Iraq – On the 15 Sep Iraqi Shi'a militias issued statements concerning any further involvement by U.S. military personnel in Iraq or neighbouring countries. The groups included the Sadrist Trend, which has fully reactivated its Mahdi Army under the banner of the "Peace Brigades," Asai'b Ahl al-Haq (AAH), and Katai'b Hizballah (KH). Both AAH and KH are supported by the Iranian government while the Sadrists have had more complex relations with the Iranian government. The three groups, along with the Badr organization, have also had a forward-deploying role in the Iraqi government's ground campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). The role of KH and AAH has been coordinated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force (QF). The Peace Brigades have avoided public association with the Iranian government and may be coordinating with QF to a lesser extent in comparison to AAH and KH.
In his statement, leader of the Sadrist Trend Moqtada al-Sadr stated that the Iraqi government should not call on assistance from the "occupier," A reference to the U.S. Sadr added that "as we made you taste the heat of our fire and [power] in the past, we will make you taste the scourge of your decision." Sadr ordered his forces state to withdraw from the frontlines if "U.S. forces or others [forces] intervened through land or sea, directly or indirectly." KH also stated that its elements will withdraw from the frontline against ISIS due to the U.S. role in Iraq. KH also attributed this decision to its belief that if "we and America are in one place, we have to be in a fighting situation not cooperation and peace." AAH also stated that it will attack the U.S. embassy with its "Avenger" rocket if it thought about "sending its soldiers to Iraq."
These statements are a reaction to President Barack Obama's speech during the last reporting period announcing the U.S. effort to counter ISIS. Furthermore, they represent an Iranian government position against the anti-ISIS coalition that the Administration is consolidating, which has not included the Iranian government. In short, the Iranian government is replicating its strategy before the withdrawal of U.S. Forces in 2011 by directing the militias to attack U.S. forces and presence in Iraq. Furthermore, the Iraqi Shi'a militias want to maintain their influence, and the presence of U.S. forces will result in limiting their influence.
Iraq's Shi'a militias will have to acknowledge the active involvement of U.S. and other western countries in breaking the siege of Amerli. They will also have to contend with expanded U.S. air support that has included areas south of Baghdad on September 14-15, both of which support the Iraqi government against the threat of ISIS. It will be important to watch how the Badr organization will react to these statements given its close ties to the Iranian government and Badr's desire to occupy one of Iraq's security portfolio ministries of either Defence or Interior. (http://iswiraq.blogspot.com.es/2014/09/the-iraqi-shia-militia-response-to-us.html?utm_source=The+Iraqi+Shi'a+Militia+Response+to+the+U.S.+Anti-ISIS+Coalition&utm_campaign=ISW+New+Iraq+update&utm_medium=email)
The Institute for the study of War on the 18 Sep 14 reported the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) launched a complex attack likely targeting the Adala Prison in Baghdad's Kadhmiyah neighborhood in northern Baghdad. According to the Baghdad Operations Command, the attack was intended to break into the prison but was foiled. ISIS also launched another attack in Baghdad's Iskan neighborhood that likely targeted the offices of the Iraqi Shi'a political group and militia, the Badr Organization.
The Attack
ISIS's attack included mortar rounds, Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIEDs), and Suicide Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (SVBIEDs). The mortars were likely launched from the areas of the northern Baghdad belt including Taji. Fourteen mortar rounds reportedly targeted the Adala prison and in the vicinity of Kadhmiyah, and other mortar rounds fell in the Great area in northern Baghdad which is adjacent to Kadhmiyah. An SVBIED also targeted the prison, resulting in the death of three people and injury of 10. Two attackers who had intended to attack the prison while wearing an explosive vest (SVEST) were arrested. Another VBIED exploded in a restaurant area in Kadhmiyah that resulted in the death of four people and the injury of 11 people. Iraqi police also defused yet another VBIED that was also found in Kadhmiyah. As a result of these attacks, security forces raised alert levels in Kadhmiyah. Security Forces also ordered commercial shops to be closed in the predominantly Iraqi Sunni neighbourhood of Adhamiyah. Adhamiyah lies just across the Aaima Bridge from Kadhmiyah. Elsewhere in Baghdad, a VBIED detonated in the Iskan area in western Baghdad. The VBIED targeted the office of the Badr Organization, a Shi'a militia organization that has taken a leading role in directing Iraqi Shi'a militia operations to counter ISIS.
