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SOUTHWEST ASIA, April 21, 2017 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 32 strikes consisting of 80 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of yesterdays strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 21 strikes consisting of 28 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, five strikes destroyed seven ISIS wellheads, five oil tankers and five oil processing equipment items.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes destroyed two bunkers, an ISIS wellhead and a front-end loader.

-- Near Raqqa, five strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units and destroyed six fighting positions.

-- Near Tabqah, eight strikes engaged six ISIS tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions, a command-and-control node and an ISIS staging area.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 11 strikes consisting of 52 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Huwayjah, a strike destroyed an ISIS-held building and a mortar system.

-- Near Qaim, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a weapons cache, a tactical vehicle and an anti-aircraft artillery system.

-- Near Fallujah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

-- Near Mosul, six strikes engaged seven ISIS tactical units, destroyed 11 rocket-propelled grenade systems, seven fighting positions, six vehicle bombs, five mortar systems, three vehicle bomb-making facilities, a weapons cache, a medium machine gun and an ISIS staging area; damaged 11 ISIS supply routes, four fighting positions; and suppressed two mortar teams and ISIS tactical unit.

-- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed four weapons caches, a vehicle bomb and a bunker.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed a front-end loader.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said.

The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted.

Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect. For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said.

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Counter-ISIS Strikes Target Terrorists in Syria, Iraq - Department of Defense

Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Looking for Fun in Iraq? Bingo! Wall Street Journal (subscription) ERBIL, IraqIt was just after 7 o'clock on a Saturday night and Erbil's hottest game wouldn't start for almost two hours. But Saamia Hanna Youssef arrived early to beat the rough-and-tumble lines for bingo. The 35-year-old, her gold-painted nails ...

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Looking for Fun in Iraq? Bingo! - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

As its losses mount in Iraq, will a less potent Islamic State merge with its precursor, al-Qaida?

That speculation ramped up this week after Iraqi Vice President Ayad Allawi told Reuters he had information from Iraqi and regional contacts that "the discussion has started now" concerning a "possible alliance" between the two militant groups.

Referring to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Ayman al-Zawahiri, the head of al-Qaida, Allawi said, "There are discussions and dialogue between messengers representing Baghdadi and representing Zawahiri."

But analysts say ideological and tactical differences and years of open animosity between leaders will need to be overcome before the groups can align.

"While dialogue is one thing, a prospective alliance is quite another," Milo Comerford, an analyst at the Centre on Religion and Geopolitics in London, wrote this week in Newsweek magazine.

'Little love lost'

"There has been little love lost between the two jihadi groups," he wrote. "A recent IS magazine described al-Qaida as 'Jews of jihad,' while Ayman al-Zawahiri has openly condemned Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi since 2015, accusing IS's leader of having an adverse effect on the jihadi cause and creating fitna [discord]."

FILE - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi

IS was founded as an offshoot of al-Qaida in Iraq in 2004, in a movement spearheaded by Jordanian jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. As IS started gaining more influence in Iraq and Syria in 2014, it split from al-Qaida, and the two groups have since engaged in acrimonious and sometimes bloody competition over the leadership of the jihadist cause.

For years, IS has been siphoning off followers of al-Qaida.

"IS is pressuring al-Qaida's affiliates to defect," Barak Mendelsohn, an associate professor of political science at Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania, said at a Brookings Institution forum in January. "While it has failed so far to shift their allegiance, it has deepened cracks within the branches and persuaded small groups of al-Qaida members to change sides."

Still, there are fundamental religious differences between the two, analysts say.

FILE - This still image from video obtained Oct. 26, 2012, courtesy of the Site Intelligence Group, shows al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri speaking in a video from an undisclosed location.

"Zawahiri has criticized the very existence of IS by claiming that the selection process by which Baghdadi became caliph was not according to the Prophetic tradition," Comerford wrote. "Across a series of statements, Zawahiri has worked to undermine the religious foundation on which IS depends for its appeal within the jihadi community."

Territorial, political issues

While both groups share an extreme anti-Western Sunni jihadi ideology, there are political differences that are rooted in territorial and political structure.

IS is in favor of establishing a government with a head figure who it officially names a "caliph." It is willing to annihilate any local group that refuses to pledge allegiance to the caliphate its self-styled Islamic State.

Although the goal of al-Qaida also is to establish a caliphate, its leaders prefer to focus on targeting the United States and the West, which they see as the primary enemies of Islam, analysts say.

