Six months and 16,000 airstrikes into the campaign to defeat the Islamic State, with less than 1% of the territory it held in Iraq recovered, an honest accounting leads to only one conclusion: The U.S.-led strategy is failing.
Continue reading.
Shi’ite fighters and Iraqi army members participate in an intensive security deployment against Islamic State militants in Jurf al-Sakhar, Iraq on October 26, 2014. © 2014 Reuters
First time seeing a Sikh for many. Ravinder Singh of Khalsa Aid made a surprise visit to Iraq to help refugees. http://wp.me/p3YTD2-2z5
Read the full report here: http://bit.ly/1GdaVKq
I would like to share with you a recap of the recent successes of TentEd, a project of EPIC, to support the education of displaced children in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).
I returned to the KRI in December 2014 with over $18,000 in donations from a growing network of friends and supporters. Since the first TentEd project last June, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi religious minorities, including Christians and Yazidis, have joined the war-fleeing Syrians in taking refuge in the safety of the KRI. These tragic circumstances gave our work even more significance and urgency.
Working with Kurdish officials and trusted partners like International Volunteers of Yamagata and the Chaldean Church, TentEd successfully funded several rapid impact initiatives, including:
As you can see, our responsive grassroots approach allows us to make an outside impact with a relatively small amount of money. Our second project was a great success that could not have been possible without the generous donations of so many of you.
We look forward to sharing future plans with you. Thank you again for your continued support!
Zack Bazzi is leading TentEd in Iraq with sponsorship from EPIC.
By Ahmed Ali
Increasing Accusations against the International anti-ISIS Coalition as National Guards Law Draft is reportedly under Review
On February 12, Iraqi Shi’a member of the Council of Representatives (CoR) from the National Alliance, Ali al-Bderi, stated that there is a “strange phenomenon that is repeated daily with weapon-loaded planes landing… for terrorist groups from unknown sides.” Bderi’s remarks followed February 10 comments by Sadrist MP and head of the CoR’s Security and Defense Committee, Hakim al-Zamili, that criticized the international anti-ISIS coalition and alleged that it is airdropping weapons to ISIS.
There were also reactions to the newly proposed laws of the National Guards and possibly national amnesty. On February 7, member of the CoR from the State of Law Alliance (SLA), Mohammed al-Saihud, expressed opposition to the proposed laws of National Guards, Accountability and Justice Law, and General Amnesty. According to Saihud, those who “talk about releasing guilty prisoners want to get the political process into chaos.” Saihud added that the SLA would seek to block some of the proposed laws. MP from the Iraqi Sunni National Forces Union (NFU), Ahmed al-Salmani, stated that the passage of the General Amnesty law is particularly important.
On February 11, the CoR decided to postpone discussion on banning the Ba’ath party “until further notice” and member of the NFU Mutahidun Intisar al-Juburi stated that there are issues with the legal mechanisms with regards to the National Guards Law and that the CoR leadership has requested a review of those mechanisms from the cabinet. Juburi added that there might be discrepancies according to Iraqi Sunni ministers in the draft law approved by the cabinet and the draft that reached the CoR. According to Juburi, the CoR leadership is investigating the matter. Meanwhile, President Fouad Masum, ratified the 2015 budget on February 10.
Anbar Governor Refuses Deployment of the Popular Mobilization Units and ISIS Attacks Major Airbase in Anbar
On February 7, 200 Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) member were repositioned in Al-Kaserat area, near the town of al-Baghdadi in western Anbar reportedly in preparations to attack Baghdadi which is home to al-Asad airbase. On February 7, coalition airstrikes also targeted ISIS position in western Anbar and also reportedly in Ramadi. On February 9, members of the Al-Obaid and Albu Mahal tribes clashed with ISIS in the Horan Valley area, outside of the al-Baghdadi district. On February 10, governor of Anbar province Suhaib al-Rawi stated that he did not request assistance from Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs) which include Iraqi Shi’a militias due to “problems” that can trigger.
Governor Rawi added that only the army and police forces should have jurisdiction in Anbar province. On February 11, ISIS attacked the Albu Ghanim area, east of Ramadi but the attack was repelled. On February 12, ISIS launched a major offensive targeting al-Baghdadi sub-district which is home to the al-Asad airbase. The attack included penetration into the city by ISIS and reported activation of sleeper cells. ISIS elements targeted government offices including the police station.
