Islamic State Daesh under complete siege in western Mosul: Iraqi Defense Ministry

March 18, 2017 By administrator

The Islamic State Daesh terrorists are completely under siege by Iraqi forces in the west of Mosul, the terrorists’ last stronghold in the Arab country.

Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Rasool said on Friday that the terrorists were surrounded from all sides. The terrorists must either surrender and face a fair trial or wait for death, the Iraqi official said.

The military spokesman said Iraqi forces have successfully targeted the terrorists’ positions and headquarters.

He added that Mosul’s full liberation is “a matter of time.” The official said the forces will expel Daesh from the right side of the area.

Rasool also hailed Mosul’s residents for their cooperation in providing information on the positions of Daesh.

He said “more than 90 percent” of those fighting in the ranks of Daesh in Mosul are foreigners.

Iraqi army soldiers and allied fighters launched an offensive to retake Mosul in October 2016. The forces took control of eastern Mosul in January and launched the battle in the west on February 19.

According to Alforat News Agency, Iraqi forces managed to recapture several strategic positions from Daesh in the old city of Mosul on Friday.

Iraq’s Federal Police took control of Basha mosque, Adala street and the market of Bab al-Sarai in the old city of Mosul, inflicting heavy losses and casualties on the terrorists.

Iraqi forces battling Islamic State make further gains in Mosul moving into Nabi Yunus,

January 16, 2017 By administrator

Islamic state Daesh terrorists manufacture Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

Members of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) have made further advances against the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the strategic northern city of Mosul, pushing extremists out of three more eastern districts.

The commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah, said the forces recaptured al-Jammasah neighborhood on Monday noon, and are moving to seize Nabi Yunus, Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network reported.

Earlier in the day, Iraqi special forces established control over al-Kandi and al-Qayrawan neighborhoods and raised the national flag over a cluster of buildings there.

Yarallah noted that government troops had inflicted heavy losses on Daesh ranks and military equipment during the operations.

Moreover, Federal Police forces managed to liberate Nabi Yunus Grand Mosque in central Mosul from the Daesh grip, and hoisted the Iraqi flag over it.

Members of the Iraqi Directorate of General Military Intelligence (DGMI) also uncovered a workshop in the Hodaba neighborhood of Mosul, which Daesh terrorists used to manufacture Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

The DGMI announced in a statement that Iraqi forces found drones as long as six meters, which were to be loaded with explosive charges inside the building.

Iraqi correspondent, cameraman injured in Mosul

The correspondent and cameraman for the US-based Arabic-language al-Hurra television network also sustained gunshot wounds while covering the Iraqi army advances in eastern Mosul.

An unnamed security source said Abdulhamid al-Zebari and Yasser Salem were injured as Iraqi forces and Daesh Takfiris engaged in a fierce gun battle. The pair have reportedly been transferred to a local hospital to receive medical treatment.

Iraqi army soldiers, supported by fighters from Popular Mobilization Units — commonly known by the Arabic word Hashd al-Sha’abi — and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, launched a joint operation on October 17, 2016 to retake Mosul from Daesh terrorists.

Mosul: ISIS Daesh cut off water to thousands of civilians

January 10, 2017 By administrator

Iraqis gather to receive water in the Zuhur neighborhood of Mosul, on December 8, 2016 during an ongoing operation against Takfiri Daesh terrorists. (Photo by AFP)

Daesh terrorists have cut off water supply to dozens of liberated areas in Mosul to keep civilians under control as the Iraqi army and allied fighters renew their push to expel the extremists out of their last urban stronghold.

Nineveh provincial council member Hossam al-Abbar told Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network on Monday that Daesh terrorists have cut water to 30 neighborhoods in the eastern flank of the city, located some 400 kilometers north of the capital Baghdad.

Abbar added that only 10 liberated districts have access to potable water intermittently.

He further noted that water stations in al-Ghabat neighborhood, which nurture western Mosul, are still under Daesh control, and that the terror group has turned off the pumps which send water toward liberated neighborhoods in the city.

The official said Daesh has ordered its members to target areas retaken from them with mortar shells and artillery rounds.

