January 14, 2016
Today’s Major Developments
Iraqi forces overcome major Daesh attack near Tikrit.
Two accomplices in Baghdad IED bombings confess.
Al-Abadi confers with Diyala leaders; security campaign begins in Muqdadiya area.
Large Army units gathering in Basra to confront lawlessness.
Daesh believed to be preparing attack on major Libya oil region.
REPORTS FROM IRAQ
BAGHDAD
Political developments
PM Abadi’s office issues a statement, after a meeting with the crisis cell responsible for dealing the economic problems, saying the salaries and the pensions of government employees will not be touched. The Minister of Finance had said earlier that the government will not be able to pay the salaries after April. [Mada]
PM Abadi’s spokesman says an agreement was approved with the Americans to send a small group of Special Forces personnel to monitor Daesh leaders movement and provide support for Iraqi intelligence. He says the force will not have any ground combat missions and will focus on the border between Iraq and Syria in coordination with the Iraqi Government and JOC. [Sumaria]
King Abdullah of Jordan sends a condolence message to President Masoum about the recent terrorist attacks in Baghdad and Diyala. [Rudaw]
Karim Al-Nouri, PMF spokesman and official, said today that Mosul cannot be liberated without liberating the Shirqat, Hawija, Riyadh, and Zab areas first. [Maalomah]
The director of Australian intelligence arrived in Baghdad and met with the Minister of Interior. Australia is a member of the Coalition. [AIN]
Security developments
The Ministry of Interior announced the death of the “suicide bombers official” in Baghdad after he was wounded in a previous security operation. He was also responsible for Daesh executions in Hit and Rawa, the Ministry said. Mohammed Abd Munaf Al-Rawi died in Al-Shifa hospital in Bukamal in eastern Syria, after being wounded in Iraq on Jan 7. [Mada]
A security force arrested four men this morning in military outfits, carrying false PMF IDs at a checkpoint in Shula, northwest Baghdad. The men were in a modern car trying to cross the checkpoint, according to the Ministry of Interior. [Mada]
Central Investigations court of Baghdad confirmed today that two of the men arrested for the Baghdad Jadida attacks confessed their involvement in the operation, as one hosted the attackers and the other transported them to the attack scene. [Etejah]
According to security sources:
- An IED placed in a popular market in Taji District in northern Baghdad Governorate went off, killing 2 civilians and wounding 5. [Mada]
- Three men wanted on terror charges were arrested in Nuwaira east of Husseiniya in north Baghdad today. [Maalomah]
- Three bodies of men shot to death were found in different areas of Baghdad, the first in Zafaraniya, south Baghdad, the second in Hay Al-Nasr, east Baghdad, and the third in an orchard near Shaab, north Baghdad. [Mada]
- An IED placed near commercial areas in Grai’at, north Baghdad, wounded five civilians. [Baghdadia]
- A sticky bomb attached to a civilian car belonging to a foodstuffs trader exploded today, killing him and wounding his friend while they passed through the Baladiyat area in east Baghdad. [Mada]
- An operation by the 1st Battalion of the 24th Army Brigade in Agargouf, west Baghdad, released a women and arrested 3 of her kidnappers, JOC said today. Another woman was liberated in Husseiniya north Baghdad, by the 2nd Battalion of the 43rd Brigade, which arrested her kidnappers. [Mada]
- An escapee from Badoush prison was arrested in the middle of Baghdad today. [Maalomah]
- A body of a man shot to death was found on a street in Saidiya, southwest Baghdad. [Baghdadia]
- An IED placed near the car showrooms in Bayya’, southwest Baghdad, exploded today, killing one civilian and wounding 7 others, a security source said. [Mada]
- A sticky bomb attached to a civilian car exploded in Latifiya in south Baghdad today, killing the car owner. [Baghdadia]
- An IED placed in a commercial area in Bakriya west Baghdad exploded today killing one civilian and wounding 5 others, a security source said. [Mada]
