ISIS – IRAQ - KURDISTAN : NEWS THREAD

[Anthea]

Amnesty International

Evidence of war crimes by government-backed Shi’a militias


The growing power of Shi’a militias in Iraq has contributed to an atmosphere of lawlessness.

Shi’a militias, supported and armed by the government of Iraq, have abducted and killed scores of Sunni civilians in recent months and enjoy total impunity for these war crimes, said Amnesty International in a new briefing published today.

Absolute Impunity: Militia Rule in Iraq provides harrowing details of sectarian attacks carried out by increasingly powerful Shi’a militias in Baghdad, Samarra and Kirkuk, apparently in revenge for attacks by the armed group that calls itself the Islamic State (IS). Scores of unidentified bodies have been discovered across the country handcuffed and with gunshot wounds to the head, indicating a pattern of deliberate execution-style killings.

“By granting its blessing to militias who routinely commit such abhorrent abuses, the Iraqi government is sanctioning war crimes and fuelling a dangerous cycle of sectarian violence that is tearing the country apart. Iraqi government support for militia rule must end now,” said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Response Adviser.

The fate of many of those abducted by Shi'a militias weeks and months ago remains unknown. Some captives were killed even after their families had paid ransoms of $80,000 and more to secure their release.

Salem, a 40-year-old businessman and father of nine from Baghdad was abducted in July. Two weeks after his family had paid the kidnappers a $60,000 ransom, his body was found in Baghdad’s morgue; with his head crushed and his hands still cuffed together.

The growing power of Shi’a militias has contributed to an overall deterioration in security and an atmosphere of lawlessness. The relative of one victim from Kirkuk told Amnesty International:

“I have lost one son and don’t want to lose any more. Nothing can bring him back and I can’t put my other children at risk. Who knows who will be next? There is no rule of law, no protection.”

Among the Shi’a militias believed to be behind the string of abductions and killings are: ‘Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, the Badr Brigades, the Mahdi Army, and Kata’ib Hizbullah.

These militias have further risen in power and prominence since June, after the Iraqi army retreated, ceding nearly a third of the country to IS fighters. Militia members, numbering tens of thousands, wear military uniforms, but they operate outside any legal framework and without any official oversight.

“By failing to hold militias accountable for war crimes and other gross human rights abuses the Iraqi authorities have effectively granted them free rein to go on the rampage against Sunnis. The new Iraqi government of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi must act now to rein in the militias and establish the rule of law,” said Donatella Rovera.

“Shi’a militias are ruthlessly targeting Sunni civilians on a sectarian basis under the guise of fighting terrorism, in an apparent bid to punish Sunnis for the rise of the IS and for its heinous crimes.”

At a checkpoint north of Baghdad, for instance, Amnesty International heard a member of the ‘Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq militia say: “If we catch ‘those dogs’ [Sunnis] coming down from the Tikrit area we execute them…. They come to Baghdad to commit terrorist crimes, so we have to stop them.”

Meanwhile, Iraqi government forces also continue to perpetrate serious human rights violations. Amnesty International uncovered evidence of torture and ill-treatment of detainees, as well as deaths in custody of Sunni men detained under the 2005 anti-terrorism law.

The body of a 33-year-old lawyer and father of two young children who died in custody showed bruises, open wounds and burns consistent with the application of electricity. Another man held for five months was tortured with electric shocks and threatened with rape with a stick before being released without charge.

“Successive Iraqi governments have displayed a callous disregard for fundamental human rights principles. The new government must now change course and put in place effective mechanisms to investigate abuses by Shi’a militias and Iraqi forces and hold accountable those responsible,” said Donatella Rovera.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/iraq-evi ... 2014-10-14

[Anthea]

CNN World

Zakaria: Iraq's army has collapsed

CNN speaks with Fareed Zakaria about reports over new advances by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. This is an edited version of the transcript.

There is reportedly one base remaining in Anbar Province under Iraqi control. Talking to a general, he said it isn't so significant. You disagree.

It's very significant. It’s not significant militarily, because Baghdad will hold for reasons we can talk about. What's significant here is that it tells you that the Iraqi army has collapsed, that there’s no real Iraqi army. Because those bases where people are giving up, surrendering, these are all Sunnis who don't want to fight ISIS, Sunnis who don't want to fight fellow Sunnis.

What you're seeing is that if you scratch the surface of the Iraqi army, it's a bunch of sectarian militias, and the Sunnis will not fight against ISIS because they don't like the Baghdad government.

They don't have that regard for a nation. It's like a sect nation.

They think at this point the Iraqi government is being run by Shia. And so they in a sense don't like ISIS, but they like the Shia government in Baghdad less. So what we have to come to grips with is, this army that doesn't really exist.