Abbar also urged the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works plus Ministry of Finance to allocate a certain budget as well as tankers to supply drinking water to Mosul neighborhoods.

Zuhair Hazem al-Jabouri, an official with Mosul’s energy and water department, said last month that “Daesh is depriving people of drinking water in eastern Mosul. They want to force people to retreat with them in order to use them as human shields.”

Iraq kills top Baghdadi aide

Amid army advances in and around Mosul, a high-ranking aide to Daesh ringleader Ibrahim al-Samarrai aka Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed in a precision airstrike carried out by the Iraqi Air Force in the central part of the city.

A Nineveh provincial source, requesting anonymity, said the senior Daesh figure, identified by the nom de guerre Abu Loei, was killed along with four other terrorists during an airstrike against al-Islah al-Zeraei neighborhood. Abu Loei was reportedly the director of Daesh security affairs.

An unnamed security source also said federal police forces are closing in on Mosul University’s building, noting that the site is considered as one of the main positions of Daesh in the eastern side of the city.

Iraqi army soldiers, supported by fighters from allied Popular Mobilization Units — commonly known in Arabic as Hashd al-Sha’abi — and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, launched a joint operation on October 17 to retake Mosul from Daesh terrorists.

A total of 137,880 people, or 22,980 families, have been displaced from Mosul and neighboring areas since the start of the operations, according to figures released by the International Organization for Migration.

Breaking News: Turkey plane transfers Daesh “ISIS” terrorists from Aleppo to Yemen: Report

December 30, 2016 By administrator

This file photo shows a plane flying after take-off from Yemen’s Aden International Airport. (Photo by AFP)

Yemeni sources say a Turkish plane transporting scores of Daesh Takfiri terrorists has landed in the Aden International Airport in southern Yemen.

Yemen’s al-Masirah news website reported that the plane carried 150 terrorists who were evacuated from Syria’s northwestern city of Aleppo after Syrian government forces fully retook control of the city.

On December 22, the Syrian army said Aleppo had completely returned to government control after the last batch of civilians and militants were evacuated.

Yemeni security sources said the terrorists landed in the airport that is under the supervision of Emirati forces, who are taking part in the Saudi military campaign against Yemen, the report added.

The Turkish plane, al-Masirah said, will take to Turkey 158 Saudi-backed mercenaries, who were injured in recent fighting with the Yemeni army and popular committees in Yemen’s province of Ta’izz. The injured are to receive treatment in Turkish hospitals.

Turkey is said to be among the main supporters of militant groups in Syria and stands accused of training and arming Takfiri elements and facilitating their passage into the country.

The Turkish government also reportedly supports the Saudi campaign against Yemen, which began in late March 2015 in a bid to restore power to Yemen’s Saudi-backed former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

Riyadh’s campaign has claimed the lives of more than 11,400 people, according to figures compiled by the Yemeni non-governmental monitoring group Legal Center for Rights and Development.

Source: http://presstv.com/Detail/2016/12/30/504151/Turkey-Daesh-Aleppo-Yemen

Paper Tiger Turkey’s Erdogan says has ‘evidence’ of US supporting Daesh in Syria:

December 27, 2016 By administrator

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he has “confirmed evidence” that the US-led coalition is supporting Daesh and other terrorist groups in Syria.

“What were the coalition forces saying in the beginning? They were saying: ‘We will fight against the terrorist organization Daesh until the end.’ In fact, they were accusing us of supporting Daesh. Now they’ve all disappeared. On the contrary, they give support to terrorist groups including Daesh, YPG (Kurdish People’s Protection Units), PYD (Democratic Union Party). It’s very clear. We have confirmed evidence, with pictures, photos and videos,” said Erdogan during a Tuesday press conference.

The US and some of its regional allies, in particular Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, have on multiple occasions been accused of arming and funding militant groups fighting the Syrian government for nearly six years.

Anakra deems the PYD as a branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been engaged in an armed insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 and designated as a terrorist group by the US.

Turkey has vowed to press ahead with its hunt of Kurdish militants in both Iraq and Syria.

Erdogan’s announcement came just one day after Former US Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein accused Washington of backing terrorist groups when it serves its interests.

