An Update On ISIS Activities

November 7, 2016

Iraqi Soldiers

Iraqi Soldiers

Today’s Major Developments

Iraq

Iraqi airstrikes hit Anah, Rawa, Al-Qa’im. [..]

Daesh stages mass-murder IED attacks on Tikrit, Samarra. [..]

Kirkuk Police arrest five sleeper cell suspects in deadly Kirkuk attack. [..]

2,000 Daesh fighters reported killed in Ninewa liberation campaign. [..]

Mosul citizens who left now total over 30,000. [..]

Daesh fights back hard in East Mosul. [..]

IFP moves on from Hammam Al-Alil victory; approaches Mosul city limits, airport. [..]

Iraqi troops free 1,000 Daesh prisoners, 400 hostages south of Mosul. [..]

Peshmerga, Iraqi Army take more villages, consolidate control of Nineveh Plain. [..]

Syria

SOHR estimates 5,470 Daesh personnel have died in Coalition airstrikes. [..]

US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces start drive on Raqqa; make early progress. [..]

Egypt

Egyptian security personnel kill estimated 70 Daesh-linked terrorists. [..]

 

REPORTS FROM IRAQ

 

NATIONAL NEWS

 

The Coalition says it conducted 12 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Iraq, seven of them in the Mosul area. The others were in Sinjar (1), Tal Afar (1), and Rawa (3). [InherentResolve]. The Iraqi Ministry of Defense also reported IAF airstrikes in northwest Anbar. (See below). These are likely indicators of coming events.

 

BAGHDAD

 

Security-related incidents reported

Center (Rusafa, Karkh, etc.)

An MoI source says six people were wounded when and IED exploded in the Alawi area. [Mada]

A security source says one civilian was wounded when an IED exploded near the Muthana Airport. [Sumaria]

 

North (Tarmiya, Taji, etc.)

An MOI source says two civilians were killed and six wounded by an IED placed in a busy market in Taji. [Mada]

The IWMC says a Counter Terrorism Service drone killed the Daesh military commander of Baghdad and Diyala, in Tarmiya. [Mada]

Daesh says its snipers shot and wounded an Iraqi Army officer at the Al-Tabi checkpoint in Tarmiya. [Isdarat]

Daesh says it shot and wounded a policeman in Tarmiya Center. [Isdarat]

Iraqi army 22nd brigade found 5 Daesh guesthouses and a weapons and explosives cache in the Zor area. [BOC Facebook Page]

 

Northeast (Adhamiya, etc.)

Daesh said it killed an Iraqi Army officer and another soldier and destroyed a Humvee with an IED in the Rashidiya area on Saturday. [A3maq]

 

East (Sadr City, New Baghdad, etc.)

An MOI source says one civilian was killed and seven wounded by an IED placed in a commercial area in Fudhailiya. [Mada]

An MoI source says one person was killed and seven wounded when an IED exploded near a commercial area in Niariya. [Mada]

 

South (Dora, Yusufiyah, Mahmudiya, etc.)

An MOI source says three civilians were killed and seven wounded when two mortar shells hit the Arab Jubour area.  [Mada]

Iraqi Army 23rd brigade defused two IEDs in Shakha 6 area. [BOC Facebook Page]

Iraqi Army 55th brigade detected 2 mortar shells and detonators in Karaghoul. [BOC Facebook Page]

 

West (Ghazaliya, Abu Ghraib, etc.)

Iraqi army 24th brigade defused 3 IEDs and found large explosives caches in raids on Zuwainat and Hammed Shaaban areas. [BOC Facebook Page]

Daesh says it destroyed a PMF Humvee with an IED in the Hamdaniya area in Abu Ghraib. [A3maq]

Daesh said on Saturday that it killed an Iraqi Army officer and three soldiers with an IED in Abu Ghraib [A3maq]

 

Total Baghdad incidents reported:   16   (Includes only incidents reported)

Total IED incidents                                  10

 

ANBAR

Falluja

Daesh says it detonated 5 IEDs in the Zoba’a villages southeast of the city Sunday, killing or wounding several Iraqi service members, including three EOD experts, and destroying 4 vehicles. [A3maq]

DaeshDaily comment. Since Falluja was retaken by the government, there have been almost no violent incidents reported from Falluja. This incident thus stands as an exception, so far. In the bad old days, however, the Zoba’a villages were one of the most common target areas in Falluja District.

 

Ramadi

Here Daesh says it detonated an IED on a vehicle carrying four Americans working in a security company in the Tameem area, killing them at once. [Isdarat] [A3maq]

DaeshDaily comment. If true, it seems we would have heard some confirmation, but no confirmation has been seen so far.

 

Iraqi Army 1st division defused 21 IEDs in two areas in Ramadi. It also found 20 cans of explosives in a hospital in the Albu Dhiab area. [MoD Website]

 

Rutba/Western Anbar

The MoD says that IAF Sukhoi air strikes on Daesh complexes in Anah and Rawa cities left 30 terrorists, mostly from Caucasus and Uzbekistan, killed. The IAA also destroyed explosives workshops in Anah and Al-Qa’im.  [Maalomah] A separate IWMC report said IAF Sukhois lunched 5 airstrikes on Daesh locations in Rawa, killing tens of terrorists and destroying 11 vehicles. [Sumaria]

 

IWMC also says Iraqi Army Aviation (IAA) targeted a Daesh gathering in Anah, killing 15 terrorists, including two medical officials, and destroying several vehicles. [Maalomah]

 

A Tribal PMF commander says Daesh has forced tens of children aged 12-14 from Anah and surrounding areas to join its Ashbal Al-Khilafa. [Maalomah]

 

An Anbar Operations Command source says Daesh established concrete barriers and checkpoints near the Syrian border in Al-Qa’im in order to prevent its fighters from fleeing to Syria. [Mada]

 

Daesh said on Sunday that it killed or wounded five Iraqi soldiers, destroyed two vehicles, and captured weapons in an attack near the Kilo 70 area west of Rutba. [A3maq]

Daesh issues a video of the attack. [A3maq]

 

SALAHUDDIN

Shirqat

A Daesh sniper detonated himself in a mosque minaret after running out of ammunition and being besieged by a security force in Shirqat. No casualties except him were reported. [Etejah]

Daesh issues a video of its terrorists in Shirqat last week. [A3maq]

 

Salahuddin Operations Command EOD cleared a small bridge booby-trapped by Daesh near Khanuqa. It also found a Daesh tunnel and defused 30 IEDs, and an explosives cache in different areas in Shirqat. [MoD Website]

 

Baiji

Daesh publishes 2 photos of targeting Iraqi Army positions in the Makhazen area north of Baiji with SPG9 rockets. [Isdarat]

 

Tikrit

A security source said on Sunday that 14 people were killed, including a general and his son, and 25 wounded by the car bomb explosion near a checkpoint south of Tikrit. [Sumaria]

Photos of the explosion [Sumaria]

Daesh says it conducted a suicide attack on a checkpoint south of Tikrit with a vehicle bomb on Sunday. [A3maq] Daesh says it killed 25 Iraqi service members and destroyed 6 vehicles in the attack. [A3maq]

 

Daesh said on Sunday that it killed three Iraqi soldiers and wounded others with an IED in the Jalam area in Al-Daur. [A3maq]

 

The commander of the Ajeel Oilfield protection battalion says his troops stopped a Daesh attack on the field, killing 10 terrorists. He also says two of his soldiers were wounded in the attack. [Sumaria]

Daesh says the terrorists attacked an Iraqi Army barracks in the Ajeel Oilfield, burned the towers around it, and detonated 2 IEDs on Iraqi forces, killing or wounding several service members. [Isdarat]

Daesh says its terrorists broke into an Iraqi forces’ military position in Ajeel Oilfield. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says its snipers also killed three PMF fighters in the Allas Oilfield. [Isdarat]

 

Samarra

Two bomb-rigged ambulances exploded in Samarra Sunday, the first in the public transport station near the two holy shrines of Samarra and the second at the South Tikrit checkpoint. The total casualties were at 21, including 10 Iranian pilgrims. Further information reveled that an army brigadier and his son were among the casualties.  [Buratha] [ROJ]

Daesh said on Sunday that it targeted Iraqi and Iranian Shia pilgrims near the shrines in Samarra with a car bomb, then a suicide terrorist targeted the survivors with an explosive vest. [A3maq]

Here Daesh says forty-seven pilgrims, including fifteen Iranians, were killed and tens wounded in the 2 attacks. [A3maq]

An Iranian Red Crescent source says 88 Iranian pilgrims were transported to Iranian hospitals for treatment following the two suicide attacks on Sunday, in addition to several treated in Iraqi hospitals. [Buratha]

Photos of the explosion in Samarra [Sumaria]

 

Samarra Operations command says its forces detonated another car bomb in Al-Dawajen on the Baghdad-Samarra main road. [Buratha]

 

Southern Salahuddin

A joint security force destroyed 4 Daesh guesthouses in the Bishkan area in Dhuluiya. An IFP unit captured a man wanted on terrorism charges in Dhuluiya. [MoD Website]

 

DIYALA

Baquba/southeast Diyala

A local source in Diyala says unidentified gunmen attacked and killed two civilians in their car at the Al-Rai intersection north of Baquba. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh says it attacked Iraqi Army positions in Khan Bani Saad and Bizayez Buhriz on Saturday without giving more details. [A3maq]

 

The Chairman of the Security Committee of the Diyala PC says a joint security force captured two men wanted on terrorism charges. [Sumaria]

 

Muqdadiya/Abu Saida

A Muqdadiya local council member warned of a possible return of Daesh to Khalaniya village and its surrounding area, taking advantage of security forces involvement in Ninawa. Adnan Al-Tamimi stated that Daesh is increasing it attacks on checkpoints and on areas surrounding that village. [Ghad]

 

The manager of Abu Saida subdistrict says a joint security force found a large Daesh guesthouse in Mukhaisa village orchards. He says the guesthouse has several underground rooms and was surrounded by IEDs. [Sumaria]

 

Northern Diyala (Kifri, Khanaqin, etc.)

Daesh said on Saturday that it killed or wounded five Iraqi soldiers in an attack on an battalion headquarters in the Nida area in Saadiya on Friday. It also says it killed two PMF fighters and wounded another by detonating a booby-trapped house in the Albu Taraz area in Udhaim. It also says it killed a PMF fighter and wounded four others by detonating an IED on their vehicle in the same area. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says it damaged an Iraqi forces’ Humvee with an IED in the Qara Tapa area in Saadiya on Saturday. it also says it damaged another Iraqi forces Humvee and an IFP vehicle with 2 IEDs and in the Hamid area in Balad Ruz. [A3maq]

 

KIRKUK

Kirkuk

The Directorate of district and subdistrict police in Kirkuk says a Daesh sleeper cell of five persons was arrested in the city. The five facilitated the entry of Daesh terrorists to Kirkuk last month and participated in the battles that took place. They operate under Daesh command from Hawija.  [BasNews]

 

A security source says 2 armed men in a vehicle shot and killed a civilian near a mosque in east Kirkuk. [Mada]

 

Daesh published photos of executing two “spies” in the Kirkuk area. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Hawija

Daesh publishes photos of the Al-Zab area. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Southwest

Daesh says it damaged a PMF SUV in Atshana village in Daquq subdistrict with an IED. [Isdarat]

 

NINEWA

Mosul

Mosul liberation campaign

General update

The Mosul Operation is unfolding ahead of schedule according to remarks by Brett McGurk, the White House’s envoy to the Coalition. [IPA]

 

More than 2,000 Daesh members have been killed in the Mosul operations, the Ninewa Operations Commander said. [PressIraq]

The IAF killed 83 Daesh members in various areas of the city, an MoD statement said. [Etejah]

 

Coalition Spokesman John Dorrian says 3,000 to 4,000 Daesh fighters remain in Mosul. [SotAlIraq]

 

Iraqi troops reportedly found lists of Daesh members in Mosul in documents recovered from the pockets of dead Daesh fighters in an unspecified village near Mosul (photos). [PressIraq]

 

The UN spokesman says 5,000 people left Mosul on November 5th and 6th, raising the number of total displaced people to 34,000 since the Ninewa liberation operation started. [Anadolu]

The Iraqi Red Crescent estimate, apparently earlier, says that more than 26,000 people had been displaced. [SotAlIraq] 9,700 of those displaced are children, according to UNICEF. [ARA]

 

East Mosul

There are 14 million IEDs planted inside the city of Mosul to impede Iraqi troops progress, a member of the Ninewa GC security committee said Monday. One home had been rigged with no fewer than 35 devices, the GC member said. [Etejah]

DaeshDaily comment. We are not putting our credibility behind the gentleman’s estimate.

 

Daesh says it killed sixteen Iraqi service members and destroyed an Abrams tank and two Humvees in a suicide attack near Hay Al-Samah in east Mosul. [A3maq]

Daesh issues a video with battles near Hay Al-Samah. [A3maq]

Daesh says terrorists burned down two Iraqi forces’ Abrams tanks after infiltrating the Hay Al-Samah area. [A3maq]

Daesh publishes photos of a UAE suicide terrorist who attacked Iraqi forces with a vehicle bomb in Hay Al-Samah. [Isdarat]

 

Iraqi troops are preparing to clear the areas of Al-Karama, Al-Quds, Al-Samah 1, and Al-Samah 2, a Ninewa GC member said. [Mawazin]

 

Daesh fighters are making a “noticeable retreat” in eastern Mosul according to one report, citing disorganization among Daesh fighters following the death of two commanders in the eastern sector, Muhammad Al-Uzbeki, and Abu Aisha Al-Bilawi.[ARA]

 

Another report cites a condition of “confusion” and “disobedience of orders” among Daesh fighters as Iraqi troops advance. Daesh’s “sharia court” issued execution orders for seven fighters who fled their posts, a local source said, while another source reports that another three fighters were executed by the organization after abandoning the front. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh said on Sunday that it killed eighteen Iraqi SWAT members and destroyed 12 Humvees and damaged 3 in a counter attack on Iraqi forces on the outskirts of Hay Aden in east Mosul. Daesh also says it destroyed an Iraqi forces’ Humvee and a bulldozer near the 90 area. Daesh says Iraqi forces haven’t captured any neighborhoods in Mosul. [A3maq]

Daesh issued a video on Saturday showing battles near Hay Aden in east Mosul. [A3maq]

Daesh issued videos on Sunday of vehicles it captured and destroyed near Hay Aden. [A3maq] [A3maq]

 

Iraqi troops conducted raids in Intisar, Judaidat Al-Mufti, and Al-Shaymaa areas in eastern Mosul, the deputy JOC commander announced. [Sumaria]

Daesh says it killed eighteen Iraqi service members and destroyed 2 Humvees and a BMP armored vehicle in a suicide attack “on the outskirts” of Hay Al-Intisar. [A3maq]

Daesh says it captured 2 Iraqi forces’ Humvees and a BMP armored vehicle near Hay Al-Intisar in east Mosul. [A3maq]

 

Daesh buried “more than ten” of its slain fighters in a mass grave inside a football stadium in Mosul after sustaining heavy casualties in street-to-street fighting with Iraqi troops in the Aden neighborhood in east Mosul, a local source said. Daesh has moved many of its wounded to the neighboring Al-Bakr neighborhood for treatment in a makeshift hospital inside a residential building, the source added. [Sumaria]

 

Elsewhere in Mosul

An Iraqi F-16 airstrike, based on intelligence provided by the Counter Terrorism Service, destroyed a large weapons cache in western Mosul. [Harbi]

Coalition planes targeted “vital” Daesh targets in multiple areas of Mosul, according to ARA’s correspondent. [ARA]

 

15,000 Ninewa residents are fighting as PMF members according to the head of the PMF authority, Falih Al-Fayad. [Harbi]

Ahmad Arslan, commander of a Turkmen Shia PMF announced to the Russian media that PMFs do not need US air support in their campaign in Mosul. [Waradana]

 

An advisor to the Badr PMF organization said that PMFs would only fight on the fronts that had been designated for them and were not planning to enter Mosul city. However, he said that in the event of the collapse of the Iraqi Army in Mosul, PMFs would intervene to “defend the city.” [SotAlIraq]

 

Military Developments within Mosul

Daesh has filled the basins of public water fountains in eastern Mosul with crude oil and set them alight in an effort to create smoke to obscure the ground from attacking aircraft, local sources said. [Arabi21]

 

Iraqi troops discovered a Daesh tunnel network underneath the eastern Mosul neighborhood of Intisar, and found nine boxes of PKC ammunition inside one of the tunnels. [Maalomah]

 

The “emir” of the Daesh treasury [Diwan Al-Mal], Faris Abu Bakr, known as “Abu Muhammad,” has been killed by Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service troops in eastern Mosul, according to the IWMC. [PUKMedia]

 

An American volunteer medic treated casualties of Mosul combat. When Iraqi forces pushed into Mosul’s urban center last week, Derek Coleman, an American volunteer medic, was among those treating the wounded at a front-line field clinic. He said he helped treat 44 casualties before he lost count. [AP]

 

Daesh says it destroyed an Iraqi forces Humvee “on the outskirts” of Hay Saddam in Mosul. [A3maq]

DaeshDaily comment. Daesh changed the name of the area to Hay Al-Zarqawi. Not much of a name improvement.

Daesh says Coalition planes mistakenly targeted Iraqi forces convoys with 6 rockets in the same area, killing or wounding “tens” of service members. [A3maq]

 

Conditions in Mosul

Daesh’s printed propaganda operations, including its print magazine and other publications, have completely ceased in Mosul, a local source said. The source also cited “semi-confirmed information” that Daesh had moved its printing presses outside the city. [Sumaria]

 

Women from Ninewa who have escaped Daesh rule or whose areas are liberated are shedding the black garb that Daesh imposed on them, but fears remain, “I still don’t believe I live in freedom away from Daesh control,” one woman said. Many women in the Hasan Chamchamal IDP camp east of Mosul have cast their black over-garments onto a fence where they have been hanging since (photos). [Sumaria]

 

Daesh publishes photos of animal farms in Mosul. [DawaAlhaq]

Daesh issues 3 photos of “normal life” in Mosul. [DawaAlhaq]

DaeshDaily comment. Such propaganda has proliferated lately as life in Mosul has become less and less normal.

 

Shura/Hammam Alil/Mosul subdistrict

On Saturday President Masoum congratulated Iraqi forces on the liberation of Hammam Al-Alil. [Sumaria]

 

The IFP seized the village of Qabr Al-Abd north of Hammam Al-Alil, a Ninewa security source said. The village is located 5 km (3 miles) from the limits of Mosul city and is near the Mosul airport, which the source said the IFP would advance on and attempt to capture. [Mada]

Daesh actually conceded on Sunday that Iraqi forces captured part of Hammam Al-Alil, but said it conducted two suicide attacks, killing ten soldiers and destroying 4 vehicles and the battles were ongoing. [A3maq]

 

The IFP freed 400 families that had been held by Daesh near Hammam Al-Alil, according to General Ra’ed Shakir Jawdat, Commander of the IFP. [Baghdadia]

 

On Sunday, according to a Ninewa Provincial Council member, Iraqi forces found a large Daesh prison in Shura and freed more than 1,000 prisoners, including former army and police members. [Sumaria]

 

The IFP reportedly discovered a mass grave at the University of Mosul School of Agriculture west of Hammam Al-Alil city, which it captured on Sunday. The grave holds at least 100 corpses, the IWMC announced. [Sumaria] [AIN]

 

Video of Hammam Al-Alil residents bathing in the sulphur springs of the area, which they had been forbidden to do under Daesh rule. [Rudaw]

 

Daesh says it destroyed an Iraqi military Humvee with and IED west of Hammam Al-Alil. [A3maq]

Here Daesh says it destroyed two Iraq Humvees with IEDs west of Hammam Al-Alil, killing the soldiers inside. [A3maq]

 

PMF commander Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis said that PMFs have captured 65 villages southwest of Mosul since the launch of their fighting operations there. PMFs have also “completely” cut off the road between Raqqa and Mosul he said. [Buratha]

 

Daesh published photos of an Irish suicide terrorist conducting an attack on PMF units in Ghuzail Kabir village. [DawaAlhaq]

DaeshDaily comment. There is one photo of the terrorist (Sean Kelly) standing in front of a vehicle bomb, then two remote photos of an explosion.

 

Daesh said on Sunday it attacked Iraqi forces in the Al-Adhba area northwest of Hammam Al-Alil city, killing sixteen service members and destroying 3 Humvees. [A3maq]

Daesh says it shot down an Iraqi Army recon drone near Adhba village. [Isdarat]

Daesh publishes photos of battles near Adhba village. [Isdarat]

 

IFP also captured the village of Arij and the Mosul Cement Factory north of Hammam Al-Alil. [Baghdadia]

Daesh says it damaged 2 Iraqi forces’ Humvees near Arij village. [A3maq]

 

The IFP announced that on the southern front since the launch of the Mosul operations it had captured 93 villages and 1846 square km (712 square miles) of territory, killed 935 Daesh members and arrested 106, destroyed 212 vehicle bombs and captured 26 vehicles, as well as defusing 1,420 IEDs. [PUKMedia]

IFP announced that it found a vehicle bomb hidden in a medical clinic in Hammam Al-Alil. [Waradana]

 

Daesh says it detonated 4 booby-trapped houses and several IEDs on Iraqi Army PMF members near Um Al-Masayid village southwest of Mosul, killing more than twelve fighters and destroying 4 Humvees. [A3maq]

 

A “source” tells Daesh’s A3maq that PMF fighters killed “tens” of men from Adaya village and took tens of men and women to an unknown area. Daesh publishes an aerial photo allegedly showing men and women isolated in two groups. [A3maq]

DaeshDaily comment. The Iraqi government should investigate this to show that Daesh is lying. If it were true, Daesh would have real photos of executed people. The message here is for Sunni people not to leave their areas. This message was heavily distributed by Daesh and its online fanboys. Daesh doesn’t want to be separated from civilians, otherwise it would have no human shields.

Daesh issues a video of damaging an Iraqi forces tank near the Adaya Intersection. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says it destroyed 2 Iraqi forces’ Humvees and damaged another with IEDs in Arbid village, on the main north-south road west-northwest of Hammam Al-Alil. [Isdarat]

 

Qayara/Makhmur

Daesh says its snipers killed two Peshmerga fighters in Karaw village near Makhmur. [A3maq]

 

Nineveh Plain

Bashiqa

The Peshmerga have complete control over the Bashiqa subdistrict and are conducting search operations throughout the city, a security source said. [Sumaria]

 

The Peshmerga launched their assault in the morning, and announced later that they had captured four areas (Intisar, Al-Askari, Bahzani, next to Bashiqa city, and Ras Al-Ayn) in Bashiqa on Monday, Mosul operations commander Lt. Gen. Abd Al-Amir Rashid Yarallah announced. Yarallah said the Kurdish fighters were continuing to advance in the city. Air support for Peshmerga fighters provided by Apache helicopters was instrumental in the battle for Bashiqa a Peshmerga officer said. [Mada] [Mada] [ARA]

 

Around 8 to 10 Daesh suicide bombers detonated themselves in Mosul after the Peshmerga pressed the siege and cut off any escape routes, the KRG Peshmerga Ministry said. [Sumaria]

 

The Peshmerga reached the Al-Azzawi crossing west of Bashiqa that links Mosul to the roads to Dahuk and Erbil governorates, a Ninewa security source said. [Mada]

 

A security source said that the Peshmerga killed three Daesh commanders in Bashiqa, all of Libyan nationality. [Maalomah]

 

Hamdaniya

Iraqi Army troops captured the village of Manarat Shabak east of Mosul, the JOC deputy commander announced. [Sumaria]

 

A Japanese citizen who had been captured last month by the Peshmerga on suspicions of belonging to Daesh has been handed over to the Japanese government, the KRG Security Council announced. [Maalomah]

 

Rudaw interviewed the mother of a Daesh suicide bomber from Fadhiliya who detonated himself in Qayara earlier. The mother said before Daesh took over Mosul their 24-year-old son worked in industry in the city but lost his job after Daesh came to Mosul. The young man drifted into associating with Daesh and eventually the mother said the family had not seen him for a year when Daesh presented them with 400 US dollars as a reward to his family for his suicide attack. [Rudaw]

 

Tel Keif

Iraqi troops have captured the Sada Bawiza area and have surrounded the former headquarters of the Iraqi Army’s Second Division in eastern Mosul, an Iraqi Army source said. Iraqi troops entered Bawiza for the first time this morning, according to the Northern Front commander. [Buratha] [ARA]

Daesh issues a video of its terrorists in the Sada Bawiza area. [A3maq]

Daesh says it stopped a PMF attack on the Bawiza area and destroyed 4 Humvees and an armored personnel carrier. Daesh says it damaged another APC near the area. [A3maq] [A3maq]

Daesh says it damaged a PMF armored personnel carrier with a missile near the Sada Bawiza area.

Daesh publishes photos of targeting an Iraqi forces’ APC in the Bawiza area. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Daesh says it killed more than twelve PMF fighters and destroyed 4 Humvees and an armored personnel carrier in a suicide attack near the Waterfalls area near Shalalat, north of Mosul. [A3maq]

Daesh issues a video of battles near the Waterfalls area. [A3maq]

 

Northwest (Tal Afar, Sinjar)

Daesh checkpoints on the Syrian border preventing are Mosul residents from traveling to Syria even as it permits its fighters and their families to do so. [Dorar]

 

South (Baaj, Hatra)

Daesh has announced the death of one if its most important propaganda filmmakers in Mosul, a local source said. Shahata Al-Masri was killed with two of his aides in an airstrike in Baaj, the source said.  [Sumaria]

 

REPORTS FROM TURKEY

 

“Mosul Call,” a mostly Muslim Brothers conference was held in Turkey and attended by several Muslim Brothers leaders, including the Qatar-based Egyptian cleric Qardhawi, and others, in addition to Iraq’s controversial Association of Muslim Scholars. The conference called on Turkey to participate in the Ninewa liberation in order to prevent an “ethnic cleansing”. [Rudaw]

DaeshDaily comment. This suspicious gathering should be seen for the sectarian propaganda event it really was. The purpose is to derail the Ninewa liberation campaign or redirect it into a Sunni takeover at Iraq’s expense. The conveniently Sunni Turks now look like the last chance for maintaining Sunni dominance in this part of Iraq. The Association of Muslim Scholars will be remembered by many Americans as the most-quoted propaganda mouthpiece of the insurgency against the Iraqi government and the US military in the early post-Saddam days. In fact, it was neither “Islamic” nor “scholarly.” All these supposedly religious and concerned people were silent when Daesh was executing thousands of Iraqis (most of them Sunnis) in public entertainment events, enslaving thousands of Iraqi women, throwing people from the roofs of buildings, etc. These are essentially pro-Daesh people who are faced with defeat and trying to scheme a way out. They are also a threat, however, and should be treated accordingly.

 

Media sources say the TAK, a group close to the PKK, claimed responsibility for the car bomb attack in Deir Bakr two days ago. [Sumaria]

 

The first hearing took place today in the trial of 36 people over the Ankara Railway Station slaughter in which a hundred people died. The trial itself, for a mass murder carried out by two Daesh suicide bombers who mingled in with the crowd assembling for a peace rally, will be heard at Ankara Serious Crime Court No 4.  The trial is planned to last five days.

Certain key figures such as Daesh’s leaders in Syria, İlhami Balı, Deniz Büyükçelebi and Edremit Türe are on the run. The indictment calls for certain of the suspects to be sentenced to life sentences 101 times over, but also for “attempting to change the constitutional order” and “murdering 100 people,” for which cumulative jail terms would be from 7,631 to 11,750 years for attempting to murder 391 people as part of the activity of a terrorist organization and possession of unlicensed arms and explosives as part of the activity of a terrorist organization. [Cumhuriyet]

We thank our friend in Turkey for this report.

 

REPORTS FROM SYRIA

 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) says 655 civilians were killed by Coalition airstrikes since September 2014. It also says the airstrikes killed 5,470 Daesh terrorists and 138 Nusra terrorists. [SyriaHR]

DaeshDaily comment. The 655 seems like a high number as a percentage of the total Daesh casualties, but we don’t know the SOHR’s definition of “civilians,” a definition Daesh has consistently manipulated.

 

The US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, after meeting with his counterpart in Ankara, says the Coalition is working with Turkey on a long term plan to capture and govern Raqqa. [Anadolu]

 

The Turkey Deputy Prime Minister says Turkey’s priority in Raqqa, as in Aleppo and Mosul, is that “demographic changes” do not occur. [Qasioun]

 

The Coalition says it conducted 18 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Syria, 16 of them in the Ain Eissa area, the other two in Mare’ (1) and Albu Kamal (1). [InherentResolve] All the airstrikes in the Ain Eissa area were because of a Daesh offensive in the area.

 

Northeast (Hasaka, Raqqa)

Hasaka

The YPG says it blocked a wide-scale Daesh attack in Al-Malha village, inflicting heavy casualties to the attackers. The YPG says that although the battle is still on, its units are in control. [Hawar]

Daesh says its terrorists broke into two “PKK” position near Al-Malha village, southwest of Shaddadi. [A3maq]

Here Daesh says it killed or wounded more than thirty five “PKK” fighters near Al-Malha village. [A3maq]

 

An IED exploded in front of the national hospital in Qamishli without causing any casualties, hospital sources said.  [ARA]

 

The YPG says that the Turkish army targeted its units in Ain Dewar with machine gun fire. No casualties were reported as the YPG fired back. [Hawar]

 

YPG says it killed 12 Daesh terrorists during Daesh’s failed attack on the villages of Qardisan, Qadriya, and Shamseddin. [Hawar]

 

Daesh attacked the village of Bir Haba, south of Mount Abdul Aziz, with heavy weapons. [Hawar]

 

The Turkish army is continuing construction of trenches in the Derek area near the village of Kardamiya, while over 10 armored vehicles have crossed over the “Rojava” borders for reconnaissance missions. [Hawar]

 

A refugee from Mosul in Al-Hawl refugee camp said that he had to pay $2600 to smugglers to get him and his family out of Mosul, but they smuggled him alone and returned his family. He said that life in Mosul is becoming more miserable with strict Daesh practices and a multitude of roadblocks and checkpoints. He said that Coalition airstrikes are not that useful as they target administrative buildings that were evacuated by Daesh, which now operates from civilian houses after expelling their owners. He said that one raid killed 22 civilians near the fourth bridge. He described the situation in Mosul as very sad, yet he said the hope of return is giving the refugees the power to go on. [Hawar]

 

A local source says Daesh beheaded 2 of its members in Markada because they were smuggling people outside the city. [ARA]

 

A local source says a Daesh emir survived an assassination attempt when an IED exploded under his vehicle near a medical center in Markada. [ARA]

 

Daesh said it killed two “PKK” members and wounded others with an IED in Hay Al-Nashwa in Hasaka city on Friday. [A3maq]

Local sources said an IED exploded on an Asayesh vehicle in Hay Al-Nashwa, without causing casualties.

 

Raqqa

The SOHR said on Sunday that 30,000 SDF fighters, supported by the Coalition, started the Raqqa liberation campaign. [SyriaHR]

The SOHR says the SDF captured more than 10 villages and farms in the 2 days of its Raqqa liberation operations. [SyriaHR]

 

The SDF forces have advanced 12 km (7.5 miles) from Ain Essa city towards Raqqa, liberating Obeid, Laqta, and four other villages, as well as the farms of Jihad and Sheikh Salih to the southeast. 10 terrorists were killed and 2 car bombs destroyed.  The SDF also destroyed a vehicle bomb near the liberated farm of Jadou.

The operation is under US support according to defense secretary Ashton Carter, who says that the initial goal is to isolate Raqqa from its surroundings before liberating it. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, the commander of the International Coalition, says the operation will help prevent Daesh terrorists from moving into Mosul as well as contributing to Daesh’s final defeat. The SDF announced the start of Raqqa liberation operations yesterday. [PUKMedia] [IraqPress] [Mawazin] [Hawar] [Hawar] [Hawar]

 

A Daesh attack with a vehicle bomb on the village of Laqta on the road to Raqqa left tens of civilian casualties. The attack targeted a gathering of tradesmen from Damascus and Aleppo. Laqta was the main village liberated by the SDF and 10 Daesh fighters were killed there. [Hawar] [Hawar]

 

The SDF announced the composition of its forces to take part in the liberation of Raqqa, which is called the Euphrates Fury. It will include the YPG, YPJ, Raqqa Falcons, Liberation Brigade, Raqqa Martyrs Brigade, Turkmen Martyrs Brigade, Raqqa Freemen Brigade, Tal Abyad Martyrs Brigade, and the Syrian Military Council. The SDF says that the 30,000-man force will get around 80% of its fighters from Raqqa. It called on Turkey to keep away from Syrian affairs.  [Hawar] [Hawar]

 

The SDF says that the populations of various areas in Raqqa are flowing towards liberated areas. [Hawar]

 

Abu Ikrima Al-Anbari, the financial officer of Daesh in Raqqa, escaped with $300,000 to an unknown location, according to local sources. The source said that Al-Anbari is not the first command figure of Daesh to escape Raqqa with the group’s money. A search campaign was initiated for him in Raqqa and surroundings. [ARA]

 

Daesh closed down 7 internet cafes in Raqqa. It started an extensive search for persons of Kurdish ethnicity in the city and established new checkpoints. Several young men have already been arrested, as mobile phones are checked for names and software. [ARA]

A local activist says Daesh captured a woman from an internet cafe in Raqqa after accusing her of “spying” for the SDF. [ARA]

 

Daesh says it destroyed 6 SDF vehicles (which it called “PKK” vehicles), one of them carrying a heavy machine gun, with missiles, southeast of Ain Eissa. [A3maq]

Daesh says it destroyed a “PKK” armored vehicle with a missile near Hadriya village north of Raqqa, killing the fighters inside. [A3maq]

 

Daesh said on Sunday that it killed fourteen PKK fighters with a car bomb near Laqta village, southeast of Suluk. [A3maq]

Daesh said on Sunday that it killed sixteen SDF fighters in another suicide attack near the Laqta area. [A3maq]

 

Daesh said on Saturday it attacked “PKK” fighters in 6 villages east of the Tishrin Dam and east and west of Ain Eissa, killing or wounding thirty-five fighters. Daesh says American planes intervened and conducted airstrikes on the villages. Daesh also says most of its terrorists returned safely to their positions. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says Coalition planes targeted 2 houses in Laqta village, killing at least six civilians. [A3maq]

 

Daesh issues a video of destroying two “PKK” cars southeast of Ain Eissa. [A3maq]

 

Daesh publishes photos of “normal life” in Raqqa. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Northwest (Aleppo, Idlib)

Aleppo city

Opposition shelled the Kurdish Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in Aleppo with heavy artillery. They also used sniper fire, which resulted in an injury of 17 years old boy.  [Hawar] [Hawar]

 

The ground battles in and round Aleppo between the governmental army and the opposition are continuing in three areas, under air cover from Syrian warplanes. Ten civilians were reported lost during Syrian air attacks on seven neighborhoods in the city. Airstrikes on Dar Azza left 11 more dead. The opposition shelled Ashrafiya, Dawar Basil, Hamdaniya and New Aleppo with rockets. The army forces are backed by Al-Nujaba Iraqi Shia militia. [Hawar] [ARA]

 

Jarabulus

4 Turkish tanks, 7 BMPs, and 10 various vehicles entered the city of Jarabulus, local sources said. The Turkish reinforcement coincides with the SDF move toward Raqqa, the sources noted. Hawar]

 

Al-Bab

Turkey-backed opposition militias continued their advance northwest of Al-Bab, liberating the villages of Battal, Sheberan, Tel Jerji, and Sheikh Jarrah. The attack was accompanied by heavy Turkish artillery shelling that left many Daesh casualties. The opposition also liberated the villages of Ayoubiya, Amiriyah, and Jubain. [ARA] [ARA] [Qasioun]

 

The opposition forces also liberated Al-Burj city after killing 15 Daesh terrorists, under air cover from Coalition planes and artillery support of the Turkish army. [ARA]

 

Local activists say two brothers were killed and their third brother lost his legs from a Daesh land mine as they were trying to escape from Daesh in Shawa village, north of Al-Bab. Hundreds of civilian Kurds are leaving their houses in the area and moving toward Afrin. [BasNews]

 

Azaz

A Turkish drone was surveying the area of Tal Sha’er west of Kobane. The flight coincided with heavy Turkish artillery shelling on the village of Ziyarta. [Hawar]

 

Daesh says it recaptured Ablah, Shadoud, and Baraan villages. [A3maq]

 

Daesh publishes photos of battles with the PKK northeast of Aleppo Industrial city. [Isdarat]

 

Afrin

Syrian opposition with heavy weapons attacked the village of Manazi west of Afrin. [Hawar]

 

Manbij

Daesh attacked with heavy weapons the village of Tel Osman, southeast of Tishrin Dam. [Hawar]

 

Central and West (Homs, Hama, etc.)

