January 11, 2016
REPORTS FROM IRAQ
Today’s Major Developments:
Belated bombshell in Al-Hashimi legal case.
Daesh targets Baghdad, Muqdadiya with major IED attacks.
Clearing of Daesh from Ramadi, Barwana areas continues.
Political dispute erupts about alleged Kurdish territorial designs against Iraq
US bombs Daesh’s bank in Mosul.
French warplanes attack Daesh in Libya
BAGHDAD
Political developments
Ahmed Shawki, the special operations officer at the office of Tariq Al-Hashimi, the ex-Vice President tried in absentia on terror charges, confessed before the Iraqi High Criminal Tribunal that he committed terror attacks in Baghdad and Falluja on orders of the Vice President. [Buratha]
DaeshDaily comment. Putting Al-Hashimi on trial was a hugely divisive decision and symbolized to many Sunnis the oppression of the Shia-majority government under Nouri Al-Maliki. Even at that time, however, some of his bodyguards gave evidence against him. Al-Hashimi was charged in December 2011 with numerous murders, using personal bodyguards as a hit squad, and arranging bomb attacks. He was then convicted in absentia and sentenced to death multiple times, after escaping to the protection of the Kurds and later the Turks to avoid arrest. Al-Shawki’s admission adds credibility to the guilty decision, but reopens an old political wound.
Foreign Affairs Minister Jaafari issues a statement asking the Arab League to take practical steps to ease the tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia. [Sumaria]
PMF Commission spokesman Ahmed Al-Asadi said today that the PMFs are ready to liberate all occupied cities of Iraq, after finishing with Salahuddin and Anbar. He added that after Ramadi, comes Falluja and Saqlawiya. [Etejah]
Security developments
A major Daesh attack in the heart of Baghdad left around 70 casualties including 15 dead. A bomb-rigged car and two suicide bombers, as well as several gunmen, attacked the areas near Al-Jawhara Mall in Baghdad Jadida, in east Baghdad with unconfirmed news of holding several hostages there. A huge security force, including an armed battalion and a counter-terrorism unit, responded, and the incident ended with the killing of all attackers according to Ministry of Interior sources. The Minister himself came to the scene. Daesh announced responsibility. [Maalomah] , [Mada], [Mada] [Baghdadia]
Daesh claims responsibility for the Baghdad Jadida attack. It says 3 of its terrorists attacked “Shia,” then a fourth terrorist attacked the reinforcements that arrived with a car bomb. Daesh says 90 people were killed or wounded in the attack. [ADI]
A video of the moment of the car bomb explosion in Baghdad Jadida [YouTube]
Photos of the aftermath in Baghdad Jadida. [Sumaria]
Many IEDs and bombs were found in a house in Baghdad Jadida today. [Ghad]
According to security sources:
- Three bodies of men shot to death were found this morning in Shula in northwest Baghdad, Jihad in west Baghdad, and Al-Ameen in east Baghdad, a security source said. [Mada]
- An IED explosion wounded two civilians in Al-Bawiya, in east Baghdad. [Ghad]
- Unknown armed men shot dead a civilian in Sadr City. [Ghad]
- An IED placed in a commercial area in Baladiyat in southeast Baghdad went off today, killing one civilian and wounding five others. [Mada]
- Three mortar shells fell on Hor Rijab village in Dora in south Baghdad today, killing two civilians and wounding nine, a security source said. [Mada]
- A bomb-rigged vehicle exploded near the Nahrawan junction in south Baghdad, killing 3 and wounding 8 this evening. [Mada] Daesh claims responsibility for the car bomb attack in Nahrawan. [A3maq]
- The general director of the hospital in Saidiya in southwest Baghdad was kidnapped by unidentified armed men today. [Ghad]
- An IED placed in a popular vegetable market in Radwaniya in southwest Baghdad exploded today, killing two and wounding five civilians. [Maalomah]
- Unknown armed men shot and killed a civilian and stole his car in Suwaib in southwest Baghdad. [Mada]
- Weapons and explosives caches were found in Jisr Al-Raood in west Baghdad, and another in Mada’in in south Baghdad. [BOC Facebook Page]
ANBAR
Ramadi
Operations to clear Sufiya east of Ramadi are almost completed, said a security source. [Maalomah]
JOC called on the residents of Sufiya and Sajariya to leave their houses within 48 hours for their own safety. [Sumaria]
Khaldiya subdistrict council chairman says Iraqi forces gave the families trapped in Sajariya, East Hsaiba and Joba east of Ramadi 48 hours to leave their houses. [Maalomah]
