The Commander of Anbar Operations Ismail al-Mahalawi announced on Sunday, that the security forces killed 44 fighters of the so-called ISIS, while detonated seven booby-trapped vehicles north of Ramadi.

Mahalawi said in a brief statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “The army’s 10th brigade backed by al-Hashd al-Shaabi fighters and the international coalition aviation managed to repulse different ISIS attacks on the northern axis in Ramadi.”

Mahalawi added, “The security forces killed 44 ISIS fighters during the attack, while detonated seven booby-trapped vehicles.”

iraqinews.com

The UAE said on Sunday it backs sending ground troops as part of an international coalition to fight against Daesh, a top official said yesterday.

“Our position throughout has been that a real campaign against Daesh has to include genuine political process [in Iraq] and a ground force,” Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said at a news conference in Abu Dhabi.

Dr Gargash ruled out the possibility of sending large number of troops. “We are not talking about thousands of troops. We are talking of troops to lead the operation. And we are talking of troops to train.”

Dr Gargash added that “American leadership on this” would be a prerequisite for the US allies in the fight against Daesh.

Saudi Arabia has offered for the first time to send ground troops to Syria to fight Daesh, the kingdom’s defence ministry said on Thursday.

“The kingdom is ready to participate in any ground operations that the coalition [against Daesh] may agree to carry out in Syria,” said military spokesman Brigadier General Ahmad Al Assiri during an interview with Al Arabiya TV news.

Saudi sources told the Guardian that thousands of special forces could be deployed, probably in coordination with Turkey.

Dr Theodore Karasik, a UAE-based analyst of regional geopolitical affairs, said the UAE’s intent to send a contingent of highly specialised ground troops as part of the proposed alliance against Daesh is significant.

“Last year, the UAE made its first announcement that such a move would be possible if the ground situation in Syria and Iraq [where Daesh is active and holds large swathes of land] demanded such an intervention,” Dr Karasik said.

Dr Karasik said the announcement in December 2015 by Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman of an Islamic military alliance, followed by the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Riyadh to cement the group illustrates the alignment of forces taking shape. The UAE is part of this new alliance.

Dr Karasik argued that the caveat of the ground force under US-led command, at this time, shows that the UAE is taking seriously the Obama Administration’s outlook that Arab forces should be the ones fighting on the ground. Whether the United States will lead such a contingent is subject to many questions. But what is clear, he said, is that the new alliance is taking shape.

gulfnews.com

“We Muslims have a lot of problems with our religion, for a lot of reasons,” the words of Sanger Najim, a young man living in Erbil, echo the sentiments of a growing population in the Kurdistan Region who struggle with questions about their faith.

Many Muslims are confronted by the violent extremism of the Islamic State (ISIS) and wonder how to reconcile their personal beliefs with the actions of the extremist group.

The Kurdish population is approximately 94% nominally Muslim. Recently, however, there have been many reports of Kurds leaving Islam or converting to other religions.

The Zoroastrian movement claims to have as many as 100,000 followers in Iraqi Kurdistan. Christian organizations assert that thousands in the region have been seeking out Christianity as they reject ISIS’ interpretation of Islam. There are also reports of growing numbers of atheists and agnostics.

These claims could not be confirmed by the Kurdish Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs. Mariwan Naqshbandi, the ministry spokesman said that they do not publish figures of people who convert from one religion to another.

Many blame ISIS for this rejection of Islam.

“Daesh (ISIS) appeared, they kill people and they said they are Muslims, but actually not. This… leads to an increase of the idea that Islam is the base of Daesh,” said Avein Abdul-Rahman. She, however, believes that ISIS’ practice of Islam is wrong and that Islam is a religion of peace.

Others have completely abandoned Islam and religion altogether.

“I am an atheist,” says Mohammad, a young Kurdish man in Erbil who declined to give his full name for personal reasons.

“I think the tipping point and the moment it all got loose was when Islamic State overran Shingal,” Mohammad argued. “When I first heard about the cases of enslavement of non-Muslim Kurdish women, Yezidi women, I knew that it is allowed in Islam to do that. It’s not only allowed, it is promoted.”

Mohammad went on to say that that the extremism of ISIS such as beheading, stoning of women and cutting off a thief’s hand are sanctioned in the Koran.

This assertion however, is strongly dismissed by the head of the Kurdish Union of Islamic Scholars, Mullah Abdulla who argues that violence is the work of non-believers.

