March 23, 2016
Today’s Major Developments
Hit liberation operation is still stalled.
Haditha anticipates major Daesh attack.
Coalition bombardment continues in Ninewa.
Syrian Army close to retaking Palmyra from Daesh.
REPORTS FROM IRAQ
BAGHDAD
Political developments
The Chairman of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) block in the CoR says his party will not send CVs of potential ministers to PM Abadi because they don’t think Abadi is able to make the changes and because they don’t know why their current ministers should be changed. [Rudaw]
Speaker Jubouri received the list of names of candidates from Moqtada Al-Sadr, according to a statement from Jubouri’s spokesman. Jubouri said the list will help the Prime Minister to choose his new cabinet. [Mada] [Sumaria]
DaeshDaily comment. No one wants to say this publicly, or in print, but the ability of the current ministers is not likely the only focus of Al-Abadi’s proposed cabinet reorganization. The larger problem is that the ministers owe their loyalty to the parties who designated them for the cabinet, not to the Prime Minister as in properly functioning parliamentary systems. Al-Abadi desperately wants ministers who will be loyal to him rather than a political party, and will work as a team. This helps to explain his preference for technocrats—who might seem to be preferred for their expertise but are probably preferred more because of their political independence and thus lack of exterior loyalties.
KDP is a poor partner for such a reform, as it also leads a system in which ministers (and most other important officials) are selected by party leaders, not the Prime Minister. The Sadrist ministers in the Iraqi government all report to Al-Sadr more than Al-Abadi.
Seen in this context, the cabinet reorganization issue is not directly about reform vs. anti-reform. It is about transferring political power from the political parties, whose greed and corruption have combined to make the Council of Ministers largely unworkable, to the Prime Minister, who needs a more cohesive cabinet in order to win a war and create a stable country.
Moqtada Al-Sadr issued a statement saying he got information that some corrupt officials want to leave the country and is asking the government to prevent them. He also asked people for a united prayer near the Green Zone on Friday. [Mada]
Security developments
The MoI said that 4 Daesh leaders were arrested in Bayya’ in southwest Baghdad after pursuit by security forces. The terrorists entered Baghdad with the waves of IDPs from Anbar, but they were under scrutiny of the security forces, which had photos and information proving that they fought Iraqi armed forces in Ramadi. [Al-Maalomah]
The COR Security Committee criticized the government’s approval for US soldiers to be stationed in the country. Committee member Majid Al-Garawi said that Iraqi and PMF units are ready to liberate Mosul without any foreign intervention. [Mawazin]
DaeshDaily comment. It’s hard enough for the government to sustain the war effort, but it has the additional burden of putting up with stupid statements by members of a parliament committee that is supposed to be helping the war effort. Perhaps it could help more by disbanding.
The Al-Nujaba militia of the PMF said that it is ready to counter “American occupation” of Iraq, adding that “our rockets and IEDs are ready to counter them “. [Mawazin]
DaeshDaily comment. Nujaba is a splinter group from the anti-American AAH militia that fights in Iraq and in Syria.
AAH says that the government got so busy with reforms it forgot about Baghdad’s security. Jawad Al-Tlebawi, spokesman of the AAH, said that intelligence reports indicate an imminent Daesh threat to Baghdad. He said that Qarma and Falluja should be liberated ASAP to avoid such consequences. [Mawazin]
Meanwhile, an Associated Press report confirmed our earlier reports that the political turmoil in Baghdad has prompted the government to pull some forces back from the battlefront to secure the capital. [AP]
The IWMC announced:
- 8 airstrikes by IAF planes in various operations sectors;
- 10 attacks by IAA helicopters in various operations sectors;
- 29 airstrikes by the Coalition, in Falluja, Albu Bali, Albu Dhiab, and Baghdadi, and Sagra (near Anah and Rawa); Shirqat; and Mosul, Qayara and Tal Afar, killing 46 terrorists, destroying 4 fighting positions, 5 rocket launching platforms, a mortar, a pick-up truck, a crossing used by Daesh, and an armored vehicle. [Harbi]
The BOC summarized its operations of today as follows:
The 14th army brigade killed 22 terrorists and wounded 3 others and destroyed three positions in Qarma, Albu Shijil, and Taqsim.
