Hezbollah fighters train Iraqi Shiite militants near Mosul

It is nothing but a bloody disgrace what Barack Hussein Obama has turned Iraq into.  Ridiculous.

The story comes from The Long War Journal.

Hezbollah fighters train Iraqi Shiite militants near Mosul

A video surfaced this week which purports to show Lebanese Hezbollah fighters present on the outskirts of the Iraqi city of Mosul. The footage, published by Pan-Arab news site Al-Araby Al-Jaeed, was reportedly filmed in al-Zarka, approximately 30 miles southwest of Mosul, where thousands of Shiite militia fighters have assembled. Though the fighters, seen in the video training Iraqi Shiite militiamen to fire mortar shells, are not wearing their militia’s insignia, their distinct southern Lebanese accents betray their membership in the Lebanon-based Iranian proxy group.

According to the video’s accompanying report, an unnamed Iraqi Shiite militant said that the Hezbollah fighters arrived in the area days earlier to reinforce local Shiite fighters.

“[Hezbollah chief] Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah sent them to support us, for Syria and Iraq are all on one side,” he said.

Hezbollah’s intervention in Iraq is not new, its fighters and advisors have been on the ground since the outset of the Iranian-led fight against the Islamic State. Hezbollah has been sending highly trained military experts to help in managing the battles against the extremist Sunni organization. Their presence was made known in late 2014, when Hezbollah commander Ibrahim al Hajj was killed fighting against the Islamic State in northern Iraq’s Tel Afar. Nasrallah himself finally acknowledged sending Hezbollah’s fighters to Iraq in a 2015 speech, describing the organization’s presence at the time as small and “in its earliest stages.” He also issued an invitation for volunteers to join them there to fight ISIS.

Since then, Hezbollah appears to have stepped up its involvement in Iraq. In late April, Hussein Yazadan, a Kurdish military official, alleged that the Shiite organization had deployed 1,000 fighters to the city of Kirkukon – approximately 100 miles southeast of Mosul – on Iranian orders and were concentrating in the nearby town of Taza Khurmatu. Led by an Islamic Revolution Guard Corps–Quds Force (IRGC-QF) commander, the Hezbollah guerillas arrived in the area to provide support for the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) fighters as part of Iran’s attempt to solidify its control over both oil-rich cities of Kirkuk and Mosul, and establish a land-bridge to the Syrian border. Yazadan said that the Hezbollah fighters were wearing PMF uniforms in an effort to conceal their identity. At the time, Hezbollah denied having sent such a large contingent of fighters to Iraq, instead claiming it had sent the PMF dozens of military experts and trainers months prior to Yazadan’s warning.

Hezbollah’s Iraqi presence actually predates the rise of ISIS by a decade, going back to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Hezbollah developed its own insurgent capability in Iraq, engaging in assassinations, kidnappings and bombings. At Iran’s behest, Hezbollah also created Unit 3800, an external operations unit to train and assist Iraqi Shiite militias – known as the “Special Groups” – fighting against US and multinational forces. In fact, the group is even rumored to have sent its late legendary military commander Imad Mughniyeh to Iraq in early 2006 to help train members of the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia led by Muqtada al-Sadr.

However, the key figure in this effort by Hezbollah was Ali Musa Daqdouq.

Daqdouq joined the Shiite organization in its early days in 1983 and quickly rose to commend its Special Operations Unit 2800, Unit 3800’s predecessor. In May 2006, Daqdouq was sent to Iran to coordinate the Special Groups’ training program with the IRGC-QF, and make periodic visits to Iraq. Daqdouq trained Iraqi militants in carrying out terrorist operations, including the IED attacks, especially using Explosively Formed Penetrators, which Hezbollah excelled at using against Israel during the IDF’s 15-year occupation of south Lebanon. He also trained them to use mortars, rockets and sniper rifles, as well as carrying out intelligence and kidnapping operations.

US forces finally captured Daqdouq in March 2007, along with the leader of the Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq Shiite militia, which carried out the Jan. 2007 attack on the Karbala Joint Provincial Coordination Center. Five US soldiers were captured during the attack and later executed.

Currently, Hezbollah’s activities in Iraq are being led by Muhammad Kawarithmi, who works on behalf of the group’s leadership to promote its interests in Iraq. Through Kawarithmi, the organization continues to provide training, funding, political and logistical support to Iraqi Shiite militant groups.

US to send 560 more troops to Iraq: Carter

So, Barack Hussein Obama continues to send more and more and more U.S. troops to Iraq and yet, Holger hears NO outcry, no rage, no protest from the likes of Code Pink or ANYONE on the Left in America.  Nothing but crickets here people.

The story comes from DAWN.

US to send 560 more troops to Iraq: Carter


BAGHDAD: The United States will send an additional 560 military personnel to Iraq to assist in its fight against the militant Islamic State (IS) group, visiting Defence Secretary Ashton Carter announced Monday.

The increase will bring the total authorised number of American forces in Iraq, most of whom are in advisory or training roles, to more than 4,600, further deepening Washington's military involvement.

“I am pleased to report today that we agreed for the United States to bolster Iraqi efforts to isolate and pressure Mosul by deploying 560 additional troops,” Carter said in Baghdad, referring to Iraq's IS-held second city.

“The additional troops will provide a range of support for Iraqi security forces, including infrastructure and logistical capabilities at the airfield near Qayyarah,” the Pentagon said in a statement on Carter's announcement.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced Saturday that Iraqi forces had recaptured the Qayyarah airbase, some 60 kilometres south of Mosul, which IS seized in June 2014.

The base “will become a vital springboard for the (Iraqi forces') offensive into Mosul”, the Pentagon said.

IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes, training and other assistance have since regained significant ground.

US-led forces invaded Iraq in 2003, overthrowing dictator Saddam Hussein and also setting the stage for 13 years of bloody violence in the country, including the rise of IS.

President Barack Obama hailed the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq at the end of 2011 as a major achievement of his presidency, but the war against IS has drawn the American military ever deeper back into Iraq.

Fallujah Today and Yesterday

So, it's time to try to take Fallujah, Iraq back from the bad guys.  Again.  For the second time.  Years ago, American Marines, primarily, as well as Army forces paid a HUGE price in freeing Fallujah from the grip of al Qaeda in Iraq.  Then, of course, Barack Obama stepped in and handed the city back to the likes of ISIS.  So now, Iraq is going to try and repeat the efforts of U.S. forces years ago.

But there is a difference.  Back when it fell upon the Americans to free this Iraqi city, those American fighting men and women were on a short leash - they had to go street to street, house to house, room to room to gut Fallujah of the jihadis of al Qaeda.  But NOW, now when it isn't American blood that will be shed, there's this big warning to the civilians of Fallujah.....why?  Here's why - because the city is going to be bombarded - something the Americans years ago WERE NOT ALLOWED TO DO, because it might hurt some Iraqi civilians.  You wait and see, the Iranian overlords are in command posts outside of Fallujah right now getting ready to lay Fallujah flat and you think those Iranian Shiite pricks give one shit about an Iraqi Sunni living in Fallujah?  Exactly.

The story comes from Al Arabiya.

50,000 Iraqi civilians ‘at great risk’ in Fallujah

The United Nations called Monday for "safe corridors" to be set up to allow Iraqi civilians to flee a military offensive against ISIS in Fallujah.

Some 50,000 civilians in the city are at "great risk" during a campaign against ISIS fighters by the Iraqi army backed by militias, said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

"One of the problems is that civilians are under grave danger as they try to flee," he said.

"It is important that they have some safe corridors they could use."

Iraqi forces on Monday launched an offensive to retake Fallujah, which became an ISIS stronghold after its fighters seized the city in January 2014.

The UN spokesman said some civilians were able to flee and were receiving emergency assistance, shelter and water, but he did not provide figures.

Women and children were taken to a location south of Fallujah and men to central Anbar for security screening, said the spokesman.

The United Nations is "very concerned" about the fate of civilians and mobilizing its aid partners to assess the situation and send help, he added.

On Sunday, Iraq's Joint Operations Command warned civilians still in the city to leave.

It urged families that could not depart to raise a white flag over their location and stay away from ISIS headquarters and gatherings.

Fallujah and Mosul, the capital of the northern province of Nineveh, are the last two major cities ISIS holds in Iraq.

Iraq: Suicide attack kills at least 31 south of Baghdad

Don't worry folks.  Just another "jayvee" victory.

The story comes from DAWN.

Iraq: Suicide attack kills at least 31 south of Baghdad

BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber on Sunday rammed his explosives-laden fuel truck into a security checkpoint south of Baghdad, killing at least 31 people and wounding dozens, officials said, the latest episode in an uptick in violence in the war-ravaged country.

Among the dead were 24 civilians, while the rest were members of the security forces. The attacker struck shortly after noon when the checkpoint at one of the entrances to the city of Hillah was crowded with dozens of cars, a police officer said.

He added that up to 55 other people were wounded and more than 20 cars were damaged. Hillah is located about 95 kilometers (60 miles) south of Baghdad.

A medical official confirmed the causality figures. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information.

Iraq has seen a spike in violence in the past month with suicide attacks in and outside Baghdad killing more than 100 people.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State group. IS and other Sunni militants frequently use car bombs and suicide attacks to target public areas and government buildings in their bid to undermine confidence in the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.

Suicide bomber kills at least 20 at funeral in Iraq

Ah yes, the peace and serenity of an Obama victory in Iraq.

What a joke.

The story comes from DAWN.

Suicide bomber kills at least 20 at funeral in Iraq

BAQUBA: A suicide bomber killed at least 20 people by detonating an explosive belt at a funeral northeast of the Iraqi capital on Monday, security officials said.

The blast in Muqdadiyah, which was hit by revenge attacks on homes and mosques after a January suicide bombing, also wounded at least 40 people.

The bombing targeted a funeral for a well-known member of the Beni Tamim, one of the main tribes in Diyala province, where Muqdadiyah is located, officials said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but suicide bombings are a tactic almost exclusively employed in Iraq by the Islamic State group.

The Muqdadiyah attack came a day after bombings in northern Baghdad killed at least 39 people and wounded at least 76, the deadliest attacks in the capital so far this year.

IS said in an online statement that two of its suicide bombers carried out the Baghdad attacks.

IS also claimed bombings at a cafe in Muqdadiyah killed at least 20 people and wounded dozens in January, after which revenge attacks targeted properties in the area.

Human Rights Watch said militiamen abducted and killed civilians in the Muqdadiyah area after the attack, in addition to burning homes and mosques.

Iraq turned to militia forces in 2014 to help counter an IS onslaught that overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, and they played a key role in halting the jihadist advance and later pushing them back.

But they have also carried out repeated abuses during the conflict that ultimately feed mistrust of the government and are harmful to Baghdad's efforts to reassert and maintain control in recaptured areas.

ISIS burns fighters alive for letting Ramadi fall

The message is pretty clear to ISIS jihadis, if you lose a battle you had better die in the effort because if you survive a defeat, you'll be killed by your own.

