April 13, 2018
A photo released on April 14, 2018 by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows an explosion on the outskirts of Damascus after Western strikes reportedly hit Syrian military bases and chemical research centers in and around the capital (AFP Photo/Handout / STR)
MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS
Iraq
Al-Abadi concerned about Syria conflict spilling back into Iraq. [..]
Turkmen CoR candidate survives assassination attempt. [..]
PMF units capture 33 Daesh members in Hawija. [..]
Health organization warns of “health catastrophe” from 2,500 bodies still decomposing under Mosul’s rubble. [..]
Many Ninewa IDPs who came home have gone back to Kurdistan. [..]
Syria
US, Britain, France launch major air attack on Syrian military targets. [..]
Amb. Haley slams Russia’s consistent backup for Assad’s use of chemical weapons. [..]
Iran Supreme Leader’s top adviser says US it too weak to remain in northern Syria. [..]
REPORTS FROM IRAQ
NATIONAL NEWS
Election
Friday, State of Law Coalition member, Kadhem Al-Sayadi, said that the Electoral Commission ratified the names of CoR candidates, “who haven’t fulfilled the conditions of eligibility for nomination for the CoR elections.” Al-Sayadi called for those officials who have done so to be held accountable. [Sumaria]
Friday, Vice President Nouri Al-Maliki proposed to address the Syrian crisis through dialogue and peaceful solutions. “We had warned earlier of the use of weapons in dealing with the Syrian crisis, and it was proved that using force is not an appropriate option to resolve the Syrian crisis,” he said. “Today, we reiterate our position opposing resort to the military option against Syria on the grounds of the use of chemical weapons in Douma,” he added. [Sumaria]
DaeshDaily comment. The statement seems confusing, but the discernible implication is that Al-Maliki is trying to tap into anti-American sentiment that is being fanned by the pro-Iran PMF alliance. He and they are competing for the same votes.
In a report published on Friday, the Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper said that Nouri Al-Maliki’s State of Law Coalition and Ammar Al-Hakim’s National Wisdom Movement have spent the most on their election campaigns, adding that they have provided their own unknown candidates with $50-90,000 US dollars. The newspaper pointed out that some candidates bought Facebook pages for $ 15,000. [Rudaw]
Friday, the Chaldean Patriarch of Iraq and the world, Louis Sako, called for reforming the Constitution and laws in such a way that they respect life, promote peace and stability and encourage the country to protect all citizens and treat all citizens equally. [Rudaw]
DaeshDaily comment. You are probably thinking, as we are, in reading this statement: Why isn’t this guy running?
Anti-Daesh campaign
The Coalition says it conducted 5 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Iraq between April 6 and April 12, in or near Rutba (2), Al-Qa’im (2), and Tuz (1). [InherentResolve]
Foreign policy
Friday, the London-based Al-Arab newspaper quoted senior Iraqi officials as saying that “Al-Abadi has ordered military aides to make an urgent plan with a view to controlling Iraq’s internal security, in case some of the militias inside Iraq try to respond to any US attack against Syria.” According to those officials, “the Iraqi government is committed to Al-Abadi’s recently announced policy of disassociation, and isn’t responsible for Iraqis fighting in neighboring countries.” [Baghdadia]
Friday, PM Office spokesman Saad Al-Hadithi said that “Iraq will prevent the launch of any hostile operations from within Syria’s territory towards its territory.” “The conflict in Syria was a major reason that created an environment for Daesh to emerge, expand, and enter Iraq in mid-2014,” he claimed. [ZamanAlWasl]
BAGHDAD
Security-related incidents reported
Friday, Security Media Center reported that, using intelligence information, the Baghdad Operations Command (BOC) captured a Ninewa member of the Daesh-affiliated Al-Furqan Brigade, as he tried to infiltrate into Baghdad on the Diyala-Baghdad road. Earlier on Friday, Security Media Center announced the arrest of 5 wanted persons, including a Daesh leader, in Ninewa. [Mawazin] [Sumaria]
North (Tarmiya, Taji, etc.)
Friday, the BOC announced it arrested a drug dealer in Al-Sadrain Square and found an IED depot near Bustan Jasim Al-Salman in northern Baghdad. [Etejah]
Northeast (Adhamiya, etc.)