The Islamic State (IS) terrorist group has reportedly launched a chemical attack on Iraqi forces in Saladin province, media reports claimed on the 19 Sep 14. The attack took place Wednesday (17 Sep) and Thursday (18 Sep) in the town of Dhuluiya, and left around a dozen people and army personnel affected. Dhuluiya has been under IS control for more than two months. Earlier in Jul 14, Iraq had warned that the IS militants have taken control of a huge former chemical weapons facility northwest of Iraq's capital Baghdad. Iraq's Ambassador to the UN, Mohamed Ali Alhakim said in a letter that remnants of 2,500 chemical rockets filled with the deadly nerve agent sarin were kept along with other chemical warfare agents in a facility 55 km northwest of Baghdad. He added that the site's surveillance system showed that some equipment had been looted after "armed terrorist groups" penetrated the site Jun 11. According a report by UN inspectors, the facility contained 2,500 sarin-filled chemical rockets along with about 180 tonnes of sodium cyanide, which is "a very toxic chemical and a precursor for the warfare agent tabun". It added that 2,000 empty artillery shells contaminated with the chemical warfare agent mustard and 605 one-tonne mustard containers with residues were also kept at the facility.
Syria – The Syrian militant group al-Nusra Front has denounced US-led air strikes as "a war against Islam". In an online statement, the al-Qaeda-linked group called on jihadists around the world to target Western and Arab countries involved it was reported on the 28 Sep 14. Despite sharing radical Islamist beliefs, IS and al-Nusra Front have been rivals, recently clashing with each other in Syria. "This is not a war against al-Nusra, but a war against Islam."
Yemen – On the 22 Sep 14 Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed credit for two separate attacks carried out earlier that day, in the midst of serious political and sectarian upheaval rocking the country. The attacks, a suicide operation in Yemen's northern Sa'adah province and a bombing in Sana'a, both targeted Shi'ite Houthi rebels who have been leading an open insurrection in the Yemeni capital for the past several days. AQAP reported that the suicide operation in Sa'adah was carried out by Mu'awiyah al-San'ani at exactly five o'clock in the evening as he detonated the explosive in his truck carrying a ton and a half of explosive materials. The suicide attack targeted a gathering of Houthis in front of a local court administered by the Shi'ite Zaydi sect in the Beqa' region on the edges of Sa'adah and Jawf provinces, both traditional Houthi strongholds. "It is important to mention," the news report released by AQAP concludes, "that the aforementioned suicide operation comes a day after the crimes committed by the rafidi Houthi group's militias...against the Sunnis in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a." In a follow up report, AQAP claimed that more than fifty Houthis had been killed in the attack. The statement on the attack in Sana'a, dated the 16 Sep 14 but released on the 23 Sep claimed that the group "targeted a Houthi military unit" on Monday afternoon with an improvised explosive device (IED). The attack reportedly occurred as the military unit was passing along Television Road in the Yemeni capital. The AQAP statement provides no addition information.
In his statement, leader of the Sadrist Trend Moqtada al-Sadr stated that the Iraqi government should not call on assistance from the "occupier," A reference to the U.S. Sadr added that "as we made you taste the heat of our fire and [power] in the past, we will make you taste the scourge of your decision." Sadr ordered his forces state to withdraw from the frontlines if "U.S. forces or others [forces] intervened through land or sea, directly or indirectly." KH also stated that its elements will withdraw from the frontline against ISIS due to the U.S. role in Iraq. KH also attributed this decision to its belief that if "we and America are in one place, we have to be in a fighting situation not cooperation and peace." AAH also stated that it will attack the U.S. embassy with its "Avenger" rocket if it thought about "sending its soldiers to Iraq."
These statements are a reaction to President Barack Obama's speech during the last reporting period announcing the U.S. effort to counter ISIS. Furthermore, they represent an Iranian government position against the anti-ISIS coalition that the Administration is consolidating, which has not included the Iranian government. In short, the Iranian government is replicating its strategy before the withdrawal of U.S. Forces in 2011 by directing the militias to attack U.S. forces and presence in Iraq. Furthermore, the Iraqi Shi'a militias want to maintain their influence, and the presence of U.S. forces will result in limiting their influence.
Iraq's Shi'a militias will have to acknowledge the active involvement of U.S. and other western countries in breaking the siege of Amerli. They will also have to contend with expanded U.S. air support that has included areas south of Baghdad on September 14-15, both of which support the Iraqi government against the threat of ISIS. It will be important to watch how the Badr organization will react to these statements given its close ties to the Iranian government and Badr's desire to occupy one of Iraq's security portfolio ministries of either Defence or Interior. (http://iswiraq.blogspot.com.es/2014/09/the-iraqi-shia-militia-response-to-us.html?utm_source=The+Iraqi+Shi'a+Militia+Response+to+the+U.S.+Anti-ISIS+Coalition&utm_campaign=ISW+New+Iraq+update&utm_medium=email)
The Institute for the study of War on the 18 Sep 14 reported the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) launched a complex attack likely targeting the Adala Prison in Baghdad's Kadhmiyah neighborhood in northern Baghdad. According to the Baghdad Operations Command, the attack was intended to break into the prison but was foiled. ISIS also launched another attack in Baghdad's Iskan neighborhood that likely targeted the offices of the Iraqi Shi'a political group and militia, the Badr Organization.