17 airstrikes were executed by the Coalition in Iraq today, on Hit, Ramadi, and Habbaniya; Baiji; Mosul, Kasik, and Sinjar. Three additional airstrikes in Syria destroyed Daesh positions in Manbij and Mare’, a Coalition statement said. [AIN]
According to IWMC, total Daesh casualties today are 79 dead or wounded and a lot of equipment, weapons, and defensive positions, from operations in Falluja, Albu Aitha, Sufiya, Albu Risha, and eastern and western Salahuddin. [Baghdadia]
ANBAR
Ramadi
AOC announced today the liberation of 40th Street in Sufiya east of Ramadi after killing “tens” of Daesh terrorists and destroying three vehicles [Mada]
500 families were rescued in Sufiya and surrounding areas and were safely transferred to camps in Habbaniya and Khaldiya, according to the Khaldiya subdistrict council. [Maalomah]
The Albu Sawda area east of Ramadi was liberated by the 8th Army Division today after killing 10 Daesh terrorists, Division sources said. [Sumaria]
IFP said today that its forces killed 7 Daesh terrorists and destroyed a vehicle in addition to a Daesh defensive position in Hsaiba east of Ramadi. [Sumaria]
80% of Sufiya area east of Ramadi is liberated, according to AOC. Albu Khalifa and Albu Hzaim area remain to be freed from Daesh, which is a matter of hours according the statement. [Maalomah]
DaeshDaily comment. As usual we face difficulties with sorting out the reports from Iraqi military sources. The percentage of the liberated areas (in Sufiya for example) changes by the day without telling us why. We don’t think it’s because Daesh recaptured some areas but most likely the original reports about fully liberating an area meant getting inside it, while Daesh terrorists are still occupying some pockets.
Army helicopters shelled a Daesh gathering, killing 11 terrorists including a major leader in Hsaiba, east Ramadi today. [Maalomah]
The Iraqi Army’s 8th Division commander says his troops liberated the Al-Soura area east of Ramadi, killing 5 Daesh terrorists and destroying a vehicle bomb. [Sumaria]
A video of a Daesh media office captured by Iraqi forces in Ramadi [YouTube]
Daesh says one of its Syrian suicide terrorists attacked Iraqi forces near Albu Aitha Bridge with a vehicle bomb, destroying a tank and 2 Humvees. [ADI]
Daesh says its terrorists captured 8 Iraqi Army locations in Jaraishi north of Ramadi. [A3maq]
Falluja
The Coalition will announce results of its investigation regarding the shelling of Iraqi troops by coalition planes near Falluja last month during the next week, according to Steve Warren, coalition spokesman. [AIN]
BOC forces killed 14 terrorists and defused 10 IEDs, as well as destroying a construction shovel and a Daesh fighting position south of Falluja. [AIN]
Daesh says its terrorists attacked Iraqi forces in Talaa and Hitawiyeen in Zoba’a, killing more than 25 soldiers, including a captain, and destroying 4 Humvees. [ADI]
Daesh publishes photos of its attacks in Zoba’a. [ADI]
MoD said that the 17th Army Division made a major advance northeast of Falluja towards the city after inflicting heavy casualties on Daesh terrorists with air cover by Army helicopters. MoD says the liberation plan is progressing as planned. [Mada]
Hit/Haditha
An informed source says Awwad Baghdadi, the leader of Daesh, ordered a 3-day mourning period for his men killed in Barwana. This reflects the deep effect of these casualties on Daesh according to the source. The losses in Barwana were 237 terrorists killed, 27 machine gun mounted Toyotas, four shovels, four APCs, and two Hummers. [Sumaria]
The Daesh “minister of defense” was killed in Barwana, said Brigadier General Yahya Al-Zubaidi of the JOC in a press statement. [AIN]
Airstrikes by the Coalition on Zuwiya, in Hit, caused many Daesh fighters to flee towards Al-Qa’im in west Anbar, after many of them died, including the hisbah, Emir Abul Qiqa’, a security source said. [Qurtas]
27th Army Brigade troops destroyed two Daesh vehicles in the Qusairat area in Haditha District, Jazeera Operations Command said. [AIN]
A video of the dead body of Assi Al-Ubaidi, one of the Daesh leaders who was killed in the Haditha area [Facebook]
West Anbar
Anbar Chief of Police said that Daesh is still mobilizing in west Anbar, mainly in Qa’im and Rutba near Syrian borders with fighters from Syria. [Bas]
SALAHUDDIN
Baiji