Now, I had to address Ramadi. I went on and on, rightfully so mind you, about how bloody long it took Iraq and the U.S. and the Shia militias to even commence their assault on Ramadi. At the same time I talked about how long it took U.S. Marines to take back that city from Al Qaeda in Iraq.  But here's the difference - the U.S. Marines didn't have the luxury of having pretty much the whole city bombed from the air!  You see, hundreds and hundreds of civilian casualties only make a difference to the U.S. media - it certainly doesn't matter to the Iraqis themselves and we sure as hell know it doesn't matter to ISIS.  So the fact of the matter is this - ISIS was driven from Ramadi, yes...but there isn't anything left of that city.

Might as well have just nuked it.

The story comes from Fox News.

ISIS burns fighters alive for letting Ramadi fall

ISIS fighters who fled to the terror group’s Iraqi stronghold of Mosul after being defeated in Ramadi were burned alive in the town square, sources told FoxNews.com, in an unmistakable message to fighters who may soon be defending the northern city from government forces.

Several residents of Mosul recounted the grisly story for stateside relatives, describing the deadly reception black clad jihadists got when they made it to Mosul, some 250 miles north of the city retaken by Iraqi forces operating with cover from U.S. air power.

“They were grouped together and made to stand in a circle,” a former resident of northern Iraq now living in the U.S. but in touch with family back home told FoxNews.com. “And set on fire to die.”

Several Iraqi-Americans and recent refugees with close relatives in Mosul told of ISIS fighters fresh off defeat in Ramadi being shunned – and executed – for not fighting to the death in Ramadi.

Michael Pregent, a terrorism expert and former intelligence adviser to Gen. David Petraeus in Iraq, said such an act isn’t new for the callous terror group. A similar fate was meted out to fighters who lost Saddam’s hometown to Kurdish forces last year.

“There is no surprise on executing ISIS fighters from Ramadi,” he said. “They did the same to fighters after Tikrit.”

The retaking of Ramadi, the capital of the mainly Sunni-populated Anbar Province which ISIS took over last May, was a major setback for ISIS. Just 80 miles west of Baghdad, the city was overrun by ISIS in June, 2014. Iraqi forces, fighting with Sunni tribes and supported by coalition forces, recently took it back but the city remains in ruins. Booby-traps, landmines and a broken infrastructure have rendered it mostly uninhabitable for the time being.

With government, Kurdish and coalition forces now mustering to recapture Mosul, which fell to ISIS approximately 18 months ago, an increasingly paranoid ISIS has stepped up its murders of women and children, according to people trapped in the city.

“They come to the house and take the children and accuse them of being spies,” said a stateside Iraqi with knowledge of the situation. “If the mom cries and gets upset at them, they accuse of her being a spy too and take her to the jail and later kill her.”

The terrorist group is feeling the heat of a coming onslaught, said Pregent.

“ISIS is fracturing, paranoid from within,” Pregent continued, noting that ISIS has two intelligence directorates – one for internal threats the other for external ones – and both are focused on unearthing “threats” to their existence within areas under their thumb. “They are using women and children executions to intimidate – the harsher the tactic the more desperate the leadership is.”

Clint Watts, Fox fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, agreed.

“They continue to lose territory, we’ve seen a growing number of defections and a rise in the number of alleged internal spies – many of whom they have killed mercilessly without demonstrating significant evidence of internal espionage,” he explained. “ISIS pattern of internal killings looks remarkably similar to al Shabaab’s decline in Somalia. As Shabaab lost ground and defectors increased, internal killings and harsher punishments were meted out across the terror group further accelerating the loss of local popular support.”

Earlier this year, activist group Mosul Eye reported that ISIS committed mass executions of men and children at Alhud Village just south of Mosul, accusing the entire township of apostasy and affiliation to the local Iraqi police forces. In late December, several teenagers aged between 12 and 16 were reportedly caught trying to flee across the Tigris River toward the Kurdish region, and subsequently accused of being “spies” by ISIS and within minutes publicly executed in front of their families.

As it stands, communications within the besieged city remain spotty, but many are able to get messages out via telephone or Internet – although at great risk.

“The residents have little electricity or water, there is no salary for people working, there are no medicines to cure illnesses,” another insider based in Iraq observed. “Civilians are in a state of despair.

“Everyone just lives their lives in complete fear,” he said. “They don’t know who will be next – man, woman or child.”

Gunmen attack at Baghdad mall kills 18, dozens wounded

It's not on the border with Syria.  It's not up near Turkey or Iran.  It's in Baghdad, people.  That's what happens when you entrust a military victory to an America-hating panty waist.

The story comes from DAWN.

Gunmen attack at Baghdad mall kills 18, dozens wounded

BAGHDAD: Gunmen stormed into a Baghdad mall on Monday after setting off a car bomb and launching a suicide attack at its entrance, killing at least 18 people and wounding 50 in the city's mainly Shiite east, Iraqi officials said.

The officials initially described the attack as a hostage situation, estimating that 50 people were trapped inside the complex.

But Iraqi forces soon surrounded the building and landed troops on the roof. They clashed with the attackers inside, killing two of them, arresting another four and declaring the standoff over.

At least four police were among those killed in the assault, which lasted around an hour and a half, according to the police and medical officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief reporters.

Following the attack, authorities shut down the city's highly fortified Green Zone, home to a number of foreign embassies and most of the country's political elite. A number of major roads, shopping malls and bridges around the Iraqi capital were also closed for fear of follow-up attacks.

Also on Monday evening, a car bomb in southeast Baghdad in a crowded market area killed five and wounded 12, according to hospital and police officials.

Back To the Baghdad Killing Fields: 23 Killed In Bombings

Ironic, isn't it?  The day after the Iraqi military is celebrating an American airstrike west of Ramadi that kills 25 ISIS fighters, ISIS strikes in the heart of Baghdad and kills 23.