3rd IFP battalion rescued a kidnapped man in an oil exploration area east of Baghdad, while the 54th army brigade defused a sticky bomb attached to a civilian car in Mansour west of Baghdad.
Security-related incidents reported
North Baghdad
A policeman was killed and three civilians wounded by a sticky bomb attached to the policeman’s car in Husseiniya. Mada]
The body of a woman shot to death with several bullets in her body was found in Bub Al-Sham. [Sumaria]
A man was arrested on terrorism charges while he was trying to pass the Taji checkpoint to enter Baghdad. [Sumaria]
An IED placed in an industrial area in Taji, killed one civilian and wounded six others. [Mada]
East Baghdad
An IED killed two civilians and wounded another six in the Al-Ameen area. [Mada]
Southeast Baghdad
An IED in Al-Bawi village in Mada’in District killed two civilians and wounded seven others. [Mada]
An IED in the city of Mada’in killed two civilians and wounded five others. [Maalomah]
South Baghdad
A roadside bomb killed two tribal mobilization fighters and wounded three while they were passing in their car in Arab Jabour village. [Mada]
Daesh says its terrorists destroyed a PMF vehicle in the Manari in Arab Jabour with an IED, killing four fighters. [JustPaste]
Daesh says its terrorists killed an Iraqi Army “spy” with an IED in the Khaiamiyat area in Arab Jabour with an IED. [JustPaste]
Daesh says its terrorists killed an Iraqi soldier with an IED in Arab Jabour. [JustPaste]
An IED placed in a vegetables market in Sayyed Abdullah killed one civilian and wounded four others. [Maalomah]
A roadside IED killed one civilian and wounded two others in Al-Rasheed Al-Janoubi in Mahmudiya. [Ghad]
An IED killed two civilians and wounded five others near a restaurant in Mahmudiya. [PUKMedia]
West Baghdad
A sticky bomb attached to car of an employee of the Ministry of Electricity killed him while he was driving in Abu Ghraib. [Maalomah]
Total Baghdad incidents reported: 15 (Not an overall total)
ANBAR
Falluja
A major army operation to finally liberate Saqlawiya, northwest of Falluja, started Wednesday with the support of police and tribal fighters. Col. Khamis Al-Halbousi, commander of Qarma Tribal Mobilization, said that initial operations killed “tens” of Daesh terrorists. The attacking units are advancing from two directions; the first from Al-Maftool crossing to Albu Shijil and then the city center and the other from the technical institute. [Mada]
Arif Al-Janabi, an officer of Ameriyat Al-Falluja police station, said that Daesh units in southern areas of Falluja are in a deteriorated morale situation and that as soon as the attack on southern Falluja areas starts they will collapse. Daesh is based in Albu Hawa, Al-Hassi, Albu Aifan, Al-Fahailat, and Sadat Al-Falluja, and are shelling civilians in Ameriyat Al-Falluja. Al-Janabi said that as soon as the attack begins, all of these areas will be recovered easily. [Maalomah]
Abu Ahmed Al-Rumaithi, a leader in Ansar Al-Marja’aiya regiment of the PMF said that a strategy of liberating Mosul before Falluja is very unwise, as was evident in the recent Abu Ghraib. He added that Daesh in west Baghdad is a constant threat, the PMF media said. [Harbi]
55th brigade killed a terrorist and wounded another, while destroying two vehicles in Bustan Al-Tikriti, southwest of Falluja. [Harbi]
The Iraqi Army’s 8th division says its artillery, supported by Sukhoi planes, stopped a Daesh attack on Al-Salam intersection in Ameriyat Al-Falluja, killing 30 terrorists and wounding 15 and destroying 2 vehicle bombs. [Etejah]
The Anbar Operations Commander says the Iraqi Army 8th division stopped a Daesh attack on Albu Daaij north of Ameriyat Al-Falluja, killing “tens” of terrorists while IAA helicopters destroyed 3 vehicle bombs. [Sumaria]
A PMF sniper killed 4 Daesh terrorists in Qarma and restricted the movement of 33 others in the area, the PMF media said. [Harbi]
Daesh says its snipers killed seven Iraqi soldiers in the Talaa area in Zoba’a. [JustPaste]
Ramadi
The Anbar Operations Command (AOC) summarized today’s operations as follows.
