July 24, 2015
REPORTS FROM IRAQ
The campaign against Daesh took a dramatic turn in the last 24 hours, as Turkey joined the anti-Daesh coalition. We reported yesterday about the border clashes between Daesh and Turkish soldiers, and a government meeting on how to respond. Mainstream media have now reported that Turkey has finally granted the US permission to fly sorties from the American base at Incirlik into Iraq and Syria, which will facilitate its airstrikes campaign. Incirlik is only 60 miles from the Syrian border. Turkey also retaliated directly against Daesh by flying its own airstrikes on Daesh-held locations along the border with Syria and sent troops across the border. As reported below, Turkey has also closed many pro-Daesh websites and arrested Daesh members. All of this happened suddenly, and the further implications will emerge over time.
ANBAR
Falluja
The local PMF commander in Qarma says the PMF’s Special Tasks Unit killed 7 Daesh leaders in Shahabi, 19 km (12 miles) east of Falluja. He also says the clearing operation didn’t stop and that Iraqi forces are advancing on Falluja from all sides. [Al-Mada]
The commander also says Iraqi forces killed 38 terrorists, including the Daesh military commander in Qarma. [BasNews]
Baghdad Operations Command reports an ongoing operation in Qarma, with several Iraqi forces being supported by Iraqi and Coalition airpower. So far they have killed 2 terrorists, destroyed a vehicle carrying a machine gun, and defused 10 IEDs. [IWMC report]
North of Falluja, however, Daesh caused a lot of government casualties. Local sources say 77 Iraqi soldiers and PMFs were killed and dozens injured in dual car bomb attacks in Thirthar. [Al-Gharbiya] An Iraqi Army officer says 21 soldiers and PMFs were killed and 45 injured. [Oman Daily]
Daesh says 2 suicide bombers attacked the Iraqi forces in Thirthar with a Humvee and an oil tanker. [Dawa Al-Haq]
DaeshDaily comment. This setback is part of a pattern. Government forces make advances that seem to have Daesh on the defensive, then Daesh makes a surprise counter-attack in a different place. Its sudden takeover of Ramadi is the lead example of that pattern. If the government progress toward Falluja and Ramadi continues, more surprises can be expected.
A tribal leader from Falluja says it is one of the safest Iraqi cities except for the Iraqi forces’ attack. He refutes the reports about Falluja people demonstrating against Daesh, and also says Iraqi forces are not close, 50 km (31 miles) away from Falluja or Ramadi. [Rudaw]
The Anbar Police commander says Iraqi forces established several checkpoints in Habbaniya, Khaldiya and Ameriyat Al-Falluja in order to prevent Daesh terrorists from escaping. The commander says the checkpoints captured 17 terrorists so far. [Al-Maalomah]
An Iraqi Army officer says an IED exploded near Habbaniya base, killing an officer and injuring the commander of the 16th Division in addition to 2 officers and 3 soldiers. [Rudaw]
More clashes near Falluja. [YouTube] [YouTube]
Medical sources say 4 civilians were killed and 13 injured, including women and children, in the Iraqi forces’ bombing of Falluja. [Al-Gharbiya]
Local sources say the police ordered 100 displaced families to evacuate schools they occupy in Ameriyat Al-Falluja. [Al-Gharbiya]
An Iraqi TV reporter almost got killed in a mortar shelling near Falluja. [YouTube]
A video of the PMFs in Saqlawiya Institute. [YouTube]
DaeshDaily comment. It is always interesting, but not surprising, to see Saddam’s photos and Daesh publications in the same place.
