REPORT IN ARABIC ON THE SITUATION OF DISPLACED TURKMEN FAMILIES AFTER THE EVENTS OF MOSUL
BELADI CENTER FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES AND RESEARCH
DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bw0JXzUnszw8XzdlN2xPSmJzU0k/edit
dimanche 28 septembre 2014
vendredi 26 septembre 2014
jeudi 25 septembre 2014
Iraqi Turkmen leader calls for support
Iraqi Turkmen leader calls for support
Arshad al-Salihi called for a safe zone to support the threatened minority.
World Bulletin / News Desk
Iraqi Turkmen Front President Arshad al-Salihi has said Western countries should provide weapons to Turkmen in Iraq.
Speaking at a meeting of the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV) in Ankara on Wednesday, where latest developments in Iraq and those facing Turkmen were discussed, al-Salihi said: “The West should also support us Turkmen with weapons, we are in need.”
Salihi said that the Turkmens’ lives and territory were in danger and stated that a “safe zone” should be provided for the threatened minority.
“All Turkmen, Shia or Sunni, have been exposed to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants’ attacks,” he said.
He also stated that Turkmen had seen the most casualties during ISIL militants’ attacks on the northern Iraqi province of Mosul.
‘Biggest target’
Al-Salihi said: “Three of our deputies are still in the hands of ISIL, who call us every day saying they will cut their heads off.”
“Turkmen are the biggest target and we are being ignored.”
Referring to the militants’ attacks on Tal Afar since June, he said: “About 300,000 Turkmen have been forced to migrate to different regions, mainly to the south of Iraq and most of them will probably not be able to return.”
He added Turkmen had not received any humanitarian aid, unlike other minorities such as Christian, Yazidi and Kurds.
The president said: “Humanitarian supplies came only from Turkey.”
“We distributed all the supplies from the Turkish Red Crescent to everyone – not looking at whether they were Turkmen, Yazidi or Kurd – but today we need equal help from the West.”
‘Starvation danger’
According to al-Salihi, Iraq’s new government has also ignored Turkmen.
Last week, Nahla Sallamah, a Turkmen MP in the Iraqi parliament, said more than 350,000 Turkmen asylum seekers were in danger of starvation because the government had failed to financially support them.
The chaos created by ISIL militants has displaced more than one million Iraqis from their homes.
The group has mainly targeted Shia Muslims, Turkmens, Yazidis and Christians.
The Iraqi army failed to halt a sudden offensive by ISIL in June, which led to the group taking control of large swathes of land in the country, including the province of Mosul in the north.
lundi 22 septembre 2014
TURKMEN REFUGEES ARE IN DANGER OF STARVATION: TURKMEN MP FROM THE IRAQI PARLIAMENT
asylum seekers due to the ongoing conflict in Iraq, are "in danger
of starvation," according to a Turkmen MP from the Iraqi
parliament.
"The number of Turkmen refugees has exceeded 350,000, and they
are in danger of starvation because the government failed to
financially support them," Nahla Sallamah said during a press
conference Saturday in Iraq's capital, Baghdad.
250,000 of the asylum seekers were from the northern
Turkmen-majority city of Tal Afar, the MP said.
Sallamah called on the government to pay the salaries of Turkmen
civil servants as soon as possible.
The chaos created by militants with the self-proclaimed Islamic
State of Iraq and al-Shma (ISIS) has so far displaced an estimated
1.2 million Iraqis from their homes. The group has mainly targeted
Shia Muslims, Turkmens, Ezidis, and Christians.
The Iraqi army had failed to respond to a sudden offensive by
ISIS in June, which led the group to take control of large swathes
of land in the country, including Mosul province in the north
http://www.dailysabah.com/mideast/2014/09/21/turkmen-refugees-in-danger-of-starvation-turkmen-mp
dimanche 21 septembre 2014
Internally Displaced Students are a burden on Iraqi schools
Displaced students burden on Iraqi schools
BABIL, Iraq — In preparation for the start of school, authorities in Babil province have managed to evacuate displaced families from the many schools that had served as shelters, said educational supervisor Qasim Sultani in an interview with Al-Monitor.
