January 27, 2016
Today’s Major Developments
Egypt confirms it will support Iraqi military.
Major Daesh attacks defeated in Baghdadi, Thirthar, but Baghdadi police chief and tribal PMF leader killed.
Daesh military leaders killed in Anbar, Shirqat.
Ninewa separatist scheme resurfaces amidst conflicting statements on reported additional Turkish troops in Ninewa.
Crime rate plummets in Basra from ongoing military intervention.
Gorran CoR member slams Barzani’s independence move as premature and politically self-serving.
REPORTS FROM IRAQ
BAGHDAD
Political developments
The spokesman of the Ministry of Defense, Nassir Nouri, said today that the results of the visit to Egypt by Iraq’s Minister of Defense were very positive. Egypt is ready to train Iraqi units, provide weapons and ammunition to meet the needs of Iraqi forces, and exchange intelligence. [AIN]
The 56th Brigade, defending the Green Zone in Baghdad, banned the entry of journalists into the zone, where Anbar Provincial Council was holding a press conference. A media source said this is a reaction to press reports that 3 soldiers of the brigade were kidnapped near the Foreign Ministry building yesterday. [IraqPress]
Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi meets with Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani in Baghdad. Allawi and Larijani reportedly discussed the Syrian crisis and decreasing the tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia. [Mada]
The commander of the Kata’eb Sayyed Al-Shuhada militia says the “resistance” fought Daesh before the PMF organization was established, and they joined the PMFs according to an order from “Wilayat Al-Faqih”. Therefore these groups are not obliged to follow any decision about the future of the PMFs. [Sumaria]
DaeshDaily comment. “Resistance” is the self-defining term used by the Iranian backed Shia militias (and Hezbollah). “Wilayat Al-Faqih” strictly means the Iranian religious leadership. He is saying clearly that those militias don’t follow the leadership of either the Iraqi government or Sistani.
The Iraqi leadership would be only too happy to have the pro-Iran militias disappear after Daesh is defeated. The concern is that they will instead stay around as militia-supported political entities and undermine the Iraqi government.
However, many of the young men who joined these groups did so because the corruption and nepotism in the Iraqi military prevented thousands of them from joining the army, not to make a political statement. The government owes them the opportunity to join the military or police as positions become available.
Security developments
The Baghdad Provincial Council Security Committee said that there is a rotation system for the army battalions in Baghdad to avoid “creating relations between these units and the population”. [Mawazin]
DaeshDaily comment. We think this means they are trying to reduce the risk of individual soldiers collaborating with Daesh, and other armed groups, by moving them on before such “relations” can develop. (It’s an ancient management device that goes back to Confucius.) There is a widespread feeling that many of Baghdad’s bad incidents are “inside jobs.”
A rumor that a car bomb was entering the area near Al-Nida Mosque in Adhamiya, north Baghdad, caused the closure of all roads leading to that area, including the one from Mohammed Al-Qassem Expressway, a security source said. [Mawazin]
Two new F16 warplanes arrived at Balad airbase in Salahuddin, making a total of 6 out of 36 to be delivered by the US to Iraq. [AIN]
Baghdad Ops Command said that the 23rd army brigade defused three booby-trapped houses and 21 IEDS in Bizayez Al-Abd in south Baghdad. The 55th brigade defused an IED in Harkawi, south Baghdad, while the 6th IFP brigade defused two IEDS placed inside the Al-Raja complex in Saidiya in southwest Baghdad. [AIN]
Daesh says it detonated 3 IEDs on an Iraqi Army convoy in Arab Jabour, south Baghdad, destroying a Humvee and killing two soldiers. [JustPaste]
Daesh says its terrorists targeted 2 Iraqi Army vehicles with 2 RPG rockets in Arab Jabour. [JustPaste]
Daesh says its terrorists destroyed an Army military post in Arab Jabour with an RPG rocket. [JustPaste]
Daesh says one of its snipers killed an Iraqi soldier in Arab Jabour. [JustPaste]
DaeshDaily comment. Other media made no reports about these Daesh-reported incidents in Arab Jabour.
