December 29, 2015
Today’s Major Developments:
Al-Abadi visits liberated Ramadi.
Turkish report estimates 22,000 Daesh members in Turkey.
Syrian Army recaptures Mahin from Daesh.
REPORTS FROM IRAQ
BAGHDAD
Political developments
Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi visited the liberated areas of Ramadi today (photos). His office then denied media reports about an attack on Abadi in the city. [Sumaria] [Sumaria]
Steve Warren, the international coalition spokesman said today that the US had provided Iraq with 5000 anti-armor rockets to confront Daesh bombed vehicles in addition to 10,000 body armors, 10,000 helmets, and 10,000 rifles including sniper rifles. He added that no coalition units were deployed in Ramadi, and that Iraqi Army was able to rescue many families there. [Sumaria]
The US Embassy in Baghdad hailed the Iraqi troops and people on Monday for the liberation of Ramadi, adding that US support to Iraq will continue until the final defeat of Daesh. [Sumaria]
Videos of Iraqi people in Nukhaib, Ameriyat Al-Falluja, Hilla and Baghdad celebrating the liberation of Ramadi [YouTube] [Facebook] [Facebook] [YouTube]
Security developments
Daesh says it detonated 3 IEDs in Sadr City, 3 more in Karrada, and one in Hay Al-Jihad in southwest Baghdad, killing or wounding more than 50 “murtads”. [Store2Up]
DaeshDaily comment. Hay Al-Jihad and Karrada are mixed areas. Daesh has yet to explain how its IEDs can discriminate between Sunni civilians and Shia “murtads”.
According to security sources:
- Security forces captured a weapons and explosives cache in a terrorist’s house in Taji in northern Baghdad Governorate. Two of the confiscated IEDs were planted in TVs. The house was previously used as a guesthouse for foreign terrorists. [Mada]
- An IED went off in the “4000 Market” area of Al-Shaab in northeast Baghdad around noon today, killing one person and wounding eight. [Mada]
- The bodies of a man and his son were found shot in the Sadda area of Sadr City, days after they were kidnapped. [Mada]
DaeshDaily comment. Sadda area used to be the place where bodies of Sunni civilians were dumped by Shia militiamen and thugs during the sectarian war.
- A civilian and a security guard were wounded when an IED exploded near a public clinic in Camp Sarah in downtown Baghdad this morning. [Baghdadia]
- Daesh says it destroyed an Iraqi Army Humvee with an IED in Arab Jabour. [JustPaste]
- An IED placed in a commercial area in Suwaib in southwest Baghdad went off Tuesday afternoon, killing one civilian and wounding 8 others. [Mada]
- An IED placed in a market in Hay Al-Amel in southwest Baghdad killed a civilian and wounded 5 others when it exploded this noon. [Mada]
Coalition warplanes flew 28 sorties divided among Mosul, Tal Afar, Shirqat and Falluja, killing an unknown number of Daesh fighters and destroying 20 combat locations, 2 excavators, a tunnel, 4 vehicles, a mortar location, a trench, a checkpoint, a headquarters, and 2 shelters. [IWMC Report]
ANBAR
Ramadi
Iraqi military troops have entered Sufiya just east of Ramadi, getting only weak resistance from Daesh. The advance is rather slow due to the large number of IEDs and booby traps in place. Local sources say it is a matter of hours before Sufiya is back to Iraq. [Maalomah]
Daesh is still holding some areas east of Ramadi like Jazeera Al-Khaldiya, and parts of Hsaiba and Albu Shahab according to local council sources in Ramadi, calling on Army and security troops to advance to these areas and not allow Daesh to regroup there. [Mada]
DaeshDaily comment. Before May 17, 2015, Daesh controlled many areas around Ramadi, practically besieging Iraqi forces in the city, specifically in the governmental compound. All they did on May 17 was to enter that compound. Iraqi forces have now recaptured the few square kilometers in the downtown and captured many areas around the city, but they will need to do a lot more work to get rid of Daesh from “forbidden” areas around the city, especially on the way to Jazeera Khaldiya. The victory in Anbar was difficult and precious and the Iraqi government should make sure Daesh won’t have secure locations to regroup and attack Ramadi again.
