provinceorstate:anbar

La coalition antidjihadiste frappe « par erreur » les forces irakiennes
▻http://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2018/01/27/la-coalition-antidjihadiste-frappe-par-erreur-les-forces-irakiennes_5248065_

http://img.lemde.fr/2018/01/27/175/0/2499/1249/644/322/60/0/6c1a23a_5412-glwa8q.pdhw.jpg

Le JOC a indiqué que les forces irakiennes avaient obtenu des informations sur « une réunion à Al-Baghdadi en présence du commandant terroriste Karim Al-Soumarmad ». Un raid a été ordonné « avec un appui aérien de la coalition. Une fois le terroriste arrêté, alors que les troupes poursuivaient les perquisitions, une grenade a été lancée depuis une maison voisine ».

En rentrant à leur base, ces forces spéciales ont croisé un convoi de voitures se dirigeant vers la maison suspecte. Ignorant qu’il s’agissait de renforts de la police et des supplétifs des milices Hachd Al-Chaabi, elles ont alerté la coalition qui a mené un raid aérien. Des vidéos amateurs montrent des véhicules de la police calcinés, ainsi que des traces de sang au sol. « Une enquête a été ouverte », a précisé le communiqué du JOC.
[…]

« Huit personnes, dont un haut gradé du renseignement, cinq policiers et une femme, ont été tuées par une frappe américaine sur le centre de la localité Al-Baghdadi », a affirmé un responsable provincial. « Il semble que la frappe a été menée par erreur », a-t-il avancé sous le couvert de l’anonymat.

Bonjour, les règles d’engagement !

Tu croises une bagnole que tu connais pas, tu cherches pas à te renseigner, tu fais donner direct l’artillerie lourde…

Syria air strikes: Why #Isis is a formidable, ferocious enemy that will not be defeated from the air
▻http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-air-strikes-why-isis-is-a-formidable-ferocious-enemy-that-will-

Isis has modified its tactics to take account of the continuing risk of air strikes. It now has a decentralised command structure, with tactical decisions being taken by leaders of small units of eight to 10 men, whose overall mission is determined from the centre – but not how it should be accomplished. This limits the ability of its opponents to monitor its communications.

Its forces assemble swiftly and attack soon afterwards with multiple diversionary operations, as was seen when Mosul was captured in June 2014 and again when they took Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, this May.

They had been fighting their way into Baiji refinery, but this turned out to be a diversion and Isis units pulled back from there as soon as Ramadi fell.

Isis’s approach is to use a mixture of conventional, guerrilla and terrorist tactics, none unique in themselves, but they have never been used before in combination. Air strikes mean that it is less able to use captured tanks or big concentrations of vehicles packed with fighters. Instead it uses IEDs, booby traps, snipers and mortar teams in even greater numbers.

Public martyrdom as an expression of religious faith is such a central part of its ideology that it can deploy suicide bombers on foot or in vehicles in great numbers to destroy fortifications and demoralise the enemy. Some 28 suicide bombers were reportedly used in the final stages of the battle for Ramadi. Psychological warfare has always been an important element of Isis’s tactical armoury. It has sought to terrify opposition forces by showing videos in which captured Iraqi or Syrian soldiers are filmed being ritually decapitated or shot in the head.

#guerre #violence #absurde #criminel

Iraqi Sunnis join Shia militias to fight IS militants | Middle East Eye
▻http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iraqi-sunnis-join-shiite-militias-fight-militants-520291754

Many new Sunni battalions, each one consisting of 250-600 fighters, have been formed in the Sunni areas in Diyala province east of Baghdad, the Sunni-dominated province of Anbar and Salahudeen province, the home town of the former Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein.

These battalions have linked to Badr, Kataib Hezbollah-Iraq, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, al-Nujabaa (a split group of Asaib), Jund al-Imam (a new Shia militia formed last year), Ali al-Akbar Bregaid (a new Shiiite militia formed a few months ago), and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada (a new Shia militia).

