An Update On ISIS Activities

December 23, 2015

December 23, 2015

Hay Al-Dhubbat in Ramadi

 

Holiday note to our subscribers: In accordance with our policy of observing American and Iraqi holidays, Daesh Daily will not be published on Thursday and Friday (Christmas) and will be back on Monday. We wish you the happiest of holiday.

 

REPORTS FROM IRAQ

 

Today’s Major Developments:

Iraqi troops control large parts of Ramadi city, moving into central Ramadi.

Kurds in Kirkuk worried that huge Influx of Arab refugees will undermine their political control.

Turkish troops move into Kurdish-held area in Hasaka, Syria

 

BAGHDAD

Political developments

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi, currently in China, has received Arab ambassadors and diplomats from various Arab states at his residence in Peking. In the meeting Abadi stressed, among other issues, the importance of a unified Arab response to the Turkish troop presence in Iraq. [PUKMedia]

 

The Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament Saleem Al-Jubouri met with Alexander Lavrientiev, an envoy sent by Russian President Vladimir Putin. [Rudaw]

 

Security developments

Daesh says it detonated 3 IEDs in Hurriya, Shula and Bayya in Baghdad, killing or wounding more than 20 PMFs. [ADI]

DaeshDaily comment. Aside from possible exaggeration, such statements really mean that they killed 20 Shia. It serves Daesh’s propaganda purposes to define all victims as PMFs, but most of its victims in Baghdad are defenseless civilians, and some of them are Sunnis. Unless of course Daesh has discovered smart explosives that can differentiate.

 

Daesh says it killed an Iraqi Army “source” by detonating an IED on his car in Yusufiyah in south Baghdad. [DabiqNews]

Daesh says it killed two more “sources” with an IED in Latifiya in south Baghdad. [DabiqNews]

 

Daesh says it blew up a PMF vehicle with an IED in Bayya, in the Al-Rasheed District, killing one PMF and wounding ten. [DabiqNews]

 

Iraqi troops defused 2 IEDs and confiscated a rocket launcher and several shells in the Sheikh Amer area in west Baghdad. [BOC Facebook Page]

 

Daesh says its terrorists clashed with Iraqi soldiers in Radwaniya in west Baghdad, without giving more details. [DabiqNews]

 

An Iraqi Army 36th Brigade unit killed 2 terrorists and destroyed a vehicle carrying a machine gun west of Baghdad. [BOC Facebook Page]

 

Rapid Intervention Units killed 4 terrorists in the Rofa and Dhiban areas west of Baghdad. [BOC Facebook Page]

 

The IWMC says Iraqi F16s bombed Daesh in Anbar and in Hawija in Kirkuk, killing “tens” of Daesh terrorists including 8 commanders. [Ghad]

 

According to security sources:

  • An IED exploded near a commercial area in Hay Ur in northeast Baghdad, killing one civilian and wounding eight. [Mada]
  • Unknown armed men kidnapped a civilian in Zayouna in east Baghdad. [Sumaria]
  • Security forces captured a man wanted on terrorism charges, on the road between Baghdad and Diyala. [Sumaria]
  • An IED exploded in Nahrawan in southeast Baghdad, wounding two civilians. [Etejah]
  • An IED exploded in Wardiya in south Baghdad, killing two civilians and wounding six. [Mada]
  • An IED exploded near a popular café in Mada’in in southeast Baghdad, killing one civilian and wounding seven. [AIN]
  • A former Iraqi Army officer was killed and his companion wounded when a sticky IED exploded under his car in Hay Al-Adel in west Baghdad. [Mada]
  • A roadside IED exploded in Ghazaliya in west Baghdad, wounding two civilians. [Etejah]

ANBAR

Ramadi

Battles to liberate areas in the center of Ramadi that remain under Daesh control will last “days,” according to remarks by the Iraqi Army Chief of Staff Othman Ghanimi. The less cautious Anbar GC Chairman announced that Iraqi forces have military control of Ramadi, saying that the factor impeding Iraqi troops’ progress in the city now is not armed resistance but IEDs and booby-trapped houses left behind by Daesh. [Mada] [PUKMedia]

