ISIS Advances to Within 40 Miles of Baghdad
As Islamic militants continue their murderous advance across Iraq, they have a new target in their sights: the city of Baquba, less than 40 miles north of Baghdad.
Gunbattles erupted in the city, only a 45 minute drive from the capital, on Tuesday as fighters and Iraqi government forces clashed.
Civilians are fleeing violence there and elsewhere in Iraq even as the United States bolsters its manpowpatagonia guide jacket clip3er in the region while it mulls what action to take.
According to a Baquba police official and an official in the Baquba governor office, militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, have a great advance on Baquba and are pushing very hard to take it, but the city has not fallen.
The Baquba officials told CNN that ISIS is moving in on the western side of Baquba and that villages just west of the city, as well as some areas in western Baquba, are under ISIS control.
Some families, mainly Shiite, are fleeing that side of the city, the officials said. They are moving deeper into Baquba or leaving the city altogether to escape the looming violence.
The ISIS push started late Monday with a large scale attack on the Al Wahda police station on the western edge of Baquba.
Heavy clashes between Iraqi security forces and ISIS militants ensued, leaving at least one Iraqi security force member and nine militants dead, according to the Baquba officials.
At least 44 prisoners in the jail at the Al Wahda police station were also killed, though there were conflicting reports as to how.
Two police officials in Baquba told CNN the prisoners were killed after ISIS militants fired four mortar rounds on the prison.
But a health official and a police official claimed that most of the prisoners were shot in the head and chest, and that none showed signs of having been killed in explosions.
Meanwhile, Iraqi state television reported that 52 prisoners were killed after ISIS militants threw hand grenades into the local prison.
In Baghdad, police told CNN that six bombs exploded, resulting in at least a dozen deaths and many more injuries. It unclear who was behind the carnage.
Kurdish security sources also reported violence near Saadiya, about 55 miles (89 kilometers) north of Baghdad,patagonia jackets for sale as Kurdish fighters, known as Peshmergapatagonia outlet store ct, seek to retake control from ISIS militants there. The two sides are battling for control of Bashir village, southwest of Kirkuk city, as terrified civilians flee shelling by ISIS.
Separately, Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki fired four top military officers who and did not fulfill their professional and national duty, according to a statement read on state TV.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon is moving morepatagonia guide jacket clip0 firepower and manpower into the region to prepare for whatever President Barack Obama orders. Embassy in Baghdad, dozens of Marines and Army troops have moved in to beef up secpatagonia guide jacket clip2urity. Another 100 personnel are in the region to provide support if needed, the Pentagon said. Bush and five other warships are now in the Persian Gulf. More than 500 Marines and dozens of helicopters are on standby. A top priority: evacubest of patagoniaate all Americans at the embassy, if it comes to that.
assistance is clearly required. But we also need to help Iraq build the capacity to confront threats over the long term, Vice President Joe Biden said in Brazil, where he was attending the World Cup. that going to require setting aside sectarianism, dealing with legitimate grievances, building up an inclusive security force, and ensuring that all communities live together and have their voices heard. bottom line here is that Iraqis have to put together and pull together in order to defeat tpatagonia better sweater jacket reviewshis enemy, and then move toward building a better future for Iraqi all Iraqi people. And we will help them in that effort. at a CNN town hall meeting on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state and a potential 2016 presidential candidate, said the Iraqi government made a by failing to forge an agreement with the United States to keep American troops in Iraq after the war.
imperative that the government of Iraq, currently led by Maliki, be much more inclusive, much more willing to share power, involve all the different segments of Iraq.
I believe strongly that if Maliki is not the kind of leader who can do that, then the Iraqi people need to think seriously about the kind of leader they need to try to unite Iraqis against what is a terrible, imminent threat from these most extreme terrorists, she said.
Also Tuesday, British Prime Minister David Cameron said at a news conference thpatagonia everlong review financial statementsat ISIS advances in Syria and Iraq constitute the serious threat to Britain security that there is today. number of foreign fighters in that area, the patagonia everlong review nikonnumber of foreign fighters including tpatagonia everlong review priushose from the UK who could try to return to the UK, this is a real threat to our country, Cameron said. we will do abspatagonia everlong review vizioolutely everything that we can to keep our people safe. means, he said, people who are involved in plots and our security, our policing, our intelligence effort on the area of the world where ISIS opepatagonia everlong review 88rates.
On Monday, Secretary of State John Kerry, in an interview with Yahoo! News, acknowledged that airstrikes on Iraqi targets are under consideration.
they are not the whole anspatagonia guide jacket clipwer, but they may well be one of the options that are important to be able to stem the tide and stop the movement of people who are moving around in open convoys and trucks and terrorizing people, he said.
ISIS militants,patagonia guide jacket clip1 who already control a chunk of war torn Syria, began an offensive last week that has seen vast swaths of northern Iraq fall out of government hands. The extremist group has dominated parts of western Anbar province for months already, amid worsening sectarian division.
Iran plays a key role since it an ally of Iraq Shiite led government. The ISIS militants are Sunni.
A senior security official in Baghdad told CNN last week that the country had sent about 500 Revolutionary Guard troops to help fight the ISIS militants. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani denied the report over the weekend, but said he would be open to helping if asked.
Given the forces at play, some analysts favor direct talks with Iranian officials.
we engage in a military action without a political solution, we will be seen as backing Maliki in a Sunni Shia civil war. And that is exactly the opposite of what we want to do, said retired Army Col. Peter Mansoor.
