Kshatriya87
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The IS (Islamic State) aka ISIS updates
- Thread starter Razor
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Kshatriya87
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Kshatriya87
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Kshatriya87
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Resilient ISIS push back in Syria, Iraq and Libya
Even as internationally backed forces chip away at ISIS-held territory in Syria, Iraq and Libya, the militants have demonstrated a stubborn resilience this week in the face of recent losses.
The ISIS forces dealt an embarrassing setback to the Syrian army near the militants’ self-styled capital of Raqqa with a swift counteroffensive that rolled back incremental gains by troops loyal to President Bashar Assad.
Even as internationally backed forces chip away at ISIS-held territory in Syria, Iraq and Libya, the militants have demonstrated a stubborn resilience this week in the face of recent losses.
The ISIS forces dealt an embarrassing setback to the Syrian army near the militants’ self-styled capital of Raqqa with a swift counteroffensive that rolled back incremental gains by troops loyal to President Bashar Assad.
Kshatriya87
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After Fallujah, Iraq Gears Up to Rid Mosul of Islamic State
IRBIL, IRAQ—
Riding high on Iraq’s victory over Islamic State fighters in Fallujah, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi confidently said the northwest city of Mosul would be next.
But as Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul is almost 10 times larger than Fallujah and has 10 times the population.
Military officials warn it will be a much tougher battle. Humanitarian agencies are worried it will be a much bigger humanitarian disaster.
And echoing the U.N.’s concerns over reports of serious human rights abuses against civilians displaced from Fallujah, Sunnis are worried that sectarian abuses in Mosul could be even worse.
Patrick Martin, Iraq research analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, said it is pivotal to see how the Iraqi security forces recapture terrain both leading up to Mosul and within the city itself.
“The force composition is important: what specific units are going to be involved, and making sure that units like the Iranian-proxy Shi’ite militias and compromised federal police are not involved,” Martin told VOA.
“A lot of Sunni Arabs are mistrustful and it could contribute to them being nervous to accepting ISF into their home areas,” Martin said.
Iraqi forces will have to also resettle and protect the civilian population so that they neither come under attack nor are abused by the Shi’ite militias, he said.
Fallujah lessons learned
U.S. officials congratulated Abadi on the recent victory by Iraqi forces over the IS stronghold of Fallujah.
“[Abadi] opened the safe corridors or safe passageways for civilians,” State Department Deputy spokesman Mark Toner said. And he “sent a very clear message that any human rights abuses would be prosecuted and people would be held accountable.”
Nevertheless, there were reports of significant abuses in Fallujah by Iranian-backed militias and by members of Iraq’s federal police, who answer to Iraq’s minister of interior, who is himself a member of the Iranian-backed Badr Organization.
“In Fallujah there were a lot of compromised units, who were seen operating alongside Iranian proxy militias inside Fallujah itself,” Martin said. “This is a major concern for future operations.”
Testifying before Congress this week, Brett McGurk, the special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, acknowledged that while the retaking of Fallujah had been a significant victory, it “has not been perfect."
A displaced woman sits next to her sleeping child at a refugee camp in the Makhmour area near Mosul, Iraq, June 15, 2016.
“There were concerning reports of abuses against civilians in the early stages of the operation and the outflow of people initially overwhelmed the U.N. and humanitarian organizations,” McGurk said.
Mosul
For the past six months, the U.S.-led coalition has been working with local forces in Iraq and Syria to isolate Mosul from its supply routes in Syria.
And there are now 20,000 Sunni tribal fighters working with Iraqi forces to clear and hold territory.
But Mosul is not simply a military challenge.
“It is a political, economic, diplomatic and humanitarian challenge that, if not done right, may well outstrip the capacity of the Iraqi government, and the Kurdistan Regional Government, to manage alone,” McGurk said.
“The only way it can succeed is if everybody – Iraqi forces, Kurdish peshmerga, and local fighters from Ninewa – work together as part of a coordinated political-military plan," he said.