At last check, there was no celebrating in Baghdad.

The story comes from DAWN.

Blasts in Baghdad kill 23, dozens injured

BAGHDAD: At least 18 people were killed and 41 wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the funeral of a pro-government fighter in Baghdad on Friday, Iraqi police and medical sources said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast at a mosque in the predominately Shia neighbourhood of Hay al-Amil.

The funeral was for a member of the Hashid Shaabi, a government umbrella group seen as a critical force in the battle against Islamic State.

The militia fighter was killed in battle against the militant group in Iraq's western Anbar province, police said.

Also Friday in Baghdad, a roadside bomb detonated at a shrine in Sadr City, killing at least five people and wounding 15, police officials said.

Hospital officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to talk to reporters.

Iraq has been afflicted by sectarian conflict since shortly after the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

The rise of Islamic State has exacerbated those tensions and prompted US-led air strikes on the militants in areas of Iraq and neighbouring Syria where the jihadists aim to establish a modern-day caliphate.

Following its blitz last year, the Islamic State group now holds about a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria.

Since the emergence of IS, Baghdad has seen near-daily attacks, with roadside bombs, suicide blasts and assassinations targeting Iraqi forces and government officials, with significant casualties among the civilian population.

The violence has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands of Iraqis.

Islamic State battles Iraqi forces near Samarra

 Islamic State fighters overrunning an Iraqi position near Samarra

While Iraqi officials continue to scratch their nuts about the fact that they haven't gained a single foothold against ISIS in Ramadi, the ISIS forces have crept up on the Iraqis in Samarra and the end result is Iraqi security personnel and Iraqi Shia militias are getting their asses handed to them.

The story comes from The Long War Journal.

Islamic State battles Iraqi forces near Samarra

The Islamic State and Iraqi Shiite militias have engaged in heavy fighting near the historic city of Samarra in central Iraq. Islamic State jihadists gained control of some areas west of Samarra after Iraqi forces withdrew, claimed a Shiite militia loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al Sadr.

The Islamic State’s provinces, or wilayats, of Salahadin and Shamal Baghdad [North Baghdad] have put out large photo releases detailing the fighting for several Iraqi positions west of Samarra. The images show the jihadist forces attacking the positions with heavy machine guns, rockets, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades (RPG’s), technicals (heavily armed pick up trucks), and small arms. The Islamic State also displays several checkpoints being overrun, with the jihadist group removing Iraqi and Shiite flags from the compounds.

Several photos show the dead bodies of dozens of Iraqi policemen and Shia militiamen. Many of these are too graphic to be published by The Long War Journal. Additional images highlight the “spoils” gained by the jihadist group, including small arms, RPGs, ammunition, and several vehicles. TheIslamic State also showcased its usage of several foreign suicide bombers, including jihadists from Tajikistan, Tunisia, Egypt, and Bahrain.

The fighting in Samarra has been confirmed by Iraqi officials to have been concentrated west of the city. An Iraqi official from Salahadin said that “Daesh [a derogatory Arabic acronym for the Islamic State] was able to sneak into those areas.” Additionally, the official called on the Iraqi Security Forces to send reinforcements to the government’s elements in the area. The suicide bombings west of the city are said to have happened on Oct. 28 and Oct. 29, however, fighting is ongoing.

Saraya al Salam (Peace Brigades), a Shiite militia led by Muqtada al Sadr and supported by Iran, reported today that its forces have liberated several areas that the Islamic State captured in recent days. In the same statement, the militia said that the Islamic State was able to capture these positions because of the “withdrawal of security forces.” Saraya al Salam also released videos showing its forces clearing terrain near the city and targeting the Islamic State in various areas west of the city.

The Samarra Operations Command also reported that the Iraqi Security Forces have killed 146 Islamic State fighters in the recent fighting, but this number cannot be confirmed by The Long War Journal. The Peace Brigades is the main Shiite militia tasked with protecting the city of Samarra, but other militias are also present, including Jund al Imam. In one photo released by the Islamic State, the jihadist group shows its forces targeting Jund al Imam near an Iraqi checkpoint.

The Islamic State seeks to control Samarra and towns and cites to its south in order to secure the northern Baghdad belt. Jihadist control of this area would make it difficult for Iraqi forces to resupply and reinforce military units to the north in Tikrit and Baiji. Additionally, the Islamic State seeks use this area to disrupt security in Baghdad.

The Iraqi government has allowed Shiite militias, including the Badr Brigade, Hezbollah Brigade, Asaib al Haq (League of the Righteous), and Sadr’s Promised Day Brigade, all of which are supported by Iran’s Qods Force, to reinforce beleaguered and demoralized Iraqi forces in and around Samarra. These militias have remained on the front line and have secured cities and towns, many of which are predominantly Sunni communities, along the road from Samarra to Baghdad.

Iraqi Air Force Scores Big Hit With Airstrike On ISIS Leadership Meeting In Iraq - al-Bahgdadi Escapes

The Iraqi air force claims a pretty nice little hit on ISIS when a series of airstrikes hit an ISIS meeting place along with a convoy headed to the meeting  All reports suggest that top ISIS leader al-Baghdadi escaped the convoy attack but may be injured.

NOTE:  This was the Iraqi Air Force - I have reason to believe that Barack Obama had U.S. air force personnel attending a transgender sensitivity training at the time.

The story comes from DAWN.

Islamic State figures killed in air strike; Baghdadi not believed among them

BAGHDAD: Several senior figures from the self-styled militant group, Islamic State (IS), were killed in an air strike while meeting in a town in western Iraq, but the group's reclusive leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi did not appear to be among them, residents of the town and hospital sources said.