Billions of dollar poured into this army…

Billions of dollar poured into it, because it was based on the idea that there was an Iraq, that there was a nation that there would be a national army for. Maybe we need a different strategy, which is to stand up sectarian militias, Shia militias, Sunni militias. They already exist. And the Kurds have their Peshmerga, that model. Send them into fight in their areas, not in other areas where they would be regarded as a foreign army.

That's giving up on a lot, but if you look at events on the ground, that's what reality is telling us.

The reality with regard to Turkey – many are wondering what their role would be moving forward. We now know. We watched the parliamentary vote, that Turkey is now saying to the U.S. OK, you can use our country as this launch pad to bring your troops in and to fire rockets and whatnot. How significant is that move? Do you think that could be the next step toward maybe some ground troops from Turkey?

Turkey is absolutely crucial, because they're the one serious army in the region that borders the ISIS forces that has the capacity and that has the determination and that has the interests at stake.

Turkey has put its head in the sand for so long, trying to believe they don't need to get involved, and they have allowed again their petty issues to overwhelm them.

Is this them pulling their head out of the sand just a little bit?

I think they're beginning to pull their head out of the sand. What they have been worried about…so the people in Kobani are Kurds. They don't want Kurdish forces to get stronger, which then might produce Kurdish separatism, which Turkey worries about because Turkey has lots of Kurds. They are trying to sort of limit the degree to which the Kurds, the ethnics Kurds in the area...

And they can't put all that aside and just fight the terrorists, bottom line?

And they can't put that aside because they don't feel that they're threatened. They feel that ISIS will stop at their border. And they're probably wrong. And so what you're seeing is everybody wants the United States to sweep in like a knight in shining armor.

And fix it.

Fix it for them so they can all free-ride on the United States. And I think one of the things we have to recognize is if the United States stays back and forces some of these governments in, they're going to get involved. They are threatened. This is their region.

We're 6,000 miles away. But, of course, they would much rather the United States come in and we have got all the firepower and Washington has all the firepower. Who wants to fight if the largest military in the history of the world is willing to do it for you?

Final question, Baghdad – how vulnerable? Do you worry about that?

I don't worry about it a lot, because the truth is that because Baghdad is now the Shia capital of Iraq, there are lots of Shia militias. The army is Shia, they will fight until the end. And, remember, the Iraqi army, even in its currently reduced state, it is several hundred thousand. ISIS may have 10,000 or 15,000 people. They are outnumbered 10 or 15 to one. The weapons that the Iraqi army has are much better. And these guys have the will to fight because they want to preserve Shia control of Baghdad.

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com ... collapsed/

[Anthea]

Washington Post
By Erin Cunningham and Brian Murphy

Islamic State seizes third Iraqi army base in Anbar after military retreat

Islamic State fighters pressed their assault on two key towns in Syria and Iraq on Thursday as defenders on both fronts prepared for possible street-by-street battles and appealed for intensified U.S.-led airstrikes, reports and witnesses said.

The two showdowns — in the Euphrates River town of Hit in Iraq and the strategic Syrian crossroads of Kobane near the Turkish border — suggest that the Islamic State retains enough firepower and command structure to make continued gains despite weeks of airstrikes by Western and Arab nations.

The clashes also have exposed weaknesses among the ground forces trying to blunt the extremist group’s push. Such worries have been raised in Turkey, whose parliament Thursday gave the green light for possible military intervention in the two neighboring countries.

Turkey, which has a vast and well-equipped military, had previously sent reinforcements to the border but had remained on the sidelines of the international coalition fighting the Islamic State. The parliament’s nod to an active Turkish role in the fight could mark a significant shift in tactics.

In Syria’s northern Kurdish region, Islamic State militants appeared to be moving closer to the border town of Kobane, which has been under near-constant attack for more than two weeks. The battles have sent more than 160,000 people fleeing to Turkey or seeking safety in enclaves outside the group’s reach.

A senior Syrian Kurdish commander, Ismet Sheik Hasan, said forces defending Kobane were digging in for possible urban combat in the event that Islamic State fighters breach the last lines ringing the town, also known in Arabic as Ayn al-Arab.

The U.S. military said the United States and partner nations launched four airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria on Wednesday and Thursday.

In Iraq, the loss of Hit, a town on a major pipeline route and about 115 miles northwest of Baghdad, would further consolidate the Islamic State’s hold on Sunni-dominated areas stretching from near the capital to Mosul, the largest city in the north. The region was once a key battleground between insurgents and Sunni tribes recruited by the United States to fight on its side after the 2003 invasion.

Now, Washington and its Iraqi partners are trying to forge a similar alliance to help battle the Sunni-led Islamic State, an al-Qaeda offshoot.

Just before dawn Thursday, militants using car bombs targeted the Hit police headquarters and a checkpoint, local officials said.

The officials said coalition warplanes attacked the militants, forcing them to retreat. The U.S. military said the international coalition conducted seven airstrikes in Iraq on Wednesday and Thursday.

