October 21, 2016
Bartella Church
Today’s Major Developments
Ashton Carter announces “agreement in principle” between Iraq, Turkey on Turkish role in Mosul campaign. Joint Operations Command stresses that there is no deal. [..]
Daesh stages suicide attack on a Tribal PMF commander’s house east of Samarra. [..]
Daesh makes major attack on Kirkuk; details still emerging. [..]
16 civilians died in Daesh attack on Dibis electricity station. [..]
15 women reported killed by an airstrike in Daquq, Kirkuk. [..]
Counter Terrorism commander says Daesh leaders leaving Mosul; victory won’t take long. [..]
Iraqi forces entered Hamdaniya and Tel Keif cities. [..]
IFP-led forces capture four villages in Mosul’s Shura subdistrict. Have now captured 37. [..]
The church bells in Bartella are ringing again! [..]
UNICEF issues a discouraging report about Syrian school attendance. [..]
SDF, Turkey-supported groups are shooting at each other. [..]
REPORTS FROM IRAQ
NATIONAL NEWS
U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said on Friday after talks with President Erdogan in Turkey that Turkey and Iraq have reached an agreement in principle that could eventually allow a Turkish role in the Mosul campaign.
Carter made clear that details on Turkey’s potential role in the ongoing Mosul campaign still needed to be hammered out and a senior U.S. defense official noted non-military assistance was also a possibility.
Carter says “That will have to obviously be something that the Iraqi government will need to agree to and I think there’s agreement there in principle,” “But now we’re down to the practicalities of that … and that’s what we’re working through.” [Reuters]
The JOC issued a statement saying there is no deal between Iraq and Turkey, and Turkish troops will not participate in the Mosul liberation. [Mada]
DaeshDaily comment. Maybe knowing the substance of this understanding would persuade us, but we are skeptical. Why the US Secretary of Defense would be forcing compromises on Iraq in this dispute in which Turkey is so obviously in the wrong is a hard question to answer.
An informed source says Secretary Carter arrived to Baghdad in an announced visit on Saturday morning. [Sumaria]
Hundreds of people demonstrated in Baghdad and other governorates demanding reforms and expressing their support for the Iraqi forces in Ninewa. [Mada]
The Sistani organization representative in Kerbala asks security forces to protect the civilians in Ninewa in any possible way and deal with them with the utmost care. He also asked security forces to apply human rights standards while dealing with the arrestees and make sure only legal procedures are taken against them. He asked the people of Ninewa to cooperate with Iraqi forces. [Sumaria] [Sumaria] [Sumaria]
The Coalition says it conducted 7 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Iraq, on or near Mosul (4), Sultan Abdullah (1), and Tal Afar (1); and Rawa (1) in western Anbar. [InherentResolve]
BAGHDAD
Security-related incidents reported
Northwest (Kadhimiya, etc.)
An MoI source says two people were killed and seven wounded when an IED exploded near a commercial area in Shula. [Mada]
North (Tarmiya, Taji, etc.)
An MoI source says two people were killed and five wounded when a sticky IED exploded under a small bus in Husseiniya. [Mada]
Daesh says it damaged a Humvee with an IED near the Ibn Sina compound in Tarmiya on Thursday. [A3maq]
East (Sadr City, New Baghdad, etc.)
An MoI source says the MOI EOD defused a vehicle bomb parked near car dealerships in Habibiya, in Sadr City. [Mada]
South (Dora, Yusufiyah, Mahmudiya, etc.)
A police source says one policeman was killed and three others wounded when an IED exploded on their patrol in the Karaghoul area in Yusufiyah. [Maalomah]
An MoI source says two people were killed and nine wounded when an IED exploded near a wholesale market in Yusufiyah. [Mada]
Southwest (Rasheed, etc.)
