ISIS growing stronger and more organised in Middle East

[Anthea]

ISIS may well regroup in
camps as teens come of age

A senior Kurdish official in Western Kurdistan warned on Saturday of Islamic State (ISIS) ability to regroup in camps and prisons in the region, where children of the extremist group's members are becoming adults

“Their [ISIS members'] children are growing up in camps," Elham Ahmed, President of the Executive Committee of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) told SDC-affiliated Ronahi TV on Saturday.

"Those children were aged 14 [when they were captured], but they have turned 18 or 19 now. They have become a generation that can help Daesh get stronger and regroup, creating a great threat again,” Ahmed said.

ISIS took control of swathes of Syrian land in summer 2014. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – the SDC’s military arm – and the Global Coalition against Daesh (ISIS) declared the territorial defeat of the group in March 2019.

Thousands of people affiliated with ISIS have been captured by the Kurdish-led SDF. The women and children are kept in the al-Hol and Roj camps in Hasaka, while the men are jailed in prisons.

Approximately 68,000 people – Syrians, Iraqis, and foreigners – are held in al-Hol camp. Most are the wives and children of ISIS fighters. Some 43,000 of them are children

Around 10,000 suspected ISIS fighters are held in prisons in Rojava, guarded by the SDF with the assistance of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition.

Both Western Kurdistan and US officials have repeatedly called on countries to repatriate their nationals from camps and prisons, but few governments have heeded the call.

A report published earlier this week by a UK-based rights organization described al-Hol camp as "Europe's Guantanamo", and called on European countries to repatriate their nationals.

"Almost half the children (of all nationalities) living in the camps are under the age of 5 and the majority are younger than 12. More than 500 children are orphaned or otherwise unaccompanied," the report from Rights and Security International states.

"The claim that it is safer to leave women and children in the camps flies in the face of security experts who say that the real security risk comes from leaving these women and children in the detention camps where they are vulnerable to radicalisation," said Yasmine Ahmed, RSI's executive director.

Ahmed told Ronahi TV that Western Kurdistan's administration has been "left alone" to deal with the "heavy burden" of ISIS-linked detainees.

“Some Asian countries come and take their people. Some say that they will take back their fighters as well, but this is not enough. There are a great number [of ISIS fighters] in prisons,” she added.

A main reason for Western countries refuse to repatriate their nationals is the "fear" that some ISIS-linked suspects could be acquitted due to their laws and lack of proof in their home countries, to be released into wider society.

The international community is also failing to fund the trial process for domestic and foreign ISIS fighters in Western Kurdistan, Ahmed said - a position she branded a “crime.”

Western Kurdistan's administration said last month that it would begin removing Syrian citizens who wanted to leave al-Hol from the camp, and over 500 Syrians were removed from al-Hol in mid-November as part of the process.

However, Ahmed told a symposium on October 5 that “those who remain in the camp will not be the responsibility of the self-administration.”

ISIS is currently most active on the Syrian border with Iraq, especially in Deir ez-Zor province. Joint operations between the SDF and the Coalition are taking place frequently in a bid to quell ISIS activity.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/28112020

[Anthea]

Important things to remember:

ISIS is a fundamental Islamic group:

fundamental means forming the base, from which everything else develops)

fundamentalism means the belief in old and traditional forms of religion, or the belief that what is written in a holy book, such as the Christian Bible or the Quran, is completely true

The Islamic State believe they are following the true meaning of the Quran

Religious fantasisim is a dangerous thing, whatever the religion is

ISIS children will be aware (some from their mothers) that their fathers were killed fighting for their religious beliefs

Also, their mother are just as fanatical as their fathers were

Never forget that ISIS had a lot of support from the Sunni population in Syria, Iraq and TURKEY

[Anthea]

$5 million reward for ISIS info

The United States Department of State announced a five-million-dollar reward on Thursday for information on Islamic State (ISIS) oil and antiquities trafficking

“Terrorist groups such as ISIS rely on financing and support networks to sustain operations and launch attacks,” read a statement from Department of State’s Rewards for Justice Program.

“Ancient and historical coins, jewelry and carved gems, plaques, sculptures, containers, and cuneiform tablets are among the types of Syrian and Iraqi cultural objects that ISIL is seeking,” it added.

