October 10, 2018
Electricity Towers near Barima Village (Source: DD, Oct 8)
MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS
Iraq
Abd Ul-Mahdi to form government without “pressure” from parties [..]
2019 federal budget: $108 billion, $19 billion deficit [..]
… and KRG to get only $6.7 billion of that [..]
Department head accused of selling children to Daesh [..]
Al-Baghdadi orders 320 Daesh members executed [..]
Turkey agrees to give Iraq more water [..]
… while Iran cuts water flowing into Iraq [..]
Multiple bombings in Tikrit [..]
Daesh “shelter” intact north of Muqdadiya [..]
Turkey
Turkish source claims Khashoggi buried in Saudi consul’s garden [..]
US increases pressure on Saudis over Khashoggi‘s disappearance [..]
Syria
SDF still holds 900 foreign Daesh fighters, asks countries to take them back [..]
Turkey says YPG fortifying Manbij [..]
Fighting ongoing in Hajin, Al-Susah [..]
Iraqi Daesh bomber also Nujaba’ militia member [..]
SOHR says total 339 Daesh, 178 Syrian Army killed around Suwayda [..]
Syrian Army reported lacking equipment in Al-Safa [..]
Other countries
Nigeria: 7 Nigerian soldiers, 76 Boko Haram fighters killed [..]
Chad: 8 Chadian soldiers, 48 Boko Haram fighters killed [..]
Afghanistan: 38 Daesh fighters killed or wounded in airstrikes [..]
REPORTS FROM IRAQ
NATIONAL NEWS
New government
A Gulf paper says newly appointed Prime Minister-designate Adel Abd Ul-Mahdi would resign if any pressure was exercised on him by political parties regarding the formation of the new government. The paper says that Abd Ul-Mahdi has enough support from major political parties that he expects to be able to form the new government under his personal direction. Abd Ul-Mahdi reportedly presented to some political leaders a draft of his plan, which included the reduction of Ministries to less than 22 through consolidation and integration of the Ministries. The Prime Minister-designate reportedly stressed in the plan that he would be fully accountable for implementation of the governmental program that he would propose. [Sumaria]
PM-designate Adel Abd Ul-Mahdi announced on Wednesday that he had received 36,000 requests to take a ministerial portfolio in the new government. The general public can submit such requests until Thursday evening. 97% of applicants were independent and 23% held advanced degrees. Women made up 15% of the requests. [Anadolu]
Newly appointed PM-designate Adel Abd Ul-Mahdi says he is contemplating opening the Green Zone to all citizens, and called for cooperation between the Council of Ministers and the CoR to in passing new laws. The statements came during his visit to the CoR on Wednesday, when he met with several MPs. [Anadolu]
Economy
Iraq’s budget for 2019, which is still pending approval from the government, is 128.4 trillion dinars (approximately 108 billion USD), and will run a deficit of 22.8 trillion dinars (19 billion USD). According to the draft prepared by the Ministry of Finance, the rate of daily oil exports is 3,880,000 barrels for $56 a barrel. The draft budget says that the fiscal deficit will be covered by increased oil prices by 2019. [Anadolu]
DaeshDaily comment. Somehow, these budget projections always assume that the price of oil will continuously rise. Oil prices might indeed rise in 2019, but it’s not a long-term budgeting strategy to keep depending on that.