An MoI source says one person was killed and nine wounded when an IED exploded near a popular café in Hay Al-Sihha. [Mada]
Total IED incidents 6
Total Baghdad incidents reported: 7 (Includes only incidents reported)
ANBAR
Falluja
Falluja District Council says a Tribal PMF fighter was killed by a Daesh leftover land mine he was trying to defuse west of Falluja. Maalomah]
A security source says a shepherd was killed when an IED exploded west of Falluja. [Sumaria]
Rutba/Western Anbar
A Tribal PMF commander says his fighters attacked Daesh near Al-Qa’im and killed 13 terrorists and destroyed 3 vehicles. [BasNews]
A security source says 3 Daesh terrorists were killed by an IED they were planting on a main road near Al-Qa’im. [Maalomah]
A Tribal PMF commander says the IAA targeted Daesh in Rawa, killing 7 terrorists and destroying 3 guesthouses and 2 vehicle bombs. He also says the IAA targeted Daesh supply lines in different areas of west Anbar. [Maalomah]
SALAHUDDIN
Shirqat
Salahuddin Operations Command EOD found a Daesh tunnel network and destroyed 25 IEDs in Shirqat. [MoD Website]
Daesh says it killed sixteen PMF fighters by shelling their positions in Suwaidan village, north of Shirqat, with mortars. [A3maq]
Baiji
Iraqi forces captured 3 men wanted on terrorism charges who were trying to sneak in with displaced families at a checkpoint north of Baiji. [MoD Website]
Iraqi forces destroyed a Daesh vehicle in the Thermal Station area, killing the terrorists inside. [MoD Website]
Samarra
A Salahuddin Police source says three people were killed and fifteen wounded when two Daesh suicide terrorists blew up their explosives vests in an attack on a Tribal PMF commander’s house in Mutasem subdistrict. [Mada]
Daesh’s version says two of its suicide terrorists attacked the house of a Sahwa commander in the Banat Al-Hassan area, east of Samarra, killing ten people and wounding twenty. [DawaAlhaq]
DIYALA
Northern Diyala (Kifri, Khanaqin, etc.)
Iraqi Army 5th division, supported by the IAA, attacked a Daesh camp in a mountain area in northeast Diyala and destroyed 4 guesthouses and several IEDs. [MoD Website]
A member of the Diyala GC says Tribal PMFs, supported by Iraqi Army 5th division artillery, stopped a Daesh attack on the Shirween area. [Sumaria]
KIRKUK
Kirkuk
[This follows up on our late-breaking story of last night that was later reported by media outlets.]
Kirkuk city. Prime Minister Abadi issues orders to send additional troops to Kirkuk. [Mada]
Daesh’s attack started at 3 am with a suicide attack by explosives vest on a police station in Kirkuk city. Security personnel killed 2 other terrorists who couldn’t break into the station. After that, Daesh terrorists detonated a car bomb near the Kirkuk Police Directorate; then 6 terrorists entered the building. Daesh snipers were deployed over two hotels where displaced families from Anbar and Ninewa are residing. Security personnel couldn’t kill them because they were using civilians as human shields. People in the Tis’in area (Hay Al-Khadra) did kill 4 terrorists who sneaked into the area. Coalition planes were called to target a building where Daesh snipers had barricaded themselves. PMF reinforcements later arrived in Kirkuk. [Harbi]
Daesh says it burned down 2 Peshmerga Humvees, 2 bulldozers, and 2 cars in Hay Tis’in. [A3maq]
A security source said Friday the situation was still ongoing in Kirkuk, as several Daesh terrorists were barricaded in commercial buildings and a residential area. The source says Coalition planes are flying over Kirkuk and the curfew declared yesterday is still in place. [Mada]
The MoI issued a statement saying the police and security forces are in control of the security situation in Kirkuk after killing 31 Daesh terrorists and destroying 2 vehicle bombs and 4 IEDs. However, several MoI employees and civilians were killed in the clashes. It denied a report that the PKK participated in defending the city. [Mada]
The Kirkuk Police chief issued a statement saying security forces are in control of the situation. He also refuted the PKK report. [ARA]