Summary
With the new school year approaching, Iraqi schools in Babil province will be facing major problems with the massive number of displaced students.
Author Wassim BassemPosted September 19, 2014
Translator(s)Joelle El-Khoury
Since the outbreak of fighting between the Iraqi army and allied militias on the one hand and the Islamic State and its allies on the other in northern and western Iraq, hundreds of families have fled conflict areas, seeking safety in the central and southern provinces. Over the summer, empty schools in Babil province, 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Baghdad, received hundreds of displaced families.
The schools will be overcrowded with students for the 2014-15 academic year, following the cabinet's recommendation that the Ministry of Education enroll displaced children and youths. According to Hashim Sultani, a professor at the Babil province education directorate, doing so will put the average number of students per class at 50 to 60. He told Al-Monitor that the recommendation is “an inevitable solution.”
Sultani noted, “The new academic year will officially start on Sept. 21 … The displaced families will be moved from the schools to mosques, enclosed halls and some municipality buildings." He said, “In the city of Hillah, the capital of Babil province, the famous Babil Hotel was evacuated to host displaced families,” so the schools could be readied for the academic year. According to Sultani, only one school — the Manama school in the small town of Hamza al-Gharbi, 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of Babil, which has 10 elementary schools — will be used to accommodate the displaced.
“In some central and southern parts of Iraq, where there is no accommodation available for displaced families, it is necessary to divide a school into two parts: a section for the families and another one for the students. In two-story schools, the upper floor will accommodate the displaced, while the students will attend classes on the first floor,” said Sultani.
Sahar Abdul-Hussein, public relations officer at the immigration department in Babil, under the Ministry of Displacement and Migration, told Al-Monitor, “The number of displaced in the province has increased to 4,600. The concerned parties have done their best to ensure their stability in terms of work and to enroll their children in schools and colleges.”
Yet, a teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Al-Monitor, “The educational authorities have failed to address the lack of schools and the extensive damage caused to them by the displaced having lived there. The bigger problem, which has yet to be resolved, is the massive number of students per semester.”
Kawthar Kallabi, a social and educational researcher, pointed out another problem to Al-Monitor — "the troubled mental health of displaced students, while there are no available treatment mechanisms.” She said, “Treatment consists of improvisational techniques by the teachers themselves that are limited to consolation and pep talks. However, there is a need for psychologists and social workers, who are not present at schools.”
Kallabi stated, "Many displaced students share stories with other students and children of slaughter with knives, killings, corpses and bloody scenes, all of which they have witnessed.” Such experiences will almost certainly cause serious social problems for some of the displaced children and youths, who number in the thousands.
Qasim al-Rubaie, educational supervisor at the Babil province education directorate, spoke of another problem, this one involving “the language [challenge] for Turkmen and Yazidi students, who do not have the required reading and writing proficiency in Arabic.” He said, “This requires additional time and for the teachers to further focus on the quality of the lessons, which cannot happen with the large number of students in the classroom.”
The students confirm this. Ali Lafteh told Al-Monitor, “Even before the arrival of the displaced, there was a single desk for every five students, and sometimes some of us would even sit on the ground.” Lafteh also said, “The lighting is not good. There is no heating system in winter nor a cooling in summer. The buildings of lots of schools are damaged.”
Mahdi Sultani, a member of Babil’s provincial council, told Al-Monitor, “The provincial administration is determined to build caravans and speed up [the establishment] of prefabricated schools, to contain the massive number of students that has became a problem plaguing most parts of Iraq.”