According to security sources:
- An IED placed in a commercial area in Niariya, east Baghdad, killed one civilian and wounded five.[ Mada]
- Unidentified armed men shot and killed a civilian in his car in Talibiya, east Baghdad. [Sumaria]
- An IED placed in a popular restaurant in the Sheikh Omar neighborhood in the middle of Baghdad exploded, wounding 4 civilians. [AIN]
- An IED placed near commercial shops in Dora in south Baghdad killed 2 civilians and wounded 6. [Baghdadia]
- Unidentified armed men kidnapped a policeman who was on his break, in Al-Rasheed in south Baghdad, a security source said. [Sumaria]
- Unidentified gunmen shot dead a member of the PMFs who was passing through Yusufiyah in south Baghdad. [Sumaria]
- Unidentified armed men shot and killed a shop owner in Saidiya, southwest Baghdad, a security source said. [Sumaria]
- Unidentified armed men equipped with guns with silencers shot a dentist to death as he drove his car in Nafaq Al-Shurta in west Baghdad. [Mada]
Total Baghdad incidents reported: 8 (Not an overall total)
Coalition warplanes and drones executed 10 strikes on targets in Baghdadi and Ramadi; Kirkuk and Hawija; and Sinjar, inflicting heavy casualties on Daesh vehicles and tactical units. [Baghdadia]
ANBAR
Brigadier-General Yahya Al-Zubaidi, media spokesman of Joint Ops Command, said that Iraq does not need foreign land forces, and that the Ramadi operation showed that operations that are fully Iraqi planned and led can achieve victory. He said that operations in eastern areas of Ramadi are progressing as planned. [Ghad]
Falluja
The Ministry of Interior said that 40 Daesh terrorists were killed, including two suicide attackers, and 38 wounded, while 31 IEDs were destroyed, in the operation to liberate the Albu Shijil area northwest of Falluja. A Daesh leader, Tariq Shibil Al-Qaraguoli, was killed in the operation. Coalition and Iraqi warplanes are providing air support, while artillery and rocket regiments are actively participating. [Maalomah]
Daesh used 10 vehicle bombs in an attack on the 10th division’s command center in Thirthar, but was repelled with no losses, a security source said. [Sumaria] Another source says that the attack was by 20 vehicle bombs and 40 fighters, and that one of the vehicles was packed with poisonous chlorine gas. [AIN]
The PMF command reports it repelled a Daesh attack in the Thirthar Basin. Four suicide bombers were killed and a car bomb destroyed.
Baghdad Ops Command (BOC) announced repelling two Daesh attacks, the first in Thirthar killing 35 terrorists and the other in Saqlawiya killing 14. [Sumaria]
DaeshDaily comment. Notwithstanding the above, cross-reference to the Samarra story under Salahuddin and our comment there. It seems like the Daesh version of the Thirthar battles, told from the other side of the desert. As usual, Daesh describes itself as victorious and claims to have captured parts of the Samarra Dam and killed many Iraqi soldiers.
Anbar Ops Command (AOC) said special forces working in Saqlawiya north of Falluja killed seven foreign Daesh commanders, including Abu Sutam Al-Afghani, and destroyed three vehicles and a rocket launching platform. [Mada]
Daesh says its terrorists attacked Iraqi forces in the Technical Institute in Saqlawiya, killing or wounding many soldiers and destroying their vehicles (photos). [JustPaste] [JustPaste]
60th army brigade killed 8 Daesh terrorists and wounded 3 others, as well as defusing 31 IEDs in Al-Atar and Jaib Daffar, BOC said. [AIN]
An operation by joint Army and tribal forces in Subaihat in Qarma subdistrict killed Abdul Hameed Mashaan Al-Jumaili (Abu Obeida), Daesh military commander for the area around Falluja, and eight of his assistants. This was reported by the commander of the 3rd battalion of Anbar tribal mobilization forces. Three vehicles and several Daesh positions were also destroyed in addition to a rocket launching platform. [Mada]
Ramadi
Responding to news that the Sajariya area east of Ramadi was liberated but it was not announced, the commander of the Rapid Intervention forces, Major-General Thamer Ismail, denied the story. He says Sajariya and Juwaiba will be liberated in the coming few days, adding that his forces killed over 74 Daesh terrorists recently and captured large quantities of weapons and ammunition.[ Mawazin]