Battles broke out in Homs between Daesh and government forces, who received air cover from the army and Russian air force, which bombed the villages of Sukhnah, Teba, and Shandakhiyat, killing over 20 terrorists. [ARA]

 

The SOHR says the Syrian Army captured several Daesh positions north of Tadmur. [SyriaHR]

 

East (Deir Ez-Zor)

Coalition planes launched heavy airstrikes on Daesh locations near Albu Kamal city and near the Syria- Iraq border. [Qasioun]

 

Local sources say Daesh executed a woman and her husband after accusing them of blasphemy. A local activists say foreign terrorists stopped her in the street after accusing her of wearing a pair of shoes that don’t conform to Daesh’s dress code and when she resisted they shot and killed her, accusing her of blasphemy. They also say the next day when her husband protested to a Daesh court, he was arrested and tortured to death. [ARA]

 

Local activists told the SOHR that Daesh executed two people in 2 villages west of Deir Ez-Zor, after accusing them of robbery. One of the victims was 16 years old. [SyriaHR] [Rudaw]

 

A local activist says Daesh is forcing people in Albu Kamal to wear Afghani style dresses, and are charging people large amounts of money to sell them these dresses in Deir Ez-Zor. He also says Daesh is arresting many people, after accusing them of selling cigarettes or smuggling people outside of the city. Another local activist says Daesh confiscated tens of houses in Albu Kamal in order to give them to Daesh terrorists coming from Iraq. [ARA]

 

A local activist says the Syrian Army, supported by warplanes, stopped a Daesh attack on the Deir Ez-Zor Military Airport, killing or wounding several fighters and destroying a machine gun-mounted vehicle. Warplanes also targeted Deir Ez-Zor city and wounded seven civilians in Halabiya village northwest of the city. [ARA]

 

The SOHR said Daesh shelled government controlled areas in Deir Ez-Zor, killing one soldier. [SyriaHR]

 

South (Rif Damashq, Suwayda, Daraa, etc.)

Twenty-two civilians, including children, were killed by Syrian Army shelling and bombing east of Damascus on Sunday. [Qasioun]

Daesh publishes photos of schools in the Yarmouk Basin area. [DawaAlhaq]

DaeshDaily comment. What great PR for the Syrian government! The government is killing its own children while terrorists are putting other Syrian kids in school.

 

OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA REPORTS

 

North Africa

Egypt

Security units shelled ABM terrorists in Akkour village, south of Sheikh Zuweid, killing 50 terrorists and wounding 30 and destroying 6 vehicles and 10 motorcycles. [VetoGate]

 

Security units destroyed 18 IEDs and landmines in Abu Tawila and Akkour villages, south of Sheikh Zuweid. [ElWatan]

13 of these landmines were planted around a school in Akkour village. [VetoGate]

 

A security source says a soldier was killed by a sniper bullet near Abu Tawila village, south of Sheikh Zuweid. [ElWatan]

 

A security source says Counter Terrorism artillery shelled on Saturday a house where ABM terrorists were hiding in Al-Touma village, south of Sheikh Zuweid, killing 20 terrorists. [ElWatan]

4 other terrorists were killed when the CT units destroyed their vehicle. [VetoGate]

 

Security sources say two Counter Terrorism soldiers were killed and another wounded when an IED exploded on their patrol south of Sheikh Zuweid. [ElWatan] [VetoGate] [VetoGate]

 

Security units allowed the residents of 4 areas south of Sheikh Zuweid to return to their houses on Saturday after the areas were cleared of terrorists. [VetoGate]

 

Eyewitnesses say a man and a woman were killed and three other civilians wounded when mortar shells fell on houses in Yamit village, west of Rafah. [ElWatan]

 

Medical sources say a 17-year-old young man was killed and two others wounded when a shell hit a house in Hay Al-Rasm, west of Rafah. [ElWatan]

 

Eyewitnesses say a child was killed when a shell hit a farm west of Rafah. [ElWatan]

 

Libya

Northeast

The Daesh military commander in Benghazi was killed 2 days ago in a Libyan airstrike on the Qawarsha area. [AfriGate]

 

Security units captured a Daesh car bomb in the Hawari area in Benghazi on Sunday. [Wasat]

 

Central coast

Daesh said on Saturday that it killed or wounded 33 Government of National Accord (GNA) fighters in Sirte. [A3maq]

 

A GNA military source says the father of the Daesh emir in Sirte surrendered with his family. The source says the father admitted that his son, Hassan Karami, was killed in August. [AfriGate]

 

The GNA military spokesman said on Sunday that his troops captured more villages in Giza, killing many Daesh terrorists. However, he admitted that Daesh’s fierce resistance is delaying the full liberation of the area. [AfriGate]

He said Daesh is trapped in a very small area, but added that his troops need weapons and the GNA is not providing them. [Wasat]

A notable GNA field commander was severely wounded by a Daesh sniper in Giza. [AfriGate]

 

A Libyan air force source says the Coalition continued its air sorties to support the GNA military in Sirte. [AfriGate]

Multiple U.S. defense officials told Fox News the U.S. military had suspended its bombing campaign against Daesh in Sirte.

 

Misrata Hospital says two GNA soldiers were killed and twenty wounded in Sirte battles on Saturday. [Wasat]

 

The GNA Military said it secured 14 civilians from Sirte on Sunday. [Wasat]

 

A medical convoy arrived in east Sirte on Saturday. [AfriGate]

 

Tunisia

The Tunisian Ministry of Defense said on Saturday that a soldier was killed by a group of terrorists. [AfriGate]

Daesh said it assassinated a Tunisian soldier near his house in Kasserine on Saturday. [A3maq]

 

The Tunisian Ministry of Interior says security units captured 3 Daesh terrorists in Gabes who admitted their role in helping Daesh members travel to Syria. [Tunisien]

The Ministry had said on Sunday that security units captured 2 Daesh terrorists in Tataouine who were planning to travel to Libya. [Wasat]

 

Other countries

Somalia

Daesh said on Sunday that it attacked a government building in the Bay region with hand grenades. [A3maq]

 

Daesh said on Sunday that it targeted a police station in Hay Tawfiq in Mogadishu city with hand grenades. [A3maq]

Daesh says the Deputy Commander of the police station was killed from wounds he sustained in the attack. [A3maq]

 

Pakistan

Daesh says it killed two people and wounded another in an attack in Karachi city. [Isdarat]

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

 

Videos of the Day

Iraq

Videos of Iraqi forces entering Hammam Al-Alil [YouTube] [YouTube] [YouTube]

An Iraqi soldier meeting his family in Hammam Al-Alil after a long separation [YouTube]

 

People from Ninewa welcoming Iraqi forces [Dijla] [YouTube] [Mayadeen]

 

A video of Iraqi forces in east Mosul [YouTube]

 

A video of BBC crew surviving a suicide attack in Mosul [BBC]

 

A video of an Iraqi soldier taking a selfie while a Daesh vehicle bomb is charging [YouTube]

A video of Iraqi soldiers having fun near a captured Daesh vehicle bomb [YouTube]

 

A video of a Daesh vehicle bomb captured by PMFs west of Mosul [YouTube]

 

Syria

A video of Daesh documents found by opposition fighters west of Aleppo [YouTube]

 

Libya

A video of a Daesh prison in Sirte captured by the GNA [Al-Aan]

 

DAESH MEDIA

 

Daesh audio newsletter for today [Bayan]

 

Daesh issues infographics about the third week of Mosul battles. [A3maq]

 

Daesh issues a propaganda video from its terrorists in Deir Ez-Zor. The terrorists in the video ask Daesh terrorists in Mosul to hold their ground and threatened the Shia that Daesh will come after them. [Isdarat]

 

November 4, 2016

East Mosul (Ghadeer)

East Mosul (Ghadeer)

Today’s Major Developments

UN human rights agency warns about Daesh abductions, civilian airstrike deaths. [..]

Daesh makes major attack on Shirqat. [..]

Iraqi military revises ground forces tactics to lessen number of displaced villagers. [..]

Iraqi forces capture ten more villages in east Mosul. [..]

Daesh institutes a military draft age of nine. [..]

PMF units capture four villages against stiff opposition southwest of Mosul. [..]

Daesh claims responsibility for deadly vehicle bomb in Diyarbakir. [..]

SDF blunts Daesh attack in Azaz despite Turkish shelling. [..]

US suspends Sirte airstrikes; not much left to hit. [..]

Tunisian government backtracks on anti-Wahhabi statement. [..]

 

REPORTS FROM IRAQ

 

NATIONAL NEWS

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Friday warned that Daesh terrorists have taken some 1,600 civilians to Mosul city in an attempt to shield themselves from airstrikes there, and that nearly 400 women from Kurdish, Yazidi and Shia Muslim communities in Tal Afar are now being held captive.

Daesh has taken “trucks full of abducted civilians” from Hammam al-Alil to Tal Afar city. Some of the families were told that they would be going to Syria. On Wednesday, 150 families were moved from Hammam al-Alil to Mosul.

Further reports stated that 180 people were killed on Wednesday in the town of Kokjali on the eastern edge of Mosul and potentially another 200 in Mosul. OHCHR is working to verify the details.

Since 17 October, Daesh terrorists have been forcibly recruiting children as young as nine and 10 to fight in Mosul.

Meanwhile, the OHCHR continues to receive reports of mass killings, including a report on Monday that Daesh killed 50 of its own militants at the Ghazlani military base in Mosul for alleged desertion.

OHCHR raised concerns about airstrikes against civilians, which reportedly killed four women and seventeen other civilians in the Al-Quds neighborhood in eastern Mosul on Wednesday evening. “We remind the Government and its allies that all military operations, as well as security screening of people, must be carried out in full compliance with international humanitarian law, and that they must strictly abide by the principles of humanity, distinction, proportionality, necessity and precautions to minimize loss of civilian life,” said OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.

Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Iraq Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) today recorded a total of 22,224 individuals displaced by fighting in the Mosul region that began on October 17. [UN]

 

The Coalition says it conducted 13 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Iraq. Ten were in Ninewa, including targets in or near Mosul (5), Sinjar (2), Tal Afar (2), and Kasik (1); the others were around Baiji (1), Haditha (1), and Rawa (1). [InherentResolve]

 

1,700 US paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg, NC are heading to Iraq to replace the departing 101st Airborne from Fort Campbell, KY. This appears to be just a normal rotation; it worked the opposite way at the last rotation.

 

BAGHDAD

Security-related incidents reported

North (Tarmiya, Taji, etc.)

An MoI source says one person was killed and six wounded when an IED exploded near a popular market in Saba Al-Bor. [Mada]

Iraqi Army 59th brigade found 6 Katyusha rockets and other explosives in Dhabitya. [BOC Facebook Page]

 

Northeast (Adhamiya, etc.)

An MoI source says one person was killed and six wounded when an IED exploded near a commercial area in Qraia’at. [Mada]

An MoI source says a police unit found the bodies of two unknown women shot in Hay Al-Basatin. [Mada]

 

East (Sadr City, New Baghdad, etc.)

An MoI source says two people were killed and seven wounded when an IED exploded near a busy restaurant in Ameen. [Mada]

 

Southeast (Mada’in, etc.)

An MoI source says two people were killed and eight wounded when an IED exploded near a café in Zafaraniya. [Mada]

A senior MoI source says Al-Suqoor Intelligence Cell captured a member of a Daesh assassination unit in Zafaraniya. The source says the terrorist admitted to assassinating three people and planting seven IEDs in different areas in Baghdad. The terrorist also led the Cell to a weapons cache. [Mada]

 

South (Dora, Yusufiyah, Mahmudiya, etc.)

Iraqi Army 55th brigade found an IED and other explosives in the Albu Shallal area. [BOC Facebook Page]

 

Total Baghdad incidents reported:   8     (Includes only incidents reported)

Total IED incidents:                                5

 

ANBAR

Falluja

A security unit found 16 IEDs and other explosives and destroyed a trench in the Bustan Al-Tikriti area, southwest of the city. [BOC Facebook Page]

 

Rutba/Western Anbar

A senior Anbar Operations Command source says most Daesh terrorists have withdrawn from Anah, and only 120 are left, deployed in residential areas. The source says there are also 600 terrorists in Rawa, but the vast majority of Daesh’s fighters in northwest Anbar are in Al-Qa’im because it’s close to the Syrian border. The source also says Daesh has prohibited the people in those cities from leaving in order to use them as human shields. [Maalomah]

 

SALAHUDDIN

Shirqat

A Salahuddin Operations Command source says sixteen soldiers and policemen were killed and eleven wounded when Daesh terrorists attacked Shirqat city. The source says security forces killed 20 Daesh terrorists and trapped 5 more in the Grand Mosque in the city. [Mada]

Daesh itself issued multiple reports on this attack. Daesh says heavy battles erupted after its fighters broke into Shirqat city. [A3maq]

Daesh says it killed five PMF fighters in the fighting. [A3maq] . . . killed an Iraqi Army officer and four of his bodyguards. [A3maq] . . . destroyed an Iraqi forces’ Humvee on Al-Sadda Street. [A3maq] . . . destroyed a PMF BMP armored vehicle, a Humvee, and an SUV. [A3maq] . . . destroyed a PMF vehicle loaded with ammunition with an IED. [A3maq] . . . burned down a police station. [A3maq]

Daesh says its terrorists “controlled” the government compound in Shirqat, the Shirqat Hospital, and 3 neighborhoods. [A3maq] . . . destroyed 5 PMF cars near the hospital. [A3maq] . . . captured four PMF fighters and one IFP member. [A3maq] . . . killed more than 30 Iraqi soldiers and PMF fighters and destroyed more than 5 military vehicles so far, and the battles are still ongoing. [A3maq] [DawaAlhaq]

 

Baiji

Daesh says it targeted Iraqi forces in several areas north and west of Baiji with 65 shells. [Isdarat]

 

Tikrit

A security source says twelve people, including women and children, were killed or wounded when an IED exploded in Al-Alam. [Mada]

 

Daesh says it targeted a PMF patrol with an IED in the Dayoum area near Tikrit. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says its snipers killed a PMF fighter in the Ajil Oilfield. [Isdarat]

 

DIYALA

Muqdadiya/Abu Saida

Daesh says it detonated 4 IEDs on an Iraqi Army convoy in the Waqf area in Abu Saida, killing or wounding several service members, in addition to a Saraya Al-Salam commander. [Isdarat]

 

Northern Diyala (Kifri, Khanaqin, etc.)

Daesh says it attacked an Iraqi Army barracks in Albu Eissa village in Udhaim, captured ammunition, and then burned the barracks and a vehicle down. [Isdarat]

 

KIRKUK

Hawija

A security source says two civilians were killed and three wounded on the road to Dibis District when an IED exploded on families escaping from Hawija. [Sumaria]

 

A security source says five people were killed and fifteen wounded on the road between Al-Alam and Himrin Mountains when an IED exploded targeting families who were trying to escape Daesh-controlled areas. [Ghad]

DaeshDaily comment. The long-suffering people of Hawija need desperately to be liberated from Daesh.

A lot of promises have been followed by no action. Meanwhile, Daesh has made major attacks to both the east (Shirqat) and the west (Kirkuk city) of Hawija.

 

Southwest

A security source says a joint Peshmerga and police unit killed a Daesh suicide terrorist near Razqari village, on the road to Daquq. [Mada]

 

NINEWA

The DaeshDaily war-zone correspondent reports that unlike previous battles, Iraqi forces in Ninewa, after capturing a village, secure it and remove IEDs before moving on to the next village. By doing that, Iraqi forces are able to allow displaced families to return to their houses as soon as possible, after passing the security check.

 

Mosul

Mosul liberation campaign

The Mosul operations commander announced that Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) troops had captured six areas of eastern Mosul on Friday (Al-Malayeen, Al-Samah, Al-Khadra, Karkukli, Al-Quds, and Al-Karama). However in another reported statement attributed to the Command, these areas are described as “surrounded” by Iraqi troops. [ROJ] [Forat]

Daesh issues a video of battles on the “outskirts” of Hay Al-Samah in east Mosul. [A3maq]

 

The CTS raided the Al-Zahra neighborhood and surrounded the Al-Tahrir neighborhood in eastern Mosul, the CTS commander said. [Forat]

 

A security source says Iraqi forces captured the Al-Zuhur and Al-Malayeen neighborhoods on the east side of Mosul. [PUKMedia]

 

The CTS commander tells Reuters that Iraqi forces got a foothold in Mosul faster than expected. He says some areas were captured within hours instead of the anticipated days. He also says Iraqi forces might just surround some areas and move ahead to capture other areas in order to save time. [Karemlash]

 

Daesh says it attacked Iraqi forces near Kokjali, Sheherazad, and near Jalaiwkhan in Hamdaniya with four vehicle bombs, killing or wounding ten service members and destroying several military vehicles. [Isdarat]

 

More than 5,000 people fled the Kokjali area on Friday, the Ministry of Migration and Displacement announced, presumably mostly to the east. Sources in the Iraqi Red Crescent and the World Food Programme also stated that Mosul had seen its largest movement of displaced persons since the start of the campaign. [IPA] [ARA]

 

A military source says tens of Daesh families meanwhile fled from the east side of Mosul to the west side. The source also says that for the first time in more than two years Daesh terrorists didn’t appear in the mosques on the east side. [PUKMedia]

 

Ninewa’s deputy governor says the Iraqi Army and Counter Terrorism Service are “determined” to kill Daesh “caliph” Awwad Baghdadi inside Mosul. [Mawsleya]

 

Coalition planes targeted a car carrying Daesh commander Saad Al-Rashidi in western Mosul, according to a local source in Mosul, who also said that the airstrike came as a result of “precise intelligence information.” In one story Al-Rashidi is identified as the “deputy chairman” of Daesh’s “Office for the Tribes of Ninewa,” according to an IWMC statement. [Sumaria] [Forat]

 

A local source says the Iraqi Air Force destroyed a Daesh rockets storehouse near the Waterfalls area around Shalalat, killing the terrorists inside. [Baghdadia]

 

The MoD says Iraqi Army 9th division found a 12-ton Daesh excavator used to dig tunnels near Mosul city (video). [Baghdadia] [MoD]

 

An Iraqi correspondent and cameraman working for the Iraqi TV channel Al-Iraqiya were injured while covering the Mosul battles, according to a statement issued by the Journalism Freedom Observatory in Iraq. [Waradana]

A security source says two TV cameramen (one from Sumaria, one from Baghdadia) were wounded during the Mosul liberation battles. [Baghdadia]

 

Daesh says it destroyed 4 Iraqi forces’ Humvees near Qulan Tapa village east of Mosul. [A3maq]

Daesh says it killed six PMF fighters and destroyed 3 Humvees near Qulan Tapa in front of Hay Saddam east of Mosul. [A3maq]

Daesh says it destroyed an Iraqi forces’ bulldozer with a missile near Qulan Tapa. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says it conducted a suicide attack with a car bomb near the 90 area east of Mosul, destroying 7 Iraqi forces’ Humvees. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says it conducted a suicide attack on Iraqi forces near Kokjali. [A3maq]

Daesh says it destroyed 4 Iraqi forces’ Humvees and a BMP armored vehicle in a second suicide attack near Kokjali. [A3maq]

Daesh says it damaged an Iraqi Abrams tank near Kokjali. [A3maq]

Daesh says it destroyed two PMF Humvees near the Kokjali factories. [A3maq]

 

Here Daesh says Iraqi forces failed on Friday in advancing east of Mosul. It says Iraqi forces tried to break into Al-Quds cemetery near Kokjali, but Daesh attacked them with a vehicle bomb, killing or wounding service members, destroying two Humvees and a bulldozer, and forcing them to retreat. Daesh also says Iraqi forces tried to enter the 90 area in east Mosul, but it attacked them with 2 vehicle bombs, killing or wounding many service members, and destroyed 13 Humvees, damaging 2 more Humvees, and destroying an armored personnel carrier, a BMP armored vehicle, and a bulldozer. Daesh says after that, heavy battles erupted near Qulan Tapa village and Daesh destroyed 4 Humvees and damaged an Abrams tank, and shot down 2 recon drones. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says it shot down an Iraqi forces’ recon drone in Mosul city. [A3maq]

                        

Military developments within Mosul

Residents of eastern Mosul stormed a Daesh prison, killed its guard, and freed 45 people that had been detained by Daesh, a Ninewa security source said. [Sumaria]

 

A Ninewa Liberation source says people revolted against Daesh in several areas in Mosul city. [Mawazin]

 

“Chaos” is breaking out in neighborhoods of western Mosul (Al-Mansour, Al-Mamoun, Wadi Hajar, Al-Sina’a, Al-Naft) as Daesh takes to mass flight in the face of the advancing Joint Forces, a local source in Ninewa said. “Tens” of Daesh members are evacuating their houses and traveling by cars on the roads that lead to Syria. [Buratha]

DaeshDaily comment: If this is true, the advance of the PMFs toward Tal Afar to cut off the route to Syria may also be prompting the timing of the reported exodus as much as the Iraqi advances east of the Tigris.

 

However, Daesh has ordered the “conscription” of everyone over the age of nine in Mosul, according to the UNHCR spokeswoman. All citizens are instructed to hand over their children above the age of nine to Daesh. The IPA article speculates as to whether Daesh intends to use the children as human shields. [IPA]

 

A security source says security forces found a Daesh decoy vehicles factory west of Mosul (photos). [Ghad] Decoy vehicles are used to draw airstrikes against meaningless targets.

 

Video of Counter Terrorism Service troops operating inside Mosul. [Mawsleya]

 

Conditions in Mosul

The movement of civilians within the city of Mosul has all but stopped with the fresh advances by Iraqi troops in the city, local sources said. [Mawsleya]

 

A large fire is reportedly burning at Mosul Airport south of the city, according to local sources. [Mawsleya]

 

Shura/Hammam Alil/Mosul subdistrict

Hammam Al-Alil

Iraqi forces broke into Hammam Al-Alil early Saturday morning. [AIN]

 

Daesh says it stopped Iraqi Army and PMF units from entering Salahiya village south of Hammam Al-Alil, killing or wounding several service members, and destroying 3 Humvees, and an armored personnel carrier. [Isdarat]

 

The Ninewa Liberation commander says Iraqi forces captured Juhayna and Jahuni villages, south of Hammam Al-Alil. [Mada]

 

The IWMC says Iraqi Army 15th division killed 2 Daesh suicide terrorists, a Saudi and a Tunisian, in Salahiya village, south of Hammam Al-Alil. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh says it shot down an Iraqi forces’ recon drone near the Salahiya Intersection south of Hammam Al-Alil. [A3maq]

Daesh says it damaged an Iraqi forces’ T-72 tank with a missile near Salahiya village. [Isdarat]

Daesh says it targeted PMF positions in several areas near Salahiya village with 170 mortar shells. [Isdarat]

 

Mosul subdistrict (southwest of city)

PMFs have captured four villages and other strategic assets southwest of Mosul, including part of the national strategic oil pipeline, and taking control of the strategic Adaya junction, not far from the Tal Afar border, according to a statement issued by PMF media. 2000 square km (772 square miles) have been captured in the “first page” of the western front operations, the statement said. [Mada]

 

The Saraya Al-Jihad PMF announced it had captured three villages (Katan, Abhara, Mushairifa) southwest of Mosul. [Sumaria]

 

Badr PMF commander Hadi Al-Ameri said his fighters would deliver aid and food to displaced villagers west of Mosul and promised that they would return home “soon.” [Buratha]

 

Daesh says it conducted a suicide attack on a joint Iraqi Army and PMF convoy near the Adaya Intersection, near the Tal Afar border, killing seven PMF fighters, and wounding five, and destroying an Abrams tank, two Humvees, and an SUV. Daesh also says two Humvees were destroyed in a nearby minefield and the fighters inside were killed. [A3maq]

Daesh says it conducted a suicide attack on PMF units near the same intersection, destroying an Abrams tank, two Humvees, and a car. [A3maq] [A3maq]

Daesh says three PMF fighters were killed by a mistaken helicopter airstrike in the same area. [A3maq] [A3maq]

 

Daesh issues a video of a suicide attack with a vehicle bomb on Iraqi forces near Masayid village near Jurn. The video does not show any targets or casualties. [A3maq]  The village was captured yesterday by Iraqi forces.

 

Daesh says it killed more than fifteen PMF fighters with a parked car bomb in Tal Shihab village to the southeast. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says it shot down a PMF recon drone in Tal Zalat village on Thursday. [A3maq]

 

The PMF Command says PMFs have killed 185 Daesh terrorists and destroyed or defused 53 vehicle bombs west of Mosul so fat. [AIN]

 

Daesh issues a video of battles southwest of Mosul. [A3maq]

 

Nineveh Plain

Daesh issues a video of a PMF fighter it captured southeast of Mosul. [A3maq]

 

Daesh publishes photos of battles east and southeast of Mosul. [DawaAlhaq] [DawaAlhaq]

 

Daesh issues a video of an Iraqi forces’ recon drone it shot down east of Mosul. [A3maq]

 

Daesh publishes photos of targeting Peshmerga positions in Deir Um Tutha village with mortars. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Northwest (Tal Afar, Sinjar)

Daesh issues a video of people pledging allegiance to its leader Baghdadi in a mosque in Tal Afar. [A3maq]

DaeshDaily comment. Forcing people to appear on such videos is a typical Baathist propaganda stunt during tough battles.

 

Daesh says it destroyed a Peshmerga vehicle with an IED near Al-Malha village north of Tal Afar. Daesh also says it targeted a Peshmerga patrol with an SPG9 rocket in the same area. [Isdarat]

 

South (Baaj, Hatra)

A local source says a Daesh Usra Army convoy was bombed and 5 of its vehicles destroyed near Baaj. The source says this “elite” Daesh unit was supposed to stay in Mosul, but some members have been leaving for the Syrian border. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh says four PMF Humvees were destroyed and twelve fighters were killed when they struck a land mine near Ain Al-Islam Company in Hatra District. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says it conducted a suicide attack on Iraqi forces in Ghuzail Kabir village in Hatra, killing “tens” of soldiers. [A3maq]

 

REPORTS FROM TURKEY

 

Daesh’s A3maq, according to a “security source”, says Daesh terrorists detonated a parked car bomb near a police headquarters in Diyarbakir. [A3maq]

 

Turkish sources say seven people were killed and more than one hundred wounded when a parked vehicle bomb exploded near the Riot Management Division building in Diyarbakir. [BasNews]

DaeshDaily comment. This is a rare occasion where Daesh announced its responsibility for an attack in Turkey. Daesh didn’t claim responsibility for the two earlier suicide attacks that were attributed to Daesh, and killed many Kurdish people. 

 

Military sources say the Turkish military sent 35 train wagons loaded with armored personnel carriers near the Iraqi border. [Anadolu]

 

The Malaysian Police say Turkish security in Istanbul captured 2 Daesh Malaysian terrorists who were on their way to Syria. [Sumaria]

 

REPORTS FROM SYRIA

 

The Coalition says it conducted 5 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Syria, near Mare’ (3), Ain Eissa (1), and Albu Kamal (1)). [InherentResolve]

 

Northeast (Hasaka, Raqqa)

Hasaka

Iraqi refugees in Al-Hawl camp in Hasaka are complaining about the lack of assistance from international rescue organizations, especially as winter is coming. The refugees are mostly from Daesh held areas in Ninewa. [ANHA]

 

Daesh trained fifty children, so called “Caliphate Scouts” units, and sent them to the city of Raqqa. They were trained in a camp in Markada. [ARA]

 

Daesh arrested 20 of its own fighters who tried to escape its stronghold in Markada. The arrestees were transferred to the Al-Sawame’ prison. [ARA]

 

Local sources say an IED exploded on an Asayesh vehicle in Hay Al-Nashwa in Hasaka, without causing casualties. [ARA]

 

A Turkish security source says Turkish army found a 400-meter tunnel connecting Nusaybin in Turkey to Qamishli in Hasaka. The source accused the PKK of using the tunnel to transfer weapons and personnel between the two countries. [ARA]

 

Raqqa

Col. John Dorrian, spokesman of the Coalition said that 30-40,000 fighters are ready to besiege and overwhelm the city of Raqqa. Col. Dorrian did not identify these forces, but it is widely believed that they are from the US backed opposition forces. Turkey is hostile to the idea of involving such forces in battles for Raqqa. [Dorar]

 

Sixty-five young fighters from Raqqa have joined SDF forces after finishing one month of military and political training in a camp in Kobane. This is the fourth such group trained to join the Raqqa brigade of the SDF. [ANHA]

 

Northwest (Aleppo, Idlib)

Aleppo City

The Russian announced truce is in place in Aleppo so far, as no breaches were reported. The so-called humanitarian truce was to end Friday evening, and was intended by the Russians to provide opposition fighters with time to withdraw from the city.

The SOHR says that Russian helicopters destroyed the remains of its fallen helicopter after rescuing its pilots. [Qasioun] [SyriaHR]

 

Two Russian military personnel were wounded on the Castello road in Aleppo, according to the Russian defense ministry. [SyriaNow]

 

Azaz

Fifteen civilians in Kafr Naha in Azaz and two in Atarib, 9 miles west of Aleppo, were killed following Russian and Syrian airstrikes on the two cities. Syrian warplanes also bombed the cities of Arum Al-Kubra and Khan Al-Asal, causing damage. [Qasioun]

 

The Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) says its units blocked a Daesh attack on Shahba Dam, Wahshiyah, and Tal Madhiq, killing 32 terrorists on Wednesday and Thursday. The clashes coincided with Turkish artillery shelling on the villages of Tal Madhiq, as well as Hasiya, Harbal, and Um Hawsh. [Hawar]

 

The Turkish Army said in a statement that three of its soldiers were wounded in a mortar shelling by Daesh on areas held by Turkish backed opposition militia. [ARA]

Later on, the Army says, one of the soldiers died of the wounds he sustained. [Anadolu]

 

A commander of the Syrian opposition backed by Turkey died in a Turkish hospital. Abdul Salam Mustafa was wounded by an IED last Saturday. [ARA]

 

Daesh attacked Turkish backed opposition forces in Tal Jijan near Akhtarin with a vehicle bomb, killing 13 and destroying the defensive line and several vehicles. Turkey retaliated by shelling Daesh positions in Ablah. [ARA]

 

A leading opposition figure, Mohammed Nour, denied Daesh report of an attack on Tal Jijan, adding that no explosion took place. He described the news as loser’s propaganda—to cover for its inability to make advances on the battlefield. [EnabBaladi]

 

Daesh says it damaged a Turkish Army tank with a missile near Ablah village south of Akhtarin. [A3maq]

Daesh says it damaged another Turkish tank with a missile in Tilal Al-Enab village south of Akhtarin. [A3maq]

Daesh issues a video of one of the attacks. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says it killed more than fifteen opposition fighters and destroyed 3 cars in a suicide attack near Tal Jijan village south of Akhtarin. [A3maq]

Daesh issues a video of the suicide attack. [A3maq]

The video doesn’t show any targets or casualties.

 

Daesh publishes 2 photos of targeting opposition groups in Sandi village with mortars. [A3maq]

 

Daesh publishes photos of battles with the “PKK” northeast of the Aleppo Industrial City. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Afrin

Afrin received over 350 refugees who escaped various areas under Daesh control including Raqqa, areas around Manbij, Mosul, Deir Ez-Zor, and Azaz. The refugees entered the area through the Qatma village crossing.  [ANHA]

 

Central and West (Homs, Hama, etc.)

Russian Ministry of Defense said that one of its helicopters made an emergency landing in Tadmur and was shot at after touching the ground. The Ministry said that all pilots returned safely after being rescued by rescue planes. [ARA]

 

Intensive battles took place between Daesh and the Syrian army in the Al-Sawame’ area near Tadmur under heavy artillery and shelling by governmental forces. Battles are underway in Huwaisis east of Homs as well. [Qasioun]

 

Russian warplanes attacked Sukhnah east of Homs wounding several civilians. [Qasioun]

 

East (Deir Ez-Zor)

The SOHR reported heavy battles between governmental forces and affiliated militias and Daesh fighters on the outskirts of 137th brigade barracks southwest of Deir Ez-Zor. No casualties count is available yet.  [SyriaHR]

 

South (Rif Damashq, Suwayda, Daraa, etc.)

Syrian opposition troops said that they captured 3 defense barriers of Daesh in Qalamoun. The battle left several Daesh terrorists dead, including a Tunisian commander. [Qasioun]

 

OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA REPORTS

 

Neighboring countries

Kuwait

Kuwait security arrested 4 persons of Kuwaiti and other nationalities, identified as Daesh operatives, planning terror attacks on the verge of parliamentary elections to be held on the 26th of November. Maps of sensitive and top secret locations were found with the group, a Kuwaiti security source said.  [ARA]

 

North Africa

Egypt

Eyewitnesses and medical sources say armed terrorists in a vehicle and a motorcycle shot and killed a police general after he left the Friday prayers in Al-Azhar Street, in Arish city. [VetoGate]

Daesh says it assassinated Hisham Shahin, a general in the Egyptian Army, on Al-Azhar Street in Arish city. [A3maq]

 

The Egyptian Ministry of Interior says a car bomb exploded in Nasser City in Cairo, without causing any casualties. It says a judge survived the explosion. Egyptian media sources say security units defused an IED in Giza, and captured 2 suspects who were transporting it. [Anadolu]

 

Security units killed 9 terrorists in Al-Touma village, and four more outside the village. Security units also destroyed hideouts south of Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah. [VetoGate]

 

The body of a 35-year-old women was found shot in the Jisr Al-Wadi area, in Arish. [VetoGate]

 

The body of a 55-year-old man was found shot near the Maidan area, in Rafah. [VetoGate]

 

Libya

Northeast

A military source says the Libyan National Army stopped a suicide attack on a military gathering in the Saberi area, in Benghazi, and killed the suicide terrorist. [Wasat]

 

Libyan planes targeted a weapons storehouse in the Qanfouda area. [Wasat]

 

Central coast

Multiple U.S. defense officials told Fox News the U.S. military has suspended its bombing campaign against Daesh in Sirte, after three months of airstrikes. When the strikes were first announced, the Pentagon said they would last for “weeks.”

US officials said Daesh has been decimated inside Sirte, another reason to “pause” the strikes.  They did not rule out strikes in the future. “The reality is there are fewer targets to hit right now without risk of civilian casualties,” said one official.  [FoxNews]

DaeshDaily comment. We did report yesterday that US Marines helicopters had now been used in Sirte. The story today did not say whether that might continue, though it would make sense if the targets are smaller.

 

The Misrata Hospital says 661 Government of National Accord soldiers were killed and around 3,000 wounded since the start of the Sirte liberation operations in May. [Wasat]

 

Tunisia

The Tunisian government issued a statement saying the Prime Minister fired Abdul Jalil Ben Salem, the Minister of Religious Affairs, because of statements that hurt Tunisian diplomatic interests. [Tunisien]

The Minister had told the Saudi ambassador to Tunisia that Saudi Arabia should do something about its religious school, because it produces terrorism.

