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| Iraq | |||
| Attacks Showcase Strength of Militants in Iraq | |||
| 2014-06-09 | |||
| [AnNahar] Three days of major jihadist attacks around Iraq, including on a university, have left dozens dead in a stark display of turban strength and the country's enormous security challenges. Militants assaulted the city of Samarra, battled security forces in djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , took hundreds of hostages at Anbar University in Ramadi and carried out numerous other attacks in Storied Baghdad and elsewhere. Powerful jihadist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... has been blamed for most of the latest attacks, and is believed to be responsible for much of the violence in the country. "Evidently, ISIL is in a very strong position," said John Drake, a London-based security analyst at AKE Group. "It is able to stand its ground in open fighting with the national security forces, which is major."
"Militancy in the center of the country was a major headache for the strongest military force in the world, so it's no wonder that the Iraqi security forces are encountering such difficulties," Drake said. "They are facing a massive challenge."
But the question is why "they have maintained this strength... why are the Iraqi security forces not more capable of dealing with this?" One issue is widespread arrest campaigns by security forces that Sowell said sweep up many people who are likely innocent, terming it a "completely ineffective security policy". He also said the high rate of turnover among senior officers is problematic, noting that there have been five different top commanders in restive Anbar province in roughly two years. "They keep recycling these generals... but there's no change in tactics, there's no evidence that they're learning," he said.
The following day, heavy fighting broke out between security forces and hard boyz in multiple areas of the northern city of Mosul, one of the most dangerous areas of the country. The festivities and shelling, combined with other attacks in the surrounding Nineveh province, killed more than 100 people over two days. And on Saturday, hard boyz infiltrated Anbar University in Ramadi, west of Storied Baghdad, killed its guards and took hundreds of students and staff hostage. The attack prompted an assault by security forces that eventually freed the hostages but also led to an hours-long battle with turbans. While hard boyz have attacked government buildings and taken hostages before, universities are not their usual target. "The targeting of young civilians in violence is more emotive than attacks on the security forces," Drake said when asked about the university attack. And later on Saturday, seven bombs destroyed different areas of the Iraqi capital, killing at least 25 people. | |||
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #1 So the Baathists who fled Iraq for Syria after the fall of Saddam have now fled back to Iraq since Syria has become such a mess? |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2014-06-09 08:58 |