The Turkish president also stressed that the US had failed to keep its promise of air support in Ankara’s operations to liberate the Syrian city of al-Bab from Daesh.

“Even though the US-led coalition has failed to keep its promises [pledging air support] in our operation to liberate al-Bab, we will rid the city of Daesh terrorists, no matter what,” he said.

Turkey is in the middle of a military operation to capture al-Bab from Daesh. Ankara, which started its incursion into Syria in August, claims that it is only supporting the militants in northern Syria in the drive against Daesh. However, reports over the past days have suggested that Turkish troops have been directly involved in the battle in al-Bab.

The ongoing assault in al-Bab has inflicted significant casualties on civilians. The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday that around 90 civilians, including 21 children, had lost their lives in a matter of 24 hours as Turkey intensified its airstrikes on the town.

ISIS “Dasesh” manufacturing arms on industrial scale with Turkish products

December 14, 2016 By administrator

In this file photo, a member of the Iraqi counter-terrorism forces walks by Daesh weapons factory in Fallujah, Iraq. (By Reuters)

Recent findings have revealed that the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group in Iraq is manufacturing weapons on an industrial scale, with products largely purchased in bulk from Turkey.

The London-based Conflict Armaments Research reported on Wednesday that Daesh has maintained a “robust and reliable” supply chain between Turkey and Iraq, enabling its members to produce tens of thousands of weapons in and around the northern city of Mosul.

The arms research group’s executive director James Bevan warned that the highly-trained terrorists could take their expertise with them as they are retreating in the wave of an Iraqi battle to liberate Mosul.

Bevan further said he believes Daesh has already moved its experienced bomb-makers out of Mosul and into northern Syria as well as southern Turkey.

“They place a very high value on technical capacity and they will do everything they can to preserve it,” he said.

Bevan went on to say that Daesh Takfiris highly rely on Turkey concerning the acquisition of bomb-making materials, noting that their demand exceeds the available level in Iraq.

Daesh on the defensive in Mosul

On Tuesday, fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units, commonly known as Hashd al-Sha’abi, destroyed four vehicles rigged with explosives as they were heading towards government troops in al-Sharayeh village west of the city of Tal Afar.

The vehicles reportedly had the national Iraqi flags on to mislead army soldiers.

Additionally, Iraqi volunteer fighters thwarted a Daesh offensive against Tal Aziz village west of Tal Afar, killing 10 militants. A pickup truck equipped with a 14.5mm heavy machine gun was destroyed in the process as well.

Iraq’s Joint Operations Command, citing commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah, announced on Tuesday that security forces had wrested control over Hanoudah al-Kurd, Aziz Agha, Tal Aksa’, Northern Tal Sanam and Southern Tal Sanam villages west of Tal Afar, and hoisted the Iraqi flag over them.

Scores of Daesh militants were killed and large amounts of their munitions destroyed during the fierce clashes.

Iraqi counter-terrorism forces also retook al-Fallah al-Oula and Fallah al-Thaniyah neighborhoods on the eastern outskirts of Mosul from Daesh extremists.

Separately, Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters recaptured al-Khuwaitlah village plus the towns of Ashwah and Hossein Jom’ah west of Mosul.

On October 17, Iraqi army soldiers and allied forces launched a joint operation to retake Mosul from Daesh terrorists.

The Iraqi forces’ advance has, however, been slowed down due to the presence of hundreds of thousands of civilians, many of whom are prevented from leaving Mosul by Daesh.

Daesh has also increased its terror activities elsewhere across Iraqi in revenge for its losses in Mosul.

A senior Iraqi police official said Wednesday that Daesh terrorists have executed 28 people in the northern province of Kirkuk on charges of charges of cooperation with army forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters.

Brigadier General Sarhad Qadir, Kirkuk’s provincial police chief, told al-Sumaria television network on Wednesday that the victims were killed in an area of Hawija district using heavy machine guns.

