22nd June: Rouhani's warning to the West and Saudi/Turkey: "feed terrorists by their petrodollars...Rest assured, tomorrow will be your turn. The barbarous terrorists will go after supporters of terrorism in the future."
23rd June: A twitter mobile link to a Daash promotional photo. It compares the corpses of a burnt out Shia Iraqi government soldier and a Daash fighter supposedly at peace after death.
The photo:
Pic.twitter.com/djKixIU0kD
The supporter:
http://twitter.com/AbuHamzaDK
23rd June: A popular Shia banner:
The war was intensifying near his sister Zainab (sa) (Her shrine is in Syria). Abbas (as) grabbed the enemies and brought them to Iraq (near his Shrine)
*(Abbas, brother of Hussain was fiercely protective of his sister. Shia lore has it that he was unstoppable and Hussain was forced to ask Zainab to stop him from fighting the enemies on several occasions. The proud warrior Abbas used to bend his neck and obey)
23rd June: Hadi Al Amiri, the transport minister of the Iraqi government and the head of the Iran backed Badr Brigade, currently heading the governments offensive, has said "if the Americans do not back us with airstrikes now, we will turn for assistance to Iran."
23rd June: A suicide bomber targets an army checkpoint in a Shia suburb of Beirut. Part of the blast injures football fans at a nearby cafe.
23rd June: Jordan has sent reinforcements to its border with Iraq. Troops, armoured vehicles and rocket artillery pieces were being sent to fortify the Jordanian border. The Jordanians have rubbished claims that their Air Force targeted militant vehicles heading for Amman. Jordan's safest border is now the one it shares with Israel.
24th June: Baiji refinery has fallen to the rebels. The rebels have handed over day to day operations to local tribes. The Government is denying that the refinery has fallen. The number of Government soldiers at the refinery is around 460. The rebels had offered safe passage to the security personnel. The government spokesperson, Qassem Atta, claims that an attack on the 23rd was repulsed. He claims the assault involved 11 vehicles of which 9 were destroyed in air strikes. The militant assault had left three dead.
24th June: An airstrikes carried out by the Iraqi government on Baiji has resulted in civilian casualties. There were 22 fatalities and an additional 12 injured. The fatalities included children between 1 to 5 years of age.
June 24th: Reports are now coming in that around 75 security personnel guarding the Baiji refinery have fled. They were given safe passage by rebels and have fled to Iraqi Kurdistan.
24th June: Iraqi Army's aviation wing carries out sustained air strikes against Rebel positions in Tal Afar. Casualties amongst the rebels are expected to be high. Tribal fighters and government security forces had withdrawn from the city without a fight earlier in the week.
24th June: Clashes in Tal Afar are on going. The government's Maj Gen Abu Waleed claims to have taken back the southern part of the city after reorganising his forces.
24th June: Rebels have entered Al-Alam east of Tikrit. The Jabour clan fighting the rebels reached an agreement and has allowed the rebels to enter the town. Umaya Jbara the woman advisor to the governor was killed fighting the rebels.
24th June: The security services, local tribes, and volunteer militias have cleared Al-Atheem of militants. It lies 60 km north of Baqouba. Fighting had been fierce and the government forces were backed by air support.
24th June: Over 4000 families have fled various parts of Diyala and taken refuge in Kurdish controlled Khanaqin. The local authorities are overwhelmed and so is red crescent.
24th June: Riyadh Al Athath the head of the Baghdad provincial government claims that security forces around Baghdad are sufficient to confront Daash and that all necessary precautions have been taken.
24th June: Security forces have taken Al-Atheem in Diyala province but found that almost every house had been professionally booby trapped in anticipation of security personnel. It is now uninhabitable by its 25000 plus refugees who had fled to Kurdistan.
24th June: Vitaly Churkin, the Russian permanent representative to the United Nation has criticised the double standard of Countries that are promoting terrorism in Syria and claiming to fight it in Iraq. The Kremlin announces that Putin and Obama discussed the threat of Daash on Monday.
24th June: John Kerry arrives in Iraqi Kurdistan. He is asking local officials to participate in government formation in Baghdad. Local officials are expected to raise the issue of an independent Kurdistan.
24th June: a third shipment of oil has left Iraqi Kurdistan for Turkey. The Kurds are currently pumping 120000 barrels of oil a day through their pipeline to Turkey. This figure is expected to increase to 400000 barrels by year end. The spice must flow.
Further reading:
From "read in the name of your lord" to "war for the pleasure of God," something seems to be very wrong with the UK, maybe the girls are not pretty enough:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2666421/British-jihadist-swapped-boozing-football-terror-fresh-faced-schoolboys-grew-call-Sharia-law-Iraq-Syria.html
A future dream for Daash. An image doing the rounds on jihadi cell phones, and it's flaws:
http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/islamic-terrorist-group-isis-promotes-paradox-interactives-victoria-2.301481/
An American solution, fight Daash in Iraq and Syria, but remove both Maliki and Assad. Elections are irrelevant, a democracy is as America does:
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-ross-isis-iraq-syria-20140624-story.html
An analysis on RT that points the finger at the Jordanians, amongst the other usual suspects:
http://rt.com/op-edge/168064-isis-terrorism-usa-cia-war/
From a Shia crescent to a jihadi crescent for King Abdullah of Jordan:
www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/140623/jordan-fears-iraq-jihadist-fight-may-spill-over-0
notes:
This is the transcript of a conversation between a pilgrim in Najaf and his well-wisher back home.
Pilgrim: Salam
Well-wisher: Salam, how are you?
Pilgrim: We are good, thanks to God
Well-wisher: we were worried, we heard of trouble in Najaf. Is everything ok?
Pilgrim: They were rumours, things are fine here. Najaf and Karbala are safe, everybody is happy here. There is no fear.
Well-wisher: what about other parts of Iraq? We heard of an attack in Samarra.
Pilgrim: Yes, there was a rocket attack. The launcher(rocket or shell he means) fell inside the complex. But there was no damage or loss of life. The shrine there is a fortress.
Well-wisher: Thank God, we had heard a lot.
Well-wisher: We have heard of people volunteering to fight. Sistani has made the call. Does it apply to us? Locals here are volunteering. Are the Marjas safe?
Pilgrim: No no, it does not apply to us. It was vajib e kifai, those who have expertise or knowledge of fighting were required. We had gone to register too. But the local officials told us it's not yet required. He said locals know the place and the language. If you are needed a call will be made. If we being here were not allowed, you over there won't be needed. The response to Sistani's call was massive. Every man here has enrolled.
Pilgrim: The militants are well trained. The locals here are well trained. The officer here said if we go, we might get killed for no reason.
Well-wisher: Was there any trouble in Najaf? We heard of bombs.
Pilgrim: Only rumours.
Well-wisher: And the rest of Iraq.
Pilgrim: There has been trouble in Iraq. The governor of Mosul was a WAHHABI, HE TOOK MONEY AND FLED. But the government is confident of fighting back.
End