Iraq-KRG Issues
The percentage of the Iraqi federal budget allocated to the Kurdistan Region was fixed at 12.67% for the year 2019, which will amount to under 8 trillion dinars (approximately 6.7 billion USD). A former Kurdish MP, Masoud Haider, said that this was a “political” restriction imposed by Al-Abadi’s government. Haider claimed that the 2019 federal budget was illegal and a constitutional violation, and would create problems between Erbil and Baghdad. [Rudaw]
Corruption
The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs says it is investigating stories about the sale of children by one of its Ninewa offices to Daesh. The Manager of the Special Needs Department is accused of selling children under his custody to Daesh, and then claiming to have officially handed them over to their families. [Forat]
Anti-Daesh campaign
Intelligence reports say that Daesh ordered elimination of 320 of its members on charges of treason, saying the orders were personally given by Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. 6 “top-tier” leaders were already executed, while other members are looking for ways to escape. [Youm7]
A Daesh operative standing trial, called “Abu Abd Al-Haq Al-Iraqi,” said in court that there were as many Daesh fighters in Mosul as there were Iraqi Army troops, but that differences between the Daesh leaders led to their defeat. He said that Al-Baghdadi appointed incompetent commanders, and nobody had the power to object. [Sumaria]
The spokesman of the Higher Judicial Council, Abd Al-Sattar Al-Birqdar, says that the Dhi Qar Criminal Court sentenced 1 Daesh convict to death and 2 to life imprisonment. The convict receiving a death sentence took part in a truck bomb attack that killed 9 civilians. [Sumaria]
Foreign policy
Speaker of the CoR Mohammed Al-Halbousi says that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to increase water quantities released to Iraq to ensure that all Iraqi provinces would have their fair share, especially Basra. [Sumaria]
However, Iran said it would cut the amount of water flowing towards Iraqi territory, increasing the impact of the problem already experienced in southern Iraq. The Iranian Ministry of Agriculture said they would cut the flow of water by about 7 billion cubic meters, on the order of the Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and that the water would be used on projects in the west and southwest of Iran. [BasNews]
BAGHDAD
West (Mansour, Abu Ghraib, etc.)
The Directorate of Military intelligence says that the 6th Army Division arrested a Daesh operative in the Sakalat area of Al-Shuhada neighborhood, Abu Ghraib. [Ghad]
ANBAR
Ramadi
The Center for Security Information says that a security operation was started in the outskirts of Ramadi by Army and Police units to eliminate Daesh sleeper cells, on the orders of sitting PM Haider Al-Abadi. 69 targets, including weapons and explosive caches, as well as tunnels and safehouses, were attacked, and at least 43 arrests were made. [Roj]
Hit/Haditha
A DaeshDaily source said on Wednesday that three Anbar Operations Command members, including a captain, were killed in a Daesh attack in the Horan Valley area, Haditha.
Daesh said its snipers killed three tribal PMF fighters and wounded another in Al-Saridiya village, near Hit city, on Tuesday. [ICDNOct10]
Al-Qa’im
The Center for Security Information said on Wednesday that an officer under Al-Jazeera Ops Command had been killed around Akkas, Al-Qa’im district, during a search operation. [Sumaria]
SALAHUDDIN
Baiji
Daesh published photos on Wednesday of a man it captured and killed west of Baiji, claiming he was an Iraqi Army “spy.” [ICDNOct10]
Daesh said it wounded three tribal PMF fighters with an IED in the Albu Juwari area, in northern Baiji, on Tuesday. [ICDNOct10]
Tikrit
A DaeshDaily source said on Wednesday that two local police members were killed and ten others wounded, including two officers, when a suicide terrorist set off a vehicle bomb on Street 40, in Tikrit city. The source said when ambulances came, an IED exploded, wounding more people, mostly paramedics and local police.
The Center for Security Information said on Wednesday that one person was killed and four others injured by 2 separate bomb explosions in Tikrit city. 1 bomb was attached to a civilian vehicle; the other was an IED placed behind a fuel station in Tikrit. [Sumaria]
Southern Salahuddin (Balad)
Daesh said it wounded ten Emergency Police members, including the police commander of the area, and destroyed their SUV with an IED in the Adhiya area, in Ishaqi, on Tuesday. [ICDNOct10] [A3maq]
Daesh said it killed an Emergency Police member and wounded three others in an attack on a checkpoint with light and mid-sized weapons in the in the Adhiya area, on Tuesday. [ICDNOct10] [A3maq]
DIYALA
Central Diyala (Muqdadiya)
The head of the local council for Muqdadiya, Adnan Al-Tamimi, said on Wednesday that there was an area that Daesh was using as a shelter, called “Al-Sakhiriya,” on the outskirts of Sinsil. Al-Tamimi said that the area had been besieged but not cleared by Iraqi security personnel and PMF fighters, and that its existence threatened the security of the city of Muqdadiya. [Mawazin]
Northern Diyala (Khalis north)
The head of the Udhaim local council, Mohammed Dhaifan, says that “suspicious movements” by Daesh were observed in 6 border villages with Salahuddin Province, seemingly preparing for an operation. He called for a major military effort on the border areas between Diyala and Salahuddin to eliminate threats. [Mawazin]
KIRKUK
Hawija (Riyadh, Al-Zab, etc.)