A member of the local council in Hit, Mohannad Mizbar, said Thursday afternoon local time that Islamic State fighters continued to battle Iraqi troops on the outskirts of the city.

But a resident of Hit contacted by telephone said later that Islamic State fighters had raised their group’s flag over the mayor’s office in the city center and that street-to-street battles were raging between the insurgents and Iraqi security forces by nightfall.

Also Thursday, Islamic State militants assaulted a large army base in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, detonating car bombs and firing mortar rounds. Security forces eventually repelled the attack, officials said.

Ramadi is one of the last major areas of Anbar province, where Hit is also located, that are still under government control. Jihadists have maintained a strong presence in Anbar since January, and the government has struggled to roll back their gains.

“The area is very strategic,” said Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha, a prominent pro-government tribal leader in the area. “They want to attack it to make people feel unsafe,” he said of the militants.

In Geneva, a U.N. report released Thursday cited widespread atrocities and abuses at the hands of the Islamic State, including mass executions and beheadings, the sale of captive women and girls as sex slaves, and targeted attacks against religious minorities, including Christians and Yazidis, members of an ancient sect.

The report by the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq could help lay the groundwork for eventual charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The report added that more than 24,000 civilians were killed or injured in violence in Iraq during the first eight months of this year — the highest such toll since the height of sectarian battles and the insurgency against U.S. forces more than seven years ago.

Murphy reported from Washington. Mustafa Salim contributed to this report.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/twi ... story.html

[Anthea]

BBC Middle East

Islamic State militants kill two Iraq journalists

Two Iraqi journalists have been killed by Islamic State (IS) in the past four days, Reporters Without Borders says.

Mohanad al-Akidi, the correspondent for the Sada news agency in the IS-held northern Iraqi city of Mosul, was shot dead at the Ghazlani base on Monday.

Mr Akidi was abducted in July while he travelled to Dohuk province.

On Friday Raad Mohamed al-Azzawi, a cameraman for Sama Salah Aldeen TV, was beheaded by IS militants in the city of Samarra. He had been held for a month.

Reporters Without Borders, which promotes and defends world media freedom, said it was "horrified by the jihadist group's constant crimes of violence".

"Islamic State is pursuing a policy of indiscriminate criminal violence that shows no pity towards journalists and does not hesitate to kidnap, torture and murder them," said its programme director, Lucie Morillon.

"Media personnel need the support and protection of the local authorities more than ever," she added.

IS 'media guidelines'

The vast majority of foreign journalists have fled the large parts of Iraq and Syria controlled by IS because of the danger, leaving local reporters to document events.

IS has beheaded the American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff in the past two months, and is holding the British journalist John Cantlie, who has appeared in a series of propaganda videos.

Earlier this month, IS issued guidelines for journalists operating in the Syrian province of Deir al-Zour.

They were told to swear allegiance as "subjects of the Islamic State", submit stories for approval, and inform the group of any social media accounts. Anyone violating the guidelines will be "held accountable".

Reporters Without Borders said Mr Azzawi had been threatened with death by IS in September because he refused to work for the group.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-29613783

[Anthea]

Islamic State suicide bomber kills Badr militia leader in Baghdad
By Bill Roggio

The Islamic State claimed credit for today's suicide attack in Baghdad that killed Ahmed al Khafaji, who was a senior commander in the Shiite Badr militia and a member of parliament, along with at least 20 other Iraqis. Khafaji's death was confirmed by another member of Iraq's parliament as well as by a hospital official.

"Khafaji was a member of the main Shiite bloc in parliament, the State of Law coalition, of which Prime Minister Haidar al Abadi's Dawa party is also part," AFP reported.

The Islamic State said that Khafaji was the target of the suicide attack, which was executed by "members of the [Islamic State's] security and intelligence department of Baghdad province," according to statements released by the group on Twitter that were obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group. The suicide bomber was identified as "Abu 'Aisha al Badri al Husseini al Qurashi al Samara'ee."

The jihadist group described Khafaji as "the Member of Parliament for Badr Brigade, this Rafidhi [Shiite] faction that has long fought the Muslims and waded deep in their blood."

The assassination of Khafaji took place just two days after the Islamic State killed the top police general for Anbar province in an IED attack just outside of Ramadi in Anbar province.

The Islamic State has upped the attack tempo in Baghdad over the past several weeks, with suicide bombings and IED attacks becoming more prevalent inside the city.

Many analysts are claiming that the Islamic State is preparing to mount an offensive on Baghdad and march into the city, as it has done in Mosul, Tikrit, Fallujah, and elsewhere. The presence of the Islamic State in Abu Ghraib and reports of fighting near Baghdad International Airport (which the Ministry of the Interior has denied) have been cited as evidence of a looming assault.

