Islamic State

Coalition-Backed Syrian Troops Kill 20 ISIS Fighters at Tanf

U.S.-led coalition and its Syrian partners killed more than 20 Islamic State fighters and captured 17 others Wednesday in fighting outside U.S. base at Tanf, the coalition said Thursday.

It was the second combat action around that key US base and coalition officials took issue with what they described as ISIS has been able to move freely through Syrian regime-controlled territory with a Russian military presence.

“Despite the presence of Russian-backed, pro-Syrian regime forces in the area, Daesh still finds ways to move freely through regime lines and pose a threat,” coalition director of operations Brig. Gen. Jonathan Braga said in the statement, using an alternate name for ISIS. “We shall continue to work by, with and through our partner forces to deny Daesh the ability to regroup and reorganize.”
Given its location, the base has been seen as an important outpost as the United States, Russia and Iran jockey for influence in the region. Iran in particular is said to want to control a route running from Iran to the Mediterranean that would runs through that area.
Reports citing unnamed U.S. officials said the convoy had about 10 vehicles and got within 55 kilometers of the base. The United States has established a so-called deconfliction zone of 55 kilometers around al Tanf.
“Though Daesh has lost over 98 percent of the land it once controlled, this exchange is evidence that Daesh still poses a threat to the people of Syria,” the statement. “The coalition remains committed to standing with our partner forces to see a lasting defeat of Daesh.”

During the summer, the area around Tanf has been the scene of several operations. US airstrikes hit Syrian-backed militias inside the 55-kilometer zone around the US base and coalition troops shot down an Iranian drone.

To read the entire article from The Hill, click here:

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Iraq Executes 38 ISIS/al-Qaida Fighters on Terrorism Charges

Iraqi government officials said that Iraq hanged 38 jihadists, 37 Iraqis, and one Swedish citizen, belonging to the Islamic State group or Al-Qaida for terrorism offenses on Thursday in the southern city of Nasiriyah.

It was the largest number of executions in Iraq on a single day since September 25 when 42 people were put to death in the same prison.

“The prison administration executed on Thursday in the presence of Justice Minister Haidar al-Zameli, in Nasiriyah prison, 38 death row prisoners belonging to Al-Qaida or Daesh (IS) accused of terrorist activities,” said Dakhel Kazem, a senior official in the provincial council.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Saturday declared victory against IS after a three-year campaign by government forces backed by a U.S.-led coalition to retake territory seized by the jihadists.
Rights watchdog Amnesty International has voiced repeated concerns about the use of the death penalty in Iraq, which it ranks as one of the world’s top executioners behind China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.
“Iraqi justice is failing to distinguish between the culpability of doctors who protected lives under ISIS rule and those responsible for crimes against humanity,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW’s Middle East director.
HRW said it regretted what it called the inconsistent application of a 2016 law granting amnesty to suspects who can show they joined IS or any extremist group against their will and have not committed a crime.
“Execution of fighters who surrender or are hors de combat is a war crime,” HRW added.

Human Rights Watch made a case for many Iraqis who were forced to join the Islamic State against their will during the IS invasion of 2014 where they took a large percentage of Iraq before the government struck back and drove them out in subsequent operations.

To read the entire article from The Voice of America, click here:

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Pentagon Doubts Russian Withdrawal From Syria Claim

The Pentagon isn’t buying into the claims by Russian President Vladimir Putin that the Russian are pulling a “significant part” of their troops from Syria after their mission in the war-torn country has been completed.

Putin visited the country on Monday and it is estimated to have 10,000 active duty troops and private contractors currently in Syria. But his message of “mission accomplished” is being met with a healthy dose of skepticism in Washington.

But Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway said such declarations were not necessarily reflected by action.
“Russian comments about removal of their forces do not often correspond with actual troop reductions, and do not affect US priorities in Syria,” he said. A US official told AFP that Putin was likely to carry out a “token withdrawal” of some aircraft, then follow up by demanding the United States pulls its forces out of Syria. The US military last week said it would stay in Syria, where it is fighting the Islamic State group, as long as necessary to ensure the jihadists don’t return.
The “coalition will continue to operate in Syria in support of local forces on the ground to complete the military defeat of ISIS and stabilize liberated territory, in turn allowing for displaced Syrians and refugees to return,” Rankine-Galloway said.

The Syrian civil war against the government of President Assad started off as simply protests against the strongman’s totalitarian regime. But soon escalated into civil war. With the addition of the Islamic State, trying to set up a “caliphate” inside Syria, the US became involved, supporting peshmerga units in 2015.

To read the entire article from The Al-Monitor click here:

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Casualty Toll In Somalia Conflict Rises to 4500 in Somalia Since 2016

The United Nations Human Rights Office and the U.N. Assistance Mission in Somalia have said that more than 4,500 civilians have been killed or wounded in the conflict in Somalia since the start of 2016. And their report has pointed the finger at the guilty parties responsible for the majority of the violence plaguing the country.

