ISIL members decry nepotistic suicide bomber wait list, demand equal opportunity to blow themselves up http://news.nationalpost.com/news/w...emand-equal-opportunity-to-blow-themselves-up Spoiler Saudi militants in ISIL are using nepotism to ensure friends and family members get bumped to the top of suicide bombing wait lists, according to a frustrated Chechen militant. In a recent post on a website believed to be linked to a Chechen ISIL battalion, Kamil Abu Sultan ad-Daghestani complained that Chechens are being robbed of their hard-earned chance to blow themselves up because of the Saudis. Those Saudis have got things sewn up. They won’t let anyone in. They are letting their relatives go to the front of the line Abu Sultan noted that connections are the only way to skip the line to become a suicide bomber. This non-merit based process, according to Abu Sultan, has resulted in ISIL fighters issuing complaints to their leaders. Abu Sultan wrote that one of these fighters told his leader, “Those Saudis have got things sewn up. They won’t let anyone in. They are letting their relatives go to the front of the line using blat (connections).” A recent ISIL guidebook explicitly mentioned the high supply of suicide bombers, telling potential “martyrs” to be patient after their training period, as they’d have to deal with a waiting list. Abu Sultan said the lengthy waiting list, which can reach up to several months, leads to some ISIL fighters dying before getting the chance to kill themselves. Some of these militants have become so desperate to get to the top of the list that they’ve travelled to different areas of the battlefield in hopes of speeding up the process, according to Abu Sultan, who was told one of these stories by the head leader of Chechen ISIL militants, Abu Omar al-Shishani. “Amir (leader) al-Shishani told me about a young lad who went to Iraq for a suicide mission, and he went there because in Sham (Syria) there is a very long queue (of several thousand people).” Related ISIL takes credit for suicide bomb that killed dozens in Afghanistan, expanding group’s reach ISIL claims responsibility for Yemen suicide bombings that killed at least 137 people and injured more than 345 ISIL captures major military air base in Syria using child suicide bomber A British ISIL member first revealed suicide bombing waiting lists during a July 2014 BBC “Panorama” episode. The fighter, Kabir Ahmed, was in Syria during the time of the interview, and told the BBC that he was trying to “get his name pushed up the list.” Ahmed’s efforts were successful after a move to Iraq, where he killed himself and a senior police official during a suicide-bombing mission in November. A death by suicide bombing is in high demand for tactical reasons, not theological ones, according to Thomas Pierret of the University of Edinburgh. Pierret says that while death on the battlefield or by suicide bombing are both perceived to be martyrdom operations by ISIL fighters, suicide bombings are preferred due to the amount of damage they can inflict. “In my view, the tactical advantage of suicide VBIEDs [vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices] largely outweighs their symbolic or propaganda value, hence (ISIL)’s heavy reliance on them,” Pierret said in an interview with Radio Free Europe. VBIED’s played a role in ISIL’s recent takeover of Ramadi.
Beirut (AFP) - Kurdish forces have driven the Islamic State group from more than a dozen Assyrian Christian villages that the jihadists had captured in northeastern Syria, a monitor said Wednesday. "Following a 10-day offensive, Kurdish fighters took control early this week of 14 Assyrian villages that IS had controlled since February," said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Observatory also reported that Kurdish militia took control of the strategic village of Al-Mabrukah, southwest of the flashpoint town of Ras al-Ain on the Syrian-Turkish border. According to Abdel Rahman, the Kurdish advance could also open the road towards Tal Abyad, a border town used by IS as a gateway from Turkey. Over the course of 20 days, the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) seized control of 4,000 square kilometres of territory from IS in Hasakeh province, Abdel Rahman said.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/05/26...ommanders-so-much-better-than-the-iraqi-army/ Shiite militias and Iraqi government forces have started to move into place around the Islamic State-held city of Ramadi in preparation for a highly-publicized but hastily-planned push to wrest the city from the fighters who chased the Iraqi army out earlier this month. U.S. military officials believe that the militants had been carefully planning the city’s conquest for weeks, slipping fighters into the city to isolate several government buildings, then surrounding and isolating the Iraqi forces trapped in those pockets. They also battered Iraqi positions with dozens of captured Iraqi armored vehicles and bulldozers packed with explosives — 10 of which have been reported to be as large as the 1995 Oklahoma City blast. With scores dead and wounded, the exhausted and demoralized Iraqi forces were ordered to pull back to defensive positions outside of the city. U.S. officials said that dozens of armored vehicles, along with tanks and artillery pieces, were abandoned by government forces. Furious American policymakers blasted the Iraqis for effectively abandoning the city. The Iraqi army “was not driven out of Ramadi,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey told reporters at a NATO summit in Brussels last week. “They drove out of Ramadi.” Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, meanwhile, used an interview Sunday to publicly accuse the Iraqis of lacking the “will to fight,” The White House quickly tried to walk the comments back, but there is little doubt Carter was speaking for many inside the Pentagon. The Defense chief’s comments hinted at the biggest question hanging over both the Ramadi fight and the broader push against the Islamic State: can Baghdad win the war if its generals seem to be continually out-thought and out-maneuvered by their counterparts from the militant group? As always, however, matters of victory and defeat in war are complicated. When it comes to Ramadi, the loss isn’t one that can simply be placed at the feet of bad leadership. The Iraqi Army and police there had been fighting almost continuously for 18 months with little support — and no relief — from the government in Baghdad, said Michael Knights, a fellow at the Washington Institute who specializes in Iraqi military issues. And for them there has been “no safe place, no real rest and recuperation, no escape from the battle.” Still, there is also no question that the fight against the Islamic State has been hampered by sub-par Iraqi commanders who have continually failed to predict what their enemies were going to do or properly prepare for how to respond. Last June two Iraqi divisions were routed near Mosul after their leaders abandoned their units in the face of a militant advance into the city, and the Iraqi army has been intermittently, and ineffectively, shelling the city of Fallujah for over a year in an attempt to dislodge the Islamic State’s hold over most of that city. Numerous other Iraqi army outposts have been overrun during the past year in what has been a mixture of lack of support, weak leadership, and the failure to supply the positions with weapons and ammunition. One reason for the imbalance is military skill and commitment to the fight: the Iraqi security forces that are taking the field are facing off against battle-hardened officers trained under Saddam Hussein who have spent the past 12 years moving in and out of Anbar Province fighting both American and Shiite-led Iraqi forces. Those former officers, in turn, have been given relative freedom to operate, with Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi delegating command responsibility to his field commanders, said Ahmed Ali, a senior fellow at the Education for Peace in Iraq Center, a Washington based nonprofit that develops programs to help Iraqi youth. Having grown up in the Sunni heartland of Anbar, these leaders understand the terrain very well, “and their level of intelligence collection is straight out of the Baath Party playbook. Very precise, very personal,” Ali said. The ISIS commanders, Ali said, also know the province’s tribes and social structures, helping the group identify which it can be co-opted and which would need to be defeated militarily. The Islamic State’s advantages on the battlefield represent a long-term unintended byproduct of the U.S. decision to disband the Iraqi army in 2003 after Saddam Hussein’s regime melted away. A generation of Sunni military expertise was essentially turned out onto the streets and eventually lost to the insurgency. The situation worsened in recent years when then-Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite government purged even more experienced Sunni commanders from the security forces and promoted less capable Shiite officers and commanders. For years, Maliki’s Shiite-led army and police acted as a sectarian militia, brutally suppressing Sunni leadership and taking orders directly from the prime minister, who appointed loyalists and consolidated all military decision making in his own office. Many Sunnis, furious at their treatment, began coalescing around the tribal militias and Islamist groups that eventually evolved into the Islamic State. Despite the obstacles, some veteran Sunni officers have managed to make their way back into the security forces, but there has been little chance of their ever rising to a position of power or influence, said retired U.S. Army Col. Steve Leonard, who was a senior advisor for military education at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad in 2012. “The greatest depth of experience and knowledge in terms of leadership still exists within the Sunni military ranks,” Leonard told FP. “Closing that gap will take time and a dedicated advisory effort. It’s literally a generational shift, something that can’t be achieved overnight.” And those Sunni officers who have managed to attain positions of relative influence have often been the victims of harassment and distrust. Under Maliki, many Sunni officers were trailed by government agents suspicious of possible ties to the insurgency, and more than once, Leonard said, a Sunni officer said that he was unable to meet with American advisors because he was nervous about how it might appear to his Shiite handlers. The relative lack of a U.S. presence in Baghdad after the December 2011 withdrawal of U.S. troops also created a gap in the training of senior military leaders that has been hard to overcome. Overall, the presence of U.S. military advisors has been small, with fewer than 200 assigned to the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. During his time there, Leonard said that “there was so much that needed to be done in an advisory capacity,” that just was not possible given the skeleton crew of military advisors. Leonard said that he saw a growing core of competent young Iraqi leaders commanding troops in the field, but stressed that at higher levels “much of the leadership suffers from sectarian and ethnic bias that I believe clouds their ability to lead effectively.” That poor leadership was on vivid display in Ramadi, where the top Iraqi commander pulled out of the city after what U.S. officials are now describing as miscommunication between him, his superiors, and U.S. advisors in Iraq. The commander made “what appears to be a unilateral decision to move to what he perceived to be a more defensible position” near Habbaniyah east of Ramadi, Dempsey said at the Brussels press conference. Defense Department spokesman Col. Steve Warren — a consistent voice of criticism over Iraqi military leadership in Ramadi — added on Tuesday that “Iraqi security forces vastly outnumbered their enemy” in the city, “yet they chose to withdraw.” The Iraqi army has recently showed some signs of life however. Within the last several days a land corridor has been punched open near the Baiji oil refinery, which will allow the battered troops inside to be reinforced after months of being surrounded by the Islamic State. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and leading Shiite politicians and militia leaders are also insisting that they will retake Ramadi in a matter of days. If the past is any indication, Abadi’s commanders may not be up to the fight.