The Iraqi JOC spokesman says Iraqi forces are preparing to liberate Sufiya, Sajariya, Albu Mari’ and Albu Ghanem in Ramadi District. He says the military operations are going slowly to preserve the lives of the civilians trapped in those areas. [Mawazin]
Army helicopters chased and destroyed a Daesh convoy of 20 vehicles, killing 40 including several Daesh emirs and leaders in Ramadi. The convoy was escaping from Sufiya northwards towards Albu Obeid in the north. [Maalomah]
80 Daesh members were arrested by Army and security troops in Ramadi, said the Khaldiya subdistrict council. Most were arrested while trying to escape the area with civilian families. [Mada]
Starting next week, special IED-removal groups will start their work to remove all explosives planted by Daesh in Ramadi, before calling on citizens to return to their areas. Security and Army troops will be responsible for clearing main roads only. These groups are appointed by the provincial council. [Buratha]
Iraqi Army troops rescued 635 civilians from eastern areas of Ramadi and transferred them to Habbaniya. 12 Daesh terrorists were also arrested and are currently under investigation, said the commander of the 3rd Counter-Terrorism Division today. [Buratha]
Another report says 500 families were rescued by the Iraqi Army in Ramadi, said security sources. The families were transferred to the safe bases of Habbaniya and Ameriyat Al-Falluja. [Rudaw]
Videos of Iraq troops securing civilians from Ramadi [Facebook] [Facebook] [Facebook] [Facebook]
A video of a woman wounded and her child killed by a Daesh IED in Ramadi [YouTube]
8th Division troops today liberated the Anbar security department building after killing “tens” of Daesh terrorists, IWMC said. [Baghdadia]
8th Division special troops liberated the women’s college building east of Ramadi today after killing several terrorists including leaders today, said Division sources. [Maalomah]
8th Division liberated today the Anbar electricity department building and the Ramadi gas factory, as well as a public fuel station. All these locations are east of Ramadi. [Sumaria]
Security and tribal troops liberated the Albu Fahad mosque and communications building east of Ramadi today, according to tribal mobilization sources. [Maalomah]
IFP troops killed a suicide attacker who tried to approach their lines in Hsaiba, east of Ramadi today. [Baghdadia]
Security forces detonated 9 IEDs and destroyed a Daesh tunnel that ran under the international road in Albu Farraj area north of Ramadi. Efforts to clear all IEDs from the area are underway, Anbar Operations Command said today. [Baghdadia]
The Tribal Council of Anbar denied the existence of any American ground troops in Ramadi, or any air drops of US Special Forces in the area. He also said Iraqi forces blocked 23 Daesh car bomb attacks on liberated areas. [Mada]
Falluja
Krosh and Anaz areas in Nuaimiya just south of Falluja were liberated today by Army and security troops. The operation ended with killing “tens” of terrorists and destroying four machine gun-mounted vehicles, rocket launching platforms, and a combat position. [Mada]
During the last 24 hours, Baghdad Operations Command (BOC) troops continued advancing south of Falluja, killing 6 terrorists and destroying 38 IEDs, two enemy positions, and two vehicles. Also, 6 terrorists were killed by the BOC troops in the Thirthar area, and 14 by the 14th Army Division west of Baghdad. Rapid Intervention troops killed three Daesh combatants near the ice factory west of Baghdad. [BOC Facebook Page]
55th Badr Brigade of the PMF killed 7 Daesh terrorists approaching their defensive lines in Saqlawiya north of Falluja. The PMF spokesmen said that this attack was not the first of its kind. [Harbi]
PMF artillery destroyed a bomb-rigged truck that approached a checkpoint in Zaghareed village near Saqlawiya today. [Harbi]
A weapons cache was captured and a person arrested in Al-Dhabitya area in Qarma. [Maalomah]
The MoD publishes a video of Iraqi warplanes conducting airstrikes on Daesh in Anbar. [MoD Website]
Hit/Haditha
25 Daesh terrorists were killed by Army and tribal forces clearing the areas of Al-Sha’i and Al-Sakran near Barwana. [Maalomah] In a separate but apparently overlapping report, the 7th Army Division commander announced the liberation of Al-Sha’i and said the troops were heading towards neighboring Al-Sakran. [Sumaria]
Coalition planes attacked and destroyed a convoy of 11 Daesh vehicles, killing 35 terrorists, as they tried to moving from Hit to Barwana, according to the IWMC. [Baghdadia]