Friday, a security source reported that security units captured a person in possession of 3 mortar shells as he passed through a checkpoint in Adhamiya. [Ghad]
Total Baghdad incidents reported: 3 (Includes only incidents reported)
Total IED incidents reported: 1
ANBAR
Falluja
Friday, the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) 10th Division announced that it captured 2 wanted persons on terrorism charges in Albu Ali Al-Jassem, east of Falluja city. [Sumaria] [Baghdadia]
Anah (including Rawa)
A DaeshDaily source says security PMFs found the body of a Yazidi man, who had been kidnapped by Daesh from Sinjar in 2014, in a grave near Rawa. The source says the grave also contained the bodies of three unidentified victims.
SALAHUDDIN (No reports)
DIYALA
Baquba/Southeast Diyala
Friday, a security source in Diyala reported that the IED that exploded on Thursday evening near a home in the Kanaan subdistrict injured a judge of the Diyala Court of Appeals. [Sumaria]
Northern Diyala (Kifri, Khanaqin, Khalis north)
Friday, a security source in Salahuddin reported that a Turkmen CoR candidate survived an assassination attempt by an armed group on the Baghdad-Kirkuk road in the Udhaim area. His driver was wounded. [Sumaria]
Daesh’s version says it shot at the vehicle of a member of the political bureau of the National Turkmen Movement, on the road between Kirkuk and Baghdad on Thursday, wounding his driver and damaging the vehicle. [ICDNApr13]
Daesh says a group of its terrorists attacked an Iraqi Army military position in the Injana area in Udhaim on Thursday night, killing several soldiers before setting the position and a military vehicle on fire. It also said it ambushed a military convoy on the way to the position, forcing it to retreat. Daesh says it blew up an electricity tower that transmits power to Baghdad, with an IED in the same area. [ICDNApr13]
KIRKUK
Dibis
Daesh says it attacked a funeral of a tribal PMF fighter, in Baqan village with light weapons on Thursday, killing one person and setting a house and a vehicle on fire. [ICDNApr13]
Hawija (Riyadh, Al-Zab, etc.)
A DaeshDaily source says PMF units conducted an extensive search in the Hawija area and captured 33 Daesh members. The source says all those captured had arrest warrants issued against them by the Kirkuk court.
A DaeshDaily source says 4 Daesh terrorists sneaked into Shmet village in Al-Zab subdistrict and attacked the house of a PMF media official. The source says the terrorists couldn’t break into the house but shot the official’s father in the foot before fleeing towards the Abbasi area.
Southwest (Daquq, Rashad, Taza, etc.)
Friday, a PUK official in Daquq, Idris Haji Adel, said that the residents of Fareeq (a Kurdish village) have left their homes after receiving threats from Daesh. He added that security units arrested the mukhtar of the village along with others for interrogation. [AIN]
NINEWA
Nineveh Plain (Hamdaniya, Tel Keif, etc.)
In a statement released on Friday, Security Media Center spokesman Gen. Yahiya Rasoul said that the Ninewa Ops Command captured 4 wanted persons during a search operation in the Kafruk area west of Batnaya subdistrict in Tal Keif District. “Security forces also captured a senior Daesh leader in Qayara as he was trying to flee Mosul,” Rasoul added. [Baghdadia]
Mosul
Friday, Head of the Iraqi “Al-Hayah” health organization warned against a “horrifying health catastrophe” threatening the lives of a million people in Mosul due to the gases emitted by about 2,500 decomposing corpses that are still under the rubble of buildings destroyed by war in west Mosul. [Rudaw]
Friday, the MoD announced that anti-crime units in Ninewa captured 6 Daesh operatives, including 1 woman, on charges of terrorism. Two of them were captured in the Abu Mariya village in Tal Afar, while the rest were captured in various parts of Mosul. [Sumaria]
A DaeshDaily source says local police found two bodies tied and stabbed near a cemetery in Hay Al-Ma’moun, in southwest Mosul. The source says one of the bodies was a former Daesh hisbah member and the other a Daesh supporter.
