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As Fighting Spreads Through Iraq, Sunni Allies Turn on One Another As Fighting Spreads, Sunni Rebels Turn on Each Other, Reports Say
(about 4 hours later)
BAGHDAD — The violent struggle over Iraq on Saturday consumed cities and towns widely spread over the north and west of the country, with neither the Sunni militants nor the Iraqi army seeming to gain major ground. BAGHDAD — The violent struggle over Iraq on Saturday consumed cities and towns widely spread over the north and west of the country, with both Sunni militants and the Iraqi Army claiming gains.
The fighting also was one of the first times fissures appeared in the extremist Sunni coalition led by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, with a battle between that group and its Baathist allies killing 17. An Iraqi security official and eyewitnesses, meanwhile, said a deadly gun battle near Kirkuk had broken out between two of the most powerful Sunni militant groups. The battle, they said, pitted the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, which is leading the battle with the Shiite-dominated government, against its Baathist allies and left 17 dead, according to the official.
In Baghdad, a bomb exploded in a market in the predominantly Shiite Zafaraniya area, killing four shoppers. Three hours later, two men were found dumped nearby, handcuffed and shot to death. The victims were likely to be Sunnis since the area is controlled by Shiite militiamen. In Baghdad, the day’s violence had a more familiar sectarian cast. A bomb exploded in a market in the predominantly Shiite Zafaraniya area, killing four shoppers. Three hours later, two men were found dumped nearby, handcuffed and shot to death. The victims were most likely Sunnis since the area is controlled by Shiite militiamen.
In the insurgent-held city of Tikrit, in Salahuddin Province, the morgue at the hospital reported that it had received 84 bodies of policemen, soldiers and government employees who had been executed. Seven of them had been beheaded, according to an official there, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of angering the insurgents. Elsewhere, the battles were between government supporters and the Sunni militants trying to press forward with their offensive.
In western Anbar Province, two more towns fell to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, near the border town of Qaim, which fell to the rebels on Friday. Reports from officials at the scene said 34 Iraqi soldiers were killed on Friday as hundreds of militants overran Qaim. In the insurgent-held city of Tikrit, in Salahuddin Province, the morgue at the hospital reported that it had received 84 bodies of policemen, soldiers and government employees who had been executed. Seven of them had been beheaded, according to an official there who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of angering the militants.
A local government leader, Muthana al-Rawi, said the two towns taken Saturday, Ana and Rawaa, fell after troops and police officers fled Qaim and “sleeper cells of the militants showed up to fill the gap and take control over the two towns.” In western Anbar Province, two more towns fell to ISIS near the border town of Qaim, which fell to the rebels on Friday.
Eyewitnesses from another border town, Al Waleed, said the Syrian air force had bombed ISIS troops who were trying to attack and capture it, as well. If Al Waleed fell, that would leave the Iraqi government without control of a single border crossing to Syria. A local government leader, Muthana al-Rawi, said the two towns taken Saturday, Ana and Rawaa, were captured after troops and police officers fled Qaim and “sleeper cells of the militants showed up to fill the gap and take control.”
Eyewitnesses from another border town, Al Waleed, said the Syrian Air Force had bombed ISIS troops on the Iraq side who were trying to capture it as well.
If Al Waleed fell, that would leave the Iraqi government without control of a single border crossing to Syria and would deal a blow to both Syria and Iraq. ISIS has been fighting the Syrian government for months and a loss of control over the border would allow the militants to move its fighters and equipment more freely between the two countries.
ISIS is trying to create an Islamic caliphate in a vast area of both countries, wiping out the border in between.
The government also said it was still battling to hold on to the Baiji oil refinery, the country’s biggest, not far from Kirkuk, and to retake the town of Tal Afar.The government also said it was still battling to hold on to the Baiji oil refinery, the country’s biggest, not far from Kirkuk, and to retake the town of Tal Afar.
In Baghdad, attention was focused instead on tens of thousands of Shiite militiamen as they marched in a display of force there and in southern cities in the Shia heartland. Some had homemade heavy weaponry. The prime minister’s top military spokesman, Gen. Qassim Atta, gave a news briefing in which he again insisted that the initiative had shifted to Iraqi government forces, contradicting most reports from the field so far.