Rewards up to $5 Million for information disrupting #ISIS trafficking in oil and antiquities. Help us to stop the flow of terrorists funds to ISIS. If you have info., you could be eligible for a reward. Text RewardforJustice at +1-202-702-7843 via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram. pic.twitter.com/Oy337M9shW
— U.S. Consulate General Erbil (@USConGenErbil) December 3, 2020

ISIS first swept into Iraq in 2014, capturing swathes of the country including Iraq’s second largest city of Mosul.

Despite being territorially defeated in 2017, the terror group has resorted to extorting money from vulnerable rural populations, among other insurgency tactics.

Two ISIS captives were released on Monday for $40,000 after six months of captivity.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/world/03122020

[Anthea]

Hungary jails Syrian ISIS commander

A Hungarian court sentenced a Syrian man to life imprisonment on Thursday for terrorism and crimes against humanity including the beheading of an imam in Syria in 2015

The man was a commander of the Islamic State (ISIS) group, and must spend at least 30 years behind bars, according to a statement from the Metropolitan Court of Budapest sent to AFP.

"His task was to make a 'death list' of 'enemies of Islam'," the court statement said.

"He was personally involved in the execution of several people, including the beheading of a tribal leader."

The man has been identified in local media as 28-year-old F. Hassan.

His lawyers said they would appeal the verdict, as did prosecutors, who had sought a life term without parole.

According to prosecutors, the defendant commanded a small ISIS unit in Homs province in 2015 tasked with terrorising and executing civilians and religious leaders who refused to side with the group.

Prosecutors said he personally took part in the beheading of an imam in the town of al-Sukhnah, and in the murder of another civilian in the area in May 2015.

His unit also killed at least 25 people in the town including women and children, prosecutors say.

Authorities in Malta, Greece and Belgium as well as in Hungary took part in the investigation, which was coordinated by the European judicial cooperation agency Eurojust.

Some 10 witnesses in Belgium and Malta, as well as in Hungary, gave testimony.

The man, who had been given refugee status in Greece, was held at Budapest airport in December 2018, after he presented forged travel documents for himself and a female travel partner.

His defence lawyer had argued that prosecutors' evidence – including wire-tapped telephone calls, video footage of the murders and the man's own statements – failed to support the accusations.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/world/04122020

[Anthea]

Counter-terror forces kill
42 ISIS militants near Mosul

Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service (ICTS) killed 42 Islamic State (ISIS) fighters in an operation south of Mosul on Saturday and Sunday, the ICTS has announced

Operation Sweeping Torrent, which began in the Ain-al Jahesh area “raided the so-called Tigris sector where ISIS gangs are operating,” the statement read,” forcing the enemy elements to retreat and return to the tunnels and caves in which they were fortified,” according to a statement published to Twitter on Sunday evening.

Among the 42 militants killed were media and administration officials for the terror group.

Forces retrieved weaponry and a “huge amount of cash” in different currencies, the statement added.

The operation was conducted by both the Iraqi and coalition air forces, according to ICTS.

Multiple joint operations have been launched against the terror group this year, in both Iraq and Syria.

ISIS took over swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014, including Iraq’s second-biggest city of Mosul, before being territorially defeated in Iraq in December 2017, and in Syria in March 2019.

Despite its territorial defeat, remnants of the group have returned to earlier insurgency tactics, ambushing security forces, kidnapping and executing suspected informants, and extorting money from vulnerable rural populations.

ISIS claimed responsibility for bombings at Kirkuk’s Khabbaz oilfield on December 9.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/131220204

[Anthea]

Iraq nabs Daesh/ISIS leader in Kirkuk

Iraqi security forces arrested a senior commander of the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group in the northern Kirkuk province on Sunday, according to the country’s interior ministry

A ministry statement said the militant was rounded up in a raid on his home in Shwan district in Kirkuk.

The ministry said the militant was responsible for the group’s military activities in Kirkuk and Nineveh provinces in northern Iraq.

In June 2014, the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group captured Mosul, Salahuddin and Anbar provinces and parts of Diyala and Kirkuk provinces, which have been recaptured from the organization over the years.

