Iraqi Armed Factions Eye Controlling Strategic Town North of Baghdad

Militants from the Popular Mobilization Forces (INA)
Militants from the Popular Mobilization Forces (INA)
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Iraqi Armed Factions Eye Controlling Strategic Town North of Baghdad

Militants from the Popular Mobilization Forces (INA)
Militants from the Popular Mobilization Forces (INA)

A suicide attack at a crowded market in Baghdad’s Sadr City on Monday revived armed factions’ ambitions to restore their control over al-Tarmiyah town and its suburbs north of the Iraqi capital.

Sayyid of Martyrs Battalions Secretary-General Abu Ala al-Walai said that his forces were prepared to retake al-Tarmiyah and al-Mushahadah regions from the “claws of terrorism” within two days.

Leaders of armed factions in Iraq have repeatedly called for duplicating the reconquest of “Jurf Sakhar” in other parts of the Baghdad belt, starting with al-Tarmiyah.

Al-Tarmiyah enjoys a strategic location, as it extends on the Tigris River to connect four major cities, namely Baghdad, Salah al-Din, Diyala, and Anbar. More so, the town links two prominent Shiite shrines.

The market bombing sparked a wave of media reports about a “terrorist” group having emerged from one of al-Tarmiyah’s agricultural fields to stage the attack.

This type of reporting prompted activists close to the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) to demand the state-sponsored umbrella organization drives ISIS fighters and supporters out of the city.

“Acts of violence within the area come from various sources, including ISIS, which exploits the security void in orchards in the vicinity of the town,” field sources reported.

Copying the reconquest of Jurf Sakhr in al-Tarmiyah means that locals will be uprooted, and extreme security vetting will be facing individuals entering and leaving the town.

Jurf Sakhr is now under the total control of some of the most influential PMF armed factions.

Like Jurf Sakhr, al-Tarmiyah will also become a hub for military camps and bases operated by armed factions.

“Enforcing security and imposing stability in any region, including al-Tarmiyah, must be subject to the contexts of the state, exclusively,” a Victory Alliance consultant who requested anonymity told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Armed factions have displayed an inclination towards going above and beyond fighting ISIS to securing total control over areas liberated from the terrorist group.

Local sources warn that the factions will not give up their plan to seize al-Tarmiyah, given its strategic location.



Israeli Warplanes Strike South of Damascus 

Smoke billows from a strike in Damascus in May 2018. (Reuters file)
Smoke billows from a strike in Damascus in May 2018. (Reuters file)
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Israeli Warplanes Strike South of Damascus 

Smoke billows from a strike in Damascus in May 2018. (Reuters file)
Smoke billows from a strike in Damascus in May 2018. (Reuters file)

Israeli warplanes hit a town south of Syria's capital as well as the southern province of Daraa late on Tuesday, residents, security sources and local broadcaster Syria TV said.

Israeli planes struck the town of Kisweh approximately 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Damascus, a Syrian security source and Syria TV said. The security source said a military site was targeted, without providing further details.

Additional Israeli air raids hit a town in the southern province of Daraa, a resident and Syria TV said.

The Israeli military said in a statement later that it attacked military targets in southern Syria including headquarters and sites which it said contained weapons.

"The Air Force is attacking strongly in southern Syria as part of the new policy we have defined of pacifying southern Syria - and the message is clear: we will not allow southern Syria to become southern Lebanon," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz's spokesperson said in a statement.

He added: "Any attempt by the Syrian regime forces and the country's terrorist organizations to establish themselves in the security zone in southern Syria - will be met with fire."

Residents of Damascus and Reuters reporters in the city heard the sound of airplanes flying several low passes over the capital and a series of blasts.

The bombardment came hours after Syria condemned Israel's incursion into the country's south and demanded it withdraw, according to the closing statement of a national summit.

Israel moved forces into a UN-monitored demilitarized zone within Syria after opposition factions led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, toppled former President Bashar al-Assad in December.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel will not tolerate the presence of HTS in southern Syria, nor any other forces affiliated with the country's new rulers, and demanded the territory be demilitarized.