November 16, 2015
REPORTS FROM IRAQ
Among today’s major developments:
Daesh loses more ground around Ramadi.
Political rhetoric continues on control of Tuz.
Mass graves of executed Yazidis found in Sinjar.
ANBAR
Ramadi
Local officials say Daesh holds only 20 square km (8 sq. mi.) in Ramadi city, as its area of control gets smaller. [Mada]
Iraqi Air Force IAF) targeted the Hisbah religious police headquarters in Ramadi city, killing 21 Daesh members including the Hisbah officer and the security officer of the Tameem area, according to the Joint Operations Command (JOC). [Mada]
Anti-Terrorism troops destroyed 4 vehicle bombs and another vehicle and defused 15 IEDs in the Kilo 5 area. [IWMC Report] Iraqi forces have completely secured the Kilo 5 area and are now advancing on Ramadi city, an Iraqi commander says. [Rudaw]
DaeshDaily comment. At the Kilo 5 mark, they are only about 3 miles from downtown Ramadi.
A member of Anbar GC says the Anti-Terrorism troops liberated the judicial compound north of Ramadi. [Sumaria]
North of Ramadi city:
- Coalition planes bombed Daesh positions in Albu Aitha, killing ten. [Baghdadia]
- Coalition planes destroyed an unspecified number of Daesh sites used as weapons storehouses and IED-making factories in Albu Dhiab, a security source says. [Baghdadia]
- Anbar Operations Command troops killed 3 Daesh terrorists and destroyed a hideout in Albu Farraj. [IWMC Report]
The IAF destroyed a Daesh vehicle bomb on the Albu Farraj Bridge. [IWMC Report]
- Anti-Terrorism troops rocketed and destroyed two Daesh hideouts in Albu Risha north of the city. [IWMC Report]
The Coalition conducted 3 airstrikes on the Ramadi area, killing 18 Daesh fighters and wounding another, and destroying 2 vehicles, a tunnel, 19 Daesh positions, 7 heavy machine guns, 3 hideouts, 13 barricades and a vehicle bomb. [IWMC Report]
IFP troops destroyed a Daesh vehicle carrying rockets in east Hsaiba, killing seven Daesh members, the IWMC says. [Ghad]
Daesh says its terrorists launched a surprise attack on Iraqi SWAT forces at Anbar University, then one of the terrorists detonated his explosives vest, killing or wounding many Iraqi fighters. [CDN]
DaeshDaily comment. The credibility of this claim is undermined by the lack of explanation on what happened to the rest of the Daesh members in this attack.
Falluja
Baghdad Operations Command troops killed eight Daesh members and destroyed two vehicles and a motorcycle in operations in Qarma. [Baghdadia]
The Chairman of the Ameriyat Al-Falluja subdistrict council says the schools in the city were closed because of Daesh’s continued shelling on them. He says Daesh has been shelling the city from the Zoba’a villages since yesterday and 3 civilians were wounded so far. [Sumaria]
Daesh says it shelled Iraqi Army forces and Sahwa fighters in Ameriyat Al-Falluja with 200 mortar shells. [Dump]
DaeshDaily comment. Launching 200 shells takes some time. Where was the IAA?
Hit/Haditha
IAF launched an airstrike on a Daesh camp in Hit, destroying the camp and killing ten Daesh members, a JOC source says. [Mada]
Eleven Daesh members were killed in Coalition airstrikes on two areas west of Hit, a security source says. [Baghdadia]
The Chairman of the Security Committee in Khaldiya says the Daesh “minister of media” was killed, with many other terrorists, in a Coalition airstrike on Daesh’s main headquarter in Hit. [Sumaria]
The Jazeera Operations Commander says 1,000 soldiers arrived at the Ain Al-Assad base to support Iraqi forces in Haditha and Baghdadi. [Sumaria]
Jazeera Operations Command troops cleared the road between Albu Hayat and the village of Alus south of Haditha, and destroyed 7 IEDs. [IWMC Report]
A video of tribal fighters from Anbar clashing with Daesh in Albu Hayat last week. [YouTube]
Photos from Albu Hayat after the liberation. [Sumaria]
Elsewhere in Anbar
Daesh publishes photos of executing a man publically, accusing him of blasphemy. [JustPaste]
SALAHUDDIN
Daesh publishes a video message from its terrorists in Salahuddin to France. [MuslimsNews]
Baiji
The body of an Iraqi pediatrician abducted three days ago in east Tikrit was found in Baiji. [Mada]
DaeshDaily comment. This is disturbing, and especially because it is part of a recent pattern in which Daesh has murdered a number of medical doctors, too many to be merely coincidental.
