Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Ramadan Death count: Iraq 06/07/16

The death toll from Sunday's suicide bombing in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, has risen from 213 to 250.

Senior Islamic State (Isis) commanders executed seven of their own men by boiling them alive in water, say reports. The jihadists were said to have fled the battlefield in al-Shirqat in the Salahuddin province on Monday 4 June before being apprehended.

(Baghdad) On the 28th of June , an ISIS convoy which was spotted leaving Fallujah between 9 and 10 pm was attacked from the air, 4 hours later, initially it was presumed that it was the US which struck this convoy resulting in the destruction of over 260 vehicles and the deaths of over 750 terrorists. However, it has been revealed this was a pure Iraqi mission and the US had nothing to do with it.

Iraqi military intelligence initially detected the movement ofn umerous vehicles from Fallujah in a southwesterly direction along the road to Amiriyat Fallujah. Iraqi army helicopters took over the job of tracking the movement. Around 10:00 that night, intelligence reports indicated Islamic State terrorists were fleeing Fallujah — seemingly explaining the huge convoy. Baghdad informed the Americans, but CJTF-OIR denied permission for its warplanes to attack the area in question, as the vehicles in question could be carrying civilians.

So Iraqi pilots took the initiative. They called their political leaders in Najaf and, four hours later, attack orders came down. The first two helicopters took off at 1:30 in the morning on June 29. As they approached the area, they encountered heavy automatic gunfire from the ground. The shooting confirmed to the pilots — this was an Islamic State convoy. The pilots counted more than 400 vehicles.

In a series of fierce attacks that lasted hours, Iraqi helicopters destroyed more than half the convoy, killing dozens of terrorists

Photos and videos of the aftermath of this attack that have appeared on social media clearly show that the convoy consisted of a mixture of civilian and military vehicles. One video depicts a large number of M79 Osa anti-tank unguided rockets next to several vehicles. Still, it was suspected that some of vehicles carried the families of ISIS terrorists — which is apparently why the United States initially refused to take part in the operation.

Whilst subsequent attacks on other convoys were carried by the US, this initial attack was 100% Iraqi and as such qualifies for the Ramadan death count to the tune of 750.

Ramadan death toll is now at 9,667