ISIS Urges Supporters To Poison Food At US Grocery Stores

After urging its supporters in the west to turn cars into weapons, guidance that inspired terror attacks in the UK, Spain and France, ISIS is now calling for sympathizers to poison the food in US supermarkets with cyanide, according to SITE.  

In recent days, channels associated with the terrorist army have posted calls for attacks on Europe, Russia and the United States to mark the occasion of the Islamic "Sacrifice Feast" Eid al Adha. In the third part of an English-language series on jihad, IS advised would-be attackers to inject food for sale in markets with cyanide poison. According to Spiesa, the organization has tested these methods on prisons, causing horrifically painful deaths.

“The Islamic State group used prisoners as “human guinea pigs,” carrying out chemical weapons experiments in order to plan for attacks against the West, documents found in Mosul have revealed. The papers detailing the tests, which led to the agonizing deaths of prisoners, were discovered at Mosul University in January when it was recaptured by Iraqi special forces. The documents verified by United States and British forces were detailed by The Times in a report published Saturday.

Prisoners had their food and water contaminated by the sprinkling of chemicals found in easily accessible pesticides. The US and Britain now fear that the same methods could be used on a larger scale to contaminate food supplies in the West.”

Aside from the obvious death toll, we imagine that a terror attack in an American grocery store would annihilate billions in grocery stock market cap, adding to the industry’s Whole Foods Market-inspired woes. Investors who once saw grocers as an oasis in the troubled retail sector are increasingly balking now that Amazon has promised to use sensors and automation to save on staffing costs and undercut rivals on pricing. And the terror threats won’t help.

In other Islamic State news, a convoy of 17 buses carrying Islamic State terrorists and their families has been stranded in the Syrian desert since Thursday as the US, Russia, and Syria debate its fate: attack the convoy or allow it to pass?

In an unusual deal, the convoy of Islamic State fighters and their families was allowed to exit their contested stronghold along the Syrian-Lebanese border under the watch of the Lebanese and Syrian armies and Hezbollah after being defeated. As first announced by Hezbollah"s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah in a speech Monday night, the deal involved the transportation of 26 wounded and 308 ISIS fighters, along with 331 civilian family members via buses and ambulances to Syria"s eastern province.

The images of the convey of terrorists helplessly stranded in the desert is perhaps the biggest blow to their propaganda.

At the same time, the group is struggling for relevance with a resurgent Al Qaeda, which is encouraging supporters to sabotage trains and other public infrastructure in the US – specifically the New York City subway.
 

US Evacuating ISIS Terrorists from Tal Afar

Last year, during the battle for Mosul, Washington opened a corridor to redeploy thousands of ISIS fighters cross-border to Syria.

It’s happening in Tal Afar, Iraq. According to Al Sumaria Iraqi satellite TV, citing an unnamed local source, ISIS terrorists evacuated its Tal Afar headquarters in late July, saying:

“IS has carried out emergency evacuations over the night at many of its main headquarters in Tal Afar, in west of Mosul, after some of them were targeted over the past few days, which left many of its leaders and fighters killed and injured.”

On Monday, RT said a corridor was opened, letting many of its fighters move cross-border to Syria, citing an unconfirmed report.

Press TV said for the second time in a week, a US-led coalition helicopter transferred ISIS fighters from the western outskirts of Deir Ezzor, Syria to another location on Saturday.

US-backed Syrian Democratic (terrorist) Forces aided their movement with artillery fire. Earlier in Iraq and Syria, Washington redeployed ISIS and other terrorist fighters from one location to another.

In war theaters where ISIS operates, America supports the scourge it pretends to oppose, along with al-Nusra and other terrorist groups.

These foot soldiers are deployed to locations where Washington wants them used. Russia believes al-Nusra led terrorist gangs have over 25,000 fighters in Syria, ISIS another 9,000 or more.

Unknown numbers of their fighters remain in Iraq – shifted from one location to others at Washington’s discretion, continuing forever wars in both countries, resolving them nowhere in sight.

In a new article, Peter Koenig scathed America’s agenda, now in Trump’s hands as nominal leader, saying:

“Three generals are calling the shots on Trump’s presidency. How more proof is needed for the world to see that Washington is run by the Pentagon – is a pure military-police state, with the populace stripped of 95% of their civil and human rights – by ever enhanced successive versions of the Patriot Act and related legislation? Humanity at its worst.”

“The venom and evil of our western society never stops to amaze me…The Trump administration, or any of his predecessors, couldn’t give a hoot about democracy and human rights in any of the countries they want to dominate.”

Ordinary people everywhere want peace, stability and whatever prosperity they can achieve.

Washington wants endless wars, control of world resources, dominance over all other nations, and exploitation of their people – a global dystopian nightmare if its objective is achieved.

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Sanitizing the Killing Fields of Mosul

The smell of rotting corpses pervades the city. Over 40,000 civilians were ruthlessly massacred, mostly by US terror-bombing – discussed in a previous article.

The city resembles a moonscape, few signs of life visible anywhere. Civilians able to get out are displaced refugees, largely on their own to survive – their homes, possessions and futures destroyed.

Tens of thousands of others are buried under rubble. Mosul is an open-air graveyard, one of many examples of US viciousness, what imperialism is all about – a rage for wealth, power and dominance no matter the human cost.

Contrast a sanitized NYT report with a candid one by Professor Seyed Mohammad Marandi after visiting the city and witnessing the devastation firsthand.

The Times: Iraqi “Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi…congratulat(ed) (the nation’s) armed forces for wresting the city from the Islamic State (ISIS).”

The Times admitted months of battle left the city in ruins, killing thousands, displacing around a million of its residents.

Its report stressed triumph over genocidal mass slaughter and destruction. It said nothing about indiscriminate US terror-bombing, nothing about Washington’s support for ISIS and likeminded terrorist groups.

It was silent about Ali Arkady’s firsthand reporting and photographic evidence of torture, abuse and cold-blooded murder of Iraqi military captives, civilians suspected of ISIS ties.

Embedded in an elite Iraqi interior ministry emergency response division, Arkady witnessed brutal interrogations to obtain forced confessions from suspected ISIS captives or sympathizers.

He later fled the country, taking his photographic and video evidence with him, exposing the brutality of regime practices – installed by Washington to serve its interests.

The Times quoted Abadi saying he came to Mosul “to announce its liberation and congratulate the armed forces and Iraqi people on this victory.”

Mosul was raped and destroyed, not liberated, the horror ongoing for months largely ignored by Western media, devastation and human suffering mostly suppressed – including horrific crimes of war and against humanity committed by US and Iraqi forces.

Marandi explained what The Times and other media scoundrels failed to report. Interviewed by RT International, he said “(t)he city is almost empty.”

