Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Idlib
MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS
Iraq
Ambassador Silliman promises more US funding for Iraq reconstruction. [..]
Security operation targets border locations on Salahuddin-Diyala border. [..]
Kirkuk Governor says 116 Kirkuk Province villages are destroyed. [..]
Labor ministry investigating charges children in Mosul shelter were sold to Daesh. [..]
Syria
Turkey accuses Syrian forces, Russian planes of violating de-escalation zone in Idlib. [..]
Syrian opposition complains Sochi conferences undermining UN Geneva process. [..]
150,000 civilians now displaced from southern Idlib- northern Hama area. [..]
Daesh still attacking SDF, Iranian Quds Force troops in Albu Kamal. [..]
White Helmets organization says 1,337 civilians killed in Eastern Ghouta in 2017. [..]
Other countries
Netanyahu says Israel won’t allow Iran to establish a base in Syria. [..]
REPORTS FROM IRAQ
NATIONAL NEWS
Anti-Daesh Campaign
Tuesday, at the Iraqi Police Celebration of the 96th anniversary of its founding, Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi stressed that the sacrifices and heroism of the joint security forces are what maintained the unity of the country. Al-Abadi also commended the interventions by the Ministry of Interior and its victories over terrorism. [Sumaria]
Reconstruction
Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Douglas Silliman announced that the U.S. government is providing $75 million in additional funding to help stabilize Iraq, following its full liberation from Daesh. “Our commitment to the Iraqi people does not end with the eradication of Daesh,” said Ambassador Silliman. “Communities in the liberated areas now face the daunting challenge of rebuilding their lives and restoring their cultural heritage. These funds will help restore basic services like water and electricity so that Iraqi families of all ethnic and religious backgrounds can return to their homes – safely, voluntarily, and with dignity.” [Anadolu]
Iraq-KRG Issues
Tuesday, Prime Minister Al-Abadi announced that the revenue generated in 2017 from oil exports by the Kurdistan Region amounted to 9 trillion Iraqi dinars (about $7.6 billion). In addition, there are other “undisclosed” revenues which the Kurdistan Region has yet to declare, Abadi said, during his weekly press conference. Abadi criticized the Kurdish authorities for not being able to fulfill the promise of abiding by the Iraqi constitution, but reiterated the national government’s commitment to pay salaries of the Kurdistan Region’s public servants. [Anadolu]
Al-Abadi stressed that removing the Turkish forces from Iraqi lands requires a strategic solution, noting that the government is prepared to carry out this procedure and devise strategic solutions with the Kurds. Al-Abadi added that the Turks are in a war with the PKK, and Iraqi does not want to enter a proxy war; it rather wants to co-exist peacefully. [Rudaw]
BAGHDAD
Security-related incidents reported
Tuesday, security units found 40 various IEDs left behind by Daesh in Al-Shurtan area in west Baghdad. [Baghdadia]
ANBAR
Haditha
A security source said on Tuesday that two armed men riding in a pickup truck attacked two civilians, killing one and wounding the other in Haditha near the Hajlan Bridge. This is the first attack of its kind in the Haditha area, which was never under terrorist control. [BasNews]
SALAHUDDIN
Tuesday, the Dijla Ops Command announced the continuation of operations to track Daesh on the borders between Diyala and Salahuddin for the second day in a row. The Dijla Ops Command also noted that a rigged vehicle was destroyed and a Daesh guesthouse was seized. [Sumaria]
Also see stories below under “Northern Diyala”
Baiji
Tuesday, the Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) announced that it continues to return IDPs to their areas in Baiji and its liberated areas. According to the announcement, 340 internally displaced families were recently returned to their original areas. [Baghdadia]
Tikrit
Tuesday, the CTS announced the arrest of 2 terrorist brothers in a trap set up at the eastern Tikrit entrance in Salahuddin. [IraqPress]
Tuesday, a high-level security source in Diyala revealed that Daesh has for the first time appointed one of its Kurdish commanders as an emir over the Mtaibija basin. [Sumaria]
Eastern Salahuddin (Al-Daur, Tooz)
Tuesday, a Kurdish Kirkuk CoR representative, Shakhwan Abdullah, stated that Daesh is behind the destabilization and targeting of Tooz, not Kurds, and added that there are parties putting pressure on the government to not target them. Abdullah said “those who are accusing the Kurds of supporting terrorist groups must first cleanse the area of terrorist groups, and it is the Daesh “White Banners” group which is responsible for attacking the Iraqi forces, which we have documented with photos.” [Sumaria]
DaeshDaily comment. A note for clarification: We have reported a previous admission that the White Banners militants were Daesh members linked to the KDP.
