Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses. Share the link of this article with your facebook friends

 

Scores of Iraqis Killed During by Government Forces and US-Led Air Strikes, in Al-Anbar Province

November 4, 2017

Editor's Note:

The following are just examples of news stories about the continuous Iraq war. Daily news stories can be accessed from the news sources listed below and others in the internet.

 

Iraqi government forces storm Al-Qaem Sunni Arab city, November 3, 2017	Iraqi army artillery attacking IS Sunni Arab areas in Anbar, file, November 4, 2017

 

The following are news stories from the independent Iraqi Arabic news agency, Yaqein ( http://yaqein.net/ ):

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Iraqi government forces storm Al-Qaem (Sunni Arab) city, part of its campaign to restore Al-Anbar Province from ISIS, which has been associated with widespread violations against civilians, leading to massive displacement of residents. القوات المشتركة تقتحم قضاء القائم 03 نوفمبر 2017   في إطار العمليات العسكرية التي تشنها القوات المشتركة على مدن وأقضية محافظة الأنبار اقتحمت تلك القوات، اليوم الجمعة، قضاء القائم بالمحافظة مدعومة بميليشيا الحشد الشعبي. وقال مصدر في الجيش في تصريح صحفي ، إن “القوات المشتركة من الجيش وجهاز مكافحة الإرهاب والعشائر والحشد الشعبي تمكنوا، اليوم، من استعادة السيطرة واقتحام مركز مدينة القائم من مسلحي (تنظيم الدولة)”. وأضاف المصدر ، أن “تلك القوات رفعت العلم العراقي فوق عدد من الأبنية الحكومية في مركز القائم، مشيرا الى أن قطعات الجيش تقوم بعمل تحصينات بالمدينة”. هذا وغالبا ما تواكب عمليات اقتحام القوات المشتركة وميليشيا الحشد الشعبي انتهاكات واسعة بحق المدنيين بدوافع طائفية ما يتسبب في نزوح العائلات بحثا عن مناطق اكثر أمنا. المصدر:وكالة يقين http://yaqein.net/politics/67652

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The following are news stories from a pro-Iraqi government website (http://www.iraqinews.com/), which usually reports those who are killed by Iraqi government attacks as Islamic State fighters, implying no civilians were killed by bombing residential neighborhoods:

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Three policemen killed in Islamic State attack, west of Diyala

by Nehal Mostafa Nov 3, 2017, 11:58 pm

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) --

Three police personnel were killed, while three others were wounded as Islamic State launched at attack in west of Diyala, an official said.

“Militants infiltrated from Hamreen regions in Salahuddin toward Udhaim dam to attack security checkpoint and al-Safra exit using mortar missiles and other weapons,” Abdul Jabbar al-Ebeidi, head of Udhaim town, told Baghdad Today on Friday.

“The attack left three containers burnt, three persons, including police officer, killed and others wounded,” he added.

Ebeidi blamed the attack on “security vacuum in regions between Diyala and Salahuddin from the north of Udhaim.”

Earlier on the day, a security source said security troops, backed by air cover, headed to the exit after the attack to control the situation there.

Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State Sunni extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

114 Iraqi civilians were killed, while 244 others were wounded as result of terrorism, violence and armed conflicts, according to a monthly release by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), issued on Wednesday.

Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate, coming in the first place with 177 civilian casualties (38 killed, 139 injured). Anbar province followed with 36 killed and 55 injured, and then Kirkuk with 18 killed and 33 injured.

The Iraqi capital has seen almost daily bombings and armed attacks against security members, paramilitary troops and civilians since the Iraqi government launched a wide-scale campaign to retake Islamic State-occupied areas in 2016.

Islamic State convoy destroyed, two leaders executed in western Anbar

by Nehal Mostafa Nov 2, 2017, 1:15 pm

Qaim (IraqiNews.com) --

Iraqi air force have destroyed an Islamic State convoy in western Anbar, intelligence sources have said.

Fighter jets managed to kill the group’s so-called wali of Qaim, Abu Ahmed al-Iraqi, along with huge number of militants, the sources told Shafaq News.

The convoy was composed of ten vehicles, driven by the militants. All were destroyed as they attempted to escape from the town to Syria’s Al-BuKamal.

In related news, security source said the militant group executed two senior leaders in AlBuKamal town, after they fled battles in western Anbar.

“IS set two senior leaders on fire in AlBukamal,” the source told Alghad Press.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said, “the leaders escaped liberation battles in Ebeidi, west of Anbar.”

Ebeidi, located east of Qaim, was freed on Tuesday before Iraqi troops raised flags on top of buildings.

In a daily press briefing on Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi promised announcing liberation of Qaim within “few days”.

Many IS militants reportedly fled Qaim heading to al-BuKamal in Syria, after several leaders ran away and were killed in airstrikes by the Iraqi and U.S.-Coalition jets.

