Iraq: ISIL Captures Towns and Border Crossing in Anbar

Sadrist Militiamen Stage Military-Style Parades In Baghdad and Shia South

ISIL-led insurgents today expanded their offensive in western Iraq and took control of towns of Rawah and Anah and the border crossing of Qaim in Anbar province. The capture of Qaim came after heavy fighting between ISIL and an Iraqi Army brigade sent to reinforce defenses of the important border crossing with Syria. The brigade commander was reportedly killed in action. Qaim’s fall now help ISIL secure supply line to Syria, moving more easily weapons and heavy equipment across the border.

Rawah, on the Euphrates, and the nearby Anah are the first towns in Anbar to fall after the insurgents took control of Fallujah and parts of Ramadi in January. The capture of Rawah and Anah appears to be part of ISIL’s advance toward a key dam in the city of Haditha, with its 1,000-megawatt hydraulic power station. The Iraqi Army said some 2,000 troops were deployed to Haditha to strengthen the defense of the dam, AP reported today.

Meanwhile, thousands of heavily armed Sadrist militiamen today marched through Shia-dominated southern Iraqi cities in military-style parades, announcing their readiness to fight the ISIL-led insurgents, bringing Iraq closer to an all-out religious war.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the religious leader of Iraqi Shias, on Friday joined calls for Prime Minister Maliki to reach out to the Kurdish and Sunni minorities a day after President Obama challenged Iraqi leaders to create a government representative of all Iraqis.

UPDATE: ISIL has now captured all border crossings to Syria and Jordan. (23 June)

Photo credit: Iraqi Sadrist Shia militia parading on Saturday in Baghdad. (Ali al-Saadi/Getty Images/AFP)

Sistani Calls For End of Assad and Maliki Rule

The Shia spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani today called for removal of Iraqi and Syrian leaders to limit a growing sectarian conflict in the region. Sistani made the comments in Shia holy city of Najaf in southern Iraq during a meeting with visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. (Al Siyassa/The Gulf Daily News, 15 November)

Grand Ayatollah Sistani’s objection to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki staying in power puts him in direct conflict with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who backs both Syrian and Iraqi leaders. Iraqi Shia strongman Moqtada al-Sadr is an adherent of Sistani.

Davutoglu is the most senior Turkish official to visit Iraq in two years. After his meeting in Najaf, Davutoglu described Sistani as the “safety valve” of Iraq who stands against Shia-Sunni sectarian conflict in Iraq and the region.

Meanwhile, a bomber wearing a police uniform today detonated an explosives belt in a crowd of Shia pilgrims in the eastern Iraqi city of Al Sadiya, killing 35.

File photo: Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani (The Gulf Daily News)

Khamenei billboards in Baghdad and Basra

Ayatollah Khamenei, right, and Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr, late father of Muqtada al Sadr in Baghdad, Iraq. As a consequence of Operation Iraqi Freedom, in many respects Iraq is now Iran's closest ally in the region.

Photo: Jarim Kadin, Associated Press