Iraq - Fallujah assault

Shias killing Fallujah escapees - http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/060620164

The Iraqi government must do their utmost to prevent sectarianism, protect civilians, and uphold human rights throughout the course of Fallujah’s liberation from Islamic State (ISIS) said Jan Kubis, the Special Representative of the UN’s Secretary-General for Iraq (SRSG), in a statement in which he said he supports Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani’s call for forces liberating the city to avoid ‘extreme’ and ‘treacherous’ actions.

“The people of Fallujah have suffered immensely under Daesh [ISIS]. Many of them are on the move, further risking their lives to escape the terrorist group and the fighting, and are desperately in need of safe shelter. They should not be subjected to further suffering and intimidation,” Kubis explained on Sunday.

There are fears that the presence of Shiite militias, the Hashd al-Shaabi, in the operation to liberate the Sunni city of Fallujah will stoke sectarian tensions and lead to abuses.

Rudaw has learned that some residents escaping Fallujah have been detained, tortured and four have been killed by Shiite militias.

More than 600 families were temporarily detained by the militias before being handed over to the Anbar provincial council, said council member Rajih Barakat. “The detainees were in critical condition, facing many tortures and abuses. Four of them were killed under torture and two others are in critical condition,” Barakat told Rudaw on Sunday.

Video footage shared on social media appears to depict Shiite militia members torturing people who escaped Fallujah. The images have angered many in Iraq, especially the large Sunni population.

In order to dispel fears of sectarian violence, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared that Shiite paramilitaries would assist in the operation to encircle the city only but would not enter Fallujah itself.
 
PressTV-How Daesh defectors return to Europe
Western militants in the ranks of the Daesh terrorist group in Syria and Iraq are seeking their countries’ help in securing return to their motherlands as the Takfiri group continues to suffer heavy losses in the two Arab countries, a report says.

Some of the Daesh militants have contacted diplomatic missions in Turkey while others have secretly sought their governments’ help in leaving dwindling Daesh-held territory, The Wall Street Journal said in a Monday report, citing diplomats who represent six Western missions in Turkey and a militant group that helps the defectors in returning to their Western countries.

The diplomats said only those militants who are able to make it to Turkey can be hopeful about their return to Europe. Once in Turkey, the country’s intelligence officials detain and interrogate them for at least a month to assess the level of threat they pose to European states before handing them over to their embassies, which seek intelligence on Raqqah and Daesh networks in Europe, the diplomatic sources added.

“Internal intelligence tends to win out because everyone is worried about the next Paris,” said a European diplomat in Istanbul, referring to Daesh's deadly attacks in the French capital in November last year.

Meanwhile, a Daesh defector, Abu Shuja, who runs a network helping fellow defectors, said his group alone has helped around 100 militants to arrive in Turkey.
 
the reprisals begin ...
UN: Civilians fleeing Fallujah face extreme abuse
The UN human rights chief has said there are "extremely distressing, credible reports" that Iraqis fleeing the fighting in Fallujah are facing extreme abuse and even death at the hands of Shia armed groups allied with the government troops.

Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein, citing witness testimonies, said on Tuesday that allegations of abuse included reports of multiple executions of men and boys, who were trying to escape the city held by fighters belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

"Eyewitnesses have described how armed groups operating in support of the Iraqi security forces are detaining the males for 'security screening'," Zeid said.

"[This] in some cases degenerates into physical violations and other forms of abuse, apparently in order to elicit forced confessions."

Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told Al Jazeera, that they have received reports that at least 21 males had been summarily executed.

"We can't confirm the reports but they seem to be credible."
also http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/070620162
The Shiite militias have denied that they are detaining civilians. “We are not authorized to detain anyone,” said Hayder Mayahii, with the Shiite militia media office. “We are just helping to move displaced people.”
also http://www.iraqinews.com/baghdad-politics/karhut-calls-abadi-withdraw-al-hashd-al-shaabi-fallujah/
On Tuesday the Head of Anbar Provincial Council, Sabah Karhut, called the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to interfere and stop the abuses inflicted on the people of Fallujah by some factions of al-Hashd al-Sha’abi militia, while demanded the withdrawal of al-Hashd al-Shaabi forces from the city.

Karhut said in a brief statement during a press conference followed by IraqiNews.com, “Some violations had been inflicted on the citizens who fled towards the security forces in order to protect them from ISIS members,” stressing that, “The displaced people of Fallujah were subjected to violations including torture and harassment by some unruly factions of al-Hashd al-Shaabi, resulting in the death of some of them.”

