Notice to our readers. In honor of the Eid Al-Fitr holiday, we will not publish on Friday. Our next issue will be on Tuesday. Happy Eid to everyone.
June 14, 2018
Hajin
MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS
Iraq
17 charged in IHEC warehouse fire. [..]
Sadrist spokeswoman says new govt. to be announced in a few days. [..]
Captured Daesh leader describes its money problems, desertions. [..]
Diyala PC security chairman says Daesh “finished” in Diyala. [..]
Kirkuk Daesh leader & 6 associates killed by army, police units. [..]
Another mukhtar assassinated, in Tal Afar. [..]
Turkey
Three killed in attack on AKP candidate at political rally. [..]
18 Daesh members arrested in Izmir, Istanbul. [..]
Syria
Assad gives southern Syria opposition groups an ultimatum. [..]
Trump agrees to $6.6 million to fund White Helmets. [..]
Journalist & 10 Iraqi militiamen killed near Albu Kamal. [..]
Coalition, SDF attack Daesh near Hajin. [..]
REPORTS FROM IRAQ
NATIONAL NEWS
The UN Security Council unanimously voted to extend the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) until May 31 2019. The current mandate was due to expire on July 31; the US drafted the extension proposal early because of concerns about the escalation of political tensions following the May 12 CoR elections. [Rudaw]
A security source said on Thursday that there was information on the activity of cells of the banned Ba’ath party outside of Iraq. The source said that the cells were still run by members loyal to Saddam Hussein, but that they did not represent any threat to the Iraqi government, as they could not find sources of funding. [Sumaria]
Election/New government
Election
The Al-Rusafa Court of Inquiry issued 17 arrest warrants for the burning of ballot boxes and equipment in the IHEC warehouse fire. [Xendan]
New government
Jafar Al-Musawi, a spokesman for Muqtada Al-Sadr, said on Thursday that the alliance between Al-Sa’irun and Al-Fath had “ended the theory of civil war” by undermining those who were hoping to destroy Iraq. [Rudaw]
A CoR member in the Sadrist Al-Ahrar bloc, Zeinab Al-Ta’ie, talked on Thursday about how the alliance between Sa’irun and Al-Fath came about. Al-Ta’ie said that the alliance was not a result of a meeting between Muqtada Al-Sadr and Hadi Al-Amiri, but of lengthy negotiations between the groups’ respective committees. Al-Ta’ie added that the alliance was not intended to be exclusive to the large Shi’a parties, but would be broader and have effective participation from Sunni and Kurdish groups, and that this would be announced within the next few days. [BasNews]
Arabi 21 carried an analysis of the Sa’irun-Al-Fath coalition based on interviews with political leaders. It said that the agreement raised questions about the role that Sunni and nationalist parties would play, especially since the Sa’irun-Al-Fath coalition appeared to have been created on a sectarian basis. They also noted that this allied the most prominent anti-Iran and pro-Iran Shi’a parties.
Arabi 21 went on to quote an interview with Rashid Al-Azzawi, a winning CoR candidate in Haider Al-Abadi’s Victory alliance. Al-Azzawi said that negotiations with the new alliance were ongoing and not finalized. He said that Victory wanted to join a “national” coalition that had other parties in it besides the current parties, so that the new coalition would not be explicitly sectarian. He added that Iran and America both had important roles to play in Iraq and the Iraqis needed to maintain good relations with both.
Saleh Al-Mutlaq, whose party is part of Ayad Allawi’s Wataniya (National) alliance, agreed that they were in favor of any “national” and non-sectarian government. He then went on to criticize the election results as “corrupt” and “fraudulent,” and ask what that would mean for the next government.
Atheel Al-Nujaifi, controversial brother of Vice President Osama Al-Nujaifi, leader of the Ahrar (Decision) alliance, said he was very doubtful of any alliance being formed before resolving the ongoing debate over the election results. Al-Nujaifi added that the issue of forming the next government and choosing a new PM were now decisions that he saw as “purely Shia,” and so there was no need for other groups to get involved before the Shia blocs came to an agreement. He finished by saying that the Al-Sadr-Al-Amiri coalition could only be evaluated based on their actual program of government. [Arabi21]
Hanan Al-Fatlawi, leader of the Irada party that won 2 seats in the newly elected CoR, says that the Saudis are quire annoyed by the recently announced coalition between the Sa’irun and Al-Fath alliances. She tweeted that “Both parties are Iraqis, so what’s your problem?” [Arabi21]
Anti-Daesh campaign
A Daesh leader captured by Iraqi authorities spoke about Daesh’s funding woes and its current status. Saddam Al-Jamal says that Daesh is confused and divided due to the continued airstrikes and the territories it lost in Iraq and Syria. Al-Jamal says Daesh fighters have lost the will to fight, and many have deserted. He says several countries, which he did not name, funded Daesh, in addition to oil and antiquities sales, as well as taxes it imposed on rich people and farmers. [Qasioun]
BAGHDAD
Security-related incidents reported
South (Dora, Yusufiyah, Mahmudiya, etc.)
