Iraq to Announce Anbar Province Release From Daesh Militants in Two Days

December 27, 2015 By administrator

The Iraqi government will announce the full liberation of the northwestern Iraqi province of Anbar from the Daesh jihadist group in the coming two days, Lt. Gen. Abdul-Ghani Asadi told Sputnik.

BAGHDAD (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, CNN reported that the Iraqi military had managed to retake control over a government compound in the central Iraqi city of Ramadi, previously used by Daesh.

“The forces of anti-terrorist units are working day and night on the disposal of improvised explosive devices and car bombs left by ISIL militants in central Ramadi, who have escaped in the direction of Al-Khaldiya,” Asadi said on Sunday.

He added that the Iraqi army has began a major operation to surround the governmental buildings and clear mines before the storming of the buildings.

On Tuesday, the Iraqi armed forces began an operation to liberate the center of Ramadi from Daesh extremists, who have occupied the city since May. According to Iraqi intelligence, around 250 to 300 radical Islamist militants had been holding central districts of the city.

Iraqi forces retake Ramadi government complex: Military spokesman

December 27, 2015 By administrator

Iraqi forces have recaptured the former government compound in central Ramadi, the last stronghold of Daesh Takfiri militants in the western city, the spokesman for the country’s counter-terrorism units says.

“The complex is under our complete control, there is no presence whatsoever of Daesh fighters in the complex,” Sabah al-Numan said on Sunday, adding, the entire perimeter must first be cleared of booby traps and mines before forces could move in.

“The operation is almost wrapped up. Our forces will enter in the coming hours.”

“By controlling the complex this means that they have been defeated in Ramadi,” he said, adding, “The next step is to clear pockets that could exist here or there in the city.”

Iraqi forces had earlier in the day surrounded the complex in the capital of the western province of Anbar.

“We’re seeing lots of Daesh bodies, killed in the air strikes on the compound,” Numan said.

The offensive to clear the city from the last Daesh stronghold began five days ago.

Aslo on Sunday, Iraqi army troops managed to secure eight districts of Ramadi, including al-Baker, Mo’allemin, al-Andalus and Hoz.

Iraqi forces have made huge gains in recent operations against Daesh terrorists in the embattled province of Anbar as they continue clean-up operations against Takfiri militants across the country.

Recapturing Ramadi, which fell to the militants in May, would be one of the most significant victories for Iraq’s armed forces since the Takfiris swept across a third of the country.

Ramadi will be the second main city to be retaken from Daesh militants. The Iraqi forces have also liberated the city of Tikrit in northern Iraq.

In its next offensive, the army plans to move to retake the northern city of Mosul.

Daesh militants occupied large swathes of Iraqi territories in 2014.

Iraq Army Will Liberate Mosul From Daesh Without any ‘Help’ From Turkey

December 27, 2015 By administrator

Iraq would not allow any state to send troops to liberate Mosul from the Daesh militants, according to spokesman of Iraq’s joint military alignment Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasul.

DUBAI (Sputnik) — Baghdad does not need the support of Turkish troops in the liberation of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, captured by the Islamic State (ISIL, or Daesh in Arabic) militant group, spokesman of Iraq’s joint military alignment Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasul said Sunday.

On December 4, Turkey deployed about 150 troops and 25 tanks to northern Iraq reportedly to help national forces to reclaim Mosul, which was captured by Daesh in June 2014.

“The government has announced that it does not want participation of any troops, except the Iraqi ones, in the liberation of Mosul. Participation of the Turkish or any other troops is not the issue, especially taking into consideration the multitude of the Iraqi troops, including the military, tribes and popular militia,” Rasul told Al-Hayat newspaper.

He added that Iraq would not allow any other state to send troops to liberate Mosul.

Earlier in December, Baghdad demanded to withdraw Turkish troops from its territory, while Ankara justified the deployment with the necessity to provide security to Turkish soldiers deployed earlier to train local militias, fighting IS jihadists.

Daesh terrorist organization is prohibited in many countries, including Russia.

Iraq mulls importing oil from Armenia amid plan to cut Turkish import

December 25, 2015 By administrator

Iraq’s Acting Trade Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani discussed the possibility of buying cooking oil from Armenia instead of Turkey at a meeting with the Armenian ambassador, Karen Krikorian, in Baghdad last week.

An official at the Armenian embassy in Baghdad confirmed the meeting took place without giving further details, Reuters reports, citing the ministry spokesman said.
It comes after a trade ministry spokesman said the administration will gradually cut imports of Turkish cooking oil that it supplies for free to the population under a food rationing programme. The plan came on agenda due to political tensions between the two countries
“The plan is to replace Turkish oil with locally produced oil and oil from other countries,” he said, without indicating the reason for replacing Turkey with other suppliers.

