August 12th IRAQ SITREP by Mindfriedo

IRAQ SITREP 6th to 12th Aug

This is a partial SITREP as time did not allow to fill in more details, will post missed or overlooked news in subsequent SITREPs

6th Aug: Fighting breaks out between Iraqi Security Forces backed by Shia militias and Daash fighters in Ouja and Tigris south of Tikrit. The fighting followed separate Daash instigated assaults/attacks on both towns.
6th Aug: Fighting between Peshmerga forces trying to regain control of terrertory lost to Daash in Sinjar and Zammar results in casualties on both sides. The Kurdish forces were being backed by Iraqi helicopters.
6th Aug: The Human Rights Commission in Iraq stated that after having transferred over 500 women from Sinjar, Daash has also kidnapped Turkoman Shia women from Tal Afar airport and has offered them to its fighters as slaves.
6th Aug: The Iraqi army has taken control of two areas north of Ramadi, Anbar and killed 12 Daash fighters in a confrontation that is ongoing.
6th Aug: The Iraqi army aviation reports bombing and killing Abu Anas al-Muhajir, a judge in Mosul in charge of a juvenile prison. The bombardment of the complex helped the 300 detainees being held there escape.
6th Aug: Waves of refugees are making their way toward Kurdistan from areas that have been taken over by Daash: Sinjar and Zammar.
6th Aug: Peshmerga forces report attacking and taking control of a Police academy in Mosul and some intersections. The Peshmergas were backed by Iraqi Helicopters. Losses on both sides are unconfirmed.
7th Aug: Ali Jassim al-Maytoti, an MP from the Iraqi Forces Coalition blames the United States for civilian casualties that resulted from air strikes in Sinjar that the Iraqi Air Force. He blamed faulty intelligence for the loss of civilian life.
7th Aug: Daash is preventing residents of Saadiya from leaving and is reportedly using them as human shields against Iraqi Airstrikes. Daash is using residential housing as its command posts after government buildings were bombed last week resulting in casualties.
7th Aug: Iraqi security forces are reporting having cleared a number of villages in the road between Tuz Khurmato and Amerli in Salah id Din. The fighting is now intensifying around Yakenja village where Daash fighters are taking shelter. The security forces plan to free the village and advance towards Amerli. They are being backed by air strikes.
7th Aug: Peshmerga fighters attack Daash fighters in Do Kri and liberate the area near the Syrian Iraqi border.
7th Aug: Fighting between Peshmergas and Daash around Mosul Dam has resulted in the death of Chechen Daash Commander Abu Omar al-Shishani also known as Tarkhan Batirhvili. The Kurds are stating that they still control the Dam and that they have so far repelled assaults by Daash to take over the dam. The dam is now under Daash control.
7th Aug: Fuad Masum meets with Abdul Karim al-Samarrai, the Minister of Science and Technology and Ali al-Adeeb Minister of Science and Higher Education and discusses government formation with them.
Faud Masum expects the largest bloc of representatives (the Shia National Alliance bloc) to nominate Ibrahim al Jafari as its next Prime Ministerial candidate.
7th Aug: Three Kuwaiti nationals have been sanctioned by the US Treasury for supporting Jihadists in Syria and Iraq by collecting and transferring funds to them.
8th Aug: The Iraqi Security Forces raid and arrest a number of Former Iraqi Army officers and young men from different parts of Baghdad. The men are suspected to be part of a fifth column that planned an uprising that would have occurred prior to a concerted push being made by Daash led rebels on Baghdad.
8th Aug: Jamal Kojer, a member of Kurdistan Alliance, states that the Peshmergas are more than capable of taking on Daash and that they can regain all lost ground but would be in need of Iraqi Air Support.
8th Aug: The US carries out air strikes on mobile artillery belonging to Daash firing at Peshmerga forces near Erbil.
The US also airdrops relief supplies to refugees in and around mount Sinjar.
9th Aug: The government in Baghdad airlifts supplies to Kurdish forces in Erbil. The consignment consisted of mainly small arms needed by the Kurds to fight Daash.
9th Aug: The US starts to airlift additional emergency supplies to refugees in and around mount Sinjar. 7s packets consisting of 28000 meals and 1500 gallons of water are airdropped on refugee positions.
9th Aug: America carries out another two sorties against Daash elements firing mortars on Kurdish positions around Erbil. A Daash vehicle convoy is also targeted.
9th Aug: Daash launches a pre dawn attack on Tuz Khurmato from two different directions. The Peshmergas repel the assault. Both sides resorted to the use of artillery and heavy equipment. Civilians in the assaulted area flee the fighting. Casualties are unknown.
9th Aug: The Iraqi air force bombs a concentration of Daash fighters north east of Baqouba and kills 30 Daash fighters. Iraqi Security personnel are seeing a change in the tactics employed by Daash to avoid airstrikes: most movement is pre dawn and involves single vehicles as opposed to convoys.
9th Aug: Zervani forces of the Peshmergas ascend parts of mount Sinjar in an attempt to save stranded Iraqis from Sinjar.
9th Aug: Satee Abdullah al-Afri, a local commander of Daash in Mosul. The attack is being claimed by a little known group called the al-Ramah battalion. Another attack near Kirkuk by the group resulted in the death of Muhammad Jakh, another commander.
10th Aug: A leader within the Awakening movement is reporting the mass fleeing of over 100 Daash fighters west of Kirkuk. The Daash fighters in al-Zewiya and Sedira villages threw their arms away and fled to unknown parts. The entire area is suddenly devoid of terrorists.
10th Aug: Three Mortar shells fired by Daash Terrorists land 200 meters from the Al Askari shrine in Samarra.
10th Aug: Sustained airstrikes by US Aircraft and land assaults by Peshmerga forces have resulted in Daash fighters withdrawing from Makhmor and Al Kwer areas south of Erbil. The Daash fighters have withdrawn from nearby villages as well. The Peshmergas are being cautious and “not rushing to death” out of fear of ambushes and counter offensives. The Peshmergas enter and free Kwer area south of Erbil.
10th Aug: Iraqi Army troops are fighting Daash fighters to the east of Mosul. The Iraqi Air Force has targeted Daash in Solaiman Beck, al-Thabetiya, and al-Nebaee.