“The devastation across the city, and it’s the second-most important city in Iraq, is extraordinary.”

“Those we spoke to were all seemed very pleased for the city to have been retaken, but they all said the American airstrikes were very devastating and very hurtful to ordinary people, and many civilians were killed.”

Marandi discussed Western media coverage of Aleppo last year and Mosul, saying:

“We also visited Aleppo after the liberation as well, and what was very interesting, or very unfortunate, was the devastation of East Aleppo, which was occupied by al-Qaeda in Syria, was very similar to the devastation we saw in West Mosul.”

“The bombing by the Americans destroyed so much of the west side of the city, yet the Western media said almost nothing about it.”

During the aerial and ground campaign to liberate Aleppo from US-supported al-Nusra terrorists, Russian and Syrian forces made extraordinary efforts to avoid or minimize civilian casualties – polar opposite how US and Iraqi forces operated in Mosul.

Western media wrongfully claimed Russian and Syrian forces indiscriminately targeted civilian areas. They ignored US terror-bombing of Mosul. The double standard needs no further elaboration.

Moscow established humanitarian corridors for Aleppo residents to leave the city. It provided vital humanitarian aid. America, other Western nations and the UN supplied nothing.

Marandi: “Iraqis have been saying all this devastation since Saddam Hussein (was toppled) and up to now, the United States is to blame more than anyone else because they supported” him for many years.

America “create(d) ISIS, alongside the Saudis and unfortunately the Turkish government and the Qataris.”

“They funded the extremist groups as we know from the defense agency documents of 2012, and also the WikiLeaks documents which show that Hillary Clinton knew that in 2014, the Saudis and the Qataris were helping ISIS.”

“So the Iraqi people are very much aware of what’s going on, and they believe for over forty years of devastation, the United States more than anyone is to blame, alongside its regional allies.”

America’s imperial ruthlessness bears full responsibility for the rape and destruction of Iraq, Syria, and many other countries.

Its diabolical agenda is humanity’s greatest threat.

Over 40,000 Civilians Massacred in Battle for Mosul

[image: AP Photo/Felipe Dana]In all US wars of aggression, human lives don’t matter – the safety and welfare of civilians entirely ignored.

Claims otherwise are bald-faced lies. A duplicitous Pentagon statement said “(w)e set the highest standards for protecting civilians.”

“(O)ur dedication, diligence, and discipline in prosecuting our combat operations while protecting civilians, is without precedent in recorded history of warfare.”

Cold, hard, indisputable facts on the ground reveal otherwise. Millions of casualties in all US wars of aggression are clear evidence of its imperial brutality.

UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein condemned what he called the “massive loss of civilian lives in Mosul.” The appalling body count mounted daily throughout months of battle.

According to intelligence reported by The (London) Independent, over 40,000 civilians were massacred during months of fighting in Mosul – mostly from indiscriminate US terror-bombing.

The Independent: “(D)evastation in the city is huge: the closer one gets to the fighting in the centre, the greater the signs of destruction from air strikes.”

“Wherever Isis made a stand, Iraqi forces called in the US-led coalition to use its massive firepower to turn whole blocks into heaps of rubble and smashed masonry.”

“(M)any districts are deserted and only passable because bulldozers have cut a path through the debris.”

Likely tens of thousands of corpses remain buried under rubble, their identity never to be known. Everyone in Mosul lost a relative or friend. Sporadic fighting continues.

Former senior Iraqi foreign minister, later finance minister Hoshyar Zebari said countless numbers of bodies “are still buried under the rubble. The level of human suffering is immense.”

“Kurdish intelligence believes that over 40,000 civilians have been killed as a result of massive firepower used against them” – mainly indiscriminate US terror-bombing.

The US-installed puppet regime in Baghdad “is indifferent to what has happened,” he stressed, adding “the soul of Mosul has gone and its iconic buildings are destroyed.”

“(A)n unimaginable level of human suffering (occurred) with more than one million people displaced.”

ISIS wasn’t defeated in Mosul. Washington redeployed most of its fighters to Syria. Along with other terrorist groups, they’re used as imperial foot soldiers in both countries and elsewhere.

The scourge they represent remains. Endless US wars continue, defenseless civilians paying the greatest price.

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Mosul Terror-Bombed to Rubble

[image: Ivor Prickett for The New York Times]When America attacks another nation, international, constitutional and US statute laws of war are discarded with imperial arrogance.

They’re for other countries, not the USA, its rules alone followed. The devastating result is always the same.

Wherever the self-styled “indispensable nation” shows up, mass slaughter, horrendous destruction, utter chaos, and appalling human misery follow.

The battle for Mosul will long be remembered by truth-telling historians and analysts as one of history’s great crimes. Iraq’s long ago thriving second largest city of 1.7 million people was turned to smoldering rubble.

Thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of defenseless civilians were indiscriminately massacred – largely by US-led terror-bombing, leveling residential areas and vital infrastructure, the city turned into a moonscape.

UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq Lise Grande explained when the battle for Mosul began last October, US-led coalition and Iraqi forces “committed to a humanitarian concept of operations, which puts civilian protection at the center of their battle plan. They committed to do everything possible in order to ensure civilians were protected during the fighting.”

Instead, indiscriminate mass slaughter and destruction took place throughout months of conflict.

In February 1968, AP foreign correspondent Peter Arnett said the following about the battle for Ben Tre:

“It became necessary to destroy the town to save it,” quoting a US military officer. “He was talking about the decision by allied commanders to bomb and shell the town regardless of civilian casualties, to rout the Vietcong.”

The same applies to numerous other US offensives, including the battle for Mosul. The shocking disregard for human lives and welfare defines all US wars – aggressive ones of choice post-WW II in all cases, never for self-defense, humanitarian intervention and democracy building as falsely claimed.

Two surprising neocon/CIA-connected Washington Post articles discussed the utter devastation of months of war on Mosul.

Maybe Langley was gloating, taking a victory lap, using WaPo to explain the destructive power of America’s military.

One article headlined “How war ravaged the city of Mosul in satellite images,” saying they “show how the conflict has turned a once lively city into rubble.”

Pre-and-post-battle images are stunning – the former taken in November 2015, the latter on July 8. It’s hard comprehending they’re from the same locations in the same city.

They bear testimony to US imperial viciousness. They show high crimes of war and against humanity on an unimaginable scale.

Destroyed areas look like a nuking aftermath. On the ground, no signs of life are visible – residential areas, hospitals, bridges and other infrastructure leveled.

A second article headlined “After Daesh defeat, a daunting search for bodies in the rubble of Mosul,” saying:

“The streets of Mosul’s Old City are littered with bodies, tangled between shattered stones and remnants of the lives they left behind.”