"It is very hard for them to bridge that difference," said Middle East expert David Pollock, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

FILE - This image taken from a militant website July 5, 2014, purports to show the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who released a message encouraging his followers to keep up the fight for the city of Mosul.

While desperation may force al-Qaida and IS to explore coordination options, Pollack said, "I think the different personalities, the different ideologies, and in fact, the survival instinct of each group works against that."

And it's unlikely IS would diminish its goals to join with al-Qaida, analysts say.

"IS could settle for consolidating its caliphate in the territories it currently controls, but its hubris and messianic zeal do not allow for such limited goals," analyst Mendelsohn said. "It is committed to pursuing military expansion alongside its state-building project. This rigid commitment to two incompatible objectives is perhaps the Islamic State's biggest weakness."

As for combining forces in other countries including Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia analysts say specific conditions, and in some cases open hostilities between al-Qaida and IS, make creating alliances highly unlikely.

Local combinations

In Iraq, retreating IS followers could find small havens in al-Qaida, at least temporarily, officials say.

"It is true that al-Qaida was born in Iraq and it seems like such an alliance will make the two groups stronger if they combine at least locally," Kurdistan Regional Government spokesman Safeen Dizayee told VOA. "But al-Qaida is never able to achieve what IS achieved in Iraq in 2014. Their sun is setting here."

And if both groups settle in one Iraqi locale, it's likely the U.S-led coalition in Iraq will target them, experts say.

"If they combine, that may have the unintended effect from their standpoint of encouraging the United States, the coalition, and our local partners in these predominantly Muslim countries and societies to fight against them as one," analyst Pollack told VOA.

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Might IS, al-Qaida Team Up in Iraq? - Voice of America

BEIRUT A general from Iran's Revolutionary Guards assumed the post of ambassador to Iraq on Wednesday, in a sign of the key role the military force is currently playing in its neighboring country.

Iraj Masjedi previously worked as adviser to Qassem Soleimani in Iraq, according to the Tasnim news site. Soleimani is head of the Quds Force, the branch of the Revolutionary Guards responsible for operations outside of Iran.

Since Islamic State took control of swathes of Iraq in 2014, Soleimani worked with top Iraqi security officials to fight the militant Islamist group, primarily through a Shi'ite volunteer force known as Popular Mobilization Units.

"Iran wants an advanced, powerful, secure and unified Iraq," Masjedi said on Tuesday in Baghdad, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

Iran has sent dozens of military advisers and fighters to Iraq and neighboring Syria, where it is supporting Syrian president Bashar al Assad.

Masjedi has more than 35 years' experience in the Guards and a deep knowledge of Iraq, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA).

During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, Masjedi was a commander at the Revolutionary Guards' Ramezan base in Western Iran, which was a center for Iraqi opposition groups planning and carrying out military operations against Saddam Hussein's forces on Iraqi soil, according to the Iranian judiciary's news site Mizan Online.

The heads of some of those armed groups are now senior officials in Iraq.

(Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

WASHINGTON U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday accused Iran of 'alarming ongoing provocations' to destabilize countries in the Middle East as the Trump administration launched a review of its policy toward Tehran.

CARACAS/SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela Two Venezuelan students died on Wednesday after being shot during protests against unpopular leftist President Nicolas Maduro, increasing turmoil in the volatile nation amid a devastating economic crisis.

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Revolutionary Guard general takes over as new Iranian ambassador in Iraq - Reuters

Its 9 oclock on a chilly night in January, and the Adhamiyah animal market is teeming with visitors. There are the private zoo owners whove dropped by to size up the mangy lions and monkeys, and young couples sneaking furtive kisses in the shadows, ignoring the animals.

Yet here in Baghdads largest beast bazaar, its families and earnest-looking businessmen who outnumber the gawkers and flirts. And they have no interest in exotic flora and fauna. Darting among the cages, they eagerly scan mutt after mutt, dismissing each in turn. Too small, Mohammed Salama, a car salesman, says of the Jack Russell terriers. Useless, he calls the lone dachshund. Its only when a dealer points out a new shipment of rottweiler puppies, cowering in the back of a shabby enclosure, that Salama and his children stop. Yes, why didnt you show us these before? he asks. This is what I want!

So, it seems, do many of his countrymen. Every week, vendors ship rambunctious pups over the border from Turkey, then circulate them around Iraq. Some are dispatched directly to military installations, where theyre trained for bomb sniffing. Most, however, make their way to markets or small, roadside vendors for sale to private buyers.