DaeshDaily comment. This looks like another of those incidents in which Saudi pressure has forced a government to backtrack on criticism of the hateful Wahhabi ideology that empowered Daesh and has led to so much death and disorder in the Middle East. For the record, we think the Tunisian minister got it right; that more such messages are in order from multiple countries until Saudi support for this deadly extremism changes; and the United States should be one of the next nations to speak up.

 

The Tunisian Ministry of Interior says security units captured a Daesh supporter in Gabes. The security captured 3 more takfiris related to the first suspect. [Tunisien]

 

Other countries

Yemen

Daesh says it stopped a Houthi attack on the Dhahra village in Bayda, killing five fighters. [A3maq]

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

 

Videos of the Day

Scenes from liberated towns and villages on the way to Mosul [CJTF]

 

A video of AP Tactical, a security solutions company, supporting Kurdish forces in the Ninewa battles [Facebook]

 

Kata’eb Al-Mosul issues a video from the Dawasa area, in west Mosul. [KM Facebook Page]

 

Iraqi forces being attacked by a Daesh vehicle bomb in Ninewa [YouTube]

 

A video of a Daesh vehicle bomb captured by Iraqi forces in Ninewa [YouTube]

 

DAESH MEDIA

 

Daesh audio newsletter for today [Bayan]

 

Daesh issues another propaganda video asking its terrorists to be patient. In the video Daesh mentions the Dabiq battle, again. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Daesh announced a monthly competition for teachers and the prizes will be in Daesh currency. [DawaAlhaq]

 

November 3, 2016

Kokjali (Rudaw)

Kokjali (Rudaw)

Today’s Major Developments

Iraq’s Catholic patriarch wants to preserve Christian towns in Ninewa; asks western help. [..]

Daesh destroying buildings, setting booby traps in Anah ahead of expected Iraq attack. [..]

Human Rights Watch blasts Kurds for ejecting Arab residents and IDPs from Kirkuk. [..]

Counter Terrorism commander says further moves into Mosul are imminent. [..]

Heavy fighting underway in part of southeast Mosul. [..]

IFP, PMFs take more villages south & west of Mosul; surround Hammam Al-Alil. [..]

80,000 people reported to have returned to homes in Qayara. [..]

Kurdish HDP party leaders in Turkey detained as attack on political opposition widens. [..]

Daesh in Syria moves fighters from outlying areas to defend strategic Al-Bab city. [..]

US Marines unleash attack helicopters on Sirte. [..]

 

REPORTS FROM IRAQ

 

NATIONAL NEWS

In a meeting with the American Consul in Erbil, the Chaldean Patriarch Luis Sako says the Christian towns in Ninewa should be preserved and there should be no demographic changes. He also asks the US and the European Union to help achieve national reconciliation in Iraq. [Mada]

 

A member of the CoR’s Security and Defense committee says a CoR investigation revealed that Iraqi planes were involved in the airstrike that killed or wounded 66 women at a Shia gathering in Daquq on October 21. [Mada]

 

The Coalition says it conducted 12 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Iraq, seven of them in the Mosul area. The others were in Sinjar (1), Bashir (2), Haditha (1), and Rawa (1). [InherentResolve]

 

BAGHDAD

Security-related incidents reported

Center (Rusafa, Karkh, etc.)

The Baghdad Operations Command spokesman says two civilians were wounded by an IED explosion near the Mission Complex in Karrada. [Mada] [Baghdadia]

Daesh says it killed sixteen people in an IED explosion on a “Shia gathering” in Karrada. [A3maq]

DaeshDaily comment. Regardless of what Daesh says, this area on the outskirts of Karrada District is one of the most mixed areas in Baghdad. Even the few remaining Jewish Iraqi families live nearby. Daesh wants to misrepresent Baghdad as a purely Shia city.    

 

Northeast (Adhamiya, etc.)

An MOI source said a university professor was killed by a bomb attached to his car in Waziriya. [Mada]

An MOI source said an IED placed near a furniture shop in Shaab killed one and wounded six civilians. [Mada]

 

East (Sadr City, New Baghdad, etc.)

Local Police sources said a civilian was shot dead by unidentified armed gunmen on a motorcycle in Kamaliya.  [Maalomah]

 

Southeast (Mada’in, etc.)

An MOI source said an IED placed in a commercial area in Al-Arifiya killed one civilian and wounded six others. [Mada]

 

South (Dora, Yusufiyah, Mahmudiya, etc.)

The MOI reported that an IED killed two and wounded three PMF fighters in their vehicle in Albu Aitha. [Mada]

A joint security force discovered a Daesh safe house and captured weapons and ammunition caches in Al-Bawi. [BOC Facebook Page]

 

Southwest (Rasheed, etc.)

An MOI source said an IED placed in commercial area in Furat killed two and wounded four civilians. [Mada]

 

West (Ghazaliya, Abu Ghraib, etc.)

Daesh says it killed or wounded ten Iraqi Army members with an IED at the Hamdaniya Brigade headquarters gate in Abu Ghraib, on Wednesday. [A3maq]

 

Total Baghdad incidents reported:   9     (Includes only incidents reported)

Total IED incidents:                                7

 

ANBAR

Ramadi

Daesh says it destroyed a police vehicle east of Ramadi with an IED, killing or wounding the policemen inside. [Isdarat]

 

Hit/Haditha

Jazeera Operations Command announced the liberation of the “Air Defense area” located in Haqlaniyah and clearing off IEDs and war remains therein. [Mada]

 

Jazeera Operations commander said Coalition planes killed 16 Daesh terrorists and destroyed 3 vehicle bombs in Al-Buhairat, north of Haditha.  [BasNews]

 

Rutba/Western Anbar

A local Tribal PMF commander said Daesh has demolished two government buildings and booby-trapped over 40 houses in Anah. [Mada] [Sumaria]

 

A Tribal PMF commander says Iraqi forces launched a military operation near Anah and killed a Daesh commander and 6 of his associates and destroyed 4 machine gun-mounted vehicles and a truck loaded with weapons. [BasNews]

 

A security source in Anbar announced the killing of 6 Daesh terrorists who attacked a security position in the Kilo 110 area.  [Maalomah]

 

SALAHUDDIN

Shirqat

A security source says Iraqi Army 66th brigade shot down a Daesh drone in the Khanuqa area. [Baghdadia]

 

Daesh said that on Wednesday it targeted Iraqi forces in the Shirqat area with 12 locally made rockets and several mortars. Daesh said it destroyed a PMF supply vehicle near Al-Naml. It also said it destroyed 3 PMF positions with SPG9 rockets in the Dibis and Sheikh Ali areas. Daesh said it destroyed an Iraqi Army vehicle with an IED south of Shirqat, killing or wounding the soldiers inside. Daesh also said it destroyed a PMF military position with a missile near the Makhoul Mountains. [Isdarat]

 

Baiji

Daesh said that on Wednesday it targeted Iraqi forces in areas north and west of Baiji with 85 mortars. Daesh also said it attacked two PMF barracks in the Makhazen area north of Baiji with light and mid-sized weapons. [Isdarat]

 

Tooz

Daesh says it damaged a PMF Humvee with an IED in Laqoum village, in Suleiman Bek. [Isdarat]

 

DIYALA

Baquba/southeast Diyala

Daesh says it detonated an IED on a SWAT Humvee in the Bizayez area, in Buhriz. [Isdarat]

 

Muqdadiya/Abu Saida

Daesh says it killed a PMF commander with an IED in the Hamada area of Muqdadiya. [Isdarat]

 

A Diyala security source said unidentified gunmen shot two civilians dead in Mukhaisa. [Sumaria]

 

KIRKUK

Kirkuk

Human Rights Watch says Kurdish authorities in Kirkuk, in their most recent round of displacements, have been ejecting Arab residents and Arab internally displaced people there since ISIS attacked the city on October 21, 2016.

Human Rights Watch says it is not aware of any similar displacements affecting Kurdish residents of the city. Given that Arabs seem to be the sole victims of these demolitions and evictions, and no explanation has been given by the authorities as to why they are being so targeted, the KRG actions appear to be discriminatory. [HRW]

A Kurdish Kirkuk Provincial Council member denied the HRW report and said the provincial government helped the Arab displaced people. The chairman of the Provincial Council’s Security Committee says HRW should be talking about the Arabs who are taking Kurdish lands in Kirkuk with support from political parties. [ROJ]

 

Hawija

A commanding figure in the Tribal Mobilization forces of Hawija said “rebelling young men” in Hawija shot dead the deputy commander of Daesh police in the city.  [Sumaria]

 

NINEWA

An MP with the Kurdish bloc in the Iraqi parliament alleged that Turkey is looking for an excuse to intervene in the Mosul conflict. Turkey wishes to intervene but has yet to find a “true pretext” for its intervention, he explained. [ROJ]

 

9700 children have fled the Mosul area since the launch of the Mosul operation, UNICEF announced. [Anadolu]

 

Sistani office sends truck loaded with humanitarian assistance to villages south of Ninewa (photos). [Sumaria]

 

PMF deputy commander Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis has announced that his fighters will combat Daesh in Mosul city if the government orders them to. [PressIraq]

DaeshDaily comment. It would better serve the cause if Shia PMF leaders made fewer self-serving statements.

 

Australia is preparing to send 200 advisors to train Iraqi soldiers in street fighting techniques, an Australian military spokesman said. [Baghdadia]

 

Daesh issues a video of “normal life” in Mosul today. [A3maq]

DaeshDaily comment. We have seen such videos from Ramadi and Falluja a day or two before the cities were liberated.

 

Mosul

JOC command announced that 82 Daesh militants were killed and six vehicle bombs destroyed Thursday in the Mosul operations. [Forat]

 

Mosul liberation campaign

East. The Counter Terrorism Service Special Operations Commander announced that his troops would begin attacking Daesh in Mosul from several axes “within hours.” The evidence from the fighting in Kokjali showed that Daesh was losing control over its field operations and its fighters, he added. [ARA]

 

The commander announced that his troops had stopped a “desperate” Daesh attempt to impede the progress of Iraqi troops after they defeated Daesh in Kokjali. [Mada]

 

A CTS commander says Iraqi forces captured 3 Daesh terrorists in Kokjali, including an emir. [Rudaw]

 

The commander of the Counter Terrorism Service said his troops are fighting an “irregular war” in Mosul. He also urged Mosul residents to stay indoors to reduce Daesh’s ability to use them as human shields. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh is depending on long tunnels under Mosul that link different areas within the city to escape from the attacking Iraqi troops, according to a CTS Special Forces officer. [Mada]

Photos of tunneling machines captured from Daesh. [Ghad]

 

Hundreds of families fled the Kokjali area just east of Mosul on Thursday, heading for safer areas bordering the IKR, according to Sumaria’s correspondent. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh says it destroyed a PMF Humvee “on the outskirts of” Kokjali. [A3maq]

Daesh says it conducted a suicide attack on Iraqi Forces near Al-Quds Cemetery, near Kokjali, and destroyed an Abrams tank. [A3maq] [A3maq]

Daesh publishes a photo of the Dagestan terrorist who conducted a suicide attack near Kokjali. [Isdarat]

 

Photos from Kokjali after it was liberated from Daesh [Rudaw]

 

Southeast. Joint Forces raided Hay Al-Intisar in southeastern Mosul Thursday afternoon, according to a statement issued by the Mosul operations commander Lt. Gen. Abd Al-Amir Rashid Yarallah. [Mada]

 

Heavy fighting is underway in Hay Al-Intisar, amid Iraqi shelling of Daesh-held areas and Daesh’s attempts to use civilians as human shields, a security source said. Iraqi Army units destroyed five Daesh Humvees in Intisar, a security source said. [Maalomah] [Waradana]

 

Daesh says it conducted a suicide attack on PMF units in Sheherazad village, next to Hay Al-Intisar. [A3maq]

Daesh issues a video of fighting near Hay Al-Intisar. [A3maq]

 

Other military developments in Mosul

The elite “Usra Army” has suddenly disappeared from the alleyways of the Old Mosul (Mosul Al-Qadima) neighborhood to which it had deployed over a week ago, giving locals cause to speculate whether Daesh “caliph” Awwad Baghdadi is actually in the area, according to a local source. The Usra Army was viewed as an “invincible force,” by loyal Daesh members so its sudden disappearance from the area has come as “another shock” to the group’s supporters in Mosul. [Sumaria]

 

Abu Omar Al-Urduni, the head of Daesh’s “Shura Council,” was killed when a missile struck his vehicle in central Mosul, a local source said. It was not known if the missile, which also killed two others with him, was launched from a piloted or an unmanned aircraft. [Sumaria]

 

Unknown assailants reportedly set fire to a Daesh vehicle in the central Al-Hudaba neighborhood. [PressIraq]

 

Russia has alleged that US planes are targeting residential areas in Mosul and other sites in Ninewa. [Waradana]

DaeshDaily comment: Russia is trying to suggest equivalence between its bombing operations in Syria and the Coalition bombing in Iraq. Maybe this shows that Mr. Putin is actually sensitive to all the criticism.

 

Daesh’s A3maq says, according to a medical source, more than nine people were killed (including four children and one woman) and 115 wounded in “American” airstrikes on “residential neighborhoods” in Mosul. [A3maq]

Daesh says “American” planes conducted 13 airstrikes on Mosul. [A3maq]

Daesh issues a video of the airstrikes. [A3maq]

DaeshDaily comment. Hiding among civilians is what terrorists have been doing in Iraq since 2003. 

 

Baghdadi

Heavy explosions rocked eastern Mosul for a short time after the Daesh broadcast by Al-Baghdadi (reported yesterday). The broadcast was followed by Daesh fighters launching rockets in Mosul’s eastern neighborhoods, while some Daesh members cheered for the morale boost that Baghdadi’s address delivered, chanting “We will fight until death!” [ARA] [Karemlash]

 

However, a Coalition spokesman says that Baghdadi “lost control of his fighters” in Mosul after Iraqi troops entered the city. [Ghad]

 

The Golden Division commander believes that Baghdadi is not even present in Mosul. [IPA]

UK Foreign Minister Boris Johnson made similar remarks, claiming that Baghdadi is directing his fighters over the Internet. [Ghad]

 

A security source says the Daesh leader recorded his speech on the Iraq-Syria border after he left Ninewa, before the start of the Ninewa liberation operations. [Sumaria]

 

Controversial former Ninewa governor Atheel Al-Nujaifi has said that many Daesh families have fled to Syria, calling Awwad Baghdadi a “desperate idiot” and saying his followers were foolishly “hoping for miracles.”  [Sumaria]

 

DaeshDaily comment: Baghdadi’s speech was an exhortation to the troops and loyal supporters, but it came from weakness. It signifies the impending end of Daesh’s lie that it controls a large caliphate. The opportunists who helped Daesh capture all those areas in Iraq heard their leader telling them, loud and clear, that they should stay, fight, and die. Chances are he won’t be joining them.

        The mindset is not new really. It’s very much a Baathist pattern not to face the music when things go bad. Saddam made a similar speech, from his own hole in the ground. There will be clever adaptations as before: using political connections to avoid criminal accountability; seeming to switch sides; insisting one was never with Daesh anyway; playing the old anti-government, anti-Shia card. We can also expect a boost in shaving industry sales and fewer men with beards.

        Such tactics won’t help everyone. There will be some foreign terrorists who did not leave soon enough and now can’t leave their rat holes safely. There are some kids who were brainwashed to kill themselves. There are many local terrorists who have nowhere to run. But the caliphate story will soon be over. Daesh will put up the usual fight in Mosul, and that might take some time. Booby-trapped buildings, suicide terrorists, and IEDs will require a lot of effort and sacrifice, as in Ramadi and Falluja, but the collapse will happen faster than expected. Daesh will try the usual media-grabbing attack somewhere else, in Egypt or Libya or somewhere else, to distract attention from its defeat, but it likely won’t work as well as before. Losing Iraq should also accelerate its defeat in Syria.

        That doesn’t mean that Daesh’s terrorism will be over, in Iraq or elsewhere. There will still be networks of hatred. There will still be organized crime disguised as jihad. The attacks on civilians will continue. But Daesh and its Baathist collaborators have now seen the one thing they previously didn’t see: determination. Retaking Ramadi put all the momentum on the government’s side. Iraq finally showed Daesh the iron fist of a self-respecting country. With help from good people all over the world, and at great cost, Iraq has found the way to stand up and defeat Daesh.

 

Shura/Hammam Alil

The IFP are in control of the hills overlooking Hammam Al-Alil city, the IFP commander says. [Rudaw]

 

The DaeshDaily correspondent says the IAA and the artillery is targeting Daesh positions in Hammam Al-Alil, preparing for a ground attack on the city.

The MoD says the IAA destroyed 2 Daesh vehicle bombs and a vehicle carrying a 23mm cannon south of Mosul. [Maalomah]

 

Daesh says it destroyed an Iraqi Army Humvee with an IED near Kharba village, south of Hammam Al-Alil, killing the soldiers inside. [Isdarat]

 

Daesh says it destroyed 2 Iraqi forces Humvees with IEDs near Salahiya village, south of Hammam Al-Alil. [A3maq]

Daesh says it destroyed an Iraqi Humvee, bulldozer, and an armored personnel carrier south of Hammam Al-Alil, with missiles. [A3maq]

 

The MoD says the IAA destroyed two Daesh vehicles north of Shura, killing the terrorists inside. [Maalomah]

 

Iraqi troops also captured the village of Al-Jurf, the IWMC announced. [Baghdadia]

 

Iraqi troops captured two villages southwest of Mosul, Sayyed Hamad, and Al-Dhibaniya, the IWMC announced. [Ghad]

 

The IFP have killed over 1,000 Daesh fighters, captured 74 villages, and evacuated 4,500 families on the Southern Front since the launch of operations, the IFP commander announced. [Sumaria]

 

The Shia PMF, Badr, announced that its fighters captured three villages (Tal Zalat, Masad, and Sihaji) southwest of Mosul, all in a west-to-east row moving toward the city. [Sumaria]

Daesh says it conducted 2 suicide attacks on Iraqi forces near Tal Zalat. Daesh says it destroyed a Humvee, a bulldozer, and a car in one of the attacks. [A3maq] [A3maq]

Here Daesh says it destroyed a PMF bulldozer with a missile near Adaya village, southwest of Tal Zalat. [A3maq]

 

Badr’s commander Hadi Al-Ameri announced that his fighters had cut off one of the main routes between Raqqa and Mosul. [Sumaria]

 

PMFs captured the village of Masayid in a battle lasting three hours. [AIN]

Daesh says 2 of its suicide terrorists, and Iraqi and a Syrian, attacked Iraqi forces near Masayid village, near Jurn, with a vehicle bomb. Daesh says another suicide terrorist, a Syrian, attacked with another vehicle bomb. After that, heavy battles erupted. Daesh says twenty-five Iraqi service members were killed or wounded in the attack. [Isdarat]

Daesh publishes a phot of one of the Syrian suicide terrorists. [MRKZGulf]

 

PMFs captured the village of “Western Ayn Jahsh” southwest of Jarn and captured the hill in Tal Shihab to the north of Ayn Jahsh. [Ghad] [Etejah] [“Tal” in Arabic = “hill”]

 

PMFs “leveled” an unspecified number of Daesh positions in the area of Ghuzail Al-Sufli. [AIN]

 

The IFP evacuated 15 displaced families south of Mosul as well as killing four Daesh members, and  destroying a vehicle, a vehicle bomb, and an arms depot, the JOC announced. [Sumaria]

 

Qayara

American artillery troops fired rockets from Qayara base at Daesh targets in Hammam Al-Alil. [Ghad]

 

An Iraqi military transport helicopter crashed after taking off from Qayara airfield after it had received rapid service, the IWMC announced. [Ghad]

 

The Counter Terrorism Service commander says 80,000 people have returned to their houses in Qayara subdistrict so far. [BasNews]

 

The MoD says the IAA destroyed 8 Daesh vehicles and several houses used by Daesh, west of Mushairifa village, killing the terrorists inside. [Maalomah]

 

Nineveh Plain

Hamdaniya

Iraqi Army troops captured the village of Al-Khorta, after a battle in which an unspecified number of Daesh fighters were killed, according to a statement issued by the Mosul operations commander Lt. Gen. Abd Al-Amir Rashid Yarallah. [Mada]

 

The MoD says the IAA destroyed a Daesh hideout in the Qaraqosh area. [Maalomah]

 

Daesh says it conducted 2 suicide attacks on Iraqi forces near Jalaiwkhan village, near Ali Rash. [A3maq]

 

Northwest (Tal Afar, Sinjar)

The MoD says IAA aircraft killed more than 37 Daesh fighters and destroyed 4 vehicles, a hideout, a rocket launcher, and a mortar unit west of Mosul, the MoD announced. [Maalomah]

 

The spokesman of the PMF authority announced that the militias are 15 km (9 miles) from Tal Afar and advancing rapidly toward the city northwest of Mosul. [Mada]

DaeshDaily comment. We are not sure what point on the map the gentleman is referring to, but the PMFs are not yet close to the city of Tal Afar, based on battle reports.

 

Daesh has moved hundreds of its hostages to Tal Afar for use as human shields, a military source said Thursday morning. [PUKMedia]

 

PMFs cut off the route between Tal Afar and Mosul, according to a PMF statement which claimed that PMFs have now cut off all Daesh supply routes between Tal Afar and Mosul. [PUKMedia]

DaeshDaily comment. We can’t validate the claim, but it’s clear from our map that the PMFs don’t yet control the whole road between Mosul and Tal Afar.

 

PMF commander Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis has reportedly announced that his fighters have cut off the road between Mosul and Raqqa. [PressIraq]

 

PMFs killed two Saudi Daesh commanders west of Mosul, a security source said. [Maalomah]

 

PMFs claim to have killed a Daesh member bearing an Israeli passport west of Mosul. [PressIraq]

 

PMFs reportedly defused a bus rigged with explosives that Daesh had left behind in a village west of Mosul. [PressIraq]

 

The “first page” has ended on the Western Front of the Mosul operation with the liberation of 52 villages in an area of 450 square km (173 square miles), the front commander said. [Mawazin]

 

South (Baaj, Hatra)

Daesh says it killed twenty-five Iraqi service members and destroyed a Humvee near the “Ain Al-Islam Company” in Hatra district. [A3maq]

 

REPORTS FROM TURKEY

 

The two co-leaders of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish HDP opposition party, Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag were detained at their respective homes as part of a counter-terrorism inquiry, the Turkish Ministry of Interior announced. At least nine other HDP MPs were also taken into custody.

Meanwhile social networks could not be accessed from inside Turkey. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Whatsapp were reported to be inaccessible shortly after the detentions, even when users tried to circumvent restrictions using a virtual private network (VPN). [BBC] [Anadolu] [Anadolu]

DaeshDaily comment. The credibility of the Turkish government loses ground every day, with no end in sight to its ill-motivated and ill-disguised crackdown on political opponents

 

REPORTS FROM SYRIA

 

A missile-armed frigate has joined Russian navy units in Syrian coasts according to Russian sources. The frigate is equipped with “Caliber” missiles, including surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles. [Dorar]

 

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign affairs said “terrorists” who try to breach the humanitarian truce in Aleppo will pay severely for such attempts. [SyriaNow]

 

The Coalition says it conducted 8 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Syria, near Raqqa (2), Mare’ (2), Idlib (2), Deir Ez-Zor (1), and Albu Kamal (1)). The strikes near Idlib engaged two Daesh tactical units and destroyed five vehicles and two fighting positions. [InherentResolve]

 

Northeast (Hasaka, Raqqa)

Hasaka

Brigadier Talal Sello, the spokesperson of the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), said that his personnel are doing their best to assist Iraqi refugees along the borders with Iraq, adding that they do not have enough resources to meet all refugees’ demands. He called on international organizations to intervene immediately, as winter is coming. [Hawar]

 

A medical source says two pro-government militiamen were slightly wounded when an IED exploded in Hay Ghuwairan in Hasaka city. The source says the IED targeted and missed an Asayesh vehicle. [ARA]

 

Daesh says it killed four “PKK members” with an IED in Hay Ghuwairan in Hasaka city. [A3maq]

 

Raqqa

The SOHR says a civilian was killed in an air strike by warplanes (believed to be by the Coalition) on Laqta, north of Raqqa. [SyriaHR]

 

Northwest (Aleppo, Idlib)

Fierce fighting between government forces and opposition fighters is continuing in almost all of Aleppo neighborhoods since yesterday. Shelling and counter shelling caused fourteen civilian casualties so far, press sources said. [Hawar]

 

The Syrian opposition resumed attacks on government held positions in Aleppo with a vehicle bomb. The opposition said that it plans to retake Aleppo neighborhoods held by governmental forces. [ZamanAlWasl]

 

Syrian opposition units shelled Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in Aleppo with mortars and gas cylinders, killing one child and wounding two civilians. The shelling is sourced from Bustan Al-Basha neighborhood east of the city. [Hawar] [Hawar]

 

Al-Bab

Opposition sources confirmed the withdrawal of Daesh units from the Infantry School in Muslimiya and other areas. The Syrian Army and Syrian Democratic Forces now control these areas. The opposition believes Daesh gave up these areas to defend the attack by Turkey-supported opposition fighters on the strategically important city of Al-Bab. [Dorar]

 

Azaz

The SDF killed 15 Daesh terrorists during an attack by the terror group to recover three villages liberated by the SDF earlier: Washiyah, Tal Madhiq, and Shahba’ Dam. The fighting is still ongoing. [Hawar]

 

Photos published by the opposition showed fighters mounting a Turkish army APC without the presence of Turkish soldiers. This indicates whom Turkey is supporting, even with heavy weaponry used to shell liberated villages held by the SDF. [Hawar]

 

Three Russian air raids on Maraanaz left 10 civilians killed and 20 wounded according to activists on the ground. The Russian warplanes bombed several other villages accompanied by government artillery bombardment in the area. [ARA] [Qasioun]

 

Turkey-backed opposition units continued their assault to recover the villages recently taken over by Daesh, backed by Turkish artillery cover. Ablah village near Mare’ was recovered after killing 5 Daesh terrorists and destroying two vehicles, press sources said. [ARA]

 

The Turkish Army says its artillery has supported the advance of opposition groups towards Al-Bab and Akhtarin villages taken by Daesh two days ago. It said that 100 Daesh and 4 YPG targets were shelled in process. It also says 22 Daesh terrorists were killed in ground operations in addition to another 14 in Turkish airstrikes.  [ARA] [Qasioun]

 

Opposition groups recovered over 11 villages occupied by Daesh in the last few days of operations in Azaz. Total area recovered is around 1000 sq. Km (390 sq. miles). [Qasioun]

 

Daesh says it killed two opposition fighters with an IED near Ablah village, south of Akhtarin. [A3maq]

Daesh says it destroyed 3 cars carrying opposition fighters with a parked car bomb near Ablah village. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says it killed or wounded ten “PKK members” in an attack near the Aleppo Industrial Area. [A3maq]

 

Afrin

Turkish artillery shelled three villages in Afrin, causing material damage to several houses. No human casualties were reported so far. [Hawar]

 

Other Northwest Syria

Opposition activists said Syrian army helicopters used poisonous gases in bombing the village of Beshqatin, west of Aleppo, causing serious cases of suffocation. Winds spread gases around to neighboring areas, causing similar symptoms among women and children. Islamic opposition units in the area fired back at the Army’s locations using multiple rocket launchers and artillery. [ARA]

 

Central and West (Homs, Hama, etc.)

Daesh says it destroyed a Russian attack helicopter with a missile in the Huwaisis area, east of Homs. [A3maq]

Daesh issues a video of targeting the helicopter. [A3maq] The helicopter was on the ground when it was hit by the missile.

 

The SOHR says an air raid on Rusten killed six civilians, including five children. It did not identify the attacking planes. [SyriaHR]

 

East (Deir Ez-Zor)

Government military spokesman says that 9 Daesh terrorists were killed by the units defending Deir Ez-Zor airport in a recent attempt by the terror group to break through the eastern defense line of the airport.  [SyriaNow]

 

The SOHR says containers were airdropped near government positions in Deir Ez-Zor. It also says Daesh shelled the army’s positions in the city. [SyriaHR]

 

Daesh publishes photos of a plastic factory in Mayadin. [Isdarat]

 

South (Rif Damashq, Suwayda, Daraa, etc.)

The SOHR says two civilians were killed in air raids on Tafas, in western Daraa. It did not identify the attacking planes. [SyriaHR]

 

Daesh publishes photos of battles with the opposition in East Qalamoun. [Isdarat]

 

OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA REPORTS

 

North Africa

Egypt

Eyewitnesses say ABM terrorists beheaded a local man and threw his body on the road in the Zare’a area, west of Arish. They say the victim was wearing an orange suit, the same used by Daesh for execution. [VetoGate]

 

Eyewitnesses say unknown armed men kidnapped a young man in Arish city center. [ElWatan]

 

Daesh said on Wednesday it destroyed 2 Egyptian Army vehicles with IEDs in south Arish. [Isdarat]

 

Libya

Northeast

Daesh said on Wednesday it detonated an IED on a Libya National Army (LNA) machine gun-mounted vehicle in Qawarsha, killing one soldier and wounding another. [Isdarat]

 

Daesh said on Wednesday it targeted LNA positions with mortars in the Qanfouda area. [Isdarat]

 

Central coast

The US Marines are using Super Cobra attack helicopters to mount close-range airstrikes against Daesh in Sirte, the US Navy said Thursday.

The gunship attacks, the first of their kind to be confirmed in over two months, were launched overnight from the USS San Antonio, in the Mediterranean. [Libya24]

 

A GNA Military source says a Daesh police commander was killed in the battles in the Giza area, in Sirte. [Wasat]

 

Terrorists in 2 cars shot and killed two men who were accompanying a security commander in the Gharbiyat area, in Sirte. [AfriGate]

Daesh said yesterday it assassinated two GNA fighters within the Gharbiyat area.

 

Tunisia

The Tunisian Minister of Religious Affairs told the Parliament that he told the Saudi Ambassador to Tunisia to do something about its religious school, as it produces terrorism. [Tunisien]

 

The Tunisian Ministry of Interior says security units captured a terrorism suspect in Aryanah. [Tunisien]

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

 

Videos of the Day

A video from inside Mosul city [Rudaw]

 

DAESH MEDIA

 

Daesh audio newsletter for today [Bayan]
Daesh publishes a new issue of its Naba magazine [Isdarat]

 

November 2, 2016

Ninewa

Ninewa

Today’s Major Developments

Turkey decides to move its Bashiqa base to another northern Iraq location. [..]

Daesh issues a desperate audio message from Baghdadi (no pictures). [..]

Iraqi troops consolidate gains in east Mosul. [..]

Daesh stages mass executions in central Mosul. [..]

IFP captures ten villages near Shura, Hammam Al-Alil. [..]

Daesh has reportedly moved captured Christian women from Mosul area to Syria. [..]

Turkey-supported opposition groups lose Azaz villages to Daesh, then regain some. [..]

 

REPORTS FROM IRAQ

 

NATIONAL NEWS

Turkey has decided to move its military base at Bashiqa to another unspecified location in northern Iraq, according to remarks reportedly made today by the Turkish deputy prime minister. The Deputy PM said Turkish troops were not withdrawing under threat and that Turkey alone had made the decision. [Buratha]

 

Daesh issues an audio massage from its leader, Awwad Baghdadi. [Furqan]

Baghdadi asks all his terrorists to be patient, not to retreat from Mosul, and to keep fighting to go to heaven (i.e., be willing to die). He attacked the usual enemies: the US, the West, the Christians, the Jews, the Shia, the Alawites, the Muslim Brothers, etc. He told Sunni Iraqis that the Shia want to occupy their lands, everywhere. He also attacked Saudi Arabia, asking his followers to attack the Saudi royal family, government and security officials, and even journalists. He said Turkey was hesitant to attack Daesh, but now Turkey is fighting Daesh and tells his terrorists to attack Turkey. He calls on his followers all over the world to keep on. He also tells his terrorists in Sirte to stay in their positions because their enemy is getting tired. He also says to Daesh followers that if it is difficult for them to migrate to Iraq or Syria, they should migrate to other countries. He also addressed his supporters who are prisoners and asks them to be patient. He mourned the death of Daesh spokesman, Adnani, and the minister of media, Furqan. But he says the caliphate will go on despite the losses of these two and other leaders.

DaeshDaily comment. From Daesh’s perspective, the troops needed to be rallied, but this speech won’t do it. It was more of a bunker speech. (I’m hiding from the enemy but you must fight on.) Not so different from Saddam’s spider hole speeches in 2003.

 

UNHCR has this week begun distributing essential winter items to 1.2 million displaced Iraqis, including families recently displaced due to the current Mosul offensive, and to communities across Iraq that are hosting them. A total of 178,000 Syrian refugees will also benefit. The distributions come even though UNHCR’s winter assistance program, budgeted at $120 million, is just half-funded with a $60 million funding gap. [UNIraq]

 

Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, was quoted Wednesday that the U.S. military will not support certain PMF organizations, even within the command of the Iraqi military. He said support would depend on “who can pass the vetting test.”

Regarding efforts by Iraqi and Kurdish forces to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from Daesh, Davis confirmed that Shia militias have begun to move from the southern outskirts of Mosul toward Tal Afar, located 63 kilometer (39 miles) west of Mosul. “There is still a considerable distance for them to traverse before they get anywhere near Tal Afar,” he said. [Anadolu]

DaeshDaily comment. We couldn’t find the Davis’s original statement, which needs to be explained in specific terms. However, some Shia militias have been hostile to the US for some time, including a few that have killed US servicemen, and have refused to consider cooperating with Coalition airstrikes. With the PMFs branching out into Tal Afar, the emerging situation is that at least some PMFs won’t have US air support, which could increase the risks to those whose organizations are not anti-US.

 

The Sayyed Al-Shuhada PMF will pursue Daesh onto Syrian territory after it captures Tal Afar, the militia’s general secretary said Wednesday. [Sumaria]

DaeshDaily comment. This not the first time PMFs mention this. Iraq will gain nothing from entering Syrian territory or letting its Shia militias do so. Fighting Daesh terrorists inside Iraq and preventing them from leaving or coming from Syria is one thing. Letting Shia PMFs loose in Syria would be too much of a sectarian decision. Iraq doesn’t need to be in the middle of regional wars anymore.

 

The Coalitions says it conducted 8 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Iraq, in or near Mosul (3) and Sinjar (1), Bashir (1) in Kirkuk; Baiji (1), and Rawa (2). [InherentResolve]

 

BAGHDAD

The Rusafa Criminal Court issued death sentences on 3 terrorists who killed four IFP members in Baghdad. [Ghad]

 

Security-related incidents reported

North (Tarmiya, Taji, etc.)

Daesh says it destroyed a Humvee with an IED in Tarmiya. [A3maq]

Here Daesh says it destroyed an Iraqi Army Humvee with an IED, then detonated another IED on soldiers who arrived on the scene. [A3maq]

 

South (Dora, Yusufiyah, Mahmudiya, etc.)

Iraqi Army 23rd brigade destroyed a Daesh suicide terrorists’ guesthouse, 2 IEDs, and other explosives in the Shiraifat area. [MoD Website]

Iraqi Army 25th brigade destroyed 2 IEDs in Abu Huweish village, and found an explosives cache in the Abu Habba area. [MoD Website]

Iraqi Army 55th brigade defused an IED in the Karaghoul area. [BOC Facebook Page]

Iraqi Army 25th brigade found an explosives cache in the Sayyed Abdullah area. [BOC Facebook Page]

Iraqi Army 23rd brigade defused 2 IEDs in the Khtaimiya area. [BOC Facebook Page]

Daesh said on Tuesday it shot and severely wounded an Iraqi Army “source” in the Alimiya area in Arab Jubour. [Isdarat]

 

West (Ghazaliya, Abu Ghraib, etc.)