As the attack was underway, Sheikh Naim al-Gaoud from the Anbari Albu Nimr tribe immediately warned that areas near al-Baghdadi and Hit are in danger of falling to ISIS if Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi does not send reinforcements to bolster ISF. Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) supported by anti-ISIS coalition airstrikes repelled the attack. Al-Baghdadi is important given that it is the largest ISF base in Anbar and there are over three hundred U.S. military advisors stationed in the base.
Reactions to Demilitarized Baghdad Neighborhoods
On February 1, Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi ordered the four areas of Mansour, Saydiyah, Adhamiyah, in addition to Karrada to be “weapon-free.” On February 7, Baghdad’s deputy governor, Jassim al-Bakhati, stated that the decision is welcome and is intended to represent a test that can be expanded throughout Baghdad if it proves to be successful. Bakhati added that the decision was motivated by political parties present in residential areas and are using weapons to cause difficulties for the population. Bakhati added that the Ministry of Interior will eventually have sole security provision authority in Baghdad. Member of Baghdad’s provincial security committee, Thamer al-Sarhid, stated that the decision is intended to “[clear] members pretending to be with the PMUs” and that some parties and organizations have set up checkpoints. Baghdad provincial council member and member of the Badr Organization, called on PMU members to use the weapons and ammunition on the battle field instead of Baghdad.
Security Forces Seek to Secure Baghdad as Violence Continues in the Capital and its Environs
On February 7, two attackers wearing explosive vests (SVESTs) attacked two locations in Baghdad. The first SVEST attacker targeted a restaurant in the Baghdad al-Jadida neighborhood killing 30 civilians and injuring 66 others. The second SVEST attacker targeted the Arabi market killing 6 civilians and injuring 28 others. On February 8, Baghdad Operations Command (BOC) announced that its forces conducted several operations south and west of Baghdad city. The areas included Shurtan near Abu Ghraib, Halabsa, Arab Jassim, Ahmed al-Hel, and Tal al-Dir near Taji. The operations resulted in seizing Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and weapons caches.
On February 9, a Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) exploded in the Kadhmiyah district in northwestern Baghdad killing at least 10 people and injuring 3. On February 10, a VBIED detonated near a market in Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad, killing 2 people and injuring 11 others. On February 11, BOC forces conducted operations in Baghdad’s vicinities targeting armed elements. On the same day, mortar rounds fell in the Shula neighborhood in northeastern Baghdad and resulted in injury of seven civilians. On February 12, an IED exploded near a market in al-Rashid area in southern Baghdad and another IED exploded near a market in the Amil District, southwest of Baghdad. The attacks resulted in the death of three people and injury of 16 civilians.
The Persistent Clashes in Kirkuk and Around Samarra
On February 7, ISIS destroyed a bridge that connects the Nahrwan area with the Khalid area southwest of Kirkuk Province. According to sources, the attack is intended to disrupt any operations by the Iraqi Kurdish Pershmerga or other forces towards Kirkuk. On February 8, a security sources stated that a convoy carrying Hadi al-Ameri, Iraqi Shi’a member of the Council of Representatives (CoR), the secretary general of the Badr Organization, and a senior leader in the PMUs, came under attack by ISIS near Kirkuk. The attack did not result in any injuries and Ameri was visiting Kirkuk during that period.
On February 10, an international coalition airstrike reportedly killed 15 ISIS members in Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk. On February 11, ISIS attacked Peshmerga positions in the Daquq and Taza areas in southern Kirkuk and the attack was repelled with the assistance of the international anti-ISIS coalition airstrikes. In Salah ad-Din, the Brigades of Jihad, a PMU formation operating in Salah ad-Din province, repelled an ISIS attack near Huwaish on February 8, west of Samarra city. On the same day, Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) reportedly secured the road from Samarra to Baiji and Iraqi Air Force in addition to coalition airstrikes targeted ISIS elements east of Baiji.
On February 10, two SVBIEDs detonated on the road linking Samarra and Thar Thar southwest of Samarra city. The attack killed 6 members of the ISF and wounded 29 others. On February 11, an SVBIED detonated at Speicher airbase, located north of Tikrit, killing 2 members of the ISF and injuring 13 others. On February 11, an SVBIED targeted the Federal Police in Mkeshfa, north of Samarra, wounding 5 members of the Federal Police. On February 11, an SVBIED targeted the Muthana Complex which is located between Samarra and Thar Thar.
On February 11, Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and PMUs also reportedly secured positions in the Baiji area including a bridge in the Fatha area. On February 12, 14 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) were killed and 12 were injured in clashes with Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) militants in al-Zalaya and Mkeshfa, south of Tikrit. On February 12, member of the CoR’s Energy Committee, Zahir al-Abadi, stated that ISIS is “smuggling 300 of [oil] barrels a day from the Ajil field in the Alam sub-district, east of Tikrit.” Abadi called for the Iraqi government to target those “ISIS hideout” and highlighted that funds from these fields are helping ISIS.