“Clearly, ISIS is a terrorist political group,” he told Rudaw. “They never represent true Islam. Their disgusting behaviour is distant from the notion of Islam because a nationalist, religious and patriotic Muslim cannot be labeled as a terrorist. Whoever resorts to violence is counted as a non-believer because he or she is doing Islam more harm than good.”

The disillusionment with Islam is a spike in a gradual movement that rejects all organized religion that has been happening over decades, according to Dr. Muslih Irwani, professor of sociology at the American University of Kurdistan in Duhok.

“The majority of people are, now I see from a sociological perspective… they are losing their faith,” Dr. Irwani says. “Some elements of their religion, they no longer believe in those. This is a change over time.”

Dr. Irwani believes it is natural in the evolution of society for people’s religious convictions to wane. “People are losing their faith but not converting to other religions,” he explains. “They want to get rid of religion… or lighten their beliefs in some aspects that they no longer believe in. They are keeping their mind at peace, saying, okay, still I am Muslim but I don’t believe in this, this, this.”

He uses birth control as an example of this loosening of the ties to religion. “Thirty years ago, people were not keen to control birth in the family. But now they are practicing and they are not seeing it as something against their religion. So this is a change in their belief.”

Dr. Irwani agrees that the emergence of ISIS has led to an upsurge in people questioning their commitment to their faith. “ISIS affected some people at least to revise their loyalty to religion, their affiliation to religion,” he explains. “They think that it’s like salt, if you put extra, it will affect your health, it’s bad for your health.”

Najim points the finger of blame at religious leaders for the rise of extremism and growing number of people turning away from Islam.

“We don’t have [a] response when people from [the] West [are] telling us that Islam is cruel, Islam is Daesh. We don’t have a response for this. Why? The Mullahs never tell us what real Islam is. They are just reading us some history facts. They are just telling us some history… from old times. They are not able to link it with present society… They have to link Quran with the real life.”

Mullah Abdullah disagrees, saying that Kurdish academics and clerics have all played their part in raising awareness among the youths to refrain from ISIS.

Some believe that the solution is to promote a Kurdish version of Islam, which Naqshbandi said is part of KRG’s plan to combat extremism.

“A number of Islamic ideologies were brought into Kurdistan. They do not represent true Islam,” says Naqshbandi. “Their radical ideology is incompatible with the tolerant culture of Kurdish society. For example, there was nothing called Salafism in Kurdistan before 1991, but there was Sufism, and people were being educated… in a moderate way.”

The roots of Islam are strong in Kurdistan and, even for those who do not believe or practice the religion; it still plays a role in their lives. But others like Mohammed, who grew up in a religious family and whose father is an imam, have had their own revelation.

“I came to a point where I had to make a choice. I said, this can’t be my religion. And obviously, at that moment, I said it’s not. It’s never been mine,” he said.

rudaw.net

Al-Qaeda militants have taken control of a police headquarters in southern Yemen, amid the chaos that has gripped the country following the onset of Saudi Arabia’s military aggression.

The militants on Saturday overran the headquarters in Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan Province, after forces loyal to the embattled president of Yemen, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, reportedly escaped the area.

The militants have been in control of other government buildings in Zinjibar for weeks while retaining a large presence in the nearby town of Jaar. They have also taken control of the town of Azzan in Shabwa Province and seized the towns of Shoqra and Ahwar, which enable them to completely control the coast road between their stronghold city of Mukalla in the southeast and Zinjibar.

Zinjibar is located about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Yemen’s major city of Aden, which houses elements of Yemen’s former government after the capital, Sana’a, was taken by the Houthi movement’s fighters in September 2014.

Yemen has been under military attacks by Saudi Arabia since March 26, 2015. The campaign has been meant to bring Hadi, a Riyadh ally, back to power.

Over 8,270 people, among them more than 2,230 children, have been killed and some 16,000 others injured since. The strikes have also taken a heavy toll on the impoverished country’s infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories.

The Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has exploited the volatile conditions and the breakdown of security in Yemen since the beginning of the Saudi war to tighten its grip on parts of southeastern Yemen.

The Daesh group has also gained ground in and around Aden.

Houthi fighters, along with allied army units, are fighting the Daesh militants. They are also engaged in attacks targeting positions of Saudi forces.

albawaba.com

Iran has held a funeral for six soldiers, including a senior Revolutionary Guard commander, who were killed while fighting alongside President Bashar Assad’s forces in Syria.