Southern Ninewa
Mosul subdistrict/ Hammam Al-Alil
Security Media Center Spokesman Gen. Yahya Rasoul said that security units in the Ninewa Ops Command carried out a clearing operation on roads in Adaya village, Muhalabiya, and Ain Jahsh, in which 12 roadside IEDs were destroyed. Rasoul added that 5 IEDs were defused in Kaberli village. 1 Daesh commander was captured in Qayara as he attempted to escape. [PressIraq]
Western Ninewa
Tal Afar
In a statement released on Friday, Security Media Center spokesman Gen. Yahiya Rasoul announced that a Ninewa Ops unit found 4 C–4 barrels, 3 other booby-trapped barrels, 10 explosive belts, 100 mortar rounds, an SPG–9 rocket, an RPG–7 rocket and 11 anti-armor land mines during search operations in Tal Afar Castle. [Baghdadia]
Friday, a local security source reported that the west Ninewa PMF commander, Mukhtar Al-Mousawi, survived an assassination attempt in an explosion that targeted his vehicle convoy on the main road near Tal Afar city’s Abu Mariya neighborhood.[Buratha]
Baaj
A DaeshDaily source says Kata’eb Hezbollah stopped a Daesh attack on Wardiya village, near the Syria border, killing 7 terrorists. 2 KH fighters were also killed in the attack.
KURDISTAN NEWS
Ninewa PC members and Kurdistan Region officials report a migration pattern of Mosul residents to areas in the Kurdistan Region that they inhabited during Mosul’s occupation by Daesh, citing restrictions from armed factions and deteriorating economic, social, and political conditions. KRG External Relations official Falah Mustafa said that this year 4,000 people migrated from Mosul to the Kurdistan Region, including some who had previously returned to Mosul. Mustafa called on the international community to extend financial and logistical support to the Kurdistan Region to alleviate some of the burden on the KRG, noting that meeting the needs of IDPs and refugees cost $1,000,900,000 per year. [BasNews]
Friday, the leader of the Democracy and Justice Alliance, Barham Salih, met with the Russian Ambassador to Iraq, Maxim Maximov. Salih’s account of the meeting says he emphasized the importance of resolving all outstanding issues between Baghdad and Erbil prior to the upcoming elections, and also emphasized the importance of the Kurdish role following the elections. [IraqPress]
DaeshDaily comment. This statement might matter later, as Barham Salih is a respected Kurdish leader who could, we think, show up in a prominent position in the next government.
ERBIL
Thursday, Hawar reported that the PKK in northern Erbil again attacked Turkish Army personnel in the Sidekan subdistrict, killing at least 3 Turkish soldiers and wounding 5 others. [Hawar]
REPORTS FROM SYRIA
NATIONAL NEWS
The US, UK and France launched their anticipated strikes on Syria early Saturday. President Trump and Defense Secretary James Mattis appeared on television to explain and clarify the US actions. According to a local source in Syria reporting to MSNBC, the locations attacked included two research centers in different parts of Damascus associated with production of chemical weapons, the Tiyas (T-4) airbase in Homs, and weapons storage facilities in Homs and Hama districts.
