Iraq

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Iraq: Carter’s visit and the smell of sulfur
http://katehon.com/news/iraq-carters-visit-and-smell-sulfur

Saturday, 22 October, 2016 - Ashton Carter, the United States Secretary of Defense has arrived in Iraq with an unannounced visit, which was the third this year. Carter is going to meet with the Prime Minister of Iraq, Haider Kadhim Al-Abadi.

Probably, Carter's visit is connected with the mass execution of 300 civilians in Mosul. It was known that plurality of citizens were in danger. In spite of the debate and prejudices, Washington continued its offensive operation without changing the strategy and not thinking about the fate of the Iraqi people.

Meanwhile, militants of ISIS set to fire the factory of the production of sulfur. As a result, a large number of civilians were injured, two people died. Poisonous smoke goes towards «Qayyarah (Qayara) », a military base of the US, but there is no information about victims among the American occupiers.

 

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Toxic smoke from a sulphur plant torched by Daesh near Mosul killed two locals, injured many more and forced US troops stationed nearby to don their gas masks.

Two Iraqi Civilians Killed by Sulphur Cloud from Plant Torched By Daesh
https://sputniknews.com/military/201610231046627822-plant-blast-kills-iraqi-civilians/

According to security and health sources in the area, the jihadist blew up at least part of the Mishraq sulphur factory October 19.The fire is still burning, and putting it out may take Iraqis another two to three days.

The fumes didn't just affect residents of nearby villages. Carried by the wind, the toxic cloud soon reached US forces at the Qayyarah military base to the south of Mosul and forced troops there to put on gas masks for precaution.

According to Iraqi General Qusay Hamid Kadhem, the smoke had a negative impact on scheduled military operations in the area, where Iraqi forces are involved in a crucial offensive to liberate Mosul from Daesh fighters.

Daesh jihadist group burned down a pharmaceutical plant in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh, near Mosul.

Daesh Militants Burn Pharmaceutical Plant in Iraqi Province
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201610231046627294-daesh-burns-hospital/

Militants from Daesh jihadist group burned down a pharmaceutical plant in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh, near Mosul, a source told Sputnik news agency.

According to the source familiar with the matter, the plant received an international ISO certification in 2007 and was considered one of the best pharmaceutical plants in the northern part of the country.

Daesh militants have executed 16 citizens of the Iraqi Mosul, throwing them off the bridge, the source told Sputnik news agency.

Daesh Militants Throw 16 People Off Bridge in Mosul
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201610231046627773-desh-throw-people-mosul-bridge/

On Saturday, Daesh militants executed 284 men and boys in the Mosul area amid the Iraqi army's offensive to drive the militants out of the city.

The US military is sending dozens of additional intelligence analysts to Iraq to sort out a trove of information expected to be recovered from Daesh (ISIL) terrorists in the ongoing Mosul offensive.

US sends extra intelligence analysts to Iraq for ISIL data in Mosul
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/10/23/490271/US-intelligence-analysts-Iraq-Mosul-offensive-ISIL-data

Among immediate priorities of the US analysts will be to “pass along insights useful to American officials planning an attack on Raqqah,” the de facto capital of the foreign-backed terrorists in eastern Syria, and “search for any information about terrorist cells in Europe and any attacks they may be plotting,” The New York Times reported Saturday, suggesting American military intervention in both Arab countries.

This is while there are clear evidence that Daesh militants have been financed and supplied by major US allies in the region, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Jordan.

According to the report, commander of US ground forces in Iraq Major General Gary J. Volesky has referred to Mosul as ISIL’s Iraqi “crown jewel,” noting that the foreign-backed terrorists had been entrenched there for over two years.

“Clearly, there’s going to be intelligence that will be able to be exploited,” said Volesky.

Moreover the report says, in the military’s most recent deployment of more than 600 additional troops, dozens of military and civilian intelligence analysts were dispatched to several locations around Iraq. Most were in place just prior to the Mosul offensive “but some are still trickling in.”

This is while a number of Iraqi officials have repeatedly questioned US motives in its claim of leading a coalition in Iraq to oust ISIL, insisting that its purported air campaign against the group has been highly ineffective.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

UN calls for renewal of expired 72-hour ceasefire in Yemen

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/10/22/490260/yemen-ceasefire-un-ahmed

The United Nations special envoy for Yemen has called for renewal of a three-day ceasefire in the war-hit country amid multiple reports of violations of the truce.

"With the 72-hour Cessation of Hostilities in Yemen coming to an end, the United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed urges all parties to agree to its extension for at least another renewable 72 hours," read a statement released by the envoy on Saturday.

The call was made after a UN-backed cessation of hostilities officially came to an end in the country at midnight local time.

The 72-hour ceasefire went into effect shortly before Wednesday midnight to allow aid to reach the families trapped in towns and villages cut off by months of Saudi bombing.

“We noted over the last days that food and humanitarian supplies were provided to several affected neighborhoods and that UN personnel were able to reach areas that were previously inaccessible. We would like to build on this and we aim for a wider outreach in the next few days," Ahmed said.

He stressed that the ceasefire was "largely holding despite reported violations from both sides in several areas."

Earlier in the day, heavy clashes were reported from border regions between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, along with multiple reports of Saudi airstrike throughout Yemen.

About 10,000 Yemenis have been killed since the regime in Riyadh launched its deadly campaign against Yemen in March 2015. The military aggression was meant to reinstall Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh who has resigned as Yemen’s president.

UK Trains Saudi Pilots Amid Allegations of War Crimes in Yemen

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201610231046628361-uk-trains-saudi-pilots-yemen/

The United Kingdom have been training Saudi pilots despite the ongoing accusations of war crimes in Yemen, media reported.

The fact was discovered by the UK Liberal Democrats, who described the revelation as “shameful” and called for immediate suspension of the training, according to the Independent newspaper.

"It is shameful that the UK Government is not only arming Saudi pilots, it is training them as well. The indiscriminate bombing of innocent civilians by Saudi Arabia in Yemen, in clear breach of international humanitarian law, is now well documented. The Government must end its complicity in this murderous campaign,” Tom Brake, the spokesman of the Liberal Democrats party, was quoted as saying by the Independent newspaper.

The UK Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said in response that the collaboration with the Royal Saudi Air Force was aimed at improving their targeting processes, the newspaper said.

On October 8, the airstrike hit the funeral ceremony in Sanaa. According to UN estimates, the attack claimed over 140 lives and left more than 525 people wounded, while media suggested that 213 people may have been killed. AT first, the Saudi-led Arab coalition denied allegations of the Houthi rebels that it was involved in the incident, however, later it agreed to investigate the matter.

Yemen has been engulfed in a military conflict between the government headed by Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and Houthi rebels since 2014. The Houthis are backed by army units loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Since March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf countries has been carrying out airstrikes against the opposition Houthis at the request of Hadi.

 

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One of ISIL prisoners nabbed by Iraqi forces in Kirkuk confessed that Turkish airplanes brought them from Turkey and dropped them South of Kirkuk, near the village of Sari Tepe, security sources said.

ISIL Militants Claim Transferred by Turkish Airplanes from Turkey to Kirkuk
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950802000952

“The Iraqi security forces have managed to arrest a number of terrorists who attacked Kirkuk province, after the militants blew up and struck governmental headquarters by suicide attacks and clashed with the security forces and the local people,” the security source said, Badr News reported.

The source confirmed that “One of the prisoners admitted that Turkish planes brought them from Turkey and dropped them in an area South of Kirkuk, near the village of Sari Tepe”.

"The investigations are underway about the confessions of those terrorists for documentation purposes and to criminalize those who facilitated the terrorists’ infiltration into Kirkuk”, the source added.

The Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) announced on Sunday that ISIL terror group has transferred its weapons and ammunition caches to the presidential palaces’ region and the forests areas North of Mosul.