 

The Anti-Terrorism Service Commander says Iraqi forces achieved their goals in Ramadi and entered the city center. He says Iraqi forces could have entered earlier but the presence of families delayed the operations. He also says Daesh is using oxygen bombs that were able to flip a 27-ton vehicle on its side, but Iraqi forces managed to achieve their goals. [Sumaria]

 

Iraqi forces are one kilometer, or “three streets” away from storming the governmental complex in central Ramadi, the Anbar governorate has announced, saying that Iraqi forces are “hours” away from clearing the complex of Daesh’s presence. [Mada] [BasNews]

 

Coalition warplanes conducted 32 airstrikes on the Ramadi area, killing many terrorists and destroying several gatherings, locations and hideouts. [IWMC Report]

 

The Anbar Governor says Iraqi forces secured a road for civilians to leave Ramadi city. He also says there are more civilians in Falluja than Ramadi and it’s likely that Daesh will use them as human shields. The Governor says “we don’t mind the participation of the PMFs in Anbar liberation if the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) approves it,” and there are 8,000 fighters from Anbar participating in the battles. He mentioned that the Americans are participating actively in Anbar’s liberation through the Coalition and there are Coalition experts working with the JOC. [Sumaria] [Sumaria] [Sumaria]

 

Daesh has detained tens of families inside Ramadi General Hospital in the center of Ramadi for use as human shields, an Anbar police source says, citing intelligence information. The captives reportedly include women, children, and the aged. [Mada]

 

A security source says dozens of Daesh members fled to Sajariya and Sufiya east of Ramadi, escaping the battles and the heavy bombing and shelling on the city. [Sumaria]

 

An Iraqi JOC source says the IFP bombed two Daesh locations in Al-Hawz in south Ramadi, killing or wounding several Daesh members. [Mada]

 

Photos of Iraqi troops in Ramadi [Rudaw]

 

Iraqi forces killed 10 terrorists and destroyed a vehicle bomb and a hideout in Hay Al-Bakr close to Ramadi. [IWMC Report]

 

The Chairman of Khaldiya subdistrict council says Iraqi forces liberated Albu Dhiab north of Ramadi, killing or wounding many Daesh terrorists. He says many Daesh members escaped to west Anbar and to Syria while its leaders disappeared from the city. [Mada]

Coalition warplanes targeted 2 Daesh gatherings in Albu Dhiab north of Ramadi, killing all the gathered terrorists. [IWMC Report]

The Chairman also says Iraqi forces secured 50 families who escaped from Daesh in Ramadi to Khaldiya, separating the women from the men for security reasons. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh says it ambushed and killed twelve Iraqi soldiers in Jaraishi north of Ramadi. [ADI]

 

The IFP Commander says Iraqi forces killed several Daesh terrorists and defused 8 IEDs in east Hsaiba. [Mada]  An Iraqi JOC source says the IAF destroyed a Daesh vehicle bomb in East Hsaiba on Tuesday, killing 9 terrorists. [Harbi]

 

An Iraqi 35th Armored Battalion unit killed 16 Daesh terrorists in Hay Al-Aramil in southeast Ramadi. [IWMC Report]

Iraqi forces stopped a Daesh attack near Al-Aramil, killing a suicide bomber. [IWMC Report]

 

The IWMC says Coalition warplanes bombed a Daesh gathering in north Humaira south of the city, killing many terrorists. [Baghdadia]

 

A video of Daesh members allegedly captured in Ramadi being mocked and insulted by Iraqi soldiers. [YouTube]

DaeshDaily comment. All we see in the video is young men in civilian clothes and Iraqi soldiers laughing at them. There are no signs that prove the handcuffed men are Daesh. Some of them might be Daesh members, but the video could serve to increase the fear of Sunni Iraqis toward Iraqi soldiers if Daesh is being defeated.