“In the baking summer heat, exhausted rescue crews are now sifting through the debris of the toughest battle against Daesh, also known as ISIS, in what became its final redoubt in the city.”

“As Iraqi ground troops, US-led coalition jets and Daesh militants pulverized the Old City’s winding maze of streets last week, thousands of civilians were caught in the crossfire.’

“(T)he area is now deserted. (A)ll that remains in the Old City is rubble and unknown (numbers) of bodies” – many thousands massacred indiscriminately, largely defenseless civilians, mostly women and children.

Last fall, Washington redeployed thousands of ISIS fighters from Mosul to Syria. It’s unknown how many remained to draw out months of fighting.

Hundreds of corpses already were found “suffocated under the ruins of their homes,” said WaPo. Other bodies so far lie rotting in streets turned into open-air graves.

Mangled and charred bodies are unrecognizable. In dozens of interviews with survivors, WaPo reporters found no one who hadn’t lost a relative or friend.

All US war theaters bear testimony to its might makes right way of operating. Imperial aims alone matter, nothing else.
ter.”

Smith ignored the use of ISIS terrorists as imperial foot soldiers. He was silent about unknown thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of defenseless civilians massacred by US-led terror-bombing, UK warplanes involved.

He said nothing about US and likely British forces embedded with Iraqi troops, likely directly involved in their high crimes of war and against humanity.

Washington, London and Baghdad want horrors they caused suppressed. They want the rape and destruction of Mosul portrayed as a liberating struggle.

They want the myth of Iraqi and US-led coalition forces prioritizing the safety and welfare of civilians reported – not the ugly reality of all US-led imperial wars, noncombatants suffering most.

Iraqi VP: US ‘Created ISIS’ and is Now Trying to Claim Victory Over Them

The vice president of Iraq is calling out the United States for creating a terrorist group, and then claiming victory over it, as U.S. officials brag about gains in Mosul, Iraq, over the Islamic State.

Nouri al-Maliki said in an interview with the RIA Novosti news agency, that he believes the Iraqi people should be the ones receiving credit for defeating ISIS, not the United States.

“Yes, they supported us with aviation, but the main credit goes to the Iraqi soldiers, people’s militia, Iraqi air force,” al-Maliki said, noting that he “regrets and denies [Americans] claiming the victory [in Mosul] is their achievement… In reality, this is the victory of the Iraqi army.”

The U.S. declared victory over ISIS in Mosul on July 10. Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of the anti-ISIS Operation Inherent Resolve, released a statement calling the achievement a “decisive blow” against the group.

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“Make no mistake; this victory alone does not eliminate ISIS and there is still a tough fight ahead,” Townsend said. “But the loss of one of its twin capitals and a jewel of their so-called caliphate is a decisive blow.”

President Trump applauded the achievement in an official statement, calling it a “victory over terrorists who are the enemies of all civilized people.”

“We have made tremendous progress against ISIS—more in the past 6 months than in the years since ISIS became a major threat,” Trump said in the statement. “The victory in Mosul, a city where ISIS once proclaimed its so-called ‘caliphate,’ signals that its days in Iraq and Syria are numbered. We will continue to seek the total destruction of ISIS.”

Big wins against ISIS!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 11, 2017

As the U.S. celebrated its “big win” over ISIS, many on the internet were quick to note that the destruction that has led up to this point is anything but a victory.

READ MORE:  US Army "Lost" $1 BILLION in Weapons and Vehicles in Iraq, No Media Coverage

According to reports, during the 9-month campaign, nearly 1 million civilians were forced to evacuate their homes in Mosul, and with 120 miles of roads destroyed and the majority of the buildings now uninhabitable, the cost to repair the city’s basic infrastructure is over $1 billion.

In addition to advisers and a presence on the ground, the effects of U.S. involvement were mostly felt through the airstrikes it launched. As The Free Thought Project reported in March, local media reports claimed that “up to as many as 230 innocent civilians slaughtered in US coalition airstrikes—in a single night.”

While the U.S.-led coalition insists that around 600 civilians were killed in Mosul, intelligence officials claim the death toll is actually around 66 times higher, with more than 40,000 civilian casualties.

The Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul, Iraq, seen in satellite photos taken on Nov. 13, 2015, left, and July 8, 2017, right. (Digital Globe)

Al-Maliki told the RIA Novosti news agency that the Iraqi military’s goal was never “to destroy the city more than it was necessary in the circumstances of war,” and that “We could have surrounded the city, but then its residents would have suffered from famine.”

In his statement from the White House, Trump acknowledged the grave death toll, and the price Iraq has paid as a result of the power gained by the Islamic State.

“We mourn the thousands of Iraqis brutally killed by ISIS and the millions of Iraqis who suffered at the hands of ISIS,” Trump said. “We grieve with the Iraqi people for the loss of the heroic soldiers and Peshmerga who gave their lives to restore life to their country, and we honor their sacrifice.”

However, despite comments on the campaign trail holding the U.S. accountable for its roll in creating ISIS, Trump’s statement failed to mention the fact that much of the power ISIS has gained in the last few years has come as a result of the assistance the group has received from the United States and its allies.

READ MORE:  Anonymous Takes Down ISIS Dark Website - Replaces it With Viagra Ad, Message to "Calm Down"

Al-Maliki called out the U.S. for its hypocrisy, and said he believes the creation of the Islamic State has been used by the U.S. as a tool to increase U.S. presence and involvements in Iraq and Syria.

“IS resembles the Taliban which was created by the US administration to counter the USSR in Afghanistan,” Al-Maliki said. “The same way, IS was created to counter the Iraqi stance, which did not agree to blockade Syria, was against no-fly zones in Syria and against American military bases.”

40,000 Civilian Dead In Mosul?

According to a report cited by veteran journalist Patrick Cockburn, the nine month siege of Mosul may have cost as many as 40,000 civilian lives. Many thousands were killed when bombs buried them in rubble. Is this a victory?

Western Media Disinformation on Mosul

A neocon/CIA-connected Washington Post report is one of numerous examples. It lied, claiming America’s defeat (sic) of ISIS in Mosul shows how it how it can succeed militarily in the Middle East.

In numerous articles on Mosul, I discussed US aggression, Pentagon terror-bombing, indiscriminately massacring countless thousands of civilians, blasting Iraq’s second largest city to rubble.

It no longer exists. A scorched earth wasteland replaced it. Rebuilding, if done, could take decades and cost tens, maybe hundreds of billions of dollars.

Naked aggression without mercy was waged, a humanitarian disaster created, affecting hundreds of thousands of city residents.

Mosul was raped and destroyed, not liberated as falsely claimed. Washington supports ISIS. Most of its fighters were redeployed last year to Syria.

Government and allied forces, greatly aided by Russian air power, continue smashing their ranks – polar opposite US-led coalition warplanes providing them with aerial support.