Daesh says it destroyed an Iraqi Army Humvee with an IED in Abu Ghraib. [A3maq]

 

Total Baghdad incidents reported:   9     (Includes only incidents reported)

Total IED incidents                                  7

 

ANBAR

Ramadi

The Anbar Operations commander says his troops found a vehicle bomb factory and confiscated large quantities of explosives in the Albu Ali Al-Jassem area. [Sumaria]

 

A military source says Iraqi Army 10th division found 105 rockets and 7 IEDs and defused 10 booby-trapped houses in the Albu Risha area. [Sumaria]

 

Hit/Haditha

The Jazeera Operations Commander says Coalition planes targeted a group of Daesh terrorists north of the Haditha Lake, killing 8 terrorists.  [Sumaria]

 

Iraqi Army units and tribal fighters killed 3 Daesh suicide terrorists in the Khasfa area. [MoD Website]

Coalition planes killed 6 Daesh terrorists west of Haqlaniya. [MoD Website]

 

Daesh said on Tuesday its terrorists infiltrated two Iraqi Army positions in the Kilo 70 areas and blew them up. [Isdarat]

Daesh said on Tuesday that it targeted Iraqi Army and PMF positions in Sakran village and in the asphalt factory with mortars and 10 locally made rockets. [Isdarat]

 

SALAHUDDIN

Shirqat

Iraqi army 66th brigade killed 13 Daesh terrorists and destroyed a machine gun-mounted vehicle in the Makhoul Mountains area. [MoD Website]

 

Daesh said it targeted Iraqi Army and PMF positions on Tuesday in different parts Shirqat, Qayara, and Baiji, with 362 mortars and 2 Grad rockets. [Isdarat]

 

A Salahuddin Operations Command source says Daesh terrorists shot and killed a woman and her son who were trying to escape Daesh controlled areas east of Shirqat. The source says Daesh set tens of houses on fire because their owners had left. [Mada]

 

Baiji

Daesh said on Tuesday its terrorists infiltrated PMF positions in the Zuwiya Intersection area and blew up a PMF barracks. [Isdarat]

 

Samarra

An IFP unit destroyed 15 Daesh vehicles near the Mamlaha area. [MoD Website]

 

Southern Salahuddin

A police unit captured 5 terrorists in Dhuluiya. [MoD Website]

 

DIYALA

Baquba/southeast Diyala

The chairman of the Security Committee in Diyala Provincial Council says an intelligence unit captured a Daesh cell of 3 terrorists near Baquba. [Harbi]

 

A security source says an EOD member and a Sahwa fighter were killed and three other service members wounded when an IED exploded on them while they were searching orchards in Mukhaisa. [Sumaria]

 

Muqdadiya/Abu Saida

The chairman of the Muqdadiya District Council says Iraqi Army 20th brigade found 7 IEDs in Khailaniya village, north of Muqdadiya. He says Daesh is using the vacated village as a staging area. Iraqi forces liberated the village in June 2014 but its residents haven’t returned yet. [Sumaria]

 

KIRKUK

Hawija

A security source says a Daesh “service office” member was killed when a roadside IED exploded on his vehicle near Hawija. [Sumaria]

 

Southwest

A security source says Coalition planes attacked Daesh in 2 villages southwest of Kirkuk, killing 7 terrorists and wounding 10. Another source says 9 terrorists were killed in the airstrikes, including 3 commanders from Arab countries. [Mada] [Sumaria]

 

NINEWA

Mosul

Mosul liberation campaign

A Counter Terrorism Service source says CTS units cleared Hay Al-Samah, killing 8 terrorists and destroying many vehicle bombs. [Baghdadia]

 

The MoD says Coalition warplanes destroyed 20 Daesh vehicles and a tunnel network in Mosul city. The JOC says Iraqi Army units entered the Judaidat Al-Mufti area in southeast Mosul, after capturing several nearby villages. [ARA]

 

A senior KRG official says that within the Mosul liberation plan, a passage was left open south of Mosul in order to allow Daesh terrorists to leave the city without destroying it. [Baghdadia]

 

The UN Security Council has warned of Daesh fighters fleeing the Mosul operation and relocating to Syria. [Anadolu]

 

The Hawar media organization issued reports about Iraqi refugees allegedly stranded without help at the Syrian border. It says Iraqi children languishing with their families in harsh conditions on the Iraqi-Syrian border could face death if aid does not reach the thousands of displaced persons in the border zone quickly (photos). [Hawar]

Photos and videos of Iraqi refugees stranded on the Syrian border in harsh desert conditions. “We dig our graves with our hands while we are alive.” one said. [Hawar]

DaeshDaily report. We would like to see this report confirmed by other sources before putting faith in it.

 

One Iraqi displaced woman who fled the fighting in Mosul died in the refugee camp in Al-Hawl south of Hasaka in Syria of a bowel obstruction which could have been easily treated if medical care were available, a source inside the camp said. [ARA]

 

Military developments within Mosul

A resident who escaped from Mosul on Tuesday evening said that many of Daesh’s foreign commanders have fled to areas north of Mosul. Meanwhile, Daesh executed around 100 Iraqi Daesh members who had deserted the fight. They were gathered up in raids throughout the city on Sunday and Monday. [ARA]

 

The Kata’eb Al-Mosul anti-Daesh resistance group shot and killed three Daesh fighters on Tuesday who had taken positions in a trench in Al-Karama neighborhood to fight Iraqi troops advancing from Kokjali, the KM announced. [KM Facebook page]

 

Conditions in Mosul

A Ninewa Police officer says Daesh launched a new executions wave in Mosul at dawn on Wednesday, putting at least 180 people to death in three squares in central Mosul after capturing them in eastern Mosul. The victims included former employees of the Elections Commission, police, military, and doctors who refused to treat Daesh wounded, he said. [BasNews]

 

Daesh has called on its members in Mosul to reduce their meals and to fast, a local source said. Daesh has attempted to justify this using a scene from the famous 1976 film Al-Risala [the Message], a dramatization of the life of the Prophet Mohammed, the source said. However the source said that the real reason is that Daesh has lost control of major food stores in the Bartella area, destroyed by Coalition bombing, causing a food shortages in Mosul. The Daesh propaganda refers to the scene in the film dramatizing the struggle between the early Muslim community and the Quraish tribe, which was blocking the supply of food to the Muslims at that time, the source explained. Daesh has exhorted its members to react with resilience and patience as the Muslims are depicted doing in the film. [Sumaria]

DaeshDaily comment: Under any other circumstances Daesh would not likely tolerate the showing of this film.

 

Daesh says four women were killed and seventeen people, including women and children, were wounded by an “American” airstrike on Hay Al-Quds in Mosul. [A3maq]

Daesh issues a video of the results of the airstrike. [A3maq]

 

Daesh issues a video of targeting Iraqi forces with a vehicle bomb near Mosul. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Shura/Hammam Alil

The IFP commander says his troops captured 10 villages south of Hammam Al-Alil, killing 22 terrorists and destroying 6 vehicle bombs, 4 vehicles, 4 rocket launchers, and 82 IEDs. [Sumaria]

In an earlier story it was reported that the IFP captured Minkar, Bazwana, Kharar, Shaloub, Al-Qasba, Khusfan, Al-Qahira, Munira, Nazzaza, Amrini, and Bu Ghalawin), between Shura and Hammam Al-Alil, according to IWMC announcements and the IFP. [Baghdadia] [Sumaria] [Sumaria] [Ghad] [Baghdadia] [PUKMedia]

 

The manager of Hammam Al-Alil subdistrict says the IFP has completely surrounded Hammam Al-Alil.  [Sumaria]

 

The Sayyid Al-Shuhada Shia PMF general secretary said his PMF militia repelled a Daesh attack involving multiple vehicle bombs in the village of Kharbat Al-Yazidi southwest of Mosul, captured by PMFs yesterday. [Sumaria]

The advancing PMFs also captured the villages of Al-Rahmaniya and the Tal Al-Saif archaeological village. [Ghad] [Ghad]

 

The PMF media office announced that PMFs had captured six strategic points from Daesh that would restrict Daesh’s supply lines on the front west of Mosul. PMFs killed 47 Daesh members and destroyed five vehicle bombs, the announcement also said. PMFs captured 115 square km (44 square miles) on Wednesday bringing the total to 705 square km (272 square miles) in five days, the PMF office said. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh said on Tuesday it attacked the Iraqi Army and PMFs near Khabirat village northwest of Shura, killing or wounding several fighters. [Isdarat]

 

Daesh publishes photos of battles near Shura. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Qayara

Joint Forces are in control of the strategic national oil pipeline south of Mosul. [Buratha]

 

PMFs captured the village of Ayn Jahsh a security source said. PMFs killed 25 Daesh fighters in the village, the IWMC announced. [Mawazin] [AIN]

 

Nineveh Plain

“Tens” of suicide attackers were killed by Counter Terrorism Service troops who besieged them in Kokjali just east of Mosul during clearing operations, Sumaria’s correspondent says. [Sumaria]

 

Counter Terrorism troops brought down a Daesh drone in Kokjali that had been rigged with explosives, according to an officer in the service’s elite Golden Division. [Rudaw]

 

The Golden Division commander said his troops discovered a large Daesh tunnel in Kokjali. [BasNews]

 

Bashiqa

Iraqi Army troops captured the village of Baybukhat, populated predominantly by members of the Shabak minority, near Bashiqa, a security source said. The troops also captured the nearby Tigris City Mall and crossroads leading to nearby Mosul Falls. [Mada]

 

Daesh issues a video of targeting Peshmerga positions northeast of Mosul with 2 mortar shells. [A3maq]

 

Hamdaniya

A Christian KRG Parliament member says Daesh moved tens of kidnapped Christian women from Mosul to Raqqa. He says Daesh had kidnapped 147 Christian women from Nineveh Plain, but the Christian community didn’t want to publicize the issue in the media. [Ghad]

 

The Ninewa Liberation commander says 750 displaced people arrived at camps in Jada’a and Al-Khazer. He also says 76 families have left Jada’a and returned to their houses in liberated areas in Ninewa. [Sumaria]

 

The ROJ news agency has been visiting the displaced persons camp in Khazer and speaking to displaced Iraqis who fled Daesh. One man who arrived in the camp a few days ago describes the harsh conditions he lived under. He said most of the Daesh members he encountered were foreigners who spoke Arabic and Turkish to one another. [ROJ]

 

Daesh says it destroyed an Iraqi Army Humvee near Ali Rash village near Qaraqosh. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says it damaged an Iraqi Army Abrams tank near Jalaiwkhan village, near Ali Rash. [A3maq]

 

Tel Keif

Daesh publishes a photo of some of its fighters in Tel Keif. [Isdarat]

Daesh said on Tuesday that three PMF fighters were wounded when they fell in a land mine field in the Farms area west of Tel Keif. [Isdarat]

DaeshDaily comment. Not another land mine story!

 

Northwest (Tal Afar, Sinjar)

Daesh is holding 400 Shia and Yazidi women in Tal Afar, a female Iraqi Shia Turkmen MP said. [BasNews]

DaeshDaily comment. For some reason, the issue of Shia women enslaved by Daesh is not widely mentioned in the media.

 

PMF surveillance drones observed Daesh fighters fleeing the advancing PMFs, leaving the area of the Ghuzayl villages and moving towards Salihiya near the Syria border, the IWMC announced. [Ghad]

 

Daesh says its snipers killed two Peshmerga fighters near the Ayadhiya area north of Tal Afar. [A3maq]

Daesh said on Tuesday its snipers killed a PMF fighter and wounded another in the Ain Al-Baidha area. [Isdarat]

 

PMFs have seized control over the hills overlooking the Adaya intersection (the junction for the road leading to Adaya), the IWMC announced. [Ghad]

The Hezbollah (Iraq) PMF militia shelled Daesh positions in Adaya, reportedly killing and injuring “tens” of Daesh fighters. [Buratha]

 

PMFs found Turkish gear, supplies, and uniforms in a captured Daesh center in a village on the Western Front, according to an unidentified source in the Western Front. [Mawazin]

 

REPORTS FROM TURKEY

 

Turkish military sources say military reinforcements arrived in Kilis on the border with Syria, to support the opposition groups in the battles against Daesh in north Aleppo. [ARA]

 

Security sources say Counter Terrorism units captured 8 Syrians in Kocaeli who are suspected of belonging to Daesh. [Anadolu]

 

REPORTS FROM SYRIA

 

Syrian Human Rights organizations says 1,451 people, including 210 children and 138 women, were killed in Syria during the month of October. [ARA]

 

Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, says a U.S. airstrike in Syria on October 17 killed Haydar Kirkan, a senior Al Qaeda leader who once had ties to Usama bin Laden.

The spokesman says Kirkan oversaw the planning of attacks against Western targets outside of Syria, including in Turkey. [ARA] [Anadolu]

 

The Coalition says it did not conduct airstrikes yesterday on Daesh targets in Syria. [InherentResolve]

 

Northeast (Hasaka, Raqqa)

Hasaka

The Turkish Army deployed military forces and vehicles on the borders near Qahtaniya city in far northeast Hasaka while Turkish planes fly over the area. [Hawar]

 

Local sources say Daesh executed 2 of its members in Markada city after accusing them of trying to flee. [ARA]

 

The SOHR says a 12-year-old girl was shot and killed by Turkish border guards while she was trying to cross the border with her family near Malikiyah north of Hasaka. [SyriaHR]

 

The SOHR says clashes erupted between Daesh and the SDF south of Shaddadi. [SyriaHR]

 

Raqqa

The SOHR says suspected Russian planes targeted areas north of the Division 17 area north of Raqqa. [SyriaHR]

 

Northwest (Aleppo, Idlib)

Aleppo city

The Russian Minister of Defense says Putin ordered a cease fire, starting Friday morning, in Aleppo. [ARA]

 

Azaz

The Turkish military says Daesh made use of the bad weather on Tuesday, and captured several villages south of Akhtarin. It says three opposition group fighters were killed and four wounded in the attack. It also says it targeted 80 Daesh positions north of Aleppo. [ARA]

 

Daesh recaptured Akhtarin after the Turkish Army and opposition groups withdrew from the city. [Hawar]

 

Opposition groups recaptured Akhtarin hours after Daesh captured the city. [Qasioun]

An opposition group commander says the opposition, supported by the Turkish artillery, recaptured 6 villages (2 southeast of Mare’ and 4 southwest of Akhtarin) after heavy battles with Daesh. The opposition killed 14 Daesh terrorists and captured 2 in the battles. [ARA] [ARA] [Qasioun]

 

The Turkish artillery continued its shelling on Um Hawsh, Harbal, and the Shahba Dam south of Mare’. [Hawar]

 

Daesh issues a video of its Tuesday attack on “PKK” armed men east of the Infantry School. [A3maq]

Daesh publishes photos of the battles with the “PKK” east of the Aleppo Industrial Area. [Isdarat]

 

Daesh issues a video of some of the villages it recaptured from opposition groups. [A3maq]

 

Afrin

800 displaced people arrived in Afrin from Mosul and several Syrian areas on Wednesday. [Hawar]

 

The Turkish Minister of Defense and several senior officers arrived in helicopters at a Turkish border station near Afrin. [Hawar]

 

Manbij

Daesh says it killed or wounded ten “PKK armed men” with several IEDs in villages south of Manbij on Tuesday. [A3maq]

 

Aleppo City

Two civilians were killed and tens wounded by Syrian airstrikes on several areas west of Aleppo. Opposition groups responded by targeting western areas in Aleppo city, killing two civilians and wounding others. [Hawar]

 

Other Northwest Syria

A suspected Coalition drone targeted a civilian vehicle in Kafr Takharim town in Idlib province, killing two men. A Qasioun reporter claims the two men were civilians. [Qasioun]

DaeshDaily comment. A couple of similar airstrikes have killed senior Al-Qaeda leaders. 

 

Russian planes conducted more than 12 airstrikes on several areas in Saraqib city in Idlib province, killing at least eight people, and wounding fifty. [Qasioun]

Dorar and EnabBaladi say the airstrikes were conducted by Syrian planes. [Dorar] [EnabBaladi]

 

Central and West (Homs, Hama, etc.)

Heavy battles continued for the third day between the Syrian Army, supported by allied militias, and Daesh east of Tadmur. Syrian warplanes intensified their airstrikes on the Sukhnah areas, wounding several civilians. [Qasioun]

 

Daesh publishes photos of targeting Syrian Army positions with heavy machine guns in the Huwaisis area, east of Homs. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Daesh publishes photos of its terrorists targeting Syrian Army positions in Aqareb Al-Safi village, east of Hama. [DawaAlhaq]

 

East (Deir Ez-Zor)

Heavy battles erupted between the Syrian Army, supported by allied militias, and Daesh in the Deir Ez-Zor Military Airport area, and near Hay Al-Sinaa in the city. Syrian planes targeted Daesh positions near the Panorama and Tharda Mountain areas. [Qasioun] [Qasioun]

Daesh arrested a young man from Al-Harri town near Albu Kamal, after accusing him of cooperating with the Coalition. [Qasioun]

Local sources say Daesh arrested 82 people from Hawayej village west of Deir Ez-Zor after accusing them of cooperating with the SDF. [Qasioun]

 

South (Rif Damashq, Suwayda, Daraa, etc.)

Daesh publishes photos of its terrorists in the Al-Hajar Al-Aswad area. [DawaAlhaq]

 

OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA REPORTS

 

North Africa

Egypt

Daesh said on Tuesday that it killed or wounded several Egyptian Army soldiers by detonating an IED on their armored vehicle east of Qasima city. [Isdarat]

 

Medical sources say a civilian was killed by unknown armed men in the Coast area in Arish. [VetoGate]

 

A security source says unknown armed men shot and killed a woman in Rafah. [VetoGate]

 

Libya

Northeast

A medical source says two children were wounded when a shell fell on their house in the Laithi area in Benghazi. [Wasat]

 

Central coast

AFRICOM says it conducted 14 airstrikes on Daesh positions in Sirte on Monday, raising the total number of airstrikes to 367. [Wasat]

 

The GNA Military says it captured more Daesh positions in the Giza area. The GNA Military had issued a last warning to Daesh terrorists to surrender on Tuesday. [Wasat] [AfriGate]

 

A Misrata Hospital source says four GNA fighters were killed and eighteen wounded in battles with Daesh in Sirte. [Wasat]

A medical source says a GNA field commander was killed by a Daesh sniper in the Giza area. [Wasat]

 

Daesh says GNA fighters, supported by Coalition planes, attacked the Giza area in Sirte. Daesh says it killed or wounded eighteen GNA fighters in the battles. [Isdarat]

 

Daesh says it assassinated two GNA fighters within the Gharbiyat area in Sirte. [A3maq]

 

Tunisia

The Tunisian Ministry of Interior says security units captured a takfiri in Mansouba in the Tunis area and accused him of trying to join a terrorist organization abroad. [Tunisien]

 

Other countries

Pakistan

Daesh says it assassinated a policeman in Peshawar. [A3maq]

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

 

Videos of the Day

Videos of IAA strikes on Daesh south and east of Mosul [MoD][YouTube]

 

A video of Iraqi forces in Kokjali [MoD] [MoD]

 

A video of a Coalition airstrike on a Daesh fighting position near Mosul on Oct 22 [CJTF]

 

A video of a Daesh vehicle bomb factory captured by Iraqi forces in Bazwaya [MoD]

 

DAESH MEDIA

 

Daesh audio newsletter for today [Bayan]

 

Daesh issues infographic about the use of white phosphorus by US forces in the Mosul battles. [A3maq]

 

November 1, 2016

Kokjali

Kokjali

Today’s Major Developments

Counter Terrorism troops blast into eastern Mosul, seize several villages. [..]

Turkish troops mass near Iraqi border. Al-Abadi issues a warning. [..]

Al-Abadi orders Ninewa government offices to resume operations. [..]

Daesh estimated to hold 50,000 people from south Mosul villages as human shield hostages. [..]

US criticizes Turkey’s arrests of opposition journalists. [..]

Pentagon reiterates that Raqqa campaign will start within weeks; nixes Erdogan timetable. [..]

Daesh kidnaps, kills 30 civilians in Afghanistan. [..]

 

REPORTS FROM IRAQ

 

NATIONAL NEWS

Turkish tanks and armored vehicles are massing near the Iraqi border in the Turkish governorate of Silopi, according to “military sources.” [Sumaria]

Turkey’s defense minister said that the tanks are deploying in preparation for any developments to “fight terrorism” in Turkey and outside of Turkey. [Anadolu]

 

Iraqi PM Haidar Al-Abadi said that any Turkish incursion into Iraq would result in the “dismantling” of Turkey itself. “Iraq does not want war with Turkey but we are ready for it,” he said. [Hawar]

 

However, Turkey’s Foreign Minister said the Bashiqa base has caused “meaningless tension” between his country and Iraq and cited ongoing diplomatic measures trying to ease that tension. [Anadolu]

 

Al-Abadi says the Iraqi Government cares for the people of Tal Afar more than other people do. He says the danger of Turkish military interference in Iraq is still there. [Sumaria]

 

Abadi says there have been no recorded PMF violations against civilians in the Ninewa battles. He also says some (Iraqi) politicians are using Daesh propaganda against Iraqi forces, describing that as treason. [Sumaria]

 

The UN reports that 1,120 civilians were killed in October and 1,005 wounded. (The total includes 15 federal police, Sahwa civil defense, Personal Security Details, facilities protection police, and fire department personnel.

A total of 672 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (including police engaged in combat functions, Peshmerga, SWAT and militias fighting alongside the Iraqi Army, not including Anbar Operations) were killed and 353 were injured (not including casualties from Anbar).

Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate with 1,075 civilian casualties (268 killed, 807 injured). Ninewa had 566 killed and 59 injured, Kirkuk 58 killed and 112 injured, Salahuddin 16 killed and 2 injured, and Diyala 4 killed and 2 injured.

According to information obtained by UNAMI from the Health Directorate in Anbar, the Governorate suffered a total of 227 civilian casualties (206 killed and 21 injured). [UNIraq]  This would make the total civilian toll 1,326 killed and 1,026 injured.

 

The Coalitions says it conducted 11 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Iraq, six in the Mosul area and five in Anbar—in Baghdadi (1), Haditha (1), and Rawa (3). [InherentResolve]

DaeshDaily comment. The last number is probably significant.

 

In a response to a question from journalists, the Coalition spokesman Colonel John Dorrian says the Coalition will provide air cover for the PMFs if Prime Minister Abadi asks for that. [Mada]

DaeshDaily comment. The US has never refused to provide PMFs with air cover to our knowledge, but Iran-connected Shia militia leaders insisted long ago that they would not fight if they had to do it with American air cover. Once it became obvious that the PMFs could not back up their talk, Al-Abadi shifted Army tactics to make Coalition air cover integral to anti-Daesh military operations, and also built up IAF assets with Coalition help. This marginalized the Shia PMFs and reduced Iran’s role in the liberation.  

 

BAGHDAD

Security-related incidents reported

East (Sadr City, New Baghdad, etc.)

A security source says a Central Court judge survived an assassination attempt when unknown armed men shot at his vehicle on Palestine Street. [Mada]

 

Southeast (Mada’in, etc.)

An MoI source says two people were killed and six wounded when an IED exploded near car dealerships in Nahrawan. [Mada]

 

South (Dora, Yusufiyah, Mahmudiya, etc.)

Iraqi Army 23rd brigade destroyed a Daesh suicide terrorist guesthouse and 5 IEDs in the Shiraifat and Fadhla areas. [BOC Facebook Page]

Iraqi Army 55th brigade found an IED in the Mullah Rushdi area. [BOC Facebook Page]

Daesh publishes photos of destroying an Iraqi Army armored vehicle with an IED in Arab Jubour. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Southwest (Rasheed, etc.)

An MoI source says two people were killed and five wounded when an IED exploded near a commercial area in Bayya’. [Mada]

An MoI source says one person was killed and seven wounded when an IED exploded near a livestock market in Suwaib. Another MoI source says two people were killed and thirteen wounded by two IED explosions in Suwaib. [Mada] [Anadolu]

An MoI source says one person was killed and seven wounded when an IED exploded near a commercial area in Saidiya. [Mada]

 

Total Baghdad incidents reported:   8     (Includes only incidents reported)

    Total IED incidents:                             7

 

ANBAR

The Directorate of Displacement and Migration in Anbar says more than 85,000 displaced families have returned to their houses in the governorate so far. [Sumaria]

 

Falluja

A Tribal PMF commander says security forces allowed displaced families to return to their houses in two areas in Qarma after defusing 200 IEDs and 19 booby-trapped houses. [Mada]

 

A military source says Iraqi Army 8th division found 40 IEDs and 2 explosives vests in the Albu Daaij area south of Falluja. [Sumaria]

 

Ramadi

Daesh says it detonated an IED on a PMF car in the Sijjariya area on Sunday. Daesh says people were killed or wounded during the explosion. [A3maq]

 

SALAHUDDIN (No reports)

 

DIYALA

Baquba/southeast Diyala

The MoD says the Intelligence Service found an ammunition cache that was intended for use against Shia pilgrims in the Saad Camp area. [Harbi]

 

The Dijla Operations Commander says his troops captured three men wanted on terrorism charges and confiscated explosives in an agricultural area north of Baquba. [Sumaria]

 

Muqdadiya/Abu Saida

The Chairman of the Muqdadiya District Council says a farmer was killed when an IED exploded in Qalaa village, 13 km (8 miles) north of Muqdadiya. He says Daesh is using the Khailaniya orchards, 15 km (9 miles) north of Muqdadiya, to infiltrate liberated areas in the district. He says 7 security breaches happened during the last 2 weeks. He also says 40,000 people have returned to their houses in the liberated villages north of Muqdadiya. [Sumaria] [Sumaria]

 

KIRKUK

Kirkuk

A Kirkuk Police commander says the police captured 2 Daesh terrorists in Kirkuk city. [Sumaria]

 

Hawija

A PMF commander says a Daesh leader and one of his associates were killed by young men from Hawija. He says the dead terrorist was responsible for mutilating the bodies of 3 Iraqi pilots when their recon plane went down in Hawija on March 16. [Sumaria]

 

A security source says four civilians were killed and nine wounded on the road between Riyadh and Rashad when a Daesh IED exploded on them while they were trying to escape Daesh controlled areas. [Sumaria]

 

NINEWA

A report cites “official sources” who say that the appointed governor of Ninewa, Nawfal Al-Akoub, has negotiated with the Dawa Party to allow his brother, Faisal Al-Akoub, a Daesh leader, to enter Erbil with his family. According to the report, the negotiations involved the possibility of opening militia (PMF) centers in Mosul in exchange for slipping his brother and his family out of his current location in Qayara to Erbil. [Karemlash]

 

Mosul

Mosul liberation campaign

The Counter Terrorism Service announced it is in control of Kokjali after fighting in the area Tuesday, while Iraqi troops have captured and raised the Iraqi flag over the broadcasting complex west of Kokjali. Iraqi troops have approached the southeastern Mosul neighborhoods of Sumer, Intisar, Palestine, and Yarmjah, a military statement said.

Fighting is ongoing between Daesh and advancing Iraqi troops in neighborhoods on the Mosul’s eastern edge and neighboring suburbs. Daesh is mounting stiff resistance in some areas with snipers, mortars, and rockets, but Iraqi troops are continuing to advance while residents raise white flags, according to a SotAlIraq correspondent. [SotAlIraq] [Baghdadia] [Rudaw]

The elite Golden Division of the CTS killed 35 Daesh fighters in the Kokjali area just east of Mosul and destroyed three vehicle bombs, the division commander announced. [Waradana]

 

A Ninewa Police captain says Daesh arrested 200 young men from east Mosul after accusing them of cooperating with Iraqi forces. [BasNews]

 

The PMF Press says Daesh has female suicide bombers moving with displaced families in the Kokjali area. [Harbi]

 

Daesh says it destroyed an Abrams tank and a PMF armored personnel carrier and Humvee on the outskirts of the Kokjali area. [A3maq] [A3maq]

Daesh says it conducted a suicide attack on Iraqi SWAT forces near Kokjali. [A3maq]

Daesh says its terrorists captured 2 Humvees in addition to weapons on the outskirts of Kokjali. [A3maq]

Daesh issues a video of battles “on the outskirts” of the Kokjali area. [A3maq]

 

Iraqi Counter Terrorism units entered the first Mosul neighborhood on the eastern front, storming the Al-Samah neighborhood Tuesday afternoon, a security source said. Daesh fighters have withdrawn from Al-Samah to the Al-Karma neighborhood, the source added. [Mada]

After capturing Al-Samah, the Counter Terrorism units moved toward the Al-Zuhur neighborhood, a military source said. [Ghad]

 

The Counter Terrorism Service has “made great advances” on the eastern front, with “high coordination on all operations fronts,” the agency’s spokesman said. [Mada]

 

A CTS source said that Daesh members fled with their families from the Al-Quds neighborhood after Iraqi troops stormed the area on the eastern edge of Mosul. However a neighborhood resident reported heavy street fighting between Daesh militants and Iraqi troops. [Baghdadia] [SotAlIraq]

 

A local source says Daesh terrorists are fleeing Mosul after getting orders from leaders in Syria. [Mawazin]

A Ninewa Provincial Council member says Daesh issued orders to its terrorists to leave for Syria. He says Mosul streets are almost empty of Daesh terrorists. [Sumaria]

 

Iraqi troops have entered the Mosul neighborhood of Juwayda Mufti, after seizing the villages of Sheherazad and Khuwaitala on the eastern outskirts, the IWMC announced. Separately the deputy commander of the Ninth Armored Division made a similar statement. [Mada] [Ghad]

 

Daesh families are “fleeing in a panic” from homes in the areas of confrontation between Daesh and Joint Forces, a local source said. The flight began at around 11:00 am local time Tuesday, the source added. [Mada]

Residents of the battle zone are reportedly hearing Daesh fighters calling out for help, but not receiving any response. [PressIraq]

 

A “source inside Mosul Operations” said that “Abu Tariq Al-Hayali,” the commander of Daesh’s “Jund Al-Khilafa” (Soldiers of the Caliphate) has been killed along with seven of his associates in an airstrike in central Mosul. The strike came in response to precise intelligence information, the source said. [Sumaria]

 

The IWMC says Iraqi F-16s conducted several airstrikes on Daesh targets in Mosul, killing 29 and wounding 25 in Ghabat, killing 10 and wounding 15 at a Daesh headquarters, killing 67 at the Ninewa Hotel, and killing ten in a weapons storehouse. [Anadolu]

 

Daesh has attempted to move about 25,000 civilians from surrounding areas into Mosul for use as human shields, the UN High Commission for Human Rights spokeswoman said. [Baghdadia]

 

A member of the Ninewa PC says 50 Daesh leaders fled Mosul using motorcycles. He says the terrorists are using bikes and motorcycles to avoid airstrikes. [Mawazin]

 

The IWMC says Iraqi forces found several Daesh vehicle bomb factories, in addition to weapons and explosives storehouses north of Mosul. [Mawazin]

 

More than 400 displaced Iraqis arrived in the Hasaka area in Syria in the last two days, a humanitarian activist said. [ARA] [Hawar (photos)]

 

738 displaced persons were reportedly received in camps in Jada’a and Al-Khazer in Hamdaniya. [IPA] The Ninewa Liberation commander says Iraqi forces have received 1,760 displaced people in displacement camps in Jada’a and Al-Khazer. [Sumaria]

 

The UN has warned against the possibility of sectarian “revenge attacks” in Mosul by Iraqi troops and anti-Daesh militias. [Anadolu]

 

Iraqi Joint Forces have captured 1440 square km (556 square miles) in Ninewa governorate since the launch of the Mosul operations, the MoI announced. [Mada]

 

More than 2,000 Daesh fighters have been killed since the launch of the Mosul operations, Ninewa Operations Command announced. [ARA]

 

Other military developments in Mosul

Iraqi PM Haidar Al-Abadi called for Ninewa’s administrative units to resume providing basic services to citizens in the governorate. [Mada]

DaeshDaily comment. This is a really cool move, even though it can’t be implemented immediately, to put the government back in control at the earliest possible moment.

 

Daesh positions came under coordinated attack by local fighters in three different neighborhoods of eastern Mosul on Tuesday, a local source said. The source added that the attacks would help create gaps in Daesh’s defense lines. [Sumaria]

 

Heavy gunfighting has erupted between Daesh and local fighters in Mosul’s Muhandisin, Yarmouk, Wadi Hajar, and Sarjakhana neighborhoods, a security source said. [Waradana]

 

Unknown armed men shot dead a “Daesh prison official” in front of his house on Thursday in the Muhandisin neighborhood of eastern Mosul, a security source said [Waradana]

DaeshDaily comment: This appears to be a separate incident from the shooting death of a Daesh prison official reported yesterday.

 

Daesh has rounded up around 100 ex-officers of the former Iraqi security agencies in Mosul, fearing that they will organize an uprising against its rule in the city, according to the media advisor of the Ninewa GC. The detainees are being held in an old church in Bab Al-Bayd in central Mosul. [Sumaria]

Daesh has been forcing youth and adult men in eastern areas of Mosul into their Daesh vehicles and taking them off to unknown locations without giving reasons for the detentions, according to “eyewitnesses.” [PressIraq]

 

Daesh has begun evacuating “tens of” its wounded fighters from Mosul’s hospitals and transferring them to unknown locations, a local source said. Groups of Daesh militants have also been dismantling medical facilities and equipment and taking them to unknown locations, the source added. [Sumaria]

 

Shura/Hammam Alil

The IFP reportedly captured several villages north of Shura. [IPA]

The Joint Operations Command (JOC) announced Iraqi Joint Forces control over the Baghdad-Mosul highway as far as Hammam Al-Alil. [Maalomah]

 

The Interior Ministry has announced that it is establishing new police brigades to hold newly captured territory in Ninewa. Police stations have been re-opened in Qayara, Shura, and Hammam Al-Alil, the ministry announced. [Mada]

 

A Ninewa Provincial Council member says Daesh moved more than 50,000 civilians from 26 villages south of Mosul in order to use them as human shield in Mosul and Tal Afar. [Mada]

Coalition planes prevented “tens” of Daesh vehicles from detaining residents in the Hammam Al-Alil area to bring them to Mosul for use as human shields, the UNHCR said, praising the Coalition efforts. [ARA]

 

Daesh says it conducted 2 suicide attack with vehicle bombs on PMF gathering in Abu Shuweih village southwest of Mosul. [A3maq]

Daesh publishes photos of battles near Abu Shuweih village. [DawaAlhaq] [Isdarat]

Daesh says it conducted a suicide attack with a vehicle bomb on a PMF gathering near Khabirat village north of Al-Jurn. [A3maq]

 

Saraya Ansar Al-Aqida captured the villages of Jurn and Zarqa southwest of Mosul, inflicting heavy casualties on Daesh and destroying a Humvee rigged with explosives in the process, the PMF’s media unit announced. [Buratha]

 

A military source says the PMFs liberated Abu Idham village southwest of Mosul. [Harbi]

PMFs liberated 5 more villages southwest of Mosul, including Kaween and Kharbat Al-Yazidi. The PMFs have liberated 46 villages so far for a total area of 590 square km (230 square miles). [Harbi]

Daesh says it conducted two suicide attacks on PMF gatherings in Kaween and Kharbat Al-Yazidi villages near Al-Jurn. [A3maq]

 

Nujaba Movement says it destroyed two Daesh vehicle bombs near Al-Saif village west of Mosul. It also says it captured 8 villages in the area so far. [Sumaria]

 

Another report cites a security source who says that PMFs “liberated hundreds of villages” west of Mosul and destroyed four Daesh guesthouses in Al-Fas village. [Maalomah]

 

Qayara

Joint Forces ground troops have killed 778 Daesh fighters on the Mosul campaign’s southern front since the launch of operations, while Iraqi aircraft killed 375 on the same front and Coalition warplanes killed 149, the MoI announced. [Mada]

 

Nineveh Plain

Bashiqa

A security source says Iraqi Army 16th division liberated Baibokht, a Shabak village in Bashiqa subdistrict west of Bashiqa city and destroyed 2 Daesh vehicle bombs. [Mada]

Daesh says it conducted a suicide attack on a Peshmerga gathering near Baibokht village. [A3maq]

 

A displaced Iraqi in a camp in Khazer has said that earlier Turkish shelling from the Bashiqa camp only harmed civilians and did not inflict any damage on Daesh. [ROJ]

 

A Japanese journalist has been arrested near Bashiqa by KRG security agents on allegations of ties to Daesh. [ARA]

However, a Peshmerga media official refuted the report and says the Peshmerga didn’t capture any Japanese journalist. [Sumaria]

 

Hamdaniya

Iraqi troops have reportedly captured a group of villages southeast of Mosul and north of the Great Zab River. [IPA]

 

Photos of a Daesh tunneling machine captured by Peshmerga fighters east of Mosul. [BasNews]

 

Tel Keif

Iraqi troops captured the villages of Abbas Hussein and Rahat Aghawat, the IWMC announced. Troops have cleared the Mosul Falls area and are advancing on Bawiza. [Ghad]

 

Peshmerga fighters destroyed an attacking Daesh vehicle bomb north of Mosul, a source in the KRG’s Peshmerga Ministry said. [BasNews]

 

Daesh says 2 joint PMF Peshmerga convoys fell into two land mine fields—in the Farms area and near the Kafraj Camp, west of Tel Keif. [A3maq]

DaeshDaily comment. Daesh has a seemingly unlimited supply of stories about enemy fighters falling into Daesh land mine fields. It’s the same story; only the places are changed.