 

Prime Minister Abadi forms a committee to investigate human rights abuses in Anbar. The Chairman of Khaldiya subdistrict council says the committee started its work three days ago to investigate reports about abuses at the checkpoints of Bzaibiz, Razzaza and Al-Shaheed. [Sumaria]

A CoR member from Anbar said on December 10 that more than 1,300 civilians from Anbar were kidnapped at these checkpoints. [Facebook]

 

A video of Iraqi forces establishing a temporary bridge in Ramadi [YouTube]

Videos of Iraqi forces in Ramadi [YouTube] [YouTube] [YouTube]

A video of Iraqi soldiers in Albu Dhiab north of Ramadi [YouTube]

 

Falluja

Iraqi forces killed 15 Daesh terrorists, destroyed 3 vehicles, and defused 19 IEDs in their operations south of Falluja. [BOC Facebook Page]

 

Daesh says it destroyed an Iraqi Army Humvee with an IED during clashes in Hitawiyeen southeast of Falluja. [A3maq]

 

A PMF source says PMFs and Iraqi Army troops liberated the Qarma electricity station and the factories area. [Harbi]

 

Daesh says it targeted Ameriyat Al-Falluja with “different kinds of weapons”. [DabiqNews]

 

A video of Iraqi troops fighting in Qarma [Facebook]

 

Hit/Haditha

Daesh publishes photos of its terrorists in Albu Hayat east of Haditha. [DabiqNews]

Daesh publishes a video of the battles in Albu Hayat. [A3maq]

 

West Anbar

An Iraqi JOC source says the IAF destroyed a Daesh headquarters in Al-Qa’im Tuesday, killing 41 terrorists, including the Chechen Abu Al-Khatib and the Tunisian Abu Shira’, wounding 13, and destroying 11 vehicles. [Harbi]

 

The Coalition canceled an airstrike on a Daesh site in the Rutba area in west Anbar after children were observed near the target site, the IWMC announced. [Mada]

 

SALAHUDDIN

Baiji

A security source says several Daesh members were killed when Iraqi artillery shelled their locations north of Allas oil field. [Ghad]

 

A security source says Iraqi forces stopped a Daesh attack in the Makhoul Mountains area, killing many of them. The source says Daesh started the attack with a vehicle bomb. [Ghad]

The IFP Commander says Iraqi troops killed 19 Daesh fighters and destroyed 3 vehicles in the Makhoul Mountains area. [Mada]

Daesh says it killed ten PMF fighters in the Makhoul Mountains area. [DabiqNews]

 

Salahuddin Operations Command troops killed 4 Daesh terrorists and destroyed a pickup vehicle carrying a machine gun in Sukariyat north of Baiji. [IWMC Report]

 

The IWMC says the IAF destroyed a Daesh construction shovel on the Siniya-Haditha road. [Baghdadia]

 

Shirqat

An Iraqi JOC source says the IAF bombed a Daesh gathering in Shirqat Tuesday, killing 20 terrorists including the Libyan Abu Hajer, Daesh’s special operations commander, and destroying 6 vehicles. [Harbi]

 

Tikrit

The MoI spokesman says security forces found a big rockets and explosives storehouse in a place used also as a terrorist guesthouse in the Al-Ali area of Al-Alam. [Ghad]

 

Daesh publishes photos of shelling and rocketing the Speicher base north of Tikrit with mortars and Katyushas. [ADI] [ADI]

 

Samarra

The IAF killed many Daesh terrorists, including the Libyan Abu Zainab and the Iraqi Omar Abu Jandal, Daesh explosives and vehicle bombs officials, and destroying 5 vehicles, including 2 vehicle bombs, west of Jazeera Samarra. [IWMC Report]

 

A PMF source says Saraya Al-Salam defused 35 IEDs around Al-Nakhwa Street west of Samarra. [Harbi]

 

The IFP Commander says Iraqi troops found a Daesh weapons hideout west of Samarra. [Mada]

 

Samarra Operations Command troops killed a Daesh terrorist as he was shooting at an Iraqi helicopter. [IWMC Report]

 