Ramadi
Anbar Operations commander says Iraqi troops are advancing towards Ramadi from the east, north and south and killing dozens of Daesh terrorists. [Al-Ghad]
Iraqi Federal Police commander says the IFP Commandos and the Army’s 16th Division advanced in eastern Anbar towards Ramadi, breaking through Daesh defenses and killing dozens of its fighters. [Al-Mada]
A security source says Iraqi security forces supported by the PMFs and tribal fighters cleared a road east of Ramadi, killing 22 of the enemy. [Al-Maalomah]
An Anbar Police source says Iraqi forces captured the Tal Mshaihed area, cutting off Daesh in Ramadi from Hsaiba. [Al-Maalomah]
A video of the Iraqi Federal Police Operations in Hsaiba. [YouTube]
A PMF source says PMFs ambushed and killed a former Saddam Fedayeen commander responsible for many terrorist activities on the road between Albu Aitha and Ramadi. [Al-Maalomah]
A source in Anbar Operation Command says the Iraqi Army’s artillery shelled a Daesh weapons storehouse in Al-Madhiq east of Ramadi, destroying heavy and mid-size weapons and other military equipment. [Al-Maalomah]
The IFP forces advanced on the Khaldiya road to Ramadi (from Hsaiba in the east), killing 3 terrorists and destroying a vehicle and a hideout. [IWMC report]
The IWMC says the Coalition launched airstrikes on Daesh in Ramadi, killing 2 and destroying 5 defensive positions near Anbar University. [Al-Ghad]
The chairman of the Anbar GC security committee says Iraqi forces cleared the areas in north Ramadi after heavy clashes with Daesh, killing dozens of them and destroying 7 vehicles. He also says Iraqi snipers were deployed in the area to prevent Daesh terrorists from escaping or attacking Iraqi forces. [BasNews]
The Ramadi mayor says Baghdad Operations Command has closed the Bzaibiz crossway for ten days now for security reasons, except for urgent medical cases. [Al-Baghdadia]
The Iraqi Commission to Support the Displaced People says Baghdad Operations Command allowed the displaced families to enter Baghdad today but the guarantor system is still in use in Bzaibiz. He asks the government to cancel it. [Waradana]
Elsewhere in Anbar
A source in Al-Suqour Intelligence Cell says the IAF, based on Cell information, bombed a foreign terrorist guest house in Al-Qa’im, killing 20 terrorists. The IAF bombed the location again and killed 17 more after other Daesh terrorists gathered there to evacuate the wounded. The source says one of the dead is the young Russian boy, the “Caliphate Cub,” who appeared in a video executing an Iraqi citizen. [Al-Mada]
SALAHUDDIN
Iraqi forces supported by the IAA attacked Daesh in Albu Jwary north of Tikrit, killing 25 terrorists and destroying a Daesh foreign fighter hideout and a vehicle. [IWMC report]
IWMC says the Coalition launched an airstrike on a Daesh convoy heading for Baiji, killing 21 fighters. The Coalition sortie also took out a car bomb in Baiji. [Al-Ghad]
A security source says Iraqi forces foiled a Daesh attack on Al-Fatha, killing 8 terrorists. [Al-Maalomah]
A security source says Daesh executed 4 drivers in Shirqat because they were transporting families running away from Daesh areas. [Al-Gharbiya]
PM Abadi orders honors for Um Qusai, the Sunni woman who hosted and saved 25 soldiers from the Speicher massacre. [Iraq Press] The head of the Pilgrimage Commission says a seat on the next Haj to Mecca was reserved for Um Qusai. The seats are rare and usually require registering years in advance. [Al-Sumaria]
A security source in Salahuddin says 2 Daesh terrorists were injured in a fight over a teenage European girl who came from Mosul with 5 other women to open a Daesh school. The source says the girl was also injured in the fight and was taken back to Mosul. [Al-Sumaria]
A security source says an Iraqi Federal Police unit destroyed a Daesh pickup and killed everyone inside it near the Strategic Line west of Samarra. [Al-Baghdadia]
Samarra Operations Command supported by the IAA and PMFs continued its campaign to clear and secure the areas around Samarra, destroying 5 Daesh hideouts and 2 vehicles. [IWMC report]