A DaeshDaily source said on Tuesday that Daesh below up 4 electricity towers near Barima village, cutting off power for Hawija district. The source said Daesh had blown up more than 40 towers during the last 2 months.
Southwest (Daquq, Rashad, Taza, etc.)
Daesh said on Wednesday it killed or wounded IFP members and destroyed their vehicle with an IED near Tob Zawa village, south of Daquq. [ICDNOct10]
Daesh said on Wednesday it killed four PMF members and destroyed their vehicle with an IED near Ali Saray village, in Daquq district. [A3maq]
NINEWA
Makhmur
A security source says Daesh initiated an attack on tribal PMF fighters in the town of Kashaf, near Gwer. Casualties were reported, but no specific numbers were available. [BaghdadNews]
Daesh said on Tuesday it killed ten tribal PMF fighters and wounded 16 others in clashes in the “Jashaf” area, in Makhmur, on Monday. [ICDNOct9]
Mosul city
A DaeshDaily source said on Wednesday that Ninewa Ops Command’s intelligence units captured 12 Daesh terrorists who were planning attacks against citizens and security forces in Mosul. The source said the group is led by a Daesh terrorist currently residing in Turkey. The source said the units, based on information they got from a captured terrorist, confiscated 4 explosive vests and 87 mortar shells in Al-Hadba’ farms, in east Mosul.
Mosul District
South (Shura)
A DaeshDaily source said on Wednesday that two Iraqi Army members were killed and three others wounded when a group of Daesh terrorists in 6 SUVs attacked military positions near Bashmana village.
West (Hamidat/Muhalabiya)
A DaeshDaily source said on Wednesday that an Iraqi Army 16th Division major was killed when a roadside IED exploded on his vehicle on the road between Badoush and Tal Afar.
Southern Ninewa
Hatra
Daesh published photos on Wednesday of a man it captured and killed in Saadiya village, east of Hatra, claiming he was a “PMF intelligence member.” [ICDNOct10]
Our sources reported yesterday that Daesh killed civilians in the village.
SOUTHERN IRAQ
Najaf
Najaf police say they arrested 5 wanted persons, including an escapee from Badoush prison in Mosul. 3 arrests were made at the Kifl checkpoint, and 2 at the Al-‘Assiya checkpoint. [Baghdadia]
KURDISTAN NEWS
(No reports)
REPORTS FROM TURKEY
Political developments
On Wednesday, the independent website Middle East Eye carried a report on the alleged details of the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The website quoted a Turkish source “with direct knowledge of the investigation” as saying that Khashoggi was killed after entering the Saudi consul-general’s office, and that his remains may have been taken to the consul-general’s home afterwards and buried in his garden. The consul-general has reportedly not left his house for the last 3 days. [MiddleEastEye]
Turkish media released surveillance camera video of the men on Wednesday saying they were members of an elite Saudi “assassination squad,” sent to kill Khashoggi. Saudi Arabia remained silent at the accusation as the images were seen around the world, raising pressure on the kingdom to explain what happened to the writer, a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Adding to the macabre mystery, a Turkish official told The Associated Press that one member of the team was an “autopsy expert.” [CNBC]
US President Donald Trump has vowed to “get to the bottom” of the case of missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Mr. Trump told reporters he had talked to the Saudi authorities “at the highest level” about Mr. Khashoggi. “We cannot let this happen to reporters, to anybody,” Mr. Trump said on Wednesday. “We’re demanding everything. We want to see what’s going on there.”
Mr. Trump said he didn’t know what happened to Jamal Khashoggi and expressed hope that the 59-year-old writer, who went missing a week ago, was still alive. But senior members of Congress with access to U.S. intelligence reporting feared the worst.
More than 20 Republican and Democratic senators instructed Trump to order an investigation into Khashoggi’s disappearance under legislation that authorizes imposition of sanctions for perpetrators of extrajudicial killings, torture or other gross human rights violations.