Iraq's PMF: ISIL Transports Weapons, Ammunition to North of Mosul
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950802001003

The ISIL militants have transferred their weapons and ammunition caches to the presidential palaces’ region and the forests areas north of Mosul close to the fighting areas to make it easier for its militants to deploy and use them”, the PMF said in a statement, Badr News reported.

It is also reported that the popular mobilization units have foiled an attack by ISIL terror group on Makhoul Mountains, resulted in the killing of a number of militants and damaging an armored vehicle as well as the seizure of their weapons.

Meanwhile, The secretary general of Badr Organization and the leading figure in the Popular Mobilization Forces, Hadi al-Amiri stressed in the need for strengthening the security measures and intensifying the efforts to exert more pressure on ISIL militants in Nineveh and Diyala provinces.

Al-Amiri has described the recent events of Kirkuk, as a desperate attempt to divert the attention from the victories of the security forces and the popular mobilization units in Mosul.

The Iraqi air force killed a top advisor to ISIL’s ringleader and second-in-command to the terror group’s shadow governor for Mosul, as part of large-scale military operations to liberate the strategic Northern city.

Top Advisor to ISIL Ringleader Killed in Mosul
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950802000792

Iraqi media reported on Sunday that Mi-35M helicopters carried out a series of air raids on the town of Tal Kayf, located some eight miles from Mosul in Nineveh Province, leaving the key ISIL member, named as Abu Usama, dead, presstv reported.

The attack also killed a number of Abu Usama’s henchmen, the report added.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Iraqi forces advance toward Mosul

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/10/24/490445/Iraq-Mosul-Hamdaniya-Daesh

Iraqi forces are pushing on toward the center of the strategically-important al-Hamdaniya district in the northeast of Iraq’s Nineveh Province, as part of operations to liberate the province’s capital, Mosul, and its nearby areas from the Daesh terrorist group.

On Monday, military forces and allied volunteer fighters closed in on the heart of the district, determined to take out the Daesh terrorists holed up there, Kurdish-language Rudaw television network reported.

The operation is part of the larger-scale push to retake Mosul, which the Takfiri terror group has declared as its so-called headquarters in Iraq. The city has been under Daesh control since 2014, when the terror outfit started ravaging the country.

Upon liberation, the district would serve as a bridgehead to retake Mosul.

A senior commander with the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, who are involved in the anti-terror operations, also confirmed to Rudaw that the town of Bashiqa in Nineveh’s Mosul district had been encircled by Kurdish forces. The network tweeted that civilians trapped inside Bashiqa had raised white flags over their roofs to alert Peshmerga forces of their whereabouts.

The terrorists are, meanwhile, reported to have fled Mosul in large numbers as the group is said to have lost the power to confront the advancing Iraqi forces on the ground.

Citing security sources, the website of Iraqi pro-government fighters al-Hashid al-Sha’bi, also known as the Popular Mobilization Units, said Daesh militants had set schools and mosques as well as a health center and a power station ablaze in the province’s al-Shourah district, located to the south of Mosul.

Yemeni precision missiles hit two Saudi bases in Najran

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/10/23/490401/yemen-saudi-missile-base

Ballistic missiles launched by Yemeni forces have destroyed a Saudi national guard barracks and severely damaged a military base in the kingdom’s region of Najran.

The retaliatory attack was launched with the support fighters of the Yemeni Houthi Ansarullah movement, Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah news website reported on Sunday.

Earlier, Yemeni army and Houthi fighters fired missiles at Saudi mercenary rally point in Lahij’s Kahboub district, killing and injuring a number of them.

Another site belonging to the Saudi mercenaries also came under similar attacks in the kingdom’s southwestern region of Jizan.

Such attacks are part of a drive by Yemeni forces and allies to avenge Saudi Arabia’s relentless military aggression against the country.

Meanwhile, Saudi warplanes have increased their relentless airstrikes on Yemen, just one day after an UN-backed ceasefire expired.

At least six civilians were killed as Saudi jets used internationally-banned cluster bombs on the Baqim district in Sa’ada province.

Air raids were also launched on civilian facilities in Nihm, Naqim and Hafa districts in in the capital, Sana’a, and on a water storage facility in the western port city of Hudaydah.

Attacks were also launched on the provinces of Ta’izz and Hajjah.

Despite renewal calls by the UN’s Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, a 72-hour ceasefire ended on Saturday. The truce was brokered by the UN to allow aid to reach families trapped in areas cut off by the war in the impoverished country.

More than 10,000 Yemenis have been killed since the regime in Riyadh launched its deadly campaign against Yemen in March 2015. The military aggression was meant to reinstall Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh who has resigned as Yemen’s president.

 

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Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi strongly rejected the Turkish army's participation in the operations to liberate the city of Mosul, and said any foreign interference in his country's internal affairs is a serious violation of his country's sovereignty.

Iraq Denies Turkish Participation in Mosul Liberation Operation
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950803001368

Al-Abadi's rejection came in reaction to the Sunday statements by Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildrim who claimed that his country's artillery units had hit the ISIL's military positions near Bashiqa military base in Nineveh at the request of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces.

"The presence of Turkish troops in Mosul operations is untrue and a baseless allegation," Al-Abadi said in a meeting with his Swedish counterpart on Monday.

He underlined that Iraq will not allow its territorial integrity be compromised and will never allow other countries to meddle in its affairs.

In relevant remarks on Sunday, Iraq’s Joint Operations Command denied Turkish prime minister's allegation that the Turkish army was participating in operations to retake the Northern city of Mosul from the ISIL terrorist group.

“The spokesman of the Joint Operations Command denies Turkish participation of any kind in operations for the liberation of Nineveh,” a statement said, referring to the Iraqi province of which Mosul is the capital.

On Saturday, al-Abadi reiterated his stance on the involvement of Turkish forces in the battle for Mosul, stressing that Iraqi forces will accomplish the task themselves.

A security source confirmed on Monday that the Iraqi people have embarked on an upraising against ISIL terrorists and have managed to kill 13 terrorists in city of Haweija, including the suicide bombers’ officer after the defeat of ISIL terror group in Kirkuk.

Source: Public Revolt against ISIL Erupts in Iraq's Haweija
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950803001112

The source added that the terror group has transferred 50 corpses of its militants and 40 wounded from Kirkuk into Haweija, Badr News reported.

“The uprising by the people of Haweija against the terrorist organization erupted after the terror group tried to deceit the local people about the control over Kirkuk, which caused a popular revolt led to the killing of 13 terrorists, including a suicide bomber” the source added.

“The terror group shouts through loudspeakers demanding the people to donate blood to save its militants as locals refused to respond to the calls of the terrorist gangs”, the source further said.

ISIL gangs had suffered more than 120 casualties and dozens of their militants were arrested during the infiltration to Kirkuk last Friday and their attempt to impose control over governmental headquarters ended in complete failure.

ISIL terror group executed at least seven of its own militants, after their reported desertion and fleeing the battle fronts near Mosul to Syria.

ISIL Executes Own Militants for Fleeing from Mosul
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950803000912

Eyewitnesses said that the executed militants fled from the battles raging in Iraq’s Northern Nineveh Province and the ISIL announced their charge as "high treason", ARA News reported.

“Those fighters had left their posts in Mosul city without permission, heading to the Syrian border,” media activist Abdullah al-Malla told ARA News.

The militants were arrested by their comrades in ISIL's proclaimed police also known as Diwan al-Hisba, shortly after they crossed into Syria’s Eastern Deir Ezzur province.

The Iraqi Army, backed by Peshmerga forces and the US-led coalition, recently launched a major offensive to push ISIL out of Northern Iraq.

“They were arrested at al-Bukamal border crossing,” an informed source in Deir Ezzur told ARA News.

The seven militants were convicted by an ISIL court, which issued a statement castigating the condemned men for spreading dissent within the militants' ranks.