Iraqi forces say nearly 1,000 Daesh terrorists killed in Mosul

November 28, 2016 By administrator

Counter Terrorism Services (CTS) commander, Major General Abdul Ghani al-Assadi, gestures as he talks during an interview in the town of Bartella east of Mosul, Iraq, November 27, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)

Nearly 1,000 Daesh terrorists have been killed by the Iraqi special forces six weeks into a major operation to liberate the northern city of Mosul, a top commander says.

Major General Abdul Ghani al-Assadi, one of the commanders of the special forces, said on Monday that more than 992 terrorists had been killed in the fighting in eastern Mosul.

Assadi said the fighting against the terrorists was in progress but at a slower pace due to a change of tactics.

“We have made changes to plans, partly due to the changing nature of the enemy … Daesh is not based in one location, but moving from here to there.”

The commander stressed that the tactics were also changed to protect civilians.

“Progress was faster at the start. The reason is we were operating before in areas without residents, we have arrived in populated districts. So how do we protect civilians? We have sealed off district after district,” he said.

Iraqi army soldiers, backed by pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Units and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, launched an operation on October 17 to retake Mosul from the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

Mosul fell into the hands of Daesh more than two years ago, when the terror outfit began its campaign of death and destruction in northern and western Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has vowed that Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city and the last stronghold of the Daesh terrorists in the Arab country, will be fully recaptured by year-end. 1

Mosul Update: Iraq forces advance against Daesh in Mosul from city’s south “Hammam al-Alil”

November 5, 2016 By administrator

Iraqi troops have pushed into the center of the last town before Mosul where Daesh terrorists await a final offensive by the army and volunteer forces to drive them out.

Units of the police force on Saturday moved into the town of Hammam al-Alil which includes a vast territory on the banks of the Tigris river and hoisted the Iraqi flag over buildings.

They also captured six villages near the town, which is located some 25 kilometers south of Mosul, after launching an offensive on Friday.

To the southwest of the city, troops liberated three villages and killed a Daesh commander.

Iraqi police commander Major-General Thamer al-Husseini said federal police forces had entered the Salahiya district of Hammam al-Alil, adding the town and its surrounding areas will be liberated “within hours.”

Elsewhere in the northern city of Kirkuk, 32 members of Daesh terrorist group were killed in two car bomb blasts. The circumstances of the explosions were not immediately clear.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi forces, also known as the Popular Mobilization Units, liberated three villages west of Mosul.

The development comes as Iraqi army troops, backed by Hashd al-Shaabi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, are closing in on Mosul, Daesh’s last stronghold in Iraq, from almost all directions in a full-scale operation launched on October 17.

On Friday, Iraqi special forces launched an assault to advance deeper into the city’s urban center, and engaged in fierce fighting with Daesh terrorists, estimated to number between 3,000 and 5,000, in the sprawling city.

The Iraqi troops managed to enter Mosul’s limits earlier this week for the first time since June 2014, when the city fell to Daesh amid a large-scale terror campaign in northern and western Iraq.

So far, a large number of the villages and districts around the city have been purged of the terrorists. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has vowed that the country’s second largest city will be fully recaptured by year-end.

n another development, two roadside bombs struck a convoy carrying Iraqi families fleeing Daesh in Mosul late on Friday, killing 18 people.

The incident took place late on Friday as the Iraqi citizens from the town of Hawijah, about 120 kilometers south of Mosul, were being taken to al-Alam, next to the Tigris River.

Police say 17 civilians and one policeman lost their lives in the incident.

Thousands of people have fled Mosul and its surrounding areas since Iraqi forces launched their offensive three weeks ago to liberate the city from Daesh terrorists.

Source: http://presstv.com/Detail/2016/11/05/492243/Iraq-Mosul-Hammam-alAlil-Daesh

Sputniknews Report: Washington and Riyadh ‘Plan to Let 9,000 Daesh Leave Mosul and Move to Syria’

October 13, 2016 By administrator

deash-move-to-syria Intelligence agencies of the United States and Saudi Arabia plan to allow more than 9,000 Daesh fighters leave the Iraqi city of Mosul and travel to eastern Syria where they will take part in a major offensive to recapture Deir ez-Zor and Palmyra among over things, an unnamed source in military and diplomatic circles in Moscow told RIA Novosti.