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In much of the world, where dogs are beloved, this supply chain would seem unremarkable, but in Iraq, where most people are Muslim and thus many regard dogs as unclean, the recent clamor for canine companionship represents an abrupt change. In 2006, there were only four veterinary practices in Baghdad; today, there are more than 100, Haitham Khalil, a Baghdad practitioner, estimates. On Facebook, Iraqi dog appreciation groups have tens of thousands of members in medium-sized cities like Samarra and Sulaimaniya. After centuries of antipathy toward mans best friend, dealers now complain they cant meet demand. Rich, poor, Kurdish, Arabeveryone wants a dog now, says Mohammed Ismail, a taxi driver turned canine broker in the northern city of Kirkuk. Theyre like gold.

Iraqs unlikely love affair with cuddly canines began during the chaotic years after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Wary of growing crime ratesand perhaps inspired by the American militarys K-9 units, many shopkeepers invested in the biggest, most brutish-looking fleabags they could find. Then, as electricity outages grew more debilitating, often knocking out power for 20 hours a day, some well-to-do families turned to canine burglar alarms to replace their useless electronic security systems. By the time Western security contractors arrived en masse, four-legged pup protection was a fixture of their operations. The British security giant G4S still uses dogs as a key component in its defense of Baghdad Airport.

But it wasnt until the Islamic State group (ISIS) seized tracts of Iraq in 2014 that dogs became popular among the public. With most available policemen and soldiers redirected to the front lines, even homeowners in provinces unaffected by the war began to feel vulnerable. Dogs became an extra layer of security for fearful families.

Likewise, as ISIS punctured Baghdads porous checkpoints with endless car bombs, Iraqi authorities were finally forced to acknowledge that their go-to explosive detectora totally discredited golf ballfinding devicewasnt fit for purpose. In many instances, theyve turned to bomb-sniffing dogs. They are an important part of our security, and we are looking to buy more, a police colonel in the Ministry of Interior says, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

But Iraqis newfound love of dogs hasnt been without its problems. Theres some continued opposition from both Sunni and Shiite clerics who have railed against this new enthusiasm. The Koran says nothing against dogs, but many Muslims take their cue from a hadith, or a saying attributed to Muhammad, which describes them as dirty.

Some new owners also dont know how to take care of dogs. Huskies are among the most popular breeds in Iraq, but with the temperature often 100 degrees Fahrenheit or above, several buyers have needed to install air conditioning just to keep their furry friends alive. Dealers in Kirkuk still laugh about a local farmer who thought hed bought a husky; once it ate several of his sheep, he realized it was a wolf in dogs clothing. Or so the story goes.

Another problem: The wholly unregulated nature of the booming industry has also allowed charlatans with few or no medical qualifications to pass themselves off as veterinarians. These new people, theyre nobodies, says Saidoon El Tai, who practices in a small established clinic along the Adhamiyah markets periphery. They just hang a sign on the wall and then start poking at the animals.

Even the trainers seem to have some interesting ideas about what makes dogs tick. If you want them to behave, you have to speak to them in English or Ukrainian, from where many of these dogs are imported, says Gharid Farik Abu Mariam, Kirkuks most established instructor (call him the Iraqi d og whisperer ), who originally taught himself about dogs by watching National Geographic documentaries. Never Arabic.

But perhaps the most confounding matter is the one these pups were largely acquired to address: theft. Prices have risen so high that some people now find themselves having to guard their guard dogs. As the value of a pit bull tops $300 and Doberman puppies go for up to $500, gangs of thieves have taken to raiding kennels. Traumatized owners hope the governments recent decision to ease import controls on dogs will boost supply and cause prices to subside.

Iraq isnt the only part of the Middle East thats slowly warming to dogs. Attitudes appear to be changing in Egypt, where security concerns after the Arab uprisings appears to have inspired a similar enthusiasm for canine protection.

But in Iraq, dog lovers say their affection for these four-legged friends now extends well beyond their ability to ward off intruders. Sweet Labrador retriever puppies now appear on advertising billboards and in marketing campaigns. Even if the security situation stabilizes, Iraqs odd assortment of huskies, German shepherds and rottweilers are here to stay, fetch and roll over.

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Iraq's Unlikely Love Affair With Cuddly Canines - Newsweek - Newsweek