WaPo and other media scoundrels suppress US support for ISIS and other terrorist groups, using them as imperial foot soldiers wherever they’re deployed.

Reluctantly, WaPo admitted “(w)e may never know how many thousands of civilians lie under the rubble” – maybe tens of thousands largely massacred by US terror-bombing.

WaPo calling the battle for Mosul a “strategy (that) worked militarily” ignored the unspeakable suffering of around 1.7 million city residents – victims of US imperial viciousness.

WaPo: “Credit for this innovative campaign goes to the US military…to…Obama…to…Trump…”

The battle for Mosul is one of numerous US high crimes against peace, showing its contempt for fundamental human rights and rule of law principles.

While battle raged, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said “(i)t’s time to ring alarm bells.”

A humanitarian disaster in the city “soared to an unprecedented degree” – hundreds of thousands facing famine conditions, along with no medical care and other essentials to life.

Reality on the ground is far different from distorted Western media reports. Indiscriminately terror-bombing civilian neighborhoods created an “urban graveyard.” Civilians interviewed reported “chilling” horrors.

Sergey Lavrov blasted the “chaotic” withdrawal of civilians from the city, “increas(ing) the number of victims,” he explained – the unacceptable price they paid.

A previous article said (h)istory correctly told will equate America’s rape and destruction of Mosul to its gratuitous Hiroshima/Nagasaki nuking, along with its ruthless fire-bombing of Dresden and Tokyo during WW II, three post-1948 Israeli terror wars on Gaza, imperial Japan’s rape of Nanking, and Nazi Germany’s infamous terror-bombing of Guernica, among other horrific high crimes of war and against humanity.

US ruthlessness exceeds the worst of history’s earlier empires. Countless millions of corpses attest to its barbarism.

"Shocking" Before And After Satellite Photos From Mosul

It used to be Iraq"s second largest and most vibrant city; now Mosul - which was recently recaptured from the Islamic State - lies under a pile of rubble.

As Foreign Policy magazine writes, "raging for nine months, the street-by-street fight to retake Mosul from the Islamic State outlasted the Battle of Verdun — the longest and largest conflict of World War I. As Iraqi forces won back the city this week, death, destruction, and dust are all that’s left in Iraq’s second-largest metropolis. Satellite images provided to Foreign Policy by DigitalGlobe vividly illustrate this shocking transformation."

Here is the "before and after":

Overview of Mosul"s Old City and east Mosul in November 2015, left, and July 2017, right

The Islamic State"s main hospital in Mosul and the Mosul Hotel in November 2015, left, and July 2017, right.

The Fifth Bridge north of the Old City in November 2015, left, and July 2017, right.

Mosul"s historic Al-Nuri mosque in November 2015, left, and July 2017, right.

The bridge into Mosul"s Old City in November 2015, left, and July 2017, right.

Southeast of the Islamic State"s main hospital in Mosul in November 2015, left, and July 2017, right.

A sports complex in Mosul in November 2015, left, and July 2017, right.

For the full before and after photos, please go to Foreign Policy.

Iraqi Prime Minister Declares Mosul "Liberated" From The Islamic State

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi arrived in Mosul on Sunday to announce the city’s “liberation” from the Islamic State, and to congratulate the Iraqi armed forces and people on their “victory” in the city after nearly nine months of urban warfare, and bringing an end to jihadist rule in the city, the WSJ reported. As a reminder, Mosul is where the Islamic State achieved its greatest military victory when it captured the city in just four days on June 29, 2014 and handed the Iraqi military a humiliating defeat, sending shock waves through the region. Subsequent looting of Mosul"s central bank provided the Islamic State with over $400 million in "seed funding" which the terrorist organization promptly put to bad use.

The Iraqi PMI was expected to make an official victory announcement in the northern city later Sunday, after U.S.-backed Iraqi forces waged more than eight months of battle to reclaim it.

Troops have in recent days been fighting to clear the final Islamic State-occupied pockets of Mosul’s dense Old City, on the western bank of the Tigris river.

Loaders and other heavy machinery cleared paths for Iraqi soldiers, who appeared at ease ahead of the recapture, despite bursts of gunfire nearby.

At the same time, the U.S.-led coalition said Sunday it had carried out two strikes near Mosul that destroyed 21 Islamic State fighting positions. Reporting on location, the WSJ adds that Humvees patrolling the area rolled over downed electrical lines "in a stark indication of the toll the siege has taken on Mosul’s infrastructure and the likely high cost of rebuilding the city and resuming basic services there."

The symbolic victory takes place three years after the Islamic State seized Mosul in a 2014 blitz that saw it capture one-third of Iraq’s territory, including the northern city. The battle for Mosul - by far the largest city to fall under the militants" control - left large areas in ruins, killed thousands of civilians and displaced nearly one million people.

"The commander in chief of the armed forces (Prime Minister) Haider al-Abadi arrived in the liberated city of Mosul and congratulated the heroic fighters and Iraqi people for the great victory," his office said in a statement.

As Reuters adds, Abadi met commanders in west Mosul who led the battle, but he has yet to issue a formal declaration that the entire city has been retaken for the group which is also known as ISIS. Still, French President Emmanuel Macron - whose country is part of the coalition that has conducted airstrikes and provided training and assistance to Iraqi forces on the battlefield, welcomed the defeat.

"Mosul liberated from ISIS: France pays homage to all those, who alongside our troops, contributed to this victory," Macron said on Twitter.

Mossoul libérée de Daech : hommage de la France à tous ceux, avec nos troupes, qui ont contribué à cette victoire.

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) July 9, 2017

The Islamic State lost its administrative grip over Mosul in October, when government forces pushed it from the eastern half of the city, and its ultimate defeat here was all but a foregone conclusion. In its final days, the terrorist group mustered only a couple hundred fighters, cornered on a tiny patch of territory on the western bank of the Tigris River.

Source: ISW

The loss of Mosul, while largely expected, is a major blow for ISIS, which is also losing ground in its operational base in the Syrian city of Raqqa, where it has planned global attacks.  Amusingly, ISIS had group vowed to "fight to the death" in Mosul, but Iraqi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Rasool told state TV that 30 militants had been killed attempting to flee by swimming across the River Tigris that bisects the city. Cornered in a shrinking area, the militants have resorted to sending women suicide bombers among the thousands of civilians who are emerging from the battlefield wounded, malnourished and fearful, Iraqi army officers said.

That said, the Islamic State is far from vanquished in Iraq and elsewhere in the region It still controls small swaths of Iraq and large stretches of neighboring Syria. Its members and followers, more dispersed than ever, are likely to pose a terrorist threat in Baghdad, the Middle East and beyond for years to come. As the WSJ adds, "Islamic State’s defeat in Mosul would be a major military, psychological and political blow for the ruthless Sunni Muslim militant group."

