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Iraq
A leader of Saraya Al-Salam was killed in Maysan, another injured
2022-11-25
[Shafaq News] On Thursday, a leader in the Saraya al-Salam (Peace Brigades) faction was killed, and another was maimed in an armed attack in the Maysan governorate, southern Iraq.

A local source told Shafaq News agency that unidentified gunnies killed a high-ranking commander and maimed another.

The maimed is in critical health condition. The source said.

The security services cordoned off the scene to find the perpetrators.

Saraya al-Salam, headed by Mustafa al-Hamidawi, is the military wing of the Sadrist Movement led by the Shiite Cleric Moqtada Tater al-Sadr
...hereditary Iraqi holy man and leader of a political movement in Iraq. He had his hereditary rival, al-Khoei, assassinated only a few hours after the holy rival's appearance out of exile in 2003. Formerly an Iranian catspaw, lately he's gagged over some of their more outlandish antics, then went back to catspawry...
; it is basically responsible for securing the Samarra district, which includes the shrine of two of the 12 revered Shi'ite imams.

The faction is a 2014 Mahdi Army revival that confronted the US forces in Iraq.

The Brigades has been involved in the fight against ISIS in many regions of Iraq, including Samarra, Diyala, Amerli, Jurf al-Sakhar, and Ishaqi districts.

After declaring victory over ISIS, former Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi decided to join the popular armed forces with the army and police formations.

The Brigades are now a part of Popular Mobilization Forces but under the direct command of al-Sadr.
Link


Iraq
Al-Sadr military wing forces kill an ISIS member in Samarra
2022-09-22
[Shafaq News] On Wednesday, a terrorist was killed, and another fled southeast of Samarra, southeast of Tikrit
...birthplace of Saddam Hussein...
A security source told Shafaq News Agency that a force from the Saraya al-Salam Samarra Operations Command ambushed two ISIS members in Jalam Samarra, which resulted in the death of one terrorist. At the same time, the other was able to run away.

The Saraya al-Salam forces continued to look for the ISIS terrorist, and a joint support force arrived at the scene.

Saraya al-Salam (Al-Salam Brigades), headed by Mustafa al-Hamidawi, is the military wing of the Sadrist Movement led by the Shiite Cleric Moqtada Tater al-Sadr
...hereditary Iraqi holy man and leader of a political movement in Iraq. He had his hereditary rival, al-Khoei, assassinated only a few hours after the holy rival's appearance out of exile in 2003. Formerly an Iranian catspaw, lately he's gagged over some of their more outlandish antics, then went back to catspawry...
; it is responsible for securing the Samarra district, which includes the shrine of two of the 12 revered Shi'ite imams.

A 2014 Mahdi Army revival confronted the US forces in Iraq.

The Brigades has been involved in the fight against ISIS in many regions of Iraq, including Samarra, Diyala, Amerli, Jurf al-Sakhar, and Ishaqi district.
Link


Iraq
ISIS killed members of Saraya Al-Salam in Samarra
2022-07-26
[Shafaq News] Two members of Saraya al-Salam, the military wing of the Sadrist movement, were killed in confrontations with ISIS in Samarra, Saladin Governorate.

In a statement, al-Saraya said that Basem Shalageh and Muhannad Shehab were killed while "defencding the homeland and the sanctities from the takfiri
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed...
 enemy (ISIS) in al-Nakhwa Street in Samarra."

Meanwhile,
...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck slipped the habañero into the roasted jalapeño...
 a security source told Shafaq News Agency that two members of the 314th Brigade of Saraya al-Salam Brigade were killed, and three others were maimed in the attack within the Samarra Operations Sector.

The source indicated that the Saraya killed the two terrorists.

Saraya al-Salam (Al-Salam Brigades), headed by Mustafa al-Hamidawi, is the military wing of the Sadrist Movement led by the Shiite Cleric Moqtada Tater al-Sadr
...hereditary Iraqi holy man and leader of a political movement in Iraq. He had his hereditary rival, al-Khoei, assassinated only a few hours after the holy rival's appearance out of exile in 2003. Formerly an Iranian catspaw, lately he's gagged over some of their more outlandish antics, then went back to catspawry...
; it is responsible for securing the Samarra district, which includes the shrine of two of the 12 revered Shi'ite imams.