“American and Saudi intelligence services have reached an agreement to provide all militants a safe passage to leave the city with their families before” Iraqi security forces and their allies launch the operation to free Mosul, he suggested. The matter was ostensibly settled during the preliminary phase of the offensive.

When the Mosul campaign begins, “coalition warplanes will launch airstrikes solely against isolated and abandoned houses within the city,” the source noted, adding that these targets have been chosen in coordination with the militants.

Daesh fighters, he said, will then move to Syria.

“More than 9,000 Daesh fighters from Mosul will be redeployed to eastern Syria to carry out a large-scale offensive which will involve among other things taking control over Deir ez-Zor and Palmyra,” the source detailed.

For Washington, this plan, the source suggested, will be an attempt to diminish Russia’s success in Syria. Moscow has been credited with helping the Syrian Arab Army turn the tide of war that has seen Damascus fighting against foreign-sponsored terrorist groups for more than five years. “Apart from political dividends, the other goal of this operation clearly involves discrediting the achievements of the Russian Aerospace Forces. Surely, this is also an attempt to undermine [Bashar] al-Assad,” the source said.

Senior officials at the General Intelligence Directorate, Saudi Arabia’s primary intelligence, served as mediators between the US and the militants, the source said, adding that they will also guarantee that Washington delivers on the deal. He explained that a similar idea was previously employed in Fallujah.

Baghdad-led forces freed Fallujah in late June after a three-months-long siege. Political analyst Alexander Perendzhiev doubted that this plan will work. Daesh “has Iraqi roots; Mosul is their stronghold and they will clearly be unwilling to leave Iraq,” he told RIA Novosti. “Mosul will probably remain in the hands of terrorists. Some of them will travel to Syria and the rest will pretend that they surrender.” The expert further said that the Democrats will try to claim any success in Mosul, whether perceived or real.

Turkish terrorist ISIS “Daesh” Militants Flee Liberated Manbij to Seek Bloody Revenge on Kurds in Turkey

August 23, 2016 By administrator

Daesh militants who fled Manbij after its liberation last week, were able to enter Turkey and strengthen the terrorist presence in the province of Gaziantep, Turkish MP Mahmut Togrul told Sputnik.

On Saturday 54 people were killed and more than 100 injured after a suicide bombing at a Kurdish wedding party in Turkey’s southeastern city of Gaziantep. The Turkish government has said that the attack was carried out by a Daesh terrorist.

Local politicians told Sputnik Türkiye that several terror cells are operating in Gaziantep, where the local people now fear another attack.

Mahmut Togrul, a Turkish MP who represents Gaziantep on behalf of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, linked the attack to the recent liberation of Manbij in northern Syria from Daesh.

Last week the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces drove out Daesh from Manbij after more than two months of fierce fighting. Daesh fighters were pictured escaping from Manbij towards the Turkish border, taking human shields with them.

“The date of this attack was no coincidence. This explosion is the terrorists’ revenge for the liberation of Manbij. This action was planned and targeted. It is significant that everybody who died in the explosion were Kurds, related to our party one way or another. This act of terrorism should be considered an attack on the Kurdish population,” Togrul said.

Togrul said that his party has made repeated calls for tighter control of Turkey’s border with Syria, but that the appropriate measures have not been taken.

“The region between Azaz and Jarabulus (in northern Syria) is the gate through which Daesh jihadists travel. Closing the border there would mean closing the airspace for Daesh completely.”

“According to our information, a lot of Daesh militants entered Turkish territory after the liberation of Manbij, and they have mixed in with the local population,” Togrul said.

On Monday the Turkish military began shelling Daesh positions in northern Syria close to Jarablus, as well as shelling positions of the Kurdish YPG. Turkey said the shelling of Daesh-controlled areas was in response to mortar fire from Jarablus, which landed in the town of Karkamis in Gaziantep Province.

Akif Ekici, a Turkish MP who represents Gaziantep on behalf of the Kemalist Republican People’s Party, told Sputnik that, “Unfortunately, the attack in Gaziantep is the result of the Turkish leadership’s Syrian policy.”

“The country should pursue a policy based on the principle of ‘peace at home, peace in the world,'” Ekici said.