But the presence of the Islamic State in Abu Ghraib and much of eastern Anbar province is not a recent development. In fact, the Islamic State held a parade, which included a large amount of captured Iraqi Army hardware, in Abu Ghraib in March [see LWJ report, ISIS parades on outskirts of Baghdad, from April 4].

I believe that the Islamic State is simply consolidating its recent gains in Anbar while continuing its "Baghdad Belts" strategy to control the so-called belt regions outside the city as a precursor to making the capital ungovernable. [See LWJ report, Analysis: ISIS, allies reviving 'Baghdad belts' battle plan.] The increased violence inside and outside of Baghdad is a reflection of the group's success in implementing its strategy to put the squeeze on the Iraqi government.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-ma ... um=twitter

[Anthea]

CNN

Coalition hits ISIS hard in Kobani; militants keep pushing

ISIS appears to have gained more ground in Iraq.

Islamic State fighters surrounded one of Iraq's largest air bases Tuesday, a police captain in Anbar province and other security sources told CNN. The militants are preparing to launch an attack on Ein Al-Assad military airbase, which is halfway between Hit and Haditha, said Anbar police Capt. Omar Mohamad Hanin.

Anbar has been largely overrun by ISIS, which has been waging war for months in order to establish a caliphate -- or a society run by strict Sharia law. It has also taken over large swaths of Syria, near the border with Turkey.

Coalition forces have been trying to battle back, but ISIS is getting into position in Iraq with rocket launchers and tanks in villages to the south and east of Ein Al-Assad, Hanin said.

President Barack Obama said he is focused on the fighting taking place in Anbar and vowed airstrikes will continue there and elsewhere.

"This is going to be a long-term campaign, there are no quick fixes involved," he said Tuesday at Joint Base Andrews, during a meeting of military leaders from 22 countries who are part of the coalition fighting ISIS.

Cost of attacking ISIS refineries

"We're still in the early stages," the President said. "As with any military efforts there will be days of progress and there will be periods of setback, but our coalition is united behind this long-term effort."

Nearly 60 countries are now part of the effort to stop ISIS.

Two deadly car bombs exploded in Baghdad on Monday and one on Tuesday. The militants claimed they were behind the blasts. One targeted the police checkpoint in the Shiite neighborhood of Khadimiya.

Four people were killed and 12 others were injured when a car bomb being driven by a someone on a suicide mission exploded in an area called al-Utayfia. The target was a security checkpoint at one of the entrances to the predominately Shiite neighborhood, police officials told CNN.

ISIS released a statement on its media site claiming that the al-Khadimiya attack killed a member of the Iraqi Parliament, Ahmad al-Khafaji, who was a member of the Badr Organization, a main Shiite bloc in the government.

On the surface, Badgad remained calm Tuesday, despite ISIS advances from the west. Ali, who sells fish at a market, noted that ISIS has taken control of even more territory since the coalition airstrikes began.

Nearby, Walid, who sells fruit and has two sons in the Iraqi army, said the airstrikes are "like theater."

The Iraqi army's track record in fighting ISIS is not good. It has lost control of Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, and is now struggling to keep control over Anbar.

ISIS advances in Syria

In Syria, ISIS fighters bombed and blasted their way through the strategic city of Kobani. Columns of smoke rose as the sound of gunfire erupted.

Coalition airpower -- aided by Saudi Arabia -- has been focused intensely on Syria. U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that it had bombarded ISIS near Kobani, using bomber and fighter aircraft to fire 21 airstrikes that destroyed two ISIS staging locations, a building, a truck and two vehicles and damaged other ISIS property.

Another U.S. strike near the Syrian city of Dayr az Zawr struck a modular oil refinery and initial indications are that this strike was successful.

The strikes are meant to prevent the extremist Muslim group from resupplying and massing combat power on the Kurdish-held portions of Kobani, Central Command said in a release.

All coalition aircraft used in missions against ISIS departed the space safely, the military said, and analysis of the strikes suggests that they slowed ISIS' advance.

But Central Command warned that "the security situation on the ground there remains fluid" with ISIS attempting to gain territory and beat back the Kurdish military, which is putting up a fierce fight.

Turkey In or Out?

The fight for Kobani brings ISIS right to the border with Turkey, but Turkey's contributions to the fight against ISIS remain unclear.

After U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice said Sunday that Turkey had agreed to allow the United States and its partners to use an air base and territory for training, Turkish officials said Monday that they had not decided whether to allow use of the Incirlik airbase.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry said that Turkey is still committed.

"I mean, Turkey has agreed to host and train and equip people. It certainly has allowed the use of certain facilities, and we don't need to get into the specifics except to say that I don't believe there is any discrepancy with respect to what they will or won't do."