The IAA destroyed a Daesh hideout and three vehicles in the Himrin Mountains, killing many Daesh members. [Mada]
Salahuddin Operations Command troops destroyed 30 IEDs north of Baiji. [IWMC Report]
A video of the Al-Nujaba Movement (militia) commander communicating with Daesh fighters near Baiji. [YouTube]
Iraqi military forces supported by PMFs killed many Daesh fighters and destroyed two armored construction shovels and 3 vehicles in the Makhoul Mountains area. [IWMC Report]
Daesh says one of its suicide terrorists attacked Iraqi forces in the Makhoul Mountains with a vehicle bomb, killing or wounding many Iraqi fighters and destroying an Abrams tank. [GulfUp]
Daesh says it took over the Fertilizers Company compound in Makhoul almost completely. [JustPaste]
Shirqat
A Coalition airstrike in Shirqat has killed many Daesh members including four local leaders– the local military commander, the local security commander, the Hisbah officer, and a sharia judge, a PUK official says. [PUKMedia]
Tikrit
Daesh says it attacked an Iraqi Army position near Tikrit with heavy and mid-size weapons, killing nine soldiers. [JustPaste]
Tuz
Iraqi joint forces in coordination with Kurdish anti-terrorism forces conducted security operations in Tuz. Four members of Kurdish armed groups were arrested and another sniper was killed, and a member of a Turkmen armed group was arrested. [Baghdadia]
The chairman of the Turkmen Front has claimed that unknown operatives have abducted members of his organization. Some unspecified sources reportedly say that the PKK has begun operating in Tuz. “If the PKK have come to Iraq to fight Daesh why are they killing Turkmen in Tuz,” the chairman said. [Sumaria]
DaeshDaily comment: The PKK is known to operate in Kirkuk so it is not implausible that they would infiltrate into Tuz. After last week’s deadly fighting in Tuz between Kurdish and Turkmen militia forces, it appears that the Turkmen Front is making a bid for Turkish intervention in the tense situation there by referring to the possible PKK involvement.
A security source says a PMF sniper wounded a Peshmerga fighter in Tuz. The PMFs and the Peshmerga reached an agreement in Tuz and the prisoners were released from both sides but the situation in still tense and government offices are still closed. [Rudaw]
KRG President Barzani has issued a statement expressing his concern regarding the recent events in Tuz. He said the official government agencies, the security officials, and the Peshmerga should take control of the situation to protect citizens of the area. [Rudaw]
However, An Iraqi MP from the Shabak minority community, a member of the Badr bloc, has denounced the deployment of the Kurdish militia forces in Tuz, describing the presence of the Peshmerga outside the IKR as a “dangerous constitutional violation which endangers the well-being of the other components of Iraqi society.” [Sumaria]
DaeshDaily comment. All of this is about the political status issue between the Government of Iraq and the KRG, which keeps showing up even in supposedly military stories. Tuz has a large concentration of Turkmen and has already been declared a separate province by the COR as a concession to the Turkmen. The KRG has designs on Tuz, as it covets the entirety of Kirkuk province and not just the city, and also areas like Tuz that were previously in Kirkuk province. Shia militias have persistently maneuvered to protect Shia in Kirkuk and surrounding areas from a Kurdish takeover. Many of the Turkmen are Shia and formed their own anti-Daesh militias in self-defense, and some joined Badr later.