Karhut called Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and the local government to withdraw al-Hashd al-Sha’abi forces from al-Anbar and replace them with al-Hashd al-Ashaeri militia, while affirmed that Abadi has to form an interrogation committee to open an immediate investigation into those incidents.
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The odd story about the ISIS men leaving days ago can be explained by this - http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/08062016
Former governor of Mosul and now leader of the Sunni militia known as Hashd al-Watani warns against any participation of Shiite militia in the battle for his city, adding that local residents prefer the Islamic State (ISIS) due to fears of reprisal and human rights abuse they have seen in liberated parts of the country.

"They think if Hashd al-Shaabi Shiite militia come to Mosul, they will avenge and torture them,” Atheel Nujaifi told Rudaw TV on Tuesday. “Possibly, some people will fight alongside ISIS when it comes to the choice between ISIS and Hashd al-Shaabi,"

Mujaifi who now leads a several thousand strong Sunni force said that video footage of the Shiite militia torturing escapees from Fallujah have frightened many in Mosul.
 
Splittring försvårar irakisk kamp mot IS - DN.SE
(in Swedish)
The Shia milita and Iraqi Army is quarreling and the infighting is only helping IS. Report on al-Sumaria reckons that only 1,000 IS fighters are in Fallujah and the forces against them number 34,000. The Shia milita claim they're just standing still and the Army's not doing anything and the luke warm support from the politicians in Baghdad does nt help.
http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/a...econd-shuhada-neighborhood-south-of-fallujah/
Anti-Terrorism forces liberate second Shuhada neighborhood south of Fallujah
On Wednesday official journalists from the Ministry of Defense informed that the anti-terrorism forces were successful in completely liberating the second neighborhood of al-Shuhada, south of Fallujah, from ISIS control. The forces also managed to raise the Iraqi flag over the buildings there.

The journalists, in a press statement issued to the media, said, “Anti-terrorism troops were successful to fully liberated the second Shuhada neighborhood, south of Fallujah and they also raised the Iraqi flag over its buildings.”

The statement added, “The security forces are now advancing towards the other areas of the province.”’
 
PressTV-Abadi urges intensified battle in Fallujah
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has urged the country’s military commanders to intensify the liberation operation for the city of Fallujah in Anbar province.

According to Iraq’s al-Maalomah news website, Staff Major General Ismail al-Mahalawi, the head of the Anbar Operations Command, said the Iraqi premier and commander-in-chief made the remarks while visiting the headquarters of the West Baghdad Operations Command in al-Mazraa camp, east of Fallujah.

Abadi called on the military commanders to increase the momentum of the fight against Daesh in order to purge Fallujah of terrorists as soon as possible, Mahalawi added.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Iraqi Joint Special Operations Command, Yahya Rasool al-Zubaidi, said the security forces are advancing towards the center of Fallujah.

He further said the Daesh terrorists are using the strategy of planting mines and explosive devices to prevent security forces from advancing as they can’t confront the forces, adding, “Our battle is a military engineering” one.
 
Iraq's child soldiers: 'What happened to our boys?'
Child soldiers in Iraq and the use by both sides.

Will Fallujah put an end to ISIL in Iraq?
Iraq's political system is simply too decrepit and too dysfunctional for major reform to be carried out. Sectarianism, corruption and incompetence among the political class are too entrenched.

The vast majority of Iraq's politicians simply do not care about real reform; and even if they did, they wouldn’t have the faintest idea of how to approach the problem because they’re so incompetent. The only long-term solution to Iraq's ISIL and to the presence of groups like ISIL is to upend the political system by making its politicians more accountable, and that can only be achieved through major electoral reform.
 
US, Iraqi officials can’t confirm reports of IS leader’s injury
The army’s elite Counter Terrorism Service was battling yesterday in al-Shuhada, a southern district of Fallujah, a Reuters photographer reported from the scene.
Loud explosions and bursts of gunfire were heard from the district, while aircraft believed to belong to the US-led coalition flew overhead.
Al-Shuhada marks the first advance of the army inside the built-up area of Fallujah, after two weeks of fighting on the outskirts to complete the encirclement of the city.
The encirclement was completed with help from Iran-backed Shia militias.
They deployed behind the army’s lines and did not take part directly in the assault on the city to avoid inflaming sectarian feelings.
A government official said Islamic State militants are putting up a tough fight defending the city that stands as a symbol of the Sunni insurgency that followed the US occupation of Iraq, in 2003. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the troops are progressing cautiously in order to protect tens of thousands of civilians trapped in Fallujah.
The United Nations says 90,000 civilians may have remained in Fallujah, under “harrowing” conditions with little access to food, water and healthcare, and no safe exit routes.
The insurgents have dug a network of tunnels to move around without being detected and planted thousands of mines and explosive devices to delay the army’s advance.
http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/isis-holds-defensive-line-iraqi-forces-south-fallujah/
A security source in Anbar Province said on Friday that violent clashes broke out between the security forces and ISIS south of Fallujah.