Getting consensus on that plan has been difficult.
Consensus
Last week, Iraqi Kurdistan’s regional President Masoud Barzani met with Iraqi National Security Advisor Faleh Fayyad, as well as McGurk and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Stuart Jones, to discuss the Mosul operation.
The meeting covered planning and talks on funding 15,000 local fighters, as well as post-IS political arrangements, McGurk said.
The challenge arises from all the different players having different political objectives – even if they all have the same overarching goal of eliminating IS.
Displaced children, who fled from the Islamic State violence, gather at a refugee camp in the Makhmour area near Mosul, Iraq, June 17, 2016.
Iraq’s Shi’ite political forces, some of them strongly backed by Iran, want to establish clear control over the nation. Shi’ite militia are accused of sectarian violence.
Iraq’s Sunnis, many of whom remember the bitter war against Iran in the 1980s, have little trust in Shi’ite leadership, are fearful of the Shi’ite militia, and want to restore their political power.
Kurds are believed to be making use of the IS fight to delineate what they consider their border and tip the regional demographic in their favor for a future independent Kurdistan, and have little time for Iraqi Arab Sunnis or Shi’ites.
“Their participation in operations to capture Mosul itself would create a lot of instability and fear,” said Martin, the Iraq research analyst. “Sunni Arabs and Kurds in this area were very much at odds” even before IS swept into control.
“It is already going to be an issue in Sinjar,” said Martin, referring to the area the Kurdish peshmerga retook from IS. So far, the peshmerga have not allowed Arabs to return to their homes in the area. “This thing will be very contentious."
IRBIL, IRAQ—
Riding high on Iraq’s victory over Islamic State fighters in Fallujah, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi confidently said the northwest city of Mosul would be next.
But as Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul is almost 10 times larger than Fallujah and has 10 times the population.
Military officials warn it will be a much tougher battle. Humanitarian agencies are worried it will be a much bigger humanitarian disaster.
And echoing the U.N.’s concerns over reports of serious human rights abuses against civilians displaced from Fallujah, Sunnis are worried that sectarian abuses in Mosul could be even worse.
Patrick Martin, Iraq research analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, said it is pivotal to see how the Iraqi security forces recapture terrain both leading up to Mosul and within the city itself.
“The force composition is important: what specific units are going to be involved, and making sure that units like the Iranian-proxy Shi’ite militias and compromised federal police are not involved,” Martin told VOA.
“A lot of Sunni Arabs are mistrustful and it could contribute to them being nervous to accepting ISF into their home areas,” Martin said.
Iraqi forces will have to also resettle and protect the civilian population so that they neither come under attack nor are abused by the Shi’ite militias, he said.
Fallujah lessons learned
U.S. officials congratulated Abadi on the recent victory by Iraqi forces over the IS stronghold of Fallujah.
“[Abadi] opened the safe corridors or safe passageways for civilians,” State Department Deputy spokesman Mark Toner said. And he “sent a very clear message that any human rights abuses would be prosecuted and people would be held accountable.”
Nevertheless, there were reports of significant abuses in Fallujah by Iranian-backed militias and by members of Iraq’s federal police, who answer to Iraq’s minister of interior, who is himself a member of the Iranian-backed Badr Organization.
“In Fallujah there were a lot of compromised units, who were seen operating alongside Iranian proxy militias inside Fallujah itself,” Martin said. “This is a major concern for future operations.”
Testifying before Congress this week, Brett McGurk, the special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, acknowledged that while the retaking of Fallujah had been a significant victory, it “has not been perfect."
A displaced woman sits next to her sleeping child at a refugee camp in the Makhmour area near Mosul, Iraq, June 15, 2016.
“There were concerning reports of abuses against civilians in the early stages of the operation and the outflow of people initially overwhelmed the U.N. and humanitarian organizations,” McGurk said.