Al-Nujaba movement of the PMF announced today repelling an attack by Daesh in Makhoul Mountains after killing 15 attackers. Snipers also shot down five terrorists who that tried to approach their defense line, one of them a suicide bomber. Rocket units destroyed a house used by Daesh as a hideout. Al-Nujaba also announced that the Kirkuk road is open again. [Sumaria]
Tikrit
The Governor of Salahuddin, Raed Al-Jubouri, said a few hours ago that the area of Tal Kusaiba located between Allas and Ajil oil fields east of Tikrit was again fully controlled by the joint forces (Army, Police, PMFs). [Sumaria]
Laith Al-Jebouri, the Al-Alam subdistrict manager, said today that the attack of Daesh on Tal Kusaiba was the largest of a kind in a long time, but it failed to give them any advantage, as security forces are in full control of the area. [Qurtas]
Eleven persons, including two high ranking officers, were killed or wounded earlier today in an attack by two bomb-rigged vehicles on Tal Kusaiba village in Al-Alam, east of Tikrit, a security source said. The attack targeted a joint command post of police and PMFs, and killed 7 soldiers and a police colonel. The director of Al-Alam police was among those wounded. The source said that Daesh was attacking the area from Himrin Hills. [Mada] Col. Moayad Rashad, commander of Al-Daur PMFs, was the officer killed; several of his escorts were wounded. [Baghdadia]
Tikrit was placed under curfew while Army helicopters attacked Daesh gatherings in Fatha in north Al-Alam subdistrict, killing “tens” of them. A military campaign was initiated to clear the area of Daesh terrorists. [Baghdadia]
Tribes and citizens of Tal Kusaiba village joined the Army, PMFs, and the police in repelling Daesh’s attack this morning, which in this account used 4 bomb-rigged cars and tens of attackers. [Baghdadia] Another earlier report said Daesh gained temporary control of the Kirkuk-Tikrit road and the Mabdad and Tal Kusaiba villages. Fighting continued under heavy shelling by the Iraqi Air Force (IAF). 12 terrorists and 7 soldiers were reported killed at that time. [Rudaw]
Another report said Daesh seized control of 4 villages previously held by PMFs, including Tal Kusaiba but not Mabdad, on the main road between Tuz and Tikrit. Daesh was reported to be holding 70 civilians and PMF fighters as prisoners. [PUKMedia]
DaeshDaily comment. As usual, Daesh managed to attract media attention by attacking in an unexpected place. Daesh knows it is very difficult for its terrorists to control the areas they attack. However, Daesh used the first part of this story to convince its supporters it is still in charge.
Daesh captured Tal Kubaisa for several hours before Iraqi forces took it back. Sources say Daesh used a gap in an area in Himrin Mountains where Iraqi forces are not present and attacked the village killing the police chief of the area and five PMF fighters. [Hurra] Daesh says its terrorists captured Tal Kusaiba after heavy battles, killing many Iraqi fighters, including the local PMF commander, and capturing vehicles and weapons. [ADI]
Daesh says one of its local terrorists attacked Iraqi forces with a vehicle bomb east of Al-Alam, killing or wounding many of them. [ADI] It says 2 of its local terrorists, from the Jubour tribe, attacked Iraqi forces in Tal Kusaiba with 2 vehicle bombs, killing or wounding many of them. [ADI] Daesh says its terrorists rocketed the Al-Alam subdistrict building, killing or wounding Iraqi soldiers. [A3maq]
Daesh says Coalition warplanes bombed an Iraqi Army convoy on the road between Tikrit and Al-Alam mistakenly. [A3maq]
A security source says several Katyushas fell on Al-Alam, wounding a woman and three children. [Mada]
Daesh publishes photos of the battles in Salahuddin. [ADI]
DaeshDaily comment. The photos don’t show any areas captured nor casualties from the Iraqi side. However, Daesh most likely generated a lot of raw materials for several publications that will appear soon. Unfortunately, the publications might include executions of local PMFs. For Daesh’s media the message is more important than the final results on the ground. Its hardcore supporters will tend to ignore that Daesh already lost these areas last year.
