December 15, 2017
SDF Fighters near Albu Kamal
TODAY’S MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS
Iraq
Iraq moves in on Kurdish terrorists menacing Tuz Khurmatu. [..]
Kata’eb Hezbollah commanders murdered in Balad & Udhaim. [..]
Turkish Army units, PKK in deadly clash near Iraq-Turkey border. [..]
Syria
Coalition drops 31 airstrikes on Albu Kamal. [..]
SDF, Daesh clash near Hajin in Albu Kamal. [..]
Syrian Army, anti-government opposition, Daesh, Tahrir Al-Sham all battling in Damascus area. [..]
Russia
Russia stops planned Daesh terrorist attack in St. Petersburg. [..]
REPORTS FROM IRAQ
NATIONAL NEWS
Reconstruction
Friday, US Ambassador to Iraq Douglas Silliman announced that the US has spent nearly $112 million in removing Daesh mines and war remnants in Iraq since 2014. He added that he is working closely with the Iraqi government to ensure the return of Iraqi civilians to their homes. [Shafaaq]
Iraq-KRG issues
At the Jamestown Foundation’s 11th Annual Terrorism Conference on December 13, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster said “resolving the crisis, the problem between the KRG and Iraq is a big priority for President Trump, Secretary Tillerson and the whole team.” McMaster emphasized the US support for the Kurds, citing the US’ support to them since 1991 when they were able to escape Saddam Hussein’s brutality. [BasNews]
Friday, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that he spoke with Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi at a meeting in Paris regarding the importance of opening the international airports in the Kurdistan Region for military purposes, as the Dutch Parliament is considering an extension of its military aid for the war on Daesh in 2018. [Rudaw]
Anti-Daesh campaign
Rudaw reports that three Yazidi children who were abducted by Daesh were rescued. They were sent back to Iraq from the Iraqi embassy in Ankara, Turkey. [Rudaw]
Friday, the Security and Defense Committee in the CoR warned of possible terrorist attacks during the New Year holiday celebrations. [Baghdadia]
Between December 11 and 14 the Coalition conducted 5 airstrikes in Iraq, in Rutba (2) and Tooz (1), and in or near Al-Baghdadi (1) and Hawija (1). [CentCom]
Friday, the PMF announced it foiled a violent Daesh attack on the border with Syria. [Sumaria]
German media conducted an interview with German teenager Linda Wenzel, who joined the ranks of Daesh in Iraq and is now in an Iraqi prison. Wenzel was given the chance to meet with her mother who flew to Baghdad. Her case is being handled by the Iraqi justice system. [Baghdadia]
International voices
Friday, the UN condemned Iraq’s mass-execution of 38 prisoners. Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Liz Throssell, said at a regular UN briefing in Geneva “We are deeply shocked and appalled at the mass execution.” Throssell added that the human rights office had “huge concerns” about the Iraqi government’s use of the death penalty and urged the halting of all executions. [Sumaria]
DaeshDaily comment. The issue is the principled objection of the UN and many European countries to the death penalty. No matter how awful the crimes being punished, death penalties will draw this objection.
The Swedish Foreign Minister protested the execution of a Swedish citizen of Iraqi descent on Thursday on charges of terrorism and being a member of Daesh in Iraq. According to Swedish media, Stockholm summoned the Iraqi Ambassador on Friday to protest the death sentence, and Prime Minister Stefan Lofven “has now personally taken up the case with Iraq.” [BasNews] [TheLocal]
Friday, Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi’s press office announced that implementation has started on the policy that the state will have a monopoly on the use of weapons in Iraq. On other subjects, the statement welcomed the religious leadership’s call for not “exploiting” the volunteers and fighters in the PMF for political ends. It also reiterated the government’s commitments to care for the families of martyrs; return IDPs to liberated areas; and combat corruption. [Sumaria]
Election
Leader of the Asa’eb Ahl Al-Haq PMF militia, Qais Al-Khazali, declared the PMF’s hostility toward Saudi Arabia, accusing Saudi Arabia of sending hundreds of suicide terrorists to Iraq. Al-Khazali says Iraqis should know that their friends are the ones who supported them, referring to Iran. [BasNews]
BAGHDAD
Security-related incidents reported
North (Tarmiya, Taji, etc.)
Friday, security sources reported that a body of an unidentified man killed by gunshot wounds was found in the Husseiniya neighborhood in north Baghdad. [IraqPress]
Friday, an unnamed security source reported that security units imposed a curfew in Tarmiya in order to carry out a large-scale operation to clear the area of terrorists and sleeper cells. [Sumaria]
West (Ghazaliya, Abu Ghraib, etc.)
