flashpoint Archives

ceed83bd74da59df7c2b374262c3ddbd5c4121fc By Ahmad al-Rubaye with Salam Faraj in Baghdad,

Ramadi (Iraq) (AFP) – The Islamic State group abandoned its last stronghold in Ramadi Sunday, effectively handing Iraqi forces their biggest victory since last year’s massive jihadist nationwide offensive.

There were still parts of the flashpoint government complex the elite counter-terrorism service could not enter, as jihadists had rigged the entire area with explosives before retreating.

And while pockets of jihadists may remain, Iraqi forces said they no longer faced any resistance, and officials were already congratulating them for liberating Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province.

“All Daesh (IS) fighters have left. There is no resistance,” Sabah al-Numan, the counter-terrorism force’s spokesman, told AFP.

“The operation is almost wrapped up”, as a major clearing effort was still needed to allow forces to move in.

People waving Iraqi flags celebrated the Ramadi victory in several cities, including Baghdad and the holy Shiite city of Karbala.

Parliament Speaker Salim al-Juburi issued a statement congratulating the “heroes of the security forces for a great victory, which resulted in the liberation of the city of Ramadi from terrorism.”

The US-led coalition, which was heavily involved in supporting Iraqi forces in Ramadi, also congratulated them on the success of an operation that began soon after they lost the city in May.

“It is the result of many months of hard work by the Iraqi Army, the Counter Terrorism Service, the Iraqi Air Force, local and federal police and tribal fighters all supported by over 600 coalition air strikes since July,” spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said.

– Unknown casualties –

Iraqi forces backed by US-led coalition air strikes had punched into the centre of Ramadi on Tuesday, in a final push to retake the city.

Fighting over the past two days had been concentrated around the government complex, whose recapture had become synonymous with victory in the battle for Ramadi.

According to medical sources, 93 members of the security forces were brought in with injuries on Sunday alone.

“The dead bodies are taken directly to the main military hospital” near the airport, said one hospital source.

At least five government fighters have been killed over the past two days alone, but no official has divulged any overall toll for the operation.

Estimates a week ago were that the Islamic State had around 400 fighters to defend central Ramadi, many of them protecting the government compound.

Those numbers were thought to have drastically declined over the past two days, with several fighters retreating from the main battle and dozens of others killed in fighting or in suicide attacks.

Ali Dawood, the head of the neighbouring Khaldiya council, said IS fighters used civilians as human shields to slip out of the government complex.

“Daesh fighters forced all the families living around the compound to go with them in order to flee towards Sichariyah, Sufiya and Jweiba,” on the eastern outskirts of Ramadi, he said.

He had said on Saturday that more than 250 families had managed to escape the combat zones since the start of the operation and had been escorted to safety by the army.

ISTANBUL (AFP) –

© AFP | Protesters protect themselves as Turkish riot police fire water cannon to disperse a demonstration in Istanbul's Gazi district on July 26, 2015

Turkish protesters battled security forces on Sunday in intense clashes in a flashpoint Istanbul district where a leftist activist was killed during police raids earlier this week, an AFP photographer said.

Protesters hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at the police who responded with water cannon, plastic bullets and tear gas.

Some protesters then fortified their positions by erecting barricades in the middle of the street, the photographer said.

The situation was so tense that police were no longer patrolling the area on foot, instead keeping inside their armoured vehicles.

Protesters wrapped handkerchiefs around their noses and mouths to protect themselves from the tear gas, while others wore gas masks. Some took to roofs to throw Molotov cocktails onto the police from above.

Some tried to use a giant umbrella advertising a well known ice cream brand to protect themselves from the water cannon. But the force of the spray destroyed the umbrella, knocking protesters over.

The district, which lies well north of the city centre of Istanbul, has been tense since the killing of Gunay Ozarslan on Friday during nationwide police raids against suspected militants.

The raids were part of a nationwide crackdown on suspected militants as Turkish armed forces pounded targets of the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria and Kurdish militants in northern Iraq.

The Gazi district is known as a stronghold of Turkey’s Alevi community, who adhere to an offshoot of Shia Islam.

Strong supporters of secular principles, many are bitter opponents of the ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The area has been the scene of intense clashes since Friday but Sunday’s rioting was some of the most serious seen so far as leftist groups from across the city joined in.

The clashes were sparked when the police moved in after activists refused to hand over the body of Ozarslan to the municipal authorities for burial.

Instead, the corpse is being kept in a local cemevi, an Alevi place of worship which the police tried to raid earlier.

The area was hit by several days of sustained rioting in 1995 that left some 20 people dead and was sparked by a gun attack on several cafes.