10th Aug: Peshmerga forces are reporting that they repulsed an assault on Jalawla by Daash. The assault was from three directions and was a major push for the town. Kurdish forces were being supported by the Iraqi Air force. Jalawla later fell on the 11th to Daash forces after two days of fighting. Ten Peshmergas were reported killed and 80 wounded. Daash had attacked the town with car bombs, suicide bombers and men dressed in Peshmerga uniforms and taken control of the centre of town. The Peshmergas are now planning a counter offensive. The Peshmergas are fighting street battles with Daash and shelling Daash positions in the southern parts of the town with artillery.
10th Aug: Daash fighters are using mortars to shell villages in Berwana sub district in Haditha, Anbar. The al-Jegheva tribe residing there has been resisting Daash and appears to be the target of the intense shelling carried out by Daash.
10th Aug: A government air strike on a Sharia Court in Al Karma, Anbar, reportedly kills 45 Daash fighters
10th Aug: Maliki makes a speech condemning the Iraqi President Faud Masum. Troops loyal to him then fan out across the green zone and take over key intersections. For those wanting to know more about Maliki’s ouster please refer to the links provided in the further reading section.
11th Aug: The National Allaince nominates Haider Abadi as its Prime Ministerial Candidate. The National Alliance is the largest coalition of mostly Shia parties in Iraq and, so far, also includes Maliki’s State of Law Coalition.
11th Aug: Fuad Masum, President elect of Iraq, nominates National Bloc nominee Haider Al Abadi as the Prime Ministerial Candidate. Outgoing PM Maliki (and current hopeful) criticizes the President of Iraq as having taken an unconstitutional step and threatens to resort or refer the matter to Iraq’s Federal Judiciary. Pro Maliki Security Forces are reported to have taken control of key intersections and points within the Green Zone in Baghdad.
12th Aug: Obama refers to the appointment of Haider Al Abadi as “a promising step forward.” The U S Secretary of State John Kerry hints at providing additional material support once Iraq has a new government: “We are ready to study additional political, economic and security choices as Iraq begins the formation of the new government.” Kerry went on to ask Abadi to form a “unity” government. He stated that the delivery of humanitarian supplies to Iraqis and resupplying the Kurds with arms had been undertaken on Baghdad’s behest.
12th Aug: Hoshyar Zebari pays back Maliki in kind (Maliki had earlier dismissed Zebari as Foreign Minister) states that any armed attempt by Maliki to hold on to power will be a disaster for Iraq and a coup. He stated that Maliki has lost the support of his allies and of “four” major political forces: the US, Iran, the religious authority (Sistani) and the UN.
12th Aug: Curiouser and curiouser: The Department of Defence states that the US will restrict its airstrikes to try and protect its interests (personnel) in Erbil and to help trapped Yazidis in Sinjar, but it will not bomb any further Daash targets or attempt to change the balance of power. The US has also stepped back from any attempt to open up a humanitarian corridor to trapped Iraqis in Sinjar and has instead stated that the focus of its mission is to ensure the safety of its air assets delivering aid to the trapped Iraqis.
12th Aug: Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and representative of Iran’s Supreme leader Ali Khamenei states that Iran supports “legal procedure paved for choosing the new Iraqi prime minister.” He has requested all Iraqi groups to unite behind the Iraqi Government.
12th Aug: The German Foreign Minister welcomes the appointment of Haider Al Abadi by Fuad Masum as the new Prime Minister in waiting. It also hopes that a national unity government will deprive Daash of its much needed political instability. The Italians also express hope in a future Iraq headed by Abadi.
12th Aug: The Iraqi PM in waiting, Haider Al Abadi, requests all political factions and people to unite behind the armed forces of Iraq and help them fight sectarianism in all its forms.
12th Aug: Brigadier Ghulam Askar Krimean, of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards warns Daash that any assault on Shi’ite Shrines in Iraq will not be tolerated and will be responded to. He has referred to Daash as a “counter revolutionary group” (not his exact words) that has attempted to weaken the resistance.
12th Aug: Kurdish Peshmergas are building up their forces on the outskirts of Jalawla and Saadia in preparation of an assault on the two towns. Inside the town, Daash fighters are preventing residents from leaving (a general curfew), they have raided the homes of security personnel, and have moved in heavy earth moving equipment to build earthen fortifications against any assault.
Kurdish political forces are drawing up plans to prevent any further loss of territory to Daash. Daash’s all on assault on Kurdish positions across a wide area is being seen as a reaction to their withdrawl under fire from areas around Erbil.
12th Aug: A group of men trading in “spoils” that Daash had looted from the people of Iraq in the north of the country have been arrested in Najaf. The group was selling the loot and allegedly repatriating profits to Daash.
12th Aug: Vian Dakhel, a Yazdi MP of Iraq, has stated that the fate of 600 Yazdi girls being held by Daash in Badush prison in Nineveh. He went on further to state that Yazdi families stranded on mount Sinjar are still in danger and are besieged by Daash. Daash has given the Yazdis a choice of converting or death.
12th Aug: The Iraqi Air Force bombs the former headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Sinjar. A number of Daash fighters are reported killed including Ahmad al Warshan, the newly appointed DI of Daash governor of the city.
12th Aug: Masoud Barzani has said that he supports the new Prime Minister in waiting of Iraq. Saudi Arabia and Turkey have also welcomed the news of Haider Al Abadi being nominated for Prime Minister.
12th Aug: Government claims for the day:
Four airstrikes launched on Daash fighters and their vehicles in Amerli, south of Tuz Khurma, East of Tikrit. Exact number of Casualties unreported.
12th Aug: US claims for the day:
A Daash mortar position firing on Peshmergas evacuating refugees in Sinjar has been bombed

