Slutspel i Irak? ISIS och allierade erövrar Mosul

Svenska soldater till Irak – redan i sommar

Källor uppger för Svenska Dagbladet att ett förslag just nu förbereds i Regeringskansliet om att skicka svensk militär personal till området kring Erbil i norra Irak. Enligt källor till tidningen kan förslaget komma till riksdagen för beslut redan i april

Utbilda peshmerga-soldater
Svenskarnas huvuduppdrag skulle bli att utbilda kurdiska peshmerga-soldater i kampen mot Islamiska staten IS, eller ISIL som terrorgruppen även kallas.
Sedan tidigare har det varit känt att den svenska styrkan skulle bestå av ett 20-tal personer, men nu uppges att det i stället rör sig om upp till 30.

Samarbeta med Finland
Finlands försvarsminister Carl Haglund uppger samtidigt att Finland och Sverige kan samarbeta kring insatsen.
– Vi kommer också att sända utbildare till Erbil-området i Kurdistan och jag har också fått bekräftat att svenskarna har liknande planer, vi har utbytt information efter vägens gång, säger Haglund till SvD

Ett svenskt deltagande i Irak gör att vi hamnar mer i fokus hos Islamiska staten och på marginalen höjer det också hotbilden mot Sverige, säger Brun till tidningen.

Canadian commandos who were gunned down by Kurdish soldiers at a checkpoint in northern Iraq on Friday night had visited the same location earlier and arranged a series of code words to pave the way for their return that evening, a senior Canadian government official confirmed Sunday night.

The Canadians had already passed by a number of Kurdish locations using the codes without any problems. But when they came upon one checkpoint in the village of Bashiq, a Kurdish soldier instead opened fire on the group.

The details emerging Sunday night are in contrast to the version being told by the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, who have laid blame on the Canadians for the incident.

Most are part of the air contingent based in Kuwait. But 69 special forces troops are in northern Iraq to help train and advise Kurdish forces.

Still, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, insisted that Canada did nothing wrong in the face of persistent accusations that the Canadians had blundered.

“I’m sorry that that’s their assessment at this point. I think that the Kurds we work with in that region have a far better idea of what took place there,” Gen. Lawson said.

“We would like to kind of tone it down a little bit and see what the coalition investigation team and our two investigation teams come up with.”

Canada’s military deployment to Iraq – operations that include 69 special forces soldiers in northern Iraq and an aerial combat mission based out of Kuwait with six CF-18 fighters launching air strikes on Islamic State positions.

The Kurds have blamed Canada for the misunderstanding, saying the Canadians showed up unannounced, refused to remain in their vehicle and spooked their soldiers by speaking Arabic – conduct that made the peshmerga think they were the enemy.

Peshmerga commander Mosa Gardi was quoted in BasNews, a Kurdish media outlet, as saying his fighters might have ended up killing all the Canadian soldiers if their driver hadn’t intervened. He convinced the Kurds those approaching were not Islamic State militants. “He said if it wasn’t for their driver all three may have been shot dead,” the Kurdish outlet reported.

A two-day pause supposedly intended to give the Iraqi government time to bring up reinforcements has stretched into a week, as reports circulate that Iraqi government troops and the militias took heavier than anticipated casualties in their first efforts to dislodge Islamic State fighters.
At least 1,000 militiamen died in the early days of fighting, according to some reports, roughly 5 percent of the 20,000 men the militias have committed to the operation.

Even during the pause, pro-government casualties remain high. A witness in the main government hospital at the nearby city of Samarra said that at least 100 dead or wounded fighters had been brought in over the last four days and that “bodies are everywhere” at the facility. The witness asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.

Difficulties with the Tikrit operation underscore how unlikely it is that the Iraqi military will be in any position soon to launch an assault to recapture Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, which fell to the Islamic State last June. A U.S. military officer in February created a stir when he told reporters at the Pentagon that such an assault might come as soon as April. Pentagon officials later acknowledged that Iraqi troops might not be in such a position before the fall.

How to proceed in Tikrit has left the government and the militias split. Iraqi officials say a full frontal assault against the Islamic State forces might succeed but would come at a heavy cost. Commanders of Iraq’s special operation forces, which would lead such a charge, are opposed to it.

The militias’ Iranian advisers, against whom Saddam fought an eight-year war and who have also battled the Islamic State in Syria, also are said to favor an advance, whatever the cost.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi, however, has asked for a better plan, apparently hesitant to unleash the militias for fear of an American backlash after reports that Shiite militias have terrorized the local Sunni population, pillaging houses and raping women. The United States, whose commanders apparently opposed the Tikrit operation, so far has declined to commit American air power to it.

Petraeus: The Islamic State isn’t our biggest problem in Iraq
U.S. Gen. David Petraeus who once commanded U.S. troops in Iraq just returned to the country to attend the annual Sulaimani Forum. In an interview, he warned that political instability is a greater threat to Iraq than the DAESH militants. He mentioned the Shi’ite militias in particular.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/03/20/petraeus-the-islamic-state-isnt-our-biggest-problem-in-iraq/

3 Iraqi civilians killed in market bombing
"An improvised explosive device (IED) hidden under a pile of vegetables at an outdoor market in town exploded, killing three civilians and wounding six others,"

A blast at a market in Sabaa al-Bour left three dead and six wounded.

http://al-shorfa.com/en_GB/articles/meii/newsbriefs/2015/03/20/newsbrief-05

Bomb blast wounds 7 police elements southwest of Samarra.

