Islamic State (ISIS): The Sectarian Aftermath in Iraq #39;s Jalawla
Journalist Rozh Ahmad follows local human rights activist Salam Abdullah documenting the aftermath of the Islamic State (IS) war in the multi-ethnic disputed town of Jalawla north Iraq.
By: Rozh Ahmad
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Islamic State (ISIS): The Sectarian Aftermath in Iraq's Jalawla - Video
ISIS Siege Desolation: RT travels to devastated mt. Sinjar area in Iraq
After months of fierce fighting, Kurdish forces have largely pushed Islamic State militants back from embattled Mount Sinjar in northwestern Iraq. An RT crew... After months of fierce fighting,...
By: Kalc Makyaj Salonu
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ISIS Siege Desolation: RT travels to devastated mt. Sinjar area in Iraq - Video
In the eyes of most Iraqis, their country's best ally in the war against the Islamic State group is not the United States and the coalition air campaign against the militants. It's Iran, which is credited with stopping the extremists' march on Baghdad.
Shiite, non-Arab Iran has effectively taken charge of Iraq's defense against the Sunni radical group, meeting the Iraqi government's need for immediate help on the ground.
Two to three Iranian military aircraft a day land at Baghdad airport, bringing in weapons and ammunition. Iran's most potent military force and best known general ? the Revolutionary Guard's elite Quds Force and its commander Gen. Ghasem Soleimani ? are organizing Iraqi forces and have become the de facto leaders of Iraqi Shiite militias that are the backbone of the fight. Iran carried out airstrikes to help push militants from an Iraqi province on its border.
The result is that Tehran's influence in Iraq, already high since U.S. forces left at the end of 2011, has grown to an unprecedented level.
Airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition have helped push back the militants in parts of the north, including breaking a siege of a Shiite town. But many Iraqis believe the Americans mainly want to help the Kurds. Airstrikes helped Kurdish forces stop extremists threatening the capital of the Kurdish autonomous zone, Irbil, in August. But even that feat is accorded by many Iraqis to a timely airlift of Iranian arms to the Kurds.
The meltdown of Iraq's military in the face of the extremists' summer blitz across much of northern and western Iraq gave Iran the opportunity to step in. A flood of Shiite volunteers joined the fight to fill the void, bolstering the ranks of Shiite militias already allied with Iran.
Those militias have now been more or less integrated into Iraq's official security apparatus, an Iraqi government official said, calling this the Islamic State group's "biggest gift" to Tehran.
"Iran's hold on Iraq grows tighter and faster every day," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the sensitive subject.
Over the past year, Iran sold Iraq nearly $10 billion worth of weapons and hardware, mostly weapons for urban warfare like assault rifles, heavy machine-guns and rocket launchers, he said. The daily stream of Iranian cargo planes bringing weapons to Baghdad was confirmed at a news conference by a former Shiite militia leader, Jamal Jaafar. Better known by his alias Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis, Jaafar is second in command of the recently created state agency in charge of volunteer fighters.
Some Sunnis are clearly worried. Sunni lawmaker Mohammed al-Karbuly said the United States must increase its support of Iraq against the extremists in order to reduce Iran's influence.
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Iran Eclipses US as Iraq's Ally in Fight Against Militants
Published January 11, 2015
BAGHDAD Islamic State group fighters attempting to retake a town in northern Iraq held by Kurdish pershmerga forces have killed at least 30 Kurds, an Iraqi military spokesman said Sunday.
The fighting began Saturday as the extremists approached the town of Gwer, just outside of the northern city of Mosul, which the Islamic State group controls, said Halgurd Hekmat, a spokesman for Iraqi Kurdish forces in Irbil. Hekmat said he had no information about casualties suffered by the Islamic State group.
Backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, Kurdish forces retook Gwer in August after the Islamic State group's offensive saw it seize a wide swath of Iraq. Kurdish fighters from Iraq also have deployed in small numbers to help Syrian Kurds battle the group's fighters in the Syrian border town of Kobani.
Gwer sits near Irbil, the Kurdish regional capital. Retaking it would allow Islamic State group fighters a new base to potentially launch assaults targeting the city.
Earlier this month, peshmerga fighters also retook small villages around the militant-held town of Sinjar, opening a corridor to help hundreds of Yazidi families atop nearby Mount Sinjar.
The Islamic State group, which has declared a self-styled caliphate, holds about a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria.
On Saturday, the U.S. military said in a statement it carried out 12 strikes on the group in Syria and three strikes in Iraq. Eleven of the coalition airstrikes in Syria targeted Islamic State group positions around the border town of Kobani near Turkey.
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ISIS battle in Iraq kills 30 Kurds, official says