They were executed by firing squad in front of hundreds of onlookers.

A senior Kurdish commander rejected the claims by Ankara officials that the Peshmerga forces have requested help from Turkey for the fight against the ISIL terrorist group in Northern Iraq.

Kurdish Peshmerga Forces Reject Alleged Request Help from Turkey
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950803000839

Contrary to the Turkish government's claims, Peshmerga forces have never demanded the Turkish army to target the ISIL in Baishqa region in Nineveh province," the Arabic-language media quoted Senior Peshmerga Commander Qias al-Sourchi as saying on Monday.

He went on to say that the Turkish army's artillery fired 10 artillery shells, but opposite to the Turkish officials' allegations they didn't claim any casualty among the ISIL terrorists.

"Turkey is trying to hijack the Peshmarga forces' advances and success," al-Sourchi said.

He said that Kurdish Peshmerga forces have more advanced and stronger weapons than the Turkish army weapons and military grid in the region and they, thus, are needless of Ankara's military aid.

Head of the security committee of Kirkuk Provincial Council Ali Musa Yadekar disclosed that the US helped the ISIL terrorists in launching attacks against Kirkuk on Friday.

Official: ISIL Terrorists Backed by US in Kirkuk Offensive
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950803000670

The US planes transferred the ISIL terrorists from Hawijah to Leilan and Daqouq which are mountainous regions empty of security forces in Southern Kirkuk, Yadekar was quoted as saying by the Arabic website of Sputnik news agency on Monday.

Meantime, Ambassador of the International High Commission for Human Rights in the Middle-East Haitham Abu Saeed also said today that the Takfiri terrorists have fled from Mosul to Raqqa and Idlib in Syria with US support.

"The US is also pressuring the Iraqi government to stop Hashd al-Sha'abi (popular) forces' participation in the Mosul Liberation Operations in a move to implement its plots in the region," he added.

Their remarks came after one of the ISIL prisoners nabbed by Iraqi forces in Kirkuk confessed that Turkish airplanes brought them from Turkey and dropped them South of Kirkuk, near the village of Sari Tepe, security sources said.

 

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A US serviceman was killed during the operation to liberate the Iraqi city of Mosul from Daesh.

US Navy Officer Killed in Mosul Operation Came Under Small Arms Fire
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201610251046722348-us-officer-killed-mosul/

US Navy Chief Petty Officer Jason Finan was killed when the Kurdish Peshmerga troops he was embedded with came under small arms fire during the US-led coalition operation to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from Daesh, Operation Inherent Resolve said in a press release on Tuesday.

"Finan was behind the forward line of troops advising Peshmerga forces during their offensive on Mosul when the element he was with came under small arms fire," the release stated. The coalition said Finan’s vehicle struck an improvised explosive device while he was repositioning to a more advantageous position, and he died from his wounds at a troop hospital in Erbil.

The US Defense Department identified Finan on Friday and White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said the naval officer had been supporting Peshmerga forces in the Mosul offensive.

US officials have repeatedly emphasized that no US service members are on the front lines of the coalition operations.

On October 17, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced the start of the Mosul operation. More than 30,000 Iraqi and 4,000 Kurdish fighters are taking part in the offensive, backed by about 5,000 US troops and coalition airstrikes.

Reports from Western Iraq said Israeli spies and reporters have used forged passports to enter the country after the start of the Mosul Liberation Operation.

Israelis Sneaking into Iraq
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950804001139

Israel is not recognized by Iraq, similar to many other Muslim states, and its citizens are not allowed into Iraq.

But two major Israeli networks have sent their crews to the battlefield near Mosul and are releasing daily reports from the war.

The Israeli coverage from Western Iraq caused concerns among the Arab, specially Iraqi media, and several reporters have approached the two teams to verify how they have entered the country.

Hedas Haroush, an Al-Masdar reporter, said that "the Israelis have used forged European passports to get into Iraq.

Ever since the war started numerous reports have surfaced the media claiming that Israeli and Saudi intelligence officers have been sighted among the ISIL terrorists, mostly to help the terrorist cult organize its structure and plan its war strategy.

In the first such case, Iraqi army sources in Mosul testified that tens of Israeli officers were among the first group of foreign nationals that deployed in Mosul only a month after the city fell to ISIL in 2014.

On Monday Iraqi news outlets reported that Daesh militants had stripped Iraqi families of their personal belongings near the gates of Mosul, a northern Iraq city still under extremist control. Three adults and a child have reportedly died at the gates from exhaustion and fatigue.

As Mosul Battle Rages, Daesh Steals From Displaced Iraqi Families at City Gates
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201610251046727485-daesh-steals-from-displaced-families/

"Today, ISIS militants put strict checkpoints at the entrances of the city of Mosul for the families that were forcibly brought from the villages liberated by the joint security forces," Iraqi News quoted from Al Sumaria News.

The news outlet added that "The [Daesh] detachments stripped the families of all private holdings, including of gold jewelry, money and cell phones," and, "Three elderly persons, including a woman, as well as a child died at the entrances of Mosul as a result of fatigue, tiredness and ill-treatment by the [Daesh] militants."

United Nations human rights workers have been receiving reports of human rights violations by Daesh since the Iraqi government began retaking Mosul over a week ago. According to the BBC, 15 civilians were killed and had their bodies thrown into the river as a means to terrorize locals, and three children were killed after they fell behind while being forcibly marched from one village to the next.

It was also reported Sunday that the extremists had killed 50 former Iraqi policemen.

A US warplane hit a girls' school in the south of the Iraqi city of Mosul on October 21, the Russian General Staff's chief said Tuesday.

US Air Force Jet Struck Girls' School in Iraq's Mosul - Russian Military
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201610251046710874-us-jet-hits-school/

"On October 21, a US Air Force plane carried out an airstrike against a girls' school in the southern part of the city of Mosul," Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi said.

More than 60 civilians died and 200 were wounded because of the US-led coalition's airstrikes on residential areas in Mosul and its outskirts in the last three days, he said.

"There is an ample evidence of the US-led coalition's airstrikes on residential areas, schools and other civilian infrastructure in Mosul and other inhabited localities in the Nineveh province. Over 60 people, including children, died as a result of these actions over the last three days. More than 200 were wounded."

The United Nations does not possess information about civilian deaths caused by the anti-Daesh campaign in Mosul.

UN Lacks Data on Civilian Casualties From Anti-Daesh Campaign in Iraq’s Mosul
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201610251046724769-un-mosul-civilian-casualties/

Casualty figures will be made public as soon as they are available from UN agencies represented on the ground, the spokesman for the secretary-general’s office pledged.

The US-led coalition against Daesh will initiate an investigation into civilian casualties’ reports in the Iraqi city of Mosul if Russian authorities provide details on the allegation, a spokesperson for the Operation Inherent Resolve told Sputnik on Tuesday.

US-Led Coalition Asks Russia to Provide Data on Mosul Civilian Casualties Claims
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201610251046725285-coalition-mosul-civilian-casualties-russia/

Earlier in the day, the Russian General Staff said that more than 60 civilians were killed and 200 wounded in coalition airstrikes on Mosul residential districts during the last three days.

"We would require more specific information in order to determine if Coalition aircraft were involved in this alleged incident," the spokesperson stated. "If Russian authorities have further information on this allegation, we encourage them to share it with us to enable an investigation." The spokesperson noted that the coalition takes all allegations of civilian casualties seriously and adheres to strict targeting processes.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said that Moscow is concerned with the ongoing operation to liberate Mosul due to humanitarian reasons.

Russia Has Serious Humanitarian Concerns Over Coalition's Mosul Operation
https://sputniknews.com/world/201610251046715489-russia-iraq-mosul-humanitarian/

From our side, we do not intend to throw humanitarian tantrums over the participation of the Americans and other members of the anti-ISIL [Islamic State] coalition in the ongoing operation to liberate Mosul, but there is also a reason for humanitarian concern there," Bogdanov said.

