U.S. Military Launches Strike on Kunduz

The U.S. military carried out an airstrike on Kunduz today and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani vowed to take the northern city back from the Taliban, who pulled off a spectacular multi-pronged coordinated assault on Kunduz in the wee hours of Monday, capturing the strategically important town.

Afghan military launched a counter-offensive on Kunduz and there are reports today that they have retaken some areas, and reinforcements, including special operations and commandos, are arriving. The U.S. airstrikes against Taliban positions in Kunduz were carried out on Tuesday. U.S. military spokesman Col. Brian Tribus said the goal was “to eliminate threat to the (security) forces.” (AP, 29 September)

The insurgents had still the upper hand in the city on Tuesday, patrolling major streets, setting up checkpoints, searching for government loyalists and sealing off exit routes for anyone who wished to escape, AP reported. They emptied banks in the city of cash and seized vehicles.

Neither the U.S. nor NATO forces have an operational presence in the Kunduz region. German military control a base in the nearby Mazar-e Sharif.

Photo credit: Taliban prisoners walk on a street after their comrades released them from the main jail in Kunduz. Monday 28 September 2015 (Hekmat Aimaq/AP)

Syrian Kurds Battle ISIL at Turkish Border

The YPG, the Syrian-Kurdish armed unit that led the liberation of Kobane in January, is now battling ISIL to capture Tel Abyad, a Syrian town at the Turkish border. Seizing Tel Abyad not only deals a blow to the Islamic State, but also would help the YPG to link up Kurdish-controlled areas in northern Syria. This could be a major step toward establishing an autonomous Kurdish regional government in Syria.

YPG fighters were battling ISIL militants at the eastern outskirts of Tel Abyad on Sunday, Reuters reported. They are pushing into ISIL stronghold of Raqqa province and threatening one of its supply lines to Raqqa city, ISIL’s de facto capital.

“The road connecting Tel Abyad and Raqqa city is in our firing range,” said YPG spokesman Redur Xeili. (Reuters, 14 June)

The YPG offensive is supported by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes and small Syrian rebel groups.

Photo credit: Turkish soldiers stand guard as Syrian refugees wait for transportation after crossing into Turkey from Tel Abyad; 10 June 2015 (Osman Orsal/Reuters)

U.S., Allies Target ISIL with 24 Airstrikes in Iraq and Syria

The US-led Coalition conducted 20 airstrikes in Iraq and four in Syria targeting ISIL insurgents since early on Thursday, the Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) announced. (Reuters, 29 May)

In Iraq, airstrikes carried out near Baiji, supporting the Iran-led coalition offensive to retake the oil refinery, and in Ramadi, Fallujah, Baghdadi, Makhmur, Sinjar and Tel Afar. In Syria, airstrikes hit targets near Al Hasakah and Kobani.

The airstrikes were conducted between 8 a.m. on Thursday and 8 a.m. on Friday local time, CJTF said. All aircraft returned to base safely.

File photo: F-16 Fighting Falcon (USAF/DoD/AFP)

ISIL Captures Government Compound in Ramadi

ISIL today seized the main government compound in the center of Ramadi and raised its flag over the central building. Iraqi security forces are reportedly remaining only in a few pockets in the city. The city, however, is still contested. There has been a flurry of U.S.-led airstrikes on ISIL positions in last several hours. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a televised address that security forces “will retake Ramadi in the next few hours.”

Capture of the government compound and the city center is a huge victory for ISIL. The fall of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar, will be their biggest victory in Iraq since they captured Mosul nearly a year ago.

Photo credit: ISIL flags at government compound in the center of Ramadi, Iraq; 15 May 2015 (AJE)

Iraqi and Kurdish Forces Push Back ISIL in Iraq

Quds Force Supporting Shia Militias in Jurf al-Sakhar Victory; U.S. Airstrikes Supporting Peshmerga in Zumar Victory

In significant defeats for the Islamic State forces in Iraq, the Shia militias and Iraqi security forces on Saturday retook the town of Jurf al-Sakhar near Baghdad, while the Kurdish Peshmerga retook the northern town of Zumar. Meanwhile U.S. forces conducted 22 airstrikes targeting Islamic State units, buildings, positions and vehicles in Mosul Dam area, as well as locations in Fallujah and Baiji.