“Today, a bomb that was emplaced on the side of Samarra-Thurthar road went off, suddenly, while a police rank was passing through the area,” pointing out that, “The bomb blast resulted in killing 9 elements of the federal police force.”

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/bomb-blast-wounds-7-police-elements-southwest-samarra/

Security services found a dead body of unidentified victim , in northeast of Baghdad.
A security source said to the National Iraqi News Agency / NINA / that a dead body found dumped in an area northeast of Baghdad, in Alshaab area belonging to a man and showing signs of gunshots to the head.
http://ninanews.com/Website/News_Details.aspx?yNglhQJefmFZhWSxrCm8Sw%253d%253d

Gunmen Kill A Farmer In Diyala
A farmer was killed in an armed attack on Thursday 19, March northeast of Baquba, Diyala province.
A security source told the National Iraqi News Agency / NINA /: "Unidentified gunmen opened fire at the farmer on the outskirts of Wajehiah of Muqdadiya district northeast of Baquba, which led to his death on the spot."
He added: "a police source cordoned off the scene and transferred the body to the forensic medicine.

http://ninanews.com/Website/News_Details.aspx?dAj9VSn%252bDnPDYz4EadDSOg%253d% 253d

Yezidi Kurd families flee ISIS to Mount Shingal

Seven Yezidi Kurd families have escaped from the Islamic State and taken refuge on Mount Shingal, a Kurdish official has told Rudaw.

“Members of the families are in a good condition but a bit exhausted, since they have been on foot for a long time,”

there were many children among the 34 Yazidi Kurds who arrived at Peshmerga positions on Mount Shingal, some 137 km northwest of the ISIS-held city of Mosul.

http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/20032015

22 ISIL terrorists killed northeastern Salah il-Din

22 ISIL terrorists were killed in an the joint security forces of northeastern Kirkuk.

Security source stated to IraqiNews.com “The joint security forces and the volunteers targeted the ISIL terrorists in al-Khasfa area of northeastern Salah il-Din to kill 22 of them.”

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/isil-terrorists-killed-northeastern-salah-il-din/

Iraqi army makes gains in al-Karma
The Iraqi army has killed 16 "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) fighters and dismantled more than 100 explosive devices in the last three days during an operation in al-Karma in Anbar province, the Ministry of Defence

The International Coalition aircraft bombed the IS sites west of Kirkuk, causing leakage of chlorine gas packaged in containers
The sources said that coalition aircraft bombed this evening store located amid Hawija
containing chlorine containers.
the bombing was directed and precise and resulted in the leakage of gas, prompting the IS elements to close the Hawija market.

On the other hand, the sources said that the international coalition bombed the house of Skr al-Jubouri, which was dominated by the IS elements after the tenth of June in the Abbasid district, west of Kirkuk, which was the IS leadership of the defense of the line of Hawija headquarters, and the strike was direct.

The sources pointed out that the bombing, which occurred in Hawija and Abbasi caused heavy losses among the IS elements

http://ninanews.com/Website/News_Details.aspx?c74Nm6o4s04L%252f0vqA4SS%252bA%2 53d%253d

Dozens of elements of Daash killed ,in Ramadi.
Dozens of Daash terrorist elements killed by pounding of Army Aviation on certain sites in Ramadi center of Anbar province.

A security source said to the National Iraqi News / Nina / : "The army aviation bombed gatherings of Daash in the areas of Aljazeerah , Albuaath, Altamim and Alandalus in Ramadi.

The source added: "The bombing killed dozens of Daash elements, including a number of the organization's leaders of different nationalities.

http://ninanews.com/Website/News_Details.aspx?Fkv3AURDpDQZ2I7r3AbsLg%253d%253d

Fierce clashes break out in Fallujah between army forces and elements of "Daash"

Fierce clashes broke out in Fallujah between army forces and terrorist elements of Daash in the city of Fallujah yesterday.

Police chief of Aamiriyat Falluja Maj. Arif al-Janabi, said to the National IraqNews Agency / NINA / The clashes broke out in AameriyatFallujah (south of Fallujah city), indicating that the security forces are making significant progress in Zoba villages area , using different kinds of weapons.

He explained that Daash bombed military units and residential complexes in different parts using Katyusha rockets and mortar shells while army military aviation and security forces supported the inflected accurate shillings and air strikes to a number of Daash strongholds in that region, killing dozens of Daash elements.

http://ninanews.com/Website/News_Details.aspx?f%252bVRAgWeeR9Jn8cHDm0U9g%253d% 253d

Canadian Defense Minister Jason Kenney"
"Kenney said the rules of engagement will remain the same.
Kenney said Doiron's death had "nothing to do with combat," saying it was a case of mistaken identity on the part of Kurdish fighters at night."