December 17, 2015
Today’s Major Developments:
Saudi Arabia resumes Embassy operations in Baghdad after 25 years.
Iraq steps up military effort south of Falluja.
Iraq forces, Peshmerga fend off bad-weather attacks in Samarra area, southwest Kirkuk, Ninewa
Turkey cites efforts to block terrorism suspects coming from Syria, deport others
Libyan conference representatives appoint a Presidential Council to lead the government.
REPORTS FROM IRAQ
BAGHDAD
Political developments
The chargé d’affaires for the Saudi Embassy in Iraq has arrived in Baghdad with 35 Embassy staff, a foreign ministry source said. The Embassy began its work with a meeting between the chargé d’affaires and Iraq’s foreign ministry undersecretary on Thursday. [Baghdadia]
DaeshDaily comment. Saudi Arabia’s previous Baghdad Embassy has been closed since 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait.
As for the new Saudi-led coalition, however, Prime Minister Abadi says it’s not real and only on paper. He says Iraq communicated with many countries in the coalition who said they were not committed to send troops. He finds the coalition strange in that the two countries who are fighting Daesh (Iraq and Syria) are not in it. Abadi says Iraq has been asking the coalition countries for support against Daesh for a year and a half without any response. He says Iraq stopped Daesh advances in the region, and without Iraq’s sacrifices Daesh would have been in the Gulf states now. [Rudaw]
The Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Salim Al-Jubouri has issued a statement welcoming the formation of the Saudi-led “Islamic Coalition” against terrorism but called for its leadership to coordinate and consult with Iraq. [Sumaria]
PM Abadi says Vice President Joe Biden told him the US will vote with Iraq in the UN against the Turkish troop presence. He criticized the contradictory Turkish statements intended to make excuses for the camp in Bashiqa. [Sumaria]
Meanwhile, the Uniters coalition, led by former Vice President Usama Nujaifi, issues a statement about yesterday’s Daesh attack in Ninewa, praising the National Mobilization Forces and thanking the Turkish trainers. [Sumaria]
DaeshDaily comment. Family solidarity is good, but the former VP’s decision to back his brother’s separatist scheme with the NMFs and the Turks seems unlikely to boost his political standing in Baghdad.
Security developments
The Minister of Defense attended on Wednesday the National Security Service’s international conference in Baghdad, called to discuss how to counter Daesh’s media strategy. The two-day conference was attended by representatives of more than 20 Coalition countries. [MoD Website]
The Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order (JTRN) says it has joined the Anti-Daesh Saudi coalition. [JTRN Website]
DaeshDaily comment. The Baathists still claim they are the rightful leaders and representatives of Iraq. The real problem is with how a terrorist organization that actually helped Daesh capture Mosul, Tikrit and other cities can be trusted in the fight against Daesh?
Iraqi units killed 3 Daesh terrorists and defused a booby-trapped house and 2 IEDs in different areas of west Baghdad. Other Iraqi units found 11 IEDs in east Baghdad. [BOC Facebook Page]
A security source says an IED exploded on a police vehicle in Tarmiya, wounding one policeman. The source also says unknown armed men shot and killed a woman in Tarmiya. [Sumaria]
Daesh says its snipers killed two Iraqi soldiers in two different areas in Tarmiya. [DabiqNews]
Daesh says it shelled and rocketed Iraqi forces in the Albu Aziz area north of Baghdad. [DabiqNews]
Daesh says it killed an AAH militiaman in Mada’in south of Baghdad city. [DabiqNews]
A police source says unknown armed men in military uniforms shot and killed a Ministry of Education employee in his house in Arab Jabour in south Baghdad. [Sumaria]
Daesh says it attacked several Iraqi Army Humvees in Arab Jabour with 12.5 and 14.5 mm weapons. [DabiqNews]
Daesh says it shelled the Iraqi Army 23rd Brigade in Rasheed in south Baghdad with 3 mortars. [DabiqNews]
According to security sources:
- An IED exploded near a popular market in Saba Al-Bor north of Baghdad, killing two people and wounding seven others. [Mada]
- An IED exploded near a popular restaurant in the Husseiniya Al-Rashidiya area of north Baghdad, killing two people and wounding six. [Mada]