The Mayor of Haditha District says all Barwana areas were liberated from Daesh and 250 families returned to their houses. [Buratha]
A video of tribal fighters in a battle in Haditha District [Haditha]
Daesh publishes photos of normal life in Hit city. [ADI]
SALAHUDDIN
Baiji
16th Army Division artillery killed 6 and wounded 2 suicide attackers in Al-Qarya Al-Asriya in Baiji today, said the IWMC [Baghdadia]
Artillery shelling by the IFP today killed several terrorists and destroyed their vehicles in the Makhoul Mountains. [Mawazin]
A PMF source says Al-Nujaba’ Movement rocketed a Daesh convoy near Makhoul Mountains killing 7 terrorists and wounding 12. [Harbi]
Tikrit
Daesh attacked Al-Salam village south of Tikrit yesterday. PMFs repelled the attack but lost one fighter. [Mada]
Prime Minister Al-Abadi ordered an investigation into the bombing by a drone that killed nine and wounded 14 PMF fighters. PMF sources said that after they blocked a Daesh attack on Al-Salam village, a drone coming from Baghdad bombed them and killed 23 fighters. [Buratha]
Daesh publishes photos of rocketing Tikrit. [ADI]
Samarra
Army helicopters today destroyed a Daesh headquarters in the Albu Hantoush village west of Samarra, in coordination with PMF intelligence sources. [Harbi]
A security source says Daesh has brought large numbers of fighters and vehicle bombs preparing for a major attack on Samarra. [Ghad]
A PMF source says PMF troops attacked several Daesh hideouts in the Strategic Line area west of Samarra and destroyed 5 vehicles killing the terrorists inside. He also says the PMFs captured 11 Daesh terrorists including 2 Saudis. [Harbi]
Daesh publishes photos of battles near Samarra Dam. [ADI]
Tooz
A security source says unknown armed men kidnapped two displaced people. [Mada]
DIYALA
Muqdadiya/Abu Saida
Two consecutive explosions in Muqdadiya District north of Baquba left 17 persons killed and wounded. A suicide attack by someone with an explosives belt executed the first attack on a coffee shop, and when people gathered, another attacker blew himself up. [Mada]
A security source says 19 were killed and 44 wounded in the explosion. [Mada]
Daesh’s version says one of its suicide terrorists detonated himself in front of a PMF headquarters in Muqdadiya followed by a parked car bomb explosion that killed 36 PMFs and wounded dozens. [A3maq]
DaeshDaily comment. Daesh typically claims after these mass-murder incidents that they were attacking PMFs, even though the victims in such public places are all or almost all civilians. This reinforces its propaganda theme of being the protectors of Sunnis. Of course, not all their civilian victims are Shia either.
A security source says unknown armed men put explosives in three mosques in Muqdadiya. The source says the security situation is tense in Muqdadiya. More military forces were deployed and a curfew was issued there. [Sumaria]
DaeshDaily comment. Several online reports said at least four Sunni mosques have been destroyed so far. One possible explanation is that the dual bombing was an effort to set off sectarian violence, to help offset the negative publicity from its military defeats. The timing of the Sunni mosque explosives is suspicious, as it looks like it could be a Shia PMF retaliation for the bombings (or a Daesh effort to make it look that way).
Baquba
A bomb exploded inside a car in downtown Baquba, killing a woman and wounding three civilians, a security source said. [Sumaria]
A roadside IED exploded in Akbashi junction in northeast Baquba yesterday as a car with 3 PMF personnel passed by. One was killed and the two others wounded, a security source said. [Sumaria]
An IED placed near Al-Azaem restaurant in Baquba killed one and wounded five civilians today. [Maalomah]
An IED near a money exchange office in New Baquba went off, killing one women and wounding a man and women, a security source said. [Mada]
Daesh says it detonated a parked car bomb on a PMF gathering in Baquba killing or wounding many of them. [ADI]
Northern Diyala
A security source said that two persons were killed and 3 wounded today by an IED placed near a clothing shop in Mansouriya. [Maalomah]
One PMF fighter was killed and two were wounded when a roadside IED exploded while they were patrolling the Saadiya area. [Mada]
KIRKUK
The spokesman of the Supreme Council (Hakim) bloc in the CoR says digging a trench as an administrative border for Kurdistan at this time is “not a good message.”