The 9th army division killed three Daesh terrorists in Jaraishi, while IAF Sukhois and 8th army artillery repelled a Daesh attack on Al-Hadhaba in Falahat and Al-Salam junction, killing 30 Daesh attackers including leaders from foreign Arab countries, and wounding 15 others. Three vehicle bombs, 4 fighting positions, and a communications tower were destroyed.
Engineering units and Special Forces of the 92nd brigade cleared the area extending from Palestine Bridge westward towards Albu Chlaib, Zangoura, Bustan Hassan, and Al-Qarya Al-Asriya, where the 16th army division is situated. Two booby-trapped houses were defused, 31 Katyusha rockets were destroyed, and 30 locally made rockets and two mortar bases were detected. [Maalomah]
The IWMC said that three Coalition attacks in Albu Ali Jassem and in Albu Ubaid in Jazeera Khaldiya killed 12 terrorists, and destroyed an APC and a machine gun. 16th army division cleared and destroyed 108 IEDs, and two booby-trapped houses and a school in Zangoura, and cleared a 1 km road in Albu Risha. The Facilities Protection Service arrested 20 escaped Daesh terrorists lost in the desert of Ramadi. In the northern operations sector, 10 terrorists were killed, 3 hideouts destroyed, and 35 IEDs destroyed in Albu Ubaid. [Harbi]
A video of Iraqi forces in Albu Ubaid in Jazeera Khaldiya. [YouTube]
A video of Iraqi soldiers destroying a vehicle bomb in Albu Bali in Ramadi district [YouTube]
A video of Iraqi soldiers celebrating, then a Daesh vehicle bomb charges and explodes on their colleagues a couple of hundred of yards away. [YouTube]
A conference for the tribes of Iraq was held in Ramadi, said Col. Abdullah Sabri, the director of the district. The conference discussed recent army advances and ways to expel Daesh from all Anbar areas and start reconstruction efforts. Issues of IDPs were also discussed. The conference was attended by representatives of the provincial and central governments. [Sumaria]
A group of southern Iraq Shia tribes accompanied by Hameed Al-Shatri, deputy chairman of the PMF Commission, arrived in Ramadi to support the Anbar tribes in their fight against Daesh and help free their areas. [Maalomah]
Turki Al-Ayed Al-Shammari, chairman of the anti-Daesh tribal council and the sheikh of Shammar tribes in Anbar, says 9 areas in Ramadi are ready to receive their population back, as they have been cleared of IEDs and war remains. The areas are the center of Ramadi, Sajariya, Sufiya, Hsaiba, Albu Alwan, Kilo 5, Kilo 7, Thayla, and Tameem. He said that the reconstruction committee headed by Abdul Latif Al-Humaim, the chairman of Sunni Endowment, has offices in Baghdad, Erbil, and Suleimaniya to register returnees and do security screenings to make sure they are not affiliated with Daesh. [Maalomah]
Hit/Kubaisa
7th army division engineering units have started to clear the cement factory near Kubaisa from IEDs and mines, defusing 10 IEDs. The perimeter of the factory was surrounded for distances around 500-1000 meters around the premises. 150 meters around the factory were cleared. A Coalition attack southeast of Kubaisa destroyed two Daesh vehicles. [Harbi]
Ghassan Al-Eithawi, spokesman of Anbar tribes, said that military operations in Hit are halted due to the multitude of families held by Daesh in the city. He added that plans are being set by the military command to handle this issue, while the operations east and north in Anbar are proceeding as planned. [Mawazin]
A video of Iraqi forces near Kubaisa [ISOF]