A full timeline of the "rise and spread", and now fall, of the Islamic State can be found here.

What happens next?

Aside from Mosul, across the border in Syria a battle is raging to dislodge IS from Raqqa, the second capital of its self-declared caliphate. Fighting will push down the Euphrates valley to Deir al-Zour, the jihadis’ last big urban stronghold.

But the fall of Mosul also exposes ethnic and sectarian fractures that have plagued Iraq for more than a decade.

The victory risks triggering new violence between Arabs and Kurds over disputed territories or between Sunnis and Shi’ites over claims to power, egged on by outside powers that have shaped Iraq’s future since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein’s Sunni minority-rule and brought the Iran-backed Shi’ite majority to power.

For Iraq, stunned by the blitz on Mosul by Islamic State in 2014 and the collapse of its army, victory could thus turn out to be as big a problem as defeat. The federal model devised under the Anglo-American occupation and built on a power-sharing agreement between Sunnis, Shi’ites and Kurds collapsed into ethno-sectarian carnage spawned by the al Qaeda precursors of Islamic State.

In the three years since the jihadis swept across the border from Syria where they had regrouped in the chaos of the rebellion against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s rule, IS was the rallying point uniting a fractured Iraq.

But now that the group faces military defeat, the unity that held Iraq together is starting to come apart.

Read more on the challenges faced by post-ISIS Iraq here.

Washington Tries to Hide Its Failure in Mosul

 

(image: AP)

By: Anna Jaunger, Syria Media Center |

For the past months, Washington has faced the urgent need to distract the world’s attention from its devastating failure in Mosul in order to hide the huge number of casualties among the local population. Perhaps, this became one of the main reasons for carrying out a new full-scale campaign to topple and discredit Bashar Assad.

However, every effort that is being made by the U.S. to hide its failures, in fact, is futile. The ‘counter-terrorist’ operation in the Iraqi Mosul has been going on for more than 6 months. According to the Pentagon, the number of losses among the coalition forces has already reached at least 9,000 military personnel and 1,600 units of military equipment. Of course, we must admit that the overwhelming majority of casualties are among the Iraqi military. But we should not forget that the Iraqi soldiers are led by generals of the international coalition. Thus, all the losses during the assault of Mosul are the result of U.S. direct command.

It’s not a secret that the U.S. indiscriminant air strikes lead to a daily increasing number of civilian casualties. Considering the fact that all this is happening under the patronage of the United States, the natural question arises – how effective is Washington in fighting terrorism, if it can’t minimize the losses among civilians?

An example of such a destructive activity of the coalition led by the United States is the air strike blown at Mosul western regions last week. This was stated by the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights on Sunday. The human rights organization reported the deaths of dozens of civilians. Subsequently, it called the coalition on to “plan strikes more precisely to avoid civilian casualties.”

In addition, according to the Associated Press, the coordinator of the UN humanitarian mission Liz Grande said that the destruction in the western part of Mosul is two and a half times more than there is in the eastern part of the city. This indicates that the coalition forces do not take into consideration the fact that Mosul still has civilians and the coalition does not want to minimize losses and scale of destruction.
Obviously, Washington is ready to use any means to mislead the general public. This can be attributed to the recent completely fabricated incident in the Syrian village of Khan Sheikhun, and the subsequent Syrian government air base Shayrat attack by the US Air Force. Such actions allow the White House to get away from undesirable questions concerning their failures in Mosul.

Heartbreaking Video of 4yo Girl Who Survived US Airstrikes Proves It’s Not ‘Our Freedom they Hate’

(RT) — The father of the 4-year-old Hawraa, who is slowly recovering from severe wounds she suffered in a coalition airstrike on her home in Mosul that killed her mother and most of the family, told RT about the horrors and desperation he went through during the raid.

Hawraa miraculously survived the US-led coalition airstrike on al-Jadida neighborhood in Mosul on March 16 that claimed the lives of her mother and two other relatives.

“We were sitting at my uncle’s house. She [Hawraa] and her mother, and my uncle’s wife went back home to cook and give her a bath, because she was sick. So they went home at eight o’clock, and the house was shelled by the American air force,” Hawraa’s grieving father, Alaa, recalls.

Hawraa was the only one to make it through the airstrike, and then had to battle for her life in the field hospital of Iraq Special Operations Forces after suffering multiple shrapnel injuries. The girl, although still feeble and is hospital care, is keen on making a full recovery. Hawraa has become strong enough to be able to speak to her other relatives by phone, although she still needs her grandmother’s help to sit down.

The 4-year-old seems not to comprehend completely what has happened to her.

“Yesterday, she was touching her hair and asking, where is my hair? Is it burned off?” Hawraa’s grandmother told RT.

While it will take a long time for the child to heal physically, it will be even harder to get rid of mental scars.

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“She has developed a fear from explosions and the sounds of bullets. She doesn’t want to go back, ever,” her grandmother said.

‘Made in USA’

Adjusting to the brutal reality is no less tough for Alaa, who keeps replaying events of the night of the raid. Due to the constant shelling of the area by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS, ISIL) terrorists, Alaa was forced to stay in his uncle’s house effectively being trapped there for three days and thus unable to help his family.

“I tried to save her, but I couldn’t save her from the shelling and the airstrikes. And Daesh [IS] were firing at us, and there were snipers, they were shooting at me so I couldn’t go out with her, I stayed there around three days,” Alaa said, adding that every time he attempted to go outside, he was shot at.

The news on his wife’s demise came amid that chaos. A neighbor told Alaa that he saw somebody who appeared to be his wife lying under a wall with a big, one meter high and half a meter wide hole in it. Walls with such man-made holes are used by IS militants to move swiftly while at the same time in disguise.

“I went through the holes and I saw my wife. I saw only one of her legs and part of her abdomen. She had no leg, no arms and no head, just this part of her body still there. I tried to take her out and they started to shoot at me. I just covered her with a blanket so the dogs wouldn’t eat her body,” Alaa recalled.

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Alaa was told that his house, with his family inside, was targeted in the coalition raid. Later he discovered what he believes was a part of an American shell used in the bombing.

“You know that at the end of the missile there are four flaps, on that cartridge was written ‘made in USA’, I’m sure that was American,” Alaa said.

Alaa’s family became one of the many civilian casualties inflicted by the coalition air raids in Mosul. As terrorists use civilians as human shields and deliberately draw coalition warplanes to residential areas, the line between civilian and terrorist targets has become blurred.

Alaa believes that the bomb might have mistakenly landed on his house, while it was intended to strike a shooting position of jihadists in a nearby home. He recounts the toll of other misplaced strikes, going as far as calling the carnage “genocide.”