The Russian General Staff said Tuesday that more than 60 civilians, including children, had been killed and 200 wounded in the US-led coalition’s attacks on residential districts of Mosul in the past three days.

The ISIL terrorist group is using special tactics and methods to block the Iraqi army, popular and Pishmerga forces' further advance and liberation of more lands in Mosul.

ISIL's 6 Main Tactics against Iraqi Forces in Mosul
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950804001130

According to the Iran-based Arabic-language al-Alam news channel, the ISIL uses 6 tactics.

Planting mines and bombs: The ISIL which has occupied Mosul since 2014 has had enough time to plant bombs and mines in different regions and corridors.

Suicide attacks: Suicide attacks - by cars or trucks loaded with explosives, booby-trapped bombs, or gunmen wearing suicide belts - are now an established tactic used by the ISIL throughout Iraq, Syria and elsewhere, including Mosul.

Tunnels: A key part of the ISIL's strategy for Mosul has been digging a network of tunnels in the city and surrounding towns and villages.

This hidden network allows fighters to escape, hide, move equipment and personnel without detection from the Iraqi and coalition aircraft and launch surprise attacks on pro-government troops.

Surprise/Diversion attacks: As the Iraqi forces approach Mosul, the ISIL has launched surprise attacks in other parts of the country, in an effort to distract the army and its allies and divert their attention and resources elsewhere.

Retaliation operations: The ISIL takes revenge from the residents of regions who welcome the Iraqi forces.

In a recent case in a village near Nimrud, Southeast of Mosul, about 40 people who had welcomed the Iraqi forces were reportedly executed by the ISIL on Saturday night.

People in the village said that the ISIL terrorists had hid when the Iraqi forces went through their village.

Human shields: There are also fears that the terror group use the civilian populations as human shields against the Iraqi forces to stop, delay or slow down the pace of ther advance, similar to what it has already done in previous battles in Iraq.

The UN earlier said it was concerned by reports that the ISIL had taken 550 families from villages around Mosul as human shields, as part of an apparent policy to prevent civilians escaping.

Iraqi police forces arrested former dictator Saddam Hussein's cousin in Daquq region, South of Kirkuk, who was also a senior commander of the ISIL terrorist group.

Saddam's ISIL Cousin Arrested in Kirkuk
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950804001187

Iraq's Sumeriya news quoted Kirkuk Province's Police Commander Colonel Sarhad Qader as saying that Nazar Hamad Abdolqani, a top ISIL commander who contributed a major role in the terrorist cult's Friday assault on Kirkuk, has been captured.

According to the police, Abdolqani was a member of Saddam's bodyguards and had joined the ISIL in the Southwestern parts of Kirkuk after his cousin was overthrown.

Police forces arrested Abdolqani in a water tanker along with 4 Kalashnikov rifles and some ammunition.

The Iraqi security forces announced on Monday that they had arrested many of the ISIL militants responsible for the last Friday’s deadly attack in Kirkuk city.

They also said that the ISIL commander in Kirkuk was killed while resisting arrest.

Abu Qudama, a senior ISIL military figure in Hawija, who led the group in the Friday’s attack was killed in a firefight.

Security forces in Iraq's Kurdistan region announced that they had arrested several ISIL militants responsible for the last Friday’s deadly attack in Kirkuk city.

ISIL Militants behind Kirkuk Attack Arrested, Ringleader Killed
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950804001138

"ISIL terrorists behind the Kirkuk attack were arrested during an operation by Counter-Terrorism Department in coordination with the local security and intelligence forces,” the Kurdistan Security Council said in a statement, ARA News reported.

The Kurdistan Security Council also said that the ISIL’s commander in Kirkuk was killed while resisting arrest.

“Abu Qudama, a senior ISIL military figure in Haweija, led the group responsible for Friday’s attack. He was killed in a firefight,” the council said.

 

[angelburst29]

John Kerry welcomes 72-hour ceasefire in Yemen
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/10/19/489704/US-Kerry-Yemen-ceasefire

Kerry repeated an urgent appeal by United Nations special envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed to allow the delivery of humanitarian supplies and personnel throughout the country.

More than 10,000 people have died since Saudi Arabia launched a campaign to crush the Ansarullah movement and their allies and reinstate the resigned president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.

The Saudi campaign has come under heavy criticism since an airstrike last week on a funeral in the Yemeni capital Sana'a killed at least 140 people.

The US military provides aerial refueling to Saudi bombers conducting airstrikes on Yemen. Washington has also been providing logistic and surveillance support to the kingdom in the bloody campaign.

The US is dramatically increasing the tempo of its military operations in MENA (the Middle East and North Africa), especially in the Horn of Africa.

Djibouti Turns into Springboard for US Military Intervention in Africa and the Middle East
http://www.globalresearch.ca/djibouti-turns-into-springboard-for-us-military-intervention-in-africa-and-the-middle-east/5553055

Djibouti has an important role to play in the military planning. The small republic guards the entrance to the Red Sea and Suez Canal to make it a perfect springboard for launching military interventions in Africa and the Middle East.

Housing 4,000 military and civilian personnel, Camp Lemonnier, the US military base in the country, is the hub of a network of American drone bases in Africa. It is used for aerial strikes at insurgents in Yemen, Nigeria and Somalia, as well as exercising control over the Bab-el-Mandeb strait – a strategic maritime waterway linking the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean through the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea. In 2014, America signed a new 20-year lease on the base with the Djiboutian government, and committed over $1.4 billion to modernize and expand the facility in the years to come.

According to Stars and Stripes, the US Air Force deployed F-16 fighters and KC-135 to Djibouti in July. Until the publication, the information had been kept secret. The aircraft remain on standby amid concerns over the situation in South Sudan, including threats to the lives of American citizens there. In July, about 50 combat-equipped troops were sent to protect US diplomatic personnel amid widespread violence and civil unrest in that country. The US has provided assistance in form of training and equipping of the elite presidential guard; employment of foreign instructors to teach army recruits; development of riverine forces; training of commandos. This aid is rendered despite the fact that South Sudan uses child soldiers.

Under Obama, this country receives waivers to the prohibition on US security assistance under the Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA), despite recent reports by UNICEF that children in the country are forcefully recruited into the armed forces. The law prohibits the US government from furnishing security assistance or selling arms to any government that has been identified as recruiting children into its armed forces or armed groups that it supports. In theory, the administration is to sanction such countries under the law, which is circumvented with the help of waivers.

Djibouti is also situated close to Yemen, where the US has recently got involved in the military conflict between the Saudi-Arabia – led coalition and the Houthi rebels.

On October 13, the US military launched a series of cruise missile strikes on three radar installations in Yemen. The attack became a response to recent threats made on naval vessels in the Red Sea. This was the first time, when the US has taken part in the Yemen conflict directly. Under the circumstances, airpower would be more efficient than cruise missiles launched from surface ships. F-16 jets are perfectly suited for carrying out such missions as knocking out radar sites or other ground based assets in Yemen. Providing air cover for US ships in the region is important, but the fact that tankers are also based in Djibouti, the mission could envisage a scenario with delivering air strikes at much greater distance.

The US plans could include Somalia. On October 16, The New York Times reported that US special operators have been quietly escalating the war on al-Shabab in Somalia carrying out more than a half-dozen raids per month.

The operations are a combination of ground raids and drone strikes. The article states that «the Pentagon has acknowledged only a small fraction of these operations but even the information released publicly shows a marked increase this year».

Somalia’s government has recently requested an explanation from the United States for an air raid that it says killed 22 soldiers and civilians in the north of the country on September 28. The Somali army had confirmed that Galmudug forces and civilians were killed in the raid, describing it as a case of «friendly fire».