"Kobani is caught in between the United States and Turkey. It's a pawn right now," retired Col. Derek Harvey, the former special adviser to Army Gen. David Petraeus, told CNN's Hala Gorani.

Turkey is still focused on removing Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and has been fighting it's own battle with Kurdish separatists inside Turkey, Harvey said. Turkey even launched strikes against Kurdish positions within Turkey in recent days, according to its military.

Kobani is an example of the fissures that exist within the coalition about the overall strategic goal, Harvey said

[Anthea]

US Department of Defence

Centcom Designates Ops Against ISIL as:

Operation Inherent Resolve’

From a U.S. Central Command News Release

TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 15, 2014 – U.S. military operations in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists have been designated as Operation Inherent Resolve, U.S. Central Command officials announced today.

The operation name applies retroactively to all U.S. military actions conducted against ISIL in Iraq and Syria since airstrikes against ISIL began Aug. 8 in Iraq, officials said.

The name Inherent Resolve is intended to reflect the unwavering resolve and deep commitment of the U.S. and partner nations in the region and around the globe to eliminate the terrorist group ISIL and the threat they pose to Iraq, the region and the wider international community, Centcom officials explained.

It also symbolizes the willingness and dedication of coalition members to work closely with friends in the region and apply all available dimensions of national power necessary -- diplomatic, informational, military and economic -- to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL, officials added.

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=123422

[Anthea]

CNN

ISIS appears to have gained more ground in Iraq.
By Ashley Fantz and Susanna Capelouto

Islamic State fighters surrounded one of Iraq's largest air bases Tuesday, a police captain in Anbar province and other security sources told CNN. The militants are preparing to launch an attack on Ein Al-Assad military airbase, which is halfway between Hit and Haditha, said Anbar police Capt. Omar Mohamad Hanin.

Anbar has been largely overrun by ISIS, which has been waging war for months in order to establish a caliphate -- or a society run by strict Sharia law. It has also taken over large swaths of Syria, near the border with Turkey.

Coalition forces have been trying to battle back, but ISIS is getting into position in Iraq with rocket launchers and tanks in villages to the south and east of Ein Al-Assad, Hanin said.

President Barack Obama said he is focused on the fighting taking place in Anbar and vowed airstrikes will continue there and elsewhere.

"This is going to be a long-term campaign, there are no quick fixes involved," he said Tuesday at Joint Base Andrews, during a meeting of military leaders from 22 countries who are part of the coalition fighting ISIS.

"We're still in the early stages," the President said. "As with any military efforts there will be days of progress and there will be periods of setback, but our coalition is united behind this long-term effort."

Nearly 60 countries are now part of the effort to stop ISIS.

Two deadly car bombs exploded in Baghdad on Monday and one on Tuesday. The militants claimed they were behind the blasts. One targeted the police checkpoint in the Shiite neighborhood of Khadimiya.

Four people were killed and 12 others were injured when a car bomb being driven by a someone on a suicide mission exploded in an area called al-Utayfia. The target was a security checkpoint at one of the entrances to the predominately Shiite neighborhood, police officials told CNN.

ISIS released a statement on its media site claiming that the al-Khadimiya attack killed a member of the Iraqi Parliament, Ahmad al-Khafaji, who was a member of the Badr Organization, a main Shiite bloc in the government.

On the surface, Badgad remained calm Tuesday, despite ISIS advances from the west. Ali, who sells fish at a market, noted that ISIS has taken control of even more territory since the coalition airstrikes began.

Nearby, Walid, who sells fruit and has two sons in the Iraqi army, said the airstrikes are "like theater."

The Iraqi army's track record in fighting ISIS is not good. It has lost control of Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, and is now struggling to keep control over Anbar.

ISIS advances in Syria

In Syria, ISIS fighters bombed and blasted their way through the strategic city of Kobani. Columns of smoke rose as the sound of gunfire erupted.

Coalition airpower -- aided by Saudi Arabia -- has been focused intensely on Syria. U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that it had bombarded ISIS near Kobani, using bomber and fighter aircraft to fire 21 airstrikes that destroyed two ISIS staging locations, a building, a truck and two vehicles and damaged other ISIS property.

Another U.S. strike near the Syrian city of Dayr az Zawr struck a modular oil refinery and initial indications are that this strike was successful.

The strikes are meant to prevent the extremist Muslim group from resupplying and massing combat power on the Kurdish-held portions of Kobani, Central Command said in a release.

All coalition aircraft used in missions against ISIS departed the space safely, the military said, and analysis of the strikes suggests that they slowed ISIS' advance.

But Central Command warned that "the security situation on the ground there remains fluid" with ISIS attempting to gain territory and beat back the Kurdish military, which is putting up a fierce fight.

Turkey In or Out?

The fight for Kobani brings ISIS right to the border with Turkey, but Turkey's contributions to the fight against ISIS remain unclear.