The media report in question said several PKK fighters were deployed to support security forces in Kirkuk. [ROJ]
The PYD-backed Hawar picked up on this. It says the Peshmerga and PKK fighters stopped a Daesh attack on Qara Tapa village, west of Kirkuk. It also says PKK fighters participated with the Peshmerga in the clashes in Kirkuk. [Hawar]
Twenty Kurdish fighters were killed, mostly in suicide attacks, and tens wounded in the clashes in Kirkuk. At least 35 Daesh terrorists were killed and several of them captured, including a woman who was providing medicine to the terrorists. [ROJ]
Medical and security sources say thirty-five people were killed and 120 wounded in the Daesh attacks in Kirkuk. [Mada]
Two retired Peshmerga fighters were killed and three wounded in the clashes in Kirkuk. [ROJ]
A security source says a Turkmen TV station reporter was killed by a Daesh sniper in Kirkuk. [Mada]
In a bizarre story, an informed source says an unidentified plane targeted a Peshmerga position in Nawafil village, south of Kirkuk, killing one fighter and wounding five. [ROJ]
A security source says security units killed 3 Daesh terrorists and freed 20 hostages held by the terrorists in a building in the 1 Huzairan area, in south Kirkuk. [Sumaria]
A security source says 40-45 Daesh terrorists conducted the attacks in Kirkuk. The source says Daesh sleeper cells were activated in 19 areas in Kirkuk. [Baghdadia]
DaeshDaily comment. Sleeper cells might be Daesh’s last weapon. While there is no way that Daesh can capture any city in Iraq now, especially one as large and as important as Kirkuk, such attacks are likely to happen for some time to come.
That is one reason the Amnesty Law should be examined carefully. Giving amnesty to Daesh supporters carries the risk that this will encourage many of them to create or join sleeper cells.
As for the Kirkuk attack itself, there is nothing surprising about it. We have commented often that Daesh responds to defeats by carrying out other high-profile attacks elsewhere to distract attention from them. As the Mosul campaign rolls on, there may well be other compensatory attacks, not necessarily in Iraq. Moreover, Daesh gets more media headlines by attacking in unsuspected places.
Daesh claimed that it “controlled” 10 neighborhoods in Kirkuk, killed or wounded “tens” of Peshmerga, PMF fighters, and Asayesh members, and captured several of them, including an Asayesh Lieutenant Colonel. Daesh says its terrorists used loudspeakers to call on security forces to “repent” and surrender before they get killed. Daesh also says it captured military vehicles, weapons, and ammunition, and destroyed many other vehicles. Daesh says the battles are still ongoing. [A3maq] Daesh says it killed “tens” of security personnel. [A3maq]
A Kirkuk Police commander says Daesh wanted to free some prisoners in the attacks on Kirkuk. [Rudaw]
Tens of people of Kirkuk carried their weapons and deployed in several areas in Kirkuk to protect their city. [Baghdadia]
Photos of the Kurdish fighters in Kirkuk. [ROJ]
The Mayor of Kirkuk District says the attacker might have entered with the displaced families. [BasNews]
DaeshDaily comment. Daesh knows how to make the lives of displaced families even more miserable. More distrust among communities leads to more hatred and resentment, and then to more Daesh recruits.
Daesh says Peshmerga and security officers fled with their families from Kirkuk. [A3maq]
DaeshDaily comment. Message: There is no one left to protect you. At the end of the day, this is a media war. Daesh cannot survive militarily in Iraq. These kinds of reports and rumors are used to scare people. However, it was civilians and retired Peshmerga who fought and defeated Daesh in Kirkuk.
The Turkman PMF says its troops entered Kirkuk city and they are searching neighborhoods looking for Daesh terrorists. [Mada]
Volunteers from Suleimaniya and Chamchamal arrived in Kirkuk to help repel the Daesh attack. [Rudaw]
DaeshDaily comment. But wait, Daesh just said people were running away from the city!
