The White House announced today that Fadhil Ahmad al Hayali (a.k.a. Hajji Mutazz), the deputy leader of the Islamic State, was killed in an airstrike on June 18. US military officials previously reported that he had been killed in December 2014. Al Hayali was one of the most senior leaders in the “caliphate,” and had wide-ranging responsibilities.
The attack near Fallujah coincided with the release of a video by the Islamic State shows the corpses of more than 30 Iraqi troops in Saqlawiyah in 2014. The jihadist group also seized a number of armored vehicles.
This makes at least two Americans used as suicide bombers for the Islamic State. Both detonated in the central Iraqi province of Salahadin.
Islamic State forces are pressing an offensive in the central Iraqi city. Iraq’s defense minister claimed that Baiji was liberated just two weeks ago.
A Badr fighter also displays an AT4 anti-tank rocket. US equipment that has been supplied to the Iraqi military continues to fall into the hands of Iranian-backed Shiite militias.
In a newly released audio speech, Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al Adnani calls on his group’s rivals (including other jihadists) to “repent,” recognizes a new pledge of allegiance from the Caucasus, and urges Sunnis to fight Shiites throughout the Middle East.
The Pentagon said today that Ali Awni al Harzi, the first suspect publicly identified in the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, was killed in a US airstrike in Mosul, Iraq. Al Harzi and his brother have been working for the Islamic State as facilitators.
The Long War Journal has identified 117 training camps run by jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria. Almost half are operated by the Islamic State, while the other half are administered by the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, and its allies. Some facilities are no longer operational, while other camps likely exist, but are not publicized by the jihadists.
During yesterday’s meeting in Tehran between Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al Abadi and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the former introduced the latter to Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, the operations chief for the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Committee and a US-listed Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
The Islamic State has used the suicide assault to demoralize and strike fear into the hearts of Iraqi troops, and often uses five or more suicide bombers during a single attack.
Leading Iraqi political and religious leaders such as Prime Minister Haidar al Abadi and Grand Ayatollah Sistani have been reduced to cozying up to what John Allen, the US Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition To Counter ISIL, or the Islamic State, described as the “extremist elements” of the Popular Mobilization Committee.
Iranian-backed militias, including Asaib al Haq and the Imam Ali Brigades, and Iraqi forces are said to control half of the central Iraqi city. Baiji has changed hands twice since the Islamic State launched its offensive in June 2014.
Akram Abbas al Kabi, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and the leader of the Harakat Nujaba, said his group and others “will seek revenge” for what he claimed was a US airstrike that killed 10 members of the League of the Righteous.
If true, US intelligence assessments on the strength of the Islamic State are grossly underestimated.
The video features footage from recent fighting near the town of Karmah, just northeast of Fallujah.
Qods Force commander Major General Qassem Soleimani was also photographed in Baghdad with Popular Mobilization Committee chief Abu Mahdi al Muhandis and Imam Ali Brigade leader Shebl al Zaydi. The images contradict US official’s claims that Iran and its Shiite militia proxies are not involved in the Anbar counteroffensive.
Commander Jassem Nouri is likely a member of Qods Force, the external operations branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Qods Force. He was advising Shiite militias, such as Hezbollah Brigades, who are engaged in fighting in Iraq’s Anbar province.
US officials and generals continue to downplay the involvement of Iranian-backed Shiite militias in offensives in Iraq, and their dominance of the Popular Mobilization Committee.
The capturing of the Iraqi side of the Al Waleed border crossing comes just days after the jihadist group captured the Syrian side.
Iranian-supported militias, including Hezbollah Brigades, a US-listed Foreign Terrorist Organization, are advancing against the Islamic State east of Ramadi. The US is providing air support.
Haditha is one of the few towns in Anbar that have resisted the Islamic State’s onslaught in Anbar province.
The fall of the strategic location means that the Syrian regime has lost control of all crossings with Iraq.
According to Iraqi police and tribal officials, the defensive line that was established outside of Habbaniyah with the help of the US has been breached.
The US military is issuing bizarre spin about events in both Iraq and Syria.
The Islamic State is attacking Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed Shiite militias that have regrouped at Habbaniyah, the last major city between Ramadi and Fallujah.
The poorly timed DoD report was issued the same day that the Islamic State took control of the government center, and two days before all of Ramadi, including the Anbar Operations Command and the large military base there, were overrun.
The 8th Brigade headquarters also appears to have fallen. Unconfirmed reports indicate that Iraqi forces in the Fallujah-Ramadi corridor are in complete disarray and are withdrawing from Habbaniyah and other areas.
The audio, which features Al Douri discussing recent events, refutes reports that he was killed last month in the Hamrin Mountains.
The loss of the government complex, which has been under siege since the Islamic State renewed its push to take control of Ramadi in April, is a major blow to the Iraqi military and government, which have sought to regain the initiative in Anbar after a string of losses there over the past year.
Iraq’s Ministry of Defense claimed that Abu Alaa al Afari and a large number of Islamic State fighters were killed in a coalition airstrike that targeted a mosque. CENTCOM denied it launched a strike on a mosque.