The 2014 Mahdi Army revival confronted the US forces in Iraq.

The Brigades has been involved in the fight against ISIS in many regions of Iraq, including Samarra, Diyala, Amerli, Jurf al-Sakhar, and Ishaqi district.

After declaring victory over ISIS, former Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi decided to join the popular armed forces with the army and police formations.

The Brigades are now a part of Popular Mobilization Forces but under the direct command of al-Sadr.
Link


Iraq
14 ISIS terrorists arrested by Iraq security forces
2020-08-21
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

“The intelligence agencies, in coordination with the security forces within the sectors south of Saladin, managed to arrest 14 terrorists belonging to 3 terrorist cells who were planning to launch suicide attacks and missile strikes in Samarra, against security units and citizens” source said.

The source indicated that the security forces have arrested the terrorists on the outskirts of Yathrib and Al-Ishaqi, and the villages adjacent to the Balad district.
Link


Iraq
16 explosive charges detonated, 3 terrorist hotbeds destroyed in Iraq’s Anbar
2018-06-04
Anbar (Iraqinews.com) ‐ Iraqi army forces detonated on Sunday 16 explosive charges and destroyed three terrorist hotbeds in Anbar province as security campaigns against Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
 continue nationwide.

Speaking to Alsumaria News, Spokesman for the Iraqi Security Media Council Brig. Gen. Yehia Rasool said that troops of Samarra Operations Command also found a locally-made bomb and enjugged
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
 a wanted criminal in al-Ishaqi district in Salahuddin province.

Moreover, the troops destroyed a mud-built house and found a home-made bomb in Qarah Tabbah district in Diyala province.

Iraqi authorities regularly announce the capture of Islamic State forces of Evil in different parts in the country since the collapse of the group’s territorial influence in the country last year.
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Iraq
Shiite armed groups in Iraq decide to disband
2017-12-11
[ARABNEWS] A number of armed Shiite factions that fought ISIS alongside Iraqi government forces have voluntarily announced their dissolution and placed their fighters under the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Iraqi officials and Shiite leaders told Arab News on Sunday.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, announced on Saturday the liberation of all Iraqi territories and the end of the three-year war against ISIS, which seized almost a third of the territories in the west and north in summer 2014.

"At least four (armed) factions have voluntarily decided to disband their troops and gave the prime minister full authority to determine the fate of their fighters," a senior security Iraqi official told Arab News on condition of anonymity.

"The procedures for disbanding these forces and the implementation mechanisms have not yet been decided, but 90 percent of them are likely to be disbanded and the remainder will be appointed to be a part of the regular security services," the official said.

"No weapon will remain in the hands of anyone outside the control of the state. The decision to disarm the irregular armed factions will be issued in a few weeks and those who refuse to hand over their weapons will be considered outlaw," he added.

Some of these details have been confirmed to Arab News by Karim al-Nuri, a member of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and a senior Badr Brigade leader; Aws al-Khafaji, the head of the Abu Fadhal al-Abbas armed faction; and Hisham al-Hashimi, a security expert and one of the national security advisers.

In a statement on Saturday, al-Khafaji said: "After the final and big victory against ISIS, we are putting all these troops (Abu Fadhal al-Abass troops) ‐ which are a part of the PMF ‐ fully under the command of the commander in chief of the armed forces."

Shiite armed factions have played a vital role in the fighting against ISIS. They had been fighting under the umbrella of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) which was established by Nuri al-Maliki, the former Iraqi prime minister, in June 2014, to cover the armed factions who volunteered to fight ISIS alongside the government. More than 120,000 is the number of fighters officially registered in the payroll of the PMF.

Saraya al-Salam, or the Battalions of Peace, the biggest Shiite armed faction linked to the powerful Shiite holy man Moqtada Tater al-Sadr
... the Iranian catspaw holy man who was 22 years old in 2003 and was nearing 40 in 2010. He spends most of his time in Iran, safely out of the line of fire, where he's learning to be an ayatollah...
; Kataib al-Imam Ali and the Battalions of Imam Ali, which is linked to the Shiite clergymen in Najaf, led by Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, are among these factions, officials said.

"To restrict the arms at the hand of the state and limit the unjustified militarization of the society, Sadr has called to legalize all the armed factions in Iraq, including the Popular Mobilization Forces," Safa’a al-Timimi, the front man of Saraya al-Salam, told Arab News.