After U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice said Sunday that Turkey had agreed to allow the United States and its partners to use an air base and territory for training, Turkish officials said Monday that they had not decided whether to allow use of the Incirlik airbase.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry said that Turkey is still committed.

"I mean, Turkey has agreed to host and train and equip people. It certainly has allowed the use of certain facilities, and we don't need to get into the specifics except to say that I don't believe there is any discrepancy with respect to what they will or won't do."

"Kobani is caught in between the United States and Turkey. It's a pawn right now," retired Col. Derek Harvey, the former special adviser to Army Gen. David Petraeus, told CNN's Hala Gorani.

Turkey is still focused on removing Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and has been fighting it's own battle with Kurdish separatists inside Turkey, Harvey said. Turkey even launched strikes against Kurdish positions within Turkey in recent days, according to its military.

Kobani is an example of the fissures that exist within the coalition about the overall strategic goal, Harvey said.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/14/world ... ?hpt=hp_t2

[Anthea]

Independent

Isis fighters warn West in new YouTube video:

'We are waiting for you. We will chop off your heads

British, German and French Isis fighters have called for the West to send in ground troops to Iraq so they can be defeated, according to an intelligence company.

In a video posted yesterday, an apparently British man said they would “chop off the heads of whoever you may bring” in a grim echo of the executions of several Western hostages.

The challenge came amid fierce fighting around the city of Kobani on the Syrian-Turkish border where Isis, also known as Islamic State, has been besieging Kurdish fighters. Asya Abdullah, a Syrian Kurdish leader, said they had made a number of small advances against Isis, partly because the US-led coalition had stepped up air strikes against the extreme Islamist group’s forces.

The US military said it believed it had killed several hundred Isis fighters in the area, but warned Kobani could still fall. General John Allen, the US special envoy responsible for building the coalition against Isis, said: “Clearly ... given the circumstances associated with the defence of that town, there was a need for additional fire support to go in to try to relieve the defenders and to buy some space for reorganisation on the ground.”

Some in the West have questioned whether air strikes are enough to reverse significant gains made by Isis over the last year, with some calling for “boots on the ground”.

The Site monitoring service published a transcript of the Isis video in which a man calling himself “Abu Abdullah al-Britani” and two others, said to be French and German, taunted the West.

“We are waiting for you in Iraq, so bring your coalition of unbelievers, because unbelievers will not help you,” Britani says.

“We will take their weaponry as booty and these people will die … You cannot come into Iraq and think that you will take it. No way. We are willing to lay down our blood on this soil. So try, try to come and we will kill every single soldier, Allah permitting. We will chop off the heads of the Americans, chop off the heads of the French, chop off the heads of whoever you may bring.”

Speaking in German, Abu Dauoud al-Almani urged Muslims to come to Syria to fight for Isis, while Abdul Wadoud al-Firansi warned the French President François Hollande that they would “take revenge for every drop of blood spilt as a result of your actions”.

Mr Hollande said yesterday that France would “do everything to help” those fighting against Isis and would keep delivering arms to Kurdish forces.

The Paris-based International Energy Agency said in a report that US-led air strikes have significantly weakened Isis’s ability to operate oil fields and smuggle oil – a major source of income for the group. In its monthly report released on Tuesday, the agency said the aerial bombardment has brought production down to around 20,000 barrels per day from a high of about 70,000 in the summer.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 96938.html

[Anthea]

BBC News Middle East

Nothing left in Anbar for displaced Sunni

Fighting between government forces and Islamic State (IS) in Iraq's western province of Anbar has forced 180,000 people to flee since the city of Hit fell to the Sunni jihadist group earlier this month, the United Nations said on Monday.

Among the civilians displaced by the IS advance across Anbar towards Baghdad is 55-year-old Ali Abdullah (not his real name), a Sunni from the provincial capital Ramadi who spoke to the BBC.

"I used to be a solider; I get a pension of US$600 (£375) every two months.

My family and those of my two sons, Mohammed and Ahmed, all lived in the same house in Znkurh, a district of Ramadi.

We had to leave after IS members in the area killed Mohammed and bombed our homes.

They had visited my home at the beginning of September and told me that I needed to stop my sons working for the police.

They told me my sons had to repent. They also requested a pistol from each one and threatened to blow up my house if we didn't give them the weapons.

Reprisals

I did all that they asked me to do. My sons resigned from the police and went to some IS members and repented. Also I bought a pistol for each of my sons that cost me about $3,000 (£1,874).

But two days later they bombed my house. No-one was injured and we all left and went to stay with my brother at his house.

Ten days later, IS members came to my brother's house and killed my son. They said he was still working for the police.

When we arrived in Baghdad we went to register our names on the list of displaced... But that hasn't helped us and we haven't received any help yet”

Mohammed had a wife and three kids. I am now taking care of them.