Whatever the plans are, the United States has significantly beefed up the offensive potential in the region. It could be Yemen or Somalia, or both, as well as some other country. We’ll have to wait and see. After all, Djibouti hosts army-aviation-supported Special Operations Forces (SOF) teams. With F-16s as air cover, they can deliver a powerful blow against a potential enemy in any scenario. There is a great probability that the United States will soon launch a military operation in the region.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Russia calls on media to focus on Mosul’s children killed during US-led coalition strikes

http://tass.com/politics/908860?_ga=1.126452813.1783418038.1477117316

A Russian diplomat stresses a great amount of factors that deteriorate the situation in the Middle East remain off-screen

Russia calls on the foreign media to focus attention on civilian deaths in Iraq caused by the US-led coalition airstrikes, Russian Foreign Ministry’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy and Rule of Law Konstantin Dolgov said in an interview with TASS.

"There are children among the killed. Why does the foreign media refrain from showing it while they show different footage often mixing up countries and years? Perhaps, this footage is not shown because some Western capitals prefer to keep silent about it," Dolgov noted. "In the past it was called collateral damage, then they stopped using this expression since the collateral damage had significantly increased."

"It did not start in Syria but in Yugoslavia where civilians were killed by NATO’s bombings. Later Afghanistan’s turn came and after that Iraq and Libya’s. In Afghanistan, they still bomb weddings and funerals from time to time. Sometimes they say sorry, sometimes they don’t, but nobody ever gets punished," the Russian diplomat elaborated.

Dolgov emphasized that the Western media did not call for the investigation of civilian deaths after such attacks.

"What is the reason for such a selective approach? If you protect human rights, then protect them everywhere, without any exceptions," he added.

On Tuesday, chief of the Russian General Staff Main Operational Directorate Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoi said that over 60 civilians, including children, died over the past three days in the US-led coalition airstrikes on Mosul and neighboring settlements while more than 200 were wounded. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, on October 21, a US war plane delivered an airstrike on the al-Hajj Yunus school for girls in southern Mosul. The next day civilian dwelling areas in the town of Qaraqosh 20 kilometers east of Mosul and Hazna 15 kilometers east of Mosul came under massive bombing raids. In addition, on October 23, the US Air Force bombarded the al-Shura settlement 34 kilometers south of Mosul which resulted in many social agencies’ buildings being ruined.

Biased reporting on Syria

The diplomat has urged mass media outlets to avoid biased news reporting on the Syrian crisis.

"We face a massive campaign defaming Russia’s actions, we are accused of all deadly sins, we hear allegations not confirmed by any proof that Russian military aircraft destroy on purpose civilians, infrastructure and allegedly bomb hospitals, schools, kindergartens and so on, jointly with Syrian jets," Dolgov told a roundtable at the Union of Journalists in Moscow. "We ask to give examples, to give us proof but we are not given this evidence and these examples," he said.

"They keep bombarding with the allegations on many TV channels, every morning when we switch on news channels, the BBC and others, we hear and see almost the same things," the diplomat added.

Meanwhile, a great amount of factors that deteriorate the situation in Syria and the reasons behind this humanitarian crisis remain off-screen, Dolgov said.

"The situation in Syria is grave. Yes, indeed, large numbers of civilians die in Syria but it is absolutely wrong and frankly speaking, unprofessional, to try to accuse Moscow and Damascus of this and not to speak about who really kills civilians in huge amounts in Syria."

UN: ISIL Uses Civilians as Human Shields in Battle for Mosul

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950805001373

“We continue to receive information that reinforces the belief that ISIL militants are deliberately using civilians as human shields, forcing them to move to sites where ISIL fighters are based, or preventing them from leaving other places for strategic reasons,” said Rupert Colville, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, ARA News reported.

ISIL reportedly killed 15 civilians in Safina, a village around 45 km South of Mosul. The ISIL threw their bodies in the river, apparently in an attempt to spread terror among the village’s remaining residents.

“On the afternoon of October 19, in the same village, ISIL reportedly tied six civilians to a vehicle by their hands and dragged them around the village, apparently simply because they were related to a particular tribal leader fighting against ISIL,” Coalville said.

He added that the six men were also allegedly beaten with sticks and gun butts. “It is not clear what happened to them subsequently,” Coalville added.

On October 20, Iraqi security forces reportedly discovered the bodies of 70 civilians inside houses in Tuloul Naser village, which is located in the same sub-District, some 35 km South of Mosul City.

“The bodies had bullet wounds, but it is not known for sure at this point who was responsible for the killings,” the OHCHR said.

On October 22, ISIL militants shot dead three women and three young girls, and wounded a further four children from Rufeila village, which is located in the al-Qayyarah sub-District, South of Mosul.

Yemeni Army Blocks Pro-Saudi Attack on Key Region in Sana'a Province

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950805001415

The Yemeni forces managed to drive back the pro-Saudi forces that were backed by the kingdom's fighter jets, stopping their advance towards al-Houl district in the Ninth district of Sana'a province.

The Yemeni army and popular forces also blocked the pro-Saudi forces' advance towards al-Shabaka region in Sana'a province.

In Ta'iz province, the Yemeni army hit a gathering center of the terrorists in al-Jamila region in a missile attack which resulted in the death and injury of several pro-Saudi forces.

In al-Jawf province, the Yemeni army's artillery units hit the Saudi mercenaries in al-Khanjar region near Khob and al-Sha'af regions, inflicting several casualties on them.

On Sunday, the Yemeni army and popular forces hit hard the gathering centers of the Saudi troops in Southern Saudi Arabia with Katyusha rockets, inflicting heavy losses on the Kingdom's army.

"The Yemeni forces hit the gathering centers of the terrorists in al-Raheh village in Jizan province on Sunday morning," the Arabic-language al-Massira new channel quoted a military source as saying.

The Saudi forces sustained heavy casualties in the Yemeni rocket attacks on their positions in Jizan province.

Meantime, the Yemeni army and popular forces hit the pro-Saudi gathering centers in Lahij province in Southern Yemen, killing several of militants.

The pro-Hadi militias' military positions to the South of Kahboub region in Lahij province came under the Yemeni forces' mortar attacks as well.

The Yemeni attacks came in response to the Saudi airstrikes on the civilian population across the impoverished nation, including Sana'a, Ta'iz, al-Hudayda and Hajjah provinces.

On Saturday, senior Yemeni commanders announced that their forces had captured a Saudi military base with all its weapons and ammunition inside Saudi Arabia.

"The Yemeni special forces attacked a Saudi military base in the Eastern side of Najran and captured the military base after fierce clashes which lasted over three hours," senior Ansarullah commander Ali al-Hamzani told FNA.

He noted that the tribal leaders in Najran have warned against the dangerous security conditions in their province and called on the Riyadh government to drive out the al-Qaeda terrorists from Najran soon.

"This is while Saudi Arabia has intensified sectarian differences in Najran through reinvigorating the Takfiri terrorists in the region," al-Hamzani said.

Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen since last March to restore power to fugitive president Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Saudi-led aggression has so far killed at least 11,800 Yemenis, including hundreds of women and children.

Despite Riyadh's claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi bombers are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

According to several reports, the Saudi-led air campaign against Yemen has driven the impoverished country towards humanitarian disaster.

 

[angelburst29]

A US warplane hit a girls' school in the South of the Iraqi city of Mosul on October 21, the Russian General Staff's chief said.

Russian Military: US Air Force Jet Struck School in Iraq's Mosul
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950805000694

"On October 21, a US Air Force plane carried out an airstrike against a girls' school in the Southern part of the city of Mosul," said Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi, RIA Novosti reported.

More than 60 civilians died and 200 were wounded because of the US-led coalition's airstrikes on residential areas in Mosul and its outskirts in the last three days, he said.