Kurdish officials contradicted themselves in response. A KDP official says the trench is for security and military purposes and has nothing to do with the border. However, the KRG’s “Kurdish Regions Outside the IKR” office says the Kurdistan Region has the right to draw its administrative and political border, though it also said the trenches are to protect the Peshmerga controlled areas from Daesh. [Sumaria] The Kirkuk Governor says digging trenches is part of the military plan to protect cities against Daesh. [Rudaw]
DaeshDaily comment. The Kurds have been quoted too often for their own good about their territorial intentions, including Barzani’s previous territorial claims; his maneuvering in the Turks-in-Ninewa affair didn’t help either. Aside from the land that might be at issue, the immediate effect is to further reduce the KRG’s political commitment to Iraq, when a working together is most needed. The Supreme Council statement is not the only example of the hostility rising on the other side of this issue, including from people in the territories potentially affected.
The KRG’s Counter-Terrorism Service says a Daesh leader called Ahmed Abdulla Hassan, AKA Abu Huthaifa, was killed with three of his associates in a Coalition airstrike in northeast Hawija. The terrorist was Daesh’s military commander of Dibis and was responsible for sending suicide terrorists to Kirkuk and other areas. [Rudaw]
DaeshDaily comment. In the past week, Daesh has lost a surprisingly large number of its leaders.
A Daesh leader called Abu Al-Amer Al-Yamani was killed when a sticky bomb placed in his car exploded in Hawija District today. Al-Yamani was known for issuing several execution orders in the city. [Maalomah]
Unknown armed men in a speeding car shot and killed a doctor in Kirkuk today, a security source said. [Maalomah]
Peshmerga forces allowed 60 civilians who escaped Hawija to enter Kirkuk, and provided them with medical care and food. [Mada]
NINEWA
Mosul
The Ninewa Operations Commander says the Peshmerga will participate in Ninewa liberation alongside the Iraqi forces and tribal fighters and no foreign forces will be involved. He also says there are 5,000 Daesh terrorists in Ninewa. [Karemlash]
An American airstrike destroyed a building that holds millions of dollars of Daesh money with two bombs of 2000 pounds each in Mosul. The operation followed several days of drone reconnaissance over the area, a Pentagon source said. [AIN]
Daesh publishes a video of the results of a Coalition airstrike on Al-Zuhour Bank in Mosul. [A3maq]
Daesh says one person was killed and five wounded in the airstrike. [A3maq]
Daesh has arrested 12 Kurdish young men in Mosul, for refusing to fight with the terror organization, according to KDP sources. The prisoners were taken to an unknown location. [Mada]
5 civilians in Mosul were executed by Daesh using construction shovels to run over them, for their reluctance to support the terror group. This is one of the various execution methods used by Daesh to terrorize people, according to security sources. [Rudaw]
75 Daesh leaders escaped Mosul, said a KDP source in Ninewa today. He added that Daesh executed two officers and eight soldiers of the Iraqi Army in Mosul in the past 48 hours. [Baghdadia]
A local civil society activist says Daesh buried 1,600 victims in the Al-Khasfa area, 5 km (3 miles) south of Mosul. He says Daesh executed those people and refused to give their bodies to their families and threw them in this 100 meter (300 ft.) deep mass grave instead. [Buratha]
Ahmed Al-Jubouri, a CoR member from Ninewa, says Daesh blew up his house in Shura south of Mosul after they used it as headquarters for a while. [Baghdadia]
Kata’eb Al-Mosul says its fighters killed an Afghani Daesh commander near Qayara airbase.
Women and children from 50 Daesh families evacuated Mosul for Raqqa, Syria today, in buses that passed through Baaj, Tal Afar, and Ayadhiya. [IraqPress]
Daesh demolished a vacant Syrian Orthodox monastery for nuns in Al-Majmoaa Al-Thaqafiya north Mosul today, a security source in Mosul said. [Bas]
Daesh looted important historical manuscripts from the endowment library in Mosul. They removed around 30,000 manuscripts as well as other valuable Islamic heritage items. [Waqfiya]
DaeshDaily comment. Given Daesh’s hostility to the history of others, Islamic and non-Islamic, the probable outcome is that all the manuscripts will be destroyed and anything of marketable value sold.
