Iraqi security forces and volunteer fighters in al-Nibaie area, on May 27, 2015 (© AFP)
WW3
WW3: Middle East Update-Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq.
Funeral held for victim of ISIL terror attack on Saudi Shia mosque
People have held a funeral for one of the victims of a terrorist attack on a Shia mosque in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.
The funeral procession was held on Tarout Island in the kingdom’s Qatif region. The victim died of injuries sustained in the May 22 bomb attack. This raises the death toll from the blast to 22. The attack was carried out by an ISIL terrorist, who blew himself up at Imam Ali mosque of Qudaih village eight days ago. A similar attack also killed three people in the town of Dammam on May 29. The bomb went off outside a Shia mosque during Friday prayers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3i90F7nTjc
ISIS declares war on Shias on Arabian Peninsula – monitoring group
The Saudi division of the Islamic State jihadist group has called on jihadist supporters to clear the Arabian Peninsula of Shia Muslims in an audio recording, according to a US-based monitoring group.
In the 13-minute recording a representative of IS (Islamic State, formerly ISIS/ISIL) militant group’s division in Najd Province, a region in the central Arabian Peninsula, urged supporters to declare war on “enemies of Islam, especially Shiites” on the peninsula’s territory, SITE monitoring group reported on Friday.
The man called Shias “disbelievers and apostates” urging followers to “purify the land” of them. The speaker also made reference to the suicide bombing on May 22 in the town of al-Qadeeh, Qatif province in the east of the country on a Shiite mosque. As the result of the bombing 21 people died and more than 50 were wounded.
The Shia minority in Saudi Arabia has long complained of discrimination by the Sunni majority. The attack in al-Qadeeh was the first to target Shia Muslims in Saudi Arabia since November, when a gunman killed at least eight people.
In the recording the IS supporters urged young Saudis to fend off the “Shiite threat”and criticized the kingdom’s current government and King Salman for failing to protect the Sunni majority. Earlier in May IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi dismissed Saudi Arabia’s ruling family accusing it of supporting enemies such as the West and Israel.
On Sunday, King Salman vowed to track down and punish those responsible for a suicide bombing at the Shia mosque despite increasing tensions between Sunnis and Shias in the region. Saudi Arabia is leading the military campaign against Houthis in neighboring Yemen allied to Shia power Iran.
The Kingdom is also is part of an international coalition carrying out air strikes on IS positions in Iraq and Syria. The jihadists have vowed to carry out revenge attacks.
Yemen’s northern prov. of Sa’ada focal point of fresh Saudi attacks
Saudi Arabia’s attacks on its southern neighbor Yemen rage on with fighter jets targeting positions indiscriminately.
Yemen’s northern province of Sa’ada was the focal point of the latest airstrikes. Warplanes targeted residential areas in several districts, a military base, and a gas station there. Fighter jets also bombed an ancient bridge in Ma’rib province and a military base in the capital Sana’a. Earlier, two people were killed and two others injured in an attack on Central Security Headquarters in the southwestern province of Ta’izz. The Saudi aggression has left more than four-thousand Yemenis dead since late March. Many of the victims are women and children.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZRtR1pkckQ
Saudi Arabia’s deadly war on Yemen rages on
Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen continues relentlessly causing more civilian deaths and destruction.
Two people have been killed and two others injured in an attack on Central Security Headquarters in southwestern province of Ta’izz. Saudi warplanes also carried out several airstrikes in provinces of Sa’ada and Ma’rib. There is still no word on possible casualties. Earlier, dozens of Yemeni civilians were killed and scores wounded as Saudi fighter jets targeted a residential area and a military base in Hajjah province.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQxKiDHvkKw
NGOs demand UN action on Yemen crisis
More than 50 prominent non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil societies from across the world have called on the United Nations (UN) to take urgent action regarding the humanitarian crisis in Yemen in the wake of Saudi airstrikes, Press TV reports.
In a letter sent to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the UK-based Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) and some fifty other organizations warned of the human catastrophe and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Yemen.
The organizations urged the UN chief to use his influence and put pressure on the Saudi monarchy to end its ongoing military aggression against Yemen.
More than two months of the Saudi airstrikes have caused severe shortages in basic necessities and nine million people remain in dire need of immediate assistance across Yemen, the letter said.