AOC said that it secured safe routes for civilians of Sajariya to evacuate the city to safe areas. 8th army brigade is slowly advancing to complete liberation of the area. [Baghdadia]
A video of Iraqi forces in Sajariya after a Daesh vehicle bomb was destroyed [YouTube]
IFP command said that a combined force of the 3rd armored brigade and Rapid Intervention troops attacked Daesh positions in Hsaiba east of Ramadi, killing 35 terrorists and destroying seven ‘fixed” targets, while clearing several buildings. [Mada]
Army artillery killed 4 terrorists and wounded 2 others after shelling their hideout in Hsaiba, according to Major-General Ismail Al-Mahalawi, commander of Anbar Ops. [Maalomah]
The 10th armored division repelled an attack by Daesh terrorists on Jaraishi, north of Ramadi, with the support of the Coalition and Iraqi warplanes, as well as army helicopters. 20 attackers were killed and 8 vehicles destroyed, said an Anbar Ops (AOC) source. [Mada]
The Counter-Terrorism command announced the liberation of the Abu Taiban area and parts of Zangoura village northwest of Ramadi, inflicting heavy human and material casualties on Daesh. [Mawazin]
The Civil Defense center is now open in Ramadi, said Col. Fawzi Frayeh Hassan, director of the Civil Defense department in Anbar. [Sumaria]
Two videos of Iraqi Rapid Intervention troops in Ramadi battles [YouTube] [YouTube]
Hit/Haditha
Lt. Col. Basim Shakir, the Baghdadi police chief, was killed in a Daesh attack on the subdistrict, the Jazeera Ops Commander said. The army and IFP repelled the attack, killing 14 terrorists including suicide attackers with explosive belts. Several policemen and tribal fighters were wounded. A police officer and the tribal mobilization commander, Lt. Col. Mashkour Al-Jughaif, were killed in the failed Daesh attack, a source in the local council said. [Sumaria] [Sumaria]
Daesh says 6 of its terrorists sneaked into the residential compound in Baghdadi that belongs to Ain Al-Asad base, and clashed with Iraqi forces before detonating themselves, killing many people including the Baghdadi police and Sahwa chiefs and wounding another Sahwa commander. Daesh says the attack was accompanied by shelling with 50 Katyusha rockets and tens of mortar shells. [JustPaste]
The spokesman of the tribal PMFs says 10 Daesh terrorists attacked in Baghdadi. One of them detonated himself in the market and the other in the toilet of a mosque in the compound. He says all the remaining terrorists were trapped and killed. He also says the terrorists sneaked from the other side of the river using the bad weather. Iraqi forces repelled the attack in Thirthar because Daesh convoys were detected by Coalition warplanes. [Hurra]
Daesh publishes photos of 5 terrorists and says they were the ones who attacked in Baghdadi. [JustPaste]
DaeshDaily comment. Some sources say the terrorists sneaked through the rain water drainage pipes but we couldn’t confirm this.
The spokesman of the 14th battalion of the IFP quick intervention forces said this major Daesh attack on the city with suicide bombers and car bombs has failed and that all attackers were killed. He added that the subdistrict is under full control and that tribal forces are making a house-to-house search to make sure no terrorists are hiding in houses. [Maalomah]
During the search, Baghdadi subdistrict is under full curfew. The search follows intelligence that some suicide attackers sneaked into the city following the earlier failed Daesh attack on the residential compound in Baghdadi, an Anbar Police source said. [Mada]
Anbar Provincial Council accused the Coalition and Iraqi Air Force of ignoring Daesh gatherings near Baghdadi prior to their attack on the subdistrict, and failing to deal with their mortar and rocket units that shelled the city, describing this as a major deficiency. [Mada]
The Iraqi Air Force attacked a Daesh convoy of over 20 vehicles moving towards Baghdadi subdistrict, a spokesman of the 14th quick intervention brigade said. The strike killed over 70 terrorists, among them some Daesh emirs and other leaders according to inside intelligence. [Maalomah]