A member of Anbar GC says Iraqi forces might take up to two months to clear Ramadi because of IEDs and booby-trapped houses. He also says Daesh dug many tunnels in the city and might use them to attack Iraqi forces. [Mada]
500 tribal fighters from the Tribal Mobilization brigades have arrived north of Ramadi to be ready to hold the liberated areas, according to Major General Ismail Al-Mahalawi, the Commander of Anbar Operations. [Sumaria]
Anbar Fighters Commission announced that as local police and tribesmen will hold the ground in Ramadi, the plans to liberate Falluja are ready and will become a “major surprise to all Iraqis”! [Mada]
10th Army Division blunted a Daesh attack around noon in Albu Aitha, north of Ramadi that used a bomb-rigged vehicle. An Abrams tank crew detected and destroyed the vehicle and killed the attacker, said General Al-Mahalawi. [Sumaria]
The Daesh “minister of finance” was arrested today after people reported him hiding among citizens trying to leave the city, according to Anbar Operations Command. [Sumaria]
The IWMC confirmed his capture. It also says Anti-Terrorism troops received 450 civilians and sheltered them in the governmental compound. [Mada]
The IWMC reported today that medical teams of security troops in Ramadi managed to rescue a woman and help her to deliver her baby “surrounded by hundreds of IEDs” in the Ramadi government complex. [Sumaria]
A booby-trapped female child exploded in Al-Hoz in downtown Ramadi, killing an Army Captain who approached her to help while she was lying on the ground. Daesh booby trapped the child to explode among the soldiers on their approach in Ramadi. [Ghad]
DaeshDaily comment. This is not the first time Daesh used children in their attacks. Sometimes children are trained as suicide bombers and sometimes they don’t know what’s happening. Sometimes terrorists use children they kidnapped. In 2007, for example, AQI terrorists passed a Coalition checkpoint in a car. The soldiers didn’t search the car because they saw two children in it. The terrorists left the car and the two children then detonated it [CNN]. The children had been kidnapped from a Shia family in Baghdad according to local media at that time.
Anti-terrorism troops managed to rescue 350 civilians, mostly women and children, who were under siege by Daesh in the areas of Albu Alwan, Al-Thaila, and Ramadi hospital. [Rudaw]
The IAF destroyed a foreign fighters’ guesthouse in the Albu Ali Al-Jassem area in northern Ramadi District killing 7 terrorists including foreigners. [IWMC Report]
The MoD publishes a video of an Iraqi soldier who returned gold items he found on a dead Daesh terrorist in Ramadi. The terrorist stole the gold from a displaced citizen’s house. [MoD Website]
A video of Iraqi forces inside the governmental compound in Ramadi [Yalla]
A video of Iraqi forces in Ramadi city [Yalla]
A video of IEDs planted by Daesh near a mosque in Ramadi [YouTube]
A video of a Daesh tunnel found in a house in Ramadi. [Facebook]
Falluja
Iraqi troops continued their operations to liberate areas south of Falluja, killing 15 Daesh terrorists including a sniper, and destroying a vehicle and defusing 25 IEDs. [BOC Facebook Page]
Hit/Haditha
Jazeera Operations Command artillery shelled Daesh in Jubba, killing 12 terrorists and destroying a weapons cache. [IWMC Report]
SALAHUDDIN
Baiji
A Salahuddin Operations Command source says Iraqi Army artillery shelled Daesh in Fatha, killing 10 terrorists. [Ghad]
Shirqat
A special unit of the Popular Mobilization Forces infiltrated Daesh lines in Shirqat to rescue the special information source (Khansa 1) who helped provide valuable intelligence that helped them kill several Daesh leaders in that city. The operation was successful. [Sumaria]
Army helicopters targeted a Daesh convoy of twelve 4-wheel drive vehicles near Shirqat, killing tens of Daesh members. The planes continued pursuing escaped Daesh fighters who tried to escape to their safe areas after the strike. [Maalomah]
Tikrit
Daesh says its terrorists shot down an Iraqi helicopter in Ain Al-Faris west of Tikrit. [JustPaste]
Samarra