"Of course we are included in this (Sadr’s) call," al-Timimi said.

"We have already begun discussions with the ministers of defense and interior weeks ago to put in place a mechanism to include a number of our fighters in their formations," he added.

Saraya al-Salam has 6,000 fighters who are formally registered within the PMF, and they have been deployed in northwestern Karbala, central Samarra, Balad and Ishaqi, al-Timimi said.

"Our call is clear and explicit. The weapons have to be exclusively in the hands of the government and no one but the disciplined fighters will be included within the regular security services," al-Timimi said.
Link


Iraq
Salahuddin Kombat Kronicle
2017-09-06
3 suicide bombers die in Balad

Tikrit (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi paramilitary forces killed three suicide bombers before carrying out an attack in Salahuddin province, a media official was quoted saying on Tuesday.

Muhannad al-Ezzawi, media officer at al-Salam Corps said in a statement that the force, assisted by a number of civilians, killed three Islamic State suicide bombers late Monday before they could stage an attack against nightclubs in the town of Balad, 130 kilometers south of Tikrit, the province’s capital.

Fighters besieged the militants in the area, to which they responded with mortar firing, according to Ezzawi.

On Monday, al-Salam Corps said it foiled an attempt by IS to detonate electricity pylons in al-Ishaqi island in Salahuddin.

Al-Salam Coprs is the military wing of popular Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s movement.

Islamic State members have escalated their attacks against security forces and civilians inside Salahuddin and on the province’s borders with neighboring Diyala since Iraqi forces launched offensives to retake the group’s holdouts in Mosul in October 2016.

The group’s influence in Iraq is currently shrinking, with Iraqi government troops having recaptured Mosul, their former capital, Tal Afar, their last Nineveh stronghold and preparing to aim at other havens in Kirkuk, Anbar and Salahuddin.

15 ISIS Turbans now ex-Terrorists in airstrikes in Salahuddin, Diyala

Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) Fifteen Islamic State militants were killed in airstrikes between Salahuddin and Diyala provinces, a security source said on Tuesday.

“Army jets launched airstrikes on IS havens in al-Mayta and al-Boujumaa villages in Mutaibija,” the source told Baghdad Today.

The shelling, according to the source, “left four rest houses and five vehicles destroyed. More than fifteen members were killed.”

Iraqi jets carried out similar air raids targeting IS convoy and a rest house in Mutaibija, making these attacks the third in two days.

Occasional attacks have been witnessed in Mutaibija by Islamic State against government and paramilitary troops deployments since Iraqi forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and PMUs, launched a major offensive to retake areas occupied by IS since 2014.

Pivotal regions that link between each of Diyala, Salahuddin and Kirkuk, are still held by the militants which poses threats to the liberated regions. Iraqi troops are urged to prevent the militants infiltration between Salahuddin and Kirkuk provinces, especially the regions stretching along Hamreen mountains and Al-Azeem town.

It’s expected that the Iraqi government will head towards liberating other IS strongholds across Iraq, including in Salahuddin.
Link


Iraq
Iraqi militia stops ISIS attack near Shirqat
2017-07-21
Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) The pro-government Shi’ite militias of al-Hashd al-Shaabi has thwarted an attack by the Islamic State south of Shirqat town, Salahuddin governorate.

“Troops of the 99th brigade spotted IS elements south of Shirqat town where they confronted and forced them to escape,” al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) said in a statement on Thursday.

Last week, PMUs killed three IS fighters in strikes that targeted a rest house belonging to IS in Ishaqi region, south of Salahuddin.

IS still holds a few areas in each of Anbar, Salahuddin, Diyala and Kirkuk.

The eastern coast of Shirqat, which lies on the west bank of the Tigris river in Salahuddin province, is still under the IS control, while the western coast of the city was liberated few months ago.

In September, Iraqi army said its forces recaptured the town, located south of Mosul, after being surrounded for months by Iraqi troops and the Shia-led paramilitary troops.

Al-Hashd al-Shaabi, an alliance of more than 60 mostly Shia militias, has been actively engaged in the government’s campaign against the Islamic State that ran since mid-October, and contributed to the campaign by regaining control over IS holdouts near the Syrian borders.
Link


Iraq
Iraqi militia kills 3 ISIS troops in Salahuddin
2017-07-14
Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi pro-government fighters killed three Islamic State militants in preemptive strikes south of Salahuddin Province, their media service said Thursday.