DIYALA
Northern Diyala (Kifri, Khanaqin, Khalis north)
Tuesday, the Diyala Police announced that a joint security unit from the Diyala Police and the tribal PMF destroyed 4 Daesh guesthouses in a security operation in the Mtaibija area on the border between Diyala and Salahuddin, during a security operation that covered places on both sides of the provincial border, including Udhaim Dam, Albu Talha (Salahuddin), Shakir Al-Haj, Hibhib (west of Baquba), Um Talil, Albu Oud, and Albu Jumaa. Furthermore, the security units seized 10 artillery shells, defused 12 IEDs, and took control of the bodies of two terrorists killed during the operation. [Baghdadia]
Tuesday, Dijla Ops Commander Mizhar Al-Azzawi announced that security units from the Army, Police, and PMF, backed by the IAA, destroyed 2 Daesh guesthouses and 1 rigged vehicle in Hawi Al-Udhaim in northern Diyala. [Baghdadia]
Tuesday PMF units found Daesh tunnels and guesthouses in the Himrin Mountains from the Diyala province side, according to a reporter. [Knooz]
Tuesday, head of the Udhaim Council, Mohammad Daifan Al-Abidi, revealed that the rigged vehicle which was defused remotely by the EOD in Al-Maita basin on the border with Salahuddin belonged to civilians who were abducted and had their property stolen. [Sumaria]
Southern Diyala (Balad Ruz, Mandali)
Tuesday, Diyala Field Security and Intelligence units located an ammunition depot in the Al-Nida area in Mandali. The depot contained various explosives and hand grenades and two mines. [Baghdadia]
KIRKUK
Kirkuk/Dibis
The Iraqi Ministry of Petroleum expressed its surprise at the CoR’s decision concerning the export of petroleum in Kirkuk and stopping the work of a technical company affiliated with the KRG in Kirkuk. The Ministry stated that it directly supervises the administration of the petroleum sector in Kirkuk and that the North Oil Company is the only party which is rehabilitating and developing the petroleum fields and facilities in the province, including the Bai Hassan and Avana oil fields. [BasNews]
Hawija (Riyadh, Al-Zab, etc.)
Tuesday, Kirkuk Governor Rakan Al-Jubouri said that the southern and western Kirkuk areas are the most affected in Iraq as they were occupied by Daesh for over three years. Al-Jubouri confirmed that there are 116 destroyed villages in the governorate. Al-Jubouri met with the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council in Iraq and discussed the Kirkuk administration’s efforts to return IDPs and execute the re-stabilization plan through rehabilitating education, water, electricity, and governmental buildings. [Sumaria]
Tuesday, commander of the PMF’s 56th brigade, Hussein Ali Najm, announced the arrest of a large number of Daesh members who had escaped to villages east of Hawija. Najm added that the 3rd and 56th PMF brigades and the Iraqi Amy’s 34th brigade continue the operations to impose security in the eastern side of Hawija, noting that the forces have reached the village of Albu Hamdan (Dibis), after passing through several other villages. [Ghad]
Southwest (Daquq, Rashad, etc.)