On Dec. 9, 2017, former Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced victory over Daesh/ISIS. ​​​​​​​Although it has been three years since Iraq was purged from Daesh/ISIS, attacks by the terrorist group continue in rural areas of these provinces.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/ir ... uk/2090230

[Anthea]

ISIS deadly bus attack

The Islamic State group (ISIS) on Thursday claimed responsibility for an attack the day before on a bus in eastern Syria that left tens dead

ISIS and a war monitor said the casualties were regime soldiers, but Damascus said they were civilians.

In a message posted on its propaganda channel on the Telegram messaging app, ISIS said they “ambushed” a bus carrying Syrian regime soldiers. The group claimed they planted an explosive on the road and fired on the soldiers after the bus hit the bomb.

It claimed that 40 soldiers were killed and six others injured as a result of the attack.

Syrian state-owned SANA news agency had reported that the “terrorist” attack targeted a civilian bus on Deir ez-Zor - Palmyra road, killing 25 and injuring 13 others.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that the attack was an ISIS “ambush” on three buses filled with regime soldiers, killing 30 soldiers and injuring 15 others. Two buses managed to depart the scene, it said.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Observatory, told AFP that it was "one of the deadliest attacks" in Syria since the territorial defeat of the group by Kurdish-led forces in March 2019.

Deir ez-Zor has been the focal of recent ISIS activities in Syria, where it carries out attacks against regime and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in control of the province.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/31122020

[Anthea]

Coalition conducted more airstrikes

The US-led Global Coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) group conducted a total of 14 airstrikes across Syria and Iraq in November, according to a new report from the forces

Within Iraq, the military task force killed 35 and destroyed one weapons cache during the month’s 22 reported engagements with ISIS militants. In Syria, the Coalition logged 12 encounters.

The Coalition was formally established in September 2014 after ISIS took control of large swathes of territories in Iraq and Syria. Since the group’s territorial defeat, the forces have shrunk their presence and handed over a number of military bases to the control of Iraqi security forces.

The international Coalition [US, UK, France and Belgium remaining] has declared 14 new strikes against ISIS during November 2020 - taking the overall tally since 2014 to 34,715 air and artillery strikes against so-called Islamic State. pic.twitter.com/vvyIhHSVqH
— Airwars (@airwars) January 6, 2021

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi confirmed on Tuesday that “more than half” of American forces in Iraq will have withdrawn within the “coming days”, during a televised speech for the occasion of the Iraqi Army’s 100th anniversary. He noted that only “hundreds” will remain for training, technical support and armament.

Coalition officials confirm that ISIS group no longer has the ability to sustain and occupy any territory in Iraq and Syria, however, the danger of armed groups is still imminent.

"Five years ago when I was here as a coalition spokesman, 40 thousand Daesh [ISIS] fighters controlled an area of approximately 110 thousand square kilometers. They had victories in Raqqa, Mosul, Fallujah and Ramadi," Spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) Wayne Marotto told Rudaw's Rozhan Abubakir in November, using the militant group's Arabic acronym. "By 2019 their territorial ambitions were crushed.”

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/060120212

[Anthea]

France warns of resurgence
of ISIS in Syria and Iraq

The planned US troop withdrawal from Iraq could have nasty consequences, according to France. "The ISIS is still present. We can even speak of a resurgence in Syria and Iraq," warns Defense Minister Florence Parly

French Defense Minister Florence Parly has warned of a resurgence of the ISIS terrorist militia. "France believes that Daesh (Arabic acronym for ISIS) still exists. We can even speak of a kind of resurgence in Syria and Iraq," Parly said Sunday on the program "Questions politiques," co-hosted by radio station France Inter, newspaper Le Monde and France Télévisions.

Parly's remarks come at a time when the number of US troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan is being lowered by order of outgoing US President Donald Trump. By mid-January, US troop levels in Afghanistan will be reduced from about 4,500 troops to 2,500. The number of soldiers in Iraq is to be lowered by about 500 to 2,500 as well.

Nearly all troops from the other member states of the international anti-ISIS coalition had scaled down their activities in Iraq at the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, withdrawing their soldiers to protect them from the risk of contracting the virus. "Since the fall of Baghouz in the Middle Euphrates Valley, where the last ISIS stronghold was located, we can see Daesh regaining strength in Syria," Parly said. The defense minister pointed to the heavy ISIS attack on Assad regime troops on Dec. 30. The attack in Deir ez-Zor had killed 39 Syrian soldiers.