“From the beginning we thought there was no way to liberate our lands, but by getting the help of Iraqis, not relying on the United States nor any other countries, so we joined the Popular Mobilisation,” Khalid Abdullah, the commander of Asaib Ahl al-Haq Sunni Battalion in Salahudeen told MEE by phone.
– See more at: ▻http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iraqi-sunnis-join-shiite-militias-fight-militants-520291754#sthash.TY

Massive military escalation looms as ISIS advances in Iraq - World Socialist Web Site

▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/05/22/isis-m22.html?view=mobilearticle

Massive military escalation looms as ISIS advances in Iraq

By Niles Williamson
22 May 2015

The Pentagon announced Thursday that it will rush 2,000 AT-4 anti-tank rockets to the Iraqi military following the capture of Ramadi, capital of Iraq’s western Anbar province, by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). ISIS fighters have seized control of tanks, artillery and large caches ammunition abandoned by the Iraqi military as they fled. More than 40,000 civilians have been forced from their homes by the ISIS advance.

US president Barack Obama, in an interview with the Atlantic published Thursday, described the loss of Ramadi as a “tactical setback,” but said that he did not think that the US was losing the fight against ISIS. “There’s no doubt that in the Sunni areas, we’re going to have to ramp up not just training, but also commitment, and we better get Sunni tribes more activated than they currently have been,” Obama stated.

#is #isis #irak #syrie

Fighting in Iraq’s #Ramadi displaces thousands

Tents, food and other aid sent to residents fleeing capital of Anbar province as ISIL fighters gain new territory.

http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2015/4/19/0abd2c5ade114bb0a0a65a1600f72eb2_18.jpg

Nasrallah sur la rhétorique en cours de nombreux chiites libanais sur la « fin des temps » et la « venue du mahdi »,
▻http://mideastwire.wordpress.com/2014/11/03/hezbollahs-nasrallah-brings-shiite-discourse-back-to-reality-

We do not need a religious justification to fight in Syria and we’re not fighting to implement the signs which narrations say would pave the ground for the emergence” of Imam Mahdi, said Nasrallah.

“We are rather fighting to defend Lebanon and the region and to prevent a repetition of what (Islamic State chief) Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi did against the Iraqi Albu Nimr tribe,” added Nasrallah, referring to a fresh wave of mass killings by the IS extremist group in Iraq’s Anbar province.

Hizbullah’s chief warned that “linking everything that is happening to the ‘signs of emergence’ has dangerous cultural and ideological repercussions, which can only lead to #aberration.”

Iraqi battle seen as key victory in Iran - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
▻http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/10/iran-sees-iraq-battle-jurf-al-sakhar-key-control-isis.html

The battle for the strategic city south of Baghdad is significant in that control of Jurf al-Sakhar will enable the Iraqi army to cut off IS from its strongholds in Anbar province. The city was won solely by Iraqi forces without coalition air power, and set the blueprint for the next battle between the Iraqi army and IS in the strategic cities of Amiriya and Fallujah.

#ISIS captures three towns in #Iraq's #Anbar
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/isis-captures-three-towns-iraqs-anbar

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) captured three towns in Iraq’s western Anbar province on Sunday, witnesses and security sources said. “Army troops withdrew from Rawa, Ana and Rutba this morning and ISIS moved quickly to completely control these towns,” a military intelligence official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The office for the prime minister’s military command said it had no immediate comment and would be giving an update on events in a press conference later on Sunday. (Reuters)

#al-Qaeda affiliates keeping a watchful eye on #ISIS' conquests
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/al-qaeda-affiliates-keeping-watchful-eye-isis-conquests

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/103090-01-08.jpg

A file image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube on August 23, 2013 allegedly shows a member of Ussud Al-Anbar (Anbar Lions), a Jihadist group affiliated to the Islamic State of #Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Al-Qaeda’s front group in Iraq, holding up the trademark black and white Islamist flag at an undisclosed location in Iraq’s Anbar province. (Photo-AFP/Youtube) A file image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube on August 23, 2013 allegedly shows a member of Ussud Al-Anbar (Anbar Lions), a Jihadist group affiliated to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Al-Qaeda’s front group in Iraq, holding up the trademark black and white Islamist flag at an undisclosed location in Iraq’s Anbar province. (Photo-AFP/Youtube) (...)