Daesh says its terrorists hit the Golden Division headquarters in Speicher base with a Grad rocket. [A3maq]
Daesh says it targeted the local PMF headquarters in Al-Naama village east of Al-Alam. [A3maq]
A video of interviews with Iraqi fighters in Al-Alam [Ghadeer]
Daesh says one of its local terrorists attacked Iraqi forces in the Himrin subdistrict with a vehicle bomb, killing or wounding many soldiers. [ADI]
Security forces killed 12 Daesh terrorists and destroyed 2 machine gun-mounted vehicles while controlling the road connecting Tikrit to Udhaim in northern Salahuddin. An reconnaissance mission is underway in the villages leading to Himrin Hills at the moment. [Baghdadia]
Samarra
IAF blocked an attack by two bomb-rigged vehicles on military locations in Mkaishifa, north of Samarra, a security source said. The two vehicles were destroyed before reaching their targets. [Mada]
Marwan Al-Tikriti, Daesh’s wali of Awja in Tikrit, and Ahmed Ubaid Al-Jumaili, its West Salahuddin emir, were killed today by joint forces while trying to enter Al-Sharif village west of Samarra, a security source said. [Mada]
Daesh publishes a video of an Iranian made drone it shot down west of Samarra. [A3maq]
Shirqat
Daesh executed 7 of its own members in Shirqat today, on charges of making an escape attempt to Mosul, local sources said today. [Maalomah]
Tooz
Daesh says it targeted Iraqi forces with a suicide attack in Al-Zarqa village in Tuz district. [A3maq]
DIYALA
Baquba
Abadi meets with the military and security commanders in Dijla Operations Command in Diyala and with provincial officials in the Diyala Governorate building. He issues a statement saying security forces need to find and arrest the people who attacked the mosques and the people who killed the journalists in Diyala. He also says Daesh will not succeed in instigating sectarian violence. [Mada]
Photos of PM Abadi walking in Diyala streets. [Sumaria]
10 mortar shells were fired on the village of Hanbes northeast of Baquba with no human casualties, a local security source said. The shells were fired from the Al-Zor area, which still has Daesh sleeper cells. [Sumaria]
An IED placed in an agricultural area in Balad Ruz east of Baquba went off this evening, killing one civilian and wounding another, a security source said. [Sumaria]
Muqdadiya/Abu Saida
A wide scale security campaign was initiated in Diyala to end the organized crime in the region, said a high ranking security source. The list of wanted persons exceeds 120, and the campaign was initiated in early morning today on orders from Baghdad. [Sumaria]
Diyala police announced that the security situation in Muqdadiya is stable and under control, and that the attackers of the mosques were not related to PMF groups operating in the area. It called for citizen cooperation to arrest the attackers. [Sumaria]
Diyala Police said 20 persons were arrested on terror charges in Muqdadiya, in addition to 2 suspects related to the recent bombing attacks, a security source said. [Sumaria]
Northern Diyala
An IED placed near a medical clinic in Qara Tapa, Diyala, went off today killing one civilian and wounding three, a security source said. [Maalomah]
Daesh says its terrorists attacked Iraqi Army locations in Udhaim; captured 2 barracks and a PMF military position in Albu Eissa; captured and then executed a PMF fighter; then captured 3 villages. [ADI] No government reports address these claims.