The organization, which has also claimed numerous attacks in Europe in recent years, is also rebuilding its structures in Iraq, Parly said. "So Daesh has not yet been eradicated in the Levant. That's why we as France continue to participate in the activities of the international coalition and train our allies," Parly said.

[Anthea]

Is the Islamic State coming back?

After the many attacks in Syria and Iraq in the last few days, the question for many is whether these attacks announce a comeback of the Islamic State or whether there are other factors that prompted this increase

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) ended the territorial rule of the so called ‘caliphate’ with the liberation of Baghouz in March 2019. Even if thousands of ISIS jihadists have been arrested, underground, clandestine structures have formed in Iraq and Syria. In provinces such as Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa and Hama in Syria and Kirkuk, Baghdad and Anbar in Iraq, these networks have been carrying out attacks from time to time. The frequency and quality of these attacks has increased significantly in the last few days.

Dozens of attacks since early December

Since December 2020, the Islamic State has carried out eight attacks in Deir ez-Zor, eight in Raqqa, ten in Hama, five in Homs and two in the Aleppo area. Shortly before the end of the year, ISIS bloodiest attack took place, leaving at least 28 Damascus soldiers dead on the road between Deir ez-Zor and Palmyra. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) speaks of dozens of Syrian government soldiers and militia killed in ISIS attacks in the desert near Hama.

Damascus is not doing anything serious against ISIS

The presence of the Islamic State in the desert to the west of Deir ez-Zor, i.e. in the area under the control of the Assad regime, has never been a secret. However, as it is, the Damascus regime and its supporters have never waged a serious fight against the Islamic State presence there. According to observers, this was because of the plan to put pressure on US-backed groups in the Tanef region on the Jordanian border. It must also be noted that this region is on the route from Bukemal, the main route of Iranian militias to Iraq, something which led to a wide range of speculations.

Turkey's Role in Reviving ISIS

The biggest factor that led to the resurgence of ISIS, however, was the invasion carried out by the Turkish state in northern Syria. Following this invasion, many ISIS members withdrew to the areas under Turkish rule. Many of them escaped from internment camps and prisons in northern Syria with the help of Turkey. The presence and reorganization of the Islamic State in the areas under Turkish control is an open secret.

SDF operations continued

The SDF carried out targeted operations against the Islamic State networks and were able to discover and neutralise several jihadist cells, especially in the Deir ez-Zor region. In 2020, two large-scale SDF operations and 25 targeted operations against these cells took place in Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa provinces. Hundreds of alleged Islamic State members were arrested and large quantities of weapons were confiscated.

The areas under ISIS control

Siyamend Elî, press officer at the YPG, said in an interview that ISIS was tolerated by various forces involved in Syria, precisely in the places where the attacks are taking place, and added: “After the neutralisation of ISIS in Baghouz, it continued to exist mainly in al-Bukamal, Deir ez-Zor, Palmyra and Hama. In fact, some forces have allowed ISIS to continue to exist there in order to be able to use it as a tool in the future."

ISIS used this phase as a time for training and reorganising and also to change its strategy, said the YPG representative adding: "ISIS is now carrying out many more surprise attacks and has increased its forces."

Russia focused on Northern Syria

Elî recalled that Russia and Iran came to Syria allegedly "to protect Syrian territory", but that both forces are not concerned with rural areas, but rather focused on "cities that are strategically important for them.”

Elî said: "Russia's concentration on Til Temir and Ain Issa, and on Northern Syria in general, gave ISIS the opportunity to carry out these attacks." He underlined that ISIS is not a priority for Russia. Israel's attacks on Iranian armed forces have led to an increased of attacks by ISIS in these regions, said the press spokesman for the YPG, noting that the regime would not be able to wage war without Iran and Russia.

"Coordination with the SDF necessary"

Elî said: “Russia and the regime should coordinate with the SDF in the fight against ISIS and the small groups that appear under different names. If this does not happen, the situation east of the Euphrates will become very serious. That is why ISIS has been able to act by surprise against Russia and the regime."

The attacks put a strain on the regional balance of power

Journalist Nazım Daştan is also following developments in the region closely and does not see the increase in ISIS attacks as a coincidental development. To speak about a revival of ISIS is “still a little too early” but, said Dastan: “ISIS is coming to the surface again. Even if I don't think this will happen on a large scale, it can put a strain on the balance of power in the region. The attacks may increase further in the coming days."

