Touching Base by Mindfriedo Commitments and hard times in “Meat Space,” as Saker calls it, have kept me from contributing to the Saker and his unrivalled dedication to the truth. Having said that, I will try and sift as much as I can, from whatever news is out there and post it as often as I can, which I hope to be at least once a week. Iraq:
Following is a chronology of events that took place in mid to end September at the Iraqi Army base of Saqlawiyah (Saqlawiyah is located to the north of Fallujah) -Daash and allied Sunni fighters take over a few villages to the north of Fallujah -One of the towns taken over is Sijir, close to Saqlawiyah Military Base -The Iraqi Army sends in 400 men from the 3rd Brigade, an elite
NB: These SITREPs that Saker allows to be posted here will now be twice a week. Significant news events will be posted, recurring ones like the repeated failed attempts to take back a city, like Tikrit by the Iraqi military, will be avoided; unless there are other repercussions to that event. Also body counts are too depressing to keep reporting and there are other sources that list the everyday dead
6th Sep: Photos appear on twitter showing Abu Bakr al Baghdadi as having been killed in a US airstrikes. However, the authenticity of the photos and the news, which the Pentagon has denied, are being questioned: http://shoebat.com/2014/09/06/examining-photos-killing-isis-caliph-al-baghdadi/ However Kurdish Bus news is reporting that he was injured and is being treated near the Syrian Iraqi border: http://m.basnews.com/en/News/Details/Islamic-State-Leader-al-Baghdadi–Not-Dead-/33223 Iraqi airstrikes and artillery strikes on hospitals in Kirkuk and Fallujah, details mentioned
Short Analysis: I put this on top because I feel it is very, very important. It talks about the escape of a Shia recruit from Daash in Tikrit during the Spykar base massacre by playing dead. His captors are merciless takfiris, who don’t think twice about killing the Shia. The beginning of his account is depressing and tragic, but what he talks about later is nothing short of amazing and
Quote of the day (An Angry Iraqi Shia Relative of the young men killed in Spykar, Tikrit): We will march on Tikrit and seek revenge, revenge I tell you revenge. We will make the Sunni tribes pay, blood has been spilt! Why did they (Sunni tribes) allow them (Daash) to do this? We will destroy Tikrit from the face of this earth. No army in this world can stop us.
Retraction: Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was referring to Concessions being given by the West on compromises made in Arak, where nuclear facilities are located, and not on Iraq, its neighbour. 26th Aug: Iraqi Security Forces are stating that they have arrested the terrorist responsible for the bombing that took place in Babil on Monday. 26th Aug: Daash has destroyed using explosives the house of the advisor to the Salah
18th Aug: Yazidi volunteers are being trained by the Kurds to fight Daash. The Kurds are providing the Yazidis with arms, training, and uniforms. 22nd Aug: An attack on the Sunni Musab bin Omair mosque in Diyala during Friday prayers has left 68 worshippers dead. Locals are blaming Shia militias for the attack. They state that the attack followed the deaths of Shia militiamen in an IED attack and that
NB: The term Salafi may refer to a Puritan Sunni (or rarely Shia) but in these SITREPs is being referred synonymously with Wahabi Takfiris. The titles Farooq and Siddique were originally those of Ali ibn Abi Talib (as), but over the ages, for whatever reasons, have been associated with Omar ibn Khattab and Abu Bakr (the second and first Caliphs). Similarly the term Salaf may have referred to a pious
Quote of the Day, German Development Minister Gerd Muller: Who is financing these forces? I think it is Qatar Thought of the day: Murder will out 19th Aug: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights states that Daash has more than 50000 fighters in Syria and another 30000 in Iraq. It has recruited 6000 fighters in the last month alone and of these 1000 are foreign fighters. Daash’s strength in Syria
A Very heartfelt thank you for the Saker who allows for these SITREPs to be posted, and for him always fighting the good fight. May God continue to guide him. I will try to post the SITREPs more frequently. 16th Aug: Kurdish authorities plan to rearm their forces with modern and heavy equipment. 16th Aug: Mohammad Ali al-Hakim, Iraq’s Foreign Minister to the UN asks the nations of the world
12th Aug: The United States sends another 130 “Advisors” to Iraqi Kurdistan 13th Aug: The US is reporting that its reconnaissance missions are confirming that the plight of the Yazidis is not as severe as was expected 14th Aug: The US Secretary of Defence clarifies that US troops will not take part in military operations in Iraq 14th Aug: The Iraqi Airforce bombs a Daash position in Al Atheem and
12th Aug: Car bombs in Zafaraniya and Karrada in Baghdad kill eight and injure another 51. Protesters in Karrada attack security checkpoints and force security personnel to withdraw at anger over the bombing that happened earlier. 12th Aug: Viyan Dikhil, MP of the Kurdistan Alliance is injured along with a number of journalists in a helicopter crash near Sinjar Mountain in Nineveh. The Iraqi Air Force evacuates the MP and
IRAQ SITREP 6th to 12th Aug This is a partial SITREP as time did not allow to fill in more details, will post missed or overlooked news in subsequent SITREPs 6th Aug: Fighting breaks out between Iraqi Security Forces backed by Shia militias and Daash fighters in Ouja and Tigris south of Tikrit. The fighting followed separate Daash instigated assaults/attacks on both towns. 6th Aug: Fighting between Peshmerga forces trying
Daashing out of Iraq: Recent Military Maneuvers The timing of the Kurdish advance west in Daash held territory appears to be a well planned operation. Three events are significant. The first was that the advance and confrontation of the Kurds did not begin till the return of Former President Jalal Talibani. He is pragmatic and astute as opposed to Massoud Barzani who is Kurdish nationalistic and believed to be close
Quote of the Day, Castro on Israel: I think that a new and disgusting form of fascism is emerging with considerable force at this moment in human history 4th Aug: Red Crescent is reporting the detention of 100 Christian and Yazidi families by Daash at Tal Afar airport on Monday. The men were executed while the women and children were sent off to be sold as slaves. 4th Aug: Nuri
3rd Aug: Qassim Atta, spokesperson for the Iraqi Army states that the Iraqi government is willing to back local fighters from Mosul in their fight against Daash. He said that they should come within the fold of/assimilate into the regular armed forces. 3rd Aug: The Iraqi Army’s spokesperson, Qassim Atta, singles out two Television channels: Al Babiliya and Tagheer, as being sectarian. The Channels are owned by Saleh al-Mutlaq (Iraqi
1st Aug: UN figures for fatalities in Iraq in July: 1,737 Iraqis killed, 1,978 injured 1st Aug: The Iraqi Air force attacks gatherings of Daash/rebel fighters in Jurf Al Sakhar, North West of Musayib in Babil province south of Baghdad. The attacks result in 200 militants being killed. 1st Aug: Daash rebel attack Peshmerga positions to the north of Mosul. The attack was on an oil terminal and dam. The
Correction: The report regarding the resettlement of 10000 families by the government of Baghdad to four provinces of Central Iraq, dated 26th July, should in fact read 10000 individuals, not families. 25th July: Indian Sunni Cleric Salman Nadvi writes a letter to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia offering to raise an army of 500000 Sunni Muslim volunteers from India to help fight in Iraq (against Shia militias) and establish a
Iraq SITREP 24-25-26-27-28th July: The Spice/Oil must flow-Iraq announces exporting 2.42 million barrels of oil per day in the month of June Quote of the Day, Shaykh Zakzaky (on possibly the start of Shia resistance in Africa): They shot our brothers and sisters; my son Mahmud, who came from a university in Beirut, was shot in his stomach and died on the way to the hospital. They came back and