The Popular Mobilization Units said they killed three militants from the group during preemptive strikes that targeted a rest house belonging to IS in Ishaqi region.

Two militants were shot by the forces while the third blew himself up, according to the PMU’s media.

Salahuddin borders with Diyala have seen an increasing activity by IS members over the past months coinciding with operations by U.S.-backed Iraqi government troops in Mosul, Islamic State’s largest stronghold which was declared free last Monday. IS has stepped up attacks against civilians and security forces at that region.

Having done with its eight-month campaign in Mosul, Iraq’s government will head towards liberating other IS strongholds across Iraq, including in Salahuddin.

Islamic State has lost thousands of its foreign and local, senior and junior members, throughout the Iraqi military campaign.

Violence and armed conflicts left more than 700 Iraqis dead and wounded during the month of June, according to a monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq which excludes security members deaths.
Link


Iraq
Salahuddin Kombat Kronicle
2017-04-25
Iranian militias kills 4 ISIS Bad Guys in Salahuddin

Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) Paramilitary troops have killed four suicide bombers as their infiltration attempt in north of Salahuddin province was foiled on Monday.

“Troops of the 29th brigade were able to besiege and kill four Islamic State suicide bombers near Baiji city, north of Salahuddin,” the media service of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Public Mobilization Units) said.

“The attackers were attempting to sneak into Baiji to target the military units there,” it added.

On Sunday, the pro-government troops killed two IS militants after targeting their havens in Makhoul mountains, north of the province.

Salahuddin has witnessed an escalation in IS attacks on deployments by Iraqi government forces and PMUs over the past months as Iraqi government forces continue to make gains in Mosul, the group’s largest stronghold in Iraq, since a security campaign launched in October to retake the city.

Observers believe IS attacks outside Mosul seek distracting security attention from Mosul and to make up for losses.

IS militants still pose a security threat in Salahuddin though security forces had recaptured large areas of the province since the group emerged in 2014 to proclaim an “Islamic Caliphate”.

PMUs are considered one of the largest militias in Iraq. It was established in 2014 by a fatwa (religious edict) to fight the Islamic State. In late 2016, the Iraqi parliament recognized the militia as a national armed force.

Samarra Militia group disatches suicide bomber to his Great Reward

Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) Pro-Iraqi government paramilitary troops have killed a suicide attacker inside a house south of Samarra, in Salahuddin province, a security source said on Monday.

“The 313 brigade of al-Hashd al-Shaabi [Public Mobilization Units] troops besieged on Monday a bomber, vested with a suicide belt, inside a house in al-Ishaqi district, south of Samarra,” the source told AlSumaria News.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said “troops killed the attacker after exchanging fire with him.”

Earlier on Sunday, the troops killed four suicide bombers as they attempted infiltration near Baiji city, northern Salahuddin.

The province has witnessed an escalation in IS attacks on troops deployed by Iraqi government forces and PMUs over the past months as Iraqi government forces continue to make gains in Mosul, the group’s largest stronghold in Iraq, since a security campaign launched in October to retake the city.

IS militants still pose a security threat in Salahuddin though security forces had recaptured large areas of the province since the group emerged in 2014 to proclaim an “Islamic Caliphate”.

PMUs have actively engaged with government forces in securing recaptured areas and searching for dormant IS cells in Salahuddin and other provinces.
Google Map at the link
Link


Iraq
Suicide bombing, shootouts kill around 55 in Iraq: police
2016-10-15
[Reuters] Around 55 people were killed in Iraq in attacks on Saturday that targeted a Shi'ite Muslim gathering, a police check-point and the family of a Sunni paramilitary leader opposed to Islamic State, according to security and medical sources.

The escalation comes as Iraqi forces are getting ready to launch an offensive to take back Mosul, the last Iraqi city still under control of Islamic State, in northern Iraq.

The heaviest toll was caused by a suicide bomber who detonated an explosive vest in the middle of a Shi'ite gathering in Baghdad, killing at least 41 people and wounding 33.