A security source says the Peshmerga and the Asayish killed 6 Daesh terrorists were who were barricaded in a school in Hay Al-Urouba, in southeast Kirkuk. [Sumaria]
A security source says a security unit killed a Daesh sniper who was barricading at a hotel in Kirkuk city and freed 3 Egyptian workers. Earlier today, the Kirkuk governor office says security forces are fighting with 35 Daesh terrorists who are barricading in different areas in the city. [Sumaria]
Daesh publishes a photo of 2 of its fighters carrying its flag over Al-Urouba medical center. One of them is no more than 10-years-old. [GooglePlus]
Daesh publishes other photos related to the attack, including a photo of the ID of an Asayesh member. [GooglePlus] [GooglePlus] [GooglePlus] [GooglePlus] [GooglePlus] [DawaAlhaq]
A video from Kirkuk during the clashes [YouTube]
[Late breaking story]
The manager of Laylan district says a joint Peshmerga, Asayish and PMF forces stopped a Daesh attack on Zandana village, killing 9 terrorists. [Sumaria]
Dibis. The Mayor of Dibis District says Daesh terrorists killed sixteen employees and technicians, including four from an Iranian company, at an under-construction electricity station in Dibis. He says Police and Asayesh units clashed with the terrorists, and 2 suicide bombers blew themselves up. He says two policemen were wounded in the clashes. [Mada]
Daesh says it attacked the electricity station and killed all “security members.” [A3maq]
DaeshDaily comment. Perhaps this sounds more heroic to the Daesh fan base than saying that Daesh killed unarmed technicians.
Daesh says it conducted a suicide attack on a Peshmerga reinforcement convoy in Dibis. [A3maq]
Daesh says it attacked the Karaw area in Dibis. [A3maq]
Here Daesh says it attacked Dibis District. [A3maq]
Southwest
Fifteen women were reported killed by a Coalition airstrike on a Shia religious gathering in Daquq. [Mawazin] Videos of the results of the reported airstrike [YouTube] [YouTube] [YouTube] [YouTube]
The Mayor of Daquq District told Agence France Press that unidentified warplanes conducted an airstrike on a Shia religious gathering for women in Kirkuk, killing fifteen women and wounding fifty. [ROJ] Here the mayor accused Iraqi warplanes of the airstrike. [Mada]
DaeshDaily comment. We contacted the Coalition in Iraq about this report. This was the response:
“At this time, we cannot associate this with any Coalition strikes in the area. The Coalition adheres to targeting processes and procedures aimed to minimize risks to non-combatants. Extraordinary efforts are made by the Coalition to identify and strike appropriate targets in order to avoid non-combatant casualties. We take all reports of non-combatant casualties seriously and assess all incidents as thoroughly as possible.”