In general, the attack was limited to sites relevant to the chemical weapons issue and avoided locations where Russians or Iranians might have been hit. The attack employed both missiles and planes and was substantially larger than the previous US rocket attack on Khan Sheikhoun. [MSNBC] [France24] [AFP]
The New York Times had quoted US officials as saying that during Thursday’s meeting at the White House, Defense Secretary Mattis advised President, Donald Trump to wait for more definitive proof before ordering strikes against Syria, warning him that any hasty attack by the US and its allies against Syria might spark a large-scale conflict with Russia and Iran. “We are trying to stop the murder of innocent people. But on a strategic level, it’s how do we keep this from escalating out of control, if you get my drift on that,” Mattis said. [SyriaNow]
United Nations/chemical weapons
Friday, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said held Russia accountable for the current situation in Syria, saying “It is Russia alone that has stopped at nothing to defend the Syrian regime’s multiple uses of chemical weapons. It is Russia alone that killed the Joint Investigative Mechanism, which allowed the world to ensure accountability for chemical weapons use in Syria.” “It is Russia alone that used its vetoes six times to prevent the condemnation of Assad’s use of chemical weapons. It is Russia alone that used its veto twelve times to protect the Assad regime. And to make matters worse, it is Russia alone that had agreed to be the guarantor of the removal of all chemical weapons in Syria,” she stated. “If Russia had lived up to its commitment, there would be no chemical weapons in Syria, and we would not be here today. At some point, we have to take action. We do not want the use of chemical weapons to be normal,” she added. [Anadolu]
Friday, France’s UN Ambassador, Francois Delattre, called for an end to the “chemical weapons escalation in Syria.” “The United Nations cannot let a country defy the Security Council and International Law at the same time,” he said. “Letting Damascus have the power to exceed all our standards is posing a threat to international security. Let’s put an end to it,” he added. “In deciding to once again use chemical weapons, the Syrian government has reached a point of no return and the world must provide a robust, united and steadfast response. France will shoulder its responsibility to end an intolerable threat to our collective security,” he stated. [Rudaw]
Thursday, Russia warned the US that conducting strikes against Syria in response to Douma’s suspected chemical attack could spark a war. “The immediate priority is to avert the danger of war. We hope there will be no point of no return,” Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said. He accused Washington of putting international peace at risk and said the situation was “very dangerous.” “We cannot exclude any possibilities, unfortunately, because we saw messages that are coming from Washington. They were very bellicose,” he said when asked if he was referring to a war between the United States and Russia. [Qasioun]
Friday, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned Western countries against repeating the Libyan and Iraqi scenarios in Syria. “God forbid anything adventurous will be done in Syria following the Libyan and Iraqi experience,” Lavrov told a news conference on Friday. He also said that even the smallest miscalculation in Syria could lead to new waves of migrants, and that ultimatums and threats do not help the dialogue. “Even non-significant incidents would lead to new waves of migrants to Europe and to other consequences, which neither we nor our European neighbors need,” Lavrov said. “Russia and the United States are using their channels of communications on Syria,” Lavrov added. [Dorar]
DaeshDaily comment. It’s too bad the Foreign Minister did not recognize that countries that enable Assad’s use of chemical weapons on his own citizens don’t help the dialogue either.
Friday, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons announced that a fact-finding team is due to arrive to Douma on Saturday in order to investigate Douma’s chemical attack. [Anadolu]
World Health Organization spokesman Tariq Jasarevic said that about 500 cases of suspected exposure to chemical substances were observed in Douma. Meanwhile, the spokesman of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Geneva, Jean Lark, voiced his concern over the situation of civilians in East Ghouta, after the Syrian forces captured it. [Anadolu]
Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that Israel’s targeting of the Tiyas (T-4) Syrian Air Base in Homs was a “historic mistake.” Nasrallah said the attack brings Israel in “direct confrontation” with Iran. The attack killed 3 Iranian revolutionary guards in the airport, according to Fars News Agency. [BasNews]
DaeshDaily comment. Today’s strikes in Syria included the T-4 airbase, which is the largest airbase in Syria.
Al-Arabi Television earlier quoted some sources as saying that “the price asked by the Americans from the Russians to cancel its expected strike against the Assad regime is to withdraw the Iranian forces and its affiliates from Syria.” “Russia has informed Iran of the US demand,” the sources said, adding that “the US has delayed its expected strike against Syria, waiting for Iran’s response to the US demand.” [Dorar]
Northwest (No reports)
Northeast
Hasaka
Thursday, Dorar reported that the Iraqi PMF militias conducted a precautionary strike against Daesh members who were planning to attack the 29th PMF Brigade in Tal Safouk. The PMF militias shelled Daesh-held positions inside Syria, killing and wounding several Daesh members, according to the PMF website. [Dorar]
The Coalition says it conducted 10 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Syria between April 6 and April 12, in or near Shaddadi (5) and Dashisha (2) in Hasaka, and in Albu Kamal (3). [InherentResolve]
Central and West
Aleppo/Idlib
Ali Akbar Velayati, top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, announced on Iranian television that the next target of Damascus and its allies after seizing East Ghouta will be Idlib then west Kurdistan (i.e., northern Syria). He said the US is too weak to remain in the east Euphrates area, and Washington will not have any option but to leave Syria and the region. [BasNews]
Hama
One of the locations targeted by the US/UK/France air attack on Syria is in Hama District.