- The body of an unidentified woman was found bearing gunshot wounds in the Baghdad Al-Jadida area of east Baghdad. [Baghdadia]
- A Ministry of Oil employee was killed when a sticky IED attached to his civilian car exploded as it passed through Dora in south Baghdad. [Mada]
- An IED exploded near an auto exhibition near the Nahrawan intersection south of Baghdad, killing one person and wounding five others. [Mada]
- An IED exploded in the Al-Amil area of southwest Baghdad, killing a civilian and wounding five others. [Baghdadia]
- An IED exploded near a commercial area of the Bayya district of southwest Baghdad, killing one person and wounding seven others. [Mada]
- Unknown armed men dressed in military garb raided the Yarmouk Hospital in west Baghdad, abducted a patient from inside, and removed him to an unknown location. [Baghdadia]
Coalition warplanes flew 19 sorties on Falluja, Baghdadi, Hit, Mosul and Tal Afar killing 10 terrorists, including 3 suicide bombers, and destroying 17 combat locations, 16 heavy machine guns, 8 vehicles, a rocket launching location and an excavator. [IWMC Report]
The Iraqi MoD publishes a video of airstrikes on Daesh locations in different areas. [MoD Website]
ANBAR
Ramadi
The Chair of Anbar Governorate Council has called for 4,000 new volunteers for the armed forces from the Governorate. The gates of Habbaniya military base east of Ramadi are open to new recruits, he said, calling on Anbaris to volunteer to combat Daesh and hold newly re-taken territory. [Sumaria]
Iraqi security forces conducted operations against Daesh remnants in the Hay Al-Qadisiya area of Tameem, killing 20 Daesh fighters. [Baghdadia]
Anbar Operations Command troops killed 4 Daesh terrorists who attacked them in Jaraishi north of Ramadi. [IWMC Report]
Falluja
Baghdad Operations Command says Iraqi forces killed 62 Daesh terrorists, defused 81 IEDs, and destroyed several booby-trapped houses in the ongoing campaign south of Falluja. [Mada]
Daesh says one of its Iraqi suicide terrorists attacked Iraqi forces in Zoba’a, killing 15 soldiers and forcing the rest to flee. [ADI]
Daesh says it stopped the Iraqi forces attack on Zoba’a and destroyed a construction shovel and an armored vehicle with IEDs. [DabiqNews]
Daesh publishes photos of its terrorists in Falluja. [DabiqNews]
Hit/Haditha
Iraqi forces destroyed 16 IEDs and cleared 18 roads and 20 houses in east Baghdadi. [IWMC Report]
Iraqi artillery shelled Daesh near a checkpoint in the Baghdadi area, destroying 2 motorcycles and killing 4 terrorists riding them. [IWMC Report]
Daesh says it shelled and rocketed Iraqi troops in Baghdadi (photos). [DabiqNews] [DabiqNews]
Western Anbar
Daesh publishes photos of the “graduation” of more of its terrorists in Anbar. [DabiqNews]
SALAHUDDIN
Baiji
A Mosul Anti-Terrorism Battalion unit killed 3 Daesh members and captured a Daesh leader in the Hajjaj area north of Baiji. [IWMC Report]
DaeshDaily comment. This story is significant. These are largely police and military who fled Mosul in mid-June 2014 and were later trained at the Speicher base near Tikrit by the Iraqi Federal Police to fight in other provinces. This program is consistent with US advice to recruit more Sunnis to fight Daesh. Some of the police who declined to leave Erbil to be trained ended up joining the separatist National Mobilization Forces.
Iraqi forces destroyed a Daesh hideout, killing the terrorists inside, and destroyed 8 IEDs while clearing part of the Baiji-Haditha road. [IWMC Report]
Tikrit
PM Abadi issues an order to keep the seemingly deposed Salahuddin Governor in his position. Members of Salahuddin GC had held a meeting in Baghdad (as we reported) and voted to fire the Governor. [Sumaria]
The Salahuddin Operations Commander says Iraqi forces killed all 4 terrorists hiding in Al-Alam. He says Daesh is using the bad weather to attack Iraqi forces but all its attacks failed so far. [Rudaw]
Samarra
Daesh attacked Samarra from two fronts today, a Salahuddin security source said, attacking at dawn with four suicide vehicle bombs followed by mortar shelling. Iraqi security forces destroyed the vehicle bombs before the drivers could detonate their load on Iraqi positions. The organization exploited poor conditions in the skies and heavy fog to launch its assault, the source said. Clashes concentrated in Sherif Abbas Street, Haji Hussein village, and Al-Nakhwa Street. Three mortar shells landed near the Old Samarra Cemetery and the Qatoul area without casualties, the source said.