A KDP official says the Peshmerga rocketed Daesh in Khorsabad in Bashiqa, killing 9 terrorists and wounding many others. [Mada]
Daesh broke into five hospitals and medical centers in Mosul and robbed drugs and medicines, according to local sources. [Maalomah]
Northwest Ninewa
14 Daesh leaders were killed by artillery in Tal Afar. 6 foreigners and three Arabs were among them, said a Ninewa police source. [BasNews]
Makhmur
PUK sources said that Daesh terrorists shelled Makhmur with Katyusha rockets today. One fell on a Peshmerga fighter’s house but without causing any human casualties. [PUKMedia]
Other Governorates
KURDISTAN
A report about a Yazidi man who managed to free 300 Yazidi girls by paying ransoms to Daesh. [Rudaw]
SOUTHERN IRAQ
Kerbala. 57 out of 1200 men held in Razaza were released and handed over to the Salahuddin government as a step to deliver them to their families [IraqPress]
DaeshDaily comment. Many Sunni people were displaced from Salahuddin by the fighting there, and tried to reach Baghdad through Anbar, but Kerbala balked at taking them in after some incoming vehicles were found to carry explosives. They were instead forced to stay at Razaza, by a lake of the same name, near Anbar. It’s unclear exactly which people are still in Razaza or why they are still there after most of Salahuddin is already liberated.
REPORTS FROM TURKEY
Eight Daesh-affiliated groups are at work in the Turkish capital of Ankara, according to a Turkish intelligence report that a Turkish media outlet claims to have obtained. 450 individuals joined Daesh in Ankara, the document reportedly says, divided into eight groups. 100 of these recruits have reportedly traveled to Syria. [Cihan]
Police in the city of Adana arrested 12 Egyptians, all from one family, on charges of attempting to cross Turkish territory to reach Syria to join Daesh, according to Egyptian consular officials in Turkey. [IslamMemo]
Forty people were arrested in multiple arrest operations in Gaziantep Sunday on suspicion of belonging to Daesh, Turkish media reported. The detainees reportedly included 15 Egyptians, a Russian, and seven Turks who were making their way to the Syrian border. Turkish police have arrested 73 individuals suspected of belonging to Daesh in the first 11 days of 2016, according to information gathered by Anadolu. [Qasioun] [Anadolu]
Turkey will grant work permits to Syrian refugees, the Turkish government spokesman has announced. Permits will allow Syrian refugees to work in the Turkish governorate where they are located, with the condition that no more than ten percent of workers in a workplace may be Syrian refugees, a policy that the government says will protect Turkish workers. The spokesman did not specify further, but added that 2,414,000 Syrian refugees were living in Turkey. [ARA]
REPORTS FROM SYRIA
Northeast
Syria Democratic Forces and Daesh fought renewed clashes in the southern Hasaka countryside on Sunday, around the village of Khmayel, trading mortar and artillery fire, while Coalition warplanes struck Daesh positions between Hasaka and the Daesh-held city of Shaddadi. Casualty figures are not available. [Qasioun]
Daesh hacked the Egyptian-owned Nilesat satellite and added its own satellite channel “BEIN HD4” to the feed, airing its own programming from Raqqa. Nilesat called the incident a breach.” [ARA]
Northwest
The Islamic Brigades and allied FSA militias including the Turkey-supported Sultan Murad Brigades, with support from Coalition warplanes and Turkish artillery, have launched attacks on Daesh in the northern Aleppo countryside, in a bid to drive the organization out of villages it has recently captured, according to a commander in the Syrian Front (Al-Jabha Al-Shamiya).
