3,000 ISIS fighters reportedly cross into Iraq as Kurdish forces prepare to fight

October 7, 2014 By administrator

Three thousand Islamic State fighters have crossed over into Iraq from Syria, the Anbar Provincial Council reports from western Iraq. However, while desperate for outside help other than airstrikes, Kurdish forces are readying for battle.

“We received intelligence information indicating that 3,000 militants of the ISIS group had crossed the borders with Syria and arrived in Anbar through al-Mosul city,” council leader Sabah Karhoot said Monday, IraqiNews reported.

Karhoot added that “elements of the group possess powerful and heavy weapons, those it had previously seized in the region,” and has reportedly called on the Iraqi government to send reinforcements and arms to help repel the terrorist group and regain control of the province.

While moderate gains against IS have been reported recently, local military forces have abandoned several border crossings, and Kurdish troops are once again stepping up to the challenge and preparing to do battle.

The Anbar report comes shortly after 2,000 people were forced to flee Kobani, on the border between Syria and Turkey, after Islamic State (also known as ISIS, or ISIL) captured it. Although the black Islamic State flag has been raised, Kurdish forces deny that the Islamists emerged victorious.

The Kurds, however, are desperate for outside help. They echoed the words of a British military official recently, their spokesman saying that “airstrikes alone are really not enough to defeat ISIS in Kobani.”

They fear a massacre is approaching, with their forces the only ones there and thousands of civilians still trapped inside the city.

Turkey, meanwhile, continued largely to be on the sidelines of the fight taking place on its doorstep: several Turkish towns have already been hit by shells fired from Syria.

Turkish military forces have posted a column of tanks on the border, and eyewitnesses on the border told RT that they had fired several shells in the IS’s direction.

“One of the tanks already fired twice this morning towards Kobani and last night there was shelling two or three times. Some of the shells even landed on Turkish territory,” the young man said.

NATO has recently promised it will not abandon Turkey in the event of an attack by IS. “Turkey should know that NATO will be there if there is any spillover, any attacks on Turkey as a consequence of the violence we see in Syria,” the alliance’s secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg told Reuters.

ISIS grand plan: Bribe Putin for Iran’s nuclear secrets

October 6, 2014 By administrator

An alleged policy plan of the Islamic State outlines some chilling, if unrealistic, plots of the would-be terrorist state, including bribing Russia with access to oilfields in exchange for nuclear technology, and digging a canal across the UAE.

The document reported by Britain’s Sunday Times is believed to have been written by Abdullah Ahmed Meshedani, a member of the highly secretive six-man war cabinet of the terrorist group, which wants to build an Islamist state, or caliphate, in parts of Iraq and Syria.

It was captured by Iraqi special forces during a March raid on the home of a senior Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) member and confirmed as authentic by Western security officials.

The 70-point plan provides an insight into the grandiose, if somewhat far-fetched, strategy aimed at undermining Shiites in the Arab world and Iran as that branch of Islam’s powerhouse nation.

One of the goals listed in the documents is to offer Russia access to oilfields in Iraq’s Anbar province in exchange for Moscow severing ties with Tehran and sharing secret nuclear technology known to Iran with the IS.

The bribe is also meant to convince the Russian government to stop supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad and ally with Sunni states of the Arab Gulf in their confrontation with Iran and Syria.

A security source familiar with the document told the newspaper, “Nothing shocks Western governments these days in relation to ISIS and its fanatical aspirations.

“We’ve known and feared for some time that they want to obtain chemical and nuclear weapons… So when you place their future aspirations against their current achievements, this document which purports to be the group’s manifesto does stop and make you think.”

Another bizarre plan to undermine Iran’s powerbase involves building a canal across the United Arab Emirates “like the Panama Canal in America’s hands,” which would allow oil tankers travel to and from the Persian Gulf, bypassing the Iran-controlled Strait of Hormuz, the newspaper reports.

In addition to the Iranian nuclear program, the document suggests hitting its caviar industry “because it is a national treasure,” and urges to flood the carpet market with products of Afghan carpet makers to cripple their Iranian competitors.

The IS also envisions itself as a regional naval power, with bases built on islands bought from Yemen and the Comoros.

Domestically, the self-proclaimed state has a program of ethnic cleansing, eugenic programs, assassinations of defectors – including IS officials – and other brutal policies that would ensure a population united in purpose, according to the document.