Jurf al-Sakhar is a town south of Baghdad, on the border between Anbar and Karbala provinces, which is regarded as key to the security of predominantly Shia southern Iraq. The Badr Organization and As’ab Ahel al-Haq (AAH) Shia militias, supported by Iraqi security forces, spearheaded the attack against the Islamic State positions in the town. Iran’s Quds Force officers were reportedly directing the battle for Jurf al-Sakhar. The recapture of the town is indeed a major victory for the Quds Force, Shia militias and the ISF.

Zumar had been under IS control since early August, when they captured the predominantly Kurdish town in a lightening advance. Kurdish security forces, the Peshmerga, tried repeatedly to win it back, and finally succeeded today. U.S. intensive airstrikes on IS positions in Zumar preceded the final push by the peshmerga forces. The Kurdish forces are now in firm control of the town and 17 nearby villages, and positioned to launch their offensive for liberation of Sinjar, about 50km to the southwest.

Photo credit: Peshmerga forces near Zumar (EPA)

Kurdish Flag Over Kubane Hillside

Kurdish fighters raise flag over Kobane hillside (above), where ISIL banner was destroyed in a U.S.-led airstrike last week (below).

Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images

Airstrikes Push Back ISIL in Kobane

U.S.-led airstrikes on Wednesday pushed Islamic State insurgents back to the edge of Kobane, which had appeared set to seize after a three-week assault, Kurdish officials in Kobane told Reuters.

“They are now outside the entrances of the city of Kobane. The shelling and bombardment was very effective and as a result of it, IS have been pushed from many positions,” said Idris Nassan, deputy director of Kobane district. (Reuters, 8 October)

The Turkish military deployed to the border across Kobane has yet to intervene to save the city.

Meanwhile, Iran criticized the “passivity of the international community” to save Kobane.

Iran’s position on Kobane is interesting and full of contradictions. It slams the West for being passive in confronting ISIL to save Kobane, yet its elite Quds Force has had major presence in Syria for nearly three years and under its command, thousands of fighters belonging to Lebanese Hezbollah and other Shia militias are fighting the Syrian opposition to save Assad. The Quds Force funds and commands these forces. The question remains, if the Iranians were sincerer in their call to save Kobane, why don’t they send some of those fighters under Quds Force command to eastern parts of the country to engage ISIL and help save Kobane?

Photo credit: Kobane as seen from Turkish side of the border; 7 October 2014 (Getty Images)

Kurdish Fighters Hold Back Islamic State from Kobane

Backed by U.S.-led Airstrikes

 

The Islamic State insurgents kept up their offensive to seize the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane on Saturday, but Kurdish fighters backed by U.S.-led airstrikes have so far held back the IS militants from entering the town.

Fighting raged today and mortar shells pounded the town as smoke rose above it, AFP reported. U.S.-led airstrikes late Friday targeted Islamic State positions on the outskirts of Kobane.

Turkish troops and armor units were positioned on the border across Kobane, and although the Turkish parliament voted overwhelmingly on Thursday authorizing military action against the Islamic State, the government has not yet ordered its military to counter IS militants advancing toward the town. The Turkish government considers the main Kurdish fighting force defending Kobane, the YPG, as ideological and political opponent.

Photo credit: Islamic State mortar shells pounded Kobane on Saturday. (Reuters)

U.S. Airstrikes Hit Targets Near Baghdad

The United States stepped up its airstrike campaign in Iraq on Monday, targeting Islamic State positions southwest of Baghdad. The offensive is the first expansion of the U.S. campaign against ISIL, as outlined by President Obama last week. Previous airstrikes focused on northern Iraq, mainly in support of Peshmerga forces. On Sunday, the U.S. warplanes also hit targets near Sinjar.

The strikes on Sunday and Monday involved both attack and fighter aircraft. The U.S. has now carried out 162 airstrikes across Iraq. (The New York times, 16 September)

File photo: FA-18Cs and E, E2C aircraft on USS George H W Bush in Persian Gulf; 10 September 2014 (AP)