The Attack
ISIS's attack included mortar rounds, Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIEDs), and Suicide Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (SVBIEDs). The mortars were likely launched from the areas of the northern Baghdad belt including Taji. Fourteen mortar rounds reportedly targeted the Adala prison and in the vicinity of Kadhmiyah, and other mortar rounds fell in the Great area in northern Baghdad which is adjacent to Kadhmiyah. An SVBIED also targeted the prison, resulting in the death of three people and injury of 10. Two attackers who had intended to attack the prison while wearing an explosive vest (SVEST) were arrested. Another VBIED exploded in a restaurant area in Kadhmiyah that resulted in the death of four people and the injury of 11 people. Iraqi police also defused yet another VBIED that was also found in Kadhmiyah. As a result of these attacks, security forces raised alert levels in Kadhmiyah. Security Forces also ordered commercial shops to be closed in the predominantly Iraqi Sunni neighbourhood of Adhamiyah. Adhamiyah lies just across the Aaima Bridge from Kadhmiyah. Elsewhere in Baghdad, a VBIED detonated in the Iskan area in western Baghdad. The VBIED targeted the office of the Badr Organization, a Shi'a militia organization that has taken a leading role in directing Iraqi Shi'a militia operations to counter ISIS.
The Islamic State (IS) terrorist group has reportedly launched a chemical attack on Iraqi forces in Saladin province, media reports claimed on the 19 Sep 14. The attack took place Wednesday (17 Sep) and Thursday (18 Sep) in the town of Dhuluiya, and left around a dozen people and army personnel affected. Dhuluiya has been under IS control for more than two months. Earlier in Jul 14, Iraq had warned that the IS militants have taken control of a huge former chemical weapons facility northwest of Iraq's capital Baghdad. Iraq's Ambassador to the UN, Mohamed Ali Alhakim said in a letter that remnants of 2,500 chemical rockets filled with the deadly nerve agent sarin were kept along with other chemical warfare agents in a facility 55 km northwest of Baghdad. He added that the site's surveillance system showed that some equipment had been looted after "armed terrorist groups" penetrated the site Jun 11. According a report by UN inspectors, the facility contained 2,500 sarin-filled chemical rockets along with about 180 tonnes of sodium cyanide, which is "a very toxic chemical and a precursor for the warfare agent tabun". It added that 2,000 empty artillery shells contaminated with the chemical warfare agent mustard and 605 one-tonne mustard containers with residues were also kept at the facility.
Syria – The Syrian militant group al-Nusra Front has denounced US-led air strikes as "a war against Islam". In an online statement, the al-Qaeda-linked group called on jihadists around the world to target Western and Arab countries involved it was reported on the 28 Sep 14. Despite sharing radical Islamist beliefs, IS and al-Nusra Front have been rivals, recently clashing with each other in Syria. "This is not a war against al-Nusra, but a war against Islam."
Yemen – On the 22 Sep 14 Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed credit for two separate attacks carried out earlier that day, in the midst of serious political and sectarian upheaval rocking the country. The attacks, a suicide operation in Yemen's northern Sa'adah province and a bombing in Sana'a, both targeted Shi'ite Houthi rebels who have been leading an open insurrection in the Yemeni capital for the past several days. AQAP reported that the suicide operation in Sa'adah was carried out by Mu'awiyah al-San'ani at exactly five o'clock in the evening as he detonated the explosive in his truck carrying a ton and a half of explosive materials. The suicide attack targeted a gathering of Houthis in front of a local court administered by the Shi'ite Zaydi sect in the Beqa' region on the edges of Sa'adah and Jawf provinces, both traditional Houthi strongholds. "It is important to mention," the news report released by AQAP concludes, "that the aforementioned suicide operation comes a day after the crimes committed by the rafidi Houthi group's militias...against the Sunnis in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a." In a follow up report, AQAP claimed that more than fifty Houthis had been killed in the attack. The statement on the attack in Sana'a, dated the 16 Sep 14 but released on the 23 Sep claimed that the group "targeted a Houthi military unit" on Monday afternoon with an improvised explosive device (IED). The attack reportedly occurred as the military unit was passing along Television Road in the Yemeni capital. The AQAP statement provides no addition information.
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