The caliphate’s security for foreign forces would be provided by targeted hits on senior officials and officers in Iran and Iraq as well as attacks of any armed Shiite groups.

In the long run, the IS wants Sunnis from Pakistan and Syria to migrate to lands with mixed Sunni-Shiite populations, “marry early and have many children,” who would become the core of a future extermination campaign to wipe out Shiites in the Gulf.

The IS “are not focused on merely supporting themselves with ransom activities and oil theft, they know that in order to survive they have to generate income in legitimate ways,” Veryan Khan, director of Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium, a US-based terrorism monitoring group, told the Sunday Times.

“I am convinced this was passed out among senior personnel of Islamic State,” she added. “To fully explain a 100-year plan is completely unique — they are proving that they are visionaries to the rest of the senior staff.”

Air strikes against Isis are not working, say Syrian Kurds

October 5, 2014 By administrator

Isis fighters have pushed to the edge of Kobani, undeterred by western strikes, says city official

Turkish soldiers on the border with Syria, with Kobani visible beyond as smoke from a shell rises. Photograph: Lefteris Pitarakis/AP report the Gurdian

Isis fighters have pushed to within little more than a mile of the centre of the city of Kobani, undeterred by western air strikes which are proving ineffective, a leading Kurdish official in the city has said.

Fighting between the Islamist militants and Syrian Kurds continued unabated despite another volley of coalition air strikes in and around the Kobani enclave, Idris Nassan, Kobani’s “foreign affairs minister”, told the Guardian.

“There are fierce clashes between Isis and YPG [People’s Defence Corps] fighters, at the moment mainly to the south-east of the city. Isis now stands at two kilometres from the city centre,” Nassan told the Guardian by phone. “I can hear the bombs and shells here.”

According to Nassan, the situation was “under control for now”, but he underlined that air strikes had not deterred a further Isis advance.

“Air strikes alone are really not enough to defeat Isis in Kobani,” he stressed. “They are besieging the city on three sides, and fighter jets simply cannot hit each and every Isis fighter on the ground.”

He added that Isis had adapted their tactics to military strikes from the air. “Each time a jet approaches they leave their open positions, they scatter and hide. What we really need is ground support. We need heavy weapons and ammunition in order to fend them off and defeat them.”

Nassan said there were no evacuation plans for the moment: “Many people have left Kobani now. But there are still thousands of civilians inside the city.”

On Sunday, several MPs and representatives of Kurdish groups in Turkey arrived at the border to show solidarity with Syrian Kurds and to form a “human chain” stretching along villages bordering Kobani.

In the meantime, Saleh Muslim, co-chair of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union party (PYD), went to Ankara this weekend to hold meetings with Turkish security officials to discuss possible Turkish assistance in defending Kobani against Isis.

Turkish media reported that security officials in Ankara urged Muslim to convince the YPG, the armed wing of the PYD that is currently battling Isis in Kobani, to join the ranks of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and to “take an open stance against the Syrian regime” of Bashar al-Assad.

“We are calling on the international community to help us defend Kobani,” said Nassan. “Mr Muslim’s trip to Ankara is part of that call. Since Turkey agreed to join the international coalition to fight Isis, we ask them to help us, too.”

He said the exact outcome of the meetings remained unclear, but hinted that Muslim had asked Ankara to allow for the PYD, the Syrian Kurdish affiliate of the better-known Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK), to receive arms from outside of Syria.

“If Isis takes Kobani, they will be right on the border with Turkey. This concerns not only us, but Turkey, too.”

Syria warns Turkey against anti-ISIS incursions

October 3, 2014 By administrator

AFP/Reuters Friday, 3 October 2014

Syria warned Turkey on Friday against any military intervention on its territories, saying it would consider it an act of “aggression,” a day after the Turkish military was given authorization to conduct cross-border incursions against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) operating in the Arab country.

The “declared policy of the Turkish government represents a real aggression against a member state of the United Nations,” the Syrian Foreign Ministry said.

The warning came after Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu vowed late Thursday that Ankara would do whatever it could to prevent the predominantly Kurdish town of Kobani, near its border with Syria, falling to ISIS militants.

Just hours before Davutoglu’s comment, Turkey’s parliament gave the government powers to order cross-border military incursions against ISIS, and to allow foreign coalition forces to launch similar operations from Turkish territory.