"The international powers neutralize each other"

Daştan pointed out that the United States and Russia continued to try to define their territories and thus determine the borders in Syria. This results in a space from which ISIS can carry out its attacks. Daştan said: "We can see this as a process in which the international powers and regional powers measure each other anew for the year 2021."

As for the position of ISIS, Daştan added: “It will be difficult to revive such a discredited force on an earlier scale. However, ISIS can use this process, in which international forces are actually busy weakening each other, as an opportunity for its reorganization and strengthening."

[Anthea]

Suicide attack kills 35, injures 110 in Baghdad

Frantically dashing between hospital beds, Baghdad residents tried to track down relatives who may have died Thursday in a twin suicide blast -- many people remain unaccounted for

Grieving mothers, hysterical brothers and wailing children packed the halls at the Sheikh Zayed hospital, less than three kilometres (two miles) away from Tayaran Square.

There, in the morning, two suicide attackers detonated their explosives in an open-air flea market where huge crowds, including day labourers, usually gather.

Clusters of young men had done just that on Thursday, desperate for a day's wages as Iraq struggles through its most dire fiscal downturn in years.

"My brother is married and has two children. He went out this morning to earn a living for his little ones and now he's nowhere to be found," Abbas Samy, 25, told AFP.

Samy rushed to Sheikh Zayed hospital after the blast in an attempt to locate his brother -- to no avail.

"How will his kids live?" he cried out.

Iraq's Health Minister Hassan al-Tamimi said at least 32 people had lost their lives in the attack and 110 were wounded, most of them treated and sent home by the country's worn-down medical facilities.

He spoke at Al-Kindi hospital, where nurses in blue navigated a wounded man on a stretcher between families running in the hallways.

Tamimi leaned down to speak to a man struggling to breathe through a ventilator.

The minister did not say how many people were still missing.

- A brief respite -

Mazen al-Saadi, 34, said he was lucky to be alive.

He was shopping in Tayaran Square with a good friend when the blasts ripped through the market around them.

"He was just a few metres (yards) in front of me. After the blast, he just vanished and I wasn't able to find him -- until now," Saadi told AFP.

After a few hours of searching, he had just located his friend's body at the Sheikh Zayed morgue.

With a sense of bitter resignation, Saadi said he had anticipated a return to violence in his native Baghdad.

"We were always thinking about the explosions coming back -- we thought they could return at any moment, especially as the elections were getting closer," he said.

Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi had planned to host early parliamentary elections in June, but authorities are discussing a delay to October to allow voters and parties more time to register.

Elections in Iraq have often been preceded by months of instability, including the last legislative vote in 2018.

In January of that year, a suicide attack in Tayaran Square left more than 30 people dead. In the preceding years, a normal day in Baghdad could see 15 car bombs blow up across different neighbourhoods.

But since then, Baghdad's residents have largely grown accustomed to quiet, with attacks becoming rare and concrete blast walls across the city being dismantled.

"Now, we're afraid it'll go back to the way it was before," said Saadi.

- 'Iraqis are cannon fodder' -

Abu Zeinab, 40, said his brother died in hospital.

"Where are the intelligence services? How did the attackers infiltrate the heart of Baghdad?" screamed 40-year-old Abu Zaynab, whose brother died in the blast.

"Iraqis are just cannon fodder for corruption and political infighting."

An intelligence source who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity admitted there was a shortcoming.

"We had been on high alert for the end of the year, waiting for an attack then. But when nothing happened, we let our guard down," he said.

That provided little relief for victims of the attack or their families.

At Sheikh Zayed, families could be heard lamenting that they had searched a half-dozen hospitals in the city for their loved ones in vain.

"They won't pick up their phones and we have no idea what happened to them," one man cried out.

Abbas Samy, still searching for his brother, grew desperate.

"Poverty and the economic situation were getting worse, and today we're going back to the explosions," he told AFP.

"Life has become impossible in this country."

