Iraq and Russia Agree to Hit ISIL Militants Heading from Syria to Iraq

[Bleipriester]

Kabumm!

"Iraqi Parliament’s National Security and Defense Committee Hakem al-Zameli said that Baghdad and Moscow have agreed to hit ISIL militants heading from Syria to Iraq.

In a statement released on Friday, Zameli said that the joint data center between Iraq, Syria and Russia was still in its initial stage, noting that however, it has offered important intelligence information which helped end the battle in Baiji, raqi TV, al-Sumaria reported on Friday.

Syria offered important information about the position of ISIL (so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Levant), Zameli said in the statement.

“Iraq agreed with Russia, which leads the joint data center, to hit ISIL militants heading from Syria to Iraq,” Zameli said, pointing out that this move weakens ISIL militants as it cuts off supply routes of the Takfiri insurgents.

Earlier on Wednesday, Reuters news agency reported that Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is under pressure to seek anti-ISIL strikes from Russia.


Iraq’s ruling alliance and powerful Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) have urged Abadi to request Russian air strikes against ISIL.

The agency quoted quoted two members of parliament as saying that the prime minister was under “tremendous pressure” from the ruling National Alliance to request Russian intervention.

The United States is leading a 60-plus member coalition allegedly targeting ISIL Takfiri group (so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Levant) in Iraq and Syria and has been carrying out frequent raids for more than a year.

The strikes have failed to turn the tide in the war against the Takfiri militants who have declared a caliphate and want to redraw the map of the Middle East.

Meanwhile, and under the request of the Syrian government, Russia also is launching an air campaign against ISIL and other terrorists."

http://www.almasdarnews.com/article...it-isil-militants-heading-from-syria-to-iraq/

 

[waltky]

Playin' whack-a-mole with the jihadis...

As Iraq fights Islamic State, violence rises in Shiite south
Jan 9,`16 -- As the sun sets over Iraq's southern city of Basra, Ahmed Hilal rushes to lock his door. At night, every knock sends his heart beating faster. In the morning, the father of three or someone he trusts walks his children to school, barely five minutes away.

Fear has become part of daily life amid a surge of violence in Basra, where rampant crime, kidnappings and extortion have become commonplace. Marauding Shiite militiamen drive around in cars with tinted windows and without plates, while local clans wage bloody feuds. "If someone knocks on the door, I pray to God that nothing bad will happen," said the 40-year-old Hilal, a school employee. "Any sound of shooting, even if it's far away, scares us. "

Basra and Iraq's southern Shiite heartland were spared from the Islamic State group, which seized much of northern and western Iraq in 2014. But as Iraq has struggled to combat the group, security forces have increasingly been redeployed from the south, leaving a security vacuum that has been filled by unruly militias and criminal gangs. Local officials blame the lack of police for soaring theft, armed robberies, kidnappings for ransom, bloody tribal disputes and an uptick in drug trafficking. Residents complain that infighting over government posts and the growing influence of Shiite militias have exacerbated the situation.

Ahmed Hilal grieves by his nephew's poster Ali Hussein was shot dead by thieves in broad daylight to steal his car, in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq. Local officials blame the lack of security forces, many of them have been dispatched to front lines, for the soaring thefts, armed robberies, kidnapping for ransom, bloody tribal disputes and drug trafficking. Residents complain that political infighting over government posts and growing influence of Shiite militias have exacerbated the situation and weakened the role of the remaining security forces in the province.​

Last month, Hilal's nephew was shot and killed in broad daylight by car thieves. The young man's last moments were caught by the surveillance camera of a nearby store. The video shows him trying to run away from the car with the keys after pulling over. One of the attackers chases after him and guns him down before the carjackers speed away. A Basra security official said an Iraqi military division of about 8,000 troops redeployed from the region in late 2014 to join the fight against IS, along with a police battalion of about 500 troops, leaving nine incomplete police battalions and only one army battalion for the entire Basra province, which has a population of about 3 million.

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