“We wouldn’t want Kobani to fall. We’ll do whatever we can to prevent this from happening,” Davutoglu said in a discussion with journalists broadcast on the A Haber television station.”

“No other country has the capacity to affect the developments in Syria and Iraq. No other country will be affected like us either,” he said.

Fighting erupts

Heavy clashes erupted on Friday between Kurdish militiamen and ISIS militants who have besieged a key Syrian town near the Turkish border, an Agence France Presse correspondent reported.

ISIS militants in Syria have advanced to within just a few kilometers of the eastern and southeastern edges of Kobani, known as Ain al-Arab in Arabic, despite U.S. air strikes in support of Kurdish fighters.

Heavy mortar fire around the town was heard across the border and plumes of white smoke were rising up, the correspondent reported from the Turkish side of the border.

“We are desperately watching what the murderer IS is doing,” said 48-year-old Turkish Kurd Cafer Seven, who came to Mursitpinar border crossing 10 days ago from the Turkish city of Van.

“We are in deep sorrow. Our brethren are under difficult conditions. This is brutality!” he said, as he gazed at the heavy smoke rising over Kobani.

Kurds have expressed anger and disappointment over Ankara’s policy against ISIS, accusing the government of turning a blind eye to the group and refusing to allow Turkish Kurds to cross the border and fight in Syria.

“There is a massacre being committed before the eyes of the world. The world remains silent when Kurds are being massacred,” said Burhan Atmaca, 54, who also came to Mursitpinar to show solidarity with Kurdish fighters in Kobane.

Turkey’s parliament on Thursday endorsed a measure authorizing military action against the militant group, which has captured large areas in Syria and Iraq, declaring an Islamic “caliphate” and carrying out a wave of atrocities including beheadings.

ISIS fighters launched a major offensive against Kobani on Sept. 16, sparking an exodus of more than 160,000 mainly Kurdish refugees into Turkey.

Some 90 percent of residents of Kobani and nearby villages have fled for fear of an imminent assault by ISIS, Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday.

Biden blames US allies in Middle East for rise of ISIS

October 3, 2014 By administrator

US Vice-President Joe Biden has accused America’s key allies in the Middle East of allowing the rise of the Islamic State (IS), saying they supported extremists with money and weapons in their eagerness to oust the Assad regime in Syria.

America’s “biggest problem” in Syria is its regional allies, Biden told students at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University on Thursday.

“Our allies in the region were our largest problem in Syria,” he said, explaining that Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were “so determined to take down Assad,” that in a sense they started a “proxy Sunni-Shia war” by pouring “hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of tons of weapons” towards anyone who would fight against Assad.

“And we could not convince our colleagues to stop supplying them,” said Biden, thus disassociating the US from unleashing the civil war in Syria.

“The outcome of such a policy now is more visible,” he said, as it turned out they supplied extremists from Al-Nusra Front and Al-Qaeda.

All of a sudden the regional powers that sponsored anti-Assad rebels awakened to the dawn of a major international security threat in the face of ISIS – now called Islamic State. After being essentially thrown out of Iraq it found open space and territory in eastern Syria and established close ties with the Al-Nusra Front which the US had earlier declared a terrorist group.

Now Washington needs a coalition of Sunni states to fight the Islamic State because “America can’t once again go in to Muslim nation and be the aggressor, it has to be led by Sunnis, to attack a Sunni organization [the IS],” Biden said, acknowledging that it is for the first time that the US uses a geopolitical strategy.

“Even if we wanted it to be, it cannot be our fight alone,” Biden said. “This cannot be turned into a US ground war against another Arab nation in the Middle East.”

Central Asia Fears ISIS, Boosts Ties with Saudi Arabia & Qatar

October 2, 2014 By administrator

By Christoph Germann

At the beginning of this month, the first Chinese ISIS fighter was captured in Iraq and a few days later four Uyghurs were arrested in Indonesia on suspicion of being ISIS members. It is unclear how many Uyghurs have joined Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi & Co. but even if they survive their trip to the Middle East, they will have a hard time “liberating East Turkestan.” Nevertheless, China is concerned about the growing popularity of ISIS in the region. As previously discussed, the pledge of the former leader of the Red Mosque, Maulana Abdul Aziz, to support al-Baghdadi’s Caliphate does not bode well for China and some insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan are also eager to join forces with ISIS:

Islamic State expanding activities in Ghazni province

Local officials in southeastern Ghanzi province of Afghanistan have warned that militants linked with Islamic State are expanding their activities in parts of this province.