Friday, the Military Intelligence Services reported that 2 terrorists were arrested in the Salamiyat area in Abu Ghraib. According to the statement, the two had escaped Falluja and hidden among IDPs. [Sumaria]
Total Baghdad incidents reported: 3 (Includes only incidents reported)
Total IED incidents reported: 0
ANBAR (No reports)
SALAHUDDIN
Samarra
Friday, a suicide attack on a Saraya Al-Salam PMF base in Samarra left a number of dead and wounded. [Mawazin]
A Saraya Al-Salam official in Samarra, Muhannad Al-Azzawi, announced that a Daesh suicide attack on Samarra was thwarted on Thursday evening. He added that during clashes with the suicide attackers, two Daesh members blew themselves up, killing 2 Saraya members and wounding 5. Friday, a security source reported that 8 members of Saraya Al-Salam were wounded or killed on Thursday evening. [BaghdadToday]
Southern Salahuddin (Balad, Dujail)
A DaeshDaily source says a Kata’eb Hezbollah commander was killed near his house in Balad. The source says the assailants fled to Samarra after the attack. (See story of similar attack under “Northern Diyala” below.)
Eastern Salahuddin (Al-Daur, Tooz)
Friday, a source in the Prime Minister’s office reported that a security operation was launched in Tooz to capture the terrorists who have fired dozens of Katyusha rockets on Tuz Khurmatu. The source added that so far six suspects have been arrested, two of whom were confirmed to belong to the Al-Rayat Al-Baydaa’ armed group. According to the source, last week reconnaissance planes tracked the terrorists who launched the rockets and cornered them in several houses. [Baghdadia]
Friday, the Nujaba’ Movement of the PMF announced its willingness to respond to “any party that attempts to undermine the unity of the country or strike at the political process,” a reference to the Al-Rayat Al-Baydaa’ group stationed on the outskirts of Tuz Khurmatu. Nujaba’ spokesman Abu Warith Al-Mousawi told the press that “the PMF is not a sectarian or military organization or party; it is a military system that gathered all Iraqi people, and it was formed due to the war waged by takfiri terrorism on behalf of the countries supporting it.” [Rudaw]
DaeshDaily comment. The explanation behind this scenario is complicated and as yet largely unclear. The real conflict here is not about Daesh but about the internal politics of Tuz Khurmatu, where the Kurds had a measure of control, resented by the Turkmen; then the Peshmerga were displaced by government troops as part of the recent move to restore central government authority in disputed areas and the local Kurdish authority was replaced. The Kurds complained bitterly about reported abuses by Iraqi troops, including many homes being burned down, and many Kurdish residents left. Rayat Al-Baydaa’ is led by a Kurd who professes loyalty to the KDP, but many or most of his fighters are ex-Daesh fighters hired for his purpose. It’s easy to think of them as a Daesh group but perhaps more meaningful to think of them as a KDP front. Turkmen feel they are being targeted. The whole situation is obviously a mess. Maybe Iraqi troops will restore order and stop the shelling, but the larger conflict will remain unresolved.
DIYALA
Friday, the Security Committee in the Diyala PC proclaimed the failure of Al-Rayat Al-Baydaa’ to gain a foothold in Diyala. Committee chairman Sadeq Al-Husseini said an intelligence group was deployed to track down the activities of this group, “which is an extension of the Baath Party.” [Sumaria]
Baquba/Southeast Diyala
A local source in Diyala reported the death of a man he called “Ayn Daesh,” (in English “Daesh’s eye”), along with a number of others. Ayn Daesh was a Daesh leader locally known as “Al-Ayn,” and was in charge of Daesh cells’ reconnaissance operations against security and military checkpoints and along the Diyala-Salahuddin border. According to the source, a plane targeted a Daesh hideout in an abandoned area between two Albu Jumaa villages. [Ghad]
Northern Diyala (Kifri, Khanaqin, Khalis north)
Friday, Dijla Ops Commander Mizhar Al-Azzawi announced that 10 Daesh members were killed in an IAA airstrike on two guesthouses in Al-Mita area on the Diyala-Salahuddin border. [Sumaria]
A DaeshDaily source says a Kata’eb Hezbollah commander was assassinated by an armed group near his house in Udhaim. The source says the armed men used PMF vehicles in the attack. {See story of similar attack under “Southern Salahuddin” above.)
