Iraq & Syrian Civil Wars - Page 258

On November 05 2014 15:59 zatic wrote:
Does anyone have insight into what's up with IS recruiting in Tunisia? On every chart that plots origin of IS fighters Tunisia seems to be at the very top - above seemingly more probable countries like say Saudi.

I mean I can come up with any number of explanations myself, but what I am wondering is why this is never addressed or even really reported on.

On November 05 2014 16:36 Sub40APM wrote:

its been reported on recently
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/tunisia-after-igniting-arab-spring-sends-the-most-fighters-to-islamic-state-in-syria/2014/10/28/b5db4faa-5971-11e4-8264-deed989ae9a2_story.html

Sounds like a combo of the new post-dictatorship opening up of the prisons + poor economic opportunities for males at home.

FSA targeting SAA positions.

YPG claim they retook 5 villages and 25 hamlets west and south-west of Serekaniye/Ras al-Ain in last two days. Video shows some captured weaponry and dead ISIS fighters.

On November 08 2014 04:02 pls no ty wrote:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=db1_1415215644

Islamic State The Resolve of the Defiant

Another holywood style terrorist propaganda if you havent seen it yet..

And of course, my words:

Its so nice to see heroic PKK's drug trafficking even in this videos. There is nothing interesting for me apart from that. Classic rats vs rats.

On November 08 2014 09:23 Redox wrote:

Are you seriously putting YPG on the same level as ISIS because they sell Cannabis? Thats just fucked up.

On November 08 2014 09:37 ImFromPortugal wrote:


Cannabis is a Weapon of Mass Destruction bro.

On November 08 2014 14:30 pls no ty wrote:
Of course its not same lvl as ISIS. PKK is worse.

BAGHDAD — Sunni Muslim tribesmen, Shiite militia fighters and Iraqi security forces set out Saturday to recapture a key city in Anbar province and stop Islamic State atrocities against a local tribe in an extraordinary coalition that could stir sectarian tensions or potentially serve as a model for future cooperation against the militants.

The operation to liberate Hit, about 90 miles west of Baghdad, could reshape the situation in Anbar in a way that would impact the mission of U.S. troops who are being deployed to the province from among the additional 1,500 U.S. military advisers the Pentagon said it is sending to Iraq at the end of the year.

“This is a dramatic change,” said Hisham al Hashimi, a prominent Iraqi defense analyst. “We have the Sunni Arab tribes fighting hand in hand with the Shiites.”

The move was preceded by U.S. airstrikes against Islamic State positions on the route of the advance, which was moving slowly because of numerous roadside bombs, according to two tribal leaders reached by telephone.

The airstrikes “had a good impact on Daash positions. They’ve had a lot of casualties,” Sheikh Bilal al Goud, who was with the attacking force, told McClatchy, using the disparaging Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. Sounds of fighting could be heard in the background.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/11/08/246246_sunni-tribes-join-shiite-militias.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

The US is to send 1,500 more non-combat troops to Iraq to boost Iraqi forces fighting Islamic State (IS) militants, nearly doubling the US presence.

The Pentagon said the troops would train and assist Iraqi forces.

President Barack Obama authorised the deployment following a request from Iraq's government, the Pentagon added.

IS militants control large areas of Iraq and Syria but have been targeted by hundreds of air strikes by a US-led coalition since August.

The 1,500 additional US troops will join the 1,600 military advisers that are already in Iraq to assist the country's army.

A statement from the Pentagon said the troops would be establishing several sites to train nine Iraqi army and three Kurdish Peshmerga brigades.

BAGHDAD, November 5 (RIA Novosti) - The Iraqi government has announced that it has managed to suppress an attempt to smuggle more than 40 tons of weapons into the country, a local TV channel reported Wednesday.

According to Al Taghier channel, a cargo plane traveling from the Czech Republic with 40 tons of small arms on board attempted to land at the airport in the city of Sulaymaniyah in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Air traffic controllers did not allow the airplane to land, despite having permission from the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority. The plane landed at Baghdad International Airport to refuel, where local authorities discovered that there were weapons on board instead of cigarettes which were the officially declared cargo.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has continued to gain ground in northern Iraq despite weeks of US-led air strikes, and is now moving closer to the Iraq-Kurdish city of Erbil.

ISIL fighters are battling Kurdish volunteer troops in the town of al-Kuwayr, about 60km southwest of Erbil.

However, national security expert Douglas Ollivant, of the New America Foundation, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that for now there was no immediate threat of ISIL closing in on Erbil.

Ollivant said that it is likely that the armed group will concentrate on al-Kuwayr, as they face a stronger resistance from Kurdish fighters and US-led air power should they make their way further into Kurdish areas.

"There are significant defences between these towns and Erbil," he said. "Erbil and Baghdad are still safe at this point."

In the neighbouring province of Nineveh, Provincial Governor Atheel al-Nujaifi told Al Jazeera that he is coordinating with the Iraqi defence ministry to set up a force to liberate Mosul from ISIL.

"It is the time to start work on the exact plan to liberate Mosul," Nujaifi said, as he appealed for more weapons and resources to fight the armed group.

"It's a miserable situation now in Mosul," he said. "There's no electricity, no water and no healthcare."