Deputy provincial governor, Mohammad Ali Ahmadi has said that the Taliban militants linked with the Islamic State have raised the flags of the group in various districts.

He said the militants are campaigning in favour of the Islamic State and have closed numerous routes to Ghazni province since they are busy with planning their activities.

…

A few days ago, Taliban fighters seized control of a strategic district in Ghazni province, which is an important gateway to Kabul from the south-east. Meanwhile, the situation in northern Afghanistan is equally alarming. Turkmenistan was even forced to send troops across the border to drive back Taliban forces that had settled on the border between the two countries. The comeback of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the rise of ISIS have caused a serious problem in the jihadist universe but this does not affect the ISIS fearmongering, which has now reached Central Asia:

Islamic State will come to Central Asia

The catastrophic wave of violence at the hands of the Islamic State will repeat itself in Afghanistan and then move on to Central Asia, forecasts the president of the Russian Institute for the Middle East Studies.

Speaking recently about the emergence of the new wave of extremism in the Middle East, Erlan Karin, a Middle East expert from Kazakhstan, reported on the creation of an Uzbek unit of militants called Imam Bukhari Jamaat.

Additionally, according to his findings there are about 250 Kazakh citizens, 100 Kyrgyz, 190 Tajiks, 500 Uzbeks, and about 360 Turkmens fighting alongside ISIS extremists.

…

The Central Asian states are happy to promote ISIS as a serious threat but they would not dream of cutting their ties to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the terrorist group’s biggest bankrollers. This week, Tajikistan’s top Muslim cleric issued a fatwa against the participation of Tajiks in conflicts in Syria and Iraq (he also issued a fatwa against government critics) never mind that the Saudis have reportedly been recruiting Tajiks for ISIS with impunity for quite some time. Only a few days earlier, Tajikistan and Qatar had agreed to step up their cooperation. The House of Thani will also give neighboring Kyrgyzstan a hand, for example in the field of education. And while a famous Kazakh political analyst is warning that ISIS poses a serious threat to Kazakhstan, the Kazakh government is boosting cooperation with the House of Saud:

Kazakhstan ready for further cooperation with Saudi Arabia

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has met with Abdullah ibn Muhammad Al ash-Sheikh, the chairman of the Majlis ash-Shura (Consultative Assembly) of Saudi Arabia.

“Kazakhstan is ready to develop the cooperation with Saudi Arabia in various spheres, including in the trade and economic field,” the president said.

The president said that a number of buildings were constructed in Astana with the assistance of Saudi Arabia, which is a proof of the friendly relations between the two countries.

Christoph Germann is an independent analyst and researcher based in Germany, where he is currently studying political science. His work focuses on the New Great Game in Central Asia and the Caucasus region. You can visit his website

Senior Kurdistan Official: IS Was at Erbil’s Gates; Turkey Did Not Help (Interview)

October 2, 2014 By administrator

(Why Barzani Allow Turkey to have Military base with about 3000 Turkish soldiers in Kurdistan city of Duhok)??? ask gagrule.net

By HEVIDAR AHMED RUDAW

Fuad Hussein: “The IS has its own map, which spans from India to Europe.”

In an important interview Fuad Hussein, chief of staff to the Kurdistan Region presidency, revealed just how dangerously close the Islamic State (IS) armies came to overrunning Erbil in attacks last month. He said that the United States “played in important role” with airstrikes, and that Washington’s swift response was key to winning global support in the war against the group formerly known as ISIS. In this interview with Rudaw that offers rare insights into the war and behind-the-scenes workings of developments, Hussein expressed Erbil’s huge dissatisfaction at Turkey for offering words at a time of imminent danger when the Kurds needed more. “Turkey consistently reiterated that if the security of the Kurdistan Region is threatened they would intervene. Well, our security was under threat, but still we did not receive any support from Turkey,” Hussein said. Here is an edited transcript of his interview:

Rudaw: What roles are different countries playing in the assistance given to the Kurdistan Region, such as the United States, France and others?

Fuad Hussein: The US is leading the international community, and had it not been for the US’s swift support for the Kurdistan Region, we might not have received such a level of backing from the international community. The US was quick to support us. Then, Europe supported us and that was due to France’s efforts. The role of France is very important and the US and European countries are coordinating together in supporting Kurdistan.