Iraq FM Vows All Legal Measures If Turkey Refuses to Withdraw Troops

December 24, 2015 By administrator

Iraq Foreign Minister Ibrahim Jaafari

Iraq Foreign Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said that he will use all legal means to respond to Turkish troops in Iraq.

CAIRO (Sputnik) – Baghdad will exhaust all available legal possibilities if Turkey does not withdraw its ground forces from Iraq, Foreign Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said Thursday.

“We are not threatening for now. But if our security and integrity is continued to be threatened, I will use all legal means to respond to the attack. Every option is on the table,” Jaafari said at the Arab League emergency meeting on the Turkish military intervention in Iraq.

The Arab League issued a statement condemning Ankara for its military incursion into Iraqi territory and demanding the Turkish government to withdraw its troops.

On December 4, Turkey deployed about 150 troops and 25 tanks to northern Iraq reportedly to help national forces to reclaim the city of Mosul from the Islamic State (Daesh in Arabic), prohibited in Russia and many other countries.

Following the deployment, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi demanded the withdrawal of the Turkish troops, sent into the Bashiqa camp without Baghdad’s approval.

Iraq to cut Turkish cooking oil imports “isn’t time everyone Join the #BoycottTurkey”

December 24, 2015 By administrator

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. AFP Photo

BAGHDAD – Reuters,

Iraq plans to reduce government imports of cooking oil from Turkey due to political tensions between the two countries, according to a trade ministry official and the newspaper al-Bayina al-Jadida.

A trade ministry spokesman said the administration will gradually cut imports of Turkish cooking oil that it supplies for free to the population under a food rationing program.

“The plan is to replace Turkish oil with locally produced oil and oil from other countries,” he said, without indicating the reason for replacing Turkey with other suppliers.

Baghdad-based newspaper al-Bayina al-Jadida said the measure was meant as a protest against the deployment of Turkish troops in northern Iraq.

Turkey says the forces are protecting its military personnel training Iraqi militia to fight against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants. Turkey last week said it withdrew some forces, following Iraq’s complaints, without committing to a complete pull-out.

Turkey has been supplying all the cooking oil for the Iraqi trade ministry’s food rationing program for several years, the ministry spokesman said.

Turkish cooking oil imports by the Iraqi private sector are not impacted by the decision, he said, without specifying the volumes imported by the government each year.

The rationing program provides all Iraqis with food items every month, including sugar, flour, cooking oil and rice, in portions that vary according to family size.

Iraq’s own production of cooking oil should increase next year as old factories belonging to the industry ministry will be refurbished, Industry Minister Mohammed al-Daraji told a press conference in Baghdad on Dec. 24.

Acting Trade Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani discussed the possibility of buying cooking oil from Armenia instead of Turkey at a meeting with the Armenian ambassador, Karen Krikorian, in Baghdad last week, the ministry spokesman said.

An official at the Armenian embassy in Baghdad confirmed the meeting took place without giving further details.

Iraqi MP: Ankara must come clean & address mounting evidence of links with ISIS – Told RT

December 24, 2015 By administrator

Turkey needs to be much more proactive in countering terrorism in Syria and Iraq, stop turning a blind eye and aiding the Islamic State terrorists through illegal oil trade, Iraqi MP and a former national security adviser, Mowaffak al Rubaie told RT.

TrendsIslamic State, Russia-NATO relations

Ankara is “smuggling Iraqi oil and Syrian oil through the borders and selling it on the black marker in Turkey,” Rubaie told RT.

“Turkish authorities need to do a lot more than what they are doing now to come clean from the accusations that they are siding, or at least that they are turning a blind eye to the movement of these terrorists from Turkey to Syria and Iraq and vise versa,” the MP said.

The politician says there is “mounting evidence” from all over the world, including Iraq, that “Turkey is playing not a very clean game,” when it comes to Islamic State (IS, previously ISIS/ISIL).

Rubaie also finds it strange that Turkey is aiding jihadi fighters to get medical treatment on its territory before sending them back to fight in Syria and Iraq.

“Also there is evidence that some of these high value individuals of Daesh when they get wounded in Iraq and Syria, they cross the border and get treated and operated upon in Turkish hospitals,” the MP said.

Ankara must secure the border between Turkey and terrorist-controlled territories of Syria, because Syrian government forces have so far been unable to secure the northern part of Syria. To “seal” the border, Rubaie argues, some 50,000 Turkish troops are needed.

That will help “stop the smuggling of the goods as well as the smuggling of terrorists” into Daesh controlled lands, the MP said.