One of the Iraqi army officers told reporters that “The security forces continued advancing into the southern axis of Fallujah in the area of Jabil (south of Fallujah),” noting that, “The security forces had faced a fierce resistance by ISIS.”

The officer, who asked to remain anonymous, added, “ISIS controls the defensive line south of Fallujah while fierce clashes between the security forces and ISIS elements are taking place in Dour al-Atba’ south of the city,” pointing out that, “The battle is still ongoing.”
 
Strange story - IS killing their own supporters? PressTV-Daesh kills 30 civilians in western Iraq
At least 30 civilians have lost their lives when Takfiri Daesh terrorists launched an attack against members of two tribes fleeing the city of Fallujah in Iraq’s strife-stricken western province of al-Anbar.

The Iraqi Joint Operations Command, in a statement released on Friday, announced that Daesh extremists opened fire on members of Albu Saleh and Albu Hatam tribes west of Fallujah, located roughly 69 kilometers (43 miles) west of the capital, Baghdad, earlier in the day as they were heading toward the city of al-Amiriyah, which lies about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) south of Fallujah.

The statement added that there were women and children among those massacred, noting that the bodies of the victims lay unattended at the site of the horrendous act of violence.
 
PressTV-Iraqi forces 3km from Fallujah center
Iraqi counter-terrorism forces are now some three kilometers away from the center of Fallujah, advancing to recapture the strategic city from its southern areas, a senior military commander says.

The commander of Fallujah Liberation Operations said the security forces have tightened control over Fallujah’s southern areas on Friday and are advancing to retake the city.

"Daesh wanted the battle to take place outside the city but we have moved in, and retaken all this area in eight days," Lieutenant General Abdelwahab al-Saadi said, referring to Fallujah's southern neighborhoods.

He added that Iraqi troops are "3.1 kilometers (less than two miles) from the main official building in the center" of the city.
http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/security-forces-liberate-albu-elwan-bridge-area-western-fallujah/
On Saturday, Anbar Provincial Council announced liberating an area in western Fallujah from ISIS control, while the leadership of al-Hashd al-Shaabi emphasized the liberation of Albu Elwan Bridge towards the western side of the city.

The Head of the security committee in Anbar Provincial Council Rajee barakat al-Eissawi in a statement, also obtained by IraqiNews.com, said, “The security forces managed to liberate al-Nisaf area in western Fallujah from ISIS control. The operation resulted in the killing of ten (10) ISIS members and the destruction of three booby-trapped vehicles, as well as detonating a truck carrying large quantity of weapons and rockets.”

Meanwhile the commander of the 2nd regiment of Fallujah Shield brigade Colonel Orans Mohamed al-Eissawi said, “The security forces were also able to liberate Albu Elwan Bridge and raised the Iraqi flag over it,” adding that, “15 ISIS members were killed during the operations.”

“The joint forces are searching the areas around Albu Elwan Bridge to secure the passage of the military troops to al-Halabesa area in western Fallujah in order to liberate it from the ISIS control,” Eissawi added.

Saadi also estimated that the Iraqi forces would manage to liberate the city from Daesh terrorists “in days.”

"We'll be there, in the very center, in days. Days, not weeks,” he said.

(no mention of iraqi troop casualties)
 
http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/110620162
“ISIL is on the defensive but it remains resilient, dangerous, and the fight is far from over.”

Brett McGurk, Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL), confirmed these details in a briefing of representatives of the 66-member coalition in Washington on Friday.

The coalition representatives met in order to review the campaign’s progress to date and discuss further operations. They also addressed the issue of humanitarian aid and stabilization of areas that are liberated.

“With the support of the Coalition,” reads a media statement issued after the meeting, “local forces have now recaptured nearly 10,000 square kilometres in northeastern Syria and have retaken nearly 30,000 square kilometres in Iraq,” including key roads connecting Raqqa with Mosul and Anbar province with Jordan.