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/09/bail-schools-overcrowded-displaced-iraq.html#ixzz3DzCYRnww
samedi 20 septembre 2014
STRUGGLE AGAINST ISIS, BORDER CROSSINGS AND TURKEY – ORSAM REPORT
English version:
Turkish version:
Arabic version:
vendredi 19 septembre 2014
REPORT ON THE SITUATION OF DISPLACED TURKMEN FAMILIES IN IRAQ AFTER THE EVENTS OF MOSUL
THE REPUBLIC OF
IRAQ
BELADI CENTER
FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES AND RESEARCH
DEPARTMENT OF
HUMAN RIGHTS
REPORT ON THE
SITUATION OF DISPLACED TURKMEN FAMILIES
AFTER THE
EVENTS OF MOSUL
JUNE 2014
LIVING CONDITIONS OF TURKMEN FAMILIES
01/08/2014
IN
ARABIC
dimanche 14 septembre 2014
US used ISIL to separate oil-rich Kirkuk, Basra from Iraq: Analyst
US used ISIL to separate oil-rich Kirkuk, Basra from Iraq: Analyst
The United States used the ISIL terrorist group to “destabilize” the Middle East region and separate oil-rich Kirkuk and Basra from Iraq, a political commentator says.
Dean Henderson, author of “Big Oil and their Bankers,” said Thursday the creation of ISIL (or ISIS) was “by design,” because the United States and its regional allies “wanted to lop off Kurdistan as a separate country, using ISIS to destabilize the area.”
“They want Kurdistan to be a separate nation because Kirkuk oil field is in that area and it’s a very large oil field and they also want Basra lopped off from Iraq eventually because of the south Ramallah oil field in that area,” Henderson told Press TV in a phone interview.
“It’s not going to happen,” he said. “Because the Iraqis had the sense to get this government in place quickly and they have aligned themselves with the Kurds and I don’t think they are going to allow for that to happen.”
US Secretary of State John Kerry travelled to Iraq and met with new Iraqi authorities in Baghdad just after Iraqi lawmakers approved a new government headed by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
Kerry’s visit comes as the Iraqi army, backed by Kurdish Peshmarga forces, local tribesmen and volunteer forces, is fighting the ISIL terrorist group which has seized large swaths of land in both Iraq and Syria.
“ISIS, in a nutshell, is another failed foreign policy of the Obama administration,” Henderson said. “It is a sign of a dying desperate empire trying to hang on to control over the world.”
The United States and some of its regional allies, chief among them Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have been supporting militant groups in Syria to fight the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Last year, ISIL exploited the chaos of the Syrian conflict to capture a vast expanse of territory there before sweeping into neighboring Iraq.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/09/11/378418/us-made-isil-to-separate-kirkuk-basra/
AN/HRJ
The United States used the ISIL terrorist group to “destabilize” the Middle East region and separate oil-rich Kirkuk and Basra from Iraq, a political commentator says.
Dean Henderson, author of “Big Oil and their Bankers,” said Thursday the creation of ISIL (or ISIS) was “by design,” because the United States and its regional allies “wanted to lop off Kurdistan as a separate country, using ISIS to destabilize the area.”
“They want Kurdistan to be a separate nation because Kirkuk oil field is in that area and it’s a very large oil field and they also want Basra lopped off from Iraq eventually because of the south Ramallah oil field in that area,” Henderson told Press TV in a phone interview.
“It’s not going to happen,” he said. “Because the Iraqis had the sense to get this government in place quickly and they have aligned themselves with the Kurds and I don’t think they are going to allow for that to happen.”
US Secretary of State John Kerry travelled to Iraq and met with new Iraqi authorities in Baghdad just after Iraqi lawmakers approved a new government headed by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
Kerry’s visit comes as the Iraqi army, backed by Kurdish Peshmarga forces, local tribesmen and volunteer forces, is fighting the ISIL terrorist group which has seized large swaths of land in both Iraq and Syria.
“ISIS, in a nutshell, is another failed foreign policy of the Obama administration,” Henderson said. “It is a sign of a dying desperate empire trying to hang on to control over the world.”
