| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Iraq Forces Mass in Bid to Break Jihadist Siege of Turkmen Town |
| 2014-08-28 |
| [AnNahar] Iraq was massing forces Wednesday for an operation to break a two-month jihadist siege of the Shiite Turkmen town of Amerli, amid growing fears for residents short of food and water. The imminent counter-offensive comes amid reports that U.S. President Barack Obama If you have a small business, you didn't build that... is weighing a decision to authorize air strikes and aid drops in the area to assist around 12,000 residents trapped in the northern town. According to a civilian volunteer commander, thousands of Shiite bully boyz from groups including Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the Badr Organization are gathering in the Tuz Khurmatu area of Salaheddin province, just north of Amerli, in preparation for a battle to break the siege. And an army lieutenant general said that security forces were mobilizing in the Jabal Hamreen area, south of Amerli, to launch an attack from the southern flank. Iraqi aircraft have being targeting positions of Islamic State (IS) jihadists around Amerli, and carried out nine strikes on Tuesday, an officer said. Time is running out for the mainly Shiite Turkmen residents of Amerli, who face danger both because of their Shiite faith, which jihadists consider heresy, and their resistance against the krazed killers, which has drawn deadly retribution elsewhere. There is "no possibility of evacuating them so far", and only limited humanitarian assistance is reaching the town, said Eliana Nabaa, the spokeswoman for the U.N. mission in Iraq. U.N. Iraq envoy Nickolay Mladenov has called for an urgent effort to help Amerli, saying residents who have been under siege for more than two months face a "possible massacre" if it is overrun. Residents say they are suffering from a major shortage of food and water and there is no electricity. The New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... reported that Obama is "nearing a decision" on authorizing strikes and aid drops in the Amerli area. The paper added that Obama is also seeking to piece together an international coalition for potential military action in Syria, where the U.S. has begun reconnaissance flights to track Islamic State krazed killers. International concern about IS has been rising after a lightning offensive by the group through parts of Iraq and a string of brutal abuses, including the murder of U.S. journalist James Foley. A U.N.-mandated probe charged Wednesday that public executions, amputations, lashings and mock crucifixions have become a regular fixture in jihadist-controled areas of Syria. "In areas of Syria under (Islamic State) control, particularly in the north and northeast of the country, Fridays are regularly marked by executions, amputations and lashings in public squares," the independent Commission of Inquiry on the human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... situation in Syria said. Jihadists are also pushing residents, including children, to attend public executions by beheading or a shot to the head, it said. "Executions in public spaces have become a common spectacle on Fridays," said the report, which also accused Damascus of repeatedly using chemical weapons against civilians. The U.S. began air raids against IS in Iraq on August 8, in a bid to roll back its advances. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #1 Our leftist empty suit wussed out again, kicks the can down the road. I wonder what happens when ISIL bitch slaps us on 9/11? He's a classic liberal who values nothing enough to fight for anything. |
| Posted by: Bill Clinton 2014-08-28 23:30 |