“All of these were airstrikes. Our house, out neighbor’s house. In one house alone, 144 people [were killed] and in front of our house 32 people [were killed]. Next to our house 13 people [were killed], in the house behind us more than 20 [were killed],” he said.

“This is genocide, I don’t know, how else can you see this?”

The US-led coalition has subsequently issued a statement, admitting that it targeted the area at the request of the Iraqi forces at the time of the incident and launched a formal investigation into the deaths of dozens of civilians in the residential neighborhood of western Mosul on March 17.

Announcing the probe, US CENTCOM commander General Votel stressed that IS “exploits” the US “sensitivity for civilian casualties” by using them as human shields, arguing that in this particular case the IS fighters “bear the responsibility for this as well.”

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It’s Official, Pentagon Will Now Keep Troop Count in Iraq & Syria Secret

The U.S. Central Command recently announced that troop numbers in Iraq and Syria will no longer be reported to the public. In its announcement, CENTCOM spokesman Army Col. John Thomas declared that “capabilities, not numbers,” should be the area of focus, and the public will be given general estimates of troop sizes in the future.

Jason Ditz of antiwar.com points out that the Obama administration was already less than forthcoming about the number of soldiers sent to these areas by utilizing a variety of tactics, including “deliberately omitting large numbers of troops from the official count by labeling them ‘temporary."”

The Pentagon’s announcement comes during a time in which the U.S. military’s recent use of airstrikes is under fresh scrutiny and stands accused of causing deaths of hundreds of civilians in recent weeks, including strikes in Mosul last week that killed an unconfirmed, but reportedly numerous, number of noncombatants.

According to Reuters regarding the strike in Mosul, “Eyewitnesses from Mosul and Iraqi officials have said last week’s strike on Islamic State targets may have collapsed homes where rescue officials say as many as 200 people were buried in the rubble.” Reuters described this event as “one of the deadliest single incidents for civilians in recent memory in any major conflict involving the U.S. military.”

In the Pentagon’s acknowledgment of the Mosul strike and announcement of its investigation into the incident, Army Col. Joseph Scrocca admitted that “we believe a coalition strike contributed in at least some way to the civilian casualties.”

In addition, reports have surfaced alleging that recent U.S. airstrikes in Syria have led to significant civilian deaths. One strike that was launched in northern Syria in mid-March, reportedly targeted at a building “that local officials said was a mosque filled with worshippers at evening prayer” and also resulted in civilian casualties. Another strike by a U.S.-led coalition at a school in Raqqa that was being “used as refugee centre,” according to The Guardian. The Guardian’s report notes that “Over the past eight months, there have been four cases in which US planes or drones have been blamed for mass civilian casualties in Syria.”

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The new U.S. presidential administration has unsurprisingly provided little change in its approach to foreign policy and the war on terror; in fact, President Trump is currently considering sending at least 1,000 more troops to Syria. As Ditz noted, the government has long lacked transparency regarding troop numbers in Iraq and Syria, and it appears that while CENTCOM may be seeking to avoid further criticism over specific deployment numbers by simply eliminating these reports. However, this increase in secrecy that further places civilians in the dark will undoubtedly exacerbate tensions across the globe in regards to American accountability.

Another troubling revelation from Thomas is the military’s dismissal of making changes to airstrike policy. Thomas stated that General Joseph Votel, the head of CENTCOM, “is not looking into changing the way we operate other than to say our processes are good and we want to make sure we live by those processes.”

Report: US Airstrikes Slaughter 230 Innocent Civilians in a Single Night in Mosul

Mosul, Iraq — Reports coming out of Iraq this week are downright terrifying with local media reporting up to as many as 230 innocent civilians slaughtered in US coalition airstrikes — in a single night.

According to the Kurdish media company, Rudaw, 137 people – most believed to be civilians – died when a bomb hit a single building in al-Jadida, in the western side of the city on Thursday. Another 100 were killed nearby.

As the British Telegraph reports, the casualties were “mostly women and children,” and “were pulled from three adjoining houses in the Jadida neighbourhood of west Mosul overnight Wednesday and into Thursday morning, according to witnesses.”

“There was so much bombing, and so many deaths,” an elderly woman said of the strikes.

“Pieces of human flesh were flying in all directions.”

According to Antiwar, Central Command said that they were “aware of the loss of life” and were carrying out “further investigation,” while insisting that all of their strikes against Mosul overnight “comply with the Law of Armed Conflict.”

Centcom also reported that “military forces conducted nine strikes consisting of 67 engagements coordinated with and in support of the government of Iraq against ISIS targets.”

Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Erbil in northern Iraq, said fighting in the area had intensified in the last few days.

“For more than a week there was a stalemate as Iraqi forces struggled to advance on the Old City, but in the last few days, the fighting has intensified.

“There are air strikes and ISIL is also using civilians homes with civilians in them. People have been caught in crossfire and targeted by ISIL … The shelling is indiscriminate,” said Dekker.

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“There is no safe passage out of the city. Civilians are literally everywhere.”

Reports from civilians in Mosul say ISIS fighters are employing tactics such as establishing fighting positions on the rooftops of apartment buildings. These buildings are occupied by innocent civilians and are also the targets of US coalition strikes.

“ISIS made us keep our door open, so they could get onto the roofs at any time. They even broke down the walls between houses so they could move around,” a local resident told RT.

“There were so many killed in the airstrikes, rockets, and mortars… Our entire neighborhood is in ruins. There are maybe ten houses still standing. The children are traumatized. When the jets start flying, they start crying,” another woman said.

If the aim of ISIS is to maximize civilian casualties by manipulating the US military into striking these targets, that, they have done. If their aim was to reduce the airstrikes, they have failed.

However, if we examine the mission of ISIS more closely, the former is far more likely.

The mission of ISIS is to create a rift in society in which there are extremists and everyone else. The want to eliminate the ‘gray zone’ — the area in which different religions and cultures peacefully coexist — by any means necessary. By using civilians as human shields, knowing that US forces will bomb them anyway, this tactic plays right into their strategy.

The men, women, and children who watched their father, mother, son, or daughter explode right before their eyes this week, as a US bomb destroyed their home, will undoubtedly foster resentment toward the West. This approach is the most powerful recruiting tool the terrorist regime has.

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As the Free Thought Project has previously reported, the West, in their constant bombardment, interference, meddling, and policing of the world, has fostered a breeding ground for terrorism. Indeed, America’s foreign policy, alone, since 9/11, has created a million Osama bin Ladens — all funding and arming of ISIS excluded.

Sadly, the military industrial complex shows no signs of slowing its cancer-like growth.

As long as Americans keep buying the lies spewing from the warmongering tyrants in power, nothing will change. As long as Boobus Americanus continues to believe “It’s our freedom they hate,” death and destruction will rain down — until there is nothing left.

Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Agorist is also the Editor at Large at the Free Thought Project. Follow @MattAgorist on Twitter, Steemit, and now on Facebook.

350,000 Children are Trapped and Under Threat of Execution in Mosul

January 30, 2017   |   admintam

(MEE) Some 350,000 children are trapped in siege-like conditions in Mosul, under threat of execution if they try to flee, according to a report released by Save the Children on Monday.

As Iraqi forces continued to make advances against the Islamic State group in their last Iraqi stronghold, human rights groups have expressed increasing concern about the risk to children and other civilians from artillery and explosive weaponry.

Save the Children’s Iraq country director, Maurizio Crivallero, urged forces fighting in the city to take every precaution to avoid civilians deaths.

“To a child it doesn’t matter where the bombs come from – it’s where they land that matters,” he said.

“The impact of explosive weapons in west Mosul is likely to be deadly and indiscriminate. We must ensure that every effort humanly possible is made to protect children and their families from harm.”

The organization described the situation in Mosul as “increasingly desperate”. Around 750,000 civilians are out of the reach of aid agencies and food, water and basic supplies are scarce.

“I talked to my family in west Mosul: they are staying inside and don’t have anything to eat or drink,” said Mahmoud, a medic living in a recaptured area of eastern Mosul, speaking to Save the Children.

“No one is able to get the children anything, there’s no food or milk for babies – the markets are empty and the supplies they stockpiled have almost run out.”

“There’s a huge risk for families trying to flee – if ISIS see a family trying to escape, they kill them on the spot. I tried to get mine out and agreed with a smuggler to bring them here, but he opted out because he saw a family of nine killed in front of his eyes.”

The World Food Programme said on Friday it had halved the food rations distributed to 1.4 million Iraqis displaced in the war against IS because of delays in payments of funds from donor states.

“This year somehow we are receiving commitments from donors a little bit late. We are talking with donors but we don’t have enough money as of yet,” said Inger Marie Vennize, spokesperson for the UN agency.

“We have had to reduce (the rations) as of this month.”

The WFP is talking to the United States – its biggest donor – Germany, Japan and others to secure funds to restore full rations, she added.

“The 50 percent cuts in monthly rations affect over 1.4 million people across Iraq,” Vennize said.

The impact is already being felt in camps east of Mosul. About 160,000 people have been displaced since the military campaign to recapture Mosul was launched in October.

“They gave us a good amount of food in the beginning, but now they have reduced it,” said Omar Shukri Mahmoud at the Hassan Sham camp.

“They are giving an entire family the food supply of one person … And there is no work at all … we want to go back home,” he added.

“We are a big family and this ration is not going to be enough,” said 39-year-old Safa Shaker, who has a family of 11.

“We escaped from Daesh (Islamic State) in order to have a chance to live and now we came here and they have cut the aid. How are we supposed to live?” she said as she cooked for the family.

About three million people have been displaced from their homes in Iraq since 2014, when IS took over large areas of the country and of neighboring Syria.

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This article (350,000 Children are Trapped and Under Threat of Execution in Mosul) by MEE and agencies originally appeared on MiddleEastEye.net and was used with permission. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

US Military and Media Ignore New ISIS Push into Syria, 250K Civilians Threatened

January 19, 2017   |   Darius Shahtahmasebi

(ANTIMEDIA) You wouldn’t know it from following most of the corporate media online or on your television set, but ISIS is currently making significant headway in Syria. According to the Guardian, ISIS fighters have broken through government defensive lines in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, successfully surrounding a military airport and cutting off food supplies for roughly a quarter of a million civilians in the Syrian city.

Remember when the Syrian army surrounded Aleppo and Western media accused the regime of cutting off supplies to over a quarter of a million residents in eastern Aleppo? Apparently, when ISIS does the same, it is not newsworthy.

But there’s more. According to the Guardian, the ISIS fighters who successfully broke through government defense lines in Syria were “primarily reinforcements coming over the border from Iraq’s Anbar province.” In October 2016, Anti-Media speculated that the U.S. military was planning to allow ISIS safe passage to move from Mosul, their de-facto Iraqi capital, into Syria so they could battle the Syrian regime.

Unfortunately, whether or not the U.S. is allowing this to happen on purpose or out of sheer negligence, that speculation has become a reality. ISIS has indeed seemingly relied on their Iraqi component to push through the defenses of the Syrian government and the U.S. military has done little to stop the terror group bolstering its numbers in Syria.

But wait, there’s still more. The city of Deir ez-Zor is the same city that was attacked by the American-led coalition in September last year – an attack that targeted Syrian troops for over an hour, paving the way for a timely ISIS offensive.

This all begs the question: where is the U.S. military right now? Clearly, the U.S. coalition is capable of attacking Deir ez-Zor, as they didn’t hesitate to provide air cover for ISIS against Syrian troops in September. The U.S. could also target the convoys of ISIS recruitments heading from Iraqi territory into Syria if they wanted to. Why aren’t they? The U.S. has spent billions and billions of taxpayer money interfering in Syria, so surely some of that money could be used to advance Barack Obama’s stated goal of “degrading and destroying” ISIS.

Further, Deir ez-Zor holds significant importance for ISIS as it is close to key oilfields that provide a financial lifeline to the terror group.

Sounds like the perfect place for the American military to strike. Or the Russians, for that matter. They’re also adept at ‘spreading peace’ by bombing terror groups into submission (as well as civilians, including children).

It would appear the Syrian military has been left to its own devices, and the corporate media has turned its head the other way.

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This article (US Military and Media Ignore New ISIS Push into Syria, 250K Civilians Threatened) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Darius Shahtahmasebi and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11 pm Eastern/8 pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, please email the error and name of the article to edits@theantimedia.org.

US-Led Airstrikes Kill Dozens of Civilians in Iraq

January 16, 2017   |   admintam

(ANTIWAR) Adding to the ever-growing civilian toll of the invasion of the major ISIS city of Mosul, warplanes from the US-led coalition attacked a house in the Jadida District, believed to belong to a senior ISIS commander, causing widespread damage in the area and killing between 25 and 30 civilian bystanders.

The US says they are still looking into the reports and could not yet confirm if their planes were responsible, but adding insult to injury, the reports out of Mosul suggest the intended target wasn’t even at home at the time, so he did not end up among the substantial casualties.

Centcom confirmed that they “routinely” launch airstrikes in the area, and that the location in question appears to be in close proximity to coalition strikes that day, meaning it is presumed to be among them. This comes amid growing UN concerns about civilian casualties in Mosul.