The United States and some of its regional allies, chief among them Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have been supporting militant groups in Syria to fight the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Last year, ISIL exploited the chaos of the Syrian conflict to capture a vast expanse of territory there before sweeping into neighboring Iraq.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/09/11/378418/us-made-isil-to-separate-kirkuk-basra/
AN/HRJ
Shiite Turkmens in Iraq alienated by Turkey
Shiite Turkmens in Iraq alienated by Turkey
Iraqi security forces and Shiite militiamen patrol in the Shiite Turkmen town of Amirli on Sunday.(Photo: AP)
September 13, 2014, Saturday/ 17:00:00/ AYDIN ALBAYRAK / ANKARA
Turkey's “indifference” to the plight of Turkmens in Iraq seriously risks pushing Shiite Turkmens away from Turkey, as Turkey did not move to protect them against the terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
“All Turkmens are angry at Turkey, but the Shiite ones are even more so, as Turkey did not offer them protection from ISIL,” said Serhat Erkmen, head of the Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies in 21st Century Turkey, when speaking to Sunday's Zaman.
Although the terrorist ISIL, which has the backing of some Sunni groups in Iraq, has been cruel to members of all religions in their bloody campaign in the country since early June, those Sunnis who bowed to the terrorist organization managed to save their lives. The radical Islamist organization has so far been brutal to members of other sects of Islam and other religions.
When Tal Afar, a Turkmen city with a population of nearly 400,000 in northwestern Iraq, was confronted with immediate ISIL occupation in mid-June after Mosul fell into ISIL hands, Turkey did not lift a finger to offer Turkmens protection from the terrorist organization. Turkey just provided humanitarian aid to Turkmens who had to flee to the mountainous or desert area around in fear for their lives.
Hundreds of Turkmens, possibly more, were killed in the ISIL attack on Tal Afar, while most of the city's population, around half of whom were Shiite Turkmens, fled the city. Turkmen girls captured by the terrorists were reportedly raped or sold at the market by ISIL terrorists, as was also the case for Yazidi women later.
“Turkey has long somewhat kept its distance from us, but it had never ignored us as much as it does today,” said Erkmen, who is also a professor of international relations at Ahi Evran University, quoting Shiite Turkmens.
The Turkish government explains its position with the fact that 49 Turkish citizens, most of whom served in Turkey's Mosul consulate, have been held captive by ISIL since the terrorist organization invaded Mosul in June.
Despite being warned about the approaching ISIL threat ahead of the fall of the northern Iraqi city, the Turkish government reportedly instructed Consul-General Öztürk Yılmaz to remain in the consulate in Mosul.
“Shiite Turkmens feel anger and resentment toward Turkey,” Mahir Nakip, a Turkmen scholar from Kirkuk who is based in Turkey, told Sunday's Zaman.
Noting that Turkmens demand that Turkey offer them not only humanitarian aid, but also political support, he added, “A significant number of Shiite Turkmens don't feel affection for Turkey anymore.”
Possibly nearly half a million Turkmens are displaced in Iraq because of the ISIL threat. As Turkey did not allow Turkmens to seek shelter in Turkey, in contrast to Yazidis, most Shiite Turkmens migrated to the Shia-dominated south of the war-torn country. They reportedly struggle to live in very difficult conditions.
Turkey, a secular country, has a Sunni-dominated population and the Turkish government has also been criticized for adopting a sectarian policy in Iraq. ISIL's advance in Turkey's southern neighbor was even described by some leading government officials, who have thus far avoided calling ISIL a terrorist organization, as Iraqi Sunnis' reaction to being excluded from the administration of the country, as if to legitimize ISIL.
ISIL activity is seen as an attempt to carve out a Sunni region of Iraq while driving away Turkmens and other religious minorities in the region stretching from Mosul province in the north to Bagdad.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu once claimed in August, when he was minister of foreign affairs, that the clashes in Tal Afar were not just fighting between ISIL and Turkmens, but that Sunni and Shiite Turkmens were also clashing among themselves. Davutoğlu was possibly referring to a few radical Sunni Turkmens in Tal Afar who joined ISIL.
“Most Shiite Turkmens have adopted an anti-Turkey attitude, as they believe Turkey is behind ISIL,” Riyaz Sarıkahya, a Kirkuk-based leader of the Turkmeneli Party, told Sunday's Zaman.
Then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said when Tal Afar was under ISIL siege that there were Sunnis and Shiites there, implicitly bringing to the fore the sectarian issue in the ISIL attacks.