BAGHDAD
According to security sources:
- Unknown armed men shot and killed 2 women working in a hairstyle salon in Saidiya in west Baghdad. [Al-Maalomah]
- Two civilians were killed and 5 injured in an IED explosion near a trade area in Dora in south Baghdad. [Al-Gharbiya]
- Two civilians were killed and 5 injured in an IED explosion near a popular café in Jisr Diyala in south east Baghdad. [Al-Gharbiya]
Baghdad Operations Command says its troops killed 8 terrorists and destroyed 4 and defused 10 IED vehicles in several tribal areas around Baghdad. [Al-Ghad]
A “high level” security source says the Al-Suqour Intelligence Cell killed the main financer and transporter of suicide terrorists in Baghdad. The Cell followed him from his house in Adhamiya to another house in Shaab and trapped him there. The terrorist threw a hand grenade at the security force, killing 2 policemen before he was shot dead. The Cell also arrested 2 other suspects in the house. [Al-Mada]
The IAF commander refutes reports they delivered 2 of the F-16s to Erbil and says the jets flew over Kurdistan exactly as they would any other place in Iraq. [Al-Mada] The Commander also says the F-16s will participate in the battles against Daesh after the initial recon. [Rudaw]
DIYALA
A Sunni MP from Diyala says a delegation of the governorate’s MPs will visit Suleimaniya to negotiate the return of the displaced families to Jalawla. [Al-Ghad]
Diyala Police says they arrested the 5 terrorists responsible for the two Balad Ruz car bombs. [Al-Ghad]
The chairman of the security committee in Diyala GC says that Khan Bani Saad was considered a disaster area. [Al-Sumaria]
KIRKUK
A local source in Kirkuk says Daesh arrested 50 people to trying to leave Hawija. The source says Daesh lashed 25 of them and ordered them to pay 1 million ID (around $800). [Al-Sumaria]
Daesh says the Peshmerga withdrew from 2 areas in south Kirkuk. [Twitter]
A security source says an unknown armed man shot at a civilian car in east Kirkuk, killing all 3 people inside. [Al-Maalomah]
NINEWA
A Peshmerga commander says his troops quickly stopped a Daesh attack from 2 sides in Sinjar. He says Coalition airpower played a major role in Daesh’s defeat. [Xendan]
A Kurdish official says Daesh kidnapped 182 boys, ages 10 to 15, from different areas in Mosul in order to train them and use them in terrorist activities. [Waradana]
OTHER GOVERNORATES
A security source in Babel says the police found the body of a leader from a pro-Daesh tribe in north Babel, who was also a lawyer for terrorism cases. He was strangled to death and thrown on the highway near Muwailha. The area was a Daesh stronghold before being liberated months ago. [Al-Mada]
Sistani’s representative in Kerbala says negligence and treason are behind the terrorist attacks in Baghdad and Khan Bani Saad. [Iraq Press]
A medical source in Suleimaniya says 2 infants died of cholera in a displaced persons camp. [Al-Maalomah]
REPORTS FROM SYRIA
A Turkish newspaper says Turkish forces entered 9 km (5 miles) into Syria after airstrikes on Daesh locations in Azaz. Local sources say the clashes between the Turks and Daesh continued after Turkish artillery shelled Ayousha village in Azaz. [Xendan]
Local sources say the Turkish Army threatened through loudspeakers to shoot anyone from the Syrian city of Afrin who comes within 1 km of the Turkish border. [Hawar]
The YPG says they cleared the road between Raqqa and Sarrin and surrounded Daesh in Sarrin, south of Kobane. [Xendan]
Other sources say the clashes in the area are still going on. [PUKMedia]
Local sources say Daesh has prevented local residents from leaving Sarrin. [Hawar] A Daesh mine exploded near a civilian car trying to leave the town, with no reports of casualties. [Hawar]
Daesh publishes a video of the results of the Coalition airstrikes on Sarrin. [A3maq]
A video of the Free Syrian Army capturing Daesh weapon storehouses in the Aleppo’s northern countryside. [Islam Memo]