Iraq said on Sunday its air force had hit the meeting and had also struck a convoy that was carrying Baghdadi to attend it. It said Baghdadi had been driven away from the convoy in an unknown condition.

The Iraqi military's announcement was the latest unconfirmed report of the possible death or injury of Baghdadi, who has survived a year of US-led air strikes and multi-sided wars in two countries since proclaiming himself caliph of all Muslims after his forces swept through most of northern Iraq last year.

The United States military declined to comment on the Iraqi military's report.

“Iraqi air forces have bombed the convoy of the terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi while he was heading to Karabla to attend a meeting with Daesh commanders,” the Iraqi military said in a statement.

Daesh is the Arabic acronym for Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. Karabla is a town in Iraq's Anbar province, an Islamic State stronghold, not to be confused with Kerbala, a Shia holy city in the south.

“The location of the meeting was also bombed and many of the group's leaders were killed and wounded. The fate of murderer al-Baghdadi is unknown and he was carried away by a vehicle. His health condition is still unclear,” the military said.

Islamic State supporters said on Twitter that even if Baghdadi had been killed, his self-proclaimed caliphate straddling large areas of Iraq and Syria would survive.

“Do you think we would leave the State of the caliphate and abandon it, oh vile world?,” asked one of his followers. “This is the religion of God, it rose on the skulls of heroes and martyrs and every time one of them is martyred we rise.”

Baghdadi has galvanised militants from around the world, encouraged by his military successes and plans to redraw the map of the Middle East to create a self-sustaining caliphate.

His successes prompted the United States to re-engage in Iraq with air strikes against his fighters three years after pulling out following a long, costly occupation.

Russia, which has launched a bombing campaign to aid its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad, says its main enemy is Islamic State as well.

An Islamic State fighter reached by telephone said he could not confirm whether Baghdadi had been in a convoy that was struck, but said the group would fight on whatever his fate: “Even if he was martyred then it will not affect Islamic State. We will lose a leader but there are a thousand Baghdadis.

“Every minute a leader is born in the Islamic State.”

ISIS executed 70 Sunni tribesmen in Iraq’s Anbar

Oh, by the way, for any folks who were at this blog a few months ago...the concerted effort by Obama, the Iraqi government, the Shia militias and the mullahs of Iran to retake Ramadi has STILL gone NOWHERE.

The story comes from Al Arabiya.

ISIS executed 70 Sunni tribesmen in Iraq’s Anbar

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group executed 70 members of a Sunni tribe allied to the government in western Iraq earlier this week, a tribal leader and the United Nations said Wednesday.

The victims, members of the Albu Nimr tribe, were executed on Sunday in the Tharthar area north of Ramadi, the capital of the western Anbar province, tribal elder Naim Gaoud told AFP.

“These people who were executed were the fathers and brothers of members of the police, the army... and of tribal fighters who are battling Daesh,” he said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.

“Daesh executed them by shooting,” he said.

Iraqi security forces, backed by U.S.-led coalition air strikes, launched a vast operation west of Ramadi Sunday to tighten the noose on ISIS, which captured the Anbar capital in May and controls most of the province.

Hatem al-Gaoud, another clan member reached by phone, said ISIS had trapped dozens of tribe members in the Khanzir area of Tharthar since the jihadist group launched its major offensive in Iraq last year.

“They gathered them outside Khanzir and shot them all in the head,” he said.

“I don’t know what ISIS did with the bodies, but it is likely they buried them in mass graves near the site of the execution,” he said.

The U.N. Mission in Iraq’s human rights office said it had been able to confirm the mass execution.

“This is not the first attack on the Albu Nimr, since they have been actively opposed to ISIL (ISIS),” it said in an email to AFP.

Possibly as many as 300 of the tribe's members were killed around a year ago, when anti-IS forces were still holding out in some parts of Ramadi, which is the Albu Nimr’s main hub.

The tribe was very active in the Awakening Councils, groups of Sunni tribal fighters the U.S. military paid and armed a decade ago to fight against ISIS’s previous incarnation in Iraq.

Local tribal fighters are seen by the United States as a key component of any successful effort to retake control of Anbar and other Sunni regions of Iraq IS took over virtually unopposed last year.

They no longer receive direct support from the US, whose assistance is channeled through the Shiite-dominated federal government.

ISIS has massacred hundreds of former Awakening fighters in an effort to intimidate Sunni residents from taking up arms against them.

Car bomb attacks kill 57 people in Iraq

Iraq....the new Killing Fields.

Note:  photo of blood on the hands of one Barack Hussein Obama is not currently available.

The story comes from Al Arabiya.

Car bomb attacks kill 57 people in Iraq

At least 57 people were killed on Monday in car bomb attacks in Baghdad and the north and south of Iraq, police and medical sources said.

One attack took place near a crowded market in the town of Khalis, about 80 kilometers northeast of Baghdad, killing 35 people, police said.

“The driver begged police to be allowed to park his vehicle in order to buy medication from a nearby pharmacy and five minutes later it (the bomb) went off and caused huge destruction,” police captain Mohammed al-Tamimi said.

In the town of Al Zubair, about 15 kilometers southwest of the oil town of Basra, a second attack took place also near a crowded market. Ten people died.

Another car bomb exploded in the Hussainiya district of the northern outskirts of Baghdad, killing 12 people, police and medical sources said.

Iraq, a major OPEC oil producer, is struggling to come up with a formula to contain the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the ultra-hardline Sunni group that controls a third of the country and wants to redraw the map of the Middle East.

ISIS has previously claimed responsibility for car and suicide bombings.