Shiite Turkmens have also been deeply frustrated by the Turkish government's “sectarian” discourse. “They [Shiite Turkmens] perceived that [Erdoğan's remark] as a reference to their sectarian identity. They will never forget that,” Erkmen commented.
Turkmens are in a particularly vulnerable position in the face of ISIL attacks, as the towns they live in stretch from northern Iraq toward Bagdad, precisely the area in which ISIL is active in the country.
“Turkey has not backed us politically. This is what saddens us most,” Sarıkahya added.
Until recently, Amirli, a Shiite Turkmen town with a population of around 15,000 that is near Bagdad, remained under siege by ISIL for around a month-and-a-half. The townspeople defended themselves, under very tough conditions, against the ISIL terrorists until, at long last, the Iraqi central army, supported by US air forces, Kurdish peshmerga forces and military units from some other countries such as Iran broke the ISIL siege.
Until recently, Amirli, a Shiite Turkmen town with a population of around 15,000 that is near Bagdad, remained under siege by ISIL for around a month-and-a-half. The townspeople defended themselves, under very tough conditions, against the ISIL terrorists until, at long last, the Iraqi central army, supported by US air forces, Kurdish peshmerga forces and military units from some other countries such as Iran broke the ISIL siege.
Reportedly, Turkey just sent humanitarian aid to the town after the siege was broken. Turkmens were once again deeply frustrated at not seeing Turkey at their side when they were struggling for their lives.
“Shiite Turkmens now feel closer to the central Iraqi government, which is dominated by Shiites, and to Iran, as it was those two who rushed to help them,” Erkmen said.
It has been three months since Turkmens were driven from their homes by ISIL forces, but the Turkish government has not even managed to establish a campsite to provide shelter for Turkmens in Iraq, let alone in Turkey. The Cumhuriyet daily reported in mid August that there was no trace as yet of a refugee camp having been established by Turkey in the Kurdish region, despite an earlier report by the state-run Anatolia news agency that Turkey was building a camp near the town of Dohuk in the Kurdish region.
http://www.todayszaman.com/_shiite-turkmens-in-iraq-alienated-by-turkey_358596.html
Iraqi Turkmen Dissatisfied With New Central Gov't
Iraqi Turkmen Dissatisfied With New Central Gov't
2014-09-10 19:28:48
Turkmen Front leader says they are under represented in Abadi cabinet, with only one ministerial seat.
Iraqi Turkmen Front leader and Kirkuk deputy Arshad al-Salihi is disatisfied with the newly-formed Iraqi government claiming they are under-represented with only one ministerial seat.
His remarks came after the new government, led by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, was officially established on Monday after receiving a vote of confidence from the Iraqi parliament.
"Only one seat was allowed for a Turkmen minister in the new cabinet. The Turkmen people of Iraq were once again disregarded during the formation of the government," claimed Salihi.
He said Turkmen Muhammad Mahdi al-Bayati from a Shiite group, the Badr Organization, won the seat of the Human Rights Ministry in the government only after the Iraqi Turkmen Front put pressure on the the Shiite-dominated Iraqi National Alliance, an electoral bloc of politicians from Iraq's leading Shiite parties.
The Turkmen leader called upon al-Abadi to allocate one more ministerial seat to the Turkmen Front.
He further argued that the demand from Iraq's Muttahidun Coalition leader and former Sunni Parliamentary Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, to have a Turkmen vice presidential seat was ignored.
Salihi said the Sunni Arab coalition, which gained 77 MP seats in April 30 elections, "regret" that Turkmen have only one minister in the new government.
"After this phase, Turkmen politics in Iraq must reform and reconsider the coalitions it allies with," he added.
The Iraqi Turkmen leader stressed that Turkmen won 12 seats in the 2010 general elections in Iraq. "Only nine seats in the April 30 elections is a political loss for the Turkmen people," he concluded.
In the new central government of Iraq, 17 ministries were given to Shiites, seven to Sunnis, and four to Kurds, while one ministry was given to minorities during Monday's long debate at parliament.