 

Northwest (Tal Afar, Sinjar)

The PMFs deputy commander says the PMFs will isolated Mosul from the west then move ahead to Tal Afar. He also says Daesh is resisting fiercely in areas west of Mosul. [Anadolu]

 

PMFs announced that they captured six villages on the western front. [IPA] [Sumaria]

 

The Badr PMF announced Tuesday that it found the largest network of Daesh tunnels in the western sector in the newly captured village of Farfara west of Mosul. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh said it shot down a Peshmerga recon drone in Al-Ashiq village east of Tal Afar. [A3maq]

 

KURDISTAN

The Turkish Army says its planes attacked several YPG positions in the Afashin and Zab areas. [ARA]

 

SOUTHERN IRAQ

Basra

The director of Border Crossings says a Speicher Massacre suspect was captured in the Safwan Border Crossing coming from Kuwait. [Baghdadia]

 

REPORTS FROM TURKEY

 

Officials from the United States and Europe criticized the detention of executives and columnists from the critical daily Cumhuriyet newspaper. The U.S. State Department says it supports Turkey’s efforts to locate those responsible for the attempted coup, but was deeply concerned by the continuing pressure on the news media.

“The United States is deeply concerned by what appears to be an increase in official pressure on opposition media outlets in Turkey,” U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a press conference, as he stressed the “diverse expressions of views.” “Democracies become stronger by allowing diverse expressions of views, particularly in difficult times,” he said. [Hurriyet]

 

REPORTS FROM SYRIA

 

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook says the Coalition plans to launch operations within weeks to isolate the Syrian city of Raqqa. This came hours after Ankara said the Raqqa operation should start after the end of the Mosul campaign and Turkey’s Euphrates Shield operations in northern Syria.

He says “We all feel it’s important to maintain pressure on (Daesh) at this particular moment in time, while they’re feeling the heat in Mosul.” He also says “The effort to liberate Raqqa will begin, as the secretary [U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter] said, within a matter of weeks.” [Hurriyet]

DaeshDaily comment. Someone in Washington finally said that Washington will not take orders from Turkey. Hopefully, this starts a new trend.

 

Bashar Al-Assad told western journalists that he will remain president until the “end of his term” in 2021. Asad won the “elections” in May 2014 with 88.7%. [Arabi21]

DaeshDaily comment. His Excellency is so modest, for a Baathist. Saddam once won the election with 99.98%, but he corrected it in the following elections and got 100%.

 

Northeast (Hasaka, Raqqa)

Hasaka

The YPG says it stopped a Daesh attack on Makman village, southwest of Hasaka. [Hawar]

 

Daesh says it killed two SDF fighters (“PKK” members, in its new propaganda terms) and wounded four others with an IED west of Rmeilan city northeast of Hasaka on Monday. [A3maq]

 

Raqqa

The SOHR says several SDF fighters were killed or wounded by an IED attack on their vehicle east of Tal Abyad. [SyriaHR]

 

Northwest (Aleppo, Idlib)

Aleppo city

The Syrian Army shelled and rocketed several areas in east Aleppo, killing six civilians and wounding others. Opposition groups shelled government-held areas in Aleppo killing two civilians and wounding tens. [Hawar]

 

Nusra Front (Fath Al-Sham) says the Syrian Army is bringing military reinforcements through areas east of Aleppo. It says Daesh can target these reinforcements easily, but it doesn’t. [Qasioun]

 

Jarabulus

Daesh says it recaptured Salwa village, south of Ghandoura, from Turkey-backed opposition groups. [A3maq]

 

Al-Bab

SDF factions say they stopped a Daesh attack on the liberated villages in the Tal Madhiq area. [Hawar]

An SDF source says at least 3 Daesh terrorists and two SDF fighters were killed in the battles. [ARA]

 

Azaz

Turkish Army and opposition groups targeted SDF-held villages (Hasiya, Um Hawsh, Um Al-Qura, Harbal, and Sheikh Eissa) with artillery and heavy weapons. There were no reports about casualties. [Hawar]

A local activist says opposition groups stopped an SDF attack on 3 villages between Mare’ and Azaz. [ARA] [Qasioun]

 

An opposition commander says Daesh launched a massive attack in the Akhtarin area and captured several villages. [ARA] [ARA]

Another report says Daesh recaptured 12 villages from Turkey backed opposition groups, while the opposition captured Al-Ghawz village. [Qasioun]

Daesh’s version says it recaptured 12 villages south of Akhtarin from Turkey-backed opposition groups. Daesh also says it stopped an opposition attack on Al-Ghawz village, killing three fighters. [A3maq]

Daesh publishes photos of the “battles”. [Isdarat]

DaeshDaily comment. The photos don’t show any battles actually. They only show some Daesh terrorists here and there. The YPG accuses the opposition groups of “handing over” the villages, and large quantities of weapons, to Daesh.

 

Daesh says it attacked “PKK” positions east of the Infantry School and captured several areas near Tal Sha’er. [A3maq]

 

Afrin

The YPG says opposition groups in Azaz targeted YPG position in Maraanaz with heavy weapons. It also says in stopped an opposition groups attack in the Kaljibrin area. [Hawar]

 

Other Northwest Syria

350 displaced people arrived to the Mabrouka Camp in Jazeera after escaping Daesh controlled areas in Deir Ez-Zor and Raqqa. The camp management say it accommodates the current displaced people but fears larger waves of displacement and seek help from international organizations. [Hawar]

 

Central and West (Homs, Hama, etc.)

A local activist says Daesh launched a massive attack on Syrian Army positions near the Tadmur Silos area. He says Syrian troops withdrew from several positions, allowing Russian warplanes to target Daesh. [ARA]

 

The SOHR says warplanes targeted several areas near the oilfields, in addition to Taiba and Sukhnah cities east of Homs. [SyriaHR]

 

East (Deir Ez-Zor)

The Coalitions says it conducted 2 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Syria, near Deir Ez-Zor. [InherentResolve]

 

A local activist says Russian planes targeted Daesh controlled areas in Deir Ez-Zor, killing three civilians, including a child. He also says Daesh shelled government controlled areas, wounding tens of civilians. Battles continued between Daesh and the Syrian Army in Deir Ez-Zor city and near the Deir Ez-Zor Airport. [ARA]

 

Daesh issued a video of beheading two men and shooting the third with an anti-aircraft machine gun after accusing them of “spying” for the Coalition and the New Syria Army. Daesh says it has detailed reports about “all the spies” in the areas it controlled. The video shows training of New Syria Army units in Jordan, in addition to an alleged intercepted phone call of the leader of the Army saying he would leave his mission in Syria and go back to Turkey. [Isdarat]

DaeshDaily comment. The New Syria Army launched an attack on Daesh in the Albu Kamal area in late June. Daesh stopped the attack and killed 40 fighters and captured 15. Daesh is losing and pulling out an old video is expected from them in such times.

 

OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA REPORTS

 

North Africa

Egypt

The Egyptian Army says it destroyed an SUV rigged with explosives in North Sinai. It says the vehicle was planned to be used in an attack on security forces. [Sumaria]

 

A soldier was killed when an IED exploded on his patrol in the Bir Lahfan area south of Arish. [VetoGate]

 

A security source says security units destroyed 3 IEDs in two areas south of Sheikh Zuweid. [ElWatan]

 

A security source says one policeman was killed and a police captain and another policeman wounded when an IED exploded on their armored vehicle in Central Sinai. [VetoGate]

 

Daesh says it killed one Egyptian soldier and wounded others with an IED near the Israeli border in Sinai. [A3maq]

VetoGate reported yesterday that a Central Security member was killed and two others wounded when an IED exploded on their armored vehicle in the Bir Ma’in area, in Central Sinai.

 

Libya

Northeast

Medical sources say an LNA EOD member died from wounds he sustained in an IED explosion in the Qawarsha area. [Wasat]

 

Central coast

A GNA military source says Daesh established a temporary checkpoint in the Baghla area southwest of Sirte. The source also says Daesh terrorists are hiding in farms and caves in the area. [Libya24]

 

The GNA military issues a statement saying its troops are advancing slowly in the Giza area because Daesh is using civilians as human shields. [Libya24]

 

A local source says the GNA military freed 4 people, including a local artist, who were imprisoned by Daesh in a house in Giza. A medical source says one GNA soldier was killed and two wounded in the Giza battles on Tuesday. [Wasat]

 

GNA military sources say Daesh terrorists are offering to leave Sirte without a fight if they are provided with secure passage. [AfriGate]

 

Other countries

Afghanistan

A regional official says Daesh terrorists kidnapped and executed thirty civilians in Ghor Province. He says the police killed a Daesh commander on Monday, and Daesh kidnapped and killed the civilians in retaliation. [Reuters]

 

Daesh says it wounded a police officer and three policemen with an IED in Jalalabad city. [A3maq]

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

 

Videos of the Day

Iraq

Daesh vehicle bombs captured by Iraqi forces [YouTube]

Iraqi forces destroying 2 vehicle bombs in the Mosul area [YouTube]

 

Displaced families from Ninewa [Taghyeer] [Mawsleya]

 

A Daesh tunnel in Bartella [Mawsleya]

 

Rapid Intervention units in east Mosul [Twitter]

 

A Daesh communications center captured by Iraqi forces near Mosul [YouTube]

 

A detailed video about the Daesh attack in Kirkuk [Kurdistan24]

 

A 19-year-old Daesh fighter captured by PMFs in Rutba. [YouTube]

 

Syria

Displaced families from Al-Bab [Hawar]

 

OTHER DAESH MEDIA

 

Daesh audio newsletter for today [Bayan]

 

Daesh issues infographics about the results of the second week of the Mosul liberation operations. [A3maq]

 

Daesh publishes photos of several suicide terrorists who conducted attacks in Ninewa and Rutba. [DawaAlhaq]

 

A collection of new Daesh anthems [YouTube]

 

 

October 31, 2016

Children from Shura

Children from Shura

Today’s Major Developments

19,000 displaced families now back in Falluja. [..]

Nineveh Plain offensive reaches the edge of Mosul. [..]

Daesh fighters reported retreating from east Mosul. [..]

Daesh has captured 5,000 civilians from villages south of Mosul. [..]

16,000 civilians have now left Mosul to avoid military battles. [..]

Daesh executes 30 of its own fighters in Mosul. [..]

Prime Minister Al-Abadi visits the victorious troops in Shura.  [..]

Security directorate in Suleimaniya foils planned Daesh attack. [..]

Erdogan still blasting off about Raqqa campaign. [..]

Erdogan regime hits opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet with mass arrests. [..]

Both sides killing civilians in Aleppo. [..]

 

REPORTS FROM IRAQ

NATIONAL NEWS

The Coalitions says it conducted 9 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Iraq (near Mosul (3), Kasik (2), Sultan Abdullah (1), Tal Afar (1), Baiji (1), and Rawa (1)). [InherentResolve]

 

BAGHDAD

Security-related incidents reported

Northwest (Kadhimiya, etc.)

An MoI source says three people were killed and eighteen wounded when a car bomb exploded near a commercial area in Shula. [Mada]

Daesh says it detonated a parked car bomb on a “Shia gathering” in Shula. [A3maq]

 

North (Tarmiya, Taji, etc.)

Daesh says it detonated a vehicle bomb on a “Shia gathering” in Taji, killing nine people and wounding others. [A3maq]

Baghdad Operations Command says Iraqi Army 6th division defused 7 IEDs in the Mahmoudi area. [Harbi]

Daesh says it killed an Iraqi Army “spy” in the Salman area, in Tarmiya. [A3maq]

Daesh said it killed a SWAT officer in Tarmiya on Sunday. [A3maq]

 

East (Sadr City, New Baghdad, etc.)

An MoI source says the bodies of three unknown men were found shot in the Ma’amel area. [Mada]

 

South (Dora, Yusufiyah, Mahmudiya, etc.)

An MOI source says two people were killed and seven wounded when an IED exploded near a popular market in Latifiya. [Mada]

An MoI source says one person was killed and nine wounded when an IED exploded near a wholesale market in Abu Dsheer, in Dora. [Mada]

Daesh says it detonated an IED on a “Shia gathering” in Mahmudiya on Friday, killing two people and wounding eight. [A3maq]

An MoI source says one person was killed and eight wounded when an IED exploded near a garage in Hay Al-Wihda. [Mada]

Baghdad Operations Command says Iraqi Army 25th brigade defused 3 IEDs and found other explosives in the Abu Habba area. [Harbi]

 

West (Ghazaliya, Abu Ghraib, etc.)

A security source says seven people were killed and ten wounded when a suicide terrorist attacked a Shia religious gathering in Iskan in Mansour District on Saturday. [Mada]

Daesh said on Saturday one of its suicide terrorists attacked a Shia religious gathering in Iskan with an explosives vest. [A3maq]

 

Total Baghdad incidents reported:   11   (Includes only incidents reported)

Total IED incidents                              8

 

ANBAR

Falluja

The mayor of Falluja says more than 19,000 displaced families have now returned to their houses in Falluja city and surrounding areas. [Mada]

 

Ramadi

Daesh says it destroyed an Iraqi Army vehicle with an IED in Tameem, killing the soldiers inside, and killed a “spy” in East Hsaiba on Saturday. [A3maq]

DaeshDaily comment. From Daesh’s media propaganda viewpoint, the “caliphate” has returned to Ramadi. To defeat the propaganda, the Iraq military needs to move quickly to get these guys out of there.

 

Hit/Haditha

A Tribal PMF commander says two Tribal PMF fighters were killed and three wounded when a Daesh suicide terrorist sneaked into Haditha and attacked their military position. He also says Iraqi forces killed 4 other Daesh suicide terrorists west and south of Haditha. [Mada]

He also says the JOC issued a curfew in Haditha until further notice. [Mada]

 

Daesh says 3 of its suicide terrorists attacked Sahwa and PMF fighters in the Asphalt Factory in the Khasfa area, west of Haditha, with explosives vests, killing thirty-five fighters and wounding others. [A3maq]

 

Daesh said on Saturday it killed two Iraqi soldiers and destroyed a car in an attack on an area on the road between Haditha and Baiji. [A3maq]

Daesh publishes photos of an attack on Iraqi forces on the road between Haditha and Baiji. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Rutba/Western Anbar

A military source says Coalition planes destroyed a Daesh vehicle bomb in Anah city. The source   says the bombing is part of the preparations for the west Anbar liberation operation. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh publishes photos of its attack on Rutba last week. [DawaAlhaq]

 

SALAHUDDIN

Shirqat

The JOC says Iraqi forces destroyed a Daesh armored vehicle in the Makhoul Mountains area. [Harbi]

 

Baiji

The JOC says Iraqi forces stopped a Daesh attack on the Thermal Station area, killing 10 terrorists and wounding 11, and destroying a motorcycle. [Harbi]

 

Daesh publishes 2 photos of targeting PMF positions in the Al-Makhazen area, north of Baiji, with rockets. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Tikrit

The JOC says a Police Emergency unit captured 5 men wanted on terrorism charges in Tikrit. [Harbi]

 

Samarra

The JOC says Samarra Operations Command artillery and the IAA stopped a Daesh attack near Mtaibija, destroying several vehicles, killing the terrorists inside. [Harbi]

 

The JOC says Iraqi forces destroyed 5 Daesh vehicles near the Sheikh Mohammed area, northeast of Samarra. [Harbi]

 

The JOC says Iraqi forces captured several Daesh terrorists in the Saawiya area, east of Samarra. [Harbi]

 

The JOC says Iraqi forces found an explosives vest in a house in the Rayhaniya area. [Harbi]

 

DIYALA

Muqdadiya/Abu Saida

The Chairman of the Muqdadiya District Council says Daesh terrorists shot and wounded two Tribal PMF fighters in Hamada village, 14 km (9 miles) north of Muqdadiya. [Sumaria]

 

Northern Diyala (Kifri, Khanaqin, etc.)

Daesh says it destroyed a Peshmerga vehicle with an IED in the Jamila area in Jalawla on Sunday, killing the fighters inside. [A3maq]

 

The Diyala Police Chief says a joint security force found an explosives cache near the Himrin area. [Mada]

 

KIRKUK (No reports)

 

NINEWA

Mosul

Mosul liberation campaign

Joint Forces are advancing toward Mosul’s eastern neighborhoods on three axes, the IWMC announced. [Mada]

 

Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service troops coming east from Hamdaniya are 900 meters (0.56 miles) from the entrance to Mosul city, the force’s commander Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati announced. [Forat] The CTS announced that it has isolated Mosul’s eastern hinterland in the Nineveh Plains from the city, and that it expects to capture the Kokjali area close to the city within “a few hours.” Operations are unfolding in coordination with IAA and IAF air power, Shaghati said. [Mada]

Daesh says Iraqi Army and PMF units, supported by Coalition planes, reached the (Ma’amel) Factories in the Kokjali area. However, it says it managed to stop Iraqi forces advances after fierce battles. [A3maq]

Kokajli is an area just east of Mosul. Because of the urban extension it became part of the Mosul urban area.

 

Fadhil Barwari, commander of Iraq’s elite “Golden Division,” part of the CTS, announced that he expected his troops to capture the rest of Mosul’s eastern outskirts Monday and be raiding the city itself Monday night. [SotAlIraq]

DaeshDaily comment. Barwari is noteworthy for being a Kurdish commander in a heavily Arab army, but also for his popularity in the ranks and his military reputation.

 

IWMC says Counter Terrorism units liberated Bazwaya village and Kokjali Factories in Hamdaniya. It says PMF units liberated 6 villages west of Mosul. It says 738 displaced people were received in displacement camps in Jada’a and Al-Khazer. It also says Iraqi forces installed a 160m temporary bridge over the river in Qayara. [Ghad]  [MoD Website]

 

Daesh has rounded up 5,000 civilians from areas around Mosul and brought them to the city, Ninewa MP Abd Al-Rahman Al-Luwayzi said. The captives were taken on October 18 from the villages of Tilul Nasr, Hadrat Al-Fadhil, Al-Safina, Nusf Tal, Al-Hagfa, Tawaiba, Al-Nina’a, Saf Al-Tuth, Al-Rasif, Harara, Asfiya, Qutba, and Amnira, he said [Sumaria]

 

Daesh has left its base in the Ghazlani area of Mosul, local sources say. “Tens” of Daesh militants were reportedly seen leaving the facility, one of its largest bases in the city. The group also reportedly closed its secret prison in the base, the source said. The fate of the hundreds of prisoners believed to have been held there is unknown. [Sumaria]

 

Local sources say 150 families of Daesh senior commanders left Mosul to Syria on Sunday. [Hawar]

 

A Coalition airstrike targeted a Daesh explosives workshop in central Mosul, causing a huge explosion, a Ninewa security source said. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh says “American” planes conducted 4 airstrikes on factories and storehouses that belong to “civilians” in Mosul on Sunday. [A3maq]

Daesh issues a video of the results on “American” airstrikes on Mosul. [A3maq]

 

The Iraqi Observatory for Journalism Freedoms says a TV reporter and a cameraman were wounded by a Daesh mortar shell while they were covering the fighting south of Mosul. [Anadolu]

 

Nujaba Movement, a Shia militia, says it captured Tal Al-Saif and Jahsh villages west of Mosul. It also says it destroyed 2 Daesh vehicle bombs. [Ghad]

 

PMFs have announced that they captured the village of Usayla west of Mosul. Seven Daesh fighters were reported killed in the fighting, one of them reportedly a China national. [Waradana] [Buratha] [AIN]

 

Military Developments within Mosul

The Military Intelligence Service told DaeshDaily that Daesh terrorists are fleeing the east side of Mosul city, after booby trapping government buildings and other properties. The MIS also told DaeshDaily that the people are revolting against Daesh in several areas in Ninewa. People in Hammam Al-Alil killed 3 Daesh terrorists, the MIS said.

The MIS also told DaeshDaily that media reports that Iraqi troops have entered the Al-Karama neighborhood in eastern Mosul city are untrue. Reuters reported earlier that the Iraqi Army had entered the Al-Karama area in the east of the city. An Iraqi media agency also reported that Counter-Terrorism Service troops have also stormed the area, citing a security source. [Maalomah] [Sumaria]

Daesh issues a video of “normal life” in the Karama area. [A3maq]

 

The UN said on Sunday more than 16,000 civilians have left their houses in Mosul since the start of the Ninewa liberation campaign. [ARA]

 

The “commander of the Usra Army” is rumored to have been killed in a “violent explosion” that targeted a secret Daesh leadership gathering in Sarjakhana in central Mosul west of the Tigris, a local source said. The blast was reportedly heard throughout the city. [Buratha]

 

An anti-Daesh resistance cell freed three Yazidi female captives and two children. They are now in a safe location and will be brought out of the city, according to a “well-placed source.” [Forat]

 

Mosul residents have purportedly killed the Daesh commander of the hisbah station in Al-Karama neighborhood. [PressIraq]

 

Daesh’s prisons official for the eastern part of Mosul was shot dead by unknown gunmen, a local source said. Daesh responded harshly and arrested more than ten people after the event, the source added. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh executed 30 of its own fighters in Mosul for having abandoned the front lines, a local source said. [Maalomah]

 

The bodies of 40 Syrian Daesh members have reportedly reached Raqqa in the 24 hours, most of them the bodies of children from the Daesh “Ashbal Al-Khalifa” [“cubs of the caliphate”] youth organization. [BasNews]

 

Conditions in Mosul

Daesh has begun promoting the idea that an address will be released soon from its long-unseen “caliph” Awwad Baghdadi, a local source said. [SotAlIraq]

DaeshDaily comment. Another reported Baghdadi sighting at which he was not sighted

 

Daesh has suddenly changed its rhetoric in its media outlets, ceasing to refer to Mosul as the “capital of the caliphate.” [Sumaria]

 

Mosul residents rescued four families from inside storage tanks in eastern Mosul where Daesh had been holding them, a local source said. The families were in a near-death state but have been moved to safe houses, the source added. [SotAlIraq]

 

Daesh publishes 2 photos of setting cigarettes boxes on fire in Tal Abta, in far southwest Mosul subdistrict. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Shura/Hammam Alil

Photos of Iraqi PM Haidar Al-Abadi visiting Shura, which was captured by Iraqi troops on Saturday [Sumaria] [Sumaria]

Daesh published photos of Sunday battles with Iraqi forces east of Shura. [DawaAlhaq]

Daesh says it conducted a suicide attack on Iraqi forces near Shura on Sunday. [A3maq]

DaeshDaily comment. An implied admission that they lost the city.

 

The IWMC says the IFP liberated 4 villages north of Shura.

 

The IFP captured the village of Al-Suruj north of Shura, according to an IFP statement. [Mada]

 

PMFs reportedly found a Daesh mortar workshop in Hammam Al-Alil. [PressIraq]

 

Daesh has forced “around 10,000” residents of the Hammam Al-Alil area to leave the area, conducting “mass executions” of those who refused, the manager of Hammam Al-Alil announced, citing fears of a humanitarian catastrophe. Daesh seeks to use the captives as human shields, he said. [Sumaria]

 

PMFs also reportedly captured the villages of Huwaish, Tal Suhayl, and Hawiya. 34 Daesh fighters were reportedly killed in Huwaish, the IWMC said. [Mawazin] [Buratha]

 

Daesh says it conducted 8 suicide attacks on PMFs gatherings near Farsiya, Tal Taiyiba, and Za’izi’ villages, southwest of Mosul city. [A3maq]

Daesh says it killed twenty-five Iraqi soldiers and PMF fighters and wounded many others, and destroyed 12 vehicles, in the suicide attacks. [A3maq] [A3maq]

DaeshDaily comment. Most of Daesh reports about the Ninewa battles talk about vehicle bombs attacks. This is Daesh’s “military style” after all. Daesh has lot of brainwashed idiots and a lot of time to rig vehicles. However, most of Daesh vehicle bomb attacks get stopped either by the Coalition or by the ground forces. Daesh just forgets to mention that. 

 

Daesh says it conducted a suicide attack on a joint Iraqi Army and PMFs convoy in Abu Shuweih village, southwest of Mosul, destroying 6 Humvees. [A3maq]

 

Daesh publishes photos of a suicide attack with a vehicle bomb on Iraqi forces near Al-Jurn village, northwest of Shura. [DawaAlhaq]

Daesh issued a video of battles near Al-Jurn village on Sunday. [A3maq]

Daesh says it killed “tens” of Iraqi soldiers and PMF fighters in a suicide attack near Al-Jurn village. [A3maq]

Daesh says its snipers killed ten PMF fighters in Al-Jurn and Al-Zarqa villages on Sunday. [A3maq]

DaeshDaily comment. An implied admission that Daesh had lost the villages.  

 

Daesh issued a video of a mosque that was destroyed by an “American” airstrike in Hammam Al-Alil on Saturday. [A3maq]

 

Qayara

Iraqi military engineers have constructed a bridge over the Tigris in Qayara. [Mada]

 

Nineveh Plain

IWMC says Iraqi Army 1st and 9th division liberated four villages in Hamdaniya, killing 27 terrorists, including a suicide bomber, and destroying 2 vehicle bombs, a machine gun mounted vehicle, 6 motorcycle, 27 IEDs, 2 rocket launchers and a mortar unit. It says Iraqi Army 16th division captured Najmoum, Tal Al-Yabis, and Shallalat north of the city and is moving ahead towards Mosul. [Ghad]  [MoD Website]

 

Bashiqa

Daesh said an “American” airstrike mistakenly targeted a Peshmerga and PMF military position between Azzawi village and Bashiqa on Friday, destroying one vehicle at least. [A3maq]

 

Daesh issues a video of shelling Peshmerga position northeast of Mosul with mortars. [A3maq]

DaeshDaily comment. The mortar is covered in a piece of cloth and is hidden in a residential area. The voice of young boy is heard cheering in the video. It is another “win-win” situation for Daesh. If the mortar unit gets targeted, civilians will get hurt; and if not, Daesh keeps on attacking its enemies.

 

Hamdaniya

Iraqi troops captured the villages of Tobruk and Tahrawa in Bartella subdistrict, a Ninewa Operations Command statement said. [Mada]

 

Iraqi Counter Terrorism troops captured the village of Bazwaya, a Shabak village 3-4 miles from the Mosul city border, and raised the Iraqi flag inside the village, Ninewa Operations Command said. [Mada]

Daesh conceded that Iraqi Army and PMF units surrounded its terrorists in Bazwaya village. [A3maq]

 

Tens of people attended the first mass in Qaraqosh Cathedral on Sunday after the city was liberated (video). [SBS] [RT]

Photos of Karemlash after the liberation [Ishtar]

 

Daesh says it conducted a suicide attack near Ali Rash village, near Qaraqosh. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says it stopped an Iraqi forces attack on Snaidij village, and forced them to retreat. [A3maq]

 

Tel Keif

Iraqi Army troops captured two villages (Najmoum and Tal Yabis) north of Mosul, a Ninewa Operations Command statement said. [Mada]

Daesh says Peshmerga units, supported by Coalition planes, attacked Kuri Ghariban village, east of Khorsabad, but it stopped the attack. Daesh also says the Peshmerga entered Tal Yabis and Najmoum villages with help from Coalition planes. [A3maq]

 

A Peshmerga military engineer was killed in Tesgofa when an IED defusing operation came under Daesh fire, a Peshmerga officer said. [Rudaw]

 

Daesh says it conducted a suicide attack on Peshmerga and PMF units in Al-Qa’im village. [A3maq]

Daesh says it damaged a tank with a missile near Al-Qa’im village. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says it killed four PMF fighters in attack near the Farms area, east of Tel Keif on Sunday. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says it conducted a suicide attack on a PMF gathering near the Free Zone, west of Tel Keif, on Sunday. [A3maq]

 

Northwest (Tal Afar, Sinjar)

The Abbas Combat Division (Shia PMFs) announced that 3,000 of its fighters would be part of the upcoming operation to open a new front in Tal Afar. [Mada]

 

PMF leader Hadi Al-Ameri of the Badr Organization said the objective of his fighters is to reach the road linking Mosul to Tal Afar in order to cut off Daesh’s movement. [PressIraq]

 

Daesh publishes 2 photos of targeting Peshmerga positions with mortars in the Aski Mosul area. [DawaAlhaq]

 

South (Baaj, Hatra)

PMFs report a “large flight” of Daesh members from Mosul toward the Syrian border, the IWMC said. [Mawazin]

 

PMFs captured a Daesh tunnel in the Baaj area west of Mosul, a Ninewa security source said [Maalomah]

 

KURDISTAN

The Asayesh Directorate in Suleimaniya says it captured more than 40 Daesh terrorists in Suleimaniya, Halabja, and the Garmian area and confiscated weapons and explosives. It says the terrorists were planning to attack and capture government buildings.  [Sumaria]

 

The Security Directorate in Suleimaniya issued a statement prohibiting demonstration “because of the security situation.” People have been demonstrating for some time now protesting the lack of salary payments. [ROJ]

 

SOUTHERN IRAQ

Kerbala

Saraya Al-Salam, the Sadrist militia, says it conducted a joint military operation with the Iraqi Army and search 35 square km (13.6 square mile) in the desert between Kerbala and Anbar and captured Daesh terrorists. [Harbi]

 

REPORTS FROM TURKEY

 

Turkey Deputy Prime Minister says Turkey wants the Raqqa battle to start after the Operations Euphrates Shield in Syria and after the liberation of Mosul in Iraq. He also says Turkey will provide support for the opposition groups to capture Manbij. [Sumaria] [Anadolu]

The Turkish president says The US hasn’t “clarified” its position regarding the Raqqa campaign yet. [Dorar]

 

Cumhuriyet says 12 of its workers, including its editor in chief, were arrested by the Turkish police as part of the large purge in Turkey after the failed coup attempt. [AfriGate]

DaeshDaily comment. This outrageous incident, using trumped up allegations, makes it clear that the purpose of this enormous purge is to silence all critics and intimidate all political opponents. Cumhuriyet is the one independent opposition newspaper that has been willing to tell the truth about the current regime, even at the risk of arrest.

 

REPORTS FROM SYRIA

 

The United Nations envoy for Syria has said he is “appalled and shocked” by indiscriminate rocket warfare by rebel fighters targeting civilians in Aleppo after three days of a fresh rebel offensive in which dozens have died.

Staffan de Mistura said: “Those who argue that this is meant to relieve the siege of eastern Aleppo should be reminded that nothing justifies the use of disproportionate and indiscriminate weapons, including heavy ones, on civilian areas and it could amount to war crimes.” [Guardian]

 

The Coalitions says it conducted 7 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Syria (near Shaddadi (4), Deir Ez-Zor (2), and Albu Kamal (1)). [InherentResolve]

 

Northeast (Hasaka, Raqqa)

Hasaka

Daesh says it killed four “PKK members” with an IED near Arisha town, south of Hasaka, on Sunday. [A3maq]

 

A six-month-old child from Ninewa died because of the lack of health care in Al-Hawl Camp. [Hawar]

 

A local source says unknown armed men shot and wounded a Daesh female commander in her house in Markada city, south of Hasaka. [ARA]

 

Raqqa

Daesh publishes 2 photos of targeting the “PKK” in the Ain Eissa area with heavy artillery. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Northwest (Aleppo, Idlib)

Civilians in east Aleppo say they are trapped between the Syrian Army shelling and bombing and the opposition groups that don’t allow them to leave in order to use them as human shields. [Hawar]

 

Tens of civilians were killed or wounded by Syrian Army shelling and bombing on eastern parts of Aleppo. Five civilians were killed and eleven wounded by opposition groups shelling on the western parts. [Hawar]

 

Daesh says “PKK” fighters, supported by “Russian” planes, attacked Deir Anta village, east of the Aleppo Industrial City, but it stopped the attack, killing ten fighters. [A3maq]

 

Jarabulus

An opposition groups commander says the opposition, supported by Turkish artillery, captured 2 villages southwest of Ghandoura after heavy battles with Daesh. He says the opposition stopped a Daesh counter attack on the villages and destroyed 2 vehicle bombs. He says opposition groups also captured the small Bilis village and surrounding farms after heavy battles with Daesh, and killed many terrorists. He also says the opposition units withdrew from Kafr Kalbin in Azaz because of Daesh heavy shelling and land mines. [ARA] [ARA]

 

Azaz

SDF factions captured Wahshiyah and 3 other villages in addition to 3 farms from Daesh on Sunday. [Hawar]

 

Daesh issues a video of targeting an opposition bulldozer with a missile near Tal Al-Hawa village, east of Al-Ra’i, on Saturday. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says it trapped opposition fighters in a land mine and attacked them with a vehicle bomb in Ablah village, south of Akhtarin, killing twenty fighters and destroying 4 SUVs. [A3maq]

 

Daesh published photos of targeting Turkish Army and opposition groups positions in the Al-Ra’i and Akhtarin areas with mortars. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Daesh publishes 2 photos of spoils it got from opposition groups. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Daesh said on Sunday it recaptured Kafr Kalbin village, east of Akhtarin, from opposition groups. [A3maq]

 

Afrin

The Turkish Army brought 9 trucks loaded with weapons to the border area near Jandaris. [Hawar]

 

Manbij

2,000 civilians from Al-Bab have arrived in Manbij during the last 20 days. [Hawar]

 

Other Northwest Syria

Daesh published photos of targeting Syrian Army position near the Kowaires airport with mortars. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Central and West (Homs, Hama, etc.)

Daesh publishes photos of its military training in Hama province. [DawaAlhaq]

 

East (Deir Ez-Zor)

The SOHR says warplanes conducted airstrikes on several areas in Deir Ez-Zor city and near the airport, killing one child. It also says Daesh snipers killed two civilians in Joura village. [SyriaHR]

 

A local activist says Daesh terrorists executed a woman in Hawayej village in Deir Ez-Zor after accusing her of communicating with the SDF. He also says unknown armed men shot and killed a Daesh Tunisian terrorist in Abu Hamam village, east of Deir Ez-Zor. [ARA]

 

Daesh publishes photo of its “municipal services” in Mayadin city. [DawaAlhaq]

Daesh publishes photos of a water tanks factory in Albu Kamal. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Daesh publishes photos of children in schools in Deir Ez-Zor. [DawaAlhaq]

 

South (Rif Damashq, Suwayda, Daraa, etc.)