There is an ample evidence of the US-led coalition's airstrikes on residential areas, schools and other civilian infrastructure in Mosul and other inhabited localities in the Nineveh province. Over 60 people, including children, died as a result of these actions over the last three days. More than 200 were wounded."

On October 17, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced the start of a military operation to recapture Mosul from ISIL, with the help of airstrikes by the US-led international coalition.

Ankara does not exclude the possibility of launching a ground operation in Iraq if it is necessary, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

Turkey Considers Ground Operation in Iraq against ISIL or PKK
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950805000668

"If the developments in Iraq threaten our security and stability, we will use all the rights to protect the country, all the possibilities, including conducting of a ground operation. Its target could be PKK or ISIL," Cavusoglu said, Turkey's Kanal 24 TV reported.

A top ISIL member in charge of the terrorist group's financial resources along with a German woman who trained ISIL's female suicide attackers fled with millions of dollars from the city of Mosul in Nineveh province, media reports said Wednesday.

Report: ISIL's Treasury Man, Economic Brain Disappears with Millions of Dollars in Mosul
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950805000784

"ISIL's financial chief known as Abi Motaz al-Qahtani has disappeared with a German woman who was in charge of training ISIL's female suicide bombers," the Arabic-language al-Sumeriya news channel quoted a local source as saying on Wednesday.

The source noted that the disappearance of al-Qahtani and the unnamed German woman has been a planned move as they have escaped with important dossiers and millions of dollars in cash.

The fleeing of the ISIL's financial chief came as Iraq's joint military forces are getting closer to seize back Mosul city.

In early August, ISIL’s former financial resources chief in Mosul reportedly stole a sizable amount of money and fled along with a number of militants.

Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) official from Mosul said in a statement that ‘ISIL’s Wali of Baitul-Mal’ in Mosul along with three other militants have fled the state to an unknown location after they took out a large amount of money and other valuable archaeological pieces from the group’s treasury known as Baitul-Mal, BasNews reported.

The ISIL later executed six guards of its treasury building on charge of facilitating the robbery, the statement added.

A prominent Iraqi military analyst disclosed that Riyadh and Ankara had hatched plots to transfer ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi from Mosul to Libya but the massive presence of the popular forces and Russian fighter jets at the bordering areas of Iraq and Syria dissuaded them.

Iraqi Analyst Discloses S. Arabia, Turkey's Plot to Transfer Al-Baghdadi to Libya
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950805000803

"The two countries were working to take al-Baghdadi to Turkey either by moving him through Mosul and Kirkuk to the North or through al-Qa'em and al-Ratba corridor to Deir Ezzur in Syria and then to Turkey to eventually transfer him to Libya," Safa al-A'asam told Iraq's al-Ma'louma news agency on Wednesday.

He added that the ISIL concluded that transferring al-Baghdadi through Tal Afar region to Raqqa in Syria is also impossible given the massive presence of Hashd al-Sha'abi (popular forces) in the Southern front near Be’aaj district, Northwest of the Iraqi province of Nineveh as well as the numerous flights done by the Russian fighter jets over the Syrian bordering areas with Iraq.

"The ISIL is now working to find a different path through the Iraq-Syria borders to take al-Baghdadi to Turkey and then to Libya or any other countries," al-A'asam said.

The statements came as reports from western Iraq said earlier this month that al-Baghdadi has succumbed to his last month's fatal injuries and died in a region along the border with Syria.

"Al-Baghdadi had been severely wounded in the Al-Anbar battle in Western Iraq last month, and his wounds were so lethal that he could not at all move freely," a local Iraqi source told the Arabic service of the Russian Sputnik news agency.

The source said despite long treatment in Mosul, the general health conditions of the ISIL leader deteriorated due to "a deep abdominal cut, damage to his liver and crippling wounds in his left limbs".

The source said al-Baghdad lost his life in the town of Al-Be'aaj some 100km (60 miles) West of Mosul near the border with Syria, but his death is concealed to avoid the loss of morale among ISIL ranks who are faced with a tough war in Mosul and Syria these days.

There have been numerous reports on the fate or location of the ISIL leader in the last two years. As the war ravages over the self-proclaimed capital of the terrorist cult, Mosul, in Western Iraq, Arab media sources said earlier this month that al-Baghdadi had fled to Raqqa in Syria before the Iraqi army started its operations in Mosul, but his wife was taken.

According to Iraq's Sumeriya News, local sources in Nineveh quoted defected ISIL leaders as saying that al-Baghdadi has managed to escape from Mosul to Raqqa, but his wife has been arrested.

The defected militants stated that senior members of the terrorist group, called the ISIL police, have rebelled against al-Baghdadi and called on his supporters to surrender themselves.

The source did not mention who has arrested Baghdadi's wife, but his words implied that she has been captured during a mutiny and by those who rebelled against the terror leader.

Meantime, earlier in October, Sumeriya News cited a local source in the Northwestern Nineveh province as saying that “accurate information” showed Baghdadi’s food had been poisoned by unknown individuals and the food was given to him in Be’aaj district.

The source added that al-Baghdadi and three of his aides have been transferred to an unknown location under strict measures.

Numerous reports had indicated in the last one month that al-Baghdadi and other top commanders of the terrorist cult have started evacuating Mosul in anticipation of the Iraqi army's massive attack to take back the city.

The exact location of al-Baghdadi has been a subject of speculation. However the account on sighting al-Baghdadi has intensified the speculations that the ISIL leader was in Mosul before the start of Iraqi forces' operations to retake the strategic city.

Also reports said in June that al-Baghdadi had been seriously wounded in an airstrike in Western Iraq.

Local sources in Iraq's Nineveh province confirmed that Baghdadi and other leaders in the ISIL were wounded in an air raid on one of the ISIL command headquarters close to the Syrian border.

Baghdadi was seriously wounded by an airstrike on March 18, 2015, that killed the three other men he was travelling with.

He was said to be receiving treatment for spinal injuries after being wounded in that strike.

In mid-May, Iraq's local sources disclosed that al-Baghdadi returned to Iraq from Syria and hid in Nineveh province.

"Al-Baghdadi and a group of ISIL commanders have stealthily returned to Iraq's Nineveh province," the Arabic-language Sumeriya News quoted an unnamed local Iraqi source as saying at the time.

Al-Baghdadi returned to Nineveh province through ISIL-controlled desert roads in Iraq and Syria, added the source.

The source noted that Al-Baghdadi hi in an unknown place in Nineveh province.

The ISIL Leader is running a secret life as his life is at stake more than anyone in the world now. Al-Baghdad's terrorist group is under massive airstrike by the Syrian, Russian and Iraqi Air Forces all throughout the Western Iraq and Eastern Syria.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Russian diplomat concerned over worsening situation in Mosul

http://tass.com/politics/909059

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman calls on the participants on the Mosul liberation operation to spare no effort to prevent sufferings of the civilian population

The Russian side calls on the participants on the Mosul liberation operation to spare no effort to prevent sufferings of the civilian population, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

Moscow "supports the Iraqi government’s resolute steps to restore the constitutional order across the entire territory of the country and exterminate the hotspot of international terrorism represented by Islamic State (a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia)," she said.

"Along with the growing concerns we note that the humanitarian situation is degrading due to mass exodus of civilian population from Mosul and its suburbs who are seeking to flee both repression from extremists and air strikes of the anti-Islamic State coalition led by Washington," Zakharova stressed. "In this context, we call on the participants to spare no effort to prevent sufferings of civilians who have got tired of violence and terrorism in their country."

A ground operation to liberate Mosul from terrorists of Islamic State began on October 17.

It involves the Iraqi government troops, Kurdish units and the U.S.-led international anti-terrorist coalition. Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city with a population of 1.3 million, has been controlled by Islamic State for over two years.

On October 25, Russia’s General Staff reported that the coalition strikes in the previous three days had killed more than 60 civilians and wounded more than 200.