The prime minister’s top military spokesman, Gen. Qassim Atta, gave a press briefing in which he once again insisted that the initiative had shifted to Iraqi government forces. Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul, fell to the militants on June 10, and in the next three days they pushed to within about 60 miles of Baghdad, conquering most of the provinces of Nineveh and Salahuddin, as well as much of Diyala Province. In the past week, however, they appear to have concentrated on consolidating their gains, attacking cities and towns on the margin of the territory they overran, but not advancing closer to Baghdad.
Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, fell to the militants on June 10, and in the following three days they pushed to within about 60 miles of Baghdad, conquering most of the provinces of Nineveh and Salahuddin, as well as much of Diyala Province. In the past week, however, they appear to have concentrated on consolidating their gains, attacking cities and towns on the margin of the territory they overran, but not advancing closer to Baghdad. The fighting between Sunni militants near Kirkuk, if confirmed, could pose a challenge to the militant coalition, which was able to advance so quickly into Iraq in part because of the combined forces. The Baathist group denied any such clash on their website.
As he has consistently done since the ISIS offensive advanced toward the capital, General Atta gave his televised briefing to Iraqi journalists but refused to take any questions from them. According to the security official, who was in Kirkuk and spoke on the condition of anonymity, the Sunnis battling ISIS were from the Men of the Army of Naqshbandia, a group made of former Saddam Hussein loyalists, or Baathists. The two groups are allies of convenience with very different ideologies; the Baathists’ nationalistic, Sufi philosophy is completely at odds with ISIS’s extreme Islamist beliefs.
“We will not let them take any foot of our earth,” General Atta said. “We are the ones who are making the attacks.” He said the militants had been particularly hard hit by Iraqi airstrikes. “You should see how those ISIS run away when they hear even the sound of our air force,” he said. “It shows they are really afraid.” The battles took place in Hawija, one of the strongholds of the Naqshbandia. The security official said the fighting had broken out when ISIS tried to disarm the Naqshbandia, but an eyewitness from Hawija said they had been fighting over control of gasoline and oil tanker trucks captured from the refinery at Baiji.
General Atta then played a video showing helicopter gunship airstrikes on groups of men running in the streets of Tal Afar who he said were ISIS fighters. The Naqshbandia group was active in antigovernment demonstrations in Hawija last year that ended with at least 42 people when the Iraqi army tried to disperse protesters. They have become a major component of the extremist Sunni coalition, at least partly because of their past military experience and the Baath Party’s deep roots in the Sunni community.
The fighting between Sunni militants near Kirkuk that left 17 dead was an early sign of a split in the coalition of Sunni Muslim forces who joined with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and helped propel their advance. The Men of the Army of Naqshbandia, a group made of former Baathist officials, clashed with ISIS militants Friday night, according to a security official in Kirkuk, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as a matter of official policy. On its website, the Naqshbandia denied any problems with its allies. “We deny such news, we are in battle only with the occupiers of Iraq (Iran and the government),” the statement said. “It is clear that the government is doing this to get our army in an internal battle that will take us away from our main goal.”
The battles took place in Hawija, one of the strongholds of the Naqshbandia, a group formed by former army officers from the Saddam Hussein regime. The group’s leader is believed to be Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, one of the few top commanders who worked with Hussein who was able to escape capture by the American military. The group’s nationalistic, Sufi philosophy is completely at odds with ISIS’s extreme Islamist philosophy. In Baghdad, as he has consistently done since the ISIS offensive advanced toward the capital, General Atta gave his televised briefing to Iraqi journalists but refused to take any questions from them.
The security official said the fighting had broken out when ISIS tried to disarm the Naqshbandia, but an eyewitness from Hawija said they had been fighting over control of gasoline and oil tanker trucks captured from the refinery at Baiji. “We will not let them take any foot of our earth,” General Atta said. He said the militants had been particularly hard hit by Iraqi airstrikes. “You should see how those ISIS run away when they hear even the sound of our air force,” he said. “It shows they are really afraid.”
The Naqshbandia group was active in antigovernment demonstrations in Hawija last year that ended with at least 42 people killed when the Iraqi army tried to disperse protesters. The general then played a video showing helicopter gunship airstrikes on groups of men running in the streets of Tal Afar who he said were ISIS fighters.
In a separate development, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the embattled Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, and offered Russia’s “full support for the Iraqi government’s efforts to liberate Iraqi territory from the terrorists’ hands as quickly as possible,” according to a statement issued by the Kremlin Saturday. In a separate development, President Vladimir Putin of Russia called the embattled Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, and offered Russia’s “full support for the Iraqi government’s efforts to liberate Iraqi territory from the terrorists’ hands as quickly as possible,” according to the Kremlin.