In the report, covering a period from January 1, 2016, until October 14, 2017, UNSOM documented 2,078 civilian deaths and 2,507 injuries. The worst perpetrators of the killings against civilians are the al-Shabab militant group that is responsible for more 60 percent of the casualties according to the report. About a quarter of the death toll comes from the October 14 truck in Mogadishu where a special committee tasked to investigate the incident reported that 512 people were killed and more than 300 others were injured. Al-Shabab has been blamed for the attack.

“They are by far the worst when it comes to activities that kill civilians in conflict,” said U.N. Special Envoy to Somalia Michael Keating. “Of the incidents attributable to al-Shabab, 79 percent are as a result of the use of IEDs [improvised explosive devices] whether they are vehicle borne or otherwise.”.
The report says clan militias are responsible for 13 percent of the casualties, while state actors, including the army and the police, are responsible for 11 percent. The report says the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) is responsible for four percent. A further 12 percent of the casualties was caused by unidentified or undetermined attackers, the report said.

The U.N. reports that the citizens of Somalia are the ones paying the price for the government failing to address the issues of the country by political means. And that child endangerment is rising sharply with thousands of cases of child-recruitment with the vast majority of those being blamed on al-Shabab.

To read the entire article from The Voice of America click here:

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Kurds Criticize Abadi For Not Mentioning Their Role in Defeating IS

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi publicly announced that the three-year war aimed at driving the Islamic State out of Iraq was successful and has come to an end. But what he didn’t do was acknowledge the role the Iraqi Kurds played in the defeating of ISIS. And that has the peshmerga forces rightfully mad.

“Our forces are in complete control of the Iraqi-Syrian border, and I therefore announce the end of the war against Daesh [IS],” Abadi said at a conference in Baghdad that was arranged by the Iraqi journalists’ union.
IS fighters seized control of nearly one-third of Iraq in the summer of 2014, threatening the very existence of the Iraqi state. Over the past three-and-one half years, however, Iraqi forces backed by the U.S.-led coalition recaptured all of the territory. Peshmerga forces were part of the international coalition that fought against IS.
Peshmerga Ministry claimed in a statement that 1,824 Peshmerga fighters had been “martyred” and more than 10,000 injured in the fight against IS. A statement issued by the U.S. State Department did not mention Peshmerga’s role in the defeat of IS in Iraq, either.
However, the United Kingdom acknowledged the role of Peshmerga, along with Iraqi forces, in defeating the IS group.
“The UK, as a Coalition member, has played a leading role in supporting the Iraqi Security Forces, including the Armed Forces and the Peshmerga, in the fight against Daesh,” said a statement from British Prime Minister Theresa May.

The Kurds know that they have no friends in the Iraqi government. Which is why they voted, overwhelmingly so, in favor of a referendum for Kurdish independence from Baghdad. That caused the Iraqis to seize their oil-rich territory with the help from the Iranian backed militias.

To read the entire article from The Voice of America, click here:

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US Slams Russia, Syria Over Halfhearted Attempts to Oust IS

The White House and the Pentagon have publicly blasted the Russians and Syrians for what is viewed as a weak attempt to oust the Islamic State and ISIS from the Syrian borders.

In a scathing statement, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Rob Manning said, “The Syrian regime and Russian Federation’s actions have thus far demonstrated that countering ISIS and other violent extremist groups like Nusra Front and al-Qaeda is not their foremost priority.”

Manning added, “Their collective actions call into question their commitment to deal a lasting defeat to ISIS and other extremist groups.”

Manning read from a prepared statement as he said the U.S. was reorganizing its forces in Syria to try to stabilize so-called de-escalation zones in support of the Geneva peace process, which he accused Russia of undermining.
“They also do not appear to have a plan for how to bring a meaningful conclusion to the civil war that addresses the fundamental problem that led to the rise of ISIS nor do they appear to be serious about the withdrawal of Iranian-backed militias,” Manning said.
Last week, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis pronounced peace talks sponsored by Russia in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana a failure.
“Astana has not been productive. A lot of effort went into it. Nothing much has come out of it. Now, it is going into Geneva,” Mattis said.
The Geneva process is “starting to gain traction,” and so he said American troops and U.S.-backed Syrian fighters are changing their stance as a result.

Mattis told reporters that the US was changing it’s the composition of its forces to something that supports its diplomats and the Geneva process. Mattis also admitted that US troop strength was far above what had been reported. Instead of the 503 troops officially acknowledged by the Pentagon, Mattis said the number was around 2000.

To read the entire article from The Washington Examiner, click here:

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ICC, “Reasonable Basis” for British Guilty of War Crimes

Fatou Bensouda, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor said on Monday there is a “reasonable basis” to believe that some British soldiers committed war crimes during combat operations in the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Bensouda’s statement said, that in a 74-page report on preliminary inquiries that “there is a reasonable basis to believe that members of the UK armed forces committed war crimes, within the jurisdiction of the Court, against persons in their custody,” he said.