Mosul Civilians Caught Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

https://sputniknews.com/politics/201610271046809648-mosul-us-offensive-daesh-civilians/

Mosul residents have been caught between the devil and the deep blue sea following the beginning of the US-led coalition's military operation against Daesh in Iraq. UN human rights organizations warn that the situation may turn into a "displacement catastrophe."

Since the first days of the US-led coalition's offensive on Daesh's stronghold in Iraq, United Nations humanitarian organizations have begun sounding alarm, warning that the battle for Mosul may turn into a "displacement catastrophe."

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs' (OCHA) estimates, about one million people may flee Mosul due to the US-led coalition's operation, of which about 200,000 may be displaced during the first weeks of the offensive.

The situation is described as having the potential to be "one of the worst-case scenarios," the UN News Center website signaled last week.

On Wednesday, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR) Representative in Iraq, Bruno Geddo revealed that the agency had registered some 10,550 displaced persons since the beginning of the coalition's advance.

"We are building camps and finalizing preparations at a frantic pace, but the current capacity is still limited to around 60,000 people. So if people are displaced from the city in waves, it will be easier to manage. If 150,000 to 200,000 people are displaced at once […] it will become a humanitarian disaster," he said as quoted by the website.

Commenting on the matter in her op-ed for The National Interest, Jessica Brandt, an associate fellow in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution, calls attention to the fact that the majority of refugees "will not attain refuge in well-established displacement camps."

"Instead, they will be directed to 'emergency sites' that provide only the most basic services," she stressed, citing the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

US-based Strategic Forecasting, Inc. (Stratfor) intelligence firm echoed Brandt's concerns in its recent analytical report.

"The greater problem is that almost everywhere in Iraq, camps and sanctuaries are full. Many people leaving Mosul will have to crowd into existing camps and shelters, exacerbating the tenuous security and health conditions in these settlements," Stratfor's report stated, adding that Turkey and Jordan have recently tightened their borders with Iraq.

Meanwhile, according to Brandt, the number of Iraqis who need some form of humanitarian aid currently amounts to nearly one-third of the country's population.

"The number of people in Iraq who need some form of humanitarian assistance already exceeds ten million," she emphasized.

Citing UNHCR, the scholar pointed out that it will cost up to $196.2 million to handle the coming humanitarian crisis.

However, it's only the tip of the iceberg. The other problem, prompted by the US-led coalition's advance, is that humanitarian organizations need to establish "safe pathways out of the violence."

Brandt warned that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis could find themselves caught in the fighting. It is also highly likely that Daesh would use the citizens as human shields to prevent the coalition's airstrikes.

To make matters worse, the US' previous combat operations in the Middle East indicated that Washington pays a little if any attention to non-American civilian casualties, political analyst Oleg Glazunov of the Moscow-based Plekhanov Russian University of Economics told Radio Sputnik Thursday.

"Military aircraft usually do not take part in urban combat since it is hard to tell ally from an enemy. But Americans couldn't care less about these things…. For Washington, there are US citizens and all the rest who present no interest to the US," Glazunov said, highlighting that the Mosul operation consists mainly of urban combat.

On Tuesday, the Russian General Staff's chief Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi told reporters that more than 60 civilians were killed and 200 injured because of the US-led coalition's airstrikes on residential areas in Mosul in the last three days.

"The key goal for Americans is to carry out a mission with minimal American losses. They don't care about the rest," Glazunov stressed commenting on the issue.

 

[angelburst29]

ISIL executed over 230 civilians in Mosul as the battle to liberate the Iraqi city from the terrorist group has gained momentum, an Iraqi official said.

Official: ISIL Executes over 230 Iraqi Civilians in Mosul
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950806000440

"ISIL militants continued to commit atrocities in the province of Nineveh, they executed 190 people in the area of ​​Hammam al-Alil after taking them hostage in different areas of Mosul," said the chairman of the Iraqi parliamentary human rights committee, Abdel Rakhim Shamri, presstv reported.

He added that another 42 people were taken from the village of Arij and executed after they refused to cooperate with the terrorists.

Shamri also called on Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to facilitate the airlifting of civilians from ISIL-held areas in Mosul as the terrorists are using them as human shields.

On Tuesday, the UN human rights office said it had preliminary reports about scores of mass killings by Daesh around Mosul in the past week.

UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a regular UN briefing in Geneva that the bodies of 70 civilians with bullet wounds had been discovered by Iraqi security forces in Tuloul Naser village on October 20, and 50 police officers being held outside the city had also reportedly been killed.

On Wednesday, the commander of the Mosul operations, Major General Najm al Jabouri, announced that government forces had liberated the villages of Saf al Tuth and Nana after engaging enemy snipers stationed close to the villages.

Locals report that ISIL militants are employing a scorched earth policy destroying buildings, farms, detonating explosives, torching industrial plants and kidnapping and killing civilians as they are forced to retreat.

Regional officials have confirmed the terrorists are kidnapping and executing people as they are forced to retreat by advancing Iraqi forces.

A member of the Nineveh provincial council, Abdul Rahman al-Wagga, noted that the executions were carried out "to terrorize the others, those who are in Mosul in particular."

"ISIL was taking families from each village it left," he added.

A notorious ISIL commander who was also among the inner ring of ISIL Leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi's most trusted men, was killed during clashes with Iraqi security forces South of Mosul.

ISIL's 'Rambo' Killed in Battles South of Mosul
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950806001104

Abu Iman al-Mouseli, who was also called 'Rambo' by ISIL militants for his bulky build, was killed in an attack by Iraqi security forces in the vicinity of Shoura region, South of Mosul.

Al-Mouseli was in charge of ISIL's special security unit, formed to provide an increased protection for the ISIL-held Mosul against impending attacks by the Iraqi Army forces.

The report about the death of the senior ISIL commander comes as earlier this month sources in Western Iraq said leader of the ISIL terrorist cult Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi succumbed to his last month's fatal injuries and died in a region along the border with Syria.

 

[angelburst29]

Toxic fumes from a sulfur plant torched by Daesh near Mosul several days ago have had drastic consequences for the health of many Iraqi civilians, German magazine Focus Online wrote, referring to NASA.

Toxic Smoke Spread by Daesh in Iraq Causes Anemia, Severe Blood Disorders
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201610271046792450-toxic-smoke-daesh-iraq/

According to NASA reports, the toxic smoke has caused severe respiratory problems in many people in the surrounding area, forcing them to immediately search for medical help.

​Sulfur dioxide is produced by the reaction of elemental sulfur with oxygen. When its amount exceeds certain limits, it causes headache, nausea and, at higher concentrations, severe damage to blood vessels of the lungs and anemia.

Media reports say that the wind is rapidly carrying the toxic smoke to other parts of the country as well as toward Turkey.

Experts believe that the amount of the gas resulting from the fire is comparable with a large volcanic eruption and is very alarming. It could also lead to the pollution of the groundwater thus causing damage to humans and local agriculture for many years to come, the German magazine wrote. More than 800 Iraqis have already had to flee from the toxic smoke clouds to remote areas. However, the toxic clouds didn't just affect residents of nearby villages, but also reached US forces at the Qayyarah military base to the south of Mosul and forced troops to wear gas masks for precaution.

​Daesh fighters are said to have set the sulfur plant on fire to slow the advance of the anti-Daesh coalition. According to reports of the military, the smoke had a negative impact on scheduled military operations in the area, where Iraqi forces are involved in a crucial offensive to liberate Mosul from Daesh fighters.

 

[angelburst29]

Unknown assailants attacked a gas tanker off the coast of Yemen close to the Bab al-Mandab waterway in the latest flare up in an area through which much of the world's oil passes, shipping and security officials said on Wednesday.