Daesh says it targeted an Iraqi Army and PMFs gathering near Udhaim Dam with a vehicle bomb. [A3maq]
Daesh says a Coalition drone bombed Iraqi forces in a village in Udhaim mistakenly. [A3maq]
NINEWA
Mosul
Coalition planes completely destroyed the Mosul municipality building, said local residents, adding that they are surprised as the building was not used by Daesh and was still providing municipal services. It contained all maps and land ownership details of Mosul. [Maalomah]
French warplanes destroyed a Daesh communications facility near Mosul today, the French Ministry of Defense said. [Rudaw]
Daesh arrested 15 mosque preachers in Mosul, two of them Kurds, said KDP sources. [PUKMedia]
British bombers destroyed the Police Command of Mosul according to the British MoD. It said in its statement that this station was used by Daesh to terrorize the local population. [AIN]
Peshmerga troops repelled a Daesh attack on the Al-Khazer area in north Mosul, killing six attackers and destroying 2 Hummers, a KDP source said. [Mada]
Three so-called “judges’ of Daesh were killed in an international coalition attack on a Daesh court house (ex-social care building) in Al-Majmoua Al-Thaqafiya north Mosul, according to a Ninewa police source. [BasNews]
A sniper shot down a major local Daesh leader in Qayara in south Mosul District called Abu Ghalib Allibi (The Libyan). This terrorist was responsible for executing young men in Qayara, a local source said. [Maalomah]
Nineveh Plain
Coalition jets destroyed a 3-vehicle Daesh convoy moving from Bartella toward Hamdaniya east of Mosul. 8 Daesh terrorists were killed and the vehicles were all destroyed, said a KDP source in Ninewa. [Mada]
Makhmur
An airstrike by the Coalition on Makhmur District killed 12 terrorists and destroyed three vehicles, according to KDP officials. [PUKMedia]
70 civilians, all Arabs escaping Daesh areas, handed themselves over to the Peshmerga forces in the Qaraj subdistrict today. [PUKMedia]
Northwest Ninewa
The Sinjar District Mayor says a new mass grave of 40 Yazidi victims was found in Ghalai, 13 km (8 miles) east of Sinjar, raising the total number of mass graves to 20 so far. [Rudaw]
Other Governorates
KURDISTAN
A Gorran CoR member says former vice president Osama Nujaifi should apologize for accusing the Kurdish parties, except the KDP, of being controlled by Iran. She said Nujaifi and his brother are suspects in Mosul’s fall and he should work on taking it back instead of attacking the Kurds. [Sumaria]
A KDP official denied recent media reports about the Peshmerga digging a trench between Sinjar and Diyala and says trenches were dug in some areas to prevent Daesh attacks. [Mada]
The Commander of the French Special Forces meets with Masrour Barzani, the Counselor of the KRG’s National Security Council, and says France will support the Peshmerga with supplies and equipment in its war against Daesh, according to a statement issued by the NSC. [BasNews]
SOUTHERN IRAQ
Basra. The Commander of the Rafidain Operations Command and other top Army commanders arrived in Basra today in anticipation of a wide scale campaign to restore law and order in the governorate, media sources said. [Baghdadia]
Dhi Qar. A rapid deployment battalion headed from Nasariya to Basra to assist in preserving law and order there. The battalion will work under the command of Al-Rafidain Operations Command, a security source in Dhi Qar said. [Mada]
Babel. A security force from Babel detected a house where 128 C4 containers and 22 anti-personnel missiles were stored in Girtan village, Iskandariya, north of Babel. The materials were still stored there despite the liberation of the area over a year ago. The troops also destroyed a booby-trapped house in the area, a security source said. [Mada]
REPORTS FROM TURKEY
In retaliation for Wednesdays deadly bomb blast in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet Square, Turkey has fired around 500 artillery and tank rounds at Daesh targets in Iraq and Syria in the last 48 hours, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on Thursday. The PM said that “the relevant parties” had confirmed the death of 200 Daesh militants in the Turkish attacks, “including local officials in the organization.” Turkey would respond in similar fashion to any threat that it or its guests face, Davutoğlu said, adding that Turkey would, in his words, continue to fight Daesh until it “departs from all areas adjacent to the Turkish border,” and adding that Turkey’s response to the Istanbul bombing would continue with artillery strikes, and that the Turkish Air Force would be involved in operations against Daesh “as needed.” The PM compared the Sultanahmet blast to recent Daesh attacks in Europe, and denied that all Syrian refugees were tainted by the Daesh attack. [Anadolu]
Arrests and interrogations are ongoing after Wednesday’s bombing in Istanbul, Interior Minister Efkan Ala has announced, saying the total number detained in connection with the attack had risen to seven. [Anadolu]
According to a Daesh Daily reader, the Turkish media organization Habertürk has claimed, without citing any sources, to have obtained information about the movements of the Istanbul suicide bomber, identified as 28-year-old Nabil Fadli. Our reader, noting that the news organization is flouting the government’s news blackout on the Istanbul attacks, sent the following summary of Habertürk’s report.