Meanwhile, Lena Mohamed, with the IHRC, said that the world organizations and international community must urgently address the crisis, which were the direct result of the Saudi attacks.
“The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is really dire at the moment. Nine million people are suffering real trauma there and they need aid urgently. We also know the hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced around the country, and also there are so many people trying to leave because of the situation, because of the bombardment,” she said.
“Now Saudi Arabia clearly isn’t complying with the understanding of human rights by bombarding Yemen despite the international outcry. So it is clearly hypocritical and Ban Ki-Moon, as the secretary general, needs to address that,” she added.
The developments come as Saudi Arabian warplanes have launched a series fresh airstrikes across the Yemeni provinces of Ta’izz, Ma’rib and Sa’ada.
Also on Saturday, Saudi fighter jets bombarded a hospital in the Bani Hashish district of Yemen’s western province of Sana’a.
Local residents and witness say several civilians have lost their lives in fresh airstrikes.
Saudi warplanes earlier targeted a residential area and a military base in Hajjah Province, killing dozens of Yemeni civilians and injuring scores of others.
Meanwhile, Yemeni army has retaken two bases, two villages from al-Qaead militants in the southeastern Dhali’ Province, killing large number of the terrorists.
Saudi Arabia has been conducting military strikes against Yemen since March 26 without a UN mandate.
The ongoing Saudi military campaign and aerial strikes against Yemen have been aimed at weakening the Houthi Ansarullah movement.
Ansarullah and their allies currently control the Yemeni capital and a number of provinces.
Saudi Arabia is also seeking to restore power to Yemen’s fugitive former President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
According to the UN, about 2,000 people have been killed and more than 7,000 others wounded in the conflict in Yemen over the past two months.
Iraqi troops recaptured Anbar traffic police building from ISIL
Iraqi forces have taken back an area west of the battlefront city of Ramadi in the western Anbar province from ISIL terrorists. The advance makes its easier for them to take back control of the strategic city.Iraqi troops, backed by Shia and Sunni volunteer forces and tribal fighters, have recaptured the Anbar traffic police building in area 5K west of Ramadi. An army officer says ISIL terrorists were forced to withdraw from the building after a fierce fight. This is the third victorious gain made by Iraqi forces over the past three days. Iraqi troops who are supported by local popular mobilization groups known as Hashd
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxSWoFYkGrw
Key district retaken near Iraq’s Ramadi
Iraqi forces have taken back an area southwest of the flashpoint city of Ramadi in the western Anbar Province from ISIL terrorists.
Iraqi troops, backed by volunteer forces, captured the Morur district on Saturday, dealing a serious blow to the Takfiri militants positioned there, al-Hadath news channel reported.
The retaking of Morur, an area located at the heart a densely populated region, could reinforce the position of the Iraqi forces in their ongoing offensive against ISIL in Ramadi, the capital of the western Anbar Province, parts of which are under the control of the Takfiri group.
According to sources, the Iraqi forces are planning to deploy heavy weaponry in the area as it gives them a more robust control over the positions of ISIL terrorists in the outskirts of Ramadi.
The allied forces have also recaptured the Anbar traffic police building in an area called Khamsa Kilometer near Ramadi. An army officer said ISIL terrorists were forced to withdraw from the building after a fierce fighting.
“The security forces today are tightening their stranglehold on Ramadi, from the traffic police building to the west, from the university to the south and from the other sides, too,” Anbar police chief Hadi Rzayej said.
The official added that explosive ordnance disposal teams were busy clearing the roads from bombs and checking buildings for potential booby traps.
Earlier in the day, Iraqi bombers pounded ISIL positions in west of Anbar, near the Syrian-Iraqi border.
Crushing defeat awaiting ISIL
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the volunteer forces contributing to the Anbar offensive said ISIL militants will experience a crushing defeat in the coming days as popular and tribal forces are successfully encircling them in their hideouts.
“Some surprising news will be released of the Anbar liberation offensive,” said Karim Nouri, adding that ISIL militants are leaving their positions around Ramadi as they are scared of facing off with volunteer and tribal forces.
Iraqi troops and local Popular Mobilization Units started their operation to retake Ramadi three days ago. Parts of the city fell into the hands of ISIL militants on May 17.