On the western front Iraqi forces and PMFs repelled the Daesh attack, killing eight Daesh militants including a suicide bomber as well as destroying a construction excavator, a Humvee, and another vehicle before Daesh fighters retreated, according to a security source who spoke to Al-Baghdadia. [Mada] [Baghdadia]
Samarra Operations Command troops stopped a Daesh attack on Jazeera Samarra, killing many and destroying a construction shovel bomb and four other vehicle bombs in addition to 4 vehicles carrying terrorists. [IWMC Report]
The Tenth Brigade of the IFP Third Division, with support from the Fifth Division, repelled a Daesh attack in the Mkaishifa area north of Samarra, killing and wounding tens of Daesh militants as well as destroying an unspecified amount of Daesh hardware, an IFP commander says. He adding that corpses of slain Daesh fighters and debris remain scattered on the battlefield. [Mada]
Daesh says its terrorists attacked Iraqi forces with a vehicle bomb and a construction shovel bomb in the Strategic Line area west of Samarra; then other terrorist attacked the troops and the fighting lasted for hours. [A3maq]
Daesh says it destroyed a PMF vehicle with an IED in the Jalam area north of Samarra, killing four. [DabiqNews] An Iraqi Army 74th Infantry Brigade unit found 9 IEDs and mortar shells in Sayyed Gharib south of Samarra. [IWMC Report]
DIYALA
Elsewhere in Diyala
Five mortars fell on the Abu Musa, Asyud, and Al-Luhaybat, areas of Muqdadiya without human casualties, the District Council announced. [Mada]
DaeshDaily comment: Daesh shelled these same sites in Muqdadiya the day before as well.
Northern Diyala
Daesh says it detonated an IED inside the Kurds’ Asayesh headquarters in Khanaqin. [DabiqNews] Khanaqin is heavily Kurdish.
KIRKUK
Turkmen PMF fighters repelled a Daesh attack on PMF positions in Shamsiya village north of Bashir in Daquq southwest of Kirkuk city, a Shia Turkmen village, killing five Daesh fighters, a PMF commander said. One PMF fighter was wounded in the battle. He added that his forces had been on high alert because the weather caused poor visibility conditions in the area. [Mada]
Daesh’s version is that its terrorists attacked PMFs in Shamsiya village with light and midsize weapons, killing or wounding many of them. [ADI]
A security source says Daesh executed six former members of the Iraqi National Guard and mutilated their bodies in Abbasi subdistrict in Kirkuk. [Ghad]
A PUK MP has said that his parliamentary bloc is working to find a “legal solution” to setting aside funding from the national budget for the withheld salaries of governorate employees and pensioners in Kirkuk Governorate and for the Peshmerga in areas of northern Ninewa Governorate–but not for the PMFs in either Kirkuk or Ninewa as the newly approved 2016 budget requires, citing, in his words, the lack of PMF presence in those areas. The MP said that his bloc had suggested that the funds earmarked for PMFs in those areas should go to the Peshmerga but that this was not incorporated into the approved budget law. [Sumaria]
The UNHCR established a new displaced people camp of 1,680 tents in Laylan east of Kirkuk. [Rudaw]
NINEWA
Mosul
Approximately 50 prominent Arab and foreign Daesh commanders have disappeared from the scene in Ninewa, a local source said, prompting speculation that Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi the Daesh “caliph” has transferred them to the organization’s camps in Libya. The death of one such commander in Libya, Abu Nabil Al-Iraqi, was confirmed by the Pentagon earlier last month, the source noted. [Sumaria]
A Daesh official known as Abu Hamoudi was killed in yesterday’s fighting in Nawaran near Sinjar, a local Peshmerga official announced. Daesh launched attacks today to try to retrieve the bodies of their dead fighters, in a formation led by 12 Humvees, a bulldozer, and a car with Daesh fighters behind, but the Peshmerga repelled the attacks. [Rudaw] [Rudaw]
Daesh sent six suicide attackers against Peshmerga positions in the west of Sinjar District on the road between Al-Baaj and Dumiz, a Peshmerga commander announced, saying that his forces had killed two of the bombers but the fate of the remaining four was not yet known. He said Daesh had exploited the poor visibility caused by the weather in the area to infiltrate and launch attacks. [Rudaw]
Forty-two Daesh fighters were killed in yesterday’s fighting between Daesh and the Peshmerga east of Mosul in the area between Basakhra village and the Wirdaq front, a PUK official announced, saying this was a final body count for that section of the battles. [Mada]
The Peshmerga liberated all areas around Al-Khazer from Daesh after operations today in which an unspecified number of Daesh fighters were killed or fled, a Kurdish security source said, naming “Tal Aswad village, Ali Awa, Hasan Al-Sham, and other areas” in the area which links Ninewa to Erbil. [Mada]
DaeshDaily comment: This area had been one site of the major Daesh attacks launched yesterday on Peshmerga positions.
