Iraqi forces retook control of Shirqat in order to secure its supply lines south of the Islamic State-held city of Mosul. The Islamic State is also thought to have fired a shell filled with a mustard agent at US troops nearby.
The US military announced today that it killed Wa’il Adil Hasan Salman al-Fayad, the Islamic State’s “Minister of Information” and central shura member, in an airstrike near Raqqah, the jihadist group’s capital in Syria, ten days ago.
Iraqi Shiite militia leader Akram al Kabi has met with top Iranian government official in Iran. Kabi, who is a member of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces that has become an official part of the Iraqi government, boldly proclaimed his allegiance to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.
In the third episode of his “Brief Messages to a Victorious Ummah” series, Ayman al Zawahiri calls on “the mujahideen of the Levant” to help the jihadists in Iraq “reorganize themselves” for a “protracted” campaign of “guerrilla war.” Zawahiri clearly expects the Islamic State’s caliphate claim to be rendered moot and he wants jihadists to follow a new strategy in Iraq going forward.
The Iranian-backed Iraqi Shia militia has shown off a considerable troop deployment to the frontlines of Aleppo just days after Iranian media reported the move.
Qassem Soleimani will play a “major” role in upcoming operations to retake Mosul from the Islamic State, according to the spokesman of the Iraqi Population Mobilization Front.
The Iraqi Prime Minister’s order will establish Iraq’s own IRGC, institutionalizing Tehran’s influence in the country. This development follows similar trends in Iran and Lebanon.
The radical Shia cleric responded to the US military deployment of an additional 560 troops to aid in the fight against the Islamic State by threatening to attack them.
Amaq News Agency, a propaganda arm of the Islamic State, reports that Abu Omar al Shishani has been killed south of Mosul. In March, Amaq denied that Shishani was killed in an American airstrike in Syria.
The Iraqi military’s takeover of Qayyarah Airfiled West, or Q-West, coincided with US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter’s visit to Iraq and the announcement that an additional 560 US troops will be deployed to aid in the Mosul offensive.
According to statistics provided by Amaq News Agency, which is part of the Islamic State’s propaganda machine, the so-called caliphate deployed 589 suicide bombers in Iraq, Syria and Libya during the first six months of 2016. The figures published by Amaq cannot be independently verified and other sources indicate the figure may be lower. But Amaq’s aggregate statistics are generally consistent with the scale of the Islamic State’s fighting.
A short clip has circulated on Arab Twitter accounts claiming to show an Iranian who was arrested in Fallujah, Iraq. [Update: the video is from 2005]
A senior advisor to the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps – Qods Force vowed that Iranian forces would continue to fight in Iraq and Syria until the last Islamic State and “takfiri” fighters are killed. The statement signals the entrenchment of Iranian military assets in Iraq and Syria and the two countries continue to be mired in civil wars.
Iranian media reported that the head of Iranian-backed Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces left the front lines of Fallujah yesterday to brief a senior cleric in Najaf, who praised the forces and stressed the protection of civilians.
Amaq News Agency claims that the Islamic State has carried out 489 “martyrdom operations” in Iraq, Syria and Libya during the first five months of 2016, with 119 in May alone. If Amaq’s figures are accurate, then the Islamic State is executing more suicide attacks per month in 2016 than all terrorist organizations combined in 2015.
Abu Ezrael, a famous commander in Iranian-backed Shiite militias who has burned an Islamic State fighter alive, taped a message addressing both the enemies and friends of Iran.
Foreign Minister Ibrahim Jafari defended Qassem Soleimani’s role in bolstering sectarian militias that have often acted outside of the law in Iraq as they battle the Islamic State.
The Iranian, who spoke in Farsi, belongs to the “Ansar al Hojja,” a militia that was formed in June 2014 and battles the Islamic State.
Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour’s presence in Fallujah alongside Qassem Soleimani underscores the importance of operations in Iraq to the IRGC’s leadership.
Ahead of an anticipated assault to recapture Khan Touman, Iranian media claim Iraqi militia Harakat al Nujaba has deployed its ground and missile units.
Senior Iraqi Shia militia leader Abu Mahdi al Muhandis told a reporter that the second phase of the Fallujah operation was imminent. He criticized US airstrikes in Fallujah and announced his forces were prepared to enter the city if requested.
The photo shows Soleimani’s and the militias dependent on Iran’s importance in the fight for Fallujah.
Iranian-supported militias such as Hezbollah Brigades, Asaib al Haq, Harakat al Nujaba, Kata’ib Imam Ali, and Kata’ib Sayyid al Shuhada are taking part in the effort to wrest Fallujah from the Islamic State.
The Hezbollah Brigades will likely join other Iranian-backed groups in the fighting for Fallujah when the operation to recapture the city officially begins.
Harakat al Nujaba’s leader said that the Shia militia is operating in the Fallujah corridor and has prepared its forces to participate with the Anbar Brigade to retake Fallujah from the Islamic State.
Rutbah has been a key center of activity for the Islamic State in Anbar. It is the latest population center in the western province to be liberated by the Iraqi military.
Muqtada al Sadr, the radical Shia cleric who battled US forces during the Iraqi occupation, is preparing his militia to participate in an offensive to retake the northern city of Mosul from the Islamic State. The US military has insisted that Iranian-backed militias will not fight in Mosul.
Abu Wahib has been waging jihad in Iraq for more than a decade. He fought for al Qaeda in Iraq, was imprisoned and escaped during an al Qaeda assault on a prison in 2014, and is responsible for the Islamic State’s successes in Anbar province.
Dozens have perished in a series of Islamic State operations carried out across Iraq and Syria. The jihadists are using the bombings and raids to honor Abu Ali al Anbari, a top leader killed by US counterterrorism forces earlier this year.
The Islamic State has suffered significant setbacks in Anbar over the past six months and in some areas has pulled back to conduct guerrilla attacks against Iraqi security forces, tribal fighters, and the Shiite militias that have filled the security vacuum.