The Turkmen fighters of the Sultan Murad Brigades took control of the villages of Qara Kubri, Qara Mazaea, and Al-Khabra near the Turkish border, Welati reports. [ARA] [Welati]
In a conflicting account, Hawar alleges that Daesh actually turned these villages over to Al-Nusra Front and Ahrar Al-Sham as part of an unannounced agreement brokered by Turkish intelligence, after a show battle in which the two sides fired into the air and the Turks launched some artillery rounds. [Hawar]
Syrian Army troops occupied the village of Aisha in the countryside north of Aleppo after Daesh vacated the area under heavy Russian bombing, according to a resident of Al-Bab. The advance gives the Syrian military clear supply lines between the Kowaires air base and the city of Tadif to the north. Russian planes also targeted Daesh positions in Al-Bab. Nearby, Daesh re-took control over parts of Najjara, north of Kowaires airbase, the same source reports. The advances put Syrian forces within 12 km (7.5 miles) of Al-Bab, which Russian and Syrian aircraft continue to bomb, Welati reports. [ARA] [ARA] [Welati]
Daesh says its terrorists attacked Syrian forces east of Kowaires yesterday, killing 10 Syrian soldiers and wounding 25. [A3maq]
Daesh publishes a video of an airstrike on Aisha village north of Kowaires airbase yesterday, and another video of a suicide attack on Syrian forces in the same area. [A3maq] [A3maq]
Syria Democratic Forces advanced further against Daesh west of the Euphrates River, taking control of two villages, Al-Sakawiya and Tal Arsh, in the Manbij countryside, an SDF fighter said. He added that at least 12 Daesh militants were killed in the battles on Monday. [ARA]
Daesh abducted a Kurdish civilian in the village of Qar Klbin, 70 km (43.5 miles) from Al-Bab. [Welati]
Syria Democratic Forces fighters discovered a Daesh bomb-making factory in a village near Tishrin Dam (photo/video). [Hawar]
East
Renewed fighting erupted Saturday between the Syrian Army and Daesh in Deir Ez-Zor around the city’s military airport and the overlooking mountain of Jabal Tharda. Further details were not available. [Qasioun]
Syrian troops and allied militia are rounding up military-age young men in Deir Ez-Zor, detaining around 1,000 military-age men in Deir Ez-Zor in house-to-house searches the last two days, according to an activist in the area. Those taken are reportedly being transferred for compulsory national service. [ARA]
REPORTS FROM OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICAN COUNTRIES
Daesh audio newsletter for today in Arabic. [ADI]
A video of Daesh Kazakh terrorists in Iraq [GoogleDrive]
Jordan. Jordanian courts sentenced 25-year-old Syrian national Abd Al-Nasir Barakat to seven years in prison on charges of plotting with other Daesh supporters to murder a Jordanian pilot in the northern Idlib governorate. [Arabi21]
Yemen. Daesh says its terrorists killed 8 Yemeni soldiers with an IED in Shabam in Hadhramaut Valley. [A3maq]
United Arab Emirates. The high court in Abu Dhabi has sentenced an Emirati citizen to death on charges of belonging to Daesh and sentenced two others to seven years in prison for planning to join. A fourth citizen was sentenced to three years. A fifth person, of unspecified Arab nationality, was sentenced to three years, a fine equivalent to $14,000 US dollars, and deportation for promoting Daesh, while another person, of unspecified Asian nationality, was sentenced to five years in prison and deportation. [IslamMemo]
Five Daesh fighters were killed and eight injured in clashes with Egyptian troops that broke out after a raid on an Ansar position south of Sheikh Zuweid on Sunday. [VetoGate]
Further details have emerged after last week’s attack on a hotel in Hurghada in which two tourists were injured. Although initial accounts suggested the attackers used a firearm, in fact one was armed with a nonlethal sound gun and the attackers used knives to assault their victims. Initial reports suggested that both assailants had been killed, however the authorities later announced that one attacker was killed and another was injured and in custody. No claim of responsibility for the attack has emerged. [MadaMasr]
Libya. The Libyan Oil Facilities Protection force and the Revolutionary Brigades have formed a joint operations room to confront Daesh, the Libyan National Army Sirte Operations Room announced. [AkhbarLibya]
Libyan Oil Facilities Protection troops foiled a Daesh attack on the oil port facilities in the city of Zuweitina east of Adjabiya. Daesh fighters approached the city from the sea in three boats, which Facilities Protection guards fired on before they could reach the shore. One boat caught fire and the other two stopped their advance in order to assist the burning boat. [AkhbarLibya]
French warplanes struck Daesh targets in Sirte on Sunday, destroying military vehicles and ammunition stores, said “high-level sources close to the General Command of the Libyan Armed Forces.” The strikes reportedly came in coordination with the Libyan Armed Forces Operations Room, with more raids expected in the coming days. France is conducting the airstrikes after a Libyan request for support against Daesh. [AfriGate]