Tuesday, PMF spokesman in the north Ali Al-Husseini announced the death of the mufti of Wilayat Kirkuk in Daesh, known as Abdulqader Al-Azzi, along with three of his companions in a military operation to impose security in the south of the province. Al-Azzi said the operation took place near a village in Daquq. [Sumaria]
NINEWA
Mosul
According to a Ministry of Labor statement, there is an investigation of information about the manager of the special needs department in Ninewa allegedly selling children living in shelter homes to Daesh, after Daesh seized Mosul in 2014. According to Bas News’ information, the number of children and persons with special needs housed in shelter homes was about 60 children during Daesh’s control over Mosul. Daesh converted these homes into military training bases to train children to use weapons and explosives. [BasNews]
Tuesday, a Mosul Police officer reported that the mukhtar of the Qadisiya neighborhood in east Baghdad was attacked with an IED by unknown assailants. [BasNews]
Tuesday, the MoD Intelligence arrested 4 Daesh terrorists in Mosul. [Baghdadia]
SOUTHERN IRAQ
Dhi Qar
Tuesday, Dhi Qar Governor Yahya Al-Nasiri called on the security units to prepare for the post-Daesh phase, describing it as the “most dangerous” and will need a redoubled effort. He added that security units must find pre-emptive solutions against sleeper cells. [Knooz]
KURDISTAN NEWS
Tuesday, Alistair James Hendrie Burt, the British Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa stressed that the Kurdistan Region is undergoing economic pressures from within and outside of Iraq, calling on the UK government not to support one party at the expense of another in Iraq. He also mentioned the UK’s historical relationship with the Kurds in Iraq and said that the UK ought to have mutual goals with the Kurds considering they are on the frontlines in the war against Daesh. [Rudaw]
REPORTS FROM TURKEY
Turkey summoned the ambassadors of Russia and Iran to complain about the Syrian forces’ violation of the borders of the de-escalation zone in Idlib province, Turkish foreign ministry sources said on Tuesday. Turkey asked the envoys to urge the Syrian government in Damascus to end the border violations, the sources said. [ZamanAlWasl]
DaeshDaily comment: Turkey has taken responsibility with Russia for enforcing the Idlib de-escalation zone. The Syrian violation follows a pattern and is hardly surprising, as they have done the same thing in the Damascus area and elsewhere. The Russians arrange a de-escalation zone and their Syrian friends are the ones who violate it, without criticism from Russia.
Also see story below under “Idlib.”
Tuesday, it was reported that Turkish counterterrorism teams carried out two concurrent security operations in the center of Bitlis and in Güroymak, a district in Bitlis province, which led to the arrests of three suspected Daesh members. [BaghdadToday]
REPORTS FROM SYRIA
NATIONAL NEWS
Tuesday, the Syrian Negotiation Commission (SNC) warned of the risk of the UN- brokered process in Geneva being undermined by a ‘parallel process’ in Sochi, during meetings with the UN in New York. “The Sochi process risks undermining the Geneva talks and the goal of transition set out in the Geneva Communiqué and UN Security Council resolution 2254,” said SNC spokesman Dr. Yahiya Aridi. [EnabBaladi]
Tuesday, SOHR reported that more than 150,000 civilians have been displaced from the villages and towns in rural southern and southeastern Idlib, rural northern and northeastern Hama, and rural southern Aleppo to central and northern Idlib due to the ongoing battles there. [SyriaHR]
Pentagon Spokesman Col. Robert Manning said “the U.S. troops in Syria have only one mission, from which they will never deviate, namely fighting Daesh.” He also added that “what is happening now in Syria and Iraq is essential to keep the recent victories.” [Dorar]
Northeast (Hasaka, Raqqa) (No reports)
Northwest
Idlib
Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the Russian and Syrian airstrikes on Idlib are in violation of the “de-escalation” agreement reached by Ankara, Moscow and Tehran in the Astana 8 talks. Cavusoglu warned that such a move would undermine the political settlement process in Syria and the preparations for the Sochi summit.” [Dorar] [SyriaNow]
A DaeshDaily source says that Yaseen Al-Ahmadi, aka Abu Aisha Al-Iraqi, one of the founders of the AQI, and a leader in Tahrir Al-Sham, was severely wounded by a Daesh mortar shell south of Idlib.
Afrin/Azaz
Tuesday a Kurdish-Syrian military official said that Turkey will not obtain the “blessing and green light” from world powers in order to carry out attacks on west Kurdistan and northern Syria. The source noted that there is a Russian-American agreement to end the Turkish and Iranian presence in Syria. In response to news reports that reported a Turkish-Syrian agreement to strike Kurdish units in Afrin, head of the defense in the Afrin District, Bahjat Barakat, said that “the regimes dividing Kurdistan are following the same approach to strike the Kurdish people’s will, and the regimes are against the democratization and federalization of northern Syria.” [BasNews]
Central and West (Homs, Hama, etc.)