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/210120213

[Anthea]

Counter-terror forces raid ISIS networks

Iraq’s counter-terror forces detained a number of alleged Islamic State (ISIS) militants in multiple operations against the group on Friday, a day after twin suicide blasts in Baghdad, claimed by ISIS, killed dozens of people

At dawn on Friday, the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) launched an operation dubbed “Revenge of the Martyrs” in three provinces: Baghdad, Anbar, and Kirkuk and “neutralized a number of terrorists,” tweeted Yehia Rasool, spokesperson for Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.

“Those arrested are linked to Daesh [ISIS] gang networks and have good information about the leaders of these terrorist networks,” he stated.

In an open-air market in Baghdad on Thursday, two suicide bombers detonated explosive belts, killing at least 32 people and injuring more than 100.

The attack, after several years of calm in Baghdad, has exposed flaws in Iraq’s security forces, strained under the coronavirus pandemic, tensions between allies Iran and the United States, and political turmoil.

Hours after the suicide bombings, Kadhimi had an emergency meeting with his security team and ordered a reshuffling, moving five senior commanders out of their posts.

But the people of Baghdad are afraid of a return to near-daily suicide attacks and bombings.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/220120212

[Anthea]

11 Iraqi militiamen killed by ISIS

At least 11 fighters from Iraq's state-sponsored Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic) were killed in an ambush by the Islamic State (ISIS) group north of the capital on Saturday

ISIS militants attacked PMF forces east of Tikrit after dark, using light weaponry, according to AFP. Iraq’s Security Media Cell also confirmed the attack on its Telegram channel.

Heavy fighting took place between the PMF and ISIS in the al-Eith area of Saladin province, according to PMF channels on Telegram. A PMF commander in the province, Abu Alia al-Hasnawi, a leader in the Badr Organization, was among those killed in the clashes.

The PMF was created in 2014 when Sistani issued a fatwa (a religious call to action) urging young Iraqis to take up arms against ISIS. The loose coalition of militia groups was formally recognized as an Iraqi armed force by the parliament in 2016, enjoying similar privileges as the Iraqi Army.

Since the territorial defeat of ISIS in Iraq in late 2017, the role of the PMF has increasingly been called into question, with demands to withdraw units garrisoned in northern areas and to fully integrate them into the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF).

Others have fought to maintain the PMF’s autonomy in order to allow it to continue carrying out the military objectives of its backer, Iran.

PMF units close to Iran are widely accused of abducting and killing protesters during Iraq's recent wave of anti-government unrest. They are also believed responsible for a spate of deadly rocket attacks targeting US and coalition personnel stationed at bases across Iraq, most recently on Friday night.

Sistani-affiliated units, meanwhile, are not known to have fired on protesters, have a generally better human rights record in areas they occupy, and are not implicated in the targeting of foreign troops and infrastructure.

The United States Department of Treasury has sanctioned senior PMF leader Falih al-Fayyadh "for his connection to serious human rights abuse," the Treasury said in a statement on January 8th.

This was followed by sanctions on Abu Fadak al-Mohammedawi, chief of staff of the Iran-backed PMF, who was added on January 13 to the US’ Specially Designated Nationals And Blocked Persons List of "individuals and companies owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, targeted countries."

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/230120216

[Anthea]

Kurdish honey trader among victims

Ghazi Hazim was one of the victims of Thursday's twin suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State (ISIS) group in the Iraqi capital

A resident of Duhok, the Kurdish trader would travel to Baghdad to sell food products, most notably honey.

He was on one of his trips away from his family, when he and 31 other people were killed in blasts in central Baghdad's Tayaran Square. At least 110 others were injured in the blasts, according to Iraq's health ministry.

"He regularly travelled to Baghdad for work [selling Kurdish honey]. He would visit Baghdad to make his family's ends meet, to make a living, said Gulizar Hazim, Ghazi's sister. "He used to sell them and then come back home. He used to stay there for a few days or weeks. This time he went and never came back."

Two suicide bombers belonging to ISIS detonated explosive belts in the crowded square, the group confirmed via its propaganda telegram channels late on Thursday. It said the second bomber struck as people gathered after the first explosion VERY DANGEROUS PEOPLE

The first attacker claimed to feel sick, attracting a crowd of helpers before detonating his explosive device, according to the interior ministry.

ISIS claimed on Thursday in its weekly propaganda newspaper al-Naba that it had killed and injured at least 40 people in 30 operations in Iraq from January 15 to January 21.