Ahmed Ali is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Education for Peace in Iraq Center.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 30, 2015
Contact: Erik Gustafson
Phone: (202) 682-0208
Email: info@epic-usa.org
Washington, DC – EPIC Executive Director Erik Gustafson announced today that leading Iraq analyst Ahmed Ali has joined EPIC as a Senior Visiting Fellow and will serve as Director of the Iraq Security and Humanitarian Monitor (ISHM), an important new project that aims to track the latest security and political developments in Iraq through a humanitarian lens, offering insights and details unmatched by other publications.
See more at: http://bit.ly/1Cfi4J2
Iraqis look at books on al-Mutanabi Street, home to the city’s book market in central Baghdad on January 23, 2015. (Karim Kadim/AP)
According to the latest UN estimate, 5.2 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Iraq. To discuss that challenge, EPIC convened a distinguished panel with Francois Stamm of ICRC, Michel Gabaudan of Refugees International, Joe Stork of Human Rights Watch, and Nancy Youssef of The Daily Beast. Hosted by the Iraqi Cultural Center on January 16, 2015, the panelists offered insights on the deepening crisis, the opaqueness of the current military campaign, and warnings for the future of international aid in Iraq, as the fight against ISIS and inadequate shelter leaves many Iraqi families out in the cold. - See more at: www.epic-usa.org/19-out-in-the-co…sh.AqSMxpq6.dpuf
Iraq’s Council of Ministers Approve Two Laws and Prime Minister Abadi lifts Nightly Curfew in Baghdad as City Witnesses Sustained Explosions
On February 3, the Council of Minister approved a draft National Guard Law and approved a set of amendments intended to reform the Accountability and Justice Law, also known as the De-Ba’athification Law. The National Guard Law would create locally-based forces to provide security, empowering local political and tribal leaders to handle security for their own areas. Such a move is welcome among many Iraqi Sunni Arabs who blame the country’s army and national police for a pattern of discrimination and human rights violations in their communities. The proposed reforms to the De-Ba’athification Law are also intended to address Iraqi Sunni Arab grievances, however the amendments failed to gain the support of Sunni Ministers who claimed the reforms did not go far enough. Both draft laws require passage by Iraq’s parliament, the Council of Representatives, where deliberations are expected to be tense and protracted due to disagreement over provisions in the draft laws among the different political groups.
On January 30, two bombs exploded in Baghdad’s Bab al-Sharji market. The attack targeted a section that specializes in selling military clothes and resulted in the death of at least 44 people and injury of 70 people. On January 31, one member of the Iraqi Army was killed and three others were injured when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploded near their patrol in the Arab Jubur area south of Baghdad. An IED explosion also killed two civilians in the Madain area south of Baghdad. An IED exploded near a tea shop in the Amin area in eastern Baghdad killing two civilians and injuring ten others.
On February 2, an Adhesive Explosive Device (AED) attack killed a Federal Police (FP) major in the Sulaikh area north of Baghdad. The attack also resulted in the injury of the officer’s son and nephew. On February 2, an IED exploded in the Saydiyah area south of Baghdad, killing one person and wounding six others. On February 3rd, an IED exploded in the Khansa village of the Nahrwan area, east of Baghdad. The attack resulted in killing one person and wounding six others, including three women. Another IED attack in the Talibiyah area, east Baghdad resulted in the death of two people and injury of four. On February 4, a Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) resulted in the death of three people and injury of ten others near a restaurant in Baghdad’s Karrada area. Subsequent reports indicated that it may have been three simultaneous IEDs exploded in the attack and that it was not a VBIED.
On February 4, four bodies were found in the Fahama area, north of Baghdad. The victims had been shot and there was evidence of torture. On February 5, Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi issued an order to lift the nightly curfew in Baghdad that has in place since 2004. The lifting of the curfew comes as the United Nations Assistance Mission to Iraq (UNAMI) released the casualty number for January. The report stated that 1375 people were killed by violence and that 790 of those killed were civilians. 1469 civilians 771 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) members were wounded. According to the UNAMI figures, Baghdad witnessed most of the casualties with 256 civilians killed and 758 injured.
Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga Repel Major ISIS Offensive in Kirkuk
On January 31, Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga were able to clear the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) from the Mulla Abdullah village in southern Kirkuk. ISIS was able to take control the village on January 30 when it launched a major offensive. During the same offensive, ISIS also captured the Khabaz oilfield in western Kirkuk and subsequently detained 24 employees of the Kirkuk-based North Oil Company.