You'd be surprised at how trained and practiced the coalition air forces are. The issue with the Jordanian Air force is primarily their equipment. The F-16's they are flying came out of the boneyard in AZ and were donated to them from our AF. They are pretty much ancient pieces of junk, even with the upgrades they have done to them. After seeing them in person, it's amazing they are able to fly as many missions as they do.
17 minute Vice documentary on the Jihadist rebels recent advance in Syria, obviously biased but worth watching Spoiler video of SAA soldiers escaping the hospital at Jisr al-Shughour where around 150-200 had been trapped http://sendvid.com/buka1kbn
And the Kurds keep marching on. http://news.yahoo.com/kurdish-fighters-syria-march-against-militants-193120789.html Officially declared a campaign to try to liberate Tal Abyad which is on the Turkish border directly north of Raqqa.
ian bremmer @ianbremmer 24m24 minutes ago Iraq PM: We lost 2,300 Humvees to ISIS. Please send more. ian bremmer @ianbremmer 21m21 minutes ago Iraqi army not having the will to fight is one thing. But how about the will to actually hold on to your weapons.
SAA having success against ISIS in Deir Ezzor eastern Syria http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/the-syrian-armed-forces-strike-back-at-deir-ezzor/ SAA along with Hezbollah and Iranian militia reportedly building up forces to retake Idlib https://twitter.com/edwardedark/status/605749733022408705 Iran vows to back Syria "until the end of the road" http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/02/us-mideast-crisis-syria-iran-idUSKBN0OI0UF20150602 Iranian Republican Guards Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani visited Latakia over the weekend, vowed to "surprise the world" in Syria https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/565369-irans-soleimani-vows-syria-surprise
US destroyed huge car bomb making factory in Iraq http://news.yahoo.com/raid-destroys-huge-car-bomb-plant-iraq-officials-192053684.html
Happy looking Kurds after the elections in Turkey. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/07/turkey-election-preliminary-results-erdogan-akp-party
Via the Revolutions podcast http://podbay.fm/show/703889772/e/1433723400?autostart=1 Help Scott Help Syria Promoting a fundraising drive spearheaded by Scott Chesworth at the Ancient World podcast to help preseve Syria's massively important cultural treasures. Link to The Ancient World for all the Details. Direct Link to the Syrian Heritage Initiative Direct Link to Scott's findraising page for the International Rescue Committee pics of some ruins behind spoiler Spoiler
AMA with Westerner who fought with the YPG against Daesh for 4.5 months http://www.reddit.com/r/syriancivil...westerner_who_fought_with_ypg_for_4_12months/
Saw where on the Dutch biker gang guys that was fighting with the YPG, and survived, went back to the Netherlands and was promptly killed in a wreck. Beat the odds in Syria and then die in a wreck in Amsterdam. Just wasn't his day.