Daesh says it attacked Peshmerga units in the Maktab Khaled, Rashad, Daquq, Bashir, and other areas southwest of Kirkuk. [A3maq]
NINEWA
The battlefront commander of the Counter-Terrorism Service announced that Daesh leadership was fleeing Mosul and that its defenses were deteriorating. Another CTS officer says the Mosul battle “will not last long.” [Karemlash] [Buratha]
The Joint Operations Command (JOC) announced that Joint Forces have killed 400 Daesh members since the start of the Mosul operation. [Waradana]
The IWMC says 473 Daesh terrorists were killed and 22 captured, and 95 vehicle bombs, 21 mortar units, 4 booby-trapped house, 352 IEDs, a large weapons and explosives storehouse, and 11 guesthouses were destroyed during the Ninewa campaign so far. [AIN]
The JOC says 57 villages have been liberated in Ninewa so far. [Harbi]
The Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration says just 1,000 people have been displaced by the fighting in Ninewa so far. [PressIraq]
The Ministry says the camps it prepared for the Ninewa displaced people so far can only host 100,000 people. [Mada]
The Turkish Red Crescent announced, however, that it is expecting between 450,000 and 500,000 displaced persons from Ninewa to cross into Turkey. [Sumaria]
The Turkish Red Crescent sent 20 trucks loaded with humanitarian assistance to the people of Mosul and Tal Afar. [Anadolu]
A PMF statement says PMFs have secured supply lines southwest of Mosul in preparation for the launch of fresh land operations west of Mosul. [Forat]
Military engineers defused 40 IEDs southwest of Mosul. [Harbi]
A KDP-Iran official says their fighters are participating with the Peshmerga in the Ninewa battles, in the Bashiqa area. [ARA]
A Roj Ava Peshmerga, Syrian Kurdish fighters trained by the KDP, officer also says 1,000 of his fighters are participating in the battles. [ARA]
Mosul
Military developments within Mosul
Daesh has gathered over 550 families from around Ninewa into Mosul and is using them as human shields, the UNOCHA spokeswoman said, citing “confirmed information.” [PUKMedia]
Daesh is also deploying its anti-aircraft weapons in heavily populated civilian areas, effectively using the populace in those places as human shields, local sources said. [Mawsleya]
Daesh has been compelling family members of fugitive Daesh members to join its fighting ranks, local sources said. [Mawsleya]
Daesh has increased its number of executions of civilians in Iraq in response to its recent losses, local sources say. The sources add that many of the executions take place in the Bab Al-Tob market area in central Mosul. [Mawsleya]
Daesh executed three civilians on the Hurriya Bridge over the Tigris in central Mosul, a local source said. [PUKMedia]
The Kata’eb Al-Mosul anti-Daesh resistance group announced it killed a Daesh member known as “Abu Hamza,” responsible for Daesh intelligence in the Yarmouk neighborhood, at 8:00 am on Friday. [KM Facebook]
Video of a purported Kata’eb Al-Mosul surveillance operation of Daesh communications infrastructure in Al-Masaref neighborhood of Mosul. [KM Facebook]
A security source says Daesh blew up the education directorate building in the Faisaliya area in east Mosul. [Ghad]
Conditions in Mosul
Friday prayers were not held in most of Mosul’s mosques on instructions of Daesh leadership, a local source in Ninewa said. At those mosques that did hold Friday prayers, no Daesh official was in attendance, including local-level neighborhood commanders. Daesh leaders are either at the front or have fled Mosul, the source said. [Sumaria]
Shura/Hammam Alil
Daesh conducted a wide search and arrest operation in Hammam Al-Alil, hunting for fleeing Daesh members who they fear might be collaborating with Iraqi intelligence, says Husayn Jasim, the Mayor of Mosul District. [PUKMedia] [PUKMedia]
The IFP announced that it captured the village of Nina’a, southeast of Shura city, and that it had destroyed four Daesh vehicle bombs and killed 17 Daesh “terrorists” in the operation, as well as evacuating 63 families. The IFP also announced that it found 1.5 tons of ammonium nitrate in the village. [Sumaria] [Buratha]
A Ninewa Operations Command colonel said Iraqi forces captured Harara as well as Nina’a villages in Shura subdistrict. [BasNews]
Daesh concedes that Iraqi forces captured Nina’a, and says they tried to advance towards Shura, but Daesh attacked them with 2 vehicle bombs at the Shura intersection, destroying 5 Humvees and an armored personnel carrier, killing or wounding the soldiers inside, and forcing Iraqi forces to retreat to the village. Daesh says after that, it attacked the village, destroying 2 Humvees, 2 armored personnel carriers, and 2 BMP armored vehicles. Daesh also says it conducted another suicide attack near the village. [A3maq] [JustPaste]
DaeshDaily comment. It may be significant that they don’t claim to have recaptured the village.
