Nineveh operations command announced on Tuesday the death of the Islamic State (IS) leader in Qayyara after the government forces reportedly entered the district.

Amir Wathiq, and official from Nineveh operations command told BasNews that strenuous  confrontations broke out on Tuesday, August 23, between the Iraqi troops and IS militants in the town of Qayyara which resulted in destroying around 23 car bombs belonging to the extremist group.

Despite killing scores of militants, the Iraqi troops were also able to kill Abu Futuhi, the Chechen IS leader in Qayyara, said the official.

Najim al-Jabouri, the commander of Nineveh operations announced today that the Iraqi troops have entered Qayyara town located in southern Mosul on the west bank of Tigris river.

Qayyara town has been under the control of the militants since 2014. The Qayara airbase on the outskirt of the town has been liberated recently by the Iraqi forces in collaboration with the global coalition’s warplanes.

Clearing Qayyara and and other IS-held areas in the south of Mosul helps the Iraqi army prepare the ground for an ultimate assault against the jihadist group in central Mosul which is considered the main IS bastion in Iraq.

basnews.com

At least 46 people were killed in deadly clashes Monday between pro-government forces and Houthi rebels in Yemen’s central Taiz province.

Battles broke out in western Taiz, in which 25 Houthis and allied forces of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh were killed, the pro-government forces said in a statement.

“Fifteen pro-government forces were also killed in the violence,” it added.

Six Houthi rebels were also killed and four others injured in clashes with pro-government fighters west of Taiz city, a local source said anonymously due to restrictions on speaking to media.

The Houthi group does not often comment on its casualties.

Yemen has been ravaged by civil war since late 2014, when the Houthis and their allies overran capital Sanaa, forcing President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and his Saudi-backed government to temporarily flee to Riyadh.

The conflict escalated when Saudi Arabia and Arab allies launched in March of last year a massive military campaign in the country aimed at reversing Houthi gains and restoring Hadi’s embattled government.

Last week, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that more than three million Yemenis have been displaced by the ongoing conflict in the Arab country.

com.tr

Saudi Arabia’s state sponsored religion is Wahhabism, an ultra-conservative form of Islam. How is the country spreading Wahhabism globally?

In December of 2015, German vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel made headlines by publicly accusing Saudi Arabia of financing terrorists in the West. Specifically, Gabriel claimed the country was funding Wahhabi mosques, which represent a strain of ultra-conservative Islam associated with extremism.

In today’s Seeker Daily report, we look at the connection between Saudi Arabia and the controversial religious movement known as Wahhabism.

The relationship has deep historical roots. In the mid-18th century, cleric and scholarMuhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab established a sect promoting a strict version of Islam that does not deviate whatsoever from Sharia law. He eventually partnered with local rulerMuhammad ibn Saud to form the first Saudi emirate.

Saud took over military and political matters while al-Wahhab dictated all religious authority in the state. This initial partnership has adapted and endured for more than 300 years as descendant of both bloodlines maintained the alliance.

In the 20th century, the Saudi Arabia began to use its massive wealth to promote the construction of Wahhabi mosques around the world. According to some sources, the country has bankrolled more than 1,500 mosques in the last 50 years and spent more than $100 billion dollars promoting Wahhabism globally.

Saudi Arabia’s efforts to promote their state-sponsored religion has generated much alarm over the years. Despite the kingdom’s claims that it does not condone terrorist actions, it actively supports a strain of Islam that promotes extremism. Wahhabism’s brand of ultraconservative Islam is also practiced by groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda. Many Belgians blamed the Saudi-sponsored Grand Mosque for the flare up in religious extremism leading up to the attacks in Brussels.

In an interview with German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, Gabriel said that Wahhabi mosques, funded by Saudi Arabia, represent a national security threat.

“We have to make clear to the Saudis that the time of looking away is over,” Gabriel said. “Wahhabi mosques all over the world are financed by Saudi Arabia and many Islamists who are a threat to public safety come from these communities.”

seeker.com

Iraqi security forces on Tuesday launched an operation to flush out Islamic State (IS) militants from the town of Qayyara in south of IS major stronghold in Mosul, a security source said.