A video of Iraqi troops securing families in Mhamdi while Daesh terrorists are shooting at them. [YouTube]
A video of Iraqi forces on the road between Mhamdi and Hit [YouTube]
The earlier cited Associated Press report quotes military commanders as saying that the battle for Hit is key to building on their current momentum, cutting Islamic State supply lines, and linking up government forces to the west and the north of Baghdad in preparation for an eventual push on Mosul. [AP]
Eight Daesh terrorists were killed trying to attack the Majid checkpoint near Baghdadi, the city nearest to the Al-Asad base in Haditha, an AOC source said. [Maalomah]
Lt. General Riyadh Jalal Tawfiq, the commander of Iraqi ground troops, visited the Jazeera Operations Command and the Majid checkpoint, which has seen several failed Daesh attacks in the past few days. He addressed the officers and soldiers and expressed appreciation. [Mawazin]
Haditha
Haditha is in a 100% state of alert, according to Mayor Mabrouk Hamid. He said that intelligence received says Daesh is intending a major attack on the city. Army and tribal units are ready to confront any attack, the Mayor said. [Sumaria]
Daesh says its terrorists detonated several IEDs on the convoy of the Jazeera Operations Commander on the road between the Ain Al-Asad base and Haditha, but gave no details. [A3maq]
43rd army brigade found a cache containing mortar shells in Albu Hayat. [Harbi]
SALAHUDDIN
Shirqat
Daesh publishes photos of its municipal services in Shirqat. [JustPaste]
A PMF commander says Iraqi forces secured 4 families, mostly women and children, who escaped from Shirqat towards Makhoul Mountains. He says one of the women hid her 9 year old son in an underground well for 37 days to prevent Daesh from taking him to a military compound near Mosul. [Sumaria]
A video of families escaped from Shirqat and secured by PMFs. [YouTube]
Baiji
General Ra’ed Shakir Jawdat, the IFP commander, said that IFP units repelled a Daesh attack in Makhoul Mountains, killing four attackers and destroying a shovel bomb. He said that his units also shelled the Masoud village held by Daesh north of Baiji, killing 9 terrorists and destroying two vehicles. He added that the “explosives expert” of Daesh’s so-called “Farouq” unit was arrested in Baghdad by the IFP. [Ghad]
Sadiq Al-Husseini, a Badr commander, of the PMF, said that Daesh is still well equipped and is receiving constant support. He said that recent battles in Allas and Ajeel oilfields revealed that Daesh used ammunition made in 2016 from several origins. He says this means that surrounding countries are still supplying Daesh with arms and ammunition. [Sumaria]
Daesh says its terrorists destroyed an Iraqi Army military vehicle and a Humvee in the Makhoul Mountains area northwest of Baiji. [A3maq]
Tikrit
Salahuddin Police say they found an explosives cache west of Tikrit containing 4 IEDs, 6 containers packed with explosive material, and two rockets. [Mada]
Samarra
A video of PMFs in an elementary school used by Daesh as a military command in Sharif Abbas in Jazeera Samarra. [YouTube]
Southern Salahuddin
74th brigade engineering units cleared 10 IEDs in the Zor Albu Hishma area and destroyed a cache containing explosives used to make IEDs. [Harbi]
DIYALA
Baquba
Local Police arrested a suicide attacker who tried to detonate himself near commercial shops west of Baquba, a local police source said. A moment of hesitation was enough for the policemen to attack the man and defuse the explosives belt. [Maalomah]