#Mideast_&_North_Africa #Abu_Bakr_al-Baghdadi #Abudallah_Azzam_Brigades #Al-Nusra_Front #al-Zawahiri #Articles #Ayman #Baghdad #Caliphate #Homs #Lebanon #Mosul #syria

The war in #syria: ISIS’s most successful investment yet
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/20133

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/103096-01-08.jpg

An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube on August 23, 2013 allegedly shows members of Ussud Al-Anbar (Anbar Lions), a Jihadist group affiliated to the Islamic State of #Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Al-Qaeda’s front group in Iraq, holding up their weapons as they pose next to the trademark black and white Islamist flag at an undisclosed location in Iraq’s Anbar province. (Photo: AFP-Youtube) An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube on August 23, 2013 allegedly shows members of Ussud Al-Anbar (Anbar Lions), a Jihadist group affiliated to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Al-Qaeda’s front group in Iraq, holding up their weapons as they pose next to the trademark black and white Islamist flag at an undisclosed (...)

#Mideast_&_North_Africa #Abu_Bakr_al-Baghdadi #Abu_Mohammed_Joulani #Abu_Musab_al-Zarqawi #al-Nusra #Articles #Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_Syria_ISIS_

Iraq: Falluja’s Faustian Bargain - International Crisis Group
As the campaign for Iraq’s 30 April parliamentary elections heated up, so too did Falluja. The situation there has taken a dramatic turn for the worse since late 2013 when the army, after a long absence, returned in response to protests around Anbar province. With the troops on the outskirts, the jihadi ISIL within and the city’s self-appointed military council trying to walk a fine line between the two, Falluja seems poised to repeat the battles of 2004, when it experienced some of the most intense fighting of the U.S. occupation. The potential for miscalculation, or calculated escalation, is enormous. It is too late for steps that might have been taken to reduce tensions before the elections. Any lasting solution requires addressing the deeper roots of Sunni alienation in a country increasingly gripped by sectarian tension. ISIL’s rise is a symptom, not the main cause, of the poor governance that is the principal reason for Iraq’s instability. The government, UN and U.S. should treat ISIL differently from the military council and Falluja as a whole, rather than bundling them together in an indiscriminate “war on terror”.
▻http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa/iraq-iran-gulf/iraq/150-iraq-falluja-s-faustian-bargain.aspx

L’eau, nouvelle arme des insurgés irakiens d’Anbar - Le Nouvel Observateur
▻http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/monde/20140411.REU3289/l-eau-nouvelle-arme-des-insurges-irakiens-d-anbar.html

FALLOUDJA Irak (Reuters) - Les insurgés irakiens qui tiennent Falloudja, dans la province d’Anbar, ont ajouté une nouvelle arme à leur arsenal : un barrage sur l’Euphrate qui peut leur permettre d’inonder certains secteurs et empêcher les forces gouvernementales de progresser.

Le barrage de Falloudja, qui sert à l’irrigation des terres alentour et à l’adduction d’eau à destination des populations locales, est situé à cinq kilomètres au sud de la ville dont se sont emparés au début de l’année des insurgés mêlant forces tribales antigouvernementales et djihadistes, dont certains appartiennent à l’Etat islamique en Irak et au Levant (EIIL).

La ville est depuis lors encerclée par les forces irakiennes et régulièrement bombardée.

Mais cela n’a pas empêché des combattants de l’EIIL, proche d’Al Qaïda, de pousser leur avantage en février pour prendre le secteur du barrage. D’après des sources tribales locales, ils ont entrepris de sécuriser la structure, désormais protégée par des sacs de sable et des murs de béton anti-explosion.

De même source, on ajoute que les djihadistes de l’EIIL ont fermé il y a une semaine huit des dix vannes de l’ouvrage, inondant les terres situées en amont et réduisant en aval le débit du fleuve qui traverse les provinces méridionales de l’Irak et alimente des structures hydroélectriques avant de se jeter dans le Golfe.

L’objectif, ajoute-t-on, était de contraindre les forces gouvernementales à battre en retraite devant la montée des eaux et de lever le siège de la ville.

(...)

Jeudi, cinq vannes ont été rouvertes. Il semblerait que les combattants de l’Etat islamique en Irak et au Levant se soient rendus compte que leurs propres bastions étaient menacés par l’inondation.