DaeshDaily comment. It has to be more than coincidence that two KH commanders were killed in the same day, both near their houses. These are definitely separate incidents, however. The motive is unclear; therefore, so is the source.
KIRKUK
Kirkuk/Dibis
Iraqi Vice President Ayad Allawi called for the resolution of the dispute with the Kurdistan Region to be accelerated, warning that Kirkuk could turn into a hotbed and saying that the situation in Kirkuk should be addressed through dialogue and cooperation with all parties involved. [BasNews]
Friday, a security source reported that a joint security unit from Kirkuk Operations and the Turkmen PMFs arrested a leader called “Assi Qawali,” a member of the Kurdish group “Al-Rayat Al-Baydaa” in Kirkuk. (See stories above under Eastern Salahuddin.) [SotIraq]
Daesh says it severely wounded a CTS officer with a sticky IED under his vehicle in the Domiz area in southern Kirkuk city on Thursday. [A3maq]
Hawija (Riyadh, Al-Zab, etc.)
Friday, the PUK media office reported that Daesh released a Kurdish-Kakai young man in Hawija in exchange for $40,000. The PUK media office said that that “Al-Abadi announced Daesh’s elimination from Iraq last week, but the truth is that Daesh is still present in Hawija and Himrin, and their movement there is normal, and they have prisons too.” [Baghdadia]
NINEWA
Mosul
Friday, the Civil Defense removed 12 bodies, including bodies of women and children, from underneath the rubble in Old Mosul. [Baghdadia]
Friday, an officer in the Ninewa Ops Command reported that a national security unit found large quantities of ammunition and mortar shells buried under a college building near Al-Qusur. [Ghad]
Southern Ninewa
Mosul subdistrict/ Hammam Al-Alil/Shura
Friday, the Military Intelligence Services announced capturing 15 weapons depots in Al-Muhalabiya and the Al-Qadisiya area of Tal Afar city, which contained 40 (81 mm) mortar shells, 32 (105 mm) cannon shells, 1 IED, and suicide belts. [PressIraq]
Western Ninewa
Tal Afar
Friday, a security source told the press that the Iraqi EOD defused 6 IEDs in the Al-Kifah, Al-Mualimeen, Al-Qala’a, and Al-Askari neighborhoods in Tal Afar’s center. [Etejah]
Sinjar
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine militia said on Friday that they repelled a Daesh attack aimed at breaking the defense line on the border strip with Sinjar. [BasNews]
A DaeshDaily source says a pro-KDP Yazidi armed group set on fire the Al-Rahman mosque near Sinjar.
Baaj
Daesh says it attacked PMF units near the Tal Safouk area, killing seven fighters, wounding others, capturing 3 military positions and destroying 3, and destroying a personnel carrier and damaging 2 others. [ICDNDec15]
KURDISTAN NEWS
The German Foreign Ministry announced that KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani will visit Berlin on Monday, December 18, to meet with Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel. [Rudaw]
ERBIL/DAHUK
Friday, security sources in Dahuk announced that PKK assailants killed 6 Turkish soldiers in Sidekan who crossed the Iraqi border. [IraqPress] Hawar News reported that six Turkish soldiers were killed, after a Turkish army’s air landing operation in the border area between southeast Turkey’s Shamzinan area and Iraq’s Soran District in far northern Erbil. [Hawar]
Friday, the Sidekan subdistrict manager, Ihsan Abdulqader Jalbi, announced that the Turkish Army shelled areas of the District and entered 6 km (4 miles) deep into Iraq from across the Kurdistan border. Jalbi added that the Turkish Army members are equipped with light weapons and have settled in the highlands of Beremiz village, the Kabatin and Guli Rash mountains, and near Shansa village, where it is believed there is a PKK camp. [Rudaw]
As of Friday, Turkish warplanes are launching airstrikes on various locations in northern Soran District, following the Turkish incursion on Thursday evening, according to local sources. [ROJ]
According to a local source, a Turkish military vehicle was destroyed in the Kani Masi subdistrict of the Amedi District in Dahuk province on Friday. A number of Turkish soldiers were killed and wounded. [ROJ] [Hawar]
Friday, Hawar News reported that Turkish Army units stationed in Amedi District shelled Mount Metina with artillery shells. [Hawar]
REPORTS FROM SYRIA
NATIONAL NEWS
Friday, at a parliamentary session, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov conceded that there are scattered Daesh groups still fighting in Syria. He added that Russia stands by all partners and is putting plans in place to fight threats from Daesh. Including from Afghanistan. [Sumaria]
Friday, pro-Syrian government Al-Mayadin channel said that a group of the Chinese “Night Tigers” special forces arrived in Tartus city to support the Syrian forces. [Qasioun]
DaeshDaily comment. As reported previously in Daesh Daily, their announced purpose is to deal with an Islamic terrorist group from China that has been fighting in Syria.