A man wanted for terrorism was arrested in Baquba, the IWMC said, quoting Dijla Operations Command. [Harbi]
KIRKUK
Hawija
Daesh executed two of its members on charges of providing information on Daesh leaders and their whereabouts in Hawija, which guided air attacks that killed many of them in the city. Hawija is surrounded by army and PMF units on the west and south and by Peshmerga units on the north and east. [Maalomah]
A security source in Kirkuk said that Daesh is mobilizing in Hawija to attack Allas and Ajeel oil fields again, while sending reinforcements to Bashir in anticipation of an army attack there. The source added that Hawija is a central point of attack on several surrounding areas. [Mada]
An Iraqi air attack destroyed the house of Abu Arshad, the Daesh religious judge in Hawija, killing him immediately. The raid also destroyed a communications center and three Daesh positions in the Al-Abbasi subdistrict in Hawija, a Kirkuk security source said. [Sumaria]
The body of a woman shot to death in Hawija was transferred by Daesh to Mosul on suspicion that she could be the missing German wife of Al-Baghdadi, Diane Kroger, according to Jabbar Al-Maamouri, a leader of the PMF. [Sumaria]
Daesh says Iraqi warplanes bombed and destroyed Al-Abbasi hospital in Hawija. [A3maq]
NINEWA
Mosul
A local source in Mosul said that Daesh executed three ex-army officers in Mosul on charges of cooperating with security forces. The officers were three colonels, taken from their houses south of Mosul. Their bodies were not handed over to their families, and were possibly dropped in the Khasfa area, used by Daesh for this purpose. [Maalomah]
An ambush by an unidentified armed group killed 7 Daesh terrorists in Hamidat west of Mosul. A StarX van with seven Daesh members inside was intercepted by the armed men, who shot all seven dead, a local source said. [Maalomah]
Coalition warplanes attacked several Daesh targets in Mosul within the last 24 hours, according to Gayath Sourachi, PUK media official in Ninewa. He said that the Coalition planes attacked the hisbah police center on the left (east) side of Mosul, an IED workshop in the industrial area in Karama, and weapons storage houses in Al-Kindi camp, all on the left (east) side. They also attacked Daesh positions in Shalalat north of Mosul, and in Ayadhiya in Tal Afar. The results were 31 terrorists killed and several buildings, vehicles, and positions destroyed. [PUKMedia]
A Ninewa Police source says Daesh terrorists blew up 10 houses in Wadi Al-Hajar south of Mosul. The source says Daesh had used the houses as weapons storehouses. [BasNews]
Nineveh Plain
Peshmerga units repelled a Daesh attack in Bashiqa and Nawran, killing 12 of them, a source in Peshmerga ministry said. The 12 were killed by the Peshmerga artillery which also destroyed several vehicles. [BasNews]
A rocket was fired by Daesh on Zilkan camp, where Turkish soldiers and Atheel Al-Nujaifi’s so-called National Mobilization Forces are present. The rocket caused material damage to one room in the camp. [Maalomah]
Makhmur
A PUK official says Daesh shelled several villages in Gwer, wounding3 civilians. [PUKMedia]
Northwest Ninewa (Tal Afar, Sinjar)
A local source says Daesh used rabid dogs to kill 10 people in Tal Afar, after accusing them of cooperating with security forces. [Sumaria]
Other Governorates
KURDISTAN
A Turkish source says oil exports from Kurdistan to Turkey stopped again because of some illegal drilling and theft from the pipeline on Turkish land. [Rudaw]