Two Army helicopters struck Daesh in Jazeera Samarra and left tens of Daesh fighters dead today, according to IWMC. The first targeted a Daesh meeting and killed 20; the second targeted a booby trapped vehicle and destroyed it. [Maalomah]
An air strike by the Iraqi Air Force destroyed a Daesh hideout and killed three of its fighters in Jazeera Samarra today. The strike took advantage of prior intelligence. [Mada]
Samarra Operations Command says IAA helicopters targeted Daesh in Jazeera Samarra, destroying a hideout and killing 3 terrorists. [Mada]
Samarra Operations Command troops killed 8 Daesh terrorists and destroyed a vehicle bomb in Jazeera Samarra. [IWMC Report]
Elsewhere in Salahuddin
Daesh publishes a photo of one of its terrorists, the Lebanese Bilal Omar Bakri, and says he was killed somewhere in Salahuddin. [MRKZGulf]
DaeshDaily comment. This terrorist was the son of Omar Bakri, aka the “preacher of hate,” a major Al-Qaeda mouthpiece who was exiled from the UK to Lebanon. However, Bakri is at least a family oriented cleric. His daughter is a pole dancer, and according to the Huffington Post her father paid for her physical augmentation that allowed her to land the job. [HuffingtonPost]
DIYALA
Baquba
Five families from Hussein Al-Hamadi village in Khan Bani Saad south of Baquba were forced to leave their homes after being constantly fired at by Daesh gunmen hiding in orchards. The local council called for immediate action to save the families of this 100 year old village. [Sumaria]
KIRKUK
Daesh is digging trenches alongside the Himrin Hills to prevent security troops from advancing to west and southern areas of Kirkuk. Local government sources added that Daesh is distributing land to its supporters in these areas. The trenches were dug in Al-Asfar and Dhirban villages near Himrin. [Mada]
28 Daesh gunmen were killed including 3 commanders in an attack on a Popular Mobilization Forces’ defense line near Al-Bashir village in southwest Kirkuk. The attacks had been going on for two days. [Buratha]
A security source says Coalition warplanes bombed Daesh in Riyadh, Rashad, and other areas in Hawija District, killing many terrorists and destroying their vehicles. [Sumaria]
NINEWA
A Ninewa GC member says more than 20,000 Christian Iraqi families immigrated to Europe since Daesh’s attack on Ninewa last year. [Mada]
A video of a Yazidi girl who was kidnapped by Daesh returning to her family [Facebook]
Mosul
Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq’s Minister of Finance and important Kurdish political leader, said today that liberation of Mosul requires unity of all parties, and that it is impossible to liberate Mosul without the Peshmerga. [Karemlash]
Coalition warplanes killed tens of Daesh fighters in attacks on several villages in the Al-Khazer area, 40 km (25 miles) east of Mosul. [BasNews]
Tahsin Wathiq Hashim Al-Hayali, the manager of Awwad Al-Baghdadi’s office in Mosul, was killed in a Coalition airstrike on two Daesh vehicles in the Al-Malia neighborhood in Mosul. [AIN]
An IAA airstrike destroyed an IED factory in Qayara south of Mosul. [AIN]
Daesh today executed 20 young men from Al-Hod Al-Tahtani village in Qayara on charges of cooperating with government security troops and facilitating escape of people towards Makhmur areas held by the Peshmerga. [BasNews]
Daesh executed a PUK official after detaining him for 5 months in his house in Mosul. [PUKMedia]
The MoD publishes a video of the IAA helicopter strike on Qayara. [MoD Website]
Kata’eb Al-Mosul says its fighter killed a Daesh hisbah member in the old industrial area in Mosul. [KM Facebook Page]
Daesh publishes a video of schools in Mosul. [A3maq]
Daesh publishes photos of its fire department in Mosul. [JustPaste]
Other Governorates
KURDISTAN
The Peshmerga Ministry announced today that the number of wounded Peshmerga fighters since the start of combat with Daesh totals 7,000. [Rudaw]
REPORTS FROM TURKEY
Twenty-two thousand Daesh militants are based inside Turkey, a Turkish journalist has said, citing intelligence sources. Members of a leadership team of approximately 60 individuals move constantly between various Turkish cities, with direct control over 1,800 individuals who have been trained in Syria. [Cihan]