The White House said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and senior officials had spoken to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman on Tuesday and asked for more details about the situation. [BBC] [NBCConnecticut]
REPORTS FROM SYRIA
NATIONAL NEWS
Foreign policy
Europe
On Wednesday, the German Foreign Minister announced that Berlin would set aside an additional 186 million Euros as a part of the World Food Program as a form of humanitarian aid to Syria and its neighboring states. The Minister said that the primary goal of the German aid was to help Syrian people and their neighbors before winter. [Qasioun]
Anti-Daesh campaign
A foreign affairs official for the Kurdish autonomous government in northern Syria, Abdel Karim Omar, says that the SDF lacks the resources to put all detained Daesh foreign fighters to trial and to hold them in prison indefinitely. On Sunday, Omar tweeted that foreign states must repatriate their fighters. The SDF has about 900 foreign Daesh fighters, as well as 400-500 women and 1,000 children, detained. He made a similar announcement in September. [Qasioun]
Northwest
Manbij
Turkish media says that the US provided YPG militia fighters with equipment that enabled them to dig trenches around Manbij. The state-owned news agency Anadolu says that 3 bulldozers and an excavator were handed over to the YPG, along with large quantities of weapons and ammunition. They wrote that the YPG was using this equipment to fortify Manbij. [Qasioun]
DaeshDaily comment. Anadolu generally does not distinguish between the YPG and the SDF organizationally.
Northeast (No reports)
Central and West
Homs
On Tuesday Business Insider reported that the US base at Al-Tanaf is preventing Iran from transporting weapons and militia fighters from Iraq to Syria. Russia, Iran, and Syria have frequently accused the US of training Daesh fighters at Al-Tanaf. [Qasioun]
East (Deir Ez-Zor)
Albu Kamal District
The SOHR noted that 1 month had passed since the start of the SDF military operations in the areas of Hajin, Al-Susah, Al-Baghouz, and other areas where Daesh is still active. It says that the SDF mobilized “tens of thousands” of fighters and is backed unconditionally by the Coalition, but still has not yet been able to complete its operations in the area. [SyriaHR]
The Coalition sent more reinforcements to its military base near the Al-Tanak oilfield in Deir Ez-Zor. 300 trucks packed with weapons and ammunition, in addition to over 30 armored vehicles, were seen approaching the base. [Qasioun]
Local sources in eastern Deir Ez-Zor said on Wednesday that Daesh had used a dust storm as cover to launch an attack on the SDF. The sources said that Daesh had captured some SDF fighters in Hajin, but that the SDF had regrouped and counter-attacked in Al-Susah. [BasNews]
On Wednesday, SDF media announced that Farid Medjahed, born in the French city of Marseilles and who fought alongside the YPG after the battle of Kobani, was killed in a battle against Daesh in Hajin on Saturday, October 6. [Qasioun]
A DaeshDaily source said on Wednesday that in the town of Hajin, Daesh publicly beheaded 8 SDF members it had captured 2 days ago. The source said Daesh prevented people from burying the bodies and left them on the ground.
A DaeshDaily source said on Wednesday that Daesh terrorists paraded in Al-Susah town with SDF members it had captured earlier. The source said threatened to kill them within 24 hours if the SDF didn’t release captured Daesh terrorists.
A DaeshDaily source said on Wednesday that 4 Syrian Army and affiliated militia members were killed and 6 others wounded when a Daesh suicide bomber attacked them with a vehicle bomb in the Albu Kamal area. The source said the vehicle belonged to the government and was allowed to reach its target without being searched. The source said the terrorist was an Iraqi from Mosul, and had joined the Nujaba’ Movement, while secretly pledging allegiance to Daesh.
DaeshDaily comment. This is a very interesting development. Pro-Iran militias have been recruiting Iraqis from Sunni areas for a while now. This is the first time we hear that they are sending some of these Sunni recruits to Syria. It seems to be backfiring, and it would most likely make Syrian forces more suspicious of Iraqi militias.