Daesh publishes photos of one of the suicide attacks. [JustPaste]
Daesh publishes photos of destroying 2 BMP armored vehicles near Shura. [JustPaste] [JustPaste]
The IWMC says Iraqi forces liberated Shura Jadida and Tal Wa’i villages near the Shura intersection. It also says Rapid Intervention units liberated Tal Tiba village, in south Qayara, killing 22 terrorists and destroying 3 vehicle bombs. [Baghdadia]
Daesh publishes photos of another suicide attack conducted by an Iraqi terrorist south of Shura. [DawaAlhaq]
Qayara
The IFP announced it has captured 37 villages, arrested 27 Daesh terrorists, and seized 31 launchers, 14 heavy guns, 17 mortar launchers, 36 chemical-loaded shells, 6 explosive vests, as well as securing 56 oil wells, and destroying 58 vehicle bombs, 127 IEDs, 12 motorcycle bombs, and 13 caravan bombs. [Buratha]
Nineveh Plain
Unknown assailants reportedly killed three Daesh commanders in an unidentified village, including 35-year-old Muhammad Muhsin, reportedly Daesh’s “military commander” for its “state” [wilaya] of Dijla, according to a local source. Daesh responded to the killing with a wide arrest campaign in the village and the execution of 33 people on allegations of collaborating against Daesh, the source said. [PUKMedia]
Hamdaniya
Bartella is “completely cleared” and residents will return safely, a Counter-Terrorism Force officer said. [Buratha]
The church bells in Bartella are ringing again! [Sumaria]
[Late breaking story]
A security source says Iraqi forces entered Hamdaniya city and raised the flag over its mayoralty building. [Sumaria]
Daesh says it launched a counterattack on Peshmerga and PMF troops in Bartella and broke the siege on its trapped terrorists in the city after a suicide attack. Daesh also says it recaptured one of the Tais Kharab villages to the north and several roads leading to Bartella, and says it destroyed 2 Humvees and 2 bulldozers and damaged an Abrams tank. [A3maq]
Here Daesh says it destroyed 3 Peshmerga Humvees and 2 bulldozers in Bartella. [A3maq]
Daesh executed five civilians in the village of Hadrat Al-Fadil Al-Jadida, a local source said. [PUKMedia]
Daesh says it forced Peshmerga and PMF units to retreat from Manara and Bashbita villages, hours after they captured the villages, after conducting 4 suicide attacks. Daesh says it killed or wounded many fighters and destroyed several vehicles. [A3maq]
Daesh issues a video of the battles. [A3maq]
A CoR member from Ninewa says Daesh burned down the Mishraq Sulphur Factory and fields and warns of an environmental disaster. [Mada]
Iraqi troops are now in control of the Mishraq Sulphur Factory, where Daesh lit fires in order to fill the air with noxious smoke. [SotAlIraq]
Iraqi Army troops are searching recently seized villages in southwest Hamdaniya, the IWMC announced in a statement obtained by DaeshDaily.