Baghdad Ops Command announced on Thursday that 2 wanted persons had been arrested on terrorism charges in the area of Salman Pak south of central Baghdad. Security personnel also seized 8 IEDs, 2 containers of glycerin, 2 containers of ammonium nitrate, and 5 kg of “explosive paste” in the Al-Akhsaf area in south Baghdad. [Ghad]
ANBAR
Falluja
On Thursday, the Falluja Police Directorate asked citizens to report any Syrian families living in the city. The Falluja Police Chief, Colonel Jamal Saleh, said that the police had already expelled several such families, and that the security forces did not allow Syrian families in Falluja “for reasons related to the security situation.” [Sumaria]
Baghdad Operations Command announced on Thursday that security forces had found 3 mortar shells, 2 IEDs, and 2 bombs in the area of Ma’amir, which were destroyed on site. [Ghad]
Ramadi
The Center for Security Information announced on Tuesday that 22 persons wanted on terrorism charges had been arrested in Anbar Province. Center spokesman General Yahya Rasul credited Anbar Anti-Terrorism detachments and Anbar Ops Command for the arrests, which he said took place in the Al-Tash and Humaira areas, south of Ramadi. [Baghdadia]
SALAHUDDIN
Shirqat
A DaeshDaily source says Daesh kidnapped four PMF fighters at a fake checkpoint in Makhoul subdistrict.
A DaeshDaily source says local police units captured 4 persons in Kan’ous village who were delivering food items and other supplies to Daesh terrorists. The source says the captured persons, who have family members with Daesh, admitted there are more than 100 terrorists in the area, including foreigners.
DaeshDaily sources say that Daesh terrorists in the Shirqat area are forcing civilians to provide them with military uniforms in order to use them for attacks on Iraqi forces. The sources say Daesh threatens the civilians that they could get killed with their families if they don’t comply. The source says the terrorists use this tactic in order not to bring attention to themselves.
Tikrit
The Directorate of Military Intelligence announced on Thursday that it had arrested one of the terrorists responsible for the Camp Speicher massacre. A statement by the Directorate said that the terrorist was arrested at a checkpoint in the city of Tikrit. [Ghad] [Buratha]
Al-Mada Press says that 47 officers accused of enabling Daesh to conduct the 2014 Speicher massacre still have not been held accountable. [BaghdadToday]
Samarra
The PMF announced on Thursday that the 313th Brigade (PMF) was shelling Daesh groups in Hawijat, northeastern Samarra. [Ghad]
Southern Salahuddin (Balad, Dujail)
Daesh says it killed three PMF fighters, wounded two, and damaged their SUV in an ambush near Al-Adhiya village, in Ishaqi. [ICDNJun14]
DIYALA
The Chairman of the Security Committee for the Diyala Provincial Council, Sadiq Al-Husseini, gave an interview in which he said that Daesh was essentially finished in Diyala. He says it remains in a few scattered and remote areas. [Sumaria]
Central Diyala (Muqdadiya/Abu Saida)
The head of the Muqdadiya local council, Adnan Al-Tamimi, said on Thursday that Daesh fighters had attacked a police checkpoint in the area of Bablan, central Muqdadiya District, but were fought off by the security personnel there. Al-Tamimi added that there had been a second Daesh attack, on an Army checkpoint in Sinsil, but it was also thwarted and the attackers fled. [Ghad]
North Diyala (Khanaqin, Kifri, Al-Khalis north)
A DaeshDaily source says a Daesh sniper shot and killed a PMF fighter in the small village of Albu Mar’i, north of Udhaim.