Elsewhere in Salahuddin
The IAF destroyed 3 Daesh oil tankers near the Allas oil field. [IWMC Report]
A video showing Iraqi forces’ reported capture of Daesh money being sent to pay salaries. [YouTube]
BAGHDAD
A Daesh member from Salahuddin was captured in Hay al-Jihad in west Baghdad, the IFP commander says. [Baghdadia]
An Iraqi Army 35th Brigade unit killed three Daesh members and destroyed a vehicle carrying a machine gun in the Jisr al-Muwadhafin area in west Baghdad. [Baghdadia]
Baghdad Operations Command troops and PMFs killed 9 Daesh members and captured 2 men wanted on terrorism charges in different areas in Baghdad. [IWMC Report]
Baghdad Operations Command forces defused 19 IEDs in various areas of Baghdad. [Baghdadia]
An Iraqi Army commander says his troops conducted a search campaign in several areas in south Baghdad and confiscated weapons and explosives that were prepared for attacking Shia pilgrims in the upcoming Arba’in ceremony. [Sumaria]
A member of the CoR’s Legal Affairs Committee says the Amnesty Law draft was read for the second time in the CoR. He says the Sadrists and the Sunni blocs want to change an article in the Law that says the people who were convicted based on information from “secret informants” should be retried. The Sadrists and the Sunni blocs want such people released without facing trial. [Sumaria]
The IAF conducted 18 sorties and the IAA 69. Coalition planes conducted 10 sorties. [IWMC Report]
According to security sources:
- One soldier was killed and four wounded when an IED targeting an Iraqi Army vehicle exploded in Taji in north Baghdad,. [Mada]
- An IED exploded near an auto parts dealership in Talbiya in east Baghdad, killing two civilians and wounding eight. [Mada]
- Security forces arrested 5 gang members who shot and killed a liquor store owner in Batawiyeen in downtown Baghdad, apprehending them just minutes after the crime. [Mada]
- An IED exploded near a popular market in Abu Dsheer in south Baghdad, killing a civilian and wounding six others. [Mada]
- An IED exploded near a popular soccer field in Mada’in in south Baghdad, killing a civilian and wounding five. [Baghdadia]
- A civilian was killed and two others injured when a sticky IED planted under a civilian car exploded in Bayya in southwest Baghdad. [Mada]
According to Daesh:
- Daesh says it detonated an IED on a police patrol in Bayya, killing or wounding several policemen. [JustPaste]
- Daesh says its sniper killed 2 Iraqi soldiers in Tarmiya in north Baghdad. [JustPaste]
- Daesh says it killed three Iraqi officers and eight soldiers in two IED attacks in two areas of Arab Jabour in south Baghdad. [JustPaste]
- Daesh says it killed an Iraqi soldier and a Sahwa fighter by detonating a sticky IED under their car in Latifiya in south Baghdad. [JustPaste]
- Daesh says it detonated an IED on a Shia religious gathering in Hay Al-Jihad in south Baghdad, killing or wounding many people. [JustPaste]
DIYALA
Baquba
The Chairman of the Security Committee in Diyala GC says two men wanted on terrorism charges were arrested in east Baquba. [Sumaria]
A security source says a terrorist wanted for several crimes, including beheading four civilians, was captured west of Baquba. [Sumaria]
Muqdadiya/Abu Saida
Unknown armed men destroyed a Sunni mosque in the Ballour area after laying it with explosives, a security source says. The mosque was destroyed completely with no human casualties. [Mada]
Dijla Operations Command troops defused 3 IEDs in Muqdadiya. [IWMC Report]
Daesh says its terrorists attacked a PMF gathering in Wajihiya, killing 2 PMFs and wounding one. [JustPaste]
Elsewhere in Diyala
Daesh says it detonated 2 IEDs on an Iraqi Army vehicle and a PMF vehicle in two areas in Balad Ruz, east of Baquba, killing or wounding several fighters. [JustPaste]
KIRKUK
Daesh publishes a video of its terrorists in Kirkuk celebrating the Paris attacks. [MuslimsNews]
Daesh executed 25 of its own members in Hawija on allegations of cowardice and insubordination, a security source said. [BasNews]
Daesh forced 60 Arab families from their homes in Dibis, a Diyala security source said, adding that the families had fled to Mandali in southeastern Diyala. [Ghad]
NINEWA
Sinjar
Five mass graves have been found in Sinjar containing as many as 300 bodies, a security source said. In one instance, Peshmerga forces uncovered a mass grave containing the bodies of 148 Yazidis, a PUK official said. The discovery of two mass graves, containing the remains of 50 and 60 persons respectively, was also reported by BasNews. [Baghdadia] [Mada] [BasNews] [Hawar]
DaeshDaily comment: Multiple reports have emerged about the discovery of such graves in the predominately Yazidi area of Sinjar, newly recaptured after Daesh held it since mid-2014. At this stage it is unclear from the reports exactly how many such sites have been uncovered and how many victims’ remains are contained within.
The Iraqi flag was raised on the mayoralty building of Sinjar, beside the KRG flag (video). [Baghdadia] [Rudaw]
DaeshDaily comment. Prime Minister Abadi said earlier that the Iraqi flag should fly over Sinjar as it is part of Iraq and since its forces participated in liberating Sinjar by providing air power and intelligence [Rudaw]. This came after KRG President Barzani said only the Kurdistan flag would fly there. As with Tuz, this is all about the political status issue.
