Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

World

Op-Ed: Islamic State captures town near base with 300 U.S. marines

Iraqi troops abandoned their posts in the town on Saturday. In three days of fighting it is estimated that 46 militants were killed. During the takeover of the town at least five people were killed and seven wounded. An Iraqi commander was also reported killed.
Earlier, a local tribal leader requested U.S. help as he felt the Iraqi forces might collapse. U.S. helicopter gunships were called in but did not fire as Iraqi troops on the ground had pushed Islamic State fighters back. Much of the town had been retaken when the Iraqi troops withdrew. Carnage continued across Iraq as 136 were killed in numerous incidents.
Al-Baghdadi has changed hands several times. According to local security officials, the Islamic State had already captured most of the town by Thursday but by Friday evening Iraqi troops had retaken part of the town including a number of government buildings. Suddenly on Saturday the Iraqi troops suddenly withdrew, in effect handing the whole town back to the militants. Col. Shaaban al-Obeidi, who is a commander of a police combat unit in al-Baghadi said that he had no explanation for the withdrawal, although he noted that at the time of withdrawal Islamic State forces had surrounded a residential complex placing hundreds of civilians in danger.
On Friday morning, eight militants attempted to infiltrate the Ayn al-Asad base where the 300 U.S. marines are training Iraqi troops. A US military statement said that U.S. troops were several kilometers away. Iraqi soldiers killed all eight militants before they could launch an attack. Another report puts the number of attackers at 25. The same article has a statement from a Pentagon spokesperson: “At no time were U.S. troops anywhere near the fighting,” Rear Adm. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters Friday. “They might have heard shots being fired, but that would have been about it.”
With Islamic State forces so close it may be just a matter of time before US forces are forced into combat to defend themselves.

The regular Iraqi forces have not performed as well in battle as Kurdish peshmerga militia and Shiite militias who have their own commanders. However, some militia may also be involved in revenge killings.
On Saturday, unidentified militia members are blamed for the killing of prominent Sunni leader Sheikh Qasimal al-Janabi along with his son and nine bodyguards in Baghdad. Al-Janabi was a member of the Iraqi parliament. According to one report, the killing took place when the group was stopped at a fake checkpoint on their way back from a funeral. The same report says the gunmen are suspected to be members of a militia not Islamic State militants. This killing will fan the flames of sectarian violence in Iraq. Al-Janabi’s nephew was beaten and then released. Sunni members of parliament staged a boycott of parliament to protest the killings.

Written By

You may also like:

World

Calling for urgent action is the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Business

The cathedral is on track to reopen on December 8 - Copyright AFP Ludovic MARINParis’s Notre-Dame Cathedral, ravaged by fire in 2019, is on...

Business

Saudi Aramco President & CEO Amin Nasser speaks during the CERAWeek oil summit in Houston, Texas - Copyright AFP Mark FelixPointing to the still...

Business

Hyundai on Wednesday revealed plans to invest more than $50 billion in South Korea by 2026.