Related:

12th Aug: The al-Shaaitat tribe in Deir Ezzor Eastern Syria is continuing to fight Daash despite the latter having resorted to terror tactics to try and subdue the tribal fighters. Daash has also tried to convince the Gharanij Brigades to stop supporting the tribe but has so far failed. The Syrian Air Force has dropped leaflets in the area welcoming the tribal revolt against Daash. The Syrian Tabaqa military airbase is the last government held territory in the area and it is coming under increased Daash assaults. The assaults have so far been repulsed.
12th Aug: The Lebanese army intelligence raids Syrian refugees in Koura
12th Aug: The Syrin army ambushes and kills militants fleeing the Lebanese town of Arsal for Qalamoun
12th Aug: Saad Hariri states that the $1 billion he brought back from his “masters” in Saudi Arabia will be used to buy modern military equipment for the Lebanese army

Further reading:
An Image of a Daash fighter who allegedly married a seven/nine year old girl in Iraq and his after death photo; an example of an anti Daash tweet, both pro and anti Daash tweets and messages abound:
http://themuslimissue.wordpress.com/2014/08/03/isis-militant-announces-his-marriage-to-terrified-7-year-old-in-occupied-city-syria/
From Pessimism:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-winning-its-war-on-two-fronts-militants-conquered-sunni-regions-of-iraq-and-are-now-consolidating-hold-on-northeast-syria-9641167.html
To Optimism:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iraq-crisis-american-intervention-against-isis-boosts-kurdish-morale-as-president-obama-launches-more-air-strikes-9659493.html

For those wanting details of Maliki’s ouster:
http://www.shiachat.com/forum/topic/235024632-maliki-defies-sistani-as-his-party-abandons-him/
and
http://foab.org/2014/08/feeling-heat-maliki-warns-sistani-against-opposing-third-term/