The new Prime Minister, Haider Al-Abadi, was named as prime minister by President Fuad Masum on August 11 and was assigned to form the new government of Iraq, ending former PM Nouri al-Maliki's eight-year rule.
www.aa.com.tr/en - Irak
http://www.viewstimes.com/iraqi-turkmen-dissatisfied-with-new-central-govt-4242
Turkmen Front leader says they are under represented in Abadi cabinet, with only one ministerial seat.
Iraqi Turkmen Front leader and Kirkuk deputy Arshad al-Salihi is disatisfied with the newly-formed Iraqi government claiming they are under-represented with only one ministerial seat.
His remarks came after the new government, led by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, was officially established on Monday after receiving a vote of confidence from the Iraqi parliament.
"Only one seat was allowed for a Turkmen minister in the new cabinet. The Turkmen people of Iraq were once again disregarded during the formation of the government," claimed Salihi.
He said Turkmen Muhammad Mahdi al-Bayati from a Shiite group, the Badr Organization, won the seat of the Human Rights Ministry in the government only after the Iraqi Turkmen Front put pressure on the the Shiite-dominated Iraqi National Alliance, an electoral bloc of politicians from Iraq's leading Shiite parties.
The Turkmen leader called upon al-Abadi to allocate one more ministerial seat to the Turkmen Front.
He further argued that the demand from Iraq's Muttahidun Coalition leader and former Sunni Parliamentary Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, to have a Turkmen vice presidential seat was ignored.
Salihi said the Sunni Arab coalition, which gained 77 MP seats in April 30 elections, "regret" that Turkmen have only one minister in the new government.
"After this phase, Turkmen politics in Iraq must reform and reconsider the coalitions it allies with," he added.
The Iraqi Turkmen leader stressed that Turkmen won 12 seats in the 2010 general elections in Iraq. "Only nine seats in the April 30 elections is a political loss for the Turkmen people," he concluded.
In the new central government of Iraq, 17 ministries were given to Shiites, seven to Sunnis, and four to Kurds, while one ministry was given to minorities during Monday's long debate at parliament.
The new Prime Minister, Haider Al-Abadi, was named as prime minister by President Fuad Masum on August 11 and was assigned to form the new government of Iraq, ending former PM Nouri al-Maliki's eight-year rule.
www.aa.com.tr/en - Irak
http://www.viewstimes.com/iraqi-turkmen-dissatisfied-with-new-central-govt-4242
samedi 6 septembre 2014
Iraqi Shiite forces reinvigorated after Amerli victory
Iraqi Shiite militia fighters fire their weapons as they celebrate breaking the siege of Amerli by Islamic State militants, Sept. 1, 2014. (photo by REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal)
Iraqi Shiite forces reinvigorated after Amerli victory
AMERLI, Iraq – Thick black smoke rose from some of the houses in the distance. The rocket and bullet casings lying by the side of the highway attested to the fight for control over the area. Young Shiite men armed with a variety of weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades, manned makeshift checkpoints along the road to the “liberated” town of Amerli. Such was the scene that greeted visitors arriving in the vicinity of Amerli and Sulaiman Bag, in the northern part of Saladin province, some 180 kilometers (112 miles) north of Baghdad.
.
After successfully breaking the Islamic State’s siege on the Shiite Turkmen town of Amerli, Iraqi forces are looking to make further advances.
Author Mohammed A. Salih
Author Mohammed A. Salih
Posted September 5, 2014
At the entrance to Amerli, children waved Shiite flags at the vehicles entering their dilapidated town. It was a genuine expression of joy at having survived what would have surely been a brutal fate if the fighters of the Islamic State (IS) had succeeded in setting foot in this town populated by Shiite Turkmen.
Armed men affiliated with a number of Shiite groups — some wearing camouflaged military uniforms and others black fatigues — roamed the streets hoisting the flags of their respective organizations on their vehicles, many of which did not have license plates. Among the groups that helped take Amerli were the Badr Brigades, the League of the Righteous, Hezbollah Battalions and Peace Brigades. It was at times difficult to tell who was who. Military humvees provided by the US government to the Iraqi army carried Iraqi and armed groups’ flags.