Iraqi #refugees in #syria: Between a rock and a hard place
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/iraqi-refugees-syria-between-rock-and-hard-place

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/726739-01-08.jpg

A file picture taken on March 6, 2014 shows displaced Iraqis, who fled their hometown of Fallujah due to unrest between government forces and militants in the flashpoint Anbar province, west of #Baghdad, walking in the Kurdish town of Shaqlawa, 45 kilometers north of Arbil, where they sought refugee. (Photo: AFP-Safin Hamed) A file picture taken on March 6, 2014 shows displaced Iraqis, who fled their hometown of Fallujah due to unrest between government forces and militants in the flashpoint Anbar province, west of Baghdad, walking in the Kurdish town of Shaqlawa, 45 kilometers north of Arbil, where they sought refugee. (Photo: AFP-Safin Hamed)

Since 2003, the largest refugee population in the region – other than the (...)

#Culture_&_Society #Articles #Beirut #Damascus #Iraq #Jordan #Lebanon #UNHCR

New #Killings in #Iraq push monthly toll to nearly 500
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/new-killings-iraq-push-monthly-toll-nearly-500

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/445731-01-08.jpg

Iraqis stand looking at a security forces convoy that patrols a street after local police took control of the Southern area of the city of Ramadi, west of the capital Baghdad in the Anbar province, on March 16, 2014. (Photo: AFP - Azher Shallal) Iraqis stand looking at a security forces convoy that patrols a street after local police took control of the Southern area of the city of Ramadi, west of the capital Baghdad in the Anbar province, on March 16, 2014. (Photo: AFP - Azher Shallal)

Attacks in Iraq killed five people Sunday, hours after seven soldiers were shot dead at a checkpoint in a late-night attack by militants in the north, bringing the #death_toll to nearly 500 people so far this month. A suicide bomber (...)

#Top_News #violence

Deadly clashes shake #Iraq's #Anbar province
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/deadly-clashes-shake-iraqs-anbar-province

Ongoing clashes between anti-government fighters and soldiers near a militant-held city on Baghdad’s doorstep have killed at least three people wounded dozens more, officials said Friday. The latest unrest erupted Thursday night in Anbar province, a mostly desert region in western Iraq along the Syrian border, where security forces have failed for months to evict insurgents from key territory. Army forces began shelling the region of Zoba, which lies just south of Fallujah, local officials said, sparking clashes with militants. read more

#Top_News

Over 300 dead this month as #Iraq marks #US invasion #anniversary
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/over-300-dead-month-iraq-marks-us-invasion-anniversary

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/445744-01-08.jpg

Wrapped in the Iraqi flag, police and security gather along Street 60 after the southern districts of the city of Ramadi, the capital of the Anbar province, were recaptured by government forces from militants, on March 16, 2014. (Photo: AFP - Azhar Shallal) Wrapped in the Iraqi flag, police and security gather along Street 60 after the southern districts of the city of Ramadi, the capital of the Anbar province, were recaptured by government forces from militants, on March 16, 2014. (Photo: AFP - Azhar Shallal)

Attacks killed eight people across Iraq Thursday, a day after bombings, shootings and shelling left 46 people dead, bringing the death toll for March to over 300, according to an AFP tally. Thursday’s attacks came (...)

#Invasion_of_Iraq #Top_News

#Iraq: Al-Maliki accuses Saudi, #Qatar of supporting terrorist movements
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/iraq-al-maliki-accuses-saudi-qatar-supporting-terrorist-movements

Iraqi Prime Minister #Nouri_al-Maliki has accused #Saudi_Arabia and Qatar of openly funding the insurgents his troops are battling in western Anbar province, in his strongest such statement since fighting started there early this year. Security forces have been fighting insurgents from the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in Anbar’s two main cities - Fallujah and Ramadi - since January after the arrest of a lawmaker and the clearing of an anti-government protest camp prompted a tribal revolt and allowed ISIS to set up fighting positions in the cities. read more

#Terrorism #Top_News

#Iraq PM tours battlefield city as 22 security personnel killed
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/18646

Iraqi Prime Minister #Nouri_al-Maliki paid a visit on Saturday to the battleground city of #Ramadi, where security forces and allied tribesmen have for weeks fought to retake militant-held areas. His inspection tour came as militants killed 22 soldiers and police over two days and kept their grip on part of the northern town of Sulaiman Bek in a new front in the persistent rebellion against his government in the #Anbar province. read more