On February 1, Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces regained control of Khabaz oilfield and freed the 24 employees. However, ISIS set fire to some of the oil wells before it was cleared. On February 2, Iraq’s Minister of Oil Adel Abd al-Mahdi visited Kirkuk and inspected the oil field. Between February 1 and February 3, coalition fighter jets launched airstrikes in support of the Peshmerga operations. On February 2, Kirkuk provincial council member Najat Hussein stated that reinforcements of the Popular Mobilization arrived in Kirkuk in coordination with Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces. The majority of the Popular Mobilization forces are located on the outskirts of the city.
On February 4, the Secretary General of the Peshmerga Ministry, Jabar Yawer stated that 999 Peshmerga members have been killed and another 4596 have been wounded in the fight against ISIS since early June 2014. Yawer also stated that the Ministry of Peshmerga is also investigating reported recent social media images of Peshmerga forces dragging ISIS members in the streets. Yawer added that a Peshmerga Ministry memorandum was distributed to all units ordering them to treat prisoners humanely.
Situation Escalates in Samarra
On January 30, two suicide bombers wearing Explosive Vests (SVET) targeted a gathering of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs) in Samarra in northern Iraq’s Salah ad-Din province. On February 1, Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) clashed with ISIS to clear the road stretching between Thar Thar Lake and Samarra, southwest of Samarra.
On February 2, Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) discovered three armored ISIS VBIEDs in the Huwayesh area near Samarra. According to unnamed security sources, the VBIEDs were intended to target the al-Askari Shrine and the Samarra Dam. On February 2, 6 members of the Popular Mobilization forces were killed and another 28 were wounded when a truck VBIED exploded at a checkpoint south of Samarra. This attack was reportedly followed by an ISIS attack on the same location. On February 3, Iraqi Security Forces ISF launched operations to clear ISIS from areas, north of Samarra. On February 5, local security sources stated that ISIS moved chlorine canisters closer to Samarra. According to the source, ISIS likely intends to use them in attacks. On February 4, ISIS “kidnapped” 40 residents in the Sharqat area in northern Salah ad-Din Province. ISIS reportedly “accused” the 40 members of supporting and promoting the Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs).
Planning Ministry Report: Ongoing Violence Affecting Economy and Will Likely Raise Poverty Levels
On January 31, the Iraqi Ministry of Planning released a report on poverty levels in Iraq. According to senior Iraqi finance and economic officials, the ongoing violence between the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and the Iraqi government has had adverse economic effects including in possibly rising poverty levels. This is mostly due to internal displacement within the country. According to Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister for economic affairs, Rozh Nouri Shawes, previous governments attempted to alleviate poverty in the country but were challenged by “terrorism and financial waste.”
Child Labor Increasing in Iraqi Kurdistan’s Sulaimaniyah
On February 1, al-Mada Newspaper reported on the rise of child labor in Sulaimaniyah city in Iraqi Kurdistan. According to the report, child labor includes native people of Sulaimaniyah and has increase recently with the arrival of Internally Displaced Persons. According to the report, a majority of the children work in the Sulaimaniyah market district where they sell bags, candy, and shoe-shining business. Local rights activist Saman Assad stated that “we observe significant spread in child labor in the region particularly after the [arrival] of thousands of Arab families to the region’s cities.” Mohammed Hama Salih, the head of the social affairs office in the province stated that there are not many solutions to child labor. But that according to Social Safety law, the government can offer a working child $120 and in return the child will have promise not to return work.
Karbala Health Services Suffering and IDP Housing Crisis in Babil
On February 2, the Karbala Health Department announced that in light of the current budget crises and the austere 2015 budget prediction, over thirty anonymous doctors have agreed to donate time, money, and personal supplies to support the city and its residents. Furthermore, these doctors will begin exploring the potential to do field treatments far from the city center, where many displaced families live in squalor. On February 4, Riyadh Aday, the Chairman of the Migration Committee in Babil province in south central implored the federal government to release the funds allocated for the construction of IDP housing near Babil’s capital of Hillah. The project is supposed to be built in the Wardiyah area, south of Hilla. Aday added that there are 11,000 registered IDP families and that some areas in Babil refuse to receive IDPs due to lack of housing.
Ahmed Ali is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Education for Peace in Iraq Center. He would like to thank EPIC interns Alec Lynde and Jonathan Fredrickson for their contributions to the research.
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