Fighters from the Hezbollah Battalions set up base at a building formerly used by the government's office of agriculture. The group, whose flag bears striking similarities to Lebanese Hezbollah's banner, once fought both the US military and Iraqi security forces, but has joined forces with the army and other Shiite armed factions to fight their common enemy: Sunni extremists. The men, visibly tired by the fight, rejoiced in their victory over IS, a rare occurrence in the bloody conflict between the Sunni jihadists and the Iraqi army and allied Shiite forces.
“The people of Amerli have implanted fear in the heart of IS,” said Abu Abdullah, a tall, thin man with a blonde beard wearing military fatigues. “Amerli and its surroundings are now free of terrorists.”
Some of the men here were involved in the successful Aug. 31 assault on Amerli by Shiite armed groups, Iraqi army and Kurdish peshmerga forces that broke the IS siege of some 80 days. Others were part of the resistance inside Amerli. Less than 48 hours after the siege was lifted, no traces were left of peshmerga inside the town. The closest peshmerga post was a checkpoint on the road connecting Touz Khormatu to Sulaiman Bag, several miles away.
The residents of Amerli still appear traumatized from the siege, which was intended to break their resolve and force them into surrendering or starving to death. They call what unfolded a “heroic resistance” and are proud of not having blinked in the face of what they described as a 360-degree siege.
“We were badly short of food and medicine, drank dirty water from the wells and were shelled all the time,” said Sheikh Abbas al-Amerli, a local tribal chief who, like many residents, took up arms to defend his town. “But we did not surrender. We defended our honor.” The fighters denied that aid delivered by the Iraqi military to the town during the siege included military supplies.
Exact figures are not available, but staff at a rundown health center said that several pregnant women and their babies died because of a lack of doctors, medicine and supplies to ease their deliveries. Those who died during the siege were laid to rest in unmarked graves, no more than a pile of earth, in a cemetery on the edge of town.
Truck after truck have been entering the town of nearly 15,000 people to deliver assistance, including much-needed flour for bread, bottled water, which one resident described as a “luxury,” and packaged food. Many of the trucks had flags from Shiite armed groups, and their contents were distributed by armed men. At least four trucks from the Turkish Red Crescent were idle at the entrance of the town shortly before sunset, waiting to be allowed in to distribute their cargo.
Shiite armed men openly boasted of burning the houses of those who cooperated with IS in the nearby village of al-Habash and the district of Sulaiman Bag, both of which have a significant number of Sunni residents. The locals who worked with IS apparently left with the retreating jihadists. At the entrance to Sulaiman Bag and Habash, men at the checkpoints warned visitors to be careful because of possible roadside bombs and warned them not to veer off onto unpaved roads.
The fight in Amerli might be over, but the Shiite groups here plan to march farther. “We cleansed three villages of IS terrorists today,” said Adnan, a militiaman from the nearby town of Touz Khormatu who came to Amerli with the Peace Brigades, which are affiliated with the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. “We will not stop until we have cleaned up all surrounding villages and will then go to Mosul.”
The battle for Mosul might not happen anytime soon, for IS has proven capable of slowing if not bogging down its enemies on different fronts. Regardless, armed Shiite groups, reinvigorated by their most dramatic success in the conflict thus far, are yearning to charge ahead.
At least one person, however, had reason to be unenthusiastic about events that transpired in Amerli, although not for the obvious reason. One pale-looking boy wearing an FC Barcelona jersey said he was saddened because he had been unable to watch the Catalan team's matches. “We didn’t have electricity,” said 11-year old Salam in a feeble voice. The boy then rushed away to collect some ice after spotting a truck pulling over to deliver aid to residents.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/09/amerli-iraq-shiite-forces-islamic-state-lift-siege.html#ixzz3CVt0YH3u
At the entrance to Amerli, children waved Shiite flags at the vehicles entering their dilapidated town. It was a genuine expression of joy at having survived what would have surely been a brutal fate if the fighters of the Islamic State (IS) had succeeded in setting foot in this town populated by Shiite Turkmen.
