Russian-Supported Syrian Coalition Advances South of Aleppo

Russian-supported offensive by the Syrian army and its militia backed by the Quds Force and IRGC troops, the Hezbollah and other foreign Shia fighters began on Friday to retake territory around Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, Reuters reported.

The Aleppo campaign is concentrated so far to clear rebel areas south of Aleppo. The city itself, which is home to 2 million people, is divided between government forces and rebels. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the coalition had captured three villages amid fierce fighting. Coalition troops are also attempting to advance to the east of Aleppo towards Kweires military airport to break a siege on the base. (Reuters, 17 October)

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV said the army captured the village of Huwaija on the way to Kweires. The Observatory said intense fighting in Huwaija and several other villages nearby is taking place.

Meanwhile, the pro-government coalition continues countering rebel forces in provinces of Hama, Idlib, Latakia and areas north of Homs City. The Observatory reported heavy Russian bombardment around Homs City. The Observatory said 72 people, including 31 women and children, were killed in the past 48 hours in the assault in Homs.

File photo: The city of Aleppo; 29 July 2015 (George Ourfalian/AFP)

Iran Coalition Begins Push to Retake Ramadi

Iran-led Shia militias are leading the fight to retake Ramadi from ISIL. The city fell on 15 May after the Iraqi army fled the scene before the Islamic State fighters arrived, even though the pro-government forces vastly outnumbered the insurgents. Baghdad announced that some army units would accompany the militias in the operation to liberate Ramadi.

“The operation to liberate Anbar has started with the cooperation of the Iraqi Army and the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF),” said Iraqi Defense Minister in a statement broadcast on state television Tuesday, referring to the umbrella organization for predominantly Iran-led Shia militias. (The New York Times, 26 May)

It was not immediately clear if the PMF would accept continued United States airstrikes in the area and close air support to the militia and Iraqi forces. In the last phase of the Battle of Tikrit in late March, the Iranians pulled out from the battle to protest Iraqi government’s decision to invite U.S. air support after the Iran-led offensive had stalled for more than three weeks. 

Note: In an unfortunate sectarian move by the militias, the operation to liberate the predominantly Sunni city of Ramadi was codenamed “Labbaik Ya Hossein,” (We Are Here for You, Ya Hossein), calling for Imam Hossein, the revered Shia Imam, and a battle cry of Shias (against Sunnis). Sectarianism might win battles against ISIL, including in Ramadi, but if the Iran-led coalition wants to win the support of the Sunni populace and with it the war against Sunni extremism, it cannot act in such divisive way. Extremists cannot be defeated by extremism. Preserving the sovereignty of Iraq should be the goal, not what happened in Karbala some 1,400 years ago.

Photo credit: Shia militias during an operation at Baiji Oil Refinery; 25 May 2015 (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP)

Enemy Fires, Booby-Traps Slows Iraqi Forces’ Advance in Tikrit

Iraqi security forces battled ISIL insurgents in central Tikrit on Sunday, amid warning by local officials that the battle to retake the city would not be quick.

“A rapid advance in a city where the ground is littered with bombs and booby-traps is too tough to achieve,” said Mayor Osama al-Tikriti. (Reuters, 29 March)

On Sunday, the U.S.-led coalition continued airstrikes against ISIL positions in and around the city. But most of Iran-backed Shia militia groups boycotted the offensive in protest to U.S. airstrikes, which began on Thursday at the request of the Iraqi government.

Today, an Iraqi attempt to infiltrate Tikrit from the southern district of Shishseen was thwarted by ISIL militants. They used anti-tank missiles to destroy an armored bulldozer being used by the military to clear path around booby-trapped roads, and Iraqi official said. The setback underscored that even areas under government and militia control south of Tikrit remain vulnerable to attacks by ISIL fighters.

Photo credit: Iraqi security forces check their weapons in Tikrit, 28 March 2015 (Thaier al-Sudani/ Reuters

Iranian Officials ‘Fuming’ over Iraq-U.S. Partnership at Battle of Tikrit - Report

Fox News, citing a senior U.S. intelligence official, said today that the Iranian officials are “fuming” over Iraq joining forces with the U.S. in the fight for Tikrit.

“They are really pissed that Iraq is choosing to partner with the U.S. in the battle for Tikrit,” the official said. (Fox News, 27 March)

Iran-led Shia militia groups Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) and Kataib Hezbollah (KH) have already withdrawn from the fight, protesting U.S. airstrikes. Fox News, citing the official, said Iran has ordered other Shia militia groups, including Badr Organization, out of the area, and in some cases out of Iraq.

“They will probably send them to Yemen,” said the official.