A local activist says a Daesh commander infiltrated an opposition military position in the East Qalamoun area and blew himself up. [ARA]

 

OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA REPORTS

 

Neighboring countries

Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Ministry of Interior says it captured 4 terrorists (2 Pakistanis, a Sudanese, and a Syrian) who were planning to target a soccer stadium in Jeddah with a car bomb. It also says it captured 4 Daesh terrorists who were planning to target security personnel. [Dorar]

 

North Africa

Egypt

A Central Security member was killed and two others wounded when an IED exploded on their armored vehicle in the Bir Ma’in area, in Central Sinai. [VetoGate]

 

A 50-year-old woman and an infant were wounded when an IED exploded in Rafah. [VetoGate]

 

Security forces destroyed an ABM vehicle in Touma village, south of Arish, killing 4 terrorists. [VetoGate]

 

A 16-year-old student and a bus driver were wounded when unknown armed men shot at school bus near the Arish International Airport. [VetoGate]

 

Four civilians and four security personnel were wounded when a vehicle bomb attacked a security vehicle in Arish on Sunday. The explosion damaged a nearby high school. [VetoGate]

 

Three more civilians were shot and wounded by armed men in Hay Al-Masaeed, in Arish. [VetoGate]

 

An Egyptian Army captain was killed and another officer wounded by snipers on Saturday in the Bir Lahfan area, south of Arish. [VetoGate]

 

A soldier was killed by a sniper in the Zaqdan area, west of Arish. [VetoGate]

 

Two policemen were killed and four wounded when an IED exploded on their armored vehicle south of Sheikh Zuweid on Saturday. [VetoGate]

 

A policeman was killed by ABM snipers south of Sheikh Zuweid on Sunday. [VetoGate]

 

Local sources say warplanes targeted 4 areas southwest of Sheikh Zuweid on Sunday. [ElWatan]

 

Libya

Northeast

Security and medical sources say four civilians were killed and twenty-three wounded when a car bomb exploded near a café in the Al-Kish area in Benghazi on Saturday. One of the victims was a notable anti-corruption activist. [Wasat]

 

Central coast

The GNA Military says it captured more buildings in the Giza area while facing “weak resistance” from Daesh terrorists. [Libya24]

The field hospital in Sirte says one GNA fighter was killed and fifteen wounded in the battles in Giza. [AfriGate]

 

Daesh says it killed twenty-four GNA fighters in battles in Sirte. Daesh says American planes participated in the battles. [A3maq]

 

Tunisia

The Tunisian Ministry of Interior says security units captured a terrorist cell of 6 men in Monastir who admitted their rule in sending “takfiris” to Syria. [Wasat]

 

Algeria

Unknown terrorists shot and killed a policeman and stole his gun while he was having lunch at a restaurant in Qasentina city. [Khabar]

Daesh claimed credit for this killing. [A3maq]

Daesh publishes a photo of the gun. [A3maq]

 

Other countries

Afghanistan

Daesh says one of its suicide terrorists attacked pro-government militias in the Khalis area east of Jalalabad with an explosives vest, killing fifteen fighters and wounding twenty-five. [A3maq]

 

Somalia

Daesh said it attacked a government building in the Elasha Biyaha area, near Mogadishu, with hand grenades on Friday. [A3maq]

 

Mali

Daesh publishes a video of Abu Walid Al-Sahraoui, leader of al-Mourabitoun (a jihad group previously linked to Al-Qaeda in north Mali), pledging allegiance to Daesh’s caliph. [A3maq]

On 14 May 2015, Sahraoui released an audio message pledging the group’s allegiance to Daesh, but its leader Mukhtar Belmokhtar issued a statement several days later rejecting it, which seemed to indicate a split. On 3 December 2015, AQIM leader Abdelmalek Droukdel announced in an audio statement that Al-Mourabitoun had merged back into his organization.

On 14 June 2015, Libya’s government announced Belmokhtar was killed in a U.S. airstrike inside Libya. However, there is no known confirmation. U.S. officials confirmed the strike and that Belmokhtar was a target, but did not confirm his death. [Wikipedia] [Wikipedia]

 

Nigeria

Five soldiers and four civilians were killed on Sunday killed during a raid on suspected Boko Haram terrorists’ hideouts in Talala and Ajigin, in southern Borno State.  [DailyPost.ng]

Daesh says it stopped an African Union attack on Talala town, killing nine soldiers and wounding nineteen. [A3maq]

 

Kenya

A knife-wielding man whom police described as a criminal was shot dead outside the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi last Thursday after he attacked and injured a Kenyan police officer.

 

Daesh’s A3maq says, according to a source, the person who carried out the stabbing of a guard outside the American embassy in Nairobi last Thursday was a Daesh member. [A3maq]

A knife-wielding man whom police described as a criminal was shot dead outside the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi last Thursday after he attacked and injured a Kenyan police officer. [Reuters]

 

Germany

Daesh’s A3maq says, according to a source, the terrorist who stabbed two people in Hamburg on October 16, is a Daesh terrorist. [A3maq]

Two teenagers, a 16-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl, were sitting on the waterside of a Hamburg lake on Oct. 16 when a man approached them from behind, stabbed the boy several times with a knife and then pushed the girl into the water. The attacker fled afterward. The boy was taken to a hospital where he subsequently died. [FoxNews]

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

 

Videos of the Day

Iraq

A video of a long tunnel (hundreds of meters) dug by Daesh under a mosque in the Mosul area [Al-Aan]

 

A video of Batnaya after the liberation [Ishtar]

 

A video of Qaraqosh after the liberation [Ishtar]

 

Syria

Ahrar Al-Sham issues a video of its battles against Daesh in East Qalamoun. [YouTube]

 

DAESH MEDIA

 

Daesh audio newsletter for today [Bayan]

 

Daesh issues infographics about its attacks in Ramadi since Iraqi forces liberated the city. [A3maq]

 

October 28, 2016

Arkan Al-Salman

Arkan Al-Salman

Today’s Major Developments

Thousands demonstrate in support of Iraqi forces in Ninewa. [..]

Daesh in Ninewa has abducted 8,000 people as human shields. [..]

Pause in Ninewa liberation operations continues. [..]

900 Qayara residents return home from displacement camp. [..]

Turkmen PMFs expect to put 12,000 men into Tal Afar liberation fight. [..]

Putin holding back on resuming Aleppo airstrikes. [..]

Conflicting interpretations continue on using YPG in Raqqa liberation. [..]

 

REPORTS FROM IRAQ

 

NATIONAL NEWS

Thousands of people demonstrated in Baghdad and several other governorates supporting Iraqi forces in the Ninewa battles and demanding more reforms. Tens of activists demonstrated in the Al-Mutanabi Street area in Baghdad objecting to the CoR’s ban on alcohol. [Mada] [Mada]

President Masoum says the CoR should reconsider the ban, which will affect personal freedoms and government revenues. He says the provision about alcohol, included in the Municipalities Revenues Law, was illegal before the vote as it was not read twice before the vote as the rules require. [Mada]

 

The Coalition says it conducted 6 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Iraq, on and near Mosul (3), Tal Afar (1), Sinjar (1), and Rutba (1). [InherentResolve]

 

BAGHDAD

Security-related incidents reported

North (Tarmiya, Taji, etc.)

The MoD says the Intelligence Service captured 3 men wanted on terrorism charges and confiscated weapons in the Meshahda area, in Tarmiya. [Baghdadia]

An MoI source says two PMF fighters were killed and four wounded when an IED exploded on their vehicle in Taji. [Mada]

Iraqi Army 22nd brigade found a Daesh suicide terrorists’ guesthouse and an explosives cache in the Albu Hosa area. [BOC Facebook Page]

Iraqi Army 59th brigade found 14 IEDs and other explosives in the Tal Mishaan area. It also found a weapons cache in the Dhabitya area. [BOC Facebook Page]

 

South (Dora, Yusufiyah, Mahmudiya, etc.)

An MoI source says two people were killed and nine wounded when an IED exploded near a busy market in Mahmudiya. [Mada]

Iraqi Army 55th brigade killed a terrorist and found 17 IEDs and other explosives in the Albu Kanaan and Harkawi areas. It also found 4 IEDs in the Albu Faris area. [BOC Facebook Page]

Iraqi Army 23rd brigade found 20kg of explosives in the Albu Saif area. [BOC Facebook Page]

Iraqi Army 23rd brigade destroyed a Daesh guesthouse in the Khtaimiya area. The same brigade captured a man wanted on terrorism charges in Zanbaraniya. [MoD Website]

Iraqi Army 25th brigade found an explosives cache in the Shabisha area. [MoD Website]

 

West (Ghazaliya, Abu Ghraib, etc.)

A security source says one person was killed and seven wounded when an IED exploded near a commercial area in Iskan. [Maalomah]

 

Total Baghdad incidents reported:    11   (Includes only incidents reported)

Total IED incidents                                  6

 

ANBAR

Ramadi

The Anbar Police Chief says his troops captured 11 Daesh terrorists and confiscated silenced guns and other weapons in the Al-Tash area, south of Ramadi but close to the city. He says the terrorists were planning terrorist attacks. [Baghdadia]

 

The Anbar Police Chief says Iraqi forces found a 25m Daesh tunnel filled with weapons and explosives in East Hsaiba after getting information from residents. [Maalomah]

 

Iraqi army 8th division destroyed 35 IEDs in the Zangoura area. [MoD Website]

 

Rutba/Western Anbar

The Anbar Operations Commander says Iraqi forces captured 20 Daesh terrorists while searching and securing several areas in Rutba District. They confiscated large quantities of hallucination pills from the terrorists. He says Iraqi forces, with help from civilians, cleared Rutba after the recent Daesh attack. He also says Iraqi forces are preparing to launch an attack to clear Daesh’s last strongholds in northwest Anbar in Anah, Rawa, and Al-Qa’im. [Mada] [Ghad]

DaeshDaily comment. Defense Secretary Carter’s statement two days ago about pursuing Raqqa simultaneously with Mosul was an indication that the northwest Anbar campaign may soon be on.

 

A Tribal PMF commander says Iraqi forces conducted a military operation near the Al-Waleed Border Crossing, killing 14 Daesh terrorists and destroying 6 vehicles. [Mada]

 

A Tribal PMF commander says Arkan Al-Salman, a notable Tribal PMF commander, was killed when an IED exploded in his personal vehicle near Rutba. [Maalomah]

DaeshDaily comment. These brave men have fought Daesh for years, but Daesh sleeper cells are still functioning.

 

A PMF commander says PMF troops stopped a Daesh attack on the Saqqar area destroying a Daesh vehicle and capturing another. [Ghad]

 

Iraqi forces destroyed an armored vehicle bomb, and Coalition planes destroyed a Daesh car bomb factory and 3 armored vehicles bombs, north of Rutba. [MoD Website]

 

Coalition warplanes destroyed 2 IED storehouses in the Anah area. [MoD Website]

 

SALAHUDDIN

Shirqat

Iraqi Army 75th brigade targeted a Daesh group with a mortar, east of Shirqat, killing several terrorists. [MoD Website]

 

Daesh says it killed three Iraqi soldiers in an ambush near the Zuwiya intersection, south of Shirqat. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says it killed three PMF fighters and destroyed an armored vehicle in an attack on the Bedouin Residential Compound, south of Shirqat. [A3maq]

 

Baiji

Daesh says it attacked, then burned down 2 PMF military positions in the Makhoul Mountains area, north of Baiji. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Tikrit

Salahuddin EOD Department found 3 IEDs in the Awja Jadida area, south of Tikrit. [MoD Website]

 

Samarra

The IFP captured 2 men wanted on terrorism charges, near the Jalam Intersection. [MoD Website]

 

DIYALA

Baquba/southeast Diyala

A security source says a special security unit captured a Daesh “intelligence” member in the Qatoun area, 6 km (4 miles) west of Baquba.  [Sumaria]

 

Muqdadiya/Abu Saida

A security source says National Security units captured a man wanted on terrorism charges in Abu Saida. [Sumaria]

 

KIRKUK

Kirkuk

The Kirkuk Governor issued a statement refuting a Sunni MP’s accusations that the Peshmerga and asayesh destroyed Arab homes in two villages and removed displaced people out of Kirkuk. [Mada]

DaeshDaily comment. This is exactly what Daesh wants: More Sunni displacements, more Sunni anger, more Daesh recruits.  

 

Hawija

Daesh publishes photos of burning up cigarette boxes in Hawija. [DawaAlhaq]

 

NINEWA

Daesh has abducted more than 8,000 families from the areas around Mosul to use as human shields, the UNHCR announced Friday. Daesh executed 232 civilians on Wednesday, the UNHCR also said. [Sumaria]

 

The IWMC says Iraqi forces killed 250 Daesh terrorists in Ninewa during the last four days. [ARA]

 

A UN spokesperson said that around 16,000 people have fled the conflict area around Mosul, citing fears of a public health disaster. An Iraqi Red Crescent activist said more and more displaced persons are being received in his organization’s facilities as the Joint Forces advance. More than 1,000 people experienced health problems due to the smoke billowing from the burning oil wells around Mosul, the UN said. [ARA] [Buratha]

 

The IWMC says it kicked out a reporter from an Arab satellite channel because of his coverage that impacted the military operations in Ninewa. Other sources say the reporter is from the Saudi-funded Al-Arabiya. [Sumaria] [AIN]

DaeshDaily comment. Saudi and Qatari news channels are hardly “neutral” in the coverage.

 

Mosul

Military developments in Mosul

The Kata’eb Al-Mosul resistance group announced that its fighters shot a Daesh member dead in Mosul’s Al-Shuhada neighborhood. Another Daesh member fled the scene, the KM said. [KM Facebook Page]

 

Mosul liberation campaign

The Ninewa Operations Command says Ninewa liberation battles are ongoing and within the scheduled plans.  [Mada]

 

The Coalition spokesman said that Iraqi Joint Forces have temporarily paused their operations and that the Coalition expects the advance on Mosul to resume after two days. However, the JOC denied this, and the commander of the Counter-Terrorism Service troops said his Force had received no orders to pause operations. [Hawar] [Sumaria] [Buratha]

DaeshDaily comment. We think it is apparent to our readers that there is a pause, even if not everyone got the word. The sharp drop in the number of battle stories, and in villages reported captured, makes that clear. As reported here last night from our correspondent in Ninewa, the reason is the risks to civilian populations from Daesh’s human shields strategy.

Our report was followed this morning by a front-page in-depth story in the Washington Post by Loveday Morris, based on statements from villagers. [WashingtonPost]

 

The IWMC says Iraqi F-16s destroyed a rocket storehouse and a rocket launcher, 2 vehicles loaded with weapons, and a rocket factory, and killed many terrorists in several airstrikes on Mosul. [Baghdadia]

 

Conditions in Mosul

The UNHCR confirmed Friday that Daesh executed at least 232 people in Mosul in the past week. [AIN]

 

Prominent Daesh leaders and preachers were absent from the Friday prayers in the mosques of Mosul for a second week running, local source said. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh has raised the prices of basic foodstuffs by 30 percent in the areas it controls in order to bolster its war effort, a local source said. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh is setting up shops to buy people’s gold at low prices, a local source said. [Sumaria]

DaeshDaily comment. It’s yet another Daesh tactic to exploit the misery of Mosul citizens—which Daesh and their collaborators caused.

 

Daesh has detained seven families in Mosul, all of them families from which Daesh has previously executed family members, a local source said. The source said that there is a fear that Daesh will massacre the new detainees. [Sumaria]

 

Shura/Hammam Alil

Daesh executed “tens” of captives in the city of Hammam Al-Alil in an attempt to intimidate residents from supporting the advancing Iraqi troops, a Ninewa GC member said. Daesh has also fired on Iraqi troops from its positions in the city and attempted to attack them with vehicle bombs, the Iraqi Army spokesman said. [BasNews]

 

IFP artillery reportedly fired on Daesh positions in Shura in advance of an anticipated ground assault there. [Harbi]

 

PMF fighters captured the village of Hwaider and nearby villages southwest of Mosul after killing “tens” of Daesh fighters, the Ashura Brigade announced. [Ghad]

PMF fighters captured an area south of Mosul, then raised the Iraqi flag on another village and are advancing toward a third village, PMF media announced. [Forat] [Waradana]

The Al-Muntadher PMF captured the village of Al-Sharifa south of Mosul, PMF media announced. [Forat]

 

Daesh says it destroyed an Iraqi Army armored vehicle with a missile and killed three Iraqi soldiers near the Shura Intersection, south of Mosul. [A3maq]

 

Qayara

900 Qayara residents returned to their homes from a displacement camp in Makhmur, the Migration Ministry announced. [PUKMedia]

 

Photos of darkness at noon in Qayara, created by the smoke from burning oil wells ignited by Daesh. [Sumaria]

 

Nineveh Plain

Hamdaniya

IAA aircraft reportedly killed “tens” of Daesh fighters in airstrikes in areas around Hamdaniya. [Ghad]

 

Daesh issues a video of targeting an Abrams tank near Qaraqosh. [A3maq]

 

Tel Keif

Peshmerga fighters captured two Daesh militants on the Nawaran front. One of the captives told Rudaw’s correspondent that there are many foreign fighters remaining inside Mosul (video). [Rudaw]

 

Daesh says Coalition planes attacked a Peshmerga and PMF gathering in Al-Qa’im, village near Khorsabad, which is nine miles northeast of Mosul, in the “third mistaken attack during the last 24 hours.” [A3maq]

DaeshDaily comment. Daesh is putting out this propaganda almost every day now. Take it seriously only if you see a confirming statement from the Coalition. This happens occasionally but not often.

 

Northwest (Tal Afar, Sinjar)

A Turkmen PMF commander says 12,000 Turkmen fighters will participate in the liberation of Tal Afar. [Mada]

 

The PMF operation to open a new front in Tal Afar and encircle Mosul could begin “in hours or in days” according to the PMF spokesman Ahmad Al-Asadi. [Harbi]

 

South (Baaj, Hatra)

Daesh says one of its Turkish suicide terrorists attacked the PMFs with a vehicle bomb, near the Hatra Intersection, south of Mosul, killing more than 20 fighters and wounding others and destroying 5 vehicles. [DawaAlhaq]

Daesh publishes a photo of the suicide terrorist. [MRKZGulf]

 

Daesh issues a video of the results of an “American” airstrikes on the Baaj Silos. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says it shot down an “Iranian” recon drone near the Hatra Intersection. [A3maq]

 

KURDISTAN

The KRG Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, says the KRG will discuss Kurdistan independence with Baghdad after the liberation of Mosul. [ARA]

 

SOUTHERN IRAQ

Basra

The Chairman of the Security Committee in Basra Provincial Council says armed men broke into Basra Airport and stole heavy equipment. He says the group, which is linked to a “powerful front,” handcuffed the guards and left without being interrupted by the airport’s security. [Mada]

DaeshDaily comment. If true, this is a significant security breach that not only affects the airport and its passengers, but also the foreign consulates. Basra have been facing a militia problem since 2003, even worse than Baghdad’s.

 

REPORTS FROM SYRIA

 

President Putin has denied the Russian military’s request to order a resumption of airstrikes in eastern Aleppo, his press secretary said. The military had asked permission to resume airstrikes due to the increased activity of militants.

“The Russian president considers it inappropriate at the present time to resume airstrikes in Aleppo,” Dmitry Peskov told the press. However, Peskov said “in case of extreme necessity to prevent provocative actions on the part of terrorist groups, the Russian side reserves the right to use all means at its disposal to provide an appropriate level of support to the Syrian armed forces.”

He also said Russia will decide on further action in accordance with the events on the ground in Aleppo. [RT]

 

John Kirby, US Department of State spokesman, says there are no plans to include, or to coordinate with, the Assad regime in the Raqqa battles. [Dorar]

 

A PYD official says the PYD and the US have an agreement to have the YPG participate “effectively and directly” in Raqqa liberation. [SotKurdistan]

 

European diplomatic sources say the YPG might participate in surrounding Raqqa, but they will not be allowed to enter the city. They say the US and Turkey agreed not to allow the YPG enter Raqqa before or after the liberation. [Aki]

 

The Coalition says it conducted 3 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Syria, 2 near Mare’ and 1 near Albu Kamal. [InherentResolve]

 

Northeast (Hasaka, Raqqa)

Hasaka

Local sources say the PYD Asayesh raided an Assyrian private school in Hasaka on Tuesday in order to prevent Arab and Kurdish children from learning from the official curriculum. The PYD had issued orders that each ethnicity should learn using its own language. [ZamanAlWasl]

 

Media sources say the United States finished rebuilding and equipping the Rmeilan Airfield in Abu Hajar village in Hasaka province. The airfield will be used to host airplanes and helicopters. [Dorar]

 

EOD units have defused 719 Daesh land mines in the Al-Hawl area so far. [Hawar]

 

Northwest (Aleppo, Idlib)

Aleppo City

Jaish Al-Fath (Army of Conquest) joint command center of Islamist groups announced the start of the “epic battle” of Aleppo. The battle started with 40 vehicle bombs (video). [Qasioun] [Qasioun]

 

The Syrian government’s director of health in Aleppo says fifteen people were killed and one hundred wounded by opposition groups shelling and rocketing on Aleppo city. [SyriaNow]

 

Two civilians were wounded by opposition heavy machine gun fire on Sheikh Maqsoud. [Hawar]

Opposition groups also targeted Sheikh Maqsoud with 8 shells. [Hawar]

 

Syrian Army units stopped a Daesh attack on the Air Force College in east Aleppo. [SyriaNow]

 

Al-Bab

Syrian Democratic Forces factions captured Hawadhin Farms, north of Tal Madhiq, from Turkey-backed opposition groups. SDF factions also captured Gharnata village from Daesh. Battles are ongoing on both military fronts. [Hawar]

 

Idlib

The SOHR says one person was killed and others wounded by opposition shelling on Al-Foua’a, a Shia town in Idlib. [SyriaHR]

 

Central and West (Homs, Hama, etc.)

The SOHR says warplanes conducted several airstrikes on Sukhnah city, east of Homs. [SyriaHR]

 

East (Deir Ez-Zor)

A local activist says at least twelve people were killed and fifteen wounded by Coalition airstrikes on Buqrus, east of Deir Ez-Zor. He also says Syrian and Russian planes targeted several areas in and around Deir Ez-Zor. [ARA]

 

Daesh cut off the hand of a civilian in Basira city, after accusing him of stealing a motorcycle. [ARA]

 

The SOHR says Coalition planes conducted several airstrikes on the Kam Station area, east of Deir Ez-Zor. [SyriaHR]

 

The SOHR says warplanes conducted several airstrikes near Deir Ez-Zor Military Airport, in addition to areas on the outskirts of Deir Ez-Zor city. [SyriaHR]

 

Daesh is forcing people out of their houses in several areas in Deir Ez-Zor province, claiming that the owners of the houses fought against Daesh. [ARA]

 

The Syrian Army destroyed a Daesh tunnel used to move vehicle bombs in Hay Al-Haweiqa, in Deir Ez-Zor. [SyriaNow]

 

OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA REPORTS

 

North Africa

Egypt

Security forces established 8 checkpoints and security barriers near Bala’a village, west of Rafah. The village used to be an ABM stronghold before it was liberated 3 days ago. [VetoGate]

Security sources say security units killed an ABM sniper and captured another in Bala’a. Security personnel destroyed 17 hideouts and 3 motorcycles, and captured 34 suspects, in the ongoing campaign west of Rafah. Security sources continued their campaign also in two neighborhoods in Rafah city. [ElWatan] [ElWatan]

 

Security units defused an IED planted near olive farms in Sheikh Zuweid. [VetoGate]

 

Security units captured an ABM terrorist while he was planting IEDs near Joura village, in Sheikh Zuweid. The terrorist had previously killed six security personnel with IEDs. He admitted that the ABM developed a new type of IED that gets activated when detecting armored vehicles movement. [VetoGate]

 

A 17-year-old girl was killed and two other women wounded when a mortar shell fell on their house in Matala village, south of Rafah. [VetoGate]

 

Eyewitnesses say a taxi driver was killed by a random bullet in Sheikh Zuweid city. [ElWatan]

 

Libya

Northeast

A security source says the bodies of ten unknown people were found in the Shanaba area, in Benghazi. [Wasat]

 

Eyewitnesses says a Grad rocket fell on a house in the Tablino area, in west Benghazi, without causing human casualties. [AfriGate]

 

Tunisia

The Tunisian Ministry of Interior says security units captured in Monastir a cell of 5 members who were communicating with terrorists in Syria. [Tunisien]

 

The Tunisian MoI says security units found 14 rockets hidden in Ben Guerdane. [Tunisien]

 

Other countries

Afghanistan

Daesh publishes a video of the battles to capture the Bir Bajir area, south of Jalalabad. [DawaAlhaq]

Daesh said on October 20 that it captured the Bir Bajir area.

 

Somalia

Daesh says it attacked a police station in Bosaso city with hand grenades. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says it destroyed an African Union armored vehicle in the Elasha Biyaha area, near Mogadishu. [A3maq]

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

 

Videos of the Day

Iraq

Two videos of a tribal leader from Ninewa, one year apart. In the first video, issued by Daesh, the tribal leader, in a big gathering, is pledging loyalty to Daesh against the Shia and the Kurds. In the later video, in Erbil and in front of the Iraqi flag, the same man says he was forced to support Daesh and talks about brotherhoods with the Shia and the Kurds. [Facebook]

DaeshDaily comment. While it is undeniable that Daesh forces people to attend such meeting and to pledge allegiance, it is also undeniable that Daesh could never have controlled such large parts of Iraq without support from local tribes. Iraq is already facing a huge challenge regarding transitional justice, as thousands of people will seek redress for the harm done to them and their families, and the challenge will become even bigger after the Ninewa liberation.

 

A video of an Iraqi soldier from Anbar meeting his family for the first time in 3 years. The family was trapped in an area that had been besieged by Daesh. [Yalla]

 

A video of the displaced families in Debaga Camp [Yalla]

 

A video of Iraqi Army tanks in the Bazwaya area [Yalla]

 

Syria

A video of an old Syrian man singing near his destroyed house. The entire neighborhood is destroyed.  [Facebook]

 

Libya

A GNA video of the Sirte battles [YouTube]

 

OTHER DAESH MEDIA

 

Daesh audio newsletter for today [Bayan]

 

Daesh issues a propaganda video about Raqqa [DawaAlhaq]

October 27, 2016

Children in Qayara

Children in Qayara

Today’s Major Developments

Erdogan confronts Obama over using YPG in Raqqa campaign. [..]

Anah mayor complains of errant airstrikes hitting civilians. [..]

99 Daesh terrorists dead so far in Kirkuk after Friday attack. [..]

IFP troops enter Shura city south of Mosul. [..]

Special report: Mosul liberation campaign on hold due to Daesh human shields strategy in villages. [..]

Key numbers: 800-900 Daesh killed; 93 villages captured; 11,000+ civilians displaced. [..]

UNOCHA leader blasts Russia, Syria for civilian catastrophe in Aleppo. [..]

 

REPORTS FROM IRAQ

 

NATIONAL NEWS

One important phone call, two versions:

President Obama spoke by phone on Wednesday with Turkish President Erdogan to discuss the next steps in the campaign against Daesh. The President recognized the contributions of Turkey to the campaign, especially in supporting local Syrian forces who have cleared Daesh from Turkey’s border in northwest Syria. He noted the need for close coordination between the United States and Turkey to build on these successes and to apply sustained pressure on Daesh in Syria to reduce threats to the U.S., Turkey, and other countries.

The President welcomed continued dialogue between Turkey and Iraq to determine the appropriate level and form of Turkey’s participation in the Coalition’s efforts in Iraq, and both leaders affirmed their strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq.  The two leaders agreed on the importance of denying the PKK a safe haven in northern Iraq. [WhiteHouse]

 

Turkish President Erdogan says he informed President Obama, in the phone call, that Operation Euphrates Shield will move to Raqqa after Al-Bab and Manbij. [Dorar]

The Turkish Minister of Defense says Turkey insists on not allowing the YPG’s participation in the Raqqa liberation operations. He says Turkey can find alternatives among the opposition groups. He also says Turkey will do what needs to be done in case the US doesn’t fulfill its commitment to withdraw the YPG to the east of the Euphrates. [ARA]

 

The NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg NATO says in a 2-day Defense Ministers meeting in Brussels on Thursday that ministers agreed that training and capacity-building of Iraqi armed forces should begin in Iraq itself in January, building on existing training of Iraqi officers in Jordan. The Secretary General called the expanded training mission “an important contribution to the fight against (Daesh).” [NATO]

DaeshDaily comment. This is a great initiative that would help meet one of Iraq’s main post-liberation requirements. Daesh will still be present and making local attacks and the armed forces still need a lot of improvement.   

 

The Turkish Minister of Defense says Turkey will respond to any attack on the Turkmen in Tal Afar. He says the PMFs want to enter Mosul and other Sunni cities and that Turkey will not remain silent. [Sumaria]

DaeshDaily comment. But Turkey was silent for two years when thousands of Turkmen were killed or displaced by Daesh. It wasn’t just Tal Afar, either. Hasn’t Turkey heard of what happened in Bashir? Amerli? So it’s not really about the Turkmen but about a foreign policy that is now out of control and not being effectively confronted.  

 

The Coalition says it conducted 11 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Iraq, seven of them on or near Mosul, the other four being in Sultan Abdullah and Kasik in Ninewa, Rawa and Rutba in Anbar.  [InherentResolve]

 

BAGHDAD

Security-related incidents reported

Center (Rusafa, Karkh, etc.)

The spokesman of the Judicial Council says a group of Daesh terrorists was captured by the Intelligence Service. He says the terrorists admitted their role in several suicide attacks in Baghdad and Salahuddin. [Baghdadia]

 

North (Tarmiya, Taji, etc.)

An MoI source says three people were killed and eight wounded when an IED exploded near a popular market in the Falahat area, in Tarmiya. [Mada]

Iraqi Army 22nd brigade found a Daesh suicide terrorists’ guesthouse in the Tabi area and confiscated 3 IEDs and 4 motorcycles. [BOC Facebook Page]

 

Northeast (Adhamiya, etc.)

An MoI source says one person was killed and seven wounded when an IED exploded near a commercial area in Suleikh. [Mada]

 

East (Sadr City, New Baghdad, etc.)

An MoI source says one person was killed and seven wounded when an IED exploded near a construction materials market in Ubaidi. [Mada]

An MoI source says one person was killed and eight wounded when an IED exploded near a commercial area in Ameen. [Mada]

 

Southeast (Mada’in, etc.)

An MoI source says two people were killed and six wounded when an IED exploded near a café in Mada’in. [Mada]

 

South (Dora, Yusufiyah, Mahmudiya, etc.)

An MoI source says a Military Intelligence unit captured 5 men wanted on terrorism charges in Arab Jubour. [Mada]

Security units found 7 IEDs and 66 locally made rockets in the Al-Atar area. [BOC Facebook Page]

Iraqi Army 23rd brigade found 2 Daesh guesthouses and defused an IED in the Khtaimiya area. [BOC Facebook Page]

Iraqi Army 55th brigade found an IED and other explosives in the Albu Wawi area. [BOC Facebook Page]

 

Total Baghdad incidents reported:   11   (Includes only incidents reported)

Total IED incidents                                  8

 

ANBAR

Rutba/Western Anbar

The Anbar Operations commander says Coalition planes destroyed 10 Daesh vehicles in the Kilo 45 area, south of Rutba, killing 25 terrorists. [Sumaria]

 

A Tribal PMF commander says a group of Daesh terrorists arrived in Rawa from Raqqa and arrested a local Daesh member, responsible for municipal services, and several of his associates. [Maalomah]

He also says unknown armed men attacked a Daesh hideout in Raqqa and killed a local terrorist called Abdul Salam Al-Rawi. Al-Rawi was the son of the head of Daesh’s tribal office, who planned the attack on Rutba few days ago. [Maalomah]

 

The Mayor of Anah District says some airstrikes in Anah are targeting civilians who have no links to Daesh. He also says a water purification station was destroyed by an airstrike. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh issues a video of a public relations religious gathering in Anah. Many of the attendants were children. [A3maq]

 

SALAHUDDIN

Shirqat

A Salahuddin Police source says a joint police and PMF force captured 2 Daesh terrorists in Shirqat. The Mayor of Shirqat says Iraqi forces should conduct a raid and search campaign in the district because Daesh terrorists are still occupying the houses of displaced people in several areas. [Mada]

 

Daesh says its snipers killed two PMF fighters in Imam Gharbi village, north of Shirqat, on Wednesday. [JustPaste]

 

Daesh says its snipers killed two PMF fighters in Khanuqa village. Daesh also says it killed or wounded several Iraqi soldiers in an attack near Khanuqa, and destroyed a PMF vehicle in a nearby area, killing or wounding the fighters inside. [JustPaste]

 

DIYALA

Baquba/southeast Diyala

The Diyala Police Chief says his troops launched a search campaign in the Abbara and Abu Saida area and destroyed 2 Daesh guesthouses and defused 2 IEDs. [Mada]

 

Northern Diyala (Kifri, Khanaqin, etc.)

The Dijla Operations commander says his troops, supported by the IAA, destroyed 7 Daesh guesthouses in the Himrin Hills area. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh says it killed four PMF fighters with an IED in Udhaim subdistrict. [A3maq]

 

Southern Diyala (Balad Ruz, Mandali)

The Diyala Police spokesman says the police found an explosive cache in the Nida area. [Mada]

 

KIRKUK

Kirkuk

A security source says a joint police and Asayesh force killed 5 Daesh terrorists in Yarmaja village, in Laylan subdistrict. The terrorists had fled Kirkuk after participating in the Daesh attack on Friday. [Mada]

A Kirkuk Police commander says 99 Daesh terrorists who participated in the Friday attack have been killed so far. He says several terrorists remain in the city and a security campaign will be launched to get rid of them. [BasNews]

 

A Kirkuk Police commander says a joint Asayish and police force captured 4 men wanted on terrorism charges in different areas in Dibis District, northwest of the city. [Sumaria]

 

NINEWA

Photos from the battlefields in different parts of Ninewa [Sumaria]

 

Mosul

Military Developments within Mosul

The anti-Daesh popular resistance (symbolized by the Arabic letter meem) has raised the Iraqi flag over the eastern bank hisbah office, one of the largest Daesh command centers in the city, after infiltrating the center before dawn, a local source said. The source added that Daesh remains in a state of fear and unease in the city due to the ongoing anti-Daesh resistance activity. [Sumaria]

 

The bodies of three prominent Daesh members arrived at Mosul’s morgue Thursday after the men were killed in Hamdaniya District The three were Ahmad Salim Ahmad, his personal driver Salim Obeid Mohammed, and Salih Mohammed Toukan, who commanded Daesh’s artillery east of Mosul, a PUK media official said. [PUKMedia]

 

Mosul liberation campaign

DaeshDaily’s correspondent in Ninewa reports that Daesh’s strategy of capturing civilians for use as human shields has caused delays in the operation, as Joint Forces have postponed the capture of villages where Daesh is holding residents captive. A new security plan is being drawn up to address these developments, our correspondent reports.

