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Page added on July 22, 2014
Iraq rebels storm town near Baghdad
Sunni fighters seize control of official buildings and police station in Dhuluiyah, which army recaptured last month.
Sunni rebels led by the Islamic State group have attacked a town north of Baghdad and seized local government buildings, police and witnesses said.
The fighters, in 50-60 vehicles, stormed the town of Dhuluiya, about 70km north of Baghdad early on Sunday, to take control the mayor’s office, municipal council building and the police station.
At least six people were killed in the fighting, including four policemen, two fighters, and two civilians.
The attack is the latest apparent gain for Sunni rebels after the Islamic State group launched an offensive last month to seized Mosul, Iraq’s second city, and northern areas of othe country.
They were pushed back at Dhuluiya on June 14 by soldiers loyal to the Shia-led government of Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, and Shia militiamen, but fighting has continued and they have taken other towns.
The police and witnesses said local police and tribes were battling the rebels in Dhuluiya on Sunday.
Rebels also bombed a bridge linking Dhuluiya to the nearby Shia town of Balad to the west.
Parliamentary election
Parliament meanwhile failed to agree a new prime minister, president and parliamentary speaker after the latest session was adjourned.
Many Kurdish MPs were unable to attend due to bad weather that disrupted flights in and out of Baghdad.
Kurdish leaders have in recent days refused to work with the government after Maliki said their capital, Erbil, was a haven for Islamic State fighters.
The latest adjournment of parliament came after the main Sunni bloc announced late on Saturday they would nominate its candidate for speaker.
Iraq’s political elite is under pressure from the US, the UN and Iraq’s own Shia clerics to reach agreement so politicans could deal with the rebellion and prevent the country fragmenting on sectarian and ethnic lines.
Maliki’s opponents accuse him of ruling for the Shia majority at the expense of Sunni and Kurdish minorities, and want him to step aside, but he shows no sign of quitting.
His State of Law coalition is the biggest group in the Shia National Alliance bloc.
10 Comments on "Iraq rebels storm town near Baghdad"
Plantagenet on Tue, 22nd Jul 2014 3:45 pm
Obama’s “hands-off” Iraq and Syria policies have resulted in the creation of an Islamist Caliphate covering much of nothern Iraq and southeast Syria. Given that Iraq has the second largest oil reserves in the middle east, it is foolish to allow an al Qaida related entity to seize control of this globally strategic area.
JuanP on Tue, 22nd Jul 2014 3:52 pm
Maliki has to go ASAP. This is going to be a long, hot summer in Baghdad. Iraq has to be broken up, but the Sunnis need better representation than these ISIS freaks. The Kurds seem to be the most reasonable there, I’ve grown to like them with time.
GregT on Tue, 22nd Jul 2014 5:31 pm
Plant,
Obama helped in the arming and training of the FSA, many of whom have now joined ISIS. Obama is definitely not ‘hands off’ on this one.
Perk Earl on Tue, 22nd Jul 2014 7:09 pm
These ISIS fighters are undeterred by lost battles, returning later later to win on different occasions and locations. They seem to have the initiative, energy and offensive determination whereas Maliki’s fighters seem weakly defensive and disorganized.
I wonder how widespread Caliphate will be a year from now. At some point the southern oil fields will definitely be in ISIS sights.
As much as I shudder to think of the US getting back into this maelstrom, once things deteriorate to the point of oil exports plunging a year or two from now (if that comes to pass) much criticism will be heaped upon a failure to have previously acted on a broader scale by Iraq and US forces.
bobinget on Tue, 22nd Jul 2014 7:22 pm
http://www.resilience.org/stories/2014-07-21/peak-oil-review-july-21
excerpt only:
The Region: The extent of the chaos currently engulfing the Middle East and its likely impact on the region’s oil exports has yet to be fully grasped. While oil traders cite the prospects of renewed Libyan oil exports and anticipated increases in Iraqi oil production as reasons for optimism about world oil supplies, these are almost certain to be short-lived. In recent weeks we have seen the beginning of a no-holds-barred Sunni-Shiite war that could easily continue for decades. Although Saudi oil exports are generally considered safe, the Saudi-Iraqi border is no longer controlled by Baghdad in any meaningful way. In the past week, Riyadh has moved forces to the border and is reported to be increasingly concerned about the ISIS in Iraq who doesn’t like the hereditary Gulf rulers any more than they like Shiites or Christians.
The Iranians are being increasingly drawn into this mess by simultaneously supporting Hezbollah in Lebanon, Assad in Syria, Hamas in Gaza against the Israelis, and Maliki in Iraq against the Sunnis. This is becoming a tall order for an oil exporter whose revenues have been cut in half by the embargo.
The region also has some overriding problems that will be of increasing concern in the next few years. The Middle East is running out of water and global temperatures are rising. The ISIS will shortly control most of Iraq’s water supply and Ethiopia is working on damming the Nile. Yemen on the Saudi border is becoming increasingly chaotic and insurgencies are budding across North Africa.
Complacency about oil exports in the midst of all this is clearly unwise. It is highly unlikely that we will see the end to the turmoil in the immediate future or that Middle Eastern oil exports will continue at their current pace much longer.
Makati1 on Tue, 22nd Jul 2014 8:46 pm
So many hot spots … so little time.
Are you prepared?
Davy on Tue, 22nd Jul 2014 8:54 pm
Mak, how are your preparations up on the mountain top?
Spec9 on Tue, 22nd Jul 2014 10:44 pm
Iraq as a state may be dead. There is Kurdistan and whatever else can get their act together.
antiwarforever on Wed, 23rd Jul 2014 2:32 am
For Obama, his personal feud against Wladimir Putin is unfortunately more important than the fight against the bloody Islamist terrorists of ISIS.
Which is going to have dire consequences, mince my words.
Arthur on Wed, 23rd Jul 2014 2:45 am
“Obama’s “hands-off” Iraq and Syria policies have resulted in the creation of an Islamist Caliphate covering much of nothern Iraq and southeast Syria.”
.
Correction: It was the CFR’s focus on destroying an ally of Russia, that made them blind for the risks using jihadis for this purpose. If chairman of the CFR, Richard Haass (the de facto primus inter pares president of the US, forget about the Kenian) had left Syria alone, this would never have happened. Now the islamic fundamentalist genie is out of the bottle. And Erdogan is patiently waiting along the sidelines, letting ISIS do the dirty work for him. The US/UK sponsored uprising in Syria will prove to an even greater strategic desaster than Iraq was. The Caliphate is a direct threat for the state of Israel. The Richard Haass’es of this world are not as smart as they like to think they are.