Daesh’s version is that it attacked the Peshmerga in the Ali Awa village in Al-Khazer with a vehicle bomb, then its terrorists entered the village and killed the Peshmerga fighters there. [ADI]
Kata’eb Al-Mosul says its fighters attacked a Daesh pickup vehicle in Muwafaqiya village east of Mosul killing four terrorists inside it. [KM Facebook Page]
A PUK official says Daesh executed another former electoral candidate from the Uniters list in Qayara. [PUKMedia]
The patriarchate of the Chaldean Church in Iraq has issued a statement announcing that Iraqi Chaldeans would limit their observations of Christmas this year to “silence and tears” owing to the difficult times the community has faced under Daesh’s occupation of Mosul and the Nineveh Plain, saying Iraqi Christians would observe the Christmas holiday under the “the worst” conditions of their history after Daesh occupied the area and 120,000 Christians fled from their homes. Those living as displaced persons in camps are also suffering harsh conditions, the statement said, and are dependent on charitable organizations and the church for their care.
The patriarchate also referred to “neglect and discrimination” faced by Christians in the rest of Iraq, referring to a burglary of a Christian home in east Baghdad, posters in Baghdad calling for Christians to wear the veil, the lack of official holidays for any Christian observances, and the recent controversy over national ID card policy in which minor children of religious minorities would be registered as Muslim if one parent had converted to Islam.
The statement also stressed the Iraqi Christians’ determination to remain in Iraq with their fellow Iraqi citizens and work for full national and religious rights for all Iraqis. [Mada]
Daesh says its terrorists launched a large attack on the Peshmerga in Bartella and Khorsabad capturing a brigade headquarters and several barracks and killing or wounding 20 Kurdish fighters. [ADI]
Northwest Ninewa
KRG President Masoud Barzani has met with Muslim leaders in Sinjar, announcing afterward in a statement that the people of Sinjar “will decide their future.” The KDP leader stressed the need to preserve and deepen the “culture of coexistence in Sinjar and all areas of Kurdistan,” urging religious and social leaders and political parties to play a role in spreading the culture of coexistence. Barzani called upon the people of Sinjar to “cooperate with the relevant authorities of the Kurdistan Region to rebuild the city and make it a governorate,” confirming that “the people of Sinjar will be the ones to decide their future.” The report notes that Barzani said earlier this month that the KRG would work with the Iraqi central government to make Sinjar a separate governorate in Iraq. [Sumaria]
Daesh says one of its suicide terrorists attacked the Peshmerga in Sinjar killing six fighters and wounding nine. [ADI]
Daesh says it shelled and rocketed the Peshmerga in different areas in northwest Ninewa and rocketed the Turkish camp in Bashiqa with 2 Grads. [DabiqNews] [DabiqNews]
Other Governorates
KURDISTAN
KRG President Masoud Barzani received US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter. A post-meeting statement from Barzani’s office said they discussed the political and the security situation in Iraq and Syria, the Mosul liberation plan, and raising the level of coordination between Iraqi forces, the Peshmerga, and the Coalition. [Rudaw]
REPORTS FROM TURKEY
The Turkish Minister of Interior says Turkey put 33,000 people from 123 countries on the list of people who are not allowed to enter Turkey due to suspicions of participation in terrorist activities in Syria. He also says Turkey deported 2,783 Daesh members from 89 countries. [Cihan]
REPORTS FROM SYRIA
Northeast
Coalition warplanes launched intensive airstrikes on the governorate building in Raqqa, Daesh’s main headquarters in the city. The warplanes also bombed the “cultural center” in Raqqa, killing or wounding Daesh members, according to local sources. [Qasioun]
Local activists say warplanes (thought to be Russian) bombed several areas in Raqqa including the train station area and Daesh’s sharia court, killing 21 civilians and wounding 11. [BasNews]
Daesh publishes photos and a video of the results of the Russian bombing on Raqqa. [DabiqNews] [A3maq]
Daesh says 9 people were killed and 25 wounded in four airstrikes on a residential neighborhood, its former sharia court location, and the fire department in Raqqa. [A3maq] [A3maq] [A3maq]
The National Kurdish Council (a Syrian Kurdish group close to Barzani) says a Roj Ava battalion moved towards the Iraqi-Syrian border at Rabi’a, giving no further details.