Mosul
For the past six months, the U.S.-led coalition has been working with local forces in Iraq and Syria to isolate Mosul from its supply routes in Syria.
And there are now 20,000 Sunni tribal fighters working with Iraqi forces to clear and hold territory.
But Mosul is not simply a military challenge.
“It is a political, economic, diplomatic and humanitarian challenge that, if not done right, may well outstrip the capacity of the Iraqi government, and the Kurdistan Regional Government, to manage alone,” McGurk said.
“The only way it can succeed is if everybody – Iraqi forces, Kurdish peshmerga, and local fighters from Ninewa – work together as part of a coordinated political-military plan," he said.
Getting consensus on that plan has been difficult.
Consensus
Last week, Iraqi Kurdistan’s regional President Masoud Barzani met with Iraqi National Security Advisor Faleh Fayyad, as well as McGurk and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Stuart Jones, to discuss the Mosul operation.
The meeting covered planning and talks on funding 15,000 local fighters, as well as post-IS political arrangements, McGurk said.
The challenge arises from all the different players having different political objectives – even if they all have the same overarching goal of eliminating IS.
Displaced children, who fled from the Islamic State violence, gather at a refugee camp in the Makhmour area near Mosul, Iraq, June 17, 2016.
Iraq’s Shi’ite political forces, some of them strongly backed by Iran, want to establish clear control over the nation. Shi’ite militia are accused of sectarian violence.
Iraq’s Sunnis, many of whom remember the bitter war against Iran in the 1980s, have little trust in Shi’ite leadership, are fearful of the Shi’ite militia, and want to restore their political power.
Kurds are believed to be making use of the IS fight to delineate what they consider their border and tip the regional demographic in their favor for a future independent Kurdistan, and have little time for Iraqi Arab Sunnis or Shi’ites.
“Their participation in operations to capture Mosul itself would create a lot of instability and fear,” said Martin, the Iraq research analyst. “Sunni Arabs and Kurds in this area were very much at odds” even before IS swept into control.
“It is already going to be an issue in Sinjar,” said Martin, referring to the area the Kurdish peshmerga retook from IS. So far, the peshmerga have not allowed Arabs to return to their homes in the area. “This thing will be very contentious."
Kshatriya87
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Iraq's Highway of Death II
http://www.scmp.com/news/world/midd...irstrikes-iraq-convoy-kills-250-islamic-state
http://www.scmp.com/news/world/midd...irstrikes-iraq-convoy-kills-250-islamic-state
Flame Thrower
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A layman questions
Every Army needs ammo, food, weapons and trained soldiers to wage and win a war and a finance source to fund the army requirements.
What I don't understand is How ISIS or any terrorist group is able to wage such prolonged wars...!!??
Money: It was never a problem and it won't be. There are hell lot of supporters and oil trade(for isis)
Food: These terrorists somehow get food as they occupy/stay in cities.
Men & Women are joining isis from all over the world and it is no secret.
Weapons and Ammo is what amazes me.
How the hell are they able to accumilate for such prolonged wars
Hell, even Indian army has only war repserve for 30 days of full fledged war, when our standard doctrine says to maintain it for 45 days.
be it stolen Iraqi weapons or weapons suppled to take on Assad, they should have been finished long back.
Black market purchase is just impossible for prolonged wars
If there are any terrorist manufacturing hubs, then these hubs should be primary focus.
But I've never heard, not in Afgan invasion or Russia or American attacking ISIS. I'm sorry to say this not even in our CT ops, be it NE states or Jammu. In our case, If I remeber it properly around 2008~10 an illegal weapons factory at NE was seazed/ destroyed.
Are these weapon manufacture hubs too difficult to spot and hit or they are just not the priority...!!??
PS: I just want to gain knowledge as it seems that attcks always happen on terror hideouts or drone attacks on terrorists but not on weapons manufacture hubs or how they are able to transfer money to terrorists. God knows how the injured ISIS are getting treated Syria or Iraq or in Afgan.