In a press conference in Erbil with the leader of the “National Coalition” parliamentary bloc Ammar Al-Hakim, KRG President Masoud Barzani reiterated that the Peshmerga will not enter Mosul. Al-Hakim also raised the issue of the Turkish military presence in Ninewa, which his parliamentary bloc rejects. [ROJ]

 

Between 800 and 900 Daesh fighters have been killed since the launch of the Mosul operation, according to Gen. Joseph Votel, chief of US CENTCOM. [PUKMedia]

 

93 villages have been captured from Daesh since the launch of the Mosul operation, the IWMC said. [Waradana]

 

11,735 people have now fled the fighting in villages around Mosul, the Ministry of Migration and Displacement has announced. [Rudaw]

 

Multiple Coalition airstrikes killed 22 Daesh members in Mosul over the previous 24 hours, a PUK media official said. [PUKMedia]

 

Photos from the front lines in multiple fronts of the Mosul operation, originally published by Reuters. [Sumaria]

 

MP Hanin Qado said that only the Nineveh Plains Protection Units PMF, which is composed of fighters from the Christian, Shabak, and Turkmen communities, will enter Mosul. [Buratha]

Qado also said that Mosul residents are “ripe for revolt,” citing reports that Daesh members had been killed by resistance activities in multiple areas of the city. He also cited very difficult conditions in Mosul, saying that some residents were resorting to eating just dates in order to survive. [Maalomah]

 

Conditions in Mosul

Daesh electrocuted 22 civilians in central Mosul on charges of having provided information to the Iraqi Joint Forces, a local source said. The source said that the victims had been in a Daesh prison west of Mosul for four months. [Sumaria]

DaeshDaily comment. Prisoners are often the victims in Daesh’s show executions, as they are already rounded up and easy to put on display. Whether they are guilty or not is unimportant to Daesh. Prisoners current in Daesh custody are at grave risk, and Daesh keeps capturing more people.

 

Daesh has closed offices in the eastern half of Mosul after transporting its furnishings across to the western half of the city, according to a PMF media statement citing “PMF intelligence.” [Ghad]

 

Daesh has “emptied” elderly patients from Mosul General Hospital, including from intensive care units, to make room for its injured fighters, a security source said. Four elderly patients have died as a result of their expulsion from the hospital, the source said. Daesh has also detained an unspecified number of civilians in Mosul and forced them to give blood to treat its injured fighters, the source added. [Baghdadia]

 

Residents of Mosul have begun making white flags in response to leaflets dropped by the IAA instructing them to do so, a local source says. Daesh has threatened to execute anyone found with a white flag, the source added. [Sumaria]

 

Shura/Hammam Alil

The IFP commander says his troops fought their way into Shura city after heavy clashes with Daesh, killing 30 terrorists and destroying 4 vehicle bombs and an oil tanker truck at the entrance. [BasNews]

 

“Abu Ayman Al-Mosuli,” a Daesh commander “very close” to Daesh “caliph” Awwad Baghdadi, who supervised Daesh combat operations in areas east of Mosul, has been killed in fighting with government troops near Shura, a local source said. [Sumaria]

 

The IFP announced two villages captured, Wadi Al-Qasab and Hamza, in northern Shura subdistrict. [Mada]

 

A Coalition airstrike killed 40 Daesh fighters south of Mosul, an MoD statement said. [Baghdadia]

 

An IAF airstrike destroyed a Daesh command center in Hammam Al-Alil, killing nine Daesh members. [Maalomah]

 

Coalition planes destroyed multiple Daesh vehicle bombs in airstrikes in the villages of Khusfan and Al-Qutba in Hammam Al-Alil south of Mosul, the IWMC said. [Ghad]

 

Coalition planes acting on Iraqi intelligence destroyed a Daesh cannon in the village of Hassoun, and killed an unspecified number of Daesh members who were gathered near the Ninewa Iron Works in the Al-Qutba area. Further airstrikes killed an unspecified number of Daesh members in multiple locations in Shura subdistrict. [MoD Website (video)]

 

The fires ignited by Daesh as it vacated the Mishraq Sulphur Plant in Shura are now under control after more than a week, the Ninewa governorate director for Shura subdistrict said. The fires caused injuries among residents of nearby villages, he added. [SotAlIraq]

 

Daesh says it destroyed an Iraqi Army armored vehicle with a guided missile near the Shura Intersection. [A3maq]

 

Qayara/Makhmur

Sky News reportedly visited Al-Hawd village where villagers, angry that the Iraqi Joint Forces did not enter the village to get rid of Daesh, staged a successful intifada [uprising] to expel Daesh from the village. [Ghad]

 

A DaeshDaily correspondent visited residents of Tel Tiba village in south Qayara, which was captured three days ago from Daesh. The villagers described harsh conditions imposed by Daesh when it controlled the village, even forbidding smoking, shortening men’s robes, and growing beards, on pain of fines and 25 lashes. After the village was freed from Daesh rule, supply vehicles arrived and government technicians are trying to bring back water and electricity as rapidly as possible, as well as re-open the schools that Daesh had forbidden children from attending.

 

A Sunni CoR member criticizes the Ministry of Oil for not extinguishing the fires in Qayara oilfields and describe the environmental situation there as “catastrophic”. [BasNews]

 

A high school in Makhmur has been closed because of the smoke in the air from burning oil wells in Ninewa. [ROJ]

 

Daesh publishes photos of targeting a PMF convoy with mortars and light weapons near the Albu Fishqa area, near the Qayara Intersection. Daesh said  yesterday it destroyed a PMF Humvee and a car carrying fighters near Albu Fishqa village. [A3maq]  [DawaAlhaq]

 

Nineveh Plain

Bashiqa

Peshmerga fighters have captured the Fadhiliya neighborhood in Bashiqa after entering it Thursday morning, a Peshmerga source said. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh militants east of Mosul have shaved their beards, changed clothes, and fled their positions, according to a report in the UK newspaper the Independent. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh says “American planes” also mistakenly targeted Peshmerga and PMF positions near Bashiqa. [A3maq]

Daesh Daily comment. This is the usual propaganda, in which US airstrikes are always inaccurate, never hitting Daesh targets and always killing civilians. If this actually happens, there will be a confirming story from a more reliable source.

 

Hamdaniya

For the first time since the launch of the Mosul operations, Daesh deployed tanks and heavy artillery to the battlefield, an officer in the Counter Terrorism Service said. The CTS captured the heavy weapons near Bartella after Daesh fighters abandoned them when they fled the battlefield, he added. The Force also discovered large tunnels that connect villages to each other, the officer said. [Ghad]

 

Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service units repelled three Daesh vehicle bomb attacks in Hamdaniya on Thursday, a CTS officer said. [BasNews]

 

Ninewa Police have begun deploying in Hamdaniya and are holding recaptured territory along with Christian militiamen, the Ninewa Police commander Brig. Gen. Wathiq Al-Hamdani said. [BasNews]

 

Counter Terrorism units discovered the longest Daesh tunnel found to date, stretching 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) underground between Jenin Camp and the village of Al-Qalaa, a security source said. They also discovered one of Daesh’s largest IED- and explosives-making factories, the source said. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh says it damaged an Iraqi Army Abrams tank near Qaraqosh. [A3maq]

 

Tel Keif

78 Daesh members have been killed on the Mosul Dam front since the launch of the Mosul operation, the IWMC announced. [Waradana]

 

Daesh says “American planes” mistakenly bombed a Peshmerga convoy near Tel Keif city. [A3maq]

 

Daesh issues a video of damaging a Peshmerga bulldozer in the farm area near Tel Keif. [A3maq]

 

Northwest (Tal Afar, Sinjar)

PMFs are reportedly deploying in preparation to open a new front in the Mosul operation in Tal Afar with the objectives of capturing 30 villages and completing the encirclement of Mosul. The PMFs will deploy tanks and heavy weapons in the battles. Ninewa Operations western front commander has announce that preparations are complete for launching the new phase. Participating in the operation will be the PMFs Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq, Badr, Al-Nujaba, Sayyid Al-Shuhada Brigades, Imam Ali Brigades, and Hezbollah [of Iraq], he said. The fighters are waiting for the “zero hour” to be announced by the JOC. [Mawazin]

 

Daesh publishes photos of targeting Peshmerga positions in the Aski Mosul area with a 23mm cannon. [JustPaste]

 

South (Baaj, Hatra)

Gunmen dressed in typical Daesh “Afghani” style stopped a vehicle carrying around 11 Syrian Daesh members in Baaj west of Mosul as they were heading for Syria. The gunmen removed the passengers from the vehicle and killed them with their pistols, a local source said. [Maalomah]

 

KURDISTAN

The Turkish artillery targeted 2 villages on Kara Mountain in Amedi District in Dahuk. [PUKMedia]

 

Local activists say three Peshmerga fighters were killed by a Turkish bombing on Qarmayan at the beginning of the week. They criticized the KRG for covering up the news. [ROJ]

 

SOUTHERN IRAQ

Basra

A security source says a Basra Governorate employee was killed when unknown armed men shot into his personal vehicle in Basra city center. [Sumaria]

 

REPORTS FROM TURKEY

 

The Turkish Dogan News Agency says security units captured 81 suspects, mostly foreigners, in raids in 6 regions in Turkey on suspicion of attempting to join Daesh in Iraq and Syria. [AfriGate]

 

REPORTS FROM SYRIA

 

Stephen O’Brien, head of the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) launched a searing attack on Russia and Syria for the continued bombardment of Aleppo, telling the Security Council he was “incandescent with rage” about the diplomatic stalemate and sparking one of the most stormy and confrontational UN meetings of recent times. He told the 15-member body that “the buck stops with you” – drawing parallels with Srebrenica, Cambodia and Rwanda. He also said “Month after month, worse and worse, and nothing is actually happening to stop the war, stop the suffering.”

[Telegraph]

 

“Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia had no other option but to clear out what he called “a nest of terrorists” from Syria’s Aleppo despite the fact that civilians were also present in the city. Putin said civilian casualties in conflicts should be mourned everywhere, not just in Aleppo, pointing to what he said were civilians killed around Mosul in Iraq. “Bells should toll for all innocent victims. Not just in Aleppo,” said Putin.” [Reuters]

 

Amnesty International says the Coalition conducted “arbitrary airstrikes” on different areas in Syria, killing or wounding tens of civilians. [ARA]

 

The Coalition says it conducted 7 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Syria, on or near Albu Kamal (1), Shaddadi (4), Raqqa (1) and Ain Eissa (1). [InherentResolve]

 

Saudi Arabia says it is ready to participate in the liberation of Raqqa. It also says Saudi Arabia is committed to its mission to conduct airstrikes on Daesh in Syria using airplanes at Incirlik Airbase. [ARA]

 

Iranian media sources say an assistant of General Qasem Soleimani was killed in battles in Syria. [BasNews]

 

Northeast (Hasaka, Raqqa)

Hasaka

The Turkish Army shot heavily at Qarmana village west of Darbasiya, without report of civilian casualties. [Hawar]

 

Northwest (Aleppo, Idlib)

Aleppo city

The SOHR says six children were killed by shelling on a school in west Aleppo. [SyriaHR]

The Syrian News Agency says three children were killed and fourteen wounded by opposition group shelling on a school in west Aleppo. [EnabBaladi]

 

Jarabulus

Daesh publishes photos of battles with opposition groups and the Turkish Army in Jatal village west of Ghandoura town. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Al-Bab

An opposition group commander says the opposition, supported by the Turkish Army, captured 2 more villages in the Al-Bab area. He says the opposition groups are advancing toward Al-Bab from Mare’ and Jarabulus. [ARA]

 

Daesh says it destroyed 2 cars carrying opposition fighters with 2 IEDs in Thalthana and Tal Jijan village northwest of Al-Bab. [A3maq]

Here Daesh says it killed five opposition fighters and destroyed a vehicle between Tal Jijan and Kassar villages. [A3maq]

 

Azaz

An opposition commander says the Turkish Army sent large military reinforcements to the opposition in Mare’ to fight the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). [BasNews]

 

The Turkish Army continued its shelling on Tal Al-Madhiq, Hasiya, Um Hawsh, Um Al-Qura, Harbal, and Sheikh Eissa. [Hawar]

 

An opposition group commander says they captured 2 more villages in Azaz, supported by the Turkish Army. [ARA]

 

Daesh publishes photos of targeting opposition groups and the Turkish Army with mortars, rockets, and heavy machine guns east of Al-Ra’i. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Afrin

Eight civilians including a child were wounded when the Turkish Army shot at protesters in Sorka village in Afrin. [Hawar] [Hawar]

Hundreds of people protested when the Turkish Army entered the village and started to cut trees down in order to build a wall (video). [Hawar] [ARA]

 

The Turkish Army and opposition groups shelled 2 villages in Afrin and Tal Rifaat. [Hawar]

 

Idlib

Russian warplanes continued their heavy airstrikes on the Idlib area. Thirty-five people were killed, mostly children, and tens wounded since yesterday. [Qasioun]

The opposition education directorate suspended school operations in Idlib after the airstrikes. [Dorar]

The Russian Ministry of Defense says no Russian warplanes flew over Idlib on Wednesday. It also says the videos that were circulated by media were fabricated because they don’t show any damage to the school’s roof or any hint of airstrikes. [SyriaNow]

 

East (Deir Ez-Zor)

Media sources say suspected Coalition warplanes targeted a house in Briha village east of Deir Ez-Zor, killing five people, mostly children. [Dorar]

 

Daesh issues a video of shelling Syrian Army positions in Deir Ez-Zor city. [A3maq]

 

South (Rif Damashq, Suwayda, Daraa, etc.)

Eight civilians were killed and tens wounded by a Syrian Army rocketing on Douma city in Rif Dimashq. [ZamanAlWasl]

 

A local source says the Daesh affiliate in Daraa, Khaled Army, arrested several of its commanders after one of its senior commanders was killed by an IED on October 18th. [EnabBaladi]

 

OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA REPORTS

 

North Africa

Egypt

A senior security source says security units captured 75 ABM terrorists who sneaked from Gaza into Rafah. [ElWatan]

 

Eyewitnesses say an Egyptian warplane destroyed a car carrying 3 terrorists near Bala’a village west of Rafah. [ElWatan]

 

Eyewitnesses say the bodies of two unknown men were found shot in south Arish city. [ElWatan]

 

ABM terrorists shot and killed a policeman in south Arish city. [VetoGate]

 

Eyewitnesses say security units launched a major search campaign near the Mazraa area south of Arish and have captured 12 suspects so far. [ElWatan]

 

A 19-year-old girl was killed and her mother wounded when takfiri terrorists shot at security forces in Sheikh Zuweid city. [VetoGate]

 

Three civilians were killed and a woman wounded when a mortar shell fell on a house in Hay Al-Kharfin in Sheikh Zuweid. [VetoGate]

 

Libya

Northeast

The LNA says its planes conducted 2 airstrikes on Qanfouda west of Benghazi. [Libya24]

 

Daesh publishes photos of targeting LNA units in Benghazi with mortars and heavy machine guns. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Daesh said it killed an LNA soldier in the Qawarsha area on Wednesday. [JustPaste]

 

Central coast

A medical source says two GNA soldiers were killed and fifteen wounded, including a commander, in battles in the Giza area. The source says GNA troops captured most of Daesh’s positions in the area. [Wasat] [Wasat]

GNA troops have advanced in the Giza area after heavy shelling. [Libya24]

A medical source says a GNA field commander was killed by a Daesh sniper in Giza. [Wasat]

 

A military source says a Daesh Libyan terrorist was killed in Giza. The source also says tens of bodies of Daesh members are still lying on the ground in the 656 and Giza areas. [Wasat]

 

Photos of GNA troops in Giza. [AfriGate]

 

The Italian Military Hospital was officially opened in Misrata to treat GNA fighters. The hospital will be run by an Italian crew of more than 200 members. [Libya24]

 

Daesh says four GNA soldiers were killed and twenty wounded after walking into a land mine field in Hay 3 in Sirte city. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says it destroyed a GNA machine gun-mounted vehicle with an IED in the Sakir area west of Sirte. [A3maq]

 

Tunisia

A judicial spokesman says the two Americans who were arrested in Jendouba were not involved in any terrorist activities and were released. [Tunisien]

Tunisien reported on Tuesday that security units captured 2 American brothers who arrived in Jendouba and were promoting takfiri ideas. The security found jihadi materials on the brothers’ computers. Speaking through a translator, they said they arrived in Tunisia for jihad.

 

The Tunisian Ministry of Interior says a security unit in Ben Guerdane arrested 2 suspects who were communicating with Daesh terrorists in Sirte. [AfriGate]

 

Other countries

Russia

Daesh issues a video of one of its terrorists who attacked a military base in Russia on Sunday, pledging allegiance to its caliph. [A3maq]

 

Daesh said yesterday 2 of its terrorists attacked a military base in Nizhny Novgorod on Sunday.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

 

Videos of the Day

A video of the environmental problem in south Ninewa [Sumaria]

 

A video of the destruction caused by Daesh in Hamdaniya [Rudaw]

 

DAESH MEDIA

 

Daesh audio newsletter for today [Bayan]

 

Daesh publishes a new issue of its Naba magazine. [DawaAlhaq]

 

October 26, 2016

Displaced Children from Ninewa (Yalla)

Displaced Children from Ninewa (Yalla)

Today’s Major Developments

Resistance movement gaining momentum within Mosul. [..]

Daesh executes 232 people in Hammam Al-Alil. [..]

Displaced persons total from Mosul now nearing 10,000. [..]

Counter Terrorism troops now 2.5 miles from Mosul. [..]

Ashton Carter projects Raqqa campaign to start in a few weeks. [..]

Gen. Townsend expects SDF, including YPG, to have a major role in Raqqa campaign. [..]

Turkey targets YPG units again. [..]

SDF, Turkey-supported opposition militias clash in Al-Bab District. [..]

Daesh attacks three cities in Somalia. [..]

 

REPORTS FROM IRAQ

 

NATIONAL NEWS

The Turkish Minister of Defense met his French and American counterparts in Brussels. The Minister says it is imperative to keep the “demographic” of Mosul, Tal Afar, and Raqqa unchanged. He also says it is very natural for Turkey to be part of the Coalition efforts in the Mosul battle. He says Turkish warplanes are ready to conduct airstrikes within the Coalition. He also says the PMFs should not participate in the Mosul battle in any way. [Anadolu]

DaeshDaily comment. The Minister’s comments are essentially sectarian. Keeping the “demographic” means keeping the Shia out of Mosul and Tal Afar and keeping the Syrian Kurds out of Raqqa.

 

The PMFs will participate in all fronts around Mosul, a PMF commander said. [Waradana]

 

The Minister of Displacement and Migration says the Ministry received 3,300 displaced people, mostly from Ninewa. Many people are also leaving the Hawija area. The UN says 8,940 have left their houses in the Ninewa area since October 17. [Yalla] The Ministry’s higher estimate is in Ninewa section below.

UNHCR has begun airlifting more than 7,000 tents to Erbil from emergency warehouses in Dubai and Amman to assist Iraqis displaced because of the ongoing Mosul battles. The flights, carrying family tents from UNHCR’s emergency warehouse in Dubai, are arriving at Erbil International Airport for five consecutive days this week. The first flight, with 1,515 tents, arrived on Tuesday night. Altogether, 7,200 tents will be unloaded.

“These airlifts are vital and will allow us to respond as soon as displaced Iraqis reach our camps and need shelter,” said UNHCR’s Representative in Iraq, Bruno Geddo. He also says “UNHCR is securing a total of 50,000 tents and 50,000 emergency shelter kits for families on the move and these 7,200 tents will help us reach our target sooner.” With full funding and readiness, UNHCR will be able to provide shelter options inside and outside camps for up to 600,000 people. However, UNHCR has only received 48% ($95 million) of the funds required for its Mosul emergency response, costed at $196.2million, and is appealing to donors for additional help. [ReliefWeb]

 

President Francois Hollande decided to extend the mission of France’s aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle in the eastern Mediterranean until mid-December to help the offensive against Daesh in Mosul after France’s Defense Council “reviewed the military, humanitarian, political and security stakes involved in the recapture of Mosul,” according to a statement issued by Hollande’s office. The carrier was deployed to the region on September 30 with a one-month mission, its third since February 2015.

[Monitor]

 

The JOC spokesman says the IWMC will produce 2 reports per week about military operations in Ninewa instead of the daily reports, unless there are urgent developments. [SotKurdistan]

 

Speaker Jubouri said in Erbil that even after Mosul’s liberation, Daesh will produce a new generation that would adapt to the new era. [Mada]

 

The Coalition says it conducted 8 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Iraq, on or near Mosul (3), Kasik (1), Sultan Abdullah (3), and Haditha (1).  [InherentResolve]

 

BAGHDAD

Security-related incidents reported

Center (Rusafa, Karkh, etc.)

An MoI source says one man was killed and four members of his family wounded when unknown armed men threw a hand grenade at a liquor store in Karrada. [Mada]

 

North (Tarmiya, Taji, etc.)

An MoI source says two people were killed and nine wounded when an IED exploded near a popular market in Hamamiyat village, in Taji. [Mada]

Daesh says it killed four Iraqi Army service members and destroyed a Humvee with an IED in the Sheikh Hamad area on Tuesday. [A3maq]

Yesterday, a security source said Counter Terrorism units defused an IED that was planted near a popular market in the Sheikh Hamad area.

 

A security unit found defused 2 IEDs and an explosives vest in Masara village, in Taji. [BOC Facebook Page]

Iraqi Army 22nd brigade defused an IED in the Albu Khaled area. [BOC Facebook Page]

 

Northeast (Adhamiya, etc.)

An MoI source says one person was killed and six wounded when an IED exploded near a commercial area in Suleikh. [Mada]

 

Southeast (Mada’in, etc.)

An MoI source says the bodies of three women were found shot in an orchard in Wardiya. [Mada]

An MoI source says a municipal council employee was killed when unknown armed men shot at his personal vehicle in Nahrawan. [Mada]

An IFP unit found 6 mortar shells in the Marajla area. [BOC Facebook Page]

 

South (Dora, Yusufiyah, Mahmudiya, etc.)

An MoI source says two people were killed and five wounded when an IED exploded near a commercial area in Abu Dsheer, in Dora. [Mada]

Iraqi Army 55th brigade found 10 liters of explosives in the Albu Faris area. [BOC Facebook Page]

Iraqi Army 55th brigade found and explosives cache in the Albu Mufrij area. [BOC Facebook Page]

Iraqi Army 23rd brigade found 5 liter of explosives in the Shakha 6 area. [BOC Facebook Page]

 

Total Baghdad incidents reported:   13    (Includes only incidents reported)

IED incidents                                            5

 

ANBAR

Hit/Haditha

A tribal PMF commander says security forces captured 12 members of Daesh sleeper cells in recently liberated areas in Haditha District. [Maalomah]

 

Rutba/Western Anbar

The Anbar Operations Commander says his troops, supported by Coalition planes, killed 6 Daesh terrorists and destroyed 4 machine gun-mounted vehicles and 57 IEDs in Rutba and Jazeera Ramadi. [AIN]

 

The Mayor of Rutba says Prime Minister Abadi has ordered that residents of the city be left in their houses while security forces search Rutba. He says Iraqi forces had ordered people to leave their houses in order to conduct a search after the Daesh attack. [Sumaria]

 

SALAHUDDIN (No reports)

 

DIYALA

Baquba/southeast Diyala

A Diyala Police source says a police unit raided several areas in Hibhib subdistrict and captured several people wanted on terrorism charges. The source also says the police found an IED factory in the house of a previously captured terrorist in the Hashimiyat area. [Mada]

 

Northern Diyala (Kifri, Khanaqin, etc.)

The Dijla Operations Commander says his troops captured 13 terrorism suspects in Mansouriya and Udhaim. [Sumaria]

 

Southern Diyala (Balad Ruz, Mandali)

The Intelligence Service found explosives caches in Mandali, Khailaniya village, and Saba’ village. [MoD Website]

 

KIRKUK

Kirkuk

Speaker Jubouri arrived in Kirkuk and met with its Governor before heading back to Erbil.  [ROJ] [ROJ]

Speaker Jubouri said in a joint press conference with the Governor that displacing people and demolishing their houses are unacceptable. He says the Kirkuk government didn’t order that. Governor Najmaldin Karim refuted media reports about forced displacement and said the government should work on return the displaced families to their houses. [Sumaria] [Mada]

DaeshDaily comment. OK, so who exactly is to blame for this situation?

 

A security source says unknown armed men shot and wounded a police major near the governorate building in Kirkuk city. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh says, according to a “medical source,” 360 Peshmerga fighters were killed during Daesh’s attack on Kirkuk. [A3maq]

 

Hawija

A security source says 46 civilians who escaped Hawija arrived in the Maryam Bek area 40 km (25 miles) south of Kirkuk. The source says a child died on the road because of a lack of food and medicine. [Mada]

 

Southwest

The PMF Press says Turkmen PMFs killed 5 Daesh terrorists, including 2 suicide bombers, who were hiding in a water project in Taza. [Ghad]

 

NINEWA

Mosul

A prominent Daesh commander has issued orders to Daesh fighters to hide the bodies of their slain fellow Daesh members at the site of the battle, due to the “overcrowding” of Mosul’s hospitals and morgue with the corpses of killed Daesh fighters, according to a source in the city. Daesh preachers have been backing this policy up in the mosques, stating in their sermons that everyone fighting for jihad [i.e. for Daesh] who dies in the battlefield becomes automatically a martyr, the source added. Daesh reportedly was disposing of its slain fighters’ bodies in a site south of Mosul near the village of Al-Adhba, but with the approach of Joint Forces south of the city Daesh has reportedly resorted to a mass grave north of the city on the Mosul Dam Road, where more than 50 Daesh fighters were reportedly buried in a mass grave measuring 10 meters by 2 meters and just 2 meters deep. [ARA]

 

Daesh conducted a wide-ranging arrest campaign in Wadi Hajar and Mansour in south Mosul, targeting all former members of Iraqi security agencies, in response to resistance attacks on its offices around the city, according to an activist in Mosul. [ARA]

 

Unknown armed men attacked a Daesh prison in central Mosul and freed 40 women inside, a local source said. [Maalomah]

 

A security source said a Daesh member known as “Abu Sahar,” who was responsible for mobile phone surveillance in Mosul, has been killed in a resistance attack. [Mawazin]

 

Heavy fighting erupted around a residential building in the Al-Arabi neighborhood of Mosul after two young men of the “meem – Muqawama” resistance movement took shelter in the building after killing a member of a Daesh patrol in the neighborhood, a local source said. Daesh reportedly sent “tens” of heavily armed fighters, who surrounded the building. Amid the heavy fire and smoke the fate of those inside the building is not known. [SotAlIraq]

 

According to “media reports” the Mosul Sniper killed a Daesh member in Mosul just as he was about to decapitate a teenager. [PUKMedia]

 

Daesh members in Mosul have begun shaving their beards and changing their residence, as they adjust to the new reality of life in Mosul, local sources said. [Karemlash]

 

Mosul liberation campaign

Daesh’s Ninewa military commander Omar Ibn Faisal known as “Abu Muslim” was killed Tuesday in a Coalition airstrike, according to resistance sources. [Qoraish]

 

Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of US Forces in Iraq, has said that Iraqis are “advancing steadily” in the campaign to reclaim Mosul. [Sumaria]

 

Coalition Planes targeted 11 Daesh sites in Syria and Iraq according to the Coalition. [PUKMedia]

 

Conditions in Mosul

The Ministry of Migration and Displacement said that the total figure for individuals displaced from Mosul since the start of the operations to eject Daesh from the city was 9,795. [IPA]

 

Daesh has been confiscating “hundreds” of passports from the people of Mosul, a local source said. The reason for the sudden confiscation is not known but locals speculate that the passports will be used for its fighters and leaders. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh media in Mosul has announced that Moslawis will be compelled to participate in “loyalty festivals” to demonstrate their support for Daesh in various residential areas of the city in which the people will be carrying only unloaded weapons in pro-Daesh parades, a local source said. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh had difficulty employing its wireless communication network after successful Coalition efforts to disrupt its network Tuesday and Wednesday, a local source said. [Rudaw]

Daesh rapidly evacuated the emergency ward in Mosul Hospital when it was discovered that one of the patients was a wounded suicide bomber who was still wearing his explosives vest. [Sumaria]

 

Shura/Hammam Alil

Daesh executed 190 civilians in Hamam Al-Alil and 42 in the village of Al-Arij, northwest of Hammam Al-Alil, according to an MP from Ninewa. [Waradana]

 

A Coalition airstrike destroyed a Daesh residence hall in Hammam Al-Alil, killing all those inside, the IWMC announced. [Baghdadia]

 

The Iraqi Army seized control of the village of Saff Al-Tut, south of Mosul, killing “tens” of Daesh fighters. [Maalomah]

 

Video of an IFP officer attacking a vehicle bomb on foot. [AIN]

 

Daesh is living in the “hysteria of defeat,” the IFP commander said. [Etejah]

 

The IFP announced in a statement that it is transferring responsibility for holding captured territory south of Mosul to the Ninewa Police and the Tribal Mobilization. [Baghdadia]

 

Qayara

“Tens” of Daesh members were killed in an airstrike on their vehicle on the Gwer front, the IWMC announced. [Forat]

 

Iraqi Joint Forces have secured the strategic road between Qayara and Hammam Al-Alil, a security source said. [PressIraq] According to the PMF Authority spokesman, PMFs will be involved in securing it in the future. [Etejah]

 

Photos from inside Qayara city show the effect of heavy smoke from the burning oil wells nearby (photos). [Ghad]

Photos of the burned oilfields in Qayara [Sumaria]

 

Daesh says it destroyed a PMF Humvee and a car carrying fighters near Albu Fishqa village, near the Qayara Intersection. [A3maq]

 

Nineveh Plain

Hamdaniya

Daesh has ordered its fighters in Kokjali to retreat to Mosul city, a source in Ninewa said. [PressIraq] This is reportedly after Daesh earlier in the day ordered Kokjali residents to vacate the neighborhood within two hours, announcing that the Kokjali area was being turned into a Daesh defensive line. [Ghad]

The Iraqi Counter Terrorism troops are preparing to enter Kokjali, the force’s Ninewa commander said. The Counter Terrorism units are just 4 km (2.5 miles) from Mosul on the eastern Front, a security source said. [Maalomah] [Sumaria]

 

The Kata’eb Al-Mosul resistance group announced that it killed a Daesh member “Abu Luay Al-Juhayshi” by opening fire on him as he rode his motorcycle on the Al-Intisar Road in Kokjali, which is just outside the city. He was reportedly ferrying Daesh messages between Daesh command centers in the city and Hamdaniya. [KM Facebook Page]

 

The Iraqi Counter-Terrorism troops have taken control of the village of Al-Qalaa, east of Mosul, as well as the nearby Jenin military base. The troops found a very large network of tunnels in the area, a security source said. [SotAlIraq] [Baghdadia]

 

Bashiqa

Peshmerga fighters stormed the Fadhiliya neighborhood in Bashiqa city and have begun clearing operations, a security source said. [ROJ]

 

Tel Keif

Daesh says its snipers killed four Peshmerga fighters near the Free Zone area, west of Tel Keif. [A3maq]

Daesh says it damaged a Peshmerga bulldozer with a rocket in the farms area, near Tel Keif. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says it destroyed an armored BMP vehicle and damaged 3 Humvees with missiles northeast of Mosul on Tuesday. [A3maq]

 

Northwest (Tal Afar, Sinjar)

A Peshmerga security source said that Turkish troops are among the Peshmerga fighters advancing into Sinjar. [ROJ]

 

PMF fighters are preparing to advance toward Tal Afar on the western side of Mosul, A Ninewa MP said. [Waradana]

DaeshDaily comment. These are likely fighters working with the IFP south of the city and moving northwest.

 

The manager of Zamar subdistrict on Tal Afar’s Syrian border says 95% of the residents have returned to their houses since Zamar was liberated. He says Baghdad has not allocated anything yet for the reconstruction of the subdistrict. [BasNews]

 

SOUTHERN IRAQ

Kerbala

The Karbala Police Chief says a man wanted on terrorism charges was captured while trying to sneak through a checkpoint north of the city. [Baghdadia]

 

Basra

A security source says the owner of a restaurant was killed when unknown armed men on a motorcycle shot him in Basra city. [Ghad]

 

REPORTS FROM SYRIA

 

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told NBC News on Wednesday the attack on Raqqa will get underway within weeks. “It starts in the next few weeks,” he said. “That has long been our plan and we will be capable of resourcing both” (Raqqa and Mosul).

Carter added: “It’s been long a part of our plan that the Mosul operation would kick off when it did. This was a plan that goes back many months now—and that Raqqa would follow soon behind.” [NBCNews]

Daesh Daily comment. The Syria scenario has a lot of players. People often comment on what the YPG is doing, or the Turks, or the Russians, etc. However, Ashton Carter has been the most important strategist in the Syria situation, though he has avoided making a lot of speeches about his plan. Unlike most other people talking, Carter has all along seen Iraq and Syria as one anti-Daesh conflict from a strategic viewpoint. His comments today show a clear direction and seem to indicate that the endgame is coming sooner than Daesh expected.

 

General Stephen Townsend, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, says the Kurdish YPG will be part of the force to isolate Raqqa. He also said in a news briefing that the Coalition would move quickly to isolate Raqqa due to concerns about Daesh using it a base to plan and launch terror attacks abroad.

The YPG has played the largest role over the past year in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a U.S.-backed umbrella group, and has seized large areas of territory from Daesh, laying the groundwork for an assault on Raqqa.

“Turkey doesn’t want to see us operating with the SDF anywhere, particularly in Raqqa,” Townsend said. “We’re having talks with Turkey and we’re going to take this in steps.” He also said intelligence officials believe that Daesh is using Raqqa as a central planning point for international attacks. “The only force that is capable on any near-term timeline are the Syrian Democratic Forces, of which the YPG are a significant portion,” Townsend said. “We’re going to take the force that we have and we will go to Raqqa soon with that force.” [Reuters]

 

The Russian Ministry of Defense says Russian and Syrian warplanes will extend the suspension of the airstrikes on Aleppo city for the 9th day in a row. [Dorar]

 

The Turkish Army said on Wednesday that it targeted 99 Daesh positions and 18 YPG positions north of Aleppo. [Dorar]

 

The Turkey President Erdogan says Turkey is determined to clear Manbij from the PYD. [Anadolu]

 

The Coalition says it conducted 3 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Syria, near Albu Kamal (1), near Shaddadi (1), and near Mare’ (1). [InherentResolve]

 

Northeast (Hasaka, Raqqa)

Hasaka

Local sources say a man, his wife, and their son were wounded by a leftover Daesh land mine near Abu Handha village in the Shaddadi area. [ARA]

 

Raqqa

Daesh publishes photos of “normal life” in Jarniya town in Raqqa. [DawaAlhaq]

DaeshDaily comment. The people of Jarniya should take that as a warning.

 

Northwest (Aleppo, Idlib)

Aleppo city

Opposition groups shelled government controlled areas in Aleppo city, killing five civilians and wounding tens. Syrian troops targeted areas under the control of the opposition, killing four civilians and wounding others. [Hawar]

 

The Russian Ministry of Defense says 48 women and children left Aleppo city on Tuesday night. [SyriaHR]

 

Jarabulus

Daesh says more than 80 Turkish Army shells fell on the villages of Tal Hajar, Tal Al-Hawa, and Karbajli in Jarabulus, while opposition groups were advancing in the area. [A3maq]

 

Al-Bab

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) units advanced on Tuesday toward Tal Al-Madhiq village west of Al-Bab to attack Daesh. It says Daesh suddenly withdrew and Turkey backed opposition groups and Turkish forces entered the village. The opposition units then targeted SDF positions with poisonous gases, forcing the SDF to retreat. However, SDF factions captured Tal Al-Madhiq anyway at 4 AM. Turkish forces and their militia units targeted Hasiya, Harbal, Um Hawsh, Um Al-Qura, and Sheikh Eissa villages with heavy artillery. Thirty opposition fighters and Turkish soldiers were killed and twenty wounded, and 7 vehicles were destroyed. Five SDF fighters were killed on Tuesday and another one died of wounds he previously sustained in a Turkish bombing. [Hawar] [Hawar] [Hawar]

A video of the Turkish shelling in the area [Hawar]

An opposition commander says the opposition groups “partially” withdrew after Syrian warplanes and Apaches targeted their positions and SDF attacked them in the Tal Al-Madhiq area. [ARA]

 

The Syrian Army destroyed tens of Daesh oil tanker trucks in the Al-Bab area. [SyriaNow]

 

Azaz

Local sources say Turkish special forces moved from Jarabulus toward Mare’. [Hawar]

 

The SDF targeted Mare’ and Kaljibrin with mortars and heavy machine guns, wounding several civilians. [Qasioun]

The SDF also targeted residential areas in Azaz with mortars. [Qasioun]

 

Daesh says an opposition convoy fell into a Daesh mine field during battles east of Al-Ra’i. [A3maq]

DaeshDaily comment. How many stories are we supposed to believe about the enemy fighters falling into Daesh mine fields?

