in the Kasserine heights where terrorists are hiding. [Tunisien]
Tunisian security forces conducted 301 raids and arrested 21 terrorism suspects. [Tunisien]
Other countries
Daesh publishes infographics about its operations in West Africa. [A3maq]
SOCIAL MEDIA SOURCES
Facebook Page of the Day
Ain Al-Mosul (a pro Nujaifi group) page
Daesh Twitter Accounts of the Day
https://twitter.com/hrootmosuli2
https://twitter.com/mohamedabosohib
https://twitter.com/GggggaaXhkhckyf
https://twitter.com/Byareek1437