The coalition is active both in the air and on the ground. “Twelve Coalition partners have played a role in carrying out nearly 13,000 air strikes.” While on the ground, “seventeen Coalition partners have deployed personnel to advise, assist and/or training Iraq forces.”
(13,000 air strikes ?!)
http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/110620161
The operation to liberate Fallujah is facing yet another problem as evidence of sectarian violence is coming to light, the governor of Anbar Suhaib al-Rawi told Rudaw Saturday.

Images depict some of the armed groups taking part in the offensive committing inhumane acts and abuse.

These actions have tainted the scene and affect the overall operations, he said.

Many of the people in Fallujah have as a result become frustrated when they witnessed these practices on social media and in leaked video footage.

Survivors who were detained by Hashd al-Shaabi have said that detainees were forcefully locked up, tortured, killed, and assassinated.

The Anbar provincial council is investigating the violations and, on order of the prime minister, has formed a committee to follow up on cases.

The confirmed number of those who died under torture by the Hashd al-Shaabi has now reached five and it is estimated to be much higher. The five dead were received by the government who transferred them later to Fallujah’s Amiriyah hospital for legal investigation. However, another 17 may have been killed in a massacre in Sichr, which is being verified through the testimonies of survivors.

The battle for Fallujah is intense and destructive weapons are being used, resulting in what the Anbar provincial council believes to be unnecessary destruction of buildings. Their engineering teams are investigating.
 
The air war against ISIS is costing the US about $11 million a day
Fighting the terrorist group ISIS from the air is coming at a high price for US taxpayers - about $11 million per day, according to the latest Defense Department data.

The air war has cost the US about $5.5 billion total since it began in August 2014. The Military Times noted that the daily cost of the war has jumped about $2 million since June. (2015)

PressTV-Iraq army secures exit from Fallujah
Iraq’s army has secured the first "relatively safe" exit route for civilians attempting to flee the city of Fallujah amid operations by the government forces to retake key areas from the Daesh Takfiri terrorists.

According to Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, who is the spokesman for the Joint Military Command, an exit route, known as al-Salam (Peace) Junction, was secured southwest of the city.

"There were exit routes previously, but this is the first to be completely secure and it's relatively safe," media outlets quoted Rasool as saying on Sunday.
 
http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/120620162
Iraq’s defense ministry reported on Sunday that its troops have arrested more than 450 militants of the Islamic State (ISIS) trying to flee Fallujah as the army advances towards the city from different fronts.

“The Iraqi security forces have the names and numbers of ISIS militants and they managed to arrest those who have tried to escape Fallujah with the refugees,” said Nassir Noori, a spokesperson for the ministry of defense.

Noori said government troops expected to catch more militants in the coming days thanks to good intelligence and strict control around the city.

“The Anbar provincial police question the detainees who will later be transferred to a special court,” he added.

The announcement from the defense ministry raises doubts about the true identity of the detainees, especially a day after Anbar governor Suhaib al-Rawi accused members of the Shiite militia of arresting and imprisoning hundreds of Fallujah civilians upon their escape.

“We don’t still know the fate of many people,” al-Rawi told Rudaw.

The governor condemned the acts of the Shiite militia, saying their torture and abuse of civilians were unjustified, adding that in one massacre alone 17 people were killed by militiamen who are backing Iraqi troops in the fight.

“Civilians have nothing to do with ISIS and in fact they are waiting to be rid of these criminal gangsters,” he said.

Member of the Anbar provincial council Rajih Barakat told Rudaw last week that in one campaign more than 600 families were temporarily detained by the militias before handing them over to the Anbar council, said council.
 
Not all so rosy ...
ISIL attack on army barracks near Fallujah kills dozens
ISIL attack on army barracks near Fallujah kills dozens
Government forces and allied Shia militias targeted east of Iraqi city, leaving at least 50 dead.

Dozens of Iraqi government forces and militia members have been killed in an attack on military barracks east of Fallujah by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Military sources said 50 members of the Iraqi security forces and allied Shia militias were killed on Saturday.

ISIL losses were reported too, with sources close to the group saying 12 of its fighters were killed by helicopter gunships.

Matthew Glanville, former adviser to the governor of Anbar province, believes the Iraqi forces were overly confident in their operation to recapture Fallujah.

"The lesson from the earlier offensive against Tikrit last year was that where ISIL had the opportunity to dig in, particularly amongst the civilian population, it was always going to take a very long time to get them out without civilian casualties," Glanville told Al Jazeera.

"While Fallujah itself has been isolated, the wider ISIL movement still has the capacity to fight back. The time the Iraqi government has spent putting together this offensive has given ISIL even more time to dig in."
 

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