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The Beatings Will Continue: Iraqi Edition


ISIS kommander dies in Salahuddin

Salahuddin (IraqiNews.-com) Islamic State militants in Salahuddin province have become in extreme alert after a senior military commander disappeared along with four companions.

A local source in the province told Alsumaria News that the extremist group had put its members on alert in Mutaibija, a region on the borders with Diyala, after the “military emir” and four of his companions disappeared. They were touring some group rest houses before vanishing, according to the source.

Mutaibija is one restive region on the borders between Diyala and Salahuddin which security sources have counted as a constant threat, but the source said IS had lost many of its leaders in that region in ambushes by security forces and allied al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units).

Since the Iraqi government launched a U.S.-backed offensive in mid October to retake Mosul from Islamic State, the extremist group has sustained severe losses in personnel and ground. It has also bee stricken with divisions and infighting, with reports of attempted dissent and executions of delinquent fighters growing.

Recent reports have said that the idea of dishonoring the pledge of allegiance to the group’s supreme leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, have become on the table as Baghdadi’s whereabouts or survival proved to be questionable.

ISIS charges civilians $1.5K to leave Hawija

Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants in Kirkuk are telling people they have to choose between fighting security forces alongside the group or to leave after paying tolls, a local security source said.

The group deployed members of its Hisbah (vigilantism) service with megaphones in the group-held town of Hawija, southwest of the province, to announce the new rules, the source told Alsumaria News on Monday.

“The group is obliging whoever wants to leave to pay US$1500 per person or an equivalent amount in gold,” according to the source.

IS have been in control over the southern Kirkuk regions of Hawija, al-Zab and al-Riyadh since 2014, when the group emerged to proclaim the establishment of a so-called “Islamic Caliphate” at various Iraqi cities.

IS’s hardline, bloody governance, coupled with minimal subsistence and ongoing battles between the group and Iraqi government forces, have forced hundreds of thousands to flee regions occupied by the group to refugee camps, with the numbers of refugees standing at at least 191.000, according to a latest count by the government.

IS has sustained consecutive losses of personnel and ground since Iraqi government forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition launched a major offensive to retake Mosul, the group’s biggest stronghold in Iraq.

ISIS bans red clothing on Valentine's Day
Hawgz fans hardest hit
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State extremists have barred wearing red-colored clothes, preparing to prevent Valentine’s Day celebrations, according to local sources.

The group’s media surprisingly distributed warnings saying red colors were not allowed, even for children, a local source told Alsumaria News.

The source presumed the move aimed to prevent Iraqis from marking the occasion, adding that the group fears that the least sign of celebration would stand as a challenge to its rules.

A hardline preacher from the group tore the head of a red teddy bear to assert his prohibition of the celebrations. Teddy bears and flowers are typical presents exchanged between loving couples on the occasion.

Islamic State came to the scene in Iraq in 2014 when it defeated Iraqi government forces at several cities and proclaimed a so-called “Islamic State”. Since then, it had imposed extreme religious views, and levied harsh punishments amounting to death on violators.

The group is currently holding most of western Mosul as it totally lost the eastern side to Iraqi forces on January 24th after three months of battles. It is now boosting its defenses in that region in anticipation of an imminent invasion by security troops.

The conflict in Mosul has so far displaced at least 191.000 people,.

2 ISIS slavers detained in Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) An Iraqi army force arrested on Monday two Islamic State members who used to trade women slaves from the Yezidi minority, a local source said.

“Intelligence teams from the army’s 16th division arrested Heggie Farhan and Mahmoud al-Kassab,” the source told Alghad Press, adding that the pair belonged to the Tel Kaif and Qawsiyat regions in northeastern Mosul. The latter had been wounded at one battle with security forces and lost one of his legs.

“They had used to sell Yezidi women during the group’s control over Nineveh Plains region,” said the source.

Thousands of Yazidi Kurds fled Sanjar, a Mosul region on the borders with Syria, to nearby mountain areas following its fall to Islamic State militants in August 2014. The extremist group massacred, enslaved and tortured thousands of that ethno-religious minority.

Data in 2015 from Iraq’s office on Yazidi kidnapping victims showed that 2640 Yazidis were released from captivity by Islamic State militants over the past two years, but there are 3770 others still in the extremist group’s hold.

The Kurdish-speaking community came to the spotlight when Islamic State militants, taking over large parts of Iraq, victimized its members, committing massacres and subjecting them to forced conversions, sexual slavery and other reported atrocities.

ISIS executes ISIS blademaker in Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants threw to death the son of the group’s most famous bladesmith, hours after executing his father, according to a local source.

“Daesh(Islamic State) executed the only son of the group’s most famous bladesmith, the so-called Abu Hamza al-Souri (Syrian),” the source told Alsumaria News.

The young man was thrown down from the rooftop of a high building in western Mosul, according to the source. The reason of his execution is still unknown, but a recent report by Alsumaria News had said IS adopted a similar execution style with men accused of homosexuality, a charge the network said was posed haphazardly.

The source revealed that al-Souri was sentenced to death on Sunday, slaughtered with a sword of his own making. The group accused him of “betraying the caliphate”, as he put it.

Since the Iraqi government launched a U.S.-backed offensive in mid October to retake Mosul from Islamic State, the extremist group has sustained severe losses in personnel and ground. It has also been ravaged with divisions and infighting, with reports of attempted dissent and executions of delinquent fighters growing. Some of its leaders were also mysteriously assassinated.

IS is still in control over most of western Mosul, and is bracing for a fresh round of encounters as security forces prepare to invade that region.

4 die in ISIS artillery attack on 5 schools

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) A source in the Joint Operations Command revealed on Monday, that the Islamic State group shelled five schools, north of Mosul, either killing or wounding 28 students and teachers.

Colonel Waad al-Sharifi said in a press statement, “The Islamic State group shelled al-Zohour, al-Wehda, Tatwan, Mohamed al-Dorra and al-Naaniya schools with mortar shells, killing three students and a teacher, as well as wounding 18 students and 6 other teachers.”

The Islamic State group is attacking the liberated areas from its held areas in western Mosul, killing and wounding dozens of civilians since the liberation of eastern Mosul.

Posted by: badanov 2017-02-14
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=481214