Daesh said on Wednesday it killed eleven SDF members, wounded others, and captured weapons and ammunition in an attack on a military position northeast of Al-Bahra village, in Hajin. [ICDNOct10]
Daesh said on Wednesday it killed five SDF members and captured weapons and ammunition when a group of its terrorists attacked north of Al-Baqaan village. It said all its terrorists “returned safely” after the attack. [ICDNOct10]
Daesh said on Wednesday it killed two SDF members and set on fire four military positions northwest of Hajin. [ICDNOct10]
Daesh said on Wednesday it stopped an SDF attack in the Hawi Al-Susah area after “luring” SDF members to a landmine field, damaging 2 vehicles. It also said it killed or wounded five SDF members with mortar shells. [ICDNOct10]
Daesh said on Wednesday it targeted SDF positions near Mozan village with 42 mortars. [ICDNOct10]
Daesh said on Wednesday it attacked SDF positions north of the towns of Al-Sha’afa and Kashma and forced SDF units to retreat. It said all its terrorists returned safely after the attacks. [ICDNOct10]
South
Suwayda
The SOHR reported continued battles between the Syrian Army and Daesh in Tilul Al-Safa, on the administrative border between Rif Damashq and Suwayda, with air and missile attacks accompanying the operations. It said there had been 339 Daesh fighters killed since the start of the operations on July 25, compared with 178 Syrian Army soldiers and fighters in pro-government militias. Daesh executed 142 civilians and killed over 116 tribal fighters who confronted it. It is still holding 30 hostages it kidnapped from Suwayda. [SyriaHR]
Sputnik reported that Syrian Army tanks and its other equipment were not able to proceed further in Tilul Al-Safa (Al-Safa Hills), and they did not have working weaponry. [ElDorar]
The Syrian Army says it lost 3 soldiers in battles against Daesh in Tilul Al-Safa. Daesh’s “Nasher” news service published pictures of 10 bodies, saying they were the bodies of Syrian Army soldiers in Tilul Al-Safa. [EnabBaladi]
Al-Suwayda 24 reported on Wednesday that the Syrian Army deployed the “Tiger” militia and its 4th Division to the city of Suwayda. It reported that some of the forces stopped in the desert, and some of them stopped at a shooting range. The purpose of the deployment is still unknown. [ElDorar]
OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA REPORTS
Neighboring countries
Iran
The State Department released a report titled “Outlaw Regime: A Chronicle of Iran’s Destructive Behavior” which states that Iran spent 16 billion dollars in support of various political groups since 2012. The report states that within this timeframe, Iran spent 4.6 billion dollars in Syria, 700 million in Lebanon, 100 million in Palestine, and several hundred million in support of the Houthis in Yemen. [Qasioun] [State]
Saudi Arabia
See above under Turkey – Political developments
REPORTS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES
EUROPE
Great Britain
The UK Minister of Security, Ben Wallace, says that his county is ready to receive its citizens who fought for Daesh, including those who are hard to convict due to lack of evidence. Wallace says he would like to see those who fought for Daesh stand trial in the UK, whether they have been deported or voluntarily returned from countries in which they fought. [ZamanAlWasl]
AFRICA
Nigeria
The Nigerian Army has confirmed the death of seven soldiers in an attack by Boko Haram terrorists on a military base in northeastern Borno State.
The Army added that 16 other soldiers were wounded in the attack that took place in Metele. “Gallant troops of 157 Battalion decisively engaged Boko Haram terrorists who attempted to overrun their position near Kangarwa in Borno State. “The sustained superior firepower of the troops led to the neutralization of 76 terrorists,” the statement of Wednesday October 10 and posted on Twitter said. [AfricaNews]
Daesh said on Wednesday it killed thirty-one Nigerian soldiers, captured five others, destroyed two tanks and four armored vehicles, including a BMP, and captured weapons and ammunition in an attack on a Nigeran Army base in Kangarwa town in the Chad Lake area. Daesh said it used heavy, mid-sized, and light weapons in the attack. [ICDNOct10]
Chad
A Chadian military spokesman said that 8 Chadian soldiers were killed and 11 injured in a Boko Haram attack in Kaiga Kindji, in the Lake Chad region, on Wednesday. 48 Boko Haram fighters were reportedly killed in the subsequent fighting. [DefensePost]
ASIA
Afghanistan
The 201st Silab Corps in the Afghan military said on Sunday that at least 38 Daesh-affiliated fighters had been killed or wounded in 2 separate airstrikes in Nangarhar Province, eastern Afghanistan. [Khaama]
An explosion at the office of a parliamentary candidate in Helmand Province on Tuesday killed at least 8 and wounded at least 11. No group claimed responsibility as of the time of the report. [Khaama]
DAESH MEDIA
Daesh published on Monday a photo of one of its terrorists, claiming he was killed in the Afghanistan/Pakistan area. [ICDNOct10]
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