Tel Keif
[Late breaking story]
A PUK official says Iraqi forces captured 2 neighborhoods in Tel Keif and raised the flag over the buildings. [Sumaria]
Daesh says it stopped a massive Peshmerga and Coalition planes attack on Batnaya and Kafruk on Thursday. It says it conducted 5 suicide attacks on the Kurdish forces, killing or wounding many fighters, and facing the rest to retreat. [A3maq]
Daesh publishes photos of battles near Batnaya. [DawaAlhaq]
Daesh issues a video of damaging a Peshmerga Humvee near Batnaya. [A3maq]
A Ninewa Operations Command colonel says Iraqi forces started extensive shelling on Tel Keif in order to start military operations to liberate the district. He also says Iraqi forces removed the sand barriers. He says this will be the first military operation for Iraqi army forces stationed near the Mosul Dam. [Anadolu]
Peshmerga units received 17 families fleeing the Daesh-held village of Derik near the Bashiqa border. [Harbi]
Bashiqa
Daesh says it targeted Peshmerga units near the Janji area just on the Bashiqa side of the same border with more than 200 heavy artillery shells then with a suicide attack. [A3maq]
Daesh publishes 2 photos of targeting a Peshmerga excavator with a 23mm weapon (location unclear). [JustPaste]
Northwest (Tal Afar, Sinjar)
Daesh publishes photos of targeting Peshmerga positions in the Sab’iya area, north of Tal Afar, with mortars and heavy machine guns. [DawaAlhaq]
South (Baaj, Hatra)
The Ashura Brigades PMF announced that its fighters foiled a Daesh attack in Hatra in which Daesh attempted to use missiles loaded with chlorine gas, and also destroyed two vehicle bombs. [Forat]
Photos of Daesh primary school teaching materials found in Hatra. [PressIraq]
KURDISTAN
The Turkish Military says its planes killed six PKK fighters in the Avashin area, in northern Iraq. [ARA]
SOUTHERN IRAQ
Basra
The Basra Police says it captured a man wanted on terrorism charges in Qurna. [Sumaria]
REPORTS FROM SYRIA
UNICEF issued a startling report about Syrian schools. It says that “With the start of the school year in Syria, over 1.7 million children remain out of school and another 1.3 million are at a risk of dropping out, according to new education data. Escalating violence, displacement, increased poverty, and an overstretched and under-resourced education system continue to force children out of school, denying them their right to education. Across the war-torn country, one in three schools cannot be used because they are either damaged, destroyed, sheltering the internally displaced or are being used for military purposes. Since the war began in 2011, there have been over 4,000 attacks on schools.” [UNICEF]
The Turkish Military says it attacked 40 Daesh targets and 6 YPG targets in north Syria. It also says three opposition groups fighters were killed and eleven wounded in 2 car bomb explosions in Azaz and Turkman Bareh on Thursday. [ARA]
The Coalition says it conducted 13 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Syria, on or near Manbij (6), Mare’ (1), Raqqa (2), Shaddadi (3), and Ain Eissa (1). [InherentResolve]
Northeast (Hasaka, Raqqa)
Hasaka
A local source says Daesh executed 6 of its security members in Markada after accusing them of trying to flee the city. It also says Daesh killed 2 of its Saudi terrorists in Markada without giving any reasons. [ARA]
The SOHR says Coalition planes reportedly targeted a bridge in Markada. [SyriaHR]
The Assyrian Observatory for Human Rights issued a statement criticizing the PYD’s census and saying it aims at depriving the native people of Hasaka of their properties. [BasNews]
Northwest (Aleppo, Idlib)
Azaz
Battles continued between opposition groups and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) factions in Sheikh Eissa, east of Mare’ in Azaz. Turkish artillery continued shelling villages under SDF control, while a Turkish recon drone flew over the area. [Hawar]
However, SDF factions ambushed opposition groups in Sheikh Eissa, killing nine fighters and destroying two machine gun-mounted vehicles. [Hawar]
An SDF source says Turkish artillery and warplanes continued their attacks on Hasiya and Sheikh Eissa, without causing casualties. Local activists say the Turkish Army targeted Harbal, Um Hawsh, and Um Al-Qura with earth-to-earth missiles, causing severe damage. [BasNews]
The Turkish Army artillery attacked an SDF convoy near Harbal, killing or wounding several fighters. [Qasioun]
An SDF faction destroyed an opposition groups machine gun-mounted vehicle near Harbal. [Hawar]
Ahrar Al-Sharqiya, a Turkey-backed opposition group, says the opposition started a military operation to take Tal Rifaat from the SDF. [Qasioun]
Daesh 2 publishes photos of targeting “PKK” units in Gharnata village, south of Mare’, with heavy machine guns. [DawaAlhaq]
Daesh 2 publishes photos of targeting opposition groups in Akhtarin with mortars. [DawaAlhaq]
Afrin
The Turkish Army brought 8 tanks to the border area near Afrin. [Hawar]
Manbij
Daesh says 3 of its terrorists attacked the “PKK” in Hajar Kabir and Tawq Al-Khalil villages, southwest of Manbij, and clashed with the “PKK” for several hours. Daesh says 2 of the terrorists blew themselves up, while the 3rd returned safely. It says twenty “PKK” fighters were killed or wounded in the attack. [DawaAlhaq]
Four children were killed by a Daesh landmine in Manbij city. [Qasioun]
Other Northwest Syria
Syrian planes killed eighteen civilians, including seven from one family, in airstrikes on different areas in Idlib. [ZamanAlWasl]
Central and West (Homs, Hama, etc.)