The situation in Anbar before IS and the international air strikes wasn't great, but it was better than it is now. You can't even find the basics like fuel. If you do find them, they cost you a lot.

People living in Anbar are scared. People have been displaced and are getting killed, and the sound of explosions fills the air.

No help

There was nothing left for me in Anbar after I lost my son and my home, so we all left.

We are now in Baghdad. One of my friends had a house there that we are staying in.

When we arrived we went with my other son, Ahmed, to register our names on the list of displaced. But that hasn't helped us and we haven't received any help yet.

Now our lives depend on aid that is given to us by my friends here.

I don't know what we can do next. I can't see any future for my family anymore.

I feel so scared for myself and my family, even here in Baghdad. I can't see an end to this crisis."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-29641089

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BBC News Middle East



More than 40 people have been killed and dozens wounded in a series of attacks in mainly Shia areas of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, officials say.

In the deadliest incident, two car bombs exploded simultaneously in the western district of Dawlai, killing 14.

No-one claimed responsibility for the attacks, but they bore the hallmarks of previous operations by Islamic State.

The Sunni jihadist group has seized large swathes of Iraq and is only 20km (12 miles) west of Baghdad's airport.

Troops backed by Shia militiamen and US-led air strikes have stopped IS advancing on the capital, but have been unable to push it back.

'Secure perimeter'

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared in a televised speech at a military ceremony on Wednesday that Baghdad was "safe and the vicious terrorists can't and will not reach it".

"Our brave security forces have managed to secure Baghdad and its perimeter," he added.

But shortly after Mr Abadi spoke a suicide car bomb was detonated at a security checkpoint near a restaurant in the city's northern Talibiya district, killing at least nine people.

Forty-five minutes later, the two car bombs exploded in Dawlai.

Mortar rounds landed shortly afterwards in a residential area in neighbouring Shaoula, killing at least five people. Six others died when a car bomb exploded in nearby Hurriya.



Later on Thursday, officials said six people were killed when a car bomb exploded at a market in Mahmoudiya, a southern suburb of Baghdad.

A roadside bomb also blew up near an army patrol just south of the capital, killing two soldiers.

"[Islamic State] are making a statement to the Shia fighting them... We can target you in your household," Kareem al-Nouri of the Badr Organization, a powerful Shia political party with an armed wing, told the Reuters news agency.

Laying siege

Forty kilometres (25 miles) to the west of Baghdad, IS forces were said to be readying to attack the key town of Amariya al-Falluja, in Anbar province.



The jihadist group has already attempted twice to lay siege to Amariya al-Falluja, but have been repelled by government forces and allied tribesmen.

If IS takes Amariya al-Falluja this time, it will gain an important strategic advantage because the town connects two existing IS strongholds.

The group, which seeks to establish a caliphate across Iraq and neighbouring Syria, already controls the nearby city of Falluja and parts of the provincial capital, Ramadi.

The United Nations says more than 1,100 people were killed across Iraq in September. The number does not include Anbar province, from which it was unable to obtain casualty figures.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-29651914

[Anthea]

Map of current situation in Iraq 16 October 2014

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The Kurdish Peshmerga - A force for good

We Kurds are brave & capable but need help.

We have what a long-border front with Islamic State & face difficult odds.

The Iraqi Army fled & left the IS all its artillery & considerable US armour.

Video:

https://amp.twimg.com/amplify-web-playe ... 03&xdm_p=1

[Anthea]

Iraq imposes curfew in Ramadi, fearing advance of Islamic State
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA and SAMEER N. YACOUB

Iraq imposed a curfew in the western city of Ramadi on Friday amid fears that the Islamic State group was looking to advance on the strategically important city as attacks in Baghdad killed 28 people, officials said.

The curfew, which began before dawn, is part of an effort to limit movement in and out of the city as government forces prepared to combat pockets of resistance there, said Sabah Karhout, the chairman of the Anbar provincial council. Ramadi, the capital of the vast Sunni-dominated province of Anbar, is located 70 miles west of Baghdad.

The Islamic State group has in recent weeks been making gains against the embattled Iraqi military around Ramadi despite ongoing, U.S.-led coalition airstrikes on the militants.

Capturing Ramadi could have a huge ripple effect throughout Anbar, since controlling the provincial capital ultimately paralyzes the surrounding areas and further helps the militants secure yet another corridor between Syria and Iraq for the passage of fighters, munitions and field artillery.

The Islamic State group and allied Sunni militants seized the Anbar city of Fallujah, parts of Ramadi and large rural areas of Anbar early this year. The loss of Fallujah — where American troops engaged in some of the heaviest fighting of the more than eight-year U.S.-led war in the country — foreshadowed the later loss of Iraq's second-largest city of Mosul and much of the north. Mosul and the northern areas fell to the IS group in its blitz in June.