A KDP official says hundreds of families from villages around Sinjar and Tal Afar are trying to reach Peshmerga-controlled areas, fearing Daesh will use them as human shields in upcoming battles. He says the Peshmerga didn’t allow them in, fearing security breaches. [Sumaria]
A Kurdish military source says Kurdish forces cleared Mount Sinjar from Daesh. He also says the YPG cleared the road between Al-Hawl in Syria and Sinjar, killing 15 Daesh fighters. [PUKMedia]
The YPG has reportedly also clashed with Daesh in two areas west of Sinjar on the road to Hasaka. [Hawar]
Daesh says it rocketed the Peshmerga in Sinjar with four Katyushas and Grads, killing eight Peshmerga fighters including two officers, and wounding 46. [JustPaste]
Daesh says it attacked 2 villages 4 km (2.5 miles) south of Sinjar and captured 14 Peshmerga supporters. [JustPaste]
DaeshDaily comment. Typical Daesh cowardice; they couldn’t fight the Peshmerga so they captured civilians.
Local sources say Yazidi militias supported by the YPG are burning some Arab villages in Sinjar. The sources say President Barzani issued strict orders to prevent such attacks. [Karemlash]
A Peshmerga source says Daesh shelled the Kurdish forces’ locations from a village in southwest Sinjar District and the Peshmerga responded by shelling the village. [Rudaw]
The Coalition bombed a convoy carrying weapons from Syria to Mosul, destroying the vehicle and killing several Daesh members, a security source said. [Mada]
Photos of the destruction in Sinjar. [BasNews]
Mosul
Coalition airstrikes targeted the municipal building, the Agriculture Ministry directorate building, and several other sites in Mosul city, killing an unspecified number of Daesh members and civilians, a security source said. Daesh was using the Agriculture directorate building as an emergency back-up headquarters, a Ninewa police source told BasNews, saying that 17 Daesh members perished in the attack on that building in east Mosul, with nine more injured. [BasNews] [Mada]
Coalition airstrikes targeted Daesh combat positions near Kasik, killing or wounding ten Daesh members, a security source said. [Mada] A group of Daesh terrorists tried to infiltrate into Kasik, a Peshmerga commander says, but Coalition planes stopped their attack, killing sixty Daesh members. [BasNews]
Coalition planes destroyed a Daesh combat position and a weapons storehouse in Qayara, south of Mosul. [Mada]
A local source says Daesh executed 30 civilians, including journalists and activists, accusing them of communicating with the Iraqi government. [Sumaria]
Nine Daesh members were killed in an explosion in rural Baaj District south of Mosul, a KDP official said, without specifying the cause of the blast. [Rudaw]
Local sources say Daesh members started fleeing to Baaj after the defeats in Sinjar and in Al-Hawl, Syria. The YPG forces also liberated Maidan village on Sunday, and are 25 km (15.5 miles) away from the Ninewa/Baaj border. [ROJ]
A local source in Mosul says there is no power in Mosul except for the hospitals and the water pumps and some streets. Students are not going to school. Meanwhile Daesh is spreading rumors it is going to attack Sinjar, the Mosul Dam and Baiji. [Karemlash]
Daesh announced a curfew in Mosul after the heavy Coalition airstrikes, a Ninewa police source says, adding that Daesh police and Hisbah patrols have disappeared from the city out of fear they would be targeted by Coalition planes. [BasNews]
Daesh publishes a video and photos of the bombing results on Mosul. [A3maq] [JustPaste]
Daesh says 5 civilians were killed and 30 wounded in the bombing. [JustPaste]
Northwest Ninewa
More than 20 Daesh fighters were killed or wounded in a Coalition airstrike on a Daesh ammunition storehouse in the Hasankoy area in Tal Afar, a security source said. [Mada]
Makhmur
Peshmerga forces stopped a Daesh attack in Krawai near Makhmur, a Kurdish source said. [Rudaw]
Daesh publishes photos of shelling the Peshmerga in Makhmur. [GulfUp] [GulfUp]
Other Governorates
SOUTHERN IRAQ
Security forces captured two men who admitted kidnapping, torturing, then killing a local journalist in Najaf five days ago. The Najaf Governor says there were no political reasons behind the crime (video). [Sumaria]
The Chief Judge in Babel says a member of Babel GC was sentenced to 3 years for forgery. He also says the current and former Babel governors and a GC member, in addition to two other employees, will be prosecuted in Criminal Court on corruption charges. [Sumaria]
Dhi Qar GC refuses to accept the Ministry of Higher Education decision to send Dhi Qar high school graduates to Anbar, Ninewa and Salahuddin universities. The universities have substitute locations in safer cities but many southern governorates have refused to send their students. [Sumaria]
DaeshDaily comment. A likely issue is that once Daesh is defeated in those provinces the universities will return to their home locations and will expect the students to follow.