The explosion went off inside a tent filled with people taking part in Shi'ite Ashura rituals, which mourn the killing of Prophet Mohammad's grandson Hussein in the 7th century.

Islamic State claimed the attack in an online statement.

Some people were also in the tent to mourn the death of a local resident, authorities said. The tent was set up in a crowded market in the city's northern al-Shaab district.

Gunmen believed to belong to Islamic State, a Sunni group, earlier in the day staged two attacks north of Baghdad, one targeting a police check-point and the other the house of a Sunni militia chief who supports the government, police sources said.

Eight policemen were killed and 11 others wounded in the first attack which took place Mutaibija, south of the city of the city of Tikrit, while the militants had three dead in their ranks.

In the second, the wife and three children of Numan al-Mujamaie, the leader of the Ishaqi Mobilization militia, were killed when gunmen stormed his house in the town of Ishaq in his absence.

The assailants fled, chased by security forces, and later killed themselves by detonating explosive belts, police said.
Link


Iraq
Misc. Iraqi Relevancies
2015-04-24
Coalition warplanes destroy ISIS convoy of 17 vehicles coming from Syria, says Iraq’s Falcon Intelligence Cell

[IraqiNews.com] A statement from Iraq's Falcon Intelligence Cell, an undercover anti-terrorism unit from the Interior Ministry announced on Thursday that US-led international coalition aircraft managed to destroy an ISIS convoy consisting of 17 vehicles heading from Syria to Iraq and added that the strike killed 35 ISIS Arab and foreign elements.

The Intelligence and Federal Investigation Agency said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com "With the help of God, the Falcon Intelligence Cell followed and monitored the movements of the ISIS group, and directed a big strike to a convoy was coming from Syria into Iraq, by the international coalition's warplanes on the 21st of April at 07:00 PM."

The Agency added, "The strike led to the destruction of the entire convoy, consisting of 17 vehicles loaded with bandidos gunnies of Arab and foreign nationalities," noting that, "he statistics confirm the killing of 35 terrorists."

Coalition warplanes killed over half of ISIS leadership says US Ambassador to Iraq

[IraqiNews.com] The United States announced on Thursday, that the US-led international coalition warplanes have killed more than half of ISIS' leaders while confirmed that it will participate in military operations waged by any forces under the command of the Iraqi authority.

US ambassador to Iraq Stuart Jones said during a meeting with a number of media agencies, including IraqiNews.com "The international coalition's strikes have killed more than half of ISIS leaders," emphasizing that, "There were no losses among civilians or Iraqi forces."

Jones added, "There is no disagreement between the Iraqi government and the US government about Tikrit bombings," noting that, "All the coalition's operations are under the command of Iraqi authority."

On March 26, 2015 the US State Department claimed that the international coalition had launched 1,678 strikes against ISIS in Iraq.

7 dead, 12 wounded in suicide bombing south of Samarra

[IraqiNews.com] According to a security source in Salahuddin province, seven of the visitors to Imam Ali al-Hadi have been killed and 12 others were maimed in a suicide kaboom south of Samarra.

The source said in an interview for IraqiNews.com, "A jacket wallah wearing an boom belt went kaboom! on Wednesday evening, amid crowds of visitors returning from Imam Ali al-Hadi's visit in the area between al-Ishaqi and Balad south of Samarra, killing at least seven and injuring 12 others."

The source, who requested to remain anonymous, added, "The security force cordoned off the scene, while ambulances transported the injured to a nearby hospital, and the dead bodies to the Forensic Medicine Authority."

Iraqi forces kill 52 ISIS fighters in eastern al-Karma, says Baghdad Operations

[IraqiNews.com] On Thursday, Baghdad Operations Command announced, that the security forces managed to kill 52 ISIS fighters in a security operation in eastern al-Karma.

Baghdad Operations Command said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com "Today, army forces backed by police elements and al-Hashed al-Sha'bi militia have continued cleansing the areas of eastern al-Karma district as a part of the operation 'Fajr al-Karma' for the 9th day in a row," pointing out that, "The security forces managed to kill 52 terrorists, in addition to destroying 3 armored vehicles that were carrying machine-guns and killing anyone inside them."

"The security forces has also managed to treat 10 booby-trapped houses and destroy 8 terrorists' shelters as well as an anti-aircraft machine gun," the statement added.
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