24 killed in Baghdad suicide attack claimed by ISIS

The story comes from Al Arabiya.

24 killed in Baghdad suicide attack claimed by ISIS

Blasts killed at least 24 people in one of Baghdad’s main Shiite neighborhoods Saturday when suicide bombers tried to breach a checkpoint in an attack claimed by ISIS.

“Three suicide bombers tried to cross the checkpoint at Adan Square” in the Kadhimiyah neighborhood, said Baghdad Operations Command spokesman Saad Maan.

The attack took place at around 5:30 pm (1430 GMT) on the square, one of the main access points for the Shiite shrine of Kadhimiyah, which attracts many visitors on Saturdays.

Saad Maan said security forces at the checkpoint engaged the attackers and shot dead one of them, while the other two blew themselves up.

A police colonel said one of the explosions was caused by a suicide car bomb.

He said at least 24 people were killed and 61 wounded. A source at the nearby Kadhimiyah hospital and an interior ministry official confirmed the casualty toll.

Baghdad Province of ISIS, which has controlled swathes of Iraq since last year, claimed responsibility for the attack, said a U.S. monitoring group.

The ISIS affiliate tweeted that two bombers, Abu Hudhayfa and Abu Aisha, detonated their explosive belts, one after the other, at Shiite gatherings in Kadhimiyah, according to SITE Intelligence Group.

Adan Square has been repeatedly hit by attacks. More than 20 people died in a suicide bomb blast there in February.

According to figures released by the United Nations Mission in Iraq on Thursday, a total of 717 Iraqis were killed and another 1,216 were injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in September.

The Baghdad governorate alone accounted for 257 of the deaths.

The U.N. says its figures only account for the casualties that can be verified and are likely far below reality.

Islamic State kills 2 senior Iraqi generals in suicide assault near Ramadi

 Three of the vehicles used by the Islamic State in the suicide assault that killed two Iraqi generals near Ramadi. One of the vehicles is an up-armored Humvee that was given to the Iraqi Army by the US.




Didn't I say that the retaking of Ramadi would be a bloody nightmare for the Iraqis?  Well?  Didn't I?


The story comes from The Long War Journal.

Islamic State kills 2 senior Iraqi generals in suicide assault near Ramadi

The Islamic State killed two senior Iraqi generals in a coordinated suicide assault on a military headquarters in Anbar province. Six suicide bombers, including a German and a Tajik, executed the deadly attack.

The Islamic State claimed credit for killing Major General Abdel Rahman Abu Raghif, the deputy commander for the Anbar Operations command, and Brigadier Safin Abdel Majid, the commander of the 10th Iraqi Army Division, in an assault on “the main headquarters where the operations are managed,” according to a statement that was obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group. The base is located in the Al Tarrah area near Lake Thar Thar, which is north of Ramadi, according to the jihadist group. The Iraqi military is attempting to wrest control of Ramadi, Fallujah, and other cities and towns that fell to the Islamic State between January 2014 and the end of May 2015.

The suicide assault was carried out “in revenge for our brother Abu Radhi al-Ansari (emir of the rural sector of al-Khaldiya),” the Islamic State said. It was executed by six fighters, who were identified as “Abu Hamza al-Ghazawi, Abu al-Darda’ al-Tunisi, Abu Muqatil al-Almani, Abu Muhammad al-Jazrawi, Abu al-Farouq al-Shami, and Abu Anas al-Tajiki.” The nom de guerres indicate that the fighters were from Germany, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Tunisia, and Syria. The jihadists used “four explosives-laden vehicles and two DShK-mounted vehicles” in their attack. Additionally, the Islamic State claimed it shot down an Iraqi military headquarters.

The attack and the deaths of the two Iraqi generals were confirmed by news reports from the region. According to RFE/RL, three Iraqi soldiers were killed along with generals Raghif and Majid. The Islamic State said that “dozens of officers and soldiers” died in the assault, but this claim cannot be confirmed.

The Islamic State has targeted and killed senior Iraqi generals in suicide operations in the past. In December 2013, one month before taking control of Fallujah and other towns in Anbar province, a suicide assault team killed the commander of the Iraqi Army’s 7th Division, the commander of the 28th Brigade, and 16 officers and soldiers in an attack in the of Rutbah in Anbar. The decapitation strike put the Iraqi military in Anbar in disarray, and helped the Islamic State, which at that time was still part of al Qaeda’s network, take over territory in the province.

The suicide assault, or coordinated attack using one or more suicide bombers and sometimes a follow-on assault team, is a tactic frequently used by the Islamic State, al Qaeda and its branches, as well as allied groups such as the Afghan Taliban, the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. Suicide assaults are commonly executed by jihadist groups in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and Nigeria.

The Islamic State has used the suicide assault to demoralize and strike fear into the hearts of Iraqi troops, and often uses five or more suicide bombers during a single attack. This tactic has allowed the jihadist group to overwhelm Iraqi forces. Between May 15 and May 17, the Islamic State deployed 30 suicide bombers during its operation to take control of Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar. Two months prior, the Islamic State deployed 13 suicide bombers in Ramadi in a single day. Many of the bombers were foreigners, and included a Belgian, an Australian, a Chechen, an Uzbek, a Moroccan, a Tunisian, an Egyptian, and two Syrians.

The Islamic State has touted its foreign suicide bombers that have executed attacks in Iraq. Suicide bombers from Western countries such as France, England, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Australia, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, China, and Russia have carried out numerous attacks for the jihadist group in Iraq.