More than 500 “Daesh families” are living in Libya, according to reports circulating in Libyan media. The number was apparently estimated by observing the number of children in Daesh’s youth organizations. The majority of the families are of Arab nationality, while other Arab and African countries are also represented. One youth group, the “Khalifate Cubs” (Ashbal Al-Khilafa), reportedly number between 100 and 150 youth, who are between 16 and 18 years of age. Most of the “cubs” are from African countries to the south such as Sudan, Chad, Nigeria, and Mali, many of them trafficked to Libya by Boko Haram. [AkhbarLibya]
Arab League foreign ministers have called on the international community to arm the Libyan Army amid Daesh’s growing presence in Libya, in a statement issued after a ministerial meeting in Cairo yesterday. They also called for the rapid formation of a government of national accord. [AkhbarLibya]
Daesh has been asserting its presence to residents of the newly captured city of Bin Jawad, eyewitnesses said, deploying its armed vehicles throughout the city’s streets, and raising its black flags around the city and on the principal mosque. The sources also said the group had established checkpoints at the city entrances, and were compelling women and schoolgirls to wear specific uniforms. Local civil servants have reportedly fled or stopped coming to work; school lessons have stopped. Some residents were able to flee the city when the recent fighting at Ras Lanuf created an opportunity, but most are now trapped inside. [AkhbarLibya]
Police in the Benghazi area of Al-Sabiri arrested a Daesh member in the Sidi Obeid cemetery as he tried to infiltrate to the center of the city on Saturday. [AfriGate]
Details are not clear but it has been reported that an unspecified number of Daesh fighters were killed in clashes in Derna on Saturday. [AkhbarLibya]
Daesh attacked a power station in Benghazi on Friday, local sources said. [AkhbarLibya]
Daesh shelled civilian areas in Benghazi with missiles and mortars on Friday, according to Libyan news reports. Libya News 24 suggests that the attack comes in response to Daesh’s inability to make further gains on the military front in Benghazi. [AkhbarLibya]
Two stories provide insight into Daesh’s ability to move its members around Libya and the region: First, the head of the Libyan Center for Terrorism Studies said that Daesh in Libya frequently announces falsely that one or another of its fighters has been killed in order to facilitate the militant’s travel within the country under another name. In a second story, “high-level military sources” in the Libyan National Army have said that Daesh moves its fighters into the country by exploiting the illicit migration routes from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe which pass through Libya. As an alternative to entering Libya via the coastal routes, Daesh militants have first traveled south to sub-Saharan Africa and then taken the land route into the Libyan interior across the southern borders. [AkhbarLibya] [AkhbarLibya]
Daesh’s “Sawt Al-Tawhid” broadcaster in Sirte has broadcast a call for the youth of Sirte between the ages of 13 and 17 to join Daesh’s ranks, promising a cash incentive of up to $750 US dollars per month, on the condition that the volunteer has memorized the “Surat Al-Tawba,” the ninth chapter of the Quran. [AkhbarLibya]
Eighty-three of those wounded in the deadly suicide bombing attack last week at a police training center in Zliten have been transferred out of Libya for treatment, the Libyan Ministry of Health has announced. Receiving countries include Tunisia, Italy, Turkey, and Malta. [AfriGate]
An unspecified number of suspects have been apprehended and are under interrogation in the investigation into last week’s Zliten attack, the Tripoli government’s foreign minister Ali Abu Zaekouk has announced. Investigators have learned that one of the attackers was a Tunisian national, and a number of suspects have admitted to belonging to Daesh, he added. Abu Zaekouk also requested that Tunisia cooperate with Libya in the security area, including by forming a joint operations room between the two countries. [AfriGate]
Daesh says its snipers killed 2 Libyan armed groups’ fighters in Benghazi. [ADI]
Daesh publishes photos of an attack on Libyan troops in the Oil Crescent area. [ADI]
Tunisia. The Tunisian Ministry of Interior says a dangerous terrorist was arrested in Ben Guerdane. The National Guard arrested 9 terrorists last week. [Tunisien]
Algeria. France and the United States have reportedly asked Algeria to cooperate in an upcoming “large” security operation against Daesh in Libya, high-level Algerian sources told an Algerian newspaper. [AkhbarLibya]
Four Algerian women have traveled to Libya and joined Daesh there, Algerian police have announced, in what is the first known migration of Algerian woman to Libya for that purpose. [AkhbarLibya]
SOCIAL MEDIA SOURCES
Facebook Page of the Day
Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service page
Daesh Twitter Accounts of the Day
https://twitter.com/Simon_20151