Every Army needs ammo, food, weapons and trained soldiers to wage and win a war and a finance source to fund the army requirements.
What I don't understand is How ISIS or any terrorist group is able to wage such prolonged wars...!!??
Money: It was never a problem and it won't be. There are hell lot of supporters and oil trade(for isis)
Food: These terrorists somehow get food as they occupy/stay in cities.
Men & Women are joining isis from all over the world and it is no secret.
Weapons and Ammo is what amazes me.
How the hell are they able to accumilate for such prolonged wars
Hell, even Indian army has only war repserve for 30 days of full fledged war, when our standard doctrine says to maintain it for 45 days.
be it stolen Iraqi weapons or weapons suppled to take on Assad, they should have been finished long back.
Black market purchase is just impossible for prolonged wars
If there are any terrorist manufacturing hubs, then these hubs should be primary focus.
But I've never heard, not in Afgan invasion or Russia or American attacking ISIS. I'm sorry to say this not even in our CT ops, be it NE states or Jammu. In our case, If I remeber it properly around 2008~10 an illegal weapons factory at NE was seazed/ destroyed.
Are these weapon manufacture hubs too difficult to spot and hit or they are just not the priority...!!??
PS: I just want to gain knowledge as it seems that attcks always happen on terror hideouts or drone attacks on terrorists but not on weapons manufacture hubs or how they are able to transfer money to terrorists. God knows how the injured ISIS are getting treated Syria or Iraq or in Afgan.
Last edited:
pmaitra
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sorcerer
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US: 45,000 Islamic State Fighters Taken Off Battlefields
WASHINGTON: The military campaigns in Iraq and Syria have taken 45,000 enemy combatants off the battlefield and reduced the total number of Islamic State fighters to as few as 15,000, the top US commander for the fight against IS said Wednesday.
Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland said that both the quality and number of IS fighters is declining, and he warned that it is difficult to determine accurate numbers. Earlier estimates put the number of Islamic State fighters between 19,000 and 25,000, but US officials say the range is now roughly 15,000 to 20,000.
Saying that ``the enemy is in retreat on all fronts,'' MacFarland said US-backed local forces in both Iraq and Syria have been gaining ground. And he said the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq and Syria has decreased and that many people pressed into fighting for the Islamic State group are unwilling or untrained.
``All I know is when we go someplace, it's easier to go there now than it was a year ago. And the enemy doesn't put up as much of a fight,'' he told Pentagon reporters in a video conference.
MacFarland said Syrian democratic forces are on the brink of defeating IS in Manbij, Syria, in a matter of weeks. The city, he said, is largely in the hands of the Syrian democratic forces and the pockets of enemy resistance are shrinking daily.
``I don't give it very long before that operation is concluded, and that will deal a decisive blow to the enemy,'' he said. Asked how long it will take, he said possibly a week or two, but noted that there are still a lot of enemy foreign fighters there battling hard to keep control of the city.
MacFarland said that Iraqi forces are in a position to begin to retake the northern city of Mosul. But he added that the US still has quite a bit of work to do at the Qayyarah Air Base in northern Iraq before it can be used as a hub for the battle to retake Mosul.
President Barack Obama authorized the deployment of 560 more US troops to Iraq to help transform the air base into a staging area for the eventual battle to oust IS from Mosul. The group has held Mosul since June 2014 and has used it as a headquarters.
The US troops will include engineers, logistics personnel, security and communications forces. Some teams of US forces have been in and out of the base to evaluate it and the work that must be done, but officials say large numbers of troops have not yet arrived.
MacFarland cautioned that while there have been successes in both countries, IS will continue to be a threat.
``Military success in Iraq and Syria will not necessarily mean the end of Daesh,'' he said, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group. ``We can expect the enemy to adapt, to morph into a true insurgent force and terrorist organization capable of horrific attacks like the one here on July 3 in Baghdad and those others we've seen around the world.''