Rudaw: It is believed that, had it not been for US airstrikes, IS militants would have entered Erbil.

Fuad Hussein: This is a military assessment. But in reality they reached Makhmour, Gwer and Khazir, which are the entry points to Erbil. In fact, when they reached Gwer they were not that far from Erbil International Airport. Therefore, it is fair to say that the US played an important role and inflicted huge damages upon IS. IS did not only wage a military war. They were also inciting fear among people through social media by beheading people, which led to some people fleeing their cities. It was a huge problem.

Rudaw: The night that the IS entered Makhmour, Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani was on the telephone with Washington. How was the US persuaded to attack the IS?

Fuad Hussein: There were lots of phone calls to Washington on the night of August 6. The phone calls were a preparation for the call between Barzani and US Vice President Joe Biden. That was arranged, and Barzani clearly explained the situation, saying that the IS was using advanced military weapons and their fight was different from conventional fighting. After the authorization of airstrikes, President Barack Obama delivered a speech to the American public. President Barzani was informed of the content of the speech before President Obama delivered it. Following the speech, the US started attacking IS militants on August 8. The first US attack was an airstrike on an armored artillery that could hit targets as far as 30 kilometers. It was an American armored artillery that was taken by the IS from the Iraqi army.

Rudaw: Why did the IS attack Kurdistan?

Fuad Hussein: The IS was interested in Shingal and Tel Afar because of their geographic locations and religious and ethnic issues. The IS has its own map, which spans from India to Europe. In their map, Saudi Arabia is called Hijaz, Ethiopia is named Habasha and Spain is known as Andalus. They intend to take all these areas. They were interested in Kurdistan because of its oil and mountains. It would have been very dangerous if they had reached the mountains of Kurdistan. But I don’t know why they attacked Kurdistan. You should ask them, because we don’t know what is going on in their heads. What is clear is that their ideology is different from that of the Kurds, and they consider the Kurds infidels.

Rudaw: Does Kurdistan have any direct or indirect dialogue with IS?

Fuad Hussein: The IS is the enemy of the Kurds and Kurdistan. In the past we used to negotiate with different Iraqi governments (despite our war with Baghdad) after a period of fighting. But the IS is against humanity; how can we build ties with them?

Rudaw: There are several American oil companies in Kurdistan. Is it true that they had a role in mobilizing American support for Kurdistan?

Fuad Hussein: No, they did not do anything. It is true that before the war the oil companies had lobbied for US support for Kurdistan’s oil policy, for the betterment of ties between Washington and Erbil and to put pressure on former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. But for this war, no company intervened.

Rudaw: Have you called for an American force to be based in Kurdistan?

Fuad Hussein: In reality, when America withdrew its forces from Iraq Maliki told the whole world that the security of Iraq was under control. But it was not true. President Barzani had warned about the withdrawal of American forces. We saw that after the withdrawal of US forces the security situation in Iraq got worse over time, until it reached the current situation. Iraq needs America’s support in fighting terrorism. Kurdistan is part of Iraq and Baghdad should accept such a demand.

Rudaw: Were the US airstrikes for the sake of Iraq or the Kurdistan Region?

Fuad Hussein: The Syria crisis started three years ago and all Arab countries, Gulf States and Turkey called for US intervention. But the US didn’t do that. IS reached Baghdad, Mosul, Anbar, Diyala and Tikrit, and nothing happened. But as soon as they changed the direction of their attacks to Kurdistan, the international community came forward in support of Kurdistan. Historians should record this and people should carefully analyze that the US did not let IS advance into Kurdistan. Barzani has built an extensive network of relations with the international community and we have seen its results. The decision of the West and the US is not only the decision of their governments, but also the decision of the public. The American and European nations were in favor of protecting the Kurds. This is the first time that Germany decides on military support for a region that is at war. Therefore, the policy of the Kurds is not only engaged with the governments of those states but also with their people.

Rudaw: Kurdistan considered Turkey as its closest ally, but Turkey has not assisted Kurdistan in this fight. Why?

Fuad Hussein: We were in a very tough situation. In a tough situation even a glass of water matters. But when you are offered a glass of water when not thirsty it is not bad, but not effective. We were in need of help in the beginning. The US, France and Europe came to our rescue but our neighbor refused to do so, even after we asked for help.

Rudaw: What was Turkey’s response?