According to Habertürk:
- Parts of the suicide bomber’s body were collected from the site and sent to various laboratories. It was determined that the pieces of fingers found were suitable for comparison purposes.
- A search of immigration records revealed that the suicide bomber applied in Istanbul for asylum in Turkey on 5 January 2016.
- Fadli came to the Immigration Office together with four people.
- Fadli and those accompanying him gave an address in the Istanbul Zeytinburnu district.
- Intelligence agencies have identified the number of a cell phone used by Fadli as of 18 December 2015. The first signals were found to come from Urfa and this leads to the suspicion that he crossed illegally into Turkey in December.
- From tracing his cell phone, it emerges that Fadli stayed in Urfa for a while, then went to Ankara, where he met with certain people, and then to Istanbul.
- Security units believe, due to the time he spent in Ankara and the people he contacted there, that Fadli intended to strike in that city but later, on being instructed not to stage an attack there, he moved on to Istanbul.
- Fadli came to Istanbul before the New Year.
- So as not to create suspicion, he applied for asylum and his fingerprints were taken.
- It was discovered in the autopsy procedures that Fadli had no toenails on one of his otherwise healthy feet.
- Persons who had been in contact with Fadli were arrested and questioned. They said that Fadli had been arrested by the Assad regime on suspicion of being a Daesh member and he underwent torture, during which his toenails were removed.
- Nabil Fadli was born in 1988 in Saudi Arabia, his father’s name is Abdullatif and his mother’s name Brigite. His mother is Syrian-Armenian. [Habertürk]
DaeshDaily comment: We thank our reader for the tips and for the above text. The information does not present any major contradictions with the information ARA published yesterday based on information reportedly gathered from activist sources in Jarabulus, though the two accounts don’t overlap on many points. We note one apparent contradiction: Habertürk’s account has Fadli entering Turkey December 18, while ARA’s sources reported Fadli was present at the fighting between Daesh and the Syria Democratic Forces for the Tishrin Dam, which began the following week, before returning to Manbij after the battles and entering Turkey “days” before the attack.
Our same helpful reader also writes that “Cemil Bayık, joint leader of the KCK (Group of Communities in Kurdistan), established by the PKK, is claiming that the Istanbul bombing was a false flag operation masterminded by Turkish intelligence in the attempt to dispel Western suspicion that the Turkish regime is cooperating with Daesh.” [OzgurGundem]
DaeshDaily comment. Without signing on to the gentleman’s conspiracy theory, we do note that Daesh has not claimed responsibility for this bombing as it has done cheerfully for similar incidents. It likewise did not claim responsibility for the Suluk bombing in July 2015, though others concluded they did it.
REPORTS FROM SYRIA
Northeast
An rural airport in northeastern Syria is now being used by US advisors supporting Syrian militias in the war on Daesh, sources in the Rmelan oil fields have said. The airport, near the village of Rmelan Pasha, has been largely out of service since 2011 apart from being used for local crop-spraying flights, but eyewitnesses have said the site has been refurbished and the tarmac resurfaced, and personnel with American flags on their clothes have been seen on multiple occasions at the site. [ARA]
Daesh has conducted heavy mortar shelling and rocket attacks from the Jarabulus countryside on villages across the Euphrates River, west of Kobane, in the last two days, a resident said. Many homes have been damaged or destroyed in the attacks the resident said. [ARA]
Daesh released 16 Assyrian captives on Thursday, including 8 children and three women, according to an Assyrian rights organization, who added that 66 Assyrians remain in Daesh custody according to its count. Those released Thursday were among a group of Assyrians from Hasaka taken captive by Daesh in February of last year. According to the Assyrian Association for Human Rights, the releases came after efforts and negotiations by the Assyrian church. [ARA] [Qasioun]
DaeshDaily comment. Indications from prior such releases of Christians, and Yazidis too, is that they are being purchased with ransoms paid to Daesh.