Armed men affiliated with a number of Shiite groups — some wearing camouflaged military uniforms and others black fatigues — roamed the streets hoisting the flags of their respective organizations on their vehicles, many of which did not have license plates. Among the groups that helped take Amerli were the Badr Brigades, the League of the Righteous, Hezbollah Battalions and Peace Brigades. It was at times difficult to tell who was who. Military humvees provided by the US government to the Iraqi army carried Iraqi and armed groups’ flags.
Fighters from the Hezbollah Battalions set up base at a building formerly used by the government's office of agriculture. The group, whose flag bears striking similarities to Lebanese Hezbollah's banner, once fought both the US military and Iraqi security forces, but has joined forces with the army and other Shiite armed factions to fight their common enemy: Sunni extremists. The men, visibly tired by the fight, rejoiced in their victory over IS, a rare occurrence in the bloody conflict between the Sunni jihadists and the Iraqi army and allied Shiite forces.
“The people of Amerli have implanted fear in the heart of IS,” said Abu Abdullah, a tall, thin man with a blonde beard wearing military fatigues. “Amerli and its surroundings are now free of terrorists.”
Some of the men here were involved in the successful Aug. 31 assault on Amerli by Shiite armed groups, Iraqi army and Kurdish peshmerga forces that broke the IS siege of some 80 days. Others were part of the resistance inside Amerli. Less than 48 hours after the siege was lifted, no traces were left of peshmerga inside the town. The closest peshmerga post was a checkpoint on the road connecting Touz Khormatu to Sulaiman Bag, several miles away.
The residents of Amerli still appear traumatized from the siege, which was intended to break their resolve and force them into surrendering or starving to death. They call what unfolded a “heroic resistance” and are proud of not having blinked in the face of what they described as a 360-degree siege.
“We were badly short of food and medicine, drank dirty water from the wells and were shelled all the time,” said Sheikh Abbas al-Amerli, a local tribal chief who, like many residents, took up arms to defend his town. “But we did not surrender. We defended our honor.” The fighters denied that aid delivered by the Iraqi military to the town during the siege included military supplies.
Exact figures are not available, but staff at a rundown health center said that several pregnant women and their babies died because of a lack of doctors, medicine and supplies to ease their deliveries. Those who died during the siege were laid to rest in unmarked graves, no more than a pile of earth, in a cemetery on the edge of town.
Truck after truck have been entering the town of nearly 15,000 people to deliver assistance, including much-needed flour for bread, bottled water, which one resident described as a “luxury,” and packaged food. Many of the trucks had flags from Shiite armed groups, and their contents were distributed by armed men. At least four trucks from the Turkish Red Crescent were idle at the entrance of the town shortly before sunset, waiting to be allowed in to distribute their cargo.
Shiite armed men openly boasted of burning the houses of those who cooperated with IS in the nearby village of al-Habash and the district of Sulaiman Bag, both of which have a significant number of Sunni residents. The locals who worked with IS apparently left with the retreating jihadists. At the entrance to Sulaiman Bag and Habash, men at the checkpoints warned visitors to be careful because of possible roadside bombs and warned them not to veer off onto unpaved roads.
The fight in Amerli might be over, but the Shiite groups here plan to march farther. “We cleansed three villages of IS terrorists today,” said Adnan, a militiaman from the nearby town of Touz Khormatu who came to Amerli with the Peace Brigades, which are affiliated with the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. “We will not stop until we have cleaned up all surrounding villages and will then go to Mosul.”
The battle for Mosul might not happen anytime soon, for IS has proven capable of slowing if not bogging down its enemies on different fronts. Regardless, armed Shiite groups, reinvigorated by their most dramatic success in the conflict thus far, are yearning to charge ahead.
At least one person, however, had reason to be unenthusiastic about events that transpired in Amerli, although not for the obvious reason. One pale-looking boy wearing an FC Barcelona jersey said he was saddened because he had been unable to watch the Catalan team's matches. “We didn’t have electricity,” said 11-year old Salam in a feeble voice. The boy then rushed away to collect some ice after spotting a truck pulling over to deliver aid to residents.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/09/amerli-iraq-shiite-forces-islamic-state-lift-siege.html#ixzz3CVt0YH3u
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