KIRKUK
Kirkuk/Dibis
An intelligence source said on Thursday that Daesh’s so-called “Black Robe” (aka “Man in Black” in some English sources) was killed in Kirkuk Province. The source said that security personnel fought and killed “Black Robe” and 6 of his companions after receiving a tip regarding their location in Dibis. “Black Robe” was considered one of the most dangerous Daesh leaders in Kirkuk Province, and the source said that he had been responsible for recent bombings in Kirkuk. Captain Hamid Al-Obeidi confirmed the operation in a press statement, saying that it was carried out by a joint force of the Army and police. He added that these units had also retrieved documents relating to Daesh’s planned future targets. [Sumaria] [Rudaw]
An unknown group attacked Counter Terrorism units in the Shoraw neighborhood in Kirkuk city with a hand grenade, wounding two soldiers. The CTS opened fire in retaliation, reportedly killing an old woman and wounding three civilians. [Roj]
A DaeshDaily source says a PMF commander was killed and his driver wounded when an IED exploded on their vehicle near Shirnaw village, in eastern Dibis. The IED was planted near a PMF checkpoint. The source says PMF security units arrested 6 members of the checkpoint after accusing them of negligence.
Hawija (Riyadh, Al-Zab, etc.)
A DaeshDaily source says two tribal PMF fighters were killed when a roadside IED exploded on their vehicle on the road between Abbasi and Tal Al-Dhahab village.
Daesh says it targeted tribal PMFs in Tal Al-Dhahab with mortars on Tuesday, wounding several fighters. [ICDNJun14]
A DaeshDaily source confirmed the attack.
Southwest (Daquq, Rashad, Taza, etc.)
A source in the Federal Police said on Thursday that units in the Federal Police had searched villages in Rashad (Daquq) and Riyadh (Hawija),and found Daesh safehouses and explosive belts. The source, who asked not to be named, said that the operation was ongoing. [Baghdadia] [BasNews]
NINEWA
Mosul
Daesh says it targeted an Iraqi Army Humvee with an IED near Bawabat Al-Sham, west of Mosul, on Wednesday. [ICDNJun14]
Here Daesh says it destroyed an Iraqi Army vehicle and damaged another with 2 IEDs near the intersection. [ICDNJun14]
Southern Ninewa
Mosul Subdistrict
A DaeshDaily source says three PMF fighters were killed and their pickup vehicle damaged when an IED exploded on them near the Aski Mosul intersection just outside Mosul city, east of Tal Afar.
Western Ninewa
Tal Afar
Captain Amir Wathiq of the Ninewa Police said that the mukhtar of ‘Ayunat village, 60 km (37 miles) northwest of Mosul, had been killed by unknown gunmen.
In an incident in the same area, Captain Murtada Ahmed of the Ninewa Police said on Thursday that 1 policeman had been killed and 7 Daesh fighters arrested in an attack on the Kasik junction northwest of Mosul. [BasNews]
KURDISTAN NEWS
ERBIL
The armed wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced on Thursday that it killed 5 Turkish soldiers in attacks on 2 Turkish Army positions in the Barzan subdistrict of northern Erbil. [Sumaria]
REPORTS FROM TURKEY
The Emirati Sky News Arabia reported that three people had been killed on Thursday during a rally held by Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP). A later report by the Turkish state-run Anadolu said the attack happened in the southeastern state of Şanlıurfa. Anadolu quoted Baha Al-Deen Yildiz, the head of the AKP in the state of Şanlıurfa, as claiming that the incident was an armed attack by supporters of the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP). Yildiz said that the PDP were targeting the AKP’s MP candidate in the subdistrict of Suruç, Khalil Ibrahim Yildiz. He added that one of the people killed was the older brother of the candidate, and that at least 11 people had also been injured. [Sumaria] [Anadolu]
Turkish authorities announced that they arrested 18 people suspected of belonging to Daesh in the cities of Istanbul and Izmir. A security source said that 10 of the suspects were arrested in Izmir, along the coast of the Aegean Sea, during operations by Turkish intelligence and counter-terrorism police. 8 were arrested in Istanbul on Wednesday. It is suspected that they had smuggled funds to Daesh, traveled to areas where Daesh fought and then returned to Turkey, and conducted training for executing suicide attacks. [Shafaaq]
A Turkish soldier was killed and 4 wounded in a PKK attack in Hakkari east of Turkey. The PKK used rockets in their attack. [Anadolu]
REPORTS FROM SYRIA
NATIONAL NEWS
The Syrian President, Bashar Al-Assad, says that the southern Syria areas have two options, either negotiate or fight. He says the door is open to negotiations and peaceful solution, but if this fails there is always the military option. He also says that Iran is an allied country and so is Russia, and that’s why it’s natural for them to have bases in Syria if they want. [Qasioun]