It was not clear whether Iran has also pulled out its own advisers, operators and military equipment from Tikrit area. Before the U.S. involvement, Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, aided by senior Quds Force officers, was personally in command of the operations in Tikrit and Iran had deployed sizable military equipment, such as artillery, to the theater.  

File photo: Iraqi security forces prepare to attack ISIL positions in Tikrit; 26 March 2015 (AP/Fox News)

Shia Militias Boycott Battle of Tikrit, Protesting U.S. Airstrikes - UPDATE

On Wednesday, President Obama approved a U.S. airstrike campaign in support of Iraqi forces battling to retake Tikrit after receiving a request from Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Abadi. On Thursday, thousands of Shia militiamen, belonging to three militia groups, boycotted the fight in protest of U.S. participation in the battle, The New York Times reported.

General Lloyd Austin, commander of U.S. Central Command, told a Senate hearing in Washington on Thursday that no Shia militias remained in Tikrit. There are now about 4,000 Iraqi army troops, special operations forces and federal police fighting on the ground in Tikrit, Austin said, supported by U.S. and Iraqi air forces.

American military officials said they were stepping into Tikrit fight only after the Iranian-led offensive by Shia militias and Iraqi forces had stalled, and they welcomed working closely with Iraqi government forces. 

The sudden withdrawal of Iranian-led Shia militia groups from the battle, however, could risk leaving Iraqi ground forces shorthanded.

“It’s going to require the kind of hammer and anvil approach of ground forces forcing ISIL to respond in ways that they’re targetable by air power,” a senior Pentagon official told the Times.

The Shia groups have had some 25,000 fighters in the fight, compared to about 4,000 Iraqi forces. Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), one of the boycotting groups, said they don’t trust the U.S. The other two groups which have announced their boycott are Kataib Hezbollah (KH) and the Sadrist Peace Brigades.

Badr organization, the largest of Shia militia groups, said they don’t need the American help and might also pull out.

“We have not yet decided if we will pull out or not,” Hadi al-Ameri, the leader of Badr Organization, and a longtime Iranian operative, told Iraqi state TV on Thursday. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who had requested the U.S. airstrikes, has travelled to Tikrit to persuade Amiri to keep his fighters in the field.

The American airstrikes in Tikrit began late on Wednesday night and continued for eight and a half hours, subsiding at dawn on Thursday, the Times said. Today, the Iraqi Air Force jets further bombed Tikrit in a succession of daytime raids.

This week, Iraqi field commanders had called for U.S. help. Today, Gen. Anwer Hamid, the commander of Iraqi Air Force, said the American airstrikes would continue, with the Americans concentrating their attacks during the night for operational reasons.

UPDATE: Iraq’s Shia spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, today called for unity among Iraqi fighting forces after Iran-led Shia militias pulled out of the fight in Tikrit in protest of U.S. participation in the battle. Sistani’s spokesman said that the Grand Ayatollah considers coordination between the military, Shia militias, and Sunni tribes necessary for the success of the operation in Tikrit. (AP, 27 March)

File photo: Iraqi Shia militia near Tikrit; 5 March 2015 (PA/janes.com)

Iraqi Shia Militia and Security Forces Retake Al-Alam

Major Victory for General Soleimani

Iran-led coalition of Iraq’s People’s Mobilization Forces (PMF), the umbrella organization of the country’s predominantly Shia militias, Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), elements of Sunni tribal fighters and the Quds Force advisers and personnel, under the command of Quds Force Commander General Qasem Soleimani, today retook the town of al-Alam, on the northern edge of Tikrit.

The coalition had already blocked ISIL’s positions north, south, and west of Tikrit, and has now encircled the city held by ISIL insurgents. The recapture of al-Alam was the immediate goal of the operation, which would be used as the staging ground to enter into Tikrit City. This is a major victory for Soleimani and his forces.

Photo credit: PMF and ISF fighters preparing to launch mortar shells and rockets against ISIL positions outside Tikrit; 4 March 2015 (AP)

Iraqi Army and Shia Militia Launch Operation to Retake Tikrit - UPDATE

The ground operation to retake Tikrit and its surrounding areas has begun. The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), backed by Shia militia, attacked ISIL stronghold north of Samarra on Monday at the start of a campaign aimed at driving the insurgents out of mainly Sunni province of Salah ad-Din.

The Iranian-backed Shia militia and ISF cleared Balad-Samarra corridor in southern part of the province in their successful late December/early January offensive against the Islamic State. The northern part, including Tikrit and Baiji, had been overrun by ISIL in their June offensive. Last year, ISF and militia forces had made unsuccessful attempts to retake the area.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was in Samarra on Sunday, declaring that the liberation of all Salah ad-Din towns had started. Thousands of troops and Shia militia had gathered there for the offensive.

