Kop dies in ISIS attack near Fallujah
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) A policeman was killed, while head of police station was injured in a suicide attack, a security source from Anbar police said on Thursday.
“Security troops foiled, early Thursday, a suicide attack against Amiriyat al-Fallujah police station, located in Amiriyat al-Somoud town, south of Fallujah. The bombers were wearing suicide belts and possessing weapons and hand grenades,” the source told AlSumaria News.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source added that “troops killed one of the attackers, while the other blew himself up, leaving a policeman killed and head of Amiriyat al-Fallujah police station, Col. Aref al-Janabi, injured.”
Amiriyat al-Somoud town is under control of security troops, backed by the tribes.
Iraqi troops were able to a return life back to normal in the biggest cities of Anbar including Fallujah, Ramadi and others after recapturing them. However, Anbar’s western cities of Annah, Qaim and Rawa are still held by the extremist group since 2014, when it emerged to proclaim a self-styled Islamic Caliphate. There has not been an officially-declared military campaign to free those regions, but the province’s military command launched a brief assault early January that managed to recapture some western villages before stopping again.
Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State Sunni extremist militants.
Government blames bribery for security problems in Anbar
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Anbar’s local council has blamed recurrent breaches by Islamic State militants of the province’s security on corruption within security bodies besides what it described as the infiltration of paramilitary troops fighting the group alongside the government.
Naeem al-Kaoud, head of the Anbar council’s security committee, told Almaalomah on Thursday that besides the fragile intelligence capabilities in Anbar, the Tribal Mobilization was already infiltrated by Daesh (Islamic State) members.
“There are IS loyalists inside the tribal mobilization, which facilitates security breaches,” Kaoud said, noting that IS militants had been trying to seep again into recaptured areas after their defeat in Mosul.
“Many IS leaders had also been set free by interrogators for huge sums of money,” the official pointed out as another reason for the security violations. He said that insufficient numbers of police personnel was also a factor.
He urged an urgent meeting by security officials to define delinquent security members.
Islamic State has been holding the towns of Annah, Rawa and Qaim in western Anbar, near the borders with Syria, since 2014, when the group occupied a third of Iraq to proclaim an “Islamic Caliphate”. Iraqi government forces had retaken other cities in the province from militants and plans to invade the remaining the havens in the near future.
Kaoud’s statements came a few hours after a suicide attack by IS killed a police official and wounded a lower-ranking officer in Ameriya, Fallujah.
Past statements by some Iraqi MPs and local officials had also talked about IS militants paying bribes to flee detention in Mosul.
Iraqi aircraft drops leaflets heralding freedom from ISIS
DPA (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi warplanes dropped leaflets on Thursday on areas held by the Islamic State near the Syrian and Jordanian borders telling civilians that military offensives to free them were close.
DPA quoted an Iraqi military colonel Yasser Jabbar saying the leaflets were dropped in millions on western Anbar towns of Annah, Rawa and Qaim, telling civilians to not to allow IS militants to lure their sons into fighting on the group’s side.
The messages urged also to steer out of areas held by the group as forces would increase airstrikes targeting those spots, the colonel said. iraqi air forces had adopted the technique throughout earlier military campaigns targeting IS havens.
Islamic State has held the three towns since 2014, when they occupied a third of Iraq to proclaim an “Islamic Caliphate”. So far, there has not been a wide-scale campaign to retake those regions, but occasional offensives managed to take over several surrounding villages.
The Iraqi government declared victory over IS in Mosul, the group’s former capital in Iraq, earlier this month, and said it was going to proceed towards other group holdouts.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and his military commanders said recently that plans were ready for the invasion of the IS stronghold town of Tal Afar, west of Nineveh, which made observers believe it was definitely the next target of operations.
The Ministry of Defense said Wednesday that though the Joint Operations Command gives “special attention” to the liberation of Tal Afar, troops can launch simultaneous operations also targeting IS havens in Kirkuk’s Hawija and the western Anbar towns of Annah and Rawa.