The UN’s most recent comments warned that the civilian casualties in Mosul are far higher than yet acknowledged, saying that the expected civilian casualties in fighting in a large city would be 15% up to 20% of the casualties in the fight, and that rather their indications are that about half of all casualties in Mosul are civilian bystanders.

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This article (US-Led Airstrikes Kill Dozens of Civilians in Iraq) by Jason Ditz, originally appeared on AntiWar.com and was used with permission. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

US Troops Are Now Fighting Near Front Lines in Iraq

January 5, 2017   |   admintam

(MEE) US soldiers have moved into Mosul and are now operating near constantly shifting front lines amid fierce house-to-house fighting and car bomb attacks, the Pentagon has said, as months of Iraqi operations to defeat Islamic State grind on.

Colonel John Dorrian, a spokesman for the US-led coalition against IS, said on Wednesday that special forces, intelligence and engineering troops were closely involved with Iraqi attempts to take Iraq’s second city.

“They have been in the city at different times, yes,” said Dorrian. “They’ve advised the Iraqi security forces as they’ve moved forward.”

It is the first time the US has acknowledged its forces were operating inside the city, where car bombs, snipers and house-to-house fighting have exacted a heavy toll on Iraqi forces.

Dorrian added that his troops “remain behind the forward line” – but also said that line was constantly shifting amid “room-to-room” fighting and urban warfare marked by constant attacks from car bombs (see video below).

“There are more than 200,000 buildings in Mosul. You end up having to clear each one,” he said. “That means going through “every single room and every single closet. It’s going to take time. It’s going to be very dangerous.”

Dorrian said US and coalition advisers involved in retaking the city had doubled to 450 in recent weeks.

He declined to say whether the Iraqi advance was proceeding according to schedule, amid reports that their efforts had slowed in the face of fierce resistance by IS and mounting casualties among Iraqi troops.

Dorrian’s comments come as the IS group released drone footage of attacks on Iraqi forces inside Mosul.

The video shows cars rolling down streets before reaching their targets in the east of the city.

Huge blasts then erupt from the vehicles, destroying almost everything around them.

IS has used hundreds of car bombs in the battle for Mosul. Many vehicles used are armored, making it difficult to impossible for Iraqi forces to destroy them before they reach their targets.

The UN said in December that more than 2,000 Iraqi soldiers had been killed since the launch of the Mosul offensive in October.

In December, one senior Pentagon official told Politico that some Iraqi battalions were suffering up to 50 percent casualty rates.

The US has approximately 5,000 troops in Iraq, many of whom are stationed away from combat.

Offensive in western Iraq

Iraqi forces on Thursday announced they had launched an offensive to retake towns still under the control of IS in western areas near the border with Syria, commanders said.

“A military operation has begun in the western areas of Anbar to liberate them from Daesh,” said Lieutenant General Qassem Mohammedi, of the Jazeera Operations Command, using an Arabic word for IS.

The militants’ hub of Al-Qaim, which lies 330km northwest of Baghdad, is still a long way down the road and the most immediate target of the new offensive is the town of Aanah.

“Our forces started advancing from Haditha towards Aanah from several directions,” Mohammedi told AFP.

Haditha was never seized by IS when the group swept across much of Iraq’s Sunni Arab heartland in 2014 and is home to a tribe that has led the fight against IS in the area.

“Zero hour has come to liberate the western areas,” Nadhom al-Jughaifi, a commander with the Haditha tribal fighters, said.

He said the operation was led by the army’s 7th division, police, and fighters from local tribes that have opposed the militants, with aerial backing from the US-led coalition.

The main targets of the operation are Aanah, Rawa and Al-Qaim, the westernmost Iraqi towns along the Euphrates valley.

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This article (US Troops Are Now Fighting Near Front Lines in Iraq) by MEE staff originally appeared on MiddleEastEye.net and was used with permission. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

52,369 Killed in Iraq During 2016

January 2, 2017   |   admintam

(ANTIWAR) At least 52,369 people were killed in Iraq during 2017. Another 21,795 were wounded.

According to figures compiled by Antiwar.com, at least 9,148 civilians, 6,430 security personnel, and 36,661 militants were killed. Also, three U.S. servicemen were killed in combat in Iraq. (A fourth one was killed fighting the Islamic State militants in Syria.) A British bomb disposal expert and 125 members of the Kurdistan Workers Party were killed as well. Two French soldiers, a British bomb disposal expert, and an Australian N.G.O. worker were wounded. These figures are similar to 2015’s, which were 52,045 killed and 19,651 wounded.

In December, at least 3,174 people were killed and 1,939 were wounded. Of these, 798 were civilians killed. Another 1,658 civilians were injured. Security forces lost 154 personnel, while another 177 were wounded. At least 2,181 militants were killed, and 104 were injured. Also, at least 41 Kurdistan Workers Party (P.K.K.) members were killed in Turkish airstrikes within Iraqi territory. These figures are likely to be low estimates.

Due to the nature of the conflict and the Iraqi government restricting the release of actual numbers, true counts are impossible to derive. Last month, when 5,719 people were reported killed and another 1,734 were wounded, the United Nations had given reasonable estimates that the Iraqi government later criticized. Subsequently, the U.N. said it would no longer publish estimates concerning security personnel.

Occasionally, however, a glimpse into the extent of the bloodshed is given. For example, the head of the heath department in Erbil, Saman Barzinji, said on December 22 that about 7,595 injured people, including security personnel, had been taken to hospitals in Erbil during operations in Mosul. However, even assuming that the figure was accurate at the time, it only measures how many wounded arrived at hospitals within Barzinji’s jurisdiction. Many of the injured were treated at field hospitals or clinics closer to the fighting before being released.

Also, figures concerning the number of militants killed could be faulty. Baghdad may be exaggerating the numbers for propaganda purposes. Or, they may even be counting civilians as militants, perhaps accidentally. Without independent confirmation from behind enemy lines, these figures are likely never to be known fully.

In other news, French President Francois Hollande traveled to Iraq to visit with French troops and meet with Iraqi officials.

At least 342 were killed and 31 were wounded in more recent violence:

Five suicide bombers struck at a police checkpoint in Qadisiya, killing seven people and wounding 15 more. Of the dead, five were policemen.

A booby-trapped flag killed an army officer and wounded three soldiers in Abu Garma.

An attack on Mtabijh left two militiamen dead and three wounded.

In Mosul, two civilians were killed and 10 were wounded in a suicide attack in Karama. A drone killed 20 militants in a western neighborhood. At least 302 militants were killed in clashes.

Security forces killed a top commander and his companion on Lake Hamrin. At least one more militant was reported killed.

Clashes are ongoing near Baquba.

Islamic State militants captured a village in the Abu Saida region.

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This article (52,369 Killed in Iraq During 2016) by Margaret Griffis, originally appeared on AntiWar.com and was used with permission. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.