Tikrit, home of deposed president Saddam Hussein, was the scene of ISIL’s massacre of hundreds of ISF members kidnapped from the nearby Camp Speicher last year. 

The pace of progress in Salah ad-Din could affect plans to retake Mosul further north. ISIL has entrenched itself in Tikrit and is expected to mount strong resistance.

UPDATE - From ISW’s Iraq Situation Report, 2 March:
“Intense clashes erupted today as the ISF, Iranian-backed Iraqi Shi'a militias, and Iraqi Sunni anti-ISIS fighters advanced toward ISIS positions on the outskirts of the Tikrit and strategic areas south, north, and east of the city.”

Photo credit: ISF and Shia militia fighters gathering near Samarra on Sunday in preparation for their offensive to liberate Tikrit. (Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters/csmonitor)

Growing Influence of Iran-led Shia Militias in Iraq

Reuters today has filed a report from Baghdad on the growing influence of Iran-led Shia militias in Iraq. The report is based on interviews with majors actors within the militia community. Some of the main findings:

• As Baghdad struggles to fight ISIL, many Shia Iraqis now look to Iran as their main ally. The Shias trust the powerful Iran-backed militias that have taken charge since army deserted en masse last June.

• Hadi al-Amiri, the leader of Badr Organization, arguably the most powerful Shia paramilitary group in the country, considers Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei not just as the Iranian head of state, but the leader of the “Islamic nation.” Amiri says, “Khamenei would place the interests of the Iraqi people above all else.”

• Hashid Shabbi, or Popular Mobilization Committee (PMC), is a secretive entity under nominal government control that serves as an umbrella organization for several dozens militia factions in the country.

• PMC is run by Jamal Jaafar Mohammed, better known by his nom de guerre Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a former Badr commander, and the right-hand man of Gen. Qasem Soleimeni, commander of the Quds Force. Muhandis is praised as militia fighters as “the commander of all troops.”

• Soleimani, Amiri and Muhandis are seen as the leaders of the militia.

• Iranian military advisers in Iraq have helped with everything from tactics to providing paramilitary groups with drones and signal capabilities, including electronic surveillance and radio communication. Iran has dispatched artillery units to Iraq to fight ISIL. The Iranian troops are the ones who launch rockets and artillery.    

File photo: Iran's Quds Force Commander general Qasem Soleimani (r.) with Badr proganization leader Hadi al-Amiri, celebrating victory in a battle against ISIL by Iran-led Shia militias. November 2014 (Twitter/eaworldview)

Iraq Update

The Islamic State insurgents have retaken control of the central city of Baiji after the Iraqi military ordered its forces to retreat to the nearby refinery. The Iraqi forces, with the help of Iranian-backed Shia militias, had taken city from ISIL only last month. The militants posted a number of photos on the Internet, showing captured and destroyed armored vehicles, including M-1 tanks and Humvees, as well as weapons and ammunition that were abandoned by fleeing Iraqi forces. (The Long War Journal, 18 December)

Recapturing of Baiji was a major victory for ISIL after a string loses in recent weeks. Before retaking Baiji, however, ISIL also took control of some towns near Samarra. The Iraqi military and Shia militias had ejected ISIL from Jurf al-Sakhar, Amirli and Jalula, and the Peshmerga had retaken several northern towns. 

On Thursday, the Peshmerga, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, retook large swath of territory between Kurdish autonomous region and Sinjar, and are poised to retake the city of Sinjar in the next few days. 

Meantime, the Pentagon said hundreds of U.S. troops are now deployed in the restive Anbar province. About 350 troops are stationed at Al Asad Air Base. The force is composed of advisors and support personnel, as well as a force protection contingent, Stars and Stripes reported on Thursday. The troops on the ground are helping the Iraqi Army’s 7^th Division, stationed in Anbar, with developing strategies, mission planning and coordinating close air support operations.

Photo credit: Scene of battle at Baiji in a photo released by ISIL (The Long War Journal) 

Afghan Senate Orders Probe into Recruitment of Afghans by Quds Force to Fight in Syria

Afghan Senate today ordered probe into the reports of recruitment of Afghan refugees by Iran’s Quds Force to fight in Syria. Speaker of Afghan lower house, Fazal Hadi Muslimyar, also asked Karzai’s government to seek clarification from Iran.