A security source said that a Daesh terrorist was stabbed to death in Dur Al-Amal neighborhood in Kubaisa subdistrict. [Baghdadia]
Daesh says it shelled Barwana with 60 Grad rockets and 40 120mm mortar shells, and Albu Hayat with 20 120mm shells. [JustPaste]
A video published by the MoD of the earlier failed attack on Haditha including some footage taken by a confiscated Daesh camera. In the video Daesh terrorists are dressed as Iraqi soldiers and PMF fighters. [MoD]
SALAHUDDIN
Shirqat
An attack by Coalition warplanes on a Daesh convoy heading from Shirqat to Mosul killed 7 Daesh terrorists and destroyed the convoy. One of the dead terrorists is a Daesh emir called Amir Majeed Jarallah (Abu Fatima), a KDP source said. [Mada]
Abu Marwan Al-Mousili, the intelligence official of Daesh in Shirqat, and two of his assistants, one of them his brother, were killed when a sticky bomb attached to their car exploded in the Shirqat District, according to Jabbar Al-Mamouri, a PMF commander. [Mawqif]
Two Daesh terrorists were shot dead in Shirqat by unidentified armed men, a security source in Salahuddin said. [Maalomah]
The Salahuddin Governor says 76 families who escaped from Shirqat and were trapped near a checkpoint in Kirkuk Governorate were allowed to enter Kirkuk and are now being transported to Tikrit. [Sumaria]
A video of civilians escaped from Daesh in Shirqat [Ghadeer]
Baiji
The PMF command says it found a large tunnel inside Baiji oil refinery used by Daesh to evade airstrikes. [Mawazin]
Samarra
Daesh says its terrorists launched a large attack on Iraqi forces in the Samarra Dam area and captured parts of the dam and 3 barracks, including the Algeco compound, killing or wounding “tens” of Iraqi soldiers and destroying 3 Humvees. [JustPaste]
DaeshDaily comment. This story is inherently confusing, due to geographical complications. Samarra is close to the Anbar border, and across the desert from Falluja. The Samarra Dam is actually west of Samarra. The Algeco (Al Ain General Contracting) compound mentioned in Daesh’s story is closer to Thirthar, which is definitely in Anbar, north of Falluja. This Daesh report therefore clashes with the media reports we summarized above under Falluja, which were reported as victories for government forces. Sorting the truth out may take time. At the least the Daesh report challenges the account in the other reports.
Daesh publishes photos of shelling Iraqi forces with mortars west of Samarra. [JustPaste]
Tooz
A Turkmen family of two men, two women, and two children were kidnapped by unidentified armed men in Tuz Khurmatu, a security source said. [Ghad]
Southern Salahuddin
Army helicopters killed 12 terrorists in a raid on Mkaishifa, IWMC said. Among the terrorists killed were Jafar Hussein al-Khadawi, Abu Sabah Al-Khadawi, Abu Humam Al-Tunisi, the commander of suicide bombers of Falluja, and a Chechen leader. Two assault vehicles and 8 car bombs were also destroyed. [Baghdadia]
DIYALA
Baquba
Unidentified armed men shot and killed a lawyer in Khalis District northeast of Baquba, a police source said. [Maalomah]
Muqdadiya/Abu Saida
Three PMF fighters were killed by unidentified gunmen while conducting a search operation in Al-Zor orchards in Muqdadiya, a security source said. [Mada]
Daesh terrorists attacked a PMF checkpoint on the road leading to Asewed village in Muqdadiya, killing three and wounding two PMF personnel, a security source in Diyala said. [Sumaria]
Northern Diyala
Daesh publishes photos of an attack on the Imam Wais police station in Saadiya. [JustPaste]
Daesh says its terrorists attacked an Iraqi Army convoy in Mansouriya, killing two soldiers. [JustPaste]
Daesh says it detonated 3 IEDs on a joint Iraq Army and police patrol in Udhaim, destroying 2 vehicles and killing five soldiers and wounding six. [JustPaste]
KIRKUK
Iraqi air force F16s launched an airstrike on Hawija, destroying several targets including terrorist gatherings, a car bombing workshop, and a headquarters, killing “tens” of terrorists in the process. [Mada]
Daesh publishes a video of the results of yesterday’s bombing on Hawija. [A3maq]
