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Sunni Militants Capture Major Iraqi Border Post With Syria Sunni Militants Capture Major Iraqi Post at Syrian Border
(35 minutes later)
BAGHDAD — Sunni militants have gained control of a major Iraqi border post with Syria and several nearby towns, the Iraqi government said Sunday, trying to cast a positive light on what it and Western officials described as a worrisome development by saying Iraqi troops had made a “tactical decision” to withdraw from the locations. BAGHDAD — Sunni militants have gained control of a major Iraqi post on the Syrian border and several nearby towns, the Iraqi government said Sunday, trying to cast a positive light on what it and Western officials described as a worrisome development by saying Iraqi troops had made a “tactical decision” to withdraw from the locations.
The Iraqi prime minister’s top military spokesman, Gen. Qassim Atta, in his briefing Sunday, said that Iraqi Army troops had left the Al Qaim border post, and the towns of Rawaa and Ana, but that the units were joining the battle elsewhere. The Iraqi prime minister’s top military spokesman, Gen. Qassim Atta, said in his briefing Sunday that Iraqi Army troops had left the Qaim border post and the towns of Rawaa and Ana, but that the units were joining the battle elsewhere.
“As a tactical procedure to reopen the military forces in Al-Jazeera and al Badiyah security operation field, the security forces in Rawaa, Ana and Qaim withdraw from these areas to reinforce other troops in other areas,” said General Atta. “As a tactical procedure to reopen the military forces in al-Jazeera and al-Badiyah security operation field, the security forces in Rawaa, Ana and Qaim withdraw from these areas to reinforce other troops in other areas,” General Atta said.
He did not mention whether the army had also fought in the western town of Rutba, but local officials there said the militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria drove into the small town with 50 trucks late Saturday, burned the police station and clashed briefly with the police before taking control. He did not mention whether the army had also fought in the small western town of Rutba, but local officials there said the militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, had driven in with 50 trucks late Saturday, burned the police station and clashed briefly with the police before taking control.
“Around 50 vehicles full of militants and weapons came from Houran valley and after sporadic clashes with police they took control over the central town,” said Ratif al-Ubaid, a member of the Rutba local council. “Then they left a group of them to secure the town and then headed toward the border,” he said. “Around 50 vehicles full of militants and weapons came from Houran valley, and after sporadic clashes with police they took control over the central town,” said Ratif al-Ubaid, a member of the Rutba local council. “Then they left a group of them to secure the town and then headed toward the border.”
And on Sunday evening it appeared that the police had fled from the last border post into Syria that was still in the army’s hands, at Al-Waleed, allowing the militants to enter. The loss of the border post was not confirmed but frightened police, reached by phone, said the army had already left and when the militants arrived in trucks, the police scattered. Some went to the Syrian side of the border, if they had family there, and others stayed on the Iraqi side, a police source said. And on Sunday evening it appeared that the police had fled from the last post at the Syrian border that had remained in the army’s hands, at Al-Waleed, allowing the militants to enter. The loss of the border post was not confirmed, but the frightened police, reached by phone, said that the army had already left and that the police had scattered when the militants arrived in trucks. Some went to the Syrian side of the border, if they had family there, and others stayed on the Iraqi side, a police source said.
The militants seem intent on methodically consolidating their hold on the large Sunni provinces to the west and north as the Iraqi Army’s attention is focused on securing Baghdad. The militants seem intent on methodically consolidating their hold on the large Sunni provinces to the west and north as the Iraqi Army focuses on securing Baghdad, the capital.
The militants already have considerable strength in Anbar Province, but it has been mainly in remote villages and towns, with the exception of Falluja, which they have also seized. Now, with the taking of the border post of Al Qaim after a three-day fight, and nearby towns they will be able to move on the road that leads to the city of Haditha, where there is a major dam. On Sunday the government was reinforcing its troops there, anxious to secure the dam. The militants already have considerable strength in Anbar Province, but it has been mainly in remote villages and towns, with the exception of Falluja, which they have also seized. Now, with the taking of the border post of Qaim after a three-day fight and nearby towns, they will be able to move on the road that leads to the city of Haditha, where there is a major dam. On Sunday, the government was reinforcing its troops there, anxious to secure the dam.
During the Qaim battle, it appeared that 70 volunteers from Baghdad who had come to join the battle on the side of the Iraqi army were killed in an ambush. They were traveling in food freezer trucks to camouflage their arrival, but it seemed the militants knew they were on their way, said a police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters. The militants have allowed him to remain in his job, he said. During the Qaim battle, it appeared that 70 volunteers who had left Baghdad to join the fighting on the side of the Iraqi Army were killed in an ambush. They were traveling in food freezer trucks to camouflage their arrival, but it seemed the militants knew they were on their way, a police officer said on the condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to speak to reporters. The militants have allowed him to remain in his job, he said.
It was not clear how many Iraqi Army soldiers were killed in the fight but there were many and they fought hard, according to the police. It was not clear how many Iraqi Army soldiers had been killed in the fight, but there were many and they fought hard, according to the police.
In Diyala Province, the struggle for power between the Sunni militants from ISIS and local Sunni militants, some former military officers under Saddam Hussein, continued on Sunday. ISIS fighters killed three brothers of one of the leaders of the Islamic Army and destroying houses from fighters in that group as well as from the Men of Naqshbandia, former Saddam loyalists or Baathists. In Diyala Province, the struggle for power between the Sunni militants from ISIS and local Sunni militants, some of them former military officers under Saddam Hussein, continued on Sunday. ISIS fighters killed three brothers of one of the leaders of the Islamic Army and destroyed houses of fighters in that group as well as of the Men of Naqshbandia, former Saddam loyalists or Baathists.