Turkish forces have nearly completed a two-kilometer cement wall on the border between the Daesh-held Syrian city of Jarabulus and the Turkish town of Qarqamesh. The 2-meters-plus wall will be illuminated and fitted with cameras, after a second wall is completed in the Islahiya area along the border. [Qasioun]
Speaking at a press conference in Serbia, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu reiterated Ankara’s opposition to YPG forces operating on the western side of the Euphrates, while reiterating the Turkish assessment that the forces that crossed the river to seize the Tishrin Dam are largely Arab forces that operate in coordination with the international Coalition. [IslamMemo]
In spite of the Turkish PM’s remarks above, Turkish forces have been reinforcing border areas near Gaziantep across the border from Jarabulus, Welati reports, citing Ankara’s unease with the possibility of Syrian Kurdish forces advancing across the Euphrates. [Welati]
Another article translated by our friend in Turkey: The article appeared in Turkey’s Cumhuriyet newspaper today (December 29), about the conclusion of a trial in which the defendants were accused of supplying sarin gas to jihadi groups in Syria. While the trial itself concerned supplying the gas to other jihadists, the comment at the end is about Daesh. [Cumhuriyet]
You can read the full article here
REPORTS FROM SYRIA
Northeast
A PYD leader in the Hasaka area has claimed that recent Turkish incursions across the Syrian border are related to what he alleged is Turkey’s support for Daesh and other armed groups against the YPG. [ARA]
Syria Democratic Forces repelled a Daesh attack on its positions in the Tal Baroud village south of Hasaka, killing six Daesh fighters. Daesh also attacked a SDF checkpoint south of Tal Tamr village with a motorcycle bomb, with casualty figures still unknown from that attack. [Welati]
Some Daesh fighters have been observed leaving the Manbij area south of Kobane as Syria Democratic Forces advance. A local source has said that Turkey facilitated the flight of tens of Daesh fighters toward Turkish territory, first crossing into Jarabulus. Daesh executed a Syrian Kurdish civilian in Manbij in a “beastly” way after torturing him, Hawar reports, citing local sources. [Hawar] [Hawar]
Daesh publishes photos of the results of Russian bombing on Tabaqa city. [JustPaste]
Daesh publishes photos of its charity activities in Shaddadi. [JustPaste]
DaeshDaily comment. Daesh obviously doesn’t like American infidels. However, it’s OK to use their money as shown in the photos.
Northwest
Daesh has retaken the Kurdish villages of Dubyan, Qazal, and Qura Kubri in the northern Aleppo countryside, after losing them to FSA-affiliated Turkmen militiamen the day before, Welati reports. Unidentified warplanes, believed to be Russian, struck the FSA forces during the clashes, killing at least 15. [Welati]
In the face of advancing Syrian Army units, Daesh has been withdrawing some of its forces from villages in the eastern Aleppo countryside, prompting locals to fear that the regime will regain control of areas abandoned by Daesh, ARA reports. Although some of its forces have been observed redeploying toward Raqqa, Daesh has continued to forbid people in the Aleppo countryside from leaving their villages, even under increasing Russian air bombardment, as Syrian forces advance. [ARA]
Daesh says it recaptured Qara Mazraa village near the Turkish border Aleppo’s northern countryside from Syrian armed groups. Daesh later said it captured the nearby Kharba village also. Daesh says it captured 5 villages in the area so far. [A3maq] [A3maq] [MRKZGulf]
Daesh publishes photos of shelling Syrian troops in Sharbaa village north of Kowaires airbase and other places in the area. [JustPaste] [JustPaste]
Central and West
Battles between Daesh and the Syrian Army have continued in the Homs countryside. Syrian troops have attempted to seize the Shaeir and Hajjar oilfields amid heavy Russian air bombardment.