Between December 11 and 14 the Coalition conducted 37airstrikes in Syria, near Albu Kamal (31) and near Al-Tanaf (6). [CentCom]
DaeshDaily comment. Why the sudden spike in Coalition airstrikes after Albu Kamal is supposedly captured and the Russians have already bombed it repeatedly? One likely reason is to support the SDF efforts to close Daesh out of parts of Deir Ez-Zor east of the river. A second possible reason is to shore up the struggling Syrian effort to close Daesh out of other parts of Albu Kamal. The Al-Tanaf strikes were in support of a Coalition-backed militia attacked by Daesh near the base (reported in yesterday’s edition).
Northeast (Hasaka, Raqqa) (No reports)
Northwest
Aleppo/Idlib/Deir Hafer
Thursday, Abu Amara Special Task Brigade’s commander Muhanna Jafala said that the Brigade, an anti-government militia, targeted a Syrian forces checkpoint in the Al-Shihan area in Aleppo city with an IED, killing and wounding several members of the Syrian forces. [Dorar] [Qasioun]
Friday, Iba’a reported that Tahrir Al-Sham foiled a Daesh attack on Rasm Al-Hamam hill in Deir Hafer District, killing at least 10 Daesh members and wounding others. [Dorar][SyriaHR]
Central and West (Homs, Hama, etc.)
Hama
Tahrir Al-Sham carried out 2 attacks in Hama, one on the Syrian forces and the other on Daesh. [Dorar]
East (Deir Ez-Zor)
Mayadin
Daesh publishes photos of targeting SDF units in Hawi Abu Hamam village with mortars. [ICDNDec15]
Daesh also says its snipers killed an SDF fighter south of the village. [A3maq]
Albu Kamal
Friday, SOHR reported that clashes are ongoing between the SDF, backed by Coalition and Russian aircraft, and Daesh on the outskirts of Hajin town on the eastern banks of the Euphrates River, with reports of casualties on both sides. [SyriaHR]
South
Damascus/Rif Damashq
Daesh publishes photos of an attack on government forces in Hay Al-Tadhamun in south Damascus. Daesh beheaded the bodies of two dead soldiers and threw the bodies into the streets in front of children. [ICDNDec15]
Daesh says it stopped an opposition groups’ attack in the city of Yelda near Damascus, killing a fighter. [A3maq]
Friday, SOHR reported that violent clashes broke out between the Syrian opposition’s Sham Al-Rasul Brigade and Daesh in the Yarmouk Camp, south of Damascus. [SyriaHR]
Friday, SOHR reported that violent clashes are ongoing between the Syrian forces and Tahrir Al-Sham in the vicinity of Beit Jinn Farm in rural southwestern Damascus, accompanied by the Syrian forces’ continuous shelling of the area. [SyriaHR]
REPORTS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES
U.S./EUROPE
United States
Thursday, Brooklyn federal prosecutors reported that a woman called Zoobia Shahnaz helped fund Daesh by scamming financial institutions out of over $855,000, including $60,000 in bitcoin crypto-currency. [Sumaria]
The Netherlands
Friday, Saudi Arabia called on its citizens in the Netherlands to maintain vigilance following the stabbings near a mosque in Maastricht that left two dead and three wounded on Thursday. [Sumaria]
Russia
Friday, Sputnik reported that Russian intelligence foiled a plan by a pro-Daesh cell to carry out a terrorist attack on December 16 in St. Petersburg. The terrorists were communicating though the Telegram App. Russian security units destroyed an explosives manufacturing lab in the operation. [Sumaria]
ASIA
Afghanistan
Daesh says it killed four Afghan soldiers and a commander in clashes in Khogyani on Thursday. [A3maq]
Daesh says it shot and killed a Taliban member in Kot district, in Nangarhar. [A3maq]
DAESH MEDIA
Daesh publishes the 110th issue of its Naba’ magazine. In this issue, Daesh publishes reports about its attacks in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Afghanistan, and Somalia. It includes an infographic saying it conducted 79 attacks in Diyala and Kirkuk during the last three months, killing or wounding 270 people. It also publishes a story about the New York attack. Daesh says the attacker said he was a “caliphate soldier,” which was reported by the media. [ICDNDec15]