Fuad Hussein: They did not say they would not help. They said they would do so after Turkey’s presidential election. But we were in a very difficult situation. We had no choice but to wait until after the elections, yet they have not helped us. Turkey did not meet our expectation.

Rudaw: Are you upset with Turkey?

Fuad Hussein: There are extensive economic, trade and political ties between Turkey and the Kurdistan Region. If you analyze the extent of our relations with Turkey you would assume that Turkey would be heavily involved in this issue. Turkey consistently reiterated that if the security of the Kurdistan Region is threatened they would intervene. Well, our security was under threat, but still we did not receive any support from Turkey.

Rudaw: Would this situation cause a reassessment of relations with Turkey?

Fuad Hussein: It is in Turkey’s benefit to continue energy cooperation with Kurdistan. The US announced that it would protect Kurdistan to preserve its interests. Turkey says it has 49 of its diplomats taken hostage by IS. But Turkey has a consulate in Erbil, and what would happen had IS taken Erbil? Thousands of Turkey’s workers are working in Erbil and the Kurdistan Region. What about them? Does Turkey want to save the 49 diplomats at the expense of thousands of Turks in Kurdistan?

Rudaw: Have you decided to reassess your ties with Turkey?

Fuad Hussein: We have to be very clear with Turkey. How can we have such relations? It is in the benefit of Turkey to stand against the IS. The IS is not a friend to any country. Turkey, at least, could help us through some of its military bases in Duhok.

Rudaw: Turkey is worried that some of the weapons offered to Kurdistan might fall into the hands of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Can you guarantee this will not happen?

Fuad Hussein: The government, parliament, and the presidency of the Kurdistan Region receive the weapons and it is sent to the battlefields. The PKK does not rule Kurdistan. It is ironic that they make such a demand. This is the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. If true, then the economy and politics of Kurdistan are run by the PKK. Turkey should come forward. Then we can talk.

Rudaw: Is President Barzani upset about this?

Fuad Hussein: Barzani is the president of the Kurdistan Region. Every single Kurd is upset with Turkey’s position. How would President Barzani not be upset about it? We are upset, because they did not help us when we needed them.

Rudaw: What is the difference between Maliki and Haider al-Abadi?

Fuad Hussein: Every individual is different, but they are from the same school of thought and political party. Personality matters and our role in Baghdad to work as a team matters as well — because we did not have a team in Baghdad. Abadi contacted President Barzani before and after his appointment as prime minister and announced his intention to cooperate and work together.

Iraq Kurds fight Islamic State at key Syria border crossing

September 30, 2014 By administrator

Iraqi Kurds have made gains against “Islamic State” militants at a strategic crossing on the Syrian border. Elsewhere, the jihadists are said to have advanced closer to the frontier town of Ayn al-Arab, or Kobani.

Iraqi Kurds entered the border district of Rabia early Tuesday, engaging in fierce clashes with Islamic State militants. Senior sources in the Kurdish peshmerga told media the fighting is still ongoing, while another said the Kurdish forces have recaptured the crossing.

“We have ousted IS from 30 positions, including in the Zumar and Rabia areas,” peshmerga spokesman Halgord Hekmat said.

Rabia lies about 100 kilometers (60 miles) northwest of Mosul, which IS seized in a lightning offensive in early June. Zumar lies near the reservoir of Iraq’s largest dam, which has been a key battleground between the Kurds and IS.

The capture of Rabia is seen as crucial, because it would link the Iraqi Kurdish fighters with Syrian Kurds under attack over the border. The ability to cross the frontier freely has been a major strategic advantage for Islamic State fighters on both sides.

US-led forces have been bombing IS targets in Iraq since August, expanding the campaign to Syria last week. IS fighters have swept through Sunni areas in both countries, killing prisoners, chasing out Kurds and ordering Shiites and non-Muslims to convert, or die.

In August, the jihadist group also began to kill foreigners as revenge against countries who are contributing to the US-led air strikes. The group executed American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, British aid worker David Haines and French citizen Herve Gourdel.

Kobani under threat

The Islamic State is also threatening to overrun Kobani, a Kurdish town near the Syrian-Turkish border, known by its Arabic name of Ayn al-Arab. Surrounding villages have been under attack by IS since mid-September, with the fighting forcing at least 150,000 Kurds to flee to Turkey.

The British-based, pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Islamic State fighters have advanced to within two kilometers of Kobani. Kurdish authorities there have appealed for help from the US-led coalition.