“Poor Afghan refugees are recruited and sent to fight in Syria where they are killed and the government of Afghanistan should resolve the issue,” said Muslimyar. (Khaama Press, 18 May)

Afghan refugees are granted Iranian residency, $500 a month salary, school registration for their children, and charity card if they join foreign militia groups set up by the IRGC (Quds Force) to fight on the side of the Assad regime in the Syrian civil war, Afghan religious leader Ayatollah Mohaghegh Kabuli told the Wall Street Journal on Thursday. (Wall Street Journal, 15 May)

File photo: Khaama Press

Iran Recruiting Afghans to Fight in Syria - Report

Iran is recruiting Afghan refugees to fight in Syria, the Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday. In exchange, Iran is offering them stipends of $500 a month and residency permits, the paper said, quoting Afghans and Western officials.

Details of the recruitment drive by IRGC were posted this week on a blog catering to Afghan refugees in Iran, the Journal said.

File photo: Afghan refugees in Iran. (rawa.org)

Syrian and Shia fighting forces continue push against rebels

According to Reuters:

President Bashar al-Assad's forces fired rocket and artillery barrages on a besieged mountain town near Lebanon on Monday in a push to capture the strategic area following advances against rebels in Damascus and in the north of Syria.

In a separate setback for the fighters, a prominent rebel leader died overnight in a Turkish hospital of wounds suffered in an air raid on Aleppo. Abdelqader Saleh, head of the Qatar-backed Sunni Islamist al-Tawhid Brigades, had been working on regrouping fighters in Aleppo before he was killed.

Heavy bombardments hit Qara, 80 km (50 miles) north of Damascus in the Qalamoun mountains, as rebels hid in the rocky terrain, refugees and opposition activists said. Located near the highway linking the capital to Aleppo, Syria's biggest city, the region has been used by rebels to cross from Lebanon.

[...]

Assad's forces, backed by Shi'ite militia allies from Iraq and Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, have captured key rebel areas on the edge of Damascus and in Aleppo.

Syrian and Shia fighting forces have recently captured key rebel areas on the edge of Damascus and in Aleppo, their biggest gains in the suburbs south of Damascus, where army troops backed by Lebanese Hezbollah and Iraqi militia forces have captured five towns since Oct. 11. The latest to fall was Hejeira, which SyA troops swept through last Wednesday, just days after capturing the adjacent suburb of Sbeineh. [Source: Reuters]

Rebel leader Abdelqader Saleh was reportedly KIA at a local HQ in Aleppo by SyAAF air strike. 

Additionally, it's said several Iranian and equivalent to two squads of SyA soldiers were taken prisoner on November 15 during fighting on the outskirts of Damascus.

Also claimed are several IRGC-SF casualties taken on November 16 possibly as part of an air assault operation north of al-Safira attempting to capture a stretch of highway to Aleppo.

Shia fighting forces Hezbollah Brigade Commander Ali Shbeeb Mahmoud recently succumbed to injuries said to be sustained in battle during the successful retaking of 80th Brigade army base, situated a few hundred meters from the airport (ALP / OSAP) on the eastern approaches of Aleppo.

 Below: Hezbollah Brigade Commander Ali Shobeyb Mahmoud, KIA Battle of Aleppo

File photo: AhlulBayt News Agency

Syrian military advances, reportedly with support from Shia fighting forces

 

Iraqi Shia fighters salute the shrine of Sayyida Zeinab in Damascus (photo: Reuters) 

According to Reuters:

Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad captured the southern Damascus suburb of Hujaira on Wednesday, part of a broader advance that has brought him major gains south of the capital before proposed international peace talks.

[...]

Assad's military resurgence this year has relied to a great extent on support from Shi'ite Iran and fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iraqi militias, some of them based around a Shi'ite shrine southeast of Damascus.

They have helped turn the tide against the Sunni Muslim rebels, whose ranks are increasingly dominated by Islamist fighters and al Qaeda-linked foreign jihadists.

Earlier in the week, a rebel groups’ joint declaration said government forces backed by Hezbollah fighters, Iranian Revolutionary Guards and the Iraqi Abu al-Fadl Abbas militia had launched “a fierce offensive to reoccupy” Aleppo. Additionally, ISIS in Aleppo released a statement confirming that it had suffered many casualties during clashes with Syrian forces near the 80th brigade army base, Tal'aran town and al-Sfeira city.

The Syrian conflict may be entering a new stage, where Saudi support for Takfiri fighters comes up short against the resolve of Syrian and Shia fighting forces, and IRGC support/expertise.

Iraqi Shia militia unit in Syria - Video

YouTube video depicting an Iraqi Shia militia unit in Syria, fighting on the side of Syrian regime military forces.