The troops backed by Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition aircraft began the advance at dawn from several direction toward Qayyara, some 50 km south of Mosul, amid heavy clashes with IS militants at the entrances of the town, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Last month, the security forces made a significant victory when they recaptured a strategic airbase near Qayyara.

Recapturing the town is vital for the security forces which will use the town and the nearby airbase as a staging ground to free Iraq’s last major IS stronghold in Mosul, which itself located some 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

The advance into Qayyara is part of a major offensive aiming to free areas in southern Mosul and surround Mosul from the south and east before pushing into the city and flushing the IS militants out of it.

Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, has been under the IS control since June 2014, when the Iraqi government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, giving opportunities for the IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq’s northern and western regions.

china.org.cn

he flights of Russian warplanes from the Iranian airbase in Hamedan have not been suspended, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said on Tuesday.

“The flights haven’t been suspended. Iran and Russia are allies in the fight against terrorism,” Larijani said. He added that Iran’s Shahid Nojeh air base in Hamedan is only “used for refueling,” not for permanent deployment.

The speaker responded to last week’s statement of MP Mahmud Sadeghi that 20 lawmakers had sent a letter to the parliament’s presidium demanding explanations about the use of the airbase. “The request will be certainly considered,” Larijani said.

Last week for the first time ever, Russia’s military used an airfield in Iran to attack terrorists in Syria. Long-range bombers, namely Tupolev-22M3 and Sukhoi-34 front-line bombers participated in the raid. Earlier, these aircraft flew sorties from airdromes in Russia and front-line bombers, from the Hmeymim base in Syria.

On Monday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry official spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told reporters in Tehran that Russia stopped using the base in Iran.

tass.com

A British national has been killed while clearing mines from the Iraqi city of Ramadi, it has been confirmed.

US demining company Janus Global Operations announced the death of the contractor on Monday, but did not provide any further details.

The mayor of Ramadi, Ibrahim al-Osej, told AFP news agency: “A contractor of British origin was killed and another wounded as they attempted to defuse an (improvised explosive device) in the Malaab neighbourhood.”

A British embassy spokesman confirmed they were aware of the death of a British national in Ramadi.

A second contractor was injured in the incident but their nationality has not been confirmed.

Ramadi was reclaimed by Iraqi forces from Islamic State earlier this year, 18 months after it had been taken by Islamic State.

The contract for clearing the thousands of mines and other booby traps left behind by IS militants was awarded to Janus Global Operations.

The company has western contractors working with Iraqis de-mining roads in the city, which lies about 62 miles west of Baghdad.

lbc.co.uk

Yemen’s former President Ali Abdullah Saleh has offered to allow Russia to use the country’s military bases with a view to fighting ‘terrorism’.

Speaking in an interview with Russia-24 TV channel Sunday, Saleh described Russia as “the closest kin to us”.

“We extend our hands to Russia. We have agreements with the Russian Federation which were with the Soviet Union… we are ready to activate these treaties and agreements that were between us and the Soviet Union,” Saleh said.

“We agree on a principle, which is the struggle against terrorism… We extend our hands and offer all the facilities, and the conventions and treaties. We offer them in our bases, in our airports and in our ports — ready to provide all facilities to the Russian Federation,” he said.

Saleh is a close ally of the Shia Houthi group, which overran capital Sanaa and other provinces in late 2014 and forced President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia.

In March last year, Saudi Arabia and Arab allies launched a massive military campaign in the country aimed at reversing Houthi gains and restoring Hadi’s embattled government.

Saleh does not hold any official post in Yemen, but officials from his General People’s Congress party are members of a governing council that runs war-torn Yemen along with the Houthis.

In 2015, Russia abstained from a UN Security Council resolution which imposed an arms embargo on the Houthi group.
Moscow has also aborted the issuing of a UN statement condemning a move by the Houthis and Saleh to form a governing council to run Yemen.

middleeastmonitor.com

Gaziantep is known as the ISIS stronghold due to its proximity to the Syrian border and easy access.

