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The Beatings Will Continue: Iraqi Edtion
 76 families return to Ninevah (IraqiNews.com) Mosul – Camps for internally-displaced Iraqis have received 750 internally-displaced people from the city of Mosul, the stage of decisive battles between Iraqi joint forces and the Islamic State extremist militant group, the commander of the security operation said Wednesday. Lt. Gen. Abdel Amir Yarallah said 76 displaced families from the city have now returned home from Jadaa camp. “Anti-terrorism forces will continue to clear houses and roads off IEDs in Kokajli, preparing for the next battle,” he said in a statement obtained by Alsumaria News. Since October 17th, Iraqi army and police forces, US-led coalition forces, Shia militias and Kurdish troops have been on a decisive battle, code named “We Are Coming, Nineveh”, to liberate the city of Mosul, IS’s last stronghold in Iraq. UN estimates had put the number of civilians who would be displaced in process at more than one million. On field, Badr Organization, one of the major Shia paramilitary forces fighting within the grand operation, said Wednesday that four more villages had been liberated at Nineveh province, reporting the killing of two IS fighters, who were boarding booby-trapped vehicles, and defusing 18 IEDs. The organization’s media wing said in a statement that Badr had freed the villages of Abu Shwaiha, Kokh, Abu Fashka and Khweitla and gave out aid to their families. “There is slow and cautious progress so as to protect civilians’ lives. Forces are 4 kilometers away from the Mahlabiya road which links Mosul with Tal Afar,” the statement said. Abdul-Ghani al-Assadi, commander of Iraq’s anti-terrorism forces, said Wednesday that his forces were facing a “guerrilla war” in Mosul. While Assadi urged locals to stay home, he ruled out that Islamic State fighters would use them as human shields. “Media have circulated the term ‘human shields, but Daesh cannot use that technique, but if they do, we have the methods that could force them to release our people,” he told Alsumaria TV. Baghdadi calls for attacks on Turkey (IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – Islamic State’s supreme leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s call upon supporters to launch attacks in Turkey is a cover-up for potential Turkish incursions in the city of Mosul, said Hakim al-Zamili, chairman of the Iraqi parliament’s security and defense committee. Baghdadi’s call to attack Turkey in an audio message released late Wednesday is “a regional intelligence cover-up for Turks’ entrance to Mosul,” Zamili said in a press interview. “That incursion will be under the pretext of fighting terrorism before it extends to Turkish soil,” he argued. Iraq and Turkey have been in tensions recently due to the deployment of Turkish troops at Bashiqa Camp, Nineveh. While Turkey says it trains locals to fight against the Islamic State, the government in Baghdad contends that the deployment occurred without its permission, labeling it a violation of international law. In the voice message, Baghdadi urged his fighters to be resilient in face of Iraqi troops seeking to strip the militant group of its last Iraqi bastion in Mosul, and called upon his supporters to unleash their anger” on Turkish forces fighting them in Syria. Meanwhile, Atheel al-Nujaifi, a former governor of Nineveh, and the commander of “Nineveh Guards” forces, said that while Baghdadi urges his fighters to stand still and fight back, buses have been carrying ISIS fighters families from Mosul to Syria. “Baghdadi’s speech yesterday was that of a desperate mad man,” Nujaifi wrote on twitter. ISIS propaganda video at the link, all in Arabic (IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – Islamic State supreme leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has urged his fighters to be resilient in face of Iraqi troops seeking to strip the militant group of its last Iraqi bastion in Mosul. In an audio clip released by his supporters on the internet, the first since the security offensive began mid October, Baghdadi stressed that the group’s “Caliphate” project has not stumbled. “Do not retreat … Holding your ground with honor is a thousand times easier than retreating in shame,” he said in the audio message, the authenticity of which could not be verified. “The raging battle, the all-out war and the grand Jihad the state of Islam is going through today only strengthens our faith and confidence that it is all a prelude to a clear victory.” Baghdadi urged his supporters to launch attacks against Turkey and Saudi Arabia. He told his militants to “Unleash their anger” on Turkish forces fighting them in Syria. He also called upon them to target Saudi royal family members, government officials and security forces, accusing them of “partaking with infidel nations in their war against Islam and Sunnis in Iraq and Syria.” Baghdadi’s last voice message was made in December, when he assured his troops that Russian and US-led coalition airstrikes in Syria had failed to weaken the group Hundred flee ISIS shelling in Kokajli (IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – Hundreds of families started to flee Kokajli, east of Mosul, towards the borders with Iraqi Kurdistan fearing artillery shelling by Islamic State fighters, Al Sumaria News reported on Thursday. Al Sumaria quoted the migrating citizens as saying they would return to their homes once Iraqi forces advance to the city and relieve the danger from their area. Iraqi government forces, assisted by al-Hashd al-Shaabi troops and US-led coalition forces, continue to advance towards Mosul, Islamic State’s last bastion in Iraq. The operations have dealt ISIS fighters severe losses, according to campaign commanders, with the group reportedly carrying its wounded militants and families outside the city while facing food shortages. ISIS supreme leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi urged his fighters in a voice message on Wednesday to remain resilient in face of the assaulting forces. The United Nations and the United States had predicted more than one million civilians to be internally displaced due to the war in Mosul. Commanders of operation “We Are Coming, Nineveh”, had said that 76 families had returned to their homes in Nineveh. More on Order 227, ISIS Edition from al-Arabiya ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has called on his fighters to resist as Iraqi forces were poised to enter the city of Mosul. “Do not retreat,” said a voice presented as belonging to the leader of ISIS in an audio message released early Thursday by the ISIS-affiliated Al-Furqan media. “Holding your ground with honor is a thousand times easier than retreating in shame,” he said in the message, his first in more than a year. “To all the people of Nineveh, especially the fighters, beware of any weakness in facing your enemy,” Baghdadi said, referring to the northern Iraqi province of which Mosul is the capital. Rumors have abounded about the leader’s health and movements but his whereabouts are unclear. ISIS control has been shrinking steadily since last year and Iraqi forces earlier this week reached Mosul, the militants’ last major stronghold in Iraq. The US-led coalition estimates there are 3,000 to 5,000 IS fighters inside the city but the final outcome of the battle appears to be in little doubt. Tens of thousands of Iraqi forces, backed by the US-led coalition and its warplanes, launched a massive offensive on Mosul on October 17. Posted by: badanov 2016-11-04 |
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