DaeshDaily comment. The Roj Ava troops are Syrian Kurdish troops trained by the KRG to fight Daesh in Syria but the PYD has refused to let them do so due to political differences.
The PYD Asayesh says two members of National Defense (a pro-Syrian government militia) were killed in clashes with Asayesh members in Qamishli. It also says the situation is still tense in the city. [Asayish]
The Tayy, the Arab tribe to which the two militiamen belonged, says the YPG killed 2 of its young men “cold bloodedly” without a reason, and the tribe claims the right of response. [Qasioun]
A landmine exploded near Tal Abyad, killing two civilians and wounding four. [Qasioun]
Daesh publishes photos of shelling Hartiya village near Ain Eissa. [DabiqNews]
Northwest
A local activist says Syrian troops captured all the villages and towns around the Kowaires airbase from Daesh. [ARA]
Daesh publishes a video of the results of the Russian bombing on Al-Bab. [A3maq]
East
Daesh executed ten men in Al-Mayadin accused of leaving Islam and opposing Daesh. That raised the number of people executed by Daesh in Deir Ez-Zor during the last few days to 40. [Qasioun]
Coalition warplanes bombed the Kharata oil field in Deir Ez-Zor western countryside, putting it completely out of service and destroying several oil tankers.
Meanwhile, heavy battles continued between Daesh and the Syrian Army near Deir Ez-Zor airport and Syrian artillery shelled villages in the area. Daesh also shelled Syrian Army controlled areas. [Qasioun] [Qasioun]
South
Shuhada Al-Yarmouk Brigade, a Daesh affiliated radical group, executed two Nusra Front members by detonating them with explosives in Daraa. [Qasioun]
Daesh says its snipers killed 3 members of Syrian armed groups south of Damascus. [DabiqNews]
REPORTS FROM OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICAN COUNTRIES
Daesh audio newsletter for today in English.
Egypt. Daesh says it targeted an Egyptian police armed vehicle in Arish, killing an officer and a soldier and wounding another. [DabiqNews]
Libya. Libyan representatives sign a political agreement in Skhirat in Morocco after a year of negotiations and form a Presidential Council to lead the government. The meeting was attended by the UN and several countries’ representatives. [AfriGate] [AfriGate]
General Khalifa Hafter, the leader of his own army, says he doesn’t agree completely with the agreement and he sent 12 points to be added to the agreement draft. [AfriGate]
The 17 February Alliance says it rejects the agreement and considers it a conspiracy against Libya. The Alliance is a coalition of Libyan groups that helped remove Qaddafi. [AfriGate]
A former Qaddafi official says radical armed groups, including Daesh, captured large quantities of sarin gas from storehouses in south Libya and moved some of it to the north. [AfriGate]
A Libyan security official says an American military airplane landed in the Al-Witiya airbase on the border with Tunisia on Monday with 20 American commandos and a Sudanese translator. [AfriGate]
Tunisia. Tunisian security captured a takfiri, who joined Daesh and was trained in Libya, in Jendouba. [Tunisien]
Tunisian security captured a takfiri cell in Tunis that wanted to join Daesh in Libya or Syria. Cell members say they were attracted by the speeches of a local mosque imam who admitted his role. [Tunisien]
SOCIAL MEDIA SOURCES
Daesh publishes more video messages to Saudi Arabia. [DabiqNews] [DabiqNews] [DabiqNews] [DabiqNews] [DabiqNews] [ADI] [ADI]
Facebook Page of the Day
Albu Fahad tribe in Anbar page
Daesh Twitter Accounts of the Day
https://twitter.com/al_ifriqui
https://twitter.com/GzZBfG39Q2hF48u
https://twitter.com/bakralansary
https://twitter.com/abrar_abrar00