State TV says Gen. Mohsen Ghajarian and five others were killed in northern Syria while battling the Islamic State group and Syrian rebels. A major Syrian government offensive is underway near the northern city of Aleppo.

Iran says it has sent military advisers to help Assad’s forces but denies sending any combat troops into Syria. A number of Iranians have been killed in recent months, including several high-ranking commanders.

The Guard’s top commander, Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, said at the funeral Saturday that Iran has no plans to send combat troops to Syria.

Iran has defended the intervention in Syria, saying it is defending Shiite shrines there. The Assad family hails from Syria’s minority Alawite community, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

Iran has been a key ally of Syria’s throughout the five-year uprising.

ap.org

On Saturday the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) revealed its readiness to participate in the liberation operation of Mosul, while indicated to the necessity of its participation in this operation to back up the security and Peshmerga forces.

The party’s Spokesman in Sinjar District Akeed Kelari said in a press statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “The PKK forces are preparing to participate in the liberation operations of Mosul, and will fight the battle of Mosul starting from Tal Afar, Makhmour and Kirkuk areas,” adding that, “We are ready to coordinate with all the forces that participate in the liberation of Mosul.”

Kelari also pointed out, “Our participation in the liberation of Mosul is very important,” indicating that, “The Iraqi forces and Peshmerga forces cannot liberate Mosul on their own.”

iraqinews.com

With rebel forces facing the prospect of a crushing defeat by Syria’s Russian-backed regime, their allies Saudi Arabia and Turkey may send in limited numbers of ground troops, analysts say.

Riyadh on Thursday left open the possibility of deploying soldiers, saying it would “contribute positively” if the US-led coalition against Islamic State (IS) in Syria decides on ground action.

The fate of Saudi-backed Syrian armed opposition groups fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad is also a major concern for the kingdom.

“I think Saudi Arabia is desperate to do something in Syria,” said Andreas Krieg, of the Department of Defence Studies at King’s College London.

Krieg said the “moderate” opposition is in danger of being routed if Aleppo falls to the regime, whose forces have closed in on Syria’s second city, backed by intense Russian air strikes.

“This is a problem for Saudi and Qatar as they have massively invested into Syria via the moderate opposition as their surrogate on the ground,” said Krieg, who also serves as a consultant to the Qatari armed forces.

Russia, which along with Saudi Arabia’s regional rival Iran is a major ally of Assad, meanwhile has accused Turkey of “preparations for an armed invasion” of Syria.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the claims “laughable”. But Krieg said Erdogan’s policy in Syria has achieved nothing so far.

“Turkey and Saudi need to turn this war around. So any Saudi engagement would be in cooperation with Doha and Ankara,” he added.

Aleppo province is among the main strongholds of Syria’s armed opposition, which is facing possibly its worst moment since the beginning of the nearly five-year war, at a time when peace efforts have stalled.

The Saudi-backed opposition umbrella group, the High Negotiations Committee, says it will not return to peace talks which recently collapsed in Geneva unless its humanitarian demands are met.

“The Saudis believe that the chance of a peaceful solution for the Syrian crisis is very limited,” said Mustafa Alani, of the independent Gulf Research Centre.

“They don’t see that there is a real pressure on the regime to give major concessions… They think eventually it will have to end in the battlefield,” Alani said.

“Turkey is enthusiastic about this option [of sending ground troops] since the Russians started their air operation and tried to push Turkey outside the equation.”

Alani said the Saudis are serious about committing troops “as part of a coalition, especially if the Turkish forces are going to be involved”.

But he and other analysts said Saudi involvement would be limited, given its leadership of a separate Arab coalition fighting in Yemen for almost a year and guarding the kingdom’s southern border from attacks by Iran-backed Yemeni rebels.

“They are overstretched. But in principle I think they will not hesitate to send a certain number of their fighters to fight in Syria,” Alani said, adding that this would probably include Saudi special forces.

Turkey and Saudi already belong to a US-led coalition which officially has 65 members. It has been bombing IS targets in Syria and Iraq, as well as training local forces to fight the extremists.

Krieg said that with Saudi and other Gulf kingdoms “bogged down” in Yemen, he could only foresee a possible expansion of “train and equip” missions involving Gulf special forces to help rebels in Syria.

“Saudi and Qatar have already networks on the ground,” he said, viewing Doha as a link between Riyadh and Ankara as relations improve.