40 Daesh vehicles fled from Hawija, taking advantage of the bad weather, a security source said. The vehicles headed towards Mosul. [Maalomah]
17 suspects were arrested in a search campaign in Kirkuk that included hotel residents, Kirkuk security source said. [Sumaria]
Two videos of Peshmerga fighters securing families escaped from Daesh in Hawija [YouTube] [YouTube]
Daesh publishes 2 photos of its road work in Hawija. [JustPaste]
A source in Kirkuk criminal court says the court sentenced 2 Daesh members to 15 years in prison. [Sumaria]
NINEWA
Mosul
Sheikh Nazhan Al-Lahaibi, commander of tribal mobilization in South Mosul, says his fighters are ready to liberate Mosul but the central government is delaying their action. He said that Daesh lines are less than 1800 meters away from theirs, and that mobilization fighters are getting bored of waiting and may start to desert. He says they might initiate their operations by themselves if Baghdad keeps delaying. [Shafaq]
A security source in Mosul reported several airstrikes by the Coalition on selected targets in Mosul, including the Mosul Customs Police headquarters in the Al-Arabi neighborhood, where 4 terrorists were killed and 20 wounded, in addition to Al-Shuhada neighborhood, presidential palaces, and Mosul University, killing 13 and wounding 8. Another attack destroyed a weapons storehouse in Al-Hot village in Qayara. [IraqPress]
A Coalition air attack killed seven Daesh doctors as it hit a building used as a medical center near Al-Kindi Establishment in north Mosul, a Ninewa Police source said, adding that most of the doctors killed are from Libyan and Syria. [BasNews]
Daesh arrested 8 Kurdish families, including women and children, in Al-Zahra neighborhood in east Mosul on charges of providing Peshmerga forces with information. [BasNews]
Daesh executed 4 members of the Naqshbandi movement in the center of Mosul, KDP sources said. The reason seems to be related to division of money, the source said. [Mada]
Bashiqa
180 Turkish soldiers, armored personnel carriers, and artillery pieces arrived at the controversial Zilkan camp near Bashiqa, according to informed sources. They entered the country through the Ibrahim Al-Khalil border point in Dahuk, the source said. [Maalomah]
The spokesman of the self-titled National Mobilization Forces, Mahmoud Sorachi, denied the reports and said no new Turkish troops arrived. [Mada]
DaeshDaily comment. Sorachi learned his lesson from the last time, when he cheerfully exposed the arrival of Turkish troops and was supposedly fired and arrested! Yet, we still see him talking.
Atheel Nujaifi, the former Ninewa governor, also denied the reports and said there are no Turkish troops inside the camp but only outside the camp to stop any Daesh attack. He also says there is coordination with the Coalition and that American and Canadian military personnel visit the camp regularly, but they are not based in it. He says there is an agreement between the Coalition and the Turkish troops in Bashiqa to repel any potential Daesh attack on the camp. [Sumaria]
Notwithstanding the denials, an “informed source” says an average of 200 Turkish soldiers per day is entering Iraq and that their total is now over 3,000, fully equipped. [IraqPress]
Sorachi also said that he has confirmed information that US troops are coming to the area, and that there is a Turkish-US coordination to liberate Mosul. He added that since the war on Daesh is an international one, global participation in liberation of Mosul is welcome. [Sumaria]
DaeshDaily comment. This is another story difficult to evaluate. It seems unlikely that the Turks would actually increase its troops in Bashiqa after the huge international issue created by the troops already there. Sorachi is a disreputable spokesman, as is Nujaifi. Sorachi is now saying the so-called National Mobilization Forces are part of an international force that includes the Americans.
Still, this continuing scheme against Iraqi sovereignty among Erdogan, Barzani, and the Nujaifi-led separatists remains a big concern. The spokesman role of Sorachi, a Kurd, is itself indicative of the larger scheme. It is worrisome too that major media have not covered this story.