SOUTHERN IRAQ
Babel
Five persons were arrested on terrorism charges in Jbala, north of Hilla, according to General Ali Al-Zughaibi, commander of Babel police. [Sumaria]
REPORTS FROM TURKEY
Political developments
From Syria, a source close to the YPG claims that that the suspected Daesh member, whom Turkey alleged to have committed the recent deadly attack in Istanbul on 19 March, has in fact been in YPG custody since before the attack. The source further claims that interrogation of the suspected Daesh member revealed a relationship between the captive and Turkish intelligence, and with Daesh networks inside Turkey. Safash Baldaz, known as “Abd Al-Aziz Al-Turki-Jihad” was arrested March 2 near Tal Abyad, the source said. [ARA]
Erdogan says in a press conference that one of the terrorists who committed the attacks in Belgium was captured in Gaziantep in Turkey earlier and handed to the European authorities with the warning he might be a terrorist but they released him. A later statement from Erdogan’s office explained that the terrorist mentioned was Ibrahim El Bakraoui. [Rudaw]
Military developments
Turkish authorities arrested a Japanese national suspected of trying to reach Syria to join Daesh, according to a statement issued on Wednesday. The detainee will be sent back to Japan after interrogation, the statement said. Turkish security sources also said Tuesday evening that three Syrians were arrested in Gaziantep on suspicion of planning attacks in Istanbul. Two of the suspects were reportedly injured in an exchange of gunfire during the arrest operation. (photo). [ARA]
REPORTS FROM SYRIA
Northeast (Hasaka, Raqqa)
A source close to the YPG claims that the attacker alleged by Turkey to lie behind the deadly attacks in Istanbul on March 19 has been in YPG custody since March 2. (See above under Turkey)
Residents of Ras Al-Ayn in Hasaka Governorate protested Wednesday against a border fence constructed by Turkey. Turkish troops fired warning shots at the demonstrators as they approached. [Welati]
A funeral for an ethnic Arab YPG fighter was held Wednesday in Ras Al-Ayn, ARA reports. [ARA]
Northwest (Aleppo, Idlib)
Daesh reportedly recaptured the villages of Tal Battal and Ahmadiya north of Aleppo near the Turkish border just hours after opposition militias seized them in fierce overnight fighting. On Wednesday Daesh targeted the militias with a car bomb in Tal Battal amid heavy ground fighting between the two sides in which six Daesh fighters were killed, a Jabha Shamiya fighter said. However Daesh’s artillery and rocket assault on the militia positions forced them into retreat, the militiaman said. [ARA] [Qasioun]
Daesh says with American warplanes bombing and Turkish artillery and tanks shelling, Syrian opposition armed groups captured Azzatiya and Tal Battal villages. Daesh says one of its Syrian suicide terrorists then attacked the opposition groups with a vehicle bomb forcing them to flee from the two villages towards Turkey. [JustPaste] [A3maq]
DaeshDaily comment. It’s not clear how one vehicle bomb could attack two villages at the same time.
Daesh also says Coalition warplanes bombed Toqali village north of Sawan intensively and after that Syrian armed groups tried to capture the village but they were defeated. Daesh says its terrorists recaptured Azzatiya, Tal Battal, Ahmadiya and Toqali villages. [JustPaste] [A3maq]
A local source says Daesh finished digging a 4m by 4m trench around Manbij. [BasNews]
Central and West (Homs, Hama, etc.)