On Friday, US Central Command spokesman Pat Ryder welcomed Saudi Arabia’s willingness to send soldiers against IS. The United States has been calling on coalition members to do more.

In November, the United Arab Emirates said it was also ready to commit ground troops against jihadists in Syria.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem warned on Saturday that foreign ground troops entering Syria would “return home in wooden coffins”.

Al-Moallem said conventional wisdom and logic would suggest the idea of Saudi troops in Syria is far-fetched, but that “with the crazy Saudi leadership nothing is far-fetched”.

“Any ground intervention in Syria, without the consent of the Syrian government, will be considered an aggression that should be resisted by every Syrian citizen,” he told a news conference in Damascus. “Let no one think they can attack Syria or violate its sovereignty because I assure you any aggressor will return to their country in a wooden coffin, whether they be Saudis or Turks.”

Jane Kinninmont, senior research fellow at London’s Chatham House, said Saudi Arabia is more interested in the war in Yemen than the struggle against IS.

“But what you might see is small numbers of ground troops and perhaps also special forces which would be there partly to make a symbolic point that Saudi Arabia is supporting the fight against ISIS,” she said, using another acronym for the Sunni extremists.

She declared herself “a bit sceptical” about potential Turkish army involvement in Syria, “but we might see them having some kind of interest in containing Kurdish influence”.

scmp.com

The United States Department of Defence has revealed that hundreds of more American troops are serving in Iraq than previously acknowledged.

The Pentagon had stated that there were 3,550 U.S. forces on the ground in Iraq to train and equip Kurdish Peshmerga and Iraqi security forces in the fight against the Islamic State (IS); but the number has been increased to 3,870 troops.

Baghdad-based U.S. military spokesman Steve Warren said on Wednesday that it was “fair to say” that there are hundreds of more troops than even that figure, arguing that it is a part of the natural rotation of incoming and outgoing forces.

However, the US military officials insist that the deployed troops are training Iraqi and Kurdish forces, and they will not be involved in any combat role.

US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter previously underlined the need for extra coalition troops to fight IS more affectively.

Additionally, the Pentagon in recent months said it was sending about 50 special operation forces to work with anti-IS fighters in Syrian Kurdistan, and dozens more elite commandos from a “specialized expeditionary targeting force” are in Iraq working alongside local Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces battling the IS group.

basnews.com

After recent military gains by Assad forces, Gulf kingdom ready to put boots on the ground in Syria’s escalating war.

Saudi Arabia is prepared to deploy ground troops to Syria to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) if US-led coalition leaders agree to the offer.

Saudi’s air force has targeted ISIL with air strikes since the campaign began in Syria in September 2014, but the Gulf kingdom is now ready to provide ground forces to defeat the armed group, a military spokesman said on Thursday.

“Today, the Saudi kingdom announced its readiness to participate with ground troops with the US-led coalition against ISIL, because we now have the experience in Yemen,” Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri told Al Jazeera.

“We know that air strikes cannot be enough and that a ground operation is needed. We need to combine both to achieve better results on the ground.”

Asseri didn’t elaborate on how many soldiers the kingdom could send.

The Saudi offer is expected to be discussed when the United States convenes a meeting of defence ministers from coalition countries fighting ISIL in Brussels next week.

Lawrence Korb, a former US assistant secretary of defence, said while Middle East countries have armed and supplied rebels during the five-year Syrian civil war, putting boots on the ground would mark major shift.

He noted it may also signal to Russia – whose air power has greatly aided President Bashar al-Assad’s recent major military gains – a need to return to Geneva peace negotiations that were postponed this week.

“The fact that you will have Saudi troops on the ground fighting with the rebels against the government is a very significant escalation, and hopefully will get the Russians to these peace talks, rather than thinking they can create a mini-Alawite state in Syria,” Korb told Al Jazeera.

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter welcomed the Saudi offer to participate in ground operations in Syria.

Carter said increased activity by other countries would make it easier for the United States to accelerate its fight against ISIL.

“That kind of news is very welcome,” he told reporters on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia is deeply involved in neighbouring Yemen’s civil war, where it is fighting Iranian-backed Houthi rebels both on the ground and from the air.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries have long viewed Iran as a regional menace, and Riyadh and Tehran back opposite sides in the wars in Syria and Yemen.

aljazeera.com

breitbart.com