Homs
At least two of the locations targeted by the US/UK/France air attack on Syria are in Homs.
Friday, according to sources, SOHR reported that the Syrian forces resumed their shelling of Al-Rastan and its surroundings, killing 2 civilians and wounding others. [SyriaHR]
East (Deir Ez-Zor)
Albu Kamal District
Daesh publishes photos of its terrorists forcing people to attend Friday prayers in the Albu Kamal area. [ICDNApr13]
DaeshDaily comment. Forcing people to go prayers is a Wahhabi tradition; the practice is not accepted by any other Muslim group. Focusing on its Wahhabi roots is Daesh’s way to recruit more radicals.
Daesh says it killed a Syrian Army soldier and damaged a bulldozer with a rocket near Albu Kamal. Daesh issues a video of the attack. [ICDNApr13]
South
Daraa/Quneitra
Friday, SOHR reported that intermittent clashes broke out between the Syrian forces and anti-government militias on the outskirts of Na’ema town, east of Daraa. Meanwhile, the Syrian forces resumed their shelling of Daraa Al-Balad in Daraa city. [SyriaHR]
SOHR also reported that the Al-Omarian Brigade leader, Nasser Mohammed Ruwais, was killed, and the Al-Tajammu’ Al-Awal leader, Abu Jawad Al-Jabiliya, was seriously wounded in a motorcycle IED attack by unidentified persons in Ghadeer Al-Bustan town in Quneitra. [SyriaHR] [EnabBaladi]
OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA REPORTS
Neighboring countries
Iran
Friday, Israel announced that an unmanned Iranian aircraft armed with explosives was shot down last February after infiltrating Israeli airspace. The Israeli military said that following an “operational and intelligence-based investigation,” its military has concluded that the “Iranian aircraft was armed with explosives and was tasked to attack Israeli territory.” [Dorar]
Saudi Arabia/Yemen
Daesh publishes a photo of one of its Yemeni terrorists claiming he was killed in Bayda. [ICDNApr13]
North Africa
Tunisia
Friday, VP of the governmental Tunisian Counterterrorism Committee, Na’elah Al-Faqih, announced in a meeting in France that the money of 28 Tunisian nationals and 5 organizations in Tunisia linked to terrorism by a UN list has been frozen. [Anadolu]
Friday, a blast was heard in a house in Chouaref neighborhood, Kelibia, in Nabeul governorate, partially destroying the house. The causes behind the blast remain unknown, but local sources suspect it was due to explosives inside the house.[Tunisien]
REPORTS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES
U.S./EUROPE
Germany
Friday, Zaman Al-Wasl reported that German authorities arrested 3 Syrians on charges of belonging to militant groups, including Ansar Al-Sham and Daesh, and said that one of them tried to recruit German people to join the fighting in Syria. [ZamanAlWasl]
AFRICA
Somalia
Friday, Zaman Al-Wasl reported that five people were killed when a bomb went off during a football match at a stadium on Thursday afternoon in the port town of Barawe, in the Lower Shabelle region. Police said that Al-Qaeda-linked Al –Shabab could be behind the attack. Police said it appeared to have been detonated by remote control. “The bomb killed five people and injured a dozen others on the football field. All the casualties were spectators,” according to Mahad Dhoore, a lawmaker for South West state told Reuters. [ZamanAlWasl]
ASIA
Afghanistan
Friday, Rudaw reported that 10 Afghan policemen were killed and four others wounded in a Taliban attack on an Afghan police position in the Shindand area in Afghanistan’s western Herat province, according to Shindand Governor Shukrullah Shaker. [Rudaw]
DAESH MEDIA
Daesh publishes the 127th issue of its Naba’ magazine, re-issuing reports about its attacks in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Tunisia, Afghanistan, and the Philippines. Daesh also publishes infographics about its operations in the Sinai area of Egypt during the last two months. It says it killed or wounded 164 soldiers and policemen and destroyed or damaged 70 vehicles. Daesh says it started a compulsory 10-day religious education campaign in areas south of Damascus. In this issue also, Daesh published the 4th part of its security instructions for Daesh members and followers. [ICDNApr13]