ISIS is Kicking Iraqi Militia's Asses In Anbar

I knew damn well that the inbred, pussy Iranian-backed militias and the rag tag Iraqi army would get torn a new asshole by ISIS when they entered Anbar province in the west of Iraq but didn't figure they would see this kind of wholesale losses.  This is going to lead to some HUGE desertion by these Iraqi soldiers as they turn tail and head back to their comforts of the south.

The story comes from Al Arabiya.

ISIS attack kills 23 soldiers, Sunni fighters

At least 23 Iraqi soldiers and government-allied militiamen were killed Sunday in an attack by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants in the turbulent Anbar province west of Baghdad, Iraqi military and police officials said.

The officials said Sunday's attack, which killed 17 soldiers and six Sunni militia fighters, took place in the rural district of Jaramshah, north of Anbar's provincial capital, Ramadi.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

They said the ISIS fighters used suicide bombings and mortar shells and that chief of army operations in Anbar, Maj-Gen. Qassim al-Dulaimi, was lightly wounded.

News of Sunday's attack came two days after up to 50 soldiers were killed by the ISIS in two ambushes elsewhere in Anbar province, much of which is under ISIS control.

Islamic State overruns Iraqi base near Fallujah

Oh yeah, that strategy of Barack Obama to "contain" ISIS is working to perfection.

Oh, and by the way, for my regular readers...the Iraqi/Iranian Shia Militia retaking of Ramadi hasn't exactly happened yet after they announced the beginning of it 3 months ago.

The story on Fallujah comes from The Long War Journal.

Islamic State overruns Iraqi base near Fallujah

The Islamic State overran an Iraqi military base and killed dozens of soldiers and policemen in an attack near Fallujah in Anbar province, where the government has been trying to dislodge the group for the past year.

In a newly released video, the Islamic State showcases its forces overrunning a military outpost near the city. The video shows jihadists attacking the base with armored personnel carriers packed with explosives and a ground assault team. The Islamic State seized tanks, armored personnel carriers, Humvees, and other vehicles. The bodies of dozens of dead Iraqi security personnel are displayed.

The exact date the assault occurred is unclear, but it likely took place earlier this week. The Associated Press reported that the Islamic State attacked Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) positions outside of Fallujah on Aug 16. According to the AP, “four suicide attackers drove explosives-laden military vehicles into government forces’ barricades.” Four suicide bombers driving US-made M113 armored personnel carriers are shown in the jihadist group’s video, which confirms the AP report.

The AP, quoting Iraqi officials, said that 17 Iraqi personnel were killed in the assault. The video released by the Islamic State shows at least 30 dead bodies of soldiers and police officers, but the number may be higher.

The jihadist group took over Fallujah in January of 2014, nearly six months before it overran large portions of Iraq. Last month, Iraqi forces and their Iranian-backed Shiite militia allies started an offensive to try and retake the city as well as Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar. The Iraqi offensive has made little gains in the past two months.

The US military is providing air support for the Iraqi military and the Iranian-backed militias. In the last week, US Central Command said it executed seven airstrikes in and around Fallujah. On Aug 16, four airstrikes “destroyed two ISIL [the dated acronym for the Islamic State] buildings, an ISIL VBIED, two ISIL heavy machine guns and an ISIL obstruction,” while another airstrike near Habbaniyah in the Fallujah-Ramadi corridor “struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed three ISIL vehicles and an ISIL fighting position.” In addition, two airstrikes “destroyed two ISIL mortar firing positions and an ISIL vehicle” near Habbaniyah yesterday.

Bomb attacks in Iraq's Diyala kill at least 33: police

Barack Obama's victory lap in Iraq keeps getting shorter and shorter...

The story comes from DAWN.

Bomb attacks in Iraq's Diyala kill at least 33: police


BAQUBA: Three explosions, two of them suicide bombings, killed at least 33 people near Baquba, the capital of Iraq's restive eastern province of Diyala on Monday, police and medics said.

The blasts targeted mostly Shia areas and came less than a month after a massive suicide attack left at least 120 dead in Khan Bani Saad, which is also in Diyala.

The deadliest of Monday's bombings was in an area called Huwaydir. Security sources and medics at the main hospital in Baquba said at least 20 people were killed there and 45 wounded.

“A suicide bomber driving a booby-trapped vehicle blew himself up in the middle of the central market area in Huwaydir,” a police lieutenant-colonel said.

Another suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden vehicle past a checkpoint before blowing himself up in Kanaan district, killing at least 10 and wounding the same number, a police captain said.

An improvised explosive device also went off in a neighbourhood between Baquba and Huwaydir, killing three and wounding four, the same source said.

The self-styled Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the string of bombings on Monday that killed at least 33 people and wounded many more in the eastern Iraqi city of Baquba.

The group, which controls large swathes of the country's north and west, said in a statement circulated online by supporters that the target was “rejectionists”, as the radical Sunni militants refer to Shia Muslims.

It was not immediately clear how many of the victims were civilians.

Following the July 17 bombing in Khan Bani Saad, the provincial authorities had tightened security across the province, especially in Baquba which lies about 70 kilometres north of Baghdad.

The Khan Bani Saad blast came on the eve of the end of the holy fasting month of Ramazan and shocked the nation.

Baghdad announced in January that Iraqi forces had “liberated” Diyala, a religiously and ethnically mixed province which was partly overrun by IS after the jihadists launched a brutally effective offensive last June.

The jihadists no longer have fixed positions in the province, but have reverted to their old tactics of planting car bombs and carrying out suicide operations or hit-and-run attacks.

Car bomb in Baghdad kills 14, wounds 30: Iraqi officials

It appears that ISIS is well on its way to owning the terror of Baghdad, Iraq with attack levels that may soon rival the heyday of al Qaeda in Iraq bombings there.