The city in southern Turkey witnessed another suicide attack on Saturday that left 51 civilians dead and many others injured.

According to the public prosecution’s 500-page brief, ISIS had a plan to overtake the city. This was revealed in a letter sent by the ISIS chief in the city, Yunus Durmaz, to the ISIS leader in Turkey after the latter’s directives to attack several areas in the country.

According to the indictment, Durmaz suggested to secrecy regarding ISIS activity and recruitments in Gaziantep. He said: “Currently, there are many jobs occupied by Arabs only in Gaziantep. There are around 50 men who work as shoemakers. A Turkish man will rent a two-story place and turn it into workplace. He will only hire Arabs. That way we can hide our friends. If we open five similar places we can do our operations,” said Durmaz.

He also suggested using Arab housings to hide ISIS members: “There are buildings used by Arabs only and we can put our friends in them for a yearly rent. For example, I live in a building with Arabs. There are 38 apartments in the building, and in each apartment there are least 4 persons. This means we can hide at least 110 people.”

The Turkish army publishes a weekly newsletter about the number of ISIS members captured in different cities. Gaziantep is the first city with the largest number of ISIS militants arrested.

Also, terrorist Orhan Gonder, who is responsible for the attack on the rally of the Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakir two days before Turkey’s June 7 general elections, was captured in Gaziantep.

Security reports reveal that fighters who belong to ISIS or are sympathizers with the organization arrive at Gaziantep and hide in ISIS homes. Then, they move to Syrian territories.

The reports explained that ISIS had transformed the city into a logistic place to support its basic needs and manpower.

It is believed that due to the defeats at the borders, ISIS members had to retreat and hide in Gaziantep and Kilis.

Turkish Opposition MP Eren Erdem of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) stated on Sunday, that there are around 200 ISIS cells within Turkey. He added that there are active cells in Istanbul.
Erdem said that it is enough to check the manifest of passengers between Istanbul and Gaziantep since 2013 to understand the gravity of the situation.

The MP said that at least 20% of the passengers belong to ISIS, with over 600 passengers entering Gaziantep this way.

Erdem explained that after reading ISIS reports and testimonies it became clear the ISIS militias first arrive in Istanbul and stay in guesthouses. He said that they even used the guesthouse of the Committee of Religious Affairs. He added that it isn’t clear whether the committee was aware of the situation or not. He said that police residences were even used for the same purpose.

He went on to say that ISIS militias would then transfer to Gaziantep for theoretical and not arms training. They receive training on how to use weapons and bombs as soon as they arrive to Raqqa.
Erdem claimed that the security forces and Turkish Intelligence are aware of this information but did nothing.

aawsat.com

The Islamic State (IS) militants executed 40 people in the group’s last major stonghold of Mosul on Sunday, a security source said.

The victims were executed over charges of conspiring against the group’s rule in Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province, or helping people to flee the city, or being former Iraqi security members, according to Mohammed al-Baiyati, head of the security committee of Nineveh’s provincial council.

“The IS terrorist group delivered the bodies of 40 men and a list of their names to the morgue of the main hospital in Mosul,” said Baiyati. He said all the bodies were shot in the head.

The executions came as the Iraqi army and the Kurdish security forces, known as Peshmerga, are now fighting to seize back positions around Mosul amid a major offensive to liberate the whole city.

Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, has been under IS control since June 2014, when the Iraqi government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, giving opportunities for IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq’s northern and western regions.

xinhuanet.com

The Houthi rebels in Yemen have executed 14 soldiers from the Republic Guards.

The men were accused of being “cowards” during an assault against the Saudi city of Njaran, news agencies have reported. Sources have revealed that 60 Houthis were apparently killed in one day during an incident across the border with Saudi Arabia.

According to comments coming out of the General People’s Congress, ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh has called for an “urgent” clarification from the Houthis about the execution of the soldiers that took place on Thursday.

middleeastmonitor.com