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Iraq |
Iraqi Troops Report Islamic State ‘Re-emergence’ Where Kurdish Peshmerga Removed |
2018-02-28 |
[Breitbart] In an interview with Bas News, Ahmed Askari, a member of the Kurdish-held Kirkuk Provincial Council, dismissed as false the Iraqi military’s allegation of an ISIS re-emergence in northern Iraq, a region primarily controlled by the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). However, a woman is only as old as she admits... Kurdistan 24 reports: Islamic State Relations between Baghdad and the KRG deteriorated since the Kurds approved an independence referendum in September Iraq 2017, prompting military festivities between the two sides. Aided by Baghdad-sanctioned Shiite militias affiliated with Iran, the Iraqi military seized Kirkuk last October from the KRG’s Peshmerga forces. "Since the military takeover of Kirkuk and other disputed territories by Iraqi forces and Hashd al-Shaabi militias, the security situation in the region has tanked," notes Kurdistan 24. Kurds remain the majority portion of the population of Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... also home to Arabs, Turkmen, and Christians. U.S. and Iraqi officials cautioned that ISIS remains a threat soon after Baghdad declared victory over the terrorist group in December, acknowledging that pockets of the jihadists remained in the country. In late January, NBC News learned from Hisham al-Hashimi, an adviser to Baghdad in its fight against ISIS, that "while the number of active fighters on the battlefield is probably in the range of 1,000 to 1,500, the actual number of ISIS-loyalists in Iraq and Syria is closer to 10,000." In its latest World Wide Threat Assessment, the U.S. intelligence community noted: Over the next year, we expect that ISIS is likely to focus on regrouping in Iraq and Syria, enhancing its global presence, championing its cause, planning international attacks, and encouraging its members and sympathizers to attack in their home countries. ISIS’s claim of having a functioning caliphate that governs populations is all but thwarted. |
Posted by:trailing wife |
#5 Shiite militias, unprofessional at best and bandit mobs at the worst, have trouble doing COIN in Sunni tribal region. *Wow* Who would predict that? (/s) |
Posted by: magpie 2018-02-28 19:40 |
#4 Sort of like Obean removing American troops from Iraq. How'd that work out? |
Posted by: Procopius2k 2018-02-28 10:51 |
#3 The surrounding states were told that the Kurds Are their only stable link. They are spread too thin to handle this. |
Posted by: newc 2018-02-28 01:29 |
#2 Can we have the surprise meter? |
Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2018-02-28 00:54 |
#1 That's not such a bad thing. The Shiite militias claim that air and arty support from Uncle Sam had nothing to do with their victory over ISIS. Once the US completes its withdrawal, they'll be able to see if the Iraqi Air Force and Army artillery can pick up the slack. |
Posted by: Zhang Fei 2018-02-28 00:06 |