DIYALA

Baquba

A Diyala police sources says 2 car bombs exploded in Al-Khalis northwest of Baquba, killing one civilian and wounding nine. [Ghadeer]

The Chairman of the Security Committee in Diyala GC says Dijla Operations Command formed a committee to investigate the explosions. He also says Daesh is using “mobile explosives workshops” in its attacks and the attacks aim at instigating sectarian violence. [Sumaria]

Daesh claims responsibility for the two car bombs and says one targeted a checkpoint in the entrance of the district and the other targeted a PMF gathering in the city, killing or wounding many Rawafidh (Shia). [ADI]

DaeshDaily comment. For Daesh, Shia are “murtad,” which means people who left Islam and therefore should all be killed, women and children included. This is the reason Daesh could never survive in Iraq. Killing 20 million people is not an easy job. 

 

KIRKUK

Kurdish politicians in Kirkuk have expressed alarm over the recent decision of the central government not to require displaced persons to produce official documents when making residence transactions (i.e. acquiring housing). There are an estimated 500,000 displaced Sunni Arab families in Kirkuk who have fled Daesh-held areas. Although these families are not officially permitted to be settled in Kirkuk, Kurdish politicians in Kirkuk have expressed fears that these families will be able to settle there anyway if authorities are not required to check their documents. This could affect the long-standing Kurdish interests in annexing Kirkuk to the KRG. There are plans to repatriate those families who come from areas that have since been liberated from Daesh control, to be implemented in the new year. [Rudaw]

 

A Christian CoR member from Kirkuk says unknown armed men destroyed 30 graves in a Christian cemetery in Kirkuk, for the second time in two months. He asked for more protection for Iraqi Christians and capture of the criminals. [Mada]

Citizens in the area decided to take night shifts to protect the cemetery. They suspect Daesh members were responsible. [Qurtas]

DaeshDaily comment. Iraqis both dead and alive are suffering from Daesh theology.  

 

NINEWA

A Daesh video just got leaked that shows a Daesh confrontation with a group of Yazidis herded together in a schoolyard. Daesh terrorists suddenly lunge into the group and start dragging the women into a separate group. The date is unknown as are the fates of the men and women in the video. However, separating Yazidi women from their men was commonly followed by group executions of men and forcing women into slavery, rape, unwanted marriages, and other horrors. The release of the video is noteworthy because Daesh policy is to avoid releasing such videos. Obviously, someone did not get the message. [YouTube]

 

Mosul

Coalition warplanes, based on information from the Iraqi Intelligence Service, bombed a Daesh gathering of 120 terrorists (just arrived from Syria to Ninewa), killing 44 and wounding 14 in three different areas. [IWMC Report]

Coalition warplanes flew 17 sorties on Tal Afar, Mosul and Shirqat, killing many terrorists and destroying 10 defense locations, a checkpoint, a vehicle, and a construction shovel bomb. [IWMC Report]

 

An Iraqi JOC source says the IAF bombed a Daesh gathering in the Gas Station in Qayara, destroying 80 Daesh vehicles and killing a Saudi commander on Tuesday evening. [Harbi]

 

Many parents in Mosul stopped sending their kids to schools after Daesh executed a female teacher publicly two weeks ago. Many parents are also concerned about the radical curriculum Daesh is using in its schools. [Karemlash]

 

Daesh has executed two female students together in Mosul, local sources say, four days after the two were arrested for having made critical remarks about Daesh on social media. The same sources say Daesh has forbidden celebration of Prophet Mohammed’s birthday on Wednesday. ARA notes that this marks the second year that the organization has forbidden the observance of the Prophet’s birthday, observance of which runs against the group’s interpretation of Islam. Many Moslawis reportedly observed the occasion quietly in their homes. [ARA]

A local source says Daesh whiplashed 10 people in Mosul, including an old man, because they celebrated the Prophet’s birthday. [Sumaria] DaeshDaily comment. Wahhabism has never been popular in Iraq. Millions of Sunni Iraqis celebrate the Mawlid Nabawi (Prophet’s birthday) every year. Unfortunately, Wahhabism now rules in Daesh-controlled areas. 