Syrian Army claimed advances near Tadmur (Palmyra) east of Homs on Wednesday, seizing territory in the Al-Hiyal Mountains west of the Daesh-held city after battles with Daesh. Daesh killed at least 22 Syrian troops in fighting and car bomb attacks on Tuesday, but devastating Russian airstrikes on Wednesday and a “scorched earth” policy by Syrian troops forced Daesh fighters into retreat, according to an activist in the area. The Russian air raids in and around Deir Ez-Zor caused material damage and reportedly killed civilians. [ARA] [Qasioun]
A Syrian military source says Syrian troops are less than 1 km away from Tadmur and will capture the city in the next few hours. [BasNews]
Daesh publishes photos of weapons its terrorists got after attacking a Syrian Army location on the road between Ithariya and Silmiya. [JustPaste]
Daesh publishes photos of battles with Syrian troops in Dowa. [JustPaste]
East (Deir Ez-Zor)
Two prominent Daesh commanders have been killed in Deir Ez-Zor in the last few days, according to an activist in the city. “Salah Al-Din Al-Beljiki” (from Belgium) and “Abu Abdullah Al-Libi” were reportedly killed in fighting with Syrian troops. The activist also said that Russian airstrikes also killed Abdullah Al-Kilani, who is a Libyan national from Derna also known as “Sayyaf Al-Burqawi,” another Daesh fighter known as “Sayyaf Al-Maghrebi” and others whose identity is not known. [ARA]
Daesh says a Syrian suicide terrorist attacked Syrian troops with a BMP vehicle bomb in southeast Deir Ez-Zor, followed by an attack by other terrorists, killing or wounding 30 soldiers and capturing their positions. [JustPaste]
South
In Daraa on Wednesday, an alliance of Islamic militias including the Jaish Al-Islam, the Nusra Front, and Ahrar Al-Sham, as well as militias within the FSA launched broad attacks against the “Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade” and the “Al-Muthanna Movement,” which are reportedly tied to Daesh. Factions within the attacking alliance seized control of Muzayrib, Sheikh Saad, and other territory near the Jordanian border. Factions of the FSA’s “Southern Front” including the “Yarmouk Army” (not to be confused with the “Yarmouk Martyrs” above) and the “Sunna Youth Division,” in alliance with the Nusra Front and Ahrar Al-Sham announced an operation targeting Daesh in Daraa. The coming days will witness larger operations, the Yarmouk Army commander said. The Al-Muthanna Movement detonated the explosives it had planted the day before on the Harir Bridge, cutting the link between its stronghold of Jillen and Muzayrib. [Arabi21]
Twelve civilians were killed in shelling by Nusra Front and opposition factions on Jillen on Wednesday, a media activist said. [ARA]
Jaish Al-Islam issued a statement on Wednesday calling on residents of the western Daraa countryside to defect from Daesh, offering an “amnesty” to anyone who has “not shed blood.” [ARA]
OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA REPORTS
North Africa
Egypt
Egyptian military aircraft were deployed in heavy presence in the skies above rural areas outside of Arish overnight, residents said Wednesday. Egyptian intelligence reportedly received information that the attackers behind a deadly assault on a police checkpoint in Safa four days ago had fled in that direction. As the search continues for an estimated 20 people who participated in the attack, residents of the Safa area are fearful of a similar attack occurring again. Checkpoints and inspection operations are in force for people and goods that attempt to enter the area, while some roads have been closed entirely. [ElWatan]
Libya
Northeast
A tense standoff is in place in Benghazi as troops are awaiting orders to advance on Daesh-held areas including the cement plant complex and other buildings that remain under Daesh control, according to the commander of the Libyan 204th Tank Battalion. The standoff was interrupted by intermittent shooting [AkhbarLibya]
Six Libyan soldiers have been killed this week, and another 60 wounded, on the western front in Benghazi in fighting with Daesh, according to a medical source. [Wasat]
A soldier from the Libyan military Special Forces unit died Tuesday of wounds sustained during fighting with Daesh two days before at the cement plant in the Al-Hawari district of Benghazi, a Special Forces spokesman said. [Wasat]
The name of the Daesh commander in Al-Fata’ih, a Daesh stronghold, has been identified as “Ibrahim Al-Warfali” according to the commander of the Al-Fata’ih operations room. Al-Warfali commands approximately 100 Daesh fighters in the area overlooking the city. [Wasat]