"Limited U.S. airstrikes in Anbar are not enough," said Liqaa Wardi, an Anbar provincial lawmaker. "We do not want to see airstrikes being wasted on minor targets, like a lone pickup truck moving in the desert."

Wardi said the people of Anbar need airstrikes targeting the IS group's "command centers, high-value targets and big gatherings by the terrorists."

Anbar has remained a high flashpoint. Earlier this week, Anbar provincial police chief Brig. Gen. Ahmed al-Dulaimi was killed while traveling in a convoy north of Ramadi through an area cleared by Iraqi security forces a day earlier, Anbar councilman Faleh al-Issawi said. It was not immediately clear if others were killed or wounded in that attack.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi met with a delegation from Anbar on Friday, and urged the province's tribes to side with Iraqi security forces in the fight against the Islamic State militants. The government has repeatedly said that winning over the Sunni tribes is an essential part of the solution in Iraq.

In a statement Friday night, the U.N. Security Council condemned "the vicious string of suicide, vehicle-borne, and other attacks in Baghdad and surrounding provinces over the past several days" under the name of the Islamic State group and stressed that the group must be defeated.

Ramadi has not completely fallen to the IS group over the past months, in part because key Sunni tribes in the city have not allowed it to. The Jughaifi and al-Bunimer tribes have helped Iraqi special forces to protect the Haditha Dam in Anbar, and in the battleground town of Dhuluiyah, north of Baghdad, a single tribe, al-Jabbouri, has been the sole resistance to an Islamic State group takeover.

In his weekly Friday sermon, Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, said Iraqi tribes have always been fundamental to protecting Iraq and its people.

"We urge the Iraq faithful tribesmen, especially those in western Iraq who have been subjected to a fierce campaign by Daesh in recent months, to trust their abilities, and the ability of the Iraqi army to defeat those gangs," the reclusive al-Sistani said in a speech delivered by his spokesman Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbalie. Daesh is the IS group's Arabic acronym.

Also Friday, Iraqi troops pressed on with operations in Salahuddin province to retake key areas from the Sunni militants between the city of Tikrit, which mostly remains in the control of the Sunni militant group, and the town of Beiji, home to Iraq's largest oil refinery.

Two Iraqi military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to media, said the operation was receiving significant aerial support from U.S.-led coalition forces.

After nightfall Friday, a car bomb exploded near a cafe in Baghdad's eastern neighborhood of Baladiyat, killing 14 people and wounding 27, police officials said. Also, a car bomb blast at a commercial street in northern Baghdad killed seven people and wounded 13.

Late Friday, a car bomb explosion near liquor stores in downtown Baghdad killed seven people and wounded 13, police said.

Hospital officials confirmed the casualties. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Associated Press reporter Vivian Salama in Baghdad contributed to this report.

http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east ... e-1.308728

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Reuters

Bombings hit Baghdad Shi'te mosque, military convoy in northern Iraq

A suicide bomber killed 19 at a funeral in Baghdad on Sunday as an ambush halted Iraqi forces' advance on a key northern city controlled by Islamic State fighters.

A suicide bomber killed 19 and wounded 28 others outside a Shi'ite Muslim mosque, where people were attending a funeral service, in western Baghdad, a police officer and medical official said.

"The attacker approached the entrance of the mosque and blew himself up among the crowd," the police officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity about the attack in the affluent neighborhood of Harthiya.

Baghdad has witnessed a surge in bombings in the last month, most of them claimed by Islamic State, as the government, headed by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, seeks traction in its effort to subdue Sunni parts of the country that Islamic State has seized this year.

Elsewhere, Iraqi forces attempted to retake the northern city of Baiji, which is adjacent to the country's largest refinery, which continues to be in the hands of the government despite a siege by Islamic State.

The military operation, launched in the early hours of Saturday, was snarled when an armored vehicle blew up near the security forces' convoy in a village some 20 km (15 miles) south of Baiji, officers said

The blast killed four soldiers and wounded seven.

"The attacker surprised our forces as he was driving a military armored vehicle. We thought it was our vehicle," said an army major participating in the operation.

"We are planning to retake Baiji as soon as possible to secure a key highway and to stop the daily attacks of terrorists on the Baiji refinery," he added.

The offensive looks to bypass the Iraqi city of Tikrit, which lies to the south of Baiji and is controlled by Islamic State, and instead to focus on Baiji itself.

Iraqi forces have protected the Baiji refinery since June despite being surrounded on all sides after the Iraqi army imploded in the north in the face of a major Islamic State military blitz.

The group holds territory across eastern Syria and northern and western Iraq, with the ambition of establishing rule based upon medieval Islamic precepts. The United States is leading an international coalition in conducting air strikes aimed to defeat the jihadists.

(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed, Ned Parker; Editing by Crispian Balmer and Susan Thomas)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/ ... OQ20141019