The SOHR says Syrian warplanes targeted Daesh positions near Tadmur Silos, while the battles continued between Syrian troops and Daesh in the area. [SyriaHR]
East (Deir Ez-Zor)
Local sources say Daesh is arresting young men in areas west of Deir Ez-Zor and forcing them to join their fighters in Ninewa. [ARA]
Local activists say Daesh put its military commander of Albu Kamal and another (Kuwaiti) terrorist under house arrest after a quarrel between the two. [EnabBaladi]
Daesh publishes photos of a marble factory in Deir Ez-Zor. [DawaAlhaq]
South (Rif Damashq, Suwayda, Daraa, etc.)
Jaish Al-Islam, an opposition group, says a group of its fighters sneaked into a Daesh headquarters in the Al-Hajar Al-Aswad area and blew it up. No casualties were reported. [Qasioun]
OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA REPORTS
North Africa
Egypt
Two civilians including a 75-year-old woman were killed and a 5-year-old child was wounded when a mortar shell fell on residential areas in Bala’a village, west of Rafah. A man and a woman were wounded when an IED exploded on them in Hay Al-Rasm, in Rafah. [VetoGate]
Security units stopped 3 attacks on 2 security barriers south of Sheikh Zuweid and a third one near Rafah border crossing, killing 10 takfiris. [VetoGate]
Eyewitnesses say warplanes targeted terrorists’ positions south of Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid. [ElWatan]
Daesh says it destroyed an Egyptian Army tank with an IED in Mahdiya village, south of Rafah, and destroyed an Egyptian Army minesweeper with an IED in the Qasima area, in Central Sinai, on Thursday. [A3maq]
Two policeman were killed when an IED exploded on their water tanker in south Arish. [VetoGate]
ABM terrorists shot at an ambulance on the road between Rafah and Arish, wounding the patient in his foot. A security source says the ABM shoots at ambulances because it suspects they are transporting wounded soldiers. [VetoGate]
Libya
Central coast
The GNA Military says its troops advanced further in the 600 area, killing 20 Daesh terrorists. [AfriGate]
SOCIAL MEDIA
The UN says Daesh has so far kidnapped 550 families from several areas in Ninewa and taken them to Mosul to use as human shields. Local activists say Daesh has more than one million people in Mosul and it doesn’t need more human shields. They say Daesh had kidnapped 550 from Saqlawiya during the Falluja liberation operations, and executed some of them and blamed the PMFs. They think that Daesh is going to do the same thing with the kidnapped people from Ninewa. [ARA] [Facebook]
Videos of the Day
A video shows a Coalition airstrike destroying a Daesh vehicle bomb facility near Mosul [CJTF]
A video shows Kurdish forces in Kirkuk capturing a woman who provided shelter for Daesh terrorists. [Sumaria]
A video from a security camera shows a Daesh vehicle carrying terrorists in Kirkuk before the attack. [Sumaria]
OTHER DAESH MEDIA
Daesh audio newsletter for today [Bayan]
Daesh publishes infograph about the Peshmerga casualties in Ninewa on Oct 19 and 20. [Top4Top]
Daesh publishes infograph about its operations in Iraq during the last lunar year. It claims it killed or wounded 18,000 people, destroyed 2,200 vehicles, and conducted 528 suicide attacks. [DawaAlhaq]
Daesh issues infograph of the results of the 5th day of the battles near Mosul (October 21). [Yaqeen]