Gas Tanker Attacked Near Key Shipping Lane Off Yemen
http://www.marinelink.com/news/attacked-shipping-tanker417434

October 26, 2016 - The incident, the first attack on a commercial ship since July, followed missile attacks in recent weeks on military craft, including U.S. navy vessels, which were launched from Yemen that had already raised risks for merchant shipping.

Shipping group Teekay (TK) said its LNG (liquefied natural gas) tanker Galicia Spirit "experienced a suspected piracy attack whilst off the coast of Yemen" on Oct. 25.

"No third parties managed to board the vessel during the incident and all crew members are safe and have been accounted for," Teekay said in a statement.

"As a precaution, the vessel had a Djibouti warship in attendance when heading away from the area. She has now left the high risk area without any further issues," it added without further details.

Maritime security sources said the incident occurred near Perim Island, which is about 14 km from the southern Yemeni coast and the site of a lighthouse for ships passing through the Bab al-Mandab.

British maritime security firm MAST said a small vessel had approached the tanker and fired a rocket propelled grenade (RPG).

MAST understands that the vessel had no armed security team on board, and that the vessel sustained small arms fire as well as the RPG," it said. "It is unclear whether this is a terrorist attack or piracy."

The Royal Navy's UK Maritime Trade Operation said in a circular to mariners and seen by Reuters that the incident was still being investigated "as is the alleged use of RPG".

The UK Maritime Component Command, responsible for Royal Navy activity in the Middle East, said in a statement on Wednesday "details are still emerging as to the exact nature of the incident event and investigations are still on-going".

While shipping companies have yet to divert ships, the stakes are high given nearly four million barrels of oil are shipped daily to Europe, the United States and Asia via the Bab al-Mandab as well as other commercial goods.

Yemen's civil war continues to escalate, pitting the Iran-aligned Houthi movement, backed by troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, against the internationally recognised government of Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi, backed by Saudi Arabia.

The United States carried out cruise missile strikes on Oct. 15 against radar sites in Houthi controlled areas of Yemen after two confirmed attempts to hit U.S. Navy destroyer USS Mason with coastal cruise missiles close to the Bab al-Mandab. The Houthi movement has denied firing on the USS Mason.

The Houthis have confirmed a separate earlier attack on a United Arab Emirates vessel in the area.

"While small boats were implicated in these military attacks, there is no evidence that they are connected with this latest incident," said Michael Edey, head of operations with British security firm Dryad Maritime.

"I would suggest that this attack was by locals from southern Yemen rather than the Houthis."

 

[angelburst29]

Iraqi security forces have discovered a 1.8-mile tunnel and a bomb-making facility built by Daesh militants in Mosul, Al Sumaria broadcaster reported citing its sources.

Iraqi Forces Discover Daesh-Built Long Tunnel, Bomb Factory in Mosul - Reports
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201610281046836029-mosul-tunnel-daesh/

One of the biggest facilities producing explosives to be installed on vehicles has been discovered in a village to the east of Mosul."There is a big number of land mines, timing mechanisms… the militants have prepared them with the aim to attack security forces in Nineveh Governorate… the security forces have also discovered a 3 km [1.8 mile] tunnel, which lies from the eastern part of Mosul to the center of the Nineveh [ancient] city. The tunnel is equipped with electricity and coolers," a security source told the broadcaster on Thursday.

The Pentagon is capable of conducting simultaneous operations in Mosul and Raqqa, US defense chief Ashton Carter asserted, but journalist Svetlana Kalmykova said that the anti-Daesh offensive in Syria will hardly help to speed things up in Iraq at a time when the operation for Mosul has "floundered," fueling doubts over Washington's "true goals."

What's the Rush: Pentagon Waging 'Strange War' in Mosul and Raqqa
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201610281046833266-pentagon-raqqa-mosul-operation/

"From the strategic point of view, an offensive in Syria will not help the coalition secure the victory over terrorists in Iraq sooner. But this will allow [Washington] to justify increasing Western military presence on the Syrian territory. By the way, without the authorization from Damascus," she wrote in an opinion piece for Sputnik in a piece titled "Neither Here nor There: America's 'Strange War' in Mosul and Raqqa."

On Wednesday, US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter confirmed that an operation aimed at liberating Raqqa, the so-called capital of Daesh's caliphate, will begin in weeks. The campaign is scheduled to be launched in 2016. This plan, according to Carter, has been in place for months. "We will be capable of resourcing both," he claimed.

Kalmykova pointed to a second possible reason behind the Pentagon's decision to rush into Raqqa.

The United States, she said, is trying to "secure a firmer footing in Syria at a time when al-Nusra Front and similar organizations are under threat of being destroyed. They are desperately fighting against the advancing Syrian Arab Army in Aleppo."

The journalist further mentioned a point made earlier by defense analyst Konstantin Sivkov, President of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, in an interview with Radio Sputnik. He said that what some perceive as Washington's mistakes in Syria and Iraq are in fact "planned" steps aimed at boosting US-backed radical forces.

"It follows then that airstrikes carried out by the US and its allies by mistake are not really accidental. In any case, they necessarily lead to the militants mounting an offensive," she said.

The Pentagon's increasing activities in Syria, Kalmykova added, could be interpreted as an admission that Washington "is extremely concerned" for US-backed rebels in Aleppo.

"But they could also betray their sponsors, like it happened in Iraq where the militants have refused to surrender Mosul. As a result, plans to present the liberated [Iraqi] city to Hillary Clinton ahead of the presidential election have been ultimately derailed," she said.

For his part, journalist Evgeny Krutikov pointed out that Ashton Carter was vague on details when it came to the Raqqa operation, adding that the Pentagon was apparently ready to pit Iraq and Syria against each other. "The US secretary of defense forgot to mention what army must invade Syria and take Raqqa under control," he wrote for Vzglyad. "Perhaps, he thinks that the Iraqi security forces or the Kurds will become cannon fodder in this operation, but these are nothing more than fantasies."

Iran warned Turkey against the violation of Iraq's sovereignty, stressing that any anti-terrorism effort in the Arab country needs Baghdad's approval.

Iran Cautions Turkey against Violating Iraq's Sovereignty
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950803000867

"Fighting against terrorism in the region and the world is important and it is good if any government fights against terrorism, but we shouldn’t violate another country's sovereignty to this end," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi told reporters in his weekly press conference in Tehran on Monday.

"Any partnership in this field should be coordinated with the central government (in Iraq)," he added.

Head of Iran's Civil Defense Organization Brigadier General Gholam Reza Jalali confirmed on Monday that security forces have found electronic implants in the country's infrastructures that had been placed by the US for sabotage and espionage.

Iran Confirms Finding US Electronic Implants in Infrastructures
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950803001056

"The Americans have placed implants in Iran's infrastructures with sabotage and data wiring and espionage capabilities, and we have discovered a number of them," Jalali told reporters in Tehran on Monday.

"We classified Iran's infrastructures into several groups, including power, energy, communications, oil and media and examined them, and we discovered some of them (the US implants) in certain infrastructures," he added.

Asked about Iran's plans to produce highly secure smart phones for the country's officials, Jalali said that the officials whose whereabouts are of vital importance and any information about their location could be used against them are not allowed to use smart phones.

"We have worked out some capabilities for other officials too to protect and immunize their cell phones," he said.

His remarks alluded to the New York Times' February report saying that in the early years of the Obama administration, the United States had developed an elaborate plan for a cyber attack on Iran in case the diplomatic effort to limit its nuclear program failed and led to a military conflict.

The plan, code-named Nitro Zeus, was devised to disable Iran’s air defenses, communications systems and crucial parts of its power grid, and was shelved, at least for the foreseeable future, after the nuclear deal struck between Iran and six other nations was fulfilled.

At its height, the US officials said, the planning for Nitro Zeus involved thousands of American military and intelligence personnel, spending tens of millions of dollars and placing electronic implants in Iranian computer networks to “prepare the battlefield,” in the parlance of the Pentagon, New York Times reported.