The Turkish parliament is due to debate whether to authorize military action in Syria, and join the international coalition against the IS.

The Iraqi Kurds are appearing to claw back land from the jihadists. The Peshmerga secretary general, Jabbar Yawar, says Kurdish forces have retaken around half the territory lost to the Islamic State when the militants surged north towards the regional Irbil in August. That advance helped to prompt the US air strikes.

jr/dr (dpa, Reuters, AFP)

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ISIS destroys 7th Century Church in Tikrit, Iraq

September 26, 2014 By administrator

Tikrit (IraqiNews.com) On Thursday, according to a security source in Salahuddin province, ISIS elements blew up the Green Church, which is considered to be one of the oldest Christian churches in the Middle East, in the center of Tikrit (170 km north of Baghdad). The Church was built in the 7th century and belonged to the Assyrian Church of the East.

The source said in an interview for IraqiNews.com that “yesterday evening, the militants of ISIS bombed the Green Church in the area of the presidential palaces, with improvised explosive devices that were planted in its surroundings.”

The source, who asked not to be named, added that: “The bombing resulted in the destruction of the entire church.”

ISIS has destroyed churches, religious shrines and mosques in the provinces of Kirkuk and Nineveh, including the tombs of the prophets Jonah, George, Daniel as well as a number of ancient churches in the provinces of Salahuddin and Nineveh. In Mosul ISIS has destroyed or occupied all 45 Christian religious institutions

High-ranking Iraqi official says ISIL exports oil via Turkey

September 25, 2014 By administrator

Iraq’s Deputy National Security Advisor Safa Al-Sheikh Hussein has stated that Turkey is the country that greases the wheels of the terrorist Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) by allowing the extremist group to export oil via Turkey.

“They have a stream of assistance that comes from Turkey. They export oil through Turkey. So we conclude that organized crime groups are working in Turkey from where the oil can be exported to Europe,” Hussein said in an exclusive interview with Today’s Zaman on Wednesday.

This statement from the Iraqi security official comes after US Secretary of State John Kerry said last week that ISIL financially sustains itself by exporting oil via either Turkey or Lebanon, urging Turkey to join the multinational coalition to fight against ISIL.

After the release of 46 Turkish and three Iraqi hostages by ISIL, the US expected Turkey to step up in the fight against ISIL. Turkey as a US ally is part of the NATO military alliance and has made commitments at various regional conferences to help in the effort against ISIL militants, but the help has been limited due to fears over the safety of the 49 hostages.

Hussein added that the issue of oil exports cannot be solved by one government and said it can only be eliminated by international cooperation.

According to Hussein there are 20,000 foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria and that the political instability and political crisis in Iraq, which lasted for some years, fed ISIL.

Asked to comment on recent claims about Turkey’s support for the radical jihadists, Hussein said both the general opinion among the Iraqi population and within the political community think “Turkey is extending support to ISIL.” He thinks this is not healthy for the ties between the two neighboring countries, Iraq and Turkey.

Hussein thinks the war in Syria was an opportunity for ISIL and that Turkey’s position on Syria had an influence on current developments.

“Turkey did not take the right position on Syria. Its policy and assumptions proved incorrect. We remember in 2011, the Turkish government thought that within a month there would be a regime change. But it hasn’t changed,” he said.

“We knew that it would not be an easy regime change. We thought the most probable scenario would be the division of Syria, which would threaten Iraq because the real force on the ground was beneficial for the extreme Islamists not for the people of Syria with their democratic needs,” he added.

Congratulating the Turkish government on the release of the hostages, Hussein called it “a good achievement” but questioned how it was achieved. “Some people use conspiracy theories to explain it. In Iraq, some people thought that something had been arranged from the beginning. That is not the official opinion. But some people did say these things, and they appeared in some newspapers claiming that “from the first day of the approaching threat, Turkey’s consul general in Mosul [Yılmaz Öztürk] knew about the attack on the consulate building.” But because of a lack of information, a lot of possible explanations have appeared,” he said.

KCK accuses Turkey of backing ISIL militants

A Kurdish organization has accused the Turkish government of backing the ISIL militants fighting with Kurds in Syria and suggested that it could jeopardize a truce that Kurdish militants in Turkey began in March 2013.

The statement was issued Wednesday by the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) an umbrella group of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The umbrella group accused Turkey of “waging a war against the Kurdish people” and vowed to step up its “struggle.”