Oerations were launched last week to liberate Qaim and Rawa towns.

Each of Qaim and Rawa have been held by the extremist group since 2014, when it occupied one third of Iraq to proclaim a self-styled Islamic “Caliphate”.

HRW: Iraqi security block refugees return in Anbar over suspected IS links

by Mohamed Mostafa Nov 2, 2017, 8:54 am

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) --

Iraqi security officials in Anbar province are hampering the repatriation of civilians at ares retaken from the Islamic State over suspicions of having links with the militant group, Human Rights Watch said Thursday in a report as Iraqi forces become closer to clearing the province from militants.

“While Iraqi forces confront serious security concerns, just being a family member of someone linked to ISIS or having lived under ISIS is not enough to represent a real threat,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Authorities should allow those who aren’t an actual security risk who want to go home to do so in peace and respect the right of people who don’t feel safe to live where they wish.”

In the same time, the organization said Iraqi officials were also forcing other reluctant families to return home even as those families feel it is unsafe to repatriate.

“Iraqi authorities also are evicting other families in an attempt to force them back to their homes, even when these families fear their home areas will be unsafe or their homes were destroyed by fighting,” the report reads. “Since March, Anbar’s Provincial Council has been encouraging districts in Anbar to forcibly return displaced families to areas retaken by Iraqi forces,” HRW said, saying that authorities attributed the measures to limited refugee camp space.

Human Rights Watch said it had documented the enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention of thousands of men allegedly on ISIS-affiliation grounds over the last year.

Eight Islamic State militants killed in Hawija: commander

by Mohamed Mostafa Oct 30, 2017, 7:26 pm

Hawija (IraqiNews.com) --

Eight Islamic State suicide bombers were killed by Iraqi security forces on Monday in Kikruk, the head of the army operations was quoted saying.

Fadhel Omran, head of the Kirkuk Operations, told Alsumaria News that troops killed eight IS members vested with explosive belts at a hideout in Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk. He said troops have also run into an explosives depot belonging to the group in Akoula village.

The Iraqi government declared the recapture of Hawija from IS militants early October. An Iraqi, U.S.-backed campaign has managed, since October 2016, to recapture Islamic State’s former capital, Mosul, the town of Tal Afar, Hawija and western Anbar’s town of Annah.

IS members are currently cornered in Anbar’s Qaim and Rawa, on the borders with Syria. 

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The following are news stories from the US Department of Defense website (http://www.defense.gov/News) :

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Inherent Resolve Strikes Target ISIS in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Nov. 3, 2017 —

U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday.

Strikes in Syria

In Syria, coalition military forces conducted nine strikes consisting of nine engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an ISIS line of communication.

-- Near Shaddadi, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed an ISIS vehicle and damaged a heavy weapon.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, six strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed an ISIS line of communication, a vehicle-borne-bomb factory and an ISIS headquarters.

Additionally, officials reported today that a Nov. 1 strike consisting of one engagement destroyed nine ISIS supply routes near Abu Kamal.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of six engagements against ISIS targets near Qaim. The strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed two vehicle-borne-bomb factories, an ISIS-held building, two fighting positions and an ISIS spotter location.

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Nov. 2, 2017 —

U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday.

Strikes in Syria

In Syria, coalition military forces conducted five strikes consisting of five engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS vehicle.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units, destroying a fighting position and damaging a line of communication.

-- Near Shaddadi, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS vehicle.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted six strikes consisting of six engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qaim, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit, destoying two ISIS vehicles and an encampment.

-- Near Rawa, three strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units, destroying two improvised explosive device factories and an encampment.

-- Near Qayyara, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit, resulting in key terrain denial and suppression of two weapons caches.

Officials also announced today that a strike consisting of eight engagements was conducted Oct. 31 near Qaim, engaging an ISIS tactical unit and damaging 10 ISIS supply routes.

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Nov. 1, 2017 —

U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday.

Strikes in Syria

In Syria, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of nine engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an ISIS training center.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, seven strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed three fighting positions and an ISIS vehicle and suppressed a fighting position.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted five strikes consisting of nine engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qaim, four strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and damaged an ISIS supply route and destroyed a command-and-control node, a weapons cache, an ISIS headquarters and a vehicle.

-- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed four ISIS-held buildings.

Previous Strikes

Additionally, eight strikes consisting of 16 engagements were conducted in Iraq and Syria on Oct. 30.

-- In Syria, near Shaddadi, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a fighting position and an ISIS vehicle.

-- In Syria, near Dayr Az Zawr, six strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed a vehicle-borne bomb and four ISIS lines of communication.

-- In Iraq, near Qaim, a strike destroyed 10 ISIS supply routes.

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