Overall Ankara should “come clean” and address the mounting evidence of IS links that have surfaced recently. In addition, the MP called on NATO to investigate allegations against Turkey “properly,” as the Norwegians in their latest study have done.

A newly-leaked report on illegal oil sales by Islamic State, which was ordered to be compiled by Norway, revealed that most of the IS-smuggled oil has been destined for Turkey, where it is sold off at low prices.

“Recently the Norwegian authority has investigated this independently, and they have come out with exactly the same conclusion,” Rubaie told RT.

He called on the Norwegians to “share this information with other NATO member nations, and also with the EU,” in addition to regional powers. Rubaie also urged the wider international community to “take a position” based on this evidence and pressure Turkey to do more to cut off IS’ “main source of funding,” ie smuggling oil.

Rubaie’s plea to the international community comes a few days after the UN Security Council passed a resolution strengthening legal measures against those doing business with terrorist groups.

Source: RT

Iraq, Nouri Al-Maliki accuses Turkish Erdogan killing Iraqis like they did to Armenian

December 24, 2015 By administrator

arton120220-480x271 In a newsletter published by the Egyptian news website Veto Gate, the vice president of Iraq, Nouri Al-Maliki accuses Turkish President RT Erdogan to kill Iraqis as their ancestors killed Armenians hundred years ago .

At a meeting with the Orthodox Bishop of the Armenian community, he expressed great sympathy for the Armenians and the injustice they have suffered at the hands of Ottoman rule, stressing the need not to repeat the tragedy.

Run, Turkish terrorist Daesh, Run: Iraqi Forces Gain Upper Hand in Ramadi

December 23, 2015 By administrator

Iraqi security forces continued to gain ground in the western city of Ramadi in Anbar province and expect to dislodge Daesh militants from the strategic city within days, local television reported on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the army won back the al-Dubat neighborhood and al-Jirayshi district in the South of Ramadi city.

Iraqi forces also retook Al-Armal neighborhood and killed over a dozen terrorists.

“In the coming days will be announced the good news of the complete liberation of Ramadi,” Iraqia TV quoted the army chief of staff Lt. General Othman al-Ghanemi as saying on Wednesday.

If Ramadi is captured, it will be the second major city after Tikrit to be retaken from Islamic State in Iraq. It would provide a major psychological boost to Iraqi security forces after the militant group seized a third of Iraq last year.

Media reports also said that Iraqi security forces had restored security to the road between Albo Dhiab — Al-Jirayshi north of Ramadi.

Battlefield sources announced on Tuesday that the Iraqi Army troops had launched a joint massive operation against the jihadists’ fortified positions in the central part of the city.

“The Iraqi army stormed the first defense lines of the ISIL [Daesh] terrorists in the city center and is now engaged in a heavy street battle with the Takfiri terrorists,” the sources said.

Daesh militants are still in control in Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, and Fallujah, which lies between Ramadi and Baghdad, as well as large areas of Syria — the core of what it has declared to be a caliphate.

Iraq: ISIL Leader’s Mobile Phone Shows Turkey’s Support

December 22, 2015 By administrator

ISIL leaders mobile phone speaks loud of Turkey’s support (Source: Fars News Agency)

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)—A commander of the Iraqi volunteer forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) revealed that a mobile phone found with one of the killed ISIL ringleaders proved the Turkish spy agency’s support for the terrorist group.

“The mobile phone was found with one of the killed ISIL leaders in the Northern parts of Salahuddin province two days ago,” Jabbar al-Ma’mouri told Soumeriya news on Monday.

He said that the mobile set and history files contain messages from the Turkish intelligence agency which show that Ankara supports the ISIL terrorist group through providing security at the points of entry used by ISIL militants from Turkey to Iraq.

“The mobile phone also contains other important information which cannot be disclosed now, and it has been delivered to the specialized security groups for further scrutiny,” Ma’mouri said.

In relevant remarks on November, Russian Ambassador to France Alexander Orlov said that Turkey has played an “ambiguous” role in the campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) while acting as an accomplice to the terrorist group’s activities.

Also last month, former US Department of State senior advisor David Phillips said Turkey has blatantly provided material support to the ISIL because they share an ideological connection along with a common foe in Syrian President Bashar Assad.

“Turkey’s role has not been ambiguous — it has overtly supported the ISIL,” Phillips, currently Director of Columbia University’s Peace-building and Rights Program, said. “It has provided logistical support, money, weapons, transport and healthcare to wounded warriors.”

Phillips explained that Turkey has been supporting the ISIL to remove Syrian President Bashar Assad from power and because of a “spiritual bond” that exists between Turkey’s governing party and the jihadists.