 

An informed source says Daesh executed a former military pilot on the west side of Mosul, accusing him of communicating with security forces. The source also says Daesh executed a female GC electoral candidate in Qayara. [Karemlash]

 

ARA reported that an airstrike by coalition warplanes has killed the Daesh “health minister” in Mosul, known as Dr. Omar, and also as Falah Hasan Ali Al-Saklawi, a local source said. The airstrike targeted the Daesh official’s car as it passed through the Ziraa area on the west side of Mosul city. [ARA] Other sources say the Daesh leader, who was responsible for sharia punishments and appeared in many publications cutting off people’s hands, whiplashing them, and stoning them, was killed in the airstrike on the 17 July area two days ago. [Karemlash]

 

Northwest Ninewa

A Ninewa police source says the Coalition bombed Daesh in Tel Keif east of Mosul, killing four of its sharia police officers. [BasNews]

 

Daesh publishes photos of attacking the Peshmerga on Ain Al-Safra mountain. [DabiqNews]

 

Other Governorates  

SOUTHERN IRAQ

Basra.  Unknown armed gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons on the home of the governorate’s intelligence director in Karma north of Basra city, without any human casualties, a Basra security source said. The intelligence director had received threats in the past. [Mada]

 

REPORTS FROM TURKEY

 

The recently formed Saudi-led Islamic Coalition against terrorism has included the PKK and 13 other organizations on its first list of terrorist groups. [Welati]

DaeshDaily comment. The PKK is well established on terrorist group lists, including that of the US. This has something to do with the fact that they have killed 40,000 people.

 

REPORTS FROM SYRIA

 

Northeast

Turkish ground troops with armored vehicles have made an incursion into Syrian territory in the Hasaka countryside, local sources say. The forces, numbering approximately 200 soldiers, took up positions on a hill known as Tal Afrit, overlooking the village of Samsamakh outside the town of Kirki Liki. [BasNews] [Welati]

 

The commander of the “Army of the Tribes” has called in a recorded video statement for citizens of Raqqa to take up arms against Daesh. He says the group’s guidance council called for mobilization of all human and material resources in the area to liberate Raqqa. The commander called for Coalition support, and appealed for supplies of arms, as well as calling for demonstrations in liberated areas starting Friday to condemn and expose Daesh’s crimes. The statement also said that the Army of the Tribes follows only the FSA. [Qasioun]

 

Daesh detonated a car bomb near what was reportedly a former YPG camp in the village of Tal Arqam west of Ras Al-Ayn in the Hasaka countryside, injuring an unspecified number of victims, with one report referring to possible deaths in the attack. ARA cites a high-level YPG source who says that the YPG had vacated this training camp a month ago. [BasNews] [Qasioun] [ARA]

 

Daesh publishes photos of shelling and rocketing areas east of Ain Eissa. [DabiqNews]

 

Daesh says it detonated a parked car bomb in Tal Arqam village west of Ras Al-Ain, killing twelve YPG fighters and wounding many others and destroying two vehicles. [ADI]

 

Northwest

The Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) have announced the launching of their second campaign to liberate the remainder of Kobane area from Daesh. According to the statement, the allied groups fighting in the campaign include the Army of Revolutionaries, the YPG, the Women’s Protection Units, the Northern Sun Brigades, The Syriac Military Council, The Gathering of Jazeera Brigades, and the Gathering of the Euphrates Brigades of Jarabulus. [Hawar]

 

The SDF liberated Saharij village, the first in its campaign to liberate Kobane’s southern countryside. Daesh fighters fled the village after brief clashes. [Hawar]

 

Daesh has executed tens of civilians in the last two days in Manbij, a local source says, after detaining them on charges of communicating with the YPG. The victims include the former Mayor of Manbij. [Hawar]

 

Daesh says one of its suicide terrorists attacked Syrian troops with a vehicle bomb in Irbid village north of Kowaires airbase, killing or wounding “tens” of soldiers (photos). Daesh terrorists shelled the village with mortars after the attack. [DabiqNews]