UPDATE:  Now I'm seeing reports that the death toll is 26 dead.

The story comes from Times of India.

Car bomb in Baghdad kills 14, wounds 30: Iraqi officials

BAGHDAD: An Iraqi police official in Baghdad says a car bomb detonated in front of a busy clothing store, killing 14 people and wounding 30.

The explosion happened in the predominantly Shiite district of New Baghdad late on Tuesday. A hospital official corroborated the casualties. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to brief the media.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, however, the Islamic State group has been targeting Shiites across the country as it seeks to destabilize the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.

Obama's "contained" ISIS Strikes Eastern Iraq With VBIED That Kills 115 Shias In Marketplace

It was happy, it was the end of the Muslim holiday Ramadan in Diyala province in eastern Iraq when ISIS, you know...the "JV" team....rolled a small truck into a markeplace laden with explosives and when the smoke and blood and guts cleared, 115 Iraqi Shiites were dead in that marketplace.  Today's attack marked the biggest loss of life in a single attack in about a decade in Iraq.

But Obama's plan of "containing" ISIS continues....perhaps we best hope that Obama's plan of "containing" Iran's nuclear ambitions go better.

The story comes from Times of India.

Anger in Iraq after suicide attack on marketplace kills 115

BAGHDAD: An attack by the Islamic State group on a crowded marketplace in Iraq's eastern Diyala province has killed 115 people, including women and children, in one of the deadliest single attacks in the country in the past decade.

The mostly-Shiite victims were gathered to mark the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which ended Friday for Iraqi Shiites and a day earlier for Iraqi Sunni Muslims.

Police said a small truck detonated in a crowded marketplace in the town of Khan Beni Saad Friday night in what quickly turned celebrations into a scene of horror, with body parts scattered across the market. At least 170 people were injured in the attack, police officials said, speaking anonymously because they are not authorized to brief the media.

Men quickly emptied boxes of tomatoes to use them for carrying the bodies of small children, witnesses said, while adult victims lay scattered around the attack scene waiting for medical assistance.

``Khan Beni Saad has become a disaster area because of this huge explosion,'' Diyala resident Sayif Ali said. ``This is the first day of Eid, hundreds of people got killed, many injured, and we are still searching for more bodies.''

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on Twitter accounts associated with the militant group.

Iraq's speaker of parliament, Salim al-Jabouri, said Saturday that the attack has struck an ``ugly sectarian chord,'' and added that government is making ``attempts to regulate Daesh's terror from destabilizing Diyala security,'' referring to the militant group by its Arabic acronym. But anger is rife in the volatile province, where a number of towns were captured by the Islamic State group last year. Iraqi forces and Kurdish fighters have since retaken those areas, but clashes between the militants and security forces continue.

``We went out to the market for shopping and preparations for the holiday Eid in order to receive holiday cheer,'' said another resident, who spoke anonymously for fear of retribution. ``But this joy has turned to grief and we have lost family, friends and relatives, all because of this government's failure to provide us with security.''

Security forces were out in full force across Diyala on Saturday, with dozens of new checkpoints and security protocols immediately implemented in the wake of Friday's attack.

``This horrible carnage is truly outside all boundaries of civilized behavior,'' Jan Kubis, the special representative of the United Nations mission in Iraq, said Saturday.''

The Sunni militant group has been behind several similar large-scale attacks on civilians or military checkpoints as it seeks to expand its territory. The group currently controls about a third of Iraq and Syria in a self-declared caliphate.

In August last year, at least 64 people were killed in an attack on a Sunni mosque in Diyala in what locals believed was a retaliatory attack against Diyala tribes that refused to proclaim loyalty to the Islamic State group.

The United States has spent billions arming and training the Iraqi military, but it performed poorly last year when Islamic State militants swept across western and northern Iraq, routing four divisions. The U.S. and a coalition of nations have been conducting airstrikes on Islamic State positions in Iraq and Syria since last year, but it has not stopped the group from making advances. The militants recently captured the city of Ramadi, in Iraq's western Anbar province, and the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria.

Diyala, which borders Iran, is the only province in Iraq where Iranian jets are known to have conducted airstrikes against the Islamic State group earlier this year.

Elsewhere in Iraq, a roadside bomb on a commercial street in Baghdad's Dora district Saturday killed four people and wounded seven. North of Baghdad, a roadside bomb on a commercial street in al-Rashidiya killed three people and wounded 11.

Meanwhile, reports emerged Saturday that the Islamic State group used projectile-delivered poison gas against Kurdish forces in Iraq and Syria on several occasions last month.

Joint, on-site investigations by two U.K.-based organizations _ Conflict Armament Research (CAR) and Sahan Research _ concluded that IS forces used chemical agents to attack Iraqi peshmerga forces and Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) on June 21, 22 and 28.

In the Syria attacks, IS militants launched 17 artillery projectiles against YPG forces stationed to the south of the village of Tell Brak in Hassakeh province. The projectiles released a chemical agent which induced in some cases loss of consciousness and temporary, localized paralysis. Twelve YPG personnel were hospitalized. Another seven projectiles were also launched into civilian residential areas in Hassakeh.

In the Iraq attack, IS forces fired a projectile containing a liquid chemical agent at a peshmerga checkpoint near the Mosul Dam, triggering symptoms among the Iraqi forces that included headaches, nausea and light burns to the skin.

The findings on the attacks in Syria were confirmed by an YPG statement issued Saturday. The type of chemical used is not known. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported an apparent IS chemical attack on June 28.

There have been several allegations that the Islamic State group has used chlorine previously in both Iraq and Syria.

The Islamic State group, which controls a third of Syria and Iraq in its self-declared caliphate, has not commented on the claims.