Peshmerga artillery shelling of Daesh positions in Bashiqa killed 12 terrorists, a Ninewa police source said. [BasNews]
Northwest Ninewa (Tal Afar, Sinjar)
Peshmerga forces repelled a Daesh vehicle bomb attack on their defensive tunnels in Qaryat Quban village east of Bashiqa, a PUK source said. The vehicle was destroyed by an antitank missile. [PUKMedia]
Daesh executed five young men in Hamidat subdistrict west of Mosul, on charges of refusing to join Daesh, according to a subdistrict source. [Maalomah]
Eyewitnesses spoke about American soldiers landing in Hamidat and Mahalbiya subdistricts west of Mosul in two Chinook helicopters. [Maalomah]
In a separate report, security sources said the operation was at Tal Afar airport, where 9 US helicopters participated. The airport is an important base for Daesh. The 30-minute operation resulted in killing 3 men and arresting seven Daesh leaders, two of them Libyans. [Shafaq]
Other Governorates
KURDISTAN
A Gorran CoR member says Kurdistan doesn’t have the basic requirements to establish a state and that Barzani wants to announce independence hastily in order to write down his name in history. She says establishing a Kurdish state is dear to all Kurds, but it needs more time. She also says corruption and violations against the rule of law are even worse than in Baghdad. [SotKurdistan]
The KRG President Masoud Barzani met with the Ninewa Governor to discuss the liberation of Mosul. According to a statement from Barzani office, they agreed on “considering the demographic situation in Ninewa” and on making the necessary arrangements to preserve the people of Ninewa from new crises and disasters. [Rudaw]
DaeshDaily comment. Which means what, exactly?
SOUTHERN IRAQ
Basra. A well-armed military unit of 240 soldiers arrived in Basra from Baghdad to support local police in enhancing security and law and order in the city. This force will stay in Basra permanently, according to a provincial council statement. [Sumaria]
The Chairman of the Basra Provincial Council says the crime rate decreased 80% in Basra since the recent security campaign. [Mada]
Maysan. 16 persons were arrested in a security campaign in Majar Al-Kebir District in Maysan, which also captured weapons, explosives, and several unlicensed cars. [AIN]
REPORTS FROM SYRIA
Northeast (Hasaka, Raqqa)
Residents of Shaddadi south of Hasaka are paying as much as $3,000 US dollars to take the journey toward the Iraqi border to take refuge in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR). The journey is long and dangerous given that Daesh has forbidden residents to leave the city without nominating a sponsor (who stays behind and bears the risk of the person not returning). According to a resident, the costly microbus journey leads to Bashiqa in Ninewa, where Turkish troops are stationed, after which the refugees must decide whether to seek to reside in the IKR or travel onward. [ARA]
Northwest (Aleppo, Idlib)
Turkish artillery fired heavy barrages across the frontier into Syria in support of the Sultan Murad Brigades, in battles with Daesh in border areas north of Aleppo. One activist said the allied Syrian opposition militias received support from Coalition air raids. Battles are still ongoing the activist said. [ARA]
Daesh has continued its withdrawal from the countryside east of Aleppo, retreating from Tal Al-Hattabat south of Al-Bab in the face of the advancing Syrian Army, according to local sources. Russian warplanes struck Al-Bab and Tadif east of Aleppo, killing three people and injuring an unknown number of others, locals said. [ARA]
Daesh arrested over 30 people in Manbij in raids on internet cafes, alleging that the detainees are passing information and photos to the Syria Democratic Forces. [Hawar]
Female Daesh patrols arrested approximately 30 women in Jarabulus, after beating them in the streets, on charges of not wearing appropriate clothing according to Daesh’s interpretation of Islam, eyewitnesses said. [ARA]
Daesh publishes photos of shelling Nasrallah and Al-Aboudiya villages northeast of Kowaires airbase with 160mm mortars. [JustPaste] [JustPaste]
Central and West (Homs, Hama, etc.)
A man nicknamed Daesh’s “emir of pornographic films” has safely left Damascus in a deal reached between Daesh and the Syrian government to evacuate Daesh fighters south of the capital. The Daesh fighter, known as “Abu Sayah Farrama” earned that nickname when Jaysh Al-Islam reportedly uncovered a stash of pornography, alcohol, and cigarettes in his headquarters in 2014 (video). [ARA]
The Jaysh Al-Islam armed group has released a video narrating its purported efforts and plans to expel Daesh from areas south of Damascus, including Yarmouk Camp and nearby districts. In the video, the group says it is more focused at this time on eliminating the Daesh presence than the Assad regime, and alleges that Daesh is functioning as an ally of the regime. [Erem] The video can be viewed here with English subtitles. [JaishAlIslam].