Regime forces and allied militias with Russian air support have seized the town of Mahin east of Homs after heavy clashes with Daesh in which approximately 25 Syrian troops were killed along with an unspecified number of Daesh fighters.
A Russian air raid on Palmyra killed four civilians. [Qasioun] [Qasioun] [Qasioun]
The Syrian Army confirmed capturing Mahin in addition to villages in the area. [SANA]
Daesh claims responsibility for the car bomb attack in Hay Al-Zahra in Homs and says it killed 30 “murtads” and wounded 100. [JustPaste]
East
Syrian Army and Daesh forces have clashed at multiple sites in Deir Ez-Zor. Syrian troops attempted to seize the strategic Al-Tharda Mountain in the countryside around the Deir Ez-Zor military airport, while Syrian forces fought with Daesh militants inside the city’s Sinaa and Haweiqa neighborhoods. Syrian artillery, based in the mountains around the town, shelled these areas along with the Hisan and Husseiniya villages in the nearby countryside, as well as the Siyasiya Bridge, a strategic entrance to Deir Ez-Zor city. [Qasioun]
REPORTS FROM OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICAN COUNTRIES
Daesh publishes infographics explaining why watching satellite channels is against its religion. [JustPaste]
DaeshDaily comment. And why now? Does that maybe have something to do with the caliphate’s recent losses that are being reported on some of these channels?
Daesh audio newsletter for today in Arabic. [Archive]
Jordan. Jordanian police have announced increased security measures, a security source said, in a precautionary measure to prevent Daesh infiltration, even though Jordanian intelligence has not identified a specific threat. [Erem]
Yemen. Daesh says it killed 6 Houthis by detonating an IED on their vehicle in Sanaa. [A3maq]
Daesh says it targeted the Central Bank in the Qutun area of Hadhramaut. [JustPaste]
Egypt. Egyptian security forces destroyed an IED in the village of Obeidat near Sheikh Zuweid in North Sinai governorate. [VetoGate]
Nadiya Murad, an Iraqi Yazidi woman who escaped from Daesh after she was abducted in Iraq and held as a slave, has spoken to Egyptian television, following her meeting with Egyptian President Abd Al-Fattah Al-Sisi in Cairo earlier in the week. She explained that she had come to Egypt after she saw that Al-Sisi had expressed interest in combating Daesh. Murad said she does not know the whereabouts of her family since Daesh attacked them over a year ago (video). [Shorouk]
Libya. The Tobruk government’s Foreign Minister has confirmed that its forces are receiving American training, without providing further details. [IslamMemo]
A member of the Conference of Tribes and Libyan Cities, Abd Al-Majid Othman Ali, has estimated that 4,000 Tunisian fighters are in Libya supporting Daesh, including women and child fighters. The member also claimed that the wanted Tunisian radical known as Abu Ayyad is alive and living in Libya to oversee Tunisian fighters coming to Libya from Syria, adding that Abu Ayyad is currently in Sirte. The Libyan activist also claimed that Daesh-affiliated emirates in the Sirte area possessed deadly sarin gas. [AkhbarLIbya]
Libyan security forces are taking precautionary measures in anticipation of Daesh attacks on petroleum installations and power plants. [AkhbarLibya]
Daesh is training over 150 African children in marksmanship, suicide bombing, and improvised explosives in a camp east of Sirte. [AkhbarLibya]
Libyan airplanes targeted a Daesh site south of Ajdabiya on Monday, killing nine militants including five foreign fighters. [AkhbarLibya]
The Al-Qaida affiliate in Libya has called on Daesh to unite with it to make war on the Libyan National Army, which it describes as a common enemy. [AkhbarLibya]
Daesh publishes photos of its terrorists in Nawfaliya. [JustPaste]
Algeria. Algerian police arrested three Algerian women in their early 20s on Tuesday on charges of planning to join Daesh after being recruited online via social media. [AfriGate]
SOCIAL MEDIA SOURCES
Facebook Page of the Day
AfriGate News page
Daesh Twitter Accounts of the Day
https://twitter.com/dwlabaqya1