The Euphrates Martyrs Brigade (EMB), which announced its membership in the Syrian Democratic Forces yesterday, “will not be the last” militia to join, the SDF’s spokesman in Kobane said, without naming other groups. The spokesman added that the SDF represented the Syrian people’s “only hope” to be rid of Daesh. [Hawar]
Hawar profiles the EMB, writing that the relatively small militia hails from the Arab village of Al-Quba south of Kobane. The village rose against the Assad regime in 2011 and by 2012 had expelled it from the area in fighting that cost the lives of ten local fighters. The “Rebels of Al-Quba” then joined the Al-Tawhid Brigade that operated in the Mare’ area of Aleppo, and fought against the Syrian military in multiple battles in Aleppo and Raqqa governorates. When Daesh took over the area south of Kobane in 2014 the “Rebels” fought in vain to repel the advance, losing over 20 members in the process. After Daesh was driven out of the area in 2015 the group reformed as the EMB, referring to the “martyrs” who were lost in the battle with Daesh. [Hawar]
Northwest
Opposition militias from the Fath Haleb Operations Room killed a Daesh “emir” in the city of Raey in the northern Aleppo countryside on Wednesday, in the course of ongoing fighting over settlements near the Turkish border, according to activists in the area. The Daesh commander, a Turkish national, reportedly known as Abu Dajana Al-Turki, was killed in the Dudyan area, a media activist reported. Another report refers to the death of a Daesh emir north of Aleppo near the Turkish border at the hands of opposition militias, naming the deceased as “Humam Al-Zarqawi” without providing further details. [ARA] [Qasioun]
Daesh retook the village of Ghazl from opposition militias just hours after the opposition fighters forced it out in pitched battles near the Turkish border north of Aleppo on Thursday, with reports of unspecified numbers of casualties on both sides. Daesh targeted the allied militias with a suicide car bomb in its drive to recapture the village before attacking from multiple directions, wounding several opposition fighters and forcing a retreat. [Qasioun] Daesh also says the Turkish Army hit the village with 10 shells. [A3maq]
Daesh says 20 Syrian soldiers were killed north of Kowaires airbase. [A3maq]
The Syrian Army, with Russian and Syrian air support, has continued its advance against Daesh in the countryside east of Aleppo, according to local sources Syrian troops seized several villages around the city of Tadif, as Daesh fighters retreated under heavy airstrikes. [ARA]
A Coalition airstrike destroyed a Daesh vehicle carrying a 23mm Doshka machine gun, killing five militants west of Tishrin Dam, the Syria Democratic Forces said, adding that SDF fighters had found another Doshka in the area, but that conditions in the Tishrin Dam area were otherwise calm. Daesh made multiple attempts to retake the strategic dam from the SDF in recent days. [ARA]
East
Daesh has released a new video showing Lebanese Hezbollah fighters reinforcing the Syrian military in its battle against Daesh in Deir Ez-Zor, which appears to be the first appearance of combat units of the Lebanese militia in Deir Ez-Zor since it started fighting in Syria. The video purports to show five Daesh suicide attacks against Syrian troops in the area. [Qasioun]
OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA REPORTS
Daesh audio newsletter for today in English.