#Top_News

UN: 300,000 have fled #Iraq's militant-held Anbar province
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/un-300000-have-fled-iraqs-militant-held-anbar-province

Violence in Iraq’s Anbar province, where militants control all of one city and parts of another, has displaced up to 300,000 people in six weeks, the United Nations has said. The province has been hit by a surge in fighting between pro- and anti-government forces that began at the end of last year, as Iraq suffers its worst violence since 2008. “Over the last six weeks up to 300,000 Iraqis - some 50,000 families - have been displaced due to insecurity around Fallujah and Ramadi” in Anbar, a UN refugee agency statement released on Tuesday said. read more

#Top_News

#Iraq attacks kill political candidate, eight more
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/iraq-attacks-kill-political-candidate-eight-more

Attacks in Baghdad and north of the capital killed nine people on Friday, including a supporter of powerful cleric Moqtada al-Sadr who was standing in April’s parliamentary election. The murder of Hamza al-Shammari, the first of an election candidate, comes amid a protracted surge in bloodshed with near-daily attacks nationwide and security forces battling anti-government fighters in Anbar province. Election candidates have been targeted in the past, with nearly 20 hopefuls killed ahead of April 2013 provincial council elections. read more

#Top_News

#Baghdad attacks kill 16 as #Iraq presses #Anbar assault
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/18496

A series of attacks in and around Baghdad, including a spate of car bombings, killed 16 people Monday as Iraqi forces pressed an assault against militant-held areas of Anbar province. The latest bloodshed comes amid a surge in violence that left more than 1,000 people dead last month, the worst such figure in nearly six years, as security forces grapple with near-daily attacks and protracted battles with anti-government fighters. Foreign leaders have urged the government to do more in a bid to undercut support for militants. read more

#ISIS #Top_News

Iraqi forces regain some control of Anbar
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/iraqi-forces-regain-some-control-anbar

Iraqi forces Wednesday wrested back control of key areas west of Baghdad that have been out of government hands for weeks amid a deadly standoff between militants and security forces. The battles in Anbar province, a desert region that shares a border with Syria, and a protracted surge in nationwide violence have left more than 850 people dead so far this month. Washington has said it plans to sell #Iraq 24 Apache attack helicopters in a $4.8 billion deal to help the country fight militants. read more

#Top_News

Iraqi rebels behead two police, #sahwa militiaman
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/iraqi-rebels-behead-two-police-sahwa-militiaman

A series of attacks in Baghdad and areas north of the capital killed nine people on Monday, including three security forces who were beheaded, as #Iraq grapples with a months-long surge in nationwide violence. Coupled with a protracted stand-off between security forces and anti-government fighters in the western province of #Anbar, unrest this month has left more than 870 people dead. In the most brutal incident Monday, gunmen killed two policemen and an anti-Qaeda Sahwa militiaman in an attack on their joint checkpoint near Samarra and then decapitated them. read more

#beheadings #Top_News

Child among six killed in central #Iraq #shelling
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/boy-among-six-killed-central-iraq-shelling

Shelling against a village in a restive area of central Iraq killed six people on Saturday, including a young boy, the latest in a surge of nationwide #violence. The bloodshed, coupled with a protracted standoff between security forces and anti-government forces in Anbar province west of Baghdad, has left nearly 800 people dead so far this month and comes with elections looming in April. The mortar fire struck Jaizan, a village just north of Baquba, killing six people and wounding two others, security and medical officials said. Among the fatalities were two women and a young boy. read more

#Top_News

UN: More than 140,000 have fled #Iraq's Anbar province
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/un-more-140000-have-fled-iraqs-anbar-province

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/068404-01-08.jpg

An Iraqi soldier monitors a checkpoint east of Baghdad on January 24, 2014, as deadly clashes continue between security forces and anti-government fighters in Anbar province, east of the capital in what the United National said is Iraq’s worst displacement in years.(Photo: AFP - Ali al-Saadi)

Violence in parts of Anbar province held by anti-government fighters killed three people as the United Nations warned Friday of Iraq’s worst displacement since its brutal 2006-08 conflict. More than 140,000 people have fled their homes in the mostly-desert province since unrest erupted in late December, as security forces and their tribal allies have been locked in a deadly standoff with militants, including those affiliated with the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq (...)

#Top_News