EPIC has just released ISHM Report 33. 

Takeaways for October 8, 2015

  • Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) retook the Olympic Stadium in western Ramadi, and advanced against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in the towns of Albu Faraj and Khaladiyah Island, just north and east of Ramadi respectively. According to Joint Operations Command spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, ISF then entered the Zanquarah area, west of the city, seized the Abu Chaleb district to the north and the Albu Risha area to the northwest, and began advancing towards the city center. With air support from the Iraqi Air Force and U.S-led Coalition Forces, ISF operations are now focusing on retaking strategic areas inside Ramadi including the Anbar Operations Command Center and the 8th Army Brigade Headquarters, while consolidating control of much of the Baghdad-Amman Highway, allowing anti-ISIS forces on both sides of the Euphrates River to connect with each other. There are also reports of ISIS militants fleeing the city. ISF forces advised citizens to raise white flags over their buildings to distinguish themselves from ISIS in the coming battle. Also this week in Anbar, Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs) Artillery strikes reportedly destroyed ISIS headquarters in northern Fallujah.
  • The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) welcomed Russian assistance to Peshmerga forces in the region. In response, Russia voiced its readiness to participate in air operations in Iraq but is waiting for an official request from Baghdad.
  • ISIS executed 70 members of Albu Nimr tribe in Anbar. Albu Nimr is a tribe that played a crucial role in assisting U.S. troops in fighting al-Qaeda in 2006 and 2007.
  • A series of bombings and Suicide Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (SVBIED) killed hundreds of civilians across Iraq. Also, ISIS kidnapped nearly 300 civilians in Kirkuk based on accusations of cooperating with Peshmerga security forces.
  • Thousands of Iraqis demonstrated in Baghdad, Basra, Sulaimani, and Wasit demanding improvements in education and with health services, an end to corruption, and the swift implementation of PM Haider al-Abadi’s reform plans.
  • The Ministry of Health announced 162 new cholera cases have been reported, increasing the total number of civilians infected to 1,201.
  • A new sandstorm strikes Baghdad and nearly 200 cases of asphyxia have been reported so far.
  • Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, announced that the Green Zone, home to Iraq’s top politicians and lawmakers, would be opened to the Iraqi public for the first time in twelve years.
  • With child labor growing in Iraq due to unemployment and poverty, school attendance continues to plummet. The Province of Kirkuk is reported to have the highest rate of child labor with nearly 50,000 children — mostly girls — working in dangerous conditions. In the province of Maysan, the Social Welfare Department announced plans to introduce new legal protections aimed at reducing child labor and increasing school attendance.

- See more at: bit.ly/ISHM33