Foreign policy
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said in an interview with the Iranian state-owned Al-Alam TV that Saudi Arabia had offered to normalize relations with Syria if Syria cut all ties with Iran. Al-Assad said that Syria’s relationship with Iran was not on the table for negotiations, and so this and similar proposals had been rejected out of hand. [Dorar]
United States
The US State Department announced on Thursday that President Trump had agreed to allocate about $6.6 million to fund operations of the “Syrian Civil Defense,” or “White Helmets.” State spokesman Heather Nauert said in a statement that the US “strongly supported” the White Helmets, and claimed that they had saved 100,000 lives since the start of the conflict. The allocated funding is also intended to support the UN in investigating violations of international law in Syria. [Sumaria]
US Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield said that US troops were in Syria not only to stop Daesh but also to counter Iranian influence. Bas News noted that this may be the first such open admission by a US official. Satterfield was responding to a question from a US House subcommittee on the possible withdrawal of US forces from Syria. [BasNews]
Northwest
Manbij
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu says the US will withdraw the weapons of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Manbij before implementing the “road map” agreed upon with Turkey. [Dorar]
Northeast (No reports)
Central and West
Aleppo/Idlib
SOHR reported increased Daesh activity in Idlib, reflected in a series of car bombs and IED explosions. The last one was in Kafr Nabl, near Maarat Al-Numan in southern Idlib, where a bomb destroyed a shop, killing a civilian and wounding another. Another car bomb explosion claimed by Daesh killed 6 Al-Nusra members. [SyriaHR]
East (Deir Ez-Zor)
Deir Ez-Zor District
SOHR reported that a child was killed by a mine explosion in Deir Ez-Zor. (Location unspecified) [SyriaHR]
Albu Kamal District
A DaeshDaily source says a female journalist and 10 Iraqi militiamen were killed in a Daesh attack near Albu Kamal.
Coalition planes and SDF units attacked Daesh positions near Hajin village, followed by intense battles between Daesh and the SDF. Hajin is the last stronghold of Daesh in the area. [SyriaHR]
Daesh publishes photos of a Syrian soldier targeted by its snipers in the Albu Kamal area. [ICDNJun14]
South
Suwayda
A DaeshDaily source says government forces killed a Daesh Iraqi commander they captured in clashes near Urwa town, in Suwayda.
OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA REPORTS
North Africa
Egypt
Daesh publishes photos of killing three Egyptian soldiers it captured in an ambush on a road west of Arish. [ICDNJun14]
Libya/Tunisia
Libya
The Libyan National Army announced that it was in control of the Veba oil terminal less than an hour after it was attacked by the Benghazi Defense Brigades. “Informed sources” said that the Army had also destroyed several military vehicles belonging to terrorists near the port of Sidra. Libyan Army Central Ops Commander Lieutenant Colonel Al-Sharif Al-‘Awami said that Sidra and Ras Lanuf had been under attack by terrorist groups since early Thursday morning. [Libya24]
Wasat wrote that multiple concurring sources reported ongoing battles in the “oil crescent,” with hit-and-run battles between Army forces and a force belonging to militia leader Ibrahim Jadhran in the area between Sidra and Ras Lanuf. [Wasat]
REPORTS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES
U.S./EUROPE
United States
US authorities arrested an Israeli resident of the US on suspicion of using social media to promote and aid Daesh. Wahiba Issa Dis, 45, was arrested in a town near Milwaukee. She has been a legal resident of the US since 1992. A court indictment claims that Dis used several different social media accounts to promote Daesh, and that she constructed a “virtual library” of information on bomb-making, biological weapons, and explosives vests. She is accused of explaining to an undercover policeman the way to make ricin, and suggesting that he poison water tanks with it. [Sumaria]
AFRICA
Somalia
Daesh says it shot and killed a finance official in Mogadishu on Wednesday. [ICDNJun14]
ASIA
Afghanistan
Daesh says it killed a pro-government militia commander, three of his associates, and an election official with an IED in Rodat District, in Nangarhar. [ICDNJun14]
Daesh says it killed an Askar Al-Islam militiaman with an IED in Nazyan, in Nangarhar, on Wednesday. [A3maq]