Ahrar Al-Sham and Jabhat Al-Nusra capture most of the Dhu Al-Faqar brigade fighters in Isqat town in Idlib countryside near the Turkish border. The brigade has pledged allegiance to Daesh. [Roayah News]
Daesh publishes photos of its charity activities near Damascus. [Dawa Al-Haq]
The YPG is giving weapons training to women in Kobane, in case it is attacked again by Daesh. [Hawar]
REPORTS FROM TURKEY
The Turkish PM says Turkish military forces implemented successful operations against Daesh locations in Syria without informing Damascus. He says the operations happened after Turkish airstrikes destroyed their targets completely. He says the operation against Daesh and the “radical leftists” is not a one-time event but is part of a comprehensive campaign and will continue. He also says the security forces arrested 297 people including 37 foreigners in different areas in Turkey. [BasNews]
Turkish security forces arrested a Daesh cell leader in Istanbul, along with more than 100 other suspects from Daesh, the PKK and the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party–Front. Turkish courts also ordered several websites to close, accusing them of spreading Daesh propaganda. [Rudaw]
Photos of the Turkish security raids. [Iraq Press]
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, says the PKK didn’t respond positively to the government’s peaceful initiatives. He also says military operations were implemented in 16 Turkish cities against Daesh and the PKK and will continue. [Rudaw]
DaeshDaily comment. The Turks’ linking of Daesh and the PKK is obviously part of an internal security strategy, but reflects one of the complications facing Turkish policy-makers, as Daesh and the PKK would seem to be on opposite sides of the Syria conflict.
REPORTS FROM OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICAN COUNTRIES
Tunisian security sources say a dangerous terrorist was killed in Bizerte, and 13 suspects were arrested in a security campaign in northern Tunisia. [Rudaw] Tunisian media outlets say 3 other suspects were arrested near Bizerte. [Iraq Hurr]
SOCIAL MEDIA SOURCES
A new Daesh video
Daesh audio newsletter for today. [Isdarat]
Daesh statistics for last month. [Isdarat]
Facebook Page of the Day
An anti-government page
Daesh Twitter Accounts of the Day
https://twitter.com/HamidHadeed
DaeshDaily Comment: Hamid Hadid was the director of Al-Jazeera’s office in Baghdad and still works with them in Qatar. His uncle, Omar Hadid, was Zarqawi’s first assistant and his rep in Falluja. That was the reason Al-Jazeera was the first to get Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) beheading videos. Hamid denied any relationship with Omar and said he had a younger brother with the same name who has nothing to do with AQI. The statement about his brother might be true, but his relationship to the older Omar Hadid is common knowledge in Iraq. AQI announced almost 10 years ago that Omar was killed in an American airstrike but his body was not found. Hamid Hadid never mentions the name Daesh in his tweets, but talks euphemistically about the mujaheddin and the revolutionaries instead.
https://twitter.com/SaLmAn12RG
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Acronyms
| AHH | Asa’eb Ahl Al-Haq |
| COMSEC | Council of Ministers Secretariat |
| GC | Governorate (Provincial) Council |
| GoI | Government of Iraq |
| IAA | Iraqi Army Aviation |
| IAF | Iraqi Air Force |
| IED | Improvised Explosive Devise |
| IFP | Iraqi Federal Police |
| IKR | Iraqi Kurdistan Region |
| IP | Iraqi Parliament (Council Of Representatives) |
| IWMC | Iraqi War Media Cell |
| JOC | Joint Operations Command |
| KDP | Kurdistan Democratic Party |
| KH | Kata’eb Hezbollah |
| KM | Kata’eb Al-Mosul |
| KRG | Kurdistan Regional Government |
| MoD | Ministry of Defense |
| MoI | Ministry of Interior |
| MP | Member of Parliament |
| PKK | Kurdistan Workers’ Party |
| PM | Prime Minister |
| PUK | Patriotic Union of Kurdistan |
| PYD | Democratic Union Party (Syria) |
| YPG | People’s Protection Units (Syria) |