Daesh publishes photos of destroying a Syrian tank in Irbid village with a Kornet missile. [DabiqNews]

 

Four civilians died and seven others were injured in Russian airstrikes in the countryside east of Aleppo. [Qasioun]

 

Daesh says Coalition warplanes destroyed a bakery near Al-Frouq Dam area in east Aleppo. Coalition warplanes launched also four airstrikes on 4 “primitive” oil refineries between Manbij and Al-Bab. [A3maq]

 

Central and West

Daesh publishes a video allegedly of their shooting down a Syrian warplane over West Qalamoun yesterday. [A3maq]

 

East

Syrian warplanes flew more than 30 sorties on Daesh controlled areas in Deir Ez-Zor and the Syrian Army brought more reinforcements to the airport and other areas where it is fighting Daesh. [Qasioun]

 

Daesh says it captured the industrial area in Deir Ez-Zor after 3 of its Syrian suicide terrorists attacked Syrian troops with 3 vehicle bombs (2 bulldozers and a truck carrying 13 tons of explosives), killing more than 35 Syrian soldiers. [ADI]

 

Daesh says its terrorists launched a major attack on Syrian troops in the airport area in Deir Ez-Zor. [A3maq]

 

Daesh has shot dead a 13 year old child, Siamond Othman Ali, in the town of Sour north of Deir Ez-Zor, on allegations of communicating with Kurdish fighters, according to the organization’s announcements. The child was detained by Daesh while he was speaking to his uncle, a Kurd living in Iraq, on WhatsApp. Upon examining his phone Daesh militants saw that the uncle’s WhatsApp profile photo was a Kurdish flag, which prompted Daesh to arrest the child and hold him for two days in one of its facilities in the area before executing him on Wednesday. The child’s family came originally from Qamishli, settling in Deir Ez-Zor more than twenty years ago. [Qasioun]

 

REPORTS FROM OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICAN COUNTRIES

 

Daesh audio newsletter for today in English. [Archive]

 

Egypt.  Medical sources say an 8 year old girl was killed when a rocket shell fell on her house in Tayra village south of Rafah. [VetoGate]

 

Egyptian security sources say the Egyptian Army, supported by F16s, conducted a large security campaign in Rafah, Sheik Zuweid and south Arish in Sinai and arrested 20 suspects. Eyewitnesses say they saw smoke clouds after Egyptian airstrikes in south Arish and Rafah. [Erem]

 

Local sources say Daesh terrorists put IEDs in a high school building and a house and destroyed them in Muqata’a village south of Sheik Zuweid. [VetoGate]

 

Police in Arish issued instructions to people not to throw garbage bags in the streets because the terrorists are using them to hide their IEDs. [VetoGate]

 

Libya. A Libyan military source says Libyan warplanes bombed Daesh locations by the western entrance of Derna. [AfriGate]

 

A Libyan journalist warns that Daesh is training terrorists and collecting weapons and explosives in Al-Jabal Al-Gharbi. [AfriGate]

 

Libya.  A local source says Daesh executed two young men in Sirte and mutilated their bodies. The source says the young men were captured by Daesh in August when some people of Sirte rebelled against Daesh. [AfriGate]

 

The bodies of a Libyan Army colonel and a policeman were found in Derna. A captured Daesh terrorist showed the authorities the burial place of the two victims. Daesh killed the two men in March, then filmed the execution and published the video online. [AfriGate]

 

Daesh says it shelled Libyan armed groups with mortars in the Shiha area in Derna. Daesh also says it blew up a Libyan armed group vehicle with an IED in Derna. [DabiqNews]

 

SOCIAL MEDIA SOURCES

 

Facebook Page of the Day

A news page from Anbar

 

Daesh Twitter Accounts of the Day

https://twitter.com/nvnvevm463

https://twitter.com/GggggaaXhkhckyf

https://twitter.com/414178l

https://twitter.com/Ahmed_908070

https://twitter.com/Situationforeve

 

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.