Egypt. 13 militants were killed and eight wounded in battles with Egyptian troops south of Sheikh Zuweid. Residents of both Sheikh Zuweid and Arish reported sounds of explosions and heavy gunfire in their respective cities. An IED exploded on an armored police vehicle near Nafoura Square in Arish, injuring two officers, a security source said. Egyptian engineers defused an IED that had been planted near a primary school in central Arish, security sources said. [VetoGate] [VetoGate] [VetoGate] [Anadolu]
Daesh says its terrorists stopped an Egyptian Army attempt to advance in Al-Noma village south of Sheikh Zuweid, killing many soldiers and damaging a tank and several Humvees. Daesh says Egyptian warplanes bombed the damaged vehicles in order not to let Daesh make use of them. Daesh also says its terrorists launched a counterattack and destroyed an armored vehicle with an IED then clashed with Egyptian Army soldiers near their barricade. [A3maq]
Libya. Daesh is massing its fighters in the city of Bin Jawad east of Sirte, local sources say, in what appears to be a preparation for a new assault on the “Oil Crescent” area, which it has attacked on multiple occasions in recent weeks. Eyewitnesses report 40 of the organization’s armed four-wheel drive vehicles heading from Sirte toward Bin Jawad. The organization has closed the road between Ras Lanuf and Bin Jawad, forcing vehicles heading west from Ras Lanuf to return eastward. Power has been cut in Bin Jawad and Daesh appears to be moving fighters and supplies into the city, according to local sources. Even so, the same sources say that Daesh has remained “dispersed” after its recent attacks on Sidra. [Alwan]
An explosion destroyed a major oil pipeline south of Ras Lanuf port on Wednesday night, the National Oil Company said. [Erem]
Daesh released two Western captives on Wednesday, an Austrian national and a Serbian national, who had been abducted by the organization in southern Libya last March. The Austrian foreign ministry has confirmed that the 39-year-old Austrian arrived in Vienna on Thursday and is in good health. Austrian media reported that the released Serbian has been moved on a preliminary basis to Malta. [Libya24]
A Sudanese Daesh fighter who was killed in the fighting in Sidra last week left behind a handwritten note to his family with a phone number. The Wasat correspondent telephoned the number and spoke to the fighter’s parents who said they had already learned of their son’s death from Daesh websites, but that Daesh had used three different names with their son’s photo in different death announcements (photo). [Wasat]
DaeshDaily comment. We have taken note of this Daesh trick before. Daesh announces someone’s death, so no one is surprised that he goes out of sight, and the lack of scrutiny enables him to move somewhere else under another name. One apparent advantage of joining Daesh is that you will be able to die more often.
A second Daesh member was reportedly seriously injured in the sniper attack in Sirte that killed a Daesh legal official. [Libya24]
The Oil Facilities Guard spokesman has announced that there is no further Daesh presence in Ajdabiya in northeast Libya and that the city is now in the hands of what he called “Karama Forces” and the Libya Shield Forces. [Libyens]
Unknown gunmen abducted five guards working for a Turkish construction company in Marada in eastern Libya. Residents of the town suspect that the attackers are linked to Daesh. [AfriGate]
A plane was tracked by an online flight-tracking site leaving a base in southern France, passing over Sardinia and Malta, then abruptly returning over a similar path after flying close to the Libyan coast, according to the FlightRadar website, AfriGate reports. The flight path is suggestive of a fuel plane sent to refuel French fighters on mission over Libya (Click for image of flight path). [AfriGate]
Psychologists in Libya have warned that the violence and chaos in which the country is mired could have “catastrophic” effects on the psychological well being of Libyan children. [AfriGate]
Other countries
Indonesia. At least eight people were killed in a series of coordinated bombing and shooting attacks in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, for which Daesh has claimed responsibility, , Indonesian and international media have reported. Six bomb blasts appear to have detonated in various areas before assailants opened fire on a police station in central Jakarta. A police spokesman said the dead included seven civilians and a police officer (photos and video). [Arabi21]
Daesh’s version says 4 of its terrorists detonated time bombs and attacked “crusader” tourists in Jakarta with explosives vests and light weapons, killing 15 people and wounding many others. [ADI]
DaeshDaily comment. “Crusaders” is a Daesh pejorative term for Christians.
SOCIAL MEDIA SOURCES
Facebook Page of the Day
Al-Alam subdistrict news page
Daesh Twitter Accounts of the Day
https://twitter.com/sadgadfg1
https://twitter.com/ansaaaari3
https://twitter.com/Gerarisis4
https://twitter.com/asd1000uu
https://twitter.com/uougeapr