Daesh fighters battled with Al-Nusra Front militants in the Qalamoun area on the Lebanese-Syrian border, according to media reports which cite casualties on both sides. Daesh reportedly advanced into Nusra-held territory in the battles, seizing hilltop sites east of Arsal. [Hawar]
Syrian Army troops with Russian air support battled with Daesh fighters in Al-Qaryatayn east of Homs on Wednesday. [Qasioun]
East (Deir Ez-Zor)
Russian warplanes killed 18 civilians and injured “tens” of others, in bombing raids on Muhaymayda village west of Deir Ez-Zor, local sources said. Russian planes killed another six civilians and injured an unspecified number of others in bombing raids on at least six other sites north and west of Deir Ez-Zor city. [Qasioun] [ARA]
OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA REPORTS
Neighboring countries
Israel
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has accused Turkey of supporting Daesh logistically, and through other illicit means, in a joint press conference with his Greek counterpart in Athens. Cihan notes that the remarks come at a sensitive time in Turkish-Israeli relations and threaten to disrupt the recent attempts at patching over the differences between the two states. The Greek defense minister, who was present with Ya’alon at the press conference, struck a similar note yesterday, saying that Daesh has been transporting oil into Turkey. [Cihan] [Hawar]
DaeshDaily comment: Turkey is certainly an easy target for accusations related to Daesh but the minister’s allegations should be taken with a pinch of salt as Tel Aviv and Ankara continue to renegotiate their relationship, and as Turkey jockeys for influence in Gaza.
North Africa
Egypt
Five Egyptian soldiers were killed and another 12 injured when an IED exploded on their vehicle in the Al-Midan area west of Arish, security sources said. [ElWatan]
An Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis sniper used a rifle fitted with a silencer to shoot an Egyptian soldier dead at a checkpoint south of Rafah on Tuesday evening, a North Sinai security source said. Two civilians were injured when a mortar shell landed on a home west of Rafah, the same source said. [ElWatan]
Eyewitnesses in multiple cities of North Sinai, including Rafah, Sheikh Zuweid, and Arish, report heavier than usual presence of military aircraft in the skies. Residents of Sheikh Zuweid report sounds of explosions and gunfire in what appear to be search and clearing operations by Egyptian troops. Residents of Arish report new checkpoints and heavier troop deployment around the city, especially in the area spanning from central Arish toward the Mediterranean coast. [ElWatan] [ElWatan]
Egyptian anti-terrorism troops killed a high-ranking Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis commander in central Sinai, after besieging him and another Ansar leader in the Jabal Al-Kharm Mountain, a North Sinai security source said. In an intense firefight that ensued after Egyptian troops encircled the site, the Ansar leader identified as “Atallah Salama Rteima” was killed while the other escaped into the desert and is being pursued by Egyptian troops, the source added. [ElWatan] [VetoGate]
A member of Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis was killed on Wednesday when an IED he was planting in Arish exploded prematurely. [ElWatan]
Wednesday’s arrest campaign in North Sinai netted eight suspects, according to updated figures. [VetoGate]
Daesh says its terrorists attacked an Egyptian Army patrol with light and mid-size weapons on the road between Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid. [JustPaste]
Libya
A video of 2 boys, 15 and 16, by the Shura Council of Mujahidin in Derna. The boys were recruited by Daesh to detonate a car bomb near a school, but ran away. [YouTube]
Correction: We are retracting a story reported yesterday about a Daesh attack by sea on oil facilities in Libya after an astute reader pointed out the similarities to a story we reported two weeks ago. After looking into the reporting by other Libyan news outlets we agree with the reader that this appears to be “circular reporting” of the earlier attack and not a new attack.
Tunisia
Tunisian anti-terrorism authorities have broken up a cell in the city of Bizerte that was recruiting Tunisians to travel to join Daesh in Syria and Libya, the Interior Ministry announced on Wednesday. The statement said that the detainees confessed to preparing to travel to Sirte to join Daesh. [Arabiya] [Aawsat]
Algeria
Algeria’s civil aviation authority has suspended flights between its territory and Libya’s Tripoli airport after the arrest of hundreds of Moroccans bound for Libya last week whom Algiers alleges were trying to join Daesh. The authorities did not announce when flights would resume. [AfriGate]
SOCIAL MEDIA SOURCES
Facebook Page of the Day
A pro-Baath page
Daesh Twitter Accounts of the Day
https://twitter.com/AefgwGewads
https://twitter.com/Jazrawia_113
https://twitter.com/kosaree__62
Other Daesh media
Daesh audio newsletter for today in English [Archive]