FSA rebels captured Brigade 52 base in Daraa and the spoils that come with it(at least one T-72 tank, multiple BMPs, other vehicles, and a shitload of ammo). https://twitter.com/south_front_sy/status/608228584235278336
First US volunteer dies while fighting ISIS alongside Kurdish militia during artillery exchange in Syria Named as Keith Broomfield, of Westminster near Boston, Massachusetts 36-year-old volunteered to join YPG militia in February and died June 3 His mother has said: 'I didn't want him to go but I didn't have a choice' He is believed to be third male foreign volunteer to die fighting for YPG against jihadi group ISIS, including Briton Konstantinos Scurfield A volunteer fighter has become the first American to be killed while serving with the Kurdish YPG in Syria. Keith Broomfield, 36, originally from the town of Westminster near Boston, Massachusetts, joined the volunteer fighting group on February 24 and died on June 3 in a battle in the village of Qentere. He died near the border town of Kobani, said Nasser Haji, an official with the YPG. State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke confirmed Bloomfield's death, but declined to provide any details about the circumstances. He said the US was providing consular assistance to his family. Keith Broomfield, 36, who was given the Kurdish nom de guerre Gelhat Rûmet (left), is the first American YPG volunteer to have been killed fighting ISIS Broomfield (left) joined the YPG on February 24 and died on June 3 in a battle in the Syrian village of Qentere, which is near the border town of Kobani Broomfield's mother, Donna, told NBC News she learned from her other son that Keith was dead. She said her son had left to fight around four months ago and while there was 'a little bit of texting' after he first arrived, lately she had heard 'nothing'. She said: 'I didn't want him to go but I didn't have a choice in the matter. 'I'm waiting for his body to come back.' His death was reported by Twitter accounts and Facebook pages linked to Kurdish fighters, who called him a 'martyr' and said he was killed in the Syrian countryside surrounding Kobani. The Save Kobani page included Broomfield's Kurdish nom de guerre Gelhat Rûmet in its post, saying 'First American YPG fighter, Keith Thomas Broomfield (Gelhat Rûmet) from Massachusetts, has been reported as martyred in clashes with ISIS close to the village of Qenter in Kobane region. 'You were a friend of the Kurdish people, a hero of justice and humanity. May you rest in peace, you will forever stay alive in our hearts.' Broomfield is believed to be the third male foreign volunteer to die fighting for the YPG against the jihadi group ISIS. Broomfield's mother Donna said: 'I didn't want him to go but I didn't have a choice in the matter' The People’s Protection Unit (YPG for short) created a foreign brigade called the Lions of Rojava to allow volunteers from around the world to join the Kurdish militia in their fight against ISIS. Australian volunteer Ashley Johnston was killed by ISIS militants in north-eastern Syria in late February. A former rifleman and trained combat medic in the Australian army, Johnston travelled to Iraqi Kurdistan and joined the YPG last year. British fighter Konstantinos Scurfield became the second volunteer to be killed by ISIS militants while fighting with the YPG. Originally from Barnsley, Scurfield joined the group at the start of 2015, adopting the name Sehid Kemal. Fellow fighter and former US soldier Jordan Matson paid tribute to Scurfield, writing: ‘Words cannot describe how honoured I have been to fight at your side Sehid Kemal (Konstandinos Erik Scurfield). Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...a-artillery-exchange-Syria.html#ixzz3cguJznS2 Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Have you seen the new mad max? Reminds me of those dudes dying for their chance to "get called to Valhalla"
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/11/w...-a-new-approach-on-battling-isis-in-iraq.html kinda sounds like vietnam in the desert
Al-Nusra(al-Qaida) slaughter between 20-40 Druze people in Idlib province. Wonder if this will make the next Vice documentary where they highlight massacres by the Assad regime? https://twitter.com/ahmadalissa/status/608738324765769728 https://twitter.com/zaidbenjamin/status/608736409483100161
Hope they give this kid 15 years. What a dumbass http://news.yahoo.com/northern-virginia-teen-admits-guilt-terror-related-charge-135936516.html#
This week's Vice on HBO was on ISIS and it's interaction w Saudi Arabia. Also on the western euros that go fight for them
BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Monday it had encircled the Islamic State-controlled town of Tel Abyad, the nearest border town to the militant's de facto capital of Raqqa city. YPG spokesman Redur Xelil said the militia had surrounded the town along the Turkish border, pushing ahead with an offensive with the help of U.S.-led airstrikes to seize strategic territory held by the jihadists, including their main Tel Abyad-Raqqa supply route. "Tel Abyad is almost besieged now after the control of the Raqqa-Tel Abyad road," he said
Reportedly the Kurds have liberated Tel Abyad with ISIS fighters fleeing and surrendering to the Turkish army across the border.
Don't let our Arizona fan, Erdogan loving poster (can't remember his name) hear this. He went nuts on me last time.
The loss of Tal Abyad, some 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Raqqa, the capital of the Islamic State group's self-declared caliphate, is the extremists' biggest setback since Kurdish fighters took control of the Kurdish border town of Kobani near Turkey, after fighting IS for months. A Kurdish victory in Tal Abyad deprives the militant group of a direct route for bringing in foreign militants and supplies, and links the Kurds' two fronts, putting even more pressure on Raqqa http://news.yahoo.com/syria-rebels-accuse-kurds-ethnic-cleansing-kurds-deny-092444213.html Of course Erdogan backs ISIS: "On our border, in Tal Abyad, the West, which is conducting aerial bombings against Arabs and Turkmen, is unfortunately positioning terrorist members of the PYD and PKK in their place," Erdogan said.