 

Daesh says ten civilians were killed in an “American” airstrike on a gathering of fuel tank trucks in Numan village, east of Akhtarin. [A3maq]

DaeshDaily comment. Because they were driving Daesh fuel trucks, perhaps?

Daesh issues a video of the results of the airstrike. [A3maq]

 

Afrin

Turkish Army troops and machinery entered Sorka village in Afrin, preparing to dig trenches and build a concrete wall in the area. [Hawar]

 

Idlib

Syrian warplanes killed at least twenty-three people, including eighteen children, in airstrikes on Haas town south of Idlib. [ZamanAlWasl]

The SOHR says twenty-six people, including five children, were killed in the airstrikes. [SyriaHR]

 

Central and West (Homs, Hama, etc.)

Daesh issues photos of installing billboards in different areas of Hama. It also publishes photos of olive harvesting in Hammadi Omar village, in Hama. [DawaAlhaq]

 

East (Deir Ez-Zor)

Syrian warplanes launched airstrikes on Khashan village, wounding several civilians. Syrian planes also bombed areas near Deir Ez-Zor Military Airport, and 3 areas in Deir Ez-Zor city. [Qasioun]

 

Daesh security officials gave an ultimatum to more than 30 families in Mayadin city and surrounding areas, after accusing them of opposing Daesh. [Qasioun]

 

Daesh publishes photos from northern areas in Deir Ez-Zor. [DawaAlhaq]

 

South (Rif Damashq, Suwayda, Daraa, etc.)

Daesh says it killed five opposition fighters with an IED on the outskirts of Ain Dhikr in the Yarmouk Basin, west of Daraa. [A3maq]

 

OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA REPORTS

 

North Africa

Egypt

Two civilians were wounded by random bullets from armed men who were attacking security forces in Joura village. [VetoGate]

 

A woman and her 12-year-old daughter were wounded when an IED exploded on them near the Rafah city entrance. [VetoGate]

 

Security forces killed an ABM terrorist who was trying to plant an IED in Husseinat village in Sheikh Zuweid. [VetoGate]

 

Daesh sources say one child was killed, and ten other civilians, including three children and three women, were wounded by an “arbitrary” Egyptian Army shelling on areas in Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Eyewitnesses say three masked men kidnapped a car dealership owner in Arish city. [ElWatan]

 

Libya

Northeast

The LNA Special Forces spokesman says one of his soldiers who was wounded yesterday by a land mine near the European hospital in the Qawarsha later died from the injury. [Wasat]

 

Central coast

A Misrata security source says a Daesh land mine exploded, damaging 4 GNA cars in the Nakhla area, 60 km (37 miles) west of Sirte, without causing casualties. [Wasat]

However, a security unit says five of its members were wounded in the explosion. [AfriGate]

 

An Educational Service official says life is gradually returning to the suburbs of Sirte and students are returning to their schools. [Wasat]

The Director of Health Services in Sirte says a medical convoy is visiting the liberated areas in Sirte. [Wasat]

 

A security source says 5 Nigerian and Eritrean women surrendered to GNA troops in in the Giza area of Sirte. The source says one of the women had an infant with her. [Wasat]

A military source says a Daesh African terrorist was captured in the Giza area. He also says several Daesh terrorists, especially from Tunisia and other African countries, were captured during the last 2 days. [Wasat]

 

A report about the conditions of Daesh prisons in Sirte [AfriGate]

 

The GNA military says American airstrikes on Sirte had stopped 3 days ago. [Libya24]

 

Other countries

Pakistan

A police officer was killed and an EOD personnel injured in two separate IED explosions targeting a polio eradication team in Peshawar’s Daudzai area Tuesday morning, police said. It also said a polio eradication team was hit when the first IED was detonated.

A second blast occurred when the EOD attempted to defuse another IED found during a search operation in the area. An EOD technician was injured in the blast. [Defense.PK]

Daesh says it killed a policeman and an EOD expert with an IED in Peshawar on Tuesday. [A3maq]

 

Somalia

Daesh says it captured Qandala town in northeastern Somalia, near the city of Bosaso. [A3maq]

Daesh issues a video of its terrorists in the town. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says it attacked a police station in the Yaqshid district in southeastern Somalia with hand grenades. [A3maq]

 

Daesh says it attacked a police station in Bosaso city with hand grenades. [A3maq]

 

Russia

Daesh says 2 of its terrorists attacked a military base in Nizhny Novgorod on Sunday. [A3maq]

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

 

Videos of the Day

A village boy meeting his father, an Iraqi soldier, after 2 years [Facebook]

 

A group of girls singing the Iraqi National anthem in Virgin Mary church in Alqosh, northern Tel Keif [Facebook]

 

Shabak people in the Tob Zawa area in Hamdaniya reuniting with their families after two years. [Rudaw]

 

A Daesh tunnel found in the Assyrian town of Karemlash in Hamdaniya [RT]

 

Displaced families in south Ninewa [Yalla] [Mayadeen]

 

A mosque damaged by Daesh in Falluja [Harbi]

 

DAESH MEDIA

 

Daesh audio newsletter for today [Bayan]

 

 

October 25, 2016

Iraqi Soldier in the Shura Area (DaeshDaily)

Iraqi Soldier in the Shura Area (DaeshDaily)

Today’s Major Developments

Turks claim to be giving artillery support to Peshmerga, flying with Coalition. [..]

Daesh beheads a Shia cleric in Baghdad. [..]

Rutba back in government control; Daesh loses 40-60 men. [..]

Arab PC members in Kirkuk want investigation of displacements, home destruction in Dibis. [..]

Daesh executions rise quickly in Mosul. [..]

Thousands more PMF fighters arriving southwest of Mosul. [..]

IFP 9 miles from Mosul, CTS 4 miles, others in Bashiqa, Tel Keif 8-9 miles [..]

Turks still targeting YPG in Syria. [..]

Opposition groups, YPG battle each other in Aleppo city. [..]

 

REPORTS FROM IRAQ

 

NATIONAL NEWS

Prime Minister Abadi warns of terrorist attacks intended to confuse the security situation in the country. He also blamed some politicians who repeat Daesh’s “news” reports. Abadi says Iraqi forces have reached an advanced stage in the Mosul liberation campaign. He also says the plan is to keep people in their houses and not asking them to leave. [Sumaria] [Sumaria]

Abadi says he feels surprised about the French statement that more Daesh terrorists are coming from Syria to Mosul and says he will check the issue with the Coalition. [Mada]

 

The US Envoy to the Coalition, Brett McGurk, says in a press conference at the US Embassy in Baghdad that the Mosul battle is going as planned but it will be difficult and will take some time. He also says that Daesh will try more attacks like those in Rutba and Kirkuk so as to divert the attention. He also says the PKK is a terrorist organization and it causes problems for Turkey and the KRG. [Anadolu]

He also says the Turkish troops in Bashiqa are not part of the Coalition and the US is working to solve that issue in diplomatic ways. [Mada]

McGurk confirmed that the Coalition didn’t conduct the mysterious airstrike on Daquq. [Mada]

 

The Chairman of the CoR’s Displacement Committee says officials were involved in “stealing” aid materials that were allocated for displaced people from Ninewa. He also says the camps can’t do enough because the government is not releasing the funds allocated for the displaced people. [ARA]

 

The Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs says 4 Turkish F-16s are participating in the Mosul Battle. He also says Turkey might conduct a military operation against the PKK in Iraq. He says the Turkish artillery is supporting the Peshmerga in the Bashiqa battles based on a request from the Kurdish forces.  [Masdar] [BasNews] [Sumaria]

The Turkish Prime Minister says a “safe zone” should be established in northern Iraq in coordination with the KRG. [Sumaria]

 

The Coalition says it conducted 8 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Iraq, five around Mosul, the others around Sinjar, Sultan Abdullah, and Rutba (1). [InherentResolve]

 

BAGHDAD

Security-related incidents reported

Center (Rusafa, Karkh, etc.)

The Rusafa Court says a captured man admitted he was providing Daesh terrorists with new official IDs under new names. [Sumaria]

 

North (Tarmiya, Taji, etc.)

Daesh says it beheaded a Shia cleric in Tarmiya. [A3maq]

An MoI source says an Iraqi Army soldier was killed and four wounded when an IED exploded on their vehicle in Taji. [Mada]

A security source says Counter Terrorism units defused an IED that was planted near a popular market in the Sheikh Hamad area, in Tarmiya. [Ghad]

A security source says IFP EOD defused 4 IEDs and 2 explosives vests found in a house under construction in Saba Al-Bor. [Mada]

Iraqi Army 22nd brigade found a Daesh guesthouse and an IED in the Tabi area. [BOC Facebook Page]

 

East (Sadr City, New Baghdad, etc.)

An MoI source says one person was killed and six wounded when an IED exploded near a commercial area in Niariya. [Mada]

An MoI source says one person killed and six wounded when a sticky IED exploded under a small bus on Fallah Street in Sadr City. [Mada]

 

Southeast (Mada’in, etc.)

A local police source says the body of an unknown man was found shot in Nahrawan. [Maalomah]

An MoI source says a joint police and army force captured 2 men wanted on terrorism charges in Hawi village in Mada’in. [Mada]

 

South (Dora, Yusufiyah, Mahmudiya, etc.)

An MoI source says unknown armed men broke into a house in Albu Aitha village in Daraa, shooting and killing three brothers. The source says two of the brothers were working with the MoD and the third was a member of the Tribal PMFs. [Mada]

An MoI source says three people were killed and eight wounded when an IED exploded near a popular market in Latifiya. [Mada]

Iraqi Army 23rd brigade defused an IED in the Tal Al-Dhahab area. [BOC Facebook Page]

 

West (Ghazaliya, Abu Ghraib, etc.)

Iraqi Army 54th brigade found 39 rockets, a rocket launcher and other explosives in the Arsan area in Abu Ghraib. Terrorists were planning to use the rockets in the coming days. [MoD Website]

 

Total Baghdad incidents reported:    14   (Includes only incidents reported)

IED incidents                                            8

 

ANBAR

Falluja

Iraqi Army 59th brigade defused 4 IEDs in the Albu Dalaf area, near Qarma. [BOC Facebook Page]

 

Rutba/Western Anbar

The Mayor of Rutba says Iraqi forces regained control over Rutba city completely after securing houses and government buildings that had been captured by Daesh. [Mada]

 

The Anbar Operations commander says Iraqi forces, supported by Iraqi and Coalition airstrikes, killed 40 Daesh terrorists and destroyed 14 vehicles in Rutba. He says Iraqi forces evacuated families temporarily in order to search for Daesh cells. [Sumaria]

Later on, he announced that Rutba was completely cleared and several families trapped by Daesh were freed. He revised his estimates to 60 Daesh terrorists killed and 10 of their vehicles destroyed. [Ghad]

 

Photos of Iraqi forces in charge of Rutba after foiling the Daesh attack [Sumaria]

 

Daesh issues a video of a suicide attack with a vehicle bomb on an Iraqi Army military position in Rutba on Monday. The video is not complete. [A3maq]

Daesh issues a video of the attack on Rutba. [A3maq]

DaeshDaily comment. The Daesh propaganda machine is not deterred by facts. Daesh lost in Rutba, but the video will be done so as to make it look like they won. The Daesh fanboys will be happy. Daesh is always victorious (even when it loses).

 

SALAHUDDIN

Shirqat

The Joint Operations Command (JOC) says Iraqi forces shot and killed a group of Daesh terrorists north of Khanuqa village. [Etejah]

The JOC says Salahuddin Police destroyed a Daesh tunnel in Shirqat. [Etejah]

 

Daesh says it destroyed 3 vehicles carrying PMF fighters in the Zuwiya intersection, south of Shirqat. [A3maq]

 

Daesh publishes photos of an attack on the Iraqi Army near Tilul Al-Baj. The photos don’t show any Iraqi soldiers, vehicles, or military positions. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Samarra

The Samarra Operations Commander says security forces captured a Daesh cell of 9 terrorists responsible for planting IEDs and for assassination operations in Samarra. [Mawazin]

 

DIYALA

Baquba/southeast Diyala

The Diyala Police spokesman says Police Emergency units captured 2 Daesh terrorists who fled from Mosul when the Ninewa liberation operations started, in the Tahrir area of Baquba. [Mada]

 

Muqdadiya/Abu Saida

The Dijla Operations Commander says his troops found an explosives vest, rockets, and mortar shells in an orchard area in Al-Zor. [Sumaria]

 

A security source says the body of an unknown woman was found shot in Muqdadiya. [Ghad]

 

Northern Diyala (Kifri, Khanaqin, etc.)

The Diyala Police chief says his troops shot and killed a Daesh suicide terrorist who was wearing an explosives vest in Qara Tapa. [Mada]

 

The Dijla Operations commander says his troops destroyed 2 Daesh vehicle bombs in the Himrin Hills area. [Sumaria]

 

A security source says Daesh terrorists destroyed an irrigation pump with an IED in Khulafa village in the Hawi area. The source says Daesh is trying to prevent farmers in the area from settling and making a living. [Sumaria]

 

The Chairman of the Udhaim Subdistrict Council says 10 displaced families arrived in Udhaim after being forced to leave Kirkuk. [Sumaria]

 

KIRKUK

Kirkuk

The Arab members in the Kirkuk Provincial Council ask for an urgent session to discuss the destruction of houses and displacement of Arab people from Qush Qaya and Qutan villages. [Sumaria]

 

A security source says Coalition planes killed 5 Daesh terrorists who participated in the attack on Kirkuk governorate, in an airstrike near Sari Tapa village in Laylan subdistrict. [Sumaria]

 

The PKK military branch said it participated in repelling Daesh attack on Kirkuk. [ARA]

 

The Chaldean Patriarch, Luis Sako, honors policemen who saved 14 female college students during the Daesh attack on Kirkuk. [Sumaria]

 

A security source says a university professor, who was a displaced man from Hawija, was killed when armed men shot at his civilian vehicle in south Kirkuk. [Ghad]

 

Daesh issues a video of the battles in the first day of the attack on Kirkuk. [A3maq]

 

Daesh publishes photos of 2 Iraqi suicide terrorists who attacked the electricity station in Dibis on Friday. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Southwest

The Council of Ministers has decided to pay compensations to the families of the Daquq airstrike victims. [Sumaria]
Military sources say the airstrike that killed fifteen women at a Shia religious gathering in Daquq was conducted by an Iraqi pilot who acted based on mistaken coordinates. Yalla couldn’t confirm this report from official sources. [Yalla]

 

A security source says their security captured several people wanted on terrorism charges, including the personal driver of Saddam’s son, in Daquq. [Mada]

A video of capturing the driver [Yalla]

 

NINEWA

An Iraqi Army officer said the ground assault has paused on all fronts to allow for a “reorganization and redeployment” of units. The air campaign continues, he said. [Anadolu]

 

Counter Terrorism troops paused their week-long advance on Mosul as they approached the city’s eastern edge on Tuesday, waiting for other Iraqi forces to move closer to the city. On the ninth day of the offensive on Mosul, the first force to get near to Mosul, advancing to within two kilometers (just over a mile), was the elite U.S.-trained Counter Terrorism Service (CTS). [Reuters]

 

Russian planes have reportedly deployed in the air along the Iraqi-Syrian border to target Daesh fighters fleeing Mosul. The Russian military reportedly said 300 Daesh fighters have slipped out of Mosul and reached Deir Ez-Zor in Syria. [SyriaNow] [SyriaNow]

 

The Russian Ministry of Defense says more than sixty civilians were killed and two hundred were wounded in Coalition airstrikes on Mosul over the last 3 days. It also says one of the airstrikes targeted a girls’ school south of the city. It says there are no “noticeable successes” in the Mosul military operations. It also says Russian warplanes are flying over the Iraqi Syrian border and are ready to launch airstrikes against the terrorists. [Ghad]

 

Daesh publishes photos of battles in the Ninewa area. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Mosul

Military developments in Mosul

A senior security source says 50 Daesh terrorists were killed when 2 vehicle bombs accidentally exploded in the west side of Mosul city. [Mawazin]

 

Daesh has continued mining Mosul’s streets and bridges with explosives, which it intends to detonate with the advance of Iraqi forces, local sources say. Daesh reopens the streets after it closes them to plant mines along the route, the sources say. The roads leading to the Mosul Great Mosque in the Al-Zera’i neighborhood have been mined, the sources add. The group intends to detonate “all bridges” in Mosul with the advance of Iraqi Joint Forces into eastern Mosul, the sources add. Daesh has placed vehicle bombs along roads and under bridges in the city, according to the sources. [Mawsleya]

 

Daesh’s elite “Usra Army” fighters have vacated the eastern half of Mosul and have redeployed to the alleyways of the “old alleys” of the western half of the city, local source said. Some in the city suspect that those old narrow alleyways are being used as hideouts for Daesh leaders. [Sumaria]

“A few hundred” Daesh fighters have arrived in Mosul from Syria in the last few days, according to a source close to the French Defense Ministry. [Sumaria]

 

The “Ahrar Mosul” anti-Daesh resistance group has claimed responsibility for the assassination of “Abu Farouq,” an assistant head of a office” in eastern Mosul. The assassinated Daesh official, in his 50s, was also an “Islamic education” teacher who had joined Daesh before 2014. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh’s numbers in Mosul are in continuous decline as the group sends more and more of its members to the front lines, local sources say. [Mawsleya]

 

Mosul liberation campaign

Unidentified artillery units reportedly shelled Daesh positions heavily in western Mosul. [PressIraq]

 

The PMF’s northern sector spokesman has said that the statement of the NMF (recently renamed the “Ninewa Guards”) of Atheel Al-Nujaifi about participating in the Mosul campaign is “baseless” and that it has no role in the fighting for Mosul. [Waradana]

DaeshDaily comment: See below under Tel Keif where the Ninewa Guards are reportedly fighting in the operation.

 

Daesh announcers have acknowledged the “fierceness” of the fighting for Mosul on its radio broadcast in the city, local sources said. The acknowledgement comes amid a palpable decline in Daesh morale in the city, the sources added. [Mawsleya]

 

Conditions in Mosul

Daesh executed 55 young men in Al-Sawas Square in central Mosul after arresting them at random in the areas of Al-Mansour and Wadi Hajar, two villages that mounted popular resistance to Daesh. [BasNews]

 

Daesh executed twenty-three people, including Yazidi girls, in 2 hospitals in Mosul city. [Harbi]

 

According to a report citing a local source, Daesh hung a bloodied young man’s body from an electricity pylon in the Bab Al-Tob neighborhood in central Mosul on Tuesday. When a crowd gathered, a portly Daesh leader known as “Al-Haji” reportedly appeared, and delivered an angry lecture about how Daesh “kills all those who target the Caliphate’s soldiers.” The Daesh leader then suddenly fell dead, covered in his own blood after being struck by a sniper bullet, the source said. A chaotic scene reportedly ensued as Daesh militants began to fire randomly. [Sumaria]

 

UNOCHA’s spokesman has expressed concern that Daesh could be committing massacres of civilians inside Mosul, citing “preliminary reports” such as Iraqi troops’ discovery of 70 bodies in Tilul Nasr village. [IPA]

 

Iraqis living under Daesh in Ninewa have been subjected to horrific treatment by increasingly volatile fighters and are being used as human shields as US-backed Iraqi coalition forces draw closer to the city, the UN has said.

The UN said on Tuesday that preliminary reports have emerged of mass executions. Between 20 and 50 ex-police officers were shot on Sunday, spokesperson Rupert Colville said, as Daesh attempts to quiet any signs of rebellion ahead of what is likely to be heavy fighting for control of Mosul.

Around 70 civilians who died from bullet wounds were discovered by security forces in the village of Tilul Nasr on 20 October, and 15 more were killed and their bodies thrown into a river in Safina, 28  miles (45 km) south of Mosul.

Three women and three girls were shot and four more children injured because they did not move quickly enough during a forced relocation, the UN said, as one of the children had a disability. [Independent]

 

Daesh executed nine of its own fighters who reportedly fled the battlefront, by binding their hands and feet and lowering the men into a trench of burning crude oil, a local source said. [Sumaria]

 

One of the “most prominent” Daesh IED makers, known as “Al-Homsi,” died when a barrel of C4 explosives detonated in an operation gone wrong in the Al-Arabi district of Mosul, a local source said. Three of his associated were also killed in the blast, the source added. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh has filled the streets of the city with posters instructing residents to “smash” their satellite dishes, a local source said. The posters include 20 religious justifications for the instructions, but the source suggests that this is a new bid by Daesh to isolate the people of Mosul from outside news. [Sumaria]

 

PMF sources say Iraqi forces are jamming Daesh wireless communications in the Ninewa area. [Harbi]

 

A local source says the Daesh hisbah official, a terrorist from an Arab country, and a female German citizen terrorist who was responsible for female suicide terrorists, disappeared from Mosul with “important” documents and millions of dollars. The source says Daesh leaders are leaving the city with the arrival of Iraqi forces. [Sumaria]

 

Daesh publishes photos of “normal life” in the Sumer area on the east side of Mosul. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Shura/Hammam Alil

The Iraqi Federal Police (IFP) says it killed 40 Daesh terrorists and captured 5 in the 9th day of its Ninewa operation. It also says it destroyed 6 vehicle bombs and 92 IEDs. [Baghdadia]

 

The IFP Commander says his troops are 15 km (9 miles) away from the western side of Mosul city. [Harbi]

 

The IAA targeted Daesh in several locations in the Shura area, killing 16 terrorists and destroying a hideout, a booby-trapped house, a car bomb, and 2 other vehicles. [MoD Website]

 

The IWMC says the IAA destroyed 4 machine gun mounted vehicles and 5 motorcycles in the Shura area. [Harbi]

 

The IFP reportedly targeted Daesh in the village of Khawtiya (spelling approx.), killing seven Daesh members. [Harbi]

 

A PMF source reportedly said Daesh is moving IEDs into the Hammam Al-Alil area. [PressIraq]

 

Daesh is digging new trenches south of Mosul and sowing them with IEDs linked by wires to remote detonators in a bid to hamper the progress of advancing Iraqi Joint Forces a security source said. The trenches are reported to stretch from the south of the city toward Tal Afar. [Etejah] The southern part of Tal Afar province extends to well south of Mosul city.

 

Thousands of PMF fighters, headed by Hadi Al-Ameri the Badr Commander, are arriving southwest of Mosul to participate in the liberation battles and to prevent Daesh terrorists from fleeing toward Syria. PMF elite units arrived in areas southeast of Mosul. [Harbi] [Sumaria]

 

The Ashura Brigade PMF reportedly captured a village southwest of Mosul. [PressIraq]

 

PMFs south of Mosul reportedly received an unspecified number of displaced families. [Harbi]

 

Daesh says it destroyed an Iraqi Army Humvee and an SUV near the Shura intersection, south of Mosul. [A3maq]

 

Qayara

CoR Speaker Jubouri arrived at the Qayara Airfield and met with military commanders. [BasNews]

 

The IFP have captured 1200 square km (463 square miles) since the launch of the Mosul operation and have begun handing the captured territory over to Ninewa Police, according to General Ra’ed Shakir Jawdat, Commander of the IFP. The commander also said his troops had captured 56 villages, freed 1500 families, killed 75 Daesh fighters, and destroyed 92 vehicle bombs. [Ghad]

 

Daesh says it broke into the house of a PMF commander in Imam Gharbi village, south of Qayara, and killed 3 PMF fighters. [A3maq]

Here Daesh says it killed four fighters and wounded another in the attack. [A3maq]

 

Good read from NPR: Near Mosul, Some Residents Flee Daesh, Others Stay And Fight With Daesh.

 

Nineveh Plain

Hamdaniya

The Counter Terrorism units are 6 km (3.7 miles) from the eastern outskirts of Mosul, according to the force’s commander. The units are moving into Bazwaya village area, an MoD official said. [IPA] [Harbi]

 

400 individuals have fled the village of Bazwaya east of Mosul to Al-Khazer Camp in the southeast of Erbil governorate, according to a media representative of the chairman of Ninewa GC. [Sumaria]

[Harbi]

 

Daesh says Peshmerga and PMF units, supported by Coalition planes and Apaches, attacked its positions in the center of Hamdaniya District, but it stopped the attack, killing 4 Peshmerga and PMF fighters, damaging an Abrams tank, and destroying a BMP armored vehicle. [A3maq]

 

Photos of a purported Syrian tank, reportedly recovered from a Daesh site in Bazwaya. [PressIraq]

 

Tel Keif

Peshmerga fighters completely control the strategic village of Khorsabad in the Nawaran area close to the Hamdaniya border, an Iraqi military source said. [ARA]  Khorsabad is an Assyrian village about nine miles from Mosul.

 

After besieging the city for several days the Peshmerga have entered Batnaya, 3 miles north of Tel Keif, and now also control the Christian town of Alqosh near the Kurdistan border, a Nineveh Plain Protection Force official said. The Christian PMF, Nineveh Plains Protection Force, reportedly participated in the operation. [Sumaria] [Harbi]

 

Iraqi Army and Ninewa Guard militiamen captured a fuel storage facility belonging to the Northern Oil Company, and a gas factory in Tel Keif, as well as a village in the area and the principal road leading to Tel Keif city, an MoD statement said. [Baghdadia]

 

The IAA killed 7 Daesh terrorists, including 2 snipers, and destroyed 2 machine gun-mounted vehicles and a hideout in the Tel Keif area. [MoD Website]

 

Daesh says it destroyed a Peshmerga Humvee with a mortar shell near the Free Zone area, west of Tel Keif. [A3maq]]

 

The IWMC says Coalition planes killed tens of Daesh terrorists and destroyed 3 rocket launchers, 5 vehicle bombs, and 8 tunnels in the Tel Keif area. [AIN]

 

The Peshmerga captured Derik village in the Bashiqa area and are preparing to enter Bashiqa city in the coming hours. [Rudaw]

 

Bashiqa

Daesh says Peshmerga and PMF units, supported by Coalition planes, attacked Omar Qabchi village, northeast of Mosul (southeast of Khorsabad), but it stopped the attack and forced them to retreat. [A3maq]

Daesh says it damaged a Peshmerga Abrams tank with a missile near the Omar Qabchi intersection. [A3maq]

 

Northwest (Tal Afar, Sinjar)

Daesh says 2 of its suicide terrorists attacked Peshmerga units in Aski Mosul village, north of Tal Afar, with explosives vests. Daesh also says it destroyed a Peshmerga vehicle with an IED near the village. [DawaAlhaq]

Daesh publishes a photo of one of the Iraqi suicide terrorists. [DawaAlhaq]

 

A PMF source says 3,000 Turkman PMFs from Tal Afar will participate in the liberation operations of their district. [Harbi]

 

On Monday, a security source said unspecified “security forces” killed a Daesh attacker wearing a suicide vest who was attempting to infiltrate Ninewa Police positions in Aski Mosul.

 

REPORTS FROM SYRIA

 

Turkish military sources say the Turkish Army attacked 72 Daesh targets and 15 YPG targets in north Syria on Monday. [ZamanAlWasl]

 

Saleh Muslim, the president of the PYD, told the German a TV network that Turkey got the green light from the United States and Russia before bombing and shelling the YPG units in north Aleppo. [Dorar]

 

The Coalition says it conducted 3 airstrikes on Daesh targets in Syria, one near Abu Kamal and two near Mare’. [InherentResolve]

 

Northeast (Hasaka, Raqqa)

Hasaka

Local activists say people of Al-Mahawesh village in the Mount Abdul Aziz area clashed with the PYD Asayesh who were trying to force young people from the village into military service. A young man and two Asayesh members were wounded in the clashes. [BasNews]

 

The PYD Asayish says the Turkish Army shot and killed a young man in Amuda. [ARA]

 

The PYD Asayish defused 2 IEDs near Tal Hamis. [ARA]

 

Raqqa

Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently says Daesh opened a school for Turkish speaking children in Raqqa. [EnabBaladi]

 

Northwest (Aleppo, Idlib)

Aleppo city

The SOHR says heavy battles erupted between opposition groups and the YPG near Ain Al-Tal area in Aleppo city. [SyriaHR]

Ahrar Al-Sham says the YPG attacked the area but it stopped the attack, killing or wounding “tens” of YPG fighters. [ARA]

 

The Russian Ministry of Defense says Russian and Syrian planes haven’t conducted airstrikes on Aleppo for seven days. It also says fifty people were smuggled secretly from Aleppo to government controlled areas. [ARA]

 

Jarabulus

7,741 people have returned to their houses in Jarabulus from Turkey since the city was liberated from Daesh. [Anadolu]

 

Al-Bab

Turkish artillery killed six people from the same family when its shells fell on a displaced people’s camp near Al-Burj village, 90 km (56 miles) north of Al-Bab. The village had been occupied by Daesh. [Hawar] [Hawar]

 

The YPG-backed Hawar says the General Commander of Jabha Shamiya, an opposition group, was killed and seven opposition military vehicles were destroyed in battles with Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) factions near Tal Madhiq village. [Hawar]

Hawar says the opposition groups targeted the village with chemical weapons. [Hawar]

 

Opposition groups captured Kassar, Tal Jijan, and Tal Madhiq villages after heavy battles with Daesh. [EnabBaladi]

Tal Jijan village lies within the administrative borders of Al-Bab and it’s 14 km (9 miles) away from the city. [Dorar]

The opposition says Syrian Army helicopters dropped barrel bombs on the opposition in the area while the opposition was fighting the YPG and Syrian troops, killing three opposition fighters and wounding ten. It says this is the first time the Syrian Army has targeted the Turkey-backed Operation Euphrates Shield groups. [Dorar]

The SOHR says six opposition fighters and one SDF fighter were killed in the battles. It also says Turkish artillery shelled SDF positions in the area. [SyriaHR]

 

Azaz

The Turkish Army and Syrian opposition groups targeted Um Hawsh, Harbal, and Hasiya villages with heavy artillery (video). [Hawar]

The YPG stopped an opposition attack on Hasiya and Samouqa villages, killing several fighters and destroying a machine gun mounted vehicle. The battles are still ongoing. [Hawar]

 

Five opposition groups fighters were killed and twenty-eight wounded by a vehicle bomb attack near Baraan village. [ZamanAlWasl]

Daesh says one of its Kurdish suicide terrorists attacked Turkish and opposition troops in Baraan village south of Akhtarin with a vehicle bomb, killing or wounding “tens” of them. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Several people were killed in SDF shelling on Mare’. [ZamanAlWasl]

 

The SOHR says three opposition fighters were killed by a Daesh land mine in Tal Maled. [SyriaHR]

 

The SOHR says a child was killed and other civilians wounded in an SDF shelling on Kaljibrin. [SyriaHR]

 

Afrin

Turkey backed opposition groups targeted 4 villages in Afrin with tens of mortars, wounding two civilians. [Hawar]

 

Manbij

Daesh says two people were killed and ten wounded in 13 “American” airstrikes on Tal Aswad village, south of Manbij, on Monday. [A3maq]

 

Other Northwest Syria

Local sources say the Turkish Army brought more than 20 vehicles loaded with ammunition to Syria through the Atma Border Crossing in Idlib during the last 2 days. [Hawar]

 

Central and West (Homs, Hama, etc.)

A special source says a “large” Russian military unit was deployed days ago to a military base in the Tadmur area. [ZamanAlWasl]

 

Daesh publishes 2 photos of its terrorists meeting with tribal leaders near Sukhnah. [DawaAlhaq]

 

East (Deir Ez-Zor)

The Syrian Army destroyed a 20m Daesh tunnel in Hay Al-Sinaa in Deir Ez-Zor. [SyriaNow]

The SOHR says 2 Daesh terrorists were killed in the tunnel. [SyriaHR]

 

The SOHR says a Daesh security member fled from Mayadin and joined the regime’s security service in Damascus. [SyriaHR]

 

The SOHR says the Syrian Army and Daesh exchanged shelling in different areas in Deir Ez-Zor. [SyriaHR]

 

Daesh issues a video of 4 Syrian soldiers who surrendered to its terrorists in Deir Ez-Zor. [A3maq]

 

OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA REPORTS

 

North Africa

Egypt

Counter Terrorism units cleared the Bala’a area, west of Rafah, one of ABM’s major strongholds, after heavy clashes, killing 6 terrorists. [ElWatan]

 

Six civilians, including a 13-year-old boy were wounded by 4 IED explosions in south Rafah and south Sheikh Zuweid. [VetoGate]

 

An Egyptian soldier was killed by a sniper in the Abu Tawila area, south of Sheikh Zuweid. [VetoGate]

 

Daesh supporters issue a report about civilian casualties resulting from Egyptian shelling and bombing on North Sinai areas. [DawaAlhaq]

 

Libya

Central coast

A medical source says GNA troops freed an Indian doctor and five Philippine nurses from Daesh in Sirte. Daesh had kidnapped them months ago and forced them to treat its terrorists. [Wasat]

 

Daesh says it destroyed an armored vehicle and a car, both carrying Government of National Accord (GNA) fighters, with 2 IEDs near the Nakhla Intersection, west of Sirte. [A3maq]

 

The GNA Military says its troops killed a Daesh local commander and a Daesh Palestinian terrorist in Sirte. [AfriGate] [Libya24]

 

AFRICOM says it conducted 7 airstrikes on Daesh in Sirte between October 21 and October 23. [Wasat]

 

Tunisia

The Tunisian Ministry of Interior says security units captured a cell of Daesh members in El Kef. [Tunisien]

 

Security units captured 2 American brothers who arrived in Jendouba and were promoting takfiri ideas. The security found jihadi materials on the brothers’ computers. Speaking through a translator, they said they arrived in Tunisia for jihad. [Tunisien]

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

 

A Saudi jihadi “cleric” said that God is punishing Syrian people with airstrikes because of their sins, creating a social media firestorm among Syrian activists. [EnabBaladi] [Twitter] [JustPaste]

DaeshDaily comment. This idiot claims to be the second Bin Laden because of his fortune, which he uses to support radical groups in Syria. He is actually talking about Sunni Muslims in Syria. This attitude reflects the takfiri hatred towards countries with much older civilizations. Sunnis of Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and other countries are not Muslim enough for the takfiris. Many jihadis have expressed their hatred towards Syrian people, while at the same time living in Syria and claiming to be fighting for the Syrians. After living for decades under the criminal Baathist regime and suffering from its ideology, people of Syrian are facing another dangerous ideology coming from the desert.   

 

Videos of the Day

Kirkuk. A video of Arab houses demolished in the 1 Huzairan area in Kirkuk [YouTube]

 

A video of a displaced family kicked out of Kirkuk [YouTube]

 

A video of capturing young men and displacing them from Qutan village in Dibis [YouTube]

 

Ninewa. A video of a Coalition airstrike destroying a Daesh staging area near Mosul [CJTF]

 

A video of Shia militias beating up two boys in Ninewa after accusing them of being Daesh members [Twitter]

 

Nineveh Plain. A video of the room of a Daesh terrorist in a village in the Bashiqa area. The terrorist put the photo of a Kurdish female singer on his wall. [Rudaw]

 

A video of people of Hamdaniya celebrating the liberation of their city [Sumaria]

 

DAESH MEDIA

 

Daesh issues infographics about the Mosul battles. [A3maq]

 

Daesh issues a propaganda video about its terrorists in Abyan, in Aden. [DawaAlhaq]