The Hague-based prosecutor in 2014 reopened an initial probe into war crimes allegations relating to prisoner abuse after rights groups and lawyers alleged that at least 1,071 Iraqi detainees were tortured and ill-treated between March 2003 to December 2008.
The same group also alleged that British personnel committed 52 unlawful killings of people in their custody over the same period.
However, a group of lawyers who formed part of the those making the allegations were later found guilty on misconduct charges resulting from a public inquiry. The lawyers’ lead counsellor was struck off.
Bensouda’s office however said individual statements received from those lawyers “could be considered credible enough if substantiated with supporting material” such as detention records, medical certificates and photographs.
Back in 2006, Luis Moreno-Ocampo the world war crimes court’s previous chief prosecutor said he would not open a full probe in Iraq because he did not have enough evidence.
To read the entire article from the Al Monitor click here:

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Niger Agrees to Grant Authority to U.S. Military to Arm Drones

Reports from CNN earlier this week are saying that the government of Niger has granted the US military the authority to arm its drones in Niger. US military officials had been seeking the authority to arm its drones for months prior to the ambush of a US Special Forces unit that left four soldiers dead.

Since that attack in October has goaded US officials to press the Niger government with a renewed sense of urgency to allow the arming of drones.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford told reporters that a remotely piloted drone aircraft arrived overhead within minutes of the soldiers’ request for support but defense officials told CNN that it was unarmed due to the previous prohibition on armed drones.
It is unclear what if any authority military commanders have to conduct drone strikes in Niger.
“The Government of Niger and the US stand firm in working together to prevent terrorist organizations from using the region as a safe haven. For operational security reasons, I will not comment on specific military authorities or permissions,” Maj. Audricia Harris said.
The New York Times was the first to report Niger’s granting of authority to arm drones.

There are currently around 800 US troops in the country of Niger, most are helping to build a new drone operational base in the town of Agadez. The current base for drone operations is located near the civilian airport in the capital of Niamey.

To read the entire article from CNN, click here:

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U.S. To Cut Off Weapons Shipments to Syrian Kurdish SDF

After doing the lion’s share of the fighting in capturing the Syrian city of Raqqa, the Kurds are getting bad news. President Trump announced that the US will no longer be arming the Syrian Kurds in a phone call to the Turkish President.

That move is another blow for the Kurdish people who have been doing the majority of the fighting in clearing the Islamic State from large areas of Syria. But it is good news for the Turkish government who view the Kurds as terrorists.

In a phone call Friday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trump said he’d “given clear instructions” that the Kurds receive no more weapons — “and that this nonsense should have ended a long time ago,” said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. The White House confirmed the move in a cryptic statement about the phone call that said Trump had informed the Turks of “pending adjustments to the military support provided to our partners on the ground in Syria.”
The move could help ease strained tensions between the U.S. and Turkey, two NATO allies that have been sharply at odds about how best to wage the fight against Islamic State. Turkey considers the Kurdish Syrian fighters, known by the initials YPG, to be terrorists because of their affiliation to outlawed Kurdish rebels that have waged a three decade-long insurgency in Turkey. Yet the U.S. chose to partner with the YPG in Syria anyway, arguing that the battle-hardened Kurds were the most effective fighting force available.
Cavusoglu, who said he was in the room with Erdogan during Trump’s call, quoted the U.S. president as saying he had given instructions to U.S. generals and to national security advisor H.R. McMaster that “no weapons would be issued.”
“Of course, we were very happy with this,” Cavusoglu said.

It appears that both the Pentagon and Kurds were caught by surprise by this announcement by the President. The US has been arming, training, and advising the Kurds, who comprise the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces). There are several hundred US Special Operations troops currently embedded with the SDF in Syria.

To read the entire article from the Los Angeles Times click here:

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Russians Will Reduce Troop Strength in Syria By the End of the Year

The Russians will begin reducing the size of their military forces in Syria significantly said Valery Gerasimov, the Chief of the Russian military General Staff. And he says that it could begin as early as the end of 2017.

Russia’s military support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, notably through air strikes, has been crucial in defeating Islamic State and Syrian opposition forces.
“There is very little left to do before the completion of military objectives. Of course, a decision will be made by the supreme commander-in-chief and the deployment will be reduced,” Valery Gerasimov told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and military top brass in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Gerasimov said forces would likely be “substantially” reduced but leave Russia with two military bases, a ceasefire-monitoring center and “a number of necessary structures to support the situation which has developed” in Syria.
Russian President Putin had previously stated that the Russians had met their goals in Syria and now that they were moving from a military solution to Syria’s problems to a political one.

The Syrian civil war has been going for several years, and now the question is, will the US continue to support the peshmerga fighters once the threat of ISIS and the Islamic State is removed?

To read the entire article from Reuters, click here:

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