In an emergency meeting shortly after the bombing, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi dismissed and reshuffled several security and intelligence officials responsible for security in the area where the attack took place, not far from the capital’s Green Zone.

Five senior officials were dismissed or moved from their positions, according to details later tweeted by military spokesperson Yehia Rasool.

Iraqi President Barham Salih condemned Thursday’s double suicide bombing as a “rogue attempt” to destabilize the country, which is in the midst of economic and political turmoil.

After seizing swathes of the country in the summer of 2014, ISIS was announced territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017, but continues to launch attacks against both civilians and members of the security forces, particularly in Iraq's northern provinces and territory disputed between Baghdad and Erbil.

According to its propaganda agency Amaq, the terror group carried out 1,422 attacks in Iraq in 2020, with the highest number of attacks recorded in Diyala province.

A total of 2,748 people were killed as a result, the agency said earlier this month.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/230120214

[Anthea]

Iraq ratifies over 340 death sentences

Iraq’s president ratified more than 340 death sentences for people with terrorism and other criminal charges, state media reported on Sunday, just three days after Islamic State (ISIS) group suicide bombers killed dozens of civilians in Baghdad

An unnamed source in President Barham Salih’s office told state media outlet Iraqi News Agency (INA) that the approvals took place after "the cases were scrutinized from all their constitutional and legal aspects," indicating that they have received the final approval needed to carry out the executions.

According to Article Four of the Iraq’s 2005 Counter-Terrorism Law, anyone found guilty of committing a terror offence is given the death sentence, with life imprisonment given to those who assist or hide those convicted of terrorism.

Rudaw English contacted Iraq’s Minister of Justice Salar Abdul Satar for further details on the cases, but was unable to reach him or his media spokesperson.

The death sentence approvals follow the deaths of 32 people in twin suicide bombings claimed by ISIS in central Baghdad’s Tayaran Square on Thursday. At least 110 others were injured in the blasts, according to Iraq's health ministry.

Human Rights Watch described the mass execution order as politically motivated, rather than a move made out of concern for justice.

"This announcement unfortunately speaks to a concern we have had for many years in Iraq that the death penalty is used as a political tool more than anything else," Belkis Wille, the watchdog's senior crisis and conflict researcher, told Rudaw English on Sunday.

"Leaders resort to announcements of mass executions, simply to signal to the public they are taking terrorism seriously, without any regards for the fact that the trials are so fundamentally flawed and often so relied on confessions extracted by torture," said Wille.

"There is no certainty within the Iraqi system that people that are getting the death penalty are guilty for the crime that they are said to have committed," she added.

Ali al-Bayati, a member of the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights, also said he could not be sure that trials were being conducted fairly.

"The commission has not been able to ensure the transparency of these court rulings as the commission is not allowed to do its job," said the commissioner. "Most of the times we get prevented from visiting and speaking to prisoners, or overseeing their trials; therefore, It is difficult to determine the fairness of these trials and ratifications."

Bayati, however, defended Barham Saleh's ratification of the death sentences.

"The death sentence is part of Iraqi law, which must be implemented and respected," he noted.

International concern has been expressed about the trial and detention conditions of ISIS suspects in Iraq, including the use of the death penalty sentencing for both Iraqi and foreign nationals convicted of ISIS involvement, the use of violence and torture in prisons, and the overcrowding of Iraqi facilities holding ISIS suspects and their kin.

Iraqi authorities executed 42 prisoners on death row for terror offenses at Nasiriyah's Central Prison in October and November, in what seems to be "part of a larger plan to execute all prisoners on death row," the United Nations Human Rights Council reported in November.

"Iraqi courts have sentenced and tried scores of individuals for suspected affiliation with ISIS in unfair trials, often resulting in the death penalty, and in many cases sentences were based on so-called "confessions" extracted under torture," said Amnesty International.

Rudaw English reached out to Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International on Sunday for comment on the latest death sentence ratifications.

At least 41,049 people are imprisoned in Iraq, including 22,380 convicted on terror-related charges, according to a document obtained by Rudaw on January 17th from the Ministry of Justice’s Iraqi Reform Department.

Iraq's counter-terror forces detained a number of alleged ISIS militants in multiple operations against the group in the provinces of Baghdad, Anbar, and Kirkuk on Friday.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/24012021