Hama
Tuesday, Dorar reported that Daesh captured 10 villages in Al-Hamra subdistrict in rural eastern Hama, following Tahrir Al-Sham’s withdrawal from these villages, after the Syrian forces captured Sinjar in southern Idlib, which cut Tahrir Al-Sham’s supply route in the area. [Dorar]
Based on military sources, Enab Baladi reported on Tuesday that the Syrian forces captured Al-Rahjan and Al-Shakousiya in rural northeastern Hama, following battles with Tahrir Al-Sham. [EnabBaladi] [SyriaNow]
Tuesday, Qasioun reported that Daesh captured 13 villages and towns in eastern Hama. [Qasioun]
East (Deir Ez-Zor)
Mayadin
Tuesday, Qasioun reported that 3 civilians were killed and others injured by land mines left by Daesh in rural eastern Deir Ez-Zor. [Qasioun]
Albu Kamal
Monday, Zaman Al-Wasl reported that clashes resumed between the SDF and Daesh in the city of Gharanij, after Daesh reneged on an agreement, reached between them under the auspices of Deir Ez-Zor Military Council’s “Barq Al-Shuaitat” forces, to withdraw its members and their families to Hajin, according to Furat Post’s correspondent “Ibrahim Al-Hussien.” [ZamanAlWasl]
Monday, pro-Daesh media reported that Daesh snipers killed 8 members of the SDF in the vicinity of Gharanij. [Qasioun]
Daesh says it killed 20 SDF fighters and captured four others in heavy clashes in Gharanij. Daesh says it detonated a booby-trapped house during the battles. [ICDNJan9]
Daesh publishes photos of targeting SDF units in Al-Bahra village, near Hajin, with SPG rockets and heavy sniper guns. [ICDNJan9] [ICDNJan9]
Qasioun reports that 20 members of Iran’s Quds Force were killed and 4 were captured by Daesh in Gharanij. [Qasioun]
Daesh publishes photos of targeting a government bulldozer with a rocket near Al-Bagouz village, southeast of Albu Kamal city. [ICDNJan9]
Daesh publishes photos of targeting a Syrian Army 14.5 mm cannon in Al-Ashayer village, north of Albu Kamal. [ICDNJan9]
Daesh issues a video of targeting a Syrian Army watchtower with a rocket in the same village. [A3maq]
South
Damascus/Rif Damashq
In a statement posted on its social media account on Tuesday, the White Helmets civil defense agency said that more than 1,337 civilians were killed, and 9,123 others wounded in Syrian forces’ attacks on Syria’s besieged Eastern Ghouta in 2017. [Anadolu]
Tuesday, Anadolu reported that 17 civilians were killed by Syrian aerial and artillery bombardment of the Eastern Ghouta cities and towns of Hamouriya, Saqba, Harasta, Arbin, Douma and Madeira. [Anadolu]
Tuesday, SOHR reported that violent clashes are still ongoing between the Syrian forces on one hand and Tahrir Al-Sham, Ahrar Al-Sham and Al-Rahman Corps on the other in the vicinity of the Vehicle Department near Harasta, accompanied by the Syrian forces’ intensified shelling of the region. [SyriaHR]
DaeshDaily comment. It seems to be going without much notice that all this military activity, and the civilian deaths, are occurring in the Damascus area.
OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA REPORTS
Neighboring countries
Saudi Arabia/Yemen
Daesh publishes photos of an IED it says it defused in Baidha in Yemen. Daesh says the IED was planted by Houthis. [ICDNJan9]
Israel
In a meeting with NATO ambassadors, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran of sending 100,000 Shia fighters to Syria as part of the project to “invade and colonize Syria.” He stressed that Israel will prevent Iran from establishing a base in Syria, which he said would lead to a terrorist resurgence in Syria, in turn causing new immigration waves to Europe. He added that Israel is using several methods at this stage to prevent terrorists from reinforcing their bases in Sinai. [Shafaaq]
REPORTS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES
EUROPE
Germany
A German newspaper warned about the threats posed by the children of German nationals with Daesh membership who were born in areas under Daesh control in Iraq and Syria. The report pointed out the German authorities’ concerns about a “new Jihadi generation” which will require urgent attention. The newspaper reported that according to the federal government, the timeline to return these children cannot be determined as it depends largely on the cooperation of Iraqi authorities. [BasNews]
Spain
Spanish daily newspaper La Vanguardia published a report discussing Daesh’s restarting its caliphate in Afghanistan following its defeats in Syria and Iraq last year. The newspaper added that Daesh’s focus regions are Africa, especially Libya and the coastal region, Chad, Mali, Niger, Egypt, and Afghanistan. [SkyPress]
ASIA
Pakistan
Tuesday, “Geo TV” reported that at least six persons, including four Baluchistan Constabulary personnel, were killed, and 17 others were injured in a suicide attack near the Baluchistan Assembly building in Quetta in southwestern Pakistan, according to medical sources. [Anadolu]
DAESH MEDIA
Daesh issues a propaganda video about its media machine. [ICDN]
Daesh publishes a photo of one of its Iraqi media members, saying he was killed in the Albu Kamal area. [ICDNJan9]