Source>>
WASHINGTON: The military campaigns in Iraq and Syria have taken 45,000 enemy combatants off the battlefield and reduced the total number of Islamic State fighters to as few as 15,000, the top US commander for the fight against IS said Wednesday.
Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland said that both the quality and number of IS fighters is declining, and he warned that it is difficult to determine accurate numbers. Earlier estimates put the number of Islamic State fighters between 19,000 and 25,000, but US officials say the range is now roughly 15,000 to 20,000.
Saying that ``the enemy is in retreat on all fronts,'' MacFarland said US-backed local forces in both Iraq and Syria have been gaining ground. And he said the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq and Syria has decreased and that many people pressed into fighting for the Islamic State group are unwilling or untrained.
``All I know is when we go someplace, it's easier to go there now than it was a year ago. And the enemy doesn't put up as much of a fight,'' he told Pentagon reporters in a video conference.
MacFarland said Syrian democratic forces are on the brink of defeating IS in Manbij, Syria, in a matter of weeks. The city, he said, is largely in the hands of the Syrian democratic forces and the pockets of enemy resistance are shrinking daily.
``I don't give it very long before that operation is concluded, and that will deal a decisive blow to the enemy,'' he said. Asked how long it will take, he said possibly a week or two, but noted that there are still a lot of enemy foreign fighters there battling hard to keep control of the city.
MacFarland said that Iraqi forces are in a position to begin to retake the northern city of Mosul. But he added that the US still has quite a bit of work to do at the Qayyarah Air Base in northern Iraq before it can be used as a hub for the battle to retake Mosul.
President Barack Obama authorized the deployment of 560 more US troops to Iraq to help transform the air base into a staging area for the eventual battle to oust IS from Mosul. The group has held Mosul since June 2014 and has used it as a headquarters.
The US troops will include engineers, logistics personnel, security and communications forces. Some teams of US forces have been in and out of the base to evaluate it and the work that must be done, but officials say large numbers of troops have not yet arrived.
MacFarland cautioned that while there have been successes in both countries, IS will continue to be a threat.
``Military success in Iraq and Syria will not necessarily mean the end of Daesh,'' he said, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group. ``We can expect the enemy to adapt, to morph into a true insurgent force and terrorist organization capable of horrific attacks like the one here on July 3 in Baghdad and those others we've seen around the world.''
Source>>
Tactical Frog
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New strikes with SCALP missiles against Mosul area targets, simultaneously launched from sea and land
Payback time.
Payback time.
Tactical Frog
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Worth a share ... Syrian Kurds video showing Isis suicide vehicle stopped by anti-tank missiles. Two missiles, one fail, one hit.
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@pmaitra
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201706021054244622-daesh-telegram-app-india/
This is interesting, wouldn't you say?
Apparently the first world super-duper developed nations of USA and germany, their intel agencies with all the shiny gadgets, didn't know. Sounds about right. Right.
Please move to the appropriate thread, if any.
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201706021054244622-daesh-telegram-app-india/
This is interesting, wouldn't you say?
Apparently the first world super-duper developed nations of USA and germany, their intel agencies with all the shiny gadgets, didn't know. Sounds about right. Right.
Please move to the appropriate thread, if any.
Butter Chicken
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Latest ISIS propaganda video.Look at the production quality.
Butter Chicken
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America using White Phosporous in Mosul
Butter Chicken
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SVBIED attack by Islamic State in Mosul,Iraq
pmaitra
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Dana Rohrbacher is a known Putin supporter. Whatever he is saying, which is partly sarcastic, partly to provoke a response, is he is asking the people and trying to get them to cough up the real truth, that a section of the US establishment is secretly trying to help ISIS to reach its geopolitical goals. Listen to the entire video. Dana Rohrbacher is a smart guy.