REPORTS FROM SYRIA
Northeast
The spokesman of the Democratic Syrian Forces said on Sunday that his organization has liberated 196 villages in the countryside south of Hasaka, and that battles will continue until Shaddadi is liberated. The group says in its campaign so far it that it has liberated 1400 square km from Daesh (about 550 sq. mi.), including the key town of Al-Hawl, killed 493 Daesh members, destroyed 57 vehicles, and captured another 31, and destroyed a large quantity of weapons and ammunition. [Welati] [Hawar]
Northwest
Daesh publishes photos of the battles near Irbeed and Rasm Abboud villages in Aleppo. [JustPaste] [JustPaste]
Daesh says two of its suicide terrorists attacked a Syrian Army convoy near Kowaires airbase killing, more than 50 soldiers and wounding many others and destroying a tank and a vehicle. (photos) [Dump] [Dump] [Dump]
Daesh publishes photos of shelling Syrian Army troops near Kowaires. [JustPaste]
Central and West
Daesh says it destroyed two Syrian Army tanks in Dowa in Homs with Kornet rockets. [Dump]
South
Daesh says its mortars and tanks shelled Syrian troops in Mahin near Damascus, killing or wounding many Syrian soldiers. [Dump]
Daesh publishes photos of shelling Al-Nusra in Daraa. [Store1] [Store1]
DaeshDaily comment. Al-Nusra scored a big win against Daesh when it managed to kill the Shuahad Al-Yarmouk Brigade commander and 13 of his associates in Daraa two days ago. The Brigade had pledged allegiance to Daesh earlier.
REPORTS FROM OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICAN COUNTRIES
Daesh audio newsletter in Arabic for today. [Archive]
Yemen. Daesh publishes a video message to Al-Qaeda in Yemen, telling them they should join Daesh. [Archive]
Egypt. Daesh publishes photos of detonating an IED on an Egyptian Army armored vehicle in Sinai. [JustPaste]
Security sources say Egyptian forces killed 24 Daesh members and captured eight in Sinai. [AfriGate]
Libya. Local terrorist sources refute American reports about killing the Iraqi leader of Daesh in Libya and say he is in Harawa near Sirte with other Daesh leaders. [AfriGate]
Another source say the terrorist left the bombed location two weeks earlier and he is training Daesh fighters in Sirte now. [AfriGate]
The Libyan Minister of Foreign Affairs says many Daesh terrorists escaped Syria after the Russian attacks and are establishing camps in west Libya to attack Tunisia. [AfriGate]
Local sources say Daesh terrorists in Sirte paraded in military vehicles in the city, celebrating the Paris attacks. [AkhbarLibya24]
Two Libyan commanders were killed during the last 48 hours in the battles against Daesh in Derna. [AfriGate] Libyan troops vow they will continue the battles against Daesh despite the two commanders’ deaths. [YouTube]
Libyan forces captured 3 Daesh terrorists (two Tunisians and one from Mali) after clashes on the road between Sabha, 750 km (470 miles) south of Tripoli, and Misrata. [AfriGate]
Tunisia. The Tunisian Ministry of Interior says Tunisian security arrested 7 Daesh female members who admitted their work within the Daesh media branch. [Tunisien]
Morocco. The Moroccan Ministry of Interior says security forces arrested four terrorists linked to Daesh. [AfriGate]
Afghanistan. Daesh says it detonated an IED in Kabul, killing an intelligence colonel and wounding two other officers. [JustPaste]
SOCIAL MEDIA SOURCES
Facebook Page of the Day
Halab Today TV page.
Daesh Twitter Accounts of the Day
https://twitter.com/_________N___34
https://twitter.com/g6737992_jdjdj
https://twitter.com/idriss1011
https://twitter.com/5abc4404b42f4e8