A bomb planted in a school for girls in the coastal city of Al-Kubba was defused in the early hours as school was due to begin, according to an unidentified source. [AfriGate]
A young man was killed Wednesday, and four others injured, by a mine explosion in the Sidi Faraj area of Benghazi, which the Libyan military recently captured from Daesh, according to the victim’s fathers. [Wasat]
Central Coast
The Daesh wali of Sirte led a march on Tuesday to celebrate the deadly attack on Brussels, according to eyewitnesses and local residents. [Wasat]
Daesh has imposed a checkpoint on Sirte residents since Sunday, beginning from the Asr prayer time (which begins just after 4:30pm in Libya at the present time) until after the Maghreb prayer time (which begins just after 7:10pm in Libya at the present time), according to local media sources. Daesh has also compelled residents of Sirte to attend “religious awareness” classes at local mosques, or face penalties which could be as extreme as execution. [AfriGate]
The Facebook Page “Sirte in the Color of Life” reported that a Daesh column of 30 vehicles was headed from Sirte to towards Marada and the oilfields nearby. Daesh militants set up a checkpoint 50 km (31 miles) west of Marada on the road to Zella. [AfriGate]
Northwest
The Sabratha Operations Room has formed of a joint force of military units and militia groups under its command, according to a statement issued Tuesday that did not provide further details. [Wasat]
Tunisia
Tunisian authorities have re-opened border crossings with Libya after closing them in the wake of the deadly Daesh attack at Ben Guerdane earlier in the month, according to media reports. Tunis also extended the country’s state of emergency, which has been in place since late 2015, by another three months, according to the country’s president Beji Caid Essebsi. So far only Libyan nationals are allowed to cross from Libya into Tunisia at the Ras Al-Jedir crossing, while the entry of Tunisians into Libya has been delayed at Ras Al-Jedir by Libyan authorities who have said that they are preparing a data registry for Tunisians entering Libya before the cross-border travel will be resumed. Tunisians are allowed to enter Libya at the Wazin Dhahabiya crossing however, the chief of the Libyan Border Crossings told the media. The Libyan official also said that Tunis’s decision to re-open its side of the border crossing came as a surprise to Libya and that the two countries have not been coordinating over border crossings. [Wasat] [Wasat]
Algeria
Algerian authorities have announced that the country is sending 5,000 troops to the southern regions of the country to protect strategic gas facilities from what Algiers described as an Al-Qaeda-backed conspiracy against the country’s economic health. [Aawsat]
Other countries
Belgium
Brussels has become a “city of ghosts” after yesterday’s deadly double bombing attacks, according to a Kurdish journalist present in the Belgian capital, who also expressed worry in an interview with ARA news that the bombing, for which Daesh claimed responsibility, would affect the situation of refugees in Europe. [ARA]
The toll of the Brussels attacks still stands at 34, including three suicide bombers, of whom two have been identified as brothers Ibrahim and Khaled El Bakraoui, Belgian nationals, and the third as Najim Laachraoui who was wanted on suspicion of making explosives used in last year’s deadly Daesh attacks in Paris. It has also emerged that Ibrahim El Bakraoui was arrested and deported from Turkey to Belgium last year on suspicion of ties to militant groups (see Turkey story above), and was later deported from Belgium to the Netherlands at his request. Authorities are still searching for a fourth suspect who allegedly fled the airport leaving a bomb behind that failed to explode. [NYT (English)] [USAToday (English)]
Italy
Italian security arrested Ihsan Aziz, an Iraqi, in the Sorrento airport near Naples. The man is wanted in Switzerland for robbery and armed assault as well as sexual harassment, but wanted in France and Belgium for connections to terror groups. [Ghad]
SOCIAL MEDIA SOURCES
Facebook Page of the Day
Iraq Minister of Defense page
Daesh Twitter Accounts of the Day
https://twitter.com/rswecvnj1122
https://twitter.com/nVQw4i4m2qc
https://twitter.com/ksks76678309
https://twitter.com/hssan2_hssan5
https://twitter.com/ex_maghribi_
Other Daesh media
Daesh audio newsletter for today in Arabic [JustPaste]
Daesh issues a video of some of its suicide terrorists. [VideoWood]
